and no longer let me live then in the care of that comfort as for Fools they cannot understand me and Knaves shall not trouble me as for drunkenness never doubt me for it is a thing most loathsome in my Nature as for your Money I humbly thank you and I hope to bestow it according to your good liking thus with my prayers for your long life health and happiness I remain Your dutiful Son till death H. D. A merry Letter after the old Fashion sent to a Maid AFter my Love remembred unto you trusting in God that you are in good health as I was at this present writing with my Father and my Mother and my Brothers and Sisters and Unkles and Aunts and the rest of my good Friends thanks be to God for it The cause of my writing to you at this time is that I hear Joan since my coming from Weston when you know what talk we had together there at the sign of the Horns and how you did give me your hand and swear that you would not forsake me for all the World and how you made me buy you a Ring and a Heart that cost me two and twenty pence and I left them with you and you gave me a Napkin to wear in my Hat and a small Feather I thank you which I will wear to my dying day and I marvel if it be true as I hear that you have altered your mind and are made sure to my Neighbour Pigsay's Son Truly Joan you do not well in so doing and God will plague you for it and I hope I shall live well enough if I never have you for there are more Maids in the World besides you Joan and truly I count my self worth the whistling after I am sure there are some young Maids about us will except of me and be glad to leap at me to have such Honey kisses Joan as I used to give you therefore be not so high and so proud Joan and so scornful for if you will have none of me I will have none of you but will be as stout and as coy as any handsome Maid in England for you know my old Grandsir has left my Father good House and Land and my Father will give it to me his own Son I am sure and therefore praying you to write me your Answer by this Bearer my friend touching the truth of all how it stands with you I commit you to God From Willow-green May 11. 1675. J.S. Jones Answer INdeed sweet John I did not expect such a Letter from your hands I would have you to know I scorn it have I got my Fathers and Mothers ill will for you to be so used at your hands I perceive and if you be so jealous already you would be somewhat another day I am glad I find you that you can believe any thing of me but it is no matter I care not send me my Napkin and you shall have your Ring and your Heart for I can have enough if I never see you more for there are more Batchellors then John and my penny is as good silver as yours and seeing you are so stout even put up your Pipes for I will have no more to do with you and so unsaying all that ever hath been said betwixt us pray make your choice where you list for I know where to be beloved and so farewel J. R. A Letter from a Father to a Son at the university Dear Son I Am sorry to tell thee that I hear thy diligence doth not answer my desire and I would gladly wish it otherwise but I hope a kind admonition will suffice to work a on good Nature and therefore will rather hope the best then doubt the contrary and in the love of a Father let me entreat thee to avoid the company of a lewd fellow as rather an enemy then a Friend The Feminine Sex are dangerous to affect for as they will be a loss of time so with hinderance of study they will produce expence The exercise of thy body I admit for thy health but let thy Love be in thy Learning else wilt thou never be a good Scholar for desire and delight are the best Masters both of Art and Knowledge whilst vertuous Reason makes Understanding gracious Therefore not out of the bitter humour of displeasure but the careful Nature of affection I write unto thee for thy own good and as nothing can joy the heart of a Father more then the obedience of a loving child so can there nothing be more grievous then the stubborn spirit of an ungracious Son I speak this to thee knowing thy years and understanding able to digest the consideration of my desire which in sum is my joy in thy good For let me tell thee my Estate thou knowest and how much I have strained my credit for thy advancement to which Learning being a speedy and an assured good means I would be glad to see my comfort in thy profit in such fruits of thy study as with the blessing of God may hasten thy preferment therefore be industrious and diligent for thy own benefit and thou shalt not want a Father's encouragement to the very utmost of his ability thus praying to God for thee whom I beseech daily to bless thee with my hearts love to the Lord's blessing I leave thee who am Thy loving Father S. D. The Son's Answer Loving Father AFter the bands of humble duty my good Father I have received your most kind and loving Letter in which how much joy I have received I cannot express fearing rather your sharp rebuke then loving admonition but God himself who can and doth work more in some Natures with a kind chiding then in others with may stripes I know you are not ignorant of the inclination of youth and therefore thus kindly touch the hurt of inheedfulness for which how much I do humbly thank you I hope the care of your counsel in time shall pleasingly tell you therefore for what ill you have heard grieve not and of the good you may hear doubt not