prisoner Calvin in Job 38. The mists and clouds are nothing but vapours engendred in the air and herein Gods Providence appeareth for as soon as a mist ariseth by and by the Sea becometh calm though before tempestuous and thus they get the upper hand of the Sea thus God restraineth the Sea from swallowing us up tying up the Sea even as a little Infant that is tyed in swadling clouts When mention is made of the floud that once drowned the whole earth except eight persons it is said Gen. 7.11 that all the fountains of the great deep were broken up and the windows or floudgates of Heaven were opened so as the waters were not restrained but let loose by that dreadfull judgement of the deluge God shewed us as in a mirrour that which should have been continually upon the earth had not he miraculously restrained the waters Woodw Childs patrim Seafaring men are neither inter vivos nec inter mortuos they are between the living and the dead Consider we further Gods Providence in the Ship that saileth upon the Sea which reeleth to and fro upon the waters like a drunken man sometimes it is carried down into the great deep then mounteth up again and is carried sate to his harbour Gods work is as admirable in steering and conducting this sinking tottering Vessel whose passengers are in deaths door often to their desired Haven as it is in those Creatures that live in the Ocean their proper Element They that go down to the Sea in Ships that do business in great waters these see the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep Psal 107.23 24. The Psalmist having said that the earth is full of the riches of God saith further so is this great and wide Sea wherein are things creeping innumerable c. there go the Ships there is that Leviathan whom thou hast made to play therein these wait all upon thee that thou maist give them their meat in due season that thou givest them they gather thou openest thy hand they are filled with good Psal 104.24 25 26 27. From the little Anchoie to the great Whale Apua Gods Providence is wonderfull By reason of the great multitude and diversity of Fishes that are there to be seen even many Heathens were constrained to say that whereas men saw many miracles upon the Land the Sea was the true storehouse of the wonders of nature Is it not almost an incredible thing that so great a Creature as the Whale should live in the water for in all probability he should come forth to prey upon the Land and there should not be food to suffice him in the water The fruitfulness of the Fishes in the Sea proceedeth from Gods speciall blessing for when the waters brought forth the Fishes abundantly after their kind God blessed them saying be fruitfull and multiply and fill the waters in the Seas Gen. 1.21 22. for being in a moist element they do most easily conceive Plutarc l. 5. Sympos quaest 10. by reason of the abundance of humour which is greater in the female Fishes than in the males and therefore the female kind of Fishes are bigger commonly than the males Some kind of Fishes bring forth twice in a year some three times some six times in a year and that in great abundance the most wise Creator would have them thus fruitfull partly by reason of the vastness of the Element which they must replenish viz. the water which is far greater and more spacious than the earth which besides animals is stuft with vegetables and partly that there might be variety and plenty of them for man to feed upon Ambrose saith Ambros Hexam l. 5. c. 10. that Fishes by infinite numbers out of many places from sundry creeks of the Sea with a joynt flote as it were make towards the blasts of the North-wind and by a certain instinct of nature hasten into that Sea of the Northern parts so that a man that saw the manner of them would say a certain tide were coming down from the current they rush so forwards and cut the waves as they pass with a violent power through Propontis into Pontus Euxinus And Alsted saith Alsted Theol. Natural part 2. there are often such multitudes of Fishes in the Northern Sea that Ships are stopt by them And Camden maketh mention of one sort of Fishes viz. Herrings Cambden's Britan. descript of Yorkeshire which in some ages past kept as it were their station only about Norway but now in our time not without the divine Providence as he well noteth do swim yearly round about this Isle of Brittain by skulls in very great numbers about Midsummer they shoal out of the deep and vast Northern Sea to the coasts of Scotland hence come they to the English East coast and from the midst of August to November is the best and most plentifull taking of them Besides we read in holy Writ that when Peter let down his Net into the Sea at Christs word they inclosed a great multitude of Fishes and their Net brake but they lost not the Fishes but by the help of their fellows that were in the other Ships they brought off so many Fishes to shoar as were even ready to sink two Ships and the phrase of breaking in Scripture sometime signifieth abundance as Prov. 3.9 10. where Solomon pronouncing a blessing upon such as shall bestow their goods on pious uses saith thus Honour God with thy substance and with the first fruits of all thy increase so shall thy barns be filled with plenty and thy presses shall burst out with new wine that is thou shalt not need to fear to be brought to beggery but it shall procure thee an abundant blessing And here the providence of God is further manifested that at certain times certain kinds of Fishes do enter in or go out of the Sea and that which is yet more wonderfull new sorts of Fishes are taken almost in every Moneth especially in places near the Sea-cost and herein Gods goodnesse appeareth that such multitudes of Fishes of several kinds should draw near to the Sea-shores Plin. Nat. Hist l. 9. c. 12. and in many Moneths be taken for the use of man and more admirable it is that those creatures that live and breed in the water be not all covered and clad alike For as Pliny noteth some have a skin over them and the same hairy as the Seals others but a bare skin as the Dolphins some have a shell like a bark as the Tortoises and in others the shell is as hard as a flint and such be the Oysters Muscles Cockles and Winckles some be covered over with crusts or hard pils as the Locusts others have sharp prickles some be scaled as the ordinary Fishes others be rough-coated as the Soals some have a tender and soft skin as the Lampreys others none at all as the Porcontrell Of these we may say with the Psalmist O Lord
For so Demosthenes observeth it was a usual speech among the Greeks Such and such things saith he were not done without the people of Athens that is without their authority and approbation CHAP. XIII Of God's Providence to be seen in the Seas in the Nature of them An Objection answered Of the saltness of the Sea and the Reasons thereof Of the bounds of the Sea of the Fishes of the Sea of their multiplication of the several sorts of Fishes taken in every moneth Of their provision An Objection answered FRom the Heavens I shall descend to the Sea and therein Gods Providence is very remarkable The Sea is a gathering together of many waters Gen. 1.10 it is the common receptacle of flouds and Rivers and as the Liver in the body by the veins sendeth bloud to the whole parts of the body so doth the Sea send water to all the parts of the earth Solomon tells us That all waters come from the sea Eccles 1.7 He compasseth the whole earth as with a girdle and bedeweth the world with his pleasing streams In the depth of the earth there be many concavities which breed winds Weems observ natur moral these winds lift up the waters the waters again presse down the winds which being thus prest down seek a passage through the earth making a way for the Sea to runne through the veins thereof and because of the