brought from the country so now they be helplesse by that I hear from the court when we be depriued as I perceiue from our good king the only anker-holde of al my hope that should haue ministred right to my infinite wronges And are your wronges such aunswered Corynus that they are not other wise to be remedied then by the king himselfe if I be not deceiued there be lawes in the countrie to determine your right you haue likewise maiestrates to administer the lawe in mine opinion your cause wer very strange if it should not be relieued by one or both Very true sir aunswered Castus my cause is strange indéede and yet if I were'aswell stored with coyne wherwith to corrupt as I am furnished with sorrowe whereof to complaine I néeded not haue trauelled to the courte for redresse neither haue I omitted so farre as my poore abillitye woulde stretche both to atempt lawe and to fée aturnies but mine aduersary is wealthy and therefore worshipfulll whose loftye countenance is enoughe to cary out his lewd conscience and although the lawe in it selfe intendeth nothing but right yet as it is ordered by some that hath the handeling of it it is made the very instrument of wronge yea the most of them framing their plea therafter as they be féede not according to the truth and for priuat aduantage or how many delaies can they forge from court to court from day to day from time to time yea from yeare to year then haue they such distinctions such errours such demurs suche quillites suche shiftes and so many deceites that the plaintife shal passe a thousand troubles before he may procéede to one tryall Oh these golden dumbe shewes are soe mightie in working that hee that hath them to giue they will make iudges them selues to become both deafe and blinde Thus riche men néede speake but a word and all wil hear them when poore men may shead their teares but no man pitie them But after that I had thus tried my selfe in the lawe I indeuoured by petition to present my cause before the pitilesse maiestrates but alas ther began my greater miserie For first euen amongst their base and seely porters I found a peuish pride and such a scorneful demeanure that I might not be suffered to stand nere muchlesse to enter their gates without a bribe but then againe amongst their clarkes O what gaping for greater gyftes and what loking after costly rewardes the which my pouerty not able to searche vnto what found I then but coy countenances currish language other like disdainful demeanure thus leauing their comfortlesse houses I was dryuen to giue attendance in the colde streates where after longe and tedious waiting the very horsekéepers would shoulder me from their maister who if perhaps through my pitious exclamations hee chaunced to cast his head aside it was either to afright me with his terrible lookes or vtterly to dismaye mée with his churlish checkes Thus hauing tryed all but finding none to pitie or comforte my distresse I determined with my selfe to trauell to the court hoping there to find some gentleman attendant about his maiesty that might preferre my sute to the king him selfe who is accustomed to heare sutors with more expedition and to kéepe them with lesse expences but alas I perceiue my purpose is preuented and I left destitute of all hope for euer to be happy The tenth Chaper The aunswere of Martianus whether it be better for a suter the courte or country IT is but a bare comfort answered Martianus wherthe best choice hath yet assurance of doubtful end you haue ceast your playnt in the country to become a sutor in the court and herein you may be compared to him that goes out of gods blessing into the warme sunne do you thinke to finde suche curtisie amongst courtiers you say you go to complaine of a wronge and peraduenture to him that will giue no man his right you say you are poore and vnable to giue a fee but you shall hardly finde him in the courte that will do any thinge for gods sake in the country if you found such churlishe regardes in the courte you shall find as proude lookes yea the very doore-keepers to these greate men in the courte will looke for more cappes and curtesies then I aunswere you haue bin accustomed vnto and yet still receiue your obaysance without any regarde of your busines but do you complaine of bribing in the country and would you come empty handed to the courte where ther is no grace without gold nor no friend without a fee and if your aduersarie be wealthy as you haue saide and that he be able to sende fiue hundred duccattes on his message do you not thinke them able to worke wonders in the court as the golden dumbe showes you speake of could euer do in the country yes be sure they are not onely able to make men blind and deafe but they wil open his lippes that was dumbe to present al manner of â—easinges yea for a néed before the king himselfe I am sorie my experience should serue me so well to display the court of Epirus but he that himselfe hath béene surely prickt can bid others take héede how they run amongst thorns and I that haue sped so ill with my courting can wishe others to beware how they come thither a sewing if they be not able to maintaine bribing It is now thirtie yeares sith I became a souldier from which time I haue serued the king in all occations against his enimies in the fielde the rest of the time I haue continued in his garrisons in this meane space I haue spent what my friendes left me which was some thing I haue lost part of my bloud which was more and I haue consumed my prime of youth and florishing yeeres which was most and comforting my selfe with some hope of happy rewarde for my better helpe now in my declining years with this resolution I came to the courte what mony I was able to make I put it in my pursse to bear my charges I haue ther continued these six monthes with cappes and curtisies downe to the ground and some time may it please your honour otherwhiles I beseche your worship but neither honorable nor worshipful that I could find to better my state but I haue spent my mony am come away as you see And yet I muste confesse that for the king himsef ther was neuer prince y t was more bountiful nor liberall nor that hath giuen oftiner or greater rewards But alas poore king if without arrogancy I may pitie a king he hath beene nothing more deceiued then in bestowing his rewards for being driuen to sée with other mens eies to heare with other mens eares and to reward by other mens commendations it is seene that promotion is determined in suche fort as fancy rather confirmeth the election then discretion in so much that desert may now go a begging when al the
