A TARGET FOR TILLAGE, BRIEFLY CONTAINING THE MOST NECESSARY, Precious, and profitable use thereof both for king and state. By JOHN MOOR Minister of God's word, and Parson of Knaptoft in Leicester shire. Anno 1611. PROV. 14. 4. Where no oxen are, there the crib is empty; but much increase cometh by the strength of the ox. RA. SPEI.. AN CHO LONDON, Imprinted for WILLIAM JONES. 1612. TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFUL, SIR WILLIAM TURPIN knight, etc. his approved good friend and Patron, the increase of all God's blessings and graces with the sound joy and peace of a good conscience be multiplied continually through jesus Christ. PErusing my paper notes, and finding some heads of doctrine touching this argument of tillage, delivered upon occasion of my calling to the public place: & withal considering, and unfeignedly bewailing the hard hap of the general expected hope, for the necessary redress of the dangerous decay thereof; as a well-willer of the common good of my country, I have added these my second thoughts to my former meditations, to be (if may be) as a further spur for the more speedy reforming of this gross abuse, or at least a Christian warning to prevent a further mischief. Which my best endeavour I present to you (right worshipful) not only as a pawn of greater duties purposed for your kind deserts, but for that I am persuaded of your innocency and harmlessness herein, as also of the honesty and uprightness of your heart for your country's good. For howsoever some in secret may uncharitably censure you, and put you in the catalogue of the justly accused: and so nibble at your credit, as one not altogether free from this great offence: Yet dare I be bold to engage my poor credit, that whatsoever action of yours hath but a show of any hindrance, you would be ready to redress, and most willing to redeem with any tolerable private loss for the public gain. And so beseeching the almighty to increase your love to our Church and commonwealth, that still you may procure the profit and welfare of them both, by all possible purpose and practise; I commend you to God's grace, with the good success of this needful business. From my poor study in Sheas by this of April. 1611. Your Worships thoroughly devoted in the Lord jesus, JOHN MOOR. TO THE CONscionable Reader. MY purpose is not (discreet Reader) here to plead with pen and paper for the belly and back of Libertines and Epicures, of Swilbolles and Swaggerers, or of any other idle drones, and wretched Atheists, neglecting all lawful callings and Christian means, to live orderly and honestly either in Church or commonwealth. All these I acknowledge to be the greatest wasters and spoilers of our country, worse by many degrees, than any depopulators, oppressors or decayers of tillage: (which yet I no further justify then did the Prophets Sodom and Gomorrah before jerusalem, Ezec. 16. 48. 56. Esa. 1. 10. for her rebellions against the Lord) for these I assure thee do good to none, no not to themselves, nothing at all regarding the private or public good: but making havoc of the creatures, do live of the labours of other men for the present time, and surfeiting upon God's blessings, do take a course to bring the whole world to confusion, and so with all expedition to have the earth for their intolerable looseness to spew them out. Leuit. 18. 25. & 20. 22. Our land swarmeth too full of such vermin, who like the grasshoppers of Egypt, Exod. 10. 14. 15. begin to cover the face of our country, eating up all the fruit they can come by, that no green thing shall grow by their wills, and so darken the land and obscure the glory thereof. So that look what left of the palmer worm (the oppressors jocl. 1. 4. 5. of the land) that have these malt-worms devoured, and the residue of those cankerworms and cormorants, have these caterpillars consumed. The truth is, this viperous brood and wicked generation have mutually conspired, if not the destruction, yet a mighty consumption of our dear commonwealth, the dam and nurse of us all. I abhor to speak of the damnable crew, and cursed company of drunkards and belly gods, whom the devil hath taught a new trade of eating and drinking by measure, and method. Their yards of cups, and order of carousing with such low courtesy, & salutations of their honest mates absent; after an idolatrous sort prostrating themselves to their Bacchus and bellie-god, I shame to dilate. Besides the trick of Tobacco to temper their westie brains, and to add both pleasure and thirst to Deut. 29. 19 their unmeasurable desire of drinking. I cannot reckon up the thousands of malt and good grain, wasted and hellishly spent by these Helluoes and Harpies. All these. (I know) abhor the plough, and are enemies to the state: who yet (I confess) in their high talk do justify tillage, and will be ready (no doubt) to reform the decay thereof, with spade and peckaxe. The humours of any such I detest to please, as being most horrible. Here only I solicit the pitiful case of painful plowmen, tradesmen, and poor labourers, not able by their pains, and gains, to furnish their families with sufficient food, who sometimes for want thereof, break out into fearful clamours against the tyrannous dealing of unjust enclosers and needless overthrowers of tillage, who are here only taxed. Neither am I so senseless, simply to condemn all kind of pastures and feedings, knowing that every creature in the kind have their proper place and portion of the earth allotted of the Lord: Besides the Christian liberty of men to use them for their best gain and good. Yet doth God allow such care of sheep and oxen, that Christian men shall be forgotten? and 1. Cor. 9 9 that so much provision shall be made for these, that the poor shall want their food? God forbid. I know there is a profitable use of hedging and ditching for the division of mownds, and property of men's right & inheritance; not to speak of the necessary provision of wood, maintenance of peace, and increase of many other profits amongst neighbours, who otherwise (perhaps) would prove contentious and injurious one towards another: yet quite to hedge out the poor, and by this means to overthrow the plough, is a hellish practice. And thus having unfolded my mind and true meaning, I commit thee to him that hath the hearts of all in his hand to make them pliable to his service and public good, both of Church and commonwealth. Thine in the Lord jesus, JOHN MOORF. THE PRINCIPAL points of the Treatise following. 1. The fruit and profit of honest labour and husbandry; it yieldeth plenty and abundance. 2. The earth used in her kind is very sufficient to relieve all the inhabitants thereof. 3. There is no worldly blessing comparable to the excellent fruits of the earth, by the means of tillage. 4. God's wonderful wisdom and providence for the preservation of the society and fellowship of mankind, that as the inferiors cannot be without the superiors, no more can these without the other. 