Selected quad for the lemma: england_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
england_n	lord_n	privy_a	treasurer_n	2,576	5	11.0263	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A27303	The luckey chance, or, An alderman's bargain a comedy as is acted by their Majesty's servants / by Mrs. A. Behn.	Behn, Aphra, 1640-1689.	1687 (1687)	Wing B1744; ESTC R23614	58,912	83

THE Luckey Chance OR AN ALDERMAN'S Bargain A COMEDY As it is Acted by their MAJESTY'S Servants Written by M rs A. BEHN This may be Printed April 23. 1686. R. P. LONDON Printed by R. H. for W. Canning at his Shop in Vine-Court Middle-Temple 1687. To the Right Honourable Laurence Lord Hyde Earl of Rochester one of his Majesty's most Honourable Privy Council Lord High Treasurer of England and Knight of the Noble Order of the Garter My Lord WHen I consider how Ancient and Honourable a Date Plays have born how they have been the peculiar Care of the most Illustrious Persons of Greece and Rome who strove as much to out doe each other in Magnificence when by Turns they manag'd the great Business of the Stage as if they had contended for the Victory of the Vniverse I say my Lord when I consider this I with the greater Assurance most humbly address this Comedy to your Lordship since by Right of Antient Custom the Patronage of Plays belong'd only to the great Men and chie●…est Magistrates Cardinal Richelie●… that great and wise Statesman said That there was no surer Testimony to be given of the flourishing Greatness of a Stars than publick Pleasures and Divertisements for they are says ●…e the Schools of Vertue where Vice is al●…ays either 〈◊〉 or disdain'd They are seoret Instruitions to the People in things that 't is impossible to insinuate into them any other Way 'T is Example that prevails above Reason or Divin●… P●…cepts Philosophy not understood by the 〈◊〉 't is Example alone that inspires Morality and best establishes Verine I have my self known a Man whom neither Conscience nor Religion c●…'d perswade to Loyalty who with beholding in our Theatre a Modern Politician set forth in all his Colours was converted renounc'd his Opinion and quitted the Party The Abbot of Aubignac to shew that Plays have been ever held most important to the very Political Part of Government says The Phylosophy of Greece and the Majesty and Wisdom of the Romans did equally concern their Great Men in making them Venerable Noble and Magnificent Venerable by their Consecration to their Gods Noble by being govern'd by their chiefest Men and their Magnificency was from the publick Treasury and the liberal Contributions of their Noble Men. It being undeniable then that Plays and publick Diversions were thought by the Greatest and Wisest of States one of the most essential Parts of good Government and in which so many great Persons were interested suffer me to beg your Lordships Patronage for this little Endeavour and believe it not below the Grandure of your Birth and State the Illustrious Places you so justly hold in the Kingdom nor your Illustrious Relation to t●…e greatest Monarch of the World to afford it the Glory of your Protection since it is the Product of a Heart and Pen that always faithfully serv'd that Royal Cause to which your Lordship is by many Tyes so firmly fixt It approaches you with that absolute Veneration that all the World is oblig'd to pay you and has no other Design than to express my sense of those excellent Vertues that make your Lordship so truly admir'd and lov'd Amongst which we find those two so rare in a Great Man and a Statesman those of Gracious Speech and easie Access and I believe none were ever sent from your Presence dissatisfied You have an Art to please even when you deny and something in your Look and Voice has an Air so greatly good it recompences even for Disappointment and we never leave your Lordship but with Blessings It is no less our Admiration to behold with what Serenity and perfect Conduct that great Part of the Nations Business is carry'd on by one single Person who having to do with so vast Numbers of Men of all Qualitys Interests and Humours nevertheless all are well satisfi'd and none complain of Oppression but all is done with Gentleness and Silence as if like the first Creator you cou'd finish all by a Word You have my Lord a Judgment so pier●…g and solid a Wisdom so quick and clear and a Fortitude so truly Noble that those Fatigues of State that wou'd even sink a Spirit of less Magnitude is by yours accomplish't without Toil or any Appearance of that harsh and crabbed Austerity that is usually put on by the b●…isy Great You my Lord support the Globe as if you did not feel its Weight nor so much as seem to bend beneath it Your Zeal for the Glorious Monarch you love and serve makes all things a Pleasure that advance his Interest which is so absolutely your Care You are my Lord by your generous Candor your unbyast Justice your Sweetness Affability and Condescending Goodness those never-failing Marks of Greatness above that Envy which reigns in Courts and is aim'd at the most elevated Fortunes and Noblest Favourites of Princes And when they consider your Lordship with all the Abilitys and Wisdom of a great Counsellor your unblemisht Vertue your unshaken Loyalty your constant Industry for the Publick Good how all things under your Part of Sway have been refin'd and purg'd from those Grossnesses Frauds Briberys and Grievances beneath which so many of his Majestys Subjects groan'd when we see Merit establish't and prefer'd and Vice discourag'd it imposes Silence on Malice it self and compells em to bless his Majesty's Choice of such a Pillar of the State such a Patron of Vertue Long may your Lordship live to remain in this most Honourable Station that his Majesty may be serv'd with an entire Fidelity and the Nation be render'd perfectly Happy Since from such Heads and Hearts the Monarch reaps his Glory and the Kingdom receives its Safety and Tranquility This is the unfeign'd Prayer of My Lord Your Lordships most Humble And most Obedient Servant A. Behn PREFACE THe little Obligation I have to some of the witty Sparks and Poets of the Town has put me on a Vindication of this Comedy from those Censures that Malice and ill Nature have thrown upon it tho in vain The Poets I heartily excuse since there is a sort of Self-Interest in their Malice which I shou'd rather call a witty Way they have in this Age of Railing at every thing they find with pain successful and never to shew good Nature and speak well of any thing but when they are sure 't is damn'd then they afford it that worse Scandal their Pity And nothing makes them so through-stitcht an Enemy as a full Third Day that 's Crime enough to load it with all manner of Infamy and when they can no other way prevail with the Town they charge it with the old never failing Scandal That 't is not fit for the Ladys As if if it were as they falsly give it out the Ladys were oblig'd to hear Indecencys only from their Pens and Plays and some of them have ventur'd to treat 'em as Coursely as 't was possible without the least Reproach from them and in some