Selected quad for the lemma: blood_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
blood_n	best_a	cure_v	great_a	58	3	2.1321	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A30439	A sermon preached at White-hall, on the 26th of Novemb. 1691 being the thanksgiving-day for the preservation of the King, and the reduction of Ireland / by the Right Reverend Father in God, Gilbert Lord Bishop of Sarum.	Burnet, Gilbert, 1643-1715.	1691 (1691)	Wing B5897; ESTC R19828	20,134	38

this forces the love of Mankind and draws down the favour of Heaven yet after all a good and generous Nature finds no difficulty in such acts of Mercy Treasure is not much exhausted by them and the true Pleasure that they give a noble Mind seems to be Reward enough Therefore we must next look to acts of Mercy of another sort where Nature is more heated and has a biass another way Mercy to the Injurious is certainly the harder performance Where the Dignity of the Person exalts one to so high a Sublimity the Insolence of an Injury gives a particular sharpness which is heightned if done with scorn and delivered in opprobrious words if there is black Ingratitude as well as deliberate Malice in it if there is a Venom in the spite that makes it both restless and poisonous and if it has ill Effects at present and may probably have worse afterwards When all these concur in Offences against Princes it must be acknowledged that acts of Mercy done after such Provocations carry so very near a resemblance to that Infinite Goodness which is kind to the unthankful and the evil That all things considered Mortals can scarce rise up to a higher pitch of Conformity David found in himself that if an Enemy had reproached him he could have born it but it was his equal one whom he had made so by his Friendship his guide and his acquaintance And this was too hard for him his Heart burnt within him and he broke out into such Complaints and Wishes upon it that it is not easie to know how to explain or justifie them It is a Consideration apt to beget Rage even in the mildest Breasts of those against whom the Injury does not work immediately to see a sort of Men who live safe under the justest and gentlest of all Governments go about with a restless Fury endeavouring to overturn it to corrupt the Minds of the Nation and to debauch them from the Duty and Gratitude that they owe to Princes who seem born for the good of Mankind for the Protection of Religion and for raising the honour of the Nation that was sinking into such a shameful degeneracy that a mighty Influence and great Examples were necessary to restore us to that from which we had fallen If these were only the practices of those of a different Religion we might the better bear them because we could expect no other from them But the Reproach is more sensible as well as the Danger is greater from false Brethren who like the Men of Smyrna that called themselves Jews but were not and were of the Synagogue of Satan may call themselves English Men and Protestants but are of the Synagogue of the great Enemy for that is the signification of the word Satan of our Nation of our Religion and of Mankind They seem to have persuaded themselves and study to persuade all others That what we may have heard of his Cruelty are only Tragical Stories aggravated far above the Truth that we need fear nothing tho' we should fall under the heaviest of all Plagues even his Tyranny but might be safe and happy under his Protection and in his Friendship and tho' the best Soils of Europe even those of his own Religion no sooner become a prey to him than they are immediately Fields of Blood and Bones and Scenes of Horrour and Cruelty yet we have an unnatural Race among us that are so far in love with him that even this dismal Prospect cannot cure it It cannot be denied but that in all this there is great and just ground of provocation But those who are called up to the higher Regions of human Nature the Elevation of whose Souls is proportioned to that of their condition as they have a greater compass in their Prospect so they have another pitch of sublimity in their Minds They know that Mercy does then shew its utmost force when it is the most provoked Natures stampt upon with the Divine Image feel more Pleasure in Pardoning than the most spiteful can do in Revenging Injuries The Interest they have in their People makes them reckon it a real diminution of their own strength when any Member of the Body is cut off they feel the force of a generous action upon themselves as they scorn the terrours of dreadful things and are apt to make such Experiments upon others to see how far the Ingenuity of Mankind can be wrought on and their Courage makes them despise Danger from a forgiven Enemy For tho' the trial succeeded ill with Caesar yet they do highly esteem that great saying of his That it was better once to die than to live always in fear The Princes whose Names shine the brightest in History are those whose Clemency shewed it self in the greatest Instances and after the highest Provocations Saul while under the Influence of the Divine Spirit and of that new Heart that was given him at his Exaltation how much soever he degenerated afterwards when he forsook that Conduct and was forsaken by it set a noble Pattern in his first Advancement which is remarkable in all its Circumstances He was told by the Prophet Samuel that God had designed him to be King of Israel and he felt the earnest of that in a Prophetical Spirit that rested on him Soon after the whole Nation fell into a great fermentation and a hot canvassing for the Crown He who knew where all must end yet would not make one step towards it he did not go about to manage Intrigues and render himself Popular but withdrew and shut himself up all the while At last the matter was put to a decision by Lots and the Lot fell on him He did not upon that rush out with any unbecoming Joy but staid till he was addressed to for it Then he was received and proclaimed King Immediately upon that he went into the Country probably without any great affectations of Pomp or State He considering his new Dignity as a Trust from God a Tie to his People and an Authority vested in him not to make himself look Big but to make his People truly Great and really Happy They whose heart God touched followed him They distinguisht aright between the Forms of Majesty and that true Sublimity of Mind which makes Kings great in themselves But the men of Belial who could not bear the Yoke nor be kept within the bounds of Law and Justice who had a notion of a King as a Creature of Pomp and Pageantry of Vice and Luxury and of Pride and Insolence that should have authorized Rapine and have dissolved Law and who knew well that they would make a Figure about such a Prince and were the only proper Instruments that he could Imploy now when they saw a new Scene and a Court that could not be for them they resolved they would not be for it They said How shall this Man save us and they brought him no Presents In that