CVPIDS MESSENGER OR A trusty Friend stored with sundry sorts of serious wittie pleasant amorous and delightfull Letters What Cupid blushes to discouer Thus to write he learnes the Lover Newly written How Not loue Thou Shalt loue Printed at London by M. F. and are to be sold by Francis Groue ouer against the Sarazens head without Newgate 1629. The Contents A Letter inuiting his Friend to write to him Fol. 1 The answer A Letter excusatory for not writing Fol. 2 A Letter to a friend vpon the death of his wife Fol. 3 A comfortable Letter vpon the losse of an husband Fol. 4 A Letter of griefe for friends absence Fol. 5 A Letter for the entreaty of good will to a young Gentlewoman ibid. Her Answer Fol. 7 Another Letter to his Mistris desiring her loue Her answer Fol. 8 To a beauteous Lady vpon a long affection Fol. 9 Her Answer Fol. 10 To a iudicious Gentlewoman Her answer Fol. 11 To a Lady with whom he fell in loue seeing her at a solemn Triumph Fol. 12 Her Answer Fol. 13 To his Mistris that was of wanton and light cariage Fol. 14 Her Answer Fol. 15 A desperate Louer to his quondam Mistris Fol. 16 Her Answer Fol. 17 A Letter of true kindnesse Her answer Fol. 18 A Letter of counsell from a discreet mother to her daughter newly maried Her answer Fol. 19 A Letter in case of wrong supposed to be commited Fol. 20 A Letter from his Seruant to his Master Fol. 21 An answer of a Letter for curtesie and fauour receiued Fol. 22 The Fathers Letter against the Sonne Fol. 23 The Answer Fol. 24 To his mistris quondam hauing spent all his meanes vpon her in prosperitie he being imprisond she forsakes him Fol. 25 To his friend lying long sicke Fol. 26 A Letter wherein is recommended to a Nobleman from his inferiour the conditions and behauiour of a person Fol. 27 The Answer Fol. 28 A merry Letter to his friend in London Fol. 29 A Letter gratulatorie Fol. 30 A Letter to his silent friend The Answer Fol. 31 A Letter expostulatory for breach of promise Fol. 32 To his friend salue to pouerty ibid. A Letter of a Gentlewoman to a Gentleman with whom she fell in loue and His Answer Fol. 33. 34 A Letter from a Chapman in the Country to a Tradesman in London with The Answer Fol. 35. 36 A Letter of thankfulnes for kindnesse shewed to his son Fol. 37 The Answer Fol. 38 A Letter to his Mistresse in the Country that desired newes from the Citie ibid Her Answer Fol. 40 A wooing and comfortable letter to a noble widow that had newly lost her husband Fol. 41 Her Answer Fol. 42 Another to the same purpose Fol. 43 Her Answer Fol. 44 A Letter of discontent after the falling out of Louers Fol. 45 To his angry Mistris Fol. 46 A Letter from an Apprentice in London to his father in the Country ibid. A Letter from a husband to his wife Her Answer Fol. 47. 58 A Letter from one kinsman to another in London or any other place Fol. 49 A Letter to request the borrowing of hundred pounds Fol. 50 The Answer Fol. 51 A Letter to his friend for breach of promise Fol. 52 The Answer Fol. 53 To his friend a Mercer Fol. 53 A Letter to an vnfaithfull friend ibid. A Letter for admittance into seruice Fol. 55 To his loue vpon a long and fruitlesse affection Fol. 56 To his sweet heart in the Country ibid. A young mans Letter to his enamoured mistris Fol. 57 Her kinds answer Fol. 58 A Letter of Request ibid. A Letter of discontent vpon a deniall of a Request Fol. 59 To a Court Lady Her Answer Fol. 59. 60 CVPIDS MESSENGER DELIVERING SVNDRY Excellent Letters A Letter inuiting his Friend to write to him THough the want of your swéet societie my worthy Friend doe occasion reason of griefe yet it lies in you euen by the often mission of your desired Letters to mitigate that sorrow and since the distance of place doth denie vs our accustomed conference and orall communication let the passage and entercourse of our Letters supplie that defect Now our tongues cannot be heard let vs be frequent in our writing and let not the change of places alter our mindes Therefore that you might not iudge mée negligent of our fore passed amitie or forgetfull of our olde friendship I haue tooke boldnesse to visit you with this letter desiring you to be no niggard in this kinde of friendly remembrance I wish to you all prosperous fortunes as to my selfe and continue my loue to you with all sinceritie But lest the proliritie of my Letter grow to the length of an Oration I set bounds to my writing and remains Yours in boundlesse affection C. D. London Febr. 4. 1629. The Answer A Letter excusatory for not writing I Am afraid iudicious and kind sir that it is with me as it is with that vnfortunate Pylot who falls into the Gulfe of Scylla while he indeauors to avoid the danger of Charybdis Incidit in Scyllam cupidus vitare Charybdim I confesse I haue receiued Letters from you and seeking by not answering all this while to conceale the rudenesse of my vnpolished penne from the deepe discerning eye of your iudgement I doubt whether I haue not made shipwracke of your good opinion who happely imputes my silence vnto my negligence of your loue or to my obliuion of your passed kindenesses But I beseech you kindest Sir to haue thus much confidence in disposition that no confused Chaos of cogitations no fullnesse of imployment shall banish your remembrance out of my thoughts though I bee neuer so busie I make answer to those I little regard I dare scarce write to you I am possessed with such a due reuerence of your worthinesse when I am most at leisure Yet finding in my selfe how farre greater a crime it is to neglect duty then to lay open my imperfection to a well wishing friend I haue chosen the latter to make tender of the former wishing that as you equalize graue Nestor in wisedome so you might parallell him in the longaeuity of a happy life I humbly surccase At your command E R. Newcastle Iune 2. 1629. A Letter to a friend vpon the death of his wife THe acquaintance I had with your vertuous wife honest friend makes me feele the sense of her losse for hée that can be insensible of the losse of a good woman is an alien to nature and a rebell to all morall vertues I may truly say she was praise-worthy for her many good parts but they were but good prouisions for the world to come Giue me leaue to aske you why you mourne I meane not why you mourne outwardly which is an old custome and a matter of formality but why doe you mourne inwardly which is the true sorrow you will say I say for the losse of a companion Indeed you doe well for as a man was solitary before God gaue
