and my greeued heart doth fele But sith it is so I yet reioyce that I am able by releeuing you to shewe how deare to mee the name and memorie of my deceased master is I accept you therefore as a welcome guest assuring you of such entertainement as I can afforde and touching the wronges that you haue done me I will striue so to forget them as if I neuer had sustained them This saide hee nor saide hee more then he perform'd for immediatly he tooke hir into his house where all the time of hir aboad with him which was so long as hir selfe would tary shee had such reliefe as his poore estate could yealde afforded without grudging nor did hee euer greeue hir with the least vpbraiding of former wrongs nor suffer while hee was present or knewe of it that shee shoulde take the â—…eightest paines more then in her owne affaires But in his absence oft to ease and please his wife she would playe the tapster and voluntarily addresse hir selfe to helpe hir in all kinde of drudgeries While in this sort shee liu'd not altogether so haplesse asbefore Arthemio no longer able to continue his shifting sith he had thereby indangered his life made this his last shifte closely to shifte him selfe away sence when he was neuer seene about the cytie nor almost heard of Only some obscure reports haue past of his long scouring the westerne plaines for pursses and that being afterwarde apprehended hee dyed miserably in a common 〈◊〉 before his publique araignment so preuenting the open scandall of an ignominious death Howe so euer this bee likely in regarde of his former wicked life yet not being thereof assured I will suspend my censure nor presumptuously descant of the vnknowen proceedings of the almighty But Valeria after long residence with Iockey at last whether hoping on some better place or loath coÌ„tinually to trouble him sith no way able to requite his kindnesse fondly left him and thereby repâ—…ung'd hir selfe into hir former miseryes falling in the ende to little better then open beggery from which so abiect state of life shee nere recouered till death gaue truce to hir distresses death wherein only shee was not haplesse But if to wretched people the preuenting of any sorrow may bee term'd good happe then so was hirs in notsecing hir suruiuing childrens miserable endes such as their dissolute bringing â—…y did euer threaten and their leaud courses iustly merit of these the elder flying for some offence beyond the seas and there following armes in the ciuill tumults of distracted Belgia but soone staining the most honourable profession of a souldier by playing the traitour had his deserts paide with the halter and therein leaping desperately from the ladder he tooke his iourney into the other world The yonger confirmd so in the loue of head-strong libertie through his corrupt education that hee could not long brooke any seruice succourd by none because dâ—…sdaining subiection to aâ—…l died in the fieldes and there lay a loathsome spectacle for his stinking carkasse had no other couerture then he auens vast circumference and his vnburied limmes were seazed on by rauenous birdes who therewith glutted their carrion gorges Somewhat before his last gaspe with an oft interrupted voice he faintly groned out these bitter mones O whither shall I turne me whereon shall I hope or what shall I desire my bones ake my bowels gnawe my feet rot each limme doth shiuer and my whole bodie is full of paine life I loath thee life when leaâ—… thou me death why dallieâ—… thou with these delaies why commest thou in such degreâ—…s of torments thy messengers are more terrible then thy selfe yet come not death least in exchange of these my present wees thou plunge me in eternall woe O sinne how sweet is thy beginning how sower thy end O father but enough of thee for thy name doth cut my soule anew O mother but too much of thee cruell through immoderate kindnes O vnhapie brother but happie in respect of me for though thy end were likewise shamefull yet was thy carcasse couered with earth but mine must lie still in this stinking place to pollute the aire and feed the rauenous foules yet helpe me some good man who passing by may heare my mones giue me at least some shelter from this iniurie of the weather vnkind men will none relieueme yet not vnkind because Gods iustice hardens their heartes oh that is it whereon when I doe thinke I wish that I had beene borne a beast that with my life all my miseries might ende yet helpe mee O my God sith men forsake me though hell looke for me and I dare not looke on heauen though my offences be innumerable yet is thy mercie infinitely greater mercie sweete Lord father of mercie mercie it selfe O that my mother had taught mee to pray when shee taught me to reuile my father Alas I knowe no forme of praier saue this onely which my heart laden with anguish doth thus endite Mercie sweete Lorde let my soule imbrace thy mercie let thy mercie imbrace my soule But aye me my paines increase life and death doe combat in my breast this their strife doubles my torments ah but helles torments are farre greater From