Ait illi tolle filtum tuum unigenitum queÌ„ diligis Isaac vade in terram visionis atque ibi offeres cum in Holocaustum super unum montium quem monstravero tibi Gen. 22. v. 2. this only Son and this Amiable Child on whom you fix all your hopes and all your most solid contentments Abraham it is time to restore unto me the depositum I gave you he is mine I lent him to you but now demand him back and I command you to immolate him unto me take him then without further delay and from this instant goe whither I shall conduct you Is it not unto God alone the absolute power of command belongeth and is it not the duty of Abraham to be silent and to perform without reply what God commands But what I beseech you would a passionat Father say upon this occasion would he not have some ground to say if he had the same cause as Abraham Alas Lord The Speech of a passionat Father who speaks for Abraham where are the advantagious promises thou hast so often made me Hast thou lost the remembrance of Abraham Sara and Isaack Dost thou not take me for some other or at least if thou lookest upon me as a Father why dost thou enjoyn me to perform so rigorous an office I hambly beseech thee my God Semel beâ—tus es Deus Psal not to forget thy words and thy own self remember that thy Mouth is as unchangeable as thy Heart and that it is an injury unto the immutability of thy Essence to alter the least of thy Decrees How can we then believe that the Sacrifice of humane Bodies are detestable in thy sight if thou dost command them whither will Innocency goe to seek life if thou Judgest an Innocent to death what incouragement shall we have to serve thee if thou thus treatest thy Servants what attractives will creatures have to love thee if Massacres be the pleages of thy Love for my part I am afraid lest the strongest spirits may revolt and that the weak be scandalized at the instability of thy oaths thou hast swern by thy self that my Isaack should be a spring of Grace and behold how thou dryest it up even when it is upon the point of becomming an Ocean of Benedicities My God! what shall I say unto my Son when he shall intreat me to tell him the cause of his death How shall I tye his hunds when he shall imbrace me and if I have the Heart of a Father to love him how can I have armes to kill him Ah! surely no Man shall ever perswade me that a God who is the anther of Nature will command me a streak which appears to me so unnaturall and should I assent Sara would even snatch the weapon out of my hand she would rather offer her self to serve as a Victim than give way to the Sacrifice of her Son Let us then no longer think of it O my God my Eyes would be dimmed with tears at the sight of my Ifaack my Heart would burst into a thousand pieces at the lest dart of his affection and my Hands could never be cleared of this stain if I had once sullied them in the bloud of my Son My God permit me rather to Sacrifise unto thee the Remnant of my old age and receive rather this Soul which I have upon my Lips and which is but too weary of the World But as for Isaack suffer a flower to grow which thou hast planted with thine own hand and according to thy promises water it with thy Benedictions What! An Abraham to Massacre an Isaack A Father the most Cordiall and the most affectionate of the World to kill the most amiable and the most accomplished Son that hath ever been A Father who for the space of a hundred years hath expected a Son to lose him in a moment The preparation for his Mariage was already in my thoughts and they shew me an Altar a Pile and a Sepulcher for his Nuptiall Bed What rigour more inhumane what Laws more barbarous And what command more cruell can we figure to our selves My God pardon me it is visible to me that I have erred but grief even extorts these Blasphemies and my Tongue betrayes my Heart I will speak then from benceforth with more respect Give me I beseech thee the Eyes of a Tyger the Teeth of a Wolf and the Soul of a Lion if thou wilt have me devour this Lamb blind me lest I behold this Fore-head this Face and these Eyes on which my Love hath ingraven his Picture Lord I acknowledge my fault for having so often begged him of thee my vows have been over-violent my desires too importune and I still feel an over-ardent fire in my Bosom cast then into it a Deluge of Wormwood to stiflle such sweet ardors However if thou dost command me to be the Executioner of thy severest Judgements and if thou absolutely desirest I should strike off my Isaacks head and that I should bury him in the fire I beseech thee instead of a Sword put a Thunderbolt into my Hands to the end at the same instant I shall give him the stroak of death I may soe him invironed with the flames of thy severest Justice Without doubt this would be the discourse of a Father whose Soul should be agitated with various passions and the most part of these resentments are more proper for a Man whose Eyes Nature Bloud the World and Infidelity had snut against the purest lights of Heaven than for Abraham who never followed other Torch than that of Divine Providence Never then were such Sacrilegious Complaints and shamefull murmurs heard to issue forth of his Mouth as daily proceed from Fathers and Mothers who have nothing but worldly respects and no other care but to erect upon the Cradle of their Children all the Trophies of their desires and hopes Abraham wils but what God wils The resignation of Abraham and instead of following the Motives of Reason and humane discourses he abandons himself into the arms of a perfect Obedience and of that Faith which shewed him Life even in the Bosom of Death He was ready to immolate Isaack and the Love he had for his God made him wish to himself a Destiny like that of his Son This Man saith Origen was not astonished at the voice of so harsh a Command he refused nothing and took Counsell of no living Soul resting content to obey his God This Just Patriarch saith St. Zenon preferred the Love of the Creator before that of the Creature And albeit a naturall resentment tore his very Bowels and Heart yet at the same time his Soul did Swim in the delights of a passion which hath nothing in it but Supernaturall so that two Loves offered two Sacrifices the one Immolated the Father the other Sacrifised the Son O Love The Empire of Love Love delicious Tyrant adorable Conqueror Independent Monarch how powerfull are thy Darts when God casts
know a Heart and so many divine experiments upon poor Mortals so that the whole Sacrifice of Abraham was but a stratagem of Gods Providence and a Master-piece of Abrahams and Isaacks Obedience The Altar of Moria which was to be the Scaffold of Death became the Theater of Life and his Pile served but to make a Bonfire of Joy and a triumph of the fidelity which Abraham and Isaack testified unto God Besides I know not who was most astonished the Father or the Son however it were Abraham unbound his Isaack and then they both together adored the admirable contrivances of Gods goodness who did tear out a Mans Heart to put his own in the place of it A Divine Stratagem and who commands us to give him a mortall and perishable life that he may place us in the fruition of one eternall and immortall It is sufficient for this God of Clemencie and mercie to see Men at his Feet he is content with that Sacrifice which the Heart offers to him and he will have neither Bloud nor Murther presented on his Altars It satisfies him to immolate his only Jesus for the ransom of Mankind His Death gives us Life and the least drop of his sacred Veins is able to wash away all the stains of the Universe Stay then Abraham Levavit Abraham oculos suos viditque post tergum arietem inter vepres haerentem cornibus quem assumens obtulit Holccaustum profilio the blow is reserved for some other not for thy Son and it only belongs to the Eternall Father to offer the Sacrifice in verity the figure whereof hath preceded No it shall not be Isaack thou must immolate but this Ram which thou seest in this Bush surrounded with Brambles and Crowned with thorns take him and burn this Victim till a Man-God come in Isaacks place It is enough for me saith God unto Abraham to know that thou lovest me and I can now no longer doubt after so long and sensible tryals It is the Hand and not the Mouth which hath given me the assurance of it It is also rather by effects than complements that I try thy fidelity O God of Hearts it is then in verity that Hearts must be Sacrificed to thee Fathers and Mothers if God will have your Children make a free gift of them if God be content with you offer your selves unto him My God! I will even now then consecrate my Heart to thee I renounce at present all those things I may not Love with thee I present unto thee the Sacrifice of my humiliated Spirit and I refuse no pain if thou ordainest it for me Burn Sacrifise and spare neither Health Honor Riches Children nor Friends I am even content to Immolate my Isaack to thee that is my Soul my Affections and my Life provided I may Live with thee and Love thee in Glory and Eternity CHAP. XII The Death of Sara A Certain person holily curioius went heretofore examining all that is dispers'd in Nature I asked saith he of the Sun whether he were a God and he answered me no in regard he was subject to Eclipses Circumvolutions Vicissitudes Gen. 22. v. 13. and a thousand periods which keep him in a perpetuall mutation Inconstancy of created things I intreated the Moon to tell me whether she were a Divinity and she protested to me no by reason of Exiles Defections Retrogradations Ascendants Conjunctions Separations Elevations and falls to which she is