The First Week: The Seventh Day

THE ARGUMENT.

In sacred Rest, vpon This sacred Day
Th' Eternall doth his glorious Works suruay:
His only Powr and Prouidence perseuer
T' vphold, maintain, and rule the World for euer:
Maugre Mens malice and Hells raging mood,
God turneth all things to his Childrens good:
Sabbaoths right vse; From all Worlds-Works to cease;
To pray (not play) and hear the Word of Peace:
Instructions drawn from dead and liuing things,
And from our selues; for all Estates; for Kings.

THe cunning Painter, that with curious care,
Limning a Land-scape, various, rich, and rare,
Hath set a-work, in all and euery part,
Inuention, Iudgement, Nature, Vse and Art;
And hath at length (t'immortalize his name)
With weary Pencill perfected the same;
Forgets his pains; and, inly fill'd with glee,
Still on his Picture gazeth greedily.

First in a Mead he marks a frisking Lamb,
Which seems (though dumb) to bleat vnto the Dam:
Then hee obserues a Wood, seeming to waue:
Then th' hollow bosom of som hideous Caue:
Heere a High-way, and there a narrow Path:
Heer Pines, there Oaks torn by tempestuous wrath:
Heer from a craggy Rocks steep-hanging boss
(Thrumm'd half with Iuy, half with crisped Moss)
A siluer Brook in broken streams doth gush,
And head-long down the horned Cliff doth rush;
Then winding thence aboue and vnder ground,
A goodly Garden it be-moateth round:
There, on his knee (behinde a Box-Tree shrinking)
A skilfull Gunner with his left ey winking,
Leuels directly at an Oak hard by,
Whereon a hundred groaning Culuers cry;
Down falls the Cock, vp from the Touch-pan flies
A ruddy flash that in a moment dies,
Off goes the Gun, and through the Forrest rings
The thundering bullet, born on fiery wings.
Heer, on a Green, two Striplings, stripped light,
Run for a prize with labour som delight;
A dusty Cloud about their feet doth flowe
(Their feet, and head, and hands, and all doo goe)
They swelt in sweat; and yet the following Rout
Hastens their haste with many a cheerfull shout.
Heer, six pyed Oxen, vnder painfull yoak,
Rip vp the folds of Ceres Winter Cloak.
Heer, in the shade, a pretty Shepheardess
Driues softly home her bleating happiness:
Still as she goes, she spins; and as she spins,
A man would think som Sonnet she begins.
Heer runs a Riuer, there springs forth a Fountain,
Heer vails a Valley, there ascends a Mountain,
Heere smoks a Castle, there a City fumes,
And heer a Ship vpon th' Ocean looms.
In brief, so liuely, Art hath Nature shap't,
That in his Work the Work-mans self is rapt,
Vnable to look off; for, looking still.
The more he looks, the more he findes his skill:

So th' Architect (whose glorious Workmanships
My cloudy Muse doth but too-much eclipse)
Hauing with pain-less pain, and care-less care,
In These Six Days, finisht the Table fair
And infinite of th' Vniuersall Ball,
Resteth This Day, t' admire himself in All:
And for a season eying nothing els,
Ioyes in his Work, sith all his Work excels
(If my dull, stutting frozen eloquence
May dare coniecture of his high Intents).