bite at them when princes them selues are so farre deceiued for where they are thought to haue open liberty they are kept in secrete prison when it is thoughte they haue al things alas they haue nothing when they ar thought in greatest safetie then are they sonest assaulted with perill so that truly we may bouldly say that he alone that is shut in the graue is in safegarde from the vnconstancy of fortune consider I beseche you my cause of griefe and if you shal find my complaintes to be more then ordinarie you shall see the occasion to be no lesse then extreame but haue your selues forgotten whome you haue lost remember remember Leonarchus your king what he was towardes you how mercifully he gouerned you how fatherly he loued you how carefully he preserued you and how cherely he cherished you and woulde you now with such speede establishe an other in his place till it bee assuredly knowen what is become of himselfe O god forbid that either you should be so vngratfull or that Dorestus should be so vnnaturall and if you should thus forget your Prince it might be thought you were more in loue with his fortune then with himselfe and a small showe of hearty good will whome you séemed so much to honour in his presence that you shoulde so sodainely forget in his absence But if euer you loued your Prince now publishe your gratfulnesse that it may bee séene to the worlde and leaue off to make further request in a matter that so much concerneth your owne reproch my dishonor Corynus who onely adressed himselfe to answere said as followeth Although it might be deemed a signe of little wit and great folly for a man to answere sudainely to euery proposition yet for as much as it hath pleased your grace to admit me to speake and remembring with what deuotion you requested me to doe it I am bound in like affection with all humility to obay you It is not vnknowne vnto vs the cause you haue of griefe but if you may lament the losse of a louing father we haue no lesse reason to sorrowe for the want of a gratious soueraigne yet seeing the chaunces of mortall creatures do shewe that all men are subiect to the lawe of nature and fortune and albeit there is no doubt but that your father might be a worthy prince and there with al replenished with euery condition appertaining to the vertue and condition of a king yet since in his creation he brought with him a subiection to worldly casualtyes I thinke your wisedome is too much to make that greuous to you which nature ordaineth common to all when there is nothing happened to your father otherwise then god hath determined who no sooner had created his body but he both directed the course of his life and ordained the time of his death for god hauing made all mortall things hath authority to dispose them euen with the same power wherewith hee hath created them reseruing onely to himselfe imortality so that we must confesse that all thinges are guided and gourned by the prouidence of god who knoweth and ordereth casuall thinges necessaryly and although in your father there was fully filled the patterne of a good prince you can not in better sort expresse your zeale then to suffer god to haue his will without grudge let my wordes therefore but intimate thus much that as you cannot recall againe those that be absent so you must not bee carelesse of those that be present and as no man is bound to those that are dead yet euery man must giue succours to them that are aliue you are left heere the right inheritour to the crowne of Epirus and by no other meanes then god himselfe hath appointed refuse not then Dorestus that intercession of thy subiectes which is so much desired for their comfortes and thine honour The nineteenth Chapter Dorestus what he replied Corynus the merchant is become Leonarchus the king the ioy that was made for his recouery DOrestus that was little stirred in the winding vppe of this discourse briefly made this answere dost thou call it honour Corynus to put my father from his crowne he is vnworthy to haue honour that by infamous meanes will seeke after it and the child that will vniustly take his fathers honor ought to loose his life but if thou hadest so great regard to those vaine prehemineces or honorable dignities lookd after by ambitious mindes o how much shouldest thou haue respected mine honesty which is the very first step indeed to win honour and without the which wee can attaine to no better then vaine glory which is but a false shadowe of true vertue the liberty I gaue thée to speake contained things indifferent neither vnmete to be required nor worthy to be denaid perswading altogether to beare more respecte to my frendshipe then remembraunce to my calling the which sith thou hast neglected I doe once againe admonish thee heereafter to be more circumspect and as thou tenderest my good will to be better aduised what thou speakest Corynus immediately answered thus Well Dorestus if Leonarchus hath left thée a sorrowfull sonne thou hast made Leonarchus a most ioyfull father then sitting himselfe downe in the seat of maiestie he further said it were but in vaine longer to conceale that the knowledge whereof I perceiue would turne to so great comfort Sée héere Dorestus the instabilitie of fortune I was euen now a prisoner then a Counsailer nowe a king and all at an instaunt Dorestus who by this time had taken a better surnay of this counterfeit marchaunt and hauing nowe gathered assured knowledge who it was falling down on both his knées before him he cried aloud God saue Leonarchus my most redoubted king and father The rest of the Nobility with the whole assembly there present altogether cried out God saue the king God saue the king Doe you not thinke this sodaine alteration bred as great admiration yes I can assure you and it likewise broght with it no lesse contentation for euery man reioyced in the recouery againe of their good king but Brusanus both wondred and triumphed in his owne imagination to sée the accident how strangly it fell out Gloriosus amongest the rest séeing the marchant whome hee had accused of treason sitting vnder the cloath of estate and remembring otherwise howe hée had handled him in speeches was halfe out of loue with his owne wit but after a conuenient pause that silence was commaunded the king in this wise beganne to discourse The twentith Chapter Leonarchus discourseth what experience he hath gathered in his late traueiles and first of the infections of his owne Court AS it is the nature of vice to put on a vizard to disguise and couer it selfe with those shewes that belong only vnto vertue and being thus clothed with the helpe of corruptible pleasures it yoaketh base minded men whose care is 〈…〉 set vpon the desire of earthly thinges which it presenteth before their
a traueller and the cause standing of such nice poyntes as peraduenture your grauity may hardly brooke let this suffice my yonge yeares as you sée subiecte to sundry impressions at the last haue taken holdfast in trauelling to vnknowne citties led by this resolution that in séeing manye thinges I should learne some thing and intised by the generall reporte of the rare vertues the maiesticall gouernmente and most renowned demeanure of Leonarchus who holdeth her the princely diademe I haue left myne owne country and am trauelling to his court to se if the brauery be correspondent to the brute and the demeanure of the countries so commendable as is reported Corynus secretly reioysing to heare himselfe so praised aunswered thus Truly curtious gentleman the commendations you haue giuen to Leonarchus are so many that my selfe being as much affected towards him as any subiecte may bee to his soueraigne canne deuise to say no more and for that by your former spéeches I perceiue your desire is to grow into the highe way of experience being arriued heer to se the fassions of our court whatsoeuer by eie your selfe shall perceiue I by my experience can something lay open hauing in my yoonger daies ventured amongst the rest to become a courtier although not so formall as county Baldassare hath figured The court here of Epirus being so renowned as you would make it by the king that now holdeth the scepter as it is replenished with men of diuerse calling so it is frequented by men of as sundry dispositions Some repaire thither hoping of preferment by their vertuous indeuors who by their good deseruinges are to growe in fauour or by their valor and force of armes are to be confirmed with martiall honour Other againe incited by vanitie hauing the raine in their one neckes resort thither to satisfie their