Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	body_n	immortal_a	soul_n	7,080	5	5.8875	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A08566	The fiue bookes of the famous, learned, and eloquent man, Hieronimus Osorius, contayninge a discourse of ciuill, and Christian nobilitie A worke no lesse pleasaunt then profitable for all, but especiallye the noble gentlemen of England, to vievv their liues, their estates, and conditions in. Translated out of Latine into Englishe by VVilliam Blandie late of the Vniuersitie of Oxeford, and novv fellovv of the middle Temple in London.; De nobilitate civili et christiana. English	Osório, Jerónimo, 1506-1580.; Blandie, William.	1576 (1576)	STC 18886; ESTC S113632	145,792	234

saith he hath appeared in the Earth and talked with men And Ioell doth with these wordes stirre vp all Godly men Reioyce O you sonnes of Sion and be glad in the lorde your God for that he hath sent you a teacher to instructe you in all righteousnes Therefore after that the voice of that heauenly docter in darkenes gaue lighte had instructed mankinde with the rules of true religion and the discipline of wisedome and had taken away the gréedy mindes desire of humayne a●d trāsitory pleasures and had sheewed them that nothinge in Earth was greatly to be feared not death which killeth onely the body but doth not so mutch as touche the soule not want of children lacke of friendes pouertye and such like which if they ircke and greue the carcas yet neuertheles the good estate of the soule which is immortall they cannot hurte and had taught them afterwardes to imbrace charitye lyberality temperaunce when he had deepely imprinted these thinges in the minde of man and had confirmed the hartes of his folowers and auditours with an assured hope of immortalitye and inflamed them with a feruent desire of diuine perfection who can doubte but that nowe not an image and shewe of vertue but the wonderfull excellency of perfect vertue allured them that were borne to renoume and after a merueylous sorte inflamed What shall wée say In that he did not only teach them is exercise themselues in all honesty and godlines but also cōfirmed their strength whereby they mought be able constantly to perfourme those thinges that he afore had taught them Which also by holy Oracles and Prophesies was afore shewed The eies saith he of the blind shal be opened It is not to be vnderstoode that the holy Prophet did prophecie these thinges onely of bodyly eies For all those thinges that haue bene declared vnto vs through the instinct and inspiration of the holy ghoste by those excellent menne are not to be applyed to the body b●t referred to the mynde and soule Againe it foloweth The eares of the deafe shal be opened He calleth them deafe which hath shut their eares to the intēt they would not vnderstande the will and pleasure of God of whome Ieremye speaketh Beholde their eares are vncircumcised and they cannot heare Notwithstandinge Christe of his meere mercy hath brought to passe that the deafe with their eares shoulde receiue good instruction I pray you what foloweth afterwardes Then shall the lame leape as the Harte and the toungues of the dombe shall sounde forth the praise and glory of God. What is vnderstoode by the lame they are not ignorant which are but yonge and simple schollers in diuinity For they are lame that haue any kinde of let or maime in their soule by the impediment whereof they are stopped in the race of piety godlines who can neither endeuoure by force of strēgth nor by any meanes so deale by swiftnes of runninge that they may obtaine the rewarde of vertue Therefore consider and ponder with your selfe how manifoldly the soule of man is blessed by him that restored the liberty of man and browghte hym out of daunger and captiuity Who gaue sighte to the blinde opened the eares of them that were deafe gaue swiftnes to the lame so that like Hartes they are able to runne vppe to the toppes of the highest mountaines and make engines to destroye Serpentes Lastly infantes suckinge babes and dombe men can vtter Hymnes of praise and songes of thanks geuinge But in this chiefly God did deale with vs moste lyberally that wheras we were before altogether lost and forlorne no parte of oure life voyde of miserable wretchednes nowe by the greate goodnes and healpe of Iesu Christe wee are restored to oure former felicity And yet his benefyte in this one poyncte farre exceeded all other that he poured into man largel● his wisedomt and grace and wyth continuall care and studye preferued his holy lawe not ingrauinge and curiously caruing the same in tables but most deepely imprintinge it in his harte and mynde For now nothinge letting the mynde beynge in great