of a Chaos and the World out of a confused and undisgested Lump These are the draughts of a powerfull God which were victorious over the Nothing These are the conquering flames of his Love who hath carryed his rayes and Torch even into the Abysses of an eternall Negation The World then had not its Origination in the Water as Thales supposed The Errors of some Philosophers nor was the impression of the Universe framed in the Air as Anaximines affirmed Heraclitus was extravagant when he taught that fire was the Source and Origin of Nature And Democritus was a meer scoffer and fitter to be laughed at himself than to laugh at others when he said that the World was formed by an accidentall concourse and mixture of invisible Atoms No no the beginning of beginnings must be without beginning But the Heavens Air Fire Earth and Water the World and Atoms cannot be from themselves and without a Producer therefore grant that God alone is the Fountain Cause and Origin of the Universe Ah then let the Heavens and all the Elements Câ—nâ—ort of Creatures Let the Sun and Stars let the Plants and Herbs let the Birds and Fishes for evermore praise and bless the powerfull hand of the increated Love who formed them all out of Nothing Let the World never have any propension instinct or inclination but to become plyable to the impulses of its Author Let the Morning and Evening Stars imitate him conveying every where their Influences and Clarities Let Rain be the Pledge of his favours and Dew the Symbol of his Graces Let Thunder and Lightning be the Heraulds of his Justice and the Ministers of his Indignation Let the gentle Western Winds awaken our hearts to listen to his most holy inspirations Let his Threats be heard amongst Storms and Waves Briefly let the World and totall Nature be an Altar whereon vows and Sacrifices may be continually offered to his Law and let the Feast of the six dayes during which God created the Universe be for ever celebrated But what O Lord who is it that hath hitherto spoken From whence came this Voice And where is the Person that can present Sacrifices unto thee The World hath Altars it hath Water Fire Wood and Victims But where is the Priest Man necessary for the world There wants a Man upon the Earth and without a Man all thy works seem not sufficiently perfect Yes my God this man who is to be the Image of thy Essence the Accomplisher of thy Commands and thy Lieutenant upon Earth well deserves the last touches of thy hand to the end that after his Creation thou mayst continue in the repose of thy most holy Entertainments CHAP. III. The Creation of Adam IT is almost incredible how bold and eloquent men are when it concerns their own praises Eloquence of self love To hear them speak would not a man swear all the Members of their bodies are converted into Tongues to publish without blushing the advantages of their Nature above what ever the rest of the World can boast of rarest and most beautifull The Earth say they is but an Aboad or rather a High-way which shal be their Pilgrimage Excellent conceptions of divers authors The Air and Sea are but their Harbingers and Hostes Lightnings and Celestiall flames shape but a picture even gross enough in which the features of their minds appear as it were rough drawn And Heaven it self is but the Haven and shoar which after the course of some months and years is to receive them all Man according to their opinion is the fairest piece of the Universe the All of All Anasta 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and as it were the Soul of this world Anastasius in his Homily of Mans creation observes some lines of honour and veneration in his Fabrick Clemens Alexandrinus compares him to the Thessalian Centaur by reason of the mixture of the Soul with the Body Clem. Alex. 116 4. Strom. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lactant. lib. 7. cap. 5. And Lactantius Firmianus speaking of the composition of man saith That he is a work which may rather beget admiration than words Trismegistus cals him the Interpreter of the Gods Pythagoras Pythagoras looks upon him as the Measure of all things in whom are found the Longitudes Latitudes Altitudes and Profundities of all Beings Plato 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plato crys out that he is the Miracle of all visible Miracles Theophrastus considers him as the Copy of the Universe Synesius Synesius cals him the Horizon of creatures And Zoroaster as one transported scarce finding words to express him concludes at last That man is the Portraict of an attempting and daring Spirit Are not these very excellent terms and expressions which sufficiently evidence that albeit those Learned Authors did speak of Man in generall yet all of them were interessed therein as to their own particular But what ever they have said it is certain that of all the Encomions can be given to Man the most Noble the most August the most transcendent and high is that Man is the Image of God the Character of his Substance the most faithfull Copy of his Divinity I know he hath a Being common with Stones and Marble a Life common with Plants a Sense with Beasts and an Understanding which equals him with the Angels but he excels them in this that he was created from Gods Idea as the most lively and sensible representation of his Maker God deliberates upon the enterprise of this work Faciamus hominem ad imaginem similitudinem nostram Gen. 1. v. 16. and the Councell is held in the Conclave of the most holy Trinitie the three Persons are assembled Power Wisdom and Love take their seats neer the Paradise of Eden But let us not deceive our selves is it not peradventure Gods intention to recall into favour those proud and Rebellious Spirits whom a shamefull revolt hath most justly precipitated from Heaven to Earth where they wander as Exiles and reprobates At least would it not satisfy him to banish them from Heaven and to grant them the World for a Paradise after so long and funestous a Captivity Nothing less the Act is past the Angels are lost without Redemption and the punishment their Insolence hath merited will persue them without relaxation term or pitty Et creavit Deus hominem ad imaginem similitudinem Dei creavit illum Gen. 1. v. 27. It is concerning Man his Creation that the decree is past It is on him God reflecteth and it is he who must be substituted in the place of Angels It is this Act which makes the World behold Gods Master-piece the object of his Favours and the most glorious term of his Power O Sun stop here thy course be witness of his birth who hath bin the cause and end of thine It was as I conceive about high Noon when the Earth was resplendent with Light The time of
sight of a fault takes presently armes into his Hands for sometimes his patience gives truce during the whole course of life and expects the repentance of a Sinner even till Death otherwise the World would be quickly a Desart or the Earth would at lest transform it self into a Hell of Punishments and Torments Nevertheless we must not weary his Patience An iâ—ritated patience is terrible and abuse his Goodness for sometimes he Darts his Shafts in an instant and the very smoak of evill is no sooner risen in the Air but presently Thunder breaks all the Clouds without Threats or Lightnings At least he is wont after some delay to send publick chastisements and his zeal at last appears throughly inflamed after some sparks of fire which his Clemency had cast forth as the Messengers of his wrath Thus did he long before the inkindling of the funestous Pile of Sodom and Gomorrha where these incestuous Cities quenched their flames in the midst of their own fires Abraham himself took the Liberty to confer with him upon this design Freedome of Holy Souls and when he beheld the Lighted Torches which were to be the Instruments of this sad Incendium the Sanctity and freeness of his Heart permitted him to say Ah! Et appropinquans ait nunquid perdes justum cumimpio Gen. 18. v. 23. Si suerint quinquaginta justi in civitate peribunt simul non parces loco illi propter quinquaginta justos si fuerint Gen. 18. v. 24. what great God! could it possibly happen that thy indignation should be Blind and that thy Thunder-bolts should equally fall upon the Just and Sinners God of Goodness canst thou behold the innocent in the midst of punishments without some touch of Compassion Alas Lord wilt thou not pardon this Criminall City if in case but fifty Innocent Persons be found in it Is not this a Motive powerfull enough to invite thee unto Commiseration Absit à te ut rem hanc facias c. Gen. 28. v. 25. Ah! let it be never then said that thy just providence which extends it self over all the Empires of the World hath stifled Vice and Vertue under the same Ashes Is not this an Innocent freedom Dixilque Dominus sl invenero Sodimâ—s quiâ—quaginta justes in medio civitatis dimittam omni loco propter eos Gen. 18. v. 26. and capable of moving even the Bowels of Gods mercy Indeed God promised him to deliver all those that were invelaped in that crime in case there were found not fifty but ten only worthy of pardon But it seems the iniquity of Men is so much the more enormous as the goodness of God is immense and admirable Ineffable goodness Who would believe this if truth it self had not reveal'd it Et dixit Non delebo propter decem Gen. 18. v. 23. who would credit it if God himself had not sayd it And who would believe that Vertue and Piety are in such sort banished from the Earth as some good Men may not be found in it It is then for this cause God advanced towards Sodom Abiitque Dominus postquam cessavit loqui ad Abraham to chastise their Vices and to extinguish the Lust of their Women with a Deluge of Fire CHAP. VIII The firing of Sodom and the deliverance of Lot MAximus of Tyre and Dion Chrysostomus had but slightly and as it were in passing by considered the Nature of God when they believed it was a shamefull exercise for a Soveraign Essence to mingle rewards with punishments Atheisticall Ignorance It is an employment say they worthy of Gods greatness to give Crowns but to Dart Thunder-bolts is the Office of a deformed cruell unpittifull and rigorous Spirit Pliny the great was possest with the same Errors when out of an Atheisticall flattery Deus est mortali juvare mortalem haec ad aeternam gloriam via and an Idolatrous Complancy he gave unto his Prince the name and title of a God who had onely power to doe good Is not this a pernicious flattery and altogether unworthy of a Divinity But I will believe that in the time of Vespatian and Pliny Rome had not yet seen that famous Statue of Justice The Statue of Justice which in the one Hand carryed the Tables of Equity and of the Law and in the other a Scepter covered with a Stork the true Symbol of Piety upheld also by a Hippocentaure which denotes cruelty Besides her Head was armed with a great Helmet wrought out of Gold and Iron At her Feet appeared an Ostridge and a World on which certain Enigmaticall terms were read yet clear enough to manifest that it was the Picture of Gods Soveraign Justice which holds in one of her Hands all the Laws and in the other a Scepter of Clemency and Severity the World is under her Feet as under her Empire and close by her the Ostridge which disgests Iron sufficiently evidenceth that her rigors break Diamonds like Straws and consume Steel and Iron like Air and Wind. Behold the Portraict of Gods Justice her Scepter hath not been seen hitherto in the Land of Sodom and Gomorrha but upon the Wings of a Stork that is to say by Clemency and Meekness Now the Hippocentaurs and the Ostriges will serve her for support and a Hand of Justice will shortly appear in the Clouds which will powr down upon these Rebellious Cities a floud of Sulphure Ashes Fires And truly if God had not a Hand of Justice how could he govern the World whose Empire cannot Rowl but upon two commanding Wheels which are Justice and Goodness Moreover if God had no other Marks but of Meekness and Love the Earth saith Aristotle would be without a Sun and the Elect as well as the Reprobate would be seen perishing in the self-same Chaos Finally Criminals would have no terrors which might induce them to penance and the Just would want motives to preserve their purity It stands then with reason that God should have Justice and that his wrath should from time to time powr down upon the Heads of Sinners Too long have the horrors of Sodom irritated and provoked him the Night already approacheth Veneruntque due Angeli Sodomam vespere sedeâ—e Loth in soribus civitatis Gen. 19. v. 1. Qui cum vidisset eos surrexit ivit obviam eis adoravtique pronus in terram dixit obsecro Domini declinate in dâ—mum pucri vestri qui dexerunt minimè sed in platea mancbimus Gen. 19. v. 2. Compalit eos oppido ut divertereat aa eum sâ—cit convivium comederunt Gen. 19. v. 3. and there remains no Day but to behold two Angels in the habit of Pilgrims who seek out Lot even at the Gates of Sodom observe how welcome they are and certainly they have met with an Heart who perfectly understands the Rights of Hospitality observe what hast he makes to them how he casts himself at their Feet
