the firste that gaue his name a Gentleman very valorous and in 〈◊〉 of Armes of passing estimation brought vp from his very youth and trained in the field other warlike exercises The Senescall also caused his name to be inrolled The like did 〈◊〉 ther knights as well Persians as other straungers For that the Proclamation was generall with safeconduct for all forainers noble men or other that should make their repaire The King had elected thrée auncient Barons to be Judges and Arbitratours of their déedes suche as in their time for their owne personages had ben very valiant and in many enterprises well exercised men of gret discretion and iudgement Their stage was placed in the middes of the Lists to view and marke the counterbuffes and blowes of the Combatants We néede not to remembre 〈◊〉 oughte to forgette the numbre of Ladies and Gentlewomen assembled out of all partes to beholde and viewe this triumphe and peraduenture eche knight that ranne that day was not withoute his amorous Ladie to note and beholde his Actiuitie and Prowesse euery of them wearing his Ladies sléeue gloue or other token accordyng to the common Custome in suche like cases At the daye and houre appointed appeared all the Combatantes in greate Triumphe and pompe with rich furnitures as well vpon them selues as vppon their horsse The triumph begonne and many Launces broken in good order on either sides Judgement was giuen generally that the Senescall Ariobarzanes had wonne the price and next vnto him the kings sonne did passe them all for that none of all the Combattants had broken past v. staues and the sayd yong Gentleman had in the face of his aduersarie broken in pieces nine at the least This Senescall brought forth eleuen laūces which were couragiously and honorably broken and by breaking of the last staffe which was the twelfthe he was iudged moste worthie of the price The condition wherof was that euery Combatant should run twelue courses with twelue launces and he which shoulde first breake the same should without doubt or further controuersie obtaine the rewarde What pleasure and delight the King did conceyue to sée his sonne behaue him selfe so valiantly that day I referre to the iudgement of fathers that haue children indued with like actiuitie But yet it grieued him that the Senescall had the greater aduantage and yet being a matter so wel knowen and discerned by the Judges like a wise man he dissembled his 〈◊〉 On the other side the yong Gentleman which did combat before his amorous ladie was very sorowful for that that he was voide of hope of the chiefest honour So that betwene the father and the sonne was one very thought and desire But the vertue and valor of the Senescall did truncate cut of all their grief Now the time was come that the Senescall should runne with his last staffe and mounted vppon the horsse which the King gaue him when he was on hunting And knowing wel that the King was very desirous that his son should excel all mē perceiuing likewise the inflamed minde of the yong Gentleman for the presence of his lady to aspire to honor purposed to giue ouer the honor archieued by himselfe to leaue it to the sonne and heire of his Lorde and 〈◊〉 He knew full well that those his curtesies pleased not the King neuerthelesse he was determined to perseuer in his opinion not to berieue the King of his glorie but onely to acquire fame and honour for him selfe And yet he thoughte vnkindenesse in the King that he would not accept his gentle déedes in better parte But fully minded that the honor of the triumph should be attributed to the Kings sonne he welded the staffe within his rest and when he was readie to encountre bicause it was he that should come agaynst him he let fall his launce out of his handes and sayd Farewel this curtesie of mine sith it is no better estemed The kings sonne gaue a gentle counterbuffe vpon the Placard of the Senescall brake his staffe in many pieces which was the x. course Many heard the words which the Senescal spake when his staffe fell out of his hands and the standers by well perceiued that he was not minded to giue the laste blowe bicause the kings sonne might haue the honor of the triumph which he desired so much Then Ariobarzanes departed the listes And the Prince without any great resistance wan the price victorie And so with sounde of diuerse instrumentes the price borne before him he was throughout the citie honorbaly conueyed amōg other the Senescal 〈◊〉 waited vpon him with mery countenāce greatly praising exalting that valiance of that yong Prince The King which was a very wise mā who many times had had experience of the Chiualrie of his Senescall at other Tourneys Iustes Barriers and Battels and always finding him to be prudent politike for his person very valiant knewe to wel that the fall of his launce was not by chaunce but of purpose continued his opinion of his Senescals liberalitie and courage And to say the trouth such was his exceding curtesie as fewe may be founde to imitate the same Wée daily sée that many be liberall of Fortunes goodes inuesting some with promotion some with apparell golde and siluer Iewels and other things of great value We sée also noble men bountifull to their seruants not onely of those mouable things but also of Castels Landes and Cities What shall we speake of them which will not sticke to sheade their owne bloud and many times to spende their life to do their frendes good Of these and such like examples all Records be full But a man that contemneth same glorie or is of his owne bonor liberall is neuer founde The victorious Captain after the bloody battaile giueth the spoile of his enimies to his souldiers rewardeth thē with prisoners departeth vnto them the whole pray but the glorie and honour of the battaile he reserueth vnto him selfe And as diuinely that father of Romaine eloquence doth say Those philosophers which write that glorie ought to be despised by their written bokes doe séeke after glorie them selues The King was displeased with these noble déedes and curtesie of his Senescall bicause he thoughte it not méete or decent that a subiecte and seruaunt should compare with his lorde and maister and therefore did not beare him that chéerefull countenance which he was wonte to doe And in the ende purposed to let him know that he spent his braines in very great errour if he thought to force his maister to be bounde or beneficiall vnto him as hereafter you shall perceiue There was an ancient and approued custome in Persia that the kings yerely did solemnize an Anniuersarie of their Coronation with great feast and triumph vpon which day all the Barons of the kingdome were bound to repaire to the Courte where the King by the space of viii dayes with sumptuous bankets and other sortes of feastes kepte open
to asswage mine offended minde In the meane time I shall lament the rest of my heauie life with such store of teares as my body dried vp from all humiditie shall shortly search reliefe in earth And hauing made an ende of those hir woords hir heart was so grieuously strained as she could neither wéepe nor speake and stoode so 〈◊〉 as if she had bene in a traunce Then being somewhat come againe vnto hir self with 〈◊〉 voyce she sayde Ah 〈◊〉 tong of other mennes 〈◊〉 howe 〈◊〉 thou so 〈◊〉 to speake of him whome his very enimies doe commend and praise How presumest thou to impute the blame vpon Rhomeo whose vngiltinesse and innocent déede euery man alloweth Where from henceforth shal be his refuge sith she whiche ought to be the only bulwarke and assured rāpire of his distresse doth pursue defame him Receiue receiue then Rhomeo the satisfactiō of mine ingratitude by that sacrifice which I shall make of my proper life and so the fault which I haue committed against thy loyaltie shal be made open to the world thou being reuenged my self punished And thinking to vse some furder talke all the powers of hir body failed hir with signes of present death But the good olde woman which could not imagine that cause of Iulietta hir long absence doubted very much that she suffred some passion and sought hir vp and downe in euery place within hir fathers palace vntill at length she found hir lying a long vpon hir bed al the outward parts of hir body so colde as Marble But the good olde woman which thought hir to be dead began to cry like one out of hir wittes saying Ah deare daughter and 〈◊〉 how much doeth thy deathe now grieue me at the very heart And as she was séeling all the partes of hir body she perceiued some sparke of life to be yet within the same which caused hir to call hir many times by hir name till at length she brought hir out of hir sounde Then she sayd vnto hir Why Iulietta myne own deare dareling what meane you by this turmoiling of your self I can not tel from whēce this your behauior that immoderate heauinesse doe procede but wel I wote that within this houre I thought to haue accompanied you to the graue Alas good mother aunswered wofull Iulietta doe you not most euidently perceiue and sée what iuste cause I haue to sorrow and complaine losing at one instant two persons of the worlde which were vnto me moste deare Me thinke answered the good woman that it is not semely for a Gentlewoman of your degrée to fall into such extremitie For in