we only consider the durance thereof and very long if we would contemplate the misfortunes contracted at his birth never to forsake him But as the setting Sun useth to dissipate the Clouds which had obscured it in the day and as sometimes wind rain and a tempest cease in the evening so Jacob at the end of his life began to enter into a calm and to enjoy fair weather It was in the City of Heros Joseph verò patri fratribus suis dedit possessionem in Agypto in optimo terrae loco Ramesses ut pâ—aeceperat â—harao Gen. 47.11 as the Septuagint have expounded it or els in Ramasses which is upon the Land of Gessen where Jacob made his last abode and where he found at last a haven after all his miseries as we are going to see CHAP. X. The last words of Jacob. ALas there is nothing eternall amongst created things and nothing which begins not to wax old assoon as it begins to live Life and Deathare inseparable companions which follow each other at a neer distance and tread even upon the same steps God himself saith Tertullian Roc stipulata est Dei vox hoc spopandit omnt quod nascitur c. Tertul. lib. de an cap. 30. is as it were ingaged thereunto by his word and all creatures at their birth are obliged unto it by promise at the very instant they enter into the world Life notwithstanding hath no regular periods and though he that made every thing with weight and measure hath shut up Creatures in the circle of Ages yet he hath not prescribed them equall limits but there are some who make their voyages longer or shorter than others However in vain is it to stray and take by-wayes For we must either in the morning at noon or in the evening arrive at our Lodging and after a thousand and a thousand windings at our finall resting place It is there said Calisthenes where Fathers and Children Calesthenes M.S. young and old wise men and fools the strong and weak and even the demi-Gods find themselves confused with Plants and beasts Death said a Favourite of Justinian pitcheth every where his tents and we as often hear mournfull Ditties under Velvet Canopies and in Ballisters of Ivory as under Pavillions of coarse Cloth and Cottages thatch'd with straw We see in Town ditches and under the dust of Battells Captains lying amongst Souldiers We behold under merciless blades and amongst Scymiters people lying with their Magistrates And at best there are but some Stones some Ciphers and Epitaphs which distinguish them Death then is more just and civill than birth The last hath Complacences for some and rigours for others but the first is indifferent towards all and we see at her feet Scepters amongst Scyths with this Inscription The Motto of Death Nemini parco I spare no man Death suffers not its self to be corrupted by favour it is on the River of oblivion and all the bodyes he ferries over in his Boat are naked not to appear different one from the other It was for this reason as the incomparable Picus of Mirandula said Most important advice Wise men during their lives and especially upon the approach of death ought to perform such actions as their memory might be immortall to the end if Death be common to them the manner of dying might be peculiar The Phoenix is no lesse subject unto death than Owles but Owles dye in the night and in a hollow place of some rotten Tree Whereas the Phoenix expires in the rayes of the Sun and upon a pile of Cinnamon and Musk. The Swan is no more exempt from it than the Raven But the Raven dyes craking upon some carrion and the Swan singing upon the bank of some fair River Jacob who as the Father of Nations seemd to have right unto Immortality was yet no more immortall than Esau but their death will be very different For Esau dyes suddenly like a Raven and an Owl but Jacob a far off saw his hours approching like a Phoenix and as a Swan which sings according to the common saying when he is breathing his last He was a hundred forty and seven years old when he perceived the arrivall of that moment which was to finish the course of his life Factique sunt omnes dies vitae illius Centum quadraginta septem annorum Gen. 47. v 28. Cumque appropinquare cerneret diem mortis suae vocavit filium suum Joseph dixit ad eum Si inveni gratiam in conspectu tuo pone manum tuam sub femoâ—e meo facies mihi misericordiam vâ—ritatem ut non sepelias me in Aegypto Gen. 47. v. 29. Sed dormiam cum patribus meis auseras me de terra hac condasq in sepulchno majorum meorum Gen. 47. v. 30. Rupertus hic Then this happy Patriark commanding Iosephs presence said unto him My Son it is time for me to dye there is no appeal I goe whither Abraham and Isaack are gone before and you shall come thither after me Mean-while I prithee if thou lov'st me put thy hand under my thigh and assure me that after my death thou wilt transport my body out of Egypt into Chanaan to bury it in the