Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	word_n	world_n	worthy_a	276	4	6.3413	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A54745	The mysteries of love & eloquence, or, The arts of wooing and complementing as they are manag'd in the Spring Garden, Hide Park, the New Exchange, and other eminent places : a work in which is drawn to the life the deportments of the most accomplisht persons, the mode of their courtly entertainments, treatments of their ladies at balls, their accustom'd sports, drolls and fancies, the witchcrafts of their perswasive language in their approaches, or other more secret dispatches ...	Phillips, Edward, 1630-1696?	1685 (1685)	Wing P2067; ESTC R25584	236,029	441

envy your beauties and the most perfect your merits yet are they silenced by your charms nay sickness it self is render'd captive by the puissence of your allurements though if it wound you now it is but with the wounds that you have made and doubtless it hath seiz'd on you hoping that by possession of your fair body it may both change its name and nature so that it is pardonable both for its love and for its subtlety Neither do I believe that it is you but your rigour that it aims to destroy be you less cruel and the disease will asswage otherwise you will be in danger of your life Though doubtless the consideration of destroying so many marvels will stop his designs Death oft-times make use of love against us so that he will have a care of your life as of his keenest weapon wherewith he brings us men under his command making us willing to yield to his stroak as the refuge of that misery into which your cruelty oft-times throws us This I know by experience as being your Slave To his Mistriss despairing of her Favour though unjustly offended against her Madam WHat avails it you to make me feel your Thorns when I have gather'd your Flower Why do you blame in words him whom you have honour'd in effects and blame him without cause who cannot praise you but unjustly Moderate your severity seeing that it offends you more then it hurts me I have protested a thousand times that I never was faulty as you thought me though it was to no purpose you believing otherwise It suffices for my satisfaction that I know the truth and that I have essay'd all the ways in the world to make you understand it though in vain Adieu most fair but yet too cruel if you leave me triumphing over the most worthy subject in the world I leave you vanquish'd by a more faithful Lover A Letter of Consolation to a Mistress upon the death of her Servant Madam I Believe that if you have been the last who have understood the death of your Servant that you will be one of the first and indeed the onely person who will in your soul celebrate the sad remembrance of him a much longer time than any of his Friends not that his merit doth oblige you for I well know that all merit loses its esteem in your presence being so perfect as you are nor your Piety though it be a thing natural to you with your other vertues but only his love and constancy as being both equally incomparable Neither do I believe that either of these do oblige you at all for though his love were very great that could not be otherwise seeing you were his object no more than his constancy whatever it were so that to say the truth I know not what can urge you to bewail his loss unless it be the goodness of your inclinations being as mild and sweet as you are fair and consequently full of Piety I should weep my self for having the least thought to condemn your tears yet give me leave to believe that when you remember that the fires proceeding from your eyes did help to consume his life it would make them weep for sorrow Now what punishment will you impose upon your Beauty if there be nothing in you that hath partaken of the millions of pains which he hath endured for your sake Certainly you ought to suffer Shipwrack in the Sea of your tears unless the God of Love have need of you for one of his Altars Since you are the only Idol to whom all mortals will present the sacrifices of their Servitude And as for my self who have undertaken to succeed to the merits and constancy of your deceased Servant I will not give assurances in words for deeds themselves shall always be my sureties Dry up your tears stop your sighs I summon you to this duty in the behalf of Reason it self knowing that his Commands are to be obey'd Madam when I first put Pen to Paper I had a design to comfort you but knowing the greatness of your resolution against all sorts of accidents I chang'd my intention to assure you of the love and servitude that I have vow'd to you under the title of Madam Your most humble Servant Letters SIR I Know 't is to 〈◊〉 purpose to dispute of Civilities with you 〈◊〉 li●● in the light of the world and are so well stor'd with the best words to express them I know too well that the excellency that dwells in you begets at the same time desires to preserve as well as to acquire your favour I have but one grief that I have not Soul enough to judge of those perfections that dwell in you which though I can never attain rightly to conceive yet I am confident no man can honour them more so that should you call me your Idolater you could not strain a word that could so rightly as that express my respects toward you Sir Complements are very rare with me and therefore I request you to believe me when I say that they must be very strong cords and dangerous commandments that shall remove me from