time of tribulation 〈◊〉 shoulde most preuaile And if the Lord Thibault be dead do you thinke to get hym againe by teares What is he that doth not accuse his ouermuch presumption would you that Rhomeo had done that wrong to him his house to suffer himselfe outraged assailed by one to whome in manhode and prowesse he is not inferiour Suffiseth you that Rhomeo is aliue and his affaires in such estate who in time may be called home again from banishment for he is a great lorde and as you know wel allied and fauored of all men wherfore arme your self from henceforth with pacience For albeit that Fortune doth 〈◊〉 him from you for a time yet sure I am that hereafter shée will restore him vnto you againe with greater ioy and contentation than before And to the end that we be better assured in what state he is if you will promise me to giue ouer your heauinesse I will to day knowe of Frier Laurence whether he is gone To whiche request Iulietta agréed and then the good woman repaired to S. Frauncis where she foūd Frier Laurence who told hir that the same night Rhomeo would not faile at his accustomed houre to visite Iulietta and there to do hir to vnderstand what he purposed to doe in time to come This iorney then fared like the voyages of mariners who after they haue ben tost by great troublous tempest séeing some Sunne 〈◊〉 pierce the heauens to lighten the land assure them selues agayne and thynkyng to haue auoyded shipwracke and sodainly the seas begin to swell the waues do roare with such vehemence and noyse as if they were fallen againe into greater daunger than before The assigned houre come Rhomeo fayled not according to his promise to bée in his Garden where he found his furniture prest to mount the chamber of Iulietta who with displayed armes began so straightly to imbrace hym as it séemed that the soule woulde haue abandoned hir body And they two more than a large quarter of an houre were in such agonie as they were not able to pronounce one worde and wettyng eache others face faste closed together the teares trickeled downe in suche abundaunce as they séemed to bée thoroughlye bathed therein Whiche Rhomeo perceyuing and thynkyng to staye those immoderate teares sayde vnto hir Myne owne dearest friende Iulietta I am not nowe determined to recite the particulars of the straunge happes of frayle and inconstaunte Fortune who in a 〈◊〉 hoystethe a man vp to the hyghest degrée of hir whéele and by and by in lesse space than in the twynckelyng of an eye shée throweth hym downe agayne so lowe as more miserie is prepared for him in one day than fauour in one hundred yeares whyche I nowe proue and hauc experience in my selfe whiche haue bene nourished delicately amonges my friendes and mainteyned in suche prosperous state as you doe little knowe hopyng for the full perfection of my felicitie by meanes of oure maryage to haue reconciled oure parentes and friends and to conducte the residue of my lyfe accordyng to the scope and lotte determined by Almyghty GOD and neuerthelesse all myne enterprises bée put backe and my purposes tourned cleane contrarye in suche wyse as from henceforthe I muste wander lyke a vagabonde thorough dyuerse 〈◊〉 and sequestrate my selfe from my friendes withoute assured place of myne abode whiche I desyre to lette you wete to the intente you maye be exhorted in tyme to come pacientely to beare so well myne absence as that which it shall please God to appointe But Iulietta all affrighted with teares and mortall agonies woulds not suffer hym to passe any further but interruptyng hys purpose sayde vnto hym Rhomeo howe canst thou bée so harde hearted and voyde of all pitie to leaue mée héere alone besieged with so many deadly myseries There is neyther houre nor Minute wherein Death dothe not appeare a thousande tymes before mée and yet my missehappe is suche as I can not dye and therefore doe manyfestelye perceyue that the same Deathe preserueth my lyfe of purpose to delyghte in my griefes and triumphe ouer my euyls And thou lyke the mynister and tyrant of hir crueltie doest make no conscience for oughte that I can sée hauynge atchieued the summe of thy desyres and pleasures on me to abandon and forsake me Whereby I well perceyue
house Upon this Anniuersarie day of Artaxerxes coronation when all things were disposed in order the King desirous to accomplishe a certaine conceiued determination cōmaunded one of his faithful chamberlains spéedily to seke out Ariobarzanes which the sayde faithfull chamberlaine did and telling him the kings message sayd My lord Ariobarzanes the King hath willed me to say vnto you that his pleasure is that you in your owne person euen forthwith shall cary your white stéede and Courser the mace of gold and other 〈◊〉 due to the office of Senescall vnto Darius youre mortall enimie and in his maiesties behalfe to say vnto him that the king hath giuen him that office and hath clearely dispossessed you thereof Ariobarzanes hearing those heauie newes was like to die for sorowe and the greater was his griefe bicause it was giuen to his greatest enimie Notwithstanding like a Gentleman of noble stomacke woulde not in open apparance signifie the displeasure which he conceiued within but with merrie cheare and louing countenance sayde vnto the chambrelaine Do my right humble cōmendations vnto the kinges maiestie and say vnto him that like as he is the soueraigne lorde of all this lande and I his faithfull subiect euen so myne office my life landes and goods be 〈◊〉 his disposition and that willingly I will performe his 〈◊〉 When he had spoken those wordes he rendred 〈◊〉 his office to Darius who at dinner serued in the same And when the king was set Ariobarzanes with comely countenaunce sat downe amongs the rest of the Lordes Which sodaine deposition and depriuation did 〈◊〉 lously amaze the whole assemblie euery man secretly speking their minde either in praise or dispraise of that fact The king all the dinner time did marke note the countenance of Ariobarzanes which was pleasant and merie as it was wont to be whereat the king did greately maruell And to attaine to the ende of his purpose hée began with sharpe wordes in presence of the nobilitie to disclose his discontented minde and the grudge which he bare to Ariobarzanes On the other side the king suborned diuers persons diligently to espie what he sayde did Ariobarzanes hearing the kings sharpe wordes of rebuke and stimulated by the persuasion of diuers flatterers which were hired for that purpose after he perceiued that his declared pacience preuailed nothing that his modest talke his long and faithful seruice which he had done vnto the king his losse and hinderance sustained the perill of his life which so many times he had suffered at length banquished with disdaine he brake the Bridle of Pacience and sorted out of the boundes of his wonted nature for that in place of honor he receiued rebuke in stede of reward was depriued of his office begā in a rage to cōplain of that king terming him to be an vnkind prince which amongs the Persians was estéemed a worde of great offence to the maiestie wherefore faine he would haue departed the court and retired home to his coūtrey which he coulde not doe without speciall licence from the king and yet to craue the same at his handes his heart would not serue him Althese murmures and complaintes which secretely he made were tolde the king therfore the king commaunded him one day to be called before him vnto whome he sayde Ariobarzanes youre grudging complaints and enuious quarels which you disparcle behinde my backe throughout my Courte and your continuall rages outragiously pronounced through the verie windowes of my Palace haue 〈◊〉 myne eares whereby I vnderstande that thing which hardly I would haue beleued But yet being a Prince as wel inclined to fauour and quiet hearing of al causes as to credite of light reports would faine know of you the cause of your lamentation and what hath moued you thervnto For you be not ignorant that to murmure at the Persian King or to terme him to be vnkinde is no lesse offence than to blaspheme the Gods immortall bicause by auncient Lawes and Decrées they be honored and worshipped as Gods And among all the penalties conteined in our lawes the vice of Ingratitude is moste bitterly corrected But leauing to speake of the threates and dangers of our lawes I pray you to tell me wherin I haue offended you For albeit that I am a king yet reason persuadeth me not to giue offence to any man which if I shoulde doe and the Gods forbid the same I ought rather to be termed a tyrant than a King Ariobarzanes hearing the King speake so reasonably was abashed but yet with stoute countenaunce he feared not particularly to remembre the wordes which he had spoken of the King and the cause wherefore he spake them Well sayd the King I perceiue that you blushe not at the words ne yet fear to reherse the same vnto my face wherby I doe perceiue and note in you a certaine kinde of stoutenesse which naturally 〈◊〉 from the greatnesse of your minde But yet wisedome would that you shoulde consider the reason and cause why I haue depriued you from your office Doe you not knowe that it appertaineth vnto me in all mine affaires and déedes to be liberall curteous magnificent and