lyable All the rest of created Nature will confess the same if we interrogate her in particular upon this verity God only can say I am God and I neither can nor doe change because I am God He is in the midst of the World as the immoveable Center in a Circle about which all is in motion he is as a Rock upon the Ocean who beholds the Waves and Billows rowling under his Feet without inconstancy and astonishment He is pleased nevertheless to see those he loves in the Flux and Reflux of a thousand accidents which teach them that their fortunes hopes affections and delights may alter every moment that the most smiling prosperities often swim amidst tears the clearest and most serene dayes are followed sometimes by the obscurest and most dusky Nights Bodies for Companions have their own Shadows Roses are mixed with Thorns and even the Life of Man never Ends but in Death To see Abraham Sara and Isaack after their deliverance and the tryals God had of their fidelity would not one have believed them almost immortall and exempted from all the miseries of life Tunc est tentatio fiaienda quando finitur pugna tunc finienda est pugna quando post hanc vitam succedit pugnae secura victoria S. Prosper lib. 3. de cont vitae And yet scarce were they returned to their own home but Abraham and Isaack met with a new occasion of grief for the Death of Sara And no wonder saith St. Prosperus since the Life of Man is a War without truce and since we ought not to hope or expect Peace but in the Tomb. And indeed as Hildebert hath well noted it is not without reason that these storms succeed one another Attende miscrias hominis intuere cineres vectigalia peccati sunt S. Hild. Ep. 56. and that usually one vapor draws others by reason the Earth since the contagion of the terrestriall Paradise hath been a fatall source of Miseries and Calamities which took their birth from the first sin of our unfortunate Parents who left unto their Children for an inheritance and punishment a chain wrought with all sorts of infelicities This yoak then is common to all Men and there is no person whom God hath not subjected to the Laws of this sad Captivity The strictest unions must break the sincerest friendships must have an end and even Mariages themselves of which God was the sacred knot must at length make a Tragick Divorce upon a Bed which is the most common Theater of the blind furies of Death We ought to confess nevertheless that it is a spectacle able to excite the Constancy of a good Courage when we shall behold this unmercifull Murdress which snatcheth away Daughters out of their Mothers Bosoms and Sons in the sight of their Fathers and Wifes between the Arms of their Husbands In such a case if Nature had not some tenderness she would be unnaturall and we must have Hearts of Marble not to be touched with some sense of grief and pitty Abraham had then just cause to testifie by his tears the regret he had for his dear Sara's Death Vixit autem Sara centum viginti septem annis Gen. 23. v. 1. And surely since he lost so rare a blessing well might he disconsolatly bewayl it This mourning was not yet blameable and he was very carefull not to doe like those who bury all their affections in the preparation of a Funerall pomp and who have but a shadowed meen or else not being able
28. Venerontque ad Jacob patrem suum in terram Chanaan c. Gen. 42 v. 29. Locutus est nobis Dominus terrae dure c. Gen. 42. v. 30. His aictus oùm frumenta effunderent singult reperierunt in ore saccorum ligatas pecunias exterritisque simut omnibus dixit pater Jacob Absque lioeru me esse fecistis Joseph non est super Simeon tenetur in vinculis Benjamin auferetis in me haec omnia mala râ—â—ederunt they presently began their journey but scarce were they arrived at their first nights lodging when one of them having opened his Sack found there his Money he called his Brethren and told them what had happened to him whereupon being all astonished they said to one another Alas what design hath God on us and whence arrive to us all these adventures From thence holding on their journey they went directly unto Chanaan to find Jacob to whom they related what had passed and how they had been harshly received by the Governour of Egypt who notwithstanding all the assurances they had given him of their designs and innocence had taken them for Spies but at last he permitted them to return and likewise to carry with them the provision they had bought upon condition nevertheless speedily to bring unto him the youngest amongst them who as they said was left alone at home to Solace the discommodities and old age of their Father Doing this he promised them that Simeon should be released and that they should have liberty to continue their traffick and commerce in Egypt Upon this they opened their Sacks where having found all their Money they remained very much astonished but chiefly Jacob was as much or more surprised then his Children Whereupon he could not contein himself from saying to them Ah poor wretches that you are you have reduced me into such an estate as I am now left without a Child Joseph is no more and if what you say be true Simeon is detain'd in prison not content with this you will also take my Benjamin from me O God what calamities all at once â—las on what side shall I turn me and where may I find some consolation Joseph is no more Simeon is a Captive and you will carry away my Benjamin who is the support of my life and the delight of my heart Poor Father that I am whither shall I goe Famine besiegeth me my Children betray me the Powers of the world combine against me old Age oppresseth me and death pursues me Cui respondit Ruben Duos filtos meos interfice si non reduxero illum tibi Trade illum in manu mea ego cum tibi restituam Gen. 42. v. 37. At ille non descendet inquit filius meus vobiscum frater ejus mortuus est ipse solus remansit Si quid ei adversi acciderit in terra ad quam pergitâ—s deducetis canos meos cum doloread inferos Gen. 42. v. 38. Jacob whither wilt thou goe Father saith Ruben doe not afflict your self For my part I have but two Children I leave them with you in Benjamins place and if I bring him not back put them to death No saith Jacob I will never consent that Benjamin shall goe with you for already his brother is dead and if by accidents some mishap befall this poor Child which is left me I might even dye for grief and my ashes would for ever complain of you Behold the Picture of mans life in this world drawn to the life in the person of Jacob. His birth was in the midst of Combats his youth hath been a Duel with his own Brothers Scarce had he attain'd the age of a Man when God himself was pleased to assault him Afterwards his Children prov'd the strongest enemies of his old Age and he saw executioners in his own Family Alas what will he doe O God will you have Benjamin also will you commind Jacob to immolate this Victim and must he goe into Egypt and leave his Father who lives only by him O world how disloyall art thou Fathers and Mothers what Children have you and where doe you place all your hopes all these Eldest Sons whom you breed up so deliciously will deceive you This Joseph whom you Idolatrise will prove a torment to you and even in despight of you this so beautifull Perfidiousness of the world so sweet so amiable and so accomplish'd Benjamin must leave you first or last to goe amongst the Egyptians But what must Jacob also resolve to leave Benjamin how will you have him live if his heart be taken from him And is not the removing him from a person who placed on him all his hopes and the support of his Life a condemnation unto Death CHAP. VII Jacob resolves to send Benjamin into Egypt IN the world there are inexorable Caves and fatall necessities which can hardly be avoided We must often swim over the arms of the Sea not to perish in the midst of the Ocean Fatall necessities and some there are who resolve rather to dye stifled with smoak than to fall into a flaming fire Nothing is to be preferred before life next unto God and Honour and we usually give what we have to preserve it It is for this reason with our hands we keep off the Darts which are thrown at our hearts and there is no part of the body which serves not for a Buckler when life is to be saved In fine the fear of Death is a blind passion which knowes neither Friends nor Children Jacob then must suffer his Benjamin to depart but it is not without much grief and without fighting many battells with a Love so Cordial and an affection a Father ought to have for a Child so worthy to be beloved He must dye then of Famin or Benjamin must depart But it is not enough that the rest return and this dear Child remain with his Father No Dixit Jacob ad filios suos Revertimins emitte nobis pauxillum escarum Gen. 43. v. 2. Consumptisque cibis quos ex Aegipto detulerant Gen. 43. v. 2. Respondit Judas Denunciavit nobis vir ille attestatione dicens c. Gen. 43. v. 3. Si ergo vis eum mittere nobiscum pergemus pariter ememus tibi necessaria Gen. 43. v. 4. go then my Children saith Jacob return into Egypt to buy us something for our sustenance for nothing is left of all that you brought us Father replyed Judas you know that we told you that the Governour of Egypt hath forbidden us to return into his presence if we doe not bring him our little Brother If you will permit him then to goe thither we will all accompany him and buy all things necessary We are ingaged by promise and oath to bring him or never more to come into Egypt What promise and what ingagement Answers Jacob you have then Conspired to undoe me Dixit eis Israel in meam hoc fecistis miseriam Gen. 43. v. 6.
