A26918:392
The divine appointment of the Lords day proved as a separated day for holy…
The divine appointment of the Lords day proved as a separated day for holy worship, especially in the church assemblies, and consequently the cessation of the seventh day Sabbath : written for the satisfaction of some religious persons who are lately drawn into error or doubting in both these points / by Richard Baxter.
London: printed for Nevil Simmons, 1671
The Divine Appointment of the LORDS DAY, proved, as a separated Day… › Chapter 10
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
for by the sadness of the Countenance the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth (I pray you do not say I rail at you by the reciting of these words, nor that I diminish the honour of the Reverend Advocates for Wakes and Lords day Sports and Dancings:) It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the Song of fools. For as the sound of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool.]
for by the sadness of the Countenance the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is in the house of mou•ning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth (I pray you do not say I raile at you by the reciting of these words, nor that I diminish the honour of the Reverend Advocates for Wakes and Lords day Sports and Dancings:) It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the Song of fools. For as the sound of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool.]
3. Moreover, these sports, and pleasures, and riotings, are worse than Ploughing and Labouring on the Lords day, because (as they are more adverse to spiritual and heavenly joys, so) they do less good to recompense the hurt. A Carpenter, a Mason, a Ploughman, &c. may do some good by his unlawful, unseasonable labour; some one may be the better for it: But, Dancing, and Sports, and Gaming, do no good but hurt. They corrupt the Fantasy; They imprint upon the Thinking faculty, so strong an inclination to run out after such things; and upon the Appetite so strong a list and longing for them, that carnality is much increased by them, Mortification hindered; Concupiscence gratified; the flesh prevaileth, the spirit is quenched; and the soul made as unfit for heavenly things, as a School-boy is for his Book, whose heart is set upon his play: Yea abundance more; as Nature by Corruption is more averse to spiritual things, than to the things of Art or Nature.
3. Moreover, these sports, and pleasures, and riotings, are worse than Plowing and Labouring on the Lords day, because (as they are more adverse to spiritual and heavenly joyes, so) they do less good to recompense the hurt. A Carpenter, a Mason, a Plowman, &c. may do some good by his unlawful, unseasonable labour; some one may be the better for it: But, Dancing, and Sports, and Gaming, do no good but hurt. They corrupt the Fantasie; They imprint upon the Thinking faculty, so strong an inclination to run out after such things; and upon the Appetite so strong a list and longing for them, that carnality is much encreased by them, Mortification hindred; Concupiscence gratified; the flesh prevaileth, the spirit is quenched; and the soul made as unfit for heavenly things, as a School-boy is for his Book, whose heart is set upon his play: Yea abundance more; as Nature by Corruption is more averse to spiritual things, than to the things of Art or Nature.