bounteous Be not those the vertues that make the fame of a Prince to 〈◊〉 amongs his subiects as the Sunne beames do vpon the circuit of the worlde Who ought to rewarde well doers and recompence eche wight which for any seruice and aduantage haue all the dayes of their life or else in some particuler seruice vsed their painful trauaile or aduentured the perill of their life but I alone béeing your soueraigne Lord and Prince To the vertuous and obedient to the Captaine and Souldier to the politike and wise to the lerned and graue finally to eche well 〈◊〉 wight I know how to vse the noble princely vertues of Curtesie and Liberalitie They bée the comely ensignes of a King They be the onely ornaments of a Prince They bée my particuler vertues And will you Ariobarzanes béeing a valiant souldier a graue counsailer and a politike personage goe aboute to dispossesse me of that which is mine Will you which are my seruant and subiect of whom I make greatest accompt and haue in dearest estimation vpon whome I did bestowe the greatest dignitie within the compasse of my whole Monarchie grate benefite at my hands by abusing those vertues which I aboue other do principally regard You do much abuse the credite which I repose in your greate wisedome For hée in whome I thought to finde moste graue aduise and déemed to bée a receptacle of all good counsell doth seke to take vpon him the personage of his Prince and to vsurpe the kingly state which belongeth only vnto him Shall I be tied by your deserts or bound by curteous dedes or else be forced to rendre recompēce No no so long as this imperiall crown shall rest on royall head no subiecte by any curteous déede of his shall straine vnwilling minde which meant it not
liuely example to thée which could neuer finde any 〈◊〉 stay vnder the Moones globe He was the mightiest and the richest 〈◊〉 that raigned in Affrica and now is the most miserable vnluckie wight that liueth 〈◊〉 lande The Gods graunt that I be no prophete or 〈◊〉 of future euill whose omnipotencie I deuoutlye beséech to suffer thée and thy posteritie in Numide and most happily to raigne Uonchsafe then to 〈◊〉 me from the Romanes thraldome which if thou be not able safely to bring to passe death vnto me shall bée most hartily welcome In speaking those words she toke the Kings right hand and many times swéetly kissed the same And then hir teares turned into pleasant cheare in such wise as not onely the minde of the armed and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Prince was moued to mercie but 〈◊〉 wrapped in the amorous nets of the Ladie whereby the victour was subdued by the vanquished and the Lorde surprised of his captiue vnto whom with treÌ„bling voice thus he answered Make an end O Sophonisba of thy large complaint abandon thy conceyued feare for I will not onely ridde thée from the Romanès handes but also take thée to my 〈◊〉 wife if thou therwith shalt be content whereby thou shalte not leade a prisoners life but passe thy youthfull dayes and 〈◊〉 age if Gods doe graunt thée life so long as Quéene vnto a King wife vnto a Romane frende When he had sayd so with wéeping teares he kissed and embraced hir She by the 〈◊〉 signes gestes and interrupted 〈◊〉 comprehending that the mind of the Numide King was kindled with feruent loue the more to inflame the same she behaued hir selfe in such pitiful plight as the beastly hearts of the Hircane Tigres woulde haue bene made gentle and dispoiled of all fierceness For againe she fel downe at his féete and kissed the armed sabbatons vpon that same bedewing them with hir warme teares And after many sobbes and infinite sighes comforted by him she sayd O the glorie and honor of all the Kings that euer were bée or shall be hereafter O the safest aide of Carthage mine unhappie countrey without desert and nowe the present and most terrible astonishment If my hard fortune and great distresse after so greate ruine might haue bene relieued what greater fauore what thing in all my life coulde chaunce more and fortunate vnto me than to bée called wife of thée O I blessed aboue all other women to haue a man so noble and famous to husband O mine aduenturous and most happie ruine O my moste fortunate miserie that such a glorious and incomparable mariage was prepared for me But bicause the Gods be coÌ„trary vnto me and the due ende of my life approcheth â—easse from henceforth my deare soueraigne Lorde to kindle againe in me my hope half dead or rather consumed and spent bicause I sée my selfe wrapped in a state that in vaine against the pleasures of the Gods I go about to molest thée A great gift and to say the truthe a right great good turne I make accompte to haue receiued of thée if myne owne death I should procure that dying by thy meanes or with thy handes which were more acceptable I should escape the feare of the Romanes thrall all and subiection and this soule deliuered of the same should streight way passe into the Elysian fieldes The final scope of this my humble playnt is to rydone from the handes handes the Romanes whose thraldome to suffer I had rather die The other benefit which thou dost frankly offer to me poore wretche I dare not desire much lesse require the same bicause the preseÌ„t state of my mishappe dareth not presume so high But this thy pitie and compassion ioyned with louing regard and mind toward me mightie Ioua with all the other Gods rewarde and blesse thy gotten kingdome with long raigne enlarging the same with more ample boundes to thine eternall renoum and praise And I do not only render humble thankes for this thy kinde and louing enterteinmeÌ„t but also yelde my selfe thine owne so long as life gouerneth this caitife corps of myne These wordes were pronounced with such effecte as Massinissa was not able for pitie to hold his teares which watred so his comely forme as the dewe therof soaked into his tender heart and not able a long time to speake at last thus he sayd Gyue ouer O my Quéene these cares and thoughts drie vp thy cries 〈◊〉 plaints make an ende of all these dolorous sutes and reioyce that frowarde Fortune hath changed hir mind the Gods no doubt with better successe will perfourme the rest of thy liuing dayes Thou shalt heÌ„ceforth remain 〈◊〉 Quéene wife for pledge whereof the sacred Godheadâ— I call to witnesse But if perchauÌ„ce which the thuÌ„dring mightie God aboue forbid that I shall bée forced to render thée the Romanes prisoner be well assured that on liue they shal not possesse thée For credit and accomplishment of this promisse and in signe of his assured faith he reached his right haÌ„d to Sophonisba and led hir into the inner lodgyng of the Kyngs Palace where afterwarde Massinissa with him self considering how he might perform his promised faith â— ered and troubled with a thousande cogitations séeing in a manner his manifest ouerthrow and ruine at hande prouoked with mad and temerarious loue the very same day in open presence he toke hir to wife solemnizing that mariage which afterwards 〈◊〉 vnto him great veration trouble meaning by the same to haue discharged Sophonisba froÌ„ the Romanes rule order But when Laelius was come and heard tell therof 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and chased with 〈◊〉 wordes coÌ„maunded Massinissa to send his new maried wife as the bootie and praie of the Romanes together with Syphax to their Captaine Scipio Notwithstanding vanquished with the supplications and teares of Massinissa referring the matter wholly to the iudgement of Scipio he dispatched Syphax with the other prisoners and bootie to the Romane campe and he himself remained with Massinissa for the recouerie of other places of the Kingdome minding not to returne before the whole prouince were brought vnder the Romane subiection In that meane time Laelius gaue 〈◊〉 vnto Scipio of the successe of Massinissa his mariage Who knowing the same to be so hastily celebrated was maruellously offended troubled in minde much maruellyng that Massinissa would make such post hast before the comming of Laelius Yea vpon the very first day of his entrie into Cirta that hée would 〈◊〉 that vnaduised wedding the greater was Scipio his displeasure towards Massinissa for 〈◊〉 the loue which he had conceiued of that woman was vnsemely and dishonest wondering not a little that he could not finde out some Ladie within the region of Spaine of 〈◊〉 beautie and 〈◊〉 to please and content his honest and commendable intent wherfore he iudged Massinissa his 〈◊〉 to be done out of time to the preiudice and great decay of his honor estimation 〈◊〉 like a wise and