these loathsome Coals The Earth on the other side is an inlivened gulph of burning Coals which vomit forth so many Firebrands and Torches as at length one would believe that the Air the Skyes the Clouds and the Earth were no other than a Hell Nothing is heard there but Clamors Sobs Rages Blasphemies and roarings out What a spectacle is it to see Men and Women with Bodies all on fire running through the Streets their Hair flaming their Eyes sparkling The Image of Gods Judgements their Mouths burning and their Hearts filled with Sulphur What a monstrous Specter is it to behold an Infant in his Mothers bosom and in his Nurses Arms like a lump of Sulphur which is consumed with the flash of a Torch Who hath ever heard that the World was watred with a Rain of Sulphur with a Deluge of Fire and with an Inundation of burning Coals and Flames What Thunder what spoyl what desolation of Wood-piles of Houses and Furnaces Beds Tables Cubbords Gold Iron Marbles and Diamonds turned into Fire-brands Alas where are the Heavens where is the Air where is the Sea and Earth when the whole World is on fire Ah poor Lot what is become of thy Wife and where are thy Kindred and what may thy Daughters think beholding the smoak of that fire which devours the Bodies of their unfortunate Husbands Me thinks I see him with his Daughters in the foulds of a Mountain Et mansit in spelunca ipse duae siliae ejus cum eo Gen. 19. v. 30. Dixitque major ad minorem c. Gen. 19. v. 31. Veni intoriemus eum vino dormiâ—musque cum eo ut servare possimus ex patre nostro â—emen Gen. 19. v. 32. where he endeavours to shelter himself from these frightfull inundations which burn and desolate all his Country But with what grief will Abrahams chast Heart be touch'd when he knows that the Daughters of Lot are consumed with an other fire and they inkindle such black flames as even hinder them from knowing their own Father or at least from treating him with that respect and piety which Nature required Blind Nation brutish Treason Crime whose horrors have not a name in Nature Thy Fire-brands and Murthering Darts must pierce the side of a Mountain to defile and destroy what God had reserved to himself Abraham autem consurgens manè ubi steterat prius cum Domino Gen. 19. v. 27. None but Abraham remains Constant in his Sincerity he is still in the same place where God spake to him with so much tenderness and privacy Faithfull Friend of God Intuitus est Sodomam Gomo rham universam terram regionis illius viditque ascendentem favillam de terra quasi surnacit sumum Gen. 19. v. 28. Father of all Nations Support of men Vice-King of the Earth Abraham canst thou behold this dreadfull fire without Sighs and Tears Weep then Abraham weep to quench these flames but rather inkindle some pile to swallow up these Monsters which infect the World by the Contagious shafts of their Incestuous brutalities Let there never be any mention made of Sodom nor of the Lands which are complices in her disloyalty Let no man ever think on her unless it be to place before his Eyes the Image of Gods Judgments and of the Eternall punishments of Hell There will never be a more sensible and exact draught of those endless torments than Sodom Gomorrha Adama Seboim and all their Neighbourhood Let us have then a horror to enter into these flaming Prisons and into these Sulphurous Dungeons The Picture of Hell let us listen awhile unto these Sighs Sorrows and Lamentations which rise from the bottom of these Abysses My Eyes what doe you see what Phantasms what Specters what Tormenters what Monsters My Heart art thou not affrighted at the sight of these flaming Furnaces of these Mountains of Fire of these dead which are alwaies living and of these lives still dying amidst Immortall Languishments and Endless Torments O my God! how will it be when thou shalt descend upon the Clouds and on a flaming Chariot to enfire not only five Cities but all the parts of the Universe Where will the most shamefull and detestable of all Vices find Caves deep enough when at the Sound of Trumpets and Clarions the Earth shall open her Sepulchers like so many Furnaces which will vomit forth men all invironed with Fire Whither will the confederates of Sodom and Gomorrha goe when all the Saints and Angels of Heaven shall even wax pale with fear Will Vice be in a place of Security when Vertue it self shall hardly find a Sanctuary The Pillars of Heaven will shake Luc. 21. D. Thom. sup q. 73. the Cypres Trees and Oaks of Libanus will roar out all Trees will melt into drops of blood the Sun and Moon will change their countenance all the Planets will make a stand or dread will even tear them from their Orbes to follow Pugnabit cum eo orbis contra insensatos Eccl. 5. like trains of fire the astonishing Splendors of God The Earth though most insensible will arm it self in so just a quarrell Afterwards the Ocean touched with so cruell a Sympathy will raise its billows and waves even five Cubits high above the Mountains Signs of the day of judgment given by the Hebrews collected by St. Jerom. related by St. Thomas sup q. 73. a. 1. immediatly after they will tumble down to make Abysses and presently extend themselves upon their ordinary Bed Then will all Fishes though naturally dumb cast forth fearfull moanings and out-cryes In the Air Birds will tune sad Noats and their sweetest Harmonies will be but Songs of Death Nothing but Hairy blew sparkling burning and bloudy Comets will be seen and nothing but Cryes Howlings and dreadfull Lamentations wil be heard not only amongst Men but also amongst the fiercest Beasts and in the midst of the least sensible and most inflexible Bodies In fine this will be the great Day denounced by the Mouth of God by that of the Prophets and of which Sodom hath been but the first draught If then the representation thereof were able to affright the Eyes of the Impurest Souls and to stop the Course and Torrent of so many flames which an infernall and Diabolicall Love casts into Hearts I would willingly advise the most part of Men to have the Picture of Sodom alwaies before their Eyes to the end so tragick a misfortune might at lest divert a far more dismall disaster But all these Pictures are too weak if Love takes not off the cover and if Faith shall not open the Eyes My God! Dissipate then all the Shadows of Sodom and fix our Eyes upon the Lights of Sion O God illuminate our Minds and inflame our Hearts to the end we may follow the bright Splendors of thy adorable bounties and that our Souls may never be consumed but by the fire of thy Love CHAP. IX The Birth of Isaack
ego dabo voâ—is omnia bona Aegypti ut comedatis medullam terrae Gen. 45. v. 18. Praecipe etiam ut tollent plaustra terra Aegypti ad subvectiâ—nem parvulorum suorum accongugum Gen. 45. v. 19. Singulis quoque proferri iussit binas stolas Benjamin vero dedit trecentâ—s argenteos cum quinque stolis optimis Gen. 45. v. 22. and conceal their malice his intention is not to confound but rather to incourage them Neverthelesse what ever he did the whole Court knew immediatly that his Brethren were come The very noise of it flew even to the Eares of Pharao who together with all the Servants of his house expresseth an unspeakable joy But to the end this joy might be universall his pleasure was that Joseph should command his Brethren to return into Canaan and bring unto him their Father with his whole Family that they may live at their ease in the best part of Egypt Now to the end this might be done with the most conveniency he ordained Chariots to be made ready for them and horses provided for their wives Children and for the most commodious transportation of all the Moveables of their Family Joseph forgot nothing which Pharao gave him in Charge When they were even ready to depart he commanded that two sutes of apparell should be brought for every one and over and above five hansome garments for Benjamin Tantumdem pecuniae vestium mittens patri suo Gen. 45. v. 23 Dimisit ergo fratres suos proficiscentibus ait Ne irascamini in via Gen. 45. v. 24 with three hundred peeces of Silver without omiting Jacob to whom he sent the like present After this he sent them back chiefly recommending unto them Peace and Love O God! what pleasing departure what amiable Sepuration when they leave Joseph to return unto Jacob. Ah! how delicious is it to meet with the Heart of a Brother in the armes of a judge And to goe directly from a brother unto a Father to reunite the Father unto his Son and to live in so well-united and holy a community O my Joseph An amiable relation of Joseph to Jesus my Jesus and my Saviour discover unto mee that face so full of Majesty and those delicious Looks which make the Paradise and felicity of Angels Ah! my Jesus since Joseph was your jmage treat me as he treated his Brethren and appear not unto mee as an incensed judge who contrives the sentence of my death but as a well-beloved Brother I confesse that I have betraid you that I have sold you and that I sought to deprive you of life But you are my Brother my Joseph and my Saviour O my Jesus pardon me Alas I am ravished at the sight of your Grandeurs and of the glory which invirons you I should not hope for the happiness to see your Tomb changed into a Throne your Crosse serving as an Instrument to raise unto you a Trophy of honour I did not expect to see you a Soveraign in the Egypt of the World But behold me now a Captive and Criminall at your feet Behold me wholly confounded and trembling O my Jesus take pitty then on me and say onely that it is you that are my Jesus and my Brother afterwards I will goe from you unto your Father and mine and then I will come with him before you to live forever with him and you CHAP. IX Jacob's going down into Egypt and the honourable entertainment he there received from Pharaoh THere are few Palaces and Houses like that of this inchanted Iland which Fables describe where the courses of the Planets are alwaies Regular where the Air is free from Clouds Fire from Smoak the Ocean from Tempests and the Earth from Concussions The Felicity of this World is a great Clock raised upon many Wheels and a body form'd of divers members where there is alwaies some diforder Love hatred aversions envy hope defires Felicity subject to alteration terrors shame choler jealousies despites and rage joyn with the Soul and Body with Parents and Friends with place and seasons with Elements and all naturall beings to keep a poor man alwaies floating and alwaies wavering like a Reed or as a Bark which is in the midst of the Sea at the mercy of winds and storms Above all it is a common saying saith Pythagoras that grief and pleasures make the fairest and most deformed faces in the world These two Passions are on the Earth what the Sun and Moon are in the Heavens They cause day and night Spring and Winter but we have more frequently Snows than Dewes And most Men seem to be born under a frightfull Climate where the night lasts three and twenty hours and where the Sun very seldome appears Besides it is often doubtfull whether it be the Sun or Moon we behold We are so accustomed to darkness as we know not whether we take the twylight of the evening for the Aurora Blindness of most men and day for night Sorrows and afflictions cast so many clouds over our mind as the eyes are dazeled and the first draughts of pleasure which appear to us are in appearance but the Idea of some Dream and a shadowed light in the depth of the night Jacob never believed he should ever see Joseph again Incredulous Love and after a night of three and Twenty years he had surely no ground to hope for the return of the Sun his eyes and spirit were so well acquainted with the rigours of Death that he no longer minded the sweets of life In fine having in a manner made him dye so often he did not expect they would make him revive in restoring to him his Joseph who was the life of his heart and the sight of his eyes Nevertheless Et nunciaverunt ei dicentes filius tuus vivit ipse dominatur in omni terra Aegypti Quo audito Jacob quasi de gravi somno evigilans tamâ—n non credebat eis Gen. 45. v. 26. Illi è contra referebant omnem ordinem rei Cumque vidisset plaustra unite sa qâ—ae misâ—rat revivil spiritus ejus Gen. 45. v. 27. Et ait Sufficit mihi si adhuc Joseph filius meus vivit vadam videbo illum ante quam morior Gen. 45. v. 28. his Children return out of Egypt and assure him that Joseph is alive and that he is very powerfull in the Land of Pharaoh Jacob could not believe it and as a man who suddenly awaked after a long sleep he took all that was said to him for the Image of a Dream In fine when he perceived that they constantly persisted in relating orderly to him all that had passed and on the other side seeing all the Baggage they had brought he began to come unto himself and as if this happy news had restored him his Speech and life he began to cry out It satisfieth me that Joseph is living Ah! I will goe unto him and at least see him once more
