to cause them to bee like vnto those whose natural bloud is dispersed in their bodies herehence proceedeth y e excessiue loue which the father naturallie beareth to his son vvhich to speak the troth surpasseth all other loues in this worlde as is best knowne vnto them that haue made tryall therof the ingendred being deemed a part and member of the ingenderer Now whosoeuer he be that is begotten of a gentleman and consequently of Noble bloud who will once denie but that he is part of y e begetter Surely no man Why then the worthy nobilitie of them no otherwise then their owne bloud is dispersed in their children as in a part of themselues And namelie adde heereunto y e naturall resemblance of the father which oftentimes denoteth cleerlie in their posteritie the gratious countenance and good members not onely of the father but euen of the auncesters likewise Herehence afterwards it commeth that as it were euen the very manners and liuely spirits with many of their vvorthy provvesses are transfused into their children And of this the valiant deeds of Scipio the great may make thee assured which as I haue often heard and I beleeue thou knowest right well were not vnequall to the prowesses of his father Cornelio The like haue I vnderstood of the other Scipio and if these were not of themselues sufficient I coulde alledge manie other moderne examples But you may be easilie perswaded herein by that which we see euerie daie that vvhilest vve are children vve doe so retaine within our selues the childish conditions vvhich are learned of our fathers or of anie other whatsoeuer that grovving afterwardes to greater age they remaine so fast fixed in our hartes vvhether they be good or euill as if we had beene taught them by nature hir selfe and according to the diuersitie of men vve doe learne diuers sortes of manners for a husband man his sonne or to speake generallie a Hosier his child or such like wil not be of the same behauior value as a gent. his son bicause there is more care had in y e one the other is rudely broght vp Wherby it is easilie gathered that the maners and prowesse of the father is conueyed from him vnto the children and so consequently his nobilitie Seeing then that nature doth in the creation of man yeeld bloud and resemblance whence this fatherly loue doth spring to whom shall this sort of Nobilitie which we tearme of bloud be left but to a man his own children surely not vnto straungers which euen nature it selfe would withstand Possidonio passed on no further being in his discourse interrupted by Madame Cassandra a wife and beautifull ladie of the companie who hauing a little called her wittes togither set vpon him after this maner If it be not lawfull for Fabricio at this time to answere thy discourse Possidonio yet shall hee hereafter haue time and memorie sufficient to satisfie thy reasons In whose behalfe likewise I doe not seeke to say any thing and if I should surely he should be but badly defended by me But that which I intend is as strongly as I can to maintain those reasons which make for vs women for without making any mention of thē you haue sleightly passed ouer them In your last speech if so be that I did wel comprehend what you said you gaue vs to vnderstand that who so is ingendred of the bloud of a noble man is nobly borne In asmuch as nature hath granted thus much vnto you that children are engendred by meanes of your bloud whereunto you added the resemblance of the father and his great loue towardes his children which are all giftes of nature Now if we will by a more true meane consider the trueth of thy speach I perswade my self that these gifts which thou callest gifts of nature being more proper to the woman thē to the man as may easily be shewed that in the Nobilitie of man the Nobilitie of the mother ought rather to be considered then the Noblenes of the father Who is so ignorant at least if this Nobilitie which thou speakest of consisteth in bloud that the bloud of the woman is no lesse sought by nature to ingender children then the bloud of the man Nay rather much more on our side because as you know the child once cōceiued is by the space of many months nourished in our wombe with our owne bloud somtimes two yeares after it is borne whence it appeareth that children receiue a greater quantity of bloud of the mother then from the father I will forbeare to speake of y e paine of our bodie the danger we are in in child bearing the anguish and labour we sustaine to bring them vp al which things may euidently proue vnto you y t the loue of the mother is far greater towards her child thē the fathers is yea and somtimes likewise the child will as well resemble the mother as the father all which is most manifest I say then that if I would knowe if one be a gent. which is the marke you shoot at I will haue recourse vnto the qualitie of his mother whether shee were a gentlewoman and not vnto the conditiō of his father whether he were a gentleman as you lately did argue which may with reason be beleeued But you men make laws as you list draw your reasōs as liketh you best setting vs silly women aside as if we were none of the number of the world but if it were lawfull for vs to be present at your counsels peraduenture matters would go otherwise and so many thinges would not passe for currant as this should