Prudent personage he dissembled his conceyued griefe expecting occasion for remedie of the same Now the time was come that Laelius and Massnissa wer 〈◊〉 for to the campe But to declare the teares lamentable talke the great 〈◊〉 and sighes vttered betwene this newe maried couple time would want and 〈◊〉 nesse wold ensue to the reader of the same He had skarce lyen with his beloued two or thrée nights but that Laelius to their great grief and sorow claimed hir to be his prisoner Wherfore very sorowful and pensiue he departed and retourned to the Campe. Scipio in honourable wise receiued him and openly before his Captaines and men of warre gaue thanks to Laelius him for their prowesse and notable exploites Afterwards sending for him into his Tent he said vnto him I do suppose my dere frend Massinissa that the vertue and beneuolence you saw in me did first of all prouoke you to transfrete the straites to visite me in Spaine wherin the goodwill of my valiant friend Syllanus did not a little anaile to sollicite and procure amitie betwéene vs both which afterwards induced your constant minde to retire into 〈◊〉 to commit both your self and all your goods into my hands and kéeping But I well pondering the qualitie of that vertue which moued you thervnto you being of 〈◊〉 and I of Europa you a Numidian borne and I a Latine and Romane of diuers customes language differēt thought that the temperance and abstinence from veneriall pleasures which you haue séene to be in me and experience therof well tried and proued for the which I render vnto the immortal Gods most hūble thanks wold or ought to haue moued you to follow mine example being these vertues which aboue al other I doe most esteme and cherish which vertues should haue allured you being a man of great prowesse and discretion to haue imitated and folowed the same For he that well marketh the rare giftes and excellent benefits wherwith dame nature hath 〈◊〉 you would thinke that there should be no lacke of diligence and trauell to subdue and ouercome the carnall appetites of temporal beautie which had it 〈◊〉 applied to the rare giftes of nature planted in you had made you a personage to the posteritie very famous and renoumed Consider wel my present time of youth full of courage youthly lust which contrary to that naturall race I stay and prohibite No delicate beautie no voluptuous delectation no seminine flatterie can intice the same to the perils and daungers wherevnto that héedelesse age is most prone and subiect by which prohibition of amorous passions temperatly raigned and gouerned the tamer and subduer of those passions closing his breast from lasciuious imaginations and stopping his eares from the Syrenes Marmaides of that sexe and kinde getteth greater glory and fame than that which we haue gotten by our victory had against Syphax Hannibal the greatest ennimie that euer we Romanes felt the stoutest gentleman captain without péere through the delites and imbracements of women effeminated is no more that mālike and notable Emperor which he was wont to be The great exploits enterprises which valiantly you haue done in Numidia when I was farre from you your care redinesse 〈◊〉 your strength and valor your expedition and bolde attepts with all the rest of your noble vertues worthy of immortall praise I might could perticulerly recite but to commend and extol them my heart and minde shal never be satisfied by renouaciō wherof I shuld rather giue occasion of blushing than my selfe could be contented to let them sléepe in silence Syphax as you know is taken prisoner by the valiaunce of our men of warre by reason wherof him self his wife his kingdom his campe lands cities and inhabitants and briefly all that which was king Syphax is the pray and spoile to the Romane people and the king and his wife albeit she was no Citizen of Carthage and hir father although no captaine of our ennimies yet we must send them to Rome there to leaue them at the pleasure and disposition of the Romane 〈◊〉 nate and people Doe you not know that Sophonisba with hir toyes flatteries did alienat and withdraw king Syphax from our amitie and friendship and made him to enter force of armes against vs Be you ignoraunt that she ful of rancor and malice against the Romane people endeuored to set al 〈◊〉 against vs now by hir faire inticements hath gained and wonne you not I say our 〈◊〉 but an ennimie so farre as she can with hir cruell inchauntmēts What damage and hurt haue lighted vpō diuers Monarches and Princes through sugred lips and venemous woords I will not spend time to recite With what prouocations and cōiured charmes she hath already bewitched your good nature I wil not now imagine but referre the same to the déepe consideration of your wisdome Wherefore Massinissa as you haue bene a Conquerer ouer great nations and prouinces be now a conquerer ouer your owne mind and appetites the victorie whereof deserueth greater praise than the conquest of the whole world Take héede I say that you blot not your good qualities and conditions with the spots of dishonor and pusillanimitie 〈◊〉 not that fame which hitherto is 〈◊〉 aboue the Region of the glittering starres Let not this vice of Feminine flatterie spoile the deserts of Noble chiualrie vtterly deface those 〈◊〉 with greater ignominie than the cause of that offence is worthie of dispraise Massinissa hearing these egre sharp rebukes not only blushed for shame but bitterly werping said that his poore prisoner and wife was at the commaundemēt of Scipio Noiwithstanding so instantly as teares woulde suffer him to speake he besought hym that if it were possible he would giue him leaue to obserue his faith foolishly assured bicause he had made an othe to Sophonisba that with life she should not be deliuered to the handes of the Romanes And after other talke betwene them Massinissa departed to his pauilion where alone with manifold sighes with most bitter teares and plaintes vttered with such houlings and outcries as they were heard by those which stode about the same he rested al the day bewailing his present state the most part of the night also he spent with like heauinesse and debating in his minde vpon diuers thoughts and deuises more confused and amased than before he could by no meanes take any rest sometimes he thought to flée and passe the straights commonly called the pillers of Hercules from thence to saile to the Fortunate Islandes with his wife then again he thought with hir to escape to Carthage in ayde of that Citie to serue against the Romans somtimes he purposed by sword poison halter or som such means to end his life and finish his dolorous days many times he was at point by prepared knife sworde to pierce his heart yet stayed the same not for feare of death but for preseruatiō of his fame
honor Thus this wretched miserable 〈◊〉 burned consumed with loue tossing and tumbling him selfe vpon his bedde not able to find comfort to ease his paine thus began to say O Sophonisba my deare beloued wife O the life and comforte of my life O the deyntie repast of my ioy and quiet more amiable than the balles of myne vnhappie eyes what shall become of vs Alas out alas I crie that I shall sée no more that incōparable beautie of thine that thy surpassyng comely face those golden lockes those glistering eyes which a thousande times haue darkned and obscured the rayes beames of the Sunne it selfe Alas I say that I can no longer be suffred to heare the plesant harmonie of thy voice whose swéetnesse is able to force Iupiter himselfe to mitigate his rage when with lightning thunderboltes and 〈◊〉 claps in his greatest furie he 〈◊〉 to plague 〈◊〉 earth Ah that it is not lawfull any more for me to throw these vnhappie armes about thy swéet neck whose 〈◊〉 of face entermingled with séemely rudds 〈◊〉 the morning roses which by the swéete nightly dewes do sproute and budde The Gods graunt that I do not long remaine on liue without thy swéete haunt and company which can no longer draw forth this breathing ghoste of mine than can a bodie liue without like breathe in it Graunt O mightie Iupiter that one graue may close vs twaine to liue among the ghostes and shadowes that be alreadie past this worlde for like right louing fittes 〈◊〉 intent of life be ment to mée without thy fellowship delectable presēce And who O good God shal be more blisfull amongs the Elysian fields wandryng amids the spirites and ghostes of departed soules than I if there we two may iette and stalke among the shadowed friths and forrests huge besette with Mirtle trées odoriferous and swéete that there we may at large recount and sing the swéete sower pangs of those oure passed loues without any stay or let at all that there I say we may remembre things alreadie done reioycing for delightes and sighing for the paines There shall no harde hearted Scipio bée founde there shall no marble minded captain rest which haue not had regarde of Loues toyes ne yet haue pitied my bitter pains by hauing no experiece what is the force of Loue. He then with ouer cruell wordes shall not goe about to persuade me to forsake thée or to deliuer thée into the Romanes handes to incurre miserable and 〈◊〉 cruell bondage he shal there neuer checke me for the seruent loue I beare thée we shall there abide without suspition of him or any other they can not separate vs they be not able to diuide our swéetest companie I would the Gods aboue had graunted me the benefite that hée had neuer arriued into Affrica but had still remained in Sicilia in Italie or Spayne But what stand I vpon these termes O I foole and beast what meanes my drousie head to dreme such fansies if he had not passed ouer into Affrica made warre against king Syphax howe shold I haue euer séene my faire Sophonisba whose beautie farre surmounteth eche other wight whose comlinesse is without péere whose grace inspeakeable whose maners rare and incomparable and whose other qualities generally disparcled throughout dame Natures mould by