was done for his misteris sake yf not hee was beecome a carpet Knight if hee fell out with any it was some open enemie to his priuye friend if hee were friendes with all men hee durst displease none least they should detect his doinges to her if hee went curiously in his apparel it was to please his misteries if negligently hee liued in absence if hee ware his haire longe hee mourned beecause hee coulde not bee admitted if shorte he was receiued into fauour if he bought her any apparrell or any other prety trifling trickes it was to please her and a bable for the foole to play with if hee bought her nothinge hee had inough to do to maintaine other in brauery if he entertained any seruant hee was of his misteris preferment if hee put away any hee had some way offended her if hee commended any man hee was out of question his baude if hee praysed any woman shee was no doubte his whore and so of all other his thoughtes wordes and déedes she made this suspicious suppose and ielous interpretation and as the Spider out of most sweet flowers sucketh poyson so shee out of his most louing and friendly déedes towards her picked occasions of quarrell and conceyued causes of hate And so long shee continued in these carefull coniectures that not onely her body was brought low by reasō that her appetite to meate failed her but also she was so disquieted in minde that she was in a manner beesides her selfe whereupon in great pensiuenesse of hart shee fell to preaching to her selfe in this sorte Ah fonde foole wilt thou thus wilfully woorke thine owne wrack and ruine if thy husbande commit treason against thée wilt thou commit murther vpon thy selfe if he consume himselfe away with whores wilt y then consume thy selfe away with cares wilt thou increase his mischief with thine owne misery if he be so wickedly bent it is not my care can cure him for that whiche is bred in the bone will not out of the flesh If hee bee disposed to deale falsly with mée it is not my wary watching which wyll ward him from it for loue deceiued Argus with his two hundred eies If hee should bee forbidden to leaue it hee will vse it the more for our nature is to runne vpon that which is forbidden vs vices the more prohibited the more prouoked and a wilde coult the harder he is rained the hotter he is If I should take him tardy in it it would but encrease his incontinent impudency for beeing once knowne to haue transgressed the lawefull limits of loue and honesty hee would euer after bee carelesse of his good name which hee knew hee could neuer recouer againe And why should I séeke to take him in it should I séeke to know y which I ought not to séeke no not so mutch as to thinke on was euer wight so bewitched to run headlong vpon her owne ruine So long as I know it not it hurteth mee not but if I once certainly knew it God knoweth how sodainly it would abridge my dayes And yet why should I take it so gréeuously am I the first that haue bene so serued Hath not Iuno her selfe sustained the like iniury But I reason with my self as if my husband were manifestly conuicted of this crime who perchaunce good Gentleman bée as innocent in thought as I wrongfully thinke him to bée nocent in déede for to consider aduisedly of the matter there is not so mutch as any likelyhood to lead mee to any sutch leud opinion of him hee vseth mee honestly hee mantayneth mée honorably hée loueth mee better then my leude dealinge toward him hath deserued No it is mine owne vnworthynesse that maketh mee thinke I am not worthy the proper possession of so proper a Gentleman it is myne owne lustful desire that maketh mee afrayde to loose any thing it is myne owne weakenesse y maketh mée so suspicious of wronge it is mine owne incontinency which maketh mée iudge him by my selfe Well the price of my preiudiciall doings towardes him is almost paide and if paine be a punishment then haue I indured a most painfull punishment but let this déere bought wit doe mee some good let mee now at length learne to bee wise and not to thinke of euils before they come not to feare them béefore I haue cause not to doubte of them in whom is no doublynge nor to mistruste them in whom is no treason and faithfully to loue him that vnfainedly loueth mée After this shee indeuoured to do sutch fonde toyes foorth of her head for a while shée liued louingly and quietly with her husband but sodaynly by reason of one looke which hée cast vpon one of his neighbours shée fell into her olde vayne of vanitie agayne And as second fallynge into sicknesse is euer most daungerous so now her folly was growen to sutch furie and her disease so incurable that shée could not conceale it any longer but flatly tolde her husbande to his teeth that she thought hee did misuse her Cephalus knowyng his owne innocencie and seeyng her imbecillitie gently prayed her not to conceiue any sutch euill opinion of him saying If neither regarde of God neither respect of men neither reuerence of the reuerent state of marriage could feare mée from sutch filthinesse yet assure your selfe the loyal loue I beare you would let mee from sutch lasciuiousnesse For béeleeue me your person pleaseth mee so well that I thinke my selfe sweetly satisfied therewith Yea if Venus her selfe should chaunce vnto my choice I am perswaded I should not prefer her béefore you For as her beutie would intisingly draw me to her so my dutie wold necessarily driue mee to you Therfore good wife trouble not your selfe with sutch toyes which will but bréede your owne vnrest and my disquiet your torment my trouble yea and in time perchance both our vntimely deathes Let Deinyra bée a president for you who suspecting her husband Hercules of spouse breache sent him a shert died with the bloud of the Centaure Messus who tolde her that shert had vertue to reuiue loue almost mortified but Hercules had no sooner put it on but it stocke fast to his flesh fried him to death as if it had been a furie of hell Which when shée knew with her owne hands shée wrought her owne destruction See y vnworthy end which that monster ielousy brought this worthy couple too foresee sweet wife that it bring not vs to the like bane These wordes could worke no effect with her but rather increased her suspition perswading her selfe that as in faire painted pots poyson ofte is put and in goodly sumptuous sepulchers rotten boanes are ryfe so fairest wordes are euer fullest of falshood Yea the more curteous hée shewed him selfe the more culpable shee thought him to bée Which Cephalus seeing bicause hee would take away all causes of suspition abandoned all good company and spent his time so lytarily hunting in the wooddes and séekinge the spoyle of
more a do but tooke his knife and like a blouddy butcher cut her tounge foorth of her head This done hée caused her to bée locked fast in a chamber takyng euery thyng from her wherby she might vse violence towardes her selfe and so went home to the Quéene Progue his wife with this forged tale I am sory sweete wife it is my chaunce to bée the messenger of sutch sower newes vnto you but séeing of force you must heare it as good I now impart it as other here after report it vnto you And séeing it is an accident which ordinarily happeneth to mortall wightes I trust of your selfe you will giue sutch order to your sorowe that you will suffer it to sinke no depelier into your hearte then wisdome would it should caryinge this in your remembraunce that wée are borne to die and that euen in our swathe cloutes death may aske his due Alas saith shée and is Pandion departed No sayth hée Pandion liueth but his life is sutch that death would more delight him Then farewell my Philomela sayth shée thy death I know is cause of this desolation and thy death shall soone abridge my daies In déede sayth hée so it is the gods haue had her vp into heauen as one to good to remaine on earth Ah vniust goddes sayth shée shée is to good for them also what pity what pieti what right what reason is in them to depriue her of life now in the prime of her life béefore shée haue tasted the chiefe pleasures of life or any way deserued the paine of death Ah swéete wife sayth hée I béeséech you by the loue which you beare mée to moderate your martirdome asswage your sorrow only in mée to repose your felicitie for I protest by these hands teares