was ulcer'dâ— in his Bowels and pester'd with Worms which crawl'd out of his rotted flesh and in the midst of Conâ—ulsions and exquisite Torments over his whole Body ended his miserable Life to begin one more miserable Iudas who had been a seeming Friend but proved at last a real Adversary to the Christian Cause and perfidiously betray'd the Lord of Life â—as by Divine Vengeance punish'd with a triple Death as I have shew'd in the Exposition of Mat. 27. 5. The Sacred Records acquaint us that Elymas a Sorcerer who opposed the Christian Faith was struck blind by St. Paul Acts 13. 11. Clement the Roman Arnobius Epiphanius and others relate how Simon the Magician an Apostate from Christianity and one who openly defied that Religion afterwards was defeated in his bold Attempt of flying in the Air and was struck down to the ground by St. Peter Herod Antipas Tetrarch of Galilee who beheaded Iohn Baptist and under whom Christ suffer'd Death was afterwards condemned by Caligula to perpetual Banishment where he died miserably Caiaphas was the same time disgracefully removed from the High Priest's Office and Ionathan was set in his Place Pilate who condemned our Saviour was accused at Rome put out of his Place and then banish'd to the Town of Lions and at length slew himself Herod Agrippa Nephew of Herod the Great who stretch'd forth his hands to vex certain of the Christian Church and particularly kill'd Iames the Brothâ—r of Iohn with the Sword and proceeded further to take Peter also and put him in Prison intending after Easter to bring him forth to the People to be executed as Iames was this execrable Man who thus thirsted after the Blood of the Christians and designed a plentifâ—l effusion of it was on a sudden cut off by the just hand of God and that in the midst of those prophane Apâ—plauses which he receiv'd from the People the Text saith he was eaten of Worms Acts 12. 23. It may be observed that most of the Roman Emperors and Tyrants who imbrued their hands in the Blood of Christiâ—ans died violent Deaths some of them laid hands on themselves and the rest in some other manner miserably closed their days Of the twelve first Roman Emperors there were but three that died natural Deaths and of the forty Pagan Emperors of Rome for so many were from Iulius Caesar to Constantine the Great there were few that died in their Beds See Lactantius de Mâ—rt Persecut who undertakes to shew that all the Eâ—mperors and Tyrants that persecuted the Christians â—had tragical ends by the visible hand of God upon them and he particularly recounts the Signal Iudgments which they were deservedly visited with And as for Iulian who was a Flatterer of the Christians and â—â—sed a way quite contrary to what the foregoing Caesarâ—s had done for by Bribes and Preferments he endeavour'd to pervert the Christians and at other times he attempted to jeer them out of their Religion this Man in the very beginning of his Reign was taken off in a very strange and surprizing manner He who vowed to sacrifice to his Gods the Blood of the Christians when he return'd in Triumph from his Persian Expedition as St. Ierom Theodoret and Orosius relate met with a bloody Stroke which defeated his purposes Whence the Truth of what a Christian told â—â—banius was manifest viz. that the Carpenter's Soâ—â— was making a Coffin for Iâ—lian Who gave him his wound is not known to any to this day said the Ecclesiastical Historian but as he adds whether it was a Man or an Angel that inflicted it it is certain he was the Minister of the Divine Wilâ— And the desperate Behaviour of the perishing Emperor is mention'd by the same Writer viz. that he fiâ—l'd his hand with the Blood that issâ—ed from the Woâ—nd and threw it up into the Air with a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This Author tells us moreover that his Emâ—press a Pious and Religious Lady seeing him thus punish'd seasonably reminded him of his Guilt and plainly told him that he would not have known who it was he had so fiercely opposed unless this Stroks from God had been inflicted on him I might have observ'd before out of the Life of Constantine the Great that as soon as Maximian persecuted the Christâ—ians the Divine Vengeance seized him and his secâ—et Parts and his Bowels were ulcerated And there likewise we find the Emperor declaring that he had himself taken notice of the strange Exits of some that had troubl'd the People of God i. e. the Christians with their wicked Edicts l. 4. c. 12. I could go bacâ— and observe that Tertullian propounds to Scapula the African President several particular Exaâ—ples of the Mischiefs and Plagues that befel certain of his Predecessors and others that vex'd and disturb'd the Christians But among all the Iudgments of Gâ—od on the Enemies and Persecutors of Christianitâ— I may reckon his Vengeance on the Iewish People and Nation as the most observable and notorious According to our Saviour's Prediction they heard of Wâ—ars and rumours of Wars and soon felt them there was