your service I know I can never deserve such violent proofs of my obedience it shall suffice me that I doubt not of your love as being Sir Your most devoted Servant To his Absent Friend SIR IF I thought Fortune could be so much our Friend I should request her to make us inseparable that I might be no more oblig'd thus to write since the entertainments that distant friends do give and take by Letters is but a picture of those between persons presents for to say the truth a Letter is but a Copy of that which makes us more curious of the original a Glass that shadows to us stronger desires to enjoy the person that is absent The very lines I receive from you carrying with them the effects of joy to hear from you and of a passion to be more near you that I might not still be forc'd to write that to you which I would willingly protest and find occasions more and more to testifie what I am and ever shall be To his Friend complaining of Neglect SIR THE Friendship which you have promised me and the service which you have protested to me force me now to demand the reason of your silence I question not but that you will want no excuse to plead for your self But I entreat you to believe that unless they be very lawful I shall not cease to complain of you You do well to lay the fault sometimes upon your urgent occasions sometimes upon the indisposition of your body but all this is no satisfaction to me Confess but your fault crave pardon and you shall have it presently granted This is the way to preserve eternally the friendship of Your most humble Servant The Answer SIR YOu do me so great a favour in complaining of me that I am constrained to give you thanks instead of taking

you knew with what impatience I expect a reply charity would oblige you to set at rest the disquiet mind of c. My resolution is to possess my self always c. There is none more interested in your concernments nor more participates in any satisfaction of yours than he that is by reason as well as inclination c. Could my endeavours take effect or my vows accomplishment you should not long reckon me in the number of your unprofitable servants for I am most assuredly c. Sir I know your high merits and the nobleness of your condition hath much encreased the number of your servants yet I will say this that though you joyn them altogether yet they are not so much as I am c. You may easily know without being a Prophet the dear esteem I have for you and may believe without any further assurance that I am c. It remains in you to allay the discontent of my mind by giving me some imployment in your service which may witness the passion that I have to maintain the quality of c. Which obliges me in the midst of mine ill fortune to have recourse to prayers that you would honour me with your commands that by my obedience to them you may be forced to believe c. Desiring to make you see rather by effects than words how much I am without complement c. I shall give you new proofs thereof by the continuance of my respects and the title which I desire to bear of c. For though you may have a more powerful yet you never can have a more constant and faithful servant c. I shall expect the favour that I may not bear the unprofitable title of c. Neither shall I be contented till I have given you full testimonies thereof as being c. Desiring nothing more then to live and die c. Though I shall not regard that while it is for your interest as being one that makes it his publick profession to appear in all places c. Only be confident of this that I am more than any man in the World c. For I shall never be capable of apprehending any thing else but how to testifie my devotion to be c. For she participates very much of that passion which I have to serve you c. In which list I am bold to write my self c. Among all my felicities I count it not the meanest the liberty which you are pleased to give me of stiling my self what I most truly am c. And find occasions more and more to testifie what I am and shall ever be c. Sir if you will permit me to imploy my soul thus you may still enjoy him who is c. I am preparing to forsake all the affairs of the world to entertain you and testifie how much I am c. You know very well that I am but a rude Courtier but my words carry truth with them while I affirm that I am from my soul c. To his Mistriss recover'd from an Ague Madam YOu may very well admire to receive a Letter from one whom long before this time you might have imagin'd to have been dead a Patient which the Doctors gave over and who himself acknowledges no Physick could have cured but that of your fair presence which carried such a soveraignty with it that my Ague presently left me and nature in spight of my disease took strength to her self and rais'd me up in my bed to make this clear acknowledgment of cure to your Beauty Madam I now find my self rid of that distemper and am perswaded I shall sooner for the future suffer under the violence of a Feaver than of a shivering Cold. I could not but express my scars to you with my thanks hoping that you will take care to preserve what you have again created Be pleas'd to interest your affection for my safety and to defend a thing whom your goodness hath made so dear to you as to be ever Madam c. To his retired Mistriss Lady YOu carry your eyes like one of those that wear a Veil not a look of yours but preaches chastity and you are so confirm'd in a general contempt of manking that if Fortune her self should come to present you with a