to doe it hauing oftentimes beene taught that of fairest speeches ensueth the foulest actions I cannot condemne your purpose because I intend the best of your dealings and howbeit I am in no point so restrained but that in all reasonable sort that may bee any accesse may be granted so when you shall by farther notice sufficiently make apparent that with modesty I may doe it I shall bee willing so farre forth as my years and present being may minister occasion in any thankfull requitall that may bee to yeeld my selfe vnto you Till which time I returne your token againe and my hearty thankes vnto you by this bearer Your friend as one vnacquainted hitherto may be I. P. To a beauteous Lady vpon a long affection HOw vnpossible it is to keepe heat from fire being that very nature of the element I referre to your best iudgement and how neare a spirit of that nature is the loue of the heart kindled by the eye of beautie I leaue to your kindnesse to consider since then such is the force of true loue as cannot be so smothered vp in silence but that it must burst out into words and actions either to gaine comfort or to suffer death pardon fairest of beauties that Patient that in anguish séekes ease and deny not your help in the excellency of the cure your beautie hath moued me your excellent teature your comely gesture your swéet behauiour haue all concurred to make mée vnhappie vnlesse your hand helpe me and though the hurt be more felt then séene yet is it not deadly if you be kinde loath I am to bee a begger without desert and yet loue will stoop a high spirit which by the bond of due honour hath sworne me your true seruant in which Title vnder heauen shall bee my hearts greatest honor and in the honor of whose fauour shall be the height of my worlds happinesse in hope whereof praying to the highest Power in the heauens to blesse you with all felicitie on earth I rest Your deuoted and not to be remoued P. E. Her Answer SIr how easie it is to quench a fire in his first kindling experience can deliuer in the diuersity of hearts loue being not the least that is like to doe much hurt I wish you to take order with your wits lest it bring your braine to an ill comfort And therefore in placing of affection bee not too far from discretion lest the perswasion of selfe will be an abuse of a better sense If I had skill in Physicke I would prescribe you helpe for your disease but being a simple woman you must haue patience with my plainnesse who not knowing how to doe you good and vnwilling to wish you hurt leauing you to a better Paradise then in the torment of an idle passion I rest in what I may Yours as kindly as I find cause A. N. To a iudicious Gentlewoman Deare friend THe forcible effect conquest which your beauty hath wrought in my heart constrained me in your kindnesse to place the hope of my fortune beséeching you so to equall your outward excellence with an inward perfection that faith may not haue feare of fauour where humilitie shall guide the course of affection I should estéeme my selfe the most vnhappie if I should giue your eares any distast by my suit but if it light within the line of your liking it shall begin the garden of my paradise so vnder heauen séeking no other star then the guide of your grace to lead my heart to the ioy of my life I rest neuer to rest till I euer rest Yours all or mine owne nothing at all E. C. From Madrid March 26. Her Answer I Am sory to thinke that a shadow of dust should haue that force in conceit to rob reason of his contents for beautie is but a shadow which if your eye hath found in my face let it goe no further lest it doe wrong to my will in hurting your heart my inside I hope is farre from disgracing any good in my outside and both altogether vnhappy if they haue beene any occasion of euill but least I may seeme discontent either at the matter or manner of your writing I discharge you of the burthen of that feare by the kinde acceptation of your affection which though I cannot answer as I would yet as in good reason I may I will thinke and consider of which if it fall out to your liking be not vnfaithfull in your loue in hope whereof I rest Yours wholly if at all A.B. To a Lady with whom he fell in loue seeing her at a solemne Triumph VVHen I saw you excellent Lady viewing the Triumphs looking vpon your eyes mee thought Heauen opened to discouer a greater glory and Angells tylting there tooke from my iudgement all things else done out of that blessed compasse but mine amazement became my death and my death must be your Triumph for how euer the conflict appeared your glances which were the wounding weapons strucke through my weake sight and slew my heart though armed in the strongest sort of my bosome I am not so happie as to bée a prisoner for there were hope but so infortunate to die in despaire that to haue the monument of my remembrance erected in the Temple of your pittie is the vtmost aime my blisse lookes to the cruelty of faire ones hath pronounst my iudgment and saith it is impossible to affect where they haue not séene Oh see me in this sorrowfull paper you fairest of adored beauties and let that sight moue affection affection knowledge knowledge pittie and pittie that worke of the highest which is onely to doe miracles so shall crueltie giue himselfe the lie proue you a goddesse and make mee the happiest of men a trumpet of your renowne and glorie My loue is like your goodnesse without parallel my faith shall goe beyond that loue and my seruice crowne both with an infinite merit This is my sacrifice which if you accept excellentest of faire beauties and innobled with all rich perfections I liue if otherwise my ioy is I perish by so excellent a creature Prepared to suffer I. S. From Dover Iune 9. 1628. Her answer SIr he that of a light blow with the eye makes a deadly wound at his heart is either too vnworthily faint or much too superstitious in the signes and planets for mine owne part my knowledge assures mee I am free from any such malignant influence I confesse a weake appetite vnguarded with iudgement nay oft stumble and receiue knockes nay sometimes fall to vtter ruine and to giue to that weaknesse the gouernment of my fortune were to rob my selfe of all good mens pities In my worst mischances the ils I cause not reason cannot blame me if I cure not since what is without me nothing appertaines vnto mee but you will make my beauty guilty poore nothing how pittifully art thou slandred which being a meere Chymera of imagination hast not any thing in thâ—â— but the