haue done as they do Herewithall the ladie Cassandra held her peace and all the ladies did highly commend that which shee had spoken in their fauour when as Possidonio not determining to replie anie thing vnto her wordes spake after this maner Madame as for me it is all one whether wee take the bloud of the father or of the mother for I not only both by my fathers and mothers side come of noble bloud but my grandfathers grandmothers great grandfathers and great graundmothers were on both sides of most noble descent as is not vnknowne vnto you The wise lady did not rest contented with Possidonio his answere as if he had spoken smallie to the purpose when as maister Dominico one of my brethren determining to satisfie her demaund taking the matter vpon him said vnto her Madame I perswade my selfe that if it were lawfull for you women to be present at our counsailes as you saie that your vertues would equall the Amazonian ladies who banished their husbands tooke vpon them the gouernment of the kingdome and disposed thereof at their pleasure defending with their sword the feminine libertie Of the same mind was Valasqua queene of the Bohemians vvho conspiring with the principall ladies of that kingdome effected the same thing but I beleeue you are not nowe a daies of so haughty a courage Howsoeuer it
the lady Laura after a long cōtinued speech with a womanlike voice added that which followeth This is no smal matter that hauing demanded leaue for my selfe only I haue obtained it for the whole companie For the which I doe giue thanks vnto you both which being said she turned againe towards Possidonio and spake vnto him in this sort It seemeth vnto me Possidonio that the scope of thy last words did tend to this end that in as much as man cannot engender any thing els but man that thou being descended of noble parents art for that cause a noble man which in my iudgement cannot in any wise be wel concluded For albeit that a man cannot beget any other thing then man yet it followeth not that y e same qualities shuld remain in the children which are in the parents so consequently he y t is born of a noble man albeit that of his father he receiue his being and the forme of his bodie yet shall hee not receiue nobilitie therewith which is as a qualitie which either may be or not be in the subiect Nay contrarily Madame quoth Possidonio he which is borne receiueth in like maner the self same qualities because that if a man be white the child shal likewise be participant of his whitenes if he be blacke he shall be partaker of his blacknes In asmuch as whosoeuer giueth the essence or being he giueth likwise that which followeth the essence which is manifestly prooued in our selues and the Ethiopians The yong lady stood at a stay it may be not knowing how to frame a replie Wherefore Possidonio hauing a litle takē breath folowed on his discourse in this maner Gentlemen by that which may be gathered by the words which I haue spoken you may perceiue that nobilitie in man is giuen him of nature and infused in his bloud wherfore like as the lawes of nature are stable firme so likewise nobilitie in the family of man thorow his bloud by which it is continued is permanent and durable Here M. Iohn Francisco one of the companie taking the speech vpon him said in this sort The force of nature is so great in the procreation of children that verie seldom or almost not at all there is any difference betweene the father and the child as I will make manifest vnto you by a tale or historie if so you please I call it by which you may know the mightie power of Nature in the nobilitie of man There was a gallant and noble ladie who dwelleth not farre from hence whose name for the respect I beare vnto her I wil not manifest married to a worthie knight by whom she conceaued and did beare a faire yong sonne And as it happeneth very often not so much in regard of the opportunitie which these ladies haue as in respect that for the most part they liue daintily and idlely it chanced whether it were thorowe loue or of her owne free will her husband perceiuing nothing thereof that she ioyned hirselfe to one of hir seruāts so that in succession of time she brought forth two children Now these growing further in age the eldest did so farre exceede his other brethren for so were they all esteemed by the father as the supposed father did surpasse the true father for as he waxed bigger so did he grow comely of personage and quicke of wit whereas the other vvere very fooles and blockheads and the eldest of them did continually exercise himselfe in worthy and valorous actions he desired to learne to be vertuous hee tooke pleasure in horses to run at the ring and in al other honourable kinds of exercise which by reason of his age hee was able to vndergoe but the rest shewed themselues as base far from dooing any vertuous action and indeed hee did no lesse shine amongst them then the sunne amidst the rest of the planets the follie and cowardise of the other tvvo vvas so great that the common report did run euery where that like as in behauiour and wit they did differ from the other so likewise they had another father and their slothfulnesse besides that there vvas no resemblance betweene him and them imprinted so great a beleefe in the husband that hee constrained his wife to confesse the