One while, hee sees how th' ample Sea doth take
The Liquid homage of each other Lake;
And how again the Heav'n sexhale, from it,
Aboundant vapours (for our benefit):
And yet it swels not for those tribute streams,
Nor yet it shrinks not for those boyling beams.
There see's he th' Ocean-peoples plentious broods;
And shifting Courses of the Ebbs and Floods;
Which with inconstant glaunces night and day
The lower Planets forked front doth sway.
Anon, vpon the flowry Plains he looks,
Laced about with snaking siluer brooks.
Now, he delights to see foure Brethrens strife
Cause the Worlds peace, and keep the World in life:
Anon, to see the whirling Sphears to roule
In rest-less Danses about either Pole;
Whereby, their Cressets (caried diuers waies)
Now visit vs, anon th' Antipodés.
It glads him now to note how th' Orb of Flame,
Which girts this Globe, doth not enfire the Frame:
How th' Airs glib-gliding firmless body bears
Such store of Fowls, Hail-storms, and Floods of tears:
How th' heauy Water, pronest to descond,
'Twixt Air and Earth is able to depend:
And how the dull Earth's prop-less massie Ball
Stands steddy still, iust in the midst of All.
Anon his nose is pleas'd with fragrant sents
Of Balm, and Basill, Myrrh, and Frankincense,
Thyme, Spiknard, Hysop, Sauory, Cinamon,
Pink, Violet, Rose, and Cloue-Carnation.
Anon, his ear 's charm'd with the melody
Of winged Consorts curious Harmony:
For, though each bird, guided with Art-less Art,
After his kinde, obserue a song a-part,
Yet the sole burden of their seuerall Layes
Is nothing but the Heav'n-Kings glorious praise.
In brief, th' Almightie's ey, and nose, and ear,
In all his works, doth nought see, sent, or hear,
But showes his greatnes, sauours of his grace,
And sounds his glory ouer euery place.
But aboue all, Mans many beautious features
Detain the Lord more then all other Creatures:
Man's his owne Minion; Man's his sacred Type,
And for Man's sake, he loues his Workmanship.

Not, that I mean to fain an idle God,
That lusks in Heav'n and neuer looks abroad,
That Crowns not Vertue, and corrects not Vice,
Blinde to our seruice, deaf vnto our sighs;
A Pagan Idol, void of powr and piety,
A sleeping Dormouse (rather) a dead Deïtie.
For though (alas!) somtimes I cannot shun,
But som profane thoughts in my minde will run,
I neuer think on God, but I conceiue
(Whence cordiall comforts Christians soules receiue)
In God, Care, Counsail, Iustice, Mercy, Might,
To punish wrongs, and patronize the right:
Sith Man (but Image of th' Almightiest)
Without these gifts is not a Man, but Beast.

Fond Epicure, thou rather slept'st, thy self,
When thou didst forge thee such a sleep-sick Elf
For life's pure Fount: or vainly fraudulent
(Not shunning th' Atheïsts sin, but punishment)
Imaginedst a God so perfect-less,
In Works defying, whom thy words profess.

God is not sitting (like som Earthly State)
In proud Theátre, him to recreate
With curious Obiects. of his ears and eys,
(Without disposing of the Comoedies)
Content t'haue made (by his great Word) to moue
So many radiant Starrs as shine aboue;
And on each thing with his owne hand to draw
The sacred Text of an eternall Law:
Then, bosoming his hand, to let them slide,
With reans at will, whether that Law shall guide:
Like one that hauing lately forç't som Lake,
Through som new Channell a new Course to take,
Takes no more care thence-forth to those effects,
But lets the Stream run where his Ditch directs.

The Lord our God wants neither Diligence,
Nor Loue, nor Care, nor Powr, nor Prouidence.
He prov'd his Power, by Making All of nought:
His Diligence, by Ruling All he wrought:
His Care, by Ending it in six Daies space:
His Loue, in Building it for Adams Race:
His Prouidence (maugrè Times wastefull rages)
Preseruing it so many Yeers and Ages.

For, O! how often had this goodly Ball
By his own Greatnes caus'd his proper Fall?
How often had this World deceast, except
Gods mighty arms had it vpheld and kept?

God is the soule, the life, the strength, and sinnew,
That quickens, moues, and makes this Frame continue.
God's the main spring, that maketh euery way
All the small wheels of this great Engin play.
God's the strong Atlas, whose vnshrinking shoulders
Haue been and are Heav'ns heauie Globes vpholders.

God makes the Fountains run continually,
The daies and Nights succede incessantly:
The Seasons in their season he doth bring,
Summer and Autumn, Winter, and the Spring:
God makes th' Earth fruitfull, and he makes the Earth's
Large loignes not yet faint for so many births.
God makes the Sun and Stars, though wondrous hot,
That yet their Heat themselues inflameth not;
And that their sparkling beams preuent not so,
With wofull flames, the Last great Day of wo:
And that (as mov'd with a contrary wrest)
They turn at-once both North, and East, and West:
Heavn's constant course, his heast doth neuer break:
The floating Water waiteth at his beck:
Th' Air's at his Call, the Fire at his Command,
The Earth is His: and there is nothing fand
In all these Kingdoms, but is mov'd each howr
With secret touch of his eternall Powr.