felicity and blessednes it did wholie yelde it selfe to all kynd of righteousnes and celestiall discipline the vertue and power of the most high and euerlastinge God shewed it selfe moste louinglye vnto the soule of manne beynge his owne image and liklines which he in his creation had endowed with al grace and vertue and now appeared and gaue vnto it a clearer light and did inflamed it with an earnest desire of heauenly wysedome And if the Lawe be nothinge els but a right and perfecte rule of reason assuredly that reason which not onely by nature but that whiche is muche and farre better and by the prest and readye helpe and power of almightye God was made so perfec that it mought easelye applye it selfe to folowe the will and pleasure of God it canne not bee gainsayde but that it cōteineth the law of god For thus it is writtē in the Prophet Hieremie This shal be the couenant which I will make with the house of Israell After those dayes fayth the Lord I wil geue them my law to possesse the bowels of them and wil wryte it within their hartes And this lawe is Christ himselfe euen he which is called the wisdome and power of God the father who is to mortall men an example of rare and excellent vertue and the onely means to gouern their lyfe by beynge alwayes present wyth those myndes which of vnpure he made chast holye and be kindleth them beyng stirred vppe with the motion of the holy spirite of God to the desire of immortall glorye And wheras by the capacity vnderstāding of man there can be nothinge comprised greater then the power maiesty and godhead of Christe whiche we knowe is presente alwayes with vs by whose grace wee are moued to imbrace true and perfect vertue certes there is notonge so eloquent no discourse of man so copiouse and so rhetorical that can declare sufficiently or effectually set f●th the exceedinge greatenes of the mercie and ●lemencie of god And nowe me thinke I see most renowmed Prince that I haue through a certayne boldnes incidēte to young men rashelye and aduenturously taken vpon me so great an interpryce as I shal not in any one poynt happely discharge For I am entered into the discourse of those thinges as it were into the deepe and mayne Sea with the profoūdnes whereof all eloquence and oratory of mā must needes bee confounded and ouerwhelmed But what doe I speake of the vnderstanding of manne The heauenlye Powers themselues cā scarcely through their diuine and angelicall vtterāce worthely handle matters of so great importance so farre of is it that the tongue of a mortall mā oftē defyled with vnpure and vnsemely speaches can with exquisite learninge describe the wonderful benefites of God bestowed on man For is there any manne endued withe suche singularitye of iudgement that hee is able to conceyue muche lesse

religion of Christ For if the minds of men instructed with precepts of Christian religion are thereby made cowardlye and dasterdly and by those olde and vnclean ceremonies in which Godlye honoure was doone to the Idols of wicked men they were incited to valiantnes surely they seame to be preferred before the rules of our religion But consider with thy self the foolish madde and erronious opinion thou hast helde They whiche haue truelye tasted of Christes religion are not moued with the flyinge of birdes the scrychinge of shrechowles nor the intralles of beastes threatninge some dolefull euent They are not troubled with earthquakes with thunderclappes with any prodigious and monsterous wonders To conclude there is nothinge that can daunt or dismay the mynde of a Christian man. For he is so trayned that if hee should se all the worlde egrelye bente to battayle if hee shoulde see all manner of daungers deuysed and prepared agaynste hym if he shoulde see euerye thinge rounde aboute set on lighte fire and almost consumed hee notwithstandinge through an assured hope and confidence shoulde remayne vnchangeable neither be discouraged through the terrour of any mischiefe First because he beleeueth that he is garded and defended with a mightye and puissante armye For he readeth in the holy scriptures that there are garrisōs of Angells whiche defende the Godlye from all iniurye and in tyme of neede qualifie the outrage force of the enemye For Iacob knew him selfe with this strength to bee fortified when he declared that he saw the tents of God. Agayne when the Syrians army was euen vppon Helizaeus readie to deuoure him and his seruaunt stroken with great fear cryed for help feare not sath Heliseus and be of good courage for our number farre excedeth theirs And it foloweth in that holye history And when Heliseus hadde made his prayers to god hee sayth O Lord open the eyes of this boye that hee may also see And the Lord opened