troth vnto him and in the end she being no lesse forced by experience then by nature it selfe she opened the whole secret vnto him And besides the Lady I speake of I knowe yet two other women who although they be descended of base parentage yet are they faire and gratious to beholde who not contenting themselues with their husbandes as ill disposed vvomen are woont to doe did when opportunitie serued them and do stil take their pleasure with yong men of Noble bloud bringing foorth fruite answereable to their voluptuous pleasure and this I know for troth that by them they haue brought forth most noble children whereas of their husbandes they haue had most clownish creatures so that euen in beholding their naturall forme and the constitution of their body they doe giue sufficient testimony thereof By this you may see how nature sheweth her power in the nobilitie of bloud seeing from the same wombe is borne by reason either of the noble or ignoble seede a gentle and diuine spirite and another abiect and base And as concerning that Madam Cassandra which you alledged euen now answere might be made vnto you besides that which already is saide That albeit in the generation of mankind there aboundeth more bloud on the woman her part greater daungers and greater labours yet notwithstanding we ought to haue regard vnto the dignitie of the man and not of the woman for as concerning this matter we will compare the woman to the earth which bringeth foorth fruit according to the seed it receiueth Hereunto maister Dominico again taking the speech vpon him said These examples of yours M. Iohn Frācisco doe bring into my remembrance the successe of Romulus and Remus who descended of the auncient royall stocke of the Siluit and were as histories doe report being little ones by the commandement of their vncle Amulius cast into the riuer Tyber on the bāks whereof Faustulus maister of the kinges sheepe did find them who knowing who they were gaue them to Laurencia his wife that she might bring them vp who notwithstanding was called a shee Wolfe because she did willinglie yeeld her bodie as common amongst the shepheards Now these children being brought vp in Faustulus his flocke and growing in age they did not intend the keeping of the beasts nor the leading of a country life but first giuing themselues to hunting afterwardes to set vpō theeues who were often endamaged by them they began to shew the valor which was in them And as fit occasion fel out Faustulus declared y e whole matter to Numitor whoe before was banished out of the kingdome by his brother Amulius which hee hauing vnderstood immediatly his mind gaue him that they were his nephews and
is no lesse esteemed and reuerenced then the other The Lady Cassandra seeing that Nennio did somewhat take breath to refresh himselfe after his long discourse raising vp her selfe as shee leaned vpon one of her sides and turning towardes him shee saide in this wise Nennio if I did wel vnderstand your speech you formerly concluded that men of skil learning are of the troupe of such as are noble by nobility of the mind and now it seemeth that you would haue them bee in place equal to knights which are by you put in the company of those who are noble by ciuile nobility and ciuile nobility differeth as much from the nobility of the minde as noblenes of blood doth by your own saying wherefore I do not see how this may well passe without controll Whereunto Nennio presently answered wee haue not yet spoken Madam of the dignity that learned men 〈◊〉 obtaine by their skill but onely shewed that learâ—â—â—â—â—d vertous men are perfectly noble Wherevpon to the end that they might euerie where be exalted and reuerenced the princes of the world haue worthily ordained that this dignity by the which they are called Doctors should be added to their perfect nobility that is to say that by the meanes of the sciences they haue learned they may beare the lawrell not that the same doth make them more noble or perfect and here hence it is that whosoeuer hath attained that dignity if likewise with his science and vertue he bee adorned with good conditions he shal not only be enobled with the nobility of the mind but likwise with ciuile nobility which is in the same degree that nobility of blood is as I said vnto you Howbeit doe not perswade your selues that euery man of skill and learning is made a perfect gentleman onlie by vertue of his science for if he be vicious and wicked fraught with bad conditions although he be one of the learnedst men in the world he shall bee helde so much the more base and ignoble Whereupon I conclude that these dignities of knights and Doctors doe march in this last troupe of ciuile nobilitie But whether of these two dignities is most excellent and noble quoth the Ladie Cassandra that which the Doctors doe purchase by their learning or knightes by armes Madam quoth Nennio you propounde a great question peraduenture no lesse doubtfull then that we now discourse of and if we haue been debating of that matter three daies as much time at the least woulde bee required if not more for the well opening of this matter Is it so doubtfull saide shee or doe you make vs beleeue so to spare your labour If that bee the cause I doe in curtesie enioyne you before wee departe from hence to resolue herein Whereunto