great distress in the Land and wrath upon this People they fell by the edg of the Sword c. Nero sent Vespasian to reduce these Rebels who for six Years together miserably destroy'd them and their Country with Sword and Fire Then upon Nero's Death Vesâ—asian who succeeded him sent his Son Titus thither who bent all the Force of the War against their Capital City and closely besieged it Yet as the Historian himself acknowledges this merciful Prince acted this Tragical Part unwillingly he all the while pitied the Iews and testifi'd it by his Tears he deferred from time to time the Destruction of Ierusalem and kept up the Siege the longer that the Iews might repent of their Doings and submit themselves to his Arms. But when he saw they were obstinate and would by no means make good use of his Forbearance he resolv'd to punish their Incorrigibleness and accordingly he fell upon them with an unusual severity and wofully sack'd and destroy'd the City and burnt both it and the Temple to the ground No less than eleven hundred thousand were kill'd by Fire Sword Famin and civil Discord in the time of the Siege and ninety seven thousand were taken Captives at the sacking of it there being then a vast confluence of Iews from all parts to celebrate the Passover for as this was the time when our Saviour was crucifi'd so at this very Season the Iews were remarkably punish'd for crucifying him An innumerable company of that miscreant Nation which sold Christ for thirty pieces of Silver were exposed to sale at a far cheaper Rate for as this Author affirms the Market ran so low that twenty Iews were sold for a penny The whole City and Temple were utterly demolish'd to the ground And this was done by him who was stiled the Darling and Delight of Mankind as if the Iews were
such an Act as is above natural Force and Abiliâ—y and is done wholly by virtue of an omnipotent Power There is a Physical Virtue and Agency given to all Creatures at their first Creation Their natural Properties and Affections are settled in them by God at first and according to these they constantly act except he who created them changes their course immediately influencing on them When the Creator thus alters their natural Course and Agency and when the Effects are contrary to their natural Power there is a Miracle wrought for Miracles are Actions that are against natural Efficiency This is opposed by Mr. Hobbs who holds that there are no real Miracles because all is by natural Causes only they seem to the Vulgar to proceed from extraordinary and supernatural Causes On this ground he endeavours to vilify the Miracles wrought by Christ. And Spinosa would fain thrust upon us this Proposition that whatsoever the Scripture affirms to have been done did necessarily come to pass according to the Laws of Nature and no otherwise and consequently that those things which go under the Name of Miracles have only natural Causes tho unknown to us And he conceits this to be a sufficient Reason of what he saith viz. that God and his Decrees are unchangeable and therefore the Laws of Nature can't be alter'd and so there are no Miracles because these are said to be Interruptions or Viâ—lations of the course of Nature But if the altering the course of Nature be contain'd in the divine Decrees as most sure it is then what will become of his Argument It is a mere Fallacy and contradicts several Discoveries which God hath made of himself and his doings in the sacred Writ where we find that there are such Actions as cannot be done by the mere Power and Energy of Men or Angels either good or bad or of any created Beings It is of the Essence of a Miracle to exceed all natural Power A Miracle always supposes the Virtue by which it is produced to be Divine 2. This is another property of a Miracle which follows necessarily on the former that it is Vnaccountable We cannot solve it we cannot shew any reason why it is so It is above our apprehension for it being a thing above natural Power it is impossible that natural Reason should tell how it is done A Miracle is such a work of which no Physical Cause can be assigned therefore it is no wonder that it is beyond our Conceptions and that we cannot apprehend how it is performed 3. It is also something done rarely and unusually It is a saying of the Rabbins and a true one A Miracle doth not happen every hour It is an uncommon thing and Rarity is of the nature of it For the design of a Miracle was to beget Faith by its being rare and therefore if you could suppose it to be perpetual the end of it would be lost which is to stir up Men to believe by the uncommonness of what is done Divine works that are done daily and ordinarily are not Miracles thus to justify Sinners to convert them to save them c. are not call'd Miracles So Gods preserving and upholding the World is the work of Divine Power only but it is not call'd a Miracle because it is every moment Pliny declares that it exceeds all Miracles that any one Day passes and all the World is not set on Fire