LIberalissimoLiberalissimo Signor Immerito, in good soothe my poore Storehouse will presently affourd me nothing, either to recompence, or counteruailecountervaile your gentle MastershipsMa[ſt]erſhips, long, large, lauishlavish, Luxurious, LaxatiueLaxative Letters withall,withall (now a Gods name, when did I euerever in my life, hunt the Letter before? but, belike, theres no remedie, I must needes be eueneven with you once in my dayes,)dayes), but only for soothe, a fewe Millions of Recommendations, and a running Coppie of the UersesVerses enclosed. Which Uerses,UersesVerses,Verses (extra iocum)iocum), are so well done in Latin by two Doctors, and so well Translated into English by one odde Gentleman, and generally so well allowed of allall, that chaunced to hauehave the perusing of them: that trust mee, G.H. was at the first hardly intreated, to shame himselfe, and truely, now blusheth, to see the first Letters of his name, stande so neere their Names, as of necessitie they must. You know yͤthe Greeke prouerbproverb, πορφύρα περὶ πορφύραν διακριτέαπορφύϛα [περ]ὶ πορφύραυ διακριτέα, and many colours,colours (as in a manner euery thingevery thingeuerythingeverything else)else), that seuerallyseverally by themseluesthemselves, seeme reasonably good, and freshe ynough, beyng compared, and ouermatchedovermatched wyth their betters, are maruellouslymarvellously disgraced, and as it were, dashed quite oute of Countenaunce. I am at this instant, very busilye, and hotly employed in certaine greate and serious affayres: whereof, notwithstanding (for all youre vowed, and long experimented secrecie) you are not like to heare a worde more at the moste, till I my selfe see a World more at the leaste. And therefore, for this once I beseech you (notwithstanding your greate expectation of I knowe not what UolumesVolumes for an aunsweare) content your good selfe, with these Presentes,Presentes (pardon me, I came lately out of a ScriuenersScriveners shop)shop), and in lieu of many gentle Farewels, &and goodly Godbewyes, at your departure: gyuegyve me once againe leaueleave, to playe the Counsaylour a while, if it be but to iustifiejustifie your liberall Mastershippes, Nostri Cato maxime sæcli: and I coniureconjure you by the Contents of the UersesVerses, and Rymes enclosed, and by al the good, and bad Spirites, that attende vponupon the Authors themselues,themselves, immediatly vponupon the contemplation thereof, to abandon all other fooleries, and honour UertueVertue, the onely immortall and suruiuingsurviving Accident amongst so manye mortall, and euerever-perishing Substaunces. As I strongly presume, so good a Texte, so clearkly handeled, by three so famous Doctours, as olde Maister Wythipole, and the other two bee, may easily, and will fully perswade you, howsoeuerhowsoever you tush at the fourths vnsutableunsutable Paraphrase. But a worde or two, to your large, lauishelavishe, laxatiuelaxative Letters, and then for thys time, Adieu. Of my credite, youre doubtes are not so redoubted, as youre selfe ouerover suspiciously imagine: as I purpose shortely to aduizeadvize you more at large. Your hotte yron, is so hotte, that it striketh mee to the hearte, I dare not come neare to strike it: Thethe Tyde tarryeth no manne, but manye a good manne is fayne to tarry the Tyde. And I knowe some, whyche coulde be content to bee theyr own CaruersCarvers, that are gladde to thanke other for theyr courtesie: Butbut Beggars, they saye, muste be no choosers.

Your new-founded ἄρειονπαγονἄρειον πάγονἄρ[ει]ονπαγον I honoure more, than you will or can suppose: and make greater accompte of the twoo worthy Gentlemenne, than of two hundreth DionisijDionisii Areopagitæ, or the verye notablest Senatours, that euerever Athens dydde affourde of that number.

Your Englishe Trimetra I lyke better, than perhappes you will easily beleeuebeleeve: and am to requite them wyth better, or worse, at more conuenientconvenient leysure. Marry, you must pardon me, I finde not your warrant so sufficiently good, and substauntiall in Lawe, that it can persuade me, they are all, so precisely perfect for the Feete, as your selfe ouer-partiallyover-partially weene, and ouerover-confidently auoucheavouche: especiallye the thirde, whyche hathe a foote more than a Lowce (a wonderous deformitie in a righte and pure Senarie) and the sixte, whiche is also in the same Predicament, vnlesseunlesse happly one of the feete be sawed off wyth a payre of Syncopes: and then shoulde the Orthographie hauehave testified so muche: and in steade of Hēauēnlĭ Vīrgĭnals, you should hauehave written, Heaūnlĭ Virgnāls: &and Virgnāls againe in the ninth, &and should hauehave made a Curtoll of Immĕrĭtō in the laste: being all notwithstandyng vsuallusuall, and tollerable ynoughe, in a mixte, and licentious Iambicke: and of two euillesevilles, better (no doubte) the fyrste, than the laste: a thyrde superfluous sillable, thãthan a dull Spondee. Then me thinketh, you hauehave in my fancie somwhat too many Spondees beside: and whereas Trochee sometyme presumeth in the firste place, as namely in the second UerseVerse, Make thy, whyche thy, by youre Maistershippes owne authoritie muste needes be shorte, I shall be faine to supplye the office of the Arte MemoratiueMemorative, and putte you in minde of a pretty Fable in Abstemio the Italian, implying thus much, or rather thus little in effect.