Sepulcher of my fore Fathers This is all I ask and all the favour I expect from thy love and goodness Iacob had reason to desire to be carried into Chanaan and laid in the monument of his Ancestors for this was the Land promised to his Children and which was to be one day consecrated by the worship of God and by the presence of the Messias As for the the Oath to which he oblig'd Ioseph it did not proceed from any distrust of his affection and fidelity Adoravit Isâ—ael Deum conversus ad lectuli caput Gen. 47. v. 31. Ribera in c. 11. ad Heb. Abulensis Et alii hic His ita transactis nunctatum Joseph quod aegrotaret pater fuus qui assumptis dâ—oobus filiis Manasse Ephraim ire perrexit Gen. 48. v. 1. but it was only done to the end that if Pharaoh should hinder him from rendring this duty unto his Father he might answer he was engaged thereto by Oath After this protestation Jacob adored God first turning his head towards the beds side where Joseph stood and directly towards the East because it was in this place they were accustomed to offer Sacrifices and erect Altars or rather to cast some look towards the Land of promise on which he had already placed all his hopes and desires Afterwards Jacob chancing to fall sick the news of of it was presently brought unto Joseph who immediatly took with him his two Sons Manasses and Ephraim to see him once more that they might receive his last Benediction Dictumque est Seni Ecce filius tuns Joseph venit ad te Qui confortatus sedit in lectulo Gen. 48. v. 2. Et ingresso ad se ait Deus
and the sounding of Trumpets an Herauld was so clothed in black and covered with a large cipres veil wrought with Thunderbolts and crowned darts who proclamed that this Queen was unpittifull and that she intended speedily to make a horrid Sepulchre of a great kingdome But this funerall pomp was not fully ended when the most mutinous and most seditious appear'd who ask'd pardon and esteemed themselves more happy to fall into the hands of a king who might chastise them without depriving them of life than of a Queen who cannot punish but with death It was I beleeve for the same reason Togaris the Physician of Leon the Armenian cured all the maladies and pains which extended not unto the dissolution of the body and soul In effect there is nothing so terrible and dreadfull as death and God himself hath never erected more tragick Theaters than when he would cause this cruell Tyrant to march which makes all the Catastrophes of life and after many combats and actions at last destroyes creatures without any possibility of their foreseeing the place or moment of their destruction Hear then it is where after a war of all the Elements Warr of all the Elements and a duel of totall nature against the Egyptians these miserable wretches will find at length a revenging hand which is ready to cut off the first fruits of their Mariage and the most amiable delights of their family Methinks I hear the Herauld already pronouncing the sentence and condemning the first-born of Egypt unto death It is Moses who speaks or rather our Lord by his mouth For he is but the Eccho of his voice and the instrument of his most holy and severest decrees To thee Egypt Media nocte ingrediar in Aegyptum Exod. 11. v. 4. Et morietur omne primogenitum in terra Aegyptiorum à primogenito Pharaonis qui sedet in solio illius usque ad primogenitum ancillae quae est ad molam omnia primogenita jumentorum Exod. 11. v. 5. and to thee Pharaoh God will manifest by this blow that he is thy God that is to say not only most good but most just and most powerfull behold the last of dart of his wrath which is ready to be cast upon thy Palace and upon thy Empire and then a sad necessity and an extreme disafter will oblige thee to doe by constraint what thou oughst to doe through sweetness when all Egypt shall be buried in a profound sleep The Angel of God shall goe into all houses and his revenging Sword will have no more respect for him who should one day ascend a Throne and bear the Crown of a King than for the meanest of thy vassals or beasts of which he shall choose the Prince to Sacrifice unto his indignation But who could have ever painted out to us a face covered over with so many horrours if after the first colours which have been laid Moses the most learned and prudent of men had not been pleased to add some touches of his pencill unto this dreadfull image Cum enim quietum silentium con incret emnia nox in suo cursu medium iter haberet Sap. 18. v. 14. Omnipotens sermo tuus de caelo à regalibus sedibus durus debellator in mediam exterminii terram prosiluit Sap. 18. v. 15. Gladius acutus insimulatum imperium portans stans replevit omnia murte usque ad caelum attingebat stans in ter ram Sap. 18. v. 16. It was even in the midst of the Night saith Solomon that this ineffable Word to whom