the eares of God then a speechlesse repining of the soule Heat is more intended with keeping in but Aarons silence was no lesse inward He knew how little he should get by brawling with God If he breathed our discontentment he saw God could speake fire to him againe And therefore he quietly submits to the will of God and held his peace because the Lord had done it There is no greater proofe of grace then to smart patiently and humbly and contentedly to rest the heart in the iustice and wisedome of Gods proceeding and to bee so farre from chiding that we dispute not Nature is froward and though shee well knowes we meddle not with our match when we striue with our Maker yet she pricks vs forward to this idle quarrell and bids vs with Iobs wife Curse and dye If God either chide or smite as seruants are charged to their Masters wee may not answer againe when Gods hand is on our backe our hand must be our mouth else as mothers doe their children God shall whip vs so much the more for crying It is hard for a stander by in this case to distinguish betwixt hard-heartednesse and piety There Aaron sees his sonnes lye he may neither put his hand to them to bury them nor shead a teare for their death Neuer parent can haue iuster cause of mourning then to see his sonnes dead in their sinne if prepared and penitent yet who can but sorrow for their end but to part with children to the danger of a second death is worthy of more then teares Yet Aaron must learne so farre to deny nature that he must more magnifie the iustice of God then lament the iudgement Those whom God hath called to his immediate seruice must know that hee will not allow them the common passions and cares of others Nothing is more naturall then sorrow for the death of our owne if euer griefe be seasonable it becomes a funerall And if Nadab and Abihu had dyed in their beds this fauour had been allowed them the sorrow of their Father and Brethren for when God forbids solemne mourning to his Priests ouer the dead hee excepts the cases of this neernesse of blood Now all Israel may mourne for these two only the Father and Brethren may not God is iealous lest their sorrow should seeme to countenance the sinne which he had punished euen the fearfullest acts of God must be applauded by the heauiest hearts of the faithfull That which the Father and Brother may not doe the Cousins are commanded dead carkasses are not for the presence of God His iustice was shewne sufficiently in killing them They are now fit for the graue not the Sanctuary Neither are they caried out naked but in their coats It was an vnusuall sight for Israel to see a linnen Ephod vpon the Beere The iudgement was so much more remarkable because they had the badge of their calling vpon their backs Nothing is either more pleasing vnto God or more commodious to men then that when he hath executed iudgement it should bee seene and wondred at for therefore he strikes some that he may warne all Of AARON and MIRIAM THe Israelites are stayed seuen dayes in the station of Hazzeroth for the punishment of Miriam The sinnes of the gouernors are a iust stop to the people all of them smart in one all must stay the leasure of Miriams recouerie Whosoeuer seekes the Land of Promise shall finde many lets Amalek Og Schon and the Kings of Canaan meet with Israel these resisted but hindred not their passage their sinnes onely stay them from remouing Afflictions are not crosses to vs in the way to heauen in comparison to our sinnes What is this I see Is not this Aaron that was brother in nature and by office ioynt Commissioner with Moses Is not this Aaron that made his Brother an Intercessor for him to God in the case of his Idolatry Is not this Aaron that climbed vp the Hill of Sinai with Moses Is not this Aaron whom the mouth and hand of Moses consecrated an high Priest vnto God Is not this Miriam the elder Sister of Moses Is not this Miriam that led the Triumph of the Women and sung gloriously to the Lord It not this Miriam which layd her Brother Moses in the Reeds and fetcht her Mother to be his Nurse Both Prophets of God both the flesh and blood of Moses And doth this Aaron repine at the honor of him which gaue himselfe that honour and saued his life Doth this Miriam repine at the prosperity of him whose life she saued Who would not haue thought this should haue beene their glory to haue seene the glory of their owne Brother What could haue beene a greater comfort to Miriam then to thinke How happily doth he now sit at the Sterne of Israel whom I saued from perishing in a Boat of Bul-rushes It is to mee that Israel owes this Commander But now enuy hath so blinded their eyes that they can neither see this priuiledge of nature nor the honour of Gods choyce Miriam and Aaron are in mutiny against Moses Who is so holy that sinnes not What sinne is so vnnaturall that the best can auoyde without God But