Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	holy_a	love_n	son_n	6,996	5	5.4915	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A74649	An entertainment of solitarinesse or, the melting of the soule, by meditations, and the pouring of it out by prayers. By Sir Richard Tempest, knight and baronet.	Tempest, Richard, Sir, 1619 or 20-1662.	1649 (1649)	Wing T625; Thomason E1410_1; ESTC R209519	28,217	157

griefes the constant attendants of my life and yet looke sadly and mournfully upon the Grave my corruption belonging to the maintaining of the order of the Universe where at my next rising much gayer clad then before I shall awake to immortalitie and endlesse joy with the eye of Reason I can looke through the glory of the world and behold Vanitie and Oblivion with the eye of Faith I can look through Oblivion and Corruption it selfe and behold Glory and Eternitie Now I finde how many things doe not that are esteemed in popular judgements to make one happy how little they contribute towards it to me alone till I be mixt with those people and take pleasure in those Opinions We entertaine with true and reall passions the Scenicall compositions of the Stage there being in mans life Playes not acted but lived solemne fictions not feigned but beleeved Men now acknowledge their own Natures whom Precept had taught to regulate themselves all day and familiarly owne the impressions Nature hath charactered on them Now doth the ever-running streames of Gods favours which run over our hard and stonie hearts speak louder to us not drowned with the noyse of worldly thoughts If the Sunne hath gone downe in the clouds of our envie and malice it presages future stormes of passions to our life And now Lord I will seeke him in my Bed whom my Soule loves Let me finde thee in the rest thou givest my Soule from Sinne and Vanity in the sleep thou givest my affections they being all quietly reposed in thee and thus I rest on thee more than on where I lye The Arraignment of the Heart I Thought I had so well surveyed this little piece of Earth that I had knowne every turning and winding in it but since I had a holy purpose betray'd to some easie temptation I suspected that there was something yet undiscovered Whereupon calling my Travell Studie and Observation thither I found a strange Labyrinth which the thred of my Reason was too short to unwinde me out of I found it so incircled with the Serpentine windings of Sinne so incompassed with those flexuous imbraces that I perceived Vanitie entring under the conduct of its adversarie apt to glory in the contempt of Glory and grow proud in the lowest debasing my selfe and upon demand of Reason for any good it would informe me That it owed its originall to some secret passion which would untitle it againe There is nothing but darkenesse and wandrings here so that I perceive O Lord I was more secure than safe since I lodged here such deceitfull guests that answered at the light knock of every idle passion I desired to have discovered my heart to thee but found it first necessarie that thou shouldst discover it to me where was such a wildernesse of Passions such rocks of Pride such Maeanders of Deceits and perplext paths of contradictorie motions that it mockt my past endevours and taught me to know that other things might be in the light to me yet I in darknesse to my selfe And since thy sacred Spirit hath dictated to me that it is desperately wicked and inscrutable I arraigne it before thy Throne as that corrupt Fountaine whence hath flowed those bitter streames of Vanitie which hath overflowed my life and here where my naturall life first begins my spirituall death first arises I begge of thee my God another Creation first of a cleane heart and that then thy sacred Spirit would move upon the face of these waters and forme this Chaos into that beautie and order where thou wouldst have thy own Power and Wisdome manifested breathe forth thy heavenly Light into my Soule and to the considerations of my heart cause a distinction betweene the Night of Sinne to be feared and the Light of Truth to be desired make a separation in me betwixt heavenly and earthly thoughts let the other be superior and predominant over these dispose all here into forme and fruitfulnesse plant the flowers of vertue which being fed with the Manna-drops of thy Grace they may communicate their gratefull properties of colour and odour to others Cause the Lights thou hast set in my little World to shine clearer that every of them may have their severall and proper influences upon the course of my life When the Sunne of thy Word shines out let all other Lights be obscured however let that thy other Light of Reason rule the darker part of my life let the lesser Lights of Opinion whose motions though they be erratique yet doe operate upon our actions keepe such place and distance that they hinder not the generall harmonie of the Fabrick That part which denominates my Species make new in me that part formed after thy owne Image and give it command over the beasts of the field that Reason may subdue the wildnesse of my affections And now Lord let all the motions of this Piece turne upon the poles of thy Commands let it be