Thus both Men and Beasts have sharper Appetites and stronger Digestions and can without prejudice eat more Food in cold seasons than in hot and less Drink does serve them for the stronger and more lively the natural Heat and Spirit are the greater and sharper is the Stomach but a less quantity of Drink will suffice Nature because all external Heat if it exceed the Medium draws forth and evaporates the pure subtle Spirits which impedes and weakens the Natural Heat and Action of the Stomach and then the hot sierce original Fires of Saturn and Mars are stirred up and become manifest in all the external parts of the Body which indisposeth the whole and makes the Members glow with an unnatural Heat and therefore then all Creatures desire and require more Drink and less Food but then they are not so strong and lively as in cold but faintish and more apt to contract Diseases from every Inconveniency oâ—… Disorder 4thly If Wet or Rainy Weather comeâ—… in in March or April and goes out in the latter end of May or Iune then there iâ—… no danger of this Disease because thâ—… are kept with Hay most part of the Spring which as is mentioned before destroys all the putrifying Matter Besides the Spring is powerful and lively giving Life and Vertue to all Creatures the warm and enlivening Beams of the returning Sun embrace the reviving Nature fills all things with Spirit so as that the Grass and Herbs then are freed from or nothing so subject to that gross flegmy Substance most sorts of Herbage consists of in the latter Spring by which all Creatures are healthier and better able to withstand Disorders or Inconveniences that happen from the Elements Besides Sheep as is hinted before have been at Hay a considerable time which is a sound healthy hearty Food suitable to their Natures and drying up all Superfluities nay the very Season it self is an Antidote and Preservative for how pleasant lusty and vigorous is every thing brought forth at the approach of the Sun and how joyful all the Creation is every thing seeming to sport it self in various Delights But when once Phoebus drives down his fainting Steeds and with shorter Marches descends with his Charriot from the back of Cancer then quickly does all Natures Wardrobe begin to be fullied every Vegetable and Annimal droops decays and languishes and the Earth mourning the Retreat of her Coelestial Lover with his golden Locks brings forth none but Sickly and Rickety Productions And therefore no wonder if so tender a Creature as Sheep be at that time much more lyable to contract this Disease for the Reasons aforesaid than in the Spring 5thly But to come to some more particular Reasons all Astrologers say that Sheep are under the dominion of the Coelestial Sign Aries into which the Eye of the World enters the 9th or 10th day of March at which time the Sun is strong and powerful as being exalted therein and therefore then this glorious Coelestial Body by its benevolent Influences chears and comforts all things But on the other side about the 11th of September Sol enters Libra where he is in some degree impedited or debilitated as being in opposition to his Exaltation These Coelestial Influences do often take place but more especially when other Causes concur as when Rains come in about Iuly and continue till September or October and the like 6thly You must consider that at this latter Season of the Year Sheep have passed through the Heats of Summer which have awakned their natural Heat stirring up from the Center the hidden or sleeping Poysons whence the Spirits on all occasions are apt to be evaporated and Diseases generated which then meeting with Food full of gross Humors and earthy flegmatick Matter arising from declining Vegetations do then manifest themselves to the great prejudice of Health for which Reasons those Moneths of Iuly August September and October are most dangerous both to Man and Beasts Are not Men more sickly in this Season than in any other and also Diseases then contracted more fierce and mortal as Plagues Rots Murrains c Not that it is to be doubted but Sheep may Rot on have watry Diseases in the Winter as well as in Autumn but then it must be such as lie Night and Day in marshie wet low Grounds living chiefly on Grass which in all wet Seasons without giving them some Hay at times with it is very pernicious to them whence it comes to pass that most Years such Grounds do more or less distemper Sheep As for Example in Northamptonshire and Leicestershire where their Land is rich and low their Grass plentiful and Sheep large but the Country-Farmers are cunning enough to save themselves prety well for knowing that their Sheep are subject to this fatal Disease they are careful to time it and bring them up to London Market before they are too far gone and then our Citizens and dainty Dames do make good Cheer with this stately and no doubt very tender Mutton and are as Blith and Merry at the Burial of their Carcasses in their own Paunches as Young Men and Maids are at their Whitson-Ale or liquerish Matrons at a Gossipping Some do say that there is a Spring Rot sometimes but this is very rare and when it happens the chief Cause has been either the disorders of a wet Winter where care has not been to give them a sufficient quantity of Hay or that they have fed in low wet Grounds where they have eaten too great a quantity of Grass or else they have been Touched the Michaelmass before with the Rot and though they do hold well all the Winter yet when the Spring comes the hidden Distemper manifests it self for at that time Nature has a fresh and lively Motion and what is Infirm will then appear Having thus discoursed and laid open the Cause of the Rot in Sheep from the Closet of Nature and pointed out the time when and by what means that Mischief is to be feared so that I hope all Shepherds and Sheep masters will hence-forth take particular notice when Rains and much wet weather happens about Iuly August or September or when it is generally a wet Summer and continues so till towards Michaelmess and that they will remember then is the Time to be feared of a general Rot. I shall now proceed to befriend them with some Directions how to prevent the danger in that case threatned 1st You ought to keep your Sheep in the Fold till eight or nine a Clock in the fore-noon or longer according as the Morning is either wet or dry the Air humid or clear or if there be great Dews as often there are in August and September and also in October and when the Sun and Elements have pretty well dry'd up the moist Vapours and Humidity off from the Earth then you may let them out and keep them on the highest Ground and where it is dryest and if the day prove dry then