what weaknesse soeuer may plead for Miriam who can but grieue to see Aaron at the end of so many sinnes Of late I saw him caruing the molten Image and consecrating an Altar to a false god now I see him seconding an vnkind mutiny against his Brother Both sinnes find him accessary neither principall It was not in the power of the legall Priesthood to performe or promise innocency to her Ministers It was necessary wee should haue another high Priest which could not bee tainted That King of righteousnesse was of another order He being without sinne hath fully satisfied for the sinnes of men Whom can it now offend to see the blemishes of the Euangelicall Priesthood when Gods first high Priest is thus miscaried Who can looke for loue and prosperity at once when holy and meeke Moses finds enmity in his owne flesh and blood Rather then we shall want A mans enemies shall be those of his owne house Authority cannot fayle of opposition if it be neuer so mildly swayed that common make-bate will rather raise it out of our owne bosome To doe well and heare ill is Princely The Midianitish wife of Moses cost him deare Before she hazarded his life now the fauour of his people Vnequall matches are seldome prosperous Although now this scandall was onely taken Enuy was not wise enough to choose a ground of the quarrell Whether some secret and emulatory brawles passed between Zipporah and Miriam as many times these sparkes of priuate brawles grow into a perillous and common flame or whether now that Iethro and his family was ioyned with Israel there were surmises of transporting the Gouernment to strangers or whether this vnfit choice of Moses is now raised vp to disparage Gods gifts in him Euen in fight the exceptions were
Cain the death of one Abel The same Deuill that set enmitie betwixt Man and God sets enmity betwixt Man and Man and yet God said I will put enmitie betweene thy seed and her seed Our hatred of the Serpent and his seed is from God Their hatred of the holy Seed is from the Serpent Behold here at once in one person the Seed of the Woman and of the Serpent Cains naturall parts are of the Woman his vitious qualities of the Serpent The Woman gaue him to be a brother the Serpent to be a man-slayer all vncharitablenesse all quarrels are of one Author we cannot entertaine Wrath and not giue place to the Deuill Certainely so deadly an act must needs be deeply grounded What then was the occasion of this capitall malice Abels sacrifice is accepted what was this to Cain Cains is reiected what could Abel remedie this Oh enuie the corrosiue of all ill minds and the roote of all desperate actions the same cause that moued Satan to tempt the first Man to destroy himselfe and his posteritie the same moues the second Man to destroy the third It should haue beene Cains ioy to see his brother accepted It should haue beene his sorrow to see that himselfe had deserued a reiection his Brothers example should haue excited and directed him Could Abel haue stayed Gods fire from descending Or should he if he could reiect Gods acceptation and displease his Maker to content a Brother Was Cain euer the farther from a blessing because his Brother obtained mercy How proud and foolish is malice which growes thus mad for no other cause but because God or Abel is not lesse good It hath beene an old and happy danger to be holy Indifferent actions must be carefull to auoid offence But I care not what Deuill or what Cain be angry that I doe good or receiue good There was neuer any nature without enuie Euery man is borne a Cain hating that goodnesse in another which he neglected in himselfe There was neuer enuy that was not bloody for if it eate not an others heart it will eat our owne but vnlesse it be restrained it will surely feed it selfe with the blood of others oft-times in act alwaies in affection And that God which in good accepts the will for the deed condemnes the will for the deed in euill If there be an euill heart there will bee an euill eye and if both these there will be an euill hand How early did Martyrdome come into the world the first man that dyed dyed for Religion who dare measure Gods loue by outward euents when hee sees wicked Cain standing ouer bleeding Abel whose sacrifice was first accepted and now himselfe is sacrificed Death was denounced to Man as a curse yet behold it first lights vpon a Saint how soone was it altered by the mercy of that iust hand which inflicted it If Death had beene euill and Life good Cain had beene slaine and Abel had suruiued now that it begins with him that God loues O Death where is thy sting Abel sayes nothing his blood cryes Euery drop of innocent blood hath a tongue and is not onely vocall but importunate what a noyse then did the blood of my Sauiour make in Heauen who was himselfe the Shepheard and the Sacrifice the Man that was offered and the God to whom it was offered