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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	body_n	natural_a	spirit_n	1,503	5	5.1182	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A63788	The country-man's companion, or, A new method of ordering horses & sheep so as to preserve them both from diseases and causalties [sic], or, to recover them if fallen ill and also to render them much more serviceable and useful to their owners, than has yet been discovered, known or practised : and particularly to preserve sheep from that monsterous, mortifying distemper, the rot / by Philotheos Physiologus, the author of The way to health, long life and happiness, &c.	Tryon, Thomas, 1634-1703.	1684 (1684)	Wing T3176; ESTC R23567	76,055	190

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 W●…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 no●… 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 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 ●…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 Fi●…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

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 Di●…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 W●… 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 Provend●…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 r●…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

their Food there ought to be some Salt now and then mixed amongst the Granes which will dry up the moist Humours and prevent Windy and Watery Diseases or the Rot Salt being of a warming drying Quality Remember also that Stables are more than ordinary pernicious to Mares with Foal as likewise that their Colts when foaled ought to run in the Fields with their Dams until they wean themselves which will be near a Year If the before-mentioned Rules be observed your Horses will seldom want Bleeding or any kind of Drenching but if you find your Horse proves too fast on the change of Pastures or Food be the Season of the year what it will or be the occasion height of Keeping or little Work then the safest and surest Course to preserve them from Diseases and also to cool and lessen their Blood is to give them moderate Labour and with-draw or alter the quality of their Food which will digest all 〈◊〉 Matter and out off the causes of Diseases in the very bud whereas both Blood-letting Purging and most such unnatural means are for the most part done at a venture without the true or certain knowledge either of the Disease or Physical Vertue and Operation of the Medicine so that thereby many times the Malady or Disease is increased for though the common Practi●… of Physick as to men be very dangero●… and uncertain yet there is still greater uncertainty in Medicines as to cure whe●… administred to any sorts of Cattel for men are capable to judge in some degree of the Nature and Operation of Medicin●… and to express what they find in themselves of their Virtues or Vices but the dumb Beasts cannot do any of this Besides most Purging Compositions and Dr●… used for Cattel come from other Countries which are of a contrary or differe●… Nature and Operation from those of o●… own growth And since all our Cattel d●… constantly live on the Grass Herbs Seed●… Grains and Fruits that our own Country produces therefore those forreign Ingredients are more strange and disagreeing 〈◊〉 them than they are to men because Ma●… through Vanity and Custom hath enur'd himself to them by the constant or frequent eating of Outlandish Productions either entire or at least by mixing them with their other common Food Of Horses Food ONe of the best Meats or Foods for Horses is good Rick-Hay that is about half a year or three quarters old which has heat in the Mow and so cut in fresh every day out of the Rick for that is to be preferred before Hay out of the Barn or Houses and will make all Cattel thrive and prove better First because the pleasant spirituous thin vapours of the Air have their free Circulation and Influences in and about it which does powerfully