very surprizing when but to consider him in a Natural State and compare him with the Excellency of Celestial Beings Arnold What observe you from thence Theoph. I observe him complicated and compounded of Elements and Elements of themselves they drop in sunder Arnold But what if you take him translated into a State of Grace and Regeneration Theoph. Why then I 'll grant the first Death is past and the second Death shall have no power to hurt him Arnold So far you 'll grant him to excel all created Beings Theoph. Yes But not as he stands in a Natural State Arnold Do but consider him a living Monument of Praise inrich'd with all the Endowments of natural Perfection besides those eminent Qualifications of Piety which intitle him Excellent and confirm him a Creature adorn'd with all the signal Marks and shining Characters of this stupendous Creation Theoph. Why so Arnold And why not so Does not the Lion and the Leopard with the Tiger Wolf Panther and Vulture pay their Veneration to him Does not his very Aspect confound the Crocadile and with one superficial Glance of his Eye he mortifies the Basilick Consider the Composure of his Face and Features together with the delicate Frame and his well-compos'd Fabrick of Body Do not these present him a Composition of Majesty Surely it does for all the Creatures honour and adore him which demonstrates him a Monarch and of such a Princely Soveraignty that the whole Creation pay their Services to him Theoph. You wilfully misinterpret me or prevaricate your own Judgment by taking wrong Measures That Dignity and Vertue you sum up that formerly shin'd as a Ray about him is now become a Cloud a promiscuous Cloud to obscure him Arnold How can I mistake my self when to consider him in a most eminent State and such a Capacity of Beauty and Excellency that the maz'd World think him more than a Monarch Theoph. They may think what they will of his Primitive State but convinc'd by Experience he is not so now It 's true the time was when all the Creatures with a solid Submission humbled themselves before him but that was then in his State of Innocency in Eden's fair Fields before Transgression before he unhappily found out the Art of Sinning then and there it was they paid their Veneration but do they so now We experience to the contrary for the Beauty and Majesty of that glorious Image was so macerated and torn by the Talons of Sin that it has grown up since to a Flood to deluge Posterity This Act of Disobedience divested our Protoplast and influenced his Successors so that every Generation since Adam has laboured under the same Predicament for that dethron'd Adam in Paradise disinherited us and Adam's Posterity there it was Man lost his Prerogative and here it is Sin makes us less than Men. Arnold Can one single Act in our Protoplast so vacate the Royal Grant of Prerogative to enervate the Conduct of succeeding Generations Surely no. The glorious Act of Government shines universally in Man and will so to the succeeding Generations The whole Creation was placed in a Posture of Servitude to Adam as he himself stood a Subject in Obedience to his Creator So that if I rightly understand Creational Work the great End was to discover hidden things and manifest Idea's with the Consequent of Production of their various Species So that under Submission I may as rationally conclude that the Creatures in the Creation have now as then a natural Right to bend their Submissions to Man's Princely Soveraignty Theoph. I very much doubt it for no sooner Adam lost his Prerogative but he he felt a Trepedation invade all his Vitals and his Soul began to blush within him because afrighted with the Aspect of Sin that at a distance presented him the Picture of Death now the same Death that strangled him strangles all his Posterity Thus it was when Adam lost his Government and thus it is with us when governing imprudently for till then the Creation was unacquainted with Disguise nor till then did the Creature relinquish his Authority till he relinquished his Primitive Simplicity Arnold What happened then Theoph. There happened a Change in all the Creatures because they perceived a Change in their Conduct where note ever since that general Revolt the Creatures have been cautious to repose a Trust under mortal Protection because destitute of Power to govern himself Arnold Will you deny Man a Soveraign Power and Divine Right to intitle himself Universal Monarch Theoph. That 's not the Point in Dispute I have already granted that Adam's Divine Graces sprung spontaneously from the refulgent Ray of the Majesty of God But what is that to us Can we restrain our Hands from Blood and our Hearts from Malice and precogitated Sin Now every Man knows the Reward of Sin is not Death simply but Divine Justice and Divine Justice bars out all the Footsteps of Mercy Arnold That 's undeniable however I 'm convinc'd that could we but govern our own Irregularities our Passions our Ambitions and exorbitant Desires we should shine like Stars among Men and seem in some sort almost immortal Theoph. That word almost was well put in but to the Argument as to Point of Government if unlike Christians we govern our selves we tacitly slide into the Inconveniency of Slaves and such we may suspect our selves to be because to sink under the weight of every single Temptation by which means we sully all those excellent Privileges that adorned our Protoplast in his Primitive State Arnold What State then must we call this a State of Apostacy Theoph. You may call it what you please for every Man is in a State good or bad but worst of all is that State that lifts up its Hand to rebel against Heaven Such were the Giants in the days of old and such are we now because overgrown in Sin How often have we