Selected quad for the lemma: love_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
love_n	creature_n	great_a	love_v	4,226	5	6.4000	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A42291	Spanish letters: historical, satyrical, and moral; of the famous Don Antonio de Guevara Bishop of Mondonedo, chief minister of state, and historiographer royal to the Emperor Charles V. Written by way of essay on different subjects, and every where intermixt with both raillerie and gallantry. Recommended by Sir Roger L'Estrange, and made English from the best original by Mr. Savage.	Guevara, Antonio de, Bp., d. 1545?; Savage, John, 1673-1747.; L'Estrange, Roger, Sir, 1616-1704.	1697 (1697)	Wing G2182A; ESTC R216443	91,517	200

of your little Bitch as I concern'd for the loss of my dear Sister Donna Francisca A Child when new-born knows neither how to Walk Eat nor Talk yet is presently able to Cry therefore the Crime lies not in that we Mourn but what we Mourn for Our first Mother Eve lamented her Son Abel Iacob griev'd for Ioseph David for Absalom Anna for Tobias Ieremias Mourn'd over Ierusalem Mary Magdalen lamented her Sins St. Peter his Apostacy our Saviour his Friend Lazarus and you Madam Mourn for your little Bitch Tears being as drops of Blood distilling from the Heart thrô the Eyes I hold him as kind that sheds a few such on a dead Man's Tomb as that gave him an Estate whilst living The Office of the Feet is to Walk of the Tongue to Speak of the Hands to Work but of the Heart only to Mourn for the Eyes are but as it were Limbecks that distill Tears from thence and as it 's Grief is lock'd up in the very center of the Body it can neither make use of the Hands nor Feet but the Tongue must declare its Wrong and the Eyes demonstrate its Misery We may be confirm'd by the Eyes of the Afflictions of the Heart for if the one did not Mourn the other would never Weep I say this Madam that you must needs love that Spaniel exceedingly well since you have shew'd so great concern for the loss of it for to consider a thing one either loves or hates regard must rather be had to the Eyes than Tongue for this can only reveal what we commonly think when Tears discover the deepest Affection Whence it follows that Words may be feign'd but Drops from our Heart must be sincere What Men commonly say of Women that their Tears are fictitious is not true but nevertheless they may weep for one thing and say they do it for another but to Cry in jest is neither in their power nor ought any body to believe it To lament for one thing and pretend it for another I neither commend nor condemn for in a generous and brave Soul nothing ought to be more conceal'd than what we love most I thought fitting to say this in defence of your Sighs and to favour your Tears both which I am apt to believe you bestowed with less devotion than affection since I am inform'd your Fever does not at all increase and yet you still keep your Bed To confess the truth Madam I don't wonder you lament but am offended at the cause of it since it would be more both for your Honour and Interest to Mourn your Sins than the Death of a trifling Mongrel You being descended from so noble a Family and having the Character of so good a Liver great an Estate Beauteous Complexion and Wise Conversation I cannot have patience to see you fix your love so low as upon a despicable Bitch for a Plato prudently says Such is the Lover oftentimes as is the Beloved Love is of so great force that both Parties commonly become alike by its power so if I love a Rational Creature I am Rational but if a Brute a Brute Whence we may infer you do not at all differ in this from your Lap Dog I have been much asham'd I could almost say angry at this Action of yours which has not only been admir'd at by many but also complain'd of by a greater number and for my part I think they had reason for we ought not to place our Affection but only where it may be both well employ'd and well receiv'd The best part of the Body is the Heart and the best affection of the Heart is Love therefore if this be not advantagiously bestow'd the Person must be very unhappy that admits it it being impossible he should ever know how to live that knows not how to Love Also I cannot imagine what pleasure you could take in loving such a Creature or what returns it could make you unless it were to fill your Cloaths with Hairs dirty your Rooms sleep upon your Squab load you with Fleas trouble you to wash her frequently in Summer and lie upon your Petticoats all the Winter steal when you were out of sight and snarl at the Maids for chiding at her beastliness But yet for all this you did not content your self with giving her the best bit out of your Mouth and furnishing her with wrought Collars and Silver Bells but would also take it extreamly ill if any offer'd either to strike or steal her so that she was both troublesom to you and a plague to every body else Of you two I know not whether was greater the Bitches Fortune in being so well beloved or your Misfortune in doting on so inconsiderable an Animal Nevertheless I am satisfied to keep a Monkey Dog Cat Parrot or Thrush has no harm in it self so long as we employ our Eyes only to observe the one and our Ears to hear the other sing but the Heart is never to be made use of on so contemptible an Occasion To make so much ado about a worthless Bitch is neither the part of a Gentlewoman nor Chri●tian for a Christian's Tears must rather be employ'd for Offences than Losses If the Death of your little Bitch and the Merits of your Life were to be brought before the Governor of Zaratan I believe he would determine the one to be laughed at as the other lamented and which neither you nor I ought to take amiss because we are both sensible of what we lose but not enough concern'd for the Sins we commit It is much greater reason you should remember God that made you than a Bitch that died with you since God gave you a Soul to enjoy and an Understanding to know him but your triflng Favourite had nothing but a Tongue to bark at you and Teeth to bite you The greatest concern you ought to have for your Bitch is because you did not give her an honourable Burial by calling the Frier-Mendicants to your Assistance for then she might have had the advantage both of their Absolution and Prayers We read of Alexander the Great that he buried his Horse Augustus a Parrot Nero a Thrush Virgil a Mosquetto Comodus a Monkey and Heliogabalus a little Bird all whose Obsequies were perform'd both with Prayers and other Ceremonies And I do not at all doubt had you either heard or read of these Passages you would soon have bu●ied your Bitch with the like Pomp tho' to tell you truth I am of Opinion you did worse to shed so many Tears than they to bestow so great Magnificence on their Animals Another oversight you committed in not calling the Midwife Galliarda to your Bitches Labour nor going on Pilgrimage to St. Christophers for thereby she might have saved her Life and you your Tears But setting aside all farther Raillery I earnestly entreat you to grieve no more on such an account but at length begin to be Wise for otherwise I shall think you rather fit