5. The singular use and necessity of tillage; kings themselves cannot be without it. 6 There is no ground or field so necessary and fruitful as that which is in tillage. A TARGET FOR TILLAGE. And the abundance of the earth is over all: the king also consisteth by the field that is tilled. Ecclesiastes cap. 5. vers. 8. KIng Solomon after his Coherence. most fearful fall, recovering himself by true repentance (through God's grace and powerful working of his holy Spirit) doth testify by this book the undoubted marks thereof to God's Church, to which again in his old age he was reconciled and received. And purposing herein to set out the true happiness and felicity of God's children, and so to confute all contrary opinions of the conceited vanities of men concerning the same; which he had proved so to be by his own too dear experience: And having in the former chapters by an argument of induction, strongly concluded against many particular actions and things so highly esteemed and valued in the world, he cometh now in order to examine the trade of husbandry and tillage. As if one should have demanded of him: But what say you Solomon, to the great abundance and plentiful increase of the fruits of the earth by the means of good husbandry and tillage? Indeed (saith he) I must needs confess that the abundance of the earth is over all, that Sense. there is no worldly thing so necessary and profitable to the natural life and being of mankind; & that even kings themselves and the greatest potentates of the earth have need of the poor husbandman's travel and toil in tilling of the ground, for that the use of the fruits thereof are far to he preferred before gold, silver, and all other worldly pelf: yet with the rest they have their miseries and afflictions, and can in no wise make us truly blessed. So that these words contain a Division. commendation of the husbandman's life and calling, and that in three respects. First, in regard of the subject 1. of his labour, being the earth. Secondly, for the manner and kind of 2. his labour, which is tillage. Thirdly, 3. for the fruit that followeth his pains, which is here set out and amplified: first, by the quantity, yielding abundance. Secondly, for the quality, being over all; and that in two respects. First, for the excellency and preciousness thereof surmounting all. Secondly, in regard of the community and universal use thereof, fit and sufficient for all men, and those not the basest, but the highest kings themselves. The sum of all is this, That the Sum. abundant and plentiful fruits of the earth (by the means of tillage) are an incomparable earthly blessing, without the which, neither king nor state can be maintained. And the abundance of the earth, etc. The husbandman by his tillage and Doctrine 1. labour hath abundance: whence we learn the fruit and profit of honest labour and husbandry; it yieldeth plenty and abundance. He which tilleth the land shall be satisfied with Prou. 26. 19 bread, but he that followeth the idle shall be filled with poverty, viz. he that painfully traveleth in his lawful calling, to maintain and uphold the state wherewith God hath blessed him, shall have abundance of all necessary and good things: but such as are idle shall be poor and miserable, Prou 23. 21. for beggary is their end. The sour went out sow, and although his labour Math. 13. 23. and seed were the same, yet the soil was not alike, but the good ground made him amends, that his travel was not in vain, where some one corn yielded an hundred fold, some sixty, some thirty: for he that soweth 2. Cor. 9 6. liberally shall reap plentifully. And those that break up the fallow ground and sow in righteousness, shall surely reap after the measure of mercy: and God will rain down a blessing upon their pains, as the Prophet truly Hos. 10. 12. alludeth and applieth it to spiritual endeavours. One reason hereof is God's blessing Reason 1. upon his own ordinance, in prospering both the work & the workman. The blessing of the Lord (saith Prou. 10. 22. Solomon) maketh rich, not man's wit, and labour, nor any other means. And he only shall with joy eat the Psal. 128. 2. fruit of his hands that feareth God, and is blessed: for otherwise it is in vain to rise early, and to lie down Psal. 117. 2. late, and to eat the bread of sorrow: our pains are to no purpose, our cark and care to no end: though we eat and fret our hearts with worldly grief, for the bettering of our estate: all the means we can use shall be misspent & unprofitable, without God's special blessing be present with us. He that planteth and he that watereth 1. Cor. 3. 7. are nothing of themselves, but God alone, who by his gracious blessing giveth a most happy increase. For as the earth is the Lords, and the Psal. 24. 1. fullness thereof: so he maketh it barren and fruitful at his pleasure. Beware therefore (saith Moses to Israel) lest thou say in thine heart, My Deut. 8. 17. 18 power and the strength of my own hands hath prepared me this abundance, but remember that it is the Lord thy God that giveth thee power to get substance. Secondly, the state and condition of the earth is such, by the means of Reason. 2. God's curse upon the same, for man's sin, that now by nature it is so barren and fruitless, that except Adam and his brood get their bread with Gen 3. 17, 18 19 the sweat of their brows, the earth will yield them nothing but briars & brambles, thorns and thistles, etc. Force it they must by their great toil and travel, or else it will not be fruitful. So that now the hand of the diligent Prou. 10. 4. maketh rich, but a slothful hand maketh poor. Such only as with diligence and honest labour go about their business and affairs, God will bless: but such as are given to idleness and sloth (neglecting their duties, or trusting to unlawful and indirect courses) shall surely want and come to nought. I passed (saith Solomon) by the field of the slothful, and Prou. 24 30, 31. 32. lo it was grown with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof; I considered it well, I looked upon it, and received instruction. See the confusion that idleness worketh, and the bitter fruits thereof, barrenness to the ground, and beggary to the person, even to such as have the means and use them not. Therefore as the sight hereof was for Salomon's learning, so let it be for Use. 1. our instruction: that we use all diligence and industry in our places and callings, upon the poor means that God hath lent us to that end. Let us as God's stewards be painful & faithful in our places, use his gifts and graces 1. Cor. 4. 11. well, employ our talents to his gain and glory, and so to our own Mat. 24. 5. good. For to him that hath shall be given, and to him that is negligent & Math. 25. 29. careless, and so wanteth and hath not, shall in the end that little be taken away which he hath. And seeing that the hand of the diligent maketh rich, and that God promiseth a blessing to his own ordinance, and hath sanctified all lawful means for the removing of the curse, let us be careful thus to avoid it, and obtain a blessing: for God the good householder cannot abide to see any man stand idle Math. 20. 34. in the market place of this world, but thrusts them out, and sends them into his vineyard, so that they that 2. Thes. 3. 10. will not work must not eat. Secondly, it reproveth those that Use 2. think their own industry sufficient to make them rich, and procure them food: whereas all the means in the world is in vain without his blessing and care. And here let those of the Ministry Use 3. learn, that as their office and calling is a spiritual husbandry and a painful plough, so it must be thoroughly 1. Cor. 3. 9 followed: for who so slacketh his Luk. 9 62. hand from his plough, and looketh back in this business, shall quickly make balks, and so procure a barrenness of his soil. And as God's word Math. 13. is the only seed that they must sow: so let them be careful for the prospering and preservation of the same in the hearts of the people. And then let them not be discouraged, but comfort themselves (in this thankless calling to the world) by the example and experience of the poor husbandman, that if they do their duty they shall have abundance of fruit by God's blessing. And although the soil of men's souls by nature be both barren and fruitless of good: yet their labour shall not be in vain in the Lord. The husbandman must 1. Cor. 15. 