Selected quad for the lemma: nature_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
nature_n	desire_n	zeal_n	zealous_a	15	3	9.7417	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A30340	An essay on the memory of the late Queen by Gilbert, Bishop of Sarum.	Burnet, Gilbert, 1643-1715.	1695 (1695)	Wing B5783; ESTC R14656	45,388	200

Heart HERE I return to my Subject from which all that has been now said is not so much a Digression as it may appear to be to Vulgar Readers A Subject it is where the common Censures of Discourses of this kind are not to be much apprehended On other occasions of this nature a few Vertues must be raised to make the most of them that may be and some few Accidents must be set out with due Advantages For the sake of these a great deal must be forgiven and the rest is to be shaded or showed as at a distance and in perspective Mankind is so little disposed to believe much Good of others because most Men know so much Ill by themselves and are very unwilling to be made better that in order to the begetting a full belief of that which is proposed to the Imitation of others the Words by which it is expressed must be severely weighed and well chosen When Things of this kind are related with an exactness that seems to be too much studied the Wit that is ill placed lessens the Effect that might have followed if the recital had been more natural For what is most genuine will be always the best received Nor must too much be said how true or just soever THE present Age may be easily brought to believe any thing that can be said upon this Subject because the Attestations of it came so thick from all Hands Yet such a Character as is now to be offered the World and to be conveyed down to Posterity must be so managed that it may not seem too excessive That Duty or Affection may not be thought to have raised it too high The living Witnesses to whom we may now appeal will soon go off the Stage The silent Groans as well as the louder Cries that are now sounding in all our Streets and in every Corner will soon be drowned and hush'd in silence And then that which will be now censured as a narrow and scanty Commendation far below the Subject and unworthy of it will appear to succeeding Ages to be a strain above human Nature It will pass for the Picture of an imaginary Perfection that seems rather to set forth what our Nature ought to rise to than what has really happened THIS Precaution is necessary when Persons have lived in the shade known only to a few and in a narrow Neighbourhood But a Man may take a freer range when he undertakes to describe One that was always in view that was under a constant Observation and where a high Elevation did put even that which Humility might endeavour to cover in a true Light The bright as well as the dark sides of such Persons must be found out Management may serve a turn and go on for a time with Secrecy and Success But the continued and uninterrupted Thread of a Life led with so uniform an exactness that Censure it self could never find Matter to fix on even so long as to keep a doubtful Thought in suspence is that which one may venture on without the danger of over-doing it he must rather despair to do it Justice WHERE the Matter rises with so copious a fruitfulness a nice choice must be made much must be omitted a great deal must be only mentioned rather glanced at than enlarged on The World is now so far before-hand in every thing that can be said that we must own Fame has here changed her Character and has given such true and full Representations that there is little left to be done but to put things that are generally known and universally talked of in a little order and to tell them as natively as she did them HERE arises an unexampled Piece of a Character which may be well begun with For I am afraid it both began and will end with Her In most Persons even those of the truest Merit a studied management will sometimes appear with a little too much Varnish Like a nocturnal Piece that has a Light cast through even the most shaded Parts Some Disposition to set ones self out and some Satisfaction in being commended will at some time or other shew it self more or less Here we may appeal to great Multitudes to all who had the honour to approach Her and particularly to those who were admitted to the greatest Nearness and the most constant Attendance if at any one time any thing of this sort did ever discover it self When due Acknowledgments were made or decent Things were said upon Occasions that had well deserved them God knows how frequent these were these seemed scarce to be heard They were so little desired that they were presently past over without so much as an Answer that might seem to entertain the Discourse even when it check'd it She went off from it to other Subjects as one that could not bear it So entire a deadness to the desire of Glory which even the Philosophers acknowledged was the last thing that a wise Man put off seemed to be somewhat above human Nature And nearly resembling that State of absolute Perfection to which she has now attained The desire of true Glory is thought to be the noblest Principle that can be in Sovereigns which sets them on with the most constant Zeal to procure the Good of Mankind Many have thought that a zealous pursuit of the one could not be duly animated and maintained without the other It was a part of the Felicity of our Times that we have seen the most active Zeal for the Publick and a constant Delight in doing Good joined with such unaffected Humility so regardless of Applause or Praise that the most critical Observers could never see Reason to think that the secret Flatteries of Vanity or Self-love did work inwardly or had any power over Her AN open and native Sincerity which appeared in genuine Characters in a free and unconstrained manner did easily persuade those who saw it that all was of a Piece A constant uniform Behaviour when that which is within does not agree with the appearances seems to be a strain above our pitch Nor could any Person find any other Reason to suppose that it was otherwise in this Instance but from the secret Sense that every Man has of some latent Corruption and the stollen insinuations of Pride that he feels within himself which may make him conclude that the whole Race of Mankind is so tainted that nothing can be entirely freed from those Infirmities which do so naturally beset us But such Persons ought to make another Reflection that daily Observation shews to be true That no Man lives under so exact a Guard and such a constant presence of Mind but that all those hidden Dispositions which lurk within him will shoot at some times and show themselves upon great Occasions or sudden Accidents Nature will break through all Rules when it is much excited or taken at unawares Therefore it is much more Reasonable as well as it is more Charitable to think that