labour so nothing but great disdaine will grow from my vexation So hoping you will make that hope desperate which is without all hope of vertue I rest Your chast friend P. C. Rowel March 7. A Letter of true kindnesse IF dame Nature had béene pleased to haue made my bosome transparent your eies should see the secrets of my heart which if it haue any happinesse in the world it is in the hope of your fauour but amazed with the admiration of your worth I know not what to say of your worthinesse but onely this that finding the due of your desert exceeding my capacitie in commendatiō I wil leaue the excellencie thereof to more honourable inuention and thinke Fortune enough fauourable if shee prefer my seruice to your commandement presents I haue none worthy the sending but the heart of my loue at your emploiment which being nothing more then what you will I rest euer one and the same Your seruant W. W. Her Answer IF your speeches be led by your thoughts it is needlesse to desire a transparencie in your bosome for when as the heart and the tongue agree together then mens protestations are followed with reall performance words of admiration trouble discretion in construction and eloquence in loue hath not the best commendation inuentions are ready where fancy is studious but where wit is vertuous there is will gracious your present most worthy of all acceptance cannot be better requited then thankfully remembred and if conceits meet in a mutuall content what comfort may follow I leaue to the heauens fauour and so I rest Your friend A. W. A Letter of counsell from a discreet mother to her daughter newly maried MY good daughter thou art now going into the world and must leaue to be a child and learne to be a mother and looke to a familie rather then to the intertainment of a friend and yet both necessarie in their kinds finde the disposition of thy husband and in anie wise moue not his impatiencie let thy kindnesse bind his loue thy vertue his comfort thy huswiferie his commendations auoid tatling gossips yet be kind to thy neighbours and no stranger to thy kindred be gentle to thy seruants and not ouer familar haue an eie to thy doore and a locke to thy chest keepe a bit for begger and a bone for a dog cherish the Bée that brings home honie and make much of the Cocke that makes much of his Chickens take heed abroad of the Kite and within of the Rat pray to God for his blessings on all thy proceedings and haue a religious care of thy modest gouernment and rather for charitie then praise giue relife vnto the poore if at any time thou hast need of any good I can doe thee be assured whilst thou hast a mother thou hast a friend so hoping in thy kindnesse thou wilt take care of thy counsell beseeching God to blesse thée that I may euer haue ioy of thée with my hearts loue to his tuition I leaue thée Thy most louing mother R. S. Her Answer MY good Mother I haue passed the yeares of a childe and know the care of a mother and therefore for your kind aduise for my cariage I thanke you and what benefit I will make of your lessons you shall finde in the fruit of my obseruation I am but newly come into the world and God knowes when I shall goe out of it and am yet scarce warme in my house and therefore hardly know yet how to goe through it For me husbands humour if he alter not his nature I doe not doubt but wee shall liue as Doues while care and kindnesse shall continue content my seruants shall find me both a mistris and a friend my neighbours no strangers and idle gossips no companion Thus in the duty of loue with thankes for your motherly care in prayer to the Almighty to blesse me with his grace and to liue no longer then in his loue and yours I take my leaue for this time but rest during life Your most louing daughter P. E. A Letter in case of wrong supposed to be committed SIr your Letter is more troublesome to my conceit then sauouring as I am credibly led to thinke of that your wonted most noble disposition vnto me I haue receiued With what supportation and vnaccustomed griefe I haue retained them I referre to any one guiltlesse accused and suspended from so high sauours as formerly by your bountie to me haue beene performed simply to bee coniectured Long was it ere I could satisfie my selfe by any accesse that might be to profer my selfe or these humbled Letters vnto you yet neuerthelesse weighing how farre different those new occurrents were from those your ancient fauors I surmised with my selfe that the instigation procéeded solely from others hardly perchance bearing those graces wherein I stood with you and becomming thereupon my bitter enemies the sinister deuise whereof stood vpon me wholly to ouerthrow or impugne For which hauing no other nor better meanes at this time then these submissiue lines I purpose them vnto you as solicitors of your former liking confessing if in any waies I haue erred vnto you as I will not vtterly seclude my selfe from euery error it was but as a young man rather by ignorance then of malice any way to be intended as touching any other obiection let me but craue pardon to haue accesse vnto your presence and then iudge as you finde me two waies are only left my accusers to my face or mine owne simplicitie to cleare me This is all I require and so much I hope you will not denie me wherewith resting in due acknowledgement of that your former bountie I humbly surcease this 15 of Decemb. 1628. Yours to command T. C. A Letter from a Seruant to his Master SIr my humble dutie remembred vnto you and to my good mistris You may please to vnderstand that I haue dispatcht the businesse vnto Master C. for the monie you sent mee for and haue giuen him an acquitance for the same and according to your good remembrance vnto 〈◊〉 I haue bought for you twelue gallons of the best Sacke and eighteene gallons of Claret and fifteene yards of fine Broad cloath and thirtie ells of fine Holland all which I hope by Gods grace shall come vnto your hands I haue sent you also here inclosed your Bill of parcels and their seuerall prices I wrote formerly vnto you for certaine commodities out of the Country which I haue now receiued by the Carrier Here is at this present small newes worth the writing vnto you wherfore praying vnto all Almighty God for the health and prosperity of you and all yours I humbly take my leaue and rest Your faithfull and ready seruant to command I.P. An answer of a Letter for courtesie and fauour receiued MY good friend M. G. how much I am bound vnto you for multitude of fauours and especially for that you haue made choice of me as to write your
