Maitland Club > Works of Sir Thomas Urquhart

236 EK2KYBAAAYPON.
of his limbs, and symmetry in all the parts and joints of his body, which through the
cobweb slenderness of his Cyllenian vestments, were represented almost in their puris
naturalibus ; his resemblance was like that of iEneas to Dido, when she said, that he
was in face and shoulders like a god ; or rather to her, he seemed as to the female
deities did Ganimed, when, after being carryed up to heaven, he was brought into the
presence of Jupiter. Thus for a while their eloquence was mute, and all they spoke,
was but with the eye and hand ; yet so perswasively, by vertue of the intermutual
unlimitedness of their visotactil sensation, that each part and portion of the persons of
either was obvious to the sight and touch of the persons of both ; the visuriency of
either, by ushering the tacturiency of both, made the attrectation of both consequent to
the inspection of either ; here was it that passion was active, and action passive, they
both being overcome by other, and each the conqueror. To speak of her hirquital-
liency at the elevation of the pole of his microcosme, or of his luxuriousness to erect a
gnomon on her horizontal dyal, will perhaps be held by some to be expressions full of
obscoeness, and offensive to the purity of chaste ears ; yet seeing that she was to be his
wife, and that she could not be such without consummation of marriage, which signifieth
the same thing in effect, it may be thought, as dejinitioncs loyiccB verificantur in rebus,
if the exerced act be lawful, that the diction which suppones it can be of no great
transgression, unless you would call it a solcecisme, or that vice in grammar which im-
ports the copulating of the masculine with the feminine gender. But as the misery of
the life of man is such, that bitterness for the most part is subsequent to pleasure, and
joy the prognostick of grief to come, so the Admirable Crichtoun, or to resume my
discourse where I broke off, I say it hapened on a Shrove-Tuesday at night, that the
ever renowned Crichtoun was warned by a great noise in the streets, to be ready for
the acting of another part ; for the Prince, who till that time from the first houre of
the night inclusively, for the space of four hours together, with all his attendants, had
done nothing else but rantit, roar, and roam from one taverne to another, with haut-
bois, flutes, and trumpets, drinking healths, breaking glasses, tossing pots, whitling
themselves with Septembral juyce, tumbling in the kennel, and acting all the devise-
able feats of madness, at least so many as in their irregular judgements did seem might
contrevalue all the penance they should be able to do for them the whole Lent there-
after, being ambitious to have a kiss of his mistriss' hand, for so, in that too frolick
humour of his, he was pleased to call this young lady, before he should go to bed ;
with nine gentlemen at his back, and four pages carrying waxe tapers before him,
comes to the place where Crichtoun and the foresaid lady were, though the Prince
knew nothing of Crichton's being there, and knocks at the outer gate thereof. No
answer is made at first, for the whole house was in a profound silence, and all of them
in the possession of Morphee, save that blessed pair of pigeon-like lovers, in whom Cupid,
for the discharge of Hymenaean rites, had inspired a joynt determination to turne that
whole night's rest to motion ; but the fates being pleased otherways to dispose of