this is which we call Beauty I will affirme that it is no other but a most pretious qualitie which shineth in the vniuersall frame growing from proportions or colours or from the one and the other together brought foorth by the chiefe Creator to no other end but with wonder and delight to kindle loue in those mindes which can comprehend it Desiring therefore to make knowne that this my definition is perfect and vnder it that all things else be comprehended it is necessary that discoursing somewhat more deepely I do shew the proper and particular beauty of all those things which in the vniuersall frame of this world are of beauty capable I say then that as this great worke which we call the world is known by sense and by vnderstanding conceiued so is it druided into two partes the one of which we terme the sensible and thother the intelligible world the sensible world hath two parts one subiect to vicissitudal generation and corruption it is this world which wee enioy being so deare to vs the other is the celestiall world subiect to no other transmutation but onely locall motion the corruptible worlde is contriued of the foure Elements Earth Water Ayre and Fire as likewise of all things mixed whereof some be perfect and others vnperfect and of the perfect some be liuing othersome without life of liuing things some haue onely the soule vegetatiue others haue vegetation and sence and and the third sórt enioy both vegetation sense and also reason Imperfect mixtions so called because they want little of being simple are the vapours whereof all those imperfect mixtions are generate in which moisture beareth sway as deaw frost mistes clowdes rayne snow tempests and such like and exhalation the mother of all such things in which heate and drynesse preuaile as are lightnings thunders thunderbolts windes falling starres comets and other like impressions which are ingendred in the highest region of the ayre the perfect mixtions without life are stones pretious gemmes and mineralles liuing things tetaining vegetation are plants hearbes and all sortes of fruites liuing things hauing both vegetation sense be vnreasonable creatures of which som be imperfect others perfect the imperfect be those which haue no other sense but feeling and imagination confused and therefore they liuing halfe a life are recounted betweene plants and liuing creatures as oysters muscles sponges and other such like creatures fastening vnto stones creatures perfect be all the other sorte whether they be beasts on the earth fish of the sea or foules of the ayre the liuing creature possessed with a soule vegetatiue sensible and teasouable is onely man The celestiall world although it be al of one selfe same substance and that it seemeth at the first sight one heauen alone yet notwithstanding by diuers motions wee learne that it is distributed into ten spheares the first of which ascending vpwarde is the spheare of the moone the second of Mercurie the third of Venus the fourth of the Sun the fift of Mars the sixt of Iupiter the seuenth of Saturne the eight of the starrie firmament the ninth and tenth the one of which if the position of Astrologers be true giueth motion trepedatiue and the other motion diurnall called therefore the first mouer The intelligible world is comprehended by many and diuers orders of blessed soules and spirits the lowest of which is mans soule and after that ensueth the not erring intelligence called the soule of the world and Nature for the three effects she produceth in this vniuersall frame for in as much as she giueth life preserueth the world she is tearmed the soule of the world and in that she imprinteth into matter with the seale of diuinitie al formes generatiue and corruptible she is called nature lastly because she directeth euerie thing depriued of vnderstanding to their ende shee is tearmed intelligence neuer erring This is she most famous Queene that procureth the birds with so great industrie to build their nests she imprinteth naturall desire of generation in all creatures and contemning their own proper commodity with great care and labour to bring vppe their yong She maketh the Bee and Ant to prouide in summer for the future wants of winter and to conclude it is shee that is alwaies intentiue to the good of the whole world The Angelical spirits follow being the most noble ornaments of the celestial spheares diuided into many Hierarchies the first of which wholly enflamed with diuine loue is that of the Seraphins the second of the Cherubins all replenished with incomprehensible knowledge in the third be the thrones faythfull secretaries of the celestiall minde then follow Dominations Powers Principalities the Angels and Archangels aboue whome sitteth as perfect the first vnderstanding being the most excellent great God who immouable draweth and conioyneth all the other vnderstandings as of them be loued desired to himselfe As this vniuetsall worke is diuided into two parts the one corporeall and sensible the other incorporeal and intelligible so be there two beauties the one sensible the other intelligible But in that the beginning of all our knowledge is deriued from sense we will first intreate of Beauty sensible the which is no other but that most gratious qualitie which shineth in bodies sensible springing from proportion or colors or together both from the one other which administring delight produceth loue in those minds that can comprehēd it And because bodies sensible are of two sortes that is simple as the heauen and foure elements be or compounded as albodies mixed are we must obserue that of all bodies simple Heauen onely may bee termed beautifull for the elements being incapable of proportion light colors they cannot properly be called beautifull Leauing them therefore apart with the mixed bodies that com not much short of being elements we will affirme that sensible beauty only in heauen and bodies perfectly compounded is comprehended which notwithstanding is not all one but as compounded bodies be diuers so are there beauties distinct and different in that some are compounded of like partes as stones pretious gemmes and mineralles others of parts vnlike and in themselues dissenting as plants and liuing creatures We wil then auerre that both the beautie of heauen and of compounded bodies of partes vnlike consisteth only in colours for though the beautie of things compounded of partes different consisteth in proportion and colours yet of some the beautie confisteth principally in colors as likewise of othersome in proportion The beauty therefore wherewith heauen is adorned is no other but his most bright end shining colour which doth not onely make heauen beautifull but further is an occasion that al other sensible beutie is faire and apparant The beautie of stones consisteth in their colours as of marble porpherie alabaster and such like That of the diamond in his white and excellent colour like to the starres as also the beautie of the rubie is in his red and cleere colour The beauty of
with maruel and wonder from them springeth the beutie of this inferior world Such proportion we finde in the elements as well in quantitie as qualitie as if of this their proportion the least part were but disproportioned one element would conuert al the other into his proper Nature or els the world would be confounded into Chaos Proportion causeth harmonie in number in bodies beautie in humours health in minde vertue as contrariwise disproportion procureth in numbers discord in bodies deformitie in humors infirmity and in the minde vice But who is it that wil doubt proportion to be the cause of all delights as well sensible as inte ligible in that the good which delighteth is no good if it bring not with it proportion neither is there any thing that desireth to be vnited with good simply but with a good to it selfe proportioned and from hence proceedeth the saying of Heraclytus that euery thing is rauished with his own contentment the which standes in vnion of good to it selfe proportioned and this is that which properly of all things is beloued and desired To conclude as there can not bee good in the vniuersall world without proportion so can ther not in the litle world which is man be any beauty without proportion and as good can not without proportion procure desire so can not beautie without proportion cause loue In that loue is not generate in the louer but by symetrie which the thing beloued hath with the louer by al these and other reasons which might be produced we may conclude that all perfection springeth principally from proportion and therefore that it in humane body is a part more excelent than is the beutie of colours Me thinkes saide the Duchesse the doubt is after such a manner cleered as wee neede not proceede any further and that the palme is due rather to beautifull feature than to faire and well disposed colours It is a thing iust and requisite renowmed Lady sayd Patritio before iudgement to attend the partie for his allegations are not to be contemned and therfore that louer who is made a seruant to beautiful tresses to black eyes to coloured cheekes to rosie lips to a white hand wil alleage in defence of colors that the beautie which is part or rather proper offpring of the most perfect of all beauties sensible ought to bee the selfe same which bringeth principally the name of beautifull to that subiect wherin it is found but colours are such therfore by colours humane body shall principally bee called beautifull that colours be such it is a thing manifest for light is the greatest of all beauties sensible as that which is no other but a beame influence of diuine essence dispersed ouer the wole world as I haue said this being graunted to the most perfect of all bodies sensible which is the sun to the end that by it it might not only be beautifullest of all other creatures but that it should also bee the meane and principal cause of the apparance of all other beauties colours are so conioyned with light and light with colours after such a sort vnited as we terme light a bright color in a body illumined color a shadowed light in a colored body in no poynt differing but that light is a colour without adumbration color a light shadowed whereupon those colors which haue least adumbration as is white haue the greater similitude with the purity of light Light then beeing the greatest beauty of the world and colors part of light and of light created in al reason they ought to obtaine the chiefest place in humane beauty This louer wil further argue if the proper obiect delectable to the sight is no other but beauty colours being more delightsome then proportion or figure should also haue in them greater beautie That colours be such it is proued for colours are proper sensibles of the sight but figure and proportion sensibles common by the opinion as wel of the Perepatetikes as Academikes proper sensibles doo more moue delight sence then common Neither want there philosophers of authority as was most learned Psellus which hold opinion that common sensibles are rather knowne by reason stiried vp by the senses then by the sense thēselues To conclude he will thus reason grounding himself vpon that proposition which runneth currant through all vniuersities and is this that which is the cause that another thing is such is much more the like it self as for example sake If fire be the cause that all other things are hot then shall it of all other things be the hottest I will therefore affirme that if beautie of colours is a cause that the beautie of figure and proportion is apparant then must they likewise needes bee of more apparant beautie as light is of all other beauties the fairest in that light is the cause of the apparance of all beauties sensible and there is no doubt but colours are the cause of the apparance of proportion considering that cōmon sensibles cannot be cōprehended but by sensibles proper by the testimony of women thēselues of whom beauty is the proper ornament the said reasons may be confirmed they being priuie that colours in beauty humane holdeth the cheefest place and are of themselues apt to produce Loue they imploy all their industrie in the beautie of colours by making their haire like the shining colour of gold the cheekes like to white lillies and red roses the lips to rubies the teeth to the orient whitenes of pearle with which beuties shadowing some other of their disproportiōs they yet appeare are called faire kindling notwitstāding by such hart in the harts of mē amarous flames I le further adde the authority of the doctors of the Moysaical law who desirous that mē leauing their bestial appetites shuld be inamored of women set down by publike decree that it shuld be lawful for women to paint their faces and that fathers to daughters brothers to sisters husbands to wiues shuld be enioyned to allow money for the buying of colours these wisemen conceiuing that there is not a beuty more preuailent to imprint loue in humane breasts then that of colors thus wil this intangled louer with the beutie of colors cōclude that colors are the most principal poynts of humane beauty Heere Patritio held his peace and on a sodaine great murmuring did arise one defending one parte and others another which the Queene obseruing she pointed to the Lady Laura Peuerara This is a Gentleman belonging to the Duchesse borne in Mantua to the glorie of that City married to Count Hanibal Turcho one of the principallest Gentlemen of our Citie who as she doth easily with her beautie kindle loue in any one that beholdeth her so with her honest customes and modestie she doth so asswage others flames that al amarous affection is resolued into singular and special reuerence whereupon by all those that know her she is no lesse reuerenced then