in whatsoeuer you should imploy me wherein I desire you conceiue no more then such as I intend to become and you shall assuredly finde me Your faithfull friend I.P. A Letter to his friend for breach of promise MAster Iackson I haue abstained hitherto to come or send vnto you partly being wearied with importunitie for that I thought now two moneths being passed I might in this space haue found a time conuenient wherein to haue ended with you Hauing taken this cause in hand I would as in good reason I thought it fit you should determine with me vpon some conclusions whereon to rest assured I might thenceforth know where to trust and neither waste labour in comming to so small purpose nor hinder my certaine businesse by the vnsteadie stay of your affaires as alreadie I haue done Wée haue talked many times and set downe certaine limits but to slender effect as I neither know when to demand nor you how to satisfie So that depending vpon shadowes I haue passed my time to samll benefit and you haue gone forward to little purpose I doe pray you therefore that such meaning may assure vs as alreadie betwéene vs hath beene performed To delay me thus with nifles as I thinke is farre from a Gentleman so doe I suppose you not intend it considering how many waies thereby I am and shall bée hindred This therefore may be the certaine meanes to satisfie vs both that you will as on Friday last you promised come and see the agréement betwéene vs performed whereof so I pray you aduertise your full resolution by this bearer And so I bid you heartily farewell Your euer assured louing friend W. M. Arthingworth May 7. 1628. The Answer GOod master W. M. my breach of promise in not hauing visited you with deserued requitall sithence my departure may breed suspition and doubt of vnthankfulnes but I hope and by hope presume that of your owne good disposition towards all your acquaintance you will yeeld vnto an approued tryall before you condemne For my part if I should not owe vnto you all honest minde and fidelity I should much contrary your great courtesie and deseruedly incurre the shame of ingratitude You know that hauing strayed as I haue done out of the limits of a controuled rule and displeased so much thereby as my case hath bewrayed vnto you those whom by nature and duty I ought to be awed vnto It is reason that by a more district obseruance I make amends for the residue The day appointed I will not faile to meet to view the writings and to make some conclusion to your best satisfaction Wherein you shall perceiue the honest minde of a Gentleman My father it seemeth though not yet by me hath otherwise vnderstood how much I stand yoaked in all friendly league of amity vnto you and thinketh himselfe for all his sons vnthriftinesse somewhat therin to be tyed vnto you His meaning is one of these dayes to intreat your paines hitherward But howeuer deserts be noted or care by nature doth binde assure your selfe whilest life leadeth a long this earthly coarse I am and will be also yours most vnfainedly and in most intirely To whom and to your good bedfellow I most heartily and often commend me From Thindon Iune 28. 1628. Remaining your much bounden friend in all good affection I. R. To his friend a Mercer DEare sir many salutations c. As my occasions fall out I still presume to trouble you grounding my boldnesse vpon the hope of your loue and good will I request you to send me as much black Sattin as will make me a sute I am your debtor alreadie besides in good will and loue a small summe which for that it hath beene long detained you may coniecture it to bée desperate yet on my credit it is as sure as any money in your purse My intent being honest but my store not such as at this time I can satisfie next Terme I expect the plenty of my purse will be so profuse that God permitting without faile for these and the old debt you shall be fully discharged Acknowledging my selfe beholding I rest Your thankfull friend R. G. A Letter to an vnfaithfull friend SIr I haue euer béene so loth to thinke ill of you that I scarce allow mine owne witnesse against you or those strong presumptions that make mée thinke you meane to kéepe no promises nor no friends If you will needs haue it so let our acquaintance now grow sickly and die priuately lest I be blamed for trusting and you for deceiuing so great a trust For since our loue is grown into so desperate a Lethargie I will not wake it for I had rather it should passe away in a trance and the remembrance thereof neuer hereafter to be mentioned What your friendship was I cannot tell but I am assured to the view it was fit for greater courtesies then I required what mine owne was iudge when you haue most néed of a friend Neither will I tell you what a sea of misfortune your breach of promises hath let in vpon mée but I le bid you now and euer farewell and with my letter conclude all rites of loue betwixt you and me and rest No longer your friend I. B. A Letter for admittance into seruice HOnourable sir I haue euer béene so addicted to follow you that in mine owne opinion I am an old retainer of yours so I am within a degrée of a houshold seruant which is all the promotion that by the intercession of this Letter I striue to come to But I sée so many steps directed that way that I may perhaps come too late yet I hope your number is not full though it be great and I supposse all are not inuited that goe but some intrude I will take it for extreame bounty to bée admitted within your gates what I doe is prest by no necessity but to saue my longing and to satisfie my desires which a far off haue euer serued you Once I thought to haue moued this suit by friends but that way I was afraid it might miscary and I was not verie willing it should succeed being loth to intangle my selfe in obligations to other men when I was to passe my selfe ouer vnto you so I thought best to write for to speake had béene too bold So in hope at the least of a pardon I rest as far as in me lies Your humble seruant B. I. To his loue vpon a long and fruitlesse affection IT is the propertie of none but of a faint-hearted souldier for receiuing a repulse or two to retire from assault and to giue ouer his enterprise when euerie one ought to vse constant perseuerance that he may worke the accomplishment of his desires The long vnsuccessiuenesse of my suit hath not made me wearie of your seruice though since I first fell in loue with you O might the examples incite you no longer to retard your affection the Sun hath gone about the world and
