loue any prorogatiue aboue vs séeing also if I may waigh my reasons with the opinions of the worlde that as by common voyce the woman is estéemed aboue him who offereth court to hir as shée being called mistresse and he seruaunt so it standes him more in duetie not to offende his Ladie to whome he is bounde then she to feare him whome shée maye commaunde lyke as in common reason there is alwayes more libertie alowed in generall respectes to the mayster than a simple licence to him that professeth the state of a seruaunt and yet for my part bicause I will be no partie to that fonde opinion I neyther can nor will perswade that in loue there is or ought to be prorogatiue of power For where the woman is not equallie plunged with the man nor he likewise as déepely touched with affection as the woman how so euer they embrace one another yet such colde banquets can no waye merit the name of loue but rather méere dissimulation sturring I know not by what motion whose continuaunce is not long I can make no reckening of that woman who séeing hir poore friende endure extréeme passions of loue for hir sake will sometimes embrace him to drawe him the rather within hir nettes and then vpon the sodayne will turne the cart against the horse and not vouchsafe one looke of fauour vpon him For my part much lesse that I can commend this order séeing if I were alowed president in that cause as Phylopolo woulde haue earst established me hir crueltie should be punished with a continuaunce of banishment from the societie of all honest Ladies I cannot denie for all this that sometimes we shall not be constrayned to receyue such troubles in loue as it is possible then to entertaine our Ladies or friendes as wée were woont but in that we ought to be ignoraunt and much losse procéede by any artificiall pollicie the soner to giue them a Bée to buze withall but rather by a certaine naturall instinct sturred vp of an extréeme loue vnder the which are comprehended feare and sorrowe Thus much I holde Gentlemen against the opinion of suche as rashly pretende inequalitie in loue which I can neuer admit and much lesse alowe that the woman be called mystresse of the man vnlesse in like sort he bee in déede the peaceable possessor and Lorde of the hart of his Ladie maintaining also by the same contrarie to Phylopolo that it is no more lawfull to the man than to the woman vnder couler of my fonde opinion conceyued amongst men to communicate themselues in manye places Indéede Madam quod I you may well call it opinion but not nature how soeuer the common sort estéeme of it wherein for a better declaration I wish Phylopolo to looke vpon Solon a true folower of nature who by his lawâ—s as one in this companie did earst affirme made lawfull to the wife not hauing meane to conceaue by hir husbande to procure hir generation by other helpes and yet you say it is a natural thing that the woman participate not but with one onelie if I should aleage vnto you the cuntrie of Cipres wherein maydes win their dowries by the sweate of their bodyes woulde you holde our custome to be more founded vpon nature than that yea if I shoulde bring forth Plato in whose common wealth was suffred a communitie of women woulde you not assure your saying vpon worldelye opinion séeing that great Philosopher thought he ruled himselfe altogither by the reasons of nature I lyke not of that lawe sayth the Lady by reason of the confusion of children as being not able to be discerned in this qualitie no more than the request of the good matrones of Rome in the time of Papyrius pretending to haue two husbandes for such sought to muche to satisfie their disordinat lustes yet you sawe sayth Phylopolo with what oportunities these good dames enforced their sute to the Senate and I doubt they woulde not haue béene contented with two husbandes but abusing that libertie woulde at length haue fallen into the vice of all those women which passed through the handes of those two erraunt Knightes Astolphe and Ioconde represented within that excellent Italyan Homer Arioste herein you are disceyued sayth Chariclea for if all those Ladies had béene stricken with suche loue as wée speake of they had neuer fallen and in mine opinion we finde more felicitie in one frinde simplie and truly affected than in a number others whose loues be eyther ordinarye or for necessitie wherein what better example can I aleage that out of the place you speake of for the same Astolphe Ioconde chose in the ende one Ladie to content them both and yet a little quidam who afore had gaged the vessell of loue to them both notwithstanding their precise héede did cutte the grasse from vnder their féete the same bicause loue by this former ambushe had giuen him a first conquest there But as these examples doe not touche me in care so are they also out of the course of my first argument which tenden onelie to this ende that as I woulde not alowe to a woman libertie of communion with euerye one so that I woulde not also haue you to thinke that the same is caused more by a naturall reason wherein you may establish some aduauntage to our preiudice than by a bountie and sinceritie of hart which guiding vs therevnto in time doth so settle in the heartes of most men that if we offer to withstande it they make it a matter of sinister ymputation to vs albeit in déede the act it selfe there is neyther cause of discredite nor reason of such disaduauntage as you pretende but rather it includes matter of honor and commoditie to our honest meanings in déede Madame sayth Glaphyro it can not but giue you a singuler value of honor But for my part I beléeue that lawe was neuer erected but to our great confusion neyther doe I sée anye other cause why a woman should be embrased or counted by so manye honest personages and not attaine to the swéete vse of their pleasaunt attemptes but the tyrannie of this wicked lawe raysed as it séemes in despite both of man and woman bicause the woman fearing the note of dishonour by the worlde dares not performe the last acte of the league but by woonderfull pollicie heare Phylopolo stoode still vpon the iustructions of nature and that we were not directed by mans ordynaunce wherein he layde the examples of beastes amongst whome notwithstanding the long pursute of the male to hys mate yet is shée hardlye brought to obey his will by whome sayth he we maye be taught that the woman ought not to be so familiar that way as the man This is but a voluble fancie sayth Charyclea and rather an error by ignorance then a true iudgement of the propertie of beastes of whom the example of the turtle is against you in whom be he male or be shée female is suffred
is one poynt sayth Phylopolo which might giue place to the question wherein perhappes I will one day offer you the chalenge as finding it straunge that you will make march vnder one Methode the man and the wyfe albeit for the present I will reserue it to another season onely to discharge my selfe now agaynst seigneur Glaphyro who for the better authoritie of his opinion séekes to make vs vnderstande that loue hath none other residence then in the heart and nothing at all in these naturall intemperaunces which he sayth are nourished in our mindes sure seigneur Glaphyro me thinkes you sake to leade vs in a straunge construction touching the force and vertue of loue seeing ther was neuer louer who loued not to this end which you so far estraung banish from the park of loue what other cause is there of our aâ—â—ction â–ª or what else doth induce vs to loue our Ladyes if not this last felicitie which we pretende to finde in them wherein besides common experience which of it selfe ought to suffice to iudge betweene vs how many examples haue we reade in antiquitie amongst whome we finde no one louer who at length hath not required of his mystresse that poynt which we call the fruite of loue the same in mine opinion being the motion and onely purpose of this extréeme loue nay rather it is euen loue it selfe which is none other thing then a desire to vse and possesse Great surely and gracious is the effect of the eye hande and heares but not of such force as that in them we may finde a full reliefe to the torments we endure but rather with Mars when he possessed frankely his Venus let vs directly séeke out the marke wherevnto loue leades vs And albeit from the eyes and lookes doe flowe no small contentment yet they are but dymme starres in respect of the other light wherein I holde him altogither insensuaâ—e who vnder anye other consideration pretendes to professe loue to Ladies This speach is not indecently vsed seigneur Phylopolo sayth Monophylo neyther improperly applyed to the present matter onely I thanke you that in fauouring partly my opinion you offer me simplie your ayde without the which notwithstanding I thinke Glaphyro vnderstanding my reasons woulde haue condiscended to my saying as being of it selfe sufficiently defensible And albeit I haue nowe to rest in quiet with him for the matter of loyaltie yet me thinkes notwithstanding I acknowledge somewhat vnthankefully the benefite you haue presented to me you and I shall not so easily accorde bicause in my iudgement as you séeme sinisterly to comprehende all the nature of loue so I will not resist that the louer ought not to thurst for the thing which you holde in such estimation But that to loue onely for that respect is eyther true loue or friendship of continuance I maintaine agaynst you and all chalengers hoping you will take it as from him whose nature cannot be disguised from the office of a