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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
friend_n	answer_n	letter_n	receive_v	778	5	5.2253	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A02129	Mamillia A mirrour or looking-glasse for the ladies of Englande. Wherein is disciphered, howe gentlemen vnder the perfect substaunce of pure loue, are oft inueigled with the shadowe of lewde lust: and their firme faith, brought a sleepe by fading fancie: vntil with ioyned with wisedome, doth awake it by the helpe of reason. By Robert Greene graduate in Cambridge.; Mamillia. Part 1	Greene, Robert, 1558?-1592.	1583 (1583)	STC 12269; ESTC S119748	60,462	82

besotted none so valiant but beauty hath byn victor yea euen the Gods themselues haue geuen beauty the superiority as a thing of more force then they were able to resist Well Pharicles sith beauty is the price for which thou meanest to venture vse no delay for feare of danger let no fonde reasons perswade thy setled minde let not the preceptes of Philosophy subuert the will of nature youth must haue his course hee that will not loue when he is young shal not be loued when he is olde Spare no cost nor be not afrayde of words for they are as winde they which are most coy at the first are most cōstant at the last What a cold cōfect had the Lord Mendozza at y ● Dutches of Sauoyes hand Prictor at his Coluida Horatius at his Curiatia So though Mamillia were something short in her answeres it signifieth the greater affection though she made it strange at the first she wil not be strait at the last y ● greatest offer hath but a small denyall Well to conclude I am fully resolued in my selfe eyther to winne the spurres or loose the horse to haue y e blossome or lose y e fruite to enioy the beautie of Mamillia or els to ieopard a ioynt And therefore whatsoeuer learning willes I will consent vnto Nature for the best clarkes are not euer the wisest men whatsoeuer the lawes of Philosophy perswade me I will at this time giue the raynes of libertie to my amorous passions for he that makes curiositie in loue wil so long straine curtesie that either he wil be counted a solemne sutor or a witlesse wooer therefore whatsoeuer the chaunce be I wil cast at all Pharicles hauing thus made an end stood in a mase with him selfe not that it did proceede from any sincere affection enforced by her vertue but that his mind was set vpon lust enflamed by her bewtie Which disease I doubt nowadayes reignes in many Italian gentlemen Whether it be that Mercurie is Lord of their birth or some other peeuish planet predominant in the calculation of their natiuitie I know not but this I am sure that theyr rype wittes are so soone ouershadowed with vice and their senses so blinded with self loue that they make their choyce so farre without skill as they proue them selues but euill chapmen for if she be faire they thinke her faithfull if her bodye be endued with bewtie they iudge she cannot but be vertuous They are so bli●ded with the visor of Venus and conceite of Cupid as they think all birdes with white fethers to be simple Doues euery seemely Sappho to be a ciuill Salona euery Lais to bee a loyall Lucrece euery chatting maydē to be a chast matrone These are such as chose for lust and not for loue as marry the bodye and not the mind so that as soone as the beautie fo their Mistres be vaded their loue is also quight extinguished But againe to the purpose As thus I say Pharicles had well eased his minde with this last meditation because his loue was but a lose kind of likinge and the fire of his fancie such a flender flame as the least mislyking showre of shrewd fortune would quite quench it therfore he had neither care of his choyce nor feare of his chaunge but onely fed his fancy with the hope of hauing Mamillia and rested vpon this poynt till eyther occasion or place should serue to offer his seruice In the meane time Gonzaga perceiuing his daughter to be mariageable knowing by skill and experience that the grasse being ready for the sieth would wither if it were not cut and the apples beeing rype for want of plucking woulde rotte on the tree that his daughter beeing at the age of twentie yeeres would either fall into the greene sicknes for want of a husband or els if she scaped that disease incurre a farther inconuenience so that lyke a wise father he thought to foresee such daungers And deuisinge with himselfe where hee might haue a meete match for his Daughter thought none so fit as Pharicles who I say by his crafty cloaking had wonne the hearts of al the Gentlemen of Padua Therefore first intending to knowe whether his Daughter could fancy the Gentleman before hee should breake the matter vnto him yet if he doubting he should moue the question she might conceiue some hope of libertie and so strayne vpon her owne choyce went vnto Madam Castilla her nourse desiring her to moue the motion to his daughter as concerning Pharicles that the next day she should tell him his aunswere Madam Castilla easily graunted and departing frō Gonzaga went vnto the chamber of Mamillia where