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
A49980	The temple of vvisdom for the little world in two parts. The first philosophically divine, treating of the being of all beeings, and whence everything hath its origins as heaven, hell, angels, men and devils, earth, stars and elements. And particularly of all mysteries concerning the soul, and of Adam before and after the fall. Also, a treatise of the four complexions, and the causes of spiritual sadness, &c. To which is added, a postscript to all students in arts and sciences. Second part, morally divine, containing abuses stript and whipt, by Geo. Wither, with his description of fair virtue. Secondly. A collection of divine poems from ... Essayes and religious meditations of Sir Francis Bacon, Knight. Collected, published and intended for a general good. By D.L.	Leeds, Daniel, 1652-1720.; Wither, George, 1588-1667. Abuses stript, and whipt.; Bacon, Francis, 1561-1626.	1688 (1688)	Wing L915; ESTC R224149	138,032	220

one according to his gift for his benefit one more than another according as the Spirit hath its property in him For the spirit of God is often subject to the spirits of men if they will that which is good or well and seeth or looketh af●…er what man willeth that his good work be not hindred but that every where above all Gods will or willing or desiring be done Of the two Qualities in one TVvo Qualities a good one and an evil one are in one another as one thing in this World in all powers in the Stars and the Elements as also in all the Creatures and no Creature in the ●…esh in the natural Life can subsist unless it hath the two Qualities 2. For from the two fold Source every thing hath its great mobility running springing driving and growing for meekness in Nature is a still Rest but the fierceness in every Power maketh all things moveable running and generative for the driving Qualities cause a Lust in all Creatures to evil and good 3. In every Creature in this World is a good and evil Will and Source which is caused by or proceedeth from the Stars for as the Creatures in the Earth are in the●…r Qualities so are the Stars there is nothing in Nature wherein there is not good and evil in Men Beasts Fowls Fishes Worms and in all that which is upon the Earth or in the Earth or Gold Silver Copper Tinn Lead Iron VVood Herbs and Grass in the Earth in Stones in t●…e VVater and all whatsoever can be thought upon Eve●… thing moveth and liveth in this double impulse working or operation be it what it will. 4. But the holy Angels and fierce wrathful Devils are here to be excepted the holy Angels live and qualifie in the Light and Meekness in the good Quality but the Devils live and reign in the fierce wrathful Quality in fierceness destruction and perdition 5. And though Moses writes I am an angry zealous God Yet the meaning of it is not that God is angry in himself and that there ariseth a ●…ire of Anger in the holy Trinity No that cannot be for it is written Against those that hate me In that same Creature the Fire of Anger riseth up For if God should be angry in himself then the whole Nature would be on fire which will come once to pass in the last day in Nature and not in God. But in God the triumphing Joy will burn it was never otherwise from Eternity nor will it ever be otherwise 6. Now the elevating springing triumphing Joy in God maketh Heaven triumphing and moveable and Heaven maketh the Stars and Elements moveable and the Stars and the Elements make the Creatures moveable out of the Powers of God are the Heavens proceeded out of the Heavens are the Stars out of the Stars are the Elements out of the Elements are the Earth and the Creatures come to be Thus all had its beginning even to the Angels and Devils which before the Creation of Heaven Stars and the Earth were proceeded out of the same Power out of which the Heaven the Stars the Earth were proceeded Now Hell and the dark World or the anger of God is a Gulf of desperation devoid of the Hope of God and all good it is the first ground to the eternal Nature the place is between the Kingdom of God and this World and maketh a peculiar Principal dwelling in it self and hath neither place nor local abode and is every where inhabiting it self only and yet it giveth Essence to the Light and outward 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is it is the cause of the Source viz. the Fire 〈◊〉 the whole Beeing of all God's Beeings 7. In the Darkness he is an ang●…●…ealous God in the fire Spirit a consuming ●…ire and 〈◊〉 the Light ●…he is a merciful loving ●…od and in the Power of the Light he is especially above all other Pro●…rties called God and yet 't is all but God manifested●… who manifesteth himself through the eternal Na●…ure in ingredient Properties 8. The Essence of this VVorld 〈◊〉 in evil and good