thinke better on it I affirme that loue is no other but a forcible perturbation of humane mind stirred vp by some knowne beautie through a secret conformitie of Nature which the louer hath towards the thing beloued resoluing with himselfe in desire to be vnited with this beautie in loue corporeal That loue is violent perturbation of our soule and minde it may be confirmed by the authority of Plato in his Conuiuio where he termeth loue a great spirit or Daemon and if the authoritie of so great a Philosopher were not sufficient yet might these noble Ladies giue ample testimoniall thereof who peraduenture haue felt more then once and often doo feele the same in whose delicate chaste breasts be the most liuely and feruent flames of loue as likewise these amorous yong Gentlemen amongst whome peraduenture more then one may be found who at the presence of such a splendor and beautie murmuring to himselfe may say If this be not blind loue what may I then call this my fit But Loue if that it be O God what manner of thing is it There is no doubt but among al the passions and affections of minde loue holdeth the cheefest place there being no other affection that maketh alteration as well in the body as minde then loue doth as Petrarch wittily expresseth describing in a sonnet his amorous passion when hee sayth I find no peace and yet to warre dare not be bold I feare and hope I burne and yet like ice am cold And in another place I feare and tremble frie and freeze That to procure loue it is necessarie that beautie as a cause efficient should be knowne it may be proued by the Philosophers authoritie in the ninth of his Moralles where he affirmeth that it is impossible any one should bee enamored without hee be first drawne vnto it by beautie and the reason also hereof is in readinesse in that knowledge euer goeth before affection which is no other but a sodaine motion of the sensatiue facultie cordial spirits procured by a delectable or odious apprehension resoluing either into desire of vnion or seperation whereupon ensueth either pleasure or greefe I haue also placed that little clause as necessarie in the definition of loue through a secret conformitie of nature that the louer hath with the beloued For it is not possible that any should be enamored except in finding a woman conformable in beautie to his owne proper disposition the which is testified by the testimony of Plato in Lyside where he cōcludeth that we are enforced to loue that which is cōformable to our nature as also by the authoritie of diuine Petrarch in the second Stanza of that excellent Sonnet in the sweete time of my first years where hee saith I say that from the day Loue first assailed mee Were many yeares yspent and fast away did flee So that my youthful hue I changde for graue and sage With frosen thoughts my heart was burdend by that age Which had my heart to Adamant conuerted quite Nor teares my breast did wet with cruel loues despight I broke not yet my sleepe and what was not in me I deemde most strange in others when I did it see Alas what am I now and what haue sometimes beene By end the life at euening wee the day esteeme This cruell boy marke wel of whom I do complaine That vntill then my garments onely did remaine Hit with his dart he therefore with his wity snare A mighty Dame did catch when she was vnaware With whom I neuer could or euer can preuaile By force wit penitence but with these three do faile These two haue me transformde into this state you see Of me a liuing man making a Laurel tree Which planted in cold ground without leaues cannot be Here Petrarch sheweth that hauing in his dayes seene many faire women as it is likely hee neuer was enamored but rather had an heart made of Adamant till by that mightre Dame hee was surprised whose Beautie was conformable to his owne proper Nature and therefore this sweete conformitie is one of the principallest and most essentiall causes of Loue which hath his originall of no other thing then from the celestiall influences in humane generation because these infuse seperately into euery thing as well without life as liuing and especially into mans bodie a peculiar and particular temperature by which euery man is in some thing different from another in complection From whence springeth diuers inclinations and appetites in that it cannot bee denied but that the sensible faculty hauing alwaies his operation ioyned with the body followeth the temperature of the body and therefore it is no maruaile as the Poet sayth if euery one be transported by his particular delight and that the beauty which is apt to rauish the minde of one scarcely toucheth another This loue which is no other but that most vehement passion wee spoke of resolueth into a desire of vniting it selfe in reciprocall loue with the thing beautiful and here let vs obserue that though a man hath the greater parte of his affections common with other creatures yet is he from them verie different for in other creatures affection desire action if they be not hindered they moue as it were in one moment in that they want reason which should struggle with sence But in man though affection fodainely mooueth yet it is not so readily transformed into desire or quickely mooned to action in that this cannot be without the consent of reason the which as a mistris oftentimes permitteth not affection to breake forth into desire or so incontinently to proceede to action If therfore loue be willing to resolue into desire of necessity reason must thereunto consent it beeing shee that perfectly knoweth the hope which is the true foundation of this desire Therefore when any rare beautie or pulchritude conformable to our appetite discouereth it selfe it is not in our power at that instant to resist amarous affection but if this beauty be placed in too high a subiect as in a Princesse hope of vnition and loue reciprocall failing in vs by the light of reason affection is not conuerted into amarous desire but rather into speciall reuerence By this true conclusion we may coniecture how vainely it was spoken by our Poet Although thou hast thy heart placed full high aboue Waile not though die thou doost and languish in her loue For it had beene a truer sentence to haue said Who placed hath his heart mounting too neare the skie May well lament if he languish through want and die That loue changeth himselfe into desire of aunswerable affection these amorous and valiant Gentlemen will serue me with most certaine and infallible testimonie who stirred vp by such a desire to make themselues woorthy of the reciprocall loue of their affected mistresses couet euer to performe gentle and liberall actions and there is no doubt but in the heart of euery noble louer the principallest desire is to be beloued
of the louer This is wicked iealousie which is no other but a passion that assaileth and freezeth the inamoured heart by imminent danger of leesing or to be hindered in the mutuall affection of his beloued This taketh beginning and nourishment from the louers vnderstanding the want of some perfection in himselfe which in his corriuall is aboundant and plentifull Heere Signior Guirino held his peace and iudging that hee had sufficiently satisfied the commaundement of the Queene would haue retired himselfe When the Queene beckened vnto him that he should sit still and commaunded the Lady Tarquinia Molza with all the other gentlewomen that they should moue questions to Signior Guirino in the argument of loue that by this gentle exercise they might beguile the time till the comming of his Highnesse This noble desire of your Maiestie aunswered then the Lady Tarquinia smiling is vnto me singular good happe and fortune seeing by this occasion I hope to reduce my minde to tranquilitie which now is greatly troubled for that which Signior Guirino hath sayd holding opinion that loue is procured in vs by a secret conformitie of nature which the louer hath with his beloued and that this conformitie dependeth on the heauens which being true how shall I be free from this amorous storme notwithstanding I now ride to my great contentment in safe porte and harbour for howe shall I be able to auoyde that a beautie conformable to my Nature presenting it selfe before my eies I may not enter into this tempestuous sea of loue I beseech you therefore by your wonted curtesie Signior Guirino explane vnto me whether loue commeth by election or destinie You should Madam Tarquinia bee ouer highly conceited in your selfe answered Guirino and too cruell against loue if as you are alwayes beloued so you should be secure from being inamored and that destiny could not chastice your ingratitude that loue proceedeth from celestiall influence it is confirmed by Petrarch and especially in the fift Stanza of his Sonet or sestine which beginneth thus To any creature that doth harbour on the earth saying I thinke that in the wood there feedeth no such beast By night nor yet by day that is so faire at least As she whome I doe seeke by shadow and the sonne Not weary for my sleepe when morning it doth come So though my mortall body on the earth doth mous Yet doth my firme desire come from the starres aboue Here hee confesseth that his firme and constant loue towards Laura proceeded from the starres that is from celestiall influence and in the seuenth Stanza of the Song That my old sweete yet wicked Lord speaking in the person of Loue he saith thus As each one by his star doth seeme to be ordainde From seruile loue of maides I could not be detaind And in the Sonnet It may be some will thinke that in commending her in the third Terzetto hee saith Thy state diuine by mortall tongue cannot expressed be Loue by election doth not drawe but euen by destinie To absolue this doubt and not leaue you perplexed I say that loue is planted in the heart of man by destinie but it taketh there no roote but by election This is euident by the definition of Loue For he by a knowne beautie is incited through the secret conformitie of nature that the Louer hath with his affected so that it is not in our power whē conformable beautie discouereth it selfe to effect that in vs amorous passion should not bee mooued as likewise wee cannot procure that others affections whose subiect is the part irascible may not exercise their force amiddest feare and such like but in that these affections cannot resolue into desire as we haue said if reason do not thereto consent from whose agreement springeth election it followeth that loue cannot change into desire or take roote in mans heart but by election which is an action of free will neither can it by the stars be violated or haue hinderance as Petrarch speaking of himselfe affirmeth in the last Stanze but one of his song Alas that I am ignorant where hope is to bee found saying No planet doth mee thus condemne to waile When that my sight is dimde by mortall vaile What fault is in the starres or things in beauty that preuaile The Poet couering to infer that though the starres encline yet inforce they not a man to offer himselfe as it were a pray to loue but all proceedeth from our election I am but slooderly comforted aunswered the Lady Tarquinia in this your conclusion for if it bee true which both Petrarch and Ariosto affirme that loue depriueth libertie and that he can be brideled with no bit election being an action of freewil shall haue no place in his Kingdome and in trueth experience sheweth that Loue manageth his Empire with violence and where there is least hope of vnion and Loue reciprocall there banishing reason from her seate he principally maketh triall of his force Vnhappy Mirrha was inflamed with the loue of her owne fathermiserable Canace with her brother Macareus and vnbrideled Phedra with the loue of most chaste Hippolytus being ouercome by amorous passion Pasiphae for loue of a Bull frequented the woods and that incontinent young man Guido animated by this most cruell tyrant defiled in the Temple that most beautifull statue of Venus and who will say that the foundations of these loues were layed in any action of reason and not confesse that these infortunate louers were prouoked to this disordinate loue rather by destiny than election To conclude therefore that loue taketh roote in mans heart by election in my iudgement is no other but to open the eyes of loue and of a blinde boy to make him a wakefull and vigilant olde man My conclusion learned Lady aunswered Guirino ought to giue you so much the more consolation by how much for the most part it falleth out to be true and after such a manner true as those vnnaturall and sordide affections which so greatly amaze you are recounted but for wonderfull accidents Vndoubtedly they were bestial inamorations as brutish likewise all those shal be which are rooted in humane heartes without the action of reason of which you are not to presume in your selfe in whome reason vseth to commaund and sence to obey For vertue hauing already taken certain possession of your most beautifull minde it will be easie for you euer to extinguish the disordinate flames of Loue but if destiny set before your eies conformable beauty you beholding it as the representation of diuinity and sauished with diuine loue will prosently transforme your selfe into the same diuinity I am contented to accept Signior Guirino of these last wordes answered the Lady Tarquinia no lesse for commendation then consolation neither will I vrge further Then the Lady Camilla Canala a matrone of magnificont presence and high witte tooke occasion to propound a doubt I would also willingly know said she seeing loue is planted in humane hearts by destinie