violated the Authority of our Commission and how often have infring'd the Liberties of the Creation Now in the Primitive State there were no such Proceeds for then the Creatures flew as naturally to Adam's Hand as terrified now they fly from ours The Turtle then was heard in every Grove now they coo no where except in Aviaries all the Families of Birds then fill'd the Air now they are compell'd to whistle in Cages then they exprest their Gratitude with Demonstrations of Joy now they lament their Destiny because doomed to die This was the Golden Age our Ancestors liv'd in but it 's the Iron Age we live in now For Innocency in effect is almost lost and it 's well if we lose not our selves Arnold However I cannot yield to this Conclusion that Adam's Commands were so torn and macerated that surviving Posterity should neglect their Obedience For if when to consider how many Generations have travelled through the Map of Time from our Ancestors to us and Time you know informs us of Experience How rational is it then to
come to fee her Arbours and Aviaries so naturally dress'd up in the Shades of the Forest and perfum'd with Fragrancies from the redolent Meadows of Trent besides the pleasant Prospect it has into the cultivated Fields in the fruitful Vale of Belvoir then would you say that Nottingham is the Magazine for Cheshire and Lancashire and the daily supply of those Mountainous Parts in the Peak of Derby-shire These are those Ports where the Angler and Ingenious never yet entred without sober Accommodation let us therefore first consult the Virtuoso's of the Rod afterwards sweeten our Ears with Rhetorique from Apollo Th. As you have given us a fair and large Character of Nottingham so have you been as copious in your practical Experiments of Angling and brought to Test the undeniable Assertions of Truth not imaginary Fragments nor Romantick Fictions stoln or suggested by plundring Plagiaries Now every one knows that Ignorance emulates Art and Impiety above all things abominates Devotion Tradition also that truckles under Forms and Hypocrisy and Flattery are Time's Apostates But Science and Experience are the confirmation of Eye-sight and Truth the Standard of Divine Speculation By these we proportion the Measures of Vertue which is found by him that treads the Tracks of Wisdom and wades through the profound Depths of Patience for as he that devotes himself to a solitary Life lives a Life most congruous to Devotion so he that devotes himself to Piety lives a Life analogous to Contemplation For what signifies the Court but to remonstrate the Prince his Magnificence and the Palace but to heighten his Enjoyments On the other hand where Humility is celebrated to Piety there Content dwells every-where in an humble Breast and Humility and Penitency like Links concatinate content themselves with the garb of a Cottage Thus we may read the State of the World but that which I always approved of as the best State was to seek the Blessings of Content in every Condition Then welcome Woods Rocks Rivers Groves Rivulets nay it 's possible the very Shades of a Forest in some measure answer to the Comforts of Life and Life answers to the Ends of the great Creator Consider therefore that the Soul 's great Diadem is Christ and Christ by Wisdom and Sanctification every Christian knows is God And who but God created this stupendous Creation and drest up this imbelish'd Fabrick of Heaven and Earth when he made the Majesty of his Invisibility visible and placed Man in this sublunar Orb to conduct and manage his Fellow-creatures But Man imprudently transgressing in not answering the glorious Ends of his Divine Creation in Obedience to the Commands of the Sovereign Decrees of God the Almighty discharged him the Soveraignty of Government so exil'd him from the glorious Sun-shine of Paradise Of whom if you please let us have an account But I wonder at one thing to me it 's a Paradox Ar. What 's that Th. You writ your Book in 58 and spread the Net to 85. Ar. What if I do I lived in the Reign of five Kings and in the Time of four great Worthies Th. Was O. P. one Ar. I leave that Bone for you to pick. But this I assert that great English Hero was exemplary in Piety eminent in Policy prudent in Conduct magnanimous in Courage indefatigable in Vigilancy industriously laborious in Watchings Heroick in Enterprize constant in Resolution successful in War one that never wanted a Presence of Mind in the greatest Difficulties all the World owns him for a great General that influenced all Europe gave Laws to all neighbouring Nations and disciplined France with English Arms. Th. These are great Encomiums Was the Lord R. one Ar. That great Man of Worth and Honour was truly Vertuous the Patriot of his Country and the Glory of the Court beloved of the People and a lover of Piety who left Legacies of Love to the surviving Natives when he sealed his Death with noble English Blood Th. Was Col. A. S. one Ar. That great Soul was too great for the World whose Life in a manner was a continued Death signified by those Trophies of War he carried about him He died but to teach his Country-men the easy Methods of honourable Dying to the astonishment of Mankind and foreign Ambassadors Th. Was Alderman C. one Ar. That brave and worthy Citizen to his eternal Praise sealed London's Magna Chart a with a Christian Exit and a Voice from Heaven Therefore put no more questions for the Aenigma is explained but begin where you left off so let us conclude Th. Then I 'le only desire a Description of Man Arnoldus his Meditation Ar. Adam as an Angel in the Shades of Paradise typified his Creator then it was that this mortal State seemed Immortal and Man because a Signature of this admirable Creation was made to live by that Life