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
A serious Revolving of these Questions and examining your selves and your unbosom'd Hearts touching these Queries will be a most useful as well as pleasant Exercise and under the shade of an Hedge more enlighten your Minds than some years spent in a sweaty Library the Chat of a Coffee-House or even the empty Documents of the Schools And when your Spirits begin to languish under the weight of these severer Contemplations then refresh your Bodies either with the Harmony of your well-chosen Instruments or by being diligent in Planting Inoculating and Grafting Trees of various kinds of Fruit than which I scarce know any Labour more delightful or in setting Hedges which may prove not only Ornamental but very Beneficial to your selves and Flocks to secure both from the Injuries of the Elements And those that do thus mannage their Flocks with Wisdom and Discretion shall answer a good Conscience towards God improve themselves to a Praise-worthy degree of Knowledge and Happiness and preserve their Sheep to a far greater Health and Profit than others Of Sounds and the Benefits Musical Hramony yields to Men and Beasts and in particular to Sheep HAving in the fore-going Chapter occasionally mentioned the Musick that Shepherds use to have I think it will not be improper here to add a few words on that subject since the same does not only conduce to the sole Delight of the Shepherd himself but is also of good use in respect of the Creatures which he tends who are much delighted thereby and 't is certain that by how much any Creatures Life is rendered more delightful by so much the faster it thrives and is the less subject to Diseases 'T is agreed on all hands That it was a general Custom amongst the Antient Shepherds to use and play on Musical Instruments as in ruder times on Oaten Reeds and afterwards on Hawboys Bagpipes Flagolcâ—…s c. He is wholly a stranger to the Poets and never so much as Travelled Arcadia even in the Romance that can be ignorant of this Noâ—… was that â—…ice only amongst the Heathen-Swains for we find that great King and illuminated Prophet David being bred a Shepherd had by use and his curious Genius and Industry attained unto an Excellency therein even in his Youth whilst he followed his Fathers Flocks as was afterwards manifest not only when by his curious skill in playing on the Harp he moderated the Rage of King Saul but afterwards by his continual Inclination to Harmony whereof his sweet composed Psalms the most Musical Poems ever extant in the World will be as lasting as Irrâ—…fragable Witnesses There is no doubt but Musical Harmony is endued with wonderful Excellencies and equal parts not only of the Terrestrials but also of the Coelestials and its Harmonious Sounds and pleasant Consorts do powerfully yet quickly as by a most Natural Inclination and Simpathetical Attraction allure all Creatures to its own Property what ever in their Radix stands near or is capable of its Influences So that it does not only change the Affections Intentions Gestures Motions Actions and Dispositions of men and impose its own Harmonious Property on them but also allures many sorts of Beasts and Birds to delight in hearing its pleasant Tunes Thus some sorts of Birds are inveigled by Pipes and Harts may be caught with the same Nay the Fishes themselves are not insensible of its Charms Musical Notes causing Friendship between Men and Dolphins as the sound of an Harp doth lead up and down the Hyperborean Swan and some Authors relate that Melodious Voices are the best means to tame the wild Indian Elephants yea further That the Elements themselves submit to its Power for 't is storied of the Halesian Fountain which is otherwise calme and quiet if a Trumpet be but sounded shall presently rise up raging and swell over its Banks So wonderful is the Power of Musical Harmony that it appeaseth the Fury of the Mind raiseth the Spirit calls them back that are desperate and refresheth the Weary insomuch that the Arabians say That Camels carrying heavy Burdens in tedious Journeys over the vast and barren Deserts are much cheared and will go more stoutly for the singing of their Leaders and hence perhaps it is that all our Carters Plow men generally Whistle to their Cattel when at work and even of men themselves those that carry great Burdens and most sorts of Labouring People do commonly sing in their Imployment and thereby are strengthened and their work goes the more delightfully forward for Harmony chears and refreshes the Annimal Spirits and Senses and causeth equal Operations which do much for tific Nature and chaseth away Melancholly and vain and troublesom Imaginations For this cause Democritus and Theophrastus affirm that some Diseases both of the Body and Mind may be cured thereby which we read was actually done by the Musical Hand of Therpander of Lesbos on many of his Country-men the Lesbians and Ionians their violent Feavers and other Diseases giving place to the Salutiferous strains of his Harp which bid desiance to all the Medicaments of the Man-Lâ—…ch of Chios and all his Tribe of Physitians Orpheus Amphion Pythagoras Empedocles Asclepiades Timotheus c. all meer Heathen-Artists as well as the heavenly-inspired David have performed Wonders by Musical Consorts sometimes stirring up dull Spirits to an active briskness by melodious and familiar Sounds at other times restraining wanton furious or angry Heats by the sweet Violence of their graver Airs for by no other means did Pythagoras reclaim a Luxurious Young man from immoderate Lust. Since such are the effects of Musick it was not without great Understanding and a deep In-sight into Nature that Shepherds in former Ages did apply themselves thereunto and endeavour to Charm their Innocent Flocks with the pleasant Concords of their well-tuned Layes for Sheep are Creatures of a most excellent Composition as to the Elements of the