Husband you would scarce go out of your Closet to meet him in your Chamber You speak of nothing but Religion and Cloisters and all your entertainment is discourse of mortification Lady not to dissemble my thoughts to you I much fear that a beginning like yours so full of restraint will afterwards be followed with a progress of too much liberty and instead of the precise demureness that you pretend some Servant or other will read a new Heresie in your face I shall not at this time send you studied Oaths or Protestations I know some Moons must go about before you will acknowledge the error wherein you live For the present I shall only desire you to take care of your health if not for your own yet for the common good of those that love you of which number he desires to be the first who presumes to honour himself with the Title of Madam c. To his Mistriss being disoblig'd by her LAdy I did always expect this favour from your ordinary goodness that I might promise my self that you would have a little kindness for me 't is true that I was pre-inform'd of your humor but I could hardly believe it or that you would disoblige those that shall do you service and friendship I would not now complain of you but that I should give you advantage by my silence that I had not discovered the subtleties of your deceit which is so malicious that I have at once stript me both of love and hatred and I am now impatient till I have acquainted those that yet profess their service to you how that of all the Ladies I ever knew you are the most unworthy of affection In the mean space I beseech you to believe that those endeavours which you have employ'd to disoblige me have absolutely taken away my will and desire to be Lady c. To his Mistress acknowledging the kindness of her Letters LAdy I am no less oblig'd to you for your Letters then for your entertainments though I have not judgment enough to censure their goodness I am not so unfortunate as not to tast of their sweetness I must entreat you to belive me and not to forbear to make me happy with them You know not but that I may be-come a Ciceronian being instructed by your eloquent Copies which if I cannot reach to my self I will at least shew them to those that shall render them excellent by their imitation For certainly without flattery all nature had need put her self into action to find out your equal Lady I I do with all seriousness acknowledge that it is too great an ambition for me either to stile my self

a strange Woman among them which of what House or Quality soever she be either will her self be despis'd or bring envy upon you Sir You have not answer'd my question but instead thereof have made a kind of sophistical digression I shall therefore come now more close to the matter the young Lady is the daughter of M. N. to whom her Mother left a very fair Estate besides a very fair Portion which her father intends to bestow upon her Sir You have told me so much that you make my mouth water I know her Father well he is a Gentleman of worth and honour the young Lady is Fair Wise and Rich which are three good qualities And truly I do not so much mislike her but that if I thought I had so much interest in her Affections as that I should be master of them for asking I would run the hazard of sending one packet Surely Sir you must know something I am told that you do not speak the truth dissemble the matter as well as you ca● Believe it Sir nothing to any such purpose has been so much as mention'd by me Those that report this are persons that take all occasions to babble and urge the least appearances of a thing for certainties and certainly this rumour comes from my frequenting often the places thereabouts or because that now and then I go to see her Father Sir That may be very likely but 't is very incredible but that there must be something in it you know there is no smoak but there is some fire Truly Sir I do not wonder at all at it for we must give the world leave to talk But do you believe you should do well to engage your self in a business of such importance on which not only your fortune but the content of your Parents depends Be confident Sir that I was never counted a rash person yet I have such an assurance in the paternal care and wisdom of my friends that if any advantage did present it self in my behalf they would not stick to quit some part of their content for my good Sir You have fully satisfi'd me and if there be any thing begun already I wish you all happiness and content Several Addresses of perfect Courtship Lady Who are inspir'd with all the praises that the world can bestow upon your sex I am come to offer you my service which you may at present only call obedient hoping that your better knowledge thereof will stile it faithful Truly Sir I think that fame is more favourable to me then truth seeing that all that which is publish'd concerning me proves so false and therefore you have reason to present me your feigned service in obedience to my feigned merits Madam You wrong your Beauty which being so great can work no other designs in men but those of truly honoring you Sir This confirms my former opinion for seeing my self without Beauty of which you cannot be ignorant I must necessarily be unprovided of all those Services that depend thereon Madam I fear I should sin against the truth should I put my self to the trouble to make you see them it is a thing so visible of it self that by endeavouring to demonstrate it by words I should presume to assist