Melytta tolde her that although it were great trouble for one of her age to frame her self as a companioÌ„ to such yong youth and that some care belonged to such a charge yet hee would so counternalle her painful labour with princely liberalitie that both she and all Alexandria should haue cause to speak of his bountie MElytta thanking the Duke for such vndeserued curtesie setting her houshold affaires in good order repayred to the Court as spéedily as might be But leauing her with Castania again to Gwydonius who now being arriued in Alexandria pinched with pouerty distressed with want hauing no coine left wherewith to counteruaile his expences thought it his best course if it were possible to compasse the Dukes seruice repairing therfore to the court hée had not staied there thrée dayes before he found fit oportunitie to offer his seruice to Orlanio whom very dutifully he saluted in this manner THe report right worthie Prince of your incomparable curtesie and pearlesse magnanimity is so blazed abroad throughout all Countries by the golden trumpe of Fame that your Grace is not more loued of your subiects which tast of your liberall bountie than honoured of strangers which only heare of your princely vertue Insomuch that it hath forced me to leaue my natiue soile my parents kindred and familiar friends and pilgrimlike to passe into a strange Country to try that by experience héer which I haue heard by report at home For it is not right worthy Sir the state of your Country that hath altured me for I deeme Bohemia wherof I am no lesse pleasant than Alexandria neither hath want of liuing or hope of gain intised me for I am by birth a Gentleman and issued of such parents as are able with sufficient patrimonie to maintaine my estate but the desire not onely to sée but also to learne such rare curtesie and vertuous qualities as fame hath reported to be put in practice in your Court is the onely occasion of this my iourny Now if in recompenee of this mytrauaile it shal please your Grace to vouchsafe of my seruice I shall think my self fully satisfied and my pains sufficiently requited Orlanio hearing this dutifull discourse of Gwydonius marking his manners and musing at his modestie noting both his excellent courtesie and exquisite beautie was so inflamed with friendly affection toward this yoong youth that not only hee accepted of his seruice but also preferred him as a companion to his sonne Thersandro promising that since hee had left his Country and Parents for this cause he would so counteruaile his dutifull desert with fauour and friendship as he should neuer haue cause to accuse him of ingratitude Gwydonius repaying heartie thankes to the Duke for his vndeserued curtesie being now brought from woe to weale from despaire to hope from bale to blisse from care to securitie from want to wealth yea from hellish misery to heauenly prosperitie behaued himselfe so wisely and warily with such curtesie in conuersation and modestie in manners that in short time hee not onely purchased credit and countenance with Orlanio but was most intirely liked and loued of Thersando Now there remained in the Court a young knight called Signior Valericus who by chance casting his glancing eies on the glittering beautie of Castania was so fettered in the snare of fancie and so entangled with the trap of affection so perplered in the Labyrinth of pinching loue and so inchanted with the charme of Venus Sorcerie that as the Elephant reioiceth greatly at the sight of a Rose as the Bird Halciones delighteth to view the feathers of the Phoenix and as nothing better contenteth a Ro-Buck than to gaze at a red cloth so there was no obiect that could allurc the wauering eyes of Valericus as the surpassing beautie of Castania yea his only blisse pleasure ioy delight was in féeding his fancy with staring on that Heauenly face of his goddesse But alas her beautie bred his bane her lookes his losse her sight is sorrow her exquisite perfections his extreame passions that as the Ape by séeing the Snaile is infected as the Leopard falleth in a traunce at the sight of the Locust as the Cockatrice dyeth with beholding the Chrisolito so poore Valericus was pinched to the heart with viewing her comely countenance was griped with galling griefe and tortured with insupportable torments by gazing vpon the gallant beauty of so gorgeous a dame yea he so framed in his fancie the forme of her face and so imprinted in his hart the perfection of her person that the remembrance therof would suffer him to take no rest but he passed the day in dolour the night in sorrow no minute without mourning no houre without heauinesse that falling into pensiue passions hee began thus to parle with himselfe Why how now Valericus quoth hée art thou haunted with some hellish hagge or passessed with some frantike furie art thou inchaunted with some magicall charme or charmed with some bewitching Sorcerie that so sodainly thy minde is perplexed with a thousand sundry passions alate frée and now fettered alate swimming in rest and now sinking in care erewhile in securitie and now in captiuitie yea turned from mirth to mourning from pleasure to paine from delight to despight hating thy selfe and louing her who is the chiefe cause of this thy calamitie Ah Valericus hast thou forgot the saying of Propertius that to loue howsoeuer it be is to lose and to fancie how charie so euer thy choice be is to haue an ill chance for Loue though neuer so fickle is but a Chaos of care and fancie though neuer so fortunate is but a masse of miserie for if thou enioy the beautie of Venus thou shalt finde it small vantage if thou get one as wise as Minerua thou maiest put thy winnings in thine eye if as gorgious as Iuno thy accounts being cast thy gain shal be but losse yea be she vertuous â—e she chast be she curteous be she constant be shee rich be she renowmed be shee honest be shee honourable yet if thou be wedded to a woman thinke thou shalt finde in her sufficient vanitie to counteruaile her vertue that thy happinesse will bée matcht with heauinesse thy quiet with care thy contentation with vexation that thou shalt sowe seede with sorrowe and reape thy corne with sadnesse that thou shalt neuer liue without griefe nor die without Repentance for in matching with a Wife there are such mischiefes and in marriage such miseries that Craterus the Emperour wishing some sinister fortune to happen vpon one of his foes prayed vnto the gods that hée might hée married in his youth and die without issue in his age counting marriage such a cumbersome crosse and a Wife such a pleasant plague that he thought his foe could haue no worse torment than to bée troubled with such noysome trash Oh Valericus if the consideration of these premisses bée not sufficient to perswade thee if the sentence of Propertius cannot