God is the Iudge, who keeps continuall Sessions,
In every place to punish all Transgressions;
Who, void of Ignorance and Avarice,
Not won with Bribes, nor wrested with Deuice,
Sins Fear, or Fauour; hate, or partiall zeal;
Pronounceth Iudgements that are past appeal.
Himself is Iudge, Iury, and Witnes too,
Well knowing what we all think, speak, or doo:
He sounds the deepest of the doublest hart,
Searcheth the Reins, and fifteth euery part:
Hee sees all secrets, and his Lynx-like ey
(Yet it be thought) doth euery thought descry:
His Sentence giuen, neuer returns in vain;
For, all that Heavn, Earth, Aire, and Sea contain,
Serue him as Sergeants: and the winged Legions,
That soar aboue the bright Star-spangled Regions,
Are euer prest, his powrfull Ministers;
And (lastly) for his Executioners,
Sathan, assisted with the infernall band,
Stands ready still to finish his Command.

God (to be brief) is a good Artizan
That to his purpose aptly mannage can
Good or bad Tools; for, for iust punishment,
He arms our sins vs sinners to torment;
And to preuent th' vngodly's plot, somtime
He makes his foes (will-nill-they) fight for him.

Yet true it is, that human things (seem) slide
Vnbridledly with so vncertain tide,
That in the Ocean of Euents so many,
Somtimes Gods Iudgements are scarce seen of any:
Rather, it seems that giddy Fortune guideth
All that beneath the siluer Moon be•ideth.
Yet, art thou euer iust (O God) though I
Cannot (alas!) thy Iudgements depth descry:
My wit's too shallow for the least Designe
Of thy drad Counsails, sacred, and diuine:
And thy least-secret Secrets, I confess
To deep for vs, without thy Spirit's address.
Yet oftentimes, what seemeth (at first sight)
Vniust to vs, and past our reason quite,
Thou mak'st vs (Lord) acknowledge (in due season)
To haue been don with equity and reason.

So, suffering th' Hebrew Tribes to sell their brother,
Thy eternall Iustice thou didst seem to smother.
But Ioseph (when, through such rare hap, it chanced
Him of a slaue to be so high aduanced,
To rule the Land where Nilus fertill flood
Dry Heav'ns defects endeuours to make good)
Learn'd, that his enuious brethrens treacherous drift,
Him to the Stern of Memphian State had lift,
That he might there prouide Relief and Room
For Abraham's Seed, against (then) time to com.

When thy strong arm, which plagues the Reprobate,
The World and Sodom did exterminate,
With flood and flame: because there liued then
Som small remains of good and righteous men,
Thou seem'dst vniust: but when thou sauedst L•t
From Fire, from Water Noah and his Boat,
'Twas plainly seen, thy Iustice stands propstious
To th' Innocent and smiteth but the vicious.

He wilfull winks against the shining Sun,
That see's not Pharao, as a mean begun
Forth' Hebrews good; and that his hardned hart,
Smoothed the passage for their soon-depart:
To th' end the Lord, when Tyrants will not yeeld,
Might for his Glory finde the larger field.

Who sees not also, that th' vniust Decree
Of a proud Iudge, and Iudas treachery,
The Peoples fury, and the Prelats gall,
Serv'd all as organs to repair the Fall
Of Edens old Prince, whose luxurious pride
Made on his seed his sin for euer slide?

Th' Almighties Care doth diuersly disperse
Ore all the parts of all this Vniuerse:
But more precisely, his wide wings protect
The race of Adam, chiefly his Elect.
For ay he watcheth for his Children choice
That lift to him their hearts, their hands, and voice:
For them, he built th' ay-turning Heav'ns Theater;
For them, he made the Fire, Aire, Earth, and Water:
He counts their hairs, their steps he measureth,
Handles their hands, and speaketh with their breath;
Dwels in their hearts and plants his Regiments
Of watchfull Angels round about their Tents.

