Selected quad for the lemma: city_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
city_n	wisdom_n	wise_a	world_n	169	3	4.5941	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A44826	The benefit of a well-ordered conversation as it was delivered in a sermon preached June 24th. 1682. On a day of publick humiliation. As also a funeral discourse upon the three first verses of the third chapter of Isaiah; occasioned by the death of the worshipful Major General Denison; who deceased at Ipswich, Sept. 20. 1682. By Mr. William Hubbard. To which is annexed an Irenicon or a salve for New-England's sore: penned by the said major general; and left behind him as his farewell and last advice to his friends of the Massachusets.	Hubbard, William, 1621 or 2-1704.; Denison, Daniel, 1613-1682. Irenicon.	1684 (1684)	Wing H3208; ESTC W9576	81,919	262

support it as the Annotators speak upon the place The mighty Man such as are mighty for strength of Body or courage of mind which in the phrase of the Scripture are usually called Mighty men of valour such were David's Worthies and such were promised God would bless his people withal that one should chase a thousand and two of them should put ten thousand to flight Men that were not afraid to speak with the Enemy in the Gate but dare lift up their Spears one of them against some hundreds of their Enemies or such as were mighty by way of power of command and authority as were Joab and Abishai and Ittai under each of whose command a third part of Davids Army was put when they were marching out against Absolom The man of War Men that are skilful and expert in feats of Arms and making War that know how to go out and to come in before a People for this requires as well wisdom of the mind as courage and resolution of the heart and strength of the Body The Judg and the Prophet Publick Officers of the Common-wealth and of the Church the one to reform and punish vice by the execution of Justice and inflicting of punishment upon Offenders the other to press on to the study and practice of vertue by instruction of mens minds in the knowledge of the truth The Prudent and the Antient In the Hebrew it is the Diviner but not to be taken in an evil sence to foretel future events by a Diabolical art of Divination but on the better for men of much sagacity and depth of Judgment strength of Reason to bolt out the truth in things difficult and abstruse to foresee effects in their causes to deem of future consequences by present appearances readily to make conjecture of following events by the present estate of affairs as if he had a spirit of Divination and by a kind of secret instinct could foretel a Storm of evil while it is impending in the Clouds over head The wise mans heart discerns of time and judgment that which is said of the men of Issachar who had understanding in the times to know what ought to be done for the avoiding of the evil feared or to bring about the good desired such were the wise men that stood before Solomon who could tell Rehoboam what would become of his Kingdom if he attended the sudden and rash advice of his young upstart Counsellers And the Antient Such as by their years and age have had experience of all kind of affairs and therefore are the more able to guid the helm of publick concerns especially in a stormy season It is dangerous sailing on those seas in winter or stormy times The Captain of fifty Such breaches were made in their Military matters that there was scarce left a man able to command fifty followers no such were left as were able to undertake the conduct of Martial designs some of whom were called to lesser and some greater numbers as well as them that were to lead the whole The Honourable In the Hebrew it is Eminent in countenance not by Descent or Pedigree or Nobility of Stock which properly are not our own as the Poet speaks Nam genus proavos c. one that by reason of his wisdome and gravity carries Authority with him in his very countenance though he pretend to no honour by his extraction as our Saviour intimates That a true Prophet deserves honour at home as well as abroad though he should be the Son of a Carpenter and not of a Prophet Authority that is acquired by desert or real worth is much better than that which is obtained by dignity of place or birth Lewd persons may reproach the stock they issue from and gain Families no honour thereby as one answered Tu dedecus generi tuo c. The Counsellour Such as are able to advise in the most weighty matters of Church or state Solomon the wisest of Men would not act without counsel himself as he advised others to take that course as a way of more safety for we know he had those that stood before him for that end And we read that Hezekiah took counsel with his Princes in his Warrs with the Assyrian and it is to be feared that good Josiah lost his life by acting without or against the counsel of his few counsellers as Rehoboam did his Kingdom When things of great moment are managed without counsel all is like to fall to the ground or miscarry at home or abroad The Cunning Artificer and eloquent Orator The one is