certaine Merchantes of Alexandria which then roade in the Hauen durst not goe a shoare to sell their commodities but as fast as winde and weather woulde serue them highed them out of the harbour and coasted speedily into their owne Countrie where they no sooner arriued but they made report thereof to Orlanio who driuen into a dumpe with this noysome newes whether he doubted of the puissant power of Clerophontes who was such a worthy warriour and in battaile so bold that no man durst abide him or whether he feared his owne force was not able to resist the furie of his raging enemy Hee presently summoned all his Lords to a Parliament where after some conference it was cōcluded that Thersandro should bee sent Embassadour to Mitylene to parle of peace with Clerophontes which determination was no whit deferred but with as much spéed as might be the Bark wherein hée should passe was prouided the charge of the Embassage was giuen him and he accompanied with a traine of braue Gentlemen departed But if this newes was dolefull to Orlanio no doubt it was death it selfe to Gwydonius who hearing that his father woulde bend his force against the place wherein hee was sawe all possibilitie taken away from obtayning his purpose for he feared death if he were knowen to Orlanio and hée doubted despightfull hate at the least if he bewrayed himselfe to Castania Which double dolour so distressed him as hée felt himselfe diuersly perplexed with dumpish passions his myrth was turned to mourning his pleasant conceits to painefull cogitations his wanton toyes to wayling thoughtes now he abandoned all good companie and delighted onely in solitary life the wildesome woodes were his walkes and the secret shades the couert he chiefly coueted In fine hée séemed rather a Tymon of Athens than a Gentleman of Alexandria so that all the Court marueiled at this so sodaine a chaunge but especially Castania who coniecturing his dolefull heart by his drousie lookes was astonished at this strange state casting in her minde whether she had giuen him anie cause of this care or whether by her occasion he was crossed with this calamitie But alas poore soule howsoeuer she aymed she mist the marke for Gwydonius kept his disease so secret as he knew none could but himselfe diuine the cause of his maladie which no doubt was such that it would haue inferred present death if hee had not hoped for some happie newes by Thersandro Who no sooner luckely arriued at Mitylene but Clerophōtes was certified that the Dukes sonne of Alexandria was come to impart with his Grace some waightie matters of importance Now at this instant when the message was brought him his daughter Lewcippa was by who as the nature of women is desirous to see and bee séene thought she should both heare the parle view the person of this young Embassadour and therefore found fish on her fingers that she might stay still in the chamber of presence whither presently Thersandro was sent for who curteously and curiously doing his obeylance to the Duke deliuered his Embassage in this maner VVHereas right worthy sir Orlanio the Duke of Alexandria more vnwittingly then wilfully denied certaine tribute which he confesseth both hee and his predecessours haue payd to you and your auncestors Hearing that héereupon your Grace meaneth rather to wage battaile then to lose any part of your due although he feareth not your force as one able euery way to withstand it nor passeth of your puissance as a Potentate sufficient to resist your power Yet the care he hath of his subiects safetie and the loue he hath to preserue the life of his Commons the regard he hath to pay and performe that which consciēce and custome requireth and lastly meaning with Tully Iniquissimam pacem iustissimo bello anteponere He hath sent me both to sue for conditions of peace and to paie the tribute which if your Grace shall refuse of force he must put his hope in the hazard of Fortune THersandro hauing thus pithily performed his charge Clerophontes tolde him that vpon a sodaine he wold not dispatch so waightie a matter but meant first both to consult and take counsaile of his Nobles which done within thrée dayes he shoulde haue an answere In the meane time he commanded Lucianus the Steward of his house verie courteously to entreate both Thersandro and his traine and to feast them with such sumptuous fare as they might haue cause most highly to extoll his magnificence But leauing Clerophontes to consult with his learned counsailours and Thersandro to accompanie with the lustie Courtiers againe to Lewcippa who while this yong youth was telling of his tale neuer markt the matter but the man nor regarded not the parle but respected that person neuer noted the contentes but viewed his countenance In such sort that she was so scorched with the fire of fancie and so scalded with the flame of affection so bewitched with his beautie and so inueigled with his bountie as he was the onely man that made her checke at the pray bate at the lure and willingly yeelde to the first assault of fancie And on the other side Fortune so fauoured that Thersandro printing in his heart the