Selected quad for the lemma: book_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	find_v	great_a	read_v	2,892	5	5.5522	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A25995	A sermon preached in Trinity-College Chappell before the University of Dublin, January the 9th, 1693/4 being the first Secular Day since its foundation by Queen Elizabeth / by St. George Ashe ...	Ashe, St. George, 1658?-1718.	1694 (1694)	Wing A3933; ESTC R35285	12,914	23

Arts intimating doubtless That Empire did ever best flourish and grow up in Conjunction with Learning witness the Antient Principalities of Greece those Celebrated Schools at once of War and Philosophy where their greatest Generals were taken out of Colledges from under the Institution of Wise Men and Philososophers from the Calm and Retirement of a Study where Socrates cou'd furnish out a Pupil Xenophon raw and undisciplin'd to perform one of the greatest Actions of Antiquity and a single Archimedes with his Rule and Compass could defend Syracuse and defie for a long time the whole Force of Marcellus's Army Witness Rome it self whose Empire was never in greater Glory than when Arts too and Ingenuity were most cultivated and encouraged Julius Caesar from an Orator became a Hero and is still perhaps as justly Celebrated for his Commentaries as his Conquests Scipio the Great is reported to have spent more time in his Study then in his Camp and was oftner observed with a Book than a Sword in his Hand nay Learning among them was the undoubted and infallible step to all sorts of Preferment it Recommended their Consuls and their Dictators nor could the Government of Nations the Dispatch of Armies the Noise of Victories interrupt their Studies They writ Books even with Triumphal Hands and Argued and Disputed with Phylosophers thô they had Legions at command From the days of Nerva down to Commodus was the Happiest Age the Roman Empire ever knew whether we consider its vast Extent or the great Felicity and Peace in which it was Govern'd and then we find none but Plato's wish'd for Emperors such as were Phylosophers too a succession of Antonines Trajans Adrians such Wise and Learned Princes as brought Knowledge into Fashion and Repute gain'd it admission into Courts and Palaces taught it to keep the Best Company render'd it the study of States-men and Politicians the Employment of the Rich and of the Great But not to wander so far who among the Saxons was a greater encourager of Learning then King Alfred and who too more Victorious in his Arms and more Wise and Regular in the Administration of Affairs And to come yet nearer to our present Occasion When were these Nations more Happy then under the long and glorious Reign of our Illustrious Foundress whom as we must always gratefully own to be the Best Patroness of Arts and Knowledge the Restorer of Decay'd Learning among us so all the World will grant Her not only to have been the Most Learned of Her Sex but to have exceeded in this Particular as well as in Wisdom and other Princely Vertues all the Contemporary Monarchs and Princes in Christendom To descend yet lower 'T would be almost infinite to reckon up the various Helps and Compendiums which Learning has furnished to all the Inferior Arts to the Entertainments of Peace as well as the Successes of War What Improvements do Trade Commerce Navigation the Culture of Lands and the Advancement of Mechanicks in general owe thereto nay if we will not give these useful Inventions an Epicurean original and impute 'em wholly to Blind Chance or a fortuitous concourse of Lucky Thoughts we must believe they proceeded from an unwearied vigorous investigation of Nature and it's Powers from a sedulous tracing such Links and Connexions Corollaries and Consequences as none but a Thinking Learned Head is acquainted with In summ Antiquity owes all it's Heathen Gods and Divinities to the fruitful Industry of Scholars the Admiring World of old deified their Discoveries Built Temples and Raised Altars to the happy products of Science and thô Theseus Minos and Romulus who were Founders of Empires and Fathers of their Country cou'd only arrive to the Inferior Honour of Heroes and Demigods yet Ceres and Bacchus Mercury and Apollo who invented Vseful Arts and Sciences and obliged the World with more lasting and advantageous Benefits were Worship'd with the highest degree of Adoration and ranked among the Dij majorum Gentium And doubtless the Discoveries of the latter bringing perpetual Profit and Advantage with them being gentle and easy like the still small voice had more evident Characters of a Divine Presence and Efficacy then all the boisterous noisie transient Benefits of the former But if any are more affected with the pleasures of Thinking and Meditation which indeed is properly to act as Men no other Employment can afford the like Advantages All other Delights are mixt and adulterate and do chiefly gratify our Bodies or Sensitive parts are acquired with Expence and Hazard and do either weaken Nature or nauseate in the very enjoyment whereas these render the constitution of the Mind more vigorous and healthy it's Faculties are made more bright and active by constant use their fruition does not exclude Appetite while we drink we thirst and by a grateful vicissitude of Desiring and Possessing are always in Action and always Happy And indeed what more manly and becoming as well as Noble Employment can there be than to improve our best Talents and enlarge and extend our Spirits while we industriously cultivate our Lands and adorn our Bodies is it fit our Vnderstandings should ly fallow barren and the Divine Image which we carry within us remain neglected dishonored and unimproved Is it fit our Mindes which are large enough to embrace the whole World and comprehend the vastest Truths shou'd be busied only Servilely to cater for the Body and not rather employ themselves according to the dignity of their exalted Natures and be cultivated and adorned as becomes their Heavenly Extraction 'T is the perfection of our Rational Part to know that is to be able to frame clear and distinct Conceptions to form right Judgments and to draw true Consequences from one thing to another and Reason is the undoubted Birthright and Patrimony of every man and whoever will suffer this valuable Entail'd Estate to ly wast and useless or be Mortgag'd and Squander'd away for Trifles does scarce merit Pitty if he become Poor Despised and Miserable But to be more successful yet in the behalf of Learning we will bribe the Sensual Appetites and Affections of Men and shew that even their Lusts and Passions may find repose there Is any one ambitious of Fame and Glory 'T is this shews the readiest path thereto and will furnish out a Name pretious as the Benefits it derives on Mankind and lasting as the Books and Monuments in which they are Registred Aristotle's Works will be known read and admired when his great Patron 's Conquests may perhaps be forgotten and the Reputation of Achilles is much more obliged for it's duration to Homer's Pen than his own Sword Is any fond of Empire and Command Learning establishes the most diffusive Vniversal Monarchy extending its Power to the most distant Nations and making a Conquest over all that is rational Tyrants may enslave the Body and by Rigor and Injustice preserve an uneasie tottering Command but the Empire of Knowledge is over the Will and the