be steeped in some liquor as having not bene covered but with their owne bare coats for this you may observe ordinarily in stones that those parts and sides which lie covered deeper within the ground as if they were of the nature of plants be more frim and tender as being preserved by heat than those outward faces which lie ebbe or above the earth and therefore skilfull masons digge deeper into the ground for stones which they meane to square worke and cut as being melowed by the heat of the earth whereas those which lie bare aloft and exposed to the aire by reason of the cold prove hard and not easie to be wrought or put to any use in building semblably even corne if it continue long in the open aire and cocked upon the stacks or threshing floores is more hard and rebellious than that which is soone taken away and laid up in garners yea and oftentimes the very winde which bloweth whiles it is fanned or winnowed maketh it more tough and stubburne and all by reason of cold whereof the experience by report is to be seene about Philippi a citie in Macedonie where the remedie is to let corne lie in the chaffe and therefore you must not thinke it strange if you heare husbandmen report that of two lands or ridges running directly one by the side of another the one should yeeld corne tough and hard the other soft and tender and that which more is beanes lying in one cod some be of one sort and some of another according as they have felt more or lesse either of cold or of winde THE THIRD QUESTION What is the cause that the mids of wine the top of oile and the bottome of honie is best MY wives father Alexion one day laughed at Hesiodus for giving counsell to drinke wine lustilie when the vessell is either newly pierced or runneth low but to forbeare when it is halfe drawen his words are these When tierce is full or when it draweth low Drinke hard but spare to mids when it doth grow For that the wine there is most excellent For who knoweth not quoth he that wine is best in the middle oile in the top and honie in the bottome of the vessel but Hesiodus forsooth adviseth us to let the mids alone and to stay untill it change to the woorse and be sowre namely when it runneth low and little is left in the vessell Which words being passed the companie there present bad Hesiodus farewell and betooke themselves into searching out the cause of this difference and diversitie in these liquors And first as touching the reason of honie we were not very much troubled about it because there is none in maner but knoweth that a thing the more rare or hollow the substance of it is the lighter it is said to be as also that solid massie and compact things by reason of their weight do settle downward in such sort that although you turne a vessell up-side-downe yet within a while after each part returneth into the owne place againe the heavie sinks downe the light flotes above and even so there wanted no arguments to yeeld a sound reason for the wine also for first and formost the vertue and strength of wine which is the heat thereof by good right gathereth about the middes of the vessell and keepeth that part of all others best then the bottome for the vicinitie unto the lees is naught lastly the upper region for that it is next to the aire is likewise corrupt for this we all know that the winde or the aire is most dangerous unto wine for that it altereth the nature thereof and therefore we use to set wine vessels within the ground yea and to stop and cover them with all care and diligence that the least aire in the world come not to the wine and that which more is wine will nothing so soone corrupt when the vessels be full as when it hath beene much drawen and groweth low for the aire entreth in apace proportionably to the place that is void the wine the taketh winde thereby and so much the sooner chaungeth whereas if the vessels be full the wine is able to mainteine it selfe not admitting from without much of that which is adverse unto it or can hurt it greatly But the consideration of oile put us not to a little debate in arguing One of the companie said That the bottome of oile was the woorst because it was troubled and muddy with the leis or mother thereof and as for that which is above he said It was nothing better than the rest but seemed onely so because it was farthest remooved from that which might hurt it Others attributed the cause unto the soliditie thereof in which regard it will not well be mingled or incorporate with any other liquor unlesse it be broken or divided by force and violence for so compact it is that it will not admit the very aire to enter in it or to be mingled with it but keepeth it selfe a part and rejecteth it by reason of the fine smoothnesse and contenuitie of all the parts so that lesse altered it is by the aire as being not predominant over it neverthelesse it seemeth that Aristotle doth contradict and gainsay this reason who had observed as he saith himselfe that the oile is sweeter more odoriferous and in all respects better which is kept in vessels not filled up to the brim and afterwards ascribeth the cause of this meliority or betternesse unto the aire For that saith he there entereth more aire into a vessell that is halfe emptie and hath the more power Then I wot not well said I but what and if in regard of one and the same facultie and power the aire bettereth oile and impaireth the goodnesse of wine for we know that age is hurtfull to oile and good for wine which age the aire taketh from oile because that which is cooled continueth still yoong and fresh contrariwise that which is pent in and stuffed up as having no aire soone ageth and waxeth old great apparence there is therefore of truth that the aire approching neere unto oile and touching the superficies thereof keepeth it fresh and yoong still And this is the reason that of wine the upmost part is woorst but of oile the best because that age worketh in that a very good disposition but in this as badde THE FOURTH QUESTION What was the reason that the auncient Romans were very precise not to suffer the table to be cleane voided and all taken away or the lampe and candle to be put out FLorus a great lover of antiquitie would never abide that a table should be taken away emptie but alwaies lest some meat or other standing upon it And I know full well quoth he that both my father and my grandfather before him not onely observed this most carefully but also would not in any case permit the lampe after supper to be put out because for sparing of oile and that thereby
and wives of the towne fearing lest the enemies would search and rifle their husbands as they went forth of the gates and not once touch and meddle with them tooke unto them short curtelasses or skeines hid them under their clothes and so went forth together with their husbands When they were all out of the towne Annibal having set a guard of Mafaesylians to attend them staied them at the end of the suburbs meane while the rest of his armie without all order put themselves within the citie and fell to the spoile and sackage of it which when the Masaesylians perceived they grew out of all patience could not containe themselves nor looke wel unto their prisoners but were woonderous angrie and in the end meant for to have as good a part and share as the rest of the spoile hereupon the women tooke up a crie and gave unto their husbands the swords which they had brought with them yea some of them fel upon the guard or garrison insomuch as one of them was so bold as to take from Banon the Truchman or interpretor the speare which he had and thrust at him with it but he had on a good corps of a cuirace which saved him but their husbands having wounded some of them and put the rest to flight escaped by this meanes away together in a troupe with their wives which when Annibal understood he set out immediately after them and surprised those who were left behind whiles the rest got away and saved themselves for the present by recovering the mountaines adjoining but after they sent unto Annibal and craved pardon who graciously granted it yea and permitted them to returne in safetie and reinhabit their owne citie THE MILESIAN WOMEN THE Milesian maidens upon a time were surprized with a verie strong passionate fit of a fearfull melancholicke humour without any apparant cause that could be rendred thereof unlesse it were as men most conjectured that the aire was infected and empoisoned which might cause that alienation of the mind and worke a distimperature in their braines to the overthrow of their right wits for all on a sudden every one had a great desire to die and namely in a furious rage would needs hang themselves and in truth many of them secretly knit their neeks in haltars and so were strangled no reasons and remonstrances no teares of father and mother no perswasions and comfortable speeches of their friends would serve the turne but looke what keepers soever they had and how carefully soever they looked unto them they could find meanes of evasion to avoide and goe beyond all their devices and inventions in such sort that it was thought to be some