58. 2. Tim. 2. 6. labour before he receive the fruits, he must plow and sow, etc. before he can look for his crop and happy harvest. He must wait for the precious jam. 5. 7. fruit of the earth: he goth forth weeping Psal. 126. 6. (as it were) to low his seed: but at the appointed time returneth with joy, and bringeth his sheaves; he may sow in tears, but he shall reap in joy. Secondly, abundance of fruit Doctrine 2. being attributed to the earth, it further teacheth us: that the earth used in the kind is very sufficient to relieve all the inhabitants thereof. God no sooner had made man, but he provided meat out of the earth for man; yea for men and beasts and all living creatures in their kind. First, God gave man life upon the Gen. 1. 30 31. earth, and then gave him living out of the same. So careful was God for man's sustenance, that the things which should maintain him were made before him, and produced out of the earth for his provision. See Gods wonderful and particular providence herein for all living creatures. God sendeth the springs into Psal. 104. 10. 11. the valleys, which run between the mountains, to give drink to all the beasts of the field, and to quench the wild Ass' thirst: where likewise the fowls of the heaven do dwell, and sing among the branches. He maketh also grass to grow for the cattle, and herbs for the use of man, that so he being strengthened by the virtue of those herbs and fruit of trees (his first appointed food) might bring Gen. 1. 20. forth by his labour and travel, bread and all manner of sustenance out of the earth (husbanded and tilled in the sweat of man's face) that so both man Gen. 3. 18. 19 and beast may have all manner of food ministered unto them out of the ground, for the maintenance of their life. Yea God provideth wine (saith See Tremel. David) to glad man's heart, and oil Psal. 104. 15. to make his face to shine, and bread to strengthen his heart. No provision is wanting, either for his necessity, pleasure, or profit: for all the earth is filled with the fruit of his works: So much as the birds have their nests and food in the high trees and Cedars of Libanon, and the Stork her Ver. 17. 18. dwelling in the Fir tree. The Goat's Roes, Does, and Coneys, are not forgotten: 23. 24. 27. 28. 31. for whom he hath made the mountains and rocks for their refuge & relief. Thus is the whole earth full of thy riches, o Lord, all creatures in their kind wait upon thee, thou givest them meat in due season, and they gather it: thou openest thy hand and they are filled with good things, Glory be to thee for ever. Now the reason why God hath Reason. made the earth so plentiful for all kind of provision, is, for that as he hath ordained it to be (as it were) the mother of all living creatures here below: so likewise hath he fitted and furnished it to be as an able and tender nurse to suckle them (as I may so speak) with her breasts, to bring them up and sustain them. And therefore when through drought and dearth it fails therein & deceiveth the inhabitants, Men (saith the Prophet) shall lament for the teats, even for the Esay. 32. 12. pleasant fields and the fruitful vine. Which doctrine serveth, first, to confute the muttering and murmuring Use 1. of wicked & unreasonable people, that blame the earth for her barrenness, and cry out of the unkindness of the times and seasons. But misery (saith Eliphaz to job) cometh job. 5. 6. not out of the dust, neither doth affliction spring out of the earth; but man is born to travel as the sparks fly upward. The cause then of all wants and defects in the earth, is not in it, but in us, who have angered the Lord by our sins: for as sparks come from the hot fire, so doth sin proceed from our corrupt nature, which procureth God's curse upon the whole earth and ourselves. So saith the Prophet: A fruitful land God maketh Psal. 107. 34. barren, for the sins of them that dwell therein. And he threateneth by Moses that for the sins of the people, the Deut. 28. 23. heavens that are over their head shall be brass, and the earth that is under Agge 1. 10. their feet, iron: that is, that the heavens shall give them no more moisture for increase, then if they were of brass; and that the earth for want of rain should be as iron, and so altogether unfit to yield them any fruit. Again, it is many time's man's idleness and slothfulness that causeth barrenness and want: and the cruelty of oppressors in decaying of needful tillage, that procureth penury. This point also serveth to condemn Use 2. all wretched Atheists, who so mightily cry out and complain of the increase of mankind, supposing the earth cannot suffice them; praying still for plagues, that so they might have plenty. And what is this else but to rail against heaven, and so hellishly to blaspheme the Lord God of hosts himself? and to make the earth (so kind and fruitful) as an unnatural mother and stepdame to the creatures? Is over all: That is, excelleth all other increase. Whence we learn in Doctrine 3. the third place, that there is no worldly blessing to the excellent fruit of the earth by means of tillage. Now to omit many thousand commodities which the ground bringeth forth, & to come to our bread which the earth procureth by corn and grain arising from husbandry and tillage: what is able to weigh with this blessing in the balance, which is so necessary for the life of man, that our Saviour teaches us to pray especially for it, not so Math. 6. 11. much as once mentioning any other thing? For what are gold and silver, pearls and precious stones to this our daily bread? And therefore it is rightly called the staff of bread, being the Leuit. 26. 26. stay of our life, as the staff to the impotent & aged; which God threateneth Esay 3. 1. to break when he will punish a wicked people, so that they shall eat their bread by weight with care: and on Ezeck. 4. 16. the contrary, that he will bless the bread and water of those that serve him: so that they shall eat their bread Exod. 23 26. Leuit. 26. 15. Psal. 65. 13. with plenteousness. Therefore saith the Prophet, when the valleys shall be covered with corn, men shall shout for joy and sing; yea and all the creatures shall clap their hands (as it were) in their kind, and rejoice with mirth, when our garners and corners Psal. 144. 13. of our houses are full with divers sorts of store (the want whereof causeth the husbandman to be ashamed:) joel 1. 11. this is a blessed thing even in the censure of God's Prophet. Now the reason why this plentiful Reasons. kind of increase is so incomparable, is, for that it is well-nigh the life & living of man and beast. And for this bread in particular, it is the strength of Psal. 104. 15. man's heart, & the stay of his life as we have heard; even Esau that wretched reprobate being almost famished for want of food, could say, Give me Gen. 25. 32. bread, and take my birthright: what is it to me being almost dead? And how pitiful is jeremy's complaint for his desolate people in the famine, for want of food? All the people sigh Lam. 1. 11. (saith he) and seek their bread, they have given their pleasant things for meat, to refresh their soul. The children and suckling's swoon in the streets, they have said to their mothers, where is bread and drink, when Cap. 2. 11. 12. they gave up the ghost in their mother's bosom? They that did feed delicately, perish in the streets: they Cap. 4. 