them and these sweet Lorde deliuer me for in thee Here as he faine would haue proceeded life failing made these his last wordes vnperfect with whose death I end this dolorous discourse THus Geutlemen haue you heard briefly related the the Tragique issue of Giraldos wooing in age and Valerias wantonnesse in youth Had I intituled this discourse A looking Glasse the Metaphor had not been wholly immateriall for herein may all sortes of readers note sundry points of weight husbandes the daunger of too much doting wiues in her fall the end of lustfull follie parents the mightie perill of soothing their children in check-free licentiousnesse children the fruit of disobedience and vndutifull demâ—…r rash proceeders the great difference of good and bad counsell of honest and dishonest companie with the danger of not imbracing the one and not shunning the other and that the rather sith the force of compante hath in the effecting of either such exceeding force according to the Italian prouerbe Dimmi con chi tu vai saprò quel che fai. Ictus piscator sapit but if wee account him wise which being once hurt doth shunne a second hazard how much more iustly may wee commend their wisdome who beeing not hurt at all but learning heedfulnes at others costes gouerne warily themselues by noting the issue of their indiscretion which fore-sight and good fortuue I wish vnto you all FINIS
a full amendes for all these misdemeanors heedfully to obserue and followe that which I nowe shall speake not as a husband though in that name I should commaund but as a friend no lesse carefull of thy soule then thou carelesse of my safety First if thou caust conteine thy lust liue still a widowe for who heareing of thy loosenesse wil mary thee for loue and to whom is not thy shame knowen if then hee wed thee for wealth finding as needes he must thy sinne grounded on my too much sufferance how slauish shall thy life be vnder him I omit to vrge thy childrens hinderance by an vnaduised match Next I counsell thee in no sort to change thefeat of thy aboade for what else should that argue then a meer dispayre of recouering thy lost good name continue then where now thou art earnestly endeauouring to wipe out the blemish of thy former leawdnesse by imbraceing henceforth and persisting to the ende in an honest course of life so shall the same place and persons that sawe thee vicious see likewise thy returne to vertue the report whereof receiued from others might iustly be doubted but their owne witnesse to themselues must needes bee authenticall Beleeue me Valeria thou canst not otherwise weare out the impression of thy shame nor can it in such sort bee so curde that no scarre will remaine This for thee and thus breefely for thy châ—…ren sith the shortnesse of my time wâ—…nes mee likewise to be short in talke God lent vs three all sonnes one of which he hath taken againe vnto himselfe that the happiest Two he hath left to vs and I leaue to thee Reforme them with thy selfe see them well instructes taught to imbrace vertue and abhorre vice Such hetherto hath 〈◊〉 their education that I greeue to remember it but thou maiest ioy to better it Libertye is the bane of youth not for a time as the honny of Colchos which doth inebriate those that taste it distract with one dayes madness those that greedelye doe eate it But this soule-contami natinge poysson strengthned by custome growes incurable Purge then from this infection their tender thoughts while they yet are each way flexible That thou louest theÌ„ I doubt not but that thy loue will cherish their leawdnesse I iustly dread and therefore do thus warily admonish thee bee thou as wary and willing to performe what I requier tending so greatly to their good In hope whereof I leaue to thee aud after thee to them what so euer I possesse And on condition heereof I forgiue both them and thee all the wronges which you haue doone mee But if you fâ—…ile heerein then when my soule shall at the seauenth Angels sounde take againe this my bodie and you be cited before the impartiall Tribunall of y â— deuine maiesty I wil accuse you as guiltie of them all chiefely of my death whereof you ioyntly are the causers death which I imbrace so willingly that could Nature for my wordes disclame hir due and the inexorable destinies for my laments reuerse their dome limiting to my dayes a longer date yet woulde I inforce death by not suing for longer life And dye I must for now I fainte euen vnto death nowe faile my powers nowe doth each sence denye his seruice And gratious heauen seeming to exhale my soule will resume it whence I receiued it farewell Valeria thinke on my wordes as God shall thinke on thee This saide hee and seald it with a sigh then after many groanes yealded the ghost rendring his spirit to his maker But his body was no sooner â—…thlesse then Iockey was turned to his shiftes whose good seruice had not his kinde maister secretly guerdonized before his death doubtlesse his estate had beene very harde Valeria though hauing cleene forgotten hir husbandes wordes which shee markte no longer then while hee