NORBANUS. The Labyrinth OF LIBERTY.  
Very pleasant for young Gentlemen to peruse, and passing profitable for them to prosecute.  
Wherein is contained the discommodities that ensue, by following the lust of a man's will, in youth: and the goodness he after gaineth, being beaten with his own rod, and pricked with the peevishness of his own conscience, in age.  
Written by Austen Saker, of New Inn.  
Imprinted at London by Richard Ihones, and are to be sold, at his shop over against S. Sepulchres Church without Newgate. 1580.   

TO THE RIGHT WORS●●●●full, Sir Thomas Parrot Knight, A. S. wisheth increase of virtues in this earthly habitation, and after the fine of this luckless life, everlasting happiness.  
THe Egyptian Lady, (Right Worshipful) looking earnestly in travail, on the Picture of Andromida, was immediately delivered of a fair daughter: and Actaeon staring on those Nymphs naked and bare, was transformed into the shape of a Beast. Pigmaleon so long kissed the breathless lips of that could Stone his picture, that he embraced it a living portraiture: & that young Iphis retaining till her marriage day the shape of a Maid, though attired in the habit of a man, was then made a husband, for which he long wished, and enjoyed the company of his beloved wife. The imaginations prove often times of the full persuasions of the mind, just to the perfect perfection of the honest meaning: & to like the best of any thing that cannot be bettered, is the way to be loved, and of most to be liked. You may, beholding this purging Pill, dislike it to be any dainty drug: and yet reading it as you will (with reason) persuade yourself to be a delicate Dish: for happily what pleaseth you, liketh not the most: and yet being loved of you, may be embraced of many. Every man that beholdeth a protracture, cannot draw a Picture: and many eat a Pear, that cannot make a Plum. A young youth coming into the study of Thalias, and beholding (at full) his Library, began to peruse one book, and then to look in another: but not finding any for his reason, nor so much as one that he could read: I had rather said he, have my books which are toys, for that I know their meaning, than these which are true, for that I understand not their manners. Another taking Cicero's Pen, and beginning to write, drew foolish sentences, and misshaped sayings: why? said he, this is such a man's Pen, and yet see how disorderly it hath written? Answered another, but thou hast neither Cicero's mind on thy Paper, nor his hand on thy Pen: how therefore couldst thou write fair, or invent finely? What yieldeth sweeter fruit saith Plato, than the wisdom of writing? and what sayeth Anaxagoras, yieldeth more praise, than the profit of the Pen? but Sir, if you expect commodities in these my cavils, you are like to be frustrate of your cogitation: and if you look for wisdom of so wild a wit, you will prove by his words that he is but a wanton: and no marvel, for the Fletcher maketh two shafts, before one seem sure, and the Scrivener may make two Pens, before one prove for his purpose: expect not then I beseech you of this plant but of two years grafting, so much fruit, as from the Tree of twenty years growing: For the Apprentice must cast any bill, before he keep his masters book: and the Shoemaker must learn to fashion a latchet before he sow on a last. So, this simple Author must lie in Diogenes Tub, before his writing like his own fantasy, and put on Socrates' Gown, before his doings please all favours. There was brought unto Appelles the head of a Noble man, being slain, to have his counterfeit drawn, and the favour that his face then retained to be devised: which he promised to do effectually, and to end it speedily: then wiping his face, being a little bloody, perceived him to be a goodly parsonage, when before he lived, though now (dead) he looked not so lovely: then beholding it better, saw in his cheek a little cut with some blow, whereout so fast as he wiped issued a drop of blood: then he drew the favour of his face, and the drop of blood on his cheek: said the other, wherefore hast thou made his face so white, and his lips so wan, and yet that drop of blood so on his cheek? For (said he) were that spot away, they would think he lost all his blood when he left his life, but now they may see, he enjoyeth that dead, which he possessed living: If then Appelles had controllers, being so perfect a Painter, I surely shall find cavillers for this unperfect posy: the simplicity of this work I know will cause it be liked but of few, yet some no doubt will read it though but for a fashion: for though Norbanus were in his youth alured to many wanton lusts, yet once having felt the force of Fortune, was seduced to an honest life. But as the Crow thinketh they are not her own birds, unless they look as black as herself, and the Eagle imagineth they are not her own brood unless they look against the Sun: so this youth would not be reform until he saw his own follies before his face, nor be reclaimed till he had tasted some purging Pills for his mad maladies. But some (happily) will imagine me to have been in love, for putting here this name Lust, but rather they may think me to have lived by the loss, that have been lured so much to my own liberty: yet I am like him in this respect that putteth up a Supplication to his Prince, who regardeth not who dislike him so it please his person: So, first will I way your proof, and then regard others property: He must I know arise early that shall like all men, and he must write well that shall please all minds: but he that planteth trees in a Forest, knoweth not how many shall taste the Fruit, and he that soweth in his garden divers Seeds, knoweth not who shall eat of his Salads. He that planteth a Vine, knoweth not who shall taste his Wine: and he that putteth any thing in Print, must think that all will peruse it: If then amongst many blossoms, some prove blasts, no marvel if amongst many Readers, some prove Riders: but let them laugh, to see if I will lower: for who so accepts not my good will shows himself to have but small wit: But as (all ready) my assurance is sufficient of your goodness: so therefore am I bold to boast of your graciousness, for the which I present you this rude work: Which, I beseech you to accept, though it come from a rustical writer, so may you in time gain a more stately style, of so unperfect a student: and so shall you bind me to blaze your name to the farthest I may, with safety, and to honour you in heart, who seems to accept gratefully this my presumptuous proffer. Which seeing it hath so pleased you, I shall not think any one thing to great for your gain, nor any so worthy, my duty reserved. I obediently bow to the knees of your courtesy, and yield myself always at your command: wishing you the greatest happiness your heart desireth, and that beatitude post funera: which your soul delighteth.  
Your Worships dutifully to obey, and most willingly to be commanded. A. S.   

¶ To the Gentlemen Readers.  
I Stood marveling Gentlemen, after the writing of this troublesome trash, and the finishing of this tedious travail, and fared like Alexander's man, who shivered in the Sun and sweat in the shadow: or like the Thessalian Lady that wept, when she beheld her protrated Picture, and was sorrowful when she written any letter, fearing it should be disliked: I doubted, whether best present this to the Printer to be put in the Press, or give it the Painter to pin on a Post, but remembering that the Painter, if a man be bald, he paints him bare: then thought I, this being nothing nice, he will draw it stark naked: yet let the Printer have any book, and it shall be bought though but a babble, and let the Painter have any Picture, and it shall be stared on, though but a Beast. Seeing therefore Vulcan to be drawn with his foul foot, so well as Venus to be painted with her fair face, I thought my book might as well lie in a shop, as other ballads which stand at sale: yet he that puts any thing in Print to the end to have it praised, is like him that comes into a Church to have his bravery noted: But Tully (I remember) the most eloquent, pleased not all with his sweet sayings: and Crassus so broad mouthed as any, was liked of some, with his sour sothing. The solacing strings of Orpheus could not save his life with his sweet Music, yet the Pipe of Pan, was liked with his rustical melody: he was regarded in the country, and I happily shall be read in the Court: he was a stolen to many, and I look to be a laughing stock to more: If the best writers have not been liked of some wantoness, should myself think much to be loathed of many that are wilful. I look not that Fortune which was never favourable in words of small weight, should now be friendly in works of great wisdom: And as my ill hap hath hitherto been so hard as any's, so look I not to have it amended by this hereafter. The old saying is: he that lives in hell, thinks there is no other heaue●▪ and he that danceth with the Devil, careth not, so he be loved of his Dam. Augustus' said, he had rather be a Pig in Herodes country, than a child in his Court: for all the male children he put to the sword, but Swine's flesh amongst the Jews, was loathesome and unsavoury, and he that shall write to please the faculties of all fancies, must either reach beyond the Moon, or miss of his mark: And if any thing be worthy blame, reprove Norbanus who knows you not, and if Saker, any way have merited shame, let him be repaid with such sauce, though he hate you not: Yet had not I liked to love you, this should never have come forth of my Liberty: and had I not been willing to saluted you courteously, I should expected to been rewarded as carelessly: and the most that I ask, is but Bona verba, for my willing mind, and good will for my honest meaning: if you repay me with less, I must live by the loss, but if you grant me so much, it is the uttermost I look for: And Gentlemen, if you pardon me, for this same being the first, I will excuse myself when I present you the second? which if you deny me, I vow it shall be the last: And if you gain say me this reasonable request, I will never offend your ears with so unseasonable a suit: As for the verdict of fools, I plead not for their pardons, and for the sottish sort, I mean not to prove them with protestations: I know some will grin, but not take hold of my flesh: and other will snap, but not touch my finger: Gentlemen I know will be ruled with reason: as for others, I fear not their rigour: for who so likes of my doings, I shall be bound to commend their demeanours, but who pretends me faithless favour, I must of force requite with flattering friendship.  
Farewell.   

NORBANUS.  
THere dwelled near the City of Vienna, a Gentleman, named Norbanus: of parsonage beautiful, and in behaviour bountiful: in substance, not superior to any: yet 〈◊〉 wit, inferior to many: in goodness, grateful: and to his power, beneficial: He had left him, by th● death of his father, some small possessions, & a little land● to maintain his calling: wherewith, had he been so wisely disposed, as he was wanton delighted, he might have bragged with the best, and accompanied the greatest: and had his wit been so well employed, as his will was euely occupied, he had needed no counsellor for his commodity, nor any schoolmaster for his humanity: But as he was young, so was he wild: and as he was wealthy, so was he disposed pleasantly: as he was rich, so was he riotous: and yet as he was wanton, so was he courteous. But wit is never good before it be bought, & youth never bridled before he have bidden the brunt: and as the tender twig will easily be bowed, where the old tree will not by any ●eanes be bent: as the young Colt will be reclaimed with a snaffle, when the old jade will never be menaced with any bridle: as the young Fawn will be made take bread at a man's hand, when the old Buck will not by any means look upon a man: so as yet this Imp was to be grafted to bear the first fruit, and now began the spring when it should yield the bravest blossom: now was the sap come into the heart, and now such seed as was sown, such fruit should be found: such as was the plant, such would prove the pear: how the ground was tilled, such fruit would come from it: and as the fertilest fields not well husbanded, will yield the thickest thistles, so contrary, wrought as it should be, giveth greatest increase of corn: the more perfect memory in any man, the apt to delight in vile vice, which once reclaimed to honesty, the one blotted out, great goodness quickly ensueth: who then Paul a greater persecutor? who than he a more godly professor? Samuel first called by God, after chosen his Chaplain: Caesar first a slavish Soldier, after, a great and valiant Conqueror: as the years do increase, so should a man's goodness grow, and as strength entereth into a man's arms, so should wisdom enter into the brains: Why doth a man grow in greatness, but that also he should wax in goodness? this youth was acquainted with many vices the which he accustomed, and nozled in some virtues which he not greatly frequented, some of his blossoms were blasted, and some seeds prospered perfectly: some of his virtues were bitten with ●rost, which made no show till they came to the ripeness: but then flourished fresh and green: other of his plants prospered well, and made a goodly show on so perfect a tree as nature herself saw the growth thereof: The River Nilus engendereth the foul Crocodile, and casts up the precious pearls: the filthy Toad hath a fair stone in her head: the Serpent's skin is very medicinable for sundry things, where contrary, the be hath Honey in her mouth and a sting in her tail: the sweetest rose hath some prick, the clearest Well, some dirt in the bottom: so the most deformed man may have some good condition, the vilest nature some good imagination: the greatest pretended mischief, some spot of mercy: the stinging nettle is salve for some sore: the poisoned Hemlock retaineth some virtue, and the Poppy seed is excellent good for many things: but the purest perfection may have some spot of suspicion, the clearest complexion some fault of favour, the best wit stained with some devilish device: Norbanus was neither void of humility, nor overladen with amity: not troubled with more honestly than he needed to occupy: nor charged with more goodness than his body could carry, nor filled with more fervency than his stomach could digest: yet his conditions not to be blamed, nor his unconstancy any ways reproved: being in the Country he wanted no companions to court him, and spending● his time so lewdly, lacked no Lovers to entice him to folly: and though the rustical Country be not so stuffed out with swa●hers, as the City is fortified with swearers, yet their fruit is often eaten with Caterpillars, & more full fraughted then needeth with flatterers: not so full of good nurture, as infected with vile nature: better fed then taught, and better manned then mannered: This courteous crew that followed his humour, enticed him sometimes to follow the hounds, then to fly with the Hawk: now to rouse the bristling Boar from out his drowsy den, & then to have the bouncing Buck in chase: sometimes to use the Tilt yards, and then again to exercise their weapons, here was neither practised Geomitry, nor studied Philosophy: neither Music used, nor Divinity loved: nothing seen in Arithmetic, and as little knowledge in Astrology: neither the Law liked, nor so much as a book looked on: but all began to go to wrack, and every good motion no sooner thought on, but as speedily forgotten. He had dwelling in Vienna an Uncle of great estimation, and his credit no less than he deserved, for he was beloved of his Neighbours, and favoured of his friends, commended of his acquaintance, and honoured of those that knew him, liked of the most, and hated but of few: for wisdom, he was furnished to serve his turn, and his wit any way merited no blame: for his substance sufficient to satisfy his estate, and his goods so many as sufficed his calling: for his courtesy he wanted no instructor, and for good entertainment: to few inferior: and for that he was without any Son, and unlikely ever to have a Daughter: never a child by nature, nor any kinsman to his knowledge except his Nephew: He therefore beholding the life that he led, and the folly he followed, the little government he had of his living, and as small regard to employ it the best way: not regarding any study, and caring not whither ever he tumbled over his Books, or never looked on them again: but apt to follow any wilfulness, and not regarding to apply any goodness: weighing more the pleasure of his companions, than the furtherance of his own felicity: and an yuche of pastime, was worth an ell of profit. His Uncle therefore on a time sent for him to Vienna, the messenger certifying him of great business, who willingly condescended to await on his good Uncle, glad to be at the command of his favourable friendship: and in deed repaired according to promise, unwilling to displease him whom above all others he favoured: but well contented to hear the cause of his sending for. Where no sooner come, but entertained as courteously as him self desired: where after a few matters of course, and common things of custom: the good man his Uncle uttered the occasion of his sending for, and wherefore he was cited to arrive at his house, by these words following.  
Nephew Norbanus, the longest summers day hath but his limited time of common course & then the Sun draweth towards the western Mountains, clean from our sight, and we enjoy the uncomfortable night again: the weary winter's night lasteth but the appointed time, and we behold the joyful dawning as before: the pleasant springe sweetly beginneth, and flieth again like a shadow: the wallowing Waves having attained their highest, retire to their former place as before: the green Grass once grown to the full perfection, withereth to nothing but earth, as at the first: The greatest Monarch that ever lived, ran but his race, and so his name grew again to nothing, having the time of his death appointed as well as other men: The happiest felicity hath some fall, & the greatest goodness some dram not very dainty: the fruitfullest trees are not free from some Caterpillars, & the most fortunate weal wrought with some woe: and how long doth this tickle state endure, or this fluttinge fortune remain, when Empires are subverted, & Kingdoms overthrown: when Dukedoms go to wrack, and Princes pine in poverty: when the richest fall to decay, and the proudest stoup to the yoke of fortune: who will rejoice in his welfare, and trust the uncertainty of his time? who therefore can think he saileth safely, that is always in danger of the rocks? who can imagine he travaileth surely, that is always amongst thieves? who is safe in warfare, whither he fly or follow, the greatest certainty is not sure, and the best uncertainty unsteadfast? Who so proud as Lucifer, who sooner thrown down into Hell? who so high minded as Nabuchodonozer, but who so changed from so mighty a Prince to a brute Beast? who so wicked as Ahab, who more severely punished: the strongest cannot boast of his happiness, nor the mightiest crack of the length of his life: the proudest cannot brag of his tyranny, nor the richest rejoice that he lived ever the longer: the greatest that ever lived hath felt the force of fortune, & the highest hath been made to stoop: though Cacus were a Giant, yet was Hercules stronger: and though Goliath were high, yet was he made shorter by the head: and if Samson were the stoutest that ever lived, yet met he with his match: if not by strength, yet by policy: if not by might, yet by slight: if not by greatness of body, yet by the sleights of subtle devices. Ulysses was valiant, yet won to be a servile subject: Achilles was gallant, yet met he with his peers: though Lemnos were feared, yet was he vanquished. Alas, the most fortunate is but fickle, and the greatest subject to slavery: thraldom hath happened to the noblest, and bondage to the bravest: the yoke hath been laid on the necks of Princes, and Emperors, led in chains of Iron: the greatest goodness that a man gaineth in this lustily life, is the same that followeth by learning, and the only honour we should hunt after: then the which what is there greater? then the which, what is there more pro●●table● than the which, what is there more estimable? then the which, what is there more commendable in all ages? then the which, what one thing is there that lasteth after life? And how is virtue attained? or by what means is wisdom found out? from whence cometh the knowledge of all prowess? and how do Kings learn to bear sway? is it not the ground of all goodness, and the only hope of all happiness? Visit post funera virtus: and what can a man name the lasteth after death, or what memorial is there made of any thing whatsoever, after our departure? do riches endure after death, because they abound in life? no trust me: every good thing taketh the original from thence, and as it hath a beginning, so shall it never have end: who commendeth not the Books of Cicero, before the wealth of Croesus? and the wisdom of Solomon, before the strength of Samson? the sweet words of Tullic, before the threatenings of Minos: and the sober sayings of Anaxagoras, before the flattering tales of Aristippus: the prudence of Cato, before the foolishness of Midas: and the School of Thalias, before the Court of Venus: And for that I know the Country to be more given to pleasure, then profited by wisdom: better disposed to use pastime, then to frequent virtues Schools: more delighted with the love of liberty, then practised in the law of civility: more pampered in their own foolishness, than well nurtured in behaviour, or gratefulness: you are not ignorant of the great good will, that always was between your Father and me, not only brotherly love, but also such mutual friendship, as my purse lay always open at his command: and he to requite me as friendly used like courtesy in what soever. I lament your Father's departure, the more your loss, the greater my grief: for kinsmen you have few, but such as for money will claim you of their kindred: for acquaintance, you have more than is needful, unless greater for your gain, and more profitable: I only am left the standard, and you the second, both which make but half a mess, a ●●mple service for so ancient a family: as for children, you know none I have, nor any am likely to get: my possessions are not small, and my lands not the least, my living more than I spend the revenues, and my credit● more than I would it were: but as my charges is great, so my care cannot be little: and as my substance is much, so the means to leave it is yet to make, and for the bestowing thereof, the choice is yet in mine own hands: and if duty bind me to perticipate my living to you, the only heir of me, for want of a child to enjoy my lands, yet nature bindeth me more straightly to beestowe it on you being the last, or at the least nearest allied to me in line or lineage: and for that it is common for every man to give to his cousin, when he hath neither children nor brothers, I will not be found to digress the bounds of nature, or break ancient custom: but if you merit well you shall have enough, if sufficient serve the turn: know you therefore, that the cause of your coming, and the business I sent for you, is to let you understand somewhat for your profit, and a little for your commodity: the loitering life which you lead in the Country, and the careless consuming of your time, is the way to weary you, and the means to make you no miser, yet miserabler: of small credit, and as little calling: better acquainted, then beloved: and better known than trusted: In deed, I confess the Country to be passing pleasant, & excellent painful: more dangerous than dainty: more maidenly than mannerly: and more troublesome than trusty: for delights they are not dainty, and all exercises greatly used: all which are baits to allure a stronger than yourself, & to win one more wise to delight their wiles● Of three things therefore I give you your choice, leave which you list, and choose that which liketh you, whither to be a Merchant, and use those trades which I can acquaint you withal, or a Student to follow the Schools, and use the Universities, or a travailer, to see for rain countries, and learn strange languages: and in that your living is but small, it shall be augmented: and the better to maintain your state, your allowance shall be amended: if you think good to be here with me, I shall be as well satisfied, as you sufficiently contented: which if you do, my counsel shall not be hurtful to persuade you, nor my doings a cause of your hindrance, but the only means for your preferment: Here you may turn your Gold to the greatest gain, and your Silver to the surest safety: use mine, so it be to your profit: and your own as beneficial as you may: you may walk the City, and tread the streets: make your Mart with Merchants, and use conference with travailers, debate with counsellors, and associate the Citizens: accompany Artifficers, and use the fellowship of some faithful friends: and so make your choice, as you rue not your loss, nor repent your bargain: for all sorts of friends are here to be sound, both good and bad: both honest and disloyal, both trusty and faithless: as well the Spider as the be, as well the Toad as the Turtle, as well the Wolf as the Lamb, as well the Fox as the dove: As well jason the falsest, as jesippus the faithfullest: as well Aneas most untrue, as Camillus most constant: as well Cressida forsworn, as Troilus most just of his word. The fields that are full of flowers: are full of weeds and Nettles: & this City so populous, not without flatterers or dissemblers: the ground yieldeth as well corn for commodity, as Thistles that are hurtful: the fresh Rivers breed as well the fléetinge fish, as the sprawling Frog: if you here escape the Cirtes, you may fall into Charybdis: if you fly the wrath of jupiter, you may find the frowning of Saturn: if you escape the Semplagades, yet you shall come amidst the gaping Cicloppes. You shall hear these Swashbucklers swear, and these ruffians roist it in their rudeness, who will not stick to crack out oaths good cheap, and to coin lies for nothing: great acquaintance you shall find, but few friends to credit: painted sheaths, but rusty swords: fair faces with crooked conditions: those that will laugh in a man's face and cut his throat: If happily thou find any whom thou like to make thy friend, and his fancy please thy favour, try him before thou trust him, and prove him before thou praise him, and use him before thou 〈◊〉 him: if thou find him faithful, use him familiarly: if faithless, reward him as slenderly: if doubtful, be thou dangerous: if subtle, be thou jealous: carry a Ring in the one hand, and a Fig in the other: writ him but in thy tabling book, so mayest thou easily blot him out again: use him as the Irishman doth his wife: who marrieth her for a month, then if he like her not sendeth her packing: be wary therefore how thou dealest, and careful with whom thou dost bargain: whom thou likest, and how thou set him at sale: how his conversation is, & what his friends are: whither his calling be so good as thine, or unfit thy person: the subtleness of some will cause thee dislike of many, and the collusions of dissemblers, will make thee careful whom thou choosest thy familiars: the highest flying Hawk, proveth often haggardly, and the best conditions lie not always under brave apparel: the sweetest words may come from faithless lips, and loving looks often deceive fond fools: the highest hills not surest to build upon, nor the fairest river surest to swim in: the greenest grass hideth the greatest Snake, and in the richest ground lieth the filthy Toad: and is not the precious pearl found in the moulded earth? the Silver tried out of the sand? the sweet Rose groweth on a stinking dunghill: where lodgeth more honesty, then in a simple couch of straw? where resteth more friendship then in poor apparel, where more virtue then under a ragged coat? way not the estate of the man, but the man by his conditions: regard not his goodly parsonage, but his good behaviour: esteem not his great revenues, but his goodness, being as grateful to his power, as thou art beneficial to thy calling: thou knowest the painted pots have deadly poison within them, & costly clothes, ragged walls underneath them: and where will the filthy Spider sooner spin her poisoned web, then in the bravest houses: and to use the company of thy superiors, thou shalt be accounted saucy, although thou be shamefast: proud in mind, be thou never so simple in spirit: haughty in heart, be thou never so dutiful in thy doings: the surest safeguards is the merry mean, and the safest sailing in the smoothest Rivers: If they thy betters, what shalt thou do but please them, though thou displeasure thyself? what shalt thou say but soothe them, though a very lie? what shalt thou speak but to flatter them, though contrary thy conscience? if thou excel them in apparel, they will say thou art proud, in not contenting thyself with thine own estate: if better moneyed, they will imagine thou comest not by it so well as thou mightest do: if thy courtesy be better liked of others, than their curiosity loved of any, they will seek thee some displeasure, or procure thee some mischief: Where contrariwise, in using the company of thy inferiors, thy credit will be cracked, and thy good name set soon to sale: they will imagine their courtesy, worthy to be preferred before thy wealth, and their virtues to be embraced, before thy riches are to be esteemed: their honesty before thy behaviour, and their goodness before thy gratefulness: and they will not stick to report, were not my honesty more regarded, than my riches are to be weighed, I could not have gained him my friend, who favoureth me so well: and in so doing, doth he more than I deserve? no trust me, nor so much as I mente, for were I not worthy, I should not be chosen, and were not my conditions godly, my calling could not be so liked: thus the best breedeth thy sorrow, and the worst increaseth thy grief: the best forsooth is to good, and the worst to be preferred for virtues that know not what honesty meaneth, nor never had to do with it: therefore Norbanus, prefer thy liking before my choice, thy love before my desire, thy own fancy, before my free will: The Mean is the plainest note, and the surest singing, the Base is to low for thy liking, and the Triple to high for thy reaching: use therefore thy choice, & take thy own consent, make thy own match, for thou art like to abide the bargain: l●ke what thou bakest, such must thou eat, and such as thou takest, that must thou stand to: that which liketh the, cannot displease me, so it be honest, and thy living shall procure my love, if it be virtuous: but sow in any wise the seed of constancy, so shalt thou reap the fruit of thy felicity, and use thy faithful friend with loyalty to the last of thy life: so shalt thou purchase me thy most assured, so long as thou list: but thy duty always reserved towards me, so shall my goodness never leave thee, till I forsake my life: & in foregoing my life, thy happiness will not be procured, though my livings be obtained. Certify me therefore, good Norbanus, the full effect of thy purpose, and let me understand the drift of thy device, which is best thy liking, and what fittest thy doing, I expect thy answer.  
Norbanus stood all this while, sometimes so wrapped with joy, and then again so moved with obedience: now glad of his good hap, and then marveling at the goodness of his Uncle: now laughing in mind, and th●● weeping in heart, to see the carefulness he had of him, and the unkindness of himself: but at length arming himself with boldness, and rejecting all manner of fearfulness, he replied as followeth.  
Dear Uncle, as I am to thank you for your gracious counsel, so am I dutifully bound, to obey your excellent devices: and as I am to be blamed for spending my time so loyteringly, so shall I for ever be at your command, for procuring my felicity: and what your good pleasure shall think beneficial for my estate, my willing obedience shall not make any spot of preiudicialitie, maugre your meaning: your hoary hears do hasten my part to conceive passing well of your determinations, and my mind being mollified with the rules of reason, will easily taste your wholesome lessons, duty bindeth me to do no less, and age constraineth me to my might, yet ability wanteth to my willing mind: which seeing it hath pleased your goodness so gratefully to offer, I will not be reproved of wilfulness, ungraciously to persist your purpose: touching my estate as yet unstaid, and my loitering life that hath unprofitably been led, hath hitherto not been troublesome to many, nor chargeable to any, disliked of some, and loved of others, blamed as I deserved, but not utterly conte●●ted, or altogether reproved: the good demeanour you say of my Father, hath possessed me a place in your heart, and if therefore my soul be found unmindful of your benefits, I wish to be rejected, where now I am beloved, your civility (dear Uncle) bewrays you not only a Citizen in outward show, but inwardly an helper to your poor friends, and a furtherer of your near neighbours: but Sir, you condemn the Country causeless, and imagine their craftiness to be cloaked with simplicity: but talk with a Clown, and he will better resolve you then myself can certify you: but this I know by experience, and that my eyes have seen, my lips may boldly utter, your streets are stately, our pathways are pleasant: your houses haughty, our habitations handsome: your Shops abound in bravery, our Barns are filled with fruitful commodity: your Gardens are fine out of measure, our Fields are fair with all pleasure: your Dames decked in bravery, our wines wedded in honesty: you want nothing, and we lack not all things: you confess, our exercises are first preferred, our healths the likelier to be preserved: you eat like Epicures, we abstain like stoics: you are cloyed with the excess of Heliogabalus, we contented with the roast of Romulus: you the quassinge of Alexander, we never surfeit with drinking fair water: you the flattery of Aristippus, we the faith of Laelius: you devout Uotaryes, we of God true feruitours, you the music of Apollo, we the Pipe of Pan● we Hawk without hurt, you hunt like Homer: we ride for recreation, you rest for rewards: we often meet merrily, you oftener mannerly: our banqueting brings restority, your feasts are filled with gluttony: you wanton, we warlike: we try our strength, you dry your drugs: you fence it, we fight it: though you want not any thing, yet have we that sufficeth our turns, you give me gracious instructions, and godly lessons, in warning me of your wiles, and telling me of your toys: for (alas) the silly Bird is quickly caught with the lime-twig, the subtle Fox is taken in his own hole, the greedy Wolf sometimes killed even in the sheepfold, and no marvel if my simplicity gain me quickly a place of infidelity: in that there are both the Sirtes, and the Semphlagades, both Lays and Calypso, both jesabel, and jason, alas, how shall I look? how shall I walk? whom shall I way? whom shall I believe? whom shall I try? whom shall I trust? whom shall I credit? who will not deceive me? how dare I? nay, why dare I not? for that dastards are oftenest in greatest danger: here are the sweet sirens, here the meek Mermaids, here the faithless flock of Flora, but where the vestals of Diana? here is lust without love, liberty without loyalty, affection without faith, constancy without chastity, behaviour without honour, fancy without fervency, small vestalitie, yet less modesty: if happily I choose some faithful friend, I shall be fearful he will prove a faithless foe: if I prove Damon▪ he Damocles: he Theseus, I Ulysses: I Orestes, he Protheus which turneth into every shape: I then shall be sorrowful beyond measure, and my care will be greatly increased: thus shall I graft grapes, and reap rushes: first must I prove, than praise: first view, then vaunt: first get, than gain: first try, then trust: first have, then hold: once gained, never forsaken, and once gotten never lost: if his birth better than mine, then will he blame me: if his living greater, than disdain me: if he many friends, I beholding to him, if I few, he not regarding me: if hard-hearted, then will he hate me: if furious hasty, faithless defy me: but to know, and then to keep, is a peerless patrimony, and a doubt void of all danger: and what? shall I prove, and not be proved? nay: shall I not be reproved? trial on any man, is sufficient to acquit any villainy. Constantius, father to Constantine the Great, to the end to make trial of his faithful friends, and to repress his faithless foes, favouring greatly the faith of the Gospel, and loathing those that liked it not, on a time determined to make known the good will he bore to his loving subjects, and to repress the rage of rebellious Roisters, putting in proof a practice, as profitable to his own estate, as commendable in so noble a man as himself, caused to be bruited abroad and proclaimed openly, that those old ordinances of the Gentiles, and Statutes of the Pagans, touching Religion, should in as ample manner be used, with such superstitious Ceremonies of the Canonical Clergy, and devilish devices of old dotards, as had before been used, and ever till his time maintained, which to be performed with speedy perfection, the forfeiture of fire and faggot was to be rendered to the resistantes: to the speedy dispatch whereof, the Nobility were first willed to veil their bonnets, and lead the dance, than the laity to follow within the compass of the time allotted. Shortly after, the Emperor held a general Counsel, and made a solemn meeting, as well the spirituality, as also the Temporalty, where this matter was called in question, and sifted to the uttermost, all were asked, all examined, all proved, but not all found peerless: all tried, but not all found trusty: a great number of lusty gallants quickly consented, yielding to all such articles as were set down, and agreeing to whatsoever had been proclaimed, no torture, no torment, no fire, no faggot, should cause them recant their sayings, or alter their determinations. Then were examined the laity, and those of the meaner sort, the greatest number of the which had cast their anchor long sithence, which should never be removed out of the sands of their souls, without the loss of life, and the fruition of the last felicity. The good Emperor weighing well the poverty of their penury, the truth of their trial, and the clearness of their consciences, that loss of living, and foregoing this liberty, and rather the fear of death could not remove their minds, or change their hearts: whereat these gallants that had lately turned their tippets, and moved their minds from better to worse, laughed in their sleeves, and had the others greatly in derision, he caused immediately all those turnecotes to be banished the Court, and their livings to be given unto the others, and if ever they returned, death was their due, and they should surely have it, made those Counsellors to his highness, and the others rejected for ever out of his presence: for (said he) these men are fit for so noble a parsonage as myself, & worthy my Counsellors: such friends I fear me shall I find, who will grope me for gain, and turn away for every trifle: march in the main battle, but fly from the fight, look for the spoil, but bide no brunt of the broil: lost with an egg, and won with an apple: I as hot as Aetna, they as cold as Caucasus: I as true as Troilus, they as false as jason: if I fry in faith, they will freeze in falsehood: if the company of some virgin do entice me to like her, and perhaps allure me to love her, I shall hardly find a Castor: easily a Flora, sooner a haggardish Helen, than a chaste Lucretia: sooner a beastly Biblis, than a godly Theocrita: great courtesy, but little chastity: solemn protestations, but slender perfourmances: sweet words, but bitter in the eating: to flatter is a high point, and to gloze a glorious gain: the one yieldeth perdition, the other bringeth destruction: to paint than out in their pride and to carve them in their colours, I should but incur their displeasures, and do myself small profit: the best is but bad, yet myself can not make the worst better: yet beauty, the more it is discommended, the greater desire a man hath to behold it: and a good thing mixed with that which is more vile, maketh a better show. Venus seemed most fair of favour, when the black beard of Vulcan was always with her: is not the Rose neatest that groweth amongst nettles: the colour of white most perfect, painted upon a black ground. But as all is not Gold that glistreth, nor all Silver that shineth, so cache painted portraiture proveth not the purest, nor every sauce that is savourest the most wholesomest: the sour broth doth as well comfort the stomach; as the sweet sugar seemeth pleasant in the taste: the choice of friends are so changeable, and the estate so unstaid of such young novices as myself, that thinking to gain the greatest treasure, I may find but rusty iron, and delving for the good gold, may get but coloured copper: whom should I choose my companions, when the highest are out of my reach, and the lowest stand upon the terms of their virtues: to attain the touching of the Skies with my finger I should be counted very foolish, and so base as to go into Hell, the mind of a miserable man: then the earth is the only place of my estate, and the seat to prove the penalty of my fortune: the highest things have the greatest fall, but he that goeth on the ground, can fall but to the earth, and falling no farther, may easily rise again. Where you will me to use your house as my own home, your habitation, as my proper mansion, and your goods, as my own gold: the greatest thing▪ to requite your courtesy, and the most that I can give you is thanks for your goodness, and obedience for your desert: the one I give you so frankly as I am able to offer, as for the other where my doings shall be found contrary to your deserts, I pray to be rewarded with shame, and to be dealt withal according to my doubleness: pleaseth it you therefore to be some stay unto me, and a helper, to maintain my poor portion, the best I think fit my calling, and the likeliest I see to be any preferment to my estate, is to apply the study of the law, and to practise it so speedily as may be. Wittenberg hath the name for good Sudentes, and the better Scholars, the likelier I, soonest to attain the perfection of my study, and the effect of my purpose: pleaseth you therefore to furnish me with necessaries, and to provide for my wants, my long absence shall not procure my penalty, nor the driving off the time a hindrance to my studies.  
The good old man Henricus his Uncle was as glad to hear his wise answers, as he was afterwards sorry for his lewd behaviour, and as well contented to furnish him with all necessaries, as afterward moved to behold his careless life, he therefore furnished him with all necessaries whatsoever, and provided so well for his journey, as himself desired. After a few courteous gratulations, and sweet embracings, with sugared words, as the common course of custom is, Norbanus committed his Uncle to the governance of God, and himself to the favour of the fair fields, and pleasant paths: now is our young youth in the worn way to Wittenberg, and feeling the hard trotting of his Horse, our Lady be his speed, and send him as delectable a passage, as he is a morously minded. When sundry cogitations assailed him, and many vain fancies flew before his face, which were not so quiclie come, but as suddenly faded again, flattering himself with this conceit, and then drowned in desire with some other, quite contrary: but amongst other thoughts that assailed him, and devices that troubles him, he uttered these words to himself: Alas Norbanus, how will God now deal with thee? for other friends here thou shalt hardly find, first deprived of my good mother, the special friend of my prosperity, and the only worker of my weal, whose secure care in wishing me well, was as much as nature could give: for the love of the mother is always greater, than the good will of any other friend, and great reason why it should be so, for that her travel is the greatest in bringing it to the world: her care is also the most, in preserving and nourishing it to the best motion of her mind, and bringing it up most obediently in the fear of God, and dutifully towards all others whatsoever: and had I but retained her, my grief should have been the less, and my sorrows not so many, but the destinies had so appointed it, why then should my consent be wanting, and my willing mind absent in any respect? then lost I my Father, by whom I enjoy these small possessions, and little revenues, to maintain my poor estate, God send me no more such fyndings, nor give me such windfalles: his care of my prosperity was not small, though my disobedience towards him were great, his great desire that he had of my maintenance, and the little duty I showed therefore● his secure care in bringing me up in learning and good civility, and as little regard on my part to fulfil his commandments: and the last words that he spoke to me, when afterward I never saw him open his mouth more, were, that I should be busy with my Books, and ply them as my most perfect patrimony: for thy Books (said he) will yield thee heavenly knowledge, as for all other things, they are but ●a●thly, and therefore full of vanity: which words come now into my remembrance, and happened by chance into my head, appointed I think of God, as a mean to help me forward, and a motion to make my desire the greater: therefore my good will shall not be found any way negligence, nor my mind to be moved with any other delight. And now have I lost the residue of my friends, and departed the ●ighte of all my old companions, whose sights whilst I enjoyed, was comfortable, and their fellowship favourable: perhaps they will inquire of me, and hearing of my departure, seem sorrowful, or el●e wish me well: but what gain I by that? or happily desire my safe return: but in the mean time their sight is absent, and out of sight, will in time he also out of mind: seldom seen, is soon forgotten, and once gone, and never remembered, which I know not to be more sooth, than sure, more common, than true: more often spoken, than always performed: somewhat I know by my own nature, and my imagination can not be but true: the death of my Father was so grievous at the first, and my lamenting so untolerable, as if my Soul should have forsaken my Body, or my life left the habitation where it dwelt: but time maketh me almost not remember his favour, and this long time since hath caused me forget (almost) an●ethyng that ever he did: shall not my company he then forgotten, and my remembrance put clean out? shall my doings be talked on, or my sayings remembered? shall any drink to the health of me, or remember me at their feasts: no, as my departure was sudden, so will my name be as soon forgotten: and look as the wallowing waves tumbling over any thing fallen into the Sea, or sunk down to the botthome by chance, for certain Tides after it may be seen, or looked upon as it lieth, but when the Floods have washed the Sands over it, or made it to be hidden, the very likeness is quickly forgotten, and afterwards, the very thing itself. Or as the picture of a man hanging by the walls, decayeth in colour, and fadeth in favour, till all be consumed, and nothing remaineth but the bare Table, he is never drawn again, because the form is forgotten, and the favour not remembered. Or as the Tomb of a dead man long buried, at last falling to decay, and being broken down, is in time trodden even with the Earth, and never after builded, because both the superscription is forgotten, and the memorial of the man lost▪ even such is my case, and so shall be my estate, thus shall I be trodden on in mind, and my remembrance blotted quite out. Thus he travailed in the care of his conceits, and troubled with those things which long before were forgotten, at length he came to Wittenberg, a place strongly fortified with stout Students, and careful Schoolmasters, with brave baristers, and ●aynefull Priests, with painted Prelates, and boisterous Bishops: with covetous Cardinals, and careless cloisterers: but these are either the ghostly Gospelers of God, or the savoury salt of Satan: these study rather the Books of belial, than the Axiomeas of Aristotle: these candle bearing taperers, and putrefied peasants, the unsatiable sink of sin, and workers of all wickedness, whose lips are always lying, mumbling their Masses, as though they had already gained the good will of God, when their hearts are as far from him, as Heaven is from the Earth▪ My young master saw these their sleights, but followed not their fashions: looked still on them, but l●sted not greatly for their companies: was contented to behold their mischiefs, but regarded not to do after their requests: but the silly Fly buzzeth so long about the flame, that in the end she is scorehed with the fire: and the crafty Mouse catcheth so long at the cheese, that she is taken with the trap: the Frog leapeth so often up the bank, that the Crow catcheth her: so fared Norbanus at the first, laughed at their wantonness, but in the end was enticed to their wiles: he looked so long on their bravery, that he was taken with their pride: he gazed so long on their dainties, that he filled himself with their drugs: now the Tennis courts were claimed his possessions: the Dancing schools more dainty for so lovely delights: the theatres most grateful for this gainful guest: now began he to pluck his head out of the collar, and pulled his paul into his hood, renounced all his forepast preachings, and denied all the brag boastings against the bountiful bravery of Venus' courtly crew: and he who was lately so sure a resistant, is now a faithful defendant contrary his profession, and clean against the articles of his late belief: he that so lately would watch with careful Chrysippus, doth now sleep with drowsy Endymion: who lately was as Carterly as Diogenes, is now as Courtly as Paris: he that lately was as loyal as Laelius, is now as careless as Cressid: but as the kernel must be thrown into the ground before it will grow a Tree, or like as the Milk must be bruised before it be Butter, or the tongue of the Parrot cut before she will prate, so must manners be reformed, where remedy is resistant, and affections bridled, where folly is the foremost, and fancy defaced, where pleasure is the precedent: so must the spaniel whelp be taught to carry, before he assay to take the water: the Ox to draw with his fellow, before he take the yoke alone: the Horse ridden with a cloth on his back before he wear the Saddle: in like manner this tender twig would yet be bend with one finger: the roots not run so far into the ground, but they might easily be plucked up again: the sprigs not yet sprouted so far out, but they might be lopped at leisure, or pruned at pleasure: but here he was daunted with the blazing beauty of young Damsels, and regarding the flourishing faces of mannerly maidens: now he beheld runagate Atlanta, and then the alluring face of lovely Lays: now the fashions of fine Flora, and then the devilish desires of unfortunate Phaedra: now the filthy lust of beastly Pasiphae, and then the unsatiable desire of bawdy Biblis: these filthy factions made so strong a breach into the tender heart of this youngling, and so broad a battery into the bowel of his mind, as he imagined himself wrapped out of Hell, into Heaven: or raised out of the Grave into Paradise: or waked out of a careful slumber, into a quiet cogitation: now away with these babbling Books, and to what purpose serveth the paltry pen? now for the study, the Stews: for the chaste chamber, the choice of chamberers: for the Studients gown, the Castilian cloak: for the civil cap, the flaunting feather: for the comely apparel, the Italian waste: for spiritual, temporal: and for civility, the domestical doings: for the seeds of virtue, the blossoms of beastliness: this was the estate of his study, and this the depth of his devices: this the determination of his doings, and this the desperate desires of his doting desaster: this the unstayednes of so reckless a companion, and this the sicklenes of so foolish a fondling, who would not stick to gauge his gown for a penny worth of pastime, and to burn all his books for a cast at Cards: neither unknown of the goldsmiths, nor unacquainted with Tailors: as for the Mercers, either always in their books, or never without their bills: for his Host●, he could handle him so cunningly, and flatter him so finely, but rewarded as slenderly, as the husbandman was by the cold Snake that he laid by the fire: & for that his riches would not reach, nor his substance extend, to maintain a Peasant, or to keep a man to wait on him, the Sergeants refused not to take so much pains, or bestow a little labour to wait on this weighed wayfarer, where place did proffer so just an occasion, or time permit to bestow their diligence: But for that his Uncle was neither unknown, nor he unseen, his liberty was licenced, and his word taken of his creditors. But as at one time Philip lost all Macedon, Antiochus all Asia, the Carthaginians all Libie, so my young Master with one years study, lost all his Books and sold all his Lands, which before his Father had so carefully gotten, and so custodiously kept for him: and in spending thus idly his living, he had almost won the ill will of his Uncle, than the which, there was not any one thing more against his profit, nor whatsoever otherwise so prejudicial his estate: all went to wrack, all went to havoc, all goes to decay, all goes to the spoil: nothing is gained, nor any thing saved: here was bravery, without honesty, and fineness without prudency, coyness not without great cost, and niceness not without great disprofit: haughtiness with a pennyles Purse, and stoutness, with small wisdom: this was the fashion, this was after the cut, this was the newest device, and this the daintiest dealing: this the greatest for his credit, and this would purchase him some Privilege: and if a man should have demanded the cause, or asked the meaning of his pretence, his answer should have been: his Uncle was commended for so maintaining him, and what was spent, was for the credit of his Uncle, and a great praise in himself: his Uncle for maintaining him so gallantly, and he for spending it so bravely.  
O fool, was not this thy discredit? and a greater grief to thy Uncle, to see thee so fond given, and to lay the blame upon thy dear friend, who was so glad of thy well doing, and rejoiced when he saw thee honestly given: thou wast indeed, young of years, but younger in thy dealings: a Novice for thy age, and a child for thy living: green in perfection, and very foolish in thy outward dealings.  
Behold here Gentlemen, the libidinous lust of licentious liberty, and the unstaid steadfastness of a foolish youth: the outrageous rigour of a stately student, and the bold blindness of Bayards brat: the unreasonable desires that drove him forward in this wicked working, and the filthy factions void of all honesty, and without either mean or measure: the sweet instructions were now forgotten, and the golden mean was quite rejected out of his mind: greedy desire passed the one part of him, and deep disdain was always on the other side: then belike the Devil danced just in the middle: and who so fit a friend for so careless a companion? such Master, such Servant: such Chaplain, such Parishioners: such Sheep, such a Shepherd: now the dicing houses retain him, & then the Taverns hold him: never godly disposed, but always wickedly minded: never better than mischievously bent, nor at any time other then enviously pretended: as prodigal as could be desired, and as malicious as could be imagined: and prodigality is commonly the means to penury, next Neighbour to beggary, joined with misery, and friend to infelicity, the helper of licentiousness, and neighbour to all wickedness: there he● plays, there he prates, there he sweats, there he swears, there he stamps, there he stars: God is never out of his mouth, and the Devil never from his thought: he throweth the Dice, and the Devil jogs his elbow, then comes since sink, and wishes the Devil take them, and he stands behind, ready to receive him: Here flieth the Angels without feathers, and there goes the Gold away in gobs, the Silver is so slipper that it cannot abide in his Budgets, and his coin so cold that it must seek some warmer corner: The theatres could not stand, except Norbanus were there, nor the plays go forward unless he trimmed the Stage: the match was never made, till he was come thither, nor the bargain any thing worth, till he himself was in place: he must see and be seen, gaze on others, and be gaped on himself: sometimes to laugh at others, then to lower at his own conceits: sometimes to gester, then to use gravity: sometimes to rejoice, then to be jealous: sometimes to make signs to some Minion, and then to talk with a trull of trust, who would offer three for one, and for every stroke strike twice: Here marched Master Cutpurse about so maidenly, and looked so mannerly, as though wealth were his worst, and coin his smallest care, yet your hand no sooner plucked from your pocket, but his would be in your purse as ready as might be, and as diligent as a man would not desire: so lusty a look as if he liked no such lures, and so stately a countenance, as if he needed no groats: here walked another mannerly mate with a pair of blanks, and a pair of flats, a pair of langrets, and a pair of stopped Dice, a pair of bard quater treies', and other Dice of vantage, they would give you a cross cast over the thumbs, and such a blow on your back, as they would leave never a penny in a man's purse, but go home with as many faces as a Sheep: then these consuming caitiffs, and cankered Caterpillars, who would exchange Gold with Counters, and Silver for counterfeities: these had also a place amongst the best, and bore a brain amidst the bravest. Then were there these bitchlike beastly Bees, whose noses would be slit for the Glanders, and their tongue cut shorter, that they might prate the better: these would bring you a bonnilass to your bed, or send you to some good house of credit: these toys used my young master, till he was as wise as a Woodcock, and as rich as a red hearing: his lands were mortgaged, and his livings lost: his money all spent, and he almost at the last cast: and for lack of other exercises, and wanting other recreations, he practised the song School, and reached so high a note, but that he mistook sometime his Cliffs, and gave his notes wrong names: for sol, he sang sold: for lafoy, all, and for fa, forfeited: all was sent going, nothing left behind to give his friend: as well moneyed, as he that had just never a Denire: this was the good dealing of my gracious youth: this the good study he employed: this the gain of his going, and this the profit he reaped for his liberal lavishing: now he must practise some new devise to get more coin, and seek some way to put more pence into his pocket: some subtle shift, or any crafty conveyance, some cast of his learning, or trick of his cunning: but the Goldsmiths were his friends, and would lend him to his cost: he paid for his borrowing, and those were dear bargains: and one amongst the rest set him so far over the shoes, as he could not get out of the mire in a long time after. But his Uncle more gracious, than he deserved, and more beneficial than he merited: more bountifully dealing with him, than he was courteously able to requite while he lived: more happy was his estate, than ever he expected it should be: the worst was not ill enough for so careless a carl, and the most unfortunate too happy for so doltish a dizzard, that regarded not his living, nor weighed his wealth: regarding neither the spending of his own, nor the careless consuming of his Uncles. Thus proved he more lascivious than well studied, and yet better learned, than well nurtured: and yet his nurture so far excelled his nature which was changed from better to worse, as a man would rather have judged him a Homicide, than a Scholar: a lewd liver before a sure student: a vile loiterer, before a good Doctor. His Uncle seeing his shifts, and marking his manners, regarding his dealings, and viewing his naughtiness: looking on his misery, and lamenting the losing of his liberty: sometimes thought to use him with rigour, and then again moved with pity: sometimes thought to forsake him, and then again remembering the youth of his years: sometimes determined to banish him his sight for ever, and then again calling to remembrance that his was the motion of his going, therefore he worthy to be blamed for procuring him to it, doubtful whether to write or send, yet send he must perforce, unless he would behold his utter ruin, and not regard the decaying of his estate: he therefore directed by the messenger a Letter, which more moved Norbanus, then ever any thing that was said to him before, which was delivered with as great speed, as it was hastily written: the servant after delivery made of his superscribed Letter, went to dispatch some business in the Town, promising to return so hastily as he could dispatch speedily: Norbanus repairing to his Chamber, opened the Letter, and found that which he before suspected, the tenor whereof ensueth.  
Sir youth, is your mannerly modesty so soon changed to malicious insolency? your fair words to such foul works? your dutiful obedience, to such filthy unthriftiness? is your sweet tongue become your bitter bane? your sugared talk such deadly poison? your plain parting, such deep dissembling? your godly protestations to such devilish imaginations? Have you thus requited the guerdon of my good will with such unsatiable desires, to spend your living, and discredit my loyalty? to consume your own portion, and make my name be called in question, as a maintainer of your mischiefs, and a partner of your practices? was all reason banished your breast, and such vile vices possess the place of your privilege? was neither the fear of God before your eyes? nor any care of your own state that could turn your heart? was wisdom quite exiled? and nought but foolishness assailed your society? you a Student? you one of the Stews: you a Scholar? you a Carter: you a Doctor? nay, a Devil rather: for these are works of his invention, and matters of his making: you must fly with Icarus, and fall into the flood: run with Atlanta for the Golden balls, and lose your Silver substance: vaunt it with Paris, and yet as poor as job: Would it fared with thee as it happened with Stilpo, the Town being lost where he was brought up, and burnt by ill hap, as often come such chances, seemed neither very well contented, nor greatly displeased: being demanded how he could take his hapless fortune so patiently, and his unlucky liberty that was lost so gently: replied, he lost not any thing: for his riches he carried always about him, which was his learning, but thou hast lost thy living, and found no learning: thou hast sucked poison, where thou shouldst gather honey: reaped thy destruction, where thou shouldest have gained thy felicity: Hath my good desire bred thy bitter bane? my honest wish, thy hapless woe: my good demeanour thy manifest misery: thou wouldst be at Heaven, before thou art from the earth: in Paradise, before thou taste any pleasure: a Prince, before chosen a Magistrate: Thou playest Aesop's Dog, lost the flesh to find the shadow: what should I marvel be the depth of thy device, or the fullness of thy pretence, to spend all in hope of nothing, and to never spare, till all was clean gone: is this the life of a Scholar, and the profession of a Protestant? the trade of a traveler, and the gain of a Merchant? the choice of thy doings, and the greatest device of thy meanings, to set all at sale, and to play all for paltry, to set up thy rest till nothing he left: to lay on so lustily, till all be lashed out: thou to harbour a handsome harlot, hast gained the ill will of thy glorious God, to prank up thy pride in peevish apparel, hast lost thy living, and forfeited thy freedom: thou to please the foolish fancies of some thy feigned friends, hast undone thyself, and won me thy ilwiller: now prove to borrow, and see who will bargain with thee: those that have gotten thy gold, prove if they will proffer thee pence: those that thou hast laid thy Land to, ask if they will credit thee with Silver? no trust me: they will pluck their heads out of the collar, and not know thy name, give thee a gentle gléeke for thy gracious goodness, and a faithless farewell for thy fond affection: the little Ant provideth her store in Summer, against the biting of Winter: the hived Bee searcheth in Summer all the fine flowers, and provideth meat enough to serve till that season return again: the loathsome worms provide against Winter a hole or house, where they couch them close? why if these simple things without sense so can serve their own turns, how much more thyself, being one of the reasonable creatures of God, to whom the imperial seat is given ●uer other things. Fortunate were the days of thy fostering, and greatly wast thou delighted in by thy favourable friends: shall therefore the days of thy youth be lawless? and thy golden time spent in vile vices? God grant thy Senectus be more satiable, or thy white hears will come but miserably to the grave. Hast thou so soon forgotten thy father's bounteous blessings, and his careful constructions, so quickly to have his doings in disdain, and to cast behind thee such sweet sayings? Hast thou ere this disliked of thy godly purposes, not long sithence moved by thyself, and so soon forsaken to tread the path of thy profitable patrimony? the day draweth near the end, when the Sun is setting, and thou beginnest to walk in misery now thy living is lacking: can the shaft fly that wanteth feathers? and what wilt thou 〈◊〉 wanting thy wealth? can the Ship sail surely that hath not a helm? canst thou wander as heretofore, lacking thy substance? canst thou walk Wittenberg, thy liberty not permitted, the catchpoule caitiffs will quickly catch thee, and well worthy of woe, that seeketh not his own weal: thou hast but thy deserts in purchasing the prisons, and gettest but that thou long gapedst for in losing thy liberty. Though Aeneas lost Tire, yet gained he Libye, and in losing Libye he found Latium: though the Romans lost the Rhodes, yet retained they the remainder of their revenues: though Venus lost the vale of Smirdo, yet gained she the mount Pelion: hadst thou kept some parcel, thy loss had been less lamentable: and hadst thou retained but a little of thy portion, the residue had been more easily redeemed: The Wine in the vessel will quickly be emptied, being always drawn on: and thy bags had they been greater, would soon be pennyless, taking out thy money by handfuls: the great Oak once cut up by the roots, never springeth more, but presently dieth: but prune off the sprigs, and there will grow others green in their places: A little breach in the wall may be manned to defend a certain space, but the whole wall down, no remedy will give rescue: a cut upon a man's leg may be healed up again, but hit at the heart, nought ensueth but present death: but too late comes rescue when the field is rendered: and not in sufficient time is the man at the gate when the Horse is out of the pasture: too late cometh the pardon, when the thief is hanged: and too late the clubs when the fray is parted: too late it is to plead when judgement is given: and away with the Physician when the man is dead: But I wear my words in vain, and talk to myself, the hour is passed when the clock hath stricken, and now too late to call back yeesterday: I make strong reasons, if happily they do any thing avail: but in that there is no remedy against forepast faults, and recording of offences do but wear away the time, use hereafter yourself more honestly, and I will not utterly reject you: learn to bridle your affections, and content yourself with so much as is sufficient your appetite, and forget this boulstering in bravery, for not to any purpose serveth it, but to thy discredit and my shame. Your years I confess are young, and the government of yourself but small: your weakness therefore shall be borne withal, in hope of your amendment. My will is therefore, that you make your repair home with speed, and spend no time in musing upon matters of nothing: mean while, my provision shall be prepared for your coming, and what you want, shall be necessarily provided: Thus for all my sharp sauces, I wish you sweet Sugar, and after your melancholy meat, pleasant Pills: for in reproving your vices, I favour your welfare: and if I cared not for you, I would not have spoken one word: for though I cast you a bone to bite on, yet would I not have you choked: and though I have used severity in my sayings, yet wish I you no cruelty in my doings, which you shall try by my goodness, and acknowledge by the effect of my doings: so your manners be reform in an other kind of order, & your dealings prove more beneficial to yourself, & of greater credit towards me. Hasten your journey, and post with speed.  
