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A48477 A dialogue between a minister and his parishioner concerning the Lord's Supper ... to which are annexed three several discourses, of love to God, to our neighbour, and to our very enemies / by J. Lambe ... Lambe, John, 1648 or 9-1708. 1690 (1690) Wing L217; ESTC R22514 60,357 190

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agreeable passion of love is too often exercised upon unworthy objects pursued and enjoyed after an unreasonable manner But notwithstanding that whether the object be wisely chosen or foolishly whether the beauty apprehended be real or imaginary wheresoever delight and desire are there beauty or goodness in the object is however apprehended and supposed And from this general account of the nature and Principles of Love we may most firmly establish the notion of Love to God Wherefore then to Love the Lord our God is so to apprehend the excellencies of the Divine nature his absolute perfections in themselves and his infinite grace and goodness towards us as that we most sincerely and heartily admire and adore his Majesty and earnestly desire the most intimate enjoyment of Him and the most perfect union with Him that we are capable of This is the nature of the Duty in the general And the Qualifications with which it ought to be exercised are three with all thine Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Mind The Text is taken out of Deut. 6.5 Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Might St. Mark Luke 10.27 and St. Luke express it with all thy Strength And because of this indifferent variation of the phrase and because the same thing is sometimes expressed by one of these phrases only as with all thy Heart 1 Sam. 7.3 Sometimes the Heart and Soul without the Mind or Strength as in the 2 Kings 23.3 Therefore some Expositors consider the Heart the Soul and Mind as words of the same or of equal signification accumulated only to press and inculcate the duty more effectually upon us but not as a Climax of perfection in the practice of it But because we may observe a real and material difference in the common use and acceptation of the words expressing the degrees of Intention and desire in the acts and operations of the Soul and because it will very much administer to the just explication of the duty therefore I shall presume and with good authority to consider the Heart the Soul and Mind as qualifications of gradual Excellency as a Scale of Perfection in the practice and exercise of Love to God And first With all thy Heart By the Heart according to the usual signification of that Metaphor we understand Integrity Sincerity of affection Ye have obeyed from the heart Rom. 6.17 the form of doctrine that was delivered you that is sincerely and without hypocrisie And innumerable other places Secondly with all thy Soul that is with Understanding and Knowledge that our Love of God be not only Sincere but grounded well proceeding from Causes proper and considered not with Passion only but with Judgment The Soul here may be understood of Reason and Discretion whereby we distinguish of Good and Evil base and worthy and to whose determinations the Will Desires and instruments of Action are obedient Thirdly with all thy Mind By the Mind may be understood the more Spiritual Principle in Man whereby he feels and enjoys the truth of such Propositions as Reason by comparing one thing with another shall discover Reason is as it were an Artificial Mechanical deduction of Conclusions from Premises but the Mind enjoys them really by an intire agreement with the Proposition And upon this account the wicked in Scripture are said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such as are able to collect the truths of Religion or any other Propositions by Scholastick inference but the Pious and Regenerate have an inward sensation of things Intellectual and Divine and are therefore called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to whose Body and Soul is added Mind or Spirit Wherefore then to Love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Mind is sincerely to Adore and Delight in God from a distinct perception from an inward sensation as well of his absolute Perfections in themselves as of His infinite Bounty and Goodness towards us And thus I have explained the Terms and stated the Nature of the duty in general I proceed as I proposed in the second place to consider the particular parts the necessary acts and exercises of Love to God First with all our Heart and with all our Soul Secondly with all our Mind And First the particular acts implyed in the Love of God with all the Heart and with all the Soul are chiefly these First the Preference of God to all other objects whatsoever He that loves with Judgment esteems and values according to weight and measure according to the degrees of beauty and excellence in the object As he readily acknowledges whatsoever worth or goodness he any where discerns so he suffers not his Passion and desire to go before his understanding But God is a Being that exists of himself in whom is implied whatsoever can be supposed to be and in whom all being is resolved as into its proper and most perfect cause Defect supposes impotence and controul but Omnipotence implies the most absolute perfection Desire of Good when known is necessary But can any instance of goodness or perfection be hid from his knowledge or kept from his possession who is the cause of all things Wherefore then since all perfections are essential to this first and Original