Body and Spirits and therefore all Harmony and Equality has great Assinity with their Natures and they are therewith wonderfully delighted and pleased especially in times of scarcity when Pasturages are hard and scarce as also in cold rainy wet Weather for aâ—… such times Musick does as it were compose and moderete their discontented Minds and Spirits and gently allures them to quietness which does much suit with the Humour and Disposition of this Creature and affords them great Benefit Nor is it any wondâ—… that Musical Harmony should have greater Power over and 〈◊〉 Affinity with many sorts of Beasts than it hath in respect of man because they 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the first pure Law of Nature given them by the Creator in the beginning whereas man through the power of his depraved free Will hath prcipitated himself into Inequality and â—…ll kind of Discord so that most men take delight and pleasure in Oppression and Violence destroying the Peace and Concord not only of those of his own Species but also of all other Creatures being become an Enemy to the
many respects so particularly because they take up that Time which ought to be better imployed viz. to the Honour and Glory of God the Improvement of our own Understandings and rational Faculties and the publick Benefit of the Creation Where Note That by Idleness I do not mean a Letargy of the Soul or Stupidity of the Body or the not doing any thing at all but the doing of Evil or that which we ought not to do for in the first sence there is scarce any thing ilde in the whole Creation the Devil himself is busie running up and down like a Roaring Lyon seeking whom he may devour and whoever he be that doth not exercise himself in Virtue and Goodness he is always doing the contrary Mens Desires and Imaginations cannot stand still nay even when the Body sleeps they are working and framing a thousand Idea's and Chimara's therefore when we exhort men to eschew Idleness we mean That they should for sake the pursuit after vain things which are unnessary and will not turn to any solid account but rather are evil and destrustive and on the other 〈◊〉 that they would apply themselves to diligence in the Ways of God and Nature and the Exercises of Piety and Virtue Thus our Aucâ—…lor Adam that he might not be idle had his Task set him even in the state of Innocence And what was it To dress his Garden and keep it This is the appointed business of all his Off-spring every one ought to imploy himself in preserving the Garden of his Soul clear from the over-spreading Wâ—…ds of Vice and inordinate affections and his Body free from Uncleannesses and superâ—…uous Humours and though in Paradise his Work was but his Diversion as indeed all Labour to those in Paradisical state is no more yet as soon as he had precipitated himself from that happy Condition he is presently enjoyn'd to get his Bread by the sweat of his Brows noâ—… by the Sweat and Labour of other mens Brows but of his own not to spend and consume on his Lusts and Passions as much as five Hundred can get by their hard Labour as is now a days practised by many much inferior to him who make both men and Beasts groan under such heavy Burthens as are their Ruin which is a Crying Sin though the least regarded of any other do not some particular Persons spend as much daily in Wine strong Drink and Rich Food compounded with as many Ingredients as there are weeks in the Year as would well sustain ten twenty or forty People in simple harmless Food And is there not spent daily in one City viz. in London near Fifty Thousand Pounds Sterling in Wine Brandy and other Spirits and strong Liquors which is Eighteen Million Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Pounds Sterling every year A Prodigious Sum of Money to be swallowed up and pissed away in one year by a parcel of Spoil-Goods on a spot of Ground not above six or seven Miles long and three or four broad The greatest part of all which is spent in superfluity and by idle People as well to their own particular Prejudice in point of Health as to the Impoverishment of the Publick and Robbing of the more Poor and Industrious of those necessary Supplios which God and Nature bountifully allow'd to all Mankind And yet this Gluttonous Invasion amongst most of the Rich and Great is not counted any Evil for they esteem it their Priviledge saying What! has not God given me Plenty Wherefore then should I pine my Self or deny to gratifie my Appetite and craving Desires And thus they study to pamper their Bodies even till they oppress them and imploy all the noble Faculties of their Souls to advance the worse than bruitish Pleasure of their Throats and Lusts of the Flesh as if the whole business of their Lives were only Injection and Ejoction never so much at once considering the hard Labours Cries Groans Dangers Wants and sore Oppressions both Men and Beasts do undergo to procure those things which they so vainly and superfluously consume destroying thereby their own Bodies and stupifying their Minds and Senses whereby they are not only rendred incapable of every good Work but the Soul becomes a Den sit to entertain the Infernal Inhabitants 'T is most certain that Idloness and Gluttony are two of the greatest Tyrants in the World for they enthrall the Mind and draw it to all kind of Vitiousness and both enfeeble and torture the Body by a great Number of Diseases which are also entailed to their Posterity so that what men call Pleasure proves the greatest Pain For tell me O thou idle and sottish Glutton what real Pleasure is there in the continual supping of VVine and Drunkenness and to have thy Table twice or thrice a day loaded with the Richest Foods and Fruits not only of our own Country but fetcht with vast Toil and Hazards from the faâ—… thest Corners of the Earth Do you not hereby Tire and make simple Nature groan under many sore Burthens Do not your Veins glow