Selected quad for the lemma: city_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
city_n	person_n	young_a	youth_n	25	3	7.5588	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A61076	Reason against rage being some animadversions upon a late scurrilous libel, prefix'd to a sermon preach'd nine and thirty years ago; and dedicated in these words, (viz.) to Mr. Serj. Powlett, recorder of the City of Bristol, and Mr. Robert Yate, mercht. Together with an occasional discussion of some particulars relating to persecution, and liberty of conscience. To which is subjoyn'd, a brief application, made by way of advice, humbly offered to all the inhabitants of the City aforesaid. By Thomas Speed.	Speed, Thomas, b. 1622 or 3.	1691 (1691)	Wing S4906; ESTC R220758	23,658	33

he shall come to lay his head upon his Death-Pillow shall be able in Truth to make his appeal to Heaven with good Hezekiah * 2 Kings 20.3 and say Remember now I beseech thee O Lord how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart and have not only said not only Profess'd but done that which is good in thy sight And now for a close of what I have to say to you my nameless Adversaries let me advise you to the study of Peace and to forbear troubling an otherwise quiet City by your unquiet Spirits which is evidently seen by your stigmatizing your Fellow-Citizens with Terms of distinction and reproach and thereby sowing the seeds of discord among Protestants at this juncture of time when Unity in affection is so necessary and by all true Protestants so much desired Be content that having your own liberty of worship to the full they that live quietly by you may share therein also Be not uneasie in your minds because your Neighbours have gotten a little ease Shew your selves good Christians and good Citizens by doing unto others as you would they should do unto you Strive not to be Lords Paramount over other Men's Consciences for you would not that other men should be Lords over yours And remember always that Sovereignty over Conscience is the alone Prerogative of Almighty God so that whoever do seek for Dominion there do but justle with their Maker What more concerns my self is to tell you that I owe you yet one Christian Duty which is not revenge but forgiveness And I do freely forgive you all the Evil that ye have done or had or now have in your hearts to do to me and do wish you true repentance that ye may be forgiven of God also Believe it whatever ye may fancy to your selves by what you have done in the management of this business you have not so much wounded me as harm'd your selves In shooting at me ye have shot your Darts against a brass Wall my Innocency being my Breast-plate Your reproaches I wear as an ornament and your malice is as the dust under my Feet And not knowing whether ever I may have the like opportunity of making so publick an application to them as now I shall close all with a few words of advice to all my Fellow Citizens in the City of Bristol 1. Be frequent and serious in the meditating upon the end of your being brought forth into the World which was to serve the Lord in Righteousness and Holiness and thereby bring Glory to his Name Sin dishonours him To prevent which let his fear bear rule in your hearts and as David did * Psal 16.8 Psal 119.11 set him always before your eyes and hide his word in your hearts that you may not sin against him Take good heed to the Dictates of his Grace and good Spirit which do inwardly prompt you to Holiness and will teach you if hearkened unto as it did the holy men of old to deny ungodliness and worldly Lusts and † Tit. 2.12 to live soberly righteously and godly in this present world Let your Conversations be adorned with love towards God and love towards your Neighbour Banish envy from out of your hearts and out of your Houses Be not offended with your Neighbour because his Eye sight is either clearer or dimmer than your own Bear not evil will against him because his Faith in every particular Squares not with yours If through Temptation he happen to slip and fall to his own hurt rejoyce not over him nor lay violent hands upon him because he is fallen but lend him the hand of love to help him up again ‖ Gal. 6.1 considering your selves lest you also should be tempted and fall 2. You that are Parents of Children it greatly behoves you to be unto them Patterns of Piety Patterns of Humility Moderation Temperance and of every other Vertue That as they grow in years they may increase in Holiness and as they are yours they may become also the Children of the most high God Let your savoury Communication season theirs and the Light of your good Conversations direct their steps into the just man's path Their beholding your good Works may strongly provoke them to do the same * Plus valent exempla quam praecepta Examples are much more cogent to Piety or Prophaness than Precepts The most wholsom Precepts contradicted by the Example of the Givers are but as Water spilt upon the Rock Children through the proneness of corrupt Nature to that which is evil are easily brought over to vicious Practices