that made him for it was the Will of the Supreamest that made him to shine a Ray of the Majesty upon him and generate in him the glorious beauteous Ray of Himself But this was done when the Divine Majesty made Man absolute Lord and commissioned him Conduct over all the Creatures So that Adam was now a Divine Substitute because the Divinity had divinely inspired him and stamp'd the Impress of his Royal Signet upon him the lively Emblem and Character of Himself whereby to demonstrate in him a Sovereign Power over all the Families of Creatures that God had made and by Wisdom bless'd in this stupendous Creation So that you may read Adam was made in the Likeness of his Maker but he begot in his own Likeness This was once the blessed State of Adam and a regenerate State to be born again in Spirit is the same with us now for Primitive Purity can never be blotted out by National Impiety Nor shall Age nor Time nor Death it self vacate the Lustre and Glory of Christianity for as the Donation of Purity is the Royal Act of him that 's pure and lives for ever so the Piety of Christianity shall out-live all Ages to the utmost Limit and Period of Time Where note the Primitive Times have liv'd till now and that that begot Time in the Bosom of Eternity is Christ in us the Hope of Glory Why then do Christians violate their Faith Does it become us to enslave it by Lust A proud Faith is as great a Contradiction as an humble Devil The glorious Hope we have of Paradise incites and invites Believers to the Duty of Repentance and Repentance leads on to a humble Submission to cruciate our selves and this temporal State that naturally resigns upon every Assault of Death for all complicated Elements melt into Obscurity Shall the Clay rebel against the Potter that moulds it Shall Man resist his Maker that made him Shall the Vice of the Times vote against Heaven and Impiety provoke us to mutiny against the Deity Must we learn no Language but Oaths and Imprecations and denounce no Dialect but the Rhetorick of
Hell Can no bounds be put to luxurious Ambition nor any Limit to the impudent Impostor who has not considered the Body sometimes diseased and how Death stands ready to blot out the Character of Life so that if ill Symptoms but happen to invade us the Grave immediately stands gaping to devour us Nor can our Limbs any sooner be touched with the Cold and icie Finger of Death but our vital Fires begin all to extinguish and the glorious shining Sparks of Life look languid and dim and so by degrees lose their sparkling Lustre Then it is that the natural Artifice of Men and Means suddenly forsake us and the secret Subtilties of our deceitful Hearts basely and cowardly renounce and desert us And then it is that our truckling Faith prostrates a false Heart on the cold and frozen Altar of Despair which formerly was the common Factorage and Receptable of impure Flames where we used to offer up adulterated Sacrifices with impious Adorations as the Athenians did to unknown Gods prophetically Prognosticating our merited Destruction So that now in a Clod or lump of Clay the lustre of Life is silently sealed up and secretly conveyed to the Sepulchres of Death and because translated from the beauteous Creation is made to cease from a natural State and embrace Corruption and the putrid Grave in eternal silence where we shall never see Light nor Day any more nor with Sorrow or Reluctancy look back upon the anguish and anxiety of those we formerly persecuted by unjust Sentences when as Judges we sat and perverted Judgment yet would seem to appear as Angels of Light But strip'd and stark naked the World now inspects us and all those Graces that naturally adorn'd us discover themselves but personal Deformities So that Disease finds as little difficulty to attempt us as Death to encounter and overcome us For have not our sensual Guards all declin'd us and the Arguments of Sense and Reason revolted from us Every Instrument and Organ has reclaim'd its natural Function whereby we perceive our selves deserted by the active shining Motions of Life and doom'd to Death by the Law of Sin we subscribe to the fatal Decrees of Mortality O fatal flattering Impiety where 's all those specious Pretences of Purity that link'd and intail'd our suborn'd Inclinations to the gaudy Temptations of luxurious Honour What if every Man had the Wealth of a Monarch and as great as Alexander in Empire and Dominion and suppose his Domesticks as numerous as the World yet Death would arrest him and send him Summons to appear before Heaven's high Tribunal where he must answer for himself and not another for him whilst Conscience as a bold and daring Accuser will accuse him for the Deeds done here in the Body So that as our Work was here upon Earth such also will be our Reward in Heaven But how sad will it be when to behold the Portals of the New Ierusalem firmly bolted and barrocaded against us when to hear the dreadful and irrevocable Sentence of eternal Excommunication pass upon us to be utterly secluded Society with the Saints and denied Community with the blessed Angels that perpetually triumph with Seraphick Hallelujahs as the Seraphims and Cherubims with heavenly Ejaculations whilst we are made to grope in Darkness unutterable and to lament there the Impiety of Life and debar'd Repentance after Death because to reject it when proffred unto us for in the Grave there 's no Contrition nor after Judgment is there any Revocation This is a sad and deplorable Sentence beyond the reach of Sorrow to contemplate for if but to consider the Janglings in Hell and the murmuring Complaints of the Damned in Torments that belch out Blasphemies to confirm their Impieties and by spiritual Pride prophane the Beauty of Holiness and would if possible