as the brauest Sepulchre cannot make the dead carkasse to smell swéete nor the most delicate ienimes make a deformed face faire so the richest attire or most costly apparrell cannot make a young minde sauour of vertue The olde Pine trée is more estéemed for the profit than the flourishing buds of the trées in the I le of Colchos for their poyson the olde Serpents Serapie are of greater account for their vertuous skinne than the yoong and glistring Euets for their inuenomed hides Age is alwaies more estéemed for his staied minde than youth for his stailesse mood That flourishing and beautifull dame Rodophe which married old Sampniticus the King of Memphis was woont to saie that she had rather be an olde mans darling than a young mans drudge that she had rather content her selfe with an old man in pleasure than féed her fancie with a yoong man in penurie that she had rather be loued of an old man euer than liked of a yoong man for a while The mind of a yoong man is momentarie his fancie fading his affection fickle his loue vncertaine and his liking as light as the winde his fancie fiered with euerie new face and his minde mooued with a thousand sundry motions loathing that which alate he did loue liking that for which his longing mind doth lust frying at the first and frizing at the last not sooner inflamed than quickly cold as little permanent as violent and like the melting wax which receiueth euery impression where as age is constant like to the Emeraulde which hauing receiued a forme neuer taketh other stampe without cracking The mind of an old man is not mutable his fancy fixed and his affection not fléeting he chooseth not intending to chaunge nor chaungeth not til death maketh the challenge The olde Oake neuer falleth but by the carpenters axe nor the affectiō of age but by the dint of death The olde Cedar trée is lesse shaken with winde than the yoong Bramble and age farre more staied than youth yea though an old man be withered in age yet he flourisheth in affection though he want the beautie of bodie yet hée hath the bountie of the minde though age had diminished his colour yet it hath augmented his vertue though youth excelleth in strength yet age surpasseth in stedfastnesse so that I conclude by how much the more the vertues of the minde are to be preferred before the beautie of the bodie by so much the more ought an olde louer to be preferred before a young leacher You haue heard Syluia what I haue said and you know I haue spoken nothing but truth If then it please you to thinke well of my part and accept of my person to requite my loyall loue with lawfull liking and my fixed fancie with feruent affection assure your selfe you shall haue Signor Gradasso so at your commaund as you in euerie respect can wish and in the pledge of this my good will I will make your feofment a thousand Crownes of yéerely reuenewes Signor Gradasso had no sooner ended but Iacques in his maisters behalfe framed his talke to this effect There is nothing quoth he which among mortall creatures is more detested than deformitie nor nothing more imbraced than beautie which aboue all the giftes both of Nature and Fortune doth make vs most resemble the gods So that where the bodie is adorned with beautie and perfection of nature there it séemeth the gods shewe most fauour and affection sith that they tooke such care in caruing a péece of so curious perfection Insomuch that they say when the gods made beautie they skipt beyond their skill in that the maker is subiect to the thing made for what made Thetis be inconstant but beautie what forced Venus to be in loue with Anchises but beautie what caused Luna to like Endymion but beautie yea it is sayde to be of so great force that it bewitcheth the wise and inchaunteth them that made it There is none so addicted to chastitie whome beautie hath not chaunged none so vowed to virginitie whome beautie hath not charmed none so seuere whome beautie hath not besotted nor none so senselesse whome the name of beautie can not either breake or bende Loue commeth in at the eye not at the eares by séeing natures workes not by hearing sugred wordes and fancie is fedde by the fairenesse of the face not by the finenesse of the spéech Beautie is the Syren which will drawe the most adamant heart by force and such a charme as haue constrained euen the vestal virgins to forsake their celles yea it so inueigleth the sight and bewitcheth the sences it so troubleth the minde and disturbeth the braine yea it bringeth such extreame delight to the heart so that as the Viper being tyed to a Béech trée falleth into a slumber so diuerse beholding beautifull persons haue stoode as though with Medusas head they had bin turned to a stone Anacharsis being demaunded what hée thought was the greatest gift that euer the Gods bestowed vppon man answered beautie for that it both delighteth the eye contenteth the minde and winneth good will and fauour of all men Pigmaleon for beautie loued the Image of Iuorie and Apelles the counterfeite which he coloured with his owne skill the picture Ganimides greatly astonished the Ladies of Cypres What made Aeneas so beloued of the Carthaginians but beautie what gayned Theseus the good wil of Ariadne but beautie what wonne Demophoon the loue of Phillis but beautie and what forced the Syluein Nimph Oenone to leaue the lawnes but the incomparable beautie of Paris The Gentlewoman which hath a husband that is endued with beautie adorned with the giftes of Nature shall haue euer wherewith to be satisfied and neuer whereof to mislike wheras contrarie the deformed man is such a monster in nature and suche a sorrowe to a womans heart as she bewailes her chaunce to haue chosen one that euery one doth loath The foulest Serpent is euer most venimous the trée with a withered rinde hath neuer a sugred sap the durty puddle hath neuer good fish and a deformed bodie seldome a reformed mind The wise Lapidaries say that the pretious stone with the most glistring hue hath alwaies the most secret vertue The pure gold is chose by the perfect colour the best frute by the brauest blossomes and the best conditions by the swéetest countenance But perhaps mistresse Syluia you will say his faire face inflameth my fancie and his beautie bewitched my sences his shape in déede doeth perswade me to requite his good will with mutuall affection but then his folly againe quaileth my stomacke and is a cooling card to quench the fire of fancie to which I answer Syluia that his follie is not so preiudiciall as profitable not so much hurtfull as commodious Aspasia the louer of Socrates being demanded what thing a woman in the worlde chiefly desired answered to rule thinking that soueraigntie was the thing that women most desire and men most feare to
nothing frée but their affection they are indéede so passionate in their penne and such inckpot louers that the poore maid which by trusting too much is charmed with their magicall inchantments shall finde their firmest fancie was but forged follie their loue was but tickling lust and that the hotnesse in their chase was but to make shipwracke of her chastitie The nature of the Crocodill Madame is with gréeuous grones and trickling teares to craue helpe as one in distresse but who so commeth to succour him is presently deuoured so Madame those kinde of louers whome I terme Crocodiles are they which when neither flatterie can preuaile nor supposed curtesies is of force to scale the Fort of their inuincible honestie then knowing that gentlewomen are pitifull and wholie framed of the moulde of mercie they fall with the Crocodill to their fained teares seeking with dissembled sighes and sobs with wéeping and wayling with distressed crie and pitifull exclamations to mooue hir to take pitie of their plaint whome after with gréedie gripes they bring to vtter decay and ruine But Madame as the iuice of the hearbe Baaran drieth faster than it can be pressed out and as the water of the fountaine Sibia can no faster be powred into brasse but it turneth into mettall so there is nothing in the world that drieth sooner than a louers teares nor no sicknesse sooner inwardly salued than a louers sorrow their care may soone be cured because it commeth not from the heart and their mourning soone amended sith it no whit mooueth the minde yet they can so cunningly counterfeit the shadowe of a perplexed patient and haue trickling teares and farre fetcht sighes so at their commaund that few well meaning and pitifull maides can escape the traine of their alluring subtilties Scorpions Madame are they which sting with their taile and séeke with despightfull termes to abuse the credite of Gentlewomen these be those kinde of louers which hauing neither comelinesse of person nor cōditions of minde neither wit wisedome beautie or learning nor any other good qualitie to purchase them credite or winne them the fauour of women but are vtterly reiected as vnsauerie salting neither woorth the tasting nor eating séeke then with blasphemous reproches and iniurious rayling to call the fame of honest Gentlewomen in question then they condemne them of inconstancie comparing them to Camelions Polipes and wethercocks affirming their fancies to be fléeting their loue to be light and their choise wholy setled in chaunge that they bée malicious