erat quasi species ignis usque mane Num. 9. v. 15. Sic siebat jugiter per diem operiebat illud nubes per nectem quasi species ignis Num. 9. v. 16. the last prodigy was the Pillar which served them for a Torch amidst the obscurities of the night and for an umbrello to oppose the over-violent ardors of the day It was a Chariot of Fire and a Cloud conducted by an Intelligence which held the Reigns thereof and guided it according to the will of God It was a Barque in the Air more fortunate than that which heretofore carried in artificial fire the hopes of Greece For this Vessel had real Fires its Pilot marked out as some have believed the seasons of the year and the hours of the day and night It was a Standard which accompanied and preceded all the Triumphs and Victories of the Hebrews and at the same time routed their enemies It was the Holy Standard whose Ciphers were Love-nets and Draughts of Clemency it was a Sun in Eclipse and a Cloud where the Sun was in his Meridian The Morning and Evening Stars saw this Veil hanging over the Camp of the Israelites when they were inforced to make a halt and flying when they were to march God himself made sometimes use of it as his Throne Si fuisset nubes à vespere usque ad mane statim diluculo tabernaculum reliquisset proficiscebantur Et si post diem noctem recessisset dissipabant tentoria Num. 9. v. 21. and these resplendent obscurities this luminous night and this day shadowed with Clouds served him for a Veil through which he darted on the people the splendors of his glory and the shafts of his amiable Providence which gave the first motion to the Pillar and conducting Angel Is not this a lively Image of the Holy Ghost who is the Pillar of Saints and of the Church who gives strength unto the feeble and light unto the blinde He illuminates during the night of sin and placeth us under his Wings during the day of Grace This amiable Pillar goes marking out our Lodgings during this whole Pilgrimage and at last will stop when it must take its resting place and make its last retreat under the Canopy of Heaven O Israel Chosen People lose not then the sight of this Pillar it is for thee it is for all and if thine eyes cannot endure the splendor of its Rayes put thy feir at last under its shadow and never forsake it until this Divine Cloud which covers thee pour down into thy heart and until without veil or mixture thou maist receive the clarities which make the Paradise and glory of the Blessed for the rest thou needst fear nothing For there is no person who may not gain a place in Heaven and break all the obstacles on Earth following this most Blessed Guide and never losing the sight of these pleasing Lights The Humble may raise themselves by respect and fear the Merciful by the love of Piety the Couragious by Valor the Considerate by Counsel the Provident by the Prudence of Saints the most Solid by Wisdom and such as have the Gift of Discretion by Knowledge and by the various Trials they shall have CHAP. XLVI The Brazen Serpent Quod cum audisset Chananaeus rex Arad qui babitabat ad meridiem venisse scilicet Israel per explorator ◠viam pugnavit contra illum victor existens duxit ex eo praedam Num. 21. v. 1. A While after the death of Mary and Aaron when the people pursued their voyage towards the Holy Land Arad King of the Canaanites had no sooner heard the news of it but he instantly took the field to hinder their further advance It was upon the same way that two years after their departure out of Egypt the Hebrews had sent their Spies into the Land of Canaan and this was the occasion which moved Arad to raise forces in great haste imagining that all these Travellers and Strangers had no other intention than to invade his Territories and render themselves masters of his Country The first conflicts were very prosperous to this Prince At Israel voto se Domino obligans ait Si tradideris populū istū in manu mea delebo urbes ejus Num. 21. v. 2. Exaudivitque Dominus preces Israel tradidit Chananaeum quē ille interfecit subversis urbibus ejus vocavit nomen illius Horma id est anathema Num. 21. v. 3. Profecti sunt autem de monte Hor per viam quae ducit ad Mare rubrum ut circumirent terram Edom. Et taedere coepit populum itineris ac laboris Num. 21. v. 4. Locutusque contra Deum Moisen ait Cur eduxisti nos de Aegypto ut moreremur in solitudine Deest panis non sunt aquae anima nostra jam nauseat super cibo isto levissimo Num. 21. v. 5. and I am confident he would have defeated his Enemies if God had not combined against him according to the solemn Vow the Israelites made to demolish for his honor all the strong holds of this King and to lay so many Anathemaes on them that there might remain nothing but the execrable footsteps and bloody marks of the abominations and impieties which reigned in the Land of Canaan And this they did after a general victory from thence pursuing their way toward the Red Sea and about the Lands of Idumea But in fine these ungrateful men seeing already their promised Palms could not forbear to mingle murmurs with their Songs of Victory and the vexation they had to see themselves so long in a Pilgrimage made them lose the remembrance of him who had conducted them through the desart and rendred them conquerors over their Enemies after he had in a maner inforced the Elements and the most insensible Bodies of Nature to contribute unto their necessities Ah! said they we have too long wandred in this solitary place sometimes upon Mountains and then in Valleys nevertheless after a journey of forty years we have not hitherto reached the Haven And even this Manna which fell from Heaven and which indeed hath hitherto supplied our most pressing necessities is yet but a very slight nourishment and which affords more distaste than benefit Why did we then leave Egypt to come into these desarts and arid places where we have neither Water nor Bread Can we truly represent unto our selves a more unworthy and blinde ingratitude than this But where may we finde punishments harsh enough to inflict on this impious people and darts sharp enough to cause a resentment of so great a disloyalty I could wish that all the Oaths of these perjured persons had been numbred after so many favors and miracles done for their sake and yet behold their Sacrifices their Offerings their Vows and all their Gratitude Why have you brought us hither and why have you delivered us out of slavery to cause us to die with hunger and thirst in this desart
a Picture of those who goe round about the Sanctuary and never enter into it For all these miserable men were shut out of the Land of Promise and this favour was reserv'd for their Children who notwithstanding were long in expectation of it There are some languishing Spirits in the world and souls floating about the Ark these are little Fishes which swim alwayes between two waters or else resemble those Birds which can never take their flight upon elevated places and never come out of their holes but when night approacheth and when scarse any light is to be seen These are also certain curious persons who would pry even into the Sun but the excesse of light blinds them In matters of Faith the eyes ought to be shut and all the reasons of human policy serve but to dazle and confound We ought never to be so presumptuous as to measure the grandeurs of the Mysteries of Heaven with the lownesse of our understanding It is sufficient to follow the lights of God to see what passeth in Chanaan and in the Land of Promise without sending other Spies than our most ardent desires and our purest actions otherwise the hand eye and mind which serve us for a guide in this Pilgrimage will forsake us on the way and amidst windings where we shall see but a far off the end of our travels and the shore which we strive to reach by strength of arms and Oars I even doubt whether after we have long expected Cum mihi quoque iratus propter vos Dominus dixit nec tu ingredieris illuc c. Deut. 1. v. 37. Precatusque sum Dominum in tempore illo dicens Deut. 3. v. 23. and demanded the land of Promise with tears in our eyes and sighs in our hearts we shall not be enjoyned silence and surely it would be done with more reason than unto Moses who notwithstanding his virtue and merits was not heard in the request he made upon this occasion for after he had made his prayer in these termes My Lord Domine Deus tu coepisii estendere servo tuo magnitudinem tuam manumque fortis simam Neque enim est alius Deus vel in caelo vel in terra qui passit facere opera tua comparari sortitudini tuae Deut. 3. v. 24. Transibo igitur videbo terram hanc optimam trans Jordanem montem istum egregium Libanum Deut. 3. v. 25. and my God thou hast begun to withdraw the Veiles which hide from us thy greatness and power It is necessary to confess that neither in the Heavens nor upon Earth there is any power comparable to thine nor other God who can work those miracles whereof I have been a witness I hope then that thy victorious hand and thy Omnipotent arm will conduct me beyond Jordan and that being under this happy Climat and in these fortunate Lands for which I have even sighed the space of fourty years I shall at last ascend the Mountain of Moria and Liban where I may kiss the paces and discern the foutsteps of those who have been my well-beloved fore-Fathers Iratusque est Dominus mihi propter vos nec exaudivit me sed dixit mihi sufficit tibi nequaquam ultrae loquaris de hac re ad me Deut. 3. v. 26. and thy dear Children God who can do nothing but with Justice shewed some marks of his Anger and most expresly prohibited Moses to importune him any more concerning this matter Afterwards he sent him to the top of Mount Phasga Ascende cacumen Phasga aculos tuos circumser ad occidentem ad Aquilonem Austrumque Orientem aspice Deut. 3. v. 27. Sed Josue filius Nun minister tuus ipse intrabit pro te hunc exhortare robora ipse sorte terram dividet Israeli Deut. 1. v. 38. Mansimusque in valle contra fanum Phoger Deut. 3. v. 29. Non addetis ad verbū quod vobis loquor nec auseretis ex eo custodite mandata Domini Dei vestri c. Deut. 4. v. 2. from whence having commanded him to look towards the East the South the West and the North he charged him only to incourage Josua who was to succeed him after his death in the quality of a Conductor of his people and to divide Chanaan and the Land of Promise amongst the Tribes of Israel I know not the terms which Moses used in the Establishment of so prudent and worthy a Successor For he was content to say that having received this answer and commission he descended into the Valley where was the Temple of Phogor Having in this manner concluded the first Chapter of Deuteronomy In the eighth Chapter following he makes a long discourse exhorting his people to keep exactly the Lawes and Commandements which were first given upon Mount Sina with a Spirit inviron'd with flames and ardors which sufficiently testified the greatness of this mysterie and the importance of the matter Beware then my dear Children said Moses to them Remarkable words of Moses of violating the Oath of your fore-Fathers and if you be sensible of all the blessings you have received Dye rather a thousand times than efface in your souls the love and gratitude due unto him who hath delivered you out of the furnaces of Egypt Cave ne quando obliviscaris pacti Domini tui Deut. 4. v. 23. and whose spirit hath secret flames and devouring fires which will consume you if you have been so audacious as to forget him and despise his commands But if you obey him you shall goe into those pleasant Countries which will prove a Haven unto all your miseries and the accomplishment of all your desires Et juravit ut non transirem Jordanem nec ingrederer terram optimam quam daturus est vobis Deut. 4. v. 21. Ecce morior in hac humo non transibo Jordanem vos transibitis possidebitis terram egregiam Deut. 4. v. 22. There all your Fetters shall be broken and your selves freed from bondage without fear and apprehension you shall enjoy those blessings which were heretofore promised unto Abraham Isaac and Jacob. For my part my well-beloved I am at the end of my life and shall never pass over Jordan nor the Land of Chanaan Goe then happily thither and before you set your foot on this Country engrave in the bottom of your soules the Lawes and Precepts I have so often taught you Haec est enim vestra sapientia intellectus coram populis ut audientes universa praecepta haec dicant En populus sapiens intelligens gens magna Deut. 4. v. 6. to the end when another People shall see and hear these Oracles and documents from your mouths they may say with astonishment Behold these wise and learned men this great Nation and these illustrious Tribes for whom heaven hath alwayes had an extraordinary care and a particular affection For the rest in case you observe not
