whome did you finde in your watch Did yee finde him because ye did watch or did yee watch him because yee founde him O howe much to you eternall gaine did yee finde him when yee kept your first watch ouer your selues at what time manie of your fellowe Citizens drunke with selfe delight were to their intollerable paine banished their bright and glorious Citie and could neuer againe attaine vnto their former felicitie and because that yee so happâ—ly watched 〈…〉 doe those duties which others sleeping ouershipped yee were admitted to watch 〈◊〉 in his prayse 〈…〉 Holie holie holie Lorde God of 〈◊〉 the earth is full of thy glorie although 〈…〉 hee so gracious in your sight that yee would not stay him or was he of so great might that ye could not He was the purest fountain of grade and the surest fortresse against all griefes But if yee had so iust a cause both of loue and feare why gaue yee him no aunswere vnto his demaund 〈…〉 Loue thought the time too long which was spent in asking the question and desire to finde whom he loued would not let him stay to take an answere But assoone as he had passed from the watch hee found whom he loued for a little inferiour to the angels had he created mankind which through her owne fault was lost and therefore rightly he is saide to find her for vnto Gods Image and likenesse was man made and placed in earth for a time in a Paradise he was plentifullie enriched with all heauenly giftes and created a Prince ouer all earthlie creatures yea the Angels themselues were so made to the seruice of him that from the houre of his birth hath euerie one an Angell attending on him But man not vnderstanding the greatnesse of his owne hoâ—our followed too much his aduersaries him our who beguiling him with faire wordes made him so fond and prodigall that in one instant hee wasted all his patrimonie Man made in the likenesse of God did the diuell ransacke by a cowardly wylinesse and therefore God made in the likenesse of man will restore him againe by a wotthie victorie And now that thou hast found her whom thou louedst thou hast taken such sure holde of her as she cannot goe but wither thou guidest her she cannot rest but where thou remaynest thou hast not onelie brought her into thy mothers house for father and mother was all one with thee in the beginning to expresse that infinite tendernes and loue which thy father had ouer thee thou termest him thy mother but into the chamber also where thou wert begotten keeping nothing secret from her which thou mayst shew she conceiue and adiuring all the daughters of Hierusalem by the goates and harts of the field that they doe not rayse thy loue or cause her to awake before her selfe will A strong loue a strange care doth the diseasing of thy loue deserue so sharpe a punishment as he who doth it shuld be accounted either as a goat whose filthinesse signifieth all wante of grace or as a hart whose fearefulnesse supposeth him voyde of charitie for grace will not dwell with filth and charitie doth expell all feare but what dost thou thinke that euer shee will haue that will to arise or to awake out of thine embracings being so fast ioyned to thee in matrimonie that although yee bee God and man yet ye are not two but one Christ. Great dishonour would it be vnto thee that after so much seeking after her thou shouldest euer suffer her to be diuorced from thee for al which know of how great power thou art will imagine a want of loue in thee to let her goe from thee True it is that by thy proclamation thy warrant of peace in earth auayleth onely such as are of good will but rather supplie theyr peruersnesse with thine effectuall mercy then suffer them to part from thee to their eternall miserie How narrowly didst thou search who wouldest not leaue the most secret corner in the world vnsought howe feruently didst thou loue who to gaine a little something madest thy selfe almost nothing how securely didst thou ioy when thou foundest her to whom thy soule was so surely ioyned thy tears do witnesse it with the which thou doest bewaile her more then thy selfe and bewray thy glad sodaine finding her for her owne safetie But still thy weeping vntill thou art past thy mothers weaning begin now at the last to comfort her with a cheerefull countenance whom thou hast chosen to giue thee this charitable attendance Apply thy selfe to a virgins teate whose breastes contained milke as strangely as her womb conceiued a childe change thy cribbe although sacred with thy first cryes for thy mothers armes in whom are setled thy firmest ioyes shoote vp apace heauenly Impe to mans stature who wert shaped in thy mothers wombe with a mans staydnes and art of more wisedome in thy shortest cloutes then are the grauest sages in their sidest cloakes Runne out thine entended race prouoke al aduerse powers rowse thy selfe as like Lion against thy foes as thou restest like a Lambe amonge thy friendes and shewe as much proofe of thy might against the one as thou hast of thy mildenesse among the other So shall the world in parte bee satisfied that whatsoeuer thou presently sufferest is rather because thou wouldest conceale some secret mysterie then that thou couldest bee compelled by any to fall into this seeret miserie and that thou who couldest commaunde the stately heauens by thy power wouldest not but for some great cause commend so small a hole with thy presence A little hole it was but a most holy place sacred with a more princely presence then are the statelyest pallaces and of no lesse and happie pleasure then is the heaueÌ„liest paradise a place worthy 〈◊〉 prayse where princes dwell without shame where virgins are enamored without sinne where a virgin gaue sucke to the sonne of GOD for so soone as the virgin was deliuered of this prince her breasts beganne to fill and he who of her purest bloud hadde framed the bodye of her princely babe transformed also parte of the reside we into milke for his foode that whence hee had receiued nature hee should also haue his â—â—burishment Nowe may the mount Sinai leaue bragging in the desart of Pharan of the deitie which there gaue a lawe to men by which they might knowe the heauens pleasure Nowe may the Tarpeiaâ— rocke leaue boasting in Roome of her dignitie which receiuing an extraordynarye light from the heauens discouered theyr displeasant Now may the mountaine Morea abate her maiestie in Hierusalem whereuppon stoode the Temple where in an obscure cloude appeared the holyest of all holyes because nowe in a rocke vnder the walles of Bethleem is no Lawe giuen but life a light for to directe not to correct and the holyest of all holyes enclosed in such a cloude as he may both bee seene and handled by his creatures and afterward this rocke was consecrated
by any art be described his glorious throne no eye is able to behold his profound wisedome no vnderstanding is able to comprehend his authoritie no power is able to resist hee liueth in light inaccessible hee ruleth with maiestie incomparable and because his verie name is ineffable too much presumption it were to attempt to set â—oorth the worthinesse of his nature In his workes hee hath shewed himselfe so prouident as all may iustly admire him so good as all may aboue all loue him so sweet as all may ioy sufficiently in him but for any inferiour vnto him selfe perfectly to know him wâ—ere to limit his perfections which are beyond all bounds because they are infinite With this Emperour liued the aboue mentioned Princes without any tediousnesse desire of change or any kinde of sorrow being incapable of any thing but happinesse vntill a maruailous rare and rigorous seeming accident befell them for their Emperour hauing one onely sonne equall vnâ—o his father in power might and authoritie and in no one poynt of perfection degenerating from him from both whome for the infinite likenesse betwixt them proceeded an infinite loue hee deputed him to a publike shamefull and a painefull death which did so amaze the Princes attendant whose loue was no lesse vnto him then vnto his father that might they haue beene suffered they would all haue sustained that punishment to haue saued their Prince but their offer was refused for the sentence was irreuocable The motiue of this vnnaturallâ—seeming iudgement was an exceeding great loue which hee bare vnto a Lady his adopted daughter who was so enchaunted by her owne folly as of a most comely and beautifull creature shee became so mishapen and so vgly that shee was loathsome euen vnto her selfe This enchauntment was by eating an apple of which her father before had giuen her warning shee should not taste vpon perill of that which should ensue thereof but her pride was so great that ingratefull to so good a Lord and disobedient to so carefull a father shee followed the motion which was made vnto her by a false though a fayre spoken enemie and eate thereof contrarie to her father his commaundement The Enchantment was so deuised that hauing taken effect it should not bee dissolued but by the death of the onely sonne of an Emperour who should exceede all the princes in the world in giftes both of bodie and minde he should bee peerelesse for his birth riches beautie wisedom and might whose father