deceitfull inchaunting Syreus craftie Calipsoes as subtill as Serpents as cruell as Tygres and what not and the cause of this their vniust accusing commeth not through any iniurie offered them by Gentlewomen but that they themselues are so imperfect both in minde and bodie that both by nature and arte they may iustly be appeached of want Hauing now Madame though not eloquently yet truly set downe before your face in plaine collour the Anatomie of such licentious louers as séeke with alluring baites to intrap the mindes of chast maydens sith loue is the laberinth which leadeth vs to be deuoured of these incestuous monsters let vs learne to flie it as warily as wyse Vlysses did the Mermaides Anacreon who spake by experience and writ by proofe calleth loue a tyrant mischéeuous cruell hardie vnkinde foule vngratious cursed wicked and the cause of all mischiefe Loue of beawtie sayeth he is the forgetting of reason the father of frenzie the disturber of the minde the enemie to health the sincke of sorrowe the garden of griefe and to conclude a confused chaos of miserie so that if it might be séene with bodilie eyes or be an obiect to our exteriour senses the Basiliske is not more feared nor the Cockatrice more auoided than lothsome loue would be eschewed and detested What follie is it for that woman which is frée to become captiue which is at libertie to become a perpetual slaue to another man who hauing the choise in her own hand to liue at her own lust will willingly yéeld herselfe subiect to be directed at another mans pleasure But this affection of loue naturally traineth entrappeth young mindes and especially of women wherfore they had néede to take the more héede least happily it stealeth vppon them for commonly it commeth vpon such as will not seeke meanes to preuent but careleslie receiue it as a sweete pleasant thing not knowing what and how perilous a poyson lyes hid vnder that pleasant face Let her therefore that will auoide this franticke foolish affection giue no more eare vnto the alluring charmes of the fained louer than vnto the song of an inchanting sorcerer let her consider that as it is proper to the Camelion to change to the Fox to be wilie to the Lyon to be hautie and to the Hiena to be guilefull so it is the propertie of louers to dissemble that when he doth most frie in fancie then he doth most frize in affection when he faineth Etna he proueth Caucasus when hée complaineth of care then is he most secure when he waileth outwardly then he laugheth inwardly like to the stone Ceraunon which whē it burneth most feruently being broken distilleth most cold liquor The ende also of these louers affection is to be considered which is not for her vertue wisedome or honestie but either allured by her beautie which she enioyeth or her riches that she possesseth The skinne of the Ermelyn is desired and the carkasse despised the horne of the Vnicorne most preciously receiued and his flesh reiected the hoofe of the Leopard is the thing that hunters séekes or else hée is contemned so the beautie and riches of a woman is highly regarded but her vertue and honestie lightly estéemed that as the taste being once glutted thinketh the swéet wine sower or as the finest delicates to a full stomacke séemeth but course cates so he that buildeth his loue vppon beautie of the bodie and onely regardeth riches when the beautie is faded his loue decreaseth or being satiate with pleasure loatheth the plentie or if wealth want his loue pineth with extréeme penurie But put case the minde is alreadie caught in the snares of Cupid and hath yéelded her self as a vassall vnto Venus let vs finde a remedie to draw her out of this perillous Laborinth I remember the saying of Dant that loue cannot roughly be thrust out but it must easilie créepe and a woman must séeke by litle and litle to recouer her former libertie wading in loue like the Crab whose pace is alwaies backward calling to her remembrance that if her louer be faire he will be proud of his person if rich his substance procureth statelinesse if of noble parentage it maketh him disdainfull that the stone Echites is most pleasaunt to the eye but most infectious to be handled that the hearbe called Flos Solis is beautifull to behold but deadly to be tasted that the fairest face hath oft times the falsest heart and the comeliest
coosin germain to trecherie yet he feared not to mock so long with Mamillia dissemble with Publia vntill he gained nothing for his reward but a ship of sorrow to disgest the recklesse roote of repentance for as he had receiued the stroke by ficklenesse so he meant to salue the sore by flight as he had bred his bane by their presence so he would cure his disease by absence thinking that Aristotle his sentence in Logick was also an Axiome in loue that one contrary driues out another Iudging as priuate familiaritie was the father of fancie so discontinuance should be of sufficient force to quench out the frying flames of loue But he sate beside the saddle for he spake by gesse and not by experience by wit but not by wisedome The sting of a serpent by continuance enuenometh the whole bodie He which is charmed of the Torpedo by procrastination runneth mad and the pricke of loue by delay is vncurable yet Pharicles blinded with the vale of vanitie and sowsed in the seas of selfeloue was so wrapped in the waues of wilfulnesse as at the first hee thought his iourney into Sicilia a perfect pumicestone to race out the memorie of his daintie dames in Italie But he skipt beyond his skill and was verie grossely blinded with folly for he was not only frustrate of his imagination but did euen frie amidst the flouds that as he sailed on the seas the bewtie of his goddesses gaue his conscience such a cruell canuizado by the meanes of fancie as the poore Gentleman driuen almost into the dungeon of despaire burst forth into these termes O infortunate Pharicles hath the dolorous destinies decréed thy destructiō or the peruerse planets in thy natiuity conspired thy bitter bane Hath froward fortune sworne to make thée a miserable mirrour of her mutabilitie Shall thy friendes sorrow at thy hap and thy foes reioyce at thy chance yea all the worlde wonder at thy staylesse state of life Shall Mamillia muse at thy madnesse in change and Publia laugh at thy lightnes in choise Yea shal they count thée more curious thā careful more wittie than wise more light in thy loue than lewd in thy life and yet so lewd as sufficient to winne the best game Ah Pharicles shall thy daintie dames in Italie trie by experience that although thy person is so brauely beautified with the dowries of nature as she séemed to shew her cunning in caruing a péece of so curious perfection yet thy mind to be so blotted with the blemish of inconstancie and so foiled with the filthie spot of ficklenesse as nature may séeme to make a supplie in the bodie sith there was such a want in the mind Shall I say they compare thée to the diamonde who for all her glistering hue distilleth deadly poyson To the Seastar whose shell stayneth the Iuorie and whose meat is blacker than Iet Vnto the trées in the Mount Vermise whose barke burneth like fire and whose sap is colder than Ice Well Pharicles cast thy cardes make thine accountes and thou shalt finde the greatest gaine to be losse and thy profite to be such as hee that maketh of a mountaine of golde a myerie moulhill of an Elephant a Gnatte and commeth from a wealthie merchant to a bare banckrout Consider with thy selfe thou hast stayned thy stocke and what more to be regarded Thou hast crackt thy credite and what of greater price Thou hast lost thy friendes and what of more value Thou hast purchased two most trustie louers to be thy mortall foes and exiled thy selfe as a poore pilgrime into a strange countrie Why Pharicles can these thy dolorous discourses cure thy care or can vnfoulding of thy infortunate life be a meanes to mittigate thy miserie rubbe not thy galded conscience for feare of a déeper sore but if thou hast béene carelesse in chaunge be nowe carefull and constant in choyce if thou hast committed a fault séeke in secret wise to make some part of amendes if thou hast offended by breaking promise make a recompence in paying performance Yea but the salue be it neuer so pure is not worth a rush if vnapt for the soare the medicine being vnfit for the patients disease though neuer so soueraigne bringeth small profite so this thy clarkely counsell vnapt for the cause will procure thée but litle ease for thou hast deceiued Mamillia and halted with Publia thou hast made a fault to both and canst make amendes but to one thy promise is to laie thy loue on two where the performance can light but vppon some particular person so that in any wise thou canst not make a ful satisfaction for thy fault vnlesse thou take vpon thée such a charge as thou shalt neuer bée able to rule nor they suffer O vnhappie man art thou the onelie marke at which fortune meanes to vnloose her infortunate quiuer And with that hée cast foorth such a sigh as it was a sufficient sign to witnesse a ready remorse in his troubled mind that the maister of the ship taking compassion on this perplexed pilgrim thought to comfort his care with this merrie motion Sir quoth he your bitter teares and déepe sighs which you powre