true louer we see by experience many men who pretending onely that marke and ende in loue after they haue brought their pretence to a matter of effect as men whose natures chaunge in a moment they become no lesse colde in desire than earsâ—e they laboured in vehement meanes to aduaunce the execution of their fléeting will yea they are euill acquainted with the nature of loue who dispose him onely vnder a contentment to frayle he being in himself so diuine and wonderfull and the pray after which they hunt so passable and of no abode indéede this I will confesse that nature to multiplie this huge and rounde bodie which you sée doth kindle in vs by a secrete wisedome certaine motions or stinges which with good right some haue called brutall as béeing common to vs with other creatures and not onely with them but euen with trées and things not sensible which séeme to bloome and become fruitfull for the encrease of their 〈◊〉 which naturall vehemencie if it had not bene necessarie also in vs this huge plot and workemanship of the earth had soone taken ende This is the cause why intercepting our willes â–ª and guiding our affections by these disordered appetytes which necessitie puttes in vs we beare to the communitie of women certaine sparkes of strâ—nger good will than to men and they likewise to vs the same happening in ordinarie example séeing there was neuer personage of such deformitie if I may charge him vpon his fayth and conscience who naturally receyues not specially in a conformetie of things more contentment in the companie of women then in the felowship of men For our nature doth euen reioyce in them as séeing hirselfe by an honest and lawfull coniunction of one to another immortalised So that by this meane is founde an affection verie vehement which generally wée beare to all women But not this perticuler friendship of one to one whereof you speake which in my iudgement consistes as a more vyolent cause then that which you alleage wherein I will lay my selfe vpon the relation of certaine noble minded men who albeit doe honour their Ladyes with a setled affection pretending with all pollecie to conquere the extréeme marke and felicitie in loue yet I haue noted them to rest best satisfied with the onely vse of the sight presence and speach of theyr Ladyes and that bicause they feared that being possessed of that inuisible paradise their loue would conuert into some chauÌ„ge then much lesse that they estéemed it to be the onely cause of their affection yea it is a common perswasion among the populer sort that hauing woonne that point vpon a gentlewoman loue which the sonne when he is at the highest beginnes to decline and then better is it to hunt the chase then obtayne the pray so that according to the purpose of their reasons the selfe same subiect which as they iudge is the very spring and original of loue is also the whole and onely reuersor of the same séeing their building being pitched vpon a frayle foundation the worke and matter desolues in it selfe the same happening oftentimes to such foolish louers who rest no lesse deceyued in their enterprise than their thought was vayne But nowe seigneur Glaphyro let me aske you this rouing question if two louers not setting their minde vpon this contentment which you meane and yet one of them betray his affection as to become prodigall of his bodie elsewhere doe you thinke this abuse is not a tyring griefe to his mystresse if by chaunce she come to the knowledge of it This I say because that you establishing your loue in the heart estéemes these naturall intemperaunces as you call them not to touche or hurt in any sort such as doe loue wherein for my part suche is my opinion and in it is some conformitie with yours that loue kéepes his true and only abode in the hart not styrring by suche intemperaunces but by a certaine greater cause as ymmediately I meane to prooue
you manye humble thankes no lesse to the Gentlemen assuring you that if there were vertue in you to giue order to my sorowes by how much lesse I haue deserued it euen so much larger shoulde my bonde stretch to labour to be thankefull And yet I praye you haue this opinion of my care and trauell of minde not to distende by chaunce but by a naturall follie by which I am guiltie of mine owne euill These bée but spéeches at pleasure sayth Phylopolo neyther can you make me beléeue that heretofore I haue not séene you better disposed and therefore am ieylowse that you haue some eyle vnder the rocke which bicause you will not discouer bréedes you this confusion and dyuision of minde And be it you confesse it as the better to defende your condition giuing it such vertue or qualitie as by concealing it your gréefe woulde continue in one constaunt estate and as it is where in discouering it woulde with the canker spred further not vnlike the nature of a gréene wounde or a disease to whome the ayre is forbidden yet vnder correctiou the resemblaunce agréeth not for albeit the diseases of the body require the abode and felowship of the house the sicknesses concerning the spirite according to the opinion of the Phisitions of the soule who be the Philosophers desire of the contrarie skope and ayre as most proper for their recouerie So that in greatest passions of loue from whome in my fancie discendes the originall of your present greefe albeit they haue commonly desired thrée thinges to bée solytarie secret and carefull yet the better to direct these passions they haue not forbidden the societie of an other them selfe into whose bosome they may assuredly distill the secret passions of their mindes as by that meane the rather to giue succours to a thousande small disquiets and indispositions falling howerly into our fancies eyther by a false suspicion or faint feare which some call ielowsie without the which loue can no more bée than a body without a soule here Monophylo séeing an entrie into the fielde wherin he most delighted to walk as to speake of loue the onely moouer of his disquiet began to enter into a freshe stomake and as one cunningly clawed wher it pleasaÌ„tly ytched prepared himselfe to play his part when by good aduenture and to entertaine for an houre my inconstant thoughtes I was also withdrawne thyther without any suspicion at all of their purpose albeit séeing their manner arguing their further intent I shrouded my selfe subtillie in a tuffe of young trées the better to impart with their discourse vsing rather silence than offer of speache the better to vnderstand their yssue which fell out in sort as you may reade in the sequell of this Dialoge For Monophylo considering the importunitye of their requestes and vnder what conditions they require him to discouer the cause and state of his sorowe breake of at last his wearie silence and began to vnfolde in what value estimation he held loue also that to him only belonged to speake of him his lawes But to describe him in dede in his true degre I think there was neuer any so déeply pinched with the miseries of loue nor more honored him in his common behauiour than this Monophylo in whom was setled suche a resolute iealousie that onely he in his fancie was worthie to speake of loue whose heart languished and laboured in the present motion or at least had sometyme in his lyfe made experience of his stinges and not that vnpolished rowte of olde Philosophers or other of leaâ—e heauie and grosse iudgementes who tasting onely the outwarde rynde had neuer the facultie to decerne the true sense and vertue of loue séeing to such people it was alwayes forbidden to speake of loue according as we reade of the priestes in olde tyme who bicause they woulde not haue the mysteryes of theyr sacrosauntos prophane would not suffer straungers to handle or vse them by whose example Monophylo as a true and simple minister in loue stryuing still to sounde and make further way to the speach of Phylopolo sayd vnto him such philosophers sir haue iudged as blinde men descerne of colours euen so they are to be pardoned as men at vnwares speaking impertinently For as they professed no inclynation to loue so standing inexperienced in such fittes as you note in me they must néedes be also ignoraunt eyther howe to gouerne him or guyde themselues I know not sayth Phylopolo in what sort you direct your opinion but in my fancie and common reason it is farre more easie to such as bestowe their tyme and studie in contemplation to iudge in these affayres then to any who haue no further skoape than within this Dedalus where they labour in suche varietie and confusion of mynde that they are not onely ignoraunt in matters necessarie for their knowledge but also we sée them deuâ—sted of all sense braine and spirite yea sometymes they loose euen the remembraunce of themselues You knowe that to get the name of a good Phisition is not requisite to lye long sicke and to merite the prayse of an excellent Lawyer is not méete to haue manye sutes in his proper and priuate name But of the contrary in respect of the motions and troubles traueiling diuersly the minds of men it stands against the common order of phisick that the Phisition cure himselfe or minister by his owne counsayle onely and to the Aduocate it is defended to pleade in his owne cause as in regarde of a certaine imperfection of spirite vnknowne to him and lastly experience and nature agrée that our iudgementes are more sounde and vpright in cases of straungers than in our owne causes This comparison sayth Monophylo albeit at the first showe appeares not impertinent yet touching the case which is offered I pray you let me aske you seigneur Phylopolo whether it were not superfluous to giue counsaile in loue to such who being exempted from his lawes seeme also voyde of neede to be eyther warned or instructed wherein if in such respect such Philosophie is no lesse improper than inprofitable would it not become a greater scorne and mockery to any who neuer proouing the rules and vse of Geometrie would yet vndertake to giue precepts of that art afore Ptolomeus Likewise who in the profession of an Orator or eloquence would offer to instruct Cicero or who liuing alwayes without vse iudgement in armes and no lesse in exercysed in the guide and charge of an armie woulde direct Hannibal in matters of warre shoulde not he be valued with Phormio that is rude and grosse as Phormio was iudged by Hannibal when he presumed to leade that worthie Capitaine in the Arte wherein stoode his greatest skill and profession If these be notes of vanitie in these insolent men what lesse imputation of folly can you lay to your worthie schoolemaysters whome you will haue to instruct such as being alreadie forwarde and aduaunced in loue are