necessary for Ornament as the other for Stabiliment and Safety Moses and Solomon might have made a courtly Tabernacle and Temple without the help of such cunning Artificers as were Bezaleel Aholiab and Hyram but not so magnificent God had sometimes promised to make his people Israel the head and not the tail which must be understood of curious Artifices as well as of costly Contrivances and other Badges of Dignity In the Catalogue of the Captives of Judah are reckoned up the Smiths and other Artizans as well as the rich Citizens for as the King himself is served by the Field so is the honour of a State maintained by the skill of their Artificers in their several occupations Therefore the removal of these is to be looked upon as a special judgment as well as the loss of any other sort of men As for the eloquent Orator it is in the Hebrew He that is skilled in Charms i. e. one that hath that power and efficacy in his speech either by the strength of his Arguments or Eloquence of his utterance or Elegancy of his Language subtilty of his Expressions that he is able to overcome and carry them Captive that he speaks unto as t is said of David that he bowed the hearts of all the Men of Judah as one man the iron sinews of mens wilful obstinacy and rebellious humors are as it were melted by an insinuation of sweet words The soft tongue breaketh the bone such Eloquent Orators by the silver Cords of their Rhetorick do as it were chain the Hearers to their Lips and his affable Words and Perswasions have the same efficacy upon the Hearers as a spell or charm hath upon the Serpents who as the most malicious of all creatures will bite without Inchantment Thus Abigail as it were charmed David by her speech And the wise Woman of Abel by her words of Wisdom charmed Joab and his Army first and then the City so as they laid aside their Hostility on either side and hearkened to reason in not destroying a mother City in Israel Deriosthenes by his Eloquence did as much among his Athenians as Philip the Father of Alexander the great could with his Arms and Weapons of War among the Macedonians When such as are the forementioned are born into the World the Inhabitants thereof would rejoyce if they knew it as they do when they may sit under the shadow of

Pillars of the House the Foundation of the Building if these fail what can the righteous do more It was the poor and wise child that delivered the City although his wisdom was neither remembred nor rewarded It is time for the faithful to cry help Lord when the godly ceaseth and the faithful man faileth from among the children of men What would have become of the Kingdom of Judah if it had not been for Jehojadah when Athaliah got the upper hand They that desire or endeavour Reformation shall then be accounted treacherous and prosecuted accordingly The cause of removal of such as these is the sin of those they belong unto For the transgression of a People many are the Princes thereof They are hurried out the World by untimely deaths and others of less use are sent in their room Righteousness exalteth a Nation but sin is the reproach of any people If the righteous are taken away from the Earth it is because evil is coming upon them If God begins to cut Israel short in the Reign of Jehu's Posterity it is because of their Idolatry If Josiah be cut off by an untimely death it is because of the cry of the sins of Manasseh that Justice can no longer forbear their punishment In such cases of general Apostasie or notorious publick Iniquities the few Righteous that are left shall only deliver their own souls they shall not be able to keep off the Judgment from others It was for the sins of Ahaz and his people that the Kingdom of Judah was made bare and stripped of all their worthy men And when Noah is housed in the Ark let the old World look to it When Lot is escaped to the Mount let Sodom beware When poor Christians are gotten into Pella let Jerusalem be warned When Austin is called out of Hippo. When Pareus is taken out of Heydelberg the barbarous Enemies shall soon come and take possession USE I. Although Death be the common Calamity of all men and one of the Ordinances of Heaven that are more certain and immutable than any of the Laws of the Medes and Persians from which none are excepted For t is said to be appointed for all men once to die yet the providence of God is alwayes to be observed in taking away men of use and worth in the places where they are Some are taken away more immediately as were Enoch and Elijah found and as Moses and Aaron in a more than ordinary manner yet in a way of mercy to the persons themselves though in a way of Judgment to the places or people they belong unto So is the name of Methuselah interpreted by many that as soon as ever he should die the dart of Gods vengeance would fall upon the earth as it is observed that the Flood hapned the same year wherein he died There are Worthies of God at times upon the earth of which the World is not worthy they are for a while standing in the gap to keep out evils from breaking in upon the places where they are but as soon as ever they are