Selected quad for the lemma: sin_n
Text snippets containing the quad
|
ID |
Title |
Author |
Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) |
STC |
Words |
Pages |
|
A20631
|
Devotions vpon emergent occasions and seuerall steps in my sicknes digested into I. Meditations vpon our humane condition, 2. Expostulations, and debatements with God, 3. Prayers, vpon the seuerall occasions, to Him / by Iohn Donne ...
|
Donne, John, 1572-1631.
|
1624
(1624)
|
STC 7033A; ESTC S1699
|
101,106
|
641
|
body with diseases where not onely euery turfe but euery stone â— beares weeds not onely euery muscle of the flesh but euery bone of the body hath some infirmitie â— euery little flint vpon the face of this soile hath some infectious weede euery tooth in our head such a paine as a constant man is afraid of and yet ashamed of that feare of that sense of the paine How deare and how ofâ—â—n a rent doth Man â—ay for this farme hee â—ies twice a day in â—ouble meales and how â—â—tle time he hath to raise 〈◊〉 rent How many hoâ—â— daies to call him from â—s labour Euery day is â—alfe-holy day halfe spent â—n sleepe What reparaâ—ions and subsidies and â—ontributions he is put to â—esides his rent What â—edicines besides his diâ—â— and what Inmates â—e is faine to take in besides â—is owne familie what infectious diseases from other men Adam might haue had Paradise for dressing and keeping it and then his renâ— was not improued to such a labour as would haue made his brow sweat and yet he gaue it ouer how farre greater a rent doe wee pay for this farme this body who pay our selues who pay the farme it selfe and cannot liue vpon it Neither is our labour at an end when wee haue cut downe some weed as soone as it sprung vp corrected some violent â—nd dangerous accident of a disease which would â—aue destroied speedily â—or when wee haue pulled vp that weed from the very root recouered â—ntirely and soundly from that particular disease but the whole ground is of an ill naâ—ure the whole soile ill disposed there are â—nclinations there is a propensnesse to diseases in the body out of which without any other disorder diseases will grow and so wee are put to a continuall labour vpon this farme to a continuall studie of the whole complexion and constitution of our body In the distempers and diseases of soiles sourenesse drinesse weeping any kinde of barrennesse the remedy and the physicke is for a great part sometimes in themselues sometime the very situation releeues them the hanger of a hill will purge and vent his owne malignant moisture and the burning of the vpper â—urfe of some ground as â—ealth from cauterizing â—uts a new and a vigorous youth into that soile â—nd there rises a kinde of Phoenix out of the ashes â— fruitfulnesse out of that which was barren before and by that which is the barrennest of all ashes And where the ground cannot giue it â—elfe physicke yet it receiues Physicke from other grounds from other soiles which are not the worse for hauing contributed that helpe to them froâ— Marle in other hils oâ— from slimie sand in otheâ— shoares grounds help themselues or hurt no other grounds froâ— whence they receiuâ— helpe But I haue takeâ— a farme at this hard rent and vpon those heauâ—â— couenants that it can afford it selfe no helpe no part of my body if it were cut off would cure another part in somâ— caâ—es it might preserue a sound part but in no case recouer an infected â—nd if my body may haue â—ny Physicke any Mediâ—ine from another body one Man from the flesh of another Man as by Mummy or any such composition it must â—ee from a man that is dead and not as in other soiles which are neuer the worse for contributing their Marle or their fat slime to my ground There is nothing in the same man to helpe man nothing in mankind to helpe one another in this sort by way of Physicke but that hee who ministers the helpe is in as ill case as he that receiues it would haue beene if he had not had it for hee from whose body the Physicke comes is dead When therefore I tooke this farme vndertooke this body I vndertooke to draine not a marish but a moat where there was not water mingled to offend but all was water I vndertooke to perfume dung where no one part but all was equally vnsauory I vndertooke to make such a thing wholsome as was not poison by any manifest quality intense heat or cold but poison in the whole substance and in the specifique forme of it To cure the sâ—arpe accidents of diseases is a great worke to