penetrate all parts even to the Center of such Ricks or Stacks and keeps the pure spirituous Quality and Balsamick Virtu●… of such Hay living and causeth the said Hay to settle closer and harder together than it will in Houses therefore Rick Hay has a finer smell or scent than the other which all Horses much delight in and this proceeds from the briskness of the spirituous and balsamick Virtues for this cause if Rick-Hay be well ●…ured or made all sorts of Cattel will chuse it before others especially Sheep who have the nicest and best Pallates to distinguish All that can be alledged against this son of Hay is That there is some waste which is inconsiderable if the Season be dry and care taken as ought to be For the contrary Causes or Reasons House or Barn-Hay is not so good viz. because there the sweet influence of the Air has not so free ingre●…●…nd egress nor can the more spirituo●… parts thereof penetrate such Hay which does in a degree suffocate the Spirit thereof and therefore it will not settle so close●… for when the spirituous and balsamick Virtues of Hay are wounded or hur●… either by Suffocation or Evaporation th●… the same becomes of a light hollow substance and is of a dry Nature of litt●… heart or vertue the Spirit being the tr●… Life and moving Power of every thing and the Air is the blower up thereof which does keep the Spirit living I d●… not mean the gross Element but you a●… to understand that in this gross Elemen●… of external sensible Air there is contain●… a pleasant living spiri●…us Power which is the true Life of all things and its Ray●… do more or less penetrate all Bodies b●… if by any accident or on purpose its Influence be hindered or prevented then such things or places do presently contract great store of Humidity and such Air becomes hot thick and sulpherous whence are generated several sorts of Vermine and Insects more especially when the season is hot for Heat and Moisture are the occasion of the Generation of all such things but where the Elements have their free Influences the generation of all such Vermine is prevented as M●…ths never breed in Wollen Clothes that are daily wo●… nor Buggs in open Houses but only in close places as in Beds and when packt up in Chests where the Sun and Air are hindered from having free Influences and so there is Humidity contracted and when hot Weather comes there are generated such Creatures according to the Matter and that Quality which does predominate which if it proceed from the Animal Life then the Creature so producted is of a stinking Nature more offensive than any of those Insects or Vermin that are generated from the Vegitative Kingdom But the chief and great Food for Horses is Corn viz. Corn in the Straw which is to be preferred before Corn that is either only Thresht or both Thresht and cleansed from its Chass For all sorts of Corn when cleansed from both Straw and Chaff are too hot and gluttenating and over-heat the body and blood and obstruct the Passages whence Short-windedness and many Inconveniences proceed But on the contrary Barley Pease Fetches Beans or Oats given in the Straw are not only a firm dry strong hearty Food but the Straw of each sort of Grain eaten there-with does open and cleanse the Stomach from all Supersluities drying up the moist Vapours and keeps all the Passages and the Bowels clean and free from hard tough or sharp Humours and slimy Juices which often obstruct Nature and cause griping Pains or Plague in the Guts Also this sort of Food does resine the Blood and generate pure Spirits whence proceeds Strength Courage and Vivacity and lively sparkling bold Spirits and Dispositions and makes them drink freely which much helps to the equal distribution of the Food for this cause Oats of all sor●… of Corn are accounted the best and healthiest Food for Horses because two third parts of them are Chaff for should the Chaffie parts be separated from them a●… is done in Oat-meal and so given to Horses it would prove as hurtful as any viz. 〈◊〉 the common green Wheat and more i●… would so