Farewell, by your loving Uncle Henricus, at his house in Vienna.  
NArbonus having read the Letter, and weighing the effect of the contents, his eyes burst suddenly into a fountain of tears, making a little river, upon his watery cheeks, looking upon himself, as uncertain whither the Letter were presented him from his Uncle, or that it were but the flying fancy of some dream: but perceiving it to be true in deed, and no deceiving device that beguiled him, he wept so bitterly, as a man may imagine Peter did for his Master: so fast the tears ran from him, and the grief was greater than the anguish of him that receiveth judgement, or hath his condemnation pronounced against him to yield to the torments of death, or to pay his life a ransom for all wicked doings: his heart did so languish his ill hap, and lewd life, and his soul lamented his froward fate, & dangerous destiny, as if no pardon should acquitted him, or any ransom set him free: his soul for a season in an ecstasy, and his mind so amazed, as if in lamenting, he should have died, and in dying, made some atonement for his sins: such was the extremity of his passion, and so great the grief of this new received Letter: for his conscience was guilty, and therefore yielded to the force of his fancy, led as it were by a legion of resolutions, which way to take, or what was best be done: but in the end, perceiving his own folly, and musing at his madness, in that children do cry, and Women weep: not men to complain in such order, or lament with the loosing of a few tears, but should bridle up their affections, and moderate their maladies in such order, as their weeping will neither avail in their demeans, nor tears be any testimony of their treacherous toys: his thoughts altogether inflamed with fury, and his mind moved with the measure of his malady, uttered these words to himself, and spoke as followeth.  
And is it true Norbanus, that thy Uncle hath dealt with thee after thy doings, and rewarded thee according to thy works? and if he do so, is it more than I merit, or other than my deserts are? no trust me, nor so much: for were it so, how could I ever look upon him again? could my heart have power, or my lips be so bold, to crave a thing so unreasonable? or to ask that, which in conscience I cannot desire, his pardon to be granted, which will not be denied, durst I attempt it, or put it in practice, whose care hath been so comfortable and aid fo assistant, in all these my doubtful dealings and desperate desasters: how shall I utter one sweet word? no it will be so sour, as he will hardly digest it: can I imagine any collusion to cloak my craft withal, or frame any excuse to hide my folly: Why had I not been called? I had stayed in the Country, and not come to Vienna: but my calling was for commodity, and willed for my welfare: but being informed of my wanton life, was wished to spend my time more honestly: but I was sent to Wittenberg, to learn the Law, and to profit myself in learning: but my sending was not to learn wit of a Woodcock, or wisdom of him that knoweth not what it meaneth: but I was sent like a travailer, therefore my expenses the greater, but my living should have been like a Citizen, and so my credit been made larger: but had I not been caused, I had consented: but the choice was mine own, and the refusal was in my making: but had I not been exhorted, I had stayed at home in the Country: and had I stayed at home, my living had not been lost: but mine was the consent, and mine the motion: mine the demanding, and mine the requesting: mine the wishing to obtain, therefore mine must be the blame, and mine the shame, and mine the repentance, for none shall smart but myself, nor any feel the foil, but he that began the battle. The spending of my living, hath proved me a lewd loiterer, and the losing of my lands a right Abbey lubber: first I should have gotten, and then freely spent: first spare, then used: first gained, and then gratified: first found frankly, and then laid on liberally. But caitiff that I am, and most wretched, amongst other infortunate: now I speak what I should done, now what my pretence might have been, now I speak my mind, that it is to late, and utter what before was to be remedied: And why could not my estate be stayed as before? and my doing dealt in so good order as before they were? now shall my own rod, be the remedy for such a roister: and my own staff my stale for so foolish a harbinger, the stay of my simple state stolen away, how shall my life be prolonged? what shall I but morn in misery, and pine in perplexity? But were these Letters sour? and were they not also sweet? if they were bitter, yet were they tooth some? and though they were sharp, yet were they comfortable: he began roughly, but ended gently: reproved me sharply at the beginning, but entreated me favourably at the end: though he began with rigour, yet ended he with reason: with rigour, nay with justice rather: for to punish offenders is a thing commended in the laws of God, spoken by his own mouth, and affirmed in the holy Scriptures: why then should I escape, or be forgiven? why should I not be paid my deserts, and repaid according to justice? my case deserveth to be for ever rejected, and never to attain the friendly favour of my gracious Uncle again: but seeing his goodness 〈◊〉 offered me such favour, his friendly countenance so requited my unjust deserts: he like a good Shepherd 〈◊〉 called me home one of the lost flock: I receive his grateful good will, and rejoice so in his good offer 〈◊〉 erst I despaired ever to attain his favour again.  
Sailing amidst these contrary cogitations, and blowing the coals of his boiling breast, his Uncle's man, who had dispatched his affairs, and ended his business, entered the Chamber, finding him more pleasantly disposed than he looked for, and yet perceiving by his countenance that he had read the contents of his pasported letter, and found that which both comforted his stomach, and gripped him at the gall: both eased his malady, and increased his grief: both moved his patience, and framed his welfare, to whom Eubulanus his Uncle's man spoke as followeth.  
Sir Norbanus, you have I trust this tractable time of my absence, and the while of this my long delay deliberated upon the contents of my master's letters, and found at full the effect of their meaning, pleaseth you therefore to reanswer them, I purposely stay upon their speedy dispatch, for to defer time serveth now to small purpose, and to stay longer than the importance of my business requireth, were great charge●, without likelihood of any profit: he willed me to make haste, and not to stay longer than of necessity I must, or forced to expect your answer: for (said he) my Nephew will come I think with you, and will not cause you stay upon any matter, or prolong any time about any thing, whatsoever: which if you purpose to go, or have set down with yourself to put in execution, I beseech you let it be with speed, and applied with hast the greatest that may be, for the sooner we are going, with more speed will be our arrival, and the longer we stay, the more will be our charge.  
Gramercies, good Eubulanus, answered Norbanus, for thy dutiful diligence in doing me this pleasure: and I thank thee for the secret care thou hadst in the delivery of these my Letters: as for my good Uncle, I find this his goodness so great, and his kindness so much, that so far as my life shall reach, and the uttermost bounds of my health permit howsoever, I shall be found ready to die at his feet, and to offer my soul a sacrifice, to do him such small pleasure, as my little life will permit: as for thy great pains and careful diligence, shall be referred till some other time, and driven off for a more grateful good turn, till God grant me somewhat more liberally to bestow on thee, and send me to requite the uttermost of thy good will: meanwhile, take the forfeiture of my faith, & the troth plighted of one that will not deal double, as a most just gage, and a perfect pledge to pleasure thee howsoever.  
Sir, reanswered Eubulanus, these small deserts & little gratulations which I dutifully have done, and obediently fulfilled, were forced by fear, and constrained by commandment by your Uncle, and my Master, which of duty extended so far, and therefore could do no less, except I should have showed myself undutiful, or restrained my service: this therefore, neither meriteth praise, nor deserveth any favour: but if fortune be so friendly, or my hap so happy, that in matters of magnanimity, or works of weight, my simple service might be seen, or my willing mind made manifest, the duty to my master reserved, and my obedience towards him excepted, you should not find any want of good will, or my duty worthy blame, so far as my small power were limited, or within the compass of my life whatsoever.  
Norbanus giving him the choice of a thousand thanks, and offering him any courtesy for his great good will, showed the effect of his hasty letters, and the posting speed that they required: that his Uncle's pleasure was, he should with speed come to Vienna, and not to make longer tarriance, than necessity required, or the cause of the staying would permit: they therefore causing their Horses to be in readiness, and trussing up such trinkets as they could, departed the morning ensuing, almost without taking leave of any, or giving a friendly farewell to his old friends, and ancient companions.  
These wayfaring travelers, & rank riders, on their way towards Vienna, & some part of their journey passed, discoursed of sundry matters, & the estates of divers towns, so of their own Weal public, and of the Town of Vienna, then of the Father of Norbanus, & so of his Uncle.  
Sir said Eubulanus, this your journey was framed in haste, and furnished in post: no sooner determined, than ended, and no sooner thought on, then put in practice: but had you known before the law to have been so laxative to your purse, and so perverse to your purpose, I think you would either have constrained the country to kept you, or been content your Uncle's house should have held you.  
Truth Eubulanus, for the law is laborsom, and very tedious, and no loitering lozel may attain unto it, or any trifling student ever come near the perfection thereof: as for the country, my care was consolation, and my hardest hap blissful bale, the worst weal was great joy, and nothing contr●ried my purpose, or disliked my doings. But Sir, if your study had been strained, & your wit rejected, you might have attained, which now must unneaths be gainsaid.  
I Eubulanus, had Alexander known after his valiant victories, & great conquests of the third part of the world, he should have left his life so soon, or been poisoned in Babylon, he would never have entered the walls, or come within the gates: and had Norbanus known that Wittenberg had been so full of wiles, or this study any thing so tedious, he would never have tarried the turning over of three leaves, or the reading of one Author.  
Truth Sir, but you have bought your wit before it was taught, and paid for your learning more than is worth: but the colt must be used to the bit before he come to the saddle, and the wanton whelp must be taught to carry a glove, before he dive at a Duck.  
I Eubulanus, had I been restrained like a Colt, I had not proved myself such an ass: and had my liberty been lacking, as wisdom would it should: my doings had not proved so foolish, nor my pretences so vain: but as I pay dear for my learning, so is my sorrow the greater: and as my cost was chargeable, so is my mind moved with the spending of my living: but time already passed cannot be called back, and the Tide tarrieth not the leisure of any man.  
Well quoth Eubulanus, your fall will prove your felicity, and better now be taught your trick of training, then hereafter have proved your painful repenting.  
In deed answered Norbanus, first wit, and then wisdom, to have is good hap, and to hold fast a great virtue: for Norbanus could have said thou hast it: but now he can not say thou holdest it.  
Truly Sir replied the other: Your Uncle's careful consideration, will be the cause of your consolation: and to submit yourself dutifully, will both purchase you pardon, and make you be deemed of, as yourself will desire.  
In deed answered Norbanus, he that yieldeth, is often saved: but I will not only submit myself, but also dutifully do whatsoever my good Uncle shall command me.  
With these pretty propounding, and pleasant replies, their journey seemed shorter, and their travail not so tedious: but when they arrived at their journeys end and came into the house of Henricus, Norbanus was doubtful what to say, how to frame his words, or in what order to utter them, in what manner to submit himself, and how his Uncle would take the matter: but spying in the end his Uncle coming towards him, could not hold his eyes from weeping, and his heart from throbbing, to whom he spoke.  
Sir, the prodigal child, after the riotous spending, and wilful wasting of his careless goods, humbly submitting himself, and craving pardon for his faults, was received into favour as before, and obtained pardon, that deserved for ever to be rejected. Alexander the great never put any to the sword that yielded to his person, or asked mercy at his hands. Anthony submitting himself, and offering to die before the Emperor that sought his death, and pronounced his punishment, was received into former favour, and restored to his ancient dignities. My merits dear Uncle deserve no less than for ever to be rejected out of your favour: and my doings if right were rewarded with justice, have gained me your everlasting displeasure: but presuming upon your patience, and suing my pardon before so merciful a judge, I need no solicitor to move my case, or any Attorney to answer but myself, but that your goodness hath gained me undeservedly, that my ungraciousness should never have merited: and with those words, the tears trickled so fast down his cheeks, and his thoughts so troubled his guilty conscience, as he could not speak any more, or utter the effect of his meaning.  
His good Uncle at the sight whereof was so moved with compassion, and touched at the quick, as his inward grief did countervail Norbanus outward tears, he therefore embracing him, and holding him between his arms? said:  
Dear Nephew, that which is passed already, can not now be called back to be amended: and that which is done, can not be undone again: to record them therefore in order, or turn them over from point to parcel, would be a great grief to you, & not any pleasure to me: Myself I know was sometimes young as thyself, and no doubt those pleasures than liked me, which now do delight thee: but let hereafter my wisdom rule thee being unreasonable, and my instructions persuade thee being wholesome for thy health: for that which is past, I drown it in the flood of forgetfulness, and never pretend to make rehearsal of it again: comfort therefore thy weary spirits & be careful of thy own safeguard, so shalt thou find me a faithful friend, and one that seeketh thy wished desires as well as thyself: Thus was his good Uncle pacified with his humble submission, and himself contented to hear his pardon pronounced.  
Thus is Norbanus now in Vienna again, free from the checks of any, and clear of the penalties done to his creditors: where he turneth over his time, and accompanieth some of equal disposition to his own, and some contrary his calling, yet some flatterers, some foysters, some coggers, some cavellers, some brablers, some brawlers, some dissemblers, some dangerous, some Caterpillars, some courteous, some faithful, some faithless, some honestly disposed, some maliciously minded, some sure friends, some rank rebels: There resorted to him as well the Drone, as the be: as well the Spider, as the Fly: as well the Kite, as the dove: but Norbanus had learned his stop Galiarde, and could as satiably sooth, as soberly solace, for he paid for his practice, and lent liberally, for small usury: Among the rest of the fragrant flowers and sweet Violets that followed Norbanus, and accompanied him always: there was a Gentleman named Phemocles, of behaviour honest, and of grace grateful, for Parentage one of the best, and for wit sufficiently stored: with living well furnished and with good qualities very well endued: These two Youths grew into acquaintance and familiarity, and so into liking and love: and from well liking to such amity, and confederacy of fidelity, as they miss not one day where there was not some gratulation or a little fervency of fidelity demonstrated from each to other. On a time taking the wholesome air, & walking in the wild fields, where not so much as a bush should be partaker of their prayers, or a bird be acquainted with their doings, Norbanus spoke unto Phemocles as followeth.  
My beloved Phemocles, as there is not any weal which is not mixed with some woe: no felicity, but some way federated with instability: no ancient amity, but tied together with some treachery, by reason of some friendly foes: or by the mutability of fickle fortune: so we whose weal is not the worst, whose happiness not the lest: whose friendship not faithless, must fortify our fantasies against dangerous dealings, as we neither be drawn with their drugs, nor enticed with their trumperies: neither alured to their lusts, nor enfranchised to their follies: neither won to their wiles, nor wedded to their wantonness: neither trusting to their trifles, nor tied to their toys: If they assault us with society, we will keep them company, & dissemble our amity: if they seek us, we will shun them: if they follow us, we will fly from them: if by chance against our choice, we willingly walk with them: we may protest our old profession, & feigned some fickle excuse to departed, and avoid them: for where there are many, there is maliciousness: & where great company, small constancy: When we are in the Town, we must walk cively: when in the fields, disport ourselves with honesty: when in the streets, talk soberly: when close in our Chambers, use mirth and melody: when amongst company, far as if we loved all alike: when by ourselves manifest the depth of our desires: the one will be greatly for our credit & honesty, the other will double our joys, and put all suspicion to exile and infamy: I speak Phemocles by experience, as I proved smally for my profit, as you are not ignorant, for that my doings are manifest. When I was in Wittenberg I wanted there no waiters, we here in Vienna need woe for no suitors: you see what resort we retain, and what fellows do fawn on us, what a train doth troop by us, and how many hang on our sleeves? more for favour, than for fancy: more for substance, than for our safety: more for gain, than for goodness: more for that they think to coin some commodity, than truly to testify their faithfulness and honesty: in time they may win us to their wills, and allure us to their allegiances: in time they may cause us to like that we hated, and loath that which we loved: in time they may frame us to their follies, and gain us to perform that which we utterly rejected: to avoid therefore an imminent danger, is a warrant of wisdom: and to fly the faculties of flatterers, deserveth no little praise, but great commendations: we may bear a fair face to all, but not join in amity with any: welcome all, but bid none stay dinner: embrace all courteously, but reward all slenderly, for our own affairs, and our own business whatsoever: what my little help may stand you in stead: what my small substance may pleasure you: what my devices may profit you: I shall be as willing to employ, as you are to crave my help: as gladly to obey, as you gracious to command: as priest at all times to fulfil all things: as you desirous at any time to compel me whatsoever: and for my faith towards your favour, you shall find it as bountifully bestowed in every respect, as your heart can wish, or yourself desire: And if Damon were faithful to Pithyas: if Lepidus to Laelius: if Pylades to Orestes: In like manner shall Norbanus be faithful to Phemocles, while life doth last, and till death separate our two bodies: in pawn of which pledge, I can gauge you no other but my hand in the habit of my heart, and were my heart so frankly to be offered, as my hand ready to be rendered, it should be as bountifully pawned, as I have dutifully demonstrated.  
Phemocles long expected this maidenly motion, and hearkened a great while for that preached Sermon: and at that very instant had resolved himself, to have made the price, if he had not bidden so fair for the bargain: but his determination bore always this imagination, that to resolve was better than to propound and pay for the price, easier than to set sale in a Market, to whom he repaid this resolution, and gratefully requited with this courteous Congee.  
Sir Norbanus, you made the demand, and I am to reply an answer: which had you not asked since we made our meeting, I should have requested before our departing: your instructions are so comfortable, and your meditations so medicinable, as I may neither leave the one nor forsake the other: your perfect approbations by experience of your bought wit, and my wisdom unpaid for, do serve for a profitable prerogative, for so simple a Sophist, as hath neither learned his rules of Rhetoric, nor discovered his card of Collusion: our Town in deed is so fraughted with a frontier of fools, so larded with lubbers of the laieitie, so tapistred with shifting shavelings, and nosegay Nuns, and so powdered with pickthanks in their public profession, that when a man thinketh he hath God by the hand, he hath the Devil by the heel. Thus we live like the bird that is nourished under the Crocodiles mouth, when we think ourselves most sure, then in deepest danger: and when our state most staid, then most tickle: As for you that have felt the hand of Hercules, may easily endure a tack with a twig, but Phemocles whose physic hath no need to be tried by purgations, nor certainty, proved by any manner of subtlety, is so tied to your trustiness, and bound to your bosom, that distill him what drench you will, and he is content to drink it, or prove him by what means you list, and he is willing to abide it: and this town retaineth Doctors physical, and Physicians crumenicall, the one for the bodily pain, the other for the pursely pleasure, whereof though you wanted not in Wittenberg, yet we will avoid them in Vienna: my proof is no privilege, and my knowledge without practice, the one I learned but a little, and the other I have it by hearsay. To acknowledge acquaintance, is a motion that proceedeth from the heart of some. Again, others make an outward show, when they mean nothing less: for my part, your goodness hath gained so deep a devotion in the bowels of my heart, as the doors shall never be opened to any other whatsoever: and as the wife of Demetrius, who disdained not to run Lackeylike by the loving side of her sweet husband, in that tedious time of his turmoiling travel: in like manner shall Phemocles not refuse to carry the cross of Norbanus in his unfortunate afflictions, but take his territory toils, tempered with the state of instability, as a platform of prowess in so simple a Souldioure, that works without the wiles of crafty conjurations, and deals without the counsel of any fine Soothsayer: And as your friendly faith is federated without any spot of infamy: your dealings, without deserts of my doings: your aleageances, without my allurements: your perfect promises, without my painful perfourmances: so as far as my rules will reach, and my mind move me, my fidelity shall show my fancy: my trial shall pronounce me no Traitor: my faith unfalsified, shall manifest me no other, than a trusty Troilus: though I soar high, yet will not I prove haggardlike, but stoop to the lure of loyalty, to the very feet of your courtesy: but to daunt of a man's doings is varletlike, and to boast bravely, in feigning to be friendly, is foolish faith without any sign of fervency, and a coining of curiosity, with show of little performance as may be: but yet think not that I can either lie for my liberty, nor prate partially: neither argue agility, nor stain sternitie: nor proudly perticipate my periudicialitie, nor rankly roist it with beastliness and bravery: but assure yourself, that my doings shall be joined with the hope of honesty, to do the duty of a devout Uotarie, and in place of Agere, to put Satisfacere: with might and main, with heart and hand, with tooth and nail, never cease to serve you, and never leave off to prosecute your pleasure: and if the imperfection of my ability may sufficiently satisfy the desire of your loyalty, believe me if you list, no one in the world whomsoever, shall cause me change my choice, nor retire in my re-entry, selling myself slave unto your person, & yielding you that which no others shall possess: for the faithful performance of which promises, and the true meaning of my clear conscience, take here my right hand, that member next my heart, a reward altogether insufficient, and too simple a dish for so worthy a Master: and could I give you better, you should not have worse God is my judge, whom I call as witness, to testify my troth, and manifest my mind plighted to your person, and rendered to your gracious goodness.  
Behold here Gentlemen a linked league of amiable amity, with a quick confederacy, & speedy dispatch of two friends erst unknown, now so jointly joined, & so perfectly united, as no means shall make mutability, or any device dissolve their amity: no bale, that shall be bitter, n● fortune froward, no chance that shall be chapman in their choice: no grief aggravate their glory, nor any devilish deeds of dissension sown amidst the furrows of their faith, that shall hinder the fellowship of their fidelity, or by any means undo the links of their loyalty, but that which shall grow for their greedy gains, and certainly serve for their security in what affairs soever, frowning fortune be interchangeably annexed.  
These plights of parlance ended, with the contents of covenants, and the joining of hearts and hands, they both departed the flowered fields, and pleasant pastures, as well contented, as they desired, & as fully satisfied, as they both wished. Going into the Town to dinner, they fed on the confections of their preter promises, & glutted themselves with their former talk, the rest of the day they spent in their ancient customs, & sweet talkings. Drawing toward night, & that the day waxed near spent, each gave to other the Baselos manus, & a friendly farewell for the night: and hard it was to be adjudged, whether Norbanus for his peerless purchased friend, & loving companion were best contented, or Phemocles for the inward insolution of his preoptated desire, or most favourable felicie best pleased: but this is most certain, and the truth very manifest, that the interior instigation of the habitation of the heart, or the resting place of the thoughts was so ravished with the remembrance of their most delightful dalliances, or new conceived joys, that their hearts could wish to have, or their souls desired to see, was for the time so senseless, or void of any feeling, as if the mind moved as it were with heavenly motions, or filled with angelical contemplations, were drawn from earthly thoughts, and called from terrestrial cogitations, into the heavenly harbour of all happiness, or the private Paradise of most dainty devices. But having put on their former perplexity, and digested those pleasant drugs, they were after so armed with amorous amplifications, and so drowned in their former preambulations, as melancholies for a season was utterly abolished, and all bitter heaviness vanished out of their stomachs, and their thoughts dropped with honey, that erst were gorged with gall: Thus fared it with our two friends, and thus swam they in their secure safeties: Norbanus would not have changed his choice, or sought such another friend, to gain so much goods as he before forfeited, or to find more jewels, than his back would bear: As for Phemocles, his case better liked him, than if he should have gained all the wealth of Croesus, or had all the passing pearls of Arabia.  
Norbanus came to his Chamber after his former fashion, and old accustomed manner, thinking to try the strings of his loving Lute, or to fill his ears with Music as he had done, but his heart hopped so without a Harp, and danced in delights without a Musician, as if he had then been married with some dainty delights, or using something for his felicity, the greatest in the world.  
Phemocles departed also to his stately station, or earthly mansion: where in stead of rest, he was received with rejoicing: and for his bed and bolster, the late battle of their embracings bounced so in his brains, and troubled so his toyish thoughts, as he jested of his joy to himself, and laughed with inward lust of his happy felicity: if the one were daunted with inestimable desires, and drowned in the dew of terrestrial triumphs: the other was fatted with the fruition of his fantasies, & abolished the beauty of all other braveries, bathing himself in the beatitude of that protrated picture, and seemly Saint: which though he bore it not in his shining shield, yet he ware it in the womb of his heart, and kept it in as privily as a jewel of great price: Who can best say for others safety, and best praise others perfection, spareth not for speaking, neither tarrieth for entreating: and the more to augment their antiquity of amity, and prolong the length of their loyalty, they were not every hour in their Oratories, nor every morning in their meetings, not every day in their dances, nor always in their daliaunces: for who hath not the faculty of this facility? or who not the knowledge of this plain misery, that a little absence maketh a deep desire, and the restraining of being together, maketh the meeting more joyful? for they so tempered their affections, and so dieted their desires, that every meeting was as gainful as the first, and every greeting as beneficial as the frontier of their felicity: If they met, it was by mere chance, and they never pointed any time of parlyance: their departure was with ●aynefull protestations, and their encountering with amiable affiances: they took their leaves, as if they should have left their lives, where at their next meeting, their hearts hopped like the careful Captain coming home with conquest, or rejoiced like him that had escaped the hands of his enemies: for, is the extremity of the passion of the Citizen comparable the unspeakable rejoicing of the Souldioure? no trust me, for the joy of the one is at all times alike, and not greater this day, than the morrow following always without danger of death, and ever without loss of living: but the other having escaped the scouring, or bidden the brunt, returneth with triumph, furthered with felicity, revived (as it were) from the grave: therefore rejoiceth without measure, and his gladness as much as may be thought. But fortune disdaining their happy felicity, and envious at their prosperous proceedings, murmuring at the multitude of their mirth, and hating their heavenly happiness: frowning at the goodness of their gladness, and having in contempt the depth of their desasters, caused their separation by a quick dispatch, and provided their departures so suddenly, as might be, found a means to put the one far enough from the other, and had a device to make them part company, imagined a craft to make a dangerous distance of their merry meetings, and invented a drift to drown their doing for a time: And no marvel if it were so, for what is otherwise? is not the flower to day finely flourishing: to morrow stamped under feet? the tree in summer fresh and green, in winter naked, and bitten with frost? the Hart with his haughty horns, fat and fair, shortly after cold and ready to starve: the man that to day bounceth in bravery, to morrow marcheth in the vale of misery: do we not commonly see the stout tyrant to day persecuting, to morrow to stand to the mercy of his inferiors? to day in Fortune's lap, to morrow in the mire of misery? We have but two chances, and both we cannot enjoy together, good, or evil: happy, or unfortunate: blessed, or cursed: wisdom should either show us thus much, or reason rule us to understand this secrecy: to day we have, to morrow we had: to day men, to morrow lumps of earth: to day in the highest habitation of felicity, to morrow in the lowest sink of adversity: the infant dieth, the old fool tarrieth still: the green grass withereth, the tough old tree abideth still in his place: as commonly goeth the little Lamb to the slaughter, as the old Ox to th' butchery: let us not be deceived with the mutability of the one, nor beguiled with the uncertainty of the other: after the uncomfortable night, comes the clear day: after wallowing waves, and sturdy storms, quiet calms, & sweet gales: after tedious travails, temperate tastes: after misery, mirth: after Melancholy, melody: after bitter bale, blissful beatitude: as we cannot enjoy both, so must we perforce want one: our linked lovers, whose fancies were their food: whose delights their desires: whose wishes their welfare: whose joy was the greatest: & whose gravity the least: swum all this while in the seas of security, & marched in the frontier of felicity, were forced to fly the field of their confederacy, and resign the banners of society, to time the only means to enjoy their ancient amity, & to find out the happiness of their former felicity: they had all this while tasted the apple, but not touched the rind, cracked the nut for the curnell, but let fall the shell: gathered the grapes, & left the leaves: But now the Drum soundeth, and the Pipe plays loft to departed: for the father of Phemocles envying at the lazy life of his loitring son, and desirous to have him better busied in the spending of his time, determined to send him to Naples, to learn the Italian tongue, which would greatly profit him as he imagined: to whom finding at convenient leisure, and time to unfold the effect of his meaning, he spoke as followeth, and uttered these words.  
Son Phemocles, he that always abideth by the fire side, or in the warm house, little knoweth how hardly he can abide the freezing frosts, or cold blasts of winter's winds, to remain always within the City, or to abide still in the Town, is no means to prove a good Courtier, or to see such service as the Prince desireth: to march in a Meadow amongst maidens, or to lie lulling in the laps of Ladies, is not the way to prove a good Soldier, or to be practised in the feats of Arms, thou fightest here but with thy fancy, & strivest with thy own estate: thou always hopest, but never gainest: thou thinkest, to attain somewhat, but findest just nothing: the fruition of thy freedom, is no light of thy living, nor the enjoying that thou already haste, a mean to make it more, unless thy using were put to working, and thy saving to encrasing: the money in thy purse will not increase, but the bay salt will grow as it lieth: thy little knowledge seeking for no more experience, will profit very slowly, but thy wit being wrested, may in time win thee great wealth: the wearing away of thy goodly years without commodity, and the losing of thy time without any utility, thou wilt hereafter repent, and wish thou hadst been forced more for thy felicity. As thou wantest knowledge, so lackest thou also wisdom, and with the attaining of the one, thou shalt easily find the way to gain the other: and as thou wantest understanding, so must thou prove with pains, and not think to win it with wishing: I speak not to the end to have thee either Souldioure or servitor: neither rover nor roister: neither Courteour nor Caterpillar: but in going, thou mayst gain, and yet not get without pain, and thy pain doubtless will prefer thee to profit, and thy profit will prove so for thy pleasure, as thy gain shall not seem painful, nor thy profit hurtful. Understand thou therefore, and be it known unto thee, that the better to talk with strangers, and the easier to answer many demands, the more profitable for thy parentage, and the greater commendable for thy Country, the more to pleasure thyself, and the better to delight me: then take thy journey to Naples, and leave thy natural seat this City, there to learn the Italian tongue, and to see the fashions of that Country, a place as I imagine as likely for thy learning, as prompt for thy profit, yet perhaps more beautified with bravery, than subject to the rules of honesty, exceeding full of courtesy, and filled with filled flattery: more coy than comely, and yet more comely than commendable: their faces painted like the Appothecaries pot, shineth outwardly, but poisoned inwardly: and were their doings correspondent to their sayings, their companies were to be craved, where now it is to be hated. When thou shalt be come thither, & stayed in the Town, look not on their painted posts, nor have any regard to their wanton windows: gaze not on their garish girls, nor listen not to their sirens songs, whose Lutes will entice thee to lust, and their music move thee to do that thou after repent: thou shalt find there new fangles, and trifling toys: tibbes and trulls: knavery and bawdry: villainy and variety: But as thou hast eyes to behold these things, so hast thou also a Soul to think upon to save: for let it be no sooner known of thy arrival, and judging thee to be a stranger, but the next morning, or happily that same night, some Courtesan will salute thee with a sweet song under thy window, or else with a Cithern at thy Chamber door: but give no ear to such gratulations, nor have any regard to those salutations, reward her slenderly with some little piece of Silver, or pay her that shall not countervail her travel, so mayest thou perhaps be dispatched of a Strumpet, and lose the company of a beastly body: but if thou seem to dally, or to make any account of her, thou shalt ever be troubled with her sight, or mollested with her sound, won with her sweet words, or alured with her loving looks: deceived with her painted pride, or delighted with her pretty posies: her eyes as good as fishing baits, and her hands hold like limetwigges. If society assail thee to crave the company of some trusty Titus, or gain the good will of some faithful jesippus: thou must bear two heads in one hood, or be repaid triple for single: & once gained love that he liketh, his lover excepted, or his Lady only restrained, and then, except thou canst flatter, thou must not live, and whom thou acquaintest thyself withal, or makest thy companion, will look to crow over thee, or go about to maintain some mischief against thee: therefore to live without any of them, and to use them all alike, were the best in my mind, and the surest for thy safeguard. Couldst thou so temper thy traditions, and frame thy fragility to work thy utility, for let him disdain thy doings, or loath thy loyalty, if in working thy own welfare, thou unwillingly trouble his testy temperance: if in gaining thy gracious glory in any respect, thou gratify not his greedy gulf, to his contentment though smally to thy easement: if in talking thou trouble him, or in walking thou wring him, in speaking to any thou give not him leave to be before thee, or in saluting thou suffer him not be first satisfied, thou shalt purchase thee his displeasure, and win him thy enemy: in banqueting thou must spend frankly, and in feasting feed him finely: one way thy courtesy will increase thy care, & the other way thy loyalty augment thy sorrow: thou must soothe him sweetly & praise him with perpetuity: bear a brain as if thou wouldst banquet him, & make boast of his bravery: flatter him to his face, and dissemble with him to his very lips: For if by thy honest behaviour thou purchase him thy peer, or by thy goodness thou gain his gratitude: by thy loyalty, thou purchase his liberty: by thy honest deserts, thou win him as thou wouldst wish: Alas, when thou hast fished so long, thou shalt find but a Frog, and gained what thou canst get: thou shalt● have but a flitting friend, or a faithless foe: thou shalt reap but Cockle for thy corn, and Thistles in the stead of Grapes: Brambles in the place of Apples, and briars in the room of Figs: for when to do him any pleasure thou mayest, thou shalt happily displeasure thyself, the least look, or the smallest word, the least dicurtesie, or the smallest quality, the least frump, or the smallest froward face will procure him practise thy perdition, and sell thyself to some Lozel, hired for a little lucre, and rather than fail, or be deceived of his purpose, he will himself under the pill of an Apple, convey a dram of poison, or foist some Fig to seal thee a Passport of farewell to thy friends, or give thee some drench of little delight, good for the Bottes, but ill for the belly: then must his hair be curled after the cut, or frizzled after the finest fashion, his Mouchachos, Turkylony like, and his Beard his God, his belly boulsfred as their fashion is, and his Rapier after the newest device: his face must be washed and froathed, and his ruffs seemly set: his Hose brusshed, and his Shoes wiped: then walketh he so mannerly, and treadeth so stately: marcheth so warily, and saluteth so courteously, that you will say he resembleth a Saint, when in troth he is as proud as Lucifer: if he espy you to talk with his wife, to use conference with his Lover, or to move any question to her whom he calls his friend, you may then look for his rusty Rapier to rumble in your belly, or his stubbed Poniard to give you the Stabbado, you never the wiser, and he little the better: I speak not to this end Phemocles, neither imagine my meaning to be such, that thou shouldest refrain all company, or remain always in the Melancholy chamber, but admonish thee whom thou entertain, and of whom thou art entreated: with whom thou accompany, and with whom thou art acquainted: whom thou choose thy friend, and how thou shalt find few faithful: As I would have thee liberal, so would I not have thee lavish: as spend, so not spoil: as willing, so not wilful: as for play, I know thee to be no gamester: and for drinking, no Tavern hunter: thou mayst for recreation use the Tennis Courts, and the dancing Schools, to refresh thy weary spirits: but the theatres in any wise refrain, and all such mischievous motions: and here in the benificiality of my blessings, and as you will retain me your fatherly friend: refrain the company of Courtesans, and disdain the fellowship of Harlots, who will quickly peer in your pocket, and empty your purse: laugh in your face, and cut your throat: profess you great good will, and work you some villainy: to abandon your body to their bravery, you shall sell your soul to the Devil: I will therefore with your consent, & in that it is likely to be profitable your estate, that such necessaries as are wanting be with speed provided, and those things which you have not, may hastily be made ready: for in prolonging your pilgrimage, you do but delay your desires, and the thing once gained that you go for, so speedy return may be made as shall seem good in your liking.  
Phemocles stood all the pronouncing of this penalty, and the reading of this inditement, like the picture of S. Peter, or the image that Pygmalion wrought: for this he weighed in his wavering mind, and cast these doubts in the habitation of his head, that to departed from him whose company he craved so much, and to forsake that good fellowship of his late purchased friend, for whose sake, he would with Orpheus have gone down into Hell, or have ventured to gain the golden fleece, or to have tried his strength with Gorgon's head, to have had his happy desired friend with him, or to use his good instructions in that tedious travel, and long voyage: then contrariwise, the request of his father was so prestricte, and his commands so straight, to deny which motion, or to gainsay his pretence, would cause him be disliked, which before was so well loved: he armed therefore his amorous mind with the heritage of hope, and fenced his fancy with the friendship of a favourable return. So soon as he had bought his bargain, or learned his lesson, yet the time he knew would seem tedious, though it were but half a year, and that too long, had it been less, but that he minded should be the most, and the uttermost day should not be more, but he reckoned without his host, and told his cards false, the more his grief, as afterward it proved, and the greater his sorrow, as after it ensued, he shaped therefore this resolute answer, and replied as followeth.  
Dear Father, I should seem either very prodigious to renounce your reasonable request, or very mallaparte to brag before I have bidden the battle, either very foolish to deny your demands, or very doltish to drive of doubts with delays: either very froward to frown at your frank proffer, or very lowtishe not to listen to your lessons: for dutifully to obey, is but the part of an obedient son, and to gainsay the institutions of so tractable a Schoolmaster, were the part of an untoward Scholar, and a great sign never to prove a Doctor: the one will yield me contentation, and give me delight, the other drown me in despair, and be a mean to cast me into the exile of your friendly favour, than the which, no one thing can be more hurtful to my estate, or greater against my profit and preferment: for having lost your favour, and gained your displeasure, who will procure me a plaster in my greatest grief, or yield me remedy for my frailty in the multitude of my misery: by you I hold, by you I hope: by you I enjoy that which otherwise I had not: by you I live & lack not: by you I wish and want not: by you my care is comfortable, which otherwise should be incommodious: by you my health is happy, which otherwise should be dangerous. How happy is the unfortunate child which hath a careful Father? and how blessed that Son that hath a gracious Patron? but how much is Phemocles bound to the celestial God, whose Father is as faithful as careful, & more careful than his courtesy deserveth, or are ever likely to merit. But Sir, if I miss not my mark, and that my Card deceive me not, my unremoovable mind in this respect is fully resolved to prosecute your pleasure, and to spend that my troublesome time in such honest order, and so for my profit, as may redound greatly to your good liking, and not a little to my preferment: pleaseth you therefore to lend me that liberty, and to grant me which erst you promised, that my tongue once attained, and my study finished, I may return as hastily, as now I must departed speedily. I am ready so soon as it pleaseth you to furnish me, and stand at your gracious command ready to departed: As touching the T'rulles of Naples, and their trifling toys, I shall perhaps be in their ave maria, but I will never proceed so far as their Creed: they shall not look so lovingly, but I will bend my brows as bitterly: they shall not talk so sweetly: but I will answer as shrewdly: they shall not sing so pleasantly, but I will feign as flatteringly: if they haunt me, I will hunt them: when they call quickly, I will come as slowly, & rather I will be tied to a post, as was Ulysses, or stop my ●ares as did his men: then be either lured with their looks, or won with their wiles, their flattering shall not make me feign, nor their words cause me be wanton: their looks shall not win my liking, nor their lust get my loyalty: their bravery shall not cause me to blaze in beastliness, nor their painting to be proud in peevishness. As for their gallants the (Neapolitan Gentlemen) my acquaintance shall not be costly, nor my meeting stately: let them prance it in pride upon their pounced pantaffles, I will bounce it after our fashion with my shoes and buskins: let them bombast their bellies, I will retain my slashed hose: let them wear their glistering Rapiers, I will wear my short sword: let their Ladies use the vaunting of Venus, or the flattering of Flora: the lewdness of Layis, or the unshamefastness of Myrrha: the filthiness of Pasiphae, or the devilish desires of Heroydas: all their trumperies, all their toys, all their protestations, all their prerogatives, all their sorceries, all their sophistries, all their haggish harmony, all their devilish melody, can not stir the mind of Phemocles to a Strumpet, nor entice him to the treachery of a Traitor: But happily you will thus reply, or make me this answers: Phemocles is flesh as well as others, and made of the substance of other men: flesh indeed, but yet no morsel for such dainty mouths, nor food fine enough for such trim trulls: they shall try me ear they taste me, and in eating they will hardly digest me: one cause is, because I am not powdered for their purpose, nor crammed for their chaps: the other, that in tasting, they shall find me as bitter as gall, and in drinking a dole drench for such doltish dotards. But alas Phemocles, thou layest on load now the enemy is away, thou throwest down Mountains before thou camest near them: thou wilt kill the Devil, yet never dealtst with his dam, God grant thou be not bewitched with their wiles, nor weaned before thou hast sucked: the little Lamb skips and leaps, till the Fox come in place, than he quivers and quakes, trembles and shakes, craveth help so well as he can, and maketh moan after his manner: thou pratest before thou provest, and tatlest before thou triest: thou dreadest no danger on the dry ground, but on the Sea, Shipwreck makes thee shiver: the tree maketh no noise before it fall, and thou dost not complain, till thou art caught: the Bear danceth before the Dogs are on her back, and thou regardest not thy money before thou come into the hands of thieves: thou here in Vienna dost vaunt with any, when thou art in Naples thou wilt cry creak like a Cock that is craven: in Naples the fruit is outwardly painted, God grant it be inwardly putrefied: the Damsels in Naples are as dainty as sweet meats, but it is well if they prove so wholesome as sour sauce: the men ruffle in their robes of purple and velvets, yet I fear me they carry double. P. about them, and never a Pater noster, God grant thee Phemocles to bargain with neither of both.  
The good man his Father all the time of this treatise, & the saying of this Sermon, stood listining to the lure of this trained traveler, and hearkening diligently to that which he had spoken: and when he had ended this his Oratory, and declared the effect of his meaning, his Father granted for his return, the choice to be in himself, and that gained which he went for, to come so soon as he would: fortifying therefore himself against all the furies of his fancy, he put on the armour of forgetfulness, and so marched under Captain Contentus, not so well pleased as he would have wished, nor so surely eased, as he would have desired. His father for his speedy dispatch prepared every particular thing for so contrary a journey, and all necessaries whatsoever for his speedy dispatch: but amongst other extraordinaries, his friend Norbanus, had he known how, or by what means, he would gladly have put him into his portmanteau, or trussed him up in his pocket. But, alas, this journey was so soon chopped up, & provided with such haste, as not so much leisure was left, or so much time spared, as to give a friendly farewell, or bid adieu from one to the other, which no doubt was great grief to their galled consciences, and a heavy burden for them equally to bear: for Norbanus was at that unfortunate time out of the Town to dispatch some business for his Uncle, the grater his grief, the more the others sorrow: and Phemocles when he was taking his horse, and even upon going went to take leave of his second life, and to give the farewell to his dear friend, but he was quite beside the cushion, and his expectation was frustrate, which increased his jollity like the pangs of death, & revived his spirits, as if he should have received his last reward: for he was now on horse back, & had taken leave of his Father, therefore to write would but breed some suspicion in his Father's jealous head, and to import his message to any, he imagined was but a device of small certainty: therefore resolved himself to defer that determination, and stay his writing till time would better serve, and place more fit to use his practice: he therefore departed smally satisfied, and as ill contented.  
Now is Phemocles in his wide study, as broad as the high way to Naples, greatly troubled with the leaving of his new faithful friend, and then the departure from his Father troubled him somewhat: them was he not unmindful of his old acquaintance, and of the residue of his kinsfolks: now he thinketh on the bravery of Naples, and then of the comely Curtizanes he should behold there: then of their rich apparel, and so of their painted pride: now of the usages of their Clergy, and then of the orders of the Laicitie: now of the time he should gain his study, which as he thought would be but half a year, then of his return how he should be received home again? These contagious cross cares afflicted his fancy, yet caused the way to seem somewhat shorter: and after this his painful Pilgrimage, he arrived at Naples, the place he so long desired, where he found the instructions of his Father to be nothing contrary, neither was he deceived in his own imagination: for the painted walls brought him into a great admiration at Naples: then the wrought windows, whereout he might behold a flirting fisgig singing to her Cithern: then the bravery of their apparel, which was so far unlike his attire: then he marked the devoutries of their devotion, and then their brave exercises for recreation: almost ravished with these subtle sights, and well-nigh forgetting the effect of his coming, yet framed he in the end his fangled fancy to beat his brains about his business, for which he had taken so tedious travel, and wandered such a weary way.  
Norbanus at his returning home, after the dispatch of his business, and being informed of the sudden departure of Phemocles, and his hasty voyage the which he was gone, was stricken into such a dump, and moved so with melancholy, as he seemed drowned from any delights, and exiled from all pleasant conceits: first he recorded to himself the ingratitude of his friend, and the small regard he had to participate it unto him, that he would seem to departed without taking leave in his own person, or not so much as manifest it by some ragged letter: then again calling to remembrance the obedience towards his father, and that it behoved him to do no less: than that he was at his Uncle's house to seek him, but could not hear of him, he let fall that fancy, and entertained another in the place thereof: then his own ill hap troubled him, for his unfortunate being out of the Town: then this grieved him that so foolishly he had put away all his old friends, to entertain him a stranger, but then thoroughly acquainted, and so soon to start away: these perverse cogitations, so troubled him, and his own contrary imaginations so beguiled him, as he fared not so well as he might have done, nor liked so well of the matter, but that his inward griefs appeared by his outward shows: which his Uncle perceiving not only by his doings, but also by other manifest signs, who loved him so dearly, and had his health in so great honour, yet not knowing to remedy his malady, or what drench to give him for his disease, but used many sweet word●, & fair motions, to understand the effect of his heaviness, or the manner of his grief: but he prevailed so much in his purpose, & gained as much by his inquiring, as if he should have looked for some famous act of a dead man, or heard some sweet sayings proceed forth of the mouth of a new borne infant, which grieved him at the gall, & displeased his patience not a little.  
Not long after this new received grief, & sudden gained sickness, Henricus was requested by a special friend, & moved by one whom he could not deny, to help celebrat a certain feast, & to make up the mess at a banquet, which he gladly answered to be there, & that he should command him a greater matter, but that his Nephew, his only comfort and greatest joy was troubled with a melancholy disease, and a fit of frowardness. Reanswered the invitor:  
Why sir I beseech you let him accompany you, & be your guest, for that the small company which shall be there, & they my special friends, will be pleasantly disposed, & pass the time merrily: to the which he willingly agreed, & gave his full consent, on the condition his Nephew would bear a brain, & be merry in that pleasant passance, & place of recreation: whereto Norbanus consented more to feed the humour of his uncle, than for any affection he had to the feast: for his stomach was yet full of his new conceived delights, and his mind glutted with their remembrance, which feebled his body, & altered his favour, in so much, as he looked very ill, & his stomach was very bad. But this banquet procured the which he never suspected, & changed this new corsive to an old sore: for thinking with melody to put away melancholy, he brewed a bitter bane for his own drinking, & took so much, as he could not digest it in a long time after. The appointed day come, & every thing provided, these invited guests all resorted, as well Henricus, and Norbanus, as also those other which were bidden: where amongst this comely crew, & courtly companions, there was a young Gentlewoman which gave Norbanus such a glance with her eye, as she pierced a piece of his heart: and the more to increase this new desire, & to kindle these glowing coals, he was placed so right over against her, as he could not but cast some countenance of favour, or show some sign of courtesy. Thus sat he gazing first at the heavenly hue of her beauty, then on the excellency of her bountiful bravery: then wondered he at the greatness of her exceeding courtesy: then marveled he at her passing good graces: then mused he at the specialty of her fine behaviour: then was he rapt with the angelical hue of her fair face: them was he astonished to behold the intermixed colours of her roseal cheeks, then the twinkling of her eyes did so put out his small lights; as he could neither behold them looking on her, yet durst he not reprove them for shining in such order. Thus fed he on the feature of her face, & could eat nothing, but looks of love, nor drink any thing, but the drams of his desires: sometimes when by chance she met him with a look, or gave him a counterbuff at the middle meeting of their eyes, he would blush, as if he should not so presume to look without licence, or droop down his head, as being sorry if he had offended: then musing by what means he might have occasion of parlance, or use the means to bewray his woes, suddenly looking that way, was not fully in the face, & still pierced farther than at the first: for drinking too often he wanted no cups, & for always being carved unto, no meat on his trencher: and amongst other that troubled his trenchers, Fidelia, for so was the Gentlewoman nominated, reached him the wing of a Partridge, & laid it before him, which he so gratefully accepted, & thankfully received, as if it had been Manna sent from Heaven, or some of the meat that the Goddesses fed on: & had it been poison coming from her hands, or some deadly draft, she giving it, I think he would neither refuse to eat the one, or denied to drink the other: for he who as yet never laid his lips on the law of love, nor never before felt one fit of Cupid's craft, was now limed like the little bird, or taken in the snare of her beauty: Thus sat Nar. as though he had looked on the head of Medusa, & been turned to stone: or as if he had always been fainting, & never fallen: But if Nar. were ravished: Fidelia was also betrayed, for his looks as much procured her delights, as her eyes fed his greedy desires: for every look she repaid him a liking, and for every sign she gave him a cross greeting: for every glance she gave him a gléeke, and for every cast, she requited him with a congee: for every sigh, she yielded him a blush: and for every look of love, she reanswered him a dram of desire.  
This feast ended, and the clothes taken away, thanks given to God for his goodness, and courtesy yielded for their friendly favour, the old Gentlemen, and most ancient company fell first to disporting themselves, and to use their recreations, some to Chests, some to Cards, some to hear music, some to sober talking, some questioned of their estates, some talked of strange countries. The younger sort used other exercises, and deused more youth-like pastimes: some passing the day with pleasant discourses: some with propounding quaint questions: some with fine songs: some with tattling tales: some fell to playing: and some settled themselves to dancing: amongst which company, Norbanus made up the number, and served as one not to be spared amongst the rest: by which means, he thought to find opportunity to talk: and time to utter his mind to her that he served, and the seemly Saint that he held his Candle unto: the instruments sounding, and the Music beginning to move them, the other young Gentlemen in order took every man his mistress, and Norbanus amongst the rest would not stand to strain courtesy, but led Fidelia by the fair fist, who seemed not greatly unwilling, nor strived much to refuse his gentle courtesy: the Almain ended, and the Music ceasing to sound, Norbanus could not restrain any longer, but spoke as followeth.  
Mistress Fidelia, presuming upon your courtesy, and nothing doubtful of your friendly favour, more boldly perhaps than wisdom would I should, yet not more earnestly than reason willed or would, moving you to take a little pains, and to walk after your late received appetite, which may it prove to your contentment, and be grateful to your goodness, Norbanus sufficiently satisfied, and in mind passng well pleased: as for the courtesy of your father, the procurer of my coming, I stand bound to do him service howsoever, or to pleasure him after my small power.  
Alas good Sir, replied Fidelia, this small pittance and little allowance which you have here tasted, and fed perhaps a little, will suffice where there is no better, or hold life and soul together for the time: but for any dainties, or plenty of fine cates, if you did either expect or look for, you were deceived of the one, and miss of the other, I the more sorrowful, and my father the worse contented: but my father's willing mind and great desire to gratify his friends, is in deed to be excepted before superfluity of fare, or choice of dishes, which seeing it hath pleased you so courteously to take, & so gratefully to except, he I am assured is sufficiently requited and repaid with advantage: as for my courtesy it is so small, and my gratitude so simple, neither framed after the finest, nor used any way more than ordinarily, but that you are content to yield me more commendations than I deserve, or more praise than I am worthy to have, which seeing it hath pleased you to bestow so bountifully, I accept them as willingly as they were meant honestly.  
Then the Uialles sounded a new Measure, which forced them to stay their talk, and to leave in the middle of their bargain, which ended, and that the other company also talked, Norbanus spoke as followeth.  
Mistress Fidelia, to yield you ingratitude for your kindness: or frowardness for your fréendlines: small courtesy for your great liberality, and little thanks for your great deserts, were the part of an unmannerly mate, and a certain show of small gentility, and as little honesty: for the greatness of courtesy is not mixed with any quantity of curiosity, neither is honest behaviour to be requited with faithless fidelity, neither assured affiance to be measured with so slender sincerity: if the cause be commendable, the quality cannot be but reasonable: by boldly untertakinge this venturous voyage, and coming to your Father's house, I have gained that which I never expected, and found that by chance, which of free will I should never looked for, seeing that by the force of fortune, which I hope will breed my bliss, and grant it bring not my bale, if happily I obtain it, I gain my life: if unfortunately I lose it, I get my death: the end whereof will yield me either everlasting happiness, or seal me a quick dispatch of my unfortunate luckines: If Fortune be so favourable that by hap I possess it, I pass into the earthly Paradise, amidst the greatest joys that may be: if contrary, my willing desires not enjoy it, I shall sink to the bottom of despair, and so end my unhappy days.  
Alas Sir, replied Fidelia, I am not a little sorrowful but greatly grieved that your coming hath been so uncomfortable, and my father's house such a harbour of your unhappiness, your entertainment so unprofitable, & your small courtesy, to breed your great perplexity: your pains so prejudicial to your profit, and your pleasure to be interlaced with the loss of liberty: for look by how much the more your care is increased by the means of my Father's homely house, by so much the more will he be discontented, to be the occasion of your manifold miseries, or the first founder of your hapless infelicity: If any thing whatsoever have been offensive or by misordringe disliked, it shall be amended with reason, or corrected to the fashion of your fancy: if he have hurt you unwittingly, he will heal you gladly: if harmed you unwillingly, help you speedily: if not thankfully gratified you, yet willingly you ought to prefer his willing mind before his wishing desires: for could his will been agreeable to his wish, & his wish consented to that which he would: you had neither miss of fine fare, nor been deceived of good entertainment: not so gladly have requested, but he would more willingly have performed: not so soon have sued, as you should speedily have obtained: not so inwardly have been moved with desire, as he would outwardly have contented your meaning: But where there wanteth wealth, there of force lacketh will: and where there is will without wealth, there also is wishing, but no obtaining: For my part if any way my means were unmeasurable, or my sayings unsatiable: if my doings were reproovable, or my dealings doubtful: if my delights were not dainty, or my mind any way moved then otherwise it ought: if any fault were framed by my procurement, or any device done not agreeable your moved mind: I either being the Author, or yielding my consent, I desire but due for my deserts, or punishment for my offence, whosoever be judge, or what ever be my crime: and as I am sorry that my Father's insecuritie hath bred your infelicity, so am I not glad that my misdemeanour hath brought you to bed with the Mother of Melancholy.  
Then stayed they the sounding of an other measure, and danced about with the other company, which ended, and the Music left sounding, Norbanus touched at the quick, and galled near the heart, spoke these words, his patience being a little moved.  
