Respected and Treated handsomely I grant ye but pray then do you Great ones be the first to Gratifie them who are so ready to order others to do it Be you the first in bestowing your Money who are the first in the Liberality of your Words You who give of my Sustance pray spare a little out of your own Altho' in Justice you whoever you are who solely expect the Thanks should solely bear the Expence Well we poor Knaves rest satisfied in the good Will and Pleasure of you Rich ones Let all of us pay what a few of you command Can any thing have more of Justice or Humanity in it Your Orders still load us with new Debts Pray at least let the Debt be in Common between us both For can any thing be more unrighteous or unworthy than that you alone should be free from the Debt who are the Parties who make us all Debtors And really the poor People are most miserable that pay all this I have been speaking of and neither know why nor wherefore they pay it For who dare examine why he pays or who is suffer'd to find out what his Debt is But then it comes out when the Great ones fall out among themselves when some of them take snuff that some things have been decreed without their Advice and Approbation Then you may hear some of them say What strange Doings are these Two or three order what will be the Ruine of many a few Great ones decree what must be rais'd upon a great many very poor ones For every one of these Rich ones so far gratifies his own Pride that he would not have any thing pass in his Absence and not out of any Respect he has to Justice to stop the passing of any unrighteous Thing when he was present For what they had found fault with in others they themselves either to revenge the former Slight or to shew their own Power do afterwards Establish So that the poor unhappy meaner People are plac'd as it were in the middle of the Sea amidst the contending Storms are sometimes overwhelm'd with the Waves of one side and sometimes with those of the other VIII But I warrant you those who have been thus hard in this particular are more just and moderate in others and make Amends for the Badness of one Business by the fair Dealing in another And as in the Imposition of fresh Supplies they bear hard on the poorer Sort so they support and assist them by the fresh Remedies and as the lesser People were most burden'd with the new Taxes so they are most eas'd by the new Remedies No their injustice is alike in both Cases For as the meaner People are the first in the Burden so they are the last in the Relief from it And if at any time as it lately happen'd the Higher Powers have thought fit that the Taxes of some decay'd Cities should be lessen'd the Great ones immediately part that Remedy that was given in common to all among themselves No one then thinks of the Poor Nor calls the mean and needy to the partaking of the Favour He who is always first in bearing of the Burden shall in the last place receive the Ease from And what shall I say more The poorer Sort are not reckon'd to be Scot and Lot Men unless when the Load of Tribute is put upon them but when a Remedy is to be shar'd they are cast out of the Number Do we think then that we do not deserve the severity of the Divine Vengeance when we are thus always oppressing of the Poor Or do we believe seeing we are perpetually unjust that God will not as constantly exercise his Justice upon us For where or among what People unless among the Romans only will you find such wicked Dealings as these Whose injustice is so great as this of ours The Franks know nothing of this Villany The Huns are absolutely free from it There is no such thing among the Vandals nothing of it among the Goths For so far are the Barbarians among the Goths from bearing any thing of this Nature that the very Romans who live among them feel nothing of it So that it is the unanimous Prayer of all those Romans that they may never be forc'd again to come under the Power of the Romans There 't is the Peoples constant and daily Wish that they may still lead the Life they now live among the Barbarians And yet we admire that the Goths are not routed by our Armies when our own People chuse rather to live with them than with us So that our Countrymen will not only not return from them to us but desert us to go over to them And really it seems a little strange to me that all the Poor and meaner Sort who are assess'd to the Taxes do not all go over and there seems to be only one Reason why they have not done it Because they cannot carry over with them the diminutive Remnants of their Fortunes their poor Cots and Families For since many of them are forc'd to quit their little Fields and sorry Huts to avoid the Violence of the Exactions how would they not leave what they are compell'd to but if 't were possible would carry it off with them However since they cannot accomplish this which it may be they had rather they strike up with the only Method that is left them They throw themselves into the Guardianship and Protection of the Great ones They surrender themselves into rich Men's hands and entirely put themselves under their Power and Jurisdiction I should not take this to be any great Burden or Misfortune but should rather commend this Power of the Great ones to whom these poor People surrender themselves if they did not sell their Protections and when they gave them such Shelter they did it out of Charity or good Nature and not for sordid Lucre. But 't is very hard and cruel that they only seem to Protect them that they may Plunder them they defend them only on Condition that they may make those who are miserable already to be much more so For all who are under this seeming Protection make over almost All their whole Estates to their Guardians before they can procure the Favour and so the Children lose their Inheritance that the Fathers may gain a Protection The defence of the Parents is procur'd with the Beggary of the whole Family And these are the Grand Helps and Protections of the Great ones They give not a Cross to those who are under their Patronage but keep all to themselves And thus the Parents for some small while have a little Advantage that afterward the Whole may be taken from their Children So that the Great ones sell and sell at the highest Rate they can every Favour that they do And what I call selling I wish they would sell after the usual Method for then it may be the Buyer might reserve somewhat for himself But this is a
