Selected quad for the lemma: virtue_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
virtue_n	darkness_n	light_n	shine_v	1,307	5	9.6147	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A38031	Sermons on special occasions and subjects ... by John Edwards ...	Edwards, John, 1637-1716.	1698 (1698)	Wing E211; ESTC R39657	221,769	511

Ruler requires Obedience to the Laws and yet is Lawless himself He cannot do it with a clear and Manlike Spirit his Con●cience must needs buffet him and if there be any spark of Ingenuity yet remaining he cannot but labour under great Unea●ine●s and Reluctancy The next Consideration is this That Magistrates are to Punish others and upon that account are obliged to be Blameless and Upright themselves It was said of Cato the Censor that the Strictness of his own Life made him a Bold Severe and Rigid Animadverter on others And so every Governor may with Confidence and Authority restrain and correct Vice in others when he permits it not in himself But how can he punish Offences that commits them With what Face can he be actually Guilty of that which he Animadverts upon and severely Chastises in others For this Reason a Ruler should be exceeding wary in his Life and Manners Again by his effectual Influencing on others it will come to pass that their Actions will be interpreted his Their Good Deeds will be reckon'd so because they were the Effect of his Authority And how joyful a Reflection must this needs be that the Vertuous Acts of so many Persons are esteem'd as his own But then on the other side the Evil Actions and Enormities of Men shall be attributed to him if he made them Bad by his Example This must needs lie very heavy on his Mind and therefore it follows hence that those who preside over others are hugely concern'd to look to their Lives Moreover this might be added in the last place that the Devil the Malicious Spirit of Darkness chiefly designs and endeavours the Corrupting of Governors and those in high Places Fight neither against small nor great but against the King against Rulers and Potentates is the Maxim of that Infernal Politician We read Acts xiii 8. that Elymas the Sorcerer sought to turn away Sergius Paulus the Deputy the Great Man of the Country from the Faith If he could pervert him he knew he should gain others fast enough That which was Nero's Bloody wish That all the People of Rome had but one Neck that he might cut it off at one blow the same in some kind is Satan's constant Endeavour viz. in the Person of the Head and Governor to destroy all the People whilst by his wicked Example he Debauches all that are under him A Magistrate for this reason ought to be very observant of his Actions thereby to Defeat and Baffle the Designs of the Prince of Darkness These are the Reasons of that Proposition which I founded on the Words of the Text. Now I will offer some seasonable Inferences from what hath been said First Let those in Authority check and reprove themselves if they find that their Lives are Evil and that instead of being Examples of Goodness and Holiness they have taught others by their Practice to act Wickedly and Prophanely When it was the Fashion heretofore to make Gods some Great Men would needs Practise this upon themselves and then they thought they had a Licence to do what they pleased And too many tho' not of Pagan Principles are seen to Imitate them too much whilst being of the number of those whom the Scripture calls Gods they take Liberty to act that which is unworthy of Men And whereas they should Punish Vice they are themselves Examples of it But this is a very Gross and Abominable Miscarriage and therefore you that are Magistrates ought seriously to consider of it You must not imagine that your Authority cancels your Obligations to Vertue and that your Greatness compounds for your Wickedness Reckon not that you have an Advantage above others to do Ill and go unpunish'd Think of this that your Quality doth not Annihilate or Extenuate your Faults but hugely Aggravates and Inhanses them There is an evil that I have seen under the Sun saith Solomon an error that proceedeth from the Ruler and it is his Fault as he adds that folly is set in great dignity as you read Eccl. x. 5 6. Thus this Great Monarch takes notice of and reproves the Evil Behaviour of Crown'd Heads and of Subordinate Governors and therefore you must not imagin that your Place gives you leave to do what you will But rather perswade your selves of this that the thing which should Exalt Palaces above Cottages and Magistrates above the Common People is the Transcendency of their Vertues Secondly then As you are desirous to do any good in your Places be careful that your Lives be Vertuous and Exemplary The Advice of one of the Antient Moralists to a Person in Authority shall be mine to you Set your selves Patterns to others in Sobriety and all other commendable Qualities knowing that the Manners of the whole City are conformable to the Behaviour of those that are in Authority Remember that your Actions are all taken notice of and therefore they ought to be such as should be Imitated Take heed that you Soil not your Worthy Endowments and Good Actions with others that are Blameable as 't is said that Iulius Cesar stain'd his Valour and Great Learning with Prodigality and Lasciviousness His Successor Augustus Tainted his Liberality and Clemency with Impatience and Envy Vespasian Clouded his Good Nature and Prowess with Avarice And Trajan Sullied his Justice and Affability with his Cruelty to the Christians And to give an Instance at Home our King Henry VII Eclips'd his Wisdom by his Covetousness Let your Vertues be entire let there be nothing seen to Obscure them Shine forth with a perfect Light and remember that others shine with a Light borrow'd from you Therefore if you substract your Rays you leave them in Darkness Great Men generally endure not any Rivals they cannot brook Competitors and Equals Let it be seen that you cannot suffer Rivals in Vertue and Goodness Strive to surpass others in Sobriety Justice Mercy Piety and Religion Endeavour to Excel your Inferiors in Sanctity as well as in Authority and Dignity Be not only above their Conditions and Stations in the World but above the Qualities of their Minds and the Actions of their Lives Thirdly Not only Rulers but the whole Community are concern'd in this Text and in the Doctrin I have treated of We are all bound to Bless God for Good Rulers and Able Magistrates This is a signal Favour and Blessing to a Nation Rulers are like Heavenly Bodies which cause Good or Evil Times saith the Lord Verulam Whether we speak of the Civil or Ecclesiastical Governors it is most true Whether we apply it to those that are concern'd in the Temporal or Spiritual Affairs it holds good Next to a Good Magistrate there is not a greater Blessing under Heaven than a Good Minister But of the former I speak at present There is nothing more profitable desirable and excellent than a Worthy Goververnor And on the contrary what can be more pestilent and destructive than Bad ones They are indeed Rulers of Sodom