O good Mistress Fidelia, cast me not forth to maring, before you have first put me to making: single not out my siftinge, before you have heard my pleading: arraign me not with rigour, before you grant me to answer for myself: for trust me you have mistaken your mark, and shot at a wrong Sayncte: it was your Father's house loving Lady, and my own self that I blamed worthily, and entreated wilfully, neither did I quite condemn it, or utterly dislike it, but said it would procure the one, or grant me the other, and why then may it not yield me the best, as likely as grant me the worst: bring as well my beatitude, as drive me my death, and gain me my glory, as get me my grave: do you think me so far to stray out of the bounds of honesty? or to give such judgement for my entertainment, to render divilishnes, for receiving such deserts, or to repay a mouth full of maliciousness, for gaining my heart fraught with happiness? truly my good Mistress, you construe wrong, and give no right interpretation: for your Father shall command Norbanus, who is bound by duty, and that not in matters of mean measure, but so far as the bounds of reason will permit, or he give willing consent for me to put in practice: but would God grant me that goodness, and fortune be so favourable unto me, that my willing mind might be showed, or my simple service seen, or performing that you would command, in pleasuring your person, or making some show of my simplicity, I would vaunt of my good fortune with the happiest, and boast of my blessedness with the bravest: and in that you imagined me uncourteous towards your sweet self, and to repay your goodness with ungratefulness, I call God for my witness, and choose him my record, that my desires were vanquished by your deserts, and your deserts have so drowned my desires, that without your helping hand, I must perforce fly the field of your favour, which to do you pleasure I would surely prosecute, though no one thing more contrary my heart: But contrariwise all the Hags in Hell, nor all the superiall Spirits shall ever hunt me from your habitation, nor frame me to follow any other felicity, but the hope of my happiness, which is the grace of your goodness, graved in my heart, and rooted in my interior parts: and seeing I have made so fair an assault, I will prove to enter the breach, where I will either leave my life, or gain the goal. be it known therefore unto you, that not procured with better, nor moved with worse: but even the bright beams of your virtue, and the good graces of your parsonage, which to behold I stood amazed, and altogether for the time senseless: when so soon as I had again recovered my spirits, and won my forelost wits, I 'gan first to gaze on your beauty, then to peer on your parsonage: then to stare on the fine favour of your face: then to gape on your good graces: then to marvel at your maidenly modesty: then to mu●e at your entertainment: then to delight myself with those sweet words, which proceeded from your dainty mouth: always intermeddling my honest meaning with your virtuous imaginations, all which I think would ravish the hardest heart that ever breathed, or melt the congealed mind of the greatest Tyrant that ever lived: therefore your beauty have bestraught me, & your virtues vanquished me: it lieth in your liberty to make me the handslave of your sweet soul, and under your correction to grant me my freedom: which if you wit me patiently to possess, and quietly to enjoy, I shall think all terrestrial toys, far inferior to your heavenly delights, and all earthly pleasures but patterns of pain, to the great goodness it will import: where contrary, if you think me unworthy to bestow that sweet joy on, and not fit to possess that your fair favour, I will not perforce live any longer, nor draw my breath in this bitter bale, but yield my luckless life to the loss of myself, and surrender my soul to thee.  
And with that word, wringing hard her hand, and casting his eyes into her body, his wan cheeks, with his pale lips, resembled but the similitude of his picture, or the counterfeit of his favour, as if before his living life had been fled to the celestial joys, or his immortal soul had forsaken this terrestrial state: so droupinge down his heavy head, and lulling his unstaid body to one side, his senses were seduced into the entrails of his sounding soul, and all his members dismembered, not having any force or feeling: thus feebly fainting, and falling in deed, but that he was stayed by Fidelia, and held in her tender arms, at the view of which sight, and that part of the tragedy now before their faces, the other company came with helping hands, and his Uncle ran hastily seeing him falling, for that he would willingly have borne a part, and lent his living soul to accompanied the late fled life, as he thought of his beloved Nephew, & Fidelia would rather have been first in the grave, or enclosed in the body of him, rather than stayed after the departure of Norbanus, and so left him without the company of herself: but tempering with his pulses, and froathinge his forehead with such distilled waters, and other devices, as there was plenty of the one, and sufficient of the other, he recovered his spirits, and stood again upon his stalking legs, looking round about him, and staring on the company, at last espied Fidelia, on whom he spent the bestowing of a pair of eyes, and such a glauncinge countenance, as was able to pierce the armour of Achilles, no marvel then if they ran into the heart of Fidelia.  
His Uncle sorrowful to see this event, and to play there a part altogether unexpected, especially for his own safety: and then that he had troubled the company, so well disposed, and so pleasantly minded: taking therefore his leave of the Father of Fidelia, and so of the other company, thanked him for his courtesy, and gratified the other for their company.  
Norbanus gave the adieu also to them all, but especially to his beloved delight.  
The assembly sorrowful to behold this cross blow, and moved to pity to see his ill hap, giving judgement that this his disease proceeded of Melancholy, or happened by the reason of his cold stomach not able to digest his forepassed fare, or distempered with their hot drinks: others answered that heretofore he had been evil at ease, and kept his Chamber till that day, which then might proceed by taking the open air, or some such like thing to be the occasion of this inward influence, but Fidelia amongst the rest shot fairest at the mark, and in deed hit the very white.  
Henricus walking homewards, earnestly entreated his Nephew the cause of his new conceived corrosive, and from whence it issued: but he must either reach beyond the Moon, or be never the nearer his purpose: for Norbanus soothed him up with some contrary instructions, and forced him believe that which he feigned, answering as contrary from the matter, as he was judged of by the other company.  
Having recovered his Uncle's house, and entered his Chamber, he powered forth these pitiful plaints, and uttered these wayward words to himself, as followeth.  
Alas Norbanus, and is it possible that thou shouldest so soon lose the company of thy sweet Mistress, and so quickly forego her sight, whom thou preferrest before thy own life, and in whose hands but lately thou didst march so mannerly? Oh Fidelia, Fidelia, thou brookest thy name in every respect, and wast not Christened contrary thy deserts: Alas that thy beauty should work m●e this treachery, and thy sweet countenance procure me this malady: my looking hath made me mad, and my gazing stark staring blind: O how happy are those that do daily enjoy thy sight, and are always where they may at the full behold thy face? was this my coming, and this my calling of my Uncle? was this the fruitfulness of the feast, and the looking glass of my lascivious lust? nay, was not this rather the effect of my felicity and the manner of my fisshinge, to hap on so lovely a Lady, and to find such a Frog as Fidelia? But how am I deceived? and in what order beguiled? thinking to enjoy her, or to catch where I never craved, or to angle with my hook being unbayted: my Uncle procured me a little to hastily, and willed me somewhat to speedily, to make sale of my safety, before my former recovered malady: but his meaning was medicinable, though my pain prove unprofitable: by proving to salve my sore: he hath festered my fresh wound, and in thinking to gain me my health, hath lost me my liberty. But blamest thou thy Uncle, and reprovest him that honoureth thy health, and whose welfare he wisheth, who delighteth my desires, and craveth my happiness: who hateth my misfortune, and is sorrowful to see me weep? canst thou then blame thy loving Uncle? and why not condemn the eyes of Fidelia? for had not she looked, I had not loved: and had not she winked, I had not wooed: had not she cast glances, I had not made semblances: and had not she infected me, I had been whole, where now I am sore: pleased, where now I must be plastered: sound, where now I am wounded: and free from servitude, where now I am in bondage. But what sayest thou? dost thou rave, or art thou set to rail? dost thou rage, or beginnest to roar? art thou beside thyself, or doth some other speak for thee? are thy wits thy own, or hast thou borrowed them of some other? thou speakest not by proof, but bablest as thou hast heard thy neighbours? did her beauty so blaze in thy eyes, that thou couldst not see? nay rather did not thy own sight make thee blind? yes truly, thou canst not deny it, and if thou do, thou flatterest but thy own affections, and leadest thy begun love, to a new lust: hath her fair face made thy fortune frowning? and her lovely lights made thee grope in darkness? hath her modest means caused thy immodest manners? and her sweet conceits bred thy cursed cares? no Norbanus, Fidelia is fair, so is she friendly, amorous, and amiable, pleasant, and pitiful, loving, and loyal, modest, and maidenly, handsome, and honest, comely, and courteous: she wanteth no gifts of nature, and needeth no nurse for nurture: dost thou think that under so comely corpse can lodge any lust of disloyalty? or in so beautiful a parsonage can remain any spark of dishonesty? no surely, she was not framed for fashion sake, or made for that there were no more: O how her sweet words did revive me, almost drenched in the dyke of despair, and how her chaste countenance pierced me being almost dead: Happy art thou Norbanus that layest thy love, where thou must leave thy loyalty in possessing thy hope: but thrice happy shalt thou be, if thou attain that jewel, which though thou carry not about thee, yet wearest thou it in the bottom of thy heart: but I should not praise her before I know her, but I dare compare her, before I am acquainted with her. Doth she not in hue resemble Hester? and in chastity Susanna? in beauty Bersaba? and in judgement judith? in sobriety Sara? and in wisdom Minerva? in comeliness Diana? and in heavenlynesse Castor? But why couldst not thou for a time dissemble thy danger, and keep close thy grief? but being perceived of all, they will laugh at thee in their sleeves. Behold here the extremity of love without the consent of lust: I crave but her seemly sight, and ask but her bare company to comfort these my pernicious perils, and relieve these tossing torments: her help would make me hole, and her stay would make me strong: why then should I not enjoy her? because honestly I love her: for in loving her, I lose my liberty, and in foregoing my liberty, I may happily gain my delight, and in obtaining my desire, I care not then how speedily I gain my grave: if in dying I yield my last breath in her bosom, who shall be more fortunate than myself? if in living I enjoy not her company, whose death shall be more speedily? like to the budding blossom bitten with the frost, so do I fade: or as the Apple eaten inwardly with the worm, and never appeareth outwardly, till rotting, it drop from the tree, or consumed, fall to the earth: or as the old tree consumed, and hollow within, never appeareth in the wind till it fall to the earth, or consume as it standeth: so shall I fade, so shall I fall: so shall I droop, so shall I die: so shall I rot, so shall I be bereaved of the rarest jewel that Europe breedeth. Alas, are these the rewards of love? and the recompenses of my good meaning, to hazard my life, and to die unwounded: but do thy eyes pierce worse than arrows? and thy sight infect like the Basalik●? If one enemy hurt another, he either seeketh a present salve, or giveth him his speedy death. If a Dog be bitten by another of his kind, he licketh himself whole again. If the fléeting fish be wounded, he healeth himself in the running River. But doth not the lamenting Dear, the arrow sticking in his side, repair to some thick grove, or bushy lawn, where he moorneth till he die, & walketh himself, till senseless he fall dead to the earth? Alas, is not my case such, and my wound in like order? my careful Chamber yields me small comfort, and what reap I here, but the fruits of infelicity? but thou Novice, did she give thee this gléeking gall? nay, was it not thy own eyes? why then blamest thou her whose faith is thy felicity? whose countenance thy comfort? whose loving looks the prolonger of thy life? whose amiable grace the greatness of thy goodness? and whose sweet words the very restority of thy mutability? complain not then on her, who was not the causer of thy malady, for had not thy own eyes been the instruments, she had not procured thee: and hadst thou not looked, thy love had been little: and had not thy love been so great, thou hadst been lose at liberty, where now thou art tied to her courtesy, and bound to her beauty. And what if thou be so tied, repentest thou thy bargain? or art thou sorry for thy choice? no, no, the fair Rose hath a sweet smell: the Uermilion violet a most pleasant sent: the white Lily, most amiable to behold. Do we not daily see that misshapen things have as deformed conditions? and the braver the beauty, the finer the quality: the fairer the face, the more fruitful the fancy. Can there lodge in Fidelia any mistrust? or any deceit? any dishonesty? or any envy? any maliciousness? or any wickedness? not in so excellent a creature, or in so goodly a parsonage, in whose feature, and in which formal body, the Creator showed the third part of his cunning, and Nature I think envied she should have one degree more: for had she been celestial, as she is but terrestrial, the heavenly Goddesses would have envied her, for excelling their favours, and passing them in beauty: her excellency is the cause of my imperfection, & were she not so heavenly, my desires would be but earthly: her Angelical face hath infected my ill favoured feature, and her sweet graces bewitched my sottish senses, and in my mind, it is one of the wonders of the World, and one of the rarest matters that may be, how she that hath been beheld of so many, hath not been loved of all: but no doubt, her manners draw the hearts of others, and make their maladies not unlike to mine. How could they in her Father's house behold her, and not love her? with what face could they look on her favour, and not blush at her beauty? would not her words melt in their mouths? and her sweet sayings move their modest minds? Norbanus thou art deceived, the Devil loveth a Collier, and the Crow thinketh her own Bird fairest. The sot is sooner won to lust, than lured to love: the more noble mind, the more worthy enterprise: the valiant, fears no frownings, nor the worthy, dreads no danger. Will the Falcon pray upon a Crow, or the Goshawk cease upon carrion? the Eagle on a dead Horse? or the Tassel on a starved Dog? The Lion will devour no dead thing, nor the foul Bear touch a man lying on the Earth. I know there are more maidens than Malkin, and more lovers than Phillis, yet but one that liketh me, or any that shall love me, but Fidelia. But what shall I do, or what means shall I make? to whom shall I bewail my want? or who will help me? who will relieve me? or who will assist me? who will further me? or who will take my part? who will solicit my suit? or who will plead for me? my case shall be manifested to my Uncle, who will as contentedly assist me, as I willing to crave help.  
But thou Fool, what knowest thou whether he will like of thy love, or condemn thy madness? perhaps he regardeth some other, and will counsel thee to match after his mind, and to love after his liking: and if happily his liking be so, and that contentedly, he will consent, as gladly as myself: shall he therefore be my spokesman, and break the matter first? then will she think he loveth not my loyalty, or regardeth not my chastity, for than would he not spare to speak, nor despair to speed: is not his cause best heard that pleadeth himself being plaintiff? and doth not he most prevail that pitifully moveth the judge himself? yes trust me, that way is therefore the worst, and that invention without a good device: why? the assault is already given, and the breach is begun, yet have I not looked the enemy in the face, or know how I shall speed: yes, I have seen him that hurt me, and scared on the party that wounded me, yet know I not whether he will bandée or yield: if he fight mine is the foil: if I be overcome, shall I turn home like a coward, or be driven back like a dastard? no trust me, yet will I rather choose a honourable death, than a reproachful life: rather a fair Hearse, than a defiled body, and sooner a glorious grave, than a miserable estate: thou hast indeed begun blessedly, and thy inception not to be disliked, God grant thou persevere as happily, & the end not to be detested: but what did thy dying in her hand betoken, and thy fainting in such order presage? was it not a sure sign thou shouldest lose thy life for her sake? and seek her Soul as Aeneas sought Dido in Hell: but she fled from him, and he never recovered her sight again: but if her soul fly from me, and depart my sight, I will never cease but seek her, and never leave, till I find her: thou divinest like a Doctor, God grant thy imagination prove thee not a Sophister: thou standest here upon law points, and drivest doubts unlooked for, leaving the principal to feed thy fancy: the more speedily thou speakest, the more hastily thou shalt be answered: and the sooner thou dost solicit thy suit, the sooner shalt thou receive judgement. Well then Norbanus, this device shall breed thy delight, and to put this in practice, will yield thee thy contentation: let then Paper be thy messenger and declare thy mind, and Ink thy Secretary to devise thy meaning: so mayst thou manifest the inward motions of thy mind, & make it known how dearly thou lovest her, which to look on thyself, thou canst not but blush, and hold down thy head at her wise answers: In these careful cogitations, and amidst these sundry inventions, the day appeared in at the little crevices, and the light broke in between the Curtains: he therefore resolved himself to forsake his sluggish bed, and buckled on his Buskins, where no sooner ready, and all furnished in his apparel, but he began to write, and so to make known his secrets: yet this device seemed doubtful, and as he imagined might breed danger, for that the conveyance of his letters could not be without some suspicion, and the messenger as yet unknown: at the last, this fancy as he imagined might breed his felicity, and this device answer him as himself would desire, which was to requite their courtesies who before had feasted him, and to invite them, by whom his Uncle was bidden, which was not so speedily of his Uncle demanded, as he with hasty condescending had quickly performed.  
Now Gentlemen, you must imagine if Norbanus were pricked, Fidelia was also galled: if he complained, she rejoiced not: if he languished, she laughed not: if he were sorrowful, she was not merry: and if he complained not without a cause, she lamented not without occasion: and if he dived in the depth of his desire, she swum not in the sea of Security: and if his health were denied, her life was not prolonged: You shall therefore understand that at the departure of Norbanus and his Uncle, the one in an ecstasy, the other amazed at the event, the rest of the company broke, and ended that days work, which better pleased Fidelia, then if they should have stayed longer: the assembly clean gone, and all departed, Fidelia entered her Chamber, as if she should have gone into her Grave: where being alone, and bereft of any company, she uttered these words.  
O Fidelia, how froward is thy fate, and how unfortunate thy fall? how luckless thy lot, and how immodest thy malady? how miserable thy estate, and how pitiful thy complaints? though thou wert at a Feast, yet didst thou fas●e: and in that there was plenty of Wine, yet I fear me thou haste drank nought but thy destruction: Alas Norbanus, was thy hap so hard, and thy chance so contrary, to catch here a corrosive uncurable, and to find in this place the fine of thy felicity: I pray it be not so bad, and wish earnestly it be not worse: but if it be so, and no whit otherwise, who is to be blamed, or who to be reproved? whose was the cause, or whose the consent? whose were the deeds, or whose the doings? whose demeanour, or who the occasion of so being bestraught, but thy own self Fidelia, and thy own devices? shall thy love cost his life, and thy beauty breed his bane? shall thy bravery cause his banishment, or thy eyes breed his death? shall thy graces increase his groans, or thy countenance procure his penance? no trust me, if he loved thee a little, thou shalt love him as much: and if he liked thy face, thou shalt embrace his favour: doth not his courtesy, exceed thy curiosity, his behaviour excel thy handsomeness? his deserts drown thy desires? O yes, his talk hath taken me tardy, and his sweet words, pierced my sour lips: happy art thou to gain such a friend: but thrice happy to find such a jewel, who is content to leave his life for thy love, and to go into Hell to get thy friendly favour, to render the remainder of his life, to procure thy felicity: and shall he not then be requited for his courtesies, and repaid for his good deserts? Yes, my health shall hold him, and my joy relieve him: my felicity shall cause his happiness, and my goodness requite his graciousness: my life will I forego to pleasure his person, and my honesty of more value, than all the rest will I import unto him, rather than be deprived of his sight, or bereft of his company: dost thou not freeze for fear? and art thou not cold to to think on thy conceits? nay, dost thou not rather burn in desire, and art as hot as a toast: Fie Fidelia, forbear these fond imaginations, and forget not thy welfare to procure thy woe: but alas, how canst thou forget thy sweet friend, or put out of thy remembrance, him whom above all other thou honour'st: if thou wouldst, thou mayst not, and were thy consent granted, thou canst not: for if it were in thy nay, should he have denial? no trust me, my truth shall be manifested by my trial, and my trial shall not procure his treachery: but why did I hold him from falling, and took him up from stumbling, when he told me my Father's house, and hear he had gotten his bane? Alas, because I love him should I always kiss him? or because he is my friend, should I nought but flatter him? I hated him not, in that I reproved him, nor disdained him, because I consented not to to him? could I say l●sse for my Father's honesty, and used fewer words for my own credit? either I must have tied up my thoughts, or trussed up my tongue: yet my words I confess might have been more friendly, and my sayings more satiable: my words more pleasantly pronounced, and my doings more daintily devised: But what amends shall I make? or what rewards shall I render? what ransom shall I pay? or how remunerate his demeanour? might my portion pay the perfection? or my means any way mitigate his rigour? my desaster should be death, and my life not enjoy my liberty, unless to link with him in loyalty, and to yield him that patrimony, which all true lovers merit: whose liberty is my life, whose welfare my warrant, whose happiness my gladness, whose joy my desire.  
In the middle of these her meditations, and now in the very bowels of love, she was cited to Supper, but not made partaker to such a Feast as she was at lately before: which courteous request, more to avoid the spite of suspicion, than for any desire of dainty meats, she dayned not to perform his last demanding, or to give consent to the request: but she fed more upon fancy, than glutted herself with any cates there present: more upon dainty devices, than any parcel of repast: for this meat forsooth was mawmish, & this melancholy: this dish would drive her to drink, and this cause her to dry: this was rhewmatike, & that would increase phlegm: this choleric, and that heavy to digest: her mind was on her maidenhead, and her thoughts ran on former preambulations: As for her heart, that had Norbanus, and as good will he had to like it, as to leave it: to wear it, as to want it: to enjoy it, as to be without it: her eyes tumbled and rolled now this way, then on that side: now on this dish, then on that device: now she marked the place where Norbanus sat, and then the spoon he eat withal: now the cup he drank of, and then the trencher he was carved upon: now she remembered his dancing, and then his dallying: now his parling, and last of all his departing: her eyes ran in every place, and she eat as much as would suffice a Sparrow: she thought that supper longest of any that ever she was at, when her dinner was four times so long. The Table therefore taken up, and her obedience done to her father, she departed to her Chamber, thinking to banish these toys, lying on her soft bed, and resting her head on her comfortable pillow, but no sooner laid, but assailed in like manner as before: then seeing no sleep would enter into her eyes, and that perforce she must yield to her fancy, she uttered these words following to herself, in like manner as ensueth.  
The toil is set to take the Dear, the hook to hang the Fish, the trap to beguile the Mouse, the limetwigge for the Bird, & the net for the Foxe: and was not Norbanus then a sufficient bait to take so simple a maid as myself? how should I avoid it? or how should I not be taken, that have already yielded, and never strived to make my flight? & having yielded myself prisoner, & abandoned my body to the enemies courtesy, no doubt but my life shall be redeemed without ransom, and free liberty yielded at my entreating, as if thy life were at his courtesy, and thou receivest thy death without his loyalty. But why denyedst thou him at the first motion, and didst not grant when he offered thee so fair? to yield at the first sight, had been the part of a light housewife, and yet in making denial, I fear his life be denied him: where the Town is yielded at the first assault, there are but faint-hearted soldiers: and had Fidelia consented at the first demanding, he might have judged me common: that Colt that will take the bit at the first menacing, is likely to prove but a jade: and the Tassel reclaimed at the first lure, will prove but a Haggard in the end: and had Fidelia condescended at the first request, he would surely imagined her a Strumpet: after drooping clouds, the Sun breaketh out into a blaze: after my sour sauce, he should have had sweet sugar: the frost lasteth but in the night, and in the day the thaw cometh: my heart was not so frozen, nor my mind so congealed, but had the Sun of sufferance stayed a tide, or the heat of his desire bidden the brunt of his bargain, but it would melt like wax, and thaw like Snow: the grass must have a night to grow, and I one day to love: But as the ill favoured Horse seemeth fattest in his masters eye, so seem I most fair that do best feed his fancy: and as the ground showeth rich in the masters sight, when but barren in the eye of another man, so doth my face please his favour, although he dislike another's feature: yes doubtless, my trial is too true, and my proof too plain, but loyalty is my life, and chastity my choice: if I leave the one, I can not live with the other. Lucretia might have dissembled her ravishment, and so saved her life: had she yielded, she had not been forced, and had she not been forced, she might have condescended, and in yielding, procured the death of him that caused the loss of her own life: but as she yielded to lust, so did she also yield to death: she died, why should I live? and had not she died, should not I therefore die? yes surely, and die I would, but for doing him service, whose health will cause me to live in happiness, & whose death will cause me to die in desperateness. Alas how I fade, how I fall, how I look, how I lack, how I love, how I like, how I dying, faint for fear, & how I fainting, am ready to fall: to remember his wan face, with his pale lips: his cold cheeks, with his staring eyes: his dying head lolling down, & my hand held hard in his fingers, with my heart in his habitation, which I could willingly consented, should have departed with his: yet durst I not bewray my thoughts, yet durst I not cry, yet durst I not screech, yet durst I not complain outwardly, yet durst I lament inwardly: did I not quake, & did not my heart droop? yes surely, I would not have lived to his loss, nor die to his hindrance, I think he would neither request the one, nor desire the other: he fell like the blossom, & faded like the flower: he died like the Daisy, & fainted like as a babe sleepeth: he died like the condemned, that layeth his head on the block, and dieth before the blow come: but Norbanus died before he had his condemnation pronounced: he died between thy arms, & in thy lap: When the Rose is blown to the full, it falleth from the stalk, but Norbanus died before he came to the full perfection, and yielded before his life was in danger: But reap up thy remembrance, & pull up thy sprights, did not these hands stay him falling? and these eyes behold him recovering? these eyes indeed, and these hands, but from such holdings God grant I be delivered, and from such sights defended. Can I blush to see my own heart blood? or could I languish to see my life linger for the grave? could I weep to want the greatest welfare in this world? or could I lament to behold so pitiful a tragedy? In seeing thee despair I saw my own death, and in seeing thee breathless, I saw my own bane: in seeing thee pine, I saw my greatest pain, and in seeing thee go to the grave, I saw myself giving up the ghost. Can Phillis hang herself, and couldst not thou kill thyself? could Andromeda dream so pitifully, and canst not thou bewail thy fancy as lamentably? could Prolixena prolong her life after the loss of her lover, and canst thou draw forth thy days, thy desires being detained? could Bacchir bathe herself in the bowl of her blood, and canst thou bless thyself in the beatitude of thy bargain? was Dido content to die the death for yielding to the depth of her desires, and canst not thou be content to sacrifice thy soul for the satisfaction of that sweet Saint? But how did he withdraw himself out of my danger, and how faded his face from my fancy? with heavy cheer▪ and with morning melody: with mestfull joy, and with little jollity: though he came in the common cocks path, yet went he home by weeping cross: how did he look when he bad me farewell? and what a countenance he did cast on me most sorrowful? O those eyes, his eyes, Norbanus eyes, nay my eyes, my weeping eyes, the eyes of Fidelia, were they not mine? yet he gave them me, but where then are they? my heart harboureth them, & I bear them in my breast. But where art thou now Norbanus? and in what place resteth thy bestraughted life? if safe, I not sad: if merry, I glad: if healthy, them am I hole: if sick, I sorry: but my divining may breed my decay, & my bewailing proc●re my woe: for though he fainted, did he fall for me? and though he languished, did he lament for me? though he soothed me sweetly, he may use me as sourly: and though he praised me passingly, yet may he hate me heartily: though he looked earnestly, yet may he love me slenderly, for some sullen sickness was the cause of his sounding, & some old foistring disease did begin again to renew his wont course: he fainted for fear, rather than feared my favour: he that was before sick, how could he be then sound? and he that was before infected, how could he here be healed? why do I not then reject him, and remove him out of my mind? his fancy shall not breed my fear, nor his favour beguile my feature: I will root out his remembrance, & burn the bill wherewith I bid the bargain: his heart shall be out of my habitation, & my liberty not detained with his love, let him look some other lover, and find some fit friend: prove some other Priest, and parley with some other Prelate: try some other more trusty, and love some other more loyal: know some other more kind, and serve some other more faithful: the surest will prove but sour, and the sweetest but sauce: thou hast divined right Fidelia, and spoken but the very truth: bid therefore thy careful bed adieu, and write to him of his wanton wiles, in seeking to mollify so modest a maiden as myself, and to mingle such mischief to so unfeigned a friend as Fidelia: then she left her careful couch, and 'gan to write as followeth.  
ANd couldst thou for my so great courtesy, requite me with a congratulation of perjury: although I looked on thee, yet lusted I not after thee: and though I danced with thee, yet was I not bereft of my honesty: thou hast wooed in Wittenberg some wantonness, wedded to thy wiles, and thou lookest here in Vienna to lure me to thy lust: but alas, thou castest thy baits in a dry Ditch, and if any bite, they will prove but Frogs: Is this one of thy School tricks? and this thy lesson, learned so earnestly to carry two heads in one hood, and two faces in one body? two tongues in one mouth, and two hearts in so little a lump of flesh? No no, go fish amongst foolish Friars, and sing thy Sirens songs amidst the fellowship of Flora: I would thou knewest, Diana is my Mistress, and for such cutters as thyself, they come not in our crew: I am one of those which have vowed vestality, as for thy liking, thou mayst seek the laity of Layis: go find out some flirt to bestow thy frumps on, & make love to some Lozel like to thyself. O how thou wouldst die (forsooth) and lead Apes in Hell: thou didst faint, because I lowered: and thou wouldst sell thy soul, because I would not make sale of my honesty: did I hold thee by the hand when thou dying saidst: and if no? and so didst fall fainting. But out (alas) Fidelia.  
And with those words, the tears flowed down her face, and her head ran round she knew not how, her senses were drowned with despair, and her soul sank softly to the ground: for she slept seemly for a season, and dreamt not of any her desires: who then had beheld her, would have thought her life had been ●led to Limbo Lake, & her soul gone to wander amongst the infernal ghosts: But when she returned to her former imaginations, and had fully possessed the freedom of herself, marualli●ge what she had done, and into what place she had ●eene transported, began to gaze on the walls, and to stare on every place: then she beheld her bed, and mused whither it were her own or not: then erecting her body upon her fallen feet, and turning to her window, looked on other things: then seeing her glass, looked into it, wher● perceiving her watery eyes, and her bubbles cheeks, her hair about h●r face, and her head so out of order, was ravished to know the cause, and amazed at thi● sight: the● leaning on the side of her window, and turning herself to the other part, she saw Paper scribbled on, and Ink standing by it, whereat catching hastily, she read the effect of the prescript: where seeing her own folly, and sorrowful for that was done: she began again so lamentably to lament, and so bitterly to weep, as though her soul should no longer have lived in this painful pilgrimage, and as if sh●e would at that instant forced herself to die: then taking the paper written on, she rend every piece, and every parcel: every word, and every letter, which her imagination did give her to bewray any thing, or her fancy thought would be any way perceived: and in this outrageous rigour, she spoke these words.  
Had this writing ever been seen of any other but myself, or been red of any but me, unfortunate wretch, the hand that wrote it should have been carved with as many cuts, as there were letters written: the mouth that spoke them, should so have been rent, as never to have spoken any more: as for the head that invented it, should never made me such inventions.  
O Fidelia, whither were thy wits wandered? and into what place thy right senses seduced? to devise so mad a mystery, and to invent so devilish a device? to preach so shameless a Sermon, and to sound such Hellish harmony to that sweet Saint, whose life is my living, and without whom my careful carcase shall prove my pe●●ry, in yielding my soul into the body of him, whom no one thing in this world is to me so dear? Therefore, come hap, come heaviness: come sorrowing: come ●olacinge: come sorrow: come felicity, come adversity: come Hag, come Hell: come death, come Devil: I will write to him my weeping will, and send the effect of my meaning: let him take me, or let him turn me away: let him love me, or let him hate me: let him accept me, or let him forsake me: the worst that can come is but death, and I look for no less, neither do I deserve more. What care I if death end my days, and that my life be now at the last cast, so I may die to serve him, whom to enjoy, I would not fear to fetch the Golden Apples from the Dragon, or to pass amidst the gulf of Caribdes: then she took other Paper, and began to write as followeth.  
WHen as Norbanus thy friendly face, and loving countenance presented the pattern of the perfectest picture the Nature nourisheth, or at the least the only form that Fidelia honoureth: I incensed with the light: then pausing a while, and reading it over again, she blotted it out and began a new.  
Of all the human creatures that God wrought, and of all the works that he made, man he framed after the form of his own Image, and the feature of his own face: gave to him a soul, to live again after this terrestrial travail: and beside, lente him a thing in nature, which exceedeth all others in this world: which is the inward influence that proc●edes from the very heart: then stayed she there, and reading what she had written, dashed it out again, and wrote afterwards as followeth.  
THe pleasant Spring procureth the delight of every Beast of the Field, and of every foul of the airs and man is renewed, as it were, and again form: after the cold winter's blast, and frozen fields: when the fine sweet flowers do beautify the Forests, and deck the lawns, every beast rejoiceth: the flickeringe birds make their musical melody: and man is recreated, as it were, and beginneth again as at the first: each Bea●● chooseth his best beloved, each Bird his match: but the nature of man that way is framed contrary for that all: Then perusing what she had written, she blotted it clean out.  
And standing amazed, to think that she had thrice written, and neither had pleased her, she began to renew her sorrows a fresh, being uncertain what to d●●● for one way she doubted how they would be taken: and a● other thing troubled her, which was the secure delivery of them: in the end, resolved herself to let them alone for that time, & to be better advised before she wrote: which imagination took so good effect, as thereupon she went to dinner better contented, then when she arose in th● morning.  
As for Norbanus, he devised first one thing, and then another: first some ill device, and then a worse: which framed so ill, and proved so contrary, as he looked as ill as at the first, and rather worse than likely to amend: which his Uncle perceived at all times so ill disposed, and to have so little appetite to his meat, spoke thus unto him.  
Nephew, the Pot goeth so long to the water, till it comes broken home, the Cat playeth so long with the Mouse, that at length she eateth her: the Frog leapeth so often up the bank, that the Kite catcheth her: the Fly buzzeth so long about the Candle, that she is brent to ashes: doth not the Sun as well thaw the snow, as dry the dirt? doth not the fire as well melt the wax, as harden the sappy wood? I fear me thou wilt dally so long with the fire, as thou wilt be burnt with the flame: the dawning of the day breaketh out softly, increasing till the clear light be discerned, but when the Sun shineth out, what can be hidden from the sight thereof? thy disease groweth by degrees, and increaseth like the waxing of the Moon, for first it troubled thee a little, but n●w it restraineth thee of thy meat, whereby thou shouldest live, and prolong thy life. Can the Horse live without provender? or the Lamb without the wait of her dam? the child without the breast of the Nurse? or a man without his natural food? canst thou live, and lack the maintenance of thy life? thy days must perforce be shortened, and thy wind waste away like the water bubbles: and thy life lost, how shall mine be ma●nleihed? if th●u enjoy not thy desire, why should I enjoy my health? therefore Norbanus, as duty bindeth thee, and as I think entirely thou dost love me, put away this pensiveness, and drive away these dumps: fly from these fancies which will shorten thy life like a shadow, and consume thee, like as the Caterpillar devoureth the blooming blossom: if there be any thing, whatsoever, spare for no speaking, and thou shalt not miss for obtaining: make manifest thy misery, and then if I procure thee not a plaster, let me not bear the name of thy faithful Uncle, that will not seek to salve thy disease.  
These sweet words made so satiable a sound in the ears of Norbanus, as he had almost bewrayed the weary wandering of his wavering wit, but yet stayd his tongue to some more temperate time, and to a season more fit the grafting of his words, he thus replied.  
Dear Uncle, can the infant go so soon as he is borne? or will the Tree sprout again so soon as the old leaves are fallen? when the Tide hath flowed to the full, must it not have a time to ebb again? and when the Moon is waxen to the full, must she not have her season to wain again? can my disease be dried up in one day? or can I be cured with one pleasant conceit? as i● increased, so must it decrease: as it grew, so must it fade: as it came, so must it go away again: my grief began with groans, but I hope it will end with gladness: doth not the cold increase, as Summer weareth away? and as Winter decreaseth, do not so the sprigs sprout? doth not the silly Sheep quiver and quake, deprived of his fleece? but once grown, he dreadeth not the weather as before? the bouncing Buck deprived of his goodly horns, keepeth the lawns and groves, which once grown again, he showeth himself as before. So must Norbanus comfort himself with his close Chamber, and use his consolation in his quiet Cabin, till his malady be amended, and his conceits cured. But Uncle, to drive away all doubts from your desires, and all suspicion from your presumption, I neither am infected with frenzy, nor mad above measure: but my fever is faintness, and my pensiveness melancholiness: no other disease, nor any other device, no other sickness, nor any other sainctlinesse: no other infection, nor any other consumption: And seeing you have so courteously offered, I will as shamelessly demand: which is, that I may enjoy the company of some pleasant disposed companions, and the sight of some honest merry meetings: and in that you were so friendly invited, I beseech you as courteously to entertain, if it shall please you that comfortable company where you were so friendly feasted, and so bountifully entertained, for that they are good and honest, courteous without curiosity, and pleasant without partiality.  
To the which request, for that it seemed neither unreasonable, nor very unprofitable, he willingly condescended, and with speed made repair to invite his former banquetters, who as courteously consented, as he friendly entreated.  
Now let those that have been bit with the Bolt of Cupid, and tasted the conceits of love, justify their judgements, whether these copartners fellow lovers were incensed with their inflamed fancies, or bereaved of their right wits, or drawn with the desire of mutual confederacy, or to make manifest the meaning of the mind, and the other to take delight in the lips of her lover. Fidelia for her part spared not to bounce it in the bravest manner she could, nor looked that any one thing should be contrary her calling: no wrinkle awry on her kirtle, no spot stained on her coat: every finger she thought was fifteen, and every toe twenty: her glass was oftener gazed in that morning, than looked on half a year before: her comely head decked with fine flowers, and her gloves perfumed with sweet waters: As for those things which were nearer her body, I trust lacked neither Musk, nor wanted Civet, nor any sweet smells to delight her darling, and to feed his fancy: As for other dainties fit for such a banquet, and other delights pertaining to a lovely feast, she conveyed in her bosom a Casket full of kindness, the Till filled with temperance, and the sides painted with security: the bottom full of embracings, and both ends full of honest entice: the hinges hanged with harmony, and about that place delighted with melody: within the lock stood loyalty, and hard by chastity hand in hand: on the hooks happiness, and the inner sides lined with liberty: on the top was trust, who held truth by the toe: on the feet was fancy, looking in the face of fidelity: underneath was Venus sitting in the lap of poultfooted Vulcan, and not far from thence was Diana dancing with her naked Nymphs: and a little from them were placed Faith, Hope, and Charity: Faith was painted with a smiling countenance, and friendly favour, looking so fervently upon Hope, and so sweetly, as though the blowing breath had proceeded forth of her mouth, giving the one hand to Hope, and with the other hand she beckoned that Charity should come to her: Hope held a Hawk upon her fist, which seemed as if it had been flying away, and with the other hand she caught it again: from one eye ran down the trickling tears, and the other looked lively, and her countenance as though she had laughed: Charity looked full in both their faces, and in one hand she held a Dove and a Dog, the which she presented to Faith as her fee, and in the other hand she held a Sword and a golden Apple, the which she gave to Hope: Hard by these was Envy, with a knife in the one hand, and a rod in the other: then next to him was placed Disdain, who stood vomiting and slavering out of his mouth: then was there Despair, who fared as if he had been running amongst the Nymphs naked: and Death following him with a great many darts, and one of them he threw, which did stick in the buttock of Despair: This was her Casket of conceits, and this she carried to prove which of them would represent her purpose, as for Rings and Bracelets, jewels, and Chains, Tablets & such like, I trust she rifled her coffers, & left none of the best behind her.  
And if Fidelia were so ●●ne in her fancies, Norbanus was as trim in his trumperies, and by that time he was thoroughly furnished of his attire, and fitted of his necessaries, the long desired guests approached: who were not so soon come as welcome, and far better welcome was Fidelia, than either her Father, or any other friend. Norbanus courteously saluted them all, enterteyning them with so good grace, as showed him to be no Novice that way, or needing any tutor to teach him tricks: he gave to the Father of his Saint great thanks for their late received gratulations: then saluted he the Gentlewomen orderly, so came he to Fidelia, and kissing his hand, laid it on the fair fist of Fidelia, and then kissed her hand: as for his eyes, he laid them under the eye lids of hers, and gave her this salutation.  
Mistress Fidelia, mighty Princes and great monarchs are of duty bound, and in conscience ought do no less than yield thanks to God for their dignities, and praise him for their received riches: but much more I, for enjoying this benefit, and be holding this body, your only sweet self: to the which all earthly things are in respect but loathsome, but I prefer it before my own life, but for suspicion, he neither durst stay to speak any further, nor abide to hear the reply of her answer.  
Henricus shortly after, placed this courteous crew in such order as he judged best, and allotted every one their places, according to their calling.  
Norbanus was content for that time to bear the office of Gentleman Sewer, and I think could have been contented to have held a Candle at the trencher of the Saint he served: but so soon as the first course was in, he took his place appointed by the Master of the Feast, where he fed on a dainty dish, that he would rather have bestowed in an other place then there: if she looked merrily, than did he laugh: if she lowered, he frowned: if she scowled, he was coy: if she were pleasant, then was he merry: he fed neither on spoon meat, nor boiled dish: neither on baked, nor roasted, neither the Partridge, nor the Plover: neither Crane, nor Quail: neither Heathcocke, nor Mallarde: she looked on her lust, and he beheld his life, for her lust was his love, and his love her life: the other spent the dinner time with eating and drinking but they with looking and liking: But when the feast was finished, and the clothes taken from the Table, after duty done, and courtesy yielded, they arose to pass the rest of the day in pleasant pastimes, in dancings and dallyinge, every one was busied with talking, or communicating of some matter, and Norbanus was talking with one of the Gentlewomen about common matters, and of small importance, where after a small season and a ltile time spent, he espied Fidelia without any to keep her company, and leaning out at a window: whereupon he left off with advantage, and departed where he began, then taking Fidelia by the hand as she stood leaning, he spoke as followeth.  
Mistress Fidelia, to stand upon tacks of tattling, and terms of long discourses, were but the prolonging of a painful pilgrimage, and the spending of time without profit, now so good an occasion is offered, and that this place will permit us a little to speak, and yet the Harbinger cries haste, hast, and the messenger bids post post: I could allege many circumstances, and make many protestations, use many fair flatterings, and give many gléeking gloss, much courtesy, and more curiosity in the working of my words, and the placing of my parlance: know you therefore that the heavenly virtues, with the which God hath adorned you, & nature hath decked you, have at the first view of your beautiful parsonage, and the first sight of your fair favour, so ravished my mind, & stolen my heart, as I who before was never subject to any such suggestion, nor never assailed with any such malady, was so entangled with the heavenly hue of your bright burning beauty, and so rapt with the superexcellency of your sweet self, as come all the torture, and all the torments that ever were devised by any human motion, or invented by any notorious Tyrant, I will die the secret servant of faithful Fidelia, and await on your person so long as I live: will you? will you? I will either love you living, or follow you dead: pleaseth you therefore to retain so simple a servant as myself, and to command me your slave, I shall be bound to you in body, and honour you with my heart: And for my loyalty, if it be not comparable to any that ever lived, and my love as much as any that ever breathed, I pray here from the bowels of my soul, and from the inner part of my heart, God the judge of all secrets, & the acknowledger of all thoughts, to pour his plagues as thick as Hail, and his punishments as plentifully as rain, and after the leaving of this life, all the Hags in Hell, and all the fiends wheresoever, with Fire to torment me, and with their Forks always to pursue my sinful soul. You judged, I am sure, my inward grief by my outward sorrow, when I was at your Father's house, and in the depth of my dancing, and had I then ended my days, and lost my life, I should have thought my hap comparable to any, and inferior to none, where now if I possess not my desires, nor obtain my felicity, my life will be more loathsome, & my death not so acceptable: stand not therefore upon delays, neither use any linger excuses: pronounce either my happy felicity, or death my earthly destiny, which if you give me, I shall as willingly. I can not speak more before you reply.  
Sir Norbanus answered Fidelia: your words are precise, and very prestrict to answer your demands at the full, and to reply in such order as you will me, I stand amazed what to do, and yet fully you must be reanswered: you prefer my parsonage (you say) before all other earthly creatures, and in doing so much, if you perform what you say, you do but your duty, and requite but my courtesy. You love me so well as ever wight was beloved, and honour me as the habitation of your own soul: I will not say I love you better, nor that I honour you more, which if you do not in every respect perform, and to the uttermost of your power seek to maintain, you wish to be punished with plagues, and the Hags of Hell to haunt you, God guide you from them hereafter, but whilst you are here, I hope to defend you. You are content to sacrifice your soul for my sake, and to have your body suffer the torments of death in my behalf: the common saying is: after you is manners: but I will be first in this respect, then use your own as you list. My Father's house you say was a sign sure enough, and that I saw your love sufficiently well: O Norbanus, hadst thou then died, or there left thy life, thy Soul should not have wandered without the fellowship of faithful Fidelia, nor gone into the grave, without the company of me thy most assured till death. Thou willest me not to drive off with delay, for that tomorrow breedeth sorrow: know thou therefore Norbanus, that Fidelia is vowed thy faithful fear, and thou the only Saint that I will serve, and the barking of fearful Cerberus in Hell, or the gaping of that Dragon of Hesperia, shall never cause me forsake thee, or ever force me fly from thee: the which to confirm somewhat more surely, and to bind as we are willed with the bonds of amity, take here my hand, otherwise my heart shall seal me a speedy passport: therefore give me quickly my death, or yield me the thing, without the which, I will never after this day behold the sun, or look up to Heaven, which is thy sweet self, and no other thing.  
Norbanus you imagine, or else do I quickly gave her his hand, and would I think have died in her embracings, had not the company been there.  
O faithful Fidelia, the fréendlyest that ever breathed, and the sweetest that ever lived, how am I rapt that erst was bestraughted? and how revived, that but now was at deaths door? am I in Heaven, or do I hold my ancient habitation? thy life my joy, and I will not live, but to die with thee, nor die, but to do thee service.  
But Norbanus, as I have yielded thee my life, & as thou lovest me, use secrecy, and hold thy hand on thy mouth, till such time as our joys may be obtained at the full, & our marriage rites celebrated to the depth of our desires.  
The rest of the company had spent this time in pleasant talk, & now were set round together, where they all condescended that every man should tell a pleasant tale: to the which Norbanus was invited, and Fidelia willed to make up the mess, who came as joyfully as they were requested earnestly, & it was allotted a Gentleman of the company should begin, & the other consequently to follow, who began thus.  
THere dwelled in Venice a Merchant, 
Marcellus deal Hespado, and Madonna Maria.  whose credit carried some port, and his word was worth much. This young youth longed belike to be in love: for in every corner he was wooing, seeking always some one honest woman, and sometimes amongst the maidens of Flora: he was moved too much with divers honest men's daughters of great calling, & good behaviour, but none liked him, or pleased his fancy, but one of his own choosing, and not of any others. Thus fed he his fancy, now with this Dame, then with that Damsel: now loving, then lusting: now suing, then serving. After this lawless life led by the space of certain months, and that he waxed weary of this diet, he fell in love with a mannerly maiden, as he thought, but in deed such a one as was hired for every man's silver, and set to sale at a certain price, and long it was ere he could get grant of her consent, or win her to his Wife, yet another man might have borrowed her good cheap, or at the least of an easy price: she so flattered him to the will of his fancy, and so bragged always of her honesty, which he thought to be most true, and that he had found some singular piece: and to make him believe the better of her honesty, and to think that she could not be but good, she would hit him in the teeth with some one man of his profession, or some woman so honest as herself, that had been plagued for their wickedness, and punished for their sins. My master Merchant thought her penny good Silver, and that there was no better hay in Denshire, determined therefore to abide the brunt of this bargain, and to dispatch his marriage: which ended, and that he had certain days used her company, he suspected that which was so indeed, and believed that which was so true as his creed, for he perceived her tricks and her toys: her becks and her glance: her painting, and her paltering: and though it be a matter merely mistrusted in Italy, to conference and familiarity of a man's Wife, yet used she her former fashions that way, and denied not to talk with any: but she had a wrong Sow by the tail, for that he was acquainted with these carvers before: he therefore bewailed his unfortunate wedding, and wished it had never been done: but seeing no remedy, & that necessity is lawless, he determined to put away his Wife, or else to put away himself: then to put her away, or to cast her off, the discredit would be as much to him, as now the ill name was to her: and to retain her, and not to forsake her, every man would laugh him to scorn, and point at him in the streets: he devised therefore this practice, and put it strait in proof, his Lands he was content to leave with his Wife, because they were not easy to be carried, and to sell them, would breed great suspicion, and to mortgage them, or borrow money on them, his ret●rne was uncertain: therefore so he would not deal, but took up of his creditors to the value of three hundredth Ducats, or near that quantity, thinking to see some change before the consuming of so much coin: as for his wife he made her privy to none of his dealings but pretended a voyage into the Country, where he would shortly return, and four days should be the longest he would stay: But the old be his wives Mother, doubted of his drifts and perceived his shifts: the night before he should go, he pounced his Portmanteau with Portagues, and stuffed it with Ducats, laying it in his Chamber, as if there had been no such matter: his lawless Mother, or Mother in law, when he was sound sléepinge, (not without the consent of his Wife) conveyed closely out of his Chamber his packet, and brought it into her own, where she oppened it, and found that she suspected: she therefore took out all the Portagues, and plucked out all the Ducats, except a just hundred, which she left to sustain his want, and conveyed therein by weight so many Counters, and in the same place where out she had the money, and afterward laid it where ●hee found it, as if no man had seen it: in the morning he rose early, and took leave of his now wife, promising to return shortly, and in deed he returned sooner than he was minded at his going. Then did he secretly convey himself into a Ship, ready to sail into Spain, who stayed but his coming, and then hoist sails: no sooner on ship board, but they weighed their Anckors, and sailed so prosperously, that within a short time they arrived in Spain, at the appointed place of landing: my young Master had some money lose in his pocket to pay his Boat hire, and to serve certain days after: coming to his Inn, he delivered his carriage to his Host, desiring him to be careful of it, for oppening it (a little) showed, saying there are thus many Ducats, and so many Portagues: and Fortune was so friendly, and his hap so good, as the money lay right against the place he opened, and his Host saw nothing but Gold: then his Host took it in his hands, & judged there was so much by the weight thereof: promised therefore warrantise for the safety thereof, and that he would answers what ere was therein: My young Master went into the Town as well to see, as to be seen, making himself so merry as he might, and delighted himself so well as he could: the charges for his diet was marvelous great, and his expenses more than he thought they would be. One day asking for his Casket, to reach out some money, which delivered him, he took out above twenty Ducats, opening but a little hole to put in his hand, and that right against the place where they lay: for had he put his hand on the right side, he had pulled out Counters: and had he put his hand on the left, he had reached out counterfeities: but he closed it up in the sight of his Host, and his Hosts was there present, rendering it to be kept again, which was laid where as before: the good man of the house retained a servant, to do● such his businesses as he appointed him, who espying his prey, and thinking the money had been much, pretended a voyage into Portugal, to see his old friends, and to speak with his father before he died, who as he said was very old, and that long sithence he had not seen him: his Master gave consent, and speedily procured him a Passport, who no sooner had it, but the day following departed, and took the Budget with him: This travailing Traitor, and master filcher, three days on his journey, and far enough from their getting, this Casket was missing, and every corner sought, & every rush removed that was suspected, or where they thought it might be hidden: but all to late, the money was gone, and the man was away: the good man was sorrowful beyond measure, and knew not what to do: the day following, and dinner ended, his Host questioned with him of this thing: then demanded he of some other quite contrary, and amongst other matters, of his Casket, and the some of money therein, who answered there were three hundred Ducats, where out he had taken twenty: well Sir, said his Host, more or less, whatsoever there was it is just all gone, not so much as one piece left: whereat my young Master half dead to hear these news, and sorrowful beyond measure, told his Host that he should answer him so much, or else the Law should yield him nothing: his Host fearful to have this treachery known, for that the discredit would be his, would gladly agreed to any reasonable matter, and to some agreement though with great loss: entreated therefore his guest to take part of the money, for the principal patrimony: the other livyinge the weight of the matter, and foreseeinge how troublesome it would fall out, consented his Host to give him one hundred Ducats, and he to discharge all his debts, and to make clear with the house: my young Master by that time his diet was paid for, and the house quite discharged, had left but fifty Ducats, much less as he imagined than he brought forth, but the more wrong had my Host, and yet the greater his grief: This slave, servant to his Host, & well moneyed as he imagined, arrived in Italy & landed at Venice, where when he opened, and found but Counters, he was almost mad, and more than half foolish, for that he had forsaken his own Country, and left his good Master unacquainted there, and not knowing how to get into service: but forcing himself to do that he never thought, and putting that in practice he never looked for, offered his service to many, and diverse motions were made, but none accepted, nor no entertainment could be had: passing along the Streets, and running thus up and down, he happened on the house of Madonna Maria, the good wife of my young Master: she because he was a stranger thinking he should some way delight her, entertained him, and received him into service, where he bestowed his stolen Budget in his Chamber, the which he thought would never be seen of the right owner, nor marked of any. The creditors of whom this money was borrowed, and where he received his Crowns, came at the appointed day, or shortly after: Mistress Maria with that sum her mother had taken from her husband, and with some part of the revenues of his Lands, paid the debt, and received a bill of discharge. Sir Marcellus deal Hespado, my young master, his Crowns well-nigh consumed, and his purse very thin, saw no other shift, nor could devise any other means, but to repair home, and that with speed: taking therefore Ship with a Merchant of Venice that was traveling homeward, making a virtue of necessity, questioned by the way of divers matters, and en●●●red of the estate of Venice, than he asked him of such a street, and for a Gentlewoman dwelling there, named Maria: the other answered, he knew the Street very well, as for the Gentlewoman, he hard that good report, and that it was most true that she was counted a light woman, and one of a very ill name: but now so loathing that which was reported she loved, and hating that which it was said she embraced, there is no one in the Town better disposed, nor any that doth live in better or more honest order: and you shall understand, that being beautiful, and also very fair, yet her conditions at that time not honest by report, nor so good as they might have been. One Marcellus a young Merchant of good calling, and his credit inferior to few of his years, first liked her, and after married her: when afterward suspecting that which was sometimes true, and imagining that it could be no other, departed from her almost a year since, his departure unknown to any, from which time, her life hath been so honest, and her doings so well liked of, as she is beloved of many, and lamented of all that know her: and were her life known to her Husband, and her doings manifested to him by any means, he would post home with speed, and hast to have her honest company.  
Marcellus at these words his ears so glowed, and he was so ravished with joy, as he thought long till he came on shore, and desired to know the certainty of this matter: once safely landed, and gotten into the Town, to be more certain of that he had heard, and in no wise to be beguiled, went to an unknown place in the Town, and where he was unacquainted: The next day disguised himself, and wore a heard borrowed in such order, as he was not suspected of any, nor beknown to his wife: going to the house of Maria, always in the evenings, and when it was dark, who first inquired for her, and soon obtained to speak with her: then making love to her, broke the effect of his whole mind, and plied the matter very hard, but no grant of good will could be gotten, nor any favour shown: but answered he would not be, nor be shifted of by any means, except he obtained his desires, and gained that, for the which he made such suit: She seeing he would in no reasonable matter be persuaded, nor answered with reason, disdained to speak with him, and forbade him her house, except his pretence were less prejudicial to her purpose, and more beneficial for her honesty: but she not knowing how to shift him off, nor what way to lose his company, practised that her Maid should lie with him and use him knavishly: at his next coming, he found her more tractable than before, and seemed to condescend upon certain conditions, and so consented he should come that night, appointing him the time he should repair: who presently departed, thinking all had been but lies reported to him: he therefore procured two knaves hired of purpose, and such as were contented to do any thing for money, thinking now to take a sufficient revenge, and by this device, to put her away. At the hour appointed, and within the time she had limited, my young Master came marching to the house, and these Ruffians with him, who entered the house so cunningly, and conveyed themselves so closely, as they were not perceived of any, nor known that they were within the doors: Maria welcomed this forlorn guest, and brought him to his Chamber, where she willed him to unray his Robes, and go into his bed, which done she promised to come quickly to him, but the Candle must be out whilst she made her unready: mean while the Maid shift into the Chamber, and went into the bed to him: her Mistress conveyed herself into her own Chamber, and left her maid in bed with her Master: he dallied and embraced her a certain space, but yet could not obtain the thing he proffered so fair for, but was as much satisfied when he laid him down, as when he arose: they had not been laid the space of an hour, or little more, but these hirelings had lighted their Torches and found the way up, came into the Chamber, and so to the side of the bed: then Marcellus leapt out of the bed, and pulled on his beard: now Minion said he, I perceive that to be, and with that looking full in her face, and seeing her not to be his wife, held down his head, and had not a word to say.  
