and after vntill the building of Babel The Poet answereth it was the language of God himselfe Héereupon ariseth two opinions The first is of those that to honour their countrey after the example of some ancient Heathens would make vs beléeue they are sprung of the earth or fallen from the Moone and thinke their spéech the most excellent of all other The Egyptians and Phrygians haue long sithence debated this matter as shall be said more at large in the next Section A fewe yéeres ago a Phisition of Brabant named I. Goropius set foorth a great booke entituled Origines Antuerpianae wherin he aymeth especially at this marke to prooue the Cymbrike toong which in his opinion is the base Almaine to be the first spéech of the world Since his death a certaine writer of Liege hath set out many other bookes of his about the same matter and in one of them that is called Hermathena this Cymbrike toong or lowe Dutch is preferred farre aboue the Romaine Gréeke and Hebrue It asketh a long discourse to answere his reasons for this time I will answere but in a worde Namely that all that which he alledgeth for the preheminence of his owne toong is a méere cauill that is called in the Schooles Petitio principij when a Sophyster taketh for granted that which is expresly denied him and he knowes not how to proue Goropius groundeth al his discourse on this that the Cymbrike toong hath borrowed nothing of any other and that the Hebrue is comen of it and euen borroweth of the Cymbrike This a man will denie Goropius and his disciples and whereas they shewe some Hebrue words or Phrases that resemble the words and termes of the base Almaine and so conclude that Adam spake low Dutch and that the language of Moses and the Prophets is hard ambiguous poore and borrowed of the Cymbrike which they were not well able to follow I answere that they are deceiued and that on the contrarie they ought to saie the Hebrue was afore all other toongs who were begun in Babel and haue sithence brought foorth infinite others as the high and low Dutch and other like now vsed in the world I woulde the learned professours of principall toongs woulde finde some time to refute th'allegations of Goropius Especially those that make against the Hebrue which he hath too saucily disgraced in the second booke of his Hermath Pag. 25. 26. c. The second opinion which I hold with the Poet is that the Hebrue toong inclosed chiefly in the Canonicall bookes of the old Testament which haue béene woonderfully preserued vntill our time is the first spéech of the world and the same that Moses meant when he said the whole earth had one mouth or language before the building of Babel The reasons thereof are touched in a worde by the Poet who doth hereafter treat of them more at large as we haue also noted in the margent meane to speake somewhat thereof in the 12. Annotation Now whereas this first language hath at this day no letter nor worde but is full of maimes and myseries it may be saide of euery toong since the confusion that it is nothing but corrupt iangling weake vncertaine and changing euer from time to time as many haue already shewed heretofore The Gréeke and Latine toongs haue changed fiue or sixe times and the learned know what wrangling there hath béene about the writing pronouncing and disposing of their termes phrases Then what is to be said of the Gréekish and Latinish toongs those that are but apes of the other What of the barbarous strange and new toongs or of those whose foolish pronunciation onely no man can abide or of others that by vse time and force of people are waxen currant but this I leaue to such as list to comment héereupon at large 10. Long since the Phrygians The Egyptians being euer great braggers vaunted long ago that they were the most ancient people of the world a certaine king of theirs named Psammetichus attempted to search out the truth and for that end thought méete by some meanes to discouer what was the first language of the world Thus he tooke two new-borne babes and deliuered them vnto shepheards to be noursed commanding they should be brought vp in a secret staule there to sucke the milke of goates and straitly forbidding that none should come there to pronounce any word before them then after a certaine time when they were of age they should be left alone and made to fast a while Now so soone as they were past two yéeres olde their gouernour hauing in all points accomplished the kings commandement came to open the staule and then the two children began to crie Bec bec the shepheard said not a word they repeat still the words and he let his master vnderstand therof who caused the children to be brought secretly vnto him and heard them speake So when the meaning of the word was asked and th' Egyptians vnderstood it signified bread in the Phrygian toong they graunted the preheminence