But not to insist on the authority of _Poets_, _Sacred Writt_ tells
us that _Jacob_ and _Esau_, two great men, were Sheapards; And _Amos_,
one of the Royal Family, asserts the same of himself, for _He was_
among _the Sheapards of Tecua_, following that employment: The like by
Gods own appointment {3} prepared _Moses_ for a Scepter, as _Philo_
intimates in his life, when He tells us, _that a Sheapards Art is a
suitable preparation to a Kingdome_; the same He mentions in the Life
of _Joseph_, affirming that the care a Sheapard hath over his Cattle,
very much resembles that which a King hath over his Subjects: The same
_Basil_ in his Homily de _S. Mamm. Martyre_ hath concerning _David_,
who was taken from following the Ews great with young ones to feed
_Israel_, for He says that the Art of feeding and governing are very
near akin, and even Sisters: And upon this account I suppose twas,
that Kings amongst the _Greeks_ reckoned the name of Sheapard one of
their greatest titles, for, if we believe _Varro_, amongst the
Antients, the best and bravest was still a Sheapard: Every body knows
that the _Romans_ the worthiest and greatest Nation in the World
sprang from _Sheapards_: The Augury of the Twelve Vulturs plac't a
Scepter in _Romulus's_ hand which held a Crook before; and at that
time, as _Ovid_ says,
His own small Flock each Senator did keep.
_Lucretius_ mentions an extraordinary happiness, and as it were
Divinity in a _Sheaperd's_ life,
Thro Sheapards ease, and their Divine retreats.
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