Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	grace_n	holy_a	sin_n	13,169	5	4.5448	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A06163	Catharos. Diogenes in his singularitie Wherein is comprehended his merrie baighting fit for all mens benefits: christened by him, a nettle for nice noses. By T.L. of Lincolns Inne, Gent: 1591.	Lodge, Thomas, 1558?-1625.	1591 (1591)	STC 16654; ESTC S109562	41,902	68

Philoplutos and Cosmosophos although Diogenes be blunt I would haue you witnesse with me that I wish all vertuous Ladies should vnderstand that none but Lais and her faction are toucht in this inuectiue for them that are honest I haue a cup of good fountaine water a dish of Coleworts and a hartie welcome Cosmo Well Diogenes since thy discourse hath prooued the monstrous mother Lecherie so deadly and each of her abortiue daughters so dangerous wee pray thee so much farther to fauour vs that in opening Scillaes gorge thou teach vs to auoyde Charybdis gulph and hauing tolde vs the rage thereof we intreate thee to prescribe a remedie Dio I will performe your request and before I finish my discourse chop one thrust further in and talke of the remedies of luxurie by which as with a preseruatiue and antidote some of our vnreclaymed Athenian yongsters may following the example of those happie soules and good Christians which pretend their part in heauen keépe and preserue themselues from this contagion First of all we ought to call to minde that sensualitie and lust destroyeth and dissipateth a mans goods in such sort as it handled the prodigall Childe who consumed all his substance with harlots The goods of a man are of three sorts the goods of the spirite the goods of the bodie and the goods of fortune that is to say golde siluer lands and possessions and finally all that which a man may haue in this mortall life either concerning pleasure or profite Therefore the same it is which Salomon saith he that nourisheth a harlot looseth his substance It is not requisite to discourse hereupon any further since experience daily declareth vs by one an other howe many prodigall men fall in the pitfold As touching the goods of the body it causeth a thousand maladies as the Surgians may testifie who heale the poxe the sicknes of Naples cankers and other villanies which come thereby it consumeth the vital humour and weakeneth the braine and consequently the nerues of the whole body as Aristotle and after him Galen which also naturall reason sufficiently teacheth vs for the act of lasciuiousnes after it hath consumed the naturall heat maketh all the hote body chill nay more cooleth the braine which according to some Philosophers is the siege of humane séed which is cold of it self From thence oftentimes procéedeth the Epelepsie and falling sicknes to which diuers sorts of men are subiect I beléeue this was the reason that mooued Auicen the Arabian to say that the exercise of palliardise is more permcious to the body of man than if hee had diuers time indured letting of bloud In briefe Lechery weakeneth the forces inféebleth the member depriueth the body of his beauty defaceth the crimson taint of the visage furroweth the browes maketh the eies dim and heauy causeth the Feuer and gout and finally abridgeth mans life By reason whereof the Philosopher said that they which are luxurious liue not so long time as those that are chast and continent All this being well considered by the great Philosopher saint Paul he said vnto the Corinthians that he which addieteth himselfe to fornication and vncleannesse of the body beside the offence that is committed against the diuine Maiestie of God sinneth against his owne flesh in abbridging his dayes and by consequence is a homicide of himselfe If there néede anie question to speake of the goods of the spirite it is most certain that Iubricitie consumeth them farre more than any other sin First of all it destroyeth the infused vertues which are the grace of God and the seuen gifts of the holy spirite which are incompatible with luxuriousnes and of which one onely ounce out valueth all the goods and benefites of this flattering world Secondly it consumeth the foure Cardinall vertues to wit Prudence Temperaunce Fortitude and Iustice so famous among the Philosophers it obscureth the vnderstanding blindeth the memorie dulleth frée will and in most taketh awaye humane iudgement and maketh him blinde and inconsiderate in matters aswell moderne as necessarie to his saluation If all this were well considered our picked yongsters hauing their peakes starched for feare of stirring their coates perfumed their garments iagged would leaue to iybe with this cursed letcherie for feare they Iigg them selues out of heauen