cure the disease it selfe is a greater but to cure the body the root the occasion of diseases is a worke reserued for the great Physitian which he doth neâ—er any other way but by glorifying these bodies in the next world 22. EXPOSTVLATION MY God my God what am I put to when I am put to consider and put off the root the fuell the occasion of my sicknesse What Hypocrates what Galen could shew mee that in my body It lies deeper than so it lies in my soule And deeper than so for we may wel consider the body before the soule came before inanimation to bee without sinne and the soule bâ—fore it come to the body before that infection to be without sinne sinne is the root and the fuell of all sicknesse and yet that which destroies body soule is in neither but in both together It is in the vnion â— of the body and soule and O my God could I preuent that or can I dissolue that The root and the fuell of my sicknesse is my sinne my actuall sinne but euen that sinne hath another root another fuell originall sinne and can I deuest that Wilt thou bid me to separate the leuen that a lumpe of Dowe hath receiued or the salt that the water hath contracted from the Sea Dost thou looke that I should so looke to the fuell or embers of sinne that I neuer take fire The whole world is a pile of fagots vpoÌ„ which wâ—e are laid and as though there were no other we are the bellowes Ignorance blowes the fire He that touched any vncleane thing though he knew it not became vncleane and a sacrifice was required therefore a sin imputed though it were done in ignorance Ignorance blowes this Coale but theÌ„ knowledge much more for there are that know thy iudgements and yet not onely doe but haue pleasure in others that doe against them Nature blowes this Coale By nature wee are the children of wrath And the Law blowes it thy Apostle Saint Paul â—ound That sinne tooke occasion by the Law that therefore because it is forbidden we do some things If wee breake the Law wee sinne Sinne is the transgression of the Law And sinne it selfe becomes a Law in our members Our fathers haue imprinted the seed infused a spring of sinne in vs As a fountaine casteth out her waters wee cast out our wickednesse but we haue done worse than our fathers We are open to infinite tentations and yet as though we lacked we are tempted of our owne lusts And not satisfied with that as though we werâ— not powerfull enough or cunning enough to demolish or vndermine our selues when wee our selues haue no pleasure in the sinne we sinne for others sakes When
doth not so much hurt against a wal as a Myne vnder the wall nor a thousand enemies that threaten so much as a few that take an oath to say nothing God knew many heauy sins of the people in the wildernes and after but still he charges theÌ„ with that one with Murmuring murmuring in their hearts secret disobediences secreâ— repugnâ—nces against his declar'd wil and thâ—se are the most deadly the most pernicious And it is so to with the diseases of the body and that is my case The pulse the vrine the sweat all haue sworn to say nothing to giue no Indication of any dangerous sicknesse My forces are not enfeebled I find no decay in my strength my prouisions are not cut off I find no abhorring in mine appetite my counsels are not corrupted nor infatuated I find no false appreheÌ„sions to work vpon mine vnderstaÌ„dingâ— and yet they see that inuisibly I feele that insensibly the disease preuailes The disease hath established a Kingdome an Empire in mee and will haue certaine Arcana Imperij secrets of State by which it will proceed not be bouÌ„d to declare â—hem But yet against those secret conspiracies in the State the Magistrate hath the raâ—k â— and against these insensible diseases Phisicians haue their examiners and those these imploy now 10. EXPOSTVLATION MY God my God I haue bin told and told by relation by her own brother that did it by thy seruant Nazianzen that his Sister in the vehemeÌ„cy of her prayer did vse to threaten thee with a holy importunitie with a pious impudencie I dare not doe so Oâ— God but as thy seruant Augustin wisht that Adam had not sinned therefore that Christ might not haue died may I not to this one purpose wish That if the Serpent before the tentation of Eue did goe vpright and speake that he did so still because I should the sooner heare him if he spoke the sooner see him if he went vpright In his curse I am cursed too his creeping vndoes mee for howsoeuer hee begin at the heele and doe but