5. that were brought up in scarlet, embrace the dung. The Nazarites that were purer than the snow, whiter Verse 7. than the milk; that were more ruddy in body then the red precious stones, and like the polished Saphir; their skin, now for want of food, Verse 8. cleaveth unto the bones, and withereth like a stock, their visar is now blacker than a coal; so that they that are slain with the sword, are better than they that are killed with hunger, Verse 9 for they fade away as they were stricken through for the fruits of the field. So sharp are these evil arrows of Ezeck. 5. 16. famine for want of food and fruits of the earth. Hunger pierceth the heart of man with as sensible a pain as doth the sharp point of a dagger or dart, because it directly fighteth against the life of man, and he dieth a most painful death (though not so violently) whose deadly wounds do longer prick him. A shorter punishment (though heavier) doth not kill the heart so much as that which is of longer continuance, though lighter. Therefore to avoid this extremity of famine, the poor people are constrained Nehem. 5. 3. to gauge their houses & their vineyards and their land, to take up corn for their family. And the Egyptians gave to joseph for corn and Gen. 47. 15. bread, not only all their money that they could make, but sold to him their Horses, Asses, Sheep, etc. yea themselves as servants and slaves to Pharaoh for want of bread. And Elies sons will bow for a morsel of 1. Sam. 2. 36. bread: and therefore Jacob's suit to God in his journey, was, that if God Gen. 28. 20. would but only give him bread to eat, and clothes to put on, that then he should be his Lord and God, etc. The use is, to teach us: first, that whensoever God pincheth us with Use 1. the want of this blessing of bread and store of the fruits of the earth, that then in anger he threateneth the taking away of our lives, shooting his evil arrows of famine to wound our very Ezeck. 5. 16. souls. Evil indeed in regard of the evil effects and consequents thereof. Secondly, we must learn to set a greater price, and far more highly 2. to esteem and value these outward blessings of increase, that whensoever the Lord doth load the earth with plentiful store of fruits, and maketh pleasant fields (as it were) to laugh upon us: when he bursteth the winepress, joel. 2. 24. and filleth our storehouses, that then (I say) we enlarge our hearts and have store of praises for him. And as these earthly blessings manifest his love and care to us: so let us express our kindness to him, by our publishing and proclaiming of our thankfulness, in remembrance of his mercies. Let us say with the Princely Prophet, What shall we render to the Psal. 116. 12. Lord for all his benefits towards us? etc. Lastly, it serveth to reprove all carnal 3. Epicures & unthankful Atheists, which when they are fed to the full, & swim in their delights & pleasures, make their belly their god, and their Phil. 3. 19 1. Cor. 15. 32. Esay 22. 13. flesh their shrine; that fling out their heels like wild colts and fat horses that are provender pricked, against their rider: that are more unkind than the Ox and the Ass that know their masters crib; yet these men that are Esay 1. 2. 3. fed so full, and fare so finely (being so kindly nourished of the Lord) will not know him, but rebel against him; & like to Boars in the frank, & swine at mast, wallowing and tumbling in their own dung of their uncleanness, never regard nor look up to the store house of heaven, from whence they have their food and fullness. Like filthy Sodomites, their fullness of bread leads them to fullness of idleness, Ezech. 16. 49. villainy, and all kind of uncleanness: not unlike the carnal Israelites whom God had fed with the fruit of the field, and caused to suck honey out Deut. 32. 13. 14 15, etc. of the stone, and oil out of the hard rock, butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with the fat of lambs and Rams fed in Bashan, and Goats; with the fat of the grains of wheat, and the red liquor of the grape had he filled them. But he that should have been upright, when he waxed fat spurned with his heel; thou art fat, thou art gross, thou art laden with fatness; therefore he forsook God that made him, and regarded not the strong God of his salvation. Neither let any man loath Gods good creatures, or despise any or the least, for the abundance thereof, nor yet abuse them to licentiousness (as the manner of many is) in drunkenness and gluttony, in chambering & wantonness, (adding drunkenness to thirst) or yet Deut. 29: 19 without due respect, in bestowing them upon their hounds, dogs, and horses, lest in the time of necessity they be not forced earnestly to desire but the superfluity of that, which heretofore they have given to their beasts. So was the prodigal person Luk 15. 24. 26. plagued, (not keeping himself at home) nor content with God's blessings in his father's house, but running riot, wandering, & wasting his wealth and honesty, was forced in the famine to scramble with the swine which he kept, for their food, which yet was glad of the husks, when they had eaten the kernel. The king consisteth by the field that is tilled. viz. Hath need of the husbandman's Text. labour to till the earth by the fruits whereof he and his subjects are maintained. Whence we may further observe Gods wonderful Doctrine 4. wisdom and providence for the preservation of the society and fellowship of mankind: that as the inferiors cannot be without the superiors, no more can these without the other; even the king himself hath need of the rustic carter and clown (as he is miscalled) to till the ground. As there must be such as rule, without confusion of all things: so there must be such as will obey. As there be masters, so there must be servants. The king cannot go to plow, yet if he will consist and be upholden with his subjects, the land must needs be husbanded. As God hath appointed to every one their place, so he hath fitted them with several qualities and gifts, and enjoined them special employments for the common good. There is the head and the body, and there be many members: yet every one hath his peculiar place, every one his office and order for the common good of the whole. The eye cannot 1. Cor. 12. 17. 21. say to the head, nor the head to the feet, I have no need of you. All is not an eye nor an ear, etc. Yea those Verses 2●. 23. members that are reputed the basest and vilest, nature hath most honoured and respected. As without all the members the body is unperfect: so without these necessary callings the body politic of the commonweath is lame. So is it also in the Church. Are all Apostles, are all Prophets, are all teachers? No, God hath ordained some Prophets, some Evangelists, some Pastors and Teachers, for the Eph 4. 12. 23. 14. work of the ministery, and edification of the body of Christ, that so we may grow up in him, which is the head, unto a perfect man, and unto the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ. The reason of which doctrine is for that it specially maketh for God's Reason 1. glory, whose wisdom and providence is seen in this goodly order of all his creatures, when as we see and behold how he hath made every one so profitable in their place, and nothing in vain, but for the mutual help and good each to other. Secondly, God will have it so to be, to link us all together in love and Reason 2. care one of another. This debt is always owing, and must still be paid Rom. 13. 