Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	body_n	flesh_n	soul_n	20,045	5	5.6682	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A09678	The praise of the gout, or, The gouts apologie A paradox, both pleasant and profitable. Written first in the Latine tongue, by that famous and noble gentleman Bilibaldus Pirckheimerus councellor vnto two emperours, Maximilian the first, and Charles the fift: and now Englished by William Est, Master of Arts.; Apologia seu podagrae laus. English	Pirckheimer, Willibald, 1470-1530.; Est, William, 1546 or 7-1625.	1617 (1617)	STC 19947; ESTC S114730	29,358	44

sciences doe not I also furnish with knowledge of the celestiall Orbes as Astrologie a most ancient and diuine Art the prayses whereof if I would yet I am not able to vnfold an Art so excellent that the ancients ascribe the inuention thereof to their supposed gods and was in old time in such account that none but Kings and wise men were thought worthy of the knowledge thereof This Art I teach my seruants and so infuse it into their bodies that euen the Art of numeration or Tables they perfectly vnderstand it not that they are ignorant in Arithmeticke which I teach them when as I said they are so much giuen to pecuniarie matters that being holden in my bonds they are more auaricious then when they were free But marke now I pray you a miracle which wonderfully commendeth my force and industry to vnderstand the motions change of the heauens they need no Tables Globes Astronomicall instruments or figures for before there happen any coniunction eclipse any alteration of weather the change full quarters of the Moone or any dire aspect of the Planets I cause them to know it not so much in minde as in very deede to feele the effects thereof in their bodies And that not only in the great and splendent lights they are so perfect but also in the errant stars so that the infaust aspects either of cold Saturne or raging Mars or when they obliquely behold each other or when the Horoscope it selfe or the Moon the gouernesse of mans life shall be infected with their disastrous influences all this cannot bee hidden from them There are none that can more exactly and certainly foretell of stormes raine haile snowe tempests or any alteration of weather then my seruants can for they alwaies carrie a Kalender in their bones yea they presage this two or three dayes before it come and may they not I pray you through this presaging of times and seasons attaine vnto ripe wisedome which consisteth in these three things Corrige praeteritum rege presens cerne futurum● What 's past amend vse praesent well Presage the future to fore-tell Are not these great things ô ye Iudges and full of admiration yet is it also no lesse prayse-worthy that I teach my Podagricall seruants the excellent Art of Physike then which scarce any thing more singular for the preseruation of mankinde is giuen of God This I inculcate and beate into their heads euen against their wils So that many times they vnderstand the vertue of hearbs flowers plants seeds rootes trees gummes leaues mineralls more exactly then the Physicions themselues besides their knowledge in the bloud of beasts their skinnes milke galls fat bones nerues and vrine c. I instruct them to discerne what is cold and what is hot what is drie and what is moyst what is stipticke and what is repulsiue what is aperitiue attractiue instauratiue and solutiue what in vertue is of the first degree what of the second what of the third and this I teach them not onely to know but also to practice in making pultisses cataplasmes baths repercussiues c. as in all other things so in this I make my seruant excell not only in Theoricke but also in the Practick no maruell then if by my meanes they know the histories of all Nations and read the fables of all Poets and which is a note of a generous mind when others make a gaine of their profession I teach all this freely without any hire at all And when other Emperickes proue practices by killing a number my experience is safe and secure hence came this saying Nouo medico nouo opus est sepulcreto a new Physician had neede of a new Church-yard and therefore Nicocles affirmed that such Physicians were the happiest of all men and why Quontam successus eorum sol videt errores autem tellus operiret because the sunne seeth their good successes but their errors are hid in the ground that is in the graue yet are they so insolent and proud that a stranger vpon a time comming into a Citie and seeing a Physician ietting in golden chaines and rich clothing asked what Noble man that was it was answered that he was no Noble man but a Physician He replyed ô God what an honest Physician is this which taketh from other bodies the Kings Euill and putteth it on his owne body But if my seruants would follow Hippocrates counsaile Cibus potus somnus venus sint omnia moderata Meate drinke sleepe venus let all bee with moderation perhaps they would little need my physike or theirs These things being so yee vnderstand as I thinke O vpright Iudges what great benefits I bestow vpon mine accusers and also how vngratefully yea more then barbarously they requite my kindnesse but what they haue been long deuising to obiect against that which I haue sayd I know well enough to wit that all these things are not to be reputed as benefits but rather as markes of extreme miserie and that I am the bane and mischiefe of mankinde rather then a fautrixe or benefactrixe for first for the beauty of the face which is wont to chaine all men in the linkes of the loue thereof which consisteth as wee Females best know how to describe it in a large square well extended and cleere front eye-browes well ranged thinne and subtill the eye well diuided cheerefull sparkling as for the colour I leaue it doubtfull the nose leane the mouth little the lips corraline the chinne short and dimpled the cheeks somewhat rising and in the middle a pleasant louely gelasin the eares round and wel compact the whole countenance with a liuely tincture of white and vermilion red facies roseo niueoque colore mista placet this say they I change and marre and exhaust the bloud weaken the strength take away sleepe dimme the sight diminish alacritie abandon ioy sport and laughter incurue the ioynts fingers toes and infeeble the whole body and staine and obscure the fresh colour but in this long and idle friuolous obiection they shew themselues to bee sicke in minde and therefore iudge rather by this passion then discerne by reason these doltish men know not that they attribute vnto mee much more praise then disgrace among wise men by this their accusation for while I weaken the body I cure the Soule while I afflict the flesh I strengthen the Spirit while I purge out what is earthly I bring in what is heauenly while I diminish what is temporary I conferre what is eternall No man is ignorant that the bodie is the polluting prison of the Soule the Soule cannot florish except the body fade and diminish for this grosse lumpe of the flesh is an impediment vnto the Soule that it cannot mount aloft in the contemplation of heauenly things it layeth a thousand lets and casteth as it were darke clouds whereby the sharpnesse of the minde is obfuscate and blinded that it cannot see nor

