[ 590] Upon any great undertaking, God is first to be consulted withal.
THe Israelites usually asked counsel of God by the Ephod, the Grecians by their Oracles, the Persians by their Magi, the Egyptians by their Hierophantae, the Indians by their Gymnosophistae, the antient Gauls and Brittains by their Druides, the Romans by their Augures, or South-sayers; It was not lawful to propose any mat∣ter of moment in the Senate,* 1.1 priusquam de C••elo observatum erat, before their Wizards had made observations from the Heaven, or Skie. That which they did impiously and superstitiously, we may, nay we ought to do in another sense, piously, religi∣ously, conscionably, i. e. not to embarque our selves into any action of great importance and consequence, priusquam de Coelo observa••um est, before we have observed from Heaven, not the flight of birds, not the houses of Planets, or their aspects or conjuncti∣ons, but the countenance of God, whether it shineth upon our enterprises or not, whe∣ther he approve of our projects and designs or not.