Then the Maiden looked so pitifully, and began to weep, affirming that what she had done, was to save her Mistress honesty: I am never the more dishonested for lying with you, neither would have been had you continued till morning: you may use me at your pleasure, and deal with me as you list: but before you get my maiden head, or spoil me of my virginity, you shall deprive me of my life, or thrust your Sword thorough me.  
Marcellus gave these Torch bearers their hire, and rewarded them with a little piece of money, & made them swear, never to utter this to any, nor ever to speak more or less of it.  
They departed, he shut the doors after them, and certified the Maid that he was her Master: and for that her honesty, and because she loved her Mistress so well, he rewarded her so bountifully, and gave her so liberally, as she repented not the bargain, nor was sorry for that was passed.  
Then he willed her to take the Candle, and to go towards her Mistress Chamber door, where she knocked softly, and made but small noise, yet awaked her Mistress who lay for that purpose: she arising, and opening the door, espying him coming in, whom as she thought would have lain with her: began to cry out, and to rail on her Maid: but he desired her to be content, & showed her that he was Marcellus, than he craved forgiveness of her, & desiring her to forget what was past, protesting ever after so to content her, and to blot out this his foolish devices, as she should not dislike of his loyalty, nor blame his ingratitude.  
She than embraced him, & willingly consented to agree to what he would have her: all that night he never made any motion to her of his borrowed money, neither told she him how it was discharged: her man she had sent into the Country not far off, the day before, who made haste, and posted so quickly, that he came not home that night, nor the next day till towards the evening: in the morning Marcellus rose and looked about his business, searched up and down the house to see how orderly all things were used, and how his wife had handled the matter, but he found every thing so well, and no one thing otherwise than it ought, as he rejoiced that he was come home, and was sorrowful that he stayed so long away: going from one place to another, and from chamber to every corner, he espied the Budget in the chamber where his man lay, and found that which he never had thought to known: he let it lie still where it was, and said never a word of it, before night her man came home, having dispatched his business: then Marcellus asked him if he had never seen him before, or if he were not a Spaniard borne: whereto he answered that he was borne in Spain, but he never saw him before: then he had the Maid fetch a Budget, lying in such a Chamber, which brought, he asked him if it were his, and where he had it? he answered that it was his, and that he brought such things as he had in it: then he asked him if he dwelled not in such a Town in Spain, and were not servant to such a man? whereto he answered, that he was such a servant, and in such a Town: now surely said Marcellus thou shalt be hanged, for thou meritest no less: this Budget was mine, and thou hadst three hundred Ducats therein, than she wing it to his Wife, she affirmed it was so: The fellow fell on his knees, beeséeching him of favour, and desiring mercy of him, and he would show the effect of the matter: then his wife whispering in his ear, and calling him aside, told him the whole matter, and confessed the conveying in of the counters: the fellow thinking he should surely be hanged, and that there was no remedy ●or the loss of his life: they busy in talking, and he watching his tide, slipped out of the door, and was never seen after. This is most true said the Gentleman, and not invented by myself, for the Gentleman is yet living that knew both the Merchant, and had seen his Wife.  
This tale contented the company a little, but would better have liked them, had it not been so long: then Norbanus was requested to be the second man, and that his turn came then about: whereto he made no great denial, nor seemed very well content, but would gladly that some other should have spoken for him: yet willing to do as the company would have him, he began as followeth.  
THere dwelled in the isle of Rhodes, a certain Pirate, or Rover on the Sea, who many years had used this kind of life, and fortune seemed always mutable in his doings: for sometimes he was rich, and sometimes pinched with poverty: sometimes his bags filled, sometimes his Purse pennyles: sometimes he bounced in bravery, and sometimes he marched in misery. On a time his hap was to lose all his goods, and to sink his Ship, drowned many of his men, and escaped hardly with his own life: and likely then to come to greater penury, and to wade farther in the Sea of 〈◊〉, except he provided better for himself, and looked more earnestly to his business: bethinking (〈◊〉) what was best to be done, and how to deliver himself from danger, remembered he had there a brother of great calling, and his credit very much, determined to repair 〈◊〉 him, to prove how he would pleasure him. traveling certain days on his voyage, and almost wierie of his life, ●ith the forow he conceived, found (by good hap) in the way a bag of Silver: who joyful for this good turn, and merry in mind that he sped so well, determined not withstanding to repair to his brother, and to spend the rest of his life with him, never to profess the life of a ●●●er again, nor any more to delight in such 〈◊〉. Marching on his way, and mana●●ng thus his 〈◊〉 stops, not far now to go, and within one 〈◊〉 journey of his brother's h●●se, he found a bag of Gold, heavier than the first of Silver, laid down the 〈◊〉 and took up the Gold, for (said he.)  
With that looking on Fidelia, he 〈◊〉 staid, and could not ●tter one word more. The company earnestly entreated him, and courteously requeste● him to 〈◊〉 that was begun, and not to flee touch in the middle of the matter: but he craved parden, and desired so earnestly till some other time, as they were contented, and would not ask him any more: whereupon the company all rose up, and forsaked that kind of sport, and devised some other to pass the time as pleasantly, and to content all as quietly, for too much of one thing is unsavoury for anything, and too much pleasure is ill for profit.  
Then the music sounded, and they all fell to dancing, first the old Gentlemen, and then the ancient Gentlewomen, so the young youths, and then the mannerly maidens: every man led a Gentlewoman by the hand, and Norbanus marched in the fist of his Mistress: always as the music ceased, the company talked, every one told his Gentlewoman some tale: & Norbanus shrived his Saint as followeth.  
Mistress Fidelia, whether this motion be Heavenly, or Angelical, 〈◊〉 he by the Gods or terrestrial? whether by the spirits internal, or by the divine powers, I know not wh●t this love i●, neither whereof it is derived: but surely, in my judgement, and according to my small skill it is so secret a thing in nature, and proceedeth in such order, as all the writers can not sufficiently point the perfect proportion, or all the Divines attain to manifest the ground thereof. I know not how the desires of other men are moved, and so am I ignorant, whether their appetites fall out in such order as domine, but for my part, the more I look, why the more I love: the greater fight I gain, the greater is my desire: the more the company that is with me, the more inwardly proceedeth the motion, so as t● all other desires, and for every other sight, this far differeth, and is quite contrary: the mutual friendship made her 〈◊〉, and the ●o●● of parents towards their children seemeth quite 〈◊〉 to this, and altogether differing: Then speaking softly in her ear, because none should hear. In my tale (said he) coming once to Gold, esteeming that to ●e of most value in this World, and the only thing that all men desire, looking then upon you, and beholding your fate, more precious than all the Gold in the World in my eye, or of more estimation, than the greatest jewel whatsoever: not able to speak one word more, or to make some end of that which was begun, pardon me therefore I pray you, and let it not offend you, for when you shall please hereafter to command, I will fully resolve you, and perhaps feed your fancy with some other delight more pleasant, and make you merrily disposed with some toy more pretty: And for that the time requireth not now to stand upon trifling toys, and too shorten this time with troublesome tales, for that our matters are of more importance, and our affairs of greater weight, your council in this case must be comfortable, and your device paid of danger, for that linger may import disliking, and delays breed doubt: ●oo dot 〈◊〉 or experien●● teach us, and do we not see it ourselves, that boiling lead will ●e as cold as stone: first let us vanquish those thoughts, which other wise will breed our decays, which once repressed, and trodden under 〈◊〉, we may b●ast with victory, and triumph with joy, 〈…〉 slain hi● Enemies, he had escaped him●elfe, but thinking 〈◊〉 to blot out their rage, and to put their deeds in t●o ●li● 〈◊〉, he undid himself, and move the 〈…〉 destruction. Had Romeo 〈…〉 first, and manifested the intent of his 〈…〉 done very wisely, and 〈◊〉 licence for the 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 faithful friends, and if Norbanus take 〈…〉 it is time he must stay the fall, and abide the 〈◊〉 Therefore Fidelia▪ for the inward 〈…〉 love, and the ●●tward 〈…〉 let us n●t flatter our ●elue● in the 〈…〉 nor 〈◊〉 off 〈…〉 with delays 〈…〉 is condemned and ●he hopeth 〈…〉 our hope will little avail if fortune 〈…〉 shall we hope for when we are 〈◊〉 of our pur●●s●● The old saying is, Hope well, and have well: hope for 〈◊〉 rope, and have a halter: not so, when the thing is at 〈◊〉 be, put it not to shall be▪ as we 〈◊〉 had prosperous e●uentes, so m●y we have contagious ravillings: the thing that is to day, to morrow was: to day we enjoy life, to morrow dead and gone: to day we live in liberty, to morrow we pine in prison: to day we ●●imme: in pro●speritie, to morrow we are drowned in adversity: a● we are not sure so are we 〈◊〉: we 〈…〉 of wealth, and to morrow uncertain of w●e: but we may be uncertain of the 〈◊〉, and not sure of the other, put down therefore your mind with my determination, and what you shall think good, I shall not think ill: what you desire, not disliked of me. Fidelia therefore, framed herself to make him an answer, and sp●ke as followeth.  
Beloved Norbanus, fully to satisfy you what the substance of love is, or to wade that way farther than I may safely come back again, my senses are altogether unable, and my wit too wanton to make you a warrantise: but as my skill was never schooled, and my mind unmortified, my rhymes must be without reason, and reason not so reasonable, a● sufficient to satisfy: yet thus much my brain can hol● forth, and this I dare presume to say, the richest and the greatest, the highest and the lowest, the proudest and the poorest, the strongest and the stoutest, not only men mortal, but also Gods divine, have been entangle● with lo●e, and pricked with his piercing Dart. 〈…〉 under the likeness of a Boy & such like t●ke 〈…〉 upon him, to invest the virginity from us simpl● 〈…〉 ascendeth from the heart, and doth inflame the mind, a mixture in the heavenly 〈◊〉, and a 〈…〉 and 〈…〉, where the favour of the 〈◊〉 and complexion of the other, is added to coequal substance 〈…〉 an every respect 〈◊〉 examples of the 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉, and the 〈◊〉 of lycoures, we have a number to● great to recite in a day▪ and more than now reason would I should name: as Dido, Deianira, Procris, Phillis, Bacchi●, Prolixena, with others too many for their profits, and little to the pleasure of others: whatsoever it is, or how the meaning is, let it be what it can be: you have tasted a little, and I have tried, somewhat, as for drifts (indeed) breed but doubts, and delays commonly bring dangers: when the Sun is set, it is too late to call back that day again: and when the clock strikes, the hour is passed: when death is in the dish, i● boots not to bid him tarry: and when the man is dead, what should the surgeon do? all Trees have their times, and all seeds their seasons: all plants their planets, and all beasts their bearing: all Fowls their feathering, and all fishes their engendering: When the Eagle hath cast her old bill, she can not put it on again: when the Snake hath left her skin behind her, she can not creep into it again: when the Hen hath hatched her Chick, she can not put it into the shell again: and when the Buck hath cast his horns, he can not put them on again: every propert●● hath his portion, and every suit his season: every fashion his action, and every quality his cause: every profit some discommodity, and every good motion entangled with some ill meaning: the Sun riseth, but falleth not there at night: the Moon increaseth and decreaseth not in one fort night: the Clouds that rock to the East, return not presently thither again: the tide must be taken at the full, for time tarrieth not for any. Because therefore, time shall not try us Traitors, nor prolonging shall not cause repenting: you shall understand that I will pretend a voyage, and frame some excuse therefore, a little into the Country, about four miles from the town: where for change of diet, and altering my fare, where in steed of Partridge and quails, I shall find cruds and Cream: for Pheasant and Kayles, Puddings and Pancakes: for Capon and Swan, Butter & Bacon: there I will stay a fortnight at the least, but as I think more, in the which time you may cloak your craft, and coin some excuse to make up our nuptial rites, and quickly to dispatch what ear you shall think good: which ended, you may return when you please, and depart as you shall see occasion: then afterward we may stay a tide, and watch the time when we may unfold our doings, & manifest that which hath passed, and thereupon take my hand in stead of my heart, the one I can give you outwardly, the other I can afford you but inwardly. Look to your loyalty, & remember the time.  
And therewithal turning her from him to sink all suspicion, and that the dancing was ended, she went to the other company, and left him elevated to the Skies with Moses into Heaven, or raised as Lazarus was revived from the grave: he swam so in the Seas of security, and bathed so in the beatitude of his own bliss, in such order, as he knew not whether he were bestraught, or amazed: heavenly were his cogitations, and angelical his glories: his means were without measure, & his happiness without hardness: for now he had attained the pleasures which in this world his soul desired, & all that he required could not be more than he had now granted him.  
This courteous company having spent the best part of the day, and delighted themselves as they desired, gave the gravity of gratulation, thanks for their boldness, and courtesy for their kindness.  
Norbanus took leave of Fidelia, and gave her the gentle Congee, he well pleased, and she a little eased, and both better contented than erst before they consented.  
Fidelia going along with her father, & talking of common matters, remembered him of his promise, & entreated him to perform it▪ of her going into the Country: and now the day was expired, whereat he made no great denial, but gave her his consent. Now her jewel box all this time I trust was making ready, and her apparel péered on: now she would go with this gown, and then with that other: now these lawns, and then that linen: now these ruffs, & then those rings: now these slippers, & then those shoes: now these gloves, and then those bongraces: every thing was too much, & yet all too little: the lest were too great, & the great not good enough. The appointed day approached, & the desired day come, her horses head would not be give for washing, nor his bridle bought for biting: his mane would not be bought for shaving, nor his tail given for clipping: her saddle set on surely, her stirrup steady, her clothes costly and curious, her bit after the finest fashion, every thing so well, and yet all not good enough.  
Now is Fidelia on horseback, and about to ride, as the long desired, more curious than coy: more courteous than cumbersome, more trifling than troublesome: every thing was amiss that liked her not, and all awry that pleased not her fancy: she speedily arrived at the place she road to, & quickly came thither, for that it was not far: her Horse trod upon thorns, and she fate upon nettles.  
Such is the furious force of hot love, such the motions of that molested mind, whose lust is upon liking, & whose like hath gained the thing desired: such is the inward instigation of that senseless mystery: such the deep desire of mutual confederacy: But had Fidelia known her marriage day had been so far off, she would not have made such haste: and had she seen before what followed after, she would have stayed in Vienna, and not have gone into the Country: but as there is no one thing in this world certain, so is there not any thing but tasteth of uncertainty: one man accounteth such a day to be married to a wife, and the same day is wedded to his grave: one thinketh to win the golden spurs, and gaineth the hempen halter: some one man thinketh to win all the world, & loseth his own life. After Alexander's great Conquests he thought to have greater, but he entered Babylon with great triumph, and there left his life. Was not noble Anthony of Rome one day a mighty prince, the next day forced to wander the woods? Holofernes more desired the company of judith, than the conquest of his desires, & in gaining her he thought to get what was desired, but his getting cost him his life, & if his gain were good, he lost his head. Every one hath his weal of wealth, & his time of happiness, his field of felicity, & his golden age: but how long resteth the shadow in one place? where stays the running water? or in what place doth the su●ne stand still? always ebbing, or flowing, increasing, or decreasing, waning or waxing. When the Apple is ripe, it falls from the tree, and when the Rose is full blown, it falls from the stalk: when a man is at the strongest, he waxeth weaker: when the grass is at the gréenest, it changes colours: the child can not be borne, before it be bred: nor the seed grown, before it be sown? these are the novelties of Nature, & this the fickleness of Fortune: this the frailty of the flesh, and this the uncertainty of our happiness. As one waxeth rich, so another groweth in penury: Some beggar comes to the pomp of a Prince, some Prince to the pain of penury. Bellezarius being a mighty Prince, yet tasted of the ticklenesse of Fortune, had both his eyes put out, and was forced to beg in the Marketplace. Caesar but of mean parentage, and at the first a common Soldier, afterward a mighty Prince and Emperor of the third part of the World: this is the mutability of man, and this the happiness of our felicity, Quid certum in terris, or what under Heaven?  
Norbanus now bragging in his bravery, and boasting of his bare fortune, tiring of himself in the statelyest sort, and thinking his fortune inferior to none, marching in the maintenance of merry melody, and rejoicing in the greatness of his pranked pleasure, in such sort, as if he fed his own fancy, yet he displeased his Uncle: for thinking to please his mistress, and to delight her with dalliances, he spared for no spending, nor cared for his reckoning: he did what him liked, and lived as he lusted, he had all at commandment, and nothing was restrained from his custody: he kept the keys of the coffers, and so long he lacked no lovers. He that erst was pensive and poor, civil and honest, courteous and well disposed, is now reckless, and outrageous, bouncing in bravery, and frouncing in knavery: swearing in silk, and sweeting in satin: ruffling in robes, and pounced with pride: flaunting with a face of flattery, and vaunting in the vale of dishonesty: for which, his Uncle was sorrowful beyond measure, and solitary without any pleasure, uncertain what to do, or how to deal: which way to take, or by what means to procure remedy: always doubting the worst, and evermore dissembling the best: such is the outrageousness of that sickness, and such the unmedicinablenesse of that disease, that in procuring the favour of their Mistress, purchased the displeasure of their God, careful to sped, & careless to get: so it be had, what matter how? no bracelets, nor no toys: no gloves, nor no girdles: no garters, nor no scarves, are either too fair, or too fine, nothing too dear, nor any thing of too great a price: for the braver in sight, the better excepted: the poorer in spirit, the less regarded: and the truer in dealing, the likelier to be a beggar: Norbanus cared for no cost, nor spared for any spending, gaped for no gain, nor regarded any profit: all was for pleasure, yet all beyond measure.  
Fidelia was gone before into the Country, and looked long for his coming, where she had gotten liberty for a month, and more if need required, she still counted the days, and reckoned the times, longing for her lust, and hoping for her hap: but she was no sooner in the Country, and had remained there a few days, but the case altered, and the wind turned South, very ill for his shooting, and worse for his mouth: for the King of Spain had sent Ambassadors to the Emperor, which were then returned, having obtained their purpose, and gotten that they came for: which was for forty thousand men, which was speedily granted, and hastily provided for: within twelve days this army was levied, and all ready furnished: eight thousand went out of Vienna, in which company Norbanus was one, the more his grief, the greater his Uncle's sorrow.  
Norbanus imagined, because his Uncle bore such a port in the Town, and that his credit was so great, that he should be excused, and pardoned for a little money: but the better day, the better deed: the lustier man, the likelier to do his Prince service: but will he, nill he, he had received his press money, and therefore must go, no entreating, nor no suing: no complaining, nor any lamenting: Gold would not excuse him, nor fee buy his freedom: here he began to sweat, and then to swear: now to stamp, and then to stare: now to rage, and then to rave: now to speak fair, and then to flatter: now to dissemble his grief, and then to burst out into weeping: now to persuade himself, and then to put some device in practice, to cause him stay at home, or to excuse his going: then would he call himself fool, and ass, faint hearted Lozel, and milksop, dastard, and momarde, to be afraid of a fancy, and run away from a shadow: But all these fancies fled away like shadows, and new supplied their places: then marveled he whither Fidelia would continue faithful, or flit away false and unjust: now she would, and then she would not: he thought he heard her say, because he was fickle, she would be as false: then he imagined she wept, and now she complained: now she wrong her hands, and now she throbbed: now she sobbed, and then she sighed: now she lamented her loss, and then she sorrowed her shame: now thought he to write, and then to send: now to excuse himself, and then to condemn his folly: but taking Ink and Paper, he began to write as followeth.  
AFter those ten years of toiling travail, and troublesome time, that noble Ulysses returned with victory, & gained such conquest as he fought for: and sailing on the Seas homeward, amidst the waltringe Waves, to avoid that inconvenience, when he should pass amongst the Mermaids, he not only caused all his men to stop their ears, but also himself he bond fast to the Mast of the ship, to avoid their sweet songs, and not to be taken with their inticinge harmony: his painful Penelope, and loving Wife, careful of her honour, and favouring him before any other, devised the means to weary all wooers, and invented a way to send them all going, so fast as they came: but no doubt: had he not returned the sooner, she would have been wearied, but finding neither.  
Then pausinge there, he blotted it out, for it liked him not, for he thought with himself, & imagined thus. Should I account to stay so long? or am I married, that she should not be wedded to any? no, no: out of sight, and out of mind: are there no more men will she say, but the Miller? nor no more lovers than Paris? let him go if he lust, and departed when he please: Vienna wants no wooers than shall not Fidelia fa●le of some suitors: she is fair, the likelier to be looked on: she is welth●, the likelier to be wedded: she his honest, the likelier to have a husband: she is beautiful, the likelier to be embraced: she is courteous, the likelier to be compelled: she lacks no gifts of nature, the unlikelier she should want a wedded fear.  
But what sayest thou? or what do thy lips babble forth? canst thou so rail on thy beloved? or canst thou rage's at her that hates thee not? canst thou so rave on her that loves thy liberty, as she liketh her own life? that honoureth thy freedom, as she favoureth her felicity: that hopeth thy happiness, as she hateth not her own blessedness: no, no, Norbanus she loveth thee, and she will live with thee: But alas, how shalt thou live with her? or how shalt thou enjoy her, whose sight thou must forego, and whose presence thou must part from? whose favour thou must fly, and whose company thou must be constrained to lose indeed: and to forego it, the greatest loss that ever lost Norbanus, and the greatest gain that ever myself did forego: but writ I will, and declare my mind, hap what hap may, then thus he began as followeth.  
THe shining Sun whose bright beams, and rhadiant rays, do bring comfortable consolation, and great happiness to the whole earth, and to the whole mass of mankind, who never resteth to recreate us, nor never stayeth to comfort us, whose night works are nothing, whose labour then availeth not: our travail then is tedious, and our labour loathsome: our pain unprofitable, and our pleasure unsatiable: After all the world hath won the comfortable enjoying of her, and that all the day she hath satisfied us as we would, the western Mountains keep her from our sight, and deprive us of our light, till the bright morning when we enjoy that erst we did, and have the full fruition as the day before, and beginneth her light.  
Then staying, and looking what he had done, dashed it out again, and took other paper, calling himself dotard, and fool: as who should say, that for so small a time and for so little a season, I should forego the sight of my sweet Mistress, and then enjoy it again: and how shall I enjoy that which never was mine? or how shall I wear that I never had? the wind turneth often in a day, and a woman's mind is remée●ed oftener in one hour: what shall I do? or what means shall I work? my Pen disdains to write, and my hand shakes that should hold it: my heart is cold, and my wits are on wool gathering: my inventions is wrong, and my wrighting contrary: These are signs of suspicion, and doubts of despair: imaginations that divine some mischief, and dreams that prognosticate my death: but yet spur up thy spirits, and wrest thy will▪ marvel not on thy Memento, but think on the place whither thou must go. Alas how I divine, and how I foresee what will follow: can I escape death when I come there? how shall I deal to save myself? how shall I that never was wearied with the wars and that never tasted of those toils: that never bid their broils, and that never saw their shot: that never heard the thundering of their Guns, and never was troubled with their angry alaroms: that never saw their bloody battles: that never heard the skriches of those that are slain: and shall not I walk in the fore Warde, and march in the main battle? shall not I be in the first fight, and be thrust out, for that I am but a raw Soldier? how can I then escape? or how shall I fly away? there may I sacrifice my soul for my sweet Mistress, & offer there my last sacrifice: why? then Norbanus writ thy last farewell, and never look to speak more to her.  
To his faithful Fidelia.  
THe green graft sprouting for a season fresh, & springing for a time fair, is by chance cut a sunder, or by some ill hap plucked up by the roots, then burnt in the fire: or so trodden on as it never sprouteth more: if the Grape be plucked green, or gathered before it be ripe, hath neither pleasant taste, nor maketh good Wine: the Cherry hangeth till it be ripe, for who regardeth it before? the sweet Rose plucked before it be blown, yieldeth no smell, neither will the water be distilled from it: if the Fawn be let live, he will bear a great head: and if the Calf were not killed young, he might in time serve for the yoke: had Samson died in his youth, he had never slain so many Philistines: and had Hercules been spoiled before he came to perfection, he had never enterprised those great labours. Alas, what shall Norbanus now in his blooming be blasted? now in his chief growing to be chopped down: now he is but sprouting, to whither away, and now he gins to flourish, to be plucked up: The Drums with their dreadful noise call me, away, away: the shrill Trumpets, with their renting blasts do sound, ready, ready: my Captain hath given me my press pay, and my furniture, and he crieth haste, haste: the Sailors have hoist their Sails, and weighed their Anckors: and they call come, come: God grant my haste be not heavy, and my farewell fearful. O Fidelia, the best beloved this day living, and the only maintainer of my strength: I must wander, and I must travail: I must be gone, I must perforce departed, without thy sight, and without taking my adieu: without any imbracinge, and without one kiss: without one sweet word, and without one friendly look: had not I consented, thou hadst not gone into the Country: and hadst thou stayed at home, I might have found one favourable farewell, and one sight from those heavenly eyes, which I fear me will never behold me again, and which I doubt I have for ever lost: blame not then thy servant sweet Mistress, but blame his hard hap: blame my froward fortune, and reprove my unchaste chance: for had I suspected, I would have prevented this: and in missing this chance, I might enjoyed the heavenly hap of this life terrestrial, where now I go to my death, & fear never to return hither again: yet were it for thy sake, or to do thee any service, it should never repent me, nor any thing trouble me: but after quiet calms, come sturdy storms: and after passing pleasure, painful Pilgrimages: after sweet embracings, sour separations: and after dainty daliaunces, devilish pastaunces: But Fidelia, I strive against the wind, and wear my words without performing of works: I swim against the Tide, and strive against the Hill: seeing therefore my departure is pronounced, and my lot laid before me: my chance is cast, and I already condemned: the judge will not be féeed, the tyrant will by no means be entreated, the Captain will not be persuaded nor I released: no Gold nor gain, no fair words, nor wanton wiles: no flattering filings, nor any deceitful dealings will warrant me my welfare, nor purchase me my pardon, get me grace, nor gain me goodness: but bide upon this bargain, and be most assured of this doubt, that what I have promise I will perform, and what I have said, that will I stand too: and if ever Lelius were loving, and Lepidus were loyal: if Camillus were kind: if Caephalus were steadfast: if Titus were true: if Hannibal chose rather to die, then to fall into the hands of his enemies: shall not Norbanus choose ten deaths rather than fall from Fidelia? yes, on the Sea I shall swim in thy desires, on the land I shall walk wary, in hope to enjoy thee: had it been the loss of my living, or the forfeiture of my freedom: the going to decay of my goods, or the loss of my lands: the farewell of my friends, or the forgoinge of any other thing, whatsoever, my sorrows might have been salved, and my cares cured: or had it been, that thou hadst been forced any villainous voyage, or compelled to any tedious travail, them my service might have been seen, and my good will manifested, to have ridden or run: to have posted, to have Lackeyed, to lamed my ●immes, nay to have lent my life: I should have boasted, it well bestowed: and bragged, it benifitially bereft. But I will perforce march in thy melody, and fight with thy fancy: sleep with thy shadow, and dream of thy doings: pray for thy prosperity, and wish thy welfare: trust to thy truth, and hang on thy good hap: ●ath in thy bliss, and think yet to enjoy that jewel, the brightest in my fancy. But thou wilt happily reply, if thou wert so lavish of thy love, and so deep in thy desire: why framedst thou not some excuse, and so mightest stayed at home? thou mightest feigned thyself to been sick, or lame: diseased or bruised: unable for the Wars, and unfit to fight, and rather then failed have hidden thyself away, or stayed some where in the Country, till the Army had been dispatched, and the Camp departed: then mightst thou showed thyself safely, and walked the streets wanton. But then, thus would I answer thee. The shepherd keepeth his Cottage, and the Fisherman his little Boat: the Abbey lubber keepeth his Cloister, and the Peasant feareth to peep out: the dastard dareth not look on a man, and the milksop may tarry within doors: If I were not forced, I would not fly: and were I not compelled, I needed not complain: needs must whom the Devil drives: and of force must he run, that is forced to fly: But thou wilt say, thy departure was too speedy, and thy haste to heinous: thy farewell to fast, and thy going posted more than needed: thou mightst come half a days journey to see me, and bestowed three hours riding to taken thy farewell: and so might I in deed, and done it easily: yet, in seeing thee I should but renew my sorrows: and in taking my leave, have taken that grief, which might cost me my life: like Tantalus, or like Sisyphus: like the Dragon that watcheth the golden Apples, but dareth not touch one: or like him that saw all the dainties in the world, & could not eat any: in seeing thee, I should seduce myself into slavery, not sleep in security: purchase my bondage, not possess my heritage: gain me Hell, not get me happiness: nor that thy sight is hurtful, but my sight in seeing thee, would procure me this treachery: for how happy were I, might I enjoy thee? and how unfortunate is my state, in that I forego thee? yet time may turn all truth to trial, & alter my affection, to gain the full perfection: the poor is often preserved by fortune, and the rich thrown down into the my●e of misery: when all the blasts of bitterness are overblown, and all the surges of Simony, swallowed into oblivion, my Sun will shine in the world of my weal, and my clear day of delight be fair in my fancy: though the Herbs be trodden, and washed with weather, frozen with frost, and bitten with blasts, yet grow they green as before, and look as fresh as at the first: let us then tarry a tide, and hope for a day: The Husbandman soweth his Seed, tilleth his ground, tarrieth the season and taketh great toil, yet knoweth not who shall reap his profit, or gather his grain: the Gardener grafteth his plants, and settteth his Herbs, proyneth them, and wéedeth them clean: soweth them best for the Sun, and bestoweth them out of the shadow, yet eateth not one Apple himself, nor smelleth to one flower. The Merchant maketh a mass of money, and prepareth for his Mart, furnisheth a ship, and sends her on the Seas, yet knoweth he not whither he shall enjoy any of his Merchandise, or ever see his fraught come home: are not our doings manifest, and our miseries common, our dangers not dainty, and our infelicity plenty? but hap what may come, and let fortune do her worst, the worst is but death, and the greatest but the loss of my life, and in dying my soul may wait on thee, and my ghost follow thy fancy: therefore Fidelia, as you have regard of your health and as you bear loyal love unto me, comfort your adversity with consolation, and assist your desperate desaster with the hope of speedy return: for you may assure yourself that my gaynecome shall be as speedy as is possible, and my haste with so great desire as may be: mean while, I wish you all the joys that this linger life can give you, and desire all the happiness that this earthly pilgrimage can afford you.  
Farewell: the secret servant of faithful Fidelia.  
THis Letter sealed with sorrow, and delivered with danger, he gave to a man of his Uncles, whose faith he credited, and whose trust in other matters before he tried. The next day his Uncle had occasion to send him into the Country, and to speed him about some business, not far from the place where she lay, nor greatly out of the way as she should go, who glad to pleasure Norbanus, and content to perform his request, strained a little courtesy with his Master, and delivered the letter.  
Fidelia received the Letter, and rewarded the servant, ask if it required answer, or if nought but the delivery? who answered, not that he knew of, and said none that he heard of. The Servant departed better pleased, than she was afterward contented: she therefore hasted to her Chamber expecting some news, and posted to open it, hoping for better than she found therein: for there was that comforted her like the pangs of death, and that written, which delighted her like the devils dance: but reading it, and perusing it well, she looked on her apron strings, and her mind was on her maidenhead: she construed every word, and reconstrued every letter: sometimes she laughed though not heartily, sometimes she wept, but that bitterly: now she imputed herself the first of this folly, and then she condemned him for a Traitor doing her that injury: now she lamented the departure of such a friend, and then she blamed his staying in the Town: now she confessed that he entirely loved her, and dearly liked her, with the greatest affection, and the most good will, of any that loved or any that enjoyed this world: then she doubted his loyalty was not correspondent to his property, nor his love so great, but his lust was greater: for than would he have devised a thousand shifts to procured his staying, and invented a number of means to have bidden at home. Now she persuaded her fancy to find no more fault, and entreated her desires to be content for purchasing her liberty, he would gain his own infelicity, and get his own death, rather than she should be frustrated of her wish: then she wished her wavering will to let fall those fancies, and moved her mind to banish those doubts, to comfort herself so well as she could, and to take the matter as merry as she might: for that to say is not to do, and to promise fair, is not to perform plenty: for he spared not for speaking, but cared not for doing: dayned not to promise, but denied to perform: therefore his meaning was but to wrest his wanton will, and so bid her good night. And this last presumption, and fine imagination took such firm root in the ground of her heart, that there it grew so long as she lived, and there it remained, until she was buried: for she stayed still upon these points, and had always these sayings by the end: to tarry at home is cowardlike, and to lurk in a corner the part of a dastard: for (said she) had his love been so affectionate as his lust was outrageous, he would have cropen in a bench hole, before gone in such order, and line in some dark corner, before have gone in such manner: is it dastardlike, and the part of a momard in gaining a little credit, and perhaps with loss of his life to lose the purest property in this life, and to obtain the only felicity in this world. He was no dastard, for he durst deceive so simple a maiden as myself, neither was he a dotard, for he could beguile me to whom he had plighted his faith: but let him spurn at the Spanish pieces, and try them with their trumpe●ies, as for my wool it is but weatherbeaten, yet too fine for his wearing, or too good for his handling: are these thy sweet Cirenes songs? are these thy painted protestations? to sell thy safety to trust a Stranger? and to bestow thy love upon some outlandish brood? they that tried thee, must not first trust thee, and she that enjoyeth thee, must wear thee first a year about her neck: but who will wear thee that art not worthy to be wedded? and who will wed thee that art more wanton than wise: the Drum sounds, and thou must be gone, the Captain calls, and thou must away: if Vienna have never more want then to lack so lusty a Lubber as thyself, nor never more distressed then being bereft of so rank a Rebel, the Town will never repent thy departure, nor wish thy welcome home. How happy is thy good Uncle deprived of such an unthrift? and how fortunate I Fidelia in foregoing so faithless a friend? thy Uncle may joy thy speedy posting, and I be glad of thy happy hasting: thy Uncle is well lightened of a licentious loiterer, and I well delivered from so false a flatterer: But happy it was that my oar was stricken no farther in the bank, and blessed was I that my Torch was burnt no further: fortunate was I that my Tree was not grafted: favourable was my felicity, that he was in my hand, but out of my heart: God grant that I may as easily remove him, as I was willing to entertain him: but my warrant shall be written with water, and sealed with sauce: put into the Paper of oblivion, and delivered with the hand of forgetfulness. And art thou indeed gone Norbanus? then farewell faithless friend, and adieu false jason: thou sayest by seeing me, thou shalt see thy death, and beholding my face, thou shalt forego thy own favour: then shalt thou never die by my consent, and my countenance shall never seduce thee into thy own destruction: am I a Basalike that my face will infect thee? or Medusa's head, that thou wilt die with looking on me? hadst thou yet come thy sel●e, thou mightest have sped the better, or spoken in thy own person, thy tale the likelier to been heard: but Paper will not blush, and Ink doth bewray, yet is not ashamed: if thou be ashamed to take leave, I will be ashamed to entertain thee at thy return.  
Here was hot love soon cold: what fair words? and what froward works? what sweet lips? and what sour sauce? won with an Egg, and lost with an Apple: no sooner ripe, but ready to rot: no sooner blown, but blasted: no sooner sprouted, but bitten with the frost: her Prayers were pitiful, her sighs and sobs, as though they would have pierced the hard flint: her words wounded the heart that heard them, and her lamenting, mollified the minds of those that were within her hearing: here were Crocodili lothrinae, and deep dissembling? she wh● erst would down into Hell to pleasure his person, will not now kneel down unto Heaven to crave one little petition▪ but resolved herself never to talk with him, or to come in that place where he was present: yet to work his mischief, or to seek some revenge, she imagined would but crack her credit, and be a blot to her good name, therefore she was content to let him alone, but for ever to give him the Basalos Manos.  
If Fidelia were thus bereft of reason, and almost mad with melancholy, Henricus was as sorrowful for his Nephew, but that he hoped his safe return, and fed his mind that he would come hastily home again: his Uncle therefore furnishing him with money, and furniture, every thing necessary, and a man to wait on him, betook him to the preservation of the Gods, and to the mercy of the waters.  
Now is Norbanus on Shipboard, and at the mercy of the waves, where his ancient cogitations assailed him with a fresh supply, and troubled him so bitterly, as he thought he should never see Spain, nor any part thereof: he imagined how lamentably Fidelia would take his departure, and how sorrowful she would be for that journey: now how she wept, and then how she wailed: now how she sighed, and then how she sobbed: now how pitifully she would bewail his going, and how happily he should be welcomed home: then thought he, perhaps, she may be lightly disposed, and wanton given, for she was soon won, and easily entreated: and as quickly he may be lost, and as soon foregone: she was easily caught, and as quickly may she be carved from me: now I am gone out of her company, and departed from her sight: is it not likely that she will retain some other and like of one that shall tarry at home, more worthy perhaps then myself, & whose calling is greater th●n mine: more worthy, nay, perhaps more wealthy: for mine she is by right, though some other have her by rigour: and I won her with love, though some other wed her by law: I had her by inheritance, but some other may take possession in my absence: But Fidelia is fair, so is she faithful: she is friendly, so is she favourable: she is amiable, so is she loyal: she is honest, so is she just: As she hath promised, so will she perform: she gave me her hand, why then should not I retain her heart? But thou fool that braggest before the victory, and rejoicest before the goal be thine: thou thinkest thou hast the Apple, and hast but the leaf: she soon liked of me, is she not the likelier to love some other? did I quickly win her? and may not some other speedily wed her? did she not quickly love me? will not some other as speedily lust after her? and then because he loveth, will she lust? and because he wooeth, will she wed any but myself? because he burneth in desire, will not she drive him in disdain? and because he fixeth his fancy in her feature, will she therefore give grant that he shall enjoy his pleasure? no, no: under so fair a face cannot lodge so filthy a fact: and under so true a tongue cannot be hid pernicious poison: in so beautiful a body, cannot be any filthy infection: and so strait a hand, must have as right a heart: For is it not common by probability, and see we not daily the trial? that the fairer parsonage, the finer conditions, and the more deformed in body, the more defiled in deeds: Fidelia is mine, and shall not be any others, and if my body cannot wait on her, my soul shall fulfil the uttermost of my imaginations. Drowned amidst these contrary imaginations, & sailing in the heart of these cogitations, now praising then dispraising: now loving, then loathing: now laughing, then lamenting: now wishing, then wailing: now longing for life, then desiring death: the boisterous winds began to blow, and the bitter blasts troubled their tottering Ship: the wallowing waves tumbled about the sides of the Boat, and the Billows beat hard on her sides, which tottered on this side, and then tumbled that way to sea ward: wherewith Norbanus who was never at the Sea before, nor had at any time felt the force of the waters, grew so sick, and so troubled with the water, as he was without hope ever to come on shore & more, & never thought to behold the fair face of Fidelia again: where let him wallow amongst the waves, and try his fortune with the waters.  
PHemocles who had spent almost a year in Naples, & thought the time long, profited so well as he would desire, & gained his tongue perfectly: wherefore he wrote to his Father that his charges was great, and that time was ill spent: now he had gained that he went for, and obtained his purpose to the full: to which his reasonable request, and willing demand, his Father condescended, & granted his return: procuring him therefore Horses, and other things necessary: he speedily willed him to hasten his tedious travail, and to come so quickly as he could, but willed him to take easy journeys by the way, and not to toil himself with riding, but might if he would see the Country by the way, and come through all the Towns that he thought any thing worthy the remembrance there to be seen.  
Phemocles after the receiving of his letters, and the certifiing from his Father, took leave of his good companions, and betook him to his Horse: where by the way his mind was moved with many matters, and troubled with former motions: he remembered the courteous crew that accompanied him in Naples, and the great courtesy he received at their hands: their passing pleasures, and their boasting in bravery: their sumptuousness of apparel, and the lavishness of their Purses: their pleasant sports, and their excellent exercises: then their gallant Instruments, and their good music: the congregation of their Courtesans, & the fellowship of their fair Dames: their jewels, and their Rings: their Ruffs, and their Robes: their Lawns, and their lose attires: their niceness in going, and their coins in speaking: their courteous behaviour, and their comely graces: their painted faces, and their inticinge toys: then their protestations in their prayers, and their devout humility: their worshippings of their Saints, and their guilded Crosses: their prattling Priests, and their costly Copes: their Crucifixes, and their Wafer bread: their holy water stocks, and their Dirges for their dead. The remembrance of these things were so fresh in his mind, and the company that he always used, as he could not but divine upon them, and employ his cogitations that way.  
Then remembered he the estate of their Weal public, and thought upon the estate of the laity, as their Magistrates, and their Officers: their free men, and their Spiritualty: the severe executinge of their Laws, and the excellent justice used amongst them: the companies of their fellowships, and the assembly of their meetings: their benificialitie to the Poor, and the good orders for their maintenance: nothing dislyked him, except the not punishing of Whoredom, and nothing he hated but the maintenance of Usurers: These dislyked him in living, and in conscience he thought them worthy of punishment: It was lawful for to come to the house of any Courtesan, or else to their Chambers: Their Lute they used to get the liking of any man, and their Cithernes' to provoke any man to their desires: If happily he come, whom their liking doth love, or thinking to gain aught by him, they would not spare for signs, and use their eyes with winks, and becks, with countenances, and such like wanton toys: then to frame some fine song, and to use that instrument whose liking should be best beloved: Then came to his remembrance his faithful friend, and best beloved Norbanus, who was the cause of his importunate haste, and the occasion he stayed no longer, minding the first occasion of their acquaintance, and the knitting up of their familiarity, which he hoped would in as large manner be amplified, as ever it was before: Then he devised how to speak with him at his coming home, and how he should entertain him, what words he should use to him, and how he should blush at his first sight, how he should discourse of his time spent in Naples, and how he should show to him the order of the Country: as well the civility of their Towns, as the ordinances of their spiritualty, and temporalty: doubting what should be demanded, and to what he should make answer: then the pleasant talk that should pass between them, and their walking in the fields: the assembling to their Chambers, and the exercises they should use: sometimes he doubted of his health, and dreaded his welfare: sorrowful to hear of any losses, and lamenting to hear him any way perplexed, dreading ever the worst, yet hoping always the best: fearing that any way he should incur the ill will of his Uncle, for that old men do hate the pleasantness of youth, and younglings when their ancestors show them any thing for their advantage, they think them to be dotards, or old fools: Then feared he the gaining the ill will of the Citizens, or some other his friends and so his love should be turned to hate, and his good will to his own disadvantage: Then doubting he should some way hurt himself, by doing some exercise, or any such like, which would be more grief to him, than pain to the other: Last of all, he was sorrowful that he must bestows his embracings, and use his courtesy to some other before he met with Norbanus, that he should not be the first. This was the manner of his riding, and this the usage of his traveling: these the inventions of his thoughts, these the sayings of his imaginations: this the effect of the bestowing of his love: this the thought of a faithful friend: this the certainty of his uncertainty, and this the liking of his second meeting.  
As he was thus led in the lust of his desires, and drowned in the depth of their remembrance, his father's man desirous to hear him discourse of the order of his living, and the estate of the Country, began to bolt forth these words, and spoke as followeth.  
Sir, the tediousness of your toiling journey is so uncomfortable, and your company so small, as with the one your wit is wearied, and with the other your mind is moved, so as you can not frame yourself to be merry, nor dispose your passance to be pleasant.  
Truly, replied he, the toil is tedious, and the journey nothing joyful, with the memory of the one I can not be refreshed, nor to forget the other any thing comforted: yet my heart is heavenly, and my mind inwardly moved with melody, though my forces falter outwardly, and my senses make no show of jollity.  
Indeed, where the inward affections are framed so far unlike the outward cogitations: where the heart harboureth happiness, yet the outward senses seduced to shamefastness, the soul sobbed with sorrows, and assailed with sullenness: it seems very unlikely the open appéerances, or outward motions, to import any sign of felicity, or to make show of any pleasant melody: so secretly hath nature hidden these things, and so closely conveyed them in our thoughts: yet the outward sights soused in sadness, or the face making a show of heaviness, the interior instigations may swim in security, or the heart moved with delight, may flow in felicity.  
Trust me, said the other, for the secretness of nature, my judgement is small, and my knowledge less: but this I know, that the heart moved with some sorrow, the mind can not be merry: but the face may seem frowardly to frown, when the heart is elevated to the highest type of fortunate felicity.  
Sir (said he) let him that is happy, not hide it, and he that is merrily disposed not prolong his pleasure: for in hiding the one, he may hap never to find the like again, and in not declaring the other, never come to such a bargain whilst he liveth.  
Why then said Phemocles, for that it seems good to tarry no more tides for trial, nor to make any more days of parlance, let thy talk tend to trifling toys, and my wit shall be as wanton to reply to foolish follies.  
Then I beseech you to manifest unto me, and lay flatly before me the manners of that Country, and the ordinances of the Neapolitan Nation, where you have lente some little parcel of liberality, and spent some trifling time, to find out their feat phrases, and to be acquainted with their rules of Rhetoric: And to begin of their fine fa●e, and delicious dainties, their bravery of banqueting, and feasting fittest for their fancy.  
To show you prestrictly the dayntines of their diet, and the fineness of their feeding: their appetites are well applied to their tender stomachs, and well bestowed to the health of their bodies. Their meat is not much, nor their fare great, but that little that the yeate, helped with the company of fine herbs▪ and pleasant Oils: with Lemons and pomegranates: Oranges and Olives: as for their wines they want none that we have, neither have we any, but they have so good. They eat but twice in a day, and banquet often after supper. Their drinking not so immoderate as ours, and their quaffing not so common. And in my mind, the order of their diet is excellent, & such as I could very well like of.  
Then replied he, trust me sir, they are greatly to be commended, and deserve much praise: for drunkenness with us is jested at, and gluttony is no matter of conscience, the one infecteth the body with diseases, the other drowneth the senses from all knowledge: & both (no doubt) are no salve for the soul, but a bait for the Devil: Hell must be their inheritance, and not think scorn to dance with his dam: But sir, for their Magistrates I beseech you speak a little, & for the laity, I pray you say somewhat?  
The offices of their Magistrates, and duties of their justices, is executed in so good order, & so severely punished as I see no one thing worthy fault, or any other that can be amended. A man may put his money to the greatest gain, so it be privily, and take what interest he can get so it be not known. Murder there is death, and Felonies very seldom escape. Treason executed with terrible tortures, and offending the Magistrates prestrictly punished. The laity deal nothing with the spirituality, nor at any time meddle with their matters: for the spirituality are greatly honoured, and dutifully reverenced.  
Replied the other, these vices of whoredom are great, and this sin of Usury is not tolerable: but let us search our own consciences, and examine our thoughts, and we shall be found far more culpable, and much more inclined to wicked desires. As for the Priests, they are the elect people of God, or the grand Captains of their Master the Devil: they may lie by authority, and steal without check, rob without rigour of the law, & commit venery by the Statute. These Caterpillars may ravish as well Maidens, as defile Widows: they can quickly sue their dispensation, & speedily purchase the Popes Bul. The Women are very great Uotaries, and devout Templars, worshippers of superiall Saints, and honourers of the celestial powers. If married, she never walketh to Church, or goeth in the streets, without the company of her husband, or some one of her kinsmen: for the prince jealousy is a great man amongst them, and I think naturally they are all jealous. It is a hard matter for a man to talk with a maid, except in the Church, or at some feast, they are so dainty to be talked withal, and so strait laced that way, as (forsooth) they will not be found unchaste, or counted light: yet meeting them by chance, and not seen of any others, they may haply give you the hearing of some toy, or lend the hearkening to your talk: But my curious Courtesans knowing you to be a stranger, and of any calling, to play under your window when you are newly laid, or the morning following to feed your fancy with some ●ne song, and rather than fail passing along the streets, or as by chance you walk by their doors, if she see you inclined that way, or given after her will, by signs they seek to win you their subjects, or by looks allure you to be their lovers: but if with none of these becks she can bow you to her bent, then beware of her words, for otherwise she will win you to her wiles.  
Then Sir, they broke their name for their courtesy, and are not curious in that liberality, and I have heard the men to be very jealous over their wives, and very doubtful of their honesties.  
If he see a man look upon his wife suspected by him, or talk with her, if he know not the man very well, he will use him very courteously, and make an outward show of great friendship, when he will present him some dainty device and closely convey in it the Letter P. which eating it, he shall never be troubled with the wyndcollicke, nor infected with any other disease.  
Truly Sir said the other, you wanted I think no companions, nor needed any partners, howsoever you would dispose yourself, or what exercise amongst others you would choose to use.  
No truly replied he, let a man have money, and he shall not want friends: or a good purse, and he shall lack no good companions, protesting great friendship, and offering great courtesy: but a man must be lavish of his purse, and spend frankly: speak fair, and use great courtesy: offer very much, though a man perform but little: and they look that a Stranger should give them place, and be careful how he handle his tongue: otherwise, a man may bolt out some foolish word, or speak some ●ond phrase, that he may ever after repent, and perhaps loss of his life. To dissemble is a virtue, and he that can not lie, must not there live: he that useth one of them offendeth God, but who so loveth them both, the Devil will catch him.  
Why then, a man must be courteous and curious, loving, though but little: proffer fair words, what ear he profess in deeds: proud protestations, and double doings: two faces in one hood, and two tongues in one mouth: lie for liberty, and dissemble to avoid danger▪ than his penny must be best silver, and his groat best gold: his words most worth, though his deeds least worthy: he crows well on his own dunghill, but in another place he will cry creak. But Sir, I think your departure was not procured with so great haste, but your desire homeward desireth as much speed: and if you like● there well of your companions, yet those at home will be far better loved: for if in a strange place a man have health, and liberty, wealth and riches, pleasure, and pastance, whatever his heart desireth, and any thing that his soul wisheth, yet his own Country is more dear, and his natural friends better favoured: so as a man will choose to live poorly at home, rather than Lordlike in a strange place.  
Trust me replied the other, you have divined like a Doctor, and hit the nail full on the head, shot as straight as a thread, and leveled as with a line: for when I was in surest safety, and no danger to be dreaded: when fear might have fled, and no malice was meant me, yet my heart seemed heavy, and my senses were not free from suspicion: so that for a season, after my arrival, my bolster, the procurer of my sleep, and my bed, my only resting place, so filled my ears with frantic fits, and beguiled so my thoughts with vain imaginations, that my couch of sleep, was my Cabin of care, and my means of rest, my author of disquietness.  
Truly said the other, my mind doth meditate no less, and my senses would be seduced into those opinions: the absence is not so grievous, nor the tract of time so intolerable, as the frail fear conceived from the sink of suspicion, and the troubled thoughts, which come of contrary cogitations: which if a man once have gained some good companions, or honest disposed persons to accompany him, yet a man loveth, but freesed in fear, and liketh but to please their fancies: these are the doubts a man conceiveth: these are the manner of his divinations: thus is he fearful to offend: thus is he careful to content: thus is he always redoubling his danger, and so is he never free from suspicion.  
Replied Phemocles, many friends I gained, and many friends I found, some I tried, and some I trusted, all were retained, but not all beloved: the best were liked, the worst were loathed: all had fair faces, but not all hearty graces: those which I loved, I lacked not, and those which I hated, envied me not: for loving was my loyalty to some, and sweet were my words to all: yet found I some as faithful as friendly, and as trusty as a man would desire, and yet thinking on Norbanus, Vienna harboureth so faithful friendship, and that our town retaineth such links of loyalty, as Naples, though fuller of novelties, and more fine terms useth, yet not such lasting loyalty, nor such plenty of honesty: for Vienna in my mind hath more delicious delights, and more satiable securities: more sweet smells of ancient amity, and greater plenty of sure friends.  
But he miss his mark, and was deceived of his sayings, for the man was away, and that place not as he imagined.  
For that only place you have great reason, and of duty you can say no less: for there are your ancient amity, and your old Segni●urs in familiarity: your courteous kinsmen, and your favourable father, whom to honour, and to fear: to aid and assist: to help and to praise: to further by all the means you may, and to set out to the uttermost of your power: you do but your duty, and fulfil but your calling: and in doing that your duty, you depart not unrewarded with courtesy: whose fatherly affection is so great, and whose comfortable care so manifest, as to see you do otherwise than well, or miscarry by what means soever, would neither comfort his conscience, nor like his fancy, but be as prejudicial to his person, as sorrowful to your safety.  
Thus passed they their passance, and wore out the weary way with these pleasant discourses, & pretty posies, where after their tedious toil, they came to their Inn, where Phemocles could neither eat meat for joy, nor sleep in his bed for the pleasure he conceived of his travel. Thus he swam in security, and sailed (as he thought) in safety, but how much was he wide? and how far from his purpose? the main Sea was betwixt his friend and him, and Norbanus as much distant from him, as when he was in Naples, that painful passage, and that long cut, which was tedious in length, and dangerous in travel.  
Phemocles now at the end of his journey, and having the full view of the Country, arrived very well at Vienna▪ & in good time, as he thought, hasted to his Father's house, and stayed not in any place till he came there, whom he found busied about matters of his own estate, and trifling with those small things he had to do, where after obedience yielded to his Father, and his duty fully performed, he as joyfully welcomed him home, & as gratefully received him, as he willingly wished, or heartily required: who questioned with him of divers matters, touching the estate of the Country, and inquired by what orders their Towns were governed, then how he had spent his time, and so, for the attaining of his language, wherein he found him so well profited, and that his time so well spent, as his Father was very joyful of his time of absence, and not a little glad of his safe return.  
Afterward, they sat down to dinner, and fed on such fare as there was provided: which ended, and the Table taken away, Phemocles thought to find out his friend, and could not tarry longer before he spoke with him, went to the house of his Uncle to inquire for him, and found there the house, but the man was gone: there he inquired for Norbanus, and whether he were within? his Uncle answered, he was neither in his house, nor yet in Germany, than he showed him the manner of his departure, and upon what occasion.  
Phemocles seemed with this tale not greatly discontented, nor deeply displeased, but dissembled his grief, & concealed his sorrow: then repairing to his father's house, & coming into it, whom he found ready for supper, and prepared to sit down: But how could he feed? or what meat could he eat? for he had already taken that which he knew not how to put over, and heard that with his ears, which he knew not how to digest with his heart. Supper ended, he bade farewell to all, & gave good night to his Father, he went to his Chamber, but not to sleep, and into his bed, but not to rest: laid in his careful couch, and drowned in his soft bed, he poured forth these complaints, and uttered these words.  
