the same the matter most specially therin comprised treting of courtly fashions and maners and of the customes of loues galantise and the good or yll successe thereof bicause you be an auncient Courtier and one of the eldest Traine and suche as hath ben imployed by sundrie our Princes in their affaires of greatest weight and importance and for that your self in your lustiest time euer bred and brought vp in Court haue not bene vnacquainted with those occurrents If I should stande particularly to touch the originall of your noble Ancestrie the succession of that renoumed line their fidelitie for graue aduise and counsell your honourable education the mariage of a mighty King with one of your sisters the valiant exploites of your parentes against the French and Scots the worthie seruice of your self in field whereby you deseruedly wanne the order of Knighthode the trust which hir Maiestie reposeth in you by disposing vnder your charge the Store of hir Armure and your worthie preferment to be Maister of hir Armarie generall If I shoulde make recitall of your carefull industrie and painfull trauell sustained for answering hir Maiesties expectation your noble cherishing of the skilfull in that Science your good aduauncement of the best to supplie the vacant romes your refusall of the vnworthie and finally of your modest and curteous dealings in that office I feare lacke of abilitie and not of matter would want grace and order by further circumstaunce to adde sufficient praise Yea although my self do say nothing but reserue the same in silence to auoide suspect of adulation the very Armure and their furnitures do speake vniuersall testimonie doth wonder and the Readinesse of the same for tyme of seruice doth aduouche Which care of things continually resting in your breast hath atchieued suche a timely diligence and successe as when hir Maiesties aduersarie shall be ready to molest she shal be prest by Gods assistance to defend and marche But not to hold your worship long by length of preamble or to discourse what I might further say eyther in fauour of this Boke or commendation of your selfe I meane for this instant to leaue the one to general iudgement and the other to the particular sentence of eche of your acquaintaunce Humbly making this only sute that my good will may supplie the imperfection of mine abilitie And so with my heartie prayer for your preseruation to him that is the Author of life and health I take my leaue From my poore house besides the Toure of London the fourthe of Nouember 1567. Your moste bounden William Painter ¶ A Summarie of the Nouels ensuing ¶ The Hardinesse and conquestes of diuers stoute and aduenturous Women called Amazones the beginning continuance and end of their raigne and of the great iourney of one of their Quéenes called Thalestris to visit Alexander the great and the cause of hir trauaile Nouel j. Fol. 1. ¶ The great pietie and continencie of Alexander the great and his louing interteinement of Sisigambis the Wife of the great Monarch Darius after he was vanquished Nouel ij Fol. 5. ¶ Thimoclia a Gentlewoman of Thebes vnderstanding the couefous desire of a Thracian Knight that had abused hir and promysed hir mariage rather for hir goodes than Loue well acquited hirselfe from his falsehode Nouel iij. Fol. 9. ¶ Ariobarzanes great Stewarde to Artaxerxes King of Persia goeth about to excéede his soueraigne Lord maister in Curtesie wherein are conteyned many notable and pleasant chaunces besides the great pacience and loyaltie naturally planted in the sayd Ariobarzanes Nouel iiij Fol. 11. ¶ Lucius one of the Garde to Aristotimus the Tyranne of the Citie of Elis fell in loue with a faire Maiden called Micca the daughter of one Philodemus and his crueltie done vpon hir The stoutenesse also of a noble Matrone named Megistona in defense of hir husband and the Common wealth from the tyrannie of the sayd Aristotimus and of other acts done by the subiects vpon that tyrant Nouel v. Fol. 32. ¶ The maruelous courage ambition of a gentlewoman called Tanaquil that Quéene wife of Tarquinus Priscus the fift Romane King with hir persuasions and pollicie to hir husband for his aduauncement to the kingdome hir like encouragement of Seruius Tullius wherin also is described the ambitiō of one of the two daughters of Seruius Tullius the sixt Romane King and hir crueltie towardes hir owne naturall father with other accidents chaunced in the new erected Common wealth of Rome specially of the laste Romane King Tarquinus Superbus who with murder attained the kingdome with murder mainteined it and by the murder and insolent life of his sonne was with all his progenie banished Nouel vj. Fol. 40. ¶ The vnhappy ende and successe of the loue of King Massinissa and of Queene Sophonis ba his Wife Nouel vij Fol. 49. ¶ The crueltie of a King of Macedon who forced a Gentlewomā called Theoxena to persuade hir children to kil poison themselues after which fact she and hir husband Poris ended their life by drowning Nouel viij Fol. 59. ¶ A strange maruellous vse which in olde time was obserued in Hidrusa where it was lawfull with the licence of a Magistrate ordeyned for that purpose for euery man and woman that lyst to kyll them selues Nouel ix Fol. 62. ¶ The dishonest loue of Faustina the Empresse and with what remedie the same was remoued and taken away Nouel x. Fol. 65. ¶ Chera hidde a treasure Elisa going about to hang hir selfe and sying the halter about a 〈◊〉 found that treasure and in place therof lefte the halter Philene the daughter of Chera going for that treasure and busily searching for the same sounde the halter where with all for dispaire shae woulde haue hanged hir selfe but forbidden by Elisa who by chaunce espied hir she was restored to part of hir losse leading afterwards a happie and prosperous life Nouel xj Fol. 67. ¶ Letters of the Philosopher Plutarch to the noble and 〈◊〉 Emperour Traiane and from the sayde Emperour so Plutarch the like also from the sayde Emperour to the Senate of Rome In all whiche bée conteyned Godly rules for gouernement of Princes obedience of Subiects and their dueties to Cōmon wealth Nouel xij Fol. 76. ¶ A notable historie of thrée amorous Gentlewomen called Lamia Flora Lais cōteining the sutes of noble Princes and other greate personages made vnto them with their answeres to diuers demaunds and the maner of their death and funeralls Nouel xiij Fol. 123. ¶ The life and gestes of the most famous Quéene Zenobia with the Letters of the Emperoure Aurchanus to the sayde Quéene and hir stoute aunswere therevnto Nouel xiiij Fol. 89. ¶ Euphimia the King of Corinths daughter fell in loue with Acharisto the seruaunt of hir father and besides others which required hir to mariage she 〈◊〉 Philon the King of Pelponesus that loued hir very feruently Acharisto conspiring against the King was discouered tormented and put in prison and by meanes of
Euphimia deliuered The Kyng promysed his daughter and kingdome to hym that presented the head of Acharisto Euphimia so wrought as he was presented to the King The King gaue hym his daughter to Wife and when he died made him his heire Acharisto began to hate his wife and condemned hir to death as an adulteresse Philon deliuered hir and vpon the sute of hir Subiectes shée is contented to marie hym and thereby he is made Kyng of Corinth Nouel xv Fol. 101. ¶ The Marchionesse of Monferrato with a bankette of Hennes and certaine pleasant words repressed the fonde loue of Philip the Frenche King Nouel xvj Fol. 112. ¶ Mistresse Dianora demaunded of Master Ansaldo a Garden so faire in Januarie as in the Moneth of May. Maister Ansaldo by meanes of an obligation whiche he made to a Necromancer caused the same to bée done The husbande agréed wyth the Gentlewoman that she should do the plesure which master Ansaldo required who hearing the liberalitie of the husbande acquited hir of hir promise the Necromancer likewise discharged master Ansaldo Nouel xvij Fol. 114. ¶ Mithridanes enuious of the liberalitie of Nathan and going about to kill him spake vnto him vnknowne and being informed by himselfe by what meanes he might doe the same he founde him in a little woodde accordingly as he had tolde him who knowing hym was ashamed and became his friende Nouel xviij Fol. 118. ¶ Master Gentil of Carisendi being come from Modena tooke a woman oute of hir graue that was buryed for deade who after shée was come againe brought forth a sonne whiche Maister Gentil rendred afterwards with the mother to master Nicholas Chasenemie hir husbande Nouel xix Fol. 123. ¶ Saladine in the habite of a marchant was honorably receiued into the house of Master Thorello who went ouer the sea in companie of the Christians and assigned a terme to his wife when she shold marie againe He was taken and caried to the Souldan to be his falconer who knowing hym and suffering him selfe to be knowne did him great honor Master Thorello fell sicke and by Magike arte was caried in a night to Pauie where he founde his wife about to marie againe who knowing him returned home with him to his owne house Nouel xx Fol. 128. ¶ A Gentleman of meane calling and reputation both fall in loue with Anne the Quéene of Hungarie whō 〈◊〉 very royally and liberally requited Nouel xxj Fol. 140. ¶ The gentle and iust act of Alexander de Medices the first Duke of Florence vpon a Gentleman whome he fauored who hauyng rauished the daughter of a poore Miller caused him to marie hir for the greater honor and celebration wherof he apointed hir a rich and honourable dowrie Nouel xxij Fol. 155. ¶ The Infortunate mariage of a Gentleman called Antonie Bologna with the Duchesse of Malfi and the pitifull death of them both Nouel xxiij Fol. 169. ¶ The disordred life of the Countesse of Celant how she causing the Counte of Massino to be murdered was beheaded at Milan Nouel xxiiij Fol. 195. ¶ The goodly historie of the true and constant loue betwéene Rhomeo and Iulietta the one of whome died of poyson and the other of sorrowe and heauinesse wherein be comprised many aduentures of loue and other deuises touching the same Nouel xxv Fol. 218. ¶ Two Gentlemen of Venice were honorably decetued of their wiues whose notable practises and secrete conference for atchieuing their desire occasioned diuers accidents and ingendred double benefit wherin also is recited an eloquent oration made by one of them pronounced before the Duke and state of that Citie with other chaunces and actes concerning the same Nouel xxvj Fol. 247. ¶ The Lorde of Virle by the commaundement of a faire yong Widow called Zilia and for hir promyse made the better to attaine hir loue was contented to remaine dumbe the space of thrée yeares and by what meanes hée was reuenged and obteyned his sute Nouel xxvij Fol. 268. ¶ Two Barons of Hungarie assuring them selues to obtaine their sute made to a faire Ladie of Boeme receiued of hir a straunge and maruellous repulse to their shame and infamie curssing the time that euer they aduentured an enterprise so foolishe Nouel xxviij Fol. 292. ¶ Dom Diego a Gentleman of Spayne fel in loue with faire Gineura and she with 〈◊〉 their loue by meanes of one that enuied Dom Diego his happy choise was by the default of light credite on hir parte interrupted He constant of minde fell into dispaire and abandonyng all hys friendes and lyuing repayred to the Pyrene Mountaines where he ledde a sauage life for certaine Monethes 〈◊〉 afterwardes knowne by one of his friends was by maruellous circumstance reconciled to hys frowarde mistresse and maried Nouel xxx Fol. 309. ¶ A Gentleman of Siena called Anselmo Salimbene curteously and gently deliuereth his enimie from deathe The condempned partie seyng the kynde parte of Salimbene rendreth into his handes his syster Angelica with whome hée was in loue which gratitude and Eurtesie Salimbene well markyng moued in conscience woulde not abuse hir but for recompense toke hir to wife Nouel xxx Fol. 350. ¶ A Widow called Mistresse Helena wyth whome a Scholer was in Loue shée louyng an other made the same Scholer to stande a whole Wynters night in the Snowe to wayte for hir who afterwardes by a sleyghte and policie made hir in July to stand vpon a Toure stark naked amongs Flies and Gnattes and in the Sunne Nouel xxxj Fol. 376. ¶ A Gentlewoman and Wydowe called Camiola of hir owne mynde raunsomed Rolande the Kynges sonne of Sicilia of purpose to haue hym to hir husbande who when hée was redéemed vnkyndely denied hir againste whome verie eloquentely shée inueyed and although the lawe proued him to bée hir husbande yet for hys vnkindnesse shée vtterly refused hym Nouel xxxij Fol. 391. ¶ Great cruelties chaunced to the lordes of Nocera for adulterie by one of them committed with the Captains wife of the Fort of that Citie with an enterprise moued by the Captaine to the Citizens of the same for rebellion and the good and and duetiful answere of them with other pitifull euents rising of that notable and outragious vice of whooredome Nouel xxxiij Fol. 297. ¶ The greate Curtesie of the King of Marocco a Citie in Barbarie towarde a poore Fisherman one of hys subiects that had lodged the King being stolne from his companie in hunting Nouel xxxiiij Fol. 410. ¶ To the Reader AS shevved curtesie deserueth gratefull acquitall frendly fauor forceth mutual merit So for gentle acceptation of my other boke I render to thy delight and profit a Second Tome For which I craue but like report albeit neither worthy of any or other than the rude 〈◊〉 gayneth by trial of his arte Who hauing committed to his skill and workemanship some substance of golde or other precious mater fashioneth the same with such 〈◊〉 shape and order as besides dispraise it carieth the vnablenesse of