redoubl'd Notes began to sing louder Anthems of Joy and Gratitude for so great a Blessing which would give a general Peace to the whole Creation But their Mirth was but short liv'd for the very next day this Daw with some others was abroad seeking for Food and there comes one of the same Persons whom he had seen so devoutly praying in the Church and lying in ambush with a long Gun cramb'd with Brimstone and Nitre and murthering Pâ—…llets of Load as soon as he spy'd his opportunity let flie at the harmâ—…ess Birds and kill'd several of them upon the place and wounded others those that escaped acquainted their Fellows what they had seen and suffered and bid them look to themselves whatever fair words men might use for they say and do not they pray God would incline their hearts not to commit any Violence and yet the Profession the very Trade of Killing is one of the most Honourable Callings amongst them in their esteem They with their Lips desire the Lord would forgive them their Oppressions and Violences and in their Hearts resolve upon and by their Practices continue the same Outrages Thus vain and depraved Men through their wanton and extravagant Desires after those things which they need not nay which are much more prejudicial than profitable unto them do draw upon themselves a deluge of Calamities the more they have the more they need for as their Possessions and Enjoyments are enlarged so continually in proportion are their greedy Desires augmented like Persons in a Dropsie coveting after more Drink because they have ingurg'd too much already and so through Transgression and Violence that Noble Rational Creature becomes the most miserable of all Animals who was made in the beginning not only the Supream but most Happy and Wisest of all And although we are daily subject to all his Snares and Violences yet still we would not for a thousand Worlds be in some mens condition for they have made themselves not only subject to a thousand Miseries in this Life but more especially in the World to come which has no end whereas both our Joy and Sorrow terminates with this Life and extends not beyond the short horizon of Time And though we do undergo great Inconveniences and often lose our dear Lives sacrificed to irrational and ungodly Violence yet let him know That he himself is and shall be thereby the greatest Sufferer and therefore we advise him to be careful that he do noâ—… awaken the sierce Jaws and ravenous Mouth of the Wrath for fear he be thereby in the end swallowed up and there be none to deliver him Canst thou O Man accuse us for breaking or transgressing Gods pure Law in Nature Are we guilty of Cheating Lying or bearing false Witness of Gluttony Drunkenness or taking the adorable Name of our Creator in vain Have we usurpt upon thy Priviledges taken away thy Lands or laid waste thy Houses Do we not abominate thy Uncleannesses and observe the proper times of our Couplings Are not our Males tender and loving and our Females so chaste that they will not admit the greatest Courtier amongst us to touch them out of their proper Seasons Are either of us ever jealous of each other Where canst thou find amongst all the numerous Inhabitants of the four Worlds so much Abstinence Love Constancy and Chastity as in our kind our Males taking the like care and Industry as the most sober provident well-disposed Man does for the Preservation and Accomodation of his dear Wife and tender Children for during the time of our hatching and breeding up they duly take pains to provide and bring home Food for their Females whilst they sit and also for their Young Ones after they are brought forth neither do they visit the Nests of others but keep close to their first chosen Loves therefore Anger Jealousie and Contention those Thorns which render most of your Down-Beds uneasie enter not into our unbounded Habitations We contend not nor wrangle about our Pedigrees nor trouble our Heads about Noble Birth and State neither have we any Law-suits for Rights Priviledges Lands or Inheritances the whole expanded Ante-Court of Heaven our Creator has given in common amongst us not limiting us by any Land-marks the vast and spacious Air is our natural City whereof we are all born free nor have we forfeited our Charter The Composition and Elements of our Bodies are more brisk lightsom agile and pleasant than any other Creatures as coming nearest to the Coelestial Quires than the heavy dull melancholly Earth-creepers or Phlegmatick Inhabitants of the Ocean therefore we can remove many Miles in a very few hours and mount our selves to the lofty Regions and there behold the wonderful Secrets of our Creator in the generation of Meteors how soft Vapours are cran'd up by the Suns strong Beams and condens'd into Clouds and thence distill'd into Showers to enable the Earth to afford us Nourishment how falling Drops being intercepted in their way congeal into â—…lakes of Srow and how hot Exhalations imprison'd in surrounding Vapours of a cold and contrary Nature force their Passage with bright Flashes and terrible Noises which you call Lightning Thunder