of antiquitie vnto the Phrygians Herodotus writeth that the priests of Vulcan in the citie of Memphis told him the same tale There are some others that thinke these babes were brought vp of dombe nourses howsoeuer it be sure it is that the pride of the Egyptians was by some such deuise daunted Suidas touching the very point saith that babes nourished of a goate must néedes crie somthing like a goate and such was the sound of the word Bec a méete reward for his wisedome that made such a triall The Grecians in old time were woont to call an old dotard 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a word composed of Bec and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the moone the same is turned into a prouerbe which Erasmus expoundeth But Goropius in the 5. and 9. booke of his Origines plaieth the subtill Sophister as his maner is and vseth his beake vpon the word Bec concluding since bec in low Dutch signifies bread and Psammetichus his babes called for bec that so long ago they spoke lowe Dutch whereupon it followeth that his toong is the most ancient of the world He calleth also his discourses vpon the same Becceselanea offering the subiect of a comedie to some new Aristophanes But let vs consider the answers of the Poet to the Phrygians and to Goropius 11. O fooles that little thought The first answere is that this word Bec that the children spoke was a cōfused sound comming néere the crie of goates And how could they aske bread séeing that they vnderstood it not neuer heard it spoken by any bodie neuer heard the meaning of it The second is that words are not borne with vs but that we learne them by haunt long vsage If they were borne with vs doubtles these infants would haue spoken as well other words for the vnderstanding being mooued the belly pinched with hunger would not content it selfe to expresse his passion in one syllable The third is
so luckie hand begun he determineth by the grace of God to follow foorth so excellent a worke and in a second wéeke to set out the state of the world from Adam to the latter day adioyning thereunto euen a liuely descriptiō of th' euerlasting Saboth so now he giueth vs the two first daies to each of them allotting foure bookes The first day may be called Adam and representeth the state of the first man before and after the fall euen to his death and of his posteritie to the flood The second day may be called Noe and containeth the state of the world after the flood to the time of Abraham so that here we haue a learned and holy paraphrase vpon a part of the first booke of Moses to wit from the middle of the second chapter of Genesis vnto th' end of th' eleuenth his stile is enriched with all maner of beauties and graces méete for a poeme perfect and worthie to be honored of all men of good iudgement so much of the worke in generall Foure books of the first day Now let vs sée what the bookes of these two first daies containe in particular After his méete prefaces and entrance proper to his matter he placeth the first man in the garden of Eden painteth out the garden 1. Eden answereth diuers questions commonly thereabout arising as of the trée of life and th'excellencie therof likewise of the trée of knowledge of good and euill and here he sheweth what was the knowledge of man before sinne wherefore he was placed in Paradise what was his exercise there what was his happines before the fall as namely that he had familiar communication with God whereunto is properly adioyned the discourse of Visions traunces and Reuelations this done he toucheth the commandement of GOD to Adam concerning the forbidden fruit the promise of our first father the great pleasures he enioied so long as he continued obedient vpon this occasion he describeth poynt deuise the beauties of this garden yet with such a stay of himselfe that he cutteth off many curious demaunds and hauing answered certaine obiections endeth his first booke In the beginning of the second he setteth downe th' enuie and drift of the diuel against man 2. L'imposture why he tempted outwardly what moued him to take a body rather than present himselfe the bodie of a serpent rather than to change himselfe into an Angell of light Hereout are handled opinions diuers the conclusion of all is this that the serpent was the diuels instrument to misleade our first mother This draweth the Poet to speake of the power of Satan So he returning to his former intent discouereth all the wiles and assaults of th' enimie how he brought Eue to destruction and Adam by meanes of hir whence haue ensued effects most gréeuous to behold These miserable sinners examined charged with sinne and condemned therefore as well by remorse of their owne conscience as by the fearful voice of their creator who pronounceth doome against the serpent and them Wherunto is added a sound and