Generality or some of them might escape to the Neighbouring Nations and return again with Foreign Colonies to re-inhabit their desolate Country which the Israclites were not to slay in but press'd forward towards the Land of Canaan and so the new Inhabitants assuming the Name of the Country might invade the Israclites in the days of Gideon We have seen the destruction of Midian occasioned by their Uncleanness but that of the Moabites was respited for a while because they were the off-spring of Lot Of such advantage is it to be descended of Godly Parents tho' in an illegal manner We have already considered Incestuous and Unlawfull Marriages as they were forbidden to the Israelites whom God would have distinguish'd from other Nations not only in respect of the purity of their Morals but even in their Apparel Hair and laudable Customs as Maimonides and others think And we come now to consider those Incestuous Marriages and Promiscuous Copulations as the Causes of the destruction of the Egyptians amongst whom they had dwelt and of the Canaanites in whose Land they were to dwell as it is particularly expressed in the 18th Chapter of Leviticus It 's true that all along in the Book of Exodus the Chief Crime of the Egyptians taken notice of is Oppression and Persecution but as we have said before Persecution and Uncleanness are Generally Companions and we find that the multiplication of the Hebrews was one great Cause of the Envy and Hatred of the Egyptians towards them which bâ—ing the usual Blessing and Reward of Chastity was a severe Reproof to the Lascivious Egyptians which no doubt did heighten their Enmity to the Children of Israel And by the Prophet's Reproof in the 20. and 23. Chapters of Ezekiel That Israel had plaid the Harlot in the days of her Youth when she was in the Land of Egypt there 's reason to think that too too many of the Israelites were infected with the corrupt Example of the Egyptians who â—or their Promiscvous Venery are Compared to Asses and Horses by the Prophet in these words Whose Members are as the Members of Asses and whose Issue is as the Issue of Horses Historians tell us That it was usual amongst the Egyptians for Brothers and Sisters to Marry together and that they made a Statute for the Lawfulness of it because Isis their Goddess was Married to her Brother Osiris Then seeing the Israelites had convers'd amongst them 200 Years and had not only seen but learned their Corrupt manners and been witnesses to all the plagues inflicted upon them on that Account there could not be a more proper Caution given them than to beware of their Practices It is also to be observed that the Arabians amongst whom the Israelites wandered married none but their own Kindred That the Persians held it Lawfull for the Fathers to marry with their Daughters and the Parthians accounted it no Crime for the Mothers to marry with their Sons so much were those Eastern Countries drowned in Uncleanness whence it is plain that Whoredom was one of the principal Causes of their destruction It 's true that in Abraham's time it would seem that such Incestuous Marriages were not Common amongst the Egyptians otherwise his advice to Sara to say that she was his Sister would have been no Argument to make the Egyptians conclude that she was not his Wife But it is plain from Historians that afterwards they grew more licentious And thus Ptolemy Pihladelphus married his Sister Arsinoe and Soter and Philopater Egyptian Kings did also marry their own Sisters And it 's a known Story of the Persians that when Cambyses King of Persia had a mind to his youngest Sister and ask'd his Judges whether there were any Law against it they answered him That they knew none but that there was a Law that the King 's of Persia might do what they would Then 't is also known that the Messagates Troglodites Brachmans and other Eastern People allowed a Community of Wives their Philosophers taught it and Crates and Cabades Kings of Persia made Laws for it Another of the Crimes forbidden to the Israelites and which the Canaanites and those Eastern People were guilty of was causing their Seed to pass through the fire to Moloch by which some understand that in a most filthy manner they consecrated their Sperm or Seed to their Idol Priapus as Baal's Priest offered their Blood to their Idol 1. Kings 18. and as the Manichees and Gnosticks mixed the Eucharist with humane Seed tho' the Current of Interpreters carry it for making their Children pass through betwixt two fires and sometimes offering them as a burnt-Sacrifice in Honour of their Idol They are also charged with Sodomy or the Unnatural Lust of Men towards Men to which they were given up by the Just Judgment of God as a due punishment for their Idolatry And at the dissolution of the Monastcries here in England our Anti-Christian Idolaters were found to have polluted themselves in this manner which Crime as it brought Hell upon the Sodomites before their time that is brought Fire and Brimstone upon them before they went off the Earth so this horrid Uncleanness of the Monks procur'd the dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII before their Religion was discharged out of the Nation The Egyptians and Canaanites are also charged with Bestiality their Men and Women having committed Confusion with Beasts and thus Pasiphae is accused of having accompanied with a Bull Polyphantes with a Bear Semiramis with an Horse and the Women of Mendis in Egypt with Goats Nay if we may believe the Fables of the Jews the false Prophet Balaam who was slain amongst the Midianites was guilty of Bestiality with his Ass which they foolishly collect from those Words of the Beast viz. Am not I thine Ass which thou hast ridden upon It is also observable that those brutal Commixtious were punish'd by the Infamy of the Criminals as well as by their destruction for we read that the Monstrous Births have many times discovered those Unnatural Crimes and that sometimes they have been betrayed by Heterogeneous tho perfect Births And thus Plutarch tells us of a Boy begotten betwixt a Man and a Mare and of a Girl betwixt a Man and an Ass And Olaus Magnus mentions a Man begotten of a Woman by a Bear who was thereupon called Vrsus and of whom many Great Panish Princes did afterwards descend It 's true that Galen denies that there can be any such Generation of Mankind but others maintain it upon this reason That the Partial Cause being more Noble prevails over the less Noble as it is many times seen that a fair Woman hath brought forth a Black-a-moor In fine the Land of Canaan being polluted by those abominations Vomited out her Inhabitants the Posterity of Cham who did so impudently behold and revile his Father's Nakedness and is thought to have revived the Vitious manners of the old World in his Posterity the Sodomites and Canaanites and thus
