Selected quad for the lemma: friend_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
friend_n	bear_v	good_a	know_v	985	5	3.2926	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A15704	Of the conscience A discourse wherein is playnely declared, the vnspeakeable ioye, and comfort of a good conscience, and the intollerable griefe and discomfort of an euill conscience. Made by Iohn Woolton, minister of the Gospell. Anno. 1576.	Woolton, John, 1535?-1594.	1576 (1576)	STC 25978; ESTC S106318	42,432	110

his guyltie conscience howsoeuer men fawne vpon him or flatter him is inwardly vexed tormented And whereas that is a right power and good deminion to haue many whose welth and prosperity a man may tender and consider whose liberties lawes a man maye defende and conserue they that doe otherwise must néedes haue déepe griefes and perillous woundes in their mindes The example of auncient Tyrauntes in all hystories verifie the same as Dionisius Phalaris Nero and manye moe innumerable Whose great and manyfolde miseries that I may omitte which haue vered them day and night by meanes of their monstrous déedes yet I note this one thing very worthy obseruation that such excellent worthy wightes as haue deserued the loue of all men these Tyrauntes haue not onely alwayes feared and hated but also haue vanished or expelled out of their companyes yea and sometime haue put them to drath and the stowte valyant men they hate lest they should attempt with force to brydle their crueltie the wise men least they should moderate their rashnesse and impotencie the tust men lest the multitude shoulde be ledde away through admiration of their vertues Well sayd Salust Kings Tyrants doe alwayes more suspect good men then badde and other mens vertues are terrible vnto them Remouing therfore from them such men whose vertues their naughtie mindes detest and abhorre they conioyne with Cutthrctes and Ruffynes and commit bothe themselues and their subiectes to their Regimentes And yet hereby can they not exclude feare for they alwayes mistrust their garde and other kéepers of their bodye and thinke that the edge of the sworde is alwayes euen at their necks Dionisius doing is often mentioned who hangyng a sharpe poynted sworde by the heire of a horsetaile ouer his friends heade playnely paynteth out the inwarde conscience and outwarde lyfe of Tyrantes The same Denys as Tully writeth shonned the company and societie of men and ledde his lyfe with Fugitiues Ruffyans and Barbarous people and reputed al such for his enimies in whome there appeared any shewe of vertue and honestie But cōtrariwise those Princes that séeke to maintaine the welth of their subiects that yéelde vnto them lawfull and néedefull liberties that thinke with themselues the proper dutye and part of a Prince not to consist in precious garments nor delicious banquets and vayne pleasures not in great heapes of Gold and Siluer But in pietic vertue and prudencie Such Princes I saye will not haue neyther of their counsayle neyther of their Court ryotous Bankeruptes and Ruffyans but will be assisted with such who bend all their studies for the prosperitie of their countrie and will content himselfe onely wyth the friendshyp and familiaritie of good men True glorie is much accounted of and not without cause It is a Renowmed fame for some notable and excellent deede done hauing annexed vnto it the loue and reuerence of good men But I praye you what pleasure can those conceyue hereof who being altogether voide of vertue honesty haue eyther by some mischicfe gotten them fame amongst the multitude eyther by Userie Extorcion oppression of the poore are become notable assuredly such men do heare their owne conscience tell them another tale and in continuance of tyme that vayne perswasion lyke smoke vanisheth awaye Contrariwise these that by their owne domerits are magnified and aduanced to true honor and glorie by good men must néeds enioy vnspeakable solaces and pleasures in their myndes and do account the same a sufficient rewarde for all their trauayles and aduentures So Pompeius Magnus When the people did salute hym calling hym the father of their countrie acknowledged that he had receyued that daye a most ample worthy reward for all those laboures which hée had susteyned for his country Therfore welth Riches Powre Glory Honour strength helth and such like whe● by the madd multitude measureth mannes felicity cannot bring vnto man any stable or firm comfort vnlesse they haue anexed vnto them the testimony of a sincere Conscience for that pleasure is not durable which ariseth of in continency of ambition of auarice of intemperancy and of others of that Rable All these certeynlye are deceiue able and spotted