Of which we have too many notorious Instances among those that are but newly come out of their Infancy who frequently grate many modest Ears as they pass the Streets either with Oaths or Obscenity What is it less than cause of lamentation to hear such who by reason of their tender Years can but newly speak plain English can yet not only lispe out but accent an Oath And such as are not come to so much understanding as to offer up a sensibe Petition unto Heaven can yet call to their Maker to damn them I would not uncharitably judge or condemn any Parents in particular but whether it is not much to be doubted that they that are of younger Years have learn'd such Immoralities from the Example of their Elders I leave to every Parent 's serious consideration They that are Innocent in this matter I know will not take offence at what I say And for those who on Examination find themselves guilty I heartily entreat them for God's for their own and for their Children's sake to amend and sin no more in that kind 3. To all young Persons in the City my hearty advice is that you would † Eccles 12.1 Remember your Creator in the days of your Youth while the evil days come not nor the years draw nigh when you shall say we have no pleasure in them Let the time of your Youth be adorn'd with the Practice of Virtue as with a beautiful Garment As you now begin to live as Men and Women live also to the Praise of him that gave you Life Breath and Being Conclude it to be more your Happiness to be good than great and to be holy than high in this World Let me desire you to have a constant regard to the guide of your Youth the measure of God's holy Spirit which he hath placed in your hearts as a Witness for himself and against that which is evil Hearken to its rebukes for it is the Friend of your Bosom This is that which reproves you in secret for those Evils to which no Eye nor no Ear was ever privy besides your own This is that which doth accompany you to your Shops to your Counting-Houses to your several Imployments to your Beds and will also to the Period of your Lives It was this that inwardly smote David and made him confess himself guilty of

the Houshold of Faith you must be of the Houshold of Infidels and if not of the Houshold of God then necessarily of the Houshold of the Ungodly And what the certain future Portion of each of those shall be is worthy your serious and timely consideration before the Sands of your brittle Glass of Life are all run out As to the Scoff ye bestow upon the Holy Ones let me tell you that ye do thereby express your disdain of that which is the most beautiful Badge of a true Christian I will charitably suppose that you all wear the outward Livery of Christian Profession and consequently are all pretenders to the Kingdom of Heaven But you must know unless ye be found clad with the clean Robe of Holiness the present Object of your scorn your certain doom will be to be shut out thence for ‖ Heb. 12.14 without Holiness no man shall see the Lord. No unclean thing shall ever enter into his Kingdom There are none but Holy Ones in Heaven and I much doubt whether they that scoff at them here would make suitable companions to them there Those glorified Souls are perfectly holy and their Work to eternity will be holy sounding out * Rev. 19.1 Rev. 4.11 Hallelujahs Glory and Honour to the Lord their God So that it remains with me as a doubt if Scorners and Scoffers at Holiness were thrust into Heaven their Natures not chang'd whether either the Exercise or the Company of that heavenly Host would be well-pleasing to them When Christ shall come attended * Mat. 25.31 32. with the holy Angels sitting upon the Throne of his Glory † Acts 17.31 to judge the World in righteousness he will then divide all Nations that shall appear before him but into two sorts ‖ Mat. 25.33 Sheep and Goats holy and unholy and if it shall not then be your Lot to be found among the number of the Sheep the Holy Ones to whom he will * Ver. 34. say Come ye blessed of my Father receive the Kingdom prepared for you that sad and irreversable Sentence will then be pronounced upon you Ver. 41. Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels You proceed on to acquaint your Reader with the several sorts of Dissenters who voted for the Serjeant and his Fellow-Candidate viz. Presbyterians Independants Anabaptists Quakers c. Animad But why did you omit to make mention of the several hundreds of sober Churchmen who also as I am informed voted for them Doubtless ye mention'd these Voters of several Sects as matter of reflection upon the two Candidates But your sober and prudent Readers will be otherwise minded when they shall duly consider that to be of or to be called by the Name of either of those Sects is no stain at all upon any mens reputation whilest their outward Profession is accompanied with a good Life Could you have said and that truly that few or none voted for them but lewd and dissolute persons Men of debauch'd Principles and Practices men of vicious Conversations Drunkards Swearers Unclean Persons Envions Men Haters of God and Goodness