or what a crosse and crooked prouidence of God were to make himselfe one of those Masters whom the Apostle Iames reproueth the rather for that he chargeth that with blasphemie wherein he cannot shew the least point of impiety For that of Fortune if indeed by Fortune wee vnderstand such a blinde Deity as the fabulous Poets fained and idolatrous Infidels adored it is idle and impious for any man to ascribe ought thereunto But if by it we vnderstand the casuall and vncertaine motion of the Creature whereby something beside the scope thereof is further effected so we haue heard that the holy Ghost vseth the tearme and our Sauiour himselfe ascribeth the Preists lighting vpon the Passenger that lay wounded on the way thereunto By chaunce or by fortune for the words are all one a Preist came downe that way and likewise a Leuite For the difference and dissimilitude of games it is great indeed but as there are other things that a man may asâ—â—â—be the cause of his losse vnto in other games bâ—â—â—e Gods prouidence which yet swaieth also in them so is there somewhat else here to wit the casuall motion and various disposition of the Creature a thing in it selfe and of it selfe distinct from Gods prouidence as we formerly shewed § 2. The second euill attending on or accompanying these Lot-games is losse of time and decay of health by long sitting at them The summe of the Argument which the Author cutteth into twaine but may well be reduced to one is this That which causeth losse of time which might much better be spent is vnlawfull So doth hazard in play It s therefore vnlawfull The Proposition is confirmed by the Apostles authoritie who willeth Christian men to redeeme the time that is to spend their spare time in honest and profitable employments as in reading on Gods word visiting the sicke their friends and such like The Assumption is proued by the nature of this kinde of disport thus That which neither wearieth the body nor cutteth of hope of conquest in time and by continuance that recreation causeth losse of time But this kinde of disport neither wearieth the body for there is no exercise at all in it nor cutteth off hope of conquest in time and by continuance because it dependeth wholy vpon hazard wherein the weakest and simplest may hope after neuer so long continued losse at length to conquer and recouer the dice changing their course which they may as well doe as otherwise and those that haue won hope well to haue still the same luck that before they had This kinde of game therefore causeth 〈◊〉 losse of time hauing no stint or end in it which other games of necessitie must needes haue either the body being ouer-wearied or the weaker side for want of skill past hope of winning This might haue done well for a Caution it doth scarce well for an Argument For first for the proposition of the former Syllogisme if it be vnderstood without limitation that time ought to be spent alwaies in the best duties simply it will ouer-throw all kinde of disport whatsoeuer For it fighteth equally against all be it of hazard meere or mixt or of exercise of bodily strength or wit But that is not sound neither is it the Apostles meaning or purpose in that place to cut of all kinde of recreation which Gods word giueth good warrant for but to cut off that idle and vaine trifling out and mispending of time needlesly not onely by recreations but by other worldly occasions whereby men many times ouer-lade themselues with neglect of those things that doe most principally concerne them and which our Sauiour therefore would haue them to seeke principally and in the first place vsing the maine as a by-matter and by-matters as the maine as one sometime said wittily and liuing rather to any end then what they should liue vnto And thus not onely gaming and play but buying also and selling and building and planting and eating and drinking and wiuing and wedding and husbandry and tillage may become sinnes against that iniunction of redeeming the time when they shall take vp the due time of other necessarie duties And yet are both of them warrantable and good taken in their owne time For the best workes simply are not euer to bee done else should euery day be a Sabboth day as he sometime said in an other sense and not any weeke day a worke day or if the weeke bee for worke I meane worldly worke then the whole weeke one worke-day and no minute or moment left for any kinde of recreation it being a worse thing then worke since that worke is the end of it and the end is euer more excellent then what tendeth thereunto No sinne indeed is euer or any where to be done but the same good workes are not to be done at all times Negatiue commandements binde euery where and to all times Affirmatiue precepts binde euery where and at all times but they binde not to euery place nor vnto all times The worke therefore fittest for the time is euer then the best worke because the best though not simply yet in regard of all circumstances at that instant concurring For the seasonable doing of each thing is a matter of much moment since there is a time and season for all lawfull imployments be they serious or lusorious ciuill or sacred And neither is a good action good when it is not seasonably