but believe me for I will not abuse your trust whatever vanity soever I have seemed to effect My Book hath been the Mistress of my Love in which how much I will labour and from which what profit I will gather your hope shall see in the effect of God's blessing without the which how dangerous are many studies to the understandings of ungracious Spirits I would it were known in any and I pray God that none may know it in me I My preferment I leave to God's pleasure who best knows how to dispose of his Servants and for your contentment that it may be in my obedience Your health as the worlds happiness I pray for mine own moderate exercise with abstinence from excess doth with God's blessing hold me in good state and for the Feminine Sex though I would be no Hypocrite I had rather read of then be acquainted with them for I allow
others Blisses Laughing weeping still together Bliss in one is mirth in either Never breaking ever bending This is Love and worth commending In Praise and Dispraise of LOVE NOw what is Love I will thee tell It is the Fountain and the Well Where Pleasure and Repentance dwell And it is like a Passing-Bell That toles all into Heaven or Hell Now what is Love I will thee show A thing that creeps where it cannot go A Prize that passeth to and fro A thing for me a thing for mo And he that tries shall find it so EXAMPLES OF LETTERS AND COMPLEMENTS OF All sorts both Jocose and Serious fitted for business as well as Recreation and Delight A Father's Letter to his Son at School in the Countrey Dear Child AS it is my Fatherly care to provide for your future good in bringing you up to learning as well as my present endeavours to see that you want nothing in the time of your Minority so I expect that you by being dutiful and diligent should make me amends for all my costs and charges Be sure you mind your Book and consider that you alone will receive the benefit let not too much play steal away your mind from Learning for you can never receive any good thereby but harm does often happen by over-heating your self which will dull your memory and make you incapable of attaining what your Master shall set before you so that you will cheat both your self and me your self of time and knowledge and me of my Money and expectation When you have a little leisure from your Latin I would have you practise Writing which will be a recreation to you for to be always upon one exercise doth dull the senses of any one whether Young or Old and it would be a comfort to me to have a Letter from you now and then to hear of your welfare be careful how you spend your time and you shall want for nothing that I can help you to that may encourage you to be a good boy and the way to be so is to live in the fear of God and to keep his Commandments then will his Blessings for ever attend you and you will be a joy and comfort to me and your tender Mother in our old Age Both our Loves remembred to you and your Mistress I am Your loving Father A. B. The Son's Answer Honoured Father AFter my humble Duty presented to you and my Mother these may let you understand that through the blessing of God I am in good health and will to my lives and be dutiful and obedient to you and my good Mother taking your advice and counsel in every thing knowing that you wish me well both for my present and future happiness my Master is very kind to me and careful of my welfare in every respect pray be pleas'd to accept of my ill writing at present and I doubt not but in a short time I shall mend my hand and write better though as yet I have had but little time allowed me to learn to write My kind Love and service to all my Relations and Friends is all at present that I have to trouble you with who am Your dutiful and most obedient Son till death C. B. A Citizen returning his Friend kind thanks for his entertainment when he was in the Countrey Kind Sir THe great and manifold kindnesses which I have often received from you and your Wife do ever call upon me and put me in mind of making an acknowledgement as some part of satisfaction but most of all those infinite savours which you were pleased to confer upon me when I was last in the Countrey must not nor can never be forgot whilst I live I know not how to make you amends to my own content in no way but desiring your good company in London at my House where you may be sure of a welcome from him who is Sir Your loving Friend and humble Servant E. G. The Country Gentleman's Answer to the Citizen Sir IT is not my business to complement my Friends with fair words and eloquent Speeches but to tell them in down-right and in plain Language they are welcome and not only to tell them so in words but to let them find they 're welcome by their entertainment which if you found worth your acceptance I wish you had stayed longer for I 'le assure you Sir your company was most delightful and most pleasant to me all the while you were in the Countrey Insomuch that I cannot be contented to be long without it therefore since you would not tarry with us I do intend to come very speedily to London and give you a visit where I do purpose to remain till you are weary of my company and I weary of the City but how long that may be I cannot tell in the mean time Sir I present my Service to your self and good Brother Thomas wishing you all health and happiness I remain Your truly loving Friend J. S. A merry Letter to invite a