and rest you of danger for sore haue I feared lest your maiestie should haue perished before you had beene aduertised Alas why in such dangers are you vnattended vpon when the foe is at the doore why is not the guard in a readinesse Ah royall Moscouite rowze thee and arise and honour the sequele of the greatest treason that euer was contriued Why what tidings bringeth Arsadachus said Protomachus Thus mighty prince said he yesternight very late when I entred Thebions chamber vnawares I found his page his master being absent laying certaine waste papers out of his pocket vpon his table perusing which as I was accustomed by reason of the neere familiarity betweene vs I found one among the rest where alas that subiects should be so seditious there was a conspiracy signed by Thebion Ctesides and others whose names I remember not to make your mightinesse away and Thebion to enioy the crowne the maner to execute their stratageme was when you least suspected this morning at which time Thebion by reason of his neere familiaritie and accesse to you should enter your chamber and murther you This paper when I had ouer-read I laide aside making semblance of no suspition resoluing this morning early to signifie the whole vnto your maiestie whose life is my libertie whose happines is my honour whose death were my vtter ruine and detriment Thebion a traitor quoth Protomachus are my fauours then so smally regarded is my curtesie rewarded with such cursednesse Well Arsadachus said he happy art thou in bewraying it and vnfortunate he and his confederates in attempting it for they all shal die This saide he presently attired himselfe laying certaine of his trustiest gentlemen in guard behinde the tapistrie of his priuy closet expecting the houre of a most cruell reuenge when as sodainely Thebion knocked at the doore and was presently admitted who had scarcely said God saue the emperour but euen in the bending of his knees hee was thrust through by Arsadachus and the other of the guard hearing the broile came and mangled him in peeces casting the residue to the Emperours lions according as hee had appointed Protomachus grudging at the sodaine death of Thebion began to chide Arsadachus for his haste saying that it was inconuenient for a subiect to be punished before hee were conuicted Conuicted said Arsadachus why doth your grace suspect his guiltinesse Beholde saide hee drawing out the poinyard which Thebion had at his back the instrumeÌ„t that should haue slaine you see saide hee taking the schedule out of his pocket the confederacie to betray you and should such a wretch liue then to iustifie No mightie Emperour my soule abhorres it the care I haue of you will not suffer it the loue I beare Margarita will not indure it The Emperour ouer-reading the writing and seeing the poinyard gaue credible beleefe and with teares of ioy imbracing Arsadachus he said thus Ah my sonne the gods haue blessed vs in sending vs such a friend who hath saued mee from imminent danger and will make me fortunate by marriage hold take thee said he my Margarita and with her enioy my empire and more take thou my loue which is so rooted in me toward thee that death may not vntwine it Arsadachus thanked the Emperour for this fauour and recomforted Margarita with sweete words being almost dead to see the stratageme passed Meane while the Emperour gaue present direction to hang all the other conspirators and put them to other tortures who presently without knowing why or licence to answere were tyrannously executed so great is the tyranny of princes which are subiect to light beliefe and led by subtil suggestions The rumour of this accident spread through the Court moued sundry imaginations in mens minds some praised Arsadachus some suspected the practise all feared for whereas iustice sleepeth being ouerborne with tyranny the most secure haue cause to feare among the rest Arsinous wept bitterly knowing in himselfe the vertue of Ctesides and remembring him of the murther of his deere Philenia hee could not cease but welme bedlam to crie out on the heauens whose tragedie we must now prosecute and leaue Arsadachus and his Margarita to their mery conceits and discourses Protomachus after that this late treason had beene discouered beganne to be more warie to keepe greater guard and to vse Arsinous and the rest of the nobilitie with lesse familiaritie who good old man hauing before time beene shrewdly hurt tooke this vnkindenesse to the heart for where greatest loue is there vnkindenesse is most grieuous for that cause almost desperate he sought out the emperour and finding opportunitie he humbling him on his knees beganne thus As Traiane dread Monarch was commended in Rome for bearing poore mens complaints so art thou condemned in Mosco for shutting thy gates against all kind of sutors so as nowadayes thou hearest by others eares workest by others hands and speakest by others mouthes where-through iustice is made a nose of waxe warmed and wrought according to all mens pleasures and the poore are left to complaine the which the gods if thou repent not wil shortly punish in thee