giuen a new life to all things which the tempestuous winter had left forlorne the ioyfull Merchant hath made a rich returne and the laborious husbandman hath cramm'd his barnes with the plenteous crop of the euer fruitfull earth Euerie one hath his hope onely my selfe more vnfortunate then all the rest in this reuolution of time haue not had any successe I am you sée péerelesse in misfortune it rests in you with the sympathie of affection to make me péerelesse in felicity of which I will neuer despaire there being no heart that is more infinitely affected toward you then the heart of Your truest seruant E. I. To his sweet heart in the Country Sole mistris of my affections THough in London where I now am many singular beauties are daily obuious to my sight yet I beséech you not to charge me vnfained lines with flatterie if in the iust collaudation of your owne vnparalleld pulchritude I prefer your vnmatchable forme before the ratest of their composures Their formosities come as far short of yours as the splendor of the twinkling Stars comes short of the all-enlightning radiance of the Sun beames and they all are as far your inferiors in the rauishing gifts of Nature as the vilipended pibble is inferior to the worth of the most high prized Carbuncle To which outward endowments when I reuolue in my mind and no houre passeth without commemoration of your perfections how swéetly you haue vnited all internall graces then am I distracted with griefe for my absence and though my vnrestrained mind be inseparably with you yet I curse the distance of place which depriues me of all comfort because it disioynes mée from your presence which till I enioy all ioy is banished out of my brest and I haue giuen griefe a frée dominion in me I cannot say I rest but I remaine Your entire vessall I. S. A young mans Letter to his enamoured mistris Fairest of a thousand IF you were not absolute I would not be thus resolute onely to loue you whom I hold onely worthie louing your beautie tels mine eye and your kindnesse perswades my heart of your goodnesse for if you were proud I should disdaine you and if you were not faire I would not affect you now if you know the one true in your selfe beléeue the other in me and wrong not your selfe in not doing mée right Modestie and vicenesse are two and delayes are the hindrances of happinesse to vrge your patience with importunitie I will not and yet to giue ouer my suit I cannot and therefore knowing your iudgement sufficient to vnderstand your owne good I hope to finde your disposition not inclinde to hurt him who remaineth Your as you will and when you will T. D. Her kinde answer MY worthy friend how long I haue loued you was from the first instant that I beheld you how much I doe loue you I would I could tell you how dearly I will loue you my best endeauors shall truly make knowne vnto you and if vnder heauen I may find such happinesse on the earth as to be regarded in your fauour I will thinke it idle that figures earthly felicity for your excellence being almost without exception let my loue be without comparison and if truth may haue beliefe let my affection be without suspition and as you haue won my heart with your eyes make it happy with your hands so hoping that so sweet an aspect can haue no sowrenesse in spirit in the hope of your kinde answer I rest Yours deuoted to be commanded A. B. A Letter of Request KInde friend I would entreat a kindnesse but for feare of a deniall not out of mine owne deserts but rather your disposition which I doubt is too neare the nature of the world rather to grant then to gratifie excuses are more trials of wit then truth and a faithfull heart hath no stop in loue and therefore that I may not haue cause to wrong my selfe in my assured confidence of your worth doe right to your selfe in the good of that performance that without parenthesis may conclude in a full point of kindnesse The substance of my suit I haue sent you by word of mouth because my hand-writing shall not witnesse my vnhappinesse if my hope should faile the expectation of my affection in which without greater care of the contrarie I rest Yours as you know D. S. A Letter of discontent vpon deniall of a Request My small friend I Thanke you for nothing more then that I haue nothing to thanke you for wherein you rather considered what I am then your selfe should be pardon my folly in presuming aboue knowledge and beleeue mée no more if I fall into the like error of opinion you willed mée to make account of your vttermost power in my good It may bée it was in wishes which are easily requited but when they are void of effects they are but troubles to reason I cannot spell without letters nor vnderstand words without substance therefore loath to be tedious when I haue vnwillingly béene troublesome I pray you let complements be without cost so shall kindnesse continue in that condition of iudgement that shall make me alwaies readie to requite your deniall of my request as I finde cause Your friend to command R. T. To a Court Lady IF Loue could dissemble patience could haue no passion but truth is so tyed to affection that as a sound limbe it cannot halt If you aske the reason of my affection looke into the excellencie of your owne worth and then if there be any extreame take it in the best part which groweth from your selfe for such is my iudgement of your deseruing as can be answered in nothing but in admiring for surely hée must be either verie dim sighted that doth not preferre your beautie to all shadowes or dull witted that vnderstands not the honour of your worthinesse O 〈◊〉 me leaue then out of the sight of my best sense and sense of my best sight to deuote my seruice to your command that may giue a happinesse in your employment and while idle Complements are but Court fashions let plaine truth haue such acceptance in your fauour that suspition may not wrong a true affection in which I vow euer to rest Yours all or mine owne not at all I. G. Her complementall answer VVHat words shall I vse to win your affection holding vnder heauen my happines but in your loue if 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 would please you in your affaires I would neuer rest 〈◊〉 in your fauour if gifts might be graciously accepted I would giue you my selfe for your loue if pitty might moue you I would lay before you my passion and if my death might onely answer your desire I would not liue to despaire of your comfort but loue being a spirit of that nature that onely is pleased in being himselfe I will leaue all my hopes to that happy houre wherein he may in your eies cast those blessed beames of fauour vpon the faith of my heart that may make me in the infringible bond of deuoted seruice to the last period of my life Yours wholly and onely to be commanded E. N. FINIS