do those things which God forbids we tread his Commandments under our Feet and therefore it is very wickedly done of us to accuse God of dealing Severely by us in our Calamities we should only blame our selves For when we commit those Faults which are the occasion of our Distresses 't is we our selves that are the Authors of our Misfortunes Why then do we cry out of the Sharpness of our Punishment Every one of us is his own Tormentor so that that of the Prophet is said to all of us Isai 50. v. 11. Behold all ye that kindle a fire that compass your selves about with Sparks walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks that ye have kindled For all Mankind run headlong into eternal Torment in the way here describ'd by the Scripture first of all they kindle a fire then they add more fuel and force to it and afterward enter into the flame theâ— have provided When therefore do's a Man first of all kindle Everlasting Fire for himself Why when he do's first of all begin to sin But when do's he add Force to the Fire When he heaps one Sin upon the head of another And when do's he enter into Everlasting Fire When by an overplus and superfluity of daily Sinning he hath fulfill'd the remediless Summ Total of his Iniquities as our blessed Saviour said to the Great Men of the Jews Fill ye up Matt. 23 v. 32 33. then the measure of your Fathers ye Serpents ye Generation of Vipers They were not far from the Complement of their Sins to whom our Lord thus spoke that they should fulfil their Iniquities and doubtless for that Reason because they were not worthy of Salvation they might compleat their wickedness in order to their Destruction So in the old Law when it makes mention that the Iniquities of the Amorites were fulfill'd it tells us that the Angels spoke thus to Lot Whosoever thou hast in this City bring them out of Cer. 19. v. 12. 13. this place for we will destroy this place because the Cry of them is waxen great before the face of the Lord and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it That most profligate People had for a long time lighted the Fire by which they perish'd and therefore when they had fulfill'd their Iniquities they roasted in the Flames of their own Crimes for they had so very highly offended God that they endur'd that Hell in this world which is to be felt in the other IX But some one may say there are none who deserve to be destroy'd as they were because there are none guilty of the Impurities they were Perhaps that may be true But what shall we make of that which our Saviour says that all they who despise his Gospel are much worse than them For thus he says to the People of Capernaum If the mighty works Luk. 10. v. 12 13. had been done in Sodom which have been done in thee it might have remain'd unto this day But I say unto you that it shall be more tolerable in the day of Judgment for Sodom than for thee He says here that the Sodomites are less Culpable than those who neglect the Gospel and therefore this is a most plain Reason why we who do neglect it in many Instances ought to dread something worse especially considering that we will not now be satisfied with the usual and familiar Vices The customary ways of Sinning are not sufficient for many now They are not contented with Brawlings Calumnies Rapine Drunkenness Rioting Cheating Perjury Adulteries Murders no nor all of them together altho' most barbarously Inhumane yet in Fact most injuriously inflicted on many unless in the height of their Fury they lay their Blasphemous hands even on God himself For as the Scripture says of the ungodly Psal 73. v. 9. v. 11. They set their mouth against the Heavens and their tongue walketh thro' the Earth And they say how doth God know and is there knowledge in the most High And in another place Psal 94. v. 7. The Lord shall not see neither shall the God of Jacob regard it And to such as these we may very aptly apply that of the Royal Prophet Psal 53. v. 1. The Fool hath said in his heart there is no God For they who affirm that God sees nothing had as good at the same time take away his Subsistence and when they say he has no Sight they had as good say he has no Being For altho' no very wicked Action can be consonant to right Reason because Reason and Sinning are inconsistent yet in my Opinion there is no wickedness so very wild and unreasonable as this For what can savour more of Frenzy than that a Man should acknowledge God to be the Creator of all Things and yet to deny that he governs them that he is the Former and Maker of all Things and yet that he neglects his own Handywork As tho' the Chief End and Design of making them was purely â— How God is the giver of all things and his love towards us who merit nothing but death to disregard them Now on the contrary I assert that he had so Great Care of all his Creatures that I will prove that he exercis'd it even before the Creation The very Thing it self shews it plainly For he had never made any thing unless he had some Thoughts of it beforehand for we do not see any part of Mankind so very dull to undertake or go through with any thing that he may never mind it when he has done it For he who cultivates his Field do's it for that End that he may preserve it in that order He who plants a Vineyard do's it with Design to keep up the Plantation He who begins to raise a Flock do's it with Design to take care of their Increase So he who builds a House or lays the Foundation of one altho' at that time he has not a Dwelling ready for him yet he undergo's the Charge and Pains of Building in hopes and prospect of his future Habitation But why do I mention this in Man since even the smallest Insects direct their Actions with the Instinct of what is to come Thus the Ants in their subterranean Cells lay up what various Fruits they can and gather all their Stock in order to preserve their Lives So Bees when they lay the Foundation for their Honey-Combs or gather that which comes from the Flowers to what end do they desire the Thyme but with desire and hope of Honey or fly from Flower to flower but out of love to their future young Ones Hath God then who hath implanted in the least of Creatures such Affections for their own works depriv'd only himself of the love of his Creatures especially since all the Passion we have for good things descends to us from his good Love alone For he is the Fountain and Original of All things 't is in him as the Scripture
