yet the Traitor shall not scape at last Whose execution is deferr'd not past T was neither peace nor warre now either side Hauing sufficiently their forces try'd Take breath a while O happy men if still This mind continue in them If they kill Their appetite of killing if this rest Can at the last informe them what is best To bury their slaine friends both sides agree Vnto a two dayes truce Stupiditie Nor to be borne with had they knowne the vse At first of that which they now call a truce This truce had beene vnnecessary then They might haue spar'd whilst now they bury men And that they now may bury they intreat Respite a while from warre thus all their heat Is buried for the time good heau'n to see Th' Omnipotency of Necessity Whom all the neerest ties of Neighbourhood Religion Language nay of the same Bloud Could not containe from fight but that they would To see if it were theirs shed their owne bloud These are intreated to a forme of peace Their fury for a day or two can cease Commanded by Necessity they feare Lest th' Ayre by so much carcasse poysoned were Lest to reuenge the bloud which they had shed They now might feele the valour of the dead Of strong corruption these thoughts hold their mind These thoughts a while inforce them to be kind On both sides for they doe not iarre in all Nature preuailes not but a Funerall Nor doth this long preuaile for when they had Interr'd some carcasses they yet are mad Till they haue made some more till they haue done A second fault as not content with one They see their Error and commit it thus Who are not eminently vertuous Are easily entrapp'd in vices snares And want the poore excuse that vnawares They were ingag'd we greedily runne on Offending with Deliberation And can you call this but Infirmity Nick-name a Vice O call it Prodigy Call it O what What name can well expresse The miracle of humane guiltinesse Could he pretend an ignorance at least And be in Nature as in Fact a beast He were not worse then they then he might be Both from the Vse and Fault of Reason free But what new horror ceizeth me what fire Raignes in my thoughts and prompts me to rise higher Hence you low soules who groueling on the Earth Basely deiect your selues below your birth Sold to your senses I intend to tell What none can know but in whose breasts doe dwell Coelestiall fires and vnto whom 't is giu'n To haue a neerer intercourse with Heau'n Yet pardon you pure soules whom no one dares Eas'd of our flesh to trouble with our cares Pardon I once more aske if my weake pen Fitting it selfe to ordinary men Attaine not to your height to vs vnknowne And giue you those words which you shame to owne The Lawgiuer who saw as in a glasse All in the Word what euer 't was did passe In these neer enmities as farre as Man Perfectly happy knowes a griefe began To feele Compassion Haue I then said he Deliuer'd Israel for this misery And did I free them from th' Aegyptian Onely to find them graues in Canaan I did foretell their Land should ouerflow But neuer thought to be expounded so Neuer with bloud I meant that they should haue More blessings then the couetous can craue The flowing Vdder and the vntyr'd Bee An happy Deluge of Fertility O how would now proud Pharaoh reioyce How would he haue a Ioy beyond a voyce Beyond his tyranny could he but know VVhat Israel does indure without a Foe VVas it for this I did so oft repeat VVonders before him wonders of so great Exuberance of powre so highly done That they contemne all admiration How wert thou Nilus bloudy'd into Red Thy waters as vnknowne as is thy Head VVhen all thy finny progeny did find That to destroy now which did breed their kind VVhen by a nimble death they vnderstand The Riuer as discourteous as the Land Can I forget that when I did bestow A liberty as heretofore to flow Vnto thy now pale waters there did passe An issue stranger then his Colour was From the too fertil riuer Frogges are found VVith such a multitude to hide the ground That ther 's no grasse appeares no corne is seen The spring does blush because he lookes not greene Their numbers and their noyse equally harsh Make Aegypt not a Region but a Marsh VVhat a small portion of my acts were these How scarcely to be counted passages In my large story Dust is chang'd to Lice And now beginnes to creepe which the most nice And curious eye before could neuer find To moue at all vnlesse 't were by the wind VVhich could not scatter those thicke clouds of Flyes That would not let them no not see the skyes VVhen I but threaten all the cattle dye And Aegypts Gods find a Mortality But lest the men should thinke that they were free From the fault too if the Calamity◠I taught their bodies with blacke goare to runne And imitate their soules corruption What was a Face is now a Pimple growne And in each part is plentifully sowne A store of blaines so vgly that to me It was a kind of Iudgement but to see And if this were but little was 't not I That call'd those candy'd pellets from the sky Which in a moment ouerwhelming all Did badly change their colour in their fall And by the murthering euery one they found Within their reach came red vnto the ground When to repaire the numbers they had slaine Beasts of all sorts the land is fill'd againe But t is with Locusts such a swarme they see Made for the shame of all their Husbandry That they could wish so they were rid of these The former Murrein ere this new increase But who can tell the following Prodigy Last day the Earth was hid but now the sky Chaos returnes the Sunne hath lost his rayes And Nights obscurity is turn'd to Dayes Who could a greater miracle afford God made the Light I Darknesse by a Word Which had it lasted had it ne're been spent They would haue call'd it a kind punishment They had not seen then their first borne to dy To challenge death by their Natiuity All 〈…〉 but why was it to see 〈…〉 suffer fuller misery To gaine the Country which they could not hold From which their owne armes ignorantly bold Expell their owne selues O let no man tell That Israel did banish Israel My prayers forbid nor let it ere be said That Moses was vnkind since he was dead That in the graue I left my goodnesse too And could not pity when not feele a woe Hauing said this with all the speed he may He seekes out holy Abraham who that day By his deere Isaac seconded did sing The ancient mercies of their heauenly King One tells how hauing now worne out a life And so being fitter for his Graue then VVife Nay then when she had liu'd vnto those yeares To
