pleasing you and my diligence in pleasuring her THE Duke hearing the friendly and faythfull protestation of the good Ladie Melytta tolde her that although it were great trouble for one of her age to frame her selfe as a companion to such young youth and that some care belonged to such a charge yet hée woulde so counteruaile her painefull labour with princely lyberalitie that both she and all Alexandria should haue cause to speake of his bountie MElytta thanking the Duke for such vndeserued curtesie setting her householde affaires in good order repaired to the Court as spéedely as might be But leauing her with Castania againe to Cwydonius Who now béeing aryued at Alexandria pinched wyth pouertie and distressed with want hauing no coyne left wherewith to counteruaile his expences thought it his best course if it were possible to compasse the Dukes seruice repairing therefore to the Court he had not staied there thrée dayes before hée found fit opportunitie to offer his seruice to Orlanio whome verie duetifully hée saluted on this manner TYE report right worthie Prince of your incomparable courtesie and pearlesse magnanimitie is so blazed abroade throughout all Countries by the golden trumpe of Fame that your grace is not more loued of your subiects which tast of your liberall bounty then honoured of straungers which onely heare of your princely vertue Insomuch that it hath forced me to leaue my natiue soile my parents kindred and familiar friendes and pilgrimelyke to passe into a straunge Countrie to trie that by experience héere which I haue heard by report at home For it is not right worthie sir the state of your Countrie which hath allured me for I déeme Bohemia whereof I am no lesse pleasant then Alexandria neither hath want of liuing or hope of gaine 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 practise in your Court is the onely occasion of this my iourney Now if in recompence of this my trauaile it shall please your grace to vouchsafe of my seruice I shall thinke my selfe fully satisfied and my paines sufficiently requited Orlanio hearing this dutifull discourse of Gwydonius marking his manners and musing at his modestie noting both his excellent curtesie and exquisite beautie was so inflamed with friendlye affection towarde this young youth that not onely he accepted of his seruice but also preferred him as a companion to his sonne Thesandro promising that since he had left his Countrie and parents for this cause he would so counteruaile his dutifull desert with fauour and friendshippe as he shoulde neuer haue cause to accuse him of ingratitude Gwydonius repaying heartie thankes to the Duke for his vndeserued curtesie béeing nowe brought from woe to weale from despaire to hope from bale to blisse from care to securitie from want to wealth yea from hellish miserie to heauenly prosperitie behaued himselfe so wisely and warily with such curtesie in conuersation and modestie in manners that in short time hée not hnely purchased credite and countenaunce wyth Orlanio but was most entirely liked loued of ThersaÌ„dro Now there remained in the Court a young knight called Signor Valericus who by chaunce casting his glauncing eies on the glittering beautie of Castania was so fettered in the snare of fancie and so intangled with the trap of affection so perplexed in the Laborinth of pinching loue and so inchaunted with the charme of Venus Sorcerie that as the Elephant reioyceth greatly at the sight of a rose as y â— bird Halciones delighteth to view y e feathers of the Phoenix and as nothing better contenteth a Roe buck then to gaze at a red cloth so ther was no obiect that could allure the wauering eies of Valericus as the surpassing beautie of Castania yea his onely blisse pleasure ioy and delight was in féeding his fancie with staring on the heauenlye face of his Goddesse But alasse her beautie bredde his bane her lookes his losse her sight his sorowe her exquisite perfections his extreame passions that as the Ape by séeing the Snaile is infected as the Leoparde 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 countenaunce was griped with galding griefe and tortured with insupportable tormentes by gasing vppon the gallant beautie of so gorgeous a dame Yea he so framed in his fancie the forme of her face and so imprinted in his heart the perfection of hir person that the remembrance thereof would suffer him take no rest but he passed the daie in dolour the night in sorrow no minute without mourning no houre without heauinesse that falling into pensiue passions he began thus to parle with himselfe Why how now Valericus quoth hée