plague and punishment sent from the gods above and such as no humaine provision could remedie untill such time as by the advice of a sage and wise citizen there went foorth a certaine edict and the same enacted by the counsell of the citie That if any one more hapned to hang herselfe she should be carried starke naked as ever she was borne throw the market place in the view of the whole world this proclamation being thus ratified by the common-counsell of the citie did not onely represse for a while but also staied for altother this furious rage of the maidens and their inordinate desire to make themselves away Thus we may see that the fear of dishonor shame infamy is a great signe infallible token of good nature and vertue considering that they feared neither death nor paine which are the most horrible accidents that men can endure howbeit they could not abide the imagination of vilannie shame and dishonor though it hapned not unto them untill they were dead and gone THE WOMEN OF CIO THe maner and custome was for the yoong virgins of Cio to goe altogether unto their publick temples and churches and so to passe the time al the long day there one with another where their lovers who wooed them for marriage might behold them disport and daunce and in the evening they went home to each of their houses in order where they waited upō their fathers and mothers yea and the brethren one of another even to the very washing of their feet Now it hapned sometimes that many yoong men were enamoured of one and the same maide but their love was so modest good and honest that so soone as a maiden was affianced and betrothed unto one all the rest would give over sute so cease to make any more love unto her In summe the good order and cariage of these women of Cio might be knowen in this that in the space of seven hundred yeeres it was never knowen nor appeered upon record that anie wife committed adulterie nor maiden unmaried lost her virgnitie THE WOMEN OF PHOCIS THe tyrants of Phocis surprized upon a time and seized the citie of Delphos by occasion whereof the Thebans made that warre upon them which was called the Holy warre at which time it so befell that the religious women consecrated unto Bacchus named Thyades being bestraught and out of their right wits ranne wandring like vargrants up and downe in the night and knew not whither untill ere they were aware they ranne unto the citie Amphissa where being wearie but yet not come againe to their senses they lay along in the mids of the market place and couched themselves scattering heere and there to take their sleepe the wives of Amphissa being advertised heereof and fearing lest their bodies should be abused by the soldiers of the tyrants whereof there lay a garrison within the citie for that Amphissa was of the league and confederate with the Phocaeans ranne all thither to the place standing round about them with silence and not saying one word and so long as they slept troubled them not but soone as they wakened of themselves and were gotten up they tooke the charge of them gave them meat and each of them looked to one yea and afterwards having gotten leave of their husbands they conveighed and accompanied them in safetie so farre as to the mountains and marches of their owne territorie VALERIA and CLOELIA THe outrage committed upon the person of a Roman ladie named Lucretia and her vertue together were the cause that Tarquinius Superbus the seventh king of the Romanes after Romulus was deprived of his roiall estate and driven out of Rome This dame being married unto a great personage descended of the bloud roiall was abused and forced by one of the sons of the said king Tarquin who was enterteined and friendly lodged in her house by occasion of which villanous fact she called all her kinsfolke and friends together about her unto whom after she had delcared and given them to understand the shamefull dishonour that he had done upon her body she stabbed herselfe in the place before them and Tarquin the father for this cause being deposed from his princely dignitie and chased out of his kingdome levied manie warres against the
was WE had a certeine guest who lived delicatly and loved to drinke cold water for to please and content whose appetite our servants drew up a bucket of water out of the pit or wel and so let it hang within the same so that it touched not the top of the water all the night long wherewith he was served the morrow after at his supper and he found it to be much colder than that which was newly drawen now this stranger being a professed scholar and indifferently well learned told us that he had found this in Aristotle among other points grounded upon good reason which he delivered unto us in this wise All water quoth he which is first hear becommeth afterwards more colde than it was before like to that which is provided and prepared for kings first they set it on the fire untill it boile againe which done they burie the pan or vessell wherein it is within snow and by this device it proves exceeding colde no otherwise than our bodies after that we have bene in the stouph or baines be cooled much more by that meanes for relaxation occasioned by heat maketh the bodie more rare and causeth the pores to open and so by consequence it receiveth more aire from without which environeth the bodie and bringeth a more sudden and violent change when as therefore water is first chafed as it were and set in an heat by agitation and stirring within the bucket whiles it was in drawing it groweth to be the colder by the aire which environeth the said vessell round about This stranger and guest of ours we commended for his confident resolution and perfect memory but as touching the reason that he alledged we made some doubt for if the aire in which the vessell hangeth be colde how doth it inchafe the water and if it be hot how cooleth it afterwards for beside all reason it is that a thing should be affected or suffer contrarily from one and the same cause unlesse some difference come betweene And when the other held his peace a good space and stood musing what to say againe Why quoth I there is no doubt to be made of the aire for our very senses teach us that colde it is and especially that which is in the bottome of pits and therefore impossible it is that water should be heat by the cold aire but the trueth is this rather although this cold aire can not alter all the water of the spring in the bottome of the well yet if a man draw the same in a little quantitie it will do the deed and be so much predominant as to coole it exceedingly THE FIFTH QUESTION What is the reason that little stones and small plates or pellets of lead being cast into water make it colder YOu remember I am sure doe you not said I what Aristotle hath written as touching pibble stones and flints which if they be cast into water cause the same to be much colder and more astringent And you remember quoth he aswell that the philosopher in his Problemes hath onely said it is so but let us assay to finde out the cause for it seemeth very difficult to be conceived and imagined You say true indeed quoth I and a marvell it were if we could hit upon it howbeit marke and consider what I will say unto it First to begin withall doe you not thinke that water is sooner made colde by the aire without if the same may come to enter into it also that the aire is of more force and efficacie when it beateth against hard slints pibbles or wherstones for they will not suffer it to passe thorow as vessels either of brasse or earth but by their compact soliditie resisting and standing out against it they put it by from themselves and turne it upon the water whereby the coldnesse may be the stronger and the water thorowout be fully affected therewith and this is the reason that in Winter time running rivers be much colder than the sea for that the cold aire hath greater power upon them as being driven backe againe from the bottome of the water whereas in the sea it is dissolved and passeth away by reason of the great depth thereof encountring there nothing at all upon which it may strike and bear but it seemeth there is another reason that waters the thinner and cleerer they be suffer the more from the colde aire for sooner they be changed and overcome so weake and feeble they are now hard wherstones and little pibbles doe subtiliat and make the water more thin in drawing to the bottome where they be all the grosse and terrestriall substance that trouble it in such sort as the water by that meanes being more sine and consequently weaker sooner is vanquished and surmounted by the refrigeration of the aire To come now unto lead cold of nature it is and if it be soaked in vineger and wrought with it maketh ceruse of all deadly poisons the coldest As for the stones a fore said by reason of their soliditie they have an inward coldnesse conceived deeply within them for as every stone is a piece of earth gathered together and congealed as it were by exceeding colde so the more compact and massie that it is the harder is it congealed and consequently so much the colder no marvell therefore it