espie him hee powred forth his plaintes and vttered these wordes folowing Alas Narbonus what a Metamorphists art thou made and how can thy tongue expresse the inward greefe of thy hart Can thy tongue vnfolde the miseries thou art fallen into or thy hart imagine the tormentes thou sustainest the one were an endles toyle and the other without the compasse of my capassitie First the death of thy Father and the losse of so good a freend the memory wherof hath taken so déepe roote in my hart as I shall neuer put it out of my stomacke whose fatherly affections and whose entire loue were so great as any coulâ— wish and as much as any one could imagine whose carefull cogitations were alwayes on my well dooinge and whose minde was often mooued with my lyfe to come How great had been thy happinesse hadst thou accompanied him to the graue and how fauourable had béene thy fortune hadst thou departed when hee dyed Were he now here to wayle my want and to beare a parte in this my perplexed passion whose Ghost to awaite on would my soule were set to watch on as I vnfortunate wretch am ouerwearied with watching though nolente and as my soule is like to be drowned in dispaire with the memory of forepassed things though against my will Can the tender trée the earth taken from the roote grow gréene any longer and can Narbonus the sustainer of his life detained liue any longer Can the fléeting fishe liue out of the wallowing water can the flickering foule flye without his winges to beate the weather Can Narbonus liue not hauinge bread to sustayne his hunger and can I prosper not hauing any foode to feede on no no I must pine in penury weare away my dayes in misery leaue my life in my lustinesse and die in the best time of my sprouting beautie O had I stayed still at Wittenberge yet how can I wish my soule more harme the originall of my sorowes and the prime of my penalty the beginninge of my bitternes the first of my friuolous fortune My Unckle forsooth would vnneathes procure mee thyther vnder pretence of my profit where I spent all that was lefte mée and consumed away my liuinge there began my want and here will end my misery there Fortune began to frowne and here shee will spit her spite This was the affection of my Unckle and this the proud pleasure of his mightie minde Had I stayed still in the Countrey and had I not come to Wittenberge my goods had béene encreased and my lyuinge augmented where now my patrimony is spente and I like here to pine But doost thou vniustly condemne thy deare Unckle and vnaduisedly blame thy faithfull fréend whose health dependeth vpon thy hap and whose goods consist vpon thy well dooinge O were these my miseries manifested vnto him or he acquainted with the greatnes of my distres some meanes would be wrought to sustayn my want some subtil shift deuised to helpe my calamity Hee tolde me my chéere would be cold my lodging would séeme hard my dainties not many but my dauÌ„gers plenty which I haue proued by experieÌ„ce though he spake but by heresay Had my God béen so contented my life might haue lasted no longer nor I sustained more misery but the other day bin slaine with my companions left my life wher they got their deaths But I was preserued to a farther incoÌ„uenieÌ„ce my life proloÌ„ged to a greter mischéefe the spaniel is far happier theÌ„ I the barking dog in better case then my selfe for they are rewarded for their brawlinge but I like to sterue for my good seruice O how happy are these creatures whose bellies are alwayes filled with grasse and whose paunches haue euer that suffiseth their hunger who feede them selues fatte and then are slayne but I am likely to dye beeinge but carion and to pay my raunsom béeing no faire flesh My Unckles seruauntes thinke much to take a little toyle to feede on what they list and thinke they are wronged in labouring for their vittailes where the worst morsel they haue would preserue my life and the least péece of bread prolonge my dayes can death it selfe bée worse then this nay how can it bee so bad if death were layd in my dish my woes would quickly ende and were my destinies now ended my miseries would grow no farther O had God giuen man that secrecy to ende his daies when hee would or had hee graunted him that liberty to cut a sunder the thread of his life when it pleased him should my life then be prolonged one houre and my dayes not ended at this instant But Fidelia in what place resteth thy sweet soule and where now is thy delicate body Thou once sawest mee dying but now shalt shortly heare that I am dead would now thou wert here to hasten my death and to giue mee that ende which is my due to dispatche my bloominge breath and to holde my heauy head to wipe these teares from off my moyst eyes and to close them vp after my Ghoste is once gone O Fidelia had my hap beene so good I might haue séene thee againe and challenged thee for my owne or had fortune béene so fauourable I might haue inioyed thy company the happiest in the world Had my harte foreseene this and my minde imagined these â—aungers I would haue barked like the Dogge in his kennell and lurked like the Foxe in his hole I would haue lyen close like the Lyon in his denne and beene hidden like the Bee in the Honny combe But my carckinge was on my credite and my boasting on my brauery O Fidelia could I haue had but one farewell before my departure and one kisse to haue caried to my graue thou the most faithfull I the vnfaithfullest thou the most freendly I the vnfreendlyest thou the most louing I the most vnloyall could not I recouered the Countrey so might I had thy companie could not I that way gayned thy good graces and found thy fréendly fauoure where now banished thy presence and bereaued of thy sight I once embraced thy body and once kissed thy swéete face and once should haue gotten the heauenlyest thing in this world and once woonne thée for my wedded wife But seeing my simple seruice could not be séene in this my lingering life my death shal make it manifest to all the world and my soule in despight of fortune shall awayte on thy blessed body I die to thinke that some vnworthie shall possesse thée and feare that one which not deserueth so pretious a iewell shall weare thée knew I by what meanes to present thée my heart the most loyall in this Kingdome of Spayne no other shoulde haue the bestowing of it but thy sweete selfe nor any other buy it but thy heauenly hands The Théefe hath his deserued hire and the Traytour for his treacherie punished with payne would God I were the one or could not escape the other But why do I
way then on that side now on this dish then on that deuice now she marked the place where Narbonus sate and then the spoone he eate withall now the cup he drancke of and then the trencher he was carued vpon now she remembred his dancing and then his dalying now his parling and last of all his departing hir eyes ranne in euery place and she eate as much as would suffice a Sparow she thought that supper longest of any that euer she was at when hir dinner was foure times so long The Table therefore taken vp and hir obediēce done to hir father she departed to hir Chamber thinking to banish these toyes lying on hir soft bed and resting hir head on hir comfortable pillow but no sooner laid but assailed in like maner as before then séeing no sléepe would enter into hir eyes and that perforce she must yeeld to hir fancie she vttered these words folowing to hir selfe in like maner as ensueth The toyle is set to take the Déere the hooke to hang the Fish the trappe to begile the Mouse the limetwigge for the Bird the net for the Foxe and was not Narbonus thē a sufficiēt baite to take so simple a mayd as my selfe how should I auoid it or how should I not be taken that haue already yéelded and neuer striued to make my flight hauing yéelded my selfe prisoner abādoned my body to the enimies courtesie no doubt but my life shall be redéemed without ransome and frée libertie yéelded at my entreating as if thy life were at his courtesie and thou receyuest thy death without his loyaltie But why denyedst thou him at the first motion and didst not graunt when he offered thée so faire to yéeld at the first sight had bin the part of a light huswife and yet in making deniall I feare his life be denied him where the Towne is yeelded at the first assault there are but fainthearted Souldyours and had Fidelia consented at the first demanding he might haue iudged me common that Colte that will take the bitte at the first manacing is likely to proue but a iade and the Tassell reclaimed at the first lure will proue but a Haggard in the ende and had Fidelia condiscended at the first request he would surely imagined hir a Strumpet after drouping cloudes the Sunne breaketh out into a blaze after my soure sauce he should haue had swéete suger the frost lasteth but in the night and in the day the thaw commeth my heart was not so frosen nor my mind so congealed but had the Sunne of sufferance stayed a tide or the heate of his desire bidden the brunt of his bargaine but it would melt like