Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	good_a	know_v	see_v	4,988	5	3.1452	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A55758	Angliae speculum morale The moral state of England, with the several aspects it beareth to virtue and vice : with The life of Theodatus, and three novels, viz. The land-mariners, Friendship sublimed, The friendly rivals.	Preston, Richard Graham, Viscount, 1648-1695.	1670 (1670)	Wing P3310; ESTC R5728	46,008	222

his age he was removed to the University where he with a great deal of pleasure and no less serious industry addressed himself to the Muses well knowing that their favours as well as those of other Mistresses were not to be obtained but by many and hard services According to the Custom of the place he began his studies in Philosophy he soon knew the most knotty maximes and unriddled the greatest Sophismes and Subtleties of Logick he had considered and laid up all the precepts of the Moralists he was acquainted with all the principles of Physicks and had comprehended all those notions of the Metaphysician which he could adjust to the Rule of Right Reason When he had throughly considered the natures of all these he found that they were sine Idea's that they commended the ingenuity of the ancient Schools and Porch that perhaps they might frame his head to discourse or argue plausibles but that they were too speculative to be useful to him in the necessities and emergencies of life therefore he left off to intend those studies as he was wont yet he did not wholly lay them aside and applied himself to History and the most useful parts of Mathematicks as Geometry and those two main Pillars of History Chronologie and Geography he knew that from these noble Records he might gain useful Rules of living and not such as the Ethicks of the Philosophers give upon trust but such as have been confirmed by many great examples that he might here see the several ends of Virtue and Vice the encouragements of the one and the infamy of the other he might here read the praises of heroick and just Cato's and view the Monuments built to their Memories and here behold the misfortunes and fates of ambitious Caesar's and Pompey's the Panegyricks of chast and virtuous Lucretia's and the infamy of lacivious and wanton Julia's here the redoubted actions of those mighty souls who have fought in their Countries defence and fallen victims in securing its Altars and Gods will make him emulous and raise him to affect equal attempts whilst the ill success of those who have invaded the rights of others maketh him to detest their practices here he might see that truth would exert her self and that those who have suffered unjustly would be revenged In fine he might see Virtue crowned and Vice punished Now what greater argument or motive can there be than this to embrace the one and abhorr the other From Mathematicks he learnt that all bodies had longitude latitude and profundity that the two first qualities were obvious to every eye but the latter was only to be seen by search which he applied himself to and would never be satisfied till he had learnt to value every thing as it really was and not as what it seemed to be he like other men was not contented with a Probleme which shewed him such a thing was but looked for Theoremes which told him how and why In sine he found such demonstrations in this Learning that he could never be satisfied till he had the same in every thing which he gained by examining its privatest recesses and corners so by this means he became so acquainted with the constitution of all things that only Nature her self could be more so Having remained here till about the 18th year of his age where his amiable mien and generous carriage had gained him the applause of all he passes to the Colleges of the Law to acquaint himself with the sanctions and constitutions of his own Nation being satisfied that no man could serve the Body Politick under any Character unless he fully understood its humours and complexions He sixed himself closely to these studies though he did not neglect the healthful exercises of his body and about the 22th year of his age he attained to a full knowledge of them At this time he left his Native Country and passed into those forreign parts which were most famed for Civility Arts and Arms and here he did not as the youth of his time pass cursorily through a Country and gaze only upon its Steeples and fine Houses but like the Wise and Eloquent Vlysses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hom. Odyss ● He of each Country had the Cities seen And understood the Manners of her Men. He made useful remarques upon their Laws and Customes he inquired to what studies they were most addicted how they were provided and scituated for Warr and Peace how they stood affected to their Neighbours he searched into their Military Discipline their way of Training and Exercising their Souldiery and their Arts of fortifying Towns Citadels and Castles he got an acquaintance with the chief Statesmen and the learnedst in all Professions in all Countries through which he travailed and if he could he made himself known to their several Princes and when