A serious Revolving of these Questions and examining your selves and your unbosom'd Hearts touching these Queries will be a most useful as well as pleasant Exercise and under the shade of an Hedge more enlighten your Minds than some years spent in a sweaty Library the Chat of a Coffee-House or even the empty Documents of the Schools And when your Spirits begin to languish under the weight of these severer Contemplations then refresh your Bodies either with the Harmony of your well-chosen Instruments or by being diligent in Planting Inoculating and Grafting Trees of various kinds of Fruit than which I scarce know any Labour more delightful or in setting Hedges which may prove not only Ornamental but very Beneficial to your selves and Flocks to secure both from the Injuries of the Elements And those that do thus mannage their Flocks with Wisdom and Discretion shall answer a good Conscience towards God improve themselves to a Praise-worthy degree of Knowledge and Happiness and preserve their Sheep to a far greater Health and Profit than others Of Sounds and the Benefits Musical Hramony yields to Men and Beasts and in particular to Sheep HAving in the fore-going Chapter occasionally mentioned the Musick that Shepherds use to have I think it will not be improper here to add a few words on that subject since the same does not only conduce to the sole Delight of the Shepherd himself but is also of good use in respect of the Creatures which he tends who are much delighted thereby and 't is certain that by how much any Creatures Life is rendered more delightful by so much the faster it thrives and is the less subject to Diseases 'T is agreed on all hands That it was a general Custom amongst the Antient Shepherds to use and play on Musical Instruments as in ruder times on Oaten Reeds and afterwards on Hawboys Bagpipes Flagolcâ—…s c. He is wholly a stranger to the Poets and never so much as Travelled Arcadia even in the Romance that can be ignorant of this Noâ—… was that â—…ice only amongst the Heathen-Swains for we find that great King and illuminated Prophet David being bred a Shepherd had by use and his curious Genius and Industry attained unto an Excellency therein even in his Youth whilst he followed his Fathers Flocks as was afterwards manifest not only when by his curious skill in playing on the Harp he moderated the Rage of King Saul but afterwards by his continual Inclination to Harmony whereof his sweet composed Psalms the most Musical Poems ever extant in the World will be as lasting as Irrâ—…fragable Witnesses There is no doubt but Musical Harmony is endued with wonderful Excellencies and equal parts not only of the Terrestrials but also of the Coelestials and its Harmonious Sounds and pleasant Consorts do powerfully yet quickly as by a most Natural Inclination and Simpathetical Attraction allure all Creatures to its own Property what ever in their Radix stands near or is capable of its Influences So that it does not only change the Affections Intentions Gestures Motions Actions and Dispositions of men and impose its own Harmonious Property on them but also allures many sorts of Beasts and Birds to delight in hearing its pleasant Tunes Thus some sorts of Birds are inveigled by Pipes and Harts may be caught with the same Nay the Fishes themselves are not insensible of its Charms Musical Notes causing Friendship between Men and Dolphins as the sound of an Harp doth lead up and down the Hyperborean Swan and some Authors relate that Melodious Voices are the best means to tame the wild Indian Elephants yea further That the Elements themselves submit to its Power for 't is storied of the Halesian Fountain which is otherwise calme and quiet if a Trumpet be but sounded shall presently rise up raging and swell over its Banks So wonderful is the Power of Musical Harmony that it appeaseth the Fury of the Mind raiseth the Spirit calls them back that are desperate and refresheth the Weary insomuch that the Arabians say That Camels carrying heavy Burdens in tedious Journeys over the vast and barren Deserts are much cheared and will go more stoutly for the singing of their Leaders and hence perhaps it is that all our Carters Plow men generally Whistle to their Cattel when at work and even of men themselves those that carry great Burdens and most sorts of Labouring People do commonly sing in their Imployment and thereby are strengthened and their work goes the more delightfully forward for Harmony chears and refreshes the Annimal Spirits and Senses and causeth equal Operations which do much for tific Nature and chaseth away Melancholly and vain and troublesom Imaginations For this cause Democritus and Theophrastus affirm that some Diseases both of the Body and Mind may be cured thereby which we read was actually done by the Musical Hand of Therpander of Lesbos on many of his Country-men the Lesbians and Ionians their violent Feavers and other Diseases giving place to the Salutiferous strains of his Harp which bid desiance to all the Medicaments of the Man-Lâ—…ch of Chios and all his Tribe of Physitians Orpheus Amphion Pythagoras Empedocles Asclepiades Timotheus c. all meer Heathen-Artists as well as the heavenly-inspired David have performed Wonders by Musical Consorts sometimes stirring up dull Spirits to an active briskness by melodious and familiar Sounds at other times restraining wanton furious or angry Heats by the sweet Violence of their graver Airs for by no other means did Pythagoras reclaim a Luxurious Young man from immoderate Lust. Since such are the effects of Musick it was not without great Understanding and a deep In-sight into Nature that Shepherds in former Ages did apply themselves thereunto and endeavour to Charm their Innocent Flocks with the pleasant Concords of their well-tuned Layes for Sheep are Creatures of a most excellent Composition as to the Elements of the Body and Spirits and therefore all Harmony