waxe and thaw like Snow the grasse must haue a night to grow and I one day to loue But as the ill fauoured Horse séemeth fattest in his maisters eye so séeme I most faire that do best féede his fancie and as the grounde sheweth rich in the maisters sight when but barren in the eye of another man so doth my face please his fauoure although he dislike anothers feature yes doubtlesse my triall is too true and my proofe too playne but loyaltie is my life and chastitie my choyce if I leaue the one I can not liue with the other Lucretia mighte haue dissembled hir rauishmente and so saued hir life had she yéelded she had not bin forced and had she not bin forced she might haue condiscended and in yéelding procured the death of him that caused the losse of hir owne life but as she yéelded to lust so did she also yéelde to death she dyed why should I liue and had not she died should not I therfore dye yes surely and dye I would but for doing him seruice whose health wil cause me to liue in happines whose death wil cause me to die in desperatenesse Alas how I fade how I fall how I looke how I lacke how I loue how I like how I dying faint for feare how I fainting am readie to fall to remēber his wanne face with his pale lippes his cold chéeks with his staring eys his dying head lolling down my hand held hard in his fingers with my heart in his habitatiō which I could willingly consented should haue departed with his yet durst I not bewray my thoughtes yet durst I not crie yet durst I not scritch yet durst I not complaine outwardly yet durst I lament inwardly did I not quake did not my heart droupe yes surely I would not haue liued to his losse nor die to his hinderance I thinke he would neither request the one nor desire the other he fell like the blossome faded like the floure he died like the Daisie fainted like as a babe sléepeth he dyed like the cōdemned that layeth his head on the blocke and dieth before the blow come but Narbonus dyed before he had his condemnation pronounced he dyed betwéene thy armes in thy lappe When the Rose is blowē to the full it falleth frō the stalke but Narbonus died before he came to the ful perfection and yéelded before his life was in dāger But reape vp thy remēbrance pull vp thy sprights did not these hāds stay him falling and these eyes behold him recouering these eyes indéede and these handes but from such holdings God graunt I be deliuered and from such sights defended Could I blush to sée my owne heart bloud or could I languish to sée my life linger for the graue could I wéepe to wāt the greatest welfare in this world or could I lament to behold so pitiful a tragedie In séeing thee despaire I saw my owne death and in seeing thee breathlesse I saw my owne bane in seeing thee pine I saw my greatest paine and in seing thee go to the graue I saw my selfe giuing vp the ghost Could Phillis hang hir selfe and couldest not thou kil thy selfe could Andromeda dreame so pitifully and canst not thou bewaile thy fancie as lamentably could Prolixena prolong hir life after the losse of hir louer and canst thou draw forth thy dayes thy desires being detained could Bacchir bath hir selfe in the boule of hir bloud and canst thou blesse thy selfe in the beatitude of thy bargaine was Dido content to die the death for yeelding to the deapth of hir desires and canst not thou be content to sacrifice thy soule for the satisfactiō of that swéete Saint But how did he withdraw himselfe out of my danger and how faded his face from my fancie with heauie cheere and with moorning melodie with mestfull ioy and with little iolitie though he came in the common Cockes path yet went he home by weeping crosse how did he looke when he badde me farewell and what a countenance he did cast on me most sorowful O those eyes his eyes Narbonus eyes nay my eyes my weeping eyes the eyes of Fidelia were they not mine yet he gaue them me but where then are they my hearte harboureth them I beare them in my brest But
why would not hee haue consented or happely haue graunted my request I might haue gained his grace or wonne his willing will I might haue found such fauourable fréendship and haue gained my desired wish to haue had his company inioyed his presence to laude his comfortable wordes and giuen eare to his sweete sayinges more swéet then Suger and more holesome then Honny more satiable then the tollerable tongue of Tullie more acceptable then the vauntinge verses of Virgill And did not hee doubt of the consent of my Father and was fearefull of his agreement for that olde men are froward and wayward testy and doting who thinke the absence of their children for a time will bréede their euerlastinge farewell and which most delighteth vs seemes most vnsauery to them But how couldst thou brooke the Seas that neuer tasted the sowces of the waltringe waues or how couldst thou indure the waters that neuer was acquainted with the tossinges of those sorowfull Surges thy body may bee so contrary to away with the nature of the Seas and thy sences so impatient with the qualities of the Waues as thy life may bee in daunger and thy death pronounced If so thy life be lost or thy soule sinke into the Sandes who will there bewaile thee or what freendes will make moane what company will follow thy Hearce or who will sing thy Dirges who wil beare thy Coffin or who will dig thy Graue who wil intombe thee or who will wrap thee in Leade who will write Uerses in the praise of thy person or will erect a Monument in honour of thy fidelitie Alas the colde waters must be thy Graue and the Mermaydes must wayle and lament in stead of thy stately Tomb where thou shouldst lye whole and sound the fléeting Fishes will now teare and mangle thee where thou shouldst haue béene imbaulmed with swéet perfumes the flowinge floods must wash and make thee cleane I pray Narbonus that thy boone be not so bad and wish thy hap bee not so yll and if thou haue escaped the rigour of the Rockes and auoyd the beatinge of the Billowes is not thy daunger afterwardes great and thy penaunce then as much pronounce Yes for the Spaniard is proude so is he stately he is haughty so is hee arragant hating thy health and loathing thy liberty not crauing thy company and flying thy fréendship flatteringe thy welfare and laughinge at thy losse contemninge thy courtesie and péeuishly requitinge thy painfull pilgrimage At euery wry looke mooued against thée for euery crosse conceit séeking to displeasure thee maintaining malice or procuring some mischiefe cockred in carnall conceyts dandled in daungerous delightes alwaies repining at thy pleasure and euer more vituperating thy welfare If thou talke with him hée is as testy froward as may bee if thou vse any conference so contrary and crosse as thou wouldst not imagine if thou walke with him in the stréetes or also in the Church thou must turne as hée turneth otherwise hee will imagine thou disdaynest him and so shalt purchace his displeasure thou must talke to answere him directly though he speak neuer so contrary thou to please his patience he to mooue thy humour thou to make him merry hee to make thee weepe thou to fauour his fancy hee to offende thee frowardly if thou séeme contented vnles to gayne his gratulation hee is then offended thinkinge thou vsest some pretence to displease his person If in familiar talke thou vnwittingly wrest out some waywarde worde or vnwillingly speake which thou wouldst not hee will straight chalenge the combat and soone offer thee to fight which excepte thou seeme as willinge to perfourme as hee is ready to offer thou art no Cocke of the Game therefore thy combe shall be cutte But if happely thou thus escape and agrée well with them what afterward will become of thee or how canst thou digest this coare when thou shalt bee forced to march all the day in thy heauy armour and at night to looke thy lodginge amongst the Dogges ◠There the longe grasse if fortune fauour thee so wel may bee thy softe feather bed or some straw if thou canst get any thy quiet Couche thy Boulster some turfe of the ground and thy sheetes not very faire for that they are alwayes at thy backe thy coueringe colde excepte thy bargayne bee the better thy Chamber not stately but a house for a Swine marchinge thou shalt bee hindred with Hayle and sowced with Snowe bitten with the Froste and nipped with blastes frozen in the flawes and troubled with winde and weather When thou shalt turne thy face vp to Heauen or looke a little vpwarde all these droppinge on thee and all these runninge downe thy skirtes how happye then was thy home and how blessed thy Unckles House Alas will the remembraunce of these thoughts reuiue thee nay will they not terrifie thee then shalte thou bee thrust out into euery skirmish euermore be the first that shal goe forth at euery false Alarum disquieted of thy rest and at euery péece discharged in the night thou must run to the Trench there must thou watch at thy Warde and stand thy sentinell bee one in the still watch or walke thy Round Then shalt thou be the first that shall fight because thou art a raw