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
with mourning how many bodies pierced through with Swords how many exiles and how many fatall events which have often been the end of a tragicall life and the disgracefull marks of an exemplar death have not Caesars been seen murthered in the midst of the Senate Nero's massacred by their rage and dispair a Cyrus beheaded by the command of a woman and his head plunged in the bloud he had so ardently desired Hath not also an Alexander been seen passing as lightning and who for this cause was drawn after his death by an excellent Painter under the form of a shining Taper which issued out of the womb of a Cloud to vanish away at the same instant Power of men how weak art thou Greatness how litle art thou Ah what Are these the bounds measures and heights to which all mortalls aspire hath impiety no other periods And shall Abysses of water be the Monuments of Pharaoh In truth can it possibly happen that the same Maximian who sought to efface for ever the name and memory of Christians should be strangled in the City of Marseilles that Dioclesian who had been his Colleague in the Empire and a complice in his designs should be consumed with putrifaction and eaten up with Worms Is it Bajazet who served for a block to get up a horse-back Is it not the heart of Julian the Apostate which I see pierced through with a deadly Arrow and the body of Valens which burns in flames and that of Anastasius who was as it were precipitated by a Thunder-bolt into the bottome of Hell Yea Dreadfull revolutions behold the course and dreadfull revolutions of all the Successors of Pharaoh After this let it be ask'd where they are and what is become of all these triumphant Chariots these Armies these People these Tyrants with all their power Down proud greatness down these Sacrilegious enterprises these blind furies and these obstinate cruelties which are more worthy of a Devil than of a man who hath any spark of reason In fine Pharaoh is drowned this great Dragon is dead his rage is satiated he hath heard the voice of Thunder and Thunder hath broken the wheeles of his Chariot He is no more or at least is groaning and dispairing in a Pool of Sulphur in a Sea of flames and in an Eternity of Punishments Moses and the Israelites on the banks of the shore and in a Paradise of delights make Canticles of joy and Songs of triumph to render thanks unto God for their deliverance CHAP. XIX The Canticle of Moses after the death of Pharaoh IF the severity of this History did permit me sometimes to mingle with it one of those Consorts whose Lawes and Rules are observed with Measure Cadence Rimes and Pauses and whose Charms flatter so much the most curious ears that with air they nourish and entertain the most Criticall minds I must often make use of the voyces of so many Swans which have taught our French muses the musicall Aires of Judea and Palestine in lieu of the prophane Songs used in the world and at Court I might often borrow some Harmonies from so many choise spirits which every day cause that antient Musick to resound in the heart of France which was first sung upon the Mountains of Sion and in the holy Land And I might at present make use of the sweet interpretation of those who have procured the Charming Eccho of this famous Canticle to be heard upon the banks of our Rivers which was sung by Moses neer the Red Sea after the deliverance of the people of Israel and the generall defeat of Pharaoh and his Troops But since the nature of the Stile to which I have engaged my self doth not permit me to use this pleasing mixture I will content my self with a pure and exact relation Nevertheless before hand we must observe In the first place there was never any Quire of Musick better ordered or more compleat The Holy Ghost was the Master of it and inspir'd Moses with all the Accents and words of this most sacred Consort Secondly Moses first and alone sung a Verse of this admirable Canticle which before his time had never been sung For the Hymns of Orpheus Linus and Musaeus were not invented till three hundred years after or thereabouts Thirdly Philo saith that all the people answered the voice of Moses Author lib. 1. de Mirab Scrip. Apud Aug. c. 21. where we must take notice with the Authour of the Memorable things of the holy Scripture that it was not without miracle men and Children and the rest of the people hearing every verse but once did yet faithfully repeat the same after Moses whose voice could not be heard of all However it were they spake all with one heart and voice or rather with millions of voices which came but from one and the same Source and from a like Spirit which animated so many lungs and mouths Let us sing Cantemus Domino gloriosè enim magnificatus est equum ascensorem dejecit in mare Evod. 15. v. 1. Let us sing Victory And let it be every where known that it is the great God of Israel who hath freed us from Irons and from the slavery under which we have so long groan'd He hath loosned our fetters he hath broken our Chains and thrown both Horses and Riders Pharaoh and his Troops Egypt and her Chariots into the bottome of the Sea Let his name be alwayes in our mouths his love in our bearts and the remembrance of his favours in the Center of our Souls Dextera tua Domine magnificata est in fortitudine dextera tua Domine percussit inicum Exod. 15. v. 6. Now the day of his glory breaks forth in the midst of night his power hath raised our weakness and his goodness which he hath alwayes shewed us hath triumphed over the malice of those who had design'd our ruine We must never seek then any other subject for our praises and for all our songs of Victory than this glorious Conquerour who bears in himself all our hopes and salvation He alone is our God and the God of our fore-fathers and for this cause he alone ought to be the subject of our acknowledgements and the term of our Loves Yes my God! It is thou on whom all our tongues shall be still employed all our hearts fixed The term of love and acknowledgement and all minds bent to proclame love and adore nothing but thy Glory and the Glory of thy Name which is no other than that of the omnipotent Lord. Thou art the great God of Battells the Conquerour of Conquerours and thou hast not disdained to arm thy self on our behalf Thou hast also drowned this potent Army which plotted our ruine and thou hast given these Tyrants for food unto Fishes and the waves of the Sea who intended to make us the Victims of their fury All of us have been witnesses of it and there is not any one amongst us who
took his Sex enim diebusfecit Dominus caelum terram mare omnia quae in eis sunt requievit die septimo c. Exod. 20. v. 11. seven dayes after the Creaation of the World and to the end every week we might have a set time to think on this amiable benefit and to render thanks for it unto our Creator It was done also to the end the Hebrews might have this day to celebrate that of their departure out of Egypt and of their deliverance and that all men and maid-servants might at least have this day to give some ease unto their labours Plutarch was then deceived who affirms that the Hebrews had Instituted this Sabbath in honour of Bacchus as well as the other Gentiles who believed that it was done in honour of Saturn for the ground of this Feast was no other than what I newly related And the Order observ'd in gathering up of the Manna was but for the same end CHAP. XXIX The duty of Children towards their Parents HOnour thy Father and Mother The fourth Commandement that thy dayes may be long upon the earth which the Lord thy God will give thee Honora Patrem tuum matrem tuam ut sis longaevus super terram quam Dominus Deus dabit tibi Exod 20. v. 12. In truth it is a very reasonable thing to bear respect and love to succour and obey those to whom next unto God we owe our lives and we must be more insensible and more unnaturall than beasts to refuse these affectionate duties to our Parents and to those whom we ought to esteem as Fathers Mothers and Superiours such as heaven hath plac'd over our heads to rule and govern us either concerning temporall or spirituall matters We must banish then out of the world and out of Families all those little Dragons and domestick Vipers which have neither teeth claws gall nor poison but to tear the heart and bowels in which they have been formed and conceived and to destroy those of whom they hold their lives All houses ought to be Temples consecrated unto love and pietie as that which was built at Rome in lieu of a Prison where a young Lady had nourished her Mother with her own Milk seeing the Gaolers hindred her from carrying any food to her O holy piety where are now these Temples and Altars where doe we see such Daughters give suck unto their Mothers as this gallant Roman did or Fathers to have Daughters like this other of whom Valerius Maximus makes mention Valer. Max. lib. 5. who found out the means to nourish her Father in the same manner and had the honour to be the Mother of her Father who rendred his last sighs in her bosome sucking a drop of Milk from her breast Moreover if I am not deceived can there be found more Daughters than Sons who work the like Miracles their Sex is more inclinable to sweetness and piety and to those amiable tendernesses which reach even to the highest pitch of generosity There have been heretofore Men who desiring to suffer death for their Fathers have rendred themselves immortall Such a one was that Lock-smith of Toledo who exposed himself unto the extremest tortures to free his Father and to obtain his life with his pardon But the example of Alexius Son to the Emperour Isaack is more illustrious who in the midst of the Acclamations of Greece which saluted him King had no ears but to hear the plaints of his Father no eyes but to behold his miseries and no power but to replace him on his Throne and in the Empire whereof his Brother had deprived him It is not then against this young Prince nor against his like that Sina will shoot poisonous Darts and deadly Arrows as against Paricides but on the contrary after a long sequel of years they shall have lived in this world the course of their glory will not find its period but in Eternity which can never have an end CHAP. XXX A sentence of Death against Murtherers THou shalt not kill The