bruise that yet he and Death in him is come into our windowes into our Eyes and Eares the entraÌ„ces inlets of our soule He works vpon vs in secret we doe not discerne him And one great work of his vpon vs is to make vs so like himselfe as to sin in secret that others may not see vs But his Master-piece is to make vs sin in secret so as that we may not see our selus sin For the first the hiding of our sins from other men hee hath induo'd that which was his off-spring from the beginning A lye for man is in Nature yet in possesâ—ion of some such sparkes of ingenuitie noblenesse as that but to disguise Euill hee would not lye The bodie the sinne is the Serpents and the garment that couers it the lye is his too These are his but the hiding of sinne from our selues is Hee himselfe when we haue the sting of the Serpent in vs and doe not sting our selues the venim of sin and no remorse for sinn then as thy blessed Sonne said of Iudas Hee is a deuill not that he had one but was one so we are become deuils to our selues and we haue not only a Serpent in our bosome but we our selues are to our selues that Serpent How farre did thy seruant Dauid presse vpon thy pardon in that petition Clense thou me from secret sinns can any sin bee secret for a great part of our sinnes though sayes thy Prophet we conceiue them in the darke vpon ouâ— bed yet sayes he We doe them in the light there are many sins which we glorie in doing and would not doe if no body should know theÌ„ Thy blessed seruant August confesses that hee was ashamed of his shamefastnes and tendernesse of Conscience and that he often be lied himself with sinnes which he neuer did lest he should be vnacceptable to his sinfull companions But if we would conceale them thy Prâ—phet found such a desire and such a practise in some wheÌ„ he said Thou hast trusted in thy wickedkednes and thou hast sayd None shall see me yet can we conceale theÌ„ Thou O God canst heare of them by others The voice of Abels blood will tell thee of Cains murder the Heauens themselues will tell thee HeaueÌ„ shal reueale his iniquity a smal creature alone shall doe it A bird of the ayre shall carry the voice and tell the matter Thou wilt trouble no Informer thou thy selfe reuealedst Adams sin to thy selfe And the manifestation of sin is so ful to thee as that thou shalt reueale all to all Thou shalt bring euery worke to Iudgement with euery secret thing and there is nothing couered that shall not bee reuealed But O my God there is another way of knowing my sins which thou louest better then any of these To know them by my Confession As Phisicke works so it drawes the peccant humour to it selfe that when it is gathered together the weight of it selfe may carry that humour away so thy Spirit returns to my Memory my former sinnes that being so recollected they may powre out themâ—elues by Confession When I kept silence sayes thy seruant Dauid day and night thy hand was heauy vpon mee But when I said I wil confesse my transgressions vnto the Lord thou forgauest the iniquitie of my sinne Thou interpretest the very puâ—pose of Confession so well as that thou scarce leauest any new Mercy for the action it selfe This Mercy thou leauest that thou armest vs thereupon against relapses into the sinnes which wee haue confessed And that mercy which thy seruant Augustine apprehends when he sayes to thee Thou hast forgiueÌ„ me those sinnes which I haue done and those sinnes which only by thy grace I haue not done they were done in our inclination to them and euen that inclination needs thy mercy and that Mercy he calls a Pardon And these are most truly secret sinnes because they were neuer done and because no other man nor I my selfe but onely thou knowest how many and how great sinnes I haue scaped by thy grace which without that I should haue multiplied against thee 10. PRAYER O Eternall and most gracious God who as thy Sonne Christ Iesus though hee knew all things yet said hee knew not the day of Iudgement because he knew it not so as that he might tell it vs so though thou knowest all my sins yet thou knowest them not to my comfort except thou know them by my telling them to thâ—e how shall I bring to thy knowledg by that way those sinns which I my selfe know not If I accuse my selfe of Originall sin wilt thou ask me if I know what originall sin is I know not enough of it to satisfie others but I know enough to condemne my self to solicit thee If I confesse to thee the sinnes of my youth wilt thou aske