perfection of Lewcippas person felt his fredome so fettered by that view of her heauenly face and so snared in the beames of her amorous glaunces that he wisht that either this dissension had neuer growen or that he had not béene the deliuerer of the message for hee felt his heart alreadie so ouergrowen with good will towardes this young Princesse as no salue but her selfe was able to mitigate his sorrow no medicine but her curtesie was able to cure his calamitie and he thought to preferre his sute to his professed foe was folly to linger still in loue was death and misery to séeke for helpe at her hands neither would the present state permit him nor time suffer him to prosecute his purpose daunted with these diuerse doubtes to auoyde the melancholike motions that molested his mind he presently went from his lodging to the Court that by company hée might driue away these dumpes where hee founde in the great Chamber diuerse Ladies Gentlewomen passing away the time in pleasant parle amongst whom was that peerlesse Paragon princely Lewcippa who after due reuerence done to the Gentlewomen in generall was singled out by Thersandro and courted in this wise MAdam quoth he if any creature hath iust occasion to accuse eyther nature or the gods of iniustice man only hath the greatest cause to make this complaint for there is none other so depriued of reason or deuoyde of sense which by some naturall instinct dooth not skilfully presage of perils before they come and warily preuent ere they bée past The Goates of Lybia know certainly when the Canicular dayes beginne wherein commonly they fall blinde and therefore by eating the hearbe Polypodium they prouidently preuent their disease When the Lyon leaueth his Lawnes and raungeth in forraigne
thy vaine vaunting that euery one holdeth his life of thy mercy and that thou art the onely Lord and Soueraign both in Heauen Earth the Sea and Hell But many things are spoken which are neuer beléeued Loue. And art thou so hard of beléefe to deny that which euery one confesseth Folly I haue not to doo with other mens opinions but this I am sure that it is not by thy force and prowesse that so many miracles are wrought in the world but by my industry by my meanes and by my diligence although thou knowest me not But if thou doest coÌ„tinue long in this thy choler I wil let thée vnderstâ—nd that thy bowe and thy arrowes wherof thou vauntest so much are more weak than wax if I bend not the one and temper the other Loue. Doest thou thinke by this skoffing to pacifie mine anger or by contemptuous threatning to qualifie my choler Hast thou euer fond fool handled my bowe or directed my bolts Is it thy prowesse and not my force which performeth such valiant conquests But since thou regardest me and respectest my force so little thou shalt presently féel the proofe thereof Folly maketh her selfe inuisible so that Loue cannot hit her Loue. But where art thou become How hast thou escaped mee This onely is the strangest case that euer chaunced vnto me I had thought that amongst all the gods I only could haue made my selfe inuisible But now I sée I am deceiued Folly Did not I tell thee before that thy bowe thy arrows are of no force but when it pleaseth me and that by my means thou alwaies obtainest the conquest Maruaile not if I be inuisible for if I lift the eyes of the Eagle or of the Serpent Epidaurus cannot espie me for Chameleon like take the shape of them which whom I do remaine Loue. Trulie as I coniecture thou art some Sorceresse or some Enchauntresse some Circe some Medea or some Fairie Folly Wel since thou doest thus reclesly rail vpon me know that I am a godesse as thou art a god my name is Follie I am she which raiseth thee vp and casteth thee downe at my pleasure Thou vnloosest thy bowe leftest flie thine arrowes in the aire but I place them where it pleaseth me Thou doest addresse thy selfe against Iupiter but he is of such puissance that if I both guided not thy hand tempered thy arrow thy féeble force could little preuail against his prowesse Indéed thou diddest force Iupiter to loue but I caused him to change himself into a Swan into a Bull into Gold into an Eagle Who caused Mars thy mother Venus to be taken in bed together by the limping cuckold Vulcan but I If Paris had done no other thing but loued Helena Sparta had neuer reioyced nor Troy béen brought to ruine But did not I cause him to goe to Menelaus vnder colour of Embassage to Court vnto his wife to leade her away by force and after to defend his vniust quarrell against all Greece Who had spoken of the loue of Dido if he had not deuised to goe a hunting that she might haue the better opportunity to communicate with Aeneas that by such priuate familiaritie he might not be ashamed to take from her that which long before most willinglie shée would haue giuen him I beléeue no mention had beene made of Artemisia if I had not caused her drinke the cynders of her husbaÌ„ds dead carkasse for els who had knowne whether she had loued her husbande more than other women The effect and issues of things alwaies makes them to be praised or dispraised If thou makest men to loue yet I am oft times the chiefest cause But if any straunge aduenture or great effect chanceth in that thou hast no part but the onely honour belongeth vnto me Thou rulest nothing but the heart the rest I gouerne yea I leade thee I conduct thee thine eies serue thée to no more vse than the beames of the Sunne to a blinde man But to the ende thou know me from henceforth and that thou maiest giue me thankes for conducting thee carefully behold now how greatly thine eies do profit thée Follie putteth out Cupids eyes Loue. Alas Iupiter O my mother Venus what auaileth it to be thy sonne so feared so redoubted both in heauen and in earth if I be subiect to be iniured as the most vile slaue in the worlde Alasse haue I thus lost mine eyes by an vnknowne woman Follie. Take héede fond foole another time to raile vpon those who perhaps are of more