Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	great_a	king_n	majesty_n	3,146	5	6.1024	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
B08389	La stratonica, or, The unfortunate queen a new romance / written in Italian by Luke Assarino and now Englished by J.B.; Stratonica. English	Assarino, Luca, 1602-1672.; Burbury, John.; Cartolari, Giovanni Battista.	1651 (1651)	Wing A4016A; ESTC R218449	91,350	186

Queen Things being composed in this maner Erasistratus went in to make his first visit to the Prince and with him Seleucus and Antipater the Princes Overseer The Room half dark was the first sign which they all three had of the little Life of the sick Prince Their Looks hastned to the Bed which now beginning to transform it self into a Coffin contained nothing else but a miserable Conjunction of Bones animated by a fugitive Soul Antiochus was defaced in that maner that having by his sickness acquired a Figure wholly different from himself he retained nothing else of his former Similitude but a lively Look in which alone as in a secure Counter-sign his unfortunate Father was reduced to acknowledge the Stamp of his own Resemblance Nature peradventure then robbing him of his native Form had with a compassionate cruelty delivered him from the residue of those Tears which Seleucus would have shed by reseeing in him his own Image But what greater misery could arrive to poor Antiochus then to be brought to that pass that it seemed but reasonable to defraud him of that weeping to which his Fathers Tears were indebted by the law of Compassion Yet the unfortunate King was not wanting to water his Cheeks in that maner That if the Overseer and Physician there present had not signified to him that he should forbear weeping he would without doubt forerunning the death of his Son have provided his dear Body of a Bath They considered him possessed by Melancholly oppressed with Silence and abstracted from Humanity Every thing about him seemed to infuse Horror and to savor of Misfortune Even the Air infected with his Fate moved up and down in the Circuit of his Chamber something that was Noysom and Deadly When the King had made much of him and frequently asked him how he did being unable to get from him any answer at all but a turning of his shoulders he weeping consulted the Physician in order to what they should do to revive this dying health Erasistratus then taking into his hand the arm of Antiochus observed musing much by the drum of his Pulse if his Soul yet began to beat the march Then he said very gravely That there wanted not causes of sadness That nevertheless in that his first visit he durst not yet prognosticate any thing of certainty That he should have thought it a most excellent remedy to cheer up Antiochus his sorrows with much merry Company and sweet Musick for he saw very well that chiefly two things were the infirmities which caused his Death to wit Melancholly and Weakness The Physician going on in his discourse so satisfied the Kings expectation that he hanging at his Mouth preserved his Words as answers from an Oracle Antipater had the Charge to give order for the Feasts and to assign the time for the Ladies Assemblies There the Queen being often to intervene not onely as chief in Authority but as principal in Beauty was the cause that the others so much inferior to her because they would not stay in the place went out with their Attires and Embellishments devised without doubt by Emulation and embroydered by Envy Antiochus his Chamber being therefore become an Epitome in which Ostentation had contracted all its Bravery and a Scene where all the Torches of Beauty were lighted the poor Prince felt himself mount miserably towards Paradise Next to Stratonica there was not a Lady though the Court did abound with extraordinary Beauties more handsome then Polibia the Wife of the Physician She whose years resembled a Nosegay of Flowers tyed by Youth surpassing the others as much as she was surpassed her self by Stratonica seemed a middle limit placed in that Company to prove that infinity which the Beauty of the Queen arrived at If I knew which way to describe a Deity perhaps I should dare to shadow those Sweets which all Eyes felt by fixing themselves on the Countenance of the Queen while she sate near the Bed of Antiochus to solace her self with the rest of the Ladies But t is madness to attempt an impossible thing Erasistratus who well understood the language of the Eyes perceiving that looks passed between the Queen and the Prince which carried and recarried arrows was not long a comprehending in what tempest the Health of Antiochus was lost Being cautious therefore in observing in less then two days he perceived that every time Stratonica appeared the poor Prince grown pale was in a sweat his Tongue trembled in his Mouth and his Heart did beat in his Breast and the Motions of his Pulse varying in that maner it seemed by the frequent beatings that he panted in calling for help Pensive Erasistratus what remedy wilt thou finde for this Princes disease now thou hast had the furtune to discover it He turns to