_Pisc_. Why then Sir, I will take a little libertie to tell, or rather to remember you what is said of _Turtle Doves_: First, that they silently plight their troth and marry; and that then, the Survivor scorns (as the _Thracian_ women are said to do) to out-live his or her Mate; and this is taken for such a truth, that if the Survivor shall ever couple with another, the he or she, not only the living, but the dead, is denyed the name and honour of a true _Turtle Dove_. And to parallel this Land Variety & teach mankind moral faithfulness & to condemn those that talk of Religion, and yet come short of the moral faith of fish and fowl; Men that violate the Law, affirm'd by Saint _Paul_ [Rom. 2.14.15] to be writ in their hearts, and which he sayes shal at the last day condemn and leave them without excuse. I pray hearken to what _Dubartas_ sings [5. day.] (for the hearing of such conjugal faithfulness, will be Musick to all chaste ears) and therefore, I say, hearken to what _Dubartas_ sings of the _Mullet_: _But for chaste love the_ Mullet _hath no peer, For, if the Fisher hath surprised her pheer, As mad with woe to shoare she followeth, Prest to consort him both in life and death_. On the contrary, what shall I say of the _House-Cock_, which treads any Hen, and then (contrary to the _Swan_, the _Partridg_, and _Pigeon_) takes no care to hatch, to feed, or to cherish his own Brood, but is sensless though they perish. And 'tis considerable, that the _Hen_ (which because she also takes any _Cock_, expects it not) who is sure the Chickens be her own, hath by a moral impression her care, and affection to her own Broode, more then doubled, even to such a height, that our Saviour in expressing his love to _Jerusalem_, [Mat. 23. 37] quotes her for an example of tender affection, as his Father had done _Job_ for a pattern of patience. And to parallel this _Cock_, there be divers fishes that cast their spawne on flags or stones, and then leave it uncovered and exposed to become a prey, and be devoured by Vermine or other fishes: but other fishes (as namely the _Barbel_) take such care for the preservation of their seed, that (unlike to the _Cock_ or the _Cuckoe_) they mutually labour (both the Spawner, and the Melter) to cover their spawne with sand, or watch it, or hide it in some secret place unfrequented by Vermine, or by any fish but themselves. Sir, these examples may, to you and others, seem strange; but they are testified, some by _Aristotle_, some by _Pliny_, some by _Gesner_, and by divers others of credit, and are believed and known by divers, both of wisdom and experience, to be a truth; and are (as I said at the beginning) fit for the contemplation of a most serious, and a most pious man.