whilst in the mean time whilst we survey near hand these Wonders our fallen Prince Man is confin'd to his Earthly Palaces â—…uzling like Swine in Dung and Dirt or rather like Moles always moiling yet always blind This Active Life joyn'd with our innocent simple Diet preserves us from being afflicted with Diseases Your Agues are as unknown to us as their Causes and Cures are to your Physitians We have no Feavers because we never burn with unnatural Lusts nor Dropsies because we never drown our faculties with over-charg'd Bowls neither are our Joynts crampt with the Great Pox nor our Skins deform'd with the Small Our Young Ones are not tortur'd with the Evil or Rickets nor those of riper Age with Trembling Palsies Putrifying Seurvies or any â—…he like cruel Diseases so that rarely any of our kind dye unnatural Deaths unless occasion'd by the Tâ—…eachory or Violence of â—…an but we are by the goodness of our Creator blessed with Health and long Life not subject to Distempers slavish Labours Cares or any other Perturbations either of Body or Mind because we still continue in â—…he constant Observation of that pure innoâ—…nt Law of God in Nature in which we were first created and do still retain those natural Gifts and Self-preservations which we were endued with in the beginning for the Lord made all Creatures sound and healthful and now if any are otherwise it is because they have forsaken Gods pure Law and depraved themselves the most fatal Instance whereof is Man who was in his Creation adorn'd with wonderful Gifts and Graces both divine and humane and in every respect made more compleat than any other Inhabitants of the material Worlds but behold now how miserably is he degenerated and shut up in Ignorance Folly and Blindness by his stepping out
ignorance and tho I love and honour Husbandmen for the Use the Innocence the Laboriousness and the Antiquity of their Calling yet I must not â—…latter them so far as not to tell them that many of them are thus guilty of following too pertinaciously old Customs not much unlike the Irish whom nothing but the penalty of an Act of Parliament would restrain from fixing their Tackling to their Horses Tails in Plowing and Drawing and from getting out their Corn by burning up the Straw though they daily saw the Advantages of the English using Collars and Traces and of their Thrâ—…shing whereby they had Straw to supply their Cattel in Winter when many of theirs starved yet they would keep to their old Barbarous Custom still till they were cudgelled out of it by a Statute When Horses are by hard Labour or over-Riding hot and tired then to prevent Surfeitings and many other Diseases first They ought to be well rubbed down then tye them to the Rack for one two or three hours more or less according to the degree of Weariness during which time do not give them any sort of Meat or Drink but between whiles keep rubbing them and when they have rested and cooled themselves by degrees then give them both Meat and Water but not so much as they will eat or drink till they have rested well and recovered their natural Heat and Spirits which have been wasted by over-Labour or other Accidents for nothing is more dangerous both to men and beasts than fullness and much eating and drinking upon Weariness for when through Labour the Spirits are spent the Radical Moisture in a degree consumed the Body then falls into a burthensom Heaviness and Indisposition and then Meat and Drink presently taken in is nothing else but to add a second charge or burthen to Nature for Meats and Drinks do require strength of Spirits and natural Heat to help Concoction or else Nature falls into a greater languishing as often comes to pass for want of Understanding For in such cases no sorts of Meats or Drinks whatsoever have so kindly a power to recover the Spirits and natural Heat as a proper time of Rest hath though yet Meats and Drinks must be administred or else Life nor Strength cannot be continued but then it must be conveniently timed and due quantity and quality observed There being a proper time and season saith the wise man for all things under the Sun Rest recovers chears comforts and strengthens Nature and all the Members and faculties prepares and sharpens the Appetite helps Concoction openeth the Pores whereby the whole Body is wonderfully refreshed with a pleasant Moisture whence a good Appetite and lively brisk Digestion do proceed If you will not believe me herein I desire you please to try it upon your self viz. When you are very weary or over-tired by Travelling Labour or any other Accident before you eat or drink sit still silent and shut your Eyes for an hour or two or three keeping your self warm or rather take a nap of sleep which will best do it I appeal to your own experience whether after this you will not find your self not only refreshed but also your Appetite much more quick and better disposed both for eating and drinking and your Pallate more perfect and then you may both eat drink with far greater pleasure and less danger to your Health The same is to be understood in all other Creatures that are subject to such Inconveniences and the same Experience teaches us that half that Quantity both of Meats and Drinks will at some times overcome Nature and send dark dulling Fumes into the Head more than double the Quantity of the same Meats and Drinks at other times when Nature is brisk and lively and free from Weariness But so ignorant are many of themselves and Nature's Power that when they are over-hot weary fainty their Spirits spent and Radical Moisture evaporated the first thing they will endeavour to do is as it were to force Nature to take greater Quantities both of Meats and Drinks than she is able or willing to bear fondly thinking thereby to restore Nature to her former strength in a moment whereas by this means they do but the more oppress her As heat does much abound