force and puissaunce than thou Thou hast offended the Quéen of men thou hast outraged her who gouerneth the heart the braine and the minde vnder whose shadow euery one once in his life shrowdeth himselfe and there remaineth either long or short time according to his merite thou hast displeased her who procureth thy renowme thou hast contemned her who hath aduanced thée and therefore hath this misfortune fallen vpon thy head Loue. Alas how is it possible for me to honour her whome I neuer knew or to reuerence that person whome before I neuer sawe but if thou hast borne mee such great good will as then saiest pardon this my offence and restore me my sight Follie. To restore thee thine eyes is not in my power but I will couer the place to hide the deformitie Follie couereth Cupids face with a Scarfe and giueth him winges And in lieu of this haplesse lucke thou shalt haue these wings which shall carrie thee whither thou wilt wish Loue. But where hadst thou this vaile so readie to couer my deformitie Follie. It was giuen me as I came hither by one of the Destinies who tolde me it was of that nature that if it were once fastned it could neuer be vnloosed Loue. How vnloosed Am I then blinde for euer O vile and traiterous wretch could it not suffice to put out mine eies but to take away the meanes that the gods cannot restore them Now I sée the sentence verified on my selfe that it is not good to take a present at the hand of anenemy O cruell destinies O cursed daie shall not the heauens the earth and the seas haue cause to waile sith Loue is blinde But why doe I complaine here in vaine it is better for me to sue to the Gods for reuengement The second Discourse Loue goeth from the palace of Iupiter lamenting to himselfe his mischiefe Loue. Alas in what miserable case am I what can either my bowe or mine arrows auaile me now can I not cause whoÌ„ I list to loue but without respect of persons euerie one is in daunger of my dartes Hitherto I haue onely caused daintie damsels and yong youths to loue I did choose out the brauest blouds and the fairest and most well featured men I did pardon vile and base persons I excused the deformed creatures and let olde age remaine in peace But now thinking to hit a young gallant I light vppon some olde doating lecher in
good will of strangers in hearing his vertue and wonne the harts of his subiects in féeling his bounty counting him vnworthy to hear the name of a Soueraigne which knew not according to desert both to cherish and chastise his subiects Fortune and the fates willing to place him in the palace of earthly prosperity endowed him with two children the one a sonne named Thersandro and the other a daughter called Castania either of them so adorned with the gifts of Nature and be antifled with good nurture as it was hard to knowe whether beautie or vertue helde the supremacie But least by this happie estate Orlanio should be too much puffed vp with prosperitie Fortune sparing him the mate yet gaue him a slender checke to warne him from securitie for before his daughter came to the age of fouretéene yeares his wife dyed leauing him not more sorrowfull for the losse of her whom he most intirely loued than carefull for the well bringing vp of her whom hee so dearely liked Knowing that as his Court was a schoole of vertue to such as bridled their mindes with discretion so it was a nurss of vice to those tender yeares that measured their willes with witlesse affection esteeming libertie as perillous to the staie of youth as precious to the state of age and that nothing so soone allureth the minde of a young maide to vanity and to passe her youth without feare in security Feared with the consideration of these premisses to auoyde the inconueniences that might happen by suffering Castania to leade her life in lawlesse libertie hee thought it best to choose out some vertuous Ladie to kéepe her companie who might direct her course by so true a compasse and leuel her life by so right a line that although her young years were verie apt to be intangled in the snares of vanity yet by her counsaile and companie shee might steadily tread her steps in the trace of vertue and none he could find more fit for the purpose than a certain olde widow called Madame Melytta honoured for her vertuous life throughout all Alexandria who being sent for to the Court he saluted on this manner MAdame Melytta quoth hée the report of thy honest conditions and the renoume of thy vertuons qualities are such as thereby thou hast not onelie purchased great praise but wonne great credit throughout all the Countrie In somuch that incensed by this thy singular commendation I haue selected thée as the onely woman to whome I meane to commit my chiefest treasure I mean Melytta my daughter Castania to whom I will haue thee bee both a companion and a counsellour haping thou wilt take such care to traine her vp in vertue trace her quite from vice to winne her minde to honestie and weane her quite from vanitie that she in her ripe yeares shall haue cause to thanke thee for thy paines and I occasian to regard thée as a friend and reward thee for thy diligence FIrst Melytta see that she leade her life both charily and chastly Let her not haue her owne will least shee proue too wilfull or too much libertie least shee become too light The palme tree pressed downe groweth notwithstanding but too fast The heath Spattania though troden on groweth verie tall and youth although strictly restrained will proue but too stubburne The vessell sauoureth alwayes of that licour wherwith it was first seasoned and the minde retaineth those qualities in age wherein it was trained vp in youth The tender twig is sonner broken than the strong branch the yong stem more brittle than the old stocke the weake bramble shaken with euerie wind and the wanering will of youth tossed with euerie paste of vanitie readie to bee wracked in the waues of wantonnesse vnlesse it be cunningly guided by some wise and warie