I enter into that seruitude of loue which you haue set out it séemes seigneur Monophylo y albeit you comprehend in part the mocions of the troubles in maryage yet you builde to muche vppon your grounde of nature For to abolishe altogither the benifite of dowyres as you pretend were no lesse straunge in respect of the maner than preiudiciall as touching the matter because that as we ought not in deede to settle our chiefest stay in them but marry altogither for the conseruation of our selues in our kinde yet we may vse them as an ayâ—e and ornament for the tyme to come our will in entring into this bond of mutuall coniunction is to giue being to oâ—r children that are to come But in dowryes as well our children as our selues find both present being and future benifit in this behalfe we may consent with Madame Câ—aryclea that to vse regarde of loyaltie to a maried women by any other then by hir husband is not lawfull to any degree for albeit those affections as also they of loue seeme to bée inâ—used into vs by a heauenly influence which willingly would vsurpe a dominion ouer vs yet ought they to be brideled by reason who was giuen vs in a semblance and similitude of him to whome is due the souereigne Empire ouer all the worlde séeing that euen as this vniuersall circuit or compasse is no other thing than a great bodie wherein the rest séeme to holde place of passions bicause that as the affections in vs so also the celestiall passions by their courses and reuolutions do gouerne altogither the bridle of this huge creature which we call the worlde in respect of which proximitie the Romaynes gyuing as well to the stars as to the passions commoÌ„ names called them indifferently motions And albeit these powers are esteemed to hold a partie gouernmeÌ„t of this round wonder yet we sée all remaynes in the hand of him to whom as an vniuersal reason of this huge body is due a general supréeme empire euen thus may we resemble a man who being a little worlde composed in his qualitie as an ymage of the whole notwithstanding he séemed sometimes enclyned to certaine mocions of nature procéediâ—g as some holde of the stars vnder which he is borne yet nature hath erected as it were a trone in his braine wherein reason bearing chiefe rule he should in his litle kingdom gouerne ouer this heauenly influence which seemed to drawe him from any vertuous operation in which respect albeit your loue pertycipat neuer so much with nature as you saye yet wée must néedes resolue and ende our actions in the lawe who albeit for some singular cause that mooues you condiscendes not in your iudgement with reason yet the same reason teacheth you to obey it bycause you are so commaâ—nded by those that haue power to direct you And therfore séeing adulteries are forbidden not onelye in these dayes but also in all auncient memorye we must not suffer to fall into our thoughtes to beare loue to hir whome the lawe hath assigned to another which notwithstanding bycause you giue such a freedome to our naturall inclinacions there restes onelye to finde a guide to leade reason thyther as to méete the defectes falling in mariages by occasion of these straunge loues on which you haue ronne so long a discourse wherein you and I shall not yet agrée bycause that to applye a remedie you woulde haue such coniunctions performed by that reciprocall loue which you call instinct of nature but the auncients in an apter phrase tearme it passion And of the contrarie I thinke suche vehement affections ought not to fall in mariage but onely a simple friendship procéeding of reason For if being ledde in this extréeme loue which you figure and set out here you thinke to take from maried women those inintemperaunces which you pretende to remedie yt were also necessarie that our passions varie not and being caryed in affection to one singuler person that we remayne alwayes firme and constaunt which as we finde notwithstanding mâ—st ordenarely to fayle so also neyther by paine nor pollycie nor assistaunce of any time shall you be able to roote out of the fancies of eyther the men or women those defaultes which you note and much lesse shall you be able to let that many of frée and disposed myndes I say not voluble and light by continuance of tyme doe not fasten their loue on another aswell as they fixed it on you in the beginning By which meane and reason I coulde haue better alowed if to warrant mariages and entertaine them in this loyall friendship you woulde haue fashioned their beginning not by this loue which you speake of as being to light but by good graue aduise counsell taken at large the better to knowe how to liue loue afore they enter into that indissoluble conuersation For euen as a good man of warre preparing himselfe to an enterprise where he pretendes to make proufe of his prowesse and value afore he buie horses he runnes them traynes them and makes manye tryalles of them refusing the vnlykelye and making choyse of such as he lykes at what pryce so euer he buyeth them euen so in this short race of lyfe which we meane to performe with our wyues in comfort solace and pleasure we must not so much stande vppon contemplation of a wauering loue which possiblye crept into vs in a dreame or at vnwares as with déepe aduise and consideration waigh the maners and conditions of the Ladie with whome we pretende that waye consideringe withall hir parentage and maner of bringing vp from hir youth by which order of choyse we shall easily finde meane to make hir entertaine the thing which she ought to holde in most deare estimation which is hir honor the same being the glorie of hir husbande as in his honor is conteyned the estymation of his wife The man of warre examynes his horse with great consideration albeit he may depart with him at his pleasure But we are negligent to cyfte and search our wyues with precise iudgement with whome we are tyed to an eternall societie and abode vnto death wée reade the mariages in time past dissolued vpon verie slender occasions some renounced their wyues bicause they went amongst companie without their vailes or barefaced some for that they satte at gase without the knowledge of their husbandes and some bycause they went to the common Bathes Which kinde of people as they had good meanes to reléeue themselues of the paines in mariage so they ought not to stande in example with vs who drawing at this day in another course as restrayned of that lybertie both by Gods and mans lawe are bounde to another consideration in the highe interprise of maryage which afterwardes is eyther to reuert to our full felicitie or else resolue to our extréeme torment and mishappe I haue heard often an olde perswasion of the people that who hath a pretence of mariage ought to
from reason then frée from all conformitie to truth séeing mutuall nouriture kindles a custume and certaine sparkes of priuate familiaritie but neyther one bodie nor one spirite sure seigneur Phylopolo the more I aspire into consideration of this great diuinitie which we speake of the more am I rapt into cōfusion with such ghastly amase that me thinks it were better for me to iudge that loue is not then raysing my thoughtes aboue the reach of nature to séeke to flie into his dwelling to discouer the force wherewith nature hath armed him euen from the beginning of the worlde And euen as who pretendes to comprehende the substaunce and maiestie of this vniuersall maker and creator of vs all discourseth in himselfe his most infinite myracles as thys rounde and firme plot of the earth and the voluble course of the skies aboue so discending from one woonder to an other fyndes at last by the greatnesse of these effectes that the great GOD is not to be discerned by the facultie of mortall iudgement but that he contaynes an essence exceding mans consideration euen so to whome so euer it laye in desire to vnderstande at large what loue is it is needefull he enter into a perticuler contemplation of all his woonderfull effectes and so resolue and ende that it is a thing whose knowledge can not enter into the spirite of man So that séeing loue takes his being neyther of a heauenly influence nor conformitie of conditions nor lastlye of a custome or mutuall conuersation what other thing shall I tearme him to be than a mocion sturring I know not how which is farre more easie to be felt in our hartes then vttered by spéech yea it so knittes and vnites our mindes that being the cause