continual strife between the Sea and the winds therefore the water in springs and fountains never faileth and coming back to the fountains then they run back again to the Sea Aristotle's opinion will not hold here who saith That the water contendeth to runne to the lowest place and if the waters should have this vicissitude of course from the fountains to the Sea from the Sea to the fountains then the same place should be both higher and lower than it self but some parts of the Sea are lower than the fountains and into them the fountains send forth their streams to runne Other parts of the Sea are higher than the fountains especially in great storms and tempests which mount up the waves of the Sea to Heaven as the Psalmist speaketh Psal 107 25 26. and they by secret channels send forth springs of water to supply the fountains Cotton Exposit in Eccles 1.7 as a Learned Divine hath well noted This is further noted by Strabo Strabo concerning the situation of the waters which if we consider the quality of their matter ought to be placed in the middle between the earth and the Air whereas the same are now included and dispersed within the earth to the end they might be no hindrance either to the fruitfulness of the ground or to the life of man neither are all things ordained only for their proper ends but also for the good and benefit of the whole Universe as appeareth particularly in the water which against its own proper nature is moved upward that there should be no gaping vacuity in the world which is so composed that the parts thereof do mutually uphold one another Quest If all waters come from the Sea how is it then that the waters in Rivers are sweet and fresh and that the waters in the Sea are salt Resp That the earth through the veins whereof the waters pass to the fountains doth percolate and strain the Salt out of it and so those waters by reason of the length of their course and their distance from the Sea lose their saltness therefore some fountains of water are salt as the Sea that are nearest to the Sea the pores of the earth being more open between the Sea and them which also is the cause of the flux and reflux of some of them God hath made the Sea salt by the fervent heat of the Sun which sucks out the sweet and thin substance thereof and this being easily drawn up all the tarter and grosser parts thereof remain behind Hence it is as Pliny Plin. Nat. Hist l. 2. c. 100. noteth that the deep water toward the bottome is sweeter and less brackish than that which is above in the top and surely this is a better reason of that unpleasant tast that it hath than that the Sea should be a sweat continually issuing out of the earth The learned have observed that God hath made the Sea salt for divers necessary uses 1. To keep it from putrefaction which is not necessary in Rivers because of their continuall running as also because of the celerity of their motion 2. Salt waters agree best to the nature of those great Fishes being both hotter and grosser that are bred and nourished in it which is not so necessary to the Rivers breeding smaller Fishes It is likewise an evident Argument of Gods Providence that the Ocean being higher than the Land doth not overflow his Banks Astronomers and naturall Philosophers can give no substantiall reason hereof but out of the Scriptures we may answer in a word that Gods Decree hath bounded and barred it in all the wild Beasts of the world might more easily be tamed than the Sea yet God ruleth and over-ruleth it in a most wonderfull manner he hath shut up the Sea with doors when it brake forth as if it had issued out of the womb he made the Cloud the garment thereof and thick darkness a swadling band for it he established his Decree upon it and said Hitherto shalt thou come and no further and here shall thy proud waves be stayed Job 38.8 9 10. Fear ye not me saith the Lord that have placed the sand for the bound of the Sea by a perpetuall Decree that it cannot pass and though the waves thereof toss themselves yet can they not prevail though they roar yet can they not pass over it Jer. 5.22 Chrysostome saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost in Cor. Homil. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Basil Hexam Homil. 4. The Lord hath walled about the Sea with the sand with a very weak thing doth he bridle the rage of it even with the sand which a poor weak silly worm can creep over The Lord sits upon the flouds and ordereth them and though they roar and lift up their waves yet the Lord on high is mightier than the mighty waves of the Sea Psal 93.3 4. The Sea is in the hand of God as a little Babe is in the womb of his Mother so that the Child lieth not more still in his Mothers womb than doth the Sea within his bounds and though it make a great noise and be tossed with winds and tempests and swell and threaten to overwhelm the earth yet cannot it get over its bounds Likewise God useth the mists and clouds to restrain the Sea that it shall not pass out of its limits as swadling bands are to keep in a young Babe who would fain pull out his arms and legs to make sport but he is so held in with his swadling cloathes that he is forced there to abide as a
how manifold are thy workes in wisdome hast thou made them all Psal 104.24 Moreover God's providence is remarkable in sustaining and feeding such multitudes of Fishes as are in the vast Ocean some feed upon earth some on mud and slime others feed on sea-grasse or sea-weed some will eat herbs and roots and others will feed upon flesh when they meet with it and all of them are exceedingly refreshed with soft rain and gentle showrs that fall upon the Sea by the showrs of rain that fall upon the Ocean St Austine stops the mouths of those Atheistical Epicures that disputed against Gods providence August Comment in Psal one Argument they brought was what reason could there be that it should rain on the Sea which needeth no water where there is a confluence of all waters and at the same time the earth is parched and gapeth for want of rain and gets it not where then is providence Poor creatures saith he that cannot see the end of things so blind they are Are there not Fishes living in the Sea for God to nourish Oh how do they leap sport and play and rejoyce at the sweet rain they can suck the sweet water out of the salt Sea Here then is the reason saith he why it raineth upon the Sea where is no want of water and it raineth not upon the earth that thirsteth for it even for the punishment of man's ingratitude and wickedness And here one thing more may be observed as to Gods providence concerning the Fishes of the Sea in that the Fishes were spared in the deluge from destruction as reserved in their own Ark and element when all creatures besides except those that were in Noah's Ark were utterly destroyed from the face of the earth Clapham Manual Bibl. doctr and under the Law the Ceremonial Sacrifices especially the matter of the Burnt-offering was flesh with its adjuncts as the flesh of Beasts and Birds but of Fish â—ever which was reserved for man's ordinary use no one kind of them being appointed for ceremonial service as a Learned man hath well noted But why God would not that any Fish should sacramentally die I know not excepting for that earth had sinned and earth must satisfie and Fish is not of the earth as Beasts and Birds are but substantially of the waters That any corporeal substance should not be of the earth Philosophy cannot admit as for the waters bringing forth Fish and Fowls in Gen. 1. it is understood as of the womb bringing forth but materially derived from the earth under yet some Chymists would have water the originall element of all But of this over-curious Question onely by the way CHAP. XIV Of the extent of Providence to the Earth Of the form and figure of the Earth Of the stability