for defending one against a great aduersary Thankefulnesse for not belieuing a false report Thankefulnes for lending of Money Thankefulnesse for a timely good turne Nuncupatorie or Letters of Newes Newes from Xante and Candie Newes from Constantinople Newes from Scio. Newes from Metelline Newes from Malta Newes from Venice Newes from Turine Newes from Zidon Ierusalem News from Ciprus FINIS AMOROVS LETTERS To the onely Life of his desires SWeete Soule What meane you to do with me or what thinke you I shall doe with my selfe considering your vertues which I tearme excellencies haue beene Adamants of my feruentnesse and I erected my building vpon so good a foundation that you haue compared the Sympathy of our loues to well tuned Musicke From whence comes then this retraction or how can you be so cruell to terrifie me with suspition Oh doe not thinke that I haue praised those eyes which my supposes in absence imagine to reflect a very Sunlike lustre that I haue doted on that fauor and comelinesse which in the contemplation did euer transport me beyond my selfe that I haue bene enamored on your beauty which in the gazing hath ouercome mee with admiration that I haue beene rauished with those kisses which seemed an infused life to my distracted heart that I haue bene amazed on that face which me thought was a very mappe of louelinesse and all in vaine as though I could passe ouer the remembrance of my contentment with slightnesse and frame my selfe to beleeue contraries No no Sweet soule I shall not may not nor cannot For it is not the fathers frownes nor the brothers storming that I respect but your sadnesse and teares your sorrows and complaints which me thinks resemble spots disgratiously chancing to pure linnen be therfore the patterne of your selfe Let vertue remaine vnmaimed continue constant well satisfied for my part what euer goodnes may arise frō our allowable proceedings I will iustifie To be plaine let the assurance of your desires warrant my hopes remoue my ielousie and I will lose this life rather then thus hazard the life of my life But I hope I haue encountred with an vnderstanding woman and there shall need no such expostulation Nay I am assured I haue cast my selfe into the lap of vertue which like the square Die being euery way throwne standeth vpright so that if there should be any blockes in the course of our iustifiable desires either a strong arme of policy shall tumble them aside or a noble resolution spurne them away in scorne in which assurance I will rather breathe with ioy then pant for feare and at last proclaime to the world there bee women will remember their vowes and can be loyall in spight of contradiction or calumniation Your afflicted friend To his fulnesse of Contentment MY onely Beloued I had not thought loue especially in such youth had bin capable of moderation that already you can be contented to dispute the matter with reason and to consent to the peeuish restraint of ill concluding arguments which some enuious tongue hath whispered vnto you Oh that our first meeting had receiued this restraint then with small griefe I might haue ouer passed my feare or had the fire bene kindled with artificiall degrees I might haue preuented the flaming outright But now when I am in the violence of my speed when the heart burneth with passion when my very life dependeth on the hope of your assent and that in a manner you resolued my cure and redresse to stand at a stay to dispute the matter to find cause of distasting worketh in me impatience so that I know not how to demeane my selfe Oh do not slightly passe ouer these things or with an vnkindly grauity censure my proceedings Remember I haue will and must loue and what cannot or dare not loue effect Is there a suspition of prodigality loue wil be a shepheard nay a slaue Is there a mistrust of incontinency loue will settle desire and quite extinguish all flames of vniust concupisence Is there a breaking out of folly loue worketh discretion reformeth abuses Is there a feare of want loue hath no want and contriueth impossibilities Is there a doubt of any thing else loue attaineth any thing else and facilitateth any difficulty Alas what could I not say to pleade for my selfe what would I not say nay what would I not doe to please my selfe especially when such louelinesse enamoreth Do not therfore beleeue faith and honesty bids you not beleeue myselfe bids you not beleeue these slanderous enemies of affection these brokers of misreports for I protest you shall finde it otherwise and they in the disceptation proue ashamed of wronging the innocent Let me therefore come to appease them let mee come to satisfie you let me come to iustifie my selfe nay let me come to die quickely or liue happily for this is intollerable and I cannot credit my feares nor beleeue these tormenting apparitions Your liuing dying friend To the onely hope of his Fortunes Mrs. B. MY Soules life When I beheld you first me thought nature determined to open a storehouse and shew vs some excellent workemanship and so as a man longing for