corrupt the Creation prostituting to Idols and the Ides of Time and as much as in them lies pervert and poison the Sacred Oracles of Judgment and Justice But what Tongue can express the glorious Raptures and beatifical Visions the Saints enjoy with the Seraphick Harmony of the blessed Hierarchy whilst Penitents pass by the Gates of Hell to the heavenly triumphant Joys of Eternity O what Love so convincing and stupendously manifest as a Saviour to die for unregenerate Sinners to affix himself to the Cross of Death to fasten our Souls to Eternal Life to load his Body with the Burden of Sin to purchase for Sinners the Seal of Redemption This is that great and sublime Elixir that transmutes our Nature into Divinity Time into Eternity and our Souls into Himself from which supereminent Heavenly State there 's no relaxation but an intire Unity and Community with God for ever and ever to all Eternity For as Light is inseparable from it self nor can Darkness co-mingle or incorporate with it such is the Soul that is truly sanctified and sprinkled with the Blood of this Miracle of Mercy that never for the future can be separated from its Saviour but as Sin hates the Light because the Light discovers its Darkness so Light because it 's the Standard of Truth not only discovers but dissipates the Darkness The Lamb of God is the Light of the World that for ever shines and for ever frees the penitent Soul from the Shades of Darkness How great therefore must that Light be that enlightneth the World and every Man that cometh into the World Now the true State of Felicity is only attainable by Faith in Christ and Faith directs to the Portals of Humility Humility to Piety and Piety leads on to the Duties of Charity by a religious resignation of our inglorious Will to the Glory of his Will that bore our Burden of Sin on the Cross. Here let us sigh down if possible the Sins of the Age as Christ by the virtue of his pure Divinity depress'd those Mountains of Sin in the World then in obedience to this great Example let us cruciate our selves the better to enable us to triumph over Death for to conquer Self forceth the Devil to recoil and to render the Vanities of this World contemptible is to lead Hell and Captivity captive which none but Christ can do and has done yet ought we to imitate our Leader as true Volunteers of the Cross if we hope to imbrace the Royal Sanctions of him that bore his Cross in a bloody Shower for the Redemption of Mankind This I recommend to the Christian Reader that follows the Lamb the Captain of our Salvation Th. By this most excellent Description of Man he labours I perceive under great Anxiety till Christ affix him by his Sovereign Ray of Light whereby to illuminate and sublime his immortal Soul into the everlasting Arms of himself the glorious Being of his all-glorious Father where Time shall be no more for Time is but the Child of Eternity as is Generation the Child of Time Generation therefore devolves in Time and Time results in the Arms of Eternity But Eternity is the Beam
Undergraduate in the Art Nor have I confidence to raise my Ambitions higher than to superscribe my self an Admirer of the Rod and a Lover of silent and solitary Streams Let my Writings therefore remonstrate my Experiments and my Experiments manifest my Zeal for Solitudes and my natural affection to the Place of my Nativity which can never be wanting whilst I 'm in a capacity to speak or write my Name Philanthropus A Dedication to the Gentlemen Piscatorians Inhabiting in or near the sweet Situations of Nottingham North of Trent GENTELMEN IF to violate Faith though but with Infidels we forfeit not only our Reason but Religion so not to dedicate some part of my Experiments to your Ingenious Society might justly prohibit me the freedom of tracing your flourishing Fields and fragrant Meadows inamel'd with Flowers that perfume the beautiful Suburbs of Trent upon whose delightful Banks I formerly used to spend some solitary Hours in pursuit of the scaly Fry and where the Plenty and sweet Situations invited me not only to contemplate but improve this mystical Art of Angling though it 's true the Rudiments in the minority of Youth were laid in Cam yet Silver Trent's orient Streams graduated my juniour Experiments by unfolding her Meanders and making obvious the Intrigues of her rapid Fords replenished with variety nay so great variety of Fish that only to express it would almost bring Truth into Suspicion when from the more profound and solitary Deeps the Artist if expert may summons up Lucit and the generous Race of Salmon But Gentlemen I am not Angling now I 'm only telling you those original Motives to this solitary and Piscatorian Science that grew up with me when an Adult for then I courted the shady Streams of Cam but Trent as I told you above gave me Education To Trent therefore and the Place of my Nativity I direct my Influences let Malice do its worst nor are they extravagant Notions nor broken Fragments collected from Foreign nor Domestick Authority but lineal and practical Experiments and Demonstrations drawn up and cultivated by the Mediums of Art and the exact Methods of Observation which without vanity I dedicate to your Society inhabiting the flourishing Ports of Nottingham which I doubt not you 'l accept of though not much to inrich you however you may taste of those solitary Hours laboriously spent in Great-Britain's Hellespont the famous Trent where I used to refresh my self and ramble up and down her delightful Fords to gratify and satisfy others as well as my self with the Fruits of Experience So that should I call Sea and Land Elizium it 's not altogether improper so to do since Earth and Water compleat but one Globe In those florid Fields near the Fords of Trent I