Selected quad for the lemma: hand_n
Text snippets containing the quad
|
ID |
Title |
Author |
Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) |
STC |
Words |
Pages |
|
A46691
|
Daniel in the den, or, The lord president's imprisonment, and miraculous deliverance represented in a discourse from Heb. XI V. 33 / by S. J., rector of Chinner ...
|
Jay, Stephen, d. 1689.
|
1682
(1682)
|
Wing J497; ESTC R16865
|
20,234
|
40
|
in the Plot and is Persecuted in the Captive basely Betrayed to Sign the Decree which Seals his own Vexation and Trouble 'T is they and not Daniel were guilty of the Treason against his Royal Tranquility and Peace Ill-condition'd Men Is this your Loyalty to your King must the Object of your Princes Favour become presently the Subject of your Hate must he not live because the King Loves and has Honour'd him Then is Royal Affection become miserably Ominous its Embraces are avoided as a Disease the Eye of its Favour become Mortal as a Basilisk's Unhappy Daniel to be so Lov'd and so Hated so passionately Lov'd by the King so universally Malign'd by his Nobles Here 's not one of all the Peers has a pity for thee The Princes Address for Execution But the King Demurrs they jointly Address for thy speedy Execution Nemine Contradicente The King singly demurrs and while he does so they impatiently Address a second time and had not so prosperously succeeded hitherto now to suffer their Plot to Perish in Embryo Malice makes them forget good Manners they incroach on Majesty grow Rude and Uncourtly Know O King that the Law of the Medes and Persians is that no Decree nor Statute which the King Establisheth may be changed v. 15. q. d. We have thee now at a Bay this Rebel may not be Pardoned the Laws of thy Kingdom will not bear it thô thou wouldest therefore in vain dost thou labour to deliver him for Dye he must and shall Fetter'd Majesty that canst not deliver thy Darling from the Lions that canst not Pardon him nor thy Self for Betraying him to his Enemies Now reap Darius the disquiet Fruits of thine own unadvisedness and haste 't is Death to thee to Suffer him to die yet he must here dies a Prisoner without whom the King himself lives not yet must dye God is bound up by his Decrees At length delivers him up and so is this Monarch He could almost himself have Suffered to save his Favourite alive yet must now Sacrifice him to the honour of his Laws How Sacred are those Obligations that manacle the hands of Soveraignty these call for the Offenders blood and shall have it Even Laws are Canibals too Then the King Commanded and they brought Daniel c. v. 16. But how do I see the great Darius hugging him in his Arms whilst he beholding him as he fears with his last eyes breaths out his very Heart to him in such dear Expressions as these And takes his last leave as lie fears DAniel my dearest Daniel the brightest Star that ever Illustrated a Princes Court the faithfullest Servant that ever bless'd a Master the very Glory and Flower of my Kingdom and Palace who art passing up into those more glorious Mansions where only dwell such Spirits as thine Thou wilt no more envy the Toys of Regality nor need the aiery Honours of an earthly Palace I am distressed for thee my dearest Daniel How willingly could I uncloath my self from these vain Badges of Majesty to pass into Spirit with thee were it not that I stay behind to Sacrifice Hecatombs of thine Enemies to thy Ghost who shall dearly pay the recompenses of their Envy and my loss But stay may not thy God meet thee in the Den as I have heard Shadrak's did him in the Furnace and methinks I have Faith to believe he will and least thine Enemies should think so too and send in Ruffians more cruel than the Beasts to destroy thee My care shall obviate that danger while I Seal thee up under the Protection of Heaven and thy God How stately passes the Captive to the Den He passes to the Den. richly Laden with the Trophies of his Princes affections and the Graces of his God! He leaves nothing behind him that he should take to Heaven with him but the Thoughts of Revenge which he therefore leaves because there is no room for them there Nay he could have even wish'd their Company with him whose causeless Malice had too subtilly contriv'd his designed dispatch from the World The Innocent Victim is now as Isaac upon the Altar but wants a Priest to Sacrifice him The Lions hurt him nor Is astonish'd at the Miracle of his own Deliverance and