he thought fit he settled a Correspondence with most of these he made himself Master of all those Languages which his Country affected he marked the humours of every Coast and observed their way of Complement and Address their method in business and their proceedings in Justice there was nothing which could adorn his mind that he pass'd Thus fraught with all manner of knowledge about his 25th year he returned and received with their admiration the love of all his Country-men He never enterprized any thing in which that excellent prudence did not shew it self which had taught him to consult well to deliberate maturely to judge and determine rightly to conduct and execute resolutely He knew this virtue was the square and rule of all affaires and the only guide to living well He used to say she was with reason enthroned above all the other Virtues and that the Scepter which she swayed as their Empress did of right belong to her for without her government Justice her self might be misapplyed and become dangerous to her Clients Fortitude would be no more then a bruitish Valour and the strong man would kill and slay without the consideration of a good Cause and Temperance might degenerate into a superstitious forbearance of all sustenance and necessary support and so make the practiser of it accessary to his own ruine by her we know what to choose as good and convenient for life and what to reject as superfluous and hurtful to it by her we have the pleasure to be assured that we have not failed in the right using of the means however our business may succeed ill He would never judge of any thing by its success since he saw the best men unfortunate and the worst rewarded He would never trust too much to any worldly power since Fortune or Fate use the words as you please did maintain an Empire so soveraign and arbitrary over the best laid Counsels and most cautiously contrived designes and since her inconstancy is such that that man whom she hath raised to such a height this day that he seemeth her Darling to morrow she maketh him so miserable that he may

which at last he expireth either from a bed of loathsome diseases and rottenness or from a disgraceful Gibbet with common Malefactors The Virtuoso DId rise Gloriously like light out of the Chaos and dazled the Eyes of the astonished world triumphing with a Masculine Gallantry over the impracticable Notions of the Antients but now he seemeth not to pursue his advantage with his primitive vigor which hath diminished his Fame a little for whoever treadeth the paths of Virtue ought always to be in a forward motion and by equal degrees as he advanceth in the way to double his pace till he cometh to the Goal The Great Chancellor Bacon was the Columbus who led us to this unknown America of new Philsophy since him Cartesius and Gassendus have made the greatest discoveries in her Continent to whom we shall with all willingness yield the Bays if we consider the advantages we now enjoy from their labour for all Precepts all Notions are given us from above to regulate and direct our Actions and the best of speculations are buried in oblivion if they do not produce their due effects now it is most certain that most or all of the principles of the Paripatetic Philosophy were meer Entia Rationis in intellectu tantum which now give place to Entia realia to true and beneficial Experiments doubtless it was the attempt of a most Heroick Virtue to storm the whole Circle of ancient Learning so much reverenced by Men though for 〈◊〉 other cause then its Antiquity and the perswasions they had their Fathers esteemed it as 〈◊〉 old times they honoured aged Oaks because they thought some God had kept his residence under their shades It is admirable how a body made up of 〈◊〉 many jarring and disagreeing Elements I mean opposite opinions should have obtain'd so much and gain'd so mighty at Ascendant over the affections of men of parts enough refined that they should pronounce him an Heretick who should dare to contradict the meanest of its Members bearing it up against experience which ought to be out general Mistress The English Literati have presented the World with Effects of Industry and Ingenuity most worthy of their causes they have improved the Art of Grinding Glasses which is a great advantage to Astronomy and Sea-affairs by the study of Micrography and the Anatomy of insects they have displaied a new Page of the Book of Nature they have by more exact scrutiny into humane bodies discovered the circulation and the source of many diseases and have lately oblig'd us with an experiment of the transfusion of the blood of one Animal into another which is never enough to be gratefully admired though it hath the ill fortune to be little esteemed of now but in ensuing ages it will certainly be crowned with its due applause for it is always seen that great Actions are deny'd their Bay's in that age in which they are born because Envy and prejudicate Malice the off-springs of the old Serpent detract from them The Hypothesis of Water and Air the advance of the latter being in the Air-pump a Noble mechanick invention are very rational and the inspection into the Nature of Vegetables hath