done nor a meaner matter omitted without sinne in his season though it be to tend a matter in it selfe of more moment It is a sinne for a man sometime not to recreate himselfe it is not only a sinne for him to doe a lesse good when he might and should doe a greater but it is a sinne for him to be about something though a better thing otherwise when hee is called to tend a meaner matter as it is sinne for a seruant to be reading on a good booke yea on the Bible it selfe when he should be seruing in his Masters supper The Apostles speech therefore cutteth not off all recreation it being in it selfe lawfull and good and warranted by Gods word as that which refresheth both body and minde and maketh either more fit and better able to goe through with and hold out in more serious imployments which would otherwise oppresse either and that which therefore it is no wise nor religious part for any man vtterly to neglect It proueth losse and misse-spending of time to be sinne as it is questionlesse a great and a grieuous though too common a sinne but it proueth not that to be sinne or euill in it selfe wherein some men yea or many men misse-spend their time albeit it be euill then to them Secondly the Assumption maketh as well against other games that men may spend much time
solemnize their festiuals For this is not to sanctifie or consecrate the Sabbath as holy to the Lord. The Sabbath indeed is a day of rest but of holy rest of rest not to worldly recreations but to heauenly meditations of rest to religious and spirituall imployments It is sacriledge therefore to follow game on the Sabbath at such time as wee should bee plying the seruice and worship of God it is time stolne from God that wee spend so on our sports Which it were lesse sinne therefore for vs to spend on some more serious affaires according to that which one of the auncients well say that It were better for a man in such manner on the Sabbath to plough then to play and to dig and delue then to daunce all day For the lighter the occasion of sinning is where all other things are equall the greater the sinne is Yea and those also that on other daies wast that time this way which they ought to spend either in their owne priuate and personall deuotions or in instruction of their families and performance of holy duties with them are not herein to be iustified no more then the former the one turneth it to sinne as well as the other in neglecting of that duty for the following of their owne pleasure that God himselfe hath enioyned them and will one day require of them So that the rule is here that That time alone may be spent in play which wee haue free from other serious and religious affaires § 5. Thirdly recreation must be vsed ingenuously freely and liberally not with any greedy desire of lucre and gaine For recreation is no trade or course of life for a man to make a liuing of or to liue by As it is not playing but spending when men wast themselues that way so it is not playing with but preying vpon those wee seeme to play with when by such courses we pill them and make a spoile of them It is to alter the very nature of the thing it selfe to make a trade and a trafficke of disport and pastime to make not a lusorious but a serious Lâ—t of it yea more then a serious a sad and an heauie Lot as it oft falleth out of that which should be meerely for recreation and delight Thou makest thy selfe both a Sinner whosoeuer thou art in so doing by taking that from thy brother that neither he ought to part with nor thou to receiue and a Partner also with him in his sinne whereby he mispendeth or hazardeth the mispending of that which he ought otherwise to imploy But it is not lawfull at all then may some say for a man to receiue any gaine or liue in any wise by Game I answer in some kind and in some case it may and that either ordinarily or extraordinarily Ordinarily those may be said to liue lawfully by Game whose trades professions are imployed in whole or in part in making prouiding selling vttering such instruments or other furniture as are vsed commonly in Game as Bowyers and Fletchers and Turners and Dice-caruers and Card-makers and Haberdashers of small wares For if the games themselues be lawfull the callings are not vnlawfull whereby men are set on worke to prouide necessaries for the same which could not otherwise so commonly or so conueniently be had Extraordinarily a man may sometime also by the Game it selfe receiue gaine as thus Suppose a man of good wealth either being euill at ease or otherwise desirous to recreate himselfe calleth in a poore man from his trade or his worke that he is otherwise imployed in to accompanie him in his game which he cannot vse without companie it is not vnlawfull for the poore man so accompanying the rich to receiue some gaine from him as a reward of his imployment with him and in liew of that losse which he sustaineth by intermitting of his owne worke But among equals or others ordinarily that play togither for mutuall recreation and delight for the one to enrich or to desire to enrich himselfe by the others damage and losse it is a note of a base and an illiberall disposition and against the nature of disport which ought to be free The Rule then is