fift Commandement Nonoccides Exod. 20. v. 13. This Precept doth not only forbid those execrable Murtherers whose Swords and Daggers are plunged into mens bosomes and those horrid butcheries where furie is animated against a body to gnaw it as a Vulture would doe his prey or like a Tyger to tear and eat it even to the bones or to consume it with a slow fire like a Devill whose torments give death without taking away life It is then by this Law that God prohibits not only Murthers but all sorts of exteriour violences and injuries which may be offered unto the body and life of our Neighbour It is also a Sentence of death pronounced by the mouth of God against all those who are causers of other mens deaths and make no more account of a mans life than of a flye I would gladly know whether they find in the Decalogue a Challenge an assassination and all those violences which are practised upon a man as upon a beast I would willingly see them making their randezvous and assignations upon Mount Sina where they shall behold a God thundring and lightning over their heads but it would be more gratefull unto me to see them performing an honourable penance in this life and satisfying Justice and Piety before their deaths than afterwards to expect an Eternity of punishments and severities CHAP. XXXI The Triumph of Chastity THou shalt not commit Adultery The sixt Commandemâ—â—t Nonâ—â—aechaberis Exod 20. v. 14. Honour ought not to be less pretious unto men then life and if both were in danger it is certain we should rather abandon the last than the first and say as the Ermine Motto of the Ermine Malo mori quam fâ—â—â—ari I had rather dye than receive a stain For my part I admire that Christian Woman who in the time of Maxentius plunged a Dagger in to her heart to end her life by eternizing her honour For indeed it is a glorious Death to find by a particular inspiration from Heaven a Purple Robe in our bloud and in our tears a veil of white Sattin to cover our purity which is the soul of our life and the glory of the body This is the Nuptiall garment which we must never put off even in the Sepulchre and he that is cloathed with it ought to be so full of respect and circumspection as he must even blush saith Tertullian at his own vertue And if we meet with Souls which have impudence enough not to change Countenance neither in respect of God who looks upon them nor in regard of men who behold them they shall one day feel him whom they have not seen and such as have been Complices or Witnesses of their Crimes shall be their Executioners And then shall all the Lightnings of Hell inkindle Flames to stiffle theirs and lascivious hands wandring and impure eyes unchast breasts Maegera's heads Diabolicall hearts and the
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
being able to strangle them nor put a Halter about their Necks or a Poniard into their Bosoms casts every where the Darts of its Tongue and sends forth words a thousand times more cruell and pernicious than the murthering Knife which Cain plunged into the throat and Heart of Abell CHAP. VIII Remedies against Envie BUt what will any remedy serve for all these Franticks and all these Cyclops whose Hearts are ever-flaming Furnaces and where Jealousy continually forgeth Chains and Irons O God! O Heaven O Laws Justice Sanctity Soveraign Powers of the World Physicians to our Maladies Arbitrators of our lives It is you whose sweetly rigorous hands can both ordain remedy and give health It is you then I implore and of whom I crave assistance It is you Fathers and Mothers who in your Houses ought to be Judges of all the differences which arise between your Sons and Daughters and first of all you ought to know the naturall disposition of your Children to the end that if some Cain be found amongst them you may timely suppress him Spare then neither Fire nor Steel Hunger nor Thirst Disdains nor Rebukes seek out even Domestique Prisons It is much better for them to feel the Essayes of your Paternall rigours than to fall afterwards into the blind hands of Justice And it is far more gentle that you your selves upon the first Symptoms of Evill should take the pains to apply a Costick to them or give them a stroak with your Lancet than after too much remisness to see them take a sharp Razer cutting in pieces the Heart and all the Members of your other Children Doe not say that he is beautifull he is tender he is the Eldest or Youngest Son for after all though he be your Son the rest are likewise yours and you cannot be a Father if you are not a Judge common to them all As for those visible Angels which God hath placed in Sacred Mansions like the Cherubin of the Terrestriall Paradise there to Watch and Govern It is enough for them to know where the Evill is that they forthwith apply some Remedy I pass then farther and speaking both in generall and in particular to all the Heirs of Cain and to all those whom a Bloudy Jealousy armeth against their Brethren or against their Sisters I conjure them frequently to meditate on this verity that the mischief they doe unto others can afford them no benefit and that when they raise designs and Trophies on the Ruin of others they are but Crowns of Straw and Feathers where instead of finding Mountains and Elevations they meet with Precipices and Abysses in which they will destroy themselves In fine what delights and contentments can an envious Person have whose Eyes are destroy'd by the purest lights and to whom Acclamations and Songs of Victory are distastfull and whose Heart Swims alwaies in bitterness and poyson What Pain What Torment And what punishment to resemble a Man accurs'd of God! to walk as a fugitive and banish'd person upon Thorns and Bryers what peace can one have who makes War against God his Friends and himself and when both Night and Day he is seen amongst his Brothers Ghosts amongst Spectres and Fantasmes amongst the Stings and Remorces of a guilty Conscience what hope of good when one is assured that after the having passed away some Months some Days or rather some Years in the City of Enoch and amidst some slight Clarities of the East he shall goe end his life in a Bed leave his Body in a Sepulcher and lose all the pleasures all the Blessings and all the lights of his Soul in the shades of Night and of the setting Sun where no Day shall be seen but amidst the Lightnings Flames and Thunders of a God provok'd to an holy indignation CHAP. IX The Building of the Ark and the Deluge ITt is a Maxim amongst Philosophers that Beauty is to Love what the Soul is to the Body and it is she saith St. Denys that gives wings to the inconstant subtil and penetrating Bird which passeth by the Eyes Ears and Mouth to advance directly to the Heart to make like an other Phaenix a Pyle upon the flames and fires of our desires and wils It was perhaps for this cause Socrates called the Beauty which spreads its attractives on the Body An amorous Tyranny by reason this imperious Step-dame is accustomed to captivate all those that abide under the Empire of her Looks Plato in his Timeus had almost the very same conceptions as Socrates when he said That the Colours and Lustre which give light unto the shade and revive the Body and Face have a flame which flows insensibly from matter and form to infire the Souls of all Spectators Elianus lib. 22. It was this mixture saith Elianus of Charms and Splendors issuing out of the Eyes and Mouth of a Maid beautifull as the day The power of beauty which so much surprised a certain Knight called Dioxipus that although he had gained famous victories in the Olympick games and was in the midst of Glory and Triumph loaden with the Palms and Lawrels he had so often watered with his sweat and bloud he was yet constraind to make a stand in the presence of all the people acknowledging his own weakness and confessing that the beauty of a Lady had vanquished him whom the strength of Man was never able to overcome I adde to these thoughts Dulcem illecebram carum venenum Greg. Naz. Orat. 13. that of St. Gregory Nazianzen who hath tearms and words no less eloquent than true to express that the beauty of the Body is a deceiptfull allurement and a most pleasing poyson which passeth from one Sex to another and conveys it self so far into the veins that afterwards it cannot be drawn forth but with Death These are verities which have bin proved from the cradle of the World by Examples and accidents which have caused too Tragick and Publick Ruins to be called in question Cumque cepissent homines multiplicare super tecram filias procreassent Gen. 6. v. 1. Amongst others the first and most exemplar was the Deluge which happened unto the World one thousand six hundred and fifty six years or near upon after the Creation by reason the Inhabitants of the City of Enos and the Children of Adam being multiplyed by strange increases and in respect their bodies being fortified and become like so many Collossusses of impiety these Lascivious Gyants went every where like impetuous Torrents Videntes filii Dei filias hominum quod essent pulcrae acceperunt sibi uxores ex omnibvs quas elegerant Gen. 6. v. 2. which nothing could stop but a brutish beauty upon which they entertained their Eyes and loves with an execrable Liberty I have a horror to relate it but it is true that the World was then but an Infamous retreat where all Sexes without Order Law or respect breaking all the Lines and Degrees of Bloud and Alliances were
