Selected quad for the lemma: opinion_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
opinion_n	body_n	part_n	soul_n	2,097	5	5.4917	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A48625	VVar and peace reconciled, or, A discourse of constancy in inconstant times containing matter of direction and consolation against publick calamities / written originally in a foreign language and translated for the benefit of the gentrie of this nation.; De constantia. English	Lipsius, Justus, 1547-1606.; Wanley, Nathaniel, 1634-1680.	1672 (1672)	Wing L2365; ESTC R610	89,515	324

Reason and Opinion The one is for the Soul and Warres therein the other is for the Body and in the Body it fights Reason derives its Pedigree from Heaven yea from God himself and very highly doth Seneca extoll it as a part of the Divine Spirit infused into Man For this is that most excellent faculty of understanding and judging vvhich is no less the perfection of the Soul than the Soul it self is the perfection of the Man The Greeks call it the Mind and so the Latines or else the Mind of the Soul For that you be not mistaken the vvhole Soul is not right Reason but that only therein vvhich is simple Uniform unmixed sever'd from all Lees and Dreggs and in a vvord that vvhich is in it of sublime and coelestial For the Soul it self howsoever it is lamentably corrupted and infected vvith the stain of the Body and the contagion of the Senses doth yet invvardly retain some certain Footsteps of its Original and there are in it very clearly discernible some sparkling remainders of that first and purer fire Hence are those stings of Conscience even in the vvorst and most profligate Persons Hence are those invvard scourges and gnawings and hence is that approbation of a better Life vvhich is frequently extorted from them though not vvithout a reluctancy in themselves For that sound and holyer part vvithin us may possibly for a time be suppressed oppressed it cannot And that burning Flame may be cover'd but cannot be extinguished For those little Fires do alwayes shine forth and sparkle out to enlighten us amongst these shades cleanse us from these stains guide us in our vvandrings and to shew us the vvay to Constancy and Virtue As the Heliotrope and some other Flowers do by a natural instinct bend towards the Sun So doth Reason turn it self to God and the Original of its self Firm and immoveable in vvhat is good one and the same in its Censures ever desiring or flying one and the same thing the very source and Fountain of right Councel and sound Judgement To obey this is no less than to command and to be subject here is to svvay the Scepter of the Universe Who ever hearkens unto this hath already subjugated the rebellious desires and motions of the Mind And he shall never be wildred in the Labyrinths of this Life vvho remits himself to the guideance of this Theseian Clevv God himself by this his Image comes unto us nay vvhich is yet more into us But that baser and unsounder part I mean Opinion it owes its Original to the Body that is to say to Earth and therefore savours nothing besides it For the Body howsoever it is immoveable and senseless of it self yet it derives both Life and Motion from the Soul and on the other side presents to the Soul the Images of things through the Windowes of the senses Thus there is a kind of Communion and Society Cemented betwixt the Soul and the Body but such a communion as if vve attend the Event proves unfortunate to the Soul For through this it is that the Soul by almost insensible degrees is led from the Nobler place of its residence becomes addicted to and is mingled vvith the Senses and from this impure mixture is the birth of Opinion vvhich is no other than a vain shaddow and resemblance of Reason The true seat of it is Sense the Parent Earth and therefore abject and base as it is it advances not it self it aspires not nor so much as regards any thing that is lofty and Aetherial It is ever vain uncertain deceitfull ill-advising and as perversly judging and that vvhich it chiefly aimes at is at once to deprive the Soul of Constancy and Truth It languishes for this thing to day and on the Morrow despises it this it approves and this it condemnes nothing vvith judgement but gratifying the Body and indulging the Senses in every thing As the Eye makes but a false measure of those things vvhich it beholds through some Cloud or in the Water So doth the Mind but perversly judge of vvhat it beholds through the misty Mediums of Opinion This if you consider vvell is to Man the Mother of his Evils and this is the Author of that confused and perturbed Life vvithin us That cares do disquiet us it is from hence that the Passions do distract us it is from hence and if Vices do Reign over us it is also from hence And therefore as those vvho are resolv'd to abolish Tyranny in any City do first of all demolish the Castle So if vve are Serious in the prosecution of a good Mind vve must subvert this Citadel of Opinions For vve shall fluctuate vvith them for ever Anxious Plaintfull Discompos'd and never as vve ought assigning vvhat is equall