should neuer know any woman nor his mother any man and should in the very selfe same instant both haue and want both father and mother The liking by any such prince of such an vnlouely Lady being vnlike and the birth of anie such prince or other seeming impossible made the Enchanter secure that this his work should endure for euer The Enchanter himselfe was one of more malice then might but yet of more might then an vnrulie assailed could well resist Hee was sometime a prince of the Emperour his court among princes a prince being endewed with farre more excellent gifts then any his fellow princes and exalted vnto that honor as hee was reputed the chiefest vnder his Lord and Maister but bearing himselfe so proudly against his maker hee found by too late an experience that hee who bestowed those graces vpon him could also againe bereaue him of them and because hee had once abused them with intollerable pride hee should euer after be abridged of them to his eternal pain To reuenge which disgrace hee assayed the Ladye the Emperour his daughter and wonne her loue so farre foorth as shee gaue more credite vnto him then vnto her father and would do more at his request then at her fathers commaundement for although she seemed at the first to haue a small liking vnto his motion yet with faire promises and too farre aboue his power to performe in the ende hee made her giue a consent vnto her vtter ouerthrow had not the Emperour his sonne being deputed by his Father thereunto vndertaken to release her by the losse of his owne life The ransome being appointed to be disbursed infinitely exceeding that which was to bee redeemed too gracious for so vngracious a creature and too bountifull for her who wilfully made herselfe bondslaue by selling outright a royall and reall good for a proud imaginatiue Godhead a great difficultie arose in what manner it should be paid for the prince being of so excellent a nature that he was not capable of the smallest annoyance and in so strong a hold that hee could not sustaine the least harme much lesse the losse of his life it was needfull he should both take vppon him a nature and abide in such place as in which and where he might effect his desire Here loue which maketh euery one it possesseth to conforme themselues vnto their loue quicklie determined what was in doubt and make this conclusion that hee should take vppon him the same nature of which his sister was and her peruersenes onely excepted hee should in all thinges bee like vnto her which conceit loue made so conformable vnto his former counsell as the more hee thought vppon it the fitter the meanes seemed to bring his purpose to a good passe For first he thoght that hereby hee might in a most louelie manner enioy her companie whome hee so entirely loued without giuing any cause of ielousie to her ouerdiligent keeper Secondly hee thought that the keper taking him for his captiue might the more easily be ouertaken by his carelesnes Thirdly he thought this nature fittest for his purpose that shee whome hee loued being of the same nature might the better gesse at the torture hee should suffer for her sake because by the shedding of his blood hee was to worke her safety and fancy him the sooner who would aduenture so far to win her loue who was not worthy of a good looke Wisedome therefore guiding the sterne as carefully as loue seemed continually to fill the sayles the prince proceedeth with no lesse policy then speede and searching who of vnworthies was least vnworthy for no one was worthy to mother such a sonne hee founde a maiden so farre exceeding all the rest that he thought it both needles to seeke any further shee was so fitte for his purpose and impossible to finde her peere she was so pure a creature shee was descended of a princely race but liued very obscurely and although she were espoused to a mate yet meant she to remaine a maiden A princely ofspring was fittest to conceiue such a maiesty and a poore maiden meetest to cloake so high a mystery of her he determined to bee borne without a Father who before all beginnings was begotten without a mother This maide dwelt in Palestina the chiefest Prouince of Syria enuironed with Syria and Arabia on the east side on the south with the desart of Pharam and Egypt on the west with the Mediterranean sea and on the North with
king Dauids messenger when hee sent to demaund her consent vnto him in marriage shee sayde vnto this Prince Embassadour Behold the handmaid of my Lord bee it done to me according to thy word Her consent obtained the Embassadour gaue her a farewell mixed with such ioy and reuerence as if hee had beene loth to detract time to be gone with so great good newes and yet could not but stay a while to doe his dutie but being of that agility that hee could passe so much space in a moment as is betwixt heauen and earth dispatched himselfe wirh that speede that in a trice hee both encreased a ioy in the place where hee was began another in the place from whence hee came Whereupon Loue who is impatient of delaye caused him from whom as well as from his father proceed infinit loue with all his might to pursue this matter the wole Trinitie working miraculously in the wombe of the Virgin gathering of her most pure bloud together framed therof in one instant a perfect body no sooner could that body enioy the soule which was created for it then the emperor his son vnited the whole vnto him a work as worthy praise as wonder so wonderful as reason hauing tyeâ—d it selfe in discourse of this worke leaueth off beginneth to do nothing but wonder for which cause one among the rest being wearied with ouer much musing began to refresh himselfe a little with his Muses In this maner Whom earth the sea the heauens doe worship praise adore King of this threefolde frame the wombe of Marie bore To whom Moone sunne and all do seruice in their turnes Chast bowels be are with fall of grace which from heauen comes Blessed such a mother within whose wombe is closde Her heauenly maker holding from being losde With ease the world and blest for that she had receiude By angels mouth addrest a message she belieude That she conceiuing by the helpe of holy Ghost He should within her lie Whom Gentils wished most But although others lost themselues in the consideration of this diuine mysterie the Virgin no doubt was so perfectly instructed in it that shee sound as much knowledge as she had felt comfort and her comfort was the more because her knowledge was so great and remembring that the higher shee was in calling the more lowly best beseemed her to bee in her carriage shee did alwayes with most humble thoughts attend vpon high conceits neither thinking at any time too well of herselfe for that shee should mother so worthy a prince nor yet so vnwary as to giue any cause why from thence forth hee should disdaine her to bee his mother Among other her comforts she remembred what the Embassador had said vnto her of her cosen Elizabeth whome before shee loued but now she longed to see and if the wayes presented themselues in her imagination very long her desire looked to bee preferred which was in heart also very great and the time of the yeare being both fit and pleasant to trauel in enuited her ernestly to the iorney to a citie called Hebron in the mountaines of Iuda liing southward from Ierusalem 22. miles one of the most famous cities in Palestina for antiquitie and of greatest renown because it was sometime the kings seat The inhabitants of this place were sometime such men or rather monsters as neither eye coulde without horrour beholde nor eare without feare heare speake here was Dauid who slew Goliah the Giant in a single combat with his sling annointed king and ruled all Israell by the space of seauen yeares a place also for this cause had in reuerence by all the worlde for that Adam the first parent of all mankind here is said to haue forsooke the world here also was Iacob the great Patriarke buried his father Isaack who was miraculously in this place coÌ„ceiued by Sara when shee was by natures course past childbearing from hence Abraham issued with 318. of his men and ioyned with him the 3. brethreÌ„ maÌ„bre who gaue name to the valley ioyning vnto it Aner and Escoll pursuing 4. kings conquerors ouerthrew them neare vnto mount Libanus and broght back all the spoile which they had taken out of the richest part of the country and was here also afterward buried A place notoriously 〈◊〉 froÌ„ the beginning of the world with an oak which continued there 400. years after the incarnation of the young prince we spake of it was one of the 46. cities which were allotted vnto the priests to dwel in Hether hastened the virgin if not so well accompayned as noble welthie parents could send their only daughter aswel for her gard as theit own credite yet neither was it likely she wold caresly of her selfe haue strayed so far alone nor her parents suffer her to go without some company being so far froÌ„ the basest blood in Palestina as they were of the best none of the poorest who coulde spare vnto the temple one third part of what they had an other to relieue the poore but her chiefest gard was inuisible and therefore it was inuincible