Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	lord_n	love_n	love_v	2,989	5	6.7075	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A04486	The golden cabinet of true treasure: containing the summe of morall philosophie. Translated out of French & enlarged, by W. Ievvel, Mr of Arts, of Exeter Colledge in Oxford	Jewell, William, b. 1585 or 6.	1612 (1612)	STC 14618; ESTC S119329	81,649	276

truely sufficient to crown the life and actions of a mortall man with the stile of happy without the borrowed ayde or desired assistance of any others For it is by her meanes that mans labours makes him Lord of that which scorneth the malice of deuouring time or infortunate misfortune of an impouerishing shipwrack of that I say which neither fire nor sword nor enuye nor any chancing casualty can dispossesse him of She warneth him ●ay withholdeth him from coueting or desiring that which the world adoreth as Greatnesse Riches Volupti● or Vaine-glory Shee loatheth shee abhorreth the sugred flatt●ry of obsequious tongues she alwaies charily preserueth her freedom she stil is the mother of s●me good deed or other doing indifferently to rich poor high or low ●●cited therunto by an earnest desire hee hath of making her selfe agreeable vnto God and effecting things which may deserue an eternall guerdon giuen by the liberall hand of God the Lord of heauen and earth in the world to come Shee is also the sole diuine and immortall qualitie in vs she is the only heritage of the soule which is the cause of its felicity and which maketh her possessours truely honorable truely glorious Her loue is feareles without enuy without iealous suspicion without artificial and sophistical cūning making her louers so much the more happy by how much more she is desired of thē He that loues her most possesseth her most he that knoweth how to possesse her aright is the master of an vnualuable of an incomparable treasure in such sort that she hath this peculiar property to serue as light vnto the life temperance to the luxurious motions of the mind a bridle to the affections patience against iniuries and consolation in affliction She giues pleasant rest peacefull tranquillity without ceasing vnto the mindes and soules of all that haue her causing them to find all the course and euery condition of their liues relished with perfect sweetnes with perfect pleasance with perfect content carrying alwaies with her her reward her recompence But if wee determine to attribute vnto her the vanishing honours and windie praises of men for her price her portion wee should depriue our selues of the priuiledge which we haue of rewarding and satisfying our selues by our owne hands in the menaging of her treasures shold change the repose which proceeds from her into a gift of fortune if this stipend this reward should be deriued from the curtesie and discretion of mortall men For then wee should lend our couetous eare vnto the praising pleasing applauses of their voyces and so flattery hauing surprised our facile beleefe wee should sooth and delude our selues with fruitless vanity And againe this were nothing else but to search for a beneficial reward on earth which is assigned to vs in heauen and to change the nature and quality of vertue which is al diuine into a frayle and fleeting conditiō which is earthly Vertue hath Iealousy but t is praisworthy because she will bee sincerely and solely loued she will throughly possess our wils to auoide the perill of hypocrisie because shee cannot effect anie thing without our free consent She wil subdue al rebellious vices which assault her through the weaknes of humane frailty and therfore al her faculties cōspire to maintain her forces to conserue in vs the name of vertuous wherby we are honoured Which name we are as soone vnworthy of as we incline mischieuously towards any vice For vertue in general is a laudable constant habit which being wroght in vs by true reason impresseth in our vnderstanding a perfect knowledge of the true good and in the mind will a free election of things according whereunto as it is requisite and expedient wee must loue or hate take or leaue shee being the neuer-erring Directrix of our affections This description deserueth wel to be examined she ought heereafter to informe vs how we are to distinguish betweene the true and the false in the research and disquisition which we make of Riches of Honour and of Pleasure which are the 3. main points wherunto al humane actions are reduced wherefore I think it not amisse to spend both time trauel for the declaratiō hereof We say that vertue is a habit being a quality that springs from the actions of the will and powerfull appetite of the soule which by being often reiterated becomes at length firm and constant and inclines our nature eyther to ●oue a thing or loath it To make this habite laudable then it behooueth vs ●o conform our selues vnto good manners and that our desires bee exercised ●owards the atchieuement of mode●ty humility chastity honesty fideli●y humanity affability integrity boū●● verity liberality gratitude patience in aduersitie moderation in prosperity all which fruits vertue produceth in such as doe conforme themselues to her conditions Hence it is that she cannot be eyther giuen or receiued as a gift she must be sought by a long and a continuall exercise of commanding your selfe bridling your affectiōs pursuing good without intermission forasmuch as discontinuance begetteth vice This habit ought also to be constant to subdue al difficulties with patiēce perseuerāce which are the two soaring wings that taking our minds from the fruitless contemplation of base fraile and terrestriall things doe raise them vp aloft to the conceit and apprehension of high permanent and celestial things with a full-settled resolution to possesse them and being possest to preserue them alwaies without change For perseuerance is the perfection and consummation of all vertues in such sort that no man can be that which he is not euery day None intitle themselues prudent valiant iust or by the names of any other vertues but such as perseuer with immoueable constanstancy For reason it selfe teacheth that to expresse a perfect agent it sufficeth to say it is a constant agent because vice is incapable eyther of stop or stay She worketh in vs by the shining light which is infused into the conscience and mind of man from the glorious beames of true reason making vs to know that al good al honest things ought to be atchieued for the loue of themselues and that a man should not so much as thinke much lesse desire to haue or wil to do that which is naught dishonest and ignominious because it is contrary vnto goodnes and vertue which are the columnes of vertues foundation and to speake properly the two obiects which shee proposeth and about which she is alwaies conuersant We saye that shee impresseth in our vnderstanding a perfect knowledge of the true good But now let vs define good to be that which is desired of all to bee beloued of itselfe forasmuch as none would desire it were it not good But the nature of that which is good requireth also that it bee honest pleasant and acceptable Hee then is good which hath these blessed gifts humanity affability pleasāce curtesie simplicity liberality modesty and that declares the