autem Jacob pulmentum ad quem cum venisset Esaü de apro lassus Gen. 25. v. 29. For this poor Chaser comming one Day weary and Hungry from hunting and meeting with Jacob who had caused some Pulse to be sod he intreated him to give him a share of it to which Jacob willingly agreed Ait da mibi de coctione hac rufa quia oppido lassus sum Gen. 25. v. 31. Cui dixit Jacob vende mibi primogeni ta Gen. 25. v. 31. Ille respondit en morior quid mibi proderunt primogenita Gen. 25. v. 32. Ait Jacob Jura ergo mihi juravit ei Esau vendidit primogenita Gen. 25. v. 33. Et sic accepto pane lentis edulio comedit bibit abiit parvipendens quod primogenita vendidisset Gen. 25. v. 34. upon Condition he would yield up to him his right of Primogeniture Alas I dye for very hunger answered Esau what will this Right avail thee after my death if it be so replyed Jacob take an oath that thou wilt give it me Well in truth then I swear it saith Esau and I acknowledge thee in quality of my Elder Brother whereupon this poor wretch took immediatly Bread and Pulse from his Brothers Hand little valuing the loss he had made of the first advantage wherewith God and Nature had favoured him What Infamy what Ingratitude and what Impiety Can a man represent unto himself so weak an act as to part with the singular Favours of God for a bit of Bread Is there any Ingratitude more Enormous than to misprise the gifts of Nature and is it not a Sacrilege and Simony to sell his Priesthood for a Mess of Pottage In fine is it not to be hunger-starved even unto rage to swallow with the Pulse the right of his Primogeniture which was one of the most Illustrious qualities a man could possess in his Family It was this brutish appetite which desolated the Terrestriall Paradise which consumed Sodom The disasters of Gluttony which daily devours the Wealth of the richest and most Illustrious Houses It is the Well of the Abyss the Cistern of Babylon and the Gulf of Heil The Air the Earth and the Sea cannot satiate these devouring ardors and this Fire which still requires aliment These are those Horse-leaches which never Quench their Thirst these are the Men who have their Eyes in their Bellies and their Reason Buried in Wine I am deceived these are not Men but Spunges and Tuns like those of the Danaides into which the Ocean might enter without silling them Finally It was this Infamous Vice which caused Esau to direct his first step into the Precipice where afterwards he was swallowed up CHAP. III. The Dexterity of Rebecca to procure for Jacob the blessing of Isaack THere is a false Divinity in the World which hath Temples in the Lungs Deus tibi venter est pulmo templum Tertul. advers Psych and Altars in the Bellies of most Men. The appetite of Gluttony is the Origin of all Vices the Furnace in which the most dreadfull flames of Impurity are nourished and inkindled We must not then wonder if Esau who was not ashamed to sell the right of his Primogeniture to satisfie a Gluttonous desire had the Impudence afterwards to Mary against the will of his Parents and to take two forain insolent and furious Wives and which is worse addicted to the Worship of false Gods These were two incarnat Devils and two Spirits bearing neither respect nor any pitty towards Isaack and Rebecca they raised also a War and tumult in the whole House and sufficiently manifested what a Woman can doe when she hath once trodden honour and devotion under her Feet Nevertheless Isaack waxing old amidst these misfortunes Senuit autem Isaac caligaverunt oculi ejus videre non poterat Gen. 27. v. 2. insensibly felt the approach of Death and as if his Eyes abhor'd to serve as witnesses to the disasters of his old age they covered themselves with the Darkness of a lamentable Blindness Amongst these Accidents his Eyes being shut against all the Clarities of Life Vocavitque Esau filium suum majorem dixit ei fili mi Gen. 27. v. 2. Vides inquit quod senuerim ignorem diem mortis meâ—e Gen. 27. v. 2. A most uncertain uncertainty his Soul went penetrating the shade and Night of the Tomb. He calls Esau and sayes to him with a pittifull Tone Alas my Son I am upon the Brink of my Grave and yet I know not when I shall descend into it Surely there is nothing more certain than the end of Life and nothing less certain than the time when wee must Dye The Sun is not more cleer and perspicuous in the Heavens than this Decree on Earth one must be a Beast amongst Men and Dead in the World to doubt of this verity This hinders us not from providing for our necessities and prudence enjoins that meditating upon Death we forget not the Duties of Life as Isaack did This good man feeling his life to extinguish as a Lamp whose Oyl begins to fail called Esau Vocavitque Esau si lium majorem dixit ei fili mi qui respondit adsum Gen. 27. v. 1. Sume arma tua Pharetram arcum egredere for as cumque venatu aliquid apprehenderâ—s Gen. 27. v. 3. Fac mihi inde pulmentum sicut velle me nosti affer ut comedam benedicat tibi anima mea antequam moriar Gen. 27. v. 4. Quod cum audisser Rebecca ille abiesset in agrum ut jussionem Patris impleret Gen. 27. v. 5. Ambr. lib. 2. de Jacob vita beata c. 2. Rebecca non silium filio sed justum praeferebat infusto c. Nunc ergo fili mi acquiesâ—e coâ—si iis meis Gen. 27. v. 8. Pergens ad gregeÌ„ adfer mihi duos â—â—â—dos optimos c. Gen. 27. v. 9 Quos cum intuleris comederit benedicat tibi prius quam moriatur Gen. 27. v. 10. Cui ille respondit nâ—sti quod Esau frater meus homo pilosus sit ego lenis Gen. 27. v. 1â— Si attractaverit me Pater meus senserit timeâ—ne putet me sibi voluisse illudere c. Gen. 27. v. 12. and commanded him to take his Quiver his Bow and Arrows and to goe a hunting that he might bring him something to eat with this promise that at his return he would give him his benediction before his Death Esau immediatly performing what his Father had commanded him Rebecca who heard Isaacks whole discourse made use of her time very seasonably to doe what the Spirit of God directed her Ah! how ingenious is vertue and how dexterous is Love when it follows the will of God! who would believe that a Woman durst undertake what Rebecca did Her design was not saith St. Ambrose to prefer the Younger before the Elder but onely the merits and perfections of
Ep. 51. where his Studies and Philosophy spake nothing to him but Peace will confess nevertheless that his employment though very solitary gave him neither truce nor repose We may then truly say that the Sea may for a time enjoy a Calm That Musick hath necessarily some pauses that the Earth is not still beaten with Hail and Wind that the Air hath alternatively both Day and Night But the Life of Man hath War without truce continuall storms restless complaints and obscurities which inviron him at Noon day Dreadfull Monsters Hell hath powers armed against him the Earth hath furious Monsters and Men a thousand times more inraged than Monsters which pursue him on all sides The Sea hath tempests which roar under his Feet the Air tumbleth down whole quarries upon his Head Fire inkindles Comets to affright him and the Sun and Moon have Eclipses to interre him alive under their shadows In fine God and his Angels often times Arm themselves to wage War against him and make tryall of his Valour Notwithstanding it would never have been believed if Gods Bulwarks had been only in the Heavens and if from thence it had satisfied him to cast at us some Darts without our discerning the Hand which had thrown them He makes himself then Visible and will have Earth to be his Field of Battel where under Humane and Angelicall forms he fights with Men. Jacob did not expect such a Combat Misit autem nuncios ante so ad Esau fratrem suum Gen. 32. v. 3. Et transivit vadum Jaboch Gen. 32. v. 22 Mansit solus eâ—ce vir luctaâ—atur cum eo usque ad mane Gen. 32. v. 24. when he disposed himself to Pacify his Brother or at least to repel the violence of his efforts But when he had passed the torrent of Jaboch which is between the Lands of Gerasa and Philadelphus scarce was he drawn aside but being all alone he perceived a Man wrastling all the Night with him without giving him any repose Alas what retreat what combat what adversary hath incountred Jacob. Is this God Is this an Angel Is this a Man or rather is not this Esau who waited to take revenge on him Where is Racbel where Leah where Ruben that they hasten not to his succour But I know not whether fear hath not taken away even Jacobs speech when he might have called his people to his aid yet it is not probable since he presently knew as Rupertus saith that it was God who assayled him Rupert lib. 6. commen in Gen. and the more Jacob strove to hold him the farther he got off his Hands Where by the way I observe that Rupertus believed that it was God who in his own Person Wrastled with Jacob. This was also the belief of Theodoret and Tertullian Theod. in Gen. Tertul. lib. 2. cont Marc. yet it is not the most common opinion and it is more agreeable unto the terms of holy Scripture to say that it was an Angell Wrastled with Jacob. Ozea in the twelfth Chapter of his Prophecie hath expressed it so clearly that no Man can doubt it And surely it seems that the Greatness and Majesty of God did not permit him personally to descend into the List and to Wrastle with a Man Body to Body since an Angell might suffice for this combat It is also more probable that this conflict was Corporall and sensible than to believe that it was only interiour spirituall and apparent we have a strong conjecture of it by reason it lasted all the Night and that it was not performed whilst Jacob slept Tetigit nervum soemoris ejus statim emarcuit Gen. 32. v. 25. but in such sort as he saw his Adversary who struck him so roughly on the thigh as a Nerve being contracted he began to feel one of his Legs shorter than the other Besides if this Duel had not been Body to Body the Latine Greek and Hebrew translation had not made use of terms which denoted a sensible action and so corporeall that Symacus spake not otherwise of it than he could have done concerning the combats off the antient Wrastlers which fought in Greece before the People by clasping each other with their Arms and Hands This was not a feigned appearance and an imaginary Duel as this Learned Author affirms but a contest who should throw his Companion on the ground In fine they grapled so lively with each other Diritque ad eum dimitte me jar◠〈◊〉 ascendit aurora respendit non dimittam te nisi benedixe is mihi Gen. 32. v. 26. At ille nequaquam inquit Jacob appellabitur nomen tuum sed Israel c. Gen. 32. v. 28. that Jacob could not almost loose himself from his adversary although the Aurora had sounded her retreat and that the Angel was enforc'd to give him his Benediction after he had changed the name of Jacob into that of Israel so that from that time forward he must be called no more Jacob the Supplanter but Israel that is to say the Emulator of an Angel and as the vanquisher of God himself who fought in the Person of this Angel who seeing himself constrained to give him his blessing assured him of the power and command he should have over Men since he had had so much over God Presently after Jacob losing the sight of this blessed Spirit Elâ—vans autem Jacob oculos suos vidit ve nientem Esau cum co quadringentos viros Gen. 33. v. 1. Eâ—ipâ—c progrediens adoravit pronus in terram septies Gen. 33. v. 3. Currens itaque Esau obviam fratri suo amplea atus est eum sâ—â—ngensque collum ejus osculatus flevit Gen. 33. v. 4. saw Esau a far off who came directly towards him with four hundred Men attending on him Jacob prostrated himself on the Earth and adored him seven times which Esau seeing he lept on his Neck imbraced him most affectionatly and kissed him as his Brother So true it is that there is no Heart so brutish nor any Soul so fierce as yields not unto the attractives of sweetness and unto the charms of vertue then especially when it is not abject and sordid but magnificent and generous like that of Jacob who spared neither Honors Presents nor Words to gain Esau and to remove out of his mind all the remnants of his fury This is the way to quench a great flame with drops of Water It is the way how to stop a torrent with a little Sand and to amuse a Tyger with a little piece of Christall Force and rigour are the Weapons which are to be imployed against Lions and Panthers A secret to render himself Master of Hearts But meekness and humility are the Darts and Arrows with which we must assault Men if we desire to acquire command over their Hearrs This was the Artifice Jacob used towards Esau Atille ait habeo plurima frater mi sint tua tibi Gen. 33. v. 9. and
