the World it was that Man so much below Moses in all things and superiour only to him by his name it was He I say who was to bring the People of God into the holy Land By the Victories of that great Man before whom Jordan was driven back the Walls of Jericho fell down of themselves and the Sun stood still in the midst of Heaven God established his Children in the Land of Canaan out of which by the same means he drove the abominable People By the hatred which his faithful ones had against them he inspired them with an extreme indignation of their wickedness and impiety and the punishment which was inflicted by their Ministry filled them themselves with fear of the Divine Justice of which they executed the Decrees One part of those People whom Joshua drove out ot their Land Procop. lib. 2. de bel Vand. went and planted themselves in Africa where was found a long time after in an ancient Inscription the Monument of their Flight and the Victories of Joshua After those miraculous Victories had put the Israelites in the possession of the greatest part of the Land which was promised to their Fathers Joshua and Eleazar the High Priest Jos 13 14. seq Numb 26.53.34.17 Jos 14 15. with the Heads of the twelve Tribes divided it among them according to the Law of Moses and assigned to the Tribe Judah time the first and the greatest Lot From the time of Moses it was set above the others in Number in Courage and in Dignity Joshua dyed and the People continued the Conquest of the Holy Land God would have the Tribe of Judah to march at the Head Numb 2.3.9.7.12.10.14 1 Chron. 5.2 Judg 1.1 2.4.8 and declared that he had delivered the Countrey into their hands In fine it overcame die Canaanites and took Jerusalem which was to be the holy City and the capital City of the People of God it was the ancient Salem where Melchisedek had reigned in Abraham's time Melchisedek that King of Righteousness Heb. 7.2 for that is the meaning of his Name and at the same time too King of Peace for that is King of Salem whom Abraham had owned for the greatest High-Priest in the World as if Jerusalem had then been destined for a holy City and the head of Religion That City was at first given to the Children of Benjamin who being weak and few in number could not drive out the Jebusites the ancient Inhabitants of Jerusalem but they dwelt among them Judg. 1.21 Under the Judges the People of God were variously treated according as they did well or ill After the death of the old men who had seen Miracles from the hand of God the remembrance of those mighty Works decayed and the universal inclination and bent of Mankind warp'd the People to Idolatry As often as they fell into it they were punish'd and as often as they repented they were delivered The Faith of Providence and the Truth of the Promise and the Threatnings of Moses was confirmed more and more in the hearts of the true Believers But God prepared also greater Examples of them The People demanded a King and God gave them Saul quickly reproved for his sins he at last resolved to establish a Royal Family from which e Messiah should come and he chose it in Judah David 1 Sam. 16.11.12 c. a young Shepherd sprung out of that Tribe the youngest of the Sons of Jesse whose merit neither his Father nor his Family knew but yet whom God found to be after his own heart was anointed by Samuel in Bethlehem which was his own Country Here the People of God IV. David the Kings and the Prophets to take up a Form more August and Magnificent the Kingdom was setled in the House of David That House began by two Kings of different Characters but both were admirable David a warlike and conquering Prince subdued the Enemies of the People of God whose Arms were dreaded over all the East and Solomon famous for his Wisdom both at home and abroad made that People happy by a profound Peace But the Progress of Religion does here require some particular Remarks upon the Lives of those two great Kingâ— David reigned at first over Judah mighty and victorious and afterwards he was owned over all Israel 2 Sam. 5.6 7 8 9. 1 Chron. 11.6 7 8. 1 Chron 2.16 He took from the Jebâ—sites the strong Hold of Zion which was the Citadel of Jerusalem Being Master of that Fortress he established there by the order of God the Sea of the Kingdom and that of Religâ—on and there he lived He built round about it and called it The City of David Joab his Sister 's built the rest of the City and Jerusalem took up a new form Those of Judah possessed all the Country and Benjamin being few in number dwelt together with them The Ark of the Covenant built by Moses where God dwelleth between the Cherubims and where the two Tables of the Decalogue were kept had then no fixed place David brought it in Triumph 2 Sam. 6.2 16 17. c. with shouting and with the sound of the Trumpet into Zion which he had conquered by the Almighty help of God that so God might reign in Zion and that he might be acknowledged there as the Protectors of David 1 Chro. 16.39.21.29 of Jerusalem and of all the Kingdom But the Tabernacle wherein the People had worshipped God in the Wilderness was yet at Gibeon and there it was where they offered their Sacrifices upon the Altar which Moses had built It was but in expectation that there would be a Temple where the Altar should be re-united with the Ark and where should be performed all the Service When David had conquered all his Enemies and had extended his Victories even to Euphrates being at quiet and a mighty Conquerour he at all his thought upon the establishing of the Divine Worship and on the same Mountain where Abraham went to Sacrifice his only Son 2 Sam. 8.11 1 Chron. 18. 2 Sam. 24.25 1 Chron. 21.22 seq Jos an t 7.10 and was stopped by the hand of an Angel he designed by the appointment of God the place of the Temple He said down all his Designs he amassed mighty noâ— and precious Materials for it he dedicated all the Spoils of his conquered Kings and People to it But that Temple which was so designed by the Conquerour was not to be built but by his Son and Successor the peaceable Solomon He built it after the Model of the Tabernacle The Altar of the Holocausts 1 Kings 6,7 8. 2 Chron. 3 4 5 6 7. the Altar of Incense the golden Candlestick the Tables of Shew Bread and all the other consecrated Moveables of the Temple were taken from the like Pieces which Moses had caused to be made in the Wilderness Solomon only added magnificence and grandeur to them The Ark which the Man of God
to him all the Royal Prerogative 1 Macc. 14.41 is remarkable 'T is thus expressed That the Jews and the Priests were well pleased that Simon should be their Governor and High-Priest for ever until there should arise a faithful Prophet The People used from the beginning to a Theocracy or divine Government and knowing that since the time of David's being set upon the Throne by the order and appointment of God the Soveragain Power belonged to his House to whom it was to be at last surrend'red at the time of the Messiah puts expresly this Restriction to the Power which he had given to his High-Priests and continued to live under them in the hopes and expectation of that Christ which had been so often promised Thus did that Kingdom which was absolutely free make use of its Prerogative and provided for its Government The Posterity of Jacob by the Tribe of Judah and by the rest who were ranged under its Standards preserved themselves like a Body of a State and independently and quietly enjoyed the Land which had been assigned to them By virtue of the Peoples Decree which we now have been speaking of John Hyrcan the Son of Simon succeeded to his Father Under him the Jews grew very great by their considerable Conquests They subdued Samaria as Jeremiah and Ezekiel had foretold they conquered the Idumeans the Philistins Ezek. 16.55 56 58 61. Jer. 31.5 1 Macc. 10.30 Joseph an t 13.8 17 18. Zach. 9.1 2 c. the Ammonites who were their perpetual Enemies and those People embraced their Religion as Zachariah had observed At length in spight of all the Hatred and Jealousy of the People who were round about them under the Authority of their High-Priests who afterwards became their Kings they founded the new Kingdom of the Asmoneans or the Mascabees more large and extensive than ever excepting only thâ— times of David and Solomon Thus you see in what manner the People of God subsisted always amidst all this variety of Changes and that People who were sometimes chastised and again sometimes comforted under their Afflictions and Grievances by the different Treatments they received according as they deserved bears a sufficient publick Testimony to that Providence which governs the World But in what Condition soever they were they lived still in the expectation of the Messiah which was in the fullness of time to come wherein they looked for new Graces and much greater than any of those they had yet received and there are none but see that this Faith of the Messiah and of his Miracles which continues still to this day among the Jews is descended to them from their Patriarchs and their Prophets from the beginning of their Nation Joseph 1. cont Apion For in that long succession of Years where they themselves did confess that by a Council of Providence there was not any other Prophet risen up among them and that God made them no new Predictions nor new Promises this Faith of the Messiah which was to come was more sprightly active and vigorous than ever It was found so firmly established when the second Temple was built that there was no need of a Prophet to confirm the People in it They were supported by the Faith of the antient Prophecies which they had seen so exactly fullfilled before their Eyes in so many chief Points The â—est from that time never was in the least question'd by them and it was not at all difficult for them to believe that God who was so faithful in every thing should not also accomplish in its due time that which concern'd