frequently wandred up and down to crop the Buds of Experience yet I plundred no Man's Orchard to enrich my Arbory nor borrowed I other Mens Labours to adorn my Discoveries the Bounty of Heaven that always blest me with benevolent Success restrained me from rifling the Records of my Ancestors when to put a Rod in my Hand and place a River before me so that I should offer Violence to Reason and Art if now to consult the Authority of others when such a large and legible Folio to write by as the great and stupendous Volume of the Creation which to contemplate interprets the Divine Practice of Solitudes and becomes not only contributary to the present but the future Generations To study Contemplation is the high way to Heaven where the Suburbs consist of a Divine Composition and where you may read by those Oracles the Stars the beautiful Order of Celestial Bodies and the great and lesser World all Harmony for Heaven and Earth are Correlates which duly to contemplate poises our Passion and baffles our Pride which necessarily pursues the Foot-steps of Generation as naturally as Rust follows Copper which without dispute is the Death of the Compound consequently Tradition if penitentially admitted and Ignorance opposed to the Mediums of Art there uncultivated Arts present no Dispondencies nor need a Man solicite Reality in Practicks But this I oppose and confidently assert he that licks up the fabulous Fiction of slippery Authority to confirm his false and untenable Position brings unsound Arguments to prop and support the slender Faith his Opinion leans on whereby he exposes himself to Clamour and Reproach and the Censure of every judicious Examinant Give me leave therefore to remonstrate my Resolution since the Arguments and Allegations in my Book are my own Yet had I rob'd Virgil to adorn my Muse peradventure my Fancy had been more fruitful but take it as it is since so freely dedicated to the Virtuosos of the Rod from whom in modesty I may reasonably expect some charitable Censures of this my Sober and Contemplative Angler advising them to direct to the Gnomen of Practicks omitting Theory and the useless Prescriptions of the Antients Then shall no Man need to grope the Invention of others but manifest every Truth by plain Demonstration Thus far I may safely sail under the Angler's Protection but should I write Marginal Notes and place them to the Test of unpractical Anglers beyond dispute I should split on a Rock and wanting a Pilot to bring me off I might live without Hope and die in Despair which I resolve against whilst capable to write my Name Philanthropus THE PREFACE Courteous Reader LET me manuduct you through the slender Margin of my uncultivated Book to contemplate the Evangelical Sweets of Reason and Religion two requisite and necessary Priniciples for a Christian. For since it hath pleased God through infinite Mercy to breathe into Man a rational Soul whereby he was made Lord of all the Creation to govern and conduct the Creatures committed to his Charge with respect of Duty to his Sovereign Creator this capacitates Man to act prudentially for imprudent Actions proceed from Rashness and the inconsiderate poize of Reason So to be religious it 's the Christian 's Corona that enables him to contemplate his present State and future Felicity Which to accomplish he must cruciate himself with his Thoughts and his Lusts and strip himself of all imaginary Vanities to ruminate how the certain uncertain State of Mortality in a Moment breaks up and terminates in Death And it 's requisite it be so since the Body's Solution displays the Soul's glorious Ascension out of this elementary Tabernacle of Earth and Clay whereby with more vivacity she may elevate her self on the Wing of Faith by Divine Attraction to those glorious and invisible Exaltations which beatifical Vision no mortal Tongue can well express nor can Mortality conceive nor enjoy here save only by a Divine Faith and a Holy and Heavenly Speculation Now how necessary is the study and practice of Christianity the true noble and the heavenly Birth For a Christian is such by Regeneration and to be regenerate is a Child of God and a Child of God is a Saint here
me otherwise the Prejudicate will conclude me ignorant or affected with paucity but I shall prevent that Suspicion by publishing to the World this Treatise of Angling wherein the Practicks are manifestly divulged though the Contemplative be but in part express'd And what hinders I pray you to withdraw sometimes from the trembling Streams of Trent to dedicate your vacant Hours to the Shrines of Solitudes to sit upon Rocks or in shady Groves there to contemplate the beautiful Creation and meditate our present and eternal furture State so with a holy and reverentical Fear call to mind the Creator and Original of all Things through whose Wisdom Kings rule and Princes decree Iustice But doubting some may want other moral Inducements to such I have brought a Glass of Morality wherein they may view the World's state of Inconstancy but to the more religious and contemplative Angler a Model of Piety Jacob will struggle hard for a Blessing where be may see the inamour'd and Seraphick Soul surmount the Aether whilst Earth-worms like-Otters prey below upon Fish Now to such as love Travel I have brought them History but to such others as love Fish and pleasant Waters my Treatise for the studious Geographer here are Cities and Countries but for the active Engineer Castles and Citadels Should thy Fancy be mean here are shallow Brooks deep Rivers require the skilful Art of Swimming Thus my Book seems a Mart where a Man may trade for Trifles or merchandise for things of greater Value The World is all Purchase and Death the Pay-master Think not therefore to naturalize