Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	dispute_n	eminent_a	great_a	13	3	2.1104	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A50472	The memoires of the Dutchess Mazarine written in French by her own hand, and done into English by P. Porter Esq. ; together with the reasons of her coming into England ; likewise, a letter containing a true character of her person and conversation.; Mémoires. English	Mazarin, Hortense Mancini, duchesse de, 1646-1699.; Porter, P.	1676 (1676)	Wing M1538; ESTC R19039	48,247	134

And instead of breaking my Head with Questions about the People and Affairs which concerned her self she entertained me only upon the account of my Journey and other like things wherein none but my self was concerned I thought my self bound in Civility to put her upon the Discourse of her Friends and Relations in Rome and Paris since she of her self would not start the Question I found that Subject was not unpleasing by the Attention she gave to what I said up n it she spoke civilly of all People and with a great deal of Respect of her Husband but this Discourse held no longer than I continued it She rarely asked any Questions and those only which civility seemed to oblige her to Neither could I mark in her either Curiosity or Inquisitiveness Wondering at her cold Indifference I had a mind to put her upon the Discourse of the things I thought most sensible to her but with the Respect that was convenient touching her Fame and her Fortune But I could never hear from her the least Complaint Me thought I read something of Sadness in her Countenance when her Reputation was in Debate But for all other Matters she seemed to think that blind Goddesse Fortune a fitter Object of her Contempt than Anger Several Persons of Quality of both Sexes came in while I was there and among others two or three Gentlemen that were of good Wit and ●arts The Ladies began to talk of the News of the Town though the Dutches took neither sides part she discoursed with the same Heat as others did the Subject of their Conversation was a Dispute that was betwixt two eminent men whose Interest was equally Great and who shared most part of that Country betwixt them She entred upon the Particularities which were told her of the Causes of their Division weighed every little Circumstance with such nicety and insight as if she had not had two Millions for her Portion The Gentlemen whom I before mentioned altered the Discourse and turned her whether she would or no to talk of State-Affairs as most worthy of her Attention and Contemplation After every Body had passed their Verdict she was obliged in Complaisance to speak hers those that differed in Opinion from her Vigorously urged their Reasons the Dispute grew hot She never defended her Opinion but with Reasons of which she made those that had not declared themselves against her her Judges And I assure you I never heard any speak so well and with so much Submission This is what I remarked in this my first Visit and what I have observed since is as followeth It is not to be discerned of what Humour she is and to speak properly she has none at all for every individual Person that converses with her has cause to believe she is of his She is not Obstinately bent upon any thing and it is astonishing to see her quit even those Divertisements she seems the most pleased with as freely as if she were weary of them Whence it clearly appears that she is impetuously carryed to no one thing and shews that this easiness of her Temper and Manners does not proceed from Levity or Fickleness but rather from a profound Indifference for all those various Fancies which troubles and disquiets the minds of most People Her sweetness and Humanity which above all adorne and grace her Sex appear even in her most Robust Pass-times she is as much Mistress of her Temper upon the Road or a Hunting as in her Closet The Calmness and Equality of her Soul is proof against all those Occasions which do unsettle and transports all others She laughs at all those Fidle-faddle fooling Amusements to which others abandon themselves Some other Women have don the same things that she she does But she does them another way All People converse in her House with a familiarity full of Zeal and Respect the which nevertheless would be to her very incommode and troublesome if she were less good or less obliging Though she be naturally very reserved and loves to be retired yet generally all the Hours of the Day are publick hours with her The most private Recesses of her House are as open to those that come into it as the most common and therefore it often happens that people come even to her very Closet Dore when she least expects any Her Domesticks that see none come that are not as much devoted to her as themselves have insensibly used themselves to let all come in and go out with this kind of frankness and Liberty It is credible she would have it so since they permit it for she is the Life and the Soul of her Family and her Vnderstanding her Civility and her obliging wayes are infused unto those that compose it proportionably as each ones Capacity is fitted to imitate them There is no Convent where they lead a more regular Life then in her Womens Apartment whither a Page dares not approach upon pain of my Ladies Displeasures which is somthing more Terrible than the Rod. And for the Men they live together with that Peace and Vnion so much the more Commendable as it is most rare and seldome to be found in great Mens