repastes Moste truely is it sayde The feare of the Lorde delighteth the harte and giueth ioy and gladnesse continualy But the vngodly haue no ioy at all Thus they that leade a godly and honest life albeit they contemne or haue not these sēsuall delectations and doe not follow Venus court neither haunt delicate fare nor estéeme dauncing wanton playing and other vanities yet no doubte they liue in greater myrth and ioye then those carnall men Who what with the furors of theyr Conscience the remembraunce of Gods wrath and malediction hanging ouer theyr head and the continuall feare of the greate daye of doome doe leade a wretched and miserable life Aduersity and misery so gréeuous to this our nature is it not mitigated and made more easy by reason of a good Conscience That saying is no more cōmon then true It is the greatest solace to wante Guylt Agayne It is no finale thing to be innocent in aduersitie And euen so it fareth in matters of Regiment wherein if happily at anye tyme there happen ouerthwart euentes to mens good consultations or when good actions are sinisterly interpreted by ●●●ll men what other consplation doth so effectuallye diminish griefes sorrowes of the minde as an vpright Conscience Which thing you maye euidently sée by reading the Romayne hystories in Furnis Camillus Scipio A●●icanus and many others who salued the déede woundes of exyle and banishment and the ingratitude of their Citizens with the certaine knowledge and remembrance of their valyaunt actes in defence of their Countrie Socrates vmustlye condemned spake so deuinely as Cicero recordeth euē when he shoulde suppe vp the deadly poyson that he séemed not to descend into hell but to ascende into heauen Aepaminōdas striken into the brest with an arrowe fighting in defence of his countrie throughe faintnesse inforced to lye downe in his Panilion woulde not suffer the arrowe to be plucked out before he might knowe the euent of the battayle And at last when tydinges was brought him of the flight and conquest ouer his enimies he then at the last wylled the arrowe to be drawne out and pouring out his heart bloude he dye● myldely gratulating so happy successe vn his countrie The holy scripture proposeth vnto vs store of such examples and specially Iob pressed with so great calamity and almost swallowed vp with miseries when his childrē were gone his wife raging and rayling and his friends in stéede of honye gaue vnto hym talke as bitter as Gaull what lenitiue had he but a good conscience borne vp with a strong fayth whereby hée cried saying Though he kill me yet will I trust in him still and albeit his frendes tould him that he was forsaken of God yet he held faste by the Ancker of Gods prouydence I

know sayth he that my redeemer liueth and that I shall rise agayne at the last day and shal be compassed agayn wish my skinne and shall see god in my flesh Ioseph that Godly and chaste young man being chayned in she stockes what solace had hee in the déepe dungeon but his sincere mind and vnspotted Conscience And euen so it was with Eliazarus with Paule and with all the Apostles in their distresse for Eliazarus sayth O lord I am piteously tormented in my body but I willingly suffer all these thinges for thy names sake Paule being certified by Agabus of the afflictions which he should suffer at Ierusalem I ●● he am ready not only to be bound but also to suffer death for the name of the Lord Iesus The Apostles likewise being scorged for preaching the Gospel Went away with Ioy that they were found worthy to beare infamy for the name of the Lord Iesus The principal cause of these thinges was doubtlesse a good conscience which writeth sorrowe into ioy calamity to felicity and to conclude death into lyfe it selfe OF THE EVELL AND CORrupt Conscience AS THERE IS IN GOD that supreme and nigh maiest is of God a wisedome descerning betwene good euil things and also a will wishing goodnesse with a deuine delectation pleasure contrariwise nylling that which is naught and with great indignation and anger reiecting and punishing the same Euen so hath he created the lyfe of man that there shoulde be certaine lawes as it were notices or admonitions of the mind commaunding thinges honest and forbidding the contrary besides these he hath appointed magistrats that they should defend the good and punishe the euill And to this ende were thinges thus ordered and disposed in the creation that men might learne that there is both a God being a wise and iust Iudge and there withall that manne should knowe and perceyde himselfe to be the ymage of God whome he ought to imitate and followe For God is neyther knowne of heauen nor of earth of plants neyther yet of beastes although they obey him