Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	begin_v	die_v	life_n	4,706	5	4.9213	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A20946	Heraclitus, or, Meditations vpon the vanity & misery of humane life first written in French by that excellent scholler & admirable divine Peter Du Moulin minister of the sacred word in the Reformed Church of Paris ; and translated into English by R.S. gentleman.; Heraclite. English. 1609	Du Moulin, Pierre, 1568-1658.; Stafford, Robert, 1588-1618.	1609 (1609)	STC 7325; ESTC S2575	27,860	136

God And in the meane time to employ his endeauors to the edification of the Church stretching out his hand to the Erroneous for to reguide thē into the right way of Salvatiō rather then to hide his Talēt in the earth and to cut himselfe cleane off frō the body and all civill society as an vnprofitable member So did the Apostles and those glorious lampes which haue enlightned the Church of God and which shine to this daie amongst vs they being dead I know wel that the opinion of Aristotle in the beginning of his Politiques is true that He which is of a solitary di●●●sition is either of a most divine or very base spirit because that hee doth estrange himselfe from all society either for that hee hath vertues more then humane or that he is so contemptible and meane in respect of man that he is vnworthy to approach neere him But let him knowe which doth affect solitarines because hee doth surpasse all men in vnderstanding or vertue that he ought to repell that humour and to condescend by humility and meekenesse to the imperfections of others labouring for the good of the Church or Common-weale either by worde or worke For what are al those perfections any more then shadowes obscure traces of those perfections which are in Iesus Christ Notwithstanding he tooke vpon him our shape and conversed amongst men that there by he might saue them and win soules to heauen Therefore to conclude this point Jf to fly from the world be a vanity how much more to follow it If vices and torments doe harbor in the desert how much more in presses and throngs of people Truely if vanity bee in euery place let vs say that All is torment and affliction of Spirit But in the meane time that Old age Man is busied about all these vaine conceipts while hee is pushing ●ime with his shoulder endevouring nothing al daies of his life but to rise to go to bed to apparel himselfe to make himselfe vnready to fill his belly to evacuat his stomacke Which is no more then a Circle of the selfe same importuning occupations much like vnto a Millers horse that alwaies treads one compasse While hee is thus busied with such occasions beholde olde age stealingly arriveth to which few do attaine and all desire But if any doe peradventure gaine that time they desire to haue it prolong'd to the vtmost This age being as grapes which haue lost their iuice and as the sinke of mans life is without question the most vnhappy for those men that are worldly as on the contrary it is the most blessed for such as are godly For worldly men in this age are doubly possessed with waywardnesse their feare and distrust doth encrease their iudgement waxeth weake and begins to diminish Wherefore wee doe wrongfully call a melancholy humour wisedome or a disability sobriety because oldnesse leaueth not pleasure but pleasure leaueth it And therefore hee doth vndeseruedly complaine that the time manners of men are chāged into worse while nothing is changed but himselfe For in his youth all things pleased him if they were neuer so bad in his old age all things disliked him if they were neuer so good Like vnto those which being in a shippe thinke that the baukes moue vvhen it is onely themselues It is also a vice incident to this age for to speake much because they are no more able to performe any thing and that they think also thēselues most fit to propose precepts to youth and to declare thinges of time long since Like vnto a declining state as that of the Romaine Empire where there are manie talkers but few valiant not much differēt from the aged time of the world where are many curious disputers but few of the true religion In this age also doth encrease the loue of wealth earthly cares doe summon new forces against man hee waxeth all gray and every thing in him beginneth thē to wither onely his vices excepted That ancient man of whom the Apostle maketh often mentiō being ready to dote waxeth not olde in worldlie age but then is hee in his full vigour He then fore-feareth approaching death and holdeth his life like vnto an Eele which slideth away In the meane time he determineth of tedious designes and heapeth vp riches as if death stoode a far off and durst not appeare Thē man hath least feare to die when nothing of worth remaineth in him but the very leese dregs of life Then doth hee prepare himselfe least to gaine the future blisse when age forwarnes him every gray haire doth ordinarily advertise him yea many times death takes for a gage one part or other of our body as an arme or eie or legge to serue for an advertisement that he will very shortly fetch the rest For old mē are affianced to the earth by a long vse and habit notwithstanding they are vnwilling to go to it whē nothing remaineth in them but euill This is also a vanity and great griefe of Spirit In conclusiō of all this vnprofitable wearisome travaile Of death behold the approach of death before they haue learned to liue much lesse to die The most part of thē being taken out of this worlde before they know to what end they entred in They vvoulde willingly prolong the date of their life but death admits no composition for it hath feet of vvool but armes of Iron it commeth insensibly but having taken once holde it never looseth her prize To this pace or step man commeth so slowly as possible he can For if a ship should sinke amongst the waues two hūdred leagues from land notwithstāding every passenger would striue to swimme not with an intent to saue his life but to repell death for some minutes and to render nature her last inevitable tribute Every mā trembleth at this passage and laboureth to settle himselfe here The sole memorye of death mournefull funerals and the reading of Inscriptions engrauen on sepulchres doth make the very haire to stare and stand on end and strikes man with an horror and apprehensiō of it Some represent death terrible to the aspect and deprived of flesh others consider it with compassion mixte with dread Some particular man which not long since was clad in silke and shined vvith Diamōds is now assaulted with troupes of wormes and breathes foorth intollerable sents while that his heire doth laugh in secret and enioyeth the fruit of all his labour which he himselfe never enioyed And never thelesse in this his very dust and corruption doth appeare an ambition and pride doth rest it self within his tombe For then behold stately Sepulchers ingraued stones that report some famous actiōs and proud titles vpon his tombe set out with false narrations to the end that passengers by may say Here lyeth a goodly stone a corrupted body Surely this is a vanity of vanities and one extreame vanity But all these are as Roses