is if both plummets of lead and these little hard pibbles aforesaid by repercussion from themselves inforce the colduesse of water THE SIXTH QUESTION What is the reason that men use to keepe snowe within chafse light straw and clothes VPon these words that stranger and guest of ours after hee had paused a while Lovers quoth he above all things are desirous to talke with their paramours or if they can not so doe yet at leastwise they will be talking of them and even so it fareth at this time betweene me and snowe for because there is none heere in place nor to be had I will speake of it and namely I would gladly know the reason why it is wont to be kept in such things as be very hot for we use to cover and swaddle it as it were with straw and chaffe yea and to lap it within soft clothes unshorne rugges and shaggie frize and so preserve it a long time in the owne kinde without running to water A woonderfull matter that the hottest things should preserve those which are extreame colde And so will I say too quoth I if that were true but it is farre otherwise and we greatly deceive our selves in taking that by and by to be hot it selfe which doth heat another and namely considering that we our selves use to say that one and the selfe same garment in Winter keeps us warme and in Summer cooleth us like as that nourse in the tragedy which gave sucke unto Niobes children With mantles course and little blanquets worne She warm's and cool's her pretie babes new borne The Almaigns verily put on garments onely for to defend their bodies against
a little troubled at this chalenge but after he had paused and thought upon the matter a while in the end he spake to this effect It is an ordinary thing quoth he with Plato to play with us many times merrily by certeine devised names that hee useth but whensoever hee inserteth some fable in any treatise of the soule he doth it right soberly and hath a deepe meaning and profound sense therein for the intelligent nature of heaven he calleth a Chariot volant to wit the harmonicall motion and revolution of the world and heere in this place whereof we are now in question to wit in the end of the tenth booke of his Common-wealth he bringeth in a messenger from hell to relate newes of that which he had there himselfe seene and calleth him by the name of Era a Pamphylian borne and the sonne of Armonius giving us covertly by an aenigmaticall conveiance thus much to understand That our soules are engendred by harmonie and so joined to our bodies but when they be disjoined and separate from them they runne together all into aire from every side and so returne againe from thence unto second generations what should hinder then but this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was put downe by him not to shew a truth whereof he spake but rather 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as a probable speech and conjecturall fiction or else a thing spoken as it should seeme to a dead bodie and so uttered vainly and at a venture in the aire for Plato alwaies toucheth three causes as being the philosopher who either first knew or principally understood how fatall destiny is mingled with fortune and againe how our freewill is woont to bee joined with either of them or is complicate with both and now in this place before cited hee sheweth excellently well what power each of these causes hath in our humane affaires attributing the choice and election of our life unto free will for vertue and vice be free and at the commaund of no lord and tying to the necessitie of fatall destinie a religious life to God-ward in them who have made a good choise and contrariwise in those who have made a choise of the woorst but the cadences or chaunces of lots which being cast at a venture and lighting heere and there without order befall to every one of us bring in fortune and preoccupate or prevent much of that which is ours by the sundry educations or governments of common-weale wherein it hapneth each of us to live for this I would have every one of you to consider whether it bee not meere folly and without all reason to seeke for a cause of that which is done by fortune and casually for if lot should seeme to come by reason there were to be imputed no more to fortune or adventure but all to some fatall destinie or providence Whiles Lamprias delivered this speech Marcus the Grammarian seemed to count and number I wot not what upon his fingers to himselfe apart but when he had made an end the said Marcus named aloud all those soules or spirits which are called out in Homers Necya Among which quoth he the ghost onely of Elpenor wandering still in the middle confines is not reckoned with those beneath in another world for that his bodie as yet is not interred and committed to the earth as for the soule of Tiresias also it seemeth not to bee numbred with the rest To whom now dead Proserpina above the rest did give This gift alone right wise to be although he did not live as also the power to speake with the living and to understand their state and affaires even before he had drunke the bloud of sacrificed beasts If then quoth hee ô Lamprias you subtract these two and count the rest you shall finde that the soule of Ajax was just the twentieth of those which presented themselves to Ulysses and heereto alluded Plato as it should seeme by way of mirth joining his fable together with that evocation of spirits otherwise called Necyra in Homers Odyssea THE SIXTH QUESTION What is covertly meant by the fable wherein Neptune is feigned to have beene vanquished as also why the Athenians take out the second day of the moneth August NOw when the whole company were growen to a certeine uprore Menephyllus a Peripateticke philosopher calling unto Hylas by name You see quoth he now that this question was not propounded by way of mockerie and contumelious flouting but you my good friend leaving this froward and mal-contented Ajax whose name as Sophocles saith is ominous and of ill presage betake your selfe unto Neptune and side with him a while who is wont to recount unto us himselfe how he hath beene oftentimes overcome to wit in this city by Minerva at Delphi by Apollo in Argos by Juno in Aegina by Jupiter and in Naxus by Bacchus and yet in all his repulses disfavors and infortunities he bare himselfe alwaies mild and gentle carying no ranckor or malice in his heart for proofe heereof there is even in this city a temple common to him and Minerva in which there standeth also an altar dedicated to Oblivion Then Hylas who seemed by this time more pleasantly disposed But you have forgotten quoth he ô Menephyllus that we have abolished the second day of the moneth August not in regard of the moone but because it was thought to be the day upon which Neptune and Minerva pleaded for the scignorie of this territorie of Attica Now I assure you quoth Lamprias Neptune was every way much more civill and reasonable than Thrasibulus in case being not a winner as the other but a loser he could forget all grudge and malice A great breach and defect there is in the Greeke originall wherein wanteth the farther handling of this question as also 5. questions entier following and a part of the 6. to wit 7 Why the accords in musicke are devided into three 8 Wherein differ the intervals or spaces melodious from those that be accordant 9 What cause is it that maketh accord and what is the reason that when one toucheth two strings accordant together the melody is ascribed to the base 10 What is the cause that the eclipticke revolutions of sunne and moone being in number equall yet we see the moone oftner ecclipsed than the sunne 11 That we continue not alwaies one and the same in regard of the daily deflux of our substance 12 Whether of the twaine is more probable that the number of starres is even or odde Of this twelfth question thus much remaineth as followeth Lysander was wont to say That children are to be deceived with cockall bones but men with othes Then Glaucias I have heard quoth he that this speech was used against Polycrates the tyrant but it may be that it was spoken also to others But whereby do you demaund this of me Because verily quoth Sospis I see that children snatch at such bones the Academiques catch at words for it