art thou haunted with some hellish hagge or possessed with some frantike fury art thou inchanted with some magical charme or charmed with some bewitching Sorcerie that so sodainely thy minde is perplexed with a thousand sundrie passions alate frée and now fettered alate swimming in rest and now sinking in care erewhile in securitie now in captiuitie yea turned from mirth to mourning froÌ„ 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 loose and to fancie howe charie so euer thy choice be is to haue an ill chaunce 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 inioye the beautie of Venus thou shalt finde it small vauntage if thou gette one as wise as Minerua thou mayst put thy winninges in thine eye if as gorgeous as Iuno thy accompts being cast thy gaine shall be but losse yea be shée vertuous be â—he chaâ—t be she courteous be she constant be she rich be she renowmed be she honest be she 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 be matcht with heauinesse thy quiet with care thy contentation with vexation that thou shalt sowe séede with sorrowe and reape thy corne with sadnesse that thou shalt neuer liue without griefe nor dye without repentaunce for in matching with a wife ther is such mischifes and in mariage such miseries that Craterus the Emperour wishing some sinister Fortune to happen vpon one of his foes prayed vnto the Gods that he might be maried in his youth and dye without issue in his age counting mariage such a combersome crosse and a wife such a pleasant plague that he thought his foe could haue no worse torment than to be troubled with such
she might staye still in the chamber of presence whether presently Thersandro was sent for who curteously and curiously dooing his obysaunce to the Duke deliuered his Embassage in this manner WHere-as riâ—ht worthie sir Oâ—lanio the Duke of Alexandria more vnwittingly then wilâ—ully denyed certaine tribute which hée confesseth both hée and his predecesâ—ours haue paide to you and your aunâ—estâ—urs Hearing that heerevppon your grace meanetâ— rather to wage battaile then to loose anie parte of your due although he feareth not your force as one able euery way to withstand it nor passeth of your puissaunce as a Potentate sufficient to resist your power Yet the care hée hath of his subiectes safetie and the loue hee hath to preserue the life of his commons the regard he hath to paie and performe that which conscience and custome requireth and lastly meaning with Tully Iniquissimam pacem iustissimo bello anteponere Hée hath sent mée both to sue for conditions of peace and to pay the tribute which if your grace shall refuse of force he must put his hope in the hazard of Fortune THersandro hauing thus pythelye performed his charge Clerophontes tolde him that vpon a sodaine he woulde not dispatche so waightie a matter but meant first both to consulte and take counsaile of his Nobles which done within thrée dayes hée shoulde haue an aunswere In the meane time hée commaunded Lucianus the Steward of his house verie courteouslye to intreate 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 counsaylours and Thersandro to companie with the lustie Courtiers againe to Lewcippa who while this young youth was telling of his â—ale neuer markte the matter but the man nor regarded not the parle but respected the person neuer noted the contents but viewed his countenance In such sort that shée was so scorched with the fire of fancie and so scalded with the flame of affection so bewitched with his beautie and so inueagled with his bountie as hée was the onelye man that made her checke at the praie bate at the Lure and wyllingly yéelde to the first assaulte of fancie And on the other side Fortune so fauoured that Thersandro printing in his heart the perfection of Lewcippas person felte his fréedome so fettered by the viewe of her heauenly face and so snared in the beames of her amorous glaunces that hée wisht that eyther this discention had neuer growen or that hée hadde not béene the deliuerer of the message for hee felt his heart alreadie so ouergrowen wyth good-will towardes this younge Princesse as no salue but her selfe was able to mittigate his sorrowe no medicine but her courteâ—â—e was able to cure his calamitie and hée thought to preferre his sute to his professed foe was follie to linger still in loue was death and miserie to séeke for helpe at her handes neyther woulde the present state permitte him nor time suffer him to prosecute his purpose daunted with these diuerse doubtes to auoyde the melancholike motions that molested his minde hée presently went from his lodging