with an unnatural Heat Are not your Heads pestered with Fumes and Dullness Do not your Members ake with very Idleness and languish for want of Exercise Is not the sharpness of your Pallate dulled so that you cannot taste the good Relish of the best Food or most Cordial Drinks Are not your Passages stopt and furr'd and the Digestive Faculty and Natural Heat of the Stomach debilitated so that Nature cannot make any true Separation whence are generated evil Juices that enfeeble all the Joynts and put the whole Systime of Nature's Occonomy in your Bodies out of Kelter whence corrupt gross Blood is generated and consequently impuâ—…e Spirits from whence an Universal ill habit of Body arises The Richer Meats and Drinks are the sooner do they tyre and nauseate if taken in Excess and when Nature is forced to receive them Idleness and Superfluity can find no place of Rest their Horses nor Charriots can give them ease nor their softest Beds nor most delicate Couches â—…ut all things that they intend for their Pleasure prove wearisom and painful unto them Therefore the Wise Antients and great Princes and Prophets the better to obey the Commands of God and imitate his Works both Coelestial and Terrestrial were skilled not only in sublime Arts and Sciences but also in all Husbandry and the mannagement of Cattel As Abraham the great and Pious Father of the Faithful and his Son Isaac and his Grand-son Iacob and Royal David c. whose Sepulchers or the Shadows of their Memories our modern superfluous DONS pretend to Honour and yet at the same time scorn to imitate them but hate and contemn their Deeds That famous Patriarch Isaac did not say to his Son Iacob Thou art my Heir it does not become thee to spend thy time to understand Husbandry or to be a Plow-man or a Shepherd and a Companion of Clowns and â—…usticks â—…ut I will have thee bred a Gentleman that is Eâ—…â—…nd
drink of the best and superfluoâ—…sly and do not work but ride up and down in thy Coach and be waited upon by a parcel of Servants altogether as idle as thy self and thou shalt Rack thy Tenants and Domineer over the Poor and oppress and violate their Rights and spend their Labours and the sweat of their Brows in Riot and Wantonness and lead a lazy swaggering Life and bear all out because thou art my Son and well Descended But alas these Maxims of Education were not known or practised in those days but the Prudent Fathers brought up their Dutiful and Laborious Children to their own Trades and in honest Country Imployments Iacob had twelve Sons how many of them did he make Lawyers University-men or Innâ—… of Court-Gentlemen No No they were every one of them Shepherds and were not ashamed of their Occupation nor thought it any dishonour to their Birth for those were the Golden Times so much celebrated by the Antients when Kings and Princes studied Wisdom and preferr'd the true Knowledge of God and Nature in themselves before the vain Conceits of Ignorance Ambition or the outward and barren Noise of Lip-Learning but Tutor'd their Children in the Mysteries of undisguised Nature and contented themselves with â—…lain Country-Lives mean Clothing and â—…ple Food which render'd them sound â—…d healthful both in Body and Mind â—…ir Children for that Reason being not so subject to such a number of Diseases as ours nor to Immature Deaths for Temperance and Cleanness in Meats and Drinks joyn'd with moderate Exercises and Labours are most excellent Assistants and very much tend to the rendering of men capable of obtaining the true Knowledge of God and Nature in themselves for when the Body is free from Disorders the pure thin Vapours of the Air are suckt in as by a Spunge on all parts which do wonderfully refresh and replenish Nature and render the Body full of brisk lively Spirits which make it vigorous and sprightful And Labour duely followed does not only strengthen the Body but fortifies us against many Evils making all the Limbs better able to discharge those Functions for which they are designed begets Appetite helps Concoction Corroborates the Stomach and Natural Heat frees the Passages from Obstructions makes the Blood circulate freely c. In a word Labour and Abstinence are not only two of the best Physitians in the World and two of the best Common-Wealths-men the Pillars of Strength and Fortitude but the Grounds of all Virtue Therefore know O Man if thou dost not imploy those Talents which God hath entrusted thee with and put them to that use for which they were lent thee then the Lord the great Creator will spue thee out of his Mouth as he did the proud disobedient Angels Nor will it serve thy turn in that day to say My Father got an Estate by Oppression Blood and Violence and made me his Heir why then should I work Had not I Slaves to do my Drudgery I am a Gentleman born and bred who shall hinder me from taking my Pleasure in Carrouzing Pampering my Carcass diverting my self in all manner of Uncleanness and Idleness No No these Allegations will not excuse but aggravate both your Guilt and your Punishment Every one must give an Account of his Stewardship No Punctilio's of Gentility or Birth or Blood or Titles or Estate will stand thee in stead nor any mans saying It was my own and therefore I might do there-with what liked me best For this is a most false Usurpation and Robbing God of his Propriety in his Creatures and assuming the same to thy self Alas vain Man The Lands the Mines the Fruits the Corn every thing thou so proudly boastest to be thine own are Gods for he made them he preserves them he endues them with all their Virtues he lent thee the Possession of them to imploy them to his Glory and the good of thy fellow Creatures not to lavish them away on thy Lusts And if thou dost abuse them he can in the twinkling of an Eye take thee from them or them from thee and bestow them on another nay so far art thou from being Lord Paramount over those outward things thou enjoyest that