the eyes of the boy and he sawe and behold a mountayn al couered with horsemē and fiery chariotes that compassed Heliseus rounde aboute And that no man may thinke that God dealeth but with fewe in that maner it is written els whereof all them whiche with a pure and vndefiled hart embrace righteousnes and honoure God in all singlenes and simplicity The Angell of the Lorde hath pitched his tentes rounde aboute them that feare him He therefore which doth faithfullye creditte those testimonies and doth vndoubtedly beleue that he is by the power of God protected can in no wise tremble with feare but wyth a lustye and boulde cowrage will vse that sayinge that in another place is writtē If tentes stand vp agaynst me my hart shall not feare If a battaill rise vp against me in him wil I put my trust And that place also These in chariottes they in horses but wee in the name of the Lord haue our hope reposed They beyng vanquished weere slayne but wee beeynge of good courage caried away the victory This hope therefore I say will not suffer the familye of Christians to be weake and fayntharted Further the cogitation of immortalitye and a certayne foreknowledge of glorye to come what force hath it to the confirmation establishing of their constancie Caesar reporteth that the Frenche men were maruaylously stirred vppe to all prowes and valiauntnes throughe an opynion that the Druides did perswade thē to be of which was that the soules of mē were not subiect to death but after their departure passed from one bodye to another and therefore castinge a part all feare of death they valiauntly tooke in hande wayghty and daungerous enterpryces not makinge accompte of lyfe Whereas they were perswaded that death was nothinge els but the chaung alteration of lyfe and passinge of the soules from bodies to bodies And is it euen so in deede The auncient Frenche men through a moste vayne opinyon grounded vppō a vile fond superstition feared no māner of daunger and shall Christians feare death who beleeue not through a slender opynyon but throughe a constāt trust and affiaunce that after they haue departed this lyfe they shal obtayne most perfecte blessednes For what is moore manifestlye knowen in Christian religion then that all they that embrace iustice and godlines after that they are losed out of their bodies as it were oute of bonds shall as it were flye vp into heauen that they mighte obtayne worlde without ende euerlastinge glorye Agayne what is more deepelye printed in oure myndes then that the bodyes whiche are nowe vtterlye consumed shal bee agayne restored and beeynge wyth celestyall and heauenlye bryghtenes illumyned shall bee agayne vnyted to the soules wyth so fyrme and sure a league and band that it can bee by no meanes vyolated and broken that we beeynge after suche an heauenlye sorte renewed mought enioy al perfect eternal pleasurs both in bodye soule He who in this poynte is fullye perswaded beleeue me will neuer vnwyllynglye and wyth a grudgynge mynde departe from this lyfe intermedled wyth so manye myseryes calamityes Lastly what should I speak of the infinite wōderful loue with the which they that are truly entered into Chrysts holy profession are euery day more and more nflamed This vndoutedly is moste euidente that our minds are by no meanes so muche incited and stirred vp to hazard aduenture our liues as by loue and charity For to him that is in loue nothinge seemeth harde and all thinges are moste sweete and pleasaunte which are enteprysed for the attayninge that thinge which is vnto him moste deare and tender In so much that he not onely contemneth death which seemeth to all men most terrible and dreadfull but sometimes perswadeth himselfe moste willingly to desire the same That if loue lightly begonne betwixte man and man and grounded on very small causes hath such force that it causeth the contempt of death what may be thought of the excellencie of charitie which is through the gifte grace of the holy spirite moste liberally powred into pure and vndefiled mindes by the force thereof Christian Nobilitie supposeth all the sweete pleasure of life to be reposed in labours and perils despising all pleasures of the bodye and the britle estate of honoures and all aboundance of worldly wealth And being greatly inflamed wyth the desire of Christe it cannot be remoued from Godlines neither wyth threatninges nor wyth terrours nor wyth straunge and newe deuised punishmentes To conclude this loue maketh a man thincke that all tormentes which he suffreth for Christes sake whom hee tenderly and earnestly loueth are lighte and pleasaunt Furthermore nothinge is so much desiered and wished for of Christians as for the relligiō of the euerliuing God to loose theyr liues in the middest of the most exquisite tormentes of the body that can be deuised Which truly is not to be wōdered at For whereas loue turneth aside the cogitacion of the minde from feare it muste needes be that perfecte and godly loue is