she found her solemnly sitting in secrete meditation vpon the cōtēts of a Letter which not half an houre before was sent vnto her from her old friend Florion the tenure whereof was this Dan Florion of Sienna to Mamillia in Padua MIstresse Mamillia the extreame pleasure I conceiue of your sodaine and certaine departure from the Dukes court vnto Padua forced me to send you this letter as a perfect token of my ioy and your good happe both thinking my selfe in some credit with you that my perswasions preuailed and likewise iudging you to bee wise in that you both auoyd daunger and prouide for a storme for it is a great vertue saieth the Poet to abstaine from pleasure The courtly life saith Agrippa is a glistering miserie for what more pleasaunt outwardly and what more perilous inwardly what more delightful to the body what more deadly to the minde there is the substance of vice with the vaile of vertue there is bondage in the shape of licencious libertie and care clad in a masking coat Happy yea thrise happy art thou Mamillia whose wisdōe hath not bin inueigled by wit nor whose wil hath not bin enforced by wilfulnes for in obeying the one thou hast scaped danger in resisting of the other thou hast won same Yea but the gold saith some is tried in the fire and the ore is put into the furnace It is more honour to keepe the forte being assayled then not besieged so the credit of a Gentlewoman is more to be honest in the court then in the countrey and it purchaseth more fame to kneele with a chast minde at the shrine of Venus then at the altar of Vesta Mamillia so many heades so many wits I speake by experience The house is more in dāger of fire that is thatched with straw then y ● which is couered with stone he is more in danger of drowning that sayles in the Sea then he which rides on the land What maketh the theef but his pray what entiseth the fish but the baite what calleth the byrde but the scrappe what reclaimeth the hawke● but the lure The court Mamillia is y ● whetston of lust the baite of vanity the call of Cupid yea the vtter enimy to virginity so that in as much as virginity is to be esteemed so much the Dukes court

fancy firmly surelye eyther you are deceiued or else I was in a dreame at the departure for I doe not know in what respect eyther my words or deedes should be a spurre to pricke you forward in this rash entirprise but assure your selfe if there were any I repent me of them not that I am so foolish to repay hatred for loue but that I haue vowed perpetuall virginitie and meane to remaine chaste for euer Therefore Pharicles sease to craue that cannot be gotten seeke not for impossibilities quench the fire your selfe when an other cannot put out the flame abate the force of loue where you cannot haue your longing I giue you perhappes a sower sauce to your sweete meate because I will not feede you with delayes nor fobbe you with fayre wordes and foule deedes but I speak as I thinke so you shall finde it Yet in fine least you should iudge me altogether vngratefull I thank you for your good will and I thinke well of it and if euer I chaunce to loue you haue as much to like as any therefore if your fancy be so fixed as you make faire on pray that both my heart my turne and my vow may be broken and then hope well But in the meane time if you come you shall be welcome as a friend but no farther Yours if she could Publia After that Pharicles gentlemen had receiued and read this Letter seeing the beginning was hard thought the ending as ill so that beeing somewhat chollericke hee threw it awaye in a rage not half read rebuking his folly in so soon yeelding vnto fancy turning his great loue to a greeuous hate as one somwhat tickled with self loue thinking y t Hawk too haggard that should not come at the first cal now againe praysing his Mamillia vowing wholye his heart vnto her and promising in recompence of his disloialtie neuer to lend Publia a good looke and in this determination flang out of study and went to the house of Gonzaga HEre gentlemen we may see the flitring of mens fancy and the ficklenes of their fayth that they may well be compared to a blacke wal that receiueth euery impression which not withstanding with the wipe of ones hand is easily defaced so men loue all and now none verifying the saying of Calimachis that as flowers fade and florish euery yeare so their loue is hotte and cold euery houre hauing nothing certaine but onely this that the last driueth out the first as one nayle forceth cut an other the nature of men is so destrous of noueltie But because it is an euill dogge barks at his fellow againe to Pharicles who being come into the house of Gonzaga found not all things according to his desire for Mamillia was halfe sick in 〈◊〉 bed yet she her self knew scarsly the disease but Pharicles missing her went farder and sound Madam Castilla sitting solytary in her Muses whom after he had saluted and demaunded how mistres Mamillia did Mary quoth Madam Castilla your often repair vnto her as farre as we can coniecture hath driuen her into a plurisie or vs into som ielousie but whether