of a perpetuall death yet it reuiues vs in an other making vs forget our proper condicion to remember our selues eftsoones in an other seconde our selues and drawes vs besides by a deuine power with such a strong and indissoluble bonde returning to the first Androgina of our father Adam that he distils two spirites into one bodye by the same miracle brings to passe that two spirits be made one minde in two bodies is not this I praye you a most soueraigne and extréeme miracle wherein to the ende to draw you to a better vnderstanding of my saying and not to thinke it a fable is it not as it were to haue one spirite in two bodies when a man and woman differ not in desire of thinges but appliyng in conformitie of willes and affections the one doth not desire but that which the other doth wish and yet being one minde in two bodies they become in the ende by a singuler metamorphesis exchaunge two spirites in one body bycause my mistresse standing in full possession of my hart I likewise ruling ouer hir affections I can not but esteme my selfe to possesse both mine owne and hirs and she lykewise to gouern them both séeing that like as if I be named Lorde ouer hirs and hir I may rightfully meane my selfe the onely possessor of both our heartes so albeit we séeme both depriued of two mindes and two hartes yet we retaine and possesse both the one and other in our selues And therefore who can saye that the knowledge of loue is hable to happen into our mindes or that wée haue the facultie to discerne the true substaunce and matter of loue This is the cause why the auncient fathers and philosophers amongst the demons which they established the onlye searchers out as they thought of our thoughtes and actions called loue Demon as to aduise vs thereby that it is a thing enforced by a natural instinct as it were by an impression which we kéepe of our auncient ymage without other consideration a thing to be discerned by actuall example séeing that euen as when we encounter vpon a sodaine any of our olde friends whose long absence leades vs in a want of knowledge of him we wauer in iudgement and yet being assured in the ende that it is the same of whome we doubted in the beginning we embrace him with plawsible signes of so happie a méeting euen so reseruing some knowledge of that auncient custom wherin it séemes the heauens if we may vse the phrase of the Philosophers did consent to vs as soone as our eye hath taken holde of hir to whome our nature doth drawe vs we beginne as all amazed to enter into knowledge and albeit not wel assured otherwaies than in féeling some litle spark of the auncient coniunction fortifiyng our selues in our selues by little and little as being then assured to haue founde againe the obiect whervnto the heauens haue vowed vs we delight we congratulate and become familiar with euery pleasure end contentment wherein notwithstanding I doe not holde that after such carectes engraued within vs and that the two louers be tyed togither in one minde by I know not what benefite which they vnderstand not for so hath loue taught me to saye we do not desire after a long vse conuersation togither a coniuntion of the two bodyes one in another the same being that appetite which nature hath infused generallye into vs all and that we finde it better in our Ladies than in anye other woman whatsoeuer in respect of the great sympathya and bound of friendshish which is betwéene hir and vs the same retayning such a force in action of our loue that if after such a valyaunt beginning we chaunce to be called to perticipate in the pleasure much lesse in mine opinion that our loue diminishe or fall into any default but rather that it will take new force and alwaies encrease more and more Where if euen in the beginning we had not trauelled but for that poynt the conquest had béene lothsome and the continuaunce none séeing when the desire had béene satisfied our delight woulde haue vanished as the smoke dissolues when the fire forbeares his action and euery effect mortefieth when the cause is taken awaye so that as I can not alowe that loue if loue it may be called eyther constant or of continuaunce whose onely purpose is to possesse that poynt so also he is weake in opinion whose feare makes him doubt that the greatnesse of hys loue will diminishe by this meane and therefore dare not intreat his mistresse in that respect Loue is then a power lying betwéene the two worse extremities not setting his originall vpon this common lust and yet though long hée doe reiect it at last he doth admit it the same being the cause as I beléeue why all our church lawes in the consomation of a true mariage wherein ought to consist the marke and ende of true friendeship require not but the consent of the parties as though this true loue of mariage ought not to passe but vnder a conformitie of mindes and not by any lust or suggestion of the fleshe Thus ended Monophylo not without a singuler contentment to Chariclea who to witnesse
opinion the chiefe cause that bréedes loue some notwithstanding will not sticke to maintaine that they haue a certayne ymagination and sparke to whome if they haue prooued the condicion of beastes I leaue the matter to their beastlye iudgement séeing it is not for the respect of beastes I speake but for men which loue wherwith Phylopolo dissembling his thought yet haue I learned alwayes sayth he that louers were beastes I know not quod I eyther what sortes of louers you meane or with what formes of beastes you resemble them but well may I vaunt for my selfe by the honour and loue which of long I haue borne and yet with all reuerence do owe to a singuler mistresse of mine of a simple ydyot I am béecome better instructed then if I hadde runne ouer all the preceptes of the Courtyer But not to wander in variety of matter as I holde with you seigneur Monophylo that loue kindles of this naturall instinct so there restes onelye in proofe betwéene you and me and the same to be handled by some sufficient meanes whether the onelye ende of loue consider the sweete vse wherein if I might strengthen my selfe by the common opinion of the worlde you should not onely loase your chalenge but resigne at one instaunt both the fielde and the fight for except your selfe what is he in the worlde that loues not chiefelye for that ende and yet sir not to assure my selfe vpon so fraile a iudgement I praye you tell me if the loue of a man to a woman pretended not but to the minde why shoulde we féele the same to passion vs sometime with a whire winde of ioye and from thence to a storme of sorrowe and then sodainelye become as ouerwhelmed with quailenesse of feare And in the friendeship of man to man we are touched with no such torment sauing that in this last wée holde our selues satisfied to be beloued of them and the same béeing knowne vnto vs we haue alreadie touched the poynt of our pretence but in the last besides the mind we accompany our desires with a hope which leades vs in a promise to bring vs one day to the porte of pleasaunt possession Besides I pray you tell me if this loue were guided onely by a bonde and coniunction of mindes ought wée not by naturall iudgement rather loue him whome God hath fashioned in euerie degrée like to our selues then to folowe the woman whome it séemes he created one degrée inferiour to our selues But we prooue the contrarie in common example and experience seing without comparison wée rather doate of the woman than loue the man yea we sée by this feminine loue that the lawe of true friendeship which was betwene man and man hath béene violated and corrupted wherein I coulde commende vnto you the tragedye of Gysippus and Tytus which Tytus notwistanding the auncient and setled friendship betwéene him and his companion which was such as their séemed to remaine betwéene them a common will in all things yet such was the violent furie of loue towardes the future spowse of his friende that it dissolued that strong and long league betwéene them and notwithstanding the order and helpe of his companion he prepared his owne destruction the same moouing for that he proued in his minde two extremities of contrarie qualitie albeit the one more vehement than the other which was loue whose sharpe stinges so prickt him forwarde that albeit he woulde haue refrayned in fauor of the friendshippe to his déere Gysippus yet he hadde no power to applye other remedye than by his death wherevnto he prepared him selfe A like example doe I finde in Iustine of the sonne of a King who defyling all lawes of men nature was so enchaunted in loue to a stepmother of his that notwithstanding his office of obedience to his father yet coulde he neuer be purged of that euill but eyther by the accomplishment of his desire or that death had applyed a playster to his raging sore what set abroche these vesselles of frensie in these two men for so maye I call them as by whome was violated all right of friendship and nature but that in the friendshippe of man to man is comprehended but a cōformitie of minds and this loue contaynes a sympathia communicating both with the minde and the bodie I meane as touching the bodie this fleshly copulation the onely ende and purpose of our loue for euen as in all other thinges being come to the ende we aspire to we resolue into a contentment and absolute quiet euen so by this onelye meane these two afore named attained to the execucion of their passioned desires and not onely they but all others arriuing in that desired port of pleasaunt vse wherein in place and proofe of our former perplexities