Monarchy when all His Righteousnesse was vanish't that remain'd And so a knowledge of this truth he gain'd A truth he could not know had hee still stood We can be longer Powerfull then Good Nay let vs looke on Hell and we shall see That there 's a Prince of that obscurity It is a torment such as Hell hath none To want that order in confusion That is the best we may conclude from hence That is in Hell and was in Innocence But I doe wonder at the fault so long That I deferre the punishment my song Must to the Leuite turne or rather be No more a Song but a sad Elegy He hauing caru'd his Loue as you haue heard And done that act which Hell and Furies fear'd Sends a choice piece to euery Tribe to plead Their iniuries and tell why she is dead Beniamin shall haue one of them lest hee Might dare commit a crime he durst not see A seuerall messenger to each Tribe is sent But he that vnto Princely Iudah went Carying the head of the dismembred coarse With such a voice which sorrow had made hoarse Least he should raue too highly thus beginnes Is there an Heau'n and can there be such sinnes Stands the Earth still me thinkes I hardly stand Feeling the Seas inconstancy on Land After this Act why flowes the water more Why does 't not staine which alwaies clear'd before It is not Ayre we draw now 't is a breath Sent to infect vs from the Land of Death The Fire whose office 't is to warme and shine Growes blacke and downewards as it did repine To see the fact and sheds a kinde of teares Quenching his heat because he cannot theirs Can you behold these eyes without a teare Can you with patience longer thinke they were And are not the worlds wonder yet I erre It is Reuenge and not a Teare fits her Let women weepe for women then you shall Shew you haue sorrow'd heartily if all Doe sorrow which haue iniur'd her and be Examples as of Crimes so Misery Gibeah 't was O 't was not Gibeah Credit me not beleeue not what I say I scarce dare trust my selfe and yet agen Gibeah 't was that did this Fact and then He tells them all what I before haue wept Now Iudah stormes and as a Riuer kept From its owne course by Weares and Milles if once It force a passage hurryes or'e the stones Sweepes all along with it and so alone Without stormes makes an Inundation Such was the peoples fury they 're so hot That they will punish what we credit not And be as speedy as seuere but some Who loath'd the bloudy accents of the Drumme Who thought no mischiefes of that foulnesse are But that they gaine excuse compar'd with warre And warre with brethren these I say of age The chiefe amongst them doe oppose their rage Exhort them to a temper Stay sayes one And be aduis'd before you be vndone Whence is this fury why d' yee make such hast To doe that act which you 'l repent as fast Are any glad to fight or can ought be Mother of warre beside Necessity Be not mistaken brethren take good heed It is not Physicke frequently to bleed He that for petty griefes incision makes Cannot be cur'd so often as he akes Are then your sisters daughters wifes too chast Or are you sorry that as yet no wast Deformes your richer grounds or does it stirre An anger in you that the souldier Mowes not your Fields Poore men doe you lament That still you are as safe as innocent We yet haue Cities proudly situate We yet haue people be it not in fate That your esteeme of both should be so cheape To wish those carcasses and these an Heape Me thinkes our Iordan hath an happier pace And flowes with greater maiesty and grace In his owne naturall waue then if the sword Should higher colour to his streames afford Should paint and so deforme it to mine eye A Riuer's better then a Prodigy But I desire deere Countrymen to know VVhose is the blood that we must lauish so Perhaps the Philistins ambition VVould to our Shilob bring their Ascalon And these you would encounter or t' may be Aegypt still enuying that you are free Intends a second bondage or perchance Your daily conquer'd Enemies aduance Their often flying ensignes those at hand Possessors and destroyers of the Land VVhom God reseruing for our future Pride Left to our eyes as thornes prickes to our side No none of these but all your swords intend I grieue to speak 't the ruine of a friend And all the sonnes of Israel doe presse That Israel may haue a sonne the lesse Ioseph I 'ue read suffer'd his brothers hate Joseph of neere acquaintance vnto fate The mouth of Destiny they would kill him first But after sell him to try which was worst And yet no reason for this spleene appeares But that his glory was beyond his yeares To hate the yonger still is too much sinne And after Ioseph to spoile Beniamin Hath twelue no mystery doe ye ascribe Meerely to Chance that there is no odd Tribe Trust me my brethren they doe iniure God VVho say that he delights in what is odd I thinke 't is parity best pleaseth heau'n And what is most iust loues what