speche of mā can not be described If Scipio had not transfraited the seas to arriue in Affrike soyle howe should I O onely hope and last refuge of my desires haue knowen thée neither should I haue bene thy féere ne yet my wife thou sholdest haue ben but great had ben thy gaine and losse not much neuer sholdest thou haue felt the present painfull state wherin thou art thy life wherof most worthie no doubt thou art shold not haue lien in ballāce poize or rested in doubtful plight which now in choice of enimies thrall thou maist prolong or else in Romanes hands a praie or spoil by captiue state But I beséech the Gods to preuent the choice to be a Romane prisoner And who can thinke that Scipio euer ment to graunt me the life of one goeth about to spoil me of the same Did not he giue me the pardon of one when he sent me to besiege the Citie of Cirta where I found fair Sophonisba which is my life A straūge kind of pardō by giuing me a pardon to dispossesse me of that same Who euer hard tel of such a pardon So much as if he said to me thus Massinissa go take the paine to cause that Citie yeld or ransack the same by force I wil pardon thée thy life not with that only benefit but with Craesus goods wil inrich thée make shée owner of the happy soile of Arrabia when I haue so done rased the walles by mine indeuor wherin mine only life and ioy did rest at my retourne for guerdone of my noble fact in stéede of life he choppeth of my head and for faire promise of golden mountes he strips me naked and makes me a Romane slaue According to which case and state he deales with me For what auailes my life if in grief and sorrowes 〈◊〉 I drown the pleasures of the same Doth not he berieue my life and bréedes my death by diuiding me from my faire Sophonisba Ah Caitife wretch what lucke haue I that neither storm nor whirle winde could send him home to Italian shore or set him packing to Sicile land What ment cruell Scipio when so sone as Syphax was takē he did not streight way dispatche him to Rome to present the glorious sight of the Numidian king to that Romane people If Scipio had not bene here thou Sophonisba frankly hadst bene mine for at Laelius hāds I could haue found some grace But surely if Scipio did once sée Sophonisba reclined his eies to view hir perelesse beautie I doubt not but he wold be moued to haue compassion vpon hir and me and would haue iudged hir worthy not only to be Quéene of Numidia but of all the prouince besides But what do I make this good accompt The common prouerbe saith that he which counteth without his hoste must recken twice and so perhaps may be my lot For what know I if Scipio did wel view hir whether he himselfe would be inamored of hir or not so vtterly depriue me of that Iewel He is a man no doubt as others be and it is impossible me think but that the hardnesse of his heart must bowe to the view of such a noble beautie But beast as I am what mean these woords What follies doe I vaunt by singing to the deafe and teaching of the blinde O wretch wretch nay more than miserable wretch Marke the woords of Scipio he demaundeth Sophonisba as a thing belōging vnto him for which cause he sayeth that she is the pray parte of the Romane spoile But what shall I 〈◊〉 shall I giue hir vnto him He 〈◊〉 haue hir he 〈◊〉 me he exhortes me he prayes
toke the poysoned cuppe and said vnto the messanger Giue the king thy maister right humble thankes in my behalfe and say vnto him that I receiue and drinke this poyson with a will so good as if he had commaunded me to enter in triumph with Laurell garlande ouer mine ennimies For a better gift a husband can not giue to wife than accomplishment of assured faith the funeralls whereof shall be done with present obsequie And saying nothing else vnto the Messanger she toke the cuppe and myngling well together the poyson within she vnfearfully 〈◊〉 it vp And 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 had dronke the same she deliuered the messanger his cuppe againe and layed hir selfe vpon hir bed commaūding hir Gentlewomen in comely wise to couer hir with clothes and without lamentation or signe of Feminine minde shée stoutly waighted for approching death The Gentlewomen which waited vpon hir bewaited the rufull state of their 〈◊〉 esse whose plaints and schriches were heard throughout the palace wherof the brute and rumor was great But the good Quéene vanquished with the strong force of the poyson remained not long before she died The Messanger returned these heauie newes vnto Massinissa who sorowfully complained the losse of his beloned wife in such wise as many tymes hée was like to kill him selfe that his soule might haue accompanied the ghost of hir which was beloued of hym aboue all the deerest things of the worlde The valiaunt and wise captaine Scipio vnderstanding hereof to the intent Massinissa shoulde not commit any crueltie against himselfe or perpetrate other vncomely déede called hym before him and comforted him with the swéetest wordes he could deuise and friendly reproued him for the little faith and trust that he had in him The next day in the 〈◊〉 of all the arinie he highly commended him and rewarded him with the Kingdome of Numidia giuing hym many rich iewels and treasures and brought him in great estimation amōgs that Romans which the Senate and people of Rome very well approned and cōfirmed with most ample priuileges attributing vnto him the title of King of Numidia and frend of the Romanes Such was the eude of the vnhappie loue of kyng 〈◊〉 and the faire and unluckie Quéene Sophonisba Poris and Theoxena ¶ The crueltie of a King of 〈◊〉 who forced a Gentlewomā called THEOXENA to persuade hir children to kill and poison them selues after which facte she and hir husband PORIS ended their life by drovvning The. viij Nouell BUt sith wée haue begon to treat of the stoutnesse of certaine noble Quéenes I will not let also to recite the Historie of a like vnfearefull dame of Thessalian lande called Theoxena of right noble race the daughter of Herodicus prince of that cūtrey in the time that Philip the sonne of Demetrius was king of Macedone tolde also by Titus Liuius as two of the former be This lady Theoxena first was a notable exāple of 〈◊〉 vertue afterwardes of rigorous crueltie For the said King Philip hauing through his wickednesse first murdred Herodicus and by succession of time cruelly done to death also the husbands of Theoxena and of Archo hir natural sister vnto either of them being widowes remaining a sonne afterwardes Archo beyng maried againe to one of the principall of their countrey named Poris of him she had many childrē But when she was dead that sayd ladie Theoxena hir sister who was of heart more cōstant and stoute than the other stil refused the second mariage although sued vnto by many great lordes and princes at length pitying hir nephewes state for scare they shold fal into the handes of some cruell stepdame or that their father would not bring them vp with such diligence as till that time they were was contented to be espoused again to Poris no lawe that time knowen to defend the same to the intent she might traine vp hir sisters children as hir owne That done she began as if they wer hir own to intreate and vse them louingly with great care and 〈◊〉 wherby it 〈◊〉 appeared that she was not 〈◊〉 againe to Poris for hir own commoditie and pleasure but 〈◊〉 for the welth and gouernement of those hir sisters children Afterwards Philip king of Macedon an vnquiete Prince determining to make new warres vpon the Romanes then throughout the worlde famous and 〈◊〉 for their 〈◊〉 fortune 〈◊〉 not onely the chief and noble men but almost all the auncient inhabi 〈◊〉 of the Cities along the sea coast of Thessalia and their whole and entier families into Peonia afterwards called Emathia a countrey farre distant from the sea giuing their voided cities for the Thracians to inhabite as most propre and faithfull for the Romains warres which he intended to make and hearing also the 〈◊〉 maledictions pronoūced against him by the banished people and vniuersally by all other thoughte hée was in no good suretie if he caused not likewise all the sonnes of them whome a little before he had 〈◊〉 to be put to death Wherfore he commaunded them to be taken and holden vnder good garde inprison not to do them all to be 〈◊〉 at once but at times now one and then an other as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theoxena vnderstanding the 〈◊〉 of this wicked and cruell King and well remembring the death of hir husband and of him that was husband to hir sister knew wel that hir sonne and nephew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be demaunded and greatly 〈◊〉 the Kings wrath and the rigour of his Guarde if once they fell into their handes to defende them from shame and crueltie sodeinly applied hir minde vnto a straunge deuice For shée durst to say vnto hir husband their fathers sace that sooner 〈◊〉 would kill them with hir owne handes if otherwise she coulde not warraunt 〈◊〉 than suffer them to bée at the will and power of King Philip. By reason wherof Poris abhorring 〈◊〉 erecrable crueltie to comforte his wife and to saue his children promised hir secretely to transporte them from thence and caried them himselfe to certain of his faithful friends at Athenes which done without long delay he made as though he would go from Thessalonica to Aenias to be at the 〈◊〉 of certaine sacrifices which yearely at an appointed time was done with great ceremonies to the honour of Aenêas the 〈◊〉 of that citie where spending the time amongs other in solemne bankets the. iij. watch of the night when euery mā was a slepe as though he woulde haue returned home to his countrey with his wife children priuily he embarketh him selfe and them in a shyppe hired of purpose to passe into Euboea and not to 〈◊〉 to Thessalonica But his entent was cleane altered chaunged for his shippe was no sooner vnder saile but at that instant a contrarie winde and tempest rose that brought him backe againe in despite of their labour and all the endeuour they were able to doe And when daye light appeared the Kyngs garrison descried that shippe and manned out a boate to bring in the same
