hee seemed to have the art of perswasion in his speeches yet by the way using his best oratory and charity to draw Alibius from denyall to confession and from that to contrition and repentance his heart was still so perverse and obdurate as hee notwithstanding persevered in his willfull obstinacy and peremptorily continued and stood upon the points of his innocency and justification So strong was the Divell yet with him But whiles an infinite number of spectators gaze on Alibius as hee is in the Castle and hee cheerefully and carelesly conversed with some of his acquaintance as if the innocency of his conscience were such as his heart felt no griefe nor preturbation Lo he is called to his arraignement whereunto that World of people who were then in the Castle flocke and concurre His thoughts are so vaine and his vanity so ambitious as hee comes to the barre in a blacke beaten Satin sute with a faire Gowne and a spruce set Ruffe having both the haire of his head and his long gray beard neately kombed and cut yea with so pleasant a look and so confident a demeanour as if he were to receive not the sentence of his guiltinesse and death but that of his innocency and inlargement These honourable Iudges cause his Inditement to bee read wherein his poysoning and Murthering of his wife is branched and depainted out in all its circumstances whereat his courage and confidence is yet notwithstanding so great as by his lookes hee seemes no way moved much lesse astonished or afflicted the witnesses are produced first his owne daughter Emelia who with teares in her eyes stands firme to her former disposition that hee had often beaten her Mother almost to death and now had killed and poysoned her agreeing in every point with her disposition given to the Podestate and Prefect of Brescia which to refell her father Alibius with many plausible and sugred speeches tells his Iudges that his daughter is incensed or lunatike or else that shee purposely seekes his life to enjoy that small meanes hee hath after his death and so runnes on in a most extravagant and impertinent apologie for himselfe with many invective and scandalous speeches against her and concludes that hee was never owner of any poyson His Iudges out of their honourable inclination and zeale to sacred justice permit him to speake without interruption when having ended they beginne to shew him the foulenesse of his fact yea like heavenly Orators they paint him out the devillish nature monstrous crime of Murther the which they say he redoubleth by denying it not withstanding that they have evidence as cleere as the Sun to convince him thereof and so they call for two Apothecaries boyes who severally affirme they sold him Rattes-bane at two severall times But the divell is still so strong with Alibius as though his conscience doth hereat afflict and torment him yet there is no change nor signe thereof either seene in his countenance or discerned in his speeches but still hee persevers in his obstinacy and in a bravery pretends to wipe off the Apothecaries boyes evidence with this poore evasion that hee bought and used it onely to poyson Rattes And so againe with many smooth words humble crouches and hypocriticall complements hee useth the prime of his subtilty and invention to make it appeare to his Iudges that he had no way imbrued his hands in the bloud of his wife But this will not availe him for hee is before Lynce-eyed Iudges whose integrity and wisedome can pierce thorow the foggy mists of excuses and the obscure Clouds of his far-fetched shifts and cunninglycompacted evasions And now to close and winde up this History after the Iury impannelled had amply heard aswell the witnesses against Alibius as his defence for himselfe and that all the world could testifie that his Iudges gave him a faire triall they return and report him guilty of Murthering his wife Merilla whereat hee is put off the barre and so for that time sent backe to his prison and yet the heate of his obstinacy being hereat no way cooled the edge of his deny all any way rebated nor the obduratenesse of his heart the least thing mollified hee by the way as hee passeth beating his brest and sometimes out-spreading his armes saith it is not his crime but the malice of his Devillish daughter that hath cast him away yea although many of his compassionate and Christian friends doe now now againe in prison worke and perswade him to confession by aleadging him that God is as mercifull to the repentant as severe to the impenitent and obstinate yet all this will not prevaile The second morne after his conviction hee is brought againe from his prison to the Castle and so to the barre to receive his Iudgement where one of the two most honourable Iudges shew him That it is his hearkning to the Devill and his forsaking of God that hath brought him to this misery paints and points him out his dissolute life his frequenting of bad company his prodigality and adultery but above all his masked hypocrisie which hee saith in thinking to deceive God hath now deceived himselfe yea in heavenly and religious speeches informes him how mercifull and indulgent God is to repentant sinners that hee must now cast off his thoughts from earth and ascend and mount them to heaven and no longer to think of his body but of his soule and so after a learned and Christian-like speech as well for the instruction of the living as the consolation of Alibius who was now to prepare himselfe to dye hee pronounceth that for his execrable Murther committed on his owne wife Merilla hee should hang till hee were dead and so besought the Lord to bee mercifull to his soule And now is Alibius againe returned to his prison but still remaineth obstinate and perverse affirming to all the World that as hee hath lived so hee will dye innocently But God will not suffer him to dye without confessing and repenting this his bloudy and unnaturall Murther These his grave and religious Iudges out of an honourable and Christian charity send him Divines to prepare his body to the death of this world and his soule to the life of that to come they deale most effectually powerfully and religiously with him in prison and although they found that the devill had strongly insnared and charmed him yea and as it were hardned his heart to his perdition yet God out of his infinit and ineffable mercies addeth both power and grace to their speeches and exhortations so as his eyes being opened and his heart pierced and mollified they at last so prevaile with him that being terrified with Gods justice and incouraged and comforted with his mercies he with teares sighs and groanes confesseth this murther of his wife and not onely bitterly repents it but also doth thank these Godly Divines for their charity care and zeale for the preservation and saving of his soule and doth upon his
THE TRIVMPHES OF GODS REVENGE Agaynst The Cryinge Execrable Sinne of Willfull premeditated Murther Expressed In Thirtye Severall Tragicall Historyes Digested into Sixe Bookes w ch contayne great variety of Mournefull Memorable Accydents Amorous Morall Divine The whole Worke nowe Compleatlye finished Written By Iohn Reynolds LONDON Printed for W. Lee and are to be sould at the Turks head in Fleetstreet ouer against Fetter Lane THE TRIUMPHS OF GODS REVENGE AGAINST THE CRYING AND EXECRABLE SINNE OF Willfull and Premeditated Murther VVith his Miraculous Discoveries and severe Punishments thereof In Thirtie severall Tragicall Histories Digested into Sixe Bookes committed in divers Countries beyond the Seas never published or Imprinted in any other Language Histories which containe great varietie of mournfull and memorable Accidents Historicall Morall and Divine very necessary to restraine and deterre us from this bloodie Sinne which in these our dayes makes so ample and large a Progression With a Table of all the severall Letters and Challenges contained in the whole sixe Bookes Written by IOHN REYNOLDS PSALME 9. 16. The Lord is knowen in executing Iudgement and the wicked is snared in the worke of his owne hand PROVERBS 14. 27. The feare of the Lord is a well-spring of Life to avoyd the snares of death LONDON Printed for WILLIAM LEE and are to bee sold at his shop in Fleetstreet at the signe of the Turkes Head over against Fetter Lane 1635. TO MY SACRED SOVERAIGNE CHARLES KING OF GREAT BRITAINE FRANCE and IRELAND Defender of the Faith c. SIR AS Rivers though in their passing they fall into many neighbour Currents yet finally empty themselves into the Sea so let these my poore Labours though formerly Dedicated to divers Illustrious Peeres of this your Realme bee suffered at last to terminate in the Ocean of your Princely Greatnesse and Goodnesse whereinto all vertuous endeavours as so many lines in their Centre desire to be united What private respests might challenge of me towards their Honors the same towards your Majesty will claime the publicke Bond of Common Allegiance whereby I am more eminently and more universally obliged I am not so overâ—… weening of my weake Endeavours as to thinke them worthy of your Majesties view much lesse able to adde any thing to your Royall Uertues Rivers adde nothing to the Maine yet thither they naturally send the Tribute of their Streames and if my Loyaltie reach me to doe the like it will not I hope be conceived as done out of an opinion of Merit but onely out of a desire to discharge the Duty of a Subject to your Majestie And I am the rather imboldned to this Confidence because I have formerly adventured the like when to your Princely View being then the Second Hope of this Kingdome I about eleven yeares since presented a Translation of a Worke of Monsieur de Refuges intituled A Treatise of the Court the Gratious and Undeserved Acceptance whereof if it hath inspired me with farther Courage to present You now advanced to a greater State with a greater Increase of mine owne Labour your Majestie will not I hope condemne me of groundlesse Presumption The former three Bookes had the Honour and Happinesse to bee perused by the Iudicious Eye of King IAMES your Renowned Father of happy Memory In whose incomparable Iudgement they failed not of Approbation though Dedicated to Inferiour Names the more am I now incouraged to Inscribe and Intitle the whole Sixe to your Sacred Majesty as being no lesse Heire of His Uertues then of His Crowne and Dignitie And one thing more arising from the Consideration of the Subject it selfe made me thinke it a Present not altogether unworthy of your Regall Estate for the Contents of it being the Execution of Iustice upon the unnaturall Sinne of Murther where can it bee more fitly addressed then to the Great Patron of Iustice among us God's immediate Vicegerent by whose Sword as the Minister of Heaven such odious Crimes are to bee chastised and Innocent Bloud justly expiated with Guilty And it may more fitly sute with your Majesty who as you excell in the carefull Administration of Iustice upon all Offenders so especially upon those most hainous of all others the Violaters of Gods sacred Image in the perpetration of wilfull Murther towards whom Clemencie even changeth her nature and becomes Cruelty to the Weal-publicke Never had any Land lesse cause to complaine of too much Indulgencie this way then ours as may well appeare both by the rarenesse of such Occurrences in your Kingdome and the severe vindication of them whensoever they happen or by whom or howsoever performed These Histories therefore which may serve as a Looking-glasse to all Nations shall to these of Yours be a speciall Ornament and Mirrour of their felicity and set forth and publish Your Praise in the peaceable and quiet Government of your People whose Climate seldome or never affords such Tragedies nor will doe whiles Your Christian resolution shall continue to prevent them in the Spring and to punish the lighter degrees of Bloudinesse with due retaliation The great Author of Iustice who is Goodnesse and Iustice it selfe long preserve your Majesty to Vs and the Happinesse Wee enjoy in your Sacred Person so neere resembling Him whose Authority and Image You beare So prayeth Your Majesties most humbly devoted in all Dutifull Allegiance IOHN REYNOLDS THE AVTHOR HIS PREFACE TO THE READER CHRISTIAN Reader we cannot sufficiently bewaile the Iniquity of these last and worst dayes of the world in which the crying and scarlet sinne of Murther makes so ample and so bloody a progression for we can now searce turne our eare or eye any where but wee shall be enforced either to heare with pitty the mournefull effects or to see with griefe the lamentable Tragedies thereof as if we now so much degenerated from our selves or our hearts from our soules to thinke that Christ were no longer our Shepheard or we the sheepe of his Pasture or as if we were become such wretched and execrable Atheists to beleeve There were no Heaven to reward the Righteous or Hell to punish the ungodly But if we will divert our hearts from Earth to Heaven and raise and erect our soules from Satan to God we shall then not onely see what engendereth this Diabolicall passion in us but also find the meanes to detest and roote it out from amongst us To which end it is requisite wee first consider that our enemies who oppose our tranquillity in this life and our felicity in that to come are neither so few in number nor so weake in power that we should thinke our selves able to vanquish ere we fight with them for wee have to encounter with the bewitching World the alluring Flesh and the inticing Devill not with three simple Souldiers or poore Pigmies but with three valiant and puissant Chief-taines subtill to incampe dangerous to assaile and powerfull to fight The World that it may bewitch us to its
to a greater honour nor desire a sweeter felicity And so recommending this my imperfect Pamphlet to your favour my unworthy selfe to your pardon and your Honour your Noble Countesse and the sweet young Lady your Daughter to Gods best favours and mercies I will assume the confidence and constancie to remaine Your Honours in all humility and service IOHN REYNOLDS THE GROVNDS AND CONTENTS OF these HISTORIES HISTORIE VI. Victorina causeth Sypontus to stabbe and murther her first Husband Souranza and shee her selfe poysoneth Fassino her second so they both being miraculously detected and convicted of these their cruell Murthers hee is beheaded and shee hang'd and burnt for the same HISTORIE VII Catalina causeth her Wayting Mayd Ausilva two severall times attempt to poyson her owne Sister Berinthia wherein fayling shee afterwards makes an Empericke termed Sarmiata poyson her said Mayd Ansilva Catalina is killed with a Thunder bolt and Sarmiata hang'd for poysoning Ansilva Antonio steales Berinthia away by her owne consent whereupon her Brother Sebastiano fights with Antonio and kills him in a Duell Berinthia in revenge hereof afterwards murthereth her Brother Sebastiano she is adjudged to be immured betwixt two Walls and there languisheth and dyes HISTORIE VIII Belluile treacherously murthereth Poligny in the street Laurieta Poligny's Mistris betrayeth Belluile to her Chamber and there in revenge shoots him thorow the body with ae Pistoll when assisted by her Wayting-Mayd Lucilla they likewise give him many wounds with a Ponyard and so murther him Lucilla flying for this fact is drowned in a Lake and Laurieta is taken and hang'd and burnt for the same HISTORIE IX Iacomo de Castelnovo lustfully falls in love with his daughter in law Perina his owne sonne Francisco de Castelnovo's Wife whom to injoy he causeth Ierantha first to poyson his owne Lady Fidelia and then his said sonne Francisco de Castelnovo in revenge whereof Perina treacherously murthereth him in his bed Ierantha ready to dye in travell of child confesseth her two Murthers for the which she is hang'd and burnt Perina hath her right hand cut off and is condemned to perpetuall imprisonment where she sorrowfully dyes HISTORIE X. Bertolini seekes Paulina in marriage but she loves Sturio and not himselfe hee prayes her Brother Brellati his deare friend to sollicite her for him which he doth but cannot prevaile whereupon Bertolini lets fall some disgracefull speeches both against her honour and his reputation for which Brellati challengeth the Field of him where Bertolini kills him and hee flies for the same Sturio seekes to marry her but his father will not consent there â—…nto and conveyes him away secretly for which two disasters Paulina dyes for sorrow Sturio findes out Bertolini and sends him a Challenge and having him at his mercie gives him his life at his request hee afterwards very treacherously kills Sturio with a Petroneâ—… in the Street from a Window he is taken for this second Murther his two hands cut off theâ—… beheaded and his body throwne into the River THE TRIVMPHS OF GODS REVENGE AGAINST THE CRYING AND EXECRABLE sinne of Murther HISTORIE VI. Victorina causeth Sypontus to stabbe and murther her first Husband Souranza and shee her selfe poysoneth Fassino her second so they both being miraculously detected and convicted of these their cruell Murthers hee is beheaded and shee hang'd and burnt for the same WHere Lust takes up our desires and Revenge and Murther seizeth on our resolutions it is the true way to make us wretched in this life and our soules miserable in that to come for if Chastity and Charity the two precious Vertues and ornaments of a Christian steere not our actions on Earth how shall nay how can we hope to arrive to the harbour of Heaven or if wee aband on these celestiall Vertues to follow and imbrace those infernall Vices what doe wee but take our selves from felicity to misery and consequently give our selves from God to Satan But did wee seriously and not trivially consider that there is a Heaven to reward the Righteous and a hell to punish the ungodly wee would neither defile our hearts nor pollute our soules with the thought much lesse with the action of such beastly and inhumane crimes but in this sinnefull age of ours the number is but too great of lascivious and impious Christians who delight in the affection and practice thereof among whom I here represent the History of an execrable Gentlewoman and her wretched and unfortunate Lover who were both borne to honour and not to infamy had they had as much grace to secure their lives as vanity and impiety to ruine them The History is bloudy and therefore mournefull but if we detest their crimes we need not feare their punishments for God is as gracious and propitious to protect the innocent as just and severe to chastise the guilty IN Italy the beauty of Europe and in the City of Venice the glory of Italy the Nymph of the Sea and the pearle and diamond of the world in the latter yeares of the raigne of noble Leonardo Donato who as Duke sate to the helme of that potent and powerfull Estate so famous for banishing the Iesuits and for opposing himself against the intrusion and fulminations of Pope Paulus Quintus in the just defence and maintenance of the prerogatives and priviledges of the Seignory There was at that time a gentleman a younger brother yet of well neere fifty yeares old of the noble Fa mily of the Beraldi named Signior Iacomo Beraldi who dwelt above the Rialto Bridge that famous Master piece of Architecture upon the Canalla Grando who in the Aprill of his youth tooke to Wife the Dona Lucia daughter to Seignior Lorenzo Bursso a Gentleman of Padua by whom hee had seven Children foure Sonnes and three Daughters so as his Wife and he esteeming themselves happy in their Issue past away their time in much content and felicity but God for some secret and sacred reasons to his Divine Majesty best knowne converting his smiles into frownes within the space of seven yeares takes away sixe of their Children so as their eldest daughter onely remained living being a young Gentlewoman of some eighteene yeares old named Dona Victoryna This young Gentlewoman being noble rich and faire three powerfull and attractive Adamants to draw the affections of many Cavaliers according to her desert had divers Gallants who sought her in Marriage but she was of nature proud chollericke disdainfull and malicious Vices enow to ruine both a beauty and a fortune but of all her sutors and servants he whom she best loved and affected was one Seignior Sypontus a Gentleman of the City who was more noble then rich and yet more debosht and vicious then noble but otherwise a very proper young Gallant but the perfections of the body are nothing to bee compared to the excellent qualities and indowments of the minde for those are but the varnishes and shaddowes of a meete men but these the perfections and excellencies of a
repentance nor consequently from Earth to Heaven but like a prophane Libertine and unregenerate person being within a small point of time neere his end hee yet thinkes not of his soule nor of God but onely dallies away the remainder of his houres in the miserable contemplation of his fond affection and beastly sensuality By this time Victoryna hath receiv'd his Letter at the newes and reading whereof such is the passion of her frenzy which shee though unjustly tearmes love that shee is all in teares sighes and lamentable exclamations she knowes it impossible for any other of the world to bee the revealer of Sypontus his Letter but onely her Mayd Felicia whom in her uncharitable Revenge shee curseth to the pit of hell but that which addes a greater torment to her torments and a more sensible degree of affliction to her miserable sorrowes is to see that her Sypontus whom by many degrees she loves far dearer then her life finisterly snspecteth her fidelity towards him yea so farre as hee not onely calls her affection but her treachery in question and this indeed seemes to drowne her in her teares But yet notwithstanding so fervent is her love towards him as the feare of his death drawes her to a resolution of her owne so if Sypontus dye shee vowes shee will bee her owne accuser and so not live but dye with him Strange effects of love or rather of folly sith love being irregular and taking false objects in its true character is not love but folly to which end calling for inke and paper she bitterly weeping indites and sends him these few lines in answer of his VICTORYNA to SYPONTVS I Were the most wretched and ingratefullest Lady of the world yea a Lady who should not then deserve either to see or live in the world if Victoryna should any way prove treacherous to Sypontus who hath still beene so true and kinde to her But beleeve mee Deare Sypontus and I speake it in presence of God upon perill of my soule I am as innocent as that witch that devill my mayd Felicia is guilty of the producing of thy Letter which I feare will prove thy death and rejoyce that in it it shall likwise prove mine For to cleer my selfe of ingratitude trechery as I have lived so I will dye wiyh thee that as we mutually participated the joyes of life so we may the torments of death for although thy Letter accuse me not of my Husband Souranza's Murther yet that my affection may shine in my loyalty and that in my affection I will not survive but dye with thee for I will accuse my selfe to my Iudges not onely as accessary but as author of that Murther and this resolution of mine I write thee with teares and will shortly seale it with my bloud VICTORYNA Sypontus in the middest of his perplexities and sorrowes receives this Letter from Victoryna the sweetnesse of whose affection and constancy much revives his joy and comforteth him For now her innocency defaceth his suspicion of her ingratitude and treachery and withall hee plainely sees and truly beleeves that it was Felicia not Victoryna who brought this Letter to Light But when hee descends to the latter part of her Letter and finds her resolution to dye with him then hee condemnes his former errour in taxing her and in requitall loves her so tenderly and dearely that he vowes hee will bee so farre from accusing her as accessary of her husbands Murther as both the Racke and his death shall cleare and proclaime her innocency Had the ground of these servent and reciprocall affections of Victoryna and Sypontus beene laid in vertue as they were in vice or in chastly and not in lust and adultery they would have given cause to the whole world as justly to prayse as now to dispraise them and then to have beene as ambitious of their imitation as now of their contempt and detestation So Sypontus as before having fully and definitively resolved not to accuse but to cleare Victoryna of this Murther as also that hee would dye alone and leave her youth and beauty to the injoying of many more earthly pleasures hee expecting hourely to bee sent for before his Iudges to sit upon his torment or death thinking himselfe bound both in affection and honour to signifie Victoryna his pleasure herein he craves his â—…aylors absence and with much affection and passion writes her this his last Letter SIPONTVS to VICTORYNA SWeet Victoryna thy Letter hath given mee so full satisfaction as I repent mee of my rash credulity conceived against thy affection and constancy and now lay the fault of the discovery of my Letter where it is and ought to bee on Felicia not on thy selfe It is with a sorrowfull but true presage that I foresee my life hastens to her period the Racke is already prepared for my torments and I hourely expect when I shall bee fetch 't to receive them which for thy sake I will imbrace and suffer with as much constancy as patience I will deny mine owne guiltinesse the first time but not the second but in my torments and death I will acquit thee of thine with as true a resolution as Earth expects to lose mee and I hope to finde Heaven Therefore all the by bonds of love and affection that ever hath beene between us I first pray then conjure thee to change thy resolution and to stand on thine innocency For if thou wilt or desirest to gratifie mee with thy last affection and courtesie at my death let mee beare this one content and joy to my grave that Victoryna will live for Sypontus his sake though Sypontus dye for hers SYPONTVS Hee had no sooner sent away this his Letter to Victoryna but hee himselfe is sent for to appeare before his Iudges who upon his second examination and denyall adjudge him to the Racke which hee indures with admirable patience and constancy Yea hee cannot bee drawne to confesse but stands firme in his denyall and not onely cleares himselfe but also acquits Victoryna Hieronymâ—… Souranza doth notwithstanding earnestly follow and solicite the Iudges and God out of his immense mercy and profound providence so ordaineth that their consciences suggest and prompt them that Sypontus is the actor of this execrable Murther Whefore the next day they administer him double torment when loe his resolution and strength fayling him hee acknowledgeth the letter his and confesseth it was himselfe that had Murthered Seignior Iovan Baptista Souranza but withall protesteth constantly that Victoryna is innocent and no way accessary hereunto The Iudges rejoyce at Sypontus his confession as much as they grieve at the foulenesse of his fact and so although they were also desirous to hang him yet considering hee was a Venecian Gentleman and consequently had a great voyce in the great Counsell of the Seigniory they adjudge him the next day to lose his head betwixt the two Columes at Saint Markes Place and so for that night send him backe
in all the Spectators as wondring at the cause and reason therof when in constant and discreet termes Augustino informes the Iudges that hee thinks 〈◊〉 innocent and her Lady Victoryna guiltie of this murther and so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—…m â—…er time and place where Victorina her selfe seduced him to poyson her 〈◊〉 Fâ—…no how she proffered him three hundred Zeckynes to performe it which hee refused and to the utmost of his power sought to disswade her from thiâ—… bloody and execrable businesse The Iudges are astonished at the strangenes of this newes which they begin confidently to beleeve and so blesse the houre of Augustino's arrivall that hath withheld them from spilling the innocent bloud of Felicia when commanding her from the place of execution to her prison they instantly give order for the Lady Victoryna's apprehension who already had built trophees and triumphs of joy in her heart to see that all her bloudy designes so well succeeded But now is the Lords appoynted time come wherein al her cruell Murthers whoredome treachery and hypocrisie shall be brought to light and punished yea now it shall no longer be in her power or in that of the devill her Schoolmaster Seducer either to diminish the least part of her punishment or to adde the least moment or poynt of time to her life Shee is all in teares at her apprehension but they rather ingender envie then pittie in her Iudges And so from the delights and pleasures of her house she is hastily conveyed to prison Her Iudges in honour to the sacred dignity of Iustice the Queene of Earth and the daughter of Heaven confront her with Augustino who averres his former deposition as constantly in her face as shee denies it impudently in his But this will not prevaile her for now God hath made the probabilities or rather the sight of her crime too apparant So without any regard to her prayers teares or exclamations they adjâ—…dge her to the Racke where the tendernesse of her limbs the sharpnesse of her torments but especially the griefes and pinches of her conscience make her acquit Felicia acknowledge Augustino his evidence and condemne her selfe to be the author both of her first husbands stabbing as also her seconds poysoning her Iudges as much praise God for her confession as they detest and are astonished at the falsenesse of these her horrible crimes So with much joy they first free innocent Felicia of her unjust imprisonment and then knowing it pitty that so wretched a Lady as Victoryna should live any longer they for her abominable cruelties and inhumanities condemne her the next morne to be hang'd and burnt on Saint Markes Place At the knowledge and divulging of which newes as her father mother and kinsfolkes extreamely grieve so all Venice blesse and glorifie God first that innocent Felicia is saved and guilty Victoryna detected and condemned to the shame and punishment of a deserved death The same night the Priests and Friers deale with her about the state of her soule and its pilgrimage and transmigration to heaven they find that her youth lust and revenge hath taken a strange possession of the devill and hee in them for she still loves the memory of Sypontus and envies and detests that of her two husbands Souranza and Fassino but they deale effectually with her and in their speeches depainting her forth the joyes of heaven and the torments of hell they at last happily prevaile and so make her forsake the vanity and impiety of these her passions by rellishing the sweet shown of Gods mercies so the next morne shee is brought to her execution where the world expecting to heare much matter from her she is very pensive and contemplative and sayes little onely she prayes Felicia to forgive her as also all the Parents of her two Husbands Souranza and Fassino and likewise of Sypontus but chiefly shee invokes God her Saviour and Redeemer to pardon these her horrible sinnes of adultery and murther and beseecheth all that are present to pray for her soule and so according to her sentence she is first hang'd then burnt whereat all that great affluence and concourse of people praise the providence and justice of God in cutting off this female monster and shame of her sexe Victoryna whose tragicall and mournefull History may we all reade and remember with detestation that the example hereof bee our forewarning and caveat not to trust in the deceiveable lusts of the flesh and the treacherous tentations of the devill but to rely on the mercies and promises of God which will never faile his elect but will assuredly make them happy in their lives blessed in their deathes and constantly glorious in their resurrections GODS REVENGE AGAINST THE CRYING AND EXEcrable sinne of Murther HISTORIE VII Catalina causeth her Wayting Mayd Ansilva two severall times attempt to poyson her â—wne Sister Berinthia wherein fayling shee afterwards makes an Empericke termed Sarmiata poyson her said Mayd Ansilva Catalina is killed with a Thunder-bolt and Sarmiata hang'd for poysoning Ansilva Antonio steales Berinthia away by her owne consent whereupon her Brother Sebastiano fights with Antonio and kills him in a Duell Berinthia in revenge hereof afterwards murthereth her Brother Sebastiano she is adjudged to be immured betwixt two Walls and there languisheth and dyes HOw foolishly and impiously doth our malice betray our selves or the devill our soules when we maliciously betray others for wee are as farre from Grace as Wisedome when wee permit either irregular affection or unlawfull passion to hale us on to choller choller to revenge and revenge to Murther Nay how exempt are we of Religion and devoyd of all Christian piety and charity when our thoughts are so eclipsed and our judgements darkened when our consciences are so defiled and our soules so polluted with revenge that the eldest sister seekes to poyson her younger and this younger afterwards murthereth her owne and only brother because in a Duell he had formerly slaine her Lover Alasse alasse these are bloudy accidents which not only fight against Grace but Nature not only against earth but Heaven and not only against our soules but against God neither are these the only Tragedies that our insuing History reporteth and relateth for wee shall therein farther see a wretched Wayting-gentlewoman poysoned by her more wretched Lady and Mistresse together with her execrable Agent a bloudy and gracelesse Empericke and all justly revenged and severely punished by the sword of Gods wrath and indignation Wherein the Christian Reader may observe as well to Gods glory as his owne consolation that never pretended or actuall Murthers were either contrived more secretly perpetrated more closely detected more miraculously or punished more strangely and severely so as if the devill have not fully possest our hearts and soules or if our thoughts and resolutions doe yet retaine the least sparke of Grace and Christianity we shall flie their crimes by the sight and feare of their punishments refetch our wandring and erronious senses from
hell to earth purposely to erraise them from Earth to Heaven and so religiously to give and consecrate both them and our selves and soules from sinne to righteousnesse and consequently with as much felicitie as glorie from Satan to God THere dwelt in the Citie of Avero in Portugall an ancient Nobleman termed Don Gasper de Vilarezo rich in either qualitie of earthly greatnesse as well of blood as revenewes who was neerely allied to the Marquesse of Denia in Spaine as marrying a Neece of his named Dona Alphanta a Lady exquisitely endued with the ornaments of Nature and the perfections of Grace for she was both faire and vertuous that adding lustre to these and these returning and reflecting embellishment to that which made her infinitely beloved of her husband Vilarezo and exceedingly honoured of all those who had the honour to know her and to crowne the felicitie of their affections and marriage they had three hopefull children one sonne and two daughters he termed Don Sebastiano and they the Donas Catalina and Berinthia Hee having attained his fifteenth yeare was by his Father made Page to Count Manriques de Lopez and continually followed him at Court and they from their tenth to their thirteenth yeares lived sometimes at Coimbra otherwhiles at Lisbone but commonly at Avero with their Parents who so carefully trained them up in those qualities and perfections requisite for Ladies of their ranke as they were no sooner seene but admired of all who saw them But before wee make a farther progression in this Historie thereby the better to unfold and anatomize it I hold it rather necessarie then impertinent that wee take a cursory though not a curious survey of both these young Ladies perfections and imperfections of their vices and vertues their beautie and deformitie that as objects are best knowne by the opposition of their contraries so by the way of comparison wee may distinguish how to know and know how to distinguish of the disparitie of these two sisters in their inclinations affections and delineations Catalina was somewhat short of stature but corpulent of body Berinthia tall but slender Catalina was of taint and complexion more browne then faire Berinthia not browne but sweetly faire or fairely sweet Catalina had a disdainefull Berinthia a gracious eye Catalina was proud Berinthia humble In a word Catalina was of humour extreamely imperious ambitious and revengefull and Berinthia modestly courteous gracious and religious So these two young Ladies growing now to bee capable of marriage many gallant Cavaliers of Avero become Servants and Suiters to them as well in respect of their Fathers Nobilitie and wealth as for their owne beauties and vertues yea their fame is generally so spread that from Lisbone and most of the chiefest Cities of Portugall divers Nobles and Knights resort to their Father Don Vilarezo's house to proffer up their affections to the dignitie and merits of his daughters But his age finding their youth too young to bee acquainted with the secrets and mysteries of marriage puts them all off either in generall termes or honourable excuses as holding the matching of his daughters of so eminent and important consideration as hee thinkes it fit hee should advisedly consult and not rashly conclude them which affection and care of Parents to their Children is still as honourable as commendable Don Sebastiano their brother being often both at Madrid Vallidolyd and Lisbone becomes very intimately and singularly acquainted with Don Antonio de Rivereâ—… a noble and rich young Cavalier by birth likewise a Portugall of the Citie of Elvas who was first and chiefe Gentleman to the Duke of Bragansa and the better to unite and perpetuate their familiaritie hee proffers him his eldest sister in marriage and prayes him at his first conveniencie to ride over to Avero to see her offering himselfe to accompany him in this journey and to second him in that enterprize as well towards his father as sister Don Antonio very kindly and thankfully listeneth to Don Sebastiano's courteous and affectionate proffer and knowing it so farre from the least disparagement as it was a great happinesse and honour for him to match himselfe in so noble a Family they assigne a day for that journey against when Don Antonio makes readie his preparatives and traine in all respects answerable to his ranke and generositie They arrive at Avero where Don Gasper de Vilarezo for his owne worth and his sonnes report receives Don Antonio honourably and entertaines him courteously he visiteth and saluteth first the mother then the two young Ladies her daughters and although hee cannot dislike Catalina yet so precious and amiable is sweet Berâ—…nthia in 〈◊〉 eye as hee no sooner sees but loves her yea her piercing eye her vermillion châ—…ke and delicate stature act such wonders in his heart as hee secretly proclaimes himselfe her Servant and publikely shee his Mistresse to which end hee takes time and opportunitie at advantage and so reveales her so much in termes that intimate the servencie of his zeale and endeare the zeale of his affection and constancy Berinthia entertaines his motion and speeches with many blushes which now and then cast a rosiat vaile ore the milke-white lillies of her complexion and to speake truth if Antonio bee inamoured of Berinthia no lesse is shee of him so as not only their eyes but their contempâ—…tions and hearts seeme already to sympathize and burne in the flame of an equall affection In a word by stealth hee courts her often And not â—…o deâ—…aine my Reader in the intricate Labyrinth of the whole passages of their loves Antonio for this time finds Berinthia in this resolution that as she hath not the will to grant so she hath not the power to deny his suit the rest time will produce But so powerfully doe the beautie and vertues of sweet Berinthia worke in 〈◊〉 his affections that impatient of delayes hee findes out her father and mother and in due termes requisite for him to give and they receive demaunds their daughter Berinthia in marriage Vilarezo thanking Antonio for this honour replies that of his two daughters hee thinkes Berinthia his younger as unworthy of him as Catalina his eldest worthily bestowed on him Antonio answeres that as he cannot deny but Catalina is faire yet hee must confesse that Berinthia is more beautifull to his eye and more pleasing to his thoughts Vilarezo lastly replies that he will first match Catalina ere Berinthia and that he is as content to give him the first as not as yet resolved to dispose of the second and so for this time they on these termes depart Vilarezo taking Antonio and his sonne Sebastiano with him to hunt a Stag whereof his adjacent Forrest hath plentie But whiles Antonio his body pursues the Stag his thoughts are flying after the beautie of his deare and faire Berinthia who as the Paragon of Beautie and Nature sits Empresse and Queene-Regent in the Court of his contemplations and affections hee is wounded at
with many fearefull imprecations and asseverations stands peremptorily in her innocencie and out of the heat of her malice and choller termes them devills or witches that are her accusers But her Iudges who can no longer be deluded with her vowes nor will no more give eare to her perfidious oaths command to have her Paps seared off with hot burning Pincers thereby to vindicate the truth of her cruell murther from the falsehood of her impious and impudent denyall thereof Whereat amazed and astonished and seeing this cruell torment ready to bee inflicted and presented her God was so indulgent to her sinnes and so mercifull to her soule as the devill flying from her and she from his temptations shee rayning downe many rivolets and showres of teares from her eyes and evaporating many volleyes of sighes from her heart throwing her selfe downe on her knees to the earth and lifting up her eyes and handes unto Heaven with much bewayling and bitternesse shee at last confesseth to her Iudges that shee and her Wayting-mayd Lucilla were the murtherers of Belluile and for the which shee sayd that through her humble contrition and hearty repentance shee hoped that God would pardon her soule in the life to come though shee knew they would not her body in this Whereupon the Iudges in horrour and execration of her inhumane and bloudy crime pronounce sentence of death upon her and condemne her the next day after dinner first to be hanged then burnt in the same street right against her lodging Monsieur de Richcourts house and likewise sith Lucilla was both an accessary and actour in this bloudy Tragedy that her body should be taken up out of her Grave and likewise burnt with hers in the same fire which accordingly was executed in the presence of an infinite number of people both of the Citizens and adjacent neighbours of Avignion Laurieta uttering upon the Ladder a short but a most Christian and penitent speech to the people tending first to disswade them all by her example from those foule and crying sinnes of whoredome revenge and murther and then to request and perswade them that they would assist her with their religious and devout prayers in her soules passage and flight towards Heaven yet adding withall that as her crime so her griefe was redoubled because as she had killed Belluile for Poligny's sake so she was sure that Belluile had killed Poligny for hers And thus Christian Reader were the dissolute lives and mournefull deaths of these two unfortunate Gentlemen Poligny and Belluile and of this lascivious and bloudy Curâ—…izan Laurieta and her Wayting-mayd Lucilla A tragicall History worthy both of our observation and detestation and indeed these are the bitter fruits of Lust Whoreâ—…ome and Revenge and the inseparable companions which infallibly awayt and attend them the very sight and consideration whereof are capable not onely to administer consolation to the righteous but to strike terror to the ungodly O therefore that wee may all beware by these their fatall and dangerous sinnes for this is the onely perfect and true way to prevent and avoyde their punishments GODS REVENGE AGAINST THE CRYING AND EXEcrable sinne of Murther HISTORIE IX Iacomo de Castelnovo Iustfully falls in love with his daughter in law Perina his owne sonne Francisco de Castelnovo's Wife whom to injoy he causeth Ierantha first to poyson his owne Lady Fidelia and then his said son Francisco de Castelnovo in revenge whereof Perina treacherously murthereth him in his bed Ierantha ready to dye in travell of child confesseth her two Murthers for the which she is bang'd and burnt Perina hath her right hand cut off and is condemned to perpetuall imprisonment where she sorrowfully languisheth and dyes WEe need not send our curiosity or our curiosity us to seek Tygers and Monsters in Africa for Europe hath but too many who are so cruell and inhumane not only to imbrue but to imbath themselves in the innocent bloud of their Christian brethren And as Religion prohibites us to kill and commands us to love our enemies with what audacious and prophane impiety dare wee then murther our friends nay those of our owne bloud and who are the greatest part of our selves And although Italy have lately afforded many tragicall presidents and fearefull Examples of this nature wheâ—…of I have given some to my former and reserved others to my future bookes yet in my conceipt it hath produced none more bloudy and inhumane then this whether we respect the Murthers or the persons For here wee shall see a wretched and execrable old man so besotted in lust and flaming in malice and revenge as being both a husband and a father hee by a hellish young Gentlewoman his strumpet poysonâ—…th both his owne wife and his owne sonne It was his vanity which first inkindled the fire of his lust it is then his Impiety which gives way to the Devill to blow the coales thereto and so to convert it into Murther O that Sinne should so triumph o're Grace and not Grace o're Sinne O that Age and Nature should not teach us to bee lesse bloudy and more compassionate and charitable And alas alas by Poyson that drug of the Devill who first brought the damnable invention thereof from hell to be practised here on earth onely by his agents and members Wee shall likewise see him killed by his daughter in law for formerly poysoning of her husband Lust seduced him to perpetraâ—…e those Affection or rather bloudy Revenge drew her on to performe this and consequently to her punishment due for the same Had they had more Grace and Religion they would not have beene so inhumane but falling from that no marvell if they fell to be so wretched and miserable for if we die well we seldome live ill if live ill we usually never die well for it is the end that crowns the beginning not the beginning the end Therfore if we will be happy in our lives and blessed in our deaths we must follow Vertue and flie from Vice love Chastity and Charity and hate Lust and Envie preferre Heaven before Earth our Soules before our Bodies and defie Satan with a holy resolution both to feare and love God SAvoy is the Countrey and Nice the City seated upon the Mediterraneâ—…m Sea being the strongest Bulwarke against France and the best Forâ—…resse and Key of Italy where the Scene of this insuing Tragicall History is layd the which to refetch from the Head-spring and Fountaine of its originall it must carry our curiosity and understanding over those famous Mountaines the Alpes and from thence to the City of Saint Iohn de Mauriena where of late and fresh memory dwelt an aged Gentleman of rich revenues and great wealth named Seignior Antonio de Arconeto who had newly by his deceased Wife the Lady Eleanora de Bibanti two Children to wit a Son and a Daughter that named Seignior Alexandro and this the Lady Perina a little different in yeares for he was eighteen and
inhumane revenge will not as yet permit her conscience to informe and shew her the haynousnesse of her cruell and bloody fact But God will be more mercifull to her and her soule Some two dayes after shee is arraigned for the same where she freely confesseth-it having nothing to alledge for her excuse but that shee perfectly knew that her Father in law Castenovo and his Strumpet Ierantha had at least poysoned the Knight her husband if not likewise the Lady Fidelia his mother the which although they had some reason and ground to suspect because of Ierantha's sudden slight yet sith this could no way diminish or extenuate her Murther of her Father in law they condemne our unfortunate Lady Perina to bee hanged and so re-send her to prison to prepare her selfe to dye But the advice of some and the friendship and compassion of others as pittying her youth and beauty and commending her chastity and affection to her Knight and Husband counsell and perswade her to appeale from the Sentence of the Court of Nice to the Senate of Chambery which is the Soveraigne and Capitall of Savoy whither wee shall shortly see her conducted and brought In which meane time let us observe the wonderfull justice and providence of God shewed likewise upon this execrable Wayting-gentlewoman Ierantha for so cruelly poysoning the Lady Fidelia and the Knight Castelnovo her Sonne who although search were every where made for her yet she having husht her selfe up privately albeit her bloudy thoughts and guilty conscience for the same continually torture and torment her yet shee is so impious and gracelesse as shee no way feares the danger of the law and much lesse the severe tempest of Gods indignation and revenge which now notwithstanding in the middest of her security will according to her bloudy deserts and crimes suddenly surprise and overtake her for now this accident of her Lord Castelnovo's Murther and of the Lady Perina's imprisonment or to speake more properly and truly of Gods sacred decree and divine Iudgement throwes her into the sharp and bitter paines of travell for child with whose heart-killing gripes and convulsions she is so miserably tortured and tormented as shee her selfe her Mid. wife and all the women neere her judge and thinke it impossible for her to escape death when seeing no hope of life and that already her pangs and torments had made her but as it were the very image and anatomy of death shee beginnes to looke from Sinne to repentance from Earth to Heaven and from Satan to God and so taking on and assuming Christian resolution shee will not charge her soule with the concealing of this single Adultery much lesse of her double Murthers but very penitently confesseth all aâ—… well it as them and so commits her selfe to the unparalleld and mercilesse mercies of her paynes and torments hoping they will speedily send her from this world to a better But her Adultery and Murthers are such odious and execrable crimes in God sight as he will free her from these dangers of child-birth and because worthy will reserve her for a shamefull and infamous death So she is fafely delivered of a young son who is more faire then happy as being the off-spring of lascivious parents and the issue of an adulterous bed and by Gods providence and her owne confession shee for these her beastly and bloudy crimes is the second day committed to prison and the third hang'd and burnt in Nice and her ashes throwne into the aire A just reward and punishment for so hellish and inhumane a Gentlewoman who though otherwise shee shewed many testimonies and signes of Repentance at her end yet her crime were so foule and odious to the World as at her death shee was so miserable as shee found not one spectatour either to weepe for her or to lament or condolâ—… with her And now to shut up this History let us carry our curiosities and expectations froâ—… Nice to Chambery and from dead Ierantha to our living Perina where that grave and illustrious Senate in consideration of her famous chastity and singular affection to thâ—… Knight her husband as also her noble parentage and tender yeares they moderatâ—… the Sentence of Nice for murthering her Father in law Castelnovo and so in stead of hanging adjudge her there to have her right hand cut off and her selfe to perpetuall imprisonment in Nice where Gods sacred Iustice for this her bloudy Murther and the remembrance of her dead husband and living sorrowes so sharpely torment and afflict her as shee lived not long in Prison but exceedingly pined away of a languishing Consumption and so very sorrowfully and repentantly ended her dayes being exceedingly lamented of her kinsfolkes and pittyed of all her acquaintance and had not her affection beene blinded and her rage and Revenge too much triumphed o're her thoughts and resolutions shee had lived as happy as shee dyed miserable and have served for as great a grace and Ornament to her Countrey as Ierantha and old Castelnovo her father in law were a scandall and shame Thus we see how Gods revenging justice still meetes with Murther O that wee may reade this History with feare and profit thereby in reformation that dying to sinne and living to righteousnesse wee may peaceably dye in this World and gloriously live and raigne in that to come GODS REVENGE AGAINST THE CRYING AND EXEcrable sinne of Murther HISTORIE X. Bertolini seekes Paulina in marriage but she loves Sturio and not himselfe hee prayes her Brother Brellati his deare friend to sollicite her for him which he doth but cannot prevaile whereupon Bertolini lets fall some disgracefull speeches both against her honour and his reputation for which Brellati challengeth the Field of him where Bertolini kills him and hee flies for the same Sturio seekes to marry her but his father will not consent thereunto and so conveyes him away secretly for which two disasters Paulina dyes for sorrow Sturio findes out Bertolini and sends him a Challenge and having him at his mer cie gives him his life at his request hee afterwards very treacherously kills Sturio with a Petronell in the Street from a Window he is taken for this second Murther his two hands cut off then beheaded and his body throwne into the River ALbeit that Valour bee requisite in a Gentleman and one of his most essentiall vertues and proper ornaments yet sith Charity is the true marke and character of a Christian wee should not rashly resolve to hazzard the losse of our lives for the preservation of the meere title and vaine point of our honour but rather religiously endeavour to save our soules in that of our owne lives as also of those of our Christian brethren for in Duells and single Combats which though the heate of youth and revenge seeme to allow yet reason will not and Religion cannot did wee onely hazzard our bodies and not our soules then our warrant to fight were in earth as just as now the
at life see what bitter fruits and sharpe ends ever attend upon Whoredome and Murther it is a lively Example for all kinde of Empericks and Drugstâ—…rs whatsoever to consider how severely God doth infallibly revenge and punish the poysoning of his Saints and children In a word it is a Lesson and Caveat for all people and for all degrees of people but especially of Christians who professe the Gospell of Christ not only to detest these foule sins of Revenge and Murther in others but to hate and abhor them in their selves which that all may endeavour to practice and performe grant good God who indeed art the only giver of all goodnesse GODS REVENGE AGAINST THE CRYING AND Execrable Sinne of Murther HISTORY XII Albemare causeth Pedro and Leonardo to murther Baretano and hee after marriah Clara whom Baretano first sought to marry Hee causeth his man Valereo to poyson Pedro in Prison and by a letter which Leonardo sent him Clara perceives that hâ—… husband Albemare had hired and caused Pedro and Leonardo to murther her first Baretano which letter she reveales to the Iudge so he is hanged and likewise Valerio and Leonardo for these their blody crimes WIth what face can we presume to tread on the face of Earth or dare lift up our eyes to that of Heaven when our thoughts are so rebellious to conspire and our hearts and resolutions so cruell to embrue our hands in the innocent blood of our harmelesse and Christian brethren Thoughts they are which in seeming to please our senses poyson our hearts and doe therefore truely poyson our soules because they so falsly please our senses Resolutions they are which we cannot conceive or attempt with more inhumanity than finish with misery Sith in thinking to send them to their untimely graves wee assuredly send our selves to our owne miserable and infamous ends whereof in this ensuing History we shall find many wofull Presidents and mournefull examples in divers unfortunate and wretched persons who were borne to happinesse not to infamy to prosperity not to misery If they had so much Grace to secure their lives as Vanity and Impiety to ruine them It is a History purposely pâ—…duced and penned for our detestation not for our imitation Sith it is a point of true and happy wisdome in all men to beware by other mens harmes Read it then with a full intent to profit thy selfe thereby and so thou mayest boldly and safely rest assured that the sight of their sinnes and punishments will prove the reformation of thine owne FRuitfull and faire Lombardy is the Countrey and the great populous and rich City of Millan the Capitall of that Dutchie the place where the Scene of this mournefull and Tragicall History is layen where perpetrated The which to refetch from its first spring and Originall thereby the more truely to informe our curiosity and instruct our knowledge We must then understand that long since the Duke of Feria succeeded the Count De Fuentes as Vice-roy of that potent and flourishing Dutchie for King Philip the third of Spaine his master There was native and resident in that City an ancient Nobleman tearmed Seignior Leonardo Capello who in his younger yeares had married a Spanish Lady and brought her from Spaine to Millan tearmed Dona Maria de Castiana He exceeding rich and noble and shee as noble and faire he by his fathers side allied to Cardinall Charles Barromeo since Sainted by Pope Paul V. she by her mother to the present Duke of Albucurque hee infinitly honoured for his extraction and wealth shee no lesse beloved and respected for her beautie and vertues and although there are but few marriages contracted between the Millaneses and Spaniards and those very seldome prove successefull and prosperous in respect of the antipathy which for the most part is hereditary betwixt the commands of the Spaniards and the subjection of the Millaneses yet it seemed that this of Capello and Castiana was first instituted in heaven ere consummated on earth for so sweetly did their yeeres humours and affections conjoyne and sympathize as although thy were two persons yet I may truely affirme and say they had but one heart affection and desire which was mutually to please and reciprocally to affect and love each other And as Marriages cannot bee reputed truly happy and fortunate if they be not blessed and crowned with the blessings of children which indeed is not onely the sweetest life of humane content but also the best and sweetest content of our humane life so they had not beene long married ere God honoured them and their nuptiall bed with a beautifull and delicate and young daughter tearmed Dona Clara the onely childe of their loynes and heire of their lands and vertues being indeed the true picture of themselves and the joyfull pledge and seale of their intire and involuable affections who having overpast her infancy and obtained the eighteenth yeare of her age she was so exquisitely adorned with beauty and so excellently endued and enriched with vertues as distinctly for either or joyntly for both she was and was truely reputed the Paragon of Nature the pride of Beauty the wonder of Millan the glory of her Sex and the Phenix of her Time And because the purity and perfection of her beauty deserves to be seene through this dimme Perspective and the dignity of her vertues knowne of the Reader in this my impollished relation For the first she was of stature indifferently tall but exceeding streight and slender her haire either of a deepe Chesnut colour or rather of a light blacke But to which most adhearing and inclyning fancy mought but curiosity could difficultly distinguish her complexion and tincture rather of an amorous and lovely browne than of a Roseat and Lilly die but yet so sweetly pure and purely sweet and withall rather fat than leane that no earthly object could more delight and please the eye or ravish the sense And for her cies those two relucent lamps and startes of love they were so blacke and piercing that they had a secret and imperious influence to draw all other eyes to gaze and doe homage to hers as if all were bound to love her and shee so modest as if purposely framed to love none but her selfe Neither did her Front Lippes Necke or Paps any way detract but every way to adde to the perfection of her other excellencies of Nature For the first seemed to be the Promâ—…ntory of the Graces the second the Residence of delight and pleasure The third the Pyramides of State and Majesty And the fourth the Hills and Valley of love But leave we the dainties of her body now to speake of the rarities and excellencies of her mind which I cannot rightly define whether the curiositie and care of her parents in her education or her owne ingenious and apt inclination to Vertue and Honour were more predominant in her for in either or rather in both she was so exquisite and excellent that in Languages Singing
besought Leonardo and Valerio to forgive him in respect he knew he was the cause of their deaths because he was sure they should not long survive him He likewise forgave his foole as being assured that it was not hee in the Letter but God in him that had revealed the Letter for his just punishment and confusion And lastly he with many teares forgave his wife and Lady Clara whom hee affirmed from his heart was by farre too vertuous for so dissolute and vilde a husband as himselfe He blamed himselfe for neglecting to love her and cursed his Queans and Curtizans as being the chiefe cause of all his miseries when requesting all that were present to pray for his soule he was turned off But his Judges seeing that hee had added murther to murther they held it Justice to adde punishment to his punishment and so he is no sooner cut downe but they cause his body to be burnt and his ashes to be throwne into the aire which is accordingly performed Now because the Lord in his Justice will punish as well the Agents as the Authors of murther whiles Albemare is acting the last Scene and Catastrophe of his Tragedy His wretched hireling Leonardo and his execrable servant Valerio are likewise aâ—…ed found guilty and condemned to bee hang'd for their severall murthers oâ—… 〈◊〉 and â—…ro and so the very same afternoone they are brought to their Executioners where Leonardo his former life and profession having made him know better how to sinne than repent he out of a souldier-like bravery or rather vanity thinks rather to terrifie death than that death should terrifie him he begging pardon for his sinnes in generall of God and the world and then bidding the hang-man doe his office he takes his last adiew of the world When immediately Valerio ascends the ladder who having repentance in his heart and griefe and sorrow in his looks as neare as could be observed and gathered spake these words That being poore both in friends and means the only hope of preferment under his master made him at his request to poyson Pedro in prison That many times since he hath heartily grieved for it and now from his very soule repents himselfe of it and beseeching the Lord to forgive it him That hee was as guilty of this murther as innocent of Baretano's yea or of the knowledge thereof before his Master was imprisoned for the same and that as this was his first Capitall crime so sith he must nowdie he rejoyced it was his last and so praying all servants to beware by his miserable example not to be seduced to commit murther either by their masters or the devill and beseeching all that were present to pray for his soule he resigning and commending it into the hands of his Redeemer was likewise turned off And these were the miserable yet deserved ends of these bloudy murtherers and thus did Gods justice and revenge triumph over their crimes and themselves by heaping and raigning downe confusion on their heads from heaven when the devill falsely made them beleeve they sate secure yea when they least dreamt thereof on earth Oh that the sight and remembrance of their punishments may restraine and deterre us from conspiring and committing the like crimes so shall we live fortunate and die happy whereas they died miserably because they lived impiously and prophanely And here fully to conclude and shut up this Historie and therein as I thinke to give some satisfaction to the curiosity of the Reader who may perchance desire to know what became after of the faire and vertuous Clara. Why her sorrowes were so infinite and her quality and Nature so sorrowfull as being wearie of the world and as it were weighed downe with the incessant vanities crosses and afflictions thereof she notwithstanding the power and perswasions of her parents assumes her former resolution to retire sequester her selfe from conversing with the world and so enters into the Nunnery of the Annuntiation so famous in Millan where for ought I know or can since understand to the contrary she yet lives a pensive and solitary sister GODS REVENGE AGAINST THE CRYING AND Execrable Sinne of Murther HISTORY XIII La Vasselay poysoneth her waiting maid Gratiana because she is jealous that her husband De Merson is dishonest with her whereupon he lives from her In revenge whereof shee causeth his man La Villete to murther him in a Wood and then marries him in requitall The said La Villete a yeare after riding thorow the same Wood his horse fals with him and almost kils him when he confesseth the murther of his master De Merson and accuseth his wife La Vasselay to be the cause thereof So for these their bloudy crimes he is hanged and she burnt alive HOw falsly nay how impiously doe wee tearme our selves Christians when under that glorious and sanctified Title wee seeke to prophane and deface the glory of Christ in cruelly murthering our brethren his members effects not of Zeale but of Rage not of Pietie but of Madnesse invented by the Devill and perpetrated by none but by his Agents lamentable effects yea I say bloudy and infernall crimes which still ruine those who contrive and confound those who finish them For let us but looke from Earth to Heaven from Satan to God from Nature to Grace and from our Hearts to our Soules and wee shall assuredly finde it very difficult for vs to define whether Charitie be a sweeter Vertue or Malice a fouler Vice whether that be more secure or this pernicious fatall dangerous whether that be a more apparant testimony of Gods saving Grace towards us or this of our owne inevitable perdition and reprobation And as it is an odious sinne and displeasing sacrifice in the sight of God for a stranger to kill another O then how much more execrable and diabolicall must it be for a Gentlewoman to poyson her Waiting-maid and for a servant to pistoll his master to death at the instigation of the same Gentlewoman his wife for murthers no lesse ingratefull and cruell doth this subsequent History report and relate wherein we shall see that God in the Triumphs of his revenging Iustice and out of his sacred secret providence hath in all points made their punishments as sharpe and severe as their crimes were bloudy and deplorable May we then reade it to Gods glory and our owne consolation which we shall assuredly performe if we hate the like crimes in others and detest them in our selves IN the faire and pleasant City of Mans being the chiefe and Capitall of the Province of Maine in France in the very latter yeares that the Marshall of Boys-Daulphin was Governour thereof under the present King Lewes XIII his master there dwelt a Gentlewoman aged of threescore and three yeares termed La Vasselay being well descended and left very rich as well in lands as moveables by her late deceased husband Monsier Froyset who was slaine in the behalfe of the Queene