France may boast That she hath had Hyppocrateses and Galens who have even pierced the source of this disease and all generally conclude that amongst all Maladies this hath something I know not what of Divine In a word it is ordinarily the scourge of Heaven of which we must not often seek out other causes than God And these were the Arms wherewith he made himself to be felt in Egypt which became more insensible by the strokes of Aarons and Moses Rod. Ecce manus mea ibit super agros tuos Et super equos asinos camelos boves oves pestis valde gravis Exod. 9. v. 3. Et faciet Dominus mirabile inter poffessionâ—â— Israel Exod. 9.4 I will lift up my hand saith he over the Fields of Egypt and the Plague shall choak its Horses its Oxen and Sheep And that which will be more Prodigious the Heritages and the Flocks of the People of Israel shall receive no damage by it In such a case Remedies are useless all the Aspects of the Planets are malignant the whole Air is contagious the most solid Meats corrupt the best Wine is converted into poyson Purgations made of Saffron Mirrhe and Aloes prove mortal all the Doses of Mithridate serve but to inkindle the fire and all the fumigations of Incense Juniper and Turpentine make but a gross smoke which causeth blindness to march before death In vain then doth Pharaoh Unprofitable Labor and his Inchanters strive to quench these Flames because they are inkindled by a Hand which can in a moment consume the whole World and after remake it just as it is and it is this Hand which gives vertue unto Herbs and without which all Medicines are converted into poyson Behold the Hand of God Mortuaque sunt omnia animantia Aegyptiorum Exod. 9. v. 6. and who ever would know the force and rigor of it let him see how in one day it makes a bloody Butchery of all the Animals which are found in Egypt This was the fift Plague of Pharaoh The sixt which followed The sixt Plague happened in the same maner God commanded Moses and Aaron to fill their hands with Ashes Et dixit Dominus ad Moisen Aaron Tollite plenas manus cineris de camino steterunt coram Pharaone sparsit illum Moises in coelum factaque sunt ulcera vesicarum turgentium in hominibus jumentis Exod. 9.10 Videbatur unum ulcus à vertice usque ad fines pedis Philo. Nec poterant malefici stare coram Moise propter ulcera quae in illis erant Exod. 9. v. 21. and then to cast them into the Air the which Moses had no sooner done but presently after there was formed in the Eyes of Pharaoh and of all Egypt as it were a vast Cloud of Dust which pouring down it self and falling on their Bodies covered them with certain tumors and with a general ebolition which breaking the Skin made the whole Body but as one great Ulcer the smart and pain was so extreme that the Magicians of Pharaoh who had been strucken with it could hardly remain in his presence But notwithstanding all this neither they nor their Master became wiser than before CHAP. XIII The Hail Storms Lightnings and Thunders Hist Tripart lib. 7. v. 22. THe Ecclesiastical History assures us That three hundred sixty and nine years after the Birth of Jesus Christ The seventh Plague Lib. 10. c. 20. An. Dom. 406. there fell in Constantinople a showre of Hailstones and that a while after there arose in the same City almost the like storm which was doubtless a punishment for the Vices and Impieties which insensibly rendred this famous Town a Moscho filled with horrors and a Seraglio with the most abominable impurities A long time after Lodovic Clavitellius fol. 260. the City of Cremona was beaten with Hail-stones which were as great as Hen-eggs and scarce hath an Age passed since this dreadful Tempest which fell in the Countrey of Bolonia during which a great Rain of Blood was seen with so frightful a Hail Idem An. Dom. that each stone was found to weigh one and twenty pound Now it is not to be doubted but such effects commonly speaking and as they usually happen cannot proceed from any natural cause but we should speak like Atheists in denying That he who at the end of the World shall cause Hail Snow and Thunder to march before him as Messengers of his Wrath did not before make use of them in several Ages either to intimidate or punish his Adversaries and consequently that he formed them in an instant as great Prodigies which spring from a supernatural source Such was then the Hail which fell upon the Land of Egypt in so great a quantity and with so much violence that all that chanced to be in the Fields were strucken by it Pluitque Dominus grandines super terram Aegypti Exod. 9. v. 23. Et percussit grando in omni terra Aegypti cuncta quae fuerunt in agris ab homine usque ad jumentum Exod. 9. v. 25. and there was neither man nor beast which could save themselves from it This was the seventh scourge of Egypt and that wherein God especially began to cause the rigor of his Arm and the weight of his Hand to be felt Go then again unto Pharaoh saith he unto Moses and let this inflexible person learn to bowe under my Laws for I am resolved at his cost to make my Power and Authority thunder out to the end it may be every where known that I am his Lord and God At the same time the hour was suspended for punishment The next day at the prefixed time and in the same moment which had been appointed the Air began to melt into so prodigious and thick a Hail Et Dominus dedit tonitrua grandinem ac discurrentia fulgura super terram Exod. 9. v. 23. Tantaque fuit magnitudinis quanta ante nunquam apparuit in universa terra Aegypti Exod. 9. v. 24. Et grando ignis mista pariter ferebantur Exod. 9. v. 24. that Egypt had never seen any thing like it That which rendred the accident more dreadful and strange was the noise of Thunder and the frightful mixture of Air Fire Lightnings and Rain which made throughout this unfortunate Countrey an Abyss of horror and misery I leave you to think what dread and affrightment must this Prince have who had inkindled all these fires and raised all these storms over his own head and that of his subjects Alas How frail are the Scepters of this World how weak is the splendor of Crowns and how little resistance have Thrones since there needs but one furious clap of Thunder but one deluge of Rain one Lightning in the Clouds one Wind one Storm of Hail one Exhalation or some Vapor to ravage to destroy to drown to bury in a Tomb of Ashes and Flames all these proud Colossusses and those
out then Pharaoh cry out and awake so many sleepy Souls which lie in soft Downy Beds as Coles under Ashes to entertain the ardor of their impurity Doe you see these lascivious men and these ravinous Wolves who are in quest of their Golden fleece and seek out Flesh and Bloud to satiate the rage of their brutality For this they ingage their Servants and Hand-maids they subborn confidents they lay ambushes every where and either soon or late some chast Sara must be taken away But at the same time Luxuria dulce venenâ—m pernicâ—osa potio humanum corpus debâ—itaâ— vâ—â—lâ—s animi robur â—nervat Hugo à S. Vict. lib. 4. inst Monast lâ—t l. saith Hugo Victorensis the poyson of their infamous Mouths cast forth into the Bosom of Virginity reascends into its Source and steals almost insensibly into the Veins of a Body which immediatly becomes corrupted from whence ariseth that the Heart it self is presently infected and it is from this Plague of Souls and this Canker of Bodies so many fatall blindnesses so many blind furies and so many furious errors doe afterwards Spring which cause in the Body an Abysse of Maladies and in the Soul a Maze or Labyrinth of reason These burning coales and these flames saith Justinian which beget such sad fires in the body and fill souls with so black Ignis internalis est luxuria cujus materies gula cujus flamma superbia cujus sintillae prava colloquia cujus fumus infamia cujus cinis inopia cujus finis gebenna Laur. Just c. 3. de sop in lig vitae and thick a smoak rise from the fire of hell It is this fire to which good chear serves for Nourishment It is this fire which Pride and Presumption inflame and inkindle on all sides It is this fire whose sparkles are Lascivious provocations its smoak is but a most dishonorable Fame its ashes are Miseries and Calamities and in fine it is onely in the Hells of this World where this intestine fire is found Let us judge then after this of the Greatnesse of Evill by the excesse of Punishment and if some one have a mind to die the most detestable death in Nature let him lead the most enormous and execrable life which can be in the sight of Heaven But let us return to Pharao who was constrain'd to stifle his unlawfull Loves in the Ocean of his miseries and who at last restor'd to Abraham the flower which had bin cruelly wrested from him CHAP. III. The Agreement of Abraham and Lot upon the Controversy between their Shepheards PEace and Purity are two sisters which have no other Father or Origin but Love and the Spirit of God which cannot breath but in a calm and in cleannesse there is its native Air Element Temple and the usuall place of its residence And it is peradventure for this reason Solomon was accustomed to adorn the gates of his Temple with Lillies and Olive-branches Inseparable companions desiring thereby to inform us that none are to enter there but by the doors of Peace and under the shade of the Olive-branches which are marks and symboles of Peace and Purity This being so I wonder not that Abraham who was animated with the Spirit of God and endued with no other than the purest passions did express so much love and inclination to Concord and Peace He seemed Neverthelesse to have some cause to commence a sute Unde et facta est rixa inter pastores gregum Abram Loth. Gen. 13. v. 7. to wage war against Lot for the preservation of his rights and authority which might receive some prejudice by the strife which arose between his servants and those of Lot their design being to become Masters contrary to Justice and Reason Which Abraham seing to prevent all the disorders which might ensue on this first design he saith unto Lot Nephew I pr'y thee remember Dixit Abram ad Loth ne quaeso sit jurgium inter me te pastâ—res meos pastores tuos fratres enim sumus Gen. 13. v. 8. that hetherto I have not treated thee as an Uncle but rather as a Brother what a scandal would it be if we should begin to live together either like strangers or else as Enemies I had rather lose all the goods of the world than that of thy friendship But I see clearly that these Shepheards Ecce universa terra coram te est recede à me obsecro si ad sinistram eris ego dexteram tenebo si tu dexteram elegeris ego ad sinistram ibo Gen. 13. v. 9. and mercenary friends are the persons who endeavour to engage our passions with their interests It would then be more prudently done to sever our flocks than to disunite our Mindes and therefore dear Nephew take what you please If thou goest to the right hand I will take the left and if the left I will passe to the right Well then is not this to love peace and to purchase at his own expence so pretious a treasure Is not this to be magnificent and can any one seek an accord with more Prodigality Interessed Souls Where are then these little hearts and these narrow Souls which are still bury'd amidst their own interests Where are these worldly People whose Eyes may sooner be turn'd out of their heads than monies out of their hands Where are all these Pertifoggers and these Lawiers who are alwayes for delatory futes and place all their hopes on a forged will or a false contract They are like Moles which have alwayes their Noses in the Earth and incessantly inlarge their holes and graves What shame is it for a man of courage to be still fighting on a flight occasion and to contest upon the point of a Needle who shall carry it Alas where are the Abrahams where are the brothers kindred and friends who shall say one to the other for Gods sake let us live peaceably rather let us dye a thousand times than wage war for those goods which either soon or late we must leave My God! These are generous The Golden Age and heroick thoughts To hear them I conceive my self to be in those golden Ages when men carry'd their hearts on their lips Crowns of Olive-branches on their heads hornes of plenty in their hands their eyes in each part of their body and the Chains of a holy friendship as bracelets and collers of Gold Finally where the goods of the earth were trodden under foot as common to all men And this caused that plenty of all things was carry'd every where upon a Triumphant Chariot casting Gold and Silver to all that would but take the paines to gather it God himself governed the Reignes of this fortunate Chariot and as if he had a purpose to make every man a Monarch of the universe he said the very same to them as to Abraham when the love of Concord and Peace had sever'd him from Lot My friend Abraham lift