because of the innumerable subterraneous fires and by reason of the infinite number of Stars and the vast heat in the Sun and the inbred fires in Clouds c. But this is no rarâ— and strange thing and therefore is no Miracle The gravity of bodies the strange Operation of the Loadstone the reciprocal motion of the Sea are Phaenomenâ— that depend as I apprehend on the particular and immediate influence of a supernatural cause and yet because they are common are not Miracles God the All-wise Governor of the World hath his usual and ordinary ways but these oftentimes are neglected and despised because they are common wherefore he thinks good to use another method he exertâ— other acts and these are unusual and extraordinary and excite a greater regard and reverence in Men and have the name of Miracles 4. It is the qualification of a Miraclâ— not only to be supernatural unaccountable and rare but also to be something visible at least very evident and discernible The Egyptians saw Moses's Miracles the Priests of Baal saw what Elijah did And whatever Miracles are really done are done in the sight of People or the effects of them are to be plainly seen The reason is because they are exhibited to the World on purpose that they may be observed and taken notice of Wherefore a Miracle is such a Divine Work as is evident and apparent and thence this kind of Operations are frequently call'd Signs i. e. outward and open representations of the Almighty Power of God 5. And lastly they deserve the name of Miracles because they stir up Mens minds to admire them they cause amazement and wonder they are such works of God as create astonishment in all that seriously consider them And this proves what I said before viz. that it is against the nature of a Miracle to be constant and lasting and always continuing for if it were so it would not be wondred at and then it would cease to be a Miracle These are the inseparable properties and qualification of true and real Miraclâ—s but the first is the main and the only essential one for some other things are unaccountable we being ignorant of the extent of Nature's Sphere and unusual and wonderful but they are not against and above the power of natural causes therefore they are not properly Miracles for a Miracle is a thing that cannot be done but by Supernatural and Divine strength Consequently a Miracle cannot be done by the Devil or any of his Ministers and Agents These indeed can do strange and wonderful things that is either such as are really so but then they rise only from occult natural causes and means or such that seem to be so they appear only and are not and then they are mere Jugglings and Tricks of Art Thus far evil Spirits and their Agents are able to go and no further they can counterfeit Miracles but they cannot work one true Miracle Thus the Egyptian Magicians did wonderful things they did not only make their Rods to appear like that of Mercury with Serpents twining about them but which is greater they by their Inchantments turned their Rods into Serpents or seem'd to do so That the worst Men may have power to work such signs and wonders is plain from Deut. 13. 1 2. And the reason why God suffers false Prophâ—ts to work those seeming Miracles is suggested in v. 3. The Lord your God proveth you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your Heart and with all your Soul It is to try Men
know that their Testimonies of him are Fabulous and Incredible as namely when they write that he perfectly understood Languages which he never learn'd that he cur'd all Diseases that he knew Mens Hearts and Thoughts and foresaw all Futurities They should not saith he have said so high things of him if they would have been believed they have outdone the thing they undertook for since they hold Apollonius to be no more than a Philosopher they had no Reason to ascribe such Great and Prodigious things to him Whereas it was reported that this Apollonius fetch'd a Woman to Life as she was carried to be buried Philostratus himself thinks she was not dead It is incredible even to him and therefore he only saith she seemed to be dead In brief Eusebius sheweth that most of the Prodigious and Portentous things related concerning this Man are Cheats and Forgeries and the rest are the effects of Magick and Witchcraâ—t Philostratus doth not deny that it was reported he studied Magick and to that purpose convers'd with the Egyptian Gymnosophists and Indian Bracmans in his Travels And tho he endeavours to disprove it yet there is enough in that very History to make it appear that Apollonius gave his mind to that sort of unlawful Study and was a great Wizard and Necromancer He was a Person so noted over all the Roman Empire for his Magical Enterprizes that Grotius and Hammond think These are spoken of in Rev. 13. 