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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
nature_n	ambition_n	common_a	great_a	59	3	2.0852	3	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A07756	The defence of death Contayning a moste excellent discourse of life and death, vvritten in Frenche by Philip de Mornaye Gentleman. And doone into English by E.A.; Excellent discours de la vie et de la mort. English	Mornay, Philippe de, seigneur du Plessis-Marly, 1549-1623.; Aggas, Edward.; Seneca, Lucius Annaæs, ca 4 B.C.-65 A.D. aut	1576 (1576)	STC 18136; ESTC S119578	52,296	134

suffer him to departe emptie ¶ Out of his booke of consolation IT is a greate comforte to a man to thinck that that whiche all men before him haue suffered and all that are to come shall suffer either is or must happē to him self and in mine opinion nature hath made common to all men the thing whiche to them all was moste gréeuons to th' end that such equalitie might comfort the rigour and crueltie of death Come on then 〈◊〉 holde euery way all mortall men on all sides thou shalt sée greate and continuall cause of lamention Ambition which is neuer in rest tor menteth one pouertie calleth an other dayly to woork an other feareth the riches that he hath wished for is in con tinuall pain through his owne desire One is vexed with care another with laboure an other with preace of people which continually doo beséedge the thresholde of his doores This man is sory he hath Children that man that his are gone soner shall we wāt teares then caus●…s to wéepe Seest thou not what life nature hath permitted to vs whiche hath ordained that all men at their birth should wéepe With this beginning doo we enter into the world héerunto dooth the rest of our yéeres agrée and thus doo we passe our life All those goods which through pleasure doo delight vs whiche haue but the outwarde she we and within is full of deceit I speake of money dignities power authoritie and such like which astonisheth the blinde couetousnes of mā kinde doo we possesse with pain and enuy of other men and euen among those that haue them they vse more threates then authoritie They be slippery and vncertain man is neuer in any assurance of them we are stil in daunger lest they should escape vs Yea although a man fear nothing that might happen yet the custodie of a greate felicitie is ful of cares If thou wilt beléeue them that more narrowly doo searche the trueth all this life is but paine Wee are throwen into this deep and vnconstant sea whiche continually ebbeth and floweth hoisteth vs vp with her rysing and then casteth vs down with greater barme and stil tormenteth vs either with rising or falling We misetable wretches I say ●…aue neuer any firme or assured dwelling place We remain stil in dout alwaies swimming hitting one against an other and many times making S●…wrack In this surging Sea béeing abandoned to all tempest we liue in con tinuall feare All they that sail therin haue n●…e other Hauen then death After vvhat manner many euils doo chaunce to honest men out of his book of Gods prouidence THou hast asked me Lucilius in case the world be guided by Gods prouidence how it chaunceth that so many euils doo happen to honest men I wil in this my woorke wherein I doo pretend to prooue that Gods prouidence is aboue all things and that God him self haūteth among vs shew thée a good reason Betwéen honest men and God there is a kinde of amitie procured and contracted through vertue and not an amitie only but a moste straite alliance and likenesse For time only is a difference betwéene the honest man God Man is the follower disciple and assured o●…pring of God and therefore his triumphaunt father whiche requireth earnestly of him to be vertuous nurisheth him hardly after the maner of seuere a Father When therfore thou séest honest men whōe God liketh of labour sweat and haue stil stony pathes to walke in and contrarywise the wicked men passe ouer their time in folly and wallowe in dilights that doo turmoil our childrē and let run at randome the children of our slaues that through a sorowful and laboursome discipline we doo withholde our owne children in their duties let go the raines vnto y others Be y therfore certain of y like at Gods hand He dallieth not with an honest mā but trieth him hardneth him prepareth him for his seruise ¶ Of the meanes to beare aduersitie out of the same book WHerfore doo many euils happen to honest men no euil can hurt the ho nest man Contrary things cannot be mixed togither he accoūteth all aduersities as exercises For what honorable ●…an is not desirous of a true and redy labour euen with hazard to vtter some good dutie Uertue languisheth withe reth away whē she hath none enemie but hauing one it appéereth who she is how much she is worth what she can doo when through patience she shewher power Honest men therefore must take in good parte and thinck wel of what so happeneth to them It skilleth not what thou sufferest but how thou sufferest it Doost thou not sée