Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	child_n	great_a	woman_n	1,867	5	6.2906	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A26209	Digitus dei or God appearing in his wonderfull works For the conuiction of nullifidians.	Augustine, Saint, Bishop of Hippo.; Augustine, Saint, Bishop of Hippo. De civitate Dei. Book 22. Chapter 8. English. aut	1676 (1676)	Wing A4208; ESTC R213574	43,921	115

much upon that which they call Reason that they wholly lose their way to Religion and whilst they please their fancies with some pretty nice speculatious become themselves meer scepticks and too too often downright Atheists They are not altogether behind hand with that great ambitious Spirit who not being able to reduce to known naturall principles or comprehend the cause of the ebbing and flowing of the sea is said to have cast himself as a very rash Sacrifice into it For these men finding the nature of God as it must needs be supposed if we suppose him to be above the reach of their capacity to make short work think it their readiest course to cast him quite off or at least make him so pittifull an one according to the model of things which their slender sense and experience has made them acquainted with that he must have no care or providence of things of this world which are extrinsecall to his own being lest he put himself into a condition of perpetuall trouble and disquiet Others whom I think all their kind ought to be highly offended at do so degrade and even un-man themselves and all their race that they make them as to their beginning and ending little if at all superiour to the meanest of those creatures which enjoy a sensible Being and have a feeling of those pleasures they are naturally capable of placing in them all their present and renouncing all expectation of any other future felicity And so are not at all to be wondered at if having taken up such Principles either upon trust or design they first look upon themselves as the chief if not the only thing they are to observe and gratify and then as is too frequently seen become in their lives and pursuit's like unto those brutes whom they are by a very wise man rightly compared unto sicut equus et mulus quibus non est intellectus without understanding or reason wholly drowned in sensuality and absorp't in bestiality And yet which is not only strange but monstrous also whil'st they thus become meer brutes in conversation pretend still to be the only masters of refined reason and speculation making it one great part of their witty and agreeable divertisements to devide and laugh at all those who having espoused better and nobler principles endeavour to devest themselves indeed of the Man not by degenerating into the Nature of beasts but by raising themselves to the condition of Angels with whom they one day hope and expect to enjoy those pure delights which they know very well are not to be comprehended by poor mortalls here in banishment but believe they are prepared for those faithfull servants of the great God in whose power and will it is to provide for them never-fading yet always satiating delights when those their mortal bodies shall have put on Immortality And now to come close to what I would be at upon this account I would fain know of any indifferent person who has not quite abandoned his reason whether those great pretenders to and Monopolizers of wit be not at a great loss in case these things prove true which you have here seen related by the great St. Augustine whether here does not manifestly appear so far as effects can manifest a cause first that there is some thing in the world above or beyond nature secondly that this some thing has a providence and kindness for mankiud and thirdly that there is some thing remaining after death in those blessed Saints whose prayers and intercessions obtain of the living God such miraculous favours for those who humbly address themselves unto them Against the Verity or certainty of these things thus circumstanced by the person relating the witnesses attesting all succeeding Ages unquestionably accepting it will be worth the seeing what the dissenting party with some pretense of reason do usually object For I take them for men of greater parts and knowledge of the constitution of the world in these dayes then by their peremtory denying the whole story to pretend to oblige mankind to a tame subscription and Acquiescence to their Ipse-Dixit's themselves having already banisht out of the world all Implicite faith of this nature at least for in an other kind I presume when the health of their dear bodies is concern'd they will still think it necessary to advise with and rely upon their Physician in his art though themselves dive not into the reasons nor can give any just account of his proceedings I presume also they will not apprehend that they have forfeited any share of their reason when they give credit to and rely upon their Councel in point of law though themselves perchance never read so much as Littleton or understand not the full import of all those great hard words those learned men insert into Conveyances c. In these and the like cases the Great St. Augustine Confesses l. 6. Confess c. 5. that after many doubts and perplexities which himself as well as some others in his days had been subject to he found it absolutely necessary to have recourse to Faith even in human proceedings much more was he convinced of the necessity of it in things supernaturall which as such are ex terminis concluded to be above the reach and capacity of our weak-sighted Understandings In things therefore of this high nature we may confide though we penetrate not into the intrinsick Principles of the things proposed that we proceed rationally and as becomes prudent men if having discovered sufficient motives of the credibility of the things offered to be believed we submit and yeild assent regulating our judgments and behaviours accordingly Thus much a good Christian knowes to be his duty when ever things appear vested with Gods revelation But that only which in our present case concerning things in themselves immediatly of an inferiour degree I think reasonable to demand and necessary for the persons we are arguing with to grant is not to deny human or historicall faith at least to matters of fact proposed with so many circumstances of Unquestionable credibility that peremptorily to deny them without positive and clear evidence against them would make the world believe their whole soules were turn'd fancy or will and that they had renounced all right to the noblest part of man Reason and Vnderstanding Their only course then if they purpose to maintain their pretentions to Rationality must be to argue closely with convincing proofs both in matter and forme with undeniable Premises and fairely deduced Conclusions One thing let me begg of them by the way that they will please to be mindfull that it is highly against Reason and the Rules of reasoning first to resolve upon and fix the Conclusion and then come lamely in with the Premises Thus may you have heard many a good woman prove her child to be the fairest because he is Thus may you see many a cause menaged with great earnestness at the Barr though the Councell be not

