Selected quad for the lemma: duty_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
duty_n	husband_n	owe_v	wife_n	3,983	5	8.4283	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A94392	The holy history. Written in French by Nicolas Talon. S.I. and translated into English by the Marquess of Winchester.; Histoire sainte. English	Talon, Nicolas, 1605-1691.; Winchester, John Paulet, Earl of, 1598-1675.	1653 (1653)	Wing T132; Thomason E212_1; ESTC R9096	367,834	440

Eyes to gaze on this Lamb Post multos itaque des injecit domina sua occulos suo●in Joseph Gen. 39. v. 7. all her gestures and motions were artifices to intrap him and she would have willingly preferred the inthrallment of Joseph before the Command over her Husband All her bonds of Marriage were but Chains which kept her in Captivity and the most just and most holy Lawes imposed on her a Yoak which rendred all the duties of sidelity which Wives owe unto their Husbands insupportable to her She yet wanted not dexterity to dissemble her Passion in her Husbands presence and herein Love is usually most disloyall and deceitfull for though all its fires be violent impetuous sharp and sparckling yet if the object which inkindles them be not present they prove but ashes coldnesses and frozen Nights under which this Traitor useth to hide his Torch Pernitious study Then all Actions are studied all gestures counterfeits all discourses falshoods and all that appears outwardly seems to have no other design than to deceive the heart To this effect we seek out suborned Messengers retirements for assigned meetings blind dumb and deaf witnesses secret Intelligences inchanted gifts invisible pretences painted and Sacrilegious devotions Nights without dayes and hours which are only marked out upon shadows for the light of the Sun the noise of a Bell too apparent impiety too visible presents too violent solicitations indiscreet confederates publick places and Friends or unfaithfull Servants might discover the secret It is a strange thing that we can hardly trust our selves and that the Tongue dares not speak a word or at least if she speaks it is but after she hath pondered all her discourses Wherefore the Eyes are the first solicitours of evill and then their silence hath an Eloquent voice which is yet not heard but by those that are Confederates It is no wonder then Qui nequaquam acquiescent operi nesario dixit c. Gen. 39. v. 9. if Joseph heard not this unchast language when his Mistris spake to him more from her Eyes than her Mouth This Impudent creature cast a thousand glances on him But the heart of Joseph was a piece of Marble which could not be pierced all the Flames of this Egyptian woman fell into a dead Sea and all her lightnings found nothing but water which instantly quenched them Wee must passe then further Et ait dormi mecum Gen. 39. v. 7. and see whether the Mouth peradventure will have more powerfull perswasions than the Eyes This shamelesse woman is so much inraged as to declare her design O God! what Insolence what Fury and what Frenzies when once the mind is possest with Love but there are two sorts of loves and that which is Son of the Earth is very weak when opposed to that which is born in Heaven Courage then Joseph it is a Woman who assaults and sollicites you she is light be you constant she hath stratagems be you prudent she is bold be you generous she runs fly away she Flatters disdain her she asks refuse her Joseph what do you say For my part saith he Victorious Innocence I neither can nor will consent unto a womans Lascivious desires nor submit unto her will preferring it before that of my Master and I should not be what I am if I forfeited the quality of a faithfull Servant and of a person to whom the honour and remembrance of the favours I have received from him is a thousand times more pretious than life If I have been sold it was onely for my Innocency and the chains of my Captivity could never force the constancy an Hebrew ought to have in the way of virtue I am Jacobs son and my actions shall never bely my birth I am a Servant Ecce Dominus meus omnibus mihi traditis c. Gen. 39. v. 8. Nec q●icquam est qued non in mea sit potestate vel non tradiderit miht propter te quomodo trgo possum hoc malum faeere peccare in Deum me●m Gen. 39. v. 9. I ought to dye for fidelity your Husband trusts me with all his Goods and with all his Wealth which the favour of the King and his own merits have bestowed on him he reserved onely to himself the soly Enjoying you It is not for me then to ravish from him what is his due by so many titles Command me with Justice and I will serve you with sincerity perform all that you ought and I will omit no part of my duty to you Keep your self within the lawes of Marriage and leave me in the duties of my condition I should be ungratefull if I abused the favours of my Master I should be a theef if I stole away his fairest goods