spake them prouided yet for his buriall in the best sorte and so much the rather because in his decease shee ioâ—…ed the fulnesse of hir own desires His corpes was with funerall pome conueyed to the Church And there sollemnly enterred nothing omitted which necessitie or custome coulde claime A sermon â—… banquet and like obseruations Haueing thus laide him where shee wisht him long before â—…hee was nowe a lustie widowe and courted by that crue of gallantes whose braueries in hir husbands lifetime shee had vpheld dreining out the quintessence of his bagges to garnishe with gay robes their backes But Arthemio whose haruest of farre greater hopes then these was nowe come which he so long had loockt for and in regarde thereof woulde not with the rest make profit of hir former prodigalitie seeing nowe time and occasion smyling on him â—…acked not his affayres but to preuent the first in forwardnesse and sooner then in reason he should immediatly on Giraldos buriall sued for accesse which finding as hee expected and for his more incoragement veweing in his mistris countenance no cloudes of discontent he thus began his wooing It is a custome still in vse with christians to attend the funerall of their deceased friendes with whole 〈◊〉 of choyce quire-men singing solemnly before theÌ„ but behinde followes a troope all clad in blacke which argues mourning much haue I marueled at this ceremony deeming it till now some hidden paradox confounding thus in one things so opposite as these signes of ioy and sorrowe But your late good fortune inforst me to cancell this fond opinion for if singing do with most right belong to ioying who may then so iustly as your selfe set on worke a world of fingers to celebrate the day of your recouered liberty from the tirannous controlement of a ielous 〈◊〉 To gratulate which your good happe I haue thus aduentured nor lesse to prosecute my owne hopes doom'd to liue or dye at your disposing herein resembling transformed Clitie which as the angry Sunne doth rise or set opens or shuts silly Nimph hir saffron-coloured brest Sith then the making or marring of my hopes doth wholly rest in you deigne rather to quicken them by a gratious regard then to kill them by a disgratious repulse make me rather the mirror of your clemency then the martyre of your cruelty If you fancye any worthier then my selfe I shall droope for my defects yf any meaner then my selfe you shall 〈◊〉 from my deserts But ay mee what deserts haue I to alleadge if true affection be no deserte This saide he pawsd as feeling some deeper passion but Valeria no longer able to dissemble thus with a smile replide for weeping was alreadie out of season Seruant quoth she that true affection merits fauour reason grants that not euer barren of desert thy fortune shall yealde sufficient proofe whose desires I haue hitherto dieted with dismaying doubts thereby to make tryall of thy constancie which finding each way faultlesse I will not that through me it should be frutlesse But to make amends for tyring so thy 〈◊〉 with long suspence and to remunerate thy fancies loyalty with more
account patience her only gaine knowiug well that by speaking she could not only not purchase any remedie but rather make her sorowes thereby more remedilesse his delight beeing still in doing that which most did vex her beside the penaltie of her prating set by him soundly on her shoulders Loe here an instance proouing it not wholly impossible to ouer-master for the time the miraculous valubilitie of a womans tongue which though not fearing a brauado of blowes yet shuns the brunt of a maine reuenge But howsoeuer Valeria bridling nature by necessity could in her husbands sight dissemble her deepe sorowes yet being alone she could not so containe her passions but at thought of this so dire a wrong matter enough to haue moou'd a saints patience she would oft thus vnrip them O Valeria of all the vnhappiest thouwantest many tongues to expresse the many torments which weare thy body weary thy mind did thy starres bode thee these miseries or thine owne amisse breed thee these misfortunes ah blame not them accuse not heauen of iniustice but blame thy selfe thy sinne thy vicious liuing accuse thy selfe thy lust thy vnlawful louing weigh wretched woman with thy distresse thy deserts in the one thou shalt find thy sorows inerplicable thy shame infinite both knowen neither pitied thy selfe pointed at by passers by if thou be seene abroad baited with rebukes blowes if thou remain at home thy goods lauishly wasted to maintain the braueries of truls vsurping thy right insulting on thy ruth thy childrē likewise sharing with thee their portion of deserued punishmēt but in the other thou shalt see these thy miseries far lesse then thy misdeedes what then maist thou expect ease of these euils no no Valeria but till death think that thy cares shall neuer ende And that they then may cease nor thou bee doom'd to eternall woe sue while thou liuest with ceaselesse intercession else shall thy sute bee vaine remission if not purchast eare life be past is sought too