solemnize their festiuals For this is not to sanctifie or consecrate the Sabbath as holy to the Lord. The Sabbath indeed is a day of rest but of holy rest of rest not to worldly recreations but to heauenly meditations of rest to religious and spirituall imployments It is sacriledge therefore to follow game on the Sabbath at such time as wee should bee plying the seruice and worship of God it is time stolne from God that wee spend so on our sports Which it were lesse sinne therefore for vs to spend on some more serious affaires according to that which one of the auncients well say that It were better for a man in such manner on the Sabbath to plough then to play and to dig and delue then to daunce all day For the lighter the occasion of sinning is where all other things are equall the greater the sinne is Yea and those also that on other daies wast that time this way which they ought to spend either in their owne priuate and personall deuotions or in instruction of their families and performance of holy duties with them are not herein to be iustified no more then the former the one turneth it to sinne as well as the other in neglecting of that duty for the following of their owne pleasure that God himselfe hath enioyned them and will one day require of them So that the rule is here that That time alone may be spent in play which wee haue free from other serious and religious affaires § 5. Thirdly recreation must be vsed ingenuously freely and liberally not with any greedy desire of lucre and gaine For recreation is no trade or course of life for a man to make a liuing of or to liue by As it is not playing but spending when men wast themselues that way so it is not playing with but preying vpon those wee seeme to play with when by such courses we pill them and make a spoile of them It is to alter the very nature of the thing it selfe to make a trade and a trafficke of disport and pastime to make not a lusorious but a serious Lâ—t of it yea more then a serious a sad and an heauie Lot as it oft falleth out of that which should be meerely for recreation and delight Thou makest thy selfe both a Sinner whosoeuer thou art in so doing by taking that from thy brother that neither he ought to part with nor thou to receiue and a Partner also with him in his sinne whereby he mispendeth or hazardeth the mispending of that which he ought otherwise to imploy But it is not lawfull at all then may some say for a man to receiue any gaine or liue in any wise by Game I answer in some kind and in some case it may and that either ordinarily or extraordinarily Ordinarily those may be said to liue lawfully by Game whose trades professions are imployed in whole or in part in making prouiding selling vttering such instruments or other furniture as are vsed commonly in Game as Bowyers and Fletchers and Turners and Dice-caruers and Card-makers and Haberdashers of small wares For if the games themselues be lawfull the callings are not vnlawfull whereby men are set on worke to prouide necessaries for the same which could not otherwise so commonly or so conueniently be had Extraordinarily a man may sometime also by the Game it selfe receiue gaine as thus Suppose a man of good wealth either being euill at ease or otherwise desirous to recreate himselfe calleth in a poore man from his trade or his worke that he is otherwise imployed in to accompanie him in his game which he cannot vse without companie it is not vnlawfull for the poore man so accompanying the rich to receiue some gaine from him as a reward of his imployment with him and in liew of that losse which he sustaineth by intermitting of his owne worke But among equals or others ordinarily that play togither for mutuall recreation and delight for the one to enrich or to desire to enrich himselfe by the others damage and losse it is a note of a base and an illiberall disposition and against the nature of disport which ought to be free The Rule then is here that Play be vsed as play for pleasure not for profit for game not for gaine and as no man therefore ought to wast his pretious time or his estate thereat and to buy his recreation at so deare a rate as were the expence and losse of either so neither ought any man to seeke or desire by play to encrease or aduance his estate or to make a prey and a spoile of him that he plaieth with § 6. Fourthly recreation must be vsed inoffensiuely or without offence For if in all things regard is to be had hereunto then in recreation also among the rest if in eating and drinking matters of more and greater necessitie then much more in things lighter and of lesse weight as being matter of meere delight onely which may otherwaies also well be had Now the offence that may be giuen by game is either generall or speciall publike or priuate in regard of our superiours or in regard of our equals Publike offence may be giuen to the Lawes and State we liue vnder by common vse of such Games as are by the Law made vnlawfull For howsoeuer it be true indeed that positiue Lawes as they are such doe not simply binde the conscience nor alter the nature of things lawfull and indifferent in themselues yet may men by the breach of them become guiltie of sinne in Gods sight where they restraine for good and wholesome ends the vse of things euen indifferent partly through contempt of supreame authoritie enacting them and partly also through hindrance of the publike vtilitie aimed at in them which is either of them seuerally much more both of them iointly sufficient to make a man stand guilty of sin against God The like is to be said of those that liue in such Churches where the vse of some particular Games is held vnlawfull or inhibited euery one being bound for peace and quietnes sake to conforme himselfe in things indifferent to the Church hee liueth in As also of those that liue vnder the ministery of such Pastors as are of a contrarie iudgement in this point the Apostle requiring Christian men not to obey them onely but to yeeld vnto them that haue the ouer sight of them and that watch ouer them for their soules safetie that is not onely to be ruled by them for necessarie duties and such as they shall be able to conuince them of by the euidence of Gods word but to be ouer ruled also by them in matters of indifferencie when they shall deeme somewhat vnlawfull that may well be forborne though either the grounds of such iudgement of theirs be insufficient or their people be not throughly
