Selected quad for the lemma: nature_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
nature_n	evil_a	good_a	indifferent_a	2,973	5	9.5052	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A42215	The [French-man] and the Spaniard, or, [The two great lights] of the world, displayed in lively [characters] representing the antipathy of their humours and different dispositions [with an impartiall survey] of the customes of both those nations / by R.G., Gent.; Oposicion y conjuncion de los dos grandes luminares de la tierra. English	García, Carlos, doctor.; Gentilis, Robert.	1642 (1642)	Wing G210; ESTC R7504	61,948	291

similitude and quality so wel both in the beginning middle and end that there is not the least tittle of difference For as for the beginning it is well knowne that they all came out of the dust or slime of the earth and that they were all borne naked and came into the world weeping The equality of the end may bee known by the universall attribute which all Adams posterity doe owe unto their birth Since that neitehr Scepter nor Miter could ever finde any Antidote or spell against death And as for the middle which is from the time of their birth untill death wee have already said with Iob that mans life is a continuall warfare full of all manner of afflictions and calamities as may bee devised or imagined And this is universall and common to all there being none exempt from crosses So that there being in man a perfect and totall similitude with all his particulars and all agreeing in one and the same degree of misery basenesse and calamity there being none in this more noble or priviledged then others we conclude that pride and persecuting of his like in man is a monster and prodigy of nature and a frenzy of the understanding Hee being by his basenesse bound to humble himselfe and by his equality tyed to love those of his owne species Whence I doe inferre that your naturallists doe with very good reason call the Lyon King of the Beasts and preferre him before other Beasts for generosity and strength because God made him advantaged and shewing oddes of the rest but by what reason can one man esteeme himselfe to bee more then another What prerogative or excellency did nature grant unto him which she denied to other men which being most certaine wee may securely say that a man which is proud and at enmity with another is worser then the Divell or to say better pride and ambition is not so unproper for the Divell as for man Because if Lucifer did pretend to set his throne above the starres to be like unto the most high and had other foolish fancies and rash propositions though hee had no true nor reall ground for it the creature being incapable of the creators perfection and noblenesse yet he saw and knew in himselfe some likelihood and colour for his unbridled appetite knowing himselfe immortall incorporeall and the most beautifull of all creatures being as Isaiah saith not onely a bright shining starre but Lucifer unto the morne and the most perfect of all other angelicall spirits Moreover the whole army of Divells is united and concordant in the persecution of the soule one not entermedling in the others office nor endeavouring to disturbe or crosse the temptation that another shall intend Whereby it is proved that man being the most abject and wretched creature and having nothing but what other men are also partakers of growing proud and persecuting another man hee goeth beyond the nature of a brute beast and is worser then the Divell himselfe CHAP. IV. Of the noblenesse of man THE conclusion of the precedent Chapter gives us great occasion to treate in this Chapter of the noblenesse of man and of his excellencies by reason of a motive any one may have to wonder at our last proposition wherein we concluded that man is the most abject imperfect and wretched creature of the world Which being considered at the first sight seemeth quite contrary to that which both Scripture and common Philosophy teacheth us Canonizing man for the noblest and perfectest creature And truely if we doe with particular attention consider that high sublime and lofty degree of noblenesse and perfection which man attained unto by that Hypostaticall union which the divine word made in the incarnation wee shall freely confesse that it is the noblest and perfectest of all creatures since the angelicall nature did not onely remaine inferior to it but also subject to adore it in Christs humanity Whence as some Doctors testifie the first Angell tooke occasion to rebell against his Creator not being able to brooke the exaltation of humane nature and the extraordinary and exquisite favors which by revelation hee knew God would communicate unto it Neither is that proofe which is ordinarily brought by them who thinke man inferiour to the Angell of any great force or power for whereas the vulgar translation saith Thou hast made him little lesse then the Angels the Hebrew hath it Thou hast made him little lesse then Eloim which according to some Rabbins interpretation signifies that man is little lesse then God because that the word Eloim signifies many times God and many times Angell And that exposition is not much out of purpose but grounded upon very good reason for