is most eu'n Doe I excuse them then to please the time And onely make an error of a Crime Am I sinnes Aduocate farre be 't from mee To thinke so ill of Warre as Sodomy For Sodomy I tearme it Iustice calls That fact which neuer into action falls If it hath past the license of the will And their intent reacht to that height of ill But whose intent O pardon me there bee Beniamites spotlesse of that Infamy Shall these be ioyn'd in punishment a sinne You 'd warre against O doe not then beginne To act a greater as if you would see VVhether Iniustice aequall'd Luxury This madnesse was from Gibeah 't is true Yet some doe more distast the crime then you Euen in that City heare then my aduice And God shall prosper what you enterprize Exhort them to doe iustice if that then They still be partiall to these guilty men Their guilt is greatest let them perish all And equall their offences with their fall Thicke acclamations breake off his discourse They le heare no more because they like't Remorse Ceizeth each conscience they already hate The ciuill warre which they so wisht of late Embassadors by generall voice are sent But Beniamin conceits that to repent VVere the worse sinne and that who ere will doe A wicked act he ought defend it too But are not we true Beniamites in this And aggrauate what ere we doe amisse By a new act as if the second deed Excus'd the former if it did exceed Did we not thus an end were come to warre Did we not thus no more should priuate iarre Molest our peace Kings might put vp their swords And euery quarrell might conclude in words One conference would
To bondage as to Anarchy they groane Vnder a forraine yoake wanting their owne Carries it any likelyhood or can It sinke into the fancy of a man That when they were opprest they should oppresse As full of folly as of sauagenesse This were to perfect Eglons victory And act what Iabin but desir'd should be And yet it might be Ioshua being dead Then was the time the people lack'd an head Who taking no care for posterity T was the worst act of Ioshua to dye Moses deputed him and if that he Had left another Gouernor it might be Our Leuite had beene chast and Beniamin Beene noted for his vertue not his sinne Then were these multitudes no miracle And Canaan so oft beat by Israel In likelihood would rest quiet and expect If these would doe what they could not effect Besides their dwellings in the Valleyes be So that their seat teaches humilitie And then to climbe the mountaines was such paine As that the labour did exceed the gaine And thus you see that they may fight but ere Their enemies Countries by them wasted were They to the Oracle repaire to know If victory shall grace them or their Foe Yet pardon me I erre they are so strong As that they would imagine it a wrong Done to their valor it we should suppose That they intreated conquest of their foes No being sure of Victory they aske Which of the Tribes shall vndertake the taske Of the first onset and the Tribes refus'd Enuy at Iudahs choyce as if abus'd And iniur'd they esteem'd themselues that they Should loose the dangerous honor of the day Such was their pride such thoughts their Nūbers brod Numbers whose feare might strike the Enemy dead Whose hands deseru'd a fiercer Enemy And matter of an harder victory With these they thinke they might to Memphis passe And make the Aegyptians know what bondage was With these they thought with ease to force a Way Though nature did oppose to India And in a sawcy victory out-runne The primitiue vprising of the Sunne How large are our desires and yet how few Euents are answerable So the dew Which earely on the top of mountaines stood Meaning at least to imitate a flood When once the Sunne appeares appeares no more And leaues that parch'd which was too moist before That we are neuer wholly good that still Mixt with our Vertue is some spice of ill The Israelites are Iust but they are Proud As if a lesser fault might be allowd For punishing the greater yet I 'de know Whilst yet they might suffer an ouerthrow Why they reioyce as if th 'ad wonne or why They haue a Pride ere they haue Certainty Their numbers are incredible 't is true Yet multitudes haue beene orecome by few Their army is compleat t is right but then We know it is an army but of men Of future carkasses so quickly some They haue no time to thinke of death to come To whom no starre a certainty does giue That they at least to the next Field should liue Foure hundred thousand carkasses enough To giue the beasts a surfet and allow Fertility which Nature had deny'd Vnto those Lands So that their height of pride Of hope of glory and of all their toyle Is to inrich the Land which they would spoile So thought the Beniamites who though they saw That Pow'r too was against them with the Law Yet resolutely they intend to die And such despaire giues them the victory They are not Cowards yet though they are bad They slay more numbers then wee 'd thinke they had Whence comes this Courage to the Desperate The bad me thinkes should be effeminate And as the Bees the subiect or the King Hauing abus'd it once doe loose their sting And to inforce a Stoick vnto laughter Being once too fierce they are alwaies sluggish after Conuerted vnto Droanes so it seemes fit And not so much heauens Iustice as its wit That who hath lost his Vertue once should straight Loose courage too opprest with his owne waight The Israelites though amaz'd at this defeat Yet gather head and to their campe retreat There might you see Sorrow and Anger ioyn'd Nor doe they grieue so much as they repin'd Here fathers weepe their onely sonnes and there Brothers for as deare losses dropp a teare Accompany'd with threatnings they are mad Till they