and Equality has great Assinity with their Natures and they are therewith wonderfully delighted and pleased especially in times of scarcity when Pasturages are hard and scarce as also in cold rainy wet Weather for aâ—… such times Musick does as it were compose and moderete their discontented Minds and Spirits and gently allures them to quietness which does much suit with the Humour and Disposition of this Creature and affords them great Benefit Nor is it any wondâ—… that Musical Harmony should have greater Power over and 〈◊〉 Affinity with many sorts of Beasts than it hath in respect of man because they 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the first pure Law of Nature given them by the Creator in the beginning whereas man through the power of his depraved free Will hath prcipitated himself into Inequality and â—…ll kind of Discord so that most men take delight and pleasure in Oppression and Violence destroying the Peace and Concord not only of those of his own Species but also of all other Creatures being become an Enemy to the
of Nature into an equal Operation as it hath in other Fruits The Iuice of Limes therefore contain two siery Qualities viz. a Saturnine churlish Fire which is of an hard Coâ—…gulating Nature in Operation like the raw cold Saturnine Airs of Winter which congeals the Water and hardens all things 2dly a sharp keen Martial Property of a sower harth sretting Nature and Operation And though in that Drink called Punch these Extreams are some-what allay'd or moderated by the friendly Ingredients viz. Water and Sugar which do not only render it pleasurable to the Pallate but also more tollerable to the Stomach Nevertheless it must be granted that no Extreams can be made altogether Homogeneal by any Artificial Mixtures or give Nature such ample Satisfaction as those things that are equal in their parts For the first leave the Stomach and Desire always either Craving and in want or disordered For when such improper Compositions of Mature and Immature Fruits and Unwholsom Liquors come into the Body Nature's Limbeck the Stomach quickly separates them as sometimes you may perceive after you have eaten or drank such things by the sower Belches and keen sharp matter the Stomach sends up into the Mouth as when any shall eat Pyes Tarts or other Food made of unripe Fruits tho' never so much sweetned to deceive the Pallate if one make a Meal of them he shall find those sower distasteful Belchings and also that they leave his Stomach unsatisfied The same may also be said even of Ripe Fruits when too great a number are jumbl'd together of contrary Natures There are but few that are truly sensible of the many sore Evils and Dissatisfactions improper Mixtures in Diet brings upon the Body and Mind of Man But certainly My Friends and Country-men you cannot but be sensible how freely how bountifully the Creator hath given us all those things that are truly Natural and Necessary to support Life and are they not familiar and procured with little Labour and less Hazards either to the Body or Mind But on the contrary are not all these Needless things hard to come by so that oft-times the Acquest of them tends to the Ruin of the Soul and Body And yet when all 's done the enjoyment of them gives neither Satisfaction to the one nor Health to the other but makes our Wants the greater for presently we shall want Doctors and Physick to repair those Ruins which our own Intemperances have made such improper Meats and Drinks being the original Causes of those cruel Belly-Akes and griping Pains in the Bowels Feavers Fluxes and Dropsical Diseases both here and in the West as also in the East-Indies where our English inhabit all according to the Nature of each place and as other Circumstances of Intemperances shall concur But besides Diseases there are many other Mischiefs that do attend all those places and Countries that accustom to give themselves up to Supersluity and especially to the drinking of strong Liquors for they deprave both Superiors and Inferiors and are the Nurses of perpetual Crimes Confusions and Disorders on both sides rendering the first Fierce Rash Tyrannical and unfit for Government and the latter Rude Bold Surly Inhumane and more apt to Contemn all Authority than Obey Nor is this Prohibition more sit and requisit in respect of our selves than in regard of our Neighbours so that if once we admit the common drinking of such Heady Intoxicating Liquors we may justly expect the same Inconveniences to befall us as have done New-England For the Venom of such Liquors by our fatal Example will quickly spread it self amongst the Indians and so instead of making them better or more humane and tractable by our Christian Vertues and Abllemious Conversation we shall make them Tenfold worse and teach them the gâ—…d Sin of Drunkenness which is the Inlet Parent and Nurse of the most Monstrous Enormities as Uncleanness Murders c For all People who have not the true Knowledge of God and his divine Principle and the Understanding of the hidden Natures of things are terrible greedy and desirous after such fierce wrathful Liquors as also after Food wherein the Blood is it being the Original of every Life which is the forbidden Fruit that man ought not to have eaten nor awakened there being searcea more evident Token of his depraved state and that the fierce wrathful Spirit does bear sway and carry the upper Dominion in mens hearts than their violent Inclinations after Blood and fierce strong Liquors which two things have a simile to and with each other and the Devilish Nature and Wrath is nourished by the use of them which is further manifested by all the Savages of the Desert as the contrary appears in Sheep and all tame humane and tractable Creatures which therefore we â—…ll Clean Beasts II. Another thing my Friends and Country men which I desire you to consider is the innumerable Evils and cruel Miseries man