and said unto her Goe Agar and return to thy son take him by the hand and reanimate this little dying body O God! who will not admire thy sage Providence and the miraculous Conduct of thy Designes Who will not remain astonished in contemplation of thy works and above all when he shall discern the care thou hast of thy Elect Alas Surge tolle puerum tene manum illius quia in gentem magnam faciam eum Gen. 21. v. 18. how stupid is the Wisdom of men how imprudent are their conceptious and how feeble are all the forces of their understandings when they are severed from thee There needs but one Heavenly Ray to inlighten all the obscurities of the Earth but on single drop of dew to soften all the rocks and but one glance of Gods Eye to give a Soul and life unto all the most Inanimated bodyes in Nature In fine when a man thinks himself lost he presently finds his way in the midst of all his wandrings and there is no climate nor Earth so dry Aperuitque oculos ejus Deus quae videns puteum aquae abiit implevit utrem deditque puero bibere Gen. 21. v. 19. and aride where his Omnipotent goodness may not cause a Thousand Fountains and springs to rise to the end it may be every where known that he is the Source of Living and salutiferous Waters who is able to quench as he shewed to Agar the most ardent thirsts in the midst of Desarts and Solitudes CHAP. X. The Sacrifice of Abraham and the admirable Artifices of God to try his Constancy and Fidelitie I could almost have a mind to complain of God and to accuse the apparent rigours he exerciseth on his favorites If the little experience I have in the life of Saints had not taught me that there are admirable Secrets to try his most faithfull Servants To this effect Mobilis semper incâ—ssâ—bilis calidus fervidus Dionys. cap. 7. coel hicracb saith St. Denis He is alwayes in Motion never at rest and his ardors are so penetrating and lively that he passeth like an inflamed Arrow even into the bottom of the heart to see there all that is inclosed Neverthelesse he is not like those petty Tyrants who cover their Eyes place veiles over their foreheads and hold Torches Bowes and Arrows in their hands as Weapons which they use to give death with blindness But if Divine Love hath Veiles they are wrought with the purest lights of Heaven Triall of Love and if it hath Shafts it is to open hearts and its Torch serves but to disclose all the secrets of souls in which nothing can remain concealed It is for this he is compared to a Gold-smith who purifies Gold and Silver in the crucet to a Captain who tryes the valour dexterity and Courage of a Souldier or rather to a Friend who neither promiseth nor bestowes his Amity but after very Long triall Behold doubtless what God did when he tempted Abraham as the most faithfull most constant and most affectionate person that lived in his time Neverthelesse I am troubled to say God can perform the office of a Temptor since the least of his looks pierceth all the Cloudes of future things Nemo cum tentatur dicat quia à Deo tentatur Jacob. c. 1. epist and that St. James in his Canonicall Epistle saith in expresse termes that God can tempt no man because he cannot be the Author of Evill But this is to be ignorant in the nature of temptation Ambros. lib. 1. de Abraham cap. 8. Aug q. 57. in Genesâ—â— and to have never read St. Ambrose St. Austin and the major part of the Fathers concerning this point who sufficiently evidence that there are blind and wicked temptations which cannot come from God as also prudent and officious ones which are as the shafts and stimulations of Love or else like sounding plummets wherewith the extents and capacity of hearts are measured so God knew but too well how great was the Love of Abraham but it was requisit that this Love should appear and with armes in its hand to acquire a force wholly new and in a fresh combat We must not wonder that God tempted Abraham Exercise of faith since this kind of temptation was but an excercise of his fidelity and a triall of his affection Exercitium fidei tentatio D Ambr. in 8. Luc. Tentat vos Deus ut sciatsi diligitis illum Deut. 13. Just as the Masters in Academies and Fencers in their schools use to doe when by some sophism or feigned thrust they exercise the spirits dexterity and courage of their bravest scholars I feel a horror nevertheless Tentavit Deus Abraham dixit ad eum Abraham Abraham at ille respondit adsum Gen. 22. v. 1. when I think of the matter on which God resolved to tempt Abraham I tremble and my Heart grones when I hear him twice called by his name and that all the Commissions which are given him tend but to the death of his Son Abraham Abraham can it possibly be that this so sweet so amiable and so Holy a Name must serve to summon thee to an office which appears so cruell and unnaturall as the Murther of thy Son Is it peradventure to carry thee more promptly to the execution of this sad decree that thou art twice called Art thou deaf to the first words of thy God or dost thou not perform readily enough what God commandeth Art thou so fixed on thy Isaack that thou no longer thinkest on God what is the matter Art thou stupified and hast neither Heart nor care for thy Master Lord behold me here saith Abraham what is thy will and where and in what may I manifest my Obedience and Love There are many who have complements enough in their Mouths Fruitless Complements and offer themselves freely enough but if a Man must ingage either life goods honor or the least of his interests he instantly retires and his dearest friends remain without offers and effects Let us examin whether Abrahams Heart be of the same temper of those faint friends God calls him and he returns answers unto God God calls him again and he protests that he is ready to execute all his commands much more for this Holy Man never contradicted the least injunction God had laid on him he left his Country he forsook his Parents and his life was but a voyage of Obedience and an exile of Love What can God desire more of him This is yet not all God requires of him and the trials though too long and too harsh God hitherto made of his fidelity were but the Prologues of a combat which must be far more rigorous Love is content to put a staff in his Hand to walk him through the World but he immediatly presents him with a Sword to undertake a dreadfull Duel though it be a Duel of Love Well then Abraham take your dear Isaack
mans Creation that this Animated Sun was born It was by the Light of Natures greatest Bonfire that God vouchsafed to stoop so low as Earth to take Clay Formavit igitur Dominus Deus hominem de limo terrae Gen. 2. v. 7. out of which he formed the Body of the first Man This wise and all-knowing Workman to whom all things are possible drew out of Durt Morter and Dust the Bones which were to be not only the Pyles Pillars Basis and strength of the Body but even the instruments of all its Motions He added to it Ligaments Joynts Carthelages Nerves and an infinity of fibres or little strings which were to lock the Bones and Members within one an other to be serviceable to all motions to arm every part to keep in or draw superfluous humors or rather to be assisting to its Nourishment The Body being thus rough-drawn or as I may say in its first draught appeared at the same instant divided into three parts of which the highest and most elevated was the Head the Bulk appeared in the midst and the Joynts linked together the Legs and Arms to become more usefull to all the extreme parts The Oeconomy of humane bodies Within these joynts were as inchased all the Instruments of life Within the Trunk reigned the Vitall parts as the Heart Lungs and Liver about which were found a thousand little Veins and as many little skins which are the Chanels of the Bloud and of all the Humours O strange this little Labyrinth was no ways confus'd The Heart though Monarch and Soveraign in this Empire disdains not to unite its self with the Liver and to joyn by a mutuall and reciprocall agreement its vertue and heat to act with more force upon the Aliment From thence issues a world of interlaced Veins which are to suck in the purest of the Chilus and to discharge the grosser part which afterwards conveys it all at leasure into the Bowels At the same time the Liver will separate the Bloud and divide the Humours and whilst the Heart is distributing all the Spirits through the Arteries lest it chance to be over-heated the more light humid and spungeous Lungs will give it air and refresh it by so regular intervals as even amids this palpitation it may receive from the Arteries its purest Bloud and its most delicious Nourishment All the rest passeth into the Brain which is the Summet of this admirable Structure It is covered outwardly with skin and hair and wrapped up within two panicles which cover its out-lets its substance and the source of all the Nerves It is in this Fort or Dungeon where the Animall spirits are to be formed which the Sensitive soul distributes to the Five senses spirits which are but fire and ray which very often get loose and escape by the eyes like lightnings and so many stars which appear to us at high Noon There is the seat of the Common sense where all the Nerves of our exterior Senses meet through which the Spirits slide and is the way by which the Species pass when they are the Messengers of their Objects Well may this part receive these Images but cannot retain them The Imagination then must be placed further within which collecting preserving the Species will borrow part of their name Behold the Body thus perfect and accomplished but not to descry all the bones naked and a flesh too lively and bloody cover it with the whitest smoothest and thinnest skin you can find Afterwards fix your eys upon his Face behold his lovely Hair sweetly floating on his shoulders contemplate his Forehead smoother than Marble his Eye-brows forming an Arch of Ebony over his eyes consider his Mouth surrounded with Corall observe his Cheeks mixed with Roses and Lillyes and smell his Breath a thousand times sweeter than Ambergreece In truth are you not ravished with the aspect of his Eyes which are the Windows of the Soul the Doors of Life and the most faithfull Interpreters of our Minds What say you to the disclosure of this living Theater of Choler Theater of passions of vengeance of pitty of hate of fury and Love Doe you see by their looks how they rise and fall how they flatter how they excite how they weep how they smile and how they shew upon their liquid and transparent Christall all that is discernable in the World But who will wonder at this since in truth these are the two Suns of the Little World and the Myrror of the Great one which is to be comprised and inclosed within the Humane Body Should not the Eyes of totall Nature open themselves here to admire this Miraculous Body The Master-piece of Nature and this Prodigy of the Universe But the thing of greatest Admiration is that God hath caused the Soul of Hearts and the Life of Bodies to flow into his mouth and heart and that Heaven hath powred the seed of Immortality into his Breast Et inspiravit in faciem â—â—us spiraculum vitae factus est humoâ—â— animam viventem Gen. 2. v. 7. God by a Divine breathing communicated this Fountain of Life to wit the Soul which instantly made the Image and Pattern of the Divinity reflect on his face This heavenly Form without noyse or delay disfused it self entire into the body remayning nevertheless whole in every part The Soul sâ—urce of beauty and of operations God alone knows with how many Lights the Understanding of man was illuminated with how many Ardors his Will was infired and with how many Species his Memory was filled in a moment My God what doest thou Gods goodness towards men and who hath incited thee to heap together in one vessell wrought out of Clay and dust all the Treasures of Wisdom greatness and sanctity Why so many sciences so many knowledges and so many splendors in this Soul Why so many virtues and so many Graces in this Heart And why in one single Man the Primitive Justice and the Empire of the Universe What necessity was there to make him partaker of thy Secrets and to raise him to the View of such a light as doubtless might make him blind Great God thou art good and liberall yet just and all fore-seeing If then thou fore-seest some danger and evill lest thou shouldst be obliged to take revenge of a fault dissolve the occasion and obstruct the wayes which lead unto a Precipice extinguish those Torches which may dazle the eyes stifle those Flames which may inkindle such sad fires or at least fasten not so many branches to a Tree which may be unrooted by the Winds and torn up by Storms Unite not so many Members unto a Head which is able to corrupt them all in an Instant and finally leave unto all our hearts Independency on Created things which are Naturall to them and cause our affections to be Eternally fastned unto thee that thou alone mayst be the Source of all the Motions and Effects which
approach of the skins of Wolves and that Lambs scarce come out of the Yeows belly have neverthelesse natural apprehensions of the Wolf My soul hast thou not seen Chickens hiding themselves under the wings of a Hen at the meer shadow of a Kite Partridges flying before Haukes and even Lyons roaring at the sight of a Cock I ask of thee From whence proceeds this fear these affrightments and Antipathies If thou tellest me they are Natural and have bin as it were infused by Nature even from the first to the last of each kind I likewise answer that this Original stain of culpable Nature is derived from father to son and from the first man to all his of-spring and so it comes to be imprinted in the substance of their Souls And if thou hast a desire to passe further and know the reason I am content stand then upon thy guard my Soul for I intend to fight thee with thy own Weapons Is it not true that when by thy desires thou kindlest fires and infamous flames in thine Eys thou art the cause of this Burning and that it is thy self who renders them Criminal Is it not as true that when thou armest thy Hands to commit a Murther and thy Tongue to detract and bite like a Dog or to vomit forth some Blasphemy it is thou that makest both thy Hand and Tongue culpable which are thy Members thy Officers thy Slaves and Executioners which act perform and execute what thou hast commanded them In like manner Adam having bin chosen by God for the Head and Father of all mankind Original sin his Heart was the Fountain which should powre out it's qualities into the substance of their Souls even as doth the Head and Heart into the armes into the tongue and into all the Members of the Body Moreover the Will of Adam was so streightly united to that of his Children as when he acted they seconded all his Actions From whence I conclude that as Actuall sins committed by the Ears Eyes and Hands take their Malignity from the Heart and Will which is their Cause and Origin so likewise those sins which are commonly called Originall The first Contagion and are found in the Soul of all Mankind have as it were crept in and taken their Descent from Adam as their Author and beginner which having been once infected hath afterward made its venom pass from Father to Son as by Hereditary right Poor Children of Adam pittifull Reliques of an unfortunate Father behold your Patrimony the Rights of your Families and what Adam and Eve have left you for Legacies Let no Man hereafter be astonisht to see you wandring about Countryes Pittifull Reliques of Sin and going from door to door in Cities with Tears in your Eys Sighs in your Mouths with dusty Hair and Sun-burnt Faces Let no Man be any more astonished to see you goe bare-Headed and bare-Footed a Wallet on your Shoulders and a Staff in your Hand for these are the portions of Sin Miserable Mortals the Earth from henceforth shall be to you but a Dark Prison Life but a Gally and the World but a great Chain of Misfortunes The Elements shall joyn in Arms against you The Fire shall inkindle frightfull Comets over your Heads The Air shall dart forth merciless Thunder-bolts upon your Houses The Sea shall raise its Billows against your Towers and the Earth shal be the Theater of VVars the Meadow in which the Plague shall Mow and the Field of Battail where all the powers of the VVorld and Hell it self shall deliver you up to Tragick Combats In fine your Bodies shal be Subject to all sorts of Maladies and your Minds to all kinds of Passions I hear already Envie grumbling and murmuring in the Heart of Cain I hear the cry of Abell Let us observe a while what passeth CHAP. VI. The Murther of Abel and the Despair of Cain ANtiently in Temples Houses and Closets Concil 6. in Trullo Can. 32. the Images of Jesus Christ were drawn in form of a Lamb which was the most lively Mark and Symbol that Painters could find out to frame some Copy of Meekness Abel was this Picture from his Birth and shewed from the beginning so sweet and facile so plyant and tractable a disposition as Adam and Eve were even inforced to bestow on him their most tender affections Cain on the contrary who was his Elder Brother Diversity of Natures appeared to be of so fierce and imperious a Nature that at length to sweeten it they resolved to oblige him to cultivate the Earth that his spirit might learn how to soften the hardest of Elements and to temper the harshness of his Courage Abel at the same time employed himself in keeping Sheep Fuitque Abel pastor ovium Cain agricola Gen. 4. v. 2. and guiding his Fathers Flocks amidst the Pastures His mind in repose and amidst the silence of the Fields began to take its flight And as God had chosen his Heart to powre into it his dearest favours he easily felt himself surprised with a Holy thought and a Sacred desire which was elevated to God to offer unto him the purest and choicest Sacrifices Cain also felt some touch of Piety Factum est autem post multos dâ—es ut offerret Cain de fructibuâ— terrae munera Domino Gen. 4 v. 3. Abel quoque obtulit de primogenitis gregis sui de adipibâ—s corum Gen. 4. v. 4. and but passingly beheld a glorious Light which sufficiently shewed him all he was to doe from whence I gather by the way That there is no Clymate so barbarous no Land so desart nor no Cave so tenebrous into which God casts not his Shafts and darts not his Lights to illuminate our Hearts and Souls But it often comes to pass that we shut the Doors and Windows suffering our Day and Life to slip away to expect Death and Blindness in the Night Abel received the Day from its Aurora and neither the Interests of the World nor the Goods of the Earth were ever able to separate his Soul from the Interests of Heaven and Piety His Intentions were still most pure and he had no other Object than the Glory of a God who requires the whole and not a single part who demands Hearts and not bare Words and who cannot permit upon his Altars but the fairest and most liberall Victims of Love Now this is what our innocent Shepheard did when he rendred his Sacrifice most perfect offering unto God what he had most beautifull most fat and rare among his Flocks having first set apart the First Fruits and afterwards Immolated them with the rarest Lights of his Understanding and the purest Flames of his Will Cain on the other side erects Altars Very different Sacrifices Rupert lib. 4. in Gen. c. 2. Cain cum Deâ— of seriet sua scipsum sibi retinet and offers Fruits But in offering his Presents saith Rupertus he retains Himself And his Earthy
many as you are become wise at the Cost of Cain Let Execration Anathema Nunc igitur maledictus eris super terram quae aperuit os suum et suscepit sanguinem sratris tuide manu tui Gen. 5. v. 11. Vagus et profugus eris super terram Gen. 4. v. 12. and Eternall Malediction saith God fall on the infamous Head of Cain Let him be accursed upon Earth and let all disasters powre down on the labours of his hands and to the end his sight and presence may not infect nor corrupt his fathers House he shal be a fugitive vagabond and wanderer upon the Earth At this stroak the Heart of Cain becomes a little sensible and the hardness of his Soul although too late begines to soften Dixitque Cain ad Dominum Major est iinquitas mea quam ut veniam mercar Gen. 4. v. 12. Alas Lord saith he my Iniquity is greater than thy Mercies and my sin is too enormous to hope for Pardon I confesse it and from this very moment I depart from hence like a banished man to wander day by day without peace or relaxation where the Sun and Moon spread their light and clarities Besides my Brothers Ghost pursues and torments me with too much severity Ecce ejicis me Hodie à facie tua abscondar et ero â—agus et profugus in terra Omnis qui invenerit me occidet me Gen. 4. v. 14. Even thy self O my God and my Judge chasest me away far from thy Countenance and far from the pleasing glances which issue from thine Eyes Ah then let the Sun and Moon cease to enlighten the World and let me for ever wander amidst the Murtherous shades of Abel Stings of conscience and let my life pine away in obscurity Otherwise I fear saith he that at the first sight and encounter some one may kill and treat me according to my deserts No no Dixitgue ei Dominus Nequaquam ita fiet sed omnis qui occiderit Cain septuplum punietur Posuâ—tque Dominus Cain signuum ut non interficeret eum omnes qui invenisset cum Gen. 4. v. 15. Cain saith God nothing of what thou fearest shall happen to thee and if any one be so rash to attempt on thee I will make him feel the excesse of my wrath and his punishment shall passe even to the utmost extremity my vengeance can extend For this effect God imprinted a sensible mark upon his forehead which served him for a safe-guard against all the Assaults of his Enimies This done the poor wretch went away of his Enimies The disquiets and the banishment of Cain This done the poor wretch went away all alone pale trembling pursued by the stings of his Soul and after some wandrings arrived in the Land of Eden lying Eastward It was under this Clymate and neer unto Mount Libanus that this Fugitive at last made his retreat there it was where he built a Citie and had by his Wife a very numerous posterity CHAP. VII The Desolations and Spoyles of Envie IMagin that it is from this first Colony and this unfortunate Mariage that Provinces Cities and Villages are since peopled with so many Brothers and Sisters who have been the lively Images of Cain I mean with so many unnaturall Men and Women who without respect or compassion towards their own Bloud have violated the purest and most holy Laws of Nature Bloud raiseth every where storms against it self and the Members of the Body and all the Powers of the Soul seem only united to wage War against themselves at a neerer distance Republicks complain Families and Races sigh all Countries lament and there is no House nor little Cottage that shews not the Prints and Foot-steps of this poyson which hath seized the Hearts of all Brothers and Sisters Cain hath so far extended his Race that he hath every where Associats Followers and Children and one would swear to behold the Cruelties Out-rages and Treasons which are daily discovered amongst Brethren that the Tomb of Abel was the Sepulcher of that Piety and mutuall Amity which to all Brothers should be in lieu of Fortresses and impregnable Holds This abominable Monster of Jealousy whose Teeth and Breath are putrified hath exhaled the blackest vapours in the self same Cradles insomuch as Brothers suck in with their Milk its Plague and Venom Scarce are they born Ex relatione Michaelis Angli ad an 7. perig but at the same instant they resemble those Birds of bloud and prey which live in the unfortunate Islands neer the North Pole and devour one another even in their Neasts These Envious and Jealous Spirits these Angels of Night and Darkness carry continually in their hands glasses of a thousand Faces and coloured with as many passions which cause fire to be taken for smoak black for white and all beauties for deformities or deceits I know not by what name to call these incarnate Devils these Jealous Souls and these Heirs of Cain I know very well that there are such every where They are seen at Balls at Feasts and Comedies They insinuate themselves into designs Councils and the most secret Assemblies They have the Key of Closets and private Houses and cause themselves to be seen in Publick and felt in Secret They resort the Randevouz of pleasure they delight in Circuits and are every where without abandoning themselves In fine In vitis Patrum Aâ—uch that which is less credible and which for my part I would not have beleeved if a most Holy and learned Anchorite had not said it above seaven hundred years agoe that this invisible Murtherer this impious Cain and this Jealous Spirit is so presumptuous as to pass even into the Precinct of the Worlds Paradise and of Religion There it cartys its Torch and Firebrand to the very foot of the Altar It enters even into the Sanctuary and powreth out into the same Chalice the Bloud of Jesus Christ and of his Brother This Deicide this Assasin and this Anthropophagus eats the Body of the Son of God with the Flesh of Men and that Table which serves for the repast of the one serves also for the Feast of the other from whence it ascends into Pulpits it passeth through Tribunals and in the midst of all the Sacrifices it bursts it fumes it inrageth it detests it waxes pale it resolves to make a thousand factions unworthy of a generous spirit it makes secret Conspiracies it springs Mines it provides Dungeous it besiegeth Hearts it sells the friendships of some it purchaseth the protection and favour of others it renders it self a Slave and Mercenary to this or that Man to be the Tyrant and Master of an other Finally in all places and times when it perceives it self the strongest and amongst those who have either given or sold themselves to its Service this Sacrilegious Soul this future Apostata this Traitor this Envious and wicked Monster Jealous of his Brothers Life and Happiness not
without hearing one another and cry'd out when it was not in no mans power to help them Behold the Enterprises and Designs of the World Behold the Structure of the Gyants of the Earth and the Sanctuary of their Pride Men are wont to build with much trouble they raise Towers they Flanck Bulwarks they strive to render themselves impregnable or rather unaccessable by inferior people they have also cemented their Wals with their purest Bloud and a thousand poor Husbands as many Widdows and six times as many Orphans must needs have bin swallowed up under these foundations What comes of all this The Roof is not yet layd when a Wind and Tempest riseth which must carry them away The sweat and tears of the Workmen over whom they tyrannized are ready to make the whole Body of the Fabrick to shake under sad ruins what ever happen the Masters and Tyrants shall never enter into it or if they doe it shall be but to enclose therein the anxieties of their old age as in a dolefull prison Yes those great Buls of Brass shal be the first Furnaces of those cruell Phalarisses and those imaginary Theaters of their Grandeurs shall serve but as a Scaffold on which their Glory and Honour shal be immolated Vanity of this VVorld Phantasms of the World glory of a few dayes Phantasms of the Earth seeming beauties Men what doe you think and why I beseech you so many Houses so many Castles Cities and Villages cast your Eyes on the Tower of Babel and dread at least the fate of the like disaster Finally then make your VVils Ingrave your Epitaphs seek out six or seaven Foot of Earth and from henceforth think only on erecting your Tombs Goe consult your Ancestors your Fathers and Masters cast your selves at their Feet enter into their Sepulchers search into the bottom of their Monuments and be not affrighted to behold so many ravell'd Crowns so many broken Scepters and so much Purple serving only to cover VVorms Imitate those many Princes and great Ladies who have commanded their Coffins to be made when they were in perfect health and who often descended into them to learn during life what must happen after death At least doe like Philip of Macedon Advertisement of Philip of Macedon who every Day at his waking had a Page to remind him what he was and what he should quickly be Homo mortalu morti subditus I assure my self that these practices will suddenly alter your designs and that your most serious thoughts will at length rather entertain themselves on Death than Life and rather on a Sepulcher than on a Family The end of the first Book THE HOLY HISTORIE FIRST TOME ABRAHAM and ISACK SECOND BOOK CHAP. I. Abrahams departure out of his Territories and his entry into the Fields of Moreth where he erected an Altar and where God appeared to him the second time THe Genius of Philosophers had reason to say That the most dreadfull and difficult Trade of the VVorld was to govern Men. In my opinion nevertheless it is not impossible to meet with Kings capable of this Government provided their Crown Scepter and Empire exceed not the bounds and limits of Nature and of a purely Politick and Civil Life which follows the Conduct of Men and Laws And if by the Government of men this ravishing Spirit understood the Orders Idea's and designs which are needfull to guide men amidst the Accidents and by-ways of a Moral Supernatural and wholy Divine Life I say and maintain that it is not an employment proper for Men but only the Office and Function of the most wise and most holy Providence of God It was also as I believe the opinion of Aristotles Master Plato in pluribus locis for I heretofore took pleasure to remark in his most charming and true Idea's that Man was in this Life as in an Army The marvellous State of Man that the Destinies were his ranks Occasions his weapons his Enemies all sorts of disasters his Confederates misfortunes and finally for conclusion that he was in the World as in a Field of Battail in which God was to him a King Master Captain and Soveraign Governour Pythagoras was then mistaken when he said that God ruled not the sublunary VVorld to wit Men but by the assistance of two great Powers which are Counsell and Fortune or Destiny It is God who governs us it is his Hand which guides us his Eye which conducts us and it is his powerfull Finger which hath Ingraven his Laws not in Tables of Brass or Marble but in the Center of Hearts and Souls Philo differed not in opinion as I imagin when he said that Man bears his Master within himself which is nothing else but an internall Light which is the Signet of our Souls the Spirit of our Spirits the Life of Reason and according to the Hebrew Text Vexilla super nos limen vultus tui Text. Hebr. a Standard sparkling with Heavenly Lights Finally it is in the midst of these Lights that the Voice of the Holy Ghost and the VVord of the Word is heard and Imprints it self in the Soul with the most resplendent and luminous Rays that can enter our Spirits Now it was by the Favour The calling of Abraham and Splendor of these conquering Lights and victorious Voices that Abraham was chosen amongst Men as the Person who would be the most obedient most faithfull Cyril lib. 3. cont Jul. Apost Ex medio deceptorum ereptus ad lucâ— verae agnitionis Dei vocatus est and most conformable to the VVill of God It was saith St. Cyril about the time when Ninus held the Reigns of the Assyrian Empire and when the World was buryed in the darkest obscurities of Infidelity that this Angell was drawn out of the Errors of Night to adore the Verities of the Day It was as one may imagin even according to the History of Moyses either during a most Heavenly sleep or in an Exstatick awaking or finally by means of an Angell cloathed with an humane Body that Abraham heard distinctly the Voice of God which said unto him Abraham it is time to leave thy Country and Kindred and to abandon thy Fathers House Follow me then Egredere de terra tua de cognatione tua de Domo Patris tui veni in terram quam monstrabo tibi Gen. 12. v. 1. and repair unto a Land and under a Clymat which I will shew thee every where I will be thy Star thy Pole and my Eye shall serve as Guide and Torch to conduct thee to the Haven and Landing-place Well then Abraham get thee out of thine own Countrey leave all thy Friends and break those many tyes which Blood hath woven in thy Veins and Heart The Milk thou hast suck'd is from henceforth no other than poyson the Nourishment thou hast receiv'd from thy Parents doth but sustain thy Body and stifle thy Soul In fine the Light and
of following God were resolved never to make a stop upon the Earth untill they were arrived at the proposed end What Progress would be seen in Vertues what advances in the way of Paradise and of Glory Moreover if we had often this thought that Gods Eyes are fixed on all the Motions of the Body and Soul should we find so many Cowardly Idle and Lazy Persons standing with their Arms across and whose Reason is buryed in a shamefull Brutality Is it vain then God Commands us to goe alwaies ascending Equality sometimes very dangereus from one degree to another and not to doe like those stinking Waters which stop in the Mire But sometimes to little purpose doth he shew himself and make himself felt by the effects of his Holy presence no Body sees him and none but an Abraham hath Eyes to know him and Feet to follow him every where It is likewise with him he makes an attonement and it is in his Person he establisheth the King of Men and the Father of all believers Moreover as it is the Custom to impose on things a name Conformable to their Nature and as it appertains only to the Elect and such as are predstinated to have Names which must be registred in the Book of Life and which neither times nor seasons will ever efface so God changed his name which till then was Abram adding to it one Divine Letter and one of those Sacred Ciphers of which Men use to express the ineffable Name of God a very evident Sign that he was one day to take as the Apostle saith his Origin and temporall Birth from Abraham Hieronymus in trad Heb. in Genesim Lipomanus ad Heb. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I adde to these Conceptions of St. Jerom that Names as the most faithfull Disciples of Plato believed being the Chariots of Nature and of Essences It was necessary that Abraham who was the Father of all Nations should have also the Title of it and that his name should be an Illustrious Witness thereof Presently after as if this fortunate and glorious Name had been the Seal of the Contract and of the Allyance which God made with Abraham he would render it more sensible and adde to these Cyphers of Love an Impression of Grief and a Character of Blood Then was Circumcision commanded not only for Abraham but for all his Children and Servants Commandement for Circumcision and in generall for all those that should be numbred amongst his Generations Hoc est pactum meum quod observabitis inter me vos semen tuum post te Circumcidetur ex volis omne Masculum Gen. 17. v. 10. Infans osto dicrum circumcidetur in vobis omne Masculum in generationibus vestris tam vernaculus quam emptitius circumcidetur quicumque non suerit de stirpe vestra Gen. 17. v. 12. provided nevertheless they were Males for Women were exempted from the Law Concerning the time prefixed for the accomplishment of this precept it was not to pass the term of Eight dayes and the proposed End was no other than mens accord and peace with God who foreseeing the War which the Body is wont to wage against the Soul gave a Command to cut off the Prepuce as the Center of the impurest and grossest humors which use to nourish and infire the flames to inkindle the funestous Pyle in which the chastest purities are consumed This is the opinion of Saint Thomas St. Chysostom and Theodoret who adde that the Circumcision of the Jews was but a Corporall Figure of that Circumcision which should be in the Spirit of Grace and in the blessed Law of the Messias who desires not a Sacrifice of Bloud and rigour but of Love whose amiable and holy tyranny is sometimes more violent over the Soul than the Law of the Jews hath ever been over the Body Moreover Circumcision was not only a Figure of Baptism of cumcision sign Peace but a Constant and infallible Mark of the agreement God had made with Abraham Now this ordinary denotation of Love and this sacred Testimony of Peace was to be imprinted on the Body of the Hebrews that the remembrance of the favours God had shewed them might increase their duties of Obedience Piety and Faith towards God Thirdly this effusion of Blood was a lively representation and animated by the Faith of Abraham who obeyed the Voice of one God who presently cast Veils over his Eyes infused Light into his Mind and Fires into his Heart which made him abandon all Creatures to remain under the sole Protection of Heaven In the fourth place this Phlebotomy served to distinguish the Jews from other Nations so that as heretofore the Grecians esteemed all the People of the World barbarous and brutall so the Jews had a Custom to call all those Uncircumcised who would not subject themselves to Circumcision In fine this rigour and this Bloodie precept God imposed on the Hebrews was an effect of the first Disafter which deserved tears and cicatrices of Bloud This was the Remedy which Men had to heal this satall wound which remains still bleeding Now there needed such a healing hand as that of Abraham to receive this Bloudy but efficacious Medicine which was to mollifie not only the Obduration of the Jews but had also a secret vertue to wipe away the stains of that mortall Poyson which the Serpent of Paradise or rather of Hell had vomited into all Hearts This was then a particular favour of God unto Abraham but it was not the last for he gave him afterwards the ultimate assurance that Sara who was 90. years old should be the Mother of a Son Et ex illa dabo tibi silium cui benedicturus sum criâ—que innationes reges populorum orientur ex eo Gen. 17. v. 16. Et ait Deus ad Abraham Sara uxor tua pariet tibi filium vocabisque nomen ejus Isaac c. Gen. 17. 1 Cecidit Abraham in faciem suam risit dicent in corde shoâ— putasue cen enario nascetur filius Sara nonagenaria pariet Gen. 17. v. 17. who was to be not only the Prince but the Head and Father of Nations This Son at the same time received his name from the Mouth of God even before his Birth and the name imposed on him was that of Isaack a happy and pleasing name which sounded so sweetly in the Ears of Abraham as presently his poor Soul being unable to bear the excess of this contentment he felt himself surprised with an Amorous fainting which cast him upon the Earth and left him no words in his Mouth but smilingly to say My God! is it possible that an aged Man a hundred years old should be the Father of a Child Omnipotent God! what News dost thou bring unto these poor Parents what joy what pleasure and what transport in their Souls what will Men say when Sara shall grow great with Child by a Miracle from Heaven what