the Messiah that is to say the very main of all his Promises and the Ground and Foundation of all the rest In effect all their History all that daily happened to them was but as it were one perpetual opening Scene of those Oracles which the Holy Ghost had left with them Being so settled again in their Land after the Captivity they enjoyed for three hundred years a most profound Peace if their Temple was reverenced and their Religion honoured over all the East if at last their Peace was ruffled and shaken by their Dissentions if that proud King of Syria made unheard of attempts to destroy them if he sometime prevailed if he were a little after punished if the Jewish Religion and all the People of God were restored with a more marvellous glory than ever before and the Kingdom of Judah grew greater toward the end of the time by new Conquests you have seen all this was no more than what was found written in their Prophets Yes every thing was particularly taken notice of there even to the time that the Persecutions were to last even to the places where the Battels were to be fought and even to the Lands which were to be conquered I have in the gross related something to you of those Prophecies the Particulars would be matter of a longer Discourse I will here only give you the first Tincture of those important Truths which is so much the more acknowledged as we shall enter forward into the Particulars I shall only observe here that the Prophecies of the People of God have had during all those times Porph. de Abst lib. 4. Id. Porphyr Jul. apud Cyr. l. 5. 6. in Jul. so plain and manifest an accomplishment that since when the Heathen themselves when a Porphyrius when a Julian the Apostate otherwise Enemies of the Sacred Scriptures would at any time give Example of Prophetick Predictions they have been forced to seek them among the Jews And I may also tell you for a truth that if during five hundred years the People of God were without a Prophet all the estate of those times was prophetical The work of God went on and the ways were preparing insensibly for the full accomplishment of those ancient Oracles The Return from the Captivity of Babylon was only a shadow of the Liberty both more great and more necessary which the Messiah was to bring to men that were Captives unto sin The People dispersed in several places in Vpper Asia in Lesser Asia in Egypt and even in Greece began to make the Name and the Glory of the God of Israel shine forth more conspicuously among the Gentiles The Scriptures which were one day to be the Light of the World were put into the most known Language of the World their Antiquity is confessed Whilst the Temple was had in reverence and the Scriptures given to the Gentiles God shews some representation to their future Conversion and lays a great way off the foundations of it What also happened among the Grecians was a kind of preparation to the knowledge and understanding of the Truth Their Philosophers confessed that the World was governed by a God far different from those whom the common sort of People worshipped and whom they also served with the common People The Greek Histories believe that this excellent Philosophy came from the East and from those
Not that they had disputed any thing against Kings or that any one had a right to constrain them but on the contrary they were looked upon as Gods but an ancient Custom had regulated them all and they resolved to live no otherwise than their Ancestors So that they patiently suffered themselves not only to be regulated in their manner of Victuals and Drink for it was an ordinary thing in Egypt where all People were sober and where the Air of the Country was a friend to Frugality but they were content that their very hours should be set them In waking at break of day Herod 2. Diod. §. 2. when their Minds were most refined and their Thoughts most clear they read their Instructions that they might have a more exact and true Idea of the Matters they were to decide As soon as they were drest they went to Sacrifice in the Temple There being incompassed by all their Court and the Victimes at the Altar they assisted at a Prayer full of Instructions where the Chief Priest prayed to the Gods to confer on the Prince all Royal Vertues so that he might be religious to the Gods placid towards Men moderate just magnanimous sincere and far from falshood liberal a Master of himself punishing below but rewarding above desert The Chief Priest afterwards spake of the faults that Kings might commit but he always supposed they fell into them by surprize or ignorance charging with Imprecations the Ministers that gave them evil Counsels and concealed the Truth from them This was the manner of instructing Kings Ibid. They thought Reproaches did only sower their Spirits and that the most effectual way of inspiring Vertue into them was to point out to them their Duty in Praises conformable to the Laws and gravely delivered before their Gods After Prayer and Sacrifice they read to the King in the Sacred Books the Counsels and the Actions of great Men that so he might govern his Kingdom by their Maxims and maintain the Laws which had made his Predecessors happy as well as their Subjects That which shews that these Remonstrances were made and hearkened to seriously was that they had their effect Among the Thebans that is to say in the chief Dynasty that where the Laws were in force and which came at last to be the Mistress of all the rest the greatest men were Kings The two Mercurys Authors of Sciences and of all the Institutions of the Egyptians the one near the time of the Deluge and the other whom they called Trismegistus or Teâ— maximus a Contemporary of Moses were both Kings of Thebâ—s All Egypt profited by their light Herod l. 2. and Thebes owes to their Instructions their having had very few bad Princes Those were spared during their lives the Publick Repose would have it so Diog. 1. §. 2. but they were not exempt from the Judgment they were to undergo after death Ibid. Some have been denied Burial but there are few Examples of them but on the contrary most of the Kings have been so much made of by the People that every one have bewailed their Death as much as that of their Parents or Children This Custom of judging Kings after their Death seemed so holy to the People of God that they have always practised it We read in the Scriptures that wicked Kings have been deprived of the Burial of their Ancestors Ant. 13.23 and we learn from Josephus that that Custom lasted even to the time of the Asmonâ—ans That gave Kings to understand that if their Majesty put them above Humane Judgments in this Life they were not above them when Death equalled them with other men The Egyptians had an inventive Geninâ— and they turned it to things that were profitable Their Mercuries have filled Egypt with wonderful Inventions and scarce have left it ignorant of any thing that might make Life tranquil and commodious I cannot give to the Egyptians the honour they have conferred on their Osyris Diod. l. 1. § 1. Plut. de Isid Osir for having invented Tillage because it was found at all times in the neighbouring Countries of the World where Mankind was spread and questionless it was known ever since the World began The Egyptians themselves likewise give so great an Antiquity to Osiris that it is plainly seen they have confounded his time with that of the beginning of the World and they would fain attribute some things to him whose Original was long before all times known in their History But if the Egyptians were not the first Inventors of Agriculture nor of the other Arts which we see before the Deluge they have yet brought them to such perfection and have taken so great a Care to establish them among the People where Barbarism had made them forget that their Honour comes very little short of those that were the first Inventors Indeed there are some things of great usefulness the Invention whereof cannot be disputed with them Plat. Epin Diod. 1. § 2. Herod l. 2. For as their Country was united and their Heaven always clear and uncloudy they were the first that observed the Course of the Stars and they were the first also that regulated the year Those Observations threw them naturally into Arithmetick and if it be true what Plato says Plat. in Tim. That the Sun and the Moon taught men the knowledge of Numbers that is to say that they began the Accounts regulated by that of Days Mouths and Years then the Egyptians werethe first who hearken'd to those marvellous Instructers The Planets and other Stars were no less known to them and they found out that great Year which brings back all the Heaven to its first point To know their own Lands every year covered over by the over-flowing of Nile they were forced to betake themselves to Surveying which quickly taught them Geometry They were great Observers of Nature which in an Air so serene and under a Sun so burning was very strong in its Products amongst them 'T was that which made them find out or perfect Physick Thus all Sciences were in great esteem with them The first Inventors of usefull things received Diod. 1. §. 2. Herod 3. init both whilst they lived and after their deaths rewards worthy of their labour 'T was that consecrated the Books of their two Mercuries and made them to be looked on as Divine Books Diod. l. 1. § 2. The first People of all that had Libraries were those of Egypt The title that was given them made them very desirous to peruse them and to search into the Secrets of them they were called The Treasure of the Remedies of the Soul Thereby it was cured of the most dangerous Ignorance of its Maladies and the Source of all the others One thing which made the greatest impression on the Minds of the Egyptians was the esteem and love of their Country It was they said the Mansion-House of the Gods they had reigned there