your judgment Sir I find that you are easily able to overcome my Rhetorick but not my Belief Madam I am confident to gain this advantage by showing the proofs of my Obedience that men will condemn your misbelief to authorize my true sayings Sir Such kind of words as these are usual in this age which promise alwayes a great deal of Sérvice but performs little but outward Complement Madam 't is very ordinary to swear the same words but a thing very extraordinary to make them afterwards appear to be truth But that which may assure you that I do not walk the common path is That I know your Beauty to be such as is onely to be serv'd by knowledge not by imtation which makes my Design glorious and my Enterprize noble that waits on such an Object Sir I know not how you can call this an Enterprize since your Design is more easie then courageous and a noble Enterprize hath always difficulties that opose it Madam My resolution to serve you is so magnanimous that there can no ill fortune attend upon it for if you do make the end happy it will be always an honour to my courage to have and to pretend to your accomplish'd Graces Sir Since you do establish your content upon unhappiness your hopes cannot deceive you much for if it do deceive you it will be in making you happy Madam I can easily count it an honour to serve you as being oblig'd by your merit and my obedience Sir I shall never counsel a generous soul to stop at such Designs since his resolution is so low that infallibly both the Design must fail and Repentance ensue Madam That which animates me more to do you service is this That I shall receive this honour from the Enteprize that there is no small difficulty in performing it with that perfection as it requires Sir If you do give such proofs as you offer of service you shall be acknowledg'd through the whole Empire of Love Madam Since I have the courage to pretend to the merit of your fair Graces I shall have a care to keep my self constant and certainly it behooves me there being so strict a watch over me The Departure Adieu dear Beauty it behooves me to be banish'd from you that I may dispose my Soul to esteem you the more one way by the loss of your presence another way by recollecting the thoughts of past happiness Truly Sir you have very great reason to make use of your Fancy when you would praise me for Fancy and Thoughts will forge imagenary Merits where your Eyes and Judgement will finde the contrary Madam You do very well make use of a new custom I believe you would perswade your self to speak false that you might have an advantage over one that breath nothing but the truth is it possible that such a vanity should make you offend that which I honour and that which you possess Truly Madam you will gain nothing by it but the pleasure of fine words Sir Call them rather true and then you will speak truth your self You continue Madam acquiring new glories to your perswasions by maintaining Paradoxes against your Beauty which will be alwayes perfect in it self though not in your opinion Sir If I am perfect I do know my self perfection being the knowledge of ones self since therefore I do know my self I may be permitted to stile my self very poor in Merits But you would perswade the contrary to exercise your parts knowing that it is a greater honour to vanquish the Truth then to sustain it Madam The design which I have to serve you may give you testimony sufficient of that power which you have to dispose of me In one moment I

saw you enjoying a thousand wonders and in a moment I was sensible of a thousand torments of Love and being capable of nothing but Admiration methought that this Beauty was in the world for no other end but deserve and for me to be obedient to I see no reason Fairest that the belief which I have taken with the clearest judgement that I have of your Beauty should be swallow'd up by your misbelieving opinions Sir They say that contrariety doth animate persons the more and therefore I shall be silent that I may hinder these unjust Praises perhaps you will have pitty on my seeble resistance and will be weary of conquering so easily Madam 'T is rather my self that ought to keep silent being so lately in an astonishment but as for you Madam it would be a sin against your fair lips whose words are Oracles Then pray Sir why do you not believe that which I say for all Oracles are truth But why will you Madam by perswasion hinder the belief which I have taken with sight and judgment For I will believe your Beauty against all your unbelief and undervaluings and also continue the Service which I have sworn you against any thing that shall hinder it My Attempt also hath promis'd my Design that future Ages shall admire your Merit and my Servitude and record us as the most faithful Lovers in Cupid's Dominions I fear Sir that time will alter this opinion Madam Time can do nothing against that which Love hath ordain'd he is the master of Fortune and an enemy to change But wherefore this superfluity of speech It is better to believe by the force of Words then by the force of Perswasion and therefore at this time it is more necessary for me to demand of you Remedies for this remove the apprehension whereof makes me endure this present pain Sir It behooves you to forget your Design and you will avoid the Pain that will follow and also the Repentance No Madam I will keep the memory of my Design eternally and shall always see painted before me the glory of my Enterprize Adieu great Beauty you shall