but where is the Victim which must be offered as an Holocaust My Son trouble not your self for God will provide one O Holy Piety where are the Bowels of a Father Heaven and Earth where are we my God! how long will this storm endure Whence comes this ebbing and flowing which strikes so rudely on the Faith of a Father and the Obedience of a Son My God! if thou desirest a Holocaust give unto Abraham an other Victim then Isaack how comes it to pass that Abraham can observe the Law of the Hollocaust which injoyns the Victim to be cut in pieces and ordains that the Members be disposed at the Altar taking their turns to burn them afterwards and reduce them to ashes Ah! there is no Fathers Heart which can exercise so inhumane cruelties and so horrid and unnaturall a Butchery on the Body of his Son Vultures devour only the Flesh Tigers leave at least the Bones Wheels Ironclaws and wracks doe but tear the skin and after all these punishments there are found reliques of anguish and death but the Holocaust consumes all and reduceth the Body into ashes and dust What will remain then of Isaack for Abraham to carry unto Sara but ashes dust and the eternall regret for a loss that can never be repaired Abraham notwithstanding persists in his fidelity Et venerunt ad locum quem ostenderat ei Deus in quo adificavit altare desuper ligna composuit cumque alligasset Isaac filium suum posuit eum in altare super struem lignorum Gen. 22. v. 9. he makes ready the Altar he sets the Wood in order he kindles the Fire he draws his Sword out of the Scabbard he takes Isaack into his arms he placeth him neer the pile he tyes his Hands and puts the cover over his forehead In fine this Innocent Lamb being on both his Knees his Body half naked and his Head bowed a little forward sighing sweetly without making the least complaint or demanding any more why expected the stroak of death when his Father as it is very probable began to acquaint him with the secret of his happy Lot Isaack my most dear Son Joseph lib. 1. hist S. Ambr. alii thou didst ask me at the foot of the Mountain where was the Victim of our Sacrifice I answered thee that God would provide one his Paternal Goodness hath done it and his will is that thou must be the Victim and I the Priest It is very true that thou art the object of my sweetest hopes and that I should look on thee as the support of my house but it is in God we must place our only hope It is he that serves for a Basis and Piller to all fortunes and it is his sage Providence which holds in its hands good and evill favours and disgraces Life and Death Dye then cheerfully my dear Child and rest assured that I would willingly put my self in thy place if God had so ordained I adore his will and I am too happy to serve as an instrument unto his commands As for thee my poor Son I had very constant proofs of thy sweet disposition and if I had not often tryed how obedient and pliable thou art unto Gods will and mine I should endeavour more efficaciously to perswade thee but it would be fruitless and it is from Gods goodness and thy constancy I hope for the Grace of being inabled to offer and immolate thee with my own Hands What can Isaack say to this it is enough for him to assent and be silent I yet frame in my imagination that he besought his Father to give him his Sword that he might kiss it as the rod of the wise Providence of Heaven I believe also he bowed down his Head a little more forward to testifie that his thoughts accorded with his Heart and that his most real affections were ready to be immolated unto God and his Father In the mean while Abraham takes his Sword again into his Hand and having bathed it with his tears he lifts up his arm to discharge his blow upon the Neck of his Son O Religious Soul O religiosam animam ó fortem mentem O trgens robur animi utrum admirer obstrpescam sustius fortemue spiritum Patriarchae aut constantem pueri obedientram Châ—yf ho. in Gen. 48. cryes out St. Chrysostom O vigorous Spirit O prodigie of constancy and fidelity I know not whether I ought more to admire the undaunted force of Abrahams Spirit or the constant immutability of his Isaacks Submission But what will be the issue will not all the Angels of Heaven who look upon this Sacrifice put some Victim in Isaacks place divine Spirits I call on you for Abraham and Isaack Ah! saith St. Austin Videte Abraham non cum aliqua ferâ luctantem sed cum natura pugaantem decotio dicebat pecute pietas clamabat parce illa revocabat issa provocabat Aug. Ser. 73. de temp behold I beseech you the conflict of Abraham not with a furious Beast but with Nature Religion bids him strike and pitty saith doe not strike the first lifts upon his Hand and the other stayes his arm what will this good Man doe what will he not doe if he obeyes not God he commits Sacrilege and if he obeys he is a Murtherer But is it not better for him to be accounted a good Father than a good Servant And will not Abrahams Disobedience be rather excused than the Murther of his Son Abraham believed otherwise and the choice he made was to lose the quality of a Pittifull Father to receive the title of an Obedient Servant Nevertheless he still hopes and is assured whatever happen that God is too full of Clemency to leave him in extremity In effect as Abraham had already lifted up his arm Et ecce Angelus Domini de Caelo clamtvit dicens Abraham Abraham qui respondit adsum Gen. 22. v. 11. Dixitque ci non extendas manum tuam super puerum neque sacias illi quidquam nunc cognovi quod limes Deum non pepercisti unigenito tuo propter me Gen. 22. v. 12. and was ready to dart the Thunder-bolt God had put into his Hand the Voice of an Angell cryes out Abraham Abraham I command thee from God not to touch the Child and to pass no farther It is certainly the very same that commanded Abraham to strike who stayes his blow It is the Voice it is the Angell and Nuntio of our Lord which keeps back his Arm. And surely it was requisite that the same power which before had armed him should force the Weapon out of his Hand and that Abraham should have as much promptitude and resignation to leave his Sacrifice as to undertake and begin it O God! what mysteries of Wisdom Clemency and Goodness My God! what Tryals of Love what Essayes of Fidelity and what grounds of Hope and Confidence have we ever seen so many temptations heaped together so many Artifices to
sufficiently to disguise their looks strive to hide under the Veils and shadows of a Bed or dark Chamber the shame of their insensibility Abraham shed more tears from his Heart Et mortua est in civitate Arbee quae est Hebron in terra Chanaan venitque Abraham ut plangeret fleret eam Gen. 23. v. 2. than by his Eyes and in rendring all duties to Nature and his Wife he most amply satisfied God and his own piety while he was a Pilgrim and stranger in the Land of Canaan Sara being Dead in the City of Hebron he went directly into the place where his Wifes Body reposed There he offered up his Prayers unto God and kiss'd a thousand times these amiable reliques watering them from time to time with his tears All those who assisted this Holy Man might well perceive the tears which distilled from his Eyes and hear the groans which issued forth of his Mouth But God alone knows the Acts of resignation He presently intreated Ephron to sell him a double Cave which was close by the vale of Mambre to interr Sara in that place Ephron is willing to grant what he asketh but being at last as it were inforced to take a sum of Money for the purchace of his Land Abraham became Master of the Field and Grot in which he laid the Body of his dear moity It is in this monument where the most generous Woman of her time reposeth Atque ita sepelivit Abrahum Saram uxorem suam in spelunca 〈◊〉 duplici Gen. 23. v. 19. And under this Rock of Diamond will be found a Diamantine Heart in the Body of Sara who was a perfect pattern of Constancy and Fidelity CHAP. XIII The Mariage of Isaack with Rebecca and the Death of Abraham THe World is a Theater on which very different actions are seen There Voluptuousness smiles and Grief hath tears in its Eyes Hope flies in the imbaulmed Air and Despair plungeth it self into an Abyss of Gall and poyson Love and Sweetness catch Men in Nets wrought by the Hands of the Graces and on the contrary Hatred and Envy assasinate the Hearts of Men with inchanted Darts A Bloody Amphitheater In fine whilst Life is fowing on all sides Death mows down all before her Behold the common objects of the World pleasures sorrows hopes despairs loves envies furies flatteries Mariages solemnities life death birth a Chaos of disorder a Labyrinth of unions and divorces which make the course of this life but a list and Theater where all we can imagine is to be seen Have we not beheld all this in the life of Abraham This poor Man then was in the Hands of God and Providence as a feather in the Air which serves for sport unto the Winds and as a Planet in the Heavens which never rests or as a Wheel in the Water which is alwaies turning and in a continuall motion God led him out of Chaldea Mesopotamia Canaan and Egypt from thence he causeth him to return unto the Cunanites where he stays for some time in the City of Sichem sometime in that of Hebron afterwards in Gerara and then in Bershabe and again in Hebron as if he could not live but in Travelling during whose Voyages Heaven is pleased to afford him a thousand Combats and as many occasions of Victory In fine after the deliverance of his Son â—rat antem Abraliam senex dierumqtie multorum c. Gen. 2â— v. 1. â—orrvaque ad servom seniorem Domus suae qui praeerat omnibus quae Dabebat pone manum tuum sulter sâ—mur meum Gen. 24. v. 2. Vt adjurem teper Dominum Deum Caela terrae ut non accipias uâ—oâ—em filio meo de filithus Chananaeorum inter quos habito Gen. 24. v. 3. Sed ad terram cognationem meam praficisearis inde accipias uâ—â—orem filio meo Isaac Gen. 24. v. 4. and the death of his Wife he feeling himself wholy broken with old age and upon the point of following the happy Lot of Sara resolved to seek a Wife for Isaack and for that end he calls one of the most faithfull Servants of his House called Eliezer and having commanded him to lay his Hand under his Thigh he conjured him by the name of God to seek a match for his Son in the Land of Haram as if this Country had inherited from Cham its first Lord the malediction which Noah had fulminated against him Which being done this wise Embassador chosen amongst the Domesticks of Abraham began his journey to execute the designs and Commission of his Master Posuitergo servus manum subsemore Abraham Domini sus c. Gen. 24. v. 9. Tult quc decem Camelos degrege Domini sui â—biit ex omnibus honis esus portans secum profâ—â—tusque pervexit in Mesopotamiam ad urse em Nachor Gen. 24. v. 10. and departing from Bershabe he went directly to Mesopotaneia carrying with him ten large Camels loaden with the rarest and most magnificent presents which were in Abrahams House Behold him then in the City of Nachor meditating with himself upon all the readiest and most facile means to expedite what had bin given him incharge What will he doe First he departs out of the City and repayring where Women in their turns were wont to draw Water Cumque Camelos fecisset accumbere extra op illum juxta puteuÌ„ aquae c. Gen. 24. v. 11. he there rests his Camels expecting untill Heaven should offer the opportunity he desired During this expectation he offered up his prayers unto God saying Lord God of Abraham Dominus meus Demini met Abraham occurre obsecro milu hodie fac miseâ—â—cordiam cum Domino meo Abraham Gen. 24. v. 12. Ecce ego sto prope fontem aquae filiae habitatorum hujus Civitatis egredientur ad hauriendam aquam Gen. 24. v. 13. Igitur puella cui ego dixero inclina hydriam tuam ut bibaÌ„ illa responderit bibe quin Camelis tuis dabo potum ipsa est quam praeparasli servo tue Isaac c. Gen. 24. v. 14. Nec dum intra se verba compleverat ecce Rebecca egrediebatur habens bydriam in scapula sua Gen. 24. v. 15. Occurritque ei ser vus ait pauxillum aquae mihi ad bibendum praebe de hydria tua Gen. 24. v. 17. Quae respondit bibe Domine mi c. Gen. 24. v. 18. Ipse autem contemplebatur eam tacitus c. Gen. 24. v. 21. cast I beseech thee some propitious and favourable look upon the designs of my Master Great God take pitty of Abraham thy faithfull Servant it is by his appointment I am in these territories I expect here but the hour when the Maid shall come to draw Water out of this Fountain If then My God thou dost give me this advice I resolve to entreat the first which shall approach it to afford me some Water to drink if she grant me