for if euer any princes with child trauelling was choisely attended on least any hurt should befal vnto her or vnto that shee wente with much more was shee and euery thing so well ordered as she neither felt any inconuenience in long vneasie wayes being a yong maiden nor found any 〈◊〉 in her iorney by her burden being lately become a mother for it is not to be thoght that he which came to bring ease for his enemies would breede any paine in his best friendes But no sooner had shee set fooâ—e into her cosens house and saluted her but the child within her cosens wombe be wrayed who shee was and Elizabeth by diuine instinct cried out with a loud voice beginning where the Prince Embassador had ended his salutation and saide vnto her Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy wombe whence is this to mee that the mother of my Lord doth come vnto mee for beholde as the voice of thy salutation sounded in myne eares the infant in my wombe did leape for ioy blessed art thou which didst belieue because those things shall be accomplished which were spoken vnto thee by our Lord. The sunne although it appeare vnto vs to bee in a cloude because there is a cloude betwixt it and vs is not altogether depriued of his power but giueth some light and by his light life where it lighteth and the sonne of iustice hauing builte his glorious throne in the wombe of a virgin where hee did as it were ascend vppon a thinne cloude shall he lease his vertue and not rather worke not of any necessitie as a natural cause of such like qualited effects but voluntarilie as a liberal and free agent of supernaturall graces How may wee thinke woulde hee draw vnto him if hee were once exalted who drewe so mightilie being imprisoned for
and in the fore-part thereof hung plate of gold somewhat ouer his fordhead tyed with a skie-coloure silke ribband behind his head in which plate of gold were engrauen words of this signification The holy of the Lord but the word which signified the Lord was expressed with these foure caracters by which no man euer knew howe to spell it rightly or at the least were afrayde to speake it yet some presumed to call it Iehouah from this plate backward went rounde about on both sides of his head a triple crowne of golde wrought and embossed much like vnto the Henbane leafe In these ornaments the high Priests offred sacrifice that same day at the altar which stood in the Court which was called the Priestes court and at all other times when they offered sacrifice and the reason why hee did not in this glorious attire enter into the most holy place was because hee entred at that time to sacrifice for the sinnes of the people for which hee went in in a more humble sort and all the people that daye did fast but afterwarde in token of ioy that all were cleansed from their sinnes hee attired himselfe as is declared and proceeded to a second sacrifice in the place where the inferiour Priestes did offer euerie day according to the order taken for the purpose but their ornaments were no other then such as the high Priest did weare when hee entred into the holyest place of all holyes This dayly sacrifice which they offred in the Court was a lambe a yeere olde or vnder which was without spot that is without any deformitie or disease either in skin or limbe with somewhat more then a pecke of flower a pottle of wine and as much of the best oyle and this was offered morning and euening beside all other sacrifices whatsoeuer or whensoeuer they were offered and this was the second office of the Priests in the Temple the third was to change the bread of proposition which stood in the Temple next vnto the Court Westward which was but once in a weeke the fourth was to trimme the lampes in the golden candlesticke in the same place and this was also doone morning and euening The fift was to offer vp incense at the Altar called the Altar of Incense or the golden Altar which stood in the same Temple right before the doore by whâ—ch the high Priest entred into the inmost Temple which office was performed euerie day morning and euening wheâ— Zacharias because he would not beleeue what was sayd vnto him by the Angell was bereaued of the vse of his owne tongue so that the B. virgin might gesse at her welcome onely by the entertainement onely which hee gaue her and was not to looke for any lip-ceremonies of him who could not in that maner bid himselfe welcome but had it not beene that truth could not haue beene contrary to it selfe he who had sette a locke vpon his lips vntil his child should be named would haue giuen Zacharias his tongue as free passage to haue ioyed in his libertie as his heart had often felt paine for his incredulitie and not haue let the father make so many dumbe shewes of his inward griefe who caused both the mother and the son in her wombe to make so many open signes of their vnspeakable mirth but his word being past standeth still for a law yet so farre forth as his lips could doe heartie loues message he omitted not what kinred inuited him vnto and the custome of the countrey allowed him to doe acknowledging that in his mind which he could not vtter as hee would with his mouth and because she was one whose company could not bee too much desired it was no small corasiue vnto him that he could not giue her that entertainement which shee deserued but both hee and his wife did their endeuour to let their guest vnderstand that although neither the place nor the companie were able to giue her condigne entertainement yet that both the place and the companye were at her commaundement and shee as one who had her minde well fraught with hâ—militie thinking too much homage could not bee exhibited vnto her childe nor too little honour vnto her selfe required their forwardnesse with as friendly but humble thankes minding in no one poynt to be wanting vnto her coosens if at any time they should stand in need of her seruice The dayes of her abode with them seemed to them both too short their discourses euery day waxing sweeter then other and the nightes were iudged too long although they promised still they would bee shorter which both cut off their talke too soone and kept them too long asunder hauing very ample and pleasing themes to delate vpon in the day time and nothing but dreames of their day talke in the night time Elizabeth would discourse vnto her coosen how the Angell appeared to Zacharias in the Temple what hee promised and how farre forth his promise was performed with hope that he which punished an others false heart in his tongue would not haue his owne tongue blemished with any falshoode for no doubt Zacharias did seeke by all meanes possible to animate his amated wife when hee sawe her in her dumpes for his dumbnesse and for such cause woulde not sticke to write that at the least in Tables which hee coulde not vtter with his tongue which shee laboured as a most gratefull lesson vntill shee had perfectly learned his fortunate misfortunes and perceyuing howe greatlie his incredulitie had displeased the Angell shee often intimated to her Coosen as at her first meeting howe blessed shee was who had beleeued the Oracle And the virgin when her warrant was sufficiently signed with her coosens silence required her with as straunge a storie in respect of the maner but of a farre more noble pleasaunt and profitable a matter For although her Coosen had supernaturally some notice thereof yet was shee very farre from the knowledge of many circumstances belonging therevnto Entring therefore into the discourse of her annunciation she vsed few wordes as became a Maiden but such as might fitly proceed from the grâ—â—â—est Mation leauing off when shee sawe her time with a full period of her 〈◊〉 speach and giuing a greater appetite of knowing how in the end she sped beside infinite other matters which continually came into her minde both of her sonnes greatnesse in himselfe and his goodnesse toward others for being his mother therefore not without iust cause iudging herselfe to haue the second right in him she thought it fit she should giue place to no more then one in the commendations of him one thing onely seemed to afflict those poore women in the highest of their happinesse that they might talke of perchance and feele but could neither see nor here those sacred babes which made them both so blessed mothers yet did they often embrace and kisse them in their mindes whome they were sure they had inclosed within their sanctified wombs But