woe be to us and our Impurities woe be to us and our Iniquities What hope is there for Christians in the Presence of God since that these Wickednesses have not been in the Roman Cities since the time they fell under the Power of the Barbarians So that Vice and Impurity are a Sort of quality peculiar to the Romans and are as their very Soul and Nature for there does Vice particularly reign wheresoever there are Romans But this is perhaps a heavy and an unjust Complaint 'T were a heavy one indeed if 't were false But how do you say how not false When what we have spoken of is now done only in very few Roman Cities and there are a great many which are not at all spotted with such Impurities where tho' indeed the Places and Conveniences of their former Error remain yet they are not at all made use of to the same purposes as formerly Therefore both Matters are to be consider'd that is how it comes that the Places and Play-houses remain but the Sports and Pastimes have ceas'd to be As to the Places they are as yet Nests of Filthiness because all Impurity has been there formerly acted And for the Plays they are not now acted because the Misery and Poverty of the Times is so Great that they cannot be And therefore what was formerly done was out of pure Vice and that it is not now as formerly is meer Necessity For the Poverty and Lowness of the Româ—s Treasury and Exchequer cannot allow that extravagant Expences should be every where lavish'd upon such Trifles But let them yet squander as much as they can and throw it even to the Dunghill yet for their Hearts they cannot waste so much as they have done because there is not so much left for them For as to the Desire of our Lusts and impure Delight we could wish with our Souls that we had more that we might convert more of it to these filthy dirty Pleasures And 't is plain how much we would squander if we were rich and wealthy when we are even Beggars and yet lavish so much For so great is the Corruption and Loosness of our present Manners that altho' our Poverty has not wherewithal to spend yet the Viciousness of our Tempers would fain squander more We have little Reason therefore to flatter our selves in this Case by saying that those things are not done in all Cities now which have been formerly done For they are not therefore now done in all because the Cities where they have been formerly acted are not now in being and where they have been long acted they have so manag'd it that they cannot be even where they formerly were as God himself by the Prophet spoke to the Sinners For the Lord remembred them says he and it came into his Jer. 24. v. 21 22. mind so that the Lord could no longer bear because of the evil of your doings and because of the abominations which you have committed therefore is your Land a desolation and an astonishment and a curse And by these Doings it is come to pass that the greater part of the Roman World should be for a Desolation and an Astonishment and a Curse IX And I would to God these things had only been done formerly and that the vicious Romans would some time leave off to do them It may be as the Scripture says God might have mercy upon our Sins But we do not act as tho' we desir'd he should have mercy upon us For we continually add evil to evil and heap one Sin upon the head of another and when the greatest part of us have already perish'd we do what we can that we may perish all I desire to know who sees another slain near him and is not himself afraid Who sees his Neighbour's House on fire and do's not endeavour by all means he can that he himslef be not consum'd in the Flames We have seen not only our Neighbours burn but have felt the Flames in the greatest part of our Bodies But O strange What Misfortune is this We burn we burn and yet do not dread the Flames that burns us For that these things as I said are not acted every where as formerly is owing to our Misery not out Couduct And I can easily prove it For put us but in the Condition we formerly were and you shall presently find all things every where as they were Nay further altho' they are not now in reality every where as far as Men's Wishes can make them they are every where because the Roman People would willingly have them every where For when a Man is kept back from doing an evil Thing meerly out of pure Necessity the very Desire of doing the Wickedness is condemn'd instead of the Action For as I said according to that Saying of our Matth. 5. v. 28. Lord He who looketh upon a Woman to lust after her hath committed Adultery with her already in his Heart We may understand that altho' we do not commit filthy and base Actions out of Necessity yet we are condemn'd for the having had an hearty Desire to the commission of them But what do I speak of a Desire almost all commit them when they have opportunity Nay when the Inhabitants of any City whatever come to Ravenna or Rome they make a part of the Romans in the Cirque and a part of the People of Ravenna in the Theatre So that by this means no man by absence or distance can think himself excus'd The filthiness of the Things makes them all one who are joyn'd to each other in the Desire of those filthy Things And yet we sooth our selves with the Integrity of our Morals and flatter our selves with the Rarity of Uncleannesses But I affirm that not only those infamous contagious Pastimes which were formerly acted are now in Being but that they are acted with much more Guilt than formerly For then the Parts of the Roman World were entire and flourish'd the Publick Riches crowded the Store-houses the Citizens of every City swam in Delights and Plenty the Authority of Religion amidst so great Abundance of all Things could scarce preserve a Discipline and Order Inventors of idle Pastimes were then maintain'd in many places but then all places were full and crowded No body thought of the Cost and Charge of the Publick because the Expence was never felt The Publick rather sought where to consume what it s own Store-houses could scarce contain And so the heap of Riches which exceeded almost all Measure overflowed upon those Trifles But now what can be said Our former Plenty is departed Times and Estates are alter'd and we are became miserably poor and yet we do not cease to be trifling And when Poverty used to cure the greatest Prodigals and Spend-thrifts so that as soon as ever they leave off to be rich they forthwith forsake their Vices 't is only we that are a new sort of Spendthrifts and Rake-hells whom Riches