giue To louing man that here on earth doth liue This great good turne which I on hir pretende Of my conceites the full desired ende Proceedes from thee O cruell mystres mine Whose froward heart hath made me to resigne The full effect of all my libertie To please and ease thy fonde fickle fansie My vse of speach in silence to remaine To euery wight a double hellish paine Whose faith hadst thou not wickedly abusde No stresse of paine for thee had bene refusde Who was to thee a trustie seruaunt sure And for thy sake all daungers would endure For which thou hast defaced thy good name And there vnto procurde eternall shame I That roaring tempest huge which thou hast made me felt The raging stormes whereof well nere my heart hath swelt By painefull pangs whose waltering waues by troubled skies And thousand blastes of winde that in those seas do rise Do promise shipwracke sure of that thy sayling Barke When after weather cleare doth rise some tempest darke For eyther I or thou which art of Tygres kinde In that great raging gulfe some daunger sure shalt finde Of that thy nature rude the dest'nies en'mies be And thy great ouerthrow full well they do foresee The heauens vnto my estate no doubt great friendship shoe And do seeke wayes to ende and finish all my woe This penance which I beare by yelding to thy hest Great store of ioyes shall heape and bring my minde to rest And when I am at ease amids my pleasaunt happes Then shall I see thee fall and suarlde in Fortunes trapes Then shall I see thee banne and cursse the wicked time Wherin thou madest me gulpe such draught of poysoned wine By which thy mortall cuppe I am the offred wight A vowed sacrifice to that thy cruell spight Wherefore my hoping heart doth hope to see the daie That thou for silence nowe to me shalt be the praie I O blessed God most iust whose worthy laude and praise With vttered speach in Skies aloft I dare not once to raise And may not wel pronoūce speak what suffrance I sustain Ne yet what death I do indure whiles I in life remaine Take vengeance on that traitresse rude afflict hir corps with woe Thy holy arme redresse hir fault that she no more do soe My reason hath not so farre strayed but I may hope and trust To see hir for hir wickednesse be whipt with plague most iust In the meane while great hauinesse my sense and soule doth bite And shaking feuer vexe my corps for grief of hir despite My mynde now set at libertie from thee O cruell dame Doth giue defiance to thy wrath and to thy cursed name Proclamyng mortall warre on thee vntill my tongue vntide Shall ioy to speake to Zilia fast wepyng by my side The heuēs forbid that causelesse wrōg abrode shold make his vaūt Or that an vndeserued death forget full tombe shoulde haunt But that in written boke and verse their names should euer liue And eke their wicked dedes should die and vertues still reuine So shall the pride and glorie both of hir be punisht right By length of yeares and tract of time And I by vertues might Full recompense therby shall haue and stande still in good fame And she like caitife wretche shall liue to hir long lasting shame Whose fond regarde of beauties grace contemned hath the force Of my true loue full fixt in hir hir heart voide of remorse Esteemed it selfe right foolishely and me abused still Vsurping my good honest faith and credite at hir will Whose loyall faith doth rest in soule and therin still shall bide Vntill in filthie stincking graue the earth my corps shall hide Then shal that soule fraught with that faith to heuēs make his 〈◊〉 And rest amōg the heuenly rout bedeckt with sacred aire paire And thou for thy great crueltie as God aboue doth know With rufull voice shalt weepe and waile for thy great ouerthrow And when thou wouldest fain purge thy self for that thy wretched No kindnesse shal to thee be done extreme shal be thy mede dede And where my tongue doth want his will thy mischief to display My hande and penne supplies the place and shall do so alway For so thou hast constrainde the same by force of thy behest In silence still my tong to kepe t' accomplishe thy request Adieu farewell my tormenter thy friend that is full mute Doth bid thee farewell once againe and so he ends his sute He that liueth only to be reuenged of thy cruelty Philiberto of Virle Zilia like a disdainfull woman made but a iest at the letters and complaints of the infortunat louer saying that she was very well content with his seruice And that when he should performe the time of his probatiou she should sée if he were worthy to be admitted into the felowship of them which had made sufficient proofe of the order and rule of loue In the meane time Philiberto rode by great iourneys as we haue sayd before towards the goodly and pleasant Countrey of Fraunce wherein Charles the seuenth that time did raigne who miraculously but giue the French man leaue to flatter speake vvel of his ovvne Countrey according to the flattering and vaunting nature of that Nation chased the English men out of his lands and auncient Patrimonie in the yeare of our Lord. 1451. This king had his campe then warfaring in Gascoine whose lucke was so fortunate as he expeld his enimies and left no place for thē to fortifie in the sayd Countrey which incouraged the king to folow that good occasion and by prosecuting his victorious fortune to profligat out of Normandie to dispatch himself of that enimy into whose handes and seruitude the Coūtrey of Guiene was rightly deliuered and victoriously wonne and gottē by the Englishmen The king then being in his Campe in Normandie the Piedmont Gentleman the Lord of Virle aforesayd repaired thereunto to serue him in his person where hée was well knowne of some Captaines which had séene him at other times and in place where worthy Gentlemen are wont to frequent and in the Duke of Sauoyes court which the Frenchmen did very much 〈◊〉 bicause the Earle of Piedmont that then was Duke of Sauoy had maried Iolanta the second daughter of Charles the seuenth These Gentlemen of Fraunce were very much sory for the misfortune of the Lord of Virle and knowing him to be one of the brauest and lustiest men of armes that was in his time within the Country of Piedmont presented him before the King commending vnto his grace the vertue gentlenesse and valianee of the man of warre Who after he had done his 〈◊〉 according to his duetie which he knew ful well to doe declared vnto him by signs that he was come for none other intent but in those warres to serue his maiesty whom the king heard and thākfully receiued assuring himself and promising very much of the 〈◊〉 Gitlemā for respect of his personage which was comely
willingly agréed greatly praisyng the wisedome curtesie and aboue all the fidelitie of the lord of Virle who causing his penitenciarie to be sette at libertie kept hir companie certaine dayes as well to feast and banket hir in those landes and possessions whiche the kings maiestie had liberally bestowed vpon him as to saciate his appetite with the frutes whereof he had sauoured the tast when he was voluntarily dumbe Zilia founde that fauour so pleasaunt that in a maner shée counted hir imprisonment happie and hir trauel rest by reason that distresse made hir then féele more liuely the force and pleasure of libertie whiche she had not founde to be so pleasant had she not receiued the experience and pain therof Marke here how fortune 〈◊〉 with them whiche trusting in their force despise in respect of that which they do them selues the litle porciō that they iudged to be in others If the vainglorie and arrogant presumption of a chastitie impregnable had not deceiued this Gentlewoman if the sacred hunger of golde had not blinded hir it coulde not 〈◊〉 bene knowne wherin hir incontinencie consisted not in the minion delightes and alluring toyes of a passionate louer but in that couetous desire of filling hir purse and hypocritical glorie of praise among men And notwithstanding ye sée the gaine which she made to 〈◊〉 hir turne nothing at all but to the perpetuall reproch of hir name and raised a slaunder such as yll speakers and enimies of womenkind do burden that sexe withall But the fault of one which by hir owne presumption deceiued hir selfe ought not to obscure the glorie of so many vertuous faire and honest dames who by their chastitie liberalitie and curtesie be able to deface the