youthfull humors with a little folish brauery where their braines are so continually combred with deuising of new fashions that many times of comly personages they transforme them selues to disguised puppittes By this you may perceiue that as the court is a schoole of vertue to such as can bridell their mindes with discretion so it is a nursse of vice to suche as measure their wils with witlesse affection The sixte Chapter How Brusanus and this counterfaite Marchant were incountered by a courtier called Gloriosus and lodged at Vtica COrynus had not scare ended these speaches but they were ouertaken by a Gentleman that was ridinge to the court and a courtier hee was called by the name of Signior Gloriosus the loftines of his lookes was much to bee marueld at but the manner of his attire was more to bee laughed at On his head he woare a hatte without a band like a Mallcontent his haire hanging downe to both his shoulders as they vse to figure a hagge of hell his beard cut peecke a deuaunt turnde vppe a little like the vice of a playe his countenance strained as far as it would stretch like a great Monarcho his coller turnde downe round about his necke that his throat might be séene as one that were going to hanging should make way for the hallter his dublet holstered with bumbast as if he had béene diseased with the dropsie vppon that hee wore a loose Mandilyon like a counterfeit souldiour in his hand a fanne of fethers like a demye harlot Riding thus along by them casting his eies to and fro seming by his demenure as if he had had a whole common wealth in his head without any word speaking Corynus who before had knowne him in the court and therefore best aquainted with his humor said vnto him Gentleman if I bee not much mistaken you are riding towardes the court whither if it please you wee will be glad to beare you company Gloriosus bending his browe answered thou base borne fellowe what doest thou thinke I would make a companion of thee a pedling marchant more fit for a ware house then a princes court Corynus smiling to himselfe to heare the folly of this vaine headed courtier mildly made answere Truly sir I would not presume so far to make my selfe your companion but I haue knowne right worshipfull Gentle men thus riding by the way that would haue bene wel pleased with good company This softe replye wonderfully qualified the fyerse nature of Gloriosus whose colericke complection was as testy as a goose that hath yong goslinges yet easy to be pleased againe with a handfull of otes so after a little more frendly communication had betweene them they were come to the gallant Citie of Vtica where they all agreed to test for that night and after they were come to the inne Brusanus desirous to goe visit the monuments of the Citie and to take a view of the brauery of the buildings was accompanied by Corynus Gloriosus keping his lodging as one disdaining to walk the streets with so simple company but after they had walked themselues wery and were returned againe to their chamber Corynus demaunding of a seruant what other strangers were in the house was answered there were two other the one a souldiour called by the name of Martianus who was newly come from the court the other called Castus a countrey man that was trauelling towardes the court Corynus willed the seruant to intreate them both to come vp hoping to heare some newes especially by Martianus who was come from the court the which both himselfe and the rest desired The seauenth Chapter What newes Martianus brought from the court how the king was missing and how the courtiers did generally bewaile his losse BEing both come vp into the chamber after they had béene very frendly wellcomed Corynus turning to Martianus said as we vnderstand you are lately come from the court and we being desirous to heare what noueltyes are newe coined are to craue so much curtesy at your handes to make vs partakers of your newes and for myne owne part I shall thinke my selfe greatly pleasured that am accustomed by such particuler platformes to gather an vniuersal cogniseance either of good or bad Martianus curtiouslye aunswereed Truelye Gentlemen the newes at the courte are straunge yet not so straunge as true yet not more true then generally lamented by as many as ouer heareth them Twentye daies are nowe fully expired sith our most vertuous and noble prince Leonarchus hath beene missed at the courte no man knoweing what should become of him neither can it be immagined whether he be dead or aliue gone he is search there hath beene inquiry is daily made euery way and by all meanes but no tidinges can be learned more then I haue told you The lamentable clamours are vniuersall the graue counsailers sheades their teares for the losse of their prince the father of their counselers the very stay and principall piller of all their consultations the gallant courtiers haue lefte off their costly colours betaking themselues to mourning hewe hanging their heades wringing their handes lamenting the lacke of him that was a
world is guided by opinion and many a one hath beene rewarded commended by some noble man for his great seruice that hath but helpe him off with his hose when hee went to bed at night or peraduenture a ruffesetter a bottel carier a newes bringer a parricite a slaterer or som other such like minister of his pleasure and it may be a bribe giuer for a hundred aungelles of gold in such a matter are of greater vertue then all the aungelles that be in heauen yet as I haue saide such a one vpon some noble mans commendations shall receiue greater recompence then the man of good deserte indéede of any condition or qualitie what soeuer so that in the courte pleasinge of humours is found to be most profitable where a foole shal glorie of more sauour then a wise man of acceptance But I pray you sir aunswered Corynus why did you not make your request to the king himselfe who as it shold séem by your owne wordes is forwarde enoughe to recompence wel doing Very true answered Martianus and to the king himselfe I presented my sute who with most gratious promises and comfortable speeches willed mee to commit my cause to some noble man that might commende it to his maiestie and get my disspatche but alas our daintie nobles are soe dangerous to bee spoke with 〈…〉 that it is wel if in a monthes waiting you may attaine to three words speaking for some times if I met them in merry talke with my betters my petitions came then out of season to interrupt their pleasures an other time if I met anye of them solitarie by himselfe my lord was then in some melancolly moode and out of time to be spoken with all thus betwéene mirth and melancolly poore sutors maye longe inough watch their seasons yet neuer finde them in season to do them any good but could I once againe haue come to the presence of the kinge I woulde haue made no doubt of that recompence that now I neuer looke after And why so answered Corynus if Dorestus be the man that he is taken for good deserte canne neuer goe vnrewarded god for bid hee shoulde sit in his fathers seate if he should neglect his fathers vertues The eleuenth Chapter Corynus Martianus and Castus are arrested of treason and brought to the court to the young prince Dorestus there to be tried GLoriosus who had ouer heard all and by their spéeches did thinke himselfe to be well furnished with suffitient matter to picke a thanke when he came to the courte but specially of these last words spoken by Corynus god forbid that Dorestus should sit in his fathers seate went presently to the criminall iudge of the citie charginge him in