maidenly chastitie and that at one and the selfe same time she was both a pure virgine and a perfect mother And thou diuine Ladie most happie of all to be his mother who was thy maker O how well did those wordes of the Angell fit thee when hee said thou wert ful of grace being presently to be fraught with God Behold now thy sweet infant borne into the world who was nine monethes borne in thy wombe Looke where hee lyeth for whose sight thou hast so much longed embrace him at libertie in thine armes whom thou haddest imprisoned in thy bowels O how well did he prouide for thy comfort who picked out so solitarie a place where thou wert not likely to haue much companie that thou mightest haue thy fill in looking on him embracing him and kissing him whom although thou seest lie crying in the manger thou knewest hee was thy Lord and maker and no lesse admirable in the sight of Angels then amiable in thine Thou neither needest to rise by night nor yet to range by day to seeke whom thy soule doeth loue nor to aske of any watchman whether they did see him for they which came through the citie vnto thee at night would without any demanding demonstrate vnto thee where thy loue did lie He sought thee he found thee he tooke such hold of thee as hee meaneth still to haue thee thy lappe must bee his board thy bosome his bed and betwixt thy breasts doth he resolue to build his nest Pouertie much hated by others ought to bee honoured by thee for that this meane estate hath brought thee more profite then could a princely port O happie want which compelleth thee vnto thy harts wish for now that he hath not where els to lie thy lest arme must be a boster vnder his head and thy right arme a border round about his bodie Now that hee hath not where els to liue thy cottage must bee his court thy company his comfort He is the center of thy thoughtes about which they rowle He is the loadstone of thine eies from which they cannot roue He is the rocke against which thy speeches breake driuen by a violent passion he is the rest which thy thoughts best brooke diuided by a new affection the which are as often supplyed by teares as thy wordes by them being neither able to speake that which thou couldest nor to thinke that which thou wouldest for thou wert both ouertaken in thy wordes with thine owne gladnesse and ouercharged in thy thoughtes with thy sonnes greatnesse yet speake what thou mayest thinke that which thou mayest not speake and in the ende let thy loue-teares witnesse that thou art as farre vnable to vtter thy thoughts as thou art from thinking the vttermost Proceed then blessed virgin to embrace thy princely babe presse him in thy bosome who hath pierst thy breast let him neuer passe from thy hand who hath possessed thy heart but seeing hee being thy Lord hath taken on him the person of a child and vouchsafed to be thy sonne thou being his maiden feare not to vse both the priuiledges of a nurse and the preheminence of a mother But O most sacred babe heauens blisse helles bane worthie of all praise because the worker of our peace shall wee congratulate thy comming into the worlde or grieue that thou art become so short a word the largest heauens were lately to little for thee and now a little hole can do more then lodge thee A short word but a sweet worth more of thine owne desire then of our desert for if thine owne loue driue thee it was thy goodnes if ours drew thee it was thy gift But tell vs sweet babe in whome affection hath fully supplyed the defect of thy tongue as yet an instrument onely of a lamentable sound as thine eyes were fountaines of sorrowfull teares tell vs why hast thou loosed from the right hande of Maiestie to arriue in a restlesse hauen of miserie Was it to recouer againe the right which once was passed by thee and inrolled in a most faythfull record The heauen of heauens to the Lorde but the earth hee hath giuen to the sonnes of men and therefore wouldest thou of an omnipotent God become an impotent man yea and contented to bee accounted and that in scome king of the Iewes who wert the true king both of the Iewes and of the Gentiles or rather was it to right the wrong done vnto the Ladie whō thy father adopted to his daughter thou tookest for thy sister and to redeeme her from her vnmercifull conquerour who had bereft her of her matchlesse beautie and whatsoeuer else nature and grace could bestow vpon her importunated other by her suit or rather inchaunted by thy selfe thy loue towarde her being without limit and her losse of thee being infinite Tell vs sweete babe who arte an eternall worde although nowe too young to speake tell vs what caused thee to descende from thine vnspeakeable dignitie in which thou wert the onely food of Angels vnto an irreparable infamie because thou art nowe become the meate of beastes for as an infallible truth hath reuealed vnto vs. All flesh is grasse and grasse is beasts feeding In my bedde by night I sought whom I loued I sought her but I could not find her Inough sweet babe since that loue hath no higher cause all this thou diddest because thou diddest loue 〈◊〉 thou diddest loue because thou diddest Well do I conceiue thee to haue beene in thy bed that is at thy quietest repose but what nightes were those where we supposed to haue bin one continuall day or what darkenes could grieue thee who art the brightnes of thy fathers glorie Care which contrarie to the nature thereof made thee looke many thousande yeeres yonger then thou art did perchaunce contrarie also to the nature of the place seeme to bring a night where the Sunne neuer vsed to goe downe or cause thee to bee hidden in a cloude who art the light of heauen that not without some cause thou mayest say in the night in thy bedde tho◠soughtest whom thou louedst but what when thou couldest not find her in thy bed I will rise and go round about the Citie through the streetes and open places will I seeke whome I loue I sought her but I could not find her But what among all those glorious companie couldest thou not finde thy loue If heauen bee not woorthie to holde thy loue howe shall the earth yeelde her vnto thee But it seemeth by thine intended course that hell it selfe shall not escape thy search But when thou couldest not finde her in the Citie The watch found me which kept the Citie sawe yee whom my soule doth loue And when I had a little passed them I founde whome I loued I helde her and will not let her goe vntill I haue brought her into my mothers house and into her chamber who bred me O worthie Citizens of the heauenly Hierusalem for whome did yee watch Or
the aire that neuer came any winde or raine at the toppe thereof as appeared by that certaine Philosophers left there some caracters in dust which they found in the same maner after a yeare but neither could any bird mount vp vnto the toppe thereof because the aire was too pure for any inferiour creature for which cause the Philosophers which went vp caryed with them spunges full of water through which they might take ayre more agreeable to their nature In these games was nothing worthie praise vnpractised and both warriours were rewarded for their worthy courses and wise men regarded for their wittie discourses These were first deuised by Hercules in honour of his father Iupiter and euerie fift yeeere so precisely obserued that after they were once begun no other account was made of the yeere then from such an Olimpye game or such a yeere after it and these were alwayes vsed in summer when the dayes were at the longest Other games were followed by the Grecians in the worship of other Gods as their Pythiâ—â— in honour of Apollo at Delphos and their Isthmia in honour of Neptune or Palaemon or both neere vnto Corinth The Romanes also beside running with horses and with chariots and fighting naked with swords to this end that being in warres it should bee no wonder vnto them to see woundes had other games as their Saturnallâ— in honour of Saturne which they kept fiue daies in December in feasting sporting and mutuall presenting with gifts and in remembrance of the golden world when Saturne was king they reckoned all things so in common for those fiue dayes as there was neither owner of any substance nor maister of any seruant These were first deuised by Ianus a king of Italy and dedicated yeerely vnto Saturne They had other games which they called Lâ—percals in which the young nobilitie ranne naked vp and downe with such beasts skinnes as were then sacrificed striking euerie one whom they met and women offered themselues in their way hoping by their strokes to haue the easier trauaile if they were with childe or to waxe bigge if they were before barren These were vsed in the honour of Pan and were named Lupercalles either because they offered sacrifice to Pan for the preseruing of their flocks from the wolfe or because they sacrificed dogges to gratifie the wolfe which nursed Romulus and Rhemus or thirdly because the sacrifice was offered at the foote of mounte Palatine in Rome where there was a caue consecrated to Pan which in remembrance that Romulus and Rhemus were there nursed by a wolfe was named Lupercall Some say these games were so called because the sacrifices then offered were to purge the hellish spirits with the bloud of goates and that for this cause the moneth was called Februarie in which these games were vsed Others say they had their name of a mountain in Arcadia called Lycea where they were first inuented and were afterward brought into Italy by Euander the Arcadian king at what time hee was banished out of his owne countrey and hereupon they say the games were performed by naked men because they were deuised in Arcadia when the people were both bare of cloathing and of barbarous condition and so continued also afterward when they were of a more ciuill conuersation Others say that Pan mistaking Hercules for Iole who vpon some occasion at that time slept in he Lions skinne was once so