ego dabo voâ—is omnia bona Aegypti ut comedatis medullam terrae Gen. 45. v. 18. Praecipe etiam ut tollent plaustra terra Aegypti ad subvectiâ—nem parvulorum suorum accongugum Gen. 45. v. 19. Singulis quoque proferri iussit binas stolas Benjamin vero dedit trecentâ—s argenteos cum quinque stolis optimis Gen. 45. v. 22. and conceal their malice his intention is not to confound but rather to incourage them Neverthelesse what ever he did the whole Court knew immediatly that his Brethren were come The very noise of it flew even to the Eares of Pharao who together with all the Servants of his house expresseth an unspeakable joy But to the end this joy might be universall his pleasure was that Joseph should command his Brethren to return into Canaan and bring unto him their Father with his whole Family that they may live at their ease in the best part of Egypt Now to the end this might be done with the most conveniency he ordained Chariots to be made ready for them and horses provided for their wives Children and for the most commodious transportation of all the Moveables of their Family Joseph forgot nothing which Pharao gave him in Charge When they were even ready to depart he commanded that two sutes of apparell should be brought for every one and over and above five hansome garments for Benjamin Tantumdem pecuniae vestium mittens patri suo Gen. 45. v. 23 Dimisit ergo fratres suos proficiscentibus ait Ne irascamini in via Gen. 45. v. 24 with three hundred peeces of Silver without omiting Jacob to whom he sent the like present After this he sent them back chiefly recommending unto them Peace and Love O God! what pleasing departure what amiable Sepuration when they leave Joseph to return unto Jacob. Ah! how delicious is it to meet with the Heart of a Brother in the armes of a judge And to goe directly from a brother unto a Father to reunite the Father unto his Son and to live in so well-united and holy a community O my Joseph An amiable relation of Joseph to Jesus my Jesus and my Saviour discover unto mee that face so full of Majesty and those delicious Looks which make the Paradise and felicity of Angels Ah! my Jesus since Joseph was your jmage treat me as he treated his Brethren and appear not unto mee as an incensed judge who contrives the sentence of my death but as a well-beloved Brother I confesse that I have betraid you that I have sold you and that I sought to deprive you of life But you are my Brother my Joseph and my Saviour O my Jesus pardon me Alas I am ravished at the sight of your Grandeurs and of the glory which invirons you I should not hope for the happiness to see your Tomb changed into a Throne your Crosse serving as an Instrument to raise unto you a Trophy of honour I did not expect to see you a Soveraign in the Egypt of the World But behold me now a Captive and Criminall at your feet Behold me wholly confounded and trembling O my Jesus take pitty then on me and say onely that it is you that are my Jesus and my Brother afterwards I will goe from you unto your Father and mine and then I will come with him before you to live forever with him and you CHAP. IX Jacob's going down into Egypt and the honourable entertainment he there received from Pharaoh THere are few Palaces and Houses like that of this inchanted Iland which Fables describe where the courses of the Planets are alwaies Regular where the Air is free from Clouds Fire from Smoak the Ocean from Tempests and the Earth from Concussions The Felicity of this World is a great Clock raised upon many Wheels and a body form'd of divers members where there is alwaies some diforder Love hatred aversions envy hope defires Felicity subject to alteration terrors shame choler jealousies despites and rage joyn with the Soul and Body with Parents and Friends with place and seasons with Elements and all naturall beings to keep a poor man alwaies floating and alwaies wavering like a Reed or as a Bark which is in the midst of the Sea at the mercy of winds and storms Above all it is a common saying saith Pythagoras that grief and pleasures make the fairest and most deformed faces in the world These two Passions are on the Earth what the Sun and Moon are in the Heavens They cause day and night Spring and Winter but we have more frequently Snows than Dewes And most Men seem to be born under a frightfull Climate where the night lasts three and twenty hours and where the Sun very seldome appears Besides it is often doubtfull whether it be the Sun or Moon we behold We are so accustomed to darkness as we know not whether we take the twylight of the evening for the Aurora Blindness of most men and day for night Sorrows and afflictions cast so many clouds over our mind as the eyes are dazeled and the first draughts of pleasure which appear to us are in appearance but the Idea of some Dream and a shadowed light in the depth of the night Jacob never believed he should ever see Joseph again Incredulous Love and after a night of three and Twenty years he had surely no ground to hope for the return of the Sun his eyes and spirit were so well acquainted with the rigours of Death that he no longer minded the sweets of life In fine having in a manner made him dye so often he did not expect they would make him revive in restoring to him his Joseph who was the life of his heart and the sight of his eyes Nevertheless Et nunciaverunt ei dicentes filius tuus vivit ipse dominatur in omni terra Aegypti Quo audito Jacob quasi de gravi somno evigilans tamâ—n non credebat eis Gen. 45. v. 26. Illi è contra referebant omnem ordinem rei Cumque vidisset plaustra unite sa qâ—ae misâ—rat revivil spiritus ejus Gen. 45. v. 27. Et ait Sufficit mihi si adhuc Joseph filius meus vivit vadam videbo illum ante quam morior Gen. 45. v. 28. his Children return out of Egypt and assure him that Joseph is alive and that he is very powerfull in the Land of Pharaoh Jacob could not believe it and as a man who suddenly awaked after a long sleep he took all that was said to him for the Image of a Dream In fine when he perceived that they constantly persisted in relating orderly to him all that had passed and on the other side seeing all the Baggage they had brought he began to come unto himself and as if this happy news had restored him his Speech and life he began to cry out It satisfieth me that Joseph is living Ah! I will goe unto him and at least see him once more
and the sounding of Trumpets an Herauld was so clothed in black and covered with a large cipres veil wrought with Thunderbolts and crowned darts who proclamed that this Queen was unpittifull and that she intended speedily to make a horrid Sepulchre of a great kingdome But this funerall pomp was not fully ended when the most mutinous and most seditious appear'd who ask'd pardon and esteemed themselves more happy to fall into the hands of a king who might chastise them without depriving them of life than of a Queen who cannot punish but with death It was I beleeve for the same reason Togaris the Physician of Leon the Armenian cured all the maladies and pains which extended not unto the dissolution of the body and soul In effect there is nothing so terrible and dreadfull as death and God himself hath never erected more tragick Theaters than when he would cause this cruell Tyrant to march which makes all the Catastrophes of life and after many combats and actions at last destroyes creatures without any possibility of their foreseeing the place or moment of their destruction Hear then it is where after a war of all the Elements Warr of all the Elements and a duel of totall nature against the Egyptians these miserable wretches will find at length a revenging hand which is ready to cut off the first fruits of their Mariage and the most amiable delights of their family Methinks I hear the Herauld already pronouncing the sentence and condemning the first-born of Egypt unto death It is Moses who speaks or rather our Lord by his mouth For he is but the Eccho of his voice and the instrument of his most holy and severest decrees To thee Egypt Media nocte ingrediar in Aegyptum Exod. 11. v. 4. Et morietur omne primogenitum in terra Aegyptiorum à primogenito Pharaonis qui sedet in solio illius usque ad primogenitum ancillae quae est ad molam omnia primogenita jumentorum Exod. 11. v. 5. and to thee Pharaoh God will manifest by this blow that he is thy God that is to say not only most good but most just and most powerfull behold the last of dart of his wrath which is ready to be cast upon thy Palace and upon thy Empire and then a sad necessity and an extreme disafter will oblige thee to doe by constraint what thou oughst to doe through sweetness when all Egypt shall be buried in a profound sleep The Angel of God shall goe into all houses and his revenging Sword will have no more respect for him who should one day ascend a Throne and bear the Crown of a King than for the meanest of thy vassals or beasts of which he shall choose the Prince to Sacrifice unto his indignation But who could have ever painted out to us a face covered over with so many horrours if after the first colours which have been laid Moses the most learned and prudent of men had not been pleased to add some touches of his pencill unto this dreadfull image Cum enim quietum silentium con incret emnia nox in suo cursu medium iter haberet Sap. 18. v. 14. Omnipotens sermo tuus de caelo à regalibus sedibus durus debellator in mediam exterminii terram prosiluit Sap. 18. v. 15. Gladius acutus insimulatum imperium portans stans replevit omnia murte usque ad caelum attingebat stans in ter ram Sap. 18. v. 16. It was even in the midst of the Night saith Solomon that this ineffable Word to whom all is possible descended from the height of the Impyreall Heaven and thundred over this abominable Land which was chosen as the Theatre on which the bloody spoyles of the rage and obstinacy of Egypt were to be seen It carried a two edged-Sword which transpierced on every side without pitty and this Sword was no other than this irrevocable decree which was as soon executed as pronounced in Egypt filling the whole Country with horrours desolations and deaths The exterminating Angel went from dore to dore and when any one dore was found whose Threshold was not sprinckled with the innocent blood of the Lamb he entered and having drawn the curtains and search'd the beds in which the first born of Egypt reposed he made upon their lives a bloody proof of Gods indignation and wrath In fine There was no family in which they deplored not some Infant slain by this merciless Executioner of Gods Decrees This punishment was so universal Neque enim erat do mus in qua non faceret mortuus Exod. 12. v. 30. that both Lord and Vassal mourned for the same accident and therein the usage of the people differed not from that of their King So that such as remained alive could not receive consolation from any person since all had need thereof and they could not rest satisfied even with rendering the last duties unto their dead so disconsolate they were and their own grief joyned with that of their Allies Friends and their neerest Kinred did scarce permit them to be attentive to their own misery A more general and sensible desolation was never seen for all this great and flourishing Empire did swim in tears and almost in a moment all its hopes were seen extinguished in blood Besides all these disasters hapned for no other cause than for not having believed what was denounced to them and confirmed by so many exemplary and prodigious Chastisements wherewith they had been lately afflicted Vrgebantque Aegyâ—tis populum â—exire de terra velociter dicentes Omnes moriemur Exod. 12. v. 33. It must be granted then that all these tribulations and punishments were the inevitable effects of the Finger of God in this last misfortune whereby the Egyptians saw themselves deprived of their Eldest sons they could not deny but that the Israelites were under the Protection of the Almighty and from that time they promised to consent unto their departure Behold the degrees Degrees of Vengeance by which Vengeance goes ascending even unto the height we see some marks of it in the Clouds which never break in pieces before they cast forth some Lightnings which carry the first tidings of the approaching storm Indications of a Tempest are also seen upon the Sea and there is no description in all Nature of Gods Justice and Wrath which hath not its peculiar place to arrive unto excess and which doth not first give some wound before it giveth death But also when Threats have proved fruitless and the Darts thrown by a gentle hand served onely to invenome the disease and inflame the wound Patience and Mercy which are the faithful companions of Justice retire and instantly the Heart from whence a great stream of Milk was seen to issue converts it self into a torrent of Gall and the Hand which held Palms and Crowns Darts nothing but Lightnings and Thunder-bolts Divine Justice resembleth that Dragon in the Indies which first casts the
took his Sex enim diebusfecit Dominus caelum terram mare omnia quae in eis sunt requievit die septimo c. Exod. 20. v. 11. seven dayes after the Creaation of the World and to the end every week we might have a set time to think on this amiable benefit and to render thanks for it unto our Creator It was done also to the end the Hebrews might have this day to celebrate that of their departure out of Egypt and of their deliverance and that all men and maid-servants might at least have this day to give some ease unto their labours Plutarch was then deceived who affirms that the Hebrews had Instituted this Sabbath in honour of Bacchus as well as the other Gentiles who believed that it was done in honour of Saturn for the ground of this Feast was no other than what I newly related And the Order observ'd in gathering up of the Manna was but for the same end CHAP. XXIX The duty of Children towards their Parents HOnour thy Father and Mother The fourth Commandement that thy dayes may be long upon the earth which the Lord thy God will give thee Honora Patrem tuum matrem tuam ut sis longaevus super terram quam Dominus Deus dabit tibi Exod 20. v. 12. In truth it is a very reasonable thing to bear respect and love to succour and obey those to whom next unto God we owe our lives and we must be more insensible and more unnaturall than beasts to refuse these affectionate duties to our Parents and to those whom we ought to esteem as Fathers Mothers and Superiours such as heaven hath plac'd over our heads to rule and govern us either concerning temporall or spirituall matters We must banish then out of the world and out of Families all those little Dragons and domestick Vipers which have neither teeth claws gall nor poison but to tear the heart and bowels in which they have been formed and conceived and to destroy those of whom they hold their lives All houses ought to be Temples consecrated unto love and pietie as that which was built at Rome in lieu of a Prison where a young Lady had nourished her Mother with her own Milk seeing the Gaolers hindred her from carrying any food to her O holy piety where are now these Temples and Altars where doe we see such Daughters give suck unto their Mothers as this gallant Roman did or Fathers to have Daughters like this other of whom Valerius Maximus makes mention Valer. Max. lib. 5. who found out the means to nourish her Father in the same manner and had the honour to be the Mother of her Father who rendred his last sighs in her bosome sucking a drop of Milk from her breast Moreover if I am not deceived can there be found more Daughters than Sons who work the like Miracles their Sex is more inclinable to sweetness and piety and to those amiable tendernesses which reach even to the highest pitch of generosity There have been heretofore Men who desiring to suffer death for their Fathers have rendred themselves immortall Such a one was that Lock-smith of Toledo who exposed himself unto the extremest tortures to free his Father and to obtain his life with his pardon But the example of Alexius Son to the Emperour Isaack is more illustrious who in the midst of the Acclamations of Greece which saluted him King had no ears but to hear the plaints of his Father no eyes but to behold his miseries and no power but to replace him on his Throne and in the Empire whereof his Brother had deprived him It is not then against this young Prince nor against his like that Sina will shoot poisonous Darts and deadly Arrows as against Paricides but on the contrary after a long sequel of years they shall have lived in this world the course of their glory will not find its period but in Eternity which can never have an end CHAP. XXX A sentence of Death against Murtherers THou shalt not kill The fift Commandement Nonoccides Exod. 20. v. 13. This Precept doth not only forbid those execrable Murtherers whose Swords and Daggers are plunged into mens bosomes and those horrid butcheries where furie is animated against a body to gnaw it as a Vulture would doe his prey or like a Tyger to tear and eat it even to the bones or to consume it with a slow fire like a Devill whose torments give death without taking away life It is then by this Law that God prohibits not only Murthers but all sorts of exteriour violences and injuries which may be offered unto the body and life of our Neighbour It is also a Sentence of death pronounced by the mouth of God against all those who are causers of other mens deaths and make no more account of a mans life than of a flye I would gladly know whether they find in the Decalogue a Challenge an assassination and all those violences which are practised upon a man as upon a beast I would willingly see them making their randezvous and assignations upon Mount Sina where they shall behold a God thundring and lightning over their heads but it would be more gratefull unto me to see them performing an honourable penance in this life and satisfying Justice and Piety before their deaths than afterwards to expect an Eternity of punishments and severities CHAP. XXXI The Triumph of Chastity THou shalt not commit Adultery The sixt Commandemâ—â—t Nonâ—â—aechaberis Exod 20. v. 14. Honour ought not to be less pretious unto men then life and if both were in danger it is certain we should rather abandon the last than the first and say as the Ermine Motto of the Ermine Malo mori quam fâ—â—â—ari I had rather dye than receive a stain For my part I admire that Christian Woman who in the time of Maxentius plunged a Dagger in to her heart to end her life by eternizing her honour For indeed it is a glorious Death to find by a particular inspiration from Heaven a Purple Robe in our bloud and in our tears a veil of white Sattin to cover our purity which is the soul of our life and the glory of the body This is the Nuptiall garment which we must never put off even in the Sepulchre and he that is cloathed with it ought to be so full of respect and circumspection as he must even blush saith Tertullian at his own vertue And if we meet with Souls which have impudence enough not to change Countenance neither in respect of God who looks upon them nor in regard of men who behold them they shall one day feel him whom they have not seen and such as have been Complices or Witnesses of their Crimes shall be their Executioners And then shall all the Lightnings of Hell inkindle Flames to stiffle theirs and lascivious hands wandring and impure eyes unchast breasts Maegera's heads Diabolicall hearts and the
slide unto them No No Adam and Eve must be the causes of our Good or Evill and on their good or bad Fortune ours must wholy depend CHAP. IIII. The Terrestriall Paradice THe Earth is a large habitation common to all men Terrestriall Paradise the first habitation of Man but it hath many copartments of which some are appointed for those whom God intends to raise unto Grandeurs and delights others are ordained for some wretched Persons whose lives pass away in misfortunes and amidst afflictions Some there are who are born upon Thorns and in Straw others in Purple and upon Silk Some enter into the World as into a Gally others as into a Palace Scarce was Adam created but he found himself in a Paradise and he even from the Morning of his birth was placed under the most happy and delightfull Clymate that Nature did afford Goe then Adam Plantaverat autem Dominâ—s Deus Paradisum voluptatis à Principio in quo posuit hominem quem formaverat Gen. 2. v. 8. it is God who both calls and conducts thee Enter happily this Garden and Paradise into which he leads thee put thy self under the shelter of this Tree For it is the Tree of Knowledge and Immortality which he hath planted for thee divert thy Eyes upon these Tulips upon these Gilli-flowers upon these Roses upon these Purple Velvet flowers and upon these Lillys walk thou over the Daffidill over the Thyme over Camomyle and over this green Tapestry Dominamini piscibus maris volatilibus Coeli universis animantibus quae moventur super Terram Gen. 1. v. 8. Adduxitque ea ad Adam ut videret quid vocaret ea omne enim quod vocavit Adam animae viventis ipsum est nomen ejus Gen. 2. v. 19. which is so odoriferous be not affrighted at the sight of these Tygers these Leopards and of all these more furious Beasts For God hath given thee power to rule them and there is not one in whom thy Innocence begets not respect Take then the rod into thy hand and govern all these flocks and heards impose Laws on them and give them what Names thou pleasest This is no petty Office Some have believed that God only can properly call a thing by the name convenient for it Because Names as Plato saith are as it were so many Chariots which carry Essences and living Pictures as Diaphanus stiles them wherein are seen all the Draughts of Nature which they clearly express From whence I conclude that Adam for this end received from God more than humane Knowledge since he called every thing by the Name which was most proper and Naturall to them Immediatly after God resolved to give him a Companion The production of Eve Non est bonum homâ—nem esse solum faciamus 〈◊〉 adjuterium simile sibâ— Gen. 2. v. 18. Immisit ergo Dominus supâ—â—em in Adam cumque abdâ—â—mâ—vâ—sset tulit unam de costis ejus replevit carnem pro ea Gen. 2. v. 20. for it was not convenient that Man should be all alone For this end he closed Adam's Eye-lids and charmed his senses by a Heavenly Sleep which the Major part of the Greek Fathers according to the Translation of the Septuagint call an extatick and ravishing repose This man then thus rapt in his Extasy felt not Gods hand which gently and without pain plucked out a Rib whereof he formed the first Woman who was immediatly brought unto Adam to be his Companion and his dear Moity Scarce had Adam cast his Eyes on her but he cryed out Ah these are Bones of my Bones Dixitque Adam hoc nunc os de ossibus mus caro de caâ—ne mea haeo vocabitur virago quoniam de virosurâ—pta est Gen. 2. v. 23. Erunt duo in carne una Gen. 2. v. 24. and this Flesh was drawn out of my Flesh Just as if he had said Come O my Love the dearest portion of my self you shall be from henceforth my Wife and I will be your Husband We will be but one Heart in two Bodies And though we have two Souls we will have at least but one Mind and Will Wives and Husbands An excellent lesson for Husbands and Wives learn then from hence a lesson which teacheth you the Laws of Conjugall Love and what powerfull Motives you have to live in Unity and in a most perfect and holy Union Let Man remember that he is the Master but not a Tyrant Let Women also never forget their own extraction and that they were not produced out of the Head as Queens nor out of the Feet as Servants and Slaves but out of the Side and near the Heart to the intent they may spend all the time of their Mariage in a most sweet Intelligence and in a most inviolable society To which Love having given a beginning nothing but Death alone is able or at least ought to Dissolve it For this purpose it is infinitly advantagious to receive with respect and Reverence the Benediction which the Church is accustomed to give upon the Mariage day unto the Maryed pair Benedixitque illis Deus ait â—rescite multiplicamint replete terram Gen. 1. v. 45. and which replaceth in our thoughts the very same that God gave to Adam and Eve when he commanded them to People and fill the World by a most pure and chast generation The Nuptials of Adam and Eve are past Dixitque Deus ecce dedi vovis omnem herbam asserentem semen super terram universa ligna quae habent in seâ—etâ—psis sementem generis sui ut sint vobis in escam Gen. 1. v. 29. Praecepitque ei dicens ex omni ligno Paradisi comede Gen. 2. v. 16. nothing now remains but the Banquet The Tables are already furnished and they need but choose amongst all the Dishes of the World that which shall appear to them the most Delicious They are Masters of all that Flys in the Air of all that Swims in the Water of all that Creeps or Walks on the Earth Briefly of all the Fruits in the Terrestriall Paradise they have the choice and amongst all the Trees which God hath Planted there he only reserved the use of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evill De ligno autem scientiae boni mali ne câ—medas in quocunque enim die comederis ex eo morte morieris Gen. 2. v. 17. of which he Expresly and upon pain of Death forbids these two guests to gather any Fruit. And in truth it was convenient that as Master he should leave them some Commandement It was likewise reasonable that Adam and Eve as his Servants and Creatures should be plyable to so just a Decree In this Conjuncture of time the Moon began to assemble her shadows and God finding all his Works perfect entred into his repose with the Seaventh Day Adam and Eve enjoy then at present The first Monarchy of the Universe all
being able to strangle them nor put a Halter about their Necks or a Poniard into their Bosoms casts every where the Darts of its Tongue and sends forth words a thousand times more cruell and pernicious than the murthering Knife which Cain plunged into the throat and Heart of Abell CHAP. VIII Remedies against Envie BUt what will any remedy serve for all these Franticks and all these Cyclops whose Hearts are ever-flaming Furnaces and where Jealousy continually forgeth Chains and Irons O God! O Heaven O Laws Justice Sanctity Soveraign Powers of the World Physicians to our Maladies Arbitrators of our lives It is you whose sweetly rigorous hands can both ordain remedy and give health It is you then I implore and of whom I crave assistance It is you Fathers and Mothers who in your Houses ought to be Judges of all the differences which arise between your Sons and Daughters and first of all you ought to know the naturall disposition of your Children to the end that if some Cain be found amongst them you may timely suppress him Spare then neither Fire nor Steel Hunger nor Thirst Disdains nor Rebukes seek out even Domestique Prisons It is much better for them to feel the Essayes of your Paternall rigours than to fall afterwards into the blind hands of Justice And it is far more gentle that you your selves upon the first Symptoms of Evill should take the pains to apply a Costick to them or give them a stroak with your Lancet than after too much remisness to see them take a sharp Razer cutting in pieces the Heart and all the Members of your other Children Doe not say that he is beautifull he is tender he is the Eldest or Youngest Son for after all though he be your Son the rest are likewise yours and you cannot be a Father if you are not a Judge common to them all As for those visible Angels which God hath placed in Sacred Mansions like the Cherubin of the Terrestriall Paradise there to Watch and Govern It is enough for them to know where the Evill is that they forthwith apply some Remedy I pass then farther and speaking both in generall and in particular to all the Heirs of Cain and to all those whom a Bloudy Jealousy armeth against their Brethren or against their Sisters I conjure them frequently to meditate on this verity that the mischief they doe unto others can afford them no benefit and that when they raise designs and Trophies on the Ruin of others they are but Crowns of Straw and Feathers where instead of finding Mountains and Elevations they meet with Precipices and Abysses in which they will destroy themselves In fine what delights and contentments can an envious Person have whose Eyes are destroy'd by the purest lights and to whom Acclamations and Songs of Victory are distastfull and whose Heart Swims alwaies in bitterness and poyson What Pain What Torment And what punishment to resemble a Man accurs'd of God! to walk as a fugitive and banish'd person upon Thorns and Bryers what peace can one have who makes War against God his Friends and himself and when both Night and Day he is seen amongst his Brothers Ghosts amongst Spectres and Fantasmes amongst the Stings and Remorces of a guilty Conscience what hope of good when one is assured that after the having passed away some Months some Days or rather some Years in the City of Enoch and amidst some slight Clarities of the East he shall goe end his life in a Bed leave his Body in a Sepulcher and lose all the pleasures all the Blessings and all the lights of his Soul in the shades of Night and of the setting Sun where no Day shall be seen but amidst the Lightnings Flames and Thunders of a God provok'd to an holy indignation CHAP. IX The Building of the Ark and the Deluge ITt is a Maxim amongst Philosophers that Beauty is to Love what the Soul is to the Body and it is she saith St. Denys that gives wings to the inconstant subtil and penetrating Bird which passeth by the Eyes Ears and Mouth to advance directly to the Heart to make like an other Phaenix a Pyle upon the flames and fires of our desires and wils It was perhaps for this cause Socrates called the Beauty which spreads its attractives on the Body An amorous Tyranny by reason this imperious Step-dame is accustomed to captivate all those that abide under the Empire of her Looks Plato in his Timeus had almost the very same conceptions as Socrates when he said That the Colours and Lustre which give light unto the shade and revive the Body and Face have a flame which flows insensibly from matter and form to infire the Souls of all Spectators Elianus lib. 22. It was this mixture saith Elianus of Charms and Splendors issuing out of the Eyes and Mouth of a Maid beautifull as the day The power of beauty which so much surprised a certain Knight called Dioxipus that although he had gained famous victories in the Olympick games and was in the midst of Glory and Triumph loaden with the Palms and Lawrels he had so often watered with his sweat and bloud he was yet constraind to make a stand in the presence of all the people acknowledging his own weakness and confessing that the beauty of a Lady had vanquished him whom the strength of Man was never able to overcome I adde to these thoughts Dulcem illecebram carum venenum Greg. Naz. Orat. 13. that of St. Gregory Nazianzen who hath tearms and words no less eloquent than true to express that the beauty of the Body is a deceiptfull allurement and a most pleasing poyson which passeth from one Sex to another and conveys it self so far into the veins that afterwards it cannot be drawn forth but with Death These are verities which have bin proved from the cradle of the World by Examples and accidents which have caused too Tragick and Publick Ruins to be called in question Cumque cepissent homines multiplicare super tecram filias procreassent Gen. 6. v. 1. Amongst others the first and most exemplar was the Deluge which happened unto the World one thousand six hundred and fifty six years or near upon after the Creation by reason the Inhabitants of the City of Enos and the Children of Adam being multiplyed by strange increases and in respect their bodies being fortified and become like so many Collossusses of impiety these Lascivious Gyants went every where like impetuous Torrents Videntes filii Dei filias hominum quod essent pulcrae acceperunt sibi uxores ex omnibvs quas elegerant Gen. 6. v. 2. which nothing could stop but a brutish beauty upon which they entertained their Eyes and loves with an execrable Liberty I have a horror to relate it but it is true that the World was then but an Infamous retreat where all Sexes without Order Law or respect breaking all the Lines and Degrees of Bloud and Alliances were
whole World an Ocean without shoars without bottom without Haven and without limit I represent unto my self the liquid firmament all-inflamed with his wrath and indignation who intends to alter the whole State of Nature I firmly believe that amidst this storm Thunder upon Thunder and a thousand Claps were heard which served to arm the Heavens the Planets and the Clouds It is probable that the Night and the Winds were mixed together and I cannot doubt but that Hell and Earth did also conspire to increase the horror of so dismall and universall a Punishment Mean while where are you the unhappy Inhabitants of the City of Enos Gyants of what use is your Mass of Body and those vast dimensions which have only serv'd to make you fall from a higher pitch and rendred your ruin more remarkable Poor Heirs of Cain Children of Men Effeminate Spirits wanton Souls where are you The Heavens fall on your Heads the Air stifles you the Water swallows you up and the Earth vanisheth away Fathers Mothers Children Husbands and VVives Brothers and Sisters Kindred Friends where are you and where are your Monsters and Prodigies of Allyance I behold I behold your Towers buryed under the VVaves I hear your cryes your sighs and your voices notwithstanding the Tempest In fine your floating Bodies and your dying Souls acknowledge but too late the Excess of your Sins Ah Sin Sin these are thy Spoyls and this is the Tempest thou hast raised Sin do'st thou discern the State into which thou hast reduc'd the World the Air the Earth and the Heavens Sin do'st thou at lâ—st acknowledge that thou art the Origin of this Disaster and of all these Calamities O God! Factúmque est diluvium quadragenta diebus super terram mul iplicatae sunt aquae chvave unt arcam in subleme à terra Gen. 7. v. 17. Vehementer enim inundaverunt amâ—ia repleverunt in superfiâ—e terrae porrò arca fercbatur super aquas Gen. 7. v. 18. Et aquae praevaluerunt nimis super terram opertique sunt omnes montes excelsi sub universo Caelo Gen. 7. v. 19. Is it possible that those Fires and Thunders were to punish Sin Is it possible that so many Streams so many Rivers and so many Seas are needfull to Efface his Image Must all the Elements weep forty Dayes and as many Nights And in fine must all Nature be in Mourning or rather in Triumph Since every where she erects Trophies and Mountains of Water to swallow up the most shamefull and most Insolent of all Vices I mean that which a Chast and Christian Mouth dares scarcely Name During this Triumph and Mourning Noah stears his Vessell his Family and Troops upon the Billows This holy man enjoyes a Calm and sayles securely over these Storms and Billows He beholds the Day in the midst of Might And the Tempest which sinks the whole world even as low as Hell lifteth him up even as high as the Heavens Range then O Noah Range upon the waters of the Deluge and expect the day and moments when God shall land thee in the Haven And thou O Ark that carryest the world and its Spoyls behold how the Sea makes a halt at thy approach and keeps back its Suspended waves as it were out of complacency and an orderly respect Holy house of God Fortunate Sanctuary of all mankind float on without oares or sayles float on for it is the Spirit of God and the hand of the justest of men which directs and guides thee In effect scarce were the Forty dayes expired Recordatus autem Dâ—us Noë cunctorumque animantium omnium jumentorum quae crant cum co in area adduxit spiritum super terram imminutae sunt aquae Gen. 8. v. 1. Et clausi sunt sontes abyssi et caâ—aroctae caeli et probibitae sunt pluviae decaelo Gen. 8. v. 2. Reversaeque sunt aquae de terra euâ—â—es redeuntes caeperunt minui Gen 8. v. 3. Requieviâ—que aâ—ca mense scptimo vigesimo septimo die mensis supermontes Armeniae Geâ— 8. v. 4. At vero aquae ibant decrescebant usque ad decimum mensem Decimo enim mense aparuerunt cacumina montium Gen. 8. v. 5. Cumque transissent quadraginta dies aperiens Neë fenestram arca quam fecerat dimisit corvum Gen. 8. v. 6. Qui egredichatur non revertebatur donec siccarentar â—quae super terram Gen. 8. v. 7. â—â—nisit quâ—que columbam post cumâ—â— videyet si sam cessassent aquae super faciem terrae Gen. 8. v. 8. when in an Instant the Heavens dryed up their sources the air appeared most serene and the great drops of Rain were turned into Pearls and dew as it were to give notice of the return of the Sun and Morning which should begin to spread every where a Calm together with the Day In a word God remembred the hower and Moment which he had promised unto Noah to restrain and stop all his Torrents The Earth at the same time impatient of bearing a burthen which was not naturall to her rose up on all sides and in her emotion forc'd the waters to make a thousand Fluxes and refluxes which sufficiently testified the violence of these two Elements At length after seaven Monthes contest and conflict this wandring Iland which carried Noah and his family landed upon the Mountaines of Armenia expecting till the tenth Moneth when the other Hils shew'd their heads and tops Forty dayes after which this most Holy and wise Pilot who had almost spent a whole year in the pleasing obscurites of his prison still victorious and trumphant resolv'd at last to open its window to give flight and passage to a Crow which indeed went forth but never returned For he entertained himself on Stincking Carkases and Carrion finding there his Nourishment and repose There needed then a purer and more faithfull Messenger Noah chose a Dove a mongst all the Birdes that she might discover whether the waters were quite retired But this innocent Creature and amiable Spye finding no â—resting place clean enough returned presently into the Ark and advertis'd Noah that the waters of the Deluge were not wholely decreased Quae euÌ„ non invenisset ubi requiesceret pes ejus reversa est ad eum in arcam aquae enim erant super universam terram extenditque manum apprehensam intulit in arcam Gen. 8. v. 9. Expectatis autem ultra septem diebus aliis ruâ—sum dimisit columbam ex arca Gen. 8. v. 10. At illa venit ad eum ad vesperam portans ramum olivae virentibus foliis in ore suo Intellexit ergo Noë quod cessassent aquae super terram Gen. 8. v. 11. Expectavitque nihilominus septem alios dies emisit columham quae non est reversa ultra ad eum Gen. 8. v. 12. It was this newes that obliged Noah to expect yet the space of Seaven dayes after which he took the Dove