would say pined or famished Or rather it may allude unto the tale that goeth of the shirt empoisoned with the blood of Nessus the Centaure which ladie Deianira gave unto Hercules 61 How commeth it to passe that it is expresly for bidden at Rome either to name or to demaund ought as touching the Tutelar god who hath in particular recommendation and patronage the safetie and preservation of the citie of Rome nor so much as to enquire whether the said deitie be male or female And verely this prohibition proceedeth from a superstitious feare that they have for that they say that Valerius Soranus died an ill death because he presumed to utter and publish so much IS it in regard of a certaine reason that some latin historians do alledge namely that there be certaine evocations and enchantings of the gods by spels and charmes through the power wherof they are of opinion that they might be able to call forth and draw away the Tutelar gods of their enemies and to cause them to come and dwell with them and therefore the Romans be afraid left they may do as much for them For like as in times past the Tyrians as we find upon record when their citie was besieged enchained the images of their gods to their shrines for feare they would abandon their citieand be gone and as others demanded pledges and fureties that they should come againe to their place whensoever they sent them to any bath to be washed or let them go to any expiation to be clensed even so the Romans thought that to be altogether unknowen and not once named was the best meanes and surest way to keepe with their Tutelar god Or rather as Homer verie well wrote The earth to men all is common great and small That thereby men should worship all the gods and honour the earth seeing she is common to them all even so the ancient Romans have concealed and suppresse the god or angell which hath the particular gard of their citie to the end that their citizens should adore not him alone but all others likewise 62 What is the cause that among those priests whom they name Faeciales signifying as much as in geeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say Officers going between to make treatre of peace or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say Agents for truce and leagues he whom they call Pater Patratus is esteemed the chiefest Now Pater Patratus is he whose father is yet living who hath children of his owne and in truth this chiefe Faecial or Herault hath still at this day a certain prerogative speciall credit above the rest For the emperours themselves and generall captains if they have any persons about them who in regard of the prime of youth or of their beautifull bodies had need of a faithfull diligent and trustie guard commit them ordinarily into the hands of such as these for safe custodie IS it not for that these Patres Patrati for reverent feare of their fathers of one side and for modest shames to scandalize or offend their children on the other side are enforced to be wise and discreet Or may it not be in regard of that cause which their verie denomination doth minister and declare for this word PATRATUS signifieth as much as compleat entire and accomplished as if he were one more perfect and absolute every way than the rest as being so happie as to have his owne father living and be a father also himselfe Or is it not for that the man who hath the superintendance of treaties of peace and of othes ought to see as Homer saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say before and behind And in all reason such an one is he like to be who hath a child for whom and a father with whom he may consult 63 What is the reason that the officer at Rome called Rex sacrorum that is to say the king of sacrifices is debarred both from exercising any magistracie and also to make a speech unto the people in publike place IS it for that in old time the kings themselves in person performed the most part of sacred rites and those that were greater yea and together with the priests offered sacrifices but by reason that they grew insolent proud and arrogant so as they became intollcrable most of the Greeke nations deprived them of this authoritie and left unto them the preheminence onely to offer publike sacrifice unto the gods but the Romans having cleane chased and expelled their kings established in their stead another under officer whom they called King unto whom they granted the oversight and charge of sacrifices onely but permitted him not to exercise or execute any office of State nor to intermedle in publick affaires to the end it should be knowen to the whole world that they would not suffer any person to raigne at Rome but onely over the ceremonies of sacrifices nor endure the verie name of Roialtie but in respect of the gods And to this purpose upon the verie common place neere unto 〈◊〉 they use to have a solemn sacrifice for the good estate of the citie which so soone as ever this king hath performed he taketh his legs and runnes out of the place as fast as ever he can 64 Why suffer not they the table to be taken cleane away and voided quite but will have somewhat alwaies remaining upon it GIve they not heereby covertly to understand that wee ought of that which is present to reserve evermore something for the time to come and on this day to remember the morrow Or thought they it not a point of civill honesty and elegance to represse and keepe downe their appetite when they have before them enough still to content and satisfie it to the full for lesse will they desire that which they have not when they accustome themselves to absteine from that which they have Or is not this a custome of courtesie and humanitie to their domesticall servants who are not so well pleased to take their victuals simply as to partake the same supposing that by this meanes in some sort they doe participate with their masters at the table Or rather is it not because we ought to suffer no sacred thing to be emptie and the boord you wot well is held sacred 65 What is the reason that the Bridegrome commeth the first time to lie with his new wedded bride not with any light but in the darke IS it because he is yet abashed as taking her to be a stranger and not his owne before he hath companied carnally with her Or for that he would then acquaint himselfe to come even unto his owne espoused wife with shamefacednesse and modestie Or rather like as Solon in his Statutes ordeined that the new maried wife should eat of a quince before she enter into the bride bed-chamber to the end that this first encounter and embracing should not be odious or unpleasant to her husband
and understanding the elephants as king Juba writeth shew unto us an evident example for they that hunt them are woont to dig deepe trenches and thatch them over with a thinne cote of light straw or some small brush Now when one of the heard chanceth to fall into a trench for many of them use to go and feed together all the rest bring a mighty deale of stones rammell wood and whatsoever they can get which they fling into the ditch for to fill it up to the end that their fellow may have meanes thereby to get up againe The same writer recordeth also that elephants use to pray unto gods to purifie themselves with the sea water and to adore the sunne rising by lifting up their trunked snout into the aire as if it were their hād all thus of their own accord untaught And to say a truth of all beasts the elephant is most devout religious as K. Ptolemaeus Philopater hath wel testified for after he had defaited Antiochus was minded to render condign thanks unto the gods for so glorious a victorie among many other beasts for sacrifice he slew foure elephants but afterwards being much disquieted and troubled in the night with fearefull dreames and namely that God was wroth and threatned him for such an uncouth and strange sacrifice hee made meanes to appease his ire by many other propitiatorie oblations and among the rest hee dedicated unto him fower elephants of brasse in steed of those which were killed no lesse is the sociable kindnesse and good nature which lions shew one one unto another for the yoonger sort which are more able and nimble of body lead forth with them into the chace for to hunt and prey those that be elder and unweldy who when they be weary sit them downe and rest waiting for the other who being gone forward to hunt if they meet with game and speed then they all set up a roaring note altogether much like unto the bellowing of bulles and thereby call their fellowes to them which the old lions hearing presently runne unto them where they take their part and devour they prey in common To speake of the amatorious affections of brute beasts some are very savage and exceeding furious others more milde and not altogether unlike unto the courting and wooing used betweene man and woman yea I may say to you smelling somewhat of wanton and venerious behaviour and such was the love of an elephant a counter suter or corrivall with Aristophanes the grammarian to a woman in Alexandria that sold chaplets or garlands of flowers neither did the elephant shew lesse affection to her than the man for hee would bring her alwaies out of the fruit market as he passed by some apples peares or other fruit and then he would stay long with her yea and otherwhiles put his snout as it were his hand within her bosome under her partlet and gently feele her soft pappes and white skinne about her faire brest A dragon also there was enamoured upon a yoong maiden of Aetolia it would come to visit her by night creepe along the very bare skinne of her body yea and winde about her without any harme in the world done unto her either willingly or otherwise and then would gently depart from her by the breake of day now when this serpent had continued thus for certeine nights together ordinarily at the last the friends of the yoong damosel remooved her and sent her out of the way a good way off but the dragon for three or fower nights together came