glasse Nowe this your beautifull Image is transported by meane of the most subtile vitall spirites and imprinted in the inward organe that is the intrinsecate part of the braine which also becommeth like vnto her and from thence receiued into my soule my soule her selfe taketh of you the whole similitude so that we may say that while I see and behold youpresent my soule wholy transfigured into you is no other but the true pourtraiture of your selfe This which by proofe is verified in exterior sense is also as true in sense interiour which is that vertue of the sensitiue facultie called fantasie or imagination which is of force to contemplate and perceiue obiectes although they be absent by those imaginations which remaine imprinted in the interior organ or member whensoeuer therfore our soule imagineth any thing she becommeth like vnto it and further spiritally transformeth her selfe into the thing imagined the same that happeneth to sense falleth out likewise to vnderstanding vnderstanding beeing in a manner altogether like to sense for while the vnderstanding conceiueth and beholdeth anything it is transformed into it and becommeth the same and therefore happie are those who employ the beautifull gift of the minde to contemplate diuine and high things for in that state they become diumitie it selfe By this which I haue expounded vnto you most honorable Lady you may easily comprehend the transformation of the louer into the beloued For it is not a reall but a spiritall transformation For the true louer bearing always the representation of the beloued imprinted in his soule and neuer ayming his thoughtes but towardes his beloued obiect in that state hee commeth to bee transformed into it Whereuppon the diuine Philosopher in his Conuiuio describing the force of Loue saith that Loue with such a strong knotte knitteth louers together that of twoo hee maketh one alone willing to inferre that those who absolutely giue themselues ouer in prey to amorous passions are after such a sorte ententiue on their louing cogitations as it may be affirmed that the soule disioyned from the body liueth in the beloued therefore no meruaile though the bodies of Louers depriued of vitall vigor do consume and languish The which heere Petrarch auerreth of himselfe in these Terzetti of this Sonnet At euery pace I turne my selfe about saying Sometimes amidst my mournings sad and dull A doubt ariseth how these members can Liue so remote from spirite wonderfull But answered Loue remembrest not thou man That this is priuiledg'd to Louers art From other qualities humane apart With this answer the Ladies and Knights remained very well satisfied who expected with great desire to vnderstand this meruailous Metainorphosis And his Mistris Lucretia Calcagnina a Matron adorned with all gentle fashion made her doubt in this sorte It happeneth oftentimes that after a long and colde conuersation bet wixt man and woman in the ende either one with the other or both of them are enflamed with loue reciprocall the which as it is true so bringeth it that into doubt by you spoken that the Louer is presently enamoured as conformable beautie discouereth it selfe vnto him for I would reason thus either that the beautie so often contemplated is to the Louer conformable or not if it be conformable wherefore doth it not in a moment cause loue but if there be no such conformity how can it procure this after long time cleare mee this doubt When Guirino Two manner of waies gratious Lady may your doubt be resolued First I alleadge that in diuers respects how long soeuer their conuersation be it may happen that to the Louer those beauties may be concealed which were more apt to enamour him seeing a fine foote a beautifull leg a faire arme a quicke and liuely gate or other excellencies of the body hitherto couered sudainly or by chance perceiued may kindle amorous flames I will also affirme that not onely the singularities of body but those of the minde also may procure loue and because these do not so sodainely discouer themselues to the eye of the soule which is the reasonable part and that by little and little with long obseruation seeth and beholdeth therefore not so sodainely but after long conuersation they enslame the louer so soone as he knoweth them and after he is enflamed with that which before with his bodily eyes he sawe and was not there with contented then with delight he reioyceth and is glad for as the beauty of the body is of force to conceale from the louer the defects of the minde and to make them appeare lesse waightie so the perfections of the minde after they haue with sweete and honest contentment fastned on the louer are of vigor to transforme the deformities of the bodie beloued and make it to the louer seeme beautifull or at least not brutish This aunswer was taken for sufficient when the Ladie Countesse of Sala I would willingly know sayd she whether a louer at one time may loue two mistresses and this my question ariseth in hauing seene diuers times by experience that they are seldome louers who are content with one loue alone No seruant most honourable Lady answered Guirino can serue two Masters neither can one Louer at the same instant serue more then one inistris which by many reasons is manifest And first because the beauty of two subiects is either equall or else we discouer the difference of more or lesse If they be equall neither of the one nor of the other can he become louing for finally loue being no other but desire and desire of it selte being vndetermined it is necessary that placed between two obiects it should be determined by the better or the worse by the more beautifull or more deformed other wise it would be alwaies immoueable and therefore Iohn Baccone a Philosopher and most learned diuine was wont to say that if the horse were in away equally distant from two barly fieldes of like goodnesse he should be in danger to die for hunger for his appetite would not be moued more to the one then to the other corne Hee therefore who were in the presence of two women equally faire not being able to bend his desire mooued through knowledge of sence more to the one then the other should rest immouable and consequently would loue neither the one nor the other but if there were a difference of more lesse desire inclining it selfe would bee enflamed with the more beautifull and the other should take no place but further if the Louer transformeth himselfe into the beloued as before wee saide not being able to transforme himselfe into two but into one subiect only so shall he bee able to loue but one subiect alone to conclude as that which hath taken place within is an impediment to the other but exterior which would surprise him so that obiect which shall haue taken the possession of the louers heart will forbid any other that attempteth to pearce thereinto the which Petrarch
vnto him a perfect tongue speech that enflamed with loue diuine and replenished with admiration he might praise and with words extoll diuine beauty In humane body we find proportion colours more then in all other bodies compounded of parts vnlike because in it that proportion is comprehended which representeth the whole corporeal sensible world as also the colours that beautifie this sensible world the one of which is white like to heauenly light and the other is red like to the shining colour of material and visible fire and therefore man was worthily called a little world seeing the body of man is no other but a little modell of the sensible world and his soule an Image of the world intelligible The beauty therefore of humane body consisteth in due measure of proportion that is in fayre and goodly lineaments and in colours wel disposed and further which falleth not out in any other body compounded of parts vnlike his beauty principally is discouered in one part alone this is in the superiour part which regardeth towards the light of the Sunne whose beautie is that which by meane of the eye procureth Loue. Moreouer which likewise in no other kind of creature is founde Beautie humane is in women in farre greater excellencie obserued then in men which was thus dispensed with great prouidence by the cheefe creator For hauing graunted woman vnto man for a companion he endowed her with excellent beautie for production of Man and to enflame in him a desire to generate that fayre and beautifull This Anacreon confirmeth saying that as running is the ornament of an horse and wisedome of a man so beautie is the proper honour of a woman And the Philosopher in the first of his Rhetroyke doth in such sort appropriate beauty to a woman as he setteth it downe principally amongst feminine vertues saying that the vertues of a woman be beauty honestie and desire to take paines without auarice And in the same booke speaking of the beautie of man he placeth in the visage of man togither with the aspect terrible regard and countenance to the ende that prouoked in fighting he might be a terror to his enemies which doth clearely manifest that beautie is not in man in so great perfection as in a woman because his beautie procureth as wel terror as loue wheras Beauty in women doth alwaies generate loue neuer procureth feare If I were willing to describe the beauty of visage humane I might much more easily poynt it out with my finger thē expresse it by my tong Yet for al this I wil not forbeare to affirme that to form perfect Beauty in humane visage foure things sitly concur proportionable feature color wel disposed fauor presence to goodly feature color faire comly presence addeth such excellencie as without it al other Beauties languish weare away This was wel known and commended by Petrarch in the coūtenance of his Lauretta in the sonnet that beginneth From time to time she seemeth more to mollifie By hue Angelical and her sweete simpring smiles And by the fauour that her face doth dignifie With rolling eyes also disciphring wanton wiles Whether this be a beame of the soule which glittereth in the countenance after the same sort as the beames of the intelligēces shine in their proper heauens spheares or that it be an harmony of shadowed colours lineaments I dare not affirme but cōfesse my self to be ignorant wil remain bound to him that shal make me capable here of How much fauor importeth to the perfection of beauty humane from hence we easily conceiue for without fauor beauty would neither be gracious nor accepted of for she accōpanied with fauor hath force to draw to hir self al those minds which cā comprehend her without fauor beauty may be sayd to be vnperfect therfore the ancients fained the Graces to be the waiting maids of Venus by this inferring that beauty ought euer to be accompanied by fauor from hir neuer to be seperate Presence principally is discouered in the sweet and comly motions of the body for the body standing immoueable is not apparant and for my part I would say that presence is no other then a certaine faculty and agilitie which the body hath to obey the soule It remaineth vnto me most excellent Queen for conclusion of this my discourse that I declare