But heer, what hear I? Faith-less, God-less men,
I meruail not, that you impugn my pen:
But (O!) it grieues me, and I am amaz'd,
That those, whose faith, like glistering Stars, hath blaz'd
Even in our darkest nights, should so obiect
Against a doctrin of so sweet effect;
Because (alas!) with weeping eyes they see
Th' vngodly-most in most Prosperity,
Clothed in Purple, crown'd with Diadems,
Handling bright Scepters hoording Gold and Gems,
Croucht-to, and courted with all kinde affection,
As priuiledged by the Heav'ns protection;
So that, their goods, their honours their delights
Excell their hopes, exceed their appetites:
And (opposite) the godly (in the storms
Of this Worlds Sea) tost in continuall harms:
In Earth, less rest then Euripus they finde,
Gods heauy Rods still hanging them behinde:
Them, shame, and blame, trouble and loss pursues;
As shadows bodies, and as night the deawes.

Peace, peace, deer friends: I hope to cancel quite
This profane thought from your vnsettled Sp'rit.
Know then, that God (to th' end he be not thought
A powr-less Iudge) heer plagueth many a fault;
And many a fault leaues heer vnpunished,
That men may also his last iudgement dread.

On th' other side, note that the Crosse becoms
A Ladder leading to Heav'ns glorious rooms:
A Royall Path, the Heav'nly Milken way,
Which doth the Saints to Ioues high Court convay.

O! see you not, how that a Father graue,
Curbing his Son much shorter then his Slaue,
Doth th' one but rare, the other rife reproue,
Th' one but for lucre, th' other all for loue?
As skilfull Quirry, that commands the Stable
Of som great Prince, or Person honourable,
Giues oftest to that Horse the teaching spur,
Which he findes fittest for the vse of War.
A painfull School-master, that hath in hand
To institute the flowr of all a Land,
Giues longest Lessons vnto those, where Heav'n
The ablest wits and aptest wills hath giv'n.
And a wise Chieftain, neuer trusts the waight
Of th' execution of a braue Exploit,
But vnto those whom most he honoureth,
For often proof of their firm force and faith:
Such sends he first t' assault his eager foes;
Such 'gainst the Canon on a Breach bestowes;
Such he commands naked to scale a Fort,
And with small number to re-gain a Port.

God beats his Deer, from birth to buriall,
To make them know him, and their pride appall,
To draw deuout sighes from calamitie,
And by the touch to try their Constancy,
T' awake their sloath, their minds to exercise
To trauail cheer'ly for th' immortall Prize.

A good Physician, that Arts excellence
Can help with practice and experience,
Applies discreetly all his Recipés,
Vnto the nature of each fell-disease;
Curing this Patient with a bitter Potion.
That, with strict Diet, th' other with a Lotion,
And sometime cutteth off a leg or arm,
So (sharply sweet) to saue the whole from harm:
Euen so the Lord according to th' ill humours
That vex his most-Saints with soule-tainting tumours)
Sends somtimes Exile, somtimes lingring Languor,
Somtimes Dishonour, somtimes pining Hunger,
Somtime long Law-suits, somtime Loss of good,
Somtimes a Childes death, or a Widdow-hood:
But ay he holdeth, for the good of His,
In one hand Rods; in th' other Remedies.

The Souldier, slugging long at home in Peace,
His wonted courage quickly doth decrease:
The rust doth fret the blade hangd vp at rest:
The Moath doth eate the garment in the Chest:
The standing Water stinks with putrefaction:
And Vertue hath no Vertue but in action.

All that is fairest in the World, we finde
Subiect to trauail. So, with storms and winde
Th' Air still is tost: the Fire and Water tend,
This, still to mount; that, euer to descend:
The spirit is spright-less if it want discourse,
Heavn's no more Heav'n if it once cease his Course.

The valiant Knight is known by many scars:
But he that steals-home, wound-less, from the Wars,
Is held a Coward, void of Valours proof,
That for Deaths fear, hath fled, or fought a-loof.

The Lord therfore, to giue Humanitie
Rare presidents of daunt-less Constancy,
And crown his deer Sons with victorious Laurels
Won from a thousand foes in glorious quarrels;
Pours downe more euils on their hap-less head,
Then yerst Pandora's odious Box did shead;
Yet strengthning still their hearts with such a Plaister,
That though the Flesh stoop, still the Spirit is Maister.

But, wrongly I these euils Euill call:
Sole Vice is ill; sole Vertue good: and all,
Besides the same, is selfly, simply, had
And held indifferent, neither good nor bad.
Let enuious Fortune all her forces wage
Against a constant Man, her fellest rage
Can never change his godly resolution,
Though Heav'n it self should threaten his confusion.