late The bodyes each-sicknesse may be expelled by choyce of symples mercy only saught with true penitence can salue the sin-sicke soule But what talkest thou of penitence which nere wouldst lend one minuts listning to those that thereto would perswade thee nere humili ate with harts contrition thy mindes hawtinesse Nowe is the morning past the sunne declining the euening shadowes haue beset thee Oh but dispaire not leaue that to those whose hopes haue left them Thy hopes are many Hadst thou liued and died in wonted ease lulde so in deepe securitie then had thy state beene wholly desperate But these crosses are gentle summons to recall thee directions to reduce thy straying steppes woundes which heale and so entended Learne then thy vse of these afflictions sith to be happie thou must be haplesse Tufh fonde Valeria thy talke is vaine wilt thou preach of abstinence to pyning Tantalus of welth and pleasure to dyiug men of patience to thy impatient selfe Thinke on thy husband and on thy father dead through thee on thy kindre◅ iustlye hateiug thee on thy children which still doe liue but through thee haue nothing left After these thinke on thy selfe thy sinnes thy sorrowes Sinnes and sorrowes innumerable infinite intollerable What is now thy Theam of patience Where thy hopes or whence thy helpe Heer would shee stoppe amidst dispaire making that hir passions periode then in the silence of teares and sighs act anew hir soules distresse Once in the depth of hir meditation somewhat to recreate hir care-duld spirits shee tooke hir Lute and therto warbled with a fainting voice this ◅eight ode Hauing long reuolu'd in thought Long vnto my selfe lamented Since I first to sinne assented All the ill my sinne hath wrought Enforc'st I am with sighes to say Myne eyes did plot my soules decay These all heedelesse of the harmes Guilfull Sirens had intended In like saults with them offended Listning to their luring charmes Whereby inforst with sighes I say Mine ears did first my soule betray Then began each other sence Taught by them to wrest his vse Reauing me of all excuse Sought to shadow sinues pretence Whereby enforc'st with sighes I say Mine ears did first my soule betray Instruments of griefe and shame Sundering Isthmus of true pleasure Chast delights vnspotted treasure Wracke and death of my good name Why force you me with sighes to say That you did first my soule betray But oh cease fond wretch t'accuse Done vndon things cannotbee More it now concerneth thee Other minde and means to vse Least thou too late with sighes do say Thy sinnes haue wrought thy soules decaye Thus did shee then expresse hir humor and ofte i◅ other sorte mean while Arthemio which set not his minde on mourning kept on his ryot after such a rate that Giraldos substance was sone consum'd and had his power matcht y ◠hugenesse of his desires not an India of wealth might haue suffizd Now were his lands all morgag◅ which with the fairest and most worth of his houshould furniture as also his owne and hir attyre fell through forfeits into the hands of brokeing Usurers Oh what a banquet was this for thē whose chiefe making springs from the marring of such vnthrifts their rising from the ruines of silly men These are they ◅hom to omit their other titles we may iustly terme the deuils forerunners preparing his waies before him For when they haue left a man as bare as hee lefte Iob of whose goods by Gods permission hee made large hauocke then takes hee his turne of entrance to dispatch the tragedie which these his factors coheirs of his infernall kingdome haue set so forward His first plotte is to induce the sillie wretches thus turnd out of all to doubt of diuine prouidence Heereon hee suggestes motions of dispaire teaching them to number their crosses with curses and in this humor packes them away some to the beame some to the water each to a desperate end If hee meete with lighter spirits not thus incombred through melancholly nor setting their misfortunes so neer the heart but resolute to liue maugre fortunes frownes These he fashions for his purpose in another mould fitting them with a method for vnlawfull shiftes vnder such a Tutor working wonders euen on leaden wits how can there bee a dearth of bad directions or not plenty of deuillish practises whereto he sharpens their conceipts and corages beyond their naturall promptnesse of this seconde forte Arthemio within fewe monethes became a member Loe here the issue for sone after his house growing queasie stomacht through a long consumption of the moueables did in a generall vomit spewe out the master the mystris and all their traine Oh whereto in this distresse should poore Valeria betake hir selfe Mony shee had none shoulde shee borrowe who would lend hir or vouchsafe hir one nights lodging such was y ◠rumor of hir leauonesse should shee begge who would giue hir I omit her natiue hautinesse hir education and former state