malice of men might never be able to efface it and that on the contrary he might be oblig'd never to make war against them when he should see between him and the World those illustrious caracters of Love and those magnificent Articles of Truce pardon and peace Moreover this sign which appeared in the heavens was but a Bow without Arrowes It was a resplendent Arch and a Circle beset with Diamonds Emeraulds and Rubies It was a chain of Gold Silver and Pearls It was a Scarf interwoven with the most lively splendors and the most sensible lights of the Sun and Day It was the Portraict of Peace which appeared under feign'd and imaginary colours or to expresse in a word all that can be thought and said when we cast our Eyes on this wonder of the Aire It was the Diadem which St. John discover'd on the head of Almighty God and which therefore was to be for all eternity the Crown of a God who can never change but will everlastingly conserve this Garland and Diadem of peace O God of peace goodness and Love Great God who art alwayes loving and canst never be loved enough Ah! let not the World be so bold as to take up Armes to disturb thy peace Lord let all hearts love thee and let them be tributaries to thy affections O God of Heaven all Good all Just all Powerfull powre down no more Storms and Abysses on our heads Yea my God drown us in those amorous billowes that if the World must perish at last let it be in the Torrents and flames of thy holy Love CHAP. XII The unhappy effects of Wine IT is true that Men were never more at Peace the Earth never more pure and Heaven never powred down so many favours as it shed upon the Earth and the Children of Noah Coepitque Noë vir agricola exercere terram plantavit vineam Gen. 9. v. 20. Bibensque vinum inebrâ—atus est nudatus in tabernaculo suo Gen. 9. v. 21. Quod cùm vidisset Cham Pater Chanaan verenda scilicet Patris esse nudata nuntiavit duobus Fratribus suis for as Gen. 9. v. 22. Nevertheless in the mid'st of Pleasure Peace Concord Love Joy and all sorts of Benedictions this poor Man whom all the Waters of the World and of the Deluge could not vanquish was drown'd at last in a Glass of Wine O God! what scandall what shame what disquiet and what disorder in the family of Noah This good old Man fell cold and stiff on the ground and it is not known whether he be dead or alive His Children run presently to help him but as if the fume of the Wine which their Father had taken too inconsiderately had dazel'd and blinded the youngest of them Unnaturall Impudence instead of casting ashes and water on the flaming Coals which consum'd his poor Father At verò Sem Japheth Pallium imposuerunt humeris suis incedentes retrorsum operuerunt verenda Patris sui faciesque eorum aversae erant Patris visilia non viderunt Gen. 9. v. 23. he made a bon fire of Mirth and scorn about his Nakedness and with an unparalleld Impudence discover'd to the Eyes of all his Brethren what Nature hath concealed His Brothers nevertheless were more respectfull and prudent than himself for immediatly Piety cast veyls over their Eyes and Love though Blind found out Artifices to cover an Object which was neither decent nor lawfull to behold Ingenious respect It was in recompence of these chast duties Evigilans autem Noë ex vino cùm didicisset quae fecerat â—i filius suus minor ait Maledictus Chanaan servus servorum erit Fratribus suis Gen. 9. v. 24. Dixitque benedictus Dominus Dous Sem sit Chanaan servâ—s ejâ—s Gen. 9. v. 26. that Noah being returned out of that Abyss into which Wine had precipitated him open'd the Eyes of his Body and Soul and afterwards perceiving the unnaturall Impudence of Cham he darted forth the Thunder of his Malediction against his Son Chanaan beseeching likewise God to bless and fill Sem Japhet and all their Progeny with his Graces It was from their Posterity all the Generations of the World are descended Dilatat Deus Japbet c. Gen. 9. v. 27. and they were the Persons who laid the foundation of Sodome Ninivie Salem and Gomorrha as also of so many other famous Cities from whence afterwards Arts Republicks Policies Governments and all the Empires of the Universe took their Rise CHAP. XIII The Tower of Babel AT that time though Hearts were divided Erat autem terra labii unius sermonum eorundem Gen. 11. v. 1. and all opinions different yet there was but one Mouth but one Interpreter of Souls and one common manner of Speech Cumque proficiscerentur de oriente invenerunt campum in terra Sennaar habitaverunt in eo Gen. 11. v. 2. But as it is very difficult for the Tongue long to bely the Heart So it hapned not long after that the Inhabitants of the Earth feeling the Justice of their own Consciences which call'd upon that of God and threatned them with the comming of another Deluge resolv'd to build a Tower Et dixerunt Venite sactamus nobis Turrem cujus cusmen pertiagat ad Caelum celebremus nomen antequam dividamur in universas terrae Gen. 11. v. 4. and raise the top of it even as high as the Clouds The chief Undertaker of this famous Structure was the Gyant Nembrod Granchild to that Reprobate Cham who discovered his Fathers shame This Architect was of a proud Nature and of a Capricious humour believing that his enterprises and designs were to be executed without the least opposition In effect never was any work undertaken Descendit autem Dominus ut videret civitatem Turrim quam edificabant filii Adam Gen. 11. v. 5. and advanced with more Expedition nor with more Ardor Zeal and Submission But the Grand Designer of the World the Architect of the Universe and the generall Producer of all things who takes delight to confound the Wisdome of the Wise and to overthrow the Plots and Enterprises of the most Powerfull beholding these Fortifications rais'd neer mid-way and being able no longer to endure this Audacity and these presumptuous Attempts resolv'd at last to over turn all these Forts Venite igitur descendamus confundamus ibi linguam eoruÌ„ ut non audiat unusquisque linguam proximi sui Gen. 11. v. 7. Et idcirco vocatum est nomen ejus Babel quia ibi confusum est labium universae terrae inde dispersit eos Dominus super faciem cunctarum regionum Gen. 11. v. 9. and to cast a generall confusion of Tongues amongst the Carpenters and Masons This made a Tower of Babel that is to say of Disorder War and Confusion This stately Building this lofty Cittadell this impregnable Fort was but a Labyrinth of deaf and dumb people who spake
not this a most admirable draught of Gods sage prodigallity and illustrious Magnificence who in exchange of a foot of ground gives intire worlds He will have the Heart and for the heart he gives Himself and in him the Creator of souls and the Soul of all hearts Alas what is a corner of the Earth compared with the Land of promise what is a country and City in respect of the firmament And where shall wee find brethren kindred or friends without pretension interest or any suspition of deceipt as are found in Heaven Ah! I no longer wonder that so many Kings and Queens so many great Lords and Ladies have followed the happy and blessed steps of Abraham to enter into the territories of the earthly Paradise and of Religion I remain no longer amazed to see so many young gentlemen brave rich couragious and learned So many tender fair and wealthy virgins who often in the sight of Royall Palaces and Courtes make a most sweet most holy and most honorable retreit into Cloisters to see them place their honor all their delights and riches in a most amiable and delicious prison Good God! How peaceable are these divorces how free are these Captivities and how holy are these resolutions If God give the whole for a part Worlds for one kingdome the Heavens for one Country and a hundred-fold for one who wil be astonished to see a Theodosius Zeno tom 3. an Anastasius and a Michael quitting the Empire of Greece to enclose themselves in a Monastery Who will wonder to see a Charlemain Son to Charles Martell who abandoned all the hopes he had in France to live out of the road of the world and the Court on Mount Soractes and what great wonder is it to see in the Kingdomes of Spain a Veremond King of Castile and a Remirus King of Aragon following the happy steps of a like conduct Surely I see nothing which is too admirable when for the same cause Sigebertus left his England Charls his Germany and so many others who have forsaken their most vast and most glorious Monarchies It was little considerable for Radegond and Baltildus to despise France though it were one of the Largest most Noble and most August Kingdoms under Heaven It was then yet less considerable for all those who have followed their steps and examples for doing what Sara and Abraham did they could not doubt but God would guide them out of their Empires into a Land of plenty where Crowns and Scepters are the Arms of an Eternall possession It remains then for all those Qui aedificavit ibi Altarem Domino qui aparuerat ei Gen. 12. whom he hath taken by the hand as he did Abraham and led them over the Banks of Jordan and through the shades of Hermon to build there an Altar on which they might offer Sacrifices of Love and Acknowledgments as Abraham did CHAP. II. The Voyages of Abraham and Sara into the Land of Egypt SAint Thomas hath excellently well noted D. Th. c. 26. c. 28. 1 in aggrediendo 2 in sustinendo that courage is a force of Spirit alwaies bold alwaies constant and which is found not only amongst assaults onsets and sieges but it delights also to sustain a long time the violences which present and oppose themselves to it's desires It is not then a perfect Act of Courage and Force to undertake some voyage and to put our selves on our way But we must advance even unto the End we propose to our selves And whether it Hails whether it Rains whether it Blows or whether it be fair Weather we must still have as a brave Pilgrim said our track and way mark'd out not on Sand and Earth but in the Heavens that is to say above the Sun and Stars which have alwaies regular motions and pass through the midst of Monsters without either stop or seeming astonished It was as I believe on this pleasing Mirror and on this Card of the most constant designs and of the most assured voyages or rather on God himself that Abraham leaving his own Country instantly cast up his eyes well resolv'd to follow him every where who served him for a Master a Conductor a Sanctuary and Country He left then the plains and vallies to ascend the Mountains as still desirous alwaies to make new progresses and to advance without any intermission It is he then whom I see spreading his Pavillions on the top of a Mountain Et inde transgrediens ad montem qui erat contra orientem Bethel tetendit ibi tabernacutum suum aedificavâ—t quoque Altare Domino invocavit nomini ejus Gen. 12. v. 8 and erecting an Altar to invoke the name and assistance of God his Conductor Listen a while and hear from his mouth the thoughts of his Soul Great God! I have forsaken all for thee and at the first command I received I obeyed the voice of thy most amiable providence A farwell to the World at length behold me here out of my Country far from my own Possessions and severed from my friends I am ignorant where I am but I only know that I am with thee It sufficeth me O my God all my desires are pleased and my Soul is fully satisfied Farewell all my kindred farewell my friends farewell my Country O my God! me thinks at every step I make I conquer a Kingdom all my guests are Kindred the little Hils are my Dungeons the Fields my Cities and all that the day discovers to me of Earth of Rivers of Air and of Seas is my Country my House and my place of entertainment O God! how Magnificent are thy bounties and how delightfull it is to follow and serve so sweet a Master as thy self Ah! let my Mouth and Tongue bless thee and let them not from henceforth serve but to invoke thy holy name In fine I will not only ingrave these thoughts upon this Altar But to the end I may publish them through all the Countries whither the Sun carrys his light I make my self the Companion of this Storie Perrexitquâ— vadens ultra progrediens ad Meridiem Gen. 12. v. 9. and without further delay I leave the East to advance unto the South It often happens that God makes use even of the least sensible and most inanimate Creatures to impart his graces unto his Elect. Sometimes he enters into the Heart with the break of Day His Lights and Clarities often mingle themselves with the Night and when the Sun sets to give rest unto the Body he causeth a miraculous Morning to arise which awakens the Soul Now I no wayes doubt but our Pilgrim in his journyes towards the South feels also more resplendent ardors and more infired lightnings which inflam'd him with more violent more zealous and more lively desires and designs Mean while a generall famine came over all the Land of Canaan Facta est autem sames in terra descenditque Abram in Aegyptum ut peregrinaretur
ibi praevaluerat enim fames in terra Gen. 12. v. 10. Cumque prope esset ut ingrediretur Aegyptum dixit Sarae Uxori suae novi quod pulcrasis Muliâ—r Gen. 12. v 11. Et cum viderint te Aegyptii dicturi sunt Uxor illius est interficient me te reservabant Gen. 12. v. 12. Dic ergo obsecro te quod soror mea sis ut bene sit mihi propter te vivat anima mea ob gratiam tui Gen. 12. v. 13. Cum itaque ingressus esset Abram Aegyptum viderâ—nt Aegyptii Mulierem quod esset pulcra nimis Gen. 12. v. 14. in so much as our happy Traveller is enforc'd to take a farther journey and to descend into Egypt where flying from the sythe and weapons of that merciless thing which alwaies takes his enemies by the throat he fals into the hands of an other no less cruell Monster who commonly steals in by the eyes to surprize and suffocate Hearts This man wholy inlightn'd by God and who carried in the bosome of his faithfull moity the purest and most holy flames of his Love beheld a far off the smoak of a most dangerous fire and fearing least his dear Sara should be there either by mishap or force surprised he thought it fit to say unto her Wife we are here on the Confines of Egypt but yet I am afraid lest these souls a thousand times more black than their bodies lay not some blemish on thy chastity I fear lest these Ravens of Egypt should powre down on the beauty of thy Face and make it serve as a prey to their most infamous Loves and afterwards my life as a victim to their sensuality Tell them then I pray thee that thou art my Sister and that I am thy Brother to the end I may escape by this amiable Stratagem All these forecasts were not grounded on a vain fear Et nuntiaverunt principes Pharaoni laudaveâ—unt eam apud illam sublata est Mulier in domum Pharaonis Gen. 12. v. 15. and some erroneous Judgment for scarce were these two Doves of Chaldea these two Turtles and these two chast Lovers entred into Egypt but instantly the Princes of Pharaoh who were the Ministers of his impurities carried away the chast Sara and brought her to Court which was a Seraglio of luxurie and lubricity Mean while what can a chast and couragious Husband say or think who sees before his eyes the rape of his Wife Unfortunate Abraham what wilt thou doe are these the Promises which God so often made thee of filling thee with all his favours and benedictions Ah what can the loss of a Wife make a Man a Father of all People and Nations and is this the recompence of that Faith Obedience and Piety which seemed not to raise up thy Body from the Earth but to Elevate it to the Heavens Behold War on the one side thundering against thee and on the other side Famine pursuing thee and Egypt which hath ravished from thee all the honours pleasures and purest entertainments of life From whence then spring all these misfortunes Most just apprehensions for Worldly Men. Is it perchance because thou hast too suddainly left the way which God had marked out to conduct thee between the arms of a most loving Providence which was able to nourish thee in the midst of desarts and famine It is peradventure because thy vows and Sacrifices were not perfect Or else art thou not charged with the spoyls of thy Family by the excess of an ill regulated Love Or finally hast thou not propos'd to thy self for the end of thy travell the hopes of some gain or trafick Or else that which is apparently more honourable hath not the curiosity of seeing and knowing what is done elsewhere snatched thee out of Caldea to hurry thee into unknown Countries I confess that commonly these are the Western Winds which swell the sayls of those who travell either on Land or Sea But certainly as for Abraham nothing less than such designs Why then will you tell me that it is God who afflicts him and wherefore is that which he doth for his sake so rudely and furiously crossed Ah! my friend whoever thou art who askest this question take not ill what I say unto thee that thou art a stranger and Pilgrim in the Land of God and in the wayes of vertue In a word Triall of Constancy thou knowest not the secrets of a Conduct wholly Divine which is accustomed to employ all the instruments of mis-hap and all the disgraces of fortune to erect trophies unto its dearest friends often war plague and famine maladies affronts falls exiles and all that is most dreadfull in Nature take up armes to assault the life of one predestinated person but afterwards Comets transform themselves into Rainbows Famine changeth its syth into the horne of abundance affronts become honours misfortunes become favours Fine Metamorphoses banishments palaces and all the moments of Dayes and Nights will render themselves celebrious by some new benefit in favour of these happy infortunates Courage then Abraham and no wayes doubt but the fidelity which Sara hath vow'd unto thee will be proportionable to that thou rendrest unto God As for Pharaoh his Hands are bound his Eyes blind-folded and his Heart so full of bitterness and grief as at present he cannot attend to the research of remedies and of his own liberty Lay aside now all thy fears and thou also Sara for thy Heart is a Sanctuary of Peace and a Temple of Love of which God alone Flagellavit autem Dominus Pharaonem plagis maximis domum ejus propter Sarai Vaorem Abram Gen. 12. v. 17. and Abraham keep the Keys Besides these clamours thou hearest and which resound every where are but the forerunners of thy liberty and the witnesses of the vengeance God hath already taken of Pharach and likewise of all the Princes of his Court. In effect this great God Vocavitque Pharao Abram dixit ei Quidnam est quod fecisti mihi nunc igitur ecce conjux tua accipe eam vade Gen. 12. v. 19. who is jealous of the glory of his sent such harsh scourges to Pharaoh and all those who had bin his complices as scarcely had this unhappy Prince the means to see the Face of Sara This disastrous Court is no longer but a Dungeon of Darkness a Galley of Slaves and a large Hospitall of despairing Franticks Every where Violated Chastity the Rights of Mariage and Hospitality dart forth Thunder-bolts The Court of Pharaoh And from the poysoned shafts nothing but lamentable voices and bitter plaints are heard which correspond with the stroaks of a most holy and just severity Ah God! if these salutiferous cryes could be carried upon the wings of the Winds from one Pole to the other to advertise so many Egyptians who are either in the Dust of the World or breath the air of the Court. Cry
out then Pharaoh cry out and awake so many sleepy Souls which lie in soft Downy Beds as Coles under Ashes to entertain the ardor of their impurity Doe you see these lascivious men and these ravinous Wolves who are in quest of their Golden fleece and seek out Flesh and Bloud to satiate the rage of their brutality For this they ingage their Servants and Hand-maids they subborn confidents they lay ambushes every where and either soon or late some chast Sara must be taken away But at the same time Luxuria dulce venenâ—m pernicâ—osa potio humanum corpus debâ—itaâ— vâ—â—lâ—s animi robur â—nervat Hugo à S. Vict. lib. 4. inst Monast lâ—t l. saith Hugo Victorensis the poyson of their infamous Mouths cast forth into the Bosom of Virginity reascends into its Source and steals almost insensibly into the Veins of a Body which immediatly becomes corrupted from whence ariseth that the Heart it self is presently infected and it is from this Plague of Souls and this Canker of Bodies so many fatall blindnesses so many blind furies and so many furious errors doe afterwards Spring which cause in the Body an Abysse of Maladies and in the Soul a Maze or Labyrinth of reason These burning coales and these flames saith Justinian which beget such sad fires in the body and fill souls with so black Ignis internalis est luxuria cujus materies gula cujus flamma superbia cujus sintillae prava colloquia cujus fumus infamia cujus cinis inopia cujus finis gebenna Laur. Just c. 3. de sop in lig vitae and thick a smoak rise from the fire of hell It is this fire to which good chear serves for Nourishment It is this fire which Pride and Presumption inflame and inkindle on all sides It is this fire whose sparkles are Lascivious provocations its smoak is but a most dishonorable Fame its ashes are Miseries and Calamities and in fine it is onely in the Hells of this World where this intestine fire is found Let us judge then after this of the Greatnesse of Evill by the excesse of Punishment and if some one have a mind to die the most detestable death in Nature let him lead the most enormous and execrable life which can be in the sight of Heaven But let us return to Pharao who was constrain'd to stifle his unlawfull Loves in the Ocean of his miseries and who at last restor'd to Abraham the flower which had bin cruelly wrested from him CHAP. III. The Agreement of Abraham and Lot upon the Controversy between their Shepheards PEace and Purity are two sisters which have no other Father or Origin but Love and the Spirit of God which cannot breath but in a calm and in cleannesse there is its native Air Element Temple and the usuall place of its residence And it is peradventure for this reason Solomon was accustomed to adorn the gates of his Temple with Lillies and Olive-branches Inseparable companions desiring thereby to inform us that none are to enter there but by the doors of Peace and under the shade of the Olive-branches which are marks and symboles of Peace and Purity This being so I wonder not that Abraham who was animated with the Spirit of God and endued with no other than the purest passions did express so much love and inclination to Concord and Peace He seemed Neverthelesse to have some cause to commence a sute Unde et facta est rixa inter pastores gregum Abram Loth. Gen. 13. v. 7. to wage war against Lot for the preservation of his rights and authority which might receive some prejudice by the strife which arose between his servants and those of Lot their design being to become Masters contrary to Justice and Reason Which Abraham seing to prevent all the disorders which might ensue on this first design he saith unto Lot Nephew I pr'y thee remember Dixit Abram ad Loth ne quaeso sit jurgium inter me te pastâ—res meos pastores tuos fratres enim sumus Gen. 13. v. 8. that hetherto I have not treated thee as an Uncle but rather as a Brother what a scandal would it be if we should begin to live together either like strangers or else as Enemies I had rather lose all the goods of the world than that of thy friendship But I see clearly that these Shepheards Ecce universa terra coram te est recede à me obsecro si ad sinistram eris ego dexteram tenebo si tu dexteram elegeris ego ad sinistram ibo Gen. 13. v. 9. and mercenary friends are the persons who endeavour to engage our passions with their interests It would then be more prudently done to sever our flocks than to disunite our Mindes and therefore dear Nephew take what you please If thou goest to the right hand I will take the left and if the left I will passe to the right Well then is not this to love peace and to purchase at his own expence so pretious a treasure Is not this to be magnificent and can any one seek an accord with more Prodigality Interessed Souls Where are then these little hearts and these narrow Souls which are still bury'd amidst their own interests Where are these worldly People whose Eyes may sooner be turn'd out of their heads than monies out of their hands Where are all these Pertifoggers and these Lawiers who are alwayes for delatory futes and place all their hopes on a forged will or a false contract They are like Moles which have alwayes their Noses in the Earth and incessantly inlarge their holes and graves What shame is it for a man of courage to be still fighting on a flight occasion and to contest upon the point of a Needle who shall carry it Alas where are the Abrahams where are the brothers kindred and friends who shall say one to the other for Gods sake let us live peaceably rather let us dye a thousand times than wage war for those goods which either soon or late we must leave My God! These are generous The Golden Age and heroick thoughts To hear them I conceive my self to be in those golden Ages when men carry'd their hearts on their lips Crowns of Olive-branches on their heads hornes of plenty in their hands their eyes in each part of their body and the Chains of a holy friendship as bracelets and collers of Gold Finally where the goods of the earth were trodden under foot as common to all men And this caused that plenty of all things was carry'd every where upon a Triumphant Chariot casting Gold and Silver to all that would but take the paines to gather it God himself governed the Reignes of this fortunate Chariot and as if he had a purpose to make every man a Monarch of the universe he said the very same to them as to Abraham when the love of Concord and Peace had sever'd him from Lot My friend Abraham lift
up thy Eyes Dixitque Dominus ad Abram leâ—a oculos tuos vide à loco in quo nunc es ad aquilâ—nem mâ—ridiem ad orientem occidentem Gen. 13. v. 24. Omnem terram quam â—â—spicis tibi dabo semini tuo usque in semp ternum faciamque sâ—men tuum sicut pulverem terrae Gen. 13. v. 25. and turn thy self on all sides from East to West from North to South These immense spaces which thou beholdest shall be under thy Empire and afterwards at the end of thy life thou shalt leave them for an inheritance unto thy posterity which shal be numerous which shall equall the sands of the Earth Rise then Abraham and begin again thy journies and wayes over the whole extent of the Earth for this is the reward I intend to give thee Well then Surge ergo perambula terram in longitudine sua quia tibi datuâ—us sum eam Gen. 13. v. 17. Is not this a most powerfull motive to Love Peace and to bestow all that one hath to acquire a Good which draws with it all sorts of blessings and felicities For my part I believe that Gregorie the XIII had learnt by example the happy advantages of this verity for having Commanded a Picture of Peace and Justice to be drawn he caus'd a Vessell full of Flowers Fruits to be added Typot lib. 1. Symb. Justitia pacem copiam pax attulit with this Motto Justice hath given us Peace and Peace hath bestowed on us Goods in abundance Abraham might have justly taken the same Armes and the like Inscription I represent also to my self that such as seek Peace and Tranquillity may all say and doe like Abraham Let us conclude that we must often give way unto their Interests to become Masters of Hearts Goods and Possessions that it is a most sweet and profitable art to lose a little for the gaining of Peace which is wont to bring with it all that can be desired CHAP. IV. The Victories of Abraham and the assurances God gave him of a most flourishing Posterity THe desires A Warlike Tranquillity and inclinations which we may have for Tranquillity ought not to destroy force of Courage which as a Philosopher heretofore said are the Arms of the Soul and as it were the Wings of the Body There are nevertheless faint-hearted Men and Effeminate Spirits to whom the name of Peace is not venerable by reason the bare noise of the justest combats useth to put them into a Feaver They are like that Coward of Athens who dy'd hearing a Trumpet which was sounded at the beginning of an assault or rather that heartless Sybarite who seeing a Dart but in Picture made a vow never to use a Sword or Dagger never to come into the Field were it but to mow Grass This is not to have a pacifique Spirit A shamefull Pusillanimity and inclinations unto Meekness and Peace but rather to bear under a humane Body the Soul of a tender Chick or at least such people resemble those Indians who tremble at the sight of their own shadows and from whom if one should take away their Hands when they are obliged to Eat or Drink one would judge them to be Statues and feather'd specters which tremble at the least breath of Air. There is then an other Spirit of Peace which delights in Tranquillity and knows not what it is to seek occasions of War and pretences of dissention But where once Right Piety Alliances or violated Justice put Arms into their Hands at the same instant this vapor which was hidden in the Clouds and framed Veils against the violences of the Sun begins to convert it self into a Mass of flaming Coals which set fire on the Heavens and puts the Earth into a dreadfull fright Behold here the Image of a generous courage of a pacifique Soul and of a most valorons Heart every where it setleth Peace every where it accordeth differences and never refuseth any Treaty of Union But where it is provok'd and that there is need of preserving its own Rights or revenging the injury done unto Allies you instantly see it in the Head of an Army It orders Troups It is in the fight at the charge at the spoyl at the chase and in action briefly it is all Heart and its Body seems to be chang'd into Arms and Hands to defend its Life its Right and Honor. But who would have believed that Abrahams humour and courage had been of this temper when he was only seen to take Lot by the Hand and say unto him that all his goods belonged unto him and that to avoid War he gave the World for a Field of Peace and for an assured testimony that he prefer'd a quiet Life before all pretensions whatsoever Nevertheless when News was brought him Talerunt amnem sulistantiam Sodomorum Gomorrhae c. Gen. 14 v. 11. Nec non Lot substantiam ejus c. Gen. 14. v. 12. Et ecce unus qui evaserat nuntiavit Abram Hebraeo c. Gen. 14. v. 13. Quod cùm audisset Abram captum videlicet Lot Fratrem suum num ravit expeditos vernaculos su 〈◊〉 decem oâ—to Et persecutus est eos usque Dan. Gen. 14. v. 14. Percussitque eos c. Gen. 14. v. 15. Redaxiâ—que omnem substantiam Loth Fratrem suum c. Gen. 14. v. 16. At vern Melchisedech Rex Salem proferens panem vinum E rat enim Sacerdos Alâ—ssimi Gen. 14. v. 18. Eâ—â—edixitque ei cat Bâ—nedictus Deus excelso c. Gen. 14. v. 19 Et dedit ei dâ—cimas exomnibus Gen 14. v. 20. 〈◊〉 essus est Rex Soâ—omerum in occursum ejus Gen. 14. v. 17. that the King of Sennay the King of the Elamites the King of Pontus and he that was commonly called the King of Nations were become Masters of the Field and of the Sodomites Country who were his confederates and that even after the taking of Sodom poor Lot who fell into their Hands was lead by their Command into a sad Captivity At the very same instant this peaceable Traveller instead of a Staff took Arms into his Hands and having selected three hundred and eighteen of his bravest Servants he went forraging the Country and so couragiously pursued his Enemies that afterward being come to the confines of Judea neer the Fountains of Jordan and finding them still wholy puffed up with the success of their victories and loaden with their booty he set upon them with so great courage and dexterity as at last he put them to a shamefull rout and gave them so generall a defeat that he brought back both Lot and all his Goods with the remainder of the spoyls of all the Assyrians who were all either dead or put to flight After this defeat Melchisedeck who was King of Salem and also high Priest of the most high offered Bread and Wine as a thanksgiving for the victories
these loathsome Coals The Earth on the other side is an inlivened gulph of burning Coals which vomit forth so many Firebrands and Torches as at length one would believe that the Air the Skyes the Clouds and the Earth were no other than a Hell Nothing is heard there but Clamors Sobs Rages Blasphemies and roarings out What a spectacle is it to see Men and Women with Bodies all on fire running through the Streets their Hair flaming their Eyes sparkling The Image of Gods Judgements their Mouths burning and their Hearts filled with Sulphur What a monstrous Specter is it to behold an Infant in his Mothers bosom and in his Nurses Arms like a lump of Sulphur which is consumed with the flash of a Torch Who hath ever heard that the World was watred with a Rain of Sulphur with a Deluge of Fire and with an Inundation of burning Coals and Flames What Thunder what spoyl what desolation of Wood-piles of Houses and Furnaces Beds Tables Cubbords Gold Iron Marbles and Diamonds turned into Fire-brands Alas where are the Heavens where is the Air where is the Sea and Earth when the whole World is on fire Ah poor Lot what is become of thy Wife and where are thy Kindred and what may thy Daughters think beholding the smoak of that fire which devours the Bodies of their unfortunate Husbands Me thinks I see him with his Daughters in the foulds of a Mountain Et mansit in spelunca ipse duae siliae ejus cum eo Gen. 19. v. 30. Dixitque major ad minorem c. Gen. 19. v. 31. Veni intoriemus eum vino dormiâ—musque cum eo ut servare possimus ex patre nostro â—emen Gen. 19. v. 32. where he endeavours to shelter himself from these frightfull inundations which burn and desolate all his Country But with what grief will Abrahams chast Heart be touch'd when he knows that the Daughters of Lot are consumed with an other fire and they inkindle such black flames as even hinder them from knowing their own Father or at least from treating him with that respect and piety which Nature required Blind Nation brutish Treason Crime whose horrors have not a name in Nature Thy Fire-brands and Murthering Darts must pierce the side of a Mountain to defile and destroy what God had reserved to himself Abraham autem consurgens manè ubi steterat prius cum Domino Gen. 19. v. 27. None but Abraham remains Constant in his Sincerity he is still in the same place where God spake to him with so much tenderness and privacy Faithfull Friend of God Intuitus est Sodomam Gomo rham universam terram regionis illius viditque ascendentem favillam de terra quasi surnacit sumum Gen. 19. v. 28. Father of all Nations Support of men Vice-King of the Earth Abraham canst thou behold this dreadfull fire without Sighs and Tears Weep then Abraham weep to quench these flames but rather inkindle some pile to swallow up these Monsters which infect the World by the Contagious shafts of their Incestuous brutalities Let there never be any mention made of Sodom nor of the Lands which are complices in her disloyalty Let no man ever think on her unless it be to place before his Eyes the Image of Gods Judgments and of the Eternall punishments of Hell There will never be a more sensible and exact draught of those endless torments than Sodom Gomorrha Adama Seboim and all their Neighbourhood Let us have then a horror to enter into these flaming Prisons and into these Sulphurous Dungeons The Picture of Hell let us listen awhile unto these Sighs Sorrows and Lamentations which rise from the bottom of these Abysses My Eyes what doe you see what Phantasms what Specters what Tormenters what Monsters My Heart art thou not affrighted at the sight of these flaming Furnaces of these Mountains of Fire of these dead which are alwaies living and of these lives still dying amidst Immortall Languishments and Endless Torments O my God! how will it be when thou shalt descend upon the Clouds and on a flaming Chariot to enfire not only five Cities but all the parts of the Universe Where will the most shamefull and detestable of all Vices find Caves deep enough when at the Sound of Trumpets and Clarions the Earth shall open her Sepulchers like so many Furnaces which will vomit forth men all invironed with Fire Whither will the confederates of Sodom and Gomorrha goe when all the Saints and Angels of Heaven shall even wax pale with fear Will Vice be in a place of Security when Vertue it self shall hardly find a Sanctuary The Pillars of Heaven will shake Luc. 21. D. Thom. sup q. 73. the Cypres Trees and Oaks of Libanus will roar out all Trees will melt into drops of blood the Sun and Moon will change their countenance all the Planets will make a stand or dread will even tear them from their Orbes to follow Pugnabit cum eo orbis contra insensatos Eccl. 5. like trains of fire the astonishing Splendors of God The Earth though most insensible will arm it self in so just a quarrell Afterwards the Ocean touched with so cruell a Sympathy will raise its billows and waves even five Cubits high above the Mountains Signs of the day of judgment given by the Hebrews collected by St. Jerom. related by St. Thomas sup q. 73. a. 1. immediatly after they will tumble down to make Abysses and presently extend themselves upon their ordinary Bed Then will all Fishes though naturally dumb cast forth fearfull moanings and out-cryes In the Air Birds will tune sad Noats and their sweetest Harmonies will be but Songs of Death Nothing but Hairy blew sparkling burning and bloudy Comets will be seen and nothing but Cryes Howlings and dreadfull Lamentations wil be heard not only amongst Men but also amongst the fiercest Beasts and in the midst of the least sensible and most inflexible Bodies In fine this will be the great Day denounced by the Mouth of God by that of the Prophets and of which Sodom hath been but the first draught If then the representation thereof were able to affright the Eyes of the Impurest Souls and to stop the Course and Torrent of so many flames which an infernall and Diabolicall Love casts into Hearts I would willingly advise the most part of Men to have the Picture of Sodom alwaies before their Eyes to the end so tragick a misfortune might at lest divert a far more dismall disaster But all these Pictures are too weak if Love takes not off the cover and if Faith shall not open the Eyes My God! Dissipate then all the Shadows of Sodom and fix our Eyes upon the Lights of Sion O God illuminate our Minds and inflame our Hearts to the end we may follow the bright Splendors of thy adorable bounties and that our Souls may never be consumed but by the fire of thy Love CHAP. IX The Birth of Isaack