bestow the sorrow which they had Once more to Shiloh they repaire to heare If God at last will aide them and for feare That it was pride did frustrate their first sute They 're now as humble as then resolute In stead of fighting they now weepe a day Sighes they doe thinke and teares can make a way Where swords are vselesse they 'l gaine victory No longer by their hand but by their Eye Great and iust God sayes one we doe confesse That all this heauy anger is farre lesse Then our deseruings should'st thou fully waigh Our sinnes enormity t is not a day Lost to the Foe can expiate did we feele What ere we saw in Aegypt did the steele Peirce deeper in our bowells should the skyes Shed those hot showers in which Gomorrah fryes We could not taxe the Iustice of our King But after all owe still a suffering Yet thou hast ancient mercies we'aue beene told Of all thy courtesies which were of old Shew'd to our Fathers O vouchsafe them still And make vs heires of those we haue done ill Prodigiously ill ther 's no offence Which we are guiltlesse of each conscience Accuseth and amazeth vs yet now Our flinty hearts to a repentance bow Yet now at last vouchsafe thy fauour to vs And as thy rod hath scourg'd let mercy wooe vs We dare not looke for victory O no Giue vs at leastwise a more vertuous Foe Thy wrath is iust great God and t is our sute Onely iust men thy wrath may execute We beg not for our liues they are thy loane Which when thou wilt receiue yet as thine owne Let not their swords bereaue vs of our breath And we shall find a benefit in death Yet what a glory can it be to thee That we are dead and that the Heathen see Thy anger on thy Children that thy wrath In stead of being felt is told in Gath And publisht in fierce Ascalon spare vs then If not for vs yet for thy selfe and when Thou think'st of plaguing vs thy selfe exempt Since that our Ruine will breed thy contempt Let then thy mercy aboue iustice shine If we are bad consider we are thine Thus grumbled they a pray'r and he that sees Councells vnhatchd and what he will decrees Yet euer iustly does perceiue that they What ere they faine doe murmure and not pray Which he decrees to punish they would know Whether that once more they shall fight or no Once more he grants that they shall fight and thus They 're not so crauing as he Courteous If they but aske him he will not deny Fight 's their desire and then his answere's I. Had they but
ask'd the victorie as well He would haue heard his troubled Israel He that deliuer'd them from forraine armes And taught their weake hands to repaire their harmes With admirable victory He I say Would haue bestow'd the honor of the day On them had they desir'd it they haue knowne How he hath warr'd for them from heauen showne Such miracles in their defence they fright Those whom they saue as when the wondring night Thought herselfe banisht from the world the Sunne Standing vnmou'd forgetting how to runne If they now loose the day the fault is theirs God does no mercy want they want right prayers But they suppose it too too fond to stand Begging of that which is in their owne hand This they conceiue were to mocke God to craue That to be giu'n which they already haue A pow'r to vse their armes No if once more They may haue field-roome may but fight it o're Though Heau'n doe not fight for them they suppose They cannot loose if Heau'n doe not oppose They thinke no chance can possibly bestow The foile on them the Lawrell on the foe What though they lost the praise of the first day And fought as though they came to runne-away T was not for want of courage sure but either The foe had got aduantage of the weather Or else the wind had rays'd the dust so high That they suppos'd fresh enemies to be nigh And fear'd to be enuiron'd round what ere Occasion'd their first ouerthrow no feare No chance shall cause another and the slaues That now triumph shall find their trenches graues Is this their Crime alone or doe not all Partake as of their fault so of their fall Israel is not onely mad there be Some vices which we giue posterity And this is one of them O how vaine is man O how his Reason too is but a spanne And not his stature or his Age we haue long Iniur'd the beasts and done them too much wrong By calling them Irrationall could they speake Thus in rough language they would fiercely breake Their mind vnto vs O you onely wise To whom kind Nature hath imparted Eyes Leauing all other blind pardon if we Doe tell you where you haue forgot to see Where we are clearer sighted can you show Where euer beasts did to that madnesse grow As to pronounce of that which is to come Of that which onely seemes in Chances doome Yet thus you doe and doing thus haue showne Reason's your title our Possession The Israelites had to their cost of late Found confidence to be vnfortunate Their confidence in Numbers and yet still Though now contain'd in smaller roome they will Forespeake their victory why because they see That they are many yet poore vanity When they were more they were o'recome yet dare Conceiue a Conquest when they fewer are Because still some are to be kill'd as though Successe to Multitudes did homage owe And multitudes impair'd as if the way To winne another were to loose one day But had we seene the City now what ioy Raign'd in those streetes sufficient to destroy Those whom it comforted for pleasure too Can find a way to death and strangely doe The worke of heauinesse and griefe I say Had we but seene the glory of that day The whooping dancing and the generall noyse To which the sea and thunder are but toyes We should haue thought it so the sounds agree No noise of Triumph but Captiuity At last they doe repose themselues and one Of highest