Souldiour and the foremost that shall enter at the Breach because thou shalt be made expert And if by good happe thou escape all these daungers and bee hurte with none of these harmes that litle money spente that thou cariedst with thee and thy purse pennylesse then shalt thou be ready to sterue with hunger and like to faint with thirst and steale there thou maist not for Martiall Law is straightly executed and begge thou canst not for none will reléeue thee for euery trifle thou shalte gayne the yll will of thy Captayne and for euery small offence thy life shall bee in daunger when perhaps thou shalte bee better borne then him selfe and thy courage not inferiour to his Going into the Féeld some dastardly dotard or cowherdly sotte shall get that by chaunce and gaine by good hap which thou with great daunger of thy life and duetifull seruice shall neuer obtaine nor at any time bee in likelyhood For is not this saying sooth the Prouerb too true The more foole the better fortune For did not that carpet Knight kill by chaunce that noble Achilles whose force to haue frowned on him the other beeinge presente or whose lookes to haue lowred he being néere him would feare the other to frame one frowarde face or caused him to vsed one contrarie countenance the one lasshed with his launce the other laid on load with his Lute the one a notable Captaine the other a Courtly Carpeter the one a litle practised by pollicy the other tried by strēgth yet his hap was to giue the gleeke the others chaunce to bide the bitter bargaine So may fortune frowne on thee nay so will it not defie
héere vnto all furies O infamous agonie and superexcellente calamitie would to God my soule would now yéelde the last gasp of this liuing life and I woulde that at this instant the executioner helde the axe ouer my head to cut it off if it were but one death to be taken prisoner I would of purpose go to yéeld my selfe but I know not how many deathes I shal die and stil liue liue I alas liue dying and yet not die whose case is so hard that in staying héere I die in going abroade to refresh my body I must more thaÌ„ die yet in staying héere my lingering life may weare to some end in going foorth more than death shal be my destinie In going to séeke reliefe in our owne Camp and aske there of our owne Souldiours the greeuous gronings of those afflicted the lameÌ„table coÌ„playnings of these infected pittifully crying help help yet none helpeth nor any succoureth them some lye cryinge and some sprawlinge some struglinge and some striuing to dye would terrifie I thinke the stoutest stomacke liuing and affray the stongest hart that hath béene knowen to beholde some pittifully lyinge vpon the ground and some beating their bellies against the earth some bouncinge them selues with their fistes others lyinge with their faces vpward some tearing their heares others scratching their faces some wresting their mouthes to speake but cannot some holdinge vp their handes sayinge misery misery the stenche of some so stronge and the sauour so horrible as I often wonder that I am not infected and many times meruaile that I am not incensed but hee that doubteth not death dreadeth not any daunger To see these pittifull sighes and to heare them calling meate meate and others drinke drinke and others helpe helpe others I die I dye and others kill mee kill mee and others stop my breath stop my breath and others close my eies what harte so harde or what stomacke so stonye what minde but would bee mooued to pittie and what soule but would giue some succour to heare them so pittifully complayne and so lamentably lament thinking to come neare to giue them some succour or imagininge to take holde on them to helpe them vp the smell is so terrible and the sauour so horrible that had a man the harte of Hercules or were a man amongst the puddels of Caron he could not féele a greater stinke nor helpe them any other way some sprawling out of their Cabins and some creepinge vpon all foure some tumbling out on their backes and others offering to goe fall downe againe Others goe réelinge tottering forward they know not them selues whether and others fall sodaynly downe and neuer rise againe But alas how shall I succour others that cannot helpe my selfe a blinde man may as well giue an eye to another or the cripple giue him a leg that is sound Should I say O mors quam amara nay rather O mors quam iucunda But who staieth the Tide and hath not his passage and who tarieth till the houre bee ended and heareth not the clocke strike O that I had a Glasse to beholde the feature of my face or that my picture were now drawen and conueyed to my fréendes would they know mee or would they saye it is his face would they say it resembleth the picture of such a one or would any say it is the counterfayt of Narbonus would Fidelia say it is the face of my beloued or would Phemocles say it is the picture of my faythfull fréende no they coulde not know mee nor tell whom it resembleth But if they did know mee could they send me reléefe or if they had seene it could they succour mée could they giue mee a playster for my wound or could they minister Phisicke for my weake body Yes if not all faythfull yet some woulde prooue loyall if not all true yet some would bée trustie But yet thou mayest be deceiued of thy imagination and made frustrate of thy purpose The longest grasse groweth not on the highest Hill and the tall Ceder trée beareth no good fruite the fairest face may bee found full of fraude and in the gréenest grasse lurketh the vilest Serpent thou diddest neuer trie them how then canst thou trust them thou diddest neuer prooue them how art thou then certaine thou neuer hadst experience how then canst thou make boast The Eagle is the fairest bird yet is shée filthy meate the faire Faulcon delighteth thee to holde her on thy fiste yet is shee no dishe of seruice the Lyon the goodliest of all other Beastes yet no meate for thy eating If thou giue iudgement by lookes thou maiest liue by losse if thou ioy in faire faces thou maist be mocked in their foule fashioÌ„s if thou reioyce in swéet words thou maiest mistake them then soure sauces are better doost thou not often sée a rusty Rapier in a painted shèathe and a goodly purse filled with counters vnder braue apparrell often walketh a botched body in a braue body may bee a defiled soule the swéet muske is not pleasaunt to eate and the Lilly flowre hath no good tast the Nettle looketh gréen as other herbes the thistle beareth a faire blossom experience teacheth thée thy owne reason should cause thee conceiue so much As faith is flickering so are fréends â—ained if I had the wit of Themistocleâ— the experience of Phillip I might bée deceiued in the one mistooke in the other Caine offered fréendly to talke with his brother Abell then slue him and Iudas kissed Christ before hee betraied him Thou louest them dearely but art not certaine they fauour thée hartely they may speake thée faire yet flatter falsely professe the fauouring of thy fortune yet repine at thy prosperity that Crocadile wheÌ„ she hath caught a man first wéepeth then deuoureth him the Cat first culleth the Mouse before she eate him the Fly trusteth the blaze of the candell till she is burnt and the olde dog playeth so longe with the whelpe till hee bite him when the Lyon is full gorged the other beastes play before him but when hee beginneth to roare they all hide them selues or run out of his sight Let the simplicitie of small thinges make thy wit grow greater happy are thy freendes for they liue in prosperity but vnfortunate is Naâ—bonus who pineth in aduersitie looking long agaynst the sunne will make a man blinde for a time and I with lookinge on my beloued was depriued of my fences my longe lookinge lyked mee to loue and my louinge hath loste mee my lyberty But vnfortunate doost thou condemne thy fréends and blame her who lyked thee beste who preferâ—ed thee beefore any other and who lyked thy loue but regarded not thy lyuinge who imbraced thy behauiour and marked not thy rytches who tooke pleasure in thy wisedome and wayed not thy wealth who honoured thy health and cared not for thy coyne Caste therfore these imaginations from thee and deâ—e away these doubtes bee