Good one of the necessary acts of Love to such a being is the preference of him to all other Beings whatsoever If our Love of God be with all the Soul with judgment and understanding then we know that there is none in heaven but God and none upon earth to be desired in comparison of Him That he is the fountain of all the imperfect excellencies of all created Beings that he is the most constant and the most potent friend and benefactor who made us by his Power and sustains us by his Providence guides us by his Council assists us by his Spirit pities our Weakness pardons our Sins and is ready at last to receive us into Glory Wheresoever therefore He is understood all other objects habits and desires will necessarily fall before him For whatsoever beauty or goodness may be found in any other object they are all derived from God in whom all fullness dwells That is the first The Second particular implyed in the Love of God with all the Heart and with all the Soul is a stedfast Faith in whatsoever he reveals A sincere affection is apt in its nature to beget an unreasonable credulity It is very difficult to perswade our selves that our friend whose happiness we know is our greatest pleasure should abuse our Passion by deceit and guile to sport or private ends and therefore notwithstanding all the infirmities of humane Nature all the insincerities which may proceed from wicked dispositions and violent temptations yet Love creates an intire and perfect confidence in one another How much more if our Love of God be with all our Heart and Soul shall we
then that comes to the Holy Communion with evil will or malice in his heart must needs be out of countenance as a man that wants the wedding Garment Matt. 22.11 But he whose soul is free from that unchristian vice he who is an enemy to none but delights in the happiness of all and is ready to assist whom he may he who loves his Neighbour as himself may approach with an humble confidence such a suitable temper will give him courage rational expectation and a modest assurance that his address will be accepted and his sins forgiven Finally and above all the particular necessity of universal Charity at the Holy Sacrament is grounded chiefly upon that passage of S. Paul 1 Cor. 10.16 17. The Cup of blessing which we bless is it not the Communion of the blood of Christ The bread which we break is it not the Communion of the body of Christ for we being many are one bread and one body for we are all partakers of that one bread In the 16th Verse you see the Apostle affirms that the faithful in the Holy Sacrament communicate together of the body and blood of Christ The bread which we break is it not the Communion of the body of Christ and from thence in the following words he infers the most perfect Love and Unity amongst themselves v. 17. For we being many are i. e. we ought to be one bread and one body why because we all partake of that one bread or loas which words of the Apostle may be understood in a double sense according to the several significations and constructions of the Holy Sacrament First The first interpretation of the 16th ver as this Supper of our Lord is the Christian Passover and bears an Analogy to the Jewish feast upon the Sacrifice of the Paschal Lamb which they are together after the Priest had presented and offered it up to God And to this the Sacrament succeeds and is understood as a perpetual feast upon the Sacrifice of our Blessed Saviour whose body was offered once for all Heb. 10.10 which body and blood we eat in the sign and figure to the end of the world by his own Command Christ our Passover says the same Apostle is sacrificed for us therefore let us keep the feast 1 Cor. 5.7 8. Now thus to eat and drink together at the Table The first interpretation of the 17th ver and upon the Sacrifice of our Lord engages us to one another in the strictest tyes of Love and Charity as children of the same Father redeemed by the same Lord co-heirs of the same inheritance fed at the same Table and nourished by the same Loaf which by common acceptation and fair construction is both a Token a Profession and a solemn League of Love and Friendship Again The second interpretation of the 16. v. according to the second Notion of the Holy Sacrament as it is an inward and spiritual grace a Seal of the New Testament a confirmation of all the blessings of the Gospel to every individual Person that accepts the terms and will fulfil the Counterpart the sense of the 16th Verse is this viz. that all who perform the Conditions required of them shall as surely enjoy the benefits of our Saviour's death as they partake of the visible signs thereof as they eat the Bread and drink the Wine by which it is shewed forth and represented The Cup of blessing which we bless is it not the Communion of the blood of Christ The Bread which we break is it not the Communion of the body of Christ that is of the benefits of both Now this consent to the Conditions of the Gospel this entring into Covenant with God this sincere and chearful dedication of our selves to the Government of our blessed Saviour which render the Elements the Body and Blood of Christ to the receiver is expressed in Scripture by all such Metaphors as denote the most intire and perfect union which can be possibly conceived between us as that between the Husband and the Wife Eph. 5.23 Jo. 15.1 Jo. 10. 