Unlawjill !J?.!creations. ~i(~t~:~d?r:~-~ 9·. 24· ~- ~h:y ~re fports unfit for the wdr ?fa lawful recreation, as will ealily appear tQ rhc iMl– lfant::r&ar- part1al. for a IS eJther your Bcdyr or your lrlmd.s that need mofi the recreations: Either you fe Us. Hor. denlar~ perfons, or have a _C~lling of .t3odily Labottr: If you arc Jcdemar~ perfonJ ( as Students, s::~bt.:~ and dtvers others) then 1t JS your Bodys that have mofi need of txcrcife and rccrtation and Lab ·~ fitter fer you than [p:~rt; or at leafi ajtirring labouring {port: And in this cafe eo tit at )Card~ or;: h pr a Stage-Play, ~s, inflcad of txercifing your b~diu, to increafc the need of cxtrcifing rhem: 'It liirr~crch not your parts ; a warmeth not your blood; Jt helpeth nor concoction, attr:;.d:ion, afTimilaricn, &c:. It cloth you much more hum thJU.good, as to yo~r very health. But if you are hard LlbvurerJ, and n~cd Rcjl ~or y~ur Bod}'J and recreatiOn fo~ your rmn~J; or arc lame or fickly that you cannor u{C bo– d1Iy exerctfe, than ft:rdy ahundred prolnable exerc1fes arc at hand which are more fuitable ro your cafe. You have books of >ttcrffity to read (as the word of God:) and books of proht to your G 1 and boolu.t~lat tend to incrcafe your knowledge in common things~ as H1fiory, Geography, an~L~a~i Art~ and Sc!CUCC5 l And fi1ould not thcfe be any of them plcafantc:r than your Dice, and Cards, and Pl•ys. · 9· 25• 3· At leafi it is plain that.they are not the .fitte}f rccrt:ttionJ for any man that intends a law– ful end. If you arc Srudems, o~ 1dle Gentlemen, IS not ·:walking, or riding, or fl1ooting, or fame hon:fi bodily labour !lther, that Joyncth pleafure and proht together, a fitter kind cfexercife for you? ~r 1f )'Ol~ are ~aboun~g perfons, and netd onl_y fltafore fur your mind1, 01ould you not take pleafure 111 God, 111 Scnpture, m holy conference, medttatton, or good books? Or if indeed you need a relaxa– tion from both thefc, h<we you not profitable Hifiury or Geography to t(ad ? Have you not H:rbs and Hewers, and Trees, and Bealts, and Birds and other Creatures to behold? Have you not Field; or G,.:dem, or M.edon·J, or ~J.'"_oodr to walk into? Have you not your ~ear Relations to delight in; ;our Wtves, or Cht.ldrcn, or htends, or ~ervanrs? ~~y you not ra.lk With good, and wife, and chearfi.tl men, about thmgs that are both pleating and ed1fymg to you? H.uh God given you fuch a world of Among rhe lawful pleafureJ, and will none of them, nor all of them ferve your turns, without unl.nvflel oiles; Ep. of Bo11i[a~. or at leltl unfit ones Cwhich therefore are unlawful ): All thefc are U1JdoJ,bttdly ltJ+I'ful: But Cards Mtg. Tl~~:~~C 'd and Dice, and Srage-Plays are at heft, very qnel\ionable: Among wijt and Learned men> a11d good men' ~n~~~~~~'/,; .. el and no finall number of thcfe, they are condemned as unlawful. And fhou\d one that fe2reth God m:~·J Kingcf and loveth his falvation> choofc {o doubtful a fport, before fuch abundance ofundoubtedly lawful ones. Fraw , which If you be fo proud or rafh as to reply> why fhould 1 leave my fport for another mans conceirs or f~irh in the judgement? I will tell rhee that which {ha\1 {hame thy reply, and thee if thou Clnfi blufh. 1• It is ~~~~scn:~~e& ~or fame l)umorous o.dd fanatick. that l a11edg~ againI\ thee, n?r a fingular D.iv!ne, But it is the ~l!asVer·atioJudgement of the ant1ent Church 1t felf: The fathers and Council-\ COndemn Chrlihans and Minillers nes & fyl,><i- efpecia\ly,(that ufe fJdlacula [{pellaclu], or behold Stage-plays and Dicing. 