the behalfe of the younge prince Dorestus to apprehend both Corynus Martianus and Castus and to see them brought to the court as traitors where he himselfe would be ready to auouch against them treson to the king slaunder to his courte and infamie to his whole gouernment this saide without any longer stay he tooke his iorney towardes the prince with greate expedition intending to aggrauate the matter as much as might be the rather to win himselfe reputation in performing soe notable a peece of seruice as he supposed this would fall out to be the maiestrates vnderstanding Gloriosus to be a courtier hearing his words to importe a matter of treson and as it was thought the king being so long missing was brought to some casualtie by the practise of treson accompanied therefore with some conuenient number he came to the Inne where he arested the foresaid three of treason and although the apprehension in this manner was some amasement to their mindes yet it was most strange to Corynus to be thus taken for a traytor to the king but after that he had a while deliberated what mighte be the matter hee requested the Offycer to let him vnderstande whether it were by direction information or what other instruction he had thus to apprehende them the other aunsweared sir you shall finde mine owne authority suffycient to arrest a traytor for the rest what there is farther to charge you withall you shall vnderstand at your comming to the younge Prince Dorestus before whome I mind presently to bring you and hauing a suffycient company to guard them forwards they go the prisoners euery one comforting himself knowing his own cōscience to be clere Brusanus that had giuen good héede to euery accidente and perceiuing by the former circumstances that Corynus Martianus and Castus were méere strangers the one to the other thought it therfore impossible that there should be any compact of treason betweene them and hauinge a speciall likinge to Corynus desirous to see what might fal out against him he followed him who when he had ouertaken he proffered any courtesy wherein a stranger might stéede him whether with his traueil or his purse they were both at his commaundemente Corynus againe in as greate a league of likinge towardes Brusanus and desirous to do him some honor before he should leaue the country requested him to accept of a prisoners thankes and that he woulde not leaue his company till it was determined what should become of him to which request Brusanus very willingly agréed vnto they traueil so long that they come to the courte where Gloriosus was attending and had quickely certified the Prince of their arriuall who commaunded that the prisoners should be safely kept vntill the next morninge when himselfe would be ready to heare their cause The twelfth Chapter Dorestus sitteth in iudgement Gloriosus accuseth Castus THe next day hee beeing accompanied with the nobles that were in the court came into the common place of Iustice vsually called by the name of The house of reformation This house of reformation was a very large roome wher the kings of Epirus in the auncient time were accustomed personally to sit at the least thrée times euery wéeke to heare suters and to dispatch all manner of causes and controuersies that were betwéene their subiectes and to minister Iustice to as many as were to demaund it and in this house of reformation it was euer accustomed that if there wer many suters the complaints of the poore were euer heard before the requestes of the rich The Prince being come to this place after that hee had geuen reuerence to the throne of maiesty wherin his father had bene accustomed to sit then sitting himselfe downe in the next seat the noblemen likewise euery one takinge his place the prisoners were brought to the bar where Gloriosus was likewise ready to informe but before they did procéede to the hearing of the matter the younge Prince deliuered these wordes They make themselues guilty of great iniustice who béeing appointed of God to persecute the wicked with the swoorde drawne will yet keepe their handes cleane from bloude whereas the wicked in the meane time commits all manner of sin and that vncontrouled and it is no lesse cruelty to punishe no
for so small a time the which in deed I might the better haue done if he had paid me the rent he promist but I had no sooner giuen him place voiding my selfe into a little roome not far of but mine orchard was inclosed with a mighty ditch seueralde into his owne ground but for the rent that was promised although his thrée yeares are more then thrée times expired the day is yet to come that euer I could receiue groat to conclude he not onely with holdeth my rent but hee likewise holdeth me out of my house and against all right hath kept me out of my owne these tenne yeares I cannot denie but in this meane time I haue attempted lawe but I must confesse it is to my great charge for his great store of crownes so ouer weied my right amongst the lawiers that in foure yeares suing I could not bring my cause to one daies hearing but should I say nowe after I had bine thus cosined amongst the lawiers o no I perceiue it is offenciue let me then say thus after I had bine consumed amongst them and that I was not longer able to sée them I made my complaint to the maiestrates but if it bee a fault to say I found them pitilesse I humbly craue pardon most gratious prince for this is all that Signior Gloriosus is able to charge me with The fourteenth Chapter Gloriosus accuseth Martian us who answereth his accusation THe poore man hauing thus finished his speache was willed to stand by and Gloriosus was now to inferre against Martianus who procéeded in this wise Although I haue founde by the art of Logique learned by the rules of Rethorique and gathered by the preceptes of philosophy what vnnecessarie members these souldiers are in a well gouerned state in so much that many wise men déemeth them worthy of nothing then not to be yet with all the learning I haue gathered out of my libraries with al the examples I haue séene in my perigrinations with all the experiments I haue founde in the courte nor with all the art that is in my head the verye stoore-house of wisdome and from whence whole fountaines nay huge flouds of eloquence doth continually abounde yet as I haue saide al this will not serue me to reiterate the wordes pronounced in disgrace of the whole courte of Epirus by this man of little reputation I meane this souldier His sentences althoughe not artificially couched yet strained after a fulsome manner to the very full sea marks of reproche his phrases very harshe but more spitefull his wordes vnaptly placed yet according to the literall sence all applied to a malitious purpose I could heare distinguish vpon euery sillable and I giue god thankes for it I could according to art make diuision of his whole speeches into seuerall partes so examine the maior and minor of al his arguments as I might refell his propositions and vtterly deny his allegations But this is inoughe for Signior Gloriosus to conclud Martianus hath distained the courte with slaunder and must clense it againe with the price of his bloud The young gallantes of the courte that stoode by and had ouer-hearde all wonderfully commended Gloriosus protesting that he had spoken very wisely thinking him a very méet mā to be a counceller but y e yong prince Dorestus said as followeth So farre as I can perceiue Gloriosus your learning is more then the matter where-with you haue charged Martianus the some of all your eloquence concerneth a slaunder to y e court but how or