The Spirit that heard both sayes It spake better things thâ—n the blood of Abel Abels blood called for reuenge his for mercy Abels pleaded his owne innocency his the satisfaction for all the beleeuing world Abels procured Cains punishment his freed all repentant soules from punishment better things indeed then the blood of Abel Better and therefore that which Abels blood said was good It is good that God should be auenged of sinners Execution of iustice vpon offenders is no lesse good then rewards of goodnesse No sooner doth Abels blood speake vnto God then God speakes to Cain There is no wicked man to whom God speakes not if not to his eare yet to his heart what speech was this Not an accusation but an inquirie yet such an inquirie as would inferre an accusation God loues to haue a sinner accuse himselfe and therefore hath he set his Deputie in the brest of man neither doth God loue this more then nature abhorres it Cain answers stubbornly The very name of Abel wounds him no lesse then his hand had wounded Abel Consciences that are without remorse are not without horror wickednesse makes men desperate the Murderer is angry with God as of late for accepting his brothers oblation so now for listning to his blood And now he dares answer God with a question Am I my brothers Keeper where be should haue said Am not I my brothers murderer Behold hee scorneth to keepe whom he feared not to kill Good duties are base and troublesome to wicked minds whiles euen violences of euill are pleasant Yet this miscreant which neither had grace to auoyd his sinne nor to confesse it now that he is conuinced of sinne and cursed for it how he howleth how he exclaimeth He that cares not for the act of his sinne shall care for the smart of his punishment The damned are weary of their torments but in vaine How great a madnesse is it to complaine too late He that would not keepe his brother is cast out from the protection of God he that feared not to kill his brother feares now that whosoeuer meets him will â—ill him The troubled conscience proiecteth fearefull things and sinne makes euen cruell men cowardly God saâ— it was too much fauour for him to die he therefore wills that which Cain wills Cain would liue It is yeelded him but for a curse how often doth God heare sinners in anger He shall liue banished from God carying his hell in his bosome and the brand of Gods vengeance in his forehead God reiects him the Earth repines at him men abhorre him himselfe now wishes that death which he feared and no man dare pleasure him with a murder how bitter is the end of sin yea without end still Cain finds that he killed himselfe more then his brother We should neuer sinne if our fore-sight were but as good as our sense The issue of sinne would appeare a thousand times more horrible then the act is pleasant Of the Deluge THE World was growne so foule with sinne that God saw it was time to wash it with a Floud And so close did wickednes cleaue to the Authors of it that when they were washt to nothing yet it would not off yea so deep did it stick in the very graine of the earth that God saw it meet to let it soke long vnder the waters So vnder the Law the very vessels that had touched vncleane water must either be rinced or broken Mankind began but with one and yet he that saw the first man liued to see the Earth peopled with a world of men yet men grew not so fast as wickednesse One man could
meanes neither are blessings or curses euer traduced The chaste bed of holy Parents hath ofttimes bred a monstrous generation and contrarily God hath raised sometimes an holy Seed from the drunken bed of Incest or Fornication It hath been seene that vveightie eares of corne haue growne out of the compasse of the tilled field Thus vvill God magnifie the freedome of his owne choyce and let vs know that wee are not borne but made good Contemplations THE THIRD BOOKE Iacob and Esau Iacob and Laban Dinah Iudah and Thamar Ioseph BY IOS HALL D. of Diuinitie and Deane of WORCESTER LONDON Printed for THOMAS PAVIER MILES FLESHER and John Haviland 1624. TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE THE LORD DENNY BARON OF WALTHAM MY SINGVLAR GOOD PATRON All Grace and Happinesse RIght Honourable I Know and in all humility confesse how weake my Discourse is and how vnworthy of this diuine subiect which J haue vndertaken which if an Angell from Heauen should say hee could sufficiently comment vpon J should distrust him Yet this let me say without any vaine boasting that these thoughts such as they are through the blessing of GOD J haue wouen out of my selfe as holding it after our Sauiours rule better to giue than to receiue It is easier to heape together large volumes of others labours then to worke out lesser of our owne and the suggestion of one new thought is better then many repeated This part which together with the Author is yours