Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	conscience_n	life_n	sin_n	4,202	5	4.3704	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A28640	A gvide to heaven, or, Morall instrvctions compiled partly out of the maximes of Holy Fathers and partly out of the sentences of antient philosophers / written in Latin by John de Bona ; translated into English by Iames Price.; Manductio ad coelum. English. l675	Bona, Giovanni, 1609-1674.; Price, James, 17th cent.	1675 (1675)	Wing B3550; ESTC R26447	94,815	245

know all thy evill inclinations all thy vicious qualities let him know all the good thou dost and all the evill thou committest Discover unto him all the particular favours thou receivest from God Desire him that when he perceiveth in thee any irregular and disordinate affection he will not forbear to tell thee of it that too very often least that by being ashamed to reprehend thee he should dissemble at thy faults But if it should chance that he telleth thee he finds nothing to be reprehended in thy life doe not presently conclude that thou art innocent because perhaps the reason of his silence is for that he sees he shall get thy hatred by speaking or else that he despairs of thy amendment Wherefore entreat him more and more that soe he may see thou hast a reall and earnest desire of advancing in perfection Begin to lay before him the number of thy imperfections resolve to reform thy manners according to his Counsell Rejoyce as often as he reprehendeth thee for thy faults and still endeavor to come better from him or at least in a disposition to grow better It is a great matter considering the common frailty of our nature when a man is willing desirous to amend 4. These are the mutuall offices of a spirituall Directour one that desires to learn vertue of him that soe the one may grow better and the other not loose his labour in instructing him The greatest obstacle in Beginners is a rebellious refractory Spirit impatient to learn incapable of being cured For some that confide too much in their own wisedome refuse to be governed by another All these things say they which you tell me I know already What profit is there in shewing me things which are clear enough of themselves and repeating the same things over and over Very much because thou knowest many things which thou dost not perhaps attend unto Admonitions are not so much for teaching us as for exciting the memory and hindring us from forgetting things We often dissemble things that are clear and therefore t is not amisse to inculcate the knowledge of what we already know Vertue gathers strength when it is touched and encouraged Some are hindred and disheartned by a foolish apprehension or fear which is a childish fault and unworthy of any man Others like frantick men keep all close to themselves will not discover their infirmities to their spiritual Physitian The Devill persuades them to this silence hoping thereby to make his advantage of it as long as they discover nothing When thou art troubled with any corporall disease however soe shamefull thou hast no difficulty to shew it to him that is to cure it and yet thou hidest with great care the Vlcers of thy Soul as if hiding would cure them whereas they will at some time or other discover themselves in spight of all thy care He that hideth his wounds will never be cured 5. Does the Phisitian doe thee any wrong if he discovers thy disease if when thou art in danger he tells thee that thou art ill that thou art in a feavor that thou art to abstain one day from meat ordains thee to drink water in another Sure thou wouldst commend him and thank him for it But if any one should tell thee that thy passions or desires are violent that thy opinions are vain and idle thy affections immoderate or the like thou wouldest presently cry out that thou art affronted injured abused and therefore wilt be revenged of him Unhappy man what hurt does it doe thee to be admonished of thy Salvation What injury canst thou call it unles such a one as a looking glasse may be said to doe to an ugly face He shews thee what thou art Mend therefore thy faults which he reprehends in thee correct thy manners wash of the spots of thy Conscience T is in thy power if thou wilt to live soe that no man can justly reprehend thee CHAP. III. Of the purgative way and how to extirpate all sins and vicious Affections The best motive to this is a continuall Remembrance of Death and Eternity 1. WHensoever any man committeth a Sin he actually strayeth from God this is the cause of all the misery in the world From this proceed all the pains and troubles of this life this is the Poyson which infecteth the whole world We doe not perceive the malice of it when we commit the sin but when t is once committed then we understand the mischeif it brings with it We read of Tyrants that were wont heretofore a strange punishment to tye living bodies unto dead carkases that soe they might be poysoned to death with the horrid infection of an abominable stench By sin we are brought to suffer the like punishment we carry about with us our own