to the Court that by companie he might driue awaie these dumpes where hée found in the great chamber diuerse Ladies and Gentlemen passing awaie the time in pleasaunt parle amongst whom was that pearelesse Paragon princely Lewcippa who after due reuerence done to the Gentlewomen in generall was singled out by Thersandro and courted in this wise MAdame quoth hée if anie creature hath iust occasioâ— to accuse either Nature or the Gods of iniustice man onelye hath the greatest cause to make this complaint for there is none eyther so depriued of reason or deuoide of sence which by some naturall instinct dooeth not skilfully presage of perills before they come and warily preuent ere they be past The Goates of Lybia knowe certainelye when the Canicular dayes beginne wherein commonlye they fall blinde and therefore by eating the hearbe â—olopodium they prouidentlye preuent their disease When the Lyon leaueth his Lawnes and raungeth in forraine Desertes hée alwayes foresheweth a drought When the Fish called Vâ—anascapos sinketh downe to the bottome of the Sea hée bewrayeth greate tempestes to bée imminent But man is so farre from this secrete foresight that not onelye hée cannot deuine of these ensuinge daungers but rather wilfullye or willing pusheth himselfe into most manifest perills which madame I speake as féeling my selfe distressed with this want For if I had bene indued with this sacred prescience perfectly to presage of ensuing perilles I had not ben crossed with such cares as I am like to incur nor hadde cause to repent this my present arriuall But sith lacke of such skill hath procured my losse and that when the hurt is had it is too late to take héede though reuealing of my mishappe cannot heale my miserie nor repeating of my paines redresse my sorrowe yet I meane to participate my passions to your good grace that though you cannot or will not mittigate my maladie yet you maye pittie my estate which will somewhat ease my heauinesse I came to your Fathers Court madame a frée man of Alexandria and am lyke to retourne a captiue of Metelyne I arriued deuoyde of care and am lyke to departe drenched with calamitie I landed frée from affection but feare to passe hence fraught with fancie my charge was onely to parle of peace but my chaunce is to discourse of passions Yea your beautie hath so fettered my fréedome and so snared my heart in the linkes of your loue that it shall neuer bée raced out by anye sinister meanes of Fortune although I sée it is almost impossible to obtayne it For I doubte our parents are lyke to proclaymâ— themselues professed foes and the vrgent necessitie of my affayres forceth mée to departe so spéedelye as want of time wyll not suffice to make tryall of my loue whereby I might claime a sufficient guerdon for my good wyll yet howsoeuer the matter shall happe whether my hope be voide or my happe be vaine I meane madame to remaine yours for euer Lewcippa tooke such delight in hearing Thersandro discourse so louingly as she could scarely kéepe her countenaunce from bewraying the pleasure she conceiued in this parle séeing that her loue was requited with lyking and her fancie incountered with the like affection Yet least Thersandro should thinke her too curteous if she shuld come at the first call and very light of loue to like at the first looke she framed him this aunswere SIr quoth she if of your sute for conditions of peace there insue no better successe than the reuealing of your passions shall reape pittie at my handes or if the intreatie for truce be as lightly respected by my Father as either your person or petition is regarded by me you are like to carrie home cold newes to your couÌ„trey and to vaunt that you bad faire but bought little that your Haruest was long
loued Helena Sparta had neuer reioyced nor Troy ben brought to ruine But did not I cause him to goe to Menelaus vnder coulour of Embassage to Court vnto his wife to leade her awaie by force and after to defend his vniust quarrel 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 commoditie to communicate with Aeneas that by such priuate familiaritie he might not be ashamed to take from her that which long before most willingly she would haue giuen him I beléeue no mention had béene made of Artemizia if I had not caused her drinke the cynders of her husbands dead carcasse for else who had knowen whether she had loued her husband more then other women The effect and issues of things alwayes make 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 greate effect chaunceth in that thou hast no part but the onely honour belongeth vnto me Thou rulest