A constant man is like the Sea, whose brest
Lyes ever open vnto every guest;
Yet all the Waters that she drinks, can not
Make her to change her qualities a iot:
Or, like a good sound stomack not soon casting
For a light surfet or a small dis-tasting;
But, that, vntroubled, can incontinent
Convert all meats to perfect nourishment.

Though then, the Lords deep Wisedom, to this day,
Work in the Worlds vncertain-certain Sway:
Yet must we credit that his hand compos'd
All in six Dayes, and that He then Repos'd;
By his example, giving vs behest,
On the Seaventh Day for evermore to Rest.
For, God remembred that he made not Man
Of Stone, or Steel, or Brass Corinthian:
But lodg'd our soule in a frail earthen Mass,
Thinner then Water, britteler then Glass:
He knowes our life is by nought sooner spent,
Then having still our mindes and bodies bent.
A Field, left lay for som fewe Years, will yield
The richer Crop, when it again is till'd:
A River stopped by a sluce a space,
Runs (after) rougher and a swifter pase:
A Bowe, a while vnbent, will after cast
His shafts the farther, and them fix more fast:
A Souldier, that a season still hath layn,
Coms with more fury to the Field again:
Even so, this Body, when (to gather breath)
One Day in Seav'n at Rest it soiourneth;
It re-collects his Powrs, and with more cheer,
Falls the next morrow to his first Career.

But, the chief End, this Precept aims at, is
To quench in vs the coals of Covetize;
That while we rest from all profaner Arts,
Gods Spirit may work in our retired hearts:
That wee, down-treading earthly cogitations,
May mount our thoughts to heav'nly meditations:
Following good Archers guise, who shut one ey,
That they the better may their mark espy.

For, by th' Almighty, this great Holy-day
Was not ordain'd to daunce, and mask, and play,
To slugg in sloath, and languish in delights,
And loose the Reans to raging appetites:
To turn Gods Feasts to filthy Lupercals,
To frantike Orgies, and fond Saturnals:
To dazle eys with Prides vain-glorious splendor,
To serue strange Gods, or our Ambition tender;
As th' irreligion of loose Times hath since
Chang'd the Prime-Churches chaster innocence.

God would, that men should in a certain place
This Day assemble as before his face,
Lending an humble and attentiue ear
To learn his great Name's deer-drad Loving-Fear:
He would that there the faithfull Pastor should
The Scriptures marrow from the bones vnfold,
That we might touch with fingers (as it were)
The sacred secrets that are hidden there.
For, though the reading of those holy lines
In private Houses som-what move our mindes;
Doubtlesse, the Doctrine preacht doth deeper pearce,
Proves more effectuall, and more waight it bears.
He would, that there in holy Psalmes we sing
Shrill prayse and thanks to our immortall King,
For all the liberall bounties he bestow'th
On vs and ours, in soule and body both:
He would, that there we should confess his Christ
Our onely Saviour, Prophet, Prince, and Priest;
Solemnizing (with sober preparation)
His blessed Seals of Reconciliation:
And, in his Name, beg boldly what we need
(After his will) and be assur'd to speed;
Sith in th' Exchequer of his Clemency,
All goods of Fortune, Soule, and Body lie.

He would, this Sabbaoth should a figure be
Of the blest Sabbaoth of Eternity.
But th' one (as Legall) heeds but outward things;
Th' other, to Rest both Soule and body brings:
Th' one but a Day endures; the others Date
Eternity shall not exterminate:
Shadows the one th' other doth Truth include:
This stands in freedom, that in seruitude:
With cloudy cares th' one's muffled vp som-whiles;
The others face is full of pleasing smiles:
For, never grief, nor fear of any Fit
Of the least care, shall dare come neer to it.
'Tis the grand Iubilé, the Feast of Feasts,
Sabbaoth of Sabbaoths, end-less Rest of Rests;
Which, with the Prophets, and Apostles zealous,
The constant Martyrs, and our Christian fellows,
Gods faithfull Seruants, and his chosen Sheep,
In Heav'n we hope (within short time) to keep.

He would this Day, our soule (sequestered
From busie thoughts of worldly cares) should read,
In Heav'ns bow'd Arches, and the Elements,
His bound-less Bounty, Powr and Providence;
That every part may (as a Master) teach
Th' illiterat, Rules past a vulgar reach.