removed calamities immediately break in upon the places from whence they were taken The people of Judah were ripe for Judgment in Manasseh's time and for his sins but when after all the long-suffering and patience of God under Josiah's Reign for a considerable time there seems little amendment in the body of the people he is at the last hastened out of the World by a violent death when Gods Judgements can be no longer forborn Others like David having served their Generation fall asleep by the Will of God but ordinarily it may be observed and known when men of parts and of great use in Church or Common-wealth are taken away in Gods displeasure 1. When they are taken away by a violent death as probably those were in Ahaz his time which seems to be intended in the Text if not for their own sins yet for the sins of them whom they belong unto T is said that bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their dayes as was verified in Joab Abner Amasa Absalom and others 2. When they die in their youth or Flower of their age or in their full strength before they come to be aged and gray headed As may be seen in Abija the Son of Jeroboam and Abijam the son of Rehoboam who though he was successful in his Wars yet his heart was not right with God 3. When they are taken away in times of eminent danger when they might have been of eminent use if their lives had been spared as is expressed in those doleful Lamentations of Jeremiah the breath of their Nostrils Lam. 4.20 The anointed of the Lord is taken in their pits under whose shadow we said we shall live among the Heathen If Jehosaphat and Hezekiah's lives had been drawn out a little longer how much evil in an ordinary way had been prevented which broke in upon their people immediately after under their wicked and degenerate issue Thus when a people are degenerate are grown sensual secure prophane and regardless of Gods honour and their own duty it is just with God to remove away those who by their piety prudence and prayers have been instruments to keep off Judgments and Calamities from breaking in upon the World The Angels tell Lot They can do nothing as to the executing the Judgment of God upon Sodom until he be come out of the City The Deluge is kept off the World till all the Righteous of the former Generation are gathered to their Fathers in peace and an Ark is prepared wherein Noah the sole righteous person left alive and his Family are to be secured from the impending Calamity 4 When the Righteous are taken from the evil to come Isa 57.1 in a way of mercy to themselves but of judgment to others God had determined to punish Judah for the sins of Manasseh but Josiah shall not live to see it he shall be gathered to his Fathers in peace as Huldah the Prophetess tells him i. e. before that general Calamity intended in former Prophecies should come upon the Land to break the Kingdom in pieces although himself as a just chastisement of God upon him for his wilfulness in not taking counsel of God by his Prophets and neglecting the mind of God intimated by his Enemy died a violent Death to the amazing astonishment of those he left behind 5. When men that have been of eminent use in their times and places are Idolized and Adored by their followers When the honour due to the supreme Agent is given to his Instruments God will have men know that he stands in need neither of their wisdom nor of their courage and that he can carry on his designs and fulfil the counsel of his own will without as well as with means by weak means as well as by the more likely and most probable or powerful means He knows how to make his Jacob arise when he is fallen the lowest of

withdrawn Heaven it self would be a less glorious Orb compared with what now it is even so would the sphere of this lower World be far less desirable if it were not enlightened with some radiant Lamps much brighter than others so far do some Stars excel others in Glory The Saints compared with the rest of the World are as the Salt of the Earth the Lights of the Firmament the Pillars and Shields of the Earth They are the Salt of the Earth that keep others sweet and preserve the World from Putrefaction Some mens Souls as one saith well serve only for Salt to keep their bodies from stinking and corrupting which they presently do as well as their names as soon as their Souls are expired but the righteous and the wise are a sweet Savour both living and dead and their memory shall be blessed Their very lips are as a tree of life and as well-springs of living water that reveive the Spirits of those they converse with They are the choice and excellent ones upon the Earth and keep up the honour of others where they live They are the lights of the World that enlighten others by the light of their wisdom and refresh them by the lustre of their holiness Every particular Christian may have light enough for himself in his own Family As a Torch or Candle end that may suffice to guid himself in his own station and family but these are as Stars in the firmament of Heaven that give light to the whole Orb of Church or State where they are placed