Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	affection_n	love_n	love_v	1,790	5	6.3849	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A78452	The innocent lord; or, The divine providence. Being the incomparable history of Joseph. / Written originally in French, and illustrated by the unparallel'd pen of the learned De Ceriziers, almoner to my lord the Kings brother. And now rendred into English by Sir William Lowre Knight.; Joseph, ou la Providence divine. English	Cerisiers, René de, 1609-1662.; Lower, William, Sir, 1600?-1662.	1654 (1654)	Wing C1681; Thomason E1480_3; ESTC R208739	71,959	184

Being arriv'd there their first care was not to admire the superb buildings of that famous City Every one hath his thoughts and his divertisements those of the Merchants are to procure themselves riches The occupation of ours was to expose presently their merchandises and though the Master was troubled to resolve himself that Ioseph should be the richest piece thereof Notwithstanding the desire of money carried him for this bout above the consideration of his pleasures It is true that he put so great a price upon him as could buy a score of other slaves and which would have driven away all the world if his merit had not been as visible as his graceful behaviour One day these Ishmaelites being upon the point to depart a Lady of condition passed by their shop As she perceived our slave she commanded her Coach to stop and having considered him an Eunuch told the Merchants that they should not depart the Town till they had received my Ladies Orders It was not hard to obey a Lady of that quality So the stay was not long for Potiphar sent them at the howre a Page to command them to come to his house and to bring with them that young Cananean whom his wife had entertained The Kite flies not more swiftly to his prey then these men of money rendred themselves where they hoped to find theirs They spake without delay of the price which appeared not excessive because they had no sooner seen Ioseph but they blamed the Ishmaelites for not making the esteem of him which they ought His countenance shewed well that he was not of the Village and his liberty which he had free amongst his Irons Potiphar asked him what he could do To which he answered with an incredible modesty that he could obey this reply was so much more pleasing as it was lesse expected This Lord who took pleasure to hear him would engage him to other answers What then cannot one command thee any thing so hard that is not impossible for thee My Lord replyed Ioseph obedience consists not in doing but in willing so that if one commands any thing above our power our weaknesse is rather seen then our vice If I command thee to adore our Gods added Potiphar That would be impossible for me replyed our slave since you have not any Suppose that they be not so as thou wilt I can ordain thee to render the same honours that we do to the Crocodiles Then I would not obey because my obedience would be a crime by reason of a duty more pressing then the obligation that I should have to accomplish your will Whilest Ioseph gave these couragious answers Potiphar fixing too curiously his eyes upon a face of seventeen years took a passion for this slave which is too filthy to be named and without diminishing any thing of the price told forth an hundred Crowns of gold to his Masters God stayed not long to punish the rashnesse of a man that would profane a thing which was consecrate to him S. Ierome assures that concupiscence was so quenched in this Lord that not only he could not seek the forbidden pleasures but also he was not capable of the lawful Perhaps the Scripture hath taken occasion from thence to call him Eunuch which could not be before since he had a daughter ten years old This accident cooled the body of Potiphar not his affection On the contrary it increased insomuch that he took a perfect knowledge of his good qualities Vertue makes it self always to be cherished so must it be granted that being more fair in a fair body she hath charms more powerful and attractions lesse avoidable Iosephs Master learn'd this truth from his experience for having continually this young man before his eyes and not ignorant of his perfections by little and little he formed himself a necessity to love him and from that love a most perfect confidence Amongst the good qualities with which he rendred himself commendable he had one that seemed not to be of his age It was a prudence so ordered that one would think it old from an age It was she that rendred him happy in Potiphars house inasmuch as he trusted him with all the government of his house and with the intendency of all his affairs This confidence was not dammageable since Ioseph was an Intelligence that could neither be surprised in his conduct nor corrupted in his manners Never suffered he himself to be vanquished with the desire of wealth nor wearied himself to practise it The hand of an Angel was not more clean of avarice then his and though gold hath I know not what of gluttonous he could not be catched therewith He made the riches of his Master to profit without