on hir bedde weake and impotent not able to trauell returned to the King and tolde him of the sicknesse of the eldest daughter of Ariobarzanes wher withall being satiffied he attended the successe of his desired sute The 〈◊〉 man no sooner béeing recouered but the time of the others childbirth was come which brought forth a goodly boy both the mother safely brought to bed and the childe strong and lusty Which greately contented and pleased Ariobarzanes and the greater grew his ioy therof for that he sawe the childe to be like vnto the King his father And by that time the yong Gentlewoman was rysen from hir childbed the sister was perfectly whole had recouered hir former hiewe beautie both which being richely apparelled Ariobarzanes with an honourable traine sent vnto the King instructing them first what they ought to say and do When they 〈◊〉 arriued at the Courte one of the priuie chambre 〈◊〉 the Kyng that Ariobarzanes had not onely sent one of his daughters but bothe of them being so many as hée had The King hearing and séeing the liberalitie of Ariobarzanes accepted the same in gracious part and determined for that his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with 〈◊〉 princely liberalitie as he should be forced to confesse him self ouercom And before the messanger which had broughte the yong Gentlewoman did departe he caused to be called before him his onely sonne called Cyrus vnto whom he sayde Bicause Cyrus the time of thy yeares be suche as mete they be to matche thée in mariage for hope I haue to sée some progenie procede of thée before I die my mynde is that thou shalt marie this goodly Gentlewoman here the sister of my wife To which his fathers hest the yong Gentleman willingly 〈◊〉 Then the King toke againe his owne and ordeined a royall feast for the mariage of his sonne which was celebrated and done with greate triumph and solemnitie continuing the space of viij days Ariobarzanes hearing these good newes wold not yet acknowledge him selfe to be ouercome and séeing that his purpose was now brought to an extremitie determined to sende the little childe a litle before begotten of his daughter to the King which so resembled the Kings face and countenaunce as was possible And therfore caused 〈◊〉 to bée made of the fairest yuorie that was to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and garnished with pure golde 〈◊〉 and set with moste precious stokes and Ieinels wherin he caused the childe to be placed and couered with rich clothes of finest gold and silke and together with the nourice 〈◊〉 with a pompous 〈◊〉 of Gentlemen he sente hun to the King the very 〈◊〉 that the solemne mariage should be celebrated And the King being in his great 〈◊〉 which was hanged with maruellous rich and costly Arras attended vpon with a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Barons and noble men he that had the charge of the conduction of the childe vpon his knées presented the same before him lying in the cradle The King and the noble men maruelling what that did mean expected what the messanger 〈◊〉 say who holding the 〈◊〉 by one of the pomels sayde these wordes Most renoumed and victorious Prince in the behalfe of Ariobarzanes my Lorde and your subiecte moste humbly I present vnto your 〈◊〉 with al submission and reuerence this gift And my sayde Lorde doth rendre infinite thankes vnto your highnesse for the great 〈◊〉 it hath pleased you to vse by 〈◊〉 to entertaine him into your alliance For which not to séeme 〈◊〉 this present and ther withall he opened the cradle by me he hath 〈◊〉 vnto your maiestie When the cradle was discouered there appeared a goodly yong childe smiling and laughing vpon his father the ioyfullest sight that euer his father sawe and so like vnto him as the halfe Moone is lyke the proportion of the reste Then euery of the standers by beganne to say his minde touching the resemblaunce of the childe to his father hardily protestyng the same without doubte to be his owne The King coulde not bée satisfied with the sight of his childe by reason of the greate delight he had to looke vppon 〈◊〉 and of the generall opinion whiche all men 〈◊〉 touching his likenesse The childe againe vpon the common reioyce made vpon hym but specially of his father with preatie motions and swéete laughings representing two smilyng pyttes in his ruddie 〈◊〉 crowed many tymes vpon his father toying 〈◊〉 and downe his tender hands Afterwardes the King behelde the workmanship of that sumptuous cradle and demaunded whereof the substaunce was Unto whome the Messanger described the historie and whole contente of that incomparable Iewell Who 〈◊〉 that discourse caused the Quéene to be called forth and by hir was further certified of hir fathers Noble disposition with excéeding contentation and wonderfull reioyce he receiued the little childe and 〈◊〉 hym selfe in maner vanquished Not withstandyng séemyng to bée thus surmounted hée thoughte if hée dyd not surpasse this Curtesie his Noble and Princely mynde should be disgraced Wherefore hée determined to vse a kynde of Magnanimitie therby eyther to ouercome Ariobarzanes or else hauing apparant occasion altogether to fall out and to conceyue a mortall malice against him The King had a daughter of the age of xxi yeares a very faire and comely Lady according as hir royall education and princely bringing vp required whome as yet he had not matched in mariage meanyng to bestowe hir vpon some King or greate Monarch with a dowrie of ten hundred thousand Crownes bisides the princely and great costlye apparell and Iewells which hir owne mother lying vppon hir death bedde did bequeathe hir The King then purposing to excell Ariobarzanes minded by couplyng hym with his daughter to make hym his sonue in lawe Which to a Ladie of royall Linage appeareth some debacing of hir noble bloud to bée matched with a man of inferiour birth The like to a man howe honorable so euer he bée can not chaunce if he take a wyfe of degrée neuer so base For if he bée borne of noble and gentle kinde hée doth illustrate and aduaunce the woman whome hée taketh all be it she were of the meanest trampe of the popular forto and the chyldren which bée borne of them by the fathers meanes shall be noble and of gentle kynde But a woman although shée bée moste Noble if she bée married to hir inferiour and that hir husbande bée not fo noble the children that shall bée borne of them shall not receyue the honour of the mothers storke but the state of the fathers lotte and so shall be vnnoble Such is the Reuerence and Authoritie of the â—ere of â—aâ— where vppon doeth ryse comparyson of the wyse whiche doth resemble the man vnto the Sunne and the woman to the Moone For we sée that the Moone of hir selfe doth not giue light ne yet can yelde any brightnesse to the darknesse of the night if the did not partake some shining of the Sun who with his liuely flames at
other I will carrie with me to Rome not as prisoner but as hostage pledge from thée The prisoners which thou haste of ours shal bée rendred in exchange for those which we haue of thyne without ransome of eyther parts And by théese meanes thou shalt remaine honored in Asia and I contented will retorne to Rome The Gods bée thy defense preserue our mother the citie of Rome from all vnhappie fortune The Quéene Zenobia hauing reade the letter of the Emperour Aurelianus without feare of the contentes incontinently made such answere as followeth Zenobia Quéene of Palmyres and Ladie of all Asia and the kingdomes thereof to thée Aurelianus the Emperour helth and consolation c. That thou doe intitle thy selfe with the Emperour of the Romanes I do agrée but to presume to name thy selfe lorde of the East kingdomes I saye therein thou doest offende For thou knowest well that I alone am Lady Regent of all the Orient the onely dame maistres of the same The one part wherof descended vnto me by lawfull inheritaunce from my predecessors and the other part I haue wonne by my prowesse and dedes of armes Thou sayest that if I rendre obedience vnto thée thou wilt doe me greate honor To that I answere that it were a dishonest part of me and a déede moste vniust that the Gods hauing created Zenobia to comaunde all Asia she should nowe begyn to be slaue thrall vnto the citie of Rome Semblablie thou sayest that thou wilt gyue and leaue me all the golde siluer and other riches which I haue Whervnto I answer that it is a wicked and fonde request to dispose the goodes of another as they were thine owne But thine eyes shall neuer sée it ne yet thy handes shal touch it but rather I hope in the Gods aboue to bestow and crye a larges of that which thou haste at Rome before thou finger that which I haue possesse in Asia Truely Aurelianus the warres which thou makest against me and thy quarell bée most vniust before the supernall Gods and verie vnreasonable before men and I for my part if I haue entred or doe take armes it is but to defend my selfe and myne Thy comming then into Asia is for none other purpose but to spoyle make hauocke of that which an other hath And thinke not that I am greatly afrayde of that name of Roman Prince nor yet of the power of thyne huge armie For if it bée in thy handes to gyue battell it belongeth onely to the gods to giue eyther to thée or me the victory That I remaine in field it is to me greate fame but thou to fight with a widdowe oughtest truely to bée ashamed Ther be come vnto myne ayde and Campe the Persians the Medes the Agamēnonians the Irenees the Syrians and with them all the Gods immortall who bée woont to chastice such proude princes as thou arte and to helpe poore widows as I am And if it so come to passe that the Gods doe permit suffre my lucke to bée such as thou doe bereue me of life and dispoile me of goods yet it wil be bruted at Rome and published in Asia that the wofull wight Zenobia was ouerthrowne and slaine in defense of hir patrimonie and for the conseruation of hir husbandes honor Labor no more then Aurelianus to flatter and pray me nor yet to threaten me require me no more to yelde and become thy prisoner nor yet to surrender that which I haue for by doing that I can I accomplish that I ought For it will be saide and noysed through the world may it so come to passe as Fortune doe not fauor me that if the Empresse Zenobia bée captiue she was not yet vanquished The sonne which thou 〈◊〉 to carie with thée to Rome truely that request I cannot abide and much lesse doe meane to 〈◊〉 the same knowing full well that thy house is stored full of manyfolde vices where myne is garnished with many notable Philosophers Wherby if I leaue vnto my children no great heapes of goodes yet they shal be well taught and instructed For the one halfe of the day they spende in Learnyng and the other halfe in exercise of Armes For conclusion of thy demaunde and finall answer thervnto I pray thée trauell no more by letters to write vnto me ne yet by ambassage to spende any 〈◊〉 talke but attend vntill our controuersie bée decided rather by force of armes than by vttered wordes The Gods preserue thée It is said that Aurelianus receiuing that answere did reioyce but when he had redde it hée was greatly offended which incontinently hée made to bée knowne by gathering together his Campe and besieging the Citie wherin Zenobia was And Aurelianus wroth and outraged with that answere although his armie was werie and halfe in dispaire by reason of the long warres yet hée vsed suche diligence and expedition in the siege of that place as the 〈◊〉 was taken and the citie rased which done the Emperour Aurelianus retourned to Rome carying wyth hym Zenobia not to doe hir to death but to tryumphe ouer hir At what tyme to sée that noble Ladie goe on foote and marche before the triumphing Chariot bare 〈◊〉 charged wyth that burden of heauie chaūce and hir two children by hir side truly it made the Roman Matrons to conceiue great pitie being well knowen to all the Romanes that neither in valo rous dedes nor yet in vertue or chastitie any mā or woman of hir time did 〈◊〉 hir The dayes of the triumph being done al the noble Ladies of Rome assembled and repaired to Zenobia and vsed vnto hir greate and honorable enterteinement giuing hir many goodly presents and rewardes And Zenobia liued in the companie of those noble matrones the space of x. yeares béefore she dyed in estimation like a Lucrecia and in honor lyke a Cornelia And if Fortune had accompanied hir personage so well as vertue and magnanimitie Rome had felt the egrenesse of hir displeasure and the whole world tasted the swetenesse of hir regiment Euphimia of Corinth ¶ EVPHIMIA the King of 〈◊〉 daughter fell in loue with ACHARISTO the seruant of hir father and besides others which required hir to mariage she disdained PHILON the king of PELOPONESVS that loued hir 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ACHARISTO conspiring against the king was discouered tormented and put in prison by meanes of 〈◊〉 deliuered The king promised his daughter and kingdome to him that presented the heade of ACHARISTO EVPHIMIA so wrought as he was presented to the King The King gaue him his daughter to wyfe and when he dyed made him his heyre ACHARISTO began to hate his wyfe and condemned hir to death as an adulteresse PHILON deliuered hir vpon the sute of hir subiects she is cōtented to marie him therby he is made king of Corinth The. xv Nouel COnstancie in Honeste loue beyng a perfect vertue and a precious ornament to the beloued indewing 〈◊〉 besides ioy and contentacion
Prince or Lord which in times passed did commaund or rule the Common wealthe in all the Countrey of Thuscan In this wise that modestie made him worthy of the Principalitie which almost against all right hée had vsurped and of a praise which shall no lesse continue than the memorie of man is able to extende the same from one generation to an other and which Couetous of the praise of a Prince so vertuous iust and modest shall not cease to illustrate and gloriously aduance him in open euidence to the end that hys like exercise the same in like things or of greater consequence for not sufferyng venemous and vnprofitable herbes to grow in their Common wealth Within the Garden wherof a little nuldew or vntimely raine is able to marre and corrupt all the good séedes plants sowen and grifted before Considering that wycked wéedes and daungerous impes take déeper roote than those that beare a good and sauorous frute for the conseruation whereof the diligent husbandman imployeth almost all the seasons of the yeare The Duchesse of Malfi ¶ The Infortunate mariage of a Gentleman called ANTONIO BOLOGNA with the Duchesse of MALFI and the pitifull death of them bothe The. xxiij Nouel THe greater Honor and authoritie men haue in this world the greater their estimation is the more sensible notorious are the faultes by them committed the greater is their 〈◊〉 In lyke manner more difficult it is for that man to tolerate and sustaine Fortune which all the dayes of his life hathe liued at his 〈◊〉 if 〈◊〉 chaunce hée fall into any great necessitie than for hym which ncuer felt but woe mishappe and aduersitie Dyonisius the Tyrant of Sicilia felte greater payne when hée was expelled his kingdome than Milo did being vanished from Rome For so muche as the one was a Soueraigne Lord the sonne of a King a Iusticiarie on earth and the other but a simple Citizen of a Citie wherein the people had Lawes and the lawes of Magistrates had in reuerence So likewyse the fall of a high and loftie Trée maketh a greater noyse than that whiche is lowe and little Highe Towers and stately Palaces of Princes be séene further off than the poore Cabans and hontely shephierds Shéepecotes The Walles of loftie Cities salute the viewers of the same farther of than the simple caues which the poore doe dig belowe the Mountaine rocks Wherefore it behoueth the Noble and such as haue charge of Common wealth to liue an honest lyfe and beare their port vpryght that none haue cause to take ill example vpon dyscourse of their déedes and naughtie life And aboue all that modestie ought to be kept by women whome as their race Noble birth authoritie and name maketh them more famous euē so their vertue honestie chastitie and continencie more praise worthy And behouefull it is that like as they wishe to be honoured aboue all other so their life do make them worthy of that honour without disgracing their name by déede or woorde or blemishing that brightnesse which may commende the same I greatly feare that all the Princely factes the exploits and conquests done by the Babylonian Quéene Semyramis neuer was recōmended with such praise as hir vice had shame in records by those which left remēbrāce of ancient acts Thus I say bicause a woman being as it were the Image of swéetenesse curtesie shame fastnesse so soone as she steppeth out of the right trade and leaueth the smel of hir duetie and modestie bisides the denigration of hir honor thrusteth hir self into infinite troubles and causeth the ruine of such which should be honored and praised if womens allurement solicited them not to follie I wil not here indeuor my self to séeke for examples of Samson Salomon or other which suffred thē selues fondly to be abused by women and who by meane of them be tumbled into great faults and haue incurred greater perils Contenting my self to recite a right pitifull Historie done almost in our time when the French vnder the leading of that notable 〈◊〉 Gaston de Foix vanquished the force of Spaine and Naples at the iourney of Rauenna in the time of the French king called Levves the twelfth who married the Lady Marie daughter to king Henry the seuenth and sister to the victorious Prince of worthy memory king Henry the eight wife after the death of the sayd Levves to the puissant Gentleman Charles late Duke of Suffolke In that very time then liued a Gentleman of Naples called Antonio Bologna who hauing bene Master of houshold to Federicke of Aragon sometime King of Naples after the French had expelled those of Aragon out of that Citie the sayde Bologna retired into Fraunce thereby recouered the goods which hée possessed in his countrey The Gentleman bisides that he was valiant of his persone a good man of warre wel estemed amongs the best had a passing numbre of good graces which made him to be beloued cherished of euery wight for riding managing of great horse he had not his fellow in Italy he could also play excéeding well and trim vpon the Lute whose faining voyce so well agréed therunto that the most melancholike persons wold forget their heauinesse vpon hearing of his heauenly noise and bisides these qualities hée was of personage comely and of good proportion To be short Nature hauing trauailed and dispoyled hir Treasure house for inriching of him he had by Arte gotten that which made him most happy worthy of praise which was the knowledge of good letters wherin hée was so well trained as by talke and dispute thereof he made those to blushe that were of that state and profession Antonio Bologna hauing left Federicke of Aragon in Fraunce who expulsed out of Naples was retired to king Levves went home to his house to liue at rest and to auoyd trouble forgetting the delicates of Courtes and houses of great men to be the only husband of his owne reuenue But what It is impossible to eschue that which the heauēs haue determined vpon vs and lesse the vnhappe whych séemeth to followe vs as it were naturally procéeding from our mothers wombe In such wise as many times he which séemeth the wisest man guided by misfortune hasteth himself wyth stouping head to fall headlong into his deathe ruine Euen so it chaūced to this Neapolitane Gentleman for in the very same place where he attained his aduācement he receiued also his diminution and decay and by that house which preferred hym to what he had he was depriued both of his estate and life the discourse whereof you shall vnderstand I haue tolde you already that this Gentleman was Maister of the King of Naples houshold being a gentle person a good Courtier wel trained vp and wise for gouernment of himself in the Court and in the seruice of Princes the Duchesse of Malfi thought to intreat him that hée would serue hir in that office which he serued the king This Duchesse