They are as the Pillars that bear up the Fabrick and support the whole Building every particular person may be of use to fill up the sides of the building or as Artifice to adorn the outward surface thereof but they are of far more choice and excellent use that serve as Pillars to bear up the weight of the whole work without which all would presently fall to the ground As hapned in Ely's and Saul's time when the Earth and the Inhabitants thereof were dissolved for want of some to bear up the Pillars of it And so likewise are they as Shields of the Earth as the Chariots and Horse-men thereof to defend it the common People without Leaders are but as sheep without a Shepherd ready to be devoured by every Enemy that appears As may be seen by the Kingdom of Judah which flourished and prospered well all the dayes of Jehoiadah but presently after his decease a small company of the Assyrians destroy an huge Host of them when like an headless Multitude they come to engage with a small Army of their Adversaries Such Princes as was Joash destitute both of wisdom and courage like the Bramble as soon as the Oak under which it grew up was removed was blasted by every Storm that surrounds him This made Solomon conclude that wisdom is better than Riches or them weapons of War when a poor man by his wisdom can save and deliver the City from out of the hand of a Mighty King that encamped against it Thus Wise men are not only the stay and staff the safety and security of a People but they are the Honour and Ornament of their Countrey like the Jewel of the King which though of Gold yet receives all its lustre and beauty there-from Concerning the Gentleman whose Funeral Obsequies were lately celebrated amongst us not to say more than is convenient to prevent emulation in them that are surviving His Parts and Abi●ities were well known amongst those with whom he lived and might justly place him among the first three having indeed many natural Advantages above others for the more easie attaining of skill in every science It may without flattery be said of him as the great Orator D. H. said of Hugo de groot of Holland Natura qua prius Nevorea c●tis illi matêr fuit Nature which is Nutrix obstetrisque omnibus yet acquaints many of her Off-spring with hard labour and study and great pains to search and beat out things and some are forced to break their teeth before they can break the shell and come at the Kernel while she is more propitious to others as her Favourites that by the strength of their reason and quickness of their parts can see through every thing at the first dash as the genuine Children of their first Father who could at the first view discern the intrinsical being of things and creatures and accordingly impose suitable Names upon each while others must own that with great sums i. e. much labour and skill they have purchased that skill as the Captain of the Castle in Jerusalem speaks His Military skill some years before his death advanced him to the Conduct and Command of the whole which he was able to have managed with great exactness yet was he not inferiour in other Sciences And as a good Souldier of Christ Jesus he had attained to no small confidence in his last conflicts with the King of Terrors being not afraid to look Death in the face in cold blood but with great composedness of mind received the last Summons For though he was followed with tormenting pain of the Stone or Strangury that pursued him to the last he neither expressed impatience under those grinding pains nor want of confidence or comfort from his first seizure yea such was his earnest desire to be discharged from his Warfare that he could not be perswaded to say Amen to the earnest desires of his best and nearest friends for recovery from his present sickness or for continuance of life any longer As was said of Frederick the Palsgrave of the Rhine who told his Friends that came about his sick-bed He had lived long enough for them on earth it was now time for him to live to himself in Heaven So having fought the good fight run his Race and finished his course he quietly resigned up his spirit to God that gave it Blessed are they that die in the Lord for they rest from their Labour and their works follow them His last thoughts and endeavours were for the good of the publick as may be seen by the Irenicon now lately found amongst his Papers which it is thought would be too much ingratitude to withhold from the view of all any longer If after his death he should meet with that which is common to other men of wisdom and worth in the world to be traduced and hardly censured it would be no wonder Sore eyes cannot bear the light Men of corrupt minds and manners are most forward to oppose the truth and its assertors to say he was without infirmities was to say he was not a Man for there is no just man that sinneth not yet as they say of natural Phisitians their Errors are buried in the Church yard though their Cures are written with the beams of the Sun if he as a Physitian of the state in course had any skill above others let none envy him the honour thereof if he ever