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The husbandmans calling showing the excellencies, temptations, graces, duties &c. of the Christian husbandmanThe husbandmans calling shewing the excellencies, temptations, graces, duties &c. of the Christian husbandmanRichard Steele, 1668

Section 10

pp. 39–414 passages

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.

:127p. 39

SECT. X.¹

1§. 10.

:128p. 39

The Tenth Excellency of the Husbandmans calling is, That it is an healthful and ¹cheerful Calling. His labour is his Physic, and he purgeth through all his pores; A Doctor is seldom seen in his house, he lives above them, and mostly lives without them, unless it be that College of Physicians, Dr. Diet, Dr. Quiet, and Dr. Merryman, as you use to term them. He hath no superfluities at his Table to beget crudities in ²his stomach, is not inflamed with Sack, nor drowned in ³flegm, nor sunk with poring Melancholy. He is singing at his work, when others are puling in their chambers. And though he have not riches and honour, which are only in Wisdoms left hand, yet he hath length of days, which is in her Right, and that's better, Prov. 3. 16.

THe Tenth Excellency of the Husbandmans calling is, That it is an healthful and ¹chearfull Calling. His labour is his Physick, and he purgeth through all his pores; A Doc•our is seldome seen in his house, he lives above them, and mostly lives without them, unless it be that Colledge of Physitians, Dr. Diet, Dr. Quiet, and Dr. Merryman, as you use to term them. He hath no superfluities at his Table to beget crudities in ²his stomack, is not inflamed with Sack, nor drown'd in ³

:130p. 40–41

It is a true saying comparatively taken, Qui medi• vivit, miser visit, He is a woeful slave, that's bound to the rules of Physic; when a man cannot rise, nor walk, nor eat without exactest circumstances: This is the life of many a Noble Man, and sickness is worse than this; a Cottage with health, is better than a Crown with sickness: But our Husbandman is mostly freed from both these; he is feasted and physicked too, most of the year, with the sweet smells of fragrant flowers in the field; rare tunes of the sweetest and cheapest Choristers of the Woods; refreshing sights of a fair crop; and finds more taste in his dinner of herbs, than many others in their variety of dainties. And when God hath blest him in the labours of the day, he can come home and ⟨p. 41⟩sing and rejoice with his Wife and Children at night, as if he had a set of Minstrels, Psal. 147. 12, 13, 14. Praise the Lord,—for he hath blessed thy Children within thee. He maketh peace in thy borders, and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat. It is a cheerful Calling. When Envy gnaws upon the heart of the Great man, and fear and care upon the rich Merchant, this man commits his affairs to God, and lays down his cares with his cloths by his bed side: And you shall hear more hearty, I am sure more innocent laughter by his fires side, than by his Landlords; And after all, Eccles. 5. 12. The sleep of the labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much.

It is a true saying comparatively taken, Qui medi• vivit, misere visit, He is a woful slave, that's bound to the rules of Physick; when a man cannot rise, nor walk, nor eat without exactest circumstances: This is the life of many a Noble Man, and sickness is worse than this; a Cottage with health, is better than a Crown with sickness: But our Husbandman is mostly freed from both these; he is feasted and physick't too, most of the year, with the sweet smells of fragrant flowers in the field; rare tunes of the sweetest and cheapest Choristers of the Woods; refreshing sights of a fair crop; and finds more taste in his dinner of herbs, than many others in their variety of dainties. And when God hath blest him in the labours of the day, he can come home and ⟨p. 41⟩sing and rejoyce with his Wife and Children at night, as if he had a set of Minstrels, Psal. 147. 12, 13, 14. Praise the Lord,—for he hath blessed thy Children within thee. He maketh peace in thy borders, and filleth theewith the finest of the wheat. It is a chearful Calling. When Envy gnaws upon the heart of the Great man, and fear and care upon the rich Merchant, this man commits his affairs to God, and layes down his cares with his cloths by his bed side: And you shall hear more hearty, I am sure more innocent laughter by his fires side, than by his Landlords; And after all, Eccles. 5. 12. The sleep of the labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much.