which I shede to see your sorrow that I wil be to you in stéede of a father a sister yea if you had a thousand fathers a thousaÌ„d sisters al their goodwils together shuld not surmouÌ„t mine alone These louinge woordes caused her somewhat to cease from her sorrow and shée began to take the matter as paciently as her paine would permit her But to returne to Philomela who béeinge kept close prisoner determined to pine herselfe to death but the hope of reuenge altered that determination and shée began to cast in her head how she might open the iniury to her sister which that Tirant had offered them both at length shée went this way to worke shee wrought and imbrodred cunningly in cloath the whole discourse of her course and carefull case which being finished fortune so framed that a gentleman riding late in the night had lost his way and seeing a light in her chamber a far of drewe nere to the window and called to Philomela inquiringe the way to the next towne wherevpon Philomela opened the window séeing him to bèe a gentleman whom she thought would not sticke to put him selfe in some perill to redresse a Ladies wronge shewed him the cloath which shee so cunningly had wrought and in the first place thereof was plainly written to whom it should bée deliuered and from whom The gentleman tooke it at her handes and plighted to her his fayth safely and secretly to deliuer it to the quéene Sée the iust iudgement of god who will suffer no euill done secretly but it shalbée manifested openly as in times past hee made the infant Daniell an instrument to detecte the conspiracy of the two Iudas iudges who falsely accused the good Lady Susanna and other times other wayes but this tiranny of Tereus was so terrible that the very stones in the walles would haue béewrayed it if there had been no other meanes vsed Now Progne hauinge this cloath conuayed vnto her and fully vnderstandinge how the case stoode not withstandinge her greife were great in the highest degrée yet a meruailous thing a woman could do so shée â—oncealed y matter secretly hoping to be reuenged more spéedily But yet her husbands villany towards her caused her to inueigh against him in this vehement sort O diuelish déepe dissembling of men who would haue thought that hée which pretended so great goodwill towards mée would haue intended so great ill against mée Why if my person could not please him could none but my sister satisfie him and if hée thought her most méete for his mischeif yet was it not villany inough to vanquish her virginity but that hee must mangle and dismember her body also but what pity is to bée looked for of sutch Panthers which passe not of piety Hée sheweth his cursed carelesse kinde hée plainely proues him selfe to procéed of the progenie of that traitor Eneas who wrought the confusion of the good Quéene Dido who succoured him in his distres It is euident hée is ingendred of Iasons race who disâ—oyally forsooke Medea y made him win y golden â—léece Hée is discended of the stock of Demopheon who through his faithles dealing forced Phyllis to hange her selfe Hée séemes of the séede of Theseus who left Ariadne in the desertes to bée deuoured through whose helpe hée subdued the Monster Minotaur and escaped out of the intricate Labirinth Hée commeth of Nero his cruel kinde who carnally abused his owne mother Agrippina then caused her to bée slaine and ript open that hee might se the place wherin he lay béeing an infant in her belly So that what fruites but filthinesse is to bée gathered of sutch graftes What boughes but beastlines growe out of sutch stems no I will neuer make other account but that faith which a man professeth is nothing els but forgery truth which hée pretendeth nothing els but trifling loue lust woordes wyles déeds deceit vowes vanities faythfull promises faythlesse practises ernest othes errant artes to deceiue sorrows subtelties sighes slightes groanes guiles cries crafts teares treason yea all their doinges nothing but baytes to intice vs hookes to intangle vs ingins vtterly to vndoe vs O that my mouth could cause my woords to mount aboue the skies to make y gods bend downe their eyes to take vew of the vilany of this viper then no doubt but either the city would sinke wherin hee is or the earth would open swalow him vp or the at least some plague should bee thundred downe vpon him which might most painefully punish him Or why may not the gods vse mée as an instrumeÌ„t to execute their vengeance on him The wife of Dionisias the tirant wrought the will of the goddes on her husband and miserably murthered him and why is it not lawfull for mee to doo the like Yes I can and will deuise sutch exquisite punishment for this Tiraunt that it shall feare all that come after from the like filthinesse Now to further her furie shée had this oportunitie offred her it was the same time of the yeere that the sacrifices of Bacchus were to bée celebrated what time the vse was for the women to goe aboute the countrey disguised as if they had béen mad where
you to execute the rigour of the lawes vpon you yet to your vtter shame and reproche it can not but conuert Tush saith his master the case is light where counsayle can take place what talkest thou to mée of shame that am by iniurious and spitefull dealyng depriued the vse of reason and dispossessed of my wittes and sences Neither auâ— I the first that haue played the like parte did not Dauid the chosen seruant of God béeyng blasted with the beutie of Bersabe cause her husband Vrias to bée set in the forefront of the battayle to be slayne which doone hée married his wife And why is it not lawfull for mée to do the like But I know the worst of it if thou wilt not take it vpon thee I will either do it my selfe or get some other that shall The man séeyng how his Maister was bent bothe to satisfie his minde and to gaine so good a summe of money promised to perfourme his charge which with oportunity of time and place hée did And séeyng Synnatus on a time in ill time passyng thorow a blind lane of the Citie hée shrowded himselfe in a corner and as hée came by shot him thorow with a Pistol which doone hée foorthwith sled the countrey Camma hearyng of the cruell murther of her husbande and by the circumstances knowyng Synorix to bée the authour thereof tearynge her heyre scratching her face and beatyng her body agaynst the ground sâ— soone as the fluddes of teares had flowen so longe that the fountayne was drie so that her spéeche might haue passage whiche before the teares stopped shee began to crie out in this carefull manner O God what vniustice is this in thee to suffer the earth remayne polluted with the bloud of innocentes Diddest thou cursse Cain for killing his brother Abel and wilt thou not crucifie Synorix for sleayng Synnatus Is thy hart now hardned that thou wilt not or are thy hands now weakened that thou canst not preserue thy seruantes from the slaues of Sathan If there bee no safetie in innocencie wherin shall wee repose our selues If thou bee not our protectour who shall defend vs If the wicked vanquish the vertuous who shal set foorth thy honour and glory or who will so mutche as once call vpon thy name But what meane I wretched wight to exclayme agaynst God as the aucthour of my euill wheras it is only I my selfe that am guiltie of my husbandes death It is I that pampred vp my beutie to make it glister in the sight of euery gazynge eye in the thriftlesse threade wherof this Tirant was so intangled that to vnwinde himself thereout hee hath wrought all this mischeif It is I that would not detect his doynges to my husband wherby hee might haue preuented the perill which hung ouer his head And seeyng I haue been the cause of his death shall I beyng a murtherer remayne aliue Did Alcyone seeynge the dead carkas of her husbande Ceix cast on shore willingly cast her selfe into the Sea to accompany his death And shall I see my sweet Synnatus slayne and not drinke of the same cuppe Did true Thisbe goare her gorgious body with the same sworde wherwith princely Piramus had prickt him selfe to the hart and are not my handes stronge inough to do the like Did Iulietta die vpon the corps of her Romeo and shall my body remayne on earth Synnatus beyng buried No gentle death come with thy direfull dart and peirce my paynefull harte and with