And art thou gone indeed Norbanus? and was thy departure so speedy? must thou unneathes frame this unfortunate voyage in the time of my absence? and perforce be forced when I was not present? had I been at home, or here in thy hasty journey, thy soul should not have wandered without my company, nor thy presence departed without my comfort. Should not I have been a faithful Titus in the time of thy tedious travel? and a second Camillus to accompany thy wandering wits in what place soener thy faithful fellowship should pretend passage, or to what Country soever thy toiling travel should march forward? Alas, couldst thou not have written some ragged letter, or some scribbled lines? if not written, some small sayings sent by some messenger, who might himself manifested the memory of thy travel, & uttered the pretence of thy passage? Alas, who was this the harbinger of thy heaviness, and the Pilot of thy Sea travail? which had I known by any means, or heard by any motion, I would not have stayed though I had lost my time, nor lingered behind to obtain this my language: I would not tarried to have lost the good will of my friends, nor stayed, if I had gained the ill will of my Father: whose company to me is more curious than Coffers of coin, and more grateful than Gold: more acceptable than gems and jewels, and more profitable than precious things or Pearls: more pleasant than all other pleasures: and his departure then death more bitter: But how could Norbanus write? or how could he send? what excuse could he frame? or what device was he able to put in practice? but suspected, or doubted: but dreaded, or mistrusted: but known by some means, or made apparent by others: And had he sent? should I have come? or should I have lost my learning? should I have burnt my Books, or forsaken my knowledge? should I foregone my friends, and left my Father? And why would not he have consented, or happily have granted my request: I might have gained his grace, or won his willing will, I might have found such favourable friendship, and have gained my desired wish, to have had his company, & enjoyed his presence, to laud his comfortable words, and given ear to his sweet sayings, more sweet than Sugar, and more wholesome than Honey: more satiable than the tolerable tongue of Tully, & more acceptable than the vaunting verses of Virgil: And did not he doubt of the consent of my Father, and was fearful of his agreement: for that old men are froward, and wayward: testy, and doting: who think the absence of their children, for a time will breed their everlasting farewell: and which most delighteth us, seems most unsavoury to them: But how couldst thou brook the Seas, that never tasted the sowces of the waltringe waves? or how couldst thou endure the waters, that never was acquainted with the tossings of those sorrowful Surges: thy body may be so contrary to away with the nature of the Seas, and thy senses so impatient with the qualities of the Waves, as thy life may be in danger, and thy death pronounced: If so thy life be lost, or thy soul sink into the Sands, who will there bewail thee? or what friends will make moan? what company will follow thy Hearse, or who will sing thy Dirges? who will bear thy Coffin, or who will dig thy Grave? who will entomb thee, or who will wrap thee in Lead? who will write Verses in the praise of thy person, or will erect a Monument in honour of thy fidelity? Alas, the cold waters must be thy Grave, and the Mermaids must wail and lament: in stead of thy stately Tomb, where thou shouldst lie whole and sound, the fléeting Fishes, will now tear and mangle thee: where thou shouldst have been imbaulmed with sweet perfumes, the flowing floods must wash and make thee clean: I pray Norbanus that thy boon be not so bad, and wish thy hap be not so ill: and if thou have escaped the rigour of the Rocks, and avoid the beating of the Billows: is not thy danger afterwards great, and thy penance then as much pronounce? Yes, for the Spaniard is proud, so is he stately: he is haughty, so is he arragant, hating thy health, and loathing thy liberty: not craving thy company, and flying thy friendship: flattering thy welfare, and laughing at thy loss: contemning thy courtesy, and peevishly requiting thy painful pilgrimage: At every wry look, moved against thee, & for every cross conceit, seeking to displeasure thee: maintaining malice, or procuring some mischief: cockered in carnal conceits, & dandled in dangerous delights: always repining at thy pleasure, and ever more vituperating thy welfare: If thou talk with him, he is as testy & froward as may be: if thou use any conference, so contrary and cross as thou wouldst not imagine: if thou walk with him in the streets, or also in the Church, thou must turn as he turneth, otherwise, he will imagine thou disdainest him, and so shalt purchase his displeasure: thou must talk to answer him directly, though he speak never so contrary: thou to please his patience, he to move thy humour: thou to make him merry, he to make thee weep: thou to favour his fancy, he to offend thee frowardly: if thou seem contented, unless to gain his gratulation, he is then offended, thinking thou usest some pretence to displease his person: If in familiar talk thou unwittingly wrest out some wayward word, or unwillingly speak which thou wouldst not, he will strait challenge the combat, and soon offer thee to fight: which except thou seem as willing to perform, as he is ready to offer, thou art no Cock of the Game, therefore thy comb shall be cut: But if happily thou thus escape and agree well with them, what afterward will become of thee, or how canst thou digest this core, when thou shalt be forced to march all the day in thy heavy armour, and at night to look thy lodging amongst the Dogs ● There the long grass, if fortune favour thee so well, may be thy soft feather bed, or some straw, if thou canst get any, thy quiet Couch: thy Bolster, some turf of the ground, and thy sheets not very fair, for that they are always at thy back: thy covering cold, except thy bargain be the better, thy Chamber not stately, but a house for a Swine: marching thou shalt be hindered with Hail, and soused with snow: bitten with the Frost, and nipped with blasts: frozen in the flaws, and troubled with wind and weather: When thou shalt turn thy face up to Heaven, or look a little upward, all these droppinge on thee, and all these running down thy skirts: how happy then was thy home? and how blessed thy Uncle's House? Alas, will the remembrance of these thoughts revive thee? nay, will they not terrify thee? then shalt thou be thrust out into every skirmish, & evermore be the first that shall go forth: at every false Alarm disquieted of thy rest, and at every piece discharged in the night, thou must run to the Trench, there must thou watch at thy Ward, and stand thy sentinel: be one in the still watch, or walk thy Round: Then shalt thou be the first that shall fight, because thou art a raw Soldier, and the foremost that shall enter at the Breach, because thou shalt be made expert: And if by good hap thou escape all these dangers, and be hurt with none of these harms: that little money spent that thou cariedst with thee, and thy purse pennyless, then shalt thou be ready to starve with hunger, and like to faint with thirst: and steal there thou mayst not, for Martial Law is straightly executed: and beg thou canst not, for none will relieve thee: for every trifle thou shalt gain the ill will of thy Captain, and for every small offence thy life shall be in danger, when perhaps thou shalt be better borne then himself, and thy courage not inferior to his: Going into the Field, some dastardly dotard or cowherdly sot, shall get that by chance, and gain by good hap, which thou with great danger of thy life, and dutiful service shall never obtain, nor at any time be in likelihood: For, is not this saying sooth, & the Proverb too true: The more fool, the better fortune? For did not that carpet Knight, kill by chance that noble Achilles? whose force to have frowned on him, the other being present, or whose looks to have lowered, he being near him, would fear the other to frame one froward face, or caused him to used one contrary countenance: the one lasshed with his lance, the other laid on load with his Lute: the one a notable Captain, the other a Courtly Carpeter: the one a little practised by policy, the other tried by strength: yet his hap was to give the gleek, & the others chance to bide the bitter bargain: So may fortune frown on thee, nay, so will it not defy thee: Did not the carterly Ptholomy, slay cowardly the noble Pompey? who a nobler Captain them the one, who a viler Prince than the other? Was not Caesar the only man of his time, and stabbed in by his traitorous Senatous? who than he a more noble Prince? who than they more Traytourlike Rebels? Yet in scaping all these scourings, and biding all these bitter broils, in flinging out too far thou hap to be taken, and in venturing some thing too much, thou come short home, who will ransom thee? or who will acquit thee? who will set thee free? or who will fetch thee back? Answer will be made, he was foolishhardie, and unadvised, unruled, and disdaining to be reformed, let him therefore either ransom himself, or try out his fortune. What shall I say? or what shall I do? how shall I find thee out? or how shall I fetch thee home? where shall I seek thee? or in what part of the Country shall I look for thee? I dread the worst, and I fear thy fall, I doubt thy danger, and I dread thy death: how can I hope thy health, when there is no likelihood of thy return? the time is not now to try I fear me, nor the place to be appointed: thy life is already allotted, and thy death determined: but honourably I wish thee come to thy grave, and that thy death may be lamented of others: But some will reply, the death of the field is honourable, and far better than to be buried at home in a man's grave. The death I confess is honourable, and the deeds commendable: but God give thee that honour to die at home, and to be buried in Vienna amongst thy friends: at thy tumbling into the hole, or the raking up of thy bones, thou mayest hap to get a volue of shot, or a peal of Guns, which any Soldier hath so much, and the greatest Captain hath no more.  
Tumbling himself amidst these doubtful desires, and tossing amongst these dreadful dangers, he le●t his slothful bed, and rose out of his sink of security, thinking to abandon these curious cogitations, by walking in the Fields, & to drive these fond fancies into the open air: which purpose took so good effect, as he put it strait in practice: where no sooner entered, but his ancient remembrance, and forepast fancies of his faithful friend and banished exile assailed him as before, and troubled him as at the first: for the flowered fields were rather a help to renew his Rebellious, than to put into oblivion his contrary conceits: for let any man afflicted come into any Palace of pleasure, or fine fields, furnished with fragrant flowers, if pleasantly disposed, they augment his felicity, if pensively perplexed, they increase his sorrows: he therefore that erst was pensive, can not there boast of his bravery, and he that before was afflicted, can not there be relieved: But now he deviseth what means he may work to go to him, and how to temper with his Father to get his consent: now he hopeth, than he doubteth: now he flattereth himself that his Father can not deny him so reasonable a request, than he feareth that he will divine upon some dreadful dangers, the troublesome travel, in that the Country lieth full of soldiers in every corner, and their robbing and spoiling of him: who to pack their pouch full of red Ruddocks, or for the gain of little gold, regard not the murdering of a man, and the selling of their Soul to the Devil, who is their good Master, and so let him be, let them serve him so long as they list, and the best they can, in the end they come home by weeping Cross, and cry Peccavi: now he doubted this, and then dreaded some other thing: now devised, and then undid it against: now counseled, and then set it at sale: now bid the bargain, and then drew his head out of the collar: first feigned, then framed: first agreed, then decreed: first propounded, then renounced: then he thought to bid the bargain, was but the part of a choice Champion, and to give the assault, but the duty of a good soldiers, and he rather to ask, than the other to demand: his nay at the first was no denial, nor his gaynesaying to stand as a bond of advantage: the worst that could hap was but nay, and the greatest denial might in time be granted: Then he thought to frame some excuse, and under some pretence to undertake that voyage: then he remembered again that plain dealing was a jewel, and the truth would be tried out in the end: Then again this troubled him, the uncertainty of his finding, and the not knowing in what place he was: if he should be gone from the Camp, or be thrust into garrison into some Town, his Captain he was not acquainted withal, neither did he know any that went in his company: then thought he, that to make such speedy posting would grow to some suspicion, marveling what his pretenced haste should mean, coming so lately home, and but then refreshed of his forepast travel: then he thought to stay some time, and to watch a season, for the requesting of his suit, this was the greatest certainty, and took surest effect.  
Who then had seen him in this perplexity, and so ravished in his desires, flattering still his fancy that he should obtain his desires, and persuading himself he could not be denied, his wits ran he knew not whither, and his senses were seduced into sundry places: his thoughts were now in Naples, and then in Wittenberg: now in Vienna, and then in Room: now in Germany, and then in Spain.  
Thus was Phemocles never contented, but always troubled, till he had pouredfoorth the effect of his froward fancy, & unfolded the inward cogitations of his doubled thoughts, thinking than he should be sufficiently satisfied, that once obtained which he desired. Octavian after the departure of Anthony, and his secret flying, was so incensed with outrage, and inflamed with fury, as he could not abide to hear him named, or any man to speak of him, but submission made, and pardon craved of his own person, when the boisterous blasts were overblown, and rigorous outrage put into oblivion, he gained again that quiet calm which contented him, obtained his pardon, and gained his favour, which grew greatly to the advantage of the common wealth. Was not Peter more faithful after he received pardon for his offence, and Paul must find fault, after he left persecuting.  
Phemocles now imagined to get that by entreating, which he could not gain without ask, and to obtain that by favour, which he should never win without friendship, watching therefore a time so convenient, as he thought none could be more beneficial, and espying such place, as he imagined he should not be gainesayed, he plucked up his spirits, and spoke thus to his Father.  
Sir, the idle spending of time, and the wearing of a man's young years without any profit, is no means either to get credit, or gain riches: to obtain wisdom, or to learn knowledge: to find out experience, or to procure living: there is nothing found but yieldeth some profit, nor any thing gotten without some pains. How grow the grafts? or how spring the plants? how sprout the buds? or how increase the floods? how comes the corn, not without tilling? how comes the fruit, not without planting? nor profit without pain? and that pain peevishly employed, if it yield not some commodity. Doth not the hired servant work before he be rewarded? and the Souldioure some service before he receive pay? Can the traveler attain his desires before he pass the Seas? or the Merchant have his Ship come home before he make his mart? no trust me: for than he returneth void of his pretence, and cometh home as much the better, as when he went forth. Must not the Scholar proceed by degrees? and the crafts man be a Prentice before he be a Master? can the Pilot pass the Seas before he have learned his compass? and the Astronomer give judgement of the Stars before he know the Earth? must not the Shoemaker make a latchet before he fashion a boot? and the Painter use his pen before he practise with his pencil? could I attained my tongue if I had stayed at home? and how should he be learned that ne●er looketh on Books? the minority of small things must first be learned, than the substance of greater matters the easier to be attained. The Grecians sacked Troy, but not without great toil: and the Romans won Jerusalem, but not without great travel. Caesar gained the Empire, but not without long labour: and the Turks won the Rhodes, but not without great slaughter. Tully gained eloquence, but not without great study: and Orpheus got his wife out of Hell, but not without passing toil. Of somewhat cometh something, but of idleness nothing ensueth. Doth not the Astronomer stare long on the Stars, before he make his Prognostication: and the Lawyer pleads not at the Bar, before he know his cases: can the Musician attain the ground of music by one Instrument? and could Pythagoras attain his wisdom in one day? but once gained, what profit doth import? and once attained, what credit ensueth? Thus pain will yield profit, and tedious travail bring greedy gain: to linger at home, and to loiter in the Town: To keep as well ill disposed company, as those which are honest and good, I know is an offence to God, and some grudge to my conscience: the way to grow into discredit, and the means to moon m●e to naughtiness: Wherefore were we made, or wherefore begotten? wherefore created after the Images of God? or wherefore did he breath life into us? to stand like Ciphers, or to be deuouring● Caterpillars? no, every one after his degree, and each according to his calling: If it shall please you therefore to think good of it, and that it be not disagreeable to your mind, to grant this my small request, and not to gainsay that which I shall crave: for as you have found me always obedient to perform what ever you should command: so wish I not longer to live, then dutifully to obey your pleasure: which is, that I may find so much favour in your sight, and obtain so much goodness at your hands, to maintain a voyage into Spain, to see that noble Country: troublesome I know it will seem unto you, and a thing altogether unexpected: but for my time of absence, and the while I shall be away, grant how long it please▪ or how little shall like you best, if it be but one quarter of a year, or less, if sooner I may make my return: for my charges, my bare diet shall excuse me: and for expenses, Horse hire will be the greatest: and my journey I hope will not be so chargeable, but my return will be as profitable: living thus, I consume my years, and profit not my wit: which well employed, would profit myself, and further some other: Is not the be gyved for her Honey, & the Sheep sheared for her fleece? is not the Fowl plucked for her feathers, & the Ox his neck wrought for his masters profit? Is not the Tree grafted to yield fruit, and the ground laboured to bring forth Corn? Wherefore was I begotten? or to what end had you such care over me in my infancy? wherefore was I fostered, and wherefore nourished to this age? to be a Drone amongst the Bees, and a Caterpillar amongst the Fruit, devouring the profit of others, and serving to no use myself: But happily, you will demand the cause of my hasty voyage, and the occasion of my sudden departure, which though it seem hasty to you, yet it hath been long sithence put in practice by me: you know better than I can manifest unto you, and saw more by experience, than I have by hearsay: The late Army levied by our Noble Emperor, and the Royal company that issued forth of our Town: the number of Horsemen, glistering in their bright Armour, and the brave company of Footmen, with their Pikes and Shot: the courageous Captains in their callings, and the lusty sergeants in their Offices: All which, as it will yield no great discommodity to you, so must it of necessity be very profitable for me: then may I boast, I have seen an Army Royal: then may I vaunt of that noble Country of Spain: I would not you should think my meaning is to serve, or to take pay as a Soldier: for that my cunning is small, and my experience less: only my desire is to gain the full sight of that huge Army, and to see their noble orders, and Ordinances: As for my time of absence, and the space to be away: I refer it to your discretion, and shall contentedly be ruled by your will.  
His Father who suspected that pretence lea●● of any in the world, and never imagined any such demand would be required: knew not how to answer at t●e 〈◊〉, nor how to deny so reasonable a request: yet both fearful of his danger, and careful of his health: doubting ●● well the danger of the foaming floods, as mistrusting the health of his Son, who was never on the Sea before, nor at any time in little danger of drowning: then feared he the nature of the Country would not agree with him: and then doubted he the disposition of the people, which was altogether unlike theirs: yet in the end imagining that he would have sufficient regard of his own safety, and look diligently to the health of himself, he therefore put away all doubts, and shaped him this answer.  
MY beloved Phemocles, what the heart thinketh, the mouth uttereth: and what the mind inwardly conceiveth, is known partly by the outward cogitations: there is no commodity, but hath his discommodity: an● no profit, but hath some disprofit: thou art not borne to eat always thy bread in one place, nor bred to drink always of one Well: The cloth hath his list, and the Tree not without some blast: the Nut his shell, and the sweet be, her stinging tail: as the one cannot be made without the other, so must the best be a helper to the worse. I thy Father, never travailed out of my Country: thou my Son hast travailed, and desirest more: I a great Merchant, thou ignorant of the Mart: thou desirest that I never wished, and cravest that, which were it in my case, should never be desired: Aristippus saith we are borne for pleasure, but Cato saith we are begotten for the utility of our Country: we are borne in deed for the pleasure of GOD, and created to do the will of our heavenly Father.  
Anaxagoras sayeth, we are borne to look up to Heaven, and Naso willeth us to pleasure all men: And as the aforesaid Anaxagoras sayeth in that respect we are Angel like, and do resemble the doings of our ma●●r, in that all other Creatures do look downward, and have no regard to behold the Heavens: and man is the only thing in this world, that other beasts do fear, and they tremble to behold his countenance: but let that pass, and come to the purpose: Thou desirest the life of a travailer, and imployest thy mind that way, which to thy profit to make denial, and to thy utility not to perform, were but the part of an uncourteous Father, and the deeds of an ill disposed parent. There is no reason I should disdain thy doings being good, and no cause why I should blame thy bargains being honest. One desireth the life of a soldier, another requireth the life of a Merchante: One seeketh the life and liberty of a free man, another regardeth to live in foreign countries: one delighteth to travel by Sea, another more rejoiceth to journey by Land.  
Fabritius greatest joy was by poverty, and that only life he desired: for, he that had nothing, was certain not to lose any thing.  
Rutilius rejoiced of his exile, and Cato was not sorrowful of his death.  
Socrates thought his greatest felicity to be by poison, and that noble Captain, who to save Rome, disdained not to ride into the gaping gulf.  
Thy desire is to maintain a Uoyage into Spain, and to have the full sight of that noble Army, and thy purpose shall take effect, and thou not deceived of that thou desirest: but I fear me thou wilt hardly away with the nature of the Soil, and I am doubtful that the Country lieth full of Souldyoures: yet upon this condition that thy return be so speedy as thou sayest, and so thou promise me to come again in that time thou hast set down. I am content to grant thy request, and willingly consent to what thou desirest. But whilst thou art there, be careful of thy diet, and have a regard whom thou choosest thy companion, for in that thou knowest not whom to trust here, thou mayest perforce be deceived in a strange place: For the fatherly affection I have over thee, doth wish thee so well as myself: and without thy health, what happiness can I have? Therefore I charge thee here, upon pain of my displeasure, and command thee as thou wilt purchase my blessing, that thou be careful of thy own safety, and make so speedy return, as thyself hast promised.  
His father immediately furnishing him with every thing appertaining to such a voyage, and willing him to be mindful of his promises, committed him to the government of the highest, and betook him to the favour of the Floods, there to try his Fortune amidst the foaming froth, and to march in the middle of the saltish Seas, where we must leave him to them upon his chance, and betake him to his close cabin in the stead of his choice Chamber.  
I Have thus finished the first part of NORBANUS, and given PHEMOCLES, for a time, his farewell: you shall shortly hear what news in Spain, and of the success of the Emperors Army: where he that before never walked in the wars, is now wedded to some woe: and he that erst was never over the shoes in fortune's despite, is now over the boots in envies disdain. I commend him to the spaniards courtesy, whom I doubt will entreat him not curiously, yet carlessly.  
FINIS.  
The end of the first part.   

NORBANUS. The second part, of the Lust of Liberty.  
Wherein is contained, the hap of Norbanus, being a Souldioure: his return out of Spain, and the success of his love between him and Fidelia.  
And lastly, his life at the Emperors Court, with other actions which happened to his friend Phemocles.  
By the same Author. A.S.  
¶ Imprinted at London by William How for Richard johnes.  
1580.   

The second part.  
NArbonus having escaped the danger of the Floods, & arrived very well on shore, where he was grown to be● such a Soldier, as he could shift with the best, and dissemble with the most: It happened that when he had been in the Camp, by the space of three Months, or much about that time, his Captain, with certain others, went to do a piece of service against the enemy, and an exploit which happened not so well for Norbanus as it might have done, where they had such happy success, and fortune seemed so to favour them, as they returned with Triumph, and brought away the goal with them: Retiringe homeward, all the Captains went through a little Town to make merry, and the Soldiers marched on the backside of the Town, never staying till they came at the Camp: Norbanus with certain others, went with their Captains, and accompanied them through the Town: The carriages went also through the Town, for that it was somewhat the nearest way: being in the Town a certain space, some fell to drinkeinge, & some to quarreling: from quarreling, to blows: and from blows, to bloodshed: for with their quarreling and the coil they kept, they set all the Town in an uproar, & all were together by the ears: now the Wine was in the head, and the wit was out of the brain: This broil continued so long, till some were hurt, and some were wounded: some lost their apparel out of the carriages, and some lost all they had: some went home with one leg, and some left their lives for a Monument: Norbanus amidst this throng, and in as great danger as the most, had discharged his Piece, laden with two Bullets, full in the breast of one his own companions, had not an other that saw his meaning, bobbed up the nose of his Gun: This drunken fray was in the end pacified, and the matter taken up amongst themselves, but the carriages were so rifled, and the Wagons so spoiled, as he that escaped best, lost something, and Norbanus lost just all that he had, and had not so much left, as a shirt to change him, or any apparel more than he wore on his back to shift him: As for his purse, that was light, & his money was all gone long before: now therefore began his misery, and then began he to miss his own Country: before he lacked a little, but now he began greatly to lament his mishap: finding a convenient place, and time where none should espy him, he powered forth his plaints, and uttered these words following.  
Alas Norbanus, what a Metamorphists art thou made▪ and how can thy tongue express the inward grief of thy heart? Can thy tongue unfold the miseries thou art fallen into? or thy heart imagine the torments thou sustainest? the one were an endless toil, and the other without the compass of my capassitie: First the death of thy Father, and the loss of so good a friend: the memory whereof hath taken so deep root in my heart, as I shall never put it out of my stomach, whose fatherly affections, and whose entire love were so great as any coul● wish, and as much as any one could imagine: whose careful cogitations were always on my well doing, and whose mind was often moved with my life to come: How great had been thy happiness, hadst thou accompanied him to the grave? and how favourable had been thy fortune, hadst thou departed when he died? Were he now here to wail my want, and to bear a part in this my perplexed passion, whose Ghost to await on, would my soul were set to watch on: as I unfortunate wretch am overwearied with watching, though nolente: and as my soul is like to be drowned in despair with the memory of forepast things, though against my will: Can the tender tree, the earth taken from the root, grow green any longer? and can Norbanus, the sustainer of his life detained, live any longer? Can the fléeting fish, live out of the wallowing water? & can the flickering foul fly, without his wings to beat the weather? Can Norbanus live, not having bread to sustain his hunger? and can I prosper, not having any food to feed on? no, no: I must pine in penury, & wear away my days in misery: leave my life in my lustiness, and die in the best time of my sprouting beauty: O had I stayed still at Wittenberg, yet how can I wish my soul more harm, the original of my sorrows, and the prime of my penalty: the beginning of my bitterness, & the first of my frivolous fortune: My Uncle (forsooth) would unneathes procure me thither under pretence of my profit, where I spent all that was left me, and consumed away my living: there began my want, and here will end my misery: there Fortune began to frown, and here she will spit her spite: This was the affection of my Uncle, and this the proud pleasure of his mighty mind. Had I stayed still in the Country, and had I not come to Wittenberg, my goods had been increased, and my living augmented: where now my patrimony is spent, and I like here to pine: But dost thou unjustly condemn thy dear Uncle, and unadvisedly blame thy faithful friend, whose health dependeth upon thy hap, and whose goods consist upon thy well doing? O were these my miseries manifested unto him, or he acquainted with the greatness of my distress, some means would be wrought to sustain my want, & some subtle shift devised to help my calamity: He told me my cheer would be cold, & my lodging would seem hard: my dainties not many, but my dangers plenty, which I have proved by experience, though he spoke but by hearsay. Had my God been so contented, my life might have lasted no longer, nor I sustained more misery, but the other day been slain with my companions, & left my life, where they got their deaths: But I was preserved to a farther inconvenience, & my life prolonged to a greater mischief: the spaniel is far happier than I, & the barking dog in better case than myself, for they are rewarded for their brawling, but I like to starve for my good service.  
O how happy are these creatures, whose bellies are always filled with grass, and whose paunches have ever that sufficeth their hunger▪ who feed themselves fat, and then are slain, but I am likely to die being but carrion, and to pay my ransom being no fair flesh: My Uncle's servants think much to take a little toil to feed on what they list, and think they are wronged in labouring for their victuals, where the worst morsel they have would preserve my life, and the least piece of bread prolong my days: can death itself be worse than this? nay, how can it be so bad? if death were laid in my dish, my woes would quickly end: and were my destinies now ended, my miseries would grow no farther. O had God given man that secrecy, to end his days when he would, or had he granted him that liberty, to cut a sunder the thread of his life when it pleased him: should my life then be prolonged one hour, and my days not ended at this instant?  
But Fidelia, in what place resteth thy sweet soul? and where now is thy delicate body? Thou once sawest me dying, but now shalt shortly hear that I am dead: would now thou wert here to hasten my death, and to give me that end which is my due: to dispatch my blooming breath, and to hold my heavy head: to wipe these tears from off my moist eyes, and to close them up after my Ghost is once gone: O Fidelia, had my hap been so good, I might have seen thee again, and challenged thee for my own: or had fortune been so favourable, I might have enjoyed thy company, the happiest in the world: Had my heart foreseen this, and my mind imagined these dangers, I would have barked like the Dog in his kennel, and lurked like the Fox in his hole: I would have lain close like the Lion in his den, and been hidden like the Bee in the Honey comb: But my carckinge was on my credit, and my boasting on my bravery. O Fidelia, could I have had but one farewell before my departure, and one kiss to have carried to my grave: thou the most faithful, I the unfaithfullest: thou the most friendly, I the unfreendlyest: thou the most loving, I the most unloyall: could not I recovered the Country, so might I had thy company? could not I that way gained thy good graces, and found thy friendly favour? where now banished thy presence, and bereaved of thy sight? I once embraced thy body, and once kissed thy sweet face, and once should have gotten the heavenlyest thing in this world, and once won thee for my wedded wife: But seeing my simple service could not be seen in this my linger life, my death shall make it manifest to all the world, and my soul in despite of fortune shall await on thy blessed body. I die to think that some unworthy shall possess thee, and fear that one which not deserveth so precious a jewel shall wear thee: knew I by what means to present thee my heart, the most loyal in this Kingdom of Spain, no other should have the bestowing of it, but thy sweet self, nor any other buy it but thy heavenly hands. The Thief hath his deserved hire, and the Traitor for his treachery punished with pain & would God I were the one, or could not escape the other. But why do I hold my hands from so dying? and stay my knife from executing myself? were it not offensive to God, and contrary his commands, my heart should quickly consent, and my hand soon strike the stroke. Of all the Creatures that God hath made, and all the features he hath form, Man is either most unfortunate, or in greatest unhappiness. All other creatures regard nought but their food to fill their paunches, and care for nothing but meat to serve their turns, and they all have sufficient, and never any of them that perish with hunger: but we want, and we wail, we weep, and we lament, we cry, and we crave. The first sign of our life after our procreation, is bitter tears, and the foremost motion of our living souls, is weeping: a sure sign of our misery to come, & a token, that our life shall continue with lamenting: my money is spent long since, & my apparel all lost: friends here are none that will relieve me, and who will secure me in this deep distress? but if my back he cold, is not my belly also bare? yes, I see nought but death before my face, and my linger life beginneth to waste: and this death is most miserable, & in this kind of dying I shall seem the most vile creature that ever lived, and to starve thus with hunger, the most loathsome of any that heretofore hath breathed: but in so dying, do there not a great number lead the dance before thee? and in being so miserable, are there not many that pine in like perplexity? if I steal any thing to sustain my pining paunch▪ or filch aught to gorge my greedy gut, death then is my due, & no compassion shall be showed me. O my beloved Phemocles, that I were now at thy courtesy, and that my plaints were poured forth before thee, that thou didst behold these watery eyes, & that thou didst look upon these blubbered cheeks: that thou didst see this throbbing heart so miserably afflicted, & that thou didst behold my soul so drowned in despair: but to be hold here my deformed face, & to see thus these eyes sunk into my head, thou wouldst bear a part I am assured of these my inward miseries: and were there any here to pour forth some tears with me, or to bewail my want so much as myself, my heart would quickly yield to the fury of death, & my soul give consent to yield up my ghost: And gaineth not death a great jewel, and getteth he not a mighty reward to have me his own? yes trust me: a loathsome body, and a stinking carcase, a rotten tree, and a consumed carrion. But O good God, are these the fruits of all wars? and are these the lives of all Soldiers? is this the life of all those forced by their Princes? and is this the case of all such as go out of their own Country? the soul Bear findeth somewhat to tear on: and the hungry Tiger getteth something to maintain her life: the Wolf hath some what to pray upon, and the wily Fox doth not perish with hunger. Thou feedest O Lord the young Ravens with the dew of Heaven, & wilt thou suffer us to go into Hell? for want of sustenance we must either pay pence for that we take, or render our lives in pawn, give gold, or gain our grave. Thou hast given to every fowl of the air seeds, & to the beasts of the field grass to feed on: to the fishes the wide sea to fleet in, & to the vile worms the rotten earth to live by. These creatures starve not for lack of food, nor perish, being pined with hunger. Is man the perfectest creature, and the likeness of thy own image? hast thou made him most excellent, & given him the vilest condition? the best favoured, and the worst beloved? the most superial to look upon, & yet the most unfortunate of all others. Other thy creatures stand not one at the mercy of the other, & one is not forced to beg of the other: one condemneth not the other, & none of them gives consent to have the other slain. The Ox is content his fellow shall feed by him, & the Sheep craveth the company of his companions. The Hart will not feed alone, & the ramping Lion never hurteth his fellow, yet we suffer our heéethrens to pine in poverty, & see our fellows to die with hunger. Is the shape of man so goodly, and his condition so vile? his face so amiable, & his nature so filthy? his life so pure, & his deeds so detestable? We have seen that brute beasts have fed young children, nourished their natures, & sustained their lives: if they of nature be so gentle, why should not we be more loving? if their affection to us be so great, why should it not be far greater to ourselves? O miserable sex, O vile generation, O most unpure, O most odious of all others: Should our doings resemble God? why then do we follow the Devil? should our works be perfect to our maker, why then are we so unperfect towards ourselves? if perfection work such imperfection: and if the inward motions work such outward misery: if the secret things in nature manifest so great calamity: why then O God hast thou made us the way to exceed other creatures, & to excel than all in these mysteries? as the heart, & the mind, the soul & regeneration: nature yields them all their generation, & works then all a beginning, their procreation, & their being: and hath not nature wrought that in them as they all live, and are all sustained? they are all nourished, and not one of them perish, for wanting their food. Is then our gain greater? or our life larger? our happiness comparable to their felicity? and our goodness like to their pleasure? no Norbanus, thy days must be shortened for lack of sustenance, and thy life dried up wanting relief. Farewell that noble Country of Germany, and adieu that famous City of Vienna: farewell the Virgins that vow vestalitie, and adieu thou my faithful Fidelia: farewell my dear Uncle with the rest of my friends, and adieu Phemocles of all the men the only flower. But miser that I am, to lament my loss, doth but increase my sorrow, and to renew my plaints, but augment my grief: bestir therefore thyself, and walk abroad, happily thou mayest meet with some that will relieve thy starving state, and by chance find out some friend to give thee some food. But alas, whom shall I ask, or whom shall I call to? whom shall I bewail my want unto, or who will help me out of this misery? if I go out to seek some prey, or go about to gain some booty, is not the enemy hard at our heels, and cometh he not close to our Camp? If I be taken I die ten thousand deaths, and if my life be yielded into his hands, I were better suffer any torments: perhaps be thrust into their Galleys, which is worse than thousands of deaths, or put to a worse office, which I were better yield myself here unto all furies. O infamous agony, and superexcellent calamity, would to God my soul would now yield the last gasp of this living life, and I would that at this instant the executioner held the axe over my head to cut it off: if it were but one death to be taken prisoner, I would of purpose go to yield myself, but I know not how many deaths I shall die, and still live, live? I alas live dying, and yet not die, whose case is so hard, that in staying here I die, & in going abroad to refresh my body, I must more than die: yet in staying here, my linger life may wear to some end, & in going forth, more than death shall be my destiny. In going to seek relief in our own Camp, and ask there of our own Soldiers, the grievous groanings of those afflicted, & the lamentable complaynings of these infected, pitifully crying, help, help, yet none helpeth, nor any succoureth them: some lie crying, and some sprawling: some struglinge, and some striving to die: would terrify I think the stoutest stomach living, and affray the stongest heart that hath been known, to behold some pitifully lying upon the ground, and some beating their bellies against the earth: some bouncinge themselves with their fists, others lying with their faces upward: some tearing their hears, others scratching their faces: some wresting their mouths to speak, but cannot: some holding up their hands, saying, misery, misery: the stench of some so strong, and the savour so horrible, as I often wonder that I am not infected, and many times marvel that I am not incensed: but he that doubteth not death, dreadeth not any danger: To see these pitiful sighs, and to hear them calling meat, meat: and others drink, drink: and others help, help: & others I die, I die: and others kill me, kill me: and others stop my breath, stop my breath: and others close my eyes: what heart so hard? or what stomach so stony? what mind but would be moved to pity? and what soul but would give some succour, to hear them so pitifully complain, and so lamentably lament▪ thinking to come near, to give them some succour, or imagining to take hold on them, to help them up: the smell is so terrible, and the savour so horrible: that had a man the heart of Hercules, or were a man amongst the puddles of Charon, he could not feel a greater stink, nor help them any other way: some sprawling out of their Cabins, and some creeping upon all four: some tumbling out on their backs, and others offering to go, fall down again: Others go réelinge & tottering forward, they know not themselves whether: and others fall suddenly down and never rise again. But alas, how shall I secure others, that cannot help myself? a blind man may as well give an eye to another, or the cripple give him a leg that is sound: Should I say, O mors quam amara: nay, rather O mors quam jucunda: But who stayeth the Tide, and hath not his passage? and who tarrieth till the hour be ended, and heareth not the clock strike? O that I had a Glass, to behold the feature of my face, or that my picture were now drawn, and conveyed to my friends: would they know me? or would they say it is his face? would they say it resembleth the picture of such a one? or would any say it is the counterfeit of Norbanus? would Fidelia say it is the face of my beloved? or would Phemocles say it is the picture of my faithful friend? no: they could not know me, nor tell whom it resembleth: But if they did know me, could they send me relief? or if they had seen it, could they secure me? could they give me a plaster for my wound, or could they minister Physic for my weak body? Yes: if not all faithful, yet some would prove loyal: if not all true, yet some would be trusty▪ But yet thou mayest be deceived of thy imagination, and made frustrate of thy purpose: The longest grass, groweth not on the highest Hill, and the tall Cedar tree beareth no good fruit: the fairest face may be found full of fraud, and in the gréenest grass lurketh the vilest Serpent: thou didst never try them, how then canst thou trust them? thou didst never prove them, how art thou then certain? thou never hadst experience, how then canst thou make boast? The Eagle is the fairest bird, yet is she filthy meat: the fair Falcon delighteth thee to hold her on thy fist, yet is she no dish of service: the Lion the goodliest of all other Beasts, yet no meat for thy eating: If thou give judgement by looks, thou mayest live by loss: if thou joy in fair faces, thou mayst be mocked in their foul fashions if thou rejoice in sweet words, thou mayest mistake them, & then sour sauces are better: dost thou not often see a rusty Rapier, in a painted shèathe, and a goodly purse filled with counters: under brave apparel often walketh a botched body, & in a brave body may be a defiled soul: the sweet musk is not pleasant to eat, and the Lily flower hath no good taste: the Nettle looketh green as other herbs, & the thistle beareth a fair blossom: experience teacheth thee, & thy own reason should cause thee conceive so much: As faith is flickering, so are friends ●ained: if I had the wit of Themistocle●, & the experience of Philip, I might be deceived in the one, & mistook in the other: Cain offered friendly, to talk with his brother Abel, & then slew him: and judas kissed Christ, before he betrayed him: Thou lovest them dearly, but art not certain they favour thee heartily: they may speak thee fair, yet flatter falsely: profess the favouring of thy fortune, yet repine at thy prosperity: that Crocodile when she hath caught a man, first weepeth & then devoureth him: & the Cat first culleth the Mouse before she eat him: the Fly trusteth the blaze of the candle till she is burnt, and the old dog playeth so long with the whelp till he bite him: when the Lion is full gorged the other beasts play before him, but when he beginneth to roar, they all hide themselves or run out of his sight: Let the simplicity of small things make thy wit grow greater: happy are thy friends for they live in prosperity, but unfortunate is Na●bonus who pineth in adversity: looking long against the sun will make a man blind for a time, and I with looking on my beloved was deprived of my fences: my long looking liked me to love, and my loving hath lost me my liberty: But unfortunate, dost thou condemn thy friends, and blame her who liked thee best, who preferred thee before any other, and who liked thy love, but regarded not thy living: who embraced thy behaviour, and marked not thy richeses: who took pleasure in thy wisdom, and weighed not thy wealth: who honoured thy health, and cared not for thy coin: Cast therefore these imaginations from thee, and de●e away these doubts: be therefore more patient, and pity will preserve thee: he ruled by reason, the larger will be thy redress: be counseled by instructions, the surer thy safeguard. And seeing thou art entered in these disputations, and moved the matter thyself: thinkest thou much to fall, when mighty Princes have fled? dost thou mourn in misery, and have not thy betters pined in penury? may not thy state be stirred, when Kings seats have been moved? happily the Lord hath thus plagued thee to prove thee, and thy patiented abiding may cause him love thee: thy sins have been innumerable? why should not thy punishments be many? thy offences have been great, why should not thy plagues be grievous? Is not the offender punished by death? why should not I be tormented living? though the Lord bruise my bones, he can make me hole: and though he beat me, yet will he not slay me: Who better beloved of God than David, who more plagued for his offences? he a mighty Prince, his offences great, and therefore his punishments many? Was not Nabuchodonezer in his time the greatest Prince of the world, and was ever any so punished for his pride? his mind was beastly towards his God, therefore was he used like a Beast: he a great King, he a defiled member: the greater his punishments, the more his misery: After the great conquests of Alexander, and that he had gained the third part of the world, he thought the name of a man not of sufficient calling, but would (forsooth) be saluted by the name of a God: he was therefore paid his passport with death, and was it not due for such & usurping Rebel, that thought not the name of Emperor sufficient, but would be called the Son of jupiter: That noble Pompey, whose memory is yet fresh in our minds, and whose noble deeds shall never be put in oblivion: his conquest was great, but his misery was more: and the multitude of his calamities were not so much, but the remembrance of his cruel death was greater: and noble Pompey▪ had thy good fortune been coequal thy valiant mind, thou hadst stained thy predecessors, and put out the name of thy progenitors: If these with a thousand more, the noblest that ever were bred swum but a small time in security, why should my hap pass theirs, & my fortune be preferred before their felicity. The dise are cast, and each one hath his chance: some win, some lose: some spend, some spare: some have, some had: all can not be rich, and all shall not be poor: some Kings, some Beggars, some of low estate, some Princes of the world: We can not all be happy, neither all haylesse: and sith my ha● is bad, why should I repine? not because my case is worse than theirs, but that being bad, I know not how to amend it: The Dog knoweth his clog, and the Horse is not ignorant of his saddle: the Bird her cage, and the Bear his Master: What a secrecy therefore is this in nature? and from whence cometh this motion? that all other Beasts we can reclaim and make ientle, but our own fancies we can not ru●e, neither bridle our own affections: this is the weakness of our imperfection, and the unstayednes of our desires: Can we govern all things and not rule our own thoughts? can we bind the brains of all other things, and have not the power to moderate our own meditations? O the imbecility of our nature, and the weakness of our minds, so vile, and so foolish, so proud in our own conceits, and so stately in our tottering estates: as wavering as the wind, and as contrary as the weathercock: The Cock croweth when it is day, and the Sparrow chirpeth in the morning: the Lark lifteth up her warbling notes, and all Birds rejoice in their kind: they take no care, nor are troubled with any thoughts, no cogitations trouble their minds, nor any fancies fly before their faces: they love, and they la●ke not, they rejoice, and they sing, they praise God in their kinds, and are never troubled with any losses: they fear no robbing, nor dread any spoiling, they doubt no murdering, neither do they fear fight, and I think they are never in love, but that only time of procreation. But alas, what availeth these to the safety of thyself? or in what respect is this a furtherance to thy health? if I die here, what shall I care to try the faithfulness of my friends? and if I go not home again, what will their love do me good? I think one will wish me well, and another will rue my hard hap: one will be sorrowful, and another would be glad to do me good: but whilst the grass groweth, the Horse starveth: and whilst the salve is making, the wound festereth: whilst that pardon is suing, the condemned is hanged: and whilst they are providing for my prosperity, I may perish: Whether shall I go, or to what place shall I direct my steps? the Camp is a place of small comfort, except I desire to see the portraiture of death, or except I mean to dispatch away my life, except I mean to be cut like the plant in the prime of his perfection, and except I mean to seek my joy by violating some dangerous divination.  
The Eagle hovering in the air, and soaring in the wind, ceaseth not to get some food to fill the gaping mouths of her young ones, and never stayeth till she have prayed of some thing to cease their crying: but who will feed thee, to cause thee cease lamenting? or who will bring thee any thing to make thee cease thy plaints? though the soul Raven suffer her brats to live certain days without food, in the which time they are nourished with the dew of heaven, yet once perceiving them to be her own, she provideth somewhat to make them cease crying, & bringeth them food to stop their yauling mouths: but who will give thee a morsel of bread to sustain thy weak nature? or who will minister a cup of wine to moderate thy thirst? The fierce Tigers, whose natures are counted most vile, and whose substance most loathsome, will suffer their young ones to tear their paps, pouring out the milk, and rather suffer themselves to be slain, then that their young should want, or not be relieved: but who will help thee with any thing? or give one little piece of silver to save thy life? O that the celestial powers have given man that nature so excellent, and yet to be so vilely abused: when we are at the best, our case is but bad, must not then the worst be miserable, are we not borne erying, and die lamenting? sorrowful that we are come into the world, and then lamenting our so sudden departure? when the beginning is with weeping, must not the end be with wailing? But why are we so borne weeping, and for what cause so procreated waiting? because our estate is so miserable, and we so vile of ourselves, our sins like to be great, and our offences like to offend God so far, as it is but needful we should always lament our lives, and necessary that we should ●o complain our estates. But why are we so miserable, and wherefore hath God given us no more perfect procreation? Because otherwise we should be so proud as Lucifer, and so be thrown down into Hell, yet were we better feel the heavy hand of God, and pray for repentance, or call to him for grace, who will so speedily give it us, as we do hastily call for it: and to make trial of our natures, hath he not wrought by sundry means, and experienced by sundry men? Was not job tormented with botches & biles, and plagued with sores, and scabs? and though he suffered him to be tried, yet did he not quite reject him: some tried by the fire, and some persecuted by Princes: some by Shipwreck, and some by imprisonment: some by banishment, and some by the wars: some by one thing, and some by another: some made a Metamorphosis, and some misshapen: some ugly, and some loathsome: all to try how patiently they can bear the cross of the Lord, and how manerlye they can march in misery: how they can walk so weary a warfare, and how they can take so tedious a travel. Hath not he made as well some for praise, as fashioned others for dispraise? some for honour, and some for dishonour? some renowned, and some poor in person? Hath he not made as well the Snake, as fashioned the Ecle? as well the Toad, as the Frog? as well the Dragon, as the Ox? as well the Lion as the Lamb? and as well the Tiger as the Dove? some honoured, some hated: some loved, some loathed: some embraced, some detested: some we fly from, some we favour: some follows us, some fears us: the face of man I think is the cause, and his favour, in that it resembleth his celestial face, whose feature we are not unlike, that same is it which other creatures are afraid of, and that the cause why they fly from the presence of man: they fly, and they are afraid: they tremble, and they trudge: they quake, and they quiver: yet is not man to be compared to a great number of Beasts in strength, or like to them in stature, for swiftness, or for féercenesse. Is not the Lion the strongest of all others to his stature, and yet is he fearful to encounter with a man? is not the Tiger fiercest, yet dareth not behold the face of a man? the Crocodile being pursued, runneth away: the Bear will rather be pursued, than follow: and the Elephant, greatest of all four footed, yet reclaimed to be as gentle as a Dog: for did the Horse know his strength, he would never wear a saddle, or wear the Bull privy to his might, he would never take the yoke: If man being one of the least in substance, and none of the greatest in perfection, yet beareth the greatest sway, and ruleth all things, and they tremble not at his sight, in that he is of himself to be feared, but because God hath wrought that in his face that maketh them fearful, and God hath hidden from their knowledge his strength & prowess, and these his creatures never strive for superiority, neither doth the one fear the other: The Fox goeth not about to slay his fellow, neither will one Lion kill the other: do they strive who is greatest? or who shall go foremost to the field? which is most beautiful to behold? or who is best beloved? no: the least liveth quietly by the greatest, and the strongest disdain not the company of the weakest: Wit the Hart pursue his fellow? or the Wolf follow his fellow to slay him? the least grow by the greatest, and the little shrubs prosper amidst the sturdy Oaks: doth not the Ivy grow about the stoutest Elm? and doth not the Hazel grow by the great beech? doth not the little Violet sprout beside the tall Ceders? and doth not the Daisy grow in the middle of the Forest? though the highest reach to Heaven, yet do the least prosper so well as they: Will the Eagle go about to kill his fellow, or the Cormorant to devour his kind? will the Cockatrice infect his like, and one Toad poison the other? no: for their natures are contrary the dispositions of man, and their minds are not moved with such high motions: for the nature of man is excellent, and his substance far above other creatures: but corrupted, it is most vile, and wrested to the worst, is most loathsome: for every beast retaineth his proper form and shape, and doth but after nature and his kind: which in respect of us is base, and to our nature detestable. And wherefore is it that Emperors, and Kings, Princes, and rulers, have at all times maintained such monstrous wars, and evermore used so the shedding of blood, but to make subjects their inferiors, and to have the name to be greatest: to have their fame spread abroad, and to be mightiest upon earth: Had Alexander been contented to have lived quietly in Macedon, and ruled that only Empire, as his Father did before him, he might have continued many years, and retained that always which his heirs might have kept after him: The greater man, the more his danger, the more his fear, and the greater his care: The great Oak giveth a great crack at his fall, where the slender shrub maketh no noise: the high Turret is in more danger, than the shepherds Cottage: the rich man feareth robbing, more than the poor dreadeth danger: The fickleness of the Prince, is greater than the fear of the subject: who lives so well contented as the poor Fisherman? or who so merrily as the Cobbler? who sleepeth more quietly than the hired servant? & who pypeth so pleasantly as the Shepherd? The fatter the horse is, the fuller of diseases: and the richer a man is, the likelier to be rob: the more the mighty heapeth up, the more unquietly he sleepeth: If fortune therefore favour thee, be thankful: and if the world go well on thy side, praise God for it: temper so thy affections as pride creep not into thy heart, and bridle so thy mind, that thou be the same man thou wast before, for thou little knowest how sudden may be thy fall, and art ignorant how speedily the Lord will deprive thee of thy pleasures: Thou livest happily, and thy state is stayed: but dost thou not see another pine in penury, and fall into great misery: good Fortune guides the ship, and felicity sits on the Pump: but Envy may step in for a show, and Disdain may give the a soucinge blow: The highest tree is often shaken, but when it falleth the crack is great: the mighty Prince deprived of his dignity, his case is lamentable: but the poor man if he lose all his goods, careth not greatly, for that they were but small: The wind bloweth hardest upon the sails of the greatest Ship, and the little Boat can pass quietly in the narrow River: and goeth not the cock boat more safely in the quiet calm, than the great Hulk saileth surely in the main Sea? Is not the Frog in less danger to be taken, than the Salmon to be caught? the little Lamb liveth, when the fat Weather goeth to the slaughter: the Hind feedeth still in the Lawns, when the fat Buck is pursued: the smallest things, the less regarded, and the greater they are, the more is their danger: the Lion is pursued, when the Lamb sucketh the teat of her dam: and the bristled Boar is roused out of his Den, when the sucking Pig sleepeth quietly: the Bull is baited, when the Calf feedeth in the fields: and the Hearne is soused at, when the sneaking Snight sitteth by the rivers side: Who therefore would desire to be rich, or who covet to be greater: to be famous, or to have a name? to be called a God upon earth, when his end shall be as miserable as a beast, as wavering as the wind, and as tottering as a Reed: as uncertain as the helm of the Ship, and altering as the Moon: like the untimely fruit, falling from the tree before it be riped: & like the curnell of a Nut, eaten with a worm: so unsavoury is the highest estate, and so dangerous the seat of mighty men, if Fortune once gi'en to frown, and good hap be gone out of a man's reach. What a life therefore is this, and how replete with misery? how unsatiable, and how void of all goodness? when the highest is so slippery, how shall the lowest be sure? yet I think the least is the safest, and the lowest the surest: For who eateth his bread better than the labouring man? and who feedeth with a better stomach, than he that hath travailed all the day: I have wrought hard saith he this day, therefore now will I eat mainly: then happiest is the least, and unfortunate the greatest: not so neither: would the greatest temper his affections as he might, and use his riches in so good order as he ought, his estate is most happy, and he most bound to Fortune: For are the great Princes of the world unhappy, for that they are mighty? and are they not fortunate, for that they are rich? no: for because they could not rule with reason, nor moderate their minds to enjoy quietly, that which they possessed. He that climbeth high, great is his fall, and the aspiring mind, comes often short home: the fair Rose cannot grow, but every one will be plucking at it: and the goodly pomegranate cannot hang on the Tree till it be ripe: the fairest Falcon is desired of all: and the sweeter the Grape, the more do gather of it: the mightier the estate, the more desired, and thee goodlier possessions, the more suitors: The new built House is sooner bought then the ragged walls, and a fat and lusty Horse sooner caught up, than a lean and starved jade: the best are most desired, and the least little regarded.  
But Norbanus, it is now time to cast of these cogitations, and to leave devyninge of matters not touching thy estate: thou seest no body speaking to thee, nor any one that maketh thee answer: no man cometh at thee, nor any seeketh to relieve thee: Therefore bestir thyself and get thee abroad: arm thyself with patience, and in time thou mayst find relief: And there withal he went to borrow some money of his Captain, promising to answer it when the pay day came, but he would not lend him a mite, but sent him away as well satisfied as when he came to him: Thus fortune who erst (as he thought) hung about his neck, laughed him now to scorn: Who had then seen his visage, and marked the feature of his face, would have said it resembled rather the counterfeit of one going to be laid in the grave, than the lively hue of him, who so late bare such a port in Vienna.  
Roaming thus up and down the Camp, and going from one place to another, he met by chance with a friend of his, and one of old accquaintaunce: the other had a little silver in his purse, and better stored then Norbanus: therefore they went both to dinner, and got such victuals as their little money would reach too, where he fed like a hungry horse, travailed in a winter's day: Then Norbanus bewrayed unto him his great mishaps, and lamented his arrival into that miserable Country, recounting unto him the mere misery that he was like to come too: and declaring the ungratefulness of his Captain, and Countrymen, he could not so moderate his mind, nor so satisfy his appetite: not so bridle his affections, nor so conceal the inward anguish of his heart: but that he burst forth into bitter weeping, & so pitifully the tears flowed down his face, as if then he would have died, and never returned out of that place: Thus with daily lamenting his face was grown so pale, and with continual weeping his cheeks looked so wan, as those which before had long used his company, would not then have known him.  
The other seeing him so lament, and so pitifully to complain, comforted him so well as he could, and using such persuasions as he thought best, saying that weeping was no way to preserve his health, nor lamenting any means to make his sorrows slake: He therefore like a friend parted stakes with him, and gave him half the money in his purse, willing him (so long as he had any) boldly to command it, to the which liberal offer, Norbanus yielded him thanks for his courtesy, and gratefulness for his good will.  
Thus they departed, and Norbanus was better contented with that little sum, than if before he had gotten ten times the value: but the quantity was so small, that the joy could not last long: for as a Candle consumeth to nothing, or as the dew drieth up with the heat of the Sun: as the wax melteth before the fire, or the frost stealeth away so soon as the thaw cometh: so the substance of his purse diminished by little till all was gone, & then his grief grew as great as before: And for that there was so small store of money in the Camp, the victuals decreased, and was very hard to get: for the soldiers were so ill paid, and so hardly dealt withal, whether by the ill demeanours of the Captains, or that the fault was in the receivers: but this is most sure, that the poor soldiers had none, neither any could they get: by reason whereof, they were forced to rob, and driven to steal: to spoil the carriages coming towards the Camp, and to take away the money from the victuallers, which was the cause that the provision came not, and if there came any, they were forted either to sell it upon credit, or to carry it home again: The complaining, and the running, the lamenting, and the wailing, was intolerable amongst all sorts, and outrageous in every degree, as the sights, and the hearings, with the unsatiable rigour that there was used, would have moved the hard stones, and have forced the stony rocks to weep: Some cried out they would neither watch nor ward any longer: and some said, they would go serve the Enemy, and so end their days, rather than stay there to die with famine: some said, they would take up their Ensigns and march homewards, and some said they would go out and spoil the Country: some determined one thing, and some imagined another: As the Captains feared some inconvenience would grow of this mutiny, and doubted some danger would shortly ensue, therefore stopped their mouths with a little parcel of their pay, and offered them part till all came. Now if the old soldiers were thus afflicted, and the ancient Captains so tormented, Norbanus was also▪ distraught, and incensed: for here you should have met them going to such a Town, and there running to another village: here ransacking such a house, and there robbing such a Castle: here pulling down a Cloister, and there breaking into an Abbey: some took the Countrymen their friends, and tormented them, to cause them confess their money: some with their Snaphaunces and firelocks opened the vices, and put their thumbs therein, till the blood came out at the ends, or till they were so thin as a paper, and some they hanged by their members, to make them confess: some they took and hanged, till they were almost dead, and some they bond strings about their foreheads, till their eyes were like to come out: This was the misery, and this the calamity: this the monstrous outrage they used, and this their hard dealing: all for want of that which should sustain them, and for lacking their pay which should have sufficed them: There came the complaints to the Colonels, and here were their doings put up to the Captains: some lamented the loss of their goods, and others the foregoing of their children: some that their cattle were all stolen away, and others that their houses were rifled and nothing left. The Colonels seeing this, and the Captains perceiving the vile dealings of the soldiers, gave unto every one a little piece of money, and so stopped their throats for a time, setting down such straight laws, and making such prestricte decrees, that those which went out of the Camp without licence, should abide the bargain for it, and those that stole, should be rewarded with a halter: and in that the relief was so small, and their money so little, many were executed, & a great number put to death: some were shot through by their Corporals, and some passed the pikes: some were hanged, and some otherwise punished: Which sight so terrified Norbanus, and put him into such fear, as he knew neither how to do, nor which way to bestir himself: he therefore coming to his stately cabin, thought to recreate himself with some sleep: but alas, he was not in his bed at Vienna, nor at home in his Uncle's house, neither had he such a friend as Phemocles to utter his mind unto, he therefore complained to himself as followeth.  