excéeding faire crown of Gold apt and mete for the 〈◊〉 head Afterwards when he saw time conuenient he 〈◊〉 that in the market place of the Citie a pearche should be erected and 〈◊〉 with tapestrie Arras 〈◊〉 other costly furnitures suche as Princes palaces are 〈◊〉 decked withall Thither with sound of 〈◊〉 he caused the Falcon to be conueyed where the King 〈◊〉 ded one of his noble men to place the Crowne vpon his head for prise of the excellent pray atchieued vppon the Egle. Then he caused the hangman or common executioner of the Citie to take the Crowne from the Faucon and with the trenchant sworde to cut of his head Upon these contrary 〈◊〉 the beholders of this sight were amazed and began diuersly to talke thereof The King which at a window stoode to beholde this fact caused silence to be kepte and so loude opened his Princely voice as he was well hearde speaking these wordes There ought good people none of you all to 〈◊〉 and grudge at the present fact executed vpō the Faucon bicause the same is done vpon good reason and iust cause as by processe of my discourse you shall well perceyue I am persuaded that it is the office and duetie of euery magnanimous prince to know the valor and difference betwene vertue and vice that all vertuous actes 〈◊〉 thie attempts may be honoured and the contrary 〈◊〉 punished otherwise he is not worthy of the name of a King and Prince but of a cruell and traiterous tyrant For as the Prince beareth the title by principalitie and chief so ought his life chiefly to excell other whome he gouerneth and ruleth The bare title and dignitie is not sufficient if his condicions and moderation bée not to that supreme state 〈◊〉 Full well I knew and did consider to be in this dead Faucon a certaine generositie and stoutnesse of minde ioyned with a certaine fierce 〈◊〉 and nimblenesse for which I crowned and rewarded hir with this golden garland bicause of the stoute slaughter which she made vpon that mightie Egle worthie for that 〈◊〉 and prowesse to be honoured after that solemne guise But when I considered how boldly and rashely she assailed and killed the Egle which is 〈◊〉 Quéene and maistresse I thought it a part of iustice that for hir bolde and vncomely act she shoulde suffer the paine due to hir 〈◊〉 For vnlaufull it is for the seruaunte and vnduetifull for the subiecte to imbrue his handes in the bloud of his soueraigne Lord. The Faulcon then hauing slaine hir Quéene and of all other birdes the soueraigne who can with reason blame me for cutting of the Falcons head Doubtlesse none that hath respecte to the quiete state betweene the Prince and subiect This example the 〈◊〉 alleaged against Ariobarzanes when they pronoūced sentence And applying the same to him ordeined that first Ariobarzanes for his Magnanimitie and liberall Curtesie should be crowned with a Laurel Garland for the generositie of his minde and excéeding curtesie but for his great emulation earnest endeuour and continuall 〈◊〉 to contende with his prince and in Liberalitie to shew him selfe superior 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 spéech vttered against him his hed ought to be striken of Ariobarzanes being aduertised of this seuere 〈◊〉 he purposed to sustain the 〈◊〉 darte of Fortune as he had endured other bruntes of that enuious inconstant Lady and in suche maner behaued and directed his 〈◊〉 and countenance as no signe of choler or dispaire appeared in him onely pronouncing this sentence with ioyful 〈◊〉 in the presence of many Glad I am that at length there resteth in me so much to be liberal as I employ my life and bloud to declare the same to my soueraigne Lorde which right willingly I meane to do that the world may know that I had rather lose my life than to saint and giue ouer in mine 〈◊〉 liberalitie Then calling a Notarie vnto him he made his will for so it was lawful by the Persian lawes and to his wife and daughters he increased the dowries and to his kinsfolk and frends 〈◊〉 bequethed diuers riche bountifull legacies To the King he 〈◊〉 a great numbre of most precious Jewels To Cyrus the Kings sonne and his by mariage bisides a great masse of money he bequeathed all his armure and 〈◊〉 with all his instrumentes for the warres and his whole stable of horsse Last of all he ordeined that if perhaps his wife shoulde be founde with childe and broughte to bed of a Sonne he should be his vniuersall heire But if a woman childe to haue the like dowrie that his other daughters had The rest of his goods and cattell he gaue indifferently to all iii. equally to bée deuided He prouided also that all his 〈◊〉 according to their degrée should be rewarded The day before he shoulde be put to death according to the custome of Persia his praises and valiant factes as well by Epitaphes fixed vpon 〈◊〉 as by 〈◊〉 were generally sounded 〈◊〉 the Realme in suche wise as eche wight 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 him to be the moste liberall and noble personage that was in all the Countrey and in the borders 〈◊〉 vpon the same And if there had not bene some enuious persones néere the King which studied and practised his ouerthrow all other would haue déemed him vnworthy of death Such is the enuie of the maliciously disposed that rather than they would sée their equals to be in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with the Prince than them selues studie and deuise all policie either by flatterie or false 〈◊〉 to bring them in discredite or to practise by false accusation their vtter subuersion by death or vanishement But whiles 〈◊〉 was disposing his things in order his wife and daughters with his friends and 〈◊〉 were affected with great sorow day and night complaining for the heauie 〈◊〉 of that noble Gentleman The eight day 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the lawe allowed that space to the condemned for disposition of their things a skaffolde was made by commaundement of the King in the middes of the Market place all couered with blacke 〈◊〉 and an other righte ouer against the same with purple and 〈◊〉 where the King if he 〈◊〉 in the mids of the Judges should sitte and the inditement redde iudgement by the Kings owne mouth declared shoulde be executed or if it pleased him discharge and assoile the condemned And the King vnwilling to be present gaue to one of the 〈◊〉 Judges his full power and authoritie But yet sorrowfull that a Gentleman so noble and valiant his father and 〈◊〉 in lawe should finishe his life with a death so horrible would néedes that morning be presente him selfe at that execution as well to sée the continent and stoute ende of Ariobarzanes as also to take order for his deliuerie 〈◊〉 the time was come Ariobarzanes by the 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 was brought vnto the Skaffolde and there apparelled in riche 〈◊〉 the Laurell Crowne was set vpon his head and so continuing for a certaine space the
bande of horsmen Wherefore Tarquinius sente to the Rammenses Titienses Luceres To the bandes that Romulus had conscribed hée added other new troupes of horsemen purposing that the same should continue in memorie of him after his death And bicause Romulus dyd the same without aduise of the Southsayers one Accius Nauius the notablest Prophecier in those daies withstoode that constitution 〈◊〉 that it was not lawsull for him eyther to appoint a newe order or to alter the olde except the birdes and auguries did assent thervnto Wherwith the king was displeased deluding that science said Go to M. Sothsayer tell me now quod he is it possible to bring that to passe which I haue now conceiued in my minde Yea quod the Southsayer if you tel me what it is Then quod Tarquinius I haue deuised that thou shalt pare thine owne skin with a Raser Therfore take this knife doe as thy birdes doe portend and signifie And as it was reported he pared his own skin in déede In memory wherof an Image of Accius was erected with his head 〈◊〉 After that time there was nothing attempted without those auguries Notwithstanding Tarquinius procéeded in his constitution and added to the Centurias an other number for that 1800. horsemen were conteined in the thrée Centuriae The later addition was called also by the same name which afterward were doubled into vj. Centurias Whē his numbre was thus increased once againe he ioyned battel with the Sabines who by a notable pollicie recouered a great victorie And bicause the Sabines doubled a freshe onset without any order of battell or good aduisement they were ouerthrowen and then constrained to make peticion for peace The citie of Collatia and the Coūtrie confining vpon the same was taken from the Sabines The Sabine warres being in this sortended Tarquinius in triumphant maner 〈◊〉 to Rome At that time a prodige and miraculous 〈◊〉 chaunced to be séene in the Palace The head of a childe whose name was Seruius Tullius lying a sléepe in the palace was séene to burne The king was brought to sée that miracle And as one of his seruants was going to fetch water to quēch the fire he was staid by the Quene who commaunded that the childe should not once be touched vntill he awaked of himselfe And so soone as he rose from sléepe the fire vanished Then she tooke hir husband aside and said doe you sée this childe whom we haue verie basely and negligently brought vp I assure you sir said she he wil be the only safegard and defender of this our doubtfull state and will be the preseruer of our houshold when it is afflicted Wherefore let vs make much of him that is like to be the ornament and a worthie stay to all our familie After that they had accompted him amongs the number of their children traded him vp in those Arts which excite all good dispositions to aspire vnto honoure the pleasure of the Gods appeared in short time For the child grew to a royal behauior in so much as among all the Romane youth there was none more méete to mary the daughter of Tarquinius This Seruius Tullius was the sonne of one Seruius Tullius that was a Captain of a towne called Corniculum at the apprehension whereof it chaunced that the sayd Tullius the father was 〈◊〉 leauing his wife great with child the mother being a captiue and bonde woman was deliuered of hir childe at Rome in the house of Priscus Tarquinius After Tarquinius had raigned xxxviij yeres the yong man began to growe to great honor and estimation aswell with the king himself as also with the Fathers Then the Romanes conceiued a hateful indignation against the king for that he being put in trust to be the Tutor gouernor of Ancus children displaced them from their right inheritance and specially for that he himself was a stranger fearing also that the kingdom should not return againe to the election of themselues but degenerat and grow into seruile bondage They also called to remembrāce that the Citie continewed one hundred yeres after the sublation of Romulus an intier kingdome within one Citie and that it was a shame for them to suffer a bondman borne of seruile kind to possesse the same and would rebound to their perpetual ignominie hauing the progenie of Ancus aliue to suffer the same to be open to straungers and bōdmen Wherfore they determined to defend the griefe of that iniurie and to be reuenged rather vpon Tarquinius than vpon Seruius In fine they committed the execution of that fact to two shepherds chosen out for that purpose Who deuised this pollicie Before the entrie into the Palace they fell togither by the eares vpon which fray all the kings officers assembled and repaired thither to know the cause of their falling out when they were parted they appealed to the king with such exclamation as they were heard to the Palace Being called before the king both of them fell to brawling and one of thē striued of purpose to hinder the tale of the other The kings sergeant rebuked them commaunding them to tel their tales in order Whē they were a litle quieted one of thē beginneth to discourse the tale And as the king was attentife to heare the plaintif the other toke vp a hatchet threw it at the king and leauing the weapon sticking in the wound they conueied themselues out of the dores Those that waited vpon the King made hast to relieue him and the sergeants followed to apprehende the malefactors With that a hurlie burlie rose amōgs the people euery man maruelling what the matter shoulde be Tanaquil commaunded the palace gates to be shut and séeketh remedie to cure hir husbande as though some hope of life had bene remaining When hope failed of his recouerie shée called Seruius before hir which maried hir daughter and shewed vnto him hir dead husbande holding him fast by the right hande shée intreated him that he would not suffer the death of his father in lawe to be vnreuenged to the intent he might not be ridiculous to the traitours saying to him further these words If thou be a man of thy hands O Seruius the kingdom is thine and not theirs which thus cruelly by the hands of other haue committed this abhominable facte Wherefore put forth thy selfe and the Gods be thy guide For they did portende this noble head to be the Gouernour of this citie at such time as they circumfused the same with a fire descendyng from aboue Let that heauenly 〈◊〉 excite thy courage Be throughly awaked We being straungers sometime haue raigned Thinke and consider what thou art not from whence thou camest If the strangenesse of the case doe affray thée my counsel from time to time shall relieue thée The crie and stirre of the people being vnmesurable that one could scarse heare an other Tanaquill opened the windowes that had their prospect to the new way for the King dwelt at the temple of
