George Withers' Emblemes

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Oft Shooting, doth not Archers make •
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bitting right the Marke they takz~>.
ILLVSTR. XXV. B ok.
Hen to the Fields we walke to 1
ioke upon
Someskilfull Mark.man ;
fo much heede we not
How many Arrows fiom his Bowe are gone,
As weoblerve how nigh the Marke he /hot :
And, juftly we deride that Man who fpends
His Time and Shafts, but never ayaie doth take
To hit the J^//e ; or foOlifhly pretends,
The number of the Shots, doth Archers make.
So, God, who marketh our Endeavours, here,
Doth not by tale, account of them reccivt
But, hecdeth rather how well meant they were,
And, at his Wilt how i ightly ay m'd we have.
It is not mumbling over thrice a day
A Set or Ave Maries, or of Creed*,
Or many hourcs formally to fray •
Wnen from a dull Devotion it procecdes
Nor is it, up and downe the Land to feelce
To finde thofe well breath'd Lecturers, that can
Preach thrice a Sabbath, and fixe times a wecke,
Yet be as freih, as when they firft bee-inn;-
Nor, is it, fuch Ike things performed by Number
Which God refpe&s : Nor doth his Wifdome crave
Thofe many Vanities, wherewith fomc cumber
Their Bodies, as if chofe their Soulcs could five.
For, not Much.doing,hvx Well- iouig, that
Which God commands, the Doer, juftifies.
To pray wirhout Devotion, is to Prate
And, Hearing is but half c our Ex
Wc ought nor, therefore, to regard,aIone,
How often, but how We//, the Wo> ke be done.
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