Whoever among the Nobility do really detest such Enormities should much rather be displeas'd with those who by their Vile and Naughty Actions disgrace the Titles that they bear For tho' such are a Burden and Scaldal to all Christians in General yet the Stanch and Filth of their Actions reflects most immediately upon that Order of which they are a Part. VVell then 't is granted I have said that some Noblemen are much more wicked than their Servants I did say it and it might seem odd enough if I did not prove it as well as say it Now to give an Instance of one of the Greatest wickednesses of which you shall scarce ever find any one Servant to have been guilty For can any one Servant be nam'd that ever kept a Swarm of VVhores or that is stain'd with the Scandal of having many VVives or like a Dog or Boar thinks he may have as many Mistresses as his Lust can Satisfie I know the Answer to this is easie That Servants cannot do these things and that they would certainly do them if it were in their Power I believe it However I cannot admit that as already done which as yet I never saw done For let their Minds be never so deprav'd and their Inclinations never so wicked yet no one ought to be punish'd for a Crime he never committed That Servants are Base and Nought is very certain But then those who are Noble and Better-bred are much more to be blam'd if being in a more Honourable Station their Manners are much worse So that the Issue of this whole Affair will of necessity come to this not that Servants should be altogether quit from the Guilt of their Naughtiness but that many of the Great and Rich Men in comparison of Servants are much more to be blam'd For who can sufficiently set forth as it ought to be that vile Robbery that when the Roman Empire was as good as dead or at least breathing its last Gasp that in that part in which it yet seem'd to live it should expire being strangl'd with Cords of Taxes as much as by the hands of the Invaders and yet in this Condition you shall find very many of the Poor who bear the Taxes of the Rich That is you shall find very many Rich Men whose Taxes murder the Poor But what do I talk of finding very many I fear I might have said with greater Truth you may find them all such For there are so very few free from this Evil if there are any that on that side where I say you may find Many I might as well at once have included All. For what has the Ease some time since given to some Cities produc'd but only to set all the Rich Men free and to encrease the Burden of the Poor that the old Duties might be taken off from their Backs and New ones put upon the others that the removal and taking off of some small Services should enrich the one only to torment the other with the addition of ten times greater that they might grow rich by lessening a Charge that was but a Feather to them only to press the other to Death with multiplying the Load already too heavy to be born So that the Remedy with the greatest Injustice relieves the Rich and as unjustly murders the Poor a most unrighteous Reward to the One and as unrighteous a Ruine to the Other VVhence we may observe that nothing can be more wicked than such rich Men who destroy the Poor by pretending to assist them and nothing more unfortunate than such mean Persons who are Ruin'd by that which was design'd as a Cure for all VII But what kind of dealing is this and what sort of Sanctity must we stile it that if any of the Nobility offer to be converted to God he presently loses the Advantage of his Honour Or what sort of Respect has Christ in that Chistian Country where the very embracing his Religion makes the Party ignoble For as soon as any one begins to amend and grow better he is despis'd and contemn'd as one grown much worse so that for that Reason all are in a manner forc'd to be wicked that they may not grow cheap And therefore it is not without Reason that the Apostle says The whole World lieth in Wickedness 1 John 5. v. 19 And very truly for with good grounds may the whole be said to lie in Wickedness where is there no room for the Good For the Whole is so full of all manner of Ungodliness that either they are all wicked who are in it or those few good that are remaining are Harass'd and Persecuted by the rest So that as I said if any one of Note applies himself to Religion he presently loses his Character For when any one changes his Habit he at the same time changes his Title if before he was Valu'd he is now Despisable if he was before very Splendid he is now as Mean if he was before all over Honour he is now all over Contempt And yet some Worldlings and People of little Faith think it strange that they feel the Anger of an offended God when they thus persecute God Himself in the Persons of his Saints All things are perverted and turn'd Topsy-turvy If any one is righteous he is despis'd as tho' he were wicked if any one is wicked he is respected as tho' he were righteous 'T is no wonder therefore if we daily suffer worse things since we our selves grow worse each day than other For Mankind daily commit new Sins and never leave the old ones A new Crop of Vices arises as a daily Addition to the remaining old Stock VIII What room therefore is there for How God by our Sins is daily provoked Complaint Whatever Hardships and Inconveniences we suffer they are much less than we deserve What reason have we to say that God deals hardly by us Certainly we deal much more hardly with God For we exasperate Him by our Impurities and compell him to punish us against his Will And altho' the Essence and Majesty of God be of that Nature that it is not to be disturb'd by the Passion of Anger yet we by our Iniquities do so mightily provoke him that we even force Him to be angry We do as I may say offer violence to His Goodness and rudely lay hands on His Mercy And when His loving-kindness is such that it would for ever spare us the Sins we commit oblige Him to plague us with Misfortunes And as they who beset the most fenced Cities or who endeavour to destroy or take the strongest Forts do without doubt ply them with all sorts of Arms and Engines so we in storming the Divine Mercy make use of all the greatest Villanies and Crimes as our offensive Arms and esteem Almighty God as injurious to us when we our selves are most injurious to Him For every Fault of every Christian is an Affront offer'd to the Divine Majesty For when we