Persecutors of their Neighbours for Conscience-sake Men of Turbulent Spirits always affecting Domination over others never satisfied but when they can have their Feet upon the Necks of their Fellow-Citizens and the Whip in their hands to make † Psalm 129.3 long Furrows upon their Backs for Non-conformity I say could you truly have represented the Voters for the two Candidates to the World under these black Characters it might have look'd at least as some ground of doubt whether they had not been men alike qualified But your exposing them only as men of different Perswasions in matter of Worship not fixing on them any of the evil Qualifications before-mentioned instead of sullying the Reputations of the two Candidates thereby you have certainly tho' against your wills done them great honour Besides which you have tho' not designedly published the Dissenters to the World to be Men that did express a great deal of good nature by voting as they did in that they laid aside all inward animosity against those from whom they Dissent and waving all persons that were of any one of their particular respective Perswasions did unanimously joyn with many scores of their Fellow-Citizens to chuse two Persons of known good Reputation in the City which are of the Communion of the Church of England And did they in so doing do that which they had no right to do Have you Sirs and any select number of Citizens a Priviledge by Patent to chuse Representatives for the City to sit in Parliament with the exclusion of all others Had not these men of your indignation Liberties and Properties both Religious and Civil to lose as well as you and your domineering Associates And is it not then equal and reasonable that they should pitch their choice on such Men whom they in their judgment thought most capable and heartily ready to preserve them You go on and say that the Dissenters appeared at the Election both such as were within the City and near you and from afar off as if they had been summoned by the Spirit Animad Hear you Sirs it 's possible I may not have opportunity to have another reckoning with you whilest I live therefore let me prevail with you not to despise my counsel if I advise you That how bold soever ye make with Men you beware I say beware of casting your scoffing Squibs at the Spirit I have not heard nor do I believe that any man pretended to be so summoned to appear at the Election 'T was doubtless love to their Civil and Religious Intrest not any particular Summons from Heaven that prompted them to their appearance But rather than not throw out the dregs of your Venom against the Men of your displeasure you would not spare to upbraid them with appearing by the Spirit hoping that it might pass for a black Character upon them in the judgment of your Society of Scorners Whereas in truth you have in so doing only published your selves to be Men both of unclean Hearts and of polluted Lips You may vaunt it and brave it out among irreligious Men such as your selves hoping to be esteemed witty in deriding the Spirit and Men for its sake But know that the living God with whom ye cannot contend and prosper whose Spirit it is * Gal. 6.7 will not be mock'd but will severely reckon with you for this your Prophaneness Do you believe the holy Scriptures you give me great ground to doubt it if I may judge of your Faith by your Works If you do Pray remember what the Author to the Hebrews hath left upon Record who having spoken of such who had done despite unto the Spirit * Heb. 10.29 31. presently adds this word of terrour as a future standing caution to all that should do the like saying It is a fearful

thing to fall into the hands of the living God And if that consideration stop not the mouths of all scoffers at the Spirit let them always carry in remembrance that dreadful Sentence pronounced by the Lip of Truth saying † Mat. 12.31 32. Whosoever speaketh a word against the son of man it shall be forgiven him but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven him neither in this world neither in the world to come I am now come to account with you my nameless Adversaries touching my Crime and my Punishment You expose me towards the close of your nauseous Libel under the scoffing denominations of the Ancient Pious and Learned Author Ancient I confess I am Piety I love and hope shall continue a lover of to the end of my days but of that Learning which I know you intend I do pretend to have but a very small share chusing rather to be learned in that Doctrin which Christ Jesus taught his Disciples when he said ‖ Mat. 11.29 Learn of me for I am meek and lowly True Humility and Self denial I do esteem of infinitely beyond all the Learning that 's acquirable in any or all the Academies in the World But wherein consists my transgression Only in this that being a free-born Englishman and a Freeman of the City of Bristol I did presume without the leave of those who would be Rulers over Mens Consciences as well as their Civil Rights to give my Vote for the Election of two Persons to sit in Parliament both whom I have known for many Years