thou hast no Right nor Title to thine own Self but thy Person is Gods by Creation who made thee to serve him and not thy own Imaginations and that thou mightst be capable of serving him and thereby in the end to obtain that Happiness which is the Consummation of thy Happiness or chiefest Good he hath endued thee with Organs of Body and Faculties of Mind but thou let'st them rust with Idleness or dost weaken and destroy them by Excess and so thy Work that very Work for which thou wast made remains undone thy Creator is most ungratefully neglected or Impiously affronted thy Fellow-Creatures instead of a Guide or Helper find thee a Tyrant and their Tormentor Thy Life is rendred uncomfortable here and all Endeavers after a better state hereafter are by thee sleighted What remains then but that the Justice of divine Vengeance should arise terribly against thee and cut thee off from the Land of the Living and cast thee into utter Darkness and ever lasting Flame to have thy Portion with the Devil and his Angels whom thou hast imitated and served But on the other side Blessed and thrice Happy are they that in time entertain and cherish Temperance and exercise themselves diligently in VVell-doing and do not misuse the good Gifts and Graces of their Creator whose Garments are not stain'd with Oppression but they retain Humanity and live under the Dominion of the Friendly Principle and Divine Love being at Peace with the whole Creation for Nothing then can Hurt them because They have hurt Nothing THE Planters Speech To his Neighbours Country-men in Pennsylvania East and West-Iersey c. And to all such as have Transported themselves into New-Colonies for the sake of a quiet Life My dear Friends Country-men THough it may seem very Impertinent and Unnecessary to go about to repeat to you the Occasions and Motives that inclined you to abandon the Land of your Nativity and those comfortable outward Imployments and Accommodations which most of you had there and to adventure your selves to the Hazards of a long Voyage at Sea to come to this Remote part of the World yet lest you should forget those Inducements as often it happens that men by a slothful Negligence or Ignorance after some Tract of Time fall from their first Love and blindly hurrey themselves into the very same Mischiefs which they intended to avoid and build up again what they justly endeavoured to destroy not foreseeing the future ill Conveniences of their present supposed Innocent Actings I shall take leave briefly to mention some few of those weighty Causes which I am confident originally sway'd your Spirits to this Transplantation and those good Ends for the obtaining of which you chiefly removed hither The Motives of our Retreating to
own Health and Lives upon no more Important occasions then for the Rabble to cry Well run Tom for getting half a Peice from him that laid the Wager to be Drunk with Horses are dignified with a strong Martial Nature viz. hot and dry but as all other Animals they differ much as to their Identical Qualities and particular Constitutions some more Cholerick and Fierce others more Phlegmatick Sanguine or Melancholy Therefore some are more lively brisk and swifter of motion but others of dull heavy Dispositions slow in motion great Bellies and Heads with dull heavy Eyes But in General as to their four Humours Heat in Horses does predominate and they do exceed most other Creatures therein whence do proceed those Brisk Lively Bold Free Proud Dispositions whereby they are more easily apt to be forced by their Riders and Drivers beyond their strength and power of Nature which for want of mercy Compassion and Understanding is often done And thence so many Diseases in this Creature more than any other do proceed for they are not thus infirm from their Temperature or Radixes but the same arises from and is occasioned by the Disorders Intemperances their Mannagers do enforce them unto being by â—…ir natural Constitutions not only one of the strongest and hottest but also the Healthiest sort of Animals for in what Creature soever the Natural Heat is strong the Spirits are great brisk and powerful and for this cause Horses exceed most other Creatures in Courage and Martial Exercises This innate Heat and Strength in Horses is further manifested by this viz. Let the Season of the Year be never so Wet or Cold and Unkind yet the Grass will bring upon them little or no Inconveniency though they lie out Day and Night and though the same Grass and Pasturage will rot Sheep and cause Cows to become unhealthy as also that in September and October when the Air and Elements are humid and thick whence do arise great Dews which makes the Grass white like a Frost that so turns the Stomachs of Cows and Sheep that they will not feed but stand still or lie down till the Sun hath dryed or exhal'd the Moistures except they are very hungry and then it proves of evil consequence to them yet even then Horses though they lie at their â—…ill of Grass will feed as freely as at other times and without prejudice Nay do not many Farriâ—…rs and others turn diseased Horses out all Winter in hard Pastures and give them neither Hay nor Corn which often proves of good effect as to their Cure It is also from their great Heat that Horses will eat a far greater Quantity of Food than Cows though the latter have near as large Bodies to nourish besides the great Quantities of Milk they afford to their Keepers twice a day Now this sharpness of Appetite and quick Digestion proceeds from the strength of the Central Heat which they are so strongly dignified withal And this all Riders and Keepers of Horses ought in the first place to understand so as to know their Natural Temperature and accordingly to observe Order and Temperance in their Mannagement or else they will quickly make way for Diseases as most do through Passion Violence and Ignorance in the Government of them The best way to prevent Surfeits and