vesture to cloth himself whom the sharpenes of no kinde of weather could greeue offend neither had he about him any staine vnseemely thinge for the couering and hiding wherof he might be carefull And hee had a law giuen him that he should exercise that free will that was geuē vnto him in the practise of vertue that at length hee myghte by hys owne demerits deserue to bee of the numbre and company of heauenly sainctes And the lawe was that he shoulde not presume to touch the fruite of a certayne excedynge goodlye tree whyche conteined the knowledge of Good and Euill God gaue him this commaundement not that he disdayned that mā whom he had manifoldly blessed should haue the vnderstandinge thereof but that by that meanes hee woulde the better forsee and prouide those thinges which apperteined to his good estate and preseruation For he knewe ryghte well that if man were sette at libertye hee wooulde strayght way worke his owne confusion So therfore God did moderate his libertye that hee agayne myght restreine the same by a very necessarye and expedient lawe Neither did hee so muche forbidde him to eate of that fruite as that he shoulde not slippe in to that which by that fruite was meante and signifyed For whither this was signifyed that he should not meddle with those causes or search by his own industry to attayn the knowledge of those thinges whiche his capacitye coulde not reache and comprise Or that he should not in the choyse of good and refusall of yll vse rather his owne iudgement then the will and pleasure of the almighty by whose wisedome he shoulde yeelde hymselfe to be gouerned or this that hee shoulde not inclyne him selfe to the loue of those good things whiche are mixt and intermedled wyth a nūber of euills For in the scriptures to knowe is earnestly to desire and followe Therefore I saye whither he gaue that commaundemente to man that hee embracinge that soueraygne good that is not entermedled with any euill shoulde vtterly refuse other good thinges whiche appeare faire and pleasant and yet are corrupt and poysoned what more wholsom precept and commaundement might haue ben ordeined more profitable for mā For our wits are vtterly confounded and cloyed with the search of those causes the excedinge deepenes wherof oure wittes maye not be able to compasse and in any affayres to folowe our owne brayne and not to be leade by the wysedome of God it is a moste vndoubted token of oure fall and vtter confusion but to be lead awaye from that good thinge which is most principal and chiefest of all other beyng deceiued with the swetnes of any vayne and transitory pleasure is to be holden generally as a thinge daungerous and deadlye This was the estate of our first parente which should haue bene most happy blessed if hee had not bene acquaynted with that huge and cruell monsterous beast that hath brought to all nations pestilent infections and vtter decaye For when that Prince of darcknes vnderstoode that aucthor of all sinne and wickednes ●nd chiefe captain of those angels who as we haue declared puffed vp with pryde would through their own power be lyke vnto the immortall and euerlastinge God and therefore fell into the lamentable and pitifull pytte of perdition I saye therfore when the deuill saw man made of earth ascende vnto that place of glory from whence he fel he through enuie waxed whote and imagined all kynd of craftes and suttelties to destroye and vtterlye ouerthrowe the state of mankynd Takinge on him therefore the shape of a serpente assaulteth through guiles and fayned sleights the woman whō he thought to subdue with lesse laboure for that shee was fraile and the weaker vessell He therfore enticeth her with swete and sugred woordes allureth her to the eating of the fruite forbidden Bearyng her in hande that as sone as shee shoulde take a tast of that most pleasant apple shee shoulde eftsones be inspyred wyth that heauenlye knowledge of good and euill The woman therfore beeynge marueylouslye allured with the fairenes of the tree and also inflamed aboue measure with the desire of that heauenly science and wysedome was easely induced to drinke that cuppe of deadly poyson offered vnto her by that most pestilent Serpent Thus the woman neglectinge the commaundemente of the moste hyghe God and gratious geuer of all goodnes by whose fauour and mercie shee receyued lyfe and was indued wyth many giftes folowed the counsell of her most deadlye enemy inuitinge also her husbande vnto that wofull and bloudye