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	soul_n	whole_a	13,673	5	5.8632	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A28548	Anicius Manlius Severinus Boetius, Of the consolation of philosophy in five books / made English and illustrated with notes by the Right Honourable Richard, Lord Viscount Preston.; De consolatione philosophiae. English	Boethius, d. 524.; Preston, Richard Graham, Viscount, 1648-1695.	1695 (1695)	Wing B3433; ESTC R3694	155,933	280

which are to be done and he doth in several Ways and according to Time administer by Fate those very things which he hath so disposed So then whether Fate be exercised and moved by some Divine Spirits which attend upon Providence or by some Soul or by the Ministry of the whole Body of Nature or by the Celestial Motions of the Stars or by Angelick Vertue or by the manifold Subtlety of Demons whether good or bad or if by any of these or if by all of them the Series of Fate is woven This certainly is manifest that the immovable and simple way of doing things is Providence and that the movable Contexture and temporal Order of those things which the Divine Purity fore-disposed and ordered to be done is Fate Hence it is that all things which are under the Dominion of Fate are also subject to Providence which commands even Fate it self But some things which are placed under the Guidance and Protection of Providence are wholly exempt from the Jurisdiction of Fate and surmount the Series of it and those are such things as are stably fixed near to the Divinity and are above the Order of fatal Mobility For even as amongst several Circles turning about the same Centre that which is innermost approacheth most to the Simplicity of the middle Point and is as it were a Centre round which they may turn to those placed without it and that which is outermost rolling in a greater Circuit the further it departs from the middle Individuity of the Point so much the more Space it doth fill but yet if any thing should join and fasten it self to the Point it is constrained to be immovable and ceaseth to be dilated By parity of Reason the further any thing departeth from the first Mind that is from God it is so much the more embarassed and faster bound in the Bonds of Destiny and every thing is by so much the freer from Fate by how much it approacheth nearer to the Centre of all things And if it closely adheres to the Firmness of the supreme Mind without moving it goes beyond the Necessity and Power of Destiny As Ratiocination then is to the Intellect as that which is begotten is to that which hath a proper Being as Time is to Eternity as the Circle is to the Centre so is the movable Order of Fate to the stable Simplicity of Providence This Order moveth the Heavens and the Stars tempereth the Elements and maketh them agree amongst themselves and by an alternative Change transforms them It reneweth all things which are born and which die by the like Progressions of Sexes and Seeds This binds together the Actions and Fortunes of Men by an indissoluble Connection of Causes which since they proceed from the Origine of immovable Providence must also themselves necessarily be unchangeable For so things are always best governed if that pure Simplicity or Singleness dwelling in the Divine Nature may produce that unalterable Order of Causes for this Order by its own Unchangeableness and Constancy may restrain those things which in their Nature are mutable and which would otherwise rashly and irregularly float about Hence it is that although things may seem confused and disturbed to Men who cannot aright consider this Order nevertheless the proper Manner and Course of every thing directs and disposeth it to the true Good For there is nothing done for the sake of Evil no not by the most flagitious Wretches who as I have fully before demonstrated are in their Researches after Good diverted by crooked Error whilst the Order proceeding from the Centre of Sovereign Good doth not mislead any from its Principles But thou mayst say what greater Confusion can there be that both prosperous and adverse things should by times happen to good Men and that evil Men can enjoy what their Hearts can desire and yet be afflicted too with things which they hate Do People live now a-days so vertuously and with so much Integrity that those whom Men think good or bad must necessarily be either But in this the Judgments of Men disagree much For those whom some judg worthy of a Reward others think to deserve Punishment But let us grant that it is possible that some one may be able to distinguish betwixt the Good and the Bad Is it possible therefore that he should look into the inward Temperament of the Mind and pronounce of it as one may of the Body But it is miraculous to him who knows it not why sweet things should be agreeable to some Bodies and bitter to others and why some sick People are eased by Lenitives others are helped by sharper Medicines But it is no wonder to the Physician who knoweth the Measure and Temperament of Health and Sickness But what other thing is it that makes the Mind healthful and strong than Goodness And what is its Sickness but Vice Who is the Preserver of Good and the Driver away of Evil other than God the great Ruler and Physician of the Mind who when he looks about him from the high Observatory of his Providence sees and knows what is convenient for every one and then accommodates him with the Convenience Hence then proceeds that remarkable Miracle of the Order of Destiny since the all-knowing God doth that at which the Ignorant are astonished But now that I may glance at a few things concerning the Depth of the Divine Knowledg which humane Reason may comprehend that Man whom thou believest to be most just and the greatest Observer and Maintainer of Equity of that Man I say the all-knowing Providence doth think otherwise And (q) My Familiar Lucan Lucan is here stiled by Philosophy Familiaris noster Lucanus because he was a Philosopher and a Vein of Philosophy seems to run through the whole Work of his Pharsalia my Familiar Lucan told us that the vanquishing Cause was pleasing to the Gods but the vanquish'd to Cato Know this then that whatsoever thou seest done contrary to thy Hope or Expectation that notwithstanding the Order of things is preserved right and entire but to thy perverted Opinion it seemeth Confusion But let us suppose that a Man may have behaved himself so well that the Approbation of God and Man may both agree in him but he is perhaps of a weak Courage so that if any thing cross should befal him he will forgo his Innocence since with it he cannot retain his Fortune The wise Dispensation of Providence then spareth him whom Adversity may make worse lest he should be put to labour and travel who is not able to undergo such Hardship nor to bear Afflictions Another Man is Master of all Vertues is holy and one who draws nigh to God Providence judgeth it Injustice that that Man should be oppressed by any Adversity so that it will not suffer him to labour even under any bodily Distemper But as (r) One more excellent than I. It is supposed that our Philosopher meaneth here Hermes Trismegistus He