And hast thou indeed sold thy own Country to buy here a beggars portion? and hast thou forsaken thy loitering life at home to find such infamy in a strange place? And hast thou bearest thyself of those passing pleasures wherewith of late thy stomach was full gorged, to enjoy here this pining penury? And hast thou so refused to die in her arms, whom above all the world thou didst honour, to leave thy life here amidst these carrion carcases, whose smell is intolerable, and whose look most loathsome? before I came hither, I heard those that thus talked, and had this conference amongst themselves of it, some would to God we might have Wars, than should we be regarded: O said others, this peaceable time is very ill for us, and not good for any: would others say, if the Emperor maintained some wars, and that we might have pay, we should be merry, where now we want much: upon this I imagined with myself, and thought in my mind, the wars surely are very beneficial, and the life of a Souldioure excellent, otherwise, they would not so earnestly desire them, nor so willingly wish for them. I imagined there hanged bags of money upon every headge, and in every house there was some hidden: but alas, how contrary dost thou find their sayings? and how false their speakings, how tattling their tongues, and how their lips are larded with lies: we can not see when our hap is good, nor be content when fortune favoureth us: O the misery: and the calamity, the distresses, and the sharp showers, the bitter blasts, and the cold coverings, the hungry bellies, and the dreadful dangers, these are the patterns of our pining penuries, and the signs of our surest safeguards: when the heavenliest hap that we hope for is death, what shall be the least of our felicities.  
The Apprentice looks to the discharge of his business, and the sale of his wares, eateth when him listeth, and at night sleepeth quietly in his bed: though the Mariner be sometimes tossed on the wallowing waves, and feel otherwhiles the force of the floods, yet so soon as he cometh on shore, he rejoiceth with his wife, and maketh merry with his family. The craft's man scorched with the summer's blaze, and chippred with the Winter blast, hath money and meat for his labour, and sleepeth quietly in his bed. But when do we sleep sound, or when do we slumber safely? doth not our sleep as well nourish, as our meat sustain? but how shall we do that ne-never have the one, and always want the other. How dangerous are the feats of wars, and how unsatiable the sauce of this safety? how loathsome the manner of this diet, and how hard to digest? doth not this grudge my mind, and am I not pricked in my own conscience to rob, and to rifle: to steal, and to scratch: to borrow, and to brawl: to catch, and to scold: to swear, and to stare: to lie, and to lurch: to flatter, and to dissemble: to beguile, or to be deceived: Then to see them so tormented, and to behold them so punished, so racked, and so rend: so trodden, and so stamped on: to confess their Coin, and to bring their bags to light: to show the faces of their fair Duccates, and to pull out their painted Portagues: one complaineth, saying, I have lost that he sta●e, and another, he hath begged that which I have borrowed: then sayeth another, I will go raunsacke such a house, and thou shalt have half the spoil: then another saith, I had stolen four fat Oxen, and a knave so bad as myself, hath taken them from me and deceived me of my purpose: One robbeth Peter, to pay Paul: and the strongest thief escapeth best: our meat is not daintily dressed, nor we so curious to pinch courtesy, but rather than stay to long, eat it half raw: as for sauce, we never tarry for it, neither do we want any to chew it for us: the best is, we have fair Fountains to cool our dried throats, and fine Welles to quench our great thirst: and were our meat as plentiful as our water is cold, we should have enough of the one, and to much of the other: We think not scorn as did the Prodigal Child, to eat with the Swine, and to devour our meat as they do: if we eat not with them, we fill our paunches where they did feed: we have no great choice of dishes, for he that hath above one, forfaiteth the other to the Prince: and we have a law, that any man may not eat above once in the day, except he have meat: when we lay us down on our soft Fetherbourdes, and think to take a little nap, Master Louse cometh craftily under one of our sides, or else cometh stealing at our backs when we are sléepinge: but I marvel being a Spaniard borne, that he will so invade us in the night, and of so ancient name, yet come so craftily behind us, he lays on his lunchinge lips of our flesh, and leaveth not manching before he have filled his belly: but though he bite hard, he never eateth us: But Norbanus, were this Mart now to make, and this bargain again to bind: with my consent thou shouldest never hurt Soldier, except thou didst steal away his dinner: Thou mightest have stayed in Vienna, and looked to thy Uncle's business, kept his accounts, and dispatched his matters: conferred with his creditors, and talked with his tenants: Nay, thou mightest have used the company of thy faithful friend, and talked with him in the Town: walked with him in fields, and exercised thyself in his company: thou pleased his fancy, and he liked thy honesty: learned lessons on thy Lute, and sought out Songs and Sonnets: used instruments to refresh thy wits, and exercised recreatitions for the health of thy body: but now thou must forget these thy pleasures past, and recount thy miseries to come.  
Thus tumblinge about in his Cabin, first on this side, then on that other, now imagining this thing, and then an other quite contrary: At last he perceived the dawning, and saw the light come in upon him: not long after there came certain of his acquaintance, and some that wished him well, telling him they had gotten licence of his Captain, and a Passport of his own hands, for four days, to roam the Country, and to take what boot they could get▪  
Norbanus at this gentle offer made no denial, but start up and went along with them: the first day they spent, and got just nothing: the second day proved as beneficial as the first: the third night they came to a little Castle, where they went in to take up their lodging, for that they saw the place to be strong, and likely there should be some thing within it: looking in every hole, and ransacking every corner, they happed into a pigs sty, or a swine's house, where they found six young sucking Pigs, but the dam was not there, which they imagined was taken away not long before, or that same very day: hear they made a great feast, and here was great cheer providing, but there was not one amongst them that was a cunning Cook, or not any that could well dress this meat, but left almost half the hair stricking on their backs, and roasted them so ill, that Norbanus by the space of three Months after, felt no other savour as he thought but those stinking pigs, and all the meat that he eat as he thought tasted of them: the day following they returned homeward, and hasted to the Camp, yet they could not make such haste, but they were benighted, nor go so fast but that they were beguiled: Therefore espying a fair Castle, and a good place to lodge in, they went into it, and there took up their lodging: they shut the doors close to them, and making a great fire laid them down to sleep: Norbanus was very well warmed, but liked not his bed: he therefore got to the top of a Cupboard standing hard buy, and there couched himself: being sound a sleep, about midnight he turned to the other side. It happened his Pellet purse was open, yet tied fast to his Girdle: and when he had turned himself, his Bullets all dropped out, and fell all scattering on the flower: which being bourded, and the place where he lay far from the ground, they made such a noise, and so great a clattering, as if twenty Guns had been discharged one after an other: The company that lay by the fire, being sound on sleep, start up so suddenly, as if they had been assailed by the enemy: crying out, we are betrayed, we are betrayed.  
Norbanus sound a sleep, and starting up to take his piece fell down from the Cupbourde, and made such a noise with the fall, as if the wall had been broken down upon them, or if one of the Chambers had fallen, and with fear had little hurt, but was amazed with the fright: but the company ran some one way, & some an other: some tumblinge over their fellows, and some knocking their shins against the posts: some ran to the doors, and others pulled out their Rapiers: some sought for fire to light their Matches, and some not thoroughly waked ran they knew not whether: some quaked, & some quivered: some had forgotten where they had bestowed their furniture, and some had lost their Guns: In the end one had lighted a wax candle, which was found in a Church the day before.  
Norbanus who perceived the cause of this sudden uproar, and knew the event of all this matter, fell to persuading them, and showing them the occasion of this sudden noise, some believed him, and others denied it: then taking the Candle, and shewing them the place where he fell, and the Bullets not yet taken up, they believed that which was so manifest, and doubted not of the matter when they saw the truth before their faces: When all was pacified, and every thing quiet, they fell in a great laughter to see their own folly, and jested out the matter merrily: for Norbanus was in all the fault, and he had taken the greatest hurt: afterwards they slept sound till it was day light, and were not troubled with any more such false alarms: so soon as it was day, and that the sun began to shine, they marched towards the Camp, and came home in good time, but their gains were small, saving they had filled their hungry paunches: Not long after, Norbanus went forth again, being requested by some his friends, who was better contented to go abroad, then to stay steruinge in the Camp: where they travailed all the day, but found just nothing: When it drew towards night, they approached to a Castle not far from them, which they thought a commodious place for them to lodge in, and good for their purpose: This Castle was Moated, and in the Dikes they found very good Fish: and finding Nets in the house, they drew great plenty out of the Moat: being busied about the dressing of this fish, and wearied with their travail before: it grew late in the evening, and by their imagination about ten of the clock: It happened the night before, there lodged other in the same place about the number of forty, and all of their own Camp, who repaired thither, thinking to lodge as before: they had left a Gate open, and this company came into the Court: where perceiving great lights within the house, knew not what to imagine: one perceived them that was within the house, and shot a piece over them, at the discharging whereof, all this company lay close: Coming into the Court, they shut the gate after them, and left one of their company without, who roamed up and down he knew not whither: they within the house concluded to put out all the lights, and to go out closely at a back gate.  
There left they their Fish hanging over the fire, and went closely out at a postern gate, where hard by the house they laid themselves close in ambush, meaning to set upon them at advantage when they came forth.  
Lying thus closely that they could not be perceived, the fellow running up and down, came just amongst them where they lay: which perceived by one of the company, ran towards him, saying, Rendera vou viliaco. The fellow amazed, and thinking of no such matter, yielded himself, thinking he should die no other death: whom after they had long examined, found him to be one of their own Camp, who told them the whole matter, and how those within were of their own company: then went they all in, and feasted themselves with the Fish that hung over the fire.  
The day following, they marched all towards the Camp, where they found small-chéere, and worse lodging. Not long after, Norbanus got a passport of his Captain, for himself, and other company: the first day they lost their labour, but for a little rotten fruit that hung upon the trees, the next day they came into a village, where they found two Calves, which they made ready, and thought to make good cheer withal, but their meat was not half roasted, nor their feast begun, when one of their company espied by chance a great number at the towns end, which he thought were the Enemies, he therefore ran in, and told it to his company, some took ●●e spits with the meat on them, and went a good space before them: the other came something behind, meaning to fight, if the enemy followed, but they were but a little out of the Town, when they saw the other hard at their heels.  
Here began a pretty skirmish, and the supposed enemies were half so many again as the other: they therefore pursued botelye, and the other maintained still their Shot, marching on apace: thus they followed by the space of two miles, till in the end they recovered a Wood, which perceived of the others, they retired back, and this good company had no hurt, but one man shot into the leg, which was without danger: there they roasted their meat again, and there ended their Banquet.  
The next day repairing towards the Camp, they passed through a Wood, and as they went a long, they perceived some company: than one discharged a Piece, to know whether they were the Enemies, or not: then repairing the one company near the other, there began a hot skirmish, and continued a certain space: they had the trees to defend them, and so fought a long space, without any slain: in the end, there was a Prisoner taken, and they likewise had taken one, which examined, they were found to be friends, than they left off with hurt on either side, and laughed well at the matter.  
Afterwards they departed to the Camp, and Norbanus never after went abroad, for he grew shortly so sick, as he doubted greatly his recovery: which his Captain seeing, and suspecting that he could not live, was content to let him go home, if he would, for that there went a great number besides himself very sick, and marvelous weak: he made no refusal, but departed strait towards the Sea: when he came there, the Ship was already provided for the sick soldiers, and he was appointed one amongst them: and seeing the company, some sick of the Plague, and others the sores running on them, thought with himself that those smells would kill him, and if he went with them, he could not live till he came to Vienna: therefore determined rather to die there, than to end his life amongst such loathsome creatures: and then he remembered, that to die amongst them, and to be cast over board, his Uncle should never here of his death, nor any of his friends know where he was become, and dying in that place, and laying there his bones, it might be known to his Uncle, and notified to the rest of his friends: but better hap came to him than he looked for, and fortune now began to be favourable, that long had hated him.  
After the departure of these Sick Creatures, there came to the house where Norbanus lay, a merchant, who was ready to take Ship fraughted to Vienna, and stayed but even for the next Tide.  
Talking of some matters, Norbanus understood that he was of Vienna, and also knew his Uncle, and therefore offered willingly if he would, to go in his Ship, to which great courtesy Norbanus made no denial, but seemed the best contented man living. The appointed hour now come, and all things in readiness, they weighed their Anckours, and hoist up their Sails: the wind filled their Sails with a sweet soft gale, and the Seas seemed very favourable to travel on, yet Norbanus was very fearful, and he doubted greatly of his passage: for being strong and lusty, at his coming over, and yet extreme sick, he thought now being so weak, that he must needs die: but he was so weak, that the Sea could not make him sick, but he that in six days before tasted no meats, began now to seed hungerly.  
Sailing towards his desired home, as many sundry cogitations assailed him, as he thought there were Stars in the Sky, he remembered his dear Uncle, and the pitiful words he would use to him when he came home: he marveled whether he would be perplexed, seeing him so miserable, or rejoice of his safe return: how he would digest the discourtesy of his Captain, and the hard dealing with him, that showed him so fair a face in the time of prosperity, but regarded him not drowned in adversity. Then he marveled that Phemocles neither scent letter to him, nor certified him by any messenger, doubting him to be but fickle, and friend in felicity, unsteadfast, and unstaid, fleeting from him in this unfortunate time, and giving him over, when he most needed his help, doubting their former proceedings, and mutual amity, to be drowned in the flood of forgetfulness, and put into everlasting oblivion, he being in security, and the other in calamity, mistrusting those faithful vows, and entire embracings, would be left without liking, and conveyed into curiousness: Then blamed he himself for judging so hardly of his friend, and condemning him without any proof that had not yet falsified his fidelity, nor violated his honesty: Then remembered he the embracings at their meetings, that should interchangeably pass from one to the other, and the pretty phrases that should be used between them, would burn their boiling breasts, and inflame their frying fancies, to possess that place of privilege, possessed before by them: musing whether Phemocles would most rejoice, or he be most glad: for that the one was forced by his father, the other constrained not with his own consent: then he imagined how they should diet their affections, and use their amity, so as they might never be weary of their love, but make it seem fresh, as at the first.  
Amongst other his cavilling cogitations, and fond fancies that thus assailed him, Fidelia was neither forgotten, nor out of the number: But if the truth were known, her name called first in question, happily whither absence had procured disliking, and choice had been made of such as were no flinchers, but would stick to their tacklinges, and fade like every frost, but bide all brunts, and have a shade for every shower, and a salve for every sore: then feared he her secrecy, and doubted she was so close as a Siue, that it was known to her Father, and so might hinder their pretence: the inconvenience that might be gotten thereby, and the preiudicialitie it might procure: for as it was hot with one hand, so might it be cooled with one Card: then he mused on the marriage day, and the solemnizing thereof, the courtous crew that should be invited, and their passaunces in pleasure, with the celebration of their fortunate fidelity, linked in the bands of amity, determined the time, and the place: drowned almost in these cogitations, and wallowing in the fits of his fancy, new supplies always assailed him, and contrary came in their places, like the water bubble in a rainy day, or when the weather is settled to rain, one dieth and an other riseth in that place: or like the Moon in a winter's night, when the weather is warm, when the Clouds rock a pace, and pass fast over her: now is she hidden, and then showeth herself again: Or like as when an army marcheth by, or passeth a long: some go always buy, and others possess their places: or like to the running of a soft River, or the passing of a narrow flood that runneth swift: or like the wallowing waters, tumbling and roulinge, one strait after the other, never staying till they beat on the Beache, or hit against the hard Rocks: Or like a great flock of sheep running through a narrow Lane, or passing forth of some gate, so fast as some run buy, others are in their places: so fared his fancies, and so wavered they: so ran they forward, and so never stayed they long upon one point: but by how much the more his senses were elevated with these contrary cogitations, by so much the more was the tediousness of that toiling travail shortened: swimming thus as well in the waves of his will, as in the waters of his wishes: in the floods of his conceived felicity, as in the Sea of security, and in the affections of his fancies, as in his shaking Ship: he espied at length the shore of his safeguard, and the Haven of his happiness: the port of his pride, and the arriving place of his rest: Now he beheld Vienna at the full, and discerned the sight of the whole Town: then looking on his vile apparel, and his torn rags: the uncleanness of his clothes, and the filthiness of his face: the change of his countenance, and the complexion conceived of his ill diet: knew not whether to go presently into the town or stay till the shadowy night approached: or if he should so go to his Uncle's house, to put a Uisour before his face: if he should not find his Uncle at home, to make him known to the servants or not: if he should make himself known, his Uncle not there, they would be sorrowful, not knowing how to help him: and if not tell who he were, they would not receive him being so ragged a colt, & so like a rogue: during the counterbuff of these cross cogitations, and abiding the meeting of these flowing fancies, the Ship thrust to the shore, and came to the landing place: by this time the Sun had seduced himself to the inferior parts of the earth, and clean out of their sight an hour before. Norbanus then treading his steps on more firm ground, than not long before he could, came directly to his Uncle's house, where entering in, found the Tables covered, & his Uncle ready to sit down, to whom he did his dutiful obedience, and used such courtesy as he best thought.  
Henricus stared earnestly on him, and looked long before he knew him: but perceiving it to be his Nephew, and not any other man, embraced him so hard, as if he should never have seen him again, saying:  
Alas Norbanus, with trickling tears, and watery eyes, how hard hath fortune dealt with thee? and how favourable with me? how froward was thy fate? and how lucky my lot? how unsatiable thy rigour? and how sure my safety: had I been thy companion, or thy fellow partner, in this villainous voyage, or borne a part in thy perplexed perils, my care had been the less, and my consolation the greater: thy hap more fortunate, and my mind better satisfied: thy dread without danger, and my perplexity without peril: whom hadst thou for thy companion? or who was thy Cabin fellow? Alas are these pale cheeks, and these whitely lips the face of my Nephew, and the favour of my beloved Norbanus? how hast thou been tormented, and in what manner hast thou been tumbled? how pined, and how plagued? how weather beaten, and how belly battered? how deprived of thy rest, and how beguiled in this bargain? O Norbanus, how happy is thy home, and how lucky thy own Land? how fortunate here thy friends and how doth Vienna swim in pleasure? they are troubled neither with summers shining, nor pinched with Winter's blasting. But are these thy own Robes, or hast thou borrowed them? What Arms givest thou in this Coat armour? or in what place hangs thy shield? the Lion roaring? or the Tiger tearing? the half Moon, or the white Bear? No, thou givest the Nitte nipping, or the Louse ramping: But O good God the mutability of felicity, and the uncertainty of this estate: the troublesome time of this paltry Pilgrimage, and the vale of this Vanity: the place of perplexity, and the Mother of Misery: God hath disposed to every thing life and living, and given to all other creatures a resting place: but man hath no certainty of his being, nor any time appointed where he shall always rest: he is borne here, & nourished a thousand miles off, leading here his infancy & youth, and his old age he knoweth not where or in what place: when a man presumeth most upon his good hap, then is he likeliest to fall: and when he thinketh the steps are trodden for him, than he soon slippeth: when he thinketh he sitteth in Fortune's lap, then is death in his dish: never happy whilst he lineth, and never hapless till he be borne: when he thinketh the boisterous blasts are blown over, the crooked Cliffs compass him about: and when he thinketh at danger is drowned in forgetfulness, then begin his méerest miseries: If the Sun shine hot in winter, it betokeneth foul weather, and when the purpose plays above water, it is some sign of rain: thou hast tasted both bale, and bliss: felicity, & unhappiness: and the sour, so well as the sweet: some mishap is always ready at our doors, but favourable fortune is hard to find: but I marvel how thy tender body could abide the brunts which thy back hath borne: for could thy weak nature digest things of great difficulty, when not well thou couldst carry the cross of a little unconstancy: few friends I think thou foundst to further thy favour, and as few well willers to complain thy calamity: no penny, no Pater noster, nor no money, no Mass: he that hath little, shall have nothing, but somewhat hath some savour: I think thy fare was the least, and thy misery the most: the less thou hadst in keeping, the more untolerable thy grief: O the shifting that thou sawe●t, but thou I doubt couldst not scratch: the swearing, but thou couldst not sweat: the flattering, but thou couldst not fayne: the dissembling, but thou couldst not double: the stealing but thou couldst not filch: and the brabbling, but thou couldst not brawl: he that cannot steal in a Camp, must not live under a Captain: and he that cannot play the knave in the Fields, must not live in the wars: either steal, or starve: if not catch, then beg: if not filch, then hang.  
O detestable life, and O corrupted liberty: spoiled by devouring cormorantes, and loathed by the misdemeanour of unreasonable outrages: by murdering Mates, and by quarellinge caitiffs: by riotous Rebels, and by villainous Vipers: I speak not that the Wars are not necessary, for that I know (otherwise) we should not enjoy our own: Kings must by that means be resolved to reason, and Traitors and Tyrants tamed and punished: yet the abuses are untolerable by the Captains, and without reason of the Soldiers: But as the breathing out of my bitter words is no remedy against their wicked life, so thou once deprived of these outrageous roisters, shalt never by my consent have any parcel of their patrimony again. But I wast my words in vain, and move thee with the remembrance of those things which grieve thee, such necessaries as thou wantest shall be to morrow provided, and those things which are lacking as speedily made ready as may be: mean while, I wish thee be as merry as thou mayest, and assure thyself, that thy Uncle rejoiceth not a little thy safe return.  
Dear Uncle replied Norbanus, my travels have been troublesome, and my ways weary: my journeys great, and my profit small: my labour loathsome, and my toil unrequited: the hazard of my life oft in danger, and the fruition of my health void of all hope: my young years are made to bear adversity, and your gravity and goodness to give me good counsel: My youth replete with sorrow, and my days filled with unhappiness, being strong and stout, may better abide bitter brunts, and endure sharp showers: Your antientnesse weakened with former factions, and tasting the tediousness of toils, is now forced to content yourself quietly, regarding not the novelties that daily ensue, the hazarding of my life, with loss of friends and liberty, will be the cause of my happiness, and more certain felicity. The greatest charge of a Soldier is careful, and the lesser lives lamentable: when the best are unprofitable, can the worst be tolerable? when the best are gall, must not the worst be garlic? when the best are devilish, must not the worst be hellish: Here Rigour ruleth, and Reason runneth away: faith flieth, and fidelity is forgotten: justice is no judge, and honesty hath no portion in this place: mercy is not maintained, and love is little regarded: The robbing, and the rifling: the stealing, and the starving: the killing, and the cutting: the slasshing, and the bitter blows: the biting blasts, and the sharp showers: the pitiful plaints, and the grievous groanings: the infected filthiness, and the pestilent plagues: the dreadful deaths, and the terrible torments, would mollify the strongest eyes to shed bitter tears, and make the most unkind conscience to yield some succour: For my part I can brag with the least of my beatitude, and boast with the best of my bitter brawls: vaunt with the least of my felicity, and crack with the most of my discourtesy: lest lucky amongst the living souls, and my death as detestable, had I then raked up my bones: who lost all had no warrantise to get any more: and I lost no less that makes me so poor, as naked as my nail, and as lean as Lazararus, as poor as job, and as many faces as a Sheep: As for my man, he by this time hath tried his fortune, and proved his felicity: sick I left him, and who should seek, dead should find him: when I lost my apparel, than lost I also him: my money was too heavy carriage, and he too stately to await on my poor parsonage.  
To show you the monstruousness of the Wars, and the nobleness of that Army, the success was most happy, and our soldiers escaped well.  
To speak of the company of footmen, and the great assays, the battery, and the blows, the beséegings, and the breaches, the sousing shot, and the piercing pikes: the courage of our Captains, and the discomfiture of our Enemies, the time would seem too tedious, and the labour too loathsome: but at any time hereafter, when it shall please you, command me to demonstrate, I shall most dutifully do your desires, and most obediently fulfil your requests: but be you assured, that I never mean to serve more, and my own Country excepted, I have killed a Soldier.  
Then sat they down to Supper, but his appetite was small, and his desire to eat, less: yet he strained no courtesy, and would not seem curious, yet sat, though smallly to his ease, and eat, though little to his lust.  
After Supper, he bid goodnight to his Uncle, and got him to his bed, which he thought was the softest that ever he laid his limbs in, and the pleasantest that ever he came in: there he rolled, and there he tossed: there he tumbled, and there he wallowed: sometimes he laughed to himself, for joy of his safe return, and then again he lamented, to think of his losses: then was he merry that his Uncle was so glad of his coming home, and then was he sorrowful to think how pitifully his Uncle complained his calamity: then was he pleasantly disposed, to think of the renning his friendship with his ancient companions, then contrary troubled, lest those whom he best loved should fly the field and forsake him.  
The contrariety of cogitations were like as when two Floods meet, or the diversity of his imaginations like the ebbing and flowing of the Seas.  
I think Anthony at his return to Room was not better content to enjoy his forepast pleasures, than was Norbanus to possess his quiet Country, and courteous companions. And Aeneas not more glad, when he had escaped from the slaughter of Troy, than he contented in crossing the Seas, and leaving the place of his poverty. Caesar not more rejoiced of his triumphs after his travel, nor Ulysses better content to come to his own home, than he desirous of the place he now possessed, or joyful of his good hap for coming so well: and I think Norbanus would choose to be a prentice in Vienna, before a Prince of Spain: though he were troubled with his sickness, and the change of his diet had altered his favour, yet could he not sleep in his bed, for the joys he conceived, nor rest that night, for comforting himself with his safe return: but within four or five days after, with keeping good diet, and using good order, he retained his former favour, and gained his ancient complexion, determined therefore to spend that day in visiting his friend Phemocles, and in renewing of his old acquaintance: then went he to his Father's house, and inquired of him for his son, but he answered that he was gone into Spain two months sithence, and he was not certain of his return: Norbanus yielded him thanks for his courtesy, and so departed home again. The inward joy he conceived belike of his safe arrival, or pricked with some imaginations to forget their fidelity forepast, but this is most certain: his desire towards Phemocles was nothing so ●éepe as before, nor his love to Fidelia nothing so great as before his going: Afterward desirous to speak with Fidelia, or by some meane● to use some conference with her, yet fearful to be mistrusted, or to have any suspicion grow, as well for his own honesty, as for her credit, shortly after he went to the Church, and there thought to meet with her, thinking that she, who of late was so devout a Votary, was still so sainctly a servitor: and she that of late was sworn the Servant of Venus, was not now one of the Virgins Vestal: she that but late was the only joy of Norbanus, was yet his faithful friend, and priest at his commandment.  
There he sat all the time of service, and watched the devotion of his Saint, but he gained as much sight of her, as if he had been out of the Church: for her devoutenesse that day was nothing, and she came not to the place of Prayer at all: thus he returned home so wise as he was before, though not so well contented as he thought to be. Not long after, his Uncle made a great Feast, and invited all his neighbours about him, and lest Fidelia should be there lacking, Norbanus would take the pains to bid her himself: to the accomplishment whereof, for that there was none so fit as himself, he was content to take that office upon him, and his Uncle willingly condescended it should be so: At the appointed day, he invited first one, and then an other: then went he to the Father of Fidelia, uncertain what to do, whither to bid her Father and her both, or but him alone: if but him alone, than he doubted she should not come: or to say first himself, and then her: or after his speaking to him, to request her himself: then thinking so she might lawfully frame some excuse: then be thought to desire him, and he should speak to his Daughter: But in fine, going boldly, and having rejected all fear, he went into the house, where he found one of his men, who asking for his Master, the Servant answered he was in his Chamber: then he requested the Servant that he might speak with his Master from Henricus: the man went and certified his Master thereof, who came presently to him, and embraced Narbows joyfully, to see him so safely returned: he questioned with him of many matters, touching the estate of the Wars, and asked him of many things in his travail: who answered him directly to his demands, and resolved him in every thing that was asked. Then said Norbanus.  
Sir so it is, my Uncle hath invited certain of his Neighbours and friends, and your household for one amongst the rest: pleaseth you therefore to accompany that honest crew, your coming shall be very grateful, though your entertainment ●ée but simple.  
He thanked Henricus for his great courtesy, and promised to fulfil his lawful request.  
Norbanus departed, not so well satisfied as he would have wished, yet better pleased than he imagined he should have been: but amongst other matters, he marveled he could not see his Saint he served, but yet arming himself with the help of hope, he departed home driving out one nail with another conceit, deprived of despair, and certified of safety: Then declared he to his Uncle, at the appointed day, they would all accomplish his desires: mean while he fed upon felicity, and chewed nought but his own conceits, yet his drugs were not so hard to digest as before his voyage, nor his Pills so perilous but that he could put them over without danger of death.  
The desired day now come, and the time that Norbanus long expected, now expired, the appointed guests approached, first one, and after another: in the end came the Father of Fidelia, and then she herself: but had she known Norbanus to been so near her, she would have strained courtesy, and stayed still at home.  
Henricus courteously welcomed first her Father and then herself.  
Then Norbanus in the best manner he could, welcomed the Father, and coming to her, his eyes bewrayed the secrecy of his thought, and his lips stayed so long upon her cheeks, as the company might imagined him to be dumb: then holding her fast by the fair fist, he spoke as followeth.  
And you Gentlewoman, better welcome than Gold, and more liked of me, than all the precious things in Germany: Let not your travail therefore seem troublesome, nor your journey grievous, for the one shall be requited with courtesy, and the other gratified with good will: which pleaseth you to accept patiently, shall be surrendered bountifully.  
Her reply he would not stay, fearing being suspected of the company, than sat they all down to Dinner, and fed on such fare as there was provided: Norbanus glutted himself with the sweet sight of his seemly Saint, always feeding on her amorous eyes, but Fidelia fed on disdain, and could eat no meat till she had eased her stomach to Norbanus: Then beholding the great cheer, and seeing the sumptuous fare, he was not unmindful of his late feasts, and could not forget those dainty dishes.  
Dinner ended, the company disposed themselves to sundry actions, and diverse pastimes: the elder company to questions touching their estate: and the younger to more pleasant sports, and always as one waxed stolen, they renewed it with some other more fresh.  
Norbanus espying Fidelia without any to talk withal, and leaning at a Window, began thus to assail her, and spoke as followeth.  
Mistress Fidelia, Ulysses after the long time of absence, and the sharp showers he endured, returned to his well-beloved Penelope, and enjoyed her at length, whose second meeting was as acceptable, as their first marriage: The Daughter of jepthath had such an inward desire to have the first sight of her Father, as it cost her the best blood in her belly: and Tully was more joyfully received into Rome after the death of Scylla, then in all his life time before: and Norbanus having gained the sweet sight of his faithful Fidelia, is now content to offer himself sacrifice, to pleasure his beloved Mistress: the time of my absence hath been tedious, and my toiling journey not without danger, the greater my grief, and the harder my hap: often at the bitter brink of my gaping Grave, but now safely returned, eased of my pensiveness, and attaining the type of my former felicity, surrendering myself to the curiousness of your courtesy, and offering myself slave to the bravery of your beauty, which I offer, not part, but all, into your heavenly hands, the helper of my happiness, and the redeemer of my fore lost liberty: Whereof being deprived, my life shall not long last, nor my days any time endure: But as my contagious cares could not be counted, nor my miseries manifested: my dying deaths, and yet living. In like case, can now my heavenly graces be shown, or my earthly pleasures manifested, gaining your goodness, and having your happiness? Can the foul fly, her feathers plucked away, and her flickering wings left naked and bare, doth she not presently fall to the earth, & so pine away? The sorry sheep deprived of her flouncinge fleece, is subject to the scorchinge of the Sun, and the biting of flies, seeking the shades, and coveting the coverts, till the weighty wool have covered her bare back, and her fleece grown in such order as before. The true Turtle having lost the company of her Mate, mourneth till she die, and never enjoyeth any thing. Livia sooner gained Anthony his pardon, than all the rest of the Romans could: and Fidelia hath won Norbanus to love her, which before could not be persuaded to like any: and is he not tied to the faith of Fidelia, and priest to die a thousand deaths to pleasure his sweet Mistress? Pleaseth you therefore to tarry no more times, nor to drive of no more days: to bid no more bargains, nor to look for no other intreatinges but to end this tractable Tragedy, and finish the fullness of our felicity, by protesting before God and answering before the patiented audience our ancient amity, by joining of hands, and uniting of two several souls in one body, and the Church rites used, as the order is: Pleaseth you therefore to will the time, and appoint the place, I shall be priest at your command, and obedient to do as you shall like: As for my speedy departure, and the posting of my journey, I was hasted by a Harbinger that would not stay a time, and moved by such a messenger that would not await my leisure: forced therefore frowardly to abandon your beauty, and hasted to fly your favourable face, which had I made denial, my penalty should have been paid to my preiudicialitie, and my punishment more grievous than gainful: my love would have lost the liking of my loyalty, and my liberty would have cost me my life: Had I come to taken my friendly farewell, and as duty would, to have known your pleasure: the sighs and the sobs, the tears and the kisses: the farewells, and the partings, would have been so unpleasant, and the mutability so hard to digest: the last adieu so lamentable, and my bewailings more bountiful, than were the sorrows of Orpheus, losing his Wife again after he had recovered her out of Hell. In deed I confess every blot is a fault, and every hole blame worthy. Offensive I was in departing, and guilty in going without licence, for the which my misdemeanour, and voluntary presumption, I stand bound at the bar of your beauty, and appeal to your favourable courtesy, and if therein I did offend willingly, I crave pardon earnestly: I stay your favourable answer, and the pronouncing of your penalty.  
Small penalty Sir replied she, but such as it is hath been long sithence pronounced, and it is neither better nor worse, but that from henceforth you never offer to move one motion of such matter, nor follow the pursuit of this your frustrate purpose any farther: you know Norbanus, the Eyas Hawk is soon reclaimed, but if she be not fed, she will quickly away: the Colt being well handled, will be made to the Saddle, but use him not well, and he will have the trick of a jade: the brick must be first made before the house be built: and the Tailor must have his cloth, before he fashion the garment: the Shoemaker must have his leather, before he can fashion his lachet: and the Apothecary his confections, before he make his drugs: you reckon without your hosts, therefore you are like to pay dear for your pennyworth: you fish before the net, and you have found a Frog: you shot your shaft before you set your mark, therefore you were best to level again: Doth not the Sun make the grass grow? and doth it not also dry up the water? the rain breaketh the sprouting ears of Corn, yet maketh the beech fresh and green: doth not the running River soften the dirt, and harden the pitch? hath the sight of my beauty so infected you, that your senses are seduced out of your own custody? The restraining of your courtesy shall therefore henceforth be kept so close, as you shall not find one eye to look upon me vainly: He that should taste the courtesy of so quick a carver, should arise from Dinner so hungry as he sat down: and she that should trust your talk so full of toys, should make a long harvest of a few thistles. The running River never returneth nor floweth as the walowing Sea, the Western wind retireth not to the place from whence it came: and the Rain and Snow go not back into the Skies again: If in this I have spoken, I turn my cap, or alter my mind, count my words never to be worth credit, and my deeds to deserve double infamy. Though I were as hot as Aetna, yet now am I as cold as Cacasus: and though I blazed like a havin, yet now I lie smothering like wet straw: if at the first so h●te as a toast, yet now so cold as a stone, and never so hot in love, but now as cold in desire. There are I know in Spain proper pieces, and pretty paragons: dainty Damsels, and trim trulls, more fit for your feeding, and more dainty for your diet: more lovely to look on, and more handsome in behaviour: more dainty in their dealings, and more faithful in their fancies: more beautiful in favour, and more loyal in heart: This journey you framed of a set purpose, and think to blind my eyes with a bald excuse: but you halt before a cripple, and limp before a lame body: you a fléeter, and I faithful: shall you gain my love, and shall I lose my liberty? nay, you shall first be deceived of your hope, and I deprived of a flatterer: you a flincher and flytouch, and I steel to the hard back: you under pretence of love think to lure me to your lust, I in safeguard of my honesty discharge you of such lustily loyalty: But you have miss the cushion, and sit on the bare bench, I frustrated of a faithless friend, and discharged of a rank Rebel: you set your honesty to sale, but I sell not my maidenhead in shops: you a shifter, in deceiving so simple maids as myself, and I of no honest behaviour, to retain so trustless a treacher: your perfumed fancies, and wanton words, shall not reclaim me to your call, but my courtesy, not exceeding the bands of honesty, have not made you a warrant to win me to your will: You can prate like a Parrot, and flatter like Aristippus: the one shall not infect me, nor the other overcome me: He that will leave his wife, to find a louse in another Country, shall never be my faithful friend, though I be his faithless foe. In deed Sir, it is a cowardly part to tarry at home where you should win credit: and I were a careless trull to match with such a mate, as when he can find no other, would then pray upon me, but you are beside the saddle, and have miss your mark: Think you in this long time of your absence, I am to seek of a husband? no, trust me, another hath won me by wisdom, and he shall wear me by wit. You lost me by leaving your loyalty, & I forsake you, not forcing your flattery. If my sight at your departure should have dangered your disease, my company at your return shall not infect your fancy. You are a good Soldier, and the stragglers you know come often short home: Because therefore you have wandered so wide, let some other take you up for stumbling, & set you at sale, that would sell others honesty: No, jason was a false fléeter, and Aeneas a lewd lover: the one tarried a time, and then returned: afterward went, and never came again: the others villainous pretence once gotten, fled, and never looked behind him: These both Princes, they both Pirates: these both lovers, they both Traitors: these two Ladies lost their lives with love: they both laughed in their sleeves once having gained their lust. He that would not tarry at home to wear me, shall not now he is come home win me to wed me. But why do I make a long season about a few Grapes? and when they are gathered, they will prove but rotten: Know this therefore Norbanus that as you had me, so shall you never have me: and as you won me, so have I lost you: I was not so soon caught, but I am as quickly gone: When you had won me, you should then have worn me, but now you have lost me: I am not for your liking, my answer is therefore, that you keep your tongue still in your mouth, and wast not your words in vain: To tell you who shall enjoy me, you were never the wiser, and I little the better: but assure yourself, whosoever do wear me, shall first wed me, and he that hath wedded me, shall then wear me at his pleasure: as for yourself, I give you for ever the Basalos manos: therefore never tempt me with wanton words, nor allure me with paltry promises, if you do, I will make you no answer, or if you move me never so much, I will keep still my tongue, and not open my mouth.  
Norbanus was nipped in the head like a Cock-sparrow, and grieved at the gall, neither knew he how to look, nor what to answer, but at last thinking to give her as faithless a farewell, as she gave him a grievous gratulation, he framed himself to speak, and replied as followeth.  
I see Fidelia, that it is no fable, and not so common as true, that a woman's good will endureth but a winking, and her love lasteth but the lighting of a Candle: to know the cause of this suedaine breach, and to understand the meaning of your flying so fickly away, would do me little ease, and less pleasure. And hath my absence procured so your perplexity? and could you not stay my return? because I went, therefore was I faithless: and had I stayed at home, should I not been as hapless? thou sayest my going was to gain some girl so honest as thyself, no, thou knowest I was forced to go, and in going, I lost my liberty at home, and in not being at home, I lost thy liking, and have gained thy ill will, a great jewel surely, and a peerless piece, a painted sheath, or an Appothecaries' pot, better lost than found, & better forsaken than followed, for who finds thee, shall find a flirter, and who enjoys thee, I wish him no greater plague. Am I as false as jason? nay, art thou not as light as Lays? am I Appius to spoil thee of thy virginity? nay, art not thou Flora that will bid all welcome? am I Clodius that went in woman's apparel, to deprive Pompey of he● honesty? nay, art not thou Medalia that would hold up, thou carest not to whom? am I Aeneas that gained his pleasure, and then went his way? and art not thou so bad as runagate Atlante, that lost the lives of so many Nobles? in deed Lucretia died, her honesty once lost: and Virginia would rather lose her life, then forego that jewel her virginity: but thou that livest in lust, wilt never die of love: thou mayest well fry against the fire, but thou wilt never be burnt with the flame: were thy case like to Lucretia, thou wouldst not refuse so gentle an offer, to take so shameful a death: and wert thou Phillis, thou wouldst see ten husbands hanged, before thou wouldst die thyself: In deed I won the thee with an Apple, and shall lose thee with a Nut: was thou of late so hot as Oil, and now so cold as Iron: thou in love over the shoes, and now in hate over the Boots: thou cloakest thy collusion under the pretence of my absence, and couldst thou not stayed one year, thou wouldst ill have stayed ten? When every one doth like thee, some one shall wed thee: God give him good, but his hair is like to grow out at his hood: such fair faces, and such froward fancies: such loving looks, & such lustily desires: such fair words and such false farewells: such wanton eyes, and such dissembling deeds: such a heavenly heart, and such a devilish imagination: thou hast Honey in thy mouth, and a sting in thy tail: thy words are Sugar, but thy deeds sauce: a painted Pot, with poisoned Pottage: thou that wast drowned in despair, art now drenched in disdain: hath my loyal liking, procured me so lovelesse a Lady? and my flaming fire, turned to so cold a corrosive? thou wishest me not to know the cause of this thy departure. In deed the knowledge will do me small pleasure, and the remembrance less for my advantage: he that hath so faithful a friend, were better have some faithless foe: Fidelia is faithful by interpretation, but thou faithless in thy imagination: thou banishest me the presence of thy face, and I command thee to avoid my faith: Thou puttest me out of pay, and never more to crave thy company: I put thee out of my passion, and will thee never to expect of me any felicity: Thou wishest me never to move one word more whatsoever, and I put thee out of my Memento, and give over that which so earnestly I I did persever: Thou sayest I waste my words in vain and tear my time in travail, where there is no gain: I end therefore to speak more to Fidelia, once thy faithful friend, but now thy sworn enemy: once priest to pleasure thee, now determined to hate thee: once thy terrestrial trust, now thy earthly trouble: Yet to quarrel with a woman, or to fight with a shadow: if I gain the conquest I lose my credit, and if I win the field, I shall go home without victory: Therefore, for ever I forsake thee, and bid the everlastingly adieu, wishing thee to be more loyal to him, then faithful to me: more constant for thy own credit, then trusty to me for thy own honesty: and as thou hast given me a grievous gratulation, so give I thee a faithless farewell.  
Then Norbanus returned to the Gentlemen, & Fidelia sat down amongst the Gentlewomen: thus passed they the time, till night made them part company: After they were all departed, and had yielded thanks to Henricus, Norbanus entered into the inner part of his cogitations, and to the secret thoughts of his mind, which he found so contrary, as he knew not on whether to take hold: The Supper ended, he departed to his bed, where laid, he used these words to himself.  
O good God, when thou first madest Man, thou also framedst a Woman out of his flesh, to be a helper in his tedious warfare, and a partaker in his toiling travail: a helper, nay rather a plague: for was not her mind strait moved to mischief, and her wanton will, quickly won to procure his fall? and by nature I think all Women are subject to that same infection, and follow the Line of their first leader: how little time doth their love and loyalty last? and how small constancy, hath their greatest time of felicity? how lose of their loyalty▪ and how lavish of their liberty? who will credit the glo●singes of a Woman? and who will believe their fair faces? their flattering features, with devilish devices? their sweet words, with sirens Songs? their mutability, and their unconstancy? lost thou hast Fidelia▪ and forsaken Phemocles.  
O Phemocles, to enjoy thy company I forsake all the faithless women in the world: But con●emne not all, Norbanus, though some be false: thou knowest Lucretia was so chaste, that it lost her this life: and Susanna chose rather to yield to the fury of death, than consent to wicked lust: Dianira slew herself, and Hero drowned he● self: Virginia was content to be executed of her Father, and the Daughter of jepthath, to fulfil her Father's promise, was sacrificed: But Fidelia, her liking was the greatest that might proceed from any woman, and now her disloyalty comparable with the most faithless that ever breathed: so soon enticed to love, & so quickly content to bestow her life on my loyalty & now so hastily willing to work my woe by hate. In deed the ●oylinge Lead● will be no hotter than fair Water, and the red h●ate Iron so cold as a stone: and her love so hot as fire, is now so cold as Ice: But who could imagine that under so fair a face could lie so foul a fancy? and that so sweet a tongue, would sting worse than a Serpent? that under such painted clothes, could be such ragged Walls? and that so beautiful a body could nourish● so bitter blood: But who hath not tasted this that I feel? or who hath not been stung? if I am bitte●, if I am in the briars, who hath not been in the bushes, and if I were taken, who hath not been caught? did not Hercules wife send him a poisoned shirt? which no sooner on, but it stick fast to his back, and ever as he would have plucked it away, it tore the flesh with it, and never came off, till he yielded to death? Did not jesabel cause her husband to be hated of the Lord, and his blood to be given to Dogs for her wicked lust? Did not the wives of the wisest Prince that ever was in the world cause him forsake his gracious God, to follow their wicked lusts: and did not the wife of Jobe, wish him to curse God and die.  
O how unsatiable are their ways, and how wanton their works? how dissembling their deeds, and how false their faiths? how lying their lips, and how cont●●●y their vile motions? and let a man go to the ground of his imagination, and to their perfect substance, what are they of their selves? and how much inferior to us? they cannot live without our companies, nor do any thing without our helps: and what is that in them that we so greedily gape after? and what the cause that we so desire their companies? their beauty reserved, and a little favour in their face: All Women are alike, and every one hath so much as the other: and yet a great number their faces but borrowed, and their favours painted with paltry: but take that away, they are worse favoured than we, and more loathsome in every respect: worse shaped, and worse complexions: worse limmed, and worse legged: their condition is more vile, and their state more filthy: is not all that is in them their face? & all their other graces the foot & the hand? was not man first made? & is not his substance so much the purer? is not she weak of nature? why then should she be preferred before him? is she not more vile of condition? why than should she be his coequal? is not her birth base? why should her calling be before his? but she being inferior desireth superiority, & would willingly have the sovereignty: yet in that she is weakest of nature, and more vile of condition, man is content to yield, rather than gain so simple a conquest: ●● take away their Ruffs, & they look 〈…〉, & they are ●●●ple to behold: 〈…〉 of and they look crabbedly their heair untrust, & they look 〈…〉 They 〈◊〉 forsooth have their Rings, and their Bracelets: their Bungraces, & their Squares: their Hoods, and their Caps: their jewels, & their knacks: but take all these from them, and turn them like a man into a single Coat, and they look like a new shorn sheep, or like a Fowl plucked 〈◊〉 of her feathers: and what doth a man lose in purchasing their displeasure? nay, what doth a man gain in getting their favour? a few wanton kisses, or a bundle of paltry embracings, which pass like the wind▪ and fade like a shadow: and if happily a man possess their honesty, that goodly jewel: what a field he hath fought, and what a Treasure he hath gained, what a conquest he hath made, and what a kingdom he hath obtained, when he hath done what he ran, and gained all he could desire, he goeth away sorrowful, and thinketh himself a fool for his labour. For if he loved her, he repenteth he defiled her, and were it to do again, he would never put it in practice: if he did it for de●●re, and she not beautiful; then he calleth himself beast, to deal with her that he loatheth to look on: Did not God ordain them to be a plague unto us, and a necessary evil? what are they better, or what do they get? what do they gain, or what do they save? nay, what do they not spend, or what do they not consume away? painful to please, & peevishly disposed all things that liketh not them is nought, and if never so bad, liking their lust it is excellent. Was not David best beloved of God, and a mighty Prince? yet for a Woman, a manslayer, and purchased the displeasure of his God? Was not Solomon the wisest, and was not he the richest? yet enticed to the toys of Women, and fled the favour of his God (to gain the glory of his beauty?) And was not Simpson the strongest? for every lock was the strength of another man: Women deprived him of his strength, & made him their laughing stock: before, more strong than a Horse: now, ridden like an Ass: he must needs confess his strength, and paid his life for his folly: those three the mightiest of the world, these three most miserable by Women: Was not that noble City of Troy, sacked for a strumpette: and when it had cost so many lives, they gained but a harlot, he that speedeth best, can not brag of his bravery: and he that is best beloved, not boast of his felicity: the clearest River hath dirt in the bottom: and the fairest Woman, some filthiness within her: when their painted clothes are away, they are 〈◊〉 ragged walls: The best blown Tree, hath some blossom blasted: and the beautifullest body, hath some blemish in her demeanour: The Lepard is spotted by nature, and a Woman is stained by kind. Like as a Tree grafted with sundry fruit upon one root: so is a Woman's mind set with s●●drie conditions. Their dealings so dangerous, and their deeds so detestable: their minds so mutable, and their hearts so doubtful: as when a Man thinketh he hath the Fowl in his fist, he hath but the feathers: and when a man thinketh he hath the honey Combe, he hath the be by the tail: in deed they may well be ralled a necessary evil, for that they are out of conceit with any goodness: they are as cunning in the art of flattery, as if they had been bound prentice to the occupation: to speak the fairest words that may be, and to perform their deeds, they care not how stenderlie: to profess the greatest friendship, and use such enticing terms, as if a man should live by their loyalty, and 〈◊〉 no other food but their fancies: but when it comes to the trial, rank rebels, and excellent dissemblers: but to punish them, or to plague them, to torment them, or for a man to pay them as they deserve, a man gaineth but reproach for his pain, and getteth but a miserable martyrdom, for so careless a conquest: and we are content this shall 〈◊〉 for their privilege, and so they shall be excused: they are the weaker vessels, and therefore their nature to be borne with all: But ought not they rather being weaker, to bear with us? and to use submission to their superiors, when their felicity dependeth upon our safety? Did not Sara call her Husband Lord? and did not Rebecca, obey in what she was commanded? did not octavius ●●●ter, gain Anthony his pardon, with the dutiful reverence she used to her Brother? and did not Brisoida win the heart of Achilles, with her modest grace? was not Susanna consent to creep to her Husband? and was not the wife of D●●●trius content to ran Lackey like, by her husband? What a number of noble Matrons, whose life depended upon the courtesy of their Husbands: But ou● Damsels: must rule the sovereign sway, & bear away the bel●es themselves. Did not noble Achilles, consume away amongst those Damsels? and that Giant Panthemophe, who had Bears waiting on him like Dogs, & could make subject any wild Beast: but yet a wanton Woman, he 〈…〉 turn to his will: that great captain Holofer●es▪ whose sight made his enemy to quake, lost his life to wy● his lust, and was slain by a Woman: and did not Herodias ●unce before Herode, to have the head of that godly man Iohn & 〈◊〉 commit they any offence whatsoever, and let them 〈◊〉 thing blame worthy, their answer is ready at their apron string●: and no sooner look on a Man, but some excuse they have ready: but if they want any thing worthy liking, or need the help of a man any way, than they flatter, and then they gloze, than they prate, and then they make suit, then speak they fair, and then use the sweetest words that may be: but the thing once obtained they sue for, and that their desire gained, they look so big, and speak so scornfully, answer so stately, and deny so daintily, they will cover their craft so cunningly, and hide their hate so privily, that a man would imagine, they would never seek help again, nor crave comfort any way whatsoever: hope of a man's happiness, and depend upon his pleasure: stand to courtesy, or yield to curiosity. One vaunteth, of the beauty of such a body, an other braggeth of the bravery of such a Maiden: one vaunteth of the wearing of the apparel of such a Damsel: and an other braggeth, that the attire of such a ones head, is surpassing, and all forsooth to have them placed first themselves, and that others should commend their beauties: thus they all seek for superiority, bu● none 〈◊〉 for minority. The great Elephant is in time reclaimed & made gentle, and the Lion knoweth his keeper: the Bear knoweth his Master, and the Ox his feeder. But when will a Woman be subject to a man, or yield to him in matters of reason? but let a man go to the ground of their nature, and search the depth of their 〈…〉, and no doubt, that Woman whose conditions are most excellent, hath some fault, and ●he who is most clea●e, hath some blemish: the treacle doth aswell hurt, as drive o●● poison: too much Wine doth make the brain senseless, but two cups do sharpen the wit: the goodness of the one shoul● be preserved before the vileness of the other, and the well using of any thing, is that only which ought to be embraced. If thy choice be made of a wife, and that thou frame thyself in wedlock▪ to lead the remainder of thy life: the fairest, or the best conditioned, the rytchest thou wouldst desi●e, or such a one as is beautified with the gifts of nature. Alas thou hast gotten but a small purchase, and won but a small value: for if she be fair, art thou not fearful some other will like her? if merry & pleasantly disposed, than art thou infected with jealousy, & thinkest every one the laugheth upon, she lusteth after: if sober, then is she sullen, & thou regarde●● not her company: is brave in her apparel, then is she proud: if but clea●ly, then is she sluttish: If she can talk well, then is she a prating Parrot: and if she answer not every foolish question, then is she a dotard and a meacock: If fruitful and bear thee children, thy care is increased: if barren, thy sorrow augmented: if a good housewife, and look well about her business then is she a crib and a shrew: if she set her servants about that which she might do herself, then is she a fine Dame and will not foil her fingers: If a good house keeper, then will she undo her Husband: if hard in her house, than she loseth his credit: Every way thy sorrow is increased, and whatsoever she be, thy care groweth greater: when the best is sour, can the worst be savoury? the number is so small of good women, & the company so great of wicked, that often, blind bayard hath a good bargain, and a right honest man beguiled with a shrewish slutte. A days writing were too little to reckon up their dealings, and thy travail would not requite thy pain: was not that beast Pasiphae enamoured of a Bull? and Cia●a gotten with child of her Father, Biblis in love with her Brother: and Helen (who had the name for beauty) yet caused many to lose their lives. But then they will answer that a great number have been beguiled by the crafts of men, and deceived by their collusion: but I speak not of all good Women, neither am I so foolish to call their names in question, whose virtues yet shine as bright, as if they lived and whose fame shall never die: But were Dido now to die, I doubt she would not be so hasty to slay herself: and I trust had Lucretia been favourably entreated, she would in time have yielded more quietly, though then, it cost her the best blood in her belly: Were Procris now to take her farewell, she would be better advised, and Sophronia would be very ill bestead, before she would commit that which she did: Therefore their fair faces may not flatter thee to favour them, nor their loving looks entice thee to try their trumperies: nay, flatter not thyself in the imaginations of thy own mind, but drive such doubts out of thy head: for, put these things once out of thy Memento, and thou wilt think to gain that which thou hopest for before, and to obtain that which is quite out of thy reach, yet think but thus with thyself, she regardeth not me: why then should I like her, and she loveth me not? why then should I not loathe her? I care not for her, and I regard her not: she shall be blotted out of my book, & be cast for ever out of my thought. But happily thou wilt think, though at the first she seem strange, she will in tune be reclaimed: and though now she be coy in answering, yet will she be courteous and yield to my request: and though yet she seem dainty, and make denial, yet in time my travail may be tried to my felicity, and my pain prove for my profit: For what wilt thou say, can be obtained without time? and in time thou shalt be farther of then at the first: in time thou shalt hardly get that ●● that thy heart, which at the first, with ease thou mightst have vomited out of thy stomach: dost thou not see that a little wound groweth to an uncurable sore: and a drop of poison, runneth quickly into all the beynes: a little sprig groweth to a monstrous Dake: and a little bullet, will make a great breach in the wall. Why then shouldest thou flatter thyself, & lose the flesh to find a shadow: when at the first, thou mightst have laid it beside, or refused it like a morsel of meat, that liketh not thy stomach: first tomorrow, and then next day, driving of the time, will drive thee into danger, & delays do never serve to any goodness: but flee thou them, and they will follow thee: loath them, and they will love thee: care not for them, and they will crave thy company: shun them, and they will make suit after thee: look not on them, and they will lust after thee: But thou must at every sight of them, off with thy cap, and kiss thy hand: thou canst not see them standing at the do●re, but needs must use some gratulation, some talk, or some toys: then in the night to be under their window, with songs, or to use some kind of Music: with somewhat thou must delight their foolish fancies: and rather than fail, endight some loving letter: then will they plumb upon thee like a Hawk, and crow over thee like a Cock of the Game: then must thou be sworn to their service, and wedded to their wills: not so much then, as a look awry, or make a motion to laugh, unless to please their fancies, and to feed their humours: ready at their becks, & coming at their calls, at the holding up of a King, or at the least mean that may be made, upon pain of aleagaunce, or getting their displeasures: then must thou be lavish of thy liberality, and frank of thy free will, to give bountifully, and to spend plentifully: Then will thy purse be so poor, that thou shalt have small cause to be proud: thou must furnish up their jewel box, and arm them with Bracelets: roist them with Rings, and ruffle them with Ruffs: then must they have Knives, & Gloves, Lawns, and stockings. Then must you discharge the Mercer's books, and pay the Habardashers' man: bestow that Stone, and give that Glass, care for no cost, and spare for no spending: And when thou hast all done, and given all they can demand, so ill rewarded for thy pains: or perhaps row in an other man's boat. Or what are the best of them all, without a man? or what is their felicity amongst themselves: like a Hog without a head, & a Sheep without a shepherd, as a Horse without a Master, and a Tree without a blossom, a vine without Grapes, and a fair field without any fruit. Ours is the care, and ours the travail: ours the cost, and ours the charges, ours the labour, and yet ours the loss: ours the pain, and yet theirs the gain. Are not these unprofitable servants, & loitering Lozelles, devouring Caterpillars, and the eaters up of our profit: we must watch, and we must ward: we must fight, and we must defend: we till, and we sow, we keep them: and all that we can do, too little to gain their good wills: and they in recompense, pay us two for one, more than we would, and more than they with honesty should. O Norbanus, thou now braggest like a Cock of the game: but when thou seest them, I fear me thou wilt be a craven: but to avoid that inconvenience, I will forsake them: and to prevent that danger, I will not come into their companies: But in staying here, I must of force see them: and I can not abide in Vienna, but I must behold them: therefore I will for a time into the Country, & there remain till I have quite forgotten them: There may I hawk, & there may I hunt, there may I ride, & there may I use any exercise: as for this love, I make it for ever a quittance, & seal it with my heart & hand: for let me be busied with my books, or using other matters, conferring with any of our affairs, or occupied with any business, what soever any thing that I do, so not idly disposed, love is never remembered, nor such lust thought upon: loitering thus in my loathsome bed, my head is intoxicated: and spending my time loytringly, I am troubled with such vain imaginations, the fancies flee before my face like swarms of Bees, and cogitations grow as thick as the Snow falleth: this lustily life shall therefore be left, & so much as will sustain nature, I will allow myself, & no sooner awaked, & that these thoughts begin to throng in my head, but forsake my bed, and busy myself with my Books, and leave to flatter myself any more, and cease to feed my mind with these vain hopes.  