all is possible descended from the height of the Impyreall Heaven and thundred over this abominable Land which was chosen as the Theatre on which the bloody spoyles of the rage and obstinacy of Egypt were to be seen It carried a two edged-Sword which transpierced on every side without pitty and this Sword was no other than this irrevocable decree which was as soon executed as pronounced in Egypt filling the whole Country with horrours desolations and deaths The exterminating Angel went from dore to dore and when any one dore was found whose Threshold was not sprinckled with the innocent blood of the Lamb he entered and having drawn the curtains and search'd the beds in which the first born of Egypt reposed he made upon their lives a bloody proof of Gods indignation and wrath In fine There was no family in which they deplored not some Infant slain by this merciless Executioner of Gods Decrees This punishment was so universal Neque enim erat do mus in qua non faceret mortuus Exod. 12. v. 30. that both Lord and Vassal mourned for the same accident and therein the usage of the people differed not from that of their King So that such as remained alive could not receive consolation from any person since all had need thereof and they could not rest satisfied even with rendering the last duties unto their dead so disconsolate they were and their own grief joyned with that of their Allies Friends and their neerest Kinred did scarce permit them to be attentive to their own misery A more general and sensible desolation was never seen for all this great and flourishing Empire did swim in tears and almost in a moment all its hopes were seen extinguished in blood Besides all these disasters hapned for no other cause than for not having believed what was denounced to them and confirmed by so many exemplary and prodigious Chastisements wherewith they had been lately afflicted Vrgebantque Aegyâ—tis populum â—exire de terra velociter dicentes Omnes moriemur Exod. 12. v. 33. It must be granted then that all these tribulations and punishments were the inevitable effects of the Finger of God in this last misfortune whereby the Egyptians saw themselves deprived of their Eldest sons they could not deny but that the Israelites were under the Protection of the Almighty and from that time they promised to consent unto their departure Behold the degrees Degrees of Vengeance by which Vengeance goes ascending even unto the height we see some marks of it in the Clouds which never break in pieces before they cast forth some Lightnings which carry the first tidings of the approaching storm Indications of a Tempest are also seen upon the Sea and there is no description in all Nature of Gods Justice and Wrath which hath not its peculiar place to arrive unto excess and which doth not first give some wound before it giveth death But also when Threats have proved fruitless and the Darts thrown by a gentle hand served onely to invenome the disease and inflame the wound Patience and Mercy which are the faithful companions of Justice retire and instantly the Heart from whence a great stream of Milk was seen to issue converts it self into a torrent of Gall and the Hand which held Palms and Crowns Darts nothing but Lightnings and Thunder-bolts Divine Justice resembleth that Dragon in the Indies which first casts the
in effect Esau vanquished by his respects and attractives presently protested unto Jacob that all his fortunes were at his service and that he offered himself intirely to him Behold then a secret to mollifie stony Hearts Empire over Souls and to melt in a moment even Eyes of Marble Behold the entrance into the Kingdom of Hearts and the means to raise up unto our selves a Throne amongst the most barbarous Nations Nevertheless in the World there are courages of Steel which cannot be softned torrents which cannot be stayed and flames like those of Hell which cannot be quenched In fine there are some more inflexible than Esau Inflexible courages and in truth also there are very few who have the qualities of Jacob. For never any Man understood better than himself the Art of conquering Hearts and the managing of Friendship He was none of those who are taught the way of Courting and who Learn the Laws of the World like Parrets which say what they doe not They know some punctilioes and formalities but are not versed in the knowledge of a vertuous Man A good Man who hath not only Complements in his Mouth studied respects importune Ceremonies slight and phantasticall compliances but actions effects with most pure sincere intentions wherwith he charmeth the flames of Choler and stifles the motions of Revenge even in the Soul of his Enemies Behold the Weapons Jacob used to reunite himself to his Brother Reversus est itaque illo die Esau itinere quo venerat in Seir. Gen. 33. v. 16. who