S. Thom. 1. p. q. 23. art 8. Thom. Anglicus in cap. 25. Gen. that although God had ingaged his word unto Isaack and though Isaack could not doubt of the assurances which had been given him yet it was necessary to sollicite this Promise and implore God to perform what he had promised for albeit God had from all Eternity ordained the Children of Isaack yet this Ingagement was not so absolute that it did not presuppose some endeavours on Isaacks part by which his expectation was to obtain its effect This is the reason why St. Thomas did observe in the design of God and in the predestination of Creatures first an Eternal design and next an Effect which followeth at the same time God hath ordained Efficacious Prayers This first design conceived from all Eternity is Independent of Vows and Prayers but the Effects of his Divine Ordinances are therein totally united because God hath predestinated them by the intervention of concurrent causes which are as it were the voices which soilicite and call upon the sage Providence and the ineffable goodness of God At the request then of Isaack Heaven was obliged to grant that at last which along time before God had promised him and in effect behold Rebecca great with Child and ready to lye down But as the pleasures of the World are not durable so she quickly feels the appreaches of her labour They are no other than pains and throws 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Id est colluctabantur Scholiastes ex Symmacho Rasas Hebr. confringere Oleaster and her womb seemed to be a thick Cloud of thunders and a Field of Baâ—â—tail in which two little Children begin an intestine War against each other which cannot end but by the destruction of the Mother or the death of her Children O God! Collidebantur in utero ejus parvuli quae aim si sic mihi futurum erat quid necesse suit conciperei Gen. 25 v. 22. what punishment saith this poor woman what assaults what torment from whence come these Vultures and Tygers which even tear my Bowels and make a bloudy Butchery in my Womb Ah God! why did I conceive if this misfortune must befall me Tyrannicall desire disastrous ambition disloyall vanity whither hast thou precipitated me my God! what torture what torment and what a Martyrdome is it to be a Mother Alas we conceive not but amidst momentary pleasures we bear Children in our Womb as the Sea doth Fishes in the midst of Storms We bring them forth like Amber and Pearls amidst Lightnings and Tempests like Pelicans we Nurse them up with Tears and Bloud and after all these pains and cares they prove Wolves and Vipers which have only Teeth and Claws to eat even into the Bones of their Parents Was it not for this reason Mary Stuart a wise Queen of Scotland called Mariage a conflict between Grief and Love Mar ages subject to many mafortunes yes surely many of them are but a Duel a Martyrdom and a Life where affections run the first Cariere but presently after either disdains hatreds contempts furies jealousies and finally all difasters are in continuall motion Sometimes it is a Sword S. Greg. Nys lib. de virg c. 23. as St. Gregorie saith whose Hilt is guilded and the rest but a Murtherous Blade and the most common Instrument of Death The chast Rebecca but too soon received the first wounds and the languishments of her sterility sufficiently taught her for the space of twenty years how true it is This nevertheless was but an essay untill she came to feel the strugling of two fencers of whom she had scarce conceived but immediatly they began to tear the most tender and delicate parts of her body These preludes of death were so sensible that she clearly discerned that it was more than a human hand which gave her so harsh Combats She immediatly then had recourse unto God and perceiving that men could not help her shee consulted with the Oracles of Heaven I will believe with Theodoret that to this effect shee kept her self for some dayes out of noise and tumult knowing that it is almost impossible to hear the voice of God amist the clamors and out-cryes of Men Or at least as the Authour of the Scholastical history affirmes this virtuous woman ascended the Mountain of Moria to offer sacrifice upon the same Altars Abraham had crected where conformable to the opinon of St. Chrysostome it seemes more probable that she took no counsell but of Melchisedeck who was yet living in her time and the Interpreter of Gods will However it were Perrexitque ut consuleret dominum Gen. 25. v. 22. Qui respondens ait duae gentes sunt in utcro tuo duo populi ex ventre tuo dividentur populusque populum superabit Major serviet Minori Gen. 25. v. 3. David Chimbi in cap. 34. Jsaiae Rabbi Solomon in 4. Thren Aug. lib. 16. de Civit Dei c. 25. shee consulted Godâ— and God answered her that shee bore too Nations in her womb and that two people should issue forth of her bowels one of which should triumph over the other and the Elder be slave unto the Younger O God! what Mysteries under this answer I know that the Jews and Rabbi Solomon amongst others unfolds these shadows in favour of his Nation but these are no other than fables refuted by most of the Fathers and amongst the rest by St. Jerome who discovers the rours of the Talmud and lays open the dreams of the Hebrews who would confound the Romans the Idumeans True it is then that Jacob and Esau as St. Austin affirms were the figures of the Christian and Hebrew people meant by this Prophecy And at present there is scarce any place in the World where Christianity hath not raised her Crosses as so many Trophies upon the ruins of Judaism and impiety David vanquished Edom saith Rupertus and Jacob though the Younger supplanted Esau who was his Elder Brother For this reason Jacob received his name Jam tempus pariendi advenerat ecce gemini in utero eius reperti sunt Gen 25. v. 24. Qui prior egressus est rufus erat vocatum est nomen ejus Esau protinus alter egrediens plantam fratritenebat manu idcirco appellavit cum Jacob. Gen. 25. v. 25. for as his Elder Brother was stiled Esau because his whole Body was covered with rough Hair so Jacob was called Jacob because at the issuing forth of his Mothers Womb he held Esau by the soal of his Foot to testifie that he would supplant him Is not this an early beginning to War with each other since in their Mothers Womb they began the intestine Duel Now their Birth is but amidst surprizes and strifes where the one labours to become Master of the other I leave then to your thoughts what the rest of their lives may be and what assaults these two little Souldiours gave each other even to
as far as the City of Sidon Issachar shall make choice of a more happy and quiet life he shall delight in Tillage and the fertile land which shall fall to his lot he shall cultivate with no lesse peace than perseverance His pains shall not be fruitless and in the Continent he shall have all the advantages of those Countries which lye neer the Sea making an exchange with them of its Corn and fruits for those Merchandises which come from remote Nations Hee will impart the riches which agriculture shall afford him unto those who shall govern the Republick and purchase his repose by the Contributions he shall voluntarily give for the maintenance of such as bear Arms so long as he shall live quietly in the heart of his Possessions Dan judicabit populum suum c. Gen. 49. v. 16. Dan shall be the Judge of his people as well as of the other Tribes of Israel Dan by surprise shall ruine his enemies Fiat Dan coluber in via cerastes in semite mordens ungulas equi ut cadat ascensor ejus retiò Gen. 49. v. 17. even as Snakes which hide themselves on the sides of high-wayes to destroy Passengers who stand not sufficiently on their guard or as that crafty Serpent which bites the hoof of a Horse to make his rider fall and to infect him with his venom when he is thrown on the ground Notwithstanding the artifices men may use to defend themselves I shall never think that all their forces and wiles can equall the effects of the Protection which the Messias will give us Salutare tuum expectabo do nine Gen. 49. v. 18. I shall alwayes expect it and never believe that there is any assurance comparable to that which we shall receive from the affection and power of this great Prince Gad having received his share Gad accinctas praeliabitur ante eum ipse acciugitur retrorssum Gen. 49. v. 19. shall march in the head of his Brethren to establish them in their Possessions and returning unto his Territories loaden with Booty he will make his retreat in so good order as he shall not be disturb'd by his enemies Asser shall possess the portion of Palestine which looks towards the Sea Aser pinguis panis ejus praebebit delicias Regibus Gen. 49. v. 20. this Land doth produce all things desirable for the entertainment and comfort of life both Corn and Fruits are there so excellent as they will serve for delicacies unto Kings Nephtali will