follow the truth and with how many cares and anxieties are men pearced in procuring the things pertaining to this mortall body and vse of this fraile life I speak not of superfluous things but of things very necessarie though as the Poet sayth minimis rebus contenta quiescit Natnra in vitium si non dilapsa repugnat Mans nature with a little thing contented doth remaine Except it headlong falne to vice it doth repugne againe And what is aboue necessaries may be called the sicknesses or maladies of the minde as pleasures opinions feares perturbations desires loue hatred c. which seldome or neuer permitteth the minde to be at rest like the violent force of fire which causeth the water alwaies to boile vp till it be remoued For what I pray you stirreth vp warres brawles murthers seditions rapines iniuries but the flesh and the desire of hauing which is neuer satisfied For wee see now a dayes mony is able to atchiue all things And all this the loue of this fraile body compelleth vs to doe which is the cause that while we pamper vp the body our thoughts are farre estranged from any care taking of the Soule and our mindes distracted from prouiding for the life to come for our senses are like vnto violent horses which without the reines of reason runne away violently with the chariot but the soule like a waggoner holdeth the bridle and therfore as horses without a guide so the flesh without reason and rule of the minde runneth hastily to its owne ruine what a slauery is it then to serue our owne appetite I remember a lesson which I learned long agoe of a learned Preacher That in choosing a Master euery man will shun three sorts of men his enemie his fellow his seruant Hee that serueth the Diuell serueth his greatest enemy he serueth his fellow who serueth the lust of the flesh he serueth his seruant who serueth the world it is a base seruice to serue the world for that is to become a slaue to our seruant it is an vncertaine seruice to serue the flesh for it is so fraile weake and sickly that he may looke euery day to be turned out of dores and which is worst of all it is least contented when it is most serued but to serue the diuell is the vnthriftiest seruice of all for the wages hee payeth is eternall death Wherefore wise men are wont to sequester themselues as farre as they may from the commerce of the bodie and worldly affairs to the end that the mind may the more freely bee lifted vp to the contemplation of heauenly things and the more a man is auerted from the bodie the more hee is conuerted to heauenly meditations hee abstaineth from fleshly desires he subdueth his pleasures he little esteemeth honors riches nobilitie fame and whatsoeuer the world holdeth most precious he feareth not ignominie pouertie affliction nor death it selfe and all things which are contrarie to the flesh that hee most desireth And wise men are wont to measure their life not by the number of yeeres but by the time they haue liued well I haue read of one Similus who hauing spent the greatest part of his life in the troublesome employments of the weale publick and being now old retired himselfe into a Farme hee had in the Countrie and gaue himselfe to prayer and contemplation and when hee dyed commanded this Epitaph to be set vpon his Tombe Hic iacet Similus cuius at as multorum a●●orum fuit ipse duntaxat septem annos vixerit Here lyeth Similus whose age was of many yeeres but he liued only seuen But whoso serueth his bodily sences besides that hee must needs depart from the path of vertue he shall neuer obtaine what he desireth for being deceiued with the false shewes of goodnes he loseth the substance for to catch the shadow and as the body tooke beginning from the earth so the soule had her originall from heauen as one saith not vnfitly Immortall soule from heauen God gaue But bodie fraile from earth we haue The body as a seruant should be subiected vnto the command of the soule the one is heauenly and immortall the other common to vs with the brute beasts Nothing therfore is more excellent then the soule nothing more diuine it as farre excelleth the body as the master doth his seruant as the liuing doth the dead and as the body maketh earthy things its full scope and marke whereat it only aymeth so the minde erecteth it selfe to heauenly things as to the proper end for which it was created Yee see here O Iudges how much more noble the Soule is then the bodie But now will I addresse my selfe to shew what a passing excultrix and adorner I am of the minde and how much I garnish the celestiall Soule whiles I extinguish the vices of the bodie albeit I doe not alwaies hurt the bodie but am wont commonly to profit it also for I attenuate superfluous fatnesse I drie vp humours which redound through intemperance and consume them lest they should encrease to a huge greatnesse and bring no small danger to the whole bodie Againe as Physicians affirme I also prolong the life for except I did depell and driue down to the feet and ioints that noxious and pernicious matter it would doubtlesse assault the braine heart liuer and stomake and soone extinguish the vitall spirits But to omit those things which pertaine to the body let vs proceed to mens vices and infirmities which I aboue others am very expert to cure so that in this Art I yeeld to none whether Philosopher or Diuine for I am not only an impediment and curbe to my seruants that they runne not headlong in wickednesse but also the vices which through custome are become inueterate I extirpate and expell and cause that they shall not sinne vnpunished and scot-free which if I did not they would neuer desist from their wickednesse but stil adde sinne vnto sinne euill vnto euill til sinne forsake them Now first for this Monster pride which is puppis ac prora the very head and taile of all euill I must a little insist vpon this as I learned of a Preacher Gregory sayth he maketh 4. kinds of proud men 1. The arrogant proud 2. The presumptuous proud 3. The boasting proud 4. The despising proud person The first attributeth euery good thing in himselfe to himselfe and not vnto God The second will confesse God to be the giuer of all graces but vpon their owne merit The third boast of their vertues which indeede they haue not The fourth affecteth a kinde of singularity and puritie in that he hath or supposeth to haue Vitia catera in peccatis superbia etiam in benefactis timenda when other sinnes dye secret pride gets strength in vs ex remedijs generat morbos euen vertue is the matter of this vice though all sinnes are in the diuell secundum reatum in respect of the guilt yet only