vnto your highnesse that humane beuty to on other end hath by the chiefe creator bin produced amongst al beuties sensible most excellēt but to kindle this honest holy loue diuine which vniteth humane creature with his creator For mā wholly astonished in beholding humane Beauty raiseth vp his mind to the cōtemplation of Beauty true essential whereof this is a shadow and similitude this discourse of Patritio was by the Queen commended as also by the other Ladies when S. Gioan Battista Guirini a gentleman most iudiciall in choyce and excellent learning added Questionlesse Signior Francesco hath so plentifully discoursed of Beauty that little more may be adioyned thereunto notwithstanding in euery part I am not satiffied if he loose not some doubts which holde bound my mind For he hauing shewed that Beauty consisteth in proportion or colours or in one and the other togither hath from this his beauty excluded some things which are esteemed faire into which being altogither simple proportion cannot fall it being no other but that symetrie and commeseration which the partes haue betweene themselues cōformable togither to the whole for we say a beautiful colour a faire light a faire voyce a faire sound such like our Italian word Bello being vsed in commending of al these excellencies in these there is neither proportion nor colors But further he auerring that the beauty of bodies compounded of parts vnlike is the proportion that the parts haue between themselues with the whole he manifestly contradicteth his friend Plotinus principal of the Platonicall family who maketh plaine demonstration that beauty cannot be in proportion and amongst many other arguments this in my iudgement is not of little importance for sayth hee if proportion were beautie it would follow that the partes which compounde the whole should not bee beautifull for no composition being in them there is likewise no proportion and they not being faire how can the whole bee beautifull considering that of parts not beautiful an whole Beauty cannot be compounded notwithstanding the consequent is false for the parts which compound the whole are be termed faire we vsually saying a fayre hand a faire foot a faire eie a beautiful nose such like this word Bello seruing for to commend al these perfections the antecedent therfore is false which is that proportion is beauty Furthermore he also vnmindful of his Plautinus hath only entreated of that sensible beauty which is the proper obiect of the sence of seeing hath not placed that in the nūber of Beauties which is the obiect of hearing that being of
beloued Being come therefore before the Queene with her Harpe she sung so sweetly as it seemed the soule at the sound of that diuine harmony rauished would haue flowne out from the body of euery one that heard her when musicke being finished the Lady Duchesse dwarfe came running and made it knowne that the Court was at hand whereupon the queen rising vp the Ladies and knights after order giuen for prosecution of these disscussions begun the day following went to meete his highnes and the rest of the day while supper-time was passed ouer in diuers recreations and pleasant sports After supper they trode certaine measures which finished his highnesse rose vp and cuerie one retyred himselfe apart to his Lodging The second daies discourse VVherein an argument arising amongst the Ladies and Gentlemen they disscusse of Humane loue THe day following his highnesse with the renowmed Duchesse and parte of the Court went into the wood of Elisea where was prepared a very pleasant chase the huntsmen with their nets hauing enclosed a sufficient number of boares whereof that wood aboue all others doth greatly abound and the vsuall company placed in order returned to the Chamber of the Lady Countesse of Sala from whence taking by chance the Lady Isabella Bentiuoglia a matron adorned with most noble qualities shee was crowned Queene who after a little silence spoke in this manner I beleeue not that amongst vs there can any one be found of so dull a conceit which did not yesterday find great contentment in the discourse of Signior Patritio hee hauing explaned vnto you what beauty was from whence she deriued her original and to what ende shee was graunted vnto mortall men by the omnipotent Creator The which hauing well considered I thinke it not much from the purpose to prosequute the method begun giue some occasion to these pregnant and learned wits to extend forth such like delights which also vnto vs may be a singular benefit and commoditie For what greater pleasure may be tasted then to satisfie that naturall desire we haue to vnderstand Signior Patritio sayd yesterday that beautie was the mother of loue and therefore as of the mother I remained out of doubt so am I desirous to haue some notise of the sonne and in effect to knowe what thing this is which wee tearme loue for in the description that Plutarch therof maketh I am but little satisfied it seeming vnto mee a meere fable to say that he is a blind boye winged and naked with a bow in his hand arrowes by his side as likewise it is no lesse vanitie to affirme that he is a curteous child or froward old man that he springeth from idlenes and humane iolitie I command you therfore Signior Guirino if my fauor be with you of any worth that you dilate vppon this subiect because I am assured that al will attende you with great pleasure and contentment for the desire euerie one hath to knowe the Tyrant or rather this greedie deuourer of humane hearts A most grieuous burden thrise excellent queene doth your maiestie lay vppon my shoulders answered Guicino in sodainly enioyning mee to entreate of so high an argument as loue is in contemplation whereof the most refined wits haue bin confoūded Neuerthelesse to make known how deare the fauor of so great a Queene is vnto me I wil couragiously attempt the enterprise hoping that loue himself vnto whom frō my cradle I haue dedicated my life wil stirre vp my inuention and moue my tong so that conformable to your highnesse entention I may make his noble essence other mysteries vnto him appertaining most perspicuous and manifest Here Guirino staying pausing a little with himself begun afterwards in this manner Our soule most excellent queen being deriued from true and essential beautie there is in it such an inclination and knowledge of beauty impressed that no sooner by the eye beautie discouereth it selfe vnto her but sodainely without any reasonable action reioycing with her selfe shee is greatly delighted Hereupon it proceedeth that there is not so harsh a spirit and capacitie which at the presence of some beautifull thing bee it naturall or artificiall slayeth not with wonder and delight to beholde it although hee can neither comprehend the proportion order or any other part of this Beauty But in that most illustrous Queene as yesterday Signior Patritio made manifest Beauty humane as the liuely image of diuinitie surmounteth all other in this inseriour world therefore deseruedly is it that which with his present apparence hath force to enflame and kindle loue in the soule of man Of which loue humane seeing your maiestie so commandeth I haue determined to discourese laying apart that generall argument whereof others super fluously haue entreated it being rather a certaine inclination which euery creature hath to his owne particular good then a true infailible loue Whētherfore we wold attain to the prerfect knowledge of any thing these foure things especially we are wont to seek out first whether that after which wee seeke be extant secondly what it is thirdly from whence it hath his originall and lastly what end it hath Now therefore I supposing which of all these Ladies and gentlemen will bee graunted vnto mee that loue is I will passe ouer vnto the other three sought after the which I intend to make manifest vnto you in the description I shal set downe of Loue but before I go any further I thinke it not amisse to lay open some definitions i. two of diuine Plato one takē out of Aristotle for taken out I may verie well say because bee neuer hath defined it Plato therfore in his book called Phedro saith that loue is no other thing but a desire of vnition with that which is Beautifull and in his Conuiuio as also in Diotima he affirmeth that loue is a desire of bringing forth that which is beautifull In like manner out of the wordes of Aristotle in his Rhetorick may be gathered that loue is no other but a desire of interchaungeable affection The words of Platoes first definition be true but yet being too much restrained they declare not sufficiently the nature of loue the second is onely proper to one kinde of humane loue and therefore cannot bee taken for a generall desinition That of Aristotle notwithstanding it bee vniuersall and hath his verification as well in loue as in good will beeing in a manner the end both of one and other yet is it somewhat defectiue because there wanteth the efficient cause as in it no mention being made of beautie which properly doth generate and preserue loue but in that the defect of these definitions wil be made manifest in the consideration of that I intend to propound I will in this proceed no further but come to define humane loue according to the power of my slender wit and admit I preuaile no further yet by this meanes shall I giue occasion to these learned vnderstandings to
mutually and that he had rather be depriued of the vnion of loue reciprocall than by vnion to lose the mutuall and interchangeable affection of his deere affected and this may suffice for the definition of loue Yet wil I not forbeare to admonish these most beautifull Ladies that they be not too presumptuous in the title of Mistresses as though they themselues might not likewise come to bee louers For though their hearts be built of plaister of Adamant yet be they not so hard but that Loue sometimes with his golden arrow may pearse them therefore when I say inamoured I intend aswell women as men and by a Louer I giue to vnderstand both the one and the other By the same way and meane that amorous passion in humane harts is ingendred as by beautie being an obiect to the sight and therfore is the mother thereof so may we affirme with the authoritie of Petrarch that the eies be guides vnto the path of loue and therefore in the first Terzetto of his Sonnet hee saith there was a day when the Sunne was darkened Loue me vnarmed altogither found And ope did make the way by eies my heart to kill Which to my teares were foordes from whence they did distill And in the fift Stanza of the Sonet so weake the threed is whereupon my yrkesome life depends And also with my heart let both those lights feele smart Which to the path of loue did guide me to depart And not onely the louers cies as the way but those also of her beloued doe necessarily concurre to the imprinting of this amorous passion as affirmeth the same Poet in the Sonnet Loue hath me set as white vnto the shaft saying Your eies this mortall blow did towardes me direct Gainst which preuailes no time nor place can well protect And in the Sonnet O cruell starre if heauens in vs haue any force And cruell woman of whose eies I take remorce As eke the bow whereto I for a marke did rest That made the wound whereby with loue I do not iest And in the Sonnet When by the eies into the heart profound A woman doth her liuely image send Then all things else depart away full round And vertue which the soule doth comprehend Then leaues the rest of all the members straight Inimoueable much like a ponderous waight We therefore concluding with the Poet will say that the eyes be those that swallow downe the Idea of the beauty beloued and transport it to the Louers heart whereupon the minde incited by that most delectable contentment enters into contemplation and feeling of that influence wherwith it is moued and by litle and little set on fire especially when vnto this there commeth the reuerberation against them of those most glittering beames sent foorth from the eies of the beloued so that fresh fewell added to the former fier all these together inflame with amorous heat And as it is not in our power most noble Queene to resist amorous affection as that which in a moment altering the vitall spirites maketh impression in our sensible facultie so not being able without the consent of reason to breake foorth into desire it is in our power to bridle and induce it to a mediocritie which if we doe not it is no more humane loue but made like the loue of sauage beasts is termed bestiall Wherefore as this disordinate loue is the norishment of all vices so temperate loue is the principall originall of all vertues Leauing therefore apart this brutish loue which deserueth rather the name of a luxurious and furious storme then of true loue we will diuide humane