know a Heart and so many divine experiments upon poor Mortals so that the whole Sacrifice of Abraham was but a stratagem of Gods Providence and a Master-piece of Abrahams and Isaacks Obedience The Altar of Moria which was to be the Scaffold of Death became the Theater of Life and his Pile served but to make a Bonfire of Joy and a triumph of the fidelity which Abraham and Isaack testified unto God Besides I know not who was most astonished the Father or the Son however it were Abraham unbound his Isaack and then they both together adored the admirable contrivances of Gods goodness who did tear out a Mans Heart to put his own in the place of it A Divine Stratagem and who commands us to give him a mortall and perishable life that he may place us in the fruition of one eternall and immortall It is sufficient for this God of Clemencie and mercie to see Men at his Feet he is content with that Sacrifice which the Heart offers to him and he will have neither Bloud nor Murther presented on his Altars It satisfies him to immolate his only Jesus for the ransom of Mankind His Death gives us Life and the least drop of his sacred Veins is able to wash away all the stains of the Universe Stay then Abraham Levavit Abraham oculos suos viditque post tergum arietem inter vepres haerentem cornibus quem assumens obtulit Holccaustum profilio the blow is reserved for some other not for thy Son and it only belongs to the Eternall Father to offer the Sacrifice in verity the figure whereof hath preceded No it shall not be Isaack thou must immolate but this Ram which thou seest in this Bush surrounded with Brambles and Crowned with thorns take him and burn this Victim till a Man-God come in Isaacks place It is enough for me saith God unto Abraham to know that thou lovest me and I can now no longer doubt after so long and sensible tryals It is the Hand and not the Mouth which hath given me the assurance of it It is also rather by effects than complements that I try thy fidelity O God of Hearts it is then in verity that Hearts must be Sacrificed to thee Fathers and Mothers if God will have your Children make a free gift of them if God be content with you offer your selves unto him My God! I will even now then consecrate my Heart to thee I renounce at present all those things I may not Love with thee I present unto thee the Sacrifice of my humiliated Spirit and I refuse no pain if thou ordainest it for me Burn Sacrifise and spare neither Health Honor Riches Children nor Friends I am even content to Immolate my Isaack to thee that is my Soul my Affections and my Life provided I may Live with thee and Love thee in Glory and Eternity CHAP. XII The Death of Sara A Certain person holily curioius went heretofore examining all that is dispers'd in Nature I asked saith he of the Sun whether he were a God and he answered me no in regard he was subject to Eclipses Circumvolutions Vicissitudes Gen. 22. v. 13. and a thousand periods which keep him in a perpetuall mutation Inconstancy of created things I intreated the Moon to tell me whether she were a Divinity and she protested to me no by reason of Exiles Defections Retrogradations Ascendants Conjunctions Separations Elevations and falls to which she is lyable All the rest of created Nature will confess the same if we interrogate her in particular upon this verity God only can say I am God and I neither can nor doe change because I am God He is in the midst of the World as the immoveable Center in a Circle about which all is in motion he is as a Rock upon the Ocean who beholds the Waves and Billows rowling under his Feet without inconstancy and astonishment He is pleased nevertheless to see those he loves in the Flux and Reflux of a thousand accidents which teach them that their fortunes hopes affections and delights may alter every moment that the most smiling prosperities often swim amidst tears the clearest and most serene dayes are followed sometimes by the obscurest and most dusky Nights Bodies for Companions have their own Shadows Roses are mixed with Thorns and even the Life of Man never Ends but in Death To see Abraham Sara and Isaack after their deliverance and the tryals God had of their fidelity would not one have believed them almost immortall and exempted from all the miseries of life Tunc est tentatio fiaienda quando finitur pugna tunc finienda est pugna quando post hanc vitam succedit pugnae secura victoria S. Prosper lib. 3. de cont vitae And yet scarce were they returned to their own home but Abraham and Isaack met with a new occasion of grief for the Death of Sara And no wonder saith St. Prosperus since the Life of Man is a War without truce and since we ought not to hope or expect Peace but in the Tomb. And indeed as Hildebert hath well noted it is not without reason that these storms succeed one another Attende miscrias hominis intuere cineres vectigalia peccati sunt S. Hild. Ep. 56. and that usually one vapor draws others by reason the Earth since the contagion of the terrestriall Paradise hath been a fatall source of Miseries and Calamities which took their birth from the first sin of our unfortunate Parents who left unto their Children for an inheritance and punishment a chain wrought with all sorts of infelicities This yoak then is common to all Men and there is no person whom God hath not subjected to the Laws of this sad Captivity The strictest unions must break the sincerest friendships must have an end and even Mariages themselves of which God was the sacred knot must at length make a Tragick Divorce upon a Bed which is the most common Theater of the blind furies of Death We ought to confess nevertheless that it is a spectacle able to excite the Constancy of a good Courage when we shall behold this unmercifull Murdress which snatcheth away Daughters out of their Mothers Bosoms and Sons in the sight of their Fathers and Wifes between the Arms of their Husbands In such a case if Nature had not some tenderness she would be unnaturall and we must have Hearts of Marble not to be touched with some sense of grief and pitty Abraham had then just cause to testifie by his tears the regret he had for his dear Sara's Death Vixit autem Sara centum viginti septem annis Gen. 23. v. 1. And surely since he lost so rare a blessing well might he disconsolatly bewayl it This mourning was not yet blameable and he was very carefull not to doe like those who bury all their affections in the preparation of a Funerall pomp and who have but a shadowed meen or else not being able
death What ever happens Jacob shall be vanquisner For Heaven is on his side and the supplanting of Esau shall rather proceed from the Hand of God than that of Jacob. It is not then the office of Jacob to supplant his Brother and to ruin the fortune of his most intimate friends They that contrive such designs are not the Imitators of Jacob but the Disciples of Cain Jacob followed only the Instinct of the Divine Providence Supplanting Brothers and Brothers for the most part regard nothing but humane prudence and blind interests which convey Impiety into their Souls Treasons into their Mouths Venom into their Hearts and Weapons into their Hands to assault bloud and nature and to confound all Humane and Divine Laws But alas what strife what victory what triumph when the Crowns we gain are but Roses staind with Bloud and Laurels which wither in a moment and transform themselves into eternall Thorns It is not for this prize Jacob so ught in his Mothers Womb but he assaults and supplants Esau for the purchase of Immortall Crowns CHAP. II. The Education of Esau and Jacob and the shamefull sale he made of his right of Primogenture SCarce hath the return of the Sun chased away Night and Darkness but the Aurora shews on its Horizon Image of Mans life what the Day would be at high Noon and in its Evening It is an Image of Mans Life who usually at his Birth gives assured marks what he will be even till death he bears on his Forehead and Body saith Pythagoras a Divine Impression which is even against his will the visible Character of his Soul and Disposition In vain is it for him to feign and dissemble his Eyes are living Myrrours in which all the Cogitations of his Heart are discovered the Horoscope as we see by daily experience is formed not only of Men but also of Children and oft times the very Cradles and Swath-bands give out Oracles touching their adventures and destinies We need not be over-much versed in Physiognomy Assured marks of our disposition to foretell what Esau would prove for in his Birth he gave so many evident signs as we cannot be ignorant of his future inclinations Totus in morem pellis hispidus Gen. 25. v. 25. His Body Hairy like a Bear could not be animated but by the soul of a Beast his Eyes his Hair his Skin and all that appears exteriourly was too frightfull and ardent to be the Element of Meekness and Humanity In fine from his very Child-hood all his inclinations seemed so brutish that we cannot wonder if he being in the flower of his age Quibus adultis factus eâ—t Esaii pergnarus venandi homo agricola Gen. 25. v. 27. his most usuall entertainments and most serious exercises were to ramble over the Fields and lead a savage Life which besides the exercises of Tilling the Earth and Hunting which of themselves are commendable gave him but the imployment of a Wolf or a Vulture Jacob on the contrary had onely the qualities of a Dove Jacob autem Vir simplex halitabat in cabernaculis Gen. 25. v. 27. and his Heart had less Gall than a Lamb. He went scarce ever out of the House and shewed so much simplicity sweetness and moderation as but to see him a Man was constrained to Love him Notwithstanding Isaack had more violent inclinations towards his Eldest Son Isaac amabat Esâ—ii to quod de venaniouibus ejus vesceretur and herein Interests were more prevalent than Reason For this Love was onely grounded upon Esau's constant custom in bringing him every Day some piece of Venison The Love of Rebecca Et Rebecca deligehat Jacob. Gen. 25 v. 28. who preferred Jacob before Esau was then more wise and considerable This prudent Woman saith St. Cyril had no passion but for the goodness and virtue which shined in the behaviour of her Son she accorded her Heart to the Words of God and most tenderly Loved him to whom God promised more Favours that is to say as Procopius observes this virtuous Mother framed her Will unto the impulses of Heaven and her inclinations followed the assistance of this Intelligence which is the Dart and stimulation of the purest affections We must grant then that Isaack had thoughts somewhat too humane toward Esau But Rebecca was a good Mother who rendred unto Jacob those duties which his sweet disposition deserved and as soon as he came into the World she had inclinations suitable to the goodness which appeared in him and endeavoured with her Milk to infuse into his manners all that could render him most amiable and accomplished It is also particularly from Mothers as heretofore said one of the seaven Sages of Greece that Good and Evill flows into the Souls of those to whom they give Suck Hence it ariseth that Nurses are sought out with so much care in the Houses of Great Men Advantage of good Education for fear lest by some defect of Nature the Milk become corrupted and converted into poyson This happens but too often and experience teacheth us that Children from the Breast suck their most Malignant inclinations and afterwards as Child-hood which is most susceptible of good and evill is usually spent under the wings of Mothers so we ought not to wonder if they be the sources from whence Spring those humours which are generated with Education Such was the belief of the Romans seeing the Cruclties of their Emperor Caligula Dio Cassius who was Nursed by a Woman who had a Beard like a Man and who had nothing sweet in her but her Milk And on the contrary France acknowledged the blessing of the Sanctity of Lewis the Ninth whom his Mother Blanch had made as it were to suck Virtue with his Milk There are no Palaces no Cortages no Houses in the World where wee shall meet with families and communities without seeing examples and proofs of this verity Moreover we must not imagin that Fathers are therfore more exempt from those Duties which Education requireth Oblation of Fathers and Mothers than Mothers For they can equally cause Vices to flow into the Souls of their Children It will proceed saith St. Parentes sensimus paricidas Cypr. de lapsis Cyprian from Fathers and Mothers that their Children shall complain in the Day of Judgement and cry out upon the Brink of the Abyss that their Parents have been their Murtherers Isaack then would have deserved more commendation if he had had less indulgent affections and less interressed towards Esau But I will believe that if Rebecca should have presumed to reveal the secrets wherewith God had intrusted her by the means of some good Inspirations he would have had like her more affection for the Younger than the Elder Brother However it were the Liberty Isaack gave to Esau of running all the Day long through Woods and Forrests was the occasion which brought him to his first misfortune Coxit
Mouth and Heart He calls Heaven to witness and protests that Bethel is the Temple of God where the most glorious rayes of his Majesty are seen Ah saith he how venerable is this place and how full of a holy terror It is the gate of Heaven and if Jacob could live a hundred Thousand years he would have no other God than he that appeared to him Besides more authentically to seal his confession and promise he powred oyl out of a Bottle which he carried for his provision Surgens ergo Jacob manâ— tulit lapidem quem supposuerat â—piti suo exerit in titulum sundens oleum desuper and annointed therewith the stone which during the Night had served him for a Pillow Behold in truth strange mysteries but I would willingly have demanded of God the explication of them if I had been in Jacobs place I know neverthelesse that some have thought that it was a figure of the Temporall Generation of the Word who descended from Abraham even unto Joseph and Mary and who ascends from Joseph and Mary unto Adam and God himself It is the Incarnation of the Word whereby God descends on Earth and Meâ—mount up to Heaven A picture of the Incarnation As God he is impassible in the bosome of his Father and mortall in the Womb of his Mother Subject to time and death It is God united unto Man who rests on this sacred wood and it is hâ— who sends his Angels as his Nuncios and Embassadours St. Austin frames another sense upon this Enigma and he conceives that this Ladder was a draught of the life and death of Jesus Christ Isaack represents God the Father Jacob is the Image of the Son The image of the life and death of Jesus Aug. ser 79. de temp and the Angels which ascend and descend are the Apostles and preachers who Elevate themselves unto God by their Thoughts and stoop even to the grossest understandings by means of their Words These two Explications to speak the truth are most Sublime But St. Basill expounding the three and thirty Psalm gives an other explanation which will be more profitable This Ladder saith he is the Exercise The description of a perfect Soul or rather the picture of a Soul which raiseth her self unto the highest pitch of Perfection First to the end God may descend into this Soul The forsaking of Creatures and that this Soul may ascend unto God shee must forsake the Earth and renounce the World This is the first step Secondly shee ought to make a generous divorce from all Creatures and even efface out of her memory all their Footsteps and all the species of her dearest affections Thirdly Contempt of the World shee must have nothing but Contempt and disdain for that which before shee adored At the fourth step shee must resolve to trample over her Friends and all her kindred Estimation of God that is to say shee must preferr God before them and boldly reject their designs when they are opposite unto the Will of God The fift step passeth even unto Death Extreme Mortification for the Soul ought lesse to esteem Life than her God and if God suffers her to live Longer her life is but a Living Death which finds its Tomb in her Nothing It is for this consideration shee remains in a most profound Humility Annihilation of oâ—â— selves and in a most inflamed Charity which communicats her flames and zeal not onely to her Friends but also to her Enemies In fine Union of the soul God is present at the top of the Ladder united unto the Soul and it is upon her he reposeth and is united to her and she to him Philo and Origen have yet layd some other touches on this picture many also have since laboured therein But having perused all their works and collected all their opinions I think that Gods design was to manifest unto Jacob in this vision the care his Divine providence took of him The Ladder of Divine Providence Jacobs Ladder then was a most lively draught of the wise conduct of Almighty God concerning Jacob and of the Universall Government of the World which is in the Hands of the Divinity The Bounds and Limits of this Empire are infinite Huic ex alto cunesa tuenti nulla terrae mole resistunt Non nox atâ—is nulubus obstat Vno cernit mentis erictu quae sint quae fueriat quae veniantque Boet. lib. de cons and his Scepter extends it self over the Earth and over the Heavens where he absolutely resides and beholds all the events like a Sun saith Boetius which penetrates every where and guides all Creatures by means of his splendor The two sides of the Ladder represent Power and Sweetness which are as the Hands of the Divine Providence which goes mounting and descending from Heaven to Earth by divers steps that is to say by divers sweet and admirable walks and ways through which the World is insensibly guided unto the period and term proposed to it God nevertheless rests himself on the top of this Ladder and from thence deputes his Angels and Embassadours which are as St. Gregory saith the Ministers of the Divine Providence It is then in the Company of these most Heavenly Spirits that Jacob is on his way to renew his Journey unto Mesopotamia In fine Ego sum Dominus suÌ„ Dominus Deus Abraham Patris tui Deus Isaac terram in qua dormis tibi dabo semini tuo Gen. 28. v. 13 Eritque semen tuuÌ„ quasi pulvis terrae Dilat aberis ad occidentem orientem septentrionem meridiem Gen. 28. v. 14. Et ero custos tuus quocunque perrexeris reducam te in terram hanc nec dimittam nisi complevero universa quae dixi Gen. 28. v. 15. under the protection of the Divine Providence Jacob pursues his design and this was the promise made him during his Vision Yeas Jacob saith God I am the Lord of thy Progenitors Abraham and Isaack and I will bestow the Land where thou reposest on thy self and all thy Children I will multiply them as grains of Sand which are upon the Earth and their Progenie shall extend as far as the four Corners of the Universe I my self will be thy Guardian during all thy voyages and will bring thee back to thine own House Thou mayst be affur'd of it Jacob and constantly believe that God speaketh unto thee and that his Providence will never abandon thee untill he hath accomplished his Oath and promises O God! what happiness for Jacob and for all those who live under the favour of thy Providence what Peace in a Soul when God is the primum mobile or first mover of all his Actions what assurance when we walk in the way his increated wisdom hath marked out to us with his own Hand and enlightned with the purest rayes of his Eyes My Soul is it true Ah! if
possess lascivious Souls it was neither deceitfull nor violent neither indiscreet nor arogant neither irregular nor impious neither variable nor impudent neither capricious nor sporting neither phantastick nor stupid neither remiss nor unworthy of a vertuous Man but sincere moderate prudent humble stayed constant respectfull simple condescending equall provident couragious and such as could be desired in a good Man There are in the World inchained Captives Slavery of Love and Houses often become Gallies where we behold slaves rowing against the Wind and Tide These are unfortunate Argonautes who goe in quest of a Golden Fleece which they shall never bring home The Haven and the shore fly before them and there Bark will ever be in the disastrous Hand where nothing is to be seen but refusals disdains and despairs Mean while Dayes and Years pass away in Captivity where nothing is to be found but sorrows furies envies aversions sighs regrets and tears for having courted a painted and plaistered Idol and for having erected Altars to it offering a thousand Vows without ever being able to render it propitious and for having expended their Goods in Masks and Feasts in presents and a thousand poor and shifting devices which served only to swell a Cloud of storms Ah! what blindness what weakness Shamefull blindness what indignity for a Cavalier to be seen at the Feet of some curious and dainty Dame where he burns his Heart where he immolates his Strength and Courage where he dryes up his Bloud and where he prostitutes his Body his Fortunes and Honour In fine the Life of such kind of men is an unhappy vassallage their whole inquest a Martyrdom and all their pursutes meet with nothing but shadows where they find as in an abyss of miseries the loss of their joy and Liberty Jacob fell not into these misfortunes but his Courtships were most just and holy He lived like an Angell incarnate amidst the flames and ardors of a most pure and holy affection Servivit erge Jacob pro Rachel septem annis videbantur illi pauci dies prae amoris magnitudine he excited himself to patience and labour by the sight and upon the hopes of Rachel and he did like those who running at Rings fix only their Eyes on the prize proposed to them he found also no weariness at the end of his course and saw himself upon the point of enjoying his reward after seaven years service which scarce seemed unto him to have lasted so many Dayes But what Et vespere Liam suam introduriâ— ad cum Gea 29. v. 23. Ad quam cum ex amore Jacob fuisset ingressus facto mane vidâ—t Liam Gen. 29. v. 24. as the Hopes we repose in Men very often deceive us so after the Wedding Night the Day discovered unto Jacob the cheats of Laban who instead of Rachel gave him Leah Never was any man more astonished than Jacob who expected nothing less than such a Metamorphosis He fayles not to complain unto Laban of this deceit Et dixit ad sorcerum suum Quidest quod facere voluisti Gen. 29. v. 25. Respondit Laban non est in loco nostro consuetudinis ut minores ante tradamus ad nuptias Gen. 29. v. 26. Imple bebdomadam dierum hujus copulae hanc quoque dabo tibi pro opere quo serviturus es miln septem annis aliis Gen. 29. v. 27. but for answer they told him that it was not the custome to marry the younger Daughter before the Elder that if he would yet for one week accomplish this Mariage with Leah Rachel should be given him for his second wife provided that he would again oblige himself to serve for the space of seven years Behold a lively image in the person of Laban of the deceipts and falshoods of the world which give straws for gold briars for roses counterfeits for true Diamonds chains for liveryes bondage for rewards and at last fables errors and lyes which cause us to spend our lives in a detestable blindness Notwithstanding A poor harvest of worldly men there are some who have less pure intentions than Jacob who amuse themselves to gather up all these straws and take pleasure to rowl themselves upon thorns There are weak and ignorant eyes which prefer Glass before Rubies and Emeralds some cherish their own follies some adore their bondage and some glory to languish in the Martyrdome of a shamefull captivity But that which is most to be deplored some fix their eyes on exteriour attractives upon Painted faces and Phantasmes of Love like those Temples of Egypt which as Clement Alexandrinus saith Clem. Alex. lib. 3. paedag were only set forth with gilded Stones carved Marbles and painted beauties without life or soul Nevertheless we there fix our eyes and fasten our hearts we are content with Leah who was a figure of this life and think no more of Rachel who was the Image of Paradise and Eternity At least we would willingly gather this immortall purple flower of Love but we cannot take the pains to water it with some drop of sweat and blood We would gladly catch in our nets this beautifull Bird of heaven Weakness of courage but we will not take the pains to spread them We would willingly take this fish of the Fortunate Islands but we dare not put our hands into the water it is too chil it is too cold we neither can nor will do it seven years of service are too long to merit a Rachel It is too great a conflict to gain a Crown and we cannot resolve to dye one Moment to live Eternally This moves me to cry out Eternity All is short to him who meditates on Eternity Eternity of joy and felicity how long art thou Eternity and how short is the Moment of pain which may deserve thee O Moment moment of this life how quickly dost thou slip away and what immense Durations hath Eternity Ah! Jacob Jacob serve then not only seven dayes but even seven years entire to obtain Rachel Jacob it sufficeth to love her For in loving every thing is animated every thing lives every thing prospers and every thing passeth away most sweetly under the lawes of love and since it is not for a Man but for a God nor for a mortall beauty but for an immortall happiness you captivate your self It was no trouble unto Jacob to receive this yoak Acquievit beneplacito bebdomadae transacta Rachel duxit uâ—orem Gen. 29. v. 28. seeing himself the possessour of his dear Rachel he resumed the trade he had so happily begun and he believed that the shackles of his second service would not be less supportable than the former Behold him happy to see himself in a Bondage where he was a servant to Laban and the master of Rachel All his misfortune was only because he contemned Leah which proceeded from the excessive love be bore unto Rachel But God taking pitty of Leah rendred
her considerable by her fruitfulness and by the birth of four Sons Videns autem Dominus quòd despiceret Liam aperuit vulvam ejus Genes 29. v. 31. Quae conceptum genuit silium vocavitque nomen ejus Ruben Gen. 29. v. 31. Rursúmque concepit peperit filium vocavitque nomen ejus Simeon c. Genes 29. v. 23. the first of which was called Ruben the second Simeon the third Levi and the fourth Judas which were the four principall causes of Rachels envying Leah It is the vice of great souls to be touched with envy and the effect of an unworthy melancholy to seek good from anothers mishap It is no wonder then if women for the most part are subject unto these abominable motions but I am astonished at the violence of this passion when it transports men even unto despair Rachel will dye Cernens autem Rachel quâ—d insoecunda essâ—t ci maâ—â—to sua da miht liberos c. Gen. 30. v. 1. Câ—i iâ—aâ—us respondit Jacob Nâ—m pro Deo ego sum c. Gen. 30. v. 3. Ingressâ— ad se viâ—o concepit peperit filium Gen. 30 v. 5. Et idâ—iâ—co apellavit nâ—mâ—n esus Dan. Gen. 30. v. 6. Rursumque Bala concipiens peâ—erit alterum Gen. 30. v. 7. Vocavitque eum Nephthali Gen. 30. v. 8. shee saith if no children be given her What man I beseech you can bestow a favour which God hath reserved to himself was not this then a means to make Jacob dye seeing that his wife asked that which lay not in his power to give her It was requisit neverthelesse that the goodness of God should aleviate the grief of this sad Mother giving unto her handmaid two Sons one of which was called Dan and the other Nepthalim God immediatly after shewed the same favour to the Handmaid of Leah who brought forth Gad and Asser After which Leah her self conceived of Jsachar then of Zebulon and at last of a Daughter called Dina. It was by the means of these generations God began to accomplish the Promise he had made to Abraham Isaack and Jacob And it was out of these first springs issued a thousand and a thousand streams of this blood of Patriarcks which was to overflow the fairest Lands of the Universe Recordatus quoque Dominus Rachelis exatedivit eam aperuit vulvam ejus Gen. 30. v. 22. Quae concepit peperit filium Gen. 30. v. 23. 〈◊〉 vocavit nomen ejus Joseph Gen. 30. v. 24. At that time Jacob saw the time approching during which he had tyed himself to serve his Father-in-Law Laban Rachel neverthelesse was troubled at her barrenness But at length God heard her prayers and made her the Mother of a Son whose birth effaced all the marks of her shame and dishonor This Joseph this miraculous Infant was the delight of his parents the glory of Rachel the love of Jacob the wish and desire of both the support of his family the King of all his brethren the Saviour of his people and the master-peece of the graces and favours of God CHAP. VII The reward Jacob received for his services and his departure out of Mesopotamia WHen Jacob had finished his fourteen years of service he began to long for liberty Nato autem Joseph dixit Jacob socero suc dimitte me ut revertar in patriam ad terram meam Gen. 30. v. 25. and for his own country where he had never lived under the command of a Master and Father-in-Law but under the tuition of a Father and Mother who had always treated him not as a Servant but as their Child Hee intreated then Laban to give way unto his retirement But as interest is the first inciter of all passions Laban immediatly felt his Heart assaulted with all sorts of Motions In fine Ait illi Laban Inveniam gratiam in conspectu tuo c. Gen. 30. v. 27. the hope he had that Jacobs presence would every day increase the blessings and Graces of Heaven upon his family he invites Jacob to remain some small time with him To which Jacob freely accorded well foreseeing the trouble he should have in his journey being burthened with Women and Children too weak and young to resist the incommodities of travell He condescended then to the desire of Laban Dixitque Loban quid tibi daâ—o At ille ait nibil volo sed si feceris quod postulo iterum â—ascam custodiam 〈◊〉 tua Gen. 30. v. 31. Gyraomnes greges tuos separa cunctas ves vaâ—ias sparso velâ—â—â—e quodcumque fâ—râ—â—m maculosum varIumque suerit tam in ovibus quam in capris erit merces mea Gen. 30. v. 32. tollens ergo Jacob virgas populeas virides amygdalin as c. Gen. 30. v. 37. upon condition he might have the government of his flocks and Herds and that he would distribute them in such sort as from thenceforth all the beasts which were found spotted should be his and those which should be of one single colour were to be Labans The agreement is made to the Content and liking of both parties but disunion and Iealousie arose quickly on Labans part seeing his own flocks barren and on the contrary those of Jacob very fruitfull This was as Theodoret believ'd a miraculous artifice of divine Providence which incited Jacob to place white and green wands before the Eyes of his flocks when they were in copulation which caused various impressions and effects conformable to the desires of Jacob Posuitque eas in canalibus ubi essundebatur aequa ut cum venissent greges ad bibendâ—m ante oculos haberent virgas in aspectu earum coreiperent Gen. 30. v. 38. Arist lib. 3. de Hist anim Varro in Solino and agreeable to the picture which an Angel had represented to him I conceive neverthelesse absolutely speaking that such productions are not above the power of Nature It is the opinion of all Philosophers and amongst others of Aristotle who affirms that in Antandria there are two great Rivers in one of which the beasts which drink of it grow white and in the other become black In like manner the River Seamander breeds golden colours And in the red Sea there is a fountain as Varro observes which changeth every thing into Carnation It is then no impossible thing for the imagination to produce like effects and to form in Bodyes what the Sun doth in the clouds and Painters in their pictures These are draughts of the Soul which in the strict Union shee hath with the Body is the source of its Actions and Motions Portraicts of the Soul so that she labors therein as a Workman doth upon his Matter and a Designer upon the Platform which he contrived And truly if a Carver can shape upon Marble and Brass the intelligible form and the Idea which is in his Fancy and Reason What disorder can there be if the Sensitive Soul the Fancy of Animals
chance to produce their Sensible Images in the matter most capable of these impressions when the Heat of Nature incites them to dilate themselves into new Productions In fine but too many events are daily seen in the world which prove this verity and demonstrat that the Imagination hath a Marvelous command over Bodyes This yet hinders not Jacob from following the instincts of a Supernaturall conduct to purchase the Reward his Services deserved However it were Animadvertit quoque faciem Laban quod non effet erga se sicut heri nudiustertius Gen. 31. v. 2. Laban grows extraordinary Sad because his flocks bring him no fruit For this purpose he alters the Contract between him and his Son-in-Law But perceiving that his unfaithfull dealing afforded no better Success he could no longer dissemble his thoughts unto Jacob who presently discovered in his Father-in-Law's countenance very sensible marks of his indignation This was partly then the occasion which made Jacob resolve to return into his own Countrey Maximè dicente 〈◊〉 Domino revertere in terram patrum tuorum c. Gen. 31. v 3. Misit votavit Rachel Liam in agrum vbi pascebat gregeâ— Gen. 31. v. 4. Dixitque as viâ—eo faciem patris vestri quod non sit ergâ— me sicut heri nudiustertius Gen. 31. v. 5. Surreâ—it itaque Jacob impositis liberis suis ac consugibus super Camelos abiit Gen. 31. v. 17. Nuntiatum est Leban die tertin quod fageret Jacob. Gen. 31. v. 22. Qui assumptis fratribus suis persecutus est cum c. Gen. 31. v. 23. Vtaitque in somnis dicentem sibi Deum cave ne quidquam aspere loquaris contra Jacob. Gen. 31. v. 24. Et dixit ad Jacob quare it a egisti Gen. 31. v. 26. Venierge ut ineamus foedus c. Gen. 31. v. 44. Lahan vero de nocte consurgens c. Gen. 31. v. 55. Jacob quoque abiit itinere quo caeperat c. Gen. 32. v. 1. but since he could not accomplish this design without the consent of his wifes he acquainted them with all that had passed Assoon then as they had assented thereto Jacob seeing the time God had ordained for his return began his journey in the most secret manner he could with his wifes Children flocks baggage and the rest of his family They marched in great haste and had already passed over the River Euphrates when Laban advertised of this departure took his brother his cosins and the greater number of his Friends to pursue these fugitives whom at last after Seaven dayes travell he discovered afar off upon Mount Galaad where Laban reposing a while God appeared unto him and enjoyned him not to use Jacob ill He could not yet contein himself from complaining of this unexpected departure and principally for the Idols which Rachel had carryed away without acquainting Jacob therewith but amongst these reproaches there was a necessity of agreeing and after a Mutuall accord Laban returned into Mesopotamia and Jacob pursued his journey toward the Land of Canaan There he immediatly discovered those Troops of Angels which came to meet him as so many SquadroÌ„s Quos cum vidisset ait castra Des sunt haec appellavit nomen loci illius Mabanaim id est castra Gen. 32. v. 2. which God deputed for his safe-guards This was the cause why Jacob called that place where these Legions appeared Mahanaim which signifies Armies And in effect these were Battalians rank'd in order in favour of Jacob. These were Deputies of Heaven which came to congratulate his Triumphs These were Angels of Paradise Spirits of glory who came with applauses to receive this glorious Conqueror this happy Traveller and this Angell of peace who brings Love and contentment unto his Parents and to his whole Country Mean while Esau came with four hundred men Venimus ad Esau fratrem tuum ecce properat tibi in occursum cum quadringen is viris Gen. 32. v. 6. Timuit Jacob valde perterritus divisit popubum qui secum erat greges queque eves boves Camelos in duas turmas Gen. 32. v. 7. and I fear lest his fury may re-inkindle at the sight of his supplanter I fear lest the remembrance of his past misfortunes may awake at the noyse of these troops I fear lest the meekness which is naturall unto Jacob may cast Oyl into the Fire which Esau had covered for the space of twenty years under the Ashes of his mischievous disposition For the Love of God beware Jacob and take care of these gracious Pledges and of these happy depositaries you have acquired with so much labour Divide then your Flocks separate all your Souldiers set aside your Wifes and Children and above all expose not Rachel unto Assaults and Danger and much less her dear and onely Joseph Jacob did prudently all that any Man could act upon such an occasion But God who manageth Hearts and boweth the most savage and rebellious persons will know how to Order Esau in such sort as Jacob shall never receive the least prejudice from him It is enough then for Jacob to march under the Standard of Divine Providence and follow those Squadrons which the God of Battails hath appointed for his preservation The Earth is but a point in comparison of the Heavens and an Angel of the lowest order surpasteth in power and vertue all the Creatures which live in this World If this be so what favour did God shew unto Jacob in giving him so many Angels to guard him under their protection and what a happiness is it unto every one to have an Angel for his Guardian My God I render thee most humble thanks for him in the name of all men and from henceforth I abandon my self into thy hands and will live and dye under the wings of this amiable Guardian whom thou hast given me for the Director of my Life for the Guide of my Pilgrimage for the Pylot of my Navigation and in a word for a friend and for an Angel which will accompany me even unto my Tomb. CHAP. VIII Jacobs Wrastling with the Angell and his return into Canaan IF continuall practice renders a Souldier bold valiant dexterous and expert Men who are amidst perpetuall assaults unexpected surprises incessant combats in a continuall Conflict with all Creatures Life of Man ought to be well versed in the exercise of War Now there is no person exempted from these Laws War without truce and a Man must be single in the World and have neither Soul nor Body to have no Enemies St. S. Chrys in Psal â— Chrysostom was of this opinion when he said That his Life was continually amidst assaults And for this cause it was necessary for him to stand alwaies upon his Guard And Seneca who liv'd amongst employments Nobis quoque militandum est quidem genere militiae in quo nunquam quies nunquam otium datur Sen.
