Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	become_v	commendable_a	good_a	22	3	2.1572	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A02291	The ciuile conuersation of M. Steeuen Guazzo written first in Italian, and nowe translated out of French by George Pettie, deuided into foure bookes. In the first is conteined in generall, the fruites that may bee reaped by conuersation ... In the second, the manner of conuersation ... In the third is perticularly set foorth the orders to bee obserued in conuersation within doores, betwéene the husband and the wife ... In the fourth, the report of a banquet; Civil conversatione. Book 1-3. English	Guazzo, Stefano, 1530-1593.; Pettie, George, 1548-1589.	1581 (1581)	STC 12422; ESTC S105850	262,636	366

haue letten their Portis fall out of their handes at the sight of women Annib. If I bée not of the order of that Philosopher neither am I of the disorder and lightnesse of those who are in loue with euery one they looke on and haue so litle hold of them selues that they will bee lost in the lookes of a woman and are no more to bée séene in them selues Yea their folly is so great that if a woman shewe but a merry countenance make some signe by chaunce or vse any other iesture they apply it all to themselues as done in their fauour and filled with a thousande vaine pleasures and oftentimes make court to suche a one whose minde is farre of both from them and their purpose Guaz. And this is also a fault of women who are commonly saide to be like death for that they followe those who flie them and flie those which séeke them Annib. Honest women flie in déede those which follow them dishonestly Yea and the vnhonest flie too though they suffer themselues soone to be ouertaken But you shall neuer finde woman so shamelesse but that shée thinketh it a fault to followe others and will be first sued to her selfe So that y e fault is not as you say in the woman but in the man But you seeme to be a verie rebell against women Guaz. I am no rebell vnto them for that I neuer promised or swore faith or fealtie vnto them But howe can a man loue them that are called women of the woe and hurt they bring to men Anniball And why not of the woe and hurt they driue from men which is confirmed by God him selfe who saith he made them for a helpe and comfort to man Guaz. What to helpe to consume a man as the Poet saide Lesbia doeth sucke the purse and bodie drie to buy loue so deere is most extreeme follie Annib. That is not the Conuersation that wée are to speake of and it séemed verie straunge to mée that you béeing a Courtier shoulde professe your selfe suche an enemy to women Guaz. Pardon mée I pray you I mistooke you then for so soone as you began to speake of the Conuersation of women I thought you had ment of those with whom men trie their manhood withall in amorous incounters For I thinke that those which make profession of the life ought to learne the meanes howe to trafike together in suche sort that they may liue long time together in loue and liking And touching women of honestie and reputation you know well that it is my part not only to reuerence them but to maintaine and defende their honour and good name both with word and with sword Yea though dutie did not constraine me to do it yet affection should cary me to it hauing béen alwayes most desirous of their fauour Annib. We can not sauing our honour speake of the Conuersation which you meane and in my fancy it is our partes rather to ouerthrow it then to build it vp as a thing vnworthy of the ciuil Conuersation And to the ende you remaine no longer in suspence I woulde haue you with mée thinke this that the nature of man is inclined to nothing more then to y e loue of womē But that we may not be deceiued we must know that there is one Venus in heauen and another in earth the latter is the mother of wanton loue the other of honest affection Wanton loue is nothing els but a passion which blindeth the vnderstanding peruerteth the minde confoundeth the memory wasteth the goods weakeneth the body withereth youth killeth age which is the bréeder of vices an inhabiter in idle and empty heads which is a thing without reason without order without any stay a fault proper to fooles and which is the abridger of mans libertie Guaz. It appeareth you are well acquainted with our Boccace séeing you remember so well his sayings wheretoo may be added that of the Poet I see the thing I doe the trueth which to my cost I know no whit doth me deceiue yet loue so rules the rost that who so foloweth it no vertue folow shall for vnto lewdnesse to vice it doeth him daily call Annib. For conclusion so soone as this loue hath taken roote in the heart in the same instant are lost goods honestie renoume vertue yea body ●oule And therfore al those who are folowers of this fōd brutish loue are to be admitted only into the company of incontinent and naughtie women For they are not worthie the presence and entertainment of the honest vertuous Next foloweth the heauenly loue which being inamoured with the beauties of the minde is the cause of much good and of many commendable effectes For it maketh men affable discréete curteous