۱

SPIRITUALIZED:

OR,

THE HEAVENLY USE OF EARTHLY THINGS.

Consisting of many pleasant observations, pertinent applications, and ferious reflections; and each chapter concluded with a divine and fuitable poem. Directing husbandmen to the most excellent improvements of their common employments. Whereunto are added, by way of Appendix, several choice occafional meditations, upon birds, beasts, trees, flowers, rivers, and several other objects; fitted for the help of fuch as desire to walk with God in all their solitudes, and recesses from the world.

THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY.

To the Worshipful ROBERT SAVERY, and WILLIAM SAVERY, of
Slade, Efquires.

Honoured Friends,

IT

T hath been long fince observed, that the world below is a glass to discover the world above; Seculum eft fpeculum : and although I am not of their opinion, that say, the Heathens may spell Christ out of the fun, moon, and stars; yet this I know, that th irrational and inanimate, as well as rational creatures, have a language; and though not by articulate speech, yet, in a metaphorical sense, they preach unto man the wisdom, power, and goodness of God, Rom. i. 20. "There is (faith the Pfalmist, Pfalm xix. 3.) no speech, nor language, " where their voice is not heard." Or (as Junius renders it) there is no speech, nor words, yet without these, their voice is understood, and their line (i. e. faith Diodate) their writing in gross and plain draughts, is gone out through all the earth.

As man is compounded of a fleshly and spiritual substance, so God hath endowed the creatures with a spiritual, as well as fleshly usefulness; they have not only a natural use in alimental and physical refpects, but also a spiritual use, as they bear the figures and fimilitudes of many fublime and heavenly mysteries. Believe me (faith contemplative Bernard) thou shalt find more in the woods, than in a corner; stones and trees will teach thee what thou shalt not hear from learned doctors. By a skilful and industrious improvement of the creaVOL. V. No. 38.

B

tures (faith Mr Baxter excellently) we might have a fuller taste of Chrift and heaven, in every bit of bread that we eat, and in every draught of beer that we drink, than most men have in the use of the facrament.

And as the creatures teach divine and excellent things, so they teach them in a perfpicuous and taking manner: Duo illa nos maxime movent, fimilitudo et exemplum, faith the orator*. These two things, fimilitude and example, do especially move us. Notions are more eafily conveyed to the understanding, by being first clothed in some apt fimilitude, and fo reprefented to the sense. And therefore Jefus Chrift the great Prophet, delighted much in teaching by parables; and the prophets were much in this way allo, Hof. xii. 10. " I have " ufed fimilitudes by the ministry of the prophets." Those that can retain little of a fermon, yet ordinarily retain an apt fimilitude.

I confess it is an humbling confideration, That man, who at first was led by the knowledge of God to the knowledge of the creature, must now by the creatures learn to know God. That the creatures, (as one faith) like Balaam's afs, should teach their master. But though this be the unhappiness of poor man in his collapsed state, yet it is now his wifdom to improve fuch helps; and whilft others, by the abuse of the creatures, are furthering their perdition, to be, by the spiritual improvement of them, promoting his own falvation.

It is an excellent art to discourse with birds, beasts, and fishes, about fublime and spiritual subjects, and make them answer to your questions; and this may be done, Job xii. 7, 8. " Afk now the "beasts, and they shall teach thee, and the fowls of the air, and "they shall tell thee; or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee, " and the fishes of the fea shall declare unto thee." That is (faith neat and accurate + Caryl) the creatures teach us when we think of them: They teach us, though not formally, yet virtually; they an• fwer and refolve the question put to them, though not explicitly to the ear, yet convincingly to the confcience. So then, we ask the creatures, when we diligently confider them, when we fearch out ، the perfections and virtues that God hath put into, or stampt upon them. To fet our mind thus upon the creature, is to discourse • with the creature; the questions which man afks of a beaft, are ⚫ only his own meditations. Again, the creatures teach us, when ⚫ we in meditation make our collections, and draw down a demonstration of the power, wifdom, and goodness of God in making them, or the frailty of man in needing them: such conclufions and • inferences are the teachings of the creatures.'

Common objects (faith † another) may be improved two ways; viz. In an argumentative, and in a reprefentative way; by reasoning from them, and by viewing the resemblance that is betwixt them and fpiritual matters.

First, In meditation argue gue thus, as in the prefent caf e and fimil tude of the apostle. If an husbandman upon the ordinary principles of reason can wait for the harvest, shall not I wait for the coming of the Lord, the day of refreshing? the corn is precious to him, and so is the coming of Christ to me. Shall he be fo patient, and endure so much for a little corn? and shall not I for the kingdom of heaven? He is willing to stay till all caufes have had their operations, till he hath received the former and the latter rain; and shall not I, till the Divine decrees be accomplished ?

Secondly, In meditation, make the resemblance, and discourse thus within yourselves: This is my feed-time, heaven is my harvest; here I must labour and toil, and there rest. I see the husbandman's life is a great toil: no excellent thing can be obtained without labour, and an obstinate patience. I see the feed inust be hidden in the furrows, rotten and corrupted, e'er it can spring forth with any increase. Our hopes are hidden, light is fown for the righteous; all our comforts are buried under the clods, and after all this there must be long waiting, we cannot fow and reap in a day; effects cannot follow till all necessary causes have first wrought. It is not in the power of hufbandmen to ripen fruits at pleasure, our times are in the hands of God, therefore it is good to wait; a long-fuffering patience will reap the desired fruit. Thus you have fome hints of this heavenly art of improving the creatures.