their displeasures and do my selfe small profite the best is but badde yet my selfe can not make the worst better yet beautie the more it is discommended the greater desire a man hath to behold it and a good thing mixed with that whiche is more vile maketh a better shewe Venus seemed most fayre of fauoure when the blacke bearde of Vulcane was alwayes with hir is not the Rose neatest that groweth amongst nettles the coulour of white most perfect paynted vpon a blacke grounde But as all is not Golde that glistreth nor all Siluer that shineth so cache painted portrature prooueth not the purest nor euerye sauce that is sauourest the most wholesomest the sower broath doth as well comforte the stomacke as the sweete sugre séemeth pleasant in the tast the choise of friends are so changeable and the estate so vnstayed of such yong nouices as my selfe that thynking to gayne the greatest treasure I may finde but rusty iron and deluing for the good gold may get but couloured copper whome should I choose my companions when the highest are out of my reach and the lowest stande vpon the tearmes of their vertues to atteyne the touching of the Skyes with my finger I shoulde be counted very foolishe and so base as to goe into Hell the mind of a miserable man then the earth is the onely place of my estate and the seate to proue the penaltie of my fortune the highest things haue the greatest fall but he that goeth on the grounde can fall but to the earth and falling no farther may easily rise agayne Where you will me to vse your house as my owne home your habitation as my proper mansion and your goodes as my owne golde the greatest thing to requite youre courtesie and the most that I can giue you is thankes for your goodnesse and obedience for youre desarte the one I giue you so franckly as I am able to offer as for the other where my doinges shall bee founde contrary to your desarts I pray to be rewarded with shame and to be dealte withall according to my doublenesse pleaseth it you therfore to be some stay vnto me and a helper to maynteyne my poore portion the best I thinke fitte my calling and the likeliest I sée to be any preferment to my estate is to apply the studie of the law and to practise it so speedely as may be Wittenberge hath the name for good Sudentes and the better Schollers the likelyer I soonest to atteine the perfection of my studie and the effect of my purpose pleaseth you therefore to furnish mee with necessaries and to prouide for my wantes my long absence shall not procure my penaltie nor the driuing off the time a hynderance to my studies The good old man Henricus his Unckle was as glad to heare his wise answers as hee was afterwards sory for his lewde behauiour and as well contented to furnish him with all necessaries as afterward moued to beholde his carelesse life he therefore furnished him with all necessaries whatsoeuer and prouided so well for his iourney as himselfe desired After a few courteous gratulations and swéete embracings with sugred wordes as the common course of custome is Narbonus committed hys Unckle to the gouernance of God and himselfe to the fauour of the faire fields and pleasant pathes nowe is our yong youth in the worne way to Wittenberge and féeling the hard trotting of his Horsse our Lady be his spéede and send him as delectable a passage as he is a morously minded When sundry cogitations assayled hym and many vain fansies flew before his face which were not so quiclie come but as suddainelie faded againe flattering hymselfe with this conceyte and then drowned in desire with some other quite contrarie but amongst other thoughtes that assayled him and deuises that troubles him he vttered these words to himselfe Alas Narbonus how wyll God now deale with thée for other friendes héere thou shalt hardly find first depriued of my good mother the speciall friend of my prosperitie and the only worker of my weale whose secure care in wishing me well was as much as nature coulde giue for the loue of the mother is alwayes greater than the good will of any other friende and great reason why it should be so for that hir trauel is the greatest in bringing it to the world hir care is also the most in preseruing and nourishing it to the best motion of hir minde and bringing it vp most obedientlye in the feare of God and dutifully towards all others whatsoeuer and had I but retayned hir my griefe should haue bin the lesse and my sorrowes not so many but the destinies had so appoynted it why then shoulde my consente be wanting and my willing mynde absente in anye respecte then lost I my Father by whome I enioy these small possessions and little reuenewes to maynteyne my poore estate God sende me no moe suche fyndings nor gyue me suche windfalles hys care of my prosperitie was not small though my disobedience towardes hym were greate hys great desire that he had of my mayntenance and the little dutie I shewed thereforeâ— his secure care in bringing me vp in learning and good ciuilitie and as little regarde on my parte to fulfill hys commaundementes and the last wordes that hée spake to me when afterwarde I neuer sawe hym open hys mouth more were that I shoulde be busie with my Bookes and plye them as my most perfect patrimonie for thy Bookes sayde hée will yeelde thee heauenlye knowledge as for all other thynges they are but â—aâ—thly and therefore full of vanitie whyche wordes come nowe into my remembrance and happened by chance into my head appoynted I thinke of God as a meane to helpe me forwarde and a motion to make my desire the greater therefore my good wyll shall not bee founde any way negligenâ—e nor my mynde to bée moued with anye other delight And nowe haue I lost the residue of my friendes and departed the â—ighte of all my olde companyons whose sights whylest I enioyed was comfortable and their felowshippe fauourable perhappes they wyll enquire of me and hearing of my departure seeme sorowfull or elâ—e wisshe me well but what gayne I by that or happely desire my safe returne but in the meane time theyr sighte is absente and out of sighte wyll in tyme hée also out of mynde seldome séene is soone forgotten and once gone and neuer remembred whyche I knowe not to bee more sooth than sure more common than true more often spoken than alwayes perfourmed somewhat I knowe by my owne nature and my imagination can not bee but true the deathe of my Father was so greeuous at the firste and my lamenting so vntollerable as if my Soule shoulde haue forsaken my Bodye or my life lefte the habitation where it dwelte but time maketh me almost not remember hys fauoure and thys long tyme since hathe caused mée forgette almost anâ—ethyng that euer hée dyd shall not my companye hée then
there will grow others gréene in their places A little breach in the wall may bee manned to defende a certaine space but the whole wall downe no remedie will giue rescue a cutte vpon a mans legge may be healed vp againe but hit at the heart naught ensueth but present death but too late comes rescue whē the field is rendred and not in sufficient time is the man at the gate when the Horsse is out of the pasture too late commeth the pardon when the théefe is hanged and too late the clubbes when the fray is parted too late it is to pleade when iudgemente is giuen and away with the Phisition when the man is dead But I weare my words in vaine and talke to my selfe the houre is past when the clocke hath stricken and now too late to call backe yeesterday I make strong reasons if happely they doe anye thing auayle but in that there is no remedie against forepassed faultes and recording of offences doe but weare away the time vse heereafter your selfe more honestlye and I will not vtterly reiecte you learne to bridle youre affections and content your selfe with so much as is sufficient your appetite and forget this boulstering in brauery for not to any purpose serueth it but to thy discredite and my shame Your yeares I confesse are yong and the gouernment of your self but small your weakenes therfore shall bee borne withall in hope of your amendment My will is therfore that you make your repaire home with speede and spend no time in musinge vpon matters of nothing meane while my prouision shal be prepared for your comminge and what you wante shall bee necessarily prouided Thus for all my sharpe sawces I wish you swéete Suger and after your melancholy meat pleasant Pilles for in reproouing your vices I fauour your welfare and if I cared not for you I would not haue spoken one worde for though I caste you a bone to bite on yet would I not haue you choked and though I haue vsed seuerity in my sayinges yet wish I you no cruelty in my dooinges which you shall try by my goodnes and acknowledge by the effect of my dooinges so your manners be reformed in an other kinde of order your dealings prooue more benificiall to your selfe of greater credit towards mee Hasten your iourney and poste with spéede Farewell by your louinge Vnckle Henricus at his house in Vienna NArbonus hauinge read the Letter and wayinge the effect of the contents his eyes burst sodainely into a fountaine of teares makinge a litle riuer vpon his watery cheekes looking vpon him selfe as vncertaine whither the Letter were presented him from his Unckle or that it were but the flying fancy of some dreame but perceiuinge it to be true in déede and no deceiuinge deuice that beguiled him hée wept so bitterly as a man may immagine Peeter did for his Maister so fast the teares ran from him and the gréefe was greater then the anguish of him that receiueth iudgement or hath his condemnacion pronounced against him to yéeld to the torments of death or to pay his life a ransom for all wicked dooings his hart did so languish his yll hap and lewde life and his soule lamented his froward fate daungerous destiny as if no pardon should acquited him or any raunsome set him frée his soule for a