Executioner cannot easily deliver ourselves from it If thou canst not resolve to suffer something for avoiding sin thou wilt be forced to suffer much after thou hast committed it An evill action is no sooner resolved upon but it presently produceth its own punishment T is this which makes us guilty of death and eternall damnation We must therefore have a speciall care to expiate our conscience from all Sin by contrition confession and satisfaction And t is not enough to avoid falling into great sins but we must also have a care to avoid lesser faults which although they doe not cause immediate death to the Soul yet weaken our spirituall forces are a disposition to mortall sin But the ship wrack is equally the same whither the ship be swallowed up and lost under one great wave or sunk by degrees the water entring in drop by drop We may be more to blame for yeilding unto these lesser faults in regard the difficulty to ouercome them was lesse The weaker our enemy is the greater is our shame if we permit ourselves to be overcome by him 2. Thou wilt never be able to attain unto much Vertue and to restore thyself to thy former liberty unles thou canst first quit thyself of all affection even to the least sins For otherwise thy body may be in the desert and thy mind at the same time in Egipt All does not goe well with thee if after having pardoned injuries and forsaken thy dishonest loues thou dost still give ear to calomnies detractions against thy neighbors if thou art still delighted with some dangerous beauty For to purchase an interior purity t is not enough to extirpate all sin out of thy soul but thou must also root out all evill habits or affections which may often remain behind after the sin is forgiven If thou dost only cut the boughs leave the root entire thou wilt see in a short time new branches of iniquity grow up from the same stock Thou sayest that thou art resolved to root out of thy soul all thy old Vices But I fear thou dost not barr the Door against them but leavest it seemingly

that body which thou feedest with so much care and pamperest with so many delicacies will be left to be a food to the worms in thy grave Ponder then with thyself for what banquet thou feedest thy body and resolve henceforth to feed it so that it may not oppresse thy spirit Use common meats and such as are easily found which are neither chargeable to buy nor hurtfull to thy health A great part of our liberty dependeth on a sober dyet and temperate feeding We cannot easily see what is superfluous untill we begin to be without it Our body hath need of sufficient nourishment but not of many delicacies 4. But doe not think thou deservest such great praises for contemning superfluities When thou canst also contemn necessaries thou maist challenge praise that is when thou art content with common bread for thy food with weak wine or such as is well mingled with water for thy drink when thou shalt be persuaded that hearbs and roots doe not only grow for beasts but also for men I shall admire thee when thou seekest only the necessity of nature the reparation of thy strength and the glory of God in thy meat when thou canst contemn the full tables of great men when thou comest unwillingly to thy ordinary repast as a sick man to a bitter potion of Phisick when thou shalt study at least to moderate and overcome the pleasure of Tasting since it cannot be wholly hindred when thou art unwilling to eat any thing that is delicate even in thy sicknes when in fine thou hast attained to a true purity of body and mind For it is certain that the proof of true Abstinence doth not consist in attenuating the body but in purifying the soul from all inordinate desires CHAP. V. Of Luxury the shamefulnes of it how easy it is to fall into it and how it is to be avoided by seeking spiritual delights and the solid pleasures of the mind 1. NO vice is more filthy or shamefull then Luxury The Apostle commandeth we should not so much as name any sin of that kind Hence it is that honest pious men are so much ashamed of themselves if they suspect that others know them guilty of the least immodesty or uncleanlynes Hence it is that many in the tribunall of holy Confession hide the lubricity of their youth from the ministers of Christ choosing rather to undergoe everlasting torments with eternall shame after death then here in this life to undergoe she imaginary infamy of this vice Adde that those who are faln into a habit of this sin doe not easily get out and they are in much danger of their salvation that are infected with it Human forces are too weak to overcome it For no man can live chast unles it be by a speciall gift of God 2. Wherefore the first remedy against this sin is fervent prayer offered unto God to the end that he who alone can doe it will be pleased to cure thee of this dangerous sicknes Next thou must have a care to resist unchast thoughts in the very beginning to doe it with as much hast as thou wouldest shake of burning coals from ●hy garments Woe be unto thee if thou once beginnest to deliberate the least in such temptations That