wonders to find better Friends in the Den than at Court A Spirit of Glory rests upon him which put the very Lyons in a fright They had no stomach to him who had no stomach against him and though his Enemies could have eaten him up they were more merciful and would not He had a Surplice of Innocence upon him which was Lyonproof It made him look Sacred and struck such a Reverence and Aw that they rather fawn and crouch then grin or wax surley He stands armed with the Shield of that Faith which wrought Miracles even this of Stopping the Mouths of Lyons Who were so Civil as not to fall out with him against whom God and the King had no Quarrel Daniel has done what he could He has done his Duty and God himself expects no more He has yielded his Life in Testimony of his Faith and now he will give it him back Because he was ready to lose it therefore shall he surely keep it Let Heaven dispose of us as it please 't is enough for us to resign our selves and be willing While Daniel is in Danger No Feasting at Court there 's no Feasting at Court the King himself Fasts for him that the Beasts may not Feast upon him Surfeits and Mirth speak little Sympathy with the Churches Sorrowes 'T was unnaturally done once of the Patriarch's to sit them down to Eat and to Drink while their poor Brother was Fasting in the Pit Gen. 37.24 25. A piece of Cruelty acted over again by their obdurate and ungracious Posterity Who fed on the Lambs of the Flock and the fat Calves of the Stall and Drank their Wine in Bowles but were not grieved for the Affliction of Joseph Amos 6.5 6. Nor could Musick be in season Nor Musick when the King himself was out of tune The Air of a Viol could not drive out of his mind the sad scrieches of his Friend while the Beasts as he fear'd were champing him in their Teeth Yet was there a brave Consort in the Den For the Snorings of the sleeping Lyons kept so Even an Accent that Daniel was ready to dance for Joy Yet could not the King close his Eyes The King cannot sleep while he is jealous his Favourite has none to close He had slept so soundly hitherto while this careful Superintendent had a Vigilant Eye over all his Affairs that he might well awake one Night to condole his loss and learn himself to watch when now his Watchman for ought he knew might be fallen asleep in Death Yet is Daniel awake too and while the Lyons Couch he gently lies by in peace and is here become the Guard of his intended Executioners God had shut their
Eyes as well as their Mouths and while theirs were closed down in Rest his were lifted up in Faith and Prayer that They might sleep on securely who might have chanced else to have made a Meal upon him at Midnight No sooner had the Night began to draw it's Curtains And Rises early but Darius draws his Neither Bed nor Palace can hold him while Daniel was missing The first Light leads him to pay his visit to him either Dead or Alive He is resolved to have an end of his Fears or his Hopes Delays in great Expectations are Killing 't is perfect Hell that puts off for ever He hastens his Body thither to meet his Heart which he had left lock'd up with Daniel in the Den all the night Then the King arose very early in the Morning and went in hast to the Den c. How nimbly do I see his Royal Feet pace the Streets while yet his affections Lacquey before him And hasts to the Den. and are impatient after the first Tidings See how love fascinates Majesty into a forgetfulness of its Grandeur He values not the Complements of State so he find Daniel alive 't is Great enough Why may not Darius measure Faith with Abraham who against hope believed in hope too And being not weak in faith considered not the natural fierceness of these voracious Beasts nor the biting rage of their hungry Bellies nor the Luscious sweetness of Daniel's Blood but against all these expected life to start out from the very Womb of Death For When he came to the Den And cries lamentably to Daniel he cryed with a Lamentable voyce unto Daniel c. v. 20. Object But does not his kindness run him into folly here and Daniel into hazard since by so loud an Exclamation at his coming to the Den he might chance to rouze up the sleepy Lyons to an early execution which all the Night long they had fasted from with purpose to reserve him for a Break-fast in the Morning and now comes the King and halloo's them to it Answ Brutes like some Men as bad consult not the Morrow but love to make sure of the present Prey