draws upon himself and the whole Creation is the common use of war-like destructive murthering Weapons and their Appurtenances viz. Guns Swords Powder Bullets Shot Drums and the like Devilish Instruments I may properly so call them for no doubt the invention and use of them all did originally proceed from and is still someâ—…ted by the fierce Wrath for as they have been always used for Destruction so indeed they can have no other use but only to awaken and encourage Wrath and Blood-shed Therefore let not our Streets the Temples of Peace and Tabernacles of Love and Innocence be encumbred with such mischievous Tools let not our pure Air be disturbed with their ungrateful Noises Clashings Ratlings and â—…ouncings nor poluted with the Sulpherous Steams they send forth as if so many Devils had marcht through the Skey and lest the stench of the Infernal Regions behind them Wherefore should we give wild Indians that do not know the use of the Messengers of Death such a bad and fatal Example as to shew a new Method how to kill one another which no doubt in process of time they will improve so far as to make War upon us and kill us with our own Weapons witness the Evils that by this very means have attended our Neighbours and the like we or our Postenity may justly expect Besides tell me I pray what Affinity there is or can be imagined between a Christian and Guns Swords Powder Shot Drums and the frightful noise of Armed Troops marching on to Manslaughter Desolation and Spoil does such Imployment of Wrath and Blood look any thing like the pure peaceable meek innocent Christian-Life which teaches to do unto all as we would be done unto and to love not only our Friends and our Neighbours but also our Enemies which assures us that those that use the Sword shall perish by the Sword that commands us if we are sâ—…ote on the Left Cheek to turn the Right c. Can any thing be more Opposite to all this than swaggering in Buff and Armour and boasting
Dung and Piss generates various Diseases in their Blood and also in their Feet and Legs which Horses that lie in the open Air without doors are never subject to On the contrary nothing does more preserve the true Life Strength and Health of all Creatures but more especially of Horses than the open fresh cool Air and therefore at least all Stables and places where Horses are kept ought to have many large open Windows on all sides that the hot Steams may pass away and refreshing Breezes freely enter for this Element is the true Life of every Creature the Cleanser and Purifier of all things gives vigour to the Spirits unlocks the Passages and with moist and thin spirituous Vapours comforts cools and refreshes all the parts preventing Sweating and the too great Evaporations of the Spirits causing the natural Heat to become more central which does strengthen the Stomach and digestive Faculty The chief cause and use of Stables at first was for Shelter in extream Weather as when there was much Rain and then they were built like Court-houses or Hovels covered on the top to keep them dry but open on all sides that they might in such wet Weather eat their Meat dry but were loose to run at large when they pleased which was a very Judicious and Commendable way of keeping them and I am informed this fashion is to this day observed by a Gentleman in Yorkshire who has the best breed of Horses for all strong Exercises as Hunting and the like in the whole Country Now take two Horses of equal goodness and let one of them be kept according to Custom in a close Stable and the other put into a small dry Field where there is but little Grass with a Shed in it open on the sides that he may eat this Hay and Corn dry and let the Horse in the House and the other that is in the Field be allowed the same quantity of Hay and Corn only in very cold sharp Weather and Winter time that in the Field will require more than that in the House by reason the cold pleasant Air opens the Passages drives the Natural Heat more central and so causeth a greater Appetite Now that Horse that is kept in the Field will out-do him in the House in any kind of Labour and be nothing so subject to be Tyred or be Surfeited or Broken-winded c. there being as much difference between these two as between a nice Citizen or Gentleman and an honest laborious Country Husbandman the former being warmly clothed used to close Rooms and lusty Fires and instead of rusling Trees before their Windows they barricado them with Shutters and a file or two of close drawn Curtains and get soft Feather-beds into which they sink every night almost as deep as into their Graves and an heap of Coverings able to put a Russian into a Sweat with another Guard of Curtains drawn round about their heads wrapt up in thick quilted Caps as if they were afraid their Brains would be stollen away from them so that hardly a breath of Air can get to them to which in the day time they add rich and dainty Food and strong intoxicating Drinks By all which they become altogether unapt and indeed unable to endure any kind of Labour Hardship or other Accidents without manifest danger to their Health nay let them have all the care they can with the wise Directions of their Guenny-fed Doctor to boot yet never the less they are continually afflicted with inward Stoppages Obstructions and Disorders which they call Colds and the more they do indulge themselves the more subject they become to all manner of Diâ—…eases But on the contrary the Country man or whoever he be that doth accuttom himself to open Airs indifferent Clothing airy Rooms simple Meats and Drinks with proper Exercises or Labour and observes other Circumstances belonging to Health as we have taught in our general Preatise of the Nature of things entituled The Wâ—… Health long Life and Happiness c. such an one shall in all respects be healthier stronger and more able to endure Labour than the former and his Life shall be more