in these extreame desires being in this hauen the stormes of our violent passions do eyther absolutely dissolue or partelye qualefie and loue takes in vs a newe forme and habite as our nature is disposed abyding still notwithstanding in his essence of loue this is the cause why the Ethnicks haue figured the same Androgina by you alleaged as when the two parts moyties seperated séeke to reioyne themselues as an auncient poet of that time helde that the sowles were therevpon coopled togither to whose opinion you coulde willinglye haue condiscended were it not you feared to entangle your selfe when you confessed to vs that the Androgina was a desire to vnite and knitte the two moyties being deuided and if you will discende to that which God from the beginning of the worlde propoundes vnto vs whereof you haue thought to make your profite albeit vpon credite is it not prouided in the same that we should be rather two mindes in one bodie and one fleshe then one spirite within two bodies I will not denie that to forme thandrogina both the one and other are requisite but the same is to proue vnto you that if you desire one minde onlie in two bodies you séeke to mak this our Androgina defectiue and imperfit And wherevpon the yssue of your discourse to giue a greater grace to your opinion you séeme to alleage the auctoritie of your lawes as in that they require the onelye consent to establish mariage I say that consent procéeding of this coniunction of mindes not common bréedes and engendreth this loue but the communion of the bodies consomates and makes it perfite for so did our lawes vnderstand who in euery respect maintained the true ende of mariage to bee the multiplying of the worlde and yet I stande in some doubt in what sence they construed this consent you speake of séeing we haue in example that it hath béene suffred to men and women to enter mariage euen in the age of indiscression wherein they séemed not so precise in knowledge so that onelye there were habilitie of cohabitation and therefore it séemed the lawes vnderstoode by this consent a mutuall foreknowledge to this coniuction of the bodies the same being
proued in many lamentable treatyes of mariage where if one part be founde colde or imperfect the bale dissolues at the will of the other which in other respect had not béene suffred neyther by the decrées of our holye Popes nor our good Ciuilian lawyers to whome I referre this argument onely let suffice you that mariages are formed by the consent you speake of but fastned by the actuall copulation of the body and where you seeme to esteeme loue a thing farre to heauenlye to take his grounde in a matter which in your opinion pertakes so déepely with an earthlye or base substaunce sée in what errour you fall and euill doe you acknowledge the great felicitie which is in loue as tending onelye to so happie a ende by the which is procured an immortalitie in our mortall bodies by the propagation of our selues into our likes in which poynt nature resembles the wise and discréete mother who forseing the benifite that in time to come will prooue necessarie for hir childe wherein his slender age makes him ignoraunt by giftes presents swéete and pleasaunt spéeche with other allurements apt to entise his youth she pampreth and draweth him on without that he thinkes of it to direct and tende to the purpose which in hir selfe shée hath layde and ymagined vntill by a long assistaunce of time and ripe confirmation of age this childe is fashioned fitte for the purpose of his mother to both their great contentmentes euen so Nature our wise and foreseeing mother pretending in hir selfe the increase of the worlde doth sowe in vs from our beginning certaine little séedes of loue which we suffer easilie to succeede in vs till they congeale to a ripe and perfite fruite which is not that pleasure which we holde in communitie with other creaturs but rather as I haue sayde seigneur Monophylo to make vs immortall in our mortalitie and as she doth hyde and couer this secret with the vaile of the first pleasure offred in this mutuall communion so aspiring further we knowe at last by a more great and iteratiue pleasure that this ende tended to a higher ende which was to haue children in whom as hauing fulfilled our last purpose naturally we delight with more pleasure than in all the other thinges of the earth which ende is an end interminable and subiect to no ende bycause nature is neuer wearie of hauing children And so do renewe within vs continually the lustes of pleasure and also by the same meane desire which then doth not suggest with such passion bicause that after this pleasant coniunction we stande assured of spéedie remedy which we durst not so much as promise afore wherein as before we flote betwéene hope and feare so now we liue in assuraunce to commaunde that ende wherevnto all our thoughtes tended so that loue remaines alwayes albeit he put on diuers qualities bicause that if at the first he might be called desire garnished with hope now he may be named desire accompanied with assuraunce I saye then that loue I meane that loue which tormentes men is a passion conceyued of an opinion procéeding of a certaine instinct which is printed within vs tending to the corporall coniunction one of another â–ª So that let loue bée an instinct according to your perswasion seigneur Monophylo but yet let him not be without a desire to be reioyned and likewyse lette your desire marche alwayes with the instinct so shall we perhappes satisfie certaine men who by reason of this lust that encountreth here maintaine that loue ought not to be inuested with that name till the acte of pleasaunt vse be performed wherein for my part albeit I make no great profession of tearmes being vnderstanded of you yet methinks such men are not without their seuerall errors for albeit we are not as yet entred into this poynt of corporal vse yet there is an other thing which in our selues we enioye by which wée merite the name of louer to our Ladies and that is a naturall and inwarde impression and opinion of their vertues which as we couer secretly in our mindes so for them we loue them aboue all other women And to speake simply of this instinct loue doth principally depende bicause he seldome aduauneâ—th himselfe without the societie of this naturall lust which we haue to knitte togyther where oftentimes we lust for this operation of nature in manye women without respect of loue but guided as it were by a certaine brutalitie without any other consideration than to passe and purge our coller But to returne to my matter that loue is a passion I beléeue you doubt not of it as by your owne discourse you haue halfe confessed And touching this communion of the bodies although you are harde to bée satisfied yet I thinke I haue sayde asmuch as is necessaryly requisite in the matter But touching the instinct albeit it cannot well be discouered yet I ymagin there is none of vs which knowes not that naturally we are inclined more to some persons then to others wherein as our naturall iudgementes are diuerse so also doe we perticulerlie bequeth our heartes euery one as nature leades him from whence I may saye doth spring the diuersitie of opinions so as to some it seemes the truth lyeth drowned in the bottome of the pitte bycause euery one of vs hath a iudgement not according to truth but as our instinct moues vs â–ª So that albeit I cannot discouer from whence this instinct proceedes vnlesse it 〈◊〉 of our owne nature bycause we nourishe so many inclinations as we containe numbers of men yet both 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 reason doe teache mee that it is the onelye keye that openeth the doore to loue And if as it may be many men fall into affection with one woman it is bicause they haue some resemblaunce or affinitie wyth a common influence This diffinition I haue vsed for the time of loue notwistanding I am sure there is an other kinde which séemes to holde of nature and yet procéedes of the instinct we speake of as we see it hapneth ordinarilye that albeit of our selues we are not enclined to sundry personages yet contrarye to our forethoughtes wée feele our selues induced to beare them a certaine affection bicause onely we sée them disposed in good will to vs wherein our vnthankefulnesse woulde iudge agaynst vs if we shoulde not be reciprocall in regards of friendshippe This is a kinde of loue but not of so liuelye condicion as the other séeing to giue him his proper nature hée pertakes more with pittie than with loue for euen as it is familiar to euery one to gréene in the displeasure of an other yea sometimes to haue sorrowe for our enimies when wée see them afflicted and that not in respect of any affection like to the friendeshippe we owe to others to whome our nature doth inuite vs euen so I cannot ascribe to this last loue I speak of other dignity than an ordinarie compassion which wée take of suche whome we