if we attentively consider that marvellous union which God made with our nature we shall finde that Gods Epithetes were thereby so appropriated unto man that it may truly be said that man is little lesser then God which thing the Angell cannot glory in hee being deprived of so notable a favour And although in all creatures there bee in some fashion a certaine resemblance of God yet it is more perfect in man then in any of the rest since that in none but man is to be found the Word incarnate His composition consisting of Soule whose three powers are correspondent to the three divine persons and of body which united to the soule is correspondent to the divine Word in which are divinely united Body and Divinity And of all this the Angell is incapable because he is incorporeall The Divines call these perfections perfections of meere grace because that God would out of his will and mercie so favour this nature though shee could no way deserve it by any vertue or excellencie And in this all cōfesse that human nature is more noble then the Angelicall since God did not bestow so many favours upon the Angell as hee did upon man But if wee consider both these natures of themselves without any respect to grace many or almost all will say that the Angell is more perfect then man In the deciding of which question I cannot resolve my selfe but with a distinction Noting first that in man there are two things to be considered the Soule and the body Of the soule some say that it is of the same substance nature as the Angels are incorporeall and rationall as they but that is not a compleat substance as Logicians call it wherein it only differs from Angels Others ingulfing themselves into an abysse of Metaphysickes say that the Angell is more perfect then the soule since he is not subject to the imperfections and miseries of the soule and hath his will not indifferent to good or evill as the soule hath but onely frame himselfe to doe that which is good and just Which reason I cannot allow of For considering the Angell according to his owne nature or in puris naturalibus as Divines tearme it he is as indifferent to good or evill as the rationall soule

which is evidently proved by holy Scripture which saith that Lucifer and all his followers did sinke themselves into hell and Michael and other good Angels remained in Paradise For if the Angell by nature had been impeccable and could not have sinned hee could not have damned himself nor much lesse save himselfe if his will even from the instance of his creation had beene precisely determined to evill Besides the Scripture telleth us that there be good and bad Angels and that the last fell from Heaven for the sinne of pride whereby is concluded that the nature of Angels precisely considered is peccable and may sinne being indifferent to good or evill as well as the soule Yet the Angel being now confirmed in grace loses the indifferency which he had and his will remaines now governed and subject onely to good And all this may the Divine finde to bee likewise in the soule punctually there being none so foolish as to imagine that in the blessed there is any indifferency or possibility of sinning So that by the foresaid reason it is not concluded that the Angell is more perfect than the soule And if the curious person will give me leave to speake my opinion freely in this case I will say alwayes subjecting my selfe to the doctrine of the Fathers and correction of the Church that the soule in this world even with its indifferency of sinning or not sinning is more perfect then the Angell though he neither doth nor can sin The reason is because the soule having the power to sin and not sinning gaines a greater excellency and perfection then shee should otherwise have if she were good because she could not be bad as the Angell is So that the indifferency which is in the soule and her being subject to so many temptations which daily fight against it argues an excellency of perfection whereby making her victory more glorious over her enemies her reward shal be so much the greater For I would faine know what great commendations is it for a man to be quiet and peaceable when there is no boby strives against him Or what is it for one to be good when there is no body to provoke or entice him to bee evill And what perfection shall it be not to sin when the will is so tyed and subjected as that it cannot sinne None verily Whereby I conclude that the soule even in her owne nature is more noble than the Angels True it is that if we will consider in Angels that which is accessory and concomitates this their unaptnesse to sin which is glory and the beatificall vision in this he shall bee more perfect than the soule and there shall be as much difference betweene them as there is betweene him that is blessed and him that is not whereof I intend not now to discourse But if we will consider the counterprises and inconveniences whereunto the soule is subject whilst it lives within this mortal body I mean the dependency it hath upon the senses in all her operations then questionlesse the Angel being incorporeall and without any dependency is more perfect then it Yet otherwise the soule exceeds all other creatures in noblenesse amongst which