one death rid mee out of a thousande deathes at once For what thought do I thinke on my Synnatus which doth not procure mee double death What thing do I see belongyng to him which is not a treble torment vnto mee But it is cowardlinesse to wish for death and couragiousnesse valiantly to take it Yes I can and will bestow my lyfe for my Synnatus sweete sake but O God shall that Tyrant remayne aliue to triumphe in his trechery vaunt in his villanie Shall I not sée his fattall day béefore my finall end It is his bloud that wil be a most swéete sacrifice to the ghost of Sinnatus not mine and then can I ende my life contentedly when I haue offred vp this acceptable sacrifice and vntill sutch time as I haue oportunity hereto I will prolonge my dolefull dayes in direfull greefe and onely the hope of reuengment shall heauily holde my lothsome life and sorowfull soule together For other cause why I should desire life I haue not for that I am vtterly depriued of all ioyes of life For as the bird that is bruised with some blow lieth aloofe on the leaues and heares his felowes singe and is not able to vtter one warblinge note out of his mournfull voice but rather hates the harmony which other birdes doo make so I my heart beeing broosed and broken sit solitarily alone and sée some hange about their husbandes neckes some closely clepe them in their armes some trisle with them some talke with them all which sight redoubleth my paine to thinke my self depriued of those pleasures yea to a wretched wounded heart that dwels in dole euery pleasaunt sight turnes to bitter spight and the onely obiecte which shall euer content my eyes shall bee the distruction of that tyraunt which hath brought mee to this desolation Now Synorix thinking that time had taken away her teares and sorrow and supposinge that neither shée neither any other had suspected him for the murther of her husband began to enter into the listes of lust againe and with a new incountry of incontiuency to set vpon her But shée so mutch abhorred him that if shee but heard his name it caused her nature to fayle in her and all her sences to faint so that when hee saw no posibility to impell her to impiety hee ment to moue her in the way of mariage and caused her nere kinsfolke and friends to solicite his sute vnto her who partly for feare of his displeasure partly for that they knew it would bée greatly to her adâ—auncement laboured very ernestly in the matter and were so importunate vpon her that no answere would satisfie them Now Camma séeing shée could not be rid of her fréends and foreséeing that by this meanes shée might bée rid of her enemies agréed to take him to husband And the day of the solemnizing of the mariage béeinge come they went together to the temple of Diana wher al things according to custome beeing consummated the bride wife as the vse was dranke to her husband in drinke as hée thought but indéede in poyson which shée had prouided of purpose and when shée saw hée had drunke vp his death shée sayd vnto him goe now and in stéed of thy mariage bed get thée a graue for thy mariage is turnd to murther a punishment most iust for thy outragious lust and cruell tyranny ' for vengeance asketh vengeance bloud bloud and they y sowe slaughter shalbée sure to reape ruine and destruction Now Synorix hearing these
woordes and féeling the force of the poyson to woorke within him assaied all the remedies hée could to cure him selfe but al in vain Camma also féeling the poyson to preuaile within her fell vpon her knees béefore the aulter of Diana vttringe these woordes O goddesse thou knowest how since the death of my sweete husband this life hath béene most lothsome and sower vnto mée and that the only offeringe vp of this sacrifice kept mée from him which now in thy presence I haue perfourmed I thinke my selfe to haue satisfied my duty and purchased therby a pasport to passe to the place and Paradise where my husband hath his habitation Immediatly vpon this so well as shée could shée crauld home to her house where shée was no sooner but shée had certaine tydinges brought her that Synorix was deade Wherwith with great ioy shee cast her selfe downe vpon her bed and called her litle childreÌ„ about her and blessing and bussing them sayd Alas prety Impes who shal now defend you from your foes who shall redresse your wronges â–ª Your father is gone your mother is goinge and you poore soules must bide behinde to abide the brunt and bitter blastes of this wretched world Ah if the loue which I bare my husband had not beene excéeding great nature woulde haue caused mée to haue had some care of you for your sakes to haue suffred my self somtime longer to liue but now as I haue shewed my self a louing wife so haue I scarce shewed my selfe a naturall mother But alas it was reason I shoulde prefer him beefore you who was the autor of you who blessed me with you Wel I sée now my time is come my toung begins to faile come dere children take your last conge of your lost mother god shield you from shame God preserue you from perill God send you more prosperous fortune theÌ„ your poore parents had And thus farewel my fruit farewel my slesh farewel swéete babes and O welcome my Synnatus whoÌ„ I sée in the skies ready to receiue mée and so in sorrow and ioy shée gaue vp the ghost Now I would wish you blazing starres which stande vpon your chastity to take light at this lot to take héed by this harme you sée the husband slaine the ruffian fled the louer poysoned the wife dead the freinds comfortles the children parentlesse But it is naturally incident to women to enter into extremities they are either to louinge or to lothinge to curteous or to coy to willinge or to wilfull to mercifull or to mercilesse to forwarde or to froward to freindly or to féendly the meane they alwayes meanely account of Otherwise shee might with reason sooner then rigour haue repressed his rage But howsoeuer my words run I would not you should take them to tend altogether to her dispraise for as I must condemne her crueltie so can I not but commende her constancie chastitie and thinke her worthy to bée compared to Lucrece Penelope or what woman soeuer that euer had any preheminence of praise for her vertue And I woulde wishe my gallant youthes which delight to gaze in euery garish glasse and to haue an Oare stirring in euery beutifull boate not to row past their reache not to fixe their fancie vpon impossibilities not to suffer themselues to be blasted with the beames of beautie or scorched with the lightning of louing lookes sutch loue towardes the married is euer without lawe sutch fire is without feare sutch suits are without shame sutch Cankers if they bée not at the beginning cured growe to the confusion of the whole body Therefore Gentlewomen I leaue it to your iudgements to giue sentence whether be more worthy reprehension hée or she He had the lawe of loue on his side shee had the lawe of men and of marriage on her part loue led him which the goddes themselues cannot resist chastitie guided her whiche the goddes themselues haue lost he killed him whom he counted his enemy she killed him whom she knew her fleshly freinde shée with reason might haue preuented great mischiefe his wings were to mutch limed with lust to fly forth of his folly Tereus and Progne ¶ TEREVS Kinge of Thrace enamored of Progne daughter to Pandion Prince of Athens obtaineth her in marriage and conueyeth her into his owne countrey Progne desirous to see her sister Philomela mooueth Tereus to go to Athens and to get licence to bringe her into Thrace who on the way fallinge into vnlawfull likinge of her forceth her to his pleasure and cutteth out her tounge that shee might tell no tales Progne hauinge hereof secret intelligence in lew of that foule fact murthereth his and her owne Sunne young Itys and dresseth him in meates for his Fathers mouthe Whiche horrible deede when Tereus would haue reuenged vppon the Mother and Aunt they escape his handes and are transfourmed into Birdes IF it were méete for mortall creatures to complaine of their immortall creator then truly may wee iustly prepare complaint against our maker for that of al his creatures hée hath made man most miserable Herbes Trees and plants hee hath framed without sence wherby they neither féele the force of winters