in what manner there it stil resteth but say Martianus what occation hath led thée to speake ill of the place Martianus aunswered thus Most gratious prince if in my words I shall not obserue that reuerence that I know is apertinente to this presence I most humbly craue pardon and the rather for that my bringing vp hath not beene so muche to directe my speeches to princes in their pallaces as to souldiers in the fieldes to aunswere then to the matter where-with Gloriosus hath charged me the begining of whose tale is so spiced with such a deale of learning that I know not what to say to it wherby I perceiue many courtiers to be much more fruitefull then haares for as it is saide when they haue beene at bucke within fortie daies after they lytter there leuerites then againe they goe proude are conceiued and all at an instant but these goe proude euery day in the wéeke waxe great with learning before they conceiue it and are deliuered of the full burthen of their wit at the least fortie weekes before it is begotten Many wise men saith Gloriosus soe condemneth souldiers as they forbid him to haue place in a well gouerned state and I neuer hearde yet but an honest souldier was a more profitable member to his country then any vaine headed courtier whose gentry as it is written comes from their parentes whose wealth is the haruest of their flattery whose victories are the fruits of their souldiers for the first them selues blot with their vices the second they consume with their vanitie the last is attributed to more then them selues I can compare a courtier to nothing better then an ape which no man would kéepe but to procure laughter and the vse of the courtier is all for pleasure nought for profite It is further inferred againste me by this man of little wit this courtier I meane how slaunderous I haue béene to the whole courte of Epirus I can not make so learned a demonstration of the matter as Gloriosus hath done but according to a souldiers capacitie I will shewe you by example suppose I should say as I trust I shal neuer haue cause to thinke y e Gloriosus the courtier wer a very wise man now you must vnderstande this according to the interpretation of Gloriosus to bee spoken in y e cōmendation of the whole court wher my propositiō includeth but a perticuler person he wold infer a general cōclusion May it please your Grace nowe to vnderstand I haue serued your most renowmed Father these thirtie years as a Souldier and comforting my self with some hope of reward to help me now in mine elder yeares I came to the Court where I became a suter but those eies that looke into all procéedings and are watchfull onely to their owne profites and loath that any fat should bee licked from their owne fingers will suffer no good turne to passe which they can hinder neither can I denie most gracious Prince but in lamenting mine owne misfortune that haue bene so long a suter that I am now become a begger I haue complained that so many drones grating on the princes purse shold eat vp the hony from those that best deserue it For the punishment of mine trespasse I humbly appeale to your gracious clemency for I perceiue if Gloriosus were my Iudge no lesse would content him then the price of the bloud in my belly for a peniworth of slander
to his person I will not tell you heere into what a pelting chafe Gloriosus was driuen into vpon these speaches I pray you imagin that he was wonderfully angry and kept such a stur vpon the matter that there was no rule with him till in the end the prince himselfe willed him to holde his peace like a foole Wel quoth Gloriosus sith your Grace speakes so gently vnto mee I am contented at your intreatie to bear with the matter otherwise I protest by Iupiter himselfe he goes not vpon two legs if he beare the name of a souldier but I would haue made him to haue repented this presumption nine hundred yeares hence The fifteenth Chapter Gloriosus accuseth Corynus of treason against Dorestus the circumstances wherof are briefly laid open by Brusanus AFter the gentleman had bene in this sort qualified he was willed to infourme what hee had against Corynus and in this wise hee beganne to tell his tale Your Grace hath alreadye heard by that is past howe infamous the first hath beene vnto the Countrey Magistrate The second hath not feared to slander the court but this third in plain tearmes hath presumed to touch your owne person The circumstances are but short and thus followeth the wordes God forbid that Dorestus should sit in his fathers seat the sence is plaine and I will once againe repeat the wordes God forbid that Dorestus should sit in his fathers seat Let mee see now what glose can they set to this text what ifs or ands can they patch to these speaches to alter the sence from high Treason The whole company that stood by beganne altogether to crie treason treason treason but silence being commaunded Corynus was willed to speake for himselfe who in this sort aunswered Prince Dorestus Sophocles the Tragedian being accused before the magistrates of dotage repeated vnto them his Tragedy of Oedipus Coloneus which at that instant he had made so that his accusers confounded in their owne ouerwéening departed with a shameful repulse So I am likewise accused of treason and I am willed to make mine answere see héere worthy Prince this wrinckled face which many yeares hath withered should betoken staidnes beholde these hoarie hairs whose color time hath changed should cary some experience and although by experience I could answer in other circumstances yet I hope this shal aswel find grace to cléer me of treason as the Tragedy of Sophocles to acquite him of dotage This answere séemed confused to the multitude but the prince Dorestus who had marked the graue aspectes of this antient man Corynus gathered a further meaning of his wordes then the rest could wel conceiue and whether it were by som secret instincte of nature or what other motion it was that moued him he fell into a most affection at liking of Corynus but Brusanus that had stand by all this while pressing forth said as followeth Let not a strangers presumption breed offence worthy prince Dorestus that opposseth himselfe vncald for to testifie a truth and although the matter that I pretende might craue long discourse aduised purpose and seemely conueyaunce yet the rare vertues which I see to accompany your calling the singuler iustice that I sée to carry your procéedinges shall make me be the lesse tedious My selfe noble prince being led with delight to behold strange Cities to discouer vnknown places to better mine own experience haue left my natiue country and betaken my selfe to pretenced trauell and bycause I will leaue nothing which the necessity of the cause inforceth me to open though peraduenture in a curtous conceit my wordes might smel of flattery true it is that the renowne I haue hard of this country of Epirus the wisdome of the Prince that gouerned it the wise men that inhabite it the true Iustice that ruleth it though one of them were sufficient to moue admiration yet the most of them haue directed my trauell into this country and bendinge my iourney towardes this place by the way I ouertooke this merchant Corynus After salutations passed betweene vs wee had not rid far but wee were likewise ouertaken by this Gloriosus what speaches past between vs bicause they are neither fitting to our purpose nor necessary for the place I will therefore omit them but on we rid all together to the Citie of Vtica where determining to rest our selues in our lodging we met these other two Martianus and Castus