Earth into Heaven since every thing adheres and partakes of its own Nature I advise therefore the Lovers of a solitary Life to study Sobriety Temperance Patience and Chastity for these Divine Blessings are the Gift of God So is Contemplation which never shines so clearly as when retired from the World and worldly Incumbrances Woods Rocks Grotta's Groves Rivers and Rivulets are Places pick'd out for Contemplation where you may consider Creational Work and melt with the warbling Notes of Philomel and the innocent Harmony of musical Birds that deliciate the Air and delight the Attention Or you may proportion your Meditations with the Pulse of the Ocean or the soft and murmuring Complaints of purling Streams that imprint their Passions as they pass along when melting the smiling florid Banks Nature consults no Artificer to imbellish and adorn her illaborate Works and shall the God of Heaven the great Creator draw his Lines from the faint Shadows of Nature Pray but consider who makes the Sea keep her regular Motion the Constellations their Rotations and the erratick Stars roll in their several Orbs Are not all the Reins of Government in the Divine Hand of him that made them Is not the Christian's Diadem and the Purchase of the Cross there Liberty and Freedom there the sweet Tranquillity of Peace there the blessed Society of Saints and Angels there Iustice and Mercy there the results also of Life and Death there And where shall we be found if not there in those everlasting Arms of Beatitude that exert our Souls by the Divine Ray of Contemplation Study Patience practise Humility and let Repentance be our daily Exercise since these with other Vertues are Duties incumbent Then may we sing Hallelujahs at an Angelical pitch and that 's a strain above the World's Ela. These and such like Divine Impressions we ought to imprint on our immortal Minds when with impatieney we pursue our Exercise either to the River or solitary Lough For the Taper burns and the Thread of Life because lap'd up in this fine tiffany Web of Mortality like a Meteor terminates sometimes in a Blaze Too late then to confer with Reason or think of Religion So farewel and be happy in the Rules of Friendship but happier to live in the amiable Arms of Vertue ever honoured and admired by thy Friend Philanthropus To my Book GO tell those Men that bait their Hook with Gain That plow the Hellespont and cross the Main To fish for Gold in ev'ry muddy Pit And hourly wait for ev'ry paltry Bit That make their Shops the Fishponds and the Fry Knacks of all sorts to catch the Standers-by That trole with silver Hook but use no Rod And freely strike perchance the Line but nod That use no other Links than such as are Compos'd of golden Threads not Stone-horse-hair Such mudling Anglers all the Baits they lay Tempt nothing more than Arguments of Clay Not well consid'ring all this while they paddle In Craesus wealthy Ponds their Eggs prove addle For when they come to scale their Fry and Cook Ev'ry surprize reach'd them with silver Hook They must conclude more Fin than Fish was caught 'Cause ev'ry Action proves an empty Thought Come trace the Angler's footsteps he will lead Thy Genius to some Grove or Rock there feed Thy thoughts with Contemplation whilst most Men Think such retirements but a Cave or Den And I 'll assure thee when thou com'st to know Those Vertues that from Contemplation flow Thou surely wilt conclude the whole Creation Was made for Man Man but for Contemplation Philanthropus To my Honoured Friend Capt. Richard Franck upon his Contemplative Angler I Am no Fisher But a Well-wisher to the Game And as oft as I look And read in your Book so oft I blame My Minutes spent with frothy Recreation Whilst others live aloft by Contemplation It s true sometimes I read In Cambden and Speed and sometimes Mercator Yet in them I can't spy How the scaly Fry floats in the Water We grant those Anglers were elaborate To fish the World but you the Anglers State John Richards To my Worthy and Honoured Friend Capt. R. F. on his Contemplative Angler SIR you have taught the Angler that good Fashion Not to catch Fish with Oaths but Contemplation No Man that 's Wise but out of good Intention Will hug your Plot and well-contriv'd Invention To take the Fowl and Fowler let alone That 's not the killing two Birds with one Stone But he that catches Fish and Fisher too Has done as much as Man or Art can do Honour 's the Bait for one but silly Flies Are mortal Engines for the scaly Fries And he that thinks to scape the present Danger Fastens himself thinking to noose the Stranger For one or other's still catch'd in the Net When Politicians have the Pool beset And haling to and fro to fill their Dish Lites on a Chub perchance or some such Fish That dies without Redemption unless be Amphibion-like can live by Land or Sea But in the Calms of silver silent Trent There 's no such danger in the Turnament For you may fish till Sun-set nay all Night Find but your Gamesters a fresh Appetite And that a Bait will do when you would court Your Game ashore that dies to see the Sport Mercurius Hermon To my Honour'd Friend Capt. R. F. Author of the Contemplative Angler I Know Ingenious Sir that Sol's
