Job in the West, Imprimatur – Dedication
Ianuary 20. 1644.
Imprimatur
Ja. Cranford.
Occaſus Occidentalis: OR, JOB IN THE VVEST.
As it was laid forth in two ſeverall SERMONS, at two Publike FASTS, for the Five Aſſociated Weſterne Counties.
BY Iohn Bond B. L. late Lecturer in the City of Exon, now Miniſter at the Savoy, London.
A Member of the Aſſembly of Divines.
Job 19.23, 24. Oh that my words were now written, oh that they were printed in a booke:
That they were graven with an iron pen, and lead, in the rock for ever!
Lament. 1.12. Is it nothing to you, all yee that paſſe by? behold and ſee, if there be any ſorrow like unto my ſorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me, in the day of his fierce anger.
London, Printed by J.D. for Fran. Eglesfield, and are to be ſold at his Shop, at the ſigne of the Marigold in Pauls Church-yard. 1645.
To the Right Honourable the Committees for the Five Weſterne Counties, of Wilts, Dorſet, Somerſet, Devon, and Cornwall, Aſſociated by the Ordinances of Parliament, of July 1. and August 20. 1644.
Right Honourable, Right Worſhipfull, and Beloved, Men, Fathers, and Brethren,
HAd I but beheld as a Traveller, the ſtript, wounded, halfe-dead condition of the Weſt, and ſo had paſſed by on the other ſide, I might for that fault have been reckoned with the mercileſſe Prieſt and Levite in the Goſpel, Luke 10.30, &c.even worſe than a Samaritan: but, beſides the common tye of humanity, there are many ſpeciall bonds of Nature, Juſtice, Religion, which doe conſtraine me to poure-in the utmoſt of my little oyl and wine to the wounds of thoſe Countries; yea, and to lay out theſe my two pence (mites rather) in this paire of Sermons, towards their reliefe. Firſt, the lot of my Nativity did fall unto mee aChard.neare the center of thoſe five Weſterne Counties, betwixt ſea and ſea, betwixt Eaſt and Weſt: and the two largeſt of them I may call, my bSomerſet.Mother and my cDevon.Nurſe; ſo that the whole is (according to the dMunicipibus duas eſſe cenſeo patrias, unam Natura, alteram Civitatis. Cicer. de Leg lib. 2.Oratour) doubly my native Country. This conſideration did move me to eIſai. 51.1.look unto the rock whence I am hewen, and the hole of the pit whence I was digged. I have obſerved, that even a clod of earth hath ſo much of nature in it, as will carry it ſtrongly towards its owne native element and center. Next, Juſtice and Equity did call upon mee; for mine owne eares and eyes have been preſent witneſſes to divers Scenes of this Weſterne Tragedy: ſo that concerning the Subſtantials of this Treatiſe, I may generally ſay in truth, fIoh. 3 11.Wee ſpeake that we doe know, and teſtifie that wee have ſeen; and yet the ſame cares and eyes of mine have heard and ſeen too many aſperſions that have been unjuſtly caſt upon the people of thoſe Counties, as moſt unworthy of all pity;
— gJuven.Et quis iniqui Tam patiens orbis? —
I may adde, laſtly, a tye of Religion, even that Charge of a Watch-mans office, unto which (though moſt unworthy) I was called in thoſe parts: And this office hath not onelyonly given mee the advantage of proſpect above ſome others in this buſineſſe; but hath laid upon mee the duty of pleading for my Country with God and man: as alſo, of giving the Alarum both to it, and to other places. All theſe relations (beſides the calling which I had from ſome of your ſelves, and many others: have enforced me to the preaching and publication of this worke; though, I muſt confeſſe, that in reſpect of the meanneſſe of mine owne abilities, it may bee reckoned amongſt the Weſterne miſeries, that they are ſet forth by ſo weak an Oratour: But, better a meane friend, than none at all. Beſides, I thought with my ſelfe, that the hIn causâ ſacili cuivis li…,—&c.Copia of the Subject might ſupply the narrowneſſe of the Speaker. And the occaſion is ſo juſt and neceſſary, that if every man ſhould hold his peace, the very ſtones might cry out.