Ashes for a fire which nothing suits better with then Silence How wilt thou be able to put thy self in order to make use of any Medicaments if thou mayst not define the disease nor speak of it O my very cruel Condition And what avails it me that thou hast brought me to the greatest cure in the world to make me get honor if thou hast put a rub in my way which may make me lose my life so spake sighingly the Physician in that affliction of Minde who could have no greater Consolation then Despair But after much uncertainty of Thought he ran to Seleucus and informing him that at length he had discovered the disease of Antiochus he tells him it is incurable Alas then answered the King darest thou tell me such unfortunate News And from what so mortal Cause is derived a disease which my Crown is not able to Cure Sir replyed Erasistratus Love is the cause of his Sickness The Prince by Excessively loving is near the last moment of his Life The King lost between Wonder and Incredulity on the one side Laughed on the other was Sad. But the Physician swearing that all he said to him was most true and offering to make it appear to his own Eyes Seleucus grew pale And who may be probably this Lady which hath had the power to Charm my poor Son in this maner that he must dye for her Love When the Prince was in health replyed the Physician Fortune one day brought him to see Polibia who was not then my Wife and he seeing her very handsom and consequently worthy of any Noble mans Love was enamored so of her that in brief he attempted all means to obtain her But it being repugnant to his Nature to make use there of force where Prayers were not prevalent he was grieved so to the heart that he resolved to go dye in Laodicea Your Majesty knows better then I if that journey was intended Melancholly afterwards augmented in him hourly with Silence hath extending him on a Bed consumed him as you see Yet his sickness peradventure would not have been incurable if by the occasion of my fatal coming to his cure he had not both reseen

mouth on her hand But thou wouldst have been certainly very happy if thou couldst with that kiss have buried thy life in one of those fair little Graves While they were so discoursing Seleucus came to them and informed with emulation now by Stratonica now by Antiochus of Demetrius his good fortune he seemed externally to be very glad of it but really within himself he was very sorry for it Men applaud but fear his Greatness who is able to suppress them Princes like Plants cannot endure the height of those Trees which can shade them Every one hates in his Companion that happiness which he fain would have himself and continually seeking to ballance anothers power comes many times to lose his own Seleucus howsoever to conceal his own resentments gave order the same morning for the making of a very Solemn Feast where by the number of the Lords which were to be present the quality of his Love which he fained to his Father in law might appear the more Glorious Tables like Tragical Scenes use oftentimes to kill noysom Thoughts with the death of Meats And those cares which sayling on the Ocean of the Minde are affraid to lose themselves being plunged in the little Lake of a foaming Christal suffer often Shipwrack Man hath no Theater more delightful to entertain all his Senses then a Table and nothing more hurtful to his health or more scandalous to his behavior The Fame of Demetrius his good Fortune and the order for the Banquet being spread through the Court the joy was universal in all Hearts especially in theirs who professed themselves the Subjects and Dependants of that King Among them Licofronia a Lady well in years and Stratonica's nurse made shew of great contentment She was at that time the greatest among those near the Queen Stratonica who had sucked her Milk had likewise sucked the Custom of respecting her as a Mother The Authority in her Face equalled that of her State No Lady spake more eloquently and none led a more unblemished Life In those joyes which were the cause of Confusions and Whisperings the two enamored Princes could very well mingle their pleasures without running the hazard of being observed for the Ladies the Pages and other Domesticks of the Court being busie about one thing or other had no time to stand still and take notice of the Actions of their Patrons But Seleucus when he had conferred some time with the Queen about the news of his Father-in-law and the preparations for the Feast retired into his usual Lodgings the better to attend the Affairs of his Kingdom Antiochus to give no suspition of himself with his being continually with his Mother-in-law did the same The Gods know with what Minde Being come to the Threshold of the Door which locked his Heart from him he turned himself to see his Life which remained there within and he saw her stand looking on him Farewel they said in that encounter of their Looks Heaven knows how I depart Love knows how I stay here Antiochus went away full of Joy but what caused his Affliction to depart from his Happiness He goes through those Rooms he wanders through