nouelties I looked and gazed on the same yea with admiration commended her handiworke but after I had considered what inward vertues caused the motion of this outward woorth and louelinesse I could not but compare it to a rich casket containing within it more richer iewels so that you must not wonder at my likeing the same but rather maintaine the cause of my iudgement for bestowing it selfe on so wel deseruing a subiect nor is this flattery or idle discourse but iustice in yours and necessitie in my case for as you haue inflamed mine affection so there must be vsed som meanes of satisfaction Thus requesting you to consider me as a man whose thoughts words actions life soule and all attend you not darinng to behold the Sun of the world till they receiue comfort from the Sunne of your sauours I remaine The honourer of your matchlesse perfection To her chiefeest Contentment MY Loue and Ioy I haue read that the Emperours of Rome did commonly looke on the date and superscription of their Letters whereat if they were distasted they reiected the same and would not ouer-view them further but yet I will not serue you so by taking such state and imitation vppon mee but impute your neglect of our couenant concerning reciprocall titles to a gentle triall of my simplicitie and loue withall intreating henceforward not to let forgetfulnes or contempt put in a finger lest by intrusion or sufferance it bring in a hand and so the whole body For why should you giue me any cause of suspition when a warrant is sealed of our happinesse or assume to your selfe a counterfeit libertie of trying my patience when you know I will pul out mine owne heart before it shall entertain a thought of alteration Therefore I pray you remember
latter motiues I will come as neare your satisfaction as I can in this slender discouery Vnderstand me then that my poore experience would open the mystery of this knowledge vnto you that fortune which we so often prophanely remember is no way to bee ouercome but with Vertue that Vertue is neuer so well to be entertained as in youth that youth is but some speciall flower in a curious garden kept by extraordinary diligence till an vntimely blast perish the stalke and impouerish the beauty that beautie is like a white wall curiously trimmed which if an enuious hand do besprinkle with a few vncleane droppes a present alteration daunteth the company that company is like a strange net catching all fish vnlesse they slip into some vnknowne nookes or auoide the danger by other cunning that cunning is like holding the Woolfe by the eare which if you wrest hard you are bitten if you let go you are in perill of life that life is like a strong timbred tree which at the maisters appointment is cut downe in a small time that time is resembled to sweete smelling flowers which must be staid to please the sense and stilled to heale the body or else they will bee faire to the eye and as vnprofitable as ill disposed friends that friends are like childrens sports who for a new Counter refuse an old Angell and to go to a strange nurse forsake the nearest kindred and that kindred are like Tantalus apples which keepe their shew till they be touched but once pressed crumble to powder These be principles to my griefe experienced and may without offence be to others good embraced not that I go about to draw you into suspition but because I would preserue your remembrance toward me whereby I must needs be satisfied if you be not displeased Yours as I haue professed To his esteemed friend C.N. SIR Had not our friendshippe receiued reciprocal strength from true vertue and worthy conuersation I could slightly haue passed ouer your last deniall of trifles and quietly gathered the raines of discretion to restraine the forwardnesse of impudency or combersomnesse but when I remembred our combination and with what conditions we contracted a league especially the nature and propertie of friendship me thought there was a pleasure to name you so and a comfort to finde you so therefore from hencefoorth let vs vnderstand one another better either firmely to maintaine the cause of kindnes or lightly to leaue it vnder the colours of courtesie For the best Philosophers haue chained loue and friendshippe with equall goodnesse so that as loue can endure no competition friendship must abide no community as loue can haue but one fauorite friendshippe should admit but of one companion as loue pardoneth friendship forbeareth as loue commandeth all friendship is denyed nothing as loue entreth when he list friendship doth so vncontrowled as loue triumpheth ouer the heart and affection friendship raigneth ouer body goods no excuses no drawings backe no contracted brow no delaies no hiding the head no daintinesse or absurd ceremonies but a happy Sympathy to strengthen goodwill and an absolute power to command and readines to obey one other If then with these conditions you can bee contented to march arme in arme to the house of contentment I am yours as you mine and both to shew the world an example of happy imitation