Mapes, an old
historiographer, that lived 400 years since), "of which there was a noble
and a fair lady abbess: Godwin, that subtile Earl of Kent, travelling that
way, (seeking not her but hers) leaves a nephew of his, a proper young
gallant (as if he had been sick) with her, till he came back again, and
gives the young man charge so long to counterfeit, till he had deflowered
the abbess, and as many besides of the nuns as he could, and leaves him
withal rings, jewels, girdles, and such toys to give them still, when they
came to visit him. The young man, willing to undergo such a business,
played his part so well, that in short space he got up most of their
bellies, and when he had done, told his lord how he had sped: [5139]his
lord made instantly to the court, tells the king how such a nunnery was
become a bawdy-house, procures a visitation, gets them to be turned out,
and begs the lands to his own use." This story I do therefore repeat, that
you may see of what force these enticements are, if they be opportunely
used, and how hard it is even for the most averse and sanctified souls to
resist such allurements. John Major in the life of John the monk, that
lived in the days of Theodosius, commends the hermit to have been a man of
singular continency, and of a most austere life; but one night by chance
the devil came to his cell in the habit of a young market wench that had
lost her way, and desired for God's sake some lodging with him. [5140]"The
old man let her in, and after some common conference of her mishap, she
began to inveigle him with lascivious talk and jests, to play with his
beard, to kiss him, and do worse, till at last she overcame him. As he went
to address himself to that business, she vanished on a sudden, and the
devils in the air laughed him to scorn." Whether this be a true story, or a
tale, I will not much contend, it serves to illustrate this which I have
said.

Yet were it so, that these of which I have hitherto spoken, and such like
enticing baits, be not sufficient, there be many others, which will of
themselves intend this passion of burning lust, amongst which, dancing is
none of the least; and it is an engine of such force, I may not omit it.
_Incitamentum libidinis_, Petrarch calls it, the spur of lust. "A [5141]
circle of which the devil himself is the centre. [5142]Many women that use
it, have come dishonest home, most indifferent, none better." [5143]
Another terms it "the companion of all