Selected quad for the lemma: fire_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
fire_n	year_n	young_a	youth_n	106	3	8.1834	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A57253	The political will and testament of that great minister of state, Cardinal Duke de Richelieu from whence Lewis the XIV, the present French king, has taken his measures and maxims of government : in two parts / done out of French.	Richelieu, Armand Jean du Plessis, duc de, 1585-1642.; Du Chastelet, Paul Hay, marquis, b. ca. 1630.	1695 (1695)	Wing R1423; ESTC R38036	208,968	393

suffer themselves to be blinded by Prosperity and do not lose their Courage and Judgment in Adversity Nevertheless it is necessary there should be Men imploy'd in the administration of the State and in the Command of Armys free from these defects otherwise we should be in danger of never improving the favourable occasions which God may offer us and of being considerable losers by the first frowns of Fortune Tho the Head guides the rest of the Body and Judgment is the most Essential Part of him who Commands Nevertheless I prefer a great deal of Courage and Indifferent Parts in a General before a great deal of Wit and an indifferent Heart Many perhaps will wonder at this proposition because it is contrary to the opinion of many but the reason of it is Evident Those who have a great deal of Coruage are never astonish'd in danger and make use of all the Wit and Judgment God has indued them with on such occasions whereas those who have but little Courage being easily astonish'd are so much dismay'd in the least danger that let them have never so much Wit it is absolutely useless to them fear not allowing them to Use it I make but little difference between giving the management of the Finances to a Thief and the Command of an Army to a Man of mean Courage As Avarice and the desire the first has of getting an Estate hinders him from improving the occasions to increase his Master's Fund so the second having a desire to preserve his Life and to avoid many Perils which are only such in his Imagination commonly loses and avoids many advantageous occasions to imploy his Arms and thus if the first is capable of committing faults out of a desire to fill his Purse the last is lyable to do the same in order to secure his Life Among Men of Courage some are naturally Valiant and others are only so by reason The first are fitter to be Soulders than Captains by reason that their Valour is commonly accompany'd with Brutality but the last are good to make Commanders Nevertheless it is always to be wish'd that their reasonable Valour may not be void of Natural Courage because otherwise it were to be fear'd that the consideration of many incoveniences which may happen and yet do not happen might hinder him who proceeds with too much caution from undertaking that which might succeed in others with less Wit and more boldness Want of Judgment contributes considerably towards the Valour of some Men who perform Actions which are the more hazardous in that they are not sensible of the Peril to which they expose themselves Judgment is of no small use to others to feign a great boldness on some occasions which tho dangerous in appearence are neither so in Effect nor in the opinions of those whom God has indued with more knowledge than others As a General 's Valour must not be destitute of Judgment So tho he be Prudent and Judicious to the highest degree he must have sincerity to hinder him from making Artifices pass for Actions of Courage Men disguise themselves so many different ways that it is almost Impossible to distinguish the Effects which proceed from the head from those which proceed from the Heart There are Men so naturaly Valiant that they continue so to their dying day Others which not being so make an Effort in their Youth to appear such to gain some Reputation in favour of which they may pass their Life without Infamy These last have no sooner obtain'd their Ends but the Effects of their Valour disappear because they have what they desire and that Artifice is the Sourse of their Courage and not their natural Inclination Great Care must be taken not to chuse a Chief of that Nature remembring that Craft is as dangerous in those who Command as Judgment and Courage is necessary Those two qualityes ought almost to keep an even pace but they must be accompany'd with many others Great enterprizes not being Childrens Play they require a ripe Age in those who perform them but as the maturity of Judgment which advances with years is useful to form a design the Fire of Youth is no less necesseary to put it in execution and it is most certain that Fortune often Smiles on Youth and Frowns on Age. Therefore it is fit to observe that there is a great deal of difference between a Novice a young Man and an old one It is difficult to be good and bad at once To be Excellent it is necessary to be young in years but not in Service and Experience For tho Old Men are commonly the Wisest they are not the best to undertake because they are often destitute of the fire of youth which is requisite in such occasions In conclusion Courage Wit and good Fortune are three qualifications so Essential in a General that tho there are but few who possess them altogether it is difficult to expect without hazard great events from those who are destitute of either of them But if a Prince be so happy as to find any in whom these qualifications are met it will be easy to remedy the defects of those who shall be committed to their Conduct One of those which do's most harm as I have observed is the Inconstancy of our Nation which rendering it almost incapable of remaining long in the same State an Army is no sooner Rais'd but one half of it dwindles away * A Remedy to make Armys Subsist I have thought sometimes that the best Expedient that could be taken to make Souldiers Subsist and to maintain them in Discipline would be to restore the Establishment of Legionarys formerly practis'd in this Kingdom adding some particular Orders to it altogether necessary to make it safe but Reason and Experience have alter'd my mind Reason in that it shows clearly that what is committed to the care of many is the less certain in that every one lays the blame upon his Companion and that the Elections which are made by the advice of Communities are rarely made by the bare motive of Reason because that tho there are many Persons of Wisdom and Probity among them the number of Fools and of Knaves is always the greatest Experience in that it Teaches every body that no money is laid out worse than that of Communities * This Truth is so well Justify'd by the male administration of the Summs raised for the Reparation of Citys and Churches Besides that I may say with Truth that when ever the urgent necessitys of the State have constrain'd your Majesty to imploy Forces sent by Princes led and paid by their own Officers which I have seen Twice during this last War they have always cost double and have committed as much and more disorder than the others and have done less service than those which were rais'd at the same Time and conducted by particular Persons at your Charge Those considerations have convinced me that instead of