Yours indissoluble To his assured friend F. L. SIR To craue pardon were to submit and more then you looke for obstinately to offend were iniurious to you and not befitting a Gentleman To auoyd therefore the one and to eschew the other For not writing imagin want of skill for not comming suppose my businesse to hinder me for not sending thinke I could not conueniently thus you see I am willing to be excused where I am loth to be accused considering I loue you better then other men I would not distast you if it were possible especially because I haue tyed my selfe to true obseruation as you haue professed a happy contract of kindnesse In hope or rather assurance hereof I pray you present my seruice to that louely party whom I compared at our last meeting to a rich Diamond orderly inameled and extraordinarily set out to the best grace and all to shew the cunning of the workeman so that if my fortune could but conduce me to the way of entertainment it would sure exceed the worlds happines and I durst search the whole earth for AEsculapius bones to restore her eyes but if you play the truant with me to shew her this letter giue mee leaue to be my owne interpeter and let not your excellent wits triumph ouer my simplicitie Euer your owne To her tried and trusty friend WOrthy Sir Hauing relyed on your noble promises and knowing my selfe on a sure and honest ground concerning the secrets of my discontents I rested some way satisfied in the expectation of the performance and thought my selfe happy in this vnhappinesse that I had falne into the hands of so noble a Gentleman so that if there were no more in it then loue and assurance of your selfe I would haue bene silent till your owne leasure had serued you rightly to consider mee But necessities knocking so hard and so fast and conspiring with the suddennesse of time against my patience and quiet I am enforced to ouerpasse all limits and step to an earnest importunitie to request both your confidence of my honestie in this businesse and suppliment to keepe mee out of the hand of misery and despaire This humanity challenges at your hand this occasion compelleth mee to request so that if I find you no lesse then I hope nor no worse then I deserue we shall both be pleased and I haue cause to proclaime your worth euen to my best friends and thus I haue cast my selfe downe into the scale of equall consideration take vp then an vpright hand and peize me accordingly but withall I pray you let no indirect strength turne the beame aside For I haue euer loued you truly and therefore rely on your friendship at this time absolutely Not liuing without you To his assured Friend G.M. SIR I would not willingly haue our friendship receiue any maime lest my wounds grow festred for want of a skilfull Chirurgion considering I haue loued you aboue all men and found you many waies true and free-hearted yet I am afraide we doe both faile in iudgement and true vse of cōuersation For you see that that hand which hath or should couer my nakednes hath not only left me bare and subiect to cold but euer turned the worst side to the view and derision of passengers insomuch that your last deniall of trifles and glorious liberty of deceiueable speeches to please your selfe hath made me contemptible to seruile creatures and debarred my desires when I determined but a small satisfaction which with a little suppliment had had a free passage But now I see my selfe
more miserable for the want of Vertue then want of money therefore I am resolued to bee reposed and if you thinke me woorth the keeping I pray you hereafter forbeare those disloyall and palpable discoueries vndecent contradictions vnkinde denials and triuiall excuses For a small helpe will stay a fainting man when a strong arme cannot lift him vp that is falne flat on the ground I vrge not this to draw you to any inconueniences concerning your purse but to keepe vs both vpright touching our credits and so with a meere disturbed hand and troubled minde I bid you farewell but I am resolued to endure no further vnsauory iests against me for any hopes of worldly helpes Yours as I haue cause To his Honorable friend Sir G.S. WOrthy Sir Had not my life receiued heate from the Sunne of your fauours and as I may say from the first influence wherewith that Noble Lord so graciously beheld me I might quietly go forward without once looking backe to see wherefore I am despised why without offending debarred from the same But because I must and will acknowledge it and in a maner confesse my selfe all darkenesse without it yea readie to bee plunged into euery durty bogge irrecouerable danger I humbly beseech you therfore either to extend a gracious hand to stay a fainting soule from sinking or giue mee leaue to blame my misfortune that hath thus subiected mee to the violence of so dangerous displeasure whereby if you be not the more noble discontinuance shall make me worse then water spilt out of a vessell neuer to be taken vp againe For what a terror is this nay how vnexcusable for my selfe to haue you in towne and