discouered before hee got his wished pray that he departed with nought but shame of his wanton purpose and could neuer after that his conceited euil spâ—ed abide any aparrel in his sports Other some say this naked running vp and down was in remembrance of a worthie victorie which Romulus had ouer certaine theeues who while the people were busie in these sports draue away a great companie of their cattell and Romulus vnderstanding thereof naked as he was vpon some other occasion pursued them and brought back the stoln pray for which cause those which ran thus naked had their faces stayned with bloud and other followed after with wooll dipped in milke to wash them but whatsoeuer was the cause of their sports thus was the course of their life spent After these were other deuised in honour of Ianus who was sometime a king of Italy to whoÌ„ they built a famous temple and set therein his picture which they made with two faces to signifie the concord which was made betwixt Romulus king of the Romanes and Titus Tatius king of the Sabins at what time a bloudy warre being begun to one or others ouerthrow the maidens which were stolne by the Romanes and for reueÌ„ge of which rape the Sabians vowed the vtter ruine of the Romanes came into the fielde and offered themselues to death rather then they would liue to see for theyr cause either their parents slaine on the one side or theyr husbandes whome they now fancyed on the other side This Temple of Ianus the Romanes did leaue open so long as they had any warres abroade with forraine nations either because that going foorth to warre they should also haue a care of their countrey they left behind them as the Idoll looked both forward and backward or else in hope of some extraordinarie helpe by Ianus his protection when they should bee driuen to any extremitie because that the Sabiâ—ns hauing compelled Romulus to take this Temple for his best defence were forced to retyre by a whole water which sprunge in great aboundance from before the Temple against them Many other things are recorded of Ianus which many thinke are to bee applyed to diuers of the same name but hee in whose honour the first of the two moneths which Numa Pompilius Romulus his successor added vnto Romulus his yeere was Ianus king of Italie who built a Citie not far from the place where afterward Rome was built and called it Ianiculum and him they thought they did so gretly honor when they were either ouer lauish in expences or too lasciuious in their sports that when his calends came that is the first day of that month hee seemed the deuoutest in this rite who shewed by his ryot that hee neither deemed it a shame at any time afterward to bee in want nor a sinne to be at all times wanton These as the first in the yeere and other abuses as they fell came the Prince this day to abolish as hee shewed both by the shedding of his precious bloud and the sound of his princely name Yet notwithstanding that he was a prince and therefore freeborne and a priest and therefore to be forborne so soone as his name was giuen him he was sessed by the officers and paid a tribute vnto his owne subiect for as yet the infants of Palestina were not exempted from this taxe and the mother was the more willing to conceale her sonnes deitie because she thought it would nothing derogate from his dignitie being at that time taken for a priuate person not for a prince But not
remedie wherefore calling the chiefe of the Priestes the Scribes of the people he asked them where Christ shoulde be borne for so was the prince called to shew that hee was annointed In Bethleem they answered of Iuda for in Galilie was an other cittie called Bethleem and was in the tribe of Zabulon according vnto the prophesie And thon Bethleem of Iuda art not the least among the chiefest cities of Iuda because out of thee shall come a guâ—de who shall gouerne my people Israell Herod being thus enstructed by the priestes of the prince he beganne to deuise the prince his destruction and hauing resolued how hee would preuent his misconstered fall he ranne into a greater follie he called the three kinges secretlie vnto him and learned of them what he could aswell concerning the starre as also their prophesies and whatsoeuer they coulde enforme him eyther by their owne skill or the traditions of their countrie which they coulde not want but rather haue in greate plentie where so many Iewes had liued and left a posterity and afterwarde sent them to enquire diligently where the prince was and requested them to bring him worde thereof that hee might also goe to adore him The princes set forward to finish a long iorneye for Ierusalem was at the least 1200. miles from Saba which was the seat of Iasper one of these three kings and no doubt Melchior and Balthasar for so were the other two named had their seates not far from thence for in those times within the compas of 20. miles dwelled commonly three or foure kings as in Palestina which for length or bredth seemed to little for one were 37. kinges so that they might without any great busines beginne this iorney together or without any great difficultie meet by chance in the way none knowing before of others intention and perchance this might bee the cause that all three brought of the same kind of presents which might haue been thought superfluous if they had in one companie begunne their iorney and the starre keeping his course toward the west might bee a guide vnto them all coÌ„ming from places in the east whiâ—h were not much distant one from the other but froÌ„ that part of Arabia as some say which was called Magodia whereupon these kinges were called Magi that is to say men of that country yet many think they were called Magi because they studied art Magicke and say that by their skill in this art they had vnderstanding of this prince his birth and who he was but it is not likelie that the prince of that arte had himselfe any such knowledge for there was as great reason to conceale the mysterie of this prince his birth as the mysterie of his conception others were also called Magi who liued in great abstinence and spent their liues in honest studies and of this sort perchance were these three kinges who knowing no naturall cause of the appearing of this starre remembred that extraordinarily a starre should appeare to shew the birth of a mighty prince in Iuda and when this starre appeared in so strange a sorte they perswaded themselues this was it which was foretold by Balaam in their countrie mounting vpon Dromedaries which are incomparaby swifâ—er then any horses in 13. dayes they came this long iorney guided by the same starre which now lastly shewing it selfe again vnto their no little ioy when they passed out of Ierusalem toward Bethleem it weÌ„t before them vntill it came to the place where the prince was and his mother and there it staide so low in the aire that the kinges neuer asked for the house in which they were and hauing ended his course which was no longer then the kinges ioruey for it went not round aboute the worlde as other starres planets or cometes vse to doe but kept his course in such order as when the kinges remoued the starre did also remoue and when they rested the starre did not stirre any further it was no longer seene eyther by them or by any other When these three kings entered into the caue they founde the childe and Mary his mother and falling downe they adored him and vnderstanding perchance of the custome among the Iewes that no man shold come empty handed in the presence of God each of them offered of their treasure thâ—â—e but the same presents golde mirrhe and frankensence acknowledging thereby that hee was a prince a mortall man yet a God or as some will a priest whose office it was to offer frankensence vnto God but being both God and man not onely a prince by defcent but also a Priest the frankensence could not without greate mystery bee offered vnto him whether it was in the one respect or the other yet it is more probable that it signâ—fied at that time that hee was God because his priesthood by which he offered sacrifice was not according vnto the order of Aaron who among other sacrifices offered also incense but according to the order of Melchisedech and was a farre more spirituall kind of priesthoode Beside that these three kings brought it to offer it themselues vnto him not that hee should offer it vnto an other That this infant was of the blood of the princes of Iudah is manifestly deducted by his pedegree from Dauid by the kings of Iudah vnto Ioseph the virgins husband for although the law permitted mariage betwixt the tribe of Iudah and Leui yet was it vnlawful for such as to whom their fathers inheritance did descend to marry with any other then the next of kinne in the same familie least that any confusion should grow in the possessions which were first giuen by portions vnto euery one of the 12. tribes and Ioachim the virgins father being knowne to bee of such substance as he liued onely vpon the thirde part of his yeerely reuenue and when he died to leaue his daughter Marie at the least a coheire with her sisters if she had any or sole heire if shee had none for Ioachim neuer had any male issue it is a good proofe according vnto the law mentioned that if Maries husband were of the familie of Dauid she was also of the same family Wherfore although that the yong prince tooke no flesh of Ioseph but only oâ— the virgin his petigree is sufficiently shewed by Iosephs for neuer was any petigree kept of women but of meâ— only Maidens prouing their petigrees by their fathers and wiues by their husbands But an other hystorie seeming to fetch Ioseph his petigree from king Dauid by other parents woulde make the former suspected were it not a law among the Iewes that the widow of the one brother should marry with the other or the next of kin if she had no children by the first and that the child of the second husband should bee accounted by the law the first husbaÌ„ds child although in nature it is the seconds for by this meanes a man might be said to be the son of two men