iudgement and discretion Instructs them thus My dearest Countrymen Who ere intends his priuate ends does pen A speech vnto the Eare his study is Which words sound well and which are thought amisse He tryes all wayes he layes all colours on To cheat the Iudgement sooth the Passion So that he hopes at last that it must hit Either the subiect or the clothing it But I whose end is Publike good intend Nothing but that which caryes to that end Pardon me then if I am harsh and round If that I am not Plausible but sound We wonne a victory last day so great We hardly dare beleeue we were not beat Our conquest easier was then our beleife And with great reason too for tell what chiefe What petty captaine is so vaine so mad As to ascribe to his conduct the glad Euent of last dayes hazard to my sense The Conqueror was onely Prouidence And we but instruments then I 'de aduice That as you haue beene happy you 'd be wise That man does still in greatest glory stand Whose braine is better thought of then his hand And so I wish that yours should be we know That what is gain'd by Fortune is lost so She hath no constant Fauorite then now Whilst yet our victory does meanes allow To purchase peace at our owne rate and thriue By Couenant more then Battle let vs driue All thought of warre farre from vs t is in vaine To get that hardly which we may obtaine By easier meanes and he does more then raue Who hazards that which he may certaine haue More was he speaking when a thousand tongues Made his be silent one would thinke their lungs To be vnequall to that noyse so fierce Their clamor is such sounds the heauens doe peirce So haue I oft heard in our Theater When that a daintier passage wan the Eare A thousand tongues a thousand hands rebound As if the Plaudite were in the sound And most noise were most pleasing they expresse Their liking so as these their frowardnesse Who raue from noise to action one stoopes downe To reach a stone another fiercer clowne Shakes a steel'd Tauelin at him all the hands Against which Israel but weakely stands Ayme now at one who dreadlesse vnimpair'd In courage neither wisht life nor despair'd At last a serious Counceller stood vp Much had he tasted of the liberall Cup And thankefully exprest it in his face To which a larger wound would be a grace By hiding his rich pimples This braue man Raises himselfe and with what speed he can Stutters thus to them Cease my noble boyes Quiet your threatnings now and stint your noyse T is a iust anger you haue showne but yet The time in which you shew it is vnfit Now should we dance my blouds now should we sing And make the wondring firmament to ring With ioyfull acclamations now braue spirits To shew the most ioy is to shew most merits Sadnesse is onely Capitall in fine Now should we shed no bloud but of the vine For you Sir whom we doubly guilty see Of Treason first and then Philosophy If these doe please thus we pronounce to shew How little we doe feare you or the Foe Wee 'l send you first vnto their campe and then Wee 'l fetch you by our conquest home agen This is a mercy if well vnderstood You shall inioy the fortune you thinke good Here his breath failes when all the people cry He hath spoke nobly none this day shall dye And
that promise did include Their lasting too as well as multitude That their continuance should be as sure As long as either sands or starres indure If they haue sinn'd thou know'st they may repent And be the better by a punishment Neuer by Ruine O then vse thy rod Thinke that they are thy People thou their God And if they are so O then let not be Any more strife but who shall most serue thee If they are so let Abraham once more Receiue those children which thou gau'st before Now they haue left their heau'nly ecchoing Now all the Quire does wonder and not sing When from th' eternall Maiesty are heard Speeches which all but the dread Speaker fear'd Am I as Man that I should change or like The sonne of man to threaten and not strike If I pronounce my wrath against a Land Shall that continue and my word not stand If I doe whet a sword shall it be blunt And haue no direr sharpenesse then t' was wont Beniamins crime h'as such an horror in 't Who haue confirm'd their faces like a flint Against all dye of modesty that till Their bloud which now their too hot veines doe fill Flow in their fields till that their Numbers be Of as small note as is their Chastity It shall not be remitted yet to show That I can pay that which I doe not owe A remnant shall escape but for the rest Those other Tribes which boast they are the best And yet to verifie their goodnesse lesse Speake as if they were iniur'd by successe So making the fault mine who therefore haue Beene lib'rall benefactors to the graue By their thicke deaths vntill that I doe see A confirm'd truth of their humility They shall not see a victory I le make Beniamin punish these and after take Vengeance on the Reuengers till they see My mercy hath not spent mine Aequity This I pronounce this is my constant will Now all the holy company doe fill The heau'ns with shouts of prayse and loudly cry All Honor Glory Power to the most High But now the Israelites once more haue brought Their troopes into the field once more haue fought And whether 't was the fault of them that led Or of the souldier once more they haue fled And now because their battle was not long I will not be more tedious in my Song Canto III. The Argument The Leuites vision Phineah's Prayer The Israelites late caus'd despaire Now turn'd to courage when by them A new inuenned stratagem Drawes the enemy from the walls Vntill within their net he falls With the full righting of the wrong Does both conclude and crowne my Song VVHen