season in an extasie and his minde so amazed as if in lamenting hee should haue died and in dyinge made some attonement for his sinnes such was the extremitie of his passion and so greate the gréefe of this new receaued Letter for his conscience was guilty and therfore yeelded to the force of his fancy ledde as it were by a legion of resolucions which way to take or what was best be done but in the end perceiuing his own folly and musing at his madnes in that children doo cry and Women wéepe not men to complaine in such order or lament with the léesing of a few teares but should bridle vp their affections and moderate their maladies in such order as their wéepinge will neither auayle in their demeanes nor teares bée any testimony of their trecherous toyes his thoughtes altogeather inflamed with fury and his minde mooued with the measure of his malady vttered these wordes to himselfe and spoke as foloweth And is it true Narbonus that thy Unckle hath dealt with thee after thy dooings and rewarded thee according to thy workes and if hee doe so is it more then I merit or other then my desertes are no trust mée nor so much for were it so how could I euer looke vpon him agayne could my heart haue power or my lippes bee so bolde to craue a thinge so vnreasonable or to aske that which in conscience I cannot desire his pardon to bee graunted which will not be denyed durst I attempt it or put it in practise whose care hath beene so comfortable and ayde fo assistaunt in all these my doubtfull dealinges and desperate desasters how shall I vtter one sweet word no it will bee so sowre as he will hardly digest it can I imagine any collusion to cloake my craft withal or frame any excuse to hide my folly Why had I not been called I had staied in the Countrey and not come to Vienna but my callinge was for commoditie and willed for my welfare but being informed of my wanton life was wished to spende my time more honestly but I was sente to Wittenberge to learne the Law and to profite my selfe in learninge but my sendinge was not to learne wit of a Woodcocke or wisedome of him that knoweth not what it meaneth but I was sente like a Trauailer therfore my expences the greater but my lyuing should haue bin like a Cittizen and so my credite beene made larger but had I not beene caused I had consented but the choyce was mine owne and the refusall was in my making but had I not bin exhorted I had stayed at home in the Countrey and had I stayed at home my lyuing had not béene lost but mine was the consente and mine the motion mine the demaundinge and mine the requestinge mine the wishing to obtaine therfore mine must be the blame and mine the shame and mine the repentaunce for none shall smart but my selfe nor any feele the foyle but hee that began the battaile The spending of my lyuinge hath prooued mee a lewde loyterer and the losing of my lands a right Abbey lubber first I should haue gotten and then fréely spent first spare then vsed first gayned and then gratified first found franckely and then laid on liberally But caitiffe that I am and most wretched amongst other infortunate now I speake what I should done nowe what my pretence might haue béene nowe I speake my minde that it is to late and vtter what before was to bee remedied And why could not my estate be stayed as before and my dooing dealt in so good order as before they were now shall my owne rod bee the remedy
where art thou now Narbonus and in what place resteth thy bestraughted life if safe I not sad if merie I glad if helthy theÌ„ am I hole if sicke I sorie but my diuining may bréede my decay my bewailing procâ—re my woe for though he fainted did he fall for me and though he laÌ„guished did he lament for me though he soothed me sweetely he may vse me as sourely and though he praysed me passingly yet may he hate me hartely though he looked earnestly yet may he loue me slenderly for some sullen sicknes was the cause of his sounding some old foistring disease did begin againe to renew his wonted course he faynted for feare rather thaÌ„ feared my fauour he that was before sicke how could he be then sound and he that was before infected how could he heere be healed why do I not then reiect him and remoue him out of my mind his fancie shall not breede my feare nor his fauour begile my feature I wil roote out his remeÌ„brance burne the bil wherewith I bid the bargaine his heart shal be out of my habitatioÌ„ my liberty not detained with his loue let him looke some other louer and finde some fitter fréend prooue some other Préest and parley with some other Prelate trye some other more trusty and loue some other more loyall know some other more kinde and serue some other more faithfull the surest will proue but sowre and the swéetest but sawce thou hast deuined right Fidelia and spoken but the very truth bid therfore thy carefull bed adue and write to him of his wanton wiles in séekinge to mollifie so modest a mayden as my selfe and to mingle such mischéefe to so vnfained a fréend as Fidelia then shée lefte her carefull couch and gan to write as foloweth ANd couldest thou for my so great courtesie requite mée with a congratulatioÌ„ of periury although I loked on thée yet lusted I not after thee and though I daunced with thee yet was I not bereft of my honesty thou hast wooed in Wittenberge some wantons wedded to thy wiles and thou lookest here in Vienna to lure mee to thy luste but alas thou castest thy baites in a dry Ditch and if any bite they will prooue but Frogges Is this one of thy Schoole trickes and this thy lesson learned so earnestly to carrye two heades in one hoode and two faces in one bodye two tongues in one mouth and two hartes in so little a lumpe of fleshe No no goe fishe amongst foolish Fryers and singe thy Sirens songes amidst the fellowship of Flora I would thou knewest Diana is my Mistresse and for such cutters as thy self they come not in our crue I am one of those which haue vowed vestality as for thy lyking thou maist séeke the layety of Layis goe finde out some flirt to bestow thy frumpes on make loue to some Lozell like to thy self O how thou wouldest die forsooth and leade Apes in Hell thou diddest fainte because I lowred and thou wouldst sell thy soule because I would not make sale of my honesty did I hold thee by the hand when thou dyinge saydst and if no and so diddest fall fainting But out alas Fidelia And with those wordes the teares flowed downe her face and her head ran round shée knew not how her sences were drowned with dispaire and her soule sanke softly to the ground for shee slept seeâ—ely for a sâ—asoâ— and dreamed not of any her desires who then had beheld her would haue thought her life had been â—led to Limbo Lake her soule gone to wander amongst the infernal ghostes But when she returned to her former imaginacions and had fully possessed the freedome of her selfe marualliâ—ge what shee had doone and into what place shée had â—eene transported began to gaze on the walles and to stare on euery place then shee beheld her bed and mused whither it were her owne or not then erecting her body vpon hir fallen féete and turninge to her window looked on other thinges then seeing her glasse looked into it wherâ— perceiuinge her watry eyes and her bubbles â—héekes her haire about hâ—r face and her head so out of order was rauished to know the cause and amazed at thiâ— sight theâ— leaning on the side of her window and turning her selfe to the other part shee sawe Paper scribled on and Inke standing by it wherat catching hastily shee red the effect of the prescript where seeing her owne folly and sorowfull for that was done shée began againe so lamentably to lamente and so bitterly to wéepe as though her soule should no longer haue liued in this painefull pilgrimage and as if shâ—e would at that instant forced her selfe to die then taking the paper written on shee rent euery peece and euery parcell euery worde and euery letter which her imaginacion did giue her to bewray any thing or her fancy thought would bee any way perceiued and in this outragious rigour shee spake these wordes Had this writing euer béene seene of any other but my selfe or beene red of any but mée vnfortunate wretch the hand that wrote it should haue been carued with as many cuttes as there were letters writteÌ„ the mouth that spake them should so haue beene rente as neuer to haue spoken any more as for the head that inuented it should neuer made mee such inuentions O Fidelia whither were thy wits wandred and into what place thy right sences seduced to deuise so madde a mistery and to inuente so diuelishe a deuice to preache so shamelesse a Sermon and to sound such Hellish harmony to that sweet Sainâ—t whose life is my lyuinge and without whom my carefull carkas shall prooue my peâ—â—ry in yeelding my soule into the body of him whom no one thing in this worlde is to mee so deare Therfore come happe come â—eauinesse come sorowing come â—olacinge come sorow come felicity come aduersity come Hagge come Hell come death come Diuell I will write to him my wéeping will and send the effect of my meaning let him take mée or let him turne mee away let him loue mee or let him hate mée let him accept mée or let him forsake mee the worst that can come is but death and I looke for no lesse neither doo I deserue more What care I if death ende my dayes and that my life bee now at the last cast so I may dye to serue him whom to enioye I would not feare to fetch the GouldeÌ„ Apples from the Dragon or to passe amidst the gulfe of Caribdes then shée tooke other Paper and began to write as followeth WHen as Narbonus thy fréendly face and louinge countenance presented the patterne of the perfectest picture yâ— Nature nourisheth or at the least the only forme that Fidelia honoureth I incensed with the light then pawsing a while and reading it ouer againe shée blotted it out and began a new Of all the humayne creatures that God wrought and of all the workes that hee made man hee framed after