new and unheard of Way of Buying and Selling. The Seller delivers nothing and yet receives all The Buyer receives nothing and yet utterly loses all And since this is common almost in all Bargains that the Buyer is generally the Richer and the Seller the Poorer for that the Buyer purchases with Design to encrease his Estate and the Seller parts with his Goods in order to lessen it this kind of Dealing is prodigious the Seller's Estate encreases when the Buyer has nothing left but sheer Beggary And how intolerable and monstrous and so far from being endur'd by Mankind that 't is not fit to be heard by them is this that many of these pitifully Poor miserable Wretches who are robb'd of all that little they had and driven from their little Lands even when they have thus lost their Estate yet still pay the Tax for the Estate thus taken from them and tho' they have lost the Possession of that their Capitation does not leave them They have not one jot of Property and yet they are over-born with Taxes Who can sufficiently set forth this Wickedness The Oppressors brood upon their Estates and these poor Creatures pay the Tribute for them After the Father's Decease the Sons by reason of the Father's former Service have not their Lands and yet are murder'd with the Duties of them And so by these Pranks it comes to pass that they who were before stript by private Oppression do yield up the Ghost by publick Squeezing and from whom Robbery had taken away their Estate pilling and polling has taken away their Life And therefore many of those who either naturally are more considerate or whom Necessity has forc'd so to be when they have either lost their Houses and Lands by Oppression or have been driven from them by the Tax-gatherers and find they cannot hold them they seek out for the Lands of some Great Men and so become Farmers to the Rich. And as they who being affrighted with the Approach of an Enemy are used to betake themselves to their Strong-holds or they who have forfeited the Protection of the Government do in despair fly to some place of Refuge even so these Men who can no longer enjoy the Seat and Honour of their Family betake themselves to the Drudgery of a pitiful Tenement being reduc'd to the necessiry of being strangers not only to their Estate but even to their former Stations and Conditions Banish'd not only from their Fortunes but even from themselves and loosing every thing together with themselves they want both a Property in their Goods and have lost all Title to their Liberty and Freedom IX And really since Misfortune and Necessity have made it so this mean Condition might however be born with if there were not still somewhat worse But it is bitter and grievous that there is yet a greater Mischief follows For they are receiv'd as Strangers but their Dwellings prejudice them so far as to make them Natives and after the Pattern of Circe that most powerful Enchantress who was said to change Men into Beasts all of these who are admitted within the Lands of Great Men are pefectly Metamorphos'd as by a Draught of Circe's Bowl For those whom they receive as Foreigners and Aliens they presently seize as their proper Goods and those who are well known to be Gentlemen are converted into Slaves And do we wonder then if the Barbartans carry us away Captive when we thus captivate our own Brethren Never think it strange that our Cities are sack'd and destroy'd We have long taken a world of Pains by the Oppression of very many that so by captivating others we our selves should at length begin to be Captives too For now we feel tho' much later than we desetve we feel I say at length what we have done Psal 128. v. 2. and as the holy Scripture says We eat the labours of our hands and by the just Judgment of God we pay the Debt we owe. We have Of the Mercy of God shewn no Compassion to those who have been Banish'd from their own Country and loe we our selves are now in that Condition We have put Tricks upon Strangers and behold we our selves are become Wanderers and are put upon We have over-reach'd Men of Condition by the Corruption of the Times and loe we of late begin to live in a foreign Soil and yet fear even now the like Corruptions And O how Great is the Infidelity and Blindness of our naughty Minds We are now under the Sentence of a Judging God and yet we do not acknowledge our selves to have been adjudg'd Nay some good Men admire that other People who yet have not suffer'd any such thing are not amended by our Examples when as we our selves who are now under God's hands are not the least reform'd by his punishing of our Iniquities O intolerable Pride Very many bear the Punishment of their Iniquities and yet no body vouchsases to understand the Cause of the Chastisement But the Reason of this Pride is plain altho' we do indeed undergo some Hardships yet we do not suffer what we deserve For the Mercy of God is so Great that altho' he would have as suffer for some of