Martianus being new come from the court as himselfe reported was the first that gaue vs to vnderstand of the king your fathers missing Castus on the other side was traueling towardes the court and as it should seeme to seeke for iustice but now discouraged by these late newes Martianus againe relating his cause as euen nowe before this presence concluded likewise his little hope to attaine recompence for longs seruice marke nowe vertuous prince for heere is the point of all this treason Corynus that had ouer hard all comforted the poore man in these speeches It were pitie my frend said Corynus that good desert should goe vnrewarded and god forbid that Dorestus should sit in his fathers seat and neglect his fathers vertues I could farther enlearg touching the premisses but what should I néed when I finde your owne vertue worthy Prince more sufficient to consider of euery necessary circumstance then mine own little skill is able to deliuer it The sixteenth Chapter Brusanus is discouered to be the Prince of Hungaria a combination of freendship betweene Dorestus and him IN this meane time that Brusanus was thus discoursinge a gentleman in the company that sometimes had beene in the courte of Hungaria whisperinge in the Princes eare assured him that the party which presented that spéech was Brusanus the onely sonne of Myletto king of Hungaria the which when Dorestus vnderstood taking the better suruay of the man and listening more attentiuely to his spéeches although hee were wonderfully delighted with his woordes yet hee was a greate deale better pleased with his personage and hauinge finished his tale Dorestus requested Brusanus to tell his name and what countreyman he was Brusanus aunsweared sir I was borne in Hungaria a gentleman by birth and by name Brusanus It is not vnlikely quoth Dorestus that Brusanus the Prince of Hungaria should be any lesse then a gentleman and if there be no other occasion then I can imagine Brusanus can be no lesse then welcome to Dorestus Brusanus séeing himselfe to be thus discouered briefly made aunsweare and Brusanus desireth no greater contentment then to be an assured frend to Dorestus Dorestus then arisinge from his seate and incountring with Brusanus saide and in token of perpetuall amitye with Brusanus Dorestus heere giueth his hande and biddeth Brusanus most hartely welcome the one of them then imbracinge the other with more then ordinary affection the whole company wer delighted to sée the courteous demeanure of these two gallant yong Princes but aboue the rest Corynus especially reioyced at the sighte
eies as their felicity séeking to defend it selfe by reason which although they bee altogether vaine and friuolous yet of great waight in regard of the weake flesh of man which easily suffereth it selfe to be a bondslaue to sinne we are therefore to take good heed that wee suffer not our selues to be surprised by so dangerous an enemie nor to giue him any accesse or entrance into vs. To know then the causes of euils is the readiest way to cure them for a disease known is halfe cured and many kingdomes are brought to ruine by diuerse causes which if they were knowen to their princes and gouernours they might easily be preuented by prouidence and reason The prince that is carefull to see and enquire for the damages of his Realme it may be said if he prouide not for them that he can doe no more but to him that is negligent to learne them if he doe not prouide it may be said he will doe no more This hath bene the cause that thus disguised as you see I haue traueiled through mine owne dominions to see the demeanures of my subiects that by gathering a platforme of common report I might be the better able to reform a common mischiefe for the surest Counsailers that belongeth to a prince be his own eies and his eares which must bee alwaies vigilaunt and it is not decent that Princes should be Lordes ouer many and should communicate priuately but with few By my traueile in the Countrey I haue bettered my experience to learne the follies of mine owne Court and omitting to speake of many alterations I will but onely glaunce at the superfluitie of this our present age wherein al kind of excesse riot weltering in pleasures curiositie in apparell perfumes frisling of haire not vsed so much amongst women as practised daily amongst vaine men Should I speake here what intemperance is vsed in diet what curious dishes deuised for appetite nay what filthy conceits to prouoke beastly desire what seuerall sortes of cates to furnish forth a banket what exces superfluity both in meats and drinks it were to much for me to tel and to shamefull for you to heare In the first ages the Hebrues vsed to eate but once a day which was at diner so the Gretians vsd but only to sup for this cause wee read that Plato being demaunded whether he had seene any strange thinge in Sicilia answered hee had found a monster in diet which did eate twice a day happy then might those daies be accounted that esteemed not of any thinge more then was needefull but where as wee haue but hitherto looked into the vanity of their attire and the curiosity in their diets with their externall follies let vs nowe but a little consider of the inward disposition of their minds and we shal find that the whol sort of them are desirous of reputation but by what meanes doe they speake it by flattering of Princes by soothing of great men by pleaseing of humors by carrieng of newes and other like seruile demeanures not fit for an honest minde to apply it selfe vnto true honour indeed is by no other meanes to bee atchiued then by vertuous indevoures As for those honours that depend vppon the bare oppinion of Princes as they take their begining without desert so they haue their ending againe at an instant But as I haue gathered by this souldier Martianus in a discourse that hee made before wee came to this place Princes that are constrained to relye on other mennes reportes must vse greate diligence to discerne flatterers and disguisers of matters and must likewise vse no lesse circumspection in bestowing of offices and giuing rewardes Princes many times giues preferment to their frendes to recompence their frendship other whiles to their seruantes to requite their seruices and although it might bee said that many Princes doe erre in distributing their offices yet they doe not erre for that they would erre yea and many times it is seene in cases of promotion high offices and dignities are rather bought with money then deserued by vertue where in time past there was no man areared to honour but hee that deserued it In former adges men ofscience were searched for in strang countries but now though they knocke at our gates they are not suffered to enter no our corruption and custome drawes vs to other delightes This court in elder adge was counted a receptacle of wise men but nowe the common harbour for parasites and flatterers but as no vermine breedes where they find no warmth no vultures stoope where they smell no pray no flies swarme where they sée no fleshe no pilgrime creepes where there is no crosse so there is no parasit will lurke where hee findes no gaine and therefore doe flatterers praise vs bycause they would price vs but I wonder that these great men that haue authority in the courtes of Princes should bee so generally seduced by flatterers and so vsually carried awaye by these creeping parasites But beinge instructed as I am I doubte not but ere manye daies past I will so scoure that rable from out of this courte that they shal be glad to seeeke a newe haunte Pretermitting many other