his wits in Prison he there confesseth his foule and inhumane murther for the which he is hanged IF we did not wilfully make ourselves miserable God is so indulgent and mercifull to us as hee would make us more happy but when with high and presumptuous hands wee violate the Lawes of Nature and Grace of Earth and Heaven in murthering through Envie those whom through Duty and affection wee are bound to obey honour cherish and preserve then it is no marvell because we first forsooke God that he after abandoneth us to our selves and sins and to the fruits thereof Calamity Misery Infamy and Perdition and that we may see humane cruelty to be justly met with and punished by Gods upright and divine Justice Loe here in this ensuing History we shall see a wretched sonne kill his harmlesse and deare mother A very fearefull and lamentable Parracide a most cruell and execrable fact for the which we shall see him rewarded with condigne punishment and with a sharpe and infamous death although not halfe so deplorable as deserved It is a bitter and bloudy History the relation and remembrance whereof in the most barbarous and flinty hearts is capable not only to ingender compassion but compunction yea not onely contrition but teares at least if we have any place left in us for Pitty or roome for Piety the which if we have doubtlesse the end of our reading will not onely blesse but crowne the beginning and the beginning the end thereof VPon the North-east side of the Lake Leman vulgarly knowne and called the Lake of Geneva because it payes its full tribute and makes its chiefest Rendezvous before that City whereof it invironeth at least one third part There stands a pretty small and strong towne distant a little dayes journey from it termed Morges which properly belongs to the jurisdiction of Berne one of the chiefest Cantons of that warlike people and Country of Swisserland wherein of very late yeares and recent memory there dwelt a rich and honest Burger or Burgemaster for of Gentry those parts and people are not because they will not bee capable named Martin Halsenorfe who by his wife Christina Snuytsaren had one only childe a sonne named Maurice Halsenorfe now of some fourteene yeare old whose father although hee were by profession a souldier and enrolled a Lieutenant to one of those Auxiliary Bands of that Countrey which are in pay to the French King yet neverthelesse his chiefest ambition and care was to make this sonne of his a scholler because the Ignorance and illiterature of his owne age made him to repent it in himselfe and therefore to provide a remedy thereof in his sonnes youth sith hee now knew and saw that a man without learning was either as a body without a soule or a soule without knowledge and reason which are her chiefest vertues and most sacred Ornaments and Excellencies So hee brings him up to their owne Grammar Schoole in Morges where in some three or foure yeares his affection and care to study makes him so good a Proficient as hee becomes not onely skilfull but perfect therein and almost as capable to teach his Schoole-master as hee was to instruct him yea and to adde the better Grace to the Grace of that Art hee was of so milde and so modest a carriage and the blossomes of his youth were so sweetly watred with the Heavenly dew of Vertue and Piety as if his manners and himselfe were wholly composed thereof so that for Learning and Goodnesse hee was and was justly reputed not onely the Mirrour but the Phoenix of all the youth of Morges and as he esteemed himselfe happy in his Parents so they reciprocally hold themselves not onely happy but blessed in this their sonne but because the inherent corruption of our Nature and the perversenesse and multiplicity of our sinnes are such as they cannot promise us any true joy much lesse assured and permanent felicity so the Sunne-shine of this their Temporary content equally divided in thirds betwixt the Father Mother and Sonne will shortly receive a great Eclipse and a fatall disaster which will bee to them so much the more bitter and mournfull sith both the cause and effects thereof were of each of them unthought of of them all unexpected For God in his saâ—…red decree and providence seeing Martin Halsenorfe the father his strength arrived at his full Meridian and height and his dayes to their full number and period He as he sate at dinner jocund and merry with his wife and sonne is suddenly taken with a deadly swoone which presently deprives his body of this life and sends his soule to enjoy the sweet felicity and sacred joy and immortality of the life to come A Document which may teach us not to relie upon the rotten privileges and strength of youth but so to prepare our lives that death at all places and in all times maystill finde us armed and ready to encounter it A Document which may teach us with the erected eyes as well of our faith as body so to looke from Earth to Heaven that our soules be not onely ready but willing to forsake this stinking Tabernacle and prison of our mortality to flie and be admitted into Heaven that Heavenly Ierusalem and Celestiall City where they may enjoy the blessed Communion of the Saints and the greatest blessings of all joyes and the most soueraigne joy of all blessings then to see our Creator and Saviour God the Father and Christ Iesus his Sonne face to face wherein indeed all the joyes and blessings of our soules are comprised and included The death of Halsenorfe the father is not onely the Argument but the cause of his widdow Christinâ—…'s griefe of his sonne Maurice his sorrow of her teares and groanes of his sighs and afflictions yea and not to derrogate from the Truth I may step a degree farther and say that this his death is a fatall herauld and mournfull harâ—…inger which pâ—…rtends and prepares both of them many disasterous calamities and wofull miseries the which in a manner are almost ready to surprise and befall them This sorrowfull widdow being thus deprived of her deare Husband who was both her comfort and her joy her stay and her Protector her Head and her glory although hee left her a good Estate sufficient enough to warrant her against the feare of poverty and to secure herselfe against the apprehension of worldly Indigence and wherewithall to maintaine both her and her sonne with somewhat more than an indifferent competency yet she saw her friends forsake her and her Husbands familiar acquaintance abandon her as if their friendship died with him and that their remembrance of him was wholly raked up and buried in the dust of his grave A most ingratefull disease and iniquity of our time rather to be pitied than cured and reproved than reformed so fading inconstant are the unfriendly friendships of the world who for the most part are grounded on profit not on
forgets all other projects and affaires to follow and hasten on this which to give one word for all takes up both his study and his time in Losanna casting away his bookes which would seeme to divert him from it as if hee courted Pluto not Apollo Proserpina not Pallas Erynnis not Vrania the Furies not the Muses and as afflictions seldome come alone but many times as the waves of the sea fall one in the necke of another so to make him rather advance than retire in the execution of this his unnaturall and damnable attempt his excessive and frequent drunkennesse makes him so notoriously apparant to the Heads of the University in generall and of his owne Colledge in particular that they give him his Conge and without lending any eare to his Apologie or Justification expell him thence So that being now destitute of all friends and meanes he is enforced to see himselfe reduced to this point of misery that hee must either begge or starve which to prevent because he as much disdaines the first as hee is resolved to provide a remedy for the second he leaves Losanna where his vices and debts have made the stones too hot for him and on foot goes home to his Mother to Morges hoping that his presence may prevaile more with her than his absence and his tongue make that easie which his pen in his Letters found not onely difficult but impossible Being arrived at Morges his loving and indulgent Mother receives him with teares not of joy but of griefe for his drunkennesse hath so deformed his face and body as at the first sight shee difficultly knew him to bee her sonne and although he take paines to conceale that beastly vice of his and so to plaister and varnish it over with a fained shew of repentance and reformation yet she sees to her affliction and observes to her misery that he loves his Cups better than his life and that as soone as she once turnes her backe from him he fals close to them and so tipleth and carouseth from Morning to Night Three dayes are scarce past before he makes two requests to her the one for new clothes the other for money when to the end that her wisdome might shine in her affection as well as her affection in her wisdome she cheerefully grants him the first but peremptorily denies him the second because shee well knowes it would bee so much cast away on him sith he would instantly cast it away on Wine and to write the truth the grant of his apparell doth not so much content him as the refusall of â—…er money doth both afflict and inflame him He is all in choller hereat and the fumes of revenge doth so implacably take up seize upon his thoughts and they on it as now without the feare of God or care of his soule hee like a damnable villaine and an execrable Sonne swaps a bargaine with the Devill to destroy and make away his mother Hellish resolutions and infernall conceits which will not onely strangle those who embrace but confound those who follow them his impietie made him formerly assume this bloudy fact and now his necessity want of mony in that he cannot as it were drowne himselfe in the excesse of drunkennesse enforceth him to a resolution to finish it His faith is so weak towards God and so strong with the Deuill as hee will not retire with Grace but advance with impiety to see as well the end as the beginning of this bloudy businesse He consults hereon with his delight not with his reason with his will not with his Conscience with his heart not with his soule Hee sees hee hath no money and knowes or at least beleeves that his mother hath enough and therefore concludes that if shee were once dead it were impossible that his life should want any So these two wretched Councellors Covetousnesse and Drunkennesse or rather Covetousnesse to maintaine his Drunkennesse like two infernall fiends and furies haule him on head-long to perpetrate this bloudy and mournfull murther of his deare and tender Mother the end whereof will bring him as much true misery and infamy as the beginning doth flatter and promise him false content and happinesse his youth hath no regard to her age and lesse to her Life neither will he vouchsafe to remember that he first received his of her yea all the bloud which flowes in his heart and streames in his veines and body cannot any way have the power to prompt him that it is derived and descended from hers And if Morges will not divert him Losanna should if his yeares cannot instruct him yet his bookes might and if Nature prevailed not with his heart yet mee thinkes Grace should with his Conscience to represent him the foulenesse of this attempt and the unnaturall cruelty thereof in resolving to embrew his diabolicall hands in her innocent bloud or if the influence of these earthly considerations could not allay the heat of his malice or quench the fire of his revenge towards her yet me thinks looking from prophanenesse to piety from Earth to Heaven from the time present to the future from the corruption of his Body to the immortality of his Soule from Sin to Righteousnesse from Revenge to Religion and consequently from Satan to God he should hate this bloudy designe and project of his as much as now he loves it and seeke the preservation of his Mother with as much obedience and affection as now he contrives and pursues her untimely end with impiety and detestation But his Vices will still triumph over his Vertues and therefore it is rather to bee feared than doubted that they will in the end make him too miserable ever to see himselfe so happy Miserable Maurice therefore as the shame of his time the disgrace of his sex and a prodigious monster of Nature having hellishly resolved on the matter now with a devillish fortitude and hellish assurance passeth on to the manner of her Tragedy Hee will not give eare to God who seekes to divert him from it but will hearken to the devill who useth his best Oratory to perswade and entice him to it But as the devill is malicious in his subtilty so should we be both wise and cautious in our credulity for if we beleeve him he will betray us but if we beleeve God we shall then betray him he is impatient of delayes yea his malice is so bloudy and his revenge so cruell as hee thinkes every houre a yeare till he hath sent her from Earth to Heaven He proposeth unto himselfe divers wayes to murther her and the devill who is never absent but present in such hellish occasions makes him as well industrious as undictive and implacable in the contriving and finishing thereof Now he thinks to cut her throat as she is in bed Then to poyson her at table either in her meat or drinke Then againe hee is of opinion to hire some to kill her as shee is walking in
both accuseth 〈◊〉 condemneth himselâ—… for the same For the very Image of that conceit 〈◊〉 his 〈◊〉 â—…s his feaâ—… did his phrensie and madnesse hee in thâ—… 〈◊〉 of those fiâ—…s aâ—… the height of that Agony and Anxietie driâ—… out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 my Mâ—…ther in the Well I have drowned 〈…〉 he suffer you to hang me I speake it on Earth and by my part of Heaven what 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is true Which words 〈◊〉 sooner esâ—…aped his 〈◊〉 â—…ut he â—…nstantly â—…nes againe to his out-cries of phreâ—… and madnesse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—…d the rest 〈◊〉 â—…ed at these fearefull 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which 〈◊〉 that they attribute to madnesse yet they lead him to the Hospitall he still raving and crying as hee passeth the streets But oh Let us here farther admire with wonder and wonder with admiration at the providence and mercy of God here againe miraculously made apparent and manifested in this execrable wretch Maurice for he who outragiously cryed in his prison and licentiously raved in the street is no sooner entred into the Hospitall but the pleasure of God had so ordained it as his Madnesse fully fals from him and he absolutely recovereth againe his wits and senses in such firme and setled manner as if he had never formerly beene touched or afflicted therewith His Gaolers make report to the Magistrates first of his confession of drowning his Mother and then of his sudden and miraculous recovering of his perfect memory judgement and senses as soone as hee set foot within the Hospitall Whereupon they as much astonished at the one as wondring at the other doe instantly repaire thither to him and there arraigne and accuse him for that inhumane and bloudy fact of his whereof his owne Evidence and Confession hath now made him guilty But they take him for another or at least hee will not be the same man He denies this horrible and bloudy crime of his with many oaths and asseverations which they maintaine and affirme he hath confessed sayes that they either heard a dreame or saw a Vision whereof hee neither dreamt not thought of and that hee was ready to lose all the bloud and life of his body to finde out and to be revenged of the murtherers of his mother But the Magistrates are deafe to his Apologie and considering the violence of his madnesse by its sudden abandoning him as also his free and uninforced confession of drowning his Mother they conceive that Gods providence and Justice doth strongly operate in the detection of this foule and inhumane murther and therfore contemning his requests and oaths in the vindication of his innocency they cause him to bee refetched from the Hospitall to the Prison and there adjudge him to the Racke when although his heart and soule bee terrified and affrighted with his apprehension and accusation Yet the devill is so strong with him as he cannot yet finde in his heart to relent much lesse to repent this foule and inhumane crime of his but considering that he acted it so secretly as all the world could not produce a witnesse against himselfe except himselfe hee vowes he will bee so impious and prophane in his fortitude and courage as to disdaine these his torments and to looke on them and his Tormentor with an eye rather of contempt than feare But God will be as propitious and indulgent to him as he is rebellious and refractory to God for here we shall see both his Conscience and resolutions taught another rule and prescribed a contrary Law yea here we shall behold and observe in him that now Righteousnesse shall triumph over Siâ—…e Grace over Nature his Soule over his Body Heaven over Hell and GOD over Satan for at the very first sight of the Racke the sight and remembrance of his bloudy crime makes him shake and tremble extremely when his soule being illuminated by the resplendant Sun beames of Gods mercy and the foggie mists of Hell and Satan expelled and banished thence he fals to the ground on his knees first beats his brest and then erecting his eyes and hands towards Heaven he with a whole deluge of teares againe confesseth that hee had drowned his mother in the Well from and for the which he humbly craveth remission both from Earth and Heaven And although there bee no doubt but God will forgive his Soule for this his soule murther yet the Magistrates of Morges who have Gravity in their lookes Religion in their hearts and speecheâ—… and Justice in their actions will not pardon his body so in detestation of this his fearefull crime and inhumane parracide they in the morning condemne him that very after-noone to be hanged At the pronouncing of which sentence as he hath reason to approve the equity of their Iustice in condemning him to die so he cannot refraine from grieving at the strictnesse of the time which they allot him fot his preparation to death But as soone as wee forsake the devill we make our peace with God All Morges and Losanna rings of this mournefull and Tragicall newes and in detestation of this mournefull inhumane and bloody crime of our execrable Maurice they flocke from all parts and streets to the place of execution to see him expiate it by his dearh and so to take his last farewell of his life The Divines who are given him for fortifying and assisting his soule in this her flight and transmigration from Earth to Heaven have religiously prevailed with him so as they make him see the foulenesse of his crime in the sharpenesse of his contrition and repentance for the same yea hee is become so humble and withall so sorrowfull for this his bloody and degenerate offence as I know not whether hee thinke thereof with more griefe or remember it wirh detestation and repentance At his ascending the Ladder most of his Spectators cannot refraine from weeping and the very sight of their teares prooves the Argument of his as his remembrance of murthering his Mother was the cause Hee tells them hee grieves at his very soule for the foulenesse of his fact in giving his Mother her death of whom he had received his life He affirmes that Drunkennesse was not onely the roote but the cause of this his beggery and misery of his crime and punishment and of his deboshed life and deserved death from which with a world of sighes and teares hee seekes and endevours to divert all those who affect and practise that beastly Vice He declares that his Mother was too vertuous so soone to goe out of the world and himselfe too vitious and wirhall too cruell any longer to live in it that the sinnes of his life had deserved this his shamefull death and although he could not prevent the last yet that he heartily and sorrowfully repented the first Hee prayed God to be mercifull to his soule and then besought the world to pray unto God for that mercy when speaking a few words to himselfe and sealing them with
many teares and farre fetched sighes he lastly bids the world farewell when enviting the Executioner to doe his Office he is turned over And such was the vitious life and deserved death of this Execrable Sonne and bloody Villaine Maurice wherein I must confesse that although his end were shamefull and sharpe yet it was by farre too too milde for the foulenesse of his crime in so cruelly murthering his deere Mother Christina whom the Lawes both of Nature and Grace commanded him to preserve and cherish Yea let all Sonnes and Daughters of all ages and ranckes whatsoever looke on this bloody and disasterous example of his with feare and feare to commit the like by the sight of his punishment It is a History worthy both of our meditation and detestation whether we cast our eyes on his drunkennesse or fix our thoughts and hearts on his murther Those who love and feare God are happy in their lives and fortunate in their deaths but those who will neither feare nor love him very seldome proove fortunate in the one never happy in the other and to the rest of our sins if wee once consent and give way to adde that scarlet and crying one of Murther that blood which we untimely send to Earth will in Gods due time draw downe vengeance on our Heads from Heaven Charity is the marke of a Christian and the shedding of Innocent blood either that of an Infidell an Atheist or a Devill O therefore let us affect and strive to hate it in others and so wee shall the better know how to detest and abhorre it in our selves which that we may all know to our comforts and remember to our consolaâ—…itions direct us O Lord our God and so we shall bee directed FINIS THE TRIVMPHS OF GODS REVENGE AGAINST THE CRYING AND Execrable Sinne of Murther Expressed In thirty severall Tragicall Histories digested into six Bookes which containe great variety of mournfull and memorable Accidents Amorous Morall and Divine Booke IV. Written by IOHN REYNOLDS LONDON ¶ Printed by Iohn Haviland for VVILLIAM LEE and are to be sold at his shop in Fleetstreet at the signe of the Turks-Head neere the Mitre Taverne 1634. TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE PHILIP EARLE OF PEMBROKE and Montgomery Lo. Chamberlaine to the King one of the Lords of his Majesties most Honourable Privie Counsell and Knight of the most Noble Order of the Garter RIGHT HONOURABLE HAving formerly dedicated the third Book of these my Tragicall Histories of Gods Revenge against Murder to your Incomparable Lord and Brother William Earle of Pembroke who now lives with God I therefore held my selfe bound by the double obligation of my duty and your own generous merits likewise to present this Fourth Booke to your Protection and Patronage because as England so Europe perfectly knowes that you are as true an heire to his Vertues as to his Fortunes and to his Goodnesse as to his Greatnesse and that therfore it may properly be said he is not dead because they as well as himselfe do still survive and live in you with equall lustre and glory as having made either a happie Metamorphosis or a blessed Transmigration into your Noble breast and resolutions and therefore as it was my sincere respects and zeale to his Honour that then drew me to that ambition so it is entirely the same which hath now both invited and induced me to this prâ—…sumption to your Lordship having no other ends or object in this my Dedication but that this booke of mine having the honour to be countenanced by so great a personage and the felicity to be protected by so honourable a Mecaenas may therefore encounter the more safely with the various humors it shall meet with and abide more securely the different censures of this our too fastidious age How these Histories or the memorable accidents which they containe and relate will relish with your Lordships palate or judgement I know not Only because you are a Noble Son of Gods Church and an Excellent Servant to your Prince and Countrey I therfore rather hope than presume that your Honor will at least be pleased to see if not delight to know and consider how the Triumphs of Gods Revenge and punishments doth herein secretly and providently meet with this crying and scarlet sinne of premeditated Murther and with the bloudy and inhumane Perpetrators thereof who hereby as so many mercilesse Butchers and prodigious Monsters of mankind doe justly make themselves odious to Men and execrable to God and his Angels God hath deservedly honoured your Lordship with the favour of two great Earthly Kings your Soveraignes as first of our royallKing Iames the father and now of our present most Renowned King Charles his Son and yet this externall Honour and favour of theirâ—… is no way so glorious to you as that maugre the reigning vices of the world you serve the true God of heaven in the purity of your heart and feare and adore him in the integrity of your Soule And to represent you with naked Truth and not with Eloquence or Adulation This Heavenly Piety of yours I beleeve is the prime reason and true Essentiall cause of all this your earthly Honour and sublunary Greatnesse and that this is it likewise which doth so rejoyce your heart and inrich and replenish your House with so numerous and Noble an Issue of hopefull and flourishing Children who as so many Olive branches of Vertue and Syents and Plants of Honour doe both inviron your Bed and surround your Table and who promise no lesse than futurely to magnifie the bloud and to perpetuate and immortalize the Illustrious Name and Family of the Herberts to all Posterity Goe on resolutely and constantly Noble Lord in your religious Piety to God and in your Candide and unstained Fidelity to your Prince and Countrey that your life may triumph o're your death and your Vertues contend to out-shine your Fortunes and that hereafter God of his best favour and mercy may make you as blessed and as glorious a Saint in Heaven as now you are a great Peere and Noble Pillar here on Earth which none shall pray for with more true zeale nor desire or wish with more reall and unfained affection than Your Honours devoted and Most humble Servant Iohn Reynolds The Grounds and Contents of these Histories History XVI Idiaques causeth his sonne Don Ivan to marrie Marsillia and then commits Adultery and Incest with her She makes her Father in Law Idiaques to poyson his old wife Honoria and likewise makes her owne brother De Perez to kill her Chamber-maid Mathurina Don Ivan afterwards kils De Perez in a Duell Marsillia hath her braiâ—… dasht out by a horse and her body is afterwards condemned to be burnt Idiaques is beheaded his body consumed to ashes and throwne into the ayre History XVII Harcourt steales away his brother Vimoryes wife Masserina and keepes her in Adulterie She hireth Tivoly an Italian Mountebanke to poyson La Precoverte who was Harcourts wife
was a crying Sinne which despight of sorcery and of Hell would in Gods due time draw downe vengeance to Earth from Heauen on their Authors That if he were guiltie of his accusation he had no better plea than confession nor safer remedie than repentance That contrition is the true marke of a true Servant of God and though we fall to Nature and sinne as being men yet wee should rise againe to grace and righteousnesse as being Christians That to deny our Crimes is to augment them and consequently their punishments both in Earth and in Hell and that he was not a Christian but an Infidell who would attempt to save his life with the losse of his soule with many other religious exhortations concurring and looking that way But all this notwithstanding Idiaques his Faith and Conscience was yet so strong with Sathan and therefore so weake with God that he left no excuse policy or evasion uninvented to bleare the eyes of these Corigadors and so to make his innocency to passe current with them But his eloquence and asseverations cannot prevaile with the solidity of their Iudgements for God will not suffer them to bee led away with words nor seduced or deluded with shadowes But from the circumference of circumstances they now flie to the centre of truth and to the Authour and giver yea to the life and soule thereof God So they againe adjudge him to the rack for his second accusation of Murther as they formerly had done to him for his first At the pronouncing of which sentence If wee may judge of his heart by his face hee seemed to be much afflicted appaled and daunted which his Iudges perceiving before they expose him to his torments they in Honour to his Age and qualitie but farre more to Truth and Iustice whom they know to be two Daughters of Heaven they now hold it a point of Charity and Piety to send him two Diuines to his prison to worke upon his Conscience and Soule which they doe And God in the depth of his goodnesse and the richnesse of his mercy was so mercifully propitious and indulgent to him that hee added such efficacy to their perswasions and power to their exhortations as at the very sight of the racke hee with teares in his eyes then and there confessed unto them That hee was innocent of Mathurinaes murther but guiltie of poisoning his owne wife the Ladie Honoria for the which he said he most heartily and sorrowfully repented himselfe Whereupon his Iudges and the rest present admiring with wonder and praising God with admiration for the detection of this his foule bloody and lamentable crime they pronounce sentence against him That for expiation thereof hee at eight of the clocke the next morning shall have his head cut off at the place of common execution in that Towne When Idiaques who yet adhered so much to Satâ—…an that hee could never be devested of his mortall sinnes before he were first deprived of his sinfull life doth yet still flatter himselfe with some further hope of life and so hee appeales from the judgement and sentence of this Court of Coimbra to that of Santarem as being native and resident thereof as also because he committed his murther there for which they not his competent Iudges adjudged him to death Whereat although the Corigadors of Coimbra for the preservation of the priviledges of their Court and Towne doe obstinately expose and vehemently contest it yet at last well knowing and being conscious with themselves that smaller Townes and Courts in Portugall are bound and subject to depend of the greater They therefore making a vertue of necessitie and contenting themselves to give way to that which they cannot remedie doe ordaine that Idiaques should bee conveighed and tryed at Santarem But yet before they suffer him to depart their Towne they in honour to Iustice in wisedome to themselves and in reputation to their Towne and Court doe seriously and religiously charge him in the name and feare of God to declare truly to them whether his unburyed Daughter in Law Marsillia were not likewise accessary with him in poysoning his Wife the Lady Honoria which at first he strongly denies to them But then they send away for the two Divines who had formerly dealt with him and his Conscience in Prison who exhort him to carrie a white and candyd soule to Heaven and threaten him with the torments of Hell fire if hee doe not When with sighes and teares he confesseth that to them and that it was hee himselfe who administred that poyson to his wife but that his daughter in Law Marsillia bought it for him So these Iudges upon the validity of this free and solemne confession in detestation of this her lamentable crime doe reverently resolve to second and glorifie God in his Iudgements towards her and therefore they presently condemne her dead body to bee burnt that afternoone in their market street the common place of execution which accordingly is then and there performed in presence of a great concourse of people who infinitly rejoyce that God so miraculously destroyed the life and their Iudges the body of so execrable a female Monster By this time we must allow and imagine that our old Lecher and new murthere Idiaques by vertue of his appeale is brought to his owne City of Santarem and I thinke either with a ridiculous hope or a prophane and impious resolution to see whether God will punish him there with death or the Divell preserve and save him from it Hee hath many friends in this Court who are both great and powerfull and therefore builds all his hopes of life on this reeling quicksand this snow this nothing that his great estate of money and lands will undoubtedly act wonders with them for his pardon But still he hopes because still the divell deceives him He is arrived here at Santarem where this faire Citie which might heretofore have proved his delight and glory is now reserved for his shame and appointed and destined for his confusion They cannot brook the sight much lesse the cohabitation and company of such monsters of nature and divels incarnat of men who glory in making themselves guilty of these soule sinnes and crying crimes Adultery Incesâ—… Murther So that Idiaques who hath made himselfe a principall of this number and a monster of Art in these sinnes thinking here in Santarem to find more mercy and pity during his life shall find lesse of both of them after his death For the criminall Iudges of this Court who reverence and honour Iustice because Iustice doth daily and reciprocally performe the like to them doe confirme the sentence of Coimbra that the next morne he shall lose his head but in detestation and execration of these his foule and bloody crimes they adde this clause and condition thereto that both his head and body shall be afterwards burnt and his ashes throwne into the ayre which gives maatter of talke and admiration not onely to Santarem
but to all Portugall And thus most pensively and disconsolately is Idiaques reconveyed to his prison where Church-men are sent him by the Iudges of that court to direct his soule in her slight and transsiguration from earth to Heaven whom they finde or at least â—…hey make very humble mournefull and repentant According to which sentence he is the next morning brought to the place of execution which for the greater example and terrour to others and of ignominy to himselfe was before his owne house wherein he had acted and perpetrated all his enormous crimes Where the scaffold is no sooner erected but there flocke an infinite number of people from all parts of the City to be spectators of this last scene of his Tragedy He came to the scaffold betweene two Friers in a sute of blacke Taffeta a gowne of blacke wrought tuffe Taffeta and a great white set ruffe which yet could not be whiter than his broad beard At his ascent on the scaffold his grave aspect and presence engendred as much sorrow pity as his beastly crimes did detestation in the hearts and tongues of the people to whom after hee had a short time kneeled downe and prayed he made a short speech to this effect That although the poysoning of his owne wife and his adultery with his sons wife were crimes so odious and execrable as had made him unworthy any longer either to tread on earth or to look up unto Heaven yet although he deserved no favour of his Judges for his bodie he humbly repented and begged some of God for his soule and for the more effectuall obtaining thereof hee zealously prayed all those who were present to joyne their prayers to his Hee confessed that it was Marsillia's beauty which first at the instigation of the devill drew him to that adultery with her and this poysoning of his owne wife Honoria whereof from his heart and soule he now affirmed hee implored remission of God of the Law of his sonne Don Ivan and of all the world and prayed them all to be more godly and lesse sinfull by his example and so kneeling downe and praying a little whiles to himselfe he rose up and putting of his gowne ruffe and doublet which hee gave to the Executioner hee binding his head and eyes with his handkerchiefe bade him doe his office which he presently performed and with one blow of the sword made a perpetuall double divorce betwixt his head and his shoulders his body and his soule when presently according to his sentence both his head and his body were then and there burnt and consumed to fire and his ashes throwne into the ayre And this was the deplorable life and death of De Perez Idiaques and Marsillia of whom the spectators according to their severall humours and affections spake diversly all condemning the bloudy cruelty of De Perez towards innocent Mathurina and of Idiaques towards his vertuous wife Honoria Againe some pitied and others execrated Marsillia's youth beauty and lust but both sexes and all degrees of people as so many lines terminating in one Center magnified the providence and Justice of God in so miraculously and condignly cutting off these monsters of nature and bloudy butchers of mankinde And if the curiosity of the Reader will yet farther enquire what afterwards became of Don Ivan The reports of him are different for as first I heard that his discontent and griefe was so great yea so extreame for the death of his Parents and wife that he cloistered himselfe up a Capuchin Fryer in their Monastery at Madrid So contrariwise I have since credibly beene enformed that he shortly after these disasters left Spaine and still lives in Santarem in Portugall in great honour welfare and prosperity But which of these his resolutions are most inclining and adherent to the truth it passeth beyond my knowledge and therefore shall come too short of my affirmation GODS REVENGE AGAINST THE CRYING AND Execrable Sinne of Murther HISTORY XVII Harcourt steales away Masserina his brother Vimoryes wife and keepes her in Adulterie She hireth Tivoly an Italian Mountebanke to poyson La Precoverte who was Harcourts wife Harcourt kils his brother Vimory and then marries his widdow Masserina Tivoly is hanged for a robbery and at his execution accuseth Masserina for hiring him to poyson La Precoverte for the which shee is likewise hanged Noel who was Harcourts man on his death-bed suspecteth and accuseth his said Master for killing of his brother Vimory whereof Harcourt being found guilty he is broken alive on a wheele for the same MAn being the Workemanship and figurative Image of God what an odious sinne yea what an execrable crime is it therefore for one out of the heate of his malice or fumes of his revenge to poyson or murther another sith Nature doth stronglie impugne and Grace with a high hand infinitely contradict it Therefore were not our hearts and understandings either wholly deprived of Common sence or our soules of the gratious assistance and favour of God wee would not thus so furiously and prophanely make our selves guilty of these infernall sins but rather with our best endevours would seeke to avoid them as Hell and with our most pious resolutions to hate and detest them as the Divell himselfe who is the prime Authour and Actor thereof But some such monsters of Nature and Disciples of Sathan there are here on Earth A fearefull and lamentable Example whereof this ensuing History will shew us The which may all good Christians read to Gods glory and remember to the instruction of their Soules THere is a parish tearmed Saint Symplician a mile from the Citie of Sens in the Dutchy of Burgundy which is honoured with the title and See of an Archbishop where within these few yeares there dwelt and died an aged Gentleman more Noble by birth than rich in Estate and Demaynes termed Monseiur De Vimory who left onely two sonnes behinde him the eldest named Monâ—…eiur Dâ—… Harcourt and the second Monseiur De Hautemont who were two very proper young Gentlemen excellently well bred and qualified as well in Arts as Armes or in any other vertue or perfection which was requisite both to shew and approve themselves to bee the sonnes of their father And to content my Reader with their characters Harcourt was tall but not well favoured but of a milde and singular good disposition Hautemont was of a middle stature neatly timbred of a sweet and amiable countenance but by nature hasty and head-strong Harcourt had a light Aubrnn beard which like a Countrey Gentleman he wore negligently after the Ovall cut Hautemont had a coale blacke beard which Courtier-like he wore in forme of an invaled Pyramides Harcourt was thirty two yeares of age very chaste and honest Hautemont was twenty five but many times given to women and ready to bee deboshed and drawne away by any though but of an indifferent quality and complexion To Harcourt the eldest son their father gave his
Rings from him out of a cupboarde the locke whereof he cunningly pickt and shut againe vallued at foure thousand Crownes and the same night fled upon that robbery towards Mascon thinking there to put himselfe on the River of Soan and so to slip downe to Lyons and from thence over the Alps into Italy De Boys makes a speedy and curious research for his thiefe whom as yet he could not finde or discover When hearing of this Mountebancke Tivolie his sodaine departure and flight he takes him to bee his thiefe pursues him in person and within foure leagues of Mascon apprehends him having to that end brought two Provosts or Sheriffes men with him in their Coats with their pistolls at saddle bow to assist him De Boys findes many of the Iewels and Rings about Tivoly and divers others wanting the which he could never recover So being brought backe to Sens hee was first imprisoned and then examined by the Senshall and the Procurer Fiscall When having neither cause nor colour to deny this robbery of his hee therefore freely confessed it the devill still assuring or rather betraying his hopes confidence and Iudgement That it is very possible and he thinkes very probable and feaseable to corrupt his Iudges with some of the Iewels which hee had closly conceald and hid about him But he shall speedily see the contrary For they seeing this Itallian Empericke by his owne confession guilty of this great and remarkeable robbery they condemne him to bee hâ—…nged the very next day for the same So having a Cordelier or Gray Fryer sent him that night to pryson to prepare his soule for Heaven Hee the next morning according to his sentence of condemnation is brought to his execution Where on the Ladder he to free his Conscience and soule doth constantly and sorrowfully Confesse that hee had formerly poysoned Madamoyselle La Precoverte daughter to Monseiur de La Vaquery of Troyes and that he was hired to doe it by the Lady Masserina of whom at Pougges he received two hundred and fifty Crownes and a small Saphir Ring to performe it as also fifty Crownes more which she gave him for his charges from Nivers to Troyes and so hee dies in the constant confession of this his foule and lamentable murder and is hanged for his Robbery and his body afterwards burnt for destroying and poysoning of this young Gentlewoman La Precoverte whom many Gentlemen and Ladies there present well knew and exceedingly bewayled for the goodnesse of her sweet nature and pure beauty as also for the excellencie of her honourable perfections and religious vertues And although the Spectators of this wretch Tivoly his death expected some speech from him at the taking of his last farewell of this world yet besides his former confession hee spake nothing but mumbled out some few words to himselfe which were not understood And thus he lived wretchedly as he dyed miserably giving no testimony of his contrition or sorrow to the World or of any sparke of griefe or repentance towards God Now before his body was fully consumed to ashes This our Wretched and bloudy Gentlewoman Masserina together with her old Lover but new Husband Harcourt are by order of the Judges of Sens apprehended and taken prisoners in their owne house of Saint Simplician as they were walking and Kissing together without any thought of danger muchlesse of death They hereat looke each on other with griefe and astonishment especially Masserina who understanding by some of those that apprehend them That it was the Italian Mountebanke Tivoly who at his execution accused her but not her Husband Harcourt for having and causing him to poyson her Sister La Precoverte shee then sees her selfe to bee a dead woman and no hope left her in the world of her life But every way a firme assurance and confidence of her death yet seeing Tivoly dead she resolves to stand upon her Iustification Shee is all in teares at this her lamentable disaster curseth the name and memory of Tivoly for ruining her with himselfe and now when it is too late shee blames herselfe of indiscretion for neglecting and not dealing effectually with Tivoly in prison to conceale this her fact and name As for her Husband Harcourt hee knowing himselfe absolutely Innocent of this murther hee grieves not for the death of his first wife La Precoverte but now extreamely mourneth and lamenteth to thinke of this of his second wife Masserina for live hee feares she cannot He bids her yet bee of good comfort and whispereth her secretly in her eare that hee will give all his estate and meanes to save her life or else that he will dye with her shee thankes him with a world of sighes and teares and rounds him as privately in his eare with many deepe oathes and asseverations that her tongue shall never dare to speake any one word or sillable to her Iudges which shall tend to the prejudice of his reputation safety or life and so they are by their apprehenders separated and then severally conveyed to the prison of Sens Masserina is first arraigned by the Iudges where according to her former resolution she not with teares but with high words and speeches stands upon her Innocency and Iustification they informe her how strongly Tivoly at his death declared shee had given him two hundred and fifty crownes a Saphir Ring and fifty crownes more to pay his charges at Pugges and how he at her instigation and in favour of this her gold poysoned La Precoverte at her father Monseiur La Vaqueris house at Troyes She termes Tivoly witch and devill yea worse then a thousand devils thus to accuse her fasly of this murther of her sister Precoverte whereof she vowes to God and the world to Earth and Heaven that she is as Innocent as that damned Italian was guilty thereof but the Iudges notwithstanding all these her great fumes and crackes doe presently condemne her to the racke the which as soone as shee saw and considered the sharpe nature of those exquisite torments then God was so mercifull to her soule by his grace though shee was not so heretofore to her body by the perpetration of her foule sinnes that shee would not permit her tender dainty limbes to be exposed to the misery of those cruell tortures but then and there confesseth her selfe to bee the author of poysoning La Precoverte her sister as Tivoly was the actor thereof when being here by her Iudges farther demanded whether her last Husband Harcourt were not likewise accessary with her in poysoning of his first wife La Precoverte shee with much assurance and constancy cleeres him hereof and is so kinde and loving to him as shee speakes not a word to them of his pistolling to death of her first Husband his Brother Vimorey So for this her foule and bloudy fact of hers she is condemned to bee hanged the next morning and for that night againe returned to prison where shee and her sorrowfull
husband make great suit to the Iudges that they may for a short time see and speake one with the other but it will not be graunted them When Harcourt being as confident of his owne life as hee was of his wifes death makes secret proffer by some friends of his to the Iudges of all his lands and demaynes to save his wife but they resembling themselves doe so much feare God and reverence and honour the sacred Name of Iustice as they are deafe to his requests The next morning according to her sentence she is brought to the place of her execution but at her earnest and importunate request so early that very few people were present at her death where being ascended the Ladder she there againe cursed the name and execrated the memory of that wretched Villaine Tivoly and wished much prosperity and happinesse to her Husband Harcourt when turning her eye about and seeing a Cosen Germaine of his there present named Monseiur de Pierpont shee cals him to her and is so vaine at this last period as it were of her life as she takes off her glove and bracelet from her right hand and arme and prayes him to deliver it to his Cosin and her Husband Harcourt and to assure him from her that shee dyed his most loving and constant wife which Monseiur Pierponte faithfully promised her to performe then a Subordinate officer of justice being there to see her dye tells her that hee was now commanded by the Iudges his Superiours to tell her that shee being now to leave earth and so ready to ascend into heaven they prayed her in the name and feare of God to declare to all those who were present if her Husband Harcourt yea or no had any hand or were knowing or accessary with her in the poysoning of his first wife La Precoverte and that shee should doe piously and christianly to discover the truth thereof which would undoubtedly tend to Gods glory and the salvation of her owne soule When she solemnely vowed to him and to all the people that her Husband Harcourt never knew nor in thought word or deed was any way accessary knowing or consenting with her or Tivoly in poysoning of his wife and this which shee now spake was the pure truth as she hoped for Heaven And now after a few teares shee most vainely and idely fell praysing and commending of him especially how tenderly and deerely hee loved her with other ridiculous and impertinent speeches tending that way which I hold every way unworthy of my mention and repetition but had not the grace either to looke up to heaven or to God with repentance or the goodnesse to looke downe into her owne heart conscience or soule with contrition and sorrow for all those her foule Adulteries and Murthers Neither to pray to God for her selfe or to request those who were present to pray to God for her And so shee was turned over all wondring and grieving at her bloody crime and therefore some few lamenting or sorrowing for this her infamous death But shee there speakes not a word or the shadow of a word either of her Husband Harcourts pistolling to death of his Brother her first husband Vimory or of her knowledge thereof or consent thereunto Now though Harcourt seemed outwardly very sorrowfull for this shamefull death of his wife Masserina yet hee is inwardly exceeding Ioyfull that her silence at her death of murthering his Brother Vimory hath preserved his life with his reputation and his reputation with his life Whereupon being the same day freed and acquitted by the Iudges of Sens both of his pretended cryme as also of his imprisonment Hee composing his countenance equally betwixt joy and sorrow returnes to his house of Saint Symplician where now thinking himselfe absolutely discharged and cleered of all these his former Adulteries as also of his late cruell murthering of his Brother Hee within two or at most within three moneths after his wife Masserinaes Execution casts of his mourning apparell which he wore for her death and neither thinking of his soule or his conscience or of heaven or hell he â—…antes and froliques it out in brave apparell and because hee is now fortunately arrived to bee chiefe Lord and master of a great Estate both in Lands and money therefore hee thinkes it not his pride but his glory and not his vanity but his generosity to dight and put himselfe now into farre richer apparell then ever formerly hee had done whereof all the Gentlemen his neighbours yea all the Citty of Sens with no little wonder tooke especiall notice therof Yea hee is so farre from once dreaming or thinking either of his murthering of his Brother Vimorye or of the deplorable and untimely ends of his two wives as with much vanity and with farre more haste then discretion or consideration he now speedilyresolves to take and marry a third But his hopes will deceive them because God in his sacred Iustice and Iudgements will deceive his hopes For when he thinkes himselfe secure and safe not onely from the danger but likewise from the suspition of any fatall or disasterous accident which can possibly befall him then the triumphant power of Gods revenge will both suddenly and soundly surprise him His honest man Noell with an observant eye and a Conscionable and sorrowfull heart hath heard of La Precovertes poysoning and of Vimories pistolling to death and hath likewise seene the hanging both of Tivoly and of his last Mistris Masserina In all which severall accidents as one way hee wondereth at the malice of Sathan So another way hee cannot but infinitely admire and applaud the just judgements of the Lords Hee likewise knowes what his Master Harcourt is to him and hee to his master and in the time of his service and attendance under him what different and severall passages of businesse and secrets have past betweene them Hee hath remarked farre more vices then vertues in his Master whereat hee much grieveth but hee was infinitely more enforced then desirous either to see or know them and this againe doth exceedingly rejoyce him Hee well knowes that fidelity is the glory of a servant and yet it is a continuall sensible griefe to his heart and vexation to his soule to see that his Master serves God no better Hee doth not desire to know things which concerne his said Master whereof hee is ignorant but doth wish and pray to God that he were ignorant of many things which hee knowes and of more which he feares and being very often perplexed in his minde with the reluctation of these different causes and their as different effects Hee cannot but in the end satisfie himselfe with this resolution That as Harcourt is his Earthly Master so God is his Heavenly Master But here betides an unexpected and unwished Accident to this Noell which will speedily try of what temper and mettall both himselfe his heart his conscience and his soule is made and what infinite
disparity there is betwixt Earth and Heaven By the pleasure and visitation of God Hee is suddenly taken extreame sicke of a pestilent Feaver but not in his Master Harcourts house but in his owne Fathers house who dweltsome foure leagues thence at a parish called Saint Lazare and his Phisition yeelding him a dead man hee as a religious Roman Catholicke takes the extreame Vnction and then prepares himselfe to dye But hee is so morall and so good a Christian as the premises considered he resolves to carry his conscience pure and his Soule white and unspotted to Heaven Hee prayes his Father therefore that hee will speedily ride to Sens in whose Iurisdiction Saint Lazare was and to pray two of the three Iudges to come over to him for that hee hath a great Secret to reveale them now on his death bed which conduceth to the glory of God the service of the King and the good of his owne soule His Father accordingly rides to Sens and brings two of those Iudges speedily with him to his Sonnes bed side to whom in presence of three or foure more of his Fathers neighbours â—…hee very sicke in body but perfectly sound in minde tells him that his Master Harcourt would heretofore have had him pistoll his Brother Vimorye to death and proferred him two hundred Crownes in mony and forty Crownes Annuity during his life to performe it but hee refused it and knowing the said Mounseiur De Vimorye to bee since murthered by a pistoll hee therefore verily beleeves that it is either his said Master or some other for him which is guilty of that lamentable murther the true detection whereof he saies he leaves to God and to them and within halfe an houre after yea before they were departed his Fathers house this Noell dies Hereupon these Iudges wondring at the providence of God in the evidence of this dying man for the discovery of this lamentable murther They speedily send away their officers who apprehend Harcourt in his owne house of Saint Simplitian carowsing and froliking it in his best wine in Company of three or foure of his deboshed consorts and Companions and so they bring him to Sens Where lying in prison that night the next morning the Iudges of that City cause him to bee arraigned before them and Charge him with pistolling of his Brother Mounseiur De Vimorie to death which fortified and armed by the Devill hee strongly and stoutly denies they reade his man Noells dying Evidence against him to prove it So they adjudge him to the fiery torment of the Scarpines for the vindication of this truth the which hee endureth with a wonderfull fortitude and constancy and still denies it When their hearts being prompted from Heaven and their soules from God That hee was yet the undoubted murtherer of his Brother they the second time adjudged him to the racke whereon permitting himselfe to bee fastened and the tormenters giving a good touch at him God is more mercifull to his soule then his Tortures are to his body and so with teares in his eies hee confesseth that it was hee which pistolled his Brother Vimorye to death and which afterwards ranne him twice thorow the body with his Rapier Whereupon for this bloody and unnaturall fact of his His Iudges without any regard to his extraction or quality condemne him the next afternoone betweene foure and five of the clocke to bee broken a live on the wheele at the publike place of execution Some few Gentlemen his kinsfolke solicite his reprivall because as yet they dispaire of his pardon but their labours proves vaine and they purchase no reputation in seeking it for now all Sens and the adjacent Country cry fie on him and on his foule and enormous Crymes of Adultery and Fratricide So the next day at the houre and place appointed hee is brought to his execution where a mighty concourse of people both of Sens and the adjacent Country flocke to see this monster of nature take his last farwell of this world Being mounted on the Scaffold in a Tawny Sattin sute with a gold edge Hee confesseth himselfe guilty of murthering his Brother Vimorye and yet hee grieves farre more for the death of his last wife Masserina then hee doth for that of his first La Precoverte Hee demands forgivenesse of God and the world for this his foule crime of Fratricide and praies all who are there present to pray to Almighty God for the salvation of his soule and that they become more charitable and religious and lesse bloudy and prophane by his example So commending his soule unto God his body to the Earth from whence it came and marking himselfe three or foure times with the signe of the Crosse hee willingly suffers the Executioner to fasten his Legges and Armes upon the wheele the wheele the which as soone as he breakes with his iron barre untill hee have seized upon death and death on him And thus was the wretched lives and miserable and yet deserved deaths of these our cruell and inhumane gracelesse Murtherers and in this manner did the Triumphs of Gods Revenge justly surprize them to their shame and cut them off to their Confusion May we read this History to Gods glory and as often meditate thereon to our owne particular reformation and instruction GODS REVENGE AGAINST THE CRYING AND Execrable sinne of Murther Romeo the Laquey of Borlary kils Radegonda the Chamber maid of the Lady Felisanna in the Street and is hanged for the same Borlari afterwards hireth Castruchio an Apothecary to poyson her Husband Seignior Planeze for the which Castruchio is hanged and his body throwne into the River and Borlari beheaded and burnt IT is a thousand griefes and pities to see Christians who are honoured with that glorious title and appellation should so willfully and wretchedly lose it by imbrewing their guilty hands in the innocent bloud of their Christian Brethren and thereby to bereave our selves of that rich ornament and inestimable Iewell which God in his Sonne Christ Iesus hath lent us for the planting of our Faith and given us for the extirpation of our prophanesse and the rooting out of our Impiety But this is the subtle malice and malitious subtilty of Sathan the professed enemy and Arch-Traytor of our soules as also of his infernall Agents and Factors who thereby prove and make themselves to bee the firebrands and incendiaries of their owne felicity and safety And because the examples of the wicked doe strike apprehension and feare to the godly and that the punishment and death of murtherers doth fortifie the Charity and foment and confirme the Innocency of the living Therefore for that Reason and to this end I have purposly given this next History a place in my Booke wherein wee shall see Choller Malice and Revenge to act many deplorable and bloudy parts Let us reade it with a zealous feare and a Christian fortitude and so wee shall assuredly hate this foule and crying Sinne iâ—…â—…thers and religiously
Thomaso the Goldsmith after this infamous and scandalous death of his Father hee could no longer content himselfe to live in Rome but returned to Savona to his Grandfather Moron who received him with many demonstrations of Ioy and affection and after his death made him sole heire to all his wealth and Estate To God be all the Glory FINIS Decemb. XII 1633. Recensui hunc librum cui titulus The fourth Booke of Gods Revenge against the crying and execrable sinne of wilfull and premeditated Murther unâ cum Epistola Dedicatoriâ ad Honoratissimum Dominum Philip Com. Pemb. Montgom qui quidem liber continet paginas 93. in quibus nihil reperio sanae doctrinae aut bonis moribus contrarium quo minus cum utilitate publicâ imprimatur ita tamen ut si non intrá decem menses typis mandetur haec licentia fit omnino irrita Guilielmus Haywood Archiep. Cant. Capellanus domesticus THE TRIUMPHS OF GODS REVENGE AGAINST THE CRYING AND Execrable Sinne of Murder Expressed In thirty seuerall Tragicall Histories digested into six Books which containe great varietie of mournfull and memorable Accidents Amorous Morall and Divine Booke V. Written by IOHN REYNOLDS VERITAS TEMPORE PATET OCCVLTA RS LONDON Printed for WILLIAM LEE and are to bee sold at his shop in Fleetstreet at the signe of the Turkes Head neere the Mitre Taverne 1634. TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE AND TRVLY NOBLE FRANCIS Lord RVSSELL Baron of Thornehaugh and Earle of Bedford RIGHT HONOVRABLE WHEN I had the honour to referre to that Valiant Wise and Honest Nobleman Arthur Lord Chichester Baron of Belfast whose sublime merits doe here justly deserve and challenge this Testimonie from my Duety That hee was too good for Earth and therefore is now so soone crowned a Saint in Heaven I then had first the happinesse to know and to be knowne of your Honour at your Cheswicke In whom because I ever hold it a farre lesse crime to speake the truth then either to silence or dissemble it I then found so many prints and stamps of true honour and Characters of ancient Goodnesse and Nobilitie that with a pleasing content and delectation I was enforced to be againe and againe enamoured of Vertue and Honour for your sake and reciprocally to love and respect your Lordship for both their sakes Since when out of your generositie not my expectation or deserts your Honour was pleased to conferre a favour on me the which though you forget yet the remembrance thereof I will with equall Zeale and Ambition strive to make as eternall as I know my selfe to be mortall and transitorie You are a Religious Christian and a true hearted Englishman and therefore as it is your glory so it is our happinesse that you are both a constant Lover of God and his Church and a firme and faithfull honourer of your Prince and Countrey and you are now Lord Lieutenant under our Royall and Gracious Soveraigne of that famous County of Devon and faire and honourable Citie of Excester to which I owe my nativitie and in both which the Russels Earles of Bedford your Noble Ancestors have condignely left behind them many honourable Trophees of their Valour and sweet and precious perfumes of their Vertue These premises being so powerfull in truth and so considerable and prevalent in Reason I therefore flatter my selfe with this hope that your Honour will attribute it rather to Dutie then Presumption in me If I now publikely attempt to profer and sacrifice up something to the Honour of your Illustrious Name and to the Dignity of your resplendent Vertues Missing therefore of that desired happinesse by some rare or elaborate peece sufficiently to testifie to your Lordship and to the whole world what you are to mee in the height of Honour and what I am and desire to bee found of you in the lownesse of Observance and Humilitie It will therefore bee no lesse my Felicitie then your Goodnesse If you vouchsafe to accept and patronize this my Fift Booke of foraigne Tragicall Histories and also please to permit them to travell and seeke their Fortunes abroad in the world under the auspitious Planet and authenticall Passeport of your Noble Protection wherein you may behold and see how soundly how sacredly the Iustice of God meets with this crying and scarlet Sinne of Murther which in these our depraved and sinfull times in contempt of the Lawes of Heaven and Earth make so lamentable and so prodigious a progression and how sharpely and severely it deservedly punisheth those Butchers and Monsters of Nature the perpetrators thereof And if I may borrow for I desire not to usurpe any part of your Lordships houres of leisure to give first to the Knowledge and then to the Contemplation of these Histories and the severall Accidents which they report and relate I shall then triumph in my good fortune as having obtayned that Honour and Favour which I ingenuously acknowledge I am farre more capable to desire then deserve I come now to implore pardon of your Honour for this my Presumption in inscribing and adventuring so meane a worke to your noble acceptance And I have ended this my Epistle as soone as began to assure you That I will ever religiously pray unto God to accumulate all prosperities and blessings on your Honour as also on your most Vertuous Countesse and successively on your Honourable and Flourishing Posteritie who now promise no lesse then a happy and famous perpetuitie to your thrice Noble Name and Family Your Honours in all Dutie and Service IOHN REYNOLDS THE GROVNDS AND CONTENTS OF THESE HISTORIES HISTORIE XXI Babtistyna and Amarantha poyson their Eldest Sister Iaquinta after which Amarantha causeth her servants Bernardo and Pierya to stiffle her elder Sister Babtistyna in her Bed Bernardo flying away breakes his necke with the fall off his Horse Pierya is hanged for the same so likewise is Amarantha and her body after burnt Bernardo being buried his body is againe taken up and hanged to the Gallowes by his feete then burnt and his ashes throwen into the River HISTORIE XXII Martino poysoneth his Brother Pedro and murthereth Monfredo in the streete He afterwards growes mad and in confession reveales both these his murthers to Father Thomas his Ghostly Father who afterwards dying reveales it by his Letter to Cecilliana who was Widdow to Monfredo and Sister to Pedro and Martino Martino hath first his right hand cut off and then is hanged for the same HISTORIE XXIII Alphonso poysoneth his owne Mother Sophia and after shoots and kils Cassino as he was walking in his Garden with a short Musket or Carabyne from a Window Hee is beheaded for those two murthers then burnt and his ashes throwne into the River HISTORIE XXIV Pont Chausey kils La Roche in a Duell Quatbrisson causeth Moncallier an Apothecary to poyson his owne Brother Valfontaine Moncallier after fals and breakes his necke from a paire of staires Quatbrisson likewise causeth his Fathers Miller to murther and
affection to Monfredo and therefore with frownes in her lookes and anger in her eyes she thunders out a whole Catalogue of disprayses and recriminations against him and because yet shee despayreth to prevaile with her hereby shee now thinking it high time resolves to divert and change the streame of her affection from him to God and so at last to mew and betake her to a Nunnery whereon her desires and intentions have so long ruminated and her wishes and vowes aymed at to which end calming the stormes of her tongue and composing her countenance to patience and piety she with her best art and eloquence speakes to her thus That in regard she will not accept of don Delrio for her husband with whom shee might have injoyed prosperity content and glory but will rather marry Monfredo from whom she can and must expect nothing but poverty griefe and repentance shee therefore out of her naturall regard of her and tender affection to her hath by the direction of God bethought her selfe of a medium betweene both which is to marry neither of them but in a religious and sanctifyed way to espouse her selfe to God and his holy Church when thinking to have taken time by the forelocke shee depainteth her the felicity and beatitude of a Nunnes profession and life so pleasing to God and the World to Heaven and Earth to Angels and Men When her daughter Cecilliana being tyred and discontented with this poore and ridiculous oration of hers shee lifting up her eyes to Heaven with a modest boldnesse and yet with a bold truth interrupts her mother thus that God hath inspired heâ—… heart to affect Monfredo so deerely and to love him so tenderly as shee will rather content her selfe to beg with him then to live with Delrio in the greatest prosperity which either this life or this world can afford her that although shee had no bad opinion of Nunnes yet that neither the constitution of her body much lesse of her minde was proper for a Nunnery or a Nunnery for her in which regard shee had rather pray for them then with them and honour then imitate them when the Lady her mother not able to containe her selfe in patience much lesse in silence at this audacity and as shee thought impiety of her daughter she with much choller and spleene demands her a reason of these her exorbitant speeches When her daughter no way dejecting her lookes to earth but rather advancing and raysing them to heaven requites her with this answer That it is not the body but the minde not the flesh but the soule which is chiefly requisite and required to give our selves to God and his Church that to throw or which is worse to permit our selves to be throwne on the Church through any cause of constraint or motion of distaste or discontent is an act which savoureth more of prophanenesse then piety and more of earth then heaven that as Gods power so his presence is not to bee confined or tyed to any place for that his Centre is every where and therefore his circumference no where that God is in Aegypt as well as in Palestyne or Hierusalem and that heaven is as neere us and wee heaven in a Mansion house as in a Monastery or Nunnery that it is not the place which sanctifyeth the heart and soule but they the place and that Churches and Cloysters have no priviledge or power to keepe out sin if we by our owne lively faith and God by his all-saving grace doe not Which speech of hers as soon as she had delivered and seeing that the Lady her mother was more capable to answer her thereunto with silence then reason she making her a low reverence and craving her excuse departs from her and leaves her here alone in the Garden to her selfe and her Muses Her mother having a little walked out her choller in seeing her daughters firme resolution not to become a Nunne shee leaves the garden and retires to her Chamber where sending for her sonne Martino she relates him at full what conference had there past betweene his sister and her selfe who likewise is so much perplexed and grieved hereat as putting their heads and wits together they within a day or two vow to provide a remedy for this her obstinacie and wilfulnesse As for Cecilliana shee likewise reports this verball conference which had past betweene her mother and her selfe to her brother Don Pedro and Monfredo when according to promise they met that afternoone in the Augustines garden who exceedingly laugh thereat and yet againe fearing lest the malice of their brother Don Martino towards them mought cause his mother to use some violence or indurance to her and so to make force extort that from her will which faire meanes could not they bid her to assume a good courage and to be cheerefull and generous promising her that if her mother attempted it that Monfredo should steale her away by night and that hee as hee is don Pedro her brother will assist her in her escape and flight whereon they all resolve with hands and conclude with kisses Neither did their doubts prove vaine or their feare and suspicion deceive them herein for her incensed mother being resolute in her will and wilfull in â—…er obstinacie to make her daughter a Nunne shee shuts her up in her Chamber makes it no lesse then her prison and her brother don Martino her Guardian or â—…ather her Goaler Poore Cecilliana now exceedingly weepes and grieves at this â—…ruelty of her mother and brother don Martino which as yet her deare brother don â—…dro cannot remedy by perswading or prevailing with them to release her hee acquaints Monfredo herewith and they both consulting finde no better expedient to free her from this domesticall imprisonment then counterfeitly to give her mother to understand and believe that her daughter hath now changed her mind and that by Gods direction shee is fully resolved to abandon Monfredo and so to spend and end her dayes in a Nunnery but contrariwise they resolve to fetch her away by night and without delay Accordingly hereunto Cecilliana acts her part well and pretends now to this spirituall will and resolution of her mother sa before she was disobedient Her mother infinitly rejoyceth at this her conversion and no lesse or rather more doth her brother don Martino who to fortifie and confirme her in this her religious resolution they send some Friers and Nunnes to perswade her to appoynt the precise day for her entrance into this Holy house and Orders which with her tongue shee doth but in her heart resolves nothing lesse or rather directly the contrary The mother now acquaints both her sonnes with this resolution of their sister which is the next Sunday to give her selfe to God and the Church and to take holy Orders when don Pedro purposely very artificially seemes as strongly to oppose as his brother don Martino cheerefully approves thereof now extolling her devotion and piety as farre as the