Eyes to gaze on this Lamb Post multos itaque des injecit domina sua occulos suoâ—in Joseph Gen. 39. v. 7. all her gestures and motions were artifices to intrap him and she would have willingly preferred the inthrallment of Joseph before the Command over her Husband All her bonds of Marriage were but Chains which kept her in Captivity and the most just and most holy Lawes imposed on her a Yoak which rendred all the duties of sidelity which Wives owe unto their Husbands insupportable to her She yet wanted not dexterity to dissemble her Passion in her Husbands presence and herein Love is usually most disloyall and deceitfull for though all its fires be violent impetuous sharp and sparckling yet if the object which inkindles them be not present they prove but ashes coldnesses and frozen Nights under which this Traitor useth to hide his Torch Pernitious study Then all Actions are studied all gestures counterfeits all discourses falshoods and all that appears outwardly seems to have no other design than to deceive the heart To this effect we seek out suborned Messengers retirements for assigned meetings blind dumb and deaf witnesses secret Intelligences inchanted gifts invisible pretences painted and Sacrilegious devotions Nights without dayes and hours which are only marked out upon shadows for the light of the Sun the noise of a Bell too apparent impiety too visible presents too violent solicitations indiscreet confederates publick places and Friends or unfaithfull Servants might discover the secret It is a strange thing that we can hardly trust our selves and that the Tongue dares not speak a word or at least if she speaks it is but after she hath pondered all her discourses Wherefore the Eyes are the first solicitours of evill and then their silence hath an Eloquent voice which is yet not heard but by those that are Confederates It is no wonder then Qui nequaquam acquiescent operi nesario dixit c. Gen. 39. v. 9. if Joseph heard not this unchast language when his Mistris spake to him more from her Eyes than her Mouth This Impudent creature cast a thousand glances on him But the heart of Joseph was a piece of Marble which could not be pierced all the Flames of this Egyptian woman fell into a dead Sea and all her lightnings found nothing but water which instantly quenched them Wee must passe then further Et ait dormi mecum Gen. 39. v. 7. and see whether the Mouth peradventure will have more powerfull perswasions than the Eyes This shamelesse woman is so much inraged as to declare her design O God! what Insolence what Fury and what Frenzies when once the mind is possest with Love but there are two sorts of loves and that which is Son of the Earth is very weak when opposed to that which is born in Heaven Courage then Joseph it is a Woman who assaults and sollicites you she is light be you constant she hath stratagems be you prudent she is bold be you generous she runs fly away she Flatters disdain her she asks refuse her Joseph what do you say For my part saith he Victorious Innocence I neither can nor will consent unto a womans Lascivious desires nor submit unto her will preferring it before that of my Master and I should not be what I am if I forfeited the quality of a faithfull Servant and of a person to whom the honour and remembrance of the favours I have received from him is a thousand times more pretious than life If I have been sold it was onely for my Innocency and the chains of my Captivity could never force the constancy an Hebrew ought to have in the way of virtue I am Jacobs son and my actions shall never bely my birth I am a Servant Ecce Dominus meus omnibus mihi traditis c. Gen. 39. v. 8. Nec qâ—icquam est qued non in mea sit potestate vel non tradiderit miht propter te quomodo trgo possum hoc malum faeere peccare in Deum meâ—m Gen. 39. v. 9. I ought to dye for fidelity your Husband trusts me with all his Goods and with all his Wealth which the favour of the King and his own merits have bestowed on him he reserved onely to himself the soly Enjoying you It is not for me then to ravish from him what is his due by so many titles Command me with Justice and I will serve you with sincerity perform all that you ought and I will omit no part of my duty to you Keep your self within the lawes of Marriage and leave me in the duties of my condition I should be ungratefull if I abused the favours of my Master I should be a theef if I stole away his fairest goods and no death could be cruell enough to punish me if I shouâ—d attempt on that which is more dear to him than life All your flames can find in me but a heart of water and ice and all your tyes cannot inthrall the liberty of my mind and your rigors will never mollifie a soul on which God hath inprinted his love and fear Know then that I would rather choose to dye free from blame than to live a complice in your distoyalty I prefer my bondage if it be innocent before all unjust Powers and what misfortune soever befall me I shall be too happy if I remain innocent It was in the power of my brethren to sell my body but they could not ingage my soul I may serve without prostituting my self and my glory will ever be illustrious enough if I shall doe no dishonourable act and unworthy of my Extraction In fine I adore a God who hath most pure eyes and should all creatures be blind it satisfies me that he be the witness of my actions I reverence all his decrees and if all the Judges of the world could authorise vice it would comfort me to have a God alwaies armed to punish them How can you wish me then to bring Adultery into your Family and to change your bed Angelicall Resolution which ought to be the Altar of your glory into an infamous Pile No no Madam either leave honour to me with life or take from me my life and leave me my honour Is not this â—o speak like and Angel and to have the sentiments of those spirits who live in flames without being consumed and amidest lightnings without being dazeled Neverthelesse it is little considerable to assault an impudent love by bare words we must have other weapons in our hands to encounter it and the victory is never certain untill we have either publickly decry'd or banish'd it We must cry out Murther in like occasions we must call for witnesses use threats and at least triumph by a generous flight or by a prudent retreat There are some Passions which flye when they are pursued Very different Nature of Passions and like shadows never fasten themselves unto bodies There are some who have
affirmed to be necessary for the good of the State Afterwards addressing himself unto Joseph with paternall tenderness he said unto him Joseph I will seek no further for a Man to share with me in the cares of my Empire Heaven hath ordained you for it and I cannot oppose it The assurance I have that this election is very good and prudent is the goodness and wisdom I know in you take then the absolute power over my whole House Govern my Empire and make use of my Authority Then Pharao took a Ring from his own Finger Tulitque annulum de manu sua dedit eum in manuejus vestivitque eum stola byssina collo torquem auream circumposuit Gen. 41. v. 42. and put it on Josephs Commanding immediatly that he should be Cloathed in a Silken Garment and that a Chain of Gold should be brought him which he with his own Hand put about his Neck Behold the first Favours of Pharao and the first Splendors of the Divine Providence which at last dissipate the Cloud and Darkness in which Joseph was inclosed his Chains are those rich Collers given by the King his Manicles are his Rings and a Robe of fine Linnen in an instant wipes away all the disasters of his former Life But this is not yet all he must be known and Egypt must take notice that he is the Governour of it Joseph ascend this Triumphant Chariot which is prepared for you Et praepositum esse scirent universae terrae Egypti Gen. 41. v. 43. Fecitque eum ascendere super currum suum Gen. 41. v. 43. It is Pharao who commands it It is Heaven that ordains it It is God that guides you Kings are Gods Ecchos God speaks by their Mouths and whoever disobeys Kings is refractory to his Divine commands Joseph then acteth what God injoyns and it is God who is ready to be his guide through all the Lands of Pharao He is led already through the Streets with pomp and triumph worthy of a King Clamante praecome ut omnes coram eo genuflecterent The Herauld who marcheth before him trys out with a loud voice let every one bow their Knees Pharao in the presence of the people consecrates these honours by his approbation Vertique nomen ejus vocavit eum linguâ Egyptiaca Salvatorem mundi Gen. 41. v. 45. Afterwards he confirms unto Joseph the generall power he gave him over all Egypt to which he added a more magnificent and glorious name than he had before for instead of Joseph he gave him the name of the Saviour of Egypt as a title which could not be due but unto God or to a King In fine Deditque illi uxorem Aseneth filiam Putipharis Sacerdotu Heliopâ—leos Gen. 41. v. 45. V. Borcard de terrae sancta S. Hieron Heb. to fasten Joseph more strongly to himself and Egypt besides the Egyptian name Pharao imposed on him he resolved to Marry him unto Aseneth the Daughter of Putiphar high Priest and Prince of Heliopolis that is to say the City of the Sun which was in Egypt Joseph then was but thirty years old and it was in this flower of his age Triginta autem annorumerat quando stetit in conspectu Regis Pharaonis circuivit omnem regionem Aegypti Gen. 41. v. 46. in which the Body and Soul use to be most vigorous he began to visit the territories of his Government This new born Morning went immediatly every where casting rayes of Joy Hope Peace Plenty and Charity It was a golden Age which began to appear Tantaque suit abundantia tritici ut arenae maris coaequaretur copia mensuram excederat Gen. 41. v. 49. and followed his steps Never were seen so many blessings on the Earth as then for the grains of Wheat gathered in the space of seaven years were more in number than the Sands which are seen on the shoars of the Sea Six years were already past in these publick felicities when Joseph had two Children Nati sunt antem Joseph filii duâ— Gen. 41. v. 50. Vocavitque nomen primogeniti Manasfes c. the Eldest was called Manasses to testifie the graces God had powred upon Joseph who after so many troubles and afflictions had at length forgotten his Fathers House and all the pains he had endured from the very hour he departed thence The second was called Ephraim Nomen quoque secundi appellavit Ephraim c. Gen. 41. v. 52 in acknowledgement of the Blessings Joseph had received from God after so many abandonments of Creatures and after so many miseries and incommodities out of which he was at last delivered Igitur transactis septem ubertatis annis qui suerunt in Aegypto Gen. 41. v. 53. Coeperunt ventre septem anni inâ—piae c. Gen 41. v. 54 Qua esuriente clamavit ad Pharaonem c. Gen. 41. v. 55. The term of seven years beginning then to approach the Earth which had been employed in generall and continuall productions had no sooner seen this moment in which she was constrained to shut up her bosome but she presently became barren so that in a short time after Egypt which had not foreseen this evill was inforced to cry out Famine and to have recourse unto Pharaoh But Pharaoh for his part sent the people to Joseph who during the time of his prosperity had done like Bees and those Birds indued with fore-sight which during the Summer store up food for the Winter Behold a Draught of the World The Image of the world in which the blind Men and Sages of Egypt have no eyes but for the time present They swim in Rivers of Gold and Silver they sail in Barks of Pearls their Oars are the arms and wings of Fortune Favour is their Mast all their Cordages are of Silk and their sailes of rich Sattin which have alwayes the wind in Poop But notwithstanding this stately Pomp and this favourable Lot they will perish with hunger if their Navigation be long and if good provision be not made by the Pilot that conducts them Suppose men walk upon Roses suppose their drink be Nectar suppose all the Stars be propitious and that the Harvest be never so fair yet had not some fore-seeing Spirit taken the Sickle in hand had he not gathered up these goods and had he not Vessels to receive this dew the Ayr would dry up its sources night would come and the fields would be but like a desart where men must even dye with hunger thirst and misery But some would peradventure ask what expedient can be found to avert all these dangers First it is certain that God for his part will never fail to provide all necessaries and having created Man he is as it were oblig'd to his conservation Secondly the Planets have their regular courses and maugre all their Defections Ascendents Retrogradations Conjunctions Separations and Elevations they are alwaies constant in working our good and
before I dy O God! what consolation for a good Father to see again a good Son he was dead in his thoughts and behold him risen again He was lost and is found again a cruell Bear had devoured him and of all his reliques there was onely left him a bloody garment A strange change and behold him on a Throne and Master of one of the fairest Empires in the Universe What alteration and what Metamorphosis humane Prudence what sayest thou unto this Art not thou then ravished at the sight of these Prodigies hast thou not a desire to submit unto the Lawes of this wise Intelligence which sports with these Counsels and goes even under the Abysses of misfortune there to produce Peace Glory and immortality as a fair day in the midst of darkness Yes truly but to adore the effects of the Divine Providence and the most absolute power it hath over our lives and honours We must follow Jacob and goe visit Joseph Love hath wings at his Feet like Fame Profectusque Israel cum omnibus quae habâ—bat venit ad puteum juramenti Gen. 46. v. 1. he knows not what delay and retardment meaneth Jacob is on his way to see Joseph he is already in Bershabe neer unto that famous Well where Abraham heretofore made a solemn agreement with Abimelech and where both of them swore an inviolable peace There it was where Jacob stayed to offer his Sacrifice unto God upon the Altar of Abraham Et mactatis ibi victimis Deo patris sui Isaack Gen. 46. v. 1. Audivit cum per visionem noctis vocantem se dicentem sibi Jacob Jacob cui respondit Ecce adsum There having immolated Victimes he resign'd into the hands of God all the designs of his voyage he resolves to passe away one night in that place But scarce had he closed the eyes of the body but those of his soul were open'd to see and hear the God of his Father Isaack who called Jacob Jacob to which Jacob had nothing else to say but that he heard his voice and was most ready to execute his Commands Courage then Jacob Ait illi Deus Ego sum fortissimus Deus patris tui noli timere descende in Aegyptum quia in gentem magnam faciâ—mâ—te ibi Gâ—â— 46. v. 4. Joseph queque ponet manus suos super oculos tuos Gen. 46. v. 4. for it is the most powerfull God of thy Father Isaack who calls and appoints thee to passe into the Land of Egypt And there it is where he intends to make thee a Father of many Nations Yes saith he I promise thee Jacob that I will goe with thee and I assure thee that Joseph shall close thine eyes with his own hands O God! what Sacrifice what Vision What Speech and what Oath As for the Sacrifice in the first place what Jacob did ought to be an instruction to all those who leave their Country and intend to alter the course of their lives that before all things they should consult with God and take him for their guide in the Voyages designs they take in hand for it is unto him we ought first to Sacrifise our hearts and immolate all our hopes otherwise we shall look behind us like that wavering Woman who for her inconstancy was turned into a Statue of Salt Secondly the apparition of God which Jacob saw is a certain token that his eye still watcheth over those who dedicate themselves unto him and that he is neither deaf nor dumb to those that speak unto him Thirdly Gods promise is too faithfull and his Love too generous to forsake those who walk in his wayes and have taken him for their guide Fourthly when God promised Iacob to bring him back out of Egypt this must be understood of his Posterity and of the Israelites Jacobs Successors whom God after Two hundred and Fifteen years brought back out of Egypt into Chanaan Touching Jacob he dyed in Egypt between Josephs arms as we are going to see in the sequell of this History It sufficeth for the present to follow him in the remainder of his voyage It was about the morning of the second day that Jacob forsook Bershabe to pursue his Journey Surexit autem Jacob à puteo Juramenti c. Gen. 46. v. 6. It was indeed one of the fairest spectacles which ever appeared on the Confines of Palestine to see him in the head of his Troops as a good Father followed by his Children But I assure my self it had been most delitious and profitable to hear them if the holy Scripture would have given us some brief relation of their Discourse Nevertheless Cunctae animae ingressae sunt cum Jacob in Aegyptum sexaginta Gen. 46. v. 26. it acquaints us with the number of these happy Travellers which were seventy in all comprising therein Joseph with Manasses and Ephraim his two Sons who were born there Hence it evidently follows that when Moyses said there went thither Sixty and six he did neither put in the list Jacob nor Joseph Manasses nor Ephraim On the contrary when Saint Luke reckoneth Seventy and five he comprehends in that number the Sons and Nephews of Joseph whose birth hapned during the life and residence of this holy Patriark in Egypt Mean-while Jacob pursues his Journey Misit autem Judam ante se ad Joseph ut nunciaret ei occurreret in Gessen Gea 46. v. 28. but before his setting foot in Egypt he sent Judas to find out Joseph that he might be advertised of his comming and goe forth to receive him in the Land of Gessen Joseph hath no sooner heard this news Quò cum pervenissent juncto Joseph curru ascendit obviam patri ad eundem locum Gen. 46. v. 29. but he set forth to meet Iacob God knows whether the time might seem long unto him and whether his heart and mind went not faster than his body God knows also the various thoughts Jacob had in Expecting Joseph saying Alas what pains for one pleasure what desires for one fruition what Thorns for one Rose what Nights for one Day and how many Combats and dangers for one Triumph In fine behold Joseph in Jacobs bosome Vidensque eum irruit super collum ejus inter amplexus flevit Gen. 46. v. 29. Dixiâ—que pater ad Joseph Jam laetus morior quia vidi faciem tuam superstitem te relinquo GeÌ„ 46. v. 30. At ille locutus est aâ— fratres suos ad omnem domum patris sui ascendam nunciabo Pharaoni dicamque â—i Fratres mei domits patris mei qui erant in terra Chanaan venerunt ad me Gen. 46. v. 31. Cumque vocaverit dixerit quod est opus vestrum GeÌ„ 46. v. 33 Respondebitis viri pastores sumus servi tui ab infantia nostra usque in praesens nos patres nostri Gen. 46. v. 34. behold the Father in the Arms of his Son Ioseph leaps
on his neck and dearly embraceth him but he had no other than tears to utter What then can Iacob say Ah! my Son saith he now that I have seen thy face I am content and after this I shall willingly dye for it sufficeth me to leave thee alive After this Ioseph turning himself towards his Brethren and towards all those of Jacobs house began to say unto them that he was going unto Pharaoh to advertise him that his Brethren were arrived with their whole Family and that they had brought their Flocks and goods with them and when Command should be given them to see the King if he chanced to ask them of what Trade they were they should answer they had no other than that of meer Sheapheards and that all their â—indred who were as well as themselves his most humble servants and resolved to live and dye in his service never had any other employment since their birth Behold the instructions Joseph gave to all his Brethren whilst he conducted them with his Father to salute Pharaoh Now it was not out of Complement he put these words into their Mouths but upon Design that the King hearing they were Sheapheards and brought up in this Profession might permit them to live peaceably together with their Father in the Land of Gessen Vt habitare positis in terra Gessen quia detestantur Aegyptii omnes pastores ovium Gen. 46. v. 34. which was neerest unto Chanaan where there were also lovely Pastures and where they should be severed from the Egyptians who mortally hated all the Sheapheards which were in their Country by reason they had not the religious impiety of Egypt which adored Animals for Gods and who for that effect durst not kill them detesting for that reason all the Sheapheards of other Regions who had the care of Feeding their Flocks to the end they themselves with others might be nourished by them In fine Extremos quoque fratrum suorum quinque viros constituit coran Rege Gen. 47. v. 2. Hebraei Hemerus Pererius Oleaster In optimo loco fac eos habitare trade eis terram Gessen Gen. 47. v. 6. Quod si nosti in eis esse viros industrios constitue illos magistros pecorum meorum Gen. 47. v. 6. Post haec introduxit Joseph patrem suum ad Regem statuit eum coram co Gen. 47. v. 7. Et benedicto Rege egressus est soras Gen. 47. v. 10. the advice of Ioseph and his desire found happy success For assoon as he was returned unto the Court he presented unto Pharaoh five of his Brethren who in shew promised the least The King having cast his eyes on them and knowing they were Sheapheards gave them Gessen for their quarter and Commanded from that time they should take care of his Flocks Not long after Iacob entred who bore on his brow the Majesty of a King the authority of a Patriarch the wisedome of a Prophet and the glory of a Father of Nations When first he saw the King he besought Heaven to pour on him and his Kingdome all sorts of Benedictions The holy Scripture hath not otherwise declared unto us Iacobs entry into the presence of Pharaoh for my part I have often represented him unto my thoughts at the door or in the Kings anti-Chamber bare-headed and with hair whiter than Snow a beard down to his girdle and a neck bowed with old age eyes watered with tears and all his whole body somewhat trembling Me thinks I see him supported on one side with Ioseph on the other by Benjamin I even hear some sighs which issue forth of his mouth to refresh the ardors of his heart for notwithstanding all the coldnesse of his age he alwayes conserved in a dying body the sense of a truly generous soul and of a spirit of fire which was never out of Motion or Action I know not what Pharaoh thought seeing this good old man Et interrogatus ab eo quot sunt dies annorum vitae tuae Gen. 47. v. 7. Respondit Dies peregrinationis meae centum triginta annorum sunt parvi mali non pervenerunt usque ad dies patrum meo um quibus peregrinati sunt Gen. 47. v 9. Floscule mane puer media vir floscule luce Floscule sub nocte sole cadents senex Sic oreris morcrisque uno tu floscule Phoebo Vno sisque puer virque senexque die but he asked him how old he was to which he made answer Sir for the space of a hundred and thirty years I have been a Pilgrim on the Earth This journey truly is very short if you onely consider its durance but very long if you cast your eyes on the miseries of my life Nevertheless I am not yet arrived to the Term of my Fore-fathers Few old men will be found in the World who may not say the same For life is but a course in which we go from our Cradle to the Tomb. Dayes months years and entire Ages are but moments in the sight of God Man is but but a Flower which begins to blow at the break of day to fade about Noon and to drop away at night He is a shadow which passeth away a Feather which flyes a Reed which breaks an Image which loseth its Luster a Vapour which is dissipated a Beauty which perisheth a breath a smoak and a puff of Air which swells in the midst of a storm and appears on the water to dissolve at the same instant Nevertheless we need no longer space to see and feel much misery For it is enough to be born of a woman to be consumed with sorrows and to serve as a pittifull Subject to all sorts of Accidents Vicissitudes of life Witness Iacob who was no sooner come into the World but he must leave his Fathers house to go from thence with a staff in his hand into Forein Countries and like a fugitive to shun the persecution of his Brother We need but follow him in this sad journey and spend with him Twenty years in quality of a Servant at Labans house From thence we must depart out of Mesopotamia and bondage to expose our selves unto dangers of Death and to meet with Esau who comes to assail him with four hundred men We must see him in the affrightment he took at the Murther his Children committed upon the Sichemites Had he not also some cause to die at the death of Rachel and to expire on her body which inclosed the moitie of his life But who could behold the sorrow which pierc'd his heart when his Children were so impudent as to bring incest even into his house Surely he would have said that his life was but a web of misfortunes if we joyn with it the loss of Joseph the separation of Benjamin the captivity of Simeon and finally his last departure out of Chanaan Life both very short and long who will deny he had reason to say that his life had been very short if
omnipotens apparuit mihi in Luza quae est in terra Chanaan benedixitque mihi Gen. 48. v. 3. Et ait Ego te ougebo multiplicabo c. Gen. 48. v. 4. Duo ergo filti tui qui nati sunt tibi in terra Aegypti antequam bue venirem ad te mei erunt Ephraim Manasses sicut Ruben Simeon reputabuntur mihi Gen. 48. v. 4. Reliquos autem quos genueris post eos tui erunt nomine fratrum suorum vocabuntur in possessionibus suis Gen. 48. v. 6. At the report of Iosephs return Iacob more vigorous than before raised himself half up in his bed and perceiving him entring he said unto him My Son it is necessary thou should'st know that the Omnipotent God of my forefathers appeared unto me in Luz which is in the Land of Chanaan to give me his benediction and to assure me I shall be the Father of a long posterity and that one day my Children shall be heirs of this most blessed Land I adopt then thy two Children which were born in Egypt before I came into these parts and I will have them from hence forth reputed no less mine than Ruben and Simeon Thereby Ioseph came to know that Manasses and Ephraim should have their Tribes a part and their share of succession in Chanaan as well as Ruben and Simeon and his other Children which was the cause he farther said unto Ioseph that if he chanced to have other Children they should be only in such sort esteemed his as not to have other Tribe than that of Manasses and Ephraim and no other share of the Possessions in Chanaan Rachel was not forgotten in his Will for Iacob having spoken of his Children remembred her and saith to Ioseph My Son I adopt thy Children Mibi enim quando venicham de Mesopotamia mortua est Rechel in terra Chanaan in ipso itinere sepelivi eam juxta viam Euphratae quae alio nomine appellabatur Bethlem Gen. 48. v. 7 Vatabius hic for Rachel by whom I might yet have had more Children dyed too soon for me and for the good of my whole Family It was at my return from Mesopotamia in the Land of Chanaan and very neer unto Ephrata that is Bethelem where she is interred It is probable that Iacob might have said more and that he might have staied longer upon the sad memory of his dear Rachel if at the same time he had not had a glimpse of Manasses and Ephraim whom Ioseph presented to him Adduc inquit eorad me ut benedicam illis Gen. 48. v. 9. Oculi enim Israel caligabant pâ—ae nimia senectute clâ—â—è videre non poterat Gen. 48. v. 10. Applicitosque ad se de osculatus est circumplexus eos Gen. 48. v. 10. to receive a second time his Benediction I know not whether Ioseph and all that were Witnesses of this interview could restrain their tears But to speak the truth it was a spectacle worthy of compassion to behold Iacob upon his death-bed striving to see the two Children of Ioseph who drew neer him and whom he could hardly have known if Ioseph had not named them and assur'd him that they were his Children Then both of them cast themselves gently on his body which Iacob feeling he kissed them one after the other and then having embraced them he turned his eyes towards Ioseph and said unto him My Son Dixit ad filium suum non sum fraudatus aspectu tuo insuper ostendit mihi Deus semen tuum Gen. 48. v. 11. what a happiness is it for me to see thee before I dye Ah! surely I never could have believed it But at last he that never forsakes those who serve him hath hitherto preserved thee and it is he who at this instant makes me enjoy the sight of thee and thy Children Iacob notwithstanding did not suffer Manasses and Ephraim to depart but held them still in his arms and on his breast untill Ioseph who feard they might disease him Cumque tulisset eos Joseph ' de gremio patris adoravit pronus in terram Gen. 48. v. 12. Et posuit Ephraim ad dexteram suam id est ad sinistram Israel Manassen verò in sinistra sua ad dextram scilicet patris applicuitque ambes ad eum Gen. 48. v. 13. Benedicitque Jacob filiis Joseph ait Gen. 48. v. 15. Which being done he cast himself on his knees neer Iacobs bed to adore his God and to thank him for the favours his goodness had imparted to him Afterwards perceiving that this holy man by little and little drew neer his end he set Ephraim at his right side and Manasses at his left to place Manasses on the right hand of Jacob Ephraim on the left But Jacob who saw less with the eyes of the body than with those of his soul and who considered not so much the present as the future holding his arms across laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim who was the youngest and his left on Manasses who was the eldest and blessed them both in this manner Deus in cujus conpsecta ambulaverunt pitres mei c. Gen. 48. v. 15. I beseech with my whole heart that God in whose presence my fore-Fathers Abraham and Isaack have walked that God who nourished me from my tendrest youth even to this day Angelus qui eruit me de cunctis malis benedicat pueris istis invocetur super eos nomen meum c. Gen. 48. v. 16. that Angel who hath guarded me from all evill to vouchsafe a blessing unto these two Children Let my name and that of my fore-fathers Abraham and Jsaack be earnestly called upon for them and may they have large increase upon the earth Joseph grew sad Videns autem Joseph quod posuisset pater suus dexteram manum super caput Ephraim graviter accepit c. Gen. 48. v. 17. seeing his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim and endeavoured to put it on that of Manasses advertising Jacob that he had taken the younger for the elder brother But Jacob answered Qui renuens ait Scie fili mi scio iste quidem erit in populos multiplicabitur sed frater ejus minor maior erit illo semen illius crescet in gentes Gen. 48. v. 19. Benedixitque eis in tempore illo dicens in te benedicetur Israel atque dicetur faciat tibi deus sicut Ephraim Manasse constituitque Ephraim ante Manassen Gen. 48. v. 20. Et ait ad Joseph filium suum En ego morior erit Deus vobiscum reducetque vos ad terram patrum vestrorum Gen. 48. v. 21. Do tibi partem unant extra sratres tuos quam tuti de manu Amorrhaeâ—in gladio arcu meo Gen. 48. v. 22. that he well knew what he did and that for the rest Manasses should be powerfull in people and in all sorts
Maids to see what it was I know not who was this fortunate Handmaid which had this Commission but she brought unto her Mistress the little Vessel in which was inclosed the Honor and Prosperity of the people of Israel Yet at first there onely appeared a childe weeping in its swadling clothes and whose bare aspect moved compassion in this good Princess who perceived that it was an effect of her Fathers Edicts Câ—i soror pueri Vis inquit ut vadam vocem tibi mulierem Hebraeam c. Exod. 2. v. 8. and some remnant of Egypts misfortune The Sister then of this found Infant who expected nothing less than such an incounter asked whether they would think it fit for her to bring a Nurse for him Respondit Vade Perrexit puella c. Exod 2. v. 8. Ad quam locuta fiâ—ià Pharaonis Accipe ait puerum istum c. Exod. 2. v. 9. To which the Princess having willingly condescended she ran instantly to finde the Mother of the childe who came as unknown to present her self and to whom presently the Daughter of Pharaoh gave the charge of nursing up this Infant O God! How profound are thy thoughts and how impenetrable are they to ignorant and frantick souls When will the day come when thou wilt withdraw the veil which hides from us so many secrets Children of men poor Egyptians blinde people Will you never open your eyes to follow the light of this sage Intelligence which governs the World under his Laws Is it not the part of a Fool to endeavor to stop the course of this Primum mobile which moves the Heavens and makes all the Elements to quake Is it not to oppose Feathers unto the Waves of the Sea and to the Thunders of the Air Is it not to be more brutish and less sensible than Beasts which follow the instinct and conduct of their Creator It is then in my Dominion saith this Lord all Beasts of the Forests abide they are all mine Sovereign Empire and it is in my bosom where I see every year the beauty of the Fields displaying it self It is I who bear Riches and Honors in my hands and who place Diadems upon the heads of Kings All Temples then must be demolished and all Altars rased where we adore casual Destinies and frightful Fortunes which yield nothing but smoke obscurity dread and terror For my part Confidence in God I had rather float in a Cradle of Bulrushes and land at a good Haven having God for my Pilot his Providence for my Helm his Power for my Mast Hopes for my Sails his Love for my Cordages Faith for my Anchors his Favor for my sweet Gales and good Works for my Oars than to bury my self alive in the midst of an Abyss led by Pharaoh and followed by an Army which hath neither Assurance nor Hope but on the Wings of the Winds always light and mutable in an Element ever perfidious amongst unskilful men and a thousand hazards which blow in the Sails and govern the Stern during the course of so dangerous a Navigation O my Saviour I am but an Orphan abandoned by Father and Mother forsake me not be thou my guide upon the Billows and in the Tempests of this life my Watch-Tower in the midst of the Night and my secure Haven during the storm O my most sweet and most amiable Redeemer do not abandon me since I am thine both by Nature and Grace at least place me under the protection of thy Mother of thy Daughter and of the Eldest Sister thou hast given me It is enough for me to live in the favor of Mary it sufficeth me to enjoy the least of her regards to be eternally happy Let us steer then O my Soul Let us steer against the current of the Water Pharaoh loseth his labor in despight of Egypts rage of Hell and of all the Infernal Spirits soon or late thou wilt land in the fortunate Iland where thou shalt be received into the Arms of the Queen of Heaven Yes Desireable Lot my Soul if thou dost dedicate thy self unto thy God I promise thee a Fortune as glorious as that of this little Infant which was exposed on the River Nilus and who under the amiable conduct of his Sister Mary hapned to fall into the lap of a Queen who adopted him for her Son Where observe I beseech you Quem illa adoptavit in bocum filii vocavitque nomen ejus Moises dicens Quia de aquis tuli eum Exod 2. v. 10. That it was this Royal Mouth which for a sign she had prese rved him from the Waters gave him this fair name of Moses and caused him to be educted and taught at Court with cares worthy of a wise Princess and a good Mother It was in this Noble School he learnt all the Arts and Sciences which were then current in Egypt that is to say Geometry Arithmetick Astronomy Musick and the most hidden Mysteries of the Hierogliphick in which were found all the rarest Secrets of naturall Philosophy Theology and Policy Clement Alexandrinus also believed that he then learn't Physick and the Civill Law Philo adds over and above that they called thither Masters out of Greece as the best versed in the Liberall Sciences and Chaldeans came by her appointment to teach him the way how to foretell things to come by the aspect of the Planets as also Assyrians to teach him their Ciphers and Characters In fine it is most certain that God poured his most beautifull Lights into his mind and it was this great Master who taught him the Command over Passions and chiefly Meekness Love Affability Liberality greatness of Courage and all the Vertues requisite for a person who was to be Governour of the people of Israel and the Lieutenant Generall of the Armies of the Omnipotent God CHAP. II. The Zeal of Moses and his Marriage with the Daughter of the Prince of Madian THe fairest Vertues would be but bodyes without a Soul Planets without light Excellency of Zeal and its Source and extinguished Torches if these generous ardors and those bright irradiations which we call by the name of Zeal and will give motion light and splendour unto the most holy Actions were taken from them God himself was pleased to take upon him the name of Zelot and when he appeared unto the Prophet under the shape of a man having one half of his body in a flame of fire this was but an Image of the Zeal which inflames him And it is for this cause as I believe Sophonius said that the world shall be devoured by the fire of this Divine Zeal Now it is out of this Furnace that Angels and Men have drawn vigorous flames which inkindled in their hearts a Zeal which all the waters of the Deluge could not have quench'd Viditque afflictionem corum â—â—rum Aegyptiacum percutientem quendam de Hebraeis fratribus suis Exod. 2. v. 11. Cumque circumspexisset