painfull pacient valiant and as a braue writer hath alredie saide It taketh from men all rude and clownishe behauiour it maketh them familiar in companye pleasaunte at the Table amiable euerye waye It is the chiefe bringer in of mercy and banisher of crueltie it bréedeth friendship and driueth away hatred it is it whiche maketh a man friendly liberall desirous to doe well and loth to doe yll it is a wise guide in our trauayles in our desires and in our woordes to conclude it is the most perfect ornament of mans life And truely if you marke the order of feastes playes and merie méetinges of friendes you will say that all those assemblyes are colde and nothing delightfull if there bée no women at them For as men in their presence plucke vp their spirites and indeuour by woordes iestures and all other wayes to giue them to vnderstande howe desirous they are of their fauour and good will so you ought to thinke the obiect béeing out of their eyes they will become carelesse mannerlesse and lesse readie to commendable enterprises To bée shorte women are they whiche kéepe men waking and in continuall exercise yea I thinke there is no man so lazy and drouzy but that he will open his eyes when hee heareth talke of women And so soone as hée spyeth comming a farre of her whom hée hath placed most néere to his heart I warrant you he setteth his ruffes hée turneth his Cappe and feather the right way hée pulleth vp his cloake about his shoulders hée standeth a tiptoe hée sheweth a ioyfull and smyling countenaunce and hée séemeth to be become a newe man that hée may bee more acceptable to the sight of his mistresse in whose presence hée chaungeth colour and looketh pale by reason that his heart abandoneth his bodie to followe her béeing drawne as it were by it owne image Guaz. Women doe the verie same who I warrant you woulde not be so fine so trimmed and tricked vp so amiable euery way but of a desire to please men Annib. You sée then that this loue is no lesse mutuall then honest Guaz. Yea but if this loue were so honest as you make it you shoulde not sée men shewe them selues more affectionate

either by flatterie either by promoting either by ●laundering or by false accusing and other naughtie meanes whiche those that are learned will neuer lightly vse but enough of this And for that wée saide but erewhile that the learned receiueth great contentment in the companie of the vnlearned let vs nowe consider howe little that contentment is in respect of that whiche he receiueth being in the companine of his like For no doubt a learned man taketh much more pleasure in the company of the learned who know yea and allowe better of his learning then in the company of the ignorant who vnderstande it not so well neither are able to iudge of it Besides when hée is amongest the ignorant hée taketh pleasure only in that which hée himselfe giueth But when hée is with the learned he delighteth both in it which hée giueth that hée receiueth for that by turnes hée doeth both teach and learne Moreouer hée hath a nother contentment to know that where is greatest conformitie in estate in life and in study there is greatest agréement in good will and amitie and consequently greater pleasure and contentment * yea that effect is bred among thē which is found amongst flowers which being separated one from another giue a good smell but being bounde together in a posie they recreate the spirites a great deale more like as it was well saide by a Poet Two good men ioyned together doe in goodnesse more excel And roses ioyned with lielies haue a great deale sweeter smell Yea it is a Philosophers saying that one in comparison of two is no bodie * And truely amongest all other companies and societies there is not any more firmely and néerely linked together then this of the learned who for the most part loue better amongest themselues then kinsfolke and brethren doe agreeing in like studies and like affections they can not but take pleasure one in another and reduce them selues from the number of many as it were into one vnited body Guaz. All other assemblies may be well termed strange and externall and this same familiar and internal wherein the mindes are exercised in reasoning teaching and discoursing of things which appertaine to the knowledge of vertue and goodnesse And these are the true freendships which last long Annib. It is a common saying that the bondes of vertue binde more straightly then the bondes of blood And in trueth one good man may be sayd to be a néere kinsman to another good man by the conformitie of their minds and manners * Guaz. Héereby I imagine how great the concorde the pleasure the profit is which is reaped by the Academie of the illustratie as they tearme them established in this citie Annib. You are deceiued in your imagination for this Academy being assembled in the name of God you may well thinke that he is in the midst of them and that hee mainteineth it in peace and amitie What comfort euery one receiueth by it I cannot sufficiently set foorth vnto you for that I haue tried in my selfe and seene plainely in other Academikes that there is not any one so afflicted with the common miseries of this citie