it presently invited the people of the house below to see what had befallen above to this Gentleman where finding him groveling and gasping for life they by Gods immediate direction doe thinke that hee hath there shot and murthered himselfe when devesting him of his apparell and laying him in bed to search for his wounds they find none but yet it is an houre before they perceive any motion or action of life in him And then opening his eyes he with a distracted looke and amazed countenance deeming himselfe upon the very point of death and that for his murthering of Cassino the Lord in his judgement had infallibly strucken him with suddaine death he finding this foule and bloody act of his to lie heavie upon his soule and conscience in this last Scene as he then thought of his life he rather raving then speaking in the heate of his madnesse and distraction cryes out againe and againe that he had murthered Cassino The which the people of the house are exceedingly astonished to understand And now by this time Cassino is found dead in his Garden and shot thorow with a brace of bullets So his Neece â—…leanora is all in teares hereat and all Vercelie resounds of this his lamentable murther When Cassino's friends and servants make speedy search for the Murtherer and finding a horse tyed to this little Taverne doore they find the Man Wife and Servants thereof in out-cryes and amazement So they ascend the staires find Alphonso in bed with his Carabine by him on the bench and his clothes on the Table and examining the people of the house they report to them this suddaine accident of his swooning and therein of his confession of the murthering of Cassino so they all praise and glorifie God in that they have so soone and so readily found out the inhumane Authour and Actor of this bloody Murther But here before I proceed farther I in the name and feare of God doe request and invite the Reader to take notice of another remarkeable I may say miraculous circumstance of Gods mercy and glory which likewise appeares in this detection and confession of Alphonso to be the cruell Murtherer of this innocent harmelesse Gentleman Cassino for he being no better then distracted of his wits before God had caused and brought him to confesse it which else hee had never done but that in the agonie and anxiety of his stupified spirits hee as I have formerly said thought himselfe on the point and brinke of death and no shaddow of hope left him either of this life or this world Then I say as soone as hee had confessed it God in his good pleasure and providence presently restored him againe to his perfect health strength and memory so that being put in mind and againe remembring his confession and seeing the eminencie of his danger by the presence of Cassino's friends and servants who were there present about his bed to apprehend and carry him away to prison for the same he now with teares and bitter oaths and curses declines and recants what he hath formerly spoken thereof and rather as a Devill then a Christian in lofty and proud speeches stands upon the termes of his Iustification alleadging and affirming to them farther that what he had formerly confessed or said to them concerning the Murther of Cassino proceeded from the destemperature of his heart and braines in that of his distraction or else from the delusions and temptations of the Devill and no otherwise But his owne confession the testimony of those of the house who heard it and the rest of the presumptions and circumstances are so pregnant and apparant that he is the undoubted Murtherer of Cassino as they beleeve not what he now sayes in his owne behalfe and Apologie or that it is any way the delusions of the Devill but the good pleasure of God which brought him to this detection and conviction of himselfe for the same So they being deafe to his requests and oathes they enforce him to draw on his apparell and then by order of the criminall Iudges they that night commit him to prison where the Devill having brought him he now leaves him to himselfe and to his owne misery and confusion which it is to be beleeved that the Lord hath ordained shall speedily befall him The next morning this Monster of nature Alphonso is called to his araignment where being by his Iudges charged with this foule Murther the Devill hath as yet so obdurated his heart as hee not onely denies it but contests against it with vehemencie and execrations So the Vintner and his wife and servants are produced against him as witnesses who acknowledge and confesse his owne confession thereof as also the report of his Carabine and the vicinitie of their house and prospect from the Chamber wherein hee was to Cassino's Garden wherein as he was walking he was shot to death When the mournefull and sorrowfull young Lady Eleanora is likewise brought forth as a witnesse against him who informes his Iudges that Alphonso was a most importunate Suter to her both in his Mothers house at Cassall as also at her deceased Vncles house here in Vercelie adding withall that in her heart and soule shee verely beleeves him to bee the Murtherer of her said Vncle. But still he denies it with choler and indignation whereupon the presumptions and circumstances hereof being more apparant to his Iudges then the knowledge of this truth they adjudge him to the Racke where at his very first torments thereof he with teares confesseth it and God is now so mercifull to his soule as hee seemes to be very sorrowfull and repentant thereof so they seeing him guilty pronounce sentence against him the next day to have his head cut off for the same and that night the Iudges out of their honourable zeale to charitie and pietie send him some Friers to Prison to him to direct his soule to Heaven who willing him to disburthen his conscience and soule of any other capitall crime which hee mought have committed in all the course of his life to the end that it mought not hinder her passage and transmigration from Earth to Heaven Hee then and there reveales them how hee had also formerly poysoned his owne Mother the Lady Sophia at Cassall for the which he likewise craved absolution both of them and of God Whereat his Iudges are exceedingly amaz'd and astonished to see a Gentleman so degenerate inhumane and bloody as to be the death of his owne Mother of whom formerly hee had received his life The day following according to his sentence Alphonso is brought to the place of execution clad in a blacke sute of silke Grograine and a falling band where ascending the scaffold and drawne to much humility and contrition by his secular Priests and Friers hee in presenee of a great concourse of people there made this short speech That these two murthers of his and especially that of his owne Mother the Lady Sophia were so
odious in the sight of God and man that he acknowledged hee no longer deserved to tread on the face of the earth or to looke up to Heaven That he knew not justly whereunto to attribute this infamy and misery of his but to his continuall neglect and omission of prayer whereby he banished himselfe from God and thereby gave the Devill too great an interest over his body and soule that he desired God to forgive him these his two soule and bloody crimes of Murther as also that of his neglect of Prayer and so with teares in his eyes besought all who were there present likewise to pray unto God for him When againe beseeching the vertuous young Lady Eleanora to forgive him the murther of her good old Vncle Cassino hee often making the signe of the Crosse and recommending himselfe into the hands of his Redeemer bad the Executioner doe his office who presently with his sword severed his head from his body and both were immediatly burnt and the ashes throwen into the River of Ticino without the wals of Vercelie although his Iudges were once of opinion to send his said head and body to Cassall for the Iudges of that place to doe their pleasure therewith for there poysoning of his owne Mother the Lady Sophia And thus was the miserable and yet deserved death and end of this bloody and execrable Gentleman Alphonso and in this sort did the judgements and punishments of God befall him for these his two most inhumane and deplorable Murthers May God of his infinit grace and mercie still fortifie and confirme our faith by constant and continuall prayer the want whereof was the fatall Rocke whereon hee perished that so we may secure our selves in this world and our soules in that to come GODS REVENGE AGAINST THE CRYING AND EXECRAble Sinne of Murther HISTORIE XXIV Pont Chausey kils La Roche in a Duell Quatbrisson causeth Moncallier an Apothecary to poyson his owne Brother Valfontaine Moncallier after fals and breakes his necke from a paire of staires Quatbrisson likewise causeth his Fathers Mâ—…er 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 murther and strangle Marieta in her Bed and to throw her body into his Mill-Pond Pierot the Miller is broken alive on a wheele and Quatbrisson first beheaded then burnt for the same WEe may truely affirme that the world is in her wane when Murther is become the practice of Christians which indeed is the proper office of the Devill and how frequently those wofnll accidents happen wee cannot thinke of but with much horrour nor remember but with grieâ—…e of mind and compassion of heart For is it not to mâ—…ke our selves wilfull Traitors and Rebels to God to violate his Divine Majestie in spoiling his true Image and resemblance yea is it not the high-way of Hell But that this age of ours produceth such Monsters of nature reade we but this ensuing Historie and it will informe us of much innocent blood shed we know not whether more wilfully or wickedly IT is not unknowne that the Province of little Britaine was long since annexed and united to the flourishing Kingdome of France by the marriage of Charles the Eighth with Anne the young Dutchesse thereof notwithstanding that she weâ—…e formerly contracted to Maximilian Arch-duke of Austria where we shall understand that in the Citie of Vannes formerly the Court and Residence of those British Dukes thereof late yeares dwelt a noble Gentleman of rich Demaines and Revenues termed Monsieur de Caerstaing who by his wife Madamoyselle de la Ville Blanche had two Sonnes the eldest named by his title Monsieur de Quatbrisson and the youngest Monsieur de Valfontaine The first aged of twenty foure yeares being short and corpulent the second of twentie being tall and slender both of them brave and hopefull Gentlemen as well in their outward personages as in the â—…ward perfections and endowments of their minds For in all respects the care and affection of their Parents had made their education answerable to their births Valfontaine for the most part lived in the Citie of Nantes the second of that Dutchie with an Vncle of his named Monsieur de Massie being President of the Kings Chamber of Accounts which is kept there who frequenting the Bals or publike Dancings whereunto the youth of France are generally adicted amongst many other excellent beauties wherewith that Citie is graced and those pastimes and meetings honoured he sees a young Gentlewoman being a stranger and newly come to the Citie so infinitly rich in the excellencies of nature and the treasure of lovelinesse and beauty as with a kind of imperious commanding power shee atracts all mens eyes to behold to admire to affect her So as although Valfontaines youthfull heart and yeaâ—…es had never as yet stooped or sacrificed to Love yet at the very first sight of this sweet young Gentlewoman whose name wee shall not goe farre to know hee cannot retaine his enamored eyes from gadding on the Roses and ranging on the Lillies of her sweet complexion nor his resolutions from enquiring what her name and her selfe was when being informed that she was the onely daughter and heire of a rich and noble Gentleman a Widdower termed Monsieur de Pennelle of the Parish of Saint Aignaw fower leagues from the Citie and her name Madamoyselle la Pratiere of the age of some seventeene hee at the very first sight likes her so well and loves her so deerely that if her interiour vertues come not too fhort of her exteriour beauty and feature he vowes he will be her Sutor and Servant and so he attempts to court and seeke her for his wife To which end he more like a Tutor then a Pupill in the Art and Schoole of love is so farre from neglecting any as he curiously and carefully seekes all opportunities and occasions to enjoy the felicity of her company and so for the most part hee conducts her to and from the dauncings sits and talkes with her in her lodgings meets her at Church where as well at Vespers as Masse he accompanies and prayes with her and briefly shee can difficultly be present any where where he is long absent from her For by this time which is scarce a moneth since he first saw her her peerelesse beauty and unparalell'd vertues and discourse have acted such amorous wonders in his heart as hee vowes hee must either live her Husband or die her Martyr But see the providence and pleasure of God for if Valfontaine tenderly love our sweet and faire La Pratiere no lesse doth shee him for knowing him to be the Sonne of his Father and therefore a Gentleman of noble extraction and worth and seeing him to bee wise discreet and proper as also remembring and marking that he fervently and infinitly affects her shee is so delighted with his neat feature and personage and ravished with the melodie of his discourse as albeit at first her tongue bee so civill and modest to conceale her affection from him yet her eyes the Ambassadors of
bee a perpetuall eye-sore to his parents and a continuall shame and scandall to himselfe as long as shee lives in this world hee therefore most ingratefully and cruelly resolves speedily to send her into another and no consideration whatsoever either of her youth or beauty of her great belly or of his quicke childe within her or of his owne soule can prevaile with him to the contrary but the Devill is so strong with him that hee is miserably resolute not to retire but to advance in this bloudy businesse To which effect hee breakes with Pierot the Miller to attempt and finish it and againe promiseth him the Fee-simple or at least a Leafe of seven yeares of his Mill to finish it which this bloudy miscreant out of his hellish covetousnesse and itching desire to please his young Master promiseth to accomplish They now consult of the manner how to murther Marieta The Miller affirmes it to be the surest way under some pretext to take her into the next Wood by night and there to murther her which Quatbrisson contradicteth because saith he her dead body being found so neere his Fathers house this her murther will reflect on him and therefore to make sure worke hee bids the Miller to strangle her by night in her bed and so to bury her in his outer yard and there to clap a Wood-vine over her whereon they both agree When swearing perpetuall secrecie each to other this execrable Miller here promiseth Quatbrisson to dispatch her within three dayes at farthest This bloody bargaine and compact being thus concluded between them Pierot the Miller returnes to his Mill where poore Marieta litle suspecting or dreaming what a dismall stratagem was plotted and resolved against her life shee finding comfort from no where and therefore seeking it every where enquires of him if he came from Monsieuâ—… de Câ—…er stainges house and if his Sonne Monsieur Quatbâ—…sson were departed for â—…nes as his Mill-boy had told her who here the better to lull her asleepe thereby with more facility to finish his bloody designe on her tels her that he was gone thither but that before his departure he had left secret word for him to use her â—…urteously in his absence the which hee swore to her hee would carefully performe whereat Marieta thankes him but yet againe prying more narrowly into this Millers lookes then his speeches shee found that he now looked more sullen and haggardly to her then accustomed or else that either her conceit or his countenance and Physiognomy deceived her therein But here before I proceed further let us remarke the strange effects and events hereof For as dreames prove seldome true because they are as incertaine as their â—…uses which for the most part either proceed from the influence of the heart or â—…se now from the operations of the braine in their different paâ—…ions of affection Envie Hope Feare Ioy Sorrow or the like So it pleased God that the very same night Marieta dreamt that Pierot the Miller killed her and threw her dead body into the Pond the which remembring the next morning shee likewise remembred to acquaint him therewith who â—…vild wretch and dissembling Hypocrite seemed to bee in choller thereat vowing and swearing to her with many oathes and deprecations that shee was and should be as safe in his Mill as if shee were either in the Tower of Blyn or the Castle of Blavet which indeed are reputed to be two of the strongest and most important peeces of little Britany whereat poore Marieta againe and againe thankes him But this notwithstanding I now here tremble to report that the very next ensuing night Marieta proving too true a Herauld and Prophetesse to her owne immediate mournfull Tragedy as the night had given truce to her teares and sleepe administred rest to her eyes as shee lay in her poore pallet bed then this bloody villaine Pierot the Miller very secretly enters her Chamber and softly convaies a small cord under her head and fastning it to her further bed poast his strength conspiring with his malice hee then and there strangles her dead giving her neither the power or time to cry much lesse to speake one word and as soone as this Agent of Hell had bereaved her and consequently the fruit of her wombe of life hee within lesse then an houre after not to give the lye to her owne dreame changeth his purpose in the manner of her buriall and so in her clothes as she was carries her to his little Mill-boat in the Pond where fastning a great peece of an old broken Mill-stone to her middle or waste by a strong new rope which he had purposely provided hee there throwes her into the deepest place of his Pond hoping yea assuring himselfe that he should never see not heare more of her The very next morning after the finishing of this deplorable fact Pierot the Miller not able to sleepe for joy at the very breake of day despeeds himselfe away with the newes hereof to his young Master Quatbrisson who heares and receives it with much content and joy when by his promise and oath againe assuring the Miller of his Mill he the better to beare and wipe off the suspicion which this Murther might reflect or cast on him if it should ever hereafter come to be detected or discovered rides away to the Citie of Rennes where the States Generall of that Province which we in England terme our Parliament was then to assemble where rejoycing that hee had so happily dispatched his clownish Strumpet Marieta and Pierot the Miller at home likewise singing and triumphing at this his easie purchase of his Mill they not so much as once looke up to Heaven and God or downe to their owne consciences and soules what this foule and detestable Murther of theirs deserves And not to goe farre by this time the Lord thinks it high time to bring this their cruell Murther to light by a strange I may justly say by a miraculous accident which at unawares and when they least thinke thereof will amidst their mirth and security befall them A moneth is not full past over since this murther of Marieta but God in his sacred mercie and justice is now resolved to make Monsieur de Pont Chausey La Pratieres second Husband to be the first meanes for the detection hereof and in that likewise afterwards of the poysoning of Valfontaine who being one day at Vannes with three other Gentlemen his friends hee is desirous to hunt a Ducke with two of his owne Spaniels And no Pond being so fit or neere as that of Monsieur de Caerstaignes he makes choise thereof but the Ducke is no sooner in the Pond and the Dogs after her but these two poore harmelesse curs swimming eagerly for their prey as they come to the place where Marieta's dead body was suncke and tied they instantly forsake and abandon the Ducke and there pudling with their feet and snâ—…ffling with their noses in the water
doth therefore verily hope and pray that hee may speedily die in his house or else hee hath already swapt a bargaine with the Devill to murther him thereby to make up the breaches and tuines of his poore and totteri gestate He finds it a worke not onely of difficulty but of impossibility to know what rich stuffe hee hath in his Casket and Cloak-bagge because hee still keeps it under his pillow and yet gathering and wresting from him that hee is a Goldsmith of Dijon and that hee came now from Franckford Mart he therefore beleeves that he hath store of Gold and Jewels about him His poverty and his covetousnesse gives the switch to the Devill and the Devill gives the spur to him to raise his uncharitable contemplation into bloudy actions and his thoughts and resolutions as so many lines runne to terminate in this one onely Centre which is that of De Lauriers death He sets his wits and invention on the Tenter-hooks to discover this imagined Indies but he finds him to be as cautious and secret in concealing as hee himselfe is curious to bewray it Hee purposly keeps all company from him and will not so much as permit his Physitian or Apothecary to speake a word with him but hee will still bee present to heare and understand it Hee with oylie words and silken speeches pryes into his deepest secrets and purposly endevoureth to insinuate and screw himselfe into his familiarity But De Laurier doth rather feare than love him and so esteemes the revealing of his Cold to be the accelerating of his danger to which end with many colourable excuses and evasions he puts him off the knowledge thereof But hee is so miserable to see his miseries approach because the violence and impetuosity of his Feaver doth every way advance no way retire and now it is that his hopes of the recovery of his health doe fade not flourish and rather quaile than prosper Hee resolves to bee as Religious as hee is sicke and therefore prayes his Hoast Adrian to bring him a Priest to give him the Sacrament Adrian performes his request but brings him a Priest named father Iustiniâ—…n of his owne humour and complexion and who loves Whores and Wine better than he doth either Heaven or God so this unspirituall Father gives him the extreame Unction and prepares him for his journey and transmigration from Earth to Heaven His continuall vanities and prodigalities hath likewise made him poore so being equall with Adrian both in Vice and Poverty he is likewise equall and sympathizeth with him in hope and desire to repaire his Indigence and to enrich himselfe by the supposed treasure and death of De Laurier But as this deboshed Priest is malitious in this his policy so he is also polititike in this his malice for imagining that Adrian levels and aimes with him at the same Butt and marke he dares but yet will not acquaint him with his bloudy purpose to contract a hellish league and confederation with him for the violent dispatch and inhumane and untimely dispeeding of him away from Earth to Heaven Whiles thus De Lauriers sicknesse and weaknes encreaseth and his Priest and Adrians covetousnesse begins wholly to weigh downe their soules and resolutions to hasten his deplorable death as the Priest is ready to breake his minde to Adrian how and in what manner they should finish and compasse this bloudy businesse Adrian contrariwise yea and directly contrary to the rules of Nature and Lawes of Grace breaks his minde hereof to his vertuous and Religious wife Isabella whom he seeks to draw in as an Actor in this mournfull and as an Agent in this cruell Tragedy He is as gracelesse as impudent in this foule and fatall attempt of his for he sets upon her with the sweetest speech and smoothest perswasions that either Art could suggest or the malice of the Devill invent or dictate to him and therein ever and anon leaves not to conveigh and distill in her minde yea and to imprint in her memory their fore-past wealth their present poverty and misery and the undoubted great riches of Gold and Jewels which De Laurier had with him in that as formerly we have observed he very carefully day and night kept his Casket under his pillow and in a hellish eloquence represents unto her the facility of this fact either by Ponyard or poyson adding withall that the danger thereof would infallibly die with him with a thousand other damnable alluring speeches conducing and looking that way which I am farre more inclinable to silence than expresse But wretched Villaine and execrable miscreant that hee is hee speaks not a word no not a syllable of God or his Justice of Heaven or Hell or of the foulnesse of that fact or the just revenge and punishment incident and due thereunto His vertuous wife Isabella is amazed and astonished at this bloudy and inhumane proposition of her Husband and all trembling with sighs and teares receives it from him with no lesse true affliction and sorrow than he delivered it her with cruelty and impiety Her cheeks were as red for shame as his were pale with envie thereat when God infusing as much goodnesse into her heart and tongue as Satan had cruelty into his soule and resolutions she fell on her knees to his feet and with her eyes and hands erected towards Heaven delivered him this vertuous and Religious speech That it was with infinite griefe and amazement that shee understood this his bloudy position to her which he knew she could derive from none but Hel and Satan She represents to him with much griefe and passion that as punishment is ever the reward of sinne so that of all sinnes murther was the foulest and the most pernitious and diabolicall She tels him farther that covetousnesse is the root of all mischiefe that for her part she is as thankfull to God as he is displeased with himselfe for their povertie and that shee would ever choose rather to live in want than to dye in shame and misery and which is worst of all either to live or dye in the horrours and terrours of a guilty and ulcerated Conscience That it is a prophane and prodigious impiety to violate the lawes of Hospitality but a fearefull yea a horrible crime to kill any one under our owne roofe and who in the right of humanity and christianity comes to us for shelter and protection When rising againe from her knees shee takes him about the neck and bedewing his cheekes with her teares conjures and prayes him by the remembrance of her youth and beautie which had formerly beene so deere and pretious to him by the memory of their sixteene yeares sweet cohabitation and conversation together in the holy Estate of Wedlocke yea for his owne sake for his soules sake and for Gods sake that hee would defie this divell which thus with his two bitter sweet pills of Covetousnesse and Murther mocked and sought to betray him and that
yeares before he had the happinesse to receive his life Some two houres after which was about tenne of the clocke in the morning these our two condemned malefactors are brought to the place of execution where a great concourse of people of Salynes and the country thereabout attend to see them finish the last Scene and Catastrophie of their lives The first who ascends the Ladder is Adrian who speakes little Only he takes it to his death that his decre wife Isabella his servant maid Graceta and his Ostler Thomas are as absolutely innocent of this murther of De Laurier as hee himselfe here againe confesseth hee is guilty thereof Hee prayes God to forgive him this foule fact and beseecheth all that are present to pray to God for him and for his wretched and miserable soule the which he knoweth hath great need and want of their prayers when casting his handkerchiefe over his face and privately ending some few prayers to himselfe hee is turned over Instantly after him rather Iustinian mounts the Ladder who in his lookes and countenance seemes to bee very repentant and penitent for this his soule and hainous fact the which hee praves God to absolve and forgive him hee here againe cleeres Isabella Graceta and Thomas of this murther Hee much lamenteth that hee hath so highly scandalized the sacred order of Priesthood in his crime and person and therefore beseecheth all Priests and Churchmen either present or absent to forgive it him when repeating some Ave Maries and often making the signe of the crosse hee was likewise turned over And thus was the miserable life and death of this impious Priest and wicked and bloody Host and in this sharpe manner did God justly revenge himselfe and punish them with shame and confusion for this cruell and lamentable murther Immediately after which execution of theirs the Iudges set our vertuous and innocent Isabella and her maid and Ostler free from their undeserved indurance and troubles whereat all the Spectators doe as much praise God for the liberty of the three last as they detest the foule crime and rejoyce at the just punishments of the two first If we make good use of the knowledge of this sorrowfull history the profit and confolation thereof will be ours and the glory Gods which God of his best favour and merey grant us Amen GODS REVENGE AGAINST THE CRYING AND Execrable sinne of Murther HISTORY XXVIII Hippolito murthereth Garcia in the street by night for the which he is hanged Dominica and her Chamber-maid Denisa poysoneth her husband Roderigo Denisa afterwards strangleth her owne new borne Babe and throwes it into a Pond for the which she is hanged on the ladder she confessed that she was accessary with her Lady Dominica in the poysoning of her Husband Roderlgo for the which Dominica is apprehended and likewise hanged HOw easily doth malice and revenge enter into our hearts and how difficultly doe wee expell and banish it thence what doth thus promise or rather threaten un o us but that it is a wretched â—…gne and testimony that the Devill hath more power with â—…s than God that wee more dearly afâ—…ct Nature than Grace and Earth than Heaven In many â—…nnes there is some pretence or shadow of pleasure 〈◊〉 in murther there is none except wee desire â—…hat it should bring griefe and repentance to our hearts horrour and terrour to our consciences and misery and confusion to our soules which indeed despight of our earthly policie and prophane prevention it will infallibly both shew and bring us But to shew our wickednesse in in our weakenesse through the â—…e subtilty and treachery of Satan we think wee act and perpetrate it so secretly that it cannot bee found out of men noâ—… detected or punished of God Wherein what 〈◊〉 fooâ—…es and â—…oolish mad-men are we thus to deceive and betray ourselves with false hopes and erroneoâ—… suggestions for although men may be deâ—…ded and not â—…ee 〈◊〉 yet â—…an God bee mocked or will hee be blinded and deceived herein O no his decrees and resolutions are secret and sacred and though invisible to our eyes yet our designes and 〈◊〉 are transparâ—…nt to his For hee in his all-seeing providence reserves 〈◊〉 himselfe the manner and time how and where to punish it Aâ—… reade wee this approaching History and it will confirme as much in the lives and deaths of some bloody and inhumane personages who were borâ—…e to honour and consequently to have lived more happie and died lesse ignominiously IN the rich and popuâ—…us Citie of Graâ—…ado which Ferdinand and Isabella King and Queene of Spâ—…ine Anno. 1492. so famously and fortunately conquered from the Moores there within these few yeares dwelt an ancient Lady named Dona Aliâ—…a Servâ—…tella who was descended oâ—… noble parentage and by her late Husbanâ—… Doâ—… Pedro de Carâ—…s dying a chiefe Commander in the West Indyes shee had two children a sonne and a daughter hee named Don Garcia and shee Dona Doâ—…nica hee of some twenty yeeres of age and shee of some eighteene hee tâ—…l of staturâ—… but some what hard favoured and shee short but eâ—…ceeding â—…ir and beautifull Their mother Cervantella being not left rich by her deâ—…eased Husband did yet bring up these her two children very honoâ—…rably and vertuously and maintained them exceeding gallant in their apparell though shee clad her selfe the worse for it for their sakes Shee observes her Sonne Dâ—…n Garcia to be of a mild disposition and very wittie and judiâ—…ious but for her daughter Dominica shee sees with feare and feares with griefe that her wit will come short of her beauty and her chastity of her wit In which regard and consideration shee loves him better than her and yet beares sovigilant an eie over her actions that as yet sâ—…e keepes her within the lists of Modesty and the boundes of obedience as holding iâ—…â—…rre truer diâ—…etion to make her more beloved than feared of her or rather that feare and love by â—…urnes might act their severall parts upon the Theatre of her youthful heart and resolutions There is an old rich gentleman of that City nobly descended tearmed Don Hippolito Sâ—…vino commonly knowne and named onely Don Hippolito aged of some threescore and tenne yeares and much subject to the Gowt a disease better knowne than â—…red and which loves rich men as much as poore men hate it And this old Hippolito in the Frost and Winter of his age falls in love with our â—…re young Lady Dominica and so by the Lady the Mother seekes her daughter in marriage As for the Mother shee loves Hippolito's gold better than her daughter doth his age and affects his lands as much as she hates his personage But Don Garcia at the often requests of his sister being at last vanquished by her imortuniâ—…e soone changeth his mothers opinion and good esteeme of Hippolito and so they all three give him the repulse and deniall But his affection to this deliâ—…ate fresh young beauty makes him
the joy of the parents and the sweet content of their sonnes and daughters are pompously solemnized in Dijon with all variety of feasting dauncing and masking answerable to their degrees and dignities But these Marriages shall not prove so fortunate as is hoped and expected neither was Hymenaeus invited thereunto or if he were he refused to come and therfore Lucina will likewise save her labor because she knowes that neither of these two young married Gentlewomen shall live to make use of her assistance And here before I proceed farther I wish the event of this History would give the lye to this ensuing position that there is no pride nor malice to that of a woman but I have more reason to feare then hope to believe the contrary for no sooner have our two young couples reaped the fruites of Marriage and the felicity of their desires but wee shall see the Sunne-shine of their joy overtaken with a difmall storme of griefe sorrow and misfortune whereby wee may obserue and learne that there is no perfect nor permanent felicity under the Sunne but that all things in this world yea the World it selfe is subject to revolution and change The manner is thus Hautefelia envies her sister in Law Mermanda's advancement and contemnes her own she likes not to give the hand to her whom she knowes is by descent her inferiour and to speake truth preferres a Scarlet Cloake before a Blacke and a Sword-man before a Pen-man these ambitious conceits of hers proceeding from hell wil breed bad bloud and produce mournefull effects yea peradventure strangle her who imbraceth and practiseth them Mermanda is of a gracious and mild nature Hautefelia of an imperious and revengefull never any marryed couple live more contented nor past more pleasant dayes then did Grand Pre and his faiâ—…e Mermanda for the space of one whole yeare wherein she bore her selfe so loving courteous towards him he so kind and pleasant to her as their sweet carriage and honourable and vertuous behaviour was of all the world Hautefelia only excepted highly praysed and applauded But Hautefelia envying Mermanda's prosperity and glory because she could neither parallel the one nor equall the other seeing with no other eyes then those of ambition and envy bethinks her selfe she might act her disgrace and eclipse the splendor of her vertues and glory When remembring that the Baron of Betanford dwelling not farre from Auxone sometimes visited her brother Grand Pre as also that he very lately had done her two unkind offices the one by buying a Iewell from her which shee was in price with of a Gold-smith at Dijon Faire and the other for retayning a little fine white Frizland dog which his Page had stolne from her she thinks to give two strokes with one stone and at one time to be revenged both of the Baron and of her sister in Law Mermanda Iudge Christian Reader what simple reasons and triviall motives this inconsiderate Gentlewoman hath for her malice but she is resolute therein and as she hath layd the foundation so she will perfect the edifice of her malice revenge which to effect she sends a servant of hers purposely nere Auxone to her brother Grand Pre and writes him a letter to this effect She intreats him to come ride over to her for she hath a secret of importance to reveale him which shee holds not fit to commit to penne and withall adviseth him to frame some excuse towards her husband for his suddaine comming Grand Pre arrives at Dijon and is welcomed of his Brother and Sister but he discovers her to bee more sorrowfull then accustomed he is ignorant what these clouds of her discontent import or from whence they arise but he shall know too soone and his curiosity shall pay deare to understand it Supper ended they fetch a walke in the garden and so he is conducted to his Chamber where his brother in Law De Malleray giving him the good night his sister Hautefelia with teares in her eyes informes him that she knowes for certaine the Baron of Betanford is too familiar with his wife Mermanda yea beyond the bounds of honesty the which she must needs reveale him because his honor is hers which as she is bound by nature she wil cherish preserve as her own life Grand Pre amazed at this strange unlooked for newes is like one lunatick or rather stark mad he stamps with his foot throws away his hat now casting himself on the bed then on the floore yea had not his sister prevented him he had killed himselfe with his own sword these are the wretched passions of jealousy which transport our selves beyond our selves our reasons beyond the limits of reason now this vild malicious sister of his more out of policie then charity useth many prayers perswasions brings him again to himself and they conclude to keep it secret from all the world but withal Grand Pre vows to be sharply revengd both of his wife the Baron of Betanford Hautefelia having thus broached her inveterat implacable malice laughing hereat like a Gipsie betakes her selfe to her rest leaving her brother not to sleepe but to drive out the night in watchfulnesse and jealousy who the next morne sooner then his accustomed houre riseth takes his leave of his Brother and Sister and so very pensive and sorrowfull rides home Mermanda findes her husband sad and enquires the cause thereof shee prayes him that if any griefe or misfortune have befalne him shee may participate and beare the one halfe thereof as she doth of his joy and prosperity and as she was wont to doe proffereth to kisse him but hee slights her and with much unkindnesse and disdaine puts her off whereat shee is amazed as not acquainted with such discourtesy After Supper jealousy being his chiefest dish and griefe hers hee makes three or foure solitary turnes in the Court and then sends his Page for his wife who betwixt comfort and gtiefe hope and dispaire presently comes to him He demands of her whether she will walke with him shee answereth that his pleasure shall ever bee hers and that shee will most joyfully and willingly wayt on him where hee pleaseth hee brings her to a solitary Grove and there having choller in his lookes and fire in his tongue hee chargeth her of dishonesty with the Baron of Betanford Poore Mermanda as it were pierced to the heart with the thunderbolt of this newes falls to the ground in a fainting swoone yea Grand Pre her husband hath much adoe to recover her when comming againe to her selfe she with many volleyes of sighes and rivolets of teares purgeth her selfe of that imputation and scandall shee blames his credulity and jealousy tearmes her accusers devills and witches invokes heaven and earth to beare witnesse of her innocency and withall cleares the Baron of Betanford vowing and protesting by her part and hope of heaven that he never attempted nor
matters altered and her greatnesse and power diminished and to her grief sees that she cannot so absolutely domineere as before and which was farre worse her brother in his absence at Dole having smelt and understood her malice and inveterate hatred both to Mermanda the Baron of Betanford De Malleray her husband and likewise to himselfe though nothing suspecting or dreaming of her poysoning humour he is so farre from acknowledging or respecting her for his sister as he will neither indure her company or sight which she making no shew to perceive but like a Fury of hell as she is dissembling her malice and revenge she is still constant and persevers in her humour of bloud and Murther and hath againe recourse to her execrable Apothecary La Fresnay and to the devill her Doctor likewise to make away her brother Grand Pre with poyson as hee had already Mermanda his Wife and gives him three hundred crownes to effect it This damnable Apothecary loving money well and as it seemes the Devill better doth ingage himselfe speedily to performe it and wretched villaine as he is within two moneths he accomplisheth and finisheth it and so as Mermanda ranne equall fortune with him in life hee doth the like with her in death for one deadly Drugge one bloody Sister and one devillish Apothecary gives a miserable and lamentable end to them both And now his blood thirsty sister Hautefelia the authour of these cruell Murthers and Trageedies thinking her selfe freed of all her enemies and of all those who stood in the way of her advancement and preferment shee neither thinking either of her conscience or soule of heaven or hell domineeres farre more then before yea builds castles in the ayre and flatters her selfe with this false ambition that she must now be a Dutchesse or at least a Countesse But she reckons without God We have seene nay we have here glutted our eyes with severall Murthers whereof wee have beheld this wretched Gentlewoman Hautefelia to be the horrible and cruell author and this execrable La Fresnay to be the bloody actor these crimes of theirs and the smoake of these their impious and displeasing sacrifices have pierced the clouds and ascended the presence of God to sue and draw downe vengeance and confusion on their heads for although Murther be for a time concealed yet the finger of God will in due time detect and discover it for he will make inquisition for blood and will severely and sharpely revenge the death of his children But Gods providence and justice in the discovery thereof is as different as miraculous for sometimes hee protracts and deferres it of purpose either to mollifie or to harden our hearts as seemes best to his inscrutable will and divine pleasure or as may chiefly serve and tend to his glory yea somtimes he makes the Murtherer himselfe as well an instrument to discover as hee hath beene an actor to commit murther yea and many times he punisheth one sinne by and in another and when the Murtherer sits most secure and thinks least of it then he heapes coales of fire on his head and suddenly cuts him off with the revenging sword of his fierce wrath and indignation And now that great and soveraigne Iudge of the World who rides on the Winds in triumph and hath Heaven for his Throne and Earth for his foot stoole will no longer permit Hauteselia and La Fresnay to goe unpunished for these their execrable Murthers for the innocent and dead bodies of Mermanda and her husband Grand Pre out of their Graves cry to him for revenge which like an impetuous storme or a terrible Thunder clap doth in this manner suddenly befall and overtake them Some sixe weekes after Grand Pre's funeralls were solemnized whereat his Sister Hautefelia the better to cloke her villany wept bitterly and was observed to bee the chiefest Mourner this hellish Apothecary La Fresnay having gotten his money so easily thought to spend it as prodigally and so on a time being in his cups at a Taverne at Dijon and his braines swilling and swimming with strong Wine as Drunkennesse is the Bawd and Vsher to other sinnes he stealing from the rest of his company committed a Rape upon one Margaret Pivot a girle of twelve yeares old being the Vintners daughter of the Taverne wherein he sate tippling This young girle with millions of teares throwes her selfe to the feet of her Parents and accuseth La Fresnay for the fact who doe the like to those famous Senators of the Court of Parliament so hee is apprehended and being examined with many vehement and bitter asseverations denyeth it he is adjudged to the Racke and at the second torment confesseth it and so he is condemned to be hanged Two Capuchin Fryers prepare him for his end they exhort him not to charge burthen his soule with concealing any other crimes adding that if he reveale and repent them in earth God will remit them in heaven these exhortations of theirs produce good effects for though he have formerly lived like a devill he will now dye like a Christian and so with many teares revealeth that at the instigation of Hautefelia and for the lucre of five hundred crownes which at two several times she gave him he had poysoned Mermanda and her husband Grand Pre. All the world is amazed and the Parliament acquainted herewith they alter their first Sentence and so for his triple villanies condemne La Fresnay to bee broken alive upon the Wheele and there to languish and dye without being strangled which in Dijon is accordingly executed to the full satisfaction of Iustice. A Provost likewise is forthwith dispatched from Dijon to Grandmonts house to apprehend his daughter Hautefelia and God would have it that shee was ignorant of La Fresnay's apprehension and more of his death The Provost findes her dancing in her fathers garden in company of many Gentlemen and Ladies he sets hands on her and so exchangeth her mirth into mourning and her songs into teares she is brought to Dijon and examined by a President and two Counsellors of the Parliament She impudently and boldly denyes both Murders saith La Fresnay is her mortall and professed enemy and therefore not to bee believed But the devill who hath so long bewitched and deluded her either will not or rather now cannot save her with this poore evasion shee is adjudged to the Racke and at the first torment confesseth it The Criminall Iudges of this great and illustrious Parliament in detestation of these her execrable and bloudy crimes of Murther pronounce sentence on her so after shee had repented her sinnes and prepared her selfe to dye her Paps are seared and torne off with red hot Pincers then shee is hanged her body burnt and her ashes throwne into the ayre Now to gather some profit by reading this History or indeed rather by the memory of the History it selfe let us observe nay let us imprint in our hearts and soules how busy the
Devill was by ambition covetousnesse malice and revenge to seduce and perswade Hautefelia and La Fresnay to commit these Murthers and also how just God was in the detection and punishment thereof that the feare of the one may terrifie us from imbracing and attempting the other to the end that as they lived in sinne and dyed in shame so wee may live in righteousnes and dye in peace thereby to live in eternall felicity and glory GODS REVENGE AGAINST THE CRYING AND EXEcrable sinne of Murther HISTORIE II. Pisani betrayeth Gasparino of his Mistresse Christeneta Gasparino challengeth Pisani for this disgrace and kills him in the field hee after continueth his suite to Christeneta shee dissembles her malice for Pisani his death shee appoynts Gasparino to meete her in a Garden and there causeth Bianco and Brindoli to murther him they are all three taken and executed for the same WHere Affection hath Reason for guide and Vertue for object it is approved of Earth and applauded of Heaven but where it exceeds the bounds of Charity and the lists of Religion Men pitty it Angels lament it and God himselfe contemnes it for if we are crossed in our love why should discontent make us desperate or to what end should we flie Reason to follow Rage except we desire to ride poast to Hell and to end our dayes on a shamefull and infamous Scaffold here on earth It is an excellent felicity to grow from Vertue to Vertue and a fatall misery to runne from Vice to Vice Love and Charity are alwayes the true marks of a Christian and Malice and Revenge those of an Infidell or rather of a Devill but to imbrue our hands in innocent bloud and to seeke the death of others is to deprive our selves of our owne life as the sequell of this History will declare which I relate with pitty and compassion sith I see the Stage whereon these Tragedies are acted and represented not only sprinkled but goared with great variety and effusion of bloud In Pavia the second City of the Dutchy of Millan the very last yeare that Count Fuentes under the King of Spaine was Viceroy of that State Signior Thomaso Vituri a noble Gentleman of that City had one onely child a daughter of the age of fifteene yeares named Dona Christeneta who was exceeding faire and beautifull and indued with many excellent qualities perfections requisite in a Gentlewoman of her ranke she was sought in marriage by many Gallants of the City but a Cavalier of Cremona must beare her away or at least her affection The History is thus Signiour Emanuel Gasparino a noble young Gentleman of Cremona hearing of Vituri his wealth and of his daughter Christeneta's Beauty and Vertues the Adamants and Load-stones to drawe mens affections resolveth with himselfe to seeke her for his wife he acquaints none herewith but an intimate deare friend of his a young Gentleman of the same City named Signior Ludovicus Pisani by descent a Venetian whom hee prayes to assist and accompany him to Pavia in seeking and courting the faire Christeneta his Mistresse Pisani tearmes himselfe much honoured and obliged to Gasparino and very willingly grants his request and so they prepare for their journy They come to Pavia Vituri bids Gasparino welcome and entertaines him respectfully and courteously as also Pisani he thankes Gasparino for the honour he doth him in seeking his daughter and like a carefull father takes time to consult hereon but for Christeneta she looks not so pleasing nor pleasantly on him as he expecteth he is deeply in love both with her beauty and other perfections but he finds her cold in her discourse and answers and very melancholly and pensive he courts her often and after the Italian fashion with variety of Musicke Ditties and ayres but still he findes her averse and contrary to his desires as if her thoughts were otherwise fixed Gasparino knowes not how to winne her affection nor how to beare himselfe herein he consults with Pisani and prayes him to conferre with Christeneta and to sound her affection But it proves often dangerous still indiscretion to trust a friend in this case Pisani promiseth to performe the office of a friend and to conferre effectually with Christeneta he seekes opportunity and place and findes both he sets out to her Gasparino's merits and paints foorth his praises and in a word leaves nothing untouched which hee thinkes may any way advance his friends content and affection but hee findes Christeneta's minde perplexed and troubled for shee often changeth colours now red then pale and then pale now red againe yet hee observes that her eyes are still stedfastly fixed on him hee prayes her that she will returne a pleasing answer for him to carry to his friend and her lover Gasparino Christeneta would willingly speake but cannot for her heart and paps beat and pant and her fighes very confusedly interrupt her words but at last dying her Lilly cheekes with a Vermillian blush shee tells him that she is not ignorant of Gasparino's merits who deserves farre her better but that shee cannot consent to love him in respect she hath fixed but not ingaged her affection on another Pisani still extolleth his friend Gasparino to the skie and for all honourable parts preferres him before any Gentleman of Lombardy and withall with much industry and insinuation endeavours to request and draw Christeneta to name him her servant which she once thought to have done had not Modesty the sweetest and most precious ornament of a Virgin for that time with-held her when after two or three deepe sighes the outward Heralds of her inward passions she told him thus Pisani it is a deare and neare friend of yours who is the first that I have and the last that I will affect but I will not at present name him onely if you please to meet me secretly to morrow at eight of the clocke in the morne in the Nunnes garden at Saint Clare I will there informe you who it is but in the meane time and ever forbeare to sollicite me any more for Gasparino sith he shall not be my servant nor will I be his Mistresse and so for that time they part and he confidently promiseth to meet her Gasparino demands Pisani how hee findes his Mistresse Christeneta Hee answeres faithfully according as shee told him but conceales their appoynted meeting in the Nunnes garden and now because hee seeth it labour lost to research Christeneta hee will not be obstinate in his suit but will give a law to his passions and affections rather then they shall prescribe any to him and so resolves to take leave of her because as well by her selfe as by her father and mother and now chiefely by Pisani he sees shee is otherwise bent and affected to which end he leaves Pavia and returnes to Cremona Leave we therfore Gasparino to his thoughts and come we to those of Pisani and Christeneta to see what their garden conference will bring forth
Iosselina but likewise that of her infant sonne whom hee first strangled and then threw into the River Lignon and this said he he did at the request of his Master Mortaigne of whom for his part and labour he received one hundred Frankes Wee have here found two of these Murtherers and now what resteth there but that the third who is the Authour and as it were the capitall great wheele of these bloody Tragedies bee produced and brought to this Arraignement The Procurer and Lievtennant repaire againe to the Prison and charge Mortaigne with these two bloody Murthers hee knowes it is in vaine to denye it sith hee is sure his two execrable agents have already revealed it therefore he ashamed at the remembrance of his cruell and unnatural crimes doth with many teares very sorrowfully and penitently confesse all It is a happinesse for him to repent these Murthers but it had beene a farre greater if hee had never contrived and committed them yea the Iudges are amazed to heare the cruelty hereof and the people to know it and both send their prayses and thankefulnesse to God that hee hath thus detected and brought them to light on earth And now comes the Catastrophe of their owne Tragedies wherein every one of these Malefactors receives condigne punishment for their severall offences La Palma is condemned to bee hanged and burnt La Verdure to bee broken on the Wheele and his body to bee throwne into the River Lignon and Mortaigne though the last in ranke yet the first in offence to be broken on the Wheele his body burnt and his ashes throwne into the aire which Sentence in the sight of a great multitude of Spectators was on a Market day accordingly executed and performed in La Palisse And this was the bloody end of Mortaigne and his two hellish instruments for murthering innocent Iosselina and her silly and tender infant May all Maydens learne by her example to preserve their chastities and men by La Verdures and La Palma's not to be drawne to shed innocent blood for the lucre of wealth and money and by Mortaignes to bee lesse lascivious inhumane and bloody thereby to prevent so execrable a life and so infamous a death One thing I may not omit La Palma on the Ladder extreamely cursed the malice of his wife Isabella who he said was the author of his death and no lesse did La Verdure on the Wheele by his Master Mortaigne but both of them were so desperately irreligious as neither of them considered that it was their former sinnes and the malice of the Devill to whom they gave too much eare that was the cause thereof And for Mortaigne after he had informed the world that hee extreamely grieved that his Iudges had not given him the death of a Gentleman which was to haue beene beheaded he with many teares bewayled his infinite ingratitude cruelty and unnaturalnesse both towards Iosselina as also his and her young sonne yet he prayed the world in generall to pray that God would forgive it him and likewise requested the Executioner to dispatch him quickely out of this life because hee confessed hee was unworthy to live longer Now let us glorifie our Creatour and Redeemer who continually makes a strict inquisition for blood and a curious and miraculous inquiry for Murther yea let us both feare him with love and love him with feare sith hee is as impartiall in his justice as in distributing his mercies GODS REVENGE AGAINST THE CRYING AND EXEcrable sinne of Murther HISTORIE IV. Beatrice-Ioana to marry Alsemero causeth de Flores to murther Alonso Piracquo who was a sutter to her Alsemero marries her and finding de Flores and her in adultery kills them both Tomaso Piracquo Challengeth Alsemero for his Brothers death Alsemero kills him treacherously in the field and is beheaded for the same and his body throwne into the Sea At his execution hee confesseth that his wife and de Flores Murthered Alonso Piracquo their bodies are taken up out of their graves then burnt and their ashes throwne into the ayre SIth in the day of Iudgement we shall answer at Gods great Tribunall for every lewd thought our hearts conceive and idle words our tongues utter how then shall we dare appeare much lesse thinke to scape when we defile our bodies with the pollution of adultery and taint our soules with the innocent bloud of our Christian brethren when I say with beastly lust and adultery we unsanctifie our sanctified bodies who are the receptacles and Temples of the holy Ghost and with high and presumptuous hands stabbe at the Majesty of God by Murthering of man who is his Image This is not the Ladder to scale heaven but the shortest way to ride poast to hell for how can we give our selves to God when in the heat of lust and fume of Revenge we sell our hearts to the Devill But did we ever love God for his Mercy or feare him for his Iustice we would then not onely hate these sinnes in our selves but detest them in others for these are crying and capitall offences seene in heaven and by the Sword of his Magistrates brought forth and punished here on earth A lamentable and mournefull example whereof I here produce to your view but not to your imitation may wee all read it to the reformation of our lives to the comfort of our soules and to the eternall glory of the most Sacred and Individuall Trinity IN Valentia an ancient and famous City of Spaine there dwelt one Don Pedro de Alsemero a Noble young Cavallier whose father Don Ivan Alsemero being slaine by the Hollanders in the Sea fight at Gibralter hee resolved to addict himselfe to Navall and sea actions thereby to make himselfe capeable to revenge his fathers death a brave resolution worthy the affection of a sonne and the Generosity of a Gentleman To which end hee makes two voyages to the West-Indies from whence he returnes flourishing and rich which so spread the sayles of his Ambition and hoysted his fame from top to top gallant that his courage growing with his yeares he thought no attempt dangerous enough if honourable nor no honour enough glorious except atchieved and purchased by danger In the actions of Alarache and Mamora he shewed many noble proofes and testimonies of his valour and prowesse the which he confirmed and made good by the receit of eleven severall wounds which as markes and Trophees of Honour made him famous in Castile Boyling thus in the heate of his youthfull bloud and contemplating often on the death of his father he resolves to goe to Validolyd and to imply some Grando either to the King or to the Duke of Lerma his great favorite to procure him a Captaines place and a company under the Arch-Duke Albertus who at that time made bloudy warres against the Netherlanders thereby to draw them to obedience But as hee beganne this sute a generall truce of both sides laid aside Armes which by the mediation of England
wife and Alsemero her husband But why should I strive to perswade that which you resolve not to beleeve or flatter my selfe with any hope sith I see I must bee so unfortunate to despaire I will therefore hencefoorth cease to write but never to love and sith it is impossible for mee to live I will prepare my selfe to die that the World may know I haue lost a most faire Mistresse in you and you a most faithfull and constant Servant in mee ALSEMERO Beatrice-Ioana seeing Alsemero's constant affection holds it now rather discretion then immodestie to accept both his service and selfe yea her heart so delights in the greeablenesse of his person and triumphs in the contemplation of his vertues that shee either wisheth her selfe in Alicant with him or hee in Briamata with her but considering her affection to Alsemero by her Fathers hatred and her hatred to Piracquo by his affection shee thinkes it high time to informe Alsemero with what impatiencie they both indeavour to obtaine her favour and consent hoping that his discretion will interpose and finde meanes to stop the progresse of these their importunities and to withdraw her fathers inclination from Piracquo to bestow it on himselfe but all this while she thinkes her silence is an injury to Alsemero and therefore no longer to bee uncourteous to him who is so kinde to her shee very secretly conveyes him this Letter BEATRICE-IOANA to ALSEMERO AS it is not for Earth to resist Heaven nor for our wills to contradict Gods providence so I cannot denye but now acknowledge that if ever I affected any man it is your selfe for your Letters protestations and vowes but chiefely your merits and the hope or rather the assurance of your fidelity hath wonne my heart from myselfe to give it you but there are some important considerations and reasons that inforce mee to crave your secrecie herein and to request you as soone as conveniently you may to come privately hither to me for I shall never give content to my thoughts nor satisfaction to my minde till I am made joyfull with your sight and happy with your presence In the meane time mannage this affection of mine with care and discretion and whiles you resolve to make Alicant your Malta I will expect and attend your comming with much longing and impatiencie To Briamata BEATRICE-IOANA It is for no others but for Lovers to judge how welcome this Letter was to Alsemero who a thousand times kissed it and as often blest the hand that wrote it he had as wee have formerly understood beene twice in the Indies but now in his conceipt hee hath found a farre richer treasure in Spaine I meane his Beatrice-Ioana whom hee esteemes the joy of his life and the life of his joy but she will not prove so He is so inamoured of her beauty and so desirous to have the felicity of her presence as the Winde comming good the Ship sets sayle for Malta and hee to give a colour for his stay feignes himselfe sicke fetcheth backe his Trunkes and remaineth in Alicant and so burning with desire to see his sweetly deare and dearely sweet Mistresse he dispatched away his confident Messenger to Briamata in the morning to advertise her that hee will not faile to be with her that night at eleven of the clocke Beatrice Ioana is ravished with the joy of this newes and so provides for his comming Alsemero takes the benefit of the night and she gives him the advantage of a Posterne doore which answers to a Garden where Diaphanta her Wayting-gentlewoman attends his arrivall He comes shee conducts him secretly thorow a private Gallery into Beatrice-Ioana's Chamber where richly apparelled shee very courteously and respectfully receives him At the beginning of their meeting they want no kisses which they second with complements and many loving conferences wherein she relates him Piracquo's importunate sute to her and her fathers earnestnesse yea in a manner his constraint to see the Match concluded betwixt them hee being for that purpose there in her fathers house Againe after she hath alleadged and showne him the intirenesse of her affection to himselfe with whom she is resolved to live and dye shee lets fall some darke and ambiguous speeches tending to this effect that before Piracquo be in another world there is no hope for Alsemero to injoy her for his wife in this Lo here the first plot and designe of a lamentable and execrable murther which we shall shortly see acted and committed There needes but halfe a word to a sharpe and quicke understanding Alsemero knowes it is the violence of her affection to him that leades her to this disrespect and hatred to Piracquo and because her content is his yea rather it is for his sake that shee will forsake Piracquo to live and die with him Passion and affection blinding his judgement and beautie triumphing and giving a law to his Conscience hee freely proffereth himselfe to his Mistris vowing that hee will shortly send him a Challenge and fight with him yea had hee a thousand lives as hee hath but one hee is ready if shee please to expose and sacrifice them all at her command and service Beatrice-Ioana thankes him kindly for his affection and zeale the which shee saith shee holds redoubled by the freenesse of his proffer but being loath that hee should hazard his owne life in seeking that of another shee conjures him by all the love hee beares her neither directly nor indirectly to intermeddle with Piracquo but that he repose and build upon her affection and constancie not doubting but shee will so prevaile with her father that hee shall shortly change his opinion and no more perswade her to affect Piracquo whom shee resolutely affirmes neither life nor death shall enforce her to marry And to conclude although shee affirme his presence is dearer to her then her life yet the better and sooner to compasse their desires shee prayes him to leave Alicant and for a while to returne to Valentia not doubting but time may worke that which perchance haste or importunitie may never Thus passing over their kisses and the rest of their amorous conference hee assured of her love and shee of his affection hee returnes for Alicant packes up his baggage which hee sends before and within lesse then foure dayes takes his journey for Valentia where wee will leave him a while to relate other accidents and occurrences which like Rivers into the Ocean fall within the compasse of this Historie This meeting and part of Alsemero's and Beatrice-Ioana's conference at her fathers house of Briamata was not so secretly carried and concealed but some curious or treacherous person neere him or her over-heare and reveale it which makes her father Vermandero fume and bite the lip but hee conceales it from Piracquo and they still continue their intelligence and familiaritie Vermandero telling him plainely that a little more time shall worke and finish his desire and that sith his request cannot