Then he throughlie resolved himself, to use no other exercise but his Books, and to make his study, the only place of his recreation: and seemed very joyful that this his love was not known to any, nor manifested to the dearest friends he had. But then he remembered himself, that to abide at home, having never a friend to whom he might declare his cogitations, or make copartner of his doings. As for the return of Phemocles it was uncertain, and how long h● would stay out, not known to him: and had he been at home, no other friends he would have chosen for his companions. Then there assailed him so many sundry devices, and such fresh assaults, to what he might betake himself, or how he should spend the rest of his days: musing first on this thing, then on that place: first on this study, then on that exercise: now on this travail, and then on that staying at home: and the inward joy he conceived, since his late Soldiers life: the misery he then sustained, and the want and poverty he was in: weighing with himself how he lived like a servile slave, and now the pleasant life he sustained. All which made him forget the love of Fidelia, and abolish her clean out of his mind: then he remembered being but young, and tarrying at home, some company would use him which he should not very well like, and also that he should that way displease his Uncle: he therefore purposed to spend one year in the service of the Court, which would be very profitable for him being well used: and upon this determination he forsook his sluggish bed, and thought to break the matter to his Uncle: which if it should dislike him, he would not persevere any further in it. Not long after, he found his Uncle at so good leisure, as they thoroughly debated of the matter between them. His Uncle seeing him so willing to please him, and so glad to obey, granted him his request, but licenced him but for one year: and thereupon procured him the service of a good noble Gentleman in the emperors Court, & such a one as he should not spend his time without some profit: and thereupon furnished him with all necessaries, that were wanting, & every thing (whatsoever) was needful: then Norbanus took leave of his Uncle, and went once again to try his favourable Fortune.  
PHemocles sailed with a soft sweet winde● & arrived very well in Spain: where no sooner set on 〈◊〉, & that he had a little refreshed himself, but he inquired which way the Camp lay, and in what part of the Country▪ which was certified him to be very far off, and a long journey thither: But what travail was to ●edious, or what way to wearisome? what journey to long, or what passage to hard, to him that so earnestly desired the company of his friend: and for whose sake, he would spare neither riding nor running? He made great haste▪ but never the better, and great speed, but prospered ill: thought long till he came there, and yet for all his haste, he is arrived short: he spared not his spurs, nor favoured his Horse flesh: road like a Roister, and doubted no danger: all he thought to long that he was riding, and yet as good never a whit, as never the better. He that made such haste, could not be many days: before he came to the Camp: though the mark were taken up before, that he shot at: In the end he arrived at that place; for which he had posted so fast for, & then inquired for his Captain after he had found him, he asked for a Gentleman, his Soldier, named Norbanus: But his Captain made so small regard of him when he was there, that he forgot his departure: therefore answered, he knew not where he was, nor what was become of him: then he espied some that he had seen in Vienna, and such as he imagined knew him, of them he inquired, if they knew not such a man? and one, as he thought that came in their companies? Then they replied, they knew him very well, and were sorry for his mishap: then they told Phemocles, that he was either dead, or taken prisoner by the Turk: Phemocles not content with this answer, nor fully persuaded with their sayings, made farther search, and inquired to the uttermost he could: But he prevailed as much, as if he should have asked of the stones, or have sought him in the Sea: then in the end he persuaded himself, for that no letters came to him, nor no news by any other, that either he was dead, or he should never see him again: he than departed so sorrowful as his heart could hold, & so lamented his loss, as if he would have died with him for company.  
Who then had beheld the mourning of the Turtle, or the pining away without comfort: or as the little Lamb weaned from me tent of her Dam, still crieth, & always complaineth, till she have forgotten her Nurse, or blotted out the remembrance of her mother: Or as when a man pulleth a ilender ●●yp, from the tender Tree, or cutteth away the rind in the Spring time, bleedeth a great while after, and distilleth out tears, as it were, till the bark have covered the place, or a new spring sprowted in the stead: Or like the soft dropping Summer showers, which hang upon the ●●●ber cares of Corn, wherewith they did 〈…〉 their heavy heads, and shake of the moist tears, till the shining Sun do elevate them to their sooner state, and make them hold up their heads as before: Or as the flowing floods, that over run the brinks of the banks, 〈◊〉 amongst the gr●ene grass, and overwhelmeth the tender tops of the g●owing Flegges, which make them hold down their heavy heads, and stoop to the ground, which once sunk into the earth, or let out again any way, they stand stalking up as at the first, and flourish as they did before: So fared it with Phemocles, and so 〈◊〉 he down his head: his heart throbbed within him, and his moist eyes could not keep the tryckling tears from his cheeks: First blaming his Uncle, and then con●empning his Captain, for having so little regard of him: His face was changed with this his lamenting, and his cheeks were pale and wan with blubbering, and weeping: in such order as a man might have judged by his outward actions, his inward thoughts to be greatly moved, and his tongue bewrayed him: for in speaking, he often answered contrary: the small pleasure he conceived of this hasty voyage, and the little ease he sustained, in this time of his travail, so perplexed him, and so changed his nature, as every thing seemed to strive against his stomach, and every medicine was contrary to his diet. Thus he roamed up and down the Country a certain space, to behold the order and pleasures thereof: but imagining that he should be demanded of the estate of the Country, & what he had seen there, worthy notice, thought he would view what he could see, and carry news what he had learned▪ He therefore left never a good Town unseen, nor any place of pleasure unmarked: Sometimes he beheld the goodly Uines growing along the banks, of some running Rivers (most excellent to behold) and very good to refresh his weary spirits: Then the goodly Lemon trees, that were so effectually set, as if Dame nature herself had been overseeing the planter: then the Pomegranates, which fruit was so pleasant to behold, and so fair in sight, as he imagined were the Apples of Hesperia, or the fruit in Paradise: then the green Oranges which hanged so long on the Trees, till the new blossom came again: Then the fruitful Olives, which dropped down from the Trees, he could hardly refrain his heart from desiring some of them, nor willingly kept his fingers from plucking. Then might he behold the high Pirene's, and have the view of those noble Hills, which seemed to him, as if they touched the Sky, or held some part of the Heavens upon their shoulders: then looking downwards, he might behold the Rivers, and see those running streams, the fairest (by report) in the world, and the clearest to look upon: All which being viewed at full, and marked to the whole perfection, yielding not only a sweet smell, but also the plat for profit, and pleasure most excellent. These heavenly delights proceeding out of that earthly Paradise, somewhat refreshed this wandering wayfarer, & made him be a little more pleasantly disposed: And by this time that he had gained, the full view of the Country, his limited time was near expired: he therefore hasted towards the Sea, and stayed not long by the way, where he remained but a small time, but that there was a Ship ready for him to sail towards his Country: and the wind no sooner served for their expected purpose, but they weighed Anchor, and hoist up their sails: Phemocles had not long been on Shipboard, nor sailed many leagues, but he waxed very drowsy, and had a great desire to sleep, insomuch as he could hardly keep his eyes from winking, or hold his head from nodding: by reason whereof, he seemed offended with his own fancies, as if they had pres●aged him some future mischiefs, not so good as he looked for, and more than he had deserved: he therefore thinking, some thing would follow his heaviness, and some Fortune worse than he expected ensue, yielded himself to the lust of his desires, and laid him down to slumber in safety. Where he had not lain long in this troublesome trance, nor spent (as he thought) above two hours in sleeping, but he dreamt, and saw that sight, the strangeness whereof made him to muse a little, and the rareness of the matter, made him hope well for a tyme. But then he remembered, that dreams were but fleeing fancies, and who so trusted them, should be deceived: he thought therefore to let them pass as they came, and to put them as lightly out of his mind, as they came easily into his brain, and the effect was this: Already he thought himself arrived at Vienna, and even at that time newly set on shore: where passing along the Town, and going through the street, before he came to his Fathers, the people stood so thick on both sides, as he marveled what the meaning should be, and pressed always thick, and more in their places: himself as desirous of novelties as any, and as well content to see some strange sight as another, stood amongst the throng, and stayed with the company: at last he saw at the farther end of the street, a great number of priests, and a rabblement of Friars, a huge company of monks, and a marvelous many of the laity, marching a long, and coming towards him: some with Tapers, and some with Torches, some with Links, & some with lights, some with Candles, and some with Censors: The Priests approaching, & passing by him, they sung those Ceremonies which they use to the dead: then followed them the ancient old men, attired all in black: then followed them, a great number of young youths, bearing green Laurel in one hand, and Palm in the other: then followed them a great number of Soldiers, and men at Arms: the Corslet men, trailing their Pikes after them, and the shot with the noses of their Pieces downward: Then after them, the Horsemen attired in masking wise, and every man a broken Lance in his hand: Then came the mourning Priests, and singing men all in black, and using their funeral Dirges: then followed a black Coffin, and on the top thereof lay a shield, and in it was engraven, and curiously wrought, Love, and Loyalty, the one embracing the other: and afterward marching hand in hand. Beside them, were as it seemed, two faithful friends, or two unfeigned Lovers: the one feigned as though he had been fallen in a swoon, and the other seemed very sorrowful, and lifting him up again: and a little from, they seemed to walk merrely, and with a sweet countenance. After the Coffin, followed young Damsels, & Maidens unmarried, their heads decked with Flowers, and their bosoms furnished with Nosegays, carrying green boughs in the one hand, and a light in the other: Then followed the ancient Matrons, mourning, and with Lawns about their heads: and last of all, the old Segniors, with whom was Henricus, the Uncle of Norbanus. Phemocles then running to Henricus, demanded the cause of his mourning, and the meaning of that company? Who answered, for his only friend, and Nephew, Norbanus: Whereat Phemocles could not refrain weeping, nor hold the trickling tears from his moist cheeks: yet thinking to see the end, and to behold him laid in his grave, he followed the company, and went after them into the Church: Where, when they were come, and at the graves side: Phemocles pressed close to the Coffin, and stood hard by the grave: when it was set down, the Shield taken from it, and the clothes taken from the Chest, the Priests leaving singing, and the funeral Rites ended, they were putting the Coffin into the ground, and giving him the last duties of earthly motions: Then there came an old Woman weeping, and desired she might come to the Coffin, before it was put into the ground, which granted her, & that she came near to it: she kneeled down, & used these words. O Norbanus, one of the flowers of Vienna, and one, whom for thy calling was not inferior to any: how hard hath Fortune dealt with thee, to take thy life from thee, in the best of thy years? and what meant the Sisters to spin thy thread no longer, when the increase of thy body, should augment the name of thy Progeny? and when thy children should longer have stayed the name of thy house. Behold, how the young men lament, and see how these Maidens wail and weep, because no children are descended from thee: and in that thou never knewest the nuptial Rites. Then looking to one side, and afterward round about her, at last she espied Phemocles, and saw how he stood weeping: then speaking more earnestly than before, and using her words more fervently: behold said she, thy beloved Phemocles, and look how he lamenteth thy loss, take thy farewell of him, & then depart so soon as it liketh thee: behold him I say, ready to go into the grave with thee, and would be content to accompany thy soul: And with these words, the Coffin suddenly opened, and he came running forth, and embraced him so hard as he had done before, and then he began to make a discourse: But with those embracings Phemocles awaked, and had nothing between his arms, but the post of the Ship, than felt he the warm tears on his cheeks, and began to look on himself, musing at the first whether it were true, or that he was beguiled with his fancy: but seeing it to be but a dream, and a fleeing shadow, he erected himself on his stalking legs, & stood leaning over the Ships side, but this dream could not out of his remembrance, nor these thoughts pass from before his face.  
The wind was so prosperous, and blew so good a gale, that they quickly arrived at Vienna, and came to the desired Haven, where he was gladly received of his friends and courteously entertained of his Father, who demanded the cause that he looked so ill, and by what means he had lost his good colour? Who answered, that the nature of the Country had altered his face, and the contrary diet lost him his colour. Then his Father questioned with him of the estate of the Country, and of the kings Army, the goodly Towns which he had seen, and the fertility of the Country: who answered so directly, and made so prestrict replies, as his Father perceived he had not loitered, nor spent his time idly.  
Not long after, his Father was moved to frame a journey to Cullen, and Phemocles must make up the mess: not only to see the Country, but also to renew acquaintance with some of his friends, which he had not seen long before: where he purposed to spend the Summer, and to make his return towards Winter: But before he went, he made a feast to his friends, and invited his neighbours to a bancquet, which he speedily performed, and the day following he took his journey: There were certain of his friends accompanied him in this journey, and other merchants, who had business to Cullen. Phemocles saw at the feast, amongst the other good company that were there: a Gentlewoman, the most fairest as he thought, that ever he saw in his life, and so beautiful, as he had not seen the like before: yet at that time, he not so much marked her, as he after in the time of his travail, wore her in his imagination: he had not any conference with her, nor moved her so much as with one question: but in the way he could not put her out of his mind, nor banish her out of his remembrance: Falling in talk with one of his Kinsmen, and reasoning with him of sundry matters: he asked him some questions of their courteous company, and so of such a Gentlewoman? Who answered, that she was their neighbours child, and her friends very honest, and of good calling. With this report, he set Phemocles in the mire up to the ears, and in Love, to the very crown of his head: He was before but touched, but now infected: before his love lay smothering like wet straw, but now it burned so bright as a bavin: who still imagined, that time would fear away these fancies, and the distance of his journey put her out of his mind, but he blew the coals, and kindled the fire himself: and thinking by little, and so more to put out that blaze, he increased the flame, that it burned out: for always when they came to their Inns, and alighted at their resting places, he went to his solitary Chamber, and used no other place of solace, musing on his malicious Fortune, and blaming his adverse hap: that first he was deprived of his faithful friend, and now had seen her for whom he was thus sorrowful: always imagining, that had he but spoken, he had been sufficiently satisfied: and had he but moved the matter, his desire had been the less: He never could rest, these thoughts so troubled him, nor never stayed any where, but so he was assailed. After this long travail, they arrived at Cullen, where they spent some days in viewing the Town, and afterwards departed to the end of their journey, which was about fifteen leagues farther, or a little more: Where at their arrival, they were very well entertained. Phemocles could not sufficiently recreate himself, with all the fine dainties they had, nor well be content with the greatness of their cheer: for that dainty dish was far off, which he fed on, and that pleasant mor●ell some thing out of his reach: Thus hovered he like a Hawk, between Heaven & Earth: never so high as the one, nor at any time so low as the other: or like to the sheaves in time of Harvest, tumbled up & down with a whirl wind, never stay at one place, but are removed still to an other: or as the leaves that fall from the Trees, are carried first into one corner, and then removed into an other. In like manner ●litted the fancy of Phemocles, and so wandered his mind about, never thinking to despair, and yet he could not persuade himself of gaining his desire, in getting the good will of his sweet Saint, and finding her favourable, whom he honoured above all other things: thus he hovered in hope, and yet doubted despair: Spending thus the time of his abode, and wearing out the tract of his absence: he always under some coloured pretence repaired to his Chamber, and under the cloak of his collusion, he remained thus in his cogitation: yet not known to any, nor apparent to one: for all that he was watched by some, and marked by others: for he was busied with some Book, though his mind were not there: and writing some trifle, though his heart was far of: and though he held a Book in one hand, yet with the other, he would willingly have held a Candle to the shrine of his Mistress: and if his lips mumbled these words, and then stayed at that letter, yet his imagination was how to compass his desired wish, and his thought how to obtain his will: and if his tongue bewrayed him to be at Evensong, yet in mind he was scarce at Morrowmasse: worn with musing, and pined with the prolonging of his penance, his travail seemed so tedious, and the time so troublesome, as he hasted more than was needful, unless he had come a little sooner. The best part of Summer was spent, and the time grew near his departure: he therefore took leave of his Kinsmen, and gave them many thanks for their great courtesies. Phemocles seemed well contented with this, and was very joyful of his going homeward, and I trust he spared not his Boots, neither left his spurs unoccupied: his Horse cursed his Master, and the Ostler wished him hanged that road on that Horse: Now he that was before so given to melancholy, turned the innerside of his Cap outward, and could sing with the most in mirth, or bear a part with the best in melody: who more glad, or who more joyful? who more pleasant, or who better disposed? feeding his fancies with hope, and drinking the drams of his delights: Who marched not now under the banner of Venus, and who bore not a Standard with him, was no Soldier, nor worthy any pay: Thus he menaced in mirth, and road in the remembrance of his sweet Mistress, till they alighted at Vienna, & came to the place of him long desired: Now devising the means to speak with her, and practising how to have any talk with her, often passing along under her window, and walked by the porch, where he imagined she should sit. Not long after, as he passed along that way, and used his accustomed walks: there came forth a servant, who went into the Town about some business, of whom he asked whose house that same was, and then his masters name, still walking along with him: then he asked if he had never a Son, nor ever had any daughter?  
Yes replied he, the more his sorrow, and the greater his grief: A son he hath, a young youth, wise▪ and well learned, honest, and well beloved of all that know him: he hath a Daughter beside, of beauty very fair, and for making excellent: for qualities inferior to few, and for behaviour, not any that hath better: and were her good hap correspondent to her virtuous education, her preferment might have been passing good, where now it is excellent ill. You shall understand, that she is married to a young Merchant, who is not so good a husband as he might be, nor so much for his own commodity, as for others disprofit: He had left him by his Father, some possessions, and Lands sufficient to maintain his estate: which were all mortgaged before his marriage, and turned out unknown to my Master, and his Wife suspecting no such matter: and now he is gone, his departure not known to any, nor manifested to none, when will be his return, by reason whereof, she conceiveth such inward grief, as my Master doubteth much of her health.  
Phemocles thanked the servant for his courtesy, and bade him farewell: Then returned he home, not very well pleased, but very sorrowful for the ill success of his sweet Mistress, and more sorry, because he knew not how to redress her ill hap: but most discontented with himself, and angered throughlie, for that he bestowed his liking upon one who was already sped, and loved her that was before married: But seeing the Fish already taken, that he cast his Net for, determined to bestow his bait else where: thus was his expectation made frustrate, and his speedy posting turned to a short bait: But seeing his Mistress wedded, and himself beside the Saddle, minded not to eat all his bread in Vienna: nor to sing Mass, but in one Church: not to sleep every day in a Trunk with Clearchus: nor to catch Flies once a day, with Domician: not to dwell always in a Tub, with Diogenes: nor to taste nothing but Honey, with the Prophet: As he had learned some knowledge, so meant he to be a little better experienced: and in that he had framed two voyages so unprofitable, he thought to try if the third would be better, or more grateful: Finding his Father at so convenient leisure, as he long looked for, and watched that time long of him expected, he moved him with many matters, and then of his own estate, saying.  
Sir, he that seeketh, findeth: and he that travaileth, his labour will some way be requited: always tarry at home, and evermore a woodcock: he that always pleadeth with just Evidence, is in possibilytie to obtain his suit: but who so holdeth his tongue, what needeth the Defendant any farther trial? The Merchant must make his Mart, before he know his gain: and the Captain fight, before he come to the spoil: and the Scholar proceed Bachelor, before he come to be a Doctor. I have travailed twice, and framed two Uoyages, the one unpleasant, and the other unprofitable: If I make the third, it will I think be better, for that it can not well be worse: You see sir, that time tarrieth not long, and my youth waxeth now ripe, and now is my memory most perfect, and my wit at the best, and now should it be watered with the dew of understanding, and moisted with the liquor of life: which is, to gain so much knowledge, as our terrestrial nature is able to conceive, and to obtain those heavenly motions, which this earthly Pilgrimage doth yield unto us: the greatest sailors to seek in some Seas, and the greatest travailer, in some countries unknown: the greatest Writer never read all Authors, but he that hath most, may be better stored: Must not the Tree be graffed, ere the fruit be good: and the vine be kept cut, or the Grapes will grow wild: the Oil must be kept close, or it will stink: and the best wits delighted with new things, or the old will grow out of use. And in my judgement, a man were better be unborn, then live untaught: unbred, then unmannered: not begotten, then without behaviour: Yet I think my behaviour not so simple, but sufficiently to serve where there is no better in place: but yet not so much, but were it augmented, my state were the better, & my rude manners more commendable: for good education, is so necessary as riches: and good nurture so commendable, as large possessions: Liketh it therefore your fatherly affection, to give your grant, and cast your consent, for to do contrary to your instructions, and to seem disobedient in the duty I own you, I wish not longer to prosper, or afterward to live. Pleaseth you therefore, to prefer me to some noble man, I would gladly (you willing) there to spend a year in service, to learn somewhat, and to increase my profit.  
His Father hearing his request, & not finding it any way blame worthy: for that it is given to all youths to spend some time that way, and very profitable it is for their better education: made him this answer, and replied as followeth.  
Son Phemocles, the Hawk cannot soar abroad, till her feathers are full come home: and the Child must be stayed before he go by himself: the Colt saddled, before he be travailed: and the Dog cast into the river, or he learn to swim: A Man must learn the Law, before he come to give judgement, and yourself must be learned, before you teach others. For as every Tree hath a time to grow, and every strength a season to increase: every wit must be wrested, before it be perfect: and every action allowed, before it be tolerable. So Phemocles, more to day then yesterday, and wiser hereafter, then witty now: the grass groweth, but who seeth it? and the Dial goeth forward, but who perceiveth it? the Sun proceedeth in degrees, but who perceiveth her moving? so thy wisdom increaseth by small quantities, but who knoweth it but thyself: And for that thou thinkest service so profitable for thy estate? as I see not how it should be prejudicial: the strength of thy knowledge thereby, likely to increase, and thy understanding to be augmented for thy profit: my denial shall not breed thy decay, nor my staying hinder thy furtherance: I know Virgil could not versify, before he could speak Latin perfectly: nor Tully writ so sweetly, but he had a trusty Tutor: Augustine, not divine so Clarklyke, but brought unto it by his Books: and Ptolemy not cast his Earde, but he first knew his Compass: Thy behaviour can not now be so good, as in time it may be: nor thy judgement so great, but hereafter it will be more: But thou must think that service is no heritage: and the life of a Serving man, not many degrees above the life of a servile bondman. I think thou art not ignorant of the shifts of Service, nor greatly to seek in their crafty collusions: their wages are but small, and their wasting great: their profit but little, their pain rewarded but simply: their diligence much, and rewarded but slenderly: their bravery passeth▪ & their payment but poor: they always are needy, though still sparing: spend much, and have but little: and he that can not shift and swear, always wanteth, and is ever bare: But yet some honestly disposed, and very well given, wise and sober, discrete and learned: some good, and some bad: But the greatest sort, follow the lewdest way, and the others so idle, and so unhonest, so slavish, and so slothful, that he which hath practised it a while, maketh it for ever an occupation: Therefore I admonish you not to be lavish of your purse, but liberal of your courtesy: you have daily examples of young Gentlemen, that spend their livings, waste their revenues, and sell their Lands, to maintain their bravery: to roist it with the greatest Ruflers, and to swear, with the stoutest swearers: to brag of their beastliness, and to boast of their manhoodde: You shall find such companions for dicing, and such fellows for gaming, as be you not wary, your Purse will be pennyless, and your money gone to make a new mart: but I know that you can not play, the more for your profit, nor swear, the more for your safeguard: He that useth one, is lykelie to die a beggar, and he that delighteth the other, the curse of God will never departed from him.  
And upon this condition, I grant you my good will, that you spend not above one year, and then make your return. And for that you are ignorant, where to place yourself, and how to be preferred, I will speak to a friend of mine in the Palsegraves' Court: whom, I know will not deny this small request, but further you to the uttermost of his power: And I am the better content, for that he is a wise Prince, virtuous, and godly disposed, where you must use such diligence, as you may be liked, and behave yourself in that order, as you may be loved. For I think: he that deserveth well, shall be sufficiently recompensed, and who meryteth nothing, is unworthy of any thing: mean while prepare yourself, and make ready such necessaries as are wanting.  
This their purpose took so good success, and went so effectually forward, as there passed no long time before the Father of Phemocles met with this his friend in Vienna, who came to dispatch certain business, for the Duke his Master, who no sooner moved the matter, but assurance was made of his entertainment, and shortly after Phemocles was sent for, who departed straight to the Court: then he took his dutiful leave of his Father, and craved his obedient blessings, who willingly gave him his request, and willed him to be mindful of that which he before had told him, and bade him make so short return as he had promised.  
Phemocles departed to the palsgrave of the Rhine his Court, where he was very well entertained, and better welcome than he looked for: where he behaved himself so well, and used his matters so honestly▪ as he gained not only the good wills of the common sort, but also he won the hearts of his Superiors, to like and love him: where, let him enjoy what pleasure he may, and obtain all the delights his heart desireth.  
NArbonus had continued a season at the emperors Court, and worn away the best part of a year, without any profit to himself, or possibility to get any for his friends. He saw the bravery of that noble Court, and viewed at full, the lives of the Courtiers: and I trust, had his Purse been answerable to his noble mind, none should exceeded him in brave apparel, nor any gone beyond him, in setting forth of his beauty:  
He that was of late so careful a Soldier, is now grown a stately Courtier: and he that not long since, pined in perplexity, beginneth now to exceed in bravery: and that body that of late bare so poor a poor, hath now forsaken his servility, and is wedded to await on friendly felicity: Of late drowned in despair, now standing aloft in disdain: not long sithence, subject to all corrosives and cares, now marcheth in the field of Fortune, holding out his Flag of defiance, against all dangerous demeans: who of late was at deaths door, and ready to go to the Grave, is now in proud Paradise, walking amongst the sweet shades of security.  
O Norbanus, hast thou so soon forgotten thy misery, and already put in oblivion thy perplexity, that thou beginnest to wallow in the mire of thy mind, and to tumble in the dirt of thy desires? Hast thou so soon forgotten thy pyninges and sharp showers, that thou flatterest thyself, this thy pride will never be trodden down: hath the procuring of thy felicity, been the occasion of the losing thy honesty? Esopes' Snake, that was laid by the fire, stung the man for his pains: and after this life, thou goest the way to infect thy Uncle against thy folly: The Tree that bloweth fair at the first, may so be blasted, that it never bear Apple, and thou that findest so sweet a show in thy Uncle's house, wilt lose thy credit in thy masters service: Hast thou touched Pitch, that thou must needs be defiled: or eaten poison, that thou art so infected? thou suckest hurt, where thou shouldest gather honey. And because there are Frogs in the water, canst thou therefore find no fish? the Cherry is ripe, before it be rotten: but thou art bruised before thou art ready to gather. Remember Norbanus, that when the Tree is at the best, it will grow to nothing again, and when thy bravery is at the best, thou shalt sink for shame: The Infant learneth to creep, and then afterward to go: but thou goest so fast in the beginning, as shortly thou wilt neither stand nor stir. But happily thou wilt reply: the Court bounseth in bravery, and why should not I be painted with Pride? Because there are some Ruffians, thou must be a Roister: and because some are wicked, thou must be mischievous: because they swim in sin, thou wilt be drowned in thy desires: And because Cain slew Abel, thou wilt be Saul and kill David: because Tarquin was proud, thou wilt be Prodigal: and because judas was a Traitor, thou wilt be rebellious. No, better for thee to leave the Court, and follow the Cart, then to forsake thy substance, & forego thy friends. Doth not the river Nile, yield Gold in the bottom, and bring forth Crocodiles in the bank? Doth not the best ground aswell yield Thistles to prick, as give Corn to sustain? Hath not the Holm tree pricking leaves, as berries for Birds? Because the Court is curious, must thou be lascivious? thou seest the little Mouse eateth the flower, but leaveth the husk: and doth not the Worm eat the curnell, and leave the shell: the Caterpyller devoureth the fruit, but toucheth not the leaves, and the Weasel sucketh up the yolks, but leaveth the shells. Because the Court is given to pleasure, must thou therefore be unthrifty? thou knowest the Emperor is good, can his Laws then be evil? But thou wilt say, his Laws are good, but the judges are not righteous: the house is well governed, yet there are evil Officers. Hath not the cleanest house, some Spiders? and the fairest Well, some Frogs? the goodliest blown Tree, some blasts: and the best Corn, some poppy: the finest Flower, some fault, and the fairest Garden, some Nettles? And in what place will the Serpent lurk, but in the green grass? and where will the Snake make her nest, but in the rytchest dung?  
O Norbanus, art thou a Scholar, and never learn law points? and art thou a Divine, and never studyedst Ambrose? a Philosopher, and never didst look over Aristotle? a Poet, and knowest not Ovid? an Astronomer, and hast not Ptolemy's Globe? a apothecary without Drugs, and a Physician without an Herbal? Look once again in the Glass, and thou shalt see a spot in thy face: behold well thy body, and thou shalt see it infected, and search thy mind, and tell me if it lack not amendment. Yes trust me, thy body lacks a Purgation for thy Pride, so would thy soul be clean for thy God. Art thou now on thy Pantaffles, that of late hadst no Shoes? now pounced, that late wast naked: and now bragging in thy bravery, that late wast subject to poverty? the Glass is set so high, till it be cracked with a fall, the Cock boat tosseth so long in the wide Sea, till she be drowned: and the Fox cometh so often to the Henues, that he is taken with Dogs. Knowest thou not that the simple shrub, is in better safeguard from the wind and weather, than the high Cedar tree? And the stone that lieth on the ground, can go no lower, but the brick on the house top, is often cast down and broken: Is not the shepherds cottage in more safety, than the stately Tower? and is not the fat Horse sooner spoiled, than the lean jade, and the simple sot tarrieth still at home, when the lusty youth leaveth his life in the wars? Is not the mean merriest? why then ●●ryuest thou to exceed? and is not the low estate surest? why then provest thou to excel? And goeth not the Ship surest in the narrow Rivers? why then rowest thou beyond thy reach? Doth not the subject live more quietly than the King? why than wouldst thou be a Lord? Remember that thou servest in the Court, and not walkest the streets in Vienna: that there are here more Cousins than Kinsmen, and more lovers for lucre, than friends in whom thou mayst repose thy faith: more Countrymen, than acquaintance, and yet better known then trusted: Were thou as wise as Themistocles, there are here will excel thee: and hadst that the experience of Philip, yet shouldest thou be to seek for thy safety: Hadst thou the spirit of C●●us, there are here would countervail thee: and were thou as bold as Brisaidas, thou shouldest be out bidden: Hadst thou the tongue of Pericles, here are those that would outreach thee: hadst thou the Lute of Paris, yet some that would pass thee, and the Spear of Achilles, yet thy strength were to weak. How then canst thou blame the Court, and excuse thyself? and how canst thou reprove their vices, and not condemn thy own faults? and how canst thou paint out their pride, and not show thy own wickedness? The Spider and the be, come both to one flower, the one sucketh poison, and the other gathereth Honey: Doth not the Adder drink, where the Colt sippeth? both satisfied, but not both hurtful: And doth not the Adder engender with the Lampray, the one poison, and the other a dainty dish: Is there not as well Susanna, as jesabel? and as well Aaron, as Pharaoh? as well Apollo, as Pan? and as well Salom●n, as Midas? Thou art to take thy choice, and none to hinder thee: if then thou do not well, whom canst thou blame but thyself? There is both justice and judgement, leave the one, and escape the other: both honesty and hatred, if thou be infected with the one, thou art free from the other: both friendship, and falsehood, and he that loveth the one, shall hardly gain the other. The next way for a man to be loved, is to follow that thing, which is used amongst the greatest number: but he that is led with every fashion, and won with every wind, shall never be loved with the most, nor liked of the least: Words provooke a man to anger, but they draw no blood: and who so cannot bear a word, must not live in a common wealth: The little Playsse, liveth by the Whale, and the Lamb by the Lion, the Ape by the Elephant, and the kid by the Tiger: every man may live by his Superiors, behaving himself as an Inferior: as the old saying is: The Cat liveth by the King, & a Prince's will is nothing worth, without the consent of his subjects: Hath not the worm as well her hole, as the Fox his burrow? the Moule her hill, so well as the Lion her den? and the Hen her roost, so well as the Pheasant her perch? and the Bird her nest, so well as the Hawk her Move? But who loveth not to climb higher, and who more often falleth? The Court is curious, and I careless: one catcheth a fleece, and another findeth a farewell: one gapeth after gain, and another péereth after pleasure: one after pride, and another after paltry: one after richeses, and another after riotousness: As for myself, I have been infected, but will not be defiled, tasted with the touch, but not tried to the lack: searched to the uttermost, but not found guilty at all: though I ran like a colt, yet now so gentle as a lamb, and though so wild as a Buck, yet now so tame as a Dog: and though so hungry as a Tiger, yet now gorged so full as a Hawk: and though praying upon every carrion, yet now so choice as may: be though won to every lust, yet now wedded to none in liking: and though pinned to every sleeve, yet now not painted to the picture of any. My Lord and master looketh for much service, & expecteth great diligence, & though I please him not with the one, I trouble him not with the other: he speaketh fair, & promiseth much, but performeth little, and warranteth less: if diligent above measure, I gain sometimes a good countenance at his pleasure: if never so little dislyked, then envied, and hated: watch late, and rise early, but neither recompensed, nor gratified: ride, and run at every call, and so lightly recompensed, oftentimes, just nothing at all: we wait, and gape to see how they feed, and sometimes we catch somewhat, but more often go hungry to bed: the best that I ●ée, is Wine at will, and who so drinketh best, hath the better bargain: our gifts are small, and our wages less, we can neither live of the one, nor make ourselves rich with the other. Less I spent, when I remained in Vienna, little do I profit, and more consume here at the Court: as good catch flies all day, or lie in a Tub, as loiter away my time, and be as a Drone amongst Bees: an unprofitable servant, neither beneficial to his Master, nor commodious for his own utility.  
The youths that accompanied Norbanus, were more given to prodigality, then mindful of their honest demeanour: alured him to like that he loathed, and to embrace that which he detested: his fellow servants, in his Lord and masters service, more regarded his liberality, then weighed the depth of his honesty: yet he was beloved of the most, and hated of few. But Fortune, who was never favourable unto him, stood now as contrary to his purpose, and as unhappy for his health: for do he what was possible to be done, and seek all the means he could devise, neither could he please his Lord, nor like his Lady: his diligence as much as might be, yet his rewards so simple as could be: his pain unpleasant, and his profit nothing worth: his travail troublesome, and his toil not regarded: his service comparable to the best, yet none of his fellows less regarded: his expenses so little as might be, and yet his Purse always empty: his charge that he took on him was troublesome, and prospered so ill as a man could devise. Which perceiving every thing fall out so contrary, and any thing not to be lyke●, did he never so well, and nothing dislyked of others, were it 〈◊〉 so ill: Finding time and place, he ●nfolded his 〈…〉 and uttered his inward 〈◊〉, as followeth. The Ore yoked all the day in the Cart, eateth his meat, and sleepeth quietly at night: his Master though he toil in his own travail, yet is he ●erry in his own house, the Gardener and the Hedger, the Haruester, and the Planter, though they abide the travail of the day, yet at night they are glad, & make good cheer. But we Courtiers must wait all day, and watch all night, run all the day, and yet not rest at night: tear the day in travail, and spend the night in some paltry: rise with the first, & rest with the last: who lives so miserably and yet who so myserly? who more brave, and yet who more beastly? who more dainty, and yet who more devilish? who more curious, and yet who more careless? who more given to vanity, yet who more desires great glove? Alas, is this the bravery of the Court? nay, is it not the mirror of filthiness? Are these the fruits of felicity? nay, are they not the seeds of 〈◊〉? Is this the good and honest life? nay, is it not the wicked and mischievous lust? Is the Court a place of pleasure? nay, is it not the garden of grief? a plot of repentance, rather than a platform of patience, and a Sea of security, rather than a chest of chastity? the Tree is known by his fruit, and the Fowl by her feather, a man by his manners, and a knave by his conditions: a Courtier by his coin, and a varlet by his vanity: the greatest gain is grief, and the rytchest reward, but a simple share: mischievous are the imaginations, and wicked the wiles, unprofitable the pain and unfruitful the gain: If the imaginations be not good, can the protence be honest? if the wiles be wicked, must not the dealings seem devilish? If Fortune be favourable, what hope is there of felicity? if the pain be unprofitable, who will weave his own destruction? If their gain unfruitful? who will gape for flies, and travail without reward, for his labour, the best is no better, and the worst ●nlykelys to be amended: A man must here, either bear two faces in one hood, or be made with one face so subtle as a thief, hold with the Hare and hunt with the Hound: flatter the most, but sooth all: he that cannot dissemble, must not dwell amongst Devils, and he that cannot lie, not live amongst loiterers: he that cannot halt, not go before cripples, and he that cannot he lame, not come amongst beggars: Why then stay I in the Court, and not go to Vienna? why go I not to my Uncles to be liked and loved, rather than stay here, to be loathed and hated? why seek I not to please him and profit myself, but staying● here displeasure myself, and offend him? why walk I not the streets to confer with strangers, but spend here my time with brablers, and brawlers? why talk I not with travailers, of the estate of other Countries, but staying here, is neither profit to others nor pleasure to myself? But what will my Uncle think? that so soon I forsake the Court? nay, what will he think me in spending my time so ill, some fault he will think is committed, that I return so shortly? nay, an Ass he will think me, for wearing away my time so loyteringly: But staying here, in time more profit may grow: but in time that little that is left may be spent, and then away with the beggar: But the Ship must stay for the tide, rather than time tarr● for hy● that useth it: but in staiing so long, my Ship will be unfraughted, and then who will fill her as before? He that hopeth well, shall have well, and he that dreadeth no danger, doth oftenest escape: but he that hath, and hopeth for more, may live by the loss, and repent to late for his profit: But can the net be filled so soon as it is thrown in the water, 〈◊〉 the Grape gathered so soon as it is touched? but he the fish thin a shallow river, shall fill his Net with Frogs, and he that gathereth Grapes with one finger, shall never fill his Basket: But the Husbandman tarrieth the riping of the Corn, and the grafter the growing of his trees: but he that soweth amongst stones is like to ●eape but Thistles, and he that setteth Trees in the Sea, may stay so lo●g as he live without fruit: But the Mint master hath his Silver first melted, and then he fashioneth it with some portraiture: but he that hath his mine yet to find, may hold his hammer long in his hand, before he strick ever a stroke: But the Merchant must have his ship ready, before he cross the seas to make his mart● ind●●de, he must have his ship, but he must first have money, and he that hath the one may have the other when it liketh him: But he that builds a house must tarry till summer, otherwise the frost will spoil his work begun: but he that stayeth so long may let out his money in other matters, or happily spend it in the same time: But no doubt, Norbanus, in time the wind will turn to thine advantage, though as yet thou strive against the stream: but better it is to cut the fleece in summer, then tarry till winter, and lose all the will: But if happily thou forsake the Court, how wilt thou then spend thy days? that is a Drone and no be that cannot gather honey to feed herself, and he an idle servant that can work no way for his living: But staying with thy Uncle, thou mayst at some one time or other purchase his displeasure, than the which there is nothing more prejudicial? nay rathe● staying with him (in time) I may win him to my will, than the which there is no one thing more beneficial: Why then Norbanus persuade thyself, and forsake the Court, for here then spendest thy tune, and there thou mayst reap some commodity: here thou hast a loitering life, and there thou may●st be busied to thy profit: here thou sowest the seeds of thy unthriftiness, and there thou mayst ●eape the fruits of thy felicity: here thou graftest trees, that will yield but Crabs, there thou mayst leave the ●histles, and gather Grapes for thy gain: here thou fishest▪ and canst find but Frogs, but there thou mayst fill thy angling hooks with red ruddocks. But how shall I gain my Lords good will to leave his service: such a small request if he deny me, he would hardly grant me a greater matter: The inditour deserveth good will for his Book, be it never so ●●mple, and I meriter, favour for my service, had it not been so curious: The labourer hath wages for his work, be it never so small, and I deserve friendship for my diligence, had it been less than it was: The offendant craveth but pardon for his offence, and I crave but pardon for my honest behaviour: then persuade with thyself, he will 〈◊〉 thy request, being so reasonable, I deserve no less, my service hath been so effectual.  
Upon this determination, he departed to his masters Chamber, thinking to await some time to unfold his mind, and to make manifest the inward motions of his heart: But his long lurking could not attain the cause of his coming, nor his hasty spéeding obtain his purpose, as himself wished: he was therefore forced to find some other time more fit, and to spy some other place more convenient: Shortly after, being merely disposed amongst his fellows, imagining no such matter, and doubting no danger, a messenger came from his Lord, with more speed than profit, to answer, and obey what he would say unto him: who was not more ready than willing, for that he thought both to answer, & demand: reply, and request: dutifully to use obedience, in what he should command him, and favourably to crave pardon for his departure: but the Pot was at his nose before he looked for it; and his master made the motion, before he expected it: who came into the Chamber and did his dutiful obedience, expecting what service his Lord would command him: who espying Norbanus come into the Chamber▪ willed him to come near him, and then spoke as followeth.  
Norbanus, thou seest the charge I am troubled with, and the great company I retain, the cost that is used in keeping the Court, and the expenses that arise without any comings in, the furniture of my Horses, and the Armour of my men: the one maketh me a nyggard of my purse, because I have it not faster than I spe●nde it, and the other a churl of my liberality, for that I cannot give as I would. As thou hast been dutiful, so may I do thee pleasure, thou shalt not be frustrate of thy purpose: and as thy loyalty with honesty hath gained good will, so shall not I be found ungrateful to repay thee with profit, in any thing whatsoever, the preiudicialitie of my estate excepted. Thou hast spent a year in service, and hast gained thee so much the more knowledge: to tarried with thy Uncle, thy wit would been wearied, where now thy behaviour is answerable any, or inferior to none: Hadst thou not come to the Court, thou hadst wanted this wisdom, and in seeing these sleights that are used, thou wilt be more wary at thy return home. Thy profit (indeed) might have been more, and thy pleasure less painful: but here thou hast conceived more understanding, and learned to hold fast when thou hast it: And though thy years are young, yet thy experience is proved: thy head unstaid, yet thy knowledge sufficient: thy nurture good, and thy gravity better: In spending thy time longer thou shalt profit little, and thinking to win much, mayst here lose all: He that studieth any language, when he hath learned it, forgetteth it not again. Thou hast learned the life of a Courtier, and what wouldst thou more? The Colt once broken, is put into the Stable: and thy affections bridled, thou must keep them under. The Book read over is laid up again in the study: Thou hast bought thy learning, and now mayst use it as thou lust. The fruit ripe, is gathered and laid up to be eaten: Thou hast reaped the knowledge of courting, keep it therefore till thou need it: If thou have profited with thy pleasure, thy pain hath been well employed: And if thy gain have been good? I rejoice at thy fortune: If thy favour have been friendly, I am glad of thy felicity, and if in profytinge thyself, thou have not hindered my honour: Thy welfare is wished, as thou wouldst desire, and nothing contrary my mind: When the Grape is ripe, it is gathered for the press: when the Apple is ready to fall from the Tree, it is plucked down to make Cider. Now thou hast learned what thou mayst, & gained the full perfection of thy pre●●●●●: The Frost is not hard till morning, & the Fig not ripe till it be gathered: the Cherry not ripe, till it be soft, and no sooner ripe, but strait rotten: And when any thing is at the best, it decreaseth again: But thou wilt answer me, the longer a man liveth, the wiser he is. I reply, that experience, maketh perfectness: but he that is a fool at thy years, will never be wise, whilst he liveth: Dost thou not see the young Tree hath more plenty of liquor, than the old Stock of juice? and is not the green grass sweeter, than the old hay? and the young Calf more tender, than the old Ox is toathsome? Doth not strength decrease, as Nature decayeth? and as Nature waxeth feeble? doth not the Wit grow faint? Every Tree hath his time, and every seed his season: every graft their growing, and every grain the sowing: every Child the nourishing, and every wit the time of perfection: The Gold is earth in the Mine, before it be purified, and the Silver maketh no show, before it be tried from the sand: The Orange not beautiful, before it be ripe: and the knowledge of a man, nothing before it come to the fullness. Is not the Cedar tree, more goodly to behold, than the vine that runneth along upon the ground? and is not the Poplar, more lively to look on then the Fig? Is not the leopard, a more goodly Beast in sight, than the little Lamb? yet the beauty of the one, nothing equal to the virtue of the other: the height of the one, inferior to the fruit of the other: and the show of the one, not like the savour of the other. If then in things that make no outward show, there be hidden such inward virtue: how much more is that commendable in him, who beareth a fair face, and is endued with honest conditions? But who amongst the Romans, was more eloquent, then Cicero? yet who more fearful to utter his mind? and who more bold than Crassus, and yet who more cross in answering frowardly? Was not Agamemnon, a wise Prince, yet counseled by Nestor? and who more valiant than Anthony, yet ruled by Lepidus. If the excellency of the greatest personages, were subject in wit, to their Inferiors? and if the wisest sought counsel? the boldest were broad mouthed? and the most eloquent, fearful to speak? who liveth, but lacketh, and who hath so much, but may have more? For to sow the seed of thy youth in the Court, thou art like in age to reap but pain and travail. And for that I know thou wilt not always be a Courtier, nor evermore a Servitor: for wouldst thou that way lead thy life, I could say somewhat worthy thy liking: Or hadst thou set down to spend thy days in service, I could better hereafter satisfy thee, than now make thee answer. I know when thou comest to Vienna, thou wilt follow the merchants, the better liked shalt thou be of others, and the more loved of me: If thou be rich in thy young years, thy age is like to be replenished with substance: and if well disposed in thy infancy, a sign of honesty in thy grey heaires: if thy inventus, show some wisdom, thy Senectus likely to be honourable. If the trade of a Merchant like thee not, thy busy Books will delight thee: toss them well about, and they will comfort thee in thy heaviness: tumble them up and down, and they shall make thee wiser, and shine more bright in virtue. Thou wast sometimes a Scholar, the more fit to be now a Student: thou once begannest the Law, the more likely now to prove a Counsellor: thou wast sometimes earnest at thy study, why shouldest thou not in time prove a Doctor. Leave not off at the best, & draw not thy head out of the collar: Now thou hast entered the lists of learning, let not go thy hold. Thou marueylest that I tell thee this, yet I know it, and not by any but thy friends, neither would I utter it to any thy foes: And in that I tell thee so plainly, it is a sign that I hate thee not: Therefore in my mind to persever in thy learning shall be most for thy profit, and greatest for thy gain. Thou knowest he that beginneth a good work, and goeth not forward withal, seeketh his own discommodity, & the preferment of no other. The Dog is made ientle with feeding, and the Ape knavish being taught: If then these senseless things will be made gentle with teaching, and profitable with compulsion, how much more we learn for our own utility, and gather knowledge for our own commodity? Knowledge is the heavenlyest thing in this world, and he that hath wisdom cannot want any good thing. Whose memorial doth longer endure, whose fame further reach, and whose glory blown forth abroad, than the virtues of the wisest, and then their doings put down in writing? Did not the wisdom of Solomon make a greater show, than his riches or brave buildings? Did not the works of Virgil longer endure, than the Conquests of Caesar last. Great Princes are thought happy, in that they are victorious and rich, but virtue shineth when the riches with the man are buried. The Conquest of Alexander were all lost within a little time after his death: but the works of Ovid are fresh and flourish at this day. Diogenes was called a Dog for barking at the vices that they used: But are not his works now more famous, than his deeds were disdained: Stilpo said, he lost nothing, when all his goods were burnt, for that he retained his virtue and learning. The ground of other matters may in time be attained, but the depth of wisdom can never be reached. All handy labours are wrought by the industry of man: But the root of wisdom could never by any be undermined. Is not learning the flower of felicity, and happy is he that attaineth it: For in what do we exceed the brute beasts, but by those heavenly motions which we attain by learning?  
The Slave is a man, and the simple sot made as we are, but that their natures are inferior to our nurture: And were not a man better be unborn, then untaught? How do the degrees of Princes first rise, and how do they increase their dignities, elevate their houses to the Skies, and their fame over the world? Is not wisdom the first ground, and then policy ensueth? And how shall a man be wise, if unlearned? Can Nature of itself, yield a man that knowledge, or give a man wisdom, without learning? Can the ungrafted tree, bring forth good fruit? And doth not the fattest ground, bring forth Thistles? The better Horse, the more wild of Nature, and the better wit, the more given to vice: for of ourselves we are the least, & not so bad as ill disposed. The Elephant, greatest of all four footed beasts, and who more fierce, or who more strong? but once reclaimed, so gentle as a Lamb, and so necessary as a Horse: Will not the Crab stock be made to bring forth pleasant fruit? and the stony ground be made fertile: The overflowinge Rivers be turned to run quietly: and the haggard Hawks manned as they will stoop at every lure: The great Ox will be made to take the yoke: but the little Mouse will never be made gentle: And the Bear sooner follow a man, than the Fox. The fair Falcon will sit ientlye upon amans fist, when the little Bird will be ever flirtinge. Therefore if my advice may prevail, and my judgement take effect, you shall not lose your learning, nor spend your time but in study.  
The court, you see is curious & careless: infected with the one, poisoned with the other: And in doing me service, you displeasure yourself: not that I mean any other should retain you, but better then well to spend a man's time none can: you have gained for your coming, and learned for your liking: and larger to tarry, shall you do any other but wear away your time? and for my pleasure & preferment, the one is not great, nor the other such as I would wish it were: But such as it is, I will neither be dainty of the one, nor curious of the other, prove it when you lust, & try when you shall: therefore you may departed when you will, and hasten to Vienna as you shall think good: and the more hastily you prosecute your voyage, the more speedily shall your coming be thither.  
Before he had fully accomplished the end of his tale, or furnished the perfection of his talk, cited he was by one of his Gentlemen, to repair to dinner, which tarried for his favourable leisure: who so soon as his tale was ended, & those words spoken, went his way, and stayed not to hear his reply: Leaving Norbanus hovering between heaven and earth, as if he could not attained the one, nor touched the other: standing like one newly raised out of the grave, or lately revived out of a swoon, wavering which way to take, and wandering which path to tread: Who had seen the sails of a Ship, wavering with a soft wind, leaning first to one side, & then bending to the other: Or like a sheep sick of some disease, leaneth first to one side, & then falleth on the other: Or like the meeting of two violent waters, the one parteth one way, & the other retireth back again. So stood Norbanus, first thinking to take this way, and then thought that other better: If to leave his Chamber, his Lord might come, & he not there to make answer, then to tarry & make a reply not looked for, were but a saucy part: Then thinking that to stay there, he might look long and never the better: and if his Lord would have heard his reply, he would have leaned him the hearing. Going therefore down to dinner, he met, with some of his fellows & friends, who were more glad of his company, than he willing to stay any longer: the dinner time they passed more honestly, then merely: and yet so well disposed, as the one was not hated, nor the other dislyked: where Norbanus uttered at large, the cause of his sending, & the effect of his departure. Whereat, they sorrowful, beyond measure, but he glad in mind, yet would not utter it: they fell to entreating him, to make a longer time of his abode, and he as fast persuaded them, not to request a thing so much against his profit: Then they requested him to spend but one year more amongst that honest company. Then he answered, that the loss of a years study, was more than the gain of two years service: and to hinder himself of the one, he would not abide the brunt of the other. Then they replied: that (as yet) there was time enough, & so small space would hinder but a little, but his staying might benefit him much: Then he answered, that to drive days, and make delays, a man should be farther of in the end, than he was near in the beginning. To avoid which inconvenience, I will not linger in hope of the one, nor stay, being sure to miss the other. Then an honest Gentleman, and one that loved him dearly, used these words to him.  