blot of folie couetousnesse and crueltie of this gentlewoman here and of all other that do resemble hir Who taking leaue of hir louer went home agayne to Piedmont not withoute an ordinarie griefe of hearte which serued hir for a spurre to hir cōscience and continually forced hir to thinke that the force of man is lesse thā nothing where god worketh not by his grace which failyng in vs oure workes can sauor but of the 〈◊〉 corruption of our nature wherin it tumbleth and tosseth like the Sow that waloweth in the puddle full of filth and dirte And bicause ye shall not thinke in general termes of womans chastitie and discretion that I am not able to vouche some particular exāple of later yeares I meane to tel you of one that is not only to be praysed for hir chastitie in the absence of hir husband but also of hir corage and policie in chastizing 〈◊〉 vaunting natures of two Hungarian lords that made their braggs they would winne hir to their willes and not onely hir but also al other what soeuer they were of womankinde A Lady of Boeme ¶ Two Barons of 〈◊〉 assuring them selues to obtaine their sute made to a faire Ladie of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of hir a straunge and maruellous repulse to their great shame and infamie curssyng the time that euer they aduentured an enterprise so foolish The. xxviij Nouel P Enelope the wofull wife of absent Vlisses in hir tedious lōging for the home returne of that hir aduèturous knight assailed wyth carefull hearte amidde the troupe of amorous suters and within the bowels of hir royal palace deserued no greter fame for hir valiāt encountries stoute defense of the inuincible and Adamante forte of hir chastitie than thys Boeme Ladie 〈◊〉 by resisting two mighty barons that canoned the walles and well mured rampart of hir pudicitie For being threatned in his Princes courte whether all the well trained crew of eche science and profession dydde make repaire beyng menaced by Venus bande whiche not onely summoned hir forte and gaue hir a camisado by thick AP Armes but also forced the place by fierce assaulte she like a couragious and politike captaine gaue those braue and lustie souldiers a fowle repulse 〈◊〉 in ende taking them captines vrged them for their victuals to fall to womans toyle more shamefull than shamelesse Sardanapalus amidde his amorous troupe I néede not aggrauate by length of preamble the fame of this Boeme Lady nor yet 〈◊〉 recoūt the triumph hir victorie vayne it were also by glorious hymnes to chaunt the wisedome of hir beleuyng Make who not carelesse of hir lyfe employed hys care to serue hys Prince and by seruice at chieued the cause that draue him to a souldiers state But yet for trustlesse faith in the prime conference of his future porte he consulted with Pollaco for a compounded drugge to ease his suspect minde whiche medicine so eased his maladie as it not onely preserued him from the infected humour but also made him happie for euer Such fall the euentes of valiant mindes though many times mother iealosie that 〈◊〉 wytch steppeth in hir foote to anoy the wel disposed heart For had he ioyned to his valiaunce credite of his louing wife without the blinde aduise of such as professe that blacke and lying science double glorie hée had gained once for endeuoring by seruice to séeke honour the seconde for absolute truste in hir that neuer ment to beguile him as by hir firste aunswere to his first motion appeareth But what is to be obiected against the Barons Let them answere for their fault in this discourse ensuing whiche so lessoneth all noble myndes as warely they oughte to beware howe they aduenture vppon the honoure of Ladies who bée not altogether of one selfe and yeldyng trampe but well 〈◊〉 and steeled in the shamefast shoppe of loyaltie which armure defendeth them against the fonde skirmishes and vnconsidred conflicts of Venus wanton band The maiesties also of the King and Quéene are to be aduaunced aboue the starrs for their wise dissuasion of those noble men from their hot hedlesse enterprise and then their iustice for due execution of their forfait the particularitie of which discourse in this wyse doth begynne Mathie Coruine sometime kyng of Hungaric aboute the yeare of oure Lorde 1458. was a valiant man of warre and of goodly personage He was the first that was famous or feared of the Turks of any prince that gouerned that kingdome And amongs other his 〈◊〉 so well in armes and letters as in liberality and curtesie he excelled all that raigned in his time He had to wife Quéene Beatrice of Arragon the daughter of olde 〈◊〉 kyng of Naples and sister to the mother of Alphonsus Duke of Ferrara who in learnyng good conditions and al other vertues generally dispersed in hir was a surpassing Princesse she wed hirself not onely a curteous liberall Gentlewoman to king Mathie hir husband but to al other that for vertue séemed worthy of honour and reward in such wise as to the court of these two noble princes repaired the most notable men of al nations that wer giuen to any kind of good exercise and euery of them according to theyr desert and degrée were welcomed and entertained
tourne but his greatest fame rose of his clemencie and curtesie In such wise as he shewed hym selfe to be gentle and fauourable euen to them whome he knewe not to loue him otherwise than if he had bene their mortal enimie His successors as Augustus Vespasianus Titus Marcus Aurelius Flauius were worthily noted for clemencie Notwithstandyng I sée not one drawe néere to great courage and gentlenesse ioyned with the singular curtesie of Dom Roderigo Viuario the Spaniarde surnamed Cid towarde Kyng Pietro of Aragon that hyndred his expedition againste the Mores at Grenadoe For hauyng vanquished the 〈◊〉 King and taken hym in battell not only remitted the reuenge of his wrong but also suffered hym to goe without raunsome and toke not from him so much as one forte estéeming it to be a better exploite to winne such a king with curtesie than beare the name of cruell in putting hym to death or seazing vpon his lande But bicause acknowledging of the poore and enriching the small is more cōmendable in a Prince than when he sheweth himselfe gentle to his like I haue collected thys discourse and facte of Kyng Mansor of Marocco whose children by subtile and fained religion Cherif succéeded the sonne of whome at this day inioyeth the kingdoms of Su Marocco and the most part of the 〈◊〉 confinyng vpon Aethiopia This historie was told by an Italian called Nicholoso Baciadonne who vpon this accident was in Affrica and in trafike of marchandise in the land of Oran situated vpon the coast of that South seas and where the Geneuois and Spaniards vse great entercourse bicause the countrey is faire wel peopled and where the inhabitaunts although the soile be barbarous lyue indifferent ciuilly vsing greate curtesie to straungers and largely departyng their goodes to the poore towards whome they be so earnestly bente and louing as for their liberalitie and pitifull alinesse they shame vs Christians They mainteyne a greate numbre of Hospitalls to receyue and intertaine the poore and néedie which they doe more charitably than they that be bounde by the lawe of Iesus Christe to vse charitie towardes their brethren wyth that curtesie and humaine myldnesse These Oraniens delight also to recorde in writing the successe of things that chaunce in their tyme and carefully reserue the same in memorie whiche was the cause that hauyng registred in theyr Chronicles which be in the Arabie letters as the moste parte of the Countreys do vse thys present historie they imparted the same to the Geneuois marchauntes of whome the Italian Author confesseth 〈◊〉 haue receyued the Copie The cause why that Geneuois marchaunt was so diligent to make that enquirie was by reason of a citie of that prouince built through the chaunce of this Historie and which was called in theyr tongue Caesar Elcabir so much to say as A great Palace And bycause I am assured that curteous mynds will delight in déedes of curtesie I haue amongs other the Nouells of Bandello chosen by Francois de Belleforest and my selfe discoursed thys albeit the matter be not of great importance and greater thyngs and more notorious curtesies haue bene done by our owne kings and Princes As of Henry the eyght a Prince of notable memorie in his progresse in to the Northe the xxxiij yeare of his raigne when he disdained not a pore Millers house being stragled from his traine busily pursuing the Hart and there vnknown of the Miller was welcomed with homely chere as his mealy house was able for the time to minister and afterwards for acknowledging his willing minde recompenced him with dainties of the Courte and a Princely rewarde Of Edward the thirde whose Royall nature was not displeased pleasauntly to vse a 〈◊〉 Tanner when deuided from his company he mette him by the way not farre from Tomworth in Staffordshire and by cheapening of his welfare stéede for stedinesse sure and able to cary him so farre as the stable dore grewe to a price and for exchaunge the Tanner craued 〈◊〉 shillings to boote betwene the Kings and his And whē the King satisfied with disport desired to shew himself by sounding his warning blast assembled al his train And to the great