Selected quad for the lemma: virtue_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
virtue_n	good_a	sin_n	vice_n	2,913	5	8.3067	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A13269	The rich mans vvarning-peece A sermon, vpon occasion, formerly preached, and now published, by the author, Humfrey Sydenham, late fellow of Wadham Colledge in Oxford.	Sydenham, Humphrey, 1591-1650?	1630 (1630)	STC 23570; ESTC S118064	21,118	46

againe and take off from the glory of the Lord of Hoasts to worship a Golden Calfe By the Law of Nature saith the Epicure the greatest riches are but a compos'd pouertie and by the Law of God the greatest pouertie is but ill-compos'd riches for he that pile's them by fraud or violence builds Aauarice one storie higher to oppression and then not onely Pouerty but Iudgement followes God shall raine snares vpon them Psal 18 That which should otherwise cherish shall now intangle them and then Storme and Tempest shall bee their portion to drinke such a storme as will not be allaid without a shower of vengeance Hearke how it blowe's Woe vnto them That ioyne House to house and lay field to field till they be placed alone in the middest of the Earth This is in mine eares saith the Lord of Hoasts of a truth many houses shall be desolate euen great and faire without an Inhabitant Ten Acres of vineyard shall yeeld one Bath and the seed of an Omer shall yeeld an Ephah Is this all No the Thunder clap is behind Hell hath enlarged her selfe and opened her mouth without measure and their multitude and their Pompe shall descend into it Esay 5.14 There is no misery to vniust riches no leannesse of teeth like those which grow fat with the substance of another but to them which grind Pouertie by Extortion deuorant plebem sicut escam panis eate vp my people as a morsell of bread what Hell here what Horror in after times Oh the fearefull Eiulations some haue shrik'd Would God had giuen me a heart senslesse like the flint in the rockes of stone which as it can tast no pleasure so no Torment no torment here but when the Heauens shall shriuell like a scroule and the Hills moue like frighted men out of their place what Mountaine shall they get by entreaty to fall vpon them what couert to hide them from that fury which they shall neuer bee able to suffer nor auoide Iudgements doe not alway follow Crimes as Thunder doth Lightening Instantly but sometimes an Age is interpos'd as betweene two Earth-quakes though they may escape the darts and wounds of temporall persecutions heere yet the sting that lie's behind is Dreadfull They shall sucke the Gall of Aspes Iob 20.14 and the Vipers tongue shall slay them Thus wee see Riches and Blessednesse doe not alwayes kisse He 's not euer Happie that is prosperous the acquisition of much wealth is no End of miserie but a change the Low-built Fortune harbour's as much Peace as that which is Higherroof'd and hath one aduantage beyond it 't is lesse wind-shooke The humble Hysope and Shrub of the valley are not so expos'd to Tempests as the Cedar in Libanus or the Oke in Basan they are threatned with many a Cloud and Exhalation which the other neither Feare Epicurus nor Suffer Contented Pouertie saith the good Athenian is an Honest thing but 't is no more Pouertie if it bee content we cannot say hee is poore that is satisfied but he that couet's more He that is at peace with his desires and can compose himselfe to what Nature only requires from him is not only without the Sense but without the Feare of miserie is he poore that hath neither Gold nor Hunger nor Thirst plùs Iupiter nòn habet Iupiter himselfe hath no more That is not little which is enough nor that much which is not enough He that think 's much Little is still poore and he that think 's Little much is euer Rich Rich in respect of Nature though not Opinion The man thou cal'st poore hath doubtlesse something that is superfluous and where Superfluitie is there can bee no want where no want no pouertie on the otherside the man thou stil'st Rich is either Poore or like a poore man he cannot improue his Store but by Frugalitie and Frugalitie is but paupertas voluntaria a voluntarie pouertie Seneca call's it so in his fifteenth Epistle ad Lucillium Let 's then Epist 91● borrow Aduice from that sacred Heathen pardon the Epethite Seneca will owne it and presse it home to the practice of a Christian Measure all things by naturall desires only beware thou mixe not Vices with Desires Nature content's her selfe with a little what is beyond or aboue that is impertinent and not necessarie Thou art hungrie reach not after Dainties the Appetite shall make that toothsome which is next whether thy bread be white or browne Nature question 's not Illa ventrem nòn delectari vult sed impleri She would haue the bodie fed not delighted Thou art drie whether this water runne from the next Lake or that which is arted by Snow or forraine cold Nature disputes not she labour's to quench thy Thirst not to affect thy Palate whether the cup be Gold or Chrystall Sabinian or that of Murrha or else the hollow of thine owne hand it matter 's not Fixe thine eyes vpon the End of all things thou wilt loath Superfluities Nùm tibi cùm fauces vrit sitis Aurea quaeris pocula Nùm esuriens fastidis omnia praeter pauonem Hunger is not Ambitious shee looke's not after the qualitie of meates but the measure how shee may Fill the bodie not pamper it These are torments of an vnhappie Luxurie when wee seeke new wayes how to prouoke and glut the Appetite and not only to refresh our Tabernacles Ecclus 37. but to cloy them Delicates powred vpon a mouth shut vp are like messes of meate set vpon a graue things only for Spectacle not Repast Of all Gluttonies that of the Eye is most Epicuricall when it would still see Dainties which it cannot taste till the Desire hath as much surfeited as the Bodie and so we abuse the Bountie of a better Nature to satisfie the Lust and Concupiseence of the whole man and this Rapine and greedinesse of the sence is as vnwarrantable as that of fortune which breake 's downe all bankes of moderation and therefore without either Morall or Diuine prescription There can be no Vertue in Extreme no good which consist's not in exactnesse of proportion so that by the diminution or excesse of that proportion Vice insinuates insomuch that in the exuberancie of these outward creatures Sinne is conceiued Aquin. 2.2 q. 118. Art 1. a Capitall and Daring sinne when aboue a due equalitie and measure we either acquire or retaine them eagerly And this the Schoole-man call's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Immoderate hunger and persuite of temporals in secunda secundae 118. quaest Art 1. There is no outward state of life so blessed as that which Diuide's betweene Penurie and Abundance the extreame on either side is Miserie And therefore the wisest King that euer was and the greatest both for Treasure and Retinue in his owne desire of secular things euer mixt his Orisons with this Petition Lord giue me neither Riches nor Pouertie Sed victui meo tribue necessaria Feed mee with food