blastes neither y fire of sommers blaze foules fishes and beastes hée hath bée reaued of a reasonable soule wherby they beare the brunt of their bodies onely and are not molested with the motions of the minde but man hee hath made subiecte to infirmities of the body to miseries of minde to all stormes of strieâ—e and panges of paine And as the Cameleon chaungeth him selfe into y colour and hew of euery thing hee doth viewe so man is made apt to bee transfourmed into any misfortune and to receiue any euill y raigneth vpon the face of the earth yea if wee consider the whole course of our life wee begin with cries and end with cares for we are no sooner out of our mothers wombe but we forthwith cry to signifie the sorrow which will insue in our succeeding age in our infancy our tender bodies are subiecte to many infirmities in our childhood our weake mindes are troubled with many toyes wee are plyed sore to silence which is of hard digestion to vs wee feare the maisters lowringe lore which is a continuall torment vnto vs but oh the sea of sorrow and waues of woe which then ouerwhelme vs when wee once arriue to mans estate what vaine desires What fantasticall follies What careles and sparelesse spendinge What prodigall pride What fiery flames of loue What hare-braind heates of hate What pensife feare of parentes displeasure What solitarinesse in single life What minde to marry What misery in mariage What charge in children What care of theyr instruction What fear of their distruction and touching our owne bodies what often surfetinges What perillous plewrises What fearefull feuers What daunger in warre What perill in fight Yea what sorrow which this age is not subiecte to Lastly in olde age wee couetously carke for coine wée toyle for trashe
effect and séeyng the cause of this chaunce was good I doubt not but the effect wil folow accordyngly and if any euill do insue therof I trust it will light on my head through whose negligence it happened Agrip. answered As I know not the cause so I feare not the effect greatly and in deed as you say hethervnto you haue had the worst of it for that thereby you haue been put to double paynes If that bée all saith hée rather then it shalbée sayd any euill to haue insued of this chaunce I will perswade my selfe that euery payne whiche you shall put mee to shal be double delight and treble pleasure vnto mee You must vse sayth shee then great eloquence to your selfe to perswade you to sutch an impossibility Oh if it please you sayth hee there is an oratour which of late hath taken vp his dwelling within mee who hath eloquence to perswade mee to a far greater matter then this If sayth shee hee perswade you to thinges no more behouseful for your selfe then this if you follow my counsayle you shall not giue him house roome long Madame sayth hee it is an assured signe of a free and freendly minde to giue good counsayle but it is harde for one in bondage and out of his owne possession to followe it For what knoweth your honour whether hée haue already taken intire possession of the house wherin hée is which if it bee so what wit is able to deuise a writ to remoue him from thence If sir sayth shée hée entred by order of law and payd you truely for it it is reason hée inioy it marie your folly was greate to retaine sutch a tenant but if hée intruded himselfe by force you may lawfully extrude him by strength In déede sayth hée hée entred vi et armis forcibly but after vpon certaine parlance passed betwéene vs I was content hée should remaine in peacible possession marie hee hath payd mee nothinge yet but hee promiseth so frankely that if the perfourmance follow a house with beames of beaten golde and pillers of precious stones will not counteruaile the price of it yea if I were placed in quiet possession therof I would thinke my self ritcher I wil not say then the Emperour but which is most then god him selfe who possesseth heauen and earth and as the hope of obtayning the effecte of that promise heaueth mee vp to heauen so the doubt to bee deceiued therof driueth mee downe to hell And what ioyly fellow sayth shee is this that promiseth so frankely will hée not promise golden hils and perfourme durty dales Would to god sayth hee your semely selfe were so well acquainted with him as I am then would I make you iudge of the worthynesse of the thinge hee hath promised for that you know the goodnes thereof none better The lady smellinge the drift of his deuises and seeinge the ende of his talke seemed to tend to loue and that touching her owne selfe thought not good to draw on their discourse any longer but concluded with this answere As I am altogether ignorant what your obscure talke meaneth so care I not to bee acquainted with any sutch companion as your Landlord is for so methinkes by you I may more fitly call him then terme him your tenaunt and so departed away into her lodginge Germanicus likewise his Misteris beeing gone gat him to his chamber to entertaine his amarous conceites and béeing alone brake forth into these wordes O friendly fortune if continually hereafter thou furiously frowne vpon mée yet shall I all the dayes of my life count my selfe bound vnto thee for the onely pleasure which this day thou hast done mee in giuinge mee occasion of talke with her whose aungels voice made sutch heauenly harmony to my heauy heart that where before it was plunged in perplexity it is now placed in felicity and where before it was oppressed with care it is nowe refreshed with comfort Yea euery louely lookes of her is able to cure mee if I were in most deepe distres of moste daungerous disease euery sweete woord proceeding from her sugred lips is of force to fetch mee from death to life But alas how true do I trie that saying that euery commodity hath a discommodity annexed vnto it how dooth the remembraunce of this ioy put mee in minde of the annoy which the losse of this delight will procure mee Yea it maketh all my sences shake to thinke that some other shall inioy her more woorthy of her then my selfe and yet who in this court nay in all Christendome nay in the whole worlde is worthy of her No if shée neuer haue any vntill shée haue one worthy of her euery way shee shall neuer haue any And shall I then beeing but a poore gentleman seeke to insinuate my selfe in place so high Shall I by my rude attempt purchase at least the displeasure of her friendes and parentes and perchaunce hers also whom to displease would be no lesse displeasant vnto mée then death Alas and must loue needes bee rewarded with hate Must curtesy néedes bée counteruayled with crueltie Must goodwil needes be returned with displeasure Is it possible y bounti should not abide where beuty doth aboūd that curtesy should not accompany her comlinesse Yes I am sure at the least she wil suffer me to loue her though her younge yeeres high estate will not suffer her to loue mee though shée will not accept me for husband yet I am sure shee will not reiecte mée for seruaunt and though shee will not receiue my seruice yet I doubt not but shee will courteously take the tendringe therof vnto her And touchinge her parentes displeasure what care I to procure the ill will of the whole world so I may purchase her good will. Yea if I should spend the most precious bloud in my body in the pursuite of so pereles a péece I would count it as welbestowed as if it were shed in the quarrell of god my prince or country For shée is the goddesse whom I wil honour with deuotion shée is the prince whom I will obey with duty shee is the country in whose cause and quarrell I will spend life liuing and all that I haue Neither is there mutch cause why her friendes should storme much at the matter for though my lands reuenewes are not great yet am I of y bloud royall nere kinsman to themperour who wil not suffer me to want any thing pertayning to my estate degree Why Alerane a youth like my self practised the mightie emperour Otho his daughter darling Adalesia stole her away married her and do I sticke to attempt the like with one of far meaner estate though of far more worthinesse And though frowning fortune tossed him for a while in y tempestious seas of aduersiti yet at the length he arriued at the hauen of happy estate and was reconciled to the good grace and fauour of the Emperour againe And though at the first my