that Fathers and mothers doo intreate their Children 〈◊〉 The Fathers commaund their Children to exercise them selues to studie apace not suffering them to be idle euen on the 〈◊〉 dayes and often times bring foorth the sweate out of their browes and teares from their eyes The Mothers contrariwise doo dandle them on their lappes in the Chimney corner or in the shadowe not suffering them to wéepe to vex them selues to take any care or to laboure So God towarde honest men beareth a Fatherly harte and a manly looue He troubleth and molesteth them with laboure sorowe and losses wherby they may gather and obtaine true force But those bodyes whiche are fatted vp doo not only faile in laboure but also languish away through sluggishnesse fainting and falling downe vnder their owne laboure and weight The felicitie whiche was neuer hurt cannot indnre any great stripe Amōg many stoute woords of our fréend Demetrius this béeing stil fresh and sounding in mine eares dooth best please me I finde saith he nothing more vn happy then him that neuer sustained damage or aduersitie The more that a man is tormented the greater is his honor Of Prosperitie Out of the same booke PRosperous thing●… doo stil light in the hands of the meane people of vile and base mindes but the propertie of a valiant man is to subdue calamities and what soeuer els that astonisheth mortall men I doo account thée miserable because thou vaste felt no misery vnhapy in that thou hast no mischaūces Thou hast liued without any enemyes No man no not thy self can tel what thou canst doo It is necessary for the better knowledge of thy self first to try thy abilitie for who is perfect in any thing whiche be hath not prooued Uertue desireth danger viewing how far it stretcheth and where it endeth and not what she must indure before she come at it For what so she hath to indure is parte of 〈◊〉 glory The Pilate is not knowen before the tempest neither the souldier vntil the battail be begun How shall I knowe how thou canst beare pouertie so long as thou swimmest in welth Where shall I lerne thy cōstan ●…ie against ignominie infamie and batred of the people so long as thou con tinuest amongst the reioycings of all menne or if a certaine inclination of mens mindes toward thée

dependeth vpō Gods wil to liue inough through his permission is in thy hand Life is long and life is ful It is ful and accōplished when thy wil is contented when thy minde hath yéelded vp all his goods is restored to the power of it self Contrarywise an other who dyed in his florishing youth hath neuerthelesse fulfilled the office of a good Citizen a good fréend and a good childe He hath omitted no parte of his dutie Notwith standing his age was vnperfect yet was his life perfect I pray thée therfore fréend Lucilius let our li●…e be to vs as moste precious thinge Let vs measure it not after the time but after the behaui●…urs not according to the continuance but to the eff●…cts Let vs commend and accounte him happie who hath wel bestowed the short time of his life Age is an externall thing out of our power My béeing héer dependeth of an other but my béeing a honest man of my self Require of me that I passe not my age vnknowen as in darcknesse and that I may leade a true life which time may not out run Askest thou whiche is the longest life that is to liue vntil wisdome and who that hath attained therto although he hath not reached the farthest ende yet hath he gotten the principall Death go eth euery where He that hath killed followeth him that is ●…ain There is nothing for the whiche we take suche care What is it to thée how long thou escapest that whiche in the end thou canst not escape or that y shrinkest frō that that finally thou canst not auoide ¶ Epistle 100. COnsider me the breuitie of time mark the shortnesse of this carrier wherin we run so hastely Se the folow ing on of all mankinde tending into one place They which sée me far of are often néerer then the rest he whome thou thinkest perished is but gone before so that there is nothing more vnreasonable then séeing thy selfe must go the same way to be waile him that is gone afore thée He that complaineth of the death of any man complaineth because he was a man All the worlde is at one stay ●…e that is yet vnborne must neuerthelesse die We are deuided by spaces yet haue all alike issue Some go before some folowe all go one way All things are tossed and all things 〈◊〉 passe to their contrarie through the wil of nature In all this turmoile of humaine affaires there is nothing so certain as death and yet euery man complaineth of the thing wherein was yet neuer any man deceiued Well dyed be a Childe I will not yet say that it was so muche the better for him that he was deliuered out of this life But let vs come to the ancient man and aske him what this Childe hath gained Let him cast in his minde this profound distance of time comprehending it all togither then let him therwithall cōpare the ordinary age of man so shall be sée what a trifle we doo desire how short