being come to an Agreement with Manahem he established him in the Throne that he went to Usurp by Violence and received by way of acknowledgment the Tribute of a thousand Talents Under his Son Sardanapalus and after Alcmaeon the last perpetual Archon of the Athenians that People whom his humour led insensibly to affect a popular Estate lessened the Power of their Magistrates and in ten years wholly overthrew the Archontick Administration The first of this way was Charops Romulus and Remus sprung from the antient Kings of Alba by their Mother Ilia re-established in the Kingdom of Alba their Grandfather Numitor of which his Brother Amilius had dispossest him and presently after they founded Rome whilst Jotham Reigned in Judah VII Epocha Romulus or Rome founded That City which was to be the Mistress of the World and in futurity the chief Seat of the Romish Religion was founded toward the end of the third year of the sixth Years be ∣ fore J. C. 754 Olympiad 430 years after the taking Years of the World 3250 of Troy from whence the Romans believed their Ancestors to be sprung and 753 years before Jesus Christ Romulus being bred up hardly with Shepherds and always Years of Rome 1 engaged in Warlike Exercises consecrated this City to the God of War who he Years be ∣ fore J. C. 748 said was his Father About the time of Years of Rome 6 Rome's Birth through the effeminate Luxury of Sardanapalus happened the Fall of the first Empire of the Assyrians The Medes a warlike People animated by the Discourses of Arbaces their Governour set an Example to all his Subjects of contemning and scorning him All were up in a general revolt against him and at length he perished in his chief City where he saw himself constrained to fling himself into the Fire with his Concubines his Eunuchs and his Riches Out of the Ruins of this Empire were seen to come three great Kingdoms Arbaces or Orbaces whom some call Pharnaces freed the Medes who after a very long Anarchy had three most puissant Kings Moreover presently after Sardanapalus there appeared a second Kingdom of the Assyrians Years be ∣ fore J. C. 747 of which Nineveh was the chief City Years of Rome 7 and a Kingdom of Babylon These two last Kingdoms are not unknown to prophane Authors and are much celebrated in the sacred History The second Kingdom of Nineveh is founded by Tilgath of Tiglath the Son of Phalaser called for this reason Tiglathphalesar to whom was also given the name of Ninus the younger Baladan whom the Greeks called Belasis established the Kingdom of Babylon which is known by the name of Nabonassar From thence the Aera of Nabonassar famous with Ptolomy and the antient Astronomers who reckoned their years by the Reign of that Prince It is fit to explain here the signification of this word Aera which is a number of Years began at a certain point of Time which some extraordinary Accident makes remarkable Wicked Years be ∣ fore J. C. 740 and Sinful Ahaz King of Judah oppressed Years of Rome 14 by Rezin King of Syria and by Pekah the Son of Remaliah King of Israel instead of having recourse to God who stirred him up those Enemies to punish him called Tiglathphalesar the first King of Assyria or Nineveh who brought the Kingdom of Israel to its last extremity and utterly destroyed that of Syria and at the same time he ravaged that of Judah which had desired his Assistance Thus the Kings of Assyria took Years be ∣ fore J. C. 721 the way to the Holy Land and resolved Years of Rome 33 upon the Conquest of it They began with the Kingdom of Israel which Salmanasser the Son and Successor of Tilgath Pilneser utterly destroyed Osee King of Israel relied upon the succour of Sabacon otherwise called Sua or Soü◠King of Aethiopia who had invaded Aegypt But that mighty Conqueror could not get it out of the hands of Salmanassar The ten Tribes with whom the Worship of God was quite worn off were transported to Nineveh and being dispersed among the Gentiles they so lost themselves there that no farther tracing of them can be discovered There remained some of them who were mixed among the Jews and made a small part of the Kingdom Years be ∣ fore J. C. 715 of Judah At this time happened the Years of Rome 39 Death of Romulus He was always fighting and always victorious but in the midst of his Wars he notwithstanding laid the Foundation of Religion and Laws A Years be ∣ fore J. C. 714 long Peace gave Numa his Successor a good opportunity to finish that Work He formed Years of Rome 40 Religion and qualified the wild and extravagant Manners of the Romans In his time the Colonies that came from Corinth and several other Towns of Greece founded Syracuse in Sicily Crotona Tarentum and perhaps some other Towns in that part of Italy to which the most antient Greek Colonies which were spread over all the Country had already given the name of Great Greece In the mean time Hezekiah the most Pious and the justest of all the Kings Years be ∣ fore J. C. 710 ever since David reigned in Judah Sennacherib the Son and Successor of Salmanassar Years of Rome 44 besieged him in Jerusalem with a vast and prodigious Army which was in one night destroyed by the Hand of an Angel which went out and smote in the Camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five Thousand Hezekiah being delivered in so wonderful a manner served God with all his People more faithfully than ever But Years be ∣ fore J. C. 698 after that Prince his Death under his Son Years of Rome 56 Manasseh the ungrateful forgat their God and so disorders and calamities were multiplied Years be ∣ fore J. C. 687 upon them A popular State or commonwealth Years of Rome 67 was then formed among the Athenians and they began to elect annual Archontes or Governours the first of whom was Creon Whilst wickedness increased in the Kingdom of Judah the Power of the Kings of Assyria which were to be their avengers grew daily stronger under Esarhaddon Years be ∣ fore J. C. 681 the Son of Sennacherib He re-united the Years of Rome 73 Kingdom of Babylon to that of Nineveh and equalled in Great Asia the Power of the Years be ∣ fore J. C. 677 first Assyrians 2 Kings xvii 24. 1 Esd iv 2. In his Reign the Cuthians Years of Rome 77 People of Assyria since called Samaritans were placed in the City of Samaria instead of the Children of Israel These joined to that of Idolatry the Worship of God and obtained of Esarhaddon an Israelitish Priest who taught them the manner of the God of the Land that is to observe the Law of Moses God resolving not to have his Name utterly abolished in a Land that he had given to his People he left there his Law as an earnest and testimony 2 Kings xvii 27
began to appear among the Greeks Those People being civilly treated by the Kings of Syria lived in tranquillity and Peace according to their Laws Antiochus the God Grandson of Seleucus sent them up and down into the lesser Asia Joseph Ant. 12.3 from whence they got themselves into Greece and every where enjoyed the same Rights Priviledges and Liberty as the other Citizens Ptolomee the Son of Lagus had already setled them in Egypt Years be ∣ fore J. C. 277 Under his Son Ptolomee Philadelphus their Years of Rome 477 Scriptures were turned into Greek and then came out that excellent Version called the Septuagint Version This was done by those Learned old Men whom Eleazer the High-Priest sent to the King who desired them Some would have only had the five Books of Moses translated Joseph l. 1. Antiq. c. 1. l. 12. c. 2. and the rest of the sacred Books might afterwards be turned into Greek for the use of the Jews that were scattered all over Egypt and Greece and who had forgot not only their own ancient Language which was the Hebrew but also the Chaldee which the Captivity had taught them They made themselves a Greek Mixture which they called the Hellenistick Tongue The Septuagint and all the New-Testament is written in this Tongue And during this dispersion of the Jews their Temple was made famous over all the Land and all the Kings of the East presented there their offerings The West was intent on the War Years be ∣ fore J. C. 275 of Rome and Pyrrhus In short this King Years of Rome 479 was defeated by the Consul Curius and so went back to Epirus But he was not there long at quiet but he resolved to make Macedonia recompence him for the ill successes Years be ∣ fore J. C. 274 he met with from Italy Antigonus Gonatus Years of Rome 480 was blocked up in Thessalonica and forced to leave to Pyrrhus all the rest of the Kingdom Years be ∣ fore J. C. 272 But he took heart again whilst that Years of Rome 482 the restless and ambitious Pyrrhus was making War upon the Lacedemonians and those of Argos The two hostile Kings were brought into Argos at one and the same time by two contrary Caballs and at two several Gates There was a mighty Combat in that City and a certain Mother who saw her Son pursued by Pyrrhus whom he had wounded knocked that Prince on the Head with a Stone Antigonus thus being defeated of his Enemy re-enters Macedonia who after some changes and Revolutions was at Peace with his Family The Confederacy of the Achaians kept him from growing Great It was the last Rampier of the Grecian Liberty and it was that which produced the last Heroes of it with Aratus and Philopoemen The Tarentines whom Pyrrhus fed with hopes called in the Carthaginians after his Death But that succour did them very little good for they were beaten with the Brutians and the Samnites their Allies These after seventy and two years continual Wars were forced to submit to the Roman Yoak Tarentum followed at the heels and the Neighbouring People could not hold out and so all the antient People of Italy were subjugated The Gauls often beaten durst not stir Polyb. lib. 1 2.1 And after 480 Years Warring the Romans saw themselves Masters of Italy and began to consider the affairs abroad They were not a little jealous of the Carthaginians who were grown very powerful in their Neighbourhood by the Conquests they had made in Sicily from whence they