centred in the obedience to thy will that there it may finde a constant Sabbath and Rest This is the regeneration of this lesser World element it Lord with the fire of thy heavenly love surround it with the holy breathings of thy blessed Spirit Let constancie and solid fixnesse be in my wayes let the current of all my thoughts emptie themselves into the Ocean of the infinitie of thy goodnesse and glory And yet Lord this World could not stand a moment if thou didst not behold it through thy Son It s the desire of my heart to entertaine thee as thou art the author of that desire be thou also the granter of it I know a heart being fill'd with any thing denyes accesse to another I am full of my selfe grant me to denie my selfe to be emptied of my selfe for here it is that the pleasures and trifles of the World hold intelligence and correspondence in themselves not so forcible but as they flatter my understanding or affection with apt pretences When Perseus in his Expedition was to kill the Serpent he had a Looking-Glasse given him wherein he was to behold the Serpent as he should strike at him and not to looke upon it selfe and we shall kill the Serpents of outward temptations if we looke at their figures presented in the Glasse of our thoughts and there destroy them in their images received in our hearts Lord doe thou possesse my heart that it may possesse thee that it may receive thee receive it thou art within all things not included let me finde thy infinite Power in the extension of thy Mercie and not in thy Justice let me put off my selfe my selfe is my wayes my customes affections thy promise is for protecting us in thy wayes When I seeke to have my own image represented back again to me more beautifull from the Glasse of popular Opinions courting Fame or Applause when I for feare or flatterie neglect to doe my dutie to thee my God or man then am I in my owne wayes seeking Death in the

errors of my life I give thee Lord that one syllable thou desirest my heart begging the exchange of another for it Love But because I am a very bubble which howsoever it be blowne into some curious-coloured Hemisphere by some good inspirations yet the least ruffling winde from abroad makes evaporate And though I be wound up to some holy resolutions by the finger of thy Spirit yet without thy constant assistance I should relapse and fall into loosenesse and dejectednesse therefore I begge of thee my Heart againe that thou wouldest before the conveyance of it passe give it me under the custodie of thy Grace sealed up by thy blessed Spirit that no sinfull Passion within nor outward Glory nor Beautie the solliciters of Vanitie doe ever breake it up Deceit doth debase our Nature and false Policie destroy Governments MAn that Noble Coyne which bears the Image of the King of Heaven is so debased with the alloy of his owne imaginations that it will not passe Lord thou art one undivided simple essence and requirest Truth in the inward parts and spirits wherein there is no guile Wherefore thou hast taught us that under the forme of Children wee obtaine the Kingdome of Heaven by the revocation of which innocent and contemptible part of our lives the value is brought downe of all those false Wares men have fraughted their mindes with in the voyage of this life those false Opinions deluded Affections which doe create to men their joyes and feares Wee shall finde Deceit hath underminded all the little structures of Delight men have builded out of Fancie while Opinions are entertained in the Soule which beare not the lawfull impression of Truth but the counterfeit stampe of their owne affection Truth is the onely firme Basis of mans content and happinesse the images of the things themselves as they be in their owne natures received as it were into the Glasse of the mind settle there that which we call Truth when there is a conformitie betwixt the things and our minds but when man vitiates and distorts his mind with wrong and erronious apprehensions of those things then are our mindes a Magick Glasse which shewes us the images of things that are not Thus are mens griefes Panique and their joyes personate Those teares of Alexander were as ridiculous which the report of another part of the World yet unconquered drew from him as of that poore woman whom the Philosopher saw weeping for her Pitcher she had broke Man mingling his deceived conceptions with the things themselves frights himselfe with that Vizard hee himselfe bestowes on things which in themselves are naturall orderly and necessarie Waters that at the Fountaine head are pure and sweetly tasted in their subterraneous passage beget new and foraine tasts What a Maze doth humane nature tread in How many are the Cozenages of his affections Man as it were in the Tyring-roome of his fancie bestowes his severall Dresses and Attires on things which he on the Stage of the world really counts for such as he hath cloathed them for Thus are all things made to beare the Liverie of his imaginations and are accepted back againe into the affections according to the richnesse of the habits hee made them fine with Folly saith Erasmus heares it selfe ill spoke of even amongst the most foolish and