no singuler prorogatiue one aboue an other wherewith the Ladye retyred to silence not as wearie with any long spéech but as it séemed bicause Phylopolo in an inreuerent lightnesse intercepted hir further discourse a thing no lesse displeasaunt to the whole felowship then singulerly grieuous to me who wondering at the readie shift of learning in this Lady could not but say in my selfe oh singuler wit not common to women oh déepe iudgement aspyring supernaturally oh modestie worthye of the subiect wherein thou abydest ▪ oh woman no way imperfect by this doest thou make knowne notwithstanding the malicious murmure of the worlde the nobylitie of thy minde by which thou doest not onely enoble all thy sex but also defacest that little worthynesse which remayned to vs And albeit during this whole discourse I ment not to play other part then to discharge the office of a faithfull Secretorie to so honorable a company yet according to my desire to doe good to my power in this oportunitie of matter and place but call all you deare damosels standing in the profession of honor and vertue to beholde as in a glasse the conuersation of my Charyclea whose example I wishe might leade you in no lesse modestie of behauiour then by hir discourses I wishe you drawne to a desire of equall knowledge And yet I doubt not but some will be estéemed euill employed as in respect of the maiestie of hir presence and chaste honor to hir sex to be the first raysers of the spéech and talke vttered in the fauor of loue to whome I aunswere for hir that it is no lesse commendable to séeke out the true propertie of loue wherein nature euen from the begynning of our age hath hid within vs a secret instruction then by a dissembled arte to be guyded and taught by an Orator or Phisition who in tymes past haue bene dryuen out of common wealthes the one for corrupting the bodyes the other for infecting the mindes and manners of men where loue being imprinted in vs by so excellent a mistresse and workewoman hath had alwayes an Empire ouer vs by him the worlde had his being and in him it hath multiplyed and by him euen trées and other insensible things séeme to take their encrease one of an other so that right necessarie and noble is the desire of my Charyclea to séeke out his condition and nature And for myne owne part hauing thus enregistred their reasons I hope that no one man will turne that to a singuler vice in me by which all men receyue a common profite or at least an honest pleasure but me thinkes I heare such as know me not chalenge thys exercise as inconuenient to the state of my profession to whome if they will not satisfie with the honestie of my meaning I aunswere that albeit it be indecent to my facultie yet not impertynent to my yeares who afore their tyme are loath to participate wyth olde age And heare I put my selfe of the beadroll of the happiest crewe in the worlde seing it is the pleasure of the mightie God of loue to chose me for one of his to the ende to instruct and acquaint me with his armes which hereafter wyll be more intollerable to me than if he had called me to his trayne when eyther by age or other néedefull occasions I should be lesse apt to attende him And herein good Ladies you may beleeue me as one to whom vntrue reportes are hatefull that such is the straunge and haggarde nature of loue that if we defie him in our tender yeres he will punishe our olde age with such sharpe passions and plagues of his power that in the common gase and skoffe of the world he will bring vs at last to marche vnder his banner being on the other side of such compassion and iust consideration that if he haue entertayned and nousseled from his youth a good and loyall seruaunt and knowing him to be setled in some state of persite rypenesse according to the maner of olde souldyours whome their common wealth after many good seruices doth make frée from all charges of warre he gyues vs some release and consolation as not to match his tyranny with the iudgement of the people who if they had not prooued him may one daye runne vnder a smarting experience wherein lastly I beséech that God by whome I was first mooued to employe my Pen in these exercises that if anye crabbed Saturnus chaunce to steale a pyll of hys confection that he may finde it of hard digestion and so to my Champions whose most spéeche if I be not deceyued gathered alwayes to this point of loyaltie which Phylopolo would not should be so requisite in the man as in the woman by which occasion Charylea in waspishe termes wished him one daye to fall vppon a wyfe in whome in steade of mercy he should finde a minde equall to this merite I hope Madame sayth Phylopolo your wordes are without meaning of cursse or at least your curse not to carie such enchauntment as you wishe me but in his am I best contented that being at libertie I meane neuer to come in bondes bycause I haue alwaies dwelt in this opinion that as it is a thing impossible to make of a common a perticular so if a woman once corrupt hir bondes of honor with prostitution of hir bodye to one she maye vse the like libertie of fauour to another then to a thirde and so become generall ah sayth Monophylo to whome this iudgement was most hatefull God forbid that in my presence I suffer you so inaduisedly to blaspheme against the truth howe meane you seigneur Phylopolo to make of a common a peculiar the same being the common error of the people who thinke to sacrifice loue by that onely reason as though it were impossible that loyalty could abide in the braine of a woman in which who woulde alledge to you infinite honest Ladyes wherewith the hystories doe infinitely swarme that haue consecrated their honor to one saint I thinke you would eyther holde the authorities false or such women for monstruous yea you woulde estéeme them rare monsters as neuer proouing the vertue of women otherwayes then by the report of the worlde which for the most part is malicious But for suche in whome experience hath planted an vpright iudgement they will rather repose a resolute loyalty in their Ladies than once presume of suspicion of treason And yet your argument is to weake to reuerse true loue séeing yf my hart be alreadie setled in one place there followes not by that reason any duetie of diuision into diuers places But of the contrarie bicause naturally it inclines to one me thinkes the same shoulde be a sufficient bar against all other as hauing imprinted within it this true loue whereof we spake euen nowe yea this degrée of pryoritie as I thinke is the onely cause why we sée at this daye so many poore suffring louers not to atchiue the happie plot
whose delight they sette aworke their wittes so I beséeche you lette it bée lawefull for mée to name you the starre by whose aspect I am ledde to euerie well doing protesting for my part to holde suche a guide in no lesse value and honour then in times past the Muses vpon whome the Poetes bestowed suche solemne and deuoute inuocacions you onely Madam are the Goddesse whome I inuocate yea the element wherein I liue and the oracle of all my plottes and purposes wherein I dare pretende no other benifite of you then that which euen your selfe is able to promise in me wherein albeit all my workes and trauelles are directlye disposed to you yet I dare not presume to present you at this time with the exercise of this morning nor yet the discourses chiefly raysed to our confusion neyther had I aduentured to spread them abroade were it not that as the daye before was employed in such felicitie of minde as I desired so also I imagined such successe and sequelle to our present procéedings that albeit it import some sinister aduauntage to vs yet it maye bring such fruite to some other the assistantes and parties that if they grudged in the matter of the former exercises this may be applied as a recompence and supplye of their supposed iniurie if an iniurie it may be called A thing so iust and true as was the discourse of our Monophylo altogither in the fauour of loue and therefore in this treatise there is reserued for them some satisfaction but no contentment at all to mée who standes not onely to disalowe Chariclea for whose respect these spéeches were first procured and also Glaphyro by whome they are pronounced but also I mourmour euen against my selfe as to haue vsed my pen in a subiect so hatefull to all equitie and reason wherin in common truth I confesse my selfe more imputable then all the rest séeing that as to Chariclea is iust cause of pardon as séeking by a naturall zeale to knowledge common to all your other Ladies to comprehende all thinges from good to better so Glaphyro is tollerable bycause hée argued according to the suggestion of his thought But for mine owne part I protest if any thing be handled against the maiestie of that little God whose slaue I am it is altogither contrarie to my opinion of him as being for this time setled in a certaine hypocrisie the better to fulfill the plot of my determination wherein as I maye resemble those good and auncient instructors who leading vs by their diuine exhortacions to the contempt of honour prepare to themselues a readie pathwaye to an immortall glorie So seeking to mortifie in others by the speache and discourse of our foure Champions the true rootes of loue I shall kindle the sparkes more and more in my selfe and with the Salymander bathe my limmes in the flames of hote affection aduertising you notwithstanding Madam that albeit they conspired not onely the ouerthrow of loue but also to reuerse me altogither yet suche is Gods ordinaunce that there is infirmitie in their pretence and their wicked will without force as professing if you looke into their dooinges rather wordes of threates than matter of effect so that I dare promise in my selfe that loue hath the least cause to be offended Assuring you for ende that according to my delight in the discourses of Monophylo I dare eftsones giue him the honour of this dayes exercise with this last request to you Madam to set downe in memorie his reasons with some of mine as a rose amongst a number of thornes And so without further report of their seuerall circumstaunces let