Crimes And as old Stories tell of that Monster of a Hydra Serpent who encreased by being wounded so in this most Famous City of Gaul their Wickednesses encreased by that very Punishment which kept them back from sinning So that you would think the chastising of their Crimes were the original of their Vices And what should I say more By the daily encrease of hourly growing Ills they are come to that pass that you may eafily find that City without an Inhabitant than almost any Inhabitant in it without a Crime This is the condition of that City What is there done in a Agrippina or Colen another not far off but almost as Magnificent as the other Is not there likewise the same Ruine of Estates and Morals For beside all the rest when all things were fallen to pieces by those two especial and general Evils Covetousness and Drunkenness at last by their greedy Desire of Wine they came to that pass that the Chief of the City had not then risen from their Banqueting even when the Enemy had entred the Town So that I verily believe God had a mind to shew them plainly the Reason of their Destruction when they were doing that very Thing at the Minute of their Ruine which had been the Occasion of their utter Perdition I saw there many lamentable Sights no manner of difference between Boys and old Men The same idle Jesting the same Levity All things jumbled together Luxury Tippling and Destruction All did every thing alike they play'd got drunk and so were knock'd on the Head Old men and of Reputation play'd the Wantons in their Feasts they had scarce strength to live and yet were stout and lusty at the Bottle infirm in their Walking but robust in their Drinking Tottering in their common gate yet very nimble at Dancing In short By what I have said 't is plain they are come to this that the Saying of the Son of Syrak Holy writ is fulfilled in them Eccles 19. v. 2. Wine and Women make men fall away from God For while they drink play whore and run mad they begin to deny Christ And we admire after all this that such People lose their Estates who have so long before lost their Senses Let no one then think that 't is only the City which is brought to ruine For where such things as I have mention'd are acted there the Inhabitants have perish'd even long before they are destroy'd XIV I have even now spoke of the Grand Cities How far'd it with the other Cities in other Parts of Gaul Have not they perish'd by the like Crimes of their Inhabitants For their Iniquities press'd them so hard that they never fear'd the Danger They were sensible before-hand of their Captivity and yet never dreaded it The apprehension of danger was taken from them lest they should fence against it So that when the Barbarians were even in Sight the People had not fear upon them nor ever guarded the Cities So great was the Blindness of their Minds or rather of their Sins that when 't is certain not one of them was willing to die yet not one of them did any thing to prevent his own Destruction They were altogether Carelesness and Laziness it self Negligence and Gluttony Drunkenness and Drowziness had possess'd them All according to what the Scripture says of such Men that a deep sleep from the Lord was fallen upon 1 Sam. 26. v. 12. them The deep sleep was laid upon them that their Destruction might follow For when as it is written a Sinner having compleated Gen. 15. v. 16. his Iniquities deserves to perish all fore-sight is taken from him lest by the help of that he should escape But enough on this head For I suppose I have sufficiently prov'd what I undertook viz. that even in the utmost Danger the Debaucheries of the Citizens never ceas'd to the very Minute of the Destruction of the Cities XV. It may be such things as these have been but now they are not or will cease ever to be And if any either City or Province is at this day either visited with Plagues from Heaven or laid waste by an Enemy it is Humbled Converted and Amended and it is not the Temper of all the Romans in general sooner to Perish than be reform'd and rather to leave off Being than not be in their Sins That may easily be seen in the three Successive Destructions of the greatest e Triers City of Gaul when all the City was but as one Grave their Evils increasing even after their Ruin For those whom the Enemy had not destroy'd in its overthrow Misery destroyed afterwards And that which had escap'd Death in the taking of it cou'd not afterwards survive the distress For some died lingring Deaths of deep Wounds Others after the fireing the Town were tortur'd and burn'd by the Enemy Some died of Famine others of Nakedness some wasted away and others were Starv'd So they all came to the same Stage of Death by different ways of dying And in short Other Cities were Annoyed by the Ruine of this One. For the Naked dead Bodies of both Sexes lay scatter'd abroad every where I my self have seen and endur'd it defiling the Eyes of the City torn piece-meal and devour'd by Birds and Dogs The infectious stanch of the Dead caus'd a Pestilence among the Living Death was exhaled from Death So that they who were not present at the Ruine of the foresaid City bore the Misfortunes of its Destruction And what I pray you followed after all this Why such a Madness as is not easily to be thought of Those few Great Ones who surviv'd the Ruines desir'd of the * Honoâ—ius Constantius Emperors as the only Remedy of their ras'd City that they might have Cirque-Games there O that I had in this Place Rhetorick equal to the Subject to pursue the Baseness of it sufficiently that the Complaint might have as great a sting in it as the Cause has Sorrow For who can say what is most to be blamed in the Premises whether Irreligion Folly Luxury or Madness Since they are all in them For what can be more Irreligious than to desire any thing to affront our Maker Or more Foolish than not to consider what it is you desire Or what abandon'd Luxury is it to desire Rioting and Revelling in a time of Mourning Or what greater Madness can there be than to be in Misery and not to be the least sensible of it Altho' in this whole Matter nothing is less to be blam'd than the Madness of it for where the Sin is committed in Frenzy there the Will is in no Fault Would you Men of Treveris then fain have Cirque-Games and this after you have been Plunder'd and Ruin'd after Blood and Slaughter after Torments and Captivity and so many Overthrows of your Conquer'd City What can be more sad than this Folly and more lamentable than this Madness I confess I thought you were