our Faults yet he would not have us bear them all tho' he punishes the Wicked he cannot do wickedness and he had rather we should acknowledge our Sins than bear the Weight of them that so by those loving and wholesome Stripes he might shew us what we deserve to bear but yet will not lay upon us our Deserts according to that of the blessed Apostle where he says Dost thou not know that the goodness of God leadeth thee to Repentance But after thy Rom. 2. v. 4 5. hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thy self wrath against the day of wrath We do really just thus as the Apostle says For God calls us to Repentance but we treasure up Wrath God invites us to Pardon but we daily add Sin to Sin We offer Violence to God for our Iniquities we arm the Divine vengeance against us We force the Almighty against his Will to revenge the Outragiousness of our Offences Nay we almost go so far as not to give him leave to spare us For since there cannot the least sign of Injustice ever happen to or appear in God we act so that if he do's not execute Vengeance on our Gigantick Villanies he will almost seem to be unjust X. But some one or other was formerly a Sinner perhaps now he is not Is there any end of Sinning and do not Men sooner leave their Lives than their Iniquities For where is one who do's not die in his Offences and is buried with nay in his very Transgressions So what That of the Prophet may be truly apply'd to them Their Graves are their Habitation Psal 48. 12. v. 20. for ever they are compared unto the foolish bruit Beasts and are made like unto them And I wish they were like Beasts
woe be to us and our Impurities woe be to us and our Iniquities What hope is there for Christians in the Presence of God since that these Wickednesses have not been in the Roman Cities since the time they fell under the Power of the Barbarians So that Vice and Impurity are a Sort of quality peculiar to the Romans and are as their very Soul and Nature for there does Vice particularly reign wheresoever there are Romans But this is perhaps a heavy and an unjust Complaint 'T were a heavy one indeed if 't were false But how do you say how not false When what we have spoken of is now done only in very few Roman Cities and there are a great many which are not at all spotted with such Impurities where tho' indeed the Places and Conveniences of their former Error remain yet they are not at all made use of to the same purposes as formerly Therefore both Matters are to be consider'd that is how it comes that the Places and Play-houses remain but the Sports and Pastimes have ceas'd to be As to the Places they are as yet Nests of Filthiness because all Impurity has been there formerly acted And for the Plays they are not now acted because the Misery and Poverty of the Times is so Great that they cannot be And therefore what was formerly done was out of pure Vice and that it is not now as formerly is meer Necessity For the Poverty and Lowness of the Româ—s Treasury and Exchequer cannot allow that extravagant Expences should be every where lavish'd upon such Trifles But let them yet squander as much as they can and throw it even to the Dunghill yet for their Hearts they cannot waste so much as they have done because there is not so much left for them For as to the Desire of our Lusts and impure Delight we could wish with our Souls that we had more that we might convert more of it to these filthy dirty Pleasures And 't is plain how much we would squander if we were rich and wealthy when we are even Beggars and yet lavish so much For so great is the Corruption and Loosness of our present Manners that altho' our Poverty has not wherewithal to spend yet the Viciousness of our Tempers would fain squander more We have little Reason therefore to flatter our selves in this Case by saying that those things are not done in all Cities now which have been formerly done For they are not therefore now done in all because the Cities where they have been formerly acted are not now in being and where they have been long acted they have so manag'd it that they cannot be even where they formerly were as God himself by the Prophet spoke to the Sinners For the Lord remembred them says he and it came into his Jer. 24. v. 21 22. mind so that the Lord could no longer bear because of the evil of your doings and because of the abominations which you have committed therefore is your Land a desolation and an astonishment and a curse And by these Doings it is come to pass that the greater part of the Roman World should be for a Desolation and an Astonishment and a Curse IX And I would to God these things had only been done formerly and that the vicious Romans would some time leave off to do them It may be as the Scripture says God might have mercy upon our Sins But we do not act as tho' we desir'd he should have mercy upon us For we continually add evil to evil and heap one Sin upon the head of another and when the greatest part of us have already perish'd we do what we can that we may perish all I desire to know who sees another slain near him and is not himself afraid Who sees his Neighbour's House on fire and do's not endeavour by all means he can that he himslef be not consum'd in the Flames We have seen not only our Neighbours burn but have felt the Flames in the greatest part of our Bodies But O strange What Misfortune is this We burn we burn and yet do not dread the Flames that burns us For that these things as I said are not acted every where as formerly is owing to our Misery not out Couduct And I can easily prove it For put us but in the Condition we formerly were and you shall presently find all things every where as they were Nay further altho' they are not now in reality every where as far as Men's Wishes can make them they are every where because the Roman People would willingly have them every where For when a Man is kept back from doing an evil Thing meerly out of pure Necessity the very Desire of doing the Wickedness is condemn'd instead of the Action For as I said according to that Saying of our Matth. 