sunt dii eorum in quibus habebant fiduciam Deut. 32. v. 37. De quorum victimis Comedebant adipes bibebant vinum libaminum surgant opitulentur vobis in necessitate vos protegant Deut. 32. v. 38. Videte quòd ego sim solus non sit alius Deus praeter me Ego occidam ego vivere faciam percutiam ego sanabo non est qui de manu mea possit eruere Deut. 32. v. 39. Levabo ad caelum manum meam dicam Vivo ego in aeternum Deut. 32. v. 40. Si acuero ut fulgur gladium meum arripuerit judicium manus mea reddam â—ltionem hostibus meis his qui oderunt me retribuam Deut. 32. v. 41. Inebriabo sagiteas meas sanguine gladius meus devorabit carnes de cruore occisorum de captivitate nudati inimicorum capitis Deut. 32. v. 42. and the dreadfull period of an irritated patience Alas what day what Tribunall What Assises and what Judgements This will be the fortunate moment which mercy hath ordained to crown the merits of Virtue and the frightfull Instant which Justice hath decreed for the punishment of sins Then all the force pride and power of the Jews shall appear but weakness and even those who think to be in Cities and in their Towers as in places of security shall be miserably oppressed And then what Answer will these miserable wretches make unto the voice of God who will lay a thousand reproaches on them and in deriding their Miseries will say Alas then where are those Gods whom you idolatrize and in whom you place your Assurances where are those who did eat the fat of the Victims which they have immolated and drank the Wine of their Sacrifices Let them now rise up and succour you in so pressing necessities In fine now acknowledge whether there be another God than my self who is able to dispose of life and death of Evill and the remedy and whose power is so absolute as no man can resist it It is I the living God that I am who will lift up my hand unto Heaven and if I sharpen my Sword and if I inkindle its Edge like Lightning to make you undergoe the rigour of my severest Judgements the thunder of my vengeances shall fall on my enemies and upon all those who shall wage War against me as a furious lightning which shall consume all that it strikes by the breath of its ardours and devouring flames afterwards I will steep my merciless darts and arrows in the bloud of Rebels and I will satiate my justest furies in the most horrid slaughter of those bodyes which have been massacred sparing neither Masters nor slaves Let the Gentiles learn then from hence the praise they ought to give unto this people who have a God whose goodnesses are alwayes favourable to those whom he loves Laudate gentes populum ejus quie sanguinem servorum suorum ulciscetur c. Deut. 32. v. 43. and whose vengeances are dreadfull to his enemies Behold my dear Reader the end of this famous Canticle which was first recited in the presence of all the people of Israel and which contains a description of the miracles God wrought to deliver them out of Captivity It was likewise a powerfull exhortation which ought to oblige them either by force or sweetness to remain faithfull in the service of so good and powerfull a Master But this was to sing in the ears of Tygers whose fury is the more irritated when they hear any Musick Christians let us not doe the like but benefit our selves at the expence of this people And faithfully keep the Lawes and Commandements God hath given us let us listen once more unto the last words of Moses and of our Prophet who speaks both to them and us My dear Children I have nothing else to say Et dixit ad eos Ponite corda vestra in omnia verba quae ego testificor vobis heaie ut mandetis ea siâ—â—iâ— vestris custodire facere implere universa quae scripta sunt legis hujus Deut. 32. v. 46. Quia non in cassâ—â— praecepta sunt vobis sed ut singuli in eis viverent quae facientes longo perseveretis tempore in terra ad quam Jordane transmisso ingredimini possidendam Deut. 32. v. 47. and ask of you before my death but that you would seriously consider what I have delivered to you and that you would deeply imprint it both in your own and your Childrens hearts to the end you may all practise and accomplish it for these Lawes have not been established in vain but to the end they may keep you if you keep them and that they may conserve you with bonds of peace and love in this blessed Land into which you are going after your passage over Jordan CHAP. XLIX The Death of Moses at the sight of the holy Land IN fine after forty years of travell behold us with the people of Israel upon the Confines of the Land of Promise All our enemies are vanquished our Chains are broken the Sea hath suspended its billows to make us a passage the bitternesses of Mara are changed into delights the Heavens have rained down nothing but Manna on our deserts and totall Nature hath wrought miracles to serve us But alas we know not what will be the issue of all these happy accidents and of these admirable prodigies for the Aspects of this amiable Intelligence which have been as it were our starrs amidst so many obscurities and these arms which have been so often lifted up towards Heaven for our safety after they had conducted and delivered us amidst so many dangers are now even ready me-thinks to languish and decay In truth the Judgements of God are frightfull Abysses and it were to lose our selves to enter into them with other lights than those of Faith and Love All our fairest designs are sometimes but the draughts and Images of a dream where our proudest hopes meet only with a Tomb. Have we not seen Conquerours who having measur'd by their Triumphs the richest parts of the Universe banish'd into some corner of the Earth and into the Gates of some Cities where they scarce found any Sepulchre Behold the period of their Combats the end of their Triumphs and the Occident of all these Stars which shined not but amongst Laurels Behold them in lamentations in bloud and under some Cypress tree which formeth the funestous Crown of their ambition and the Tomb of their memory Is this the fatall end of their desires the subject of their tears and the period of their projects At least if their Children were their heirs and if these dolefull issues could open them a passage and give them some entrance into the Empires of honour and immortality after which they had so long sighed they would receive this consolation that their death had been the life of others and that in dying they had rendred
139 Hail plague of Egypt 286 Wretched Harvest of worldly men 152 Hail-storm in Constantinople 268 Hardness of Pharaohs heart 269 Hardness of heart a woful estate 271 Grashoppers of Egypt 289 I. Jacob and Esau 121 Figure of the Christian and Jewish people 116 Jacob Esau 's elder brother and how 137 His agreement with his father-in-law Laban 155 Jacob resolves to send Benjamin into Egypt 207 His descent into Egypt to see his son Joseph 223 The answer he made to Pharaoh concerning his age 229 His death and last words 231 Idols and their subversion 344 Detestable Idolatry of amorous persons 39 Jethro the counsel he gave to Moses to establish Judges for deciding differences between the people of Israel 337 Atheistical ignorance 85 Images of Jesus Christ anciently painted in Temples and Houses in the form of a Lamb 27 Image of a generous courage 69 Image of Gods judgement 86 Image of the lives of men 126 Image of the life and death of Jesus Christ 145 Image of Chastity 184 Image of the World 198 Imagination the effects and properties thereof 156 Unnatural impudence of Cham 48 Inconstancy of created things 113 Dreadful incertainty 135 Incarnation its draught and picture 144 Innocence secured 170 Innocence victorious 179 Inhumanity more than brutish 220 Joseph born of Rachel 154 Joseph sold by his brethren 165 Joseph known by his brethren 214 His lamentations for the death of his Father Jacob 242 Joshua his victories over the Amalekites 332 Isaac his birth 93 The discourse he held with his father asking him where was the victim of his Sacrifice 108 His submission and obedience 109 His mariage with Rebecca 116 Most exact Justice 83 Judges a fair example for them ibid. Judas the brother of Joseph made a speech to him in the name of his brethren 216 Judgements of God incomprehensible 290 Prodigious increase of the people of Israel 247 Jacobs Ladder 141 Jacobs wrestling with the Angel 159 K. Kings of France true successors of Abraham 80 L. Laban is grieved for the barrenness of his flocks 156 His agreement with Jacob and his return unto Mesopotamia 157 Lesson to husbands and wives 17 Leah considerable for her fruitfulness 154 Dangerous liberty 29 Liberality cannot be without freedom 79 Liberality portraict of the Divinity ibid. Liberty of holy Souls 80 Liberty of Esau cause of his misfortune 128 Laws their excellency 357 Their establishment 368 Lot delivered out of the hands of his enemies by the means of Abraham 70 Luxury destruction of souls and canker of body 64 Love its effects and properties 3 Love architect of the world ibid. Gods love never idle 73 Incredulous love 224 Ladder of divine providence 146 Lots wife transformed into a pillar of Salt 89 Irreparable loss 184 Life of man a war without truce 159 Life and death inseparable companions 231 M. Magicians of Pharaoh and their enchantments 270 Admirable magnificence of God 58 Malediction of parents dangerous 132 Malediction of God on the Serpent 23 Malediction of Noah on his son 48 Malice of an eloquent woman 20 Manna of the desart 320 The time when it was to be gathered 323 Mariages subject to many disasters 123 Mariage of Isaac with Rebecca 116 Assured marks of our disposition 126 Martyrdom of love 103 Mixture of fortune 166 Excellent meditation 298 Pleasing Metamorphosis 63 Murther of Abel 27 Michael the Emperor quits his Empire to enter into a religious life 58 Mirror of Essences the motto thereof 29 World error of some Philosophers touching the beginning thereof 8 Monarchy of Adam and Eve over the Univers 19 The world is a Theatre 116 Extreme mortification 145 Motives which induced God to create the world 1 Motives of Conscience 140 Powerful motives to divert the brethren of Joseph from wicked designs 172 Moses 246 His birth and education ibid. His learning 252 His zeal and mariage with the daughter of the Prince of Madian 253 His fear at the sight of the flaming Bush 257 His Commission concerning the deliverance of the people of Israel 260 The certain marks of his power 263 He excuseth himself for accepting the Commission which God gave him 265 The threats God used to him 266 His Embassie into Egypt 267 He is visited in the desart where he creates Judges and Magistrates 334 His last Actions 385 His Testament 386 His last Canticle 402 Mysteries hidden under the Paschal Lamb 300 Man necessary for the world 9 Men eloquent when it concerns their own praise excellent conceptions upon this subject 10 Man the sport of the gods 148 Honest man what he is 163 N. Nature of God beneficent 320 Nature her power limited 269 Nembrod cheif contriver of the Tower of Babel his spirit and disposition 49 Noah his obedience to the command of God 41 His going out of the Ark and his sacrifice on the Hills of Armenia 44 Names Chariots of Essences 74 O. Obligation of fathers and mothers 128 Dreadful obstinacy 271 Oeconomy of the humane body 12 Opinion of Hesiod touching the Creation of the World 8 Original sin 15 Ornaments of the Sanctuary 369 P. Peace and Purity inseparable companions 65 Terrestrial Paradise 16 Paradise first habitation of man 16 Passions their different nature 181 Patience very awful 84 Persecution of modesty 184 Perfidiousness of the world 206 Plague of Egypt 284 Natural causes of the plague 285 Pharaoh King of Egypt makes Joseph his Lieutenant by reason of the truth of his predictions 196 Command of Pharaoh concerning the murther of all the male-children of the Hebrews 248 Pharaoh swallowed up in the Red Sea 304 Plagues of Egypt 275 Antient Policy 356 Portraict of the Justice of God 86 Predictions of Joseph 192 Efficacious prayers 122 Prevision of merits 137 Proclaming of Joseph by his Brethren 172 Promulgation of the Law on Mount Sina 343 Paternal Prudence 169 Punishment of Adam 14 Shameful pusillanimity 69 Putipher his over-great credulity 186 The impudence of his wife and her attempt upon the chastity of Joseph 178 Paschal Lamb 299 Planets the beginning of their courses 5 Pillar of Fire and Clouds 379 Picture of Hell 91 Picture of Fortune 194 Pains of women in child-bearing 23 Prayer the power and effects thereof 122 R. Rachel and her sterility 154 Radegond a despiseth France to become religious 59 Ramerus King of Aragon follows the same destiny ibid. Amiable resemblance between Joseph and Jesus Christ 222 The recompence of Jacob for his services 155 Pitiful reliques of sin 26 Remorse of Conscience 32 Remedies against Envy 35 Reproaches of God to Cain 28 Very just resentments 77 Rosignation of Abraham 101 Angelical resolution of Joseph 181 Rock and its motto 102 Ruben his affection towards his brother Joseph 173 Rivers their bounds and limits 5 River of Charity 80 S. Sacrifices very different of Abel and Cain 28 Sacrifices of Aaron consumed by fire from Heaven 376 Sanctification of the Sabhath 346 Sarah her death 113 How long she lived 115 Scamander i'ts properties effects