Com (Reader) sit, com sit thee down by mee;
Think with my thoughts, and see what I doo see:
Hear this dumb Doctor, study in this Book,
Where day and night thou mai'st at pleasure look,
And therby learn vprightly how to liue:
For, every part doth speciall Lessons giue,
Even from the gilt studs of the Firmament,
To the base Centre of our Element.

Seest thou those Stars we (wrongly) Wandring call,
Though diuers wayes they daunce about this Ball,
Yet ever more their manifold Career
Follows the Course of the First Mouing Sphear?
This teacheth thee, that though thine own Desires
Be opposit to what Heav'ns will requires,
Thou must still striue to follow (all thy dayes)
God (the first Mover) in his holy wayes.

Vain puff of winde, whom vaunting pride bewitches,
For Bodies beauties, or Mindes (richer) Riches;
The Moon, whose splendor from her Brother springs,
May by Example make thee vail thy wings:
For thou, no less then the pale Queen of Nights,
Borrow'st all goodnes from the Prince of Lights.

Wilt thou, from Orb to Orb, to th' Earth descend?
Behold the Fire which God did round extend:
As neer to Heav'n the same is cleer and pure;
Ours heer belowe, sad, smoaky, and obscure:
So, while thy Soule doth with the Heav'ns converse,
It's sure and safe from every thought perverse;
And though thou won heer in this world of sinn,
Thou art as happy as Heav'ns Angells been:
But, if thy minde be alwayes fixed all
On the foul dunghill of this darksom vale,
It will partake in the contagious smells
Of th' vnclean house wherin it droops and dwells.

If enuious Fortune be thy bitter foe,
And day and night do toss thee to and fro;
Remember, th' Aire co•••reth soon, except
With sundry Windes it be o•t swing'd and swept.

The Sea, which somtimes down to Hell is driv'n,
And somtimes heaues afroathy Mount to Heav'n,
Yet never breaks the bounds of her precinct,
Wherin the Lord her boisterous arms hath linkt;
Instructeth thee, that neither Tyrants rage,
Ambition's windes, nor golden vassallage
Of Auarice, nor any love, nor fear,
From Gods Command should make thee shrink a hair.

The Earth, which never all at once doth moue,
Though her rich Orb received, from aboue,
No firmer base her burthen to sustent,
Then slippery props of softest Element;
By her example doth propose to thee
A needfull Lesson of true Constancy.

Nay, there is nought in our deer Mother found,
But Pythily som Vertue doth propound.
O! let the Noble, Wise, Rich, Valiant,
Be as the base, poore, faint, and ignorant;
And, looking on the fields, when Autumn shears,
There let them learn among the bearded ears;
Which still the fuller of the flowery grain,
Bow down the more their humble heads again;
And ay the lighter and the less their store,
They lift aloft their Chaffie Crests the more.

Let her, that (bound-less in her wanton wishes)
Dares spot the Spouse-bed with vnlawfull kisses,
Blush (at the least) at Palm-Trees loyalty,
Which never bears, vnless her Male be by.

Thou, thou that prançest after Honors prize
(While by the way thy strength and stomach dies)
Remember, Honor is like Cinamon
Which Nature mounds with many a million
Of thorny pricks; that none may danger-les
Approach the Plant, much less the Fruit possess.

Canst thou the secret Sympathy behold
Betwixt the bright Sun and the Marigold,
And not consider, that we must no less
Follow in life the Sun of Righteousness?

O Earth! the Treasures of thy hollow brest
Are no less fruitfull Teachers then the rest.
For, as the Lime doth break and burn in Water,
And swell, and smoak, crackle, and skip, and scatter,
Waking that Fire, whose dull heat sleeping was
Vnder the cold Crust of a Chalky Mass:
He that (to march amid the Christian Hoast)
Yeelds his hearts kingdom to the holy-Ghost;
And, for braue Seruice vnder Christ his Banner,
Looks to be crown'd with his Chief Champions honor,
Must in Affliction wake his zeal, which oft
In Calmer times sleeps too-securely soft.