of following God were resolved never to make a stop upon the Earth untill they were arrived at the proposed end What Progress would be seen in Vertues what advances in the way of Paradise and of Glory Moreover if we had often this thought that Gods Eyes are fixed on all the Motions of the Body and Soul should we find so many Cowardly Idle and Lazy Persons standing with their Arms across and whose Reason is buryed in a shamefull Brutality Is it vain then God Commands us to goe alwaies ascending Equality sometimes very dangereus from one degree to another and not to doe like those stinking Waters which stop in the Mire But sometimes to little purpose doth he shew himself and make himself felt by the effects of his Holy presence no Body sees him and none but an Abraham hath Eyes to know him and Feet to follow him every where It is likewise with him he makes an attonement and it is in his Person he establisheth the King of Men and the Father of all believers Moreover as it is the Custom to impose on things a name Conformable to their Nature and as it appertains only to the Elect and such as are predstinated to have Names which must be registred in the Book of Life and which neither times nor seasons will ever efface so God changed his name which till then was Abram adding to it one Divine Letter and one of those Sacred Ciphers of which Men use to express the ineffable Name of God a very evident Sign that he was one day to take as the Apostle saith his Origin and temporall Birth from Abraham Hieronymus in trad Heb. in Genesim Lipomanus ad Heb. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I adde to these Conceptions of St. Jerom that Names as the most faithfull Disciples of Plato believed being the Chariots of Nature and of Essences It was necessary that Abraham who was the Father of all Nations should have also the Title of it and that his name should be an Illustrious Witness thereof Presently after as if this fortunate and glorious Name had been the Seal of the Contract and of the Allyance which God made with Abraham he would render it more sensible and adde to these Cyphers of Love an Impression of Grief and a Character of Blood Then was Circumcision commanded not only for Abraham but for all his Children and Servants Commandement for Circumcision and in generall for all those that should be numbred amongst his Generations Hoc est pactum meum quod observabitis inter me vos semen tuum post te Circumcidetur ex volis omne Masculum Gen. 17. v. 10. Infans osto dicrum circumcidetur in vobis omne Masculum in generationibus vestris tam vernaculus quam emptitius circumcidetur quicumque non suerit de stirpe vestra Gen. 17. v. 12. provided nevertheless they were Males for Women were exempted from the Law Concerning the time prefixed for the accomplishment of this precept it was not to pass the term of Eight dayes and the proposed End was no other than mens accord and peace with God who foreseeing the War which the Body is wont to wage against the Soul gave a Command to cut off the Prepuce as the Center of the impurest and grossest humors which use to nourish and infire the flames to inkindle the funestous Pyle in which the chastest purities are consumed This is the opinion of Saint Thomas St. Chysostom and Theodoret who adde that the Circumcision of the Jews was but a Corporall Figure of that Circumcision which should be in the Spirit of Grace and in the blessed Law of the Messias who desires not a Sacrifice of Bloud and rigour but of Love whose amiable and holy tyranny is sometimes more violent over the Soul than the Law of the Jews hath ever been over the Body Moreover Circumcision was not only a Figure of Baptism of cumcision sign Peace but a Constant and infallible Mark of the agreement God had made with Abraham Now this ordinary denotation of Love and this sacred Testimony of Peace was to be imprinted on the Body of the Hebrews that the remembrance of the favours God had shewed them might increase their duties of Obedience Piety and Faith towards God Thirdly this effusion of Blood was a lively representation and animated by the Faith of Abraham who obeyed the Voice of one God who presently cast Veils over his Eyes infused Light into his Mind and Fires into his Heart which made him abandon all Creatures to remain under the sole Protection of Heaven In the fourth place this Phlebotomy served to distinguish the Jews from other Nations so that as heretofore the Grecians esteemed all the People of the World barbarous and brutall so the Jews had a Custom to call all those Uncircumcised who would not subject themselves to Circumcision In fine this rigour and this Bloodie precept God imposed on the Hebrews was an effect of the first Disafter which deserved tears and cicatrices of Bloud This was the Remedy which Men had to heal this satall wound which remains still bleeding Now there needed such a healing hand as that of Abraham to receive this Bloudy but efficacious Medicine which was to mollifie not only the Obduration of the Jews but had also a secret vertue to wipe away the stains of that mortall Poyson which the Serpent of Paradise or rather of Hell had vomited into all Hearts This was then a particular favour of God unto Abraham but it was not the last for he gave him afterwards the ultimate assurance that Sara who was 90. years old should be the Mother of a Son Et ex illa dabo tibi silium cui benedicturus sum criâ—que innationes reges populorum orientur ex eo Gen. 17. v. 16. Et ait Deus ad Abraham Sara uxor tua pariet tibi filium vocabisque nomen ejus Isaac c. Gen. 17. 1 Cecidit Abraham in faciem suam risit dicent in corde shoâ— putasue cen enario nascetur filius Sara nonagenaria pariet Gen. 17. v. 17. who was to be not only the Prince but the Head and Father of Nations This Son at the same time received his name from the Mouth of God even before his Birth and the name imposed on him was that of Isaack a happy and pleasing name which sounded so sweetly in the Ears of Abraham as presently his poor Soul being unable to bear the excess of this contentment he felt himself surprised with an Amorous fainting which cast him upon the Earth and left him no words in his Mouth but smilingly to say My God! is it possible that an aged Man a hundred years old should be the Father of a Child Omnipotent God! what News dost thou bring unto these poor Parents what joy what pleasure and what transport in their Souls what will Men say when Sara shall grow great with Child by a Miracle from Heaven what
Maids to see what it was I know not who was this fortunate Handmaid which had this Commission but she brought unto her Mistress the little Vessel in which was inclosed the Honor and Prosperity of the people of Israel Yet at first there onely appeared a childe weeping in its swadling clothes and whose bare aspect moved compassion in this good Princess who perceived that it was an effect of her Fathers Edicts Câ—i soror pueri Vis inquit ut vadam vocem tibi mulierem Hebraeam c. Exod. 2. v. 8. and some remnant of Egypts misfortune The Sister then of this found Infant who expected nothing less than such an incounter asked whether they would think it fit for her to bring a Nurse for him Respondit Vade Perrexit puella c. Exod 2. v. 8. Ad quam locuta fiâ—ià Pharaonis Accipe ait puerum istum c. Exod. 2. v. 9. To which the Princess having willingly condescended she ran instantly to finde the Mother of the childe who came as unknown to present her self and to whom presently the Daughter of Pharaoh gave the charge of nursing up this Infant O God! How profound are thy thoughts and how impenetrable are they to ignorant and frantick souls When will the day come when thou wilt withdraw the veil which hides from us so many secrets Children of men poor Egyptians blinde people Will you never open your eyes to follow the light of this sage Intelligence which governs the World under his Laws Is it not the part of a Fool to endeavor to stop the course of this Primum mobile which moves the Heavens and makes all the Elements to quake Is it not to oppose Feathers unto the Waves of the Sea and to the Thunders of the Air Is it not to be more brutish and less sensible than Beasts which follow the instinct and conduct of their Creator It is then in my Dominion saith this Lord all Beasts of the Forests abide they are all mine Sovereign Empire and it is in my bosom where I see every year the beauty of the Fields displaying it self It is I who bear Riches and Honors in my hands and who place Diadems upon the heads of Kings All Temples then must be demolished and all Altars rased where we adore casual Destinies and frightful Fortunes which yield nothing but smoke obscurity dread and terror For my part Confidence in God I had rather float in a Cradle of Bulrushes and land at a good Haven having God for my Pilot his Providence for my Helm his Power for my Mast Hopes for my Sails his Love for my Cordages Faith for my Anchors his Favor for my sweet Gales and good Works for my Oars than to bury my self alive in the midst of an Abyss led by Pharaoh and followed by an Army which hath neither Assurance nor Hope but on the Wings of the Winds always light and mutable in an Element ever perfidious amongst unskilful men and a thousand hazards which blow in the Sails and govern the Stern during the course of so dangerous a Navigation O my Saviour I am but an Orphan abandoned by Father and Mother forsake me not be thou my guide upon the Billows and in the Tempests of this life my Watch-Tower in the midst of the Night and my secure Haven during the storm O my most sweet and most amiable Redeemer do not abandon me since I am thine both by Nature and Grace at least place me under the protection of thy Mother of thy Daughter and of the Eldest Sister thou hast given me It is enough for me to live in the favor of Mary it sufficeth me to enjoy the least of her regards to be eternally happy Let us steer then O my Soul Let us steer against the current of the Water Pharaoh loseth his labor in despight of Egypts rage of Hell and of all the Infernal Spirits soon or late thou wilt land in the fortunate Iland where thou shalt be received into the Arms of the Queen of Heaven Yes Desireable Lot my Soul if thou dost dedicate thy self unto thy God I promise thee a Fortune as glorious as that of this little Infant which was exposed on the River Nilus and who under the amiable conduct of his Sister Mary hapned to fall into the lap of a Queen who adopted him for her Son Where observe I beseech you Quem illa adoptavit in bocum filii vocavitque nomen ejus Moises dicens Quia de aquis tuli eum Exod 2. v. 10. That it was this Royal Mouth which for a sign she had prese rved him from the Waters gave him this fair name of Moses and caused him to be educted and taught at Court with cares worthy of a wise Princess and a good Mother It was in this Noble School he learnt all the Arts and Sciences which were then current in Egypt that is to say Geometry Arithmetick Astronomy Musick and the most hidden Mysteries of the Hierogliphick in which were found all the rarest Secrets of naturall Philosophy Theology and Policy Clement Alexandrinus also believed that he then learn't Physick and the Civill Law Philo adds over and above that they called thither Masters out of Greece as the best versed in the Liberall Sciences and Chaldeans came by her appointment to teach him the way how to foretell things to come by the aspect of the Planets as also Assyrians to teach him their Ciphers and Characters In fine it is most certain that God poured his most beautifull Lights into his mind and it was this great Master who taught him the Command over Passions and chiefly Meekness Love Affability Liberality greatness of Courage and all the Vertues requisite for a person who was to be Governour of the people of Israel and the Lieutenant Generall of the Armies of the Omnipotent God CHAP. II. The Zeal of Moses and his Marriage with the Daughter of the Prince of Madian THe fairest Vertues would be but bodyes without a Soul Planets without light Excellency of Zeal and its Source and extinguished Torches if these generous ardors and those bright irradiations which we call by the name of Zeal and will give motion light and splendour unto the most holy Actions were taken from them God himself was pleased to take upon him the name of Zelot and when he appeared unto the Prophet under the shape of a man having one half of his body in a flame of fire this was but an Image of the Zeal which inflames him And it is for this cause as I believe Sophonius said that the world shall be devoured by the fire of this Divine Zeal Now it is out of this Furnace that Angels and Men have drawn vigorous flames which inkindled in their hearts a Zeal which all the waters of the Deluge could not have quench'd Viditque afflictionem corum â—â—rum Aegyptiacum percutientem quendam de Hebraeis fratribus suis Exod. 2. v. 11. Cumque circumspexisset