Pilot. Then Melytta sith youth is so easily entrapped with the alluring traine of foolish delights and so soone entangled with the trash of pernitions pleasure suffer not my daughter to passe her time in idlenesse least happily being taken at discouert shee become a carelesse captiue to securitie for whan the minde once floateth in the surging seas of idle conceits then the puffes of voluptuous pleasures and the stifling stormes of vnbrideled fancy the raging blastes of alluring beautie and the sturdie gale of glozing vanitie so shake the Shippe of recklesse youth that it is dayly in doubt to suffer most dangerous shipwracke But let her spend her time in reading such auncient authors as may sharpen her wit by their pithie sayings and learne her wisedome by their perfect sentences For where nature is vicious by learning it is amended and where it is vertuous by skill it is augmented The stone of secret vertue is of greater price if it be brauely polished the gold though neuer so pure of it selfe hath the better colour if it be burnished and the minde though neuer so vertuous is more noble if it be enriched with the gifts of learning And Melytta for recreation sake let her vse such honest sports as may drine away dumps least she be too pensiue and free her minde from foolish conceits that shee bee not too wanton Thus Madame as you haue heard my fatherly aduise so I pray you giue my daughter the like friendly aduertisement that hereafter she may haue both cause to reuerence me and to reward thee Melytta hauing heard with attentiue héed the minde of Orlanio conceiued such ioy in this new charge and such delight in this happy chance as with cheerefull countenance she repayed him this answere SIr quoth she although in the largest seas are the forest tempests in the broadest waies most boisterous windes in the highest hilles most dangerous happes and in the greatest charge the greatest care yet the dutie which I owe you as my Soueraigne and the loue I beare you as a subiect the care I haue to please you as my Prince and to pleasure you as a Potentate the trust you repose in my trueth without sufficient tryall the confidence you put in my conscience without sure proofe the curtesie your Grace doth shewe me without anie desert haue so inflamed the forepassed fire of dutifull affection and so incouraged me to encounter your Graces curtesie with willing constancie that there is no hap so hard which I woulde not hazard no danger so desperate which I woulde not aduenture no burthen so heauie which I would not beare no perill so huge which I would not passe no charge so great which both willingly and warily I woulde not performe For since it hath pleased your Grace to vouchsafe so much of my simple calling as to assigne me for a companion for your daughter Castania I will take such care in the charie performance of my charge and indenour with such diligence both to counsaile comfort Castania as your Grace shall perceiue my dutie in pleasing you and my diligence in pleasuring her THe Duke hearing the friendly faithfull protestation of the good Lady
my friends be sorrie my foes and especially Valericus laugh me to scorne and triumph of this my mishappe Yea will not all the world wonder to sée me alate giuen to chastitie and now shake hands with virginitie to yéeld my dearest iewell and chiefest treasure into the hands of a stragling stranger who came to my fathers court without countenance or coine wealth or worship credit or calling yea who by his owne report is but a person of small parentage Seek then Castania to asswage this flame and to quench this fire which as it commeth wthout cause so it will consume without reason For the greatest flowe hath the soonest ebbe the sorest tempest hath the most sodaine calme the hottest loue hath his coldest end and of the deepest desire oft times insueth the deadliest hate so that shee which settles her affection with such speede as she makes her choise without discretion may cast her corne she knowes not where and reapes she wot not what and for her hastie choosing may perhaps get a heauy bargaine Alas I know this counsaile is good but what then Can I deny that which the destinies haue decréed Is it in my power to peruert that which the Planets haue placed Can I resist that which is stirred vp by the Starres No what neede I then make this exclamation sich I am not the first nor shall not bee the last whome the frantike frenzy of flickering fancy hath with more wroÌ„g greater vantage pitiously oppressed What though Gvvydonius be not wealthy yet hée is wise though hee be not of great parentage yet he is of comely personage It is not his coine that hath conquered me but his countenance not his vading riches but his renowmed vertues and I far more estéeme a man than mony I but the Duke my father is not so base minded as to bestow me vpon so meane a gentleman he neuer will consent that poore Gwydonius shold inioy that which he hopeth some péerelesse Prince shall possesse What then Shall I preferre my Fathers will before mine owne will his liking before mine owne loue no no I will choose for my selfe whatsoeuer my choise be Why but perchance Gwydonius wil no more estéeme thee than thou didst Valericus and repay thee with as small fancie as thou him with affection Tush doubt it not Castania thou art the dame which hee so deciphered in his dreame thou art that Venus which hee saw in his vision thou art that Goddesse whose beautie hath so bewitched him thou art that iewell to possesse the which there is no hap so hard which he would not hazard no danger so desperate which he would not aduenture no burthen so heauy which he would not beare nor no perill so huge which hée would not passe And shall not then Gwydonius be my seruant sith I am his Saint shal not I like him which loueth me sith he is my ioy shal I not inioy him yes Gwydonius is mine and shall be mine in despite of the fales fortune Castania hauing thus pitifully powred out her plaints would gladly haue