IV

w)

ni

TO THE RE A DE R.

. hich contains a vaster Compass of Knowledge, fisinitely wore-ifefttl and beneficial to Mankind, than the fruitless and emptyNotions of the greatefi ‘Part of Speculatists ; comited to be theonly Eruditi and Learned Men. An Israelite, who. from' Tradi-tion of his Forefathers, his own Experience, and some modernReading, had informed himself of the Religion and<. Laws whichwere to regulate his Life ; and knew how to procure Things ne-cessary : Who perfedlly underfiood the several Qualities of theEarth, Plants, and Places agreeable to each Sort, and to culti-vate, propagate, defend them from Accidents , and bring them toMaturity : That also was skill’d in the Nature of Cattle, theirFood, Diseases, Remedies, &c. which those who amongst us passfor the most learned and accomplished Gentlemen and Scholars, are,for the most part, grosty x ignorant of look upon as base, ru stick,and Things below them, is (in this Learned Author s Opinion )infinitely more to be valued than a Man brought- up cither inwrangling at ..the .Bar, or the noisy and ridiculous Disputes ofour Schools, f>c ... To this Sense, the Learned Modena : And ’tisremarkable, that after all that .wife Solomon had said, that Allwas Vanity and Vexation ot Spirit (among so .many Particulars hereckons up ) he\should be altogether silent,- and fay. nothing concerningHusbandry ; as, doubtless, Considering it, the most useful, inno-cent, and laudable Employment of our Life, requiring those whocultivate the Ground to live in the Country, remote from City-Luxury, and the Temptation to the Vices he condemns. It wasindeed a plain Mans a Potter by Trade) 1 but let no Body de-'Paiiflv, le fpife him, because a Potter ( Agathocles, and a King was ofU Z n ttthat Craft ) who, in my Opinion, has given us the true Rea-son why Husbandry, and particularly Planting, is no more im-proved id this Age of ours f especially, where Persons are Lordsand Owners of much Land : The Truth is, fays he, when Menhave acquired any considerable Fortune by their good Husbandryand Experience (forgetting that the greatest Patriarchs, Princes,their Sons and Daughters, belonged to the Plough, and the Flock)they a ccount it a Shame to breed up v their Children in the fameCalling which they themselves were educated in, but presently de-sign them Gentlemen : They must, forsooth J have a Coat of Arm s,and live upon their Estates; so as by the Time his Son\r Beardis grown, he begins to be ashamed 'of his Father, and wouldbe ready to defy him, that should Upon any Occasion mind himof his honest Extraction : And if it Chance that the good Manhave other Children to provide for, This mufl be .the Darling ,be bred at School, and the University, - whilst the reft must toCart and Plow with the Father, &c. 'This .is the Cause, fays myAuthor, that our Lands are so ill cultivated and negleffed.Every Body will subsist upon their own Revenue, and take their

Pleasure,