testifie his courage Cervus emissus dans eloquia pulcritudinis Gen. 49. v. 21. casting himself into dangers to defend his Brethren and shall give them cause to admire and praise him He will break all the obstaeles which shall oppose his generous design as a wounded Hart which though timorous by nature Vide Caietanum Lipoman breaks yet sometimes through the toyls of Hunters and from the cruell teeth of Dogs to defend that life which they would violently take from him The felicity of Joseph shall still increase Filius accrescens Joseph decorus aspectu filiae discurrerunt super murum Gen. 49. v. 22. Sed exasperaverunt eum jurgati sunt invideruntque Illi habentes jacula Gen. 49. v. 23. his beauty is so extraordinary as Ladyes esteem'd themselves happy to see him and they plac'd themselves at Dores and Windows to look on him as he passed through the streets Nevertheless such as ought most to love him have conspired his ruine and transported by a furious passion of envy sought to hinder the effects of the promises of Heaven But as the designs of men cannot alter the decrees and ordinances of God So Innocence prov'd stronger than malice and the Chains wherewith his unchaste Mistris had loaden him and the slavery to which his own Brethren had reduc'd him were the means whereof Divine Providence made use to make him King of Egypt and to secure and preserve the goods and lives of those who wished his death My most dear Son Deus patris tui erit adjutor tuus Gen. 49. v. 25. the God whom thy Father adoreth will alwaies assist thee he will replenish thee with benedictions and cause the most favourable Dews to fall upon thy Lands he will cause streams of living water to flow into their bosome and bowels for the refreshing and inlivening thy Roots Plants and Trees Thou shalt have a particular blessing in thy Children Vide Lyram Abul Per. Rupert Cajet Lip and their great numbers shall manifest that thou art the object of the dearest and most exquisite Providences which God declares to have for men Thy Father hath been more favoured than his Ancestors thou shalt enjoy both their favours and mine and the blessing I promise thee shall never cease untill God having given himself unto men in the person of the Messias shall no longer testifie his particular affection towards his Friends in giving them perishable goods All these graces and favours are due unto thy vertue which hath conserved its self without stain and hath also rendred thee as considerable amongst thy Brethren as the Nazarites who peculiarly consecrate themselves unto the service of the Divine Majesty Benjamin as a ravenous Woolf shall in the morning devour his prey Bâ—njamin â—upus rapax mane comedet praedam vesyere dividâ— spolia Gen. 49. v. 27. Vide Procop. Euseb Theodoret. Abul c. Er praecepit eis dicens Ego congregor ad populum meum sepelite me cum patribus in spelunca duplici quae est in agro Ephron Hethaei Gen. 49. v. 29. and in the evening share and divide the Spoiles Behold the Benedictions Jacob by heavens direction gave to each of his Children He afterwards recommended unto them the Buriall of his body in the Tomb of his fore-Fathers and having exhorted them to remain constant in the service of God dyed peaceably in his bed Can we represent unto our selves an end more sweet and quiet I well know that the like deaths are seen in sacred Houses I have seen such with mine own eyes and with my ears I have heard of some Jacobs who have closed their mouths with Benedictions and Canticles of Victory I have seen standers by bath'd in tears and yet their hearts fill'd with Joy receiving the last words and benedictions of dying men I know that the like effects are sometimes seen in the world and there have bin some Kings and Queens Fathers and Mothers Men and Women of all states and conditions who have spoken on their death-beds with so much Judgement and force of spirit as if they had been upon a Throne or in a Pulpit Likewise from thence Edicts Lawes and Lessons are heard in which there can be no deceit nor disguisment But it will be granted me that these examples are very rare amongst those whose lives pass away in noise and tumult For Death is an Eccho which answers life and a night which resents the Calm
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
Heifers neck from whence her fellow Citizens knew that heaven did not approve of this bloudy Sacrifice Athenaeus ex Phiâ—arce Athenaeus makes mention also of a young Eagle which having been brought up by the hand of a Child loved him afterwards as his brother assisting him even during his Maladies with so strong and violent resentments as that when this Child did not eat this poor Bird abstained also from food continuing his amiable tendernesses even to the flaming Pile in which they were both buried under the same Ashes We have a thousand such examples amongst the Prophane and more also in our holy Histories where on the one side St. Medard is seen in the midst of a field under a great Eagle sheltring him from the Sun And on the other side a generous Martry to whom Eagles serv'd for guards unto his body even after death in the same manneâ— as those by which the Sacred reliques and chast spoiles of St. Stanislans Bishop of Cracovia were kept for the space of three whole dayes lest they might be devoured by Dogs or by some other beast After so much love piety zeal and foresight in this Bird Moyses autem ascendit ad Doum vocavitque eum Dominus da monte ait haec dicit dominus Jacob c. Exod. 19. v. 3. Vos ipsi vidistis quae secerim Aegyptiis quomodo portaverim vos super alas aquilarum assumpserim mihi Exod. 19 v. 4. ought we to wonder if God having conducted his people unto the foot of Mount Sina called Moses from the top of this Mountain commanding him to say from him unto the Children of Israel that they must remember what he had done to the Egyptians for their sake and how he had carried them on his wings like an Eagle which as Rabbi Solomon very happily observes useth to bear his young on his shoulders whereas other Birds carry them in their talons or in their beaks lest those that fly over their heads may seiz on them But the Eagle fears only man who is under her feet and therefore she opposeth her self as a buckler against the Darts and Arrows which may be shot at them preferring much more the life of her young before her own Moses say then boldly unto this people that God is an Eagle which carries them upon his wings and if they believe this truth which hath been so often proved assure them from me that he will have a most particular care of their affairs And although the whole world be dear unto him Et vos eritis mihi in regnum Sacerdotale gens sancta Exod. 19. v. 6. as being his yet he will have no common tendernesses for them and that in fine he will make use of them as of so many Kings and Priests to command over other Nations and to render unto him the service and worship which is due unto his regality V. Chalda vers upon which all the Miters and Crowns of the Universe depend It is the same promise which God made unto all those who serve him and live according to the rules of Christianity For they are a chosen people a holy Religion and a Royall Priesthood They have a power and command which puts a Scepter into their hands Venit Moyses convocatis majoribus natu populi exposuit omnes sermones quos mandaverat Dominus Exod. 19. v. 7. Responditque omnis populus simul Cuncta quae locutus est Dominus faciemus Exod. 19. v. 8. Ait ei Dominus jam nunc veniam ad te in caligine nubis ut audiat me populus loquentem ad te credat tibi in perpetuum Exod. 19. v. 9. and a Diadem of honour and immortality on their heads But to return unto Moses when he had related unto the Hebrews all that God had said unto him and when they all expressed their gratitude for the favours they had received from him and were ready to obey such just commands God advertis'd him that he was going to establish their Law-giver and to render this action more glorious as also to effect that the people which are usually led more by sense than reason might have more powerfull motives to believe him he said that he would appear to them in the form of a Cloud in which he would speak unto them aloud in such a manner as having heard him no man could any longer doubt but that this most Divine and heavenly law was dictated by the mouth of a God And this peradventure moved the Gentiles the Turks Zoroaster Minos Mahomet Foppery of Idolaters and Turks impudently falsly to boast that they had spoken unto a God and received their Lawes from his hand In like manner also Numa Pompilius made the Romans believe that he had been instructed by the Goddesse Egeria concerning his Laws And Pithagoras for the same purpose had made an Eagle so tame that she returning to him after her flight gave him occasion to lye in saying that she brought him his Principles and Maxims from Heaven which afterwards he caused to pass for so many Oracles But these were but illustrious falshoods and glorious Impostures deceitfull artifices and subtill illusions to ruine the ignorant whereas the Lawes of Moses were Lawes of the increated Wisedome Decrees of the prime verity and rules of Salvation for an entire people It was requisite then carefully to prepare themselves for so important a reception Qui dixit ei Vade ad populum san ctifica illo hodie eras lavenâ—que vestimenta sua Exod. 19. v. 10. and Moses received command for this effect to advertise all the people that they ought to purifie themselves for the space of two dayes to the end upon the third they might be ready to receive the Law Now this preparation was no other than a generall Sanctification which first consisted in an exteriour neatness principally in apparell Secondly Et ne appropinquetis uxoribus vestris Exod 19.8 Et sint parati in diem tertium c. Exod. 19. v. 11. Jamque advenerat dies tertius mane inclaruerat ecce caeperunt audiri tonitrua S. Hieronymus ad Fabiolam Ac micare fulgura nubes densissimae operire montem clangorque buccinae vehementius perstrepebat timuit populus qui erat in castris Exod. 19. v. 16. Totus autem mons Sinai fumabat eo quod descendisset super eum Dominus in ignes ascenderet fumus ex eo quasi de fornace eratque omnis mons terribilis Exod. 19. v. 18. in abstaining even from lawfull pleasures Thirdly in an expectation full of Piety and respect in consideration of so holy and great a favour This being then done as Moses had ordained on Gods part presently on the third day which was that of Pentecost the siftieth after Easter and after the departure out of Egypt all the Israelites appeared very early in the morning neer Mount Sina and drawn together in a Ring and within