in theire kinde but Aungelles and men onely hath he so created that he might he obeyed knowne worshipped of them and that they being fashioned lyke vnto God might not pyne away and dye wyth impietie and vexation of minde but hauing their hartes agréeable to right reason and iudgement might reioyce in good actions as well before as after the facte But in this corrupt and wounded nature mans hart burneth as it were wyth flames méere contrary to right iudgement and at the first trembleth not to runne into mischiefe Nowe for that it concerneth Gods iustice to punishe and route out obstinate and rebellious natures therefore hath he conioyned the dolor and anguishe of the Conscience following wicked and mischeuous deedes that might as it were an hangman punishe and execute offenders And although this sorrowe he somewhat dull nowe and then in persons yet at the last God doth so kindle it in the wicked that they tremble and quake and are oppressed as it were with the noyse of the thunder as it is sayde in the Psalme In thy anger thou shalt vexe and trouble them Whereof Plato wryteth excellently in this wise When an euill man draweth towarde his ende he is sodainely striken with a foure and care of such thinges as he once thought not of before and those talke of Deuils of Hell and of paynes which the wicked suffer there where of he made a scoffe and stale iest doe then miserablye encoumber his minde wherby he faleth into an examination of his former life And recording his vile and filthy actes hee is quyet neyther waking not sleeping often times he sturteth in his sleepe as it were a fearefull childe out of his dreame and so lyuing awhyle he droupeth away in euill hope Sophocles wryteth that Oedipus beyng olde and blynde was ledde to Athens by his daughter Antigona Who dying there was buried in the Temple of Erinnyus By the which fable he signifieth the vnquiet Conscience at the hower of death of all such as haue ledde an vnhonest lyfe For Erinnyus by interpretatiō are nothing else then contentious perturbations of the minde by reason of an euill Conscience which alwayes wayte vpon vnhonest actes and déeds And they are sayd to be mindestill for that condigne punishment for sinfull actes are neuer forgotten whiche although they be for a time prolonged yet this is the very property and effect of Eriunius that when mischiefe and payne is least looked for then it falleth moste gréeuously Thus much I thought good to note touching the occasions of doloures and gréefe in the euell conscience now lette vs consider the difinition of the same An euell Conscience is a heauy and vexing motion of the hart conioyned with perfect knowlege of a detestable fact For assuredly furies doe alwayes pursue and chase the wicked not with burning torches and fire brandes as inter Iudes and playes sette out but with hor●●res of Conscience and anguish of minde wayting alwayes vpon mischieuous men euen as the shade we foloweth the body not suffering them to beeath and as it were to pause one ●●●iuente from trembling and feare And for this cause onely Seneca commendeth that saying of the ●pienre The gilty man may happily hide himselfe sometime but he hath no assured confidence to escape Whiche thinges as they are true so are they confirmed with Histories through●ute all tymes and ages Tacitus reporteth that Tiberius vex●d with such torment●a 〈◊〉 vnto the Senat● in this wise What should I write vnto you my Lordes or how should I write or rather what shoulde I not wryte I at this instant All the Gods of heauen at ons rather distroy the then to pine awaye dayly thus as I doe Such plagues and tormentes had Tiberi●s inwardly by his monstrous ●dings Neyther is that ●odn● the purpose which a certayne man vt●ered If the wicket of Titaunts minds might be vnlocked ●●midsi shōld 〈◊〉 see their mangled wound● for as it fareth with the body by reason of ● stripes and blowes euen so it the minde at ●oil resite and torne with cruelty filthy lust f●●udo malice and such like For 〈◊〉 Tiberius had ●o wante of any● worldly thinges ●● that might serue to solace and comford 〈◊〉 afflicted mind yet was he hot able by any of meanes to ease or cons●ate the tormentes ●● and paynes of his Conscience Suetonitis wryteth of Caligula who seemed neyther to care for God nor man yet at the least roumbling and glauneing of thundering and lightning he would winke and couer hys face when with greater terror heauen and earth seemed both to shake to burne with f●●e he woulde runne into corners and hyde himselfe The same Author also noteth home Nero after he had murdered his naturall mother was so greeuouslye ve●ed in conscience that he could not be cōforted neyther with ioyfull show●es and acclamations of the