and the one cannot be with●…t the other But this is the great Iniquity of this ●…Vorld that the evil over powereth the good that 〈◊〉 Anger is stronger then the Love and this by re●…n of the Sin of the Devils and Men who have dist●…bed Nature by the false Desire that it mightily and effectually worketh in the wrath as a Poyson in the Body 9 VVe see very clearly that there is nothing in this VVorld so evil but it hath a good in it the good hath its rise originally out of the heavenly Property or light VVorld and the evil hath its Property out of the dark VVorld for both VVorlds are in each other as one Of the Seven Forms or Properties of the Eternal Nature which make three Principles or VVorlds I. Form Astringent Desire IT is the beginning of the eternal Nature the cause of Essences as also of harshness sharpness hardness Cold and Substance ●…a Mother of all Salts II. Form Bitter Compunctive The motion of the Desire it cutteth asunder the hardness and attracted Desire the true Root of Life a cause of the stirring so also of the Senses and the ground of the bitter pain III. Form Anguish Perceivance It is a cause of the Mind wherein the Senses are moved and acted the ground of the natural VVill wherein the eternal VVill desireth to be manifested that is it will be a Fire or Light In these three first Properties consisteth the foundation of Anger and of Hell and of all that is wrathful IV. Fire Spirit Reason Desire In the Fire the unity appeareth and is seen in the Light that is in a burning love and the wrath in the Essence of Fire In Fire and Light consisteth the Life of all things viz. in the Will thereof let them be ●…nsensible vegetable or rational things every thing as the Fire hath its ground either from the Eternal as the Soul or from the Temporary as Astral Elementary things for the Eternal is one Fire and the Temporary is another V. Form Light Love. This Property is the ●…ire of Love or world of Power and Light which in the Darkness dwelleth in it self and the Darkness comprehendeth it not in the Light the eternal Unity is substantial that is an holy spiritual Fire an holy Light an holy Air which is nothng else but Spirit also an holy Water which is the over-flowing Love of the unity of God and an holy Earth which is all powerful virtue and working It is the true spiritual angelical world of the divine Joy which is hidden in this visible world VI. Form Sound Voice Word Proceeding from the divine Powers which is formed in the Love the Sound is the understanding wherei●… all the Properties understand one another VII Form Essence Beeing Mansion This seventh Property is rightly and truly called the ground or place of Nature wherein the other Properties stand in one only ground the

the Fire and the fire the ●…ather of the Blood. And as God dwelleth in the world and filleth all things and yet possesseth nothing And as the fi●…e dwelleth in the water and yet poss●…sseth it not Also as the Light dwelleth in Darkness and yet possesseth not the Darkness As the Day is in the Night and the Night in the Day Time in Eternity and ●…ternity in Time so is man created according to the outward Humanity he is the Time and in the Time and the Time is the outward world and it is also the outward man. The inward man is Eternity and the spiri●…ual Time and VVorld which also consisteth of Light and Darkness viz. of the Love of God. as to the eternal Light and of the Anger of God as to the eternal Darkness which soever of these are man●…fest in him his Spirit dwelleth in that be it Light or Darkness for Light and Darkness are both in him Now if the Light be made manifest in the Darkness then the Darkness loseth its darkness and is not known or discern●…d Also on the contrary if the Darkness arise in the Light and get the upper-hand then the Light and the power thereof is extinguished this is to ●…e consi●…ered also in man. The eternal darkness of the Soul is Hell viz. an aking Source of anguish which is called the anger of God But the eternal Light in the Soul is the Kingdom of Heaven where the fiery anguish of Darkness is turned into Joy thus the Soul hath Heaven and Hell in it self Of Tincture BY the word Tincture is meant the power and virtue of Fire and Light and the stirring up or putting forth like a Bud of this virtue is called the holy and pure Element the virtue of the Sun is the Tincture of all things that grow in the visibility of the world so also the Colour is the Tincture of the Ground Christ is the Tincture of the Soul in brief the Tincture is the Life and the perflu●…nt and informing Vi●…tue by which any thing doth sub●…ist for without the Tincture that proceedeth from the Sun Gold were no Gold And so also the Image of God in the S●…l without the true Tincture the eternal Son of Righteousness were not the Image of God. Of the great