banquet This was the original and beginning of the misery of mā this was the roote of all euills Herehence proceeded death immortality which afterwardes increased more more and with most cruell tyranny oppressed all the world For as soone as man had yeelded himselfe by sufferance to bee corrupted with the filthy contagiō of that foule fault that euill immediatly ranne to the vaynes and searched euen the verye bowels of the bodye and at one time did slea murder both bodye and soule Whiche the siely and wretched soule of man incontinently felte when it perceiued it selfe seperated and haled from God from whēce it toke his beginninge and by whose diuine power it mayntened lyfe when it vnderstode that the bodye was not to feele harme or iniurye by sharpenes of ayre and at lengeth shoulde be bereaued of life after it had passed through diuers distresses most bitter and greuous lamentations and sorowes and of deathe and mortalitye these weere certayne and euident signes and tokens troublesome motions in the bodye whyche declared the myndes inconstancie affections subiecte to no rule of reason and vnderstandinge and vile chaungeable and waueringe desires For this was moste iustlye decreed that hee whiche had broken the commaundemente of his lorde and most impudently and wickedlye stode agaynst his will and pleasure in like maner should haue those whiche before were obedience rebellious and contrarily disposed assaying most desperatelye to inuade and ouerthrowe the fortresse of reason And whereas two things especially belonged to mā that is to excercise him self in action and contemplation and therfore was indued with a reasonable soule that in what soeuer he toke in hād he shoulde wysely gouerne euery affecte of the mynde and imploy all the power of his soule in the searchinge oute of heauenlye wysedome he in both these partes was deeply wounded For the mynde when the cleare lighte thereof was extinct wherwith it before glistred gloriously laye now ouercast with darknes and obscurity and the whole order of lyfe beynge as it were with darcke nyghte ouerwhelmed was welnigh put beside his rule soueraigntye so that although in that darckenes some glimse of lighte appeared yet coulde it not thereby be guided to the ende desired For the reasonable soule was miserably afflicted and wounded deepely and diuerslye tossed mith troublesome stormes of the mynd whiche it coulde by no meanes resist Then shameful filthines shewed it selfe before

that tyme vnknowen by the vglye syght and monsterous aspecte whereof our firste parentes beynge dismayed shrowded themselues in darcke woods and couered those partes with leaues of trees whiche they felt to bee most striuing agaynst reason and vnderstanding Heerehence came all kynde of corruption herehence rofe al folish vain opinions Frō this fountayn sprange all vile and wicked d●sires from thence came grefes vexacious all carnall and fleshelye lustes whiche easelye wryth and wreste the fraielty and weakenes of the mind whythersoeuer themselues are bent and inclyned And those miseries that happened to the mynde were also imparted to the body which was appoynted to endure moste paynfull toyles and laboures and at last to suffer the bitter panges and paynes of death And in few to conclude man was in suche case left as they are that beyng remoued frō high degre frō a singular hope of further preferment are cast headlonge downe into extreme misery and wretchednes For hee was spoyled of all his ornamentes expelled Paradise estraunged frō his own house his owne country the goodly felowship of the heauēly wights and that which mought greue him most of al being shut out from the loue of God which was afore ratefied vnto him by assured couenaunte and promise the residue of the whole race of his life he spent in continuall teares and in calamitye and myserye mooste intollerable And whereas briers and brambles which by the commaundement of God the Earth brought forth to his paine pricked his body yet mutch more tormented was his minde beinge wounded with the remembraunce of his heynous contempte and transgression and with the secret knowledge of his faulte within his owne conscience which kinde of remorses and gripinge griefes woulde suffer him to take no delight in worldely pleasure and did continually drawe aside all his cogitaciōs to the desire of his former felicity the sēsible feelinge of his present miserye So that this heauines hart breakinge which now happened proued manifestly the trée to be of great vertue and efficacy For nowe had he by his owne déede sufficient experience how much miserye grewe vnto him by his mischieuous acte and presente euelles so wrought with him the better to knowe prosperitye when we happen to fall into