Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	evil_a	good_a	great_a	3,686	5	2.7944	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A09678	The praise of the gout, or, The gouts apologie A paradox, both pleasant and profitable. Written first in the Latine tongue, by that famous and noble gentleman Bilibaldus Pirckheimerus councellor vnto two emperours, Maximilian the first, and Charles the fift: and now Englished by William Est, Master of Arts.; Apologia seu podagrae laus. English	Pirckheimer, Willibald, 1470-1530.; Est, William, 1546 or 7-1625.	1617 (1617)	STC 19947; ESTC S114730	29,358	44

reason enfeeble truth vanquish whatsoeuer sinister opinion malicious censure and false cauillation they shall forge against mee Truth for a time may be oppressed God so disposing for our punishment or tryall but finally suppressed it cannot be Truth is stronger then all falshood it is temporis filia the daughter of time and will at length preuaile Truth is simplex et nuda sed efficax et magna simple and naked but powerfull and strong splendet cum obscuratur vincit cùm opprimitur it shineth when it is darkned and ouercommeth when it is oppressed It was well said of that Father that Truth hath a double effect it is dulcis amara sweet and bitter quando dulcis est parcit quando amara curat when it is sweet it spareth when it is bitter it cureth And as wisely Aristotle Eos qui errant ad pauca respicere They that do erre haue an insight but into few things but that wee bee not deceiued euery circumstance which concerneth any matter is diligently to bee looked into and considered which if it be I doubt not but truth shall be of more validitie with you then the malice enuie and taunts of all men For I trust plainely to vnfold that all the blame and euils how many and how great soeuer which light vpon my aduersaries are not so much to bee ascribed vnto mee as to their owne licenciousnesse and vices Secondly That these euils if they be euils are not so grieuous but farre more tolerable then either they will or imagine And thirdly that I am the cause of much good and do bring many and great commodities vnto men Bee you not therefore O Iudges bee you not I say perturbed in mind or carried away with passions but quietly as you haue begun heare me I pray you with patience For if I proue not plainely what I haue promised it lieth in your power to condemne mee so shall you acquit your selues of all partiality and blame and for my part if I bee conuicted I will contentedly vndergoe whatsoeuer punishment you shall inflict vpon me But if I make good all that I haue spoken I desire that you will not so much respect me as be mindfull of your place and office that I may receiue such vpright sentence as the equity of my cause by law and right requireth But before I addresse my selfe to dissolue my aduersaries obiections I thinke it fit to answere first to euill report and rumor of the people For if thou be good will my enemies say and the cause of so much good vnto men what then is the cause that all men so egerly hate detest and abhorre thee For though Fame doth very often yet is it not wont alwaies to erre especially beeing so inueterate and euery where so frequent in the world And I againe would aske these iolly fellowes mine accusers Why doe Children hate their Schoole-masters though neuer so wise and learned Why doe wicked men contemne good Lawes Is it not because the Schoole-master laboureth to furnish the minds of his Schollers with good Arts and discipline that they may hereafter become the better men And Lawes are a bridle to curbe the insolencie of badde men to restraine them within the limits of their duty that they dare not commit what villanie they would Epictetus was wont to say Aegrisernator est medieus iniuriam passi lex The Physicion is a preseruer of the sick and the refuge for the wronged is the Law Except the Lawes as Anacharsis once said may bee compared to the Spiders webbe which catch and insnare onely the little weake flies when the great Drones and strong ones break the net and escape a thing much to bee lamented But to returne from whence I haue digressed it followeth not that the Schoole-master should be euill because hee is hated of Children neither that the Lawes should be blamed and reiected because they are abhord of lewd Luskes and vaine Varlets euen the worst kind of men but wee must hold that children want iudgement and do censure of Discipline and good Institution as they whose Palate is corrupt and infected with a feuer are wont to doe of their meat and drinke and vicious men polluted with all filthinesse wish that there were no Lawes that there might bee no hinderance to with-hold them from running boldly in their execrable and desperate courses Hee is not therefore to be reputed euill which of a multitude but he that is iustly and that of good men condemned neither is he presently to be counted a good man who by many voices is extolled but he that deserueth praise from the mouth of honest and wise men And the witnesse of Conscience is more comfortable then the vulgar breath but herein I rest satisfied with this saying of the Reuerend Seneca Malè de me loquuntur sed mal● mouerer si de me Marcus Cato si Lalius sapiens si duo Scipienes ista loquerentur nunc malis displicere laudari est They speake euill of me but they are euill men if Marcus Cato Wise Lalius the two Scipt●●s should speake this of me I should be moued but to be dispraised of the wicked is a praise to a man For seeing the number of wicked men doth euery where exceed none by their iudgement shall be good for they will commend none but such as are like themselues but so far off should wise men be from accounting the iudgement of the insulse vulgar sort to be of any moment that in their estimate they should bee of the best men of whom the multitude speake worst and traduce most as contrariwise they the vilest men and of basest esteeme for the most part whom popular applause extolleth to the clouds as the wise Plato rightly iudged Whoso pleaseth euery humor is worthy suspition yea though he maketh a faire shew of Vertue Let mine aduersaries therefore cease to obiect vnto mee these frantick rumors and rather blame themselues which are the cause of such paine and torments to themselues as worthily they suffer For they so liue nay they so drinke they so plunge themselues in riot and wallow in deliciousnesse that they draw compell and hasten mee to come into their company and to dwell with them euen against my will For seldome come I of mine owne accord but most commonly by constraint as enforced I attend vpon them If then I were the plague of man-kind as they would haue it I should not afflict certaine men but all without difference but so farre am I from hurting all men that I willingly decline from many for I take no pleasure in those hard rough rusticke agresticke kind of people which neuer are at rest but alwaies exercise their bodie with hard labours are euer moyling and toyling which seldome or neuer giue themselues to pleasure which endure hunger which are content with a slender diet the Water often quencheth their thirst haue bad cloathing and worse lodging fare hard

