Round as it were in this Circle of Time upon the immovable Center of the Soul shall becom a new Bodie and unite again It is the Reason why the Sepulchers of their Kings were set up in a Pyramidal form as they are seen to bee at this daie Those that understand not the Mysterious and Mathematical part which I could speak no plainer may receiv the sens and meaning that even these unlikelie men ploughed in Hope But wee need not instance Men the verie unreasonable part of the Creätion even the Creature it self now subject to vanitie travelleth under the pain of this Hope and by a certain 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Lifting up of the Head as S. Paul expresseth it earnestly exspecteth as by an eager and understanding Confidence to bee delivered into the glorious libertie of the Sons of God And yet I fear mee wee preach but to CORINTHIANS still and that if the companie were divided as at the Council where S. Paul pleaded his caus I doubt mee the most part would bee Saduces and might bee called in question for not having Hope of the Resurrection of the dead Wee pretend indeed as if wee had no continuing Citie but that wee look for one to com But when I see that our inward Thoughts are that our houses shall continue and our dwelling places to all generations When I see that this their waie is I am readie to think the wise man dieth as the fool and to compare Man beeing in honor unto the Beasts that perish When I see the incomprehensible Patience of God still drawing us as hee did Ephraïm with the cords of a Man with the bonds in the Hebrew 'tis Densis funiculis amoris with the Thick bonds of Love And the infinite Securitie of the People on the other side drawing Iniquitie with Cords of Vanitie Isa 5.18 and sin as it were with a Cart-rope I dare not go about to consider what shall bee the end of these Men. Wee are all readie to wish with Balaam that wee may die the Death of the Righteous and that our last end may bee like His but when I see men live as if they never thought to die and die as if they never thought to live again when I see that instead of shining Lights they go out like Snuffs in the mid'st of a crooked and pervers Generation readie to saie to their departing Souls as that great Unbeliever Animula blandula vagula c. I seem to bee so far from giving an account of the Hope that is in mee that in contradiction of King Agrippa's words to S. Paul I am almost persuaded not to bee a Christian The greatest Argument in our own opinion that wee are not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such as have no Hope 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Atheïsts or without God in the world is that wee com up to his hous to bee here taught of his waies c. But this word of his hath too truly proved a Mirror wherein wee daily com to behold our selvs but with no greater Impression then wee do our Natural faces wee go awaie and strait forget what manner of men wee were But thou believest thou saiest that this bodie of thine shall rise again Thou dost well the Divels also believ and tremble But wilt thou know O vain Man that this Faith without works is dead The Tree is known by it's fruit And can I think that thou which all this while doest but cumber the ground and bringest forth nothing but wild grapes dost believ that as this Tree falleth so it shall lie But let all this bee a Transportation and Exstasis the best shall bee supposed that there is no man here but knoweth in whom and what hee hath believed and therefore cannot bee thought to boggle at the great Article of the Resurrection But thus much I am sure must bee granted mee that wee all put the daie of our death far from us For it is not possible that they who remember their later end should thus sin The mistrust however of Infidelitie in the former and the certain experience of our supineness in the later moved mee to reflect upon you these two Common but therefore the less noted Considerations 1. The 1st is the end of our Life Death 2. The second is the end of our Hope Resurrection And first of the first Fruits expressed here Secondly of the whole Lump implied in the Inference But now But now is Christ risen c. And first of the end of our Life but which I mean to consider of not under the discourageing term of Death but as it is here comfortably secured under the Type and Adumbration of Sleep Sleep and Death are of so near a Kin that Galen saith of them Lib. de caus puls that they are Brother and Sister answerable to that in Homer's Poëtrie where they are both said to have one Mother and to bee begotten of the Night Somnus Mortis imago is the old saying that Sleep is the Lecture of Death And 't is a Masterpiece of