loue into three seuerall kindes different one from another in respect of the end to which they are directed The first and excellentest of all the rest like vnto the diuine of-spring of that celestiall Venus wherein the Seraphins immeasurably burning do enflame with like affection all the rest of the Angelicall spirites is called diuine loue This was defined by Plato in his Phedro to bee no other then a diuine furie which reduceth to memorie the forme of true beauty in that farre from all brutish action in the onely contemplation of his faire and deare beloued he resteth satisfied who beholding beauty as the Image of Diuinitie raiseth vp by that meanes his minde to meditate on that beauty which is perfect and celestiall This diuine louer desireth that his deere affected should be set on fire with so holy chaste immaculate a loue towards him With such loue not onely yong men but olde religious and men married may be inamoted and it is in the highest and most perfect degree of temperature The second kind without contaminating chaste thoughts reioyceth onely in beholding discoursing and conuersing with his beloued as also by her to be mutually affected This is discrepant from that in the diuine louer insomuch as admiring humane beauty without lifting vp the mind to that from whence she had her beginning hee meditateth on this beauty humane not as the Image and representation of Diuinitie but as if it were most true and essentiall beutie and reioyceth in this contentment this is called chaste loue and is in the second degree of temperance It se emeth kissing vnto this Loue is permitted for a reward in that a kisse is rather the coniunction of soule then body for by meane of a kisse a most pleasing passage of the liueliest spirits being procured both from the one and others heart the soules of louers remaine so bound togither by the vndiuided knot of loue that of two ther is made one which compounded after this maner gouerneth two bodies and therefore those chastely enamored desire to attayne to a kisse as being a true connexion of the soule Wherfore the diuine Philosopher in his Conuiuio speaking of one inamored with chaste loue saith that kissing the soule commeth into the lippes from whence it flieth out and is receiued The third kinde of humane loue is that which resolueth into desire of vnition with the thing beautifull not onely in minde but also corporally yet by lawful and honest meane and this loue is that which is the beginning of thrice sacred Matrimony and in this not onely an vnion of reciprocall loue but also a desire of eternitie is discouered for by meane of this lasciuious loue a man communicating his owne proper kinde beeing fraile maketh himselfe eternall Thus much Plato gaue to vnderstand when he said Loue is a desire of bringing forth that which is beautifull although this definition hath by others beene diuersly interpreted they supposing that the diuine philosopher vnderstoode it by that loue wherewith Socrates loued faire and goodly yong men which resolued into a desire of generating in their gentle wittes his noble conceits and morall vertues There foloweth most excellent Queene and with this I will finish my discourse as the shadow a body so this loue a most cruell passion which many times with his bitter poyson appalleth and infesteth the happy state
and taketh roote by election whether it be in the Louers power to extirpate it for of this I greatly doubt You haue great reason to doubt said Guirino for by the Philosophers consent it is much more hard to resist the appetite of desire then of anger And Plato in his Timeo affirmeth that cupiditie giueth no eare to reason but no sooner is stirred vp by sence then that immediatly she is rauished by these viewed representations in which opinion Plutarch agreeth Loue then beeing the principall affection of the part concupiscent and yet notwithstanding the beauty of the beloued being to the louer represented by sence and imagination as it hath annexed vnto it I knowe not what manner of violence which forcibly rauisheth the soule of the louer so is it impossible that the louer taken by that baite should cleare himselfe as Petrarch affirmeth of himselfe saying The more I hope my heart will shun this cruell baite The more on beauties hooke to fasten I awaite And in another place also speaking of himselfe he clearely sheweth that it is not in the louers power to breake the amorous cord but in that sonnet especially If I rauish't with fond desire do make great haste To follow her that flieth away from me so fast And loosed from the bonds of loue doth runne full swift Before my snailing pace that scarce my foote can lift And calling backe my selfe into securer path Shee to attend me then the lesser pleasure hath And vaine it is to spurre or yet to flie away When I by loues desire made restiue needes must stay And in the other sonnet Oh pleasant libertie what triall I haue had Since thy departure to conceiue that state so bad Wherein I haue remainde since first I tooke the wound Of which there neuer could yet any cure be found These eyes did then de light so greatly in their woe As reasons bridle could not curbe their doing so And in the second Stanze of the song when destinie will haue it so he saith So mighty was that fond desire which me transported hence That reason dead her bridle seru'd for small vse or defence And in the fixt Stanze of the Sonnet If I do meditate in thought she doth me straight assaile This sheweth euidently that seeing loue hath possession of mans hart it is in mans power to acquite himself of him saying My folly I perceiue and truth do plainely see Though daseled cruel Loue by meanes inforceth mee That neuer suffereth him in honours path to treade That thereinto doth thinke hee will him surely leade And presently euen now into my heart doth come A light yet sharpe disdaine and troublesome Which euerie thought that was before conceald Doth in my forehead place to ulmen then reueald What mortall thing on earth should wee so dearely loue Like to immortall God who hath his throne aboue Vnhappie he that greatest honor doth attaine In this which often reason also doth reclaime That drawne by senses leaueth eft soones the rightway But yet in hatred or in hope she doth gainsay Bad customes to dissolue but forward doth aduaunce Painting out that whereon mine eyes casting a glaunce May make me thinke her borne my death for to procure Because she pleasd her selfe and me too much most sure Ariosto concludeth the same in the Stanze which begineth Now out alas whereof iustly may I lament But of Desire which hath me ouer stifly bent Where he addeth And who can bridle that which nsuer had no raine Assured that to death at length she will me traine Because attending greefe augmented is my paine Notwithstanding I little regarding the authoritie of these Poets seeing they haue but weake mindes I holde the contrarie for trueth and that we haue power to free our selues of amorous passion when or in what maner soeuer we please and to the end most gentle Lady togither with these other Gentlewomen you may comprehend the truth examining the matter a little more deepely I say that the most excellent and great God principally Architect of this worldly frame hauing with al beautie bedecked the celestiall regions with angelicall Spirits furnishing the heauenly spheares with soules eternall and hauing replenished this inferior part with all manner of plantes hearbs and liuing creatures The diuine maiestie desirous to haue an artisicer who might consider the reason of so high a worke admire the greatnesse and loue the beauty thereof in the end made man being of al worldly creatures the most miraculous but this diuine workman hauing before the creation of man dispensed proportionably of his treasures to al creaturet euerie kind of liuing thing prescribing vnto them infallible laws as to plants nourishment to liuing creatures sence to Angels vnderstanding doubting with what maner of life he shuld adorne this his newe heire this diuine artificer in the ende determined to make him vnto whom hee could not assigne any thing in proper partaker of al that which the others enioyed but in particular wherupon calling him vnto him he sayd Liue O Adam in what life pleaseth thee best and take vnto thy self those gifts which thou esteemest most deare From wil this so liberall a graunt most gracious Lady had our free his original so that it is in our power to liue like a plant liuing creature like a man lastly as an Angell for if a man addict himself only to feeding and nourishment hee becommeth a Plante if to things sensuall he is as a brute beast if to things reasonable ciuil he groweth a celestial creature but if he exalt the beautiful gift of his mind to thinges inuisible and diuine hee transfourmeth himselfe into an Angel and to conclude becommeth the sonne of God To affirme therefore that wee haue not power to free our selues from loue after he hath planted his roote in our hearts is no other but to reiect the most high gift granted vnto vs by the chiefe creator for our great perfection and to say that we can liue no otherwise then creatures irrationall which are wholly bent to sensualitie is a matter altogither false seeing by the act of reason we may reduce all affections to mediocritie and pacifie these disordinate motions of our mind and amongst the rest this of loue The Lady Camilla was satisfied with this solution which althogh it was commended yet gaue it some yong men not liking there of occasion to mutter that the empire of loue was vtterly destroyed and that after their so wonderfull excesse hee should not haue authoritie to make them so much as a safe conduct or couer them vnder his great wings they holding that sentence true That easily then all scuse we admit When Loue of blame is worthie thought and fit But the Lady Syluia Villa whose turne it was now to speak by propounding her doubt caused silence and her question was whether long distance and seperation increaseth or diminisheth loue That distance increseth loue answered Gui rino is very conformable to reason
by howe much the want is greater by so much the more is desire augmented The Louer therefore by reason of seperation being more destitute of vnion causeth his amorous desire to be the greater or at least impaireth it not at all As Petrarch affirmeth in the last Terzetto when time and place before mine eies I set saying That sunne which on mine eyes alone doth shine With splendant beames doth scorch me often time Being the same at night t' was early in the morne Which far off doth me burne with griefe and eke with scorne And fresh in memorie each houre doth represent The knot the time the place of my most fond intent Here Petrarch sheweth that his being in Italy farre from Laura did not extenuate his loue in that the beauty therof burned so much the more ardently and remained alwaies the more fresh in memorie and confirmed Notwithstanding I most famous Lady to resolue this doubt make this arbitrement that if this separation be but for short time it doth not diminish but rather increase loue through the hope of sodaine returne but if it bee for any long time or continuance it doth not onely impaire but vtterly extinguish loue which is plainely manifested by this reason for by what meane loue is procured by the selfe same it is preserued Loue therefore hauing production in mans heart by meane of the eyes and sight wee may with good reason couclude that the sight of his deare beloued is that which sweetely nourisheth loue and therefore we see that one nor other thing louers are more ententiue then to behold their affected whereas by great distant separation the foode and nourishment of loue failing of necessitie pining away through want hee must needes bee weakened and in the end perish The Lady Syluia remained satisfied and Madam Camilla Costabile peceruing all the companie to expect hir proposition without further delay mooued this question whether iealosie were a token of great loue Whē Guirino replied it seemeth noble Lady that ielosie is a signe of speciall loue for we vsually say that whoso greatly loueth hee is not without feare ielousie being no other but a maruailous feare as before wee affirmed To resolue therefore this doubt I say that the heart of him greatly enamored is the proper subiect of this most bitter passion which we terme ielosie yet doth it not so presently take impression which is a manifest signe that the great heat then beginneth to qualifie and when ielosie proceedeth so far that hope remaineth dead by the victorie feare hath obtained then that so feruent loue enclining by little and little towardes his contrarie is transformed into hatred and disdaine Ielousie therefore is a signe of affectionate loue past slender affectiō present This answer pleased the Lady Camilla