5. v. 28. Lord He who looketh upon a Woman to lust after her hath committed Adultery with her already in his Heart We may understand that altho' we do not commit filthy and base Actions out of Necessity yet we are condemn'd for the having had an hearty Desire to the commission of them But what do I speak of a Desire almost all commit them when they have opportunity Nay when the Inhabitants of any City whatever come to Ravenna or Rome they make a part of the Romans in the Cirque and a part of the People of Ravenna in the Theatre So that by this means no man by absence or distance can think himself excus'd The filthiness of the Things makes them all one who are joyn'd to each other in the Desire of those filthy Things And yet we sooth our selves with the Integrity of our Morals and flatter our selves with the Rarity of Uncleannesses But I affirm that not only those infamous contagious Pastimes which were formerly acted are now in Being but that they are acted with much more Guilt than formerly For then the Parts of the Roman World were entire and flourish'd the Publick Riches crowded the Store-houses the Citizens of every City swam in Delights and Plenty the Authority of Religion amidst so great Abundance of all Things could scarce preserve a Discipline and Order Inventors of idle Pastimes were then maintain'd in many places but then all places were full and crowded No body thought of the Cost and Charge of the Publick because the Expence was never felt The Publick rather sought where to consume what it s own Store-houses could scarce contain And so the heap of Riches which exceeded almost all Measure overflowed upon those Trifles But now what can be said Our former Plenty is departed Times and Estates are alter'd and we are became miserably poor and yet we do not cease to be trifling And when Poverty used to cure the greatest Prodigals and Spend-thrifts so that as soon as ever they leave off to be rich they forthwith forsake their Vices 't is only we that are a new sort of Spendthrifts and Rake-hells whom Riches
advance it And therefore it will be more just both to the Author and the Reader as well as more modest in it self to let this Great point alone Let the Reader peruse it and then let him judge for himself And if he will but read it with Temper and Application with an honest Heart and a due preparation without partiality and prejudice I am well assured he will bless God and own his good Providence that ever it came into his Hands Tho. Wagstaffe SALVIAN's PREFACE To the Holy Bishop SALONIUS SALVIAN to the holy Bishop Salonius wisheth health in our Lord Jesus Christ All those Men who have thought that the exercising their Wits in Writing some Learned Work might tend to the Improvement of Humane Life have taken the greatest Care whether their Subject were useful and innocent or unprofitable and wicked to Adorn the Matter treated of with Choice of Expressions and to add Lustre to the Cause they handled by the Beauty of their Stile And therefore in both sorts of Learning most of those Writers who have treated of worldly Affairs have apply'd themselves Chiefly to that Part not much regarding the Truth or Worth of the Subject if so be they express'd themselves upon it either in smooth and taking Verse or in clean and perspicuous Prose For generally in their Writings they plead their own Causes and being more solicitous of their own Applause than of others advantages they have not so much labour'd to be sound and instructive as to be esteem'd Eloquent and Learned And therefore their Writings are either swell'd with Follies or are Scandalous for Lying are bedawb'd with beastly Words or else defil'd with beastlier Things so that the Chief Thing they aim'd at being the Reputation of being thought Ingenious when they spent so much time on such unworthy Subjects they seem'd to me instead of having advanced the Credit of their Parts much rather to have debas'd them But I who am a much greater lover of Things than Words pursue Things profitable rather than Things plausible neither do I desire to be commended for such empty Gewgaws of the Times but for the usefulness and solidity of my Matter I am not for using tinsell'd Words in my poor Writings but Physick and Remedies not design'd to tickle the Ears of sawntring idle People but to heal the sick and wounded Conscience which by God's Blessing may both ways be of very great Advantage If this Antidote of mine shall cure the ill Opinion some have taken up of our Great God it will be of no small Advantage that I have profited so many But if it falls out otherwise I shall not think I have lost my Labour having at least attempted to do them good For where good Designs and kind Endeavours do not meet with the intended Success in that Case the Will will be rewarded for the Deed. And so I will begin THE CONTENTS BOOK I. OF God's Governing the World Page 1 The Prosperity of the Bad and the Adversity of the Good in this World And how the Good cannot be but Blessed p. 4 The Contempt of Riches and the Profit of Infirmity p. 8. How Cain slew his Brother p. 15. The World drowned p. 18. The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrha p. 21. The Rebellions of Pharaoh and the Works of Moses p. 24. BOOK II. Of Gods Governing the World p. 37. How