threefold Nature not that it consists of three Elements as some think but because it is one and the middle one also of three things which by our natural Light we can know and distinguish to wit it is placed betwixt the Mind which we cannot perceive by our Senses and the Body which we may Thirdly it is said cuncta movere not because all Bodies are moved by this Spirit or Soul for many are solid whose Parts do therefore rest and are quiet but because no Bodies may be moved unless this do move Fourthly it is said a Deo connecti because as no Body doth move but by Touch or Contact so this Soul or Spirit of the World cannot move unless it be connected with the Body to be moved but it was connected by God by whom when it was first made it was moved by those Laws of Nature which God himself did constitute Fifthly it is said per consona membra resolvi because this anima mundi is a most liquid Body whose Parts as they are moved and resolved into divers Places so they enter the different Members of the informed Body But these Members are agreeing as amongst themselves so with this Soul or Spirit by which they are to be moved so that the lesser Members have Motion first from the Soul then the greater from the lesser Members and also from the Soul Lastly it is said secta circuire because joining its End to the Beginning of its Motion it may seem to form that Motion into a round And it is cut or divided because it being liquid as Water or Air it is a Mass or Congeries of several little Bodies which as they are moved are separated one from the other This Soul is said to circulate through the Body in which it doth reside because every Body unless it be resisted continueth its Motion So the Sap of a Tree doth rather chuse to ascend to the Top of it than to press it self through the Bark and it is easier for this Spirit or Soul to circulate in its Body than to go out of it several Bodies being ready every where to resist it Middle Soul firmly connect Of th' threefold Nature which each thing doth move Then by agreeing Numbers it resolv'st When that is done and cut into two Orbs It moves about returning to it self And then incompassing the Mind profound Doth by that fair Idea turn the Heaven Thou by such Causes dost produce all Souls And (k) All Souls and lesser Lives Our Philosopher meaneth by this humane Souls and those also of vegetative and sensitive Creatures and he giveth to them the Epithet of Minores because they are included in lesser Vehicles or Machines putting this Difference however between Man and other Creatures that there is in him besides this corporeal Spirit which is subservient to principal Form a Mind which hath the Faculty of thinking from whence it is that this corporeal Spirit loseth in a Man its Name and Dignity and therefore it may be said that in a Man there is only one Soul and that endowed with Reason Esse apibus partem divinae mentis haustus Aetherios dixêre Deum namque ire per omnes Terrasque tractusque maris coelumque profundum Hinc pecudes armenta viros genus omne ferarum Quemque sibi tenues nascentem arcessere vitas Virg. l 4. Georg. v. 220. lesser Lives thou mak'st them to be fit To their light Vehicles and them dost sow In Heaven and Earth they then again to thee By a kind Law and Ordinance benign Like a recoiling Flame gladly revert O Father let our Minds ascend on high And view thy Throne august let them behold The Fountain of all Good and when we have Found the true Light may our Minds Eyes on thee The noblest Object be for ever fix'd Dispel the Mists remove the mighty Bulk Of Earth-bred-weight and in thy Splendor shine For thou art ever clear thou to the Good Art Peace and Rest whoever seeth thee Sees End Beginning Bearer Leader Path in one PROSA X. NOW that thou hast had the Character of the true and also of the false Felicity truly represented to thee I think it time to shew thee in what the Perfection of Happiness is placed And whilst we are in quest of this I think our best Method will be to examine whether there can in Nature be such a Good as that which thou hast before defin'd lest the Vanity of Imagination and Heat of Thought should deceive us and carry us beyond the Truth of the Matter subjected to our Inquiry But that such a thing doth exist and that it is as it were the Fountain of all Good cannot be denied for every thing which is said to be imperfect is proved to be so by the Diminution of that which is perfect Hence it is that if any thing in any kind be said to be imperfect it is presently understood that in it there is also something perfect For if Perfection be taken away no Man can tell in what that which is said to be imperfect can exist For Nature doth not derive her Origine from things diminished and inconsummate but proceeding from an intire and absolute Substance she extends her self in the remotest and most fruitless Beings So that if as before I have demonstrated there be a certain imperfect Felicity a fading Good there must also be without doubt a solid and perfect one It is most logically and truly concluded said I But where this doth reside continued she thus consider That God the Governour of all things is good is proved by the universal Opinion of all Men. For since nothing can be found out which is better than God who will deny Him to be good than whom nothing can be better Reason then doth so clearly demonstrate that God is good that at the same time it evinceth the sovereign Good to be in him For if it were not so he could not be the Ruler of all things for there would be some Being excelling him which would possess the perfect Good and in this World seem to excel him and be antienter than he We have already shewn that all perfect things excel those which are less perfect Wherefore that we may not infinitely produce our Reasons it must be confess'd that the great God is full of the greatest and most perfect Goodness But we have already shewn that perfect Goodness is true Happiness Therefore it necessarily follows that true and consummate Happiness resides only in the great and most perfect God This returned I I apprehend aright nor can I by any means say against it Then I pray thee saith she see how well and irrefragably thou canst prove what I have said to wit that God is wholly replenished with the sovereign Good How shall I do that replied I Dost thou presume said she that the Father of all things hath received this sovereign Good with which he is proved to abound from any thing without himself or that he