shee onely participates somewhat of God Of this noblenesse of man in respect of other creatures I doe not purpose to discourse but only by the way it being a thing which requires much metaphysick and speculation wherefore laying it aside we wil treate of that which it hath in respect of its owne individui that is one man in respect of another seeking wherein consists the noblenesse of man that is to say who amongst men may justly call himselfe noble and what requisites he ought to have that deserves such a title and name I am moved to speake of this by reason of the conceit every one hath of himselfe of what quality soever he be esteeming himselfe noble and well borne And this evill is growne so common that if you aske a Cobler an accoumpt of his genealogie and discent he shall puffe up like a Peacock answer you that he is descended by a direct line from the Emperour Sigismond or Alexander the great and he will speake it with such confidence and ostentation that even he shall bee bound to beleeve him that knows it to be false I will not say that Noblenesse is repugnant to a mechanicall artificer nor to him that lives by his hand labour Yea I hold them to be in a great error who ordinarily stile country men and those people who live by their labours to be peasants and base people banishing them out of the number and company of the noble by reason of their vocation Since it is certaine that the noblest of all men that ever were was Adam and he had no other quality nor trade but a labourer being forced to eate his bread with the sweat of his brow The sonnes of Adam were noble and they exercised themselves onely in mechanick and base trades as as to bee Smiths and the like Noah was by all men held to be noble yet his recreations were nothing but planting of vineyards and sowing of fields Abraham and his children were noble seeing that from them came the Jewish nobility yet had they no other meanes to live but what they got by labouring Saul and David were noble and Kings yet were nothing but sheapeards Finally all the ancient nobility was occupied in bare and mechanicall exercises wherby I conclude that they are deceived who judge of nobility by their exercises and trades Neither doth true nobility consist in being private or in favour with Kings since there are many who not onely are out of favour with Kings but also are persecuted by them yet their nobility stands still firme alive and secure Neither doth it consist in learning since that ordinarily the most learned and wise if they have nothing else but learning are the most vile and contemned of a common wealth Whence I draw this conclusion that true nobility consists in every ones generous actions be he rich or poore Cittizen ignorant or learned So that he may lawfully be called noble who shall be most noted for some heroicall enterprise either of fidelity or valour or any other rare vertue And it is reasonable and just that such a ones memory should bee preserved in his posterity all of his linage holding the name of Noble This is the true nobility which is called discreet and wise mens nobility because those that are so ought to hold or esteem none but such to bee noble But the vulgars nobility which this day is practised in the world is not this but wealth so that in this our wretched age hee is onely esteemed noble that is rich And if the discreet and wise reader will give mee leave to prove the noblenesse of wealth by the basenesse of the contrary which is poverty hee shall clearly see that the vulgar sort are not much deceived therein since there is no mis-hap nor misery can be

to be worthy of so great an honour out of which consideration grew pride which augmenting the raging fire of her mother ambition caused the Angell to forget the respect and honour due unto his creator and to become the heire of contempt These two fierce monsters of nature Pride and contempt made such a slaughter of that faire creature that they left not in him the least signe of perfection and goodnesse yea they did so deprave and pervert his will that seeing himselfe banished out of heaven and condemned to a perpetuall priva●ion of God and ●o the terrible habitation of those darkesome prisons of hell hee enragedly protested to be revenged And being unable to execute his vengeance against God his infinite perfection and greatnesse being not to be reached unto he purposed to wreake his vengeance upon man as the creature in most favour not being able to endure those particular favours and prerogatives wherewith he perceived God did intend to honour him Out of which consideration sprung envie the Divels spouse and mother of death With such weapons doth this fierce Leviathan persecute mankinde and with them he brings to an end all his pretences subjecting unto his empire and command all the Provinces of the earth It being most certaine that cities subject to discord and dissension cannot be free from the divels bondage and consequently subject to ruine The epithets which the Prophet Nahum gives unto the citie of Niniveh shall be sufficient and faithfull witnesses for me herein when he cals it the citie of blood the citie of misery the city of death and perdition attributing the cause of these wretched effects to