either to God or Man As a void and empty Ship is tossed in the Sea vvith every wind So vvill that Vagrant Mind of ours be vvhich the vveight and as it vvere the ballast of Reason hath not established CHAP. VI. The praise of Constancy and a serious exhortation to pursue it LEvity therefore Lipsius as you see is the Comrade of Opinion and the property of it is alvvayes to change and to repent But the associate of Reason is Constancy to the putting on of vvhich I do very seriously exhort you To vvhat purpose is it to have recourse unto things vain and external This is that only Helena vvhich can present you vvith that true and rich Nepenthe in vvhich you may drown the memory of all your Cares and Griefs which if once you have tasted and taken down proof against every chance in the same equal tenour and not vvavering after the manner of a ballance you may challenge to your self that great and God-like property of Immoveable Have you not observed in the Scutcheons and Impresses of some of the Princes of this Age that high and envy'd Motto NEITHER BY HOPE NOR FEAR It shall be yours vvho being truly a King and truly free shall be a subject unto God alone exempt from the bondage both of Affections and Fortune As there are some certain Rivers which are said to pass through the middle of Seas and yet preserve themselves intire so you shall travel through surrounding tumults in such a manner as not to contract any saltness from this Sea of sorrowes Do you fall Constancy will lift you up Do you stagger It vvill support you Shall you hasten to some Pond or Halter It vvill solace and reduce you from the very Portalls of Death Do you only deliver and raise up your self Steere the course of your Ship unto this Haven where Peace and Security dwell In vvhich there is a Refuge and a Sanctuary from troubles and perplexities Whereunto assuredly if you are once arriv'd should your Country not only totter but fall into ruines your self should stand unshaken When Storms and Tempests and Thunder-bolts fall about you yet then you shall cry out vvith as true as loud a Voice In

Ship and then hee 'l grieve I 'le vvarrant ye after another fashion It is the same here vvhen vve have said and done all that vve can And vve do bevvaile our ovvn Miseries truly and unfeignedly vvhile vve lament those that are publick only to be talk'd of or because it is a custom Excellently Pindar Our own misfortunes when they light they wound us very near But let another feel the spite Our hearts are quickly clear Wherefore at the last Lipsius dravv aside this Scenick Tapestry fold up this Veile of the Stage and vvithout Simulation shevv us your self in the Genuine Countenance of your ovvn Grief CHAP. X. A Complaint of Langius his so liberal Reproof That it is the part of a Philosopher Endeavours of refuting what was before said Our Obligation and Love to our Country THis first Skirmish seem'd to me somevvhat sharp and therefore interposing vvhat kind of Liberty said I or rather vvhat sharpness of speech is this You are so smart that I may vvell call unto you vvith Euripides Adde not affliction to a Soul distrest I am already but too much opprest Langius smiling and what said he do you then expect at my hands Wafers or Muscadell It is not long since you call'd for the sharpest Methods of Chirurgery And rightly for you hear a Philosopher Lipsius and not a Minstrel vvhose design is to teach not to entertain to profit and not to please I had rather you should blush and be asham'd than laugh and that you should repent rather than triumph The School of a Philosopher O yea Men said Rufus of old is the shop of a physician vvhereunto Men hasten for health and not for Divertisement This Physician neither flatters nor smooths up any but pierces tents and searches the vvound and vvith a kind of sharp Salt of Speech scoures away that Scurfe that cleaves to our Minds And therefore Lipsius dream not no not hereafter of Roses Pulse and Poppyes but of Thorns and Poynards of Worme-wood and Vinegar But said I Langius if I may say it you deal with me in an ill and malicious manner Nor do you as a skilfull vvrastler cast me upon a right lock but supplant me by a cheat In a counterfeit manner say you vve lament our Country Do I It is not so For to grant you this as one that means ingemously that I have therein a respect unto my self yet not unto my self alone For I do lament Langius I do lament my Country in the First place and I vvill lament it although in the midst of its hazzards there should be no danger to me And that upon the justest grounds for this is she vvhich hath entertain'd foster'd and nourish'd me and is according to the common sence of Nations our most Reverend and Venerable Parent But in the mean time you assign me the whole Universe as my Country Who doubts it But yet even your self vvill confess that besides this vast and common one I have another more limited and peculiar Country unto vvhich by a certain secret bond of Nature I have a nearer Obligation Unless you do imagine that there is no force in our being swath'd and suckl'd in that our Native soil vvhich vve have