the Galleries of the Pallace so transported that saluted he returns not the Civility that met with he is ignorant of the Person He answers when he is not spoken to and asks Questions when alone Love is the Wine of the Soul He muses on the world of the Looks he had received He repeats the words that followed and his destiny lastly whether to make him turn Physitian or to distemper him I know not makes him a careful Anatomist of the Body of every little Favor When he had mused enough and concluded with himself that he was very much in Stratonica's Favor he was pleased to speak to some of his Favorites to pass with the Discourse of divers things that short morning which before dinner came seemed to him an Age. Stratonica in the mean time who raved in her Thoughts no less then he resolved to appear to Antiochus more glorious that morning and to honor the Feast with the stateliest show which she could represent of her self to be regally adorned To that end being gone into her Cabinet with two diligent Chamber-Maids she sate down by a Table the Pedistal of a Looking-glass which within the Frame of enamelled Silver seemed as if it came to beatifie that Face in which there is not a Heart that feels not a thousand Beatitudes But here I confess I would fain know how to describe her The dalliances of a Pen which are delightful would not be ingrateful to me in this occasion It was too strange to the World to see a Looking-glass look in a face and a Woman run no less the danger of Idolizing then Deifying her self Stratonica could in nothing shew more her Affection to Antiochus then in looking on her self at that time Being ready to be enamored of her self she omitted to do it because she would not be a rival of her self to her Dear The Queen though she had no need to instruct in any Action her Countenance to set out her Graces more lively yet studied how her laughter might be pleasinger her looks more compassionate and her face more attractive It is the disease of all handsom Women though Nature hath enriched them with her gifts to be begging still of Art those Affectations which infect their Beauties often Looking-glasses are Magick Books to Women They learn in them those Spells which to charm a man become sweetly cruel A Looking-glass hath the Quality of a Counsellor and a Priviledge granted to no Counsellor and a Priviledge granted to no Counsellor it speaks always the truth and is always beloved While therefore Stratonica was either the Glass or looked in it the Chamber Maids began to unpin her Head and untangle the Knots of Ribbands which rowled up together in the folds of her Hair served either to bridle their Boldness or bury their Errors their Boldness or Errors committed in ensnaring Lovers Souls The Queens Hair like a deluge over-flowed her Neck and her Face to hinder peradventure with their inundation the Looking-glass from silvering its Chrystal in the whiteness of that flesh As soon as she was combed she washed her Face with a Water which distilled from many Herbs was in opinion with those Chamber-Maids of having the Vertue to make fairer the skin I say in Opinion because in reality though its Vertue had been such yet it could not do any thing in her Beauty which an infinity having filled all places had rendered incapable of any Augmentation Howsoever they began with this Water and they ended with this Water all their Painting in Stratonica's face She to so many Prerogatives had from Heaven added that of not being an Alchymist Whosoever went to spy in the secretest Repository of her Cabinet found not there a world of little Boxes not to say Crucibles in which most Women think to finde the Stone of Beauty

feel I know not I know very well that I am not the cause of this my diseases Effect No discontent afflicts me but that which proceeds from your Majesties Affliction My indisposition I hope will not encrease and perhaps the change of Air would do me much good if your Majesty were so pleased I am of opinion that the Air of Laodicea would help me very much as well for the beauty of the Scituation as the Curiosity I have to see a City built after your minde of which I hear wonders But I would not have with me there the Court My pleasure would be to go thither onely with those Lords which would please most your Majesty I am most willing replyed Seleucus to let thee go to Laodicea and I will send thee with that Honor that is fit for thy Person But why dearest Son art unwilling to have me go with thee Who better then I can have a care of thy ease and provide for thy necessities And why wouldst thou at any time desire me to suffer by staying far from thee when thou art sick I will come then likewise and my coming shall not displease thee But Antiochus replying that he requested him to let him go alone and that there was no such danger in his sickness that required the Person of his Majesty and that if he went he would consequently draw after him all the dispatches and affairs of the Kingdom so that in stead of enjoying a calm tranquillity he should be subject to the Tumults of that concourse of People which always the Court