cruel Man as is gathered from this discourse to his Wives in that Chapter viz. I have slain a man to my wounding and a young man to my hurt This bad example of Lamech's digamy did quickly infect the Infant World for we find in the next Chapter That when men began to multiply and that daughters were born unto them the Sons of God saw the Daughters of men that they were fair and they took them Wives of all that they chose It s still to be observed that as Whoredom and Uncleanness began in Cain's Family so there it continu'd and increas'd and by their Contagious Example the Family of Seth which did then contain the Visible Church became also infected and the Members of the Church having more regard to the Beauty and Comeliness of the Women of Cain's Race than to the vertue of those who were of their own Religion their Eyes betrayed their Hearts they lusted after their Beauty and without any consideration of Religion or Laws took them Wives of all that they chose by which Interpreters understand promiscuous Marriages Polygamy unjust Divorces Rapes and all manner of Lewd and Licentious practises which brought the Wrath of Goâ— upon the old World and occasion'd hiâ— saying as in the 3 d verse That his spirit should not always contend with Man The occasion of this General Corruption of Manners is hinted to be thâ— multiplication of Men and particularly oâ— the Women of Cain's Posterity who being under no discipline and wanting thâ— benefit of pious Instruction and good Example became dissolute and wanton and no care being taken to dispose of therâ— duly in Marriage they took all occasion to satisfie their brutal desires for whicâ— their dwelling in Cities whereof Caiâ— was the first Founder amongst multitudes of people gave them great opportunities it being always observ'd that iâ— Great Cities the numbers of dissolute persons makes them to despise Laws anâ— follow such practices as they durst noâ— venture upon in Villages and Countrieâ— where they could be more easily restrained and punisht not that I would be understood to be against the building anâ— maintaining of Cities which increase thâ— Glory Riches and Strength of Nations but would to God that the greâ— Cities of Christendom were not still to justly chargeable with avowed Impuritieâ— of the same nature which a zealous Magistracy might easily prevent It is also the opinion of some of the learned that the Cainites did first build themselves a City that they might strengthen one anothers hands in Cruelty and Uncleanness and follow such practises with all manner of impunity which gave their Women opportunity to pamper and deck themselves that they might be the more agreeable objects of Lust and this might also render them more amiable in the Eyes of the Posterity of Seth who living as 't is presumed a Rural Life for the most part and their Women being kept in order by Laws and Religion and applying themselves to the Affairs of their Families that they might approve themselves meet helps to their Husbands according to the design of God at the first Creation of Woman did not mind the decking and adorning of their Bodies nor the pampering of their Flesh and cherishing their Beauties as the Cainites did and therefore were not so pleasing to the Eye as those lascivious Women who behaved themselves as if God and Nature had design'd them for nothing else but a Man's bed whereas the Divine Goodness appointed that they should be meet-helps in their Religious Conversation Industry Care and Education of Children to all of which those loose practices of the Cainites were diametrically opposite From those unequal Marriages and promiscuous Copulations proceeded a contempt of Laws and Religion amongst the Cainites and an Apostacy from God and Religion amongst many of the Posterity of Seth and it hath been observed amongst all Nations since that when Religion decays uncleanness increases and that a love to Licentiousness hath always been a great cause of Apostacy as is but too too observable in those that are called Deists and Socinians in this present Age most of their New Converts or rather Perverts being people of a loose life especially as to the point of Chastity The next effect of those unclean anâ— beastly Commixtions was an off-spring of Giants so called as some Interpreterâ— think from the vastness of their bulkâ— as being begot in raging Lust or as others because of their Barbarous and Saâ—vagâ— Manners and filling all the World witâ— Rapes Cruelty and Devastation so that bâ— the just Judgment of God the Children oâ— those unlawful Marriages and Promiscuous Copulations became the plague oâ— their Parents and the scourge of Man kind as well as the declared Enemies oâ— Heaven and Religion Whence the olâ— doting Poets took occasion to amuse thâ— World with the fabulous War of the Gianâ— against Jupiter c. Noah not being able by his preaching of Righteousness to reform the World from this horrid Debauchery it provok'd God to bring the Deluge which drown'd that lascivious and wicked Generation of Men who had drown'd themselves in all manner of sensual Impurities with so much obstinacy that when that fatal Flood came it surpriz'd them as eating drinking marrying and giving in marriage Thus then it 's apparent that Whoredom was one of the principal Causes that brought the Wrath of God upon the old World And it deserves our observation that God by his Command to Noah to take only his own Wife and the three Wives of his three Sons into the Ark with him as he did thereby give another Testimony of his honouring and approving of Marriage he did also plainly testifie against Digamy Polygamy and Concubines and that as the World was peopled at first by lawful Marriage it should be also peopled in the same manner a second time To come next to the times after the Flood the â—â—â—st instance of impurity that occurs to us is Ham's deriding his father Noah ' s nakedness by which there are some Interpreters who understand that he not only told it his Brethren but also before Women and Children in a lascivious and filthy manner and took occasion to fall into foolish Jesting and Sarcasms Nay if we give credit to the opinion of Berosus and the Rabbins he inchanted his Fathers Virile parts and unman'd him but however that is this is certain that he discover'd a frothy unclean lascivious temper for which he was severely punisht in his posterity The Canaanites who wallowed also in those fleshly impurities when God destroyed them by the Israelites the posterity of Sem as shall be taken notice of in its proper place From Ham did also proceed Nimrod the Mighty Hunter and cruel oppressor who was the first that laid the foundation of a Tyrannical Government after the Flood so that the observation still holds that Vncleanness Murder and those other Crimes which lay Nations wasteare near a kin and generally the off-spring and product of one and the same
Family That Abraham seem'd to have this Notion appears from his advice given to his beautiful Wife Sarah when he travelled with her into Egypt viz. to say she was his Sister because the Egyptians he supposed would have kill'd him that they might enjoy her Whence we may likewise observe that the Holy Patriarch knew that lustful persons would rather commit Murder than be baulkt in the satisfaction of their Lusts and yet tho the World was at that time so much degenerated it 's plain from this passage that the Egyptians look'd upon Marriage as Sacred and Inviolable otherwise Sarah's calling her self Abraham's Sister could have been no defence of her Husbands life Nay it is manifest from the History that Pharaoh design'd to have taken her to Wife so that those Heathen Egyptians will rise up in Judgment against our Christian Debauchees who think neither Fornication nor Adultery to be Crimes for it 's evident from this passage that both he and his Subjects tho abominably lustful had a great regard to Marriage which it's plain he thought necessary to render his enjoyment of Sarah lawfull There are several other things to be learned from this remarkable instance as that the vanity of matching with none but those of Royal Extract had not then invaded the Thrones of Princes But at the same time it is as plain that it hath been an old and wicked Custom amongst Courtiers and Nobles to be Panders to the lusts of their Monarchs for here we find that Pharaoh's Princes Commended Sarah's Beauty to him which occasioned