vs leaue them readie to pursue the poynt of their purpose which was to fall into a seconde societie the next morning in the place which earst had yéelded them such conuenient fauour where according to the houre of appoyntment the whole felowship béeing assembled Phylopolo vsed his accustomed libertie and began to make court to the Ladie Chariclea not with spéeches of cyuill and honest regarde as is the vse of all men professing the state of honour but offred to touche hir indecentlye yea euen to laye his hande vpon the place which standes in curious charge to al women of careful behauiour when the Ladie more misliking his rashnesse then fearing hir owne weakenesse gaue him this modest cheke if seigneur Phylopolo you aduenture to offer mée this wrong in respect of my familier conuersation in this solitarie place vnder the handes of you foure young Gentlemen I hope to finde defence in the vertue of your fayth and assuraunce in the promise of seigneur Glaphyro vnder whose protection I begā this enterprise yesterday which if I eftsoons put in practise this morning methinkes I merite not imputation but rather that my disposition bée more fauoured and my honestie better assured by you vpon whose safeconduct I repose euen the estate of mine honour Here ought to be no cause of doubt Madam sayth Glaphyro where is no pretence of euill dealing and the fayth of a Gentleman is the best warraunt hée can giue to assure his behauiour wherein as we protest innocencye in thought and act so our hope is you will not defile your discression with anye corrupt iudgement as to note vs inciuill in that wherein if wée séemed insufficient in duetie yet not vnreadie in good will as farre as belongs to the office of Gentlemen only your opinion to enter societie with vs shall not lose hir expectation which I beséech you let leade you in suche iudgement of our behauiour as notwithstanding the wanton libertie of Phylopolo you maye vse vs in our meaning of honour towardes you wherein it maye please you eftsoons to settle vnder the fayth and promise of those to whome nothing is more déere then to doe you duetie and seruice I accept your condicions sayth the Ladie and beléeue your promise albeit I coulde not otherwaies saye of Phylopolo then I both finde and proue which I entreated him to forbeare least he kindled occasion of complaint and to holde him lesse welcome to all honest companie ah Madam saith Phylopolo how you chalenge my libertie in spéeche whervnto custome hath giuen a grace and name of modestie to others though you make me guiltie in rude behauiour And if the exercise of yesterdaye was wholye consecrated to the commemoration of loue what newe offence can be enforced if you I dresse a sacrifice to him by a reciprocall pleasure one of an other by which shoulde be made perfect the dedication of this place which last wordes he pronounced with suche lyfe in countenaunce as they séemed plawsible to the whole companie except the Ladye who dissembling hir opinion of his meaning tolde him shée had no other sacrifice to make with him then that as the daye before they studied to erect and set vp the tabernacle of loue so now they woulde labour to commit him to formentes and vtter ruine For so sayth shée shall wée
standes it with our louer who oftentimes indiscréetlye yea when hée thinkes to sléepe in most safetie slippes into the charme of the intising eyes of some Ladie who leades him with great delyght into this huge sea of loue where in the ende hée takes a miserable comfort in to late a repentaunce oh happie mariner so long as he sayled vnder a fauorable clymat oh thrise happie louer vntill his sonne disguised his light But oh wretched condicion of both the one and other when a contrarie winde and common destinie castes them vpon the sandes of Charibde and Sylla monstrus women with the Poetes whose custome is to chaunge into forme of beastes all suche as vnhappily rub vpon their shoare when the poore louer finds his pleasure translated into a qualitie of bitternesse and his hope so turned into dispayre that he hath no other refuge then in death and yet in him he hardely findes medicine what thinke you then of the authoritie of loue whose swéete baytes as they are swallowed vp euen by the most wise and subtill that bée so he hath also a second power that hauing once made himselfe Lorde ouer vs hée takes from vs all knowledge both of himselfe and his nature bathing vs as it were in a consuming flame farre lesse quencheable than the continuall fire of the hill of Cycylie yea such is the vertue of this indissoluble knot of perfect loue that it is without power or meane to vs mortified and that which worse is it hapneth in often experience that some man labouring long in an amorous traine with a Ladie and shée perhappes no lesse touched with the mocions and passions of loue than hée yet in a necessarie regarde to hir honour shée is driuen to aunswere his desire with modestie and dare not aduenture to bée thankfull to his demaunde I praye you iudge by your selfe if his purpose pretende altogither to possesse the condicion of this louer and the languishing panges that long sute sturres vp yea what medicine woulde you applye to his disease I would not that for my repulse he shoulde alter the nature of his affection to his Ladye and much lesse be necligent in his meanes of obedience and humilitie But let vs finde out some happie operation or droage by which wée maye helpe to qualifie his passions and yet not discontinue his loue for so shal we make liuely in him the pleasures which by ymagination he shall conceyue of his mistresse and vtterly choake vp those sorrowes which else woulde deuoure him with infinite deathes Your discourse quod I containes matter of to high condicion as to demaunde a thing that is not to be done which is to loue without passion and it is as easie to drawe out of the foure elementes that Quintessence from whence the Philosophers deriue the originall of our soules as to hope to satisfie in anye one respect your present desire which albeit I cannot but estéeme of high merite as procéeding from a minde so well affected to the miserable estate of louers yet in all reason and experience I cannot holde it lesse impossible that loue shoulde be without passion then a man without a soule the Sunne without light fire without heate and water without moysture which thinges as they are so naturall and proper as without them neyther man Sunne fire or water can be in their perticuler euen so if you leade loue in hys true degrée you shall neuer sée him marche without passions as his familiar substitutes and companions In which respect me thinkes it were matter much impertinent to dispute vpon a forme in our mindes which neyther hath bene nor can be onlye let vs applie our spéeche to things not impossible least with the losse of time our exercise also bring forth nothing but vanitie And touching your opinion that a woman making an estate to loue and yet will maintaine hir honoure or at least that which shée estéemes hir honour although in such a case it woulde bée harde that loue should euer bring forth his full and absolute effect yet in suche proofe I wish the example of the amorous Poet might bée remembred that for two thrée or manye repulses hée must not thinke himselfe denied but turning modestie into importunitie solicite his Ladie with encrease of dilligence and meanes who albeit at the first vnder a light feare to make a wounde in hir honour standes doubtfull to bequeth hir selfe to our mercie yet doubt you not but shée trauelleth inwardely in a singuler felicitie and ioye of minde to sée hir selfe sued and required of him whome shée honoureth most and specially in a thing which shée woulde chiefelie desire were it not for that strong bulwarke and rampire of shamefestnesse which notwithstanding is not so defencible but béeing battered it may at the last become vincible by vehemencie of loue to whose power all worldlye forces are but weake herein also reason standes most peremptorie speciallye in the present case that mooueth bicause this honour consistes not but in the opinion of men loue is drawne altogither out of the registers of nature by whom we are induced to it wherein bicause you shall not iudge straungely of my opinion I make you this resemblaunce if our enimies become affable by our humilitie yea if brute beastes voyde of resonable consideration be drawne to a familiar tamenesse by our softe strokings and alluerments I praye you what belonges to him in duetie which holdes vs in déere regard which cherisheth vs who loues vs no lesse then himselfe doe you thinke a woman is not subiect to loue asmuch or more than a man yea euen to aduenture vpon thinges which are expreslye forbidden hir did not Byblys loue hir brother Mirrha hir father and poore Pasiphae was shée not rauished in lust with a Bull And yet I thinke it was neuer harde that a woman what passion of loue so euer possessed hir aduentured to solicite or require but being gouerned with a certaine shamefastnesse woulde not so muche as be required and yet being required woulde make no doubt to consent and therefore I haue hearde it often spoken of people well experienced in those exercises that the best is to bée sparing in requiring but in requiring to vse such an honest boldnesse to sâ—ack the bridle of their passions that with impudencie they be not possest of the thing which without shamefastnesse they ought not to desire whereof I make iudges my maysters of the spiritualtie and lawyers specially in these affayres wherein the spéeche how couertly so euer it runne is farre more shamefaste and harde to disgest then the effect the same in my opinion being the onelye meane to come to the full of their purpose which being well practised is seldome without his desired fruite séeing with reuerence I speake it the number is verie small and they borne vnder an vnhappie starre whose loue in the ende hath not happelye succéeded Here Phylopolo obseruing his oportunitye to molest women allowing his reasons began in