full answere to all such wicked and profane spirits as murmur against the fall of Man as it is set downe in holy scripture to shut vp the booke Adam and Eue are chased out of Paradise and an Angell with a firie sword there placed to kéepe them out Now the better to set forth the miserie of man 3. Furies and the confusions which sinne hath brought in among vs the Poet hauing in the beginning of his third booke mentioned againe and set before our eies the blessed estate of the whole world and the perfect vnion that was among all creatures before the backsliding of Adam the cause as he sheweth by diuers examples of all their disunion he mustereth and leadeth forth an armie of all other creatures to war against man then comming to the euils that afflict this poore guiltie creature both within and without he bringeth in the furies called out of hell to come and torment mankind These then are the plagues wherewith they chastise the bodie to wit famine war infinite sort of diseases whereof the chiefe are named and ranged into foure squadrons The first laieth siege to the head the second encountreth the chiefe instruments of life the third assaulteth the naturall powers the fourth setteth on the outward parts of Man They are distinguished againe into maladies particularly belonging vnto certaine peoples and climats proper to the seuerall ages of man speciall to diuers seasons of the yéere contagious hereditarie new obstinate and vncurable To increase the more this heape of miserie he proueth that beasts are in this regard in better case than man Then entreth into consideration of the most dangerous diseases of all which are those of the mind and namely foure principall kindes which vnder them containe all other sadnes ioy feare and fond desire these with their traine and effects are without comparison more to be feared than all the most cruell diseases of the body as by fit examples is proued and so the Poet concludeth with an holy wish and profitable exhortation to the Frenchmen 4. Artifices Hereupon hauing in the entrie of the fourth booke saluted peace and shewed the commodities thereof he falleth fitly to his purpose and decifereth vnto vs the miserable estate of Adam and Eue being now foorth of the garden what hard shift they made to liue whereon they fed how they were clothed and what paines Eue tooke to weaue a garment for hir husband their furniture against the cold their place of abode and first buildings the inuention of fire the beginning of housholds and how the land was peopled the exercise of Caine and Abel their sacrifices the wicked mind of Caine who slue his brother and after thinking somewhat to ease his soule of the gnawing torments of conscience built a towne and began to ride horses which the Poet handleth in kinde and from thence falleth into discourse of th' inuention and vse of Iron and instruments of Musick But as Caine and his followers busie themselues with affaires of the worlde meane-while Adam and his true children take after godlines and iustice and search out the sacrets of nature Among other Seth is supposed to aske his father concerning th' estate of the worlde from the beginning vnto th' end which Adam excusing himself at first refuseth to do but suddenly mooued with the holie spirit héere distinguished from the furies of men possessed of the diuell he speaketh of all the worlds ages and sheweth what shall befall euen to the flood the discourse and consideration whereof ouercommeth his hart with griefe depriueth him of spéech and endeth the fourth booke and so by consequent the first daies historie Foure bookes of the second day 1. L' Arche Beginning the first booke of the second day with a new inuocation he entreth into th' Arch recounteth the holie exercises of Noe which Cham gainsaieth and diuers waies striueth against the prouidence of
the Hebrue Latine and Gréeke had all these maintaining meanes whereby they haue continued so long and spred so far abroad So beginneth he cunningly to make his passage from words and phrases vnto entire languages the better to come at length to that excellent discourse that followeth in the next Section vpon all the principall toongs now spoken or knowen in the world As for the Hebrue besides the perfections aboue mentioned he saith in it God hath reuealed his will and that it is the originall of the diuine Law both of great force to make the toong farre knowne and continue long it had further the Art and knowledge of high Priests and Prophets the wisedome and state of Salomon was a long time vsed and accustomed to be spoke in the famous cōmonwelth of the Iewes But these bicause they belong not vnto that toong onely but as well to the other two the Poet here leaueth out The Gréeke he saith in hir bookes containeth at large all the liberall Sciences a great cause and most proper to the Gréeke