in body and honour you with my heart And for my loialtie if it be not comparable to any that euer liued and my loue as much as any that euer breathed I pray héere from the bowels of my soule and from the inner part of my heart God the Iudge of all secretes the acknowledger of all thoughts to poure his plagues as thicke as Hayle and his punishments as plentifully as rayne and after the leauing of this life all the Hagges in Hell and al the Féends wheresoeuer with Fire to torment me and with their Forkes always to pursue my sinfull soule You iudged I am sure my inward griefe by my outward sorow when I was at your Fathers house and in the deapth of my dauncing and had I then ended my dayes and lost my life I should haue thought my happe comparable to any and inferiour to none wher now if I possesse not my desires nor obteine my felicitie my life wil be more lothsome my death not so acceptable stand not therfore vpō delayes neyther vse any lingering excuses pronounce eyther my happie felicitie or death my earthly destinie which if you giue me I shall as willingly I cā not speake more before you reply Sir Narbonus answered Fidelia your wordes are precise and very prestrict to answere your demaunds at the full and to reply in such order as you will me I stand amazed what to do and yet fully you must be reanswered you prefer my personage you say before al other earthly creatures and in doing so much if you perfourme what you say you do but your dutie and requite but my curtesie You loue me so well as euer wight was beloued and honour me as the habitation of your owne soule I will not say I loue you better nor that I honour you more which if you do not in euery respect perfourme and to the vttermost of your power seeke to mainteyne you wish to be punished with plagues and the Hagges of Hel to haunt you God guide you from them heereafter but whilest you are héere I hope to defend you You are content to sacrifice your soule for my sake and to haue your body suffer the torments of death in my behalfe the common saying is after you is maners but I will be first in this respect then vse your owne as you list My Fathers house you say was a signe sure ynough and that I saw your loue sufficiently well O Narbonus hadst thou then dyed or there lefte thy life thy Soule should not haue wandred without the felowship of faithfull Fidelia nor gone into the graue without the company of me thy most assured till death Thou willest me not to driue off with delay for that tomorrow bréedeth sorow know thou therefore Narbonus that Fidelia is vowed thy faithfull féere and thou the only Saint that I will serue and the barking of fearefull Cerberus in Hell or the gaping of that Dragon of Hesperia shall neuer cause me forsake thée or euer force me flie from thée the which to confirme somewhat more surely and to bind as we are willed with the bonds of amitie take héere my hand otherwise my heart shall seale me a spéedie pasport therefore giue me quickly my death or yeeld me the thing without the which I will neuer after this day behold the sunne or looke vp to Heauē which is thy swéete selfe and no other thing Narbonus you imagin or else do I quickly gaue hir his hand and would I thinke haue died in hir embracings had not the company bin there O faithfull Fidelia the fréendlyest that euer breathed and the swéetest that euer liued how am I rapt that earst was bestraughted and how reuiued that but now was at deathes dore am I in Heauen or do I holde my auntient habitation thy life my ioy and I will not liue but to die with thée nor die but to do thée seruice But Narbonus as I haue yéelded thée my life as thou louest me vse secrecie and hold thy hande on thy mouth til such time as our ioyes may be obteined at the full our mariage rites celebrated to the depth of our desires The rest of the cōpany had spent this time in pleasant talke now were set roūd togither where they al cōdiscended that euery mā shuld tell a pleasant tale to the which Narbonus was enuited and Fidelia willed to make vp the messe who came as ioyfully as they were requested earnestly it was alotted a Gentleman of the company should begin the other cōsequently to follow who began thus THere dwelt in Venice a Merchant whose credite caried some port and his word was worth much This yong youth longed belike to be in loue for in euery corner hée was wooinge séeking alwayes some one honest woman and sometimes amōgst the maidens of Flora he was moued too much with diuers honest mens daughters of great calling good behauior but none liked him or pleased his fancie but one of his owne choosing and not of any others Thus fed he his fancie now with this Dame then with that Damsell nowe louinge then lustinge now suing then seruing After this lawlesse life ledde by the space of certaine moneths and that he waxed wéerie of this diet he fell in loue with a manerly mayden as he thoughte but in déede such a one as was hired for euery mans siluer and set to sale at a certaine price and long it was ere he could get graunt of hir consent or winne hir to his Wife yet another man might haue borowed hir good cheape or at the least of an easie price she so flattered him to the will of his fancie and so bragged alwayes of hir honestie which he thought to be most true and that he had found some singuler péece and to make him beléeue the better of hir honestie and to thinke that she could not be but good she would hit him in the teeth with some one man of his profession or some woman so honest as hir selfe that had bin plagued for their wickednes and punished for their sinnes My maister Merchant thought hir pennie good Siluer and that there was no better hay in Denshire determined therefore to abide the brunt of this bargaine and to dispatch his mariage which ended and that he had certaine dayes vsed hir companie he suspected that which was so indéede and beléeued that whiche was so true as his Créede for he perceiued hir trickes and hir toyes hir becks and hir glauncings hir paynting and hir paltring and though it be a matter méerely mistrusted in Italy to conference and familiaritie of a mans Wife yet vsed she hir former fashions that way and denied not to talke with any but she had a wrong Sow by the tayle for that he was acquainted with these caruers before he therefore bewayled his vnfortunate wedding and wished it had neuer bin done but séeing no remedie that necessitie is lawlesse he determined to put away his Wife or
yet knoweth not who shall reape his profite or geather his grayne the Gardener grafteth his plantes and settteth his Hearbes proyneth them and wéedeth them cleane soweth them best for the Sunne and bestoweth them out of the shadow yet eateth not one Apple him selfe nor smelleth to one flower The Marchant maketh a masse of money and prepareth for his Marte furnisheth a ship and sendes her on the Seas yet knoweth hee not whyther hee shall enioye any of his Marchandize or euer see his fraught come home are not our dooinges manifest and our miseryes common our daungers not dayntye and our infelicitie plenty but happe what may come and let fortune do hir worst the worst is but death and the greatest but the losse of my life and in dying my soule may wayte on thée and my ghost follow thy fancie therefore Fidelia as you haue regard of your health and as you beare loyall loue vnto me comfort your aduersitie with consolation and assist your desperate desaster with the hope of spéedie returne for you may assure your selfe that my gaynecome shall be as speedie as is possible and my hast with so great desire as may be meane while I wish you all the ioyes that this lingering life can giue you and desire all the happinesse that this earthly pilgremage can affoord you Farewell the secret seruant of faithfull Fidelia THis Letter sealed with sorow and deliuered with danger he gaue to a man of his Uncles whose faith he credited and whose trust in other matters before he tryed The next day his Unckle had ocâ—asion to send him into the Countrey and to spéede him about some businesse not farre from the place where she lay nor greatly out of the way as she should go who glad to pleasure