shall present to your Lordship the busiest of all the Patriarks together with his tryalls and successe wherein you shall see Esau stripped by fraud of that which he willingly sold Iacobs hard aduentures for the blessing and no lesse hard seruices for his wiues and substance his dangerous encounters ending ioyfully the raâ—e of his onely daughter seconded with the trecherous murder of his sonnes Iudahs wrong to Thamar repayed by his owne vncleannesse Iosephs sale imprisonment honour pietie The sinne of his brethren well bestowed well answered J so touch at the vses of all these as one that knowes it is easie to say more and impossible to say enough GOD giue a blessing to my endeuours and a pardon to my weakenesse to your Lordship an encrease of his graces and perfection of all happinesse Your Lordships humbly and officiously deuoted in all dutie IOS HALL Contemplations THE THIRD BOOKE Of IACOB and ESAV OF all the Patriarkes none made so little noyse in the World as Isaac none liued either so priuately or so innocently Neither know I whether hee approued himselfe a better sonne or an Husband For the one he gaue himselfe ouer to the knife of his Father and mourned three yeeres for his Mother for the other he sought not to any handmaids bed but in a chast forbearance reserued himselfe for twenty yeeres space and prayed Rebecca was so long barren his prayers proued more effectuall then his seed At last she conceiued as if shee had beene more then the daughter in law to Sarah whose sonne was giuen her not out of the power of Nature but of her husbands Faith God is oft better to vs then we would Isaac prayes for a sonne God giues him two at once Now shee is no lesse troubled with the strife of the children in her wombe then before with the want of children we know not when we are pleased that which we desire oft-times discontents vs more in the fruition wee are ready to complaine both full and fasting Before Rebecca conceiued she was at ease Before spirituall regeneration there is all peace in the soule No sooner is the new man formed in vs but the flesh conflicts with the spirit There is no grace where is no vnquietnesse Esau alone would not haue striuen Nature will euer agree with it selfe Neuer any Rebecca conceiued onely an Esau or was so happy as to conceiue none but a Iacob She must be the mother of both that she may haue both ioy and exercise This strife began early Euery true Israelite begins his warre with his being How many actions which we know not of are not without presage and signification These two were the champions of two Nations the field was their mothers wombe their quarrell precedency superiority Esau got the right of Nature Iacob of grace yet that there might be some pretence of equality lest Esau should out-run his brother into the World Iacob holds him fast by the heele So his hand was borne before the others foot But because Esau is some minutes the elder that the younger might haue better claime to that which God had promised he buies that which he could not winn If either by strife or purchase or suite we can attaine spirituall blessings we are happy If Iacob had come forth first he had not knowne how much he was bound to God for the fauour of his aduancement There was neuer any meat except the forbidden fruit so deare bought as this broth of Iacob In both the receiuer and the Eater is accursed Euery true sonne of Israel will bee content to purchase spirituall fauours with earthly And that man hath in him too much of the blood of Esau which will not rather dye then forgoe his birth-right But what hath carelesse Esau lost if hauing sold his birth-right he may obtaine the blessing Or what hath Iacob gained if his brothers Venison may counteruaile his Pottage Yet thus hath old Isaac decreed who was now not more blind in his eyes then in his affections God had forewarned him that the elder should serue the yonger yet Isaac goes about to blesse Esau It was not so hard for Abraham to reconcile Gods promise and Isaacs sacrifice as for Isaac to reconcile the superiority of Iacob with Esaus benediction for Gods hand was in that in this none but his owne The dearest of Gods Saints haue beene sometimes transported with naturall affections He saw himselfe preferred to Ismael though the elder he saw his father wilfully forgetting nature at Gods command in binding him for sacrifice He saw Esau lewly matched with Heathens and yet he will remember nothing but Esau is my first borne But how gracious is God that when we would will not let vs sinne And so orders our actions that wee doe not what we will but what we ought That God which had ordained the Lordship to the yonger will also contriue for him the blessing what he will haue effected shall not want meanes the Mother shall rather defeat the Sonne and beguile the Father then the Father shall beguile the chosen sonne of his blessing What was Iacob to Rebecca more then Esau or what Mother doth not more affect the elder But now God inclines the loue of the Mother to the yonger against the custome of nature because the father loues the elder against the promise The affections of the Parents are diuided that the promise might be fulfilled Rebeccaes craft shall answer Isaacs partiality Isaac would vniustly turne Esau into Iocob Rebecca doth as cunningly turne