her being taken into his House and would to God that no such thing had ever been justly chargeable upon the Court of England There are only two Remarks more which I have to make on this Story and shall then proceed to another viz. that God by smiting Pharaoh and his House-hold all of sudden with Plagues did both give a Testimony of his divine displeasure against such lustful practices and of his being a protector of Conjugal Chastity What the nature of this Plague inflicted upon Pharaoh and his houshold was is not agreed upon amongst Interpreters The Hebrews say that it was a Gonorrhoea or Vlcer in his secret parts which prevented his design Josephus thinks it was a Pestilence and sudden Sedition in the Palace Philo Judaeus says it was a Distemper both of Body and Mind and Chrysostom is of opinion that it was some Bodily Plague inflicted upon him just as Sarah was brought to his Bed but however those things be this is certain that Sarah's pollution was prevented and Pharaoh oblig'd to own that it was not lawful to take another Man's Wife The next instance is of Abraham himself who is the first of the Posterity of Seth after the Flood that we find to have been guilty of Digamy it 's plain that the occasion of his taking his Handmaid Hagar to Wife was his VVife Sarah's advice and the Cause of her giving that advice was her own Barrenness advanced age and fear that she should not otherwise have the promised Seed The Causes of Abraham's consenting so easily were no doubt the same and Polygamy being then Common in the World his Practice administred no occasion of Scandal so that his practice of marrying his Maid in those times of Ignorance which God winked at can not afford any argument for Polygamy now and seeing he had his Wife's consent it will far less warrant those lascivious Intrigues which many Masters have now a days with their Maid-Servants But that this practice of the Holy Patriarch was displeasing to God will easily appear from the punishment inflicted upon his Family the Peace of which was immediately broke by Hagar's despising her Mistress assoon as she found her self pregnant with the promised Seed as she vainly believ'd Then Sarah upbraids Abraham with the wrong whereof she her self was the occasion and forc'd him to a breach of that Marriage Bond which by her own advice he had contracted Hagar was also punisht for her unlawful Consent first by being severely dealt with by Sarah who gave her for a Wife to her Husband and then by being thrust out of the Family and expos'd to the World and though she was brought back again for some time till she was delivered of her Son Ishmael yet her abode was of no long continuance for she was thrust out again with this additional affliction that she had her Son to provide for was expos'd to the cruel necessity of seeing him die of thirst as she apprehended and instead of his being the promised Seed she and he were both Ignominiously thrust out from partaking of the Inheritance with Isaac and she was plainly told from Heaven that he should be a wild Man having his hand against every Man and every Man's hand against him which was speedily verified for he became a profane scoffer at Religion and the promise of God which occasioned his expulsion from his Father s Family and the Church His crime is by the Apostle Paul called persecution and his Posterity we find complained of by the Psalmist in the 83. Psalm amongst the other persecutors of the people of God and so they have continued under several denominations to this day as Ishmaelites Hagarens c. of which latter name being ashamed as denoting their Spurious Original they assumed to themselves the Title of Saracens as if they were Sarah's off-spring under which they were formidable to the Christian World for some Ages and continue irreconcilable Enemies to the Christian Religion to this day under the name of Arabians Turks c. Such unseparable Vices are Vncleanness Cruelty and Persecution and so easie and natural is the Transition from an unclean person to become an Apostate and Enemy to true religion Nor is it fit to let it pass unobserved that aâ— he himself was unlawfully begot his Posterity to this day have continued to be a vile and lustful people and it is known to the world that it is now become an Article of their horrid Religion that they place their chief happiness both in this Life and that to come in the enjoyment of those impure pleasures Nor is it fit we should pass over what is commonly observ'd by Divines that the very Ordinance of Circumcision by which the fore-skin was appointed to be cut off was a mark of God's displeasure at Incontinence upon the Instrument of Generation and likewise an evidence that those who expect his favour should mortifie that Corruption and that it only took place upon Males was because the beginning of Generation and consequently of natural Corruption is from that Sex The next dreadful Instance of God's hatred and indignation at VVhoredom and Vncleanness is his raining of Fire and Brimstone upon Sodom Gomorrah Admah and Zeboim c. the cry of their lewdness being such that it seemed to drown the noise of all other Sins at that time This is the first Instance we meet with of Lusts arriving to such a prodigious height as
thereof Some take Hemlock before they sit down because they must drink perforce then or else die and others the Powder of the Pumice-stone and such-like Stuff which I am asham'd to rehearse and teach those that be ignorant of such Lewdness and yet we see those that be the stoutest Drinkers lye sweating so long in the Baths and Brothel-houses to digest their Surfeit of Wine that ever now and then they are carried forth dead for their labour You shall have some again when they are in the Hot-house that won't stay so long as they may go to their Beds nay nor as they may put on their Shirts but immediately naked as they are and panting and puffing for Breath catch up great Tankards of Wine to shew what valiant Champions of Bacchus they are and pour them down one after another till they vomit twice or thrice what they have drank Then describing their Pots out of which they us'd to quaff They were engraven says he with fair portraitures of Adulteries as if Drunkenness it self were not sufficient to kindle the heat of Lust and to teach them Wantonness Then continues he when they come to be fuddled they cast their wanton Eyes upon Men's Wives then fall they to court fair Dames and Ladies and openly bewray their Folly even before their jealous and stern Husbands And thus many a Man by his lavish Tongue in his Wine hath come by his Death and had his Throat cut But if they escape these Dangers they never live to be old Men but dye in the strength of their Youth Hence cometh it that some of them look pale with flaggy Cheeks others have bleared and sore Eyes and there be of 'em that shake so with their Hands that they cannot hold a full Cup but pour it on the Floor They are generally disturb'd with fearful Dreams which is the very beginning of their Hell in this Life or else have restless Nights and finally if they chance to sleep for a due reward of their Drunkenness they are deluded with the imaginary Conceits of the Delights of Venus defiled with filthy abominable Pollutions and thus sleeping or waking they sin with pleasure Then he proceeds to particular Instances and names Nivellius Torquatus a Milanois who won the Victory from all the Italians in Drinking adding That he had gone thro' all the Degrees of Dignity at Rome had been Pretor and Proconsul and in all these Offices of State he won no great Name but for drinking in the presence of Tiberius