would I believe never have left him if he himself had not begg'd leave to depart with his Wifes Children and Company which Esau having willingly granted him he went directly unto Salem which is upon the territorie of Chanaan This was the place where Sichem the Son of Hemor Quam cum vidisset â—ichem filius Hemor Hevaei princeps terâ—ae illius adamavit cam c. Gen. 34. v. 2. Auditoque quod acciderat â—ati sunt valde Gen. 34. v. 7. Locutus est itaque Hemor ad eos Sichem fiâ—â— mei adhaesit anima â—â—â—tae vestrae date eam â—lli uxorem Gen. 34. v. 8. â—â—â—nsique sunt omnes co cumâ—â—sis cunctis ma ibus Gen. 34. v. 24. Et 〈◊〉 die tertio quando gravissimus vulaerum dolor est arrept is duo filii Jacob Simeon Levi fiaties Dinae gladiis ingressi sunt urbem confidenter interfectisque omnibus maseulis Gen. 34. v. 25. Hemor Sichem pariter necaverunt Gen. 34. v. 26. Prince of the Sichemites took the boldness to steal away Dina Jacobs only Daughter Her Brothers seeing the injury and affront this infamous person had done them resolved to revenge themselves without pitty Notwithstanding Hemor us'd his utmost Indeavours to appease Jacob and to convert this ravishment into a Mariage The Contract was pass'd and the Articles sign'd as I may say with the proper bloud of Sichem and of all the Sichemites who submitted unto Circumcision to shew that they received the Religion of Jacob and of his Children This Sacrament nevertheless served but for an occasion of a more cruel and abhominable Sacrilege For upon the third Day after this generall Circumcision Simcon and Levi entred the City where they first killed all the Male Children then they fell upon Hemor and Sichem and after many Murthers Pillag'd and ransaked all that was found therein imagining after the violation of their Sister whom they carried away that there were no Laws neither Humane or Divine which they might not now justly infringe But I cannot believe that this Zeal was innocent For in the sequel of his thorrid Tragedy Criminall zeal they could not be excused from Theft Sacrilege perfidiousness nor particularly from Impiety towards their Father when they exposed him to the hazard of his Life and who for this reason was constrain'd immediatly to leave his Country Interea locutus est Deus ad Jacob surge ascende Bethel c. Gen. 35. v. 1. Dederunt ergo ei omves Deos alienos quos habebant inaures quae erant in auribus corum at ille infodit easubter Terebinthum Gen. 35. v. 4. Egressus autem inde venit ad terram quae ducit Ephratam in qua cum parturiret Rachel Gen. 35. v. 16. Ob disficultatem partus periclitari coepit Gen. 35. v. 17. Egrediente autem anima prae dolore imminente jam morte vocavit nomen filii sui Benoni c. Gen. 35. v. 18. and to take refuge upon Mount Bethel where at the Foot of a Terebinth Tree he burned all the Idols which his Wifes and Servants secretly adored After which God appeared the seventh time unto him I doubt whether this were not peradventure the means to bring him the first news of his Wifes Death and to prepare his mind unto a sharp Divorce However it were Jacob descended from Bethel into the road leading to Ephrata that is to say Bethelem It was in this sad journey where Rachel after a thousand throws was constrained to pay the last tribute unto Nature But before the closing of her Eyes and Mouth she had the happiness to see a second Son and to call him Benoni as the fruit of her labour being born upon her ashes Jacob nevertheless lost no courage but had Faith and Hope enough to believe that this Child would be the support of his Family and the Staff of his old age which was the cause he changed the fatall name of Benoni into that of Benjamin which promiseth nothing but happiness End of the third Book THE HOLY HISTORIE FIRST TOME Joseph and his Brethren FOURTH BOOK I am confident some will say at the first view of the title of this History that this is to give a second touch to a Picture which hath been drawn by the prime Masters of the World and to carry a Torch into a Country where the Sun is in his Meridian Nevertheless I doe not doubt but such as shall have framed this judgment may condemn their promptitude when they shall see that it was never my design to adde any draughts unto such accomplished works But only to take out a most faithfull Copy of them observing the traces which those skilfull Hands have marked out CHAP. I. Joseph sold by his Brethren WE cannot discern saith Solomon Solom Prov. c. 30. v. 18. the track of a Bird which flyes in the Air the Print of a Serpent which glideth along upon the Earth and the paths of a Vessel sayling in a Calm Sea But it is yet more difficult to comprehend the motion and course of a Man who enters into the World like an Eagle Four things very difficult to comprehend in the World who begins to stir his Wings to take his flight like an Adder which creeps on his Belly and like a Frigot exposed to the Sea and Winds None but God alone who giving him his flight and marking out to him his