Houses She alone of all Women can play with her Servants without lessening her self Her Presence doth banish their presumption without taking away their freedome and it is not to be Comprehended how she can give them so much Awe using them with so much Familiarity unless it be because she has so much of Grandure in her Carriage and all her wayes There are they that think it strange that she should delight in these kind of pastimes but who ever will take the paines to look a little nearer he will soon find that they are not the delight of Heart and that those she uses are but so many several wayes of dispelling those afflicting Thoughts which the present state of Her Fortune Croud's upon her There is no private Gentlemans house more orderly and regular than hers and as her pensions is very inconsiderable to make her subsist with that honour she does she must needs be admirably skill'd in oeconomy and her Acts of liberality and Magnificence shew that her good management proceeds from an extraordinary strength of Reason She neither much admires nor despises any thing She never shewed the least disgust against the Country nor any thing that is in it she loves the Recreations Customes and Ceremonies that are there in use as much as if she had been born and bred there others would assist at them with marks of Complaisance Constraint and Destraction which would easily distinguish them from the rest of the Company but she comes to them with that Familiarity with that Presence and freedom of mind so unconstrained so constant and so agreeable that a stranger that should chance to see her there without knowing who she was would esteem Savoy most happy in the product of so charming a Creature She avoids speaking of her own Greatness and Riches with the same care and industry as others seek out occasions to make people sensible of theirs It depends not of her way of living amongst them but that the Women of that Country that see her may think themselves as great Ladies as she and may think Chambery as Noble and as Pleasant to live in as Rome or Paris and her Conversation there as edifying and as agreeable as ever she enjoyed else-where Never did great Lady take less care to make her Inferiours see the Difference that is betwixt her and them and if they do not forget it she is the more beholding to their Discretion and Respect for she takes little pains to put them in mind of it She judges of her self according to the Idea or Opinion she has conceived of her own Merit even in the most rious Applications of those that speake to her and she as often takes just and due Commendations for gross Flatteri s as other VVomen take Apparent and Hypocritical Adulations for true and deserved Praises It is a great signe that her Moderation is sincere because she is Obstinate in nothing and being urged will acknowledge truly whats●ev●r is good or fair in her She is in nothing more unjust than in not allowing what she has of Admirable and Excellent to be more than passable and ordinary Though by sad Experience she has found that there is very little Truth Honesty or Probity in the World that she has just cause to think ill of all mankind yet such is her Naturall goodness that she never applies this her bad Opinion to any one in particular she first excepts from the General Rule all those in whom she perceives any Appearance of Vertue but is much surprized when she has reason to believe they did not deserve that Exception When she is obliged to say somthing she thinks may displease a litle to sweeten and take away the sharpness of the Sense she speaks it so as if she had let it fall by chance but she thinks her self no way wronged to believe that she sayes nothing but what she would say it is more natural to her to be secret than to other Women not to be so Moreover she is equally skil'd both in well speaking and holding her Tongue Though it be a great Truth that those that know how to speak well know not how to hold their Tongues and those that can be silent can seldome speak very well A Gentleman of very good parts and understanding that had seen her and known her a great while assured me that she is very much altered from what she has been formerly in so much that you would hardly know her again but it is not to be comprehended that she should be so much changed without allowing that she must always have had a prodigious stock of the Choisest richest and most lasting Natural Beauty that ever Woman had If her misfortunes have contributed any thing to her Merit never bad Cause produced so good an Effect I am Sir c. FINIS

was so ill advised as to force me to entertain a Woman that I could no way approve of This his Quarrel about a trifle made me open my Eyes and to think better of what course I was to take My Friends had the goodness to represent to me the little Security I must hope for from a man of that Caprice in a place so Remote and where his Power was so absolute That after what had passed betwixt us I was a Fool to imagine I should ever be suffered to return from thence That he had sent my Jewels before for no other reason but to confine himself for ever to that his Government where he shou'd not be obliged to give any account of his Conduct as at Paris and if ever I should have need of my Friends I should be so far from them that they could do me no other good but unprofitably to wish my Condition were better These Considerations that were but too apparent and too well grounded made me take Sanctuary once more at Madam the