Selected quad for the lemma: lord_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
lord_n	charles_n	john_n	sir_n	39,226	5	6.7660	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A37239	The original, nature, and immortality of the soul a poem : with an introduction concerning humane knowledge / written by Sir John Davies ... ; with a prefatory account concerning the author and poem.; Nosce teipsum	Davies, John, Sir, 1569-1626.; Tate, Nahum, 1652-1715.	1697 (1697)	Wing D405; ESTC R14959	39,660	143

THE Original Nature and Immortality OF THE SOUL THE Original Nature and Immortality OF THE SOUL A POEM With an Introduction concerning Humane Knowledge Written by Sir JOHN DAVIES Attorney-General to Q. Elizabeth With a Prefatory Account concerning the Author and Poem LONDON Printed for W. Rogers at the Sun against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleet street 1697. To His EXCELLENCY The Right Honourable CHARLES Earl of Dorset and Middlesex One of the Lords Justices of England Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter c. MY LORD I Was oblig'd to Your Lordship for the first sight I had of this Poem Your Lordship was then pleas'd to express some Commendation of it Since that time I have waited an Opportunity of getting it Publish'd in a more convenient and portable Volume the Subject-matter being of that Importance to every Person as requir'd its being made a Manual for People to carry about them Nor can my Pains and Care herein be unacceptable to Your Lordship who are not only the Patron of the Muses but of Publick Good in all kinds The Book has a just Claim to Your Lordship's Protection both for the Solidity of Judgment and extraordinary Genius that appear in it 'T is the Portraicture of a Humane Soul in the Perfection of its Faculties and Operations so far as its present State is capable of which naturally directed me where I ought to present it But as Justice engag'd me in this Address I must upon all Occasions confess my Obligations to Your Lordship and particularly for placing me in His Majesty's Service a Favour which I had not the Presumption to seek I was conscious how short I came of my Predecessors in Performances of Wit and Diversion and therefore as the best means I had of justifying Your Lordship's Kindness employ'd my Self in publishing such Poems as might be useful in promoting Religion and Morality But how little I have consulted my immediate Interest in so doing I am severely sensible I engaged in the Service of the Temple at my own Expence while Others made their profitable Markets on the Stage This I confess may seem improper in a Dedication especially where I have so large a Field of Panegyrick before me But Your Lordship's Character by Consent of Mankind is above all our Encomiums and Persons of greatest Worth and Accomplishments are always least fond of their own Praises I shall therefore only mention the business of my present Waiting on Your Lordship I have here got a useful Poem Reprinted and beg to have it Recommended to every Body's perusal by Your Lordship's Acceptance of it desiring only from its Readers the same Candour Your Lordship has been pleas'd to use in making some Allowances for the time in which it was written Nor will the Author often have Occasion for Favour in the main he will need only to have Justice done him But I will not forestal the business of the ensuing Preface written by an Ingenious and Learned Divine who has both done Right to the great Manes of the Author and made some Amends for this Unpolish'd Address from me who am only Ambitious of professing my self with utmost Zeal and Gratitude MY LORD Your LORDSHIP 's Most Humble most Oblig'd and Devoted Servant N. TATE PREFACE TO Sir John Davies's Poem THERE is a natural Love and Fondness in English-men for whatever was done in the Reign of Q. Elizabeth we look upon her Time as our Golden Age and the Great Men who lived in it as our chiefest Hero's of Virtue and greatest Examples of Wisdom Courage Integrity and Learning Among many others the Author of this Poem merits a lasting Honour for as he was a most Eloquent Lawyer so in the Composition of this Piece we admire him for a good Poet and exact Philosopher 'T is not Rhyming that makes a Poet but the true and impartial representing of Virtue and Vice so as to instruct Mankind in Matters of greatest Importance And this Observation has been made of our Countrymen That Sir John Suckling wrote in the most Courtly and Gentleman-like Style Waller in the most sweet and flowing Numbers Denham with the most Accurate Judgment and Correctness Cowley with Pleasing Softness and Plenty of Imagination None ever utter'd more Divine Thoughts than Mr. Herbert none more Philosophical than Sir John Davies His Thoughts are moulded into easie and significant Words his Rhymes never mislead the Sense but are led and govern'd by it So that in reading such Useful Performances the Wit of Mankind may be refin'd from its Dross their Memories furnish'd with the best Notions their Judgments strengthen'd and their Conceptions enlarg'd by which means their Mind will be rais'd to the most perfect Ideas it is capable of in this Degenerate State But as others have labour'd to carry out our Thoughts and to entertain them with all manner of Delights Abroad 'T is the peculiar Character of this Author that he has taught us with Antoninus to meditate upon our selves that he has disclos'd to us greater Secrets at Home Self-Reflection being the only Way to Valuable and True Knowledge which consists in that rare Science of a Man's Self which the Moral Philosopher loses in a Crowd of Definitions Divisions and Distinctions The Historian cannot find it amongst all his Musty Records being far better acquainted with the Transactions of a 1000 years past than with the present Age or with Himself The Writer of Fables and Romances wanders from it in following the Delusions of a Wild Fancy Chimera's and Fictions that do not only exceed the Works but also the Possibility of Nature Whereas the Resemblance of Truth is the utmost Limit of Poetical Liberty which our Author has very religiously observ'd for he has not only placed and connected together the most Amiable Images of all those Powers that are in our Souls but he has furnish'd and squar'd his Matter like a True Philosopher that is he has made both Body and Soul Colour and Shadow of his Poem out of the Store-house of his own Mind which gives the whole Work a Real and Natural Beauty when that which is borrow'd out of Books the Boxes of Counterfeit Complexion shews Well or Ill as it has more or less Likeness to the Natural But our Author is beholding to none but Himself and by knowing himself thoroughly he has arriv'd to know much which appears in his admirable Variety of well-chosen Metaphors and Similitudes that cannot be found within the compass of a narrow Knowledge For this reason the Poem on account of its intrinsick Worth would be as lasting as the Iliad or the Aeneid if the Language 't is wrote in were as Immutable as that of the Greeks and Romans Now it wou'd be of great benefit to the Beau's of our Age to carry this Glass in their Pocket whereby they might learn to Think rather than Dress well It would be of use also to the Wits and Virtuoso's to carry this Antidote about them against the Poyson they