foorth so plentifully as tokens of some inwarde griefe hath driuen both the marriners me into a diuerse dumpe as we all stand in doubt whether those pittifull plaints procéed from a carefull cōscience combred with sin or else that you are of that order of pilgrims whose pretensed pilgrimage is to séeke S. Iames but their heart deuotion is vowed to an other Saint which with a crabbed countenance hath giuen them such a cutting corasiue as they séek by absence either to mittigate her moode or procure their owne ease and if you bée of the same case and in the like minde I will thinke you as madde as he that counteth fasting a soueraigne preseruatiue against famine Pharicles hearing the Pilots parle to touch him somewhat perceiuing his talke to sende to some end thought as closely to stand him the warde as he had clarkely giuen him the blow and therefore trickt vp his talke with this cunning scuse Pilot quoth Pharicles although they skill in nauigation be great yet if thou hadst no greater cunning in stirring of the stearne than in coniecturing the cause of my sorrow I would verie lothly haue committed my selfe vnder thy charge to haue sailed into Sicillia for whether thou presumest vppon phisiognomie or follie it is but a bare diuision to say that either loue or sinne must be the cause of griefe but put case thou hast hit the marke and that my outward sighes be signes of inward loue will not absence thinkest thou diminish affection Yes quoth the Pilote when you finde solitarinesse a soueraigne salue against sorrow then will the dewe of discontinuance quench out the fire of fancie but leauing these amorous questions you are welcome to the coastes of Sicillia Pharicles séeing the cockboate readie to carrie him to the shoare rewarded both the
himselfe so fit for all companies as well in ripenesse of wit as reuenewes of wealth that there was no talke for a time but of the perfection of Pharicles While thus flattering fame had spread abroad his famous qualities there was a yong gentlewoman in Saragossa called Clarynda of more wealth than beautie and yet so sufficientlie furnished with the perfections dowries of nature that if she could haue bene continent and not common in her loue shée might haue bene for her person a fit mate for the most famous Prince in the worlde But shée being both yong rich and beautifull hauing neither father nor mother which might make a restraint of her nature by due nurture and enioying a libertie without controlement which be the greatest bawdes in the world to make a Gentlewoman slide in such slipperie pathes hauing neither care of her person nor regard of her parentage but setting both honour and honestie to sale became a professed Curtizan In which staylesse state of life she waded so far that her chiefest care was to bée carelesse in that which aboue all things she ought most to haue regarded for whereas both her birth and beautie had béene of sufficient force to perswade her to beautifie the goods of fortune and gifts of nature with a maidenlie modestie and silent chastitie shée contrariwise linking her selfe to sensual libertie and wedding her minde to vanitie sought to reape renowne purchase fame by the which she tried in time to bréede her greatest infamie for why she found both such pleasure and profite by setting her honestie to sale in the shamelesse shop of voluptuous desires that neither the shame of her life nor the feare of her death the state of her birth or the staine of her beautie might in any wise mooue her from her loathed kinde of liuing no her heart was so hardened and her eares so enchanted with the alluring charme of Venus sophistry that neither the persuasions of her friends lamenting her case nor the reioysing of her foes laughing at her leaudnesse could driue her to desist from her detestable kinde of dealing Nay the more she was counselled the lesse she was conformable the more she was intreated the lesse she was tractable yea she setled her selfe so surely as she thought in the seate of selfewill and securitie that she imployed all her time and studie to entertaine her licentious louers shewing her selfe such a subtile Circes and craftie Calipso in giuing them pestiferous potions and drowning them in the dregges of diuellish delights that vnlesse it were some warie Vlisses that had prouided a preseruatiue against her poison they returned transformed into apes or asses or into worse if worse may be And yet for all this fained affection her fléeting fancie was neuer fixed vpon any but laying the net was frée her selfe casting the bayte auoyded the hooke séeking to entrappe others she her selfe was neuer intangled and as the most infectious serpent hath alwaies the swéetest breath so for all her vicious mind she had such a vertuous tongue and trickt vp her talke with such painted colours as they of Saragossa did maruell how she could so clarkely couer the substance of vice vnder the shape of vertue yea they learned by her leaudnesse to warn their children from such state of life they did sée verie well how that which was bredde by the boane would not out of the flesh that the yoong Adder would prooue an olde Serpent that the cragged twigge woulde prooue a crooked trée that shée which spent her youth without restraint woulde leade her age without controlement that the mayd which was vowed to vanitie would wedde her selfe in time to follie But againe to Clarynda who wallowing in the waues of wantonnesse and offering her incense at the altar of Venus heard as well as others the rare report of Pharicles perfections which tickling somewhat her toyish minde made her desirous to trie what was in the gentleman by experience and to reape both pleasure by his person and profite by his purse which was the chiefest marke whereat shée alwaies aymed Couering therefore the heart of a Tigre with the fléece of a Lambe the clawes of a Grype with the pennes of a Doue the vanitie of Lais with the vale of Lucretia the miserable conditions of a Curtizan with the modest countenance of a matrone decking her selfe with iâ—ns iewels of infinit valour set her self in her window as an adamant obiect to draw the wauering eyes of Pharicles thinking that as none could heare the Syrens sing but they should be charmed with their melodie so it were as impossible to sée her and not bee allured with her beautie But as the Lion séeking to intrap the hart as a pray is himself vnwares taken in the toiles so Clarinda making the snare fell in the pit holding the view was taken at the gaze séeking to catch an other captiue was brought her self into perpetuall bondage for indéed according to her desire and imagination Pharicles constrained by certaine his necessarie affairs came by her house yet armed with such a priuie coate as hée warilie withstood the greatest daunger of her inuenomed shot giuing her to vnderstand that he could flie about the candle and not be singed sée the Scorpion and not be stricken that hée could laugh and looke without liking yea warme himselfe verie nigh the fire and not be burned that he could accedere ad hunc ignem and yet not calescere plusquam satis For why passing by her window and séeing this gorgious Gorgon so shrined in the shape of a goddesse did not onely repuâ—e at Nature for placing so hellish a minde in so heauenlie a creature but also smiled to sée such brauerie linked with so litle honestie and such perfect beautie blemisht with the want of chastitie Yet willing to shew himselfe a friend to all he gaue her the Salue with a cringing curtesie and went to his lodging without anie more losse than in lending his looke to such alluring vanities But she contrariwise being at discouert noting the comelinesse of Pharicles countenance imprinting in her heart the perfection of his person had her fancie so fettered aswel with the report of others as with her own iudgemeÌ„t that she maruelled to find such a straunge Metamorphosis in her immodest mind for thinking to shake off the shackles with a bare farwell as she had done before she felt her self so fast tyed to the stake that it craued her greatest cunning to vnloose the knot Nowe she felt the poyson to worke on her selfe that she had prouided for others and perceiued that intending to lay the snare shée her selfe was wholly entrapped yea the force of fancie gaue such fierce allarmes to her new besieged minde as no rampier that she coulde make might withstand the batterie The more she stroue against the streame the lesse it did preuaile the closer shée couered the sparke the more it kindled yea in séeking to vnlose the Lunes the more shée