me but I know full wel 〈◊〉 those intreaties tende vnder the grasse what linking Serpent lieth Shal I then put into his hands mine owne 〈◊〉 But before I so 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 God aboue with his flashing fires 〈◊〉 brands shall thunder me downe into the depthe of Hell The gapyng ground receyue my corps before I yelde to that request the trampling stéedes of sauage kinde do teare my membres in thousand gobbets the desert beastes consume my flesh the 〈◊〉 gripes and 〈◊〉 kites picke out my tongue and eyes before I glutte his 〈◊〉 mind with that demaunde to breake the 〈◊〉 whith by holy othe I haue promised to performe Oh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but what shall I doe then It behoueth to obey in despite of my téeth to doe that which the Romane Emperour commaūdeth Alas by thinking vpon that straight and néedefull lot I die a thousand deathes wherfore of euils to 〈◊〉 the least of twaine and to preserue my plighted faith O swéete Sophonisba thou must die and by meanes of thy beloued féere shalt void the yoke of Romanes thral for so it pleaseth vnmindefull Ioua to appoynt The wretched heauens by cruell fate haue throwen their lot that I of mine owne mischiefe shal be the minister And so O lyfe most dere I shal perform the 〈◊〉 to kepe the faith which last of al before thy face I did confirme By this spech and maner of talke the good Prince bewailed his case excogitating by what meanes hée myght doe to death the thing which aboue all the world he loued best At length it came vnto his minde to send hir a draught of poisoned drinke which deuise he had no sooner inuented but he was driue into a new kinde of fury and kindled with disdaine his 〈◊〉 were on fire with extreme madnesse as though 〈◊〉 had bene before him he 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 in Bedlemwise somtimes 〈◊〉 taunts he checked hir to hir 〈◊〉 somtimes lamented hir vnfortunate state somtimes with pawes displayed he seemed to rampe into hir 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 then againe into amorous toyes his passions droue him 〈◊〉 When I doe thinke what kinde of man Massinissa was who in déede was a 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 noble king 〈◊〉 who with such Prndence gouerned his new 〈◊〉 recouered kingdoms so constantly perseuered 〈◊〉 of the Romane people I pray to God to 〈◊〉 my friends my selfe also not to enter into so 〈◊〉 and louesonie Labyrinth wherin this noble Prince was tangled and with more 〈◊〉 to gouerne our beloued things But retourning againe to this afflicted gentleman Massinissa He sent vnto his beloued wife and Quéene a potte of 〈◊〉 to rid hir of hir life but yet staying his messanger he cried out these woordes God forbid that I should commit this infamous murder vpon hir whenie I most déerely loue I would rather 〈◊〉 hir into the extreme parts of the vnknowen and sandy coast of Lybia where the Caūtrie is ful of venemous beastes crawling poysoned serpents in which place we shal be safe and sure from the daunger of cruell inexorable Scipio by which meanes he shall neuer see the rare diuine beautie which the Serpents once beholding will mitigate asswage their bitter poyson for whose sake they will not annoy ne yet hurt me hir louing husband companion Wherefore let vs make hast to flée thither to 〈◊〉 the bondage and death prepared for vs. And if so be we be not able to cary with vs golde and siluer yet shal we not want there some relief to maintein our lines for better it is to féede on bread and water then to liue in perpetual thraldome And liuing with thée swéete wife what 〈◊〉 beg gery am not I able to susteine The 〈◊〉 of exile and 〈◊〉 I haue alreadie suffred For being driuen out of iny kingdome many times I haue repaired to obscure dennes and caues where I haue hidden my selfe and lined in the wildernesse among the Sanage beastes But what meane I thus to say of my selfe whome no misaduenture can affray or mislike but thou deare wife which hast ben trained vp and norished amongs the delicacies bankets of the Court 〈◊〉 with traines of many faire noble ladies liuing like a Quene in al kind of plesures delights what shall I doe with thée I know thy heart will not suffer thée to follow me and yet if the same would serue thée frō whence shal I procure present shipping Upon the sea the Roman fleet beares the swinge vpon that land Scipio with his armie occupieth euery coast is generall lord of the field What then shall I most miserable and infortunate caitife do For whilest I am thus making my bitter complaints the night is past away day light approcheth and the bright shining mornyng beginneth to cleare the earth And behold yonder commeth the Generalls messanger for Sophonisba whome I must either deliuer into his handes or else commit hir to present slaughter being assured that she had rather make choise to die than fall into the lappes of the cruell Romanes Whervpon he determined to sende hir the poison and for very sorrow fell downe vpon the grounde like a man halfe deade Afterwards being come againe to him selfe he cursed the earth the aire the syre heauen hell and all the Gods of the same and exclaming in lamentable wise he called vnto him one of his moste faithfull seruaunts who according to the custome of those days always kept poison in store and sayd vnto him Receine this cuppe of golde and deliuer the same with the poison therin to the Quéene Sophonisba nowe abiding within the Citie of Cirta and tell hir that I with greatest good will woulde fain haue kept the mariage knot and the first faith which I plighted vnto hir but the lorde of the fielde in whose power I am hath vtterly forbidden the same I haue assayed all possible meanes to preserue hir my wyfe and Quéene at libertie but he which commaundeth me hath pronounced such hard cruell sentence as I am forced to offende my self and to be the minister of mine owne mischiefe This poyson I send hir with so dolefull message as my poore heart God knoweth doth only 〈◊〉 the smart being the most sorowfull present that euer was offred to any faire Ladie This is the way alone to saue hir from the Romanes handes Pray hir to consider the worthinesse of hir father the dignitie of hir countrey the royall maiestie of the. 〈◊〉 Kings hir husbands and to do as hir minde and will shall fansie best Get thée hence with all possible spede and lose no time in doing this thy message For thou shalt cary the bane and present death of the fairest Ladie that euer Nature framed within hir fairest moulde The seruant with this commaundement 〈◊〉 part and Massinissa like a childe beaten with the rodde wept and cried behind The messanger being come to the Quéene and giuing hir the cuppe with the poison declared his cruell ambassage The Quéene
toke the poysoned cuppe and said vnto the messanger Giue the king thy maister right humble thankes in my behalfe and say vnto him that I receiue and drinke this poyson with a will so good as if he had commaunded me to enter in triumph with Laurell garlande ouer mine ennimies For a better gift a husband can not giue to wife than accomplishment of assured faith the funeralls whereof shall be done with present obsequie And saying nothing else vnto the Messanger she toke the cuppe and myngling well together the poyson within she vnfearfully 〈◊〉 it vp And 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 had dronke the same she deliuered the messanger his cuppe againe and layed hir selfe vpon hir bed commaūding hir Gentlewomen in comely wise to couer hir with clothes and without lamentation or signe of Feminine minde shée stoutly waighted for approching death The Gentlewomen which waited vpon hir bewaited the rufull state of their 〈◊〉 esse whose plaints and schriches were heard throughout the palace wherof the brute and rumor was great But the good Quéene vanquished with the strong force of the poyson remained not long before she died The Messanger returned these heauie newes vnto Massinissa who sorowfully complained the losse of his beloned wife in such wise as many tymes hée was like to kill him selfe that his soule might haue accompanied the ghost of hir which was beloued of hym aboue all the deerest things of the worlde The valiaunt and wise captaine Scipio vnderstanding hereof to the intent Massinissa shoulde not commit any crueltie against himselfe or perpetrate other vncomely déede called hym before him and comforted him with the swéetest wordes he could deuise and friendly reproued him for the little faith and trust that he had in him The next day in the 〈◊〉 of all the arinie he highly commended him and rewarded him with the Kingdome of Numidia giuing hym many rich iewels and treasures and brought him in great estimation amōgs that Romans which the Senate and people of Rome very well approned and cōfirmed with most ample priuileges attributing vnto him the title of King of Numidia and frend of the Romanes Such was the eude of the vnhappie loue of kyng 〈◊〉 and the faire and unluckie Quéene Sophonisba Poris and Theoxena ¶ The crueltie of a King of 〈◊〉 who forced a Gentlewomā called THEOXENA to persuade hir children to kill and poison them selues after which facte she and hir husband PORIS ended their life by drovvning The. viij Nouell BUt sith wée haue begon to treat of the stoutnesse of certaine noble Quéenes I will not let also to recite the Historie of a like vnfearefull dame of Thessalian lande called Theoxena of right noble race the daughter of Herodicus prince of that cūtrey in the time that Philip the sonne of Demetrius was king of Macedone tolde also by Titus Liuius as two of the former be This lady Theoxena first was a notable exāple of 〈◊〉 vertue afterwardes of rigorous crueltie For the said King Philip hauing through his wickednesse first murdred Herodicus and by succession of time cruelly done to death also the husbands of Theoxena and of Archo hir natural sister vnto either of them being widowes remaining a sonne afterwardes Archo beyng maried againe to one of the principall of their countrey named Poris of him she had many childrē But when she was dead that sayd ladie Theoxena hir sister who was of heart more cōstant and stoute than the other stil refused the second mariage although sued vnto by many great lordes and princes at length pitying hir nephewes state for scare they shold fal into the handes of some cruell stepdame or that their father would not bring them vp with such diligence as till that time they were was contented to be espoused again to Poris no lawe that time knowen to defend the same to the intent she might traine vp hir sisters children as hir owne That done she began as if they wer hir own to intreate and vse them louingly with great care and 〈◊〉 wherby it 〈◊〉 appeared that she was not 〈◊〉 againe to Poris for hir own commoditie and pleasure but 〈◊〉 for the welth and gouernement of those hir sisters children Afterwards Philip king of Macedon an vnquiete Prince determining to make new warres vpon the Romanes then throughout the worlde famous and 〈◊〉 for their 〈◊〉 fortune 〈◊〉 not onely the chief and noble men but almost all the auncient inhabi 〈◊〉 of the Cities along the sea coast of Thessalia and their whole and entier families into Peonia afterwards called Emathia a countrey farre distant from the sea giuing their voided cities for the Thracians to inhabite as most propre and faithfull for the Romains warres which he intended to make and hearing also the 〈◊〉 maledictions pronoūced against him by the banished people and vniuersally by all other thoughte hée was in no good suretie if he caused not likewise all the sonnes of them whome a little before he had 〈◊〉 to be put to death Wherfore he commaunded them to be taken and holden vnder good garde inprison not to do them all to be 〈◊〉 at once but at times now one and then an other as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theoxena vnderstanding the 〈◊〉 of this wicked and cruell King and well remembring the death of hir husband and of him that was husband to hir sister knew wel that hir sonne and nephew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be demaunded and greatly 〈◊〉 the Kings wrath and the rigour of his Guarde if once they fell into their handes to defende them from shame and crueltie sodeinly applied hir minde vnto a straunge deuice For shée durst to say vnto hir husband their fathers sace that sooner 〈◊〉 would kill them with hir owne handes if otherwise she coulde not warraunt 〈◊〉 than suffer them to bée at the will and power of King Philip. By reason wherof Poris abhorring 〈◊〉 erecrable crueltie to comforte his wife and to saue his children promised hir secretely to transporte them from thence and caried them himselfe to certain of his faithful friends at Athenes which done without long delay he made as though he would go from Thessalonica to Aenias to be at the 〈◊〉 of certaine sacrifices which yearely at an appointed time was done with great ceremonies to the honour of Aenêas the 〈◊〉 of that citie where spending the time amongs other in solemne bankets the. iij. watch of the night when euery mā was a slepe as though he woulde haue returned home to his countrey with his wife children priuily he embarketh him selfe and them in a shyppe hired of purpose to passe into Euboea and not to 〈◊〉 to Thessalonica But his entent was cleane altered chaunged for his shippe was no sooner vnder saile but at that instant a contrarie winde and tempest rose that brought him backe againe in despite of their labour and all the endeuour they were able to doe And when daye light appeared the Kyngs garrison descried that shippe and manned out a boate to bring in the same
was driuen into great admiration and thought it very straunge that a woman which al the days of hir life had liued in greate honour and estimation shold vpon light cause or occasion poison hir self sith it was naturally giuen to eche breathyng wyght to prolong their liuing dayes with the longest thréede that Atropos could draw out of dame Natures webbe Wher vpon he commaunded the sayd matrone to be brought before hym whose death for hir vertue was generally lamented by the whole countrey When the Gentlewomā was before him and had vnderstāding that she was fully resolued and determined to die he began by greate 〈◊〉 to exhort hir that she should not wilfully 〈◊〉 hir selfe away vpon consideration that she was of lusty yeares riche and 〈◊〉 of the whole countrey how greate pitie it were but shée shoulde renue hir minde and giue hir selfe still to liue and remayne til naturall course did ende and finish hir life howbeit his 〈◊〉 and earnest persuasion could not diuert hir from hir intēded purpose But Pompeius 〈◊〉 to haue hir die ceassed not still to 〈◊〉 his former talke with newe reasons and stronger arguments All which she paciently heard with fired 〈◊〉 til at length with clere voice and 〈◊〉 cheare 〈◊〉 answered him in this maner You be greatly deceiued my lord Pompeius if you do beleue that I without very great prouidence and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 goe about to end my days for I do know and am 〈◊〉 persuaded that eche creature naturally craueth the prolongation and lengthning of life so much abhorreth to die as the desirous to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the poison whiche I haue prepared for consummation of my life Wher vpon I haue diuers times thought considered and discoursed with my selfe and amongs many considerations 〈◊〉 debated in my minde there came into the same the 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 change of Fortune whose whir 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 neuer 〈◊〉 ne yet remaineth 〈◊〉 It 〈◊〉 dayly séene how she doth exalt and aduance some man from the lowest and bottomlesse pitte euen to the 〈◊〉 of the hygh Heauens endowyng hym wyth so much substaunce as he can desire An other that was moste happie honoured in this worlde lyke a God vnto whom no goodes and welfare were wantyng who myghte well haue bene called in his lyfe a thrée tymes happie and blessed wyght sodaynly from his honoure and 〈◊〉 depriued and made a verie poore man and begger Some man also that is bothe riche and lustie accompanied wyth a faire wife and goodlye children lyuyng in greate myrth and ioylitie this wicked Ladie Fortune the deuourer of all oure contentacions depriueth from the inestimable treasure of health causeth the fayre wife to loue an other better than hir husbande and with 〈◊〉 venomous tooth biteth the children that in shorte space myserable deathe catcheth them all within hys dreadfull clouches whereby hée is defrauded of those chyldren whome after his deathe hée purposed to leaue 〈◊〉 his heires But what meane I to consume tyme and words in declaration of fortunes vnsteady staye