Upon the fight of a robin-red-breast picking up
Husbandry Spiritualized; or, Whilft, on theother ſide,"the heartofthe wicked (asSolo- "monhath obſerved) is little worth," how much foever his cloaths be worth. Alas ! itfalls outtoo frequentlyamongus,asit doth with men inthe Indies, who walk overthe rich veins of goldand filver ore,which lies hid under aragged and barren furface, and know it not.
For my own part, I defire not to valueany manby what is extrinfical andworldly, but by that true internal excellencyofgrace,whichmakes theface to ſhine inthe eyes ofGod and goodmen: I would contemn a vile perſon, though never ſo glorious inthe eye ofthe world; but honourſuch as fear the Lord, how fordid and deſpicable foever to appearance.
MEDIT.
Upon thefight ofa robin-red-breast picking up a worm from a mole-hill, then rifing. and birdwatchingſo intently above, I made a ſtand to obſerve the iſſue; when in a little time the bird defcends, and feizes upon a worm, which I perceived was crawling apace from the enemybelow thathuntedher, butfell to the ſhareof anotherwhich from above waited forher. Mythoughts preſently ſuggeſted theſe meditations from that occafion : methought this poor worm ſeemed to be the emblem ofmy poor foul, which is more endangered by its own luſts ofpride and covetouſneſs, thanthis worm was bythe mole and bird : my pride, like the aſpiring bird, watches for it above; my covetouſneſs, like this fubterraneanmole,diggingfor itbeneath.
Poor foul! What afad dilemma art thou brought to ? If thou godown intothe cavernsof this earth,there thou art aprey to thy covetouſneſs that hunts thee ; and ifthou aſpire, or but creep upward,there thy pride waits to enſnarethee.
Diſtreffed foul! whither wilt thou go ? Aſcend thou mayeft, notby vainelation, but by a heavenly converſation, befide which there is noway for thy preſervation; " the way of life is
" above to the wife," &c.
Again, I could not but obſerve the accidental benefit this poorharmleſs bird obtained by the labour ofthe mole, who hunting intentionally for herself, unburroughed and ferreted outthisworm for the bird, who poflibly, was hungry enough, and could nothavebeenrelievedfor this time,butbythemole, the fruitofwhoſe labour ſhe now feeds upon.
Even thus the Lordoft-times makesgood hiswordtohis people : "The wealth
The Heavenly Use of Earthly Things.
"ofthe wicked is laidup for the juſt." And again, " The " earth ſhallhelpthewoman."
This was fully exemplified in David, to whom Nabal, that churliſh muckworm, ſpeaks all in poffeſſives. " Shall I take my bread," &c. " and give it to " one I krow notwhom ?" AndyetDavid reaps the fruit of all thepains and toils ofNabal at laſt.
Let it never encourage me to idleneſs, thatGod ſometimes gives his people the fruit ofothers ſweat; but ifprovidence reduce meto neceffity, and diſable me fromhelping myſelf, Idoubt not then, but it will provide inſtruments to do it. The bird was an hungry, and couldnotdig.
MEDIT.
VI.
Upontheshooting oftwo finches fightinginthe air.
H OW foon hath death ended the quarrel betwixt theſe two little combatants ! hadthey agreed better, they mighthave lived longer; itwas theirowncontentionthatgave both the opportunity and provocation of their death ; and though living they could not, yet, being dead, they can lie quietly together inmyhand.
Foolish birds, was itnotenoughthat birds ofpreywatched todevourthem, but theymustpeck and ſeratch one another?
Thus have I ſeen thebirds ofparadife (faints Imean) tearing andwounding each other, like ſo many birds ofprey, andby their unchriſtian contests giving the occafionoftheir common ruin; yea, and that notonlywhen at liberty, as theſe were, butwheningaged alſo; andyet, as one wellobſerves, ifever
Chriftians will agree, itwill eitherbein apriſon,orinheaven; for in apriſon their quarrelſome lufts lie low, and in heaven they ſhallbeutterlydone away.
ButO what pity is it, thatthoſewho ſhall agree ſoperfectly in heaven, ſhould bite and devour each other upon earth?
That it should be faid ofthem, as one ingeniouſly obſerved, who faw their carcaffes lie together, as ifthey had lovingly embracedeachother,who felltogether by aduel ; Quanta amicitiafe invicem amplectuntur ; qui mutua et implacabili inimicitiaperierunt!
Embracingone another, nowthey lie, Who byeach other's bloody hands did die.
Or, as he ſaid, who obſerved how quietly andpeaceablythe duft andbones, evenofenemies,did lie togetherin the grave;
Nontanta vivipace conjuncti effetis ; you did notlive toge ther ſo peaceably.
IfconfcienceofChriſt's commandwillnot,
VOL . VI.
Husbandry Spiritualized; or, yet the confideration ofcommonſafety ſhould powerfully per fuade tounityand amity.
MEDIT .
VII.
Upon thefinging ofablindfinchby nighť.
A Dear friend, who was a great obſerver of the works of Godin nature,toldme, that being entertained with a fight ofmany rarities at a friend's house in London ; among other things, his friends thewedhim afinch, whoſe eyes being putout,would frequently fing, evenat midnight. This bird. inmy opinion, is the lively emblemof ſuch careleſs and unconcerned perſons, as theprophet deſcribes,Amos vi. 4, 5, 6. who chant tothe viol,when adiſmalnight of trouble and affriction hath over-shadowedthe church.. You would have thought it ſtrangeto have heard thisbird ſing inthe night, when all others are in a deep filence exceptthe owl, an uncleanbird, and the nightingale ; which before we made the emblem of the hypocrire. Andas ſtrange itis, that any,excepttheprophane andhypcritical, ſhould ſo unſeaſonablyexpreſs their mirth and jollity; that anyofSion's children ſhould live inpleafure,whilst the herself lies intears. The people ofGod, in Pfal cxxxvii. tellus, in what poſtures offorrow they fat ; even like birds, with theirheads under their wings,duringthe night of thein captivity. "How thallwe fing the Lord's fongs in a strange
" land?" It is like enough, ſuch as can fing, and chant in the night of the church's trouble, have well feathered their nefts in thedaysofherproſperity; however, let them know,thatGod willturntheir unſeaſonable mirth intoa fadder note; andthoſe thatnowfit fad, and filent, ſhall ſhortly fing forjoyofheart, when " thewinter ispaſt,the rain overand gone, the flowers appear again upon the earth, and thetime ofthe ſinging of birds is come."