him one so should he be after God takes her away but there is a meane in all things To be hard hearted is beast like to bée tender is effeminate to be sensible is manly As for you you cannot offer a more acceptable sacrifice to the dead then by turning the loue you bare her into care of her children to which I know you by nature so well inclined that I néed not to instruct but onely remember you but since wise men in sudden accidents and in cases concerning themselues are sometimes to séeke I am bold to aduise you now though henceforth I would be glad to be aduised by you resting Your seruant I. M. Arthingworth Iuly 7. 1629. A comfortable Letter vpon the losse of a Husband Madam THough none knowes the value of your losse nor féeles the want so déeply as your selfe yet I may take vpon me more féeling than another man being for the loue I beare you more sensible of your misfortune and affliction I my selfe haue contributed many teares and I confesse there is great allowance of griefe for good wiues for the fatall departures of worthy husbands but you were better forget the dead then the liuing your daughters I meane to whom I am opinionated you would not wish so sad an increase as your death would bring them which by this 〈◊〉 câ—â—â—se of â—â—â—cating sorrow is too much hastened O let not your vertue of patience die before you but so magnanimously behaue your selfe in your troubles that your acquaintance may finde more cause to commend you then to aduise you Madam I beséech you hold me to be Your Honors friend W. M. Arthingworth March 11 1629. A Letter of griefe for his friends absence OF such comfortable vse is the familiarity of a swéet companion that those houres of our life séeme most happie which are passed away in the societie of a friend If we take a iourney his companie is in stead of a Coach there 's not a thought nor a word of the tediousnesse of the way If we abide at home we imagine that the sithe of Time too spéedily swéepes away the houres But on the contrarie needs must his life bée melancholike that hath no friend to sweeten the slow transcursion of Time I wish my owne experience were not too true proofe hereof for since your absence swéetest friend melancholly hath béene my concomitant and your remembrance my greatest comfort And as the Turtle pines away after the losse of his mate so since your departure my bosom hath admitted no consolation I request you by that interest which I haue in your loue since in person I cannot that I may sée you in a Letter Silence betweene absent friends incurres the censure of an inofficious and inciuill disposition But I know you will vindicate your selfe from a staine of so abhorent a nature I rest Yours vnremoueably I. C. Frandon Aug. 1628. A Letter for the entreaty of good will to a young Gentlewoman THe long and considerate regard by which in déepe contemplation I haue eyed your most rare and singular vertues ioyned with so admirable beauty and much pleasing condition graffed in your person hath moued me good mistris E. B. among a number whom I know intirely to fauour you earnestly to loue you and therewith to offer my selfe vnto you Now howbeit I may happely séeme in some eies the least in worthinesse of a number that daily frequent you yet may you vouchsafe in your owne priuate to reckon me with the greatest in willingnesse Wherein if a settled and immoueable affection towards you if feruent and assured loue grounded vpon the vndecaiable stay and prop of your vertues if continuall nay rather inexterminable vowes in all perpetuitie addicted vnto your seruices if neuer ceasing and tormenting griefe vncertainlie caried by a hazardous expectation closed in the circle of your gratious conceit whether to bring vnto the eares of my soule a swéet murmur of life or seuere sentence of a present death may ought at all preuaile either to moue entreat sue sollicite or perswade you I then am the man who shrining in my inward thoughts the dignitie of so worthie a creature and prising in deepest waight though not to the vttermost value the estimate of so incomparable a beautie haue resolued liuing to honor you and dying neuer to serue other but you from whose delicate lookes expecting no worse acceptance then may seeme answerable to so diuine an excellencie I remaine Your most passionate loyall and perpetually deuoted R. F. Ianuary 20. 1629. Her Answer THat men haue skill and are by sundry commendable parts enabled to set forth their meaning there needeth no other testimony then your present writing your eloquence is far beyond the reach of my poore wit and the multiplicity of your praises fitter for a poeticall goddesse then to the erection of any such deesse For my part I shall hold them as the fancies and toyes of men issuing from the weakest of their humors and how farre my selfe can deserue none better then my selfe can conceiue Being one of so good sort as you are I could doe no lesse then write againe vnto you the rather to satisfie the importunity of your messenger wishing such a one to your lot as might paragonnize those excellencies you writ of and answer euery way to the substance of all those inestimable praises So hauing your loue and your writing as I take it be best suted together Yours as farre as modesty will to answer your courtesies E. B. â—â—nuary 24. 1629. Another Letter to his Mistris desiring her loue GOod mistris I. P. I am bold though a stranger to make these lines messengers at this present of my good meaning towards you wherein I goe not about by pretence of a most entire and hearty good will which I professe to beare you to make present surmise thereupon that on so bare an assertion you should immediately credit mee I prise your worthinesse at a far greater value and weigh your good allowance so much as I onely desire by your fauourable liking I may intreat to haue accesse vnto you not doubting but by being in your presence I shall so sufficiently by apparent proofe mainetaine the efficacie of that I now protest and giue so good occasion to déeme well of me as you shall haue no reason to repent you that vpon so honest and louing a request you haue condiscended to my entreaty whose health and prosperity tendring as mine owne I send you with my Letter a token of that great affection I beare you which I pray you most hartily to accept of and weare for me And euer so doe continue Yours if so you please to accept of me R. M. Her answer SIr your message is to me as strange as your selfe who are vnto me as stranger and what your good meaning vnto me is I know not for giuing of credit vnto your assertion as you seeme not to challenge it so was I neuer hitherto of my selfe so hasty