The Vestments of the High-Priest CHAP. 44. The Sacrifices of Aaron consumed by fire from Heaven CHAP. 45. The Pillar of fire and the Cloud CHAP. 46. The Brazen Serpent CHAP. 47. The last actions of Moses CHAP. 48. The last Canticle of Moses CHAP. 49. The death of Moses at the sight of the Holy Land THE HOLY HISTORIE FIRST TOME GOD THE CREATOR FIRST BOOK CHAP. I. Gods First Sally out of himself in the Birth of the Universe THough God was what he is and in the perfect fruition of his Grandeurs before his omnipotent hand had drawn the Creatures out of their Nothing The motives which invited God to create the world yet his Nature required Hommages his Majesty Servitudes his Glory Admirations his Goodness Acknowledgments and his Beauty hearts and affections It was needfull though he were independent of all Beings Immense in his extent Eternall in his duration and Infinite in all his perfections that he should cause himself to be seen and felt by Emanations out of himself It was not sufficient me thinks that God should contemplate himself in the Myrror of his Essence and that without issuing out of himself he should beget his Word in the splendors which flow from his Claritie It was not enough to love himself and in loving himself to produce without change loss or alteration the sacred fire of his Love All these immanent and infinite productions could not exhaust the Treasures of so fruitfull a Nature For in giving it self it suffers no detriment since amidst these sallies and Emanations the Father and the Son in such sort communicate their Nature and perfections the Father to the Son and both to the Holy Ghost that all three by a Common power can act ad extra or exteriorly and they needed to employ but one single word to create not only a World but even Worlds without end I represent unto my self that Nature sigh'd even without tongue or voice The sighs of Nature before she had a being Me thinks I hear her silence and that she saith to God before her Creation Speak then O speak Great God stretch forth thy arm and cast thy looks out of thy self issue forth of the Luminous Darkness which formes thee a day without Night and a Night more resplendent then the day Give some little passage to those Ejaculations and flames which from all eternity are inclosed within thy bosome and which frame therein a Circle of Light and Love Thou needst but open thy mouth and immediatly all Creatures will be obedient to thy commands The least of thy Irradiations will dissipate the shadows and open that abyss in which they are buried It is true that nothing ought to disturbe the peace and repose of thy solitude It is true thou hast and possessest in thy self all that can ever be But thou canst bring it to light and art able without noyse and disorder to break that eternall silence which hitherto hath made thee heard but of thy self In fine thou art a God of Love and this love would be Captive if it had not Sallies and Ejaculations It was not satisfied to remain in thee by eminence and as it were in the source of beauty and goodness but having made its folds within its self by numberless revolutions Dyonys c. 11. divin Nom. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 appellat munifestationem Dei per se ipsum it must descend upon externall objects to attain that effect and property which is naturall to Love viz. that amorous extasy that prodigious effusion and that pompous and magnificent shew which to speak properly is the Torch of Love or rather the Chariot of its tryumph Well then Creatures come forth of the Mass in which you lye confused Heaven Earth Sea Stars Trees Fishes Furnaces of fire and flames The first allarum of Nature vast extents of Air Clouds Abysses Precipices listen to the voice and Command of God of the Word and of their Love O God! O Power O Love what word what speech and what voice we must proceed in order and pursue the same which God himself hath followed The word was in God the Father and this word was God from that beginning which could never begin the Common Spirit of God animated the Father and the Son But in fine this glorious and happy moment which saw the birth of times and seasons being arrived The eternall God seeing no Object out of himself which could deserve his love and besides this Love being incited by a holy desire of communicating it self it was requisite to frame a Copy of the Intellectuall Originall which was in his Idea Love the architect of the World and in his heavenly mind From that instant the world then but a lively vacuum but an universall privation of forms and qualities was chosen as the blanck Table whereon he resolved to draw the first stroaks of his goodness That Nothing which hath but the bare name men give it In principio creavit Deus Coelum Terram Gen. 1. v. 1. became immediatly a fruitfull Abyss of Essences and Nature was ingendred out of it by the sole power of the Divinity First Heaven Earth Water and Darkness appeared in an instant as the Field on which all the effects of a most Amorous and sage Prodigality were to be displayed Terra autem erat inanis vacua tënebrae crant super saciem abyssi Gen. 1. v. 2. It was before any other thing that this tenebrous Compound this confused Medley and this heap of Water and Earth was the object of him who alone was able to chase away its shadows and convert its dust into Gold and Cristall This is the Throne on which the title of Soveraign Monarch and Lawgiver shall be seen ingraved But what this Theater is too obscure to behold therein the birth of the World we must expect the Aurora and the rayes of the day CHAP. II. The work of the six dayes NAture awake The first day of the Creation it is time for the World to rise the Night hath preceded and twelve hours are as it were already past since Heaven and Earth have been in obscurity Dixitque Deus fiat tax facta est lux Gen. c. 1. v. 3. Behold the break of day and those delightfull colours which play upon the waters are the Companions of that light which in Palestine hath already opened the doors and windows of the East and is going to spread it self upon another Hemisphear Nevertheless to finish this Carriere to perfect this course and to round the whole Globe twelve hours more are required And then counting from Evening till Morning and from Morning till Evening you shall find all the Moments which form the first day a glorious day a day illustrious for having first received the light which gives glory and splendor to all dayes Et vidit Deus lucem quod esset bona Gen. 1. v. 1. God himself made even a stand to be
water which had been so long detained prisoner returns from thence towards the North and into the Indies If you desire more the washing of poor mens feet is represented to us by the River Nilus or rather by that of Jordan Solinus c. 35. Pausanias Sieionius Apol. or finally by the waters of Alpheus For all these miraculous Rivers hide themselves for a time and what is cast into them remain some dayes absorpt under the Abysses of water but at length we receive all that is thought to be lost This is in a word as Solomon said to cast ones bread upon the torrent of waves to receive it in aeternity In fine this is to resemble those Roman Emperors Vopiscus in Aureliane ait eum fecisse corenas de panibus and amongst others Aurelian who made crowns of bread or to conclude and not to intermix prophane Emperors with Christian Kings and with the father of all Christian Princes which is Abraham let us say that this most charitable Man washing these three Pilgrims feet sowed benedictions upon a River Seminate in benedictionibus 2. Cor. 9. Beati qui senunatis super omneâ— aquas Jsa 32. and that he put himself the first in the list of those blessed persons who as Isay saith sowed upon all the waters and lands of Paradise In effect these three guests whom Abraham received into his tents with so much affection zeal and reverence made a Paradise under one Pavillion these were also Angels of Heaven having only the shape and countenance of men from whence I gather that under ragged garments and a skin torn with ulcers and eaten up with cankers God hidden under the habit of poor men God and his Angels conceal themselves to teach the purity of heart works and intentions which ought never to stay upon the rinde and exterior apparence but to passe even to the Center where God himself is retired Presently after the veiles are seen remov'd and the shadowes unfoulded to disclose celestiall lights the Angels of God nay God himself who makes the heart melt into joy and the eyes distill teares of Love and rapture there are seen miraculous generations and fruitfull sterilities which produce Families Nations and Worlds at the birth of one Infant In sequel of these favors the tendernesses of a human heart and the least touches of compassion which men have towards one another hold so secret intelligence with the heart of God as even at that instant men open their hearts God dilates his own to impart unto them his most intimate secrets The confidence he expressed to Abraham was a very Divine condeâ—â—â—â—dency evident mark of this verity for when the crimes and the execrations of Sodom and Gomorrha pressingly called upon his Justice and when the blackest vapors of these horrid sinks ascended even as high as Heaven this most absolute Judge who makes his definitive decrees without dependencoâ—râ— counsell demeaned himself as if he durst not doe it without the advice of Abraham Ah what Diaitque Dominus num celare petero Abraham quae gesturus sum saith he can I conceal my designs and thoughts from my dear Abraham who is to be the Pillar of the World and the Father of so many Nations No certainly but I must discharge part of my displeasure into his bosom that he may share with me in my designs as well as in my contentments Hearken then Abraham Dixit itaque Dominus clamor Sodomorum Gomorrhae multiplicatus est peccatum corum aggravatum est nimis dost thou well understand saith God what passeth for my part I hear a confused Noise which daily sounds louder and louder it is surely the Voice of my Justice which requires vengeance against the Inhabitants of Sodom and Gomerrha which have rendred their Cities an Abyss of horrors and abominations Dost thou not hear these impure Mouths these poysonous Tongues these bewitched Hearts these fleshy Souls these Soul-less Bodies and these ungodly Men without Faith without Law and without Honour I hear them and their infamous clamours awake my indignation Descendam videbo utrum clamorem qui venit ad me opere compleverint An non est ita ut sciam Gen. 28. v. 21. I perceive also the sparkles and flames of their fire which are converted in my Hands into ardent and murthering Torches which consume them I am resolved then to descend even into their Hearts to see neer at Hand the Ashes and the Wood which nourisheth so enormous a Fire But what my God! hast thou not Eyes which pierce from the highest Heaven even into the Center of Hell and is not the least of thy glances able to dissipate all the shadows of the Night and of the Sun to produce there the Day of thy most rigorous Justice hast thou not a myrror in thy self which without disorder confusion presents all objects to thee If thou art a God why doest thou speak to us like a Man And is it not well known that thou art every where and as well in the Desart where Cain killed his Brother as in the Paradise where Eve gave her Husband the mortall wound Hast thou not been seen in Heaven precipitating the Angels upon the Waters of the Deluge drowning Men and in the highest story of Babel over-turning this great Edifice and confounding those Gyants Why dost thou then say that thou wilt descend into Sodom and see in person what passeth before thine Eyes Alas Lord take not the pains to draw aside those shamefull Courtains which hide so many lubricities from our Eyes Lord doe not debase thy self so much as with thy own Hand to discover those Ashes which take from us the prospect of so many volatile fires and so many poysonous coals Notwithstanding God descends as I may say into this gulph of impurity Fair example to Judges and resolves to be not only the Judge but the Witness also of those crimes which he must afterwards punish with so much severity Is not this a fair lesson for those who hold the ballances of Justice in their Hands and with whom God intrusts the most terrible and dreadfull of his Attributes I would willingly demand of these Masters who judge so often upon bare breviats and instead of confronting witnesses and making a diligent inquiry into the fact and truth consult their passions follow their own interests and too inconsideratly pass sentences of life for Criminals and of death against the Innocent I would gladly ask of them if nevertheless there chance to be such kind of people in Christian Republicks whether they have learnt that stile from God Most exact Justice who is the Soveraign of all Justice and who is not satisfied to hear complaints and accusations yet disdains not to cast down his Eyes even to the Earth upon the Authors of crimes to be as I have already said not only their Judge but also their Witness Notwithstanding we must not imagin that God at the first