1 Cor. 12.27 the Vine and the Branches the Shepherd and the Flock the Head and Members the Soul and Body which Unity is not natural and personal that were Blasphemy to imagine but Intellectual and Moral one Vital Principle moves them one spirit acts and inhabits in them both our Saviour and his true Disciples have the same opinions of what is good and evil the same affections to every thing that is good the same will to proceed and act according to the most perfect reason Rom. 8.10 If Christ be in you says St. Paul the body is dead Now the manner of His being in us is explained in the former Verse V. 9. by His temper spirit and disposition For if any man have not the spirit of Christ he is none of his as in another place it is explained by his Mind That the same Mind may be in us which was in him Phil. 2.5 Eph. 3.17 And again That He may dwell in our hearts by Faith Now from this spiritual Union betwixt our Saviour The second interpretation of the 17. v. and those who worthily receive the Sacrament that is who have resigned themselves to the obedience of the Gospel the Apostle infers the most intire and perfect unity of the whole body of faithful Christians amongst themselves Ye are says he united to Christ by eating His Body and drinking His Blood He becomes a principle of new life to every one that receives the Sacrament as he ought to do Now says he the union is the very same and upon the same account between the faithful amongst themselves For carrying on the Metaphor We being many are one body and one bread V. 17. because we are all partakers of that one bread We all receive nourishment from the same root and are therefore vitally united to one another We are all made to drink speaking of the Cup in the holy Sacrament into one spirit All which laying aside the Allegory is thus to be understood that forasmuch as all sincere and faithful Christians have entred themselves into the same Society undertaken the same institution and rule of life consent and agree in the same mind affections desires and converfation therefore they are morally united to one another as well as to our blessed Saviour For our Saviour is not divided He is one and the same in his Nature his Life his Gospel his Laws and Promises so that if innumerable individuals devote themselves to the belief of his Propositions to the love and obedience of his instructions if they resign themselves their wills and affections to his Command Jo. 17.21 whereby they become in a Moral sense united to him these of necessity by the same Moral unity are joyned and knit amongst themselves One common soul and spirit acts and influences them all they have parted from their own private will and conduct
and resolved themselves into the guidance of another whose Law is immoveably perfect and the same to every particular person There must be therefore an Universal and intire consent in their opinions desires and course of life as being derived from one and the same unalterable Law Iph. 4.15 They grow up into him in all things says St. Paul which is the head even Christ. And thus the unity of all sincere and faithful Christians with Christ and with one another may be easily understood of all and yet it is as real as strict and proper as the Metaphor in the Text before us by which it is exprest namely the unity of innumerable Particles of Flower by the balm or leaven which pervades and binds them all in one Lump or Loaf For we being many are one body and one bread V. 17. for we are all partakers of that one bread The Conclusion then is this that if all the faithful Christians upon earth are as the several parts of the same loaf if they are members one of another if they receive their vital influence from the same root 1 Cor. 12.20 if they are moved and acted by the same principle then we ought that is we must we can do no other than love one another intirely no love like that which sympathy and consent of will creates or to speak more properly love is not the creature of sympathy and consent but sympathy and consent of Will are Love they are the thing it self they cannot be distinguished And therefore without Charity without intire and perfect Love amongst our selves we cannot be united to Christ we cannot have eaten his Body or drunk his Blood The Elements will be no more to such as these nay less than common bread and wine We cannot be the members of the mystical body of Christ so long as we are separated from one another by the least degree of malice and evil will for no man ever hated his own flesh He then that loves not 1 Joh. 4 8. knows not God has no true principle of Religion for God is love Upon all these accounts it is that the Holy Sacrament has been always esteemed a token of Vnity a bond of Charity and a symbol of peace and concord And hence it was that in former times the Communicants brought their Offerings to the Minister Fruits of the earth or any Viands for entertainment which when the Sacrament was ended were eaten as a common feast by all degrees and ranks promiscuously without respect to place or quality And this was the feast of Charity ● Pet. 2.13 mentioned by S. Jude v. 12. and was concluded with a kiss in token of entire and perfect friendship But these pure and innocent Ceremonies being soon abused were afterwards disused Nevertheless we have something like them still continued in our Church namely in the Collection that is ordinarily made for the poor and after the Communion in eating and drinking what remains of the Consecrated Elements in the Church Rubr. without distinction of persons but as the custom is the meanest persons are invited to be the chief partakers of it Par. Sir I hope I understand you and I am heartily glad that I did not receive before I was instructed and I find upon the matter