nothing but to the discord and division of her inhabitants And he doth with so much efficacy insist upon this point that he pronounces an infallible curse upon that citie which shall stand divided and in discord The same doth the Prophet Hosea concluding by an enthymeme the ruine which comes through dissension saying Their heart is divided and therefore they shall perish And if this be not sufficient let us consider that wretched tricke he served our first fathers in the beginning of the world where it being a hard taske to beat downe such knowledge and wisedome so perfectly infused as Adam his wives was he used no other weapons then these perswading them that God had enjoyned upon paine of death not to taste of the tree of life onely through an artificiall malice because that none should be so wise as himselfe which he could so well and with such lively reasons perswade them that being already moved with an ambition and desire of knowledge they conceived such enmity and hatred against God that casting away the respect and obedience which they knew was due unto him they did contrary to that which was commanded them remaining thereby subject unto death and their posterity to an abysse of miseries Let him that is curious observe for the confirmation of this truth the sentence which God pronounced against the Serpent when as being willing to punish him by way of retaliation or as they say in Latine poena talionis He tooke for a meanes of the punishment the same way as the Serpent had taken to make man fall from his originall justice and state of innocency saying unto the Serpent I will set enmity betweene thee and the woman as if he should more plainly say thou hast procured through thine accursed perswasions and lyes to set hatred and enmity betweene the woman and I to make her a slave and all her posterity subject to thy will and tyranny And I say unto thee that thou shalt be chastized with the same punishment for I will sowe such terrible hatred and deadly antipathy betwixt you that you shall alwayes live in continuall warre and enmity she endeavouring with all her might to breake thine head and thou to set snares for her heele Finally by meanes of enmity and hatred the divell did catch Cain never letting him rest untill he tooke away his brother Abels life By meanes of these two he stirred up Esau his anger against Iacob Saul his revenge against guiltlesse Duvid Pharaohs hardnesse against the children of Israel And with dissention discord and ambition the divell hath brought under his dominion and obedience the most noble and fruitfull Provinces of the earth burning up the fruits of peace respect feare reverence and zeale of the publike welfare towards them to whom they were subject by divine and humane lawes Many times have I considered that excellent and admirable invention which Samson used to revenge himselfe upon the Philistines and I truely finde that it is the same as the divell useth to be revenged upon man since if that I well remember the story Samson having sought all the surest wayes to be revenged of the wrongs he had received could finde none more effectuall then division verily beleeving that thereby he should ruine all his enemies goods and wealth and to that end he tooke a number of Foxes and binding firebrands to their tailes he let them run into the Philistines corne fields The beasts feeling themselves loose began to sever and divide themselves in the fields with such disorder that there were not two left together all taking severall wayes fixing their eyes towards their owne homes and terriers Which division was the cause that all the corne was burnt up leaving the land spoyled and Samson revenged With such like industry doth the Divell subject unto his Empire all the countries of the world overthrowing the best things he can finde in them and leaving them utterly unable to helpe themselves Seeing that to turne a quiet and peaceable citie into a citie of bloud and wretchednesse the first thing he doth is to stirre up ambition in them whom he findes most disposed thereunto and alluring them with their owne proper interests he kindles the fire of discord and dissention in such sort that it being impossible to pacifie and unite it the feare of God the zeale of publicke welfare the respect and obedience due to the Prince and the charity towards ones neighbour are all beaten down whence immediatly followeth the totall perdition and ruine of the common-wealth By all this which we have said we may surely inferre that since discord and division produce no other fruit but bloud ruine perdition and death they cannot be positive effects of God to whom is repugnant to be the authour of evill Nor yet of nature whose treasure consists in unitie but meerly the Divels who seekes nothing but to oppose himselfe to all goodnesse and perfection which God or nature brings forth in this world The contrary effects also which are found in both may beare sufficient witnesse to this truth since that all which God and Nature pretend is nothing but peace and union that which the Divel professeth is nothing but warres and dissention Nature loves preservation the Divell ruine that to generate this to destroy Nature finally desires to make every thing like