and situation of the Earth how it standeth in the water and out of the water 〈…〉 branches of comfort to Gods people drawn from the Earths stability to prove the stability of the Church of Christ I Shall in the next place speak of the Providence of God with relation to the Earth and to the things that are in it grow out of it and that live upon the face thereof 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost in Gen. Serm. 1. I shall treat first of the Earth it self which saith Chrysostome is our Countrey our Mother our Nurse our Table our Grave which is the footstool for the soles of Christ's feet Mat. 5.35 the office-house of sinne Isa 24.5 Satan's walk Job 2.2 the poor heritage of the sons of men The Heaven even the Heavens are the Lord's but the Earth hath he given to the children of men Psal 115.16 The slaughter-house or shambles of the Saints the bloud of the Martyrs of the Prophets and of Saints was shed upon the earth Rutherf Christs dying as a judicious Divine hath noted Revel 18.24 The first Dooms-day saith he fell upon the earth for man's sinne Genes 3.17 Cursed shall the earth be for thy sake the last Dooms-day is approaching when this clay-stage shall be removed the earth and the works therein the house and all the furniture of it shall be burnt with fire 2 Pet. 3.10 1. Now here let us consider the figure of the Earth the form and figure of the Earth is round or circular as the Globe representeth to us for the Earth and the Sea make but one Globe and is called the Center of the world which proveth that there are Antipodes which so posed many of the Fathers that is a people that dwell on the other side of the Globe Struth observ Cent. 2. although Pope Zechary did excommunicate Bishop Virgilius in the eighth Age because he maintained there were Antipodes but when it was discovered Pope Alexander the sixt found it within St Peters jurisdiction adjudging the right of it to him who had most strength to conquer it and the Pope's pretended omnipotency divided that which his omniscience could not discover the roundnesse of the Earth as also the parts thereof shut up as it were in the bosom of the Heavens and disposed with a marvellous order do expresly declare a divine providence When the Heavens are whirled about with a swift and perpetual motion that the Earth should hang like a round ball in the Air upon nothing as is expressed Job 26.7 Non quid 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Belimah à Balam constringere Chald. that is having nothing to support it that during many thousand years continuance this great frame of the Earth is not shaken out of joynt notwithstanding all the confusions of the world in all Ages this is a great argument of God's providence God comprehendeth the dust of the Earth in a measure he weigheth the mountains in scales Tribus digitis appendit Hieron and the hils in a balance Isa 40.12 Hierome renders it The Lord sustaineth it with his three fingers as we weigh the least things in the balance So the Lord taketh the weight of the Earth and maketh this hill to counterpoise that and from this equal distribution of the parts setling one against another he setled the Earth in the midst that it is not moved and lest it should fall no way but to the Center he made it firm in the lowest parts and lest one part should fall on another he provided that the hils should be poised one against another Weems observat Natur. Moral as a Learned man hath noted The Earth after many thousand years continuance standeth fast fixed in the same place where God first seated it One generation passeth and another cometh but the Earth abideth for ever Eccles 1.4 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Super sedes suas Symmach Gnal Mecunnathâ— super bases suas Aquila 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vertit The Earth hath worn out many Ages and generations of men it self remaining unmoveable continuing where it was fixt and though there have fallen out some particular earthquakes here and there yet the whole Earth was
never shaken with an earthquake for the nature of the Center is to be immoveable He hath laid the foundations of the Earth that it should not be removed for ever Psal 104.5 or he hath setled it upon its bases Thou hast established the Earth and it abideth they continue this day that is the Heavens and the Earth according to thine Ordinance Psalm 119.90 91. 2. Now to speak more particularly Chrysost in Genes Homil. 12. Super maria flumina significat Juxta ut Psal 137.1 Super flumina Babylonis illic sedimus Cassiodor Lyranus the Psalmist tells us The Earth is the Lords with the fullness thereof the woâ—ld and they that dwell therein If you ask quo jure by what right The Prophet answereth or giveth a reason of it He hath founded it upon the Seas and established it upon the flouds Psal 24.1 2. What finite understanding saith Chrysostome can comprehend this When men lay a foundation they dig deep and if they meet with water in their way they go yet deeper till they see the spring dried up else they will lay no foundation for a foundation upon water makes a building unstable and tottering it cannot be a fixt dwelling it is against the nature of water to bear up so heavy a body it is against the nature of the earth to have its basis upon such a foundation Why dost thou wonder O man saith the same Father for into what creature soever thou wilt pry into thou wilt find an unlimited and boundlesse power much more then in bearing up this massie body The Apostle Peter tells us That the Earth standeth in the water and out of the water and yet remaineth firm and fixed 2 Peter 3.5 1. In the water not floating and swimming in the water Ut intelligatur egere terram ad firmam quandam compactionem permixtione aquae sine qua in pulveres redigeretur sicut absque sanguinis per venas sparsi humore corpus exaresceret ac dissolvetur Lorinter Densior his tellus elementaque grandia traxit Et pressa est gravitate sui circumfluus humor Ovid. Metam 1. Ultima possedit solidumque coercuit orbem Terra pilae similis nullo fulcimine nixa Aere sublimi tam grave pendet onus Cum te pendenti reputas insistere terrae Nonne vel hìnc clarè conspicis esse Deum Heidfield Sphynx Philos cap. 7. de Terra as some have dreamed even as a Ship doth in the Sea which opinion Thales Milesius held as Aristotle sheweth hence they collected That there were none that lived in another Hemisphere but the Earth standeth in the waters and is incompassed round about with the Seas and interlaced with abundance of Rivers as so many veins running thorow it 2. Out of the water a great part of it being dry Land which remaineth setled though it be contrary to the natural place and situation of the earth and water for the natural part of the Earth is to be lowest of all the Elements as it is the heaviest of all and the water to encompasse the Earth and to cover the Earth every where not to leave one inch of dry ground as the Air doth to this day close the whole Earth and water and compasse both the first and second dayes of the Creation the Earth was all covered with the water but the third day the Lord commanded the waters to retire and the dry Land to appear and the Earth to be made bare for the use of those creatures the Lord would create and plant upon it Now here was a mighty work of God and that the Earth remaineth still standing in the water and out of the water is a clear argument of God's Providence in governing the world 'T was a great work that God did in Noah's dayes in drowning the Earth with a floud yet may we not imagine it to be a greater work of God to cause the waters to retire and uncover the Earth Vain was the fancy of Archimedes who offered to move the whole earth if he had a place besides it to stand upon God doth a greater work every day in holding back the water from