it did she is sicke Pharicles feeling his gald conscience prick● sayd that although it pleased her to iest by cōtraries yet his return was as speedy as might be for his busines was so necessary that the losse of his landes hanged thereon but if he had knowne Mamillia would haue conceiued any displeasure at his absence he would not onely haue hasarded his landes but haue ventured his life to haue made his repaire more speedy if then her sicknesse proceedes of my negligence I hope my sufficient excuse will be a remedy to cure the disease You speak wel quoth Madam Castilla therefore follow me that you may plead your owne cause for I will be no Aduocat and with that she caried him into Mamillias chamber where she lay half sleeping half waking whom Madam Castilla called out of her traunce with this parle MIstres Mamillia quoth she you know whē time was we tearmed this Gentleman a gostly father therfore I thoght good in this your sickenes that he should receiue your cōfession as one most meete for the purpose I thank you for your paines quoth Mamillia for indeede I haue a great block in my conscience which I meane to reueale vnto him that is of my folly in louing so lightly and fixing my fancy where I doubt is no fayth whereof if he can giue me absolution I shall surely bee bound vnto him Ah Mamillia quoth Pharicles doe you thinke that I haue such a trayterous heart or such an impudent face to imagine such trechery against your diuine bewtie No no Mamillia I call the Gods to witnesses and the heauens to heare my protestations and if my words be not conformable to my thoughts the internal furies conspire my vtter destructiō and if my mind remaine not constant and my fancy firme the Gods themselues be reuengers of such disloyaltie Well said Mamillia Iason promysed as much to Medea and yet shee founde him a lyer but I feare no such matter No me thinke quoth Madame Castilla I dare promise for the Gentleman But now let vs see how we can find our teeth occupyed as we haue doone our tongues and then I will say none of vs are fallen into a consumption through weakenesse of stomacke so they all went to dinner Where I leaue you to consider Gentlemen how far vnmeete women are to haue such reproches layd vppon them as sundrye large lipt felowes haue done who whē they take a peece of work in hand and either for want of matter or lack of wit are half grauelled then they must fill vp the page with slaundering of womē who scarsly know what a woman is but if I were able either by wit or arte to be their defender or had the law in my hand to dispose as I list which would be as vnseemely as an Asse to treade the measures● yet if it were so I would correct Mantuās Egloge intituled Alphus or els if the Authour were aliue I woulde not doubt to perswade him in recompence of his errour to frame a new one for surely though Euripides in his tragedies doth greatly exclaim against that sexe yet it was in his choller and he inferred a generall by a particular which is absurd He had an euyll wife what then because the hill Canaros hath a fountayne runs deadlye poyson is al water nought shall the fire be reiected because some one sparke fireth a whole whose are the bodyes of the flyes Cantharides to be cast away because their legges are poyson shal we condemne al women of inconstancy because Helena was fickle or all to be naught because some one is a shrewe if the premises wil infer such a conclusiō I refer me to their greatest enemy But for feare of a farther digression againe to thē we left at dinner who after they had taken a suffycient repast fell againe to their former discourse

is to be eschewed But I heare thou art at home with thy father in Padua that there is great resort of Gentlemē to craue thee in marriage take counsel Mamillia at him which hath bought it If thou hast taken care to keepe thy virginity inuiolable as thy greatest treasure so take both heede and time in bestowing the same as a most precious Iewel Respect not his beauty without vertue for it is like a ring in a swynes snoute esteeme not his wealth without wit nor his riches without reason for then thou shalt either choose a fayre Inne with a foule hostesse or wed thy self to a woodden picture with a golden coate Regarde not his byrth without bountie for it wil euer procure statelinesse Beware of hot loue Mamillia for the greatest flowe hath the soonest ebbe the sorest tempest hath the most sodaine calme y ● hottest loue hath the coldest end and of the deepest desire oftentimes ensueth the deadliest hate But why doe I deale so doultishly to exhort thee which hast no neede of such perswasion sith I both haue heard I my selfe know thy mynde so grafted in vertue y ● thou wilt neither like so lightly nor wauer so lewdly but either make thy match wel or els stand to thy choyce For she that wil falsifie her faith to one will crack her credit for al. Therfore least I should be tedious or vrge that which is not needfull I referre the rest to your discretion desiring you to do my commendations to the rest of my friendes And so farewell Yours in a chast mynd Dan Florion