were coming to fall upon them and Italy in the Relief of the Tarentines The Republic of Carthage had two sides of the Mediteranean Sea Besides that of Africa which she almost entirely possessed she extended her self towards Spain by the Straights Being thus Mistress of the Sea and of Commerce she had invaded the Isles of Corsa and Sardinia Sicily could scarce defend it self and Italy was too nearly threatned not to be concerned with some apprehension From thence proceeded the Punic Wars notwithstanding the Treaties Years be ∣ fore J. C. 264 which were ill observ'd on both sides Years be ∣ fore J. C. 490 The first taught the Romans to fight at Sea and they were presently Masters of an Art which before they knew little or nothing Years be ∣ fore J. C. 260 of and the Consul Duilius who was the Years of Rome 494 Years be ∣ fore J. C. 259 first that gave Battle at Sea gained it Regulus Years of Rome 495 Years be ∣ fore J. C. 256 got the like Reputation and landed in Years of Rome 498 Africa where he was forced to fight with that Prodigious Serpent which obliged him to employ all his Army against it But every thing yielded and Carthage being reduced Years be ∣ fore J. C. 255 to her last Extremity did just make a shift Years of Rome 499 to save herself by the assistance and seasonable Relief of Xantippus the Lacedâ—monian The Roman General is beaten and taken but his Prison renders him more great and illustrious than his Victories For being upon his Parole sent back to treat about the exchange of Prisoners he told the Senate the conditions which was all hopes and Grace to them that would voluntarily surrender themselves and so returned to a most certain Death Two dreadful Shipwracks forced the Romans to leave their new Empire of the Sea to the Carthaginians And the Victory hung a long while in dubious suspence between the two People and the Romans were just upon the point of yielding Years be ∣ fore J. C. 241 but they repaired their Fleet and one single Years of Rome 513 Battle decided the Business and the Consul Lutatius concluded the War Carthage was obliged to pay Tribute and to quit with Sicily all the Isles that were between Sicily and Italy The Romans got that Island entirely saving only what Hieron King of Syracusa their Ally kept of it After the War was ended the Carthaginians thought now only of Destruction by the rising of their Army They had according to their Custom made it up of Strangers who revolted to them for their pay Polyb. lib i. c. 62.63 lib. ii â— 1. Their cruel and severe Government forced them to join to those mutinous Troops almost all the Cities of the Empire and Carthage being closely besieged had utterly been lost if it had not been for Hamilcar sirnamed Barcas He alone maintain'd the Years be ∣ fore J. C. 238 last War And the Citizens are indebted Years of Rome 516 to him for the Victory Poly. lib. i. 79. â—3 â—3 which they got over the Rebels But it cost them Sarainia which the Revolt of their Garrison opened to the Romans And for fear of engaging with them in a new War Carthage was forced to surrender up that Island which was of such importance and also to inlarge her Tribute she designed in Spain to re-establish her Empire which had been so much shaken by this Revolt Hamilcar went
the â—â—iâ—â—e â—râ—m thâ—nâ—â— proceeded th se great 〈…〉 Heâ—aclituâ— Dâ—mâ—crit â— Empeâ—â—cles Pâ—â—â—â—niâ—â—â— Anaâ—â—goras who a little 〈◊〉 the Pâ—lopâ—â—â—sian War discover'd the World tâ— be made by an Eternal Spiâ—â—â— Sâ—â—r t s in a short time after reduced Pâ—ilosoâ—hy to the study of good manners and was the Father of Moral Philosophy Plato his Disciple chief of the Academy Aristotle Plato's Disâ—iple and Master of Alâ—xander chief of the P ripatetick under the Successors of Alexander Zâ—nâ— sirnamed Citian from a Town in the Isle of Cyprus where he was born chief of the Stoicks and Epicurus the Athenian chief of those Philosophers that bear his name if likewise we may count those Philsophers who openly deny a Providence and who being ignorant what duty was defined Vertue by Pleasure We may also reckon among the greatest Philosophers Hippocrates the Father of Physick who was eminently famous amongst others in those happy times of Greece The Romans had at the same time another sort of Philosophy which did not consist in Disputes nor in Discourses but in Frugality in Poverty in the labours of a Countrey life and in those of War wherein they made their Glory to consist in that of their Countrey and of the Roman Name which made them at last the Masters both of Italy and Carthage IX Epocha Scipio or Carthage conquâ—â—ed In the Year 552. from the Foundation of Rome about 250 Years after the Foundation of the Persian Monarchy and 202 Years before Jesus Christ Carthage was made subject to the Romans Hannibal never Years be ∣ fore J. C. 202 ceased underhand to stir them up Enemies Years of Rome 552 wheresoever he could but he only ensnared all his old and new Friends in the ruine of their Countrey and his own too By the Victories of the Consul Flaminius Years be ∣ fore J. C. 198 Philip King of Macedonia an Ally of the Years of Rome 556 Years be ∣ fore J. C. 196 Carâ—haginians was overcome the Kings of Years of Rome 558 Macedonia brought to great straits and Greece freed from their Yoke The Romans attempted to destroy Hâ—â—â—nibal whom they found to be still feared notwithstanding his losses That Great Captain forced to Years be ∣ fore J. C. 15 save himself from his Countrey stirred up the East against them and brought their Years of Rome 559 Years be ∣ fore J. C. 193 Arms into Asia By his powerful Arguments Years of Rome 561 and Perswasions Antiochâ—s sirnamed the Great King of Syria became Jealous of their Forces and made War with them but in doing so he followed not the Counsels of Hannibal who had engaged him in it Beaten both by Sea and Land he receiv'd the Law which the Consul Lucius Scipio the Brother of Scipio Africanus imposed upon him and he was shut up in Mount Years be ∣ fore J. C. 182 Taurus Hannibal fled for refuge to Prusias Years of Rome 572 King of Bythinia escaped the Romans by Poyson They are feared by all People and will not suffer any other Power besides their own Kings were obliged to give them their Children as Hostages of their Faith Antiochus since called the Illustrious or Epiphanius the second Son of Antiochus the great King of Syria continued a long while at Rome in that Quality but about the Years be ∣ fore J. C. 176 end of the Reign of Seleucus Philopater Years of Rome 578 his elder Brother he was restored and the Romans would have in his Room Demetrius Years be ∣ fore J. C. 175 Soter the Kings Son then about ten years of Years of Rome 579 Age. In this time of Convulsion Seleâ—cus died and Antiochus usurped the Kingdom over his Nephew The Romans were taken up in the affairs of the Macedonians where Perseus was troubling his Neighbours and would no longer keep to those Conditions that were imposed upon King Philip his Father Then began the Persecutions of Gods People Antiochus the Mighty reigned Years be ∣ fore J. C. 173 like one inraged all his Fury was bent Years of Rome 581 against the Jews he endeavoured to destroy the Temple the Mosaick Law and indeed Years be ∣ fore J. C. 171 all the Nation The Roman Power kept Years of Rome 583 him from making himself Master of Aegypt They entred into a War with Perseus who Years be ∣ fore J. C. 168 being more ready to attempt than to execute Years of Rome 586 lost his Allies by his Covetousness and his Armies by his Baseness And being conquered by the Consul Paulus Aemilius he was forced to fling himself into his Arms. Gentius King of Illyria his Ally being utterly routed in thirty days by the Praetor Anicius had just then met with the same Fate The Kingdom of Macedonia which had continued for seven hundred years and for near two hundred of them had not only given Masters to Greece but also to all the East was now no more than a bare Roman Province The outragious Furies of Antiochus daily incrâ—ased against the Jews Then appeared the Resistance of Mattathias Years be ∣ fore J. C. 167 the High-Priest of the Race of Phineas Years of Rome 587 Years be ∣ fore J. C. 166 and an Imitator of his Zeal his dying Years of Rome 588 Orders for the Salvation of his People the Victories of Judas the Maccabee his Son notwithstanding the infinite number of his Enemies the Advance of the Family Years be ∣ fore J. C. 165 of the Asmonians or Maccabees the new Years of Rome 589 Years be ∣ fore J. C. 164 Dedication of the Temple which the Gentiles Years of Rome 590 had profaned the Prelacy of Judas and the Greatness of the Priesthood re-established the Death of Antiochus suitable to his Impiety and his Pride his pretended Coversion during his last Sickness and the fierceness of Divine Vengeance upon that I solent King His Son Antiochus Eupator tho' much under Age succeeded him under the Guardianship of Lysias his Governour During this his Minority Demetrius Soter who was under Hostage at Rome thought he might have been able to re-establish himself but he could not obtain of the Senate to be sent back into his own Kingdom The â—â—man Polity rather chose to have a young Infant Under this Antiochus Years be ∣ fore J. C. 163 Eupator the Persecution of the Jews and the Years of Rome 591 Victories of Judas the Maccaâ—ee continued Years be ∣ fore J. C. 162 A Division was set asoot in the Kingdom Years of Rome 592 of Syria Demetrius escapes from Rome is acknow edged by the People and the young Antiochus is slain with Lysias his Tutor But the Jews are nâ— better trâ—ated under Demerius than they were under his Predâ—cessors He takes the same Course his Generals are beaten by Judas the Maccabee and the Hand of the proud Nicanor whose Temple he had so often threatned is joyned with Years be ∣ fore J. C. 161 him But a little after Juâ—as overwhelmed Years of Rome 593 by the Multitude was killed as he was