the Merchants Ex trahentes cum de Cysterna vendiderunt Ismaelitis Gen. 37. v. 28. But if Death be sweeter than Captivity and if a couragious person hath less repugnancy to receive a Stab with a Dagger into his Heart than to have manacles on his Hands This generous Youth was very unhappy to come out of a Sepulcher to serve unknown Masters and a sort of people to whom the hope of profit rendred all things vendible even liberty it self which is yet a thousand times more pretious than Life Joseph then is set to sale unto any that will give money for him He is naked but resembleth not those Birds which are most valued for their feathers The Proclamation of Joseph He hath a tender and delicate Body but a generous and penetrating Spirit He is covered all over with dust but it is but a Cloud which hides for a time the Face of the Sun He speaks not a word but it is modesty which closeth his Mouth and renders his silence more eloquent than a long discourse He is asham'd but it is of his Brothers crime He shakes but it is for fear lest Gods designs be not accomplished Behold Joseph who will Alas what Proclamations what sale and what commerce Judas what are you doing Unmercifull Brethren have you not a horror to sell your own Bloud and to part with a Brother for a few pieces of Silver Ah what Powerfull motives to divert Josephs Brethren from their wicked designs are not these Eyes and looks capable of mollifying your furies doth not this innocent move you to compassion Is not this little naked and trembling Body an object more worthy of pitty than envy Remember that he is a part of your selves the delight of your Father and the last hope your Family can have It is true that at present he is but a Reed but he may grow unto a Palm and extend his Branches throughout all Judea It is true he is Young but he hath the wit and Spirit of a Man aged no less than a hundred years And besides he may chance one day to change his thraldome into an honourable liberty But if the dreams he had oblige you to fear the event they come either from God or not if of God Ah surely it is against him you make War If not why doe you arm your selves against an Idoll of Wind and a Phantasm of vanity All these motives were not powerfull enough to divert the current of these impious and execrable designs Nevertheless the furies of envy are torrents which have no bounds nor limits nothing being able to stop them The bargain is then made Joseph is sold Qui duxerunt eum in Aegyptum Gen. 37. v. 28. Reversusque Ruben ad Cysternam non invenit puerum Gen. 37. v. 29. and they that bought him for a slave bring him into Egypt without bearing any respect either unto his Youth beauty extraction or all the good qualities which made him so much amiable Whilst they were carrying him away behold Ruben who not being present at this sale and knowing nothing of what passed went directly unto the Well and often called upon Joseph When he saw he made no answer he thought him Dead either naturally or by violence whereupon he began to run as one distracted and fearfully to cry out Alas where is Joseph where is this poor Youth The sighs of Ruben where have they put him what have they done with him And what is become of him Joseph where art thou Ah whither shall I goe and how can I live Et scissis vestibus pergens ad fratres suos ait puer non comparet ego quo ibo Gen. 27. v. 30. if thou doest live no more what will my Father say unto me and on whom will he lay the blame Must not I render an account of him as his Elder Brother Brethren what answer doe you make me is he alive is he Dead if he be Dead where is his Body that I may Water it with my tears to powr out part of my grief by my Eyes Brethren shew me him I beseech you or some of his reliques Ah where is his Sepulcher where is the happy Land which hides this Treasure But if he be still living where is he and to what place have you sent him I will seek I will seek every where untill I find him It is enough for me if I may see him and but once more speak to him he knows the affection I bear him and the confidence he ought to have in me Ah! where is Joseph then Ruben quiet thy self for Joseph is not Dead but only sold Ah! what commerce Joseph sold what rage of envy what inhumane traffick what negotiation and what cruelty Joseph in fetters and bondage Joseph sold as a slave what will my father say what stroak of death will this news give him and how can he ever live being deprived of all hope to see his Son again Notwithstanding all these Remonstrances Tulerunt autem tunicam ejus in sanguine haedi quem occiderunt â—inxerunt Gen. 37. v. 31. they resolved to cut the throat of a Kid to steep Josephs garments in his bloud which being done they sent it all bloudy unto Jacob with direction to those that carried it to bid him look whether it were not his Sons garment Mittentes qui ferrent ad patrem dicerent hunc invenimus vide utrum tunica tui filii sit an non Gen. 37. v. 32. and say that they had found it in this sad plight I know not who was the Messenger that delivered this dreadfull spoil unto Jacob But Jacob casts his eyes upon this sad present and seeing this bloudy torn garment became saith Philo presently silent grief wanting words to answer the thoughts of his mind and the resentments of his heart Quam cum agnovisset pater ait tunica filii mei est sera pessima commedit eum bestia devoravit Joseph Genes 37. v. 33. His astonished eyes as also his mouth were suspended for a time as to their function he saw and heard nothing but of murthered Ghosts which spake confusedly to him The excesse of grief puts arms into his hands against himself Seissisque vestibus indutus est cilicio lugens filium suum multo tempore Gen. 37. v. 34. he tears off his hair and dilacerates his breast and all his garments But his tears efface not the bloud before his eyes His silence makes him no answer and the holy vengeance he exerciseth on himself doth not punish the Authours of his grief Congregatis autem curctis liberis ejus ut lenicent delorem patris notuit consolationem accipere c. Genes 37. v. 35. Mean-while all Jacobs friends and servants wept bitterly nothing was heard throughout the whole house but cryes sobs and accusations Every one strived to kiss his garment and Jacob could hardly tear it out of their hands to cry out Ah! this
To this effect they chose one amongst them who should goe unto Joseph and whose Commission was to inform him that Jacob their deceased Father of happy memory had commanded them at his death to tell him that he desired him to forget what was past and they all conjur'd him in his name to grant this favour Which Joseph hearing he began to weep and his tears serv'd to assure his Brethren who cast themselves at his feet taking at the same time the boldness of their own accord to demand that Pardon from him which they had already solicited by the means of Benjamin or some other who they believed would be more acceptable to him adding besides that they were all his Servants and resolved to live and dy in that quality To which Joseph answered that they need not fear any thing that he would take care of them and of all their Children and for the rest he would not be less pittifull towards them than God whose example he follow'd and who had changed all their evill purposes into favourable occasions to procure his good having also rarsed him as it were on a Throne of honour and power by the same Arms they had used to precipitate him into an Abyss of miseries and calamities Behold the sense of a noble Soul and of a generous courage whose tears did not resemble those of Crocadiles nor such kindnesses as are used by Apes which strangle in flattering and in shedding feign'd tears Revenge is only proper unto weak minds whereas Clemency resides alwayes in a strong spirit Cruelty is a Tyranny and meekness a true Empire To want the power of retaining any bad resentment is to be invulnerable And those souls also on the contrary are alwayes covered with Wounds and Ulcers which keep in their hearts desire of revenge and cannot grant a Pardon This is more deplorable in respect neither God nor Man have any compassion for those who cannot afford it unto the miseries of others And on the contrary either soon or late there are treasures of graces for those on whom good nature or vertue bestows those amiable inclinations which are mortall enemies to revenge and cruelty And it was I assure my self upon this occasion and to gratifie Joseph for the good entertainment he had given his Brethren and the sweet correspondeney he endevoured to hold with them in despight of all the bad Offices he had received from them that all the powers of Heaven and Earth combin'd to render him perfectly happy almost during the whole course of his life which reached to one hundred and ten years Vixitque centum decem annis Gen. 50. v. 22. Et vidit Ephraim sibios usque ad tertiam generationem Gen. 50. v. 22. Et conditus aromatibus reposiâ—us est loculo in Aegypto Gen. 50. v. 25. at the end of which he saw himself invironed by his Children and by his Childrens Children even to the third generation who at last rendred him all the same duties which they had done unto Jacob for being dead they imbalmed him and his bones a long time after were carried into the Land of promise according to the desire of this great Patriarch from whose end as from that of his forefathers we ought to conclude that it is good to lead a vertuous life that we may dye holily Wee dye every hour and our life is a living death which consumes of it self our looks our vows our words our gestures and all our motions are steps which conduct us to the Tomb. THE HOLY HISTORIE FIRST TOME MOSES FIFTH BOOK CHAP. I. His Birth and Education THe prodigious increase of the people of Israel Filii Israel erevtrunt quasi germinantes multiplicati sunt ac roborati nimis impleverunt terram Exod. 1 v. 7. Creverunt Hebraei divinitus foecundata eorum multitudine Aug. lib. 18. de Civit. c. 7. in the Land of Egypt after the decease of Jacob and of all his Children was not only a work of Nature but a miraculous effect of Divine Providence which inkindled the Ashes of these blessed Patriarcks and intended that their Tombs should be an unexhaustible Spring of life and immortality Egypt neverthelesse was too much blinded to penetrate these secrets Surrexit interea Rex novus super Aegyptum qui ignorabat Joseph Exod. 1. v. 8. Et ait ad populum suum Ecce populus filiorum Israel multus fortior nobis est Exod. 1. v. 9. And Joseph being dead he that took the reigns of the Empire not knowing the services this wise Minister of State had rendred unto his Predecessors for the space of fourscore years seeing that the Israelites went on daily increasing in forces and men resolv'd to humble and suppresse them lest in time they might chance to joyn themselves with the enemies of his Kingdom and form a Party against the State Nevertheless Venite sapicuter opprimamus eum ne fortè multiplicetur si ingruerit contra nos bellum addatur inimicis nostris expugnatisque nobis egrediatur de terra Exod. 1. v. 10. they were like those Grains which shoot out of the Earth and bear a thousand little Ears which the Wind Sun and Rain beat not down but to make new productions But this yong Pharaoh who began to Reign hath not eyes quick enough to discern these mysteries and his hand though most powerful was yet too weak to destroy this fair Nation Jacob is dead Joseph is deceased and this illustrious Colony which left Canaan to come into Egypt hath followed Abraham and Isaac They are no more but the Children of their Children and their Posterity shall never end In vain is it to cast them into servitude Quantó â—ue opprimebant eos tanâ—o magis multiplicabantur crescebant Exod. 1. v. 12. to impose on them a yoke a thousand times more cruel than death and to load them with Irons like Victims These punishments this bondage and all these chains serve but to reinforce their Bodies and me thinks the sweat which drops from their Fore-heads in the midst of their pains is converted into the Juice of Life which renders them marvellously fruitful Have you not seen a River which issueth imperiously after it had passed through the midst of Rocks There are no banks nor limits nor any obstacles which it draws not a long with it It swells the more it is restrained and commonly its highest elevations grow from its greatest falls Thus the people of Israel little in their Birth and as a little Rill in its source increaseth the more it is restrained and like an impetuous torrent which hath broken its Banks Oderuntque filios Israël Aegyptii affligebant illudentes eis Exod. 1. v. 13. Atque ad amaritudinem perducebant vitam eorum operibus duris luti lateris omnique famulatu quo in terrae operibus premebantur Exod. 1. v. 14. it extends it self in a prodigious maner This was the occasion of the mortal hatred the Egyptians conceived