three Gallons of Wine at one draught for which he was dubb'd Knight by the Surname of Tricongius or the Three Gallon Knight This Torquatus had the Art of Drinking never was known to falter in his Tongue never eased himself by vomiting always drank without drawing his Breath and never left a drop behind in the Cup. His next Instance is in Mark Antony who strove to win the Victory in Drinking and made a Profession thereof as appear d by a Book which he publish'd under the title of his own Drunkenness whereby he was not asham'd to justifie his Excesses that way and thereby approved under pretence of his Drunkenness all the Outrages he committed and all those Miseries and Calamities that he brought upon the World This Treatise says Pliny he vomited out a little before his Defeat at Actium That same Author gives us two other memorable Instances of Antony's Drunkenness the first as follows Cleopatra his Paramour perceiving his Jealousie of her insomuch that he would neither eat nor drink without his Taster she design'd to make Sport of his needless Fear and therefore causing a Chappelet or Garland of Flowers to be made for Antony she dipp'd all the edges of the Flowers in strong Poyson and having thus prepar'd it set it upon Antony's Head and having sate at Meat a good while and drank themselves merry she challeng'd Antony for each of them to drink their Chappelets and having first drank off her own Antony minc'd his and putting it into his Cup prepar'd to drink it off but just as he was setting it to his Head she put her Hand between and staid him and then utter'd these Expressions My dear and best-beloved Antony now see what she is whom thou dost so much dread and stand in fear of that for thy security thou must have extraordinary Tasters a Curiosity more nice than needful Lo how I am not to seek of Means and Opportunities to compass thy Death if I could find in my Heart to live without thee And then she sent for a Prisoner out of the Jayl whom she caus d to drink off the Cup that Antony had prepar'd for himself and the poor Wretch died by that time he had well taken the Cup from his Lips The next Instance is this Cleopatra being possess'd of two Pearls the richest and fairest that were ever known in the World being left to her by descent and accounted Nature's Wonder she began to undervalue the Expence that Antony had been at in treating her from day to day to the utmost of his might and when he demanded of her how it was possible to go beyond the magnificence and cost of his Treat she answer'd That she would spend upon him One hundred thousand Sestertii at one Supper Antony thought that impossible and therefore wager'd with her that she could not do it Next night she made him a Supper royal enough but much short of those that he had before prepar'd for her whereupon he began to laugh her to Scorn and demanded a Bill of the Particulars to which she answer'd That what had been brought in already was meer Overplus and that she would yet in that Supper eat Six hundred thousand Sestertii for her own part Upon which she took one of those Pearls from her Ears and dissolving it in Vinegar drank it off And as she was about to do the like with the other L. Placentius the Judge of that Wager laid fast hold upon it and pronounced That Antony had lost upon which he fell into a mighty Passion There was an end of one Pearl and the fellow thereof being taken from this Queen when she was a Prisoner it was divided in two in memory of that half Supper of theirs and hung in the Ears of Venus at Rome in the Temple of Pantheon And yet saith Pliny as prodigal as they were they shall not go away with the Prize for long before their time Clodius the Son of Aesop the Tragedian practis'd the like in Pearls of great price so that Antony hath to match him in all his Magnificence one little better than a Stageplayer Lest Drunkenness should be thought to be only the Vice of some particular persons among the Romans Lipsius in his Epistles tells us That it was a common Crime among them because the Emperors themselves were deeply infected with it and highly rewarded it in others He names one Firmus who was Deputy of Egypt under Aurelian and drank off two Buckets full
of Abraham David Solomon c. is a better Warrant for Poligamy and Concubinage than his Word is against it Thus it 's apparent that the denying of Jesus Christ to be God is introductory of Uncleanness especially Concubinage which some of our Gallants do so much plead for and will boldly assert that there 's no harm in keeping an Vnmarried Woman for a Miss And that the Socinian Books and the Spreaders of that Heresie are entertain'd chiefly by Men of such Principles and Practices is so plain that it cannot well be deny'd To return to our Account of this Work We have in the next place taken all those Instances in the celebrated History of Josephus that did any way make for our purpose We have likewise taken those in Justin Plutarch's Lives and Quintus Curtius relating to the Greeks Persians and other Eastern Nations treated of by the Ancients and have turn'd over the Roman Histories from the foundation of Rome to the Reign of Augustulus wherein the Reader will find that this Sin of Vncleanness hath had Tragical Effects upon Empires and Emperors Monarchies and Monarchs occasion'd many Revolutions of Government and that neither the Victories of Alexander Julius Coesar and Pompey nor the great Dignity universal Esteem and Princely Qualities of Augustus and Titus the Son of Vespasian have been able to rub out the Stains which their impure Lusts have fixed upon their Memories Nor indeed is there any reason to think it should when the Faith of Abraham the Holiness of David and the Wisdom and Grandeur of Solomon have not been able to secure them against those Punishments which their UnUncleanness brought upon their Persons Families and Reputations so infallibly true hath it always been found what the Wise-man hath fore-told of the Adulterer in the 6th of the Proverbs That a Wound and a Dishonour shall he get and his Reproach shall not be wiped away We have also look'd into the Ecclesiastical Histories of Eusebius Socrates Evagrius c. for such Instances as relate to our Subject which we have faithfully set down to shew how hateful and abominable Vnclean Persons were in the Eyes of the Ancient Church what severe Penances were injoyn'd them and with how much Difficulty they were receiv'd again into its Communion It was design'd to have taken a View of the Histories of all Nations extant and amongst others to have inserted the horrid Instances that are to be found in the Lives of the Popes and other Heresiarchs and in a word to have brought the History down to our Time but finding that the Volume swell'd I thought fit to deferr that to a Second Essay AN Alphabetical Table OF THE CONTENTS A ABimelech how punish'd for taâ—ing Sara Page 18 His Testimony against Adultery ibid. Abraham's Polygamy how occasion'd and punish'd 10 11 12 Abner's Vncleanness and Punishment 64 Absalom's Incest and Punishment the Opinions of the Rabbins upon it 71 73 The weight of his Hair how much the Opinion of the Rabbins how David deliver'd him from Hell ibid. Achitophel's unclean Counsel and Punishment 73 Adonijah's Vncleanness and Punishment 79 Adulterâ—r who the first 2 Adultery how said not to be known at Sparta 190 Agathocla Agathocles and Evanthes Whoredom and Punishment 162 Agathocles's Whoredom and Punishment 159 Ageus how he knew Theseus to be his Son 187 Agis King of Lacedemon betrayed by his Adulterous Queen 144 Ahab Zedekia's uncleanness and punishment 94 Alcibiades why banish'd the manner