carries with it so prevailed that the King was somewhat satisfied and said he would consider a little of this resolution and do afterwards what he should be advised to for the best So they continued and Seleucus fell presently to ordering those things which seemed to him necessary not onely for the conveniency but the delight of a voyage and his abode in the City He first of all ordained so ample and numerous a Court that it envyed not the greatest Eastern Kings He allowed the Prince Gentlemen Overseers and Counsellors He declared him supream Governor of the Province and City of Laodicea He sent Letters to Doride a Castle seated on the bank of the River Licus That they should have in readiness with all speed five and twenty convenient ships for from thence to Laodicea they were to sail on the said River He then selected forty men famous in all Professions to give him entertainment and cause him to spend vertuously his time He gave him Hermogenes and Carneades the best Physicians of the Kingdom to the end that they should be continually assistant to his Person and lastly he made him a stately and an abundant provision of Moveables and Moneys He then frequently consulted the chiefest of the Court if he should let Antiochus go alone or rather accompany him and assist him It was decreed that since Antiochus desired to go alone his desire should not be crost lest his sickness should grow worse That therefore two Posts should always be kept going to give the least notice of his health Antiochus in the mean time like one that is condemned to dye when he heard any noyse in order to his journey felt his blood freize and his Vital strength fail him He would have departed alone with his Fancy and willingly have staid with his Body to adore Her that hated Him These desires passed through his minde but made no stay there As soon as he perceived them he did a thousand contrary actions and compelling the very same desire reduced it to desire his departure with violence O Tumults so much the fiercer and more to be deplored by how much they are heard to make a noyse in the Republick of the Heart So it comes to pass that he makes a War with his Senses to tame them who because he hath been too indulgent to them comes to lose the dominion he had over them Antiochus looked sometimes in the glass not to court his Face but to see in his Countenance as it were in a living Dyal what Figure the hours of his Life were still at To see buried his lively Looks in the double grave of his concenter'd Eyes and perceive in the barrenness of the mountainous place of his meager Jaws the freshness of his Cheeks caused it cannot be denied in the unfortunate Lover those Motives of sorrow which Nature cannot choose but be sensible of when she sees her self decay by little and little But drawing from the centre of weakness that force which is the inseperable companion of a generous Minde he joyfully smiled at the sight of his miserable Image comforting himself not a little that from the yellow colour of his face he argued that his Death began to vary The Physicians hastned his departure to change Air for they every day saw him irrecoverably grow worse He himself because he knew he went to die and desirous to die as soon as he could solicited the necessary things though he could scarce stand on his Legs At last the day before that of his journey being come he was not wanting to disquiet himself at the rising of the Sun which enlightned to speak so the vigil of his death He made himself remember how that Light was the last which he should ever see under his Fathers roof And as one who was sensible in his Heart that he was dying he called all the Family to him which served him in the Court to every one of whom as it were in the nature of a Will he began to bequeath Moneys and give Rewards Both Sexes wept bitterly with a melting Affection to see with what love their afflicted Prince by dispencing his gifts took his leave of them That day all the Court was as sad as if one of the greatest of the Kingdom had been dead Seleucus the poor King although it mis-became his royal Grace could not forbear weeping in that common Affliction The Cup of an Eye is too narrow a Vessel to retain the Tears which the grief for a Son does afford His Physicians and Friends were not wanting to comfort him and perswade him to the hopes of his recovery and welfare but he either resolved not to give credit to their Promises or had not the patience to expect the Fruits of them Now the amorous Prince had spent all the day in taking his leave of his Friends and the Ladies He was onely to be dismissed by his Father and his fair cruel Mother But knowing that both the one and other would accompany him the day following a little way out of Damascus he retired into his Lodgings no less weary of what he had done then dejected with melancholly There the unfortunate Prince recollecting well himself fell a thinking in what a sad condition he was and when he had been a good while immoveable he brake out sighing Go to poor Antiochus this is the last Evening Be thankful to the Gods for all the favors