in Horses so for that very Reason Stables that are close are very injurious to their Health yet few Horse-keepers do imagine or in their whole Lives once think of the great prejudice thereby done to their Horses especially where they stand too much in their own Stâ—…e and Dung for as every Creature 's own Excrement is most offensive so there is no Creature does more abominate strong fulsom Smells than Horses or that more delight in sweet pleasant Scents as being agreeable to their Nature All or most Creatures even the very Sâ—…ine will keep their Styes and Kennels sweet and clean and not foul them unless they are confin'd The Dung of Sheep is harmful to them as we see that often folding of them in a place will not only keep them from proving or thriving but also will give them the Mange and the same may be said of Cows in reference to their Dung though the same when dryed be by some esteemed a good Persume Now if it be thus hurtful to Sheep and other Cattel that live without doors what then is it to Horses who are continually stowed up in hot close Stables and whose Nature and Dung is many degrees hotter The truth is Horses never want an House or Shelter but only in cold wet Weather which is the worst for all sorts of Cattel Most Stables are so close that the refreshing Influences of the Air are prevented from having free ingress and egress by which means the constant stagnated Air there becomes of a gross sulpherous humid Nature as may be perceived when you â—…nter a close Stable in the Morning you are presently encountered with such an hot fume or steam as is ready to suffocate you and yet this is still more offensive and prejudicial to the Horses themselves than to you since to every Creature it s own Excrement is most intollerable as aforesaid and this infecteth their Blood with a sharp hot salt Humour hindering the Circulation thereof so that the Passages are stopâ—… the natural Heat weakened Concoction hindered the edge of the Appetite dulled and a general Tenderness posses the whole Body whence also proceeds Shortness of Breath so that upon every Accident hard Riding or the like they fall into Disorders and become Broken-winded Nothing more disorders Nature than â—…cessive Heat but more especially in this Creature for it abates their Strength Vigour and natural Courage and causes them quickly to Tyre nothing being more unnatural and unhealthy to Horses than to keep them like Mistrisses that the cold fresh Air forsooth must not blow upon them for besides the before-mentioned Evils their cooping them up where they stand or lie a great part of their time in their own
I hope you do not expect your Horses and Cows to be better Philosophers than your selves in distinguishing the Virtues and Vices of Waters for the Pallates of Cattel are adulterated by Custom even as mens are for if you accustom your self to Food that is not well prepared or Drink that hath an ill smack yet in length of time it will be so familiariz'd and so stir up and awaken its own Property in the Body that the ill smack or scent can hardly be perceived So great is the power of every particular thing to strengthen and incorporate its self with its simile in the Body whence does proceed the Possibility in Nature of making all things in a certain sort friendly unto it self Now Pond-Water is generally the warmest of all others and those Cattel that are used to it had therefore much rather drink it than other the common use of it hiding the fulsome Taste and gross earthy Smell But still there are some Ponds that are constantly fed with good Springs and others that in Rainy Seasons are plentifully supplied with Freshes and the Water of either of these is very good and wholsom I am not insensible that these Rules and Observations will seem strange and perhaps Ridiculous to the wise Iockies of this Age since contradicting their beloved Prophet Custom and Tradition whom the Multitude admire However I am satisfied in that I have by making them publick performed my Duty to my Country and so leave them not dispairing but that there may possibly be some few found of so much Ingenuity as to make Trial of them and then I doubt not but how mean uncouth or inconsiderable soever they may now seem they will acknowledge them to deserve both Thanks and Imitation CHAP. II. Of Sheep their Natures and the best way to secure them from the Rot and other Inconveniences and preserve them Healthy SHEEP area sort of Animals highly to be esteemed as well for the Excellency of their Natures wherein they transcend most other Creatures as for the manifold Benefits they afford unto Mankind The Dignity of their Nature renders them the Emblems of Innocency and fit Metaphors for Virtue Thus not only Princes by the Heathen-Sages are called Shepherds and their obedient and well govern'd Subjects their Sheep to intimate that no other species of Creatures are more inclinable to good Order or so readily governable but even in sacred Wâ—…it the People of God are every where denominated The Sheep of his Pasture and Christ himself likens his Disciples and Followers to Sheep and calls himself The good Shepherd that layeth down his Life for his Flock And this was for the near Affinity Sheep have to Equality and to the harmless innocent Life and Principle which Christs Sheep and Lambs do live in But on the other side he compared Evil Men unto and called them by the Names of wild fierce savage ravenous Beasts as Bears Tygers Wolves c. because that sort of degenerate men do live in and are acted by the uneven fierce and cruel Nature and Principle and have therein an Affinity with the Beasts before mentioned And thus there is as perfect an Antipathy between the friendly innocent Principle which governs and rules in the Hearts of Christs People and those that are guided by his holy Peace-breathing Spirit and those other that live in the power of the fierce Wrath and uneven