amaze of the pore Tanner when he was guarded with that 〈◊〉 he well guerdoned his good pastime and familiare dealing with the order of 〈◊〉 and reasonable reuenue for the maintenaunce of the same The like examples our Chronicles memory and report plentifully doe auouche and witnesse But what this History is the more rare and worthy of noting for respect of the people and Countrey where seldome or neuer curtesie haunteth or findeth harboroughe and where Nature doth bring forth greater store of monsters than things worthy of praise This great King Mansor then was not onely the temporall Lord of the Countrey of Oran and Moracco but also as is saide of Prete Iean Bishop of his law and the Mahomet priest as he is at this day that 〈◊〉 in Feze Sus and Marocco Now this Prince aboue all other pleasure 〈◊〉 the game of Hunting And he so muche delighted in that passetime as sometime he would cause his Tentes in the midde of the desertes to be erected to lie there all night to the ende that the next day he might renewe his game and 〈◊〉 his men of idlenesse and the wilde beastes of rest And this manner of life he vsed still after he had done iustice and hearkened the complaintes for which his subiectes came to disclose thereby their griefes Wherin also he toke so great pleasure as some of our Magistrates doe seke their profite whereof they be so squeymishe as they be desirous to satisfie the place whereunto they be called and render all men their right due vnto them For with their bribery and sacred golden hunger Kings and Princes in these dayes be yll serued the people wronged and the wicked out of feare There is none offense almost how villanous so euer it be but is washed in the water of bribery and clensed in the holly drop wherewith the Poetes faine Iupiter to corrupt the daughter of Acrisius faste closed within the brasen Toure And who is able to resist that which hath subdued the highest powers Now returne we from our wanderings This great King Mansor on a day 〈◊〉 his people to hunt in the not marish fenny Countrey which in elder age was farre off from the Citie of Asela which the Portugalles holde at this present to make the way more frée into the Isles of Molncca of the most parte whereof their King is Lord. As he was attentife in folowing a Bear his passe-time at the best the Elementes began to darke and a great tempest rose such as with the storme violent wind scattred the train far of from the King who not knowing what way to take nor into what 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 retire to auiode the tempest the greatest the he felt in all his life would wyth a good wyl haue ben accōpanied as the Troiane 〈◊〉 was
when being in like pastyme and feare hée was constrayned to enter into a caue wyth his Quéene Dido where he perfourmed the ioyes of hys vnhappie mariage But Mansor béeyng withoute companie and withoute any Caue at hande wandered alongs the Champayne so carefull of his life for feare of wylde beastes which flocke together in those desertes as the Curtiers were 〈◊〉 for that they knewe not whether their Prince was gone And that which chiefly grieued Mansor was hys being alone without a guide And for all he was well mounted he durste passe no further for feare of drownyng and to be destroyed amiddes those Marshes whereof all the countrey was very full On the one side he was frighted with thunderclaps which rumbled in the aire very thicke terrible On the other side the lightning cōtinually flashed on his face the roring of the beastes appalled him the ignorāce of the way so astoonned him as he was afraid to fal into the running brookes which the outragious raines had caused to swel rise It is not to be doubted that orisons and prayers vnto his great prophet Mahomet were forgotten whether he were more deuout than when he went on pilgrimage to the Idolatrous Temple of Mosqua Hée complayned of yll lucke accusyng Fortune but chiefly hys owne follie for giuing himselfe so much to hunting for the desire whereof he was thus straggled into vnknowen Countreyes Sometimes he raued and vomyted his gall agaynst his gentlemen and houshold seruants and threatned death vnto his garde But afterwardes when reason ouershadowed his sense he sawe that the time and not their negligence or litle care caused that disgrace He thought that his Prophet had poured downe that tempest for some Notable sinne and had brought him into suche so daūgerous extremity for his faults For which cause he lifted vp his eyes and made a thousand Mahomet mowes and Apish mocks according to their manner And as he fixed his eyes a lost vp to the heauens a flashe of lightning glaunced on his face so violently as it made him to holde downe his head like a little childe reproued by his master But he was further daunted and amazed when he sawe the night approche which with the darknesse of his cloudy mantel stayed his pace from going any further brought him into such perplexitie as willingly he wold haue forsaken bothe his hunting and company of his seruauntes to be quitte of that daunger But God carefull of good minds with what law so euer they be trained vp and who maketh the sunne to shine vpon the iust and vniust prepared a meanes for his sauegarde as ye shall heare The Africane King being in this traunce and naked of all hope necessity which is the clearest thing of sight that is made him diligently to loke about whether he could sée any persone by whom he might attaine some securitie And as he thus bent himselfe to discry all the partes of the Countrey he saw not farre of from him the glimpse of a light which glimmered out at a little window whereunto he addressed himself perceiued that it was a simple cabane situate in the middest of the sennes to which he approched for his succor defense in the time of that 〈◊〉 He reioysed as you may think and whither his heart lept for ioy I leaue for them to iudge which haue assayed like daungers how be it I dare beleue that the sailers on the seas féele no greater ioy whē they ariue to harborough thā the king of Marocco did or when after a Tempest or other perill they disery vpon the prowe of their shippe the brightnesse of some cliffe or other land And this king hauing felt the tempest of winde raine haile lightening and Thunder claps compassed round about with Marshes and violent streames of little rieurs that ran along his way thought he had found a Paradise by chauncing vpon that rusticall lodge Now that Cotage was the refuge place of a pore Fisher man who liued and susteined his wife and children with Eeles which he toke alongs the diches of those déepe and huge Marshes Mansor when he was arriued to the dore of that great palace couered and thacked with Réede called to them within who at the first would make no answer to the Prince that taried their cōming at the gate Then he knocked again and with louder voice than before which caused this fisher man thinking that he had bene some Rippier to whom he was wont to sel his ware or else some straūger strayed out of his way spedily wēt out and séeing the King wel mounted and richly clothed and albeit he toke him not to be his soueraigne Lord yet he thought he was some one of his Courtly Gentlemen Wherefore he sayd what fortune hathe driuen yeu sir into these so desert and solitary places and such as I maruel that you were not drowned a hundred times in these streames and bottomes whereof this Marrish and 〈◊〉 Countrey are full It is the great God answered Mansor which hath had some care of me and will not suffer me to perish without doing greater good turnes better déedes than hitherto I haue done The kings cōming thither séemed to Prognosticate that which after chaunced and that God had poured downe the tempest for the wealth of the Fisher man and commodity of the Countrey And the straying of the King was a thing appoynted to make voyde those Marshes and to purge and clense the Countrey Semblable chaunces haue happened to other Princes as to Constantine that great besides his Citie called New Rome whē he caused certaine Marshes and Diches to be filled vp and dryed to build a faire and sumptuous Temple in the honor and memory of that blessed Uirgin that brought forth the Sauior of the world But tel me good mā replied Mansor cāst thou not shew me the way to the Court and whether the King is gone for gladly if it were possible would I ride thither Uerely sayd the Fisher man it will be almost day before ye can come there the same being x. leagues from hēce Forsamuch as thou knowest the way answered Mansor doe me so great pleasure to bring me thither be assured that besides the that good turne for which I shall be bound vnto thée I wil curteously content thée for thy paines Syr sayde the pore man you séeme to be an honest gentleman wherfore I pray you to light and to tary héere this night for that it is so late and the way to the Citie is very euill and combersome for you to passe No no said the King if it be possible I must repaire to the place whither the King is gone wherefore doe so muche for me as to be my guide and thou shalt sée whether I be vnthankefull to them that imploy their paines for me If King Mansor sayd the Fisher man were héere himselfe in person and made the like request I would not be so very a foole nor so presumptuous at