is such as their greatest imperfection may daunt thée with disgrace Why but Clarynda art thou so mad to lay a cutting corasiue to a gréene wound to procure heat with colde to represse hunger with famine to salue sorrow with solitarinesse and to mittigate thy misery with extreme dispaire No no since thou art once lodged vp in the lothsome labyrinth of loue thou must like Theseus be haled out with the thréed of hope for better hadst thou met with Minotaurus in plaine combat than be but once arrested with the miserable mase of distrust And therefore Clarynda cast away care retire not before thou hast the repulse but kéepe the course by thy compasse and since thou hast the sore séeke the salue applie thy wit will thy hand and heart to atchieue that thing in atteining whereof consists either thy continuall calamitie or perpetuall ioy and with that she stept to her standish which stoode in the window and wrote a letter to Pharicles in this effect Signora Clarynda of Saragossa to Don Pharicles prosperitie ALthough thou hast both cause to muse and maruell O noble Pharicles and vnacquainted gentleman in that thou receiuest a letter from her whome neither familiaritie nor friendshippe can giue iust occasion so much as once to salute thée with a Salue much lesse to trouble thy patience with such stuffe as may bréede thy misliking my miserie if the gods be not ayding to my enterprise yet if thou shalt vouchsafe to construe my meaning to the best or at the least take the paines to turne ouer these imperfect lines procéeding from a perplexed person which I hope thy noble minde and curtesie will commaund thée thou shalt finde it no smaller cause than the fatall feare of death that forced mée to yéeld to this extremitie nor the occasion lesse than the dread of pinching dispair which draue me to passe the golden measure of surpassing modestie In déede the noble and vertuous dames Pharicles of famous memorie whose happie life hath canonized them in Chronicles for perfect paragons both of vertue and beautie haue with generall consent auerred that shamefast modestie and silence be the two rarest gems most precious iewels wherwith a Gentlewoman may be adorned Notwithstanding they haue all been of this mind that where either loue or necessitie extend their extreme rigour to the vttermost there both humane diuine lawes surcease as not of sufficient force to abide the brunt of two such terrible vntamed tyrants For there is no silence such but the fyle of loue will fret in sunder nor no modestie so shamefast but the sting of necessitie will force to passe both shame and measure Sappho Pharicles was both learned wise and vertuous and yet the fire of fancie so scorched and scalded her modest minde as she was forced to let slip the raynes of silence to craue a salue of Phaon to cure her intollerable malady If Phedra Pharicles had not both surpassed in beautie and modestie poore Theseus would neuer haue forsaken his Ariadne in the desertes to haue linked himselfe with her in the inuiolable league of matrimonie yet her beautie and modestie were brought to such a lowe ebbe by the batterie of loue that shée was faine to sue for helpe to her vnhappie sonne Hipolitus I dare not ô Pharicles of these exemplified premisses inferre either comparison or conclusion for because to cōpare my self to them were a point of arrogancie and to derogate so much frō their degrée as to match them with my rudenesse were a trick of extreme follie Yet this I am forced to confesse that the selfesame fire hath so inflamed my fancie the like batterie hath so beaten my brest as silence and modestie set aside I am forced by loue to pleade for pardon at the barre of thy bounty whose captiue I remaine till either the sentence of life or death be pronounced vpon me poore carefull caytife Loue yea loue it is ô Pharicles and more if more may be that hath so fettered my fréedome and tyed my libertie with so short a tedder as either thou must be the man which must vnlose me from the lunes or else I shal remaine in a lothsome Laberinth til the extreme date of death deliuer me The Deare Pharicles is more impatient at the first stroake than the Hynde which before hath béene galded and yet escaped the souldier gréeueth more at the first cut than he which hath béene acquainted with many woundes so I alas hauing neuer felt before the fire of fancie nor tried the terrible torment of loue thinke the burthen more great the yoke more heauie by how much the lesse I haue bin acquainted with such insupportable burdens Well Pharicles I know thou wilt conclude of these my premisses that since I haue béene an inhabitour so long Nell ' la strada cortizana professed my selfe a friend to Caesar that either I haue béene a déepe dissembler in féeding many fooles fat with flattery or else that I neuer loued any but thee is a trothlesse tale a flat trick of trecherie Confesse I must of force O worthie gentleman that I haue flattered many but neuer fancied any that I haue allured some but loued none that I haue taken diuerse in the trap and yet always escaped the snare vntill too long flying about the candle I am so scorched in the flame so surely fastened with the fetters of fancie by the only sight of thy surpassing beautie as of force I must remaine thy carefull captiue till either thy curtesie or crueltie cut asunder the thréed of hope which makes me pine in miserie It is not ô Pharicles thy pursse but thy person which hath pierced my heart not thy coyne but thy comlinesse which hath made the conquest not the helpe of gaine but the hope of thy good will that hath intangled my fréedome not the glitring shape of vanitie but the golden substance of vertue not thy liuing lands or parentage but thy rare qualities and exquisite perfections are the champions which haue chayned mée in the balefull bandes of lasting bondage Lasting I may well tearme them sith there is such a difference betwéene thy state and my stay as there remaines to me no hope of libertie For perhaps Pharicles thou wilt say that the crooked twig will proue a crabbed trée that the sower bud will neuer be swéete blossome how that which is bred by the bone will not easily out of the flesh that she which is common in her youth wil be more inconstant in her age To conclude that the woman which in prime of yeares is lasciuious will in ripe age be most lecherous Yet Pharicles I answere that the blossomes of the Mirabolanes in Spaine is most infectious and yet the fruite verie precious that the wine may be sower in the presse yet by time most swéet in the Caske that oftimes where vice raigneth in youth there vertue remaineth in age Who more peruerse being yong than Paulyna who more
thy selfe happie to suffer ten thousand deathes to be separated from her companie for as there is no payne to bee compared to the stinging of an Aspick so there is no such plague as to be troubled with a strumpet And with that such sorrow surcharged his molested minde as he was not able to vtter any more complaints While thus Pharicles lay languishing in dispaire there was a Merchant of Padua named Signor Rhamberto who being newly arriued in Saragossa and hearing of the late mishap of Pharicles durst not bewray what countreyman he was for feare of further daunger but conueyed himselfe out of Sicillia with as much spéede as might be and being come to Padua thought good to shewe Signor Gonzaga in what distresse Pharicles lay in Saragossa but being come to the house he found the Gentleman at the point of death and all the Senatours of Padua lamenting the extremitie of his sickenesse and therefore sate downe among the rest and helde his peace when as Gonzaga scarse able to vtter one worde for weakenesse taking his daughter Mamillia by the hande gaue her this fatherlie aduertisement As daughter quoth he the man which hath the stone Agathes about him is surely defenced against aduersitie so he which is forewarned by counsell if he be wise is sufficiently armed against future mishap and miserie I therefore Mamillia hauing such fatherly affection and care for thy future state as duetie bindes mée by instinct of nature seeing I lye looking euerie minute when my sillie soule shall leaue my carefull carckasse thought good to giue thée this fatherly farewell as the onely treasure which I charge thée by the lawe of duetie most carefully to kéepe Virginitie Mamillia is such a precious Iewell to a vertuous Gentlewoman as Euphronia being demaunded of one of her suters what dowrie shée had to the aduauncement of her marriage aunswered such wealth as coulde not be valued for quoth shée I am a virgine meaning that no wealth doeth so enrich a mayden nor no dowrie of what price so euer so adorne a Damsell as to be renowmed for inuiolable virginitie Sith then Mamillia it ought to be more deare than life and more estéemed than wealth as thou hast béene carefull in my dayes to keepe it without spot and thereby hast reaped renowne so I charge thée after my death to be as charie of such precious chaffer least thy sorepassed fame turne to thy greater discredit Yea Mamillia and when the time commeth that thou meanest to match thy selfe in Marriage bestowe not that careleslie in one moment which thou hast kept carefully all thy life but looke before thou leape trie before thou trust hast makes wast hotte loue soone colde and then too late commeth repentance contemne not the counsell of thy friends nor reiect not the aduise of thy kinsemen preferre not thine own wit before the wisedome of thine Auncestours nor leane not to wilfulnesse least had I wist come too late Be not secure least want of care procure thy calamitie nor be not too carefull least pensiue thought oppresse thée with miserie Build not thy loue vpon the outward shape of beautie least thou trie thy foundation was laide on the fickle sands of vanitie Vow not thy selfe to his wealth whome thou meanest to loue nor wed not thy selfe to his wit but let thy fansie growe so farre as thou hearest the report of his vertue Choose not by the eye Mamillia but by the