castle is nigh surrendring whose Governour once begins to parley with the Enemy That thou maist avoid all occasions leading unto it fly idlenes intemperance unchast imaginations evill company dangerous conversation in a word nothing is to be neglected in this point Even those that are just are not wholly free from the danger of this sin they may also have some hidden reliques of it some secret hissings of the old Serpent as for example certain little affections which although they are not bad in themselves notwithstanding they are as preludes tending to evill and the mind being bewitched by little and little with such charms wil soon be caught unles thou suddenly breakst of with them Thou wilt never arrive to great perfection if thou neglectest these small things Great things have their beginning from lesser ones 3. Take heed above all things thou art not deceived by too much confidence in thyself He that fears nothing is half fallen How many great and learned men after having obtained great victories over themselves and their spirituall enemyes after having done many wonders have notwithstanding fallen into great sins at last by inconsiderate looks cast upon women T is needles here to repeat the sad examples which thou hast often heared and read of Sampson David and Salomon We have too many examples of the same kind in our own dayes And without seeking forreign examples thou hast enough perhaps in thy own brest whereof to be ashamed and which should give thee occasion to humble thyself be alwaies in fear Is it not great madnes and folly after so many examples in all ages and countreyes to put thyself in danger by presuming too much on thy own forces Yet such is the ordinary credulity of human obstinacy that we never believe others to have fallen untill we also fall ourselves Woman was created to help man but by the malice of the devill she is become his greatest enemy There is nothing in a woman which doth not wound burn and kill No Hyena to be compared to her voice no Basilisk to be compared to her eyes Ah! whoever thou art then if thou desirest to save thy Soul fly as much as thou canst the sight and conversation of women They still keep their ancient and first custome which is to be the occasion of banishing man out of Paradise 4. Many excuses are commonly alledged in this busines Many pretenses of necessity custome and a good intention Notwithstanding all this great mischeifs often lye hid under the colour of good Hence proceed dangerous familiarities indiscreet over-free discourses light gestures a neglect of modesty frequent letters and presents from one to another and a certain mirth which by little and little overcometh all shame untill at length all modesty is lost These things are practised by degrees and he that at first did use to blush at the sight and approach of a woman now is not afraid to behold wanton looks and a naked breast which striking into his hart a sweet and secret poyson he is undone before he perceives his own danger Thus the eye of our reason first becomes dim at last is struck quite blind Thus a rationall Soul which was born for heaven is tyed to the world forgetting both God herself untill at length the flames of concupiscence deliver her up to eternall flames Oh miserable men whose impure momentany pleasures must have such a sad end One would think they had all eaten of the Sardonian hearb since they laugh at the same time that they are dying 5 Ah! foolish man who art void of all wisedome thyself wilt not hear the counsell of others what dost thou seek If pleasures God hath prepared

is contrary to our inclinations is good for our spirit Things which afflict us teach us wisedome Death banishment poverty confusion labour sicknes and the like which are not in thy power are neither bad in themselves nor doe they belong unto thee Wherefore it is not necessary thou shouldest fly or hate them but only change the opinion thou hadst of them Socrates wittily termed all these things Masks or vizards for as children are frightned with vizards although there is nothing dreadfull in them but the outward shape soe it happens with thee who art often afraid of things not as they are but as they seem What is death A bugbear Consider how sweet it hath bine esteemed not only by Saints and holy men but also by Socrates and many others of the wiser Heathens What then is there terrible in death Opinion T is the fear of death that is dreadfull and not death itself Thou wilt find the same in other things which thou art wont to abominate and fear Correct thy opinion of things and thou wilt find that nothing is to be feared nothing to be abominated but Sin CHAP. XV. Of Ioy and Sadnes How a vertuous man is to rejoyce He that foresees all things is never sad Severall Remedies against Sorrow and sadnes 1. REjoyce after such a manner as not to loose modesty in thy joy and let not thy mind be so transported with joy but that if need be thou maist easily change thy mirth into mourning Our B. Saviour who could best judge of things doth not call those blessed who laugh but those who weep For it is