Selected quad for the lemma: master_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
master_n	able_a	great_a	reason_n	275	4	4.4424	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A82001	Historie & policie re-viewed, in the heroick transactions of His Most Serene Highnesse, Oliver, late Lord Protector; from his cradle, to his tomb: declaring his steps to princely perfection; as they are drawn in lively parallels to the ascents of the great patriarch Moses, in thirty degrees, to the height of honour. / By H.D. Esq.	H. D. (Henry Dawbeny)	1659 (1659)	Wing D448; Thomason E1799_2; ESTC R21310	152,505	340

avarice and waste it as fast by riot thirty or forty years agoe more or lesse was not able to contend for excellency with a pitiful Cater-pillar His Mosaical Highnesse I say considered all this and a great deal more to render himself a true imitator of his Master First though his Nobility of birth was very great as we have seen he never intoxicated his brains with it as some do now adayes that make it their businesse to dig out and disentomb their Grandfathers as it were from the ashes of old Troy and spend so much time as Ausonius sayes very well In searching out of uncertain Parents that they many times give occasion to suspect that they have none certain No my Lord though he knew very well how to value the happinesse of a good extraction yet for any man to be proudly pufft up with it he accounted no lesse than madnesse for revolving the whole masse of mankind we shall find as Plato told us long agoe That there is no King which comes not from Clownes nor Clown who is not descended from the blood of Kings Then for beauty of body though his Highnesse had as fair a proportion as any man as we have likewise shewed yet he could as little pride himself in that knowing it to be but a covering for ordures the blanching of a dunghill with snow or at the best but a fadding flower of the field which hath as it were for Horizon the very instant of its birth Et dum nascantur consenuisse rosas no more could any of his great natural or acquired parts raise him above his proper pitch knowing the best learning amongst men to be but a qualified ignorance the memory it self to be but the belly of the soul and most frequently fill'd with nothing but winde the best and most acute wit of man he lookt upon as a poor thin thing like the spiders web and fitter to catch flies than any thing else and as for the judgement he knew how dangerous a thing it was to confide in that little lesse than a leprosie in the heart of man No more could his Mosaick Soul be elevated with all the honours he enjoy'd and greatnesse of this world for he took all them for burdens and at the best lookt upon them but as golden Maskes and weather-cocks of inconstancy and for all manner of praises flattery complacency and ticklings of some vain men he ever hated and contemned as fit onely to inebriate shallow brains for riches he evermore scorned as the offall of the earth the nest of rust and tinder of concupiscence for Palaces and stately Houses he valued but as the bones of the earth pil'd one upon another with ciment and morter for precious Stones he esteemed as they were the excrements of an inraged Sea borrowing their worth onely from illusion Much lesse could his great wisdom be capable of that vanity wherewith men usually pride themselves in cloaths meer nourishment for moths to cover bodies which must be food for wormes he lookt upon all bravery of apparel but as plaisters of the scars of sin to wit nakednesse borrowed feathers from all kinds of birds unpunisht thefts witnesses of our poverty that makes us to beg the assistance of so many creatures to cover our shame Moreover he knew that Vestitus ut tegit corpus ita detegit animum Our attire does not more cover the nakednesse of our bodies than discover that of our mindes his Highnesse therefore purposely did as all wise men will avoid any vanity or ostentation in that Nor yet could his Mosaick Highnesse be taken with that empty piece of pride which most great ones now adayes are possest withal to behold behind him great and gay Trains of servants who but burden their Masters with their many sins and make them become answerable for their accumulated follies See here a miracle of men in the contempt of riches and honours for the first he never cared to hold lockt up in his coffers nor ever thought were as they should be but when they were distributed for they resembled as I have heard he used to say nothing more naturally than a dunghill which stinks when it lies heaped together but fattens fields when spread abroad and for the other he took it for as great a meer mockery to affect greatnesse amongst men as if a Rat should pride himself to be a Lord forsooth amongst Mice He was so far from feeding himself with or priding himself in glory that he would often say too as I have heard all that was but the swelling of the eare Are not these Apothegms worthy of so great a Prince In fine his Highnesse alwayes concluded with the Prophet Habakkuk Quomodo potentem vinum decipit sic erit vir superbus That as drunkenness was taken with wine so were the braines of men intoxicated with pride and proper opinion There is no man will deny sure but that all those actions and expressions aforesaid were very high humiliations before God and indubitable marks of a pure Mosaick spirit but where were his humilities to men and his meeknesses of spirit in points of government If this be demanded by any doubting person let him tell me how often he has found any surly supercilious looks fall from him or any fastidious disdainful words or gestures which so usually accompany common greatnesse No his Highnesse besides the great amaenity and affability of his Noble-nature had better studied the accomplisht Cyrus in Xenophon who tells us that Fastuosum ac morosum ingenium quod fastidium sui aliorumque secum trahit felix principatus non admittit Insolency and morosity are not at all consistent with the condition of a happy Prince and what Ausonius so highly commends in his Gratianus Quod faciles interpellantibus praeberet aditus nec de occupatione causaretur quinimo ubi postulata aut querimonias explicassent percunctaretur numquid praeterea vellent That he was a Prince of easie accesse and a very patient eare not expostulating why men came to trouble him but when they had said all would ask still Whether they had any more to say In short his Highnesse was truly that which the most gracious Emperour Titus would have every Prince to be careful to be that is Sweet Serene and Pleasant to all and Non oportere à sermone Principis quemquam tristem discedere That it was not fit for any Prince to send any man from his presence away sad or discontented His Highnesse very well understood that Verba aliquando munera faciunt and if he were forced at any time to deny a favour he did it alwayes so Vt benignis negata res verbis sit gratior quam concessa morosis That he would oblige more by his very denials than some Kings that I have known would do by their very grants It was observed by a great Critick upon Julius Caesar that Quamvis eum Clementia liberalitas fortitudo commendarent odium