some aduersity This was the miserable wretchednes and lamentable misfortune of oure firste parente into the which hee fell headelonge in that yeeldinge vnto the temptation of the serpent he forsooke his soueraigne Lorde and god Neither did he onely vndoe him selfe but also vtterly spoyled his posteritye For whereas by course of generation we descende from him which is himselfe sicke diseased it cannot be chosen but that wee shoulde drawe neare vnto him in the similitude of infirmity and heynous offence and beinge corrupted with ill bloud deriued from him wee should be borne infected with the qualitye of the same nature Therefore all posteritye hath suffered through him a greuous and deadly wounde For whereas our vnderstandinge and reason is not a litle decayed through the incurable maladie which we haue fallen vnto vs from our first parentes as parte of our inheritaunce it commeth to passe that all our affections and passions of the minde like as wilde beastes vncheined waxe outragious not able to be maistered not sufferinge the mind in a quiet staye but disquietinge the same with infinite vexations The seely minde therefore troubled with feare and lustfull desire and miserablye plunged with diuers kindes of maladies and distemperatures is so into contrarie sides plucked and haled that it is almost besides it selfe in so much it is leade whither any willfu●l and licentious pleasure and pestilent appetite will bringe it The image therefore of our first father sufficiently expressed in this so greate changeablenes and frailty of minde and body dyd sow in vs the seede of all other mischiefes with afterwards dyd inuade the children of men For firste of all when those outragious affections had by litle and lyttle diminished ouercome the power of our vnderstandinge then was yt apparant that man his countenaunce aduanced and lifted vp to heauen nowe beinge disgraced was more proue to looke on the Earth and beinge thereon fullye fixed reposed all the confidence and staye of his estate in vaine and worldly goods Therefore the loue of honesty the glorye and honour of true nobility must of necessity decay and be extinguished vtterly by the neglecte and contempt of that chiefe and soueraigne good in which remaineth the sūme and perfection of all true honour and godlines But whē the vse and custome of sinninge increased dayely grewe to greater force and was founde more aboundant it came to passe that no horrible acte could be imagined whither it proceeded of luste and concupiscence or of raginge furye and impudent boldnes wherewith man defiled not himselfe Neither did it suffice him to committe all kinde of villanies whereby faith and the leage of common society might be hindred but he fought against God most high by pollutinge his relligion and violatinge his holy lawes and ordinaunces For whereas their mindes were ouerwhelmed with darkenes they coulde not easely comprise the nature of any thinge excepte they had a certaine warrant from the eye either some other external sense of the body might geue them knowledge thereof Therefore seeinge they could in no wise vnderstand the maiesty of God had bent themselues to the beholding of the Sunne the Moone the Starres in whose beautyfull and cleare aspectes they were exceedingely delighted they beganne to honour and worship them as though they had conteyned in them the deuine maiesty and Godhead From thence they eftsones fell for the minde beinge clogged with the multitude of iniquity could not stay in the Starres themselues and not onely to mortall men but also to brutish creatures as longe as by them they reaped any fruit or cōmodity they ordeined diuine honour to be attributed when they were dead aulters to be erected and dedicated vnto them What should I recite the Aegiptian Serpent What shoulde I make mention of the wicked and horrible honoure done vnto Osiris and Isis What shoulde I call to memory the rest of their Idolles bearinge the image and likelines of brutish and vnreasonable creatures Againe it were to no great purpose to vnderstande of the ceremonies or rather reuelles of Bacchus with as it maye appeare by the word it selfe were with a certaine furious rage madnes done and celebrated To conclude what shoulde I rippe vp the rable of that vyle and stinckinge religion which hath abused the simplicity of all natures and defiled all people not onely through licentiousnes and outragious wickednes but also by bloudsheddinge and detestable murther As though it were lawefull and no offence if it were done by shewe and colour of religion to abandō all honesty and shamefastnes which was both in the ceremonies of Venus and Bacchus vsuall and in many of the rest solemply practised in so mutch that such horrible