follies entertained in the courte I will conclude with this example vsed by Alexander Seuerus as a cauiat to courtiers This good Emperour hauing a seruant whome he much fauored but he abusing his maisters curtisie tooke great bribes of poore suters promising them to be-friende them in their requestes but the Emperour binding him to a post caused him to be chooked with smoke making proclamation that they that sell smoke should dye with smoke If all the smoke sellers in euery Princes courte were thus rewarded and all the parrasites in like manner banished I thinke the courtes of Princes would not be so fully replenished nor euery great-man so mightily followed The one and twentieth Chapter The King proceedeth in his discourse what vices he hath noted in the countrie BUt do you thinke that where the court is thus infected with vices that the country is not spiced with the same infirmities O yes you may be sure and mine owne eies hath béene witnesses of many misdemeanurs I haue sene many men liue idlely and so vtterly vnprofitable some others neither idle nor yet well occupied and therefore not sufferable and what vsury doth abound in the Citie what extortion couetous hourding both in towne countrie what pride and ambition in the layty what simmony and heaping of benefices in the clargy what plaintes at the barre what delaies on the benche what malice to those that be good what boulstering of those that be ill what lacke of loue in those that bee riche and what oppression of the miserable poore This I say I haue séene and some thinges your selues haue hearde by complainte of this pooreman Castus the maiestrat that we haue appointed to execute iustice the lawyer that by profession shoulde bee a minister of right the one
him not with rigour that respecteth you with reuerence loath him not with hate that loueth you in heart it is your beauty that hath depriued me of liberty and it is your bountie that must redeeme me from captiuitie and if my rashnes bee a fault in presuming thus to trouble you let your beautie beare the blame which is the spurre to mine enterprize Moderna that had vowed her selfe to another saint hearing a fresh assault giuen to her heart which was already conquered thought it not good for his stomacke to giue him a surfeit of too much fauour answered thus Sir as I can perceiue your sicknes threatneth no danger of death and if it bee but a loue matter the fit wil soone be past but alasse your conueiance was nothing cleanly if you had not the out-side of loue to couer your in-side of lust but bee it loue or bee it lust Dorestus take this for an answere I haue vowed virginity I mean to liue chast cease then to craue that cannot be gotten seek not for vnpossibilities you say my beauty was the spurre to your enterprise let my words then make you desire to leaue of your sute I will not féed you with delaies nor entertaine you with faire wordes and foule deedes but speake as I thinke and so you shall finde it and what soeuer you shall reply my defence shall be to beleeue nothing but yet least you should thinke mée too much vnthankefull though I cannot inwardly mittigate your miserye I will yet teach you an outwarde plaister the which being applied you shall find a great vertue to asswage the heat of that loue which you say is so pesterous and troublesome vnto you and thus followeth the medicine Take two ounces of the sound of a bell when it is roong for a mans soule that died for loue as much of the neighing of a horse that hath brought his Maister from Dunmo with a Flitche of Bacon then take the parings of any mans nailes that is ful foure and twentie yeares olde and neuer flattered woman grinde these to fine pouder in a winde-mill that stands in the bottome of a Fish-poole then take halfe a pinte of the water that is wiped from a mans eies at the buriall of his wife put to a handfull of a Louers protestations made to his Lady without dissimulation boyle all these together vpon a few coales then straine it through the lining of any mans gowne that hath beene married full out a yeare and neuer quarrelled with his wife put to but one dram of good conscience drawne from him that maried his wife more for loue of her vertue then for the lucre of her dowrie vse this plaister wise laid warme to your left héel at night when you go to bed and my life for yours it shal both bring you into quiet sleepe and rid you of this incumbraunce that doth so trouble your head with loue Dorestus to whom euery sillable shee pronounced was a thunder-bolt againe answered Alasse let not certaine immaginatiue rules whose truth standeth but on opinion keep back your pitie and mercy O Moderna for thin own vertues sake let not my miseries be quited with disdaine I plainely lay my death before you yea the death of him that loues you the death of him whose life you may saue O tread not of a soule that submits it selfe at your feete let not your noble heart put a doubt till occasion be offered mistrust not him whome you shall neuer find haulting If there hath bene a trothlesse Iason yet there was found a trusty Troylus and as there hath bene a dissembling Damocles was there not yet a loyall Lelius sith then my safelye onelye consistes in your mercye I humbly beseche you to take pitie vpon him who is either to be made happy or haplesse as it shall please you to awarde Moderna not longer able to tarrye the hearinge of more wordes arose from her seate and gaue him this for a farewell Dorestus to make you happye withe myne owne mishappe I neither canne nor will to loue him whome I cannot like were but to wrest against my selfe to flatter him whome I meane not to fancy is but a tricke of extreame folly no Dorestus it is not possible to perswade me to enter league with fancy that am a foe to affection or to followe Venus that am vowed to Diana I meane not to loue least I liue by the losse and she that is frée and will be fettered is a foole thus Dorestus you know my minde and so farewell and away she goes leauing Dorestus at his meditations who seeing the manner of Moderna was driuen to vse patience perforce thinking her sharpe aunswere very hard to be disgested but after he had a while paused on the matter he burst out into these speeches But by the sweet Dorestus how shouldest thou know the sower but by the blacke how shouldest thou know the white hee neuer acompteth of prosperitie which hath not béene before pinched with aduersitie which perchance Moderna meanes to make me trie by experience thinking to féede me with bitter broathes minding heere-after to giue me a Cullice of better comforte first to daunte me with the ranging stormes of deniall that the calme of her consent may the more contente me to make me taste the bitter pilles of annoy here-after to diet me with confections of swéeter ioy for the chilling colde of winter makes the springe time séeme more pleasante soe the frowning lookes of Moderna will make her smiling countenance séeme more chéerefull then cease not Dorestus to persue thy sute with endlesse paine either to inioy her curtisie or tast of her crewelty to thy great happines or extreame heauines Dorestus being setled in his determination thought it conuenient for his better spéede to breake the matter to the king her father and to craue his consent and furtherance in the cause hoping that if he could win him he should find Moderna the more tractable and thinking it not for the best to make long delay he determined in the morning to put in practise his pretence and going to bed thinking to take his rest for that night he was no soner laide downe but the picture of his beloued presented it selfe to his imagination then calling againe to his remembraunce her crabbed aunsweres and her flat deniall to loue the hight of all ougly sorrowes did soe horribly appeare before his amased minde that he could take no rest then began hee in this manner to complaine O loue doest thou not thinke the day torment sufficient but thou dost enuy me in the nightes quiet wilte thou giue my sorrowes no truce and Moderna is thy beautie vtterly voide of pitie doest thou disdaine to helpe his ague whose Cotidian fit is conuerted to a frenzy alas loue wanting desire maketh the minde desperat and fixed fancy bereaued of loue turneth into furye the loyoll loue I beare to Moderna and the loathsome feare of her ingratitude the depe desire which