many would entertaine with laughter the storie of that foole who leapt and danced because he thought all the ships that came into the harbour were his owne when perhaps no lesse Comicall would their owne Mirths prove which are drawne perhaps from the esteeme of some things which serve to make a great part of their lives seeme pleasant to them which having their worth viewed in the light of Reason would be found not sufficient to yeeld such a warmth and influence to warme or recreate their deluded affections at Some are overflowed with a deluge of teares for that which to another hath no such ugly Character stampt on it Opinion is sufficient to move passion and Opinion many times rises from the bare shewes of things and yet the impressions are no lesse violent and strong which Opinion retorts on us then what comes from things in themselves ill Beautie is a glorious Ray which might rayse our thoughts to the Creator of Lights who is Beautie it selfe and wherein the Minde might take as much content with due reflections on the Giver as in any other sparks of that omnipotent brightnesse communicated to the Creature Honour is that badge wherby they will honour Vertue Wealth is a banke against the flowings in of the necessities of this life Yet all these befoole our loves and cheat our affections they not being brought in by the trials and examinations of Reason but by the secret motions and recommendations of Passion for Beautie by the Hyperbole and excesse of my thoughts is made another thing to me than it is being onely those clouds whither the Sunne of mens wit send their beames to gild Thus when wee would immortalize the objects of our Earth-borne wishes or make Earthly Beauties Divine then by this disproportion are our unsatisfied affections betrayed to Repentance being it must be recalled from the height and rate it had carryed the thing too or if one in stead of true Vertue and Merit fall in love with vulgar Breath and Court that Eccho being as much taken with those ayrie reverberations as Narcissus was with the watrie reflection seeking for that rich Ore of happinesse in other mens soules which he would have coyned into respect and observances of him what doth he but as Solomon sayth possesse the winde Or if one admire too much that Idoll of vulgar mindes Wealth thinking the felicitie of it consists in the abundance when as that Divine Aphorisme delivers More than what is necessarie the owner hath but to behold it with his eyes Men augment their joyes from the greatnesse of their wealth as they doe their feares from the greatnesse of the appearance of his danger All the Ocean strikes a terror in the minde of him like to be drowned when lesse than a Tun would serve the turne Or if the whole Ayre that incompasseth the Globe were infected one should adde the consideration of the vastnesse of that to encrease his sorrow whereas he could suck in no more than what conferr'd to his owne mortalitie Oh that my wayes were directed with a Line the Line of thy Word there being no other Guide out of this intricacie and perplexednesse of our owne natures Man was from the hand of the most glorious Workman set on the solid Basis of integritie and justice and is now crumbled away into trifles minute-deceits which hath weakened the soliditie of this best piece of the Creation Truth is that noble prey mans Soule is in the inquest after and to have it in stead of realities stored onely with maskes and outward formes it dishonours our natures makes them unhappie and miserable The moralitie of the Heathen puts out of

receptions let me follow the wisdome of thy methods Lord who by the Churches directions of their Fasts to precede our Festivals teacheth us humilitie goes before glory repentance and mortification before true joy But now alas the outward and materiall Temples are made to mourn in their own ashes while the living ones rejoyce over the ruines of Sion The loosenesses and indulgences of this Age rather beares a proportion with the Religion of the Ottomans than exhibits Sacrifices pleasing to the most Holy One. They cashiering all strict observances as fetters and bonds to their more free Genius are mis-led by their owne evill spirits in a wildernesse of Opinions The observing these signall dayes turnes our devotions into the knowne and vulgar Character which the world by our practise as it were may reade Our memorie charges the Times with good or bad events happening in them not but those good or ill qualities adhere to the things done in those Times Time being onely the measure of motion upon whose skore wee retaine the remembrance of what things pleasing or displeasing have befallen us To quarrell at the observation of Times is to quarrell at the holy and devout Exercises at such times usually performed whence wee see so easie a slide in many from the contempt of the time to neglect the humble and pious practises of the other To take away the set Dayes set Prayers and set Patrimonie of the Church is to make the Church contemptible their lives dissolute and their devotions prophane The Magnificats of hearts divinely in love and the heavenly wealth of an open-handed Charitie makes these dayes prospect so glorious and in