meanes and shee to speake truth but little wit and lesse beauty yet she was neither so poore but that she deserved a good husband nor so hard favoured but shee might content an honest one And indeede had Alibius his care and industry answered Merilla's providence and frugality or his lustfull eye not strayed either beyond his vow given her in marriage or her indifferent beauty this Match might have proved as fortunate as it hath since succeeded miserable and ruinous For Alibius whose thoughts flew a pitch above his birth ranke and meanes had not lived many yeares in wedlocke till his prodigality and vanity had wasted and dissipated the greatest part of that small estate hee had so as necessity looking now on him because formerly he disdayned to looke on it knowing better how to play then worke or rather not how to worke but play and seeing that his present meanes could not maintayne him nor his future hopes promise it he as a true truant and a perfect prodigall disdayning to want when hee hath it and when he hath it not sets up this lewd and unthrifty resolution with himselfe to set all at sixe and seven But this prodigall humour of his doth as much grieve his Wife as delight him for now shee sees that her spinning at home could neither serve nor satisfie his expences abroad and that all her care and labour was by farre too little to maintayne his vanity which shee poore good woman perceiving yea more then so contrary to her hopes now feeling shee with faire wordes and secret and sweete perswasions endeavoureth to reclaime him from it but this course of hers workes a contrary effect for if before hee played the prodigall in her absence now hee playes the Tyrant in her presence for hee not onely rejoyceth and stops his eares against her counsell but rates and reviles her with vilde and contemptuous speeches such as indeed are infinitely unfit either for a husband to give or a wife ro receive And this as I have beene informed was the first distast betwixt Alibius and Merilla But wee need not goe farre for a Second There is no pestilent Infection nor infectious Pestilence to that of haunting and frequenting bad company for it is a rocke wherein many have suffered Shipwracke it is a Fountaine that sends foorth many poysoned streames to those that tast or drinke thereof yea it is a Tree whose fruit is by so much the more bitter to the stomacke as it seemes pleasing to the palate like Pilles of poyson candy'd in Sugar and as that which most delights most confounds the sense so use breeding an habite and habite a second nature vicious company whom wee take to bee our dearest friends doe in fine prove our most dangerous enemies and so much the more dangerous sith when wee would forsake them wee cannot which our Alibius will at last finde true in himselfe yea wee shall see him inforced to acknowledge it as having bought and purchased it with a woefull and lamentable experience for now hee beginnes to love Swearing Whoredome and Drunkennesse that before hee hated and to hate the Gospel of Christ and the Professours thereof that before hee loved A most wretched exchange where we take from our soules to give to our senses and a woefull bargaine where wee sell God to buy the Devill Poore Merilla grieving to see that she could not unsee these his ungodly courses as also that it not onely consumed the small remaynder of his meanes but likewise lost his friends and darkened and eclipsed his reputation thinkes it not onely a part of her duety but of her affection to him to request some vertuous friend or godly neighbour of theirs to deale with him herein thereby to endeavour to perswade him from these his irregular and prophane courses But as those who are sicke are so deprived of their tast as they cannot discerne betweene sweet and bitter So Alibius sicke of the Lethargie of these his enormous and dissolute Vices was so farre from rellishing this wholesome counsell as he not onely rejected it but scoffed and reviled the partie who gave it him and it being not so secretly or peradventure not so wisely mannaged but hee comming to understand it proceeded from his wife Merilla hee tooke it so passionately and outragiously to see his follies revealed by her who was bound to conceale them as most uncivilly and inhumanely checking her hee in the heat of his displeasure and revenge some moneths forsakes her company and many her bed whereat such was her tender affection to him and his disrespect to her as I know not whether she more grieved or he rejoyced The motives of his third distast to his Wife were grounded upon her barrennesse and sterility as if it were in her power to give him a Child when Gods pleasure and providence was to give none to her without considering that the barrennesse and fruitfulnesse of a woman comes all from the Lord or without remembring that some Children are borne for a curse as others for a blessing to their parents or as if his earthly vanity could teach Gods secret Divinity what were fittest for him and yet these reasons cannot prevaile against his unreasonable selfe and therefore this amongst the rest of his distastes hee or rather the Devill for him throwes in against his Wife That if hee had a Child hee should bee a good husband and not before as if hee desired and sought some pretext and colour though never so unjust and ungodly to cover his vices and prodigality or in the eyes of the World to bolster out and apologize his iarring and squaring with his Wife yea his impudencie was growne to the height of this impiety that hee often affirmed his Wife was the cause of his poverty for if she would give him no Child God would give him no prosperity Now as all women by nature generally desire Children so it is a great affliction I will not say a curse to them if they have none But these unjust speeches of Alibius doe justly and infinitely afflict his Wife Merilla who that no farther discord might trouble the harmony of their wedlocke sends her teares to earth and her prayers to heaven that her Blessed Saviour would bee pleased to blesse her with a Child when God seeing his prophane hypocrisy which he will revenge and understanding her religious zeale which hee will reward out of the inestimable treasure of his Mercie and providence grants her her request and him his desire so as in short time she sees her selfe the mother and him the father of a young daughter termed Emelia The fourth reason of his distast of his Wife was that seeing time runne on in his swift cariere and his prodigality still remayning as also that his maske of his Wife's sterilitie was taken away hee that was heeretofore so desirous of a child now thinks this one to bee one too many because saith hee hee can no way endure the crying and trouble
purposes and intents that way as so many lines that runne to their Center yea so strongly hath the devill possessed him with these hellish designes and bloody resolutions as his love to Philatea defacing his respect to Merilla hee sees her a blocke in his way and a stop to his preferment and so concludes that shee must hee remooved and dispatched to which effect to draw his sinfull contemplation into bloudy action hee rides over to Spreare to her and under colour of tender love and affection hee in Milke Wine and rosted Apples gives her poyson when seeing it would not worke his desired effect hee after takes an occasion purposely to quarrell with her and so very lamentably in presence of their daughter Emelia reviles and beates her and returnes to Brescia still hoping that the poyson yet might operate and disperse it selfe in her veines and that shortly hee should heare newes of her death Loe here Alibius his first attempt in seeking to murther his Wife In this meane time hee layes close siedge to Philatea's Chastity who not so honest as faire is soone drawne to sinne and prostitutes her selfe to his beastly pleasure and having no regard to her reputation conscience or soule consents to this bitter-sweet sinne of Adultery the which lascivious familiarity is so long continued betwixt them till at last Philatea's straight Bodies become too small and her Apron too short for her when seeing it high time to provide for her fame shee acquaints Alibius herewith and askes his advice whether shee shall marry with one of her servants Alibius meaning to keepe the Farme for himselfe whereof hee had already taken possession bids her not to take care for a husband but to bee of good comfort and that farre within her time hee would provide a place for her to lay downe her great belly yea so secret as her owne heart could either wish or desire But if our miserable Alibius were before resolved to murther his poore harmelesse Wife Merilla this newes and these speeches of Philatea sets him all on fire and so having consulted with the Devill hee vowes she shall not live to which end he provides himselfe of stronger poyson and in a darke night when as he flatters himselfe with hope that the Heavens were so unjust and inhumane to conspire with him in the Murther of his Wife he takes horse in the East Suburbe of Brescia and so rides toward Spreare But see the justice and withall the providence and mercie of our indulgent God! who vouchsafed and yet resolved to restraine and divert him from this his bloudy enterprise by an accident as strange as true for a mile out of Brescia as Alibius rides by the common place of execution his Horse stumbles and falls under him right against it with which fall his shoulder is out of joynt Oh what a caveat was this for Alibius if hee had had the least sparke of grace to have made good use hereof But the Devill had bewitched his understanding and judgement for hee could see by no other eyes but by those of revenge and bloud Arriving at his house at Spreare hee contrary to his hopes findes his daughter Emelia with her mother who by this time was marryed likewise to a poore Countrey man of Spreare whose sight and presence was for that time a stop to the execution of her fathers poysoning designe on her mother for hee feared that she had formerly discovered and suspected this his purpose and resolution as indeed shee had wherefore hee forbore to administer it onely because hee would not lose all his labour hee againe quarrells with his Wife and after hee had reviled her with many scandalous and contumelious speeches hee in the presence of his mournefull daughter doth exceedingly beate her who weeping to see her mother weepe infinitely grieved to be an eye-witnesse of this inhumane and barbarous cruelty of her father And so for that time Alibius againe permitted his Wife to live But this will prove no pardon but onely a short reprivall for her Returning againe to Brescia it is not long before Philatea doth againe importune him to provide for the concealing and salving of her shame alleadging that her time drew on and that it was more then time to provide her a husband Alibius at these her second assummons beginnes to looke about and resolves at what rate or in what manner soever now to send his Wife into another world yet as I thinke or ever understood conceales his purpose from Philatea Miserable wretch had he not participated more of the nature of a Tyger then a man or of a Devill then a Tyger hee would never have layd violent hands on his owne Wife whom earth and heaven had made flesh of his flesh and of two bodies one yea or had hee had so much grace to have considered that the silver wand he bore before the Podestate was for the scourging and punishing of sinne Me thinks it should have made him more charitable and not so bloudy to attempt it But what will not lust enterprise and Revenge execute if wee neither feare God with our heartes nor love him with our soules Preseverance in Grace and vertue is excellent but in sinne lamentable Alibius hath had yeares and time enough to wipe away his cruelty towards his wife but the longer hee lives the deeper roote it takes in him yea hee will neither give the flower of his youth nor the branne of his age to God but that to pleasure this to Revenge and Murther and both to the devill for now hee is resolute to finish this mournefull and bloudy Tragedy that hee hath so long desired and so often attempted and now indeed the fatall time approacheth wherein innocent Merilla by the Murtherous hand of her husband must be sent out of this World to see a better Alibius having waited on the Podestate to supper takes horse a little before the gates of the City were shut and having his former poyson in his pocket away hee rides to Spreare but to act his villany with the greater secrecy he masketh and disguiseth himselfe approaching his house he in the next Meddow ties up his horse to a tree and so knockes at doore Poore Merilla his wife was in bed and a sleepe with a little Girle her Grandchild named Pomerea the daughter of her daughter Emelia whom without a Candle shee sends downe to open the doore assuring her selfe as indeed it proved too true for her that it was her husband Alibius Pomereâ—… opening the doore lets one in but whom shee knows not and then for feare retires to the kitchin which shee shuts fast on her So Alibius mounts to his wives Chamber and after some words gives her a potion some say of milke bitterly sugred with poyson and forceth it downe her who poore soule is amazed hereat and with her weake strength cryes out for helpe but in vaine Hee being divellishly resolved now to make sure worke takes a billet out of the
a disobedience in her as it was a cruelty in him to Murther her mother She is a long time in esolute either to advance or retire in this her purpose and enterprise and here shee consults betwixt nature and grace betwixt the Lawes of Earth and heaven what shee should doe or how she should beare her selfe in a matter of so unnaturall a nature It grieves her to bee the meanes of her fathers death of whom shee had received her being and yet shee sorroweth not to reveale the murtherer of her mother of whom shee enjoyed her life But though sense and nature cannot yet Reason and Religion will reconcile and cleere these doubts yea evaporate those mists and disperse these clouds from our eyes and makes us see cleere that Earth may not conceale Murther sith God receives glory both in the detection and punishment thereof Some will say this daughter did ill to accuse her father But who will not affirme that he did farre worse to Murther her mother Neither was it a delight but a torment to her to effect it for shee enters into this resolution with teares and persevereth therein with sighes and lamentations but if shee were at first resolute herein this resolution of hers is exceedingly confirmed when shee sees her father so suddainely married and her mother in law ready to lay downe her great belly especially when shee heareâ—… the reports of his suspicion bruted in Brescia So now shee can no longer containe her selfe but goes to the next Corrigador and reveales him that her father Alibius was the Murtherer of her mother Merilla The Corrigador being a wise and grave Gentleman wondering at this lamentable newes retaines Emelia in his house and writes away to the Podestate of Brescia hereof who receives this news on a Saturday at night The Sunday morning he acquaints the Prefect and chiefest Senators therof who repayre to his house The probabilities and circumstances are strong against Alibius So they all conclude to imprison him he is at the doore ruffling in his garded gown and velvet cap with his silver wand in his hand as if hee were fitter to checke others then to be controuled himselfe wayting to conduct the Podestate to the Domo Alibius little dreames how neere hee is to danger or danger to him hee is by an Isbiere or Serjeant called in to speake with the Podestate and although his conscience inwardly torment him yet hee puts a good or at least a brazen countenance on all and so very cheerefully comes before him at his first arrivall his velvet cap and silver wand those dignified markes of honour and justice are taken from him and consequently his office because these are rewards onely proper to vertue and not to vice hee is examined by those worthy Magistrates who beare gravity in their lookes wisedome in their speeches and justice in their actions Alibius hath many smooth words for the defence of his crime which with the ayd and varnish of his gracefull gesture hee strives to extenuate and palliate but in vaine for hee hath to doe with those Magistrates who cannot bee deluded or carried away either with the sugar of a lye or the charme of an evasion So they commit him close prisoner where hee hath both time and leasure to thinke on the foulenesse of his fact and the unnaturalnesse and barbarisme of his cruelty The Munday following the Corrigadors of Spreare send Emelia to Brescia where the next day the Podestate Prefect and Senators examine her they first exhort her to consider that shee speakes before God and although Alibius bee her earthly father yet he is her heavenly they conjure and sweare her to speake the truth and no more and because they see her a simple illiterated woman they informe her what the vertue and nature of an oath is When Emelia falling on her knees wringing her hands and stedfastly looking up towards heaven she bitterly weeping sighing for a pretty while had not the power to utter a word The Prefect with milde exhortations and speeches encourageth her to speake when with many teares and inrerrupted sighes she at last proffereth these words My father hath often beaten my Mother and even layne her for dead and at other times hee hath given her poyson and hee it is and no other that hath now Murthered her One of the Senators some say it was the Podestate who as much favoured Alibius as hated his crime bade Emelia looke to her conscience and her conscience to God and withall to consider that as Merilla was her Mother so Alibius was her Father Whereat shee bitterly weeping againe said that what she had already spoken was true as shee hoped to injoy any part of heaven So they binding her to give evidence at the great Court of the Province which some foure moneths after was to be held in the Castle of their Citie they dismisse her In which meane time Alibius is visited in prison by divers of his acquaintance yea some of the chiefest Senators themselves afford him that honour and charity they deale with him about his crime but in vaine for hee takes heaven and earth to witnesse that hee is innocent yea hee seemes to bee so religious and conscionable in his speeches as hee drew many of inferiour ranke and understanding to beleeve that his accusation was not true and his imprisonment unjust and false But God will shortly unmaske his hypocrisie and to his shame and confusion lay open and discover to the whole World his unnaturall and bloudy cruelty And now the time is come that the Duke and Seigniory of Venice are used to depute and send forth Criminall Iudges to descend and passe thorow the provinces of their territories and dominions to sit upon all capitall malefactors and to punish them according to their deserts A custome indeed held famous not onely in the Christian but in the whole universall world and whereby the Venetian Sate doth undoubtedly receive both glory vigour and life sith it not onely preserveth their peace and propagateth their tranquillity but also rooteth out and exterminateth all those that by their lewd and dissolute actions seeke to impugne and infringe it Thus these high and Honourable Iudges being in number two for every division having dispatcht their businesse or rather that of the Seigniories in Padua Vincensa Virona and Bergamo are now arrived in Brescia in the Castle whereof which is both beautifull and conspicuous to the eye they keepe their Forum and Tribunall And because this Citie is exempted from the Province as being particularly indowed with a peculiar jurisdiction and honoured with many honourable priviledges and prerogatives therefore Merilla being Murthered in the Province Alibius is fetched out of his first prison and by one of the chiefest and gravest Senators deputed for that purpose by the Podestate and Senate conducted and conveyed to the Castle there to bee arraigned by those two great Iudges and although this aforesaid Senator was so wise and religious as
to his prison to prepare himselfe to dye Sypontus is no sooner departed from them but they consult on Victoryna whether shee were guilty or innocent of her husband Souranza's Murther but they differ in opinion some would likewise have her Racked but others of them more advised and modest reply that Sypontus his Letter intimated onely his affection to Victoryna but no way her malice to her dead husband Souranza nor that shee was any way guilty or accessary to his Murther so they resolve to forbeare her and not to put her to the torment except Sypontus accuse her at his execution Now the very night that hee was to die the next morne hee infinitely desires his Iaylor to permit him to conferre with Victoryna and to take his last leave of her which is denyed him as having received command from authority to the contrary whereat extreamely grieving hee is called away by some Divines whom the charity of that grave Senate send him to prepare and direct his soule in her passage and transmigration to Heaven So passing the night in teares and prayers for the foulenesse of his crime the morne being come and nine of the clock strucken hee is brought to the scaffold where a world of people concurre and flock from all parts of the City to see this wretched and unfortunate Gentleman act the last Sceane and part of his life upon this infamous Theater Heere Sypontus freely confesseth his foule Murther of Souranza but is yet so vaine and wretched as hee takes it to his death that Victoryna is absolutely innocent hereof hee seemes to bee very repentant and sorrowfull for all his sinnes in generall and for this Murther in particular For expiation and reward hereof his head is severed from his body a just recompence and punishment for so vicious and bloudy a Gentleman who adhering to adultery more then chastity to revenge then charity and to the devill then God forgot himselfe so farre as to commit this execrable and lamentable Murther Now the order and Decorum of our History leades us from dead Sypontus to living Victoryna who I know not whether more grieve at his death or rejoyce that on the Racke and scaffold hee hath acquitted her of her husbands Murther In a word it is remarkeable to behold the vanity and inconstancy of this female Monster for contrary to her vowes and repugnant to her Letters and teares Sypontus is no sooner dead but her affection towards him dyes with him yea his bloud is scarce fo soone cold as her zeale and friendship for shee now holds it a pure folly to cast away her youth and life if shee may preserve the one and save the other and therefore resolves to try her best art and wit to make her innocencie passe currant with her Iudges yea so desirous and ambitious is shee to live as her female heart hath drawne on this masculine fortitude and generosity that if occasion present shee will constantly both out-dare and out-brave the torments of the Racke thereby to prevent her death Some three daies after Sypontus was executed the Iudges againe sit and consult on Victoryna but finding no evidence nor witnesse to accuse her they at first are of opinion to discharge and free her onely they deeme it requisite to terrifie but not to torment her with the Racke before they give her her liberty whereunto they all agree So they send for her and threaten her with the Racke but shee vowes that all the torments of the world shall never inforce her to confesse an untruth and that shee never had the least suspicion that Sypontus was guilty of this execrable Murther of her husband her Iudges will not yet beleeve her so they cause her to be carryed to the Racke whereunto shee very cheerefully and patiently permits her selfe to bee fastened bidding the Executioner doe his worst which constancie of hers her Iudges seeing and hearing they in pitty and commiseration as well of her youth and beauty as to her descent and the teares and prayers of venerable old Beraldi her father cause her to bee loosed and so in open Court acquit and discharge her Here wee see this wretched Courtizans Victoryna acquitted of her Iudges for her husbands Murther so as triumphing more in her good fortune then her innocencie shee now thinkes the storme of her punishment past and ore-blowne and that no fuâ—…e can possibly bee reserved for her or shee for it but her hopes will deceive her for although shee have made her peace with Earth yet shee hath not with Heaven and although she have deluded the eyes of her Iudges yet she shall not those of God but when his appoynted houre and her due time is come then her crimes and sins her adultery and Murther shall draw down vengeance from heaven to her confusion In the meane time wee shall see this Monster and disgrace of her sexe make such bad use of her former danger as shee will againe adde bloud to bloud and Murther to Murther but God will reserve not onely the rod of his wrath for her correction but the full viols of his indignation for her confusion as the sequell will shew thee Sixe moneths are scarce past since the Murther of her husband Souranza and the execution of her Enamorata Sypontus but shee hath already quite forgotten these two mournefull ard tragicall accidents and which is more shee is so frolike and youthfull as shee hath throwne off her mourning attire and drawne on her rich apparell and glittering jewels whereof the curiosity of the nobler sort of Gentlemen and Ladies of the Citie take exact observation and although Beraldi and Lucia her fatheâ—… and mother herein taxe her of indiscretion and immodesty yet shee thinkes heâ—… selfe exempt of their commands and therefore will doe it out of the ambitious priviledge of her owne uncontrolable authority and wilfulnesse Besides her thought are so youthfull and her carriage so light as notwithstanding shee came as it were but now from burying of her first husband yet shee is resolved without delay tâ—… have a second her father and mother checke her of levity and incivility in imbracing this resolution but in vaine for her impudencie returnes them this immodest answer that shee will not trifle away her time but marry They advize her to bee cautious and to doe nothing rashly in this her second match that the misfortune anâ—… scandall of her first may no more reflect on her But shee will make choyce for heâ—… selfe by the eyes of her youth and not by those of their age by those of her ownâ—… fancie and not by these of their election Her husband Souranza dyed rich both 〈◊〉 lands and monies and his Widdow Victoryna without any opposition injoyeth all 〈◊〉 shee needs not looke out for Suters for there are Gallants enow who sue and seekâ—… her but of them all hee whom shee best and chiefly affecteth is one Seignior Loudvicus Fassino a very neat and proper young Gentleman of
broth and poyson she gave her Master Shee bitterly sighing and weeping confesseth the broath but denies the poyson vowing by hâ—…r part and hope of heaven shee never touched nor knâ—…w what poyson was and desired no favour of them if it were found or proovâ—…d against heâ—… withall she acquaints them that she feares it is a tricke of malice and revenge clapt on her by her Lady Victoryna for the discovery of Sypontus his letter And to speake truth the Iudges in their hearts partly adhere and concurre with her in this opinion they demand her whether her Lady Victoryna touched this broath either by the fire or the bed Shee according to the truth answers that to her knowledge or sight she touched it not nor no other but her selfe So they send her againe to prison and returâ—…e speedily to Fassino his house where committing Victoryna to a sure guard they ascend her chamber and closet search all her trunkes caskets and boxes for poyson but find none and the like they doe to Felicia's trunkes which they breake open shee having the key and in a boxe find a quantitie of the same poyson whereby it was apparant shee absolutely poysoned her Master Fassino The Iudges having thus found out and revealed as they thought the true author of this murther they descend againe examine Victoryna and so acquit her Poore Felicia is advertised hereof whereat shee is amazed and astonished and thinkes that some witch or devill cast it there for her destruction Shee is againe sent for before her Iudges who produce the poyson found in her trunke she denies both the poyson and the murther with many sighs and teares so they adjudge her to the racke whâ—…ch torment she suffereth with much patience and constancie notwithstanding her Iudges considering that shee made and gave Fassino the broath that none touched it but her selfe that hee dyed of it and that they found the remainder of the poyson in her trunke they thinke her the murtherer so they pronounce sentence that the next morne shee shall bee hanged at Saint Markes place Shee poore soule is returned to her prison she bewailes her misfortune thus to die and be cast away innocently taxing her Iudges of injustice as her soule is ready to answere it to God All Venice pratleth of this cruell murther committed by this yong Gentlewoman but for her Lady Victoryna shee triumphs and laughs like a Gypsey to see how with one stone shee hath given two strokes and how one poore drug hath freed her this day of her husband Fassino and will to morrow of Felicia of whom she rejoyceth in her selfe that now shee hath cryed quittance for the discovery of Sypontus his Letter which procured his death but her hopes may deceive her or rather the devill will deceive both her and her hopes too How true or false righteous or sinfull our actions bee God in his due time will make them appeare in their naked colours and reward those with glory and these with shame The next morne according to the laudable custome of Venice the mourners of the Seigniory accompany our sorrowfull Felicia to the place of execution where she modestly ascendeth the ladder with much silence pensivenesse affliction at the sight of whose youth and beautie most of that great infinitie of Spectators cannot refraine from teares and commiserating and pitying that so sweet a young Gentlewoman should come to so infamous and untimely a death when Felicia lifting up her hands and erecting her eyes and heart towards heaven she briefly speaks to this effect Sheetakes Heaven earth to witnesse that she is innocent of the poysoning of her Master Fassino and ignorant how that poyson should bee brought into her Trunke that as her knowledge cannot accuse so her Conscience will not acquit her Lady Victorina of that fact onely she leaves the detection and judgement thereof to God that being ready to forsake the world siâ—…h the world is resolved to forsake her shee as much triumphs in her innocencie as grieves at her misfortune and that she may not only appeare in Earth but be found in Heaven a true Christian shee first forgives her Lady Victorina and her Iudges and then beseecheth God to forgive her all her sinnes whereunto shee humbly and heartily prayes all that are present to adde their prayers to hers and so shee begins to take off her band and to prepare her selfe to die Now Christian Reader what humane wisdome or earthly capacitie would here conceive or thinke that there were any sublunary meanes left for this comfortlesse Gentlewoman Felicia either to hope for life or to flatter her selfe that she could avoid death But loe as the children of God cannot fall because he is the defender of the innocent and the protector of the righteous therefore we shall see to our comforts and finde to Gods glory that this innocent yong Gentlewoman shall be miraculously freed of her dangers and punishment and her inveterate arch enemy Victoryna brought in her stead to receive this shamefull death in expiation of the horrible murthers of her two husbands which God will now discover and make apparant to the eyes of the world for as the Fryers and Nunnes prepare Felicia to take her last farewell of this world and so to shut up her life in the direfull and mournfull Catastrophe of her death Behold by the providence and mercie of God the Apothecarie Augustino of whom this ouâ—… Historie hath formerly made an honest and religious mention arrives from Cape â—…stria and having left his ship at Malmocco lands in a Gondola at Saint Markes stayres when knowing and seeing an execution towards he thrusts himselfe in amongst the crowd of people where beholding so young and so faire a Gentlewoman ready to die he demaunds of those next by him what shee was and her crime when being answered that her name was Felicia a wayting Gentlewoman to the Lady â—…orina who had poysoued her Master Fassino at the very first report of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Victoryna and her husband Fassino Augustino his blood flasheth up in his face and his heart began to beat within him when demanding if no other were accessary to this murther hee was informed that her Lady Victoryna was vehemently suspected thereof but she was cleared and onely Felicia this young Gentlewoman found guiltie thereof which words were no sooner delivered him but God putting into his heart and remembrance that this Lady Vectorina would have formerly seduced him for three hundred Zeckynes to have poysoned her husband Fassino hee confidently beleeving this young Gentlewoman innocent heereof with all possible speed as fast as his legges could drive hee runnes up to the Southeast part of the corner of the Gallery of the Dukes Palace where the Officers sit to see execution done the which he requesteth for that time to stop because he hath something to say concerning the murther of Signiour Fassino Whereupon they call out to the Executioner to forbeare which bâ—…ed infâ—… admiration
aboue his right pap and hee him cleane thorow the body of a large and dangerous wound whence issued foorth abundance of blood so they divide themselves and take breath They againe fall to it and at this third close Sebastiano repayes Antonio with a mournfull and fatall interest for hee runnes him thorow the body on the left side a little below the heart whereof staggering he falls and so Sebastiano dispatcheth him and nailes him to the ground starke dead Villandras congratulates with him for his victory which Sebastiano with much modestie ascribes to the power and providence of God and not to the weaknesse of his owne arme Bellasco is no way daunted with the misfortune and death of his Principall but rather like a generous Gentleman and valiant Second resolves to sell it dearely to Villandras They are not long unsheathing of their Rapiers for as soone as Bellasco hath covered up Antonio with his cloake they approach at their very first meeting Bellasco slightly hurts Villandras in the right shoulder and Villandras him thorow the bodie and reynes with a fatall wound wherewith his sword fell from him and hee to the ground when fearing and presaging his death he with a faint language begs his life of Villandras who at the sight and hearing hereof throwes away his owne Rapier and stoupes to assist him But in vaine for it is not in his power to give him his life for by this time hee is dead and his soule departed to another world This tragicall newes is soone knowne and bruited in Elvas whereof the Criminall Iudges of that Citie remit Sebastiano with as much ease as Villandras with difficultie in favour of money and friends and obtaine their pardons And now the newes hereof likewise flies to Antonio's Castle where his dead body and that of Bellasco are speedily conveyed and brought to the griefe and sorrow of all those of the Castle who bitterly weepe for the disaster of their Lord and Master But all these teares are nothing to those of Antonio's two sisters nor theirs any thing in comparison of these of our sweet Berinthia who is no sooner advertised hereof but shee falls to the ground with sorrow and there wrings her hands beats her breast and teares off her haire in such mournfull and pitifull sort that Crueltie her selfe could not refraine from teares to see the numberlesse infinitie of hers Counsell advice perswasion cannot perswade her to give a moderation to her mourning or limits to her sorrowes for they are so violent as their extremitie exceeds all excesse Shee will see the dead body of her deare Antonio all those of the Castle are not capable to divert her eyes from this wofull and pitifull object at the sight whereof shee falles to the ground on her knees and gives his breathlesse body a thousand kisses yea shee washeth his sweet cheekes with a whole deluge and inundation of her salt teares shee cannot speake for sighing nor utter a word for weeping onely wringing her hands shee at last breathed foorth these mournfull and passionate speeches O my deare Antonio my sweet and deare Antonio Antonio would God my death had ransomed and preventhine O my Antonio my Antonio Leave we Berinthia to her passionate sorrowes and sorrowfull passions from which her brother Sebastiano will soone awake her who by this time as Victor and Conqueror is come to the Castle gate and demaunds her where he sees himselfe refused and the draw-bridges and approaches drawne up and rampired with Barricadoes he craves ayd of the Criminall Iudges who send the Provost with an armed company of Souldiers so they force the Castle gate with a Petard where sorrowfull Berinthia is delivered into the handes of her joyfull and rejoycing brother Sebastiano who with sweet perswasions and advice seeks to exhale and dry up her teares but her affection is so great as she is not capable of consolation In a word shee cannot looke on her Brother with the eye of affection but of revenge and indignation yea shee wisheth her selfe metamorphosed from a Virgine to a man that shee might bee revenged of her Brother for the death of her deare Lover Antonio Sebastiano leaving the dead bodies of Antonio and Belasco to their Graves takes Coach with his incensed and sorrowfull Sister Berinthia and so leaves Elvs and returnes towards Avero where his Father Vilarezo and his Mother Alphanta welcome him home with prayse and their Daughter Berinthia with checkes and frownes who the best she may smothers her discontents but yet vowes to be revenged of her Brother for killing the life of her joy and joy of her life Antonio But all vowes of this bloudy nature and quality are better broken then kept which if Berinthia had had the grace to have considered and made good use of doubtlesse her hand had proved more joyfull and not so fatall and miserable Come we now to Catalina who seeing the object of her affection Antonio dead and her Sister Berinthia returned who for his sake was that of her living malice she secretly confesseth her fault to her sister in seeking formerly twice to have poysoned her by Ansilva craves pardon of her vowing henceforth to convert her malice to affection and so reconciles her selfe to her whereunto her Sister Berinthia willingly condescendeth Catalina hath made her peace with her Sister but shee hath not contracted and concluded it with God for Ansilva's death Earth may forget this Murther but Heaven will not Gods judgements are as just as secret and as true as wonderfull for hee hath a thousand meanes to punish us when wee thinke our selves safe and furthest from punishment which our wretched Catalina and her execrable Empericke Sarmiata shall see verifyed in themselves For the smoke of this their bloudy Crime of Murther hath pierced the Vaultes and Windowes of Heaven and is ascended to the Nostrells of the Lord who hath now bent his Bowe and made ready his Arrowes to revenge and punish them The manner is thus A Sister of Ansilva's named Isabella is to be marryed in Avero who invites the Ladies Catalina and Berinthia to her Wedding Berinthia is too sorrowfull to bee so merry as desirous rather to goe to her owne Grave then to any others Nuptialls so shee stayes at home onely her Sister Catalina takes Coach with an intent to accompany the Bride-woman to Church but see the Providence and Iustice of God how it surpriseth and overtakes this wtetched Gentlewoman Catalina for as shee was in her way the Sunne is instantly eclipsed and the Skyes overcast and so a terrible and fearefull Thunder-bolt pierceth her thorow the brest and layes her neere dead in her Coach her Wayting-mayds and Coach-man having no hurt are yet amazed at this strange and dismall accident so they thinke it fit to returne Catalina is for a time speechlesse he Parents are as it were dead with griefe and sorrow hereat shee is committed to her bed and searched and all her body above her wast is found
Murther and with many teares repents herselfe of it adding withall that her affection to Antonio led her to this revenge on her brother and therfore beseecheth her Iudges to have compassion on her youth But the foulenesse of her fact in those grave and just personages wipes off the fairenesse of her request So they consult and pronounce Sentence against her That for expiation of this her cruel murther on the person of her brother she the next morne shall bee hanged in the publike Market place So all praise God for the detection of this lamentable Murther and for the condemnation of this execrable Murtheresse and those who before looked on her youth and beauty with pitty now behold her foule crime with hatred and detestation and as they applaud the sincerity of her former affection to Antonio so they farre more detest and condemne this her inhumane cruelty to her owne brother Sebastiano But what griefe is there comparable to that of her Father and Mother whose age content and patience is not onely battered but razed downe with the severall assaults of affliction so as they wish themselves buryed or that their Children had beene unborne for it is rather a torment then a griefe to them that they whom they hoped would have beene props and comforts to their age should now prove instruments and subjects to shorten their dayes and consequently to draw their age to the miseries of an untimely and sorrowfull grave But although they have tasted a world of griefe and anxiety first for the death of their Daughter Catalina and then of their onely Sonne Sebastiano yet it pierceth them to the hâ—…rt and gall that this their last Daughter and Child Berinthia should passe by the passage of a halter and end her dayes upon so ignominious and shamefull a Stage as the Gallowes which would adde a blemish to the lustre of their bloud and posterity that time could never have power either to wipe off or wash away which to prevent Vilarezo and his wife Alphanta use all their friends and mortall powers towards the Iudges to convert their Daughters Sentence into a lesse shamefull and more honourable death So although the Gallowes bee erected Berinthia prepared to dye and a world of people yea in a manner the whole people of Avero concurr'd and seated to see her now take her last farewell of the world yet the importunacie and misery of her parents her owne descent youth and beauty as also her endâ—…ered affection and servent love to her Lover Antonio at last obtaine compassion and favour of her Iudges So they revoke and change their former decree and sweeten the rigour thereof with one more honourable and milde and lesse sharpe bitter and shamefull and definitively adjudge her to be immured up betwixt two walls and there with a slender dyet to end the remainder of her dayes And this Sentence is speedily put in execution whereat her parents friends and acquaintance yea all that knew her very bitterly grieve and lament and farre the more in respect they cannot be permitted to see or visit her or shee them onely the Physicians and Divines have admittance and accesse to her those to provide earthly physicke for her body and these spirituall for her soule And in this lamentable estate she is very penitent and repentant for all her sinnes in generall and for this her vile murther of her Brother in particular yea a little imprisonment or rather the spirit of God hath opened the eyes of her faith who now defying the Devill who had seduced and drawne her hereunto shee makes her peace with God and assures her selfe that her true repentance hath made hers with him So unaccustomed to bee pent up in so strait and darke a Mew the yellow Iaundies and a burning Feaver surprise her and so she ends her miserable dayes Lo these are the bitter fruits of Revenge and Murther which the undertakers by the just judgement of God are inforced to tast and swallow downe when in the heat of their youth and height of their impiety they least dreame or thinke thereof by the sight of which great effusion of bloud yea by all these varieties of mournefull and fatall accidents if wee will divorce our thoughts from Hell to Earth and wed our contemplations and affections from Earth to Heaven wee shall then as true Christians and sonnes of the eternall God runne the race of our mortality in peace in this world and consequently bee rewarded with a glorious Crowne of immortall felicity in that to come GODS REVENGE AGAINST THE CRYING AND EXEcrable sinne of Murther HISTORIE VIII Belluile treacherously murthereth Poligny in the street Laurieta Poligny's Mistris betrayeth Belluile to her Chamber and there in revenge shoots him thorow the body with a Pistoll when assisted by her Wayting-Mayd Lucilla they likewise give him many wounds with a Ponyard and so murther him Lucilla flying for this fact is drowned in a Lake and Laurieta is taken hang'd and burnt for the same IT is an infallible Maxime that if wee open our hearts to sinne we shut them to godlinesse for as soone as wee follow Satan God flies from us because we first fled from him but that his mercie may shine in our ingratitude hee by his servants his holy Spirit and himselfe seekes all meanes to reclaime us as well from the vanitie of our thoughts as from the prophanenesse and impuritie of our actions but if wee become obstinate and obdurate in our transgressions and so like Heathens fall from vice to vice whereas wee should as Christians grow up from vertue to vertue then it is not hee but our selves that make ship wracke both of our selves and soules of our selves in this life of our soules in that to come then which no misery can bee so great none so unfortunate and miserable It is true the best of Gods children are subject to sinne but to delight and persevere therein is the true way as well to hell as death All have not the gift of pure and chaste thoughts neither can wee so conserve or sanctifie our bodies but that concupiscence may and will sometimes assayle us or rather the devill in it but to pollute them with fornication and to transforme them from the Temples of the holy Ghost to the members of a harlot this though corrupt Nature seeme to allow or tolerate yet Grace doth not onely deny but detest But as one sinne is seldome without another either at her heeles or elbow so too too often it falles out that Mâ—…rther accompanieth Fornication and Adulterie as if one of these foule crimes were not enough to make us miserable but that in stead of going wee will needs ride poast to hell A woefull President and lamentable and mournfull Example whereof I heere produce to the view of the world in three unfortunate personages in a lascivious Ladie and two lewd and debosht young Gentlemen who all very lamentably cast themselves away upon the Sylla of Fornication and the
Borelles except still our holy Sisters the Nunns Not I faith quoth hee nor my Mistresse neither Indeed replies Poligny if I knew you had a Mistresse of that complexion I would adventure a glasse of Claret to her health When Belluile out of a phantastick French humour affirmed he had a Mistris whose beauty was so excellent as he knew hee could not receive shame to name her and if you please to honour her selfe and mee with her health I proclaime that Madamoyselle Laurieta is my Mistresse and my selfe her servant Of wise and Christian Gentlemen what prophane speeches and debosht table-talke are these they use heere as if their glory consisted in their shame or their best vertues were to bee discovered in the worst of vices For howsoever the Viands they did eate may preserve the health of their bodies yet this dissolute communication of theirs must needs poyson and destroy that of their soules for as they should praise God in the receit of the one so contrariwise they incense and displease his sacred Majestie in giving him the other yea this is so farre from Christianitie and heaven as it is the high and true way to Atheisme and hell for whores and healths instead of prayer and thankesgiving are the prodigious and certaine forerunners of a seared conscience and the dangerous and execrable symptoms of a leprous soule Birds are taken by their feet and men by their tongues Belluile having so basely and sottishly abused himselfe in the disparaging of his Mistresse Laurieta Poligny hath his errand for which hee purposely came to Orenge So dinner ended they very pleasantly returne for Avignion That night Poligny cannot sleepe for joy or rather for revenge For now hee presumes to know how to worke himselfe into Laurieta's favour by unhorsing Belluile It is a dishonest and base part to betray our friend and under the cloake of friendship and familiarity to harbour and retaine malice against them but this irregular and violent passion of love in young and unstayed judgements many times beares downe all other respects and considerations For if Religion and Conscience bee contemned what hope is there that either honesty bee regarded or friendship observed sith it is the onely ciment and sinewes thereof But Poligny is as resolute as malicious in his purpose and therefore the next morne by his Lackey sends the Lady Laurieta this Letter POLIGNY to LAVRIETA IT is out of syncere affection to thee and not out of premeditated malice to Belluile that I presâ—…me to signifie thee how lately in my presence at Orenge his tongue let fall some words that tended to the prejudice and disparagement of thine honour whereof I know it is not onely the part but the duetie of a true Gentleman to bee rather curious in preserving then any way ingrateâ—…ll in revealing thereof Neither doe I attempt to send thee this newes thereby to insiâ—…ate for draw thee to affect mee the more or him the lesse onely sith it is contrary to my complexion and nature to permit any Lady to bee wronged in my presence how much lesse thy selfe tâ—… whom I not owe my service but my life If thou wilt not approve my zeale yet thou hast all the reason of the world to pardon my presumption and to make my letter reall what my pen affirmes to Laurieta my sword is ready to confirme to Belluile POLIGNY In the extremitie and excesse of those three different passions griefe choller and astonishment Laurieta receives and reads this Letter and like a dissolute Gentlewoman being more carefull of her reputation to the world then of her soule towards God shee knowes not whether shee have more cause and reason either to approve Poligny's affection or to condemne Belluiles folly it grieves her to the heart to have bestowed her favours on so base and ingratefull a Gentleman as Belluile vowes shee will make him repent it and is resolute that this vanity and folly of his shall cost him deare yea shee is so impatient in these her fumes of griefe and revenge that shee thought once with all expedition to have sent for Belluile to make him as well see the fruits of his owne ingratitude as to taste the effects of her revenge and indignation but shee holds it requisite and fit and her selfe in a manner bound first to thanke Poligny for his courtesie by returning him a Letter in answer of his which shee speedily dispatcheth him by his owne Lackey to this effect LAVRIETA to POLIGNY I Know not whether thou hast shewed me a truer testimonie of thy discretion and affection then Belluile of his envie and folly But as I rest infinitely obliged to thee for thy care of my reputation so I resolve shortly to make him know what hee deserves in attempting to eclipse and disparage it Now as I grieve not so I must confesse I cannot refraine from sorrowing at this his undeserved slaunder for as mine innocencie defends me from the first so my sexe cannot exempt me from the second and look what disparity there is betwixt thy generosity and his basenes so much there is betwixt the whitenesse of my chastity and the foulenesse of hâ—… aspersion I rest so confident of the truth of thy pen as I desire no confirmation of thy Sword and I flatter not rather assure my selfe that sith Belluile was so indiscreet to wrong me he will neither have the wit or courage to right himselfe I returne thee many hearty thanks for this kind office and curtesy of thine the which though I cannot requite yet I will not only indeavour but strive to deserve LAVRIETA Whiles Poligny receives Laureta's Letter with much content and many kisses as triumphing to see how hee hath baffled Belluile by working him out and consequently himselfe into her favour wee will for a while leave him to consider whether the end of his treachery to Belluile will proove as fortunate and pleasing to him as the beginning promiseth And in the meane time we will a little speake of Laurieta to see what course and resolution shee meanes to hold and observe with Belluile It is not enough that shee hath written Poligny a Letter but her envy and contempt towards Belluile is so implacable as shee with much hast and secrecie sends for him her requests to him are commands yea hee needes no other spurres but those of his lust and of her beauty to make him rather flye then poast to her presence when not so much as once dreâ—…ing of his former foolish speeches delivered against his Mistresse Laurieta mucâ—…â—…se of Boligny's treason conspired and acted against him hee thinkes to kisse her â—…om so often hee hath formerly kissed but his hopes and her disdaine deceive hiâ—… for she peremptorily slights him when having fire in her lookes and thunder in her speeches shee chargeth him with this scandall delivered by him at Oâ—…nge in presence of Poligâ—…y against her honour and chastity And is this quoth she the reward a Lady shall deserve and
purpose if need should require which Lucilla promiseth Now this night as Belluile could not sleepe for joy so could not Laurieta for revenge who is so weighed downe to malice and murther as she wisheth the houre come for her to reduce her devillish contemplation into bloody action But this houre shall come too soone for them both for as Lovers are impatient of delayes so Belluile hath no sooner dined but taking his horse and two Lackeyes hee sayes he will take the aire of the fields that afternoone but will first call in and see his Mistresse Laurieta So hee alights at her doore and without the least feare of danger or apprehension of death very joyfully ascends Laurietâ—…'s chamber who dissembling wretch as shee is very kindly meets and receives him and the better to smother and dissemble her murtherous intent is not onely prodigall in taking but in giving him kisses Belluile like a dissolute and lascivious Gentleman whispers Laurieta in her eare that hee is come to receive the fruits of his hopes and of her promise and curtesie when considering that his horse and two Lackyes were at doore she returnes him this in his eare that she is wholly his and that it is out of her power to denye or refuse him any thing onely shee prayes him to send away his Lackeyes because their familiarity needed no witnesses Thus whiles hee calls them up to bid them carry away his horse to the gate that leades to Marseilles and there to awayt his comming Laurieta steps to her Wayting-mayd Lucilla and bids her make ready her Ponyard and stand close to her for now quoth she the houre is come that I will be revenged of Belluile for my Poligny's death the which she had no sooner spoken but Belluile returnes to her when redoubling his kisses hee little or rather not at all fearing he was so neere death or death him being ready to retire himselfe to a withdrawing Chamber which Laurieta treacherously informed him she had purposely provided for him he takes his Pistoll and layes it on the Table of the outer Chamber wherein they then were which shee espying as the instrument she infinitely desired to finger takes it in her hand and prayes him to shew her how to shoote it off so taking it from her he told her if shee pleased hee would discharge it before her for her sake Why quoth she is it charg'd Yea replyes Belluile with a single bullet Nay then quoth Laurieta put in one bullet more and if you can espye any Crow out of the window either on the house or Church top if it please you I will play the man and shoot at it for your sake When poore Belluile desirous to please her in any thing looks out the window and espies two Crowes on the crosse of the Augustine Fryers Church which he very joyfully relates Laurieta and so at her request claps in a second bullet more for quoth â—…he if I strike not both I will be sure to pay one and so prayes him to leane out at window to see how neere shee could feather them which miserable Gentleman he performing the Pistoll being bent shee behind him dischargeth it directly in his own reines Whereat he amazedly staggering Lucilla seconding her bloody Mistresse steps to him and with her Ponyard gives him five or sixe wounds thorow the body so as without speaking or groaning he falls dead at their feet Whereat Laurieta triumphing and leaping for joy uttereth these bloudy and prophane speeches O Poligny whiles thou art in heaven thus have I done in earth for thy sake and in revenge of thy cruell death Which having performed they more cruelly then cruelty her selfe drag his breathlesse carkasse reeking in his bloud downe the stayres into a low obscure Cellar where making a shallow grave they there bury him in his clothes and so pile up a great quantity of Billets on him as if that wooden monument had power to conceale their Murther and his body from the eyes and suspicion of all the world Good God! what devills incarnate and infernall Furies are these thus to imbrue their hands in the blood of this Gentleman But as close as they act and contrive this their bloody and inhumane Murther on earth yet heaven will both detect and revenge it for when they least dreame thereof Gods wrath and vengeance will surprise them to their utter confusion and destruction and it may be sooner then they are aware of For the two Lackeyes having stayed at the City gate with their Masters horse till night they returne and seeke him at Laurieta's house where they left him Laurieta informes them hee stayed not an houre after them and since shee saw him not which newes doth infinitely afflict and vexe them But they returne to his lodging and like duetifull and faithfull servants betwixt hope and feare awayt his returne that night and all the next day but in vaine And now they beginne to be amazed at his long and unaccustomed absence and so consult this important businesse to some Gentlemen their Masters confident and intimate friends who together with them repayre to Laurieta's house and againe and againe demand her for Mounsieur de Belluile but they finde her constant in her first answer and yet guided by the finger and providence of God they bewray a kinde of perturbation in her lookes and discover some distraction and extavagancie in her speeches whereupon calling to their mindes her former discourtesie to him for Poligny's sake and his fighting with him on the Bridge for hers as also this sudden and violent suspected murther of him they suspect and feare there is more in the winde then as yet they know and so acquaint the Criminall Iudges herewith who as wise Senatours having severally examined both her and her Mayd Lucilla and Belluile's Lackeyes they conclude to imprison Laurieta which is instantly performed whereat she is extreamly amazed and terrifyed but howsoever she is resolute to deny all and constant to stand upon her justification and innocencie So her Iudges adjudge her to the torments of the Racke which with a masculine yea with a hellish fortitude shee indureth without revealing the least shaddow either of feare or guiltinesse but they detaine her still prisoner and hope that God will make time discover the Murther of Belluile for eight dayes being now past they are become confident that hee is not in this world but in another In the meane time her bloudy Wayting-mayd Lucilla hath continuall recourse to her Lady Laurieta in prison where like impious and prophane wretches they interchangeably sweare secrecie each to other sith on eithers discovery depends no lesse then both their deaths Whiles this newes is generally divulged in Avignion Provence Daulphine and Langueâ—…k and no newes at all to be had or gathered of Belluile La Palaisiere who shined with as many vertues as Lâ—…urieta was obscured with Vices out of compassion and Christian charity some three weeks after visiteth Laurieta in
drowne thy thoughts in the hell of concupiscence and adultery when it were farre fitter thou shouldest lift them up to heaven in the sacrifice of prayer and other pious and religious contemplations But all this will not prevaile to stop the current of his voluptuousnesse and the progression of his sensuality for without respect of his God or regard of his soule hee is resolute in his desires to make a strumpet of his Daughter in Law and to make his Sonnes wife his whore but God will deceive his hopes and prevent his villany Now the better and sooner to drawe her to his lascivious desires hee is wonderfull courteous and affable to her still walking and talking with her yea and many times kissing her whereof both her Husband and selfe are infinitely joyfull but espeally Perina because shee findes a great alteration in her fortune in that her Father in Law Castelnovo proves as courteous to her as her owne Father Arconeto is cruell But poore innocent soule and sweet and chast Lady little dost thou either dreame oâ—… thinke on his lascivious intent against thine honour and chastity Old Castelnovo wallowing in the filthinesse and burning in the fire of his new lust and losing himselfe and his thoughts in the Labyrinth of his Daughter in law Perina's beauty hee thinkes on nothing so much nay on nothing else but how to obtaine her to his lascivious will but not daring or rather fearing to acquaint her with his inordinate and beastly purpose whiles his son her husband is at home present with her he forgeth and frames a plot both unnaturall and treacherous to make him imbrace and follow the Wars in wayting on the Duke Charles Emanuel or the Prince Amadee Victor his son and heire who with their warlike troopes were resolute to expell the Duke of Feria Viceroy of Millan with his Spanish Regiments out of Vercele Casall and the other Townes of Piedmont to which end his lustful affection to Perina made him eloquent in perswading and powerfull in drawing her husband to this Martiall action so full of honour and glory adding that his honour and the service of his Prince and Countrey called him to the Field and that he should not wholly drowne himselfe in the beauty of his young Wife and the pleasures of Marriage His sonne Castelnovo not at all suspecting or dreaming what a dangerous Snake lay lurking under the greene leaves of his fathers sugered speeches and perswasions like a noble and generous Knight as he was needes no other advocate but his owne honour and Martiall disposition to imbaâ—…ke him in these Warres and although the beauty requests and teares of his young Lady were vehement sollicitours to divert him yet hee is resolute to leave her for three or foure moneths And so making ready his armes traine horses and preparatives hee giving her many kisses and shee returning him a world of sighes and teares leaves Nice and so findes out the Duke and his Army in Piedmont where for a little time we will leave him It is a question very disputable and which by my weake capacity and judgemt cannot well bee decided whether this departure of young Custelnovo to the Warres made his father more glad or his wife sorrowfull for as shee was all in teares so was hee in mirth and jollity being so vaine in his lust and sâ—… lustfull in his vanity as 〈◊〉 trimmes up his beard and goes nearer and withall more youthfull in his apparell then accustomed yea his lust had so metamorphosed him as if it had a prophane influence and secret power to renew old age in him But alas alas what perfection of chastity can wee expect or hope for in youth when wee see no better signes and frâ—…s in one of threescore and eight yeares But I will follow the streame of our History though indeed the relation of this old lascivious Lechers Lust and Vanity to his daughter in law Perina equally afflict me with griefe and pitty to publish it I am then constrained to write and averre that although meere shame and unnaturalnesse doe as yet with-hold this wretched fathers tongue from vomiting foorth his adulterated lust to his faire and chast daughter in law Perina yet his lust is so immodestly lascivious as hee cannot keepe himselfe out of her company nor being in it refraine from kissing her but to see the innocencie and observe the purity of her thoughts shee neverthelesse not so much as any way suspects or dreames of his lascivious intent although indeed shee thinkes this courtesie of his somewhat exceeds the priviledge of a Father and the duety of a Daughter but measuring this by the cruelty of her owne Father shee poore silly soule thinkes her selfe in this respect now as happy as heretofore shee was miserable Onely the absence of her deare husband Castelnovo doth both torture and torment her and the more for that hee is in the Field at Warres when God knoweth shee desireth and wisheth hee should bee at home with her in peace But whiles Perina lookes from Savoy to Piedmont from Nice to Vercelli and from her selfe to her Lord and Husband her other selfe wee must not forget because oâ—… History will remember her Mother in law Fidelia which now wee must admit and re-conduct to act her part upon the Theatre hereof who observing her Husbands immodest and unwise familiarity demonstrated to the young Lady Perina her sonneâ—… Wife as also his alteration in humours and apparell but chiefely his unaccustomeâ—… distraction and sighes in his rest and repose shee more out of vertuous wisedome then foolish jealousie ay mes at his vaine lust towards this young Lady her Daughter in law whereat shee both admires with griefe and wonders with the anxiety of affliction and sorrow to see her old Husband in the winter of his age so soâ—…ish and beastly to lust after his owne sonnes young Wife to see that no respect of heaven no regard of conscience nor apprehension of damnation and hell had the grace or power either to kill these lascivious thoughts in their conception or to â—…rangle them in their birth to fee that hee who was ready to goe to his bed of death should now like the Salamander in the fire bee burning with desire to goe to that of Lust and Adultery and to see him fo devoyde of piety as he must needs joyne Incest with Adultery as if one of these beastly sinnes alone were not enough enormous and prodigious to make his life miserable and his death wretched And although she have cause enough of sorrow in her selfe yet when shee thinkes of her Husbands age and Daughters youth of his lust and her chastity and which is more of the most degenerate and unnaturall part of a Father to seeke to pollute and defile his owne Sonnes bed and consequently his owne honour This indeede goes neere her and this and onely this makes her looke on him both with envie and pitty but her age having taught her to love
bee disposed of in Malta againe to send him backe thither and his harping on these two strings was the onely musicke and melody which hee now gave his Sonne who after hee had a moneth or two at most recreated himselfe in the sweet company of his deare and sweet wife Perina hee least of all aiming whereat his father aimed by his absence againe gives way and consents to his desires of his departure onely the choyce of these two different imployments is yet questionable and unresolved of 'twixt the father and the sonne For as the sonnes curiosity desireth to see the Court of France which as yet he hath not seen so his fathers lust and malice is to have his returne honourably to Malta from whence hee hath formerly received his honour of Knighthood and there to obtaine a Pension during the terme of his life The sonne imbraceâ—…h the pleasures of the journey of France before the profit and honour of the Voyage of Malta But â—…he father ayming at other ends preferres this of Malta before that of France so as time working an impression in his thoughts and his fathers desire a kinde of naturall command in his will and of filiall obedience in his resolution hee at last resolves on Malta But as neither of these two enterprises of young Castelnovo is pleasing but distastefull to his young and faire Lady Perina So if her affliction and misery bee such as of the two her husband must needes attempt and prosecute one then sith hee may goe into France by land and cannot to Malta but by sea shee at last with an inforced willingnesse sympathizing with his first inclination likewise desireth that the object of his journey and the period of his Voyage bee France and not Malta as relying rather in hearing from him to stand at the speed and fidelity of a Post then at the inconstancie of the windes and the mercie of the seas So all things prepared and ready for his Voyage Perina importunately begging and her husband Castelnovo confidently promising his speedy returne shee conducting him over the Hill to Villafranca in her Coach they there with many reâ—…ocall kisses fighes and teares take leave each of other hee imbarking himselfe upon a French Galley bound from Marseilles to Malta which stopt there accidentally and shee committing him to the auspicious favour of the wind and sea very sorrowfully returnes for Nice Thus leaving the sonne floating and wasting on the seas let us againe returne to his unnaturall and beastly father who seeing his wife gone to Heaven and his sonne to Malta and all things hitherto to succeed according to his lascivious desires doth now assure himselfe that either by faire or soule meanes hee will reape his pleasure of his beautifull daughter in law Perina To which end hee gives her the sole governement and superintendance of his house with intent and hope the sooner to governe and surer to command her and so forgetting modesty and his lust giving a law to his conscience fifteene dayes are scarce past till finding her in her chamber playing on her Lute hee after some pauses coughes and kisses bewrayes and vomitteth her forth his fervent affection and desire But for mine owne part I highly disdaine to pollute and vilifie this History with the obscene and lascivious speeches wherewith this old lecher Castelnovo courts this young Lady Perina his daughter in law as holding them as unworthy of my relation as of my Readers knowledge of my modest pen as of their chaste eares onely judging of their nature and quality by their effects The beastlines and unexpectednesse thereof first made Perina extremely blush for shame and choller and then immediately againe looke pale with griefe and disdaine when not able to brooke or hearken to his lewde speeches much lesse his hatefull presence shee in the defence and preservation of her chastity which shee preferred before her life giving him a sharpe aâ—…swer and a bitter deniall and grieving to see a father so gracelesse and impioâ—…s to sâ—…ke to defile his owne sonnes bed in her dishonour shee throwes away 〈◊〉 Lâ—… and so very hastily and chollerickly abandoneth his presence and her owne chamber At which hee bites his lip for rage and hangs downe his head for indignation But at last sinne and the devill raigning in him makes that hee will not take this her first repulse for his last answer and denyall but resolute to persevere in his lubricitie hee in every walke garden and roome frequents and haunts her as her ghost as thinking to obtaine that from her through his importunity which hee could not by his perswasion but this his impudencie shall not prevaile Now as his sinfull motion infinitely grieved her so his perseverance and importunacie therein doth doubly afflict and torment her how to appease this storme to quench the fire of his lust and deface the remembrance and feeling of her griefe she knowes not For alas alas shee is so unhappy as her owne father Arconeto and her Aunt Dominica are at St. Iohn de Mauriene her sweet and deare husband in Malta and her mother in law the Lady Fidelia in heaven so as shee hath no intimate nor secret familiars nor any bosome friend to reveale these her sorrowes and afflictions Once shee thought to steale away from Nice so to passe the Mountaines and to flye backe to Saint Iohn de Mauriene but againe considering the dishonour and withall the danger to undertake this journey as also the cold reception and entertainement shee should there finde of her owne hard hearted father who would rather deride then pittie her afflictions shee altereth this her resolution and so resolves a little longer to stay in Nice hoping and praying that God would rectifie her father in law Castelnovo's judgement and reforme the errours of his lascivious thoughts and desires And so for her part hating the father as much as shee loved the sonne her husband hee could not bee more prodigall of his lewde speeches and tentations to her then shee was of her sighes and teares to understand and repell them A thousand times shee wisheth her selfe in Malta with the Knight her husband or hee in Nice with her and could her body so soone have flowne or sailed thither as her thoughts hee had long since injoyed the happinesse of her presence and shee the felicitie of his fathers absence But 〈◊〉 shee is two miserable to bee so fortunate shee hath yet this consolation left her to sweeten the bitternesse of her afflictions and this hope to revive and comfort her against her despaire that her Letter may procure his speedy returne from Malta to Nice Whereon resolving although the occasion and grounds thereof were as strange as shamefull shee secretly steales to her chamber and locking her doore to her takes her pen and paper and rather with teares then Ink writes him these few lines PERINA to CASTELNOVO ALthough mine eyes and heart can better weepe and sigh forth mine afflictions then my peâ—…