disalow mariage and that you pretend otherwise in words then you intend to doo in workes I am content to giue you the honour of the fielde and thus far to yéelde my consent to your opinion that virginity considered of it owne nature simply without circumstance is better then Matrimony but bicause the one is full of perill the other full of pleasure the one full of iepardy the other full of security the one as rare as the blacke swan the other as common as the blacke crow of good thinges I thinke the more common the more commendable If sayth shée I haue gotten any conquest hereby I am to thanke mine own cause not your curtesy who yéeld when you are able to stand no longer in defence Nay Madame say not so sayth hée for in that very yelding to your opinion I proued mariage better then virginity for that is more common neither would I haue you turne my scilence in this matter into lacke of science and knowledge or reprehend mée if I spare to inforce further proufe in a matter sufficiently prooued already no more then you would rebuke a Spanniel which ceaseth to hunt when hée séeth the Hauke seazed on the Partridge But you may meruaile madame what is the cause that maketh mée perswade you thus earnestly to mariage which as mine owne vnworthinesse willeth mée to hide so your incomparable curtesy incourageth me to disclose which maketh mée thinke that it is no smal cause which can make you greately offended with him who beareth you great goodwil and that what sute soeuer I shal prefer vnto you you wil either graunt it or forgiue it pardon it or pitie it Therfore may it please you to vnderstand y since not long since I tooke large view of your vertue and beauty my hart hath beene so inflamed with the bright beames therof that nothing is able to quenche it but the water which floweth from the fountayne that first infected mée and if pity may so mutch preuaile with you as to accept mée I dare not say for your husband but for your slaue and seruaunt assure your selfe there shall no doubt of daunger driue mée from my duty towardes you neither shall any Lady whatsoeuer haue more cause to reioyce in the choice of her seruaunt then your selfe shall for that I shall account my life no longer pleasaunt vnto mée then it shall be imployed in your seruice Agrippina dying her lily chéekes with Vermilion red and castinge her eies on the grounde gaue him this answere As I am to yéeld you thankes for your goodwill so am I not to yéeld consent to your request for that I neither minde to marry neither thinke my self worthy to retain any sutch seruaunt but if I were dispoled to receiue you any way I thinke the best manner meane inough for your worthynesse Immediatly here vpon there came company vnto them which made them brake of their talke and Agrippina béeing got into her chamber began to thinke on the sute made vnto her by Germanicus and by this time Cupid had so cunningly carued and ingraued the Idoll of his person and béehauiour in her heart that shée thought him worthy of a far more worthy wife then her selfe and perswadinge her selfe hy his woordes and lookes that his loue was loyall without lust true without triflinge and faythfull without faygninge shée determined to accept it if her parentes would giue their consent therto Now Germanicus nothinge dismayed with her former deniall for that it had a curteous close so soone as oportunity serued set on her againe in this sort Now Madame you haue considered my case at leasure I trust it will stand with your good pleasure to make mee a more comfortable answere I béeseech you sir sayth shee to rest satisfied with my former answere for other as yet I am not able to make you Alas Madame sayth hée the extremity of my passion will not suffer long prolonginge of compassion wherfore I humbly beseech you presently to passe your sentence either of bale or blisse of saluation or damnation of life or death for if the heauens haue conspired my confusion and that you meane rigorously to reiecte my good will I meane not long to remaine aliue to trouble you with any tedious sute for I account it as good reason to honour you with the sacrifice of my death as I haue thought it conuenient to bestow vpon you the seruice of my life Alas sir sayth shée this iesting is nothing ioyfull vnto mée and I pray you vse no more of it for the rememberaunce of that which you speake of in sporte maketh mée séele the force therof in good ernest for a thousand deaths at once can not bée so dreadful vnto mée as once to thinke I should liue to procure the death of any sutch as you are If sayth hée you count my wordes sporte iest and daliance assure your selfe it is sport without pleasure ieste without ioy and daliance without delight as tract of time shall shortly try for true But if you loue not to heare of my death why like you not to giue mée life whiche you may do only by the consent of your good will. Why sir sayth shee you know my consent consisteth not in my selfe but in my parents to whom I owe both awe and honour therfore it bée hooueth you first to séeke their consent Why Madame sayth hée shall I make more account of the meaner partes then of the heade you are the heade and cheife in this choice and therfore let mée receiue one good worde of your good wil and then let heauen and earth doo their woorst It is not the coine countenance or credite of your parentes that I pursue for to winne sutch wealth as your good will. I could bée content to leade a poore life all the dayes of my life so that you bée maintayned according to your will and worthinesse Well saith shée séeing I am the only marke you shoot at assay by all the meanes you may to get my freindes good will and if you leuell any thinge strait you shall not misse mée Germanicus vpon this procured the Emperours letters to her father in his beehalfe who hauinge perused those letters sayd hée trusted the Emperour would giue him leaue to dispose of his owne accordinge to his owne pleasure and that his daughter was to nere and deere vnto him to see her cast away vpon one who for lacke of yéeres wanted wisdome to gouerne her and for lacke of landes liuyng to maintaine her and calling his daughter béefore him hée béegan to expostulate with her in this sorte Daughter I euer here tofore thought you would haue been a solace and comfort to my olde yéeres and the prolonger of my life but now I se you will increase my hoarie heares and bee the hastner of my death Doeth the tender care the careful charge and chargeable cost which I haue euer vsed in bringyng you vp deserue this at your handes that you should passe a
this without hazarding them selues any way as the Emperour Octauian hath consumed the whole course of his life without perill and Alexander béeyng but fiue and thirtie yéeres of age tooke vpon him the Monarchy of the whole world Besides if I should now refuse the Empire offred me it were a signe of a base and ignoble minde and the Emperour woulde thinke I made no account of his good will. Well saith shee do as God shall put in your head of mee make this account that though you bee the meanest man in the citie yet will I honour you as if you were the Emperour and though you make mée a Princesse yet will I bée as obedient to you as if I were your hyred hand mayde Ah good wife saith hée leaue those termes of humilitie to those y like them or looke for them for for my part I haue you in sutch reuerent estimation y I thinke the best state which euer I shal be able to bryng you to wil be to base for your worthinesse and if it shall please you to rest satisfied with the seruice I can do you to remaine content with the callyng I can giue you to returne louingly the good will which I will beare you ▪ it is all that euer I will looke for at your hands and the only felicitie I force of in this life God forbid maister Germanicus saith shée that I should either looke for seruice of you or mislyke the lot whiche you shall alow mée or not restore with interest the good will which you shall beare mée Yes perswade your selfe this though you surmount mée in all other thynges yet wil I not fayle if it bée possible to excéede you in good wil. Shortly vpon this the whirlyng whéele of Fortune turned theyr talke to teares their woordes to waylyng their gladnesse to sadnesse their happinesse to heauinesse yea