fruits or abortions of Adultery and Fornication shall be seen in the same fire CHAP. XXXII Against the unjust usurpation of other mens goods THou shalt not Steal The seventh Commandement Non furtum facies Exod. 20. v. 15. Alas how many unknown Theeves are there in Country Houses and Cities That wise Senator who said that Gibbetts and Gallowes were onely for the miserable spake truth The spoils made by a Vulture or a Wolf in one hour are greater than all those petty thefts which a thousand Flyes can commit in a year Yet more Flyes are taken in an hour than Wolves in many years There are some Fishes in the Sea which take and devour others but are scarce ever taken themselves There are others which seize on all and part with nothing What pitty would it be if the Planets should draw up all the humors of the Earth without letting fall one single drop of dew Motto of the Hook Capior ut capiam There are some also who bear for their Devise that Motto of the Hook I suffer not my self to be taken but that I may take others And yet themselves are the first who cry out theeves This sport would be passable if we were not obliged to restore all that we have taken detained or unjustly required But restitution is unto theft what the shadow is to the Body and a Man must either restore in this World if he be able or be eternally damned This is a strange dilemma let Men think of it what they please CHAP. XXXIII Condemnation of false witnesses and Lyars THou shalt not bear false witness against thy Neighbour The eight Commandement Non loqueris contra proximum tuum salsum testimonium I have seen certain antient aenigmaes where the tongue was painted on a Throne in the form of a Queen who carryed life and death in her Hand In effect there needs but a good word to save the lives of a thousand Innocents and a bad one to render them all culpable War Plague Famine and the scourges of Heaven and Earth have never committed so many Murthers and given so many wounds as this little mischievous two-edged Knife It is this Murthering blade with which Brothers and Sisters cut one anothers Throats The Mouth of a Lyar of an Hypocrite of an Impostor of a Backbiter of a False witness of a Flatterer of a Traitor and a Calumniator was for this reason most justly called an Arcenal out of which all the arms of death and all the instruments of misery are taken It is also a fatall source out of which issue a thousand poysonous streams which flow as well over Cities as Villages The whole World is subject unto these cruel inundations which raise tempests in the midst of Hearts and drown the most holy amities There are also dead waters which are sometime more dangerous than the most impetuous torrents and the most Rapid Rivers There are some who scoff play the buffoons and bite when they smile We ought to fear nothing so much as those remedies of Empericks which have a sugured out-side and a little leaf gold wherewith they cover a poysoned pill You shall sometimes see also these kind of people using criminall complyances and flattering the disease when we see them and irritating it when they think themselves unknown But nevertheless God hath mortall hatreds for these little Tyrants who wage War against the first verity and above all he will cause the excess of his anger to be felt by those who daily set to sale the reputation of others and to such as will bid the most These are certain little Pigmie Spirits which desire to become Gyants by debasing others Sunt homicidi interfectores fratrum sunt homicidi detractores eorum S. Clem. Ep. 1. And since St. Clement after St. Peter saith that there are two sorts of Murthers the one by the Hand and the other by the Tongue I may stile as well those who commit the last as well as the first Murtherers Executioners Assassins and Canibals which cat more raw than rosted flesh and live only upon the honours goods and lives of other Men But since God is the same Verity it is unto him we ought to remit the sentence and condemnation of these accursed Tongues for the other World although it be the most usuall course of his Justice and Providence to cause even in this World truth to shine forth and to ingrave it with sensible lights on the foreheads and in the consciences of Criminals CHAP. XXXIV The Tomb of Concupiscence THou shalt not covet thy Neighbours Wife nor any thing that is his The two last Commandements Non concupisces domum proximi tui nec desiderabis uxorem ejus Exod. 20. v. 17. Some there are who imagin that it is sufficient to have a vermillion colour upon their Cheeks and for the rest it little imports what they have upon their Bodies These are Sepulchers outwardly white and inwardly inwardly eaten with Worms fair and clear waters but impoisoned bodyes cloathed in Sattin and Velvet but eaten with Cankers and ordures And such are those who figure to themselves that it is enough for them to put no man to death and not publickly to ravish Maids to make a prey of their lubricity but otherwise that it is lawfull to bear a cut throat in their hearts and to make their souls a retreat for all sorts of impurity where like so many Harpees they devour at least by their unjust desires all that their eyes behold These are strange Maximes whereof the Devils themselves have been the first Authors but it is a brutish Ignorance and a stupid blindness not to discern that both good and evill proceeds from the heart and that our desires are like so many Western gales which may cause fair dayes and as many Northern Winds which occasion foul and stormy weather But a worldly and libertine soul will tell me that there is much trouble in it and that we must be blind deaf dumb and leprous not to feel the wounds of those darts which passe suddenly through our senses and I will answer her that we must be Turks and no Christians to give up our selves for a prey and for a mark unto all the shafts which the World Flesh and Hell use to shoot at us But I confess that it is very difficult never to be surprised yet it is sufficient First if it be possible never to give the least occasion thereunto Secondly to avoid dangers namely when they are discovered Thirdly we must often replace in our minds a Hell a death a life and a Jesus who dyed onely to preserve us from them Fourthly we must alwayes remain in a diffidence of our selves and place all our hopes on God Fiftly we must have alwayes arms in our hands not to be surprized by this roaring Lion who both day and night walks round about us Sixthly the prize we expect and the victory which shall crown our Combats is no
156 Secret to become master of hearts 162 Lamentable separation 141 Sephora the command which was given her to circumcise her son 266 Diabolical Serpent which deceived Eve in the Terrestrial Paradise 20 Brazen Serpent which God commanded Moses to make and set up in the Wilderness 381 Sigibertus leaves England to become religious 58 Signs of the day of Judgement 89 Simeon and Levi their fury and cruelties upon the Sichemites 163 Pleasing spectacle 120 Two-edged swords 136 Stratagem of the Angel Raphael 137 Stratagem of Abraham 61 Statue of Justice amongst the antient 86 Soul of a just man is the throne of God 186 Interessed souls 66 Soul source of beauty and operations 14 Slavery of love 150 Spirit of peace becomes furious when it is irritated 69 T. Tabernacle of the Old Testament 372 Time of mans creation 12 Dreadful tempest 275 Temptations their natures and diversities 97 Temptation exercise of Faith ibid. Furious temptations 183 Discreet tenderness 211 Testament of Jacob 236 Thales his opinion of God 262 Theodosius leaves the Empire of Greece to become a religious man 58 The thanksgiving he rendred unto God for one of his vanquished enemies 333 Tomb of concupiscence 352 Thunders plagues of Egypt 286 Tower of Babel 49 Trajan a gallant answer made by him to the Emperor Valens 333 Warlike tranquillity 68 Triumph of love on the sacrifice of Abraham 96 Tryal of love 97 Things difficult to comprehend in the World 166 Tears quench the ardors of our souls 242 Delicious tears 120 V. Vengeance and its degrees 297 Vanity of worldly men in buildings 50 Veremond King of Castile becomes a religious man 58 Verity makes a breach every where 199 Vesuvia the firing of it 275 Vicissitudes of life 168 Union of the souls 145 Vocation of holy soul 57 Voice of God in silence 143 Voyage of Abraham and Sarah into the Land of Egypt 59 His victories and the assurances which God gave him of a flourishing posterity 68 Voyage of the children of Jacob into Egypt 199 Vestments of the High Priest 374 W. Waters of Jordan respectful to the Priests who carried the Ark of the Testament 186 Waters of Egypt converted into blood 277 Constant women 106 Weakness worthy of compassion 46 Weakness of courage 152 Eternal war between the Woman and the Serpent 23 Works of uncreated wisdom 148 Works of the six days 4 Wisdom resembling the Sun 141 Wine its unhappy effects 48 Z. Zeal the excellency and source of it 238 Zeal of the Ranters of the world 254 Indiscreet zeal ibid. True zeal 255 FINIS The Printer to the Reader HIs Lordship 's being out of Town hath occasioned some Errors in the Print which the Reader may thus Correct PAg. 3. line 33. read liveless p. 5. l. 16. r. ardors p. 9. l. 16. r. to his love p. 44. l. 8. adde while p. 55. l. 5. r. Heaven p. 60. l. 28. r. Castles for Dungeons p. 74. l. 30. r. Covenant p. 98. l. 37. r. love was content p. 100. l. 3. r. Benedictions p. 102. l. 15. r. Clarities p. 108. l. 12. r. Isaac 's cost p. 129. l. 4. r. avail me p. 142. l. 13. r. now time l. 14. r. not for needs p. 173. l. 9. dele much p. 204. l. 15. r. poudered p. 207. l. 1. r. Laws p. 217. l. 22. r. even ready p. 255. l. 2. r. specious titles p. 269. l. 3. r. amazed himself p. 295. l. 6. r. was seen cleathed p. 300. l. 1. r. were obliged p. 301. l. 30. r. by it p. 307. l. 1. dele to p. 343. l. 29. dele nevertheless p. 379. l. 9. r. he imployes With other faults of lesser importance besides these in the Text and Marginal Notes