Narbonus and contente to perfourme his request strayned a little courtesie with his Maister and deliuered the letter Fidelia receyued the Letter and rewarded the seruant asking if it required answere or if naught but the deliuerie who answered not that he knewe of and saide none that he heard of The Seruant departed better pleased than she was afterward contented she therefore hasted to hir Chamber expecting some newes and posted to open it hoping for better then she found therein for there was that comforted hir like the pangs of death and that written which delighted hir like the Diuels daunce but reading it and pervsing it well she looked on hir aperne strings and hir minde was on hir maydenhead she construed euery worde and reconstrued euery letter sometimes she laughed though not hartelie sometimes shée wept but that bitterly now she imputed hirselfe the first of this follie and then she condemned him for a Traytour doing hir that iniurie now she lamented the departure of suche a friende and then she blamed his staying in the Towne now shee confessed that hée entirely loued her and dearely lyked her with the greatest affection and the most good will of any that loued or any that enioyed this worlde then she doubted his loyalty was not correspondeÌ„t to his property nor his loue so great but his lust was greater for theÌ„ would he haue deuised a thousand shifts to procured his staying and inuented a number of meanes to haue bidden at home Now she persuaded hir fancie to find no more fault and entreated hir desires to be content for purchasing hir libertie he woulde gaine his owne infelicitie and get his owne death rather than she shoulde be frustrated of hir wish then she wished hir wauering will to let fall those fancies and moued hir minde to banish those doubts to comfort hir selfe so well as she could and to take the matter as merrie as she might for that to say is not to do and to promise faire is not to perfourme plentie for he spared not for speaking but cared not for doing dayned not to promise but denyed to perfourme therfore his meaning was but to wrest his wanton will and so bid hir good night And this last presumption and fine imagination tooke such firme roote in the ground of hir heart that there it grewe so long as she liued and there it remained vntill she was buried for she stayed still vpon these poynts and had alwayes these sayings by the end to tarrie at home is cowardlike and to lurke in a corner the part of a dastard for said she had his loue bin so affectionate as his lust was outragious he would haue cropen in a bench hole before gon in such order and line in some darke corner before haue gone in such manner is it dastardlike and the parte of a momard in gaining a little credite and perhappes with losse of his life to leese the purest propertie in this life and to obteyne the onely felicitie in this worlde He was no dastarde for he durst deceyue so simple a mayden as my selfe neyther was hée a dotard for he could beguile me to whome he had plighted his faith but let him spurne at the Spanish péeces and trie them with their trumpeâ—ies as for my wooll it is but weatherbeaten yet too fyne for his wearing or too good for his handling are these thy swéete Cirenes songs are these thy paynted protestations to sell thy safetie to trust a Stranger and to bestow thy loue vpon some outlandish broode they that tryed thée must not first trust thee and shée that enioyeth thée must weare thée first a yeare about hir necke but who will weare thée that art not woorthie to be wedded and who will wedde thée that art more wanton than wise the Drumme sounds and thou must bée gone the Captayne calles and thou must away if Vienna haue neuer more wante then to lacke so lustie a Lubber as thy selfe nor neuer more distressed then being bereaft of so rancke a Rebell the Towne will neuer repente thy departure nor wish thy welcome home How happie is thy good Unckle depriued of such an vnthrift and how fortunate I Fidelia in forgoing so faithlesse a freend thy Unckle may ioy thy speedie posting and I be glad of thy happie hasting thy Unckle is well lightened of a licentious loyterer and I well deliuered from so false a flatterer But happie it was that my oare was stricken no farther in the bancke and blessed was I that my Torch was burnte no further fortunate was I that my Trée was not grafted fauourable was my felicitie that hée was in my hande but out of my hearte God graunt that I may as easilie remoue him as I was willing to entertayne hym but my warrante shall bée written with water and sealed with sauce put into the Paper of obliuion and deliuered with the hande of forgetfulnesse And arte thou indéede gone Narbonus then farewell faithlesse friend and adue false Iason thou sayest by séeing me thou shalte see thy death and beholding my face thou shalte forgoe thy owne fauour then shalte thou neuer die by my consente and my countenance shall neuer seduce thee into thy owne destruction am I a Basalike
that my face will infecte thée or Medusaes head that thou wilt die with looking on me hadst thou yet come thy selâ—e thou mightest haue spedde the better or spoken in thy owne person thy tale the likelier to bin heard but Paper will not blush and Incke doth bewray yet is not ashamed if thou be ashamed to take leaue I will be ashamed to entertaine thée at thy returne Héere was hote loue soone colde what faire wordes and what froward workes what swéete lippes and what soure sauce woon with an Egge and lost with an Apple no sooner ripe but readie to rotte no sooner blowen but blasted no sooner sprouted but bitten with the frost hir Prayers were pitifull hir sighes and sobbes as though they would haue pierced the hard flint hir words wounded the heart that heard them and hir lameÌ„ting mollified the minds of those that were within hir hearing héere were Crocodili lothrinae and déepe dissembling she whâ— earst would downe into Hell to pleasure his person will not now kneele downe vnto Heauen to craue one little petition but resolued hir selfe neuer to talke with him or to come in that place where he was present yet to worke his mischife or to séeke some reuenge she imagined would but crake hir credit and be a blotte to hir good name therefore she was content to let him alone but for euer to giue him the Basalos Manos If Fidelia were thus bereft of reason and almost mad with melancholy Henricus was as sorowfull for his Nephew but that he hoped his safe returne and fedde his mind that he would come hastily home again his Unckle therefore furnishing him with money and furniture euerie thing necessarie and a man to waite on him betoke him to the preseruation of the Gods and to the mercie of the waters Now is Narbonus on Shipboorde and at the mercie of the waues where his antient cogitations assayled him with a fresh supply and troubled him so bitterly as hée thought hee should neuer see Spayne nor any part therof hee imagined howe lamentably Fidelia would take his departure and how sorowfull shée would be for that iourney now how shee wept and then how shee wailed now how shee sighed and then how shee sobbed now how pittifully shee would bewayle his goinge and how happely hee should be welcomed home then thought he perhaps shée may bee lightly disposed and wantonly giuen for she was soone woon and easilie entreated and as quickly hee may bee lost and as soone forgone shée was easily caught and as quickly may shee bee carued from mee now I am gone out of her company and departed from her sight is it not likely that shée will retaine some other and like of one that shall tarry at home more worthy perhaps then my selfe whose calling is greater thâ—n mine more worthy nay perhaps more wealthy for mine shée is by right though some other haue her by rigour and I wan her with loue though some other wed her by lawe I had her by inheritance but some other may take possession in my absence But Fidelia is faire so is shee faithful shée is fréendly so is shée fauourable shée is amiable so is shée loyall shée is honest so is shée iuste As shée hath promised so will shee perfourme shée gaue mee her hande why then should not I retaine her hart But thou foole that braggest before the victory and reioysest before the goale bée thine thou thinkest thou hast the Apple and hast but the leafe shée soone liked of mée is shée not the likelier to loue some other did I quickly win her and may not some other spéedily wed her did she not quickly loue mée will not some other as speedily lust after her and then because hee loueth will she lust and because hee wooeth will shee wed any but my selfe because hee burneth in desire will not shee driue him in disdayne and because hee fixeth his fancy in her feature will shee therfore giue graunt that hee shall enioy his pleasure no no vnder so faire a face cannot lodge so filthy a fact and vnder so true a tongue cannot be hid pernicious poyson in so beautiful a body cannot bee any filthy infection and so straight a hand must haue as right a hart For is it not common by probability and see we