pleasurable and delightful to him for Nature in every one is capable of being made weak feeble and tender as they shall indulge her and on the other side she becomes hardy strong and healthful if you expose her to proper Labours and Exercises in open Airs and to proper simple Food and Drink and the very same is to be understood of all other Creatures only you ought to vary your Rules and Order according to the Nature and Constitution of each It is also to be noted that such Horses as are kept in the Stable especially those that do not constantly work as Saddle-Horses and the like ought not to have Hay always lie in the Racks before them nor Provendâ—…r in their Mangers for the continual feeding or blowing on their Meat will dull the edge of their Appetites and flatten the Stomach and Action of the Natural Heat therefore they ought to be tyed back from their Racks for six eight or ten hours together which will give Nature and the innate heat of the Stomach time to rally and great Advantages to cleanse and digest all superfluous Juices and slimy Matter which dulls the Stomach stops the Passages hinders Digestion and the Generation of good Blood for nothing proves more profitable both to Men and Beasts than a proper time of Fasting which does as it were refine and purifie Nature makes the Blood thin and good whence proceeds pure and undefiled Spirits and brisk lively Dispositions and renders Food pleasant and delightful unto them Also it is convenient not to give any Cattel much Meat at a time but such a quantity as they may eat up clean so shall their Stomachs and Pallates be kept sharp and Spirits brisk Whereas the contrary viz. Fullness and continual Supplies of Food stupisies all the Senses and nauseates the Stomach heate the Blood making it thick which occasions impure Spirits whence do arise unnatural Heats in all the external parts of the Body with a wearisom Indisposition and shortness of Breath for this cause it comes to pass that most or all Horses that are kept in close hot Stables with Meat continually lying before them blowing on it c. are not only subject to a great number of Diseases but on hard Riding are apt to be out of Breath and Short-winded than which nothing in 〈◊〉 Horse is worse Note further that when your Horse has been rid hard or work't much you may conveniently give them a little Water about two or three hours before you give them Meat provided you suffer them not to drink too freely or to the full Also râ—…bing down Horses when hot with a dry wisp of Straw is to be preferred before walking of them And as for such Horses and Cows as are kept in or near great Cities where many times Granes are a great part of
strengthens the Attractive Faculty for this cause a proportionable time of Fasting makes all the Members and whole Body light and airy But to return to our subject The more Sanguine and equal any Creatures are in their Qualities the more apt they are to be put out of tune when any affront or disorder is offered unto them for this cause Sheep cannot endure any kind of Extreams without manifest danger to their Healths they being sensible of every Inconvenience whether it be from their Keepers or from the Elements by reason of their tender Spirits and natural Heats so that every disorder wounds their Health as if they be but driven a little too hard when the Weather is hot or if they be coursed with a Dog or the like which puts them into an heat in any such case if their Keepers suffer them to lie down whilst they are yet hot and this â—…e done often it will make them break out with a Scab or Mange when they come into fresh Pasturage or about Michaelmass Also if they are Folded too close it will occasion the same Disease or if in Summer time and hot Weather the Shepherd do move them too often out of one place into another as the custom of some is who do not understand the Nature of this delicate Creature especially if it be in the heat of the day it will keep them from proving or thriving and also cause the same Distemper So likewise much wet will Rot them therefore Shepherds ought to be the most knowing and careful of all Husband-men since they are to preserve so timerous and tender a Creature whose Nature cannot endure any Inequality without danger It will be convenient that all Shepherds in dry Summers who keep their flocks in common Fallow-Fields or Downs when Grass is scarce and that they have no keeping for them but what such miserable Commons will afford should let their Sheep out of the Fold betimes in the Morning not that they naturally delight to feed early but in times of Drought and where Water is not near at hand then early in the Mornings the Air is moist and full of humid Vapours which powerfully penetrate and are suckt in through all parts by the way of the Pores which Nature has more advantage to perform when they are out of their Fold because they spread themselves into fresh open places where the Air is more humid thin and spirituous than in Folds where the Breathings and Heats that do proceed from the Sheep do make such Airs thick and hot rather suffocating heating the Blood and drying up the cool refreshing Moisture for this cause if they are pen'd close it gives them the Scab or Mange as is mentioned before You are to take notice of the Scituation of your Field or Downs and in the Morning walk or slait your Sheep gently on the highest and and driest parts or if there be Corn-fields or humid Pasturages then feed them by the edges thereof for three or four hours till they begin to be weary and the heat of the day comes on But remember that you do not use any Violence towards them for violent Motion will heat and spend their Spirits and dry up their Radical Moisture and stir or awaken the Central Poysons and Original Heat which ought not by any means to be awakened and yet the same is sooner done in them if care be not taken than in other Creatures by reason of their