who with pitious sighes sobbs bewraied the inward sorrowe of her harte which mooued great compassion to all beholders Arcadius was ready in the place brauely mounted and strongly armed to mainetaine his accusation the Ladie assuring her selfe that her deathe was there determined was not soe much terrified withe the torture as the slaunder but knowing no better meane then with patience to suffer humbly falling on her knées and holding vp her hands she besought the heauens to receiue her guiltlesse soule and although her body shoulde be consumed by the fury of the fire that the flames might yet descry the Innocency of her cause the lookers on letting fall aboundance of teares to see this pitifull spectacle although they knewe not what Iudgment to settle touching her accusation yet they all lamented her misfortune concerning her condemnation It was now a good halfe houre after nine of the clocke when Arcadius speaking to the executioners said What is the matter my friends that you make so long delay spending the time in vaine what do you thinke theer is anye man so foole hardye that dare enter the listes with me in this quarrell if you know any such or if that be your stay let him come forth and you shall sée I wil soone make him repent his presumption when it shall be to late for him to confesse his foolishe enterprise The seuenth Chapter Brusanus rescueth Eriphila by combat Arcadius confesseth their conspiricy cleareth Eriphila and dieth AFter Eriphila had made her hartye praiers vnto God shée was brought to the stake when the last act to finishe vppe the tragedy was to put fire to the fewell but God who neuer forsaketh Innocents in their necessitie vouchsafed spéedye helpe for this lady now standing as it were equally betwixte life and death though neither fearing the one nor hoping the other is yet comforted contrarie to all expectation for a seruant belonging to Fuluius hauing béene in the Citie and learned al the newes returned directly to his maister relating vnto him how it stoode with the quéene who the next day was to be executed for conspiring the death of the young Princesse her daughter when Fuluius had certified these newes to Brusanus and Valeria after they had a while paused on the matter and had aduisedlye considered of the trechery of the Duke Brusanus would needes vndertake the combat in the behalfe of the quéene and being furnished by Fuluius bothe of horsse armoure and all other necessaries fit for such an enterprise at this verye instant when the executioners were readye to put fire to the fewell Brusanus presentinge himselfe before the principall officers said Is it possible worthy gentlemen that a poore innocent lady should thus be condemned to dye before she hath béene personally brought to araignement not being suffered to aunswere for her selfe but vppon the bare assertion of a knight if neuer before detected yet in this case necessarily to be suspected or do you not thinke that the Duke her husbande who vppon small causes became her Iayler will not vppon lesse occasion become her murtherer but hee maketh Iustice the cloake of tirany and shall that bleare your eies not to sée his subtilty The whole company wondered at the bould spéeches of this straung knight but as there was not any man there that coulde immagine what he shoulde be soe not one amongst them all would giue him any one worde to aunswere Arcadius standing by saide as followeth Why who art thou or what art thou called that wanting courage to performe as a knight art thus come hither to perswade with words like a cowarde doost thou thinke thy Philosophy inough to incunter the pointe of my sworde thou hast béene to ill aduised in medling with this mater that can warrant thée no better then thine owne destruction Brusanus aduisedly noting these presumptuous spéeches aunswered Touching thy demaund who I am or what I am called I list not in that point to make thée any aunswere yet thus much to satisfie thy desire assure thy selfe I am a knight no cowarde and am come hither to abate thy pride and to chastice thy presumption that contrary to the order of knight-hoode thou hast dared to charge an Innocente Princesse with so false vntrue an accusation and that thou mightest the rather perceiue I am not come hither to perswad more by wordes then I minde fully to performe in déedes I am here ready in the behalfe of the quéene by way of combat to make triall against thée that thou hast most falsely and shamefully slaundered her Why then quoth Arcadius to the end that I may with the more spéede minister correction to thy folly let vs delaye no longer time with wordes but prepare thy selfe to the battaill for it séemeth vnto me euery minit to be a monthe vntill I haue taken a full reuenge of this thy witlesse enterprise Without any more words had betwéen them they separate themselues to take their course then spurring their stéedes with a mightie Carere they incounter she one of them against the others speares soe directlye leuelled and therewithall so strongly charged that they were both shiuered into smal peces the beholders wondered at the force of the strang knight but Arcadius himselfe was much more amased who neuer before that time hade felt the like encounter and being now in a pelting chafe with his drawne sword he turned to Brusanus who in like manner was as ready to receiue him the battail then began so fiersly betwéene them that in very short space they made euident profe of their courage and manhoode the valiant knightes malissing eache at others welfare finding their armoures so good that no sworde woulde enter were both of them made so angry that they laied so muche the faster about them the fight continued a long time soe indifferent that the beholders were not able to Iudge which partye had the better in the end Arcadius began to rate with himselfe thinking that his wonted force had lefte him because in his whole life time vntill that present day he had neuer mette with any man that was able to indure halfe soe long againste him Brusanus againe knowing his quarrell to be Iust and therefore not offenciue to God thought himselfe dishonoured that a periured knight should stand so long before him both of them thus blowing the coales of their anger which wer already set on a fire the fray began againe betwéene them more eager then euer it had béene before so that the whole multitude were filled with great admiration to sée such extraordinarye prowesse betwéene the two knightes but Brusanus comforting himselfe with the equitie of his cause discharged soe mightie a blowe at the head of Arcadius that not-with-standing his helmet was forged of so fine stéele that no sworde might pearce it yet the weight of the stroke was such that it brought Arcadius into such amasement that he tumbled from his horsse and fell downe dend to the ground where at the