diminishing those of his neighbours His debtors could say that it was advantageous to them to have such a Creditour To see the wealth of Potiphar one would have said that all the superfluity of Egypt flowed into his Palace and that this fair part of the world was not fruitful but for him Judge now if this servant was used like a slave and if his Master had reproaches for him The other Domesticks drew not the same satisfaction from Joseph forasmuch as his cares were a continual censure of their negligence Sometimes they had temerity enough to blame a vertue which they could not imitate but Potiphar was not disposed to their murmures and the integrity of his oeconomy made their envy appear Notwithstanding the assurance which he had thereof never made him insolent On the contrary perswading himself that he ought as well to conserve the peace of that house as his own interests he prevented the other Officers with all sort of good offices If he presented himself any benefit it fell by his addresse into other hands then his making more reckoning of a friend then of a present Never demanded Potiphar of him an account of his companions deportments that he had not good to say of them This industry gained him by little and little the most savage and the most jealous A man that treats thus with his inferiours fails not ordinarily of the respect that he owes to his Lord Ioseph might say that he was rather adored then that he received honour thereby His fortune might make him believe that he was his Favorite notwithstanding he never thought himself but his slave The affection which they bare him augmented his reverence in stead of lessening it I have said that Potiphar had a daughter but I have not yet said that she was so born unto good and that all her inclinations were so innocent that Ioseph not able to hate verue cherished the visage thereof in his young Mistresse The effects of this love were all chast and all holy as well as their cause As this Gentlewoman began to grow up she began to be considered as the fairest and richest match of Egypt Her house was ordinarily filled with young Lords who came to make themselves slaves unto her

who would have no servants Ioseph having known this inclination and observed that the heart of Asseneth rejected all that which her eyes attracted indevoured to fortifie her in that resolution When he met her aside and that he could not be heard of her Followers he told her so many marvels of chastity that she deliberated from that time forward to remain always a Virgin Observe this passage of Gods Providence who distasted this Maid with the love of all those that sought her to prepare her to an affection which you will presently admire But it seems that fortune was weary to oblige our Intendant and that she feared to acquire the name of constant if she obliged him longer And to speak truth I should love much better to be alwayes miserable then not to be happy but to resent more livelily my misfortune and to creep in the dust then to see my self lifted up to fall into a precipice There is no beast how fierce soever he be who becomes not gentle with us Misfortunes seem to be of this nature since the most bitter render themselves sweet by their familiarity Poor Joseph how happy had you been in your misfortune if they had left you to the chain the custome of suffering would have taken away the sense of your pains or at least it would have diminished the sharpnesse thereof Hitherto we have not spoken of the satisfaction which the wife of Potiphar had from the services of Joseph We have said that all those of the house lov'd him perfectly shall it be she alone that hath no heart Oh would to God that she were all of Ice for him her hate is more to be desired then her affection They assure that Love hath no eyes or if he have he sees not a whit this cannot be said of those that love For if the object of their passion be present it possesseth not only their thought but as if all their looks belonged to it it draws them so powerfully that reason governs them no more And that which is to be admired they are so clear-sighted that they find in that object the perfections that are not there Every part is a miracle of nature and though oftentimes that very thing from whence they derive their love is that which gives hatred unto others it must be that all their comparisons come from Heaven and that the names which they give them be robbed from the Angels or from God But retnrn we to her who must make the filthiest part of this History and which we would have left out if the Holy Ghost himself marking all its particulars seemed not willing to illustrate the glory of Joseph by the shame of this infamous woman It is not then but too true that he was loved of her who owed all her heart to Potiphar which she could not divide without losing it altogether I confesse notwithstanding that her first affection had taken birth from his fair qualities and that she was in the beginning honest but degenerating afterward into a filthy passion she fixed her self lesse to the merit then to him that possessed it Behold as it happeneth oftentimes that Vertues