And the Queene beckened to the Lady countesse of Sala that she should moue her scruple This most beautifull and in all her actions and gestures most gracious Lady besides her other rare qualities is so readie of vtterance and full of ingenious conceits that she procureth the astonishment of all them that behold or attend her After shee had therefore paused a while shee spoke in this sors You haue defined loue to be no other but a defire of vnion if this were true it would likewise follow that in things beloued after the vnion and possession of beautie loue shuld rest extinguished for where there is no want there can bee no desire and yet experience teacheth the cōtrarie that after enioyance of the beloued we yet in loue make further progression My question therefore shall bee whether after possession of beautie loue remaineth extinguished This doubt most excellent lady is of no smal importance answered Guirino because it dissenteth frō reason that we shuld desire the things we haue alreadie in our power Notwithstanding I would affirme alwaies excepting better iudgemēt that loue may be maintained liuing in two wants the one is in the wāto of simple vnion the other in want of vnion perpetual after enioyance of beauty the first want of simple vnion ceaseth and then arifeth the want of perpetuall vnion for when wee enioy a thing present yet are wee by and by in want of that which is to come which want is of force to maintaine liuing this desire that wee terme Loue and therefore in that State loue is no other but a desire of perpetuall enioying the thing beloued With this excellent distinction Guirino satisfied the Lady Countesse and all the standers by when the Lady Camilla Beuelacqua cast out her doubt after this manner In the definition of Loue you affirmed that it sprung from the knowledge of Beautie this in my iudgement bringeth with it some difficulty in that we see by experience that some contemning the thing truely beautifull grow enamoured with that which to all others seemeth deformed and odious therefore necessarily you must affirme that either deformitie to another may seeme beautie or else that not alwaies beautie but deformity also sometimes may be the mother of loue cleare therefore vnto mee this doubt that your desinition remaine not vnperfect As things materiall and corruptible fayre Ladie aunswered Guirino can neuer bee so beautifull as that in them some defect may not be discouered so doo they neuer carrie with them such deformitie that some steppes of beauty may not appeare for the euill disposition of matter cannot so greatly resist the Ideall forme and reason but that in it the excellencie of the diuine artificer will discouer it selfe They therefore which vnto many seeme deformed are neuer without some beautiful poynt which beeing neuer so little when it shall be conformable to anothers nature in such a one will it be of such force to stirre vppe Loue and there is no doubt but our mindes as in the rest so also in loue are verie diuers and therefore some are enamoured with a beautifull mouth and sweete smiling countenance others with a fayre breast or iuory necke some with delicate and white hands others with the breath and comely grace or some other hidden beautie in a woman who no sooner baite theyr wings on this louing limetwigge but blinde in all other deformities of their beloued beholding onely that parte wherewith theyr minde is contented they deeme their owne mistresse of all other most woorthie to bee beloued and serued and so likewise the least blemish in any faire woman may preuaile so farre in his minde vnto whose nature and disposition it shall bee disproportionable and displeasing as contemning all other perfections hee shall iudge her vnwoorthie of any mans loue This therefore is true that loue proceedeth from knowne beautie because of deformitie hatred and of beautie loue is the legitimate of spring This answere was commended and the Lady Leonora Sacrati further replied tell me Signior Guirino if loue bee the selfe same with desire why doth your definitions lately deliuered call it in question and yet Leon the Iew in his third dialogue of loue saith
that loue is no other but a desire which is also conformable to experience seeing wee loue because we desire and desire because we loue Leon the Iew a man questionlesse of quicke and excellent witte answered Guirino hath in this committed an error as one that contradicteth him selfe in the first Dialogue wherein hee distinguisheth loue from desire but to resolue your doubt I auerre that if we consider loue as an affection it is as different from desire as the beginning from the middest seeing loue is that sodaine and first motion which groweth in mans minde through apprehension of conformable beauty which without consent of hope disturbeth that minde and altering the heart and desire grounded vppon hope followeth loue it being a meane to attain to the end which is vnion with beautie Notwithstanding loue is taken for desire because after the first motion it is transformed into desire and then it is true that we loue because we desire and desire because we loue The L. Leonora replied no further but Madam Tarquinia Molza It seemeth added shee that this your conclusion is contrarie to the Philosopher for he in his Politikes saith thus that none can loue except he first be delighted with beautie and he thus delighted in beautie loueth not sodainely but then loueth when he desireth the thing beloued beeing absent and hath to it as great a zeale being present Our of these wordes wee collect that desire preceed eth and followeth not loue Wee must obserue learned Ladie aunswered Guirino that the Philosopher speaketh not of loue in this place as it is a perturbation and that first motion by vs before spoken of but intendeth it by louing action desirous to inferre that the Louer is not brought to such acte before Loue bee resolued into a desire of the thing beloued and this is so farre from being contrary as that it is conformable to all our pofitions The Ladie Tarquinia highly commended this cleere explication of Aristotles wordes and vsing no further speech the Lady Victoria Tassona propounded her doubt after this sort Hitherto you haue discoursed of loue we giuing attention not knowing as yet whether loue be a good or discommendable thing when notwithstāding this most principally shuld be taught for all our desires and actions being moued from the knowledge of good and euill we flying alwayes known euill and following the good who is hee that would not auoyde loue if he thought it wicked or would not folowe it esteeming it good resolue me therefore of this doubt whether loue be good or wicked Petrarch wittily disputeth answered Guirino vpon this probleme in the Song That my old Lord Wicked though sweete he seeme Made to appeere before the Queene on hie Whom of our parts diuine men gouernesse do deeme Hauing her seate aboue the lofty azurde skie Where hee faining to cite loue before the tribunall of reason accuseth him as wicked and peruerse and loue defendeth him selfe in the end of which conflict reason hauing heard both the one and other part leaueth the controuersie vndecided saying Suffice it that to your complaints I haue attended well But yet more time this strife requires Allerrour to repell Notwithstanding the reasons are not of light importāce by which our minds should be induced to beleeue that loue is a wicked thing First in that it is an exceeding perturbation of our mind and perturbations being contrary to tranquillitie which is one of the principallest conditions of humane felicitie being good of it selfe and to be desired and therefore of necessitie al those of themselues are wicked and odious secondly because he depriueth vs of libertie thirdly for that further he cōtending with reason auoydeth al good operations As Petrarch affirmeth complaining him selfe of loue in the third Stanza of this vnderwritten Sonnet saying These haue me made lesse for to loue my God Then that I ought and lesse my selfe also One woman hath me scourged with this rod That equally all thoughts procure me woe And a little more vnderneath Thus am I now dispoilde of my sweete libertie By my most cruell foe whome I accuse and flie And in the triumph of loue Of vs I will now speake and first of that great man That of our life and libertie dispoile vs can The same whome all the world calles Loue as I doe learne But bitter as you see and better shall discerne If of your quiet thoughts he proue the soueraigne sire As in our hearts his thoughts do kindle burning fier And further loue is a cause that loosing our selues wee are transformed into another as Petrarch affirmeth of him selfe in the Song by me cited These two haue me transformed into the state you see Of me a liuing man making a Lawrell tree Which planted in cold ground without leaues cannot be And in the third chapter of loue Of my great enemy the path I searched out And seeking her to finde I was transformd throughout As louer to be lou'd possessed out of doubt Ariosto also supposeth that Loue for the most part is a wicked thing when he saith Loue we do not therefore so wicked alwayes find But that sometimes he helpes aswell as hurtes the minde Notwithstanding most gente Lady I am of a contrary opinion and hold that loue is a most excellent thing and necessary to a good and happy life but I vnderstand not this by bestiall loue For this vndoubtedly is wicked and that which depriueth of libertie and auoydeth all good operations there being no greater seruitude then sin and this peraduenture Petrarch vnderstoode when he said These haue me caused lesse to loue my God But speaking of other sorts of loue all are good and profitable to a man and comming to the first which for his excellencie is called diuine loue this is most excellent in that being a desire of vnition with the thing beutifull as the true Image of Diuinitie by meane of humane creature it lifteth vp the minde to loue beautie and is inflamed with incredible loue towardes his Creator Neither can that loue be termed wicked which bursteth out into desire of generating by honest meane the thing beautifull in that being ioyned with a desire of eternitie of al other it procureth the greatest good to mākind But what shal we say of the other kind of loue placed in the second degree of temperance may we peraduenture affirme it wicked seeing farre from all brutish action in the contemplation of beautie onely and reciprocall affection of his deare beloued he contents him selfe This is that perfect degree of loue which enflameth the hearts of men to glorious enterprises Wherefore Petrarch calling to minde his errour in this Sonnet vnder all cadged when he so rashly indignified Loue in the sixt Stanza and also in the rest of the Sonnet he faineth him selfe by loue taxed of ingratitude saying My mortall foe with bitter frumps assayes But woman marke the other part alwayes Which shal the truth declare with faithfull heart How thus ingrate this