and no death could be cruell enough to punish me if I shou●d attempt on that which is more dear to him than life All your flames can find in me but a heart of water and ice and all your tyes cannot inthrall the liberty of my mind and your rigors will never mollifie a soul on which God hath inprinted his love and fear Know then that I would rather choose to dye free from blame than to live a complice in your distoyalty I prefer my bondage if it be innocent before all unjust Powers and what misfortune soever befall me I shall be too happy if I remain innocent It was in the power of my brethren to sell my body but they could not ingage my soul I may serve without prostituting my self and my glory will ever be illustrious enough if I shall doe no dishonourable act and unworthy of my Extraction In fine I adore a God who hath most pure eyes and should all creatures be blind it satisfies me that he be the witness of my actions I reverence all his decrees and if all the Judges of the world could authorise vice it would comfort me to have a God alwaies armed to punish them How can you wish me then to bring Adultery into your Family and to change your bed Angelicall Resolution which ought to be the Altar of your glory into an infamous Pile No no Madam either leave honour to me with life or take from me my life and leave me my honour Is not this ●o speak like and Angel and to have the sentiments of those spirits who live in flames without being consumed and amidest lightnings without being dazeled Neverthelesse it is little considerable to assault an impudent love by bare words we must have other weapons in our hands to encounter it and the victory is never certain untill we have either publickly decry'd or banish'd it We must cry out Murther in like occasions we must call for witnesses use threats and at least triumph by a generous flight or by a prudent retreat There are some Passions which flye when they are pursued Very different Nature of Passions and like shadows never fasten themselves unto bodies There are some who have

he had gained Afterwards he gave his benediction to Abraham who also presented him with the tenths of his spoyls and of his whole booty The King of the Sodomites sayled not to render his duties unto the Conqueror for he presently made hast to Abraham who treated him as a King and as one of his Allies CHAP. V. The Assurances God gave unto Abraham of a most flourishing Posteritie A Midst all these successes and congratulations Abraham who had setled Peace in Judea and in the Neighbouring Territories felt his Heart to have some desire of making War against him and as if fear and distrust had been willing to banish Faith from his Soul he began already to complain or at least to present some request unto God saying Ah my Lord where is this so flourishing Progeny where is this so numerous posterity and where are these Children thou hast promised me Can it possibly happen that a Stranger and a Servant should be the support of my House and the Inheritor of all my Fortunes I see my self encompassed with Enemies I feel my self burthened with old age and there is as it were no longer any probability I should ever hope for Children I very much doubt whether Abraham had ever an intention to complain However he was somewhat afraid and God to deliver him out of his fear said unto him in most express terms Abraham fear nothing Noli timere Abram Ego protector tuus sum merces tua magna nimts Gen. 15. v. 1. Dixitque Abram Domine Deus quid dabis mihi Gen. 15. v. 2. for I have promised to keep thee alwaies in my protection and to be for ever the recompence of thy Faith and hopes But yet Lord saith Abraham what is that thou wilt give me for a long time is already spun out since I have been in expectation and I have not the possession of any other Goods than those I could hope for from your bounty Certainly the Privacies of a Holy Soul are in high esteem with God was there ever any thing more free more open and Genuine than the Heart of Abraham What Favourite of the Kings of this World would be so confident as to say unto his Master what this Good Old Man said unto God Nevertheless God was pleased with this Libertie And as if he ment to increase so amiable a freedom by new assurances of his Power and Will He made Abraham come out of his Pavillion Eduxit illum foras dixit illi suspice Caelum numera stellus si potes Et dixit ei sic erit semen tuum Gen. 15. v. 5. Non erit hic haeres tuus sed qui egredietur de utero tuo ipsum habebis haeredem Gen. 15. v. 4. Igitur Sara Uxor A●●aham c. Gen. 15. v. 6. Dixit marito suo cece conclusit me Dominus ne parerem ingredere ad ancillam meam si sorte saltem ex illa suscipiam filios Gen. 16. v. 2. and then not satisfied with having promised him a Posterity numerous as the Sands of the Sea He shewed him the Heavens with promise that the number of his Children should equall the Planets and Stars