testifie at least by their sighs and tears the violence and injustice of the slavery in which they had lived for their Clamour having ascended unto heaven he that is always propitious to those who earnestly call upon him shewed them that he had not forgotten the pact and agreement he had made with Abraham Isaack and Jacob. CHAP. III. Of the flaming Bush THE office of a Shepheard was antiently a noble imployment The Apprentiship of Empires And Philo who hath been one of the most faithfull Historians of the first ages called it in expresse termes the prelude to an Empire that is to say to the government of men which ought to be the most humane and most amiable of all others This most wise and learned Authour passed much further for he believ'd that person could be only perfect in the art of ruling who was a good Shepheard and who governing flocks whose conduct is most facil had learnt how a man must behave himself in commanding those whose government is more difficult and important It was then for this cause the first men of the world The first shepheards of the world and the most illustrious persons of the old Testament had this innocent imployment as if God would have them passe this apprentiship to render them capable of ruling this people for whom he had a particular care It was also for the most part in these imployments which have less of Pomp and splendour than sweetness and repose that God who delightes in humility and peace hath chosen humble and peaceable souls to give himself unto them and make them both see and feel that it was his hand which had guided them in the fields and out of the noise and tumults to the end their minds might be better prepared to hear and receive the laws and precepts which he intended to give them and that the night and obscurity of a Country and solitary life Moises autem pascebat oves Gethro soceri sui sacerdotis Madian cumque minasset gregem ad interiora deserti venit ad montem Dci Horeb. Exod. 3. v. 1. Apparuit ei Dominus in flimma ignis de medior rubi videbat quod rubus arderet non conbureretur Exod. 3. v. 2. might serve to raise the luster of that glory and dignity to which he had designed them So when Moses went guiding the sheep of Iethro who was his father-in-Law one day as he was in the thickest part of the desart whether the feeding were better or whether as it is more probable he had a desire to attend more sweetly to contemplation having at length reached the top of Mount Sina called Horeb he saw God in a fiery Bush which neverthelesse was not consumed in the midst of the flames This was no illusion of the Understanding The verity of the Bush the figure of a dream nor any phantasticall image which appear'd to Moses But the second Person of the most holy Trinity or at least some Angell who represented him This fire likewise was a true and real fire produced by a Divine breathing and by an Angelicall hand which without breaking the Laws of Nature was able to draw this fire either out of Wood the Air or those stones which were about this sacred Bush The respect neverthelesse the fire bore unto a matter which it never spares was not naturall there requir'd a Miracle to stay the course of its activity and the rigour of those flames which issued forth of the earth had not left this Wood unconsum'd if He whose least glance inlightens the stars in the heavens without whom the Sun Moon would remain in darkness had not suspended for a while this active conjunction and these fertile and powerfull influences without which creatures have neither life motion nor action Now to understand what this miracle denoted A fair subject of Enâ—gma we must presuppose that Fire hath been always a Symbol of the Divinity not only amongst the Egyptians Grecians Chaldeans and Romans but amongst all other people of the Earth who have not seen any thing more conformable more resembling a most pure Divine flames subtill simple and luminous Nature living only in the splendours and flames which flow from its substance then a most pure subtile simple Element which hath no life but amidst Lights and Ardours naturall to it It being so this Enigma can have no other literal sense than this This fire is the Image of God and the flaming Bush a figure of the Israelites whom these Divine flames kept in a gentle heat where like gold in the Furnace they might be purified but not consum'd They that will otherwise explicate this Picture may say that this is God cloathed with our humane nature the Aeternall Word who is all fire who cast himself amidst the Thorns and Brambles of a weak and mortall nature which could not yet be consumed by the ardours of those flames which incompass it on all sides Others with Rupertus Theodoret and St. Bernard will believe that it was a figure of the blessed Virgin whose Chastity as a fiery bush could not be violated although she had brought forth him who is nothing but Splendour Fire Light and Ardour However it be and what ever can be said of it we must approach neerer unto it with Moses and behold with a holy respect this Stupendious Vision Cernens autem Dominus quod pergeret ad videndum vocavit eum de medio rubi ait Moses Moses qui respondit adsum Exed 3. v. 4. At illâ— ne appropies inquit huc solve calceamentum de â—edibus tuis locus enim in quo stas terra sancta est Exod. 3. v. 5. Et ait Ego sum Deus patris tui Deus Abrabam Deus Isaac Deus Jacob. Exod. 3. v. 6. Abscondit Moises faciem suaâ— non enim audebat aspicere contra Deum Exod. 3. v. 6 I hear already the voice of God who calls this happy solitary person and who in the midst of this flaming Pyle say's unto him Moses Moses Lord what is thy pleasure answers this amiable Sheapheard Behold me ready to doe all that thou shalt command The sight of this Sacred Bush had surprised him and given him a holy Curiosity to approach and see it neer at hand But as he advanced God sayd unto him that the place where he set his Feet was Holy ground that he must put off his shooes and besides He that had spoken to him was the great God of his Father the God of Abraham Isaack and Jacob. At these words Moses remained so much astonished and the sight of this Object ravished him with so sweet a violence as he was inforc'd to veil his Eyes too weak to endure the Splendor and Majesty of God who seeing him so plyable and obedient spake to him as a good Father who feels his heart touched with compassion for the miseries of his poor Children I have Cui ait Vidi
is but Air which spreds it self to an Infinity others will follow Democritus who adored no other god than Fire or else Anaximander who had no other Divinity but the Stars or Diogenes who ascribed unto him a Body of Wind animated with Reason or Chrysippus who fastned him to a cruel destiny or Parmenides who made him to be a Circle to surround the Heavens or Stratonicus who sacrificed all his Loves unto Nature or Epicurus who amazed himself to form a god of Atoms And in fine some others would side with Varro Cleanthes and Anaxagoras or some other Dreamers who never knew the true God of Moses and though his Name be ineffable and his Essence incomprehensible yet we cannot be ignorant of his Power and Goodness CHAP. VII The Obduration of Pharaoh 's Heart NAture cannot give unto men Finite Power of Nature but what is within her sphere and as her power is finite so she can onely give them finite and limitted Presents God alone to whom all is possible can onely bestow Favors on us which are not common and it belongs onely unto him to convert Glass into Silver Straws into Gold and to make Gods of Men if he so please He did it once by uniting two Natures in one and the same Subject and making God Man who is God no less than himself But without speaking of this Mystery which is not to be parallel'd was but once done God hath been often pleased to make men gods to whom without communicating his Nature he hath imparted to them his most illustrious qualities and cheifly the power he hath over all created things which is properly to make gods on earth or at least men who are Demi gods In this maner Saint Basil was the god of the Emperor Valens Saint Ambrose of the Empress Justinia Saint Athanasius and Saint Hillary of Constantine and in the first Ages Elias of King Achab but this glorious Title was given unto Moses by a particular privilegeâ— Dixitque Dominus ad Moisen Ecce constitui te Deum Pharaonis Aaron frater tuus erit Propheta tuus Exod. 7. v. 1. Fecit itaque Moises Aaron sicut praeceperat Dominus Exod. 7. v. 6. when God from his own mouth established him for the God of Pharaoh and when at the same time he gave him his Brother for a Prophet Presently after this God and this Prophet I mean this Moses and his Brother who were instructed what to do and concerning what was to happen returned unto Pharaoh and there Moses shewed him prodigies which were evident tokens of the power God had given him First Tulitque Aaron virgam coram Pharaone servis ejus quae versa est in colubrum Exod. 7. v. 10. Vocavit autem Pharao sapientes maleficos secerunt etiam ipsi per incantationes Aegyptiacas arcana quadâ—m similiter Exod 7. v. 11. Projeceruntque finguli virgas suas quae versae sunt in dracones Exod. 7. v. 12. having cast upon the ground the Rod he carried in his hand it became spotted with Scales and changed into a Serpent which after a thousand little windings extended it self at its full length and walked in the presence of Pharaoh who being surprised therewith and not knowing the cause of this prodigious change assembled the wise men of Egypt that is to say the Inchanters and Magitians who had a minde to do the same that Moses did And in effect after some Charms shewed Dragons into whose shape God had permitted them to Metamorphise their Wands that it might appear what Magick could do and how it deceives us by its Inchantments as also to try the Constancy and Faith of Moses and the Hebrews who were present and to teach us That the Devil is but an Ape who imitates and counterfeits Truth Sed devoravit virga Aaron virgas corum Exod. 7. v. 12. In fine God permitted it to confound these Magitians for all their prodigies and all their little Serpents were instantly devoured by that of Moses Such is commonly the end and success of the Inventions and Master-peeces of the Devil the beginning is always fair the appearances have splendor but they are but false Stars formed in a Cloud Ciphers ingraven on Sand and in a word Phantasms and Idols which have nothing real but falshood or at least what lasts but for a time Histories are filled with examples which prove this verily But to express what seems to me most important upon this matter God as I have said often permits prodigious effects unto Cheaters and false Prophets for those reasons I newly touched But that which astonisheth me the most Prodigious effects of Divine Providence is that he often times and justly makes use of them to harden hearts and to blind certain spirits who are dazeled with the rayes of the Sun and shut their eyes against the splend ours of this beautifull Planet to follow the smoak of a Torch of Sulphure and Rosin carried by a Diabolical hand and by some infernal spirit Is it not a strange blindness Dreadfull obstinacy and a frightful obstinacy when the voice of a Devill is preferred before that of an Angell and when more belief is given unto the illusions of an Inchanter than unto the words and Actions of a God and a Prophet Pharaoh saw Moses Et Clevans Virgam percussit aquam Fliminis coram Pharaone servis ejus quae versa est in sanguinem Exod. 1. v. 20. Et pisces qui erant in slumine mortui sunt Exod. 7. v. 21. who changed his Rod into a Serpent and this Serpent taking the form of a Rod. He sees the waters of Nilus and Egypt which being strucken by it are converted into bloud and all the Fishes which dye therein He persists notwithstanding in his first design and in stead of humbling himself under the Omnipotent hand of God under the Rod of Moses and at the sight of these bloudy waves which glided along the River Nilus and had caused the death of Fishes as it were to advertise men of the like disaster he amuzed himself with the illusions of some Inchanters who flattered him by shewing him some Prodigie or rather some false Mask drawn over these truths However it be this miserable wrerch became like a Rock which derides a storm Pittifull state of an obdurate heart like a Diamond which cannot be broken and like that famous Buckler which bore for devise I cannot be pierced Hee was an insensible Colossus who had Eyes and saw not Hands and not able to use them Feet though he could not walk and who had a Heart invironed with blunted Arrows and Darts which could make no breach Behold the true picture of Pharaoh's heart The picture of Pharaoh's heart which became so insensible amidst the Thunder-bolts which God darted at it that at last it remain'd as cold as Marble and as hard as Brasse which all the waters of the Sea could not soften This