Nature as between Sheep and Wolves or Foxes and the like Beasts whose very sight does afright and amaze them even more than that contrariety proceeding from their Radixes Sheep being dignified as it were with a gleam of the Coelestial Principle of Unity having no manifest Quality predominating whereas on the contrary all the before-mentioned Beasts of Prey have their predominant Quality standing in the fierce Wrath as appears by their unsightly Shapes their frightful Howlings or Noises that they send forth their cruel Inclinations and bloody Dispositions To speak more plainly Sheep are in Temperature moderately Hot and Moist and in Complexion Phlegmatick-Sanguine with a mixture of Melancholy and if they exceed in any of the four Humours it is in Moisture their Radical Fires burn but gently being of a good equal Temperature whence their sweet and amicable Natures and Dispositions do arise For this cause all Inequality is an utter Enemy unto them especially excess of Moisture For they are very porous by which the moist vapours of the Air do powerfully penetrate them on all parts which causeth such Quantities of Wool and does supply them with store of Moisture which when the Air is humid or too much wet weather happeneth proves prejudicial unto them for this cause Sheep can live longer in times of Drought than many other Creatures without Water and receive less prejudice by the want thereof though all Creatures are more or less nourished by this way and do suck in their spirituous moist Nourishment like Spunges on all parts if this were not so no Creature could subsist For the attractive Quality and natural Heat do in a hidden way draw in the moist spirituous Vapours which the Element of Air does plentifully afford and the more Humid the Air is the greater Quantity of Moisture is received into the Body which Nature performs in a Magnetick Insensible way but the same does more manifestly appear when the Season is wet the Element of Air being then more imbib'd with Humidity than in drier times and therefore most or all Creatures will then live with and desire lesser Quantities of Water than when the Weather is dry though the Meat and Labour be the same This may also appear in Man If he shall live temperately in his Diet Exercises so as he do not sweat nor any other way affront Nature to put her to the Expences of too great a Transpiration then let him drink a pint or a quart in twenty four hours space which is a sufficient Quantity for such whose Labours are easie then observe that such an one shall make more Urine in quantity than he drank and if the Season be moist and the Air humid he will make near double the quantity provided he do not eat Foods that are over Salt for such do naturally heat the Body and consume the thin moist cooling Vapours which serve for the help of Concoction and do comfort and refresh Nature But on the contrary if a man shall drink two or three Gallons in a day as many do though to their shame and the Injury of their Healths especially if their Drink exceed in strength then it is to be observed that such an one will make but half or noâ—… half the quantity of Urine as he swallowed down Liquor And also it is to be noted that the more Temperately any shall live and the smaller the quantity of Food they eat the more Urine they will make that is proportionably to their Drink for Abstinency cools the Body opens the Pores and Passages sets the Natural Spirit at liberty and
Field be subject to the Rot or the contrary for Wet is a far greater Enemy to Sheep than Drought as daily Experience does testifie though all Extreams are bad Therefore the Shepherd in all such Seasons ought to let his Sheep continue in the Fold till seven or eight a Clock in the Morning or longer if the Morning be very moist in which time the comforting Beams of the Sun with the help of the Air will in part or wholly have exhal'd and dry'd up those moist slimy Vapours the night distill'd down on the Grass which being gone the Grass is much more wholsom Besides their lying long in the Fold doth beget a sharp piercing Appetite for Fasting does naturally digest and clean the Stomach and Vessels thereof from all superfluous flegmie matter which is contraâ—…ed by that too much moisture which Grass in wet seasons does plentifully contain for the action of the Stomach and Natural Heat is never idle if the Creature be in health so that when it is not supply'd with its usual food then it powerfully attracts or draws unto its self all such gross matter and supersluities and casts it forth both upwards and downwards thereby preventing matter for the generation of Diseases and when the Stomach is thus purged and prepared by due fasting then a little inconveniency in food will not hurt whether it be in quality or quantity for a vigorous well prepared Stomach does not seldom make good Nouriâ—…hment of very ordinary food Further the Sbepherd is to observe to fold his Sheep before the Dews fall whereby he may avoid many Inconveniences nor need he fear that the long Nights lodging will hinder them from proving for all Cattel that have clean sharp Appetites will eat as much in two hours as others will in four whose Appetites are imperfect and Stomachs foul and obstructed through flegmatick Juices and supersluous Humours Besides Sheep do not naturally care for feeding in the Morning whilst the Dew is much on the ground except in times of scarcity which seldom happens in wet seasons the Passages of Sheep are then furr'd with a moist slimy matter which ought always to be cleansed either by Fasting or by some drying food as Hay Corn or the like If Shepherds observe these Rules they may prevent most of the Diseases Sheep are subject to since for the greatest part they are occasioned for want of good Order and skill as Heats Colds Over-wet weather being folded on New-plow'd moist grounds or for want of a little Hay in the latter