hazzarding of our soules and bodies is odious and distastefull to Heaven sith in seeking to deface man the creature wee assuredly attempt to strike and stabbe at the Majestie of God the Creatour but if there bee any colour or shaddow of honour to kill our adversary for the preservation of the vaine point of our honour what an ignoble ingratitude and damnable impiety is it for a Gentleman likewise treacherously to kill another of whom hee hath formerly received his life yea as Grace fights against this former sort of fighting so both Grace and Nature impugne and detest this second sort of Murther A wofull and mournfull president wherof I here represent in the person of a base and wretched Gentleman whose irregular affection to a Lady first slue her brother in the field and execrable revenge to her lover next drew him treacherously to Murther him in the street and consequently to his owne condigne punishment and shamefull death for the same May all such bloudy Murtherers still meet with such ends and may his miserable and infamous death premonish all other Gentlemen to live and become more charitable and lesse bloudy by his example THe friendship and familiaritie betwixt Seignior Iohn Battista Bertolini and Seignior Leonardo Brellati two noble young Gentlemen native and resident of the Citie of Rome was without intermission so intire and intimate for the space of sixe whole yeares which led them from their yeares of fourteene to twenty as it seemed they had but one heart in two bodies and that it was impossible for either of them to be truely merry if the other were absent and surely many were the reasons which laid the foundation of this friendship for as they were equall in yeares so their â—…atures and complexions resembled and their humors and inclinations sympathized likewise they were ancient schoole-fellows and neere neighbours for their parents both dwelt betwixt the Palaces of the too Cardinals Farnesi and Caponius or if there were any disparity in their dignities and worths it consisted onely in this Bertolini's parents were richer then Brellati's but Brellati was more Nobly discended then Bertolini which notwithstanding could no way impeach or hinder the progresse of their friendship but rather it flourished with the time so as they increasing in yeares they likewise did in affection as if they were ambitious of nothing so much in this world as not onely to imitate but to surpasse the friendship of Orestes and Pillades and of Damon and Pâ—…thias whereof all who knew them and their parents yea all that part and division of Rome tooke deepe and singular notice but to shew that they were men and not Angels and consequently subject to frailty not inherent to perfection that earth was not heaven nor Rome the shaddow thereof have wee but a little patience wee shall shortly see the thred of this friendship cut off the props and fortifications thereof razed battered and said levell with the ground yea we shall see time change with time friendship turned into enmitie fellowes to foes loue to loathing courtesie to crueltie and in a word life to death as observe the sequell of this History and it will briefly informe yee how Bertolini sees that Brellati hath a faire and delicate sister named Dona Paulina somewhat younger then himselfe and yet not so young but that the clocke of her age hath strucken eighteene and therefore proclaimed her at least capeable if not desirous of marriage and although hee bee a novice in the Art of love yet Nature hath made him so good a Scholler in the principles and rudiments thereof as hee sees her faire and therefore must love her rich in the excellencie and delicacie of beautie and therefore is resolute to love her and onely her for gazing on the influence and splendour of her piercing eyes hee cannot behold them without wonder and then prying and contemplating on the roseat and lillie tincture of her cheekes he cannot see these without admiration nor refraine from admiring them without affection but againe remarking the slendernes of her bodie and the sweetnesse of her vertues and seeing her as gracious as faire and that her inward perfections added as much lustre to her exteriour beautie as this reflected ornament and decoration to these hee as young as he was vowes himselfe her servant and withall swore that either shee or his grave must bee his wife and Mistresse Bertolini thus surprized and netled with the beautie of his dearely sweet and sweetly faire Paulina hee is inforced to neglect a great part of his accompanying the brother thereby to court the sister so hee many times purposely forsakes Brellati to follow Paulina and delights in nothing so much as in her presence and in that regard in his absence not that it was possible in his conceit and imagination for him any way to hate him in loving her rather that in generall tearmes hee must love Brellati for Paulina's sake and in particular onely affect her for his owne And as his wealth and ambition made him confident hee should obtaine her for his wife so hee in faire amorous and honourable tearmes as well by his owne sollicitations Letters promises and presents as by those of his parents seekes her in marriage yea and when these could not suffice hee to shew himselfe as true as fervent a lover addes sighes teares prayers and oathes But all these sollicitours serve only to betray and deceive his hopes for if Bertolini were extreamely desirous to marry Paulina shee is as resolute not to match him which discords in affection seldome or never make any true harmony in mindes His wealth deceiving him hee hath recourse to her onely brother and his best and dearest friend Brellati to whom he relates the profundity and fervencie of his affection to his sister Paulina acquaints him with his suite and her denyall his attempt and her repulse therein and by the power and bonds of all their former friendship and familiarity intreates and conjures him to become his oratour and advocate towards her in his behalfe whose smiles hee alledgeth are his life and frownes his death Brellati having his generosity and judgement blinded with the respect of Bertolini his wealth as also of the affection hee bore him all other considerations laid apart like a better friend to him then a brother to his sister Paulina promiseth him his best furtherance and assistance in the processe of this his affection and so with his truest Oratory best Eloquence and sweetest Perswasion begins to deale effectually with her herein But as our hopes are subject and incident to deceive us so Bertolini and Brellati come farre too short of theirs for Paulina in absolute and down-right termes prays her brother to informe and resolve Bertolini that she hath otherways setled and ingaged her affection and therefore prayes him to seeke another Mistresse sith shee hath found another Lover and Servant with whom she means to live and die Her broâ—…er for his friends sake
depriving him of his O extreme ingratitude O uncharitable and base resolution Yea hee is so devoyd of reason and the purity of his soule and conscience so contaminated and vilified with the contemplation and object of bloud as hee gives way thereto and resolves thereon yea permits it to forsake God of purpose wilfully to follow the Devill yea his thoughts are so surprised and taken up with this execrable and hellish resolution of Murther as hee thinkes of nothing else but of the meanes and manner how to dispatch Sturio and so to send him in a bloudy winding-sheet from this life to another To fight with him againe in the field hee dares not to assassinate and murther him in his bed he cannot sith he must passe five or sixe severall chambers ere hee can come at his and to pistoll him in the open street though it be lesse difficult yet hee findes it most dangerous sith hee sees Sturio still went better followed and accompanyed then himselfe as indeed being more eminent of birth and noble of extraction then himselfe But hee shall want no invention to accomplish and bring this his bloudy resolution to passe for if hee faile thereof the Devill is still at his elbow to prompt and instruct him therein yea his impiety is growne so strong with the Devill and his faith so weake with God as now having turned over the records of his revenge hee at last resolves to shoot Sturio from a Window with a Petronell as he passeth the street and upon the attempt and finishing of this hellish stratagem and bloudy Tragedy the Devill and he strike hands and conclude it the contriving and perpetrating where of shal in the end strangle him because he was so prophane and gracelesse as he would not strangle the first conceit thereof in their births and conceptions But leave wee here Bertolini ruminating on his intended bloudy crime of Murther and come wee a little to speake of poore unfortunate Sturio who not dreaming of his malice much lesse of his ungratefull and bloudy revenge intended against him like a mournful and disconsolate constant Lover is thinking on nothing so much as on the living beauty and Idea of his dead Paulina and although he knew it as palpable folly to bewray his immoderate sorrowes as discretion to conceale them yet their impetuosity and fervencie give such a predominating law to his resolutions as hee cannot refraine from often stealing into Sancta Maria de Rotunda's Church where shee was buryed and there secretly bedewes her Tombe and washes her Sepulcher with his teares an act and ceremony of Lovers which though affection authorize yet Religion doth neither justifie nor can approve All the care of his father and friends is to seek how to purge his pensivenesse and to wipe off his melancholy sorrowes and sorrowfull melancholinesse to which end they proffer him great variety of noble and beautifull Ladies in Marriage hoping that the sight and presence of a new beauty would deface the memory and absence of an old but their policie proves vaine for Sturio will bee as constant in his sorrowes for his sweet Paulina's death as hee was in his affection to her whiles shee lived and therefore although their power inforce him to see diverse yet his will can never bee drawne or inforced to love any as having inviolably contracted himselfe to this definitive resolution that sith he could not be Paulina's husband he will never wed himselfe to any other wife then his Grave And here I beginne to write rather with teares then Inke when I apprehend and consider how soone our poore and innocent Sturio shall â—…ee by the bloudy hand of Bertolini layd in his unfortunate and untimely Grave Ah Sturio Sturio hadst thou been more vindictive and lesse generous and compassionate thou hadst prevented thy death by killing Bertolini when thy valour in Caprea formerly reduced and exposed him to the mercie of thy Sword or if thou hadst believed this Maxime that dead men can never offend or hurt thou needst not have relyed and trusted upon the false promises of an incensed and irreconciliable enemy but what shall I say It was not thy honour but Bertolini's infamy which hasteneth and procureth thy death O that thou shouldest bee so true a friend to thine enemy and hee proove so deadly an enemy to thee his true friend Sturio gave Bertolini his life and Bertolini in requitall will give Sturio his death but such monstrous and bloudy ingratitude will never goe unpunished of God for as it is odious to Earth so it is execrable to Heaven But I must bee so unfortunate to bring this deplorable Tragedy upon the Theater of this History A misery of miseries that wee are many times neerest our ends when wee thinke our selves farthest from them and not to rush into the sacred and secret closet of Gods inscrutable providence I can finde no other pregnant reason thereof either in Divinity or Nature but that at all times and in all places wee should bee still prepared and ready for death e're death for us and not protracting or procrastinating the houre thereof but that whensoever it shall please God to call us to him or himselfe to us that like good Christians death may still finde us alwayes arm'd to meet never unprovided to incounter it But Bertolini is so obstinate in his malice and so wretchedly implacable in his revenge as understanding that Sturio is accustomed to goe to his mornings Masse at the English Colledge hee provides both himselfe and his Petronell charged with a brace of Bullets or rather the Devill provides both the Bullets the Petronell and himselfe and so watching the advantage of his houre and time on a Monday morning a little after the Cardinalls Farnesi and Caponius were ridden with their traines to the Consistory putting himselfe into an unknowne house betwixt the sayd English Colledge and the Palace of Farnesi hee having his Cocke bent and seeing Sturio comming in the streete upon his prauncing Barbary Horse and Foot-cloth like a gracelesse and bloudy villaine having neither the feare of God nor the salvation or damnation of his soule before his eyes nor once imagining that hee shootes at the Majesty of God the Creatour in killing and defacing Man his Image and Creature le ts flye at him and the Devill had made him so curious and expert a Marke-man as both the Bullets pierce the trunke of his brest with which mortall wounds our innocent Sturio no longer able to sit his Horse tumbles downe dead to the ground without having the power to utter a word but onely to breathe foorth two or three lamentable and deadly groanes And this was the unfortunate and mournefull end of this noble Gentleman Sturio which I cannot relate without sighes nor remember without teares This bloudy Tragedy acted on so brave a Gallant in the very bowels and heart of Rome doth extreamely amaze and draw all the Spectatours to lamentation and mourning and his two servants who
History to have served as a grace and ornament thereunto in interlacing my prose with others verses for the better delight and recreation of my Reader But I must justly crave excuse herein for my curiositie sought them though my unfortunacie found them not And because I wholy ayme rather to profit then please my Reader let us forget the shadowes to remember the substance and so looke from the Mappe to the Morall of this History that the foule example of Bertolini's crime of Murther and the justnesse of his punishment may make us lesse bloudy and more compassionate and charitable to our Christian brethren and consequently more pious towards God of whom we all beare the living Image and true and lively character FINIS THE TRIUMPHS OF GODS REVENGE AGAINST THE CRYING AND Execrable Sinne of Murder Expressed In thirty severall Tragicall Histories digested into six Bookes which containe great varietie of mournfull and memorable Accidents Amorous Morall Divine Booke III. Written by IOHN REYNOLDS LONDON ¶ Printed by Iohn Haviland for WILLIAM LEE and are to be sold at his shop in Fleetstreet at the signe of the Turks Head neere the Mitre Taverne 1634. TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE AND truly worthy of all honour WILLIAM Earle of Pembroke Lo. Chamberlaine to his Majestie Knight of the thrice Noble Order of the Garter and one of the Lords of his most Honorable Privie Councell RIGHT HONOURABLE IT is not your Dignities but your Vertues not your Greatnesse but your Goodnesse which first conjured my affection then commanded my resolution to direct these forraigne Tragicall Histories to your Honours protection and patronage For whiles others sailing with the corrupt Tyde and Current of the times not only admire but adore the exteriour parts of men their Fortunes I for my part both honour and reverence their interiour qualities and ornaments Pietie Fidelitie Generositie three Daughters of Heaven embleming and personating the three Heavenly Graces on Earth Faith Hope Charitie who transport and convey our Memories as farre as the limits of Time and a degree beyond it and on the wings of Truth mount our Fames â—…rom Earth to Heaven from Envy to Glory and from Mortalitie to Eternitie Not but that I every way respect and honour that blood which is Noble but that I yet more dearly honour and deeply affect those Vertues which have a secret and as I may justly say a sacred power in them to ennoble Nobilitie both which transcendent Privileges finding hand in hand cheerefully to march and really to sympathize in your Ho. sith upon the resplendent lustre of your actions Envie is not capable to insinuate a blemish nor Detraction of power to introduce or inforce a disparagement was the sole prevailing motive of this my Zeale and Ambition And when I consider that the Moralitie Ends and Punishments of these foule and crying sinnes of Murther which my two former Bookes of this Nature have already related and divulged to the world have not only been approved but applauded of our most Excellent and Sacred King as only aiming at Gods glory and our owne reformation and pâ—…ervation I rather hope than despaire that this Third wherein the just revenge of God the Great and Supreme King of Kings is no lesse apparent and conspicuous will be accepted and received of your Ho. Againe it fights against Murther which not only seekes to slay Humanitie but therein to murther Religion which is the Life and Soule thereof It denounceth war against Nature and Grace against the Divine Ordinances of Heaven and the Coactive and penall Lawes of Earth whereby they are established and maintained as being the Cymment and Sinewes the Veines and Arteries of Monarchies and Common weales as also against the Majestie of God and the Crownes and Dignities of Soueraigne Kings and Princes his Royall Deputies and Vice-gerents here on earth sith thereby he loseth soules and these subjects yea so generall and so prodigious a progression doth this scarlet sin of premeditated and wilfull murther make in the universall World and with so bloodie a deluge and inundation it not only washes but as it were drownes the face of the Christian that wee have now far truer cause to cry out and juster reason to exclaime than did Quintus Catulus so many centuries of yeeres since O with whom or where shall wee liue in safetie sith in wars wee kill those who are armed and in Peace who are unarmed Yea your Ho. who with a happy constancie and constant happinesse is still a professed Champion for Charitie against Enuie and a Tutelarie Protector for Vertue against Vice whiles divers great ones of the World make it not only their practice but their glory to performe the contrary will I hope run over these mournfull Histories and the severall accidents they relate with your eye of pittie and spirit of compassion and therein with a religious joy and pious insultation not only admire the Prouidence but applaud and magnifie the Iustice of God in so timely curting off these Monsters of Nature and bloudy Butchers of Mankinde with these their condigne punishments and deserved deaths In which Hope and Confidence this Booke is no more mine but your Honours and no lesse is he who collected and penned it and that my Name may futurely oblige mee to make this present promise of my pen reall Whiles many others in a vertuous emulation contend to deserve the Honour of your Fauour and strive to purchase the felicitie of your Commands none shall doe it with more Integritie and lesse Vanitie than Your Honours truly deuoted IOHN REYNOLDS The Grounds and Contents of these Histories History XI De Salez killeth Vaumartiâ—… in a Duell La Hay causeth Michaelle to poyson La Frange De Salez loves La Hay and because his father Argentier will not consent that he marry her stifleth him in his bed and then takes her to his wife she turnes Strumpet and cuts his throat as he is dying hee accuseth her of this bloody fact and himselfe for murthering his father Argentier so his dead body is hang'd to the Gallowes then burnt La Hay confesseth this murther and likewise that shee caused Michaelle to poyson La Frange she hath her right hand cut off and is then burnt alive Michaelle is broken on the wheele and his dead body throwne into the River History XII Albemare causeth Pedro and Leonardo to murther Baretano and he after marrieth Clara whom Baretano first sought to marry Hee causeth his man Valerio to poyson Pedro in prison and by a letter which Leonardo sent him Clara perceives that her husband Albemare had hired and caused Pedro and Leonardo to murther her first love Baretano which letter she reveales to the Iudge so he is hanged and likewise Valerio and Leonardo for these their bloody crimes History XIII La Vasselay poysoneth her wayting-maid Gratiana because she is jealous that her husband De Merson is dishonest with her whereupon he lives from her In revenge whereof shee causeth his man La Villete
to murther him in a Wood and then marries him in requitall The said La Villete a yeere after riding thorow the same Wood his Horse falles with him and almost kills him when hee confesseth the murther of his master De Merson and accuseth his wife La Vasselay to be the cause thereof So for these their bloody crimes he is hanged and she burnt alive History XIV Fidelia and Caelestina cause Carpi and Monteleone with their two Laquayes Lorenzo and Anselmo to murther their father Captaine Benevente which they performe Monteleone and his Laquay Anselmo are drowned Fidelia hangs her selfe Lorenzo is hanged for a robbery and on the Gallowes confesseth the murthering of Benevente Carpi hath his right hand then his head cut off Caelestina is beheaded and her body burnt History XV. Maurice like a bloody villaine and domnable sonne throwes his Mother Christina into a Well and drownes her the same hand and arme of his wherewith he did it rots away from his body and being discrazed of his wits in Prison hee there confesseth this foule and inhumane murther for the which he is hanged GODS REVENGE AGAINST THE CRYING AND Execrable Sinne of Murder History XI De Salez killeth Vaumartin in a Duell La Hay causeth Michaelle to poison La Frange De Salez loves La Hay and because his father Argentier will not consent that he marry her stifleth him in his bed and then takes her to his wife she turns Strumpet and cuts his throat as he is dying he accuseth her of this bloudy fact and himselfe for murthering his father Argentier so his dead body is hang'd to the gallowes then burnt La Hay confesseth this murther and likewise that she caused Michaelle to poison La Frange shee hath her right hand cut off and is then burnt alive Michaelle is broken on the wheele and his dead body throwne into the River ALthough our perverse Nature and rebellious thoughts may for a while make us esteeme Envie to be no Vice and Murder a Vertue yet if we wil erect the eyes of our Faith and so looke from our selves to our soules from Earth to Heaven and from Satan to God we shall then assuredly finde that hating our Christian Brother wee hate Christ who made us Brothers and murdering him that we maliciously and presumptuously attempt to recrucifie Christ by whom we must without whom we cannot be saved But if we will turne Atheists and beleeve there is a Heaven but no God or Devils and say there is a God but no Heaven then that uncharitable Tenent of Envie may be held lawfull and this bloudy position of Murder practised because privileged else not Wherefore let us who are Christians resend this devillish doctrine and doctrine of Devils to Hell from whence it first came and to the Devill himselfe who first broached and invented it sith we cannot professe it without making our selves Agents nor perpetrate it without becomming his very limbs and members in regard they will infallibly prove the wofull fore-runners of our misery and the wretched Heralds of our perdition as the bloudy Actors of this ensuing mournfull History will make good and instance to us in themselves when the severe judgements and punishments of God befell them so suddenly as it was too late for them either to revoke or bewaile the enormitie of these their foule and infernall crimes THolouse as well for greatnesse as state the third citie and Court of Parliament of France is the place wherein we shall understand there was lately committed and perpetrated a tragicall History which hath many mournfull and bloody dependances the which to branch forth and depaint in their naked colours we must understand that therein lived a Councellour of that famous Court being a rich Gentleman well descended tearmed Monsieur de Argentier whose wife being deceased left him father only to one hopefull sonne of the age of two and twenty yeeres tearmed Monsieur de Salez who being wholly addicted to the warres from which martiall Profession it was impossible for his old father to divert and withdraw him he procured him an Ensignes place under Monsieur de Roquelaure whom he served in the Adriaticke Sea under the Noble and Generous Venetians who then stood rather jealous than fearefull of the power and greatnesse of Spaine but the Chymera of that warre after the terme of three or foure yeeres being vanished and blowen away and consequently betwixt those two mighty Estates a new Peace contracted and concluded although the old had not beene actually broken and delacerated home returnes Monsieur de Roquelaure for Gascogny and with him De Salez for Langâ—…edoc and Tholouse where he is received of his father with much content and joy not that hee was contented to see his sonne professe these Militarie courses which onely affords the smoake of Honour and not the solidity of profit but rather that hee exceedingly rejoyced to see him returne therefrom and from whence if he cannot hope that his requests will solely divert him yet hee is resolved and assured that his Commands both will and shall To which end as any humour is soonest subject to be expelled and defaced by its contrary so the old Councellour having as much Iudgement and Providence in his head as his sonne hath Vanity in his thoughts and Rashnesse in his resolutions doth both request and command him to leave the warre for Peace Armes for Love the Campe for the Citie and his Captaine for a Wife and so no longer to march and fight under the Banners of Mars and Bellona but under the Standarts of Venus and Hymeneus to which effect he profers him the choyce of many rich and faire young Gentlewomen of the Countrey to his wife but especially and with farre more earnestnesse than any other to an exceeding rich match in the Citie which was a young Gentlewoman tearmed La Frange being the onely child of Monsieur de Clugny one of the most famous and richest Presidents of that Court young of yeeres as being but sixteene or seventeene but withall deformed both in favour and body for shee was of a browne and sowre complexion and not onely a Dwarfe in stature but also exceedingly crooke-back'd and yet beyond measure very amorous and desirous of a Husband onely the endowments of her minde most richly recompenced and made satisfaction for the defects of her body for shee had an active and nimble wit a sweet and sugred tongue a rich Memorie and a powerfull and happy Iudgement and was indeed an excellent Dauncer and Singer and withall a most perfect and exquisite Musician But as yet De Salez warlike and generous resolution could not be so soone made flexible to embrace the motion of a wife and so he returnes his deniall in stead of his consent but his wise old father Argentier being therefore the more curious of his sonne De Salez his prosperity and welfare because hee apparantly saw he no way regarded but every way neglected it himselfe his sonnes exorbitant
not affect La Frange we may yet observe and discover which way hee intends to shape the course of his affections and resolutions For albeit he had formerly addicted himselfe and resolutions to be a professed Souldier yet Peace calling him home now to Pleasure and that to effeminacy a fatall and dangerous vice which in the iniquity of these our times and depraved manners not onely most insensibly creepes into common Souldiers and Commanders but also into all Armies and into many Estates and Kingdomes still to the disparagement of their glory and sometime to the price of their ruine and perill of their subversion he began to let his Colours hang dustie and his Pike and Parâ—…zan râ—…stie by the walls and to frequent the company of Ladies which the old Counsellor his father observes with joy hoping that in the end he shall draw him to affect and marry La Frange but these hopes of his will proove vaine and this hiâ—… joy will soone bee exchanged into sorrow and metamorphosed into affliction and misery for that his sonne is partly resolved to marry t is true but as true it is that he is fully resolved never to love much lesse to marry La Frange Now wee must understand that in Tholouse there dwelt a Merchant of Silks or as wee in England say a Silk-man termed Monsieur de Soulange rather reputed rich of others than knowne so of himselfe and yet being an old widower to the end the sooner to get him a new wife he puts a good face on his estate and maintaines himselfe familie and house with great pompe and expences having no son but three faire daughters all marriageable yet out of ambition and in emulation of the Gentry severally knowne and stiled by their titles not by their names as Mesdamoyselles de Marsy La pre Verte and La Hay all famous for their beauties and indeed for the purenesse and excellencie thereof justly reputed held the prime Birds of the citie and yet the youngest of them La Hay was the Phenix of all the three for she was so sweetly faire and fairly sweet of complexion as she drew all eyes to doe homage to hers so as it was almost impossible for any man to looke on her without loving her or to gaze on her without desiring her for her body was so strait and slender and the roses of her cheekes so deliciously gracing the lilies and the lilies the roses that the greatest Gallant either of the Citie or Country held himselfe not only happy but honoured with the felicitie of her presence and company But in one word to give these three sisters their true characters de Marsy and la Pre-verte were far more vertuous than La Hay though La Hay were far fairer than they for as Religion and Pietie was their chiefest delight and exercise as more desirous to embelish their soules than their bodies so wanton pleasure and vaine lasciviousnesse was hers as rather delighting to please and adorne her body than her soule they being more vertuous than faire shee more faire than vertuous different inclinations and resolutions these as happy and blessed as hers wretched and impious their actions might have beene a President yea a Pilot to have conducted her fame as well to the Temple of Honour as to the harbour of immortall glory of glorious immortalitie but she vowes she will prove a President to her selfe and her pleasure shall be a Pilot to her will although she misse the Temple of Honour to find out that of beastly concupiscence and the harbour of immortall glory to suffer shipwrack vpon the shelves of ingloâ—…ious infamie and the rocks of infamous perdition To this Monsieur de Soulanges house the beauties of his three daughters but especially that of La Hay and withall her pleasing and tractable affabilitie invites many young Gentlemen and the eminentst Citizens who there passe their time in courting and conversing in dancing singing and the like whereunto the Youth of France more than any other people of the world are most licentiously addicted and as things are best discerned and distinguished by their contraries so the vertues of De Marsy and La Preverte were made more apparant by La Hayes vices and her lust and whoredomes were more palpably notorious in their chastitie O that so sweet a creature should be subject to so foule a sinne and that Beautie the best gift and as I may say the gold of Nature should be thus vilified and polluteâ—… with the beastly pleasures of carnall concupiscence and obscene sensualitie For aye mee I write it with as much griefe to my selfe as shame to her she was too prodigall of her favours for she imparted them liberally unto some for love but unto most for money not caring to whom she prostituted her body so they filled her purse thereby to support her pride and maintaine the excesse and vanitie of her braverie and yet she was so subtill and cautious therein that although she were a professed Courtisan she would neverthelesse publikely seeme a pure and unspotted Virgin and the better to fortifie her fame and to make the reputation of her Chastitie passe currant with the world she would sweare all those to conceale her favours on whomsoever she imparted and bestowed them but if this lascivious subtiltie of hers have power to bleare the eyes of the world how can this her beastly sin of fornication be unseene of God when the windowes walls and beames of her chamber yea her very bed whereon she hath acted her whoredomes shall one day give in evidence and serve as witnesses against her yea and be petitioners on earth that God will requite and reward them with vengeance and confusion from Heaven Now among the rest of those deboshed Gentlemen who devoted their lascivious service and sacrificed their fond affections to La Hays beautie in comes our De Salez to inroule himselfe one who feasting and surfetting his eyes on the delicacies of her fresh and sweet complexion leaves his owne fathers house to frequent hers yea his desires are so lustfully inflamed with her beautie as with his best art and policie he lies close siege to her chastitie and with many gifts requests and oathes seekes to endeere her to his desires and pleasure But see the subtiltie of this lascivious young Courtisan for knowing De Salez deeply in love with her and to be the only childe of his father and he one of the richest Councellors of Tholouse she conceives a plot in her head to goe a fishing to make him her husband and so beares her selfe wonderfull modest and coy casting a cloake and veile of chastitie over her unchaste desires and actions as if she were now a virgin yea a Saint to him though heretofore she had many times played the Strumpet with others but her deniall doth rather inflame than quench the fire of his lust so as making many assaults to raze downe the defences of her refusall that he may enter and
and beaten by a Pigmey he lyes home at Vaumartin and at their very next close runnes him thorow the body of a deepe and mortall wound a little above his navell whereat his sword presently falls out of his hand to the ground and hee immediately likewise from his horse starke dead without having the grace or happinesse either to call on or to name God O what pitty what misery is it that a Christian should die like a beast having neither power to pray nor felicity to repent Thus we see the Challenger kill'd and hee who would have murthered a stranger murthered himselfe by a stranger a Lesson to teach others to beware by the Tragicall and mournfull end of this rash Nobleman De Salez seeing Vaumartin dead praiseth God for his victory and so leaving his breathlesse corps to his sorrowfull Chirurgion he gallops away to the next Village where he causeth his wounds to be dressed and from thence provides for his safety All Tholouse rings and resounds of this disasterous and Tragicall accident De Clugny is glad that De Salez hath escaped death yet sorrowfull that Vaumartin is kill'd in respect hee feares hee undertooke this quarrell for his daughter La Franges sake who hearing that De Salez wounds are no way mortall infinitely reioyceth and triumpheth thereat flattering her selfe though with this false hope that he affected her farre more dearer than he made shew of or else that he would never have fought with Vaumartin for her sake nor have kill'd him but for his owne And thus though humanitie made her grieve for Vaumartins death yet that griefe of hers was as suddenly converted into joy when she saw he received it by the hand of De Salez whom shee respected and afâ—…cted more dearer than all the Gentlemen of the world Now as for his father Argentier the life of his sonne likewise wiped off the remembrance of Vaumartins death and yet it grieved him inwardly that hee to whom he gave life should give death to another and farre the more in that this unfortunate accident must now enforce him to beg pardon from that grave Court of Parliament for this murther perpetrated by his son sith he had formerly so often pleaded for justice against others for the like crime and offence But all these joyes of Argentâ—…r De Clugny and his daughter Lâ—… Frange are nothing to those of La Hay for the life and victory of her deare De Salez leaping as it were for meere content and pleasure that shee should shortly see and enioy him for her husband and that God hath both reserved and preserved him to crowne her with the sweetnesse of this desired felicitie Thus while La Frange and La Hay triumph and congratulate the returne of De Salez so Argentier publikely and Dâ—… Clugny privately imploy there chiefest power friends and authoritie to procure his pardon first from the King then from the Parliament whereof they are two famous members Which â—…t lâ—…st by the meanes and favour of the Duke of Ventadour they obtaine So this murther of his is remitted in Earth but I fâ—…re me will not be forgotten in Heaven for though men be inconstant in their decrees yet God will be firme and upright aswell in the distribution as execution of his judgements Men as they are men may erre but as they are Christians they should not but God either to please or displease them neither can nor will De Salez no sooner hath escaped this danger but forgetting his former follies and his fathers advise and house he againe in a manner voluntarily imprisoneth himselfe with his mistris La Hay in hers whereat as his father stormes so De Clugny and La Frange bit the lip hoping that this good office in procuring him his pardon would more strictly have united him to her selfe and consequently sequestred him from La Hay but nothing lesse for he sings his old tune and will rather run the hazard of his fathers displeaâ—…ure than leave La Hay to take La Frange whereat his father Argentier reneweth his choller and revives his indignation against him as desiring nothing so much in this life as to see him married to La Frange but he shall never live to see it for there are to many disasterous accidents preparing to crosse and prevent it Whiles these things happen in Tholouse there betides an unexpected and unwished businesse which must call away Argentier to Paris For the Lords of the Privie counsell of France having received some informations and grievances against the body of the Court of Parliament of Tholouse command them speedily to send up some Deputies to answer such matters as shall be objected against them whereupon the gravitie and wisdome of that Court in obedience to their superiours elect two Presidents and four Counsellours to undertake that journey and businesse among whome De Clugny is chosen for one of the Presidents and Argentier for one of the Counsellours as inded their integritie and profound Wisedome and Experience had made them eminent in that Court. As for de Clugny at his importunate request made to the Court he was dispenced with from that journey by alleadging that his age and sickenesse made him altogether unfit to undertake it but all the evasions and excuses which Argentier could make could not exempt him but he must needs see Paris But first before his departure he had a long and serious conference with de Clugny how to effect the so long desired match of his sonne and daughter the finishing whereof was referred till his returne from Paris which sweet newes infinitely rejoyced and delighted the young Ladie La Frange and the immediate night before he was to take Coach hee calls his sonne de Salez to him and with a perswasive and powerfull speech requested him in his absence to love La Frange which he in plaine termes protested and vowed to his father he could not then hee conjures him never to marry La Hay which likewise he would not grant and to conclude sith his father could not prevaile in the two former he commanded him upon his blessing that he would never marry any wife whatsoever without his consent the which indeed de Salez could not denie but faithfully promised his father yea and bound it with an oath yet still hoping that it was as possible for him to draw his father to consent he should marry La Hay as it was as impossible for his father ever to perswade him to marry La Frange and so that night the father takes leave of the sonne and he the next morning of his father wishing him a prosperous journey and a speedy returne who suspecting and fearing that in his absence contrary to his requests and prayers his Sonne would only abandone La Erange to frequent La Hay he being arived to the Cittie of Tours thought himselfe bound in Nature aswell for his owne content as his sonnes tranquilitie and prosperitie againe to signifie him his mind in some few lines of advise
not capable of two suns so both of us cannot shine in the Horison of his heart and thoughts at once except thus that La Hay may live to see La Frange his wife and her selfe his strumpet when burning with false zeale to De Salez and true inveterate malice to La Frange she forgetting God swaps a bargaine with the devill that La Frange must first goe to her grave ere La Hay come to his bed and soe resolves to sacrifice her as a Victime to her malice and jealousie and to send her out of this world in an untimely and bloody Coffin Hellish Aphorisâ—…es Infernall Posâ—…ions odious to Earth and execrable to Heaven For wretched and impious strumpet wilt thou needs not onely gallop but fly to hell and so redouble thy crimes purposely to redouble thy torments as first of whoredome then of murther Wretched yea thrice wretched woman how darest thou see earth or thinke of heaven when thy acted crimes are so odious and thy pretended ones so monstrous as thou deservest to be shut foorth of the one and spewed out of the other For alas consider what this poore Gentlewoman hath done to thee that thou shouldest doe this to her She beares the image of God and wilt thou therefore beare that of the devill to destroy her Ah me where is thy religion thy conscience thy soule that thou wilt thus hellishly imbathe thy hands in her blood and imbrue thy heart in her murther If it be not that her vertues cry fie on thy Vices thou hast no reason in Nature and lesse in Grace to attempt a deed so Tragicall an act so inhumane and execrable But rest assured that if thou proceed and finish this infernall and bloody stratagem of thine although thou chance goe unpunished of men yet the Lord in his due time will find thee out and both severely scourge and sharpely revenge and chastice thee The effects of malice and revenge in men are finite in women infinite theirs may have bounds and ends but these none or at least seldome and difficultly for having once conceived these two monsters in their fantasies and braines they long till they are delivered and disburthened of them and so to bring their abortive issue to perfection they for the most part are sharpe and severe in their designes and sudden and malicious in their executions hating all delayes so it be not to do evil So this our bloody and viâ—…ious Strumpet La Hay is resolute to advance and not to retyre in this dyabolicall businesse of hers Of all kind of violent deaths she thinks none either so sure and secret as poyson whether she consider the manner or the matter If the Devill himselfe had not invented this unparaleld cruelty his agents and members had never knowne how to have administred and practised it But having resolved on the drug and ingredient she now bethinks herselfe of some hellish Empericke or Factor of Hell to apply and give it her and her inveterate and implacable hatred making her curious in the research and inquiry thereof she is at last advertised that there is an old Italian Empericke in Mompellier tearmed S. Brnardâ—… Michaele who is his Arts master in that infernall profession when wholly concealing this mystery and businesse from De Salez she by a second meanes with promise of store of gold sends away for Michaele from Mompellier who in hope thereof packs up his drugs and trinkets and within three dayes arrives at Tholouse where she thinkes no where so fit and secret as the Church to consult and resolve on this bloody busines the houre is eight the next morne and the place the Cordeliers or Gray Friâ—…s Church appointed and agreed on betwixt them where they both meet but she the better to disguise her selfe and to bleare the eyes of the world wraps her selfe about in a great furred cloake and muffles her selfe up with a large coyfe of velvet and a rich taffata scarfe over it as if she were some grave and reverend old Matron so being brought to each others presence they being both on their knees he to his Booke and she to her Beads she proposeth him the poysoning of La Frange daughter to the President de Clugny for the which she promiseth to give him three hundred crownes of the Sunne to performe it whereof he shall now have one in hand and the other two when he hath dispatched her Michaele like a limbe of the Devill being deepely in love and allured with this gold undertakes it when swearing secrecy and withall to performe it within ten daies she gives him the hundred crownes tyed up in her handkercher and so for that time they part Good God what prophane Christians what monsters of Nature and Devils incarnate by profession are these thus to pollute and defile the Church ordain'd for prayer with the price and sale of innocent blood a most prodigious and hellish impiety since there is no sinne so odious or execrable to God as that which is masked with piety and overvayled with the cloke of sanctity And what a damnable young strumpet and old villaine are they in so holy a place to treate and conclude so hellish a businesse But beware for the sword and arrow of Gods just revenge and revenging Justice threatens yee with no lesse then utter confusion and destruction La Hay infinitely glad of this agreement returns from the Church and Michaele as glad of her gold being informed of La Franges deformity and to lose no time trips away towards President de Clugny his house taking that for a fit occasion to assay to make his daughter become his Patient and he her Empericke who fleeringly insinuating and skrewing himselfe into his knowledge and acquaintance in which profession the Empericks and Mountebanks of Italy come no way short but rather exceed all other Nations of the world he proffers him his best service and skill to redresse and reforme the body of the young Lady his daughter adding withall thereby to adde the more beleefe and credit to his speeches that hee is so farre from dispairing or doubting as hee is very confident thereof and in the phraises and mysteries of his profession gives him in outward appearance many inward and plausible reasons to induce him to beleeve it The good old President who preferring the cure of his daughter before any other earthly respect having heard of Michaâ—…les fame begins to relish his reasons and yet not ignorant that the Mountebankes and Charletans of Italy are Cousin Germans to the Alcumists of France who promise to make gold of drosse and yet only bring forth drosse for gold hee holds it fit to take a consultation of the learnedst Physicians and expert Chirurgions of the City whereunto Michaele willingly consents so they sit being six in number Michaele delivers them his reasons to redresse the deformity of this young Ladies body the President her father being present whose reasons are heard and controverted of all sides betwixt them the
but he vowes and sweares to her that neither his father nor the whole world shall make him marry any other than her selfe and so after many embraces and kisses he takes horse and leaves Tholouse Being arrived at Paris his father very joyfully bids him welcome and referres to conferre with him till the next morning but such is De Salez rashnesse and folly as hee hath no sooner supped in company of his father but hee prayes to speake with him When the servants voyding the chamber he earnestly and humbly beseeching him sith that La Frange is dead hee will now be pleased that hee may marry La Hay whom quoth he I onely affect and love before all the maides of the world His father exceedingly incensed hereat vowes that he had rather see him fairely buried in his grave and that of all the females of the world he shall not marry La Hay and so for that night they betake themselves to their beds the father grieves with his sonnes folly the sonne with his fathers aversenesse The next morne Argentier calls for his sonne When the doores shut hee bids him shut his eyes to his foolish familiarity with La Hay and now to open them to the preferment he hath purchased him and so relates him how hee hath procured him the honour of a Captaines place in the Regiments of the Kings Guard as also a very faire young Gentlewoman for his wife tearmed Madamoyselle de Plessis the eldest daughter of Monsieur de Brianson one of the richest Counsellours of Paris But De Salez having his eyes and thoughts wholly fixed on La Hay with a discontented looke returnes his father this perverse and disobedient replie That he will not accept of the Captaines place nor once see De Plessis but that hee is constantly resolved either to wed La Hay or his grave whereat his father is so extreamely incensed as with much passion and choller he commands him henceforth not to dare so much as to name him La Hay swearing by his Saviour that if hee for his obstinacy and disobedience hee will disinherite him as indeed hee might having himselfe purchased three parts of his lands and revenewes through his care and industry in his profession and so much discontent and cholleâ—… leaves in his Coleagues of Tholouse who are already wayting and attending his comming De Salez is all on fire at this his fathers bitter resolution against him and stormes and fumes not only beyond the bonds of reason religion and humanity but also beyond himselfe For sith La Hay is his sole delight and joy and that his father hath vowed he shall never marry her his affection to her makes him resolve to dispatch his father yea his head conceives such murtherous thoughts and his heart atracts and assumes such degenerate and devillish blood against him that like an execrable wretch and a hellish sonne disdayning to take Counsell from God and therefore taking it from the devill his bloody Tutor and Abettor he vowes he will forthwith rid his hands of his father and that he will therfore send him into another world because he would give him no content in this Oh wretched monster of Nature Limbe of the devill nay a very devill thy selfe thus to resolve to take his life from him that gave thee thine Foule staine of mankind bloody Paracydious miscreant can no respect either of thy naturall and filliall obedience to thy kind and deere father or of his white haires and venerable old age restraine thee or no consideration of thy consceince or thy soule of heaven or hell deterre thee from this bloody inhumane and damnable designe of thine in laying violent hands on him O me where are thy thoughts where thy senses where thy heart thy soule to act so execrable and infernall a Tragidie on him with whom thou hadst not been on thy father whom by the laws of Heaven and Earth thou oughtest both to love honour reverence and obey But De Salez being resolute in this inhumane rage and implacable malice and furie watcheth how he may take time at advantage to effect and finish this his bloody businesse and one a night after supper hearing his old father complaine that he found himselfe not well and commanding his Clarke De Buissie very earely in the next morning to carry his water to Doctor Salepin a famous Physician whose chamber was farre off in the place Maubert he himselfe lying in Grennelles street De Salez thinks this a fit opportunity to dispatch his father the which O a thousand griefes and pitties to speake off he accordingly performeth For the morne appearing his father having sent away his Clarke with his water and betaking himselfe to sleepe till his returne His watchfull and murtherous sonne having purposely made himselfe ready and through the key hole and cranies of his Chamber doore espying his father sleeping he intends that this shall be his last sleepe When softly stealing into his Chamber he incouraged and animated by the divell and approaching his bed as exempt of feare or grace without any more delay or circumstance stifles his father betwixt tow pillowes when leaving him breathlesse in his bed his face exposed to the ayre and the doore shut goes downe gives the master of the house the good morrow and so trips away as fast as he can to the signe of the swan within Saint Honnoryes Gate and from thence rides away to Saint Clow two leagues distant from Paris to see Gondyes gardens fountaines and house wherein that execrable and damnable Iacabine Frier Iaques Clement murthered Henry the third king of France but with an intent to returne to his fathers lodging immediatly after dinner and to plead ignorance of the fact and withall if occasion serve to stand upon his innocency and justification as indeed he did Now his fathers Clarke De Buissye returning in the morning from Doctor Salepin entering his masters chamber finds him starke dead and almost cold in his bed whereat he makes many bitter outcries and grievous exclamations the man of the house hereat ascends the chamber infinitly laments grieves at this sorrowfull accident and spectacle Vowes to De â—…uissye that hee saw none whosoever in his house much lesse in his masters chamber and that his sonne Mounsieur De Salez departed assoone as he himselfe they search his body and find it no way wounded so they beleeve and resove that some angue hath carried him away Yet they hold it rather wisedome than folly to acquaint the Lievtenant Cryminall therewith fearing lest hee might after suspect either violence or poyson So hee comes conferres with his sonne De Salez with his Clarke De Buissye and with the man of the house hee visites the deadbody findes onely his head somwhat swollen which his Physicions affirme may be his striving and strugling with death When the Lievtenant out of his zeale and integrity to Justice having informed himselfe of Doctor Salepin of De Buissyes being with him as also from
both cry and groane which he did very mournfully and which indeed was soone over-heard by a man and a maid-servant of his who only remained in the house who hearing their masters voyce and hastily running up at these his pittifull and lamentable out cryes steping to his assistance they heare him with his best power utter these fearefull speeches That Strumpet my wife hath kill'd me O that shee-Devill my wife hath murthered mee Whereat they cry out at the windowes to the neighbours for helpe alledging that their master is murthered The neighbours assemble and heare him report so much so they send away for his Confessor and the Lieutenant Criminall to both whom he againe confesseth That it is the Strumpet his wife who hath murthered him And then raising himselfe up in his bed with as much strength as his dying wound would permit him he taking them both by the hands with infinite signes and teares reveales to them that he it was who at the seducing of the Devill had stifled his father Argentier to death in Paris that he did it onely to marry this whoore his murtherous wife La Hay that the killing of his father yea the very remembrance thereof infinitely grieves his heart and soule and for the which he infinitely repenteth himselfe and beseecheth the Lord of mercy in mercy to forgive it him and likewise prayed all that were present to pray unto God for him and these were his last words for now his fleeting and fading breath would permit him to say no more All that were present are amazed at this lamentable confession of his to see that hee should murther his father and his execrable wife well neere himselfe so they all glorified God for the detection and discovery hereof But the Lievtenant Criminell and the Counsellors his Associates step to the window and consult to have him hanged whiles he is yet living for the murthering of his father But De Salez saves them that labour for there and then he sinkes into his bed and dyes away before them so they instantly search the house and City for this wretched Murtheresse La Hay whom impious and bloody strumpet they at last find in the Dominican Friers Church at a Sermon from whence with much obloquy and indignity they dragge her to prison where they charge her with the murther of her husband De Salez which the Devill as yet will not permit her to confesse but being adjudged by them to the Racke she at the very first torment confesseth it Upon which severall murthers the Criminell Iudges of the Tournells proceed to sentence so first they adjudge the dead body of De Salez for so inhumanly murdring his father Argentier to be halfe a day hang'd by the heeles to the common gallows and then to bee burnt to ashes which is accordingly executed then they adjudge his wife La Hay for murthering him the next day to bee strangled then burnt so that night some Divines deale with her in prison about the state of her soule whom they finde infinitely obdurated through the vanity of her youth and the temptations of the Devill but they worke effectually with her and so at last by the mercies of God draw her to contrition and repentance when willing her not to charge her soule with the concealing of any other crime and shewing her the dangers thereof she very freely yet sorrowfully confesseth how she it was that for three hundred crownes had caused the Empericke Michaele to poyson La Frange for the which she told them she was now exceedinglie repentant and sorrowfull Whereof the Divines sith it was not delivered them under the seale of Confession advertising the Judges they all wonder at Gods providence to see how all these murthers are discovered and burst forth one in the necke of the other so they alter her sentence and for these her double murthers they condemne her to have her right hand cut off and then to be burnt alive and so they make curious inquiry and research to apprehend this old bloody varlet Michaele In the meane time that very afternoone this miserable and murtherous Curtesan La Hay though to the griefe of her sorrowfull father and sisters yet to the joy of all Tholouse is brought and fastned to her stake where her hand being first strucke off she with many sighes and teares delivereth these few words That her crimes were so foule and odious as she was ashamed to looke either God or man in the face That she was very sorrowfull for causing La Frange to be poysoned as also for murthering of her husband De Salez whose wealth she onely affirmed she loved but not himselfe the which she wholly attributed to the lust and vanitie of her youth to her neglect of prayer and forsaking of God which made the Deuill so strong with her and she with the Deuill and which was the sole cause and ground of this her miserable ruine and destruction she with teares and prayers besought the Lord to be good unto her soule and lifting up her eyes and hands to Heaven likewise beseech the whole assembly to pray heartily unto God for her when recommending her soule into the hands of her Redeemer the fire being alighted her body was soone consumed to ashes whose lamentable yet just end and punishment caused a number of spectators to weepe as yet pitying her youth and beautie as much as they detested the enormitie of her crimes And now for this devillish and murtherous Empericke Michaele although as soone as he heard of La Hayes imprisonment he to save him selfe left Tholouse and fled towards Castres disguised in a Friers habit with his beard shaven yet by the care of the Court of Parliament or rather by the immediate finger and providence of God he is found out and brought backe to Tholouse where for poysoning of La Frange the which he now without the Racke confesseth he is adjudged to be broken on the Wheele there to remaine till he be dead and then his body to be throwne into the River of Garrone the which the same day is accordingly executed and performed to the infinite joy of all the spectators but as hee lived an Atheist so he desperately died a Devill without any shew at all either of contrition or repentance onely hee vomited forth this wretched speech That because the world had so much to say to him he would say nothing to the world but bade the Executioner dispatch him Now by the sight of this mournefull and bloody History the Christian Reader may observe and see how Gods revenge doth still triumph against murther and how he in his due time and providence doth assuredly still detect and punish it It is a History which may serve to deterre and forwarne all yong Gentlemen not to frequent the companies of whores and strumpets and all sonnes not to transgresse the will of their parents much lesse not dare to lay violent hands on them It is a glasse wherein yong Gentlewomen and Wives may
their resolutions So from the matter of their agreement they proceed to the manner how to effect it To which end her father and mother single their daughter apart and in milde and faire tearmes demand her what hath past betwixt her and Baretano and whether she be so simple and inconsiderate to take so poore a Gentleman for her husband whose estate is so weake and small as it cannot well maintaine himselfe much lesse her Clara already prepared and armed by her affection to receive these or the like speeches from her Parents having twice or thrice metamorphosed the Lillies of her cheekes into Roses very temperately and modestly returnes them this discreet and respective answer That as she must needs affirme she is confident of Baretano's affection to her so she must as truly denie that asyet he had ever motioned her for marriage which if he had considering that his birth meanes and vertues were such as every way deserved not onely her equall but her superiour she is enforced to reveale them that she loves him so tenderly and deerely as if her will and pleasure be not contradicted by theirs it will be not onely her joy but her felicity to accept and take him for her husband before all others of the world But this modest answer of hers they hold too peremptory for a child to give and Parents to receive as if it savoured more of irregular zeale to Baretano than of due respect and obedience to themselves yet the sooner to devert her from her owne desires and resolutions to make her flexible to theirs they as yet hold it fit rather to continue mild than imperious towards her and so by depraving the deserts and debasing the merits of Baretano to seeke to extoll and magnifie those of Albemare as if the first were only a foyle and the second a rich Diamond worthy of her affection and wearing and indeed so exquisite and excellent a Cavalier they depaint him to her in the richest frame and pomp of all his praises aswell of the endowments of mind as of those of Fortune that they leave no insinuating Oratory unessayed nor perswasive attempt unattempted to make her shake hands with Baretano and consequently to extend her armes and heart to receive and retaine Albemare But although she were yong in yeeres and experience yet love in this fragrant and flourishing spring of her youth had so refined her judgement and indoctrinated and prompted her tongue that her thoughts commanded and marshalled by her heart and both by her desires and affection to Baretano she confusedly intermixing and interrupting her words with many far fetched broken sighes againe returnes her Parents this reply If your age will not yet my youth or rather my heart informes me that Baretano as far exceeds Albemare in the priviledges of the mind and body as Albemare doth him in those of Fortune but that my resolutions and answers may answer and correspond with my obedience although I love Baretano yet I will never hate rather honour Albemare but to make him my husband or myselfe his wife if Earth have I hope Heaven hath not decreed it And I humbly beseech yee that this may â—…est your Resolution as I assuredly thinke it shall and will remaine mine Capello and Castiana like discreet parents seeing their daughter Clara wholly wedded in a maner to the singularitie of her owne will they yet conceive it to bee farre more requisite to revert her reasons by fairre meanes than refute and refell them by force sith love and discretion hath still reference to that and this relation still to choller many times to repentance whereupon minding her of the blessings which infallibly attend filiall obedience and the miseries and curses which individually wayt on contempt and disobedience hoping that time will effect that which Importunitie cannot they as then leave her to her thoughts and she them to their care careing for nothing so much nay I may wel say for nothing else than to see her affection divorced from Baretano and contracted and wedded to Albemare who having curious correspondence and intelligence with them he is ever and anon acertained not onely what hath but what doth passe betwixt them and their daughter and withall is advised by them to delay no time but to frequent and haunt her as her Ghost and shaddow 〈◊〉 yea and no more to conceale his affection and suite from her but to acquaint Millan therewith sith it was no disparagement but rather an equall honour for him to match with Clara and Clara with him Which concluded betwixt Capello and Castiana Albemare is so farre from rejecting this advise and counsell as hee embraceth it with much joy and delectation and vowes though with the perill of his life to persevere and pursue her in marriage To which end authorized as well by his owne affection as their authority Clara is neither abroad nor at home but he meets her gives away all time from himselfe to give himselfe to her so as it seemes to the eye of the world that Capello's house is now become his and that his daughter Clara likewise shortly shall be yea he addes such curiosity to his care and such care to his affection in courting her as shee cannot bee either at Masse or Vespres but he is either with her or neere her and when in solemne pompe or zeale shee visits the Domo or Cathedrall Church of that Citie and in it the Shrine of the new Saint Charles then hee waits and attends on her at the Porch staires sometimes with his Coach but many times as the custome of Millan is on his Foot-cloth and prancing Barbarie horse to conduct her home yea and not to faile in any Complement of an accomplished Lover besides the harmony of his owne insinuation and solicitation he greets her with rich presents and salutes her with all variety of mellodious Musicke and mellistuous voyces but all this notwithstanding although hee every way use his best art and industry and her father and mother their best skill to make her flexible to his desires and their pleasure yet shee as having her thoughts fully bent and fixed on her deare and sweet Baretano lookes haggard and averse on Albemare giving him such generall answers and cold entertainment as hee seeth hee hath farre more reason to despaire than hope to obtaine her Whereupon doubting of her affection hee hath againe recourse to her parents love who to confirme and seale it him seeing faire meanes will not prevaile with their daughter they resolve to vse force and so to adde threats to their requests and choller to their perswasions to make her abandon Baretano and embrace Albemare But if the first prevaile not with her the second cannot for she now tels them plainly that she neither can not will affect any man for her husband but Baretano and yet she is so farre from any determinate resolution to marry him as shee affirmes that their will shall bee her law and their pleasure