I

The motives inducing me to this undertaking, were the Lord's owning with fome success, my labours of a like nature*, together with the defire and inclination (stirred up in me, I hope, by the Spirit of the Lord) to devote my vacant hours to his service in this kind. confidered, that if the Pharifees in a blind zeal to a faction, could compass sea and land to proselyte men to their party, though thereby they made them sevenfold more the children of the devil than before; how much more was I obliged, by true love to God, and zeal to the everlasting happiness of fouls, to use my utmost endeavours both with feamen and husbandmen, to win them to Chrift, and thereby make them more than feventy-feven fold happier than before? Not to mention other encouragements to this work, which I received from the earnest defires of fome reverend and worthy brethren inviting thereunto; all which I hope the event will manifest to be a call from God to this work.

I confess I met with some discouragement in my first attempt, from my unacquaintedness with rural affairs; and because I was to travel in a path (to me) untrodden; but having once engaged in it, those discouragements were foon overcome. and being now brought to what you here fee, I offer to your hands these first fruits of my spare hours.

I prefume you will account it no disparagement, that I dedicate a

book of husbandry to gentlemen of your quality. This is spiritual husbandry, which here is taught you; and yet I tell you, that great persons have accounted that civil employment (which is much inferior to this) no difparagement to them. "The king himself is served " by the field," Ecclef. v. 9. Or, as Montanus renders the Hebrew text, Rex agro fit fervus; The king himself is a servant to the field. And of king Uzziah it is written, 2 Chron. xxvi. 10. "That he " loved husbandry." And Amos vii. 1. we read of the king's mowings. Yea, Pliny hath observed, that corn was never so plentiful at Rome, as when the fame men tilled the land that ruled the commonwealth. Quafi gauderet terra laureato vomere, fcilicet et aratore triumphali; as though the earth itself rejoiced in the laurelled plow-share, and the triumphant plowman.

What pleasure you will find in reading it I know not; but to me it hath been a pleasant path from first to last; who yet have been at far greater expence of time and pains in compiling it, than you can be in reading it. The husbandman's work, you know, is no easy work, and the spiritualizing of it hath greater difficulties attending it; but yet the pleasure hath abundantly recompenfed the pains. I have found Erasmus's observation experimentally true; Qui literis addicti fumus, animi laffitudinem a ftudiis gravioribus contractam ; ab iifdem ftudiis, fed amænioribus recreamus: Those that are addicted to study, (faith he) when they have wearied their spirits with study, can recreate them again with study, by making a diverfion from that which is severe and knotty, to fome more facile and pleasant fubject.

But to hear that God hath used and honoured these papers to the good of any foul, will yield me the highest content and fatisfaction imaginable.

May you but learn that lesson, which is the general fcope and defign of this book, viz. How to walk with God from day to day, and make the several objects you behold, fcalæ et ale, wings and ladders to mount your fouls nearer to him, who is the centre of all blessed fpirits. How much will it comfort me, and confirm my hope, that it was the call of God indeed, which put me upon these endeavours !

O Sirs! What an excellent thing would it be for you, to make fuch holy improvements of all these earthly objects whichdaily occurto your fenfes, and cause them to proclaim and preach to you divine and heavenly mysteries; whilst others make them groan, by abusing them to fin, and subjecting them to their lufts. A man may be caft into fuch a condition, wherein he cannot enjoy the bleffing and benefit of a pious and powerful ministry; but you cannot (ordinarily) fall into fuch a condition, wherein any thing (excepting a bad heart) can deprive you of the benefits and comforts of those excellent fermons, and divinity lectures, which the creatures here offer to preach and read to you.

Content not yourselves, I beseech you, with that natural sweetness the creatures afford; for thereof the beasts are capable, as much, if not more, than you; but use them to those spiritual ends you are here directed, and they will yield you a sweetness far transcending that natural sweetness you ever relished in them; and indeed, you never use the creatures as their Lord's, till you come to fee your Lord in and by them. I confess the discoveries of God in the word are far more excellent, clear, and powerful; "He hath mag"nified his word above all his name." And therein are the unsearchable riches of Christ, or rich discoveries of that grace that hath no footsteps in nature, as the apoftie's expreffion signifies, Eph. iii. 8.

And if that which might be known of God by the creatures, leave men without excuse, as it is manifest, Rom. i. 20. how inexcusable then will those be, who have received not only the teachings of the creature, but also the grace of the gospel in vain! "How " shall we escape if we neglect so great falvation?" They that are careless in the day of grace, shall be speechless in the day of judg

ment.

Iam sensible of many defects in these papers, (as well as in myself.) They have doubtless, a taste of the distractions of the times wherein they were written; nor was I willing to keep them so long under hand as the accurateness and exactness with which fuchasubject ought to have been handled, did require. Had I designed my own credit, I should have observed that counsel, Nonumque prematur in annum, i. e. To have kept it much longer under the file, before I had exposed it to public view; but I rather inclined to Solomon's counsel, "Whatever thy hand " finds out to do, do it with all thy might; for there is no wisdom,

nor knowledge, nor device in the grave, whither thou art going," Eccl. ix. 10.

I apprehend a necessity of some such means to be used for the instruction and conviction of country people; who either are not capable of understanding truth in another dialect, or at least are lefs affected with it. The proposition in every chapter confifts of an observation in husbandry; wherein, if I have failed in ufing any improper expreffion, your candour will cover it, and impute it to my unacquaintedness in rural affairs :

-In magnis voluiffe fat est.

The reddition or application, you will find, I hope, both pertinent and close. The reflections serious, and fuch as (I hope) your consciences will faithfully improve. I have shut up every chapter with a Poem, an innocent bait to catch the reader's soul.

That of Herbert is experimentally true:

A verse may find him that a fermon flies,

And turn delight into a facrifice.

I should never have been perfuaded (especially in this scribling age,

wherein we may complain with the poet,

Scribimus indocti, doctique poemata paffim)