giuen Gwydonius intelligence with modestie if she might of her good will towards him and God knowes how fain Gwydonius wold haue discouered his ferueÌ„t affectioÌ„ if too much feare had not astonished him and too great bashfulnes staied her She therfore honering betwéen feare hope perseuered so long in her pensiue passions â—nd carefull cogitatioÌ„s that by couert concealing of her inward sorrow the flame so furiously fried wthin her that she was constrained to kéep her bed Whereupon Melytta coniecturing the cause of her care by the colour of her couÌ„tenance thought to fift out the occasion of her sorrow that by this meanes she might apply a medicine to her malady and finding fit opportunitie shée brake with her in this wise Madams Castania quoth shée since I haue by the Duke your father béen assigned to you as a companion I haue in such louing wise both comforted me counsailed you as I hope you haue iust cause to say that I haue most carefullie tendered your estate for perceiuing how willing you were to follow my direction I counted your wealth my weale your pleasure my profite your happinesse my ioy and your prosperitie my felicitie Which freindly care if it were not to be considered if I should shew you what great sorrow I sustaine by your heauinesse you would iudge my wordes to procéed either of folly or flattery but if your sore be such as it may be salued if your care may bee cured if your grief may be redressed or your maladie mitigated by my meanes commaund me good Castania in what I may to pleasure thee thou shalt find me so charily to perform my charge as my willing minde shall euidently bewray my well meaning I see Castania of late such a strange metamorphosis in thy minde as for pleasant conceites thou doest vse pensiue cogitations thy chéerfull countenance is chaÌ„ged into lowring looks thy merry deuises into mournfull dumps and yet I cannot coÌ„iecture the cause of this sodain alteration If want of riches should worke thy woe why thou swimst in wealth if losse of friends thou bast infinite of noble parentage which loues thée most intirely If thou meanest no longer to leade a single life no doubt thy father will prouide thee of such a princely match as shall content thee for his person countenance thee with his parentage But if in all these supposes I haue miss she marke and haue not toucht the case of thy calamitie vnfold vnto me Castania what the paine is that thus doth pinch thee and assure thy selfe I will be so secret in thy affaires as euer Lampana was to her Ladie Cleophila Castania hearing this friendly discourse of Melytta thought for all this faire glose the text might hee too intricate and that these painted spéeches would proue but rotten pillers fearing therfore the fetch and doubting that worst if she bewray her mind she framed her this answere MAdame quoth she the incomparable curtesie and vnfained friendship which since your first comming I haue found in you by experience will neither suffer mée to suspect your Ladiship of flattery nor my selfe willingly to be accused of ingratitude for your diligence hath béene so great and my desertes so small that if I might but liue to requite some part of your good will it were the second felicitie I looke for in this life But touching the pensiue passions which thus diuersly perplexed me I answer that as he which is wounded of the Bores tusk if his sores take aire is very hardly healed as hee which is striken with a Scorpion if his wound take wind can neuer be cured so Madam many inward maladies carry this nature that if they bee once discouered they are far the more hardly recouered that it is better to conceale them with griefe than reueale them in hope of releefe Not so Castania your principle is not true for if your passions procéeded of loue
as he for whom men doe more than for any other What causeth men to iust tourney runne at tilt and combat but Loue Who caused Comedies shews Tragedies and Maskes to be inuented but Loue Wherof commeth it that men delight to rehearse their amorous chaunces and straunge passions and to relate them to their companions some praising the curtesie of his Lady another condemning his mistresse cruelty yea recounting a thousand mishappes which happen in their Loues as Letters disclosed euill reports suspicious iealousie sometimes the husband comming home sooner than either the louer would or the wife doeth wish sometimes coniecturing without cause and otherwhiles beléeuing nothing but trusting vpon his wines honesty To be short the greatest pleasure after Loue is to tell what perillous dangers are passed But what maketh so many Poets in the world is it not Loue The which séemeth to bee the plaine songe wheron all Poets doe descant yea there are fewe which write vppon any serious matter but they close vp their work with some amorous clause or else they are the worse accepted Ouid hath celebrated the fame of Cupid Petrarke and Virgill Homer and Liuius Sappho yea that seuere Socrates wrote somewhat of his loue Aspasia Tush who rightly can denie that Loue is not the cause of all the glory honor profit and pleasure which happeneth to man and that without it hee cannot conueniently liue but shall run into a thousand enormities All this happy successe came by Loue aslong as hee had his eies but now béeing depriued of his sight and accoÌ„panied with Folly it is to be feared nay certainly to be beléeued that he shall be the cause of as many discommodities mischiefes and mishaps as hetherto he hath béen of honour profite and pleasure The noblemen which loued their inferiours and the subiectes which dutifully serued their Lordes shall be marueilously changed by the meanes of Follie for the maister shall loue his seruant onely for his seruice and the seruant his maister onely for commoditie Yea there is none so addicted vnto vertue but if once he loue he shall presently commit some foolish touch and the more straight and firme Loue is the greater disorder there shall be by the meanes