this respect they are inlightned with no vulgar Ray nor doth the Sunne shine with any common beames The Heathens marked their fortunate dayes with white or precious stones but wee must observe these with white and spotlesse actions by which they will prove so to us Our miserable Times we becloud either over againe with our griefes and distrusts or else adde to them the feathers of vanitie to make them more insensibly flye away the two excesses of our life too jocular Vanities or too sad Dejections But from the heights of these dayes doe our soules take their Aethereall flights and range themselves in the Quires of Angels while they beare part with them in their Allelujahs Lord grant that by the continued practise of these Heavenly Attempts the chayne of my mortalitie being broke I may get wing and flye to thee and that constantly reaching my hands to thee from these dayes which are the upper steps of the Ladder of my Life next to Heaven thou mayest at last reach forth thy hand and receive me Morning Thoughts DArkenesse no sooner gives way to the approach of the Sunne but the whole Theatre of Nature seemes to smile the Clouds put on their severall-coloured Habits the Musicall inhabitants of the Groves warble forth the Aire in varied and delightfull tones of harmonie the Flowers draw forth their severall flames and beauties offering sweet incense from their fragrant bosomes all mists and fogges breake up and vanish and that which before dissembled so bright a lustre hath lost it in the light of the Sunne And now my senses loosned from the soft chaines of sleepe enjoy the prospect of the glory of the Heavens the pleasant view of the Woods Fields Rivers but as there be Groves and Caves where the Sunne hath not accesse so my Body is that Cave where without the beame of Reason to discerne the causes and effects of those works I externally behold it is still in darknesse nay I shall still continue so if with the reflext beame of Reason I looke not into my selfe and see what habits and affections my Soule weares and what belongs to me in respect of duties and severall relations without nay I am still in darknesse if I behold not with the eye of Faith the Sonne of Righteousnesse arising as it were out of the immense Ocean of his Goodnesse and Mercie darting into my Soule the glorious rayes of his Truth and Goodnesse then doth my little World rejoyce and my flesh rejoyces in the living Lord then are all my affections the Birds in my little Grove tuned with his prayse then doth each thought weare a severall Liverie of its Makers prayse put on from the contemplation of his severall workes then are all the false splendors of Vanitie obscured the mists and fogges of Passion breake up and vanish then doe the flowers of Vertue salute him with that lustre and odour he himselfe bestowed on them some yeelding their sweets at a distance as the tender Vertues of Mercie Compassion Liberalitie others impart not their fragrancie till bruised and crushed as the Vertues of Patience and Constancie And now Lord my imprison'd Soule beholds thy beames through the chinks as it were of thy Creatures but a full vision of thy presence is reserved for the state of Glory Let my mind so feed on thy Workes that they be disgested into thy prayse and let me looke out so constantly through these Cranies at the rayes of thy Goodnesse Wisdome and Power that at last my spark may be swallowed up in the immensitie of thy light Evening Thoughts HEavens sable Curtaines being dtawn Darknesse makes all things alike the feather'd Musicians of the Wood repose their aeriall spirits amidst the leavie Groves a silent horror seemes to possesse all places while those Silver-footed Nymphs that by so many windings arrive at the watrie armes of Neptune send forth their pleasant murmures louder not drowned with greater noyse if the Sunne hath set in a Cloud it hath presaged stormes to the ensuing day I finde a resemblance in my lesser World of Nights Liverie when I winke the World into Darknesse by which all beauties lose their distinctions all lye lovingly together in the bosome of sleepe and agree in their obedience to these soft injunctions and delightfull commands of Nature Here the Miser is pleasantly robd of his store and the miserable man of his sense of being poore The ambitious man leaves to court Greatnesse and is content with the ordinarie favours of Morpheus the Lover layes aside the sweet tortures of his Amours and solaces himselfe only in the duskie imbraces of sleepe the Souldier in making his passage to the gates of vocall Fame ceases to invite Death and is here content with its image Now doe our senses which are the Birds that make the Musick in mans little Grove shrowd themselves under the downie wings of sleepe Thus doth Death equalize all things onely for a longer time in its habitations a quiet horror seems to dwell where all lye lovingly in the bosome of their Mother Earth silently crept under the soft Coverings of Ashes where our divided parts revell in their loosened motions which had before beene crowded together in our sickly composures I lye merrily down in my Bed though I expect to rise againe to resume the burthen of all my feares hopes and