for their beauties sake, though they have no other good quality beside. Dic igitur ó formose adolescens (as that eloquent Phavorinus breaks out in Stobeus) dic Autiloque, suaviùs nectare loqueris; dic ó Telemache, vehementiùs Ulysse dicis; dic Alcibiades utcunq; ebrius, libentiùs tibi licet ebrio auscultabimus. Speak fair youth, speak Autiloquus, thy words are sweeter then Nectar, speak O Telemachus, thou art more powerful then Ulysses, speak Alcibiades though drunk, we will willingly hear thee as thou art. Faults in such are no faults: For when the said Alcibiades had stoln Anytus his gold and silver plate, he was so far from prosecuting so foul a fact (though every man else condemned his impudence, and insolency) that he wished it had been more, and much better (he loved him dearly) for his sweet sake. No worth is eminent in such lovely persons, all imperfections hid; non enim facile de his quos plurimum diligimus, turpitudinem suspicamur, for hearing, sight, touch, &c. our mind and all our senses are captivated, omnes sensus formosus delectat. Many men have been preferred for their person alone, chosen Kings, as amongst the Indians, Persians, Ethiopians of old; the properest man of person the country could afford, was elected their Soveraign Lord; Gratior est pulchro veniens è corpore virtus, and so have many other nations thought and done, as † Curtius observes; Ingens enim in corporis majestate veneratio est, for there is a majestical presence in such men; and so far was beauty adored amongst them, that no man was thought fit to reign, that was not in all parts compleat and supereminent. Agis King of Lacedæmon had like to have been deposed, because he married a little wife; they would not have their royal issue degenerate. Who would ever have thought that Adrian the fourth, an English Monk's bastard (as ‡ Papirius Massovius writes in his life), inops à suis relictus, squalidus & miser, a poor forsaken child, should ever come to be Pope of Rome? But why was it? Erat acri ingenio, facundiá expeditá, eleganti corpore, facieque lætá ac hilari, (as he follows it out of Nubrigensis, for he plows with his heifer,) he was wise, learned, eloquent, of a pleasant, a promising countenance, a goodly proper man; he had, in a word, a winning look of his own, and that carryed it, for that he was especially advanced. So "Saul was a goodly person and a fair." Maximinus elected Emperour, &c, Branchus the son of Apollo, whom he begot * Serm. 63. operum non Lib. de • Formæ majestatem Barbari verentur, nec alii majores quam quos eximia forma natura donata est, Herod. lib. 5. Curtius 6. Arist. Polit. Plutarch. vit. ejus. Brisonius Strabo. + Lib. 5. magnorumq; alios capaces putant quam quos eximiâ specie natura donavit. vitis Pontificum. Rom. § Lib. 2. cap, 6. of of Jance, Succron's daughter (saith Lactantius), when he kept King Admetus' heards in Thessaly, now grown a man, was an earnest suitor to his mother to know his father; the Nymph denyed him, because Apollo had conjured her to the contrary; yet overcome by his importunity at last she sent him to his father; when he came into Apollo's presence, malas Dei reverenter osculatus, he carried himself so well, and was so fair a yong man, that Apollo was infinitely taken with the beauty of his person, he could scarce look off him, and said he was worthy of such parents, gave him a crown of gold, the spirit of Divination, and in conclusion made him a Demi-god. O vis superba forma, a Goddess beauty is, whom the very Gods adore, nam pulchros dii amant; she is Amoris domina, love's harbinger, love's loadstone, a witch, a charm, &c. Beauty is a dowre of it self, a sufficient patrimony, an ample commendation, an accurate epistle, as Lucian, Apuleius, Tiraquellus, and some others conclude. Imperio digna forma, Beauty deserves a Kingdome, saith Abulensis, paradox. 