Friend to the Tavern Honest Tâ—m FAith I have designed this Afternoon to be merry in and want nothing that can be helping to my delight but your good company my defire is that you would meet me at the George Tavern in White-Fryers about two of the Clock and I will get together two or three more of our old Companions and there we will soak our Souls with good Sack and Claret till our Brains are inspired with that Heavenly Liquor then will we sing each of us a merry Catch and drink our Mistresses Health crying God bless the King again and again then toss off a brimmer of Bacchus his blood which will make us like Mars be couragious and valiant and cause the fair Venus to fall on her back though the black limping Cuckold old Vulcan stand by Never think of the reckoning for I 'le pay the shot and if I have not Money the Vintner shall trust thus expecting your coming I impatiently remain Your true Friend and toâ—ing Comparion D. J. The Answer Honest Soul YOu are always so obliging and your company is so delightful that you may assure your self I will not fail to meet so true a Friend you know my â—â—â—â—sition is ever inclin'd to Mirth and good 〈◊〉 Sack and brisk Claret will command me at 〈◊〉 to fight under their Banners so long as I can stand but if by their charms it happens that I am overcome one jolly sweet Song sung in a high strain will awaken each sence and recover me to Life again then cursing the Drawer for being so slow instead of calling for one Bottle we will make him bring up a dozen together till at length we are fitted for Venus indeed then high for a Mistrest a Girl of the Game that by her rare Art will easily quench those flames in one half hour which we have been kindling with the Spirits of Bacchus the space of a whole day all which being done we will seek our
Romantick Way and Mode yet you well enough know my meaning therefore not to talk any longer at this distance I must with your pardon tell you plainly that I love you Madam and none but you alone therefore pity my condition Sarah Since you have discovered your self to be 1 Lover and for my sake and not only now on a sudden but a pretty while since if I may believe you but young men are so false that I know not what to say to you Sam. You have tryed my constancy for it is some years since you know I first offer'd the tenders of my love to you and though you answer'd me still with flat denial yet you see that I had not so slightly grounded my passion as that your frowns as yet could make me have an ill opinion of your love Sarah Well since you are resolved to proceed and will take no denial know then that I must try you further still therefore prepare your self to answer me Sam. Speak boldly Madam and let your demands be ne're so difficult to perform if they are in mans power to accomplish you shall be obeyed and Madam gladly too should you command me this very minute to be my own bloody Executioner Sarah No Sir I wish you long may live and happy but if you ere intend to be my Bridegroom you must Sam. What must I do Madam speak without fear your will shall be my pleasure Sarah No I am asham'd to tell you but yet I can't forbear but I must tell you you must Sam. Dear Madam speak and blush not Sarah Why this it is you must come now and kiss me and by that kiss swear that within the space of six days you will marry me Sam. Auspicious Heaven and all ye Powers above to you on bended knees I first return my thankful Prayers and next dear Madam with humble gratitude I at your feet do prostrate fall where silence gladly shall shew I do consent for words cannot express my present joy Sarah Rise worthy Sir you have deserved my love nor could I longer keep you in despair from hence call me your own Sam. My dearest onely Joy you have now for ever blest me this kiss shall usher in a thousand more give me your hand I le wait upon you home Where speedily without the least delay We will appoint our Joyful Wedding day DIALOGUE II. A Discourse betwixt Corydon and Celia Corydon WHy dearest Celia should you prove so cruel to him that loves you more than life or any other thing that bears a name a world of fighs and groans have fill'd the skyes with the Ecchoes of My Celia Fair and Cruel Caelia but no redress as yet I have found then dain my pretty Paramour at length to smile upon distracted Corydon Celia What means the Shepherd thus to trouble me what Cruelties are these you speak of for my part I know not of any unkindness that I ever shew'd to you What is' t you would have tell me wherein that Caelia has been offensive to you and without doubt a speedy recompence will be made you Corydon Oh would that Corydon could find it so as Celia has told him soon my dearest Celia should know the cause of all my Miseries and Woes You need not ask me Celia why I call you Cruel my looks will tell you though my tongue be silent Celia Indeed Corydon you do mistake my skill for I am no good Physiognomist neither did I ever pretend to it therefore if you would that I be made sensible of your grief you must tell it me downright and then if it lies in my power to give you ease and I deny it you then will have just cause to call me cruel and not before For no Doctor or Surgeon can tell how to apply any remedy to a Sick Patient before he knows from whence his distemper springs Corydon You cannot be so ignorant as you pretend you are I cannot think but that you know my grief 't