not to the house but wandred and sought up and downe heere and there as it should seem for the wench in the end with much adoo having found her out he came and clasped her about not in that milde and gentle maner as before time but after a rougher sort for having with other windings and knots bound her hands and armes fast unto her body with the rest of his taile he flapped and beat her legges shewing a gentle kinde of amorous displeasure and anger yet so as it might seeme he had more affection to pardon than desire to punish her As for the goose in Aegypt which fell in love with a boy and the goat that cast a fansie to Glauce the minstrell wench because they are histories so wel knowen and in every mans mouth for that also I suppose you are wearie already of so many tedious tales and narrations I forbeare to relate them before you but the merles crowes and perroquets or popinjaies which learne to prate and yeeld their voice and breath to them that teach him so pliable so tractable and docible for to forme and expresse a certeine number of letters and syllables as they would have them me thinks they plead sufficiently and are able to defend the cause of all other beasts teaching us as I may say by learning of us that capable they be not onely of the inward discourse of reason but also of the outward gift uttered by distinct words and an articulate voice were it not then a meere ridiculous mockerie to compare these creatures with other dumbe beasts which have not so much voice in them as will serve to houle withall or to expresse a groane and complaint but how great a grace and elegancie there is in the naturall voices and songs of these which they resound of themselves without learning of any masters the best musicians and most sufficient poets that ever were do testifie who compare their sweetest canticles and poems unto their songs of swannes and nightingals now forasmuch as to teach sheweth greater use of reason than to learne wee are to give credit unto Aristotle who saith that brute beasts are endued also with that gift namely that they teach one another for hee writeth that the nightingale hath beene seene to traine up her yoong ones in singing and this experience may serve to testifie on his behalfe that those nightingales sing nothing so well which are taken very yong out of the nest and were not fedde nor brought up by their dammes for those that be nourished by them learne withall of them to sing and that not for money and gaine nor yet for glory but because they take pleasure to sing well and love the elegance above the profit of the voice and to this purpose report I will unto you a storie which I have heard of many as well Greeks as Romans who were present and eie witnesses There was a barber within the city of Rome who kept a shoppe over against the temple called Grecostisis or Forum Graecum and there nourished a pie which would so talke prate and chatte as it was woonderfull counting the speech of men and women the voice of beasts and sound of musicall instruments and that voluntarily of her selfe without the constreint of any person onely she accustomed her selfe so to doe and tooke a certeine pride and glory in it endevouring all that she could to leave nothing
industrie hath devised and found out as an appendant and accessarie Neither can it be said what time of the world it was when as man had no water nor ever read we in any records that one of the gods or demi-gods was the inventer therof for it was at the very instant with them nay what and we say that it gave them their being But the use of fire was but yesterday or the other day to speake of found out by Prometheus so that the time was when as men lived without fire but void of water our life never was Now that this is no devised poeticall fiction this daily and present life of ours doth plainly testifie for there be at this day in the world divers nations that are mainteined without fire without house without hearth or chimney 〈◊〉 abroad in the open wide aire And Diogenes the Cynicke seldome or never had any use of fire insomuch as having upon a time swallowed downe a polype fish raw Loe quoth he my masters how for your sake we put our selves in jeopardie howbeit without water there was never any man thought that either we might live honestly and civilly or that our nature would possibly endure it But what need is there that I should particularize thus and go so neere as to search farre into the nature of man considering that whereas there be so many or rather so infinit kinds of living creatures mankinde onely in a maner knoweth the use of fire whereas all the rest have their nourishment and food without the benefit of fire Those that brouse feed flie and creepe get their living by eating herbes roots fruits and flesh all without fire but without water there is not one that can live neither going or creeping on the land nor swimming in the sea not yet flying in the aire True it is I must needs say that Aristotle writeth how some beasts there be even of those that devoure flesh which never drunke but in very trueth nourished they be by some moisture Well then that is more profitable without which no maner of life can consist or endure Proceed we farther passe from those living creatures which use to feed upon plants fruits even unto the same that are by us them used for food Some of them there be which have no heat at all others so little as it can not be perceived Contrariwise moisture is that which causeth all kind of seeds to chit to bud to grow and in the end to bring forth fruit for what need I to alledge for this purpose either wine and oile or other liquors which we draw presse out or milke forth out of beasts paps which we do see dayly before our eies considering that even our wheat which seemeth to be a drie nutriment is engendred by the transmutation putrefaction and diffusion of moisture Furthermore that is to be held more profitable which bringeth with it no hurt nor dammage but we all know that fire if it breake forth get head and be at libertie is the most pernicious thing in the world wheras the nature of water of it selfe doth never any harme Againe of two things that is held to be more commodious which is the simpler and without preparation can yeeld the profit which it hath but fire requireth alwaies some succour and matter which is the reason that the rich have more of it than the poore and princes than private persons whereas water is so kind and courteous that it giveth it selfe indifferently to all sorts of people it hath no need at all of tooles or instruments to prepare it for use compleat and perfect it is in it selfe without borowing ought abroad of others Over and besides that which being multiplied as it were and augmented loseth the utilitie and profit that it had is by consequence lesse profitable and such is fire resembling herein a ravenous wild beast which devoureth and consumeth all that it commeth neere in so much as it were by the industrie and artificiall meanes of him who knoweth how to use it with moderation rather than of the owne nature that it doth any good at all whereas water is never to be feared Againe of two things that which can do good being both alone and also in the company of the other is the more profitable of the twaine but so it is that fire willingly admitteth not the fellowship of water nor by the participation thereof is any way commodious whereas water is together with fire profitable as we may see by the fountaines of hot water how they be medicinable and verie sensibly is their helpe perceived Never shall a man meet with any fire moist but water as well hot as colde is ever more profitable to man Moreover water being one of the foure elements hath produced as one may say a fift to wit the sea and the same well neere as profitable as any one of the rest for many other causes besides but principally in regard of commerce and trafficke For whereas before time mans life was savage and they did not communicate one with another this element hath conjoined and made it perfect bringing societie and working amitie among men by mutuall succours and reciprocall retributions from one to the other Heraclitus saith in one place if there were no sunne there had beene no night and even as well may it be said Were it not for the sea man had beene the most savage creature the most penurious and needie yea and the least respected in all the world whereas now this element of the sea hath brought the vine out of the Indians as farre as Greece and from Greece hath transported it unto the farthest provinces likewise from out of Phaenicia the use of letters for preservation of the memorie of things it hath brought wine it hath conveighed fruits into these parts and hath beene the cause that the greatest portion of the world was not buried in ignorance How then can it bee otherwise that water should not be more profitable since it furnisheth us with another element But on the contrarie side peradventure a man may begin hereupon to make instance oppositely in this manner saying that God as a master-workeman having the foure elements before him for to frame the fabricke of this world withall which being repugnant and refusing one another earth and water were put beneath as the matter to be formed and fashioned receiving order and disposition yea and a vegetative power to engender and breed such as is imparted unto it by the other two aire and fire which are they that give forme and fashion unto them 〈◊〉 and excite the other twaine to generation which otherwise had lien dead without any motion But of these two fire is the chiefe and hath dominion which a man may evidently know by this induction For the earth if it be not enchafed by some hot substance is barren bringeth forth no fruit but when as fire spreadeth it selfe upon it it infuseth into it a