weak timerons Spirits and tender natural Heats But when the Sun draws near the Meridian viz. about ten or eleaven of the Clock you ought to turn them from off the edges of such Pasturages or Corn-fields into the lowest Vallies or Clayie Grounds that your Field will afford and there let them lie at large and at the greatest ease you can and as scattering as your Valley will afford till folding time which ought if the Drought be great to be late otherwise not You ought at all times to use Tenderness and gentle Behaviour to your Sheep but more especially in dry times and when the Grass is scarce for a far lesser quantity of Food will supply Nature's wants when they are still quiet and lie at ease and a less quantity of Water than when they are hurried out of one place into another for Motion especially in hot seasons and in the heat of the day does cause sweating and too great an evaporation of the Spirits whence follows faintish Indispositions that bring very ill Effects This Order all Shepherds ought to observe from the latter end of May till August if hot dry Weather continue so long and being duly follow'd will preserve your Sheep from many Inconveniences especially from breaking out with the Scabb or Mange towards Michaelmass or when they come to fresh Pasturage As for the time of Shearing of Sheep there are various opinions amongst Shepherds some will have it sooner others later but for certain the best is to unclothe them betimes viz. in the latter end of May or beginning of Iune and many of the Sheep-masters and Shepherds are of the same judgment but out of a certain Policy they will not shear them then because they should sweat in their Wool which makes it watery heavy and consequently more for advantage but that is not any part of my Work I only aim to inform you the best and most Natural way and means to preserve them sound and free from Diseases and for that purpose it cannot be denyed but that the Shearing them betimes is best especially in hot Summers for their Wool is so thick and hot as it causeth them to sweat much which evaporates the Spirits and causeth saintiness weakening the Natural Heat which hurts the digestive Faculty of the Stomach and that by degrees disables them to go through an hard summer for after shearing is commonly the hardest time for Sheep especially for all Fiâ—…ld-Sheep which are the subject of my present Discourse whether it be a seasonable time or not for Sheep will prove better after they are shorn than before And if the latter part of the Summer be dry and hot then there is but little Grass if wet the Sheep being newly unclothed are cold and uneasie and also hungry but the Grass is then of a gross substance and but of little Vertue it being the Declination of the Sun all things fade and decrease in Power Vertue and Strength And such Sheep as are by good Order well kept in the beginning of the year shall be far better able to go through an hard time which generally happens in the latter end of Summer viz. in Iuly August and September than those that are out of heart for want of good order and keeping even as a Cow which is well winter'd will give a far greater quantity of Milk the following Summer than one that has been hardly kept When Summers prove Wet especially when the Rains come in about Iune or Iuly then these following Rules ought to be observed whether your
Thus both Men and Beasts have sharper Appetites and stronger Digestions and can without prejudice eat more Food in cold seasons than in hot and less Drink does serve them for the stronger and more lively the natural Heat and Spirit are the greater and sharper is the Stomach but a less quantity of Drink will suffice Nature because all external Heat if it exceed the Medium draws forth and evaporates the pure subtle Spirits which impedes and weakens the Natural Heat and Action of the Stomach and then the hot sierce original Fires of Saturn and Mars are stirred up and become manifest in all the external parts of the Body which indisposeth the whole and makes the Members glow with an unnatural Heat and therefore then all Creatures desire and require more Drink and less Food but then they are not so strong and lively as in cold but faintish and more apt to contract Diseases from every Inconveniency oâ—… Disorder 4thly If Wet or Rainy Weather comeâ—… in in March or April and goes out in the latter end of May or Iune then there iâ—… no danger of this Disease because thâ—… are kept with Hay most part of the Spring which as is mentioned before destroys all the putrifying Matter Besides the Spring is powerful and lively giving Life and Vertue to all Creatures the warm and enlivening Beams of the returning Sun embrace the reviving Nature fills all things with Spirit so as that the Grass and Herbs then are freed from or nothing so subject to that gross flegmy Substance most sorts of Herbage consists of in the latter Spring by which all Creatures are healthier and better able to withstand Disorders or Inconveniences that happen from the Elements Besides Sheep as is hinted before have been at Hay a considerable time which is a sound healthy hearty Food suitable to their Natures and drying up all Superfluities nay the very Season it self is an Antidote and Preservative for how pleasant lusty and vigorous is every thing brought forth at the approach of the Sun and how joyful all the Creation is every thing seeming to sport it self in various Delights But when once Phoebus drives down his fainting Steeds and with shorter Marches descends with his Charriot from the back of Cancer then quickly does all Natures Wardrobe begin to be fullied every Vegetable and Annimal droops decays and languishes and the Earth mourning the Retreat of her Coelestial Lover with his golden Locks brings forth none but Sickly and Rickety Productions And therefore no wonder if so tender a Creature as Sheep be at that time much more lyable to contract this