which that of the Comoedian may bee affirmed Qui utramvis rectè novit ambas noverit Hee that hath been asleep may know Death at first sight Plato in his Phaedon is not contented to saie they are alike but in a manner the same and that Sleep is a verie kinde of Death When the Scripture speak's of Mens departure from hence the usual Phrase is not to saie such an one died but such an one slept with his Fathers And the same Spirit speaketh to the Dead but as wee would do to those that are not yet stirring Awake awake Sing yee that dwell in the dust Wee are all here but Strangers and Pilgrims and our beeing here wee use to call but This that is no Life but the Passage and Journie to another While 't is called to daie wee travel on through the waies of this World but the Night cometh and no man can work at the approach of this Evening Wee die that is wee rest from our Labors When wee go to take our Natural rest wee enter into our Chambers and shut the doors Such a Room as this is the Sepulcher A Church-yard in the expression of the Antients was but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Dormitorie or Sleeping place And in the 36 of Isaiah and the 20 vers the Grave is no otherwise termed where the people appointed to Die are bid to go but into their Chambers and shut the doors about them And wee need not fear to trust our selvs for hee that liveth and was dead and is alive for evermore hath the Keies of Hell and Death Having entered our Chambers and shut the door the next thing wee do is to commend our selvs to God So the Martyr Stephen when hee was to fall into that other sleep first said his Praiers Lord Jesu receiv my Spirit This don wee put off our Clothes So Naked wee came into this World and Naked wee shall go out
c. The Raiment of a Man saith a Learned Rabbin is his Bodie And had our Father Adam stood wee had needed no other Thou hast Clothed mee saith holie Job with Skin and with Flesh when therefore wee die wee are said in S. Peter's language to put off this Tabernacle as in S. Paul when wee rise again to bee Clothed upon with our hous from Heaven O're night wee put off this weed of Mortalitie but the Morning cometh and wee shall bee covered again with our skin and put on Incorruption our Better Cloths as to go and see God in this Flesh The same flesh wee put off the night before but with this difference that this Fowl Garment which could not bee kept Unspotted of the world shall in the mean time bee washed clean in the Blood of the Lamb. Our Clothes put off wee laie our selvs down and take our rest And to Die In the Prophet Isaiah's Phrase Isa 43.17 57.1 is but to lie down in our Beds And when thy daies shall bee fulfilled saith Nathan to David and thou shalt sleep with thy Fathers so indeed wee read it as wee may but the Original is And thou shalt lie down with thy Fathers 2 Sam. 7.12 So Asa the King's Coffin is called a Bed 2 Chron 16.14 and our forefathers in their Saxon tongue style a Burying place legerstoƿ or place to lie down in as in the Laws of King Canute Numb 3. In the Case of Natural Rest 't is not the whole man onely the Earthlie part falleth asleep the Soul is then most awake The Bodie 's Night is the Soul's Daie our Better part saith Cardan is never it 's own man till now when exalted unto a State of Separation as it were in the bodie it spendeth the time in Contemplations free and congeniall to its own Extraction So in the sleep of Death 't is not the totus Homo the Bodie indeed is dead becaus of sin the Soul is then most Alive Here as a Servant it is still required to the Exigencies of the Bodie having no time of it's own to spend but what it can get by stealth when the Master is gon to bed But there like it's Redeemer free among the Dead and delivered from the Incumbrances of the Bodie it begineth to bee a Soul to it self minding that which is above and looking with a more piercing eie upon the Invisible things of God It is noted by the Naturalists and wee finde it true in observation that no nois awaketh Natural Sleep more suddenly then an Humane voice Nay though it bee that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that dead and dangerous sleep as the Aphorism noteth it in Hippocrates But especially the Experiment holdeth if the voice calleth upon him in his own name But that wee shall all bee awaked out of this other Sleep by the sound of our Proper Names is more then I can pretend to though S. Peter's call was Tabitha surge and our Saviour's to his Friend Lazare veni foras Lazarus com forth To saie nothing to Epiphanius his Tradition that when our Lord went down into Hell and there found our Father Adam fast hee took him by the hand and called him by his own Name