ego dabo voâ—is omnia bona Aegypti ut comedatis medullam terrae Gen. 45. v. 18. Praecipe etiam ut tollent plaustra terra Aegypti ad subvectiâ—nem parvulorum suorum accongugum Gen. 45. v. 19. Singulis quoque proferri iussit binas stolas Benjamin vero dedit trecentâ—s argenteos cum quinque stolis optimis Gen. 45. v. 22. and conceal their malice his intention is not to confound but rather to incourage them Neverthelesse what ever he did the whole Court knew immediatly that his Brethren were come The very noise of it flew even to the Eares of Pharao who together with all the Servants of his house expresseth an unspeakable joy But to the end this joy might be universall his pleasure was that Joseph should command his Brethren to return into Canaan and bring unto him their Father with his whole Family that they may live at their ease in the best part of Egypt Now to the end this might be done with the most conveniency he ordained Chariots to be made ready for them and horses provided for their wives Children and for the most commodious transportation of all the Moveables of their Family Joseph forgot nothing which Pharao gave him in Charge When they were even ready to depart he commanded that two sutes of apparell should be brought for every one and over and above five hansome garments for Benjamin Tantumdem pecuniae vestium mittens patri suo Gen. 45. v. 23 Dimisit ergo fratres suos proficiscentibus ait Ne irascamini in via Gen. 45. v. 24 with three hundred peeces of Silver without omiting Jacob to whom he sent the like present After this he sent them back chiefly recommending unto them Peace and Love O God! what pleasing departure what amiable Sepuration when they leave Joseph to return unto Jacob. Ah! how delicious is it to meet with the Heart of a Brother in the armes of a judge And to goe directly from a brother unto a Father to reunite the Father unto his Son and to live in so well-united and holy a community O my Joseph An amiable relation of Joseph to Jesus my Jesus and my Saviour discover unto mee that face so full of Majesty and those delicious Looks which make the Paradise and felicity of Angels Ah! my Jesus since Joseph was your jmage treat me as he treated his Brethren and appear not unto mee as an incensed judge who contrives the sentence of my death but as a well-beloved Brother I confesse that I have betraid you that I have sold you and that I sought to deprive you of life But you are my Brother my Joseph and my Saviour O my Jesus pardon me Alas I am ravished at the sight of your Grandeurs and of the glory which invirons you I should not hope for the happiness to see your Tomb changed into a Throne your Crosse serving as an Instrument to raise unto you a Trophy of honour I did not expect to see you a Soveraign in the Egypt of the World But behold me now a Captive and Criminall at your feet Behold me wholly confounded and trembling O my Jesus take pitty then on me and say onely that it is you that are my Jesus and my Brother afterwards I will goe from you unto your Father and mine and then I will come with him before you to live forever with him and you CHAP. IX Jacob's going down into Egypt and the honourable entertainment he there received from Pharaoh THere are few Palaces and Houses like that of this inchanted Iland which Fables describe where the courses of the Planets are alwaies Regular where the Air is free from Clouds Fire from Smoak the Ocean from Tempests and the Earth from Concussions The Felicity of this World is a great Clock raised upon many Wheels and a body form'd of divers members where there is alwaies some diforder Love hatred aversions envy hope defires Felicity subject to alteration terrors shame choler jealousies despites and rage joyn with the Soul and Body with Parents and Friends with place and seasons with Elements and all naturall beings to keep a poor man alwaies floating and alwaies wavering like a Reed or as a Bark which is in the midst of the Sea at the mercy of winds and storms Above all it is a common saying saith Pythagoras that grief and pleasures make the fairest and most deformed faces in the world These two Passions are on the Earth what the Sun and Moon are in the Heavens They cause day and night Spring and Winter but we have more frequently Snows than Dewes And most Men seem to be born under a frightfull Climate where the night lasts three and twenty hours and where the Sun very seldome appears Besides it is often doubtfull whether it be the Sun or Moon we behold We are so accustomed to darkness as we know not whether we take the twylight of the evening for the Aurora Blindness of most men and day for night Sorrows and afflictions cast so many