and with his priuate troubles who setting once his foote into the hal of the Academie seemeth not to ariue at the hauen of tranquilitie and beginneth not to cléere his minde of care casting his eyes about the hall to see those goodly deuises full of profounde mysteries I may well say of my selfe that when my bodie is shut within it all my yrkesome thoughtes are shut out the which attend me at the doore and at my going out get vppon my shoulders but touching the good which commeth of his happie assembly you may be assured in thinking to your selfe what diuersitie of learning is there handled sometimes with publike lectures sometimes with priuate reasoninges which breede that delight which commeth of giuing and receiuing as we haue sayde before And I may say without arrogancie that the Academie borrowing me as it were to reade in Philosophie hath payed mee home with interrest béeing not onely bettered in that parte but also moued with some knowledge in diuinitie poetrie and other laudable sciences whereof I knowe I am not altogether voide Guaz. I haue noted by long experience that for the most parte those are smally accounted of in companie which haue bestowed al their studie in one onely profession For drawing them once out of that you shall finde them very sottes and fooles Whereas on the contrary those are very well thought of who besides their chiefe profession are able to discourse reasonablie well and with discretion of other matters In so much that the knowledge they shew in those bye matters bringeth them so much the more honour by how much they are estraunged from their ordinary profession Wherefore seeing in companie wee commonly deuise of diuerse thinges leaping from one matter into another there is nothing in my iudgement that doeth vs more honour or maketh vs better liked of in good companie then to be readie at all assayes and haue a mouth for euery matter to be able to perfourme which I consider that the companie of many learned men is very auaileable like as that of the Academies is Annib. We haue alredie sayde that it is not in one man to speake sufficiently of all thinges by reason of the shortenesse of his lyfe but for so much as all learning is not in one alone it is good that manie assemble togeather to make amongest them one perfect man as it falleth out in those learned companies Guaz. Seeing the conuersation of these Academikes is so auayleable I looke you shoulde set downe some orders for them which they ought to obserue to mainteine themselues long in agréement and amitie Annib. I should thinke I should commit a fault if I should speake any thing of that for that it were according too the Prouerb to instruct Minerua knowing that it is in them rather to teach then to be taught the orders of conuersation Besides that they haue lawes and orders set downe in writing by force whereof friendship and concord is inuiolably kept amongest them Guaz. I pray you yet at the least to tell and recount vnto me the order of the Academie of the illustrati in this citie and to declare vnto me the originall of it and what is the manner of their conuersation together Annib. If I should throughly satisfie your request this day would not be enough to doe it but to content you somewhat I briefly say vnto you that these Academikes desirous to trauayle continually for their owne glorie the vniuersall benefite haue proposed vnto themselues the enterprise of the sunne which going out of the Horizon ascendeth to the opposite of the moone which setteth in the West and vpon this deuise are set these wordes Lux indeficiens with the name of Illustrati The lawes of the Academie are a great manie but they are referred al chiefly to the honour of God

and reuerently wayting vpon him to be ready at the holding vp of his fynger to execute his commaundementes they thereby take example to doe their duetye lykewyse and not to bee inferioure in obedyence to Seruauntes and Straungers and besides indeuour to be like in deedes to their Father that they maye in tyme to come receiue the lyke reuerence of their Seruauntes as they see their father doeth of his for the Father which giueth an ill example to the chylde in tyme shall be had in contempte by the Chylde and abandoned of him so that he shall neyther receyue succoure of him in his latter dayes nor in his last day that last duty to cloase vp his eyes Besides the father by liuing disorderly and dishonestly manye tymes make a hande of those goods whiche the children shoulde liue by Guaz. That agreeth with this Children many tymes are made for to weepe By reason of the ill rule their fathers did keepe Annib. Yea there are some cases wherein the seelye Infantes which haue not offended are punished for their Fathers faulte And thinking to my selfe that lawe to be too rigorous I asked one daye Mayster Frauncis Beccio the occasion whiche mooued the Emperour Iustinian to sette downe any such seuere lawe and amongest a greate manye reasons which hee aleaged vnto mee this was the cheefe That the Father naturallye fearing the ill of his Children more then of himselfe will the better keepe himself from cōmitting suche offences whereof his children shall beare the