of the Firmament Adding to him afterwards that suddainly he should have a Son by his dear Sara who should be the Heir of his possessions and the ornament of his Family Notwithstanding all these Assurances and promises Sara who felt her self Barren permitted her Husband what the Law and Custom of that time allowed And much more for this Chast Wife humbly intreated that Agar though a Servant might share with her in his Bed and affections but as it commonly happens that Honours trample on the Right and Duties of Nature Agar was no sooner become a Mother but she would be at the same time also a Mistress It is a very strange spectacle to behold the insolences of Fortune There is nothing so insupportable as a proud poor Man as a Servant who is become Master and as a beggarly Woman who hath the Keys of a good House These Monsters of Mankind resemble those Exhalations Humane Monsters which after they are raised from the Dunghils of the Earth take the shape of the Sun or of a Comet whose aspect is terrible and dreadfull to all beholders They are also like those little Streams about four or five Feet in breath which run Serpentizing about Cities and sometimes commit so many spoils in one hour as the Sea would not doe in a hundred years But as the Sun with two or three Days of heat drys up these Torrents so God in the twinkling of an Eye humbleth the Pride of all the insolent and there is nothing so detestable in his sight as a Proud Man who was Born in Misery and Poverty unless those blind furies chance to relent either through due consideration or some cross fortune which invites God to resume his Eyes of Compassion to behold their Disaster So Agar having been disgracefully driven out of Abraham's and Sara's House when her wandring heart had leasure to entertain more humble and mild thoughts God who hath fatherly tendernesses for those who place their whole strength and Consolation in Meeknesse and Humility immediatly sent an Angel to her who promised her a favorable return and besides gave her assurances that shortly she should have a Son who should be called Jsmael in effect she conceived and was delivered as the Angel had said Abraham being no lesse than fourscore and six years old or neer upon CHAP. VI. The Continuation of the favours which God conferred on Abraham THE Love which God bears to all Creatures is a rare Artist it is alwayes active Love never idle alwayes ardent and never seen idle It is a fire which is continually seeking new aliment It is a torrent which never stops it is a lightning which cannot long remain inclosed within a Cloud a Planet which knows not what repose or retirement meaneth Painters for this reason gave it winges and in pictures it is for the most part ever seen with one foot in the air Wee must not then wonder if the heart of Abraham being replenished with this Love God commanded him to March and still to advance But what was it not sufficient to have even run for the space of Ninty and Nine years and been in a Continuall journey during the whole course of his life was it not time to make a halt when he saw himself neer the shoar and that his life was arrived almost in the Haven It imports not saith God unto him it is I that speak Apparuit ei Dominus dixitque ad eum Ego dominus omnipotens ambula coram me esto perfictus Gen. 17. v. 1. and thou must obey On then Abraham pass farther I will be a Spectator of thy Voyages and of the Progresses thou shalt make in the way of perfection Alas if all Men had this lesson deeply ingraven in their Souls and if all such as make Profession

sufficiently to disguise their looks strive to hide under the Veils and shadows of a Bed or dark Chamber the shame of their insensibility Abraham shed more tears from his Heart Et mortua est in civitate Arbee quae est Hebron in terra Chanaan venitque Abraham ut plangeret fleret eam Gen. 23. v. 2. than by his Eyes and in rendring all duties to Nature and his Wife he most amply satisfied God and his own piety while he was a Pilgrim and stranger in the Land of Canaan Sara being Dead in the City of Hebron he went directly into the place where his Wifes Body reposed There he offered up his Prayers unto God and kiss'd a thousand times these amiable reliques watering them from time to time with his tears All those who assisted this Holy Man might well perceive the tears which distilled from his Eyes and hear the groans which issued forth of his Mouth But God alone knows the Acts of resignation He presently intreated Ephron to sell him a double Cave which was close by the vale of Mambre to interr Sara in that place Ephron is willing to grant what he asketh but being at last as it were inforced to take a sum of Money for the purchace of his Land Abraham became Master of the Field and Grot in which he laid the Body of his dear moity It is in this monument where the most generous Woman of her time reposeth Atque ita sepelivit Abrahum