Beleeue me good Emperour such as shut their gates against their subiects cause them not to open their hearts willingly to obey them and they that norish feare in their bosoms without cause make themselues guilty of some crime by their suspect Whâ—refore sliest thou the sight of those that loue thee shutting thy eares lest thou heare those complaints that haue already deaffed the heauens for equitie O prince looke abroad it behooueth thee doe iustice for it becommeth thee and heare olde Arsinous a haplesse father father doe I say being thus robbed of my children nay a desolate caitife and doe me right That iustice becommeth thee marke these reasons Homer desirous to exalt it could not say more but to call kings the children of the God Iupiter and not for the naturalitie they haue but for the office of iustice which they minister Plato saieth that the chiefest gift that the gods haue bestowed on man is iustice that therefore thou may seeme â—ightly descended of the gods vouchsafe me audience and to the end thou may boast thy selfe to enioy the least gift of the gods suâ—cour me Thou knowest my Philenia is â—laine but by whose hands thou knowest not thou hearest Minecius is murthered but by whom thou enquirest not thou hast rubbed the gall but not recured the wounde thou hast tempered the medicine but hast not ministred it yea thou hast refreshed the memorie of my griâ—fes very often but remedied them neuer Three moneths are past since thou hast made inquirie of my daughters death and she that I nourished vp twentie yeares and better is forgotten of all but her olde father lamented of none but Arsinous and can be reuenged by none but Protomachus O Emperour I heare their discontented griefe crying out in mine eares and appealing to thee by my tongue for iustice me thinkes bloudlesse Minecius standeth by
direction to gouern these sports They do said Margarita Then sit aside quoth he and giue place to your commander whereupon all the assembly laughed and Asaphus smilingly sate downe in the highest roome placing the Ladies opposite against theie louers and himselfe seated in his soueraintie began thus Since in bankets the place is not to be giuen for the maiestie but the mirth be not displeased though I preferre my selfe my subiects since I know this that I haue crothets in my head when I haue tasted the cup and no man is more apt to talke then I when I haue trafficked with good wine and were it not so you had no cause to waxe wroth with my presumption for as the mason preferreth not the attique stones in his building for nobilitie neither the painter his precious colours in limning for their liuelines neither the shipwright his Cretan cedar in framing for the sweetenesse so in festiualles the ghests are not to be placed according to the degrees but their dispositions for their liuelynesse not their liuelyhoods for where pleasures are sought for the person is smally regarded which considered I am iustified But to our purpose since loue is the affection that leadeth vs at him we will leuill our fancies canuassing this question amongst vs whether bee so best worketh by the eie the touch or the eare for of the fiue sences I thinke these three are most forcible Nowe therefore wee will and command you our masculine subiects said Asaphus to beginne to our feminine Philosophers and since you Arsadachus are of greatest hope incipe After they had all laughed heartily at the maiesticall vtterance of Asaphus and his imperious manner the yong Cuscan saide thus The Thebians in time past who confined vpon Pontus begat such children who when they beheld their parents killed them by their lookes as it faved with them so falleth it out with me who bethinking my selfe of those thoughtes which I haue conceiued in respect of loue am confounded in thinking of them such power hath fancie where it hath hold-fast I must therefore as they quelled the one kill the other or I shall die by thoughts as they did by lookes but since to die for loue is no death but delight I will aduenture to thinke talke and discourse of him and rather perish my selfe then suffer these pastimes to be vnperformed Our question is of loue faire ladies whereat you blush when I speake and I bowe when I thinke for he giueth me words to discourse and courage to decide for as Plato saith loue is audacious in all things and forward in attempting any thing hee yeeldeth speech to the silent and courage to the bashfull hee giueth industrie to the negligent and forwardnes to the sluggard making a courtier of a clowne and lighting on a currish Minippus hee softeneth him as iron in the â—â—te and maketh him a courtly Aristippus vnder his safeconduct therefore I will talke of him and with your patience I will satisfie you that loue hath soonest entrance by the eie and greatest sustenance by the sight for sight whereas it is stirred vp by many motions with that spirit which it darteth out from it self doth likewise disperse a certaine miraculous fierie force by which meane we both doe and suffer many things and as among all the senses the eie extendeth his power furthest so is his working most