2· Even the oldell Canons cas v:~g:~~Lones of our own Church of England forbid Dicing to the Clergy, which is becaufe they reputl'd it evil cum ·bamou~ or of ill rcpo.rt. 3. Many Laws of Religious Princes do condemn them. 4· Abundance of the moll ~moQ. ~se'i in· learned holy Divines condemn them. 5· The fober learnedell of the Papills condemn them. 6. And t~;Jiximus. how great a number of the mol\: Religious Minifiers ~nd pe?plc arc again!t them, of the age and Sim}l~terut place in which you live, you arc not ignorant. And IS the JUdgement of the amient Church, and =.ccipJues & of Councils, and Fathers, and of the moll learned Protefiants and PapHls, and the moll Religious ~~~~~~~.]~nd people, hefides many antie~t Laws and Ca~ons, of _no force with Y_OU in fuch a cafe as this? Will yoLt fure thefe are hold to a thing confeffcdly u»Hecc.J[Jry, agamfi the Judgement of (o many that account them finfitl ~ better tb:m Are you and your play-fellows more wife and learned than all thcfl? Or is it nor l'XCremity of Pride C~rds an_d h for fuch unfiudied empty men, to prefer thei.r fcnfual conceits, before fuch a concurrent fiream of wiDic~ Vlhlc fer and more ponderous judgements? Read but De. J o.Reig;zoldt his Treat.againH Stage-P/.;yJ, againfi ~~~e!~::~vt .Alberi'm GtntilU, and you will fee what a world ot wimcffes arc againll you, And if the judge– ufetoomuch. ment of Voetim, AmcjiuJ and other Learned men againft all Lufory Lou be of no authority, at leafi: it fhould move you that cvtnMr. G~ttak_cr, and other that write for the lawfullncfs of them in that re– fpetl: (as Lufory Lots) do yet lay down the rcfl of the rcquitites to make them lawful, which utterly condemn our common ufe of Card! andDice, much more our Gameflers: So that all the fober D1vines that ever I read or heard, condemn all thefe? And are you wifcr than all of them? 9· 2 6. -1-· Bcfides this,your Confcienccs know that you are fo far from them:ufing to fit you for your Callings, that yoU either live idly out of a Callmg, or elfc you prefer them before your Callings: You havt no mind of your wor~. becaufe your mind is ro much upon your play, you have 110 mind of your home or family, but are weary of your bufinefs; becaufe your fports withdraw your heaus: And you. are fofar from ufing them to tit you to any holy duty, that they utterly unfit you, and corrupt your hearts with fuch a kind of fcnfual delight, as makes them more backward to all that is good; infomuch that many of you, even grow fo defperate as to hate and [corn it. This is the benetit it bringeth you. ~· 27. 5· And you cannot but know what a 1ime·wajl:i"g fin it is : Suppcfc the game were never [o lawful ! Is it lawful to lay out fo many hours upon it? as if you had neither fouls, nor bodies, nor families, nor efiates, nor God, nor death, nor Heaven tomind ? · ~· 2 8. 6. And how much prophanenefs, or abufe of orhm is in many of your Srage-plays ? How much wantonncfs and amorous fo11y, and teprefenting fin in a manner to entife men to it, rather than to mafte it odious,. making a (port and mock of fin; with a great deal more fuch evil? And your Cards and Dice are the exercife ufually of covctoufncfs, the occafion of a great deal of idle talk, and foolifh babble about every caft, :md c:ve1y Card ; and oft·timu the: occafion of curfing, and [wearing, and.
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