Sir, the Merchant maketh his Mart, but how? not in a day, nor in a week: not in a month, nor happily in a year: he looketh long for his Ship, and stayeth the return: which once come safe, and arrived sound, the gain doth countervail the pain, and the long time of absence make amends with the profit that ensueth.  
Indeed sir (replied he) the Merchant stayeth the Exchange, and abideth the fraughting: but my Ship, will neither bear sail, nor brook the Seas: therefore, better it is to return with a little loss, then stay the repenting, and lose both Ship and burden.  
Then replied the other, sir Norbanus, services are not so sweet, nor Masters so lavish of their Purse? but they will make a man bake his flower, before he eat any bread, and sow his seed before he reap any fruit.  
Truth (answered Norbanus) if the ground be good, who will not take pains to husband it well, but being barren & stony, he that stayeth till harvest, shall reap but Thistles, and gather but thorns, for his double diligence, and passing pain.  
Indeed (said the other) the ground must be good, and the plot profitable: but how shall a man be acquainted with the one, or have experience of the other? He must stay the trial, and prove for his profit, and if it be not good for his purpose, nor likely to yield commodity, help it a little, and the grain will be good.  
Sir, replied Norbanus, the best ground is aptest to bring Thistles, and will bear but strong weeds, if it be not wrought to the full, and sowed to the perfection: As for the worst, labour what you can, and your profit shall hardly countervail your travail: but it may so happen, that the Sky shall fall, then shall we take Larks plenty, and other Birds good store: But a Man shall so soon catch a Hare with a Taber, or get a Song of a dead man, as reap here the fruits of felicity, or gather the pleasure of profit.  
Indeed, replied the other, the profit is but small, and the gain as little: but the company may cause you stay, for that they like you, and our fellowship find you favourable in that we love you, for if we liked you not, we would not lust after you: and, but that you are in our hearts, we could easily put you out of our minds. Therefore, seeing (perforce) we must lose your company, we will of free will retain your courtesy: which you cannot deny us, the request being so reasonable, but cast your consent, and repay us with like profit, when we yield so to your purpose.  
Indeed, answered Norbanus, your company shall cause me do much, and your courtesy so great as I know not how to requite it: For, look by how much the more you love me, by so much the more am I bound to you: and by how much the more I do dutifully love you, by so much the more ought you not of duty to hate me: and in that you love me so well, I am the more bold to utter my mind so plainly unto you: Yet as you love me, so must you not lust after by loss: and as you like me, so must you not wish me live, but for my welfare: being not prejudicial to your healths and prosperity, but very grateful to my wealth and safety.  
Truly said the other, to like of your losses, or to be a mean of your hindrance, we should neither profit you, nor pleasure ourselves: and to keep you contrary your will, or to retain you not as you wish, we should make a long harvest for a little profit, and a large season for a little Corn: therefore trust me, if you seek your own commodity, you are the better to be commended, and he that is painful for profit that will be gainful, hath wove a good web out of a course Loom, and spun a fine thread of rugged wool: which if you pretend as prestrictly, as you answer to do speedily, you to lose our small company, shall gain good will of all, and in departing from us, you leave us not for ever: and in going to your Uncles, you deprive us not always of your fellowship, and when you are gone remember us in mind, and we will not forget you by Letters.  
Replied Norbanus, for your courtesies I yield you thanks, and for your favourable friendships, my life shall be at your commands: and if at any time, contrary were my doings, yet honest were my cogitations: for the which submission of mine, I deserve that pardon which is yours: As for my proof, you have neither tried me of trust, nor sold me of credit: but would you use me in some matters of weight, you should not find me to dally, and would you try my good will, you should neither find me wayward, nor wanton. As for seeing you hereafter, our departure shall not be for ever, and our adieu for always: but if I see not you shortly, I will write speedily: the messenger of the mind is Paper and Ink, which if I spare to spend on you, turn me out for a wrangler, and shut me out of doors for a craven Cock.  
The Gentlemen thereby, marveled at his wise answers, and were glad to hear him so well disposed, and to hinder him of his purpose, they would not stay him contrary his mind. Shortly after, he asked if his Lord would command him any duty from his honour, or any service to Vienna? whereto he answered none: But to hear of his welfare, and commendations to his Uncle.  
Then departed he the Court, and traveled towards Vienna: but his beloved fellows and dear friends brought him out of the Town, and there left him, he taking his leave of them all, and they not a little sorrowful of his so hasty departure, bidding him be mindful of his promise in sending, and not to forget them by writing, whereto he condescended, and willingly agreed.  
His Uncle had heard before how well he was disposed, and how excellently beloved, which comforted so his spirits, as he rejoiced at the return of his Nephew, who was no sooner alighted from his Horse, and come into his house, but he embraced him, as if in a long time before he had neither heard of him, nor seen him, glad to see him so well, and joyful of his return.  
After a few days were spent in making merry, and some time passed for joy of his coming home, Norbanus fell to his study, and trusted to his Books: in so much, that he was loved of all, and not disliked of any, and in short time he profited exceedingly, and grew very learned: And amongst other matters, he inquired of the health of Fidelia, though she loathed to hear him named, but she had so handled the matter, and stirred the stern in such order, as where before her credit was comparable to any, now her misdemeanour could match with the most: for a Gentleman in the Town of great calling, and whose credit was worth much, used her company so long, and gained her good will so far, that though he were married to an antiente Gentlewoman, yet was he martyred to her beauty, and tied to her favour, and in time gained that grant of her goodness, as she was at his command with daily diligence, and frequented his house, and used his company in such open order, as had she been more than honest, she must have lost her good name.  
I know not whether her good neighbours were to be blamed, for their reports blazed out in such beastly bravery, or she not regarding her estate, and keeping an old man company, and not looking to her honesty: But whether Fame were no flatterer, or Report no liar I can not give judgement of the one, for that I am ignorant of the other: but this is certain, and these words were in every man's mouth, that she was sped of a friend, and needed no other husband, one way to satisfy her dainty desires, and another way to serve as a cloak for her crafty collusions, which caused Norbanus to bewail her wilfulness, and lament the lavishness of her honesty, yet he purposed willingly never to see her again, for he had given her the last farewell long since: this was the fruit of such faithless oaths, and the profit that ensueth of such dainty dissembling ones.  
Phemocles had now spent his time limited by his Father, and desirous not to make his time of tarriance longer, the good will of his Prince therefore once granted, he repaired to his father so speedily as his journey could be hasted: where when he came, his favourable entertainment was nothing contrary his expected purpose, who now was as careless of the world, as before careful to keep every company, desirous now to spend his time in study, and lead his life in reading of authors, as well to increase his wit, as to make him grow more perfect in wisdom: as well to furnish his Study with Tragedies and Comedies, as to retain Histories and Chronicles: as well to refresh his wearied senses with the sweet savour of his beneficial Books, as to cloy his chaste ears with any other foolish devices whatsoever. Thus Phemocles profited by experience, and waxed wise, with the attaining of sundry languages. It happened not long after the father of Phemocles was invited to a feast, and Phemocles was desired to await on his Father. Henricus was bidden also thither, and Norbanus entreated to keep him company: where at the appointed day, they approached to fulfil their former promises, and accomplished the invitours request as they were earnestly desired. Norbanus came in with his Uncle, and Phemocles with his father were there before: Henricus and Norbanus saluted the courteous company with a mannerly good morrow, which Phemocles and his Father requited with as grateful a greeting.  
After Dinner, the old Gentlemen discoursed of divers Countries, the habit and manners of Strangers, in so much, as there grew a controversy of the Country of Spain, and Germany: and one disliked the reasons of the other: Henricus was defendant of the one side, and the Father of Phemocles resistante on the other: Then said Henricus, my Nephew can say somewhat, for his learning was like to cost him his life: Then answered the Father of Phemocles, and my Son is not so simple, but he can his cross row, reading it so often: Then were they willed all to keep silence, and no partiality to be used on either side: Then an ancient Gentleman of the company, delighted to hear some discourses, took Phemocles from amongst the company by the hand, and by the other hand he took Norbanus, and bringing them to this assembly, said.  
Gentlemen, the case so stands, and the determination is such, that you two amongst the rest of the other good company, though of years but small, yet your experience greatest, and for that you both have tasted the tediousness of travail, and endured the running over that Country of Spain, it is allotted the one of you to maint●yne an argument against the probabilities of the other, whether Spain be best governed, or Germany better ruled? whereto Norbanus replied.  
Sir, were my experience answerable my good will, or my wit agreeable to my willing mind, I could answer you somewhat of the one, and resolve you fully of the other: but such as it is, your courtesy so great to request, my liberality shall as dutifully be extended, either to defend our weal public, or to defend that noble Country of Spain.  
And Sir, answered Phemocles, were my knowledge so great, as my willing mind shall be easily seduced, you should not so hastily command, as I dutifully willing to obey: But hoping my simple discourses will be imputed to the readiness of goodwill, my simplicity to be cloaked with my obedience, and my rudeness hidden by consenting so quickly to answer your demands: let therefore that Gentleman if it please him, be defendant for Spain, and myself to my little learning, and less knowledge, will be maintaynour of our native Country, and stand to maintain so far as I may: To the which Norbanus consented speedily, & Phemocles agreed willingly. These two Gentlemen stared the one in the face of the other, and neither was known to other, yet Phemoc●es mistrusted that it should be Norbanus, yet uncertain whether his sight failed him, or his judgement were not right, stayed till better occasion should be offered, and time more fit to manifest his mind: then said Phemocles as followeth.  
This Noble Country of ours ruled by a wise Prince, and governed by a famous Monarch, whose good laws are inferior to none: and whose just Statutes do countervail any christened: But touching the Country which is more fertile for corn, and better replenished with Vineyards: more fruitful with pastures, and better stored with all grain: we go beyond them in the nobleness of personages, and far better qualities: better servitors to our Prince, and more profitable for our Weal public: As for the inferior sort, their dispositions far more honest, and their good natures not inferior to their godly nurture's: their quiet life and honest conversation, ruled with modesty, and bridled without rigour, not given greatly to offend, but seeking much to please: As for our youth, their education is much better, and their natures applied to their future profits: they do some thing before they conceive any thing, and are learned before they understand what it meaneth: if ability be wanting in the Parents, and that they cannot maintain them as they would, some good science they are strait employed to, or some craft or cunning to maintain their estates afterward: And if the Father a Soldier, and a man child borne him in the time of his service, they put him in pay, at the day of his birth, the better to maiytayne him, and the more honestly to have him educated: Touching the estate of our women, and the honest behaviour amongst them used, theirs is inferior in honesty, and nothing like in beauty: neither comparable in wisdom, nor like in modesty: neither like them in wit, nor equal to them in good grace: The apparel of ours far more handsome, though theirs much more costly: the attiring of their heads more seemly, and the wearing of other things much better: ours chaste and godly, theirs easy to be entreated, and companions for any: If in any thing they excel, it is in the liberality of their courtesy, & if in aught they be better, it is in the much bounty of their brothels: therefore I prefer our Country before their calling, and our honest lives, before their wicked livings.  
In deed Sir, replied Norbanus, to touch the estate of our Prince, and meddle with the Supremacy of the Empire, I should prove myself an Ass, & in defending a fool, but I leave him, and omit his estate: But for their Nobility, and their Estates, I think them not inferior to ours, nor of less substance, than our greatest of calling: both in magnanimity of birth, and greatness of substance: both for nobleness of mind, and liberality towards all men: both for the good government of their own estates and houses, as also, for excellency in maintaining arms against their enemies. For the inferior gentility and such others: the Gentleman though he be poor, yet is he haughty: and though he be not rich, yet thinks he himself not inferior his Prince, the estate of his calling set aside, and the greatness of his Office excepted: for the which his Office, he preferreth the effect of his duty, in reverencing his person, as his Captain, and chief governor: and for that he hath the rule, he is content to be ruled by him howsoever: otherwise, his manhood not inferior to his Princes, nor his parsonage one degree less than his: As for the common sort of people they live and lack not: if they have nothing, they beg not any thing: for he scorneth to ask of any man, & disdaineth him that thinks he will crave, & rather will live with Roots like a Swine: them in wanting crave at the hands of any other: he standeth upon his Pantofles, and regardeth greatly his reputation: and if by his simple Science, and poor Craft such as it is, in all his time he gain so many Ducats, as for one day will make him brave, he will have his Foot-cloth, and Pages after him, though ever after he live by patching a Boot: And in that their Nobility, being not prejudicial to their Prince, they show a more haughty mind, and seem to have less care in carrying their coin with them to their Grave. For the women, their liberty is lacking, and their honesty looked up: their restraint is great and their licence small, unless in walking their own gardens, or frequenting the Churches, though happily their chastity be lose, and their honesty as lavish: yet is it done closely, and they kept restrained by their Husbands: their attire costly, and their apparel gorgeous: their beauty in deed not the best, and yet fair enough: their diet dainty, and their feeding fine: they spend not the day in banqueting, nor the night in surfottinge: that which they eat is little and good, and that which they drink healthy, though not pleasant: For their Children I will not compare them in Learning, but prefer them in any other good qualitiesd whatsoever: for nurture they want not to give entertainment in their young years: and so soon as they are come to any perfection, they learn to break their staves at Tilt, and such like, I think them therefore not inferior to ours, but we rather Cockneys to them: touching the goodness of the grounds, and the fertility of their fields, they far exceed ours, and we that way cannot excel them: their goodly vineyards much greater, and their Grapes far better, and our Rhenish excepted, what have we like them? Their goodly Olive Trees, and their fruitful Figs: their Oranges, and Lemons: their Pomegranates, and their Dates: their Reasons, & their other small fruits, the goodness whereof is better known to other Countries, than the traffic manifested to us: their royal Rivers have the only name, and bear away the Bell, as well for sweetness, as for fruitfulness: their substance of gold, and plenty of Silver, passeth all others christened: and is known more bountiful then in any place we know: I think us therefore more base than they in condition, and far inferior in riches.  
Then said Phemocles, Sir their gold is their richest substance, and their silver their greatest gain: But do you allow this their courtesy, or think it any part of good manners: the Subjects to use familiarity with their Prince, and to esteem himself so good a man as he?  
This showeth rather a base kind of deformity, or else a foolish proud fantasy, neither to be ruled by reason, nor to be persuaded by courtesy: the King being the chiefest member, is allowed for the head of the Country: the Subject a profitable member, & a mean to preserve the substance. Is the Subject so good as the Magistrate? and any Officer so great as his Ruler? the King his ancestors were Princes before him, and he beareth not that title undeserved, why then are not men unnoble elected Princes, and every man chosen a Magistrate? wherefore then were Princes made? and why were they elected? why then are Governors placed in their seats to bear sway? and wherefore Magistrates elected to reform and correct? why then have officers their names or titles? or wherefore are justices appointed to give judgement? Is the Latchet so good as the Shoemaker? and the carved Picture equal with him that made the portraiture? is the Skin of the Bullock so good as the flesh? and the rind so sweet as the Apple? is the harbinger so good as his Lord ●or the servant not inferior his master? is the Souldioure so good as his Captain? or the Bondslave like him that maketh him free? is the Captain so good as his Colonel? or the Lord equal to his Prince? Why then is not the Nettle so good as the Rose? and the brier of so much virtue as the Grape? the Hornet so profitable as the Bee? and the Frog so good as the Flounder? the Thistle so good as the Violet? and the Wolf so good as the Ox? Is this profitable in their calling? nay, is it not reproachful to their kingdom? why? the Horse knoweth his rider, and the Sheep follow their shepherd: the Dog his master, and the Lion his keeper: and shall not a man that hath sense, and is endued with knowledge excel these brute Beasts that have not the one, and want the other? Are we not bidden to obey our Rulers, and fear our Magistraters? and who so resisteth the will of his Prince, purchaseth the displeasure of his God: But how should they offend God, when they know not his name? and whom should they obey, when they acknowledge not their Prince? They will sooner stoop to a stone, and bend to a block, than honour their King, and be ruled by their Regent: is this their life not detestable? and how can it be other but reproachful?  
Replied Norbanus, touching their Religion let that pass, and if it be not good, God make it better, but that neither toucheth our argument, nor agreeth to our purpose: and though they use not their obedience with the courtesy of the Cap, yet they declare their humanity in the bending of their bodies. The Prince they confess to be their chief, and are ruled by his laws, but yet every man thinketh himself so good as his superior, and every inferior not worse than his Magistrate: For what maketh Rulers but riches? and what causeth Magistrates to bear sway, but the multitude of their goods, for take (saith he) his living from him, and let me have his lands, and he will obey me, as I reverenced him, and do me duty, as I yielded him service: and shall his Gold make me his subject? and shall my virtues be inferior to his substance? though he be wealthy, yet am I virtuous, and though he excel me in coin, yet is my manhood better than his substance: let him overcome me in the field, and then will I render him my arms, but if he refuse to fight with me, I disdain he should be my superior: I have ventured my life, and he hath but paid some of his living, but had his living been lacking, and as small as my substance, he should have dangered his life, where now he hazarded but my soul: am I then inferior to his riches? nay, is not he subject to my honour: and because you have said so much, and are entered into the law of arms, we are I confess good soldiers, but yet inferior to them: we must either fill our hungry paunches, or fight we will not one stroke: we must have our Beef, and our bags filled with Bacon, our Cheeses carried after us, and our Women so follow us: and if we march one day without filling of our great guts, we think strait we shall to the pot, or no other remedy, but present death: and they can march three days, with drinking a cup of cold water, and eating a morsel of bread, and regard no more eating till their enterprise be ended: if haply at their return they gain any thing by their travail, and have taken any spoil with their pain, they make their conquests appear by the bravery of their backs, and their gold shall guilt their Rapiers and headpieces. We having gotten any thing by spoil, or gained aught by sacking, all goes into our bellies, and had we more, it were too little for our pi●ed paunches: then tumble we like beasts, and wallow in our wickedness, as drunken as Swine, and as devilish as Epicures, and forsooth he is best Souldioure that most can tipple, and he oldest frayned, that can first set his fellow ●o●●er the Shoes: these are commendable, and these are to be liked: these are to be loved, and these to be embraced: the● followeth swearing and brawling, lying, and ●●rsing, for a trifle together by the ears, and with a wet ●●nger friends again, they contrary so moderate their affections, and so rule their appetites, that a trifle shall not force them to quarrel, nor every toy cause them fight: but he that offereth injury, shall be injuriously dealt withal, and he that useth discourteous words, were better offer boisterous blows, and who so giveth the lie, may hap so togayne the loss of his life: they therefore muffle their mouths that they speak not too broad, and tie up their tongues, lest they babble those things for which afterward they cry Peccavi. I think therefore their modesty doth pass our manliness, and their goodness nothing inferior to our greatness.  
Replied Phemocles, their feats of arms may be great, and their prowess every way equals to ours, but when a word shall cost a man his life, and every cross answer required with a Stabbado: their ●●stinesse I think is intolerable, and their haughty minds desire too much revengement: and if in talking a man shall so offend, whom shall he try to trust? and if in walking a m●n, must be so wary, they should go alone without any company: Is this manhood? nay, is it not maliciousness: each man thinketh his fellow infe●ioure, and every one his companion, not worthy his calling: Are not these disdeynefull to contemn their fellows, and friends? and are they not hateful to pretend mischief for so slender occasion? Is this courtesy? it is (indeed) curiosity, a sign of a mischievous mind, and a certainty of a disdeynefull stomach.  
Then said that Gentleman standing by, who brought them to the Bar: Gentlemen, I am sorry that time will not serve to go farther with your argument, and place not permit to end that which is begun, we therefore give you thanks for your courtesies, and can not but commend of your judgement.  
Sir, replied Norbanus, this courtesy is but small which we have used, and our curiosity had been great, had we made denial of your demands: And for my part, if any pleasure be conceived by my ragged reasons, I rejoice the time hath been so bestowed, and thank this good audidience, for lending their favourable ears to so simple a Sophist as myself.  
And said Phemocles, if favour be granted me for my good will, and friendship given for that which I said, it is the greatest gain I look for, and the most pleasure I expect: and if any occasion have ●in offered to the preiudicialitie of any, or some word escaped, that 〈◊〉 not be digested, I grieve at my rash sayings, and crave panrdon for my lewd words, but the provokers I think will have me excused, and those the procurers cloak this my rude rhyming: an● for their audience being so friendly, I yield thanks bountifully, doubting not but in time to prove a more perfect Clerk in the Rules of 〈◊〉 the; and a deeper 〈◊〉 in the judgement of my elders. But Sir, by 〈◊〉 friendly favour, may I crave the name of you the defendant, which pleaseth you to let me understand, I shall be bou●d● to yoore courtesy, and united to your friendship▪  
Sir, said Norbanus, to deny you my name were small courtesy, and great curiosity: therefore you shall neither condemn me of the one, nor convince me of the other: know you therefore that I am called Norbanus, Nephew to that Gentleman Henricus.  
Phemocles at that word, stared in his face as uncertain whether he had heard him speak, or not seen him standing there before him: but casting all cause of suspicion aside, and arming himself with the truth of his eyes, he ran and embraced him so hard, as if he should have revived him being swooned, and then uttered these words, and spoke as followeth.  
And hath my hap been so hard, to contend this day in argument, and to make such several replies against my dear Norbanus, my best beloved friend, and him only whom my heart hath so long desired? Which had I known, my mouth should not have opened against thee, nor my tongue unfolded those thoughts which proceeded from my heart: But what soever hath been foolishly passed, let nothing: I pray thee be maliciously taken: but this good hap I think God bestowed on us; to manifest unto each other the friendship before passed, and to renew our ancient amity by these contrary questions: know thou therefore Norbanus, that myself is thy faithful Phemocles, who preferreth thy life, before his felicity: and honoureth thy health, as his own happiness.  
Then said Norbanus, and art thou here the most faithful living? and have I at last obtained thy sight again? my lot was luckless, and my hap to hard, to contend with thy favour, and to speak so boldly against him, whose life is more dear unto me, than my own health, and whose happiness I prefer before any other thing living: And had I known these ●●uishe lips had spoken such way ward words before thy favourable face: I would either have forced them never to speak more, or else to moderate their sayings with such modesty, as they should neither offended frowardly, nor have spoken so wilfully: But as my heart the inventor of all my sayings, never me●●te thee mischief, nor pretended thee treachery, so pardon I beseech thee this my boldness, and forgive my misdemeanour, in not craving thy courteous name, and ask some questions touching thy estate: which seeing thou hast consented to be the first inventor in asking, I shall as willingly condescend to any thing whatsoever, and longer I wish not to draw the bitter breath of my lingering life, then to be always ready to die, the faithful friend of Phemocles: and look what soever you shall command Norbanus, he is always priest a Voster commandment.  
The company upon this renewed amity, left the siege, and departed every man to his proper Mansion: Phemocles and Norbanus departed to a secret place, where they recounted each to other their tragical lives, and the causes of their not meeting: Then they determined for the time they had spent, and their years so young: the one but five and twenty, and the other lacking somewhat of that quantity: to put it to writing, and to make it manifest, the one, not without the consent of the other: Then lastly, they determined to lead such a prestricté order of life, and never to use these foolish toys, which before they delighted in, as all other youths should leave their foolish fancies, to follow their well disposed demeanours: which determinate purpose took so sure ground in the interior parts of their hearts, as should never be removed to the exterior parts of their bodies. The fertile Fields began the bale of their bitterness, by conjoining of their amity: and the beautiful Banks ended their unhappiness, by renovatinge their forepast friendship: where I leave them to swim in their secure safeties, and to bathe in the benificialitie of their beatitude.  
Norbanus shortly after not unmindful of his former promises, thought not to requite the goodness of his fellows, with the ungratefulness of his follies: directed a Letter, the tenor whereof, ensueth as followeth.  
To the Gentlemen, his fellows at the emperors Court.  
THe coloured spots in the sides of the Leopard, d●● beautify his broad back, and cause his soft● skin t● be more seemly: and the wrizled wart on the fair feature, maketh the perfect portraiture more amiable. The Rose growing amongst the nipping Nettles, looketh more lively, and seemeth more sweet: and the abundance of vile vices flowing in hat Noble Court, make the excellency of their virtues bear a greater grace, than otherwise they would: the inhumanite of the rude rascals without manners or civility, cause the courtesien of the Courtiers to make a more kind of mild modesty: The Court I know not to be void of dissemblers, nor free from faithful friends, not without malicious persons, nor lacking honest companions, not without deceitful doltish dastards, and yet many of the brood of valiant Ulysses, not lacking shifting, and ●ogginge tear bags: & yet many noble Gentlemen, whose excellent virtues are to be preferred before their revenues: there is the friendship of jonathas, and the falsehood of jason: Paris with his Harp, and Hector with his Helmet: the fidelity of Laelius, and the flattery of Aristippus. The Rose being perfect of itself, is by sundry means infected: And the Court being the head of all virtues, is replete with many vices: who boasteth not in bravery ● and who braggeth not in beastliness? who walloweth not in wantonness of his will? and who tumbleth not in the turning of treachery? who danceth not in the daintiness of his desires? and who sleepeth not in the security of his sins? Alas Gentlemen, the Sun having once attained the midst of the day, draweth so low down at night, that she is clean out of sight: The most troublesome Tide hath but his time, and the fruitfulle●● Tree, green but in Summer: the greatest felicity lasteth but a small space, and the happiest health is but the length of a span: the sweetest conceit retaineth his virtue but a season, and the finest Fig will quickly be rotten: Beauty is blasted with every contrary cogitation, and the finest flowers are fair but till a man enjoyeth them: the delicate meat is pleasant but till a man hath eaten it, and the happiness of gaining the fairest women in the world, lasteth but till a man have reaped the first fruits: The pleasure of the Court lasteth but the time of beardless youth, and an old man in the Court, is like a withere● 〈◊〉 in a green Forest: Every little cloud that racketh over the Sun hindereth her light, and every wagging of a straw in the Court, purcha●eth displeasure● When the wrinkles come on thy face, who will favour thee? and when thy Beard waxeth hoar, who will love thy likeness? The old horse is turned to grind in the Mill, and the old Dog whipped out of the doors, for the service he did in his youth: the young strumpet with her bravery, in age is glad to bear the name of a Bawd: Did not Helen weep when looking in a Glass, she saw the wrinkles on her face? Alas said she, who will not now hate me, that before harboured me? And was not Layis a young bedfellow for every man, and an old B. to every one? And not to roam far for foreign examples, but to take part of our own Country for trial: I commend our Noble Emperor▪ Charles for his prowess, but I blame his wisdom in this respect: in youth so noble a servitor, and now to take in age the courtesy of a Cloister: He that learneth not to be unfortunate in youth, must perforce be unhappy in old age: The young Lion is wanton so long as he is fed, but when he prayeth for himself, he is fierce and furious: Was old Menelaus loved for his loyalty? no: he was liked for his living? Philip the Father to Alexander the Great, often wept to see his Son so fortunate in his youth, for his death (said he) must needs be conspired before he be old: But is not the fairest Flower, finest to be gathered? and the fattest Horse likeliest to be bought? the ripest wit readiest to be reclaimed, and the fairest Women likeliest to be loved? yes trust me: and yet the wisest that ever was, or the subtilest that is like to be, hath loved in youth, which in age he hath loathed: One delighteth the love of Ladies, and the liking of lovers laws, which passeth away like a blast of wind, and withereth like a Rose plucked from the stalk. A man spendeth, and speedeth not, lavisheth on with load, and all to please his peat: he spareth neither Lands nor living, money, nor movables, houses, nor fields, gold, nor gain, apparel, nor paltry, to bolster up his bare body, to please the peevishness of his meek mistress, and to feed the fancy of his loving Lady: he spendeth all his Lands, and consumeth all his livings, and in the end rewarded with a faithless farewell, or bidden to adieu in the devils name: And if he obtain his purpose, and gain his greedy desire, once gained that he long expected, and that obtained for which he made such suit and service, what is he the better? or wherein the richer? which way more satisfied? or how better contented? in what order better pleased? or so glutted, that he never desireth more? nay, in pleasing his appetite to displease his God, and in fulfilling his lust, to leave his own liberty and living: and in gorging his greedy fancy, to purchase his hindrance, and undoing: and if he win her to his will, and lure her to his lust, without the loss of his living, or the mortgaging of his lands, doth he not repent his bargain? and wish it were now to be made? first, for charges to bestow in apparel, and for expenses in jewels, as well in money, as in linen, and as well in coffers, as in coin: then the suspicion that he falleth into, and the dangers that are always likely to arise: If she be married, than the suspicion of her Husband, and the marking of the household, their appoyntings of places, and agréements of times, the meetings to enjoy their desires, and the fears they conceyne to be seen: and if she yield him a child, and bear her husband none, he doubteth whether it were his own, or some other man took so much pains for him: And if her husband have children by her, and he using her company, he doubts the disability of himself, and feareth he lacketh part of that he wanteth not: but if she neither have children by her husband, and be barren to him, he doubteth every man's finger is as deep in the dish, as his in the platter, and that every man angleth where he casteth his hook: If she be unmarried, or not wedded to any, he feareth secrecy, and doubteth she is lavish of her liberty: If she yield him any child, than his shame is manifest, and the crime too untolerable, her credit for ever cracked, and his honesty for ever after hated: If she yield him no child, than he either feareth the insufficiency of himself, or thinketh some other is partaker of his felicity: then is she fearful to be espied, and careful to be marked: then the cost of her apparel, and the change of her coffers: But if happily he escape all these dangers, and avoid all this cost, if she have been honestly reported of, and liked of the most, is he not sorrowful that his beastly desire would no way be satisfied, but with the loss of the greatest jewel she hath in the world? Then if she be neither fair, nor well favoured: neither beautiful, nor amiable: neither lovely, nor likely: little honest, and perhaps a common ●addle for every man that will ride: doth he not then cry Peccavi, calling himself villain for his vile act, and base minded rascal, that could not better make his choice: Thus every way she breedeth a man's woe, and no way worketh his weal: each way a man's loss, and not any way proveth for his profit: the best of these but little for his honesty, and less for his purse: the worst is ill for his body, and pestilent for his soul: And how happy then is he that can live without their companies, and thrice happy is he that in conscience craveth not their fellowship: As for the Gentleman Courtier, his felicity is not the happiest, nor his gain the greatest: when he is in the prime of his youth, he must be brave in apparel, and lavish of his purse, neat in his going, and stately in his gate: courteous of behaviour, and curious in his choice: liberal of his living, and no niggard of his loyalty: his grace must be liked, and his manners marked: If he be a comely parsonage, then is he hated of his inferiors: if fair, then effeminate: if black, than meeter to be a Soldier, then ●tte to be a Courteour: if well favoured, disdained of the deformed: if kind and loving to all, than a Parasite, and a Flatterer: if something strange of acquaintance before he be known, then proud, and disdaineth to speak: if rich, than a churl: if but of small revenues, than a shifter, and knoweth not elsewhere to live: if high of stature, than a lubber: if low of making, than a Dwarf: if liked of some Gentlewoman, than a hunter of that kind: if he talk not in their companies, then precise, and tied to his chastity: if not content to put up injuries, a quarreler, and a hacker: if patient sometime to bear, rather than to make a brabbling for nothing, then is he a milksop, and as good a man as Malkin: if liked of the Nobility, and beloved of Gentlemen, then either he carries two faces in one hood, or doth lie like a Dog: if disliked of a few not his friends, & them some vain persons, therefore unregarded of many, and not beloved of any: if he spend something liberally, then is he prodigal, and never mindeth to buy lands: if something hard, then miserable, and a churl: if liked of his Prince, than a fair tongued fellow, or he could never gained such good will: if not loved for affection sake, then hated of all, and indeed rather a conspirator, then of any honest demeanour. Thus his best life is miserable, and untolerable, the worse must perforce be disdeynefull, and reprochable: As for the common Serving man, I would wish him no greater plague, nor tied to any greater treachery: He must be up with the first, and laid with the last: called on of every body, and ready to come to all: snatching for his meat, and catching for his victuals: as hungry as a Horse, and as greedy as a Dog: shifting with the most, and swearing with the best, bragging with any, and quarreling with all: wait at an inch, and paid at leisure: running in haste, and galloping in post: brave in apparel, but poor in his purse: If he can not shift, he must not account to live: as diligent as may be, and as slenderly rewarded as a man would wish: If he go cleanly, his master suspecteth the picking of his purse to maintain him: if poorly, an unthrifty rascal, and such a one as regardeth not his masters credit, nor weigheth his own honesty: If he keep company, his master imagineth all are his charges, and repineth at his welfare: if saving his wages, and keeping his apparel, than a hard Ass, a Clown, and a niggardly fool, his wages are ill bestowed, and some other would do him more worship: If a pretty fellow of parsonage, than a fool, that he seeketh not better for his preferment, and a place more profitable his estate: If any way disliked, as hard favoured, or ill faced, wry legged, and crook backed, or such like, then is he kept but for some pander, or to carry the basket after his master: If for his honest behaviour loved of his fellows, than a prating knave, and one that regardeth more the safety of himself, than the profit of his master: If by any means disliked of his fellows, then hated of his master, for that they like him not: If liked of his master, and beloved for his good service, then hated of them, for that either he flattereth, or carrieth tales, otherwise his credit could not pass theirs, nor he liked, better than they loved: If disliked of his master, than not liked of his fellows, for if they would, how dare they, and if they durst, how could they, for purchasing his displeasure, and getting the ill will of his master? if liked of his mistress for his good service and painful diligence, then loathed of others, for either he hath her at commandment, or obtaineth that benefit which none should reap but his master: if hated of his mistress, then is his case miserable, for every hour ready to be turned forth of doors, or baited & braulled withal like a dog: If merrily disposed, foolish and Ass like: if civil, & soberly given, then sullen, and a doulte without spirit, and better lost then found: If given to exercises, then regarding nought but his own pleasure: If not disposed to tear or spoil his apparel that way, than what a fellow is this? and how hath he been brought up? If learned that he can talk well, or indite cunningly, then so proud of his paltry Clarkeship that he thinketh none so good a Scholar as himself, and his wit worthy to be preferred before any: If unlearned, than the Son of a Clown, base borne, and worse taught, ill mannered, and worse nurtured, he cannot say K. to a Goose, or make any resolute answer: If left some living by his friends, and content to serve, to preserve it, rather than idly to loiter and spend it: then hated for that having to maintain himself of his own, must seek the hindrance of his fellows, by offering to serve without wages, and causing his Master to give less wages than otherwise he would: If poor, and that diligently he wait to procure his masters good will, in hope to be preferred, then keep him not to long▪ lest he look for some reward, but put him to some other less able to do him pleasure, and not so much for his own profit: If he be young, he needeth but small wages, for he can shift for one, and scratch for his own advantage: If old, away with him, he doth but shame our service, and is a disgrace to our house: And if a man spend his small portion in maintaining himself, and doing his Master credit, he shall be answered, complaining: why? my will was not thou shouldst spend thy living, neither was it my pleasure thou shouldst sell thy Lands: and thou that so little regardest thy own profit wilt be an unprofitable servant for an other man, therefore, go ask of those thou spentst it on, and borrow of those thou lentest unto: If happily a man profit by his service, and that he have gained some part of a living under him, as that chance is not common, nor that hay fortunate but to few: then sayeth his Master, see this proud knave, and this saucy jacke, he braggeth of that he hath craftily gained in my service, and cuffleth with the money that came out of my Purse: neither ●oo I discommend the Master of that Servant, but loath that servant that servet▪ so simply: for if the Master be blame worthy, the servant is twice triple to be discommended: neither do I blame all service of the Court nor dislike of all servitors, for than might I be judged either staring mad, or stark foolish: But this I speak to touch those Servingmen, who spend their time so lewdly, and wear away their young years in pleasure, where in their age, they pay for their repentance, and (perhaps) beg for their bread: I am not ignorant that the Court must have servitors, and Gentlemen waytours: but he that will be a Courtier, must be experienced in all other matters necessary his calling: and he that will live by service, must make his choice on whom he bestow himself, as his Master be contented with his diligence, and the servant rewarded for his ●aynefull travail: But yet the life of a Servingman being abused, where it should be well used, is most miserable and his case most lamentable: The hired servant his labour ended, receiveth his wages, and departeth contented: and the Weaver worketh all the day merrily at his Loom, and resteth contentedly at night: the craftsman hath his stint, and hour appointed how long he shall work: which once come, he taketh his pleasure, and refresheth himself: but the Servingman's work is neither ended at night, nor begun in the day: morning nor evening: Saboth day, nor Holy day: always trudging to one place or other, and evermore drudging about one toil, or some endless business: The Festival days when others make merry, he must wait what his masters will is, and look he be not lacking: happily he waiteth all the day, and his Master hath nothing to apply him unto: then an other time thinking to take his pleasure but a little, for an hour, or not so much, in the mean time cometh his Master, where not finding him, his next salutation shall be, good morrow with a knaves name, or how do you & be hanged: then thinking to excuse his fault, or crave pardon for his offence▪ Thou varlet, and thou rogue: thou rascal, and thou misbegotten: so troubled, as no other is turmoiled: and so afflicted, as no other is the like. Is this the perfect pleasure of the courtly crew? and the happiest weal of this weary warfare, that a man shall learn a science in youth to beg in old years: Is this lusty juventus, and miserable Senectu●▪ is it a sweet Pill in the mouth, and a bitter purgation in the stomach: Sugar at the first, and sauce in the end: fruitful at the beginning, and loathsome at the finishing: If this be a Science, it is none of the seven: and if it be a Craft, it is but simple: easily practised, and quickly attained: soon studied, and not hard to be learned: This is subtlety without ●hift, & craft without cunning: policy without practice, and learning without gaining: If this be a science, ●o wear out a man's tim● in pain without pro●it, and to spend a man's living in hope to attain, and in the end never the wiser: to undo himself to pleasure his Lord, and consume his ●oyne to keep his masters credit, and to drown himself, to save an other swimming? nay not so good: for he spoileth himself, and profiteth not his Master: What a marvelous foolishness than is this? & a sign of a small wit, for a man ●o spoil himself, not to pleasure any: to lose that which no man shall find, & to do that which no man is the better for: & what is he accounted off, his livings gone & his possessions los●e: a spend all, & an unthrift: a prodigal child, and one not worthy to live longer: he that hath spent his own, how will he keep an other man's? nay, he that hath consumed the which was left him, who will give him, or increase his small portion? Do not then his enemies laugh in their fl●eues? and doth not every one po●nt at him? Do not his friends and kinsfolk utterly forsake him, and not seem to take acquaintance of him? let him pass without a god speed, and come by them 〈◊〉, ere he be bidden drink once: if a man have money, he can lack no friends, and he that hath living shall lack no lovers: but he that hath neither, shall want all, and he that hath little, shall quickly have less: The little Ant, provideth in Summer, and stoareth her house against Winter: and the Bee gathereth Honey in the heat, to stustaine her in the cold: the Conye hath her hole to save her from wind, and preserve her from weather: and in the hardest winter, she will be fat with the Chalk within her hole, and live with the earth, till she have fairer feeding. What then are we that cannot live of ourselves, nor provide for one? nay, when we have more then enough, that cannot preserve it against a harder time: We must be fed like the young Crows, and nourished like the squalish Kites, to stand and wait for an other man's meat, and gape on them how they feed, ever wishing them to eat hastily, and always thinking long till they have done. The poor Co●ler that sits sowing his latchet all day, waits not for his meat at night, but saith, I have laboured, therefore will I eat: but we wait for our wages, & gape for our meat: satisfied with their leavings, and contented with the remainder of their fragments. The young Ox is put to draw in the Cart, and past labour, knocked down for his good deeds: The young Servingman is dandled with delights, and flouted with felicity: but when Curua senectus once cometh, away with this dotard, the sloven doth us more dishonesty, than ever he did us service: And what I pray you causeth so many Beggars, and increaseth so many robbers? forsooth the Servingmen: nay, serving slaves: for they take away the honest name of Servingmen, and cause them to be hated of the spiritualty, and disliked of the laity: One to shift out his sweeting, and maintain his swearing, practiseth bard Quater Treis', and Blanks, Langrettes, and stopped Dice: high men, and low little ones: he practiseth the high way to the Gallows, and the strait street to the Stues. This he useth so long, and continueth so cunningly, that in the end his knavery being espied, and his treachery found out, some one reacheth him a knap over the costard, that he carrieth to his grave, or the Stabbado in his stomach, that he never playeth more: Another useth a cut at the cards to carve all the money out of a man's purse, or to leave him as many faces as a Sheep, a shift to deceive the common Country people: Another practiseth fensing and quarreling, braulling, and fight, and his end is miserable, or lamentable, commonly either slain, or hanged: if he escape them both, blood requireth blood, and some man will requite his courtesy, giving him that weight he measured to others: Some other practiseth the art of cozenage, and he is very cunning, yet never took degree in his life: he that useth it, if his body escape, he shall hardly get pardon for his soul: Another taketh up money of his masters creditors, promising payment by such a day, which he will either perform, or let them burn the Bill: These, with a number more lamentable than honest shifts are used for gain, and practised for living: and who the Authors, but serving men? or who the founders, but our fellowship? which hath caused our names to be hated, and our companies rejected: Of all others we are not loved, and amongst all sorts of people loathed. If at any time our names come in question, whether the matter be of weight, or but of little value, whether praised, or vituperated: whether commended, or disdained: if for good will to commend us to an unknown person, and such a one as we never saw, nor heard of before: then inquireth he whether he be a Gentleman, or a yeoman, a craftsman, or of occupation, a Husbandman, or one of the laity? no, replieth the other, a waiting man, and servant to such a Gentleman: O answereth the other, a serving man, why then he cannot be honest: if he had been any other, I should have liked him, so that not only we are disdained, but also our name is hated, our credit worse than the calling of any, and our estimation the least of all others: And why are we not regarded? Because of our ancient abuses, so that let a man be never so honestly minded, or so well disposed, as by any means he can, yet is he hated for fashion sake, & disliked for the antiquity of the name: If we be loved, either we are feared, or flattered, and by our abuses we have not only purchased our own discredit, but also called the names of our masters in question: For this is the old saying, and not so common, as true: like tree, like fruit, and such a vine, such Grapes: as the master is, such of force must y● man be: and in deed, it often proveth right, though sometimes it miss: But is it in our masters power to make an unthrifty servant a peaceable Citizen? and an unruly jade will hardly be broken to the Saddle: a rare matter to see a stately servitor prove a wise senior, and a lusty hacster, a quiet Counsellor: An unbridled Bandog, will hardly be taught to hunt well: and an Ass is more fit to carry a pack, then to serve one in the Field: A hard matter to make the wily Fox a good Begle, and the Ape is made ientle, but will never leave his knavery: And forsooth, to use villainy to a man, is but a matter of jest, and for all that, our Laws are so strait laced, to defile a woman, or to rob a maiden of her virginity, is but a trifling laughingstocke: To be drunken, and lie tumbling in the streets, is but a pastime, but God grant we pass our times better, or the Devil will have our Souls: If we can not pass the times but with such filthy vices, and spend our days in honester order, our portion will be little, & our patrimony less. Can we not pass our times as we pay not too dear for our pennywoorthes? in hurting ourselves, and in displeasing our God? and in pleasuring our bodies, to condemn our Souls? Is this passing the time to? pass pleasure from ourselves, & to hinder our neighbours? and in displeasuring others, not to profit ourselves? This practice is without profit, and these doings without deserts: And a great number (forsooth) are of this mind, and have this imagination, that to hurt a man, they have greatly enlarged their credit, when in deed, those that commend them, is for fear to have the like, more than for good will that he speaketh so much: But oftentimes it falleth out, that thinking to hurt his neighbour, he slayeth himself: but if he slay the other, and escape unhurt, then is he in danger to die himself: and if he do escape the hands of men, the judgements of God are yet to come, for life requireth blood: But if he thus escape, and go away with victory, yet is he not afterward sorrowful in mind, and pricked in his conscience: but too late comes repentance, when judgement is passed: yet for civility, our Country heareth the bell, and hath the only name, though altogether unworthy, and applied quite contrary to the demeanour thereof: The time indeed hath been, but now passed long sithence, that for honest civility, and good government, Germany was the only Country: and where were the noble Gentlemen, but at the emperors Court? Aristotle arriving in a certain Country, more to see their usage, than to try their courtesy, espied amongst other their vices, one not here accounted any: which was, that they eat twice in a day, but not feasted all the day as we do: well (said he) this is not for my purpose, why then should I stay longer? for how can here be wisdom, where there is so much eating? would he tarry think you to see our inordinate diets? no trust me, he would quickly bid us farewell: for the banqueting out of measure, which breedeth surfeiting in some men, that they pay their loving lives for their fine fare: how would he look on our great bellied Epicures, whose gut is their God, & whose paunch the saint they serve: to see them all the day eating like greedy Wolves, & swilting till they can not stand: the day spent in banqueting & gluttony, & the night torn away in vices, too monstrous to utter, or too loathsome to declare. These are they which our Saviour speaketh of, which walk in the darkness, and sleep in the day: are they not cursed? and will they not be plagued? Is not the day appointed for labour and travail, the night for rest, and to refresh a man's wearied spirits: to see the drunken sots tumbling in the mire, and wallowing in the cannels, most loathsome to look on, yet not regarded, nor corrected: not amended, nor reproved: not blamed, nor punished, but laughed at, and made a jesting stock: Were the laws of the Lacedæmonians so strictly executed, as they were with them practised, these vices would not be so common, but far better looked to: for he that can not be drunken, must be no Soldier, and he that learneth to drink, taketh degree as a Scholar: And what greater mischief is pretended than in drunkenness? and what secret is not manifested in that beastly time? but he that killeth a man being drunk, shall be hanged when his wits are more sober.  
Was not Medalia gotten with child by her drunken Father? and was not Ciana ravished in like manner? was not Noah eas●lye tempted, having lost his senses? and our Countryman may part stakes with these Epicures, who could by no means ravish his masters daughter, nor glut his unsatiable desire, but practised to make her drunken, and brought it to pass indeed, then gained he his purpose, though she lost her life. Afterward at his own feast he boasted of his treachery, and bragged of his knavery, but he blabbed so much in that mad mood, as he was burnt in his sober estate. After Wine, come wicked words, mischiefs are manifested, and vile pretences come to light: never greater murders committed, then in time of this devilish drinking, and never more thefts, and villainies executed, and why then should we embrace it? and if we liked it not we should not use it, and in liking it we purchase our own ruins, and sue our own destructions.  
Hath not God forbidden so prestri●●ly, and set down so precisely, that drunkards shall not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven? then must we perforce have Hell for our profession, we must gain the one, and forego the other: and if we lose the one, we must of necessity find the other: And is not a man ever sorrowful when he hath fulfilled that his devilish desire? it causeth him to be sick in the stomach, and diseased in the body: spoileth the wit, and hurteth the brain: altereth the favour, and changeth the complexion: breedeth the Dropsy in the members, and the Gout in the feet: And why should not this suffice us, that we are forbidden by our God? who knoweth what is better for our health, than we, what is good for our welfare: hath he commanded us to refrain any thing from the body, but it is pestilent for the soul? But to make a man drunk is a great conquest, nay, to take away a man's senses is a marvelous offence: for is not a man then void of reason, and beguiled of his right rules? is he not merry, though foolish? & mad, though simple? is he not incensed with frenzy, and furious in his own fancy? is he not beguiled of his natural members, and deceived in his own imagination? Of all other filthy factions, this is in my mind, a thing most loathsome: a man without his senses, what is he better than a beast? nay, not so good as those creatures, for they always retain that form, which at the first they enjoyed: & man more perfect than all others, and more pure in the sight of God, to defile his soul with such filthiness, and to make himself loathsome, who before was wholesome. This no doubt is untolerable, and hard to be forgiven: and amongst the rest, this one thing is most vain, for a man to flatter himself with hope, and to cast those cogitations which prove quite contrary: Some man thinketh with himself, this little portion will I spend, and such a piece of Land will I sell: this will set me far from debt, and make me my own man again, where now I cannot walk, or tread the streets, but one plucketh me by the sleeve, and an other calleth me to him: an other threateneth the Law, and an other arresting: than that once sold, and not lon●e after, but I shall be over the boots, where before I was scarc● to the tops of my shoes: then a little more to discharge that, and then some more afterward: so that by a little, and then by more, all will be gone or all spent away: Then doth he flatter himself, either to attain some great Marriage, or some Master that shall gain him, which he before lost: where he shall be deceived of the one, and frustrated of the other: for his living consumed, who will regard him? and his portion spent, who will marry him? ● Woman will reject him, for fear he lavish out hers, in such order as he laid out his own: As for his Master, he will thus imagine: He that was so liberal of his own, will lay out mine more largely. Some other flatter themselves by wearing costly apparel, and by laying all they have on their backs, thinking some Gentlewoman or other will be in love with him, or like him in such order as he wisheth: when (in deed) he shall be hated for his foolishness, and recompensed with just nothing for his liberality: Others flatter themselves, that to spend their livings in some Noble man's service, is a deed of charity, thinking his Master will not see him lack, so long as he liveth: where they are as far from the Mark, as they can shoot from the White: For will not a man's friends forsake him if he be poor? and will they not fly from him, if he be in misery? will they not disdain him, if he seek to them? and will they not reject him, if he crave any thing at their hands? Yes trust me: and why then should a man feed his fancy with such foolish imaginations, and hope for that which is never likely to happen? Some others having gained the favour of some good Gentlewoman, think they are hard by God's seat, when in deed they are just at Hell Gate: for if she show but one friendly countenance, or speak but a few fair words, they think the Goal is won, and the w●ger their own: and this is it that causeth the names of so many honest women to be called in question, where otherwise they should be clear, and free from suspicion, by the means of those that will not stick to say she is their own, and they have her at their call: yet when they have sued till they are weary, and done the uttermost they can, they are farther to seek then at the first: and at the last, put clean out of favour for so lewd attempts: Every Woman that looketh on a man lusteth not after him, and she that giveth friendly entertainment, is not strait at commandment: Let not then (Gentlemen) the Court be always your place of abode, and spend not your golden years in pleasure, for then your old age must perforce be without profit: Is it not better to keep a good house in the Country, then to spend all your time in bravery at the Court? good hospitality is that your poor Neighbours desire, and trust me your good Prince regardeth not your brave apparel: To much of any one thing, is not profitable for any other, and the time passed of your young years, what followeth but crooked age? and who will then like you? or what is she will love you? No, your Neighbours will embrace you courteously, and give you welcomes, and gifts: and who so glad of your friendship? or who will so much rejoice of your health? There you may range the Fields, and look over your grounds: view your Pastures, and behold your Woods: look to your cattle, and behold your goodly Horses: then the pleasures of the Forests, and the running of the Rivers: the cry of your Hounds, and the flying of your Hawks: all which will cause your old years to be renewed, & serve you a great deal of money in your purse, which at the Court should be bestowed upon Physic, and spent in the Appoticaryes Shop: When at Dinner you shall come home, the Gentlemen your neighbours will meet you, then arguing upon this sport, and defining upon that pastime: disputing upon this device, and reasoning upon that exercise: inquiring of that 〈…〉 ●ommendinge that Hawk: This will revive the dull spirits, and refresh the wearied members: sharpen the wits, and further the senses: help the body, and discharge the soul of worse inconveniences: When you come to the Court, you are entertained of a few your friends at the first, and ever after your courtesy is alike: you see in one day, that you shall behold always: and no pleasure is new, for that it is common: There if your finger ache, the Appoticaryes they must pick your Pocket, and the Physicians must minister all the money out of your Purse: give you a Glister, that you shall never be good after: and once tasted of Physic, you must always carry an Apothecary's shop about you, or else Master Doctor must be ever at your heels: By this means you shall be sure to be eased of your money, though pained in your body: and if it remedy your sickness for a time, yet it shorteneth your life: and to tell some pleasant discourse, or lie in the laps of your Ladies: This is the spending away of your time, and the consuming away of your days: than you must either use the Cards, or delight the Dice: the one will not lengthen a man's life, but the other empttie a man's purse: If you have set down with yourself that you will be a courtier, & not any other life you will profess, why yet bridle so your affections, & set so prestrict an order for your life▪ as you be neither pampered in pleasure, nor pined in restraint: Temper so your doings, as you be not tired with still tarrying there, nor wearied with long absence. When you begin to grow weary of the Court, absent yourself for a time into the Country, there shall you find those delights as will increase your desires, and make you more earnest to stay. When you begin to loathe the Country, repair again to the Court, so shall your imagination be, you are come into the second Palace of Pleasure: and always as the one waxeth tedious, repair to the other, which shall not seem troublesome. Thus with renewing the one you shall love the other: and with using both, never ●e weary of any: For let a man always be used to the bravest banquets, and dieted with the finest fare, and he shall loathe the one, and hate the other. Is not Wine most excellent to him that tasteth it but seldom? and sweet meats have best savour when they are eaten but at sometimes? the greatest pleasure that a man useth in this World, in time seemeth troublesome, but let a man diet himself unto it, and then it is most delectable.  
Thus Gentlemen, you see him that was sometime your fellow courtier, now resolved to die a Citizen, and as I used the Court for a time, so mean I now to use my Books for ever. You willed me to write, and I have fulfilled your desires: so none be offended, I am passing well contented: and if any be gauled, I am not a little grieved: yet he that conceiveth any offence, let him not straight seek for revenge, but stay my return to the Court, then will I answer at the full, and resolve him every doubt, then shall I be content to be cut by the Crown, or to yield and cry creak: mean while, make no words of your received gratulation, for denial shall be a trial sufficient for my purgation: yet use me as you list, and deal with me as best pleaseth you, as I was your faithful friend, so will I not be your everlasting enemy, and as I once found your favour, so will I not forego your friendship: try me and prove me, then trust me, and use me: for the wind may so turn, that I may visit you, but expect not my coming before you see me present: I wish you no worse than I would myself, but commend me to you with affection, not the least, but from the farthest part of my heart: resting always at your commands, and being priest to do you any pleasure 〈◊〉 ●●deuer.  
●●●ewell.   

The Author's Conclusion.  
I Have ended the second part of Norbanus, a work unworthy to be scanned of the wise, and too wayward for worn wits, but thrust forward with this hope, that as sauce procureth appetite to a weak stomach, so a toy sometimes delighteth a sure Student. Marvel not then I beseech you that this Tree yielding the first fruit bore but Crabs, which serveth but for Verges, which if it be not bitten with the blasts of backebiters, and scourged with the Sun of unshamefastness, may by the end of Summer give that which shall be more pleasant to the ●oung, and more profitable in taste: but if the blasts be loathed, the blossoms shall not be liked: for though the one be in your hands, yet the other are in my hold: and if you like not the colour of the Feathers, you shall never taste the carving of the Fowl.  
FINIS. A.S.