because the aire is not able to pierce and enter so low but as much as it can take holde of with the colde either in touching or approching neere unto it so much it frizeth and congealeth And this is the reason that Barbarians when they are to passe great rivers frozen over with ice send out foxes before the for if the ice be not thicke but superficiall the foxes hearing the noise of the water running underneath returne backe againe Some also that are disposed to fish do thaw and open the ice with casting hot water upon it and so let downe their lines at the hole for then will the fishes come to the bait and bite Thus it appeareth that the bottome of the river is not frozen although the upper face thereof stand all over with an ice and that so strong that the water thereby drawen and driven in so hard is able to crush and breake the boats and vessels within it according as they make credible relation unto us who now doe winter upon the river Donow with the emperour And yet without all these farre-fet examples the very experiments that we finde in our owne bodies doe testifie no lesse for after much bathing or sweating alwaies we are more colde and chill for that our bodies being then open and resolved we receive at the pores cold together with aire in more abundance The same befalleth unto water it selfe which both sooner cooleth and groweth also colder after it hath beene once made hot for then more subject it is to the injurie of the aire considering also that even they who fling and cast up scalding water into the aire do it for no other purpose but to mingle it with much aire The opinion then of him ô Phavorinus who assigneth the first cause of cold unto aire is founded upon such reasons and probabilities as these As for him who ascribeth it unto water he laieth his ground likewise upon such principles for in this maner writeth Empedocles Beholde the Sunne how bright alwaies and hot he is beside But 〈◊〉 is ever blacke and darke and colde on every side For in opposing cold to heat as blacknesse unto brightnesse he giveth us occasion to collect and inferre that as heat and brightnesse belong to one and the same substance even so cold and blacknesse to another Now that the blacke hew proceedeth not from aire but from water the very experience of our outward senses is able to proove for nothing waxeth blacke in the aire but every thing in the water Do but cast into the water and drench therein a locke of wooll or peece of cloth be it never so white you shal when you take it foorth againe see it looke blackish and so will it continue untill by heat the moisture be fully sucked up and dried or that by the presse or some waights it be squeized out Marke the earth when there falleth a showre of raine how every place whereupon the drops fall seemes blacke and all the rest beside retaineth the same colour that it had before And even water it selfe the deeper that it is the blacker hew it hath because there is morequantity of it but contrariwise what part soever thereof is neere unto aire the same by and by is lightsome and cheerefull to the eie Consider among other liquid substances how oile is most transparent as wherein there is most aire for proofe wherof see how light it is and this is it which causeth it to swim above all other liquors as being carried aloft by the meanes of aire And that which more is it maketh a calme in the sea when it is flung and sprinkled upon the waves not in regard of the slipery smoothnesse whereby the windes do glide over it and will take no hold according as Aristotle saith but for that the waves being beaten with any humor whatsoever will spred themselves and ly even and principally by the meanes of oile which hath this speciall and peculiar property above all other liquors that it maketh clere and giveth meanes to see in the bottome of the waters for that humidity openeth and cleaveth when aire comes in place and not onely yeeldeth a cleere light within the sea to Divers who fish-ebb in the night for spunges and plucke them from the rocks whereto they cleave but also in the deepest holes thereof when they spurt it out of their mouths the aire then is no blacker than the water but lesse colde for triall heerof looke but upon oile which of all liquors having most aire in it is nothing cold at all and if it frize at all it is but gently by reason that the aire incorporate within it will not suffer it to gather and congeale hard marke worke-men also and artisanes how they doe not dippe and keepe their needles buckles and claspes or other such things made of iron in water but in oile for feare left the excessive colde of the water would marre and spoile them quite I stand the more heereupon because I thinke it more meet to debate this disputation by such proofes rather than by the colours considering that snowe haile and ice are exceeding white and cleere and withall most colde contrariwise pitch is hotter than hony and yet you see it is more darke and duskish And heere I cannot chuse but woonder at those who would needs have the aire to be colde because forsooth it is darke as also that they consider not how others take and judge it hot because it is light for tenebrositie and darknesse be not so familiar and neere cousens unto colde as ponderositie and unweldinesse be proper thereto for many things there be altogether void of heat which notwithstanding are bright and cleere but there is no colde thing light and nimble or mounting upward for clouds the more they stand upon the nature of the aire the higher they are caried and flie aloft but no sooner resolve they into a liquid nature and substance but incontinently they fall and loose their lightnesse and agilitie no lesse than their heat when colde is engendred in them contrariwise when heat commeth in place they change their motion againe to the contrary and their substance mounteth upward so soone as it is converted into aire Neither is that supposition true as touching corruption for every thing that perisheth is not transmuted into the contrary but the trueth is all things are killed and die by their contrary for so fire being quenched by fire turneth into aire And to this purpose Aeschylus the poet said truely although tragically when hee called water the punishment of fire for these be his words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The water stay which fire doth stay And Homer in a certaine battell opposed Vulcane to the river and with Neptune matched Apollo not so much by way of fabulous fiction as by physicall and naturall reason and as for 〈◊〉 a wicked woman who meant cleane contrary to that which she said and shewed wrote elegantly in this wise The
that the water by the coldnesse thereof doth violence unto them howsoever Theophrastus thinketh that it is the aire that bursteth such vessels using colde as it were a spike or great naile to doe the feat But take heed that this be not rather a prety elegant speech of his than sounding to trueth for if aire were the cause then should vessels full of pitch or milke sooner burst than other More likely it is therefore that water is colde of it selfe and 〈◊〉 for contrary it is to the heat of fire in regard of that coldnesse like as to the drinesse thereof in respect of humidity To be briefe the property of fire ingenerall is to dissipate divide and segregate but contrariwise of water to joine conglutinate unite and binde knitting and closing together by the vertue of moisture And this makes me thinke that Empedocles upon this occasion ever and anon calleth fire a pernicious debate but water a fast amity for sewell and food of fire is that which turneth into fire and every thing turneth which is most proper and familiar as for that which is contrary the same is hardly to be turned as water which of it selfe it is impossible to burne causing both greene or wet herbs as also 〈◊〉 or drenched wood hardly to take fire and so in the end with much a doe they kindle and catch fire although the same be not light and cleere but darke dimme and weake because the viridity or greenenesse by the meanes of colde fighteth against the heat as his naturall enemie Peising now and weighing these reasons conferre them with the others But for that Chrysippus esteeming the aire to be the primitive colde in that it is dimme and darke hath made mention of those onely who say that water is more distant and farther remote from the elementary fire than the aire and