the rest as common to the others are let passe The Latine more graue forcible than the Gréeke that was a more neat and wanton toong was aduanced and continued in request by the Romanes force of armes whose Empire was the greatest and most warlike of all the rest and therfore is this cause héere onely mentioned as most proper to the Latine toong and the rest omitted These thrée toongs do at this day farre surpasse all others but vngodlinesse and contempt of the true Diuinitie is cause why the Hebrue is not estéemed as it deserueth the more is it regarded of thē that know it As for the Gréeke that which is now commonly spoken is very grosse The pure and good Gréeke is contained within the bookes of Plato Aristotle Zenophon Demosthenes Isocrates Homer Euripides Sophocles Plutarch Basil Nasianzen Chrysostome and many others The Latine after some ignorant and vnlearned men had greatly embased it was restned and set on foote againe within these foure-score yéeres at what time there flourished many great and learned personages in Europe as Melancthon Erasmus Picus Myrand and others but they come short of that grace and liuelihood that the ancient Latine writers haue Cicero Caesar Liuie Virgill Horace and a number of others wel enough knowne of whom as also of the most excellent authors in other toongs the Poet here goes about to entreat The Poets takes breath to enter afresh into the next discourse where by way of a Vision he cunningly describeth the principall toongs with their best authors 20 Tracing these latter lines halfe tyred as I were With this entising paine of heau'nly Pallas Lere Still now and then I strike my chin vpon my brest And softly both mine eies begin to close to rest Moist with Ambrosian dew knit is my senses band And fairely slides my pen foorth of my fainting hand Vpon my flattring couch I spread my selfe againe And plunge in Lethe-streame all troubles of my braine There drowne I all my cares saue one that with no traunce Is discontinued to please and profit Fraunce The sacred Forge of Loue that me enflamed keepes Will not let sleepe my soule although my body sleepes 21 And golden-winged Dreame rising in th'Easterne shore Foorth at his Christ all gate a little while before The Day-gate opened into a Valley faire Me led fantasticall where day and nights fresh aire The north windes the south the drought th'Ises mother The faire daies and the foule came not one after other There May did alway raigne and Zephirus bedight With Rosie coronets blew nicely day and night A woods soft-rustling boughes that blossoms sweet did yeeld A description of the seat image of eloquence And Oualwise bewall'd the flowr-embroidred field 22 Iust in the midst of all this Ammel-blooming glade Raisd was a mightie Rocke in footstall maner made Vpon the top thereof a brasfe Colosse did stand That in the left hand held a flaming fierbrand An Ewer in the right out from hir golden toong A thousand little chaines all ore the medow sprong That worlds of hearers drew fine wrought by subtill art Some linked by the eares and some fast by the Hart. The Boare lay at hir feete nor foming nor enraged There slept the Tigre charm'd Beares their fume asswaged The neighbour Hillocks leapt the Woods reioiced round Eu'n daunsing as it were at hir sweete voices sound A double circled row of pillers high and dight By cunning workmans hand after the Carian right With bases vnderpinn'd for their more sure foundation Beset this rauishing Image of sweete Oration And foure by foure bore vp amid them one language Of those that flourish most in this our learned age 23 Among the blessed wits 6. The Hebrue to whom heau'n gaue the grace That they should vnderprop the Hebrue in this place The man whose face did shine like to a blasing starre Heau'n-decking fraying-men that for a Scepter barre A scare yet budding rod and in his fingers hent The ten-fold register of Gods Commandement He guideth Israel he left authoritie First both of prose and verse to his posteritie Such holy writings as not onely long fore-run The writings of the Greekes but all that they haue done The second Dauid is whose touch right cunningly Combined with his voice drawes downe sweete harmony From th'organized heau'ns on Harpe that still shall sound As long as daies great star shall ore our heads go round Nay farther who can tell after these heau'nly Lights Their Measures ended haue but that the blessed Sprights Christs holy champions at sound of his accords Shall daunce in honor of th' Almightie Lord of Lords When many legions of Angels winged ghosts Shall sing holy holy holy Lord God of hosts The third is Salomon whose goodly monuments Are wisely powdred with more store of documents And golden sentences than doth his diademe With Diamondes and Pearles and firy Rubies beame The fourth is Amos sonne that hath the Graces all