that it requires both time and retirement to prepare our selves as we ought to do and the first time more especially but I will endeavour by God's assistance to follow your directions Min. You have made a very good inference from our whole discourse the reason of the action and the solemnity of this most sacred Ordinance the several parts of our Religion which it has respect to require a very strict examination of our Knowledge Repentance Affections purposes and desires that so our apprehensions of the thing and the intention of our mind may bear a proportion to the outward action to the design the words and the gestures of the service Our devotion as you have heard is to be exercised upon every part of Christianity our particular defects are here to be bewailed the several graces of Faith Hope and Love universal Love towards God and Man are to be exerted in this solemnity and therefore it is very necessary to withdraw our selves from the world and retire into our selves some time before we receive That we may recollect the principles and the duties the blessings and the promises of our Religion that we may examine the state of our Soul what necessary Article of Faith we doubt of or do not understand what evil habit remains unmortified or is most unwilling to be subdued what is the sin that so easily besets us that has the advantage of our natural complexion violent inclination or present profit what methods we have taken or may take for the future to subdue it what improvements we have made since we last received and how we have kept our resolutions That we may sufficiently bewail our failings and take pleasure and satisfaction in our proficiency That we may excite and stir up our devotions by proper Meditations These are weighty matters yet very necessary and therefore require a previous consideration But to say how long how many hours or days or weeks a man ought to spend in Meditation and Prayer before he may presume to receive or to what degree of Knowledge and Virtue he must attain is both impossible and unnecessary Do you but remember that competent knowledge and great integrity with an hearty desire to grow in Grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ 2 Pet. 3.18 is the true preparation of the Soul and you shall be able with Sobriety to judge for your self He that wants this is not fit to receive but he that is thus qualified is a worthy Communicant though his knowledge may not be so distinct and clear or his virtues so shining and perfect as some other Christians possibly may be Has not God encouraged persons of weak Faith and a frail virtue provided it be true to hope for his acceptance Aatt 12.20 For he will not break the bruised reed nor quench the smoaking flax says our Saviour that is he will support it and inflame it by the influences of his Grace if we have but the first beginnings of Holiness an hearty liking of it and desire after it he will nourish it and bring it to perfection Aatt 7.7.5.6 For to them that knock it shall be opened They that ask shall have They that hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled No man therefore that is inquisitive to know and sincere in practice has any reason to be discouraged For the Grace and assistance which God has promised he bestows and infuses into the hearts of men as by the immediate influences of his Spirit upon the Soul so especially through his Word and Sacraments It is certain we cannot be too well prepared but we may be too scrupulous about the degrees of Knowledge
with kindness wait to be gracious not easily provoked longer before He punishes That his love to Man should be equal and universal but managed with the most perfect wisdom diffused more warm and lively where it is necessary withdrawn and eclips'd as the temper of the subject may require it and all this without any cause or motive from without himself but it is the pure effort and energy of his own nature no sudden passion to beget it no slight mistaken injury no pride or envy to withdraw it but goodness sincere and pure equal and impartial exerted with the most perfect wisdom towards the whole Creation from the beginning of the world till time shall be no more O the depth of the riches both of the Wisdom and Goodness of God! These depths and these riches of his goodness are not to be understood but by a due intention of the mind But whosoever thus exerts his Mind his utmost self in the contemplation of God will love Him with his Mind too because Desire and Love are always equal to our knowledge That is the First The Second particular implied in the Love of God with all our Mind is the Highest and most extreme Delight in such conversation with Him and enjoyment of Him as is sutable to our present state Desire of conversation with the object is a necessary act of Love The nearer we approach it the more we expect to be pleased and when once we have attained to an intimate conversation then all our previous passion and desire is perfected We now enjoy the object in continual assurances of mutual affection we communicate our hopes and fears our Joys and griefs we consult advise and assist each other and this indeed was the end at first proposed Thus also in respect of God wheresoever the Glories of his nature are apprehended there the humble profession of our Love the desire of his acceptance the discovery of our needs the opening of our hearts the imploring his assistance the expression of our passion in Hallelujahs and Songs of Praise will follow of necessity Where these are wanting there can be no opinion of the Goodness