God's Ears are always open to the Righteous p. 30. How Great things David suffered p. 44. An Example of Repentance and the Advantages obtained thereby p. 47. BOOK III. The State of the Good much harder than the Bad. p. 53. Of the just Judgments and Councils of God p. 53. What Faith is p. 56. How few or none are faithful towards God p. 58. What Murther is p. 59. What it is to imitate Christ p. 60. Law Suits to be avoided and how God is to be Obeyed in all things p. 64. The Errors of the Rich. p. 75 BOOK IV. Of Holiness c. p. 81. Of Theft and of Servant's Faults c. p. 87. How God is the Giver of all things c. p. 101 Of the Law accusing us for living wickedly c. p. 110 BOOK V. Of the Law and its Commands p. 127. Of Hereticks and Tradition p. 129. Of Ignorance which excuseth p. 131. Of Envy p. 134. Of the Rarity of the Good p. 137. Of the Errors of the Romans p. 138. Of Oppression p. 140 Of the Mercy of God p. 149 BOOK VI. How one Man's Crime hurts many p. 157 Of Barbarous Sights p. p. 161 Of the Impurity of the Theatres p. 163 When we may be merry and how far it is lawful p. 169 Of Sin c. p. 174 Of the Devil's Enchantments p. 180 How God sometimes chastises us with Hardships and sometimes with Ease p. 192 BOOK VII Of God's Chastisements p. 198 Of God's Goodness c. p. 201 Of what God requires of us p. 203 Of the Vices of the Aquitanes p. 204 Of the Vices of the Africans p. 220 Of the Splendour of Carthage p. 225 Of the Sin of one Man c. p. 232 Of the Vices of a bad Governour p. 227 BOOK VIII How we our selves are the Authors of our own Misery and Calamity p. 245 How it is a kind of Sacriledge to hate the Worshippers of God p. 250 Some BOOKS Printed for S. Keble at the Turk's Head over against Fetter-Lane in Fleet-street MOnasticon Anglicanum or the History of the Antient Abby's and other Monasteries Hospitals Cathedral and Collegiate Churches in England and Wales Published in Latin by Sir William Dugdale Knight and now Epitomized in English Page by Page in Folio Epicteti Enchiridion or the most Excellent Morals of Epictetus made English in a Poetical Paraphrase By Ellis Walker M. A. An Explication of the Terms Orders and Usefulness of the Liturgy by way of Question and Answer Recommended to be Learned after the Church Catechism A Table to all the Epistles and Gospels in the Book of Common Prayer so that you may find any Texts of Scripture being contained in them This Table may be put in your Common-Prayer Book The Degrees of Marriage that which is ordered to be had in all Churches in England Three POEMS on St. Paul's Cathedral viz. The Ruins of the Re-building and the Choir A short View of the Prophaneness and Immorality of the English Stage c. By Jeremy Collier M. A. and his First and Second Defence SALVIAN of GOD's Government c. BOOK I. Of God's Governing the World The Prosperity of the Bad and the Adversity of the Good in this World And how the Good cannot be but Blessed The Contempt of Riches and the Profit of Infirmity How Cain slew his Brother The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrha The Rebellions of Pharaoh and the works of Moses I. GOD Almighty is esteem'd by many Of God's Governing the World to neglect and disregard Humane Affairs that He neither protects the Righteous nor punishes the Wicked and that That is the Reason why
by His long-suffering permitted others and pass'd a just Sentence on the rest However it may be there are some still may think that it is not sufficient for me to have prov'd my Assertion by a few single Instances let us see therefore whether I cannot prove the same thing thro' all the Race of Mankind When therefore the Number and Iniquities of Mankind were equally increas'd God seeing says the Sacred Scripture that the Wickedness of man was great in the Earth and that every imagination of the Gen. 6. Thoughts of his Heart was only evil continually it repented the Lord that he had made Man on V. 5 6 7. the Earth and it griev'd him at His heart And the Lord said I will destroy man whom I have created from off the face of the Earth Let us consider here how much the extraordinary Care and strict Justice of the Lord is shewn in all these Particulars And first he says God seeing Secondly it grieved him at his heart Thirdly I will destroy says he man whom I have created By the Expression in this place of God's seeing all this is shewn his great Care By the other of grief his terrible Wrath By that of punishing the severity of his Justice It therefore repented God says the Scripture that he had made man on the earth Not that the Almighty is liable to such Motions or subjected to any manner of Passion but the sacred Writings that they may the more plainly convey the Meaning of the Things Recorded delivering them to us in our own way after the manner of Men by the Expression of God's repentance do demonstrate to us the Greatness of His Anger Now God's Wrath is the Punishment of the Offender But what follow'd after this When God locked upon the earth it goes on and behold V. 12 â—â— it was corrupt he said unto Noah the end of all flesh is come before me for the earth is filled with violence thro' them and behold I will V. 30. destroy them with the earth It follows The Gen. 7. v. 11. Fountains of the great deep were broken up and theÌ„ windows of Heaven were opened and the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights And a little after And all flesh died V. 21. that moved upon the earth And again And Noah only remain'd alive and they that were with him in the Ark. Here now I would fain V. 23. know from them who would have it that God is altogether regardless of Things here below whether or no at that time they think God did either