And, opposit, as the rich Diamond
The Fire and Steel doth stoutly both withstand:
So the true Christian should, till life expire,
Contemn proud Tyrants raging Sword and Fire.
Or, if fell Rigour with som ruth-les smart
A little shake the sinnews of his heart,
He must be like the richest Minerall,
Whose Ingots bow, but never break at all;
Nor in the Furnace suffer any loss
Of waight, but Lees; not of the Gold, but dross.

The pretious Stone that bears the Rain-bowes name,
Receiues the bright face of Sols burnisht flame;
And by reflection, after, it displaies
On the next obiect all those pointed rayes:
So whoso hath from the Empyreall Pole,
Within the centre of his happy Soule
Receiv'd som splendor of the beams divine,
Must to his Neighbour make the same to shine;
Not burying Talents which our God hath giv'n
To be imploy'd in a rich trade for Heav'n,
That in his Church he may receiue his Gold,
With thirty, sixty, and an hundred fold.

As th' Iron, toucht by th' Adamant's effect,
To the North Pole doth ever point direct:
So the Soule, toucht once by the secret powr
Of a true liuely Faith, looks every howr
To the bright Lamp which serues for Cynosure
To all that sail vpon the Sea obscure.

These presidents, from liue-les things collected,
Breed good effects in spirits well affected;
But lessons, taken from the things that liue,
A liuelier touch vnto all sorts doo giue.

Vp, vp ye Princes: Prince and People, rise,
And run to School among the Hony-Flies:
There shall you learn, that an eternall law
Subiects the Subiect vnder Princes aw:
There shall you learn, that a courageous King,
To vex his humble Vassals hath no sting.

The Persian Prince, that princely did conclude
So severe laws against Ingratitude,
Knew that the Marlin, hauing kept her warm
With aliue Lark, remits it without harm;
And least her frend-bird she should after slay,
She takes her flight a quite contrary way.

Fathers, if you desire, your Children sage
Should by their Blessings bless your crooked age;
Train them betimes vnto true Vertues Lore,
By Aw, Instruction, and Example (more):
So the old Eagle flutters in and out,
To teach his yong to follow him aboue.
If his example cannot timely bring
His backward birds to vse their feeble wing,
He leaues them then som dayes vnfed, whereby
Sharp hunger may at length constiain them fly.
If that prevail not, then he beats them, both
With beak and wings to stir their fearfull sloath.

You, that to haste your hated Spouses end,
Black deadly poyson in his dish doo blend;
O! can ye see with vn-relenting eyes
The Turtle-Doue? sith, when her husband dies,
Dies all herioy: for, never loues she more;
But on dry bowghs doth her dead Spouse deplore.

Thou, whom the freedom of a foolish tongue
Brings oft in danger for thy neighbours wrong;
Discreetly set a hatch before the door:
As the wise Wilde-geese, when they over-soar
Cilician Mounts, within their bills doo bear
A pebble-stone both day and night; for fear
Least rauenous Eagles of the North descry
Their Armies passage, by their cackling Cry.

O! Mothers, can you? can you (O vnkinde!)
Deny your Babes your breasts? and call to minde
That many Fishes, many times are fain
Receiue their seed into their wombs again
(Lucinas sad throes, for the self-same birth,
Enduring oft, it often bringing forth)?

O! why embrace not we with Charity
The living, and the dead with Piety?
Giving these succour, sepulture to those:
Even as the Dolphins doo themselues expose,
For their lyue fellows, and beneath the Waues
Cover their dead-ones vnder sandy Graues.

You Children, whom (past hope) the Heav'ns benignity
Hath heapt with wealth, and heaved-vp to dignity,
Doo not forget your Parents: but behold
Th' officious Kids, who (when, their Parents old,
With heavy Gyues, Elds trembling fever stops
And fetters-fast vpon the Mountain-tops)
As carefull purveyours, bring them home to brouz
The tendrest tops of all the slenderest boughs;
And sip (self-thirst-les) of the Riuers brink,
Which in their mouths they bring them home to drink.