and would oft speake vnaduisedly if by humane caution it were not limited before what it should say § 13. Now these were the arguments taken from the nature of Lots The next argument is drawne from the proper vse and end of them And herein they reason sometime from the affirmatiue sometime from the negatiue From the affirmatiue thus Whatsoeuer God hath sanctified to a proper end is not to be peruerted to a worse end But God hath sanctified Lots to a proper end viz. to end controuersies Therefore man is not to peruert them to a worse viz. to play and by playing to get away another mens money which without controuersie is his owne This argument thus conceiued is faultie two waies For first it goeth from the question which is not whether any Creature or ordinance of God may be peruerted or peruersly vsed but whether the vse of Lots questioned be a peruerting of them or no whereas in the conclusion it is taken for granted that it is Neither againe is the question whether men may vse Lots playing for money a thing incident to other games as well as these which whether it be lawfull or no I shall not neede now to discusse much lesse whether they may be vsed in game to that end to get another mans money from him or no which is no generall vse of them nor hath any place at all there where either there is no wagering at all or where the Lot is vsed onely at the beginning of the game to decide who shall ioyne who lead or the like but whether Lots may in any wise be vsed in sport Secondly there is more inferred in the conclusion then was in the premisses and that which followeth not from ought in them For the vse of a Lot in play is euer to decide some question or controuersie though a light one it is like yet a question or controuersie truely so tearmed otherwise it were no Lot For the mending of these faults the argument may better be conceiued on this manner That which God hath sanctified to some proper vse is not to be applied to any other especially a worse vse But God hath sanctified Lots to this proper vse to wit the deciding of controuersies in matters of weight A Lot therefore may not be applied to any other vse much lesse to a worse The Proposition is proued by an instance of the Temple set apart for praier which the Iewes therefore are reproued for applying to market and merchandise The Assumption is confirmed principally by that saying of Salomon The Lot stinteth strife and maketh partition among the mighty For the other place is but an instance that a Lot once was by Gods owne appointment so vsed It is amplified à simili by the like vse of an Oath concerning which there is a further speech of the Apostle brought to proue that Salomons purpose in those words before alledged is to shew the only lawfull vse of a Lot viz. to end controuersies which otherwise conueniently cannot when each Contender without the Lot is too mightie to yeeld thus As when the Apostle saith An Oath for confirmation among men is an end of all strife his purpose is not so much to teach vs that men vse an Oath to end controuersies which euery man knoweth but that God hath dedicated and made an Oath holy and sure onely for that vse of necessarie deciding of doubts of importance among men so the like words vsed of a Lot must be vnderstood in the same sense not so much to teach vs that a Lot ended such controuersies among men which all know but that God hath ordained it onely for that vse § 14. For the fuller answere to this argument and the proofes of it diuers distinctions of some good vse would be obserued First therefore the word sanctifie is diuersly taken For to omit all other acceptions it is taken sometime in a larger sense and so to sanctifie signifieth to assigne a creature to any speciall or singular vse whatsoeuer either sacred or ciuill thus are the Medians said by God to be sanctified for the subduing and sacking of Babel and so are meates said to be sanctified by Gods word for mans foode and the vnbeleeuing Mate sanctified to the maried beleeuer Sometime againe it is taken in a stricter sense and so to sanctifie signifieth to set apart a Creature beside his ordinary vse to some sacred and spirituall imployment as where it is said that God sanctified the seuenth day of the world and where men are commanded to sanctifie the same hee by precept enioyning that imployment of it they by practise employing it according to his precept Now in both these kindes may the Lord well be said sometime to sanctifie but not to appropriate when by his ordinance hee either enioineth or granteth the vse of a Creature so in some kinde as yet he restraineth not nor inhibiteth the vse of it in any other kinde Thus are the fruites of the earth so sanctified for mans foode as they are not yet restrained from phisicke yea thus was the water that miraculously gushed out of the rocke so sanctified to a spirituall employment as yet it was not denied vnto ciuill and prophane vses euen to the watering of brute beasts sometime to sanctifie and to appropriate when God sequestreth and seuereth the Creature so sanctified vnto some one speciall or proper vse from all other vses else whatsoeuer And thus he sanctifieth and appropriateth either the whole kinde of the Creature as that curious composition of pretious and holy ointment expresly inhibited to all other vses or some particular onely of that kinde as the spices and odours ingredients of that holy ointment as the Tabernacle the Temple and the appurtenances of either and as those Elements of water bread and wine that in the Sacraments are sanctified to bee signes and pledges of spirituall grace and that againe either so to continue during the date of that law as in the vnguent before spoken of or during the time onely of the speciall vse to those ends as in the Elements last mentioned To apply these distinctions then to the present argument If they take the word sanctifie in the stricter sense the Proposition is true but the Assumption is vnsound for Lots are not set apart or said so to be in either of the places produced to any holy or spirituall but to a ciuill vse onely If in the larger and more generall sense then either they speake of things sanctified onely but not appropriated or of things both sanctified and appropriated too and that either the whole kinde in generall or some of the kinde onely If of things sanctified onely but not appropriated the Proposition is not true For bread and wine are sanctified to be seales of Gods couenant and yet doth not that hinder the lawfull