a way we can reach Let vs therfore in this age first consider what parte therof the wéeping the thoughts the wishings for death before it commeth the sicknesse the feare and to be bréef these yung and vnpro●…table yéeres doo take a way besides that we sléep away halfe the same wherunto let vs adde the labours sorowes and dangers therof and so shall you sée that euen in a long life the parte that we doo liue is the least of all Life is neither good nor euil but the place of bothe Who so dyeth in youth is in y he was as like to appaire as to amend like to him which at dice looseth the one of thē whe●… with he was as like to lose as to win Finally in case you compare the breuitie of age with the infinitnes of time then are we all alike yung and olde for euen the longest age of man is but one iote ¶ Epistle 102. EChe day and houre doo teach vs that we are nothing and by some fresh argument calleth those back to the remembraunce of their frailtie whiche would forget the same compelling thē to haue an eye to death when they would but once think vpon eternitie Oh saith one we wil now graft pear trées we wil at such a time plāt whole rancks of Uines Alas what folly is it to séeke to dispose of age and life we haue not so muche power as ouer the day of to morowe What follye dooth then possesse the hope of those whiche doo begin long and tedious woorks I wil builde I wil bye I wil take interest I wil exact I wil obtain honors and all with the time But when I am olde and that my age is wery and cloyed with all this thē wil I take mine ease Wel beléeue me all things euen the happiest are doutfull No man can promise him self ought in time to come for euen that that man is in possession of dooth many times scape through his fingers and at the very instāt that we lay sure holde on them some incōuenience commeth betwéen vs home Time passeth on according to an assured vnchaunge able law which is hidden from vs. Why what haue I to doo if it be mant fest and knowen to nature though to me it be secret and vnknowen We vn dertake long voyages from the which we shall not of a greate while return home vntil we haue straied costed ma ny vnknowen Contries and shores We take vppon vs war and the siack rewards of our warlike 〈◊〉 To be bréef we acc●…pt commissions 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 from one office to an other During all this time death costeth vs but we neuer think on it vn til some exāples of the death of other men doo set it before our faces frō time to time whiche also we doo no longer thinck vppon then whiles the wunder therof is fresh in minde and yet what ●…eater folly can there be then to wun der that the thing dooth sometime happen which is in danger dayly to come to passe Our bounds are limitted in place where y inexorable destinie hath planted them and yet can no man tell how nere they are Let vs therfore frame our mindes as if we were at the end of them let vs not defer the time For he who dayly se ●…th the last hand to his life hath noth●… to doo with time Wherfore fréend Lucilius hasten thée to liue and think that how many daies so many be thy liues The time neerest hand dooth alwaies escape frō him that liueth in hope he is so couetous of life that with the feare of death he bec●…meth miserable and though the dout therof lameth him of one hand and of one leg of one thigh maketh him crooked and loseneth all his téeth yet so long as life continueth it maketh no matter all is wel such a miserable thing dooth death séeme vnto him He wisheth his paines more extreme and that which is hard to be abidden he desireth to

prolong and maintain a great while and for what reward or wages euē to obtain longer life But what is this long life as long a death Is there any who wold lāguish in torments and perish member after member that had not rather cast away his life by little little then to cast it away all at once Deny me then that the necessitie of death is not a great be●… of nature for many are redy euen to make wurse bargains as to betray their freends whereby to liue long to become bauds to their children to the end to see the next day witnes of so manye mischéefes we must therfore shake of this desire of life say y it skilleth not when we suffer for as wel one day we must suffer It skilleth not how lōg thou liuest so thou liuest wel vnto good life many times long life is hurtful ¶ Epistle 103. ANother originall and estate of all things tarieth vs feare not therefore to tarry the appointed houre which wil take thée from hence What soeuer thou séest about thée account it as moouables and baggage of hostryes and that thou must go forwarde Nature abaseth men at their departure as at their comming in We carry away no more then we bring with vs All that is lapped about thee shall he takē away thy skin shal be thy last couer Yea this skin this flesh this blood which is dispersed in all partes these bones and these Sinewes that doo sustain y more feeble partes shal be taken and plucked from thee This day which thou fearest as