end of summer viz. in Iuly August and September when the Weather proves wet and cold And though your Field or Pasturage will not Rot your Sheep yet it may and does oft-times cause a great number of Diseases many of which prove satal to them as the Diseases of the Gall and Iaundies Choller and sickness coming of tough Flegon Blinding Stoppages Water in the Belly Red-Water Coughs turning Evil Pains in the Ioynts Lameness in the Feet and the like Evils and Distempers Shepherds should likewise observe that after an hard Summer and great scarcity when they put their Sheep into fresh Fields and Pasturages where there is plenty of Grass if then he intends to preserve them free from Disorders he ought not to let them eat as much as they will but only bait them as they call it and when they have eaten pretty well to take them out and let them have a sufficient time to digest it and then turn them in again and continue this order for a Week or two or three as â—…ou shall see occasion and though your Sheep do not look so full and pâ—…ove so fast as others that lie at Rack and Manger as the Proverb is yet in conclusion they shall gradually attain to the same or better Proof and Well-liking with others and be abundantly sroer from Disorders and Diseases This the Shepherd may remember That from Midsummer to Michaelmass is the most dangerous season in the whole year and therefore then he ought to be most careful and circumspect And of this I shall now proceed to give the true Grounds and Reasons in Nature The most hazardous time for occasioning the Rot in Sheep is from Iuly to the last of September especially if there be Floods or constant Rains or moist foggy Airs There are many Opinions what the matter is that does breed the Rot in Sheep some sâ—…y the cause is their licking up of small white Snales which much Wet does generate others think that it is occasion'd by great Dews and others have other Fancies which I forbear to mention being all besides the business For most certain it is that the true cause of this pernicious and fatal Disease in Sheep is too much Moisture at the season before-mention'd for they very rarely Rot at any other season of the year though there be the same occasion as to the Weather which all Shepherds and Sheep-masters ought well to consider As for Example Suppose Wet weather comes in after Michaelmass viz. in Decembâ—…r or Ianuary and hold so most part of the Winter yet this shall not Rot Sheep except some few in low Marshie Moorish Grounds where they have store of Grass and lie nights and days and have no Hay given them Or if Rains and floods come in Ianuary February March or April and hold dripping till the latter end of May or beginning of Iune and then cease and a dry Summer follow this also will not cause Sheep to Rot except as is said before in some certain low Grounds a few may be infected Hence it appears that from the latter end of Iuly to the last of September or October is the time for generating this Disease and wherein it reigns amongst Sheep if that season happen to prove wet Now the Reasons why Sheep are not so subject to this Disease at other times of the year are 1st If Rains or wet Weather come in after Michaelmass in December Ianuary or the like the season then is cold which does check and consume the raw indigested flegmy substance or matter which all grass is filled with in the latter end of Summer viz. in August September and October as appears by the Latter-Math or Hay made in those Moneths what poor feeble stuff is it in comparison of that Hay the first Spring produceth And how little heart it affords to those Cattel that feed thereon 2dly In this Winter-season most Sheep are in part kept with Hay which dries up â—…d consumes all that superfluous Moisture which is so injurious to Sheep 3dly The Coldness of this Winter-season causeth the natural Heat in all Creaâ—…res to become more Central which gives â—…rength and power to the Stomach and â—…igestive Faculty to digest and throw off â—…ll raw cold superfluous matter which at the other before-mentioned season gives â—…ccasion for the generation of this Disease for all cold weather strengthens the natural Heat sharpens the Appetite and make the Spirits strong and powerful
of Nature into an equal Operation as it hath in other Fruits The Iuice of Limes therefore contain two siery Qualities viz. a Saturnine churlish Fire which is of an hard Coâ—…gulating Nature in Operation like the raw cold Saturnine Airs of Winter which congeals the Water and hardens all things 2dly a sharp keen Martial Property of a sower harth sretting Nature and Operation And though in that Drink called Punch these Extreams are some-what allay'd or moderated by the friendly Ingredients viz. Water and Sugar which do not only render it pleasurable to the Pallate but also more tollerable to the Stomach Nevertheless it must be granted that no Extreams can be made altogether Homogeneal by any Artificial Mixtures or give Nature such ample Satisfaction as those things that are equal in their parts For the first leave the Stomach and Desire always either Craving and in want or disordered For when such improper Compositions of Mature and Immature Fruits and Unwholsom Liquors come into the Body Nature's Limbeck the Stomach quickly separates them as sometimes you may perceive after you have eaten or drank such things by the sower Belches and keen sharp matter the Stomach sends up into the Mouth as when any shall eat Pyes Tarts or other Food made of unripe Fruits tho' never so much sweetned to deceive the Pallate if one make a Meal of them he shall find those sower distasteful Belchings and also that they leave his Stomach unsatisfied The same may also be said even of Ripe Fruits when too great a number are jumbl'd together of contrary Natures There are but few that are truly sensible of the many sore Evils and Dissatisfactions improper Mixtures in Diet