Footstep of it to be found in him Pushed on by that blind Impression which absolutely swayed him he plunged himself into Idolatry and nothing could stay him So great a Mischief made a very strange Progress For fear lest all Mankind might be infected and the knowledg of God be utterly extinguished that great God called from on high his Servant Abraham in whose Family he resolved to establish his Worship and preserve the antient Faith as well of the Creation of the World as of the particular Providence with which humane things are governed Abraham hath always been celebrated in the East and it was not only the Hebrews that looked on him as their Father The Idumeans boasted of their Extract from him Ishmael the Son of Abraham is known among the Arabians as the Parent from whom they came Gen. 16.17 Gen. 17.25 Joseph Ant. l. 13. Circumcision still is used among them as the mark of their Original and they have received it at all times not only on the eighth day after the manner of the Jews but at thirteen years of Age as the Scripture informs us it was given to their Father Ishmael a Custom which continues still among the Mahometans There are other Arabian People who yet remember Abraham and Ketura Alex. Polyb. apud Joseph ant l. 16. and they are the same that the Scripture makes to come from that Marriage That Patriarch was a Chaldean and those People famous for their Astronomical Observations have reckoned Abraham for one of their most learned Observators Beros Hecar Eup. Alex. Polyb al. apud Joseph an t l. 8. Eus praep Ev. 9.16 17 18 19 20. 13.11 Nic. Damas lib. 4. Hist univ in excerpt Vales p. 491. ap Jos an t l. 8. Eus praep Ev. 9.16 Gen. 13. c. The Historians of Syria have made him King of Damascus though a Stranger and come from the Borders of Babylon and they report that he left the Kingdom of Damascus to settle himself in the Country of the Canaanites since called Judea But it will be best for us to observe what the sacred History relates to us of this great Man We have seen that Abraham followed that way of living which was led by his Ancestors before that all the World was reduced into Kingdoms He reigned in his Family with which he embraced the pastoral Life so much renowned for its simplicity and Innocence rich in his Flocks in his Slaves and in his Silver but without Lands and Demeans and yet he lived in a strange Kingdom but was respected and independent as a Prince His Piety and his Uprightness protected by God attracted that respect to him He treated as an Equal with Kings who sought his Alliance and it was from thence came that antient Opinion that he made himself a King But tho' his life was simple and peaceable yet understood he the Arts of War but then it was only to defend his opprest Allies Gen. 14. He defended them and revenged them by a most signal Victory He restored to them all their Riches re-taken from their Enemies without reserving any thing but the Tythe which he offered up to God and the Quota which belonged to the Auxiliary Troops which he had brought along with him to the Battle But after so great a service he refused the Presents of the Kings with an unparallel'd Magnanimity and could not indure that any man should boast he had inriched Abraham He would be indebted to none but to his God who had protected him and whom he solely followed with a most perfect Faith and Obedience Guided by that Faith he had forsaken his Native Countrey to come to a Land which God had shewn him God who had called him and made him worthy of his Alliance Articled it upon these Conditions He declared to him that he would be his God Gen. 12.17 and the God of his Posterity that is to say he would be their Protector and that they should serve him as the only God the Creator of Heaven and Earth He promised him a Land 't was that of Canaan to serve for a fixed habitation to his Posterity Ibid. and for a place for his Religion He had no Children and his Wife Sarah was barren God swore to him by Himself and by his Eternal Veracity Gen. 12 2.1â—.4 5.17.19 that from him and from his Wife should come a Race that for number should equal the Stars in the Firmament and the Sand on the Sea-shore But the most remarkable Article of all of the Divine Promise was this All the People should presently fall into Idolatry God promised to this Holy Patriarch that in him and in his Seed should all those blind Nations that had forgotten their Creator be blessed that is to say re-called to the knowledge of him Gen. 12.3.18.18 wherein the true Benediction is to be found By that promise was Abraham made the Father of all the faithful and his Posterity was chosen to be the source from whence the Blessing was to go upon all the Earth In that Promise was included the Advent of the Messiah so often foretold to our Fathers but always foretold as Him who was to be the Saviour of all the Gentiles and of all the people of the World Thus that blessed Branch promised to Eve became also the Branch and Cion of Abraham This was the foundation of the Covenant and these the Conditions of it Gen. 17. Abraham received the sign of it in Circumcision a Ceremony whose proper effect was to shew that that Holy Man belonged to God with all his Family Abraham was childless when God began to bless his Race And God left him for several years without giving him any Afterwards he had Ishmael who was to be the Father of a great People Gen. 12.15.2.16.3 4 17.20.21.13 but not of that chosen People so much promised to Abraham The Father of the chosen People was to proceed from him and from his wife Sarah Gen. 21.2 who then was barren At length when Ishmael was thirteen years old came this so much desired Son he was called Isaac that is to say Laughter a Son of Joy a Son of Miracle a Son of Promise who shewed by his Birth that the true Children of God are born of Grace He this Child of blessing was grown to some considerle statute and of an age from which his Father might hope to have other Children of him when of a sudden God commands him to offer him up as a Sacrifice Gen. 22. To what a tryal is Faith exposed Abraham carrys Isaac to the Mountain which God had shewn him and he went to sacrifice that Son in whom alone God promised to make him the Father both of his People and of the Messiah Isaac presented his naked Bosom to the Sword which his Father held out ready to strike him God being satisfied with the obedience both of Father and Son demanded no further of them After
those two great Men had given to the World so lively and fair an Image of the voluntary Oblation of Jesus Christ and in their Souls had tasted if the bitternesses of his Cross they were esteemed truly worthy of being his Ancestors Gen. 22.28 Abraham's faithfulness made God confirm to him all his promises and blessed anew not only his Family but also in his Family all the Nations of the World In effect he continued his protection to Isaac his Son and to Jacob his Grand-child They were his imitators and adhered as he did to the Antient Faith to the Antient manner of living which was the Pastoral to the Antient Government of Mankind where every Father of a Family was a Prince in his own House Thus in the Changes and Revolutions continually made among Men the Holy Antiquity revived in the Religion and in the conduct of Abraham and of his Children God did also repeat to Isaac and to Jacob the same Promises which he had made to Abraham Gen. 25.11.26.4.28.14 and as he called himself the God Abraham so he took upon him the name of the God of Isaac and of the God of Jacob. Under his protection those three great Men began to dwell in the Land of Caanan but as strangers and without possessing there a foot of ground until the Famine brought Jacob into Aegypt where his Children being multiplied became soon after a great People Acts 7.5 as God had promised him But tho' this People whom God made to be born in his Covenant were to be enlarged by Generation and that the Blessing was to follow the Blood yet this great God failed not mark out to them the Election of his Grace For after he had chosen Abraham from among the Nations out of the Children of Abraham he chose Isaac and from the two Twins of Isaac he chose Jacob to whom afterwards he gave the name of Israel Jacob had twelve Sons who were the twelve Patriarchs heads of the twelve Tribes All were entred into the Covenant but Judah was chosen from amidst all his Brethren to be the Father of the Kings of Israel and the Father of the Messiah so much promised to his Ancestors The time was come that the ten Tribes being cut off from the People of God for their Infidelity the Posterity of Abrahâ—m lost its Antient Blessing that is to say the Religion the Land of Canaan and the hopes of the Messiah but only in the Tribe of Judah which was to give the name to the rest of the Israelites who were called Jews and to all the Country which was called Judea Thus the Divine Election appeared still even in that carnal people which was to be preserved by ordinary propagation Gen. 49.10 Jacob in his Spirit saw the Mystery of this Election just before he dyed when his Sons stood round about his Bed to receive the blessing of so good a Father God discovered to him the Estate of the twelve Tribes when they should be come to the promised Land he reveals it to them in a few words and those few words include innumerable Meysteries Though all that he spoke of Judah's Brethren be expressed with an extraordinary magnificence and shews the man transported out of himself by the Spirit of God when he comes to Judah he is carried out yet higher Judah saith he thou art He whom thy Brethren shall praise Gen. 49.8 9 10. thine hand shall be on the neck of thine Enemies thy Fathers Children shall bow down before Thee Judah is a Lyons Whelp From the prey my Son thou art gone up He stooped down he couched as a Lyon and as an old Lyon who shall rouse him up The Scepter that is to say the Authority shall not depart from Judah nor a Lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh come and unto him shall the gathering of the people be The rest of the Prophecy is about the Countrey which the Tribe of Judah shall posses in the Holy Land But the last words as we have seen them howsoever we take them signifies nothing but him who was to be the Ambassador of God the Minister and Interpreter of his Will the Accomplishment of his Promises and the King of the new People that is to say the Messiah or the Anointed of the Lord. Jacob speaks expresly to none but to Judah from whom that Messiah was to come In the destiny of Judah alone he comprehends the destiny of all the Nation which after its dispersion was to see the rest of the other Tribes re-united under the Standards of Judah All the Terms of the Prophecy are clear there is only the word Scepter which the common use of out Tongue might make us take for the only Royalty whereas in the Sacred Language it signifies in general Power Authourity and Magistracy That use of the word Scepter runs through all the pages of the Scripture It plainly appears also in the Prophecy of Jacob and the Patriarch means that in the days of the Messiah all Authority shall be put to an end in the House of Judah which imports the total ruine of a State Thus the times of the Messiah are noted out to us here by a double change By the former the Kingdom of Judah and of the Jews is threatned with its last ruine By the latter there was a new Kingdom to be set up not of one single People but of all People over whom the Messiah was to be the head and hope In the Style of Holy Writ the Jews are called in the singular number and by way of eminence Isa 65. c. Rom. 10.21 Isa 2.2 3.49.6.18.51.4 5. The People or the people of God And when we find it used the plural those who are versed in the Scriptures understand the other people who we see also are promised to the Messiah in the Prophecy of Jacob. This great Prophecy comprehends in a few words all the History of the Jewish People and of Christ our Saviour who was promised to them It points out to us all the course of the people of God and it effectually continues to this day Therefore I pretend not to make a Commentary of it to You there is no need for You to have one since by barely observing their course You will easily see the sence of the Oracle unvailed of it self and that the very events themselves will be their own Interpreters After Jacob's death III. Moses the written Law and the bringing of the People into the promised Land the People of God abode in Aegypt unto the time of the Mission of Moses that is to say about two hundred years So that it was four hundred and thirty years before God gave his people the Land which he had promised them He was resolved to accustom his Elect to rely upon his Promise being assured that it should be fulfilled either sooner or later and always at the exact time appointed by his Eternal Providence The Iniquities of the Amorites both
God from whence Kings do take their names stoopeth and is fallen upon the ground Id. 46.1 for the Persians their Enemies the worshippes of the Sun would not suffer their Idols nor their Kings whom they had made Gods But how did that Babylon perish even just as the Prophets had foretold Jer. 50.38.51.36 A drought is upon her Waters and they shall be dried up for it is the Land of Graven Images and they are mad upon their Idols as was the prediction of Jeremiah Jer. 50.24.51.39 57. to give way to her Conquerour I have laid a snare for thee and thou art also taken O Babylon and thou wast not aware And in their heat I will make their Feasts and I will make them drunken that they may rejoyce and sleep a perpetual sleep and not make saith the Lord. And again I will make drunk her Princes and her Wise-men her Captains and her Rulers and her mighty Men and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake saith the King whose name is the Lord of Hosts Isa 13.15 16 17 18. Every one that is found shall be thrust through and every one that is joyned unto them shall fall by the Sword for the Medes her Conquerours as Isaiah saith shall not regard Silver and as for Gold they shall not delight in it but Vengeance for to give their Hatred a full satisfaction by the loss of a cruel People whose Pride made them the Enemy of all the People of the World Jer. 50.35 36 37 42. A Sword is upon the Chaldeans and upon the Inhabitants of Babylon and upon her Princes and upon her Wise-men A Sword is upon the Liars and they shall dote a Sword is upon her mighty Men and they shall be dismayed A Sword is upon their Horses and upon their Chariots and upon all the mingled People that are in the midst of her and they shall become as Women a Sword is upon her Treasures and they shall be robbed They shall hold the Bow and the Lance they are cruel and will not shew mercy their voice shall roar like the Sea and they sall ride upon Horses every one put in array like a man to the Battel against Thee O Daughter of Babylon And saith Jeremiah One Post shall run to meet another Jer. 51.31 and one Messenger to meet another to shew the King of Babylon that his City is taken at one end So Jeremiah had observed Stand now with thine Enchantments and with the multitude of thy Sorceries wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth if so be thou shalt be able to profit if so be thou maist prevail Isai 47.12 13 14 15. Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy Counsels let now the Astrologers the Star-gazers the monthly Prognosticators stand up and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee Behold they shall be as stubble the fire shall burn them they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame there shall not be a Coal to warm at nor fire to sit before it Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast laboured even thy Merchants from thy youth they shall wander every one to his quarter Jer. 50.36 Isa 48.20 Ier. 50.8 28.51.6 11 49 c. none shall save thee And both Isaiah and Jeremiah as with one consent declare the same thing In that miserable slaughter the Jews being advertised long before shall alone escape the Sword of the mighty Conquerour Cyrus being by that Conquest become Master of all the East confessed there was somewhat in that People so often vanquished of Divinity tho' he could not understand it Ravished with the Oracles that had foretold his Victories he confessed he owed his Empire to the God of Heaven 2 Chron. 36.23 1 Esdr 1.2 whom the Jews worshipped and he signalizes the first year of his Reign by the re-establishment both of his Temple and People Who can but admire here the Providence of God so manifestly declared upon the Jews and the Chaldeans upon Jerusalem and Babylon God was resolved to punish them both and that so they might not be ignorant that it was He alone who did it he was pleased to foretell it by a hundred Prophecies Jerusalem and Babylon both threatned at the same time and by the same Prophets fall one after another according to the appointed time But God doth here discover the great Mystery of the two Chastisements he makes use of the one is of Rigour upon the Chaldeans the other is that of a Father upon the Jews who were his Children The Pride of the Chaldeans it was the Character of that Nation and the very spirit and pulse of all that Empire was brought down beyond the possibility of a retrieve Jer. 50.31 32. Isai 13.19 20 21 22. And the most proud shall stumble and fall and none shall raise him up and I will kindle a fire in his Cities and it shall devour all roâ—nd about him says Jeremiah and the Prophet Isaiah before him That Babylon the glory of Kingdoms the beauty of the Chaldees excellency shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrha it shall nevâ—r be inhabited neither shall it be dwelt in from Generation to Generation neither shall the Arabian pitch Tent there neither shall the Shepherds make their Fold there But wild Beasts of the Desert shall lye there and their Houses shall be full of doleful Creatures and Owls shall dwell there and Satyrs shall dance there and the wild Beasts of the Islands shall cry in their desolate Houses and Dragons in their pleasant Places and her time is a nâ—ar to come and her days shall not be prolonged But it was not so to the Jews God chastised them as disobedient Children whom he would turn to their Duty by the Affliction and afterwards being touched by their penitent Tears he would forget their Crimes Fear thou not Jer. 46.28 O Jacob my Servant saith the Lord for I am with thee for I will make a full end of all the Nations whither I have driven thee but I will not make a full end of thee but correct thee in measure yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished Wherefore Babylon for ever taken away from the Chaldeans was delivered to another People and Jerusalem being re-established by a very marvellous Change beheld her Children from all parts returning to her It was Zerubbabel of the Tribe of Juda and of the Blood of the Kings who brought them back from Captivity Those of Juda came in Multitudes The ten dispersed Tribes were lost among the Gentiles saving only those who under the name of Juda and being re-united under its Standards came again into the Land of their Fathers In the mean time the Altar was set up again the Temple rebuilt the Walls of Jerusalem repaired The Jealousie of the neighbouring People was suppressed by the Kings of Persia who were become the Protectors of the People of God The High-Priest re-entered