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 o●… Disorder 4thly If Wet or Rainy Weather come●… in in March or April and goes out in the latter end of May or Iune then there i●… no danger of this Disease because th●… 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

drink of the best and superfluo●…sly and do not work but ride up and down in thy Coach and be waited upon by a parcel of Servants altogether as idle as thy self and thou shalt Rack thy Tenants and Domineer over the Poor and oppress and violate their Rights and spend their Labours and the sweat of their Brows in Riot and Wantonness and lead a lazy swaggering Life and bear all out because thou art my Son and well Descended But alas these Maxims of Education were not known or practised in those days but the Prudent Fathers brought up their Dutiful and Laborious Children to their own Trades and in honest Country Imployments Iacob had twelve Sons how many of them did he make Lawyers University-men or Inn●… of Court-Gentlemen No No they were every one of them Shepherds and were not ashamed of their Occupation nor thought it any dishonour to their Birth for those were the Golden Times so much celebrated by the Antients when Kings and Princes studied Wisdom and preferr'd the true Knowledge of God and Nature in themselves before the vain Conceits of Ignorance Ambition or the outward and barren Noise of Lip-Learning but Tutor'd their Children in the Mysteries of undisguised Nature and contented themselves with ●…lain Country-Lives mean Clothing and ●…ple Food which render'd them sound ●…d healthful both in Body and Mind ●…ir Children for that Reason being not so subject to such a number of Diseases as ours nor to Immature Deaths for Temperance and Cleanness in Meats and Drinks joyn'd with moderate Exercises and Labours are most excellent Assistants and very much tend to the rendering of men capable of obtaining the true Knowledge of God and Nature in themselves for when the Body is free from Disorders the pure thin Vapours of the Air are suckt in as by a Spunge on all parts which do wonderfully refresh and replenish Nature and render the Body full of brisk lively Spirits which make it vigorous and sprightful And Labour duely followed does not only strengthen the Body but fortifies us against many Evils making all the Limbs better able to discharge those Functions for which they are designed begets Appetite helps Concoction Corroborates the Stomach and Natural Heat frees the Passages from Obstructions makes the Blood circulate freely c. In a word Labour and Abstinence are not only two of the best Physitians in the World and two of the best Common-Wealths-men the Pillars of Strength and Fortitude but the Grounds of all Virtue Therefore know O Man if thou dost not imploy those Talents which God hath entrusted thee with and put them to that use for which they were lent thee then the Lord the great Creator will spue thee out of his Mouth as he did the proud disobedient Angels Nor will it serve thy turn in that day to say My Father got an Estate by Oppression Blood and Violence and made me his Heir why then should I work Had not I Slaves to do my Drudgery I am a Gentleman born and bred who shall hinder me from taking my Pleasure in Carrouzing Pampering my Carcass diverting my self in all manner of Uncleanness and Idleness No No these Allegations will not excuse but aggravate both your Guilt and your Punishment Every one must give an Account of his Stewardship No Punctilio's of Gentility or Birth or Blood or Titles or Estate will stand thee in stead nor any mans saying It was my own and therefore I might do there-with what liked me best For this is a most false Usurpation and Robbing God of his Propriety in his Creatures and assuming the same to thy self Alas vain Man The Lands the Mines the Fruits the Corn every thing thou so proudly boastest to be thine own are Gods for he made them he preserves them he endues them with all their Virtues he lent thee the Possession of them to imploy them to his Glory and the good of thy fellow Creatures not to lavish them away on thy Lusts And if thou dost abuse them he can in the twinkling of an Eye take thee from them or them from thee and bestow them on another nay so far art thou from being Lord Paramount over those outward things thou enjoyest that thou hast no Right nor Title to thine own Self but thy Person is Gods by Creation who made thee to serve him and not thy own Imaginations and that thou mightst be capable of serving him and thereby in the end to obtain that Happiness which is the Consummation of thy Happiness or chiefest Good he hath endued thee with Organs of Body and Faculties of Mind but thou let'st them rust with Idleness or dost weaken and destroy them by Excess and so thy Work that very Work for which thou wast made remains undone thy Creator is most ungratefully neglected or Impiously affronted thy Fellow-Creatures instead of a Guide or Helper find thee a Tyrant and their Tormentor Thy Life is rendred uncomfortable here and all Endeavers after a better state hereafter are by thee sleighted What remains then but that the Justice of divine Vengeance should arise terribly against thee and cut thee off from the Land of the Living and cast thee into utter Darkness and ever lasting Flame to have thy Portion with the Devil and his Angels whom thou hast imitated and served But on the other side Blessed and thrice Happy are they that in time entertain and cherish Temperance and exercise themselves diligently in VVell-doing and do not misuse the good Gifts and Graces of their Creator whose Garments are not stain'd with Oppression but they retain Humanity and live under the Dominion of the Friendly Principle and Divine Love being at Peace with the whole Creation for Nothing then can Hurt them because They have hurt Nothing THE Planters Speech To his Neighbours Country-men in Pennsylvania East and West-Iersey c. And to all such as have Transported themselves into New-Colonies for the sake of a quiet Life My dear Friends Country-men THough it may seem very Impertinent and Unnecessary to go about to repeat to you the Occasions and Motives that inclined you to abandon the Land of your Nativity and those comfortable outward Imployments and Accommodations which most of you had there and to adventure your selves to the Hazards of a long Voyage at Sea to come to this Remote part of the World yet lest you should forget those Inducements as often it happens that men by a slothful Negligence or Ignorance after some Tract of Time fall from their first Love and blindly hurrey themselves into the very same Mischiefs which they intended to avoid and build up again what they justly endeavoured to destroy not foreseeing the future ill Conveniences of their present supposed Innocent Actings I shall take leave briefly to mention some few of those weighty Causes which I am confident originally sway'd your Spirits to this Transplantation and those good Ends for the obtaining of which you chiefly removed hither The Motives of our Retreating to