and Omniscience of the Wisdom and Power of God But if our love of God be with all the Mind with a more quick sensation of these perfections acts of Religion will be our greatest pleasure our most ravishing Delight For by these we converse with that invisible Majesty we adore receive returns and pledges of his love assurances of his favour and encouragement in our choice That 's the Second The last particular act implied in the love of God with all the Mind is a fervent desire of perfect union with Him and the Everlasting Fruition of Him Desire of the most intimate union according as the object is capable of being enjoyed is a necessary part of love And in respect of God there is no one thing that the Scriptures do more plainly assert and inculcate than the union of pious Men with God Good men are said to be joyned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 glued to the Lord and to be one spirit to dwell in Christ to put on Christ to be as closely united as the Vine and branches as husband and wife as the foundation and the building as the Soul and body Finally as God and our blessed Saviour for so our Saviour prays Joh 17.21 that those whom thou hast given me may be One as thou Father art in me and I in Thee that they also may be one in us May be one in us not essentially or hypostatically but in the consent of their will in likeness of disposition temper and design as if they were acted by the same Principle and in this the proper unity of Souls consists And thus our Saviour explains the Unity of Believers with himself by bringing forth the fruits of righteousness John 15.15 Indeed the effects of this Union the delights and pleasures which fill the minds of those who are thus united to God are ineffable and therefore according to S. Paul Eph. 5.32 it is a great mystery Whosoever therefore loves the Lord his God with all his mind with clearer knowledge and more pure desire will be impatient of a perfect Vnion of the most full and satisfying fruition of God in Heaven The more we know of God the more our Souls will desire him because he is absolutly perfect and therefore we are sure to be for ever entertained with fresh discoveries of Beauty and Glory Enjoyment will inflame our desire till our Souls shall be wholly resolved into the object O how despicable will all the World appear even Lise it self in comparison of a more perfect participation of the Divine Nature How earnestly shall we expect till our Knowledge shall be improved into its utmost capacity that we may see him face to face How shall we long for such a compleat enjoyment as shall not be allayed by infirmities and sins by temptations and despondencies by natural corruptions and impure affections but continue for ever vigorous and fruitful constant and indissoluble And as these higher and more perfect degrees of Knowledge and desire ought to be pursued as a duty so they are sometimes bestowed upon the diligent and sincere as a reward God is pleased to manifest himself unto them to raise their desires and refresh them with returns of his Love and cause them to drink of the rivers of His pleasure But if we never attain to this more spiritual frame if our minds through worldly impediments shall never be improved into a distinct and clear perception of the Attributes of God Yet if our love of God be with competent knowledge and great sincerity if it be fruitful in the necessary acts of Imitation Faith Obedience and the rest it will be rewarded and made perfect hereafter though it never arrive at the more perfect Knowledge and Desire of God here And thus I have considered the particular parts the necessary acts and exercises of love to God First with all thy Heart and with all thy Soul secondly with all thy Mind And the duty so particularly stated and examined we may easily discern the reason of that primacy and precedency which our Saviour ascribes to this above all the Commands of God This is the first and great Commandment And this was the Third head of discourse proposed It is first in the disposition of God himself He begins his Instituion of Laws with Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Mind Deut. 6.5 It is first in the order of Nature it is the root the principle and reason of all other duties whatsoever It is first in respect of the Object end or final resolution of the Duty being chiefly exercised upon the Majesty of God himself It is first in respect of Amplitude and Capacity forasmuch as all the other duties of Religion have a necessary dependance upon it and relation to it And the
there are always some that will be ready to build their reputation or fortune upon the ruine of other men Even common Conversation cannot be so cautiously maintain'd so discreetly manag'd but disgusts and piques will often happen It is impossible then but offences will come The Air will as soon be fixed and the Sea reduced to rest as humane Conversation should be altogether free from occasions of offence Either therefore we must learn this lesson of meekness and mutual condescention or prepare our selves for a continual state of war If we can neither hide our resentments prudently nor bear them patiently we may lay aside all hope of living peaceably in the World Our whole life will be spent in vindicating our real or supposed injuries one upon another Every man would be against his Neighbour till in time that kind would be destroyed So that if we were not obliged to restrain our Passion and pass over injuries by the Laws of our Religion the very necessities of our Nature and Being would direct us to