Sejus not to be Sejus For it is as uncommon and unusual not to have an African unchaste as that an African should not be an African For the Sin of Incontinence is so general among them that whoever of them do ever leave off to be lewd does not seem to be an African I shall not run through all places nor examine every City lest I may seem studiously to enquire after and narrowly to search for what I say I shall Of the Splendour and Dignity of Carthage be content with one only and that the Head and Metropolis of all the Cities there She that was always Rival to our Rome formerly in Arms and Might and afterward in Beauty and Power Carthage I mean both the greatest Adversary of the City of Rome and as another Rome in Africa which alone is sufficient for me as an Evidence and Example because it had within it all things by which the Discipline of any Commonwealth in the whole world is either govern'd or manag'd There are all the Necessaries of publick Offices there are Schools of the liberal Arts and Lectures of Philosophy and all Instructions to be had in Languages or Manners There is a standing Army and Officers to lead them There was the Dignity of a Proconsul a constant Judge and Governour call'd indeed a Proconsul but a Consul in his Power And lastly there were all sort of Officers there and places different in Degree and Name and as I may say a sort of Procurators of every Street and Alley for the Governing all places of the City and Divisions of the People I am therefore satisfied with only this One as an Example and Evidence of the rest that we may understand in what State those Cities were which had less Care taken of and Government among them when we shall see in what a Condition this was where the Chiefest Magistrates always resided But in this place I almost repent me of my Promise that is that I engag'd above to pass by all the other Crimes of Africa and to speak only of their Blasphemies and Uncleannesses For methinks I see the City overspread with Vices and the place reeking in all kind of Iniquities crowded with People but more with all Uncleanness full of Riches but fuller far of Vices Men striving with each other for the Mastery in the Naughtiness of their Villanies some offering at the Prize in Rapine and others by their Lewdness Some reeling with their Wine and others gorg'd with Gluttony some with their Garlands on their Heads and others dawb'd with Unguents and all lost in divers sorts of Luxury and Corruptions but yet destroy'd almost All by one Death of Errors they are not all indeed fuddled with tippling Wine but yet are all quite drunken in their Sins You would take the People to be much disorder'd to be out of their Senses to be neither sound in their Mind nor in their going but like Bacchus's mad Votaries hastning in Crowds to Riot and Intemperance But now of what sort is that and how grievous different indeed in Kind but not different in Iniquity unless perhaps it be esteem'd different in this because 't is greater I mean the Pillaging of Orphans the Afflicting of Widows and the Torments of the Poor who daily lamenting unto God and begging an End of their Misfortunes and which is worst of all thro' the bitterness of their Distress sometimes craving of God to bring an Enemy have at length obtain'd from Him that they should undergo the common Destruction from the Barbarians which they alone before only bore from the Romans XVII Well it shall be so all these things shall be pass'd over for they are acted almost all over the Roman World beside I promis'd that in this place I would speak somewhat of these Wickednesses What then shall I say of that Unchastity and Uncleanness which I now speak of was not it alone sufficient to destroy the Africans For what part of the City was there that was not full of Filthiness what Street or Lane within the Place that was not a Bawdy-house They dugg always either as Traps of Lust or spread them forth as Nets so that even they who had no manner of Inclination to them yet could scarce avoid them You might in a manner see the Sets of Highway-Men waiting for the Plunder of passing Travellers who by the closeness of their frequent Snares so hemm in all Paths all narrow Lanes and Turnings that scarce any one with all his Caution but would fall into some of the Traps altho' he had freed himself from many of them before All the Citizens of that place as I may say stunk with the dirt of Lust mutually breathing on each other the nasty Savour of Vncleanness But these horrid things did cause no dread in them because they All were equally concern'd You 'd think there were one Commonshore of Lust and Fornication a publick Jaques made up from all the Streets and Privies And what hope could be there where except in the Church of God there was nothing but dirtiness to be seen But why do I speak of the Church of God For that belongs solely to the Bishops and Clergy whom I do not enquire after because I reserve all imaginable Respect to the Ministers of my Lord for they I believe only remain'd undefiled at the Altar as we read that Lot Gen. 19. at the Destruction of Sodom was remaining alone in the Mountain But as far as concerns the People who was there in that almost innumerable Number of them that was chaste Chaste do I say Who was not a Fornicator who was not an Adulterer and that without ceasing without ending And therefore I am forced to cry again What hope is there of such a People where when sometimes one Adulterer has defiled the whole Congregation of Christians there if you seek as diligently as you can among so many Thousands you will scarce find one chast Person in the Church Nay I have wose to add And I wish there were only what I have said and that the Lewdness of the Men had been content to have been defiled with the use of their dirty Whores only That is grievous and more heinous that those things of which the Apostle St. Paul complains with the greatest Sorrow and Lamentation have been almost all among the Africans viz. That the men leaving the natural Rom. 1. v. 27 28. use of the Woman burn'd in their Lust one toward another Men with Women working that which is unseemly and receiving in themselves that Recompence of their Error which was meet And even as they did not like to retain God in their Knowledge God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient Does the Apostle speak this of Barbarous and uncivilised people Not at all but of us that is of us Romans in particular whom when the Africans could not formerly overcome in Power and Empire they have done the only