regard or judge Things on the Earth For I am of Opinion that he did not only barely judge them but passed as it were a double Sentence upon them Because when on the one hand he preserv'd the Righteous he shew'd himself merciful and their Rewarder and on the orher hand by his punishing of the Ungodly he shew'd the strictness of his Justice But perhaps these things because transacted as it were in another Age before the Flood may not have so great Weight among some of the weaker Sort as they ought to have as tho' there were some other God at that time or else that He afterward grew sullen and would not take the same Trouble that he had done before I could by Divine Assistance prove what I have said thro' all Ages since the Flood but the Greatness of the Number will not admit it and besides some few of the most considerable Instances may suffice For since 't is beyond all doubt That the God of the first Men and of their Posterity is the very same that must be expected in the Government of the Posterity which we find by Instances to be true in that of our Fore-fathers VIII When therefore after the Universal The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrha Deluge God had blessed Mankind and the Fruits of that Blessing appear'd in their extraordinary Encrease The Lord called to Abraham out of Heaven and commanded him to Gen. 12. leave his own Countrey and go and find out another Here he is call'd he obeys he arrives at it is placed in it from Poverty becomes Rich from a perfect Stranger becomes Powerful from a contemptible Vagabond to be Great and Honourable But lest these things which were given him might seem to be purely the Effects of God's Bounty and not any Encouragement of his Obedience he who was thus prosperous and successful afterward underwent the Tryal of Adversity For he afterward liv'd in Trouble Hazards and Dread of his Life was tormented with Travelling from place to place fatigu'd in Banishment every where affronted depriv'd of his Wife God order'd his Son to be Sacrific'd the Father obeys and offers him as far as was possible in the Sincerity of his Intention He 's again banish'd again in fear of his Life envy'd by the Philistines robb'd by Abimelech These were mighty Misfortunes and yet his Comforts were as Great For tho' his Afflictions were many yet the Lord deliver'd him out of all In all these Transactions 't is easie to observe that God was an Overseer an Inviter a Guide was Solicitous a Promiser a Protector a Rewarder a Prover a Patron a Revenger and a Judge He was an Overseer when out of many he chose him alone whom he saw to be better than the rest An inviter when he call'd him from his own Country A guide when he brought him into an unknown Place He was solicitous when he visited him under the Tree A promiser when he assur'd him of Things to come A protector when he protected him among a strange People A rewarder when he enrich'd him A Patron and advancer when he advanced him above all A revenger when he reveng'd him of his Adversaries And a Judge because in the Act of his Vengeance he judged them To this Story of Abraham God immediately subjoyns and says The Cry of Sodom and Gomorrha is great and their Sin is Gen. 18. very grievous The Cry says he of Sodom v. 20 21. and Gomorrha is very Great The way of speaking that Sins do cry is remarkable For doubtless the Cry of Sinners must be great since it ascends from Earth to Heaven But why should he use such an Expression as that the Sins of Men do cry Because God says that his ears are wounded with the Cries of Sins to hasten the Punishment of the Sinner And a huge and mighty Cry it must be when the long-suffering of God is so overcome by the Cry of Sins that he is forc'd to inflict Punishment on the Sinner The Lord does therefore here shew how unwillingly he inflicts Punishment on the greatest Trangressors when he says that the Cry of Sodom is come up to him as much as if he had said my Mercy does mightily incline me to spare them but the Cry of their Sins does even force me to punish them But when he had said thus what was the Consequence Why Angels are
Sinners was scarce committed before the Penalty reveng'd the Sin but that is not the only remarkable Thing in this Affair since there are many others For in these Men it was not so much a wicked Heart as a too rash and unadvised Easiness that was punish'd which is a Declaration from God himself of what punishment those are worthy who dare Sin in open Contempt of the Divine Majesty when these Men are thus smitten who offended meerly for want of Consideration And how heinous a Guilt they would contract who should act expressly against God's Commands when these were so severely scourg'd who wanted nothing but a Command for their Actions Further by this God provides for our Amendment setting before us so wholesome an Example by which all of the Laiety may undestand how greatly they ought to dread the Wrath of God since neither the Merits of the Father could deliver nor the Privilege of the sacred Ministry free even the Sons of the High-Priest from immediate Punishment But why do I speak of the Inconsiderateness of these Men which in a manner affected God himself and tended to the lessening his Honour Miriam Numb 12. v. â— speaks against Moses and is punish'd and not only barely so but in a Judicial way For in the first place she is summon'd to appear in Judgment Then she is convicted and in the last place punish'd In the Reproof given her there was the force of a Sentence in her Leprosie she was put in the State of a real Offender and this Censure did not only humble Miriam but Aaron also For tho' it was not meet that the High Priest should be