past to be and do understand now they are well esteemed in the City and of the Communion of the Church of England and had they not been of that Communion I should not for several Reasons have given my Voice for them And now before I proceed farther I will nakedly declare what consideration prompted me to Vote at all or as I did having not appeared but once before that I do remember on the like occasion in all my life-time It was not God is my record out of any the least inward prejudice against the two persons that were chosen both whom I have known from their youth upwards and do not remember that ever I had any depending difference or dispute with either of them or they with me But having understood that both before and at the time of the Election several Expressions were dropt by some in the City which I doubted to be Symptoms of designed Endeavours at least to rescind and annul the late Act of Indulgence to Dissenters I thought my self obliged to manifest my sober dissent from those who declared themselves to be spirited for Persecution And now before I proceed farther I desire the considerate Reader to observe how hard the envy of my ranckerous Enemies was put to it to find out an Arrow sufficiently invenomed to shoot at me which rather than they would miss of they were fain to look back and search for one that had lain rusting in the Quiver for near Forty Years past by which they do implicitly though not designedly tell the World how inoffensive my Conversation hath been in the City of Bristol that during so many Years past their quick-sighted Envy could meet with no wrong Steps I had made nor justly accuse me of any Publick Misbehaviour in the City either towards the Government under which I have lived or towards my Fellow-Citizens with whom I have so long conversed with which they might hope to blacken or sully my Reputation My Offence is that I did dare to give my Voice at the Election without License My Punishment must be because none more proper could be found to have an Information exhibited against me for what I spake Nine and thirty Years ago A person doth a Lawful Act in the Year 1690. for which jure vel injuria right or wrong he must be condemned Why so because of words that were spoken in the Year 1651. Rare Justice Admirable Ingenuity Pray Sirs recollect your selves and reflect upon your method of proceeding Can you suppose that any thinking and sober-minded Readers will esteem it any Fruit of your Piety or Prudence or will they not rather conclude it to be the Fruit of your Burning Rage and Fury to charge the Sayings or Sentiments of a Person which were uttered and expressed so many Years pass'd thereby to punish him for a pretended Offence now newly committed I doubt not but there was both a Tertullus and an Ananias in the Consult among the Contrivers when this malicious Epistle was framed Pray then let them both be ask'd when a man is indicted as a Criminal in any Court of Justice and upon tryal is found not guilty by his Jury and consequently is acquitted by the Judge would it be adjudg'd a legal or a righteous act in any men that should appeal to the Judge and say We desire that sentence of condemnation may notwithstanding be pass'd upon this person for that tho' we are convinc'd he hath done no evil in doing that for which he stood indicted being the same that we our selves have done yet we remember that about forty years ago this man was very heterodox in his opinion touching the Government that now is both in Church and State Would not such a Tertullus with all his quaint Oratory be hiss'd out of a Court of Justice for such his illegal and nonsensical pleading Deep Malice and Subtilty were in conjunction when this fiery Meteor of an Epistle was brought forth and the Sermon reprinted touching both which I now come to a more strict reckoning with my Adversaries N. D. N. K. J. E. S. W. 1. Are you not Men of brazen foreheads who durst affront and run upon that Act of Pardon Indempnity and Oblivion which King Charles the Second so many years since granted and published to all his Subjects * 12. Car. 2. cap. 11. ☜ which was given to this very intent that no Crime whatsoever committed against him or his Father should hereafter rise up in judgment or be brought in question against any of his Subjects to the least endamagement of them either in their Lives Liberties Estates or to the prejudice of their Reputations by any reproach or term of distinction Of what outragious Spirits have you then manifested your selves to be that rather than not be some way revenged upon a person that never did you the least wrong and upon whom you can charge no pretended new crime but my voting as before you would not stick to tear off that stamp of Amnesty which the King had fix'd upon that healing Act and thereby give the World to see that Acts of King and Parliament standing in your way are no more than Sampson's green Wit hs whilest you are in the execution of your malice upon the men of your fierce anger You do hereby also give demonstration what you would be at had you but a Law to back you when as you dare so