might otherwise wel freely bestow either on other Others therefore allow it as the Ciuill law doth in some cases for somewhat presently to be expended and spent in common betweene them as when men play together for the charge of a supper Yet may men go too far also that way as in feasting of friends a fault in these times too vsuall a man may exceede It is said of Nabal the Churle that he made a feast like a King And as by feasting a rich man may soone bring himselfe to pouerty and a poore man to beggerie so may either do the same which some seeme to haue obserued by hazarding ouermuch to be spent and wasted that way For mine owne part I approue the iudgement of that reuerend Diuine who thus determineth this doubt When so little is plaid as no way disableth a man to any duty of his calling or the money being not much is bestowed in some meeting for the maintenance of loue or that which is won is a reward appointed for the exercise bestowed by such as may wel be at that charg then I think with others that it is not vnlawful So that the rule is here that nothing be hazarded but what may very well be spared and what a man may expend lawfully at that present on his lawfull delight § 3. And thus may we keepe within compasse for the measure or quantitie both of time and expence Now for the manner of vsing game further consideration would be had For therein also many offend when they are too eager vpon play or are ouermuch transported and caried away with delight in it when as one well saith they either sleepe at it or are drunke at it that is when it either so occupieth mens mindes that it maketh them vnwatchfull against the motions of finne or so ouercommeth them with the delight of it or other passions procured by it that it maketh them breake forth into outrage of swearing blaspheming fretting cursing and quarelling and such courses as sobriety in such cases would neuer admit For a man may be drunke as well without wine as with wine with the drie smoake of Tabacco as well as with drinke As one saith well of prosperity that it so transporteth some that they are euen as drunke with it and some sorts of mirth and musicke are said to make men little better So wee may well say that men are drunke with game when they are so addicted thereunto that it stirreth vp in them such distempered passions as men soberly minded cannot but condemne and abâ—orre and which they themselues could not but dislike in themselues if they were not for the present besides themselues As therefore it is well aduised by one that Men at no time giue themselues wholy to sleepe so much more haue we good cause to be wary that we set not our mindes at any time wholy vpon play and so sleepe waking at it the more daungerous sleepe of the twain nor suffer our affections to be ouermuch caried away with it least we become no lesse daungerously drunke therewith then some other are with wine or strong drinke For as worldly cares so bodily pleasures and Game among others though not euill simply in themselues yet become spiritually preiudiciall and dangerous vnto vs when our hearts are either wholy possessed with them or ouer-eagerly and earnestly addicted vnto them In this kind especially to exceede is the rather discommendable because the businesse it selfe if it may be so tearmed is but light being but matter of recreation and ordinary delight and it is no lesse an imputation for a man to be ouer serious in trifling matters then to trifle in serious and weightie affaires The rule then is here that Disports be vsed sportingly so as we be content to win or to loose at them and stand indifferent to conquer or to be conquered by them and to go well through with or to be crossed in them as it shall fall out our affections being no further fixed vpon or fastened to them then the weight and worth of them may well warrant § 4. Secondly recreations are to be vsed as soberly so seasonably For there is a time and season for all things and for recreation among other things There is a time saith Salomon for laughing and mirth and a time for dauncing and delight There are times for recreation and sport and times for sad and serious affaires Recreation therefore is good when it is seasonable when it commeth in his due time else as it is with fish and foule when they come out of season that is euill that is good otherwise Herein then men offend not onely when they take vp too much time with it but when they take not fit times for it For a man may spend too much time at it and then he sinneth in vsing it immoderately and againe he may spend but little yet not fit time about it then he sinneth in vsing it vnseasonably Now then doe men vse game recreation vnseasonably when they should and ought to be otherwise imployed either in the workes of their speciall callings or about the holy things of God First when they should be about any necessary duty concerning their estate and place or the means of their maintenance and the good of themselues and theirs In which regard was not that parties course commendable that saith hee neglected his owne busines to attend others at play nor can those be iustified that either sit at cards and tables within doores or be in the bouling alley abroad when other affaires of great consequence require their presence else-where Since the vse and end of recreation is not to withdraw or with-hold vs from our more serious imployments but to make vs fitter for them and better able to go through with them As peace is the end of warre and peace is aimed at in warre so is busines the end of recreation it being ordained for busines and not busines for it Yea as the right end of war is peace so the maine end of peace is not so much the taking of our pleasure though we enioy that benefit also thereby as the freedome of following our serious affaires The time therefore that ought to be imployed in the one must not be vnseasonably mispent in the other Our vacant time onely is allowed for disport which is then most seasonable as foode when hunger craueth it or as sleepe when heauinesse after watching calleth for it so when wearisomenesse after other imployments requireth it Secondly when they should be tending the holy things of God either in publike or priuate And thus is it a sinne to follow game on the Sabbath as the Iewes vsed to doe and doe yet to this day both on their Sabbaths and solemne feasts and as the Popish sort are noted ordinarily to