Ghost to fortifie his Apostles and eternally to inspire and invigorate the Body of the Church This power of the Holy Ghost to declare it self the more was to appear in weakness Behold I send saith Jesus Christ to his Apostles Luke 24.49 the promise of my Father upon you that is to say the Holy Ghost in the mean time tarry ye in the City of Jerusalem be quiet do not concern your self about any thing until ye be indued with power from on high And to shew their submission and conformity to that Order they continued shut up for forty days at the prefixed time the Holy Ghost descended Acts 2.3 cloven Tongues like as of fire falling upon the Disciples of our blessed Saviour do shew the efficacy of their preaching and so being filled with the Holy Ghost Id. 4. they began to speak as the Spirit gave them utterance the Apostles bore witness of Jesus Christ they were all ready to suffer for the Testimony that they had seen him rise from the dead Miracles followed upon their preaching At two of St. Peter's Sermons eight thousand Jews were converted and bewailing their Errour and Blindness they were wâ—shed in the Blood which they had spilt Thus was the Church founded in Jerusalem and amongst the Jews and notwithstanding the perverse incredulity of the Gross of the Nation yet the Disciples of Jesus Christ made known unto the World a Charity a Power but tempered with so much sweetness and condescension as never had been seen in any Society before Persecution arose the Faith increased the Children of God began more and more to aspire towards Heaven the Jews by their obstinate and inveterate Malice drew upon themselves the just Vengeance of God and hastened on them the sad Calamities and Desolation wherewith they had been threatned their Estates and their Affairs grew worse and worse Whilst God was setting apart a great number of them whom he placed among his Elect St. Peter was sent to baptize Cornelius a Roman Centurion He learned first of all by a Heavenly Vision and afterwards by Experience that the Gentiles were called to the Knowledge of God Jesus Christ who was willing to have them converted speaks from on high to St. Paul who was to be their Doctor and by a Miracle till then unheard of from a Persecutor he is made not only a Defender but a zealous Preacher of the Faith The profound Secret of the Calling of the Gentiles by the Reprobation of the ungratefull Jews who were still made more and more unworthy of the Gospel was discovered to him St. Paul reached forth his hands to the Geniiles and treated upon those important Questions with a wonderful force and power that Christ should suffer Acts 26.23 and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead and should shew unto the People and to the Gentiles He proved the Affirmative by Moses and the Prophets and called Idolaters to the Knowledge of God in the Name of Jesus Christ that was risen They were converted by Multitudes St. Paul shewed that their Calling was an effect of Grace which made no distinction betwixt either Jew or Gentile Fury and Jealousie transported the Jews so as they laid terrible Plots against St. Paul being chiefly incensed that he preached up the Gentiles and brought them to the true God At last he was delivered to the Romans as they had before delivered up Jesus Christ to them All the Empire was in commotion against the rising Church and Nero the Persecutor of all Mankind was the first Persecutor of the Faithful That Tyrant put both St. Peter and St. Paul to death Rome was consecrated by their Blood and the Martyrdom of St. Peter chief of the Apostles established in the Capital City of the Empire the Principal See of Religion In the mean time the time drew on when the Divine Vengeance was to fall upon the Impenitent Jews Disorders grew up amongst them a false Zeal blinded them and made them odious to all men their false Prophets infatuated them by the Promâ—ses of an imaginary Kingdom Thus being seduced by their deceitful tricks and artifices they could no longer endure any legitimate Empire and so they were unlimited in their attempts God gave them up to a reprobate Sence They revolted against the Romans who overthrew them Titus himself that destroyed them confessed he only lent his hand to that God that was provoked against them Adrian made a full end of them Philost vit Apoll Tyan lib. 6. Joseph de bell Jud. lib. 7.16 They were cut off with all the marks of the Divine Vengeance driven out of their own Land and made Slaves to all the World they no longer had either Temple or Altar or Sacrifice or Country and there was seen in Judah not so much as a form of People But God had notwithstanding provided for the Eternity of his Government The Eyes of the Gentiles were opened and they were united in Spirit to the converted Jews By that means they were joined to the Race and Stock of Abraham and became his Children by Faith and so inherited the promises which had been made to him A new People were formed and the new Sacrifice so much celebrated by the Prophets began to be offered throughout all the World Thus was that antient Oracle or Jacob fulfilled to a tittle Judah from the beginning was multiplied more than all his Brethren and having always kept a certain Preheminence he at last received the Kingdom as Hereditary to him Afterwards the People of God were reduced to his single Race and shut up in his Tribe they were called by his Name In Judah were continued that great People who were promised to Abraham to Isaac and to Jacob in him the other promises were perpetuated the worship of God the Temple the Sacrifices the possession of the promised Land which was only called Judah Notwithstanding all their several States the Jews continued always in a body of a regulated People and Kingdom making use of their Laws There were always seen to arise either Kings or Magistrates and Judges even till the Advent of the Messiah he came and the Kingdom of Judah quickly fell to ruin It was utterly destroyed and the Jewish People were driven without hope from the Land of their Fathers The Messiah was the expectation of the Nations and he reigned over a new People But to keep the Succession and the Perpetuity it was necessary to have this new people engrafted as I may so say upon the former and as St. Paul speaks if thou being a wild Olive tree were grafted in amongst then Rom. 11.17 and with them partakest of the root and fatnâ—â—s of the Olive-tree So it happened that the Church which was first established among the Jews at length received the Gentiles to make up one and the same Tree with them one and the same Body one and the same People and to make them partakers of her Graces and Promises What
for many Millions of years Plat. in Tim. Diod. 1. § 1. It was the Mother of both Men and Beasts which the Land of Egypt watered with the River Nilus had brought forth whilst all Nature besides was barren The Priests that composed the History of Egypt out of that vast continuance of Ages which they only filled with the Fables and Genealogies of their Gods did it â—o imprint into the minds of the People the Antiquity and Nobleness of their Country But their real History was circumscribed within reasonable Bounds and yet they found so much as to lose themselves in an infinite Abyss of Time which seemed to bring them near to Eternity But yet their love to their Country had more solid Foundations Egypt was in fine the most beautiful Country in the World the most plentiful by Nature the best cultivated by Art the richest the most commodious and the most adorned by the care and magnificence of her Kings There was nothing but what was very great in their Designs and in their Work What they made in Nilus is incredible It rained very seldom in Egypt but that River which watered it all by its orderly Flowings brought to it the Rains and the Snows of other Countreys For the multiplying of so beneficial a River Herod 2. Diod. 1. §. 2. Egypt was Traversed with an infinite number of Chanels of an incredible length and largeness Nilus carried fruitfulness every where with its wholsom Waters united Towns to one another and the great Sea to the red Sea kept up Commerce both within and our of the Kingdom and fortified it against the Enemy so that it was altogether both the Nourisher and the Defender of Egypt The Fields were swallowed up with it but the Towns that were set above by vast pains and labour and raised as Islands in the midst of the Waters joyful at such their advancements they beheld all the Plain overflown and at the same time made fruitful by the Nile When it swelled it self above Measure there were great Lakes cut hollow by the Kings that opened their Bosoms to the poured our Waters They have their discharges prepared great Sluces opened or shut them up as there was occasion and the Waters having thus their retreat tarried no longer on the Earth than just what was necessary to Marle and make 'em fertile Such was the use of this great Lake which was called the Lake of Myris or of Moeris Herod 10. Diod. ibid. It was the name of the King that had caused it to be made One would be astonished to read what notwithstanding is very certain that the Compass of it round was about a hundred and fourscore of our Leagues That too much of the good Land might not be lost by the cutting it hollow they extended it chiefly towards the Coast of Libya The Fishery was worth to the King vast Sums of Money and so when the Land did not produce any thing it yielded Treasures by being covered with the Waters Two Pyramids each of which bore upon a Throne two Colossus-like Statues the one of Myris the other of his Wife were raised three hundred Foot high in the midst of the Lake and were of an equal Depth under the Water So that they shewed that they were built before the Hollow was filled and that a Lake of that vast Extent was made by Man's Hand under one single Prince Those who do not know to what degree the Earth may be improved take for a Romance what is related of the number of the Towns in Egypt Herod 2. Diod. 1. 2. The Richness of them is no less incredible There was not one of them that had not magnificent Temples and most stately and august Palaces Architecture discovered there in all things such a noble Simplicity and Greatness that it took up the whole Imagination Diod. Ibid. The long Galleries exposed to every ones View such Sculptures in them as Greece took for Models Thebes was able to dispute it with the finest Cities of the Universe Her hundred Gates which Homer sung of are known to all the World She was as full of People as she was vast Pomp. Mel. 1. 