forcible for as the clay petrot draweth fire so the lookes do gather affection And that the forcible working of the eie may be prooued to exceed all other the senses what reason can be greater since according to euery affection of the heart or distemperature of the minde the radiations of the eie are correspondent if the heart be enuious the lookes dart ouâ— beames of fierce enuie as may be considered by that of Entelidas in Plutarchâ— Quondam pulcher erat crinibus Entelidus Sed sese ipse videns placidis in fluminis vndie Liuore infamis perdidit inuidiae Facinus attraxit morbum formamque perdidit For it is reported that this Entelidas taking a delight in his owne liuely beauty and beholding the same in a spring grew in enuy against the same and by that meanes fell into a sickenesse whereby he lost both health and beautie Narcissus neither by taste nor the ministerie of speech nor the office of scent affected his owne forme but his sight bereft him of his senses and the eie drew fancie to the heart for this cause the poets call Ladies eies Cupids coach the beames his arrowes placing all his triumph and power in them as the â—hiefest instrument of his seigniorie and that the eie only beside the ministerie of other senses procureth loue you may perceiue by these examples following Xerxes who despising the sea and scorning the land found out new meanes to nauigate and armies to choake the earth yet fell in loue with a tree for hauing seene a plantane in Lydia of huge greatnesse he staied vnder it a hote day making him a shelter of his shadow a louer of his loues and afterwardes departing from the same he adorned it with collars of golde and iewelles as if that that tree had beene his enamoured ouer which he appointed a guardian to assist it fearing lest any should doe violence vnto the branches thereof And what I pray you moued this affection in Xerxes but the eie A noble yong man of Athens loued so much the stature of good fortune erected neere vnto the Prytaneum that he embraced it and kissed it and offered a great summe of money to the Senate to redeeme the same and not attaining his suite hee slew himselfe and what wrought this in this noble yong man but the eie for this marble image had neither sent to delight the sent speach to affect the eare nor other meanes to moue affection it was then the sole force of the eie which conducteth to the heart each impression and fixeth each fancie in the same what resteth there then but to giue the honor to the eie which as it is the best part in a woman so hath it the most force in loue Soft saide Plicotus claime not the triumph before you heare the triall for if vertue and the whole praise thereof as the philosophers say consisteth in act let the touch haue the first place and the eie the second for lookes doe but kindle the flame where the touch both maketh it burne and when it listeth quencheth the furie Such as beholde Anter are healed of the falling sickâ—nesse saieth Arsadachus and they that sleepe vnder Sinilan at such time as the plant swelleth and beareth his floure are slaine Quoth Plicotus saffron floures procure sleepe the Amethist staieth drunkennesse by which reasons you ought to ascribe as much power to the scent as to the sight But heare me you detracters from the touch the hearb Alissus taken in the hand driues sighes from the heart Yea but said Arsadachus the mad elephant beholding the raine groweth wilde Yea but the wilde
repines To burne in ceaslesse AEtna of her ire All which and yet of all the least might serue If too too weake to waken true regarde Vouchsafe O heauen that see how I deserue Since you are neuer partiall in rewarde That ere I die she may with like successe Weepe sigh write vow and die without redresse This other in the selfe like passion but with more gouernment he wrote which for that cause I place here consequentlie Heape frowne on frowne disdaine vpon disdaine Ioyne care to care and leaue no wrong vnwrought Suppose the worst and smile at euerie paine Thinke my pale lookes of enuie not of thought In errors maske let reasons eie be masked Send out contempts to sommon death to slay me To all these tyrant woes tho I be tasked My faith shall flourish tho these paines decay me And tho repyning loue to cinders burne me I wil be fam'de for sufferance to the last Since that in life no tedious paines could turne me And care my flesh but not my faith could wast Tho after death for all this lifes distresse My soule your endles honours shall confesse Another melancholy of his for the strangenesse thereof deserueth to be registred and the rather in that it is in immitation of that excellent Poet of Italie Lodouico Pascale in his sonnet beginning Tutte le stelle hauean de'l ciel l impero Those glorious lampes that heauen illuminate And most incline to retrograde aspects Vpon my birth-day shonde the worst effects Thralling my life to most sinister fate Where-through my selfe estrangde from truth a while Twixt pains and plagues midst torments and distresse Supposde to finde for all my ruth redresse But now beliefe nor hope shal me beguile So that my heart from