conclude but I only offer it for Argument-sake that was Adam repossess'd of Paradise again and premonished of Sin as we are daily precautioned whether or no it might not be thought to raise a Circumspection in him to evade the Serpent the Sin and the Woman's Temptation Into this Opinion most Ages have crept and our Modern Assertors and Predicators approve on 't Theoph. That 's a Point beyond my Sphere I meddle not with why may not's however I allow you a Privilege and freedom of thinking or saying what you please but then you ought not to circumscribe Bounds to another However this I assert That such was the Original Purity of Adam in his State of Innocency that his Graces then shined with Heavenly Rays and Heaven we know is all Generosity But every Generation since Adam has so diminished that Beauty and Lustre that from Men we are almost dwindled into Morts Arnold Ay but my Friend have you well considered how that the formal Fabrick of Man's Natural Body doth represent unto us the World's Epitome Why not then by the glorious Speculation of his Mind under a renovating and regenerate State of Grace he may represent something of the invisible Glories Theoph. You come near to the Point Did not the Generations more and more degenerate but this beyond Precedent has outdone all the rest For by offering Violence against all that 's good will at last offer Violence against it self and this is but just by the Law of Retaliation Arnold Why so Theoph. Because so vehement in the pursuit of Sin we outdo our Ancestors and what 's the Conclusion Adam you see was made an Exile and compell'd to relinquish the Sun-shine of Paradise he was forced to sit down under the Shades of Mesopotamia but we renounce both Law and Gospel to monopolize the World and aggrandize Posterity this is now our deplorable State compare it with Adam's and give your Opinion Arnold My Opinion in short is Adam comes short of us for as he was the Father of all his Posterity so as Father we patronize all manner of Impiety Now I have given you my Opinion how do you approve on 't Theoph. I 'll sum it up thus Whilst Adam stood in Purity his Beauty shin'd without Deformity so that by the Will of the Divinest had he kept his Station Posterity had never been doom'd to die by the cold and icie Finger of Death Arnold O Theophilus that one single Sin should so deform him that was elevated and exalted above the Beauties in the Creation Theoph. Just so it happ'ned to that bright Star Lucifer and his aspiring Conspirators whose Ambition dethron'd him and so it will us He striving to get above that that was super-excellent lost that Excellency the Supreamest had given him So we placing our Affections on exteriour Objects we but inamour our selves with our own Similitudes Judg of the Consequence Arnold Is the Law of Nature a standing Rule or no If it be a Rule it ought to be obeyed for its natural in kind to answer kind Theoph. Can Nature as Nature exert our Zeal to stir up in us the lively Act of Faith Surely Faith is no Part of Creational Work it 's rather a Bough or Branch that buds up from Regeneration The Excellency therefore of the things that are are not of themselves but dependent on some other infinitely more glorious such is the Creator Arnold He that made the World had no need of Assistance but all things that are made were made by him alone Creational Work therefore was discovering hidden Ideas and making Invisibles to appear visible Theoph. God the Creator made himself manifest in time by his glorious Act of Power in creating who by his eternal Wisdom and Providence upholds it that it drops not asunder Arnold That 's manifest by the Eye of Sense but he that sees by the Eye of Faith sees beyond the Creation for he sees the Creator and in seeing him he sees his Redeemer Theoph. Why then struggle we so hard after superficial Knowledg to defeat our selves by the dull Prospect of Sense for if when to create Inquietudes in our selves we labour and toil with unprofitable Anxiety Arnold What but the Curse anticipates the Blessing Man and the Creation were made in time and Time was drawn out by the Wisdom of God but the Understandings of most Men differently discerning differently distinguish till Time the Harbinger of Eternity eats out his Character so translates him to the Shades of his silent Sepulchre Theoph. What infer you from this Arnold Solomon was a Man inspir'd with Wisdom and endued with Understanding and God gave him Eyes to foresee the Vicissitude and Revolution of Times and States Theoph. Solomon had a Divine Soul incorporated with humane Nature whose Ambition if proper to say so coveted Wisdom rather than Wealth and God answered his Desires In that Day Solomon was the Jewish Oracle but every Day is the Almighty's Holy-day and Time and the World like a Globe in his Hand Consider therefore the same Excellency of Spirit Solomon had hovers still over us like a Glory about us and by Divine Permission over every Generation But because falling short of Solomon's Knowledg and Divine Speculation we do not as Solomon all alike discern Arnold Grant the Argument admits of no Contradiction yet you will find it a Task difficult enough to study the Art of Self-resignation Theoph. Solomon you grant he refused Wealth for Wisdom But what think you of Saul that went as far as Endor and rak'd up the Ashes of the Dead to enquire a Victory Arnold I think the Case different both in Nature and Quality the one chose Wisdom but the other Witchcraft so to connect them together draws on a false Conclusion Theoph. Then the Consequence follows Saul's reasoning with Flesh and Blood as it was impious so his Application to Sorcerers and Necromancers was also diabolical who to accomplish the End of his Conspiracy consults not Endor only but the Brood of Infernals Arnold He did so who denies it I know what you 'll alledg you 'll tell me the Tree is known by its Fruits I grant all this and what then yet I dare not interpret Saul a Son of Perdition God's Mercy never wants Wings to fly to the disconsolate Penitent whose Mercy super-excels his Divine Acts of Justice Therefore judg not Saul lest we judg our selves when by the Heart only things are legibly construed Theoph. It 's true the Heart made legible discovers a Phenix or a Vulture the first living as Hippocrates says and the last dying so that neither Physick nor Philosophy can make mortal immortal There 's neither Energy nor Excellency in the superficial Form Vertue lies conceal'd as a Jewel in a Cabinet No Man therefore can be read by his Species Arnold To grant your Conclusion proves the thing less difficult in knowing others than to search within to know our selves Solomon had Wisdom and Divine Discoveries and Saul had Courage