in the words of S. Paul Surge Adam qui dormis so indeed som Antient Copies read it Arise Adam thou that sleepest and stand up from the dead Christ taketh thee by the hand But this I am sure of that wee shall all bee awaked by a voice the voice of an Archangel and the word shall bee as som think Surgite mortui c Nor shall it bee the voice of a God and not of a Man it shall bee an Humane voice for by the Archangel wee are to mean the Son of Man For the hour cometh in which all they that are in the Graves shall hear his voice and shall com forth Job 5.28 Which why it should bee strange of us I know not since it is true of the Swallows by a certain and confest Experience that when the Winter cometh they lie down in the hollow of a Tree and there falling asleep quietly resolv into their first Principles But at the Spring 's approach they are n t so though throughly dead but that they hear the stil nois of Returning Nature and awaking out of their Mass rise up everie one to their life again Ego novi hominem c. I know a man saith the Learned Prince of Concordia who in his soundest Sleep could walk talk write and dispatch anie business of the most required Vigilance They seem to have had som such conceit of Death who hold it no absurditie to write Letters to their dead Friends as the Emperor Theodosius to S. Chrysostom more then thirtie Years after his deceas as if Death were a kinde of live Sleep Such an one as that which Jupiter sent of an Errand to awake Atamemnon And may wee not as properly saie that to bee Dead is to bee Alive as to saie to Die is to bee Born And yet the Antients as if Corruption had been their Father and the Worms their Mother were wont to call the daies of their Death Natalia not Dying but Birth-daies Mos inolevit in sancta Ecclesia it hath been the custom in the holie Church saith Haymo when a Saint of God departed this life to call it not the daie of his Death but the daie of his Nativitie That which wee call Death's they call Life's door Seneca himself said as much Dies iste quem Tutanquam Supremum reformidas Aeterni Natalis est As if all this were so indeed the Jews to this daie stick not to call their Golgotha's Batte Caiim the Houses or places of the Living At the least they have an Effectual life in them for the Mummies are known to bee most soveraign and Magistral in Medicine and the Principal Ingredient of the weapon-Salv is the Moss of a dead Man's-skul as the Recipe delivered by Paracelsus to Maximilian the Emperor Once more and I leav the Parallel Sleep wee know is most natural to Animal-Creatures and for Men so Necessarie that Aristotle saith that the end of it in us is Bene Ratiocinari And yet hee himself is cited by Olympiodorus to have known a Man who never slept in all his Life And the strangeness hath been quitted by an Experience of later daies The Comparison hold th in the Sleep of Death 't is Omnibus communis common to all men as wee use to saie And yet som Jews believ that the last age of Men shall bee so long liv'd as to prevent the Resurrection But S. Paul himself hath promised 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that wee shall not all die som shall bee changed And therefore 't is no vain Article which wee so daily profess that our Saviour shall com to judg both the Quick and the Dead Wee are to saie then of all those that are departed this life as the Jews of their Father Jacob Non est Mortuus or as our
Saviour of Lazarus and the Maid Why trouble you your selvs they are not Dead but Sleep And when a Friend leaveth this world wee are to bid him but Good Night in sure and certain Hope to meet again in the great Morning of the World But now How long how long Lord Holie and True will som saie or as those in S. Peter Where is the promise of his Coming For since the Fathers fell asleep all things continue to bee as they were from the begining to the Creätion But these Men have not the knowledg and this is to bee spoken to their shame The Lord is not slack as concerning his Promise for Behold hee cometh quickly and his Reward is with him When wee awake out of our natural sleep bee the Night never so long to us it seemeth but a Moment And the Night is no longer in the Prophet David's account Psal 30.5 For his Anger endureth but a Moment that is weeping may endure for a Night but joie cometh in the Morning 'T is no otherwise in Death for when first wee awake out of this sleep wee shall think that wee did but then lie down and were it a thousand Years it would seem no more to us then it doth to God himself but as one daie It is Observable that the Holie Ghost which accounteth Natural Death as a Sleep yet calleth the Life of a Sinner by the name of Death To bee truly