Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	woman_n	year_n	young_a	182	4	5.8912	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A20899	Ars aulica or The courtiers arte; Arte aulica. English	Ducci, Lorenzo.; Blount, Edward, fl. 1588-1632, attributed name.	1607 (1607)	STC 7274; ESTC S109963	73,863	320

not mortall and that to the dutie of seruice so much is pardonable as may for the pleasure and seruice of his Prince bee done in some things if not honorable at least without such note of infamy as in a person at full liberty could not be born out without passing censure or incurring blame Which these are cannot particularly be pointed at but the iudicious Courtier by himselfe may well conceiue them and chiefly since the worthinesse and waight of all actions consisteth in the verdict and opinion of men So that by what is commonly blamed in other which doe serue either for denying with too great seuerity or too too gently granting and assenting to the prince he may easily know what arts of seruice are truely to bee denied and wherin securely he may please and giue satisfaction to his Lord. But when they are vnbeseeming and vnfit to be put in practice whosoeuer doth more esteeme his honour and reputation before the which vertue excepted there is nothing amongst men more estimable than his Princes fauour ought at least if not stoutly and boldly yet reseruing tearmes of modesty and regard due betweene parties of vnequality deny to be actor or minister therein annexing to this deniall notwithstandding all obsequious and humble duty that words can afford for iust excuse to smooth and sweeten as much as may be the bitternesse which commonly doth follow such repulses resoluing firmly in his mind that for what soeuer hope of benefit to stand immoueable in his commendable purpose to doe or act nothing that may be preiudiciall or staine to his reputation hoping rather that this might finde such force in the Princes minde of a well inclined nature a magnanimous generous spirit that euen inamoured with the approoued goodnesse of his Courtier hee will fashion him vnto his loue and that which should haue beene a cause of hate may bee the beginning of good will and fauour a thing which though rarely happening yet is it possible and sometimes comes to passe Yet if this repulse take his true and vsuall course so that the Prince indeede conceiue a hatred against the courtier either because hee found him not resolute and prompt in that seruice as he expected or for knowing of it better then himselfe so by consequence more woorthy of his fortunes or his place or else as hath been said before because grauiorum facinorum non solùm ministri sed etiam conscij quasi exprobrantes aspiciuntur Then he perceiuing the Princes slight regard and little fauour it should be fit to take such course for remedy as we heereafter in such cases shall set downe CHAP. XXIIII Of the subsidiary aids and meanes to obteine the Princes fauour HItherto hath beene declared as I suppose so much as a prouident carefull wise Courtier may worke of himselfe to the end to obteine his Princes fauour And surely if he shall obserue these precepts seasoned with that discretion which the effecting of an enterprise for many respects so difficult and laborious doth require it should be much and very strange if he procure not what he hath proposed since this alone and none other seemeth the beaten way which most securely will leade vs to the possession of anothers fauour the which yet if it should be thought impregnable and inuincible by our proper forces it is necessarie to call in aid vnto this assault some voluntarie succours seeking to procure that victorie by others meanes which by our owne labor hardly we could haue purchased to the end we let slip no meanes or leaue any thing vnattempted which may seeme profitable any wayes vnto our purpose Who therefore by himselfe can not attaine his Princes fauour let him procure it by some other aids but it is requisit that these stand graced with the Prince Wherefore there are three sorts of persons who seeme apt vnto this vse the Princes kindred his friends his fauoured seruants Of all these we must distinctlie speake apart to the end the profit may be knowen that may be drawen from them and what aduertisements are fit to be obserued that his labor may fruitfully be employed and bring forth that effect which is desired it being notorious that all things saue vertue only may be either well or ill vsed wherfore it is needfull to be skilfull in the arte and vse of euery one so that they may be vsed conformable to that our chiefest scope doth most require It must not therfore be thought superfluous to entreat of these meanes or helps because in the practise there do occurre many things worthy speciall consideration which being vnknowen their aid should be to smal profit or greater detriment of the Courtier which shall vse them And because the instrument of greatest force and efficacie in all reason is that of the kindred as most neere vnto the Prince both by the law of God Nature in the second place is that of friends and in the last the Courtiers or fauoured seruants in the same ranke wee will treat of them beginning with the kindred first CHAP. XXV Of the helpe which may be drawen from the Princes kindred for procurement of his fauour IT is a work of nature not only to loue those vnto whom by neerenesse of bloud she hath conioned vs but those withall who are by them beloued wherefore if the Prince by this disposition bee not induced to entertaine the Courtier into his seruice at least the fauour of these kindred may giue occasision thereof who vsing him in affaires which happely they haue in cōmon with the Prince may by little and little insinuate and promote him into his seruice or finally they may prefer him by intercession and mediation which iustly may be held of so much efficacie as the condition of the party requiring the same is thought of worth wherby the Courtier oftentimes in verie short space attaines to that which by a long course of seruice by himselfe he should hardly procure besides to bee sheltred vnder the fauor of the kindred is a cause of his speciall reputation in the Court through the abilitie hee may haue by meanes of them to hurt his enemies and helpe his friends and confidents This then is profit which by the fauour of the Princes kindred may with great likelihood bee expected But because so it hath pleased God almost in all things to make an intermixture of the good with the badde and of profit with his contrarie that he might bee the more commendable who with discretion can make a difference or wisely make his choice wee must heerein consider some things the which either neglected or not aduerted may turne to the great preiudice of the Courtier Wee saie then that the Princes kindred are either men or women and both the one and the other are either yoong or of competent age As for the women if they be of tender and fresh yeeres by familiarity with them first groweth suspition which of it selfe were cause sufficient of the

