his buskins; in his hand a laurel-bough; upon his head an anademe of laurel, fronted with the sign Aquarius, and the character: who, as Boreas blustered forth, discovered himself. Boreas. Which, among these, is Albion, Neptune's son? Januarius. What ignorance dares make that question? Would any ask, who Mars were in the wars, Boreas. What power art thou, that thus informest me? Janu. Dost thou not know me? I too well know thee By thy rude voice, that doth so hoarsely blow; I am the prince of months, call'd January; c Ovid Metam. lib. vi. near the end see,-horridus irâ, Quæ solita est illi, nimiumque domestica, vento, &c. 1 Thy wings o'er-hill'd with snow,] i. e. covered over with snow: the spelling is varied, but it is the same with the Saxon word hele. WHAL. It is scarcely worth dispute; but surely Jonson uses the word in its common acceptation. * See the offices and power of Janus, Ovid. Fast. 1. Boreas. To thee then thus, and by thee to that king, That doth thee present honours, do I bring Present remembrance of twelve Æthiop dames : Who, guided hither by the moon's bright flames, To see his brighter light, were to the sea Enjoin'd again, and (thence assign'd a day For their return) were in the waves to leave Their BLACKNESS, and true BEAUTY to receive. Janu. Which they received, but broke their day: and yet Have not return'd a look of grace for it, Shewing a coarse and most unfit neglect. And now the third time, turn'd about the year, stay; For they were all prepared by their day, And with religion, forward on their way: When Proteus,' the gray prophet of the sea, Met them, and made report, how other four Of their black kind (whereof their sire had store) Faithful to that great wonder, so late done Upon their sisters, by bright Albion, Had followed them to seek Britannia forth, And there to hope like favour, as like worth, Which Night envied, as done in her despite," . And, mad to see an Æthiop washed white, Thought to prevent in these; lest men should deem Her colour, if thus chang'd, of small esteem. • Two marriages, the one of the earl of Essex, 1606; the other of the lord Hay, 1607. 'Read his description, with Vir. Geor. 4. Est in Carpathio Neptuni gurgite vates, Cæruleus Proteus. Because they were before of her complexion. And so, by malice, and her magic, tost That floated in the main; where, yet, she had gyv'd Nor knowing to return to express the grace, Whose very name did heat my frosty breast, And frame their just excuse; which here I've done. To give authority to this part of our fiction, Pliny hath a chap. 95 of the 2nd book, Nat. Hist. de insulis fluctuantibus. Et Card. lib. i. de rerum vari. et cap. 7. reports one to be in his time known, in the lake of Lomond, in Scotland. To let pass that of Delos, &c. i The daughter of Erectheus, king of Athens, whom Boreas ravished away into Thrace, as she was playing with other virgins by the flood Ilissus or (as some will) by the fountain Cephisus. * The violence of Boreas Ovid excellently describes in the place above quoted. Hâc nubila pello, Hâc freta concutio, nodosaque robora verto, Here a second wind came in, VULTURNUS, in a blue coloured robe and mantle, puft as the former, but somewhat sweeter; his face black, and on his head1 a red sun, shewing he came from the east: his wings of several colours; his buskins white, and wrought with gold. Vult. All horrors vanish, and all name of death, Be all things here as calm as is my breath. A gentler wind, Vulturnus, brings you news m As she was Hecate, she brake them soon : To turn unto the motion of the world; The spirit of the antique Greeks are come, Poets, and singers, Linus, Orpheus, all 1 According to that of Virgil-Denuntiat igneus Euros. m She is called pwopop' 'Ekarn, by Eurip. in Helena, which is Lucifera, to which name we here presently allude. For the more full and clear understanding of that which follows, have recourse to the succeeding pages, where the scene presents itself. • So Terence and the ancients called Poësie, artem musicam. Where, set in arbors made of myrtle and gold, But why do I describe what all must see? By this time, near the coast, they floating be; As being the place, by destiny fore-meant, Here a curtain was drawn, in which the Night was painted, and the scene discovered, which (because the former was marine, and these, yet of necessity, to come from the sea) I devised, should be an island floating on a calm water. In the midst thereof was a seat of state, called the Throne of Beauty, erected: divided into eight squares, and distinguished by so many Ionic pilasters. In these squares, the sixteen masquers were placed by couples: behind them in the centre of the throne was a tralucent pillar, shining with several coloured lights, that reflected on their backs. From the top of which pillar went several arches to the pilasters, that sustained the roof of the throne, which was likewise adorned with lights and garlands: and between the pilasters, in front little Cupids in flying posture, waving of wreaths and |