11. To his Magick we must impute not only all the great Wonders he did in his Life but what happen'd in the close of it for as those forenamed Authors write when he was arraigned before Domitian who hated him as much as Titus loved him he bragg'd that he was not to be hurt and that he was Immortal and soon after that he vanished in the midst of the Court to the amazement of the Emperour and the rest of his Judges Thus this great Sorcerer made his Exit Now from what I have laid down before it is evident that these strange and wonderful Actions of his were not True Miracles for I have proved such cannot be done by the help of Devils and Evil Spirits Diabolical Wonders are to magnifie the Author of them the Devil and to promote Superstition and Idolatry in the World as these did therefore they cannot be from God and consequently they are no Real Miracles for such are always exerted by a Divine Power Lastly we may from the foregoing Discourse judg of the Miracles which the Church of Rome pretends to There is great Reason to determine that they are so far from being True Miracles that they are downright Forgeries and Impostures For I. Some of them are no other than what Impostors in all Ages were permitted by God to do as appears from what hath been delivered 2. Many of them are only Seeming Wonders and such as Greek and Latin Historians are full of but never thought them to be the effects of Divine Power Valerius Maximus hath gathered some of them together 3. Many of the Popish Miracles are frivolous and impertinent vain trifling and ridiculous witness the fantastick and Romantick Stories of the Exploits of the Virgin Mary St. Francis St. Dominick and several others Any unprejudiced Person that reads them will say that they are unworthy of a Divine Author and therefore they must be excluded from the number of True Miracles Once upon a time when St. Francis was preaching in the fields there came an Ass and made some disturbance among his Auditors which caus'd St. Francis to speak thus to the Brute Brother Ass be quiet till I have ended my Sermon whereupon upon the Ass presently came and laid him down very peaceably at the Preacher's feet to tell the World they must all be such Asses and come and crouch to the Church of Rome and lie prostrate at the Priest's Feet 4. There is ground to believe that several of the Miracles of the Church of Rome are the effects of Diabolical Magick Platina and others who have writ the Popes Lives tell us very plainly that some of them studied and practised Magical Arts and were very great with the Devil or else some of them had never arrived to the Triple Crown Whilst that Church lays claim to Simon Peter they are no strangers to the Practices of Simon Magus It is well known that sundry of their Priests deal with the Diabolical Spirits and thence we may justly conclude that many of their pretended Miracles are Specimens of the Black Art 5. Let it be remembred that it is foretold in 2 Thess. 2. 9. that their Friend Antichrist shall do Miracles Such are theirs yea they are the very same and are permitted by God to be done among them for the same purpose viz. That they should believe a Lie i. e. their Religion and that they all might be damned who believe not the Truth i. e. the Christian Religion in its Simplicity and Purity 6. Seeing Miracles are for begetting Belief and they look upon us as Hereticks who with them are as bad as Infidels why do they not come among us and before our faces work Wonders and Miracles Let them not be done in Spain Portugal or Italy but openly here in England or in some other Protestant Country where we may behold what they do That Miracle-working faculty which operates only at so great a distance from us will gain little credit Or let not a sorry Friar but the Pope himself do some Great Miracle where he is Till then we have cause to look upon them as Counterfeits Again 7. This is to be thought of that their own Authors give them the Lie as for Example whereas they talk and write of Xaverius's Miracles in the Indies Acosta the Jesuit acknowledgeth that they did no Miracles there and he adds that there was no need of any Nay Xaverius himself in his Letters which he wrote concerning his Travels and Undertakings in these Parts makes no mention of them So some of the Miracles attributed to Ignatius Loiola are confess'd by those that write his Life to be uncertain and incredible and by others of the Roman Party they are said to be forg'd after his Death as Dr. Stillingfleet now Bishop shews in his Enthusiasm of the Church of Rome p. 118 c. And even St. Francis's Miracle of the Five Wounds imprinted on his Body was look'd upon as a Fable by Pope Gregory the Ninth We may then justly disbelieve the Stories of Ignatius and Xaverius and St. Francis's Miracles and of the rest of that Perswasion and be convinced that they were Falshoods to magnify the Cause and to extol their Church 8. Many of these Popish Miracles have been actually discovered to be Cheats It hath been manifestly proved and there are several Records of it extant that they were the mere contrivance of their Priests And such particularly were some of those Miracles which were pretended to be done by the Virgin Mary at