drowning the Earth than he did once in drowning it with water for it is the natural course of waters still to be flowing This daily work of God in keeping the waters from covering the Earth is by a strong hand keeping the waters under lock and key abridging them of their natural liberty keeping the water within its bounds so that the Earth standeth as it did in the water yet out of the water Now if the stability of the Earth be an argument of God's Providence for the pillars of the Earth are nothing else but the strength and power of God upholding and preserving it then may we assure our selves of the stability and firm foundation of the Church and all the true members thereof The righteous are an everlasting foundation they shall stand fast like Mount Sion which cannot be removed Psal 125.1 For 1. The world is established for a time by the power of that God that governeth the world by his Providence but Mount Zion the Church abideth for ever 2. Terra ipsa propriè per se stat fundata est super nihilum nec aliae columnae ejus quas confirmavit Deus quà m vis ac potentia Dei eam continens conservansque Damascen Solius Christi est haec victoria hic tuti consistemus Ferus in Mat. God establisheth the world for a time because he seeth his own workmanship in it but he will uphold his Church for ever because he seeth his own Image in it 3. The world shall be so farre from ruining the Church that the Church shall be glorious when the world shall be destroyed and turned into ashes 4. The Earth of it self hangs upon nothing but the Church is built upon the Rock Jesus Christ therefore the gates of Hell all infernal power and policy shall not prevail against it The foundation of the world is no better at the best than the foundation of the house that is built upon the sand for as the sand is slippery and will not be made hold together cannot be consolidated so are all foundations beside Christ as Hierome saith between the houses built upon the sand and the Rock there can be no solid enduring mixture no more than there could be in the feet of iron and clay in the feet of Nebuchadnezzar's Image 5. In the Earth's establishment the wisdom and power of God are manifested but we have the Word Promise and Oath of God for the establishment of the Church and therein also both his Wisdome Power and Mercy doe appear Therefore the Church shall stand when the world shall fall When we see violent storms and tempests we do not presently fear the dissolution of the world and why should the violent concussions that have been for many years past among us make us to fear the Churches dissolution which hath a
still continued an order among them ever since the Creation and that notwithstanding all the changes that have happened in the mean while men may perceive that all things have been so well disposed that the world hath still been preserved in his right state and it is impossible that this orderlinesse which we see among them should come either of the Stars themselves or of any other moving cause than of the hand of that God which governeth all things by his wise Providence The Stars are for divers uses God hath set them for signs and seasons and for dayes and years Gen. 1.14 They are for a two-fold sign 1. Natural and ordinary they shew by their rising and setting and by their Eclipses heat and cold drought and moisture stormes and tempests fair and pleasant weather 2. They are sometimes signs extraordinary to shew Gods judgments and the great alterations that he will bring on the world Sometime they signifie extraordinary blessings Matth. 2.2 Of this nature was that Starre that appeared to the Wisemen when Christ was borne which they call Christs Star Quest Here it may be demanded How they came to know it to be Christs Star and pointed out the place of his Nativity and would at last conduct and direct them to him Answ 1. Some say there was an Apocriphal tradition fathered upon Seth which fore-told at the Nativity of the Messiah such a Starre should appear and such presents be offered unto him 2. Others say That these Magi being of the posterity of Balaam of whom we read Numb 22. Chap. 23 24. had their light from his prophecy Numb 24.17 There shall come a Starre out of Jacob c. whereupon say they twelve of them by turns watched continually upon the top of an high Mountain and prayed that God would reveal unto them that Star which they say he did that very night that Christ was born and upon the sight thereof they presently addressed themselves for their journey to Jerusalem 3. Others think that they had the hint thereof out of Dan. 2. or at least from some other Prophecies which were in those times translated into Greek and extant in many places among the Gentiles and this seemeth a probable conceit because they go to Jerusalem to be further instructed all do agree that it was none of the Stars made in the beginning Gen. 1.16 for these have numbers and names Isa 48.26 and doubtlesse most of them were well known to these Magi but it seemeth by their relation that this Star was never seen before as is also manifested by its perpendicular motion moving from North to South contrary to the motion of other Stars that move from East to West else when they went from Jerusalem it could not have directly pointed out the house at Bethlehem where the holy Child Jesus and his Mother lay for Bethlehem standeth thirty miles south from Jerusalem as the Learned do observe Augustine saith It was a new Star created by God to point out the place of his Sons Birth Haec stella magnifica Coeli lingua August calling this Star the wonderfull tongue of Heaven 4. Others say It was an Angel appearing not in the nature but form fashion and figure of a Starre and therefore called so And why might not an Angel as well appear to these Wise men of Persia as to the shepherds of Bethlehem And why might they not as well be taught from Heaven how to set forth and undertake this journey as they are which way to return home again when they have dispatched and finished it Mat. 2.12 5. Nay some go further and say that it was the holy Ghost himself who as he appeared in the likenesse of a Dove at Christ's Baptism Luke 3. so say they He appeared in the likenesse of a Starre at his Birth In a word as the cloudy and fiery pillar went before the Israelites and left them not till it brought them to Canaan the promised Land so this Star Angel or Meteor or whatsoever it were in the likenesse of a Star left not these men till it brought them to Christ the promised Lord. Magnum aliquod in parvo latere August Serm. 7. de Epith. For as Austin tels us This certainly told them that no mean guest lay in that poor house at Bethlehem but one that was no lesse than a King and farre greater than any mortal man 2. As the Stars are for signs so likewise they are for seasons they serve to give times to every imployment as to the Physician Though the motion of the stars through the Aequator were much more simple yet they move by an oblique circle to the end the benefit of their benign aspects might be communicated to-more parts of the earth Ex plan Ver. relig to the Mariner to the Husbandman shewing him when to set sow plant c. to the Mathematician They serve for the bringing about the Spring the Summer the Harvest and Winter Genes 8.22 Arcturus riseth in September and beginneth Autumn Orion ariseth in December and beginneth Winter and bringeth rain Pleiades arise in the Spring the Dog-star and others arise in the Summer And although the Starres have their seasons to mount above us and likewise to go down again out of our sight yet doth it not happen at all adventure but by the Providence of God so disposing it and though he hath given them their influences from Heaven yet do they not any thing of their own peculiar motion but God hath still the guiding and overruling of them Tantum officium