nothing but y â— heart the rest I gouerne yea I leade thée I conducte thée and thine eyes serue thée to no more vse then the beames of the Sunne to a blinde man But to the ende thou knowe mée from hence foorth and that thou mayst giue mée thankes for conducting thée carefullye Beholde nowe howe greatlye thine eyes dooe profite thée Follie putteth out Cupids eies Loue. Alasse Iupiter O my mother Venus what auayleth it to bée thy sonne so feared so redoubted both in heauen and in earth if I be subiect to bée iniured as the most vile slaue in the worlde Alasse haue I thus lost mine eies by an vnknowen woman Folly Take héede sond foole another time to rayle vppon those who perhappes are of more force and puissaunce then thou Thou hast offended the Quéene of men thou hast outraged her who gouerneth the heart the braine and the minde Under whose shadowe euerie one once in his lyfe shroudeth himselfe and ther remaineth either long or short time according to his merite thou hast displeased her who procureth thy renowme thou hast contempned her who hath aduaunced thée and therfore hath this misfortune fallen vpon thy head Loue. Alasse how is it possible for me to 〈◊〉 her whom I neuer knew or to reuerence that person whom before I neuer sawe but if thou hast borne me such great good will as thou saist pardon this my offence and restore me my sight Folly To restore thée thine eyes is not in my power but I will couer the place to hide the deformitie Folly couereth Cupids face with a Scarfe and giueth him wings And in liew of this haplesse lucke thou shalt haue these wings which shal cary thée whether thou wilt wish Loue. But where hadst thou this vaile so readie to couer my deformitie Folly It was giuen me as I came hether by one of the destinies who told 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 coulde it not suffice to pull out mine eyes but to take awaie 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 hande of an enimie 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 héere in vaine it is better for me to sue to the Gods for reuengement The second discourse Loue goeâ—â— from the Pallace of Iupiter lamenting to himselfe his mischiefe Loue. Alasse in what miserable case am I what can eyther my bowe or mine arrowes auaile me nowe can I not cause whom I 〈…〉 â—oue but without respect of persons euerie one is in daunger of my darts Hetherto I haue onely caused daintie damsells and young 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 thiâ—king to hit a young gallaunt I light vpon some olde â—â—â—ting lecher in stéed of some braue Gentleman I strike some filthie foule lurden And it shall happen I dâ—â—bt that they shall bée most fortunate in their loue so that by patrimonie presence or wealth they shall soonest winne the fauour of women and by this meanes my kingdome shall come to ruine when men sée in it such disorder and euill gouernment Venus hauing long sought Cupid now meeteth him I haue carefully long sought thée my deare sonne meruailing what the cause shoulde bée that thou hast not bene present at the banket of Iupiter Who is greatly incensed against thee not onely for thy absence but for the complaintes which are 〈◊〉 out against thée by sundrie poore artificers labouring men pesaunts slaues hand maides olde men and toothlesse aged women crying all vnto Iupiter that they loue thinking themselues greatly iniured in this respect that the passion which is proper to worthy and noble men should be inflicted vpon them which are of the base and vildest sort Loue. Had not the great misfortune which is chaunced vnto me happened I had neither bene absent from the banquet nor these gréeuous complaints had not bene inferred against mée Venus Why and art thou hurt Who hath thus vailed thine eies Loue. Folly hath not onely pulled them out but also hath put this bande before mine eies which can neuer be taken away Venus O cursed enimie of all wisedome O haplesse wretch vniustly called a Goddesse and more vnrightly tearmed immortall hast thou depriued me of my chiefest delight and felicitie O disaster loue O dissolute mother O wofull Venus who séest thy sonne thy ioy and onely care thus cruelly depriued of his sight Well since thy mishap is so great I vowe that euerie one that shall loue what fauour or happie successe so euer he shall haue shall not be without some care trouble or calamitie that hée vaunt not himselfe to be more happie then the sonne of Venus Loue. Cease off good mother from these sorrowfull complaints redouble not my griefe by these your dolorous discourses suffer mée to beare mine owne misfortune and wish not euill vnto them which shall bée my subiectes Venus Well let vs then goe to Iupiter and complaine of this cursed inchauntresse The third discourse Venus If euer thou hadst pittie of my plaintes most iust Iupiter when thou sawest me labour to saue my son Aeneas from the furie of the raging Seas and to defend him from other daungers in the which he was present at the siege of Troy If my teares for the death of my deare Adonis moued thée to compassion The surpassing sorrow that I doe conceiue for the great iniurie offered to Cupid I hope shall moue thée to pittie If teares wold suffer me I would