8. amongsts Christians, not only for the community of nature, but for that our God hath made us so serviceable and profitable in our several places, and for one another's use. And to conclude, God hath so fitted Reason 3. us to serve one another's turn, to humble the highest, standing sometime in need of the meanest poor man. Even the king hath need of the very clown, & noble Naaman of his 2. King. 5. 3. 5 slavish handmaid; and that to beat down our pride and self-love, who otherwise would not be beholding to any, no not to God our maker, if we could shift for ourselves. The use is, first, for our instruction Use 1. to teach us to know that we are not borne for ourselves, but for the good of our brethren. Our graces and gifts are not our own, but given us of God to the edification of others; which therefore must make us to lean and look one towards another in the time of need, when just occasion serveth: The superior to respect the inferior, the rich the poor, the wise the ignorant; and so with holy job to be eyes to the blind, and feet to the job 29 15, 16. 17. lame, and a father to the poor. If (saith he) I did contemn the judgement of my servant, and of my maid, when they did contend with me: what shall I do when God standeth job. 31. 13. 14. 15. up against me? what shall I answer? He that hath made me, hath he not made him? hath not he alone fashioned us in the womb? So the Apostle Paul inferreth upon the former point, that we rejoice with them that rejoice, and weep with them that Rom. 12. 15. 16. weep, that we be of like affection one towards another, not high minded, nor wise in our own conceit. Again, it serveth to reprove all Use 2. such as abuse their headship and pre-eminence, and such as by this pretence go about to trample all their inferiors under foot, who urge the duty of others, & neglect their own. Am not I a king, a Lord, a master? Am I not a Magistrate, a Landlord, a father, etc. And dost thou know me? Yes, but dost thou know thyself and God; and why he hath preferred and promoted thee? Namely to do good and no harm, to help and not to hurt? Knowest thou not that there is a King of kings, & a Lord of lords? My brethren (saith james) be not many james 3. 1. masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. Speak & 5. 6. not evil one of another, grudge not one against another, lest ye be condemned: behold the judge standeth before the door. And therefore as the Apostle exhorteth the Hebrews, Heb, 13. 17. that they despise not their teachers; (for that they watch for their souls) so let not the highest Potentate, and greatest men in place, contemn the poor husbandman that laboureth for their bodies. God will have a mutual subjection amongst all, and a reciprocal respect, and reflection of the beams of love, and all holy duties, amongst Christian brethren. From which injunction, Christ jesus himself was not exempted, who washed his Disciples feet, to teach them humility, joh. 13. 5. 14. who became poor to make 2. Cor. 8. 9 Esay 53. 4. us rich, etc. Surely he hath borne our infirmities, and carried our sorrows, and so must we bear one another's Gal. 6. 2. burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. The king consisteth by the field that is tilled. viz. Neither he nor his subjects can live without tillage: whence observe the singular use and necessity Doctrine 5. of tillage. Kings themselves cannot be without it, neither in regard of their own estate, nor their subjects: for as all must have food and sustenance, so must the necessary means thereunto be used and embraced. The sweet fruits of the earth will not now be gotten without the sweat of man's face. Adam himself the hei●e of all Gen. 3. 2. 3. the world, must first till the ground, before he have his food, and not only he, but his heirs must go to plow, if they will have any profit. Neither was it infamous at the first, for the greatest men of renown, to be seen & very expert in this trade of tillage. It was Noah's calling, as before, so after Gen. 9 20. Gen. 26. 12. 1. King. 19 19 the flood. And to pass over the patriarchs and Prophets, as Isaac, Elisha, and many other: Christ himself is not ashamed to call his Father an john 15. 1. husbandman. And this is the title of God's Ministers, they are Gods husbandmen, his people their field and husbandry, and his word and the obedience thereof, the seed & fruit of their labours. Yea God himself is said to be the teacher of the trade, in the prophesy of Esay: Doth the ploughman Esay 28. 24. 25. 26. plow all the day to sow? doth he open & break the clods of his ground? When he hath made it plain, will he not then sow the Fitches, and cast in Wheat by measure, and the appointed Barley and Rye in their place? For his God doth instruct him, to have discretion, and doth teach him. Who then dare despise this necessary calling, whereof God is the Author, and the knowledge whereof he himself is the teacher? and not rather glorify God who giveth seed to the sour, 2. Cor. 9 10. skill to the plougher, and increase to his labour, to rid the earth from the curse of penury and barrenness, and so by this sanctified means to make it yield food for man's relief? But howsoever great men have undergone this calling (to omit the ancient and famous houses of the Romans recorded in histories, being called Cicerones, Fabiuses, Pisones, of the grain they sowed, and labour they delighted in,) this is most sure, that there were never any mighty Potentates, which maintained not the plough, whether Pagans or Professors. Pharaoh that Egyptian king how famous Gen. 47. was he for his treasury of corn, by that means, throughout all the world, becoming a nurse to all nations, and the keeper alive of the whole Church of God? And it is recorded of Nebuzaradan 2. King. 25. 12 the king of Babel's steward, after the sacking of jerusalem, that he left of the poorer sort (no doubt by the king's commandment) to dress the vineyards, and to till the land. So Vzziah 2. Chro. 26. 10 the king of juda, not only builded towers, but increased plowmen, and dressers of vines, without the which it had been in vain, to have meddled with the other; and the reason is added of this his endeavour and care, for that he loved husbandry. Moreover, how is it possible for Prince's guards and troops at home, besides their huge hosts and scattering armies abroad, to be maintained without the plough? For if in the multitude of the people the honour of the Prou. 14. 28. king consisteth, for the want whereof he cometh suddenly to destruction: and if many people cannot be maintained without much food: and if much provision of food cannot possibly be come by, but by much tillage (since the plough according to the proverb, bringeth enough;) then must this consequent be as necessary, that neither the king himself, nor his subjects and followers, can be upholden without much tillage: for what can the king do when he wanteth food for his people? As the king of Israel said to a woman in the siege of Samaria, crying out to him; saying, Help my Lord o king: Seeing the 2. King. 6. 27. Lord (saith he) doth not succour thee, how shall I help thee with the barn or with the winepress? And how fearful & lamentable was the estate of the honourable Lords and delicate Ladies in the siege of jerusalem, for Lam. 4 5. 