of Folly There will returne into the world more than one Biblis more than one Semyramis than one Myrrha than one Canace than one Phaedra There shall be no place in the world vnspotted The high walles and trellissed windowes shall not kéepe the Nunnes and Vestall Virgins in safegard Olde age shall turne her aged affections into fond fancies and wanton desires Shame shall liue as an exile There shall be no difference betwéene the noble and peasant betwéene the Infidell and the Moore the Turke and the Iewe the Lady the Mistresse and the handmayd But there shall insue such a confused inequalitie that the faire shall not be matched with the well featured but shall bee oft times ioyned with foule and deformed persons Great Ladies and noble Dames shall fall in loue with them whome before they would disdaine to accept as their seruants And when the loiall and faithfull louers haue long languished in the loue of some beautifull Dame whose mutuall good will they haue gained by desert then Follie will cause some fickle and false flatterer to enioy that in one houre which in all their life they could not attaine I passe ouer the continuall debates and quarrels that shall insue by Follie whereof shall spring woundes massacres most fearefull murthers And I greatly feare that whereas Loue hath inuented so many laudable sciences and brought foorth so many commodities that now he will bring great idlenesse accompanied with ignorance that he will cause young Gentlemen to leaue feates of armes to forsake the seruice of their Prince to reiect honorable studies and to applie theÌ„selues to vain songs and sonnets to chambering and wantonnesse to banquetting and gluttony bringing infinite diseases to their bodies and sundry dangers and perils to their persons for there is no more dangerous company than of Folly Behold O soueraigne Iupiter the mischiefes and miseries that are like to iusue if Folly be appointed companion to Loue. Wherfore I in the person of all the gods beseech your Maiestie to graunt that Loue may not bee ioined with her and that Folly may grieuously be punished for the outrage she hath done to Cupid As soone as Apollo had ended his Oration Mercurie in the defence of Folly began to speake in this wise Mercurie VVHeras right worthy Iupiter Apollo hath with his painted eloquence set out the praises of loue and hath sought with his filed phrases to discredit Folly I hope when your Maiesty shall throughly heare the cause decided you wil commend his eloquence more than his reasons For it is not vnknowen vnto you and all the gods that Folly is no whit inferior vnto Loue and that loue should be of no force without her neither coulde his Kingdome indure without her helpe ayde and counsaile I pray you cal to remembrance how Folly incoÌ„tinently after man was placed in Paradise began most imperiously to rule and hath euer since continued in such credite as neuer any goddesse had the like raigning and ruling amongest men from time to time from age to age as the only princesse of the world Insomuch that who haue béen more honoured than fooles Who was more subiect vnto follie than Alexander the great which féeling himselfe to suffer hunger and thiâ—st to be subiect to sorrowe and sicknesse not able to kéepe himselfe from drunkennesse yet would be honoured for a God What kinde of people hath béene in greater credit than Philosophers and who more fooles Did not Aristotle most foolishly did for sorrow because he know not the ebbing and flowing of the sea Did not Crates in casting his treasure into the Sea commit a wise déede What follie shewed Empedâ—cles by his strange coniectures What say you to Diogenes tunne and to Aristippus flatterie Whoso throughly considereth their opinions shall finde them subiect to the state of follie How manie other sciences are there in the worlde which are altogether foolish and yet the professours of them had in high reputation amongest men They which are Calculators of Natiuities makers of Characters casters of figures are they not fryers of this fraternitie Is it not follie to be so curious as to measure the heauen the height of the starres the breadth of the earth and the depth of the sea and yet that professors héereof are highly estéemed and onely by the means of follie Nay how could the world continue if the dangers troubles calamities and discommodities of marriage were not couered by folly Who would haue coasted the seas if follie had not béen his guide To commit himself to the mercy of the winde and the waues to liue in danger of fearefull surges and perilous rockes to traffique with sauage and barbarous people onely incensed by the meanes of Follie. And yet notwithstanding by this meanes the
Common-wealth is maintayned knowledge and learning augmented the properties of hearbes stones Birdes and beastes perfectly searched out What folly is it most daungerously to passe into the howels of the earth to digge for yron and séeke for gold How many artes and occupations should bee driuen out of the worlde if Follie were banished Truly the most part of men should either beg for want or die for hunger How should so many Aduocates Procurators Sergeants Atturneis Scriueners Imbroderers Painters and Perfumers liue if Ladie Follie were vtterly exiled Hath not follie inuented a thousād deuices to draw a man from idlenesse as Tragedies Comedies Dancing schooles fencing houses wrastling places a thousand other foolish sports Hath she not made men hardie and venturous to fight with Lions Bores and Buls onely to gaine honour and to passe other in follie What did Antonie and Cleopatra when they straue who should spend most in beastly banquetting What caused Caesar lament that he had not begun to trouble the world in that age wherein Alexander had conquered the greatest part Why did diuerse séeke to fill vp the valleyes to make plaine the mountaines to dry vp Riuers to make Bridges ouer the Sea as Claudius the Emperour did What made Rodope builde the Pyramides and Artemisia