Nennio replied Madam It is trulie euen as I tell you that not onlie that small time that is lefte vs of this euening but two or three daies woulde scarce suffice to determine thereof As for my selfe I would willingly burne all these torches to night if I might come to a resolution thereof For nothing shoulde seeme painefull vnto me that might bring you pleasure and contentment and though it should yet would I so indure it as it shoulde seeme but a pastime vnto me I giue you great thankes quoth shee of your ready minde to doe me pleasure as indeede to say the troth you haue alwaies shewed no lesse in effectes then your gracious words haue imported But yet let mee intreate if so it please the rest of the company as I doubt not but it wil that some other day be appointed to entreate thereof For such kind of discourses doe bring with them such delight that for mine owne part I could bee contented at all times to heare them Nennio said hereunto If you were as carefull to command me Madam as I am ready to obey you I doubt not but in time you woulde cease to commaund mee Wherefore when opportunity shall serue I will prouide to set my selfe in a readines to determine this other question which you haue propounded as well as my ability will giue me leaue It were good quoth the Lady Laura to heare see the ende of this question which you haue set a broach MadaÌ„ but it is not greatly material nor doth not much coÌ„cern this our discourse wherfore my opinion is that before you make a final end of the coÌ„trouersie you haue in haÌ„d that like as you 3 haue shewed only what nobility is amongst you men so you would take the paines Nennio to declare the nobility of women least wee should seeme to be smally accounted of or altogither forgotten by you Wherefore let it not displease you to let vs vnderstande your opinion therein for I am certaine it will adde both grace and ornament to your former speech It cannot do lesse answered Nennio then adde both grace and ornament thereto for whatsoeuer man doth should of it selfe haue but a bad grace if you vvomen did not with your pleasant company and entertainement make it more delightfull But you shall vnderstand Madam that we haue not forgotten you as you suppose for in this our discourse although we haue brought in no examples of women yet doth it hold for them and whatsoeuer hath beene spoken of vs may be said of you albeit not without some little difference as in few words you shall heare We haue in your nobility most honourable Ladies to consider the salfesame three qualities which vvee haue considered in the nobility of man to wit nobilitie of bloud of the minde and compounded nobility The Originall of the first descendeth of the same beginning from the which the nobility of man doeth proceede from the father and not from the mother as Master Dominico did very aptly declare vnto you the other day in answering the Ladie Cassandra who went about to prooue that in the nobility of man because it is deriued of blood the mothers nobility and not the fathers ought to be considered and therefore I neede not anie longer to stay thereupon beeing true and plaine of it selfe The second which is the nobility of the mind ought likewise in women to bee considered in the vertues of the minde For they ought to set foorth themselues with gentle conditions good behauiour gracious humility simple purenes worthy honesty commendable chastitie giftes fit and proper for Ladies which make them to be esteemed praised honoured pleasing ful of vertue and most noble What grater ignobility or basenes can be attributed vnto Ladies borne of noble bloud then contemned dishonestie vnchaste pudicity disloyall thoughts wandering imaginations leading to ill customes and finallie a life without any consideration Not any in my iudgement So likewise a Ladie cannot if shee woulde seeke the whole worlde finde any better meanes to become noble excellent then the giftes aboue mentioned And therefore we may wel conclude that a Lady not borne of any noble bloud but beautified with good conditions ought farre to be
preferred before her whose birth is noble renowmed and by her vnordinate behauior becommeth base and infamous because her naturall nobility is by her loosenes vtterly lost Likewise women are ennobled by their wisedome and learning The knowledge of the sciences turned to the greate glorie and commendation of Cornelia the mother of the Gracchi of Lelia and Hortensia the daughters of Lelius and of Q. Hortensius of Proba Valeria of Rome and of infinite others But weapons are not so fit for women For albeit that Penthesilia Artemisia Semiramis Camilla Cleopatra Talasqua the Amazonian Ladies and manie others did vse them valiantly yet were they mighty Queenes and puissant in armes of whose estate and nobilitie I intend not to speake To proceed further I doe altogither equall composed nobility both of the man and woman and therfore I need not stand any longer thereon As concerning ciuile nobilitie it is diuers waies purchased by women and not as men doe attaine thereunto For as much as any womā though she be not noble by birth yet may she become noble by the inseparable knot of mariage if shee ioine her selfe in matrimony to a noble man for diuine mariage beeing of so great vertue doth of two bodies make one flesh so that shee is made noble by