Disease for the Reasons aforesaid than in the Spring 5thly But to come to some more particular Reasons all Astrologers say that Sheep are under the dominion of the Coelestial Sign Aries into which the Eye of the World enters the 9th or 10th day of March at which time the Sun is strong and powerful as being exalted therein and therefore then this glorious Coelestial Body by its benevolent Influences chears and comforts all things But on the other side about the 11th of September Sol enters Libra where he is in some degree impedited or debilitated as being in opposition to his Exaltation These Coelestial Influences do often take place but more especially when other Causes concur as when Rains come in about Iuly and continue till September or October and the like 6thly You must consider that at this latter Season of the Year Sheep have passed through the Heats of Summer which have awakned their natural Heat stirring up from the Center the hidden or sleeping Poysons whence the Spirits on all occasions are apt to be evaporated and Diseases generated which then meeting with Food full of gross Humors and earthy flegmatick Matter arising from declining Vegetations do then manifest themselves to the great prejudice of Health for which Reasons those Moneths of Iuly August September and October are most dangerous both to Man and Beasts Are not Men more sickly in this Season than in any other and also Diseases then contracted more fierce and mortal as Plagues Rots Murrains c Not that it is to be doubted but Sheep may Rot on have watry Diseases in the Winter as well as in Autumn but then it must be such as lie Night and Day in marshie wet low Grounds living chiefly on Grass which in all wet Seasons without giving them some Hay at times with it is very pernicious to them whence it comes to pass that most Years such Grounds do more or less distemper Sheep As for Example in Northamptonshire and Leicestershire where their Land is rich and low their Grass plentiful and Sheep large but the Country-Farmers are cunning enough to save themselves prety well for knowing that their Sheep are subject to this fatal Disease they are careful to time it and bring them up to London Market before they are too far gone and then our Citizens and dainty Dames do make good Cheer with this stately and no doubt very tender Mutton and are as Blith and Merry at the Burial of their Carcasses in their own Paunches as Young Men and Maids are at their Whitson-Ale or liquerish Matrons at a Gossipping Some do say that there is a Spring Rot sometimes but this is very rare and when it happens the chief Cause has been either the disorders of a wet Winter where care has not been to give them a sufficient quantity of Hay or that they have fed in low wet Grounds where they have eaten too great a quantity of Grass or else they have been Touched the Michaelmass before with the Rot and though they do hold well all the Winter yet when the Spring comes the hidden Distemper manifests it self for at that time Nature has a fresh and lively Motion and what is Infirm will then appear Having thus discoursed and laid open the Cause of the Rot in Sheep from the Closet of Nature and pointed out the time when and by what means that Mischief is to be feared so that I hope all Shepherds and Sheep masters will hence-forth take particular notice when Rains and much wet weather happens about Iuly August or September or when it is generally a wet Summer and continues so till towards Michaelmess and that they will remember then is the Time to be feared of a general Rot. I shall now proceed to befriend them with some Directions how to prevent the danger in that case threatned 1st You ought to keep your Sheep in the Fold till eight or nine a Clock in the fore-noon or longer according as the Morning is either wet or dry the Air humid or clear or if there be great Dews as often there are in August and September and also in October and when the Sun and Elements have pretty well dry'd up the moist Vapours and Humidity off from the Earth then you may let them out and keep them on the highest Ground and where it is dryest and if the day prove dry then
redoubl'd Notes began to sing louder Anthems of Joy and Gratitude for so great a Blessing which would give a general Peace to the whole Creation But their Mirth was but short liv'd for the very next day this Daw with some others was abroad seeking for Food and there comes one of the same Persons whom he had seen so devoutly praying in the Church and lying in ambush with a long Gun cramb'd with Brimstone and Nitre and murthering Pâ—…llets of Load as soon as he spy'd his opportunity let flie at the harmâ—…ess Birds and kill'd several of them upon the place and wounded others those that escaped acquainted their Fellows what they had seen and suffered and bid them look to themselves whatever fair words men might use for they say and do not they pray God would incline their hearts not to commit any Violence and yet the Profession the very Trade of Killing is one of the most Honourable Callings amongst them in their esteem They with their Lips desire the Lord would forgive them their Oppressions and Violences and in their Hearts resolve upon and by their Practices continue the same Outrages Thus vain and depraved Men through their wanton and extravagant Desires after those things which they need not nay which are much more prejudicial than profitable unto them do draw upon themselves a deluge of Calamities the more they have the more they need for as their Possessions and Enjoyments are enlarged so continually in proportion are their greedy Desires augmented like Persons in a Dropsie coveting after more Drink because they have ingurg'd too much already and so through Transgression and Violence that Noble Rational Creature becomes the most miserable of all Animals who was made in the beginning not only the Supream but most Happy and Wisest of all And