is the Lamentable state of a hardned Soul where we must observe that God was the cause of it as Moses said not by fastning his heart with the Chains of a fatall necessity nor by captivating it under the power of Devils and of the Hell it self of this life But first in permitting this obduration and leaving the bridle free to him who afterwards like a wild and unruly Colt had no other guide but his own giddiness fury and impetuositie Secondly in staying the course of these Victories and Conquering Graces which create an amorous tyranny in us and onely granting him but some fruitless favours without which a man would not have the power either to undertake or desire what is necessary for his salvation Thirdly in giving him Possessions Glory Empire and forces which were like so many Bulwarks in which this miserable wretch lives in security Fourthly God hardned him by the Miracles wherewith he solicited his faith who following the malice of a corrupted and pernitious Will was dazeled at the sight of them and by over-slight wounds which did but tickle the rage and fury of this resolved spirit in stead of exciting him unto penance and imprinting in him some sence of Love Obedience and Respect Now from hence spring the frightfull sequences Frightfull sequence of obduration and the sad appertenances of the obduration of those who become Rebellious to the Lights of Heaven first they shut their Eyes and stop their Ears not to see or hear when it concerns their salvation Secondly they triumph in evill and iniquities are their most pleasing delights Thirdly the ordure of their crime cannot be cleansed Scriptum stylo ferreo in ungue adamantino Jerem. 17. and their sin is like that of Judas ingraven with an Iron Pen upon a Diamantine lamen Fourthly the so are shameless people Frons meretricis facta est tibi noluisti erubescere Jerem. c. 3. Considera opera Dei quod nemo possit corrigere quem ille despexerit Eccles. 7. and whose foreheads have less sense of modesty than that of common strumpets Fifthly they are incorrigible and though God strike them they yet deride all his chastisements and then all the Counsells of men all the complaints of their friends and even the shame which reflects on their Parents and family cannot move them Sixthly they are full of contempts disdains coldnesses and funestous railleries Seventhly they reside in the depth of the Abysse into which they strive to draw all those that reach out their hands to help them Eighthly all their habits are so inveterate that we may sooner change the skin of a Leopard and the colour of a Negro than the least of their humours Whence it comes that the measure of their iniquities is full and after these persons have passed even into the last degree of blindnesse and impiety they abandon themselves unto the desires of their hearts Cor durum est quod nee compunctione scinditur uec pietate mollitur nec movetur precibus nec cedit minis quin etiam flagell is duratur magis Cor durum est ingratum ad beneficia ad consilia infidum ad judicia saevum vnverecundum ad turpia inpavidum ad pericula inhumanum ad bumana temerarium ad divina praeteritorum obliviscens praesentium negligens futurorum improvidum c. Bern. lib. de consider ad Eugenium and their reason becomes a slave to all the motions of their Concupiscence In fine saith St. Bernard if any one will have an Epitomy of all these miseries and a picture to the life of an obstinate inflexible and obdurate spirit let him represent unto himself a heart which cannot be divided by the salutiferous waters of Compunction nor heated by the flames of a holy Love nor touch'd by the darts of Piety nor made flexible by the allurements of an amiable entreaty nor even affrighted by the horrours of the most dreadfull threats He is ungratefull for the greatest favours he derides the Counsells which are given him he contemns the Judgements of the best understandings he forgets what is past he neglects present things and cannot foresee what will befall him This impudent person is never ashamed even in the most infamous Actions all dangers which make others tremble render him more bold and his insolence passeth yet farther for he is timerarious even in what concerns God and hath no more fear of him than reverence towards men whence it proceeds that he would never cease to sin if he did not first cease to live and these terrors would never end if Death did not set some bounds thereunto Alas what Death what Life what Man what Devill or at least what heart of Man and Devill can be imagined in so detestable a condition My God! give me then rather the heart of a Tyger than so hard a heart to the end if I cannot love thee with the heart of a man I may take revenge on my self with the heart of a beast and make my heart the prey of my liberality But if thy goodness cannot endure such a butchery give me O God of my heart a heart the most loving that ever was Then will I immolate it to thee and thou shalt be the Master of it for all eternity At this instant then I Sacrifice my purest affections to thee At this instant I will obey thy commands and break for this cause with all creatures This is to provoke too long the wrath of a Judge to irritate the clemency of a Father and to heap together a train of miseries a treasure of anger and indignation We must not then expect till the measure be full till we be in the bottome of the Abysse and covered with the dreadfull obscurities of night in which the torches of Love are extinguished and the Lights of hope eternally put out In fine my God burn break and consume my heart for I choose rather to offer unto thee the flames and ashes thereof than to see it insensible and incapable of loving thee CHAP. VIII The Plagues of Egypt THe Law of Grace is not a Law of injustice where all things are permitted and where Vice remains unpunished Witness the Cities which have been swallowed up in a night and where the Elements have as it were conspired to consume places which served for retreats unto all sorts of impurities Witness the Inundation of Ashes the flames of Sulphure which issued forth of Mount Vesuvius about the year four hundred seventy and seven in which Europe was almost absorpt for punishment of the Crimes wherewith it had been polluted Vesuvius Campaniae mons exusta evomuit viscera necturnis que in die tenchris omnem Europae faciem minuto contexit pulvere and whose flames could not be washed away but by a deluge of fire a rain of Ashes and a Hail-storm of Flints which was seen as Salvian relates to come out of the bottome of this Mountain as if it had rent it self and vomited forth
and resembled Tombs in which they were imprisoned Their punishment saith the Wiseman was suitable to the horror of those crimes where with they were poluted in the obscurity of Caves and Subterranean places where they thought to shun the sight of him whose eyes illuminate the purtest Clarities of the Heavens In this dreadful state they were terrified by Specters which flew before their eyes they had sometimes the use of their sight to be affrighted by these tenebrous Phantasms every where they were in fear and followed by terrors which troubled their guilty Consciences They also heard dreadful noises which made them even die with fear Cum sit enim timida nequitia dâ—t testimoniunt condemnationis semper enim praesumit saeva perturbata conseientia Sap. 17. v. 10. Aliquando monstrorum â—xagâ—tabantur timore c. Sap. 17. v. 14. Et ignis quidem nulla vis poterat illis lumen praebere nec siderum limpidae slammae illaminare poterant illam noctem horrendam Sap. 17. v. 5. Apparebat autem illis subitaneus ignis timore plâ—nus timore pereulsi illius quae non videbatur faciei aestimabant deteriora esse quae vidâ—bantur Sap. 17. v. 6. Et magicae a tis apposici erant derisus sapientiae gloriae correptio cum contumelia Sap. 17. v. 7. Illienim qui promittebant timores perturbationes expellere so ab anima languente bi cum derisu pleni timore languebant Sap. 17. v. 8. and the hideous shapes which were presented to them amongst these dreadful noises so lively affrighted them that for their last remedy they desired nothing but Death This horrid night could not be dissipated by the Rayes of the Sun and Moon and notwithstanding the fires which were kindled on all sides nothing but black vapors appeared which were so sensible that men might even feel them but the Lightnings which from time to time withdrew these black veils represented to them such strange forms that they then imagined to see what had never been The most Learned were the most confounded and the Diabolical Art of Inchanters found real matter for Humiliation This infamous and proud Art appeared but meer folly and the Errors of it better discovered themselves in that night than in all the precedent days The deceipt of the Magicians was never more shamefully decryed For all the promises they had made to free Egypt from all sorts of diseases were changed into confusion The prodigious effects whereof they published themselves to be Masters appeared chiefly in their astonishment which was so excessive that they scarce knew themselves And as their eyes saw nothing but Specters and Phantasms their ears heard nothing but the cryes and roarings of Beasts which contributed to their affrightment In vain was it for them to shut their eyes against all these Visions their fancies were too full of these shaâ—â—ows and they were in a maner constrained to see all the objects wherewith the imagination could be disquieted Behold the dreadful state wherein these infortunate people remained during the excess of so horrid an obscurity which lasted for the space of three days and that which ought to appear more strange was That amongst these tenebrous Exhalations and these shadows of Hell their mindes were even darkned and their understandings became no less blinde than their eyes Briefly they suffer both in Body and Soul such Convulsions and tortures as cannot be expressed Vna enim catena tenebrarum omnes erant colligati sive spiritus sibilans aut vis aquae decurrentis nimium Sap. 17. v. 17. Aut sonus volidus praecipitatarum petrarum c. Sap. 17. v. 18. All that were shut up in this Labyrinth resembled Gally-slaves tied by a chain of darkness which held them as fast as if it had been of Iron In this slavery they were tied by invisible enemies which the Wiseman describes under the figure of a Whirl-wind which grumbleth in the Air or of a rapid torrent which makes a Sea of the Fields or of a Rock which cleaves and is broken into shivers by the violence of a storm with a dreadful noise which continues until it fall into the bottom of some precipice Now all this was but a rough draught and a sign of the horrors which after the expiration of some ages and revolutions of the Sun and days were to produce a night which shall never enjoy light and a general eclipse which shall endure for all Eternity Then all the Evening and Morning Stars shall be veiled and the Inhabitants of Egypt the obstinate Souls and the hardned Hearts shall feel nothing but animated Shafts and killing Darts which the Eye of a just Vengeance shall cast in the midst of darkness to mark out these destroying Ciphers and Characters with more reason than they were heretofore ingraven on the Gates of the Prison of a certain person whom a sad and furious despair had transported to kill himself after he had exercised all manner of cruelty on his own body O night without day O death without life evill without remedy torment without end eternall darknesse But the Israelites Sanctis autem tuis maxima erat lux horum quidem vocem audiebant quia non ipsi eadem passi erant magnificabunt te Sap. 18. v. 1. the Children of light and they that walked amongst the splendours of virtue and sanctity shall have no share in this great obscurity they shall enjoy an ever-shining brightness and whilst the Egyptians shall houle like dispairing men in the Abysse of their darkness they shall magnifie the ineffable grandures and the most powerfull bounties of him who is able at the same time to reward the innocent and punish the guilty and causeth the Sun to rise under the feet of Saints whilst he inkindles his lightnings and comets over the heads of the wicked Such will be the great day and night full of horrour and miserie in which light shall apparently decay and ashes and dust shall ascend even as high as the heavens there to form more beautifull and radiant planets than those which at present expresse their Pomp with so much magnificence and splendor O my God! be thou then the Sun of my Soul that I may goe alwaies increasing from one light unto an other and that I may never be invelop'd in this night with the Egyptians but that I may without limit without measure and without obstacle enjoy those blessed aspects and those luminous glances which make the day of dayes and of eternity CHAP. XVI The Death of the First-born of Egypt WE must acknowledge that the Philosopher who called Death the Center of punishments Timocles and the last extremity of all evills had as just reason as that Prince who after he had sought out all wayes to terrifie his people who had taken up armes against him resolv'd at last to have one great Skeleton carried in triumph which held a Hand of Justice and a Sith after which
Darts of his Teeth and Tongue as so many little Javelins afterwards he cuts and tears the Skin and then if a man doth not give way to him and cast himself at his feet he kills and eats even to the bones We must be then foolish even unto madness to oppose God True Wisdom consists in rendring our selves so plain unto his commands that we must never so much as provoke his mildest Vengeances otherwise we shall see our selves at last assaulted by all sorts of enemies The Air the Earth the Sea Angels Men and Beasts will arm themselves to punish so unworthy a Rebellion A fair subject of Meditation Alas My dear Reader whatever thou be'st fix then a while thine eyes and minde upon this Scene and do not expect till God afflict thee with the last of his Plagues If thou art be-nighted and under the obscurities of a dismal blindness pass not even to those mortal darknesses where the Stars are extinguished and where after the death of the first-born we our selves must die and be buried under the Billows of an Ocean where no calm can ever be and where we remain in a flux and reflux of such miseries as will never end CHAP. XVII The Paschal Lamb and the departure of the Children of Israel out of Egypt IT was about the beginning of the night A memorable Feast in the midst whereof there hapned a general massacre of the first-born of Egypt that the Hebrews made that famous Feast whereof the bloody remnants and unfortunate spoils served to mark on the side of their doors and on their thresholds the Safeguard of their whole Nation It was on the fourteenth day of the Moneth which they called Nisan when the Moon was directly opposit to the Sun and equally shared with him the Empire which they possess in the Heavens that they celebrated this admirable Sacrifice which was one of the most express and lively Figures of that which Jesus Christ presented unto his Father upon the Tree of the Cross Now to know what order was observed therein Loquimini ad universum coetum siliorum Israel dicite eis Decima die mensis hujus tollat unusquisque agnum per familias domos suas Exod. 12. v. 3. Erit autem agnus absque macula masculus annicutus Exod. 12. v. 5. Et sument de sanguine ejus ac poâ—â—nt super utrum que postem c. Exod. 12. v. 7. Non comedetis ex eo crudum quid nec coctum agnum sed tantum assum igni c. Exod. 12. v. 9. Si quid residuum fuerit igne comburetis Exod. 12. v. 10. and what Ceremonies were used First God had commanded Moses to publish unto all his people That on the tenth day of the Moon of the first Moneth every Family should have a Lamb in his house and that four days after it was to be Sacrificed without breaking any part of his bones Secondly It was to be a Male and not a Female Thirdly It was to be but a year old Fourthly It was to be without blemish or defect Afterwards the Thresholds of the Doors and Houses where this Feast had been kept were to be dyed with his blood It was also ordained That this Lamb should be eaten neither Boiled nor Raw but onely Rosted with Unlevened Bread and with Wilde Lettice in such sort as neither Feet Entrails nor Head must remain at least if any were left it was to be thrown into the fire Concerning the Ceremony which they obliged to observe at this Feast Renes vestros accingetis calceamentu habebitis in pedibus tenentes baculos in manibus comedetis festinanter Exod. 12. v. 11. Erit autem sanguis vobis in signum in aedibus in quibus eritis videbo sanguinem transibo vos c. Exod. 12. v. 13. They all ought to be in a posture of taking a journey at their rising from the Table and like Travellers to have their Reins girt shooes on their Feet and Staves in their Hands The Law also enjoyned this repast to be made in haste and that every one should be careful to keep the blood of this Lamb to mark the place where he lived to the end when God should pass about midnight before their doors to destroy all the first-born of Egypt seeing this blood he might pass further and be touched with Compassion for the Afflictions of his people But to what purpose were these marks and this blood upon the doors What! Can there be any thing hidden from him who beholds in his Word and in himself all that is shall be and hath ever been This was then but a Sign Representions of the Lamb. and an Image by which the Eternal Father was pleased to manifest That whosoever should be marked with the precious blood of this Lamb ought not to apprehend any danger And truly if the blood of Bulls and Goats and if the Ashes of a Red Heifer which were cast upon those who had contracted some uncleanness had the power to absolve offenders at least before the eyes of men and if they put them in a condition to partake of the common Sacrifices with others with how much stronger reason ought the Blood of Jesus Christ who is the same Innocence and hath been sacrificed for sinners upon the Altar of Mount Calvary after he had given his Body for food and his Blood for drink to be more efficacious for cleansing our souls from all sorts of impurities It is for this he hath acquired the title of the Mediator of the New Testament and in like maner where the Old Law was confirmed by Ceremonies of Blood it was onely to prefigure what was to be done in the Mysteries of the New Mysteries hidden under the Paschal Lamb. We must then onely understand by the Banquet and Sacrifice of the Paschal Lamb the Sacred Mystery of the Passion and the Adorable Sacrament of the most Holy Eucharist in which the Lamb was masculine and yong that is to say Constant and generous though tender and delicate He was without spot or stain being the Ransom for all sinners and his Bones were not broken to testifie his strength and courage which were not overcome by the rigor of torments He was rosted in the Ardors of his love and such onely have eaten him boiled in cold water who out of meer curiosity without the flames of Charity and the lights of Faith or without Humility have eaten him and measured his Infinite Grandeurs by the lownesses of their mindes Moreover Septem diebus azymae comedetis in die primo non erit sermentuâ—â— in domibus vestris Exod. 12. v. 15. This Lamb ought to be eaten with Azim Bread without any mixture of Leaven Behold an entry into the Feast of the Supper where he ought to be taken with a pure Conscience and a mouth which hath been purified by bitter Lettices that is to say With dolourous tears and waters distilled by the
hath not beheld this admirable effect and this great stroak of thy arm which hath reduced into ashes and dust the insupportable boldness of all our enemies To this effect thou hast caused the astonishing terrours of thy dreadfull wrath to march before thee Et in multitudine gloriae tuae deposuisti adversarios tuos misisti iâ—am tuam quae devoravit eos ficut slipulam Exod. 15. v. 7. Et in spiritu furoris tui congregatae sunt aquae c. Exod. 15. v. 8. Flavit spiritus tuus operuit eos mare c. Exod. 15. v. 10. thou hast raised storms and tempests as the Messengers of thy indignation and the spirit of thy holy furies hath suspended the billows and heaped torrents upon torrents to swallow up this insolent Nation Those waves which had been a little before volatile and inconstant were now without motion and they all made a dreadfull Vacuum to give us passage But these dungeons of Ice when our adversaries were so blinded and presumptuous as to follow us melted on their heads and when they thought to inclose our Camp all the waves tumbled down and made of them but a horrid shipwrack A more strange and Universall Shipwrack was never seen For all the winds were dis-inchained and the Sea being let loose made but a great Sepulchre and a deep Abyss to inclose them Art thou also O my God! this Lord of terrours and full of Majesty whom Angels and men adore and whom all tongues cannot praise but by silence and whom all understandings are not able to comprehend but by extasie and astonishment Subwersi sunt quasi plumbum in aquis vehementibus Exod. 15. v. 10. Behold then these proud men in the bottome of the Ocean as leaden bodyes behold all these murtherers who would make us pass through the points of their Swords dying stifled in the water and swimming perchance in their own tears and bloud The hand of God Extendisti manum tuam devoravit eos terra Exod. 15.12 whose magnificences are holy and terrible hath given them a mortall wound and death in the Abysses hath devoured them My God! Dux fuisti in misericordia populo quem redemisti portasti eum in fortitudine tua habitaculum sanctum tuum Exod. 15. v. 13. These are thy ineffable bounties and thy sweet mercies which have conducted this distressed people whom thou hast delivered and carried as it were upon thy shoulders and by the strength of thy arm into this holy Sanctuary this Land of Promise and this Country of Abraham Isaack and Jacob where one day Altars and Temples shall be seen built to thine honour This then will be a happy passage for us Irruat super eos formido pavor in magnitudine brachii tui fiant immobiles quasi lapis donec pertranseat populus tuus Domine Exo. 15. v. 16 and for other Nations a passage of horrour and amazement Grant then O Lord that at the entry into this desert our enemies may conceive such a horrour as may render them insensible and unable to hurt us untill we are on the Land of Promise and in our Country where thou wilt plant us as flowers of Paradise and as so many slips of immortality Tune conturbati sunt principes Edom robustos Moab obtinuit tremor obriguerunt â—mnes habitatores Chanaan Exod. 15. v. 15. Our Conquerours are already vanquished and all strangers are affrighted The Philistians already groan all the Princes of Edom are astonished Fear hath seized on the minds of the most Couragious and the Inhabitants even of Chanaan are become as bodyes without Soul or resentment Fill them then with fear and terrour Dominus regnabit in aeternum ultra Exod. 15. v. 18. whilst we shall advance with joy and delight into thy Sanctuary Meanwhile reign in the Ages of Ages and if it may be even beyond Eternity For in fine Pharaoh is no more and of all that he ever was there scarce remains so much as the memory of it and none but Mariners shall find some remnants of him upon the shoar and peradventure some prints of those Chariots which shall be seen upon this sand where he intended to erect his Trophey his Throne and his fairest hopes When Moses and the Israelites had made an end of this Canticle Sumpsit autem Maria prophetissa soror Aaron tympanum in manu sua egressaeque sunt omnes mulieres post eam cum tympanis choris Exod. 15. v. 20. Mary the Sister of Aaron appeared like an Aurora which after a Tempestuous night takes her horn to sound the return of the Sun and calm and the retreat of the Starrs and the storm This vertuous Dame having heard her Brother and the Israelites who had ended their Musick began another Consort in which she was accompany'd by Wifes and Daughters who answered the accents of her voice But such a Feast was never seen for all of them had certain little Drums at their girdles which they beat dancing and singing according to the manner of the Hebrews with a zeal and modesty worthy of this Sex which hath for its share purity and devotion These are the two wheeles of their triumphant Chariot Impiety tam'd the two arms which they used to overthrow the impiety and insolence of men and tyrants These are the two eies of their Souls the Suns of their bodies and the two greatest powers they can have even in their weakness An impudent wicked woman hath but the name of a woman she is a monster in nature and a spectre which hides under a human skin the Soul of a Maegera But also when they have these two illustrious qualities they are living miracles and prodigies of beauty The portions of Piety and Modesty where the Angels themselves abide with a chast and amorous respect For piety gives luster and attractives unto their Souls and modesty imprints all sorts of Charms on their faces then chiefly when these two Vertues are neither childish affected savage rude fantastick light proud indiscreet feigned troublesome babling stupid malicious nor insolent but generous solid complacent sweet stay'd constant humble prudent reall condescending moderate ingenious and without any mixture of Gall and Poison Then will they be Syrens from whom nothing ought to be feared and who may sing upon the banks of the shore like Halcions in the midst of the Sea they may be seen in assemblies and meetings where their hearts and most pure voyces will say with the Sister of Aaron and Moses and after the defeat of a lascivious and impious Devill of whom Pharaoh was the figure Well then my faithfull Companions Quibus praecinebat dicens Cantemus Domino gloriosè enim magnificatus est equum ascensorem ejus dejecit in mare Evod. 15. v. 21. let us sing victory let us sing together you chast Virgins of Judea happy Daughters of Sion holy Souls let us sing Canticles of joy in
which would fall in the new Law and should continue even unto the last consummation of the world and of the Church It was an Antepast of the Body of Jesus Christ hidden under this adorable bread whose species hath a particular resemblance with the Manna and a more excellent sweetness than that of this bread of the desart It must not also be taken untill we have abandoned the carnal alurements of Egypt and the deceiptfull delights of the world and sin This is the food presented by the hand of Magnificence and received by those of faith Whence it comes that covetous and unbelieving people find there nothing but wormes and putrefaction It is also a fruit and there is no need either of cultivating the Earth or sowing any graines or seedes to gather it But without humane labour it comes out of the bosome of God its Father and out of the Bowels of the Virgin and amidst the influences and dewes of the holy Ghost on a Table where souls meet with their most pleasing repast It is little and inclosed under small appearances of bread The people are astonished at it they ask in this great astonishment what it is and how that could be done which was told them and what they were to believe concerning it Every one might take it and how little soever it appeared it was given in such a proportion that men received is as great and immense as it is in Heaven It will cease on the Great day of Sabbath and repose after the course of this life and when we shall see it with our own Eyes without veil or figure in the Land of promise There shall we drink large draughts of it in the torrents of delight and in stead of the dew of Manna we shall be satiated in an Ocean of Nectar and Ambrosia that is without boundes measure limit or bottome Ah! I think the time long till we be out of Egypt and free from these chaines which linck us to so shamefull services and so unworthy of a Soul ransomed by the blood and life of a God Alas When will this so much desired moment come When shall we hear the Canticles of victory and when shall we goe amongst the daughtes of Sion to our Country crying out with a loud voice that Pharaoh is swallowed up under the Abysses and that all those troops of Enemies which pursue us have suffered a dismal shipwrack not onely under the waves of the Red Sea but under the lakes of fire Sulphur blood and Malediction Mean while let us content our selves with the real Manna whereof our forefathers have had but the Figure Let us goe unto the Sanctuary where it is deposited for us and our generations Let us eat this bread of Angels and let us drink of this wine which germinats virgins Let us make use of it according to the Lawes which are prescrib'd us Let us goe then early in the morning that is to say before the noise and tumult of this great World hath strucken our eares with so many importune unprofitable extravagant and dangerous discourses before our Eyes have been surprised by the sight of these Objects of Vanity Ambition Envy or of some other vice which is yet more infamous and finally before the great day be arrived in which we are commonly so dazled by some false splendors as we can hardly discern the truth Above all since this bread of Heaven hath all sorts of Savours let us not mix with it any earthly food or any of all those meates which the Flesh the World and Hell use to season for this were to mingle remedies with poison and convert a Feast of life into a repast of death and it had been much better for them to have remained amongst the Flesh-pots and onyons of Egypt or at least to have dyed of famine in some desart than to have immolated themselves at the foot of an Altar and Sanctuary as a victime of terror perfidiousness and Execration CHAP. XXI The Fountain of Horeb. IT is our condition here In hoc positi sumus Thes 1.3 saith the Apostle to be tempted on all sides and it is as natural to man to live in the midst of Combats and assaults as unto Fishes to Swim in the water and Birds to fly in the Air. It is our profession our Imployment and one of our most usual exercises to be in this conflict and we must necessarily always attacque or defend And often to repulse an assault were to be a Conquerour in this kind of war and though sometimes we be almost vanquished yet we may have the glory of triumphing provided we hold out to the last the reason of this is most evident for as much as the assailer being afterwards wholy constrained to make a dishonorable retreat he that hath been so couragious as strongly to ward all his blowes and to smile at his threats remains like a fortress and strong hold which after a long siedge sees at last the rout of those who had assaulted it and where if the Gates out-works Bulwarks and walls had mouths they would be heard to cry out victory and all these breaches would serve onely to say that even the defences have overcome Now that which causeth many to yeeld at the first approaches is the little courage they have to resist or an over-great confidence in their own forces imagining that they can doe what is impossible for them and that it is easy long to preserve a place whereof God is not the Govenour There are also some who are affrighted at the first difficulty and presently despair as if God were not gratious enough to help them and powerfull enough to furnish them with what they need His magnificent hand hath been pleased to doe us all the good we have and can expect Nevertheless we doe like the Hebrews who in the midst of the raines and dewes of Manna complain and murmur for want of one drop of water What ingratitude and what cruelty What would a man say who after he hath been delivered out of the midst of Slaves and Gallies or rather out of some dark prison where he could expect nothing but death and after he hath been conducted into Palaces and royall Courts educated and treated as a King amidst all the honours and delights which could be invented should be so brutish as to complain if once it should happen that some small attendance were not soon enough given him Would not the Prince and Redeemer of this infamous wretch have just cause to use him according to his desert and to change all his favours and bounties into punishments to chastice so horrid an ingratitude God notwithstanding after all the good entertainments he had bestowed on the people of Israel Igitur profecta omnie multitudo filiorum Israel de deserto Sin per mansiones suas ubi non erat aqua ad bibendum populo Exod. 17. v. 1. Et murmuravit contra Moisen dicens cur fecisti nos exire de