which is more clere than the beames of the Sunne of whome dayly a thousande thousande examples bée manifest All histories be full of them The myghtie countrey of Graecia doeth render ample witnesse wherein so many excellent men were bredde and brought vp Who desirous with their fynger to touche the highest heauen were in a moment throwen downe And so many famous Cities whiche gouerned numbers of people nowe at this presente day wée sée to bée thrall and obedient to thy Citie of Rome Of these hurtefull and perillous mutations O noble Pompcius thy Romane Citie may bée a 〈◊〉 cleare glasse and Spectacle and a multitude of thy noble Citizens in tyme paste and present may gyue plentyfull witnesse But to come to the cause of this my death I say that fyndyng my selfe to haue lyued these many yeares by what chaunce I can not tell in verie greate prosperitie in all whiche tyme I neuer dyd suffer any one myssehappe but styll from good to better haue passed my time vntil thys daye Nowe fearyng the frownyng of Lady Fortunes face and that shée will repente hir long continued fauoure I feare I saye leaste the same Fortune shoulde chaunge hir stile and begynne in the middest of my pleasaunt life to sprinckle hir poysoned bitternesse and make mée the 〈◊〉 and Quiuer of hir sharpe and noysome arrowes Wherefore I am nowe determined by good aduyse to ridde my self from the captiuitie of hir force from all hir misfortunes and from the noysom and grieuous infirmities which miserably be incident to vs mortall Creatures And beleue me Pompcius that many in theyr aged dayes haue left their life with litle honour who had they ben gone in their youth had died famous for euer Wherefore my Lorde Pompeius that I may not be tedious vnto thée or hinder thyne affaires by long discourse I beséeche thée to gyue me leaue to follow my deliberate disposition that frankely and fréely I may bée 〈◊〉 of all daunger for the longer the life doth growe to the greater discommodities it is subiect When shée had so sayde to the greate admiration and compassion of all those whiche were present with tremblyng handes and fearefull cheare shée quaffed a greate cuppe of poysoned drynke the whyche shée broughte wyth hir for that purpose and within a while after dyed This was the strange vse and order obserued in 〈◊〉 Whiche good counsell of that dame had the noble and valiaunt captaine followed no doubt he would haue ben contented to haue ben brought to order And then he had not lost that bloudie battell atchieued against him by Iulius Cesar at Pharsalia in Egypt Then he had not sustained so many ouerthrowes as he did then had he not ben forsaken of his trendes and in the ende endured a death so miserable And for somuch as for the most part 〈◊〉 therto we haue intreated of many tragical and bloudie rhaunces respiring nowe from those lette vs a little touche some medicinable remedies for loue some lessons for gouernement and obediēce some treaties of amorous dames and hautie 〈◊〉 of Princes Quéenes and other persons to variate the chaungeable diet wherewith dyuers bée affected rellishyng their Stomackes wyth some more pleasant digestions than they haue tasted Faustina the Empresse ¶ The dishonest Loue of 〈◊〉 AVSTINA the Empresse and vvith vvhat remedie the same loue vvas remoued and taken avvay The tenth Nouell TRue and moste holie is the sentence that the ladie gentlewoman or other wighte of Female kinde of what degrée or condition soeuer she bée be she saire fowle or ylfauoured can not be endewed with a more precious Pearle or Jewell than is the 〈◊〉 pure vertue of honesty which is of such valour that it alone without other vertue is able to render hir that 〈◊〉 in hir attire moste famous and excellent Be she more beautifull than Helena be she mightier than the Amazon better learned than Sappho rycher than Flora more louing than Quéene Dido or more noble than
daughter of CHERA goyng for that treasure and busily serching for the same found the halter wherwithal for despaire she woulde haue hanged hir selfe but forbidden by ELISA who by 〈◊〉 espied hir she was restored to parte of hir losse leading afterwards a happie and prosperous life The. xj Nouell FOrtune the ladie Regent gouernesse of mās life so altreth and chaungeth the state thereof as many times we se the noble born from that great mightie port wherin they be debased so farre as either infamously their life is spent in the hungrie lappe of dame penurie or else contriued in the vgly lothsom house of Wantonnesse the stepdame of all honestie and vertue Sometimes we make the vnnoble ladde that was nooseled in the homely countrey 〈◊〉 or rude ciuile shoppe attaine to that whiche the onely honorable and gentle do aspire and he againe that is ambicious in climbing vp the turning whéele throwen downe beneth the brinke of 〈◊〉 lucke whelmed in the ditche pit of blacke despaire We note also somtimes that the carelesse wyght of Fortunes giftes hath vnlooked for his mouthe and throte crammed full of promotion and worldes delights Such is the maner of hir fickle stay When of this Historie ensuing giueth some intelligence by remembring the destenied lucks of thou poore sorie girles that were left destitute of desired things both like to fall into despaire and yet both holyen with that thei most desired which in this sort beginneth In the time that Scipio Affricanus had besleged the Citie of Carthage Chera that was a widow dwelling there seing the daunger at hand wherin the Citie stode and doubtyng the losse and ouerthrowe of the same and that the honor of the dames and womankinde coulde vneths be safe and harmelesse determined not to abide the vttermoste and hauing a good quantitie of golde and precious stones she bestowed the same in a casquet and hid it vpon one of the beames of hir house purposing when the stirre and daunger was past to retourne to hir house againe for those hir hidden things Which done in the habite of a poore womā with hir onely daughter in hir hand that was aboute b. or bf yeares of age she went out of Caithage and passed ouer the seas into Scicilia where falling sick after she had ben there thre or foure yeares at length died But before she departed she called hir daughter before hir then about x. yeares of age and tolde hir the place where she had 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 casket And by reason of the 〈◊〉 gotten by Scipio the citie was maruellously chaunged and amongs other things the house of Chera was giuen to a Roman 〈◊〉 that was so enriched with nobilitie of mynde as he was poore of Fortunes goods Which Chera vnderstanding was sorowfull and doubted of hir things secretly bestowed vpon the beame Whervpon she sayd vnto hir daughter that for so much as their house was in the posfession of an other she ought to be wise and circumspect in the recouerie of hir hidden goods and that hir death was the more sorowfull vnto hir bicause she must leaue hir so yong a maiden vnprouided of frendes for hir good gouernement But yet she incouraged hir and sayd that sith necessitie approched she must in childishe age put on a graue and auncient mind and beware how she bewrayed that casket to any person for that of purpose she reserued the knowledge thereof to hir self that it might serue for hir preferment and procure hir a husbande worthie of hir selfe And the maiden demaunding the value of the same she told hir that it was worth CC. 〈◊〉 and gaue hir in writyng the particulers inclosed within the Caskette and sayde that the lyke bill shée shoulde finde within the same written with hir owne hande And so the good woman wythin a while after dyed leauing behynde hir the yong mayden hir Daughter that maruellously lantented the death of hir mother accordingly as Nature taught hir and eche other reasonable wyght depriued from their dearest friends The maiden for hir yeres was very wise and would disclose to none what hir mother had sayd kéeping the writing very carefully and 〈◊〉 Not long after Philene which was the maidens name fell in loue with a Gentleman of Scicilia of greate reputation and authoritie who all bée it he sawe hir to be very faire and comely yet cared not for hir loue in respecte of mariage for that he knewe hir to be poore and without dowrie mete for a Gentleman iesting and mocking to sée hir fire hir mind on him for desire to haue him to hir husbande that was a personage so noble and rich which refusall pierced the heart of that tender maiden bicause she saw hir self forsaken for nothing else but for want of goods which made hir to think and consider howe shée myght recouer the riches that hir mother had layed vp in Carthage It chaunced as shée was in this thought that the daughter of him to whome the house of Chera was giuen called Elisa was likewise enamoured of a noble yong gentleman in Carthage who bicause Elisa was the daughter of a souldiour and not very rich in like manner laughed iested at hir loue no lesse than the other did at Philene Notwithstanding Elisa attempted all meanes possible to induce the yong man to loue hir but hir practise and attemptes tended to none effect And last of all desirous to haue a resolute answere and thereby vnderstode that he woulde rather die than take hir to wife she fell into despaire and curssed fortune and hir fate that she was not borne riche enough to match with hir chosen Gentleman and that she being poore must fal in loue with such a personage whervpon she miserably formented hir selfe styll bewayling hir vnhappie lucke that she could not win him to be hir husbande for which only intent and purpose she loued him And this amorous passion incredibly growing in hir the rootes whereof bée planted in the restlesse humor of melancholie and wanting all hope and comforte to stay that ranke and rāmishe wéede it so increased in hir as shée franticke in raging loue gaue hir self ouer to the spoile of hirself And to rid hir from that griefe she determined to kill hir selfe imagining which waye she might doe the same At length she was resolueb with hir fathers sword to pierce hir body But hir heart not seruing hir therevnto deuised by the halter to ende hir life saying thus to hir self that at lest wise my death shall doe me good bicause that cruel man shall know that for his sake I haue done this facte and shall performe my funerals with some teares or sighes And if his heart be not of yron or stéele he can not chose but sorowe and lament that one which loued him better than hir owne life hath made such wretched ende onely for his crueltie Elisa concluding vpon this intent prepared a halter And being alone in hir house in the chamber where the Casket lay vpon
the beame placed a stoole vnder the same and beganne to tie the halter aboute the beame 〈◊〉 doing wherof she espied the casket and reached the same vnto hir who féelyng it to be heauie and weightie immediatly did open it and found the bil within which Chera had written with hir owne hand agreable to that which she had deliuered to hir daughter wherin were particularly remembred the Jewels and other riches inclosed within the casket And disclosing the bagges wherein the golde and Jewels were bounde vp and seeing the great value of the same wondred therat and ioyfull for that fortune hid the rope which she had prepared for hir death in the place where shée found the casket and with great gladnesse and mirth wēt vnto hir father and shewed him what she had found wherat the father reioyced no lesse than his daughter Elisa did bicause he sawe himselfe thereby to be discharged of his former poore life and like to proue a man of inestimable wealthe and substance and saw like wise that the poore wench his daughter by the addicion of those riches was like to attaine the partie whome she loued When hée had taken forth those bagges and well 〈◊〉 the value to the intent no man might suspect the sodeine mutation of his state toke his daughter with hym and went to Rome where after he had remained certaine monethes he returned to Carthage and began very galantly to apparell himselfe and to kéepe a bountifull and liberall house His table and port was very delicate and sumptuous and his stable stored with many faire horsse in all points shewing him selfe very noble and rich By which sodein chaunge and mutation of state the whole Citie beléened that he had brought those riches from Rome And bicause it is the cōmon opinion of the vulgar people that where there is no riches there is no nobilitie and that they alone make the noble and Gentleman a foolishe opinion in déede proceeding from heades that be rash and light the people séeing such a port and charge kepte by the Souldier conceiued and thought that he was of some noble house And thoroughout the whole Citie greate and solemne honour was done vnto him wherevpon the yong Gentleman with whome Elisa was in loue began to bée ashamed of himselfe that he had disdained such a maiden And then the yong maiden séeing hir fathers house to be in such reputation made sute to hir father that he would procure the Gentleman to be hir husband But hir father willed hir in any wise to 〈◊〉 secrete hir desire and not to seme hir selfe to be in loue and wisely told hir that more méete it was that she shoulde be solicited by hym than she to make sute or request for mariage alleaging that the lesse desirous the Gentleman had bene of hir the more deare and better beloued she was to him And many times whē his daughter was demaunded to wife he made answere that Matrimonie was a state of no little importance as enduring the whole course of life and 〈◊〉 ought wel to be considered and wayed before any 〈◊〉 were made But for all these demaundes and answers and all these stops and stayes the maiden was indowed with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and in the ende hir louer and she were maried with so great pleasure and satisfaction of them both as they 〈◊〉 them selues happie In the meane time while these things were done at Carthage Philene in Scicilia toke thought how she might recouer hir goodes giuen to hir by hir mother destrous by their meanes also to sorte hir earnest and ardcnt loue to happie successe And debating with hir self as we haue sayd before how she might obteine them bicause the house was in possession of an other thought it to bée against reason and order that although she had lost hir house yet that hir goodes ought to be 〈◊〉 vnto hir whiche were hir onely maintenance and reputation and the fittest instruments that should conduct hir loue to happie ende And hearing tell that the father of Elisa the possessour of hir mothers house liued at Carthage with greate royaltie and 〈◊〉 thought that if by some sleight policie she found not meanes to enter the house without suspicion hir attempt would be in vaine determined therfore to goe to Carthage and to séeke seruice in that house counterfaiting the kinde and habite of a Page For she considered that if she went thither in order and apparell of a maiden she should incurre the perill of hir virginitie and fall into the lapse of diuers other daungers purposed then to goe thither in maner of a page and lackie And when she had in that sort furnished hir self she passed the seas and arriued at Carthage And séeking seruice about the citie at length chaūced to be retained in a house that was next neighbour to the Souldier and bicause this wench was gentle and of good disposition was well beloued of hir maister who being the friend of Elisa hir father many times sent vnto him diuers presēts and gifts by Philene wherevpon shée began to be acquainted familiar with the seruants of the house and by hir oft repaire thither viewed marked euery corner and vpon a time entred the chamber wherin hir mother Chera tolde hir that she had bestowed hir goods and looking vpon the beames espied by certaine signes and tokens one of them to be the same where the casket lay And therwithal well satisfied and contented verily beleued that the casket still remained there and without further businesse for that time expected some other season for recouerie of the same In the ende the good behauiour and diligence of Philene was so liked of Elisa as hir father and she made sute to hir master to giue hir leaue to scrue them who bycause they were his friends preferred Philene vnto them and became the page of that house And one day secretly repairyng into the chamber where she thoughte the treasure lay mounted vpon a stoole and sought the beame for the casket where she founde no casket but in place 〈◊〉 that lay the halter wherwithal Elisa woulde haue strangled hir self And searching all the parts of the chamber and the beames and finding nothing else but the halter she was surprised with such incredible sorrow as she 〈◊〉 like a stocke without spirite voice or life After Wardes being come againe to hir selfs she began pitifully to lament and complaine in this maner Ah wretched Philene vnder what vnluckie signe and planet was thou begotten and borne with what offense were the heauens wroth when they forced thée to pierce thy mothers wōbe Coulde I poore creature when I was framed within the moulde of nature and fed of my mothers substance within hir wombe and afterwards in due time brought forth to light commit such crime as to prouoke the celestiall inpressions to conspire agaynst my Natiuitie to bryng mine increased age into such wretched state and plighte wherein it is nowe wrapped and intangled No