although we are daily subject to all his Snares and Violences yet still we would not for a thousand Worlds be in some mens condition for they have made themselves not only subject to a thousand Miseries in this Life but more especially in the World to come which has no end whereas both our Joy and Sorrow terminates with this Life and extends not beyond the short horizon of Time And though we do undergo great Inconveniences and often lose our dear Lives sacrificed to irrational and ungodly Violence yet let him know That he himself is and shall be thereby the greatest Sufferer and therefore we advise him to be careful that he do noâ—… awaken the sierce Jaws and ravenous Mouth of the Wrath for fear he be thereby in the end swallowed up and there be none to deliver him Canst thou O Man accuse us for breaking or transgressing Gods pure Law in Nature Are we guilty of Cheating Lying or bearing false Witness of Gluttony Drunkenness or taking the adorable Name of our Creator in vain Have we usurpt upon thy Priviledges taken away thy Lands or laid waste thy Houses Do we not abominate thy Uncleannesses and observe the proper times of our Couplings Are not our Males tender and loving and our Females so chaste that they will not admit the greatest Courtier amongst us to touch them out of their proper Seasons Are either of us ever jealous of each other Where canst thou find amongst all the numerous Inhabitants of the four Worlds so much Abstinence Love Constancy and Chastity as in our kind our Males taking the like care and Industry as the most sober provident well-disposed Man does for the Preservation and Accomodation of his dear Wife and tender Children for during the time of our hatching and breeding up they duly take pains to provide and bring home Food for their Females whilst they sit and also for their Young Ones after they are brought forth neither do they visit the Nests of others but keep close to their first chosen Loves therefore Anger Jealousie and Contention those Thorns which render most of your Down-Beds uneasie enter not into our unbounded Habitations We contend not nor wrangle about our Pedigrees nor trouble our Heads about Noble Birth and State neither have we any Law-suits for Rights Priviledges Lands or Inheritances the whole expanded Ante-Court of Heaven our Creator has given in common amongst us not limiting us by any Land-marks the vast and spacious Air is our natural City whereof we are all born free nor have we forfeited our Charter The Composition and Elements of our Bodies are more brisk lightsom agile and pleasant than any other Creatures as coming nearest to the Coelestial Quires than the heavy dull melancholly Earth-creepers or Phlegmatick Inhabitants of the Ocean therefore we can remove many Miles in a very few hours and mount our selves to the lofty Regions and there behold the wonderful Secrets of our Creator in the generation of Meteors how soft Vapours are cran'd up by the Suns strong Beams and condens'd into Clouds and thence distill'd into Showers to enable the Earth to afford us Nourishment how falling Drops being intercepted in their way congeal into â—…lakes of Srow and how hot Exhalations imprison'd in surrounding Vapours of a cold and contrary Nature force their Passage with bright Flashes and terrible Noises which you call Lightning Thunder whilst in the mean time whilst we survey near hand these Wonders our fallen Prince Man is confin'd to his Earthly Palaces â—…uzling like Swine in Dung and Dirt or rather like Moles always moiling yet always blind This Active Life joyn'd with our innocent simple Diet preserves us from being afflicted with Diseases Your Agues are as unknown to us as their Causes and Cures are to your Physitians We have no Feavers because we never burn with unnatural Lusts nor Dropsies because we never drown our faculties with over-charg'd Bowls neither are our Joynts crampt with the Great Pox nor our Skins deform'd with the Small Our Young Ones are not tortur'd with the Evil or Rickets nor those of riper Age with Trembling Palsies Putrifying Seurvies or any â—…he like cruel Diseases so that rarely any of our kind dye unnatural Deaths unless occasion'd by the Tâ—…eachory or Violence of â—…an but we are by the goodness of our Creator blessed with Health and long Life not subject to Distempers slavish Labours Cares or any other Perturbations either of Body or Mind because we still continue in â—…he constant Observation of that pure innoâ—…nt Law of God in Nature in which we were first created and do still retain those natural Gifts and Self-preservations which we were endued with in the beginning for the Lord made all Creatures sound and healthful and now if any are otherwise it is because they have forsaken Gods pure Law and depraved themselves the most fatal Instance whereof is Man who was in his Creation adorn'd with wonderful Gifts and Graces both divine and humane and in every respect made more compleat than any other Inhabitants of the material Worlds but behold now how miserably is he degenerated and shut up in Ignorance Folly and Blindness by his stepping out