huc atque illuc nullum adesse vidâ—ssâ—t percussum Aegyptium abscondit sabalo Exod. 2. v. 12. and doubtless such a one was that of Moses as he sufficiently manifested when seeing an Egyptian who tormented his Brethren and was a publick enemy to his Nation he resolved to take a just revenge on this Persecutor It was God who put Arms into his hands and this brave Courage feared no danger in undertaking a quarrell in which God Nature and Reason ingaged him This Zeal was neither rash furious nor interessed but prudent and grounded upon reason and the publick good It was an Act of Justice by which he began to exercise the honourable office of a Judge and Regent over the people of Israel This generous and Magnanimous enterprise must not then authorise the liberty of certain Sword-men Zeal of Ranters who speak only of cutting off arms and legs These commonly are a sort of people as I conceive who have courage and boldness enough to kill a man who hath a Scarf over his eyes and his hands bound behind him But I am afraid that in the scuffle and in the midst of the Combat upon a fair occasion they will be seen with pale looks and making more use of their feet than their hands The courage of Moses was never of this temper and these vaporing and boasting people draw no more advantage from it Indiscreet Zeal than those who desire to pass for Zelots and who think under pretence of Zeal that every thing is lawfull for them These are indeed insupportable Tyrants and very often all these flaming devotions and these ardent Zeals are but veils of indiscretion pride presumption self-love and a malignant humour which seeks to subject the whole world to their will and to compleat this they make use of all sorts of weapons This is not to be Zealous but to shew ignorance in the nature of that Divine zeal wherewith Moses was inflam'd to make its Frenzies Furies and most infamous Passions pass under so fair pretences and such specious Bills Zeal alwayes goes on four Wheeles that is to say True Zeal Justice Fortitude Knowledge and Charity and it is the Spirit of God which moves those Wheels and is the Conductor of this Chariot But you will ask me perchance Timuit Moises ait quomodo palam factum est verbum istud Exod. 2. v. 14. Cumque circumspexit but atque illuc nullum adisse vidisset percussum Aegyptium abscondit sabulo Exod 2. v. 52. why then doth Moses fear if God puts the Sword into his hand Why doth he fly after so just and holy an exploit and why doth he bury under the Earth a Trophy which he ought to present unto the eyes of Pharaoh and his whole Court His fear is not servile nor his flight unmanly and indiscreet but he that had given the Courage to expose himself unto danger bestowed on him counsell and means to avoid it and besides as St. Paul hath noted Fide reliquit Aegyptum non verilus animositatem Regis ad Heb. c. 1â— it was Faith and not the fear of Pharaoh's indignation which oblig'd Moses to leave Egypt It was a Stratagem of the holy Providence of God who would leave us this example for an Image of Courtly and worldly favours which have their fluxes and refluxes like the Sea and where such an one is adopted to day to hold the Scepter who shall be to morrow dis-inherited and chased away with dishonour So that Moses who after he had been treated as the Son of a Queen is constrained to depart out of Egypt and to leave the Court of Pharaoh having no other Companions in his voyage but Miseries Poverties Contempts and even Ingratitudes from those whom he had obliged Behold this Favourite of the King behold this person who after his adoption could expect nothing but a Scepter and Crown abandoned and unknown in a forrein Countrie behold him a Fugitive in the Land of Madian Alas what will he doe can it possible happen that after his escape amidst the waves of Nilus he should perish on the Earth and on the brink of a Well Is there not still some young Princess who will take pitty on him and if such an one were found in Egypt who was pleased to be his Mother hath not Madian some one who will be his wife and spouse Moses tyred with travelling Moratus est in terra Madian et sedit juxta puteum Exod. 2. v. 15 Erant autem sacerdoti Madian septem filiae quae venerunt ad hauriendam aqueuam impletis canalibus adaquare cupiebant greges patris sui Exod. 2. v. 16. Supervenere pastores ejecerunt eas surrexitque Moises defensis puellis adaquavit oves earum Exod. 2 v. 17. Quae cum revertissent ad Raguel patrem suum c. Exod. 2. v. 18. Responderunt vir Aegyptius liberavit nos de manu pastorum c. Exod. 2. v. 19. At ille ubiest inquit vocate eum ut comedat panem Exod. 2. v. 20. Juravit ergo Moises quod habitaret cum co accepitque Sephoram filiam ejus Exod. 2. v. 21. Quae peperit ei filium quem vocavit Gersan alterum vero peperit quem vocavit Eliezer c. Exod. 2. v. 22. Post multum verò temporis mortuus est Rex Aegypti c. Exod. 2. v. 23. Et audivit gemitum corum ac recordatus est faederis quod pepigit cum Abraham Isaac Jacob. Exod. 2. v. 24. and weary with his journey knows not whither to goe he is constrained to repose himself neer a well and expects like a flower scorch'd by the Sun some breath of wind and some drop of dew from the bosome and hand of him who nourisheth all creatures and replenisheth all Hearts with benedictions As he was in this expectation he perceived seaven daughters of Raguel Prince of Madian coming to water their flocks But when these illustrious Shepheardesses had drawn Water for this end some Shepheards who followed them were so bold as to attempt the taking some of it to Water their own Then Moses not being able to endure so great an indignity took upon himself the just quarell of these Maids and having chased away these presumptuous persons he himself drew water out of this well and gave it unto their Sheep which was the occasion Raguel who was presently advertised of what had passed sent for him to espouse unto him one of his daughters named Sephora by whom Moses had two Sons whose names served to leave a Monument of their fathers fortune unto posterity For the first was called Gerza which signified the aboad of Moses in forein Countries the other called Eleazar in remembrance of the favours God had shewed him taking him out of the hands and fury of Pharaoh from whom in fine a long time after death who spares no man forced the Crown and scepter of Egypt which gave liberty unto the people of Israel to
Sed ego scio quòd non dimittat vos Rex Aegypti ut eatis nisi per manum validam Exod. 3. v. 19. Extendam enim manum meam percutiam Aegyptum in cunctis mirabilibus meis quae facturus sum in medio corum posi haec dimittet vos Exod. 3. v. 20. that the God of the Hebrews had enjoyned them to offer sacrifices to him and therefore it was his pleasure they should withdraw themselves three day journey off for that end Mean while God who knew that Pharaoh would not consent thereunto advertis'd Moses of it and said unto him that in fine he would force him by rigour and the power of his armes to permit them to depart Now these weapons were no other than those of the misfortunes which befell this king and constrained him to give liberty unto the people of Israel CHAP. V. The assured markes of Moses Power THere is nothing more charming and more powerfull to Captivate men than speech Marvelous command of speech chiefly when it proceeds from a mouth full of Authority Neverthelesse there are some untamable spirits and rebellious souls who cannot be vanquished by these weapons and to whom all these discourses at most serve but for some time to lull asleep their fury This is sometimes seen in youth in whom the heat of their Age and the boyling of their blood make so much noise and stir up such dark tempests that reason is there alwayes as it were eclips't Oftentimes also there are persons of experience and Authoritie who adore only some old Error and admit of no reason but the course of a long and depraved custome It was not without cause that Moses so much fear'd to speak unto the Elders of the people Respondens Moises ait Non credent mihi neque audient vocem meam Exod. 4. v. 1. perswading himself they would not believe him and that they would deride both himself and his discourse but God made him see Prodigies which were to be infallible marks of his power over the minds of the most potent of his Nation The first was the Rod he held in his hand which became a Serpent Dixitque Dominus projice eam in terram prosicit versa est in colubrum Exod. 4. v. 3. Daxitque Dominus rursum mitte manum tuam in sinum tuum quam cum misisset in sinum protullt leprosam Exod. 4. v. 6. Retrahe ait manum tuam in sinum tuum retraxit protulit iterum erat similis carni reliquae Exod. 4. v. 7. Quod si nec duobus quidem his signis crediderint neque audierint vocem tuam sume aquam fluminis essunde eam super aridam quidquid hauseris de fluvio vertetur in sanguinem Exod. 4. v. 9. and afterwards reassum'd its former Nature The second appeared in his hand which he had no sooner put into his bosome but it became Leprous and afterwards returning into the same place it became immediatly like the rest of his body This was done by the command of him who is omnipotent and who by these miraculous effects would incourage Moses and assure him that those to whom he was sent would give Credit unto these prodigies He said farther to him that if they were so obstinate as not to believe him he was to take water out of the River Nilus and that it should be infallibly changed into blood Behold strange Metamorphoses that of the Rod into a Serpent and of the Serpent into a Rod signifyed three very different states of the people of Israel in Egypt The first was whilst Joseph lived during whose life they had possession of the Rod that is to say the Scepter and government of Egypt After that followes the death of this great Patriark and from that time all these poor people were detested by the Egyptians and like so many Serpents which crawled on the Earth But at length the time will come when Serpents shall be turned into Rods and be powerfull in the hand of Moses The second Metamorphosis by the hand of Moses signifies only the various afflictions of the Hebrews and the different alterations of their fortuns under the government of this wise conductor The third of the waters of Nilus did foretell the death and swallowing up of the Egyptians under the bloody and murthering waves of the Red Sea Notwithstanding all this Moses persists in excusing himself Alt Moises obsecro Domine non sum eloquens ab heri nudius tertius ex quo locutus es ad ser vum tuum impeditioris tardioris linguae sum Exod. 4. v. 10. and useth his best endeavors to discharge himself of an imployment in which he foresaw so many difficulties and whereof he esteemed himself so uncapable He represented unto God the trouble he had to expresse himself and how that since the very hour he had the honour to speak unto him he could hardly draw one word out of his mouth Lord saith he I am as a Child who can form but a confused sound between his lips And my tongue is so heavy and fat as I cannot speak a word without stammering Ah what God answered him Dixitque Dominus ad eum quis secit os hominis aut quis fabricatus est mutum surdum videntem caecum non ego Exod. 4. v. 11. am I not he who hath formed men with my own hand and put words into their mouths and is it not I who renders them deaf and dumb at my pleasure Yes truly it is God who discovers thoughts even in the most intricate minds It is he who moves and animates the tongues of Children and there needs but a breathing from his mouth to give life motion and voice unto the most insensible bodies These vertues are too well known At ille obsecro inquit Domine mitte quem missurus es Exod. 4. v. 13. Iratus Dominus in Meisem ait Aaron frater tuus Levites scio quod cloquens sit c. Exod. 4. v. 14. Loquere ad eum pone versia mea in ore ejus Exod. 4. v. 15. Virgam quoquc hanc sume in manu tua Exod. 4. v. 17. Abiit Moises reversus est ad Iethro Socerum suum dixitque ei vadam revertar ad fratres meos in Aegyptum Exod. 4. v. 18. and I am astonished at Moses who persists notwithstanding in his demand and who conjures God to send in his place the person whom he is to send Now it was doubtlesse the Messias whom he meant but the happy moment in which he should be born was not yet arriv'd and it had been to break the orders and decrees in Heaven to desire absolutely at that time the grant of this request God also grew angry with Moses and resolving no more to hear his complaints and excuses he was content to say unto him that his brother Aaron should serve him for interpreter to declare his will From that time