A certaine lame man beyng invited to a solempne Nuptiall Feaste, made no more adoe, but sate me hym roundlye downe foremoste at the hyghest ende of the Table. The Master of the feast, suddainly spying his presumption, and hansomely remoouingremooving him from thence, placed me this haulting Gentleman belowe at the nether end of the bourd: alledging for his defence the common verse: Sedes nulla datur, præterquam sexta Trochæo: and pleasantly alluding to this foote, which standing vpponuppon two syllables, the one long, the other short,short (much like, of a like, his guestes feete)feete), is alwayes thrust downe to the last place, in a true Hexameter, and quite thrust out of doores in a pure, and iustjust Senarie. Nowe Syr, what thinke you, I began to thinke with my selfe, when I began to reade your warrant first: so boldly, and venterously set downe in so formall, and autentique wordes, as these, Precisely perfit, and not an inch from the Rule? Ah Syrrha, and IesuJesu Lord, thought I, hauehave we at the last gotten one, of whom his olde friendes and Companions may iustlyjustly glory, In eo solùm peccat, quòd nihil peccat: and that is yet more exacte, and precise in his English Comicall Iambickes, than euerever M. Watson himselfe was in his Lattin Tragicall Iambickes, of whom M. Ascham reporteth, that he would neuernever to this day suffer his famous Absolon to come abrode, onely because Anapæstus in Locis paribus, is twice, or thrice vsedused in steade of Iambus? A small fault, ywisse, and such a one in M. Aschams owne opinion, as perchaunce woulde neuernever hauehave beene espyed, no neither in Italy, nor in Fraunce. But when I came to the curious scanning, and fingering of eueryevery foote, &and syllable: Lo here, quoth I, M. Watsons Anapæstus for all the worlde. A good horse, that trippeth not once in a iourneyjourney: and M. Immerito doth, but as M. Watson, &and in a manner all other Iambici hauehave done before him: marry he might hauehave spared his preface, or at yͤthe least, that same restrictiuerestrictive, &and streightlaced terme, Precisely, and all had been well enough: and I assure you, of my selfe, I beleeuebeleeve, no peece of a fault marked at all. But this is the Effect of warrantes, and perhappes the Errour may rather proceede of his Master, M. Drantes Rule, than of himselfe. HowsoeuerHowsoever it is, the matter is not great, and I alwayes was, and will euerever continue of this Opinion, Pauca multis condonanda vitia Virtutibus, especially these being no Vitia neither, in a common and licencious Iambicke. VerumVerùm ista obiter, non quidem contradicendi animo, aut etiam corrigendi mihi crede: sed nostro illo Academico, pristinoquepristinoque more ratiocinandi. And to saye trueth, partely too, to requite your gentle courtesie in beginning to me, and noting I knowe not what breache in your gorbellyed Maisters Rules: which Rules go for good, I perceiueperceive, and keepe a Rule, where there be no better in presence. My selfe neither sawe them, nor heard of them before: and therefore will neither praise them, nor dispraise them nowe: but vpponuppon the suruiewesurviewe of them, and farther conference,conference (both which I desire)desire), you shall soone heare one mans opinion 5.122. too: totooto or fro. Youre selfe remember, I was wonte to hauehave some preiudiceprejudice of the man: and I still remaine a fauourerfavourer of his deserueddeserved, and iustjust commendation. Marry in these poyntes, you knowe, Partialitie in no case, may hauehave a foote: and you remember mine olde Stoicall exclamation: Fie on childish affection, in the discoursing, and deciding of schoole matters. This I say, because you charge me with an vnknowneunknowne authoritie: which for aught I know yet, may as wel be either vnsufficientunsufficient, or faultie, as otherwise: and I dare more than halfe promise,promise (I dare not saye, warrant)warrant), you shall alwayes,alwayes in these kinde of controuersiescontroversies, finde me nighe hande answerable in mine owne defence. Reliqua omnia, quæ de hac supersunt Anglicorum versuum ratione, in aliud tempus reseruabimusreservabimus, ociosum magis. Youre Latine Farewell is a goodly brauebrave yonkerly peece of work, and Goddilge yee, I am alwayes maruellouslymarvellously beholding vntounto you, for your bountifull Titles: I hope by that time I hauehave been resident a yeare or twoo in Italy, I shall be better qualifyed in this kind, and more