other Diseases in Horses ALL Riders and Drivers of Horses ought by all means to ride or drive them moderately in the Morning if they intend they shall perform their Journey or Day 's Work without prejudice to their Healths for they generally eat most part of their Food in the Night and towards Morning and also drink freely which does in some measure indispose them for full Stomachs do naturally hinder from performance of Labour since Nature cannot equally endure two Burdens at one time Exercise is always dangerous if it be violent on repleated Stomachs whether in Man or Beast for let a man observe if he eats or drinks plentifully in a Morning and then presently labour strongly or go a Journey after it unless he be very moderate therein he shall find himself much indisposed the first part of the day his Limbs aking hot and faintish the very same is to be understood in other Creatures only they cannot make their Griefs and Inconveniences known nor have understanding to observe the Rules of Temperance either in Quality or Quantity or the apt Times and Seasons therefore their Keepers ought to be merciful wise and considerate and govern them aright which they cannot do without considering That the Stomach and Natural Heat cannot attend two Works at once for when the Stomach is full of fresh Food all the Powers of Nature are busie to lend their Assistance to help forwards Concoction during which time all the external parts and whole Body seem to be in a degree indisposed but after three four or five hours in which time the natural Heat has digested and made Separation then the Passages begin to be open with the Pores and the Blood and pure Spirits have their free Circulation which gives advantage to the thin pleasant moist vapours of the Air to penetrate all parts and to be suck't from without as by Spunges which renders all Creatures brisk strong lively and able to go through with their work Time Quantity and Quality are three material Points to be regarded by every Rider and Driver of Horses and he ought to consider the Strength the Method and Possibility of Nature or else he may quickly lay heavier Burthens than they can bear but the prime Lesson every one ought to learn is The Knowledge of Himself and to distinguish the Properties and particular Operations of his own Nature what Quality carries the upper Dominion in the respective Complexions and according to the degree every one understands of himself the same he is capable to know of all other Creatures and so shall be able on all occasions to vary the Rules of Order and Temperance according to each Creatures peculiar Nature for in Man is contain'd the true Nature of all things how else could he be truly called The Microcosm or little World and if he would know any thing essentially then first the same thing must be manifested in himself and then this Knowledge is true solid and certain but all other Learning or Knowledge which depends on Custom Chance and Tradition is not a mans own and therefore is but a bare Opinion which most are apt to vary and change and to have but little faith in because such knowledge does not arise from the Root of their own Lives but is forreign spurious adventitious borrowed from abroad and taken up upon the uncertain Credit of the People who rarely know any thing as they ought to know Nor does any thing make mans depraved state appear more than for him to entertain vain Opinions and follow Custom instead of Reason and the Nature of things this being the only path that does keep so many in blindness and
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
you may about the middle of the day feed them in the lower grounds for two or three hours and when it draws towards Evening put them again on the higher places always observing to fold them before the Dews fall and let them be folded on dry grounds it being injurious to Sheep to be out late at night by reason of the humid Vapours which then arise 2dly If it do chance to rain a considerable part of the day then you ought to give your Sheep a little Hay at night and in the morning which is the surest Remdy against this Disease and also many others for dry Food is proper at all times for Sheep especially in wet seasons and ought to be given them once a day all the Moneths before mentioned There are likewise other sorts of Food which are admirable for this purpose viz. When the Weather is very wet and the Air humid with great Dews to give them three or four times a week either at night or morning Oates in the straw or Pease and Barley this will prove an absolute prevention of the forementioned Disease or if your Oates or other Grains be Thresht then mix some Salt with them and so give it them If this be continued and the afore-mentioned Observations followed it will certainly prevent the Rot and other Distempers for this dry Food does afford such a firm Nourishment that it dries up and consumes all superfluous Moisture in the Body Now the Rot in Sheep is a Dropsical Disease or the overflowing of gross Flegmatick Humours which in a little time spoils the Complexion that it becomes of a pale waterish Colour It also generates hard congealed matter or knobs corrupting the fountain of Blood and causeth the Body to become cold for the Bodies of all Creatures have their Original from the Watery and Earthy Qualities as the Spirits have theirs from the Element of Air But in what thing soever the Element of Water does too violently predominate there all is poysoned the Natural Heat loseth its power and proper Action and Nature is put out of her way and all the Humours and sweet Oyl or Balsamick Vertues turn sower or become of a stinking Rankness whence proceeds Melancholly and a sad heavy Spirit which is the beginning of Sorrow and end of all Pleasure which nothing will so well prevent as continual supplies of the before-mentioned Foods viz. Hay Corn in the straw or Thresht Corn mixt with a little Salt This