and resembled Tombs in which they were imprisoned Their punishment saith the Wiseman was suitable to the horror of those crimes where with they were poluted in the obscurity of Caves and Subterranean places where they thought to shun the sight of him whose eyes illuminate the purtest Clarities of the Heavens In this dreadful state they were terrified by Specters which flew before their eyes they had sometimes the use of their sight to be affrighted by these tenebrous Phantasms every where they were in fear and followed by terrors which troubled their guilty Consciences They also heard dreadful noises which made them even die with fear Cum sit enim timida nequitia dâ—t testimoniunt condemnationis semper enim praesumit saeva perturbata conseientia Sap. 17. v. 10. Aliquando monstrorum â—xagâ—tabantur timore c. Sap. 17. v. 14. Et ignis quidem nulla vis poterat illis lumen praebere nec siderum limpidae slammae illaminare poterant illam noctem horrendam Sap. 17. v. 5. Apparebat autem illis subitaneus ignis timore plâ—nus timore pereulsi illius quae non videbatur faciei aestimabant deteriora esse quae vidâ—bantur Sap. 17. v. 6. Et magicae a tis apposici erant derisus sapientiae gloriae correptio cum contumelia Sap. 17. v. 7. Illienim qui promittebant timores perturbationes expellere so ab anima languente bi cum derisu pleni timore languebant Sap. 17. v. 8. and the hideous shapes which were presented to them amongst these dreadful noises so lively affrighted them that for their last remedy they desired nothing but Death This horrid night could not be dissipated by the Rayes of the Sun and Moon and notwithstanding the fires which were kindled on all sides nothing but black vapors appeared which were so sensible that men might even feel them but the Lightnings which from time to time withdrew these black veils represented to them such strange forms that they then imagined to see what had never been The most Learned were the most confounded and the Diabolical Art of Inchanters found real matter for Humiliation This infamous and proud Art appeared but meer folly and the Errors of it better discovered themselves in that night than in all the precedent days The deceipt of the Magicians was never more shamefully decryed For all the promises they had made to free Egypt from all sorts of diseases were changed into confusion The prodigious effects whereof they published themselves to be Masters appeared chiefly in their astonishment which was so excessive that they scarce knew themselves And as their eyes saw nothing but Specters and Phantasms their ears heard nothing but the cryes and roarings of Beasts which contributed to their affrightment In vain was it for them to shut their eyes against all these Visions their fancies were too full of these shaâ—â—ows and they were in a maner constrained to see all the objects wherewith the imagination could be disquieted Behold the dreadful state wherein these infortunate people remained during the excess of so horrid an obscurity which lasted for the space of three days and that which ought to appear more strange was That amongst these tenebrous Exhalations and these shadows of Hell their mindes were even darkned and their understandings became no less blinde than their eyes Briefly they suffer both in Body and Soul such Convulsions and tortures as cannot be expressed Vna enim catena tenebrarum omnes erant colligati sive spiritus sibilans aut vis aquae decurrentis nimium Sap. 17. v. 17. Aut sonus volidus praecipitatarum petrarum c. Sap. 17. v. 18. All that were shut up in this Labyrinth resembled Gally-slaves tied by a chain of darkness which held them as fast as if it had been of Iron In this slavery they were tied by invisible enemies which the Wiseman describes under the figure of a Whirl-wind which grumbleth in the Air or of a rapid torrent which makes a Sea of the Fields or of a Rock which cleaves and is broken into shivers by the violence of a storm with a dreadful noise which continues until it fall into the bottom of some precipice Now all this was but a rough draught and a sign of the horrors which after the expiration of some ages and revolutions of the Sun and days were to produce a night which shall never enjoy light and a general eclipse which shall endure for all Eternity Then all the Evening and Morning Stars shall be veiled and the Inhabitants of Egypt the obstinate Souls and the hardned Hearts shall feel nothing but animated Shafts and killing Darts which the Eye of a just Vengeance shall cast in the midst of darkness to mark out these destroying Ciphers and Characters with more reason than they were heretofore ingraven on the Gates of the Prison of a certain person whom a sad and furious despair had transported to kill himself after he had exercised all manner of cruelty on his own body O night without day O death without life evill without remedy torment without end eternall darknesse But the Israelites Sanctis autem tuis maxima erat lux horum quidem vocem audiebant quia non ipsi eadem passi erant magnificabunt te Sap. 18. v. 1. the Children of light and they that walked amongst the splendours of virtue and sanctity shall have no share in this great obscurity they shall enjoy an ever-shining brightness and whilst the Egyptians shall houle like dispairing men in the Abysse of their darkness they shall magnifie the ineffable grandures and the most powerfull bounties of him who is able at the same time to reward the innocent and punish the guilty and causeth the Sun to rise under the feet of Saints whilst he inkindles his lightnings and comets over the heads of the wicked Such will be the great day and night full of horrour and miserie in which light shall apparently decay and ashes and dust shall ascend even as high as the heavens there to form more beautifull and radiant planets than those which at present expresse their Pomp with so much magnificence and splendor O my God! be thou then the Sun of my Soul that I may goe alwaies increasing from one light unto an other and that I may never be invelop'd in this night with the Egyptians but that I may without limit without measure and without obstacle enjoy those blessed aspects and those luminous glances which make the day of dayes and of eternity CHAP. XVI The Death of the First-born of Egypt WE must acknowledge that the Philosopher who called Death the Center of punishments Timocles and the last extremity of all evills had as just reason as that Prince who after he had sought out all wayes to terrifie his people who had taken up armes against him resolv'd at last to have one great Skeleton carried in triumph which held a Hand of Justice and a Sith after which
after the departure out of Egypt a little before the Hebrews passed over Jordan and in the last of their stations in the fields of Moab and in a place surnamed Abelsarim when this new publication was made by reason the most antient of the people of Israel who had received this Law upon Mount Sina being dead it was necessary that the yong men who perchance had never heard of it might at least be instructed therein by this second promulgation Besides it was convenient that Moses who saw his end approaching should declare all his desires unto his beloved people and that for his last farewel he should leave them these speaking Reliques and Divine Commandments which ought to serve them as domestique masters for the well-ordering both of their lives and manners We may say upon the same occasion An excellent Sermon of Moses That Deuteronomy is as it were but a continual Preaching whereof all the Sentences and Exhortations are animated with Zeal Ardor and Piety as the most powerful Motives Moses useth to inculcate to all his Auditors such important Verities and Laws as on them all their happiness and salvation depend It is also most certain That we our selves ought to be touched by the darts of Virtue and by the shaffs of a Holy Love if we will warm others and elevate their hearts and souls unto God For otherwise this were to inkindle a fire with water and ice and to believe that a pile might be fired by an extinguished Torch No no we ought to be interiorly furnished with qualities fit to be imparted unto others and before we lay some touches of a Pencil upon a Cloath and some strokes of a Graver upon a Plate of Brass it is first necessary to form a rough draught in our mindes otherwise we shall but scrible and a multitude of venturous strokes can never finish a regulated work Whence it follows Advice unto publick persons that Judges Masters and all that speak in publick and are as it were the Living Laws of this World the Oracles of the People and the Ecchoes of Gods Will ought to be like animated Books which onely speak command and teach what they have imprinted within themselves or rather like Marble on which it is necessary before-hand and with much labor to engrave what is to be there read In fine they ought at least to imitate the Sun which hath always eminently both heat beauty and all those Lights which without truce and repose he spreads upon the Earth Above all such as God hath chosen for such important employments ought to speak more from the heart than mouth and never to say during life but what they should confirm at the hour of death to the end when they shall see themselves at the point of death they may have no trouble to retract the errors of their youth but only repeat the verities they have alwayes gloried to practice and publish in all places This is that which Moses did after the death of Aaron and very few weeks before his own When for a closure of all his actions and labours he wrote and declared publickly these Lawes unto all his people Poslquam percussit Sehon Regem Amorrhae orum qui habitabat in Hesebon Og Regem Basan c. Deut. 1. v. 4. Coepitque Moyses explanare legem dicere Deut. 1. v. 5. Dominus Deus noster locutus est ad nos in Horcb dicens c. Deut. 1. v. 6. Ingredimini pessidete eam super qua juravit Dominus patribus vestris c. Deut. 1. v. 8. Profecti autem de Horeb transivimus per termum terribilem maximam quam vidistis per viam montis Amorrhaei sicut praeceperat Dominus Deus noster nobis Cumque venissemus in Cadisbarne Deut. 1. v. 19. Mittam us vires qui considerent terram renuntient per quod iter debeamus ascendere ad quas pergere civitates Deut. 1. v. 2. who after his decease were in a manner to hold his place and serve for a bridle unto some and a torch unto others or at least for a spirit generall unto all to inspire them with the duties and obligations they owed unto God To this effect in the first three Chapters of Deuterenomie we need but repasse over the course of their Pilgrimage and expose the admirable adventures of this famous Voyage which lasted fourty years during which they were like wanderers and vagabonds in the Desart It was upon the first day of the eleventh month of the Hebrews and a while after the defeat of Sehon the King of the Ammorites and of Og King of Basan that Moses assembled his troops and first related to them what had passed on Mount Horeb together with a promise of their admission into Chanaan which was to be the period of their travels and the accomplshment of their desires In the second place how after their departure out of the land of Horeb they descended into a vast and dreadfull Wildernesse from whence they went unto Cadesbarne which was the place of their retreat whilst Spies went from them to survey the Land unto which they were going Now this was the cause of inkindling Gods wrath against them Cumque audisset Dominus vocem sermonum vestrorum iratus juravit ait Deut. 1. v. 34. Non videbit quispiam de hominibus generationis hujus pessimae terram bonam quam sub juramento pollicitus sum patribus vestris praeter Coleb filium Jephone c. Deut. 1. v. 35 36. Vos autem revertimini abite in solitudinem per viam maris rubri Deut. 1. v. 40. who perceiving that they confided not in his promises swore that except Caleb the son of Jephon and Josua not a man of this incredulous and perfidious Nation should be so happy as to enter the Land of Promise And truly what could God doe hearing the murmurings and seeing the Indignities of these fearfull and mercenary Souls who had no sooner notice of the forces of the Country to which he conducted them but at the same instant they perswaded themselves notwithstanding all that Josua and Caleb could say unto them for their incouragement that these troops were to oppresse their weaknesse and that unfallibly the Towers and Bulwarks of Chanaan would be converted into Prisons for them as also that all those Giants of whom they had heard so much were like so many Tyrants to reduce them again into a more vexatious bondage than that from which they were delivered They would have still wandred in the Desarts and about the Mountains often expos'd unto hunger and thirst if God had not otherwise paternally provided for them cleaving Rocks causing Manna to issue from the Clouds Parvuli vestri de qâ—ibus dixistis quod captivi ducerentur filii qui hodie boni ac moli ignorant distantiam ipse ingredientur c. Deu. 1. v. 39. and preventing all the dangers which accompanied their Voyages Me-thinks I see