much advantaged Man in the support his body will receive from them Their progress in all Physical Learning hath generally been great but upon Chymistry particularly they have spent much Labour and Oyl And here I must declare that though I honour all the ingenious and industrious I cannot be reconcil'd to those who are in pursuit of that great Magistery of Nature as they call it the Philosophers stone it is wonderful that they should consume so considerable a portion of their lives in the search of that which they know not really to be in the Created substances or if it should exist which hath so mean an end as the bringing Gold into the World which is the efficient cause of all strises and evils whose converse the good avoid because it commonly turneth even the souls of its votaries into its own Hypostasis how cruelly do they macerate themselves who search for this how they foment those scourges of our lives Hope and Fear each minute bringeth with it a promise of success which expiteth in Fumc and at last when they are just upon the Frontiers of bliss and think the next minute to embrace their wish'd for Elixit they find in their Arm onely a Caput mortuum a Terra Damnata in which they have buried perhaps their whole fortunes and the greatest number of their most hopeful years and all which at last ariseth from the expence is summed up in two or three moral Corollaries and they end their days with this Prayer in their mouths O si praeteritos reparet mihi Jupiter annes Now to return to the Virtuoso when I consider what small returns of civility we make to these ingenious persons who have obliged us so much I can find our coldness to have no other cause then what themselves do give they so readily admitting all persons into their Society who will pay the Duties of the house though they know not the terms of Philosophy make the multitude who never see the bottom of an affair judge of all from their weakness they commonly entertain the company of a Coffee-house with some refuse notions gleaned from the ingenious which they pronounce as Magisterially as if they had been secretary's to Nature and discourse as confidently of the harmony of her parts as a Countrey Musician playeth who never learned his Gam-ut From the impertinencies of these pretenders this Royal Corporation suffereth when it ought rather to be encouraged and caressed by all the Great and Learned for all the great advantages it promiseth in the future for it is most true that whosoever is a good Philosopher is a good man because no one looketh into the recesses of Nature who is not induced to extoll the Author of it and so gratefully maketh his return for the immense favours in serving and honouring him who conferred them Thus out of a Physical knowledge a Moral one starts and we see Science and Virtue have the same Basis It is certain Learning hath no Enemies but the Envious and Ignorant and even from these evils she reapeth good for from the detraction of the former she raiseth repute since nothing but Virtue is the subject of Envy and from the inveterateness of the latter she hath a benefit too since the praises of the unwise are reproaches and whosoever delighteth in them wrappeth himself in the better half of his Fools-coat and E converso his reproaches must be praises The Divine HAth the powers of cursing and absolving upon Earth and therefore ought to be reverenc'd as Gods immediate instrument Now though his injuries be many from the disaffected yet under these great pressures he ought with the Palme to lift up his head highest and to exalt his voice like a Trumpet to maintain warre against all the Champions of Vice every one bendeth

But we of this Nation are now exposed by what should be our refuge devoured by what should be our guard the Rules of our Law growing into so monstrous a body that like the famed Dragon they devour daily a considerable Member of the Virgin justice Every Term bringeth forth a collection of new Reports and every Judgement soweth the seed of a new strife betwixt the Pleaders and the Attorneys the Prize which the parties contend for is shared the latter of which is a generation of men so Magisterial where they live and so oppressing and withal so numerous that at last with the too much injur'd Client they will devour the Lawyer too who certainly hath the same ground to preferr a Bill in Parliament against them for invading his province as the Physician had against the Apothecary how unhappy are since we under the wings of a pretended justice all enormities are committed She now like a rich Heiress is bought and sold and that which should oppose deceit is it self now become the greatest so that Photinus's principle in Lucan seemeth to be the Lawyer 's Jus fas multos faciunt Ptolemae nocentes The poor Country-man when with his Hat in his hand he hath intreated his Councellour to let him buy his misery is after two or three years attendance and the charge of witnesses and journeys dismissed with the loss of his cause so that it may be said the Law like Rome in her grandeur suis ipsa viribus ruit and after a seeming trouble is told that his own mistaken instructions were the ruine of his affair But those who have