will certainly cut off the causes of this Distemper in the bud if other circumstances mentioned before be duely observed There is another thing which will very much help to prevent the generation of this Disease the Rot in Sheep viz. to have large sheds or low wide Houses like Barns but open on all sides to house your Sheep in during wet cold Weather which is a general Rule in Flanders and when the day proves wet many times they will keep them in the House all day and give them Hay but at all times they observe not to let them out before the Sun and Elements have exhaled the moist Dews and Vapours and to house them again at Night before the said Dews and Humidity falls by this means they preserve their Sheep from the Rot whereas otherwise their Land being low their Sheep would almost every year be swept away thereby But note that these Rules and Observations must be Timed for a little Industry and small Charge may prevent the Mischief but if once your Sheep be tainted then it will be an hard matter to recover them you may possibly preserve them with a great deal of care and charge till spring but then most of them will dye Therefore be sure use these Preventive Remedies as soon as you perceive the Weather begin to require them But when there happens three or four days or a week of dry Weather then you need give them Hay but once every other day or a few Oats or other Grain either in the straw or thresht mixt with a little Salt as you see occasion I would by the permission of the Lord be he that with four or five Loads of good old Hay viz. Hay one year old and a few Oates or other Grain preserve and secure three or four Hundred Sheep from the fore-men tioned Disease in a general Rot and I would not take any other measures than what are before specified Those Sheep-masters that live in places subject to the Rot may do well to change their Sheep every two three or four years for Hill-Country Sheep which will on the change of Pasturage thrive much better and not prove so subject to Diseases for change of Pasture for Sheep and Air for Men generally proves Healthy In all Hilly poor Grounds where Sheep do work hard for their Living they do thereby become healthy strong and hardy for Nature in all Creatures does use highest diligence to Arm and defend her self against those Inconveniences hard keeping and labour bring on her But those Sheep that are bred in Rich Pastures where they have Grass in superfluity lying at ease filling their Bellies without much labour or motion like idle People who feed to superfluity and to sleep such Sheep I say are subject to many Diseases for no Creature can attain to Fatness except they have Ease and superfluity of Meat and Drink which consequently renders them full of gross Phlegmatick Humours and Juices which do in a degree deprave Nature of its innate Heat and as it were suffocate the pure natural spirits and strength and stop the Passages and contract the Vessel of the Stomach and give much flesh and little spirit and that too very impure Hence the Flesh of such Creatures that are large and bred in low Marshie grounds loaded with fatness is nothing so sweet and pleasant as that of smaller Cattel that are fed more moderately on high dry Grounds Nor will their Flesh take salt or keep so well or long nor breed so good Nurtriment more especially in the said Moneths of August September and October for then the flesh and sat not only of Sheep but all other Annimals is far more gross and fuller of flegmatick Juices than at any other times of the year and that 's the Reason it will not keep so long or take salt as at other times for where the Phlegm abounds in any flesh or fat there the pure Spirits and balsamick Vertues are weak those few that are are impure therefore such Flesh presently turns to Putrifaction the gross Juices and Humidity hindering the Salt from incorporating with it for where the spirituous part of flesh is hurt or wounded either by over-fatness and phlegmy substance or the Creature surfeited or the flesh kept too long after 't is killed c. then such flesh will not take salt nor keâ—… as others do If you think this strange ask the Tallow-Chandlors whether the Tallow be not fuller of gross Phlegm in Summer than in Winter but more especially Iuly August
extravagant Expences render us uncapable to perform those Offices of Charity and Beneficience which we might otherwise and ought render to our poor Neighbours and the publick benefit of our Country In a word these Superflâ—…ities and needless things cannot be procured and used without hazard to our Health and Lives and oppression to the whole Creation for all such things are dear and hard to come by and when they are procured the use of them proves of more dangerous Consequence than the charge and trouble of getting them so that when all is done they only serve to Tickle and please the sensual and depraved Appetite of vain Men and to force Nature out of her innocent way The use of such Superstuities is attended with many other evil Circumstances as first it occasions men to let their Farms or Plantations dear or makes them labour very hard or put their poor Servants upon Excessive Toil and put their own both Body and Mind as it were on the Rack to procure such things as are necessary and then not content therewith they must exchange them away for that which stands them in no stead viz. To sell their most pleasant and fragrant Fruits Grains and Seeds at a low and poor Rate that with the procede thereof they may buy Brandy Rum Wine and the like at dear Rates As to give a Bushel of brave Wheat for half a Gallon of Brandy or a Gallon of Rumbullion What comparison is there to be made between a Twelve Penny Wheat Loaf and a Pint of Brandy Rum or Wine The first is the real Preserver of Nature a durable sustantial Food most grateful to Nature The last serves only for a moments time to please the sensual Appetite but its evil Operations and Effects