fields to encourage them in their labor! What pity is it, that so good a master should be so badly served as he hath been by me?

THE POEM.

NONE will deny but those are blessed pains
Which are attended with the richest gains.
Grant this, and then most clearly 'tis inferr'd,
Soul-work to all deserves to be preferr❜d.
This is an unknown trade: O who can count
To what the gains of godliness amount?
For one poor shilling, O what risques some run!
Some toiling, as i' th' fire, from sun to sun.
Whereas one hour spent with God, brings in
Such heav'nly treasures, that poor souls have been
Enrich'd for ever. Even as you see

A prince's favorite, upon the knee,

Can in an hour's time more wealth obtain,
Than all your lives by labor you can gain.
Pray'r-gains are great, and quick returns are made,
Sure then the Christian drives the richest trade.
'Tis true, the hypocrite that never drove

A serious trade for heav'n, may bankrupt prove :
But holy souls, which mind and closely ply
Their bus'ness, greatly are enrich'd thereby ;
The diff'rence 'twixt the one and t' other's, best
By such a simile as this, exprest:

As in a summer's day you often see

The wanton butterfly, and painful bee,

On fragrant flowers fix, whence one doth strive

To bear his precious burden to the hive;
The other's pains no profit with it brings,
His time is spent in painting of his wings.
When winter comes the bee hath full supplies,
The other creeps into an hole and dies.
Like different events shall be betwixt
The painful saint and lazy notionist.

CHAPTER III.

UPON THE CHEERFULNESS OF THE HUSBANDMAN.

The ploughman sings and whistles, though he sweat,
Shall Christians droop, because their work is great?

OBSERVATION.

THOUGH the labors of husbandmen are very great and toilsome, yet with what cheerfulness do they go through them? It is very delightful to hear the melody they make, by whistling, as they follow the plough; yea, the very horses have their bells, which make a pleasant noise.Horses (saith Mr. Fuller,) will do more for a whistle than a whip; and their bells do, as it were, gingle away their weariness. I have been often delighted with this country music, whereby they sweeten their hard labors with an innocent pleasure, and verify the saying of the poet;

Tempus in agrorum, cultu consumere dulce est. OVID.
Altho' they plough from morning until night,
Time steals away with pleasure and delight.

APPLICATION.

But how much greater cause have the people of God to address themselves unto his work with all cheerfulness of

spirit? And, indeed, so far as the heart is spiritual, it delights in its duties. It is true, the work of a Christian is painful, and much more spending, than the husbandman's, (as was opened, chap. 1.) but then it as much exceeds in the delights and pleasures that attend it. What is the Christian's work, but "with joy to draw water out of the wells of salvation?" Isa. xii. 3. You may see what a pleasant path the path of duty is, by the cheerfulness of those that have walked in them. Psal. cxix. 14. "I have rejoiced in the way of thy judgments, as much as in all riches." And by the promises that are made to such.Psal. cxxxviii. 5. "Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord." And again, "You shall have a song as in the night, when an holy solemnity is kept, and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe, to come to the mountain of the Lord, to the mighty One of Israel." Isa. xxx. 29.

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And, lastly, by the many commands, whereby joy in the way of the Lord is made the duty of the saints. joice in the Lord, ye righteous, for praise is comely for the upright "Psal. xcvii. 12. Rejoice, and again I say rejoice." Phil. iv. 4. where the command is doubled, yea, not only simple rejoicing, but the highest degree of that duty comes within the command. Psal. cxxxii. 9, 16. "Shout for joy all ye that are upright in heart." And Luke vii. 22, 23, they that are bid to leap for joy, when about the most difficult part of their work. And that you may see there is a sufficient ground for it, and that it is not like the mad mirth of sinners, be pleased to consider,

1. The nature of the work about which they are employed: It is the most excellent and heavenly employment that ever souls were acquainted with. what a ravishing and delightful thing it is to walk with God! And

yet by this the whole work of a Christian is expressed. Genesis xvii. 1. Can any life compare with this for pleasure? Can they be chill that walk in the sun-shine? Or sad that abide in the fountain of all delights, and walk with him whose name is the God of all comfort. 2 Cor. i. 3. "In whose presence is the fulness of joy." Psal. xvi. 11. O what an angelic life doth a Christian then live?

Or, 2. If we consider the variety of spiritual employments, Varietas delectat. Change of employment takes off the tediousness of labor. Variety of voices pleases the ear, variety of colours delights the eye, the same meat prepared several ways, pleases the palate more, and clogs it less. But O the variety of choice dishes wherewith God entertains his people in a Sabbath! as the word, prayer, sacraments, &c. Isa. Iviii. 13. If thou call the Sabbath thy delights; or as Tremellius renders it, thy delicate things. "My soul, (saith David) shall be satisfied, as with marrow and fatness." Psalm Ixiii. 5.

3. or lastly, If we consider the suitableness of this work to a regenerate soul. Is it any pain for a bird to fly, or a fish to swim? Is the eye tired with beautiful objects, or the ear with melodious sounds? As little can a spiritual soul be wearied with spiritual and heavenly exercises. Rom. vii. 22. “I delight in the law of God after the inner man." Gravia non gravitant in eorum loco (saith the philosopher,) weighty things are not heavy in their own element, or centre; and surely God is the centre of all gracious spirits. A saint can sit from morning to night to hear discourses of the love and loveliness of Jesus Christ. The sight of your thriving flocks and flourishing fields, cannot yield you that pleasure which an upright soul can find in one quarter of an hour's communion with God. "They that are after the flesh, (saith the

apostle, Rom. viii. 5.) do mind the things of the flesh, and they that are after the spirit, the things of the spirit." But then look how much heavenly objects transcend earthly ones, and how much the soul is more capable of delight in those objects, than the gross and duller senses are in theirs; so much doth the pleasure arising from the duty excel all sensitive delights on earth.

The carnal heart's reflection.

REFLECTIONS.

How am I cast and condemned by this, may I say; who never favored this spiritual delight in holy duties.

When I am about my earthly employments, I can go on unweariedly from day to day; all the way is downhill to my nature, and the wheels of my affections being oiled with carnal delight, run so fast, that they have need most times of trigging. Here I rather need the curb than the spur. O how fleet and nimble are my spirits in these their pursuits! but O what a slug am I in religious duties! sure if my heart were renewed by grace, I should delight in the law of God. Rom. vii. 22. All the world is alive in their ways, every creature enjoys his proper pleasure; and is there no delight to be found in the paths of holiness? Is godliness only a dry root, that bears no pleasant fruit? No, no, there are doubtless incomparable pleasures to be found therein; but such a carnal heart as mine savours them not.

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I cannot say but I have found delight The hypocrite's in religious duties, but they have been reflection. only such as rather sprang from the ostentation of gifts and applauses of men, than any sweet and real communion I have had with God through them; they have rather proved food and fuel to my pride, than food to my soul. Like the nightingale, I