ingender Vices and that the Sun produceth the shadows which he must dissipate Joseph perceived not so soon the malady of his Mistresse forasmuch as he saw nothing amiable in his person and that he had too good opinion of Cyrene to conceive an evil one of her It is thus that charity thinks of her neighbour loving better to feign perfections in him then to consider his defects she doth that here which she would find All the words of complaisance which she used were taken for a simple acceptation of service and for a civility which the Nobility never deny to the meanest persons This woman perceiving the sense that Ioseph gave to her flatteries declared her self all openly not letting any occasion passe to witnesse to him her love She had no praises but for Joseph all that which he did was approved his least words were mysteries and though she needed not to feign much to find him fair her passion rendred him to her more amiable If this evil had not been gone so far there might have been means to cure it and to give some excuse to a woman who had no modesty For to speak the truth one must be extreamly cold not to be warmed by so fair a fire and strong to make defence against so charming an enemy His beauty was a powerful attraction even for the souls that were not weak The deformity of these Moors and Aethopians who were in the same house serving him for umbrage raised his lustre the more What marvel was it then that a woman made like the Mistresse of Joseph should suffer her self to be taken by so many enticements Our holy young man knew at last the evil gain that he had made and as all was contrived without his consent and against his desire he indevoured to bring to it all the remedies that his wisdome judged necessary and profitable The presence of the object is the support and nourishment of that disease which they call Love he was not ignorant of it therefore withdrew he as much as he could from this Lady But if necessity obliged him to do any thing in her presence he restrained all the good grace of his action for fear that it might be a new motive to her tendernesse His artifices staid not there for as he knew that they remained without fruit being angry with himself for the fault of another he punished it in his person He fasted wore the cilice and practised other mortifications to the end to take away the handsomenesse from his body and the beauty from his visage which seemed to prepare him this persecution He that kindles a fire ought to quench it when Love is unlawful his birth is shameful his murther commendable the Parricide is the true father thereof for who kills it obliges it The more our Saint applied industries to dis-engage his Mistresse the more his Mistresse invented new plots to surprise him All her actions carried design her looks were capable to bring impurity into a pure spirit and to make a savage to love Her countenance was so smooth that it could give tendernesse to the most austere vertue Even her carriage when it appeared simple was affected I speak not of the sighs with which she indevoured to shake his constancy nor of certain papers which she made sometimes to fly into his hands I care not to trouble your chaste ears with the evil discourses that she held forth unto him but to the end that you may know the strength of a great soul I will give you part of his answer The wise Physician draws Antidotes from the most cruel poison the good Christian instructions from the most evil actions This unchaste Lady having one day declared unto him the passion that she had for him and indevoured to draw his consent to her shameful design he

The Innocent Lord Who but a Joseph could resist the dart Of such a tempting beauty witt and art And haue noe fiery wound within his hart THE INNOCENT LORD OR THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE BEING The incomparable History OF JOSEPH WRITTEN Originally in FRENCH and illustrated by the unparallel'd Pen of the Learned De CERIZIERS Almoner to my Lord the Kings brother AND Now rendred into ENGLISH BY Sir WILLIAM LOWRE Knight London Printed by S. G. for Charles Adams and are to be sold at his shop at the sign of the Talbot near S. Dunstans Church in Fleetstreet 165● THE TRANSLATORS APOLOGIE Gentlemen and Ladies YOu may judg me little Souldier less Courtier and least of all Lover by the order of my title in this Dedication I must confess civility would oblige me to preferre the fairer sex but the History here displaies not the vertues of an Innocent Lady but of an Innocent Lord not of a Genevieva but a Joseph this I hope will excuse me I cannot doubt of your judgements and therefore shall not need many words in the behalf of this work the same favour you afforded to my former translation I presume cannot be wanting unto this since it hath some advantages above that which may justly challenge a preheminence the Authour is the same the frame and impression newer in the Original the History Canonical the several passages as pleasant and as passionate and the Discourse as elegant and as full of variety A Romance well penn'd may be tolerated an Authentique story as well rendred should