stay behind heats the Blood makes the Veins glow with an unnatural Heat destroys the edge of the Appetite renders the whole Body uneasie and fills the Mind with an innumerable Troop of wanton and vain Imaginations which seldom are raised but as 't is said of evil Spirits in Magick they do some Signal Mischief both to the Body and Mind Or to take notice by the way of other the like Superstuities which is most useful and beneficial to humane Nature one Ounce of Nutmegs Cleves Mace and the like or 20 or 30 brave New-laid Eggs which of all sorts of Food are the compleatest and being well ordered afford the best of Nourishment Or which is indeed most serviceable a Pound of good Butter or Cheese or on the other side a Pound of Sugar Currants Raisins and the like Indeed these last are excellent Fruits but they will not grow in our Country nor under our Elevation therefore not so proper for our Bodies every Soil naturally bringing forth by the merciful Wisdom and Providence of God such Vegetations as are most agreeable to the Constitutions of the People of that place Besides all forreign Fruits and Commodities are dear and for the most part serve only to squander away Estates advance Gluttony and procure Diseases and the frequent use of them does sow seeds of Oppression causing mankind to labour for that which in truth he had much better have been without Has not this particular evil Inclination unto hankering after strong Liquors and other the like Superstuities destroy'd the Healths and Estates of many Thousands in these Western Indies as they are called of our Country-men viz. in Iamaica Barbadoes and the Leward Islands where they have and do make it a common practice to sell their excellent Butter Eggs Fruits and fragrant Herbs their Hens Turkies Ducks c. to purchase Rum Brandy Wine and putrisied stinking salt Flesh and Fish which have destroy'd their Healths emptied their Purses and rendered them in every respect Unhappy Moreover the Disorders hence arising have put out the Eye of their Understanding and debauch'd the Natural Faculty of distinguishing between Good and Evil Wholesom and Harmful Pleasant and Nauscous and made them Bruitish Sottish and Ignorant even like Swine to take pleasure in that Mire wherein by Custom they have long wallowed themselves In particular there is a pernicions sort of Drink in great Reputation and Use amongst them call'd PUNCH which with your leave I shall give you some Account of as to both its Nature and Operation to the end we may expell and prevent even in the bud the growth of such evil Customs and Habits amongst us This sort of beloved Liquor is made of Brandy or Run Sugar Water Lime-Iuice and sometimes Ginger or Nutmegs Now here are four or five Ingredients all of as different Natures as Light is from Darkness and all great Extreams in their kind except only the Water Ist. Rum and Brandy are terrible hot fierce sulpherous Spirits void of all the good friendly Balsamick Vertues and middle Quality which is the Moderator and Qualifier in each Body whilst it remains unviolated or entire but whensoever it shall happen that this benigne Property is wounded or destroyed either by undue Preparations or other Accidents then that thing becomes either of a fierce raging domineering wrathful Operation or else of a stinking rank Nature according to the Nature Original in each thing as is plain in all Balsamick Liquors As Canary for Example when once this aimable Quality is destroy'd by the common way of Distillation then it becomes fierce raging and unnatural and when the same is perisht in Flesh Herbs or Fruits they become putrified rank and stinking therefore in all sorts of Foods and Drinks there ought to be great care and diligence used not to destroy this friendly Quality or middle Nature which is in every thing the Uniter and Preserver as it were of Soul and Body it being that which gives the most fragrant Smell and pleasant Taste to all Drinks and Foods and is the true Life Light and Splendor of every thing in the Annimal Vegetable and Mineral Kingdoms And in what thing soever be it Annimal or Vegetable this friendly Quality is either naturally impotent or impaired by pernicious Art or other Causalty thence forwards that thing is neither good for Food nor Drink except the Venoms of the Martial and Saturnine Properties which then are altogether predominant be first corrected for if it be in Animals then such Beasts are fierce cruel ravenous and unclean If in Minerals they are high Poysons if in Herbs or Fruits they are rank and fulsom and also in some degree Poysonous and all this by their natural Constitution and Quality And the very same is to be understood when the Essential Virtues of things in themselves most wholsome and pleasant come to be hurt or destroy'd which being done in the Preparation of Rum Brandy and all such sulpherous Spirits 't is evident how destructive the use thereof must be to Nature 2dly Limes are an immature Fruit wherein the Martial and Saturnine Poysons are so powerful that the Sun and Elements have not had power to awaken the Balsamick Vertues or bring the Properties