man came to depart In youth he did apply him selfe to selling Wordes wholly vaine and lies eke eftsoones telling And as it seemes he was no whit ashamde Moou'd by this meane to make me eke be blamde With my delight which doth most pure remaine From his desire which would me gladly staine And in sweete life which he vexation calles Some follies to lament he freshly falles When by my help he glorious doth remaine Which of him selfe he neuer could attaine And alittle afterwardes in the same Song Vnder my wings I did him so conuoy That Knights and Ladies in his speech tooke ioy And afterwards him to that fame did bring As that mongst ripest wittes his name did ring And of his wordes conseruaes they did make Who in his speech so great delight did take Though now in court some sycophant he be Or with the vulgar sort in base degree And in the last Stanza sauing one hee affirmeth that this loue is acceptable to God and men Neuer was nightly dreame so fond and vaine As that opinion which he doth retaine Of vs whome now he perfectly doth know Fauourd of God aboue and men below This lofty sire for this laments Itrow We will conclude therfore that loue is a good and sweet thing and more whosoeuer findeth not him selfe inueigled with some of these louing snares is but a sottish man and of the common sort It remaineth that I answere the contrarie arguments for better vnderstanding Bee it therefore knowne vnto you that the perturbations and affections of the minde are no other but sodaine and forcible motions of the concupiscent angry faculties stirred vp by the knowledge of things delightfull or noysome as I haue said these being procured by Nature her selfe who doth nothing in vaine or which is not conformable to diuine prouidence and therefore cannot be saide to be wicked for that were no other than to reprehend God and Nature her selfe who gaue vnto man the vertue of the angry and concupiscent faculties affections therefore in themselues are rather good and necessary to the creatures and man than wicked for without them the parts indiuiduall and kinde could not be preserued considering that these moue the creature to action yet may they be wicked in a man when resoluing into desire they obay not reason for then they become brutish wherefore affections touching man may be compared to a horse who bridled is very good and profitable but hurtfull without bit because casily hee carieth the rider awaye headlong affections being greater benefite to man then to other vnreasonable creatures for man without affections should be also without vertue vertue being no other then an habit imprinted in our angry concupiscent faculties by meane of which all other affections are easily reduced to mediocritie and therefore as S. Augustine saith to a Christian concupiscence and anger be necessary to stirre vppe temperance continence tollerance and fortitude And the same Saint in the fourteenth booke of the cittie of God affirmeth that affections agree wel with the beloued of God saying that the Cittizens of the holy cittie who liue according to God in the pilgrimage of this life do feare are angrie desirous sad and merry but because in these loue hath a good ordination in them all these perturbations are moderate and good wherevppon that shrill Trumpet of truth said be angrie but sinne not to which opinion conforming my selfe I also saie loue Oyee gentle yong men and be enamoured you faire and most gratious Ladies for loue is a good thing but sinne not This excellent conclusion was with great contentment especially of the vong gentlemen accepted and praised but after their whisperings were somwhat ceassed the Lady Countesse Tieni a woman of most loftie conceit whose turne it was to propound bethinking her selfe a little At last I would willingly know saide she whether the beloued be bound to reciprocation in loue and by what reason if we enter into consideration of Loues definition which you Signior Guirino haue made this seemeth an Iniunction not onely of courtesie but also of necessitie For that secret conformitie of nature which is betweene the louer and the beloued as it forceth him inamored to loue so ought it to vrge in her affected an answerable loue For besides that crediting me things of conformable nature should haue a conformable desire and inclination Yet further if wee attribute any thing to Dant a Poet of great authoritie wee will be ready to affirme that Loue is so iust a Lord that he exempteth none beloued fro louing but with his mighty power and burning firebrands he enflameth the hearts of all them beloued with loue mutuall towardes their louers Notwithstanding how may wee credite this beholding the teares and hot sighes of these inamored yong Gentlemen who shew manifest tokens of the crueltie of their ingratefull Mistresses Putte mee therefore out of this doubt Ariosto and Petrarch were of contrary opinion to Dant answered Guirino who in diuers places affirme that Loue doth not force and binde the beloued to affect but on the contrary seldome are the desires of her beloued correspondent to those of her louer and therefore Ariosto complaining him selfe saith Wherefore doth Loue vniust so seldome frame our will To answer him with loue with loue whom we do kill Perfidious wretch from whence doth it proceede That thou with discordance two seuerall hearts dost feede And alittle after Why dost thou laugh and ioy feede and maintaine thy life Procuring from the eyes fountaines of teares by strife And Petrarch maketh the subiect of one parte of his Sonnets and Songs sometimes of the crueltie and ingratitude of his Laura otherwhiles of the treachery of loue and especially in the Sonnet There was a day when sunne obscured darke Saying in the last Terzetto Loue me alas vnarmed altogether found And ope did make the way by eies my heart to kill When I transfixed by his greeuous mortall wound Made of my eies wet foordes from whence teares did distille Yet as I thinke by that he little honour gaind Wounding me in such state wherein I was detaind You armed not his bowe once to beholde constraind And in the Sonnet by me cited he sayth speaking of loue This cruell boy market well of whom I now complaine That vntill then my garments onely did remaine Hit with his dart he therefore in his wily snare Amightie Dame did catch when she was vnaware With whom I neuer could or euer can preuaile By force wit penitence but with these three do faile And in the third Stanza of the Sonnet which beginneth In time when heauens are furiously enclinde Hee saith Ah cruell Loue that dost me thus enforce Of this wilde beast causer of my remorce The voyce to follow pace and eke the path When she vnbound doth flie farre from thy wrath For absolution therefore of this doubt I say that the natural conformitie which is betweene the louer and beloued is a conformitie betweene the obiect
and forcible power for the beloued with her beautie concurreth as obiect and there is but seldome conformitie betweene the one and others power And therefore it may easily fall out that the beautie of the affected may bee apte and conformable to mooue the minde of the Louer when in very deede the beautie of the Louer shall not haue the like conformitie in the minde of the beloued or be preualent to kindle in her amorous passion For this cause the Poets fained that Loue had two sorts of darts that is some gilded and others of lead and that those gilded had power to enflame those of lead to congeale freese as also that he pearced louers with his golden shafts when the beloued were for the most part stricken with the leaden ones and therfore Petrarch willing to cleare him selfe sweareth saying If I may saie so much Loue with his golden dart Chargeth on me when those of lead fall to her part Notwithstanding she beloued is bound by election perceiuing the loiall and faithfull seruice of her seruant to retourne the like mutuall affection which not doing she falleth into the errour of ingratitude in that shee beloued receiueth secret honour and commendation by this affection of hir louer she shewing in that most notable perfection such as that it vrgeth him to be enamored to loue and serue her and so much the more she must holde herself bound if she perceiue her selfe beloued with one of those kindes of loue before rehearsed for if shee obserue her selfe affected with this brutish and sordide loue she is no waies bound to answerable affection neither for this shal she be deemed ingrate but rather in hating such a louer she deserueth praise and commendation The Lady Countesse replied no further And Madam Camilla Mosti propounded her doubt which was whether it were better to loue or bee beloued That to loue is better answered Guirino may be affirmed by the Philosophers authoritie for to loue is action and with some contentment being good but from the beloued there proceedeth no action and moreoner it is better to knowe then be knowne and the Louer knoweth but shee affected as hauing loue made to her may bee depriued of knowledge and therefore thinges without life may be beloued but neuer loue finally the louer in louing exerciseth the work of charitie which doth not the beloued And therfore the Philosopher affirmeth that to delight in louing rather than to be beloued is a more commendable thing and a signe of greater excellencie in good custome and fashion On the other side it seemeth that to bee beloued is greater perfection for to loue being the same as to desire proueth want of perfection in the louer wherein she beloued doth abound and further by how much the final cause is more perfect thā the efficiēt so much doth the beloued exceed in perfection the louer in that she affected concurreth as the louing and desired end and the louer is procured to loue in fauour of her affected or to receiue from her some perfection Now clearing this doubt I say that this word to loue may be interpreted in two senses one is to desire vnition with the thing beloued to the ende to obtaine perfection from it the other in desiring to giue vnto the thing beloued some perfection In the first sense as riches is better than pouertie so is it better to be beloued than affect And in this manner are the kindes of humane loue fette downe by me for the louer seeketh vnion with the beloued to obtaine perfection from her beautie where of hee hath want After this sort likewise dooth the creature loue his Creator seeking vnition with him for to participate of his perfection In the second sence it is a thing much more excellent to loue than bee beloued for in the louer wee suppose plenty and in the beloued penury With this loue God loueth the creature and desireth to vnite it with his diuine Maiestie to reach vnto it full perfection With this loue the Prince loueth his subiects and the greater his inferior to giue and not receiue perfection Out of this wee haue spoken you most honourable Lady shall gather this singular conclusion that all loues haue their originall from aboundaunce or defect as the diuine Philosopher affirmeth in his Conuiuio and in his booke called Lyside faining that Poro which signifieth riches is the father and Penia which importeth pouertie is the mother of loue For loue springeth either from the penurie of the Louer or wealth of the beloued or from want in the beloued and superaboundance in the Louer The Lady Camilla commended the answer and all the other Gentlewomen wishing within themselues to be rather rich affected then poore inamored The Lady Lucretia Machiauella propounded this excellent question whether is more feruent the loue of a man towardes a woman or of a woman towardes a man Most gentle Lady aunswered Guirino the reasons are not of small moment by which wee may conclude that women exceede in loue whereof the first is perfection which women receiue frō vnition with man as by the Philosopher it is confirmed where hee entreateth of vniuersall beginnings of things naturall who desirous to shewe the great desire the first matter hath of vnition with forme sayth that shee desireth forme as the female desireth the male and this is in no other respect but because matter requireth perfection from forme as doth the female from the male Woman therefore attayning perfection from man and not man from woman so amorous desire in her is more eminent then that in man But further if wee shall but consider the proper subiect and abode of loue wee shall finde that it is in soft and delicate hearts the which continually are nourished with sweete and pleasing cogitations as diuine Petrarch heere testifieth speaking of loues originall when he sayth From idle mind and want onnesse humane He springes nourisht with thoughts though sweet yet vaine And of vaine folke doth Lord and God remaine Women therefore beeing naturally soft delicate and vsually idle being nourished with sweete and pleasant cogitations and on the contrarie men beeing sterne and for the most part entangled in serious meditations wee may conclude that loue taking greater nourishment in the heart of a woman becommeth also more preualent and vigorous Although I notwithstanding these reasons do hold the contrarie for trueth and that amorous passion is much more vehement in man then in woman and I am mooued thereto by this most probable supposition that the more preualent cause bringeth foorth the more forcible effect The beautie then of woman beeing farre more excellent then that of man as Signior Patritio yester day shewed and beauty being the cause which produceth loue it will follow that the beautie of a woman shall bring forth in mans heart amorous affection much more ardently then shall the beautie of a man in the heart of a woman and therefore reason willeth that the name