though formented by the Sons of Zoilus shall never darken it so as totally to deface it but will shine forth a Light to discover their Shame with the Vice of the Times and Exorbitancy of Life I write to the Intelligent and not to Alphabet Anglers that wander up and down besides themselves to lick up the spumous Froth of Fiction and rally the Records of fabulous Pamphleteers to swell their impoverished empty Volumes on purpose spread abroad to amuze the unwary but this I resolve against by exhorting Ingenuity to consult Experience notwithstanding my Rudiments and laborious Directions for without due observation in the Exercise of Angling besides Speculation in the Progress of Theory in this or indeed in any other Art no Man shall level a right Foundation Th. Such signal Remonstrations like a ingressive Spirit strike deep Impressions into my thoughtful Breast It must be a Master and what Masteâ— but Experience must we have to induct us iâ—â—â— the Methods Mediums and Regularities of Science Does Experience any more obliterate Theory than Rudiments rip up the Foundation of Art which they do not nor cannot then ought the Rules of Practicks to be the solicitation of every Artist which Analysis of necessity I cannot but comply with or let the surviving Ages engrave on my Tomb-stone Post est occasio calva Ar. To compleat a Scholar therefore we are to consider that every Pedagogue that initiates his Novice into the Rudiments of Grammar gives him Literature first After the same manner and not altering my Methods I have laid down the Rules and Hypotheses of the Ground-bait Where note I prefer the Worm for the Angler's Exercise if artificially scoured as a general Bait before any other and upon all Occasions inordinate Seasons excepted if purposing thereby to consult the Bottom as also the innumerable families of Fish and so farewel for it 's almost Sun-set Theophilus What tho the Night 's dark Scenes and Shades display The bright Sun's absence can't the Stars make Day Arnoldus Can those obscurer Tapers light the World Whose Lights are from the Sun 's bright Furnace hurl'd Motion they have it 's true that causes wonder But God that join'd their Rays takes them asunder Theophilus From what bright Influence then do Comets borrow Their radiant Beam Arnoldus The Stars they strike them thorow Theophilus Must we conclude the World all Vegetation Humane Race excepted by Generation Arnoldus The slippery Womb of Earth in time sent out A thing uncapable to walk about Till God in love out of a pure Compassion Made Man the Margin of this great Creation Theophilus Why then do Mortals fight against Superiours And pull down Angels to advance Inferiours Arnoldus Man may attempt it but his slender Arm Has hardly warmth in 't for to keep him warm Theophilus No why then presumes he by force to raise His Fires so high to make the Heavens blaze Arnoldus That 's a mistake Man 's but a Minute's Breath Blown out of Doors but with one puff of Death Theophilus And yet immortal too strange Prodigy That Man the Lord of all should live to die Arnoldus 'T is true a Star fell on a Shrine of Earth That touch'd Mortality and gave it Birth Conduct and Reason and a Soul immortal Lit by the Lamp of Heaven's glorious Portal Made all Miraculous yet this won't please Heaven must die to cure the World's Disease And yet this mortal Wonder we call Man Is still averse e're since the World began Theophilus Vngrateful Creature who by Heaven's Decree Was made to live and had the Sov'raignty Of the Creation What to say I know not Nor what to think for Thoughts are things that do not Arnoldus Since Days and Nights all terminate in one And Stars made Emblems of their Sovereign Sun Then to be Loyal each a Star must be But to be Royal claims the Sov'raigntie The Gordian Knot 's so knit none can unty But he that made the World's great Harmony For God with Nature such sublime things blended That Man nor Dev'ls Angels themselves can't find it We can but climb the gradual Steps of Sense And they 'r but Motives to Intelligence But those sweet melting Cords in a Saint's Brest That lives by Faith of things yet unexprest Invigorate the Soul and lends her Eyes to see That Earth and Heaven all 's but Harmony Theophilus Then Rocks are Organs and the ambient Air But the harsh sound of Heaven's softer Quire Waters make Musick so all things by Art Where Nature freely her free Gifts impart Speak Harmony and divinely shows That from another Fountain this thing flows Arnoldus Consider but the Chaos in Creation When the Divinest made a Separation How that the Earth stood still whilst he rais'd higher The Sun's bright Torch or all had been on Fire Theophilus Amazing Wonder see Aurora now Strips off the Sables from Night's shady Brow That Sol no sooner peeps to gild the Skies But all the Mists before his Presence flies Arnoldus 'T is true they do and he that sees their flight Sees Darkness gradually transform'd to Light Yet let him not mistake himself for Day Is but Time's Copy-Book cast that away And what presents Death more obscure than Night Through whose dark Pilgrimage we creep to Light LAUS DEO FINIS ADVERTISEMENT RABBI MOSES or A Philosophical Treatise of the Original and Production of Things Writ in America in a Time of Solitudes By R. Franck. And are to be sold by the Author at his House in Barbican See Ludlow's Reply to Hollingworth