let the memory of the Favors conferred on thee and the hope of a future good incite thee let not so many benefits be forgotten and let the hand from whence they flow oblige thee eternally to preserve them in thy remembrance Are not these words worthy the zeal of Moses and these flames powerful enough to inkindle love or to reduce hearts harder than Diamonds into Ashes But this Exhortation seemed to them too general and for this reason he descended more to particulars and commanded First Not to immolate any more their Victims nor to present their desires in Woods and upon Mountains but in some place which God had chosen and appointed for this purpose Secondly He made an Edict in which it was decreed That they who should be so bold as to teach and introduce any Forein and Sacrilegious Worships should be presently put to death and publickly stoned without exception either of kinred or friends in case by mishap they were guilty Thirdly He makes mention of particularities which concerned the maner which was to be observed in the common use of these Animals which might be eaten and there he remarks some duties touching the Tenths to which they were obliged From thence he proceeded to the Jubile which was celebrated every seventh year after which the Jews gave mutually a general acquittance of all the debts they had contracted and at that time all servants were set free in such sort that their Masters were even obliged to give them a Viaticum Sed dabis viaticum de gregibus c. Deut. 15. v. 14. Tribus vicibus per annum apparebit omne masculinum tuum in conspectu Demini Dei tui in leco quem elegerit in soâ—emnitate azymorumin solemnitate hebdomadarum in solemnitate tabernaculorum Deut. 16. v. 16. Veniesque ad sacerdotes Levitici generis ad judicem qui suerit illo tempore c. Deut. 17. v. 9. Et dixeris constituam super me regem sicut habent omnes per circaituÌ„ nationes Deut. 17.14 Non habebunt sacerdotes Levitae omne qui de eadem tribu sunt partem haereditatem cum relique Israel Deut. 18. v. 1. Nec incantator nec qui pychones consultat divinos c. Deut. 18. v. 11. Prophetam suscitabe eos c. Deu. 18. v. 18. Haec erit lex bomicidae fugientis cujus vita servanda est Qui percusserit proximum suam nesciens c. Deut. 19. v. 4. Si quis autem odio habens proximum suum c. Deut. 19. v. 11. Mittent seniores civitatis illius arripient eum de loco effagaii c. Deut. 19. v. 13. Non stabit testis unus contra aliquem c. Deut. 19. v. 15. which was as a general salery due unto the toils of their service Fourthly Having spoken concerning the Offerings which was to be made of the first-born he makes a new publication of the Feast of Easter of Pentecost and of the Tabernacles which were to be celebrated in a designed place and where the Male-children were bound to be present Presently after he made a decree of death against Idolaters and commanded all the people to repair unto their Priests in Legal matters and to consult them in their doubts and concerning the differences which had reference to the Law Then about the end of the same Chapter he commanded the people of Israel to chuse a King of their own Nation and described the Qualities which were requisit for this Dignity Fifthly He ordains by his order that the Priests and Levites should have onely the Victims Offerings and Tenths for their share in Canaan Afterwards he made a Publick Act prohibiting any Consultation with Diviners and Sorcerers and promised them a Prophet who should declare to them all the Commands of God Sixthly Moses enjoyned that three Towns should be designed for Refuge and which might serve as a Sanctuary for those who should by mishap kill a man against their will that if it were done voluntarily the Author thereof was to be banished and drawn from these Towns first to be put into the hands of his adversaries and afterward punished with exemplary death As for false witnesses whose tongues are as much or more to be feared than the hand of a murtherer they were all condemned unto that kinde of punishment which chasticeth proportionably to the crime and demands in rigor life for life and such a punishment as punctually suites with the offence of the criminal Seventhly Si exieris ad bellum contra hostes tuos videris equitatus currus c. Deut. 20. v. 1. He passes to Laws and Customs which were to be observed in War and in a concealed Murther in which case the offending-party was bound to make some expiation of his crime and receive at least some immunity and favor from his Judges which consisted particularly in a Publick Oath and in a general Protestation made before them As concerning the disobediences of such Children as were refractory to their Fathers commands Si genuerit homo filium contumacem protervum qui non audiat patris matris imperium coercitus obedire contempserit Deu. 21. v. 18. Apprehendent eum ducent ad seniores civitatis illius ad portam judicii Deut. 21. v. 19. no other punishment was to be inflicted on them than Death after they had been first put into the hands of the most Antient of the people who having heard the report examined the fact and confronted the witnesses were obliged to leave them unto the mercy of the people to stone them to death which was also observed concerning Adulterers who to this end were led out of the City with those that were to be stoned Eightly Ammonites Moabites ctiam post decimam generationem non intrabunt ecclestam Domini in aeternum Deut. 23. v. 3. He frames a brief Catalogue of some Ecclesiastical Laws and chiefly of such persons as were forbidden entrance into the holy places amongst which were the Ammonites the Idumeans the Moabites and the Egyptians even to the Tenth Generation Ninthly Si acceperit homo uxorem habuerit eam non invenerit gratiam ante oculos ejus propter aliquam soeditatem scribet lil ellum repudii dabit in manu illius dimittet eam de domo sua Deut. 24. v. 1. Non deerunt pauperes in terra habitationis tuae idcirco ego praecipio tibi ut aperias manumfratri tuo egeno pauperi qui tecum versatur in terra Deut. 15. v. 11. Upon just reasons he permitted the Hebrews to separate themselves from their Wives and exhibite on this occasion a Bill of Divorce in which they set down the causes of their repudiation Tenthly He prescribed them Laws and Motives which were to invite them unto mercy and compassion towards the poor which certainly is so agreeable unto Reason and fastned to Nature That a man must be more than infensible
Jesus How sweet is thy yoke and how reasonable is thy Will Anathema to all those who refuse obedience to thy most holy commands whilst these faithful servants shall enjoy those Favors and Benections which thou from all eternity hast reserved for thy Elect. CHAP. XLVIII The last Canticle of Moses WHen once we give up our selves as a prey unto Vices the longest period of our lives commonly serves but to weave the largest Web of misery but also when years pass away in virtuous actions they are but miraculous courses the moments whereof are illustrious and their events most happy And it is for this cause I believe that the Wiseman compared the life of the good to the Sun which produceth nothing but Beauties and Lights whereas the life of the wicked is tenebrous bringing forth nothing but Lightnings and Obscurities Now if ever the life of any person hath been full of glory prosperity and happiness though daily intermixt with afflictions and disquiets it was that of Moses of whom we may justly say what heretofore Carthage did of certain Captains That all the days of his life and all his actions had something I know not of Divine and transcending the capacity of man Nevertheless all the prodigies and miracles he wrought would have been but streams which lose themselves in running and clarities which vanish after some sparklings if his death had not been the Image of his life and even the moment God chose to manifest to him the particular care he took of his people in giving him Josua for a Successor and assuring him that after his death they should enter into those happy Countries they had so long expected To this effect God descended in the Pillar of the Cloud as on his Throne Apparuitque Dominus ibi in Columna nubis c. Deut. 31. v. 15. and spake familiarly unto Moses concealing nothing from him of all that was to come Was not this an admirable Colloquy God alone with Moses and Josua as to ratifie the choise of the one and to discharge his heart into the bosome of the other Moses saith he Dixitque Dominus ad Moysen Ecce tu darmies cum patribus tuis populus iste consurgens fornicabitur post Deos alienos in terra ad quam ingreditur ut habitet in ea thi derelinquet me irritum faciet foedus quod pepegi cum eo Deut. 31. v. 16. Et irascetur furor meus contra eum in die illo derelinquam eum c. Deut. 31. v. 17. this people for whom I had so much tenderness and love and which thou hast conducted with so much labour and zeal shall shortly enter into the Land I have so long promised them But whilst thou shalt enjoy the repose of thy forefathers these miserable wretches will become fornicators and adhere unto Idols and shamefully break that faith they have so often sworn to me I shall be inforc'd to immolate them unto my severest rigours and as so many victims to sacrifice them to my just indignation to the end in the height of their miseries they may know at last that I have abandoned them and besides all their misfortunes and punishments are but the lamentable effects of their crimes and the inevitable darts of that fury they have provoked Behold the cause Nunc itaque scribite vobis Canticum istud docete filios Israel ut memoriter teueant ore decantent c. Deut. 31. v. 19. why God commanded Moses to compose a Canticle which conteins a description of the Miracles he had done in favour of the people of Israel which ever since the Hebrews have stiled an abridgement of the Law and which as in effect we shall immediatly see is a Summary of the rarest wonders God hath ever done for men and namely for these ingrates unto whom Moses made the first recital thereof enjoyning all of them to learn the same and never to forget it Stop your course saith he you beautifull Planets which move in the day over our heads and march under our feet whilst we are at rest and under the shade Sun who incessantly dost run upon this azure and luminous Chariot Audite caeli quae loquor audiat terra verba oru mei Deut. 32. v. 1. and thou Moon whose so various revolutions are made in a list of Diamonds and Saphirs stand still awhile and listen to this discourse Heaven and Earth I call you for witnesses of my words and it is unto you I address my voice to the end if men doe not hear me you may be more sensible and frame at least some Consort to cause this Canticle of honour and praise to resound Let my words produce in my mouth Concrescat ut pluvia doctrina mea slaat ut ros clequium meum quasi imber super herbam quasâ— stillae super gramina Deut 32. v. 2. Quia nomen Domini invocabo date magnificentiam Deo nostro Deut. 32. v. 3. and in your hearts what water doth in the bosome of the Earth rain upon herbs and dew upon fruits and flowers to the end Virtue may there spring again and that some profit of my discourse may appear in your souls Render then unto God the praises you owe him and exalt his name whilst I shall invoke it and cause the memory of his benefits to resound in all places Is it not true that his works are perfect Dei perfectasunt opera omnes via ejus judicia Deus fidelis absque ullae iniquitate justus rectus Deut. 32. v. 4. and that with weight and measure he hath made all that is visible to our eyes What can be added unto the most beautifull draughts of his Goodness Power Wisedome and Sanctity He is most just most Good most holy most Wise most Powerfull and all the beauties which have any spelndour are but the marks and tracts of such as reside in him as in their Fountain Have you never contemplated his designs and the effects of his Divine Providence which hath ordered the Planets in their Orbs the Elements in their spaces and all bodyes in their temperaments and under those Lawes which best suit with their essence Should not the whole Universe be converted into mouths and tongues to praise him into Spirits to admire him into Hearts to love him What meaneth this great preparation and all this pomp to which honours and congratulations are rendred and to which so many applauses are given unless to shew some rayes of light which have been drawn by his own hand and form'd by his sole word But O horrour and abomination Peceaverunt ei non filii ejus in sordibus generatio prava atque perversa Deut. 32. v. 5 all these discourses are unprofitable for his own Children deride his Paternall goodness and you your selves to whom I direct my speech are so blind and barbarous as to repay all his benefits with contempt and disloyaltie Is this then