eare and yet be not delighted with his faire words least if thou takest pleasure in hearing the Syrens sing thou dash thy ship against most dangerous rockes I néede not I hope Mamillia stand so much vppon these points for a burnt childe will dread the fire and thou hast béene too sore canuased in the nettes to be allured to the scrap thou hast béene too sore sowsed in the waues to venter in an vnknowen foorde and the treacherie of Pharicles is sufficient to cause thée take héede of others flatterie Well Mamillia after thou hast chosen howsoeuer thy choice be séeke to cherish thy husband with loue and obey him with reuerence be not too sad least he thinke thou art sollempe nor too light least he condemne thée of leaudnesse and aboue all haue a regard to thy good name and a care to the safe kéeping of thy honour Let not too much familiaritie bréede any suspition nor shewe no such countenance as may giue occasion of mistrust but so behaue thy selfe as thou maist be a credite to thy husband and a comfort to thy friendes Vpon these considerations Mamillia I haue left thée by my last will and testament onely heire and sole executor of all my landes and moueables yet with this prouiso that if thou marrie with faithlesse Pharicles that then thou shalt be disinherited of all my goods and lands and that the Citie of Padua shal as mine heire enter into all my possessions and for the performance of my will I leaue the whole Senate as superuisors Gonzaga had scarselie spoken these last words but his breath was so short that he could speake no longer and within thrée houres after he departed leauing Mamillia a sorrowfull child for the losse of so good a Father Well after that Mamillia had by the space of a wéeke worne her mourning wéede and the dayly resort of her friends had something redressed her sorrow Signor Rhamberto though verie loath reuealed vnto her the whole estate of Pharicles distresse how he was put in prison for a spie and that he was accused as one that sought to betray Saragossa where he soiourned into the hands of the Italians and that in liew of this his treacherie he should vpon the fortith day for this so haynous a fact be executed Mamillia hearing into what miserie Pharicles was fallen although his vniust dealings had deserued reuenge yet she remitted all forepassed iniuries and began to take compassion of his mishap yéelding forth such sobbing sighes and scalding teares as they were witnesses of her distressed minde and earnestlie intreating Signor Rhamberto for Pharicles credite to conceale the matter as secretly as might be who hauing promised to kéepe the matter as secrete as she could request tooke his leaue departed but Mamillia seeing her selfe solitarie fell into these contrarie passions Well now I sée it true by experience that where the hedge is lowest there euery man goeth ouer that the weakest is thrust to the wall and he that worst may holdes the candle that the slendrest twig is oftimes laden with most fruite the smallest stalke of corne hath the greatest eare and he that hath most néede of comfort is oftime most crossed with calamitie Alas iniurious fortune is it not sufficient for thée to depriue me of my Father which was more deare vnto me than mine owne life but also to heape care vpon care and sorrowe vpon sorrowe I meane to murther that man whome in all the world I chiefly estéeme Pharicles I meane who is the fountaine of my ioy the hauen
of my happinesse and the stay of all my felicitie who hath wonne my heart by loue and shall weare it by lawe What sayest thou Mamillia shall Pharicles enioy thée Art thou so carelesse of thy fathers commandement so soone to forget his counsell Shall his wordes be as winde and his talke of so little effect as thou meanest rechlesly to regarde it Wilt not thou in thy life obserue that which hée enioyned thée at his death Was not Pharicles the onelie man he forbad thée to marrie and wilt thou choose him for thy mate In louing him thou doest forfeit thy landes and shewe thy selfe a disobedient daughter in hating the man thou enioyest thy possessions and declares thy selfe a dutifull childe Tush Mamillia is not Pharicles the man to whō thou art confirmed by loue and contracted by law Did not thy father consent to the match and agrée to the couenant And shall he nowe vpon so light an occasion cause thée to violate thine oath breake thy promise and turne thy loue to hate No I will obey my father as farre as the lawe of Nature commands me but to crack my credit and clog my conscience I wil not consent neither his fatherly counsell nor the losse of my goods and landes shall constraine mée to forsake Pharicles no misling mists of miserie no drenching showers of disaster fortune nor terrible tempests of aduersitie shal abate my loue or wracke my fancie against the slipperie rockes of inconstancie yea if my landes will buy his raunsome or my life purchase his fréedome he shal no longer leade his life in calamitie And with that she flung out of her chamber being so diligent and carefull to bring her purpose to passe that within short space she furnished a ship wherein in disguized apparrell shée sailed to Sicillia comming to Saragossa the daie before Pharicles should be executed where she dealt so warily and wisely that not onely she learned the cause of his imprisonment but also got the coppy of those letters which had passed betwéene Clarynda and Pharicles thinking euerie houre a yéere till the next morning Well the dismall day being come wherein Pharicles by the dint of death should dispatch al his forepassed miseries Ferragus being cladde in mourning attire with a pensiue heart and sorrowfull countenance commeth to accompany Pharicles so distressed with griefe oppressed with sorrow so blubbered with teares and blowne vp with sighes that Pharicles was faine to comfort him on this wise Why friend Ferragus quoth he shal the patient appoint the salue or the sicke man set down the medicine Shall he that is crossed with care be a comforter or the distressed man be driuen to giue counsell Shall I which now on euerie side am pinched with the pains of death become a Phisition to cure thy calamitie Or rather shouldest not thou in this extremitie séeke to asswage my dollor with comfortable incouragemēt Why Ferragus am I more hardy which am at the hazard of death than thou which art deuoide of daunger Yea for by how much the more I féele my conscience guiltlesse of this crime by so much the more I féele my minde frée from sorrow Socrates would not haue his friend lament when hée drunke his fatall drafte because quoth he causelesse death ought to be without dollour so good Ferragus chéere thy selfe since thy friend Pharicles is so far from treason to Saragossa as thou from treacherie to Padua Pharicles scarsly had vttered these words when the officers intreated him to make haste for Signior Farnese and the rest of the Magistrates had staied a great space for his comming at the common Hall Pharicles knowing that procrastination in care was but to increase sorrow founde no fish on his fingers nor made no delaies from his death but went with them willingly Hée being arriued there before the Magistrats Signior Farnese standing vp to pronounce the fatall sentence was interrupted by Mamillia who comming in richly attired and straungely disguised knéeling on her knées craued leaue to speake which being graunted she vttered these words You haue great cause to muse and maruel O noble and worthie Sicillians in that a silly virgin a stranger yea and of the same Citie of Padua which is now so detested of the citizens of Saragossa dare presume not fearing any danger to present her selfe amidst so many enemies But whome the diuell driues he must néeds runne and where law and necessitie are two spurs in the side there the partie so perplexed neither maketh delaie nor feareth daunger so that Gentlemen by howe much the more my arriuall is to bée thought strange by so much the more my distressed griefe is to be supposed greater It is not the hope of preferment which forced me to this extremitie because I am of sufficient parentage and patrimonie in mine owne country neither the desire to sée forraine fashions because it is not fit for a virgin to be counted a wanderer No it is partly for thy cause Signior Farnese that I came both to kéepe thée from pronouncing vniust iudgement to discouer the monstrous treacherie of a trothlesse Curtizan and to saue this guiltlesse Gentleman from present danger Who by birth is a Paduan of noble parentage issued from such a stocke as yet was neuer stained either for cowards or traitours For his state he is not frée but contracted vnto me by consent of both our parents As concerning his soiourning in Saragossa it was not to betray your citie but to learn your fashions not to be counted a counterfaite but to be called curteous But to be briefe least my tale might séeme tedious to his vniust accusation inferred by such an iniurious Curtizan thus I answere that if the calling of a strumpet carried as little credite here as it doth with vs in Padua Pharicles would haue bene more fauourably examined and her accusation more throughly canuased It was not O noble Farnese that she accused Pharicles because of his trecherie but in that he would not consent to her vanitie not because she had such loue to her natiue countrie but in that Pharicles would not agrée to match himself with so gracelesse a monster and for the confirmation of this my allegeance sée here the Letter of Clarynda and the replie of Pharicles and with that she held her peace Farnese and the rest of the Magistrates hauing read the contents of the letters maruelling at the mischieuous mind of so hellish a harlot sent spéedily for Clarynda who being come and more strictly examined confessed the fault and receiued the punishment due for such an offence But whē the citizens of Saragossa and especially Ferragus heard how Pharicles was acquited and the treacherie discouered they both reioyced for his happie deliuerie and also wondered that such maruellous wit wisdome and incomparable constancie could remaine within the yoong and tender yeares of Mamillia But Pharicles séeing before his eyes the Goddesse which had giuen him vnhoped for life driuen as it were into an