of his Death 145 Alexander the Great his lustfulness and punishment 149 154 156 195 196 Alexander K. of Pherea 198 Amazons what they were their original and way of propagation 141 Amnon's Incest and punishment 67 The cause of his hatred to Tamar after he had ravish'd her 69 Anilaeus's uncleanness and punishment 115 Antony's Debauches and Death 215 270 221 Antiochus desperately in love with his Father's Wife how discover'd obtains her 213 Apparel Roman Luxury in it 295 Appius Claudius's uncleanness and punishment 13 Apicius's Gluttony poisons himself 278 Archelaus's uncleanness and punishment 99 Archias ruin'd by Whoredom 197 Aristotimus's Whoredom and Punishment 160 Arsinoe her Incest and Punishment 160 161 Artaxerxes's uncleanness and punishment 148 224 Assyrian Empire overturn'd by Lust 135 Athenians ruin'd by Luxury 145 Athens and Rome both founded by Lust and Enemies to Christianity 187 Augustus's Lust and Punishment 231 Vnhappy in his Children 232 His luxurious Feast 234 Aurelius Commodus's Lusts Persecution and Death 257 St. Austin how converted 124 Adulteresses punish'd by being shut up in a Brothel-house that Custom abolish'd by Theodosius 306 B Baalpeor what 46 Babylonians ruin'd by Whoredom 95 c. Bacchanalian Rites what how discover'd and abolish'd 181 186 The Consul's Speech against ' em 185 Bacchus's Worship why ridicul'd by the Scythians 120 Bagoas Alexander's Catamite his Cruelty 156 Balaam's filthy advice and punishment 46 Why the Jews say he was guilty of Bestiality with his Ass 52 Barges of Heliogabalus describ'd 294 Baths Luxury of the Romans in ' em 288 Bedsteds of Silver and Gold 294 Benjamites their uncleanness and punishment 60 Berecinthia her Worship what 263 Births heterogeneous their cause 53 Bonosus's Drunkenness 273 Bridge over the Sea by Caligula 285 Brutus cuts off the Tarquins for their uncleanness 168 Buildings Roman Luxury therein 291 Bells rung by Prostitutes at Rome to invite Passengers 307 C Caligula's Lust and Punishment 237 c. His extravagant Taxes his Death Sueton's Character of him 281 Canaanites uncleanness and punishment 52 53 Capua ruin'd by Lust 176 Carâ—calla's Lust and Death 259 Carinus kill'd for Adultery 260 Catiline's Whoredom 223 Cato the younger's false Notions of Marriage 207 Parts with his Wife to Quintus Hortensius takes her again when a Widow 207 Murders himself 209 Cato the Censor punishes Voluptuousness 199 His own Amours ibid. Centurion remarkably punish'd for his Lust 180 Cerinthus the Heretick's Vncleanness Chastity of the Primitive Christians testified by Tertullian Origen St. Jerome Pliny and Clem. Alexandrinus 312 313 314 316 Chastity of a Christian Youth remarkable 314 Children of weak Constitutions barbarously murder'd by the Spartans 191 Chrysargyrum what and how abolish'd 309 Cicero's Incontinence Luxury in his Palaces 291 His Death 224 Cimon's Lust and Punishment 202 Circumcision why only applied to Males 13 Cities when first built by whom and why 5 Claudius Caesar's Lusts and Punishment 240 His Incest with Agrippina 241 His Agreement to the adulterous Contract betwixt his Wife Messalina and Silius his Death ibid. Clemens Alexandrinus's Opinion concerning unclean persons 311 Cleonice slain by her Paramour 202 Cleopatra her Incest and Punishment 164 Her Drunkenness drinks Pearls to the value of 300000 Sestertii 271 272 Her manner of coming to Antony their riotous way of living poysons her-self 220 221 Cloaks excessive number of ' em 296 Clodius's Whoredom 203 223 224 Comes Romanus what 290 Cooks excessive in number and value 277 278 Cups excess expensiveness and beastly forms of ' em 275 D Damocles
guilty of the like Crime nor the hand of God which was gone out against the Common People destroying those by a burning Plague who just before were burning in their Lusts but in the very heat of God's Anger and while the Congregation were all in Tears for their Sins and Judgments as if he would out brave the wrath of God and insult over the Calamities of the people he brought his Midiantish Whore in the sight of Moses and all the Congregation into his Tent and as he made himself thus a Remarkable Sinner the Lord did pursue him with as Remarkable a Judgment by sturring up Phinehas to go beyond the ordinary bounds of his Vocation and become Executioner of his Justice upon this Lustfull Gallant whom together with his Whore he thrust througâ— with his Javelin so that instead of sending a Priest to give him absolution God Commissioned a Priest to be the Messenger of dispatching him to everlasting flame in the very mids of his own Impure flames and while not only the names of Common Sinners but even those of other Great meâ— who were hanged for the same Crimes are buried in oblivion the Name of this Prince and his Tribe are conveyed dowâ— to Posterity to perpetuate the Memory of hiâ— Infamy and this Remarkable Zeal of Phinehas was so well pleasing to God that the Plague amongst the People did immediately cease upon it It 's an observation naturally deducible from this passage that the Chief Magistrate ought to punish Great Men in aâ— Exemplary manner for such Great and Heinous Crimes as Whoredom and Idolatrâ— Here the great ones are hung up before the Sun while Sinners of a lower rank are suffered to rot by a Common Contagion From hence also we may observe Thâ—â— then a Reformation may have prospect oâ— Success when Ministers and Magistrates concur in it as here Phinehas did with Moses The horrid advice of Balaam before mentioned puts me in mind of the Counsel which Cardinal Mazarine is generally charged with as to England viz. That the best way to make us Papists was to debauch our Morals particularly by Whoredom We find by the Instance just now related that Uncleanness is a strong attractive to Idolatry and whether the Lewd Example of the Court which overspread the Nation with Debauchery did not very much promote the Popish Interest in former Reigns and likewise lay the Foundation for that Atheism Deism and Socinianism which doth so much abound in this now that the Debauchees cannot find their Account in Popery let Experience testify If the Advocates of Lechery should object that the punishments abovementioned were inflicted upon the People because of their Idolatry and not upon the Account of their Infamous Commerce with the Daughters of Midian it is easie to answer them that they were punish'd for both in Conjunction and the Apostle in the first of Corinthians 10. and 8. assigns their Fornication as the Cause of their Judgments it being indeed the Original Cause and as has been said already Whoredom and Idolatry have a Natural Tendency to one another and therefore Cardinal Mazarine's Receipt abovementioned for perverting Protestants to be Papists may very well pass with a probatumest There 's one thing more to be taken notice of in this Instance and that is the Judgments which this Whoredom brought upon the Midianites as well as upon the Children of Israel It is well enough known that Corrupt Nature is prone enough to Revenge and there 's little reason to doubt but the Israelites were incens'd enough against those of Midian for this Great Injury they had done them yet the Almighty thought fit to whett their Revenge and Commanded them to Vex the Midianites and Smite them because they vexed them with their Wiles and beguil'd them in the matter of Peor and Cozbi that is by enticing them to Idolatry and Whoredom Peor being the Mountain where the Midianitish Baal was worshipped for Baal was an Appellative Name to Heathen Idols as Mary is to the Popish ones but distinguish'd by the places where the most Famous Statues or Pictures of 'em