much unbecoming a Christian that pretends to eternal felicity amidst soe many dangers of body and Soul to laugh and rejoyce after the manner of fools when he is in greatest perill All wordly pleasure passeth away that which we call joy is often times the beginning of Sadnes True joy is never found but in a good conscience and the practise of vertue as justice fortitude temperance c. That thou maist never want true joy rejoyce in what is thy own and within thyself All other joyes are vain and cannot give thee true content and he hath not alwaies cause to rejoyce that is outwardly merry True joy is ever mixt with gravity proceedeth from a good conscience honest designs good works contempt of pleasures and a quiet innocent life According to the rules of vertue thou must accustome thyself first to much sorrow before thou canst have true joy 2. Sadnes is caused by a certain horrour or apprehension of some present evill joyned with a certain perturbation and disquiet of mind We are often tormented not soe much with the things themselves as with the opinion of them Doe not concern thyself soe much with the nature and quality of things for example the services of others thy lands thy money thy employments but rather consider what opinion thou hast of them If thou art fallen into disgrace if thou art robbed of thy money if thou art beaten or the like these are things which are not in thy power but it is in thy power to have a good opinion of them to bear them patiently and receive them from the hand of God as means to work thy Salvation Thou wilt never be sad if recalling thy mind from the thoughts of thy present afflictions thou turnest thyself to consider the joyes of heaven No evill or misfortune can happen to a vertuous man not because he is insensible to the blows of fortune but because he overcometh all He looks upon every adversity as an occasion to exercise his patience as an instrument of Gods grace as the way leading unto eternall glory A good man may be thought or termed miserable by others but he can never be soe in his own thoughts 3. Look upon all things which may happen as if they really were to befall thee By this means thou wilt diminish the force of all miseries which never come unexpected unto those who are prepared to receive them Afflictions seem intolerable only unto those who expect nothing but prosperity What if fortune should deprive thee of half thy estate what if thou shouldst loose all what if thy house should fall thy corn be burnt thy friends forsake thee what if thou art in danger of loosing thy credit and by some false accusation art deposed from thy office or dignity Sicknes captivity ruine fire nothing of all these things come suddenly and unexpected to a wise man He premeditates all future misery and what to others seems lesse only by long patience to him is lessened by long meditation That which happens to one man may happen to any man What riches are there which may not change into hunger and poverty what dignities which may not fall into misery and disgrace what kingdome which must not at last come to a period Have we not seen in this our age a Kings head struck of by the hand of a hang-man and that by the command of his own rebell subjects There is no such great distance as we imagine betwixt riches and poverty betwixt a Princes court and a shephards cottage betwixt a Throne and an Axe Know then that all conditions are variable and all that thou seest happen to another the same may befall thee He will easily bear a crosse fortune that alwaies expects it 4. Vertue doth not flourish when our life passeth in all prosperity T is then we see how great is is when patience sheweth what it can suffer We are made a spectacle unto God Angels and men saith the Apostle Behold a spectacle worthy of God himself to wit when a vertuous man in the midst of Adversity triumpheth over himself and the affliction too A skilfull Pilot cannot shew his art in a calm sea and favourable wind He that is never tempted knows nothing Ah! how unhappy a man am I will some one say that am forced to suffer these misfortunes But I tell thee thou art happy because thou hast an occasion to try thy vertue Such a thing might have hapned to any one else but every one else perhaps could bear such afflictions without complaining Doe not therefore fall under the weight of Adversity but stand up firmly against it and endeavor to bear all patiently that is laid upon thee If thou canst but break the first shock thou wilt find nothing hard in it but opinion Naturall sufferances are equally hard unto all sort of men but as for poverty ignominy contumelies and such like things which are commonly esteemed Evills many bear them all with great patience seem in a manner insensible in them wherefore if we are grieved sad and impatient in them this doth not proceed from the nature of the things but from the bad opinion we have conceived of them Why wilt thou deceive thyself with a false persuasion It is in thy own power to make all calamity easy by bearing it patiently No sorrow can be great unles opinion adde something unto