and our pretie mistresses that set no foote on the ground but as if they tread on Mosse and trauerse more on the héele than they trip on the toe they would finde here a good bridell for them to drawe them from the loue of this infected letcherie Secondly they ought to consider how much this filthie follie is both dishonest and vndecent for a soule which is created according to the image of God Nay more how detestable it is to a man to showe himselfe in this licentious act like vnto brute beastes to loose the vse of reason and to make himselfe the slaue of iniquitie which also the Philosophers themselues haue helde in horror Moreouer we ought to regarde how vaine this pleasure is and of how small continuance and that it is but as a winde that passeth which is followed with a thousand and a thousand remorses For the Prouerb lyeth not which sayeth Pour vn plaisir mille doleurs The frute also of lasciuiousnes is but repentance as Demosthenes declared to that great harlot Lais. It is I saye a true repentance to a sinning soule which séeth that the pleasure is goue and the sinne and shame remaineth with him Ah las said the Apostle what frute haue you receiued of these things of which you are ashamed Knowe that the rewarde of sinne is death Now little contentment this pleasure yéeldeth it sufficiently apeareth since al creatures but a Cocke as the Philosopher saith Contristantur post coitum as that féeling alreadie the repentance and blot that remaineth men and reasonable creatures séeing themselues reduced by one so villanous an act to the life of brute beasts which is a great shame for them The third remedie is to flie the occasions in not regarding amorous bookes nor estéeming vaine thinges nor hearing immodest purposes nor frequenting Women except vnder the title of vertue and in summe to auoyde the other occasions which are incident to incite vs to this cursed errour The fourth we ought to fast watch and pray endeavouring by all good meanes to subdue the flesh vnto the spirite which is a singular remedie so as in times past the auncient Fathers haue experimented oftentimes in the solitarie Desarts where they mortified their bodies Benet and Frauncis two myrrors of chastitie whereof the first on a time being stirred with fleshly motions hee cast off his cloathes and all naked layd him downe vpon sharpe pricking thornes til being at last ouer-bloudied he ouercame the temptation The other being agitated with this passion laid him downe naked in depth of winter in a pit of snowe and another time séeing himselfe tempted by a woman hee set his naked féete O incredible thing

the other will be satisfied with nothing iudging equally pouerty and auarice in malicious people Also Valerius telleth that Tiberius the Emperor changed his Officers very seldome because they which were newe ordained were very prompt and ready to receiue An example hereof is shewed by a man who was wounded whose déepe stripes a swarme of flies couered at which time it fortuned that one came by and saw them and droue them away to whom the other said Thou hast done me wrong for these were full and repleat now shal other come that be more hungry and do me more grief In like sort Iudges when they bee néedy or couetous they bee gréedy to catch and desirous to haue It is read in one fable of Poetry that Midas desired of Apollo that whatsoeuer he toucht might be turned into gold and it was granted him so when hee shoulde touch meate or drinke with his hands or his lips it was turned into gold and he was often hungry and perished for sustenance so abundance of riches maketh a couetous man hungry destroyeth him It is read in the Chronicles of Persia how Tomyris the Queene of Scythia after shee had taken Cyrus King of Persia caused his head to be smitten off and put into a boale full of bloud saying after this manner Thou hast euer thirsted after bloud now drinke bloud thy fill so shall it fall out in after-dayes with couetous men and cursed tyrants who desire the bloud of the poore people and the spoiles of the fatherles that is to say their goods and sore labours Couetous men in hell shal drinke molten golde as a Philosopher telleth that Nero the Emperour was séene in hel bathing himself in séething gold and when he saw a great number of commers by he said vnto them Come hether you wretches that be sellers of your neighbours and bath you here with me for I haue reserued the better part for you Cosmo Enough of this matter good Diogenes there is a matter of more waight to be decided wherein your iudgement is most ripe Thou hast lately as it is reported visited Lais to whose house our greatest Gentlemen resort there thou receiuedst an iniurie It shall therefore stand with