Turba THe great Turba or Turba Magna is the stirred and awakned wrath of the inward ground when the foundation of Hell is made manifest in the Spirit of this world from whence great Plagues Diseases arise and it is also the awakned wrath of the outward Nature as may be seen in great tempests of Thunder and Lightning when the Fire is manifested or generated in Water In brief it is the effusion of the anger of God by which Nature is disturbed Often times the Children of God have been forced to carry the Sword of the Turba in them a great example whereof we see in Sampson and also in Joshua with his Wars and likewise in Abraham and many other Prophets how the zeal of God did enkindle it self in them that they in the Spirit of Zeal have often-times awakned the Turba Magna in the anger of God and raised great Rebukes Judgments and Plagues upon whole Countries as Moses in Egypt did with his Plagues upon the Egyptians But we must here distinguish if the Zeal of God should awaken it self in an holy man without his purposed Will and give him the Sword of God's Anger such a one desires much from those who in their own thoughts contrive and plot in the wrath and introduce the conceived or purposed Will into the Serpent's Ens and make it to Substance for that is Sin yea though the most holy man Prophet or Apostle should do it Therefore Christ so empathetically and punctually teacheth us in the new-birth Love Humility and Meekness and would that a Christian should not at all Revenge also not be Angry for he saith Whosoever is angry with his Brother is guilty of the Judgment ●…or anger is a conception in the Serpent's Ens which must be cut off by the Judgment of God from the good beeing All War howsoever blanched over and under what pretence soever taketh its original out of God's Anger It doth not belong to any true Christian born of Christ to raise the Sword of the Turba unless the zealous Spirit of God do ●…tir it up in him who often will rebuke Sin whatsoever exalts its self in the wrath about it●… own Honour and Pride and brings it self to Revenge or Blood-shed is from the Devil Earthly Dominion and Government hath its original from the fall in the Serpent's craft All War and Contention doth arise out of the nature and property of the dark world viz. from the four Elements of the Anger of God which produceth in the Creature Pride Cov●…tousness Envy and Anger these are the four Elements of the dark world wherein the Devil and all evil Creatures live and from these four Elements aris●…th ●…ar For although God bad the People of Israel drive out the 〈◊〉 and wage VVar yet the command was wholly from the angry 〈◊〉 od viz. from the ●…ire's Property for the 〈◊〉 had stirred up the VVrath and Indignation which would devour them But God so far as he is called 〈◊〉 wills not any VVar but the kingdom of Nature in Gods Anger willeth it SOund Sion sound the Praises of thy King Let 〈◊〉 well 〈◊〉 Instrument honour bring To him for Sion thou right-well dost know The Gentiles and their I●…ol-Gods must bow And bend unto thy King or br●… must be For none's like Sion's God in Majestie Then Sion's Sons your Instruments prepare With strained Strings most ex●… rare And sweetly 〈◊〉 with Mus●… 〈◊〉 most sharp Our God's renown and praise 〈◊〉 to harp Since from his Hand abundantly your Souls Have drunk Salvation up like Wine in Bowls And made you eat of Mercies numberless And clo●…'d you with Compassions in distress And let his Glory be your Meditations And his high Honour all your Contemplations For such effects will sure produc●… increase Of joy and gladness joyn'd to endless peace For how can Stones but speak With Iron Steel and Brass And Adamants but break At what is come to pass And sound in one set ●…ur Forth shouts of his renown Whose Glory and mighty Power Eternity doth crown For hath not he made Owls With Moles and Bats to sing Like as the chanting Fowls Harmonious tunes in Spring And Eagles he and she Made both to loath their Pey Two Turtle Doves to be In Shiloa's shining day And hath not he the Bear The Panther and the Lyon In substance made appear Like Lambs in holy Sion And by his Mercy rich Transformed the Serpent's ●…ing Into a virtue which From Death to Life doth bring And made of Rocks a Fountain And Stones refreshing Streams And of a Grain a Mountain And darkness Orions Beams And made of puddle-mire A limpid Pond of pleasure Where Fishes joys as Fire Ascend exceeding measure He turn'd