bravery are very solemnly married But this marriage of theirs shall not prove so prosperous as they expect and hope For God in his all-seeing Providence hath decreed to disturbe the tranquility and serenity thereof and to make them feele the sharpe and bitter showres of affliction and misery which briefly doth thus surprise and befall them Albemare and Clara have hardly beene married together a yeare and quarter but his hot love begins to wax cold and frozen to her yea albeit she affected him truly and tenderly yet hee continually neglecting her and no longer delighting in the sweetnesse of her youth and the freshnesse of her beauty his lustfull eyes and thoughts carry his lascivious selfe abroad among Curtezans when they should be fixed on her and resident at home with his chaste and faire Lady so as his infidelity proving her griefe and torments and his vanity and ingratitude her unspeakable affliction and vexation she with infinite sighs and teares repents her matching him and a thousand times wisheth shee had beene so happy and blessed to have died Baretano's Martyr and not so unfortunate and accursed to live to see her selfe Albemares wife and yet were there any hope of his reformation she could then prefixbounds to her calamities and sorrowes But seeing that his vices grew with his age and that every day he became more vicious and unkinde to her than other her hopes are now wholly turned into despaire her mirth into mourning yea her inward discontents so apparantly bewray themselves in her outward sorrowfull complexion and countenance that the Roses of her cheekes are metamorphosed into Lillies and her heart so wholly taken up with anguish and surprised with sorrow as shee wisheth that her bed were her grave and her selfe in Heaven with God because shee could finde no comfort here on Earth with her husband But beyond her expectation God is providing to redresse her griefe and to remedy her afflictions by a very strange and unlooked for accident The Providence and Iustice of God doth now againe refetch bloudy Pedro to act another part upon the Stage and Theater of this History For having spent that money lewdly which he before got damnably of Albemare his wants are so great and his necessity so urgent as having played the murtherer before hee makes no conscience nor scruple now to play the theefe and so by night breaks into a Jewellers shops named Seignior Fiamata dwelling in the great place before the Domo and there carries away from him a small Trunke or Casket wherein were some uncut Saphyrs Emralds with some Venice Chrystall pendants for Ladies to weare in their eares and other rich commodities but Fiamata lying over his shop and hearing it and locking his doore to him for feare of having his throat cut gives the out-cry and alarum forth the window which ringing in the streets makes some of the neighbours and also the watch approach and assemble where finding Pedro running with a Casket under his arme he is presently hemb'd in apprehended and imprisoned and the Casket tooke from him and againe restored to Fiamata when knowing that he shall die for this robbery as a just punishment and judgement of God now sent him for formerly murthering of Baretano he having no other hope to escape death but by the meanes of Albemare he sends early the next morning for his man Valerio to come to the prison to him whom he bids to tell his Master Albemare from him that being sure to be condemned for this robbery of his if he procure him not his pardon he will not charge his soule any longer with the murther of Baretano but will on the ladder reveale how it was he who hired himselfe Leonardo to performe it Valerio reporting this to his Master it affrights his thoughts and terrifies his conscience and courage to see himselfe reduced to this misery that no lesse than his life must now stand to the mercy of this wretched Varlet Pedro's tongue But knowing it impossible to obtaine a pardon for him and therfore high time to provide for his owne safety by stopping of Pedro's mouth he resolves to heave Ossa upon Pelon or to adde murther to murther and now to poyson him in prison whom he had formerly caused to murther Baretano in the street to the end he might tell no tales on the ladder thinking it no ingratitude or sinne but rather a just reward and recompence for his former bloudy service so to feed Pedro with false hopes thereby to charme his tongue to silence and to lull his malice asleepe he speedily returnes Valerio to prison to him who bids him feare nothing for that his master had vowed to get him his pardon as he shall more effectually heare from him that night whereat Pedro rejoyceth and triumpheth telling Valerio that his Master Albemare is the most generous and bravest Cavalier of Lombardy But to nip his joyes in their untimely blossomes and to disturbe the harmony of his false content that very day as soone as hee hath dined he is tryed and arraigned before his Judges and being apparantly convicted and found guilty of this robbery hee is by them adjudged to be hanged the next morne at a Gibbet purposely to be erected before Fiamata's house where he committed his delict and crime which just sentence not only makes his joy strike saile to sorrow but also his pride and hopes let fall their Peacocks plumes to humility and feare But his onely trust and comfort yea his last hopes and refuge is in Albemare who hearing him to be condemned to be executed the next morning he is enforced to play his bloudy prize that night and so in the evening sends Valerio to prison to him with a Capon and two Fiascoes or bottles of Wine for him to make merry informing him that he hath obtained his pardon and that it is written and wants nothing but the Viceroyes signe to it which he shall have to morrow at breake of day But the wine of the one of the bottles was intermixed with strong and deadly poyson which was so cunningly tempered as it carried no distastefull but a pleasing relish to the pallate Valerio like an execrable villaine proving as true a servant to his Master as a rebellious and false one to his God he punctially performes this fearefull and mournfull businesse and having made Pedro twice drunke first with his good newes and then with his poysoned wine he takes leave of him that night and committing him to his rest promiseth to be with him very early in the morning with his pardon When this miserable and beastly prophane wretch never thinking of his danger or death of God or his soule of Heaven or Hell betakes himselfe to his bed where the poyson spreading ore his vitals parts soone bereave him of his breath sending his soule from this life and world to another Now the next morning very early as the Gaoler came to his chamber to bid him prepare to his
question she after a world of sighes and teares tearmes her accusers devils and witches vowes by her part in heaven and upon the perill of her owne soule that she is innocent of that crime whereof she accused her and that neither indeed or thought she was ever dishonest or unchast with any man of the world much lesse with her Master But this will not satisfie incensed La Vasselay neither are these speeches or teares of Gratiana of power to passe current with her jealousie but reputing them false and counterfeit shee cals in her chamber-maid and cookemaid when shee had purposely led there and bids them unstrip Gratiana naked to her wast and to bind her hand and foot to the bed post which with much repyning and pitty they are at last inforced to do When commanding them forth the chamber and bolting the doore after them she not like a woman but rather as a fury of hell flies to poore innocent Gratiana and with a great burchen rod doth not onely raze but scarifie her armes backe and shoulders when harmelesse soule she though in vaine having no other defensive weapons but her tongue and her innocency cries aloud to heaven and earth for succour But this old hag as full of malice as jealousie hath no compassion of her cries nor pitty of her sighes yea neither the sight of her teares or blood which trickling downe her cheekes and shoulders doth both bedew and ingraine her smocke are of power to appease her fury and envy untill having spent three rods and tyred and wearied both her armes shee in the heat of her choller and the height of her revenge delivers her these bitter and scoffing words Minion this this is the way yea the onely way to coole the heate of thy courage and to quench the fire of thy lust When calling in her two maids she commands them to unbinde Gratiana and to helpe on her clothes When triumphing in her cruelty she furiously departs and leaves them who cannot refraine from teares to see how severely and cruelly their Mistris hath handled this her poore Gentlewoman Gratiana the better to remedy these her insupportable and cruell wrongs holds it discretion to desemble them and so providing herselfe secretly of a horse and man she the next night steales away rides to La Ferte and from thence to her father at Nogent le Retrou where he was superintendant of the Prince of Condes house and Castle in that Towne and where the Princesse Dowager his mother built vp the greatest part of her sorrowfull residence whence whiles he was detained prisoner in the Castle of Boys de Vincennes neere Paris La Vasselay grieves at this her sudden and unexcted departure the which she feares her husband De Merson and her father Mounsieur De Bremay will take in ill part wherein shee is no way deceived for the one grieves and the other stormes thereat yea when De Merson through flattery and threats had drawne from the Chamber-maid and Cooke-maid the truth of his wives cruell whipping of Gratiana as also the cause thereof her jealousie He justly incensed and inraged flies to this his sottish and cruell wife tells her that jealousie comes from the devill whose part he affirmes she hath acted in acting this upon innocent Gratiana then whom there lives not a chaster maid in the world That although she were poore yet that she was aswell descended as her selfe In which regard if she did not speedily right and redeeme her wrongs and seeke meanes to pacifie and recall her that he would forth-with leave her yea and utterly forsake her which cooling card of his to his wife makes her looke on her former erronious cruelty towards Gratiana rather with outward griefe than inward repentance But seeing that her jealousie must now stoope and strike saile to her husbands Choller and that to enjoy his company she must not be exempted and deprived of hers she contrary to her desires and will which still retaines the fumes and flames of jealousie as that doth of revenge is inforced to make a vertue of necessity and so to beare up with the time feigning her selfe repentant and sorrowful for what she had formerly done to Gratiana she to reclaime her buyes her so much wrought black Taffety for a Gowne and so much Crimson Damaske for a Petticoate and with a bracelet of Pearle which she accustomed to weare upon her right arme she sends it to Nogent to her by La Vilette a Gentleman of her husbands and accompanieth it with a letter to her father Mounsieur de Bremay which contained these words LA VASSELAY to DE BREMAY HAving vindicated Truth from Error and metamorphosed Iealousie into Iudgement I find that I have wronged thy daughter Gratiana where at I grieve with contrition and sorrow with repentance sith my husbands vowes and oathes have fully cleared her Honour and Chastity which my foolish incredulity and feare rashly attempted both to ecclips and disparage In which regard praying her to forgive and thy selfe to forget that wrong I earnestly desire her speedy returne by this bearer and yee both shall see that I neuer formerly hated her so much as henceforth I will both loue and honour her I have now sent her some small tokens of my affection and ere long she shall find greater effects and testimonies thereof for knowing her to be as chast as faire In this De Bremay I request thee to rest confident that as she is now thy daughter by Nature so she shall be henceforth mine by adoption LA VASSELAY De Bremay having received this letter and his daughter Gratiana these kind tokens from her Mistris La Vasselay his choller and her griefe and sorrow is soone defaced and blowne away so hee well satisfied and she content and pleased he sends her backe from Nogent to Mans by La Villette by whom he writes this ensuing letter to his Mistris La Vasselay in answer of hers DE BREMAY to LA VASSELAY THy Letter hath given me so much content and satisfaction as thy undeserved cruelty to my daughter Gratiana did griefe and indignation And had shee beene guilty of that crime whereof thy feare made thee jealous I would for ever have renounced her for my daughter and deprived her of my sight for as her Vertues are her best wealth and her Honour her chiefest revenew so if shee had failed in these or faltered in this I should then have joyned with thee to hate her as I doe now to love her But her Teares and Oathes have cleared her innocencie and in hers thy husbands In which regard relying vpon her owne merits and thy professed kindnesse shee forgetting and I forgiving things past I now returne her thee by thy servant La Villette hoping that if thou wilt not affect her as thy adopted Daughter yet that thou wilt tender her as thy obedient and observant handmaid DE BREMAY Gratiana's hopes and her fathers credulity of La Vasselaye's future affection towards her as also
her giftes and promises so farre prevaile with them as she is now returned to her from Nogent to Mans But I feare she had done farre better to have still remained with her father for she might consider and he know what little safety and apparant danger there is to rely upon the favour of an incensed jealousie La Vasselay in all outward shew receives and welcomes Gratiana with many expressions of love and demonstrations of joy thereby to please her husband who indeed likes so well of her returne as he likes his wife the better for procuring it And now to the eye of the world and according to humane conceit and sense all three parties ate reconciled and satisfied as if La Vasselay's jealousie had never heretofore offended her husband nor her cruelty wronged Gratiana or as if hee had never knowne the one nor she felt the other But wee shall not goe farre to see this calme oretaken with a tempest and this Sunne-shine surprised with a dismall and disasterous showre For three moneths were not fully expired since Gratiana's returne to Mans but La Vasselayes old jealousie of her and her husband De Merson which seemed to be suppressed and extinguished doth now flash and flame forth anew with more violence and impetuosity yea he cannot looke on Gratiana much lesse to speake to her but presently this old jealous Beldame in her heart and thoughts proclaimes them guilty of Adultery whereat she indiscreetly suffers her selfe to be so farre transported with Indignation and Envy as she vowes she will no longer tolerate or digest it And now it is that like a fury of hell she first assumes damnable and execrable resolutions not onely against the Innocency but against the life of innocent and harmelesse Gratiana who poore soule is the neerer her danger in respect shee holds her selfe farthest from it yea this jealous old Hagg this Fury nay this she-Devill La Vasselay hath not only consulted but determined and concluded with her bloody thoughts that she will speedily send Gratiana into another world because her youth shall no longer abuse and wrong her age in this When forgetting herselfe her soule and her God thereby purposely to please her senses her Ielousie and her Tutor the Devill shee vowes that no respect of reason nor Religion no consideration of Heaven or Hell shall bee capable to divert her from dispatching her yea and as if shee not onely rejoyced but glorified in this her pernitious and bloody designe shee thinkes every houre a yeare before she hath performed it To which end providing her selfe of strong poyson and watching and catching at the very first opportunity as soone as ever Gratiana found her selfe not wel she under a colour of much affection and care to her makes her some white broath wherein infusing and intermixing the aforesaid poyson she gracelesly and cruelly gives it her the which within six daies fainting and languishing makes a perpetuall divorce and separation betwixt her soule and her body leaving this to descend to earth and that to ascend to heaven to draw downe vengeance to this hellish and execrable La Vasselay for so inhumanly and cruelly murthering this her harmelesse and innocent waiting Gentlewoman Gratiana De Merson understanding of Gratiana's death almost as soone as of her sickenesse he very sorrowfully bites the lip thereat for considering this accident in its true nature his thoughts suggest him and his heart and soule prompts him that his wife La Vasselay had undoubtedly occasioned her death and so metamorphosed her jealousie into murther yea and notwithstanding the faire and sorrowfull shew which she puts thereon to the contrary yet the premises considered he is very confident in this his beleife and feare when grieving at the cruelty of this disaster and abhorring the author of so monstrous and bloody a fact the very sight of this his old wretched wife is odious and the remembrance of this her cruell crime detestable and execrable unto him Againe when he considereth Gratiana's beauty and chastity and that she was sent to her untimely grave for his sake this doth not only redouble his sorrowes but infinitely augment and increase his afflictions so that beginning to feare his wives envy as much as he hated her jealousie in that it was not onely possible but likely that it might also futurely extend and reflect on him as well as it already had on harmelesse and innocent Gratiana he assumes a resolution to leave and forsake her the which we shall shortly see him put in execution when the better to curbe and vex her hee secretly packes up all her Bills Bonds Leafes and Conveyances as also all her Money Plate Iewels and richest Housholdstuffe and so giving out a prohibition to all the Tenants not to dare to pay her any rent he allowing her only a bare maintenance very suddenly when she least expected or dreamt thereof takes horse and rides home to his fathers where he resolves to make the greatest part of his residence and all the reares and prayers of his wife are not of power to reclaime or retaine him La Vasselay seeing the unkindnesse of her Husband De Merson in making her a widdow almost as soone as a wife as also his ingratitude in depriving her of the use and fruition of her owne estate and meanes and leaving her so poore an allowance as could scarce warrant her a competent maintenance shee is almost ready to die for meere griefe and sorrow thereof but how to remedy it she knowes not And now she repents her folly and indiscretion in matching her aged selfe to so young a man as De Merson now shee doth not only accuse but condemne her owne jealousie which drew herto this foule fact of murthering her harmelesse and as shee now beleeves her innocent Wayting-maid Gratiana for which this ingratefull departure and hard usage of her husband is but the least and as she tearmes it but the fore-runner of greater punishments which God hath ordained and reserved for her yea it is not onely a griefe to her thoughts but a vexation to her heart and soule to see her selfe made the mockingstocke and laughter of all Mans and Maine who rather excuse her husbands youth then any way pitty or commiserate herage and to see that the friends of her prosperity turne their backes and faces to her in her affliction and poverty and if she have any hope yet left to assist and comfort her in these her calamities it is by endeavouring to reconcile and reclaime her husband to her by Letters when taking pen and paper she within a moneth of his departure sends him these few lines LA VASSELAY to DE MERSON SInce at thy request I both recanted my Iealousie to thy selfe and repented my cruelty to my maid Gratiana what have I committed or done that should deserve this thy ingratefull and as I may truely say Heart killing departure for having made a most exact Scruteny in my thoughts and soule either of
O here they enter into devillish machinations and hellish conspiracies against him for as hee plots their discontents so doe they his destruction Fidelia and Caelestina see their blood and cause one and therefore so they pretend shall be their fortunes they would reveale their intents and designes each to other but the fact is so foule and unnaturall as for a whiles they cannot but they need no other Oratory then their owne sullen and discontented lookes for either of them may read a whole Lecture of griefe and choller in each others eyes till at length tyred with the importunity of their father and the impatiency of Carpi and Monteleone Fidelia as the more audacious of the two first breakes it to her sister Caelestina in this manner That shee had rather die then bee compelled to marry one whom shee cannot affect that the Baron of Carpi is not for her nor shee for him and that sith her father is resolute in this match although shee bee his daughter shee had rather see him laid in his grave then her selfe in Carpies bedde There needs not many reasons to perswade that which we desire For Caelestina tells her sister plainely that shee in all points joynes and concurres in opinion with her adding withall that the sooner their father is dispatched the better because shee knowes they shall never receive any content on Earth till he be in Heaven and so they conclude he shall dye But alas what hellish and devillish daughters are these to seeke the death of their father of whom they have received their lives who ever read of a Parracide more inhumanely cruell or impiously bloody so if ever murther went unrevenged this will not for wee shall see the Authors and Actors thereof most severely punished for the same Men and women may be secret in their sinnes but God will be just in his decrees and sacred in his judgements what a religious resolution had it beene in them to have retyred and not advanced in this their damnable attempt but they are too prophane to have so much pitty and too outragious to hearken to this religious reason yea they are too impious to hearken to Grace and too revengefull and Bloody minded to give eare either to Reason Dutie or Religion So now like two incensed and implacable furies they consult how and in what manner they may free themselves of their father Fidelia proposeth divers degrees and severall sorts of murthers but Caelestina likes none of them in some she finds too much danger in others too little assurance and therefore as young as she is she invents a plot as strange as subtil and as malicious diabolicall as strange she informes her that to be rid of her father there cannot be a securer course then to engage the Baron of Carpi and the Knight of Monteleone to murther him Fidelia wonders hereat saying it will be impossible for them to be drawn to performe it sith they both know and see that the Captaine their father loves them so well as will or nill they must be their husbands But Caelestina's revengefull plot is further fetcht and more cunningly spunne for she hath not begun it to leave it raw and unfinished but is so confident in her devillish industry as shee affirmes she will perfect and make it good Fidelia demands how Caelestina answereth That they both must make a feigned and flattering shew to change their distaste and now to affect Carpi and Monteleone whom before they could not that having in this manner drawne them to their lure when they attempt to urge marriage they shall both agree to enforme them that it is impossible for them to obtaine it whiles the Captaine their father lives sith albeit in outward appearance hee make a faire shew to make them their husbands yet that he meanes and intends nothing lesse for that he hath given them expresse charge and command at any hand not to love or affect them which is the maine and sole cause that hath so long withheld them from making sooner demonstrations of their affections towards them and this quoth shee will occasion and provoke them to attempt it adding that by this meanes they may give two strokes with one stone and so not onely be rid of our father but likewise of Carpi and Monteleone who peradventure may bee apprehended and executed for the fact and for our safegard and security wee will powerfully conjure and sweare them to secresie There is no web finer then that of the Spider nor treachery subtiller than that of a woman especially if she contemne Charity for Revenge her Soule for her Body God for Sathan and consequently Heaven for Hell how else could this young Lady lodge so revengefull a heart in so sweet a Body or shroud such bloody conceits and inventions under so faire and so beautifull complexion But the Panther though his skinne bee faire yet his breath is infectious and we many times see that the foulest Snake lurkes under the greenest and beautifullest leaves Fidelia gives an attentive eare to this her sisters bloody Stratagem and designe shee findes it sure and the probabilities thereof apparant and easie and therefore approves of it So these two beautifull yet bloody sisters vow without delay to set it on foot and in practise It is the Nature of Revenge to looke forwards seldome backewards but did wee measure the beginning by the end as well as the end by the beginning our affections would savour of farre more Religion and of farre lesse impiety and we should then rejoyce in that which we must now repent but cannot remedy They take time at advantage and pertinently acquaint Carpi and Monteleone with it The passions of affection proove often more powerfull then those of Reason they suffer themselves to be vanquished and led away by the pure beauty and sweet Oratory of these two discontented and treacherous Ladies without considering what poyson lurkes under their speeches and danger under their tongues They commit a grosse and maine error in relying more on the daughters youth then the fathers gravity on their verball then his reall affection and so they ingage themselves to the daughters in a veryshort time to free them of the Captaine their father It was a base vice in Gentlemen of their ranke to violate the Lawes of Hospitality in so high a degree as to kill him who loved them so dearely and entertained them so curteously and it is strange that both their humours were so strangely vitious as to concurre and sympathize in the attempt of this execrable murther But what cannot vice performe or Ladies procure of their Lovers at least if they love Beauty better then Vertue and Pleasure then Piety Captaine Benevente is many times accustomed after dinner to ride to his Vineyard and now and then to Alpiata a neighbour village where hee is familiarly if not too familiarly acquainted with a Tennants wife of his whom he loved in her youth and cannot forsake in
her middle age perseverance in vice never makes a good end a single sinne is distastefull but the redoubling thereof is both hatefull and odious to God Carpi and Monteleone take their two Lacquaies Lorenzo and Anselmo with rhem assoone as they know the Captaine to be abroad onely accompanied with his confident Gentleman Fiamento and disguising themselves they watch him at the corner of the wood where of necessity he must passe The event answereth their bloody expectations and desires they see Benevente and Fiamento approaching riding a soft trot when like so many Fiends and Devils they all foure rush forth the thickets and without any other forme with their Swords and Pistols after some resistance kill them dead to the ground but this is not the end of their hellish malice and envie neither is the unsatiable thirst of their revenge yet quenched for they take these two murthered bodies who are a fresh reeking and weltring in their blood and carry them to a neighbour hill and so throw them down into a deep quarry full of thicke bushes brambles wheras they thought no mortall eye should ever have seene them more and then and there they consult upon their flight Carpi resolves to take poast for Naples and there for a time to shroud himselfe among the multitude of the Nobility and Coaches which grace and adorne that Citie And Monte-leone resolves to hye towards Brundusium with intent that iâ—… these murthers were revealed and himselfe detected and accused he would there embarque himselfe either for Venice or Malta but hee hath not as yet made his peace and reckoning with God Leave wee Carpi and his Laquay poasting for Naples and let vs see what accident will speedily befall Monte-leone It is impossible for murther to goe long unpunished Monte-leone and his Laquay Anselmo shall ere they ride farre see this position verified in themselves He is provided of two faire Gennets one for himselfe the other for his Laquay and having taken his leave of Carpi away he goes for Brundusium but hee hath not ridden past twelve miles before his owne horse fell downe dead under him which doth something afflict and amaze him but this is but the least part of his misery and but the very beginning of his misfortune hee is enforced to make a vertue of necessity so he rides his Laquayes horse and he followes him on foot It is impossible for a guilty conscience to be secured from feare he rides narrow lanes and by-wayes but at last neare the Village Blanquettelle he meets with a swift Ford which is passable for horse but not for foot Here Monte-leone is constrained to take up his Laquay Anselmo behinde him which he doth but being in the midst thereof the horse stumbles and fals with both of them under him which is done so suddenly that Montelâ—…e had no time to cast off his Laquay and so they are both drowned and have neither the Grace nor power to breathe or speake a word more Gods judgements are secret and inscrutable had they had time to repent they had onely lost their lives whereas now it is rather to bee feared than wished they likewise runne the hazard of their soules But as it is a vertue to thinke and censure charitably of the dead so it must needs bee a vice to doe the contrary Heretofore they thirsted for bloud and loe now they have their fill of water All Elements are the servants of God but these two of fire and water are the most terrible the most impetuous Wee have but one way to come into the world but divers to goe out of it This is a testimony of our weaknesse and of Gods power By this time Captaine Benevente and his man Fiamento are found wanting and no newes to be heard of them his house rings and resounds with sorrow all his servants and friends mourne and lament for his absence and his two accursed daughters they seeme to be all in teares hereat but we shall shortly see this their hypocrisie and dissimulation both detected and revenged They lay all the Countrey to purchase newes of their father and speedily by poast advertise their brother Alcasero hereof at Naples who amazed hereat comes away with all possible speed and expedition His two sisters and himselfe wonderfully mourne and lament for the absence of their father and now seing five dayes past and no newes of him they beginne to suspect and feare that he is made away and murthered â—…nd because Fiamento was alone with him they suspect him of the fact which â—…hey are the sooner induced to beleeve in regard he is fled and not to be found â—…ut they shall soone see the contrary and that as hee was a faithfull servant to â—…eir father his master during his life so hee was a true companion to him in â—…is death And although Alcasero his sonne use all possible zeale and industry to â—…de out his father yet sith Earth cannot now Heaven will reveale the newes â—…d sight of him For as some neighbouring Gentlemen his kinsfolkes and â—…iends are hunting of a Stagge neare Alpiata they pursue him on horseback some five or six houres and at last being tired hee runnes for refuge and shelter thorow the bushes and bryers into the same old Quarry where the dead bodies of Captaine Benevente and his man Fiamento were throwne The Gentlemen Hunters descend from their horses and with their Swords drawne enter purposely to kill the Stagge which they performe when casting aside their eyes they see two dead mens bodies one neere the other whose legges hands and faces the Crowes had pitifully mangled and defaced They are amazed at this mournfull and unlooked for spectacle when approaching to discerne them they by their clothes finde and know them to bee Captaine Benevente and his Gentleman Fiamento They are astonished and amazed hereat and so one of them rides backe poast to Otranto to acquaint Alcasero his sonne hereof who melting into teares returnes with him neare to Alpiata where to his unspeakable griefe hee sees the dead bodies both of his father and Fiamento which before all the Hunters hee caused to bee searched and findes that his father with a Pistoll bullet was shot thorow the head in two places and run thorow the body with a Rapier in three and that Fiamento had five deepe wounds with a Rapier and once shot thorow the head Alcasero and the whole company grieve and lament at this sorrowfull newes they know well that Fiamento did not set upon the Captaine his father and that neither of them had Pistols and though they might imagine it done by theeves yet they were quickly cleared of that jealousie and suspition because they finde rich Rings on his Masters fingers and store of gold in his pockets So they referring the discovery of this bloudy and damnable murther to Time and to God the Author and giver of Time Alcasero causeth the dead bodies first of his father then of Fiamento to be laid in a
in all outward appearance I thinke he neither loves thee for my sake nor my selfe for thine Live thou as happy as I feare I shall die miserable FIDELIA What a fearefull Letter is this either for Fidelia to send or Carpi to receive but her distempered and distracted spirits can afford no other and therefore shee dispatcheth away the Laquay with this And now as if her thoughts transported her to hell shee cannot bee alone for the Deuill is still with her hee appeares to her in the shape of an Angell of Light and profers her mountaines of Wealth and Worlds of Honour if shee will fall downe and adore him To rebell against God is a sinne but to perseuere in our rebellion is not onely a contempt but a treason in the highest degree against God The best of Gods people are commonly tempted but those are and prove the worst who are overcome with temptation Fortitude is a principall and soueraigne vertue in Christians and if wee vanquish the Deuill it is good for vs that he assaulted us sith those Victories as well spirituall as temporall are ever most glorious and honourable which are atchieved with greatest danger Had Fidelia followed the current of this counsell and the streame of this advise shee had never beene so weake with God nor so unfaithfull to her selfe as to destroy her selfe but forsaking God and contemning prayer which is the true way to the truest felicity what can shee hope for but despaire or expect but destruction Her brother Alcasero and many of her kinsfolks neighbours and friends with their best zeale and possible power endevour to perswade and comfort her they exhort her to read religious bookes and continually to pray Shee hearkneth to both these counsels but neither can or will not follow either Her sleepes are but broken slumbers and her slumbers but distracted dreames and ever and anon it seemes to the eyes of her minde and body that the Captaine her father doth both speake to her and follow her In a word she is weary both of this world and of her life yea despaire or rather the Devill hath reduced her to this extreme misery and miserable extremity that she is ready to kisse that hand that would kill her or that Death which would giue her death Shee never sees a knife in the hands of another but shee wisheth it in her owne heart her Conscience doth so terribly accuse her and â—…r thoughts give in such bloudy evidence against her conscience and selfe for occasioning her fathers murther that she resolves she must die and therefore disdaines to live And now comes her sister Celestina to her to perswade and conferre with her but she will prove but a miserable comforter Fidelia sees her with hatred and detestation and when shee begins to speake very peremptorily and mournfully cuts off her speeches thus Ah sister would we had slipt when wee plotted our fathers death for in seeking his ruine we shall assuredly finde out our 〈◊〉 Provide you for your safety for I am past hope of mine and so get you out of my sight I know not whether the beginning of this her speech savoured more of Heaven then the end thereof doth of Hell for sure If we passe hope we come too short of salvation and if we forsake that this infallibly will forsake us This poore or rather this miserable Gentlewoman having alwayes her murthered father before her eyes which incessantly haunts her as a ghost and yet shee enforced to follow it as her shaddow is powerfully allured and provoked by the instigation of the Devill in what manner or at what rate soever to dispatch her selfe being so wretchedly instructed in faith and piety and shee addes and beleeves that the end of her life will prove not onely the end of her afflictions but the beginning of her joyes But O poore Fidelia with a thousand pities and teares I both pitie and grieve to see thee beleeve so infernall an Advocate for what joyes either will he or can he give thee Why nothing but bondage for liberty torments for pleasures and tortures for delights or if thou wilt have me shew thee whereat his flattering oratory or sugred insinuation tendeth it is onely to have thee destroy thy body in earth that as a triumph and Trophee to the enlargement of his obscure kingdome he may dragge thy body and soule to hell fire But Fidelia is as constant in her sinne as impious in her resolution and so all delayes set apart shee seekes the meanes to destroy her selfe shee procures poyson and takes it but the effect and operation thereof answers not her desires I know not whether shee be more impatient to live than willing to die We never want invention seldome meanes to doe evill a little pen-knife of hers shall in her conceit performe that which poyson could not shee seeks it and now remembers it is with her paire of knives in the pocket of her best gowne she flies to her Ward-robe and so to her pocket but finds not her knives onely she finds her Naples silke girdle in stead thereof The Devils instruments are never farre to seeke she thinks it as good to strangle her throat as to cut it And here comes her mournfull and deplorable Tragedy she returnes swiftly to her chamber bolts the doore and so which I grieve and tremble to relate fastens it to the reaster of her bed and there hangs her selfe and as it is faithfully reported at that very instant and for the space of an houre it thundred and lightned so cruelly as if Heaven and Earth were drawing to an end that not onely the chamber where she hung but the whole house shaked thereat The thunder being past and the skies cleared dinner is served on the Table and Alcasero and Caelestina ready to sit they call for their sister Fidelia but she is not to be found One goes to her chamber and returnes that her key is without side and the doore bolted within and yet shee answers not They both flie from the Table to her chamber and call and knocke but no answer Alcasero commands his men to breake open the doore which they doe and there sees his sister Fidelia hanging to the bed-steed starke dead They cry out as affrighted and amazed at this mournfull and pitifull spectacle and with all speed take her downe but she is breathlesse though not cold and they see all her face and body which were wont to be as white as snow now to be coale blacke and to stinke infinitely These are the wofull effects and lamentable fruits both of Despaire and Murther O may Christians of all ranks and of hoth sexes take heed by Fidelia's mournfull miserable example and withall remember that murther will still be revenged and punished especially that which is perpetrated by Children towards their Parents a sinne odious both to God and man sith it not onely opposeth Nature but Grace Earth but heaven No sooner with griefe and mourning
hee will die his faithfull servant But wee shall see him have more grace than to keepe so gracelesse a promise Carpi flattering himselfe with the fidelity and affection of his Laquay resolves to stay in the City but hee shall shortly repent his confidence Hee was formerly betrayed by Fiesco which mee thinks should have made him more cautious and wise and not so simple to entrust and repose his life on the incertaine mercy of Lorenzo's tongue but Gods Revenge drawes neare him and consequently he neare his end for he neither can nor shall avoid the judgement of Heaven Lorenzo on the gallowes will not charge his soule with this foule and execrable sinne of murther but Grace now operating with his soule as much as formerly Satan did with his heart hee confesseth that hee and the Baron of Carpi his Master together with the Knight Monte-leone and his Laquay Anselmo murthered the Captaine Benevente and his man Fiamento and threw them into the Quarrie the which hee takes to his death is true and so using some Christian-like speeches of repentance and sorrow he is hanged Lorenzo is no sooner turned over but the Criminall Iudges advertised of his speeches delivered at his death they command the Baron of Carpi his lodging to be beleagred where he is found in his study and so apprehended and committed prisoner where feare makes him looke pale so as the Peacocks plumes both of his pride and courage strike saile He is againe put to the Racke and now the second time hee reveales his foule and bloudy murther and in every point acknowledgeth Lorenzoes accusation of him to be true So he is condemned first to have his right hand cut off and then his head notwithstanding that many great friends of his sue to the Viceroy for his pardon The night before he was to die the next morne one of his Judges was sent to him to prison to perswade him to discover all his complices in that murther besides Monte-leone and his Laquay Anselmo yea there are likewise some Divines present who with many religious exhortations perswade him to it So Grace prevailes with Nature and Righteousnesse with Impiety and sinne in him that he is now no longer himselfe for contrition and repentance hath reformed him hee will rather disrespect Caelestina than displease God whereupon he affirmes that she and her deceased sister Fidelia drew him and Monte-leone to murther their father and his man Fiamento and that if it had not beene for their allurements and requests they had never attempted either the beginning or end of so bloudy a businesse and thus making himselfe ready for Heaven and grieving at nothing on Earth but at the remembrance of his foule fact he in the sight of many thousand people doth now lose his head This Tragedy is no sooner acted and finished in Naples but the Judges of this City send away poast to those of Otranto to seize on the Lady Caelestina who in the absence of her husband for the most part lived there A Lady whom I could pitie for her youth and beauty did not the foulenesse of her fact so foulely disparage and blemish it She is at that instant at a Noblemans house at the solemnitie of his daughters marriage where she is apprehended imprisoned and accused to bee the authour and plotter of the Captaine her fathers death neither can her teares or prayers exempt her from this affliction and misery She was once of opinion to deny it but understanding that the Baron of Carpi and his Laquay Lorenzo were already executed for the same in Naples shee with a world of teares freely confesseth it and confirmes as much as Carpi affirmed whereupon in expiation of this her inhumane Paracide she is condemned to have her head cut off her body burnt and her ashes throwne into the ayre for a milder death and a lesse punishment the Lord will not out of his Justice inflict vpon her for this her horrible crime and barbarous cruelty committed on the person of her owne father or at least seducing and occasioning it to be committed on him and it is not in her husbands possible power to exempt or free her hereof Being sent backe that night to prison she passeth it over or in very truth the greatest part thereof in prayer still grieving for her sinnes and mourning for this her bloudy offence and crime and the next morne being brought to her execution when she ascended the scaffold she was very humble sorrowfull and repentant and with many showres of teares requested her brother Alcasero and all her kinsfolkes to forgive her for occasioning and consenting to her fathers death and generally all the world to pray for her when her sighs and teares so sorrowfully interrupted and silenced her tongue as she recommending her soule into the hands of her Redeâ—…mer whom she had so heynously offended shee with great humility and contrition kneeling on her knees and lifting up her eyes and hands towards heaven the Executioner with his sword made a double divorce betwixt her head and her body her body and her soule and then the fire as if incensed at so fiery a spirit consumed her to ashes and her ashes were throwne into the ayre to teach her and all the world by her example that so inhumane and bloudy a daughter deserved not either to tread on the face of this Earth or to breathe this ayre of life She was lamented of all who either knew or saw her not that she should die but that she should first deserve then suffer so shamefull and wretched a death and yet shee was farre happier than her sister Fidelia for shee despaired and this confidently hoped for remission and salvation Thus albeit this wretched and execrable young Gentlewoman lived impiously yet she died Christianly wherefore let vs thinke on that with detestation and on this with charity And here wee see how severely the murther of Captaine Benevente was by Gods just revenge punished not onely in his two daughters who plotted it but also in the two Noblemen and their two Laquayes who acted it Such attempts and crimes deserve such ends and punishments and infallibly finde them The onely way therefore for Christians to avoid the one and contemne the other is with sanctified hearts and unpolluted hands still to pray to God for his Grace continually to affect prayer and incessantly to practise piety in our thoughts and godlinesse in our resolutions and actions the which if wee be carefull and conscionable to performe God will then shrowd us under the wings of his favour and so preserve and protect us with his mercy and providence as we shall have no cause to feare either Hell or Satan GODS REVENGE AGAINST THE CRYING AND Execrable Sinne of Murther HISTORY XV. Maurice like a bloudy villaine and damnable sonne throwes his Mother Christina into a Well and drownes her the same hand and arme of his wherewith he did it rots away from his body aad being discrased of
Harcourt kils his brother Vimory and then marries his widdow Masserina Tivoly is hanged for a robbery and at his execution accuseth Masserina for hiring him to poyson La Precoverte for the which shee is likewise hanged Noel who was Harcourts man on his death-bed suspecteth and accuseth his said Master for killing of his brother Vimory whereof Harcourt being found guilty he is broken alive on a wheele for the same History XVIII Romeo the Laquay of Borlary kils Radegonda the Chamber-mâ—…id of the Lady Fellisanna in the street and is hanged for the same Borlary afterwards hireth Castruchio an Apothecary to poyson her husband Seignior Planeze for the which Castruchio is hanged and his body throwne into the River and Borlari is beheaded and then burnt History XIX Beaumarays and his brother Montaigne kill Champigny and Marin his second in a Duell Blancheville the widdow of Champigni in revenge thereof hireth Le Valley who was servant to Beaumarays to murther his said Master with a pistoll the which he doth for the which Le Valley is broken on a wheele and Blancheville hanged for the same History XX. Lorenzo murthereth his wife Fermia He some twenty yeares after as altogether unknowne robbeth his and her sonne Thomaso who likewise not knowing Lorenzo to be his father 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 him for that robbery for the which he is hanged GODS REVENGE AGAINST THE CRYING AND Execrable Sinne of Murther HISTORY XVI Idiaques causeth his sonne Don Ivan to marry Marsillia and then commits Adultery and Incest with her She makes her Father in Law Idiaques to poyson his owne old wife Honoria and likewise makes her owne brother De Perez to kill her Chamber-maid Mathurina Don Ivan afterwards kils De Perez in a Duell Marsillia hath her braines dasht out by a horse and her body is afterwards condemned to be burnt Idiaques is beheaded his body likewise consumed to ashes and throwne into the ayre LEt Malice be never so secretly contrived and the shedding of Innocent bloud never so wretchedly perpetrated yet as our Conscience is to us a thousand witnesses so God is to us a thousand Consciences first to bring it to light and then their Authours to deserved punishments for the same when they least dreame or thinke thereof For as there is no peace to the wicked so they shall finde no peace or tranquility here on Earth either with God or his creatures because if they would conceale it yet the very Fowles of the ayre yea the stones and timbers of their chambers will detect it For the Earth or Ayre will give them no breath nor being but they shall hang betweene both because by these their foule and deplorable facts they have made themselves unworthy of either A powerfull example and a pitifull precedent whereof we shall behold in this ensuing History where some wretched miscreants and gracelesse creatures making themselves guilty of those bloudy crimes by the immediate Revenge and Justice of God received exemplary and condigne punishments for the same May we reade it to Gods glory to the comfort of our hearts and the instruction of our soules IN the City of Santarem which by tract of time and corruption of speech some tearme Saint Aren and which after Lisbon is one of the richest and best peopled of Portugall there dwelt a Gentleman of some fifty five yeares old nobly descended and of a great estate and meanes named Don Sebastian Idiaques whose wife and Lady being aged of well neere fifty yeares was termed Dona Honoria and well she deserved that honourable name for all sorts of Vertues and honours made her youth famous and her age glorious to all Portugall and Spaine They had lived together in the bonds of Matrimony almost thirty yeares with much Honour content and felicity and for the fruits of their affection and mariage they had two sonnes and foure daughters but God in his pleasure and Providence for some reserved reasons best knowne to his All Divine Majesty tooke from Earth to Heaven all their daughters and one of their sonnes so as now they have left them but one sonne named Don Ivan a gallant young Gentleman of some twenty five yeares old of disposition brave and generous who after his first youthfull education under his father had his chiefe breeding under the Duke of Braganza to whom he was first a Page and then a chiefe Gentleman retaining to him whom in regard of the death of his brother and sisters his father called home unto him to be his comfort and consolation and the prop and stay of his age as also of the Lady his mother who had formerly acted a great part in griefe and a mournfull one in sorrow for the death of her children and indeed Don Ivan this sonne of theirs for all regards of Courtship was held to be a compleat Gallant and one of the prime Cavalliers of Portugall As for Idiaques the father though in all the course and progresse of his life and in all the life and conduction of his actions he bewrayed many morall and generous vertues yet as one discordant string marres the harmony of the best tuned Instrument and the concent of the sweetest melody and musicke and as one foule Vice is naturally subject and fatally incident to ecclipse and drowne many rich and faire vertues so in this his old age when time had honoured him with white haires he deboshed himselfe so much and so sottishly sacrificed his irregular affections to heart-killing concupiscence and his exorbitant desires to soule-destroying adultery that hee very often made himselfe a false and inconstant husband to his wife and a true yea too true a friend to Curtisans and Strumpets His vertuous Lady Honoria extreamly grieves hereat that now in his later years he should thus lasciviously forget himselfe both towards her and towards God She useth all sweet perswasions prayers and teares to diswade and divert him from it but seeing that all proves vaine and that he rather prooves worse then better thereat her discretion makes her brooke it with as much patience as she can and therefore she seemes not to see or know that whereof to her griefe and discontent she cannot be ignorant But here comes an accident which will breed both of them and their Sonne Don Ivan misery of all sides Some six leagues from Santarem was a wonderfull faire young Gentlewoman being a widdow aged but of Twenty two yeares named Dona Marsillia well desended but by her late deceased Husband left but small meanes yet she beares out her port bravely and maintaines her selfe highly and gallantly and indeed shee is the prime young Lady for beauty in all those parts Now the base Ambassadors and Emysaries of Idiaques his beastly and obscaene lust the true Vipers and Cankers of Common weales give him notice of her and of her singular beauty as well foreseeing and knowing that it would bee sweet and pleasing newes unto him He visits and courts her but as young as she is she puts him
confident that it is his old Mother who hath diverted him from her whereat shee is exceedingly enraged When seeing this old Letcher so open and plaine with her shee foothing him up with many kisses tels him that this old Beldam his wife must first be in heaven before he can hope to enjoy her or she his Son here on Earth when being allured and provoked by the treacherous suggestions and bloody temptations of the Devill she proffers him to visit her and so to poyson her which hee opposeth and contradicteth and contrary to all reason sense and repugnant to all Humanity and Christianity yea to Nature and Grace as a Husband fitter for the Divell than for this good old Lady his Wife hee undertakes and promiseth her speedily to performe it himselfe yea the Divell is now so strong with him and he with the Divell that because hee loves Marsillia therefore hee must hate his owne deare wife and vertuous Lady Honoria and because he hates her therefore he must poyson her A lewd part of a man a fouler one of a Christian but a most hellish and bloody one of a Husband to his owne wife who ought to be neere and deere unto him as being his owne flesh and blood Yea the other halfe of himselfe Hee cannot content himselfe to seeke to abuse and betray his Sonne but hee must also murther the mother So wanting the feare of God before his eyes and repleate with as much impiety and Cruelty as hee was devoyd of all Grace he is resolute in this his hellish rage and malice against her and so to please his young Strumpet hee will send this good old Lady his wife to Heaven in a bloody Coffin so without thinking of Heaven or Hell or of God or his soule hee procures strong poyson and acting the part of a fury of Hell and a member of the Devill he as a wretched and execrable Husband administreth it to her in preserved Barbaries which he saw her usually to love and eat whereof within three daies after she dies to the extreame griefe and sorrow of her Sonne Don Ivan who bitterly wept for this his mothers hasty and unexpected death but the manner thereof he knowes not and indeed doth no way in the world either doubt or suspect thereof His Father Idiaques makes a counterfeit shew of sorrow and mourning to the world for the death of his wife but God in his due time wil unmaske this his wretched hypocrisie and detect and revenge this his execrable and deplorable murther Now as soone as Marsillia is advertised of the Lady Honoria's death she not able to containe her Ioyes doth infinitely triumph therear and within lesse than two moneths after her buriall Idiaques and Marsillia worke so politiquely with Don Ivan as hee marries Marsillia although his mothers advise to him in the garden doe still runne in his mind and thoughts and now hee brings home his lustfull Spouse and Wife to his lewd and lascivious Fathers house at Sentarem where I write with horrour and shame hee most beastly and inhumanly very often commits Adultery and Incest with her and they act it so close that for the first yeare or two his Sonne Don Ivan hath no newes or inkling thereof and now Marsillia governeth and rules all yea her incontinency with her Father Idiaques makes her so audacious and impudent as shee commands not onely his house but himselfe and domineeres most proudly and imperiously over all his Servants Her waiting maid Mathurina observes and takes exact and curious notice of her young Ladies lustfull and unlawfull familiarity with her Father in Law Idiaques the which her mistris understanding shee extreamely beats her for the same and twice whippes her starke naked in her Chamber and dragges her about by her haire although this poore young Gentlewoman with a world of teares and prayers beggs her to desist and give over God hath many wayes and meanes to set forth his glory in detecting of Crimes and punishing of offenders yea he is now pleased to make vse of this young maidens discontent and choller against her insensed Lady and Mistris for we shall see her pay deare for this cruelty and tyranny of hers towards her for Mathurina being a Gentlewoman by birth she takes those blowes and severe vsage of her Lady in so ill part and lodgeth it so deepely in her heart and memory as she vowes her revenge shall requite part of that her cruelty and tyranny towards her Whereupon with more haste then discretion and with more malice then fidelity she in her hot blood goes to Don Ivan her young master tels him of this foule businesse betwixt his young wife and old Father to the disgrace and shame of nature and makes him see and know his owne dishonour in their brutish and beastly adultery and incest Don Ivan extreamely grieves hereat yea hee is both amazed and astonished at the report of this unnaturall crime as well of his young wife as aged Father Hee cannot refraine from choller and teares hereat to see himselfe thus infinitely abused by her beauty and betrayed by his lust and if it be a beastly yea a prophane part for one man and friend to offer it to another how much more for a father to offer it to his owne yea to his onely Sonne Hee expected more goodnesse from her youth and grace from age but as his wife hath hereby infringed her vow and oath of wedlocke so hath his wretched father exceeded and broken those rules and precepts of Nature yea he is so netled with the report and inflamed with the considetation and memorie hereof that he abhorres her infidelity and in his heart and soule detesteth his inhumanitie so as the knowledge hereof doth so justly incense him against her and exasperate himselfe against him that resolving to right his owne honour as much as they have blemished and ruined it and there in their owne he scornes to be an eye-Witnesse much lesse an accessary of this his shame and their infamy So he here enters into a discreet and generous consultation with himselfe how to beare himselfe in this strange and dishonourable accident when perceiving and finding that both his wife and father had by this their beastly Adultery and Incest made themselves for ever unworthy of his sight and companie he here for ever disdaining henceforth to see her or speake with him very suddenly upon a second conference and examination of Mathurina who stood firmely and vertuously to her former deposition and accusation against them takes horse and rides away from Santarem to Lisbone where providing himselfe of monies and other necessaries hee takes poast for Spaine and there builds up his residence and stay at the Court at Madrid where wee will for a while leave him to speak of other accidents which fall out in the course of this History Idiaques seeing the sudden departure of his Sonne and Marsillia of her Husband Don Ivan and being both assured that he
the shorter whereat De Perez rests satisfied and well he may sith this action and his receit thereof doth as much testifie Don Ivans glory as his owne dishonour and shame and now they againe approach each other to fight At their first comming up Don Ivan runnes a firme thrust to De Perez breast but hee bearing it up with his Rapier runnes Don Ivan in the cheeke towards his right eare which drawes much bloud from him and he in exchange runnes De Perez thorow his shirt sleeve without hurting him At their second meeting they againe close without hurting each other and so part faire without offering any other violence At their third assault De Perez runnes Don Ivan thorow the brawne of his left arme who in exchange requites him with a deepe wound in his right side from whence issued much bloud and now they breathe to recover wind and to the judgements of Lopez and Valdona as also of their Chirurgions they hitherto are equall in valour and almost in fortune so although these spectators doe of both sides earnestly entreat them to desist and give over yet they cannot they will not be so easily or so soone reconciled each to other So after a little pausing and breathing they with courage and resolution fall to it afresh and at this their fourth encounter Don Perez gives Don Ivan a deepe wound in his left shoulder and he requites him with another in exchange in the necke and although by this time their severall wounds hath engrained their white shirts with great effusion of their scarlet bloud yet they are so brave so generous or rather so inhumane and malitious that they will not yet give over as if they meant and resolved rather to make death feare them than they any way to feare death But their fifth close will proue more fatall for now after they had judiciously traversed their ground thereby to deceive each other of the disadvantage of the Sunne whiles De Perez directs a full thrust to Don Ivans breast hee bravely and skilfully warding it in requitall thereof runnes him cleane thorow the body a little below his right pap when closing nimbly with him and pursuing the point of his good fortune hee whips up his heeles and so nailes him to the ground when he had the strength to begge his life of Don Ivan and God knowes he much grieved that it was not then in his power to give it him for this his last wound being desperately mortall hee presently died thereof having neither the remembrance to call on God much lesse to begge mercy of him for his sinfull soule but as hee lived abominably and prophanely so he died miserably and wretchedly And although I confesse it was too great an honour for him to receive his death from so brave a noble Gentlemans hands as Don Ivan yet it is a most singular providence and remarkable punishment of God that hee died by the hands of his owne lascivious sisters Husband and which is yet more by his owne sword as if God had formerly decreed and purposely ordained that the selfe fame sword should give him his death wherewith so lately and so cruelly hee had bereaved that harmlesse innocent young Gentlewoman Mathurina of her life although in regard of this his foule and lamentable murther hee with lesse honour and more infamy every way deserved to have died rather by a halter than a sword But Gods Providence is as unsearchable as sacred Don Ivan having rendred thanks to God for this his victory he out of his noble courtesie and humanity lends Lopez his Coach to transport the dead body of his brother in Law De Perez into the City and taking his horse in exchange he by a private way gets home to his lodging But this their Duell is not so secretly carried but within three houres after all Madrid rattles thereof who knowing the Combatants to be both of them noble Gentlemen of Portugall it gives cause of generall talke and argument of universall envie and admiration in all Spaniards especially in the nobler sort of Souldiers and Courtiers When the very day after that Don Ivan had caused this his brother to be decently buried Lopez repaires to his chamber to him and in a faire friendly manner enquires of him if he please to returne any Letter of this his friends death and of his owne victorie to Santarem to Don Idiaques his father or the Lady Marsillia his wife and that his best service herein shall attend and wait on his commands Don Ivan thanks Lopez for this his courtesie but tels him that for some reserved reasons he will send no Letter to either of them but otherwise wisheth him a prosperous returne to Portugall so Don Ivan remaines in Madrid and Lopez returnes for Santarem and there from point to point relates them the issue of that Combat as the victory of his sonne Don Ivan and the death and buriall of De Perez adding withall that he was so reserved and strange that he would write to neither of them hereof At the relation and knowledge of this mournfull newes Idiaques cannot refraine from much sorrow nor Marsillia from bursting forth into bitter teares and lamentations thereat for seeing her deare and onely brother thus slaine by the hand of her owne unkinde Husband by losing him shee knowes she hath lost her right arme and he being dead shee knowes not to whom to have recourse either for counsell assistance or consolation And yet as much as hee sorrowes and she grieves at this diasterous accident they notwithstanding are yet so farre from thinking it a blow from Heaven or from looking either up to God or downe to their owne sinfull hearts consciences and soules for the same that without making any good use or drawing any divine or profitable morall thereof they still continue their beastly pleasures and damnable Adultery and Incest together as if there were no God to see nor no deserved torments or miserie reserved to punish it But they and we shall immediately see the contrary To the griefe of our hearts and compunction of our soules wee have in this History seene wretched Idiaques by the instigation of the devill to poyson his wife the Lady Honoria and likewise his daughter in Law Marsillia to have caused her brother De Perez to have cruelly murthered her waiting-maid in the street as also by the Providence of God Don Ivan to have slaine the said De Perez in the field and our curiosity and expectation shall not goe far before we shall see the just Revenge and punishments of God condignly to surprise wretched Idiaques and gracelesse Marsillia for the same for his Divine Justice contending with his Sacred Mercy it hath at last prevailed against these their â—…le and bloudy crimes so now when they are in the middest yea in the height jollity of all these their soule delights security like an unlooked for storme and tempest 〈◊〉 will suddenly befall them Life hath but
chiefest Mannor house with eight hundred Crownes of yearely Revenew and all his Goods and Chattels To Hautemont his second son he gave his second Mannor house worth foure hundred Crownes yearely and fifteene hundred Crownes in his purse by his Testament Estates which though it came short of their bloud yet it exceeded that of most of the Gentlemen their neighbours and is held in France at least the double if not the triple of as much here with us in England So having neither the happinesse or the care to be accompanied with any sister or other brothers they interchangeably sweare a strict league of brotherly love and deare affection each to other which by their Vertues and Honours they sweare shall never receive end but with the end of their lives They many times consult together for the conduction and improving of their Estates which they promise to manage with more frugality than lustre and with more solide discretion than vaine ostentation or superfluity and not to live in Paris or to follow the Court but to build up their residence in the Countrey To which end they cut off many unprofitable mouths both of servants horses and hounds which their father kept They likewise vow each to other to bee wonderfull charie and carefull in their mariages as well fore-seeing and knowing it to be the greatest part of their earthly felicity or misery So here we may see and observe many faire promises rich designes and resolutions and many sweet covenants voluntarily drawne up betweene these two brothers which if they make good and performe no doubt but the end thereof will bee successefull and prosperous unto them or if otherwise the contrary But before I wade farther in the streame and current of this History I must first declare that by the death of Vimory the father and by the custome of France we must now wholly abandon and take away the title of Hautemont from the second brother futurely to give him that of Harcourt the eldest and that from Harcourt the eldest to give him that of Vimory their father for by the right and vertue of the premised reasons these are now become their proper names and appellations which the Reader is prayed to observe and remember A yeare and halfe is not fully expired and past away since their father past from Earth to Heaven but the eldest brother Monseiur De Vimory being extreamly ambitious and covetous of wealth and understanding that a rich Counsellour of the Court of Parliament of Dijon named Monseiur De Basigni was dead and had left a very rich widow of some forty yeares of age named Madamoyselle Masserina he earnestly seekes her in marriage Shee is of short stature corpulent and fat of a coale-blacke haire and if fame towards her bee a true and not a tatling goddesse she hath and still is a lover of Veâ—…s and a Votaresse who often sacrificeth to Cupids lascivious Altars and Shrines Harcourt is very averse and bitter against this match for his brother They have many serious consultations hereon Hee alleageth him the inequality of her age and birth in comparison of his her corpulency the ill getting of her Husbands goods who was held a corrupt Lawyer and as the voyce of the world went who gained his wealth by the teares and curses of many of his ruined and decayed Clients and when he saw that nothing would prevaile to disswade his brother from her he rounds him in his eare that it was spoken and bruted in Diion that she was not as chaste as rich nor so continent as covetous Vimory is all enraged hereat and chargeth Harcourt his brother to name the reporters of this foule scandall vomited forth quoth he against the vertues and honour of chaste Masserina Harcourt replies that hee speakes it wholly upon fame no way upon knowledge much lesse upon beleefe so Vimory being wilfully deafe to his brothers advice and requests and preferring Masserina's wealth to her honesty hee marries her But shee is so wise for her selfe as first both by promise and contract shee ties him to this condition that he shall receive all her rents which are some twelve hundred Crownes per Annum she to put her ready money to Use into whose hands she pleaseth and he also to have the one halfe of the interest money but the principall still to remaine in her owne right propriety and possession and as well in her life as death to be wholly at her owne disposing Not long after Harcourt being at a great wedding of a Gentleman his Cousin Germaine at the City of Troyes in Champagne he there at the balles or publike dancing espies a most sweet and beautifull young Gentlewoman whom he presently fancieth and affects for his wife He enquires what shee is and findes her to be named Madamoyselle La Precoverte daughter to an aged Gentleman of that City tearmed Monseiur de la Vaquery Harcourt courts the daughter seeks the father finds the first willing and the second desirous but at last he plainly and honestly informes Harcourt that his daughters chiefest wealth are her vertues and beautie that he hath not much land and lesse mony that hee hath two great suits of Law for store of Lands depending in the Parliament of Diion which promise him store of money and that he will futurely impart a great part thereof to him if he will marrie his daughter the which for the present he tels him he is content to make good confirme to him both by bond contract Harcourt loves his faire young Mistresse La Precoverte so tenderly and dearly as he is ready to espouse her on those tearmes but he will first acquaint his brother Vimory therewith and take his advice therein Vimory informes his brother Harcourt that he knowes Monseiur De Vaquery of Troyes to be a very poore Gentleman that most of his lands are morgaged out and in great danger never to be redeemed that his law suits are as uncertaine as the following thereof chargeable Harcourt extols the beauty of La Precoverte to him to the skie Vimory replies that beauty fades and withers with a small time and that those who preferre it to wealth are many times enforced to feed on repentance in stead of content and joy and to looke poverty in the face in stead of prosperity But Harcourt having deeply setled his affection on La Precoverte he rejecteth this true and whole sâ—…ne counsell of his brother and so marries her When forgetting his former promise to his brother hee in a small time turnes a great Prodigall abandoneth himselfe to all filthy vices and beastly course of life and as a most deboshed and gracelesse Husband within one yeare hee for no cause quarrelleth very often with this his faire and deare wife then whom neither Champagne nor Burgundie had a more beautifull or vertuous young Gentlewoman shee was of stature tall and slender of a bright flaxen haire a gratious eye a modest countenance a pure