Dead is to bee Dead in Trespasses and Sins And therefore S. Paul not making mention of the Great Resurrection bid's his Corinthians awake to Righteousness and sin not For a Righteous man hath more Hope in his Death then a Sinner in his Life and no man can bee Dead to Nature that is Alive to God But if to Die bee but to fall Asleep wee should put off this Garment of Flesh with as good a will as wee do our Clothes And that wee may sleep well in the night wee should forbear sleeping in the Daie not Idleing in the Market as those in the Parable nor sitting down in the seat of the scornful but working out our salvation for the Sleep of a Laboring man is sweet And that wee may rest in these Beds in an undisturbed peace wee are to provide that no Innate Furies no Stings of Death like gross and restless Vapors do arise from a guiltie Conscience Such a man will bee scared with Dreams and terrified with Visions and bee full of tossings to and fro until the dawning of the the daie Job And becaus to the Conciliation of Rest and Sleep it is required that there bee a Moderate Repletion for Paulus Aegineta maketh this to bee of the Definition wee are by no means to go to bed till first of all wee have sate down to the Great Supper till wee have eaten of that Bread and drank of that Cup which shew the Lords Death but our Life till hee com and are therefore not unfitly termed by the Fathers of the Nicene Councel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Sacraments and Emblems of the Resurrection This don wee may laie our selvs down in Peace and take our Rest for the Lord will make us to dwell in safetie And as the Disciples to our Saviour concerning Lazarus if thus wee sleep wee shall do well Of the first Consideration thus much Pass wee now from Death to Life from the end of our Daies to the end of our Hope Resurrection I Said that was twofold Frst of the first Fruits then of the whole Lump And first of the Resurrection of our Saviour but which I am not here to make Proof of for it is taken for granted in the Text. But if anie should bee so foolish and slow of heart as not to believ all that is written in the Prophets the Heathen Tacitus will tell you one Article in the 15 of his Annals That hee suffered under Pontius Pilate And the Jew Josephus addeth the other in the 18. of his Antiquities That hee rose again the third daie from the Dead That which most properly I am to make known to you is upon what Consideration our Saviour can bee called The First then by what Analogie The first Fruits The Patriarch Enoch was Translated and the Prophet Elias went up to Heaven in a fierie Chariot And the Assumption of Moses hath been disputed for by som though it should seem by the Contention betwix the Arch-Angel and the Divel about his bodie that there was no such matter Howsoever these all rather died not then rose again As for the Rising of Samuel to which the Cunning Woman of Endor pretended it was nothing less then a Resurrection 't was an Apparition And Saul should have said to the Woman as Hee to Her Why hast thou deceived mee for this is not Samuel Elisha indeed raised up the Shunamite's Son and our Saviour raised up his friend Lazarus after hee had been Dead four daies And yet still This was the first Resurrection The rest did not go before as the Scripture seemeth to saie but follow'd This. For as hee was a Lamb slain so was hee a Lamb Risen too from the begining of the World The rest were Raised Hee onely Rose from the Dead Elisha's dead Bones raised up Another Man's Our Saviour's dead Bones raised up themselvs They raised Others by His power Hee Himself by his own To saie therefore there was anie Resurrection before This is to saie that Abraham was before Christ The rest were all but second Brothers in the Resurrection Hee onely was Primogenitus Mortuorum the first begotten of the Dead Wee have seen in what sens our Saviour is to bee accounted the First I am now to tell you in what Proportion hee standeth to the First Fruits But then I am to lead you back to the Old Law of the Omer or Sheaf Levit. 23.9 Where the Children of Ifraël are commanded that at the reaping of their Harvest no Bread or Parched Corn or Green Ears bee eaten in their dwellings till a Sheaf of the Frst Fruits bee offered and Waved before the Lord together with a Lamb for a Burnt Offering The Traditions here and not unnecessarily supplie that those who lived far from the Holie Citie might eat of the New Corn when Mid-daie was past for that is was presumed the Sanhedrim would see the Sheaf offered up ere that time Thus the Letter and Cerimonie which how well it is answered in the Truth and Substance I shall briefly shew you The Typical Sheaf as the Doctors deliver in the Talmud was to bee cut down in the Night So was the True Codmenac Hee was cut down indeed in the Daie time but the Darkness was the greater for the verie Light of This Daie was Darkness and therefore how great was that A darkness that indeed might bee felt A darkness over the face of the whole Earth Such an one as in the Begining was over the face of the Deep before the Creator had said Let there bee Light And