mean consolation Seventhly we must play the Philosophers studying the qualities of our desires and temptations to the end having discovered the Nature of the disease we may apply such remedies as are proper for it Eighthly we must withdraw our selves from objects For these are lights which dazle neer at hand and afar off have scarce any luster at all Ninthly we must dry up the spring of our desires and concupiscences mortifying our bodyes and reducing our souls to such a condition as we might desire nothing but what is good and honest Tenthly we may sometime discover the error of our desires and fancies and contemplate that with horror which we desire with so much passion And we shall perceive as well as Raymundus Lullius that all is but a Canker an Ulcer an infectious and stinking dunghill covered over with a bit of Taffaty or some small piece of fine Holland In fine we ought to be well employed and to imitate that brave Captain who commanded his Army to march alwayes in Battell-aray either in time of Peace or War and even upon his own lands that he might not be surprized CHAP. XXXV An Abridgement of the Law THe Law of God and Moses then both in generall and in particular forbids all sorts of persons of what Condition Sex Age or Country they either are or may be First all Idolatrie Infidelity contempt of Sacred things Magick-Art Sorceries Divinations Superstious Worships mistrusts of Gods goodnesse Presumption of their own forces Languishment Tepidities Hypocrisies Irreverences Sacrileges and Impieties Secondly Swearing without necessitie Blasphemies false Oaths Execrations Derision of holy things and words of Scripture as also of all that God hath either said done or revealed Thirdly on Holy-dayes all exercises of labour and Commerce or any other employment whatsoever if it be not of necessitie or if it may divert us from the holy entertainments of Piety and the repose we ought to have on those great dayes when surely labour would be yet less Criminall in the sight of God than the impieties and Irreverences which are very often used in the most Sacred places and during the divine Service of Almighty God Fourthly Disdains contempts abandonments ingratitudes hatreds and disobedience towards Fathers and Mothers Kindred and Superiours As also the excessive liberty we give unto our Servants Children and Domestiques Fifthly Quarrels Enmities Aversions Wranglings Violences Extortions Treacheries Injustices Vexations unjust Duels Mutilations of members Poisonings Murthers Aborsions Hatreds Outrages cruelties towards our Neighbours and our selves by some violent passion which may pass even unto death or at least to the desire of it Sixthly Fornications Adulteries Incests Rapes Deflowrings Clandestine Marriages Sacrileges Pollutions the ill use of Marriage and so many other abominable things and unworthy of a man which make Sepulchres in Houses Laystalls in beds and a great Sodome of the whole World where without punishment is seen all that leads unto impudicity as dishonest thoughts impure words wanton glances kisses touchings Pictures Statues Images Books Letters Playes Ballads Satieties and Feastings wherewith amidst good Wine and good chear very often Love-charms and poisons are mingled Seventhly Thefts Robberies Plundrings Correspondency with Theeves Counterfeiting of Seals Keys Letters Schedules Wills Bonds deceiptfull Purchases false Aequisitions false Sales false Mony Frauds Surprises Usurpations of the goods of the Church Symonie Usurie Delays of payment crafty devises in Law Superfluous expences Cheats Extortions and the barbarous usage of the Poor Eighthly false Depositions Calumnies defamatory Libells Lyes Impostures Perfidiousness Dissimulations Flatteries and Treasons Ninthly Enterprises and designes against Marriage dishonest Plots which are done by words gestures signs allurements by Epistles with desires more becomming a Devill than a man In fine the passion of Possessing other mens goods wrongfully and contrary to Justice which seems to be born with men and to dy with them if it be not stifled with the ashes of the Sanctuary and of Sina otherwise we shall find inflamed fire-brands of Hell which will never be quench'd but punish our sins for all eternity CHAP. XXXVI The antient Policies AFter God had given unto Moses the Morall Lawes which are ingraven in hearts by the finger of Nature C. 2. q. 104. a. 1. he added those which according to Saint Thomas have a certain mutuall relation in order to man and which of themselves cannot oblige but only by reason God hath so ordained it This then to speak properly concerns the Policie and government of people in Common-wealths or else of servants in Families which would be but a Labyrinth of disorders an Abyss of confusions a Tower of Babel and little Babylonians if they had no Lawes which are as it were the Mothers of Peace Mistresses which watch day and night to instruct reprehend and direct those who chance to fail in their duty An excellent with heretofore compared them to those little Mercuries which were placed at the corners of streets but this is not enough The excellencie of Lawes for they are the Soul of the Universe the spirit of the World the Eyes of the Body the Interpreters of Reason the Oracles of Justice the Angels of the great Councell the Governesses of Cities silent Voices Thunders which lowdly roar against Criminals the Armes of the Innocent and the Intelligences which settle order in Heaven Aeternitas mundi ex obedientiâ ad intelligentiam matricem Apud Mathiam de Vienna Philost l. 1. c. 6. before they bring it on Earth as some Disciples of Plato have observed And it is peradventure for the same reason that the Babylonians as Philostratus affirms built Palaces where they us'd to administer Justice in form of a Heaven where the stones were no other than Saphires and the Arches of immoveable Clouds beset with Stars which would have been taken for those of the Empyreall Heaven if they had had as much motion as splendor and light In fine God is the principall Intelligence who sets all things in order His Lawes establish order in the World and this generall order which may be discernd even in the bosome of Nature Dixit praeterea Dominus ad Moysem haec dices filiis Israël c. Exod. 20. v. 22. Responditque omnu populus una voce Omnia verba Domini quae locutus est faciemus Exod. 24. v. 3. Et mane consurgens aedificavit altare ad radices montis duodecim titulos per duodecimtribus Israël Exod 24. v. 4. Misitque Juvenes de filiis Isâ—aël obtulerunt holocausta immolaveruntque victimas pacificas Domino vitulos Exod. 24. v. 5. Tulit itaque Moyses dimidiam partemâ—sanguinis misit in crateras partem autemresâ—duam fudit super altare Exod. 24. v. 6. Assumensque volumen foederis lâ—git audiente populo qui dixerunt Omnia quae lacutus est Dominus faciemus c. Exod. 24. v. 7. Ille verò sumptum sanguinem respersit in populum ait hic est sanguis foederts quod pepigit Domintes
always less than that of a whole people Behold Lord the sum of my desires and the most ardent Prayers I can offer it is my Heart which speaks to thee it is Piety which makes me thus importune thee it is my Duty and Honor which are ingaged and I should not have so often received thy benefits if I did not also hope for this Do not then deny me O infinite Goodness and whatsoever thou shalt please to determine Remember that I have ever preferred thy people before my self and that the love I have for them cannot rest satisfied if it obtain not the favor it hopes or if it serve not for an host unto the Sacrifice which is due unto thy most just indignation Was there ever any one heard to speak with a more ardent zeal a more sincere love with a more generous piety a less interressed heart Many there are who would willingly do good but they would have the power to do it like the Sea without trouble and diminution or like the Sun and Stars whose treasuries are not less filled with lights and influences though we receive them on every side or else like a Torch which lights others without being it self either obscured or extinguished But when we must lose what we gave when we must be impoverished to inrich others we do like Hedg-hogs and Tortoises which scarce dare hold up their heads and shew nothing but Bristles and Shells There are others who give but yet with trouble and when themselves have no more need of it or when they have so much that the abundance becomes cumbersom But Charity is a spring which never stops and never ceaseth to run but when she hath nothing left for her self If she be found amongst the Gentiles as in a Leonidas in a Fabius Maximus in the Tegeates in the Horatii in an infinity of others who have sacrificed their lives for their Country and for their confederates These were but slight draughts compared with those of Moses who offered not onely his body and life for a time but even his soul and the pretensions he had to an Empire which shall never have end He deserved also some alleviation of the punishments which were ordained for this people Loquebatur autem Dominus ad Moisen facie ad faciem sicut solet loqui homo ad amicum suum Exod. 33. v. 11. Stabantque ipsi ader abant per fores tabernaculorum suorum Exod. 33. v. 10. Tu autem vade duc populum istum quo locutus sum tibi Angelus meus praecedet te Exod. 32. v. 34. and although God at first seems to refuse it yet either soon or late he will obtain it It was likewise in recompence of this zeal he was so happy as to speak face to face to his God who treated with him in the same maner as one most intimate friend might do with an other The people themselves were witnesses of this Colloquy and every one standing at the entry of his Tent adored God turning himself toward the Pavillion of Moses upon which the Pillar had made his Station and gave light enough to manifest this whole Mystery In fine the favor of favors God shewed unto Moses was in giving him an Angel for his Conductor who marked out to him all the ways by which he should pass CHAP. XXXVIII The re-establishment of the Laws and the Ceremonies of the Old Testament THere are some implacable Spirits in the World which cannot be overcome either by force or mildness which become more obstinate the more men endeavor to bend them and excite them unto pity Ac deinceps Praecide ait tibi duas tabulas lapideas instar priorum scribam super eas verba quae habuerunt tabulae quas fregisti Exod. 34. v. 1. Quo transeunte coram eo ait Dominator Domine Dous misericors clemens patiens c. Exod. 34. v. 6. Defcendebat columna nubis stabat ad ostium loquebaturque cum Moise Exod. 33. v. 9. But God on the contrary hath the Bowels of a Father and a Heart so full of goodness and mercy as he can hardly resolve to punish those injuries which are done unto him And even at present for those who have erected Altars against him and placed instead of him a Golden Calf he re-establisheth Laws as in testimony of the agreement he makes with them in acknowledgement whereof all the most singular of all the names he received was that of Meekness when Moses called him his Lord and his Clement and Merciful his Patient and Sincere God This indeed changed the thoughts of Moses who did not believe that his Master had called him to treat him so sweetly These were the terms he used in speaking unto God upon Mount Sina where this holy Man having withdrawn himself God was as it were covered with a cloud which did onely permit him to see the back of him whom he heard distinctly answering his voice and desires This day was celebrious First Observa cuncta quae bodie mando tibi c. Exod. 34. v. 11. In respect God himself commanded Moses to observe exactly all that he said unto him Secondly In regard of the promises he made him for the advantage of his people Thirdly Fuit ergo ibi cum Demino quadraginta dies quadraginta noctes panem non comedit equam non bibit Exod 34. v. 28. Cumque descenderet Moises dâ—monte Sinai tenebat duas tabulas testimonii ignorabat quod cornuta esset facies sua c. Exod. 34. v. 29. Videntes autem Aaron filii Israël cornutam Moysi faciem timuerunt propè accedere Exod. 34. v. 30. Vocatique ab â—o reversi sunt c. Exod. 34. v. 31. Sex diâ—bus facietis opus septimus dies erit vobis sanctus c. Exod. 35. v. 6. Quisquâ—s vestrum sapiens est veniat faciat quod Dominus imperavit Exod. 35. v. 10. Tabernaculum scilicet tectum ejus c. Exod. 35. v. 11. for the Precepts and Lawes he vouchsafed to give him for this end detaining him fourty dayes dayes without either eating or drinking which being passed he descended from the Mountain with ardent eyes and an inflamed countenance and his hair shining like so many rayes which formed on his head certain horns of light so that Aaron and the Israelites durst not approch him but when he called them they accosted him as an An Angel come from heaven and from his mouth learn'd all that God had said and commanded First touching the Sanctification of the Sabbath Secondly concerning the Offrings and Sacrifices Thirdly as to the building of the Tabernacle the Ark the Candlesticks Basons Altars and Ornaments of the high Priest In fine as to all that concerned Religion and the Ceremonies of the Old Testament CHAP. XXXIX Of the Ornaments and other Utensils ordained for the Sanctuary which were usefull in the Ceremonies of the Law of Moses IT is not enough to look on
the figures of the Old Testament as we would doe on those Landskips and Pictures which have only draughts to give some satisfaction to the eyes and to represent the Ideas of a Painter who took a vanity to mingle with his colours the fancies of his mind and the most pleasing erroâ—â— of his imagination God himself was pleased from the beginning of this world and when Nature was only in her rough draught to take the Pencill into his hand to form on the most beautifull faces and on the most excellent bodyes the features of him who is the Character of his substance and the Portrait of his Divinity The shadows also of the law of Nature and of the written Law have served but to hide the lights of the New Testament and we should scarce ever cast our eyes upon these fair Clouds but to behold some Suns issuing forth of them This was saith Philo the most usuall practice of the faithfull who lived in Alexandria and made their most holy Meditation upon the most sacred Scriptures For they not only tyed themselves saith he to the termes of the Hebrew letter but passed even into the most spirituall sense there to see and understand the verities which were in a manner veiled It is fit here then to observe those which have been the most clearly represented in the Sanctuary and under the principall Ornaments of the second Law Rupertus Greg. Hom. ult in Ezekiel Cyril lib. 4. in Joan. But as I thought it not proper in the precedent Chapter to relate in particular all the Lawes of the antient policy by reason they are for the most part abrogated in the Law of Grace and as it would have been contrary to the design of this book which ought not to serve so much for curiosity as profit So I ought not to stick longer here upon these Ceremonies which are no more in use or which are accomplished as so many figures of the Mysteries we believe and daily behold CHAP. XL. The Ark of the Old Testament THe Ark of the Old Testament was the figure of the Sacred humanitie of Jesus and of his holy Mother who is in Heaven as the Ark in the Holy of Holyes S. Hierom. ad Eust de Virg. S. Greger lib. 7. Regist Ep. 30. that is to say in the bosome of God who is Sanctitie it self It is also the Image of the Militant and triumphant Church and of those holy Souls which lead there a holy life and shall be one day like the wood of Sittim that is to say incorruptible after the Resurrection Secondly the Ark had above it the Propitiatory Fecit propitiatorium id est oraculum de auro mundissimo c. Exod. 37. v. 6. Duos citam Cherubim ex auro ductili c. Exod. 37. v. 7. as the Saints in Heaven have their King and Redeemer Thirdly it was incompassed with Cherubims as the blessed are with Angels and its being thus Crowned only denoted the immortall Crowns which those brave Champions gained as the prize of their Victory Fourthly the Pot full of Manna which was kept in the Ark represented the remembrance Saints have of the Eucharist which had been their Bread their Manna and Viaticum during all the Voyages they made in the Desart of this life Fiftly this Manna signified also the admirable goodness of God as the Rod his adorable power and the Tables of the Law his wisdome which governs and guides the whole Universe Sixthly Vestivitque eam auro purissimo intus ac foris Exod. 37. v. 1. this precious Sanctuary was adorned with gold which is the true Symbole of Love and Charity which render the Saints both interiourly and exteriourly resplendent Seventhly Duâ—s Cherubim in singulis summitatibus propitiatorii Extendentes alas tegentes propitiatorium c. Exod. 37. v. 9. as for the Cherubims which were in a manner fastned unto this fair Chariot of Glory and Majesty and covered with their wings part of the Propitiatory Who sees not that these are the glorious troups of the Saints and Angels which accompany the triumphant Humanity of a Man-God and are the Ministers of Gods commands and his amiable Intelligences In fine the whole Ornament of the Sanctuary as Vials Censors and all the wonders of this Miraculous fabrick bore only the inanimated marks of those who shall live in eternity CHAP. XLI The Tabernacle THe same agreeableness may be found in the Tabernacle as in the Ark of the Testament Nevertheless it was principally the Image of a Christian 1 Corinth 3. ad Eph. 3.17 Rom. 8.9 and of a holy soul who as St. Paul saith is a living and animated Temple in which God resides and where the holy Ghost makes his abode in the midst of Virtues In vita illius It was for this cause St. Bernard commended a most noble Lord because he built Churches and Houses for his Religious which were Temples eternally consecrated unto God If any one will pass further into this Tabernacle in the entrie he shall find the Bath of Penance and the Altar of Mortification And then advancing into the Sanctuary he shall see the three most precious utensils which were in that place the Candlestick the Table of Breads the Altar of Perfumes and Incense The Candlestick served only to chase away the darkness of ignorance The Table of Breads is the Eucharist which gives a perfect satiety And the Altar of Perfumes is that where the deliciousness and sweetness of prayers and ejaculations of the soul is more pleasing than all odoriferous smoaks There was also ten Curtains upon the Tabernacle Feceruntque omnes corde sapientes ad explendum opus tabernaculi cortinas decem c. Exod. 36. v. 8. Fecit opertorium tabernaculi de pellibus arietum rubricatis aliudque desuper velamentum de pellibus byanthinis Exod. 36. v. 19. Sic fecit in omnibus tabernaculi tabulis Exod. 36. v. 22. which resembled the ten Precepts of the Law under the shadow whereof the Church and Christian souls sweetly take their repose As for the skins of hair wherewith it was covered we need not doubt also but they were a Symbole of Penance In fine if the sheeps skins which were of a Red colour denoted Martyrs the others which were of a Violet colour could only signifie Virgins There remains only the Tables elevated towards the four parts of the world for a mark of the faith which was to be dilated throughout all the corners of the Earth Ex quibus viginti ad plagam meridianam erant contra Austrum c. Exod. 36. v. 23. Fecit velum de hyacinthe purpura c. Exod. 36.31 and which had only the Apostles for their foundation and Pillar who consequently serve as the Basis and support unto these Tables I cannot forget the Veil which covered the Sanctuary informing us that between us and Heaven there are shadows and clouds which hinder us from seeing God face to
face But let us hope that either soon or late these Curtains Veils and Clouds will be withdrawn and that the Angels will one day say unto us as to St. Euphraxia Let us goe my dear Daughter we have lived but too long amidst the night and under the shade of a body Let us goe into the Sanctuary the Veil is taken away and we shall now in peace and at leisure enjoy the sight of the Holy of Holies who is in the Sanctuary CHAP. XLII The Altar of Holocausts BEsides the Altar of Perfumes within the Temple Fecit altare hoâ—ocausti de lignis Sittim c. Exod. 38. v. 1. Craticulamque ejus in modum retis fecit aeneam Exod. 38. v. â— there was that of Holocausts without by reason of the fire and smoak which would have soiled the Tabernacle This Altar was built of the wood of Shittim in the midst whereof a kind of Gridiron appear'd which bore the wood and the flaming Victim and under a vacant place a little hole was made to convey thence the Ashes because fire was alwayes to be there preserv'd evening and morning to immolate a Lamb and the rest of the day some other Victims Behold the Altar for the Passion and Crosse of Mount Calvary which shall never be subject unto corruption were it only for having been the Altar on which the incorruptible body of Jesus had been Sacrificed Cujus cornua de â—â—gulis procedebant c. Exod. 38. v. 2. The four horns of the Altar denoted the four corners of the World where this Crosse was to be preached and the side-Window shewed towards the East the Terrestriall Paradise into which sin had cast as it were wood to prepare a Pile for this amiable Phenix on which he was to be burnt by the flames of his love The Gridiron represented the torments he was to endure with an admirable patience like a Lamb who had been designed to be sacrificed from the beginning of the world This Altar hath also an admirable analogy with the heart of man who like a Salamander was to live in the fire to immolate every hour his Passion like so many Victims and to be full of God and devoid of all affection to creatures incorruptible also in his desires elevated by his faith love and hopes And then the very ashes would serve to conserve the memory of his Masters pains and both day and night fires clarities lights and victims would be there seen consecrated and offered unto God with the spirituall Perfumes and Incense which are the prayers of Saints CHAP. XLIII The Vestments of the High Priest IT were to repass a Needle into a stuff on which the hand of the increated Wisdome had wrought and to which the most learned men of the world have endeavoured to adde some colours If I should touch upon the mysterious garment of the High-Priest of the Old Testament I may only then relate the number of them and observe transitorily what is represented to us under these wonders The first Vestment of the High-Priest was the Ephod De byacintho ve ò purpura virmiculo ac bysso fecit vesses â—uibus indueretur Aaron c. Exo. 39. v. 1. where were ingraven in Pretious stones the names of the twelve Patriarks of the people of Israel who had been the chief of their Race Ipsique lapides duodecim sculpti erant nominibus duodecim tribuum Israël singuli per nomina singulorum Exod. 39. v. 14. and those unto whom God had promised a multiplication It was also to remember them and the twelve Tribes during the Sacrifice and to the end the people reading these names might be excited to imitate the lives and examples of those who had so worthily born them In fine it was a mark that the Priest bore not only the people in his heart but also on his shoulders in testimony of that love which was to be Active and Passive This Ephod also was the figure of the yoak of the Gospell and of that which Christians were to bear in imitation of the first High-Priest who is no other than Jesus Christ whose obedience having reached even to death and whose love having closed his eyes in the midst of torments was also represented on this Vestment The second Vestment was the Rational Fecit Rationate â—pere polymito c. Exod 39. v. 8. which serv'd to advertise the Priest and Consequently the people of their duty It was also as the mouth of Oracles and the Organ of Gods commands and the peoples obligations who might learn from thence and contemplate as in a mirrour the purity both of body and soul and the four Cardinal virtues distinguished in the four rowes of Precious stones and whereof the mixture arrives even to perfection amounting to the number of twelve Fecerunt quoque tunicam superhumeralis totam hyacinthinam Exod. 39. v. 20. Dâ—orsum autem ad pedes mala punica c. Exod. 39. v. 22. Et tintinnabula de auro purissimo quae posuerunt inter malogranata c. Exo. 39. v. 23. Fecerunt tunicas byssinas opere textili c. Exod. 39. v. 25. The third Vestment of the High Priest was a large Tunique of a Violet colour on which he need but cast his eyes to behold and learn the wayes of a Celestiall life most proper for him worthily to bear this Vestment which was to reach as low as his foot and to have Pomegranats and little Bells round about it whereof the one as Rupertus observes represented the preaching of the Messias and the other his Miracles The fourth garment was of fine Linnen which is the true Symbole of Purity without which all Priests never ought to approch the Altar and which they must never put off otherwise their Robe though Celestiall would be without splendor and all the other Ornaments only serve for the preparation and pomp of a Sacrifice abominable in the sight of God who is nothing but purity it self But when a man hath once put on all these Vestments Fecerunt laminam sacrae venerationis de auro purissimo scripseruntque in ea opere gemmario Sanctum Domini Exod. 39. v. 29. he may boldly set the Myter on his head which signifies a strict union with God and the Plate which was born on his forehead with the Sacred name of Jehovah signified him whom we ought to have alwayes imprinted in our minds In fine all the other Pontificall Ornaments of the Old Testament were but figures of those which our High-Priest put on and which all that follow his steps are to use not so much to cloath their bodyes as to put their souls in a condition of presenting Sacrifices unto God not only for themselves but also for others CHAP. XLIIII The Sacrifices of Aaron consumed by fire from Heaven I Know not from whence the Romans and the Vestals had the fire which they so charily preserved in their Temple but that which the Israelites
Behold Quamobrem misu Dominus in populum igneos serpentes ad corum plagas mortes plurimorum Num. 21. v. 6. Venerunt ad Moisen atque dixetunt Peccavimus quia locuti sumus contra Dominum te Ora ut tollat à nobis serpentes Oravitque Moises pro populo Num. 21. v. 7. the complaints and murmurings which even scorched the Sands of Arabia as with a breath of fire and flames which was no other than the Spirit of God which immediately produced there an infinite number of Serpents whose bitings were so cruel and ardent that one would have believed they had been so many coals or some kinde of wilde-fire applied to the flesh of these miserable wretches if those Vipers and Scorpions had not been seen which spared no man causing with their Teeth upon these infamous Bodies such stinging pains and fiery wounds that it brought them even unto dispair And I believe it would have reduced these guilty persons into Ashes if they had not at least acknowledged their sin and obtained some remedy more than humane by the mediation of Moses Now this Remedy was no other than a great Brazen Serpent which God commanded Moses to make Et locutus est Dominus ad cum Fac serpentem aeneum posuit eum pro signo auem cum percussi aspicerent sanabantur Num. 21. v. 8 9. and erect in the desart upon which they had no sooner cast their eyes but they were instantly cured though it were but a sign and mark of that hand which had erected this Trophy of his Power and the Image of his Goodness to the end the Remedy might be the more conformable to the disease and that such as had been punished by Serpents after they had vomitted all the venome out of their serpentine mouths might have at least this counter-poison which was as it were inclosed within this miraculous Serpent Now all this was but a most lively figure of Jesus Christ fastned on the Cross who bore all the most bloody marks and the most shameful appearances of a sinner although he were Purity and Innocency it self which can receive no stain of sin The Brass whereof the Serpent was formed and which amongst all other Metals hath I know not what more solid qualities and less subject unto corruption denoted nothing else but the Divinity of Jesus Christ and his Eternity We may also observe with Saint Austin upon this Figure some marks of the resplendency and glory of the Cross which carried its light and splendor even unto the shadows of Gentilism and Idolatry where its Trophies and Power have appeared notwithstanding the rage and fury of the most dreadful Tyrants In fine if this Brazen Serpent bore certain colours of fire who sees not that it was a very evident token of Love and Charity which passed even into the bosom of a Father to seek a Son and into the flames of a Sanctuary to seek a God to convert him into a man of Fire which descended not on Earth but to inflame him with the amorous ardors of his infinite Charity O God! O Love What goodness what flames where hath such a prodigy and miracle of Love been ever seen A God takes upon him the form of a sinner represented by this Serpent and was pleased by his death to cure those who have been the torturers and persecutors of his life Alas my poor heart Art thou not one of those who have murmured against God Have not these languishments and vexations which thou canst not conceal in his service provoked him to render thee a prey unto those Vipers which are commonly nourished in the fire of concupiscence and are often born on the sands of the Desart and in the retirement of the most pleasing solitudes to flie afterwards into the greatest Assemblies and into the heart of the World where thou must perish of wounds amongst the dead unless some Moses in thy favor address himself unto him who hath created thee to save and not to damn thee O my Jesus O my Saviour Grant me then this favor that I may cast mine eyes upon thy Cross and on thy Self to the end If any deceiptful Serpent hath infected me with his bitings and inkindled some ardors and flames in my veins in beholding you I may burn onely with those of thy Holy Love CHAP. XLVII The last Actions of Moses TO make a relation of the last Actions performed by Moses I must imitate Geographers and Painters who contract upon their Canvas strokes and lines to form an Epitomy of the Heavens Elements and the greatest Bodies in nature nevertheless I could not undertake so hard a task if the design thereof had not been marked out even by his hand of whom I pretend to speak But since I must here onely work upon the original and draw some copy of it it is enough for me to do like those Apprentices who study to express at least in a rough draught the rarest Ideas of their Master The Pencil then of Moses must finish this Picture and there is no person I believe who may not know that his hand and pen have followed the tracts of his Spirit and that there was but one Moses who could worthily describe and publish the commands of God whose instincts he so justly followed as to see and hear him it was apparent that God animated his sentiments who spoke by his mouth who wrought by his hands and who became as it were the soul of his soul so intimately was he united to him and all his actions This appeared during the whole course of this great Patriarcks life but chiefly near his end and namely when he saw himself even upon the point of leaving this beloved people of whom he had been the Prince Father The Testament of Moses Prophet and Law-giver He must resolve then to give them his last words and take his last farewel he must declare all his desires and draw his last will to the end it might be afterwards engraven upon Stones and that at least every seven years there might be made a general publication thereof as also that Kings might themselves read it before their Election to learn from thence the Laws and Precepts which are as it were the souls of Princes and the principal wheels of Empires Now this Testament was no other than Deuteronomy Hieronimus in prologo Galleato August Q. 49. Theod. hic Q. 1. Athanas in Synop. Quadragessimo anno undecimo mense prima die mensis locutus est Moises ad filios Israel omnia quae praeceperat illi Dominus ut disceret eis Deut. 1. v. 3. Trans Jordanem in terra Moab Deut. 1. v. 5. which as Saint Jerome saith is as it were the Second Law or rather according to the opinion of Theodoret Saint Austin and Saint Athanasius a repetition of the first which was published on Mount Sina and amply set forth in Exodus Leviticus and the Book of Numbers It was about the fortieth year
if you be so unhappy as to infringe the least of these Commandments and contemn these Laws I have so often declared to you or those Ceremoâ—â—es I have so publikely established your Privileges shall be changed into punishments and your Favors into execrations which will at last make you the subject of all the Plagues wherewith Egypt hath been heretofore so cruelly afflicted and you shall even feel some which you never yet heard of or at least whereof you shall not finde any mention in this Book What pity will it be to see you a reproach and scorn to the most barbarous Nations in the World amongst whom you shall nevertheless be dispersed to serve their unknown gods and masters who will give you neither truce nor repose no more than your own consciences which will always carry Vultures and Vipers to torment you without pity or intermission Your hearts will have disturbing terrors and your wandring eyes will cast darts as infallible marks of the misertes and tyranny you shall undergo It is also the doleful portion and the most usual course of the wicked to live amidst frights fears which like so many Goalers both day and night surround an unhappy soul which sees nothing but Specters and Phantasms which solicite her ruine so that you will be always like Criminals whose eyes are already veiled whose necks are laid down and hands tied in expectation of the fatal stroke which will in an instant sever their heads from their bodies Scarce shall the Sun be risen when you will say with sighs Dabit enim tibi Dominus ibi cor pavidum deficientes oculos animam consumptam moerore Deut. 28. v. 65. Manè dices Quis wihi det vesperum vespere Quis mihi det manè Deut. 28. v. 67. Ah! Who will assure me that I may be secure till night and in the Evening some new apprehension will even tear this complaint out of your mouths Ah! I know not whether I shall ever see day Alas who will give me then some assurance of it Sinners where are we Is this to live to die every moment and can we call by the name of life a train of pains torments wounds terrors and deaths O life how sweet art thou when thou dost fear and love nothing but God! O death how dreadful art thou when we have followed and loved some other than God! What Favors and Benedictions in the life and death of a vertuous man But what horrors Anathemaes and Maledictions during the course and end of the life of a sinner Alas My dear Reader reflect a little I beseech thee on these Verities and if the voice of thy Conscience and the examples thou seest daily before thy eyes cannot move thee come then again in spirit with the children of Israel and the predestinated souls hear the voice and exhortation of Moses take a while his Testament into thy hands and then casting thy eyes upon every Article fix thy thoughts upon that where he speaks unto all the Tribes and where after Moses had addressed himself into all sorts of States and Conditions of men and women which were gathered together about him he saith unto them That he spake not onely unto those that were present but also unto the absent and therefore it is unto thee and to all men of the world this discourse must be directed Hear then mortal men your Law-giver hear your Lord your Master and your Prophet who conjures you to look back upon the past ages and when you shall come to those dreadful days in which the Sun and all the Lights of Heaven shall be obscured by fire sulphure and the shameful smokes of those infamous Cities which the spirit of the justest furies of God had consumed and reduced into ashes Interrogate these frightful Reliques and they will tell you That these are the tracts of the Vengeances of Heaven and the remnants of those who have broken with God that Faith which they owed him In fine to conclude this whole discourse with Moses What is more sweet and easie saith this Holy Man Mandatum hoe quod ego praecipio tibi bodie non supra te est neque procul positum Deut. 30. v. 11. than to live under the Laws of so holy a Religion and carefully to observe all those orders which have been dictated by the mouth of a God whose rigors and decrees cannot be but most just What can there be in all that is commanded you which exceeds your forces and is beyond your capacity or too far distanced from your power Nec in caele situm ut possis dicere Quis nostrum valet ad caelum ascendere ut deferat illud ad nos audiamus atque opere compleamus Deut. 30. v. 12. Considera quod hodie proposuerim in conspectu tuo vitam bonum è contraria mortem malum Deut. 30. v. 15. Testes invoco bodic calum terram c. Deut. 30. v. 19. Et diligas Dominum Deum tuum atque obedias voci ejus illi adhaereas ipse est enim vita tua longitudo dierum tuorum ut habites in terra pro qua juravit Dominus patribus tuis Abraham Isaac Jacob ut daret eam illis Deut. 30. v. 20. It is not necessary to mount so high as the Heavens and to pass beyond the Seas to learn and perform what is enjoyned you For what is there you may not do and know and where much trouble is not required to accomplish it The words of God refound in your ears they are near your mouths and hearts Ingrave then deeply in your mindes all that I have this day said unto you and above all remember that on the one side I have proposed happiness and life and on the other misfortune and death I call Heaven and Earth to witness the choice I have given you it is then your part to prefer either good or evil and choose rather life than death to the end you may live with all your children in the peace and obedience you ow unto God and to fix your mindes and hearts so strongly on him that you may live onely for and in him for he is the soul of your spirits on him alone depends the course of your life and it is his hand which will conduct you into this fortunate Land which he promised to your fore-fathers Abraham Isaac and Jacob. Israel it is unto thee Moses speaks and it is unto you Christian People that the eccho of this voice is addressed and loudly resounds in the Law of Grace and of the Messias Do not say then Who shall ascend unto Heaven who shall cause Jesus Christ to descend who shall draw him out of the Sepulchre or who can descend into the Abyss It is not required thou shouldst do these impossible things and which are already done it sufficeth thou perform what lies in thy power and what thou oughtest and the rest shall be granted thee O my