7. want of food as before we observed? The reason is God's ordinance & injunction, that Adam & all his issue Reason 1. shall labour for their living, and so provide their bread with painfulness & sorrow, a just reward for sin. Man I confess, lives not by bread alone: yet as the end of God's providence is, that man should live, so the means of his providence is, that man should live by bread: which bread must needs be got by his travel and tillage. A corporal substance is to be maintained by corporal sustenance, & as man at the first was taken out of the earth, so will God have the fruits of the earth to be his food as the fruit of his travel: that so by the bread of the earth our bodies of earth may be nourished & relieved. Our mortal life is upholden by earthly means, and as meats are ordained 1. Cor. 6. 13. for the belly, and the belly for meats: so death shall dissolve both it and them to earth again. The consideration whereof must Use 1. cause us with all cheerfulness to honour God in the means, and so to use them to his glory, and our necessary good. He that will eat must labour in a lawful calling, and get his living by his Christian painfulness. The slothful man lusteth, and his Prou. 13. 4. soul hath nought: he will not plow because of winter, therefore he shall Prou. 20. 4. beg in summer, and have nothing. Therefore love not sleep, lest thou & 20. 13. come to poverty, but open thy eyes, & thou shalt be satisfied with bread. His meaning is, that the slothful person shall fall into extreme poverty: and though he beg to get his living, yet men shall have no remorse of his misery. And therefore such careless persons must take heed in time, and apply their businesses, if they will have plenty and abundance, against the time of need: for as much food is in the field of the poor; so is the field Prou. 13. 23. destroyed without discretion. Be the ground never so barren, yet by God's blessing it will yield the poor husbandman increase enough, by his diligent labour in tilling, and sowing the same in due season. And many a one (who hath a good stock & fruitful soil) by neglecting the means, and not ordering things aright, waste all that they have, and come greatly behind hand. For he that will not sow, shall not mow; and justice it is with God, and men, that he that will not work, shall not eat. Christian's 2. Thess 3. 10. must not now look for miracles, but use all lawful and ordinary means for meat: Christ would not turn stones into bread (as the devil would Math. 4. 4. have him) but reacheth us to be diligent in our callings (though without carking and distrustful care) and then Math 6. 34. sufficient for the day will be the travel thereof. Secondly, it reproveth and condemneth Use 2. all such as hinder this abundance of God's blessings, by intercepting, or utterly abolishing this mystery of tillage, to wit, all such persons as decay both houses and husbandries, that lay the land waste, and labour to make it a wilderness in regard of men, fit only for a few such monsters in men's shape, and all kind of their cattle which they desire to keep; having rooted out men (the image of the eternal God,) turned houses into bushes, and poor people into sheep, preferring the fellowship of beasts before the society of men, made like to God. Such kind of spoilers of their country may in stead of their neighbours (whom they have rooted out) salute their oxen, sheep and horses, which they have nourished & increased. A fearful woe is pronounced against all such as thus dwell alone with the destruction of their brethren: joining house to house, and field to field, till there be no place for the poor, that so they may be placed by themselves in the midst of the earth. This is in mine ears (saith Esa. 5. 8. 9 the Lord of hosts) and for this shall their own houses one day be desolate, and their great and stately palaces without inhabitant. These are wasters of their country, who delight rather in Abimelechs' plough, to judg. 9 45. sow the land with salt, (as he did the city) to make it barren and fruitless, then with good seed of corn and grain for the plentiful provision of food for God's people: and take greater pleasure to sow the soil with the innocent blood of their poor brethren, then in procuring the means of abundance of bread, by good husbandry and tillage; and so in God's account do make their possessions fields of blood, purchased in effect Math. 27. 8. Act. 1. 18. with the hazard of the lives of God's inheritance, for the want of food. And to speak the best of them, the seed which they sow in such waste & decayed places, is for the most part no better than sheep tritles and dung of their beasts, to make their pastures profitable only for themselves. If beasts (saith one) could speak, they Bernard. in Cant. would exclaim against such men, & call them beasts, or worse than beasts, who only raven when they are hungry, and being full do spare their prey. Aug. But these neither full, nor fasting, will abstain from devouring One forest is sufficient for many Elephants and beasts of divers kinds to live in, & to feed together. In the woods and wilderness are an unknown number of Bears, Wolves, & Tigers; of Lions, Leopards, and Panthers, to omit so many Ostriches, Dragons, satires, & serpents. All these (after a sort) endure one another, & live together in their several continent: yet these most cruel and unreasonable oppressors, as wild Boar's root up the forest of their country and commonwealth, and like Wolves, delight in the devouring o● men, who are their own flesh and proper nation. Their woods and parks, and pastures, will not suffice them, but still they pale in, and put out. One Lordship, one country, nay a whole world (I warrant you) will not staunch and quench the hellish thirst of these insatiable cormorants. They lick up the poor and Num. 22. 4. their possessions, as the Ox doth the grass; they eat them up, as it were Psal. 14. 4. bread, and yet like greedy dogs can never be satisfied. This is the generation Psal. 59 14. 15 that the wise man speaketh of, whose teeth are as swords, and their chaws as knives, to eat up the afflicted Prou. 30. 14. out of the earth, and the poor from amongst men, that tread upon the poor, and take from them burdens Amos. 5. 11. & 8. 6. of wheat; such as buy the poor for silver, and the needy for shoes: such as pluck off their skin from them, and the flesh from their bones, and Mich. 3. 2. 3. chop them in pieces as for the pot, and as the flesh within the cauldron. The Lord hath sworn by the excellency of jacob: surely I will never forget any of their works. Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one that dwelleth therein mourn? Thou Amos 8. 7. 8. hast consulted shame to thine own house, by destroying many people, & hast sinned against thine own soul: for the stone shall cry out of the dust, Hab. 2. 10. 11. and the beam out of the timber shall answer it: Woe be to him that buildeth a town with blood, and erecteth a city by iniquity. The jaws of these Lions would be broken by godly job. 29. 17. Magistrates, and the poor oppressed people (that are as their prey) would be plucked out of their teeth. But they are great ones, and fear not the Prince's sword; yet let them know, that there is a great God, who is a righteous judge, and a revenger of these wrongs: who one day will proceed against them; whose word hath passed sentence already, neither will it be long before the execution come. They covet fields, and take them by Micha. 2. 2. 3. violence, and houses, and take them away; so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage. Therefore thus saith the Lord against this family, I have devised a plague whereout ye shall not pluck your necks. Though such men dwell in desolate cities where none inhabit but themselves, and where houses job. 15. 28. 