Deuout and full of threats graue and Rhetoricall 2. The Greeke 24 The Greeke Homer vpholds that sweetely versifies Whose learned Schoole brought foorth a many companies Of old Philosophers that made his cunning plea The world to ouerflow like some great Ocean sea And Plato all Diuine who like the Bird we call The Bird of Paradise soyles not himselfe at all With earth or waters touch but more than Hels descent Surmounted is by Heau'n surmounts the firmament And smooth Herodotus and he of pleaders Arts The Law Demosthenes gold-mouthed king of harts 3. The Latine 25 Then he of Anthony and Catiline great foe That lightneth and thundreth from whose brest doth flow A thousand streaming floods wherin the rarest wits Daily torment themselues surpris'd with maruaile-fits And Caesar that can do aswell as he can plead And Salust full of force and he that Troy doth lead Againe to Tybers banks a writer sent from heau'n That
as it were thorow christall gates for then be dreames and visions cléerest and best distinguished whereas before our meate be fully digested our braine ouerloden with vapors receiueth but troublesome impressions waued so to and fro and so enterlaced one with another that in the twinkling of an eie it frameth a thousand shapes that presently vanisheth away and are no more remembred Now the Poet saith he was guided as he thought into a place most delightfull which he describeth in few verses and it is verie fit for the matter following 22. Iust in the middle point First he describeth the dwelling of Eloquence to wit on a great Rocke wrought and fashioned in manner of a footestall or base for an Image to stande on to shew how stedfast and certaine a thing this excellent gift of God is Secondly the resemblance or Image of Eloquence he calleth a Colosse that is of stature surpassing all others which betokeneth thus much that eloquent and faire spoken men go many degrées beyonde others whom they vse at their pleasure and draw whither they list as the examples of Pericles and Cicero declare and many proofes thereof are founde in the holie Scripture He maketh this Image of Brasse which implieth the faire glosse the swéete sounde and strong force of Eloquence he placeth in the left hand a fire-brand to signifie that learned true and faire vttrance maketh men sée touch as it were the right nature of things in the right hand an Ewer bicause the spéech of the wise dampeth and putteth out the flame of passions I might note hereof many examples but I leaue them for the diligent Reader to search meaning here to offer him but Annotations which I feare already are growen too long The little chaines that come foorth from the Images golden toong draw such a number of hearers by the eares hart signifie the great power of a wel framed spéech the truth wherof appéereth chiefely in preaching the word in counsels of graue common wealths-men and orations of good Magistrates and valiant Captaines In this maner did the ancient Frenchmen paint set out their Hercules surnamed Ognius whereupon Alciat hath made a pretie Embleme it is the 180. expounded at large by Cl. Minos The summe of al is that Eloquence is to be preferred before force Our Poet aimeth at that description Further concerning the Bore the Tygre and the Beare lying tame at the féete of this Image it signifieth that a pleasant and learned spéech appeaseth all angrie cruell and sauage men and euen the maddest and most brutish people in the worlde it maketh the woods and hils to daunce and leape that is to saie it mooueth bendeth instructeth very block-heads and such as are most hard of vnderstanding this may be the meaning of those fained tales of Amphion Orpheus Arion and other like Lastly this Image is enuironed with a double ranke of pillers well and strongly grounded and vnder-pinned that beare vp in due proportion the nine languages following each by hir owne chiefe authors maintainers For euery pillar was wrought in fashion of a man framed to the countenance of one of their best writers in a long gowne or stole And that is the meaning of the French a la Cariatide After the Carian right as Vitruuius writeth at large in this first Chapter of his first booke of Architecture This I note bicause the French Commentar lets it passe and it troubled my selfe to vnderstand it at the first 23. Among the blessed wits For chiefe props of the Hebrue toong which he placeth in the fore front of Eloquence as in euery regard it was méete whether we consider the swéete grauitie the naturall impliance the shortnes hautines liuelyhood of it or the sinceritie holines light and heauenly maiestie he nameth first Moses bicause he is the most ancient of those whose writings in this toong are extant As for the booke of the Prophesie of Henoch it was lost a long time ago He describeth this holy Law-writer after an excellent manner as was