The Eye and Wheel of Providence, Chapter 17
CHAP. XVII. How the calling and labours of the Huſbandman are directly ſubordinate to Gods Providence.
IT will not now be impertinent to ſhew how the calling and labours of the Husbandman in tilling the ground, and ſowing his ſeed in the furrows of the earth, are directly ſubordinate to the Providence of God. For albeit all callings be ſubordinate to God, yet the ſubordination of them, and the bleſſing of God is not ſo viſible in any profeſſion of men, as in the trade of Husbandry. For after the Husbandman hath opened and broken up the clods of the ground, and caſt in his ſeed,Ore gero gladium, matriſ que 1. in pectore condo Ut mox quae nùnc ſunt mortua 2. viva colas Dux meus a tergo 3. eſt caudamque trahens 4. retrahenſque: Haſta 5. non me ur ea verberet art alios. Aratrum. Jul. Scalig. 1. Terrae. 2. Fruges. 3. Ut…ducis praeire ſolent. 4. Stivam. 5. Stimulo. Unicui que ſemini corpus dat Deus quomodo voluerit, & unicui que ſemini proprium corpus. Hyper. Method. theol. de provid. the principal Wheat, and the appointed Barley, and the Rie in their place, he lieth down, and taketh his reſt, and night and day it ſpringeth up he knoweth not how; for the earth bringeth forth fruit of her ſelf, firſt the blade, then the ear, after that the full Corn in the ear, Mark 4.27, 28. Though the Husbandman go forth weeping with his ſeed-basket, yet he cometh again rejoycing, bringing his ſheaves with him, Pſa. 126.6. I have heard of a godly man, that whenſoever he broke up his ground, and caſt his ſeed into the earth, he ſought God with tears for a bleſſing upon his labour; a neighbour of his obſerving that he had alwayes a good crop, when as his own corn was blaſted, asked him one day, What the reaſon was, he ſhould alwayes fare better than his neighbours; he told him for his part he thought his ground and skill to be as good as his, and that he took as much pains in manuring his ground as he did: To whom the other replied: O Neighbour, I water my ſeed before I fow it: That is a piece of Husbandry, ſaid the other, that I never heard of before: Truly, ſaid he again, I water my ſeed with tears, and go forth weeping, and God hath made me to rejoyce in time of Harveſt.Rutherf. Influences. The Husbandman hath no command of Winds, of Rain, of Clouds, of Summer Sunne, yet may he dreſſe, labour, and fit and prepare his ground to lie under the ſeaſonable iufluences, of the Sunne, Rain, Dew, and ſuch impreſſions of the Heavens, and the Clouds, as the Lord of Nature ſhall afford, as a judicious Divine hath ſaid. God hath promiſed that he will hear the Heavens, and they ſhall bear the Earth, and the Earth ſhall hear the corn and the wine, and they ſhall hear Jezreel, Hoſ. 2.21. The Heavens are ſaid to hear the Earth, when they ſend down their heat and rain to refreſh and moiſten the Earth. Now when the Heavens hear the Earth, the Husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the Earth, and hath long patience for it, untill he receive the early and the latter rain, Jam. 5.7. The former rain in Scripture is called [Moreh] pluvia, and the later rain [Malcoſh] pluvia ſerotina: foreignThe firſt rain fel after their ſowing of corn, that it might take rooting in the Earth; the latter rain was a little before the Harveſt that the ear might be full. Twice in a year there fell afore of rain in Iſrael, Ainſw. in Deut. 11.in the beginning of September, or Niſan, and half a year after, in the MonethMonth Abib or March, which eccleſiaſtically began the year unto Iſrael; whereupon it is called the latter rain in the firſt MonethMonth,In the Canary Iſland called Ferro, when it is ſcorcht with drought, there is found a huge Tree, every leaf whereof diſtilleth water, and all render it in ſuch abundance, that it ſufficeth both men and their flocks. Cauſin. holy Court. Joel 2.23. the former rain among us, is that rain which fals immediately after ſeed-time, whereby the rain is beaten into the boſom and bowels of the Earth, there to be covered, that it may have ſome root and faſtening in the heart of the Earth; the latter rain is that which falls immediately before the Harveſt, which makes the Corn ſwell, increaſe and grow more weighty; for theſe the Husbandman waiteth, depending upon the Providence of God; and then the Earth heareth the corn and wine when it is laboured and manured by the Husbandman; and when the Earth is refreſhed with the influences of Heaven, it is ſaid to be married, Iſa. 62.4.Veartzecha tibbagnel. Terra moritur, cùm nòn colitur, & producit fructus. Weems. Mirabilior eſt grani in terra multiplicatio, quam illa quin que panum. Auguſt. Tract. …4. in Johan. Quicquid mirabile fuit in mundo, profectò minus eſt quàm totus hic mundus. Quamvis ita que miracula viſibilium naturarum videndi aſſiduirate vileſcunt, tamen cum ea ſapientèr intuemur inuſitatiſſimis rariſſimiſque majora ſunt. Aug. lib. 5. de civit. Dei, cap. 12. And when the ground is not tilled and ſown, it is ſaid to die, Geneſ. 