not daily the tryall that the fairer personage the finer conditions and the more deformed in body the more defiled in deedes Fidelia is mine and shal not bee any others and if my body cannot waite on her my soule shall fulfill the vttermost of my imaginations Drowned amidst these contrary imaginations sayling in the hart of these cogitations now praising then dispraising now louinge then loathinge now laughinge then lamenting now wishinge then waylinge now longing for life then desiringe death the boysterous windes began to blow and the bitter blastes troubled their totteringe Shippe the wallowinge waues tumbled about the sides of the Boate and the Billowes beate harde on her sides which tottered on this side and then tumbled that way to sea warde wherwith Narbonus who was neuer at the Sea before nor had at any time felt the force of the waters grew so sicke and so troubled with the water as hee was without hope euer to come on shoare more neuer thought to behold the faire face of Fidelia againe where let him wallow amongst the waues and trye his fortune with the waters PHemocles who had spente almost a yeare in Naples thought the time longe profited so well as hee would desire gained his tongue perfectly wherfore he wrote to his Father that his charges was great and that time was yll spent now hee had gained that hée went for and obtained his purpose to the full to which his reasonable request and willinge demaund his Father condiscended graunted his returne procuring him therfore Horses and other thinges necessary hee spéedily willed him to hasten his tedious trauaile and to come so quickly as hée could but willed him to take easie iourneyes by the way and not to toyle him selfe with rydinge but might if hee would see the Countrey by the way and come through all the Townes that hee thought any thinge worthy the remembraunce there to bee séene Phemocles after the receiuinge of his letters and the certifiyng from his Father tooke leaue of his good companions and betooke him to his Horse where by the way his minde was mooued with many matters and troubled with former motions he remembred the courteous crue that accompanied him in Naples and the great courtesie hee receiued at their handes their passing pleasures and their boasting in brauery their sumptuousnes of apparrell and the lauishnes of their Purses their pleasaunt sportes and their excellent exercises then their gallant Instrumentes and their good musicke the congregation of their Curtizans the fellowship of their faire Dames their Iewels and their Ringes their Ruffes and their Robes their Lawnes and their loose attires their nicenes in goinge
hold my hands from so dying and stay my knife from executing my selfe were it not offensiue to God and contrarie his commaundes my heart shoulde quickly consent and my hand soone strike the stroke Of all the Creatures that God hath made and all the features he hath formed Man is eyther most vnfortunate or in greatest vnhappinesse All other creatures regarde nought but their foode to fill their paunches and care for nothing but meate to serue their turnes and they all haue sufficient and neuer any of them that perish with hunger but we want and we wayle we wéepe and wée lament we crie and we craue The firste signe of our life after our procreation is bitter teares and the formost motion of our liuing soules is wéeping a sure signe of our miserie to come a token that our life shall continue with lamēting my money is spent long since my apparel al lost freends héere are none that wil releeue me and who wil succour me in this deepe distres but if my backe hee colde is not my bellie also bare yes I sée nought but death before my face and my lingering life beginneth to wast and this death is most miserable in this kinde of dying I shal seeme the most vile creature that euer liued and to sterue thus with hūger the most loathsome of any that héertofore hath breathed but in so dying do there not a great nūber leade the daunce before thée and in beeing so miserable are there not many that pine in like perplexitie if I steale any thing to sustein my pining paūch or filch ought to gorge my gréedy gut death thē is my due no cōpassion shal be shewed me O my beloued Phemocles that I were now at thy courtesie and that my plaints were poured forth before thée that thou didst behold these watrie eyes that thou didst looke vpon these blubbred chéekes that thou didst sée this throbbing hearte so miserably afflicted that thou didst behold my soule so drowned in despaire but to be hold héere my deformed face to sée thus these eyes suncke into my head thou wouldest beare a part I am assured of these my inwarde miseries and were ther any heere to poure foorth some teares with me or to bewaile my want so much as my selfe my heart would quickly yéeld to the furie of death my soule giue cōsent to yéeld vp my ghost And gaineth not death a great iewell and getteth he not a mightie rewarde to haue me his owne yes trust me a loathsome body and a stincking carcasse a rotten trée and a consumed carion But O good God are these the fruites of all warres and are these the liues of all Souldiours is this the life of all those forced by their Princes and is this the case of all such as go out of their owne Countrey the soule Beare findeth somewhat to teare on and the hungrie Tigre getteth something to mainteine hir life the Wolfe hath some what to pray vpō and the wilie Foxe doth not perish with hūger Thou feedest O Lord the yong Rauens with the dew of Heauen wilt thou suffer vs to go into Hell for wāt of sustenance we must eyther pay pence for that we take or render our liues in pawne giue gold or gaine our graue Thou hast giuē to euery fowle of the aire séedes to the beastes of the field grasse to feede on to the fishes the wide sea to fleete in to the vile wormes the rotten earth to liue by These creatures sterue not for lack of foode nor perish being pined with hunger Is man the perfectest creature and the likenes of thy own image hast thou made him most excellēt giuen him the vilest cōdition the best fauoured and the worst beloued the most superial to loke vpō yet the most vnfortunate of all others Other thy creatures stand not one at the mercy of the other one is not forced to beg of the other one cōdēneth not the other none of thē giues cōsent to haue the other slaine The Oxe is cōtent his fellow shal feede by him the Shéepe craueth the cōpany of his cōpanions The Hart will not féede alone the ramping Lion neuer hurteth his fellow yet we suffer oure heéethrē to pine in pouerty sée our fellowes to die with hunger Is the shape of man so goodly and his condition so vile his face so amiable his nature so filthy his life so pure his déedes so detestable We haue séene that brute beastes haue fed yong children nourished their natures susteined their liues if they of nature be so gentle why should not we be more louing if their affection to vs be so great why shuld it not be far greater to our selues O miserable sexe O vile generatiō O most vnpure O most odious of al others Should our doings resemble God why then do we follow the Diuel should our works be perfect to our maker why then are we so vnperfect towards our selues if perfection worke such imperfectiō and if the inward motions worke such outward miserie if the secret things in nature manifest so great calamity why then O God hast thou made vs the way to excéede other creatures to excell thē al in these misteries as the heart the mind the soule regeneratiō nature yéelds thē al their generation works thē al a beginning their procreation their being and hath not nature wrought that in them as they al liue and are all susteyned they are all nourished and not one of them perish for wanting their foode Is then our gaine greater or our life larger our happinesse comparable to their felicitie and our goodnesse like to their pleasure no Narbonus thy dayes must be shortned for lacke of sustenance and thy life dried vp wanting reliefe Farewell that noble Countrey of Germanie and adue that famous Citie of Vienna farewell the Uirgins that vow vestalitie and adue thou my faithfull Fidelia farewell my déere Unckle with the rest of my fréendes and adue Phemocles of all the men the only floure But miser that I am to lament my losse doth but encrease my sorow and to renue my plaintes but augment my gréefe bestirre therefore thy selfe and walke abroade happilie thou mayest méete with some that will reléeue thy staruing state and by chaunce find out some fréend to giue thée some foode But alas whome shall I aske or whome shall I call to whome shall I bewayle my wante vnto or who will help me out of this miserie if I go out to séeke some pray or go about to gaine some bootie is not the enimie hard at our héeles and commeth he not close to our Camp If I be taken I die tenne thousand deaths and if my life be yéelded into his handes I were better suffer any torments perhappes be thrust into their Galleys which is woorse than thousands of deathes or put to a worse office whiche I were better yéeld my selfe