here that Play be vsed as play for pleasure not for profit for game not for gaine and as no man therefore ought to wast his pretious time or his estate thereat and to buy his recreation at so deare a rate as were the expence and losse of either so neither ought any man to seeke or desire by play to encrease or aduance his estate or to make a prey and a spoile of him that he plaieth with § 6. Fourthly recreation must be vsed inoffensiuely or without offence For if in all things regard is to be had hereunto then in recreation also among the rest if in eating and drinking matters of more and greater necessitie then much more in things lighter and of lesse weight as being matter of meere delight onely which may otherwaies also well be had Now the offence that may be giuen by game is either generall or speciall publike or priuate in regard of our superiours or in regard of our equals Publike offence may be giuen to the Lawes and State we liue vnder by common vse of such Games as are by the Law made vnlawfull For howsoeuer it be true indeed that positiue Lawes as they are such doe not simply binde the conscience nor alter the nature of things lawfull and indifferent in themselues yet may men by the breach of them become guiltie of sinne in Gods sight where they restraine for good and wholesome ends the vse of things euen indifferent partly through contempt of supreame authoritie enacting them and partly also through hindrance of the publike vtilitie aimed at in them which is either of them seuerally much more both of them iointly sufficient to make a man stand guilty of sin against God The like is to be said of those that liue in such Churches where the vse of some particular Games is held vnlawfull or inhibited euery one being bound for peace and quietnes sake to conforme himselfe in things indifferent to the Church hee liueth in As also of those that liue vnder the ministery of such Pastors as are of a contrarie iudgement in this point the Apostle requiring Christian men not to obey them onely but to yeeld vnto them that haue the ouer sight of them and that watch ouer them for their soules safetie that is not onely to be ruled by them for necessarie duties and such as they shall be able to conuince them of by the euidence of Gods word but to be ouer ruled also by them in matters of indifferencie when they shall deeme somewhat vnlawfull that may well be forborne though either the grounds of such iudgement of theirs be insufficient or their people be not throughly
vnto the head of Inexpediency I referre all such things as may bring a man within danger of some spirituall euill For the former point of Conueniencie and Inconueniencie the rule is that because things in themselues otherwise lawfull and warrantable may seeme Conuenient in some respects and Inconuenient in others that therefore where the Conueniences and the Inconueniences shall be laid in an euen ballance of equall and indifferent iudgement either against ' other the action is to be deemed either Conuenient or Inconuenient as the one side shall appeare to weigh downe the other that is to say The Conueniences being more or weightier make the thing questioned Conuenient the Inconueniences being more and weightier make it iustly deemed Inconuenient To apply this to the present In the Vse of a Lot about a matter of it selfe otherwise not euill if the Conueniences shall be so many and so weighty on the one side that they may wel weigh downe whatsoeuer Inconueniences may be produced on the other side there the action is Conuenient and a Lot therefore lawfull but contrariwise where the Inconueniences that shall necessarily or in good probability appeare to accompanie the thing questioned or ensue vpon the doing of it shall be such and so great as the Conueniences that stand on the other side shall not be able to counteruaile there the action is worthily disallowed as Inconuenient and a Lot consequently vnlawfull Thus in publike affaires for the giuing of some few priuate men contentment to admit a Lot where the admission of it may in likelihood proue preiudiciall to the publike were an vnwise course and an vnwarrantable because the publike weighing down the priuate maketh the action inconuenient Where it is worth the obseruing that albeit among the Romanes the ordinary imployments of their Officers and many other affaires were ordered oft-times by Lot yet when any extraordinarie accident fell out or any busines to be dispatched of more speciall weight they either left wholy then their Lotery or limited the course of it which yet after when things were quieted and setled they returned againe vnto and though those in office themselues desired yea vrged it and instantly called for it that they might not seeme contemned as being balked and reiected and others in the State-seruice preferred before them yet the regard of the common good preuailed so farre with them that they would not hearken vnto them to put that to the hazard of a Lot where the euent might proue much inconuenient which otherwise ordinarily they did That is not true therefore that one of our Writers saith that Rome directed the maine course of her gouernment by the Fortune of this mocke-destinie For neither were the Officers