the body for therein onely her action consisteth For how can she imploy her selfe otherwise by what meanes can shee appeare vnto the world but by her faculties Therefore it is very requisite that she ayde and succour them guide and gouerne them as long as they remaine together that thereby at length triumphing in glory for hauing vanquished the Diuell the World the Flesh and its affections shee may bring them vnto the fruition of eternall blessednes Contrarily if shee by yeelding too obsequiously vnto their lustfull appetites and wanton concupiscences forgetting both office and place should slaue her selfe to the seruile subiection of their desires shee should truely merit by suffering her selfe to bee thus transported by their lewd and carnall affections to be depriued of all her soueraignty forasmuch as by giuing too facile an obseruance to their flattering perswasions she hath frustrated the serious intention of her Creatour which was that she shold assimulate vnto her selfe by vertuous actions such things as were impure and subiect to the dregs and blemishes of sinne that so at her returne shee might bring them with her to bee conioynd in him The course then that shee is to obserue in such contrarieties is so to demeane her selfe that both the senses and her selfe be nothing but Reason that is to say that she be not so spirituall that she forget her selfe to be conioyned with a body whereof she ought to haue great care to rule and gouerne it Nor yet so corporall that she should bee vnmindfull of her purer essence and that she is the secōd cause of both their felicities So thē Vertue producing these effects in a prudent mā impresseth in the soul of him not only a knowledge of that which is iust honest and profitable that he may thereby loue and imbrace it but also of that which is vniust dishonest vnprofitable that hee may therby shunne and hate the same holding his affections vnder the rule and moderation of her lawes to the ende that he may not be made a bondslaue to his enemy beeing fallen vnder the power of Vice And what is more miserable in the world then seruitude And what seruitude greater then to be in a slauish subiection to a mans owne disordered affections On the other side what greater happines in the world then liberty And what greater liberty then to bee master and commaunder of a mans selfe If the victory that is atchieued ought to bee valued according to the dignity and worth of him that is conquered it is most certaine that the Conquerour shall bee as greate as was his glory whom hee conquered In such sort the renowned victory which Achilles wonne when hee conquered Hector was so much the more noble by how much Hector was more mighty valiant Furthermore there is nothing in the World so greate as man nor any thing in man so excellent as his soule and courage which is the greatest and most puissant thing within the compasse of the Vniuerse For questionless that is chiefest that is noblest which approacheth neerest vnto the first beginning But the soule of man doth most resemble God because of his vnderstanding vse of reason and freenesse of will which shee hath farre aboue all the parts of mans body and all other terrestriall creatures whatsoeuer Whence it necessarily followeth that the reasonable soule is the most worthy most noble of all the vniuersall World If man then gaine the conquest ouer his own soule he ought to be esteemed more victorious then hee that hath subdued and conquered the whole world Wherefore it is that mans chiefest content during his continuance in this life is the soules quiet and peacefull tranquillity which cannot be gotten by things directly contrary such as are restlesse desires and greedy couetousnes wherewith the soule is miserably tormented Nor yet doth the peace and tranquillity of the spirit properly consist in the exemption of griefe and sorrow but also in the freeing of it from such violent passions as plunge the vicious in a sea of sadnes So that then he only is to be accounted free which domineereth ouer his owne affections and withstandeth the violence of such ill-seasoned desires as without resistance would destroy him If we esteeme that man to be attended on by an vnhappy chance and a miserable fortune which hauing bene once a Lord and Commander is now tumbled headlong downe by some disastrous accident or other into the subiection of his owne vassall what then shall wee say of him that is voluntarily becomme a seruile bond-slaue not onely vnto his passions but also vnto such things as are senselesse dead such as are gold and siluer and the like worldly vanities and so at length a seruaunt to sinne and which is worst of all vnto the Diuell himselfe Is not this a great punishment of God that man out of his owne free will for want of knowing and vnderstanding himselfe should make himselfe a seruant and a slaue vnto those things whereof hee if hee would eschewe Vice and imbrace Vertue so to vse his goods and fortunes with moderation might haue the mastery and full command Therefore if there bee any sparkle of Iudgement remaining in vs whereby wee may discerne the treacherous conspiracies and domestical treasons which our own passions contriue against vs shall wee not blush to suffer our selues to bee so shamefully surprised by those toyish fopperies which the least foresight in the world would vtterly haue queld Haue our painful indeauors in the school of Vertue gained no greater profit then that fraile riches and worldly vanities should haue greater power and preheminence ouer vs then Reason Are we willing our selues to deface that relique of Gods image and resemblance in vs that we may become wholy brutish Do we loue long for that which wee ought to hate to imbrace that which burneth vs and to kisse that which consumeth vs O where then is vertues loue and the affection due to her O where is the laudable desire of Glory and Honour whereunto all truely generous and noble spirits doe aspire by ciuill demeanours and commendable actions Well then let vs contemne all Ambition for Ambitions sake saue onely that which by arming our minds with true humility maketh vs so valiant against our selues as to ouercome our selues in such sort that flaying off our old skin with all his staines blemishes spots and imperfections we may put on a cleane a faire and a beautifull skin not onely laudable for its meekenes mildnes patience liberality humanity modesty and fidelity towards all men but also for its fortitude constancy and Iustice towards our selues whereby we may be able to daunt yea to subdue our greatest enemy who hath by smooth insinuation fortified himselfe euen in the Cittadell of our owne vnderstanding with a resistlesse and immutable resolution of forcing frō vs that little little residue that smal sparkle of brightness which suruiueth in vs to the end that beeing altogether in darknes we might