by Boccace in one of his Nouells oh daungerous disdaine oh spite whose power hath brought manye noble Gentlemen to such extremitie of furie that defyling their hands with the bloud of their Ladies they haue also at one instaunt bene the vnnaturall homicides of themselues For with pasquiers rule there is such a naturall simpathya of humours amongst men that euen as we loue such as like of vs so also our fleshe and mindes rise against them in whome is grudge against vs or ours as the glorious or prowde man louing no other then himselfe the same being the cause as I thinke why the auncient Lawyers allowed in their lawe of nations this desire of reuenge as falling by nature into the mindes of all men and albeit by Gods decrée we are defended to vse reuenge yet our nature holdes hir swéete course to vomite poyson against such as hate vs And therefore no marueyle if a woman hauing once charmed our affections and after by certaine outwarde actes we prooue their disguised nature towardes vs that then we turne course as being instructed by the precedent of their pollecies This is the first kinde of this disdaine whose power is farre more violent then the other which procéedes of a certaine ymagination of the minde or else by a light beliefe of false reportes made of our Ladies and this disdaine albeit is nothing so mortall as the other yet increasing by succession of time his effectes in the ende prooue nothing inferior to the first and therefore in his beginning he is called ielowsie which although in his prime age is nothing else then a renewing of loue yet as he rypeneth by little and little and by degrées riseth to perfection he chaungeth condition and leauing the name of ielowsie vsurpes the nature of disdaine in manye persons I saye not in all bicause for the most part our affection is so great and our weakenesse so generall that oftentimes we are constrayned to disgest it as a weake stomacke indueth a harde medicine and all bicause there remayneth certaine sparkes of the loue we beare to our mistris There be also sundrie other maners of disdaine as that which riseth of a continuall repulse with farre sundrie others which I am content nowe to passe ouer as hauing neuer tasted their condition or nature Here Phylopolo albeit he commended the meanes which Glaphyro preferred to dissolue loue yet sayth he if that charge had happened to me I would not haue doubted to haue applied more necessarie medicines to such an euill and with more ease haue cured the cause and with lesse daunger gouerned the effect he brings in a long absence accompanied with a desire to steale out of this prison of loue and then a light disdaine whose cause commeth manye wayes But in my fancie he is farre from the marke and his reasons nothing incydent to the necessarie pointes of the present purpose Asclepiades an auncient Phisition was not approoued of manye others of that facultie bicause he affirmed in opinion argument that the arte of phisicke or meane to cure pacients might be wholy mainteined without any potions or medicines compownded but leauing all artificiall helpes he referred all men to fiue infallible and most necessarie cures that is temperate exercise moderate vomit reasonable sléepe conuenient walking and a good and long dyot which remedies in déede were not impertinent to suche as were in helth and not infected with disease But to him who labored in a long and hote feuer I sée not in what vse they could serue euen so I can not finde howe this long dyot and absence commended so much by seigneur Glaphyro can worke any necessarie vertue in such who are alreadie striken and touched as it were to the death And touching the disdaine which he alleadgeth bicause his remedie in that is more casuall and by chaunce then otherwaies I will leaue it to worke in louers euen as their nature can brooke and beare And for the meanes I haue promised you I will vse the common methode of most Phisitions as deliuering you a potion or drinke wherein is brued the whole and absolute cure of this our diseased louer Let him then drinke of the flood of Lethes other wayes called the lake of obliuion of which the Ladie Chariclea hath cunninglye brought into our memorie towardes the ende of hir shipwrake And if this meane eyther faile him or he faint in the execution then let him resort to the circle of the moone where perhaps he shall incounter a great part of his senses distraught since he first made inuacion vpon the frontiers of Cupide But if this way be eyther hard to finde or vneasie to holde let him at last practise the counsell of the Phisitions and vse a little Helbora an herbe altogither dedicated to such vaine and sonde miseries For if euer anye sort of people were robbed of their wyttes it is the miserable corporation of louers whose blindnesse is such that the sunne séemes darke to them in the plaine day and in the night they iudge the moone a thicke clowde whereinto to confesse a simple truth it is to be doubted whether that miserie procéede more of their owne indiscression or is deriued of the naturall subtiltie of women who haue such a drawing power ouer the hartes of men this he spake simply to vrge the opinion of Chariclea and Monophylo hir protector that it séemes the Deuill hath incorporate himselfe in them the better to delude men not of base or low condition but euen such as by long vse haue wonne the name of riche wise and worthie Monarkes and kings of the earth oh what partialitie shewe you here sayth Monophylo that to giue season to your vnsauerie wordes you forbeare not euen without occasion to forsake the lymittes of our argument and yet you could not better discouer our common beastlinesse then by the discourse you haue made and so inconueniently applyed seing that by so much are we rude and weake in condicion by howe much we suffer them to subdue vs and their wisedome the more assured and commendable by howe much they can warrant themselues from the wrongs which so castlye they laye vpon vs But yet seigneur Phylopolo it is nothing so nor your opinion so generally true but it may be disprooued by many examples For if some by women haue falne into the bable and rebuke of the worlde yet we haue Medea Phyllis Dido with manye other infortunate Ladies who by the treason of their disloyall Iason Demophon and Eneas are made alas sorowfull groundes of vnworthy obloquie both to their vnhappie cotemporians or time fellowes and also their lamentable posteritie and therefore me thinkes your wrong is without reason which so partially you will laye vpon that sex of whome we depende in comfort commoditie and felicitie and without whome as we coulde haue had no originall being so were it not by them we could haue no present conuersation nor lyfe in déede sayth Phylopolo they are a necessarie euill and therin replyed Monophylo are you no lesse ouerséene then in all the reast and your error more hurtfull But you seigneur Glaphyro notwithstanding the cauell of Phylopolo I wishe not to discontinue your discourse the same being no lesse necessarie to intercept his heresie then most conuenient to confyrme the reast of the felowship But the Ladie considering by the height of the sunne that their longer aboade there might bring offence to the rest of their companie whose custome during this progresse was to obserue good howers for their repaste tolde Monophylo what wrong he practised to himselfe in vrging Glaphyro in a matter as she thought of so small aduauntage to himselfe seing withall sayth she that the time offereth you fauour as thereby to sommon you to resolue our long controuersie wherevnto as I prepared the beginning so am I nowe to intercesse for loue of whome I take more pittie then he vseth compassion to such as implore his mercie And so breaking of so indifferentlye I hope there is neuer one of vs all who restes not satisfied Glaphyro to haue runne ouer so much matter in so fewe wordes we to haue bene edified by his acceptable spéeche you Monophylo to sée so short an issue of all and lastly the reast of the companie not to be offended with our long exercise and aboade here wherevpon they discryed at hand foure yong Gentlemen of the generall trowpe comming to warne them of dinner who being informed of the estate of the arguments passed amongst them all that morning grudged with their fortune to restrayne them from suche honorable felowship albeit if the exercise renewed at after dynner they sued to be admytted and also others more auncient of the bande who being also receyued prepared themselues against the hower of appointment but such was their sodeyne occasion neyther looked for afore it fell nor welcome when it hapned that they were driuen to chaunge hoast where with the oportunitie of a new place they renewed eftesoones the matter of their late appointment whose successe I leaue at large as being sodainely estraunged from their societie by myne owne occasion FINIS Three chiefe men in this dialogue For dowryes Of Mariages for money Imprinted at London by Wylliam Seres dwelling at the West ende of Paules Church at the Signe of the Hedgehogge Anno. 1572.