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ion^ aod adviseth them lu lay aside part of their toiia. doth, as a matter of coureOj dimiDish the piFoduction-'i which nuDi;>ter Io human cootentmeat and joy fulness, unless be hath some other labourers to take up the resigr^erl and almndoned part; in which cwiv Ul- doth hut shift the load, or unle^iift he have some machine to do it withal, in which case be is a great benefactor to mankind : but simply to call upon the people to relax in their industry, and to lay down their laborious work of cherishing this niggard earth, and its raw produc- tions, and tker«;by think that you improve their conditkHi, this is truly to diminish the meann 1044 THE £VMk AS TO BODILT LAtOVH. [DlJ. which are poaoessed of health, contcntmcot. ai happiDCM. These tilings I ilo insTftt upon, in order that y may be able to conceive how (he curse of Gi apoa the brute earth, came to lake effect npi the nature of man. It changed altogether economy of his bcinf^, and hath by dugrccft quji subverted it^ noble structure. For, whereas fori merly the s^n^e nnd the iinderslanding wer« aei ed without any expense of lime «[kI toil, with theeojoytneDttheearttieouIdfurQisb^aDdthe occupations of hie nature was to follow out the dtmediscourse of reason whieh led upwtirds to the aanctunry of God. ami taught him things where- of wc have now hardly a trace left upon the eflfth^_ now the objecta in which the sense delighted be^| ing renioved, and the rod of his power over the creatures betnj; broken, and the whole conditioD of the earth changed into niggard barrenness wd cold desolation, it spccdtly came to pass, that his time and talents, and undcnitandingand strcngtl^H were turned to cater hr W\ft craving appctitea an^^ bodily desires, and the heavenly employntent of his reason, from want of tise, and time to use fell inio disrepair; and generation after ^encrati it faded an^y, until at length the knowledge that there was a God, nnd a spiritual world, aud a spiritual part of man to converse with, died away to most men, and to others lived only in tra- dition. In so much, that Enoch of Uie uixth ge* Deration, had to lake upon him the preacbing of God and riefhtcousness, if possible to eave them from oblivion; and Noah, in the ninth gencraUoo» when he undertook the &ame heavy othcc, could not find a single family to listen to his counaels. in v.] TH£ Ci;itSC AS TC BODILY LAROUIt. 1045 The eartb haripf; ceased from her spontaneouR fertility of nulricious things, and being cursed with a spofit&DCOUS fertility of things noxioas,