never cast your eyes downward but you shall perceive lying at your feet him that admires you nor ever elevate your Thoughts to your deserts but you shall remember your conquest Adieu Fairest for now I leave the Sun and go to seek out Night and Sorrows cell The Return I come Madam to receive as much content from your chearful Countenance as the loss of it hath yielded me sorrow I know the Good will now be as great as the Evil since they proceed both from the same cause Sir I do believe that you do receive the one as well as you have suffer'd the other but I beseech you Sir to tell me from whence that pain proceeds which you say you do endure for as to my self I do believe that the pleasure of Thinking is greater then that of Seeing Madam It is permitted me to think but experiment forbids me believe that opinion for I receive from my Imaginations only a good imagination on the contrary the sight cannot err But it is said Sir that the presence only contents the Eyes which are Mortal but that absence exercises the Soul which is Divine and therefore if that did any way afflict you you might easily avoid it It was some good Genius Madam that took me yesterday from your eyes that I might the better value the happiness of their lustre and avoid the extremity of that pain which the loss of them made me endure causing in me such an impatience to return to you that every hour I staid from you seem'd an age Sir That which is foreseen is easily avoided Now you perceive whence the evil that you speak of proceeds yet the little occasion that you had to fear it makes you find it out willingly therefore blame your own desires which have procur'd you this evil and do not complain on Destiny which is always just Madam My Will is not the cause for then I should fly my self and come back to you but Love to abuse me the more gave me the Desire and hinder'd the Effect Though I believe it to be one of his Destinies for it behooves a true passion to overcome the violence of all opposition by a diligent constancy Demand of Assurance Fairest It is now time that I should require from you some Assurances of your friendship because I cannot grant you that authority which you have over my Affections but by the service which I am willing to render to your power The proof whereof depends upon opportunity and the opportunity occasion upon your commands swear to me therefore by your fair Eyes that you love that which they have subdu'd that I may boast my ruine to be a mark as well of my glory as of your puissance Do you think Sir that that which is ruin'd by the Eyes can ●e belov'd by the Heart Dear Lady why should you not affect that love which you your self have created Would you cause it to be born and dye at the same instant that would be the action of an inconstant soul. It is you Sir that run the hazard of being call'd by that name for if love proceed from merit you will soon finde some one more worthy your Affection then my self Madam I shall never seck the means to find any more signal worth then that which you possess it is permitted to those who are less worthy to have such jealousies but not to you whose Beauty hath such a supereminence above all others in the world No Madam take counsel of your own worth and it will shew the fair Election which I have made how impossible it is to be changed the design coming from the judgement of our Soul which being Divine cannot erre But Sir they say that love is very subject to knowledge of which you being so well provided 't is to be fear'd that you may make use of those agreeable diversities that Love doth every day present to unfaithful Lovers Madam May he banish me from his Empire if I have any other Will then what is agreeable to his He sees that I am yours so his Power and my Will are agreed my Designs concur with his Commands Sir I believe that Love himself could not know how to force you to love He fear'd Madam lest he should be made himself a slave He hath no force able to resist your puissance unless it be your own therefore since you have this Glory entire to your self to have vanquish'd all the world there remains nothing now but that you should vanquish your self Sir I cannot do any thing else but vanquish having neither Will nor Thought which doth not render obedience to that duty which I have taken to be the perfect guide of my life Madam You oppose your Designs to my Prayers to the end this refusal may redouble my passion and cause me to persist more eagerly in the pursuit of your tempting

Graces yet it suffices that the pain and difficulties of the acquest will remain the glory of my conquest If it be your Difficulties Sir that can create your Glory why do you complain Madam I do not repine at the pain but at your unkindness that will not acknowledge it but if that be not so I do conjure your fair Lips to produce some assurance of your friendship Will Sir then I do promise your servitude to acknowledge it for the price of your constancy and believe this that as my true passion doth onely oblige me so there is no adjuration shall have power over me Madam I wish that I could transform my whole will into words to render you sufficient thanks for this favourable promise but since I am not born capable of such a happiness I will only say this That he to whom your Favours are so liberally extended shall pass the rest of his days in your Service The Trial. Madam If the opportunities of serving you were as ordinary as those of speaking to you I had rendred you as many Services