Sense knows no Life of Faith and seldom trusts out of hand grapples at every thing coming in its way and so its Panch be presently stuff'd has confidence enough to trust till hereafter The King knew that if he were yet alive 't was Providence not Project that kept him so He cried with a lamentable Voyce unto Daniel c. What surer Indication couldst thou have given thy Daniel of the fixed unalterableness of thy Princely Affections to him An assurance of his Love even beyond the Grave While thus thou sendest thy very Soul to him wrapt up in a Sigh that pierces through the very Stone which yet seperates thee from him and safely arrives into his joyful Ears For now assuredly he was not dead at Court who was still alive in the Prison To me Darius art Thou a fair Precedent of entire and absolute Freindship and the Illustrious Copy of him who will never leave nor forsake And I thank thee O King for minding me of my Saviour who methinks with the same Accent is ever crying unto me in the midst of my dangers Is Joseph yet alive How good is God Note to those that trust him Daniel has the Heart of his Prince as sure as God hath his own Wolseys heavy Groan upbraided his Masters Inconstancy to him in his Age but was confessedly grounded on his own to God There is all Gain in Godliness that universal Trader which hath a Patent from Heaven to Traffick for it self in the very Bosom of Kings which Themselves cannot prevent though they would For what an Honour was this to the Imprison'd Daniel to have Majesty waiting on him at the Door The King had sent no less Person than Himself to enquire of his Welfare and to return the Lions his thanks for their Civility that night to his Friend And now may you hear him thus Passionately Crying O Daniel Servant of the Living God is thy God able to deliver thee c Daniel had entred the Den inthe Faith of Gods Word and the Kings Affidavit Thy God will deliver thee v. 16. and does he now abate of his Confidence Is he able Great dangers try the Mettle of our Faith and swelling Fears sink our Courage He is more than a Peter that can tread the Waters and not cry out there is a Fear hangs on our very Faith The King might averr that God would for he had heard that he had in as great dangers yet might he doubt lest he now had not Historical Faith made him Promise but Passionate Love made him fear and be jealous But Daniel is yet alive The King finds Daniel alive and Blesses God and the King He imployes his Breath to the ends it was given him O King Live for ever Thy Servant yet Alive darts up that Sacred Option from his very Soul for thee 'T is Stinking Breath that Curses any but Infectious 't is that Curses the King Thô the Tongue be a Fire 't is Insolence in it to make havock of the Palace From Prayer the Prophet proceeds to Preaching and the Chappel not yet open Darius is content to be his Auditor in the Porch He divides his Sermon into two parts and treats First Of Gods goodness to him in shutting the Lyons Mouths or else his own had not been open this Morning Who pleads his Innocency and Loyalty Secondly His own Innocency where he justifies his most entire Duty and Veneration both to God and the King and he handles these both together because they are inseparable The Life of the Preacher was the visible proof of the whole Sermon The King never heard one that better pleas'd him and the very Lions themselves seem to understand it while they stand Mute and Demure and are more Mannerly than to disturb him nay they are his very Converts and the proof of his Ministry who from his first coming among them by the Reverence of his Person his very Silence had transformed them from their natural Ferity into a wonderful Humanity How much more his Eloquence And Experience now makes him confident of their Love and his own Safety And therefore is fearless Deliverances like some Friends are Security each for the other and the more the stronger still especially where Faith stands Principal and a good Life as Witness David Slings the Bear and the Lyon with the Stone that Stunn'd the Philistine and the Israelites on the Shore stood as Sureties to the rest in the midst of the Channel The same Faith that hung the Padlock on the Mouths of these Lions over night was strong enough to keep it on till such time as it Self pleas'd to unlock it next day to make room for the Conspirators The Sermon now finish'd has the Effects of Thunder The Den is open'd and Daniel delivered the Seals