most monstrous Method to all men wherby they may learne to allure simple women to the fulfilling of their lust and the loosing of their owne honor but also hath set downe his bookes de remedio amoris to restraine their affections from placing their fancies but for a time vpon any Dame which bookes are so sauced with suche blasphemous descriptions of womens infirmities as they shewe that with the Satire hée could out of one mouth blow both hote and cold Yea Iuuenall Tibullus Propertius Calimachus Phileta Anacreon and many other authors haue set downe caueats for men as armours of proofe to defende themselues from the alluring subtilties of women But alas there is none contrariwise which hath set downe any prescript rules wherewith women should guide themselues from the fained assault of mens pretended flatterie but hath left them at discouert to be maimed with the glozing gunshot of their protested periuries which séemeth repugnant to nature For if the sillie Lambe had more néede of succour than the lustie Lyon if the weake and tender vine standeth in more néed of props than the strong oakes women sure whom they count the weake vessels had more néede to be counselled than condemned to be fortified than to be feared to be defenced thā both with Nature and Art to be assaulted But this their iniurious dealing were a sufficient caueat if women were wise to cause them beware of mens pretended pollicies and not to be inticed to that traine whereunder they know a most perillous trap to be hidden The beastes will not come at the Panther for all his faire skinne because by instinct of Nature they know he is a murtherer the fish wil not come at the baite though neuer so delicate for feare of the hidden hooke neither can the glistring feathers of the bird of Egypt cause the sillie Larke to kéepe her companie sith she knew her for her mortall enemie Yet we simple women too constant and credulous God knowes to deale with such trothlesse Iasons yéelde our heart and hand our loue life and liberties to them whom we know cease not only publikely to appeach vs of a thousand guiltles crimes but also secretly séek with forged flatterie to scale the Fort and to sacke both honour and honestie But Madam omitting womens foolish simplicitie in trusting too much mens subtill flatterie séeing it is as well giuen by Nature for the woman to loue as for the man to lust I will first define what loue is namely a desire of beautie and beautie according to the minde of sundrie writers is of thrée sorts of the minde of the bodie and of the spéech which if they concurre in one particular person and especially that of the minde sufficiently furnished with vertues requisit quallities such a one ought a Gentlewoman to choose but the chance is as hard as to finde out a white Ethiopian Sith then it is so difficult among infinite Scorpions to find out one sillie Eele amidst a whole quarrey of flint to choose out one precious iemme and amongst a thousande lusting leachers one loyall louer and so hard to descrie the true sterling from the counterfeit coyne and the precious medicine from the perillous confection I will as well as I can point you out the crue of those cogging companions which outwardly professe themselues to be trustie louers and inwardly are rauening Wolues and troathlesse leachers There are some Madam of this dissembling troup which rightly may be termed Masquers some hypocrites some Poets some Crocodiles some Scorpions and the Genus to all these forepassed Species is flatterers The Masquers are they Madam which couertly vnder the colour of curtesie shrowde a pestilent and péeuish kinde of curiositie their countenance shal be graue though their cōditions be without grace and when they sée anie Gentlewoman addicted to be curteous honest wise and vertuous they wil straight with the Polipe chaunge themselues into the likenesse of euerie obiect knowing that it is impossible to intise the birds to the trap but by a stale of the same kind They carrie in outward shew the shadow of loue but inwardly the substance of lust they haue a fine die though a course thréed and though at the first they shrinke not in the wéeting yet that poore Gentlewoman shal haue cause to curse her peniwoorth which tries them in the wearing shée shall finde them whom she though to be Saints to be Serpents that those who in wooing are Doues in wedding to be diuels that in the fairest grasse lies hid the foulest Snake in the brauest tombe the most rotten bones in the fairest countenance the fowlest conditions those whom I terme to be hypocrites are they who pricked forward with lust to fixe their fléeting fancie vppon some sillie dame whom nature hath beautified both with the shape of beautie and substance of vertue iudging that it is naturally giuen to women to be desirous of praise séeke to call them to the lure with recounting their singular quallities and extolling their perfections euen aboue the skies flourishing ouer their flatterie with a Rhetoricall glose of fained dissimulation the poore mayd whō they cal their mistresse they like counterfeites cannonize for an earthly goddesse comparing her for her beautie to Venus for her wit to Minerua for her chastitie to Diana yet this vertue the chéefest thing they séeke to spoile her of her eyes are twinkling starres her téeth pearles her lips corall her throate Iuorie her voice most musicall harmonie yea shée is so perfect in all pointes as they maruell how so heauenly a creature is shrowded vnder the shape of mortalitie these I say who haue honie in their mouth and gall in their heart are such hypocriticall flatterers as they séeke with sugred words and filed spéech to inueigle the sillie eyes of wel meaning Gentlewomen when as inwardly they scoffe at the poore maids which are so blinde as not to sée their extréeme follie and grosse flatterie Pratling Poets I call those who hauing authoritie with Painters to faine lie and dissemble séek with Syrens songs and inchanting charms of diuellish inuention to bewitch the mindes of young and tender virgines vnder the colour of loue to draw them to lust painting out in Songs and Sonets their great affection and deciphring in fained rimes their forged fancie they be taken in the beames of her beautie as the Bée in the Cobweb they are singed at the sight of her faire face as the Flie at the Candle they suffer worse paines than Sisiphus more tormentes than Tantalus more griefe than Ixion they are plunged in Plutoes pitte and so drowned in distresse that vnlesse the sillie maide by selling her fréedome and loosing both honour and honestie giue a salue to their surmised sore they shall ende their daies in hellish miserie yea to decypher their sorrowes more narrowly they are so ouergrowne with grief as in all their bodie they haue no place whole but their heart nothing at quiet but their minde nor
creature most currish conditions who more faire than Paris yet a trothlesse traitor to his loue Oenone Vlisses was wise yet wauering Eneas a pleasant tongue yet proued a parasiticall flatterer Demophoon demure and yet a dissembler Iason promiseth much yet performed little and Theseus addeth a thousand othes to Ariadne yet neuer a one proued true Consider the hearbe of India is of pleasant smell but who so commeth to it féeleth present smart the Goorde leafe profitable the séede poyson the rinde of the trée Tillia most swéete and the fruite most bitter the outward shew of such flattering louers full of delight but the inward substance sawsed with despight Call also to minde their often periuries their vaine oathes falsified promises and inconstancie their protestations pilgrimages a thousande dissembled flatteries and if thy louer be infected with any particular fault let that be the subiect whereon to muse knowing that many vices are hidden vnder the coloured shape of vertue if he be liberal thinke him prodigall if eloquent a babler if wise inconstant if bolde rash if timerous a dastard if he be well backt thinke it is the taylers art not natures workemanship if a good waste attribute it to his coate that is shapt with the Spanish cut if wel legd think he hath a bumbast hose to couer his deformitie yea driue all his perfections out of thy minde and muse vpon his infirmities so shalt thou leade a quiet life in libertie and neuer buy repentance too deare and though hée countes