was Alcintus but had no title or right vnto it and after him did Mathathias hold it who was of the familye of Ioiarib to whom fell the first lot to serue in the temple according vnto that order which King Dauid appoynted to bee kept among the Priests and therefore was but an ordynarie Priest dwelling in the Cittie of Modin Hierusalem being alwayes the seate of the high Priest and the Machabees his Sonnes were extraordinarily accepted of by the people in respect that no man who was neerer would challenge the high-priesthood and they were admitted for cheefe Princes not because the right line of Dauid was cleane extinguished but because it was brought to so lowe an estate that it could not and no other would right the peoples wronges which no doubt was Gods speciall prouidence that for some fiue or sixe descents both the high priesthood and the scepter should goe from the true heyre although not from the right familie that when this yong Prince came he might in the more secret maner bring his purpose to good passe That this infant was a naturall man notwithstanding any dignitie whatsoeuer was in him it was euident for that alreadie thereof had beene sufficient proofe made by the griefe he felt as well in his circumcision as in cold whatsoeuer occasion else might chance to trie it And although the virgin very wel vnderstood no lesse before yet this offring of mirre a thing which was vsed about the body in the last obsequie done vnto it after death did so refresh it in her minde that in all this ioye which was made for three Kinges presence shee coulde not choose but grieue yet in the end vsing some kinde of patience in a matter shee coulde not helpe shee conformed her selfe into the rest of the princely companie who nothing abashed either at the childes present lowe estate nor daunted with the consideration of his death which was afterwarde to followe at the time appoynted performed that for which they came with all dutie reuerence and worship as if they had not beene absolute Kinges but subiectes vnto this young Prince and helde it no abasing of themselues to do it Well woorthie were yee noble princes of the highest welcome hauing made such haste to visite whome the worlde disdayneth and to followe one who is so little fauoured But howe can yee frame your selues to him who hath set defiaunce what yee esteeme most fortunate and hath expressed by his woorke because as yet he would not by his woorde that riches estimation and what earthlie pompe soeuer the worlde breedeth bringeth not so much ornament vnto the bodie as anguish vnto the minde and therefore lyeth and lamenteth the miserie in which man liueth as though hee were alreadie wearie of such estate and more willing to leaue it then to linger anie longer in it Had ye wist ye should haue found so bare parents so base a place so small a companie you would perchaunce either not haue come or not with so great speede so great pompe so great presentes but the wordes of your prophesie could not stande as yee thought with so great a pouertie the brightnes of the starre be a signe of any obscurity the expectation of the whole world bee satisfied without some great maiestie This and not vnlikely this might be the cause why so confidently yee alighted at Ierusalem because yee measured with mans witte the wayes of an eternall wisedome but thryse happie were yee when hearing he was not to bee found among such as liued delitiously yee hastened to honour him where he lay throwne out disdainefullie and where yee saw that not without iust cause wisedome is said to crie out in the streetes since that as wel great pallaces as little cottages were aunswered to bee to narrow straytes but take him as yee find him and as yee now can tast him hereafter fancie him The Queen of Saba saw in Salomon more wisedome then she thought shee founde more fauour then she sought shee returned with greater riches then she brought and behold a greater then Salomon here Salomon his wisedome was such as all might bee seene his fauours such as all might bee wonne his riches such as all might bee wanting thinke then your pains in this iorney well bestowed since that yee haue found a greater then Salomon here This his infancie this pouertie this rude place are but emboldnings to princes to command and warrants to preuaile hee is able to giue more then yee are able to aske for although hee seemeth to bee in the extreamest misery yet neuer was Salomon to be compared with him when hee was in his chiefest maiesty make proofe of that which appeareth not in him and make your profite of that for which others despise him King Salomon was no more then a shadow of this young prince and the Queene of Saba no other then a figure of your selues King Salomon was no more then his shadow whether ye respect his power or his wisedom his princely seat or his peaceable gouernment his stately Temple or whatsoeuer was called his which might eyther winne him grace or worke his glorie for this prince his power is such as by his word only he can make or marre his wisedome such as hee can both propose and dispose not onely of all this world but thousands of worldes his princely seate so strong as no man can daunt him his peaceable gouernment so secure as no man can endanger him his temples as low founded as high framed and as pure golde within as they shew goodly without his glory may be worthily wondâ—ed at because it cannot be worthily written of The Queen of Saba so called because her chiefeest seat gaue that name vnto her countrie round about her came to seeke whome yee haue founde fame supplying to her the place of the starre which appeared vnto you shee presented the king with gifts and with problemes made triall of his wisedome shee was aunswered to euery thing shee could demaunde and shee was astonied to see what he could commaunde and in the end being accepted for his wife departed leauing with him seauen hundred other Queenes and carried with her so much treasure as that which she brought seemed to be but borrowed of her for a short time and paid againe with vnreasonable vsury Noble princes yee haue brought worthy presents haue proposed no easie problemes but if he can without long discourse shew the meaning of three kinges adoring one silly poore infant iustly ye may admire his wisedome and wonder at his might and because the Queene of Saba shall not triumph ouer you in being made Queene of Ierusalem by her matching with Salomon the prince hath espoused you al and in you three as a most sacred number all forraine nations and made you coheires with him of a celestiall Ierusalem but the treasure with which yee shall returne into your countries shal bee such as neuer could be valued with any priâ—ce nor before this time
others say that onely one in euerie Temple as at the departure of the Israelites from Egypt one dyed in euerie house some write that onely those fell downe which wer at Heliopolis in Thebais whether the virgin went with her sonne to dwell certaine it is that a huge great tree was not farre from the Citie whose fruit leaues or barke did heale many diseases and no other cause was euer giuen thereof then that it receiued this vertue myraculously when the yong prince passed by it at his first comming at what time it bowed downe vnto the ground and was dispossessed of an euill spirite which was woont there to bee honoured by the Egyptians and all this is no wonder to those who read that Dagon the Idoll which the Philistins adored was founde first lying vpon the ground before the Arke of God which they took in a battell from the Iewes and had placed it in Dagons temple at Asoâ—â—s and the second time the body of the Idoll was in his place as they had set it vp againe but the head and hands were off and lay before the arch If the arch were of such vertue being a thing made of wood made by Moses at Gods commaundement to keep the law which he gaue vnto the Israelites that an Idoll could not stand in the presence therof how coulde any Idols stande in the presence of an arch made without mans hand and where God himselfe was personally present For into Egypt came now neither Abraham Iacob Moses nor Ieremie but one who was greater then euer was any of the patriarks or prophets and therefore no wonder if Egypt felt such an alteration as neuer before That this yong prince dwelt in