the Ear. If I would go abroad and observe what hath been found out for the Use and Benefit of Mans Life I might take notice of that so Pleasant and Profitable Commodity of Sugar For whereas former Ages knew the use of Honey only as the Universal Sweetner there is now discover'd a more convenient one by which a great part of our Food is made more delicious and many things in Physick are prepar'd and by which the whole work of Confectioning is maintain'd It is true Pliny speaks of Sugar Saccharum as it was taken out of the Canes and saith it was used in Medicines but it was rare and in small quantities and in Galen's time it was scarcely known and then it was used raw and indigested and was unserviceable to many Purposes But at last this useful Condiment was Boyl'd and Bak'd Dried and Condens'd and made up as now we see it This is an Invention not above 200 Years old And the first Confectionerâ— or Comfit-maker in England was one Baltazar Zanches a Spaniard A. D. 1596. I might mention the many Ingenious and Artificial Contrivances about Planting Agriculture ordering of Bees Architecture Painting which last is in some respects much better and more exact than it was of old as Monsieâ—r Perault hath shew'd And in several other things the Moderns have made great and worthy Improvements and very considerable Additions to what was before But I will confine my self to some of the Arts and Sciences and briefly recount some of the Improvements which have been made in them To begin with Medicks unto which Anatomy belongs it is true Pliny tells us that the Egyptian Kings caused Dead Bodies to be cut up to find out the Situation and Structure of the Parts of Man's Body and the Causes of Diseases But another tells us that Hierophilus was the first that Diffected the Bodies oâ— Men he was Contemporary with Phalaris and practis'd this on Malefactors that were sent to him out of the Prisons Democritus of old used Dissections by the same token that he was thought by the Abderites to be made for doing so i. e. for cutting up Cats and Dogs But it doth not appear that he or Hippocrates or Galen or any of the Famed Physicians open'd Humane Bodies But we have of late ventured to search frequently into these as well as those of Brutes and from both we have found out several things worth our search The Circulation of the Blood may justly pass for a New Invention even the Discovery of this Age for though some and even a Physician too have thought that Solomon meant this by the Wheel as the Cistern Eccl. 12. 6. Though Plato in his Timaeus seems to have had some knowledge of this according to others and though a late Writer before mentioned affirms very confidently that the Chinese were no Strangers to it above 4000 Years ago yet we are not certain that the Wise Man's Words are to be understood with reference to this thing and Plato's Words can much less be understood so and that Relation concerning the People of China as well as their extravagant Computation is disbelieved by most of the Learned Or say that this was not first found out by Dr. Harvey yet if we consider that he was the Person who so plainly Illustrated this matter and set down the true way and method of it and clearly demonstrated how this Operation in the Body is perform'd and fully answer'd all the Arguments and Objections which were brought against it we may justly stile him the first Inventor of it Not to speak of the Infusion or Injection of Blood into the Veins of Animals first used by Dr. Wren which afterwards was advanced into Transfusion and first practised by Dr. Lower I might mention several New Passages and Conveyances in the Body lately found out as the Valuae of the Veins by Fabricius ab Aquapendente the Lymphatick Vessels by Bartholine the Lacteal Veins dispers'd through the Mesentery by Asellius the Common Receptacle of the Chyle fastned to the Vertebrâ— of the Back a little above the Reins and the Lacteal Veins of the Breast or the Ductus Thoracicus which go from the Receptaculum to the Subclavian Veins found out by Pecquet Glisson hath nobly search'd into the Liver Wharton into the Glandules Willis hath discover'd several things in the Brain And what plenty of useful Inventions do we meet with in the Writings of Sylvius Bilsius De Graeff Diemerbroek Malpighius Vesâ—ingius Densingius Steno Highmore c. Indeed Physick and Anatomy have had the greatest Improvements of late of any Faculty whatsoever Medicks are exceedingly Cultivated the Nature of Diseases is more narrowly enquired into and understood the Signs and Symptoms of them are daily more manifested and the Therapeutick part is infinitely more inlarged and advanced by a mixing of Galenical and Chymical Medicines by the vast variety of Observations and Experiments and by the Skill and Sagacity of those that have lately labour'd in that Art so that this Age is grown Famous for Great and Wonderful Cures and the Health and Long Life of Man are marvellously promoted In Astronomy there are New Discoveries also The late Ages have