sheweth in diuers places to be true in him selfe and principally in the Sonnet Athousand times sweet warlike mistris mine Speaking of his heart now possessed by his Laura saith And if in him some other mistris hope In vaine it is when minde hath no such scope And in the sonnet Shaming sometimes although she holde her peace Saith Calling to minde the day when first I did thee see For neuer will there one to me so pleasing bee And in the sonnet Full of that sweet vnspeakable delight Hee saith This custome hath so crept into my minde Her to beholde whom I so glorious finde That any other if I chance to see This custome makes her odious seeme to mee And in the sonnet Seeing that for my hire this way is mee debard He faith And to one Image I addicted was Which Zeuxis did not make nor Phydias Nor yet Praxiteles who caru'de so well But one for art that did them al excell Touching experience of those louers which are not contented with one loue alone it is altogether false because they are no true Louers but treacherous rebels to loue as those who caried away with a furious storme of lust fancy rather beastiall then humane loue the answer pleased the Lady Countesse and all the other Gentlewomen But Madam Syluia Villa a yong damozel of most beautifull and gentill presence seeing you conclude saide shee that a Louer cannot loue two Mistresses shew mee also if one beloued of two seuerall friends to auoide ingratitude ought to content both Louers with intercourse of affection From the former conclusion answered Guirino proceedeth the absolution of this present doubt For the beloued not being able to performe correspondencie in loue except she also become enamored and it beeing in the Louers power to affect but one subiect shee can loue and fauour but one alone for doing otherwise shee shall not only not auoyde the vice of ingratitude but defrauding the first louer of his part in that whole which is his in all reason shal be most vnthankfull The Lady Syluia cōmended this answer when Madam Anne Strozza a Matron whose fauor is accompanied with modest affabilitie propounded after this manner Men inamored amongst many wordes which they vtter intermixed with teares and sighs they are wont to their beloued with oath to affirm that they affect them aboue themselues on which wordes hauing many times mused I euer found my selfe in greater doubt thē before neither can I be resolued whether it may be true that the Louers affection towardes his Mistris is greater then to his owne self Tell me therefore Signior Guirino your opinion It is requisite answered Guirino before I resolue you that you most noble Lady be aduertised that doubt hath no place in the loue whereof wee haue entreated which is a desire of vnion and supposeth indigence of the thing beloued for with this loue towardes our selues we cannot be affected notwitstanding the fable of Narcissus first because vnion presupposeth two at the least secondly because of our selues wee can haue no want Therfore your demaund hath place in that loue which we terme good will which is no other but a desire of giuing or seeing perfection in some subiect touching which wee haue to consider that all loues haue originall from the affection towardes our selues the which is such and so great that all things created contend euer to woorke in fauour of themselues and hee that should further say that the creator fashioned the world for no other cause but to please himselfe should not speak much amisse which being true as it is how vaine are the wordes of flattering louers when they affirme that they loue their mistresses better then themselues But because there is no lie so great as in it there may not appeare some shadow of truth it may so happen that the louer desireth some sort of humane good more in his mistresse then in himselfe as riches honour and such like and in this sence it may bee true that he could wish better to his beloued then to himselfe But he desireth such good to please himselfe it cannot therefore be sayd that he loueth his mistresse better then himselfe But wee see by experience replyed Lady Anne that some louers depriued of the hope of their beloued haue also suffered the priuation of life and wee reade that the faithfull wife of Ametus refused not to offer her selfe to voluntarie death for the loue of her husband which is a manifest signe that the louer may affect his beloued aboue himselfe And if we may credit Petrarch it may bee sayde that the louer may not onely loue his mistresse aboue him selfe but hating himselfe may plant all his affection in her as hee affirmeth of himselfe in the sonnet I finde no peace saying My selfe I hate and loue an other best Be assured noble Lady answered Guirino that violent killers of themselues do that for no other end but in a loue to their own persons and to please themselues being of opinion that death shuld be to thē as an ease of some insupportible griefe and the wife of Ametus supposing the fable to be true without doubt perfourmed that louing offer in fauour of her selfe either as desirous of glorie or to auoide the sorrowe which by the death of her husband she thought in her selfe insupportable neither want there examples of men most studious of glorie who to acquire immortall fame vnto themselues haue embraced voluntarie death as we reade of Curtius of the Decij of Attilius Regulus and other noble Romaines whose attempts out of doubt were vndertaken more for their own contentment then for loue of their coūtrie So that I thinke there is not so simple a woman which beleeueth such vaine wordes produced by Louers for their owne contentment and by such like dissimulations to obtaine reciprocall affection from their affected This opinion of Guirino was by the gentlewomen approued true not without some secret heart-burning of the gentlemen enamored and neuer a gentlewoman remaining to propound any more questions the Queene spoke after this sorte Althogh doubt is litle befitting princely Maiestie being a manifest signe of ignorance the which of all other defects in Princes is most reprochfull ouercome notwithstanding with a naturall desire of vnderstanding I desire it may bee lawful for me Signior Guirino to demand of you if in the Louer not beloued loue can long time indure To doubt saide Guirino most renowmed Queene proceedeth rather from equalitie of contrarie reason then from ignorance to be circumspectly doubtfull may rather bee ascribed to aboundance then want of knowledge Your highnes therefore in doubting hath not only not offended royall Maiestie but by mouing a most excellent question hath giuen triall of your noble conceit and by fauouring me exercised your high and magnificent curtesie Therefore before I answer your Maiestie I will declare the fable recited by most singular Themistius in his sixt oration The goddesse Themis saith he being before Venus
most pleasant comedy it being nowe late the tables were spred supper ended certaine measures once troden the duke rose vp euery one went to his lodging The day following being fair wether a calm sea His highnesse with the excellent Duchesse part of the court went to the sea side to see a draught with the nets and the vsuall company with the most noble Lord Don Caesare and the marquesse of Carrara who had taken great contentmēt in the discourse of honor went to the chāber of madame the Countesse where according to accustomed solemnity the Lady Syluia Villa was crowned Queene euen nowe lately married a yong Gentlewoman exceeding gracious who causing the Ladies and Knights to sit round about her spoke in this manner Vndoubtedly my error should be verie great if I in a maner being but a child by imposing newe lawes to our contentments should withdraw my selfe from the accustomed manner For this would be no other but by too much presuming of my selfe to eclipse the commendation of these three Queenes my predecessors whereof deseruedly they may boast and vaunt who in their Empire procured no lesse profitable and honest then delightsome and pleasing entertainments whereupon by their most happie furtherance wee haue learned what thing beautie is and where it consisteth wee also know what Loue is and how we ought to loue wee haue in like manner vnderstood what Honour is and how it is lost how acquired and how preserued which things hauing wel considered with my self I cannot but greatly commend their wonderful iudgement seeing they haue laboured with our great contentment to giue vs knowledge in those things whereof aboue all others they discusse and argue in Courts amongst Ladies Gentlemen nobly instructed I therefore desiring by imitation of their famous vertues not to manifest my selfe altogither vnwoorthie of this Empire haue considered that after honour it befitteth well to intreate of Nobilitie to the end that wee neuer erre in discerning those Noble from the Ignoble For it seemeth that riches and sumptuous vestments are the principal caracters of Nobilitie we seeing euerie day that the riche appearing in costly Robes make profession of Gentilitie And with bold audacitie not to say presumption establishing themselues in Princes Courts are sodainely without any other vertue as Noble reuerenced called accepted I commaund you therefore Signior Hercole Varrani that in fauour of me as also of all these Ladies and Gentlemen you vse some discourse vpon Nobility withal prouiding your selfe to resolue all the doubts and answere al the demaundes that in such an argument shall be made vnto you And certainely Signior Hercole Varrani is a Gentleman adorned with al those qualities which in a perfect Courtier are principally required He hauing therefore done reuerence to the Queen said in this manner I shoulde repute my selfe too happie and fortunate most excellent Queene in that with singular fauour you haue thought mee worthie to intreate of so worthie a subiect as is Nobility if I knew not that in your highnesse mind a false image of my vertue were deceitfully impressed I being verie priuie to my selfe that my ssender sufficiency wil greatly frustrate your good conceiued hopes of my performance Notwithstanding seeing your maiestie so commaundeth I wil accept of the enterprise holding this for infallible that disobedience bringeth farre greater reproach then ignorance and pusillanimitie then boldnesse The fift dayes Discourse Wherein is discussed of Nobilitie THere were some most graue and ancient philosophers thrise excellent Queene so great contemners of Nobilitie as they constantly affirmed it to bee no other then a light blast of ambition wherewith same Citizens more mightie then the rest were puffed vp and if notwithstanding there were any such thing in the worlde it was no whit at all distinguished from vertue but that the man vertuous and noble was all one and the selfe same thing vpon which point hauing meditated and being to discusse of Nobilitie not to perplexe the minde and vnderstanding of the attendant I will deuide this my briefe discourse into three partes First I will shew what Nobility is and where it consisteth in the second I will set downe the principall reasons of those philosophers who contemne it as a thing vaine and fantasticall and in the third I will make answere and resolue them to the end our Nobilitie may remaine most noble and apparent I supposing therefore that in certaine indiuidualles of humane kinde there shineth an excellent qualitie which is termed Nobilitie affirm that it is no other then a good of fortune that happeneth to man in his first originall and birth procured vnto him by the honorable repuration of his predecessors and glorie of his countrie by meanes of which it is worthyly supposed that he is much more capable and appliant vnto vertue then another can be borne of mechanicall parents in a countrie obscure This by a most proper terme was by the Grecians called Eugenia which signifieth liberall and good birth or originall conformable to that worde wee vsealso to call them noble well borne I haue affirmed nobilitie to be a good of fortune not because nature therein hath no part but in that as the Philosopher teacheth fortune of those thinges is saide to be the occasion which fall out contrarie to the intention of the worker being therfore nature intentiō in framing man to make a reasonable creature not one noble of reasō nature is the cause fortune of nobility And I haue placed in the definition that other clause honorable reputation of his predecessors as a difference specificall which distinguisheth this good called Nobilitie from all other goods externall as likewise the last wordes of all are by me set downe to expresse in this definition not only the cause materiall formall and efficient but also the finall in that Nobilitie is for no other respect by all men had in price and estimation but only because he noble seemeth borne with a better inclination and disposition vnto verrue then a plebeyan or one extracted from the common sorte He therefore shall bee esteemed more apt vnto vertue and shall be called truly noble who legitimately descendeth from men and women excellent famous either for riches or those things that most among mē are esteemed that shall haue had many of his race in euery age of each sex honorable renouned or that shal bee borne in a Cittie built and replenished with men heroicall and glorious where vppon the greater haue beene the number of his commendable progenitors the more noble shall he be Neuerthelesse hee may bee called absolutely noble who shall haue lost the memory of his ignobilitie which memorie remaineth during the reuolution of three generations and let this spoken suffice to make knowne that neither riches nor sumptuous vestimentes make a man noble but further it is necessarie that the renowne of his progenie therevnto concurre for hee borne of mechanicall parentes although neuer