this loue was straunge which so mightie a Monarch as Demetrius was did beare vnto such a notable Curtizan a woman vtterly voyde of grace barren of good workes without any zeale or sparke of vertue as it should appere But sith we reade know that none are more giuen or bent to vnreasonable loue than mightie princes what shuld it be demed straunge and maruellous if Demetrius amongs the 〈◊〉 doe come in place for the loue of that most famous woman yf fame may stretch to eyther sorts both good and euill But let vs come to that second sort of this infamous gentle woman called Lais. She was of the Isle of Bithritos which is in the confines of Graecia was the 〈◊〉 of the great Sacrificer of Appollo his tēple at Delphos a man greatly experienced in the magike art wherby he prophecied the perdition of his daughter Now this 〈◊〉 Lais was in triumph in the time of the renowmed king Pirrhus a prince very ambicious to acquire honor but not very happie to kepe the same who being yong of sixtene or 〈◊〉 yeres came into Italie to make warres against the Romains He was the first as some say that aranged a campe in ordre and made the Phalanx the maine square and battell For before hys time when they came to entre battell they assailed confusedly and out of array gaue the onset This amorous Lais continued long time in the campe of King Pyrrhus and went wyth hym into Italie and wyth hym retorned from warre againe Notwythstanding hir nature was such as she would neuer bée mainteined with one man alone The same Lais was so amorous in hir conuersation so excellent faire and of so comely grace that if she would haue kept hir selfe to one and bene 〈◊〉 to one lord or gentleman 〈◊〉 was no prince in the world but would haue yelded himselfe and all that he had at hir commaundement Lais from hir retourne out of Italia into Grece repaired to the citie of Corinth to make hir abode there where she was pursued by many kings lordes and princes Aulus Gellius saith which I haue recited in my former part of the Palace of pleasure the fiftenth Nouell that the good Philosopher Demosthenes went from Athenes to Corinth in disguised apparell to sée Lais and to haue hir company But before the dore was opened she sent one to demaunde 〈◊〉 C. Sestercos of siluer 〈◊〉 Demosthenes answered I bye not repentance so dere And I beleue that Demosthenes spake those wordes by folowing the sentence of Diogenes who sayth that euerie beast after such acte is heauie and sad Some writers affirme of this amorous Lais that thing which I neuer reade or heard of woman which is that she neuer shewed signe or token of loue to that man which was desirous to doe hir seruice nor was neuer hated of man that knew hir Wherby we may comprehend the happe and fortune of that amorous woman She neuer shewed semblance of great loue to any person and yet she was beloued of all If the amorous Lamia had a good spirite and mynde Lais truely had no lesse For in the art of loue she excéeded all other women of hir 〈◊〉 art and science as well in knowledge of loue as to profite in the same Upon a day a yong man of Corinth demaunding of hir what hée should say to a woman whome hée long tyme had loued and made so great sute that therby he was like to fall into dispaire Thou shalt say sayd Lais vnto hir that sith she will not graunt thy request yet at least wise it might please hir to suffer thée to bée hir seruant and that she would take in good parte the seruice that thou shalt doe vnto hir Which request if she doe graunt then hope to atteine the ende of thy attempt bycause that we women bée of such nature as opening the mouth to gyue some myld and pleasant answere to the amorous person it is to bée thought that we haue gyuen our heart vnto the firste suter An other daye in the presence of Lais one praised the Philosophers of Athenes saying that they were very honest personages and of greate skyll and knowledge Whereunto Lais aunswered I cannot tell what greate knowledge they haue nor what science they studie ne yet what bookes your Philosophers doe reade bycause that I being a woman and neuer was at Athenes I sée them repaire hither and of Philosophers béecome amorous persons A Theban knight demaunded of Lais what he might doe to enioy a ladie wyth whose loue hée should bée surprised She aunswered thus A man that is desirous of a woman muste followe hys sute serue hir and suffer hir and sometimes to séeme as though hée had forgotten hir For after that a womans heart is moued to loue she regardeth more the forgetfulnesse and negligence vsed towardes hir than she doth the seruice béefore time 〈◊〉 vnto hir An other Gentleman of Achaia asked hir what hée shoulde doe to a woman whome hée suspected that she hadde 〈◊〉 hir fayth Lais aunswered make hir beleue that thou thinkest she is very faythfull and take from hir the occasions wherby she hath good cause to doe the same For if she doe perceiue that thou knowest it and dissemblest the matter she will soner dye than amēd A gētleman of Palestine at another time inquired of hir what he should doe to a woman which he serued and did not esteme the seruice done vnto hir ne yet gaue him thankes for the loue which he bare hir Lais sayed vnto him If thou be disposed to serue hir no longer let hir not perceiue that thou hast gyuen hir ouer For naturallie we women be tendre to loue and hard to hate Being demaunded by one of hir neighbours what she should doe to make hir daughter very wyse She saide Lais that will haue hir daughter to be good and honest she must from hir youth lerne hir to feare and in going abrode to haunte litle companie and that she be shamefast and moderate in hir talke An other of hir neighbors inquiring of hir what she might doe to hir daughter which began to haue delight to rome in the fielde wander abrode The remedy saide Lais that I finde for your daughter disposed to that condition is not to suffer hir to be ydle ne yet to be braue and sumptnous in apparell This amorous gentlewoman Lais dyed in the citie of Corinth of the age of lxxij yeares whose death was of many Matrones desired and of a great numbre of amorous persons lamented The third amorous gentlewoman was 〈◊〉 Flora which was not so aucient ne yet of so great renoume as Lamia Lais wer whose coūtrie also was not so famous For she was of Italie and the other two of Grecia and although that Lamia Lais exceded Flora in antiquitie 〈◊〉 Flora surmounted them in lineage generositie For Flora was of noble house although in life lesse than chast She was of the countrie of Nola in
was sent forth on businesse of the kings The conclusion of which practise was that when she caried meate to Acharisto according to the ordre appointed she should faine hir selfe to bée violentlie dispoyled of the prison-key by Acharisto who taking the same from hir should shut hir in the prison and escape and wheÌ„ hir husband did returne she should make compl 〈…〉 of the violence done vnto hir according to which deuise the practise was accomplished And when hir husbande returned home hearing his wife crie out within the Tower was meruellously amazed and vnderstanding that Acharisto was deade ignorant of the pollicie betwene his wyfe and Euphimia hée fell into great rage speâ—delie repaired to the king and tolde him what had chauÌ„ced The King thinking that the breache of prison was rather through the womans simplicitie than purposed malice did mitigate his displeasure 〈◊〉 forthwith he sent out Scoutes to spie and watche in to what place Acharisto was gone whose secrete flight made all their trauell to be in vaine Then the King when he saw that hée coulde not be found made proclamation throughout his realme that who so would bring vnto him the hed of Acharisto should haue to wife his onely daughter and after his decease should possesse his Kingdome for dowrie of that mariage Many knightes did put themselues in redinesse to themselues that enterprise aboue al Philon was the chiefe not for gredinesse of the kingdome but for loue which hée bare vnto the Gentlewoman Wherof Acharisto hauing intelligence and perceuing that in no place of Europa he coulde be safe and sure froÌ„ daunger for the multitude of them which pursued hym vnto deth caused Euphimia to vnderstand the miserable estate wherin he was Euphimia which bent hir mind employed hir studie for his safegarde imparted hir loue which she bare to Acharisto to an aged Gentlewoman which was hir nurse gouernesse besought hir that she wold intreat hir sonne called Sinapus one very wel beloued of the King so reach his help vnto hir desire that Acharisto might return to the court again The Nurse like a wise woman lefte no persuasion vnspoken nor counsell vnremembred which she thought was able to dissuade the yong gentlewoman froÌ„ hir conceiued loue but the wounde was so déepely made and hir heart so greuously wounded with the thrée forked arrows of the litle blinde archer Cupide that despising all the reasons of hir beloued nurse she sayde howe shée was firmely bente eyther to runne from hir father and to séeke out Acharisto to sustaine with hym one equall fortune or else with hir owne handes to procure death if some remedie were not founde to recouer the Kynges good grace for the returne of Acharisto The Nurse vanquished with pitie of the yong mayden fearyng bothe the one and the sorte daunger that myght ensue sent for Sinapus and vpon their talke together Euphimia and hée concluded that Acharisto shoulde bée brought agayne vnto the Courte and that shée hir selfe should present him to the Kyng wherin should want no kinde of diligence vntill the Kyng did enterteyne him againe for his faithfull seruaunt as hée was woont to doe Upon which resolution Acharisto was sente for and being come Sinapus and Euphimia together wyth the Nurse tolde hym in what 〈◊〉 they thrée had concluded touching his health and safegarde Which of him being well lyked did giue 〈◊〉 humble thankes And then Sinapus went vnto the Kyng and tolde him that there was one newely arriued at Corinth to make a present vnto his grace of the hed of Acharisto At which newes the King shewed him selfe so ioyful as if he had gotten an other Kingdome and being placed vnder his cloath of state with his Counsell and Princely trayne about him telling them the 〈◊〉 of that assemblie coÌ„maunded hym that brought those newes to bring the partie forth newely come vnto the Citie to presente the head of Acharisto Then Sinapus broughte Acharisto before the presence of the King who no sooner looked vpon hym but fell into such a rage as the fire séemed to flame out of his angrie eyes and commaunded hym presentlye to bée taken and put to death But Acharisto fallyng 〈◊〉 vpon his knées humbly besoughte his Maiestie to gyue hym leaue 〈◊〉 speake But the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sufferyng hym to vtter one woorde 〈◊〉 him away Then the Counsellours and other Lordes of the Courte intreated his grace to heare him At whose requestes and supplications hée 〈◊〉 to 〈◊〉 contente Then Acharisto began to say Most sacred Prince and redoubted Soueraigne Lord the cause of thys my presumptuous repaire before your Maiestie is not to shew my selfe guiltie of the late beuised conspiracie ne yet to craue pardon for the same but to satisfie your Maiestie with that contented desire whiche by proclamation ye haue prondunced through your highnesse 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 whiche is to offer this heade for reuenge of the fault vniustly laid vnto my charge by those foure which woorthily haue tasted the deserued pame of their 〈◊〉 Whersore I am come hither of mine owne accorde to shewe the loue and greate desire whiche euer I had to serue and please your Maiestie And for that I would not coÌ„sume my lyfe in your displeasure I make offer of the same to your mercifull will and disposition chosing rather to die and leaue your maiestie satisfied contented than to lyue in happie state your princely minde displeased But desirous that hour maiestie shuld know myne innocencie I humbly besech your grace to heare what I can say that my fidelitie may bée throughly vnderstanded the wickednesse of the 〈◊〉 myne accusers wel wayed and considered Then hée began to rehearse all the things done by him for the seruice of his crowne and maiestie and finally into what daunger he did put himself when he killed the Lacedemonian king that went about by treason to murder him which enterprise might appere vnto him to be 〈◊〉 sure and euident testimonie that he ment nothing hurtfull or preindicial to his highnesse And that hée cstemed not his life when he aduentured for his seruice sauegarde to employ the same after these alleaged causes he added briefly that the loue which his maiestie knew to bée betwene him Euphimia his daughter ought to 〈◊〉 persuaded him that 〈◊〉 had rather haue suffered death himselfe than commit a thing displeasant to Euphimia And knowing that a more 〈◊〉 thing could not chauÌ„ce to hir than the 〈◊〉 death of hir father he might wel thinke that he wold haue deuised the death of a thousand other rather than that horrible 〈◊〉 déede such as his greatest enimie would neuer haue done much lesse 〈◊〉 which was bounde vnto him by so many receiued benefits for whose service preseruacion he had dedicated vowed his life and soule But if so be his maiesties rancor and displeasure could not bée mitigated but by doing hym to death hée desired that none of his alleaged reasons should bée accepted and