been more knowing in the Heavens than those that went before Now we are acquainted with the Suns Spots i. e. the Filth and Scum which it sometimes contracts the Mountains and Shadows of the Moon the Lunulae or Satellites of Iupiter mutually Eclipsing one another and the Ansulae Saturni So that whereas heretofore there were but Seven Planets known now Six more are added 4. about Iupiter and 2. about Saturn We have found Mercury and Venus to be Horn'd and to be subject to the other Aspects of the Moon The Stars are grown into Suns in our Days for there are as many Suns as Fixed Lights and there is on difference between these and that Luminous Body which we call the Sun but that they are further off from us than this There are New Hypotheses of the Heavens and the Earth and of the Rest and Motion of either which if they be not adjusted to exact Truth yet serve to illustrate and better set forth the Doctrine of the Celestial Bodies and their various Phaenomena and thereby to lead us to admire the Wonders of the Creation and to extol and praise the Great and All-wise Contriver of this Mundane Fabrick Nor is Astronomy yet come to its Zenith to its Meridian We on good Grounds expect that by the benefit of the Optick Tubes and Telescopes which are every day growing more perfect we shall penetrate farther into the Nature of the Heavenly Bodies and have a more compleat insight into them And it is not to be doubted that we shall in time have a more correct Account of the Suns Course and consequently a Reformation of the Calender and then that Complaint will cease that the present Computation is not exactly agreeable to the Natural Motion of the Sun or Earth Arithmetick is mightily
by what proper Methods and Arts we can Let us lay the Axe to that Root of Bitterness which hath spread it self among us and taken such hold of some Men's Earthly Natures Let us compose our selves into a quiet posture and effectually promote Peace and Good Will in the World Let us bring out and make use of our Juleps to check that fierce that Feverish Distemper which reigns among too many Let us endeavour by mild and cooling Applications to accommodate Differences to reconcile disagreeing Parties especially in Matters referring to Religion but so as not to betrary the Truth to allay all passionate Heats and to discountenance all wilful Authors of Division And as the Word Peace in Scripture signifies according to the Usage of the Hebrews all manner of Outward Blessings so here in the present Case it is to be taken in that comprehensive way In that Kingdom of Christ on Earth there shall no kind of Earthly Conveniences and Advantages be wanting which shall be useful to the great Ends and Purposes of that Blessed State But as for any other viz. such as are serviceable to Undue Pleasures to Lust and Wantonness to Vanity and Pride to Effeminacy and Luxury no Man of sober Thoughts can reckon them in the number of those Worldly good Things which the Pious shall hereafter enjoy And therefore we must condemn that Narrative which some have given of the Millennium as too sensual and fulsome But we may with Truth and Soberness assert this That there shall be a concurrence of all those things which render Men's Lives truly pleasant comfortable and joyful It is part of the Description of that Millennary Jubilee that they shall come to Sion with Songs and everlasting joy upon their heads They shall obtain joy and gladness and sorrow and sighing shall flee away Isai. 35. 10. And again Ch. 65. v. 17. Behold I create new Heavens and a new Earth which questionless is meant of this Glorious Renovation and might have been alledged among the other Texts as a Proof of it and then it follows I create Ierusalem a rejoicing and her People a ioy The voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her nor the voice of crying v. 18 19. And if we go back to Ch. 9. v. 3. we shall find that this rejoicing and this joy shall be entire Thou hast multiplied the Nation and not increased the ioy i. e. heretofore Joy and Sorrow were mingled sometimes that Nation of the Jews was visited in Mercy at other times it tasted of God's Judgments They ioy before thee according to the ioy in Harvest and as Men rejoice when they divide the Spoil i. e. there was in the times past a Medley of Joy and Trouble of Gladness and Fear as in the Services of War and Harvest but when a Child shall be born to us when a Son shall be given and the Government shall be upon his Shoulders v. 6. then there shall be Joy without any allay then there shall be such a perfect State that nothing shall be able to impair it I know most Interpreters expound the Place otherwise and make the Ioy in Harvest to be exceeding Great Joy surpassing all other But I crave leave to dissent from the common Exposition and to understand this Passage after the manner before-mentioned viz. that whereas heretofore they joy'd according to the Ioy of Harvest i. e. their Joys were mix'd with Hardships they were accompanied with Sweat and Toil And