half so confident of his cause as he is pleased at the liberality of his Client Affection Willfullness and Interest are the true Premises and Proofs in such Causes and conclusions Many an odd argument is alleaged not so much proving the thing in question as evidencing our good will for it But I expect better things from rationall men and pretended lovers of truth First then they may perchance say St. Augustine was a man and might consequently both deceive and be deceived That he was a man and no Angel is without question but withall you may take notice that he is held by the whole world to have been an honest and a holy man therefore he did not go about to deceive he was ever esteemed a learned and a discreet man he had the testimonies of unsuspected disinteressed persons of whole Communities of whole Cities nay of his own eyes in many remarkable particulars Ergo he was not deceived If this be not a better consequence then any your Might be can afford to your purpose I must needs confess we are to seek for new Principles of arguing For to affirm positively upon so remote a possibility that he was either deceiv'd or design'd to deceive would be a ready way indeed but it must needs be a very rash one For never was a meer Possibility yet admitted amongst rational men for a positive proof of either side of a contradiction which does admit of a contingency Much less can it have place indifferently where one side is fortifyed with such proofs as greater cannot be required by any unbiassed judgement to a determination in the subject matter of inquiry And if this be not allow'd as exactly rational then cannot I imagine upon what Principles we can be induced to apositive crediting any thing of this nature in any age of the world before us For they all being Contingencies and the positive and negative not being possible to coexist no Might be or May be can determine the judgement any further then to a meer suspension which is not only prudent but necessary where proofs come equal on both sides And as this is necessary upon equality so certainly is it most rational to incline to some one side upon the prevalency of motives or even absolutely to assent where they arrive to that degree that no wise man can find or hope to find greater in matters of this nature Demonstratiuely no May be or Might be can be thought to be upon equall terms with it But that which I suspect may make you so backward in giving assent to this Relation of St. Augustine may be the generall prejudice you have against all things of this nature And this haply has been bred and nourish't in you by your aversion from those many Legends stuff't up as you imagin with such kind of old-wives tales which to you appear not only improbable by their number but also very lyable to exceptions by reason of Circumstances what if I should freely grant as I shall not make much difficulty to do what you seem here resolved to suppose that there have been mistakes and perchance abuses in this kind what if I frankly own that some ignorant person has taken that for a miracle which some more understanding man knowes very well to be within the compass of nature or some strong-fancied creature has taken her devout dream for a Vision Will your inference hold Ergo all are such Ergo these related by St. Augustine are such Is there no true gold because some upon the touch has been found false Are there no true Diamonds because the skillfull eye of a Lapidary or the wheel has discovered some to be counterfeit Then I pray call to mind whom you deal with whose reputation you so severely call in question It is that of St. Agustine out of whom I did purposely select these passages not that I doubt but there are a thousand as unquestionable things of this nature in other grave Authors but because I did suppose and I imagined I had reason for it that the great esteeme and respect the world generally has for this great man would gain him some credit with you also 'T is He that tells you here of many cures such as whole Consults of Physicians esteemed incurable wrought suddenly and permanently 'T is He that tells you of Devills cast out by the force of Prayer and Exorcismes 'T is He that tells you of many dead persons rays'd suddenly to life and health 'T is he that tells you he saw many of these things when they happened with his own eyes 'T is he that tells you of the Testimonies of whole Communities whole Towns and Cities in proof of many particulars 'T is he that tells you of Memorialls given in and read publiquely and kept carefully that they might be confirmed or contradicted if any thing occurr to any one of those thousands who saw or heard them 'T is he that tells you that there were so many other Miracles wrought in the places he mentions and known by his brethren then living to have been wrought that he thought himself obliged to put down his excuse for not specifying them also as well as others which he happens to mention 'T is he who writ these Things in a time when he could not but know that there were enemies enough both at home and abroad Heathens and Heretiques Manicheans and Pelagians c. who would have been very glad of the opportunity of diminishing his credit and authority by disproving what he had writt with so much advantage to his own cause and so much prejudice of theirs This certainly must needs have obliged so discreet and sober a person to have used more care then ordinary in the examination of those Things which he intended for publique view in proof of those great mysteries of our faith The Resurrection and glorious Ascension of Christ our Saviour in Body into heaven And here by the way give me leave to tell you that this ever has been and to this hour is the constant endeavour of Prelates in the Church and it is their high obligation that nothing of this kind be taken or divulged as miraculous but upon very strict examination authentique proofs and depositions of sworn witnesses c. So that it cannot in reason be thought other then willfull rashness in any man positively to deny them all upon no better ground then meere prejudice or suspicion I pray taken notice of what I said last to deny them all For to come a little home to you I must take the liberty to tell you that if any one of these hundred Miracles related here by Saint Augustine or any one of those thousands related examined and attested by others proves true your business is done You will be compelled to own something beyond the reach of your eyes or perchance understandings which has a beeing and a power above the force of nature manifesting it self abundantly in such admirable and Supernaturall operations But