their life to death For a certayne thirst of the kingdom began to assaulte one Tiberius a Gentleman in the Emperours court who beeyng of the bloud royall perswaded her selfe if Germanicus were made away the Emperour béeyng dead hee should succeed in the Empire Whiche greedie desire of the kyngdom so blinded his vnderstandyng that hee passed not to peruert both humaine and deuine lawes for the accomplishyng therof no rules of reason no bonde of freendship no care of kynred no feare of lawes no prickes of conscience no respect of honestie no regard of gods or men could prohibite him from his pestiferous purpose For if freendship had been of force with him why they were familier friendes If kinred why they were nere kinsmen If lawes hee knew his deede contrarie to all lawes If conscience hée knew it terrible If honestie hee knew it most wicked If goddes or men hée knew it abhominable in the sight of bothe the one and the other But too true it is desire of a kyngdome careth neither for kith nor kin friend nor foe God nor the diuel as by this trayterous Tyrant may bee playnly prooued who by poyson procured the death of this worthy Gentleman Germanicus to the intent to inioye the kyngdome of Rome Now Agrippina séeyng her sweet husband so sodainly dead was surprised with sutch sodain sorrow y for a long time she could neither speake woord neither let fal teare but at length she cast her self vpon the corps of her Germanicus kissyng his colde cheekes and imbracing his breathlesse bodie sighyng sobbyng foorth these woords Alas wretched wight that I am whose misery is like to mine whose griefe so great whose life so lothsome no flowing teares no griping groanes no carefull cries no throbbing sighes can sufficiently set forth my sorrowes My life my loue my hope my husband my ioy my Germanicus is miserably murthered and made away Ah vaine desire of wordly dignity ah diuelish deede of blouddy cruelty But in vaine it is to complaine when my care is without cure and none can redresse my wronge For goddes I know there are none otherwise I knowe the good should not bee so made away by the ill and men there are none that can medicine my malady and rayse my Germanicus to life againe so that nothing resteth for mee but by death to bée rid of the moste bitter panges of death I could prolong my life and seeke by some meanes to hasten the death of that tirant Tiberius but alas his death can not bring Germanicus to life no let him liue stil on earth where I doubt not but hee shall ten thousande times in his time feele the force of death For hee wilbée so tormented with his owne example that as the poets report of Suspicion to bee plonged in all the pits of hell will not bee so painfull vnto him Well the gods if there bee any giue him as he hath deserued and giue me leaue to goe to the ghost of my Germanicus Here vpon shee resolued with her selfe that as her husbande indeed his life by receiuing into his body that which hee should not so shee would end her daies by not receiuinge that which shée should and so defrauding her selfe of foode distillinge her selfe as it were into teares pitifully pined away And when the Emperour Octauian caused meate to bee thrust in her throate shee cast it vp againe saying sorowe was the onely sustinance and moane the meate which shee either could or would take and so in short time died I shall not neede here gentlewoman to exhort you to take the death of your husbandes when you shal be married and when it shall happen more paciently for that I knowe your wisdomes to bee sutch that you will not so wilfully worke your own confusions neither doo I think you are to know that wee must liue by the liuinge not by the dead and that there hath bene neuer any one husband so good but there may bee others found as good yea and though they bee not perfectly so good yet in respecte of chaung which most women delight in they are commonly counted better as your selues if you were once married perchaunce would saye or at leaste thinke But I thinke this needefull to put you in minde that by the example of Agrippina you counsayle your husbandes to content themselues with their callinge not to soare to highe and stie aboue their seate and with foolishe Phaeton and youthfull Icarus come to confusion It is your partes also to way your husbandes wealth and not to decke your heades and neckes with golde when hee hath none in his purse not to swimme in silkes when hee is drowned in debt not to abound in brauery when hee is pinched with pouerty For you knowe it is your parte to take sutch part as hee doth whither it bee pouerty or ritches woe or wealth pleasure or paine But surely in my fancy that man is to bee begged for a foole who will prefer his wiues pleasure before his owne and her profite her will before his owne wealth her vanity before his owne ability And as it is great inciuilyty
they thinke wee doate and that their owne wits are far better then ours if wée warne them to bee wary and thrifty they thinke it proceedeth rather of couetousnesse then of kindenes if wee prouide them no mariages it is bicause wee will departe with no liuinge to them if wée perswade them to mariage it is bicause wée would haue them forsake all good felowship liue like clownes in the countrey by the Plowe tayle If wée perswade them to learnynge it is that they might liue by it without our charge if wée perswade them to one wife rather then another it is bicause the one is ritcher then the other if wée looke seuerely on them wée loue them not if wée vse them familiarly wée feede them with flattery bicause wée will giue them litle and so of all our louing dooinges they make these leud deuises yea when wée haue brought them vp with greate care and coste when wée haue trauailed all our time by sea and by land early and late in paine and in peril to heape vp treasure for them when wée haue by continuall toyle shortned our owne liues to lengthen and inlarge their liuinges and possessions yet if wée suffer them not to royst and to riot to spill and to spoyle to swashe and to lashe to lend and to spende yea and to followe the fury of their owne frantike fancies in all things this forsooth is our recompence they wish an end of our liues to haue our liuings Alas a lamentable case why hath not nature caused loue to ascend as well as discend Why hath shee indued the Storke with this property to féede his damme when shée is olde and men with sutch malice to wish their parents death when they are aged But I speake perchaunce of mine owne proper greife god forbid it should bée a common case for my sonne Ah why doo I call him sonne hath not only wisht my death but wrought it Hée knew hée was my onely delight hée knew I coulde not liue hée béeing out of my sight hée knew his desperate disobedience would driue mee to a desperate death And could hée so mutch doate of a light damsell to force so litle of his louing father Alas a wife is to bée preferred before father and freind But had hee none to sixe his fancy on but the daughter of my most furious foe Alas loue hath no respecte of persons Yet was not my goodwill and consent to bee craued therin Alas hee saw no possibility to obtaine it But now alas I would graunt my goodwil but now alas it is to late his feare of my fury is to great euer to bee found his fault is to great euer to looke mee in the face more and my sorrowe is to great euer to bee saluted And therevpon got him to bed and in fiue dayes space his naturall moysture with secret sorrowe was so soken away that hee could no longer continue his careful life but yeelded willingly to desired death So it pleased God to prouide for the poore pilgrimes who hauing past many a fearful forrest and daungerous desert were now come to the sea shoare mindinge to take ship and trauell into vnknowen coastes where they might not by any meanes bee knowne and béeing on ship borde they heard the mayster of the ship make report that Atys king of the Lybians was dead Wherevpon Admetus desired to bée set on shoare againe and dissemblinge the cause thereof pretended some other matter and got to the next towne wherwith the mony and iewels hée had about him hee furnished him selfe and his lady with the best apparell could bee prouided in the towne and with sutch a trayne of men as hee coulde there take vp whiche done