of nature made men thus dote on life Sed ad propositum walking there not long since while those aforesaide odde companions were questioning with other ghosts I saâ—…one it was a womans Ghost pacing demurely and with so seâ—…led a countenance that as it argued no ioy so it made shewe of little sorrow Wondering at such moderation in so fraile a sexe I went towards hâ—…r and in going eyed hir so exactly that in the end though death had much desaced her I knew who she was and remembred that when I dyed she liued at London in florishing estate as â—…ewde a dame as any in that Citye This much increased my former admiration who demde it rare that any of that sexe wealth and wantonnesse could with such patience brooke the losse of life Being in this humor I discouered my selfe vnto her and earnestly requested her to shew me the cause of this her more then manly courage whereto she geÌ„tly replyed that since my death her fortune chaÌ„ged by hir folly had quited the former pleÌ„ty pleasures that she had 〈◊〉 enioyed with a farre greater measure of want and woe and for she sawe mee extremly desirous to heare the maner of this change and sequell shee imparted that likewise vnto mee concluding that sith death had ridde sâ—…ir from distresse it were madnesse to lament much more to desire life this saide shee lefâ—…e mee in a strange humor for I wished my selfe aliue againe were it but for two daies Laughest thou So mightest thou well haue done if this my wish had beene the Ape of common error but the onely ayme and end of my desire was the good of thoâ—…e that liue for whose admonition euen in so small a time for my witte was neuer long in performing such a taske I would haue pende in maner of a caueat alarge discourse both of hir former lewdnesse which my selfe had knowne and of her following miseries which she had then related But finding my desires full accomplishment herein impossible after long thought I conceipted a likely course for the effecting thereof in parte and this it wasâ—… To sue to Mercury that by the vertue of his charming rodde qua manes euocat â—…co this my bodies bloudlesse remnant might reuisite the earth to finde some one who receiuing froÌ„ mee the plott and ground-worke of this rare subiect might performe thereon in my behalfe that which by reason of deaths defects my selfe now caÌ„not In this resolution I gaue long attendance before the leysure of that busie God which as thou knowest is heauens Herald and hels carrier did afford me any opportunity But in the end hauing purchased accesse and audience I preuailde so farre with him that either for his good opinion of my intent or for the loue he beares vnto Poetry wherin himselfe as he is the God of eloquence hath no small interest hee fully graunted my desire but with this prouiso that I should dispatch within an houre by which time he will haue readye a fresh conuoy of ghosts for his returne To be short I was with a tryce in sight of London whether running for ioy in headlong hast as the way ledde mee I haue by chance lighted on thee and thereby know that this subiect is reserued for thy penne Listen then to my relation Heere he somwhat pawsde then with a deepe sigh sorrowes true preface he began his sadde discourse therein comprising the seuerall branches that I haue handled this done hee thus concluded Thou hast now hearde the summe of all which I had once begunne to write meting by good happe with penne incke and paper on the way but the shortnesse of my time warns me to resigne the office of my penne vnto my tongue Suffice it that I despeire not of thy memory nor doubt thy forwardnes This only I will add let the world know it coms froÌ„ me that they who since my death haue vnkindly blamd me may henceforth ceÌ„sure more charitably of me Hereto me thought I thus replyed The chargethat thou imposest is I feare greater then I can well discharge for neither the nature of my veine is like to thine neither is it in suo genere so sufficient Besides none will beleeue this but rather deem it a blinde deuise of mine to begge a title for my booke to picke vp some crummes of credit from anothers table Some againe will charge me that I haue stolne this conceipt out of Lucian And many maruaile that I who haue a while forborn the presse saue only in some sleight traÌ„slations of generall nouelties because iustly seaâ—…ing the ouer deep piercing censures of this iudiciall age should now in so bold an humor grow thus confidentâ—… Lastly there are sundry others both better known to tâ—…ee and of far more sufficiencie Tush quoth he thou art too scrupulous this is not modâ—…y but mopishnesse leauing therfore these vaiâ—…e excuses performe what â—…equest and thereto I coniure thee by the reuerence thou bear'â—… vnto the sacred Mules Well quoth I sith thou hast so deepely charged mee I will performe it and doe thou likewise in requitall graunt mee one demaunde that I will make I meane nay quoth hee I know thy meaning and the humor that boyles now to thy braâ—…es 〈◊〉 dare not play the blab againe for who would willingly fry in Phlegeton Besides the time doâ—…h fly and the power of Merâ—…s caduâ—…eus â—…rawes me hence farewell and faile not in thy promise with these words mee thought he vanished leauing mee extreamely