the nobilitie of her husband enlightened with his beames cloathed with his dignities enioieth his priuiledges receiueth with him the same preheminences and in her are noted all such graces as her husband hath and by the power of mariage a woman doth forsake the name of her owne family and taketh the name of her husbands house shee doth not onlie take the name but retaineth the other qualities of her husband So that if a woman be only naturally borne I meane that if shee bee borne illegitimate shee becommeth legitimate if shee be ioined in mariage with a husband lawfully borne because as I saide shee receiueth from her husband the same qualities he enioieth Seeing it is so saide the Lady Aurelia that a woman borne of no noble bloud being ioyned in mariage with a gentlemā becommeth noble what shall we say to the contrary hereof if a gentlewoman do mary with one of the common sort shall he be made noble by the nobilitie of his wife No surely quoth Nennio but rather the nobility she had before is cleane quenched That is great wonder answered the Lady I knowe not howe that shoulde come to passe that the woman should receiue nobility from the man and not the husband by his wife Surely it seemeth a very strang thing vnto me But like as in all other things you men are wōt to keep vs silly women as low as you can to the end you may preuaile in al your enterprises euē so do you in this Whereunto he presently answered You women are alwaies angry and mistrustfull perswading your selues that in matters of the worlde especially in such as doe concerne you we do proceede as we list hauing no regarde of you at all but I say that you are all in generall greatly deceiued Do not you know Madā that the husband is the gouernor the guide the head of his wife not the wife of her husband Certainly he is euen as the head is the most worthy member of the body so it is no wonder if the husband as the head doth ennoble the wife as his member Now the husband being the principal captain the wife who followeth him is therin to follow the nature of her principal head but this hapneth not cōtrarily for thē the course of nature shuld be clean chāged If thē the nature of the husbād be noble without doubt y e woman albeit she be ignoble by birth she shall by him be made noble if he be abiect base although she be discended of noble family she shal likewise be ignoble And to declare this more plainely vnto you Madā you cannot deny but that the children that come of an ignoble father though the mother be noble shal be reputed amongst the common sort those that are begotten of a noble father albeit the mother be ignoble yet shal they by the people be held in the rācke of noble men Likewise we see al men set vp the fathers armes not the mothers in their houses at burials in the church else where And not only this hath place in their armories but the son taketh the name of his fathers house not of the mothers which is manifest to al men You may see then that you haue no cause to be offended with vs whē as your selfe may giue iudgment in this matter And you know right wel that the son is not to follow the honor nor dignity the greatnes y e cōditions nor the nobility of the mother but of the father Yet doe I not denie but in the birth of man some beames of nobilitie do shine from the mother which togither with the nobility of the father doth make it more pleasing and delightful not that of it selfe it is sufficiēt to make a mā noble as you may haue vnderstood But because I haue this day farther enlarged my discourse then my meaning was so that we cannot longer staie thereon because that time doth more and more force our departure from hence and to take our recreation in some other place I will set apart all other reasons and doubtes of nobilitie which might happen in our discourse and come to the determining of the matter in question You haue hearde vvorthie gentlemen these three daies a discourse of nobilitie no lesse pleasing to the eares then delightfull to the vnderstanding Of the which in the two first daies discourse are gathered two opinions The one that true nobilitie consisteth in blood and riches and not in vertue onely the other that it consisteth in the vertues of the minde and not in blood nor riches And albeit that they seeme cleane contrarie the one to the other by that which Possidonio and Fabricio related vvho were rather carried vvith affection then reason which is not to bee wondered at seeing that they beeing guided vvith passion of minde each of them did seeke the defence of his ovvne matter and not anie other mans notvvithstanding I doe not iudge them cleane contrarie for if they vvere one of them shoulde bee nobilitie and the other shoulde not vvhich I vvoulde not for anie thing affirme it beeing a matter resolued that a great part of men vvhereof I haue reckoned vppe a good portion doe iudge repute and holde him to be noble who is ingendred of noble blood and I likewise for manie reasons before alleadged doe take parte vvith them although that thou vventest about yesterdaie Fabricio verie subtillie to prooue that such a one was not noble And that thou on the other side Possidonio vvert verie earnest to maintaine for certaine that vertue did not make a man excellent and noble and that learning was but vaine in matter of nobilitie wherein thou wert farre