The Husbandmans Companion, Title page – Dedication
THE Husbandmans COMPANION: CONTAINING One Hundred Occaſional Medirations Reflections and Ejaculations, Eſpecially Suited to Men of that Employment.
Directing them how they may be Heavenly-minded while about their Ordinary Calling.
By Edward Bury Late Miniſter of Great Bolas in Shropſhire.
Pſal. 77.12.
I will meditate alſo of thy works, and talk of thy doings.
LONDON, Printed for Tho. Parkhurſt at the Bible and 3 Crowns in Cheapſide near Mercers Chappel, and at the Bible on London-bridge, 1677.
Licenſed, and Entred according to Order.
To the Worſhipful his much Honoured Friend, Rowland Hunt of Boare-Eatton In the County of Salop, Eſquire, And to the Virtuous and truly Religious Lady Frances Daughter to the Right Honourable the Lord Paget, his Pious Conſort, E. B. Wiſheth Encreaſe of Grace here, and Glory hereafter.
Sir, and Madam,
I Foreſee there may two or three queſtions ariſe upon this my undertaking, in which you may deſire ſatisfaction; the firſt may be, why I write at all? the ſecond, why I write on this ſubject? and the laſt, why I prefix your Names to what I write? To theſe I ſhall anſwer in order: For the firſt, though I hope Gods glory and the publique good, be chiefly intended, yet my own ſatisfaction is alſo included; for I being ſet apart in my Education for the work of the Miniſtry, and dedicated thereunto in my Ordination; and though I have but one talent, I would not have it wrapt in a napkin, when an account is required how I have employed it, leſt I be found ſpeechleſs, Aulaedus ſit, qui Citharaedus eſſe non poteſt, a man may be uſeful that is not excellent, and therefore I thought it my duty what howrs I could ſpare from my ſecular employments, ſhould be improved, and employed for the good of ſouls: as for your ſecond demand, why I write upon this ſubject, ſeeing ſo many have gone before me, and what I do is but Alcinoo pomo dare, or in our Engliſh dialect, to light a candle when the ſun ſhines, or bring coals to Newcaſtle? to this I anſwer, if this leſſon be ſo well taught, it is a ſhame it is no better learnt: I fear there is not one of ten amongſt Chriſtians, but are guilty of the neglect of this profitable duty, which I ſuppoſe would bring the ſoul more real benefit, then many litigious controverſies about the modes and circumſtances of worſhip, about which many argue themſelves not only out of Charity, but out of their Chriſtianity, and loſe the ſubſtance, while they ſtrive about the ſhadow, and fill their heads with notions, rather then their hearts with graces: I conceive it is real communion with Chriſt, and the life of faith, that makes the ſoul fat and flouriſhing, and I think that meditation doth conduce as much to this as any duty whatſoever: prayer I know brings in ſupplys from heaven, and ſo doth this; and theſe two uſually are concomitant, and where the one is neglected, the other is ſeldome well performed: Meditation like the Bee fetches honey both from flowers and weeds, yea, this divine Alchymiſt extracts gold out of the courſeſt Mettles, and is the true Philoſophers ſtone that turns all into gold, and gold it ſelf into a ſpiritual ſubſtance; thoſe books which reduce religion into practice (which in our days lyes much in the theorick) and ſerve to reconcile the head and the heart, and maintain the vitals of religion, and the power of godlineſs, and further our great deſigne for heaven, ſhould be well ſtudied, and of them I think ſtore is no ſore: By this heavenly art of divine meditation, wiſdome may be extracted out of folly, as Solomon gained inſtruction by beholding the field of the ſluggard, Pro. 24.30. &c. and doubtleſs man was not plac't in the world as Leviathan in the Sea, to play therein; nor indowed with ſo many excellent faculties to be like bruit beaſts, only idle ſpectatours of the works of God; The uſe of reaſon doubtleſs was given for an higher end, to help us to view the Creator in the glaſs of the creature, and every thing lends a helping hand to a willing minde in this work; There is no man ſo buſy if not ſinfully employed, but may finde ſome time every day to converſe with God, and now and then make a journey to heaven, and view thoſe Caeleſtial manſions prepared for thoſe that love God; There is none ſo dull-witted, if honeſt hearted, but may learn ſome profitable leſſons in natures ſchool; the leaſt worm or gnat, or leaf of a tree, will point out God, to an obſervant Chriſtian: That Meditation is a Chriſtian duty; none that pretend to religion or to reaſon it ſelf, will deny, and that to meditate upon Gods works as