Selected quad for the lemma: friend_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
friend_n	letter_n	page_n	send_v	2,737	5	10.0535	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A90683	The divine philanthropie defended against the declamatory attempts of certain late-printed papers intitl'd A correptory correction. In vindication of some notes concerning Gods decrees, especially of reprobation, by Thomas Pierce rector of Brington in Northamptonshire.	Pierce, Thomas, 1622-1691.	1657 (1657)	Wing P2178; Thomason E909_9; ESTC R207496	223,613	247

spurs to a dull Jade it is very strange and far beyond the rate of Austins expressions by whose Authority Mr. B. doth seek to mitigate his crime For the will which Austin saith God doth incline in the sense above mention'd is forward enough to evil only God puts the b●idle into his mouth not the spur into his side and restraining him from one evil doth consequently limit him unto another out of which in his wisdom he knows more good is to be drawn Whereas he that spurs the dull ●ade doth finde the ●ade dull and so infuseth speed into him stirs him up and excites him against his will or inclination which it is impossible for God to do 6. As for Calvins similitude of the Suns drawing up noysome Vapours out of a nasty impure Dunghil c. that is but Per Accidens in respect of his shining and is so far from coming home to the Impulse of God which it is brought to illustrate that it is miserably defective in five respects For First the Carkasse or noysome Dunghil which Mr. B. seems to have overlookt or to have taken at second hand is presupposed to be before the shining of the Sun and is sure to stink whether the Sun doth shine or not Whereas Gods Impulse of which he speaks is presupposed to be before the sin and decreed so to be from all eternity according to their Doctrine of which I spake Chap 3. Sect. 34. Secondly the Sun is Causa universalis and shines no more upon the Dunghil then on the Diamond and upon every thing else within its Horizon Whereas God is said by them to be Causa particularis impelling Shimei to curse which is Mr. B's first instance and ●eroboam to rebel which is his second in their peculiar numerical persons more then all other men who had none of that Impulse or not so much Thirdly the shining of the Sun intends not the corruption so properly as the heat of the noysome carkasse or Dunghil Whereas the Impulse spoken of is concluded to intend the sin it self unlesse Mr. B. will distinguish Shimei's cursing from his sin and Iereboams rebellion from his sin and his own calumny from his sin which he excuseth by saying that God will have it to be so p. 22. Again Fourthly Although the Sun were granted to be Causa particularis yet in corrupting other things it would not it self be corrupted because it is not a voluntary Agent but doth all that it doth by pure necessity or necessitation which it receiveth from Gods absolute Decree Whereas the Impulse spoken of is ascribed to God as a free Agent and by consequ●nce to his choice as if he preferred the imp●lling of men to unjust acts before the restraining of them from unjust acts unlesse Mr. B. will say that God is necessitated or doth of necessity impell men to do wickedly which were such a Plaister as would make his Sore a great deal worse Fifthly the Carkasse or Dunghil is meerly passive as to every thing that is done unto it And sending forth ill vapours sends them forth of necessity without election or voluntary consent Whereas the sinner doth choose to send forth sins and might have forborn if he had not been wilful who if he had not been a voluntary had as little been a sinning agent Upon all which it follows that Mr. Calvin was conscious of something shameful in his use of the word Impulse extorted from him by his first error of irrespective reprobation when he endeavoured to conceal it by such similitudes as he hoped might procure him a more favourable construction when he talks of Gods impelling to wicked acts And now having spoken thus largely of the three first places I shall not need say any thing and shall therefore say the lesse to those that follow § 36. The Fourth place of Mr. Calvin Mr. B. confesseth to make something a higher sound then the former and that perhaps may be the reason why he seeks to amuse his Reader with some very impertinent and very false sayings First that in Calvin he cannot finde it Secondly that he findes some such thing in the predestinated Thief Thirdly That I am more delighted in that Book then in that which I commend of Bishop Wintons To the First I answer that he might have found that saying in Mr. Calvin if he had turned to the Chapter Section and Page set down expresly in my Notes How else did he know that I took that place from Mr. Calvin when I only referr'd to the place but concealed its Authors name Nay why said he himself p. 52. lin 2. 3 4. that I did as good as name those Authors to any attentive Reader by very particularly quoting them as to Book Section Page and almost Line This doth put me in minde of Hierocles his Scholar Who receiving a Letter from his Friend wherein he was requested to buy certain Books for him which he neglected to perform alleaged afterwards in his excuse meeting his friend by great chance That the Letter which he sent concerning the buying of certain Books never came to his hands So Mr. B. doth confesse that he found my fourth Testimony to be from Mr. Calvin but saith he cannot finde it there And yet he cannot render any imaginable reason why he affirmes it to be in Calvin except this one that he found it to be there To his Second saying I answer that that speech of Calvin which I produced cannot any where be found in the Book Intitled The predestinated Thief and so it was impossible that I should take it out thence Which if Mr. B. had not a willingnesse to make men believe why did he urge that Book so perfectly nothing to the purpose when it signifies no more then that other men have read Calvin as well as I and that as I have noted some things in my Reading so other men have noted other things though not the same yet somewhat like To his third saying I answer that I never delighted in that Book which in all my life I never read until Mr. B. had thus from the Presse accused me of it Nay I did purposely forbear the reading of it even whilst I had it in my possession that Mr. B. might not be able to upbraid me with it as he hath frequently done without the least appearance or shew of reason But Fourthly neither is that saying so much as a some such thing For although that sentence is inexcusable as spoken in consequence of the doctrine and in relation to other sayings and in the usual sense of the Stoicallyminded men yet is it capable of a good interpretation And therefore Fifthly the former part of my fourth Instance is not that for which it was alleaged by me there being nothing more granted on all sides then that God doth restrain wicked men as with a bridle from doing more mischief then he suffers them to do But what is