will Vice faile wheÌ„ shall we see th' eueÌ„t Of wicked acts as bad as the Intent As yet the worst are prosperous and worse The good as yet haue neuer miss'd their curse Reuiew the Leuites wife and you shall see When she had forfeited her honesty Her father entertain'd her but once more When she was come to what she left before Her Lord and Vertue when that all her strife Shall be to gaine the name of a good wife Gibeah will not harbour her O poore Gibeah were guiltlesse had it done no more But Gibeah will murder her and now Returne we to the Campe and there see how They proue this fatall truth twice had they try'd The valour of their enemies and twice dy'd The fields with their best bloud so hardly crost That they haue fought no oftner then th 'aue lost And yet their cause was best neither were they The onely people which haue lost the day Which they deseru'd to winne search the records Of euery Age and euery Age affords Examples of like strangenesse who can tell What the Assyrian did to Israel How in despite of all their lofty towers Which hop'd a standing to the last of houres He made one houre their last vnlucky howre Where vice shew'd what 't could do when it had power The sword did sport with lifes nor were they such VVhose losse or preseruation did not much Pertaine vnto the state but the Kings sonnes In the same time the same Pauilions By the same tyrant are inforc'd to dye And which exceeds all in their fathers eye Poore Zedekiahs kingdome first is gone And then his heyres O harsh inversion If he had lost them first it might be thought His kingdomes losse would not haue mou'd him ought He would haue made the best of th' other crosse Esteeming it an easing not a losse As he might now to be depriu'd of sight VVhen he should couet the kind screene of Night Betweene his woes and him if in his mind He saw it was a blessing to be blind That then he should be forc't to see no more VVhen he could not see what he saw before This Israel suffer'd and his Ashur did And yet I dare affirme it was not hid Not from th' Assyrian eu'n in his owne doome That they were better who were ouercome Or if the goodnesse to his side he drawes T is that his sword was better not his cause I could goe on in presidents as true Actions betweene the Heathen and the Iew Betweene the Turke and Christian but what need To shew there is no birth without a seed No speech without a tongue or if there be More truths of such knowne perspicuity How doe they doate then who would tye the Lord To be so ayding to his childrens sword As that he ne're should vse his owne nor doe Any one act but what they wish him too Are they so good or is his loue so fond As of a courtesie to make a bond Shall they indent with him and say thus farre Thou mayst correct but if thy iudgements are Of longer date they are vniust for shame All ye that glory in a purer Name Hence those blaspehemous thoughts far hence remoue Lest they deserue the plagues they would reproue Is it iniustice to suppresse our pride To bring vnto our eyes what we would hide Eu'n from our selues our close deformities Or may not God to shew how he does prize His seruants labours make them thus appeare As does the Sunne after a cloud more cleare His iudgement certainly wee 'l say's too quicke VVho'l proue one bad because he sees him sicke These iudgements are discases and bestowd At pleasure and not where they most are owd Yet due they are where euer they are found Since there are none so Catholikely sound But in a word but in a thought haue strayd Perhaps in those Afflictions when th 'aue wayd Their deeds and suffrings which they thinke to be Of farre more rigor then Aequality Then courage noble Countrymen nor feare Though you should want successe a while to â—eare Your names vp to your ancestors who did Those acts which now were better to be hid Lest that they should vpbraid vs doe not feare That Spaine is neerer the Almighties Eare Then our deuotions he that could bestow A victory after a second blow Vpon the doubting
Israelites can still Create our better hopes eu'n out of ill Or if he doe not if he haue decreed That our iust plague shall be their vniust deed That Israel shall be once more ouercome And Dauid flie away from Absalom Yet let this glad vs in our chiefest woe Man may be good and yet vnhappy too Now are they truely humbled now although No curious eye could guesse their ouerthrow When he had seene their numbers yet at length They will rely vpon another strength Or if to numbers they will trust agen 'T is to Gods numerous mercies not their men He can deliuer they haue seene by few And they doe thinke it possible and true That he can helpe by many too they find Without him all their actions full of wind Of emptinesse and with him they not doubt To be as well victorious as deuout Now Pride hath left them now they goodnesse yeeld Now haue they lost their vices with the field Such holy lessons doe misfortunes teach Which make our once bad thoughts brauely to reach At Heau'n and glory if you marke it well Whilst yet it was a num'rous Israel It was a proud one too but when that now God lookes vpon them with an angry brow When all their troopes halfe weary and halfe sicke Are growne to easier Arithmeticke Th' are truly penitent hence we may see The pow'r the good pow'r of Aduersitie W' are bad if we are happy if it please Heau'n to indow vs with a little ease If riches doe increase vntill our store Meet our desires till we can wish no more If that our garners swell vntill they feare Ruine from that with which they furnisht were We but abuse these benefits our Peace Brings forth but factions if that strangers cease To giue vs the affront our selues will be Both the defendant