●…orm And though these Imagings were transitory being they were not pure before God yet God would in the end of this Time extract and draw forth the Heart and the Kernal out of the new Birth or Geniture and seperate it from Wrath and D●…ath But the Death of the Earth and the VVrath there in should be Lord Lucifer's eternal House after the accomplishment of the new Birth or Geniture 〈◊〉 the mean while Lord Lucifer should lie captive in the Darkness in the deep above the Earth and there he is now and may very shortly expect his portion Of the Divine Manifestation GOd is the eternal immense incomprehensible Unit●… which manifesteth it self in it self from Eternity to Eternity by the Trinity and is ●…ather Son and holy Ghost in a three-fold working The first Effluence and manifestation of this Trinity is the eternal VVord or out-speaking of the divi●…e Power and Virtue The first out-spoken Substance from the Power is the divine VVisdom which is a substance wherein the Power worketh The Angels and the Soul proceed from God's Essences from the whole Tr●…e the Angels from two Principles and the Soul with the Body of the outward Life from three Principles and therefore Man is higher then the Angels if he continue in God. The inward eternal working is hidden in the visible world and it is in every thing and through every thing yet not to be comprehended by any thing in the things own Power the outward Powers and Virtues are but the Passive and the House in w●…ich the inward do work All the other worldly Creatures are but the Substance of the outward world but man who is created both out of Time and Eternity out of the Beeing of all Beeings and made an Image of the divine manifestation The eternal manifestation of the divine Light is called the Kingdom of Heaven and the habitation of the holy Angels and Souls The fiery Darkness is called 〈◊〉 or God's anger wherein the Devils dwell together with the damned Souls In the place of this world Heaven and Hell are present every where but according to the inward ground Inwardly the divine working is manifest in God's Children but in the VVicked the working of the painful darkness The place of the eternal Paradise is hidden in this world in the inward ground but manifest in the inward man in which God's power and virtue worketh There shall perish of this world only the four Elements together with the stary Heaven and the earthly Creatures 〈◊〉 the outward gross Life of all things The inward Power and Virtue of every Substance remain●… eternally Of Man who is made after the Image and Similitude of God. THe whole Body with all its parts signifie Heaven and Earth The inward hallowness in the Body of man with the Wind-pipe and Artaries wherein the Air qualifieth or operateth signifieth the Deep betwixt the Stars and the Earth wherein Fire Air and Water qualifie in an Elementary manner and so the war●…th of the Air and Water qualifie also in the Wine-pipe and Arteries as they do in the Deep above the Earth The Flesh signifieth the Earth and is also from the Earth The Blood signifieth the Water and is from the Water The Breath signifieth the Air and is also Air. The Veins signifie the powerful flowings out from the Stars and are also the powerful out-goings of the Stars for the Stars with their power reign in the Veins and drive forth the form shape and condition of men The Entrals or Guts signifie the operation of the Stars or their consuming of all that which is proceed ed from their Power for whatsoever themselves hav●… made that they consume again and remain st●…ll 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ●…eir virtue and power and so the Guts also are the ●…onsuming of all that which man thrusteth and stuffeth into his Guts even all whatsoever groweth from the power of the Stars The Heart in man signifieth the Heat or the Element of Fire and it is also the Heat for the heat in the whole Body hath its original in the Heart The Feet signifie near and afar off for near and ●…far off are all one in God and so man by means of his Feet can come and go near and afar off let him be where he will he is in Nature neither near nor afar off for in God these are one thing The Hands signifie God s Omnipotence for as God in Nature can change all things and make of them what he pleaseth so man also can with his Hands change all that which is grown in Nature and can make with his Hands out of them what he pleaseth he ruleth with his hands the Work and being of the whole Nature and so they very well signifie the Omnipotence of God. The whole Body to the Neck signifieth the round Circle or Sphere of the Stars as also the Deep within or between the Stars wherein the Planets and Elements reign The Head signifieth Heaven it containeth the five Senses viz. Seeing Hearing Smelling Tasting and Feeling wherein the Stars and Elements qualifie and therein existeth the Syderial or heavenly stary or astral and natural Spirit in Men and Beasts in this floweth forth Good and Evil for it is the House of the Stars Such power the Stars borrow from Heaven that they 〈◊〉 make in the Flesh a living and moving Spirit in man ●…nd Beast The moving of the Heaven maketh the 〈◊〉 moveable and so the Head also