ioyes exiled quite Ile pine in griefe through fierce disdaines accurst Scornde by the world aliue to nought but spite Hold I my tongue t'is bad and speake I wurst Both helpe me noughts and if perhaps I write T'is not in hope but lest the heart should burst Another in immitation of Martelli hauing the right nature of an Italian melancholie I haue set down in this place O shadie vales O faire inriched meades O sacred woodes sweete fields and rising mountaines O painted flowers greene herbes where Flora treads Refresht by wanton windes and watrie fountaines O all you winged queristers of woode That piercht aloft your former paines report And strait againe recount with pleasant moode Your present ioyes in sweete and seemely sort O all you creatures whosoeuer thriue On mother earth in seas by aire or fire More blest are you then I here vnder sunne Loue dies in me when as he doth reuiue In you I perish vnder beauties ire Where after stormes windes frosts your life is wonne All other of his hauing allusion to the name of Diana and the nature of the Moone I leaue in that few men are able to second the sweete conceits of Philip du Portes wose Poeticall writings being alreadie for the most part englished and ordinarilie in euerie mans hands Arsadachus listed not to imitate onely these two others which follow being his own inuentioÌ„ came to my hand which I offer to your iudgement Ladies for that afterward I meane to prosecute the historie Twixt reuerence and desire how am I vexed Now prone to lay ambitious handes on beautie Now hauing feare to my desires annexed Now haled on by hope now staid by dutie Emboldned thus and ouerrulde in striuing To gaine the soueraine good my heart desireth I liue a life but in effect no liuing Since dread subdues desire that most aspireth Tho must I bide the combate of extreames Faine to enioy yet fearing to offend Like him that striues against resisting streames In hope to gaine the harbor in the end Which hauen hir grace which happy grace enioyed Both reuerence and desire are well employed The conclusion of all his poetrie I shut vp with this his Hiperbolical praise shewing the right shape of his dissembling nature Not so much borrowed beautie hath the starres Not so much bright the mightie eie of day Not so much cleare hath Cinthia where she warres With deathes neere neece in her blacke array Not so true essence haue the sacred soules That from their naturall mansions are deuided Not so pure red hath Bacchus in his boules As hath that face whereby my soule is guided Not so could art or nature if they sought In curious workes themselues for to exceede Or second that which they at first had wrought Nor so could time or all the gods proceede As to enlarge mould thinke or match that frame As I do honour vnder Dians name Now leaue we him in his dalliance making all things in a readinesse for his coronation and returne we to the constant Margarita who liuing in her solitarie seate minding nothing but melancholies triumphing in nothing but hir teares finding at length the prefixed time of Arsadachus returne almost expired and her impatience so great as shee could no longer endure his absence in a desperate furie setting light by her life she resolued priuily to flie from her fathers court to finde out Arsadachus in his owne countrey For which cause she brake with a faithfull follower of hers called Fawnia by whose assistance without the knowledge of any other in the disguise of a country maid she gate out of the citie attended onely by this trustie follower about the shutting in of the euening at such time as her traine without suspect intended their other affaires and by reason of her melancholie little suspected her departure out of doores and so long shee trauelled desire guiding her steps and sorrow seating her selfe in her heart that she gat into an vnpeopled and huge forrest where meeting with a poore shepheard shee learned sure tidings of her way to Cusco keeping in the most vntrodden and vnfrequented wayes for feare of pursute weeping as she walked incessantly so that neither Fawniaes words nor the hope she had to reuisit her beloued could rid her of ruthfulnesse three dayes shee so walked â—eeding her thoughts on her owne wretchednesse till on the fourth about the breake of the day when Phoebus had newly chased the morne crowned with roses from the desired bed of her beloued paramor she sate her downe by a faire fountaine washing her blubbered face in the cleare spring and cooling her thirst in the cristal waters thereof here had she not long rested hir selfe talking with hir Fawnia in what manner she would vpbraide Arsadachus in Cusco of his vnkind absence when as sodainlie a huge lion which was accustomed to refresh himselfe at that spring brake out of the thicket behinde their backes Fawnia that first spied him was soone supprised then she cried and rent in peeces in that she had tasted too much of fleshly loue before she feared Margarita that saw the massacre sate still attending hir owne tragedie for nothing was more welcome to hir then death hauing lost her friend nor nothing more expected but