is Love my Dearest Celia 't is Love Celia How Coryden did you say Love or did I mistake that word speak it again Corydon Yes so I will my Celia for 't is Love and the Love of you alone that I that I poor Shepherd langaith after thus Celia And is it so Do you Love me so well Corydon that it makes you sick Poor man why do you Love me so much then cannot you forbear Corydon Yes I can forbear to live but not to love Death will be a Welcome Guest to my discontented mind Celia Oh Corydon why do you talk of death the very name of death affrightens me prithee tell me Corydon does love and death keep company together Corydon No Celia Life and Love are companions together and death associates himself with disdain Do you not know I love you Celia Celia Why what if you do love me what then I won't kill you I hope every body loves me I am sure my Father and Mother does and what must I kill them too God forbid Corydon Ah Celia thy pretty innocence does make me smile I had thought thou hadst been more crafty and by consequence more cruel till now I hear thy answers but tell me Celia doest thou love me my sweetest Celia Yes indeed do I Corydon and have done ever since you and I played together in our Church-Yard Corydon That 's my good Girle come and kiss me Celia Celia Well are you satisfied now I hope you will not say I am cruel now will ye Corydon Corydon No no my pretty Love thou art kind to me now come and let me kiss thee again Celia No indeed but you must not Corydon Why didst not thou like the last kiss I gave thee Celia Celia Yes I lik'd it well enough Corydon but my Mother always charged me that I should not suffer any man to kiss me Corydon Did thy Mother never talke of me Celia Celia Yes very often Corydon and I told her how you talk'd of love to me a great while ago but I knew not what you meant by it nor don 't yet but my Mother charged me not to come into your company nor suffer you so much as to touch me and told me that I must not hear you when you talk of Love for I must love no body but my Father and Mother Corydon Why surely she did not tell thee so did she Celia Celia Yes indeed she did Corydon and a great deal more than that but I shall not name it Corydon Yes prithee do Celia let me hear what 't was she said to thee Celia No indeed you shall not 't was something she bid me not to let you do but what it was I will not name for all the world Corydon No more thou shalt not Celia for I guess it already and that 's enough for me Celia Well if you do you do I don't much care but I vow you make me blush Corydon Blush not my Celia for I will not name it come sit thee down my
repose by sleeping a while to regain us fresh courage and with this resolution I 'le be sure to meet you who am Your now too sober Friend H. B. A Gentleman to a young Lady whom he courted to marry Honoured Madam SInce last I had the happiness to see your fair face Cupid hath wounded my heart with those Arrows which he borrowed from your eyes and unless you will be pleased to give relief to my miseries and pain which I thereby do undergo both night and day alas I shall be of all Men most miserable my humble suit which now I beg is this that you would be pleased to make me for ever happy by giving me admittance into your sweet Company and meet my honest and lawful desires with smiles upon your Brow I shall not court you our of complaisance but tell you Madam honourably and plainly that with your good liking I intend to make you my Wife which if you accept of my serious proposition I shall for ever be blesâ— and you Madam I hope will never have cause to repent your choice thus expecting your kind reply I for this time begging your pardon do humbly take my leave and remain Madam The humblest of your Servants W. G. The Ladies Answer Sir I Cannot but bless my self with admiration that so wise a Man as your self should talk so idly to say that my Eyes have wounded your Heart I must needs tell you I think you talk of impossibilities and that want of rest occasions this distraction of mind you pretend to be no complemental Courtier yet appear to be the greatest that ever I met with by this your Letter you sent me I must confess according to equality of Fortunes you out-do me and I am not of Birth so highly descended therefore you may presume that a few words from a person of so much Worth as your self may win so silly a Woman as I am but flatter not your self with that for I 'le assure you I think as well of my Virginity as the best of them all do and shall be as loth to part with it except it be upon a good consideration therefore if you are real as you pretend concerning Marriage your suit may be accepted but if otherwise you take your aim amiss this till I know you better I hope may suffice from her who is Your Servant on honourable terms S. B. A Countrey Farmer 's Son to one of his Neighbour's Daughters Dear Betty I Must confess ever since you and I drank together last Warm-love Fair I have had a great affuction for you insomuch that I cannot rest at night for those sweet kisses we then had together when we drank the last half pint of White-wine and Sugar I then perceived that the company of a Woman-kind was far better than a Mans and truly now I begin to think my self Man sufficient to have a Wife and if you think so well of me as I do of you we will make no long business of it for to tell you the truth I am a little in hast having ever