discontented for I had ready a mint of questions As first how each hagge and fiend doth take his place when they are summond to any assembly Al rauco suonâ—… deâ—…a tarâ—…area tromba How â—…erberus in these late yeares of dearth hath shifted for his diet comming so ost short of his fee for it is vnlikly that they which being aliue could not get theÌ„selues a dry crust but sterued miserably for want of foode can after death be able to giue him a soppe Whether the gredy Corne-hoorders be not generally cursed euen there also for pluming so the silly ghosts before hand that when they come thither they are not able to discharge the dueties of the house viz. to the Ferriman the porter c. VVhether Charon doe still cry out against gonnes for determining the fortune of battailes before they coâ—…e to hand-strokes and thereby cutting of the best part of his doings whether Democritus do laugh still whether it be true that Heracliâ—…us who while he liued wept for the vanities of men do now laugh at himsâ—…lfe for hauing beene so foolish whether it be likewise true that Aretine hangs by the tongue for hauiâ—…g blab'd abroade the secrets of dame Lecheries dearlings what monsters were brought sorth of late which of the olde haggs are most in fauour with Hecatâ—… These infinite other demands I would haue made had not his sodaine vanishing preuented me whereat in a rage I clapt my hand on the table and
ill companie corrupt hir Earely buddes are soone blasted young sprigs do with the winde bende euery way The flower-rith spring is natures â—…thorne but not heire of Autumnes ripenesse Say you she is faire then prowde for as the herbe Fesula taken in wine causeth the vaines to swell so beautie in women doth enhance the thoughtes I omitte to inferre hir store of fauorits which will not faile to seduce hir if coyne or counsaile may subdue hir Is she wittie then wilie fraught still with new deuices to circumuent you But shee can daunce singe finger a Lute and all excellently doe not these argue hir wanton education or can you for these so highly fancie hir then what other instance neede I saue your selfe to prooue that loue is blinde Loue which hath the power of Lethe to induce obliuion the windinges of a Labyrinth to entrappe the minde the shape transforming iuâ—…e of Circes in chanting cuppes to change thoughtes as shee could alter bodies Loue which for a minute of pleasure yealdes a million of paines for a dramme of Hunny an ounce of gall resembling that tree in America whose Apples are to the sight exceeding faire but to the tast deathes foode Cease then betimes friende Giraldo least you repent to late and sigh in vaine to thinke on my sayings when your supposed ioyes shalbe smothered in surmising Ielousie There is for euery sore prouided a salue yet no simple for hartes sorrow But as the bay tre alone is neuer hurt by lightning so wisdome euer vnstain'd by wantonnesse which is in you the ground of that woe Against poysons we haue preseruatiues Storme-beaten seamen wrestling with the furye of windes aud waters ioy in the sight of Ledas twinnes but thought sicke louers haue onely reason their soueraigne refuge deuine reason the sole phisicke to cure loues follye which straies from it so farre that where the one raignes the other cannot rest For Amare sapere vix deo conceditur Heere he paws'd and Geraldo thus replide your counsaile sauours much of good will little of conceipt yet for your curtesie I thanke you and for your kindnesse I wil think of you as of a well entending friend You deeme it strange that I thus olde though not so olde as you vrge should now resolue on mariage haueing before shaped a contrary course of life True it is that whilome my sole delight was to liue single but who knowes not that ould opinions are ofte concealed by new occasions Must I be etter ill aduised because once not well aduertised Is loue in oulde men so vnseasonable in youth onely yf at all commendable or rather as the herbe Moly tempered with newe wine doth much distemper the braines and infeeble the whole bodye the same mingled with olde wine doth soner effect the contrary and releeue the ouer charged sences So is affection in greene yeares full of perils vrging young-men to extremes which cannot moderate their passions but in riper yeares doth cheer the thoughts glad the hart awake the sences halfe dul and drooping Admit the wants the weakenesse and whatsoeuer disabling defects incident to age Tell mee I pray you who more needes comfort then they which want it or what greater comforte to men then kinde women How can you then with reason deny that to age which doth ease the toylfull burthen of age or terme that needlesse which is so necessarie but you growing to farther dislikes condemne myne haste which resolue with speede to dispatch my purpose know you not that delay is fraught with daungers that occasion is balde behinde that they which deferre are ofte preuented and so circumuented Such as obserue not there times do iustly faile in there deserued cryalles On the lilie-garnisht bankes of Cephisus there springes a flower