habent significandi res futuras nòn autèm vim fatandi ac necessitatem inferendi Zanch. de luminar Coeli 3. The Starres are for dayes and years they serve for the dividing the day from the night and the light from the darknesse the Sunne being the fountain of light measureth the dayes by four and twenty hours and the years by returning from one point to the end of the other They serve likewise for political observations as the computation of dayes weeks moneths and years and the celebration of Festivals among the Jews they signifie things to come but predictions from the Stars and the discovering of secrets are false and uncertain CHAP. XI Of Gods Providence to be seen in the Winds and in the blowing of them An Objection answered Plin. Nat Hist lib. 2. cap. 8. IN the next place I shall shew how God's Providence is much to be seen in the Air which filleth up this vast and empty place which we see above us and also filleth those crannies in the Earth which are not to be seen by us yea the very fishes of the Sea though we perceive not their breathing do die without it the Air invironeth the whole Earth and all living Creatures receive the benefit of it it is a vital element heavier than fire lighter than Earth and Water the cause of sounds and breathing capable of heat cold drinesse and moisture having no light of
God hath given them a kind of naturall instinct whereof all the Philosophers in the world are not able to render a reason Gods Providence is seen in providing food for the Beasts he is said to take the care of Oxen 1 Cor. 9. He prepareth rain for the earth he maketh grass to grow upon the mountains he giveth to the Beast his food Psal 147.8 9. Every Beast of the Forrest saith he is mine and the Cattell upon a thousand hills I know all the Fowls of the mountains and the wild beasts of the field are mine or as the Hebrew hath it they are with me they are under my care and provision Psal 50.9 10. He sendeth the springs into the vallyes which run among the hills they give drink to every Beast of the field the wild Asses quench their thirst he causeth the grass to grow for the Cattell and herb for the service of man that he may bring forth food out of the earth the high hills are a refuge for the Goats and the rocks for the Conies Psal 104.10 11 14 18. O Lord thou preservest man and beast saith David Psal 36.6 and here the singular Providence of God is to be observed even in the Birds of the Wood and the wild Beasts Now on the contrary although in our Stalls Stables and Folds both we our selves and our Children and Servants I no sooner set my foot on the earth but there I see the sheep feeding here the horse and oxe plowing there the sheep giveth us her lambs and her wool here the cow giving her calf and her milk here I see an hedge and as much care to keep it strong as there was to plant the field with any of these there I see Behemoth Beasts so called for her greatness viz. the Elephant Woodward Childs patrim do take great care of our Horses Sheep Kine and other Creatures that we keep about us yet with how much difficulty these Creatures are brought up it is evident many Lambs are lost many Calves die yea their Dams do die with diseases notwithstanding all our wisdome care and diligence But the Birds of the Wood the Fishes in the Waters and the wild Beasts are destitute of all this help and succour yet they multiply much better are better propagated are not afflicted with such diseases as those Creatures are which mans care and diligence is most exercised about because their generation birth and growing up dependeth wholly upon the care and Providence of God And here it is admirable to consider how God maketh provision for Lions Bears Tigres Elephants and all other wild Beasts which are many in number and of divers kinds else they would soon destroy the Inhabitants of the Earth the young Lions are said to roar after their prey and seek their meat from God Psal 104.21 the roaring of the Lions is their seeking and praying to him the noise that the Beasts make in their necessity is their naturall desire of help which they cannot better express they know not God they confusedly utter their desires unto him their spirits as one well noteth are not materiall Struth observ Cent. 2. Some have obsâ—rveâ— that the Beaâ— those Beasts of prey when the ground is covered with snow 〈◊〉 live by sucking of their feet whence they draw nourishment to themsâ—lves arising of their temperature and humours it can apprehend no eternall thing but is only moved with the sense of their own wants The Lord satisfieth these ravenous Creatures notwithstanding they have great need of nourishment and therewithall the world is preserved in its state Though all the Beasts of the Forrest do creep forth in the night and the young Lions roar after their prey yet when the Sun ariseth they gather themselves together and lay them down in their Dens and man goeth forth unto his work and to his labour untill the evening Psal 104.20 21 22 23. The light of the Sun driveth away the wild Beasts to their Dens that men may have liberty to go about their business It is a great gain to us that savage Beasts are not subdued to us as other Beasts are what profit would it be if we could tame Lions and Libbards it were but to make us more proud and arrogant therefore Gods providence hath exempted these from our power those hath he made tame that are most profitable to us Chrysost in Psalm 8. for if God should not shut up the wild Beasts after that manner and give men the Earth to labour and traffick in we should scarce have a corner to put our heads in and if God did not feed the young Lions who do often lack and suffer hunger as the Psalmist tells us Psal 34.10 and sometimes are three dayes together without meat as Naturalists tell us they would make havock of all men and soon rid all from off the face of the earth And here we may take notice that the Lord in choosing Earth-Creatures for sacrifice under the Law he chooseth out not only such as could most readily be acquired but also such as might most safely be handled he might have required his people to have presented Lions Bears Leopards as Daniel saw the Chaldeans Medes Persians and Greeks to be no better and as Saint John saw the Romans to be all of them Beasts joyntly so by nature we are all no better conditioned Claphams manual bibl doct as one observeth which the Persians well understood who once in a year kept a Festivall day called The death of Vices in which day they practised the killing and destroying of all sorts of Serpents But as God would not charge Israel with animals either hardly or dangerously to be acquired so by the tamer kind of Creatures he would teach us more commendable qualities And in this Chapter let me shew how Gods Providence is to be observed in the Mole that little Creature whose dwelling is in the Earth where nothing is to be seen therefore nature hath so obscurely fitted her with eyes that Naturalists can scarce agree whether she have any sight at all or no but for amends she is very quick of hearing as one hath well observed Moors Antidote against Atheism by her short tail and legs but broad fore-feet armed with sharp claws she swiftly worketh her self under ground and makes her way apace into the Earth therefore her legs be short that she need dig no more than will meerly serve the thickness of her body and her fore-feet are broad by which she rids away much earth at once her tail is very small because she runs not upon the ground after the fashion of the Rat or Mouse Quatuor ex puris vitam ducunt elementis Chameleon Talpa Maris Halec Salamandra Halec unda fovet ignis pascit Salamandram Talpam terra nutrit sed aer quoque Chameleontem Hiedf Sphinx c. 9. though she be not much unlike them but her habitation is under ground and the Earth also is her nutriment CHAP.