Pagans which possesse three parts of the world men are bought and sold in the same fashion as horses in a faire For the buyer marketh their sight maketh thē shew their teeth and feeleth the sinewes of their Armes and legs Great Princes keepe Millions of chained slaues for to labour in making of sugar in vvorking of Mines to serue in Gallies at sea to performe such kinde of servility that death is more tollerable to them then this kinde of life There are certaine people vvhich haue for the space of sixe months continuall night vvho liue in Cavernes and in the extremity of the extreamest degree of coldnes haue no heat to cōfort them but only crueltie Others there are on the contrary who liue among Sādes continually scortched by the Sunne a Country barren in fruites fertill in Serpents and Lyons Our clymat in respect of such intemperature is as the garden of Nature where God hath plāted most wealth and riches but where he hath reaped least fruite of graceful actions And where these natural blessings are so ill husbandred that amongst all that aboundance there is nothing to be seene but misery and poverty The vanity of the thoughts desires iudgmēts of men NOW that vve haue formerly and superficiallie represented as vvith a Coale the vanity misery of our nature the actions of mā let vs novve examine his thoughts David in the 94. Psalme saith The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man that they are vanity For if anie Idle vnprofitable thoughts could but make a true collection of his thoughts which haue only passed through his braine in one day the confused multitude and varietie of them being all very foolish would astonish him The diverse fictions and strange Idea's that painters conceipt in respect of these are nothing For some man when he hath setled himselfe in his study or some place where he thinketh to haue his spirit busied about the most serious affaires doth then begin to count the quarrees of his window or as the Emperor Domitian to pursue little Sueton. flyes both with eie hand Some one againe perceiving himselfe destitute of cōpany and being very pensiue doeth advise with himselfe what he would do if he were a King or if that he had a million of crowns how he would spende thē or thinking of his owne domestique affaires doth threed a chaine of tedious hopes by degrees becommeth very rich in his discourse at the conclusion of which he frustrateth all that imagination and returning to the consideration of his present poverty he moderateth his passiōs Yea also during the time of Sermons praier when God speaketh vnto vs or wee to him our minds are abstracted thinking of some other thing Therefore if our best actions are infected with idle cogitations how much more our vnprofitable howers and ill spent time These frivolous thoughts mixed with vaine desire and a like ignorance do labor the minde and giueth it no repose For man in his solitary thoughts doth ruminate the evils past vexing himselfe vvith the things present and fore-fearing things to come yea those things that shal never happen he changeth his doubtfull feare into certaine miseries Many being miserable out of a feare that they shal be miserable many diing out of a feare that they shall die Every day hath sufficient affliction to torment vs. For who can ever bee in ease if all the past and future evils doe render themselues present to vs the first by our memory and the last by our feare This naturall vnrest is the cause that man loueth change like vnto one that is sicke who desireth continually to change his bed yet notwithstanding findes himselfe more distēpered in the last then in the first thinking no repose to be but in wearines For he alwaies carryeth his griefe with him findes little ease in chāging of sides yea I dare say if God had placed man betwixt good evill to take his choice of either and as it were to cut what hee thought good out of whole cloath his blindnes is so great that he would rather chuse the worst or if he did make choice of the best his perversity is such that he would quickly convert it into ill Jf God sende such no griefes they will send themselues some Jf their owne griefes doe not trouble thē the happinesse of others wil torment them and envy is more stinging then afflictiō From it also doth it proceed Desires that men desire alwaies they knowe not what themselues they are greedy to desire but weake to put in executiō as a bird that doth covet to flie but vseth only one of her wings Also men are distracted with contrary cogitations One complaineth that his wife is dead Another that shee will not die One mourneth for the losse of his children another that hee hath some that bee very wicked One disturbed vvith busines praiseth domestique repose and that opinion of Saul who did rather affect to liue obscurely in the basest poverty then to bee exalted to the highest dignity another being excluded frō publique commande doth notwithstāding breake his own necke to attaine it Every thing doth seeme to vs beautifull but that which wee haue nothing delighteth vs but that which we cannot obtaine Nothing doeth so much reioice vs as the hurte of another man Jf some one decay in fortune wee smile but it grieveth vs to see him receiue any honour Jn this vanity of thoughts and vncertainety of desires doth appeare a great weakenes of spirit For our affections are swaied more by gestures and externall appearance then by the thing it selfe Like vnto some spectators at a Tragedy who notwithstanding that they know the Argumēt to be fabulous nothing concerning thē doe weepe out of compassion when as they will not shed a teare for their owne vnfeined griefes Some there be also that hang themselues out of dispaire which the selfesame houre would haue run away from the thrust of a sword because that this last kind of death commeth accompanied with horror and feare vvhereas the former is so quickly dispatched that the sight of it doth nothing amaze on Opinions doe more gouerne vs then the things themselues many doe sometimes eate meat vvhich they knowe not and yet they finde it pleasing to the tast but after whē some one hath told them what it is their conceit vvill make them so sicke at heart that they vvill vomit it vp again Some others haue more feare of a mouse or of a hē or of a Toad thē of a sword certainly such peeuish weaknesse and fantasticall actions doe governe our imaginations Truely I knovv not hovv but mē study to deceiue thēselues Some one will recite a tale for trueth which hee knoweth to be most false that so often with so great an assurance that himselfe in fine doth beleeue it A husband that knovveth his vvife to be deformed notvvithstāding because she is painted and