2. cap. 110. immortality; and more have got this honour and eternity for their beauty, then for all other vertues besides:" and such as are fair," are worthy to be honoured of God and men." That Idalian Ganymedes was therefore fetched by Jupiter into Heaven, Hephestion dear to Alexander, Antinous to Adrian. Plato calls beauty for that cause a priviledge of Nature, Nature gaudentis opus, nature's master-piece, a dumb comment; Theophrastus, a silent fraud; still rhetorick Carneades, that perswades without speech, a kingdome without a guard, because beautiful persons command as so many Captains; Socrates, a tyranny, "which tyrannizeth over tyrants themselves;" which made Diogenes belike call proper women Queens, quod facerent homines quæ præciperent, because men were so obedient to their commands. They will adore, cringe, complement, and bow to a common wench (if she be fair) as if she were a noble woman, a Countess, a Queen or a goddess. Those intemperate yong men of Greece erected at Delphos a golden image with infinite cost, to the eternal memory of Phryne the curtizan, as Elian relates, for she was a most beautiful woman, in so much saith *Athenæus, that Apelles and Praxitiles drew Venus' picture from her. Thus yong men will adore and honour beauty; nay Kings them ⚫ Dial. amorum c. 2, de magia. Lib. 2. connub. cap. 27. Virgo formosa et si oppidò pauper, abundè est dotata. Isocrates plures ob formam immortalitatem adepti sunt quam ob reliquas omnes virtutes. d Lucian Tom. 4. Charidæmon. Qui pulchri, merito apud Deos & apud homines honore affecti. Muta commentatio, quavis epistolâ ad commendandum efficacior. * Lib. 9. Var. hist. tanta formæ elegantia ut ab ea nuda, &c. selves selves I say will do it, and voluntarily submit their sovereignty to a lovely woman. "Wine is strong, Kings are strong, but a woman strongest," 1 Esd. 4. 10. as Zerobabel proved at large to King Darius, his Princes and Noblemen. "Kings sit still and command Sea and Land, &c. all pay tribute to the King; but women make Kings pay tribute, and have dominion over them. When they have got gold and silver, they submit all to a beautiful woman, give themselves wholly to her, gape and gaze on her, and all men desire her more then gold or silver, or any pretious thing: they will leave father and mother, and venture their lives for her, labour and travel to get, and bring all their gains to women, steal, fight and spoil for their mistress' sake. And no King so strong, but a fair woman is stronger then he is. All things (as *he proceeds) fear to touch the King; yet I saw him and Apame his concubine, the daughter of the famous Bartacus, sitting on the right hand of the King, and she took the crown off his head, and put it on her own, and stroke him with her left hand; yet the King gaped and gazed on her, and when she laughed he laughed, and when she was angry he flattered to be reconciled to her." So beauty commands even Kings themselves; nay whole armies and kingdomes are captivated together with their Kings: Forma vincit armatos, ferrum pulchritudo captivat; vincentur specie, qui non vincentur prælio. And 'tis a great matter saith Xenophon, "and of which all fair persons may worthily brag, that a strong man must labour for his living if he will have ought, a valiant man must fight and endanger himself for it, a wise man speak, shew himself, and toil; but a fair and beautiful person doth all with ease, he compasseth his desire without any pains taking:" God and men, Heaven and earth conspire to honour him; every one pitties him above other, if he be in need, and all the world is willing to do him good. "Chariclea fell into the hands of Pyrats, but when all the rest were put to the edge of the sword, she alone was preserved for her person. When Constantinople was sacked by the Turk, Irene escaped, and was so far from being made a captive, that she even captivated the grand Senior himself. So did Rosamond insult over King Henry the second. k I was so fair an object; Whom fortune made my King, my love made subject; *Esdras. 4. 29. Origen hom. 23. in Numb. In ipsos tyrannos tyrannidem exercet. * Illud certe magnum ob quod gloriari possunt formosi, quod robustis necessarium sit laborare, fortem periculis se objicere, sapientem, &c. Majorem vim habet ad commendandum forma, quam accurate scripta epistola. Heliodor. lib. 1. Knowles. hist. Turcica. + Daniel in comHe Arist. He found by proof the priviledge of beauty, It captivates the very Gods themselves, Morosiora numina, * Deus ipse deorum Factus ob hanc formam bos, equus imber, olor." And those mali genii are taken with it, as I have already proved. Formosam Barbari verentur, & ad spectum pulchrum immanis auimus mansuescit. (Heliodor. lib. 5.) The Barbarians stand in awe of a fair woman, and at a beautifull aspect a fierce spirit is pacified. For