being desirous to say somewhat against them By the same reason quoth he may a man aswel 〈◊〉 that the earth is the said primitive cold for that it is farthest from the elementary fire rejecting this argument and reason as false and altogether absurd Me thinks that I can well shew that the earth it selfe wanteth no probable 〈◊〉 laying my foundation even upon that which Chrysippus hath taken for the aire And what is that namely because it is principally and above all things els obscure dark for if he taking two contrarieties of powers thinketh of necessitie the one must follow upon the other 〈◊〉 there be infinit oppositions and repugnances betweene the earth and the aire for the earth is not opposit unto the aire as heavy unto light nor as that which bendeth downward unto that which tendeth upward onely nor as massie unto rare or slow and stedfast unto quicke and mooveable but as most heavy unto most light most massie unto most rare and finally as immooveable in it selfe unto that which mooveth of it selfe or as that which holdeth still the center in the mids unto that which turneth continually round Were it not then very absurd to say that upon so many and those so great oppositions this also of heat and cold did not likewise jointly follow Yes verily but fire is cleere and bright and earth darke nay rather it is the darkest of all things in the world and most without light for aire is that which doth participate of the first light brightnesse which soonest of all other burneth being also once full thereof it distributeth that light every where exhibiting it selfe as the very body of light for as one of the Dithyrambick poets said No sooner doth the sunne appeere In our horizon faire and cleere But with his light the pallace great Of 〈◊〉 and windes is all repleat And then anon it descendeth lower and imparteth one portion thereof to the lakes and to the sea the very bottomes of the rivers doe rejoice and laugh for joy so farre foorth as the aire 〈◊〉 and entreth into them the earth onely of all other bodies is evermore destitute of light and not 〈◊〉 with the radiant beames of sunne and moone well may it be warmed a little and present it selfe to be fomented with the heat of the sunne which entreth a little way into it but surely the solidity of it will not admit the resplendent light thereof onely it is superficially illuminated by the sunne for all the bowels and inward parts of it be called Orphne Chaos and Ades that is to say darkenesse confusion and hell it selfe and as for Erebus it is nothing else to say a truth but terrestriall obscurity and mirke darknesse within the earth The poets seigne the night to be the daughter of the earth and the mathematicians by reason and demonstration proove that it is no other thing than the shadow of the earth opposed against the sunne for the aire as it is full of darknesse from the earth so it is replenished with light from the sunne and looke how much of the aire is not lightned nor illuminate to wit all the shadow that the earth casteth so long is the night more or lesse and therefore both man and beast make much use of the aire without their houses although it be night season and as for beasts many of them goe to reliefe and pasturage in the night because the aire hath yet some reliques and traces left of light and a certeine influence of brightnesse dispersed heere and there but he that is enclosed within house and covered with the roufe thereof is as it were blinde and full of darknesse as one environed round about within the earth and verily the hides and hornes of beasts so long as they bee hole and sound transmit no light through them let them be cut sawed pared and scraped they become transparent because aire is admitted into them And I thinke truely that the poets eftsoones heereupon call the earth blacke meaning thereby darke and without light so that the most important and principall opposition between cleere and darke is found rather in the earth than in the aire But this is impertinent to our question in hand for we have shewed already that there be many cleere things which are knowen to be cold and as many browne and darke which be hot But there be other qualities and pussances more proper unto colde namely ponderositie steadinesse soliditie immutability of which the aire hath not so much as one but the earth in part hath them all more than the water Furthermore it may be saide that colde is that which most sensibly is hard as making things stiffe and hard for Theophrastus writeth that those 〈◊〉 which be frozen with extreme rigour of colde if they be let fal upon the ground breake and knap in pieces no lesse than glasses or earthen vessels and your selfe have heard at Delphi of those who passed over the hill Pernassus to succour and relieve the women called 〈◊〉 who were surprized with a sharpe pinching winde and drifts of snow that their cloakes and mantels through
and the humiditie which it hath serveth to feed and nourish the heat thereof For it is not the solide part of wood that burneth but the oleous moisture thereof which if it be once evaporate and spent the solide substance remaineth drie and is nothing els but ashes As for those who labour and endevour to shew by demostration that the same also is changed and consumed for which purpose they sprinckle it estsoones with oile or temper it with greace and so put it into the fire againe prevaile nothing at all for when the fattie and uncteous substance is burnt there remaine still evermore behinde the terrestriall parts And therefore earth being not onely immooveable in respect of situation but also immutable in regard of the very substance the ancient called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say vesta standing as it were sure and stedfast within the habitation of the gods of which steadinesse and congealation the bond and linke is cold as Archilochus the Naturallist said And nothing is there able to relax or mollifie it after it hath once bene baked in the fire or hardened against the Sun As touching those who say that they feele very sensibly the winde and the water colde but the earth not so well surely these do consider this earth here which is next unto us and is no other thing in trueth than a mixture and composition of aire water sunne and heat and me thinks this is all one as if a man should say that the elementarie fire is not the primitive and originall heat but rather scalding water or an iron red hot in the fire for that in trueth there is no touching of these or comming neere unto them as also that of the said pure and celestiall fire they have no sensible experience nor knowledge by feeling no more than they have of the earth which is about the center which we may imagine to be true pure and naturall earth as most remote and farthest separate from all other howbeit wee may have some guesse and token thereof by these rockes heere with us which from their profunditie send forth a vehement colde which is in maner intolerable And they likewise who desire to drinke their water passing colde use to throw pibble stones into it which thereby commeth to be more colde sharpe and piercing by occasion of the great and fresh colde that ariseth from the said stones And therefore we ought thus to thinke that when our ancients those deepe clearks and great scholars I meane thought there could be no mixture of earthly things with heavenly they never looked to places high or low as if they hung in the scales of a ballance but unto the difference and diversitie of their powers attributing the qualities of heat cleerenesse agilitie celeritie and lightnesse unto that immortall and eternall nature but colde darknesse and tarditie they assigned as the unhappie lot and wretched portion of those infernall wights that are dead and perished For the very bodie of a creature all while that it doth breathe and flourish in verdure as the Poets say hath life and heat but so soone as it is destitute of these and left in the onely portion and possession of the earth it presently becommeth stiffe and colde as if heat were in any other body naturally rather than in that which is terrestriall Compare now good sir Phavorinus these arguments with the reasons of other men and if you finde that they neither yeeld in probabilitie nor over-way them much bid all opinions and the stiffe mainteining of them farewell and thinke that to forbeare resolution and to holde off in matters obscure and uncerteine is the part of the wisest philosopher rather than to settle his judgement and assent to one or other NATVRALL QVESTIONS The Summarie THis collection of divers questions taken out of Naturall philosophie and resolved by the authour according to the doctrine of Naturalists being so cleerely distinguished by it selfe requireth no long deduction for that at the very first sight ech question may sufficiently 〈◊〉 understood NATVRALL QVESTIONS 1 What is the cause that sea water nourisheth no trees IS it for the same reason that it nourisheth no land-creatures for that a plant according to the opinions of Plato Anaxagoras and Democritus is a living creature of the land For say that it