clouds over our mind as the eyes are dazeled and the first draughts of pleasure which appear to us are in appearance but the Idea of some Dream and a shadowed light in the depth of the night Jacob never believed he should ever see Joseph again Incredulous Love and after a night of three and Twenty years he had surely no ground to hope for the return of the Sun his eyes and spirit were so well acquainted with the rigours of Death that he no longer minded the sweets of life In fine having in a manner made him dye so often he did not expect they would make him revive in restoring to him his Joseph who was the life of his heart and the sight of his eyes Nevertheless Et nunciaverunt ei dicentes filius tuus vivit ipse dominatur in omni terra Aegypti Quo audito Jacob quasi de gravi somno evigilans tamâ—n non credebat eis Gen. 45. v. 26. Illi è contra referebant omnem ordinem rei Cumque vidisset plaustra unite sa qâ—ae misâ—rat revivil spiritus ejus Gen. 45. v. 27. Et ait Sufficit mihi si adhuc Joseph filius meus vivit vadam videbo illum ante quam morior Gen. 45. v. 28. his Children return out of Egypt and assure him that Joseph is alive and that he is very powerfull in the Land of Pharaoh Jacob could not believe it and as a man who suddenly awaked after a long sleep he took all that was said to him for the Image of a Dream In fine when he perceived that they constantly persisted in relating orderly to him all that had passed and on the other side seeing all the Baggage they had brought he began to come unto himself and as if this happy news had restored him his Speech and life he began to cry out It satisfieth me that Joseph is living Ah! I will goe unto him and at least see him once more
vain Idols which men use to adore Nevertheless Videns autem Pharno quod cessasset plavia grando tonitrua auxit peccatum Exod. 9. v. 34. Nec misit filios Israel ficut praeceperat Dominus per manum Moisis Exod. 9. v. 35. albeit Heaven is always armed with Fires Flames Thunders Lightnings and Thunderbolts against Egypt and Pharaoh yet all these Tempests did onely shake this Rock but could not overthrow it for scarce did the calm appear but presently this hardned Spirit reassumed his former designs and as if nothing had passed he continued to retain the people to whom God nevertheless was willing to give Liberty CHAP. XIV The Grasshoppers of Egypt BEhold saith Rupertus Rubertus hic what are the Armies of the God of Pharaoh Frogs in the Van Flyes in the Main-body and Grasshoppers in the Rere Fourth Plague but to speak truth all those prodigious Squadrons would have been very weak if he that formed them with his own hand had not marched in the head of all these Regiments Now it was with a Southern hot and stifling wind Ego indâ—cam craâ—l custam in Fines 〈◊〉 qâ—ae operiat supâ— crem terrae Exod. â— v. 4. these last battalions were raised composed of Grasshoppers in so great number that Egypt was wholly covered and wasted by them I know that intire Provinces and Kingdomes have been infected by such creatures and if Pliny speaks truth some of them have been seen in the Indies three foot long and in so great abundance that the Sun was shadowed by them Italy and Africa also have been very often tormented by them and the Cyreneans had a Law which obliged them to warr thrice every year against Grasshoppers first breaking their Egs then stifling them when they were disclosed and in fine persuing them on all sides when they were hatched For the same reason there was an Ordinance in the I le of Lemnos by which every inhabitant was enjoyned to bring every year a certain Number of them which he was to kill with his own hands Deorum ira pestis haec esse intelligitur Pâ—inius However it were this Authour said true when he calls this sort of Animals a Plague and scourge of Heaven for this was a Mortall wound which Pharaoh felt no less rigorous than death it self And when he saw himself on all sides assayled by them Corrodat enim omnia ligna quae germinant in agris Exod. 10. v. 5. and that they did gnaw even into the substance of Trees he conjured Aaron and Moses to ask in his behalf a deliverance from this mischief 〈…〉 〈…〉 Aaron 〈…〉 precavi in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈…〉 Exod 10. v. 16. Seit nunc dimiâ—te peccatum 〈…〉 〈◊〉 Domilium 〈…〉 ut 〈…〉 moâ—tem 〈◊〉 Exod. 10. v. 17. Cruel perfid ousness which he stiled death confessing afterwardes that he acknowledged his fault and most humbly demanded pardon for it Alas how often doe we promise to forsake our Errours and never more to provoke the wrath of God how often doe we say during Sickness Health will afford Remedy to our sins we weep upon our beds we beat our breasts we ask pardon we call the Saints of Paradise to our aid O strange God who sees the heart farr from a perfect resentment and a generous repentance