requisite in a discourse of Eloquence His face shineth like a blasing Starre alluding to that in the Scripture that Moses comming downe from the mount where he had talked with God his face so shined that none was able to behold his countenance insomuch as he was faine to weare a vaile ouer it the rest is verie easie to be vnderstood especially of such as haue neuer so lightlie turned ouer the Historie Now for the bookes of Moses they were written many hundred yéeres before the Gréekes were knowne who were not heard of in the world but a little before the raigne of Saul and had but few works in writing or none at all till after the time of Salomon as their owne Histories witnes whosoeuer will take paines to turne them ouer Naie further all their knowledge came from the Egyptians Phenicians and others who had learned somewhat by conuersing with the Hebrues And to come againe to Moses he hath béene in maruellous account with infinite Heathen writers If any haue lightly regarded or found fault with him it was either bicause they vnderstood him not at all or maliced him excéedingly which a man may easily finde in their writings The second author of the Hebrue he counteth Dauid whose Psalmes he speaketh much of in few lines but little it is in comparison of their excellencie wherof many ancient and late writers haue spoken notable things I will not heape them vp here assuring my selfe that all true Christians will grant me that the Booke of Dauids Psalmes is as Saint Basill saith the Storehouse and treasurie of all good learning for all men to come at and will confesse with Saint Ierome and S. Chrysostome that nothing better becommeth a man be he Peasant or Craftes-man great or small than to sing vnto the Lord the praises and thankesgiuing in these excellent songs contained the very liuely and true Anatomies of a beléeuing soule O how cursed and abominable before God and his Church are those wicked ones that haue forbidden Christians the vnderstanding and vse of them and banished them out of Christendom that haue suffred allowed maintained commanded and commended vnto the people these shamefull and wanton Poesies these bookes of vanitie error leasings which with their authors deserue the fire and not the quiet and peaceable persons that call vpon Iesus Christ and beléeue stedfastly the life euerlasting The soule that feareth God will not take this my digression ill nor thinke it néedlesse As for the vngodly let them spit at it if they will I regarde them not The thirde authour and ornament of the Hebrue is reckoned Salomon in his Prouerbes the booke of the Preacher and the Song of Songs bookes more besprinckled with golden words and notable sentences than his crowne was with pretious stones and pearles embossed Happie is the man that taketh delight to marke and daily thinke vpon so profitable and necessarie instructions The fourth
is the Prophet Esay the sonne of Amos right such a one as the Poet hath described These foure he thought sufficient to name bicause they haue most writings extant and are withall excéeding eloquent as might easilie be prooued by particulars if I were to write a Commentarie or a whole discourse thereof 24. The Greeke Homer his Illias and Odyssea containing 48. bookes is the most ancient Gréeke Auctor we haue his inuentions are wonderfull his vaine naturall his verses smoothe and full of Art and the more they are considered the greater grace they haue There is also in them a hidden sense and the very welspring of all humane knowledge as may appéere by that infinite péeces of his poesies are cited in the bookes of ancient late Philosophers Geographers Historiographers and Orators as Plutarch and others witnes The next to Homer is Plato not in time but in worthines he is called the diuine Philosopher bicause he is so maruellous pure so high loftie in al his discourses the true scholler of him that professing himselfe to know but one thing namely that he knew nothing declared that he knew all things that might be learned in the worlde as touching the worlde For concerning the knowledge of saluation Plato and his maister both were ignorant and sith all other knowledge is nothing in comparison of that the more are we bound to God that haue it he said most truly that he knew nothing The third is Herodotus who writeth in th' Ionick Dialect that is a kinde of Gréeke differing a little in phrases and pronuntiation from the common-spoken as some farre scituate shires do from the Court or mother Citie of their Countrie in diuers points it agréeth with the French Plutarch dealeth somewhat too roughly with this woorthy Historiographer in whose defence I will oppose the authoritie of a learned man of our time who in a certaine Preface of his saith of Herodotus Narrationes eius sunt disertae indicationes expressae speciosae explicationes accuratae