I not to visite you or so much as once to bee thought vpon yet it may be this eternall horror of gentle minds shame and wants haue onely stirred vp iealousie to afflict me without cause considering you will be still your selfe and loue me for being honest and endeuouring to make vertue proud that pouertie cannot abase her In which hope I send you my true and faithfull heart howeuer I remaine most miserable in the feare of your losse Yours in true friendship To his Honourable friend Sir T.B. WOrthy Sir In those times when Dracon the tyrant of the East aduanced himselfe to the height of soueraignty ingratitude and iniustice were punished with death so that if he vnderwent the imputation of cruelty it was not for satiating a blood-thirsty-minde but reuenging the neglect of his statutes now if examples endure longer then precepts had not wee neede in these corrupt times to stand on a guard of circumspection not to vilipend vertue lesse then the heathen nor practise impietie worse then idolaters and if they thought ingratitude worthy of death I hope we shall at least suppose it vnbefitting a Gentleman Wherefore without further complement or larger circumstances for those many fauours wherewith your plentifull hand hath euen laden me I open the exchecquour of the poore and thanke you with a publike acknowledgement of the same Yet giue me leaue considering mischances are multiplyed vpon me to resemble my selfe to a man tumbling downe a staires who neuer leaues falling till he come to the bottome And concerning your last promise vnperformed how can I be compared better then to a man lying faint and wounded on the ground whom some courteous hand seemeth to aduance but lifting him vp halfe way letteth goe his hold and so he falleth backe againe to his sore hurt therefore good Sir either giue my hope fuller wings that it may take a higher flight of security or let me die at once to auoide an euerliuing misery and this I vrge the rather because in cases of vntoward distresse there is courtesie in quicke dispatch as in the benefits of friendship there is a double pleasure in the timelinesse and orderly disposing of fauour Now my request is if any vngentle hand hath cast durt into the pure streame of your loue Oh let it not so remaine but either cleanse it your selfe or giue me leaue to pull it out what danger soeuer I incurre and if my fortune be so malignant that a slauish report hath ecchoed against my peace Oh let me know the particulars and answer for my selfe accordingly And thus assuring my selfe that I shall fall into the hands of iudgement with quicke apprehension I leaue all to fauourable construction and commit you to his hands who can aduance you to the height of your desire and merit of your woorth Post scriptum Gratia ab officio quod mor a tardat abest Your thankefull friend To his much esteemed Friend C.G. SIR I am sorry that my letters were either vnsauory for the matter or tedious for the length considering that out of the rules of ciuilitie I was to answer yours and the necessitie of my businesse to importune further then you thought good manners But such is the misery of wants and poore men are resembled to ruinous walles which euery man shunneth for feare of falling vpon them otherwise I could excuse my selfe many waies First to auoide idlenesse wherein the Persians were so obseruant that they would rather whittle stickes or rip the seames of their coate and sewe them vp againe Secondly to eschew ingratitude which is a vice vnbefitting a generous minde of all other Next to exercise my vnderstanding for to write to so delicate a iudgement and apprehensiue a wit craueth study and a carefull foresight then to better my knowledge For if I doe well your commendation can confirme me if I fall into errors your wisedome can reforme and restraine me Fifthly to make you beleeue there is some good thing in me allowable and iustifiable and therefore worthy of a small regard as noble Sir Phillip Sydney was wont to say Let vs loue him for one good qualitie for a great many haue none at all and no man hath all Lastly to know what to trust vnto for to hope for a thing which commeth not and to loue them that care not for vs be two of the liuing deaths in this world Therefore Good Sir let me not pleade in vaine that pleade so truely and vrge these reasons rather to know how your loue shall bee inlarged then my vaineglory published and if you please to second my enterprise I shall with a further cheerefulnesse proceede in my businesse if not as good fall at first and all at once as liue in expectation of more mischiefe and greater troubles Thus I bid you farewell and to fare better then I can fare vnlesse you wish me well Yours as a louer of Vertue To her newly displeased Friend M.I. GOod Sir How commeth it to passe that you draw my loue and modesty in question for my ciuill entertaining of a Gentleman last night as thogh I could do lesse then affoord him a salutation and performed too much in continuing our morall discourse Beleeue me I am not ignorant that loue is seasoned with a