139 Hail plague of Egypt 286 Wretched Harvest of worldly men 152 Hail-storm in Constantinople 268 Hardness of Pharaohs heart 269 Hardness of heart a woful estate 271 Grashoppers of Egypt 289 I. Jacob and Esau 121 Figure of the Christian and Jewish people 116 Jacob Esau 's elder brother and how 137 His agreement with his father-in-law Laban 155 Jacob resolves to send Benjamin into Egypt 207 His descent into Egypt to see his son Joseph 223 The answer he made to Pharaoh concerning his age 229 His death and last words 231 Idols and their subversion 344 Detestable Idolatry of amorous persons 39 Jethro the counsel he gave to Moses to establish Judges for deciding differences between the people of Israel 337 Atheistical ignorance 85 Images of Jesus Christ anciently painted in Temples and Houses in the form of a Lamb 27 Image of a generous courage 69 Image of Gods judgement 86 Image of the lives of men 126 Image of the life and death of Jesus Christ 145 Image of Chastity 184 Image of the World 198 Imagination the effects and properties thereof 156 Unnatural impudence of Cham 48 Inconstancy of created things 113 Dreadful incertainty 135 Incarnation its draught and picture 144 Innocence secured 170 Innocence victorious 179 Inhumanity more than brutish 220 Joseph born of Rachel 154 Joseph sold by his brethren 165 Joseph known by his brethren 214 His lamentations for the death of his Father Jacob 242 Joshua his victories over the Amalekites 332 Isaac his birth 93 The discourse he held with his father asking him where was the victim of his Sacrifice 108 His submission and obedience 109 His mariage with Rebecca 116 Most exact Justice 83 Judges a fair example for them ibid. Judas the brother of Joseph made a speech to him in the name of his brethren 216 Judgements of God incomprehensible 290 Prodigious increase of the people of Israel 247 Jacobs Ladder 141 Jacobs wrestling with the Angel 159 K. Kings of France true successors of Abraham 80 L. Laban is grieved for the barrenness of his flocks 156 His agreement with Jacob and his return unto Mesopotamia 157 Lesson to husbands and wives 17 Leah considerable for her fruitfulness 154 Dangerous liberty 29 Liberality cannot be without freedom 79 Liberality portraict of the Divinity ibid. Liberty of holy Souls 80 Liberty of Esau cause of his misfortune 128 Laws their excellency 357 Their establishment 368 Lot delivered out of the hands of his enemies by the means of Abraham 70 Luxury destruction of souls and canker of body 64 Love its effects and properties 3 Love architect of the world ibid. Gods love never idle 73 Incredulous love 224 Ladder of divine providence 146 Lots wife transformed into a pillar of Salt 89 Irreparable loss 184 Life of man a war without truce 159 Life and death inseparable companions 231 M. Magicians of Pharaoh and their enchantments 270 Admirable magnificence of God 58 Malediction of parents dangerous 132 Malediction of God on the Serpent 23 Malediction of Noah on his son 48 Malice of an eloquent woman 20 Manna of the desart 320 The time when it was to be gathered 323 Mariages subject to many disasters 123 Mariage of Isaac with Rebecca 116 Assured marks of our disposition 126 Martyrdom of love 103 Mixture of fortune 166 Excellent meditation 298 Pleasing Metamorphosis 63 Murther of Abel 27 Michael the Emperor quits his Empire to enter into a religious life 58 Mirror of Essences the motto thereof 29 World error of some Philosophers touching the beginning thereof 8 Monarchy of Adam and Eve over the Univers 19 The world is a Theatre 116 Extreme mortification 145 Motives which induced God to create the world 1 Motives of Conscience 140 Powerful motives to divert the brethren of Joseph from wicked designs 172 Moses 246 His birth and education ibid. His learning 252 His zeal and mariage with the daughter of the Prince of Madian 253 His fear at the sight of the flaming Bush 257 His Commission concerning the deliverance of the people of Israel 260 The certain marks of his power 263 He excuseth himself for accepting the Commission which God gave him 265 The threats God used to him 266 His Embassie into Egypt 267 He is visited in the desart where he creates Judges and Magistrates 334 His last Actions 385 His Testament 386 His last Canticle 402 Mysteries hidden under the Paschal Lamb 300 Man necessary for the world 9 Men eloquent when it concerns their own praise excellent conceptions upon this subject 10 Man the sport of the gods 148 Honest man what he is 163 N. Nature of God beneficent 320 Nature her power limited 269 Nembrod cheif contriver of the Tower of Babel his spirit and disposition 49 Noah his obedience to the command of God 41 His going out of the Ark and his sacrifice on the Hills of Armenia 44 Names Chariots of Essences 74 O. Obligation of fathers and mothers 128 Dreadful obstinacy 271 Oeconomy of the humane body 12 Opinion of Hesiod touching the Creation of the World 8 Original sin 15 Ornaments of the Sanctuary 369 P. Peace and Purity inseparable companions 65 Terrestrial Paradise 16 Paradise first habitation of man 16 Passions their different nature 181 Patience very awful 84 Persecution of modesty 184 Perfidiousness of the world 206 Plague of Egypt 284 Natural causes of the plague 285 Pharaoh King of Egypt makes Joseph his Lieutenant by reason of the truth of his predictions 196 Command of Pharaoh concerning the murther of all the male-children of the Hebrews 248 Pharaoh swallowed up in the Red Sea 304 Plagues of Egypt 275 Antient Policy 356 Portraict of the Justice of God 86 Predictions of Joseph 192 Efficacious prayers 122 Prevision of merits 137 Proclaming of Joseph by his Brethren 172 Promulgation of the Law on Mount Sina 343 Paternal Prudence 169 Punishment of Adam 14 Shameful pusillanimity 69 Putipher his over-great credulity 186 The impudence of his wife and her attempt upon the chastity of Joseph 178 Paschal Lamb 299 Planets the beginning of their courses 5 Pillar of Fire and Clouds 379 Picture of Hell 91 Picture of Fortune 194 Pains of women in child-bearing 23 Prayer the power and effects thereof 122 R. Rachel and her sterility 154 Radegond a despiseth France to become religious 59 Ramerus King of Aragon follows the same destiny ibid. Amiable resemblance between Joseph and Jesus Christ 222 The recompence of Jacob for his services 155 Pitiful reliques of sin 26 Remorse of Conscience 32 Remedies against Envy 35 Reproaches of God to Cain 28 Very just resentments 77 Rosignation of Abraham 101 Angelical resolution of Joseph 181 Rock and its motto 102 Ruben his affection towards his brother Joseph 173 Rivers their bounds and limits 5 River of Charity 80 S. Sacrifices very different of Abel and Cain 28 Sacrifices of Aaron consumed by fire from Heaven 376 Sanctification of the Sabhath 346 Sarah her death 113 How long she lived 115 Scamander i'ts properties effects
156 Secret to become master of hearts 162 Lamentable separation 141 Sephora the command which was given her to circumcise her son 266 Diabolical Serpent which deceived Eve in the Terrestrial Paradise 20 Brazen Serpent which God commanded Moses to make and set up in the Wilderness 381 Sigibertus leaves England to become religious 58 Signs of the day of Judgement 89 Simeon and Levi their fury and cruelties upon the Sichemites 163 Pleasing spectacle 120 Two-edged swords 136 Stratagem of the Angel Raphael 137 Stratagem of Abraham 61 Statue of Justice amongst the antient 86 Soul of a just man is the throne of God 186 Interessed souls 66 Soul source of beauty and operations 14 Slavery of love 150 Spirit of peace becomes furious when it is irritated 69 T. Tabernacle of the Old Testament 372 Time of mans creation 12 Dreadful tempest 275 Temptations their natures and diversities 97 Temptation exercise of Faith ibid. Furious temptations 183 Discreet tenderness 211 Testament of Jacob 236 Thales his opinion of God 262 Theodosius leaves the Empire of Greece to become a religious man 58 The thanksgiving he rendred unto God for one of his vanquished enemies 333 Tomb of concupiscence 352 Thunders plagues of Egypt 286 Tower of Babel 49 Trajan a gallant answer made by him to the Emperor Valens 333 Warlike tranquillity 68 Triumph of love on the sacrifice of Abraham 96 Tryal of love 97 Things difficult to comprehend in the World 166 Tears quench the ardors of our souls 242 Delicious tears 120 V. Vengeance and its degrees 297 Vanity of worldly men in buildings 50 Veremond King of Castile becomes a religious man 58 Verity makes a breach every where 199 Vesuvia the firing of it 275 Vicissitudes of life 168 Union of the souls 145 Vocation of holy soul 57 Voice of God in silence 143 Voyage of Abraham and Sarah into the Land of Egypt 59 His victories and the assurances which God gave him of a flourishing posterity 68 Voyage of the children of Jacob into Egypt 199 Vestments of the High Priest 374 W. Waters of Jordan respectful to the Priests who carried the Ark of the Testament 186 Waters of Egypt converted into blood 277 Constant women 106 Weakness worthy of compassion 46 Weakness of courage 152 Eternal war between the Woman and the Serpent 23 Works of uncreated wisdom 148 Works of the six days 4 Wisdom resembling the Sun 141 Wine its unhappy effects 48 Z. Zeal the excellency and source of it 238 Zeal of the Ranters of the world 254 Indiscreet zeal ibid. True zeal 255 FINIS The Printer to the Reader HIs Lordship 's being out of Town hath occasioned some Errors in the Print which the Reader may thus Correct PAg. 3. line 33. read liveless p. 5. l. 16. r. ardors p. 9. l. 16. r. to his love p. 44. l. 8. adde while p. 55. l. 5. r. Heaven p. 60. l. 28. r. Castles for Dungeons p. 74. l. 30. r. Covenant p. 98. l. 37. r. love was content p. 100. l. 3. r. Benedictions p. 102. l. 15. r. Clarities p. 108. l. 12. r. Isaac 's cost p. 129. l. 4. r. avail me p. 142. l. 13. r. now time l. 14. r. not for needs p. 173. l. 9. dele much p. 204. l. 15. r. poudered p. 207. l. 1. r. Laws p. 217. l. 22. r. even ready p. 255. l. 2. r. specious titles p. 269. l. 3. r. amazed himself p. 295. l. 6. r. was seen cleathed p. 300. l. 1. r. were obliged p. 301. l. 30. r. by it p. 307. l. 1. dele to p. 343. l. 29. dele nevertheless p. 379. l. 9. r. he imployes With other faults of lesser importance besides these in the Text and Marginal Notes
Song of Triumph and what acclamations will there not be heard throughout all Judea will not so many Servants and Handmaids who see all their hopes dying with Abraham resume a new life when they shall perceive the Birth of a Master whose life must be their only support In truth these thoughts and a thousand such as use to happen upon a like accident are too deeply ingraven in Nature and in our Hearts to appear barely on the Lips and upon Paper The Spirit may well conceive them but Hands have but too weak and liveless touches to frame some draught of them Most just resentments It appertains only unto silence and raptures to say what we can scarcely believe or think France I call thee as a Witness for thou canst represent unto us if thou wilt an Image of Abraham's and Sara's Joy thou canst publish to us if thou art so pleased the sentiments of the justest and most holy King and Queen in this World for whose felicity we can but wish the Birth of a Child At least we should even hear themselves when Heaven gave them a Dolphin who was expected for the space of two and twenty years and then we might have beheld on their Faces the smiles of Abraham and Sara we might have seen that which cannot be expressed by words and finally those Echo's which corresponded with the publick acclamations might have opened to the understanding what I cannot lively enough explain CHAP. VII The Charitie of Abraham towards Pilgrims and the tenderness of God towards him I Know not whether I ought rather to admire the continuation of Gods favours to Abraham or the constancy of his vertue and piety towards God and his Neighbour Gods Paternall Love God ceaseth not to follow him and since his departure out of his Country as a good Father should doe to his Child he alwaies held him by the Hand And Abraham hardly ever lost sight of him or at lest his Heart hath alwaies most dearly conserved him The life of Abraham then was a Combat of Constancy and a Duell of Love where on the one side when God attaques him this generous Courage corresponds on the other side and makes a strong defence It is a Pilgrimage in which God goes first and Abraham next These are but researches pursutes and solicitations God gives himself entirely to Abraham and Abraham hath nothing which he gives not for his sake He made this evidently appear Apparâ—it autem ti Duminus in convalle Mâ—mbre sedente ostio tabernaculi sui in ipso servore dici Gen. 18. v. 1. when being in the Valley of Mambre at the opening of his Tents about high Noon he saw three Pilgrims tann'd with the Ardors of the Sun and tyred at least in appearance with the pains and toyl of their journey for immediatly this magnificent cordiall and devout man Cumque elevasset oenlos aparuerunt ei tres viri stantes propè cum c. Gen. 18 v. 2. Et dixit Dominest inveni grattam in oculis tuis â—ne transeas servum tuum Gen. 18. v. 3. Sed asseram pauxillum aquae lâ—vâ—te pedes vestros c. Gen. 18. v. 1. who bore God and men in his heart prevented these travellors and his Soul which alwayes discovered truth amidst shadows ador'd the Majesty of one God hidden under the habit of these three pilgrims Afterwards he offered them his Table and house and not satisfied with these profers he treated them in words and deeds and then to render his duties more perfect he mixed them with so much sweetness so much cordiality and so much reverence that afterwards he would needs wash their feet honoring them not onely as guests but also as Masters of his House wherein I first observe the promptitude of a good work and of a Charity which should have wings to fly and prevent him that receives it It is a verity proved by Axiomes too popular to be doubted of And the freedom and cordiallity Liberalitas quod è libero arbitrio prosiciscatur nominata est Senec. de beat vit c. 24. lib. 2 de benef which are so naturall to magnificence must partake of this promptitude It were likewise to take away its Armes and Eyes and even its Name as Seneca saith excellently well if one should make a man Liberall without the freenesse of this Cordiall liberty Thirdly this bountifull Cordiality ought in some manner to be blind though discreet for it is obliged to discern what is seeming and what is reall But when once necessities are discovered the heart saith St. Denyse ought to be like God and the Sun who inlighten all shadows and have no disdainfull brightnesses but communicate themselves unto all bodies And it was for this reason as I believe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sines ep 31. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Alexand. lib. 2 Strom. that the learned Sinesius called liberallity a Vertue common to God and man and Clement Alexandrinus termed it the Image and picture of the Divinity St. Austen adds that presents must be made with Mouth Heart and Hand Finally Honor and Respect are requisite to it as a mark Seasoning of favours that we acknowledg God in Man and that we are bountifull unto men for his sake This is what our incomparable host did when after all sorts of courtesies and duties he further desired to wash the feet of these three Pilgrims The which Solomon hath since so expressly recommended when he described to us a River Mitte panem tuum super aquas qui a post tempora multa reperies cum Eccl. 11. whose moving Chrystall floated in a bed of gold and in silken curtains Cast bread saith he upon the current of these waves and I promise thee that all such as shall sow upon these liquid Fields shall there find a Harvest even after many Ages Is not this the same which Abraham did washing the feet of these three Travellers Kings of France true successors of Abraham and is it not that which our Kings of France the Successors of Abraham have since so holily observed when once at least every year they wash with their own hands the feet of diverse poor people This is doubtlesse to expose his grandeurs and charitable profusions upon a bason of water which is presently converted into a Source of Graces and immortalities This is to sow in a well-watred Land and where one shall find the Abundance of Ages which the wise man gave for an inscription to his River of Charity Abundantia seculorum In fine this River is no other than that of the Terrestriall Paradise which loseth it self for a while under ground Moses Barcephas è Syria Antistes lib. de Parad. cap. 28. Fluvius Phison and afterwards goes as it were gliding upon the billowes of the Ocean untill it issueth forth as out of a prison which opens it self upon the bounds of the West where after a thousand windings this poor
it be so let us banish these disquiets and perplexities which ravish from us the confidence we ought to have in God My God! my hope is then in thee and I resign my Life my Pleasures my Designs my Desires my Interests and all my Affections into the Bosom of thy Providence And besides I make a vow with Jacob to Live and Dye in the quality of thy Son and of thy most humble Creature who hath no Life nor motion but by thee and for thee Lord accept this offering confirm this promise and in giving Affections unto my Heart to Love thee deny not Lights unto my Soul for the guidance and strengthning of it against all obstacles which might divert it from approaching directly to thee and reaching the top of the Mountain where it hopes both to see and enjoy thee for all Eternity CHAP. VI. The Constancy of Jacob in the Quest of Rachel IT is then the wise Providence of God which can justly attribute this honour unto it self as to say I preside in Councils And it is by the favour of my lights Men in the most importune affairs conceive their gravest and most mature resolutions I am The Works of the increated Wisdom saith Providence the End of Gods wonders by me he Begins his rarest works to Finish them in me And I am the Archetype and the project of his most admirable designs It is this Providence which had the Modell of the Universe when the Elements were in confusion and it was by her disposure the world received its Laws and all its Orders Moreover in the sequence of Age she took all her choicest delights upon the vast Globe of the Earth and her sweetest divertisements amongst men which serve as pastimes to her most holy entertainments I know not whether the Philosophy of Plato were pure enough to understand these verities But he concurred it seems in this opinion when he said That divine Providence sports with men in a way paternally affectionate and full of miracles Homo est ludus Deorum Plato Now if this Pastime appeared in the life of Abraham and Isaack it is no less visible me thinks in that of Jacob. Admirable sports First God sported with him in his Mothers Womb when he stirred his Hand to wrastle with his Brother Esau and to take him by the soal of his Foot that he might cause him to fall from the right to which he pretended Secondly God sported with Jacob when he disguised him by the intervention of his Mother to obtain the Benediction of Isaack Thirdly the Ladder Jacob saw in a dream was as we have said but a Pastime and spectacle of the Divine Providence and at present God continues to sport with him in the rest of his Journey afterwards in the House of Laban and finally in a thousand other rencounters where it will appear that even Gods Combats with Jacob were but Sports and Artifices wherein God took pleasure to recreate himself with him Jacob being then wak'd out of this mysterious sleep and Divine rapture Profectus ergo Jacob venit in terram orientalem Gen. 29. v. 1. Et vidit puteum in agro tres queque greges ovium accubantes juxta eum Gen. 29. v. 2. Quos interrogans numqaid ait nostis Laban Gen. 29 v. 5. Et ecce Rachel ventebat cum ovtbus sui Patris nam gregem ipsa pascobat Gen. 29. v. 9. in which God had kept him for the space of a whole Night on the plains of Bethel he took his way towards the East where a while after neer unto a Well he met with Flocks of Sheep and Sheepheards of whom he enquired whether they were not acquainted with Laban and whether they knew not his House Behold at the same time a Rachel approaching the second Daughter of Laban who kept her Fathers Sheep and led them to drink where Jacob stay'd I know not whether the Day were far advanced but in some part of its course where the Sun may be seen I am well assur'd that the Eyes of Rachel did cast forth a thousand Love-Darts and lights into the Soul of Jacob. Rachel was an Aurora which marcheth before the Sun and instantly these two Planets did that which the Sun and Moon could not effect since their Creation Jacob kissed Rachel Quam cum vidisset Jacob sciret consobrinam suam Gen. 29. v. 10. Osculectus est eam elevata voce flevit Gen. 29. v. 11. Et indicavit ei quod frater esset patris sui filius Rebeccae at illa festinans nuntiavit patri suo Gen. 29. v. 12. Qui cuÌ„ audisset venisse Jacob filium â—ororis suae cucurrit obviaÌ„ei c. Gen. 29. v. 14. and knowing that she was his Cosin he began sweetly to cry out and presently his Eyes shed some tears which expressed the excess of his contentment Rachel would have done the same if her Eyes had been longer fixed on Jacob but she ran from thence to advertise her Father that not far from the House she had happily met with one of her Cosen-germans the Son of Isaack and Rebecca Which Laban hearing went to meet and bring him to his Lodging as also to know the cause of his comming Jacob freely declared to him what had passed to which Laban answered he was very welcome and that he received him as his dear Nephew Diâ—itei nam quia frater meuses gratis servâ—es mihi lic quid mercedis accipias Gen. 29. v. 15. and as a part of himself But for the rest although he had a desire to entertain him as his own Brother yet he must resolve to serve and merit some wayes by his labours Jacob had no mercenary Spirit nor a Body trained up to labour Nevertheless of a Master he must become a Servant and learn by Serving others more prudently to Command hereafter He made a contract then with his Uncle Serviam tibi pro Rachel filta tua mimoâ—â— septem annos Gen. 29. v. 18. Respondit Laban meâ—â—as est ut tibi eam de quam altere vno Gen. 29. v. 19. Sed Lâ—a lipâ—is erat ocults Racitel detora facte venusto aspectu Gen. 29. v. 17. and obliged himself to serve him for the space of seaven years at the end of which Laban promised to Marry him unto Rachel the youngest but the fairest of his Daughters The Eldest which was called Leah had a Face of Wax which melted through her Eyes and rendered her deformed and blear-Eyed but the Youngest had so many beauties and attractives as the least of her glances had power enough to render her Mistress of Jacobs affections It was for her sake and for the Love he boâ—e her that he became a Servant and that of a Pilgrim he took upon him the quality of a Guest Well regulated affection who lodged in his Heart all the duties of a most pure and holy amity His Love was not of the nature of those petty Devils which
had passed and knowing that he could not forbear earnestly to call upon his clemency for these guilty men he spake unto him just as if his hands had been tied behinde him and as if he could not have darted the Thunderbolts of his wrath until Moses had consented thereunto Moses Dimitte me ut irascatur furor meus contra eos c. Exod. 32. v. 10. said he thy people have sinned against me and their sin cryeth out for vengeance but the prayers thou makest for them keep back my arm and I cannot cause my Lightnings to break forth if thou dost not detain those ejaculations and flames which oppose me and reinkindle my goodness even in the bosom of my severest Justice Not that God St. Hieron in 5 Da. niel saith Saint Jerome is changeable or that he can change for his nature is not subject to mutation but the order of things may alter according to the course of his Divine Providence We must not also imagine that his Decrees can be changed within himself for they are eternal Consilium Deus non mutat sedrem Greg. lib. 20. Moral 24. and engraven in his proper Essence all the change in this case befals the souls of sinners as they are absolved and freed from the pains they had merited The which is done not by any change in God or in his Decrees but in those against whom the sentence of condemnation had been given and this change ariseth either from the goodness of God or by the Intercession of his Saints It is then for Moses sake Faciamque te in gentem magnam Exod. 32. v. 10. God will seem to alter his designs for notwithstanding all that God said to him his zeal passeth yet farther and he refuseth all the offers made him even of another people and of a more ample Government to assist these ungrateful persons It seems saith Saint Gregory Charitas in sancto ejus pectore ex persecutione â—â—nescebat magis Greg. 27. Mor. 7. that love and compassion were the more inflamed by the breath of the Injuries and Affronts which were offered him just as water which becomes the hotter the more cold the air is which incompasseth it and a fire whose ardors become more violent Vt perire malint cum his qui sibi crediti sunt quam sine illit salvos esse Chrysost Hom. 12. in cap. 1. S. Joan. Placatusque est Dominus ne faceret malum quod locutus fuerat adversus populum suum Exod 32. v. 14. Et reversus est Morses de monte portans duas tabulas testimonii in manu sua scriptas ex utraque parte Exod. 32. v. 15. Cumque appropinquasset ad castra vidit vitulum choros iratusque valde projecit de manu tabulas confregit eas ad radicem montis Exo. 32. v. 19. Arripiensque virtulum quem fecerant combussit contrivit usque ad pulverem quem sparsit in aquam Exo. 32.20 Dixitque ad Aaron quid tibi fecit hic populus ut induceres super eum peccatum maximum Exod. 32. v. 21. Cui ille respondit c. Exod. 32. v. 22. Et stans in porta castrorum ait Si quis est Domini jungatur mihi Congregatique sunt ad eum omnes fitu Levi. Exod. 32. v. 26. S. Greg. in 1 Reg. 14. Rupertns alti passim Quibus ait haec dicit Dominus Deus Israel ponat vir gladium super femur suum Ice reddite de porta usque ad portam c. Exod. 32. v. 27. proportionably as the cold which presseth it is more forcible Behold saith Saint John Chrysostom the Antiperistasis of perfect Charity wherein all hearts which have any charge of souls ought to finde the increase of their most holy and just ardors And this is what Moses did in the midst of the contempts and persecutions of all his people for whom when he had obtained some easment of pain and some diminution of the punishments they had deserved he descended from the Mountain carrying between his arms the Tables in which the Law was written on both sides which he thought not yet convenient to give unto such unworthy people and polluted with the most heinous of all Sacrileges but having broken them in peeces he went directly to cast down the Golden Calve and dissolve it into dust which he afterward threw into the stream of a torrent which issued forth of Mount Sina and passed through the midst of the Hebrews Camp to the end they might swallow down these funestous Reliques and that no man might ever behold them without horror Afterwards he blamed Aaron as the Author of this crime who endeavored to excuse himself relating to him in order what had passed the which did not yet divert Moses from doing what his zeal inspired him For from thence he came to the entrance of the Camp where making a stand he cryed out that all that were of Gods party and had not participated of Idolatry should follow him which the Children of Levi hearing whose Tribe had continued most faithful unto God put themselves in a ring about Moses who following the Sovereign Power of Life and Death which he had received from God commanded them to betake themselves to their Arms and lay about them without sparing any of the guilty either Brother Friend Neighbor or any person amongst these impious men so that the number of the dead amounted to three and twenty thousand Behold a strange massacre nevertheless it is an effect of meekness which hath changed its countenance and taken that of severity These are shafts which issued out of a heart the fullest of Pity and Clemency which was then in the world but shot by the hand of Justice If such as govern Republicks and States had nothing but Crowns to recompence their merits Misericordia veritas custodiunt Regein roboratur clementia thronus ejus Exod. 20. v. 28. and no Thunderbolts to punish the wicked quickly would Insolencies Treacheries Concussions Robberies and all the abominations of the Earth be seen holding the Reigns of Empires and in fine Virtue groaning under the feet of Vice and Impiety A Prince ought to have the meekness of a Lamb and the terror of a Lyon otherwise men abuse him and his power seems but for a support unto the blackest dissolutions The people also ought to love with fear otherwise their love degenerates into contempt I know that Thrones have no foundation more solid and immovable than when they are supported by the hearts of their Subjects but if Guards be not placed about them as so many Pillars there needs but one storm to overthrow them It cannot be doubted but this kinde of mixture is full of difficulty but as a body is never in perfect health but when all its four humors are in an equal temper so Kingdoms are never better governed than when they equally use meekness and severity Choler is the touchstone of Virtue
Rigorous Meekness and that person hath no soul who cannot be irritated when occasion is given Tyranny hath been always insupportable but powers sweetly rigorous have never been but the objects of the most just affections Cruelty is fit for Devils and Justice is apportioned unto men It is the Rod of God and the Scepter which he was pleased to put into the hands of the Sovereign Magistrate and of his Lieutenants to render men as it were partakers of his power and to adopt them unto his Empire We must not wonder then if Moses who was as his Lieutenant over his people made them sometimes feel the weight of his hand which had so often obliged and filled them with his magnificences but I should rather remain astonished how a single man could undertake so great a work and compass it with a few selected Children who inrolled themselves under his Standard Children saith he let us go who loves God A fair saying of a Captain Who loves God let him follow me Feceruntque filii Levi juxta sermonem Moisi cecideruntque in die illa quasi viginti tria millia hominum Exod 32. v. 28. let him follow me And presently in the head of some Levites he assaults he defeats and puts three and twenty thousand men to the sword Behold I beseech you what a man animated with the Spirit of God is able to do Admire also the power and authority of Moses who is in the midst of his Troops as the eye in the head and the heart in the centre of the body to watch to heat and as it were to defend every Levite Behold an army of Stags led by a Lyon which is more dreadful than an army of Lyons conducted by a Stag. So Aaron was but a timorous Stag when he gave way unto the murmurings of the people and Moses a generous Lyon when he himself plunged his Sword into the bosom of Rebellion and Impiety It is much easier to finde Soldiers than a brave Captain Paul Aemil. lib. 6. Hist Franc. And it was for this cause Heraclius Patriarck of Jerusalem coming unto Henry King of England to induce him to go in person to the Holy War this Blessed Man seeing that nothing but gifts were presented him answered That he had not so much need of money as of a good Conductor for one man of Courage Authority and Experience is worth a world of people And this was the occasion that heretofore the Grecians esteemed more Epaminondas than all the Commonwealth of Thebes which never enjoyed Liberty but under this brave Governor From hence Advice to Noble-men the great ones the Nobles and all that are in office may learn how they ought to comport themselves in enterprizes of importance since on them usually the safety of a City Province Kingdom and even Christianity it self depends Above all let them learn the art to mix Honey with Gall and always to joyn Power with Meekness and never to sever these two sisters which are the Tutelaries and Mistresses of a good Conduct And if it should sometimes happen that both of them had a minde to be scrupulous Reason ought to resolve their doubts and rather incline a thousand times unto Mercy than to have the least shadow of Cruelty To this effect it is fit to set our selves in the place of others and to treat them as we would desire to be treated our selves if capable thereof We may pass farther if we please and without breaking the Laws of Piety consecrate and offer our selves up for a Victim and receive at least into our own hearts the blow which was ready to fall on others Thus did Moses Reversusque ad Dominum ait Obsecro pectavit populus iste peccatum maximum feceruntque sibi Deos aurtos Aut dimitte eis hanc noxam Exod. 32. v. 31. who fearing lest a more just and severe hand might strike these poor Criminals which were left after so bloody a slaughter lifted up his yet bloody hands towards Heaven to the end Justice might have at least some cause to become flexible at the sight of his exploits and that the mildness of a Judge might not condemn him of an over indulgent remissness Hear then Sovereign Powers hear this poor Prince this generous Patriarck this incorruptible Judge this Father of Israel the Conductor of Gods people and the Lieutenant General of his Troops Alas my God saith he cast a gracious look upon thy people which are onely mine as being committed by thee unto my charge It is a Pledge thou hast put into my hands to restore it back unto thy self It is a Flock which thou hast nourished in the desert of which thou hast made me the Shepherd a Bark which thou hast drawn out of the billows of the Red Sea over which thou hast established me the Pilot Slaves which enjoy no liberty but by thy favor and children who can acknowledge no other Father and King than thy self They have offended thee I confess but thy goodness surpasseth there iniquity and the misery in which they are now involved is not a subject for thy Justice but for thy mercy all the favors thou hast conferred on them would not have their last effects if thou didst not continue thy graces to them and the desart which thou hast for their sake rendred a Paradise of blessings and delights would have been a fair way to lead them into a precipice It is sufficiently known how far thy power extends and that there needs but one of thy looks to consume the whole world with lightning and to cloud all the lights of Heaven but thou art also able with one word to repair Nature and thy goodness can in a moment raise a thousand Trophies in the midst of thy severest Justice and besides dost thou not see blood enough already spilt to satisfie thy vengeance and to efface the memory of one crime This example is general enough to excite every one in particular and of all those who are left alive there is not one which may not be innocent and desire to merit favor In fine Aut si non facis dele me de libro tuo quem scripsisti Exod. 32. v. 32. I humbly in their behalf request this favor of thee and I beseech thee rather to blot me out of thy Book of Life than not to grant them pardon I had rather become a subject of thy wrath and that there may be no memory of me than it should be said That I having been their Father and Conductor did afterward serve for an executioner in their last punishments It would be an eternal regret unto me to survive them and the glory I have had to have been their Captain and Judge would leave me nothing but shame and confusion I humbly beseech thee then yet once more to strike me out of thy Book and let me die with them or for them for I had rather be the Sacrifice than the Sacrificer and my loss will be