seemes nevertheless to be moved at the noise of these sighes and tears and of all these disimulations His goodnesse cannot be wearied and his clemency enforceth him to hear and grant at last the petitions of a Just man who prayes for some Reprobate Behold Moses imploring God for Pharaoh Egressusque Moises de conspectu Pharaonis oravit Dominum Exod. 10. v. 18. Quo flare fecit ventum ab occidente vehementissimum areptam locustam projecit in mare rubrum Exod. 10. v. 19. he knows that the Graces his divine Majesty shall impart unto this impious person will fall uneffectually into his heart like dewes upon some Rock and that quickly after this Apostate will return unto his former wayes It imports not Moses no sooner raised his Arm and stretched out his Rod over Egypt but instantly a cold moist and Western wind hapned to blow with so much violence that it carried away all the Grasshoppers into the Sea CHAP. XV. The Darkness of Egypt MY God! Magna sunt enim judicia tua Domine menarrabilia verba tua c. Sap. 17. v. 1. said Solomon I confesse that the depth of thy judgements is incomprehensible and that the height of thy thoughts is rather understood by silence than discourse It is yet the stone of scandal and the most fatal Rock on which Faith is very often seen to suffer a dreadful shipwrack and reason remains yet insensible though it beholds on every side a thousand prodigies and a thousand miraculous effects which might serve as a Watch-Tower to guide it into a secure Haven Nothing seems to be beyond the reach of an incredulous minde and Egypt at present can hardly believe what it cannot conceive This blinde Nation would willingly attribute unto Chance or at least unto Nature the punishments which are laid on them by the Great God of Heaven But it is no wonder to see a people following the example of their King I am more astonished at this obstinate Prince who notwithstanding all these still bleeding wounds and by which he saw all his Subjects slain could perswade himself That no force was able to constrain him to release these poor people which he detained in a most unjust Captivity The Thunders and Lightnings of Heaven had but dazling Clarities Extenditque Moises manum in caelum factaesunt tenebrae horribiles in universa terra Aegypti tribus diebus Exod. 10. v. 22. Nemo vidit fratrem suum nec movit se de loco in quo crat Exod. 10. v. 23. Vbicumque autem babitabant filii Israel lax erat Exod. 10. v. 23. Digni quidem illi carere luce pati carcerem tenebrarum qui inelusos custodrebant filios suos c. Sap. 18. v. 4. Nam etsi nihil illos ex monstris perturbabat transitu animalium serpentium sibilatione commoti tremebundi peribant c. Sap. 17. v. 9. which but slightly struck the eyes of his minde It was requisite then to bury him alive in darkness and make him a Sepulchre of one night which lasted the space of three days God commanded Moses to lift up his hand towards Heaven and presently all Egypt was covered with such a thick and dreadful darkness that it was even palpable and this detestable Kingdom seemed to become a prison full of blinde and paralitick men who could neither see one another nor move from the place in which they had been surprised They were all Captives under the rigors of a holy Justice which casting these Criminals under shades furnished the Hebrews with lights which were to conduct them unto Liberty The Houses of Egypt were obscured with darkness
exactly the Lawes I leave you Testes invoco hodie caelum terram cito perituros vos esse de terra quam transito Jordane possâ—ssuri estis non habitabitis in ea longo tempore Sâ—d de lebit vos Dominus Deut. 4. v. 26. Atque disperget in omnes gentes c. Deu. 4. v. 27. Ibique servietis Diis qui hominum manu fabrtcati sunt ligno lapidi qui non vident nec audiunt nec comedunt nec odorantur Deut. 4. v. 28. Cumque quaesieris ibi Dominum Doum tuum invemes eum si tamen toto corde quaesieris tota tribulatione ani mae tuae Deut. 4. v. 29. doe not think you shall long enjoy the succession whereof youare going to be heirs I attest Heaven and Earth and all Creatures both visible and invisible which are witnesses of what I say unto you scarce shall you be possess'd of it but you will be dispersed some into one place some into another and afterwards you will find your selves in Provinces where you shall be Captives and in reward of your perfidiousness serve false Divinities which the error and Idolatry of your Masters shall have formed of wood and stone where you shall see mouths eyes ears and the other parts which are the Instruments of life and the Organs of your Senses yet they will be inanimated Statues soul-less bodyes and insensible Idols where nevertheless if you will seek God with a contrite and loving heart and fix your eyes and minds not upon appearances but on the verity which is Him I protest unto