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
dint of the deadly Dragons no doubt Iupiter himselfe would eyther haue made the flaggering bridge more strong considering that no hope of wealth no desire of riches no gréedinesse of gaine no loue of luere but beauty her selfe was the victorie I meant to vaunt off or else if I had sowled in the roaring Seas hee would haue prouided som happy Dolphin that Arion like I might arriue at the desired Rock and then my daungers should haue béene turned into delight my perils into pleasures my hazarding into happinesse yea I should haue possessed that heauenly paragon and enioyed the loue of that louely Venus whose onely sight were a sufficient salue against all forepassed sorrowes Stay there Master Gwydonius quoth the Lady Melytta for I sée to graunt one false proposition is to open a doore to innumerable absurdities and that by suffring you too long of these supposed premises you will inferre some cauilling conclusion to your former reasons thus I reply That I confesse necessity to haue no law but I grant not the same of Loue for if it be lawlesse it is lewde if without limits lasciuious if contained within no boundes beastly if obserued with no order odious so that lawlesse Loue without reason is the very Load stone to ruth and ruine Sith then Master Gwydonius as your selfe affirme this was the pricke that pusht you into perill how can the effect be good when the cause was naught or how can you clarkely defend your desperate motion proceeding of such a fond and foolish occasion But it was the perfection of her comely person her exquisite feature and rare beautie that so kindled thy desire and so bewitched thy senses for who is so fearefull that beautie will not make bolde who so doubtfull that beauty will not make desperat yea what so hard that a man will not hazard to obtaine so diuine a thing as beauty Oh Gwydonius hast thou not heard that the Fish Remor◠listening to the sound of a Trumpet is caught of the Fishers that while the Porcupine standeth staring at the glimmering of the starres hée is ouertaken with dogges that the Deere gazing at the bowe is striken with the bolt that the Leopard looking at the Panthers painted skinne is taken as a praie and that hee which taketh too much delight to gaze vpon beauty is oftentimes galled with griefe and misery Yea his pleasure shall inferre such profit and his good will such gain as if he reapt the beautifull apples of Tantalus which are no sooner toucht but they turne to ashes Beauty Gwydonius no sooner flourisheth but it fadeth and it is not fully ripe before it begin to rot it no sooner blossometh but it withereth and scarcely being toucht it staineth like to the Guyacum leafe that hath the one halfe parched before the other halfe be perfect to the bird Acanthis which hatched white yet turneth blacke at the first storm or like to the stone Astites that chaungeth colour with the onely breath of a man If then Gwydonius beautie bée so fading so fickle so momentary so mouing so withering so waning so soone passed and so soone parched is this the Iewell which you count more deare than life and the Gemme which you think worthy to bée purchased with the danger of death No doubt Gwydonius if you won the victory you might vaunt of a great conquest and if your long hope were repayed with a great hap it should be much like to his which thinking to embrace Iuno caught nothing but a vanishing cloude You do well Madame quoth Castania to put an If in it because he that vaunteth of victory before he hath wonne fielde may proue himselfe a foole hee that brags of gaines before the accounts be cast may perhappes put his winnings in his eies and he that bloweth the Mort before the fall of the Buck may verie well misse of his sées so he that countes himselfe a spéeder before hee be a wooer sheweth himselfe a vaine person or a vaunting patch Might it not be I pray you Master Gwydonius that passing the bridge scaping the dangerous seas and happily arriuing at the desired Rocke yet you might misse of your purpose Yes forsooth for many a man bendeth his bowe that neuer killeth his game layeth the strap that neuer catcheth the fowle pitcheth the Net that neuer getteth the fish and long time are heauie wooers that neuer proue happie spéeders So perhaps Gwydonius you might be crossed with a chip of the same mischance and the gorgious Dame whom you adore for a Goddesse might repaie your liking with loathing your loue with hate your good will with despite and your fixed fancie with small affection either that shee liked you too little or loued another too much All these doubtes Gwydonius are carefully to be cast wisedome it is to feare the worst and finde the best but you sir like a lustie champion thinke a Ladie wonne at the first looke and the good wil of women gained at the first glance thinking the Gods themselues are to be accused of iniustice if they be not ayders to your enterprise insomuch that if in ventring ouer the perillous passage you had by disaster Fortune fallen into the dangerous Seas you doubtes not but that Iupiter would haue sent a Dolphin that Arion like you might escape the fearefull surges but Gwydonius be not so ventrous least though you harpe verie long you get not the like hap These premisses considered if my censure might stande for a sentence I déeme it better to be counted a dastardly coward than a desperate caitife better to forsake your Goddesse than your God better to liue pinched with a fewe momentarie passions than with desperate death to destroy both soule and bodie for there is no sore such which in time may not be salued no care such which cannot be cured no fire so great which may not be quenched no loue liking fancie or affection which in time may not either be repressed or redressed Valericus hearing this rough reply of Castania supposed that although she leuelied at Gwydonius yet she shot at him and scaring the fort should be too much shaken with this fierce assault hee stifly desended the walles with this fresh alarum Madame quoth he I sée you will sit nigh the walles creyou be thrust out for a wrangler and that you will speake against your owne conscience but you will haue the conquest for my owne part Madame howsoeuer I séeme to like it I will not saie I mislike it but I am sorie you Madame Melytta should so blasphemously imblaze the armes of beautie and so recklesly raile against the sacred lawes of loue take héed for crossing Cupid so crabbedly for thogh he forgiue and forget Venus is a woman and will seeke reuenge Valericus quoth shée take no care what daunger I incurre for speaking the trueth If I chaunce to bee harmed it is mine owne mishappe and for Venus reuenge I care for it the lesse because I feare it not