deform'd by Leprosie yet nevertheless the Chastisement of the Lord was upon him and not only so for Aaron as Partaker in the Crime is chastis'd in that very Punishment which Miriam suffer'd for the punishment is laid upon Miriam that Aaron may be confounded with the Guilt But that we may further understand how inexorable God is in his Judgment in some cases we shall see that he will not hearken to the Intercession even of the offended Party Thus we read that the Lord said unto Aaron and Miriam Wherefore Numb 12. v. were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses And the anger of the Lord was v. 9. kindled against them and he departed And behold Miriam became Leprous white as Snow v. 10. And Moses cry'd unto the Lord saying Heal v. 13. her now O God I beseech thee And the Lord said unto Moses if her Father had but spit in v. 14. her face should she not be ashamed seven days Let her be shut out from the Camp seven days and after that let her be receiv'd in again What I have said on this head and part of my Discourse is sufficient for it would be endless to enlarge upon all when the very naming them would be sufficiently tedious without staying to make Discourses upon them However I shall add somewhat more XII The Israelites repent that they left Aegypt they are smitten for it they murmur at the great Fatigue of their Journey they are afflicted for it They long for Flesh and are scourg'd for it Being weary of feeding every day on Manna they desire to glut themselves with Dainties their craving Appetites are gratify'd to the full but whilst their Bellies are cramm'd they are tormented For while says the Scripture the meat was yet in their mouths the heavy Wrath of God came upon Psal 78. v. 30 31. them and slew the fattest of them and smote down the chosen Men of Israel Og rebels against Deut. 3. v. 3. Numb 26. v. 9 10. Moses and is destroy'd Core reproaches him and is overwhelm'd Dathan and Abiram murmur and are swallow'd up For the Earth open'd and swallow'd up Dathan and cover'd the Congregation Psal 106 v. 17. of Abiram Two hundred and fifty Principal Men likewise as the Scripture testifies who were by name call'd to Council Numb 16. v. 2. made an Insurrection against Moses And at the time of their withstanding Moses and Aaron they said it is sufficient for us that alâ— the Congregation are holy every one of them Wherefore then lift you up your selves above the Congregation of the Lord And what followed v. 3. Why fire came out from the Lord and v. 35. consum'd the two hundred and fifty Men that offer'd Incense But after all these mighty Things they receiv'd no Advantage from Heavens care they were often under the Rod but still without Amendment For as we at this time are every day scourg'd yet are nere the better so they under all their Chastisements continued still the same For what says the Scripture The day following the whole Congregation murmured v. 41. against Moses and Aaron saying Ye have killed the People of the Lord. And what then Fourteen thousand and seven hundred Men were destroy'd in a trice by Fire from Heaven But how comes it since all the People had transgress'd that they di not all likewise share in the Punishment especially considering that in the Rebellion of Corâ—h beforementioned not a Soul escaped How comes it to pass that in that case God would destroy the whole Body of the Offenders but in this only some part of them Because God is plentiful both in Mercy and Justice and of his Essential goodness forgives many times as well as exercises Severity in Vindication of his Justice And therefore in that Case his Justice took place that by punishing all the Offenders it might tend to the Reformation of all that saw or heard it But in this he exercises Mercy lest a whole People should be destroy'd And yet when he had used them with so much Compassion and saw the often repeated Scourging of a part only of the offending Multitude had so little Success at the last he utterly destroy'd them all The Consideration of which should both make us tremble and spur us on to Amendment lest we who neglect to reform our selves from their Example come to the same miserable End that they did For what became of them is plain beyond all doubt for seeing that the Chief Design of bringing the Children of Israel out of the Land of Aegypt was purely that they might possess the Land of Promise only two holy and good Men of all that vast Body entred into it For thus says the Scripture The Lord spake unto Moses Numb 14. v. 26 27. and Aaron saying how long shall I bear with this evil Congregation which murmur against me As truly as I live saith the Lord as you have V. 28. spoken in mine ears so will I do unto you your Carcasses shall fall in this wilderness And afterward But your little ones which you v. 31. said should be a Prey them will I bring in and they shall know the Land which ye have despised But as for you your Carcasses they shall fall in this wilderness And what