47.19. The Aegyptians in a time of famine ſaid to Joſeph, Wherefore ſhall we die before thine eyes both we and our Land? Now it is the Providence and bleſſing of God that maketh the Earth fruitfull: How did he bleſs the ſeed ſown by Iſaac, when it ſprang up to an hundred-fold? Geneſ. 26.12. the ſeed ſown endureth all blaſts, is ſometime bound and impriſoned in the Earth with hard froſt, ſometime covered with deep ſnow, ſometime drenched, yea even drowned with rain; ſometime ſcorcht with the Sunne, and blown and blaſted with the winds, and yet it outſtandeth all ſtorms and fructifieth exceedingly. St Auguſtine meditating upon that miracle in the Goſpel, the multiplying of the Loaves obſerveth, That there are great wonders in things natural, though little obſerved by us: Chriſt's followers wondered to ſee the Loaves multiply while they were eating, to ſee bread increaſe upon the Table, and grow between the teeth of the eaters; this was very ſtupendious; but there's as great a miracle wrought every year, and few there are that take notice of it; that is, when corn caſt into the ground multiplieth and ſprings up to thirty, ſixty, or to an hundred-fold; it is (ſaith he) a greater miracle for corn to multiply in the Earth, than for loaves to multiply upon the Table; and he concludeth in like manner, in one of his books of the City of God; Whatſoever is wonderfull in the world, is not ſo wonderfull as the world: All the common works of Nature are very admirable; the bringing an Infant alive from the womb, as well as the raiſing a man from the dead; The budding of a Tree every Spring, as well as the budding of Aaron's Rod; as a judicious Divine hath noted.Caryl Expoſit. on Job. The Huſbandman's calling which dependeth ſo much on God's Providence, is the moſt ancient calling in the world; he is the firſt man that ſeemeth to be wanting: There was not a man to till the ground, Geneſ. 2.5. The Lord put Adam upon this imployment before his fall, verſ. 15. It is a calling very delightfull. Uzziah (though a King) delighted much in Husbandry, 2 Chro. 26.10. of whom it is ſaid, That he had much cattel both in the low Countreys and in the plains, husbandmen alſo and vinedreſſers in the mountains, and in Carmel, for he loved husbandry. It is no diſparagement to the greateſt to exerciſe themſelves in ſuch a way. Pliny likewiſe tells us, That Husbandry is a Prince-like profeſſion; Plin. Nat. hiſt. l. 18. c. 3.he tells us of C. Attilius Serranus when the honourable dignity of Conſulſhip was preſented unto him with commiſſion to conduct the Roman Army, that he was found ſowing his own field, and planting Trees, whereupon he took that ſirname Serranus: The like he repoteth of Quintius Cincinnatus, who was in his proper perſon ploughing a piece of ground of his own containing four Acres, which were therefore called Prata Quintiana, i. e. Quintius his meadows, when a meſſenger of the Roman Senate brought unto him the Letters-patents of his Dictatorſhip; he tells us likewiſe that many Kings and noble Perſons have ſtudied Huſbandry; as Hiero, Philometor, Attalus and Archelaus; and alſo Martial Captains, as Xenophon and Mago the Carthaginian.
Beſides; Husbandry is a very profitable calling. The profit of the earth is for all, ſaith Soloman; the King himſelf is ſerved by the field, Eccleſ. 5.9. The Earth yeeldeth much profit to all, even from the King to the pooreſt ſubject. And herein much of Gods Providence is viſible. For,
1. God inſtructeth the Husbandman in his calling, he inſtructeth him to diſcretion, and doth teach him, he teacheth him the fitteſt time to plough and ſow, and what ſort of ſeed to caſt into the earth, Iſaiah 28.26.
2. God ſo provideth as moſt convenient, that the Earth which is our common Mother that bred us, ſhould alſo feed and nouriſh us, till we return to it again. The very Heathen by the Moon-ſhine of Nature, ſaw that the bleſſing of Husbandry dependeth on God's Providence; therefore in the Morning when they went to plough, they laid one of their hands upon the ſtilt of the Plough, and lifted up the other hand to Ceres, whom they worſhipped as the Goddeſſe of Corn;Weems Chriſt. Synagogue. How will theſe men (ſaith a Learned man, riſe up in judgment againſt thoſe among us, who are more brutiſh than the Heathen, that break up the ground as if they were fungi, muſhromps ſprung out of the Earth, that ariſe by ſuddain ſhowers falling by great drops in the heat of Summer. Theſe Terrae filij, whoſe names are written in the Earth, Jer. 17.13. who only mind earthly things, look no higher than the Oxen they plough the ground withall, never looking to him who viſiteth the Earth, and watereth it, and bleſſeth the ſpringing thereof, preparing he Corn which he hath ſo provided for it, Pſal. 65.9.