which they usually invelop themselves even in the same fire It is allmost impossible that the World can ever enjoy a perfect peace so long as there shall be men for peace it self is very often the mother of warr repose which gives truce unto the soul raiseth in it a thousand thoughts and passions which arm themselves at the beating of the first Alarm and advance into the field upon the first occasion God himself marcheth in the head of battalions and I know not whether it be not for this cause he Calls himself the great God of Hostes well doe I know that he always presides there making use of them to reward some and to punish others and to the end we may take notice that war is one of his scourges and that there be always invisible weapons resembling so many torches which he lights and extinguisheth according to his good pleasure In fine it is a most infallible verity that victory in war though wavering and inconstant in its own nature remains in the hand of God and it is a Bird which cannot take its flight but to that part which is assign'd it by his most holy Providence The Israelites had a powerfull motive to know this verity in the first war they were enforced to maintain against the Amalekites after their passage over the Red Sea This people had for their King and general the son of Eliphas called Amaleck of Esau's race Venit autem Amalec pugnavit contra Jsrael in Raphidim Exod 17. v. 8. of whom they had as it were inherited an implacable hatred against Jacob and the Hebrews who descended from him This was the motive of their taking up arms besides their fear seeing this great multitude led by Moses who marched towards the Land of Promise as if the happy moment were come in which the Benediction which Jacob had in a manner forced from Esau was to be accomplished Methinks when I cast my eyes upon these mutinous troops which forraged the Country and pursu'd the Hebrews with so much fury and animosity I see an army of hobgoblins which are commonly called the inciters of Flesh and Blood which have no sooner perceiv'd a soul out of the Lands of Egypt and out of the empire of carnall and mundane pleasures but they presently take the field to assault her and to disturb her entry into the happy Land which was promised her and into some holy retreat But we must fear nothing since we need but lift up our hands to Heaven like Moses and implore the assistance of that great Intelligence who never abandons those who are inroled under his Standard and fight valiantly for the honour of his name Cumque levaret Moises manus vincebat Israel sin autem paululum remisisset superabat Amalec Exod. 17. v. 11. Yes at the same time that this great Captain lifted up his Arm towards God to implore his aid and to give him a sign that he only expected the victory from him the people of Israel became Conquerors but if he chanced never so little to let down his Hand these poor people would be lost and overcome by Amaleck O God The efficacy of prayer what victory Kings Captains Soldiers entire Legions are defeated by the ejaculations sighs and prayers of one single man what efficacy of Prayer It is Theater where death finds life a Throne where weakness takes force and Majesty a Field where Laurels and Palms are reaped a Sea which hath alwaies prosperous gales and an Air where Graces and Angels incessantly fly Prayer is not only as St. Ephraim saith the monument and Sepulcher of dying men the Sanctuary of the Afflicted the Advocate of Criminals the Seal and Character of purity the Nurse of temperance the Bridle of impatience the Conserver of peace but the Standard also of War and the Soul of all our triumphs who will wonder then if the Amalekites be defeated since Moses who was the most devout ardent zealous and holy Man upon Earth made his most humble supplications unto God for this purpose Manus autem Moisi erant graves c. Exod. 17. v. 12. Aaron autem Hur sustentabant manus eius ex utraque parte Exod. 17. v. 13. But I fear lest the forces of his Spirit might weaken those of the Body and that at last his Arms and Hands stretched out towards Heaven might suffer themselves to follow their naturall propension towards the Earth I assure my self that Hur and Aaron had the same apprehension for behold them on the top of a little Hill Hur on the one side and Aaron on the other supporting the victorious Hands and the conquering Arms of Moses Fugavitque Josue Amalec populum eius in ore gladii Exod. 17. v. 13. whilst Josua pursued and put to the Sword both Amaleck and his Amalekites who discerned in their flight and by their defeat that it was more than a humane Hand which had assailed and vanquished them Behold then the victories of Heaven and Crowns wrought by the Hand of God who will have the whole World to know that there are for his Soldiers Laurels and Palms in his Hands and on the contrary Thunderbolts and Lightnings to dart against his enemies Non ego ó Imperator victus sum sed tuipse prodidisti victoâ—iam qui contra Deum aciem instruere non desinis Deum sequitur victoria ad eos accedet quibus se Deus dacem praebet Theo. lib. 4. hist c. 29. Trajan was not ignorant of this when having been sent by Valens to conduct troops which were defeated under his command he had the courage to say unto him at his return That he had not been vanquished but rather the person that sent him and who was so temerarious as to raise troops against him whose steps are alwaies followed by those of victory The Emperour Theodorus had the same thoughts when having received news in a full Theater and in the midst of the sports used in the Circus that a certain Tyrant his enemy had been overcome commanded all that were present to follow him Niceph. lib. 4. c. 7. to render thanks unto God as unto the Author of this prosperous success France also knows the glorious victory which Clotarius gained after a troublesome and domestique War Gregorius Turon lib. 4. c. 16. 17. by the help of prayer In fine not to search further into former ages and to dis-inter so many Princes who have been either Conquerors or Conquered by this kind of Arms we need but cast our eyes upon the victories of our incomparable Lewis and amongst others on that of the Isle of Ree where like an other Moses he lifted up his Hands unto Heaven in the Chapel of Saumeur and then like Josua he pursued his enemies even to the destruction of their Ships and even into the bosom of the proudest and most rebellious City in the World where at last he might justly say unto his France what God said
had passed and knowing that he could not forbear earnestly to call upon his clemency for these guilty men he spake unto him just as if his hands had been tied behinde him and as if he could not have darted the Thunderbolts of his wrath until Moses had consented thereunto Moses Dimitte me ut irascatur furor meus contra eos c. Exod. 32. v. 10. said he thy people have sinned against me and their sin cryeth out for vengeance but the prayers thou makest for them keep back my arm and I cannot cause my Lightnings to break forth if thou dost not detain those ejaculations and flames which oppose me and reinkindle my goodness even in the bosom of my severest Justice Not that God St. Hieron in 5 Da. niel saith Saint Jerome is changeable or that he can change for his nature is not subject to mutation but the order of things may alter according to the course of his Divine Providence We must not also imagine that his Decrees can be changed within himself for they are eternal Consilium Deus non mutat sedrem Greg. lib. 20. Moral 24. and engraven in his proper Essence all the change in this case befals the souls of sinners as they are absolved and freed from the pains they had merited The which is done not by any change in God or in his Decrees but in those against whom the sentence of condemnation had been given and this change ariseth either from the goodness of God or by the Intercession of his Saints It is then for Moses sake Faciamque te in gentem magnam Exod. 32. v. 10. God will seem to alter his designs for notwithstanding all that God said to him his zeal passeth yet farther and he refuseth all the offers made him even of another people and of a more ample Government to assist these ungrateful persons It seems saith Saint Gregory Charitas in sancto ejus pectore ex persecutione â—â—nescebat magis Greg. 27. Mor. 7. that love and compassion were the more inflamed by the breath of the Injuries and Affronts which were offered him just as water which becomes the hotter the more cold the air is which incompasseth it and a fire whose ardors become more violent Vt perire malint cum his qui sibi crediti sunt quam sine illit salvos esse Chrysost Hom. 12. in cap. 1. S. Joan. Placatusque est Dominus ne faceret malum quod locutus fuerat adversus populum suum Exod 32. v. 14. Et reversus est Morses de monte portans duas tabulas testimonii in manu sua scriptas ex utraque parte Exod. 32. v. 15. Cumque appropinquasset ad castra vidit vitulum choros iratusque valde projecit de manu tabulas confregit eas ad radicem montis Exo. 32. v. 19. Arripiensque virtulum quem fecerant combussit contrivit usque ad pulverem quem sparsit in aquam Exo. 32.20 Dixitque ad Aaron quid tibi fecit hic populus ut induceres super eum peccatum maximum Exod. 32. v. 21. Cui ille respondit c. Exod. 32. v. 22. Et stans in porta castrorum ait Si quis est Domini jungatur mihi Congregatique sunt ad eum omnes fitu Levi. Exod. 32. v. 26. S. Greg. in 1 Reg. 14. Rupertns alti passim Quibus ait haec dicit Dominus Deus Israel ponat vir gladium super femur suum Ice reddite de porta usque ad portam c. Exod. 32. v. 27. proportionably as the cold which presseth it is more forcible Behold saith Saint John Chrysostom the Antiperistasis of perfect Charity wherein all hearts which have any charge of souls ought to finde the increase of their most holy and just ardors And this is what Moses did in the midst of the contempts and persecutions of all his people for whom when he had obtained some easment of pain and some diminution of the punishments they had deserved he descended from the Mountain carrying between his arms the Tables in which the Law was written on both sides which he thought not yet convenient to give unto such unworthy people and polluted with the most heinous of all Sacrileges but having broken them in peeces he went directly to cast down the Golden Calve and dissolve it into dust which he afterward threw into the stream of a torrent which issued forth of Mount Sina and passed through the midst of the Hebrews Camp to the end they might swallow down these funestous Reliques and that no man might ever behold them without horror Afterwards he blamed Aaron as the Author of this crime who endeavored to excuse himself relating to him in order what had passed the which did not yet divert Moses from doing what his zeal inspired him For from thence he came to the entrance of the Camp where making a stand he cryed out that all that were of Gods party and had not participated of Idolatry should follow him which the Children of Levi hearing whose Tribe had continued most faithful unto God put themselves in a ring about Moses who following the Sovereign Power of Life and Death which he had received from God commanded them to betake themselves to their Arms and lay about them without sparing any of the guilty either Brother Friend Neighbor or any person amongst these impious men so that the number of the dead amounted to three and twenty thousand Behold a strange massacre nevertheless it is an effect of meekness which hath changed its countenance and taken that of severity These are shafts which issued out of a heart the fullest of Pity and Clemency which was then in the world but shot by the hand of Justice If such as govern Republicks and States had nothing but Crowns to recompence their merits Misericordia veritas custodiunt Regein roboratur clementia thronus ejus Exod. 20. v. 28. and no Thunderbolts to punish the wicked quickly would Insolencies Treacheries Concussions Robberies and all the abominations of the Earth be seen holding the Reigns of Empires and in fine Virtue groaning under the feet of Vice and Impiety A Prince ought to have the meekness of a Lamb and the terror of a Lyon otherwise men abuse him and his power seems but for a support unto the blackest dissolutions The people also ought to love with fear otherwise their love degenerates into contempt I know that Thrones have no foundation more solid and immovable than when they are supported by the hearts of their Subjects but if Guards be not placed about them as so many Pillars there needs but one storm to overthrow them It cannot be doubted but this kinde of mixture is full of difficulty but as a body is never in perfect health but when all its four humors are in an equal temper so Kingdoms are never better governed than when they equally use meekness and severity Choler is the touchstone of Virtue