of rare effectes yet merely forcelesse if not applide at the instant when Phebus doâ—…h in fiery maiesty touch the meridian In like sort young virgines fancies prone to affection by yeares and nature must be assailed while time â—…oth serue for their fauour once rooted a thinge easily performed can neuer bee recalâ—…e by threates of parents or worldes of prâ—…ffers Speaking then betimes I may perhaps speede but deferring the one I must dispaire of the other Good wine needes no Juic bush Faier women want no woers hereto you reply that you condemne not so much my age as Valerias youth to haue wo ed and wedded an auncient woman had bene a match more meet and this equalitie of yeares caried more likelyhood of mutuall loue For answere to which obiection I craâ—…e no greater instance then your owne experience y â— widowes are wily and wilfull that many scarse holsome morsels do often vsurpe the attyre and gestures of honest matrons heer is a Lerna of euils a sea of dangers which to encounter I haue no courage to conquer no fortune But in one yet neuer matched how can deceipt be setled or how is shee acquianted with wiles which throughly knowes not the world That Valeria is young I yealde nor am I very ould but you will say that though a while I may entertaine hir with delight yet I shalbe past begetting when she is in the prime of bearing hereon you vrge that giftes and pleasures are mighty tempters women and they young fraile vesseles and therefore weake resisters Yet doubt not I that with a gentle minde the knowen kindnesse of a louing husband shall more preuaile then the doubtfull counsailes of deluding strangers That shee is fayer I graunt also that therefore prowde I deny It suffiseth not with Ouid to say partially fastus inest pulchris sequitur que superbia formam vnlesse you learne of Aristotle to proue the consequence by a stroug coherence It followes not that all are faultie because some offend but rather as the birde Rintaces bred in Persia liueing by ayre and deawe onely hath no excrements so natures perfections polished by vertuous education brooke no excesse For where shoulde inwarde graces be more resident then where outwarde giftes are most resplendent â—… That shee is wittye in discourse expert in dauncing singing and well fingering of a Lute I confesse that therefore wilye or more apt for wantonnesse I may in no sort graunt The best things may be wrested to bad vses Such recreations not misintended hinder melancholy and hurt not modesty Thus haue I answered what you obiected shewing reason the ground of my affection Say then my friendes what they list censure the world what it will I am resolute to attempt nor doubt I to attaine that for which myâ—… soule doth long and my heart languish Stoicks are stockes sencelesse teachers that publish their owne follies by denying that to wise men which the sences worke in all men Till now I knewe not what it was to liue because I felt not the power of loue Haue not Planets their conâ—…unctions the elements their mixtures both their cooperant motions which argue that nothing can be of it selfe sufficient Say that sicknesse should enfeeble me
heinousnesse which is rare euen to the barbarous Getes Giraldo haueing till then helde out in changing bitter termes with hir was hereat so amated that he now no longer wished to liue In his howse he had no ioy sith there bayted thus by them which from his bowells had their beeing But when shunning ofte his home he strayed abroade reuoluing in himselfe with many sighes his infinite fore-passed cares present corrosiues and likelihoode of farre greater ensuing griefe Iockey in his absence neuer wanted blowes nor 〈◊〉 a cause though faulse yet seeming iust haueing a witte so rich to coyne occasions power so absolute and a will so much inflamed with wrath to vse them Thus both the mâ—…er and the man the one in minde the other in bodie by this Tyâ—…nesse outragiously afflicted wished the first neuer to haue weded hir the second y t his master had herein likewise been by hir ouer-mastred when to thwart hir fury he would needs retaine him stil in seruice But she not moued by hir crimes discouery proceeded dayly in misdoing with so stoborne vnrelenting wilfulnesse that soner might the sunne melt with his beames the euer ysie bulke of waylesse Caucasus ouer whose snow manteled shoulders they glance without reflection Then hir sinfrozen thoughts melt with true sorrowe or which is lesse hir heâ—…delesse eares admit though sleightly holsome counsailes eares more deafe to friendes reproâ—…uinges then are the wrack rich Libique rocks or the guestlesse ship swalowing Sirtes to the cries of dying marriners such force hath custome euen against nature Then 〈◊〉 â—…cible where backed as here it was by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 When Vlisses matesturn'd from men to beastes through the taste of Circes potions had it afterwarde in their owne choyce whether they would so remaine or reasuming their former shapes returne from beastes to men againe they would in no sort be 〈◊〉 aleadging that in this