the last is the beginning of an euerlasting day thon wéepest houlest so dooth the new borne child●… Why art thou heuy These thigs are vsuall Thꝰ doo the couers of those that be borne ●…e rish wherfore louest y these thingꝭ as if they were thine they be thingꝭ wher with thou art but couered But the day wil cōe that wil vncouer thee take thée out of the house of thy filthy and stinking body Héer after begin to meditate vpon some more higher misticall mátters One day thou shalt knowe the secrets of nature These cloudes shall depart light shall appéer on all sides Imagine with thy self what a light it wil be when so many starres haue ioyned their lights togither No more shadow shall derken the bright element all the pàrtes thereof shall shine alike the day night which kéep their course are but accidēts in this lower aire Thou wilt sày y héere thou hast liued in darknes whē y shalt at full beholde all this light which now y seest but through the narrowe windowes of thy eies yet doost wunder at thē a far of What wilt y think of the heauenly light whē thou shalt sée it in his place This contēplation leueth no thing impotent in this vile low cruel minde ●…ith God to be witnes of all things It commaundeth vs to séeke that hee would allowe of vs to prepare heerafter vnto him warde and so propounde to our selues this eternitie the whiche who soeuer hath comprehended in his vnderstanding feareth no anoy is not ●…ooued at the sound of trūpets neither douteth any kinde of threatnings For what can he feare that hopeth to dye Thinck how much good examples doo profit vs and thou shalt knowe that the remēbrance of mightie men is no lesse cōmodious then euen their presence Epistle 108. TO liue is no delicate matter thou hast begun a long race thou shalt fall and rise again yea euen fall downe and wax weary héere shalt thou leaue one of thy companions there shalt thou bring an other to his graue in another place thy self shalt be afeard Through many such by pathes shalt thou passe this rough way Must thou dye prepare thy minde against all things Let thy hart knowe that it is comen into a good place where wéepings care haue taken their lodging and where pale diseases and sorowful age haue chosen their habitation In this cōpany must thou néedꝭ passe ouer thy life wel maist thou despise make none accoūt of these things but auoid them thou canst not Thou shalt not regarde them if thou thinkest often reckenest as of things which must néeds happen All men doo approch more valiātly to the thing lōg before premeditated doo resist the same couragiously and contrariwise be suppressed taken on a suddain all astonished at small matters séeing then that all thigs were it but for their nouelty doo séem gréeuoꝰ in cōtinually thinking héerupon thou shalt not be as aprentise to séek what thou hast to doo against such euils Let vs not therfore wūder at any thing wherunto we are borne Of thē no man can complain because they are alike vnto all men I say in this case alike because he that hath escaped thē was neuerthelesse subiect vnto thē For the law is not called indifferent because euery mā vseth it but because it was indifferently ordained vnto all men Let vs frame our mindes to equi tie without lamēting our mortall nature pay our tribute willingly Is win ter colde colde is necessary doth sūmer bring heat we must not be without beat Dooth the distempered aire hinder our helth we must be sick Somtimes we shall méete with a wilde beast yea often times with men more dangerous then wilde beasts Fire wil consume some and water other some We can not alter the nature of things The best then is to pay that which we cānot be quit of and without murmuring to immitate and follow the wil of God y author of all things It is the parte of an euil souldier to follow his captain with howlings Destinie leadeth him that goeth of his owne accorde draweth him that commeth against his wil. Thus should we liue thus should we speake Let death finde vs redy disposed and nothing slack It is truely a valiant and noble ●…rt whiche so 〈◊〉 it self but he that ●…ueth héer against is of a faint cowardly slowish minde which thīketh amisse of the order of the world and had rather correct God then it self Epistle 121. MAn is neuer more heauenly then when he considereth his mortall nature and knoweth that hee is borne a mā to die assurig him self that this body is not his owne house but an Inne such an Inne as he must shortly parte from It is a great token of an hautie minde to account these places where he is conuersāt ●…ce straight and not to fear to depart frō them For in that he knoweth and 〈◊〉 from whence he commeth he knoweth also whither he must re●…urn Se we not how many discommodities we ouerpasse and how vnfit this body is for vs Somtime we complain of our bellyes of our 〈◊〉 or of our throte Othertimes our sine wes or our féet doo 〈◊〉 vs Other whiles some flix or 〈◊〉 molesteth vs Other whiles we haue to much blood and otherwhiles to little We are tempted and ●…ed frō place to place Thus are they