it And therefore a wise man says Solomon deferreth his anger it is his glory to pass over a transgression Prov. 19.11 Indeed Revenge is the most unreasonable thing in the World It is contrary to all the principles of Justice and equity that any man where it may possibly be avoided should be Party Witness Judge and Executioner in his own Cause Every man is partial to himself and we are then most weak and unfit to judge when we are ruffled and provoked that little stock of Reason that we are masters of is apt to be overborn by the Violence of Passion Even Jupiter himself though he might dart his favourable rays of his own accord yet he could not send out his Thunderbolts without the consent and Counsel of the gods Indeed the imperfection of the humane nature is such that it is not fit to be trusted with a liberty of revenging injuries at discretion Such a power can never be proper never safe but in the hands of God Rom. 12.19 whose vengeance is and to whom it belongs to repay Who is infinite in knowledge and cannot be mistaken in a circumstance who is infinitely just and good and therefore loves and pities the offender That is the Second And as the return of good for evil is indispensibly required as it is fit and reasonable in it self so shall it also be rewarded with Victory and Honour And this was the third Head of Discourse proposed The very Command it self That we overcome evil with good is an unquestionable security to us that by returning good for evil we shall surely conquer and subdue the Injurer So that the reward of meekness or a patient suffering of injuries is not only that general peace of Conscience and tranquillity of mind which accompany the practice of all Vertue and which will especially arise from the submission of our will to God in this most difficult instance so contrary to our own corrupt desires nor is it onely that great reward in Heaven which our Saviour has promised to those who patiently bear reproach St. Matt. 5. which changes the injury into a Crown Hom. 16. ad 1 Cor. 6. and makes us like to God as St. Chrysostom observes But the benefit of Patience and the Reward of returning good for evil is present and more immediate all that is designed or hoped for by revenge will more probably and far more effectually be obtained by meekness and forbearance What is it that we propose to our selves by revenge Is it the Vindication of our honour that we may teach the Aggressor how much he was mistaken in his Man that we may be known hereafter to be Men of spirit and procure to our selves respect or fear at least or is it the reparation of the Injury sustained and the prevention of the like attempts hereafter by returning a greater load of evil upon the injurer than he had brought on us Why both these ends of honour and satisfaction will be more commodiously attained by courtesie and kindness than by deep resentments and revenge For suppose you have success suppose you subdue your enemy expose him afflict him bring him on his knees yet if the account be fairly adjusted you will find your self as far from any real satisfaction now as you was before because it cost you more than it was worth You say says Seneca de Ira Lib. 1. you cannot bear an injury it is false He that can bear anger can bear an injury There cannot be a greater torment to one's self than a thirst of Revenge What tumult and confusion does it raise in our minds what horrid apprehensions what impatience of desire what a perfect discontent till our end be accomplisht How is a Man unmann'd and forsaken of himself that is under the power of this unreasonable passion How do the thoughts of the Person disorder him How is he struck at the sight of him his Eyes distorted his Visage changed his Joynts infeebled as if he were acted by an evil spirit He that nourishes a desire of revenge Hom 41. in Act. Apost says St. Chrysostom carries a Lictor always about him to scourge and lash him a glowing fire to torment him that will never suffer his Soul to rest So true is that of St. Ambrose Offic. Li. 1. Vincitur ab inimico qui se vindicat non vincit He is subdued and conquered that revenges himself upon his adversary So that upon the matter there is no substantial satisfaction to be hoped for by revenge Nor indeed any Honour Esteem or true Reputation to be gained thereby All that we propose by Revenge is to approve our selves to be Men of tenderness and resolution that we expect to be used with caution and civility that we are no vile or abject persons no proper subjects of derision and contempt and this it may be you may make good But did not the Violence of your Passion did not your Resentment with all your practice upon it dishonour and expose you more than the Conquest of your Enemy could do you Credit Is any thing so contemptible as a Man in passion St. Chrysostom as well as Seneca compares him to a mad Man The symptoms says he of madness and anger are the same a bold and threatning countenance restless and involuntary motions change of colour deep and frequent sighs are the signs of madness and Heat of blood Redness of face trembling Lips gnashing Teeth Convulsive Joynts abrupt and stammering Speech Sen. de Irâ L. 1. C. 1. with an horrid ugly Visage are the symptoms and effects of anger And therefore he concludes that it is hard to say whether anger be a Vice more detestable or more deform'd If therefore whilst a Man asserts his courage he exposes his Wisdom it may easily be resolved what right upon the matter he has done to his honour But after all the success is doubtful the design may be detected the