since I saw you had some strange thoughts and fancies fits of Love I suppose they be if not I 'le swear I cannot tell what to call them Sometimes I dream too and to be sure it is of you therefore I think the best way to give me ease is to marry quickly and after we have seen one another once more I think it will be time for the old Folks to meet to consult about the bargain in the mean time I swear I love you dearly who am Your loving Friend R. L. Betty's Answer Honest Ralph I Must confess you were very kind to me at our last and I took it so yet I would not have you think me fond for a young Maid as I am may go to the Tavern with a Neighbour's Son at a publick Fair and kiss a little too and yet not be accounted fond I hope to tell you truly ever since that time I have found a strange alteration in my body and mind for when I think of you which is very often I cannot forbear sighing insomuch that our folks take notice of me asking me what 's the matter but indeed they ask me more then I can answer them only now you put me in mind on 't I am verily perswaded that it is Love that people so much talk of yes it must be Love I am sure of it I also dream in the Night and such strange dreams that I hall not name till we are married which if the old Men our Fathers do agree shall be as soon as you please till then I am Your loving Wise in conceit E. L. A Letter to court a young Widdow who had lately buried her Husband Honoured Madam TO say your beauty only moves me to love you would only be to flatter you or to say you Wisdom was a second cause I should belye my selâ— though this I needs must tell you Madam that I know you are both fair and wise and that beyond an ordinary comparison both which are excellent ornaments of Nature but I look further Madam into your actions and find them carried on and guided by that precious Jewel called Virtue the beauty of the Soul an excellency by far transcending all endowments and for that Madam I love and honour you 'T is pitty Madam so much youthful worth should any longer be clouded under mourning Weeds what though your Husband was a kind and loving Man to you in his Life-time the memory of him ought not to be a trouble to you after his Death for he receives the comfort of all his good deeds which he did in his Life as a due recompence of a good Christian therefore Madam your sorrows ought to cease because he rejoyces in another World revive your Spirits Madam and bethink your self that we must live by the quick and not by the dead therefore we ought to make the best use of our time not knowing how soon we may be call'd aside and it would be a great pitty that we should die and leave the World behind us without some enjoyment of those delights for which we are created to partake of My humble suit is Madam that you would be pleased to accept my honest Love and grant my request which is that you would think so well of my person as to smile upon my reasonable demands which are that you would become my Wife and throw aside all these melancholy thoughts of your dead Husband and for my further satisfaction Madam concerning your affections I beg that you would send me my sentence either for Life or Death in the mean time I remain Your desperate Lover T. W. The Widows Answer Sir I Must confess you began to court and complement me very Learnedly and in my opinion if I may be my own Judge in the beginning of your Letter you writ nothing but the truth for my beauty cannot move any one to love me neither will my Wit
and this small Token which I have sent you which is a Barrel of Oysters I heartily recommend you to the protection of the Almighty who is the only keeper and preserver of all Men and all things I take my leave presuming to write my self Yours to serve you by night or day W. W. The Sommerset-shire Man's clownish Answer in their own Countrey Language Zir I Received a piece of Paper from you which I think Volks call a Letter but when I pulled it open I am zure I could not tell wone letter in it I gave it to wone of our Neighbours that is to zay wone of our Town that is to zay wone that dwells within two or three doors of our door a little thick way and he being a better Scholard than my present zelf made hard shift to pick out the words but the Devil a bit of zense can I vind in it you talk of obliging and vavours in my Conscience Zir you be not like me wont jot nor do I vavour you at all you also talk of gratitude and merits I 'le zwear I do not know what to make of your Lingua my Neighbour tells me that it is Latin and I wonder that you would write Latin to me you know I cannot stand under it and in truth you shall be no zervant of mine I will have no zuch zervants as for your writing our Volks put it in the Virt and vor those shells you zent I know not how you call them I een mended our do or with them and zo I thank you vor em when you come again you shall be welcome to your old Friend Dick Downright A loving Letter sent to a Gentle-woman Madam IN what a multitude of sorrows I am involved since you went out of Town no Tongue is able to express nor Pen to write Had you commanded me with open breast to have stood before you whilst you had took my own Sword and had pierced my now bleeding heart I could then more willingly have suffered a death by your hand then thus long to undergo a continual torment for want of your good company Ah Madam you know my Heart is with you how