long been tossed in these troublesome waters find that the safest way to an Haven is to Fee his Antagonist's Counsel as well as his own the conveyances which we make now are scarce contained in many skins of Parchment and often for the mistake of one word the whole fabrique is ruin'd though it be evidently contrary to the intent of the Conveyer Though these days are more adorn'd with Gold yet those nearer the Norman Conquest and before it more resembled the Golden ones For then a few Rhithmes composed by an honest well meaning Bard served to pass away the greatest possessions the hearts of men were sure more honest and their designs more honourable when it was enough to write I give this Lond from me and mine To thee and thine Witness Meg Maud and Margery And my young Son Harry And to shew this is in sooth I bite this green wax with my Tooth The ways to prevent suits were to appoint a Register in every County where the Estates of every Lord and Freeholder should be entred that so the Purchaser may understand for what he trafsiqueth It would also prove much more easie for all if the Parliament would enact that a summ should be difaulked from the ordinary Fees of the Lawyer and that no cause should depend in any Court above a time which they should praefix this would very much remedy the dilatoriness of their Processes It rouseth my spleen to see men so infatuated and so prone to gratifie revenge that they will ruine themselves to advance people many of whom are so great strangers to fence if diverted from the paths they run in that if one desireth to be resolved of the reason of a judgement or decree they tell you it is according to their Books by which doubtless they are frequently very much imposed on They receive the placita of their Sages with greater reverence then the Auncients did their Oracles which they thought were inspired from Heaven and attribute a greater infalibility to them then those of the Roman perswasion in Ecclesiastick affairs to the Pope forgetting that as humane they may err in their opinions setting them up above experience from which Osbourne said truly King Charles received better Precepts then his Father from Buchanan In fine we may know them to be the soul of dissention and rapine because like the issue of the Dragon's teeth sown by Cadmus they begin to bite and embroile the Nation as soon as they tread her Stage The Poet VErse to the brave is like the Trumpet to the Warriour it animates them to greater exploits * Ode Pindarique inscribed the resurrection Mr. Cowley declareth its great use in the following Stanza Not winds to Voyagers at Sea Not showers to Earth more necessary be Heavens vital seed cast on the womb of earth To give the fruitful year a birth Then Verse to Vertue which can do The Midwis's office and the Nurses too It feedeth it strongly and it cloaths it gay And when it dies with comely pride Embalmes it and erects a Pyramid That never will decay Till Heaven it self shall melt away And nought behind it stay It is reported of Alexander that in all his expeditions he made Homer his companion and I verily suppose the Panegyricks of those dead Heroes inspired him with the briskest thoughts of emulation Poetry hath been Reverenced in all ages since the very first dawn of knowledge which respect hath certainly had its source from the Oracles delivering of their answers and the ancient Philosophers setting forth their opinions in Meeter The high sentiments which the Latines entertain for it appear by their giving the Professors of it the honourable Title of Vates The Bards and Chroniclers in the Isles of Britain and Ireland have been in former times even ador'd for the Ballads in which they extoll'd the Deeds of their forefathers and since the ages have been refined doubtless England hath produced those who in this way have equall'd most of the Antients and exceeded all the Moderns Chaucer rose like the morning Starr of Wit out of those black mists of ignorance since him Spencer may deservedly challenge the Crown for though he may seem blameable in not observing decorum in some places enough and in too much in the whole countenancing Knight-errantry yet the easie similitudes the natural Pourtraicts the so refined and sublimated fancies with which he hath so bestudded every Canto of his subject will easily reach him the Guerdon and though fome may object to him that his Language is harsh and antiquated yet his design was noble to shew us that our language was expressive enough of our own sentiments and to upbraid those who have indenizon'd such numbers of forreign words since in this way so many have excell'd that we can give the Crown to no one but the rest must be manifestly injured yet they must pardon me if I tell them that they seem to have degenerated by turning their stiles to light and insignificant Sonnets and scurrilous Burlesque and offensive doggrel which last way of Drollery hath so much obtain'd now that they doubt not to abuse all serious things in it nay even to make the lofty expressions of the Prince of Poets to seem ridiculous They have not onely done this but some have turn'd that which us'd to charme our thoughtful heads and to perswade our