he was king, the image of a braue knight,
90 perfected in the twelue priuate morall vertues, as Aristotle hath
91 deuised, the which is the purpose of these first twelue bookes:
92 which if I finde to be well accepted, I may be perhaps
93 encoraged, to frame the other part of polliticke vertues in his
94 person, after that hee came to be king. To some I know this
95 Methode will seeme displeasaunt, which had rather haue good
96 discipline deliuered plainly in way of precepts, or sermoned
97 at large, as they vse, then thus clowdily enwrapped in
98 Allegoricall deuises. But such, me seeme, should be satisfide
99 with the vse of these dayes seeing all things accounted by
100 their showes, and nothing esteemed of, that is not delightfull
101 and pleasing to commune sence. For this cause is Xenophon
102 preferred before Plato, for that the one in the exquisite depth
103 of his iudgement, formed a Commune welth such as it should
104 be, but the other in the person of Cyrus and the Persians
105 fashioned a gouernement such as might best be: So much
106 more profitable and gratious is doctrine by ensample,
107 then by rule. So haue I laboured to doe in the person of Arthure:
108 whome I conceiue after his long education by Timon, to
109 whom he was by Merlin deliuered to be brought vp, so soone
110 as he was borne of the Lady Igrayne, to haue seene in a dream
111 or vision the Faery Queen, with whose excellent beauty
112 rauished, he awaking resolued to seeke her out, and so being
113 by Merlin armed, and by Timon throughly instructed, he
114 went to seeke her forth in Faerye land. In that Faery Queene I
115 meane glory in my generall intention, but in my particular I
116 conceiue the most excellent and glorious person of our
117 soueraine the Queene, and her kingdome in Faery land. And
118 yet in some places els, I doe otherwise shadow her. For
119 considering she beareth two persons, the one of a most royall
120 Queene or Empresse, the other of a most vertuous and beautifull
121 Lady, this latter part in some places I doe ezpresse in Belph{oe}be,
122 fashioning her name according to your owne excellent
123 conceipt of Cynthia, (Ph{ae}be and Cynthia being both names
124 of Diana.) So in the person of Prince Arthure I sette forth
125 magnificence in particular, which vertue for that (according to
126 Aristotle and the rest) it is the p