For House-hold Rules, read not the learned Writs
Of the Stagirian (glory of good wits):
Nor his, whom, for his honny-steeped stile,
They Proverbiz'd the Attik Muse yer-while:
Sith th' onely Spider teacheth euery one,
The Husbands and the Huswifes function.
For, for their food, the valiant Male doth roam;
The cunning Female tends her work at home:
Out of her bowels, wooll and yarn she spitteth,
And all that, else her learned labour fitteth:
Her waight's the spindle that doth twist the twine,
Which her small fingers draw so ev'n and fine.
Still at the Centre she her warp begins,
Then round (at length) her little threds she pins,
And equall distance to their compass leaues:
Then neat and nimbly her new web she weaues,
With her fine shuttle circularly drawn,
Through all the circuit of her open lawn;
Open, least else th' vngentle Windes should tear
Her cipres Tent (weaker then any hair)
And that the foolish Fly migh easter get
Within the meshes of her curious Net:
Which he no sooner doth begin to shake,
But streight the Male doth to the Centre make,
That he may conquer more securely there
The humming Creature, hampred in his snare.

You Kings, that beare the sword of iust Hostilitie,
Pursue the Proud, and pardon true Humilitie;
Like noble Lions that do neuer showe
Their strength and stomach on a yeelding Foe,
But rather through the stoutest throngs doo forrage,
'Mid thousands Deaths to shew their daunt-les courage.

Thou sluggard (if thou list to learn thy part)
Goe learn the Emmets, and the Vrchins Art;
In Summer th' one, in Autumn th' other takes
The Seasons fruits, and thence prouision makes,
Each in his Lodging laying vp a hoord
Against cold Winter, which doth nought affoord.

But (Reader) We resemble one that windes,
From Saba, Bandan, and the wealthy Indes
(Through threatning Seas, and dangers manifold)
To seek far-off for Incense, Spice, and Gold;
Sith we, not loosing from our proper Strand,
Finde all wherein a happy life doth stand;
And our owne Bodies self-contained motions,
Giue the most gross a hundred goodly Notions.

You Princes, Pastors, and ye Chiefs of War,
Do not your Laws, Sermons, and Orders mar;
Least your examples banefull leaprosies
Infect your Subiects, Flocks, and Companies;
Beware, your euill make not others like;
For, no part's sound if once the Head be sick.

You Peers, O doo not through self-partiall zeal,
With light-brain'd Counsails vex your Common-weal:
But, as both Eys doo but One thing behold,
Let each his Countries common good vp-hold.

You, that for Others trauail day and night,
With much-much labour, and small benefite,
Behold the Teeth, which Toule-free grinde the food,
From whence themselues doo reap more greef then good.

Euen as the Hart hath not a Moments rest,
But night and day moues in our panting brest,
That by his beating it may still impart
The liuely spirits about to euery part:
So those, to whome God doth his Flock betake,
Ought alwaies study, alwaies work, and wake,
To breathe (by Doctrin and good Conuersation)
The quickning spirit into their Congregation.

And as the Stomach, from the holesom food
Diuides the grosser part (which is not good)
They ought from false the truth to separate,
Error from Faith, and Cockle from the Wheat,
To make the best receiv'd for nourishment,
The bad cast forth as filthy excrement.

If Bat or Blade doo threaten sodain harm
To belly, brest, or leg, or head, or arm,,
With dread-less dread the hand doth ward the blowe,
Taking her self her brethrens bleeding woe:
Then, mid the shock of sacrilegious Arms
That fill the world with blood and boistrous storms,
Shall we not lendour helping hands to others,
Whom Faith hath made more neer and deer then Brothers?

Nor can I see, where vnderneath the Sky
A man may finde a iuster Policy,
Or truer Image of a calme Estate
Exempt from Faction, Discord, and Debate,
Then in th' harmonious Order that maintains
Our Bodies life, through Members mutual pains.
Where, one no sooner feels the least offence,
But all the rest haue of the same a sense.
The Foot striues not to smell, the Nose to walk,
The Tongue to combat, nor the Hand to talk:
But, without troubling of their Common-weal
With mutinies, they (voluntary) deal
Each in his Office and Heav'n-pointed place,
Bee't vile or honest, honoured or base,

But, soft my Muse: what? wilt thou re-repeat
The Little-Worlds admired Modulet?
If twice or thrice one and the same we bring,
'Tis teadious; how euer swect we sing.
Ther-fore a-shoar: Mates, let our Anchor fall:
Heer blowes no Winde: heer are we Welcom all.
Besides, consider and conceiue (I pray)
W'haue row'd sufficient, for a Sabbath Day.