sent to Gen. 19. Sodom they go they enter the Place are kindly receiv'd by the good People are abus'd and injured by the Bad. The Wicked are struck with Blindness and the Righteous saved Lot with his righteous Inclinations is taken out of the City the City with its unrighteous Inhabitants is burnt to Ashes I desire to be inform'd in this place whether God according to his righteous Judgment destroy'd the Place or whether he did it without Judgment Whoever says God punish'd the Sodomites without passing Sentence makes him to be unjust But if he did pass Sentence in the Destruction of the Wicked then he judg'd them and truly he judg'd them at present as tho' it were at the future Judgment For it is most certain that Hell-fire burns for the Punishment of the Wicked hereafter and Sodom with it's neighbourning Cities were destroy'd by fire from Heaven So that by this present one God seems to declare the Dreadful future Judgment when upon a most unrighteous People he sent a sort of Hell from Heaven Even as 2 Pet. 2. v. 6. the Apostle also says And turning the Cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemn'd them with an overthrow making them an Example unto those that after should live ungodly And yet even what was done there had more of God's Mercy in it than of his Severity For 't was a piece of very great Mercy that he deferr'd the Punishment of them so long as it was of Justice that he did some time punish them And therefore by his sending Angels to Sodom he would shew us with what unwillingness it is that he punishes Sinners So as that when we read what the Angels suffer'd from the Sodomites and consider the excessive Greatness of their Villanies the Deformity of their Crimes and the Nastiness of their Lusts God does by that shew his unwillingness to destroy them if they themselves had not extorted their own Destruction from him The Rebellions of Pharaoh and the Works of Moses IX I could produce innumerable other Examples but that I fear I shall seem to write an History whilst I am endeavouring fully to prove the Thing I have undertaken Moses in the Desart feeds a Flock sees the Bush burning hears God out of the Bush receives Commands Exod. 3. from him is exalted with Power is sent to Pharaoh goes to him speaks with him is rejected and yet gains his Point Aegypt is sinitten Pharaoh is scourg'd for his Disobedience and that by more ways than one that the greater Criminal might be wrack'd with variety of Punishment And what then Why after all he rebels ten times and is as often scourg'd What say you to that Why I think you may perceive in this whole Affair that God does both take care of and judge Affairs here below As for Instance in Aegypt where there appears not only one single One but variety of God's Judgments For as often as he smote those who rebell'd against him in Aegypt so often he judged them But what follow'd after Israel is sent out celebrates the Passover spoils the Aegyptians departs with Riches Pharaoh repents draws together his Army overtakes the departed Encamps is parted by the Cloud the Sea is dry'd up Israel passes through is deliver'd by the kind sufferance of the friendly Waves Pharaoh pursues the Sea rowls upon him and he is overwhelm'd in the Waters I think in this whole Affair there does appear the manifest Judgment of God and not only his Judgment but also his Long-suffering and Forbearance For 't is an Argument of great forbearance that the wicked Aegyptians were often smitten as 't is of Judgment that the Perverse and Impenitent were at length destroy'd Well after this Series of Things and Actions Israel being Conquerour without a Battle enters the Wilderness travels without a Journey sojourns without a Road God his Leader the Host of Heaven his Fellow-Soldiers and heavenly Bodies his Guides following the moving Pillar cloudy by Day and fiery by Night changing its Colour and Complexion as fitted best the change of either Season that it might set off the brightness of the Day by it's shady Obscurity and enlighten the darkness of the Night by it's shining Splendour To these add Fountains made on a sudden add Medicated Waters either newly given or else transmuted remaining the same in Kind tho' chang'd in qualities the tops of Mountains open'd with Rivers bursting from them and Sandy Desarts watred with new unusual Streams thousands of Fowls brought to the Travellers Camps Heaven by the tenderest Love indulging not only their Necessities but even their Wantonness the Stars afford them daily Food for forty Years the Heavens still dewing down the luscious Meat did pour it forth not only for Subsistence but for Pleasure too Besides the Men felt not in any Limb the alterations or decays natural to Humane Bodies Their Nails ne're grew they lost no Teeth their Hair still of one length their Feet nere fretted their Garments always whole their Shoes nere torn their Honour was so great in all respects that even their poorest Cloathing shared in the advancement To this add God himself descending purely to instruct them and the Son of God appearing visible to the eyes of Mortals the mighty Numbers of the common Sort admitted to be familiar with their God and honour'd with his Friendship To these add Thunders Lightnings the dreadful Sounds of heavenly Trumpets the fearful Crackling of the troubl'd Air Heavens Axes growning with the sacred Sounds Fires Darkness Clouds all full of God the Lord conversing face to face the Law resounding from the mouth of God Letters cut by God's finger pages hewn from the Quarry arccky Volumn a People learning and Great God their Teacher and even one School for Heaven and Earth made up of Men and Angels For thus says the Scripture that when Moses had related the Words of the People unto the Lord the Lord said unto him Lo I come unto Exod. 19. v. 9. thee in a thick Cloud that the people may hear when I speak with thee And a little after v. 16. There were Thundrings and Lightnings and a thick Cloud upon the Mount And again And the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai on the top of the Mount And afterward He did talk Exod. 33. with Moses the whole Congregation beholding that the Pillar of the Cloud stood at the door of v. 9 10. the Tabernacle and they themselves stood and worshipped at the door of their Tabernacles God v. 11. talked with Moses face to face as a Man speaketh to his friend Things being thus in fact pray does God seem to take care of Man or no when he heaps so many Benefits upon him and does such mighty Things for him when he admits so contemptible a Creature to converse with him and to be even in some sense a sort of Companion to him when he opens those hands for him that are crowded with immortal Treasures