hee made the greatest expedition hee coulde vnto his owne country where hee was royally receiued as prince and shortly after ioyfully crowned Kinge And beeing quietly setled in the regall seate hee presently dispatched Ambassadours to Lycabas his fathers foe and his father in law whose ambassade contained these two pointes the one to intreat a peace for his people the other to craue a pardon for his wife who willingly graunted both the one and the other Wherby hee now liued in great quiet and tranquillity A meruaylous mutabylity of fortune which in the space of a moneth could bring him from happy ioy to heauy annoy and then from annoy againe to greater ioy then his former ioy For as the sunne hauing bene long time ouerwhelmed with darke cloudes when it hath bannished them from aboute it seemes to shyne more brightly then at any time beefore so the state and condition of this prince hauinge bene couered with the cloudes of care now it was cleared of them seemed more pleasaunt and happy then at any time before And verely as sharpe sauce giues a good taste to sweete meate so trouble and aduersity makes quiet and prosperity for more pleasaunt For hee knoweth not the pleasure of plenty who hath not felt the paine of penury hee takes no delight in meate who is neuer hongry hee careth not for ease who was neuer troubled with any disease But notwithstandinge the happy life of this prince albeit hee abounded in as great ritches as hee required albeit hee had as many kingedomes as hee coueted albeit hée had sutch a wife as hee wished for yea and inioyed all things which either god could giue him fortune further him to or nature bestow vpon him yet to shew that there is no sunne shineth so bright but that cloudes may ouer cast it no ground so good but that it bringeth forth weeds as well as flowers no kinge so surely garded but that the gamesome goddes fortune will at least checke him if not mate him no state so plentifull in pleasure but that it is mixed with paine hee had some weedes of wo which began to grow vp amongst his flowers of felicity some chippes of sory chaunce did light in the heape of his happynesse Yea fortune presented her selfe once agayne vpon the stage and ment to haue one flinge more at him For this prince possessinge sutch a pleasaunte life tooke great delight in good house keepinge and gaue sutch good entertainment to straungers that his fame was far spred into forrain countries yea the rumor thereof reached to the skies in so mutch that Apollo as the poets report hauing occasion to discend from heauen to the earth went to see the entertainement of Admetus who was so royally receiued by him that the god thought good with some great kindnesse to requite his great curtesie And as Philemon and Laucis for their harty house keepinge were preserued by the goddes from drowning when al the cuntry and people besides were ouerflowen so the god Apollo ment to preserue his life when all his countrey and people then lyuing should lie full loe in their graues And of the destinies of death obtained thus much for him that if when the time and terme of his naturall life drewe to an end yf any coulde bée
my marrying is turned to mourning my wedding to wéeping my wealth by warre is wasted my slowre of ioy by the cold frost of cankred fight is defaced Yea what flower can flourish where no Sun doth shine what Sun can shine inclosed close in earth My sun alas is dead and downe for euer rysinge againe and the worlde with mée is at an ende and done for euer ioying againe Wâ—e wâ—rth the cause the quarrell the conflict that brought my Curiatius to this cureles case O woulde to God my Citie had béene sacked my friends spoyled and my brothers brought to bane rather then my Curiatius should haue come to this careful ende O brother y hast not only slaine thy foes but thy friends thou hast not only killed Curiatius but thou hast wounded thine owne Sister to death Her brother passinge by her and hearing her heauy plaints beeing therwith rapt into great rage and with pride of the victory almost béesides hymselfe drew his sword and forgetting al lawes of nature and humanytie thrust his Sister therewith to the harte saying get thée hence to thy kinde spouse with thy vnkinde loue who forgettest thy brothers that are dead thy brother that is aliue and the conquest of thy country And so come it to euery Romaine that shall lament the death of an enemy to the Romaines You haue harde Gentlewomen that one harmefull hand made a hand of two harmelesse wightes and that hand had hangd himself to if his father by his pitiful peticion had not purchased his pardon Now I would heare your indgementes to whom you thinke this lamentable end of these louers ought to be imputed Surely I think Horatia cheifly in fault for holding of so longe béefore shée woulde accept and acknowledge the loue of her beloued For if she would by any reasonable sute haue béene wóon they had bene married longe time beefore this warre begunne They had dwelled quietly together in Albania and Curiatius béeing a married man should not haue béen prest to the warres but should haue beene suffered to trye his manhood at home with his wife So that her lingring loue hastened her and his death her selfe will wrought her selfe and hym wracke And for her Brother his offence was litle for in killing Curiatius hee procured conquest to his Country and commendation to himselfe and in killinge his Sister hee eased her of so mutch labour and saued her soule from damnation For hée knew shee would desperately doe her selfe to death and considering the miserie shée was in hée thought hée could not doe her a greater pleasure then to cause her to die for her Curiatius his cause Cephalus and Procris CEPHALVS a lustye younge gallant and PROCRIS a bewtifull girle both of the Duke of VENICE Courte beecum eche amorous of other and notwithstandinge delayes procured at length are matched in marriage Cephalus pretending a far iourney and long absence returneth beefore appointed time to trie his wiues trustinesse Procris falling into the folly of extreme ielousie ouer her Husband pursueth him priuely into the wooddes a hunting to see his beehauiour whom Cephalus heeringe to russhell in a bushe wherein shee was shrowded and thinking it had bin some game slayeth her vnwares and perceiuinge the deede consumeth hymselfe to death for sorowe IT is the prouident policy of the deuine power to the intent wée shoulde not bée to proudly puft vp with prosperitie most commonly to mix it with some sower sops of aduersitie and to appointe the riuer of our happinesse to runge in a streame of heauinesse as by all his benefites bountifully beestowed on vs may bée plainely perceiued whereof there is not any one so absolutely good and perfect but that there bée inconueniences as well as commodyties incurred thereby The golden glisteringe sun which gladdeth all earthly wightes parcheth the Sommers gréene and blasteth their bewtie which blaze their face therein The fire which is a most necessary element vnto vs consumeth most stately towres and sumptuous Cities the water which wée want in euery thing we do â–ª deuoureth infinit numbers of men and huge heapes of treasure and ritches the aire wherby we liue is death to the disceased or wounded man and béeinge infected it is y cause of all our plagues and pestilences the earth which yéeldeth foode to sustaine our bodies yéeldeth poison also to our bodies the goodes whiche doe vs good often times woorke our decay and ruine children which are our comforte are also our care marriage which is a meane to make vs immortall and by our renewing ofspring to reduce our name from death is accompanied with cares in number so endlesse and in cumber so curelesse that if the preseruation of mankinde and the propagation of our selues in our kinde did not prouoke vs therto wée should hardly be allured to enter into it And amongest all the miseries that march vnder the ensigne of marriage in my fancy there is none that more torments vs then that hatefull helhounde Ielousy as the history which you shall heare shall shew You shal vnderstand in the Dukes Courte of Venice spent his time one Cephalus a Gentleman of great calling and good qualities who at the first time hee insinuated himselfe into the societie of the Ladies and Gentlewomen made