themselues ordinarily chosen by Lot neither did they retaine the vse of it in matters of speciall weight or difficultie the only constant vse of it was in diuiding the Prouinces and Iurisdictions as if the Iudges with vs should cast Lots for their Circuits and the two in each Circuit whether should sit vpon priuate suites and whether vpon publike pleas Which course also as they brake where the imploiments were of more speciall importance so if in vsing the Lot it fell not out so as seemed behouefull for the State they made bold as they might well doe to controle the Lotery and to dispose of things otherwise Thus againe howsoeuer it were not vnlawfull simply for many to ioyne together in a Lotery as well as in a free contribution which Iobs friends sometime did for the raising againe of an honest man by crosses and casualties fallen behind hand yet for a State to giue way to publike courses in that kinde for the raising and enriching of some one decaied Banckrupt ' by the probable damage yea and impouerishing of many others that out of hope to gaine great matters may wring and wrong both themselues and their whole families thereby may well seeme scarce warrantable considering the hindrance of many therein procured for the helping of some one Thus lastly how soeuer in goods bought in common because men may be many times contentiously minded and ready to take discontent euen in the equallest courses yea because men commonly in these cases are wont to thinke that better that goeth from them though indeed it be not so and that lesse that commeth to them though it be the better part when diuision hath beene made with as much equalitie as may be or with such inequalitie as they shall both agree vpon it is a course not lawfull and conuenient onely but euen laudable and commendable for mutuall satisfaction by Lot to assigne each one his share yea how soeuer in this or in the like case when a mans goods are so mixed with anothers in whose hands they both are it were not vnlawfull for a man to put his whole right to them to the hazard of a Lot for the procuring and purchasing of his peace which cannot otherwise be had with one whom he would not by any meanes if it lay in his power be at ods with the thing it selfe being no other then he may well forgo yet for a man in such a case to put that to the hazard of a Lot when he may otherwise recouer it which his estate will not beare or may be otherwise more preiudiciall both to him and his were not lawfull because the damage that thereby might accrue would be greater then could free such an action from imputation of euident inconuenience § 7. For the latter point of Expediency and Inexpediencie the generall rule is that that which is no necessary dutie but a thing indifferent onely otherwise may not be done where there is strong presumption vpon good ground that it shall spiritually endanger a mans selfe or others by giuing occasion of sinne vnto the one or the other I except necessarie duties because such are not to be omitted though they may be occasion of sinne vnto others or though wee our selues cannot doe them without some sinne Not for the sinne of others for there is no duty so holy but that many may and will take occasion of euill by euen the ministery of the word turneth to the euill of not a few which yet is not in that regard to be neglected or omitted because mans corruption cannot free any from the imployment that God enjoineth him Nay nor for our selues and our owne sinnes are such duties to be forborne For then should no good worke at all be done of vs because wee can doe none so but that some sinne will sticke to vs in the doing of it As a diseased Person therefore ought not to forbeare his foode and by fasting to starue himselfe as Pomponius Atticus and Corelius Rufus absurdly sometime did because in feeding his body he shall withall feede his disease nor a melancholy man is to pine himselfe to death because where he is he can come
by none but melancholicke foode such as is not so conuenient for a man of his constitution but is to vse such as he can get for the preseruing of life where no other can be had so in this case men are not to giue ouer hearing the word praying participating in holy things and the like because they cannot heare so attentiuely pray so deuoutly receiue so reuerently and religiously as they would and should but endeauour to doe all such good duties as God requireth of them so well as they can leauing the issue and euent of the worke to the good prouidence of God in regard of others to his gratious acceptance in regard of themselues But in things indifferent and such as are no necessary duties for a man to doe that which in great likelihood may spiritually endanger an other is to make himselfe guilty of soule-murther to doe that which may spiritually endanger himselfe is to make himselfe guiltie of selfe-murther And surely if it be vnlawfull and a tempting of God for a man needlesly to plunge himselfe into danger of death in regard of his body it is no lesse vnlawfull yea a farre greater sinne rather for a man to doe the same in regard of his soule Besides that Gods commandements not onely forbid sinne but euen whatsoeuer may be a meanes and an occasion of sinne