well as his word, is our duty, is evident; God ſometimes ſends us to the oxe, and aſs, to learn our duty, Jſay. 1.3. ſometimes to fowls of heaven, the ſtork, the crane, and the ſwallow, Jer. 8.7. ſometimes to the piſmire or ant, thoſe deſpicable inſects, Pro. 6.6. and 30.25. and all to learn our duty; David learned humility by beholding the moon and the ſtars, Pſal. 8.3, 4. and Chriſt grounds many of his excellent ſermons upon the various occurrences that dayly fell out, as we ſee in the parable of the ſower and the ſeed, the tares of the field, and the drawnet caſt into the Sea, the leaven, the muſtard ſeed, the fruitleſs figtree, and many others: what heavenly uſe doth he make of earthly things, and all this is for our imitation, that by this means we may of theſe earthly materials frame to our ſelves a Jacobs ladder to aſcend to heaven; for all thoſe viſibles will mount us up to beholde inviſibles, and give us a Piſgah ſight of the heavenly Canaan, even of thoſe things within the vail: And that ſoul that hath this heavenly art, can ſet it ſelf on work, and need not be idle or ill imployed, for time will fail us, and death ſurprize us, before we can have ſearched natures garden from end to end, or gathered hony from the ſeveral flowers: here we may walk at liberty, and crop what flowers we pleaſe, and no man is damnified thereby; in other reſpects our bounds are ſet, hitherto may we go and no further, but in this we have an unlimitted circuit: meum & tuum, which hath ſet the world in a flame, hinders not in this caſe, the poor here hath as much liberty as the rich, and the ſervant as his maſter, for with the Bee we may ſuck ſweetneſs from our neighbours fields and flowers, without his leave or licence, and feed upon his paſture without any dammage to him; 'Tis true in theſe my meditations I have contented my ſelf with a ſmall plot, and but ſeldome paſt the bounds of a garden or orchard, but had the publiſhing of it been deſigned at the firſt, I ſhould not have tied up my ſelf in ſo ſhort a lether, when the whole creation lay before me; The book of the creature ſtands open to us, and God may be read in every line of it, otherwiſe why doth God diſcover to us the ſtate of the fallen angels, and of the rich glutton, and the ſtate of the damned, if no profitable uſe could be made of it: no place is ſo barren as a barren heart, each dead tree will yield ſome fruit to us, if the ſoul be not dead: I have pluckt here and there a flower, as others have done before me, and he that comes after us may finde as good as any we have gotten: Thoſe I have gathered are rather to comfort the heart, then to pleaſe the fancy, rather to benefit the ſoul with their vertue, then to pleaſe the eye with their beauty; their nature (if I miſtake them not) is to draw the heart and affections to God, and cool and deadden it to the world and ſin; But a gracious heart is then required to make the extraction, for if it be mixt with the dregs of hypocriſy it will prove uſeleſs: The hypocrite like a puppet in a play, may counterfeit mans ſhape and geſtures, yea, like a parrat his voice, when he underſtands not what he ſaith or doth, yea, ſuch a one mars all he ſets his hands to; but a good man hath an holy heart, as well as a holy tongue, and this will prove a ſoul-ſatting Ordinance to ſuch a man; this will raiſe up the heart to hoaven, which is one of our ſureſt evidences for heaven; If any yet pleade, there are too many books on this ſubject extant already, the more ſhame for us then that the duty is ſo much neglected, that is not ſufficiently taught, that is not ſufficiently learnt, and I fear thoſe that are readieſt to make the objection, are not the moſt conſcientious in the performance of the duty: There are many that make conſcience of morning and evening prayers in their families, that ſpend little time in this duty; if any quarrel at the language theſe meditations ſpeak, let them know, my deſigne is, to make men live better, and not to make them ſpeak better; if they ſpeak the language of Canaan they will be underſtood by true Iſraelites, and will be owned by thoſe that had rather be fed then flattered; it is a diſtempered ſtomack that muſt be fed with kickſhaws, truth looks beſt in the plaineſt dreſs, and a diamond needs no painting, via trita eſt via tuta, and plain ſence is the beſt orthography of an honeſt heart. In ſhort, the reaſon why I write upon this ſubject is, not to pleaſe mens humours, or ſatisfy ſqueaſy ſtomacks, but becauſe I judge this to be a neceſſary, though much neglected duty, and therefore moſt neceſſary to be treated of.