first greeted vvith this Body of ours and first set foot upon vvhose Air vve have breath'd in which our Infancy hath cri'd our Childhood play'd and in vvhich our youth hath been educated and trained up Where the Skies and Rivers and Fields are familiar with our eyes wherein in a continued order are our Kindred and Friends and Associates and so many other invitations unto Joy as vve in vain hope to meet vvith in any other place of the Earth Nor are these tyes as you seem to assert from the slender threads of Opinion but from the strong Chains of Nature it self Go to the Creatures themselves and behold the vvildest among them do love and own the places vvhere they lodge and the Birds their Nests The very Fishes themselves in that vast and boundless Ocean do yet delight in the enjoyment of some certain part of it For what should I speak of Men Who vvhether they are civiliz'd or still in Barbarisme are yet so glew'd to their Native Earth that whosoever is a Man will never doubt to dye for and in it And therefore Langius this new and rigid Wisdom of yours for the present I neither embrace nor comprehend I am rather the Disciple of Euripides more truly affirming that Necessity it self commands All Men to love their Native Lands CHAP. XI The Second Affection of too much Love to our Country refuted That it is falsly call'd Piety As also whence this Affection hath its Original What is properly and truly our Country LAngius smiling at this discourse Young Man said he your Piety is vvonderful and now it concernes the Brother of Marcus Antonius to look after his Sir-name Notwithstanding it falls out vvell that this Affection doth so readily present it self and advance before its colours vvhich I had before determin'd to charge and to overthrow with some light endeavour But in the first place I must seize upon as spoil that very beautiful Garment wherewith it hath unhappily attyr'd it self For this Love unto our Country is commonly call'd Piety vvhich for my part as I do not understand so neither am I able to endure For how comes it to be Piety Which I acknowledge to be an excellent Virtue and properly nothing else but A LAWFUL DUE HONOUR AND LOVE TO GOD AND OUR PARENTS With vvhat Fore head now doth our Country seat it self in the midst of these Because say they it is that vvhich is our most Ancient and Reverend Parent Ah silly Souls And herein injurious not only to Reason but also unto Nature it self Is that a Parent Upon vvhat account or in vvhat respect For I profess I see not if you Lipsius are any sharper sighted help to enlighten me Is it because it hath entertain'd us for that you seem'd to insinuate but now the like hath been done to us often by an Host or Inkeeper Hath it cherish'd us So have our Nurses and those Women that vvhen time vvas bare us too and fro vvith a farre greater tenderness Hath it nourish'd us This Office it performs daily to Beasts and Trees and all sorts of Grain and so do also those great Bodyes Heaven Air and VVater as vvell as the Earth To conclude transport your self and any other soil vvill performe the same These are frothy light vvords from vvhich nothing can be extracted besides a certain vulgar and unprofitable juice of Opinion Those are indeed our Parents vvho have conceiv'd begot and gone vvith us to vvhom vve are seed of their seed blood of their blood and flesh of their flesh Of all vvhich if there is any thing vvhich in any degree of comparison may be fitly spoken of our Country I am willing that all my attempts against this kind of Piety should prove but lost labour But say you there

or Executioner Dispatch lead him off say you scourge him cover his face and hang him up For it is my vvill it should be so O impudence But God vvills it otherwise vvho you ought to know sees more clearly into these matters and punishes for other ends The heats of passion and a certain desire of Revenge transport us from all vvhich God is most remotely distant and intends the vvarning and correction of others For he best knowes to vvhom and vvhen these things may be useful The choice of times is of great moment and for vvant of a due and seasonable administration the safest medicines do oftentimes prove fatal to us He took away Caligula in the first setting out of his Tyranny He suffered Nero to run on longer and Tiberius beyond either and this no doubt for the good of those very Men vvho then also complain'd Our vicious and uncorrected manners do often stand in need of a lasting and continued scourge though vve vvould have it straight remov'd and thrown into the Fire This is one cause of the forbearance of God vvhich respect us the other respects himself To vvhom it seems natural to proceed on to his Revenge vvith a slow pace and to recompence the delay of his punishment vvith the vveignt of it Synecius said vvell the Divine inquisition moves on slowly and by degrees And so did the Ancients vvho from this property of his feign'd God to have feet of Wool So that although you are passionately hasty of Revenge you cannot yet accuse this delay since it is so only a respite of punishment that it may be also