maketh the Body ●…oveable Note The Syderial Body is the highest excepting the Divine in man the Elemental Body is only its Servant or dwelling-House as the four Elements are onl●… a Body or Habitation of the dominion of the Stars The elemental Spirit and Body is inanimate and void of understanding it hath only Lust and Desire in it●… Vegetation is its right Life the inward Light and Power of the Light giveth in man the right divine understanding But there is no right divine apprehension in the Syderial Spirit The Syderial Body dwelleth in the Elemental as the light world in the darkness it is the true rational Life of all Creatures Of the first Man Adam before and after the Fall. ALl things of this world have a two-fold Body viz. an Elemental from the Fire Air Water and Earth and a spiritual Body from the Asirum and likewise a two-fold Spirit the one Astral the other Elemental Man only among all the earthly Creatures hath a three-fold Body and Spirit for he hath also the internal spiritual World in him which is likewise two-fold viz●… Light and Darkness and also corporeally and spiritually this Spirit is the Soul but this ●…ody is from the VVater of the holy Element which dyed in Adam that is disappeared as to his Life Now when God created the Earth he founded its time when he would keep the Judgment and sever the evil from the good and give the evil for an Habitation to the apostate Prince but being the good in the Occluse Earth was without heavenly

That forgive Sins as fast as men can do them And make Jehovah be beholden to them I 've heard of such what ●…re they would I wist They can make Saints they say of whom they list And being made above the Stars can set them Yea with their own hands make their godds eat them Man I do know 'cause I have heard him vaunt He is an Elf so proud and arrogant That I want words of a sufficient worth To paint his most abhorred Vileness forth Some will be prying though they are forbidden In to those secrets God meant should be hidden So do some Students in Astrology Though they can make a fair Apology And so do those that very vainly try To find out Fortunes by the●…r Palmestry These do presume but much more such as say At th●…s or that time comes the Judgment Day In praying men presume unless they be With every one in Love and Charitie ` Or if in their pet●…tions they desire Such things as are unlawful to require Then those great Masters I presumptuous deem Who of their knowledge do so well esteem They will force others as the Papists do For to allow of their Opinion too Others there are who for because they 've Faith For to believe 't is true the Scripture saith And do observe the outward Worship duly Do think that therein they have pleas d God truly Now these are just as far as th●… other wide For they Gods worship do by halfs divide And for his due which is ●…en all the heart Do dare presume to offer him a part Also in this abominable time It is amongst us now a common Crime To flout and scoff at those which we espy Willing to shake off humane Vanity Who so reviled scorned or mis nam'd As some People which are Quakers term'd That fear God most but 't is no marvel men Presume so much to wrong his Children when As if they feared not his revengeful Rod They can blaspheme and dare to anger God. Now by these words to some men it may seem That I the Quakers have ●…n high esteem Indeed if by that Name you understand Those whom the vulgar Atheists of this Land Do daily term so that is such as are Fore-named here and have the greatest care To know and please their Maker then 't is true I love them well for love to them is due Then it is also a presumptuous act With knowledge to commit a sinful fact Though ne●…er so small for Sins a subtil Elf Into our Souls insinuates it self And it is certain that one Sin though small VVill make an entrance great enough for all In short Presumption 's such a hardning Sin That if it seize the heart and once get in My mind is this 't will ne er be purged thence well No not with all the fears and pangs of Hell So infinit is this f●…r to unfold That should I write and speak till I were old I know that I should leave unspoken then Most of those humors I have seen in man And still confess in him there h●…dden be Thousands of humors more then I can see O MAN I mus'd a while thou wert so prone to sining But 't was thy f●…ult I s●…e from the beginning And as the Lord himself once said so still The imagin●…tions of thy ●…eart is ill That 's one main cause then to presume an Evil. Thou hast the proneness to the Flesh and Devil Then sith thou art so subject unto ●…in Shun all occasions that may draw thee in Thy flesh with labour and with fasting came And 't will not be so ●…ubject unto blame Prevent the Devils B●…its and his Temptations With earnest P●… 〈◊〉 good Meditations So