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	head_n	member_n	9,677	5	8.0042	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A29266	The excellency of primitive government in a sermon preach'd at Guild-Hall Chappel at the election of this present Lord Mayor / by Henry Bagshaw ...	Bagshaw, Henry, 1632-1709.	1673 (1673)	Wing B430; ESTC R16670	12,134	40

of Good Magistrates in deriving the fame of religion to that City where they are planted 2. Discover the Nobleness of that Character to be call'd the Righteous and Faithful City I. Show the Vertue of Good Magistrates c. What Influence the Natural head has upon the body in deriving to all parts thereof sense and motion that the Civil has upon its members The good spirits that are convey'd thence give a vigour to the whole One great reason why Christs doctrine was so low at the first publishing of it to the world was because the Rulers beleev'd not in him whence the Vulgar were taught to despise it who slavishly depend upon their Rulers Sense and bind to the same Chair a Religious Faith and a Civil Obedience It is true Religion has powerful charms of its own to perswade but though the Principles of it be lovely and beauteous in themselves yet they need a setting off by an eminent Example The Multitude inquires not into the nature of the Coyn but what is the Princes Superscription it regards not the Intrinsick Worth of a Jewel but the Nobleness of the Hand that wears it Should that be wanting all the Rays it casts are dimn and Night seems to cover its Brightness Now whenever Rulers embrace the Faith they lay all their Ensigns of Dignity upon it they set it with Joseph in the Royal Chariot whereby it is commended to a People With that sight their Curiosity is rais'd to examin the Grounds but without much search they yield to the Motives because Piety strikes them with a double Light and so takes off all pretence of resistance Thus the Manners of Inferiours are form'd and the general Art of Subjects Living in the world is what Aristotle defines Poesie to be an Art of Imitation where something without is figur'd to them to follow And you all know the great Object propos'd to every ones observation is the Chief Magistrate who by reason of the Eminency of his Place and the Honourable Stamp that is put on him commands every ones regard whence they readily copy out the Goodness of his Actions If Men be not inwardly alter'd or chang'd yet to appearance they will be so for the Sword that he has takes an Edge from his Life and it is an Edge of that Sharpness that it will surely prevail to cut off Scandal though it cannot kill Hypocrisie The Stench of the Carkase will be certainly remov'd though the Whited Sepulchre continue It is the nature of Vertue to check and awe the Spirits of those that are most vitiously inclin'd but then it effectually pierces when it comes arm'd with Authority to govern them That inward reverence it naturally creates proves now a Law to mens passions and curbs the effects of them with the Scepter of Rule Who can chuse under such a State but seek the Fame of Well-doing when both Reason and Fear joyn their forces to bind him It were easie for me to produce instances in those Godly Magistrates of the Jewish Church from whom the Church gain'd a Name and Religion a Power to oblige Then was the Temple it self judg'd Sacred and every Sacrifice had its value then the whole Service of God flourished because the Magistrate upheld it with his Devotion Such is the Force of a Law-giver when he makes those Laws he enjoyns as so many Axioms proceeding out of his own deeds But on the contrary a wicked Governour brands his Seat with Infamy letting loose by his example the Vices of other Men which gathering their strength from Natural corruption are hardly stopt but then they easily flow forth when they can borrow from Dignity a colour for Shame We read Eli's Sons for miscarriages in the Priesthood made the People to abhor the Offering of the Lord 1 Sam. 2.17 Certainly no less do Governours in their station vilify Gods Worship when profaneness by their practise is indulg'd For stains in the Robe seem Graces to sinners and Vice loses with them the deformity of its shape when it takes Greatness to cloath it Therefore you are bound both now and at all times to be heedful in your choice where the credit of Religion is concern'd I proceed to discover II. The Nobleness of that Character to be call'd the Righteous and Faithful City All sorts of People in the world are ambitious of a Name as a refreshing Shadow which adds to the Pleasure of their beings but most are ignorant wherein the excellency of it consists Some place it in greatness of Wealth others in power of Arms a third in the force of Eloquence that commands both but the bright name of Religion is utterly ras'd out by them as if it were fitter to be fix'd upon the Walls of a Cloyster than a City But to evidence the grosness of this their mistake consider with me these two particulars 1. The Advantage which the Name of Religion carries in it self 2. How it excels all other Names by a comparison I. As to the Advantage of the Name This will appear if we regard it as mans greatest Ornament and his best Shield his greatest Ornament for it sets out the highest perfection of his Nature his best Shield for it contains in it a God to defend him None can deny the first of these that will allow Reason to be mans Form and the top of that reason the Worship of a Divinity The name then that imports this must needs be most honourable to a People What can more grace us than to be crown'd with the Praise of Intellectual beings and bearing the stamp of a Soveraign mind Does not the Pride of our Natures lye here And is it not the Fame of Religion that speaks it Where shall Honour have place if the ground of all Honour be excluded Of all Priviledges we would aspire to these Two are the greatest an Vnderstanding enlarg'd and a Will Sanctified By the one we come to conceive the best object by the other to resemble Him And both these Religion bestows for it begets in us a Knowledge of our God and a likeness to him which whoever reflects on will be forc'd to admire the Beauty of its appearance and learn to despise all lower accomplishments as a mean dress that serves not so much to show as disguise the Wearers Here we are properly seen as Men and proclaim to the world the true birth of our Souls which though they be Heavenly Sparks yet afford no Light till they are blown to a Flame from a Religious exercise These things consider'd how can we chuse but engage in that course where as our operations are at their Height so they are in their Brightness represented to the world But it may be an Ornament yet defenceless therefore the Name of Religion has that farther excellency of a Shield to protect those it adorns A City thus renown'd mates its enemies with fear the very sound of its God conquers It is like that imagin'd Noise of Horses and Chariots wherewith an