the marks of him who alone deserves Altars in quality of your Creator But he hath piercing eyes and penetrating looks which have brought day even into the night of your foulest treasons and now all the torches of his wrath are lighted and the Spirit of his anger is ready to dart the thunderbolts of his indignation upon all your Children Yes saith he I will withdraw my self from this perverse and unbelieving Nation and in vain shall they call upon me in their miseries for I will not vouchsafe to look upon them or else in seeing them I will laugh at them and all the enemies I have made the miserable subject of their Victories shall change fortune with them For my part I will no longer have all those amiable tendernesses and Paternall affections I had for their Ancestors and so dearly conserved for them who are their Children In vain then doe they seek in me some signes of goodness for my Justice is irritated and the ardours of my wrath have kindled a fire which will never be quenched and when they shall goe even hiding themselves under the Abysses of the Earth I swear unto them that they shall there find devouring flames and merciless Piles which will reduce the Earth unto Ashes Congrreabo super eos mala sagittas meas complebo in eis Deut. 32. v. 23. Consumentur fame devorabunt eos aves morsu amarissimo Dentes bestiarum immittam in eos cum furore trahentium super terram atque serpentium Deut. 32. v. 24. Foris vastabit eos gladius intus pavor juvenem simul ac virginem lactantem cum homine sene Deu. 32. v. 25. Dixi Ubinam sunt cessare faciam ex hominibus memoriam eorum Deut. 32. v. 26. Sed propter iram inimicorum distuli ne forcè superbirent hostes torum dicerent manus nostra excelsa non Dominus fecit haec omnia Deut. 32. v. 27. and consume all the fruits thereof and having dryed up the Rivers will convert the proudest and highest Mountains into the most frightful horrid Sepulchres so that all my Arrows and Darts will instantly fall upon the infamous heads of all those Criminals They shall be seen dying with hunger in the streets and their bodyes shall serve as a prey unto those cruell birds and those pittiless beasts which live but on bloud and slaughter Besides I will make them fall under the edge of my Sword amidst the fields and in the heart of Cities fear and terrour shall erect for them a Thousand Scaffolds to keep them continually in the horrours of death or in the the rigours of punishment without spāring either Women or Children from the eldest even to him that hangs on the breast Thus will I disperse them and I will fix shamefull reproaches on them as an abandoned people whose name and memory is forgotten amongst Nations Nevertheless I have long with held the darts of my vengeance to the end all those enemies which shall make war against them and shall be the Instruments of my Justice might not be so blind and insolent as proudly to attribute unto their Forces the ruine of this people which I will destroy with my own hand in punishment of their Rebellion and Apostacy Gens absque confilio est fine prudentia Deut. 32. v. 28. These are impudent men who are ignorant of my Judgements and of the course of my Providence which most wisely and with order disposeth as well of punishments as rewards Alas Vtinam saperent imelligerent ac novissima providerent Deut. 32.29 why doe they not reap benefit of other mens miseries and why doe not the unhappy examples which are before their eyes pass even into their souls to render them more prudent or at least to make them foresee the utmost extremities of my wrath and of the miseries which will befall them Are these ignorant people so blind as not to discern this arm which makes them the reproach of Nations Quomodo persequatur unus mille duo sugent decem millia nonne ideo quia Deus juus vendidit eos conclusit illos Deut. 32. v. 30. Are they not ashamed to see a thousand of them flying at the sight of one Enemy and two men able to rout ten thousand of their Combatants Is not this to give them up unto the mercy of their Adversaries as one would deliver up Merchandises unto a man who had paid him ready Money The Great God also of Israel cannot have Criminall Complacences for sin like the Gods of other Nations Non exim est Deus noster ut dii eorum Dominus inimici nostri sunt judice Deut. 32. v. 31. who have neither rewards nor punishments but he is alwayes armed against Crimes And the Egyptians have had sufficient experience of it to their Cost as well as the Amalekites the Amorites and other Countries After this Traitors that you are will you be so insolent and bold as to seek a more gentle usage In truth will not this indulgence be blamable and will you not have occasion to despise all the Thunderbolts of my Justice and to publish every where that I am either an unjust or impotent God You for whom I had so many cares De vinea Sodomorum vinea eorum de suburbanis Gomorrhae uva corum uva fellis botri amarissimi Deut. 32. v. 32. Fel deaconum vinum eorum venenum aspidum insenabile Deut. 32. v. 33. and Cultivated as a most beloved Vine from which I expected delicious Wine are changed into a Vine of Sodome and the Grapes you have given me are like those which grow in the Suburbs of Gomorrha this is but a very bitter Poison and the gall of a Dragon or Viper which poisoneth and stifleth at the instant it is drunk It belongs then unto me to take vengeance on all their disloyalties Nonne haec condita sunt apud me signata in thesauris me◠Deut. 32. v. 34. Mea est ultio ego retribuam in tempore ut labatur pes coram juxta est dies perditionis adesse festinane tempora Deut. 32. v. 35. and doe not perswade your selves that I can ever forget them for I have treasuries of wrath and indignation where I reserve the Darts of my Justice to cast them according to my good pleasure The hour will come when you shall find your selves under the stroaks of my vengeance and shall fall into the Abyss of misfortunes All moments doe already press and you will quickly be surprized with the blinding obscurity of a day which shall have no lights but to make you see and feel the shafts of my wrath and the Thunderbolts of my indignation This will be the great day of our Lord Judicabit Dominus populum suum in servis suis missrabitur videbit quod infirmata sit manus clausi quoque defecerunt residuique consumpti sunt Deut. 32. v. 36. Et dicet ubi
offered unto God 28 His murthers by Cain 30 Abraham 52 His vocation 53 The difficulties of his voyage 60 The agreement he made with his Father-in-law Lot 65 His Charity towards Pilgrims 78 His martyrdom for three days 107 His discourse to his son Isaac 109 The advertisement which he gave him that he was to be the victim of his sacrifice 110 His farewel to the world 60 Adam and his Creation 10 His fear and shame at the sight of God in the Terrestrial Paradise 21 He lays the fault on his wife 22 His disaster and banishment 23 Advantage by good education 128 Advertisement very remarkable of Philip of Macedon 51 Advice to fathers and mothers 267 Advice to publick persons 386 Affections very regular 150 Africa tormented by Grashoppers 289 Agar chased out of Abrahams house 73 Alexius his affection towards his father 348 Amalekites overcome by the prayers of Moses 330 St. Ambrose his authority over the Empress Justina 269 Anastasius the Emperor leaveth the Empire of Greece to be religious 58 Animals their production 7 Antandria marvellous in her Rivers 156 Apparition of God unto Moses and the advertisement he gave him 266 Apprentiship of Empires 257 Lawful apprehensions 139 Very just apprehensions for worldly men 62 Ark of the Old Testament 370 Ark of the Testament a figure of the divinity 186 Insolent artifice of Putiphers wife 185 Artifice of Rebecca in the preference of Jacob before Esau 133 Admirable artifices of God to try the fidelity of Abraham 97 Art of digging very difficult 236 Aurelian and his Crowns of bread 81 Altar of Holocausts 373 Mysterious answers 136 B. St. Basil the power he had with the Emperor Valens 269 Banishment of Adam and Eve 19 Banishment of Agar and Ismael 94 Baltilda leaves France and became a religious woman 59 Cruel battery of Putiphers wife against the chastity of Joseph 182 Beauty its power and tyranny pleasing and deadly poison 37 Benediction of God upon all Nations and Generations in the person of Abraham 57 Deceiptful Benedictions of this world 136 Benediction of the twelve Patriarks 236 Flaming Bush 257 The reality of fire which burnt it without consâ—ming it 258 First-born of Egypt their death and destruction 294 Blindness of Isaac 230 Building of the Ark 40 Supplanting Brethren 125 Bones springs of the bodies motions 12 Birds their production 6 C. Cain his affection fastned to the Earth 27 His execrable insolence 30 His troubles and exiles 32 First Canticle of Moses 313 Second Canticle of Moses 404 Ignominuous captivity of Creatures in the world 335 Charlemain son of Charls Martel leaves France to live out of way on Mount Soracte 58 Doleful Catastrophies 312 Ridiculous Ceremonies 221 Ceremonies of the Old Testament 368 Certainty most uncertain 130 Charity her Antiparistasis 361 Chastity her victories and triumphs 349 Circumcision the command thereof 75 Circumcision corporal figure of that which is to be in the spirit of Grace ibid. Circumcision sign of peace 76 Circumcision Image of Faith ibid. Mark of distinction ibid. Sequence of original sin ibid. Clotarius his victories which he gained by the means of prayer 333 Combat of Joseph in defence of his chastity 177 Combats natural to man 326 Mournful complaint of Jacob 174 Fruitless complements 98 Consort of creatures 8 Condemnation of false witnesses and lyers 351 Divine condescendency 81 Confidence in God 28 Conscience of sinners an inseparable Officer 200 Inflexible courage 162 Courage the definition of it according to St. Thomas 59 Course of Wisdom 142 Creation of the World 4 Cremona beaten by a Hail-storm 287 Cyreneans necessitated to make war against Grashoppers 289 Complaint of Rebecca in the paines of child-bearing 123 Rigorous clemency 203 D. Deliverance of Joseph 190 Deluge and the time when it hapned 41 Devil of Egypt 181 Disasters of gluttony 129 Disorders of love 178 Design of God in the preference of Jacob before Esau 134 Disobedience first misfortune of Adam 21 Disunion the first misfortune of the World 20 Duty of children towards their parents 347 Diamond how it is broken 278 Dina carried away by Sichem Prince of the Sichemites 163 Dioxipus vanquished by the beauty of a great Lady Diversity of depositions 27 Duel of grief and love 106 Decrees against the usurpation of other mens goods 350 Death of Abraham 117 Darkness of Egypt 290 Departure of the people of Israel out of Egypt 299 Decree concerning the Creation of men 10 Departure of the people of Israel out of Egypt 303 Dreams of Joseph which he revealed to his brethren 167 Dreams their destinction according to Chrysippus 168 E. Eclipse of reason in Wine 48 Edict against blasphemers 345 Equality sometimes dangerous 74 Egypt the Sepulchre of the name of Israel 249 State Elogy 141 Empire of Love 102 Empire of Souls 162 Sovereign Empire of God 251 Envy its desolations 32 Its resemblance with those bloody Birds of prey which are seen near the North Pole 33 Remedies against it 35 Its nature and qualities 175 Esau his nature and humor 126 The love he had to hunting 128 He sells his birth-right to his brother Jacob for a mess of pottage 129 He marrieth against the will of his Parents 130 Marvellous estate of man 16 Eternity all is short to him who meditates on it 153 Eve her Creation 17 Her disaster and banishment 19 Her discourse to Adam to deceive him 20 Her malediction 23 End of the deluge 44 Epitomy of the Law 354 Eagles a handsom mark of their affection 339 Ermine and her Motto ibid. Extraction of great men is commonly a fair subject of miseries 135 F. Fruitfulness of women the causes which hinder it 121 Felicity subject to alteration 123 Feasts of death 214 Memorable feast of the Hebrews 299 Fire symbol of the Divinity 310 Firmament formed in the midst of waters 5 Enigmatical Figures 136 Inviolable Fidelity 187 Fountain of Horeb 326 Fountain of the Red Sea which changeth every thing into Carnation 156 Firing of Sodom 89 Frogs of Egypt 279 Flyes of Egypt 281 Fishes their production 6 Fopperies of Idolaters and Turks 341 G. Government of Joseph in Egypt 194 Graces of God always sufficient 139 Gregory the thirteenth the Picture he caused to be made of Peace and Justice 68 Goodness of God towards men 15 Ineffable goodness 85 Golden Calf the adoration thereof 359 God Creator 1 God repents to have made man 39 God hidden under the habit of the poor 152 God never tempteth 97 God hath no need of a name why 261 God sporteth with Jacob 148 H. Hook and the motto thereof 350 Heliopolis City of the Sun in Egypt 197 Heraclius Patriark of Jerusalem an excellent answer made by him to Henry King of England 364 St. Hilary his power over the Emperor Constantius 269 Homicides their sentence of death 348 Homicides of two kindes 352 Honors rendred to Joseph by the command of Pharaoh 196 Different humors of Jacob and Esau 126 Happiness of Divine Providence 195 Wel-grounded hopes