Good as well as the Bad because the whole is thro'ly Evil. So that the Integrity of their former Natures being excluded their Vices seem in some sort to have made them another kind of Natures XIV For excepting a very few Servants of God what was the whole Territory of Africa but one Family full of Vices Like that Pot of which the Prophet speaks Wo to the bloody Ezek. 24. v. 6. City and the Pot in which there is rust it shall not go out of it because blood shall not go out of it He compar'd the City we see to a Pot and their Iniquity to Blood That we might know that Iniquity of the People in a City is like Blood boyling in a Pot. Not much unlike this is that other place of Scripture All Ezek 22. v 18 19. the House of Israel is to me become mixt with Copper and Iron Tin and Lead and in the midst there is Silver Wherefore say thus Thus saith the Lord because you are all become one mass I will blow upon and melt you in the fire of mine anger Here the holy writ mentions Metals of very different kinds And how can such different things be refin'd in the same Furnace Why because in these different kinds of Metals is meant a diversity of Men. And so even Silver that is a Metal of a Nobler make is put into the same fire because the best Parts and noblest Nature by a degenerate life are condemn'd Thus also we read that the Lord spoke by the Prophet concerning the Prince of Tyre Son of Man take up a lamentation upon the King of Tyrus and say unto him thou sealest up the scum full of Wisdom and perfect in Ezek. 28. v. 12. Beauty thou hast been in Eden the Garden of God Every precious stone was thy covering v. 13. the Sardius and the Topaz and the Emerald And again With silver and gold thou hast v. 4. 5. filled thy Treasures by the multitude of thy Trafick thou hast fill'd thy Ware-houses All which seem as if they were spoken of the Africans in particular For where were there greater Treasures where greater Trading where fuller Store-houses With gold says he thou hast fill'd thy Treasures by the multitude of thy Trafick But I say farther that Africa was formerly so Rich that the abundance of her Merchandising seem'd to me to fill not only her own Treasures but those of the whole World And what follows Thy Heart says v. 17. he was lifted up because of thy Beauty for the multitude of thy sins I have cast thee to the ground How does this agree to the Powerful State of Africa or how does she seem to be thrown upon the Ground How Why when she lost the height of her antient Power she parted with almost a sort of Coelestial Dignity And I will bring forth says he a fire from the midst of thee it shall devour thee What can v. 19. have more truth in it than this For from the midst of their Iniquities the fire of Sin is gone forth which has consum'd all the Happiness of the former times And all says he who knew thee among the Nations shall v 19. mourn over thee Let us not think that this agrees to them if the Destruction of Africa is not the grief of all Mankind Thou art made says he a perdition and shalt not be any more for ever 'T is manifest enough that all things are brought to Destruction there What remains is that the continuation of Eternal Torments may not follow these punishments of their present Evil Deeds XV. But God out of His loving-kindness and Mercy cannot suffer that to be Tho' as far as appertains to the Merit of our Crimes the Matter is such that he may seem to suffer it For what Villanies are there which have not been always committed there I cannot speak of all because they are both uncommon and irregular and are so great that they cannot be either known or spoke of I only now mention the beastliness of their Uncleannesses and which is worse of their Sacrileges I pass by in any of them the greedy desire of having as a Vice common to all Mankind I shall say nothing of the inhumanity of their avarice which is an Evil peculiar to almost all the Romans I shall leave their Drunkenness undisturb'd as being common to both Gentle and Simple their Pride and loftiness shall be buried in Silence This is so reigning a Sin among the great Men that perhaps they may think they lose somewhat of their Right if any one should claim any parcel of it And in the last place I shall not touch upon the Catalogue of their Frauds Falsities and Perjuries No Roman City was ever without their Evils Altho' the Wickednesses seem more especially to belong to all the Africans For as all Dirt and Filth runs into the Sink or Hold of an high built Ship so as from all Parts of the World have Vices flown into their Manners For I know of no kind of Wickedness whatever which did not more than abound there when yet even the Pagan and unciviliz'd People altho' they have Vices peculiarly their own yet all things among them are not worthy of detestation The Goths are Perfidious but yet they are chaste The Alans are unchaste but then they are not so perfidious The Franks are Lyars but are Hospitable The Saxons are Cruel and Barbarous but are remarkable for their Continence So all Nations as they have some peculiar Vices so they have some Virtues But among almost all the Africans I do not know any thing that is not Evil. If inhumanity is blameworthy they are inhumane if Drunkenness they are Drunkards if Falseness they are most False if Deceit they are most deceitful if Covetousness they are most rapacious if Perfidy they are most perfidious But their Uncleanness and their Blasphemy are not to be joyn'd to all these For in those Evils beforementioned they have surpassed the Vices of other Nations but in these they have out-done even their own XVI And in the first place to begin with their Uncleanness who knows not that whole Africa has always burnt with the obscene Fire of Lusts that you would not take it for a Land or Habitation of Men but rather an Aetna of unchaste Flames For as Aetna rages with the intestine Heats of fermenting Nature so Africa always boils with the abominable Fire of Fornications I do not desire to be believ'd meerly for my asserting it Take evidence from all Mankind Who does not know that all the People of Africa are generally incontinent unless it may be they are converted to God that is are changed by Faith and Religion But that is as great a Novelty and Rarity as it would be to see one That John a Stiles should not be John a Stiles and John of Nokes should not be John of Nokes whose name was Gaius not to be Gaius and one whose name was
