Selected quad for the lemma: law_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
law_n	gain_v	jew_n	weak_a	10,116	5	11.7630	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A96346	The academy of true wisdom:, or, The school of vertue. Wherein, one is your master even Christ ... : A work lately compil'd, and brought to its ultimate perfection, / by J.W.	Weldon, John.; White, J.	1694 (1694)	Wing W1771C; ESTC R212924	222,487	449

love courage greatness of minde and fervour of spirit hear how daring he speaks to Dacianus the President and see with what joy and Patience he suffers his torments The Tyrant orders him to be hoist up high upon a Rack and after a jeering way ask'd him where he was to which he answer'd with a smiling countenance I am aloft and thence do despise thee who art insolent and puff'd up with the power thou hast upon Earth Being after menac'd with more torments far exceeding the cruelty of the former he said me thinks Dacianus thou dost not threaten but court me with what I desire with all the powers and faculties of my Soul And when they tore his flesh with hooks and pinchers and burnt him with firebrands and flaming torches he cry'd out with joy in vain thou weariest rhy self Dacianus thou canst not imagine torments so horrid which I could not suffer Know then O man that Prisons Pinchers burning plates of Iron and death it self are unto good Christians recreations rather then torments and if thou beest of the number of them thou wilt be likewise of the same opinion MAN I am as much perplex'd O Lord at thy discourse as was the man of the Gospel to hear his Master accuse him of injustice and threaten to turn him out of his Stewardship what shall I do Fodere non valeo mendicare erubesco Luc. 16.3 says he I am asham'd to beg and I am not able to labour This is my case I am asham'd to see my self so remiss in my duty to thee so unwilling to undergo the least trouble to purchase thy glory and so heedless of my own salvation when I see Heathens perform such great and heroick exploits even for the bare applause of the world and for the blind approbation of their phantastical Sect. I am asham'd to see my self so remote from virtue so cold in devotion so prone to vice so inconstant in my good resolutions so averss'd to afflictions and crosses when I hear a Pagan-Philosopher that knows nothing of thy glory nothing of the everlasting happiness of thy Kingdom nothing of the unspeakable reward of thy Blessed and nothing of the eternal punishments which thou hast decree'd for the wicked tell me that there is not in the scale of nature a more inseparable connexion of cause and effect then in the case of happiness and virtue nor any thing that more naturally produces the one or more necessarily presupposes the other For what is it to be happy but for a man to content himself with his lot in a chearful and quiet resignation to the appointments of God All the actions of our lives ought to be govern'd with a respect to good and evil and it is only Reason that distinguishes by which reason we are in such manner influenc'd as if a Ray of the Divinity were dipt in a mortal body and that 's the perfection of mankinde 'T is true we have not the eyes of Eagles nor the Sagacity of hounds nor if we had could we pretend to esteem our selves for any thing which we have in common with Brutes What are we the better for that which is foreign to us and may be given and taken away As the Beams of the Sun irradiate the Earth and yet remain where they were so is it in some proportion with a holy minde that illustrates all our actions and yet adheres to it's Original Why do we not as well commend a Horse for his glorious Trapings as a man for his pompous additions how much a braver Creature is a Lyon which by nature ought to be fierce and terrible how much braver I say he is in his natural horrour then in his chains So that every thing in its pure nature pleases us best It is not Health Nobility Riches that can justify a wicked man nor is it the want of all these can discredit a good one That 's the Sovereign Blessing which makes the Professor of it valuable without any thing else and him that wants it contemptible tho' he had all the world besides 'T is not the painting gilding or carving that makes a good Ship but if she be a nimble Sailer tight and strong to endure the Seas that 's her excellency 'T is the Edge and temper of the blade that makes a good Sword not the richness of the Scabbard 'T is even the same with man 't is not money or vast possessions or eminent places or great dignitys that makes him considerable but his virtue alone I am a Christian Cor. 9.19 20 21 22. and by my profession am bound to be serviceable to all people as far as my ability can extend and their necessity requires it it 's therefore St. Paul says tho' I be free from all men yet have I made my self Servant unto all that I might gain the more Unto the Jews I became as a Jew that I might gain them that are without law To the weak became I as weak that I might gain the weak In fine I am made all things to all men that I might by all means save some This is my incumbent duty but alas I am far short of it and this brings a bl●s● on my face when I see a Pagan-Philosopher preach and practice the same 'T is every man's duty says Seneca to make himself profitable to mankinde if he can to many if not to fewer if not so neither to his neighbours but however to himself There are two Republicks a great one which is humane nature and a less which is the place where we are born some serve both at a time some only the greater and some again only the less The greater may be serv'd in privacy Solitude contemplation perchance that way better then any other But it was th' intent of nature however that we should serve both A good man may serve the Publick his friend and himself too in any Station If he be not for the Sword let him take the Gown if the Bar does not agree with him let him try the Pulpit If he be silenc'd abroad let him give Counsel at home and discharge the part of a faithful friend and a Temperate companion When he is no longer a Citizen he is yet a man the whole world is his Country and humane nature never wants matter to work upon But if nothing will serve a man in the civil Government unless he be prime Minister or in the Field but to command in Chief 't is his own fault The common Soldier where he cann't use his hands fights with his very looks his example his encouragement his voice and stands his ground even when he has lost his hands and does service too with his very clamour so that in any condition whatsoever he still discharges the duty of a good Patriot Nay he that spends his time well even in a retirement gives a great example we may inlarge indeed or contract according to the circumstances of time place or