no speciall or curious court to any one but generally vsed a dutifull regarde towards them all and shewed hymselfe in sport so pleasaunt in talke so wittie in maners so modest and in all his conuersation so cumlye that though he were not specially loued of any yet was hée generally lyked of all and though hée himselfe were not specially vowed to any yet was hee speciallye vewed of one whose name was Procris a proper Gentlewoman discended of noble parentage And though at the first her fancy towardes him were not great yet shee séemed to receiue more contentation in his company then in any other Gentleman of the troupe But as materiall fyre in shorte time groweth from glowinge coales to flashing flames so the fyre of loue in her in shorte time grew from flytting fancy to firme affection and she beegan to settle so surely in goodwil towardes him that shee resolued with her selfe hée was the onely man she would be matched to if shee were euer married And béeinge alone in her lodginge shee entred with her selfe into this reasoning How vnequally is it prouided that those which worst may are driuen to holde the Candle That we which are in body tender in wit weake by reason of our youth vnskilfull and in all thinges without experience should bee constrained to beare the loadsome burthen of loue wheras ryper yéeres who haue wisdome to wyeld it and reason to represse it are seldome or neuer oppressed with it Good God what fiery flames of fancy doe frye within mée what desyre what lust what hope what trust what care what dispaire what feare what fury that for mée which haue alwaies lyued frée and in pleasure to be tormented therewith séemeth litle better then the bitter
spoylinge sauage beastes But this helhounde Ielousy did so haunt and hunt her that shee could in no place bée in rest but made her plod from her Palaice to the wooddes to watche whether hee there hunted a chaste chase or not And one day as shee dogged him where hée was layde downe to rest amongest the gréene leaues shee hearde him vtter these woordes Come gentle Ayre and refresh my weried spirites with sutche like woordes of daliance whiche hee beeing hot spake to the gale of Wynde whiche pleasauntly blew vppon him but shee thought hee had spoken to some woman with him wherevpon she furiously fel to the ground tearing her haire and scratchinge her face and though her greife would not giue her leaue to speake yet to her selfe shee thought this And can the traytor thus trecherously deale with mee Had the sorow which I sustayned only for his absence beefore I was married to him or any way owed him any thing almost cost mee my life and now shall his presence procure my death Did I poure out pensiue prayers for his safe returne from the Turkes and doth his returne returne my good wil with sutch dispight Oh would to god the Turkes had torne him in péeces that hee had neuer come home to martir mee in this manner But Wolues neuer pray vpon wolues his fraud was nothing inferiour to their falshood and therefore it had beene in vaine for them to haue haulted before a creeple but me beeing but a simple sheepe see how sone this subtill â–ª Foxe could deceiue Is this the fruite of my feruente loue is this the felicitie I expected in marriage had I knowen this I would neuer haue knowen what the subtill sexe of man had ment I would rather as they say haue led apes in hell after my death then haue felt all the torments of hell in my life But had I wyst is euer had at the worst they that cast not of cares beefore they come can not cast them of when they doe come It is to late to cast Anchor when the ship is shaken to péeces against the rockes it booteth not to send for a phisition when the sicke party is already departed Well I will yet goe see the cursed cause of my carefull calamity that I may mitigate some part of my martirdome by scratching her incontynent eyes out of her whoorish head and thervpon roused her selfe out of the shrub wherin shée was shrouded Cephalus hearing somwhat rush in the bush thought it had bene som wilde beast and toke his darte and strooke the tame foole to the hart But comming to the place and seeing what hee had done hée fell downe in a sowne vpon her but with her striuing vnder him with the panges of death hee was redused to life and sayd Alas my Procris by my selfe is slayne Which she not yet dead hearinge sayde Alas your Aire hath brought mee to this ende With that hee vnderstood how the matter went and sayd Alas sweete wife I vsed these wordes to the winde Why then sayth she not you but that winde gaue mee this wound And so ioyninge her lippes to his shee yéelded vp her breath into his mouth and dyed And he with care consumed taried not long behinde her to béewayle either his owne deed or her death Now Gentlewomen let the casuall end of this GentlewomaÌ„ bée a caueat to kepe you from sutch wary watching of your husbandes it is but a meane to make them fall to folly the rather as the thoughtful care of the ritch man causeth the theefe the sooner too séeke the spoyle of him But if you will knowe the cheifest way to kéepe your husbandes continÌ„ent it is to kéepe your selues continent for when they shall see you which are the weaker vessels strong in vertue and chastyty they will bee ashamed to bee found faint in fayth and loyalty when they shall see you constant in good will towardes them they wil feare to bee found fickle in fayth towardes you when they shal sée you loue them faythfully you shall bée sure to haue them loue you feruently But if you shall once shake of the shéet of shame and giue your selues ouer to choyce of chaunge then assuredly make accompt your husbandes will eschewe your companyes loth â—your lips abandon your beds and frequent the familiarity of they care not who if not of you Minos and Pasiphae MINOs King of Creete regarding the beautie of Pasiphae a waiting gentlewoman in his Courte falleth in loue with her and maketh her his Queene Whom VERECVNDVS a younge Gentleman also of the same Courte hauing sollicited to lewdnesse for feare of the Kings displesure escapeth away by flight â–ª MINOS entreth into sutch rage of gelousy ouer his wife that in his absence hee setteth spies ouer her to bewray her doynges Pasiphae beecumminge vnnaturally amorous of a Bull by meanes of the Carpenter Dedalus bringeth foorth a monstrous Childe in parte resemblynge the Sire and in parte the Mother OF all the ordinary accidentes incident to the lyfe of maÌ„ there is none of more momeÌ„t to our prosperytie or misery then marriage which estate if wee aduisedly enter into it maketh vs in happinesse equall to Angels but if wee rashly run into it it prolongeth vs in the paines of the furies of hel And amongst all y inconueniences which are to bee foreséene in this bargaine there is none more daungerous then inequalitie of estates béetwéene the parties for what agréement of affections can there bee when the one shall bee of a meane minde the other hautie the one lowly the other loftie how can there be one harte in two bodies when the one wisheth one thinge the other willeth another When the one is disposed one way the other inclined another way accordinge to the secret instinct of their proper and peculier natures For the nature of nothinge may bee altered that whiche nature hath geuen connot bee taken away and that whiche is bred in the boane will not out of the flesh So that for one of meane parentage to bee marryed with one of princely race I think as good a match as béetweene Lions and Lambes And as well they will agrée together as Dogs and Cats and as the saying is the Mastiue neuer loueth the Greihounde Besides vnequal Oxen draw not wel together in one yoke Coks vnequally matcht make no good battaile in the pit meats of contrary qualities digest not well in the stomacke and parties of contrary callinges agrée not well together in the bond of blessed matrimony as the history I will tel you shall shew you In the Country of Creete raigned one Minos a Kinge and Monarch of great might to whom the blinde goddes Fortune assigned a wife of far more meanesse then was meete for the maiestie of his mightinesse For there chanced to bee in his Court attendaunt vpon a noble woman a proper péece named Pasiphae Who by birth was but the daughter of a Knight but by beauty séemed to bee a heauenly wight