punishment whereby we may know that the ill life of the father bringeth to the Children both loffe and shame and that he must not perswade him that it is ynough to giue his children good counsayle vnlesse his deedes bee agreeable thereto for the children respecte not so muche that which the father sayth as that which he doth like as the Crauish somtime did Who his mother telling him that it was very vnseemely for him to go arsewarde as hee die aunswered Doe you leade mee the waye otherwyse and you shall see I will followe you And therefore hee that desyreth to amende his Children muste fyrst amende hymself and by the example of piety charity iustice other vertues make them charitable iust and vertuous and when he shall walke vpright by himselfe hee maye boldlye take vp others for haulting lyke as Dionisius sometyme didde who taking his sonne in a faulte sayde vnto him Haste thou euer seene mee commit the lyke faulte No sayth his Sonne you had no king to your father whereto he replyed Neyther shalt thou haue a king to thy sonne as it fell out in deede for in the ende for his crueltye and Tyranny he was driuen out of his kingdome and was constrayned by necessitie to go rouing vp and downe vntill hee founde meanes to teache children and keepe a schoole Let vs nowe passe to the other occasions of the infortunate conuersation betweene the father and the chylde whereof there are two which now come in my mynd the one is when the father is more then a mother the other when he is more then a father Guaz. Howe meane you that he should be more then a mother Annib. When he is so blinded that he seeth not the imperfections of his childe or if hee see them yet is readye to commende them or to excuse them in such sorte that if his sonne be haughty or harebrained he termeth him couragious if he be base minded he counteth him modest if a prating boye hee will haue him on Gods name to be an Orator and in flattering thus himselfe hee frameth in his imagination the best childe in the worlde with the whiche blindnesse the fathers of one onlye childe are for the moste part stroken I must needes in this place mention vnto you a youth of fyfteene or sixteene yeares of age of a readye witte but otherwise vicious dissolute and lewde of life by the fault of the father and mother who are so farre from correcting him that they dare not so muche as threaten him nor saye anye worde to him whiche maye displease him And I remember when he was fyue or sixe yeres olde if anye tolde them that they muste rebuke him for some faulte whiche he hadde done they would excuse him by and by saying hee was not yet of age to knowe his fault And beeing seuen or eyghte yeeres olde they woulde neuer beate hym nor threaten him doubting leaste through great feare and perturbation of the spirites his blood shoulde bee chaufed and inflamed whereby hee mighte bee cast into an ague No at tenne yeeres old they thought not good to trouble or molest him aleaging that strypes and threates mighte pull downe his courage too muche and take from hym his Noble stomache And though nowe for his naughtye conditions hee bee hated of the whole Towne yet they leaue not to excuse hym styll saying hee must fyrst growe and then after bee wyse and that within these fewe dayes they will sende hym to Schoole where hee shall learne witte I looke nowe when hee shall bee of age to bee hanged on the Gallowes to heare him before the people to laye the fault on his Father and mother and iustlye to curse their foolishe loue and shamefull cockering and sufferaunce attempting as once one didde to teare their Noase or their eares of with his teeth Guaz. Thereby it is seene that a chylde though of neuer so good a witte yet beeing ill broughte vp prooueth too bad but I looked you woulde haue tolde that in the ende hee hadde beaten his Father to make him amendes or that hee had driuen him out of the house as the Serpent was by the Irchin for to giue a childe so greate libertye is to putte weapons into his hand whiche often tymes hee vseth agaynste his parentes but this greate cockering and compassion is proper to the mother who commonlye bringeth vp her chyldren with more tender affection then discretion And there are few to bee seene at this daye whiche by the example of the Spartane women haue the heartes to saye to theire children in deliuering them a Tergate Come no more in my sighte but eyther with this retourning victoryous from the field or vppon this being brought dead out of the fielde but rather goe about to withstand the honourable thoughtes and enterprises of their children and woulde haue them both in countenaunce and conditions like to women Annib. It is a hard matter for a mother to be fond of her children and wise both together Guaz. But the right loue is to beate and correcte them when they shall deserue it and as the Poet sayth The rod doth not make lesse the mothers loue Annib. If the excesse of loue be to be blamed in the mother much more is it to be reproued in the father whose part it is to examine and correct his childrens faultes assuring himselfe that the only way to spyll them is to bee too fond and tender ouer them Guaz. But whiche are those fathers