brings upon the Body and Mind of Man But certainly My Friends and Country-men you cannot but be sensible how freely how bountifully the Creator hath given us all those things that are truly Natural and Necessary to support Life and are they not familiar and procured with little Labour and less Hazards either to the Body or Mind But on the contrary are not all these Needless things hard to come by so that oft-times the Acquest of them tends to the Ruin of the Soul and Body And yet when all 's done the enjoyment of them gives neither Satisfaction to the one nor Health to the other but makes our Wants the greater for presently we shall want Doctors and Physick to repair those Ruins which our own Intemperances have made such improper Meats and Drinks being the original Causes of those cruel Belly-Akes and griping Pains in the Bowels Feavers Fluxes and Dropsical Diseases both here and in the West as also in the East-Indies where our English inhabit all according to the Nature of each place and as other Circumstances of Intemperances shall concur But besides Diseases there are many other Mischiefs that do attend all those places and Countries that accustom to give themselves up to Supersluity and especially to the drinking of strong Liquors for they deprave both Superiors and Inferiors and are the Nurses of perpetual Crimes Confusions and Disorders on both sides rendering the first Fierce Rash Tyrannical and unfit for Government and the latter Rude Bold Surly Inhumane and more apt to Contemn all Authority than Obey Nor is this Prohibition more sit and requisit in respect of our selves than in regard of our Neighbours so that if once we admit the common drinking of such Heady Intoxicating Liquors we may justly expect the same Inconveniences to befall us as have done New-England For the Venom of such Liquors by our fatal Example will quickly spread it self amongst the Indians and so instead of making them better or more humane and tractable by our Christian Vertues and Abllemious Conversation we shall make them Tenfold worse and teach them the gâ—…d Sin of Drunkenness which is the Inlet Parent and Nurse of the most Monstrous Enormities as Uncleanness Murders c For all People who have not the true Knowledge of God and his divine Principle and the Understanding of the hidden Natures of things are terrible greedy and desirous after such fierce wrathful Liquors as also after Food wherein the Blood is it being the Original of every Life which is the forbidden Fruit that man ought not to have eaten nor awakened there being searcea more evident Token of his depraved state and that the fierce wrathful Spirit does bear sway and carry the upper Dominion in mens hearts than their violent Inclinations after Blood and fierce strong Liquors which two things have a simile to and with each other and the Devilish Nature and Wrath is nourished by the use of them which is further manifested by all the Savages of the Desert as the contrary appears in Sheep and all tame humane and tractable Creatures which therefore we â—…ll Clean Beasts II. Another thing my Friends and Country men which I desire you to consider is the innumerable Evils and cruel Miseries man draws upon himself and the whole Creation is the common use of war-like destructive murthering Weapons and their Appurtenances viz. Guns Swords Powder Bullets Shot Drums and the like Devilish Instruments I may properly so call them for no doubt the invention and use of them all did originally proceed from and is still someâ—…ted by the fierce Wrath for as they have been always used for Destruction so indeed they can have no other use but only to awaken and encourage Wrath and Blood-shed Therefore let not our Streets the Temples of Peace and Tabernacles of Love and Innocence be encumbred with such mischievous Tools let not our pure Air be disturbed with their ungrateful Noises Clashings Ratlings and â—…ouncings nor poluted with the Sulpherous Steams they send forth as if so many Devils had marcht through the Skey and lest the stench of the Infernal Regions behind them Wherefore should we give wild Indians that do not know the use of the Messengers of Death such a bad and fatal Example as to shew a new Method how to kill one another which no doubt in process of time they will improve so far as to make War upon us and kill us with our own Weapons witness the Evils that by this very means have attended our Neighbours and the like we or our Postenity may justly expect Besides tell me I pray what Affinity there is or can be imagined between a Christian and Guns Swords Powder Shot Drums and the frightful noise of Armed Troops marching on to Manslaughter Desolation and Spoil does such Imployment of Wrath and Blood look any thing like the pure peaceable meek innocent Christian-Life which teaches to do unto all as we would be done unto and to love not only our Friends and our Neighbours but also our Enemies which assures us that those that use the Sword shall perish by the Sword that commands us if we are sâ—…ote on the Left Cheek to turn the Right c. Can any thing be more Opposite to all this than swaggering in Buff and Armour and boasting