Saram uxorem suam in spelunca 〈◊〉 duplici Gen. 23. v. 19. And under this Rock of Diamond will be found a Diamantine Heart in the Body of Sara who was a perfect pattern of Constancy and Fidelity CHAP. XIII The Mariage of Isaack with Rebecca and the Death of Abraham THe World is a Theater on which very different actions are seen There Voluptuousness smiles and Grief hath tears in its Eyes Hope flies in the imbaulmed Air and Despair plungeth it self into an Abyss of Gall and poyson Love and Sweetness catch Men in Nets wrought by the Hands of the Graces and on the contrary Hatred and Envy assasinate the Hearts of Men with inchanted Darts A Bloody Amphitheater In fine whilst Life is fowing on all sides Death mows down all before her Behold the common objects of the World pleasures sorrows hopes despairs loves envies furies flatteries Mariages solemnities life death birth a Chaos of disorder a Labyrinth of unions and divorces which make the course of this life but a list and Theater where all we can imagine is to be seen Have we not beheld all this in the life of Abraham This poor Man then was in the Hands of God and Providence as a feather in the Air which serves for sport unto the Winds and as a Planet in the Heavens which never rests or as a Wheel in the Water which is alwaies turning and in a continuall motion God led him out of Chaldea Mesopotamia Canaan and Egypt from thence he causeth him to return unto the Cunanites where he stays for some time in the City of Sichem sometime in that of Hebron afterwards in Gerara and then in Bershabe and again in Hebron as if he could not live but in Travelling during whose Voyages Heaven is pleased to afford him a thousand Combats and as many occasions of Victory In fine after the deliverance of his Son ●rat antem Abraliam senex dierumqtie multorum c. Gen. 2● v. 1. ●orrvaque ad servom seniorem Domus suae qui praeerat omnibus quae Dabebat pone manum tuum sulter s●mur meum Gen. 24. v. 2. Vt adjurem teper Dominum Deum Caela terrae ut non accipias u●o●em filio meo de filithus Chananaeorum inter quos habito Gen. 24. v. 3. Sed ad terram cognationem meam praficisearis inde accipias u●●orem filio meo Isaac Gen. 24. v. 4. and the death of his Wife he feeling himself wholy broken with old age and upon the point of following the happy Lot of Sara resolved to seek a Wife for Isaack and for that end he calls one of the most faithfull Servants of his House called Eliezer and having commanded him to lay his Hand under his Thigh he conjured him by the name of God to seek a match for his Son in the Land of Haram as if this Country had inherited from Cham its first Lord the malediction which Noah had fulminated against him Which being done this wise Embassador chosen amongst the Domesticks of Abraham began his journey to execute the designs and Commission of his Master Posuitergo servus manum subsemore Abraham Domini sus c. Gen. 24. v. 9. Tult quc decem Camelos degrege Domini sui ●biit ex omnibus honis esus portans secum prof●●tusque pervexit in Mesopotamiam ad urse em Nachor Gen. 24. v. 10. and departing from Bershabe he went directly to Mesopotaneia carrying with him ten large Camels loaden with the rarest and most magnificent presents which were in Abrahams House Behold him then in the City of Nachor meditating with himself upon all the readiest and most facile means to expedite what had bin given him incharge What will he doe First he departs out of the City and repayring where Women in their turns were wont to draw Water Cumque Camelos fecisset accumbere extra op illum juxta puteū aquae c. Gen. 24. v. 11. he there rests his Camels expecting untill Heaven should offer the opportunity he desired During this expectation he offered up his prayers unto God saying Lord God of Abraham Dominus meus Demini met Abraham occurre obsecro milu hodie fac mise●●cordiam cum Domino meo Abraham Gen. 24. v. 12. Ecce ego sto prope fontem aquae filiae habitatorum hujus Civitatis egredientur ad hauriendam aquam Gen. 24. v. 13. Igitur puella cui ego dixero inclina hydriam tuam ut bibā illa responderit bibe quin Camelis tuis dabo potum ipsa est quam praeparasli servo tue Isaac c. Gen. 24. v. 14. Nec dum intra se verba compleverat ecce Rebecca egrediebatur habens bydriam in scapula sua Gen. 24. v. 15. Occurritque ei ser vus ait pauxillum aquae mihi ad bibendum praebe de hydria tua Gen. 24. v. 17. Quae respondit bibe Domine mi c. Gen. 24. v. 18. Ipse autem contemplebatur eam tacitus c. Gen. 24. v. 21. cast I beseech thee some propitious and favourable look upon the designs of my Master Great God take pitty of Abraham thy faithfull Servant it is by his appointment I am in these territories I expect here but the hour when the Maid shall come to draw Water out of this Fountain If then My God thou dost give me this advice I resolve to entreat the first which shall approach it to afford me some Water to drink if she grant me