there brutishe state they were farre more exempted from hart-gnawing greefe farre more secure then when their bodies were with humane shape inuested which fiction moralized as Homer ment it doth not onely note our liues troubles fraught with infinite distressing dangers but likwise that when reason is by affection ouerruled and the soule our better parte 〈◊〉 to the bodies tyrâ—…ye our baser parts such as are charmed with the loue of senâ—…uall delights wherein we wholly communicate with beasts degenerating from our states decorum participate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their nature which is altogether led by 〈◊〉 bred appetits are then so deeply be witcht w t wantonnes 〈◊〉 they will sooner dye for loue of it then while they liue in any sort assent to leaue it but as the byting of the Aspicke brings death as in a slumber y â— aâ—…ult thereof not being felt so where defiling lust doth raigne at full they whose thoughtes it hath polluted haue no feeling of their destroying follyes till plungd in the miâ—…st of their desorued paines When the stoode is at his highest source then takes the 〈◊〉 his turne Valerias crime fostered through 〈◊〉 concâ—…ing was nowe subiect to 〈◊〉 desteny 〈◊〉 is to bee as openly discouered as it was before closely couered Hir offence earst priuately reueald to hir wrong'd husbande did soone after become publique with hir the partnours of hir impyetie shard like fortune for what can be more iust then that they which 〈◊〉 together 〈◊〉 participate the shame therof together And thus it was After many meetinges many mischiefes perpetrated by that troope of trulles it chanced that in one of their fleshly synods newes were toulâ—… of a great solemnitie which within fewe dayes was to bee celebrated with much royalty at the courte whereupon at Valerias motion they immediatly resolu'd that suted in mens attyre they would meete there in a maske there fauorits which promisâ—… without farle there to finde them and after one sporte acted by themselues to act on them another with so much the more safetie by how much the farder they should bee from their husbandes whose noses growing now with their hornes somwhat longe coulde smell shrowdly any thing at hande Was then there laying out of curled hear â—…uing oft the wants of their almost hearelesse scalpes so light a crime their buskes and that great humme of Paris that vaile of lechery so slight a sinne beeing so soueraigne a remedy for bigge bellyes which ofte at a pinch helpe forwarde the worldes increase with swelling zeale were there other former faults such veniall offences that to exceede them all and hererein only able to exceede them they must thus disguise there sexe But why maruell I at their desire to seeme men sith they so mightily affected men yet could they not conueigh their ill contriu'd intent with such secrecie but that sundry knewe thereof for amongst so many how coulde all be silent passing thus from one mouth to an other it came in the ende to the heering of certaine courtiers of which one the greatest in account deepely abhorring so odyous an enterprize bouldly reueald it to the prince of those times who desiring to see the issue of their impudence though deeming it almost impossible that anye of that sex should be so shamelesse commanded generall silence and such semblance as if nothing were discouer'd They going forward with their attempt fayld not to assemble at the day assigned each being casâ—… in hir mynions best attyre then vsing the benefite of the darke which is gilty of many mischiefes they came to the court and there suing for farther accesse obtain'd it thinking of nothing lesse then that they were intrapt But to dispatch the matter breefely In the midst of their iolitie they were by the princes commaundemente all forceably 〈◊〉 standing then before hir as stony Images not blushing ought at this bewraying of their lewdnes though enuirond and like monsters gazd on by many eyes nor making any shewe of sorrowe for their soueraigns sharpe rebukes which conceiuing no hope of their amendment seut them home with open shame vnto their husbaÌ„ds The griefe wherof pinched Giraldo so nere the heart that he fell through sorrow into a greeuous sicknesse which wasted so his infeebled body that all remedies fayling his last musique was the sertons vnison 〈◊〉 him with a dolefull sounde to make ready for his longest home When no â—…esse defirous of death then disparing of life he causd all in the chamber to withdrawe Valeria excepted whom calling to him he thus bespake Might these last wordes worke that remorse in thee which my former speeches neuer could effect I should deeme my selfe not wholly vnhappie That I am sicke thou seest that dangerously sick I feele the cause thy folly long haue wee liu'd together in litle ioy lesse agremeÌ„t our iarring grouÌ„ded on thy falshood not my fault vnlesse it were a fault with too much loue to foster thy too much libertie But I cease to relate former iniuries at thought whereof I may iustly wish with Augustus that I had liu'd wiuelesse and died childlesse bee it