to asswage mine offended minde In the meane time I shall lament the rest of my heauie life with such store of teares as my body dried vp from all humiditie shall shortly search reliefe in earth And hauing made an ende of those hir woords hir heart was so grieuously strained as she could neither wéepe nor speake and stoode so 〈◊〉 as if she had bene in a traunce Then being somewhat come againe vnto hir self with 〈◊〉 voyce she sayde Ah 〈◊〉 tong of other mennes 〈◊〉 howe 〈◊〉 thou so 〈◊〉 to speake of him whome his very enimies doe commend and praise How presumest thou to impute the blame vpon Rhomeo whose vngiltinesse and innocent déede euery man alloweth Where from henceforth shal be his refuge sith she whiche ought to be the only bulwarke and assured rāpire of his distresse doth pursue defame him Receiue receiue then Rhomeo the satisfactiō of mine ingratitude by that sacrifice which I shall make of my proper life and so the fault which I haue committed against thy loyaltie shal be made open to the world thou being reuenged my self punished And thinking to vse some furder talke all the powers of hir body failed hir with signes of present death But the good olde woman which could not imagine that cause of Iulietta hir long absence doubted very much that she suffred some passion and sought hir vp and downe in euery place within hir fathers palace vntill at length she found hir lying a long vpon hir bed al the outward parts of hir body so colde as Marble But the good olde woman which thought hir to be dead began to cry like one out of hir wittes saying Ah deare daughter and 〈◊〉 how much doeth thy deathe now grieue me at the very heart And as she was séeling all the partes of hir body she perceiued some sparke of life to be yet within the same which caused hir to call hir many times by hir name till at length she brought hir out of hir sounde Then she sayd vnto hir Why Iulietta myne own deare dareling what meane you by this turmoiling of your self I can not tel from whēce this your behauior that immoderate heauinesse doe procede but wel I wote that within this houre I thought to haue accompanied you to the graue Alas good mother aunswered wofull Iulietta doe you not most euidently perceiue and sée what iuste cause I haue to sorrow and complaine losing at one instant two persons of the worlde which were vnto me moste deare Me thinke answered the good woman that it is not semely for a Gentlewoman of your degrée to fall into such extremitie For in time of tribulation 〈◊〉 shoulde most preuaile And if the Lord Thibault be dead do you thinke to get hym againe by teares What is he that doth not accuse his ouermuch presumption would you that Rhomeo had done that wrong to him his house to suffer himselfe outraged assailed by one to whome in manhode and prowesse he is not inferiour Suffiseth you that Rhomeo is aliue and his affaires in such estate who in time may be called home again from banishment for he is a great lorde and as you know wel allied and fauored of all men wherfore arme your self from henceforth with pacience For albeit that Fortune doth 〈◊〉 him from you for a time yet sure I am that hereafter shée will restore him vnto you againe with greater ioy and contentation than before And to the end that we be better assured in what state he is if you will promise me to giue ouer your heauinesse I will to day knowe of Frier Laurence whether he is gone To whiche request Iulietta agréed and then the good woman repaired to S. Frauncis where she foūd Frier Laurence who told hir that the same night Rhomeo would not faile at his accustomed houre to visite Iulietta and there to do hir to vnderstand what he purposed to doe in time to come This iorney then fared like the voyages of mariners who after they haue ben tost by great troublous tempest séeing some Sunne 〈◊〉 pierce the heauens to lighten the land assure them selues agayne and thynkyng to haue auoyded shipwracke and sodainly the seas begin to swell the waues do roare with such vehemence and noyse as if they were fallen againe into greater daunger than before The assigned houre come Rhomeo fayled not according to his promise to bée in his Garden where he found his furniture prest to mount the chamber of Iulietta who with displayed armes began so straightly to imbrace hym as it séemed that the soule woulde haue abandoned hir body And they two more than a large quarter of an houre were in such agonie as they were not able to pronounce one worde and wettyng eache others face faste closed together the teares trickeled downe in suche abundaunce as they séemed to bée thoroughlye bathed therein Whiche Rhomeo perceyuing and thynkyng to staye those immoderate teares sayde vnto hir Myne owne dearest friende Iulietta I am not nowe determined to recite the particulars of the straunge happes of frayle and inconstaunte Fortune who in a 〈◊〉 hoystethe a man vp to the hyghest degrée of hir whéele and by and by in lesse space than in the twynckelyng of an eye shée throweth hym downe agayne so lowe as more miserie is prepared for him in one day than fauour in one hundred yeares whyche I nowe proue and hauc experience in my selfe whiche haue bene nourished delicately amonges my friendes and mainteyned in suche prosperous state as you doe little knowe hopyng for the full perfection of my felicitie by meanes of oure maryage to haue reconciled oure parentes and friends and to conducte the residue of my lyfe accordyng to the scope and lotte determined by Almyghty GOD and neuerthelesse all myne enterprises bée put backe and my purposes tourned cleane contrarye in suche wyse as from henceforthe I muste wander lyke a vagabonde thorough dyuerse 〈◊〉 and sequestrate my selfe from my friendes withoute assured place of myne abode whiche I desyre to lette you wete to the intente you maye be exhorted in tyme to come pacientely to beare so well myne absence as that which it shall please God to appointe But Iulietta all affrighted with teares and mortall agonies woulds not suffer hym to passe any further but interruptyng hys purpose sayde vnto hym Rhomeo howe canst thou bée so harde hearted and voyde of all pitie to leaue mée héere alone besieged with so many deadly myseries There is neyther houre nor Minute wherein Death dothe not appeare a thousande tymes before mée and yet my missehappe is suche as I can not dye and therefore doe manyfestelye perceyue that the same Deathe preserueth my lyfe of purpose to delyghte in my griefes and triumphe ouer my euyls And thou lyke the mynister and tyrant of hir crueltie doest make no conscience for oughte that I can sée hauynge atchieued the summe of thy desyres and pleasures on me to abandon and forsake me Whereby I well perceyue
that all the lawes of Amitie are deade and vtterly extinguished for so muche as hée in whome I hadde greatest hope and confidence and for whose sake I am become an enimie to my self doth disdaine and contemne me No no Rhomeo thou must fully resolue thy selfe vpon one of these 〈◊〉 points either to sée me incontinently throwen down hedlong from this high window after thée or else to suffer me to accōpanie thée into that coūtrey or place whither Fortune shal guide thée for my heart is so muche transformed into thine that so soone as I shall vnderstande of thy departure presently my lyfe will depart this wofull body the continuance wherof I doe not desire for any other purpose but only to delight my selfe in thy presence and to bée partaker of thy missefortunes And therefore if euer there lodged any pitie in the hearte of Gentleman I beséeche 〈◊〉 Rhomeo with al humilitie that it may now fynd place in thée and that thou wilt vouchsafe to receiue me 〈◊〉 thy seruant and the faithful cōpanion of thy 〈◊〉 And if thou thinke that thou canst not cōueniently receiue me in the estate and habite of a wife who shall let me to chaunge myne apparell Shall I be the first that haue vsed like shiftes to escape the tirannie of parentes Dost thou doubt that my seruice will not bée so good vnto thée as that of Petre thy seruaunt Will my loyaltie and fidelitie be lesse than his My beautie whiche at other tymes thou hast so greately commended is it not estéemed of thée My teares my loue and the auncient pleasures and delights that you haue taken in me shall they be in obliuion Rhomeo séeing 〈◊〉 in these alteratiōs fearing that worsse inconuenience would chaunce tooke hir againe betwéene his armes and kissyng hir amorously sayd Iulietta the onely mistresse of my heart I pray thée in the name of God and for the feruent loue which thou bearest vnto me to 〈◊〉 do away those vaine cogitations except 〈◊〉 meane to séeke hazard the destruction of vs both for if thou perseuer in this determination there is no remedie but we must both perish for so soon as thine 〈◊〉 shal be knowne thy father wil make such ernest pursute after vs that we can not choose but be descried taken and in the ende cruelly punished I as a 〈◊〉 and stealer of thée and thou as a disobedient daughter to hir father and so in stead of pleasant and quiet life our dayes shal be abridged by most shameful death But if thou wilt recline thy self to reason the right rule of humane life and for the time abandon our mutual delights I will take such order in the time of my banishment as within 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 months without any delay I shal be reuoked home againe But if it fall out otherwise as I trust not how so euer it happē I wil come againe vnto thée and with the helpe of my friends wil fetch thée from Verona by strong hand not in counterfeit apparell as a stranger but like my spouse and perpetuall companion In the meane time quiet your self and be sure that nothing else but death shal deuide and put vs asunder The reasons of Rhomeo so much preuailed with Iulietta as she made him this answer My deare friend I will doe nothing contrary to your will and pleasure And to what place so euer you repair my heart shall be your owne in like sorte as you haue giuen yours to be mine In the meane while I pray you not to faile oftentimes to aduertise me by Frier Laurence in what state your affairs be and specially of the place of your abode Thus these two pore louers passed the night togither vntill the day began to appeare which did separate them to their extreame sorow and grief Rhomeo hauing taken leaue of Iulietta went to S. Fraunces and after he hadde aduertised Frier Laurence of his affaires departed from Verona in the habit of a Marchaunt straunger and vsed such expedition as without hurt hée arriued at Mantona accompanied only with Petre his seruaunt whome hée hastely sent backe againe to Verona to serue his Father where he tooke a house and liuing in honorable company assayed certaine months to put away the griefe which so tormented him But during the time of his absence miserable Iulietta could not so cloke hir sorow but that through the euill coloure of hir face hir inwarde passion was discried By reason whereof hir mother who heard hir oftentymes sighing and incessantly complaining coulde not forbeare to say vnto hir Daughter if you continue long after this sorte you will hasten the death of your good Father and me who loue you so dearely as our owne liues wherefore henceforth moderate your heauinesse and endeuor your self to be mery thinke no more vpon the death of your cosin Thibault whome sith it pleasēd God to call away do you thinke to reuoke with teares and to withstand his almighty will But the pore Gentlewoman not able to dissemble hir grief sayd vnto hir Madame long time it is sithens the last teares for Thibault wer poured forth and I beleue that the fountaine is so well soked and dried vp as no more will spring in that place The mother which coulde not tell to what effect those woords were spoken held hir peace for feare she should trouble hir daughter and certaine dayes after séeing hir to continue in heauinesse and continuall griefs assayed by all meanes possible to know aswell of hir as of other the housholde seruaunts the occasion of hir sorow but al in vaine wherwith the pore mother 〈◊〉 beyonde measure purposed to let the Lorde Antonio hir husband to vnderstand the case of hir daughter And vpon a day séeing 〈◊〉 at conuenient leisure she sayd vnto him My Lord if you haue marked the countenāce of our daughter and hir kinde of behauior sithens the death of the Lord Thibault hir cosin you shall perceiue so straunge mutation in hir as it will make you to maruel for she is not only contēted to forgoe meat drinke and sléepe but she spendeth hir time in nothing else but in wéeping lamentation delighting to kepe hir self solitarie within hir chamber where she tormēteth hir self so out ragiously as if we take not héede hir life is to be doubted and not able to know the original of hir paine the more difficult shall be the remedy for albeit that I haue sought meanes by all extremitie yet cannot I learne the cause of hir sicknesse And where I thought in the beginning that it procéeded vpon the death of hir cosin now I doe manifestly perceiue that contrary specially when she hir self did assure me that she had already wept and shed the last teares for him that shée was minded to doe And vncertaine wherupon to resolue I do thinke verily that she mourneth for some despite to sée the most part of hir companions maried she yet vnprouided persuading with hir self it may be that we hir
hir talke she looked aboute hir and séemed by hir wilde countenaunce as though she had deuised some 〈◊〉 purpose Wherefore Frier Laurence astonned beyond mesure fearing lest she wold haue executed that which she was determined sayd vnto hir Mistresse Iulietta I pray you in the name of God by litle and little to moderate youre conceyued griefe and to content your self whilest you be here vntill I haue prouided what is best for you to do for before you part from hence I wil giue you such consolation and remedie for your afflictiōs as you shall remaine satisfied and contented And resolued vppon this good minde he spéedily wente out of the Churche vnto his chamber where he began to consider of many things his conscience beyng moued to hinder the mariage betwene the Coūte Paris and hir knowing that by his meanes she had espoused an other and callyng to remembrance what a dangerous enterprise he had begonne by committyng hymselfe to the mercie of a symple damosell and that if shée failed to bée wyse and secrete all their doings should be discried he defamed and Rhomeo hir spouse punished Hée then after he had well debated vpon an infinite numbre of deuises was in the ende ouercome wyth pitie and determined rather to hazarde his honour than to suffer the adulterie of Counte Paris with Iulietta And 〈◊〉 determined herevpon opened his closet and takyng a vyoll in hys hande retourned agayne to Iulietta whome hée founde lyke one that was in a traunce waytynge for newes eyther of lyfe or deathe Of whome the good olde father demaunded vppon what day hir mariage was appointed The first day of that appointment quod she is vpon wednesday which is the day ordeined for my 〈◊〉 of mariage accorded betwene my father and Counte Paris but the nuptiall solemnitie is not before the. x. day of September Wel then quod the religious father be of good chéere daughter for our Lord God hath opened a way vnto me both to deliuer you Rhomeo from the prepared thraldom I haue knowne your husband from his cradle and hée hath dayly committed vnto me the greatest secretes of his conscience and I haue so dearely loued him again as if he had ben mine own sonne Wherfore my heart can not abide that any man shold do him wrong in that specially wherin my counsell may stande him in stede And for somuch as you are his wife I ought likewyse to loue you seke meanes to deliuer you frō the martyrdome and anguish wherwith I sée your heart besieged Understande then good daughter of a secrete which I purpose to manifest vnto you and take héede aboue all things that you declare it to no liuing creature for therein consisteth your life and death Ye be not ignorant by the common report of the citizens of this Citie and by the same published of me that I haue trauailed thorough all the Prouinces of the habitable earth wherby during the continuall time of xx yeres I haue sought no rest for my wearied body 〈◊〉 rather haue mani times protruded the same to the mercy of brute beasts in the wildernesse many times also to the mercylesse waues of the seas and to the pitie of cōmon pirates together with a thousande other daungers and shipwracks vpon sea and lande So it is good daughter that all my wandryng voyages haue not bene altogethers vnprofitable For besides the incredible contentation receiued ordinarily in mynde I haue gathered some particular fruit whereof by the grace of God you shall shortly féele some experience I haue proued the secrete properties of stones of plants metals other things hidden within the bowels of the earth wherewith I am able to helpe my selfe against the common law of men when necessitie doth serue specially in things wherein I know mine eternall God to be least offended For as thou knowest I being approched as it were euen to the brimme of my grane that the time draweth neare for yelding of mine accompt before the auditor of all auditors I ought therefore to haue some déepe knowledge and apprehēsion of Gods iudgement more than I had when that heat of inconsidered youth did boyle within my lusty body Know you therefore good daughter