erat quasi species ignis usque mane Num. 9. v. 15. Sic siebat jugiter per diem operiebat illud nubes per nectem quasi species ignis Num. 9. v. 16. the last prodigy was the Pillar which served them for a Torch amidst the obscurities of the night and for an umbrello to oppose the over-violent ardors of the day It was a Chariot of Fire and a Cloud conducted by an Intelligence which held the Reigns thereof and guided it according to the will of God It was a Barque in the Air more fortunate than that which heretofore carried in artificial fire the hopes of Greece For this Vessel had real Fires its Pilot marked out as some have believed the seasons of the year and the hours of the day and night It was a Standard which accompanied and preceded all the Triumphs and Victories of the Hebrews and at the same time routed their enemies It was the Holy Standard whose Ciphers were Love-nets and Draughts of Clemency it was a Sun in Eclipse and a Cloud where the Sun was in his Meridian The Morning and Evening Stars saw this Veil hanging over the Camp of the Israelites when they were inforced to make a halt and flying when they were to march God himself made sometimes use of it as his Throne Si fuisset nubes à vespere usque ad mane statim diluculo tabernaculum reliquisset proficiscebantur Et si post diem noctem recessisset dissipabant tentoria Num. 9. v. 21. and these resplendent obscurities this luminous night and this day shadowed with Clouds served him for a Veil through which he darted on the people the splendors of his glory and the shafts of his amiable Providence which gave the first motion to the Pillar and conducting Angel Is not this a lively Image of the Holy Ghost who is the Pillar of Saints and of the Church who gives strength unto the feeble and light unto the blinde He illuminates during the night of sin and placeth us under his Wings during the day of Grace This amiable Pillar goes marking out our Lodgings during this whole Pilgrimage and at last will stop when it must take its resting place and make its last retreat under the Canopy of Heaven O Israel Chosen People lose not then the sight of this Pillar it is for thee it is for all and if thine eyes cannot endure the splendor of its Rayes put thy feir at last under its shadow and never forsake it until this Divine Cloud which covers thee pour down into thy heart and until without veil or mixture thou maist receive the clarities which make the Paradise and glory of the Blessed for the rest thou needst fear nothing For there is no person who may not gain a place in Heaven and break all the obstacles on Earth following this most Blessed Guide and never losing the sight of these pleasing Lights The Humble may raise themselves by respect and fear the Merciful by the love of Piety the Couragious by Valor the Considerate by Counsel the Provident by the Prudence of Saints the most Solid by Wisdom and such as have the Gift of Discretion by Knowledge and by the various Trials they shall have CHAP. XLVI The Brazen Serpent Quod cum audisset Chananaeus rex Arad qui babitabat ad meridiem venisse scilicet Israel per explorator ◠viam pugnavit contra illum victor existens duxit ex eo praedam Num. 21. v. 1. A While after the death of Mary and Aaron when the people pursued their voyage towards the Holy Land Arad King of the Canaanites had no sooner heard the news of it but he instantly took the field to hinder their further advance It was upon the same way that two years after their departure out of Egypt the Hebrews had sent their Spies into the Land of Canaan and this was the occasion which moved Arad to raise forces in great haste imagining that all these Travellers and Strangers had no other intention than to invade his Territories and render themselves masters of his Country The first conflicts were very prosperous to this Prince At Israel voto se Domino obligans ait Si tradideris populū istū in manu mea delebo urbes ejus Num. 21. v. 2. Exaudivitque Dominus preces Israel tradidit Chananaeum quē ille interfecit subversis urbibus ejus vocavit nomen illius Horma id est anathema Num. 21. v. 3. Profecti sunt autem de monte Hor per viam quae ducit ad Mare rubrum ut circumirent terram Edom. Et taedere coepit populum itineris ac laboris Num. 21. v. 4. Locutusque contra Deum Moisen ait Cur eduxisti nos de Aegypto ut moreremur in solitudine Deest panis non sunt aquae anima nostra jam nauseat super cibo isto levissimo Num. 21. v. 5. and I am confident he would have defeated his Enemies if God had not combined against him according to the solemn Vow the Israelites made to demolish for his honor all the strong holds of this King and to lay so many Anathemaes on them that there might remain nothing but the execrable footsteps and bloody marks of the abominations and impieties which reigned in the Land of Canaan And this they did after a general victory from thence pursuing their way toward the Red Sea and about the Lands of Idumea But in fine these ungrateful men seeing already their promised Palms could not forbear to mingle murmurs with their Songs of Victory and the vexation they had to see themselves so long in a Pilgrimage made them lose the remembrance of him who had conducted them through the desart and rendred them conquerors over their Enemies after he had in a maner inforced the Elements and the most insensible Bodies of Nature to contribute unto their necessities Ah! said they we have too long wandred in this solitary place sometimes upon Mountains and then in Valleys nevertheless after a journey of forty years we have not hitherto reached the Haven And even this Manna which fell from Heaven and which indeed hath hitherto supplied our most pressing necessities is yet but a very slight nourishment and which affords more distaste than benefit Why did we then leave Egypt to come into these desarts and arid places where we have neither Water nor Bread Can we truly represent unto our selves a more unworthy and blinde ingratitude than this But where may we finde punishments harsh enough to inflict on this impious people and darts sharp enough to cause a resentment of so great a disloyalty I could wish that all the Oaths of these perjured persons had been numbred after so many favors and miracles done for their sake and yet behold their Sacrifices their Offerings their Vows and all their Gratitude Why have you brought us hither and why have you delivered us out of slavery to cause us to die with hunger and thirst in this desart
Behold Quamobrem misu Dominus in populum igneos serpentes ad corum plagas mortes plurimorum Num. 21. v. 6. Venerunt ad Moisen atque dixetunt Peccavimus quia locuti sumus contra Dominum te Ora ut tollat à nobis serpentes Oravitque Moises pro populo Num. 21. v. 7. the complaints and murmurings which even scorched the Sands of Arabia as with a breath of fire and flames which was no other than the Spirit of God which immediately produced there an infinite number of Serpents whose bitings were so cruel and ardent that one would have believed they had been so many coals or some kinde of wilde-fire applied to the flesh of these miserable wretches if those Vipers and Scorpions had not been seen which spared no man causing with their Teeth upon these infamous Bodies such stinging pains and fiery wounds that it brought them even unto dispair And I believe it would have reduced these guilty persons into Ashes if they had not at least acknowledged their sin and obtained some remedy more than humane by the mediation of Moses Now this Remedy was no other than a great Brazen Serpent which God commanded Moses to make Et locutus est Dominus ad cum Fac serpentem aeneum posuit eum pro signo auem cum percussi aspicerent sanabantur Num. 21. v. 8 9. and erect in the desart upon which they had no sooner cast their eyes but they were instantly cured though it were but a sign and mark of that hand which had erected this Trophy of his Power and the Image of his Goodness to the end the Remedy might be the more conformable to the disease and that such as had been punished by Serpents after they had vomitted all the venome out of their serpentine mouths might have at least this counter-poison which was as it were inclosed within this miraculous Serpent Now all this was but a most lively figure of Jesus Christ fastned on the Cross who bore all the most bloody marks and the most shameful appearances of a sinner although he were Purity and Innocency it self which can receive no stain of sin The Brass whereof the Serpent was formed and which amongst all other Metals hath I know not what more solid qualities and less subject unto corruption denoted nothing else but the Divinity of Jesus Christ and his Eternity We may also observe with Saint Austin upon this Figure some marks of the resplendency and glory of the Cross which carried its light and splendor even unto the shadows of Gentilism and Idolatry where its Trophies and Power have appeared notwithstanding the rage and fury of the most dreadful Tyrants In fine if this Brazen Serpent bore certain colours of fire who sees not that it was a very evident token of Love and Charity which passed even into the bosom of a Father to seek a Son and into the flames of a Sanctuary to seek a God to convert him into a man of Fire which descended not on Earth but to inflame him with the amorous ardors of his infinite Charity O God! O Love What goodness what flames where hath such a prodigy and miracle of Love been ever seen A God takes upon him the form of a sinner represented by this Serpent and was pleased by his death to cure those who have been the torturers and persecutors of his life Alas my poor heart Art thou not one of those who have murmured against God Have not these languishments and vexations which thou canst not conceal in his service provoked him to render thee a prey unto those Vipers which are commonly nourished in the fire of concupiscence and are often born on the sands of the Desart and in the retirement of the most pleasing solitudes to flie afterwards into the greatest Assemblies and into the heart of the World where thou must perish of wounds amongst the dead unless some Moses in thy favor address himself unto him who hath created thee to save and not to damn thee O my Jesus O my Saviour Grant me then this favor that I may cast mine eyes upon thy Cross and on thy Self to the end If any deceiptful Serpent hath infected me with his bitings and inkindled some ardors and flames in my veins in beholding you I may burn onely with those of thy Holy Love CHAP. XLVII The last Actions of Moses TO make a relation of the last Actions performed by Moses I must imitate Geographers and Painters who contract upon their Canvas strokes and lines to form an Epitomy of the Heavens Elements and the greatest Bodies in nature nevertheless I could not undertake so hard a task if the design thereof had not been marked out even by his hand of whom I pretend to speak But since I must here onely work upon the original and draw some copy of it it is enough for me to do like those Apprentices who study to express at least in a rough draught the rarest Ideas of their Master The Pencil then of Moses must finish this Picture and there is no person I believe who may not know that his hand and pen have followed the tracts of his Spirit and that there was but one Moses who could worthily describe and publish the commands of God whose instincts he so justly followed as to see and hear him it was apparent that God animated his sentiments who spoke by his mouth who wrought by his hands and who became as it were the soul of his soul so intimately was he united to him and all his actions This appeared during the whole course of this great Patriarcks life but chiefly near his end and namely when he saw himself even upon the point of leaving this beloved people of whom he had been the Prince Father The Testament of Moses Prophet and Law-giver He must resolve then to give them his last words and take his last farewel he must declare all his desires and draw his last will to the end it might be afterwards engraven upon Stones and that at least every seven years there might be made a general publication thereof as also that Kings might themselves read it before their Election to learn from thence the Laws and Precepts which are as it were the souls of Princes and the principal wheels of Empires Now this Testament was no other than Deuteronomy Hieronimus in prologo Galleato August Q. 49. Theod. hic Q. 1. Athanas in Synop. Quadragessimo anno undecimo mense prima die mensis locutus est Moises ad filios Israel omnia quae praeceperat illi Dominus ut disceret eis Deut. 1. v. 3. Trans Jordanem in terra Moab Deut. 1. v. 5. which as Saint Jerome saith is as it were the Second Law or rather according to the opinion of Theodoret Saint Austin and Saint Athanasius a repetition of the first which was published on Mount Sina and amply set forth in Exodus Leviticus and the Book of Numbers It was about the fortieth year