9. and it was said she could at one time draw out ten thousand Combatants thro' each of her Gates Let there be if you please a little stretch in that Number yet it is most certain that her People were not to be numbered The Greeks and the Romans have celebrated their Magnificence and their Grandeur though they had only seen the Ruines of her Strab. 17. Tac. Ann. 2. 6. so extremely splendid were her Remains If our Travellers had got so far as where this City was built they would no doubt have yet found something incomparable in her Ruines For the Works of the Egyptians were made to hold out against the destruction of time Their Statues were Colosses Herod Diod. loc citat their Pillars vast Egypt aimed at Grandeur and to strike the Eyes at a distance but always to content by the Justice of the Proportions There were discovered in Sand or Salid you know very well that that is the name of Thebais Temples and Palaces almost yet entire Voyag pr. by M. Thevenot where those Pillars and Statues are innumerable One Palace is admired there above all the Remains of which seem only to continue to efface the Glory of all even the greatest Works Four Galleries whose Prospect lost our Sight bounded on each side by Sphinxes of as curious a Substance as their Greatness is remrkable serve as Avenues to four Portico's of such a hight as were an Astonishment to the Eyes What Magnificence and Extent was there As yet those that have described to us this prodigious Building have not had time of going round it nay and are not very sure they have seen above half of it but however all they have seen was very surprizing A Hall which seems to be placed in the middle of that stately Palace was supported by six score Pillars of thirty Foot in Compass proportionably high and intermixt with Obelisques which so many Ages have never been able yet to demolish Even the Colours that is to say that which rather tryed the Power of time are still preserved among the Ruines of that admirable Edifice ay and preserved in their Strength and Vivacity So skilled was Egypt in imprinting the Characters of Immortality on all her Works Now that the Name of the King is gone thro' all the unknown Parts of the World and that that Prince likewise extends his Researches as far as he hath caused to be made the most beautiful Works of Nature and of Art would it not be an Object worthy of so noble a Curiosity to discover the Beauties which Thebais locks up in her Desarts and to inrich our Architecture with the Inventions of Egypt What Power and what Art was it that could make such a Country to be the Wonder of the Universe And what Beauties might
wise goes staggering reeling and as it were besotted because the Lord hath shed the Spirit of Dizziness and Confusion in all her Councils She no longer knows what she does she is lost to her self But that Men may not herein be deceived God repaireth when he seeth good the stragling Senses and he that insulted over the Blindness of others falls himself into more Egyptian Darkness and often times without any thing else to confound his Sence and Understanding than his too long Prosperities Thus it is that God Reigneth over all People Let us no longer talk of Chance or Fortune or speak of it only as a Name wherewith we conceal our Ignorance That which is Chance in respect of our uncertain Councils is a concerted Design in a higher Council that is to say in that eternal Council which circumscribes all Causes and all Effects in one and the same Order Thus all concurs to the same end and it is for want of understanding the all that we find of Chance or of Irregularity in particular Accidents and Emergencies By that is verified the Saying of the Apostle 1 Tim. 6.15 that God is the blessed and only Potentate the King of Kings and Lord of Lords Blessed whose Repose is unalterable who seeth every thing to change without changing himself and who makes all Changes by an Immutable Council who gives and who takes away Power who transfers it from one Man to another from one House to another from one People to another to shew that they have it only by way of Loan and that it is he alone in whom it naturally resides Wherefore all Governors find themselves the Subjects of a greater Power They aâ—t more or less than they think for and their Councils have ever more had unforeseen Effects They neither are Masters of the Dispositions which Ages past have made in their Affairs nor can they foresee what Coâ—rse the times to come will take so far are they from being able to force it He alone holds all things in his Hands who knows the Name of that which is and that which is not yet who presides at all times and anticipates all Councils Alexander little thought he laboured for his Captains nor that he ruined his House when he gained his Conquest When Brutus animated the Romans with such an excessive Love of Liberty he as little thought he was casting into their Minds the Principle of that unbridled and masterless Licence by which the Tyranny he designed to destroy was one day to be re-established with greater Severity than under the Tarquins When the Caesars flattered the Souldiers they had no designs of giving Masters to their Successors and to the Empire In a word there is no humane Power but what do what it can serves for other Designs than it aims at at present God alone knows how to bring about all things according to his own Will Wherefore every thing is surprising if we only look to particular Causes and yet nevertheless every thing goes on in an orderly manner This Discourse makes you see it clearly and not to speak of other Empires you see by how many unforeseen Councils but yet always connected in themselves the Fortune of Rome hath been carried on from Romulus down to Charlemain Your Highness might perhaps have thought I should have told you somewhat more of your own Country and of Charlemain who was the Founder of the new Empire But besides that his History makes a part of that of France which you your self have wrote and which you have already so far proceeded in I reserve to make you another Discourse of that wherein I shall be necessarily obliged to speak to you of France and of that great Conqueror who being equal in Valour to those which Antiquity hath the most boasted of doth yet exceed them in Piety in Wisdom and Justice That some Discourse shall discover to you the Causes of the prodigious Successes of Mahomet and this Successors That Empire which began two hundred Years before Charlemain may find its place in that Discourse but I though it would be much better to shew you in one continued Series its beginning and its declension So that I have no more to tell you in this first Part of my Universal History You will discover all the Secrets of it and you will have nothing to do but to observe in it all the Progress of Religion and that of the great Empires down to Charlemain Whilest you will see almost all fall of themselves and Religion only support it self by its own Strength you will easily then discern what is solid Grandeur and where a wise and considerate Man is to place all his Hopes A TABLE TO THE FIRST PART OF THIS DISCOURSE I. EPocha Adam or the Creation First Age of the World Pag. 1. II. Epocha Noah or the Deluge Second Age of the World Pag. 4. III. Epocha The Call of Abraham Third Age of the World Pag. 7. IV. Epocha Moses or the written Law Pag. 11. V. Epocha The taking of Troy Fourth Age of the World Pag. 15. VI. Epocha Solomon or the Temple finished Fifth Age of the World Pag. 17. VII Epocha Romulus or Rome founded Pag. 25. VIII Epocha Cyrus or the Jews re-established Sixth Age of the World Pag. 43. IX Epocha Scipio or Carthage Conquered Pag. 71. X. Epocha The Birth of Jesus Christ Seventh and last Age of the World Pag. 89. XI Epocha Constantine or the Peace of the Church Pag. 110. XII Epocha Charlemain or the re-establishment of the new Empire Pag. 149. A Table to the Second Part. THE Course of Religion Pag. 155. I. The Creation and the first Times ibid. II. Abraham and the Patriarchs Pag. 178. III. Moses the Law written and the bringing of the People into the promisid Land Pag. 189. IV. David the Kings and the Prophets Pag. 209. V. The times of the second Temple Pag. 247. VI. Jesus Christ and his Doctrine Pag. 267. VII The Descent of the Holy Ghost the Establishment of the Church the Judgments of God both on the Jews and on the Gentiles Pag. 298. VIII Particular Reflections upon the Punishment of the Jews and upon the Predictions of Jesus Christ who had taken Notice of it Pag. 316. IX Two memorable Predictions of our blessed Saviour are explained and their Accomplishment justified by History Pag. 330. X. The Progress of the Jewish Errors and the manner how they explain the Prophecies Pag. 345. XI Particular Reflections on the Conversion of the Gentiles The profound Councils of God which resolved to convert them by the Cross of Jesus Christ The Arguing of St. Paul upon this manner of their Conversion Pag. 366. XII Divers ways of Idolatry Sense Interest Ignorance a false respect of Antiquity Policy Philosophy and Heresies came to its Succor but the Church triumphs over all Pag. 376. XIII General Reflection on the Progress of Religion and the Relation there is between the Books of the Scriptures Pag. 401. A Table to the Third Part. THE Empires Pag. 437. I. That the Revolutions of Empires are regulated by Providence and serve to humble Princes Ibid. II. The Revolutions of Empires have particular Causes which Princes ought to study Pag. 445. III. The Scythians the Ethiopians and the Egyptians Pag. 447. IV. The Assyrians both antient and new the Medes and Cyrus Pag. 475. V. The Persians the Grecians and Alexander Pag. 48â— VI. The Roman Empire Pag. 505. VII The Successive Changes of Rome Explained Pag. 543. FINIS