were worshiped as our Lady of Loretto Lady of Prague c. now a days So that here 's a War declared against Midian with as good Authority and for as great and weighty Causes as ever any War was declared under Heav'n The Execution of which we have an account of in the 31. Chap. where it 's recommended unto Moses as the last Military Exploit that ever he was to perform to Avenge the Lord and the Children of Israel of the Midianites which was accordingly done by an Army Contemptible for Number viz. 12000 Men who destroyed a Numerous People Governed by 5 Kings put all their Males to the edge of the Sword their Kings not excepted and amongst the rest Balaam the false Prophet was slain as a just reward for his pernicious Council and so the Riches which he acquir'd and was so covetous of that for the Lucre of 'em he would act contrary to God's Express Command became a prey to the Israelites against whom he had given such Hellish advice It is also observable that Phinehas who had formerly signalized his Zeal is sent along with the Troops which was both a great Honour to him and an Encouragement to them as fighting under the Auspices of Heaven and had it been otherwise they could never possibly have Conquer'd such a great People as the Midianites appear to have been 3 by the Number of the Women saved that had never known Man viz. 32000 their Sheep which were 675,000 their Beeves 72,000 and Asses 61,000 so that God powred Contempt upon that Effeminate Whoring Nation in destroying them by such an Inconsiderable Number of men It 's also to be observed that Moses was very Angry with the Captains for having saved all the Women and the reason given for it is this Because they had enticed the Children of Israel first to Whoredom and then to Idolatry and therefore he Commanded every Woman who had known a Man to be destroyed and thus those Women who thought to have sav'd their Country by Prostituting themselves did thereby accelerate the destruction of themselves and their Country too and the Midianitisls Men who consented to this Hellish Stratagem of exposing their Wives to save themselves did thereby procure the ruin of both and their Virgins became a prey to the Conquerors The just hatred of God against this Impure Nation appears likewise in this that their Furniture Gold Silver c. was not to be made use of by the Israelites 'till purisied by Fire and Water according to the nature of the thing so abominable in the Eyes of God are all those things spoâ—ted with the Flesh There are some who make an exception to the truth of this History of the Total destruction of the Midianites because they afterwards invaded Israel in great Multitudes in Gideon's time but the solution is easie by the Total destruction may be meant that of the
from England which does so well deserve it because of the pollutions of her Inhabitants In the 23d Chap. the Prophet Complains that the Land is full of Adulterers and because of swearing the Land mourneth the breach of the 3d. and 7th Commandment go usually together as is to be seen in the Dammees and Debauchees of our days In the 14th Verse of that same Chapter he says I have seen also in the â—rophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing they commit Adultery and walk in lyes they strengthen also the hands of evil doers that none doth return from his wickedness They are all of 'em unto me as Sodom and the Inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah And afterwards he adds For from the Prophets of Jerusalem is Profaneness gone forth into all the Land And would to God that none of our Clergy did pollute themselves with the reigning sins of the times nor encourage the wickedness of others by their Licentious Doctrine and loose Lives but certainly when profanity is arriv'd to that heighth we have reason to fear that such Judgments as destroyed the Nation of the Jews lie in wait for us It remains that we take notice of the Accomplishment of those dreadfull threatnings which were exactly fullfilled by the carrying away of King Zedekiah and the People into Captivity the slaying of his Sons before his Eyes and putting all the Nobles to Death after which the City was burnt with fire the People dispers'd and such of them as endeavoured to resetle themselves were broke in pieces by Intestine divisions And Zedekiah and Ahab two lying Prophets who endeavoured to perswade the people that what Jeremiah Prophesied against them should not come to pass and hardened the people by their profligate Example of committing Adultery with their Neighbours ' Wives were thro' the Just Judgment of God burnt in the fire by Nebuchadnezzar and the Memory of their Crime and Punishment was perpetuated to Posterity by this Curse among the Jews The Lord make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab whom the K. of Babylon roasted in the fire So that the fire of their Impure Lust was punished by a more severe punishment than that of a fiery Ordeal for as St. Jerome thinks they were fried and so burnt to death by degrees as they had from time to time burnt in their Uncleanness Thus we have another Instance of a Great and Mighty People ruined by Whoredom and how great their Ruin and Calamity was will speedily appear to any one that reads the Lamentations It likewise deserves our observation that the Babylonians the Instruments in the hands of God for punishing Israel were brought to ruin themselves and one of the principal Causes assigned for the same is That they grew sat as the Heifer at Grass and bellow'd as Bulls Jer. 50. which Calvin and other Interpreters understand to be a parallel phrase to that of Neighing after their Neighbours ' Wives The Judgments threatned upon Babylon in this Chapter we find to be exactly fullfilled and at a time too as Daniel gives us an account when their King Belshazzar was rioting and feasting with his Princes his Wives and his Concubines and profanely drinking out of the holy Vessels which were brought from the House of God at Jerusalem It has been formerly observed that Nimrod the Tyrant laid the Foundation of this Monarchy when the World began to degenerate again after the flood and to immerse themselves in all manner of sensualities and therefore the Greeks according to Bochart in his Canaan Lib. 1. Cap. 2. Confound Nimrod with Bacchus The Story of Semiramis Queen of Babylon and the dissolute Manners of that People during her Reign is well enough known She was a Warlike Princess and during her Regency in the Minority of her Son she Enlarged her Husband's Conquests on the one hand as far as Aethiopia and on the other as far as India having first subdued Media Libya and Egypt she likewise built a Magnificent Tomb to the Memory of Ninus her Husband finished the City of Babylon surrounded it with those Walls and caused those Gardens to be made on the Top of her Palaces which made them the wonder of the World But she Tarnished all her Glory by her Brutish Lust it being recorded of her thaâ— she tempted the handsomest of her Soldiers to lie with her and having satisfyed her Lust caused them to be murdered and to make them amends raised Stately Tombs over their Graves at last she was so far transported by her raging Lust that she became enamoured of her own Son who as a Just Judgment from God slew her as she tempted him to commit Incest with her as is related by Justin Diodoâ—us Siculus and Others All Historians who write of the Babylonians agree that they were a very Luxurious People and it is not at all to be doubted but their Luxury and Lasciviousness as it drew down the Judgments of God upon them so it rendred them Effeminate and made them an