There is an hiſtory of a ſon, who, though he was dumb from his birth, yet when he ſaw one about to kill his father, cryed out, Villain, wilt thou kil my Father? And you know what beaſt it was that did ſpeake with mans voice, when the drawn ſword was before him. The common mother of all the children of the Weſt is now a maſſacring, therfore good warrant, yea, great need, I conceive, there was for ſome man, and (in caſe of none other) for my ſelfe to ſpeake, write, and Print the Map of her miſeries. Next, as for the inſcription of your noble Names upon it, I muſt confeſſe, I durſt not thinke upon any other Patrons; for, are not yee the fineſt of the wheat-flower, which the Weſtern enemy, like a Sieve or Range, hath bolted and driven out of your Country, whil'ſt generally the bran and huskes are by them preſerved and left behind? Are not yee the crop of that very ſmall remnant, Iſai. 1.9.which except the Lord of Hoſts had left unto us (in the Weſt) we ſhould have been as Sodom, and we ſhould have been like unto Gomorrah? Yee know (right Honourable and beloved) that thoſe Cities of the plaine might have been ſpared for ten righteous perſons: yea, Gen. 18.32.they were once reſcued by the Militia of one righteous Abraham and his family; and, after that, Gen. 14.16.one of the five (Zoar) was ſaved by one righteous Lot: ſo we that are the inferiour exiles and Pilgrims of the Weſt do looke upon you, (next unto God and this Parliament,) as our Abrahams, which muſt reſcue our Country by armes; as our Lots, which muſt authoritatively reforme and preſerve it; in which there are ſo many precious Saints under the enemy, ſo many poore ſoules under darknes: and according to this your double worke of Reſcue and Reformation, and our double hopes of them both, is this following Treatiſe proportioned; for it doth partly ſpread before you the ſins, partly the ſufferings of the Weſt: the former (our ſins) you may read over as ye are the Repreſentatives, and do beare the iniquities of your Country, that ſo they may continually mind and quicken you in the work of Reformation: the latter (our ſufferings) you may be pleaſed to peruſe, as an help to continue your great activity in ſending down ſuccours; for which, all the well-affected of thoſe parts have already abundant cauſe to bleſſe the Lord, and to honour your Names. There are alſo in this Treatiſe, a true (though too narrow) Vindication of the Weſt from ſome unjuſt aſperſions, and a Directory for an effectuall way of commiſerating thoſe moſt afflicted Counties. If your leaſure will permit you to read thorough the Booke, you may in it travell Weſtward with ſafety, and, I hope, with profit. All the reſt that I have to ſay, is, but as one that hath been ſometimes a Chaplaine to the Weſtern Forces, to pray for your Militia, that the God of Abraham would be a ſunne and a ſhield to all your Catechiſed Souldiery, (for ſuch was Abrahams) that you have, or ſhall ſend down; but, eſpecially, as a Publike, and ſome-what Repreſentative Miniſter, I ſhall continually cry to heaven for your good ſucceſſe in the all-in-all of Reformation; Zech. 8.7, 8and that the Lord of hoſts will ſave his people from the Eaſt Country, and from the Weſt Country; and will bring them that they may dwell in the midſt of [our] Jeruſalem, that they may be his people, and hee their God, in truth and in righteouſneſſe: And let the Lord, Heb. 6.…0.which is not unrighteous, never forget your worke and labour of love, which yee have ſhewed towards his Name, in that yee have minſtred to the Saints, and doe miniſter: And we deſire, that every one of you doe ſhew the ſame diligence, Verſe 11.to the full aſſurance of our hope unto the end. This is the prayer of
Your Honours humble and reall Servant, John Bond. Savoy, Jan. 20. 1644.