29 30. are brought to ruinous heaps, which they caused by depopulation and oppression of the poor; yet shall they not be rich●, nor their substance continue, neither shall they bring their sumptuous houses to perfection: the flame shall dry up his branches, & he shall go away with the breath of his mouth: fear shall dwell in his house, because it is none of his, and brimstone shall be scattered upon his job. 18. 15. 16 17. 19 21. habitation; his roots shall be dried up beneath, and above shall his branches be cut down, his remembrance shall perish from the earth, & he shall have neither son, nor nephew, amongst his people, nor any posterity in his dwellings. Surely such are the habitations of the wicked, and this is the place of him that knows not God. Yet these men will not be reclaimed, still they build with one consent the towers of confusion; they will not be hindered and stayed, but Giantlike make war against God Gen. 11. 6. and the good of their country, to bring it to confusion upon the face of the earth, & so openly in effect publish to all, that they neither fear God in heaven, king on earth, nor devil in hell: and proclaim to all the world, that there is no fear of God before Rom. 3. 18. their eyes. But a fire shall consume them, and as they have devoured substance, job. 20. 15. 19 20. 27. 29. so they shall vomit up their sweet morsels, for God shall draw it out of their bellies; and as they have undone many, & forsaken the poor, and spoiled houses which they built not: so surely shall they feel no quietness in their body, neither shall they reserve of that which they desired: the heavens shall declare their wickedness, and the earth shall rise up against them. This is the portion of wicked men from God, and the heritage that they shall have of him: for desolation and destruction are in Esay. 59 7. 8. 9 their paths, and the footsteps whereby you might trace them, are wasting, spoiling, and ruinating whole houses and families. Like Ravens they build their houses high, and love to live alone; and like devouring Kites, that prey upon the carcases of the poor. No seed can grow, for these Crows, in the furrows of the field, nor scant in the church, if they might have their wills. For having destroyed the commonwealth, they seize upon the Church, and having wasted and taken away the bread of men, they challenge the bread of God, yea the showbread and consecrate things, Leuit. 21. 6. 8. 17. 21. most unlawful for them to have. They seek to live of the altar though 1. Cor. 3. 13. they belong not to the altar, but rather take a couse to overthrow the whole service and sacrifice, and the servants of God, that otherwise would more cheerfully and painfully attend upon it. David would not drink 2. Sam. 23. 15. 16. 17. that water which was drawn with such danger out of the well of Bethlehem by his Worthies, though he longed and thirsted after it; yet he powered it out, for an offering unto the Lord: but these men (though they have no need) will drink and carouse (in the consecrate vessels) not water, but wine, (adding drunkenness Dan. 5. 23. to thirst) though it be to the Deut. 29. 19 destruction and hazard of themselves & Gods servants. Oh how much better had it been for such, rather to have spilled it on the ground with remorse (as a note of repentance) then in the end to be sure to drink the dregs of Psal. 75. 8. Gods fearful cup of vengeance, as a just reward of this sin? Yet see a little further the dropsy of these men's minds, and their horseleech humour, Pro. 30. 15. that makes their hearts as a grave after all unlawful gain, and a very devouring hell that will never be cloyed: Esai. 5. 15. they claim all for their common, the whole world is not spacious & wide enough for their walk. These Moles (to speak the truth) undermine the foundation both of Church & common wealth, Prince & people: for though the king and subjects consist by the field that is tilled, yet still they decay it, & lay the earth waste, overthrowing poor men's blows in every place, not letting so much as a poor Mill to wag for all this, but are ready to take their toll (most basely and busily) of every poor man's bag; taking both toll and tithes: all is fish that cometh to their net, and a prey for their teeth, if they can once fasten their talons, & tentors on the same. Is there no balm in Gilead? is there jer. 8. 22. no Physician there? Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered? But why speak I so loud and earnestly to the back and belly, that have no ears? Alas I see no salve sufficient to heal this sore, no medicine available to cure this malady. Let us therefore look unto our God who is the alone Physician sufficient, and most excellent at such a desperate disease. In that he seemeth to distinguish between field and field, as expressing Text. his mind, what field he meaneth that bringeth forth such abundance, so necessary, & sufficient for the king & his subjects: we learn in the last place, Doctrine 6. that there is no ground or field so necessary and fruitful as that which is in tillage. The seed which the sour Math. 13. 18. went out to sow in good ground (by his good husbandry, labour, and God's blessing upon the same) for one corn yielded an hundred fold, for some other, sixty fold, and for another thirty. And it is reported of Gen. 26. 12. isaack's crop of sowing seed, in the land of Abimelech king of the Philistians, that he reaped the same year an hundredth sold by estimation: so the Lord blessed him, saith the text. And indeed, who is able to reckon up the great increase of corn and grain that God doth raise out of the earth, by this his blessed ordinance of tillage and good husbandry, filling our houses, barns, and garners, besides our ricks, hovels, stacks, & heaps of grain without number and measure, sometimes gathered and got together in one land, (as in Egypt) and sufficient to serve and provide for not only one country but many nations, as in the days of joseph: who gathered wheat like to the sand of the sea, in multitude out of measure, until he Gen. 41. 49. left numbering, for it was without number. The reason why such abundance Reason 1. of fruit proceedeth of tillage, is first, the natural barrenness of the earth, in regard of God's curse upon the same, by the means of manssinne, which now without painful ploughing will not be profitable and plentiful. Secondly, the blessing of God upon his own ordinance, when man 2. doth diligently and cheerfully submit himself unto the same, in the Christian use thereof, as more largely was showed before in the reasons of the second doctrine. Which serveth to confute the proud conceit of many graceless Graziers, and the presumptuous resolution of many greedy decayers of tillage, which set their acres decayed at such an incomparable valuation, so exceedingly multiplying their rents and revenues. Their great stocks and store of all kind of cattle, so easily heeded, and maintained, without great charge or toil, makes now their present state (as they suppose) unmatchable: so that now they scorn at jobs wealth (like Atheists) being far beyond him, in oxen, sheep, & all kind of cattle. Yet here (I assure them) is some difference, that his land cried not out against him, nor job. 31. 38. 39 the furrows thereof made any complaint in his conscience: and that he never eat the fruits thereof without silver, nor grieved the souls of the masters thereof, as these men do in every place. Their innumerable tods of wool, their herds and droves of fall sufficient for the service of Court and country, they esteem to be an incomparable credit, and gain. Nay some of them are not ashamed to say, that by this short course, they avoid the curse of digging & delving in the Gen. 3. 17. 18. 