As for the laſt of your demands, why I praefix your names to it, I think there are none that knows both you and me, and my engagements to you, that need ſtumble at it; but I ſhall anſwer it, firſt negatively, and then affirmatively, I do it not, becauſe I think you have more need of it then others, for I know but few better able then you to gather ſuch flowers as theſe for your ſelves; But it is, becauſe I think you are better able to judge of it then moſt are, and if you think I have not miſt my way, I care not much what thoſe ſay, that never travailed in this road: I ſpeak to thoſe that underſtand the language, for to others, haply I may ſeem a barbarian: A hypocrite may pretend to the language, but underſtands it not, he ſpoils this as well as all his other duties; I preſent this firſt to you, for if it paſs this text, I matter not much what many others ſay of it; And alſo that thereby I may tell the world, rather then you, what my thoughts are of you, and to point them out a pattern for their imitation; for I verily believe, and I think upon ſerious obſervation, that the ſeveral branches of both your families, do maintain the vitals of religion, and the power of godlineſs in as eminent a manner, as any family of your rank that I know in the Nation, and keep themſelves as unſpotted in the world, and as free from the contagious diſeaſes of the times: And he that is the ſearcher of all hearts, knows, I ſpeak my thoughts without flattery or fauning, and I do it for no ſiniſter end: but (as Solomon did commend the good huſwife, Pro. 31.29. that God may be glorifyed for his bounty to you, and your hands may be ſtrengthned in well doing, and others may take example by you, and your lives may be for their imitation. I cannot praiſe my preſent any further, then from the truth of the heart that ſends it; had it been better, it had been ſent with a better will: I ſend it as a poor man doth a preſent to his ſuperiour, not to ſupply his wants, but to manifeſt his love, thankfulneſs and dependence upon him; or as a debtor to his creditor, who when he cannot pay the debt, pays the intereſt, or at leaſt teſtifyes his willingneſs, if ability be wanting: What I have done in this my undertaking, I judged to be my duty; David bids us, commune with our own hearts, Pſal. 4.4. and he calls upon others, Pſal. 66.16. come and hear all ye that fear the Lord, and I will declare what he hath done for my ſoul: I have not the confidence to think, that this or any thing I can do can paſs the teſt of this critical age, or indeed can contribute much to the adorning of the ſpouſe of Chriſt, I know a handfull of goats-hair was not formerly rejected, neither will a cup of cold water where there is no better, nor two mites where there is no more, by him from whom I expect my reward: When you can write fairer then the Copy which will quickly be, you may lay it aſide, and give it to ſome one that cannot, for whoſe ſake it was chiefly written: but that it may prove beneficial both to you, and yours, and to the Church of God, for the advancing of the the power of godlineſs, and the life of religion, and the reſtoring this too much neglected duty of holy meditation, ſhall be, and is, the deſire and prayer of him, who is
Eaton Jan. 12. 1676. Your ever obliged Servant, Edward Bury.