Heliopolis a worthy fountaine not far from thence witnessed wherein it is said the virgin washed the yong prince and such things as she vsed about him it was in a garden where grewe nothing but that which was most precious For in the gardeÌ„ was nothing but Balsam it had no other water but of that fountain to water it the garden being afterward made greater the inhabitants thereabout digged a greater place for the watering thereof near vnto the other little fountaine perswading themselues that there was some speciall vertue therein for this purpose and that their Well which they digged being neare vnto it might be the better for it but they all were deceyued of their expectation vntill they made certaine Pipes by which they conueyed water out of the little fountane into their Well and mingled it with other water which sprung fast by it in remembraunce of which both that place and the place where the virgin dwelled were had in great reuerence by the heathen people for they sawe a manifest signe that his bodie gaue vertue vnto that fountain when as the water which was digged close by it had no such vertue in it This sequell perchance made the Egyptians to reflect the more vpon their Idols fall both in their Temples and elsewhere and called to minde what they had beene before also informed by one who although he were a Iew and stoned to death by his owne countrymen in Egypt because hee foretolde them they should all die by sworde and famine which descended into Egypt after the destruction of their Temple by the Chaldees yet he was highly esteemed of by all the Egyptians for that by his prayers hee deliuered all that coast where he came from Cocatrices pernitious water serpents from Aspides which were so wily that if at any time the enchanter were about to charme them thereby to take away their force in hurting them they woulde lay one of their eares so close to the ground and stop the other so fast with their taile that the enchanter could not in any sort preuaile against them The Oracle which this prophet gaue them was that when a virgin should bring forth a sonne their Idols should be destroied which being beleeued by the priests they erected in the most secret place of their teÌ„ple the Image of a virgin with a child in her arms adored it which Ptolomeus their K. for Alexander the great made Ptolo. K. of Egypt after him the K. of Egypt were called Ptolome as before they all called Pharao when hee demaunded what it meant they sayde as before is shewed and that their predecessors had left such a tradition amonge them and that they beleeued it and no doubt that Image did stand still in their temple for the honor they bore vnto the Prophet whom after the Iewes had stoned the Egyptians buried close by theyr Kings but afterward Alexander the Great translated his body with exceeding great pompe vnto Alexandria that by the presence thereof those Serpents shoulde auoyde which by no other pollicie hee could ouercome notwithstanding that hee had brought other kind of sepents out of Greece to destroy them But after that this blessed virgin and her childe were come into Egypt Herod returning from Rome as most men affirme either from making complaint of his sonnes Alexander and Aristobulus or from aunswering to theyr complaints made vppon him to the Emperor and not knowing this yong prince where to finde but mistrusting onely that hee was some where about Bethlcem sent to murder all the infants which were in Bethleem neere about so that Beniamin as some doe thinke bordering vpon that part of Iuda lost also some of their infants according to the olde prophesie A voyce of weeping and howling was heard in Rama Rachel bewayling her children and would not bee comforted because they were not that is to say because shee was spoyled of them for Beniamin was the yongest sonne of Rachel and the yongest of the twelue patriarches some doe thinke that Rama was a towne betwixt Bethleem and Hebron and that Zacharias vpon ryot of this murder conuayed away his sonne for which hee was afterward slaine himselfe Some say that this Rama was a towne in Arabia whose name was vsed to shewe how farre in a short time this crueltye was spred abroade Some do thinke that Rama signified nothing but the vehemencie of the crye which might very well bee for 14000. infants were slain in this massacre and as some do thinke onely the infants of Iuda and that Rachel is by the Prophet sayd to lament her children not because that anie of the tribe of Beniamin were slaine but because that shee lay buried neere vnto the place where this murder was principally doone which was doone vpon all of twoo yeeres old to fiue yeeres old as some haue thought because the childrens bones which were after seene seemed to bee of a greater growth then twoo yeeres others who thinke that children were bigger at that time then they were in a short time after say all were slaine which were of two yeeres and vnder which also some do limit saying that none were slaine who were vnder 40. dayes olde because Herod vnderstood that the Prince was borne when the three Kings
pardon of thier deedes doone sinfully Through the bowels of our Lords mercie In which he came to vs rising from high To comfort those with light the which doe sit In darkenesse and in the shadow of death And that the waies of peace each one may hit Our feete from straying he also guideth His song being ended and his enduring without ende next vnto her sonne whome in this songe hee acknowledged the author of his ioy he thought the B. virgin was to haue her due wherefore comming vnto her he gaue her that honour which at that time hee thought meete although hee dared not to giue her in open shew so much as he meant her in his minde And by this time the companye finding theyr sences which they seemed to haue lost vpon this sodaine accident beganne to whisper among themselues what such straunge wonders should poâ—tend An old and barren couple to haue a childe was a thing full of ioye to theyr friendes and maruaile to straungers but Zacharias his speech restored vnto him after nine moneths dimnesse was to them both both ioy and wonder They remembred when hee was first dumbe which by their account was immediately before the conception of the child they did assure themselues that he had seene some vision in the Temple but when they heard him at the circumcision of his sonne not onely speake but fore-show also matters of such importance to be now at hand they could doe no lesse then coniecture that this child should beare some part in them and therefore demanded they ech of other â—ow think you will this childe proue which doubt one which was present would soon haue solued if he would haue bin seen but it was somwhat too soone therfore he deferred it vntil a fitter opportunitie should be offred for that purpose where we shall in part also vnderstand what thiâ— child proued for this time accoÌ„pany the blessed virgin who verie well vnderstanding the matter when she saw her time left her coosens with a friendly farewell although they were greatly sorie for her departure to comfort themselues in their little one and the rest to diuulge those strange wonders in the mountaines Her guard was quickly in a readinesse to safeconduct her to Nazareth where her parents reioyced not a little to see their daughter and Ioseph was exceeding glad to inioy his spouse who thought the time very long of her stay and therefore requyted her long absence with his often presence after her returne through which he perceyued the sooner that she was with childe which did not onely checke in some part his loue but also choaked all his ioy He loued her so intirely well that hee knew not howe to hate her and yet in his conceyte she had deserued such hatred that hee knewe not howe hereafter hee coulde loue her He meant truly and faythfully to haue kept his promise made vnto her when they were betrothed and hee could not but thinke it great disloyaltie in her towarde him by this supposed spousebreach For the loue he bare vnto her he would not openly defame her for then according to the lawe shee shoulde haue beene stoned to death yet could he not frame himselfe to detaine her because he conceiued an offence impardonable and if at any time her vertues ranne in his thoughts to bee such that it coulde not bee possible shee shoulde in so foule a matter fâ—ll from her faith giuen to God and him yet againe hee thought it impossible but that she should be faultie hauing such manifest proofe of a matter of which he could conceiue no reason but guiltines against reason Not brooking therefore what he mistrusted nor yet willing that she should be a by-word for the world hee bethought himselfe that it would bee best for them both if hee should dismisse her without defaming her for although he saw euident perill of his owne life as well by forsaking her whom he loued as his life as by liuing with her who had alreadie grieued him almost vnto the death yet hee thought it would be an easier death if he were altotogether from her then to die in the dayly sight of her whom he tooke to be his murderer But while hee was thus troubled in chusing by which torture he could best like to end his life and in a