Selected quad for the lemma: conscience_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
conscience_n	good_a	heart_n	keep_v	4,119	5	5.4845	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A86521	Some necessary and important considerations, (to be consider'd of by all sorts of people) Taken out of (that late worthy and renowned judge) Sr Matthew Hale's account of The good steward. By J.P.	Hale, Matthew, Sir, 1609-1676.; J. P.	1700 (1700)	Wing H262; ESTC R230300	4,910	12

SOME Necessary and Important CONSIDERATIONS TO BE Consider'd of by all sorts of People Taken out of That late Worthy and Renowned Judge Sr MATTHEW HALE's ACCOUNT of The Good Steward By J. P. The Righteous shall be had in Everlasting Remembrance Psal CXII 6. The Second Edition LONDON Printed by John How in Ram-Head-Inn-Yard in Fenchurch-street and are to be freely given away SOME Necessary and Important CONSIDERATIONS c As Touching my Conscience I Have been very diligent to keep my Conscience Clean to Incourage It in the Vicegerency that THOU the great LORD of the World hast given It over my Soul and Actions I have kept It in the Throne and greatest Reverence and Authority in my Heart In Actions to be Done or Omitted I have always Advised with It and taken Its Advice I have neither Stifled nor Forced nor Bribed It but gave It a free Liberty to Advise and Speak out and a free Subjection of my Will Purposes and Actions to It. If I have at any time done Amiss I have not taken Her up short or stopped Her Mouth or my own Attention to Her Chiding and Reproof but I have with much Submission of Mind born Her Chastisement and improved it to an Humbling of my self before THEE for my Failings for I looked upon Her as Acting by THY Authority for THY Service and to THY Glory and I durst not Discourage Discountenance or Disobey Her When She was Pleased and gave me Good Words I was Glad for I esteemed Her as a Glass that represented to my Soul the Favour or Displeasure of GOD Himself and how HE stood affected towards me I have more Trembled under the Fear of a Seared or Discouraged Conscience than under the Fear of a Sharp or Scrupulous Conscience because I always accounted the Latter tho' more Troublesome yet more Safe I have been very jealous either of Wounding or Grieving or Discouraging or Deadning my Conscience I have therefore chosen rather to forbear that which seemed but Indifferent lest there should be some what in it that might be Unlawful and would rather Gratifie my Conscience with being too Scrupulous than Displease Disquiet or Flat It by being too Venturous I have still chosen rather to Forbear what might be Probably Lawful than to Do that which might be Possibly Unlawful because I could not Err in the Former I might in the Latter I have been careful to advise Impartially with my Conscience before my Actions so lest I had committed any thing Amiss either in the Nature or Manner of the Action I commonly every Night brought my Actions of the Day past before the Judicatory of my Conscience and left Her to a Free and Impartial Censure of them and what She Sentenced Well Done I with Humility returned the Praise thereof to THY Name what She Sentenced Done Amiss I did humbly sue unto THEE for Pardon and for Grace to prevent me from the like Miscarriages By this means I kept my Conscience Active Renewed and preserved my Peace with THEE and learned Vigilance and Caution for the Time to come Touching THY Creatures I have not only looked upon THY Blessings and Bounty in Lending me THY own Creatures for my Use but I have sought unto THEE for a Blessing upon them in my Use of them I did very well observe That there is by my Sin a Curse in the very Creatures that I receive unless THY Blessing fetch it out an Emptiness in them unless THY Goodness fill them Tho' THOU shouldest give me Quails and Manna from Heaven yet without THY Blessing upon them they would become Rottenness and Putrifaction to me and therefore I ever begg'd THY Blessing upon THY Blessings as well as the Blessings themselves and attributed the Good I Found or was to Expect in them to the Same HAND that Gave them I received and used THY Creatures as committed to me under a Trust and as a Steward and Accomptant for them and therefore I was always careful to use them according to those Limits and in order for those Ends for which THOU didst commit them to me 1st With Temperance and Moderation I did not use THY Creatures to Luxury and Excess to make Provision for my Lusts with Vain Glory or Ostentation but for the convenient Support of the Exigencies of my Nature and Condition and if at any time THY Goodness did indulge me an Use of them for Delight as well as Necessity I did it but Rarely and Watchfully I looked not upon the Wine when it gave its colour in the Cup nor gave my self over either to Excess or Curiosity in Meats or Drinks I checked my Self therein as being in THY Presence and still remembred I had THY Creatures under an Accompt and was ever careful to avoid Excess or Intemperance because every Excessive Cup and Meal was in danger to leave me somewhat in Super and Arear to my LORD 2dly With Mercy and Compassion to the Creatures themselves which THOU hast put under my Power and Disposal When I considered the Admirable Powers of Life and Sense which I saw in the Birds and Beasts and that all the Men in the World could not give the like Being to any thing nor Restore that Life and Sense which is once Taken from them When I considered how Innocently and Harmlesly the Fowls and Fish and Sheep and Oxen take their Food that THOU the LORD of All hast given them I have been apt to think that surely THOU didst intend a more Innocent kind of Food to Man than such as must be taken with such Detriment to those Living parts of THY Creation and although THY wonderful Goodness hath so much Indulged to Man-kind as to give up the Lives of these Creatures for the Food of Man by THY express Commission yet I still do and ever did think that there was a Justice due from Man even to these Sensible Creatures that he should take them Sparingly for Necessity and not for Delight or if for Delight yet not for Luxury I have been apt to think That if there were any more Liberal use of Creatures for Delight or Variety it should be of Fruits or such other Delicacies as might be had without the loss of Life But however it be this very Consideration hath made me very Sparing and Careful not Vainly or Superfluously or Unnecessarily or Prodigally to take away the Life of THY Creatures for Feasting and Excess And the very same Consideration hath always gone a long with me in reference to the Labour of THY Creatures I have ever thought that there was a certain degree of Justice due from Man to the Creatures as from Man to Man and that an excessive immoderate unseasonable Use of the Creatures Labour is an Injustice for which he must Accompt To deny Domestical Creatures their convenient Food to exact that Labour from them that they are not able to perform to use Extremity or Cruelty towards them is a breach of that Trust under which the Dominion of the Creatures