19 earth, of ploughing and sweeting for their living, so justly enjoined them of God to sinful man. Thus they dare open their mouth not only against Psal. 7●9. men, but even against their Maker, and heaven itself. These men will live by their own wits and ways, despising Gods will and word, which they cast behind them. Yet here let me reason a little with this greedy Psal. 50. 17. gripe, and decayer of tillage for his own private gain. What field is so fruitful as that which is tilled? the abundance of this earth is over all (saith he that is wiser than the wisest of them all) whose experience so dearly bought, far surpasseth their conceits; who tried all their vanities, and many more, and therefore we may trust his resolution, and assuredly prefer it before all others. These kind of men (perhaps) reason well for their own persons and places: but where is their care for the Prince, and God's people; for the Church and commonwealth? Their fields (I confess) find many beasts, but the field that is sown, feedeth both men and beasts. And here note thy charity toward thine own flesh: Thou carest for cattle, and art careless 1. Cor. 9 9 of Christians. Thou art kind to thyself, and regardest not the state of the king and his subjects, that consist by the field that is tilled. But let the very beasts convince thee, the Bees, and all creatures in their kind who are not made for themselves, but for the common good. The sheep yield both fell and flesh, the birds and beasts, their young ones and themselves; the Bees their honey, the Ox treadeth out the corn, and the horse 1. Cor. 9 9 beareth many heavy burdens, and all the creatures help for the common service, and relief of mankind: yet thou alone amongst the rest (& worse in this respect then all the rest) seekest only thine own gains, and livest to thyself, with the hurt of all others. But admit thou hadst thine own will, in turning commons into pastures, and tilled fields into closing for thy cattle; where in the end would be thy bread, without ploughing and seeds time? Therefore when God would take away the curse of the world, he bringeth in this blessing, that seeds time and harvest, cold and Gen. 8. 22. heat, summer and winter, day and night should not cease, whilst the earth remained. But these men by their cruelty would bring all to confusion, that the world cannot stand, if they be not stayed. And so justly incur the curse of God, and his people: for as a blessing shall be upon the Pro. 11. 26. head of him that selleth corn: so he that withdraweth it, the people will curse him: for as the one provideth for their necessity, so the other merciless men (by decaying of tillage, and keeping in of corn) do procure poor men's misery. Now if it be such a cursed sin, to withdraw the corn in the days of dearth, to make it dearer, that so men may utter the very refuse of their grain at any Amos. 8. 5. 6. rate: as those tyrannous oppressors did in the days of Nehemia, who caused their brethren to gauge their Neh. 5. 3. 5. 8. 9 lands, vineyards, and houses, yea to sell their sons, and themselves as slaves, for corn: how much more intolerable an oppression is it, to take away all necessary means of provision, by tillage and husbandry? For if these men might prevail, no corn would be come by for any coin, for any suit or service, for any prick or prize. For where no oxen are, there the crib is empty, but much increase Prou. 14. 4. cometh by the strength of the ox. Where the means of good husbandry is neglected, there is want of necessaries, but by the diligent tilling of the land by teams and strong cattle fit for ploughing, there is plenty and abundance both for man & beast. How can such men pray, Give us this day our daily bread, that daily take away Math. 6. 11. the means of bread? Will they have their bread, and not use the means for bread, which is tillage? Is not this in plain dealing to tempt the Lord? Math. 4. 7. Will they have God to feed them miraculously, with Manna, as he did Israel in the wilderness, to manifest Exod. 16. 15. his power? No, no; in Canaan God will have ploughing and sowing used, & therefore when Israel came thither Manna ceased. I spare here to speak Josh. 5. 12. how these unnatural oppressors of their brethren, cause the people (many times) to murmur against their God, and to blaspheme his name. Besides the strange rebellions, and outrageous uproars and uprisings against their Prince and country. But is it not a wonder (to use the words Lib 1. utop. Tho. Moor. of no mean man in his time) that sheep that were wont to be so mild and gentle, and fed with small cost, should now become so wild and ravenous, to eat up men, and lay waste whole countries? For these men (that enclose all the commons) they pull down houses, they overthrow towns leaving Churches to stand alone in some places, serving only as a pen for their sheep. And so causing poor men of all sorts to flit from their dwellings, & many of them, finding no houses to hide their heads in, do fall to sell their goods & household stuff; and at last (having nothing left) are forced to steal, & so justly be hanged for their labour, or at least go wandering abroad, as vagrant persons, never set on work: there being now small business, so many good husbandries and tillages being mightily decayed. And is it not unnatural (saith another) to turn men out to bring in sheep? Yet if they will needs maintain large pastures, and stock them with sheep, remember what God saith by Ezechiel: The sheep of my pasture are men, & we Ezech. 34. 31. are his people and the sheep of his pasture; and the image of God in one Psal. 95. 7. & 100 3. man is more worth than all the sheep in the world. Therefore to conclude with exhortation, Conclusion. let such as bear the face and have the feature of men, cease now to be such monsters any more: let not those that are called, and would needs be accounted Christians, be worse than Cannibals. Let them learn of savage beasts, to spare their own sex. Yea let them know and acknowledge, that all creatures here below, are a thousand fold far inferior to him that is fashioned so like to the very Creator himself, and for whose sake all other things were made to serve. And since that God and nature enjoin them this duty, let them be serviceable for the best good of their poorest brethren, and still remember that the earth is no stepdame if it be not abused, nor our God any niggard (in providing for many millions of men and beasts) if his own sanctified means be not despised. Let them not therefore now labour any longer to reduce the world to a confused Chaos, by inverting, deforming, and quite defacing the most sweet and amiable order that God hath instituted. Let not the Courtier (I say) contemn the Carter, by whose toil and tillage of the earth, both king and state consisteth. And as they love the life and honour of their Prince, so let them labour to uphold the plough, the abundant profit whereof surpasseth all. Let them tender the state of the country, Church, and commonwealth, wherein they live and breath, the life of God and nature. So shall they be free from great offences, most justly ministered by their former wicked ways, to all sorts of men that hither to have sustained the smart thereof. So shall God be better served, Christian Magistrates & Ministers more worthily and honourably maintained and respected: and (which is a joy surmounting all) they shall have profit sufficient, with sound peace of conscience, besides the praise and prayers of all that fear the Lord; in steed of many bitter curses, most justly caused by their former wicked courses, etc. FINIS.