though it be not sinnefull of it selfe Needlesse therefore and vnnecessarie Loteries though in things otherwise not vnlawfull where they are likely to cause or by experience are found to occasion much sinne are so farre forth vnwarrantable because in that regard inexpedient In respect whereof howsoeuer it were no vnwarrantable course in a matter of common or publike benefit as the reparation of a bridge reedifying of an Hospitall erecting of a schoole or the like for diuers men of good ability to agree among themselues to put it to hazard what summes each of them shall disburse or dispend toward the discharge or support thereof the summes being no greater then the estate of any of them may well beare when they cannot readily agree vpon a rate otherwise as also for the better encouragement of either other in that kinde in common equally to contribute toward the price of a iewell or some one of them to conuert his part into some such commodity to bee conferred vpon some one of them so contributing whom by Lot it shall light to their mindes and states probably knowne either to other I see here no reason why it should be vnlawfull But for a man in this kinde to put that to hazard which he knoweth or probably suspecteth that he shall be vnable well or vnwilling on such tearmes to part with the losse whereof in that regard may either disable him to the doing of other necessarie duties or distemper him and so make him guilty of sinne in Gods sight or to ioyne with others needlesly in such an act much more to draw them in and incite them thereunto whom he knoweth not vpon good presumptions to bee both able and willing by meanes whereof they may be occasioned to sinne in the same sort especially in such an action as he cannot but see to be so carried that many abuses are committed in it and occasion giuen by it of much euill I cannot see how a man should be free from sin in so doing neither can I conceiue with what comfort of conscience a man can receiue or retaine what a Lot in such a case shall cast vpon him comming in all likelihood in part out of the purses of those as either are altogether vnable to part well with such summes but haue strained themselues thereunto out of a greedy desire and hope of lucre and gaine or being vnwilling to loose and to part with what they put in doe in that regard wretchedly curse and blaspheame Gods name for the losse of it Which occasions of euill being seene or foreseene cannot but make such Loteries vnlawfull to all those that partake in them in regard of the inconueniencie and inexpediencie that is in them The more able therefore and willing a man may be to sustaine such losse as by Lot may befall him the lawfuller the Lot is And the better knowne they are to be such whom a man dealeth with in matter of Lot especially where the occasion is rather voluntary then necessary the more warrantable is the Lot To conclude briefly the grounds of this twofold caution the euent of Lot is casuall but the doing of Gods wil in the auoiding of things euil either in thēselues or by consequence is necessarie and therfore no sit matter to be put to the casuall euent of a Lot Againe the vse of a Lot is to determine some question or doubt but no question ought to be made or doubt to be moued of the committing of any morall euill or the omitting of any necessary good duty of the doing what God forbiddeth or the not doing what he enioyneth no Lot therefore may lawfully be vsed about such Lastly what a man may not doe though a Lot should determine it that it is in vaine to put to the determination of a Lot but for an oath to obserue it a man may not doe euill much lesse for a Lot such things therefore may not be put thereunto Whereas therefore all morall actions are of three kindes in relation to Gods law some simply enioyned as are all necessarie duties some simply inhibited as are all morall euills some freely permitted and left to our choise as are all actions indifferent the rule here is that a Lot hath his lawfull vse in indifferent things onely such as may without either offence or inconuenience be done or left vndone In regard whereof the greater the indifferencie is in the euent of it which way soeuer it fall out the more lawfull the Lot is and so contrary to that which is commonly deliuered and almost generally receiued the lesse weighty the matter is wherein a Lot is vsed the lawfuller the Lot is § 8. Now these Cautions were concerning the matter wherein Lots are vsed there follow two other concerning the manner how they are to be vsed in such matters Where the former Caueat or Caution is that a man be willing to forgo and part with what he putteth to the hazard of a Lot as before for the matter it selfe that it be such as he may be willing to part withall for that a man may be willing sometime to part with what he may not lawfully part with so now for the disposition of the partie in such an action that he be willing ' if it shall so fall out to sustaine some losse and so much losse as may befall him by the Lot The reason is euident because otherwise a man doth that vnaduisedly that may afterward discontent him and be an occasion of sin to him Againe that which is put to the hazard of a Lot is in a manner forgone so