produced besides the Correspondence in Points of Learning which hee held with divers famous Men abroad aswel Jesuites and Jews as others And now being like the Sun in his Zenith readie to shine in his greatest lustre Behold the whole Kingdom began to bee clouded with Judgments Ovid. Met. lib. 1. Sic Deus inductâ nostras caligine Terras Occuluit lïke that Egyptian Darkness which even then began to damp and hath since quite extinguisht the greatest and purest Lights of this Nation such as were not to bee parallel'd by anie other for Pietie and Learning Among whom notwithstanding the Hope of a clear Daie preserved this Learned Autor awhile sufficiently spirited for Studie whereby hee composed and published a little before his Death those his Excellent Notes upon som Passages of Scripture in which kinde of holie Studie hee intended to spend the rest of his Life But behold after 20 years trouble with an Hereditarie Gout improved by immoderate Studie and now invading his Stomach Atropos stand's readie to cut his Thread of Life beeing laboriously spun out but 39 years when fore-seeing the Glorie was now departing from our Israël his Spirits began to fail in an extraordinarie manner For Recoverie and Supportation whereof his first Noble Patrone the Bishop of Sarum being disabled by Sequestration c. the liberal hand of a second Mecenas was presently extended which though it could not save him as Christ's did St Peter from perishing in these waters of Affliction yet 't was not in vain for as our Saviour said of that Unguent so may I of his last Patrone's Charitie Mat. 26.12 Joh. Antioch Hist translated out of Greek into Latine with Annotations Was it not to burie him yes and to rais him too with the Trump of Fame beeing very active and free toward the Publication not onely of this Posthumous Off-spring but also of som other of greater Exspectation And here Reader I cannot but drop a Tear for the loss of that his excellent Piece entituled by himself Alkibla In which Tract with very great Judgment and Learning hee vindicated the Antiquitie of East-ward Adoration especially in all Churches as far beyond an Altar or a Crucifix the Romish Bounds as the Flood preceed's in time these Superstitious Distinctions of the Christian Which gallant Refutation of that Popish Error I the rather mention becaus som suspected him a Favorer of that Waie but to my certain knowledg their Jealousie was unjust and groundless hee having often declared and protested not onely to mee but also to manie of his familiar Friends his Abhorrence of Poperie and his sincere Affection and Constancie to the Protestant Religion as it was established in England by Acts of Parliament At Kidlington Mar. 13. 1646. and was buried in Christ-Church in Oxford And as hee lived so hee died also a most Obedient and Affectionate Son to his Distressed Mother the Church of England for whose Sufferings hee forrowed unto Death a more painful and exquisite Martyrdom then that by Fire or Sword By these the Soul break 's prison in a minute to an Eternitie of Libertie and Felicitie that keep 's us on the Rack of Death not only to the Apostles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but even 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Cor. 15.31 wee die hourly This Account would have run into a Volume should I have given you a Particular of his Virtues as his Courtesie Humilitie c. not disdaining the meanest Scholar nor proud of his victorious Discourses with the best Learned And how free and liberal hee was of his Treasurie to the full satisfaction of all Inquisitors I may confidently appeal to all that knew him But I must not so remember my lost Friend as to forget my self in my Promise of Brevitie nay I will rather chuse to bee somwhat indebted in this kinde to the Dead well knowing the Mourners following will compleatly discharge those Arrears To whom I now therefore hastily refer you Upon the DEATH of my dearest Friend the AUTOR WOuld you the Caus why this my Son did die 'T was to prevent my Immortalitie As Twins inform'd by one soul part being dead The sad surviver live's half-murthered So I in my Retirements being fixt On Him in Mee both Life and Death are mixt Nor crave's our * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Motto