frame the sumptuous sepulchre but Follie. In fine without this Goddesse man shoulde bee carefull heauie and whollie drowned in sorrow whereas Follie quickeneth his spirits maketh him sing daunce leape and frame himselfe altogether to pleasure It is not possible that loue should bee without the daughter of youth which is Follie. For Loue springeth of sedaine and sundrie causes by receiuing an apple as Cidippe by looking out at a windowe as Scilla by reading in a Booke as the Ladie Francis Rimhi some fall in loue by sight some by hearing but all liuing in hope to obtaine their desires And yet some haue loued without anie naturall cause as Pigmalion who fell in loue with his Marble picture and I pray you what Sympathie could there be betwéene a liuely youth and a dead stone what was it then but follie that kindled this flame What forced Narcissus to fall in loue with his owne shaddowe but Follie Yea what aduenture is passed in loue without Follie For the Philosophers define Follie to be a depriuation of wisedome and wisedome is altogether without passions of the which when loue shall be voide then no doubt the Sea shall be without waues and the fire without heats Consider but a young man which onely placeth his delight in amorous conceites decking dressing and perfuming himselfe most delicately who passeth out of his lodging fraught with a thousand sundrie fancies accompanied with men and Pages passing to the place where hee may haue a sight of his Mistresse obtaining for his trauell no gaine but perhaps some amorous glance making long sutes spending his time and his treasure consuming his wit and wasting his wealth and yet reaping nothing but disdaine and discredite But if it chance that his Mistresse condescend vnto his requests she appointeth him to come at some suspicious houre which he cannot performe without great perill To come with company were to bewraie his secrets to go alone most daungerous to goe openly too manifest so that he must passe disguised sometime like a woman other times like a peasant or some vile person scaling the walles with ladders climbing vp to the windowes by cordes yea continually in daunger of death if Follie did not hold him vp by the hand It is not also vnknowne vnto you how many sundrie passions do perplexe the poore passionate Louers all which procéed of Follie as to haue ones heart separated from himselfe to be now in peace and then in warre now couering his dolour blushing one while and looking pale another fraught whollie with feare hope shame seeking that carefully which hée séemeth to flie and yet doubtfully dreading not to finde it to laugh sildome to sigh often to burne in colde and freeze in heate to be crossed altogether with contraries which be signes not onely of follie but of phrensie Who shall excuse Hercules handling so carefully the distaste of Omphale or Salomon for combring himselfe with so many Concubines Anniball in submitting himselfe to his Loue Aristotle in obeying Hermia and Socrates in yéelding to Aspasia and many other which we sée daily to bee so blinded as they know not themselues and what is the cause hereof but follie so that we see that it is she which maketh Loue to be so feared and redoubted it is she that honoureth him exalteth his name and causeth him to be counted as a God Further whosoeuer loueth must apply himselfe to the affection of his mistresse although it be contrarie to his naturall constitution if he be quiet wise and discréete yet if his louer please to haue him chaunge his state he must turne his stearne and hoise his saile to goe with another winde Zethius and Amphion could not agrée for because the delight of the one was a despight to the other vntill Amphion left his Musicke If the Ladie whom thou louest be couetous thou must chaunge thy selfe into golde and so fall into her bosome if she be merrie thou must bée pleasant if sullen thou must be sad All the seruants and sutors to Atlanta were hunters because she delighted in that sport Many Gentlewomen to please their louers which were Poets left the rocke and the néedle and tooke in hand pennes books now tell mee if these straunge Metamorphoses be not méere points of follie Doe you thinke that a Souldier which goeth to the assault marketh the trenches thinketh of his enemies or of a thousand harguebushes wherof euerie one is sufficient to destroy him No he onely hopeth to win the conquest and doth not so much as once imagine the rest He which first inuented sayling doubted not of the perillous daungers and hee that playeth neuer thinketh to become a looser yet are they all thrée in daunger to be slaine drowned and vndone But what then they neither do see nor will sée what is hurtfull vnto them So we must coniecture the like of louers for if they did sée the dreadfull dangers and the fearefull perits wherein they are how they be deceiued and beguiled they would neuer honour loue as God but detest him as a Diuell and so should the kingdom of loue be destroyed which now is gouerned by ignorance carelesnesse hope blindenesse which are all the handmaids of Folly Remaine in peace then fond Loue and séeke not to break the auncient league which is betwéen thée and Folly For if then doest thy bowe shal be broken thy darts shal be of no force Contemptęque iacent sine luce faces ¶ When Mercury had finished the defence of Follie Iupiter seeing the gods to be diuersly affected that some held with Cupid and some with Folly to decide the doubt he pronounced this sentence FOr the difficulty and importance of this difference and diuersitie of opinions we haue remitted the deciding of it vntill thrée times seuen times and nine ages be past in the meane while wee straightly commaund you to liue friendly together without offering iniury one vnto another And Folly shall guide and conduct blinde Loue whither shée séemeth best and for the restoring of his eyes after we haue spoken with the Destinies it shall be decréede FINIS AT LONDON Printed for Mathew Lownes 1608