easie Conquest to others after they had Conquer'd so many Nations themselves The Extent of this City was prodigious being as Heylin says 46 English Miles in Compass Aristotle says That it was rather a Country than a City and that when it was surprized by the Medes and Persians it was three days before the Inhabitants of the furthiest parts were aware of it It 's Walls were of Brick cemented with Bitumen 32 Foot thick 50 Cubits high and defended by Towers 10 Foot higher The River Euphrates run thro' the middle of it and the Walls were encompassed by deep Ditches It had a Castle 20 Furlongs in Circuit environ'd with Towers 30 Foot in the Ground and 80 above it yet all this strength could not secure it against those Judgments which pursued the people for their Luxury and Uncleanness for the Persians having drained the Channel of Euphrates by cutting many deep Channels on the Banks of it march'd into the City and surpriz'd it while Belshazzar and his Lords who should have taken care of the defence of it were profanely Carousing with their Wives and Concubines And to make the Judgment so much the more Remarkable they were terrified by the prodigy of a hand writing upon the Wall which made Belshazzar's knees smite together for fear and foretold the impending Fate of himself and his Guests and the destruction of his Kingdom It is worth our observation that this Famous City the wonder and the Metropolis of the World so Beautiful and Commodiously situated should for the Luxury and other Crimes of the Inhabitants be turned into a Wilderness by the just Judgment of God when according to the ordinary Methods of Men it might be supposed that the Conquerors would have taken all imaginable care to preserve such an Important City for their own Glory and Profit but it decay'd Gradually till at last it came to be turned into a Park for Hunting by the Kings of Persia so that in that very place where the Impure Babylonians had been so
had not the Courage to make head against them Whatever be the Circumstances of this story that may justly occasion the truth of it to be called in Question its plain from other passages which we shall have occasion to touch in the pursuance of this History that the dissoluteness of a General hath oftener than once occasioned the ruin of Armies We come now to the story of Susanna and the Elders of Israel This Woman says the Author was Wife to Joacim the Chief of the Jews then Captives in Babylon a Woman of Incomparable Beauty and Admirable Chastity This Lady using to walk in her Husband's Garden in the afternoons two of the Elders of Israel who attended at Joacim's House to execute Judgment became inflam'd with Lust towards her and tho' at first they were asham'd to declare it to one another yet afterwards being hardened in their Wickedness they plotted together against this Vertuous Woman and watching an opportunity till they found her alone in the Garden when she had sent her Maids out for Oil and Wash-balls in order to bath her self they surpriz'd her tempted her to Lewdness and upon her refusal accus'd her falsly as if they had taken her in Adultery with a young man upon which she was by the Authority of their Evidence Convicted and Condemned to die but Just as she was going to be put to death the Lord raised up Daniel says the Author to deliver her who obtaining that her Cause should be reheard he examined the Elders afresh and accusing them of that Villainous and Lustfull design against Susanna Convicted them of Perjury by their own Testimony the one of them saying they took her under a Mastich and the other saying that they took her under an Holm-Tree so that they themselves fell into the Pit which they had Digged for this Vertuous Woman and suffered the punishment which they design'd should have been inflicted upon her Whether this story be true or not is not material to our purpose but in the prosecution of this design we shall meet with several parallell Instances which discover the thing not to be impossible in it self however improbable in regard of its Circumstances We come now to the New Testament times and find it observable that our Saviour in his first Sermon upon the Mount Matth. 5. inveighed against the impurity of the Jews who for light and frivolous Causes such as if they did not like their Wives c. Divorced them which was the occasion of Uncleanness in themselves and in the Women so Divorced who our Saviour says they caused to commit Adultery if they put them away upon any other account than that of Fornication so that 't is plain that the Woman whom they took into their Bed in the room of her that was Divorced was no other than a Concubine and that if the Woman so Divorced Married with another Man she thereby became an Adultress as our Saviour declares more at large in the 19th of Matthew where we have an Account of the malice and subtlety of the Pharisees in propounding that Question Whether it was Lawful for a Man to put away his Wife for every Cause For if our Saviour had answered in the Affirmative then they would have proclaimed him a Friend to Uncleanness and if in the Negative then they would have opposed him with the Authority of Moses but our Lord knowing their design referred them to the Creation when God made them Male and Female not Females or diverse Women for one Man and to the first institution of Marriage which was only betwixt one and one and therefore it was said they two not they three four or five shall be one Flesh which clearly subverted all that could be alledged for Polygamy or Concubinage and being the Commentary of the Lawgiver upon his own Law makes it of equal Authority with the Text and ought for ever to shut the Mouths of such as plead for a plurality of Wives Then to their Argument from the Authority of Moses he answers them that Moses indeed permitted Divorces because of the hardness of their Hearts and to prevent a greater evil as is Customary in all Political and Civil Constitutions as if Moses had said It 's better that you put away your Wives when you grow weary of them than Murder them and at the same time they were obliged to give them a Bill of Divorce which was a Testimony of the Woman's Innocence and of the Husbands Levity and Impurity But our Saviour tells them that from the beginning it was not so and that what God had joined no man could put asunder which was as much as to say that common Laws allow more than is allowed by the Laws of Religion as is clear from this Instance that in all Christian Kingdoms there are Judges Constituted for deciding differences betwixt Man and Man of what nature soever they may be for preventing Oppression and Injustice so that the Bench is open to Trivial and Frivolous suits as well as to those that are Weighty and Material yet the practice of such as go to Law upon every occasion is contrary to the Apostles Command and Christian Charity as may be seen 1 Cor. 1. 6. It is also observable that our Saviour taught those Pharisaical Zealots who valued themselves upon their external fanctity a more refin'd and higher degree of Chastity than they had formerly been acquainted with viz. That the Law which forbad them to commit Adultery did not only reach the outward practice but the inward motions and thoughts of the heart and therefore he tells them Matth. 5. 28. That whosoever lookt on a Woman to Lust after her hath committed Adultery with her already in his heart a Doctrine which does so much Gall our Modern Gallants That we have great reason to presume it iâ— one of the Chief Latent Causes why so many of 'em deny the Author of it to be God We come next to the Historical passages of the new Testament relating to our Subject The first we meet with is that in Mat. 14. concerning the Tetrarch Herod and Herodias his Brother Philip's Wife with whom that Prince committed Incest for which he was reproved by John the Baptist and this did so incense the wicked Woman that nothing less could expiate this supposed Crime of the Prophet than the loss of his life but she durst not attempt that rashly for fear of the people who as they knew her to be a Vicious Strumpet did also know that John was a Good Man and esteem'd him as a Prophet his Vertues being as conspicuous as her Vices and therefore she watch'd a convenient opportunity which she found on her Gallant Herod's Birth-day when he was feasting and revelling with his Nobles at which time she sent in her Daughter the unworthy off-spring of such an Ungodly Mother to Dance before them wherewith Herod and his Company were so extreamly well pleas'd that he rashly vowed to grant her whatever she would demand and