when t●…y God s●…ll see thou hast a will And truly dost desire to 〈◊〉 what 's ill He will except it f●…r his Sons dear sake And the●… more willing and more able m●…ke He 'l make ●…y Soul. ●…re i●… thrice more defil'd As innocent as the new born Child But if thou without c●…re or 〈◊〉 dost lean Unto those Lust of Flesh that are unclean If thou take pleasure and delight to do them Q●…ite giving over t●…y 〈◊〉 unto t●…m They both in Soul and Body too will make the●… So soul a Leper that God will ●…orsake thee Hi●… holy A●…gels and ●…is Saints a●… thee And only Devils make in●…reaty s●…r t●…e Fair Virtue the Shepherd's MISTRISS The Shepherd to his Mistress HAle thou fairest of all Creatures Upon whom the Sun doth shine Model of all rairest Features And Perfections most Divine Thrice all-hale and bl●…d be Those that love and honour thee By thy Beauty I have gained To behold the best Perfections By thy Love I have obtained To enjoy the best aff●…ions And my Tongue to sing thy prai●… Love and Beauty thus doth raise VVhat although in Rustick Shadows I a Shepherds breeding had And confined to these Meadows So in home-spun Russet clad Such as I have now and then Da●…d as much as greater men On this Glass of thy Perfection If that any VVomen pry Let them thereby take direction To 〈◊〉 themselves thereby And if ought amiss they view Let them dress themselves a new Young men may by this acquainted VVith the 〈◊〉 Beauties grow So the counterfeit and paint●… They may shun when them they know But the way all will not find ●…or some Eyes have yet are blind Those that Mistresses are named And for that suspected be Shall not need to be ashamed If they patern take by thee Neither shall their Servant fear Favours openly to wear Thou to no man favour dainest But what 's fitting to bestow Neither Servants entertainest That can ever wanton grow For the more they look on thee Their desires still bettered be I am no Italian lover That will mew thee in a Goal But thy Beauty I discover English-like without a vail If thou may'st be won away Win and wear thee he that may Yet in this thou may'st believe me So indifferent though I seem Death with tortures would not grieve 〈◊〉 More then loss of thy esteem For if Virtue me forsake All a scorn of me will make The MISTRISS of the SHEPHERD NOw while other men complaining Tell their Mistresses disdaining Free from care I write a Story Only of her worth and glory And wh●…le most are most untoward Peevish vain unconstant froward While their best Contentments bring Nought but after sorrowing She those childish humours slighting Hath conditions so delighting And doth so my bliss indeavour As my joy increaseth ever Love she can and doth but so As she will not overthrow Love's content by any Folly Or by Deeds that are unholy Dotingly she ne'er affects Neither willingly neglects Honest love but means doth find With discretion to be kind Goodness more delights her than All the mask of ●…olly can Fond she hateth to appear Though she hold her Friend as dear As her part of Life unspent Or the best of her content If the heat of

them occasion to pl●…ase themselves in speaking and himself shall continually gather K●…dge If you dissemble sometimes your Knowl●…dge of that you are thought to know you shall be thought another time to know that you know not Speech of a man's self is not good often and there is but one case wherein a man may praise himself ●…th good Grace a●…d that is in commending Virtue in another esp●…ially if it be such a Virtue as whereunto himself pr●…ndeth Speech of touch towards ot●…ers should be sparingly used for Discourse ought to be as a ●…ield without coming home to any man. Discretion of Speech is more then ●…loquence and to speak agreeably to him with whom we deal is more then to speak in good Words or in good Orde●… ●…astly in a set Speech in an Assembly it is expected a man should use all his Reasons in the case he handleth but in private Perswasions it is always a great Error XIV ●…f Riches I Cannot call Riches better then the baggage of Virtue for as the Baggage is to an Army so is Riches to Virtue it cannot be spared nor well left behind but it hindreth the march yea and the care of it sometimes loseth or distributeth the Victory Of great Riches there is no real use except it be in the distribution the rest is Conceit O saith Solomon where much is there are many to consume it and what hath the Owner but the sight of it with his Eyes The personal Fruition of any man cannot reach to feel great Riches there is a Custody of them or a power of Dole or Donative of them or a Fame of them but no solid use to the Owner Do you not see what feigned Prices are set upon little Stones and Rarities and what works of Osten●…ation are undertaken because there might seem to be some use of great Riches But then they may be of