when as Troy was taken, and the wars ended (as Clemens Alexandrinus quotes out of Euripides) angry Menelaus with rage and fury armed, came with his sword drawn, to have killed Helena with his own hands, as being the sole cause of all those wars and miseries: but when he saw her fair face, as one amazed at her divine beauty, he let his weapon fall, and embraced her besides, he had no power to strike so sweet a creature. Ergo hebetantur enses pulchritudine, the edge of a sharp sword (as the saying is) is dulled with a beautiful aspect, and severity it self is overcome. Hiperides the orator, when Phryne his client was accused at Athens for her lewdness, used no other defence in her cause, but tearing her upper garment, disclosed her naked breast to the Judges, with which comeliness of her body and amiable gesture they were so moved and astonished, that they did acquit her forthwith, and let her go. O noble piece of Justice! mine author exclaims; and who is he that would not rather lose his seat and robes, forfeit his office, then give sentence against the majesty of beauty? Such prerogatives have fair persons, and they alone are free from danger. Parthenopæus was so lovely and fair, that when he fought in the Theban wars, if his face had been by chance bare, no enemy would offer to strike at or hurt him, such immunities hath beauty. Beasts themselves are moved with it. Sinalda was a woman of such excellent feature, P and a Queen, that when she was to be trodden on by wild horses for a punishment, "the wild beasts stood in admiration of her person, (Saxo Grammaticus lib. 8. Dan. Hist.) and would not hurt her." Wherefore did that royal virgin in Apuleius, when she fled from the theeves den, in a desart, make such an Apostrophe to her Asse on whom she rode: (for what knew she to the contrary + Sect. 2. Mem. 1. Sub. 1. •Stromatum 1. post cap. *Stroza filius Epig. tam Trojam cum impetu ferretur, ad occidendam Helenam, stupore adeo pulchritudinis correptus ut ferrum excideret, &e. Tantæ formæ fuit ut cum yincta loris, feris exposita foret, equorum calcibus obterenda, ipsis jumentis admirationi fuit; lædere nolucrunt. + Lib. 8. miles, but but that he was an asse?) Si me parentibus & proco formoso reddideris, quas tibi gratias, quos honores habebo, quos cibos exhibebo? She would comb him, dress him, feed him, and trick him every day herself, and he should work no more, toil no more, but rest and play, &c. And besides she would have a dainty picture drawn, in perpetual remembrance, a virgin riding upon an Asse's back with this motto, Asino vectore regia virgo fugiens captivitatem; why said she all this? why did she make such promises to a dumb beast? But that she perceived the poor Asse to be taken with her beauty; for he did often obliquo collo pedes puellæ decoros basiare, kiss her feet as she rid, & ad delicatulas voculas tentabat adhinnire, offer to give consent as much as in him was to her delicate speeches, and besides he had some feeling as she conceived of her misery. And why did Theogine's horse in Heliodorus * curveat, prance, and go so proudly, exultans alacriter & superbiens, &c. but that sure as mine author supposeth, he was in love with his master? dixisses ipsum equum pulchrum intelligere pulchram domini formam? A fly lighted on † Malthius cheek as he lay asleep; but why? Not to hurt him, as a parasite of his standing by well perceived, non ut pungeret, sed ut oscularetur, but certainly to kiss him, as ravished with his divine looks. Inanimate creatures, I suppose, have a touch of this. When a drop of Psyche's Candle fell on Cupid's shoulder, I think sure it was to kiss it. When Venus ran to meet her rose-cheeked Adonis, as an elegant Poet of our's sets her out, -the bushes in the way Some catch her neck, some kiss her face, Some twine about her legs to make her stay, Aer ipse amore inficitur, as Heliodorus holds, the ayr it self is in love: For when Hero plaid upon her Lute, § The wanton Air in twenty sweet forms danc't After her fingers and those lascivious winds staid Daphne when she filed from Apollo; "nudabant corpora venti, Obviaque adversas vibrabant flamina vestes." Boreas Ventus loved Hyacinthus, and Orithya Ericthon's daughter of Atheus: vi rapuit, &c. he took her away by force, *thiop. 1. 3. speare. Marlow. +Atheneus. lib. 8. Apuleius Aur. asino, + Shake |