pure and religious soule towards God makes her send many teares to earth sighes to heaven Once she thought to acquaint her brother Vimory herewith but then fearing that his just choller might peradventure exasperate him against her Husband she againe as soone forsakes that opinion and intent as holding it more discretion and safety to be silent herein towards him And yet consulting her griefes and afflictions with God whose sacred advise and assistance how to beare her selfe in this action and accident shee religiously implores she at last deemes it a part both of her affection duty and conscience to use her best zeale and endevours to reclaime them from this their abhominable and beastly course of life And in regard her poverty weaknesse and sicknesse will not according to her desires and wishes permit her to ride over to them in person to Genâ—…va shee therefore commits and imposeth that charge to her pen to write both to her Husband Harcourt as also to his lews Sister or rather his lascivious Strumpet Masserina to see if her letters by the permission and providence of God may prevaile with their hearts and soules to reforme and draw them home the which she purposely and expresly sends by a confident messenger and with the greatest secresie she possibly can devise Her Letter to her Husband intimated this LA PRECOVERTE to HARCOVRT YOur flight and Adultery with that graceles Strumpet Masserine is so displeasinâ—… to God as I cannot but wonder that his divine Iusticewil permit Geneva or any other place of the world to containe you without punishing you for iâ—… yea when in this foule crime of yours I consider her by my selfe and you by your Brother Vimorye I finde that his griefe proves myshame and myshame his griefe and that you and her are the true causes of both I have examined my thoughts and actions my heart and soule and cannot conceive that I have any way deserved this your ingratitude towards me and therefore faile not to certifie me why and wherefore you have undertaken this vitious and lewd course of life which in the end will assuredly produce thy misery as now already it doth your infamy except your contrition to God doe speedily redeeme it And in regard that you are my Husband and that I both hoape and beleeve it to be the first fault in this kinde and nature I therefore hold you more worthy of my pitty than of my hatred and of my prayers then of my curses So if you will abandon your deboshed Sister and come home and live with me who am thy chaste and sorrowful wife my armes and heart shall bee as open as ever they were both to receive and forgive you yea I will wholly forget what is past and prepare my selfe to welcome you home with a thousand Smiles and Kisses if you will resolve and remember henceforth to love mee as much as formerly without cause or reason you have neglected and hated me LA PRECOVERTE Her Letter to Masserina bewrayd these passions LA PRECOVERTE to MASSERINA NOe longer Sister but lewd strumpet was it not enough for thee to abuse thine owne Husband but that thou must likewise bereave me of mine who is his owne and onely Brother as if a single sinne and ingratitude could not content thy lascivious lust or satisfâ—…e thy inordinate desires but that thy impiety to God and prophanenesse and obscenity to thy selfe should make thee guilty of so foule a crime as Adultery and which is worse of such a foule and base Adultery as comes very neere to the worst kinde of Incest wherof thy thoughts and heart can informe thee and thy conscience and soule assure thee it will hereafter make thee as truely mâ—…serable as now thou fasly thinkest thy selfe happy Wherefore triumph not to have made my griefe thy glory and my affliction thy felicity for God who is as just as powerfull will requite my wronges in thy Person and when thou least dreamest thereof his Divine punishments will sharpely scourge and revenge thy lascivious pleasures except thou deject and prostrate thy selfe at the feeâ—… of his sacred mercy with true contritioâ—… and at the Altar of his saving Grace with unfeined repentance for the same by restoring my Husband to me and thy selfe to thine and by making thy peacewith God whom so highly and hainously thou hast therein offended which if thou doe thou mayest then reestablish thy fortunes anâ—…â—…edeeme thy reputation or els for ever assuredly ruine both them and thy selfe So if I seethee to imbâ—…ace this chaste and to follow this vertuous and religious course I will againe assume the name of a Sister and leave that of a Strumpet towards thee yea I will wholly forget these thy almost unpardonable wrongs and disgraces which thou offerest mee and for ever bury them in perpetuall silence and eternall oblivion LA PRECOVERTE Her Messenger arriving at Geneva he first findes out Noell and then secretly delivers these two Letters to Harcourt and Masserina who much musing and more wondring thereat withdrawing themselves into their Inner Chamber they there breake up the seales and peruse them Whereat their hearts galled and their Consciences so netled and stung as they cannot refraine from blushing for meere shame and then againe from not looking pale with meere anger thereat Thus looking stedfastly each on other their owne guiltinesse doth for the time present somewhat afflict and perplex them Harcourt wondereth at his wifes boldnesse in wriâ—…ing to him and Masserina is not a little dismaid and daunted to see that her husband hath not written unto her Harcourt is discontented with his wifes peremptory Letter Masserina is apprehensive and fearefull of her husbands silence when againe changing their conceits and thoughts which inconstantly alter and extravagantly range without any intrinsicall peace or tranquility Harcourt thinking of his Brother Vimoryes silence attributes it to contempt and hatred and Masserina contemplating and ruminating on her sister La Precovertes choller reputes it to extreame griefe sorrow and Indignation But at last consulting together hereon they both of them concurre and fall upon this resolution that to colour out their lascivious life they by their answers to her must overvaile it with much seeming chastity and pretended sanctity and piety And the better to prevent any danger which may proceed from Vimories silence or revenge they must remove from Geneva and speedily resolve to forsake and leave it When feare giving life to their despaire and despaire adding wings to their feare they call for pen and paper and each returne La Pecoverte their severall answers by her owne messenger who had strickt charge and command from her to see them but not to dare once to speake or exchange a word with either of them the which according to his duty hee very honestly and punctually performed onely to shew her gratefulnesse to honest Noell she gave precise order to him to render him many hearty thanks from her for his true respect
of our soule but our whole soule For in matters of his divine worship and service which consists in that of our faith and of his glory he will not admit of any Rivall or Competitor nor bee served in any other manner than as he hath taught us by his sacred Word and Commandements and instructed us by his holy Prophets and blessed Apostles But againe to Harcourt and Masserina whose lascivious hearts and lewd consciences not permitting them to rest in assurance or reside in security any where the very day after they had dispatched the messenger with their Letters to La Precoverte holding Geneva no place for them nor they for Geneva they trusse up baggage and so with much secrecie leave it and direct their course to the great and famous Citie of Lyons some two and twenty leagues thence and which is the frontier Towne of France and there they thinke to shrowd themselves among that great affluence and confluence of people which inhabite and aboord there from divers parts and they make choice to live in this frontier Citie because it is neere to Savoy where if any danger should chance to betide or befall them they might speedily and safely retire themselves there and so lay hold on the law and priviledge of Nations which is inviolable throughout all the world At their arrivall at Lyons they take their chambers and residence neere the Arsenall though for the two first nights they lie in Flanders-street They have not beene in Lyons fifteene dayes but there befell them an accident very worthy both of our observation and of their remembrance which was thus A Gentleman of the City of Tholouse named Monseiur De Blaise having some five dayes before treacherously killed his elder brother Monseiur De Barry in the high way as they travelled together upon a quarrell which fell out betweene them for having deboshed and clandestine stollen away his said elder brother De Barry's wife from him and conveyed and transported her away with them There was a privie search then made in Lyons when that same night Harcourt and Masserina were upon suspition apprehended for them and laid in sure keeping But the next morning before the Seneschall and Procureur Fiscall they justified their innocencie by many who knew De Blaise and so were cleared but yet it gave them both a hot Camisado and fearfull Alarum and left an ominous impression in their hearts and minds whereof for the conformity of the circumstances of this action with their owne had they had the grace to have made good use they had not hereafter made themselves so famously infamous nor consequently this their History so prodigiously deplorable Harcourt and Masserina whiles they stay here in Lyons as guilt is still accompanied with feare doe seldome goe forth their lodgings and when they doe they for their better safety disguise themselves in different apparell and for her part shee goes still close masked and muffled up in her Taffeta coyffe Yea both of them make it their practise to frequent the fields often but the Churches and streets seldome as if their foule crime of Adultery had made them unworthy the communion of Gods Saints and consequently all good company too worthy for them He exceedingly feares his brother Vimory's silence and revenge and she highly envieth and disdaineth her sister in law La Precovertes jelousie and still that disgracefull word of Strumpet which she upbraided her with and obtruded to her in her Letter strikes sincks deeply in her heart and remembrance in such sort that it so possesseth her thoughts with malice and takes up her minde with choller fierce indignation as she vowes to her selfe not thus to let it passe in silence or to vanish and die away in oblivion quite contrary to that which her late Letter to her sister La Precoverte promised and spake And here it is that the devill first begins to take possession of her heart and by degrees to seize upon her soule and to make her wholly to forsake God For knowing La Precoverte to be wife to her brother in law and lover Harcourt whom she affects a thousand times dearer than her owne Husband yea than her owne life shee is therefore so great a beame to hereye so sharpe a thorne to her heart and so bitter a corrasive to her content as shee not onely assumes bad thoughts but bad bloud against her For vowing that none shall share with her in his affection shee forgetting her Conscience and Soule Heaven and God is speedily resolved to cause her to be poysoned her inraged malice being capable of no other excuse or reason but this that it is impossible she can reape any perfect felicity or content in earth till she have dispatch't and sent her to Heaven To which end she insinuates her selfe into the acquaintance of two Apothecaries of that City and deales with them severally and secretly to effect this hellish businesse for the which she promised either of them a hundred crownes of the summe in hand and as much more when they have effected it and fifty more to defray the charge of their journey But the devill hath made her so crafty and subtile as she still retaines from them the name Masserina and the place Troyes where the party dwelt There are good and bad men of all countryes faculties and professions these two Apothecaries are as honest as she is wretched and as religious and charitable as shee is prophane and bloody so the one denies her request with disdaine and choller and the other with charity and compassion alleaging her many pious considerations and reasons to divert and disswade her from this foule and bloody act the execution whereof though tacitely yet infallibly threatneth saies hee no lesse than the utter subversion of her fortunes and the ruine and confusion of her life in this world if not likewise of her soule in that to come So shee being hereat a little galled and stung in Conscience to see that this great City of Lyons affoords poyson but no poysoners to act and finish this her bloody project The devill hath yet notwithstanding made her so curious in her malice and so industrious and resolute in her revenge as enquiring whether there were any Italian Empericke or Mountebancke in that City whom she thought might bee made fit and flexible to her bloody desires and intents she is advertised that there departed one hence some eight daies since who is gone to reside this spring of the yeare at the Bathes at Pougges a mile from the city of Nevers his name being Signior Baptista Tivoly whom I conjecture may derive his surname from that pleasant small towne of Tivoly some twenty small miles from Rome wherein there are many Cardinalls country Pallaces or houses of pleasure being very skilfull in Mineralls and in attracting the spirits and quintessence of divers other vegitives Of a vaine glorious and ambitious humour and disposition and yet of a very poore estate and
in his resolutions that his lust ecclipsing his judgement and outbraving his disdiscretion he cannot he will not refraine to trie if he can yet procure and get her to be his friend though not his wife and so futurely to obtaine that curtesie from her by the eye which formerly he knew it impossible for him to get by the maine To which end his affection or rather his folly giving no truce to his thoughts nor peace to his minde because both the one and the other were still ranging and ruminating on Felisannaes sweet Idea and delitious feature Hee enters into a consideration and consultation with himselfe whether hee should bewray his amorous flame to her by himselfe or by some other or either by his penne or his tongue when after hee had proposed and exchanged many poore reasons and triviall Motives Pro and Con hee at last resolves on the last which is to doe it by letters when hying himselfe to his closet he traceth her these lines which by a confident friend of his he forth with sends her BORLARY to FELISANNA I Will crave no other witnesse but thy selfe of my fervent love and constant affection to thee for none can better testifie how I alwaies made it my chiefest Care and Ambition to make the dignity of my zeale answerable to that of thy beauty and that this mought be as truely Immortall as that is devinely rare and rarely excellent which to confirme I have sealed it with some bloud but with more teares so that although thou hast given thy affection from mee to Planeze yet my heart and soule tells me it is impossible to give mine to any but to the Lady Felisanna And because thou canst not bee my wife therefore I pray be pleased to resolve to live my friend as in requitall I doe dye thy Servant I confesse I am not worthy of thy affection much lesse to enjoy the sweet fruit thereof thy sweet selfe yet because I cannot be more thine then I am therefore I pray thee make thy selfe as much mine as thou mayest be Thy heart shall not be a truer Secretary to our affections then my tongue and for the times and places of our meetings I wholly referre it to thy will and pleasure which mine shall ever carefully attend and religiously obey I send the my whole heart inclosed in this Letter and if thou vouchsafe to returne me a peice of thine in exchange Heaven may but Earth cannnot crosse our affection BORLARY The Lady Flisanna receives this letter with much wonder and ore reades it with more Contempt and Choller for if she disdained Borlari and his affection when she was a maid much more doth shee now when God and her Husband have made her a wife Once shee was of opinion to have throwne this his Letter into the fire and have answered it with disdaine and silence But then againe considering the vainity of his thoughts and the obscaenity of his desireâ—…â—…hee conceived he mought peradventure repute her silence to a degree of consent and therefore though not in affection to him yet in discretion and love to her honour she resolves to returne him an answer when knitting her browes with anger dipping her pen in gall and vinegar and setting a sharp edge of contempt and Choller on her resolutions she hastily frame her Letter and gives it to his owne Messenger to deliver it to Borlari whose heart steering his course betwixt hope and feare till hee receive it he first kissing it and then hastily breaking up the seales thereof findes that it speakes this language FELISANNA to BORLARY IF thou want any witnesses of thy folly not of thy affection thy obstinate and vaine perseverance herein of one makes me capable to serve for many And if thou hadst beene as truely carefull and ambitious of thine owne honour as thou falsâ—… pretendest to be of my poore beauty thou wouldest not so often have sacrificed thy shame to my glory nor so sottishly have cast away thy bloud or teares on my contempt How thou intendest to dispose of thy self I neither desire to know nor care to understand But as I have given my soule to God so God hath given my heart to my husband Planeze from whom neither the malice of Sathan or power of hell shall withdraw it and therefore as I am Felisanna I detest thy lustfull sute and as Planezes wife I deâ—…ie both it and thy selfe And thus to bee thy friend thou shalt finde mee thy friend but for such servants as thy selfe I leave them to their owne proper Infamy and Repentance I make God the Secretary of my â—…ctions and my husband of my affections therefore it shall please me well when I understand that thy tongue wil recant thy folly I repent thy indiscretion towards me in seeking to erect the Trophees of thy lascivious lust upon the ruines of my pure and candid honour And I assure thee that if hereafter thou inspire and fortifie not thy heart with more religious and lesse sinfull desires and affections that Earth can and Heaven will make thee as truely miserable as now thou falsly thinkest thy selfe fortunate FELISANNA Borlari at the reading of this Letter of Felisanna is so galled with griefeand netled with sorrow to see his refusall sent him in her disdaine as he knows not to what passion to betake himselfe for ease or to what Saint for comfort for the consideration of her coynesse and cruelty makes his dispaire to gaine so much on his hopes that once he was minded absolutely to forsake her and to court her affection no more but then againe his lustfull heart and desires remembring the freshnesse of her beauty and the sweetnesse of her youth hee held himselfe a coward every way unworthy to enjoy so faire a Lady and so sweet an Angell if hee retyred upon her first denyall especially because as those Citties and Castles so those Ladies and Gentlewomen who entertaine a pearle are already halfe wonne In which consideration because it many times proves an errour in Nature but still in judgement to flatter our selves most with that which we most hope for and desire He therefore once more resolves to hazard another letter to her as having some reasons to beleive that his second may perchance obtaine that from her which his first could not for that he knowes that most ladies and gentlewomen pride themselves with this felicity to be often sought and importunately sued unto by their lovers wherfore resolving once more to try his fortune and her courtesie hee by his former messenger greets her with these lines BORLARY to FELISANNA THy sweet and excellent beautie hath enkindled so fervent a flame in my heart that thy late disrespect and contempt of me in thy Letter is not sufficiently prevalent to make mee or so soone or so sleightly forsake thee For although thou terme my loue folly and my affection obstinacy yet untill thou cease to bee faire finde it â—…t strange if it be impossible for
me to cease to be affectionate Neither doe I sacrifice my shame to thy Glory or cast away my teares on thy contempt sith I performe it more out of duty then complement and rather out of true zeale then false hypocrisie And as the strongest Cities and Castles by the rule of war so the fairest beauties by that of love deserve to be honoured with more then one assault and siege and that Cavilleir cannot justly be termed either a Gentleman a Souldier or a Lover who will resolve to be put off with the first repulse especially from so sweet and so beautifull an Enemy as thy selfe Neither can it any way breed infamy or repentance in me to be servant to so deare and slave to so faire a Mistris because the excellency of thy beauty is every way capable both to confound sence and to subvert and overthrow Reason Bee then but as courteous as thou art faire and as kinde as I am constant and thou shalt finde that I onely desire to erect the Trophees of mine Honour and Glory upon those of thy content to sacrifice my best life at the shrine and altar of thy beautie and to devote and prostrate my best zeale and service to the feet of thy Commands which if thou please to grant me Earth will not make me miserable but Heaven fortunate BORLARY The Lady Felisanna having received and oreread this second Letter of Borlari as one way shee laughes to see the constancy of his folly and indiscretion so another way shee stormes and yet grieves to see her selfe to be both the object and the cause thereof When returning to the party who brought it her shee thinks to vent part of her choller on him taxeth his audacity and rashnesse herein and strictly conjures him to bring her no more of Borlari his Letters yea shee is so farre transported with passion and choller against Borlari for sending them to her as now shee resolves to answer this wâ—… silence and hence forth to burne all other which are sent or brought to her from him because if his folly make him culpable of sending shee will not futurely make herselfe guilty of receiving any more But here againe her thoughts are taken up with feare and her heart surprised with resolution and doubt whether yea or no shee should shewe these his two letters to her Husband For her affection is soe tender soe faithfull soe constant to him because shee likewise knowes that his is reciprocally so to her that she will rather displease her selfe then any way discontent him or administer him the least cause whatsoever to runne the hazard of his displeasure or indignation for as by concealing them from his knowledge she knowes this businesse will be for ever husht up in silence and perpetually buried in oblivion So contrariwise if either through Borlarie his malice to her or indiscretion to himselfe it should any way come to her Husbands eare then she thinkes she should give him a just cause of exception and offence against her Wherein if the subtilty of the Devill should once put his foot or the malice of any of his members their tongues or fingers then his jealousie might call her Honour and Fidelity in question and make him suspect and feare her to bee dishonest though heretofore in heart and soule he confidently knowes and beleeves the contrarie she farther knowes that there is nothing so easie as to entertaine jealousie nor so difficult as to expell it and therefore that it is not enough for us to prevent a scandall but likewise to remove the originall cause thereof faine she would conceale these foolish letters of Borlari from her husband but yet she doubts it and willing she is to accquaint him there with and yet she feares it And although her chastity and innocency perswade her to performe the last yet her discretion and judgement encourage and prompt her to execute the second And here our Beautifull and Vertuous young Wife is perplexed as a traveller who meetes with two different waies and knowes not which is the best for him to take and her heart and thoughts here in this accident is as a ship at sea at one time surprised and met with two contrary windes and tides for preferring her honour to her life and her affection to her husband and his to her before any other earthly respect or felicity whatsoever she in the intricacy and ambiguity of these doubts wisheth that Borlari had slept when he writ and sent her those Letters or she when she received and read them But at last consulting with Reason and Religion with her Soule and God then her chastity gives a commanding law to her feare and her innocency to her doubt so first hoping and then praying that nothing herein might breed bad bloud in her husband or disturbe the tranquility and sincerity of her marriage shee watching a fit opportunity shewes her husband the first letter of Borlari to her with her answer thereof and then his second letter the which she informes him shee answered with silence and contempt adding withall That had she a thousand lives as she hath but one she would cheerefully sacrifice and lose them all before she would be guilty of the least thought to distaine the honour of his bed or to breake her sacred vow of Love and Chastity which in presence of God and his Church she religiously made and gave him in marriage Planeze at the hearing of these speeches and the reading of these Letters doth at one instant both blush and pale for as hee lookes pale with Envy towards Borlari to see how secretly and subtilly he endevoureth to ruine his honour in that of his wifes so he blusheth for love towards her to see how sweetly and chastly she had demeaned her selfe in her answer to him as also what a wise and loving part it was in her so punctually and fully to acquaint him therwith when in requitall hereof hee gives her many prayses and kisses extols her chastity and vertues to the sky and condemnes Borlarie his lustfull vices to Hell and although for the present shee finde some incongruity in his speeches and observe some perâ—…bation in his lookes yet he makes his affection so apparant to her and dissembleth his hatred and choller towards Borlari so secretly and artificially That his wife Felisanna wholly reposing herselfe upon her owne integrity and her husbands discretion shee sweet innocent Lady little dreames or thinkes of any disaster which will ensue hereof muchlesse what dismall effects threaten to proceed from this inconsiderate act of hers in acquainting her Husband with those Letters But shee will have time enough to see it to her griefe and know it to her sorrow yea shee will finde occasions enough to repent but never any meanes how to remedy it except it be too late and which then will meerely prove phisicke after death Planeze as wee have formerly understood is extreamely incensed against Borlary thus to attempt to bereave him
drowning himselfe as it were in pleasure and security without so much as once thinking of his poysoning of Planeze or how he was revealed to be the Authour thereof by Castruchio his Letter sent unto him by Dorilla He is amazed and astonished at this his apprehension now beating his brest and then repenting when it was too late that ever he embrewed his hands in the innocent bloud of Planeze So both himselfe and Castruchio are brought to the State house where the Podestate and Prefect first examine them a part and then confront them each with other Where finding that neither of them deny but both of them to confesse themselves guilty of this foule murther they pronounce sentence of death against them and condemne Borlary to have his head cut off and then his body to be burnt and Castruchio to be hanged and his body to be throwne into the River of Addice whereon he was first taken the which the next morning was accordingly executed All Verona is as it were but one tongue to talke and prattle of this foule and lamentable murther and especially of Gods miraculous detection thereof by this drunken Bawd Dorilla who having heretofore often brought Castruchio to whores willingly now at last she brings him to the gallowes against her will The morning they are brought to their execution where there flocke and resort a world of spectators from all parts of the City And although the charity of their Judges send them Priests and Fryers to direct their soules for heaven yet this miserable wretch Castruchio seeming no way repentant or sorrowfull for this his foule fact uttered a short prayer to himselfe and so caused the top-man to turne him over which he did and within two houres after his body was throwne into the River But for Borlary he came to the scaffold better resolved and prepared for with griefe in his lookes and teares in his eyes hee there delivered this short and religious speech That he grieved in heart and was sorrowfull in soule for this lamentable murther of his committed on the person of Planeze as also for seducing of Castruchio to effect it by poyson for whose death he affirmed he was likewise exceedingly afflicted and sorrowfull That it was the temptations of the flesh and the devill who first drew him lustfully to affect the faire chaste and vertuous Lady Felisanna and consequently to murther her husband in full hope afterwards to obtaine her for his Wife or for his Curtesan That he was infinitely sorrowfull for all these his enormous crimes for the which he religiously asked forgivenesse first of God and then of the Lady Felisanna and likewise prayed all those who were there present to pray unto God for his soule that he was more carefull of his reputation towards men than of his salvation towards God and that his neglect of prayer and of the participation of the blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist was the originall cause of this his misery So againe commending himselfe to the prayers and recommending his sinfull yet sorrowfull soule into the hands of his Redeemer the sword of the Executioner at one blow made a perpetuall divorce betweene his soule and his body which pious and Christian speech of his was as great a consolation to the vertuous as his death as that of Castruchio was a terrour to the vitious spectators and Auditors So to confirme the sentence the dead body of Borlary is presently burnt And thus was the bloudy lives and deserved deaths of these three irreligious and unfortunate persons Of Romeo the Laquey Of Borlary the Gentleman and of Castruchio the Apothecary And in this manner did the justice of the Lord of Hosts in due time justly triumph o're their execrable crimes in their sharp punishments and shamefull ends Pray we that we may reade this their History with feare and as religious and godly Christians remember these their lamentable Murthers with horror and detestation GODS REVENGE AGAINST THE CRYING AND Execrable sinne of Murther Beaumarays and his brother Montagne kill Cahmpigny and Marin his Second in a Duell Blancheville the widdow of Champigny in revenge thereof hireth Le Valley servant to Beaumarays to murther his said Master with a Pistoll which he doth for the which Le Valley is broken on the wheele and Blancheville hanged for the same LEt all Religious Christians examine their hearts and soules with what face we can tread on Earth or looke up to Heaven when we stab at the Majestie of God in killing and murthering man his image a bloudy crime so repugnant to nature as reason abhorres it a scarlet and crying sinne so opposite to grace as God and his Angels detest it And yet if ever Europe were stained or submerged with it now it is for as a swift current or rather as a furious torrent it now flowes and overflowes in most Kingdomes Countries and Cities thereof in so much as in dispight of divine and humane Lawes it is now almost generally growne to a wretched custome and that almost to a second nature A fatall example whereof this ensuing History will report and relate us Wherein Gods Iustice hath so sharply and severely punished the perpetrators thereof that if we either acknowledge God for our Father or our selves for his children and servants it will teach us to be lesse revengfull and more charitable by their unfortunate ends and deplorable judgement I Will now relate a sad and bloudy History which betided in the faire Citie of Chartres the Capitall of the fertile Countrey of Beausse so famous for her sumptuous Cathedrall Church dedicated to the blessed Virgin Mary as also for that Henry the fourth that great King and unparalleld Captaine of France during the combustions of the league was despight of the league crowned therein In which faire and pleasant City as there still dwell some Noblemen and many Gentlemen in respect of the sweet aire and goodly Champaigne Countrey thereabouts second for that to no other in France So of late yeares there resided two rich and brave young Gentlemen well descended being both of them heires to their two deceased fathers The one of them named Monsieur De Champigny and the other Monsieur De Beaumarays and their Demaines and Lands lay within seven leagues of this City in the way towards Vendosme Now the better to see them in their true and naturall Characters They were both of them tall and slender and of faire and sanguine complexions and very neere of an age For Champigny was twenty six yeares old and Beaumarays twenty foure and yet the last had a beard and the first none and of the two Champigny was by farre the richer but Beaumarays the Nobler descended Now to lay this History upon its proper seat and naturall foundation we must understand that there was a very rich Counsellour of the Presidiall Court of Chartres named Monsieur De Rosaire whose wife being dead left him no other childe but one faire young daughter of the age
their swords drawne hee judgeth it a Duell when hee and his two sonnes gallop into the little meddow joyning to the Vineyard to prevent and part them but they came too late for Montagne and Marin seeing them swiftly galloping towards them they to prevent them with more haste then good speed set spurres to their horses the sooner and at this there second meeting Montagne warding Marins sword and putting it by dotâ—… at the very same Instant runne him thorow the body a little below his navell of which mortall wound hee fell presently from his horse dead to the ground uttering onely these words O Montaigne thou hast slaine mee Thou hast slaine mee God receive my Soule and then and their without speaking a word more immediately dyed No sooner hath Montagne wiped sheathed up his sword but his joyful brother Beaumarays gallops up to him and cheerefully congratulates with him for the same When instantly the Marquis of Bellay and the two Lords his Sons arrive to them though a littâ—…e too late They are astonished to see two proper Gentlemen lye their slaine in the field and reeking in their hot bloud when turning to Beâ—…umarays and his brother Montagne whom they knew they congratulate with them for their victories and the Marquis as briefely as his time and their wounds will permit enquire of them the cause of there quarrel and the manner and particulars of their combat whereof being fully informed and satisfied by them hee sends the dead bodies of Champigny and Marin to Chartres in his Coach And understanding by Beaumarays and his brother Montagne that for the preservation of their safeties and lives they were resolved to leave Chartres and Beausse and so thwarting ore Normandy by Euereux and Lesieux to embarke themselves for Caen and thence to passe the Seas into England till their friends in their absence had procured their grace and pardons from the King as also that they were destitute both of Chirurgions to dresse their wounds and of a guide to conduct them thither Hee very nobly gave them his owne Chirurgion and guide and promising them likewise to labour with the King to the utmost of his power for their peace he passeth on his Iourney and commits them to the best fortune A singular yea an honourable courtesie of this brave old Marquis of Bellay whose deserts and fame I should much wrong if I gave not the relation and memory of his name a place in this History Whiles thus the Marquis of Bellay is travelling towards Paris and Beaumarays and his brother Montagne posting for Caen come we briefely to Chartres which now resounds and ratles with the report and issue of this combate where Gentlemen Cittizens and all according to their passions and affections speake differently thereof some condemne the vanity of Beaumarais others the folly and treachery of Marin but all doe highly extoll the courage and generosity of Champigny and Montagne But leave we them to their censures and come we againe to speake of Blancheville who takes the newes of this untimely death of her husband so tenderly and sorrowfully that shee is ready to drowne herselfe in her teares It is not onely a griefe to her heart to see but a terrour to her conscience to know that her husband Champigny and her friend Marin have both of them lost their lives for her sake and when againe shee falls on the consideration and remembrance that the first dyed by the hand and sword of Beaumarays her mortall enemy and the second by that of his Brother Montagne then she is againe ready to burst her heart and brest with sighing thereat She is so uncapable of Counsell as she will heate of no consolation nor speake of any thing but of her malice and revenge toward Beaumarays and to write the truth this implacable wrath and revenge of hers to him takes up all her thoughts and speeches her contemplations and actions and both her time and her selfe To which end shee converts most of her Corne and Wine into money goes to Paris casts herselfe at the Kings feet and to the feet of that great and illustrious Court of Parliament for Iustice against Beaumarays the murtherer of her husband the which againe and againe shee aloud resounds and ecchoes forth to their eares yea her rage is so great and her malice so outragious towards him that notwithstanding his body is absent yet she spends five hundred Crownes in law to have him according to the law and custome of France to bee hanged up in effigie But although her sute be just yet by reason of his great friends in Court shee sees herselfe so unfortunate that shee cannot obtaine it Whereupon after twelve monethes vaine stay in Paris and a profuse expence of money shee with much griefe and sorrow secretly vowes to herselfe that if ever hee returne againe to Chartres or which is more into France that shee herselfe will bee both his Iudge and Executioner by revenging her Husbands death in his and from this hellish resolution of hers she deepely sweares that neither Earth nor Heaven shall divert her Now to follow the naturall streame and tyde of this History Wee must againe bring Beaumarays and his brother Montagne on the stage thereof For the Reader must understand that their wounds being dressed and secured having bestowed both of their horses on the Chyrurgeon and guide the two servants of the aforesaid Marquis of Bellay and likewise written him a thankfull Letter for his honourable courtesie extended to them and therewith likewise prayed him to solicite the King for their Grace and pardon in their absence they privately without any followers embarque themselves upon an English vessell at Caen and so with a prosperous gale arrive at Rie and from thence take Horse for London where they settle up their aboad and residence from whence Beaumarais sends to Chartres for two of his footmen and his Brother Montagne for one of his which come over to London to them some six weekes after and brings their masters word how earnestly and violently their adversaries follow the rigour and severity of the Law against them in Paris but especially against Beaumarays they receive these advertisements from their servants and friends rather with griefe then contempt and therefore to prevent their malice and their owne disgrace and danger they often write from London to Paris to the Marquesse of Bellay and likewise to the Bishop of Chartres their deere friend and kinsman to hasten their pardons from the King So that Noble Lord and this reverend Prelate pitying their danger and absence as much as they wish their safety and returne take time at advantage and the King in a well disposed humour and so doe most effectually and powerfully acquaint his Majesty how these two absent Gentlemen and brothers Beaumarays and Montagne were without just cause or reason provoked to this unfortunate combate by their adversaries that they were the Challenged not the Challengers that heretofore they had
that she was eâ—…ry way as Innocent as himselfe and Blancheville her mistris were guilty thereof The Iudges of this Court speedily send sergeants away to apprehend Blanâ—…ville who is so farre from the apprehension or feare of any danger as shee dreames not thereof They finde her in her owne house playing on her lute â—…d singing in company of many Gentlemen and Gentlewoman her friends The Serjeants seize on her and tels her accusation and crime whereat she is amazed and weepes exceedingly and no lesse doe those who are with her She is brought before her Iudges who strongly accuse her for being the Author of this cruell murther of Beaumarais and acquaint her with Le Valleyes full and free confession thereof as we have formerly understood When here sometime with teares and then againe with passion and choller she tels the Iudges that Le Valley is a devill and a villaine thus to accuse her falsely That she never gave him a ring or three hundred crownes to doe it and takes God to witnesse that shee is wholly innocent of that murther But this poore and passionate Apologie of hers will not passe current with her Lyncee-eyed Iudges who cause her to be confronted with Le Valley who stands firme to his former accusation against her and yet her faith is so weake with God and so strong with sathan as with many cryes and curses she againe and againe cryes out and protesteth of her Innocency They produce her her ring and part of gold but she boldly denies and stoutly forsweares both So they presently adjudge her to the racke whereto with much constancy she permits herselfe to be fastened But at the very first touch and wrench thereof her dainety delicate limbs not able to brooke those exquisite torments God was pleased to be so gratious mercifull to her soule as she presently with many teares cries out that shee was the guilty Author of this horrible murther and so in all points and circumstances concurres and agrees with Le Valleis deposition and accusation against her Here her Iudges againe demand of her if her maid Martha were never accessary or consenting with her and Le Valley in this their bloudy â—…ct but shee vowes to them that upon perill of her soule she was absolutely innocent thereof so hereupon this our inhumane Lady Blancheville is againe loosed from her racke and brought away to the Tribunall of Iustice and so likewise is Le Valley where Montagne and the Kings attourney presently crave judgement of the presidents against these two murtherers who after a long and a religious speech which they made both to them and to all who were present upon this bloudy fact and crime of theirs They conclude and adjudge Le Valley the very next day to be broken on the wheele alive and Blancheville then likewise to be hanged which gave matter of Vniversall speech and admiration to all Chartres and Beausse We have seene the perpetration and detection of this inhumane and lamen table murther committed by these two unfortunate wretches Le Valley and Blancheville And now by the mercy and Iustice of God we are come to see the triumphes of his revenge to fight against them in their condigne punishments for the same They by their Iudges are that afternoone returned againe to their prisons and the same night are there effectually dealt with by Divines who out of Christian charity direct and prepare their soules for Heaven So the next morning about ten of the clocke they are brought to the common place of execution in Chartres where a world of people attend to be spectators of these their unfortunate ends and deplorable tragedies And first Le Valley ascends the scaffold who is sad and pensive and saies little els 〈◊〉 effect but this that it was partly Blanchevilles gold but chiefely his love to her maid his wife Martha who first drew him to murther his deere master Beaumarays whereof hee affirmed he was now heartely repentant and sorrowfull and besought the Lord to pardon him He here tooke it to his death that his said wife Martha was every way innocent of this murther and therefore beseeched Monsieiur Mantagne to bee good and charitable to her after his death whom he likewise prayed to forgive him when uttering a few Ave Maries to himselfe and often marking himselfe with the signe of the crosse He was by his Executioner presently broken on the wheele whereof he immediatly dyed Le Valley was no sooner dispatched but up comes our Female monster Blancheville on the Ladder whose youth beauty drew pitty from the hearts and teares from the eyes of most of her spectators in her countenance shee was very sad and mournefull and yet I am enforced to confesse this truth of her that in this last Scene and act of her life her pride and Vanity so farre usurped on her judgement her piety and her soule that she came here to take her last leave of the world apparelled in a rich blacke razed sattin gowne a crimson damaske pettie coate laâ—…d with white sattin guards a rich cutworke falling band her haire all strewed with sweet powder decked with white ribban knots and roses and a snow white paire of gloves on her handes so she there craves leave of the people to speake a few words before she dyes which with a well composed countenance and behaviour shee doth in these tearmes She said that her deere and tender affection to her husband Champigny occasioned her deadly hatred and malice to Beaumarays and that as soone as she had slayne him in the field she in revenge thereof instantly resolved and vowed to send him to heaven after him she affirmed that she was now sorrowfull from her heart and soule that she had caused Le Valley to kill this his master also that shee was so unfortunate and miserable as now to see him dye for her sake and service in requitall whereof shee gave all her apparell and some of her plate and Iewels to her old maid now his new wife Martha whom she affirmed in presence of God and his angels was no way guilty or consenting to this lamentable murther which she beseeched the Lord to pardon and forgive her she likewise besought Montagne and Martha to forgive her and entreated all who were present to pray to God for her Souleshe conjured al Ladies and Gentlewoman who were sorrowful eyewitnesses of her untimely death to beware by her unfortunate example and so to hate malice and revenge in themselves as much as shee loved it When againe praying all her spectators to pray to God for her shee after a few pater-nosters and Auc-maries was turned over And thus was this lamentable and yet deserved deaths of these two bloudy wretches Le Valley and Blancheville and in this sharpe manner did God justly revenge and punish this their horrible crime of murther Whose untimely and unfortunate deathes left much griefe to their living parents and friends and generally to all who either
as to the eye of the world it seemed they could not be better friends nor dearer or kinder Sisters then now they were so artificially could all of them overvaile their malice and so cunningly could they conceale their different intentions thereby the better to compose their countenances and speeches But when Iaquinta againe perceives that the Gallants of Florence doe afresh repayre and flocke to her Fathers house purposely to neglect her and to admire and adore the excellent beauties of these her two younger Sisters then her old jealousie revives and inflame her new malice towards them so as with all her power and art shee againe secretly tampers with her Father either to returne them againe to Cardura or to contract and espouse them to a Nunnery that shee might thereby triumph alone at her pleasure and being then sole heire to all his lands and estate might wed her self to the greater fortune and nobler Husband and she wanted neither sighes nor teares to draw him to this her earnest desire and resolution This is not so secretly borne betwixt their Father and Sister Iaquinta but Babtistyna and Amarantha have present and pregnant notice heereof the which strongly and fully to prevent they now incouraged and animated by the Devill resolve to reduce and draw their bloudy contemplation into action and so with more hast then good speed to dispatch their Sister for heaven because they loved Florence disdayned Cardura and above all from their hearts and soules infinitely detested to spend and end their dayes in a Nunnery when neither having the feare of God in their hearts nor his justice or judgements before their eyes Amarantha buies the poyson and Babtistyna administreth it to their Sister Iaquinta in a Lemmon posset which they observed she often used to drinke the Summer time so that some ten dayes after she dyed hereof when none but God besides them was witnesse of this their unnaturall and bloudy businesse So they rejoice as much as their father grieves and sorrowes hereat and now they are alone and domineere at their pleasures in their Fathers house at Florence without rivalls oâ—… competitors But God is as just as they are sinfull and therefore they shall reapâ—… but poore and miserable fruits of this their bloudy victorie For within lesse theâ—… sixe weeks after the deplorable death of Iaquinta a sudden languishing sicknes oretakes and surpriseth Babtistyna so as the white tincture of her face lookes yellow and the fresh roses and lillies of her beauty did exceedingly fade and wither of the Iaundies A sicknesse which I thinke God sent her purposely to punish her for that execrable crime of hers in poysoning her Sister But the beauty of Babtistyna cannot be so much eclipsed or deformed as that of Amarantha daily growes more deliciously sweet and sweetly delicious and amiable so as all those Nobles and Gallants of Florence and Tuscanie who come to seeke Streni his Daughters in marriage doe infinitely preferre Amarantha before Babtistyna and passionately desire the first as much as they now sleight and neglect the second Babtistyna is not ignorant hereof but sees it with griefe observes it with sorrow and remembers it with choller and indignation and yet she seekes and strives to conceale it from her Father and to dissemble it to her Sister Amarantha She in this wane of her beauty and joy beginnes now to participate of her dead sister Iaquinta's living humours and conditions she is now become the eldest Sister and therefore will not permit or suffer her younger to bee her mate or equall much lesse her superiour and although her Sicknesse hath depriv'd her of a great part of her beauty yet it hath no way diminished but rather increased and augmented her desire to marry shee envies the sight and fame of her Sister Amarantha's beauty as much as shee lamenteth the decayes and pittyeth the ruines of her owne and both grieves and scornes to see so many Gallants court and seeke her in marriage and none her selfe Now as pride and malice for the most part are in separable companions so her discontent hereof hath made her so devillishly malicious as shee secretly vowes to her selfe that shee could almost finde in her heart to make Amarantha as well a companion of Iaquinta's fortune as of her bloud but God then presenting her first Murther to her eyes and remembrance the devil was not then enough prevalent or powerful with her to draw her to conceive or commit a second Thus not being willing to adde murther to murther and so to gallop in stead of pacing to hell and destruction she neverthelesse determinately resolves to emulate and imitate the actions of her dead Sister Iaquinta towards her living one Amarantha and yet so to wreake her malice and revenge on her as closely to insinuate and under hand surreptiously to prevaile with her Father that shee bee speedily eclipsed and againe sent away to Cardura under the guard and custody of Malevola the which shee effectually and briefely obtayneth of him so our young and faire Amarantha though infinitely against her will is now inforced to leave Florence and suddainely when shee least thought or dreamt thereof is againe confined and banished to Cardura notwithstanding all her sighes teares and prayers to her Father to the contrary Amarantha with much sorrow and more indignation being arrived to Cardura she is not a little perplexed and grieved therat but rather exceedingly discontented with her Father and infinitely incensed against her Sister Babtistyna for the same as well knowing that it wholly proceeded from her meere pride and malice towards her the which she now doth not conceale but make apparant to her old Beldame Governesse Malevola both in her lookes speeches and actions She wondreth that her Sister is so inconsiderate of her selfe and so imperious and bitter towards her and how it is possible for her so soone to forget either their joynt crime or their severall danger for their so inhumanely and cruelly poysoning their elder Sister Iaquinta the consideration and remembrance whereof is of so sharpe and bitter digestion to her as her thoughts vow to her heart and her heart sweares to the Devill that she neither can nor will long indure it yea the time seemes so irkesome to her and her stay in Cardura so infinitely long and tedious as if houres were yeares and dayes ages that shee often thought to steale away from thence to Florence either on foot or horse-backe and so to have put herselfe into some disguised apparell that none should know thereof before she came to her Fathers house and presence but at last considering that her reputation and fortune might suffer much in this action she holds it not amisse rather convenient first to write to her Father and Sister to see if her Letters may prevaile with them for her returne the which she doth and sends them to them to Florence by her old trusty servant Bernardo Her Letter to her Father bewrayed
and affirmed they now in expiation of this her cruell murther adjudge her likewise to bee hanged the next day at the common place of execution in company of Pierya although her aged sorrowfull Father Seignior Strent being well nigh weighed down to his grave with the extreme grief and sorrow of these his misfortunes and calamities profered the Iudges and the great Duke the greatest part of his estate and lands to save this his youngest and now his only Daughter Amarantha But his labor proved lost and his care and affection vaine in this his sute and solicitation because those learned Iudges and this prudent and noble Duke grounded their resolutions and pleasures upon this wholsom and true Maxime That Iustice is one of the greatest Colossus and strongest columns of kingdoms and common-weales and the truest way and means to preserve them in florishing prosperity and glory and consequently that all wilfull and premeditated murtherers cannot bee either too soone exterminated or too severely punished and cut off from the world So Amar antha with more choller then sorrow and Pierya with more feare then choller are now both sent backe to their prisons and that night Streni sends his Daughter and the Iudges send Pierya some Fryers and Nunnes to prepare their soules for heaven but in honour of the truth I must affirme with equall griefe and pitty that both these two female monsters had their hearts so sealed and their soules so seared up with impiety that neither of them could there be perswaded or drawne either to thinke of repentance or of God Whiles thus Florence resounds of these their foule and inhumane crimes as also of their just condemnations the next morning about ten of the clocke they are brought to the destin'd place of execution there to receive their condigne punishments for the same Pierya first mounts the Ladder who made a short speech at her death to this effect That her desire to obtaine Bernardo for her husband had chiefely drawne her to commit this murther on her Lady Babtistyna and that it was farre more her Sister Amarantha's malice to her then her owne which seduced her to this bloudy resolution and that this her owne shamefull death was not halfe so grievous to her as the unfortunate end of her lover Bernardo whom shee there affirmed to the world and tooke it to her death that shee loved a thousand times dearer then her owne life with many other vaine and ridiculous speeches tending that way and which savoured more of her fond affection to him then of any zeale or devotion to God and therefore I hold them every way more worthy of my silence then of my relation and so shee was turned over To second whose unfortunate and shamefull end now our bloudy and execrable Amarantha with farre more beauty then contrition and bravery then repentance ascends the Ladder who to make her infamy the more famous had purposly dighted and apparelled her selfe in a plaine blacke Sattin gowne with silver lace and a deepe-laced Cambricke Ruffe of a very large Set with her hayre unvailed and decked with many roses of filver Ribband At her ascent her extraction beauty and youth begate as much pitty as her bloudy and unnaturall crime did detestation in the eyes and hearts of all her spectatours When after a pause or two shee vainely composing her countenance more with contempt then feare of death there to a world of people who flocked from all parts of the City and Countrey to see her dye with a wondrous boldnesse confessed That shee had not onely caused her Sister Babtistyna to bee stifled in her bed by Bernardo and Pierya but that her sayd Sister Babtistyna and her selfe had formerly poysoned their elder Sister Iaquinta and that it was onely their imperiousnesse and pride towards her which drew her to this resolution and revenge against them both the which shee affirmed shee could now as little repent as heretofore remedy and â—…hat shee more sensibly lamented and grieved for the sorrowes of her Fathers â—…fe then for the shame and infamy of her owne death when without any shew â—…f repentance without any speech of God or which is lesse without so much as once looking up towards heaven or inviting or praying her spectatours to pray to God for her soule shee with a gracelesse resolution and prophane boldnesse conjured her Executioner speedily to performe his office and duety which by the command of the Magistrate he-forthwith did So this wretched Amarantha was hanged for her second murther and then by a second decree and sentence of the Criminall Iudges her body is after dinner burnt to ashes for her first who likewise in honour to Iustice and to the glory of God doe also cause the dead body of Bernardo for two whole dayes to bee hanged by his feet in his shirt to the same Gallowes and then to bee cast into the River of Arno. And here the Iudges also to shew themselves themselves were once of opinion to have unburyed Babtistyna and likewise to have given her dead body some opprobrious punishment for being accessary with her Sister Amarantha to poyson their elder Sister Iaquinta but having no other evidence or proofe hereof but onely the tessimony of her condemned dying Sister Amarantha whom it was more probable then impossible shee might speake it more out of malice then truth as also that God had already afflicted a deplorable end and punishment to her they therefore omitted it And thus was the deserved ends and condigne punishments of these wretched and execrable murtherers and in this manner did the just revenge and sacred justice of God meete and triumph over them and their bloudy crimes And now here fully to conclude and shut up this History in all its circumstances The griefes and sorrowes of this unfortunate old Father was so great and infinite for the untimely and deplorable deaths of all these his three onely Daughters and Children that although piety and religion had formerly taught him that the afflictions of this life are the joyes of that to come yet being wholly vanquished and depressed with all these his different bitter crosses and calamities hee left Florence and retired himselfe to a solitary life in Cardura where hee not long survived them but dyed very pensively and mournfully GODS REVENGE AGAINST THE CRYING AND EXECRAble Sinne of Murther HISTORIE XXII Martino poysoneth his Brother Pedro and murthereth Monfredo in the streete He afterwards growes mad and in confession reveales both these his murthers to Father Thomas his Ghostly Father who afterwards dying reveales it by his Letter to Cecilliana who was Widdow to Monfredo and Sister to Pedro and Martino Martino hath first his right hand cut off and then is hanged for the same AS it is a dangerous wickednesse to contrive and plot murther So much more it is a wretched and execrable one to finish and perpetrate it for to kill our Christian Brother who figuratively beares the image of God is an act
cautious in his malice and subtill in his revenge that hee imployed no other Minister nor used no other agent or assistant herein but himselfe so being deprived of any witnesse either to accuse or make him guiltie heereof God I say out of the immensitie of his power and profundity of his providence will make himselfe to become a witnesse against himselfe and wanting all other meanes will make himselfe the onely meanes both to detect and destroy himselfe The manner thus As there is no felicitie to peace so there is no felicitie or peace comparable to that of a quiet and innocent conscience It is a precious Iewell of an inestimable â—…alue and unparalelld price yea a continuall Feast than which Heaven may but Earth cannot afford us either a more rich or delitious and the contrary it is where the heart and conscience have made themselves guiltie of some foule enormous crimes and especially of Murther wherein we can never kill Man the creature but we assuredly wound God the Creator for then as those so this with lesse doubt and more assurance gives in a heavy and bloody evidence against us and which commonly produceth us these three woefull and lamentable effects Dispaire Horrour Terrour the which wee shall now see verified and instanced in this bloody and miserable wretch Don Martino who as I have formerly sayd hath not fully past over the tearme of three moneths in externall mirth jollitie and braverie thereby to cast a cheerefull countenance and varnish on those his bloody villanies but God so distracted his wits senses struck such astonishment to his thoughts and amazement to his heart and Conscience as it seemed to him that both by night and day the ghosts of his harmelesse brother Don Pedro and of innocent Don Monfredo still pursue him for revenge and justice of these their murthers And now his lookes are extravagant fearefull and ghastly which are still the signes and symptomes either of a distempered braine a polluted conscience and soule or of both Hee knowes not to whom or where or where not to goe for remedy herein but still his heart is in a mutinie and rebellion with his Conscience and both of them against God He is afraid of every creature he sees and likewise of those who see him not If he looke backe and perceive any one to runne behinde him he thinkes 't is a Sergeant come to arrest him and if he chance to be hold any Gentleman in a scarlet cloake comming towards him he verily beleeves feares 't is a Iudge in his scarlet Robes to arraigne and condemne him He hath not the grace to go into a Church nor the boldnesse to looke up to the Tower therof for feare lest the one swallow him up alive and the other fall on him and crush him to death If hee walke in any woods fields or gardens and see but a leafe wagge or a bird stirre hee is of opinion there some furies or executioners come to torment him or doth he heare any Dog howle Cat crie or Owle whoot or screech he is thereat so suddenly appalled and amazed as hee thinkes it to bee the voyce of the Devill who is come to fetch him away Hee will not passe over any bridge brooke or River for feare of drowning nor over any planke gate or style lest hee should breake his necke The sight of his shadow is a corosive to his heart and a Panique terrour to his thoughts because he both thinkes and beleeves that it is not his owne but the hang-mans and when any one out of charitie or pitie come to see and visite him hee flyes from them as if Hell were at his backe and the Devill at his heeles The very sight of a Rapier stabs him at his heart and the bare thought or name of Poyson seemes to infect and kill his soule and yet miserable wretch and miscreant that he is all this while he hath not the goodnesse to looke downe into his heart and Conscience with contrition nor the grace to lookeup to Heaven and to God with repentance The Lady Catherina his Mother is wonderfully perplexed and grieved hereat and so are all his kinsfolkes and friends in and about Burgos who cause some excellent Physicians and Divines to deale with him about administring him the meanes to cure him of this his lunacie and distraction But God will not permit that either the skilfull Art of those or the powerfull perswasions of these doe as yet prevaile with him or performe it Two Moones have fully finished their Celestiall course whiles thus his phrensie and madnesse possesseth him and in one of the greatest and most outragious fits therof hee without wit or guide runnes to Saint Sebastiano's Church finds out Father Thomas his Confessor and in private and serious confession reveales him how he hath poysoned his brother Don Pedro and also murthered Don Monfredo adding withall that God out of his indulgent mercie would no longer permit him to charge his soule with the concealing thereof and then beggs his absolution and remission for the same His Confessor being a religious Church-man much lamenting and wondring at the foulnesse of these his Penitents two bloody facts although hee finde more difficultie than reason to grant his desire yet enquiring of him if there were any other accessary with him in these murthers and Don Martino freely and firmely acknowledging to him there was none but the Devill and himselfe hee after a serious checke and religious repremendo in hope of his future contrition and repentance gives him a sharpe and severe penance though no way answerable to his crimes and so absolves him and yet for the space of at least a whole moneth after his lunacie by the permission of God still followes him when for a further triall of his comportment and hope of his repentance God is againe pleased to slacke the hand of his judgement and so frees him from his madnesse and distraction to see whether he will prove Gold or Drosse a Christian or a Devill Not long after this his Confessor Father Thomas being Curate of one of the neighbouring parishes falls extreame sicke of a Piurisie and so dangerously sicke that his Physician despairing of his life bids him prepare his body for death and his soule for Heaven and God Who then revoking to minde what hee hath heard and seene how grievously and sorrowfully the Lady Cecilliana takes the Deaths of her Brother and Husband and the more in that she is ignorant who are their Murtherers he is no longer resolved to burthen his conscience and soule with concealing thereof but to write it to her in a Letter the which he chargeth and conjureth his owne Sister Cyrilla to deliver into her owne hands some three dayes after his buriall the which we shall see her shortly performe for the Priest Father Thomas her brother lived not three weekes after In the meane time come we to the Lady Dona Catherina the Mother who having outwardly wept