thée cruell because thou art constant and doest refuse to yéeld to thine owne lust thinke it no discredite for mustie caskes are fit for rotten grapes a poysoned barrell for infectious liquour and crueltie is too milde a medicine for flattering louers Thus Madame you haue heard my counsel which I haue learned by proofe and speake by experience which if you willingly accept I shall thinke my labour well bestowed and if you wisely vse you shall thinke your time not ill spent but if you do neither my well wishing is neuer the worse and so fare you well Yours to command Mamillia MODESTA TO HER BELOued Mamillia IT is too late Madame Mamillia to sound the retrait the battaile being already fought to drie the malt the kil being on fire to wish for raine when the shower is past to apply the salue the sore being remedilesse to giue counsaile the case being past cure for before the corosiue came the sore was growne to a festred Fistula ere your comfortable confect was presented to my hand I was fallen into a strange Feuer Thou didst Mamillia counsell me to beware of loue and I was before in the lash Thou didst wish me to beware of fancie and alas I was fast fettred I haue chosen Mamillia What do I say haue I chosen yea but so poore soule as all my friends do wish me to change and yet I haue satisfied my self though not contented them My friendes regarded the mony and I respected the man they wealth and I wisedome they lands and lordships and I beautie and good bringing vp so that either I must choose one rich whom I did hate and so content them or take one poore whom I did loue and so satisfie my selfe Driuen Mamillia into this dilemma I am to aske thine aduise what I should do whether I should lead my life with aboundance of wealth in loathe or spende my daies with no riches in loue In this if thou shalt stand my friend to giue me thy counsel I will if euer I be able requite thy curtesie From Saragossa in haste Thine assuredlie doubtfull Modesta Mamillia hauing receiued this Letter returned her as spéedily as might be an answere to this effect MAMILLIA TO THE Ladie Modesta MAdame Modesta I haue receiued your letters haue viewed your doubtfull demaund whereunto thus I answer that to liue we must follow the aduise of our friends but to loue our owne fancie for to another mans liuing they may giue preceptes but to fixe fancie in loue they can prescribe no certaine principles Then Madame sith you haue riches which may of a poore woer make a welthy spéeder wed not for wealth least repentance cast the accounts nor match not with a foole least afterward thou repēt thine own follie but choose one whose beautie may content thine eye and whose vertuous wisedom may satisfie thy minde so shalt thou haue neither cause to repent nor occasion to mislike thy choyce and that thou maist perceiue my meaning more plainly reade this following historie with good aduisement There dwelt in Toledo a certaine Castilian named Valasco by parentage a Gentleman by profession a Marchant of more wealth than worship and yet issued of such parents as did beare both great countenance and credit in the countrie This Valasco after the decease of his father was a ward to the Duke of Zamorra who séeing him indued with great wealth and large possessions hauing the disposition of his marriage in his hands married him to a kinswoman of his named Sylandra a Gentlewoman neither indewed with wit nor adorned with beautie and yet not so witlesse but she was wilfull nor so deformed but she was proude insomuch as her inward vices and outward vanities did in tract of time so quat the queasie stomacke of her husband Valasco that although in his childish yéeres he did not mislike of her follie yet in his ripe yéeres when reason was a rule to direct his iudgement he so detested the infirmities of her nature and the infections of her nurture as she was the onely woman his crasie stomack could not digest Valasco being thus combred with such a crosse as the burthen thereof was to him more heauie than the weight of the heauens to the shoulders of Atlas and knowing by experience what a miserie it was to marrie without loue or make his choice without skill and how loathsome it was to liue without liking or to be wedded to her whom neither his fancie nor affection did desire to enioy hauing by his wife Sylandra one onelie daughter named Syluia determined with Themistocles to marrie her rather to a man than to monie and neuer to match her with anie whom she did not both intirely loue and like While he was in this determination Sylandra died leauing Valasco a diligent husband for the finishing of his wines funerals and a carefull father for the well bringing vp of his daughter Syluia who now was about the age of sixtéene yéeres so beautified with the gifts of nature and adorned with sundrie vertues and exquisite quallities as the Citizens of Toledo were in doubt whether her beautie or vertue deserued greater commendation Syluia flourishing thus in the prime of her youth and proouing daylie more excellent as well in the complexion of the bodie as in the perfection of her mind grew so renowmed for her famous feature almost throughout all Europe that as they which came to Memphis thought they had séene nothing vnlesse
grant them If then it be a womans wish to haue her owne will and as the common prouerbe saith to rule the rost after her owne diet you shall in taking my master to your mate haue so much your hearts ease as either you can desire or imagine For my maister will whollie be led by your lyne and you shal be the starre by whose aspect hée will direct his course your yea shal be his yea and your nay his deniall Thus although his follie be preiudiciall in one respect it shal be most profitable in another so that his incomparable beautie shall sufficiently delight your fancie and his follie be a meanes that without restraint you may enioy frée will and libertie Thus mistresse Sylua you haue heard what I in my maisters behalfe can alledge If therefore you meane to repaie his good will with loue he promiseth not onely to make you sole mistresse of his heart but of all his lands and lordships Iacques hauing finished this tale master Petronius as one betwixt feare hope gaue the Fort the sorest assault with this Alarme Plato the wise and graue Philosopher was wont to say that as man differeth from brute beasts in reason so one man excelleth another by wisedome and learning estéeming him that wanted knowledge science and nourture but the shape of a man though neuer so wel beautified with the gifts of nature supposing that although he were indewed with the outward shadow of beautie as iustly he might compare with Paris or so stored with treasure and riches as he might cast his countes with Craesus yet if he wanted learning to enlarge his beautie or wisedome to direct his wealth he was to be counted no other but a beautifull picture burnished with golde He that enioyeth wealth without wisedome sayeth Anaxagoras possesseth care for himselfe enuie for his neighbours spurres for his enimies a praie for théeues trauaile for his person anguish for his spirite a scruple for his conscience perill for his loue sorrow for his children and a cursse for his heires because although hée knowes how to gather he wanteth skill to dispose Alexander the Great made so great account of knowledge and wisedome that he was oft woont to say he was more bound to Aristotle for giuing him learning than to his father Philip for his life sith the one was momentarie and the other neuer to be blotted out with obliuion Nestor was more honoured and estéemed for his learning and wisedome at the siege of Troye than either Achilles for his strength Aiax for his valour or Agamemnon for his stout courage Cyrces was not enamoured with the beautie of Vlisses but intangled with his wisedome Aeneas when as Dido sate in Parliament tolde his tale with such wit and discretion so seasoned with the salt of learning and swéete sap of science that not onely she was snared in his loue but also saide surely thou art come of the offspring of the Gods alluding to this saying of Empedocles that as we in nothing more differ from the Gods than when we are fooles so in no thing we do come neare them so much as when we are wise Socrates thanked the Gods onely for three things first that they made him a man and not a woman that he was borne a Grecian and not a Barbarian thirdly that he was a Philosopher and not vnlearned estéeming the gifts of nature and fortune of no value vnlesse they be beautified with the gifts of the mind Byas the Philosopher being reproued by a certain iniurious person that he was poore and ilfauoured answered that he was greatly deceiued both in his beautie and his riches for quoth he how can I be poore when I am wise hard fauoured when I am learned thinking it the chiefest beautie to be indued with learning the greatest treasure to be enriched with wisedome The Philosopher Critolaus being verie deformed as hauing a crooked backe and verie poore as begging with a staffe a wallet was notwithstanding so well beloued of a certaine Gentlewoman of great wealth and worshipfull parentage as she would willingle haue accepted him for her husband which Critolaus perceiuing laid down his staffe and his wallet and put off his cloake the more to shew