Exposit on Job The Husbandman's calling which dependeth so much on God's Providence is the most ancient calling in the world he is the first man that seemeth to be wanting There was not a man to till the ground Genes 2.5 The Lord put Adam upon this imployment before his fall vers 15. It is a calling very delightfull Uzziah though a King delighted much in Husbandry 2 Chro. 26.10 of whom it is said That he had much cattel both in the low Countreys and in the plains husbandmen also and vine-dressers in the mountains and in Carmel for he loved husbandry It is no disparagement to the greatest to exercise themselves in such a way Pliny likewise tells us That Husbandry is a Prince-like profession Plin. Nat. hist l. 18. c. 3. he tells us of C. Attilius Serranus when the honourable dignity of Consulship was presented unto him with commission to conduct the Roman Army that he was found sowing his own field and planting Trees whereupon he took that sirname Serranus The like he repoteth of Quintius Cincinnatus who was in his proper person ploughing a piece of ground of his own containing four Acres which were therefore called Prata Quintiana i. e. Quintius his meadows when a messenger of the Roman Senate brought unto him the Letters-patents of his Dictatorship he tells us likewise that many Kings and noble Persons have studied Husbandry as Hiero Philometor Attalus and Archelaus and also Martial Captains as Xenophon and Mago the Carthaginian Besides Husbandry is a very profitable calling The profit of the earth is for all saith Soloman the King himself is served by the field Eccles 5.9 The Earth yeeldeth much profit to all even from the King to the poorest subject And herein much of Gods Providence is visible For 1. God instructeth the Husbandman in his calling he instructeth him to discretion and doth teach him he teacheth him the fittest time to plough and sow and what sort of seed to cast into the earth Isaiah 28.26 2. God so provideth as most convenient that the Earth which is our common Mother that bred us should also feed and nourish us till we return to it again The very Heathen by the Moon-shine of Nature saw that the blessing of Husbandry dependeth on God's Providence therefore in the Morning when they went to plough they laid one of their hands upon the stilt of the Plough and lifted up the other hand to Ceres whom they worshipped as the Goddesse of Corn Weems Christ Synagogue How will these men saith a Learned man rise up in judgment against those among us who are more brutish than the Heathen that break up the ground as if they were fungi mushromps sprung out of the Earth that arise by suddain showers falling by great drops in the heat of Summer These Terrae filij whose names are written in the Earth Jer. 17.13 who only mind earthly things look no higher than the Oxen they plough the ground withall never looking to him who visiteth the Earth and watereth it and blesseth the springing thereof preparing he Corn which he hath so provided for it Psal 65.9 CHAP. XVIII Of the special Providence of God towards Men. How God overruleth the hearts and wills of men yea of the greatest Kings and Princes and how the Actions of men are swayed by the Providence of God Of Gods Providence about things contingent A Discourse about Lots NOw it will be necessary that I speak of the special Providence of God toward Men. There is not a man that either is conceived or born or liveth or moveth or standeth or falleth or dieth but by the will and appointment of God It is from the Providence of God that the hairs of our head are all numbred God keeps account of the baser parts of our bodies which indeed be not parts but superfluous excrements Pili nòn facio Ne Pilo quidem melius Wilkins Beauty of Providence which are cut off and cast away The hairs of our head as one saith are contemptible even to a Proverb and yet these with God are inter numerata among those things whereof he takes an exact account Gods Providence so ordered it Capilli hominibus ad depellendum à cerebro frigus contra illud muniendum dati sunt Scal. Exerc. 177. Quid timebo damna membrorum quando securitatem accipio capillorum Aug. Serm. de Mart. Qui sum curator numerata habeo etiam minutissima distribuo unicuique quod suae mensurae congruit Theophylact ad Luc. 12. that not an hair of the heads of any of the three children that were cast into Nebuchadnezzars fiery oven was singed Dan. 3.27 What doth God take care of the hairs of our head and are they all numbred as out Saviour saith Mat. 10.30 What then shall I fear saith Austin Surely I that have security for the hairs of my head will not fear the loss of any member I have Yet if it shall please God to smite me in any member I have in an arm or leg or in all so that I be as if all my bones were out of joynt I shall ever acknowledge the hand of God and his particular providence What is of lesse value than the hairs of a mans head yet not an hair of our heads shall perish but as the Lord pleaseth Luke 21.18 As all men so all of man are within the compasse of Gods Providence But to speak particularly 1. The hearts and wils of men The Kings heart saith Solomon is in the hand of the Lord as the rivers of water he turneth it whithersoever he will Prov. 21.1 Some men are Masters of others that are not Masters of their own wils the Lord leadeth the wils of the greatest Potentates even as the Rivers of waters are led by their Channels or Water-courses Nay even in voluntary actions wherein man hath free will to chuse or refuse the providence of God overruleth them the Prophet confesseth as much Ier. 10.23 saying O Lord I know the way of man is not in himself it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps it is not improbable that the Prophet spake this upon the alteration of Nebuchadnezzars purpose who having determined to go against the Ammonites and Moâ—bites turneth himself suddenly against Ierusalem but not without the direction and appointment of God Ier. 9.11 and though God forceth not nor offereth violence to mans will yet he ordereth disposeth directeth and turneth it as he pleaseth like the Rivers of waters for his will is the Prima causa and principium motus in all actions as St Paul tells the Athenians out of their own Authours In him we live move and have our being Act. 17.28 2. Some go to Sea and sail to India poor yet they return from thence rich with Indian gold far beside their intention An ign rant man goes to Athens not purposing to beâ—ome learned Yet providence so disposeth that he fals in love with learning and returneth from thence a
reservari putaretur si Deus nònc apertè puniret nulla providentia Divina crederetur August and if God should now punish openly no Divine Providence would scarce be believed Furthermore in that a greater number perish than are saved as there be more wooden than golden vessels it must cause them that have made their calling and election sure to be thankfull for so excellent and not common benefit If thou hear a harp sound of divers strings and all keep one harmony thou wilt think one strikes them though thou see him not so it is in God's governing the disorders of the world CHAP. XXX Object 3. Object 4. answered Object 3 IN the third place Dii magna curant parva negligunt Cicero Plin. Nat. hist l. 2. c. 7. Some make it a dishonour to take care of the sublunary creatures The Heathen thought God took care of greater but neglected smaller matters Some think it injurious to God to bring him down to the husbanding of Bees and Ants and that it is a disparagement to his Majesty to take notice of trivial objects and occurrences This Argument is brought by Pliny in his Natural History This is easie to answer Resp. Quis disposuit membra pulicis culicis August in Psal 148. Non imaginari debemus Deum esse superbum atque eas res ceu indignas contemnere quas ipse condidit atque per se dignissimas fecit for the minor is false It is not an indecorum for God to govern the least thing and meanest creature in the world God is no more dishonoured by taking care of the meanest earthly creature than the Sunne is obscured and defiled by shining upon the most unsavoury things if it were no dishonour to God to make the least things in the world than it is no disparagement to him to govern them being made neither is God any thing the lower by governing these sublunary things he humbleth himself to behold the things done in Heaven and on the Earth the one is no more a humbling to him than the other Psal 113.6 God taketh care of Oxen of Sparrows and of things inferiour to them Hyper. Meth. Theol. l. 1. An Apocriphal Writer tell us That God made little and great and as there is nothing so vast may escape his immensity Austin saith of providence that the world is governed thereby usque ad arborum volatica folia Aug. confes