the Lambe with sowre herbes then all their flesh-pots That God hath giuen you a vertuous wife dutifull children wealth in abundance an honest esteeme and good repute amongst your neighbours and the generall loue of your countrie where you liue are fauours that looke for thanks Who would desire to liue that knowes his Sauiour died who can be a Christian and would not be like him Could you be happy and not die indéed Nature knowes not what she would haue Our friends of this world can neither abide vs miserable in our stay nor happie in our departure What God hath giuen you on earth is nothing to that hée will giue you in heauen you are a stranger here there at home There Saints and Angles shall applaud you there God himselfe will fill you with himselfe haue patience in all afflictions and reade the troubles of Iob and in that exercise your selfe both day and night vntill God shall either mend or end these your daies on earth To which great God and mercifull Lord I commit you praying for your eternall rest Remaining your friend I. M. A Letter wherein is recommended to a Nobleman from his inferiour the conditions and behauiour of a person MAy it please your Lordship this Gentleman the bearer hereof with whom along time I haue beene acquainted and of his qualities and good behauiour haue sound and large experiment hauing béene a good time a suter vnto me to moue this preferment vnto your Lordships seruice I haue now at last condiscended vnto as well for that I know your Lordship to bee now presently disfurnished of such a one as also that there will hardly bee preferred vpon the sudden any one so meet as himselfe to supply that place And thus much by your pardon and allowance daie I assure vnto you that if it may please you in credit of my simple knowledge and opinion to imploy him you shall finde that besides hée is in parentage descended from such of whom I know your Lordship will very well account of he is also learned decréet sober wise and moderate in all his actions of great secresie assured trust and well gouerned in all companies Finally a man so méet and to this present turne so apt and necessarie as I cannot easily imagine how you may be serued better Pleaseth your Lordship the rather for the great good will I beare him and humble duty I owe vnto you to accept imploy and account of him I nothing doubt but your Lordship hauing by such meanes giuen credit to my choice shall finde him such as for whose good seruice you shall haue further occasion to thinke well of me for him Whereof nothing doubtting I doe referre both him and my selfe in all humblenes to your best and most fauourable opinion From my house in Arthingworth this 5 of Iune The Answer AFter my hearty commendations vnto you Sithence the receipt of your last letters and commendations of W. R. into my seruice I haue had small occasion either to write or to send vnto you till this present and for as much as vpon your certaine notice deliuered vnto me in fauour of his preferment I held my selfe so well assured in all things of his behauiour as I doubted not thereupon to receiue him into place of greatest fidelity I haue thought good hereby to let you vnderstand what great pleasure I haue taken in his diligent attendance assuring you for many vnexpected qualities which I haue proued to be in him and that with so good affection as that I intend not omit any thing that may tend to his aduancement In beholding of him oftentimes methinkes he many waies doth resemble his father whose sound truth I doe suppose might haue beene entertained with the best for his well deseruing this bearer shall informe you of two speciall causes concerning my affaires in the countrie whom I doe pray you to conferre with and to afford him your trauell for his present dispatch which I will not fail heartily to require vnto you For your care had of my wants and diligent supply of such a one I doe many times thanke you and haue promised in my selfe to become a debter vnto you And euen so I bid you heartily farewell From the Court this 5. of May 1628. A merry Letter to his friend in London Heroicall spirit I Haue receiued your Epistle of alacritie and remaine much indebted to your kinde heart for vouchsafing vs poore countrie Swaines so much of the labour of your pen to deceiue slow-footed time withall Thankes vnto the Almightie I haue had my health indifferent well since my comming downe onely the separation of my second selfe hath beene a continuall sicknesse vnto me to remedie which I haue hitherto found out no better way then to call for a cup of Rubicular to helpe to exhilerate and corroborate my fatigated spirits We Ruricolars are verie barren of anie noueltie worthie the presenting to your curious vnderstanding but doe presume out of the bundle of your affection that you that liue at the wels head will be pleased to vouchsafe vs your poore friends a report by your Letters at least of such Exchange newes as passeth currant amongst you which wee shall take as a speciall fauour from you and studie how to remunerate We are at this present putting foot into the stirrop and riding some dozen horse of vs to a maritine coast where there will be prouided for vs all the rarities for fish the Sea can afford where I will not bee vnmindfull to remember all your healths in a full ocean In the meane time commending my loue to my louing sister your wife with your worthie selfe and all our friends I wish you all true happinesse sutable to a braue disposition and will euer rest Your assured lâ—uing Brother R. S. A Letter gratulatorie Good Mr. P. I Am yet to learne the phrase and method how to write to so beneficient a friend as your selfe to whom I stand obliged more by desert then I can answer with requitall and more in affection then I am able to merit a predicament it is into which I am easilie and often as it were precipitated and out of which to raise my selfe fortune only hath disabled me who if with her gifts she had supplied my wants and giuen me competent wealth to the freedome of my will my honest heart should not be debtor to the hand of any nor should my disabilitie curbe the scope of my affection but seeing wishes are but vaine I pray you accept these my lines as tokens of the remuneration of my thanks and the acknowledgement of the loue of Your humble seruant D. P. A Letter to his silent friend YOu are happily innocent dearest friend what paine I am in and with what vnrest I spend my irksome daies through your parcimoniousnesse and sparing of a little inke and paper Is it not enough that I am depriued of your sight but I must be also vnsaluted by your Letters one of them