and the Enemy Our riches are our snares which being giu'n To man to make a purchase of the heau'n We buy our ruine with them the abuse Is double in the getting and the vse So that our summes vnto such heapes are growne When Auarice succeeds Oppression In briefe our garners so well stuff'd so cramm'd Detaine our Corne as if that it were damn'd To euerlasting prison none appeares And thus we giue dearth to the fruitfull yeares Being to such a proud rebellion growne Famine is not heau'ns iudgement but our owne So wretched are we so we skilfull grow In crimes the which the heathen doe not know We wrong God for his blessings as if thus We then were thankfull if iniurious Why should not mercy winne vs why should we Be worse by that whence we should betterd be Blessings were ne're intended for our harme Why doe we hearken then to the fond charme Of such temptations O how base is man How foolish Irreligion has wanne Vpon his reason too Doe we not call Whom onely stripes can master bestiall O what is man then who ne're heares his Lord Till that the famine call him or the sword Who as he meant to tyre his patient God Yeelds not vnto his fauours but his rod. And can we yet intreat him to be kind To alter his when wee 'l not change our mind If we are heard we will offend agen And all our pray'r does but intreat a Sinne. Thus pray'd the Israelites but if th' are heard If he that made them scorn'd will make them feard It is in chance no t is as sure as fate Hauing forgot their misery of late They will rebell againe like those good hearts Who though they know the paines the many smarts Which fruitfulnesse is fruitfull with still giue Death to themselues to make their issue liue And if they scape this death they try againe And boldly venture for a second paine As if t were pleasure or as if they meant Rather to dye then to be continent Thus haue we seene a barren sandy soyle Made onely for the husbandmans sad toyle And not his profit when the full heau'n powres His moisture downe easing himselfe by showres Drown'd with the drops to make vs vnderstand A figure of the Sea vpon the Land VVhen once those drops are spent when that the sky Smiles with his new restor'd ferenitie Swifter then thought before that we can say This was the place the water 's gone away There 's a low Ebbe againe we see the Land Changing its moisture for its ancient sand Yet he that knowes this their infirmity At last will pitty it and from on high When now their thoughts of warre they will adiourne When there 's no talke now but of their returne Hee 'l hinder it by victory with that About the time that pitchy night had gat The conquest of the day of which being proud He wrapt himselfe within his thickest cloud Thinking perhaps his conquest to be voyd If any saw the triumphs he inioyd Vnto our Leuite he a vision sends Clad in her dearest shape in whom he ends All thoughts of Fancy Whom when he had seene And quickly he had spy'd her Fairest Queene Of heau'n he sayes what is there here on earth That could perswade thee to a second birth Thus to appeare agen needs must thou know For ignorance belongs to vs below Excluded out of heau'n that our sad stare Is for its goodnes prou'd vnfortunate That Beniamin is conqueror and that we Could not reuenge but onely follow thee Nor was 't one losse one petty ouerthrow Hath daunted vs but as if fate would show All her choyce malice on vs we haue try'd How many wayes 't was possible t' aue dy'd Beleeue it heauenly one no cowardise Which heretofore being base is now tearmd wise Lost vs the day no prouidence no zeale Nor that which can the maymes of actions heale Councell and graue aduice was wanting to vs Only the heau'ns which we had thought would wooe vs To prosecute thy vengeance and from whence We look'd for daies like a good conscience Shining and cleere with cruelty vnheard Giue vs an ouerthrow for a reward That we can onely such our wretched fate Deplore the losse which we should vindicate Is this your Iustice heau'ns nay I would know If it at least be wisedome thus to shew Your wrath vpon you followers if there be Such a desire in you to make vs see What powre you haue wherefore d' ye not vse That powre on those who impiously abuse Vs and your selues O there are heathen still People that neither feare nor know your will If you will ruine these or any wise But lessen y 'aue the fewer Enemies On these be powerfull but if you doubt Whether such nations may be singled out That sinne hath fled the world then here begin For all the Heathen are in Beniamin Are we the onely faulty or am I Pickt out for eminent Iniquity All lights on me t was I that rays'd these warres T was I that this thicke people like to starres Haue lessend into Number I alone Merit both peoples curses ioynd in one Beniamin does detest me
spend in prayer but when the morne Had dimm'd the pride of Cynthiah's cleerest horne By higher luster being call'd away Not by the Cocke the Trumpetter of Day But by an earlier trumpet then you might By her vnwilling and yet hasting light Discerne and seeing almost rightly poyse Whether were more their number or their noyse And vnto which more feare was to be giu'n Who fill the Earth with Numbers with Noyse Heau'n Beniamin takes th' alarme and hauing chose One in whose faithfulnesse they might repose A wary confidence they quit the wall And to the wider field issue out all Lest if they stay'd within and did oppose Rampiers and ditches onely to their foes They might haue bragg'd as if that they had won Making a prison of their garrison Now both the Hoasts themselues so neere doe find That it would aske more labour t' haue declin'd The field then to haue wonne it yet they stay Hoping that innocence is in