l. 7. c. 6. so there is not any thing so small which is deprived the blessings of his bounty the Tree loseth not one of his leafs the Head one of its hairs the Air one little bird without his appointment Is it not from Divine Providence that Antidotes should grow in places where poisons spring If Africk hath many Serpents Histor Sinar part 4. there are Psylles to destroy them If other Countreys breed store of Snakes there are Ashen-flowers to drive them away If Aegypt hath a Crocodile it affords an Indian-rat called Ichneumon that creeps into his belly and destroyes it The fire which consumeth straw and drosse brightens the Gold Qui Deum accusant quod animalcula ut pediculos pulices formaverit similes esse videntur his qui picturae ignari id accusant quod pictor revidentes colores ubique nòn adhibuerit cum tamen ille congruos singulis distribuerit locis Theodor. and refineth Silver Water which drowneth men doth animate Fishes The Spider that poisoneth a man cureth an Ape Take poison from the Serpent you bereave him wherewith to live Every creature is good for some use or other Solomon speaks of four things which are little upon Earth but they are exceeding wise The Ants are a people not strong yet they prepare their meat in the Summer the Coneys are but a little folk yet make they their houses in the rocks the Locusts have no King yet go they forth all of them by bands gathered together the Spider takes hold with her hands and is in Kings Palaces Prov. 30.24 25 26. The great sagacity of these little creatures and their industriousnesse doth highly demonstrate the extent of God's Providence toward them How contrary are they to God that exercise cruelty to and are tormentours of the creatures by sporting themselves at the torturing of the dumb creatures they do anatomize their own sinne rushing into Gods forbidden Edict God hath made man a Lord over the creatures an owner of them and not a Tyrant over them or tormentour of them he may kill them for his use but not abuse them at his pleasure though the creatures be mans drudges yet are they also his fellow-creatures A good man saith Solomon is mercifull to his beast Object 4. If all be over-ruled by Providence then why serve Admonitions Exhortations Reproofs Corrections unlesse men be amended by them Resp. God determineth to bring things to passe by means as to draw David to repentance by Nathan's reproof Peter by the crowing of a Cock and to save Noah from drowning by the Ark. Christ knew he should be glorified as in initio and his Apostles yet he prayeth for them John 17. We must use the least means for our own safety as do the almost famished Lepers but not tie God to means for the accomplishment of his promises as one of the Princes of Samaria did but paid dear for it 2 Reg. 7.2 17. nor must we relie upon means as Asa did upon Benhadad against Baasha and on the Physicians for his Gout no unlawfull means must be used in sicknesse Ahaziah should not have gone to Baalzebub the God of Ekron nor Saul to the Witch of Endor CHAP. XXXI Divers Corollaries drawn from this Doctrine of Providence Corol. 1. Corol. 2. Corol. 3. FRom what hath been said divers Consectaries will arise The first is Cor. 1. If all things come to passe by God's Providence and that Providence be ever working then there is no meer Chance or any such as the Lady Fortune in the world concerning whom some of the best Philosophers have confessed her to be the daughter of Ignorance and she is no where so much talkt of as among ignorant people It was a great errour of the Paynims to hold Fortune in so high an account Te nos Fortuna Deam Coeloque vocamus Juvenal Sat. 10. Pier. Hierolog lib. 29. Quint. Curt. lib. 7. Pacuvius in Rhet. ad Heren Otho Casman mund immun cap. 4. Benef. in Amos Lect. 10. Fortunae motus ludunt mortalitatem nùnc evehentes quosdam in sidera nùnc ad Cocyti profunda mergentes Marcellinus Ignoratio causarum Fortunam induxit Arist Physic 2. cap. 6. Vrsin Catech. de provident for they esteemed her as a Goddesse and assigned her a place in Heaven they presented her by the image of a woman sitting sometime on a Ball sometime upon a Wheel sometime on a Roller some picture her sailing among the waters of the Sea others sitting upon the top of an high Mountain exposed to all winds
God's wonderfull Providences He hath made his wonderfull workes to be remembred saith the Psalmist The Rabbines observe that the Children of the Jewes the night beforeth Passeover used to aske their parents why is it called the passeover th y answered because the Angel passed over and destroyed us not c. Thus ought we to speak publiquely of Gods great mercies for the benefit of our posterity to tell what God hath done for our soules that his glory may be declared among all Nations and his wonders among all people Joh. Menoch de republ Hebr. Psal 111.4 They are worthy our remembrance The works of his hand are verity and judgement vers 7. not onely the words of his mouth but also the works of his hand When we cannot find out God's mind in his word we may spell it out in his works God puts Israel in mind of their deliverance Deut. 8.2 Thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these fourty years in the wildernesse c. I brought thee up out of the Land of Aegypt and redeemed thee out of the House of servants and I sent before thee Moses Aaron and Miriam O my people remember now what Balak King of Moab consulted and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal that ye may know the Righteousnesse of the Lord Mich. 6.4 5. Remember the former things of old Isa 46.9 All God's doings are very weighty in themselves and not to be forgotten When thou art apt to murmure for the want of any thing look upon the Rocks and remember how God made water to flow out of the Rock to the Israelites ready to perish for thirst When thou art in a straight and seest the water let that put thee in mind of God's dividing the red Sea When thou seest the Sun think how God can make it stand still for the good of his Children or go bacward to help forward our Faith Art thou persecuted Remember what God did to Pharoah Deut. 7.18 and to all Aegypt When thou art in affliction then is a time to remember God When my soul fainted within me I remembred the Lord saith Jonab chap. 2.7 When God remembred Jonah he remembred the Lord and praied unto him Many men have quick wits and fluent tongues yet are mute reporters of Gods Providences It is a great sinne to forget God or to be unmindfull of his works and Properties It is sad of the Children of Israel That they did evill in the sight of God and forgat the Lord their God Judg. 3.7 If David did as it were curse himself if he should forget Jerusalem Psal 137.5 6. what then shall happen to those that say to God depart from us we desire not the knowledge of thy waies God complaineth of some that they had forgotten him daies without number Jerem. 2.32 many remember but a part of God his mercy to presume thereon Polan Syntag. de Gratiar actione utterly forgetting his judgements If we forget his word we forsake God if we obey it not we do the like Jerem. 32.33 If we play the Hypocrites we forget his Providence and so whensoever we are unmindfull of him we rush into any kind of sinne making not God our treasure for then our hearts would be with him Ah! how easily do men remember foolish jests vain sports and tricks of youth but how soon are the word and works of God forgotten by us David rouzeth up himself Psal 77.10 11 12. In priscis rebus veritas nòn ad unguem quaerenda Diodat to remember the years of the right hand of the most High To remember the works of the Lord and his wonders of old To meditate of all his workes and talk of all his doings If thou canst not remember particular daies labour to remember the years of the most high in antient things a generall knowledge is sufficient Here I must now commend the lawfull use of History there we may search after the proverbs and records of the Antients 1 Sam. 24.13 There we may see how others have demeaned themselves upon divers occasions and businesses of great importanec Historiae utilitas est magna faelicitatem participat c. Diodor. Sicul. lib. 1. de fabulos gestis It is as one observeth a prudent Sate Councellour by whose advice a Commonweale may be framed Governed reformed and preserved an army well marshalled and ordered Towns besieged and taken Enemies vanquished Kingdomes subdued and great victories obtained In it as in a clear Chrystall-glasse we may behold God's Providence governing the world Joh. Crompton's Sermon of marriage and the actions of men which have often strange and unexpected events and sometimes reach unto such ends as are quite contrary to the actors intentions it representeth to us the vices and vertues of great ones it leaves to posterity