Captivity and having the Fear of Death upon us burst into Laughter You would think all the Romans were satiated with the Herbs of * A proverbial saying for a foolish laughing with sorrow in the end Sardinia They die Laughing And therefore almost in all Parts of the World Tears follow our Laughter and even at present that Saying of our Lord is come upon us Woe unto you that laugh for you shall Luk. 9. weep II. But it may be since I have spoken so Of Gods Goodness in desiring nothing that is either heavy or burthensome for his peculiar favour 's conferred upon us long of the publick Sports and Uncleannesses some one may be apt to think that we are worse than the Barbarians only in this because they do no such things and 't is only we that do them but as to the wickedness of Carnal Lusts and the filth of Abominable Fornication that we are not by any means so Bad. Let us if you please compare the Romans in this Particular with the other People And really I cannot tell whether they can be more rightly compar'd to any than to those whom God having plac'd in the very heart of the Commonwealth has made Lords and Masters of the Roman Soil But altho' nothing can be argu'd of the Judgment of God yet seeing he has taken away from us a great Part of our Possessions and given them to the Barbarians let us consider whether what he has taken from us and given to them he can be thought to have done by a just Judgment Every one knows that the Aquitanes and the * The inhabitants of what is now call'd Gascoine and Guienne in France Novem-Populi had the very Marrow of almost all Gaul and the Breasts of all its Plenty and not only of Plenty but of what is sometimes preferr'd before it of Delight Pleasure and * People of Languedock and Gascoine Beauty The whole Country there was so intermixt with Vineyards and curious flowry Meads chequer'd with various Tillage planted with Orchards or the pleasantest Groves water'd with Fountains or flow'd between by Rivers or cover'd all over with Harvests plenty so that the Possessors and Owners of that Country seem'd not so much to enjoy that Portion of the Soil as the very Resemblance of Paradise And what after all this Undoubtedly they ought to be more dutiful toward God whom he had thus in a peculiar manner enrich'd with such an Abundance of His Favours For what is more rational and fitting than that they whom God by His Blessings seem'd particularly willing to oblige should likewise in an especial manner endeavour to please him by Honour and religious Service especially considering that God requires nothing that is heavy or burdensome from us God do's not call us to the Plow or the Spade not to Till the Earth nor to Dig and Delve in the Vineyard nor do's he require so much of us as we do from our Servants For what says he Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give Matt. 11. v. 28 c. you rest Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your Souls For my yoke is Of what God requires of us easie and my burden is light Our Lord therefore do's not invite us to Labour but to Refreshment For what does he require of us what does he command us to perform but only Faith Chastity Humility Sobriety Mercy Holiness all which do not burden but beautifie us And not only so but they do therefore adorn this present Life that they may much more adorn that which is to come O the Goodness Loving-kindess and inestimable Mercy of God who gives us in this present Life the Blessing of Religion for that very End that he may hereafter reward the very Things that he gave us Such certainly without all question the Aquitanes ought to have been And truly as I said in a more especial manner because they receiv'd more especial Favours from the hand of God But what after all these What follow'd What but every thing the quite contrary For as they were the richest in all Gaul so they were the most Vicious For there was no where greater Voluptuousness no where lewder Lives nor no where more corrupt Discipline This Return they made the Lord for His heavenly Favours that as much as He by His loving kindnesses endeavour'd to draw them to him that he might have mercy upon them so much on the other hand by their detestable Actions they labour'd to exasperate Him III. But it may be this is false and is rather Of the vices of the Aquitanes spoken invidiously than truly I shall not make use of any far-fetch'd Proof as Orators and others in their Causes are us'd to do by producing to justify it only some few and those strangers and not legal Witnesses I will only ask the Parties who have done the Fact I have told an untruth if they deny it For they confess it and which is worse they own it so as not to shew the least Sorrow in the Confession For they have the same Mind now in the Confessing it as they had before in the Acting it As then they were not ashamed to commit the Wickedness so neither now do they in the least repent that they had done those Wicked things Excepting however some very few Holy and Eminent Men who as one of their Number says Redeem'd their Crimes by scattering their Coin Excepting I say those I speak of whom in that Universal Stanch and Filth of Vices I believe only to have been guilty of the lesser Crimes since they deserv'd to be reform'd by Heaven For he does not in every Respect offend his Lord for whóm Mercy is reserved And in short I am of Opinion that he had always his Eye upon God in the midst of his Mistake who could obtain the Blessing from Him that he might continue no longer in it But the rest and Most and Richest were almost all the same their Guts were almost one bottomless Pit And all their Lives one continued Brothel-house But what do I mention the Brothel-houses I take the Bawdy-house to be much less faulty For the Harlots who are there never knew the Bond of Marriage and so they do not pollute what they never knew They do indeed deserve to be punish'd for the Sin of Unchastity but yet they are not guilty of the sin of Adultery Beside there are not many Brothels and there are very few Queans who have damn'd themselves to that cursed way of Living But among the Aquitanes what City was there in the Richest and Noblest part of it which was not like a perfect Stews Where was there a Rich Man of Power who did not live in the filth of Lusts Who did not plunge himself in the nasty stinking Jaques Who was true to his Bed Nay as far as lying with