serves for food to plants growing within the sea as also to fishes and is to them their drinke yet we must not inferre thereupon that it feedeth trees that be without the sea and upon the land for neither can it pierce downe to their rootes it is so grosse nor rise up in the nature of sappe it is so heavy That it is grosse heavy and terrestriall appeereth by many other reasons and by this especially for that it beareth up and susteineth both vessels and swimmers more than any other Or is it principally for this that whereas nothing is more offensive and hurtfull to trees than drinesse the water of the sea is very 〈◊〉 which is the reason that salt withstandeth putrifaction so much as it doth and why the bodies of those who are washed in the sea have incontinently their skin exeeding dry and rugged Or rather may it not be for that oile is naturally an enimy to all plants causing as many of them as are rubbed or anointed therewith to die Now the sea water standeth much upon a kinde of sartinesse and is very uncteous in such sort that it will both kindle and also increase fire and therefore we give warning and forbid to throw sea water into flaming fire Or is it because the water of the sea is bitter and not potable by reason as Aristotle saith of the burnt earth that is mixed with it like as lie which is made by casting fresh water aloft upon ashes for the running and passing through the said ashes marreth that sweet and potable quality of the water as also within our bodies the unnaturall heats of an ague turne 〈◊〉 into cholar As for those plants woods or trees which are said to grow within the red sea if they doe certeinly they beare no fruit but nourished they are by the fresh rivers which bring in with them a deale of mud an argument heereof is this for that such grow not farre within the sea but neere unto the land 2 What might the reason be that trees and seeds are nourished better with raine than any other water that they can be watered withall IS it for that raine as it falleth by the dint that it maketh openeth the ground and causeth litle holes whereby it pierceth to the rootes as Laetus saith Or is this untrue and Laetus was ignorant heereof namely that morish plants and such as grow in pooles as the reed mace canes and rushes will not thrive if they want their kinde raines in due season But true is that which Aristotle saith That the raine water is all fresh and new made whereas that of meeres and lakes is old and
it placeth in lieu thereof modest bashfulnesse silence and taciturnity it adorneth it with decent gesture and seemly countenance making it for ever after obedient to one lover onely Ye have heard I am sure of that most famous and renowmed courtisan Lais who was courted and sought unto by so many lovers and ye know well how she inflamed and set on fire all Greece with the love and longing desire after her or to say more truly how two seas strave about her how after that the love of Hippolochus the Thessalian had seased upon her she quit and abandoned the mount Acrocorinthus Seated upon the river side Which with greene waves by it did glide as one writeth of it and flying secretly from a great army as it were of other lovers she retired herselfe right decently within Megalopolis unto him where other women upon very spight envie and jelousie in regard of her surpassing beautie drew her into the temple of Venus and stoned her to death whereupon it came as it should seeme that even at this day they call the said temple The temple of Venus the murderesse We our selves have knowen divers yoong maidens by condition no better than slaves who never would yeeld to lie with their master as also sundry private persons of meane degree who refused yea and disdained the companie of queenes when their hearts were once possessed with other love which as a mistresse had the absolute command thereof For like as at Rome when there was a Lord Dictatour once chosen all other officers of State and magistrates valed bonet were presently deposed and laied downe their ensignes of authority even so those over whom Love hath gotten the mastery and rule incontinently are quit freed and delivered from all other lords and rulers no otherwise than such as are devoted to the service of some religious place And in trueth an honest and vertuous dame linked once unto her lawfull spouse by unfained love will sooner abide to be clipped clasped and embraced by any wolves and dragons than the contrectation and bed fellowship of any other man whatsoever but her owne husband And albeit there be an infinit number of examples among you here who are all of the same countrey and professed associats in one dance with this god Love yet it were not well done to passe over in silence the accidents which befell unto Camma the Galatian lady This yong dame being of incomparable beauty was maried unto a tetrarch or great lord of that countrey named Sinnatus howbeit one Synorix the mightiest man of all the Galatians was enamoured upon her but seeing that he could not prevaile with the woman neither by force and perswasion so long as her husband lived he made no more ado but murdred him Camma then having no other refuge for her pudicity nor comfort and easement of her hearts griefe made choise of the temple of Diana where she became a religious votary according to the custome of that countrey And verily the most part of her time she bestowed in the worship of that goddesse and would not admit speech with any 〈◊〉 many though they were and those great personages who sought her mariage but when Synorix had made meanes very boldly to aske her the question and to sollicite her about that point she seemed not to reject his motion nor to expostulate and be offended for any thing past as if for pure love of her and ardent affection and upon no wicked and malicious minde unto Sinnatus he had beene induced to do that which he did and therefore Synorix came confidently to treat with her and demand mariage of her she also for her part came toward the man kindly gave him her hand and brought him to the altar of the said goddesse where after she had made an offring unto Diana by powring forth some little of a certeine drinke made of wine hony as it should seeme empoisoned which she had put into a cup she began unto Synorix dranke up the one 〈◊〉 of it giving the rest unto the said Galatian for to pledge her Now when she saw that he had drunke it all off she fetched a grievous grone and brake forth aloud into this speech naming withall her husband that dead was My most loving and deere spouse quoth she I have lived thus long without thee in great sorow and heavinesse expecting this day but now receive me joifully seeing it is my good hap to be revenged for thy death upon this most wicked and ungratious wretch as one most glad to have lived once with thee and to die now with him As for Synorix he was caried away from thence in a litter and died soone after but Camma having survived him a day and a night died by report most resolutely and with exceeding joy of spirit Considering then that there be many such like examples aswel among us here in Greece as the Barbarians who is able to endure those that reproch and revile Love as if being associate and assistant to love she should hinder amitie whereas contrariwise the company of male with male a man may rather terme intemperance and disordinate lasciviousnesse crying out upon it in this maner Grosse wantonnesse or filthie lust it is Not Venus faire that worketh this And therefore such filths baggages as take delight to suffer themselves voluntarily thus to be abused against nature we reckon to be the woorst and most flagitious persons in the world no man reposeth in them any trust no man doth them any jote of honor and reverence nor vouchsafeth them woorthy of the least part of friendship but in very trueth according to Sophocles Such friends as these men are full glad and joy when they be gone But whiles they have them wish and pray that they were rid anone As for those who being by nature leaud and naught have beene circumvented in their youth aad forced to yeeld themselves and to abide this villany and abuse al their life after abhorre the sight of such wicked wantons and deadly hate them who have bene thus disposed to draw them to this wickednesse yea and ready they are to be revenged and to pay them home at one time or other whensoever meanes and opportunity is offered for upon this occasion Cratenas killed Archelaus whom in his flower of youth he had thus spoiled as also Pytholaus slew Alexander the tyrant of Pherae And Pertander the tyrant of Ambracia demanded upon a time of the boy whom he kept whether he were not yet with childe which indignity the youth tooke so to the heart that he slew him outright in the place whereas with women and those especially that be espoused and wedded wives these be the earnest penies as it were and beginnings of amity yea the very obligation and society of the most sacred holiest ceremonies As for fleshly pleasure it selfe the least thing it is of all other but the mutuall honour grace dilection and fidelity that springeth and ariseth