mée I aunswere that as he which is wounded of the Bores tuske if his sore take aire is verie hardly healed as hée which stroken with a Scorpion if his wound take wind can neuer be cured so madame many inward maladies carry this nature that if they be once discoueredâ— they are far the more hardly recouered that it is better to conceale them with griefe then reueale them in hope of reléefe Not so Castania your principle is not true for if your passions procéeded of loue which of all other inward sores requireth greatest secrecie yet vndoubtedly y â— more it is discouered the sooner it is curâ—d for as the stoâ—e of Armenia béeing couered with sande burneth most extreamly and no sooner taketh aire but it cooleth so the firie flames of loue raked vp in silence frie most furiously but béeing by discourse disâ—losed they soone conuert from flame to fume and smoke Wherfore good Castania impart vnto me the matter which doeth import thée so néere and I sweare vnto thée by the sacred rites of Caeres which is so honoured in Alexandria that if thou doost loue where thy friends do not like and thy wish be contrarie to their will yet I will séeke all meanes possible to redresse thy sorrowe Alasse good madaâ—â—e rather then you shoulde thinke mée so incredulous or suspitious as not to beléeue your oth or doubt of your secret dealing I will without delay make you priuie to the cause of my paine what perill so euer I incurre by reuealing it So it is Melytta that the perfection of Gwydonius his exquisite qualities and excellent vertues haue fiercely assaulted the fort of my fancie as I am perforce constrained to resigne my libertie captiue vnto his curtesie and to make his person the prison of my heart This lucklesse and vnlikely loue madame is the cause of my care the sum of my sorrowe this frantike affection hath driuen my drouping heart to shew forth these drousy looks this is it which hath made me an enimie to my selfe a foe to all good companie to delight in nothing but sorrow solitarinesse yea this is the sore which if in time it be not salued will preuent by death all other miseries And is this quoth Melytta the paine that so greatly perplexeth you is this the â—â—re which so coÌ„bers thy conscience is this the daunger which driues thée into such deepe distresse Doest thou thinke so superstiâ—iously of Gwydonius or so abiectly of thy selfe y â— thou deemest this 〈◊〉 impossible to be brought to passe no no doubte not Castania I my self dare absolutely promise thée that thy loue shall sort to such happie successe as thou thy self doest séeke for And with that Melytta staied by a sodaine sight shée had of y â— Saint that Castania so hartely serued for Gwydonius was entering in at the chamber doore with a dish of delicates which Orlanio hearing his Daughter was sicke had sent her Melytta séeing y â— Cupid began to fauor the cause of his clients in giuing them such fit opportunitie to discouer their cares weÌ„t her way leauing Gwydonius y â— first man to play his part in this tragicall Comedie who seeing his goddesse thus surprised with sicknesse was so galled with griefe so pinched with hellish passions so tortured with extreame torments y â— his colour began to change he fetcht a deep sigh or two which Castania hearing she perceiued w tout touching his pulses the cause of these his sodain passions In fine such melancholike motions so amazed his minde that he was almost mute in his message yet at length incouraging himselfe he presented it vnto her in this wise Madame quoth he the Duke your Father hearing of your sodain sicknesse in token of his fatherly affection amongst all his dainties hath sent you this dish which he thinks most méete for your diet wishing your Ladyship to let no doubtfull motions distresse your minde nor no carefull thoughtes cumber your conscience for you shall lacke nothing if you reueale to him your want which either your will or wish can desire And truely madame to manifest my willing duetie if the prayers of a poore Gentleman may be heard