can you be so cruel to make me heartless live thus long without you can you forget those pleasant Evening hours which we together spent beguiling time which gently slid away the silent night not daring to disturb our harmless mirth and innocent delight whilst on my knees you sate my loving Arms did circle round and gently grasp your small and tender body you sometimes would ravish all my sences with a Song whilst I amazed at your warbling Notes charmed to a silence and gaz'd upon your powerful sparkling eyes whose double lustre would pierce a heart more hard and more obdurate then is the Adamant Then Madam then stealing of a kiss was not content but rob'd you still of more I kist so long that I at length perceiv'd my self to be the looser for all that time my heart and soul departed from my breast and vow'd they would possess a nobler Room then into your sweet bosom both did fly and begg'd an entertainment which you gave and seem'd to cherish them with warm desire I was content and was glad they had made choice of you to he their Guandian provided I might be a visitant to come and see they no disorders bred within your quiet breast But now alas dear Madam you have left me comfortless I am left to sigh and and breath my passion out unto the open Air without redress and cannot comfort find till you return Then Madam on my knees I beg return and give me ease unless you do intend to be my death by staving longer from me thus to the powers above I do commit you desiring you to pity him who is Your languishing Lover R. T. The Gentle-womans kind Answer My sweet Soul LEt not your passion over-much disturb your rest and quiet sleep secure and know that I an equal sharer of your grief do sigh and mourn in private all alone not daring to disclose my unknowne waes unto the open Air far fear some blast should whisp 〈◊〉 this my discontent I am therefore forc'd to bide my mistries and for a time conceal my Inward pain 〈◊〉 then undergo the angry sâ—owns of an unkind Father whom I fear would count my loving you a disobedience My study is to run a safer course and by degrees to penetrate the Breast of my indulgent Mother telling her the noble love which I bear in my bâ—som is placed on you and none but you alone shall make her Daughters Bride then on my knees I 'le beg of her to mollifie the fury of my too rigurous Father who hath forgot since be first trod the paths of youthful love My hopes are still that she will moderate his strict severity and make him yeild to gratifie our loves by his good will and make us ever happy with his blessing who knows but these my hopes may take effect My Mother loves me with a tender love and when she sees my resolution fixt to marry you and with no other Man I know she 'l never rest till she overcome my Father with entreaties to be kind Then will our meeting be again with joy But if at last my expectations sail and that my Father will not give consent we should enjoy each other yet be sure I 'le never leave my Dear until cold Death shall seize my body and from thence divide my Heart and Soul which are not in his power them I 'le bequeath to thee my dearest Love for they indeed already are thy own I know I have thy loving Heart and Soul within my Breast where they shall safely dwell My Father's cruelties shall not molest their happy being neither will I long detain them at this distance from my Love For let my aged Parents frown or smile within this Month I 'le fly into thy Arms and never part till floods of joyful tears have washt away all sorrows from our hearts and hands that nought but Death shalt part us In true constancy I remain thine alone S. V. A Letter from a Gentle-woman to her Husband who had buried her Child in the Country Loving Husband I Must now acquaint you with sorrowful and I suppose unexpected news if tears and sighs of a broken hearted Wife will give me leave to write to you which is that cruel death who favours neither infancy youth nor old Age has deprived us of our pretty sweet boy which was the only joy and comfort of our lives and truly grief has almost done its worst with me for I bewailing of this our great loss am brought so low that I think I shall scarce recover my self to be able ever more to come again and see thee his sickness held him but three days before he died else I had sent you word but now it is too late for we shall never see him more I borrowed Money of my Landlady where I am
have been ever from you but sickness c. Madam If Love be blind as some Men say he is I wonder how he come to hit my heart so right he has wounded me and 't was in darkness too and so that none but you alone can cure c. Sir I wonder why so many young Men talk of Cupid and his Feather'd Darts that wounds their breasts and yet they know not when In my opinion they are much mistaken for Love proceeds at first from each others eyes and after that want of enjoyment of a beauty once seen may cause a kind of troublesome passion to arise and this is my belief concerning Love Sir Let me desire you as you love your self to fly from this infected place where nothing but Murthers and Rapes are daily threatned I heard but the other day c. Sir You may imagine that I love you else I should not have carried my self in such a familiar manner as I did last night to you who were so much a stranger to me perhaps you may think me wanton but c. Sir Let me beg of you not to remember my past