euidentes collectiones certa atque plenae in his rerum gestarum hominum temporum fides accurata compertorum relatio dubiorum coniectura sagax fabulosorum verecunda commemoratio mira vbique simplicitas eximius quidam candor Sée the great praises and perfections of a graue Historiographer The fourth is Demosthenes the prince of Gréeke Orators the very rule and square of all that endeuour to speake eloquently a man that leadeth other mens mindes as he list excellent in all his discourses which are extant the most of them and read to the great vse and profit of those that know how to applie them 25. Then he of Anthonie and Catiline great foe That is Cicero surnamed the father of Eloquence he is the first and chiefe of those that grace and maintaine the Latine toong He was extremely hated of Marke Anthonie and Catiline both whom he hath also bitterly pursued and touched to the quicke as his Catilinarie and Philippick Orations declare the often printing of his works and learned mens continuall reading of them and borrowing thence the best graces of their writings do prooue his learning eloquence and plentie of spéech to be such as the Poet héere describeth The second is Caesar the most valiant of eloquent men and most eloquent of valiant men as may well appéere by his life in Plutarch and his Commentaries de bello Gallico by which worke he hath wrung the pen out of learned mens hands and in a maner discouraged them al from writing Histories bicause they sée such perfection therein as they are not able to come néere The third is the Historiographer Salust we haue of his works besides diuers Orations two Histories remaining Coniuratio Catilinae bellum Iugurthinum short they are but full of sentence and sinewes witnessing the ancient force and vigor of the Roman toong The Reader may hereto adde the commendations of these thrée authors as they are in many learned bookes of late writers here and there scattered As for those that thinke Cicero bableth without learning and that Caesar the Dictatour and first Emperour wrote not these Commentaries that beare his name and that Salust writeth a hard and forced stile bicause their accusations are false and they so farre out of the way I thinke them woorthie none other answere than our Poets few verses here Of the fourth which is the Poet Virgil too much cannot be spoken his bookes of Georgickes and Aeneidos being such maruellous works and so farre excéeding all other bookes of humanitie I speake not onely for the excellence of his verse but sure in the depth of his inuentions his iudgement his decence his modestie his grauitie and his state how much he doth outstrip and go beyond al others may be séene not onely in euery booke of his but euen in euery verse wherein is contained a thousand thousand secrets and as it were the abridgement of all kind of Arts and knowledge besides his proper tearmes his Epythites alway fit his metaphors and figures sow'n and sprinkled in their right places and his spéech quite throughout eloquent and pure without any bodging or dawberie whatsoeuer The learned Caesar Scaliger among many others hath plainly and at large declared in his Art of Poetrie the excellencie of this Authour 26. Th' Italian For ornament of the Italian a language risen of the Roman or Latine he nameth thrée Poets and one Orator slipping diuers writers of historie Secretaries that haue left diuers excellent works Orations and Epistles among vs. The reason is I thinke bicause these foure containe in them all the graces of the others He nameth also the Tuscan toong bicause of all the diuers Dialects of Italie the Luquish Milanish Geneuish and Venetian none are so pure and fine as the Florentine or Tuscan Iohn Boccace hath written long time agoe but a very fine and pure stile as his Decameron his Fiametta the Philocope The Laberinth and his other bookes witnes that with the world are in so great request Frauncis Petrarch hath written since and inuented goodly words and partly by his owne pregnant wit partly by imitation of all the best Auctors hath enriched the toong with many graces he hath ventured also far and made Sonets Chapters and Cantoes wonderfull curious Then Ludouico Ariosto of Ferara hath set foorth a legend of Loue entituled Orlando furioso in verses swéete and méete famous throughout all Italie he is full of affections in his discourse and as delightfull as is possible by reason of the varietie of that fabulous matter he writeth of which he shadoweth so cunningly that the reader is therewith often affected and mooued as if it were a true storie or at least not altogither false Torquato Tasso is last of the foure in time of writing but in account as the Poet saith the first and chiefe he was the sonne of Bernardo Tasso that eloquent man whose excellent Epistles are in print This his sonne hath written in twenty