of the heauenly Gods I wish that before you tast of this foode it may turne to Nectar whereby not onely your sicknesse should be salued but your diuine beautie and vertue according to desert shuld be crowned with immortalitie Castania perceiuing with what seruent affection Gwydonius vttered these wordes began to chéere vp her selfe in hope y â— her good will should not be repaied with ingratitude taking therfore the present at his hands and liking it neuer the worse for his sake that brought it she returned him this replie Gwydonius quoth she as I haue cause most reuerently to accept of my fathers louing curtesie to repay his natural affection with most dutiful obedience so I haue cause to thanke thée for thy paines and to thinke wel of thée for thy wish promising in recompence of thy good will if in any respect I may plesure thée to séeke and sue to my father for preferment Madame I account the performance of my message no paine but pleasure and I think my selfe as much honoured by this office thrice more happie theÌ„ if I shuld in Ganimedes place present the cup to Iupiter But Madame sith that to stop the streame is to make the floud flow more fiercely to represse the fire is to make it flame more furiously and to restraine the force of loue is to kindle a greater flame least too long delaie shoulde bréede too great daunger and by concealing my sorrow I shuld make the sore incurable I thought good either presently to heare the curteous sentence of my lyfe or the cruell doome of my death So it is Madame that too long gasing vpon the beames of your heauenly beautie to narrowlye construing ouer your vertuous conditions I remaine so caught in the snare of your bounty so thralled in the thridde of your vertue that the staie of my life hangeth in your hands either to driue me downe to hellish miserie or to hoist me vp to heauenly felicitye For although I haue not héeretofore by duetifull seruice made manifest the loyaltie of my loue yet since I first framed in my fancie as in a mirrour the shape of your surpassing beautie my heart hath bene crossed with such cruell Camizados for your sake as if with the Target of hope I had not withstoode the furious force of such raging furies I had by dispaire bene dashed against most dangerous rocks Sith theÌ„ Madam y â— sight of your swéet face hath fast fettered my fancie in the linkes of loue as without your meanes I can neither bée redressed nor released I humbly desire you neither to resist the motion of my wel meaning nor to reiect the deuotion of my good will but to accept your poore Gwydonius as a faithfull seruant Castania hearing diligently the faithfull discourse of distressed
be no difference betwéene the Noble and the pesaunt betwéene the Infidell and the Moore the Turke and the Iewe the Ladie the Mistresse and the hand-maide But ther shall insue such a confused inequalitie that the faire shal not be matched with the wel featured but shal be oft times ioyned with fowle 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 loyall and faithfull Louers haue long languished in the loue of some beautifull Dame whose mutuall good will they haue gayned by deserte then Folly will cause some fickle false flatterer to enioye that in one hower which in all their life they coulde not attayne I passe ouer the continuall debates and quarrells that shall ensue by Folly whereof shall spring woundes massacres and most fearefull murthers And I greatly feare that wheras Loue hath inuented so many laudable sciences and brought foorth so many commodities that now he will bring great idlenesse accompanied with ignoraunce that he will cause young Gentlemen to leaue feates of armes to forsake the seruice of their Prince to reiect honourable studyes and to appplye them selues to vaine songs and sonnets to chambring and wantonnesse to banketting and gluttonie bringing infinite diseases to their bodies and sundrie daungers and perills to their persons for there is no more daungerous companie than of Folly Behold O souereigne Iupiter the mischiefes and miseries that are like to insue if Folly be appointed companion to Loue. Wherefore I in the person of all the Gods beséech your Maiestie to graunt that Loue maye not be ioyned with her and that Folly may gréeuously be punished for the outrage she hath done to Cupid As soone as Apollo had ended his Oration Mercurie in defence of Folly beginneth to speake in this wise Mercurie WHereas right worthie 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 Maiestie shall throughlye heare the cause decyded you will commende his Eloquence more than his reasons For it is not vnknowen