Page:Of-englishe-dogges.djvu/54

Rh circuite of tyme, this country was cleerely discharged of ranenyng wolfes, and none at all left, no, not to the least number, or the beginnyng of a number, which is an Vnari.

Of the second sort we are not utterly voyde of some, because this our Englishe soyle is not free from foxes (for in deede we are not without a multitude of them in so much as diuerse keepe, foster, and feede them in their houses among their houndes and dogges, eyther for some maladie of mind, or for some sicknesse of body,) which peraduentnre the savour of that subtill beast would eyther mitigate or expell.

The thirde kinde which is bred of a Beare and a Bandogge we want not heare in England, (A straunge and wonderfull effect, that cruell enimyes should enter into worke of copulation & bring forth so sauage a curre.) Undoubtedly it is euen so as we haue reported, for the fyery heate of theyr fleshe, or rather the pricking thorne, or most of all, the tyckling lust of lechery, beareth such swinge and sway in them, that there is no contrairietie for the time, but of constraint they must ioyne to ingender. And why should not this bee consonant to truth? why shoulde not these beastes breede in this lande, as well as in other forreigne nations? For wee reede that Tigers and dogges in Hircania, that Lyons and Dogges in Arcadia, and that wolfes and dogges in Francia, couple and procreate. In men and women also lyghtened with the lantarne of reason (but vtterly voide of vertue) that foolishe, frantique, and fleshely action, yet naturally sealed in vs) worketh so effectuously, & many tymes it doth reconcile enimyes, set foes at freendship, vnanimitie, and atonement, as Moria mencioneth. The Vrcane which is bred of a beare and a dogge,

Is fearce, is fell, is stoute and stronge, And byteth sore to fleshe and bone, His furious force indureth longe In rage he will be rul'de of none.