delay If they are slowly guilty now speares flye Shiuer'd in thousand fitters to the skye And whether it reuenge or fortune were Euery peece becomes a Murtherer And from their bodies frees a many soule Doing that broken which they could not whole Could Xerxes here haue sate vpon an hill To see these warriors hee would not still Fondly lament nor lauish out a teare Because they could not liue an hundred yeere But melt into iust passion away Because they could not liue out all that day Now might you haue beheld the fiery horse Proud of his owne and of his Masters force Robb'd of his Master whom you now might see Running as if t were after Liberty Or you 'de conceiue had you but seene the race That 't was no more a battle but a chase No stroke falls idle nay they are so neere They need not strike at all death is caus'd here By their bad neighbourhood the whole and sound You might haue seene here dead without a wound To saue the guilt and labour of the sword Bodies to bodies their owne ends afford Now nothing but the dust is to be seene Which like so many Emblemes flyes betweene The mingled armies which in silence sayes They are no better then the motes they raise Then those poore Atomes but they thinke to shrowde Their acts from sight of heau'n vnder that cloud And therefore did their vtmost yet as though These hands were slugglish or this fury slow The trumpets chid them to a lustier guilt And the lowd drummes proclaim'd you haue not spilt Blood enough yet O what were they that found Out first the vse and malice of that sound Which makes vs kill with greedinesse and when T is the Corrupted Nature of most men Hardly to yeeld vnto the destitute These will not suffer vs to heare their suite This drownes the groanes but now both armies reele Now this giues backe some ground now that doth feele That it is prest too hardly Thus the seas When euer it the angry winds does please To exercise their fury doe not know What course to take nor whither they should flow This waue breakes that and then another blast Makes that the conqueror which was conquerd last At length the Israelites giue backe indeed And though in order yet with such a speed Beniamin calls it Flight all 's ours they cry If we can runne we haue the victory With that what euer men the towne affords Skilfull to vse their fingers or their swords For spoyle or for pursuite issue out thence With such a noyse they giue intelligence That they haue left it emptie O the vaine Attempts of foolish man O deseru'd paine Th' are made the spoile that they intend to make So wisely can iust heau'ns their vengeance take On bad attempts so all heate asswage And make our Ruine greater then our Rage It neuer entred into their proud thought They should receiue the dammage which they sought To giue vnto their brethren who hauing left Their woody couert and the friendly cleft VVhich entertain'd them by a quicke surprize Take the vnguarded towne O who can prize Those losses to the full or who rehearse Those misaduentures in an equall verse They spare no age but cruell take away From the old men the solitary day They could expect to liue now Infants dye Eu'n those who yet within their mothers lye Finding a Night before they see the Morne Being buri'd thus before that they were borne For whom their murtherers no crime could choose But that they were and had a life to loose Nor does the weaker sex escape the rage Of these intruders and as euery Age So euery Person suffers onely here May be the difference if that any were Either they 're killd out-right or which is worse They thinke their life to be the greater curse Here mothers see their daughters whom they bred As Votaries vnto their Maidenhead Vn-virgin'd in their sight where hauing lost That peerelesse iewell which they valewd most They doe receiue to vindicate their name A death from them from whom they had their shame Auarice followes Lust now they haue leisure To ransacke all those Mineralls of treasure Long peace and thrift had hoarded vp at last As children when their Appetite is past Spoyle what they cannot eate and badly kind Pamper their dogs with that they leaue behind So these as surfeiting with such a store VVhich made them lose all feare of being poore VVhat is not ready spoyle giue to the fire VVhose conqu'ring flames vnto the heau'ns aspire As boasting of their seruice through the towne Swifter then any thing that has renowne For speedinesse they runne one houre does spoile Vnlucky houre what was an Ages toyle Now cracke the houses now the Temples fry Now the poore Citizens resolu'd to dye Doubt of what death and know not which to try The fire the downefalls or the Enemy Had this misfortune hapned in the Night Though Nature had oppos'd such a full light Had made a day and so againe had wonne A Conquest of the towne and of the Sunne Neuer did Sailor with such ioy behold Castor and Pollux when his ship was roll'd Vpon the angry Ocean whose proud waues Made the most haughty minds freeze into slaues VVith a base feare as Israel does view Those flames which he does feare not to be true They are so great and yet he hopes to see These flames to light him to a victory Now all the face of things is chang'd anew Now those which earst seem'd vanquish'd doe pursue The Israelites confirming by their Fight That they could cause as well as act a Flight Beniamin growes amaz'd and does not know VVhat he should doe nor on what grounds to goe VVhich probably seem safe if he should flye He runnes away vnto the Enemy And shall he fight alas but he will find It is impossible to fight behind VVhere he shall be assay'ld yet he shifts ground And figures out his battle in a round And since he hath no hope to scape away Hee 'l