be cherished but a Divine Legend ought to be reverenced adored though in a simple dresse especially when so magnificently set forth by so eminent and ingenious an Artist as de Ceriziers if it loses any thing of its lustre I must impute it wholly to my unfortunate Version yet pardon small faults if you meet with any and let my modesty obtain this priviledge that you will read it over advisedly and then censure freely and spare not Your humble servant WIL. LOWER TO MY LADY THE COUNTESSE OF CHALAIS MADAM I Protest in the first place that though I offer you this work I seek not either the effects of your benevolence or the protection of your power because I feel my heart as clear from interest as I know my soul exempt from fear I have had sufficient good fortune not to finde hitherto in the address of my works but the sole thing which I sought therein which was the honour to render my testimony publick upon the esteem of some particular persons Though it seems that my present condition should excuse a more mixt intention and the change of life that I have made might give me thoughts lesse noble I protest yet once again that I look not upon either your defence or your benefits I give liberty to all the world to examine my writings without pretending any safeguard against the Academy but I request you that without considering my offering you would deign to suffer the affection that consecrates it you You should not deny me this honour since it is no longer free for me to obey you though you your self should have a will contrary to the inclinations which your excellent merit gives me Your generosity hath prevented me with so many favours that it is impossible for me to retain that testimony of my resentment Notwithstanding without declaring my self more openly upon the motives of so just a gratitude permit me Madam to say that one of your bounties alone is capable to ravish from me all the heart that I have and to ravish it from me everlastingly You have desired to know me in a conjuncture wherein many persons whom I believed to have gained either by my services or by their promises have feigned not to know me You apprehended not that my misfortune was contagious nor that my misery might be troublesome to you Your courage extended it self unto me even in an estate which rejecteth very often the most generous courtesies In which to speak the truth you have done that which belongs not but to the greatest souls who never withdraw themselves from an unfortunate party provided that he be innocent Though I should not love that little vertue which you suppose in me your judgement would sollicit me to be amorous of it insomuch Madam that I have you the obligation not only to believe me but also to render me vertuous Certainly if beauty be the glory of bounty as Plato will have it I judge by that laudable profusion which you have used in my behalf that yours how perfect soever it be is unfaithful since it sheweth not upon your visage all the treasure of your soul and that you are much better then you appear fair I hope from the mercy of God notwithstanding any crosse that may come unto me from fortune that he will continue me the good motions which his Grace inspires me and that for the favourable thoughts which you have of them he will give me the means to publish to all the world the just cause that I have to be all my life MADAM Your most humble and most obedient servant De CERIZIERS TO THE READER READER I Pretend not to make thee a Preface greater then my Book there needs but a word or two to say unto thee that this Patriarch is but one of the Infants of my wit and that thou oughtest to see the others if thou cherishest the true History I promise thee not all those whom God promiseth to his servant Abraham thou wouldst have then more cause to fear then to hope because I should be lesse obliging then troublesome Expect all those whom thou desirest since I am resolved to give thee as many of them as thou wilt receive I will not stop my design but where thou shalt bound thy desire Thou shalt finde a style more extended then in my reflections but thou wilt judge also that if the Discourse requires sinew and point the ingenuity and the words appertain to the History I husband thee my wit following the nature of the subjects which I handle deny me not neither thy attention nor thy patience I perswade me that thou wilt not have the scruple of those who give all the force and goodnesse of their thoughts to the robe and profession of their Authour as if the dew of Heaven falls not but upon the mountains and the depth of the valleys were deprived of that sweet influence It would not be without ingratitude if I should deny that little capacity which I have to the Religion which hath bred me but it would be sottishnesse to believe that I should have left there my reason being obliged to come forth from thence This misfortune might be feared of a person who should not have had piety for a motive of his change for my part I expect recompence for it rather then punishments Those who know me will judge that I have not acted but by good principles One should judge unworthily