the worthy sayings and doings of men famous in their generation for the imitation of their survivors But above all Histories let us be carefull to read the Sacred Histories of God's wonderfull Providences towards his people this divideth time to us it acquainteth us with all the passages of Gods Providence that have been from the beginning of the world it keeps God's benefits fresh in our minds it perfumeth the memorial of the Godly making piety the more amiable it teacheth us by the examples of those Worthies that are there mentioned how we should carry our selves upon whom the ends of the world are come Now that we may the better rub up our memories we must make diligent enquiry after God's wonderfull works Eliphaz tells Job That he would not onely declare to him what himself had seen but also what wise men had told from their Fathers Job 15.17 18. We should ask of those that have the best and most experience we love to hear travellers discourse of other Countries especially those that know them by experience and albeit Art and Learning are good helpes yet he maketh the best Comment upon God's works that speaketh from holy experience What a shame is it then for old men to be children in understanding many old men are indeed profound in worldly wisedom but babes in other things so that even youths may teach the Senatours wisdom it is a great judgement when Counsell perisheth from the Antient Ezek. 7.6 Cyrus in Xenophon Xenophon reports that the Persians had a Law enjoyning all men to be silent when an Elder should speak Callistratus to give him the wall when they met him in the streets Hesychius and to set open and clear the passage waies when he should go any journey or voyage Monsieur Goulart's Vieillard In the Antient Roman Common-wealth great Reverence was done to old men and the Antient Grecians as Hesychius observeth gave Majestick titles to Old men the Counsels of Old men are more regarded than the strength of young men it 's the best Ornament of the hoary head to be full of Heavenly wisedome
The very Athenians Aegyptians and Romans severely punished all idle persons as Gellius tells us The Godly that are truly humble refuse no honest kind of labour Abel keepeth sheepe Jacob and Moses do the like Sarah will bake cakes Rebekah takes a pitcher and draweth water Gideon will thresh and Elisha put his hand to the plough and the honourable woman will put her hand to the distaffe The wise man hath allowed a time for every thing else but for idlenesse no time at all Jacob's ladder had staves Generosos animos labor nutrit Senec. ad Lucil. Epist 31. Vita otiosa umbratilis solitaria nec ad sanitatem facit Plutarc Mor. 1. upon which he saw none standing still but all either ascending or descending by it Man is born to labour as the sparks flie upwards Excellent is the example of Alfred sometime King of England who flourished about eight hundred seventy two yeares after Christ and two hundred years before the Conquest who was very vigilant laborious and powerfull and often prevailed against the Pagans and restored divers Cities to their immunities being taken out of the hands of his enemies among other things he is famous for this that dividing the day nauturall into three even parts he spent eight hours in reading writing and praying eight hours in hearing and determining matters of State belonging to his place and but eight for the provision of his body by meat drink sleep and other necessaries King Alphonsus doing â—omething with his hand and labouring so as some which beheld him found fault smiled and said Hath God given hands to Kings in vain Some say that the Grand Seignour of the Turks is by his Law daily to do some bodily worke with his hands to grace labour The old Aegyptians were wont once a year to call their Citizens together and have every man give account to their governours how he got his living if they found any vagabonds and drones that lived by the sweat of other mens browes and used no lawfull labour themselves Quid vultis ut Dominus me otiosum inveniret Calvin they presently banished them It was a worthy saying of Mr. Calvin when his Friends found him continually macerating himself with painfull studies demanding of him why he had so little care of his health What will ye that may Master at his coming should find me idle It is the sinne of many of the Gentry to whom God hath given means and ability of doing good to spend their whole life either in doing nothing or that which is worse than nothing Ah what confusion will overwhelm prophane time spenders at the day of judgment when God shall shew them the bill of their mis-spent life Item So much time spent in swaggering Item So many nights spent in whoring Item So much spent in Carding Dicing and gaming Item So much spent in eating and gurmundizing rioting and drunkennesse Item So many choyce hours spent in swearing lying scoffing at holinesse and in foolish and rotten communication So much time spent at the glasse in frizzeling and poudering in singing complementing and dancing Certainly at the sight of all these dreadfull Items they shall then wish but all in vain that they had one hour to spend in weeping for their former folly Albeit there ought to be a difference in the manner of the employment between those that are Nobly descended and men of meaner rank Dr Sanders Serm. ad populum in 1 Cor. 7.24 yet no man should live idly If God hath made thee a man of authority in the Country where thou livest and blessed thee with a large estate thou oughtest to keep thy family in good order to be liberal to the poor hospitable to Gods Ministers others to endeavour to preserve love and peace among the neighbours he that doth this he may must needs be acknowledged a profitable member in the Commonwealth many prodigall young Gallants alleadge their birth and their noble extraction But was any man of higher birth than Adam Mart. Bucer de Regno Christi lib. 2. cap. 24. who laboured before he had sinned Who higher born than Cain and Able the sons of the absolute Monarch of the whole world yet one of them is a tiller of the ground the other a Keeper of sheep Would such men search their Pedigrees they would find their Worthy Ancestors raised their houses either by valiant exploits they did in the field by adventures at Sea diligent attendance at Court or by industriousnesse of some particular calling and though they inherit the Lands and Titles of honour yet if they also inherit not their vertues they are but the degenerate off-spring of generous Ancesstors One observeth how industrious every Creature in the world is and doth his office The little Nightingale in the forrest maketh an Organ of her throat sometimes her notes are warbling sometime she stretcheth them out at length the Swallow is busie in her masonry the Bee toileth all the day in her innocent thefts the Spider draweth out the long train of her webs 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euripid. and maketh more curious works with her feet than the most skillfull woman can weave with her hands Fishes play their parts under the water Beasts of service as Horses Oxen c. labour in their duty nature hath nothing at all except man that is willing to be idle Here I may tax the vanity of many young Gallants that for want of beter impolyment travell into far Countries meerly to see and learn new fashions quaint phrases apish gestures foolish courtings and vain complements and many times like unfortunate Merchant-adventurers they exchange good company for evill manners the fashion of too many Travellers as the old Lacedamonians long since observed is not to Brathwait Engl. Gent. bring home the wisedome and vertues but the follies and vices of forreign Countries Give me a man saith one that hath seen the Ephesian Diana in the Louire the great Vessell at Heidelberg the Amphitheatre at Vlysmos the stables of the great Mogol and Mahomets shrine at Mecha yea all the memorable Monuments of the world to delight the eye or Learned Academies to inrich his knowledge yet are not all these able to alter the quality of his disposition whence Flaccus saith Horat. lib. 1 Epist 11. To passe the Seas some are inclin'd To change their air but not their mind But I take not upon me from hence to condemn all Treavelling into sorreign parts I know divers sorts of Travellers are both Antient and honest as 1. Such as Travelled and undertook long journeys to deliver Captives from unjust imprisonment as the Poets feign of Hercules that he undertook many toilsome journeys to kill Monsters and curb Tyrants that oppressed poor innocents this is lawfull for great Princes either to go in person or to send by deputation into forreign Countries to deliver Captives and those that suffer wrong 2. To deliver souls from spirituall bondage in preaching the