vnto you and all the Gods that Folly is no whit inferiour vnto Loue and that Loue should be of no force without her neyther could his kingdom indure without her help ayde and counsayle I praye you call to remembraunce how Folly incontinently after Man was placed in Paradise beganne 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 onely Princesse of the worlde Insomuch that who haue bene more honored than fooles Who was more subiect vnto Folly than Alexander the great which féeling himselfe to suffer hunger and thirst to be subiect to sorrow and sicknesse not able to kéepe himselfe from dronkennesse yet would be honoured for a God What kinde of people hath bene in greater credit than Philosophers and who more fooles Did not Aristotle most foolishly dye for sorrowe because he knewe not the ebbing and flowing of the sea Did not Crates in casting his treasure into the sea commit a wise déede What folly shewed Empedocles by his straunge coniectures what say you to Diogenes tunne and to Aristippus flatterie Who so throughly considereth their opinions shal finde them subiect to the state of Folly How many other sciences are there in the world which are altogether foolish and yet the professors of them had in high reputation amongest men They which are Calculators of Natiuities makers of charecters casters of figures are they not Friers of this fraternitie Is it not Folly to be so curious as to measure the heauen the height of the starres the breadth of the earth and the deapth of the sea and yet the professors heereof are highly estéemed onely by the meanes of Folly Nay how could y â— world continue if the daungers troubles calamities and discommodities of mariage were not couered by folly Who would haue coasted the seas if Folly had not ben his guide to commit himselfe to the mercie of y â— winde the waues to liue in daunger of fearefull surges and and perillous Rockes to trafficke with sauage and barbarous people onely incensed by the meanes of Folly And yet notwithstanding by this meanes the common wealth is maintained knowledge and learning augmented the properties of hearbes stones and birdes beastes perfectly searched out What Follye is it most daungerously to passe into the bowels of y e earth to dig for yron and seeke for golde How many Arts and occupations shuld be driuen out of the world if Folly were banished truly the most part of men should either beg for want or dye for hunger How should so many Aduocates Procurators Sergeaunts Atturneyes Scriueners Imbroderers Painters and Perfumers liue if Lady Folly were vtterlye exiled Hath not Folly inuented a thousand deuices to drawe a man from idlenesse as Tragedies Comedies Dauncing schooles Fencing houses wrastling places and a thousand other foolish sports Hath she not made men hardie venterous to fight with Lyons Boares Bulles onely to gaine honour to passe other in folly What did Antonie and Cleopapatra when they straue who should spend most in beastly banketting What caused Caesar lament that he had not begun to trouble the worldâ—in that age wherin Alexander had conquered the greatest part Why did diuers séeke to fill vp the valleyes to make plaine the mountaines to drye vp riuers to make bridges ouer the sea as Claudius the Emperour did What made Rhodope build the Pyramides and Artemisia frame the sumptuous sepulcher but Folly In fine without this Goddesse man should be carefull heauie and whollye drowned in sorrow whereas Folly quickeneth his spirite maketh him sing daunce leape and frame himselfe altogether to pleasure It is not possible that Loue shuld be without the daughter of youth which is Folly For Loue springeth of sodaine and sundry causes by receyuing an Apple as Cydippe by looking out at a Windowe as Scylla by reading in a Booke as the Ladye Frauncis Rymhi some fall in loue by sight some by hearing but all liuing in hope to obtane their desires And yet some haue loued without anye naturall cause as Pigmalion who fell in Loue with his marble picture I pray you what Sympathia could there be betweene a lyuely youth and a dead stone what was it then but Folly that kindled this flame what forced Narcissus to fall in Loue with his owne shadowe but Folly Yea what aduenture is passed in loue without Folly For the Philosophers define Folly to be a depriuation of Wisedome and Wisedome is altogether without passions of the which when Loue shall be voyde then no doubt the sea shall be without waues and the Fire without heate Consider but a young man which onely placeth his delight in amorous conceiptes decking dressing and perfuming himselfe most delicately who passeth out