manner resolued to dismisse her crying out against heauen earth the one because he thought it had wrought him this wrong the other to reuenge it his eyes grew as heauie as his heart and by a mourneful fall bereaued him of all his sences And being now at some little rest not because he had no griefe but because he felt it not hee thought hee saw a man whose attire comelinesse and maiestie bewraied him to be no lesse then a prince although some kinde of his behauiour shewed him to bee no more then a messenger as bold to speake as he seemed able to perswade him he thought he heard vse these words vnto him Ioseph sonne of Dauid feare not to take Marie thy wife for that which is bred in her is of the holy ghost she shal be deliuered of a son whom thou shalt call Iesus for he shall saue his people from their sins Which message being done he departed Ioyfull tydinges to poore Ioseph but straight he feared that they wer too good to be true He knew her vertue was such as she might very wel be thought the least vnfit to mother such a child but againe he thought himselfe not worthy to husband such a wife with which conceit being somewhat troubled he awaked and calling to mind the vision which he had seene sleeping hee remembred also what he had often heard waking that a serpent was threatned by a diuine oracle a perpetuall enmity pronounced betwixt him on the one part a woman and her seed on the other part which he heard expounded of a maiden who should bring forth a son without the company of man expressed sufficiently in that it was called her seed and confirmed at another time by the same oracle to Achas K. of the Iewes when it was told him that a virgin shold conceiue in her womb bring forth a son afterward an other answer was giuen that a sprig shold spring from the root of Iesse who was K. Dauids father a flower from thence shold bud to shew that as a flower grew only froÌ„ one so likewise shold he of whoÌ„ was so great expectation And what strange or new thing this should be which the oracle did insinuate God wold make that a virgin shold conceiue a man he could not imagin vnles it shold be vnderstood to be done without the company of a man that the infant shold haue what perfection could be in man which agreed very wel with his visioÌ„ These such like as he recounted in his mind he recanted that which before he ment now hauing as great difficulty to beare the ioyes he felt as he had
before to brooke the fault which he found he held it not without cause the gretest happines he could haue in this worlde to enioy the loue of her whose vertue surmounted all who were vertuous were not vertue it selfe She was a yong maiden but of graue dedemeanor able to haue prouoked the best mortified to loue but she reproued euen in her face all maner of lust for whom her modestie drew to admire her her maiestie draue from thought of sinning by her although her pouertie sought to conceale it her properties shewed her princely desent Wherefore he thanked the heauens for his good hap began to thinke how he should make her amends of whom he had conceiued so hardly But when he came againe vnto her he stood stone still as though either his soule had forsaken him or his sences forgotten her if only sorrow for his suspition past ioy of his present resolution had fought the combat the quarrell might haue beene quickly ended poore Ioseph wold with teares either haue confessed vnto her his fault or haue congratulated his owne good fortune bâ—t a reuerence entring into the lists preuailed against both which made him as backward in his paces as loue could make him forwarde in his lookes wherefore shee perceyuing his eyes fixed so vpon her as if he meant they shoulde not straye and his heeles so fastened to the ground as if he had beene minded they should neuer stirre she beganne to be abashed at this so sodaine an alteration and blushed to thinke whether she had giuen him any iust cause of so strange a salutation but her conscience assuring her that shee had beene alwaies as forwarde in shewing him all manner of curtesie as she was free from suffering any maner of corruption she encountred him with such sweet piercing lookes as she encouraged him to prosecute his former professed loues but in such sort as ioy griefe and reuerence were moderators in his wordes countenance and behauiour He confessed his iealousie and suspition he had of her humblie craued pardon therefore vowing himselfe for his pennance vntill his dying day in sight of the world a true and faithfull spouse and in all his actions a most diligent and obedient seruant he vttered his intention to dismisse her and being so fully satisfied in the misterie wrought in her he was now become a suter vnto her that she wold vouchsafe to accept of him And she perceiuing that this worke could not possiblie proceed without his knowledge recounted vnto him what had chanced vnto her but with such humilitie lowlines of mind as was sufficient to haue perswaded a truth disswaded him from his determined purpose if he had before discouered his iealousie vnto her Wherfore after humble thanks to her Lord who in such sort had supplied her bashfull backwardnes she embraced her spouse who trembled for reuerence to touch her and she did not onely pardon his offence past but dispensed also with that pennance which hee had enioyned himselfe so farre foorth as it concerned her owne person but craued most careful attendance on him whome shee had conceiued Many wordes passed not betwixt them at this meeting because they both were willing that this his fault as it was quietly forgiuen so it should also be quickly forgotten but they could not parte without many ioyes because they both had their wish that this sacred conception as it cleared her from all suspected faultes so it should clense him from all superfluons fancies and they liued euer after with such contentment happinesse that they neither enuied at the statelie port of earthly princes nor desired the highest estate of the heauenly spirites yet coulde they not but wish euery day her time were expired that not onely they but the whole world also might enioye whome they expected for although a speciall choice was made of the Iewes yet were not the geÌ„tiles abandoned being each as nobly born as other and both as one They both had their Prophetes which did forshew his birth that both might take like profite by his death Among the Gentiles were Trimegistus Hidaspes and the Sibilles and the Iewes were not without those which foretolde both the time and the circumstances most iustlie The Gentiles vnderstood that about that time a king should be born by whome onely as the most eloquent Orator that euer spake in Rome saide all people should be saued but they vnderstanding no more then hee did what this saying ment some of them which thought well of themselues beganne to cast how they might bee kinges hoping that the Prophetes spake of them for this cause did Lentulus ioyne himselfe in Catalines conspiracie and Anthony boldly set a crown vpon Iulius Caesar his head when they sported themselues at their Lupercals at which Caesar seemed to grieue and the Senate to grudge and Caesar refusing the crowne Anthony to the dislike of all the Romaines set it vppon Caesar his Image others thougâ—t that Augustus Caesar was the man and the rather because hee was borne aboute such a time as vppon a strange accident coniecture was made a mighty prince should arise for the Image of Iupiter which stoode in the Capitoll and the image of the Wolfe which nursed Romulus and Rhemus as also many other Idols were either broken or melted yet was Aâ—gustus a fauourer of Idols and by sacrificing vnto them acknowledged himselfe rather a bearer of them out then a breaker of them down but whosoeuer was born that yeare by the Senates decree was murdered because the very name of a king was hated amongst them All thought the appeariâ—g of the sunne in a rainebow when the skie was rounde aboute then cleare at Caesar his returne to Rome from Apollonia was a confirmation of this Empire so likewise did they enterprite the flowing of oile by the space of one whole daye out of a well on the foreside of Tiber a famous riuer that runneth thorough Rome in a place hetherto permitted to the Iewes to inhabite and to liue according vnto their lawes but the well stoode in a Tauerne sometime vsed by aged soldiers to soiourne in when they had serued in the warres in defence of the common wealth for after that a souldier came to his threescore yeare hee had his certaine allowance vntill his death which commonly was spent in that place And when they sawe the sunne in the middle of three circles vpon one of which was a crowne burning made as it were of eares of corn they applied it to their Triumâ—â—â—â— that is to signifie that three men shoulde sitte vppon capitall matters on which onely two satte before and were called â—â—â—umuiri But Augustus Caesar who had searched their olde southsayers saw hee was to waite for a greater then eyther they or himselfe was or the Gods whome hee worshipped and Apollo whose sonne hee was accounted confirmed the same insomuch as hee refused the title of a Lorde and hauing great treasure brought vnto him