reprimit omnium irritat Fear is no good Master and frequent punishments provoke more ill blood than they do suppresse The reason is plain for men that lie under any oppression especially if it be for matter of conscience though they are at some times possibly wise and temperate enough doe ordinarily become mad and usually trample down all relations to make way for a deliverance where they have least hopes given them of a remedy and as the condition of mens beings alter so they do most commonly vary their interests and principles His Mosaick Highnesse therefore would not as was said before of him that Cum victor extiterit lictor protinus evasit appear at all severe upon Brethren of the same Faith though differing it may be in some Doctrines he provided more Doctors than Executioners for them knowing that the apprehensions of God and true Religion are to be instilled into the hearts of men by the true Spirit of Prophesie and help of tongues and not by the dint of swords he knew that God had not in these dayes refused his wonted appearance in a soft voice and chosen to remain in thunder as our Boanerges's would have it now as also he considered that to go about to reform any thing in Religion by humane strength is quite contrary to the nature of Reformation it self and as extravagant a course as to attempt the repair of a Castle-wall with a needle and thread He never went about to make decisions of Faith with the edge of his sword or determine controversies in Religion by his armour of proof No the sword of the Spirit he knew did never use to make way to the conscience by cutting through the flesh and he that by force of armes cruelty and persecution goes about to reform or defend any Religion doth but take such courses as are condemned by the same Religion that he would defend His Highnesse therefore alwayes took a softer and securer course like a true Mosaical Prophet indeed knowing that the true Spirit of Prophesie like Amber sweetly draws the slightest straw and like Adamant will court and attract the hardest iron He had observed likewise what some Naturalists tell us That fountains of troubled water would be cleansed with a Honey-comb while violent stirring of them would but foul them worse He reflected frequently upon the Speech of Abner to Joab Num usque ad internecionem hujus macro defaeviet an ignoras quod periculosa est desperatio usque quo non dicis populo ut omittat persequi fratres suos Shall the Sword devoure forever Knowest thou not that it is not a little dangerous to drive men into despairation How long shall it be then ere thou bid the people return from persecuting their Brethren An excellent piece of counsel and as good an example and was as well followed by his late most Serene Highnesse He ever held those to be best and most godly Laws that were least sanguinary and yet maintained order all others he accounted meer Phalarismes and leges Draconis And though it may be objected that to give factions the bridle to entertain and propagate new opinions is the highway to scatter contentions and sow divisions amongst the people and as it were to lend them hand to make a disturbance of the Publick peace there being no bar or obstacle of Lawes to hinder their course yet it may be as well urged that to give factions that very bridle to uphold their opinions is by that facility and gracious favour the ready way to mollifie and reform them at least to blunt their edge which would be otherwise sharpned by rarenesse novelty and difficulty Clemency is a vertue sometimes of as great policy as piety as we have shewed in our former Ascents because it begets love and love breeds loyalty commands the very soul and layes the body at the feet of the obliger Mercy kindles fire and zeale in the hearts of Subjects pitty and pardon as they make the obligation of the offenders greater so it makes them repent to have offended him who hath so obliged them the reason is infallible fidelem si putaveris facies The way to make a faithful friend is to believe him to be so But what has prophesying to do with faction that good spirit sure cannot be guilty of making any publick disturbance for it is a spirit of peace Several prophetick spirits certainly and diversities of perswasions in matter of Religion may live and cohabit together without destruction of one another and though they come not into one Church Congregation or Meeting-place yet may converse together in one Market City or Common-wealth Symmachus though a Pagan yet a most Learned and Vertuous one could say in a Speech that he made to Theodorick That in matter of Religion every man ought to have his rights and ceremonies as his opinion free and gives his reason thus God is a great Secret no wonder therefore if we endeavour to find him so many several wayes And Constantine though a very good Christian profest in a solemn Oration Not to force any man in his Religion but to leave to every one that as free as the Elements I would very fain know now what these men of mighty uniformity will say to these great reasons and greater authorities of our first and second Moses the greatest Princes and gravest Persons in the World and what possibility they can propose to reduce the diversities of mens spirits to this their wonderful accord For it is against common sense and reason that ever men shall be one in opinion we know the Heathen could declare Quot capita tot sensus So many men so many mindes So that they which endeavour this specious unity seem to me to go about to imprison Aeolus and his two and thirty sonnes in a bag as it is said the L●planders use to do since opinion will blow still from every point of the Compasse And as any confinement of the winde torments nature with an earthquake so to rob the soul of its freedom which is far more agil and diffusive must needs cause a cholick with an inflammation in the bowels of a Kingdom Till then these pitiful uniformity-mongers be pointed at as the onely enemies of a State and this wretched perswasion be wrought out of the hearts of men that they ought to make all men walke that way par-force which their byassed Priests cry up for the onely right and till men be lesse in the Letter that they may be more one in the Spirit which none but the spiritual can apprehend and until they leave crying for fire from Heaven against Brethren in the Faith we shall alwayes have our Churches and Country too in a flame though perhaps themselves may be first in the ashes In the mean time it shall satisfie me and I hope all the good people of the Land to contemplate the Idaea and blessed example of our gracious second as he did alwayes that of the first Moses