thy iudgement to set down prescriptions to Philoplutos what luxury and licentiousnesse is that knowing the detestable fruites thereof he may prescribe lawes to coole Lais and preferre lessons to young Gentlemen who now a dayes are too much by wantons withdrawen Dio Well Cosmosophos I sée you would driue the raine from your boore this last storme I perceiue hath wet you but that matters not so thou mend for I bit thée to that end Now as touching luxurie I neede not much define vpon it in generall since in particular signification it is a voluntarie effusion of humane séede and a disordinate carnall copulation without marriage and this is one of the seuen mortall and deadly sinnes called a capitall vice for that there are eight infernall daughters sprong from it and all these Philoplutos richly bestowed on thy sonnes The first Cecitie or blindnes of spirite The second precipitatim The thirde inconsideration The fourth inconstancie The fifth self-loue The sixth the loue of the worlde The seuenth the hate of God The eighth the horror of that other worlde The sinnes of lecherie might make Diogenes ashamed to shewe them and you to heare them I will therefore onely discourse vpon her infernall daughters who haue cursed qualities euen in them to discouer their mothers imperfections and first as touching her daughter Cecitie or blindnes of spirite shée wil proue a prettie blindfold mischieuous childe I warrant you Cecitas This cursed daughter of a lecherous mother extinguisheth the naturall light of his vnderstanding that tyreth himselfe in the sports of Venus so that forgetting the dutie whereunto he is called He pretermitteth the seruice of God the hearing of his worde the exercise of prayer wherin euery good Athenian ought to be exercised In which he committeth two sinnes the one of letcherie the other of carelesse idlenes He likewise sinneth herein who casteth aside the spirituall giftes to haue a taste of the carnall Here we sée that letcherie blindeth the inwarde humaine eyes as it is read of the Sodomites which were blinded interiourly exteriourly and the two old falsewitnesses of Susanna to one of which Daniel said Beautie hath bewitched thée and concupiscence hath subuerted thy heart that is to say hath blinded thy spirite Also before it is said That they had turned their eyes aside lest they should see heauen remember the iust iudgement of God For which cause Antiquitie depainting the god of loue Cupide haue giuen him no eyes for because loue is blinde and maketh them blinde that followe it And it séemeth that the wise-man speaketh of them when he sayeth Their malice hath blinded them And before him the Psalmist speaking of the wicked Hee would not vnderstand to go well This vice is contrarie to one of the seuen gifts of the Holie Spirite and likewise it blindeth the eye of the soule which we ought to kéepe more charily than ten thousand corporall eyes as Plato sayeth The reason is for because that by the same we behold and contemplate the essence of God according to the doctrine which Iesus Christ our master hath taught vs who saith that they are happie who are clean in heart for they shall sée the face of God The auncients likewise do verie well manifest that luxurie blinded the cléerenes of the spirite But the poore slaues of Venus prefer the bodily sight before that of the spirite and being in that sort blinded they know not what to do neither wot they how to sauour the celestiall delightes which without comparison are farre more great more swéete than those delightes of the world These are they that haue drunke of the cup of whoredom which Saint Iohn sawe in the Apocalips that is to saye of lecherie which maketh those drunke with the wine of her wickednes which inhabite the earth causeth them to forget the beginning of their birth their celestiall countrey This in my opinion was Homors animi who writ that that the companions of Ulisses after they had eaten of certaine sweet wonderous pleasant fruites in Aphrica called Lopothages forgot their natural countrey would haue continued alwaies there where those fruites were so that the valiant Captaine Vlisses who representeth vnto vs reason hauing brought them backe againe by force was constrained to tye them to the mast of the ship for feare they should returne to their voluptuousnes From hence the Greekes deriue a prouerb which saieth That hee which hath tasted of any dishonest pleasure hath eaten Leates And whence I praye you is sprung this dissolutenes among all sortes in Athens and the withdrawing from vertue of so many wan●●ing wits but from the taste of this voluptuousnesse And for that they haue dronken of the cup of this diuelish singularitie in thought blinding their