Countesses the night before Monsieur Mazarine was to begin his Journey fearing lest he would have used Violence to have forced me along with him I was so full of Perplexity and Distraction to see my self anew reduced to this Necessity that I forgot to bring away my small Jewels which were left me for my daily use and might be worth about fifty thousand Crowns as they were the only Treasure I had left Madam the Countesse was so provident as to ask me for them as soon as she saw me by that means I had time enough to send for them away He came the next day to know what I meant Answer was made him that I meant two things the one Not to go into Alsatia the other That he should restore me my great Jewels which he sent before unto Alsatia and which were the first cause of our Breach For Alsatia he would have been contented to excuse me since he saw no great likely-hood of being able to perswade me to it But for my Jewels he would make no peremptory answer therefore as soon as he left us Madam the Princess of Baden carried me to Mons Colberts to beseech him to seize them into his own hands He believed I ought not to be refused that Favour They were forced to be brought back and they have remained ever since in his hands Now the Question was What should become of me Monsieur Mazarine left me my Choice of going to live at the Hotel de Conty or at the Abbey of Chelles the only two places in the World he knew I hated mortally and that for very just Reasons The Oppression of Spirit under which I lay would not give me leave to determine which I should chuse of those two places equally odious to me I was fain so let others chuse for me and the reasons I had against the Pallace of Conty being more prevalent the Abbey of Chelles was preferred before that of Conty Here it was in this Solitude that I had time to make Reflections upon the Duty which my Friends told me was incumbent upon me to desire a Separation of Goods in favour of my poor Children before Monsieur Mazarine had spent all which at last I resolved to do Though I was convinced in my own Sense I ought to sollicite it yet the particular Reasons I had to referre all this to Monsieur Colbert's Judgement whom I caused to be sounded upon this matter and finding him averse to it put a stop to all Some six months afterwards Monsieur Mazarine coming out of Alsatia made me a Visit as he passed that way to oblige me to discharge two young women which Madam the Countesse had given me since his departure for Alsatia I did not believe my self bound to satisfie his Desires in this particular being I knew it was for no other reason he desired it but out of his Animosity against her His Resentment of this Denial put him upon petitioning the King to have me removed from thence to some other Monastery upon I know not what pretexts But the real Truth was because the Abbesse of Chelles who was his Aunt treated me civilly and that I was well enough satisfied with my abode there He prevailed and though that Abbesse was as she had cause much offended and gave as favourable an account of my behaviour there as could be desired Yet Monsieur Le Premier came to tell me That I should oblige the King in going to the Nunnery of St. Maries of the Bastile And Madam De Toussi came with six Guards to conduct me Some time after Monsieur Mazarine going into Britany came thither to see me but was presently out of all Patience because I wore Patches for I had some on by chance that day and told me he would not speak to me untill I had taken them off No man ever made his Demands with such unreasonable haughtiness as deserved rather to be refused than granted and chiefly when he believed that Conscience was concerned and that also was the reason I would not put off my Patches to shew him it was neither of my Belief nor Intention to offend God with this kind of Dresse After Contesting a whole hour about this in vain he at last began to tell me his mind notwithstanding my patches and pressed me vvith as little success to go vvith him into Brittany I vvas then more inclinable to go to Law vvith him than to follow him I obtained leave of his Majesty to commence my Suit having been Conducted to Him by the Princess of Baden But Monsieur Colbert vvho was very unwilling to consent to it for Reasons that admitted of no Answer in any other Conjuncture put along delay to it until at last Madam De Coursel being put into the same Monastery with me I obtained by the favour of some Friends that she had at Court leave to Commence my Suit As she vvas a very beautiful person and of a very pleasant humour I had Complaisance enough for her to joyn vvith her in playing some Tricks to the Nunns The King has been told a hundred ridiculous Stories about it That we used to put Ink into the Holy-Water-Pot to smut the good old Nuns That we used to run through their Dormitory at the time of their first Sleep with a great many little Doggs yelling and yellowing and twenty other such Fooleries either altogether invented or much exaggarated As for example having desired them to let us have some water to wash our Feet The Nuns consulted amongst themselves to refuse us what was necessary and to find fault as if we had been put in there to observe their Rule It is true that we filled two great Chests that were over the Dormitory with Water and not taking notice that the floor was ill joynted the water run through and wet all the poor Nunns beds If you were at that time at Court you will easily remember that this accident was represented