an encrease Tell me vvere you present at a Tragedy vvould you stomach it that the Atreus there or the Thyestes in the first or second act should in a glorious garbe and vvith a stately tread pass through the Scenes That they should rule there threaten and command all I suppose you would not for you know that felicity is but short-liv'd And expect that all this grandeur should finish in a fatal Catastrophe In this Play and Fable of the World vvhy are you more offended vvith God than you vvould be vvith any Poet That wicked Man flourishes and that Tyrant lives happy Be it so but think vvithall that this is but the first Act And before possess your self inwardly vvith this that tears and sorrows press on hard to overtake those joyes This Scene shall shortly flow vvith blood and then those robes of Gold and Purple shall be rowled up and down and trampled in it For that great Master of ours is a good Poet and vvill not rashly exceed the Lawes of his Tragedy Do vve not vvillingly bear with Discords in Musick for some time because vve know that the last closures vvill end in comfort Do so here But you vvill say those miserable Creatures that have suffered under this Tyranny do not alwayes see the punishment What wonder is it For the Play is oftentimes somewhat long and they are not able to sit it out in this Theatre But others see it and fear because they see that though in this severe Court of Judicatory some Men are reprieved yet they are not pardoned And though the day of execution is prolonged yet it is not forgot Wherefore Lipsius remember this that vvicked Men are sometimes forborne but never acquited Nor is there any Man that entertains a crime into his brest but vvho also hath a Nemesis at his back for that Goddess is in pursuit of him and as I may say vvith Euripides VVith silent unsuspected pace She doth the guilty Sinner trace And though he strive with utmost hast To scape she seiseth him at last CHAP. XIV That there are divers sorts of punishments some occult and internal which accompany the crime it self and which the wicked never escape That such are more grievous than any external ones WHich notwithstanding that you may more clearly apprehend and that I may once lead you into the height of this cause You must know that Divine punishments are threefold Internal Posthumous and External Those I call Internal vvhich are inflicted on the Soul vvhile it is yet in the Body such are Anxiety Penitence Fears and a thousand pangs and stings of Conscience Those are Posthumous vvhich are inflicted upon the same Soul but then vvhen it is freed and separate from the Body Such are those torments which even the Ancients most of them vvere of opinion did await the vvicked after Death The third sort are such as touch upon the Body or the things that belong to it as Poverty Banishment Pain Diseases Death All vvhich do sometimes by the just Judgment of God concurr against the Wicked but the two former alwayes To speak of internal punishments vvhere shall we find the Man so profusely and audaciously wicked that hath not sensibly felt in his Soul some of these sharp scourges and stripes either in the Commission of his crimes or at least after he hath acted them So true is that vvhich Plato said of old that punishment treads upon the heels of sin or as Hesiod more properly it is coeval and twinns with it The punishment of evil is not only ally'd to but is bred vvithin that evil nor is there any thing in this Life that can pretend to calmness and security besides innocence alone As the Roman custome did enforce the Malefactour to bear that Cross which vvas streight to bear him So hath God impos'd upon all wicked Men this Cross of Conscience on vvhich they shall begin to suffer before their further and vvorse sufferings do begin Do you suppose that only to be punishment which we can look upon and which this Body doth sensibly undergo No. All those external things do but lightly and for no long time touch upon us they are the internal that more exquisitely torment us As we judge them to be more desperately sick who languish away under an inward waste than those that are seised vvith some visible inflammation or preternatural heats though these last are more apparent So are vvicked Men under a more grievous punishment vvho vvith so low and indiscernible procedures are lead on to their eternal Death It used to be the cruel command of Caligula so strike as that he may feel he dyes the same befalls these Men vvhom their Conscience as an Executioner doth daily torture and even kill by these slow degrees of lesser and repeated stripes Nor let the splendour or the inlarged power and vvealth of those Men impose upon you Since they are no more happy and fortunate for these than they are healthful whose Gout or Feaver rests it self upon a purple Couch Do you see a beggarly Follow represent in some Play the person of a Prince all Pompous and brave You behold him yet vvithout envy for you know how under those golden Robes his Sores and Filth and Poverty lye hid Think the same of all those great and proud Tyrants In whose Minds if they lay open to us