saults but forget an I forgive them all burying them in oblivion and for the future I will be more careful of offending c. Sir In anger I write to you not to trouble your self with my concerns but mind your own business I believe you will find enough to do at home it may be I may find you some employment shortly if you have none of your own in the mean time pray let me advise you to bridle your Tongue or else c. Sir Let me desire you not to regard the vulgar report of the common sort of people for they will say any thing Neither do they regard who it is they wrong exclaiming against any person behind his back whom just before they applauded before his Face and this is their common course c. Life of my Soul Let not my absence provoke thee so far as to be jealous of my inconstancy for thus much assure thy self that where ever I am my heart is with thee and nothing but death shall alter my resolutions which are to make thee my Wife c. Supplements with choice phrases and and sentences to be used in the middle of Letters upon all occasions WHat else may be added to our good success In proceedings of this Nature I leave to your wiser judgement to consider on After Madam I have said all I can say I must leave it to your goodness to muke a good and favourable construction upon my honest intentions I know Sir nothing can be more suitable to my present condition then your good advice which I will certainly be guided by knowing that what ever you admonish me to act or do must on necessity be for my present and future advantage You may remember Madam that at our last meeting you promised me that I should have a second happiness by meeting you next Monday morning where we met before Let not delays frustrate your design for you know they often prove dangerous therefore let me advise you to strike whilst the Iron â—s hot Consult with your Parents first Sir and get their good wills and you shall ever find me to be according to my promise Expect no flatteries from your publick enemy for your deserts deserve no favour but a just revenge shall certainly be your portion What I have said is cordial and you may believe it and count me your Friend in telling you the truth of this matter whose effects without your care will prove I doubt very dangerous Never doubt nor fear but first of all make Tryal experience is the best Mistress I doubt not but that she will be kind and that all things may succeed according to your desire Thousands you know have miscarried for want of making a quick pursuit in such concerns as yours are you know that a place of good preferment is soon catcht up Consult with reason first and be not over-rash in your attempts lest you precipitate your whole design Love me then as you have begun in spite of all their surious anger you know my constancy and dear affections will never alter but remain for ever firm I doubt not but you are disposed to Melancholy therefore let me advise you to leave that lonesome place and betake your self to the City where you will find diversity of subjects that will expose you to a harmless mirth and innocent Recreation Exclaim not Madam against your sole admirer one that adores your very name like a sacred deity one that hath Atlas strength to bear and undergo the greatest burthens that affliction or torment can lay upon him for your sweet sake I grant your sure Sir if your love be true but first you must give me leave to make trial of your constancy I must confess that many have been beguil'd by smooth tongues and flattering speeches but mine you have no reason to mistrust Consent not Daughter to their false delusions for now a days not one Gallant amongst ten is to be believed let your love be grounded on what I shall think reason then will you live a happy life hereafter My Father 's good will Sir you first must ask before I shall make my self any surer to you yet this I will tell you if what you demand be according to his good liking I can satisfie you that I sandy you above any other Man That Song you sung so ravisht all my senses last night that I shall not think my self happy till once again I hear it from your mouth Then blest be that hour that first I made the motion since according to my desire you have granted my request for I am obliged in duty Madam to make a more then verbal acknowledgement Your business Sir I have carefully minded which succeeds according to your wish the Man you told me was your chiefest witness I met in Town and have secured him till the Trial shall be and according to his evidence I question not but that you in your sute will prove victorious I had sooner been with you Sir had not my Horse tired by the way insomuch that I was forced to lie still two whole days because he was not able to perform the Journey Your Letters of advice Sir came too late for I had then dispatched the business before their arrival however if I can serve you in the like nature I shall gladly be commanded by you No more your aged Father's counsel disrespect least that I count it wilful disobedience what I advise you to is for your own advantage as yet you know the power is in my hands to make you happy or for ever miserable I hope you cannot justly task me Sir with disobedience for rather then I would prove undutiful to so good a Father I would make choice of my sharp pointed Sword to be my fatal Executioner I know your clemency and well disposed mind is apter to forgive