AFter that Mamillia had read this Letter to Madame Castilla they fel in discourse of the vertu●us disposition of Florion who beeing of tender yeeres which are subiect vnto lust was euer a professed enimie to Loue yea the painted face of Beauty coulde neuer haue power to enchant his vertue he had already wel tyed himselfe to the mast of modesty to keepe him from the Sirens songs of beastly vanity and had sufficiently defensed his minde with the rampyre of honesty against the laseiuious cuppe of Circes sorcerie that as other Gentlemen of Italy had sworne themselues true subiects to the crowne of Cupid so hee had vowed himselfe a professed souldier to march vnder the ensigne of Uertue These few words past betweene them of the good and godlie nature of the Gentleman Madame Castilla as the Mistresse of her arte beganne to take occasion of talke with Mamillia by the con●ents of Florions behest if she should haue abruptly sifted her her deuise shold be spied so perchance not haue an answer agreeable to his demand therfore she cried her on this maner Mistresse Mamillia the contentes of your friende Florions Letter shewes that eyther the constellation of the starres the disposition of the Planets or y ● decree of the destinies or force of the fates were contrary in y ● houre of his byrth or els it is not alwayes true that youth is prone vnto vice or that tender yeeres cannot be without wanton conditions for there is none more witty and yet few lesse wilfull none so curteous yet few lesse curious as his nature seemes very precious and yet very perillous euē like the patient which by ouer much blood falleth into the Plurisie the glasse the more fine it is the more brittle the 〈…〉 though it last the wyn●̄ing wil scarse abyde the wearing the Margaret is of great valure yet soonest broken y ● Muske is most strong in sauour yet endureth but a smal time so the nature of Florion by how much the more it is precious by so much y ● more it is to be doubted and yet the byrds that breede in Bohemia are of the same colour in their age that they were 〈…〉 changeth colour 〈…〉 so Flo●ion hauing setled the foundation of his youth in 〈◊〉 may end his life in vertue But what neede we ●●ter so farre into the state of an other man● life 〈…〉 is as good as the end we cānot fore see it but whether it happen to be good or bad you may account of him 〈…〉 maketh me muche to maruel that is this that he being in Venice so farre of should heare more then I which an● not onely in Padua but in your fathers house yea more your nurse and bedfellow of the resort of Su●ors I meane which although I maruel at for the loosenes yet I am glad of it if they be woorth the welcomming Mamillia my gray haires which in respect of my reuerend age should somewhat preuaile to procure some coūtenance and credit with you my long continuance and familiarity in your company my paynes I tooke with you in your swadling clothes my care in your youth to nourishe you in vertue and my ioy in your rype age to see you addicted to the same are of force sufficient I hope to procure you to be somewhat ruled by my talke which if you shal doe I shal thinke my labour wel bestowed and my time and trauell well spent Florion Mamillia writeth to you of marriage which if it commeth of his owne coniecture and no report he proueth himselfe a subtill sophister meaning vnder the colour of an vncertaine rumour to perswade you to a most stayed and stedfast state of life as one knowing very well that as nothing is more commendable then virginitie so nothing is more honourable than matrimonie And I my selfe Mamillia which once a wife and now a widdow doe speake by experience that though virginitie is pleasant yet marriage is more delightfull For in the first creation of the world God made not Adam and Eua single virgins but ioyned couples so y ● virginitie is profitable to one but marriage is profitable to many Whether is y e vine more regarded that beareth grapes or y e Ash that hath nothing but leaues The Deere that encreaseth the park or the barren Doe Whether is the hoppe tree more esteemed that rots on the grounde than that which clasping the pole creepeth vp bringeth foorth fruite What Mamillia as virginity is fayre and beautifull so what by course of kind is more vnseemely then an old wrinckled maide what is more pleasaunt to the sight then a Smaragde yet what lesse profitable if it be not vsed What more delightful to the eyes then the colour of good wine yet what of lesse value if it cannot be tasted There is nothing more faire thē the Phoenix yet nothing lesse necessary because she is single Yea euen the law of nature Mamillia wisheth society and detesteth solitarinesse Whether euen in thine owne iudgement Mamillia if thou hadst a goodly orcharde wouldest thou wish nothing but blossomes to grow continually or the blossomes to fade and the trees to be fraught with pleasāt fruit Whether doest thou think the ruddy Rose which withereth in the hand of a man delighting both sight and smelling more happie than that which fadeth on the stalke without profit Whether hath the wine better luck