that with those graces and fauors which the heauens prodigally haue bestowed vpon me I haue learned and proued of long time the composition of a certaine paaste which I make of diuers soporiferous simples which beaten afterwards to poudre dronke with a quātitie of water within a quarter of an houre after bringeth the receiuer into such a sléepe and burieth so déepely the senses and other sprites of life that the cunningest Phisitian wil iudge the party dead and besides that it hath a more maruellous effect for the person which vseth the same feeleth no kinde of grief and according to the quantitie of the dough the 〈◊〉 remaineth in a swéete slepe but when the operation is perfect done hée returneth into his first estate Now then Iulietta receiue mine instruction and put of all feminine affection by taking vpon you a manly stomake for by the only courage of your minde consisteth the 〈◊〉 or mishap of your affaires Beholde héere I giue you a viole which you shal kéepe as your owne propre heart and the night before your mariage or in the morning before day you shal fil the same vp with water drink so much as is contained therin And then you shall féele a certain kinde of pleasant sléepe which incroching by litle litle all the parts of your body wil constrain thē in such wise as 〈◊〉 they shal remaine and by not doing their accustomed dueties shall loose their natural féelings and you abide in such extasie the space of xl houres at the least without any beating of poulse or other perceptible motion which shall so astōne them that come to sée you as they will iudge you to be dead according to the custome of our Citie you shall be caried to the churchyard hard by our Church where you shall be intombed in the common monument of the 〈◊〉 your ancestors in the meane time we wil send word to the Lord Rhomeo by a speciall messanger of the effect of our deuise who now abideth at Mantua And the night folowing I am sure he will not faile to be héere then he and I togither will open the graue and lift vp your body and after the operatiō of the pouder is past he shall conuey you secretely to Mantua vnknowen to all your Parents and friends Afterwards it may be Time the mother of truthe shall cause concord betwene the offended Citie of Verona and Rhomeo At which time your common cause may be made open to the generall contentation of all your friendes The woords of the good Father ended new ioy surprised the heart of Iulietta who was so attentiue to his talke as she forgate no one poynt of hir 〈◊〉 Then she sayde vnto him Father doubt not at all that my heart
an hundred thousand deathes did stande about hir haling hir on euery side and plucking hir in pieces féelyng that hir forces diminyshed by litle and litle fearing that through to great debilitie she was not able to do hir enterprise like a furious and insensate womā without further care gulped vp the water within the viol then crossing hir armes vpon hir stomacke she lost at that instant al the powers of hir body and remained in a traunce And when the mornyng light began to thrust his head out of his Orient hir chamber woman which had lockte hir in with the key did open the doore and thinking to awake hir called hir many times and sayde vnto hir Mistresse you sléepe to long the Counte Paris will come to raise you The poore olde woman spake vnto the wall and 〈◊〉 a song vnto the deafe For if all the horrible and tempestuous soundes of the worlde had bene canoned forth oute of the greatest bombardes and sounded through hir delicate eares hir spirits of lyfe were so fast bounde and stopt as she by no meanes coulde awake wherewith the poore olde woman amazed beganne 〈◊〉 shake hir by the armes and handes which she founde so colde as marble stone Then puttyng hande vnto hir mouthe sodainely perceyued that she was deade for she perceyued no breath in hir Wherfore lyke a woman out of hir wyttes shée ranne to tell hir mother who so madde as Tigre bereft of hir faons hyed hir selfe into hir daughters chaumber and in that pitifull state beholdyng hir daughter thinking hir to be deade cried out Ah cruell death which hast ended all my ioye and blisse vse thy laste scourge of thy wrathfull ire against me least by suffering me to lyue the rest of my woful dayes my tormente do increase then she began to fetchsuch straining sighes as hir heart dyd séeme to cleaue in pieces And as hir cries beganne to encrease beholde the father the Counte Paris and a greate troupe of Gentlemen and Ladies which were come to honour the feast hearing no soner tell of that which chaunced were stroke into such sorowfull dumpes as he whiche had behelde their faces wold easily haue iudged that the same had bē a day of ire pitie specially the lord Antonio whose heart was frapped with such surpassing wo as neither teare nor word could issue forth knowing not what to doe streight way sēt to seke that most expert phisitians of the towne who after they had inquired of the life past of Iulietta déemed by common reporte that melancolie was the cause of that sodaine death then their sorowes began to renue a 〈◊〉 And if euer day was lamentable piteous vnhappie and fatall truely it was that wherin Iulietta hir death was published in Verona for shée was so bewailed of great small that by the cōmon plaintes the common wealth séemed to be in daunger not without cause For besides hir natural beautie accompanied with many vertues wherewith nature had enriched hir she was else so humble wise and debonaire as for that humilitie and curtesie she had stollen away the heartes of euery wight and there was none but did lamente hir misfortune And whilest these things were in this lamented state Frier Laurence with diligence dispatched a Frier of his Couent named Frier Anselme whome he trusted as himselfe and deliuered him a letter written with his owne hande commaunding him expressely not to gyue the same to any other but to Rhomeo wherein was conteyned the chaunce which had passed betwene him and Iulietta specially that vertue of the pouder and commaunded him the nexte ensuing night to spéede him self to Verona for that the operation of the pouder that time would take ende that he should cary with him back again to Mantua his 〈◊〉 Iulietta in dissembled apparell vntill Fortune bad otherwise prouided for them The frier made such hast as too late he ariued at Mantua within a while after And bicause the maner of Italie is that the Frier trauailing abroade oughte to take a companion of his couent to doe his affaires within the Citie the Frier went into his couent but bicause he was entred in it was not lawfull for him to come out againe that day for that certain dayes before one religious of that couent as it was sayd did die of the plague Wherefore the magistrates appointed for the healthe and visitation of the sicke commaunded the warden of the house that no Friers shold wander abrode the Citie or talke with any citizen vntill they were licenced by the officers in that behalfe appointed which was the cause of the great mishap which you shal heare hereafter The Frier being in this perplexitie not able to goe forth and not knowing what was cōtained in the letter deferred his iorney for that day Whilest things were in this plight preparation was made at Veronna to doe the obsequies of Iulietta There is a custome also which is common in Italie to place all the beste of one lignage and familie in one Tombe wherby Iulietta was layde in the ordinarie graue of the 〈◊〉 in a Churcheyarde harde by the Churche of the Friers where also the Lorde Thibault was interred And hir obsequies honourably done euery man returned whereunto Pietro the seruant of Rhomeo gaue hys assistance For as we haue before declared his master sente him backe againe from Mantua to Verona to do his father seruice and to aduertise hym of that whiche shoulde chaunce in his absence there who séeing the body of Iulietta inclosed in tombe thinkyng with the rest that she had bene dead in déede incontinently toke poste horse and with diligence rode to Mantua where he founde his maister in his wonted house to whome he sayde with his eyes full of teares Syr there is chaunced vnto you so straunge a matter as if so bée you do not arme your selfe with constancie I am afrayde that I shal be the cruell minister of your death Bée it knowne vnto you syr that yesterday morning my mistresse Iulietta left hir lyfe in this world to seke rest in an other and wyth these eyes I saw hir buried in the Churchyarde of S. Frauncis At the sounde of which heauie message Rhomeo began wofully to 〈◊〉 as though his spirites grieued with the 〈◊〉 of his passion at that instant woulde haue abandoned his bodie But strong Loue whiche woulde not permitte hym to faint vntill the extremitie framed a thoughte in his fantasie that if it were possible for hym to dye besides hir his death shoulde be more glorious and 〈◊〉 as he thought better contented By reason whereof after 〈◊〉 had washed his face for 〈◊〉 to discouer hys sorrow he went out of hys chamber and commaunded hys man to 〈◊〉 behynde hym that hée might walke thorough oute all the corners of the Citie to fynde propre remedie if it were possyble for hys griefe And 〈◊〉 others beholdyng an Apoticaries shoppe of lytle furniture and lesse store of boxes and other thynges requisite
those that be so fondly iealous as eche thing troubleth their minde and be afraide of the flies very shadowe that buzze about their faces For by paining molesting themselues with a thing that so little doeth please and content them vntill manifest and euident proofe appeare they display the folly of their minds imperfection and the weake stedfastnesse of their fantasy But where the fault is knowne the vice discouered where the husband séeth himselfe to receiue damage in the soundest part of his moueable goodes reason it is that he therein be aduised by timely deliberation and sage foresight rather than with headlōg fury raging rashnesse to hazard the losse of his honor and the ruin of his life and goodes And like as the faith and sidelitie of the vndefiled bed hath in all times worthily bene cōmended euen so he that polluteth it by infamie beareth the penaunce of the same Portia the daughter of Cato and wife of Brutus shall be praised for euer for the honest inuiolable loue which she bare vnto hir beloued husband almost like to lose hir life when she heard tell of his certaine death The pudicitie of Paulina the wife of Seneca appeared also when she assayed to die by the same kinde of death wherewith hir husband violently was tormented by the vniust commaundement of the most cruell and horrible Emperoure Nero. But whores and harlottes hauing honest husbandes and well allied in kinne and ligneage by abandoning their bodies doe prodigally consume their good renowme If they escape the Magistrates or auoide the wrath of offended husbandes for the wrong done vnto them yet they leaue an immortall slaunder of their wicked life and youth thereby may take example aswell to shun suche shamelesse women as to followe those Dames that be chaste and vertuous Now of this contempt which the wife beareth to hir husband doe rise very many times notorious slaunders and suche as are accompanyed with passing cruelties wherein the husband ought to moderate his heat and calme his choler and soberly to chastise the fault for so muche as excessiue wrath and anger doe Eclipse in man the light of reason and suche rages doe make them to be semblable vnto brute and reasonlesse beastes Méete it is to be angrie for things done cōtrary to right equitie but tēperance and modestie is necessary in all occurrentes be they with vs or against vs. But if to resist anger in those matters it be harde and difficulte it is also to be thought that the greater impossibilitie there is in the operation and effecte of any good thing the greater is the glory that banquisheth the affection and mastereth the first motion of the minde which is not so impossible to gouerne and subdue to reason as many doe estéeme A wise man then cannot so farre forget his duetie as to exceede the boundes and limites of reason and to suffer his minde to wander from the siege of Temperaunce which if he doe after he hath well mingled Water in his Wine hée may chaunce to finde cause of repentaunce and by desire to repaire his offense augment his fault sinne being so prompt and ready in man as the crime which might be couered with certain iustice and coloured by some lawe or righteous cause maketh him many times to fall into detestable 〈◊〉 and sinne so contrary to mildnesse and modesty as the very tyraunts themselues wold abhorre such wickednesse And to the end that I do not trouble you with allegation of infinite numbres of examples seruing to this purpose ne render occasion of tediousnesse for you to reuolue so many bokes I am cōtented for this present to bring in place an History so ouer cruell as the cause was reasonable if duety in the one had bene cōsidered and rage in the other bridled and forseene who madly murdred and offended those that were nothing guiltie of the facte which touched him so neare And although that these be matters of loue yet the reader ought not to be grieued nor take in euill part that we haue still that argument in hand For we doe not hereby go about to erect a scholehouse of loue or to teache youth the wanton toyes of the same but rather bring for the these examples to withdraw that pliant and tēder age of this our time from the pursute of like follies which may were they not in this sort warned ingender like effects that these our Histories doe recompt and wherof you shall be partakers by reading the discourse that followeth Ye must then vnderstand that in the time that Braccio Montane and Sforza Attendulo flourished in Italie and were the chiefest of that Italian men of warre there were thrée Lordes and brethren which helde vnder their authoritie and puissance Fcligno Nocera and Treuio parcell of the Dukedome of Spoleto who gouerned so louingly their landes togither as without diuision they mainteined themselues in their estate liued in brotherly concorde The name of the eldest of these thrée Lordes was Nicholas the second Caesar and the yongest Conrade gētle personages wise and welbeloued so wel of the Noble men their neighbors as also of the Citezens that were vnder their obeysaunce who in the end shewed greater loyaltie towards them than those that had sworne their faith and had giuen pledges for confirmation thereof as ye shall perceiue by reading that which foloweth It chaūced that the eldest oftentimes repairing from Foligno to Nocera and lodging still in the Castell behelde with a little too much wanton eye the wife of his lieuetenaunt which was placed there with a good number of dead payes to guard the forte kepe vnder the Citizens if by chaunce as it happeneth vpon the newe erection of estates they attempted some newe enterprise against their soueraigne Lords Now this Gentlewoman was faire and of better grace singularly delighting to be loked vpon which occasioned the Lord Nicholas by perceiuing the wantonnesse and good will of the mistresse of the Castell not to refuse so good occasion determining to prosecute the enioying of hir that was the bird after which he hunted whose beautie and good grace had déepely woūded his mind wherin if he forgotte his duetie I leaue for all men of good iudgement to consider For me thinke that this yong Lord ought rather singularly to loue and cherishe his Lieuetenaunt that faithfully and trustily had kept his Castell and Forte than to prepare against him so traiterous an attempt and ambushe And if so be his sayde Lieuetenaunt had bene accused of felony misprision or Treason yet to speake the trouth he might haue deliuered the charge of his Castel vnto an other rather thā to suborne his wife to follie And ought likewise to haue considered that the Lieuetenaunt by putting his trust in him had iust cause to complaine for rauishing his honoure from him in the person of his wife whome be ought to haue loued without any affection to infrindge the holy lawe of amitie the breaking