how many Men we have kill'd in a day And though many of you do not use nor perhaps intend these Martial Instruments for Man-slaughter but only to kill and destroy other inferiour Creatures and Inhabitants of the Elements yet I pray consider why will you arm your selves provide thus to kill those innocent Creatures Does not bounteous Mother Earth furnish us with all sorts of â—…ood necessary for Life Wherefore then will you trouble your selves to kill those Creatures who have a have a Title by Nature's Charter to their Lives as well as you Shall not the groaning of those Creatures call for Vengeance And must not there be a Retaliation Can you think the Noble Race of Man was made to be a Tyrant over and a Scourge unto the inferior Inhabitants of the World No sure he was to treat and govern them in Love and Friendliness But instead thereof he is now become their deadly Enemy Therefore though you will not fight with and kill those of your own Species yet I must be bold to tell you That these lesser Violences as you may call them do proceed from the same Root of Wrath and Bitterness as the greater do there being but one grand Fountain from whence all kinds of Evil Violence Oppression and Cruelty do proceed whether it be towards our Brother Man or any other of our Fellow-Creatures And though Custom hath made the killing and oppressing of Beasts Birds c. to be saâ—…liar and consequently easie and done without any Remorse or Bowels of Pity yet it is still from the dark Root 'T is true we read in Scripture frequently of the Killing both Men and Beasts and 't is true the Lord did give the Nations liberty to kill and eat the Flesh of Inferior Creatures But note That this was not done until Mankind had departed out of his holy Law and goverment of his divine Principle into his sierce Wrath out of which wrathful Principle he permitted the killing and eating of Flesh so the Scripture saith The Wickedness of Man had corrupted the Earth and then the Lord said My Spirit shall no longer strive with Man Threescore and ten years shall be the term of his Life c. That is Man would not submit unto and be governed by his holy friendly Principle of Love and Light therefore the Lord in his fierce Wrath which man had rather chosen to precipitate himself into shortned mans Life and gave him Flesh to eat which sort of Food had the nearest Affinity to that Wrathful Spirit that had then gotten the Government in Man But in Paradise that is whilst man continued under the sweet Conduct of the divine Principle his Bill of Fare allowed by his Creator in love was only Every Herb bearing Seed and every Tree in which is the Fruit of a Tree yielding Seed to you it shall be for Meat Gen. 1. 29. Thus far the Children of Israel in the Wilderness as long as they were Obedient God provided and fed them with Angels Food pure and delicious Manna but when they grew Disobedient and Murmured and nothing would serve them but Flesh God gave them Flesh in his Wrath and Quails in his Displeasure which fitted them for Destruction Furthermors though you will not kill those of your own kind yet your Children seeing and learning these Preparations of Oppression and Violence they may come to be of different Opinions and by degrees kill one another with their Fathers Guns and Swords for we know not what sort of People will come after us nor what Spirit they may be of Therefore it will be highly convenient for us to prevent the Growth of all Fierceness Wrath and Violence even in the bud by our Laws and wholsome Customs for there is no way or means that can or will so powerfully disarm the Rage of Men and other Creaturs as Clemecy and Well-doing Has not the Lord by his divine Hand of Providence brought us into a pleasant and fruitful Country that flows as one may say with Milk and Honey that is all things necessary for sustaining Life and rendering it delightful as far as Nature desires or Innocency will admit why then should we by our Intemperance make iâ—… slow with Blood Oppression and Violence Will not a little Labour cause the Earth to bring forth a great number of brave fragrant Herbs Fruits and Grains which will readily supply us with both dry and moist Nourishment and preserve our Health and Strength without the use of Guns Swords Powder Shot or the like Engines and Utensils of War which have their Original from the fierce Wrath of God in Nature and let men pretend what they will of Necessity cannot be used but only by the same Spirit Wherefore should we Christians whose Laws and the Doctrines of our Saviour engage us to live in love unity that we may be rendred capable to understand and enjoy that glorious Liberty of the Sons of God which the whole Creation groans to be deliver'd into why I say should we with wrathful Weapons and breathing Death and Destruction terrifie amaze and alarm not only one another but also all the Inhabitants of the four Elements meerly to gratifie our extravagant Desires and wanton Appetites or furious Passions and all the while to suffer the friendly Law and good Principle of Gods eternal Love to languish sigh and groan under the burthens of those intollerable Evils in which slate Man often finds himself in great Trouble and Discontent and wonders very much what may be the occasion thereof not considering the true cause viz. That their Hearts and Souls do move in the fierce Wrath and that they do not do unto all as they would be done unto nor live in Innocency and Concord with all Creatures which is the true Christian Doctrine Therefore to prevent all these Troubles Dangers and Annixities it will become us to be wise and Innocent in our Laws and Customs that our Youthful Settlements may be a means to preserve us and our Posterity and then our Childrens Children will bless our Souls and we shall as naturally attract the sweet Influences of the Coelestials and also the benovelent Aspects of all Creatnes as the Load-stone doth Iron for every Like draws to its self its Likeness for therein consists its highest Ioy. III. A Third thing I would offer to your Consideration is That you will not suffer it to become a Custom or to be lawful for any amongst you to wear any sort of Garments or Clothing save only such both Woolen and Linnen as our own Country does or may produce nor of any other Colours but such as the Woods Seeds Earths and Minerals of our own Land affords By which we shall encourage not only all Ingenious People but also our own Commodities and altogether discourage Forreigners Also let it be a Custom amongst us for all our Superiors or Magistrates to wear White Garments made of Wool which is not only more serviceable but natural whereby they will