his crookt back wishing her with more diligence to marke his deformed shoulders to whom she answered O Critolaus thy deformitie cannot quench that which thy wisdome and learning hath set on fire It is learning in déede which allureth when euerie word shall haue his waight when nothing shall procéede but either it shall sauour of a sharpe conceite or a secret conclusion It is wisedome that flourisheth when beautie fadeth that waxeth yoong when age approacheth resembling the sea huluer leafe which although it be dead still continueth gréene Beautie withereth with age and is impaired with sicknesse be the face neuer so beautifull the least skarre or mole maketh it most deformed but learning and knowledge by tract of time encreaseth like to the Cygnets which being young are verie blacke but in their age most perfectly white like the birdes that build in the rockes of the Sea whose feathers grow most glistering in their age As for riches it is momentarie subiect to the chance of inconstant fortune it may be consumed with fire spent with follie wasted with riot and stolne away by théeues but wisedome is a treasure so certaine as no mishap can diminish neither be impaired by any sinister frowne of fortune Artemisia the Quéene being demanded by a certain gentlewomā what choice she shuld vse in loue marrie quoth she imitate the good Lapidaries who measure not the value of the stone by the outwarde hue but by the secret vertue so choose not a husband for the shape of the bodie but for the qualities of his minde not for his outward perfectnesse but for his inward perfection For if thou like one that hath nothing but a little beautie thou shalt séeme to be in loue with the counterfeit of Ganimedes and if thou fancie onely riches thou choosest a woodden picture with a golden coate Learning is the Iemme which so decketh a man and wisedome the Iewel which so adorneth the minde that she which chooseth a wise man to her mate though neuer so poore saith Themistocles maketh a good match Thus mistresse Syluia you haue heard my opinion though not so wisely as I would yet as learnedly as I could not daring to be too bold lest in wading too farre in an vnknowne foord I sodeinly slip ouer my shooes Lands I haue none to offer you large feoffements nor liuings to assigne you a great dowrie but if it please you to accept of a poore gentleman I shall be bound by det dutie to be yours for euer Syluia hauing giuen attentiue héed to these thrée gentlemen as one of a verie quicke wit and sharpe conceit returned them these answeres Signor Gradasso quoth she it was a law among the Caspians that he which married after he had passed fiftie yéeres
should at the common assemblies and feastes sit in the lowest and vilest place as one that had committed a fact repugnant to the law of Nature calling him which was well strooken in yeeres yet enamoured that would frie in affection when he was wholie frozen in complexion not an old louer but a filthie foole and a doting old leacher and in my iudgement they had great reason so to tearme him For olde rotten strawes are more fit for doong than for the chamber withered flowers to be cast away than to be placed in a braue nosegay olde stickes more méete for the fire than for sumptuous building and aged men are more fit for the graue than to spende their time in loue Cupid Signor Gradasso alloweth none in his court but yoong men that can serue fresh and beautifull to delight wise that can talke secret to kéepe silence faithfull to gratifie and valiant to reuenge his mistresse iniuries He that is not indued priuiledged with these conditions may well loue but neuer be liked How can a yoong woman fixe her affection vppon an olde man who in the night time in stéed of talke telleth the clock crieth out of the gout complaineth of the Ciatica is combred with crampes and troubled with the cough hauing neither health to ioy himselfe nor youth to enioy her To the ende that loue be fixed sure perpetuall and true there must be equalitie betwéen the enamoured For if the louer be olde and shée be yoong he ouergrowne with age and she in flourishing youth assure your selfe that of fained louers they shal be euer professed and vnfained enemies For it is not loue but sorrow not mirth but displeasure not taste but torment not delight but despight not ioy but annoy not recreatiō but confusion when in the louer there is not both youth and libertie yea the withered straw is soone set on fire and easily quenched the olde and drie wood easily inflamed and quickly put out age soone doteth and soone detesteth now swimming in loue and presently sinking in hate like to the stone Draconites that no sooner commeth out of the flame but it is vehemently cold What a foolish motion nay what a frantike madnesse is it for him whom nature denieth any longer to liue to intangle himselfe in the snares of loue whose naturall heate is turned to frost with the match of fancie to kindle a new fire when sicknesse sommons him and age warnes him that death draweth nye than to become a clyent vnto Cupid to pleade for bountie at the cruell barre of beautie knowing that the hearbe Adiaton cannot abide to touch the withered grasse that the trées in the mount Vernese detest to be clasped of the olde Iuie and that youth greatly abhorreth to be coupled with age Further whosoeuer being yoong faire and beautifull matcheth her with a doting old louer be she as chaste as Lucretia as trustie as Penelope as honest as Turia as faithfull as Artemisia as constant as Cornelia yet her honor honestie and good name shall not onely be suspended but greatly suspected yea in so much that the olde man himselfe to kéepe his doting wits warme will couer his head with a ielous cap being very credulous to beléeue ech flying tale and suspicious euermore to iudge the woorst If his young wife be merie she is immodest if sober sullen and thinkes of some louer whom she likes best if pleasant inconstant if she laugh it is leaudly if she looke it is lightly yea he casteth beyond the Moone iudgeth that which neither she would nor could imagine restraining her from all libertie watching as the craftie Cat ouer the sillie Mouse should I than Gradasso seeing the trap follow the train spying the hooke swallow the baite and séeing the mischiefe runne wholie into miserie No no I meane not to be so foolish as the birdes of Cholchos which although they sée the nettes yet willingly strike at the stale or like the Tortuse which desireth the heat of the Sunne that notwithstanding bréedeth his destruction nor so sottish as with frée consent to crosse my selfe with perpetuall calamitie Sith then Signor Gradasso I count you being so olde not a fit match for my tender youth I pray you at this time be cōtent to take my nay for an answere And as for you Iacques which haue said so well in your masters behalf I commend you for a faithfull seruant though your reasons were to small effect I confesse Iacques that nothing sooner delighteth the eye contenteth the sense or allureth the minde of a young maide than beautie but as the stone Topason is not more loued for the outward hue than hated for the poison which secretly is hid within it or as the hearbe Nepenthes is not more liked for the pleasant shape than loathed for the poysoned sap so beautie cannot inflame the fancie so much in a moneth as ridiculous follie can quench in a moment nay as of all things wit soonest setteth the fancie on edge sharpeneth affection so follie cooleth desire and forceth loue in the lowdest gale to strike saile and be quiet What ioy can that Gentlewoman haue whose husband hath neither modestie to moderate his affection nor manner to be haue himselfe well in companie who can neither be constant because hée is a foole nor secret sith he is without sence but as the Dolphin hath nothing to couer his deformitie but a few glistering scales or as the clownish Poet Cherillus had nothing to be praised in his verses but the name of Alexander so he hath nothing to shadow his follie but a faire face nor nothing to be commended but a litle fading beautie Wheras you alledge that Venus was intangled with the beautie of Anchises and Luna with the feature of Endymion Dido with the braue shape of Aeneas I answere that Anchises was neither a foole Endymion a sot nor Aeneas witlesse for if they had they might assoone haue perswaded olde Sylenus to despise the rytes of god Bacchus as haue procured any of these thrée to yéeld to their alluremēts sith they knew that beautie in a foole is as a ring of gold in a swines snout We read that a Consull in Rome married a daughter of his to a faire foole because he was endued with great possessions who was not long married to his wife Iulia for so was the Consuls daughter called but for want of wit and lacke of wisedome he so burned in ielousie and surged in the seas of suspicious follie that as the poore Gentlewoman was stooping to pull on her shooe he espying her faire and christall necke entred into such a suspicious furie that presently he thrust her through with his sword verifying the saying of Castymachus that a foole depriued of reason is no other but a mad man bereaued of his sence Whereas you say that soueraintie and rule is the chiefest thing a woman doth desire and that by marrying a foole I shall haue the readie meanes to