whom they captivated and subdued But what was no one of them unmann'd among all this Luxury Does no such thing appear 'T is certain that it was very common with the Noble Romans to be so But what shall I say more Were none of them polluted with the Incest of the Effeminate Romans there 'T is certain that this was long ago so esteem'd by the Romans that it was rather thought to be a Vertue than a Vice and they were look'd upon to be the stoutest Men who were most robust Stallions Whence it came that for a Reward to a parcel of Scoundrels who follow'd the Army of Striplings it was decreed as to a meritorious Service That since they were lusty Fellows they should have the Pleasure of using Men as Women O horrid And this by Romans and further Romans not of this Age But yet lest we accuse the old Ones Romans but not the antient ones But after they became dissolute and debauch'd and utterly unlike themselves and their Ancestors and more like Greeks than Romans So that as I have often said before it no wonder that the Romans should sometime suffer what they have long since deserv'd XXI This Uncleanness then began among the Romans before the Gospel appear'd and what is worse has continued after the Gospel Now who after this can forbear to admire the Vandals who entring this most wealthy City where all these wickednesses were every where committed so possess'd themselves of the Delights of the debauch'd Inhabitants as to despise their Debauchery and Lewdness to take to themselves the use of what was good and to avoid the uncleanness of the bad So that this is a sufficient Commendation of them tho' I should say no more For they abominated the filthiness of Men nay more than they abominated that of Women they abhorr'd the Stews and Brothels and abhorr'd the lying or medling with the common Strumpets And can this seem credible to any that the Romans committed these things and that the Barbarians abhorr'd them Or is it possible for any thing more to be said after what I have said already Yes there is and a great deal too For that I have said they avoided the Filthinesses themselves it is but a small Matter For any one may detest Baseness but not remove it But that is truly Great and of singular Merit not only not to be polluted ones self but also to make Provision that no one shall ever after be defil'd For he does in some sort provide for the Welfare of Mankind who do's not only take care that he himself be good but endeavours what he can that others may leave off to be bad This which I say is Great truly Great and Extraordinary Who could believe that Vandals did these Things in Roman Cities All uncleanness of the Flesh is utterly remov'd from among them But how is it remov'd Not as Things us'd to be remov'd by the Romans who make a Law that no one shall commit Adultery and they are the first Adulterers and Enact that no one steal when themselves are the first Thieves Of the Vices of a bad Governour Altho' I can scarce say that they steal For they are not little petty Thieveries they commit but Notorious open Robberies For the Governour punishes Cheating in the publick Revenue when he is the greatest Robber of the Treasury he punishes Rapine when he himself is the greatest Oppressor He punishes a Cut-throat when he is a Gladiator He punishes the breakers of Doors and Windows Burglars when he overturns whole Towns He punishes the Robbers and Breakers of Houses when he destroys and robs whole Provinces and Cities And I wish they only did this who were in Power and Places and whose Station gives them a kind of Right to use these Robberies and Oppressions But it is grievous and more intolerable that those who have been formerly in Places and Honours but now are private Men should do this The Station it seems they once had gives them so Great a Privilege that they have always a Right of Robbing So that when they cease to have the Administration of their publick Power they still reserve private Power to Plunder So that the Power they had when Governours was much more easie than what they have as private Men. For in that they are often succeeded in this never Now pray what signifie Laws what Advantage is there from any publick Sanctions when they who administer them contemn them most The common and ordinary People are forc'd to obey them the poorer Sort are compell'd to be Subject to their Orders and if they do not are certainly punish'd for it For they have the same Reason done them in this Matter as they have in their Taxes They only observe the publick Laws as only they pay the Taxes And so in the very Laws and in the just publick Ordinances there is the greatest Wickedness and Injustice when the meaner People are forc'd to observe that as sacred and inviolable which the greater Folk disregard and tread upon their feet XXII I have broke off the thread of my Discourse a little being forc'd to it by the unworthiness of the Things I was speaking of But now I return to what I was saying before I have said then that the Cities of Africa were full of monstrous Impurities and especially she that was the Queen and Mistress of them all but that the Vandals were not polluted by any of them These Barbarians then of whom I speak who were to reform our Corruption and Filthiness were no such Men. For they utterly took away out of all Parts of Africa the Uncleannesses of the Effeminate Men they abhorr'd the Contagions of the Common Whores neither did they abhor or remove them only for a Time but they made them altogether cease to be O good Lord and merciful Saviour how strange are the Effects of Discipline and Government by which the Vices of Nature may be chang'd as they were altogether changed by them But how were they chang'd For it is of Moment to tell not only the Effects of Things but also the Causes of those Effects For it is to little purpose to take away Unchastity by Word or Order unless you remove it indeed And 't will signifie very little to require Chastity by Words unless you exact it heartily which they being very sensible of did so take away the Unchastity that they preserv'd the unchaste Persons not putting the miserable Harlots to death lest they should blemish the Cure of their Vices with the Blot of Cruelty and whilst they desir'd to take away their Sinning they themselves should sin in the cutting off their Offences But they so amended the Sinners that what they did was a real Medicine but no Punishment For they commanded and compell'd all the Harlots to betake themselves to Marriage and so converted Fornication into Wedlock thereby fulfilling that Saying and Command of the Apostle That every 1 Cor. 7. v. 2. man should have