besides the Joy of Harvest doth not last long for the Husbandman as blith and cheary as he isâ— must soon return to his wonted Circle of Pains and Labour Whereas under the preceding Dispensations there was no Entire and Undisturbed Joy now it shall be otherwise there shall be a Continued and Uninterrupted Serenity without any dashes of a contrary Nature for as Christ's Government increases v. 7. so as it follows there the Peace i. e. the Success and Prosperity of it shall increase and have no end This is the Happiness of the Subjects of that Blessed Kingdom who are under the Sceptre of the Prince of Peace as he is stiled v. 6. This in general but more particularly the Safety and Security of their Habitations their Success in all their Labours and their lasting Fruition of them are mentioned as the Attendants of this Happy Time v. 21 22 23. They shall build Houses and inhabit them And they shall plant Vineyards and eat the Fruit of them Mine Elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands They shall not labour in vain c. These are the Blessings of that Adult State of the Church Farther there will be greater Strength and Soundness of Body than ordinarily I will not be positive that as in the first Ages of the World so now there will be some of a Gigantick Stature but this is not to be doubted of that there shall be bodily Strength and Vigour in an unusual degree It is one of the Privileges of the New Ierusalem for in the large and extensive sense it is spoken of that Place and State that the Inhabitants shall not say I am sick Isai. 33. 24. Many Exorbitancies before were frequently the Cause of Corporal Weakness and divers sorts of Maladies and Diseases But now those shall generally be removed and a sound and hale Temper shall be given them for their Bodies shall answer to their Souls The whole Tour of the Blood shall be laudably performed There shall be a due and regular Exercise of the natural vital and animal Functions And all Persons shall be healthful and vivacious brisk and sprightly This will be the more credible if we consider that the Curse brought upon the Earth by Adam's Fall and afterwards continued shall be revers'd The Soil every where shall become fertile and give its increase freely and plentifully and all the Fruits and Products of the Earth shall be not only numerous but wholesome God made all the Creatures Good at first as we expresly find in the repeated Approbation of this their Goodness Gen. 1. And they shall be Good at last for the World shall be restored to its Premitive State and the Earth it self shall be renewed And as for those Living Creatures which are Food for Mankind they shall arrive to greater degrees of Perfection than formerly and consequently shall yield more laudable and generous Nourishment than heretofore Besides that the continued Health of those Times will depend much upon the excellent Temper of the Air which shall then be agreeable to humane Bodies and have no ill Ferments from the continual Vicissitudes and Successions of too much Heat or too much Cold. To which may be added that the Heavenly influences as well as the Temper of the Earth shall be meliorated And so even in a literal sence there shall be New Heavens and a New Earth As the consequence of all this the People of those days shall be long-liv'd Which I gather from Isai. 65. 20. There shall be no
more an Infant of days â—or an old Man that hath not fill'd his days For though this Dispensation be no exemption from Mortality though Christ's Reign doth not unthrone and depose the King of Terrors yet it wards off his fatal Blows for a long Season And perhaps some may reach the long Ages of those that lived before the Flood And this shall happen not only from the Nature of the thing it self but by the singular Favour of God For as before in a judicial way he sometimes short'ned Men's Lives so now in the way of a Blessing he is pleased to extend them to a great length Which perhaps is the meaning of what follows in the foresaid Chapter v. 22. As the days of a Tree a long-liv'd Tree are the days of my People But supposing that this is not the strict import of the Text which I submit to the Thoughts of the Judicious yet it is certain from the reason of the thing it self that those Happy Ages shall abound with all things that conduce to the Welfare and Happiness of the Body as well as of the Soul and consequently Longaevity shall be one of the Felicities of those times And I doubt not but it will be procured by a perfect Knowledge of the true Causes and Springs of Long Life and of the more immediate Sourses of Diseases For Natural Philosophy as well as all other Parts of True Philiosophy shall be then improved to the utmost and a Vertuoso shall be no Rarity Especially the Nature of all Vegetables and Minerals wherein are laid up the great Restoratives of Life shall by exquisite Experiments be laid open to the World And the use of all the Vessels in the body which now we have but an imperfect insight into and some of which