use to buy men out of Dangers or Troubles As Solomon saith Riches are as a Strong-hold in the Imigination of the Rich man. But this is excellently expressed that it is in the Imagination and not always in Fact. ●…or certainly great Riches have sold more men then they have bought out Seek not proud Riches but such as thou mayst get justly use soberly distribute cheerfully and leave contentedly yet have no abstract or ●…ryerly contempt of them Neither trust thou much others that seem to despise Riches for they despise them that dispair of them and none worse when they come to them Be not Penny wise Riches have wings and sometimes they fly away of themselves Sometimes they must be set flying to bring in more Men leave their Riches either to their Kindred or to the Publick and moderate Portions prosper best in both Measure not thy Advancements by Quantity but frame them by Measure and defer not Charities till Death for certainly if a man weigh it rightly he that doth so is rather liberal of another man's than of his own XV. Of Young Men and Age. A Man that is young in Years may be old in Hours if he have lost no time But that happens rarely Generally Youth is like the first Cogitations not so wise as the second for there is a Youth in Thoughts as well as in Ages Natures that have much Heat and great violent Desires and Perturbations are not ripe for Action till they have past the meridian of their Years But reposed Natures may do well in Youth As on the other side Heat and Vivacity in Age is an excellent composition for Business Young men are fitter to invent than to judge fitter for execution then for Counsel and fitter for new Projects then for settled Business ●…or the experience of Ag●… in things that fall within the compass of it directeth them but in things meerly new abuseth them The Errors of young men are the ruin of Business But the Errors of aged men amount to this That more might have been done or sooner Certainly it is good to compound Imployments of both for that will be good for the present because the Virtue●… of either Age may correct the Defects of both and good for Succession that young men may be Learners while men in Age are Actors and lastly in respect of extream Accidents because Authority followeth old men and Favour and Popularity youth A certain Rabby upon the Text Your young men shall see Visions and your ol●… men dream Dreams Inferreth that young men are admitted nearer to God then old because Vision is a clearer Revelation then a Dream And certainly the more a man drinketh in of the World the more it intoxicateth And Age doth profit rather in the power●… of Understa●…ing then in the Virtues of the Will an●… Affections XVI Of Beauty and Virtue VIrtue is like a rich Stone best plain set and surely Virtue is best set in a Body that is comely thoug●…●…ot of delicate Features and that hath rather Dignity of presence then Beauty of respect Neither is it always seen that very beautiful Persons are otherwise of great Virtue as if Nature were rather busie not to err then in labour to produce Excellency And therefore they prove accomplished but not of great Spirit and study rather Behaviour then Virtue In Beauty tha●… of Favour is more then that of Colour and that of Decent and gracious Motion more then that of Favour That is the best part of Beauty which a Picture cannot express no not the first sight of the Life and there is no excellent Beaut●… that hath not some strange●…ess in the proportion If it be true that the principal part of Beauty is in desent Motion certainly it is no marvel though Persons in years seem many times more aimable ●…or no Youth can be comely but by pardon and considering the Youth as to make up the Comliness Beauty is as summer Fruits easie to corrupt and cannot last and for the most part it makes a dissolute Youth and Age a little out of Countenance But yet certainly again if it light well it makes Vertues shine and Vices blush The Poet saith Virtue 's a chaste Queen and yet doth not scorn To be imbrac●…d by him that 's meanest born She is the Prop that 〈◊〉 support Yet one whom Slaves as well as Kings may court She loveth all that bear 〈◊〉 to 〈◊〉 And yields to any that hath Heart to woe her So Vice how high so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be in place Is that which Grooms m●…y 〈◊〉 at in Disgrace She is a Strumpet and m●…y be 〈◊〉 Yea spurn'd at in the 〈◊〉 of a Lord. The Epicures say to the Sto●…ks ●…licity placed 〈◊〉 Virtue that it is like the 〈◊〉 of a Plaver who if he were left of his Auditors and their applause 〈◊〉 would straight be out of Heart and Countenance and therefore they call Virtue 〈◊〉 Thea●…rale XVII Of Deformity DEformed Persons are commonly even with Nature for as Nature hath done ill by them 〈◊〉 do they by Nature being for the most part as the Scripture