less though God denie's To match our Wishes with our Destinies What then remain's but that I often look Upon thee and enjoie thee in thy Book Whose Learned Matchless Lines shall still bring forth Thy Lovers as Eternal as thy Worth Who when wee are in Bliss will sigh complain And curs the Age suffer'd thee to bee slain Slain by an Ichabod and manie more 1 Sam. 4.24 Masters Oxonienses Cartwright Oxonienses Digges c. Oxonienses Whom though this hate the next Age will adore Whose Ashes shall revive if anie bee Fit Subjects for Celestial Chymistrie Thus Shine yee Glories of your Age whil'st Wee Wait to fill up your Martyrologie And envie not this our Ambition though You wounded were to Death Wee have scars too And from those darts but with this diff'rence You Let them stick fast which wee with scorn with-drew Thus different Glories in one Sphere may bee Equal in Height though not in Dignitie Whil'st like that Manna past or that in store The Least was fill'd nor is the Greatest more J. G. B. D. An ELEGIE On the Learned AUTOR THough yon' close Anchorite's contracted Shrowd Made his innarrowed Carcass seem a Crowd Yet the cag'd Votarie did wider dwell Then Thou in thy large Roof and spreading Cell Both liv'd alike immur'd but Mansion's space To Him was Emptiness to Thee was Place Which the Retirement's different Ends decide Thine was to Toil and Sweat but His to Hide Who though sat down contented with the Store Thou brought'st from Nature coveting no more Yet like a Wealthie Heir by that Advance Thou hadst liv'd high on thy Inheritance Who ere is born to an Estate to 's hand Is full as Rich as Hee that buie's his Land And such wert Thou but least free Nature's Gift Seem mis-bestow'd unless improv'd by Thrift 'T was thy strong care to melt down Native Parts And shape up great Endowments into Arts. Hence sprung Thy vigorous Pains unwearied Sweats Whil'st each past Toil edg to fresh Toil beget's Till thy torn Nervs stretch't in their Search before Grow suppler by 't and so put on for more And thy Bent Thought or'e his deep Object crack's Nor Torture bring 's but Patience from thy Racks Oft did the Sun ow Thee his Morning Streams And at thy Earlier Taper light his Beams When now declining in his West and gon Thou bad'st him sleep for Thou would'st Journie on When Midnight Silence did thy Motions see As Night were made for all the World but Thee Nor did thy watchful Temples harbour Rest Till thy great Monster-Scruples fell supprest Alcides scorn'd to deem his Labor sped Whil'st Hydra wore or threat'ning
Olympiad so 313 added 1360 make up the Sum of 1673 which deducted out of 3391 the year of the destruction of the Medes there remaineth for the Epoche of this Babylonish Monarchie 1718. Wherefore from hence wee must begin to reckon the Acts Lives and Successions of these Kings of Ashur wee begin therefore with the first to wit Nimrod NIMROD Annus Mundi 1718. Ante Christ Nat. 2230. Cycle of the Sun 18. Cycle of the Moon 12. Nimrod NImrod was the son of Chus and hee the son of Cham for so saith Moses And Chus begat Nimrod and going forward describeth the Man to bee a Mightie Hunter so famous that it became a Proverb to saie Even as Nimrod a mightie Hunter before the Lord. The Text plainly sheweth that this Nimrod was a King when it saith That the begining of his Kingdom was Babel the same also in the same words declareth that hee was a Babylonish King So that our Monarchie was begun at Babel by Nimrod In that hee was called a Mightie Hunter Aben Ezra expoundeth it in the better part but for that hee is reprehended by Ramban who affirmeth that hee was indeed a Hunter but not to procure Gods Altars Offerings as the other supposeth becaus it is said hee was a Hunter mightie before the Lord but hee was called a Hunter becaus hee was so indeed but not so onely but an oppressor too his continual conversation with bruit beasts changed his humane disposition into a barbarous and agrestick behaviour and the privilege of Dominion which hee had long used over the beasts hee began to usurp over Men. So Ralbag expoundeth Hee began saith hee to bee Mightie that is saith the Rabbin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 parash Noach becaus hee began to hunt after Domination or Principalitie fol. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The same Rabbi in the same place saith that hee was called a mightie Hunter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 becaus hee was mightie to hunt men and to subdue them under him Don Isaac Abarbinel intimateth a reason of mens subjection to him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Becaus hee made himself a mightie Hunter of Beasts and subdued them the sons of men seeing that Bears and Lions were subdued before him with all their might they also for fear of him submitted to him It appeareth therefore by the general consent of the Hebrews that this Nimrod was the founder of the Babylonish Kingdom and that by a Tyrannical kinde of absolute power hee subdued the world to this new kinde of Government Among the Greeks hear what Epiphanius hath said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Others have said as much Som have thought this Nimrod to bee Ninus others to bee Belus both unadvisedly for that Nimrod was not Ninus Justin approve's out of his Autor Trogus Pompie for it was saith hee from the begining of this Monarchie till the time of Sardanapalus 1300 years but hee reckon's that begining from Ninus but wee have proved before that the Epoche of this Kingdom comprehendeth 60 years more and therefore cannot begin in the reign of Ninus but 60 years before which 60 years must bee restored to som King before Ninus either to Nimrod or Belus or els divided between them both and that is most likely becaus Eupolemon an antient Autor maketh mention of Belus the second which could not bee without som reference to a Predecessor of the same name and this without all question was our mightie Hunter who after hee had possessed a World of degenerate mindes with the opinion of his greatness easily wrought the unsetled fancies of the Vulgar sort into a necessarie and undoubted superstition The true God they had forgotten or els they never knew him a God they must have quia nulla gens tam barbara c. Nimrod opposeth the fortitude and felicitie of his designs and easily intrappeth a multitude to worship him who must needs worship som one and besides him knew not whom therefore instantly they call him Baal or as wee corruptly write Bel which in our language signifieth a Lord and becaus after his death another succeeded both in his Place and Name hee was called Bel from his Dominion and Bel the second becaus Nimrod had reigned before him This conjecture can produce a Patron to inforce the probabilitie 'T is Abarbinel upon that place in Esaie Bel is bowed down and Neho stoopeth His words are these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 read the rest in that place The Rabbin saith that the Latine Scribes have written that this Nimrod who raigned first in Babel made himself a God and commanded that they should serv him becaus 't was hee that first had builded Babel c. after this hee made an Idol after his own Image and called it Bel. To this purpose the Rabbin concerning the Stature of Nimrod I had saied nothing had not Methodius said too much who affirmeth and from him Luca Tudensis that this Nimrod was no less then ten Cubits high believ this that will if it were or could bee so the Seventie Interpreters did well to call him a Giant Of the manner of his death Annius hath made Berosus lie Spirits took him awaie and Funccius will needs believ this as appeareth by his Gloss upon the Fiction that is saith hee The Divels took him awaie for his grand Impietie c. Cedrene saith that Nimrod was called Evechous this hee took from an Antient Autor Estiaeus of Miletum whose words are these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which either are the words of the Autor wee have said or els Eusebius Vide Eusebium Scaligerianum pag. 14. I finde in one of those Manuscripts which were transported from Baroeïus his most famous Librarie to the Universitie of Oxford an observable abstract of Chronologie deduced from Adam thence I transcribed what I found most convenient for the illustration of that which wee have now in hand First therefore for the life of Nimrod the Abstract saith thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tale aliquod ad Cedrenum Lego ad Chronicon Alexandrinum ubi vide 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 paulò post 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rurfus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. The Autor wee see giveth a pregnant testimonie to what wee have said See also Cedren for this of Orion and the Chronicon Alexandrinum adding also one thing more then wee knew before that this Nimrod at his death was Deified as in his life wee have proved so that hee seemeth to bee a God of som note but if wee mark wee shall finde that his divinitie transcend's not the eight sphear As his place was changed so his name that from Earth to Heaven this from Nimrod to Orion The Greek Poets would laugh at this as wee will now at them having undoubtedly found the truest meaning of this Constellation I will not burden the discours nor imploie the page with their vain Fictions who list elswhere to