I hope you do not expect your Horses and Cows to be better Philosophers than your selves in distinguishing the Virtues and Vices of Waters for the Pallates of Cattel are adulterated by Custom even as mens are for if you accustom your self to Food that is not well prepared or Drink that hath an ill smack yet in length of time it will be so familiariz'd and so stir up and awaken its own Property in the Body that the ill smack or scent can hardly be perceived So great is the power of every particular thing to strengthen and incorporate its self with its simile in the Body whence does proceed the Possibility in Nature of making all things in a certain sort friendly unto it self Now Pond-Water is generally the warmest of all others and those Cattel that are used to it had therefore much rather drink it than other the common use of it hiding the fulsome Taste and gross earthy Smell But still there are some Ponds that are constantly fed with good Springs and others that in Rainy Seasons are plentifully supplied with Freshes and the Water of either of these is very good and wholsom I am not insensible that these Rules and Observations will seem strange and perhaps Ridiculous to the wise Iockies of this Age since contradicting their beloved Prophet Custom and Tradition whom the Multitude admire However I am satisfied in that I have by making them publick performed my Duty to my Country and so leave them not dispairing but that there may possibly be some few found of so much Ingenuity as to make Trial of them and then I doubt not but how mean uncouth or inconsiderable soever they may now seem they will acknowledge them to deserve both Thanks and Imitation CHAP. II. Of Sheep their Natures and the best way to secure them from the Rot and other Inconveniences and preserve them Healthy SHEEP area sort of Animals highly to be esteemed as well for the Excellency of their Natures wherein they transcend most other Creatures as for the manifold Benefits they afford unto Mankind The Dignity of their Nature renders them the Emblems of Innocency and fit Metaphors for Virtue Thus not only Princes by the Heathen-Sages are called Shepherds and their obedient and well govern'd Subjects their Sheep to intimate that no other species of Creatures are more inclinable to good Order or so readily governable but even in sacred Wâ—…it the People of God are every where denominated The Sheep of his Pasture and Christ himself likens his Disciples and Followers to Sheep and calls himself The good Shepherd that layeth down his Life for his Flock And this was for the near Affinity Sheep have to Equality and to the harmless innocent Life and Principle which Christs Sheep and Lambs do live in But on the other side he compared Evil Men unto and called them by the Names of wild fierce savage ravenous Beasts as Bears Tygers Wolves c. because that sort of degenerate men do live in and are acted by the uneven fierce and cruel Nature and Principle and have therein an Affinity with the Beasts before mentioned And thus there is as perfect an Antipathy between the friendly innocent Principle which governs and rules in the Hearts of Christs People and those that are guided by his holy Peace-breathing Spirit and those other that live in the power of the fierce Wrath and uneven Nature as between Sheep and Wolves or Foxes and the like Beasts whose very sight does afright and amaze them even more than that contrariety proceeding from their Radixes Sheep being dignified as it were with a gleam of the Coelestial Principle of Unity having no manifest Quality predominating whereas on the contrary all the before-mentioned Beasts of Prey have their predominant Quality standing in the fierce Wrath as appears by their unsightly Shapes their frightful Howlings or Noises that they send forth their cruel Inclinations and bloody Dispositions To speak more plainly Sheep are in Temperature moderately Hot and Moist and in Complexion Phlegmatick-Sanguine with a mixture of Melancholy and if they exceed in any of the four Humours it is in Moisture their Radical Fires burn but gently being of a good equal Temperature whence their sweet and amicable Natures and Dispositions do arise For this cause all Inequality is an utter Enemy unto them especially excess of Moisture For they are very porous by which the moist vapours of the Air do powerfully penetrate them on all parts which causeth such Quantities of Wool and does supply them with store of Moisture which when the Air is humid or too much wet weather happeneth proves prejudicial unto them for this cause Sheep can live longer in times of Drought than many other Creatures without Water and receive less prejudice by the want thereof though all Creatures are more or less nourished by this way and do suck in their spirituous moist Nourishment like Spunges on all parts if this were not so no Creature could subsist For the attractive Quality and natural Heat do in a hidden way draw in the moist spirituous Vapours which the Element of Air does plentifully afford and the more Humid the Air is the greater Quantity of Moisture is received into the Body which Nature performs in a Magnetick Insensible way but the same does more manifestly appear when the Season is wet the Element of Air being then more imbib'd with Humidity than in drier times and therefore most or all Creatures will then live with and desire lesser Quantities of Water than when the Weather is dry though the Meat and Labour be the same This may also appear in Man If he shall live temperately in his Diet Exercises so as he do not sweat nor any other way affront Nature to put her to the Expences of too great a Transpiration then let him drink a pint or a quart in twenty four hours space which is a sufficient Quantity for such whose Labours are easie then observe that such an one shall make more Urine in quantity than he drank and if the Season be moist and the Air humid he will make near double the quantity provided he do not eat Foods that are over Salt for such do naturally heat the Body and consume the thin moist cooling Vapours which serve for the help of Concoction and do comfort and refresh Nature But on the contrary if a man shall drink two or three Gallons in a day as many do though to their shame and the Injury of their Healths especially if their Drink exceed in strength then it is to be observed that such an one will make but half or noâ—… half the quantity of Urine as he swallowed down Liquor And also it is to be noted that the more Temperately any shall live and the smaller the quantity of Food they eat the more Urine they will make that is proportionably to their Drink for Abstinency cools the Body opens the Pores and Passages sets the Natural Spirit at liberty and