Courtiers ouerthrow and chiefly by the occasion which is offred to the enuious to misinterpret actions in so perillous a matter and by suggestions still to giue greater cause of doubt Besides this howbeit I presuppose the Courtier of honorable carriage and friend to right and therefore well resolued in himselfe if wee must abstaine from other mens wiues or women it is much more required towards those who are naturally conioined to the Prince in bloud yet for all this experience maketh it too plaine that euen the most austerely minded most firme and strongly setled in their purposes haue oftentimes giuen place to the enticements of alluring occasions and surely he who knowes not how much the practises of a beautious Dame may entender and mollifie the hardened minde of a man not yet surcharged with maturitie giues signe of little knowledge in the worldes affaires chiefly adding to natural inclination a little spurre of ambitious vanitie seeing also that a man may easily bee enticed by the occasion that fortune giues so neerely to intrinsecate himselfe with persons so farre aboue the reach of his condition to strengthen and vnite the hopes which happely by such like meanes they may conceaue as we see in Seianus who by the entrie and opportunitie which the familiaritie of Drusus wife gaue him grew so confident to plot the death of the innocent husband how to obteine her to his wife and to be successor in in the Empire of Rome things which most easely though most wickedly fall in imagination but most speciall where the woman may be the instrument whose honour once obtained all things else are easily entreated for Tacitus saith wel Foemina amissa pudicitia alia non abnuerit But on the other side albeit men should haue their mindes well fortified with continencie so that in themselues as of their proper motion there were no feare though they as armed with such weapons may lawfully presume some thing of their valor the occasions which by the women themselues are offered and the necessity which many times they do impose are specially to be considered the examples are infinite but that of Siluius in Tacitus who was so farre beyond all bonds compeld by the vnbridled head-strong lust of Messalina that in the end he was enforced to take her to wife almost vnder the nose of her husband Claudius the Emperor may serue as manifest enough in my conceit for a sufficient document and warning vnto others But if through age there shall be such a ripenesse so that there be no cause of feare in that behalfe their fauour then in reason is much to be esteemed considering how profitable vnto infinite the protection and authoritie of Liuia was with Augustus and Tiberius both Now as concerning the menkinde if they be of yong yeers and subiect to the errors which the heat of youth and vnexperiency of manie things doth bring with it it is not amisse to abstaine from conuersing with them or at least not ouermuch for if they performe any thing iudiciously and praise worthie it is attributed to the good disposition of their nature and euery one a common accident to those of high degree and Fortunes fauourites applaud and giue the praise alone to them but if they chance to slip awrie or erre in any thing stepping aside as yoong men are accustomed presently the blame is laid either on the badde example or corrupt counsell of such as were most neere to them in conuersation and familiaritie and this is the damage and the danger both The profit on the other side is of no great consequence because through want of yeers they neither haue knowledge and lesse authoritie to doe any fauour or rather they dare not especially in matters of any moment naturally a kinde of bashfulnesse ouer-ruling youth with a reuerence vnto their elders and to their betters that in their presence scarsely they will moue their lips or finde their tongue and this wee see in practise amongst yoong nephewes and yoonger brethren but chiefly with the children themselues and most of all if the Prince their father be by nature seuere and sterne Wherefore it followeth that the grace of the male kindred of riper yeeres is truely profitable because these by their loue which is presupposed ioyned with their age know how by their authoritie can be beneficiall and fruitfull in their fauour to the Courtier howbeit enuy no lesse attending on their fauor than it awaiteth the Princes grace it shal be necessary to consider how this may either be eschewed or els what armes the Courtier must put on to confront the same that it proue not an impediment to his desseignes But this heereafter in his fit place shall bee largelie handled CHAP. XXVI Of the helpe which may be drawen from the Princes friends THe like profit and vse may bee hoped for and expected from the Princes friends as from his kindred the reasons seruing almost both alike though these in some things may be thought to be preferred in others yet they come behind for touching affection it is most cleere that those in fauour and beloued of the kindred especially neerest in blud are more respected then the fauourits of a friend because they incline more and desire the good rather of those then these Wherefore to haue familiarity to bee vsed kindely and held in trust and confidence with the kindred doth much more easily lay open the entrance to the Princes fauor But on the other side the friends come neerer in equalitie than the kindred doe especially than those of vnderage whereof it followeth that they speake more confidently and with lesse securitie are their requests and fauours denied the which is often done without anie great difficulty vnto the kindred Wherefore the friends in these performances are to bee preferred as daring more and lesse vsed to denials or repulse Whereupon their aid chiefely consists in intercession to obtaine some fauour or to preferre into seruice But in this particular you must obserue and beware that these friends bee not the Princes equals or in any thing but principally in quality of state Concurrents or Competitors because in this case such protection would cause the Courtier to bee suspected and mistrusted of his Prince the example is at hand that no man who by the mediation of a Cardinall is receiued into the seruice of any other of them and continueth the dependancie protection of his preferrer shall euer bee in perfect confidence with his Lord. The reason heereof is grounded on the conformity or equality of their interests in the Papacy which make them liue more heedily and full of ielousie so that the seruice of any man dependant vpon an other cannot satisfie them nor but breed great suspition the like may be vnderstood of other Princes with whom the fauour done for their sake who are either their concurrents or like in estate will neuer bee profitable to the Courtier Wherefore these friends must be of a