of his own as well as of Mithridates's Folly and to those that laugh'd at him for the same he said There was no such Wonder in this but rather that he did not throw Stones at all he met he was so much beside himself with Joy Another Piece of Vengeance that pursued Pompey and wherein he might read his Crime in his Punishment was That his Wife Mutia during his absence had dishonour'd his Bed at which he was so nettl'd that he sent her a Bill of Divorce Pompey in pursuit of his Amorous Inclination did likewise commit a piece of notorious Injustice in marrying Julia Daughter to Caesar who had been affianced before and was to be married within a few days to Caepio and to appease Caepio's Anger married his own Daughter to him who had formerly been espoused to Faustus the Son of Sylla Pompey was so much besotted with his Love to Julia that he created abundance of Envy to himself by committing the Government of his Provinces and Legions into the Hands of his Friends as his Lieutenants whilst he himself wantonly rambl'd up and down caressing his Wife throughout all the Delicacies of Italy but he was soon depriv'd of her for she dy'd in Child-bed her Daughter not outliving her many days He afterwards married Cornelia Daughter to Metellius Scipio and Relict of Publius the Son of Crassus a young Lady of great Quality Beauty and Education but this Marriage was very unpleasing to some People who thought that she was a Match more agreeable to his Son and were angry that the Affairs of the City lay neglected while he from whom they expected a Cure to their Distractions went crown'd with Garlands and was revelling in his Nuptial Feasts It 's observable that at the very last his Fondness towards this young Lady and his Fear that her Beauty might expose her to some Dishonour amongst the Parthians was the chief Argument that prevail'd with him not to have recourse thither where in all probability he might have been able to renew the War and recover his Glory after his Defeat in the Pharsalian Plains so that resolving to sail for Egypt and intrust himself with Ptolomy he was by Advice of that young King's Council barbarously and inhumanly murder'd as going ashore in a Boat in order as he thought to a favourable Reception the distressed Cornelia and his Friends beholding this lamentable Tragedy from on board the Vessels where they were Thus fell this Great Man to which it cannot be denied that his Amorous and Sensual Temper did highly contribute Not that I would be understood positively to assert that Uncleanness was the sole procuring Cause of those Tragical Disasters that befel the great Man and others whom I have mention'd or shall mention in the course of this History it being enough for my Design to prove that it was always one of the visible Causes and that it makes good the Assertion of the Wise Man in the Proverbs where speaking of the Harlot or strange Woman in general he says That many strong Men have been slain by her of which there is not a more speaking and demonstrable Instance than this of Pompey who had triumph'd over Asia Africa and Europe and yet was himself a Captive and Subject of Triumph to his own Lusts In the Life of Cato the younger who was not only a great Pretender to Virtue but compar'd with his Contemporaries a glorious Mirror of it We find that he had no true Notions of the Honour of the Marriage Bed nor any just Idea of Chastity as is apparent from the following Instance Quintus Hortensius whom Plutarch calls a Man of singular Worth and approved Virtue propos'd to Cato That his Daughter Porcia who was already married to Bibulus and had already born him two Children might be given to him as a fruitful Field from which he might raise an Offspring For said he tho' this in the Opinion of Men may seem strange yet in Nature it would be honest and profitable for the Publick that a Woman in the prime of her Youth should not lye useless and lose the Fruit of her Womb Nor on the other side would it be convenient she should burthen and impoverish one Man by bringing him too many Children Also by this Communication of Families among worthy Men Virtue would encrease and be diffus'd thro' their Posterity and the Commonwealth would be united and cemented by their Alliances Yet if Bibulus would not part with his Wife altogether he would restore her as soon as she had brought him a Child whereby he might be united to both their Families Cato answer'd That he lov'd Hortensius very well and did much approve of uniting their Houses but he thought it very strange to speak of marrying his Daughter who was already given to another Then Hortensius turning the Discourse acknowledg'd that ' t was Cato ' s own Wife which he desir'd for she was young and fruitful and he had already Children enough To which Cato agreed with the Consent of his Wife Martia and her Father Philip and after the Death of Hortensius took her again for which Caesar reproach'd him as having a mercenary design in his Marriage saying If Cato had need of a Wife why did he part with her And if he had not why did he take her again unless he gave her only as a Bait to Hortensius and lent her when she was young to have her again when she was rich It 's plain from this Instance that Cato was guilty of countenancing Impurity in others if he was not actually guilty of it himself and seeing he was unwilling to take his Daughter from Bibulus and yet as willing to gratifie Hortensius by parting with his own Wife it would argue that he was weary of her and that he would make no Scruple to use other Women seeing he allow'd her to give up her self into the Embraces of another Man But now it remains that we should take notice of the Judgments which pursued this great Man of which without breach of Charity we may look upon this Crime amongst others to have been one of the procuring Causes It 's known to every one that he follow'd Pompâ—y and adher'd to him against Caesar and that after Pompey's Defeat he retir'd to Vtica where having no hopes of retrieving his desperate Affairs he deliberately murder'd himself from which Design all the Endeavours of his Friends were not able to divert him And thus the Divine Vengeance made him the Executioner of Justice upon himself which he ought to have suffer'd by the hands of others for that brutish and unnatural Carriage to his Wife In the Life of Demetrius Poliorcetes we have an account that when this great Prince laid Siege to Megara he was so far transported with a Lustful Passion for Cratesipoliâ— the Widow of Poliperchon a Lady of greater Beauty than Virtue that leaving his Army he went to make her a Visit with two or three of his Intimates but when he came