of that innocent Law God had placed him in and giving way first to the Insinuations and by degrees to the Tyranny of the fierce violent wrathful poysonons Spirit which has not only captivated his Soul to all Evil and exposed his Body to innumerable Diseases but also enslaved all the vast Multitudes of the 〈◊〉 Worlds for he being our Angel and Governour therefore we partake in the â—…ad Consequences of his Transgrssion 〈◊〉 Faâ—… but none so much as himself because none sinned nor broke God's pure Law but himself seâ—… not only those of our kind but all â—…thers except Men do still return 〈◊〉 truly Noble and universal Language which our Creator endued us with in the beginning and though carried or voluntarily flying into remote Climates many hundred Miles distant can as intelligibly understand those of our own kind as nearer home where we were bred but it is not so with our Prince Man for if he travels but four or five hundred Miles or shifts three or four Degrees of Latitude he must have an Interpreter or else he can no more comprehend the Language of those of his own Species than he can do ours And yet what a clutter does he make about Languages and Scholarship spending the prime part of his Life which ought to be entirely imployed in the Study of Nature and Wisdom in learning a few Caâ—…ting words of the Basis and true Root whereof he knows nothing whereas we need no tyrannical Schoolmaster to lash us into the knowledge of Grammer or teach us the use of Letters since we can by our Natural Tones communicate whatsoever is needful for the Relief or Preservation of each other still varying that Tone according to our Necessities Do not therefore boast O Man nor grow proud of thy great Knowledge and Parts nor usurp to thy self a License to oppress and domineer over both the weaker of thine own kind and all other innocent Inhabitants of Air Earth and Sea From whence didst thou derive thy Authority for killing thy Inferiors meerly because they are such or for destroying their Natural Rights and Priviledges Is it not from thy Fall Has not Transgression been the occasion thereof And is it not the Effects of the fierce Wrath where every form hath its motion and operation in Discord And hâ—…st not thou by adhearing thereunto and being govern'd by the Serpentine Nature attracted unto thy self a thousand Evils and Calamities For what inferior Creature in the World is afflicted with so many Diseases of Body and Perturbations of Mind as thou art Also art not thou the most helpless and forlorn Creature of the Universe and more subject than any of us to receive Impressions from the Injuries of the Elements For art not thou beholding to the in or Graduates for thy Cloathing and a great part of thy Food And art thou not continually assaulted with inward and outward Enemies with perpetual Plagues of Suspitions Fears Jealousies and unsatisfied Desires And dost not thou fear those of thy own kind more than all the fierce Savages of the Deserts What Authority dost thou retain over the Elements or what savour or kindness will they shew unto thee more than to us poor Inferiors When once they get the Mastery will not the Water drown thee the Fire burn thee and the Earth swallow thee up Nor hast thou any more command of the Air How hast thou lost those spacious Dominions the Creator invested thee with in the beginning Examine thy self O thou Two-Leg'd unfeather'd unthinking Thing What canst thou truly boast of now according to thy common way of Living more than we A Crane hath a longer swallow and therefore 't is like takes more delight in receiving its Food and Drink and yet many of you make the pleasure of your Throats your business I may almost say your godd The Eagle can vastly out-see you the Vultur out-smell you every one of us hear more nimbly for Chastity our Turtles vye with the very best of 〈◊〉 for Paternal Affections towards their â—…oung our Pelican exceeds you and for returning Love towards helpless Parents our Storks may shame you Dare any of your Songsters Musick-Masters Choristers or Organ-Players compare with the ravishing Notes of a Morning Lark or an Evening Nightingale What more certain Knowledge have you of the Times or the changing of Seasons or any the like secret Operations of Gods Power in the internal external Nature Are not thy Astrological Predictions generally false and thy Prognostications of the Weather scarce so significant or certain as the Chattering of our Magpies or the Screaking of a Peacock Are not all thy Methods of Physick as fallible And dost thou not venture blindfold at these things by Cuess and Chance Consider therefore O Man that thoâ—… art the unhappiest of all Gods Creatures and that thou dost excel all others in Cruelty for if thou hadst thy Will thou wouldst hardly leave one of our innocent kind alive to sing forth the Praises of our Creator and to wellcome in the great Eye of the World and the delightful Spring at whose Approach all things râ—…joyce and chaunt forth Hyms and Praise to the Creator every thing according to its kind and nature Man only excepted whose Teeth are imbrew'd in Blood which will not be for his good but hath thereby broken the holy Commandments of his Creator as the Scriptures of Truth do testifie I will saith the Lord cut off that Soul from the Laâ—…d of the Living that dâ—…fileth himself with Blood Consider also O Man how unpleasing dollerous and frightful would it be to thee in the pleasant Moneths of March April and May when thou walkest in the delightful Fields if thou shouldst not hear the pleasant and refreshing Charms of those of our kind would thou not fear say and think that the Creator was angry and that some Judgment was near at hand Why then dost thou thus endeavour to bring all our joyful Tones Notes Sounds and melodious Harmonies into Mourning and Silence and to root us from off the Earth and that we should have no Beeing or Habitation in the Elements which are as much our Right by Elohim's great Charter as they are thine Also how Monsterous Cruel yea and every way Ridiculous doth Man behave himself to all those of our kind for though many do not cannot delight themselves with the best Instrumental Harmony those of their own Species can make yet all men love and delight in our pleasant Tunes and Harmonies and yet neither our Innocency nor our Ravishing Notes will appease his Fury towards us but many of them in the hard and severe Winter will rise betimes and spare no pains to kill us and on the other side when Spring comes the very same men will rise as early to walk in the open Fields Groves and Meadows to hear our Melodious Songs and pleasant Harmonies Oh! manifest unparallel'd Contradiction and Cruelty Does this look like Man in his innocent estate who was made but