alone doth too waightily oppresse me with sorrow and ouerwhelme my heart with disquietnesse As place hath wrought a separation betweene our bodies will your permit also that a few daies absence shall burie each others remembrance in the Lethean waues of obliuion oh be not so iniurious vnto sacred friendship which is the greatest ioy allotted vnto mortall men in all the vniuerse I haue got the start of you in writing but I hope I shall not néed to send you anie more expostulatorie Letter for your slacknesse in this kind For the sound state of my bodie I am well yet I cannot be said to be perfitly well being as I am so solicitous for your welfare and so ignorant of your health who are animae dimidium meae Farewell Animae dimidium tuae L. M. The Answer excusing his not writing LEt the multitude of my businesses and my want of bodily health and debilitie plead my excuse with you for my remissenesse in writing The drift of these present lines is to apologize for that I writ to you no sooner and to enquire of your health and welfare Compare not nor doe not thinke my loue as little as my writing for I protest vnfainedly that if I may stead you in any kind or if my meanes can procure any thing to make a clearer manifestation of my manifold loue you shall assuredly find whensoeuer any occasion shall offer it selfe to you to make triall what great interest you haue in me and my best affection I cease euer resting Yours 〈◊〉 my power W. W. A Letter expostulatory for breach of promise IT had béene more honestie in you to haue giuen mee a spéedie deniall then not to perform what you so constantlie promised me for then you had not iniured mee because you had not owed me any thing Promise is debt for I yet hope you are none of the number of those men who thinke promises doe not bind them vnto performance this is my beleefe of you yet it is in your power to make mee hold or alter my opinion I onely desire thus much of you if you will not doe me that good turne yet leauâ—e doing me iniurie feed mee not with improficient words but bid mee not trust any longer to vaine hopes In briefe you shall much oblige me by doing that kindnesse by omission thereof you shall make me muse at the lacke of your fidelitie and at your carelessenesse to incurre the report and infamie of a dishonest man Your iniured friend H. G. To his friend falne to pouerty IF your weath had béene the foundation of my loue I shouâ—d now cease to loue because you are no longer rich but should I now so erre I should shew my selfe to haue béene vnto you in your prosperitie not a friend but like vnto the rest that haue derelinquished you in your pouertie a meere flatterer wee sée how during the Summer time the Swallowes flocke to our houses we may obserue how Mice will be sure to get into the barne that is replenished with corne and while the pot hath anie honie it is hard keeping the flies away but rare is the friendshippe which fleets not in the probation time of aduersitie Besides that poore comfort of aduersitie pitie I lend you the summe of twentie pound which so long make vse of till Time the mother of of mutations encrease your store with a proportion able to make repaiment to Your friend to his abilitie I. R. A Letter of a Gentlewoman to a Gentleman with whom she fell in loue IF euer I could wish my selfe vnborne most worthie sir or my well being taken from mee I call truth and my sometimes modestie to witnesse it is now not that I haue found you but that I am forced thus to seeke you Call to mind faire and I hope vertuous Sir some horrid and violent women taken with the loue of their owne fathers as was Micah or incestuously pursuing their néerest brother as was Biblis so my affection will appeare more modest and my suite more pardonable I dearely loue you and in so saying me thinkes the gods blush to heare me who in the strictest lawes of desire are most worthie to bee loued whose vertues might inflame a Nunne and excellentest qualities take the most retired If I haue as I know too well I haue contrarie to the nature and custome of Virgins our-shot my selfe in my violent passions pardon her that had rather die then make it knowne yet chuseth rather to make it knowne then not enioy you so desired and farre more worthie to be desired If you were acquainted what afflictions I suffer in my discouery yet fearing all well not serue you will I hope rather incline to pitie then disdaine little will the death of a silly mayden auaile the triumph of your beautie and the ouerthrow of my credit lesse benefit your vertue Raise me from the one by your loue assure me from the other by your secresie whilst I will euer remaine a most constant votaresse to all your perfections blessing the parents that left behind them such an issue Neuer lesse her owne R. D. Althorp May 22. His Answer HOw happie may I account my selfe sweetest of creatures and beautifillest of women that hauing bound my selfe in the search and pursuite of a iewell haue it now offered and giuen into my hands farre aboue my expectation farre transcending my hopes I accept it as louingly as you freely bestow it and will account it no lesse deare and pertious then if much time and long labour had beene the purchase of it esteeming it a blessing throwne vpon me by the appointment of the highest and sutable to my happy desires Nor shall I need to load my memory with those horrid examples to giue your loue a freer and welcomer passage into the very depth of my loue and choisest desires to loue we were made and by loue we are made they onely are without being that haue not the heauenly taste and enioying of it I onely deny those excellencies which you lay to my vnguilty charge it was the reflection of your owne worth strucken from me which hath Narcissus like so inamoured you it was your owne image showne in my eies which hath thus captiuated you which since you like in so dim and dull a myrrour I will cherish and make much of it onely for your sake that you may the perfect lier see your selfe and the more loue me for your loue take all I am for my secresie I will not breathe it to my selfe how I attaine this happinesse but liuing and dying rest the true honourer and admirer of your worth and vertue Yours more then his owne H. H. A Letter from a Chapman in the Country to a Tradesman in London MY louing and kind friend M. G. you haue done mée much wrong in detaining the wares I writ for I haue disappointed some Gentlemen in relying vpon you whose custome hath much aduantaged me my credit I hope will euer be aboue