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
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
which of all other inward sores requireth greatest secrecie yet vndoubtedly the more it is discouered the sooner it is cured For as the stone of Armenia being couered with Sand burneth most extreamely and no sooner taketh aire but it cooleth so the firie flames of loue raked vp in silence fry most suriously but being by discourse disclosed they soone conuert from flame to fume and smoke Wherfore good Castania impart vnto mée the matter which doth import thée so néere and I sweare vnto thee by the sacred rites of Ceres which is so honoured in Alexandria that if thou doest loue where thy friends doe not like and thy wish be contrary to their will yet I will sake all meanes possible to redresse thy sorrowe Alas good Madame rather than you should thinke mee so incredulous or suspicious as not to beléeue your oath or doubt of your secret dealing I will without delay make you priuy to the cause of my paine what perill soeuer I incurre by reuealing it So it is Melytta that the perfection of Gwydonius his exquisite qualities excellent vertues haue so fiercely assaulted the fort of my fancy as I am perforce constrained to resigne my liberty captiue vnto his curtesie to make his person the prison of my heart This lucklesse vnlikely loue Madam is the cause of my care the sum of my sorrow this frantike affection hath driuen my drooping heart to shew forth these drousie leekes this is it which hath made me an enemy to myselfe a foe to all good company and to delight in nothing but sorrow and 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 pain that so greatly perplexeth you Is this the care that so cumbers your conscience Is this the danger which driues you into such déepe distresse Do you think so superstitiously of Gwydonius or so abiectly of your selfe that you déem this matter impossible to be brought to passe no no doubt not Castania I my selfe dare absolutely promise thee that thy loue shall sort to such happie successe as thou thy selfe doest séeke for And with that Melytta stayed by a sodaine sight she had of that Saint that Castania so hartily serued for Gwydonius was entring in at the chamber deere with a dish of delicates which Orlanio hearing his Daughter was so sick had sent her Melytta séeing that Cupid began to sauor the cause of his Clients in giuing them such fit opportunitie to discouer their cares went her waie leauing Gwydonius the first man to play his part in this tragicall comedy who séeing his goddesse thus surprised with sicknesse was so gallen with griefe so pinched with hellish passions and so tortured with extreame torments that his colour began to change he fetcht a déep sigh or two which Castania hearing she perceiued without 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 hée presented it vnto her in this wise Madame quoth he the Duke your Father hearing of your sodaine sicknesse in token of his fatherly affection amongst all his dainties hath sent you this dish which hee thinks most méet for your diet wishing your Ladiship to let no doubtfull motions distresse your minde nor no carefull thoughts cumber your conscience for you shall lacks nothing if you reueale to him your want which either your will or wish can desire And truly Madame to manifest my willing duety if the praiers of a poore Gentleman may be heard of the heauenly Gods I wish that before you taste of this feede it may turne to Nectar whereby not only your sicknesse should be salued but your diuine beautie and vertue according to desert should be crowned with immortalitie Castania perceiuing with what fernent affection Gwydonius vttered those wordes began to chéere vp her selfe in hope that her good will should not be repaied with ingratitude taking therefore the present at his handes 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 and to repay his naturall affection with most dutifull obedience so I haue cause to thanke thee for thy paines and to thinke well of thée for thy wish promising in recompence of thy good wil if in any respect I may pleasure thee to séeke and sue to my father for preferment Madame I account the performance of my message no paine but pleasure and I thinke my selfe as much honored by this office thrice more happy than if I should in Ganimedes place present that cup to Iupiter But Madame sith that to stop the streame is to make the floud flow more fiercelie 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 should bréede too great daunger and by concealing my sorrow I should make the sore incurable I thought good either presently to heare the curteous sentence of my life or the cruell doome of my death So it is Madame that too long gazing vppon the beames of your heauenly beautie and too narrowly construing ouer your vertuous conditions I remaine so caught in the snare of your bountie and so thralled in the thréede of your vertue that the staie of my life hangeth in your hands either to driue mee downe to hellish miscrie or to boist mee vp to heauenly felicity For although I haue not heretofore by dutifull 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 béene crossed with such cruell Camizados for your sake as if with the Target of hope I had not wiâ—hst stood the furious force of such raging furies I had by despaire béene dashed against most dangerous rockes Sith then Madame the sight of your swéete face hath fast fettered my fancie in the links of loue so as without your means I can neither be redressed nor released I humbly desire you neither to resist the motion of my well meaning nor to reiect the deuotion of my good will but to accept your poore Gwydonius as a faithfull seruant Castania hearing diligentlie the faithfull discourse of distressed Gwydonius perceiuing by his sighs the pinching sorrow of his thoughts and séeing him so fast fettered in follie on a sodaine to giue her the slip had that shee desired and now her louing lookes were turned to lowring glances her delightfull curtesie to disdainfull coinesse and she thought to repaie the swéete meate wherewith before she fed him with most sowre sauee not that she misliked of his loue for it was the onelie thing she desired but to make him the more feruent in affection vttering these or such like
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