as I have spoken Words I dare not confirm them always with the same testimonies and since I am so little capable of persuasion I fear I shall discover my Ignorance and not my Servitude Sir I am of opinion that the custom of Persuasion is only used there where Truth is wanting and therefore seeing you have always protested the Truth you ought not to make use of it else you will make your Oaths and my Credit as indifferent as your Words and Assurance would be The cunning of a Discourse shall never do me such an ill office as to make me believe an untruth for I am ignorant of the custom and invention thereof which shall cause me not to seek out such an Enterprize to the end that being warranted from the disturbance which I find between the resolution and the event I should not give you for an assurance that the whole world seeing so noble a Design as mine will judge that I owe an eternal perseverance to it Be advis'd Sir to conform your minde to your words for time will give us always opportunities to distinguish between those that are feigned and those that are true Truly I must make this promise in answer to your promises that if I do not finde them true you will repent to have so vainly lost them for I shall always reserve to my self this power either to reject or accept of what you tender me Why should your belief take any ill impression of your servant I do call love and your beauty to witness that I should always preserve my self the same Well Sir I shall content my self at present with your drift notwithstanding I shall expect better assurances Madam Be confident that you shall draw as much fidelity from your conquest as I expect glory and happiness from my subjection But I desire to know if your Promises shall be as faithfully performed as your Oaths Much more Madam for I can give you but weak words which my ignorance furnishes me withall whereby you work effects worthy a glorious death Will you then die for me Sir No Madam for that which would be a death to others would be a life to me provided it came from your hand Live then Sir and take heed that your repentance do not kill you 'T is well Madam I shall live your Servant and live long through the worth of my preserver Full Satisfaction Madam The day wherein I had the happiness to present my Soul and my Affections to you and then you made au entire conquest of all that was within me I had also a thousand jealousies of misfortune for the fairest conquests are always cross'd and my small merit did not permit me the honour of your friendship But since that you and my good fortune have deceiv'd my apprehension therefore by how much the more extraordinary the Affection is which you have testifi'd to me so much the more carefully shall I keep the Obligation which I have to serve you Not me Sir I never could in the least pretend to your Favour that is a happiness which I swear to you my Desire doth rather enjoy then my Hope and there is reason for it seeing you the possessor of so many rich Qualities I see Madam that I shall possess nothing hereafter since I must take all from my self to bestow it upon her for whom I could willingly suffer my self to be robb'd of all Sir When I shall enjoy that happiness the gift will be much greater then all I can yet call my own Teach me Madam how I may swear and you shall see what use I will make of it to assure you that I am wholly yours and that that which Love gives you now can never be taken from you but by death Sir Be confident that I shall diligently seek all opportunities to deserve you and receive these words for the most infallible that ever Faith it self swore Madam I shall live always at your devotion And I Sir living to you shall live to my self Then Lady let us tye our souls together with this kiss And now this enterprize having given me so much joy as to think of it I will go sacrifice my silence to your judgement An Amorous Complement Lady Wounded by your beauty I will acknowledge it a mercy if you kill me not yet rather murther me then vulnerate still your creature unless you mean to heal what you have hurt giving me a remedy from the same instrument wherewith you pierc'd me your Eye having shot lightning into my breast hath power with a smile to fetch out the consuming fire and yet leave my heart enflamed Sir Although where I am not guilty of offence I might justly deny to descend to a satisfaction yet rather then I would be counted a murtherer I would study to preserve so sweet a Model as your self and since you desire that my Eye which hath enflamed you should by the vertue of a gracious Smile make you happy in your fire It shall shine as you would have it disclaim that Beam that displayes it self upon another Object The Discourse of a Gentleman bringing his Friend into Company Gentlemen Knowing that you were here I am come to have the honour to see you and to kiss your hands and moreover on the confidence of your favour I have taken the boldness to bring this Gentleman along with me being a person that deserves much respect The Company Sir It is a singular contentment to us to see you you and your friend shall be always welcome our devotion is dedicated wholly to your service But as for these Ladies we cannot so dispose of them it lies on your part and his to insinuate your selves into their favour The Stranger Replies Gentlemen I durst not have so far presum'd thus to thrust my self into your company being altogether unknown to you if this Gentleman who is my friend had not put me under the