you my friends that you will there find him and that in fine the power of your Creator will trample over the weakness of all these little Beings which have been created by his hand He then must be the object of your affections his infinite goodness his wise prudence his Paternall mercy his beauty without art or mixture ought to be the subject of your desires and flames Wo to all those who deny him their affections and prefer some streams and little glimmerings of light before this Spring of living waters and this Planet without which the whole world would remain in the shades of death and blindness I know that you will be first invaded by seven different Nations which are but the Images of the seven deadly Sins and will wage a bloudy Warre against you But these Chanaanites will serve but for matter unto your glory and for a fair Field where after many Combats Septem gentes multò maâ—o is numeri quà m tues robustiores te Deut. 7 v. 1. Tradid â—â—que eas Dominus Deus tuus tibi percuties eas usque ad internecionem Deut. 7. v. 2. Et scies quia Dominus Deus tuus ipse est Deus sortis fidelis Custodiens pactum misericordiam diligentibus se Deut. 7. v. 9. and totall Victories you may raise Trophies and build Altars unto the glory of this Conquerour who can effect all that he pleaseth from whence you shall learn that your God is not only a God whose power is invincible but whose fidelity also is inviolable his promises unalterable his word infallible and his favours without number and measure provided you offer your hearts and consecrate to him your dearest passions otherwise his favours will be converted into afflictions his goodness will give way unto Justice and his rewards will be punishments exiles slaveries and almost Universall destructions Et reddens odientibus se statim ita ut disperdat eos ultra non differat protinus eis restituens quod merentur Deut. 7. v. 10. as when the impiety of your farefathers induced them even to set the abominable Idol of the Golden Calf in the place of God you need but represent all these frightfull punishments exemplar Chastisements unto your minds which in a manner make but a great Sepulchre of your Camps the murmurings whereof have a scended even to Heaven And if you will pass farther and interrogate all Ages to learn what hath hitherto been the rigour of Gods vengeances when once provoked goe even into the Cradle of the world into the Terrestriall Paradise Signa opera quae fecit in medio Aegypti Pharaoni Regi universae terrae ejus Deut. 11. v. 3. Omnique exercitui Aegyptiorum equis in curribus quomodo operuerint eos aquae maris Rubri cum vos persequerentur Deut. 11. v. 5. under the Billowes of the Ocean and amongst the Ashes of Sodom In fine return into Egypt and pass again over the Sands of the Red Sea to behold also there the prints of those Chariots and of those enemies which pursued you with so much fury Alas where is now Pharaoh Where are those Egyptians and where is that insolent pride those unsupportable cruelties and those dreadfull Tyrannies which kept you under the yoak and in the Chains of a very long and painfull captivity But if you desire to pass even into the Infernal parts Et Dathan atque Abiron filii Eliab qui suit filius Ruben quos aperto ore sue terra absorbuit c. Deut. 11. v. 6. and cause all the Dungeons of the Earth to be open'd you may ask of Core Dathan and Abiron whether it be good to deride the works of God and to vomit forth blasphemies against him who deserves nothing but thanksgivings and benedictions Ah! Surely if Fire Earth Air and Water have never refused to arm themselves in his quarrel Ponite haec verba mea in cordibus in animis vestr is c. Deut. 11. v. 18. Subvertite omnia loca in quibus coluerunt gentes quas possessuri estis Deos suos super montes excelsos c. Deut. 12. v. 2. Non facietis ita Domino Deo vestro Deut. 12. v. 4. Sed ad locum quem elegerit Dominus Deus vester c. Deut. 12. v. 5. Utvadant serviant diis alienis adorent eos solem lunam omnem militiam caeli quae non praecepi Deut. 17. v. 3. Et lapidibus obruentur Deut. 17. v. 5. Hoc erit judicium sacerdotum à populo ab iis qui offerunt victimas sive ovem immolaverint dabunt sacerdoti armum ac nutrieulum Septimo anno facies remissionem Deut. 15. v. 1. Quae hoc ordine celebrabitur cui debetur aliquid ab amico vel proximo à fratre suo repetere non poterit quia annus remissions est Domini Deut. 15. v. 2. Cum tibi venditus suerit frater tuus Hebraeus aut Hebraea sex annis servierit tibi in septimoÌ„ anno dimittes cum liberum Deut. 15. v. 12. they will not be less obedient and sensible when it shall please him to give them the least sign of his commands Hear then Israel all that I say unto thee and imprint it in thy minde to the end If these chastisements and threats do not move thee and beget fear and horror in thee at least