able to requite your lauishelavishe, and magnificent liberalitie that way. But to let Titles and Tittles passe, and come to the very pointe in deede, whiche so neare toucheth my lusty TrauaylerTravayler to the quicke, and is one of the prædominant humors yͭthat raigne in our cõmoncommon Youths: Heus mi tu, bone proce, magne muliercularum amator, egregie Pamphile, eum aliquando tandem, qui te manet, qui mulierosos omnes, qui vniuersamuniversam Fæministarum sectam, Respice finem. And I shal then be content to appeale to your owne learned experience, whether it be, or be not, too too true: quod dici solet à me sæpe: à te ipso nonnunquamnonnunquam: ab expertis omnibus quotidie: Amare amarum: Nec deus, vtut perhibent, Amor est, sed amaror, &et error: &et quicquid in eandem solet sententiam Empiricῶs aggregari. Ac scite mihi quidẽquidem Agrippa OuidianamOvidianam illam, de Arte Amandi, ἐπιγραφήνἐπιγραφήν videtur correxisse, meritóquemeritóque, de Arte Meretricandi, inscripsisse. Nec verò inepte alius, Amatores Alchumistis comparauitcomparavit, aureos, argenteosqueargenteosque montes, atqueatque fontes lepidè somniantibus, sed interim miserè immanibus Carbonum fumis propemodum occæcatis, atqueatque etiam suffocatis: præterquepræterque;præterꝗ̃ celebratum illum Adami Paradisum, alium esse quendam prædicauitprædicavit, stultorum quoque,quoque,quoque AmatorumqueAmatorumque mirabilem Paradisum: illum verè, hunc phantasticè, fanaticequefanaticeque beatorum. Sed hæc alias, fortassis vberiùsuberiùs. Credite me, I will neuernever linne baityng at you, til I hauehave rid you quite of this yonkerly, &et woomanishwoomaniſhwomanly humor. And as for your speedy and hasty trauelltravell: methinks I dare stil wager al the Books &and writings in my study, which you know, I esteeme of greater value, than al the golde &and siluersilver in my purse, or chest, that you wil not,not (and yet I muste take heede, how I make my bargaine with so subtile and intricate a Sophister)Sophister), that you shall not, I saye, bee gone ouerover Sea, for al your saying, neither the next, nor the nexte weeke. And then peraduentureperadventure I may personally performe your request, and bestowe the sweetest Farewell, vponupon your sweetmouthed Mastershippe,Ma[ſh]ippe, that so vnsweeteunsweete a Tong, and so sowre a paire of Lippes can affoorde. And, thinke you I will leaueleave my Il Pellegrino so? No I trowe. My Lords Honor, the expectation of his friendes, his owne credite and preferment, tell me, he mustemu[ſt]emulte hauehave a moste speciall care, and regardeand g[oo]d regarde of employing his trauailetravaile to the best. And therfore I am studying all this fortnight, to reade him suche a Lecture in Homers Odysses, and Virgils Æneads, that I dare vndertakeundertake he shall not neede any further instruction, in Maister Turlers TrauaylerTravayler, or Maister Zuingers Methodus Apodemica: but in his whole trauailetravaile abroade, and euerever after at home, shall shewe himselfe a verie liuelyelivelye and absolute picture of VlyssesUlysses and Æneas. Wherof I hauehave the stronger hope he muste needes proueprove a most capable and apt subiectesubjecte (I speake to a Logician) hauinghaving the selfe same Goddesses and Graces attendant vponupon his body and mind, that euermoreevermore guided them, &and their actions: especially yͤthe ones MineruaMinerva, and the others Venus: that is (as one Doctor expoundeth it) the pollitique head, and wise gouernementgovernement of the one: and the amiable behauiourbehaviour, and gratious courtesie of the other: the two verye principall, and moste singular Companions, of a right TrauailerTravailer: and as perhaps one of oure subtile Logicians woulde saye, the two inseparable, and indivisible accidents of the foresaide SubiectSubjectSubie[ct]s. De quibus ipsis, cæterisquecæterisque omnibus artificis Apodemici instrumentis: inprimisqueinprimisque de Homerica illa, diuinaquedivinaquediuinaquedivinaque herba (μῶλυ δὲ μινκαλὲουσι θεόι)μῶλυ δὲ μινκαλὲουςιθεόι) qua VlissemUlissem suum Mercurius, aduersusadversus Cyrcea &et pocula, &et carmina, &et venena, morbosquemorbosque omnes præmuniuitpræmunivit: &et coram, vtiuti spero, breuibrevi: &et longè, vtiuti soleo, copiosius: &et fortasse etiam, aliquantò, quàm soleo, cum subtiliùs, tum verò Polliticè, PragmaticequePragmaticeque magis. Interim tribus eris syllabis contentus, ac valebis. Trinitie Hall, stil in my Gallerie. 23. Octob. 1579. In haste.