pride and enuie is in him secundum effectum according to the effect he is guilty of all sinne for he tempteth to all sinnes but pride is his owne proper sinne his beloued Paragon his Rimnon saith Bernard his Character saith another it was the first sinne and it shall be the last for as other sinnes decrease secret pride doth increase pride is like Coloquintida which spoileth the whole pot of pottage Why then art thou proud ô dust and ashes whose conception is sinne whose life is miserie whose end is rottennesse and corruption Initium vitae coecitas obliui● possidet progressum labor dolor exitum error omnia et diu viuendo portant funera sua Childhood is but foolish sottishnes youth but a precipitate heate manhood labour and carking carefulnesse olde age but a bundle of diseases and all the rest error and the end extreme paine Oh then what a folly is pride Si tibi copia si sapientia formaque detur Sola superbia destruit omnia si committetur If thou hast abundance with wisedomes redundance and beauties faire grace Yet Pride all disgraceth all goodnes debaseth and Vertues deface But I make pride and ambition strike their sayles and coole their courage when my force teacheth them how lesse then nothing mans arrogancie is how vaine is beauty how weake the strength of body how fluid our humours how fleeting our wealth Nobilitie a nest of nothings humane glory but a gust of wind I cause them to remember that they are but mortalls whom pride perswaded to be Gods equalls Againe while I teach the myriades of mans miseries I quench enuy emulation detraction and the impertinent care of vnnecessary things For how can men be curious in other mens matters when they haue more then enough to doe with their owne I take away malice and cauils so that my seruants deuise no cunning craftie circumuentions of their neighbours a thing too common but with none but Atheists in these dayes They stirre vp no strife brawlings contention among others which haue enough and more then enough to do with their owne griefs And as for hatred and enuie my seruants are so far from this vile passion that they neither enuie nor are enuied of others for misery is no obiect for enuie and they deserue rather comfort and pitie These ô Iudges are matters of no small moment but you shall heare greater There are three things which are most infest enemies vnto my vassalls though they daily receiue them but vnto me they are very profitable Gluttony Venery and Anger But I respect not so much mine owne profite as the health of my seruants I warne them diligently to beware of these enemies and if I finde that they contemne my warnings I take reuenge vpon them for their contempt and make them for their owne case hereafter be more wary how they set light of my precepts And as often as by deuouring they too much ingurge their guts and superfluously gully downe wine I am presently with them as a sharp reuenger I plague them according to their deserts and counsaile them henceforward not so lightly to esteeme my hests yet am not I so agresticke and sterne that I should denie moderate vse of meates or altogether forbid Bacchus his liquor but through my benefite they many times feede more delicately and are wont to drinke more freely especially when they celebrate their solemnities with salacious Nymphes But I deterre them from too much addicting themselues to the seruile seruice of that rude master Bacchus and from being enthralled with the allurements of wanton Venus so that my seruants dare very seldome or neuer commit adulteries or whoredomes I keepe them from vncleannesse and preserue mayd and wise from their pollutions but if they be vnruly I so gripe them that they shall repent of their exorbitant causes and loath the Femall sexe what greater benefit can their best friends confer vpon them then to deliuer them from so many euils and exempt them from so many perils as are wont to follow Cupid that blind beardlesse boy and Venus a mother worthy such a sonne And now for anger what should I say It is a vice full of fury and madnesse which is wont to send hot and sharpe cholerick humors into their ioints which shall incessantly pricke and torment them but none know better to cure this malady then my selfe they dare not for their life fall into these passions lest I presently torment them according to their deseruings and make euen their bones to cracke Moreouer as I expurge the flesh infected with infinite vices so I adorn the mind and beautify it with many vertues I suffer it not to be pressed downe but doe eleuate it from earth to heauen and stirre it vp to prayer and contemplation I thinke it cannot bee vnknowne vnto you how the greatest part of men are inclined that if fortune alwayes should fauour them if their sweet should neuer be seasoned with sowre if the world should euer smile vpon them they would alwayes fixe their minds vpon earthly things they would regard nothing but backe and belly and like swine wallow in the puddle of their pleasures but the afflictions which I lay vpon them may be likened vnto the tree called Rhamnus whose root leaues and branches though as Physicions say they be exceeding bitter yet are they very medicinable for the seede thereof purgeth the body of all grosse humours and the iuice thereof cleereth the sight So afflictions though to flesh and bloud they seeme austere and bitter yet are they very healthfull to the Soule they purge out the noysome humor of sinne cleere the eyes of the minde which prosperity blindeth that wee may truly know our selues see our owne corruption and become henceforward more warie how we offend our louing God and fly vnto him in al our miseries the scourge of affliction awaketh the drowsie humbleth the proud purgeth the penitent and crowneth the innocent But I feare I haue too much offended your patience with my tedious prolixitie I will therefore conclude with setting downe certaine particulars to proue what a precious panacea and all-saluing plaister I am for the curing of all spirituall infirmities of the soule and first for Selfe-loue the pernicious daughter of Pride the fountaine of much euill the Lerna malorum the Sentina and packe of all mischiefe in the world Now for the abating of this vice what remedy better then afflictions which I lay vpon the flesh I cause men thereby to know themselues that in their best estate they are but a dung-hil couered with snow subiect to paine aches sores rottennesse and corruption we were all taken out and fashioned of the same lumpe of clay of the same piece of earth as the poorest and basest whom wee so despise and so I teach men to esteeme of others as of themselues seeing we are all made of the same substance all subiect to the same