we know nothing of shall be exactly discovered And whatever else relating either to Nature or Art or Morality shall be conducible to this great End before-mentioned shall not be wanting no not that which is the choicest and most sovereign Conserver of Life viz. a well-temper'd Joy and Chearfulness a ferene and placid Spirit than which nothing can be more serviceable to uphold and maintain the vital Congruity to nourish the Lamp of Life and to give a lasting Vivacity to Nature And from the several Particulars we may gather this also that there will be a greater Number of Persons upon the Earth in that Sabbatick Reign than there is now This follows from what hath been said concerning that Universal Peace that Extraordinary Measure of Bodily Health and Strength that Duration of Men's Lives which shall be the Blessing of those Days Upon the more Cessation of Wars and Slaughters of Pestilence and Famine c. which are wont so visibly to diminish the number of Mankind there must needs be a great length'ning out of Men's Lives there must be a vast Increase of the People of the World The whole Earth will be replenish'd and even crowded with Inhabitants This will make amends as I suggested before for the great multitudes of Men that have in several Ages perished and gone to the Infernal Regions For within the compass of this Happy Time wherein we suppose Mankind to be thus extremely multiplied and all of them excepting some very few to be holy and Religious Persons there will be a larger Stock of Inhabitants for Heaven than there was of those who in all the preceding Times of the World were thrust down to the contrary Place And thus which way soever we look this Blessed Dispensation shall be eminent for the Natural as well as the Moral and Religious Emendation of all Things for Temporal and Earthly Blessings as well as those that are Spiritual and Heavenly for the present bettering of the World and for the Provision it makes for the future Mankind being free'd from all Dangers Mischiefs and Troubles shall enjoy an undisturbed Peace Quiet and Repose with a Freedom from all Pain and Sickness And their Bodies shall be more vigorous and their Beauty more lasting than ever before Which shall be attended with all outward Conveniencies Comforts and Refreshments of what nature soever together with inward Peace Pleasure and Satisfaction There is one thing more I will venture to add as belonging I verily believe to this Happy State I have been describing There shall be a Peace not only between Rational Creatures and their Brethren but between these and the most Salvage Brutes i. e. those Brutes which heretofore were so For now the hurtful Disposition and cruel Nature of all such Animals shall be taken from them and they shall become mild and gentle tame and tractable This I take to be the meaning of that Prophecy Isai. 11. 6 7. The Wolf shall dwell with the Lamb and the Leopard shall lie down with the Kid and the Calf and the young Lion and the Fatling together and a little Child shall lead them And the Cow and the Bear shall feed their young ones shall lie down together And the Lion shall eat Straw like the Ox and the sucking Child shall play on the hole of the Asp and the weaned Child shall put his hand on the Cockatrice-den They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my Holy Mountain Which Words seem to me to be a clear Prediction concerning the peaceable Temper which even the fiercest of the Irrational Herd shall be endued with in the last Times of the World Their former Antipathies their pristine Enmities shall cease and they shall be restored to that harmlessness and Innocence which were at the first Creation I know these Words are generally by Commentators understood of that Inward Change which shall be made in Mens minds and hearts by the powerful Influence of the Gospel But I see little or no Foundation for this Interpretation for I go upon this ground which all sober Interpreters of Scripture acknowledge and own that there is no reason to fly to a Metaphorical and Mystical Sense of a Text when it appears that there is a Literal one So it is here there is no need of supposing any such thing as Metaphors and Allegories for the Words in themselves as interpreted according to the Letter are very plain and intelligible The Prophet here gives an Account of the Peaceable Kingdom of Christ and tells us that this among other things appertaining to it is part of it that there shall be a change in the Nature and Qualities of Brute Animals the Wolf Leopard Lion Bear â—erpent Adder shall be as tâ—me as Lambs Kids Calves they shall lie down and dwell and feed together they shall neither prey upon one another nor shall they be hurtful to Men. Nothing could be more plainly said to express the great Blessing and Privilege of those last Days when the Earth shall be full of the Knowledge of the Lord as the Waters cover the Sea which are the very next Words to those which I have set down and shew to what Period of Time they relate And that we