and entertainment to betray and bereave them of their onely childe and daughter whom they well hoped would have proved the Ioy of their life and the staffe and comfort of their Age. Quatbrisson in the vanity of his voluptuous thoughts having thus by himselfe and the Fryer played his prize in stealing away faire Marieta hee by night brings her to his owne old Nurse her house which is a little mile distant from that of his Father where he secretly keepes her takes his pleasure of her and as often as hee pleaseth lyes with her whole nights together but Marieta's sorrowfull Father and Mother seeing themselves thus robbed of their only Iewell their daughter they bitterly lament her losse and their owne misfortunes therein They complaine to all their Neighbours thereof and leave few adjacent Parishes or houses â—…ought for her yea her Mother Iane Chaumets griefe and jealousie transport her so farre as vehemently suspecting that Monsieur de Quatbrisson had stolne her away â—…rips over to his Fathers house and there with sorrow in her lookes and teares in her eyes acquaints both him and the Lady his Wife thereof who presently send for their Son Quatbrisson before them They shew him what an infinite scandall this foule fact and crime of his will breed him and likewise reflect upon themselves and all their Kinsfolkes and Family How the Iustice of God infallibly attends on whordome and fornication and that he hath no other true course or meanes left him to expiate and deface it but Confession Contrition and Repentance and by returning the poore Countrey girle againe to her aged and sorrowfull parents But Quatbrisson their Sonne as a base deboshed Gentleman denyes all termes old Malliots wife an old hagge and devill to charge him thus falsly with the stealing away of her Daughter and so without any other redresse or comfort this poore Mother returnes againe home to her sorrowfull husband and Quatbrisson secretly to his Nurses to frollicke and sport it out with his sweet and faire Countrey Mistris Marieta But to observe the better Order and Decorum in the dilation and unfolding of this History leave we for a small time this lascivious young couple wallowing in the beastly pleasures of their sensuality and fornication and come we a little to speake how suddenly and sharply at unawares the vengeance and justice of God surpriseth our execrable Apothecary Moncallier who so wretchedly and lamentably as we have formerly understood had sent innocent Valfontaine from earth to heaven by that damnable drug and ingredient of Poyson The manner whereof briefely is thus Quatbrisson as wee have already seene having exchanged his former affectioâ—… into future malice and envie towards his Sister in law La Pratiere doth still reâ—…aine such bloudy thoughts against her as striking hands with the Devill hee 〈◊〉 favour of three hundred Crownes more hath againe ingaged his Hellish Apothecary Moncallier likewise to poyson her at his first administring of Physicke to her which intended deplorable Tragedy of theirs is no sooner projected and plotted of the one then promised speedily to be acted and performed by the other to the end quoth these two miserable wretches to make her equall as in marriage so in death with her first husband Valfontaine Thus Quatbrisson longing and Moncallier hearkening out for La Pratieres first sickenesse two moneths are scarce blowne over since her marriage with Pont Chausey but shee is surprised with a pestilent Fever when hee as a loving and kinde husband at the request of his sicke Wife riâ—…es over to Vannes for this monster of his profession and time Moncallier to come with him and give her Physicke the which presently with as much treacherous care as feigned sorrow hee promiseth to effect and so inwardly resolves with the Devill and himselfe to poyson her but we shall see here that Gods providence will favorably permit the first and his goodnesse and mercie miraculously prevent the second Moncallier sees this his faire and sweet Patient La â—…ratiere but he is yet so farre from shame or repentance that he had poysoned her first husband as with a gracelesse ratiocination he confirmes his former impious resolution likewise to dispatch her selfe but for that time hee contenteth himselfe onely to draw sixe ounces of bloud from her and promiseth to returne to her the next morning with Physicke and therein to insinuate and infuse the Poyson But here in the feare and to the glory of God let mee request the Christian Reader to admire and wonder with mee at the strangenesse of this suddaine and divine punishment of God then and there showne on this wretched Apothecary Moncallier For as he was ready to depart and being on the top of the Stayres next to the Chamber doore where La Pratiere lay sicke complementing with her husband Pont Chausey at his farewell hee trips in his Spurres and so falls downe headlong at the foot thereof there breakes his necke and which is lamentable and fearfull he hath neither the poâ—…er or grace left him to speake a word much lesse to repent his cruell poysoning of Valfontaine or to pray unto God to forgive it him And thus was the miserable end of this wretched Apothecary Moncallier who when hee absolutely thought that that bloudy fact of his was quite defaced and forgotten of God then God as we see in his due time remembred to punish him for the same to his utter confusion and destruction that as his Crime was bloudy so his punishment should bee sudden and sharpe Returne we now againe to Quatbrisson who amidst his carnall pleasures with his young and faire Marieâ—…a is advertised of Moncalliers sudden and unnaturall death at S. Aignaw wherat resembling himselfe he is so far from any apprehension or griefe as he exceedingly triumpheth and rejoyceth thereat yea he is as glad that he hath thus broke his necke because hee can now tell no tales as sorrowfull if now before his death he have not poysoned La Pratiere as formerly he did her first husband Valfontaine his brother Whiles thus Quatbrissons joy in injoying Marieta proves the griefe and disconsolation of her Parents for it is now generally bruted in Vannes that Quatbrisson hath stolne away Malliots daughter Marieta whereof her Father and Mother being sorrowfully acquainted hee being weake and sickly shee againe repaires to Monsieur de Caerstaing and his Lady and with teares in her eyes throwing her selfe at their feet acquaints them with this publicke report humbly beseeching them to bee a meanes to the Gentleman their sonne that hee restore them their daughter but they are in a manner deafe to her requests and so only returne her this generall answer that they will again examine their son and cause all their tenants houses neer about to be narrowly searched for her and this iâ—… all the redresse and consolation which this sorowfull mother could get from them Whereof Quatbrisson being advertised he with much secrecie and haste about midnight causeth Pierot his Fathers
Bellinda with the aid of her Gentlman Vsher Ferallo poysoneth her Husband De Mora and afterwards she marieth and murthereth her said Husband Ferallo in his bed so shee is burnt alive for this her last murther and her ashes throwne into the aire for the first GODS REVENGE AGAINST THE CRYING AND Execrable sinne of Murther HISTORY XXVI â—…mperia for the love she beares to young Morosini seduceth and causeth him with his two Consorts Astonicus and Donato to stifle to death her old Husband Palmerius in his bed Morosini misfortunately letting fall his gloves in Palmerius his chamber that night which he did it They are found by Richardo the Nephew of Palmerius who knowes them to be Morosinies and doth thereupon accuse him and his Aunt Imperia for the Murther of his Vnkle So they together with their accessaries Astonicus and Donato are all foure of them appehended and hanged for the same THose Intemperate and lascivious affections which savour more of Earth than Heaven are still attended on with shame and repentance and many times followed by misery and confusion For God being our Maker by Creation and our Saviour by Redemption consequently should be of our loves and affections and the true sole object in whom only they should begin and terminate For Nature must be a handmaid not a Mistresse to Grace because God in his Divine decree and creation of man hath made our bodies mortall but our soules immortall And the like Antithesis which there is betweene Lust and Charity the same there is betweene sinfull adultery and sanctified mariage But where our youthfull affections beginne in whoredome and end in murther what can be there expected for an issue but ruine and desolation Crimes no lesse than these doth this ensuing History report and relate A History I confesse so deplorable for the persons their facts and punishments that I had little pleasure to pen it and lesse joy to publish it but that the truth and manner thereof gave a contrary Law to my resolutions in giving it a place among the rest of my Histories That the sight and knowledge of others harmes may the more carefully and conscionably â—…each us to avoid and prevent our owne THe free Estates and Common-weales of Italy more especially the famous Seigniory of Venice which for wealth and power gives place to no other of Christendome holds it no degree of disparagement but rather an happy and honourable vertue in their Nobles and Gentlemen to exercise the faculty aâ—…d pâ—…ofession of Merchants the which they generally performe in Turkie and all other parts of the Levant Seas with as much profit as glory to the admiration of the whole world and the envie of their private and publike enemies Of which number of Venetian Gentlemen Seignior Angelo Morosini is one a young mâ—…n of some twenty foure yeares of age descended of a Noble name and family and if reports be true from whence ours here in England derives their Originall He is tall and slender of stature of a lovely sanguine complection a bright Chestnut-coloured haire but as yet adorned with a small apparition of a beard He is active of body of a sweet carriage and nimble wit and a most pleasing and gracefull speech and hee is not so young but he hath already made two severall voyages to Constantinople and Alexandria in both which he resided some five or six yeares and through his wisdome and industry wonne some wealth but more reputation and fame in so much as his deportments and hopes to the eye and judgement of the world promiseth him a fortune equall if not exceeding his bloud and extraction Holding it therefore rather a shame than a glory as yet to marrie or which is a thousand times worse to passe his time vainly and lasciviously at home among the Ladies and Courtisans of Venice upon whom by the way of a premonition and precaution he saw so many deboshed young Gallants to cast away their Estates and themselves he assumes his former ambition to travell and so undertakes a third voyage tâ—… Constantinople He embarkes himselfe upon a good ship named the Little Saint Marke of Venice and in company of Seignior Astonichus and Seignior Philippo Donato likewise two young Gentlemen Mearchants of Venice of his deare and intimate acquaintance with a pleasant gale and merry wind they set saile from Malanoca the Port of that City and so direct and shape away their course for the Islands of Corfu and Zant where they are to stop and take in some commodities and from thence thorow the Archipelagus by Candy and Cyprus to the Port 〈◊〉 the Greaâ—… Seignior But as men propose and God disposeth of all terrestriall aâ—…ons and accidents so they are overtaken by a storme and with contrary winds put into the Harbour and City of Ancona a rich populous and strong City which belongs to the Pope and which is the Capitall of that Province of the Marâ—… 〈◊〉 from whence it assumes and takes its denomination and wherein there are well neare three thousand Jewes still resident who pay a great yearly Revenue to his Holinesse The wind being as yet contrary for our three Venetian Gallants and they knowing that our Lady of Loretto the greatest and most famous Pilgrimage of the Christian world was but fifteene small miles off in the Countrey whereas yet they had never either of them beene they in meere devotion ride thither their ship now being fast anchored and mored in the Peere of Ancona which stands on the Christian side upon the Adriatique Sea vulgarly tearmed the gulfe of Venice And here it is neither my purpose or desire to write much either of the pretended pietie of this holy Chappell of Loretto which the Romanists say was the very Chamber wherein the Virgin Mary brought up her Sonne our Saviour Iesus Christ or of her Picture which they likewise alleadge was drawne by the hand and pensill of the Apostle Saint Luke and both the one and the other as they affirme miraculously brought over the Seas from Palestine by Angells and first placed by them on the Hills of Recagnati three little miles thence and long since by the said Angels translated and placed here in this small Towne of Loretto But as for my selfe this legend is to weake to passe current with my faith much lesse to esteeme it as an Article of my Creed Only this I will confesse and say That as it was devotion not curiosity which carried our Morisini Astonicus and Donato thither so it was my curiosity not my Devotion which made me to take the sight thereof in my Travells Where in the rich and sumptuous Quire of a stately Cathedrall Church I saw this little old Bricke Chamber now termed the Holy Chappell verie richly adorned with great variety of massie Gold and Silver Lampes and this Picture of the blessed Virgin in a Shrine of Silver most richly decked with Chaines and Robes imbroidered with Gold and Silver and set with pretious Stones of
they doe her to accept and receive her owne They tell her they have not the power to grant her the first and she replies that shee then hath not the will to embrace and entertaine the second They acquaint Morosini herewith who by their order and by their selves doe strongly perswade her hereunto but her first answer and resolution is her last that shee willaccept of no life if he must dye neither will hee refuse any death conditionally that shee may live to survive him The two Friers and two Nunnes use their best Art and Oratory to perswade her hereunto but they meet with impossibility to make her affection to Morosini and her resolution to her selfe flexible hereunto Her life is not halfe so pretious to her as is his for if shee had many as shee hath but one shee is both ready and resolute to lose and sacrifice them all for his sake and would esteeme it her felicity that her death might redeem and ransome his life The Judges out of their goodnesse and charity afford a whole day to invite and perswade her hereunto but shee is still deafe to their requests and still one and the same woman desirous to live with him or constant and resolute to dye for him Therefore when nâ—…thing can prevaile with her because dye he must so dye shee will to the which shee cheerefully prepares her selfe with an equall affection and resolution which I rather admire than commend in her So the next morning theyare all foure brought to the place of common execution to suffer death Where Donato is first liftedup to the Ladder who being fuller of paine than words said little in effect but that he wished he had either died in Constantinople or Aleppo or else sunke in the sea before he came to Ancona and not to have here ended his daies in misery and infamy The next who was ordered to follow him was Astonicus who told the world boldly and plainly that hee cared lesse for his death than for the cause thereof and that hee loved Morosini so perfectly and dearely that he rather reioyced than grieved to dye for him only he repented himselfe for assisting to murther Palmerius and from his heart and soule beseeched God to forgive it him and so he was turned over Then Morosini ascends the Ladder â—…ad in a haire coulour sattin sute and a paire of crimson silke stockings with garters and roses edged with silver lace being so vaine in his carriage action and speeches as before hee once thought of God hee with a world of sighes takes a solemneleave of his sweet heart Imperia and with all the powers of his heart and soule prayes her to accept of his life and so to survive him He makes an exact and godly confession of his sinnes to God and the world and yet neverthelesse hee is so vaine in his affection toward Imperia as hee takes both to witnesse that had hee a thousand lives he would cheerefully lose them all to save and preserve hers As for Imperia such was her deere and tender affection to him as she would faine look on him as long as he lives and yet she equally desires and resolves rather to dy than to see him die and because she hath not the power therefore she turnes her â—…ace and eies from him and will not have the will to see him dye When he having said his prayers and so recommended his soule into the hands of his Redeemer he is also turned over Now although our Imperia bee here againe and againe solicited by the Iudges Friers and Nuns to accept of her life yet she seeing her other selfe Morosini dead shee therefore disdaines to survive him shee hath so much love in her heart as she now hath little life and lesse joy in her lookes and countenance Shee ascends the Ladder in a plaine blacke Taffeta Gowne a plaine thicke set Ruffe a white Lawne Quayfe and a long blacke Cypresse vayle over her head with a white paire of gloves and her prayer booke in her hands When beeing farre more capable to weepe than speake shee casting a wonderfull sad and sorrowfull looke on her dead lover Morosini after many volleyes of farre fetchd sighes shee delivers this short speech to that great concourse of people who from Citty and Country flocked thither to see her and them dye Good People I had lived more happy and not dyed so miserable if my Father Bondino had not so cruelly enforced mee to marry Palmerius whom I could not love and to leave Morosini whom in heart and soule I ever affected a thousand times deerer than mine owne life and may all fathers who now see my death or shall hereafter heare or reade this my History bee more pittifull and lesse cruell to their daughters by his Example I doe here now suffer many deaths in one to see that my deere Morosini is dead for my sake for had hee not loved mee deerly and I him tenderly he had never died for mee nor I for him with such cheerefullnesse and alacrity as now we doe And here to deale truly with God and the world although I could never affect or fancy my old husband Palmerius yet noâ—… from my heart and soule I lament and repent that ever I was guilty of his innocent and untimely death the which God forgive me and I likewise request you all to pray unto God to forgive it me And not to conceale or dissemble the truth of my heart I grieve not to dye but rather because I have no more lives to lose for my Morosini's affection and sake I have and doe devoutly pray unto God for his soule and so I heartily request and conjure you all to doe for mine Thus I commend you all to happy and prosperous lives my selfe to a pious and patient death in earth and a joyfull and glorious resurrection in Heaven when signing her selfe often with the signe of the crosse she pulls her vaile downe over her face and so praying that she might be buried in one and the same grave with Morosini she bad the executioner performe his office who immediatly turnes her over And if reports be true Never three young men and one faire young Gentlewoman died more lamented and pittied then they For Morosini died with more resolution than repentance and Imperia with more repentance than resolution thus was their lives and thus their deaths May wee extract wisdome out of their folly and charity out of their cruelty so shall wee live as happy as they died miserably and finish our daies and lives in as much content and tranquillity as they ended theirs in shame infamy and confusion GODS REVENGE AGAINST THE CRYING AND Execrable sinne of Murther HISTORY XXVII Father Iustinian a Priest and Adrian an Inne-keeper poyson De Laurier who was lodged in his house and then bury him in his Orchard where a moneth after a Wolfe digges him up and devonres a great part of his body which father Iustinian and Adrian
visit her with affection and zeale for this desire of hers and request of thine is so honourable so reasonable as my Father should be guilty of unkindnesse to deny the one and my selfe of ingratitude not to grant the other Or if he will yet continue to crosse our affections I will then make it apparant to the world that I will not feare him the thousand part so much as I will love her and that I will ambitiously strive and resolve to make my affection to her to equalize thy zeale and her passion to mee and that I cannot receive a greater felicity and honour than to see her my Wife and my selfe her Husband I have given an answere to her Letter and very shortly I will give her my selfe every way answerable to her merits to thy expectation and my promise RODERIGO His Letter to Dominica was charged and fraughted with these lines RODERIGO to DOMINICA To deface thy sorrowes for thy Brothers death and thy miseries for my absence and likewise to preserve thy ioyes in their blossomes and thy hopes in their riper age and maturity I am fâ—…ly resolved very shortly to grant thy request in leaving Asnallos to live and dye with thee in Granado and thou doest offer a palpable wrong to the truth and an immerited disparagement to the purity and candour of my affection to thinke that I any waâ—… preferre my obedience to my Father before my affection to thee or consequently his content to thine Therefore prepare thy selfe to kisse not to chide mee for else I will resolve to chide and not to kisse thee at my returne My best endevoure shall write on the prosperity of thy Mothers affaires and my best love and service shall eternally attend on her Daughters pleasure and Commands and judge thou if my zeale to thee doe not exceed thine to my selfe sith Earth is not so deere to mee as the Honour of thy sight nor Heaven as the felicity of thy company RODERIGO Hee hath no sooner dispatched these two Letters to his Mistris and her Mother but the very next day after hee enters into a resolution with himselfe that hee shall not doe well so soone to disoblige and disobey his father by so speedily precipitating his returne from Asnallos to Granado as urging this reason to his consideration and proposing this consideration to his judgement that Dominica's affection and beauty can difficultly make him rich but that his Fathers discontent and displeasure towards him may easily make him poore Whereupon resolving to cherish his constancy to her and yet to retaine his obedience to him hee holds it no sinne if a little longer hee dispence with his content and promise to temporize for his discretion and profit as grounding his hope upon this confidence and his confidence upon this presuming infallibility that his Lady and Mistris Dominica is as chast as faire and will prove as constant to him as she is beautifull in her selfe But she is a woman and therefore she may deceive his hopes and he is a man and therefore it is possible that her beauty may betray his judgement the which prediction and prophesie to his griefe and sorrow and to her shame and misery wee shall shortly see made true and verified the manner thus Dominica as wee have formerly understood being of a wanton disposition and carriage and very unchastly and lasciviously enclined shee finding Roderigo's stay in Asnallos to exceed his promise and her expectation shee cannot live chast shee will not remaine constant in his absence but hath a friend or two I meane two proper young Gentlemen of Granado to whom shee many times privately imparteth her amorous favours and affection the which shee acteth not so closely but the Lady her Mother being a Lincy-eyed and curious observer of her actions hath notice thereof and thinking ro reclaime her from this foule sinne of fornication and whoredome which threatens no lesse than the ruines of her fortunes and the shipwracke of her reputation she first attempteth to perswade her by faire meanes with teares and prayers but seeing shee could not thereby prevaile with her then shee gives her many sharpe speeches and bitter threates and menaces as wholly to deprive her of her Fathers portion and either to make her spend her daies in a Nunnery or end them in a Prison That shee is not worthie to tread upon the face of earth or looke up to Heaven because this her foule crime of fornication makes her odious to God and an infinite shame and scandall to all her Parents and friends in generall and to every one in particular with many other reasons looking and conducing that way the which for brevities 〈◊〉 I resolve to omit and bury in silence But this lectuâ—…e of the Mother prevailes not with the Daughter but rather inflames than quencheth the fite of her inordinate and lascivious lust the which shee perceiving and to prevent her owne scandall in that of her daughters shee as a carefull Mother and a wise Matron me weth her up in her chamber where Dominice for meere griefe and choller to see her selfe thus debard of her pleasures in the restraint of her liberty shee growes very ficke lookes exceeding wanne pale and thinne and sokeepes her bed the which the Lady Cervantella takes for a fit occasion and opportunity againe effectually to write to Roderigo to hasten his returne to Granado as doubting least her Daughters Belly should chance to swell and grow big in his absence This her Letter to Roderigo reported her minde and represented her desires to him in these tearmes CERVANTELLA to RODERIGO THou doest thy selfe no right but mee and my Daughter infinite wrong in staying so long from Granado in regard it is contrary to thy promise to my expectation and to her deserts and merits For her affection is so entire and fervent to thee because shee conceives and hopes that thine in requitall is so to her that shee hath this many moneths languished in expectation of thy returne whereof now beginning to dispaire that dispaire of hers hath strucke her into so dangerous a consumption that I feare it will shortly prove fatall to her for already the Lillyes have banished the Roses of her cheekes yea her cheekes are growne thinne and those sparkling starres her eyes have lost a great part of their wonted lustre and glory so if thy affection will not yet pitty should move thee to hasten thy returne to see and comfort her especially sith thou wilt scarce know her when thou seest her in regard I may almost justly affirme that shee is no longer Dominica but rather the living Anotomy of dead Dominica How thou canst answer for this her sicknesse to thine honour which is occasioned by thy unkindnesse I know not but sure I am if shee goe to her grave before thou come to her thou canst never sufficiently answer it to thy conscience nor thy conscience to God In her sicke bed thou art the only Saint to whom shee
her Sanctifiore from Bertranna and so retaine him to her selfe in marriage shee to that end that very morning sends for Sebastiano her fathers coachman whom shee knew to be faithfull to her and taking off a rich Diamond ring from her finger which Sanctifiore well knew she bade him find out the Baron of Sanctifiore at his lodging or elsewhere to deliver that ring as a token of her love to him and to tell him that shee infinitly desires him to honour her with his presence at her Fathers house sometimes the forenoone Sebastiano accordingly findes out the Baron and delivers him his young mistris ring and message by whom hee returnes this answer Commend me to the Lady Vrsina and tell her I will be with her immediatly after dinner Whiles thus our sorrowfull Vrsina betwixt hope and feare griefe and consolation prepares to receive him hee arrives to her in his owne coach and her Fathers servants attending for him doe conduct him up to her chamber where composing her countenance to affection and yet to sorrow shee meets him at the doore and conducts him to the window which answereth and lookes into the garden where hee giving her onely one slight kisse and shee absenting her Fathers servants shee bursts forth into teares and sighes Shee complaines of the coldnesse of his affection of his long absence from her of the violation of his oathes and vowes to her and of her great belly by him which shee tells him hee may better see than shee conceale but especially of his deepe promise to marry her praying him to set downe the time and place when hee will performe and consummate it and that it would infallibly prove his shame and infamy if hee forgat himselfe his honour and conscience to forsake her and marry the Lady Bertranna whom shee affirmes to him with teares that shee understands is the mistris of his thoughts and heart and the Queene Regent of his desires and affections When this base Baron is so cruell hearted to her as preferring his fury to his affection and his passion to his compassion hee replyes not a word to all the former parts and branches of her speeches and complaints but only to the two last hee gives her this thundering and heart-killing answer Know Vrsina that I have used all lawfull and possible meanes with my parents to draw their consents that I might marry thee but it is out of my power ever to obtaine it of them and without it I will never marry as for Bertranna shee is not so much thy inferiour in beauty as shee is thy superiour in vertues therefore provide thou for thy fortunes and so will I for mine when with a looke which savored no way of love but wholly of contempt and indignation hee hastily throwes her her Diamond ring and without once kissing her or bidding her farewell suddenly rusheth forth her chamber wherein hee leaves her to her selfe and her muses and so takes coach and away vowing to himselfe as hee went forth the doores that hee will not bee Father to a bastard nor Husband to a whore Here let all vertuous Ladies and Gentlewomen and all true hearted and generous Noblemen and Gentlemen judge if this Sanctifiore did not shew himselfe a most base Nobleman and a cruell hearted tyrant towards thâ—… sweet and unfortunate Gentlewoman sith the consideration of her youth and beauty in her selfe of her tender love and affection to him of his oathes and promises to bee her husband of the losse of her honour and fortunes yea sith the sight of her leane and thin cheekes wherein the roses and lillies of her former beauty were withered with her sorrowes and his infidelities and the sight and consideration of her great belly which hee had given her together with her birth and quality and the infinitnesse of her sighes prayers sobs and teares could draw no more reason or compassion from him towards her And now it is that at the sight and consideration of this his barbarous cruelty towards her her very heart and soule is wounded and pierced thorow with sorrow and now it is that she looks backe on her former folly errour on her present affliction and griefe on her future shame miserie and now it is that deeming him lost to her for ever and her selfe consequently ruined without him that her sorrowes and miseries are so great so infinite that shee is ready to drowne her selfe in her teares and most willingly desirous to forsake this life and this world to flie up to heaven and to God upon the wings of her sighes and prayers But ahlas poore soule thou art too unfortunate to be yet so happie because these thy afflictions and sorrowes doe as it were but now begin therefore thou must prepare and arme thy selfe to suffer them with patience and to end them in lesse passion and more repentance and piety Although this ignoble Baron triumph in this his cruelty towards his former love Vrsina and so speedily poast away and acquaint his new one Bertranna therewith who as much rejoyceth as the other bitterly weeps and laments thereat yet according to order I must againe speake of our sorrowfull Vrsina who hath other more mournfull parts and lamentable passions to act upon the stage of this her History Who having thus received the repulse and refusall from her treacherous lover Sanctifiore she within a moneth after with a sorrowfull heart courage resolves as well as she may to dispence for a time with her teares and to provide for her reputation shee hath as yet acquainted none but Sanctifiore with her disgrace of her great belly for neither her kinsfolkes friends neighbours father or his servants doe as yet know it shee is of a weake body and feeble constitution and therefore to conceale this scandall from her father as also from all the world and to provide for the lying downe of her great belly she holds it requisite to discover this great and important secret but only to one and so to crave the aid assistance of this confident bosom friend To which end she thinkes none so fit for her purpose therefore makes choice of no other but of an old aunt of hers who was her mothers sister named Dona Mellefanta who being a wise and rich widdow woman dwelt at Putzeole some 10 small miles distant from Naples a place so famous for its subâ—…rianeamgrots vaults and water workes when inventing an excuse to her Father which was as worthy of her 〈◊〉 and policy as shee was every way unworthy of these her crosses and afflictions shee tells him that it is not unknowne to him how she hath a long time beene weake and sickly that the aire of Naples is neither wholesome for her nor pleasing to her and because shee hath often dreamt she shall in a little time recover her former health in Putzeole shee humbly beseecheth him that hee will speedily â—…nd her thither to live some small time there with her
my deare Sanctifiore for I write not this out of any malice but out of true affection to thee to the end that thou maiest thereby seriously consider and religiously remember with thy selfe what I am to thee thou to my selfe and what that unfortunate Innocent unborne babe in my belly is to us both And although I am thy wife before God yet I will now in all humility make my selfe thy handmaid and with a world of sighes and teares throw my selfe at thy feet and lower if I could to conjure and begge thee By my poore beauty which once thou didest so much admire and adore by the memory of my lost virginity which thou wrested'st from mee with so many amarous sighes and teares by all thy deepe oathes vowes and promises which thou so religiously gavest mee to remaine still loving to mee by thine honour which should bee dearer to thee than thy life by thy conscience and soule which ought to bee far more pretious to thee than all the lives and honours of the world yea for thy poore infants sake and lastly for Gods sake abandon thy unjust displeasure and immerited discontent conceived against mee and my deare Sanctifiore come away to mee to Putzeole and there make mee thy wife in the sight of his Church and people as I am already in that of heaven and his Angells I say againe come away to mee my sweet Sanctifiore for thy sight will delight my heart and thy presence and company ravish my soule with joy It is impossible for Bertranna either to love or honour thee the thousand part so dearly as thy Vrsina doth and till death resolves to doe I will freely forget all thy former escapes and discourtesies towards mee and doe attribute them more to her foolish vanity than any way to thy unkind disposition or inclination yea I will not knit my browes when thou comest to mee but will cheerfully and joyfully prepare my selfe to feast thee with smiles and to surfet thee with kisses But if contrariwise thou wilt not hearken unto mee or this my letter or regard these my just requests and sorrowes nor obey and follow God and thy conscience herein in speedily repairing to mee to make mee thy joyfull wife then what shall I doe or say but according as I am bound in affection and duty to thee I will notwithstanding still resolve to love thee dearly though thou hate mee deadly and to pray for thee though thou curse mee yea I will then leave thee to God and religiously beseech his divine majestie to bee a just judge betweene both of us of my firme affection and constancy to thee and of thy cruell ingratitude and treacherie to mee Live thou as happie as thy constant Vrsina knowes that without thee shee shall assuredly live sorrowfully and die miserablie VRSINA Her messenger Sebastiano arives privatly at Naples and finds out the Baron of Sanctifiore in his chamber by the fire to whom hee gives and delivers this letter who at first knowing from whom it came stood a pretty whiles musing and consulting with himselfe whether he should read or burne it but at last hee breakes up the seales thereof and with much adoe affords himselfe the time and patience to peruse it which having done although hee no way merited to receive so sweet and loving a letter from Vrsina yet not blushing for shame but looking pale with envie and malice thereat hee darting forth a disdainfull frowne and tearing the letter in peeces throwes it into the fire when turning himselfe hastily towards Sebastiano who stood neere him and saw all that hee had done hee in great choler spake to him thus Tell that proud and foolish gigglet Vrsina that I disdaine her as much as shee writes shee loves mee and that as now so ever hereafter I will returne no other answer to her and her letters but contempt and silence when to expresse his greater fury Sebastiano was no sooner forth his chamber but he very hastily throwes fast the doore after him and in this furious and cholericke manner doth this base Sanctifiore receive the love and entertaine the letter of our sweet and sorrowfull Vrsina Sebastiano as much grieving as admiring at the incivill choler and rage of Sanctifiore presently leaves Naples and carries home this poore newes and cold comfort to his young Mistris the Lady Vrsina at Putzeole the which hee faithfully and punctually delivers to her who expected nothing lesse but derectly the contrary thereof She is amazed to understand this his disdainfull barbarous and cruell answer and infinitly perplexed in mind that hee should first teare then burne her letter and for converting his pen into Sebastianos tongue for his answer thereof But above all that word of his gigglet kild her very heart with sorrow to thinke that for all her former courtesies shewed him hee should now at last repay her with this foule ingratitude and scandalous aspersion at the sorrowfull thought and consideration whereof resolving to make her piety exceed his cruelty shee could not refraine from bedewing her roseat cheeks with many pearled teares nor from evaporating this heavenly ejaculation from the profundity of her heart and the centre of her foule God forgive the Baron of Sanctifiore and bee mercifull to mee Vrsina a great and wretched sinner had shee continued in this godly mind and resolution shee had done well but ahlas notwithstanding the wholesome comfort and councell of her aunt Mellefanta wee shall shortly see her runne a contrary course and cariere It is a common phrase and proverb that misfortune seldome comes alone which wee shall now see our sorrowfull Vrsina will verifie by her deepe sighes and confirme by her bitter teares for this discourtesie of Sanctifiore towards her for shee hath so deeply nayled it in her mind and riveâ—…ed it in her heart that it begins to impaire her health and strength and consequently to pervert and alter the constitution of her body so that whereas her poore unborne babe had lived but one full moneth within her she now finds so many suddaine throwes and unacustomed convulsions that shee is speedily constrained to betake her selfe to her bed when calling upon her aunt Mellefanta and withall possible hast sending a way for the midwife shee after many sharpe torments and bitter cries and groanes to the great perrill and eminent danger of her life is delivered of a verie pretty little sonne which God sends into the world dead borne now although shee want no curious care comfort and attendance from her aunt in this her sicknes and extremity yet shee weeps bitterlie and pittifully for the abortive birth and untimely death of her poore innocent babe and infant and because her aunt sees that this last affliction and sorrow of her neece doth infinitly encrease and revive her former and that shee also conceives a wonderfull feare in her heart and scruple in her conscience that it is only her immoderate griefe and sorrow which hath kild her
Vrsina whom hee ever held to bee more charitable and not so cruell hearted to any one of the world and although hee be poore yet hee is so honest vertuous and religious as hee highly refuseth to distaine his heart or dip his hands in innocent blood for any silver or gold whatsoever So in humble and yet in absolute tearmes hee gives her the deniall and with teares in his eyes prayes her to desist from this her cruell purpose because hee affirmes to her that the end of murther proves most commonly but the beginning of shame repentance misery and confusion to their authors so shee bites her lip and hangs her head for sorrow at this his repulse and refusâ—…ll and yet is so cautious and wary in her actions as shee makes him againe swear secrecy to her in all thinges which now doth othereafter may concerne this businesse the which hee faithfully promiseth her provided that her commands and his seruice bee every way exempt of the effusion of innocent blood and the perpetration of murther to the which hee constantly vowes to her it is impossible for him ever to bee seduced or drawen and so hee takes leave of her and leaves her solitarily alone in the garden to her muses but yet as hee was issuing forth shee againe calls him to her and strictly chargeth him first carefully and curiously to informe himselfe and then hee her of Sanctifiores most frequent haunts and walkes without the cittie the which hee likewise promiseth her to performe Our malitious and revengefull Vrsina is not contented to receive the deniall from her Apothecary Romancy and the repulse from her coachman Sebastiano about the finishing of this deplorable busines but without making any good use of their honest and religious disswasions of her from it or without once looking up to God or thinking of heaven or hell shee as a fatall member and prodigious agent of Sathan is still resolute to proceed therein for he is still so strong with her heart because her faith and soule are so weake with God that shee sees not her selfe so often in her looking glasse with delight as shee both sees and finds Sanctifiore in her heart and mind with detestation for her mallice to him hath quite expelled all reason and banished all charity and piety in her selfe and consequently now made her memorative and capable of nothing but of revenge and blood towards him which takes up every part and usurpes every point both of her time and of her selfe yea and workes so strang I may rather truly say so miserable a metamorphosis in her as if shee were now wholly composed of one or both of these two impious and diabolicall vices so that every moment seemes a yeare and every day an age to her before shee hath dispatched him for heaven she now sees that shee cannot with safety employ any other herein but her selfe and therefore day by day calling upon Sebastiano to know of him where Sanctifiores usuall haunts and walkes were without the cittie hee at last tells her that hee is fullie assured that most mornings and evenings he takes his coach and some times his page but many times alone and so goes a mile out of the cittie beyond the gate which lookes towards Saint Germaines and there in a dainty grove of olives and orenge trees neere a small rivers side hee with his booke in his hand and his spaniell dogge at his heeles passeth an houre or two alone in his private contemplations his coach being sometimes out of sight from him and sometimes returnes to the cittie and so comes and fetcheth him backe againe which report is no sooner heard and understood of Vrsina from her coachman but shee receives it with much joy and entertaines it with infinite content and delectation shee is therefore so cruell in her thoughts and so determinate and bloody in her resolutions as shee will protract no time but shee speedily bethinkes her selfe of a hellish stratagem and policy no lesse strange than cruell which the devill him selfe suggested and found out for her to wreake her inveterate malice and infernall revenge in murthering of Sanctifiore the manner whereof is thus She very secretly provides her selfe of a friers complete weed as a sad ruffer gowne coule with a girdle of a knottie rope woodden sandalls proper to the order of the Bonnes homes which is the reformed one of that of S. Francis with a false negligent old beard and haire for his head sutable to the same and in one of the pockets of this frocke shee puts a small begging box such as those friers use to carry in cittie and country when they crave the charitable almes and devotion of well disposed people as also a new breviary or small masse booke of the last edition and forme of Rome boundup in blew turky leather richly guilt but in the othor pocket thereof shee puts a couple of small short pistolls which shee had secretly purloined out of her father Placedo's armory and had charged each of them with a brace of bullets fast rammed downe with priming powder in the pans and all these fatall trinckets shee with equall silence and treachery packes and tyes up close in the gowne expecting the time and houre to worke this her cruell and lamentable seate on innocent Sanctifiore who little thinkes or dreames what a bloody banquet his old love and now his new enemy Vrsina is preparing for him And here I write with griefe that it was the tuesday after Palme Sunday a time and weeke which the blessed passion of our Saviour Christ Jesus makes sacred and famous and which all true christians in his commemoration ought to keepe holy and not to polute or defile it with barbarous and bloody sacrifices when our masculine monster or rather our femall fury Vrsina being assured by Sebastiano that the Baron of Sanctifiore was that day about three of the clocke after dinner gone out alone in his coach to his aforesaid usuall place of walking a mile off the cittie in the fields shee infinite glad of this desired occasion and longed for opportunity bids Sebastiano make ready his coach and silently to leave him without the posterne gate of her fathers garden and so presently to come up to her chamber to her the which hee as soone performes to whom she now prophanely and treacherously sayes Sebastiano by the favour and mercy of God I have now exchanged my cruelty into courtesie towards the Baron of Sanctifiore and doe therefore presently resolve to give him a merry meeting in the fields whereat before our departure and returne I know thou wilt rejoyce and laugh heartely at the fight hereof the which indeed was very welcome and pleasing newes to Sebastiano to whom shee then gives this little fardell and so purposely leaving her waiting maid behind her shee cheerefully and speedily followes him to the coach wherein being seated and the litle fardell likewise within by her shee bids him drive away withall
speed to find out Sanctifiore the which armed with his innocency hee joyfully doth Now as they are come within two flight shots of him Vrsina bids Sebastiano not to proceed farther but to drive in the coach into some close shaddowed place out of the high way where they might see Sanctifiore but not as yet to bee either seene or espied of him which accordingly hee doth where shee descends her coach drawes off her 〈◊〉 apparell and so puts on her false friers apparell as also the haire and beard having made and prepared all things fit and ready before and here likewise shee soldeth up the tresses and tramells of her owne haire under it and hath purposely shaved away the haire of a little part of the crowne of her head and all this whiles her coachman Sebastiano turnes her chamber maid here in the fieldes to make her ready where hee cannot refraine from exceedingly smiling and laughing to see what a strang metamorphosis this now is that his young Lady Vrsina is here become an old frier but still shee hides and conceales her two pistolls carefully in her pocket from him as also her bloody designes and intents towards Sanctifiore and whereof hee as every way as innocent as shee her selfe and only her selfe is guilty thereof Now being all in a readines she out of her other pocket takes her almos box and holds it in one of her hands and her howres or breviary in her other and so taking leave of her coachman and with a diffembling cheerefull countenance charging him to pray for her good fortune and speedily to bring up her coach to her as soone as hee sees her wave her white handkercher towards him so as a jolly old frier away this 〈◊〉 â—…vill soâ—…y trips towards Sanctifiore having piety in her lookes but prophâ—… and â—…barous cruelty in her heart and intentions and all the way as shee goâ—… 〈◊〉 cannot refraine from laughing to see this great change and alteration in his young Lady and mistris but directly beleeving that shee in mâ—…ent 〈◊〉 maying or masking such was his ignorance that he least thought oâ—… dreamâ—… 〈◊〉 shee went to commit murther or what devill was here vailed and shrouded under this friers weed So with more assurance than feare and with far more impiety than gâ—…e shee goes on towards Sanctifiore who was there alone walking and reading to whom approaching and giving him a ducke or two she holding up her begging box and counterfeiting an old friers voâ—… prayes him for the blessed Vâ—…rgin Maries sake and also for holy saint Francis sake to bestow some thing on him for their society and order which Sanctifiore being alone as having sent bâ—…e his coach to the cittie resolving to doe hee seeing that faire new 〈◊〉 the friers hands hee fairly takes it from him and carefully vieweth and peruseth it which being that which Vrsina aimed and looked for shee for 〈◊〉 sake but indeed purposely and malitiously steps behinde him and very â—…oftly drawing out one of her pistolls out of her pocket which was already 〈◊〉 shee levels it at the very reines of his backe and so le ts flye at him whereof hee presently was falling to the ground when the devill making â—…mble and dexterious in her malice in the turning of a hand shee whips but the other pistoll out of her pocket and to make sure worke with him likewise dischargeth it in his brest and to make her inveterate malice and revenge to him the more conspicuous and apparant to all the world as neere as shee could gueâ—…e to his very heart of which mortall wounds made by her foure bullets Sanctifiore fell immediatly dead to the ground having neither the power grace oâ—… happines to speake a word and then she pulling off her false beard discovered her selfe to him as hee was dying and spurning him most disdainfully and maliâ—…usly with her foote gave him this cruell farwell such deaths such villaines deserve who triumph and glory to betray harmelesse and innocent Ladies which having acted and said shee waving her hand kercher to her coachman hee comes upâ—…o her with her coach as 〈◊〉 as the wind who is all amazed and in teares to behold this woefull accident and lamentable spectacle for descending speedily from his coach hee finds the Baron of Sanctifiore dead and his soule already fled and ascended from earth to heaven to whom his Lady Vrsina in a gracelesse insulting bravery sayes rejoyce with thee Sebastiano that I have now so bâ—…vely and fortunately revenged my selfe on this base and treacherous Baron Sanctifiore but honest 〈◊〉 being as full of true griefe as shee was of falsâ—…ny replies and tells her Oâ—…dame what have you done for this is no cause and therefore no time to rejoyce but rather â—…o â—…ent and mourne for this lamentable fact and criâ—…e of yours and not to disseâ—…ble you the truth as much as yoâ—… in this â—…all frieâ—…â—…cke did â—…e your bloody inâ—…tions I have faâ—… more reason to feâ—…e than cause to doubt that your â—…urthering of the Baroâ—… of Sanctiâ—… will pâ—…ove the ruine and confusion of your selfe except God â—…ee gratiously pâ—…ed â—…o â—…e more mercifull to you than you have 〈◊〉 to him therefore looke from his danger and misfortune speedily to provide for your owne safety which as sooâ—…e as hee had said hee in the â—…riersweeds speâ—…ly takes her up in the coach and then drives away a full gallop to the shadowed thickeâ—… from whence â—…hee 〈◊〉 where she câ—…sts of her â—…iers apparell beaâ—… 〈◊〉 box and bookâ—… as also the â—…o pistolls the which they two wrap up all in the gowne and throw it into a deepe ditch or precipice and so hee helpes her to put on all her owne apparell and a â—…ire and then with more hast than good speed drives home a maine towards Naples and it was a disputable question whether our bloody and execrable wretch Vâ—…a more rejoyced or her honest coachman Sebastiano lamented and grieved at this unfortunate and deplorable fact Wee have seene with what a malitious courage and a desperate and prophane resolution this cruell hearted Gentlewoman Vrsina hath in the habit of a frier murthered this unfortunate Baron Sanctifiore and the reader shall not goe much further in this history before if not in the same moment yet in the same houre hee see the sacred justice of God will surprise and bring her to condigne punishment for the same as if the last as indeed it is were co-incident and hereditary to the first or as if it were wholy impossible for her to rejoyce so much here on earth for that as God and his Angells doe both triumph and glory in heaven for this Gods judgments are as just as sacred and as miraculous as justs so that all people should rather admiâ—… it with awfull reverence than any way neglect it with a prophane presumption But our wretched Vrsina will not make her selfe so happie to bee of the first but rather so miserable
and her usher Ferallo so that he as soone beleeves as understands this their adultery without ever making a stand either to consider the truth or to examine the circumstances thereof whereupon to make short worke and to provide a speedy remedy for this unfortunate disaster and disease hee without speaking word of it either to his Lady Bellinda or to Ferallo suddainely casheereth him from his house and service and in such disgracefull manner as hee will not so much as permit him to know the reason hereof or to see or take leave of his Lady and mistris and from thence forth De Mora lookes on her with infinite contempt and jealousie For it galles him to the heart first to remember her dishonour and dishonesty with Palura now far more to know that she is doubly guilty thereof with her owne domesticke servant and Gentleman-usher Ferallo wherefore he againe restraines her of her liberty and his jealousie so far exceeds the bounds of judgement and the limmits of reason as hee will difficultly permit her to see any man or any man to see her but as rivers stopped doe still degorge with more violence and overflow with more imperuositie so Bellinda takes this new jealousie of her old husband and this suddaine exile and banishment of Ferollo her lover and Gentleman-usher in extreme ill part and after shee hath wept and sighed her fill thereat shee then beleeves the prime and originall cause therof to proceed from the malice and jealousie of her waiting Gentlewoman Herodia wherefore being infinitly despighted and incensed against her shee in her deare love and affection to Ferallo to requite her husbands courtesie very discourteously turnes her away and for ever banisheth her her house and service and to write the truth Ferallo likewise inhatred malice to Herodia will from thence forth neither see nor speake with her more But to verifie the English proverb that love will creepe where it cannot goe although De Mora banisheth Ferallo from his house and restraineth his Lady Bellinda of her liberty in his house yet sometimes by day many times by night they by the assistance of some secret agents or Ambassadours of love doe in the arbours of the gardens and in some other out romes of the house very amorously meet and most lasciviously kisse and embrace together They hold many private conferences on their unlawfull affections and many secret consultations upon their unjust discontents so at last both of them joining in one wicked heart and mind and as matters are still best distinguished by their contraries finding each others company sweet and their sequestration and seperation bitter they so much forget their selves and their soules and so much fly from heaven and God to follow Sathan and hell as both of them beleeve and resolve they can have no true or perfect content on earth before De Mora be first sent to heaven now upon this bloody designe they agree and upon this hellish plot they fully resolve only the gordian knot which must combine and linke fast this foule busines is that De Mora being dead Bellinda must shortly after marry her Gentleman-usher Ferallo whereunto with as much joy as vanity shee cheerfully consenteth when they are so prophane as they seale this their ungodly contract with many oathes and ratifie and confirme it with a world of kisses and then of all violent deaths they resolve on that drugge of the devill poyson so without either the feare or grace of God they of Christians metamorphose and make themselves devils and Ferallo buying the poyson Bellinda very secretly and subtilly in diet drink and broath admmistereth it unto her Lord and husband De Mora which being of a languishing vertue and opperation hee within lesse then foure moneths dies thereof when with much cost and a wonderfull exteriour shew of griefe and sorrow shee gives him a stately funerall every answerable to the lustre of his name and the quality of his dignity and honoâ—…r but God in his due time will pull off the maske of this her monstrous hippocrie and infernall prophanesse Our jealous old Lord de Mora being thus laied and raked up in the dust of his untimely grave his joyfull sorrowfull widdow the Lady Bellinda according to her promise to the griefe of her father Cursoro to the wonder of Stremos and the admitation of all Portugall marries with this her Gentleman-usher Ferallo but such lustfull and bloody marriages most commonly meet with miserable ends For six moneths together Ferallo day and night keeps good corespondancy in the performance of his affections to his old Lady and mistris and now his new wife Bellinda and although they are unequall in birth and ranke yet marriage having now made them equall they mutually kisse and imbrace with as much content as desire but at the end of this small parcell of time satiety of his uxorious delights and pleasures makes him neglectfull and which is worse contemptible thereof a base ingratitude but to often subject to men of his inferiour ranke and quality and which the indiscretion of Ladies of honour very often paies deare for as buying it many times with infamy but still which repentance so that for ten nights and sometimes for fifteene together hee never kissed or imbraced her which unkind ungratitude of his and respectlesse unvaluation of her youth and beauty as also of her ranke meanes makes the Lady Bellinda his wife to be as hot in choler towards him as he is cold in affection love towards her But to ascend to the head-spring of this his discourtesie towards her and so to fetch and derive it from its owne proper originall wee must know that Ferallo was so vitious inconstant and base as now hee is deeply in love with a new waiting Gentlewoman of his Ladies named Christalina a sweet young maiden of some eighteene yeares of age tall of stature and slender of body and whose beauty was every way as cleere and pure as her name and yet whose maidenhead with a few rich presents and many poore flattering oaths and false promises hee had secretly purchased and gotten from her yea his affection was so fervent to her that part of the day could not content his lustfull desires but hee forgets himselfe so far as before his Ladies nose and almost in her sight hee must lye with her whole nights and which is worse almost every night without so much as once thinking of his owne wife the Lady Bellinda or either loving what shee cared for or caring for what shee loved But Bellinda esteemes her selfe too good a Gentlewoman and too great a Lady to be thus outbraved and disgraced by a Taylors sonne for so was Ferallo and therefore consequently her heart is too well lodged and too high fixed and seated in the degree of her high discent thus to receive suffer an affront by a man of so low a beginning so ignoble a quality and extraction as he was and whom she had
her blew silke garters then lockes the chamber doore and very secretly and surely conveyes and throwes in the key within side then descends to the garden where calling Hellena another of her waiting Gentlewomen to her shee bids her fetch her prayer booke and thus away she goes towards their parish-Church of Saint Iulians on foot which by computation was some halfe a small league distant off their house and forbids any man servant to waite or attend on her thither She is not a furlong off but the more closely to finish her designe shee there purposely sends away her maid Hellena to the parish-Church before her with this invented and colourable errand to seeke out her owne Priest father Sebastian and to prepare him then to say masse to her the which Hellena doth Now the midway betweene her house and the Church is a great deepe pond by the which shee is to passe but a little before shee drawes neere it a poore old maimed Souldiour being cashiered from the Garison of the castle of Castcayes named Roderigo travelling towards his home and seeing this Lady all alone and observing the sweetnes of her beauty and the richnesse of her apparell and attire his poverty inforceth and incourageth him to request and begge an almes of her the which with much humility hee doth But the Lady Bellinda's heart and thoughts were so much surprised and taken up with cruelty as shee knew not what belonged to charitie and therefore having other busines and windmils in her head shee is so offended with Roderigo's begging importunity as flatly refusing to give him any almes shee forgets her selfe so far as in steed thereof shee gives him many harsh words and at last sends him away with some unkind and foule speeches the which poore Roderigo tooke so ill at her hands that in the fumes of a Souldiour hee once thought to have requited it either on her person or her apparell but then againe by her port and bravery deeming her to bee some great neighbouring Lady who that morning had purposely left her followers to take the sweetnes of the aire and therefore fearing his danger more than hee loved his profit hee abandoneth that cholericke and insolent resolution of his when taking his leave of her hee some two buts lengths from her betakes him to sit downe at the foot of a great Pine apple tree where he might see her but not shee him and there looking after her with an eye of discontent and indignation hee bewailes his wants and hard fortune and also condemneth the obduratenesse of this unknowen Ladies uncharitable heart towards him and inquiring afterwards of a mike-maid which passed by what shee was he is informed that shee is the Lady Bellinda widdow to the dead Lord Alonso de Mora and now wife to Don Emanuell de Ferallo who hereat doth not a little both grieve and wonder that so rich and great a Lady was guilty of so much uncharitablnes By this time shee being arived to the pond looking about her and beleeving that no mortall eye had seene her she therein throwes her bloody smocke and razor which as formerly I have said shee had tyed fast together with one of her blew silke gatters and the ponderosity of the brasse weight made it instantly to sinke to the bottome whereof shee being infinitly joyfull away shee tripâ—… to the parish Church and there heares Masse and mumbles out many Ave Maries and Pater nosters to her selfe but the whole world ingenerall and the readeâ—… in particular may imagin with what a foule conscience and a prophane and ulcerated soule shee then and there performes this her devotion Now although this our wretched Lady Bellinda have murthered this her second husband Ferallo with wonderfull secresie and buried these bloody evidences thereof in the pond with such admirable care and privacy that shee thinkes it wholly impossible for all the earth to reveale it loe if earth cannot yet now heaven will So heare before I proceed further let mee in the name and feare of God request the Christian reader here to admire and wonder with mee at the mercy and goodnes and at the providence and pleasure of God in his miraculous detection and condigne revenge and punishment thereof for hee must know and understand that it seemes God had purposely brought placed and seated this poore old weary maimed Souldiour Roderigo at the foot of this Pine tree to to be a happie instrument of his praise and a true Sentinell and discoverer both for his sacred justice and divine honour for here although Bellinda carried away her heart and charity from him yet as if guided by some heavenly power and celestiall influence Roderigo could not possibly carry away his eye from her but as closely as shee threw this bloody cloth into the pond hee espies it and which is more very plainely and palpably discernes the whitnes and rednes thereof when considering and thinking with himselfe that this gallant proud Lady Bellinda might bee as unchaste and lascivious as shee was faire and as vitious as she was young God with his immediate finger imprinted in his thoughts and ingraved in his heart and mind that either her selfe or some one of her waiting Gentlewomen had had some bastard and that shee had murthered it and now throwen it into the pond and was so strongly possessed of this conceit and beleife that neither day or night nor nothing under heaven could possibly beate him from it but for a whiles hee resolves to conceale this conceit to himselfe as referring the truth thereof to time and the issue to God And here the order of our history calles us againe from Roderigo to Bellinda who as soone as Masse is done with her waiting Gentlewoman Heâ—… returnes home to her house by that time they arive there it is nine of the clocke where putting a pleasant face upon her false heart and a sweet countenance upon her soyled and sinfull soule shee presently inquires for her husband Don Ferallo her servants make answer that they have not seene him to day and that they think hee is still in bed whereat shee musing and wondering in regard hee was not accustomed to sleepe at so high an houre shee therefore sends some of her servants to his chamber to see if hee be stirring but finding his chamber doore looked and calling aloud to him they can get no answer from him the which they returne and report to their Lady Bellinda who seeming exceedingly to doubt and grieve thereat shee far more perplexed in countenance than heart ascends with them againe to her husbands chamber where they all call and knock aloud at the doore to him and shee far louder than them all but in vaine for still they heare no newes either of him or from him whereat shee begins outwardly to tremble with apprehension and feare and so commands them to force open the doore of his chamber which they instantly doe where they see their Lord and shee her
to heaved for this her bloody and unnaturall crime was so odious to men and so execrable to God that shee could hope for no pardon of her life from her judges although her sorrowfull old father Cursoro with a world of teares threw himselfe to their feet and offered them all his lands and meanes to his very shirt to obtaine it for her All Stremos and the country there abouts resound and talke of this cruell murthering of Ferallo as also of his Lady Bellinda's condigne condemnation to death for the same and the next morning at eight of the clocke they all repaire under the castle wall to see this execrable and unfortunate Lady there in flames of fire to act the last scoene and catastrophy of her life she is conducted thither by a Saint Claires Nun on her right hand and a Saint Francis Frier on her left who jointly charge her upon perill of damnation to disburthen her conscience and soule before shee dye of any other capitall crime whereof shee knowâ—…s 〈◊〉 selâ—… guilty the which shee solemnly and religiously promiseth them about nine of the clocke shee is brought to the stake where she sees her selfe empalled and surrounded first with many fagots and then with a very great concourse and confluence of people here shee is so irreligious in her vanity that shee had cast of her blackes and mourning and purposely dighted her selfe in a rich yellow sattin gowne wrought with flowers of silver a large set ruffe about her necke and her head covered over with a pure white tiffney vaile laced and wroâ—…ht with rich cut-worke as if shee cared more for her body than her soule as if her pride and bravery would carry her sooner to heaven than her prayers and repentance or as if the prodigall cost and lustre thereof were able to diminish either her crime or her punishment in the eyes and opinions of her spectators But contrariwise the very first sight of her sweet youth and pure and fresh beauty and then the consideration of her foule crime for murthering her owne husband doe operate and worke differently upon all their affections and passions some pittying her for the first but all more justly condemning her for the second When as soone as their clamorous sobs and speeches were past and blowen over and that both the Frier and Nun had tane their last leave of her then after she had shed many teares on earth and sent and evaporated many sighes to heaven shee wringing her hands whereon shee had a paire of snow white gloves and casting up her eyes towards God at last with a faltring and fainting voice spake thus It is my crime and your charity good people which hath conducted you hither to see mee a miserable Gentlewoman here to dye miserably And because it is now no longer time for me to dissemble either with God or the world therefore to save my soule in heaven though my body perish here in earth I with much griefe and infinite sorrow doe truly and freely confesse both to God and you that I am not only guilty of one murther but of two for as I now lately cut my second husband Ferallo's throat so I was so vild wretched heretofore as to poyson my first Lord and husband De Mora. At which report and confession of this execrable Lady Bellinda in regard of the greatnes of her Lord De Mora's descent Nobility all this huge concourse of people who are sensibly touched with griefe and sorrow make a wonderfull noise and out-cry thereat and now in regard of this soule and double crime of hers they looke on her with far more contempt and far lesse pittie than before But shee being as patient as they are clamorous hereat and seeing their cries now againe cried downe and welâ—…nigh drowned and hushed up in silence recollecting her thoughts and againe composiing her countenance shee againe very sorrowfully continueth her speech to them thus I well know and indeed I heartily grieve to remember that these two foule and cruell murthers of mine make mee unworthy either to tread on the face of earth or to looke up to that of heaven and yet in the middest of these my miseries I have this consolation left mee that in favour of my true confession and religious repentance thereof to God that God can bee as indulgent and mercifull to mee as I have beene impious and sinfull to him the which that I may obtaine I beseech you all who are here present to joyne your prayers with mee and to God for mee and this is the last charity which I will begge and implore of you Now because example is powerfull no example so strong and prevalent as the words of the dying to the living therefore to Gods glory and mine owne shame give mee leave to tell you that two things especially brought and induced mee to commit these foule â—…ers as they have now justly brought mee â—…er to suffer death for committing them first my neglect of prayer and omission to serve and feare God duly as I ought to have done Secondly the affecting and following of my lascivious and lustfull pleasures which I ought not to have done The neglect of the first proved the bane of my soule and the performance and practice of the last the contagion and poyson of my life and both these two sins conjoined and lincked together enforce mee now here to dye with as much misery and infamie as without them I mâ—…ght have lived and peâ—…chance lived longâ—… in earthly happines and prosperity O therefore good people beware by my woefull example let my crime bee your integrity my fall your rising and my shipwracke your safety As I beare not hypocrisie in my tongue so I will not beare malice in my heart Therefore from my heart I forgive Roderigo for telling Gaspar de Mora hee saw mee cast some bloody linnen in the pond I also forgive Gaspar de Mora for informing the Corigâ—…dores thereof and they for so justly condemning mee to death I also pray my father parents to forgive mee these my foule crimes and both to pardon forget the dishonour and scandall which the infamy of my death may reflect and draw on them And now I recommend you all to Gods best favour and mercy and my soule to receive salvation in his blessed kingdome of glory The Lady Bellinda having finished this her speech the hearing and consideration thereof engendred much pittie and compassion in the hearts and caused a world of teares in the eyes of the beholders and now shee prepares her selfe for death Here she takes off her rings from her fingers her pearle bracelets from her armes and as a token of her love gives them to her waiting Gentlewoman Hellena who is present and not far from her most bitterly sobbing and weeping because shee can weepe no more for the death of this her deare Lady and mistris who now repeates many private prayers Ave Maries to her selfe when