MEDIT.
VIII .
Upon the comparing oftwo birds nests.
IS pretty to obſerve the ſtructure and commodioufness ofthehabitations oftheſe little architects,who, though they act notby reaſon and counſel,butonlyby natural inſtinct, yet reaſon itſelf could hardly have contriveda neater building ofſuch ſimple materials. How neatly hath the thrush ceiledor plaſtered his neſt, with admirable art, and induſtry ! how warmly hath thefinch matted his? And both well fencedaT gainst the injury ofthe weather..
The Heavenly Use of Earthly Things .
How comfortably hath nature provided convenient habitations for theſe weak and tender young ones, who have warm lodging, and variety ofprovifions hourly brought them, without theircareor pains ? This trifling object ſuggeſts tomy thoughts a more excellent and ſerious contemplation, eventhe wonderful and unparalleled abaſement of Jeſus Chrift,who for myfakevoluntarilyfubmitted himself to a more deſtitute and neglected ſtate, than theſebirds ofthe air : For Matth. viii. 20. he faith, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have
" neſts; but the Son ofman hathnot where to lay his head."
" The craggy rock to foxes.holes afford, " The pleaſant woods a refting-placeto birds;
" For Chrift no fixed habitation's found, " Butwhat was borrow'd, or the nakedground *."
Omelting confideration ! that theglorious Son ofGod, John i. 14. "The Lord of glory," James ii. 1. "The brightness
" ofhis Father's glory," Heb. i. 3. "Who was rich," 2 Cor. viii. 9. " and thought it not robbery to be equal with God,"
Phil. ii. 6. who from all eternity was infinitely and ineffably " delighting and rejoicing in the boſom of his Father," Prov. viii. 30. that he, I ſay, ſhould manifelthimſelf inflesh, 2 Tim . iii. 16. yea, " in the likeness of finful fleih," Rom. viii. 3 . that is, in fleſh that had the marks and effects of fin upon it, as hunger, thirſt, pain, wearinefs and mortality, and not only ſo,but tochuſe ſuch a ſtate ofoutward meanneſs and poverty, never being poſſeſſed ofahouſe in this world, but living as a ſtranger in other mens houſes, and ſtooping in this reſpect to alower conditionthan the very birds ofthe air, and all this for enemies .
Olet it work both admiration and thankfulneſs in my foul ! my body is better accommodated than the body of myLord. "Dear Jeſus ! byhow much the viler thou madeſt
" thyſelf for me, by ſo much the dearer ſhalt thou be to " me t."
Dd2 * Vulpibus infaltu rupes excifa latebras Prabat, et aereis avibus dat filva quietem ;
Aft hominis nato nullisfuccedere tectis Eft licitumHeinf. in loc.
+ Quantopro me vilior, tanto mihi charior.
Bern .
Husbandry Spiritualized , or, MEDIT.
IX.
Upon the early finging of birds.
OW am I reprovedof fluggishneſs by theſe watchfu H birds! which chearfully entertain the verydawning of the morning with their chearful and delightful warblings !
They ſet their little ſpirits all a-workbetimes, whilftmynobler ſpirits are boundwith the bonds of foftand downy ſlumbers.
For ſhame, my foul ! ſuffer not that publican ſleep to ſeize ſo much ofthy time, yea, thy best andfreſneſttime ; reproveand chidethy fluggishbody, as agoodbiſhop once did,when,upon the ſameoccafion, he said, Surrexerunt pafferes,et fternunt pontifices.
The early chirping sparrows may reprove Such lazy bishops as their bedsdolove.
Ofmany fluggards it maybe ſaid, as Tully faid ofVerres, thedeputy ofSicily, Quod nunquamfolem nec orientem, necor cidentem viderat ; that he never faw the fun rifing, being in bedafter, nor fetting, being in bedbefore.
It is pity that Chriſtians, ofallmen, ſhouldfuffer fleep to cut ſuch large thongs out of ſo narrow a hide, as their time on earth is .
But, alas ! it is not ſo much early riſing, as awiſe improving thoſe freſh and free hours with God, that willenrich the foul; elſe, as ourproverb faith,A manmay be early up, andnever the near ; yea, far better it is tobe found inbed fleeping, than to be up doing nothing, or that which is worſe than nothing. O my foul ! learn to prepofleſs thyſelf every morning with the thoughts ofGod, and fuffer not thoſe freſh and ſweet operations of thy mind to be proſtituted to earthly things; for that is experimentally true, which † one, in this cafe,hath pertinently obſerved, that ifthe world get the ſtart of religion in the morning, itwillbehard for religion toovertake itall theday after.
MEDIт. х.
Upon the haltering ofbirds, with a grain of hair.
Bſerving, in a fnowy ſeaſon, how the poor hungry birds were haltered and drawn in by a grain of hair cunningcaitover theirheads, whilft, poor creatures,they were bufily feeding, and ſuſpectedno danger; and evenwhilst their con
+ Mr. Cafe, in Epift. to the Morn. Lect.