hand yet if any other had done it he had falne with the dead and not stood betwixt the liuing and dead in stead of the smoke ascending the fire had descended vpon him And shall there be lesse vse or lesse regard of the Euangelicall ministerie then the Legall When the world hath powred out all his contempt wee are they that must reconcile men to God and without vs they perish I know not whether more to maruell at the courage or mercy of Aaron His mercy that hee would yet saue so rebellious a people his courage that hee would saue them with so great a danger of himselfe For as one that would part a fray he thrusts himselfe vnder the strokes of God and puts it to the choice of the reuenger whether hee will smite him or forbeare the rest Hee stands boldly betwixt the liuing and the dead as one that will either dye with them or haue them liue with him the sight of fourteene hundred carcasses dismayed him not he that before feared the threats of the people now feares not the strokes of God It is not for Gods Ministers to stand vpon their owne perils in the common causes of the Church Their prayers must oppose the iudgements of the Almighty When the fire of Gods anger is kindled their Censers must smoke with fire from the Altar Euery Christian must pray for the remouall of vengeance how much more they whom God hath appointed to mediate for his people Euery mans mouth is his owne but they are the mouths of all Had Aaron thrust in himselfe with empty hands I doubt whether he had preuailed now this Censer was his protection When we come with supplications in our hands we need not feare the strokes of God Wee haue leaue to resist the diuine iudgements by our prayers with fauour and successe So soone as the incense of Aaron ascended vp vnto God he smelt a sauour of rest he will rather spare the offenders then strike their intercessor How hardly can any people miscary that haue faithfull Ministers to sue for their safety Nothing but the smoke of hearty prayers can cleanse the ayre from the plagues of God If Aarons sacrifice were thus accepted how much more shall the High-Priest of the New Testament by interposing himselfe to the wrath of his Father deliuer the offenders from death The plague was entred vpon all the sonnes of men O Sauiour thou stood'st betwixt the liuing and the dead that all which beleeue in thee should not perish Aaron offered and was not stricken but thou O Redeemer wouldest offer and be strooke that by thy stripes we might be healed So stood'st thou betwixt the dead and liuing that thou wert both aliue and dead and all this that we when we were dead might liue for euer Nothing more troubled Israel then a feare left the two brethren should cunningly ingrosse the gouernment to themselues If they had done so what wise men would haue enuied them an office so little worth so dearly purchased But because this conceit was euer apt to stir them to rebellion and to hinder the benefit of this holy souerainty therefore God hath endeuoured nothing more then to let them see that these officers whom they so much enuied were of his owne proper institution They had scarce shut their eyes since they saw the confusion of those two hundred and fifty vsurping sacrificers and Aarons effectuall intercession for staying the plague of Israel In the one the execution of Gods vengeance vpon the competitors of Aaron for his sake In the other the forbearance of vengeance vpon the people for Aarons mediation might haue challenged their voluntary acknowledgement of his iust calling from God If there had beene in them either awe or thankfulnesse they could not haue doubted of his lawfull supremacie How could they choose but argue thus Why would God so fearfully haue destroyed the riuals that durst contest with Aaron if he would haue allowed him any equall Wherefore serue those plates of the Altar which we see made of those vsurped Censers but to warne all posteritie of such presumption Why should God cease striking whiles Aaron interposed betwixt the liuing and the dead if he were but as one of vs Which of vs if wee had stood in the plague had not added to the heape Incredulous minds will not be perswaded with any euidence These two brothers had liued asunder forty yeeres God makes thē both meet in one office of deliuering Israel One halfe of the miracles were wrought by Aaron he strooke with the rod whiles it brought those plagues on Egypt The Israelites heard God call him vp by name to mount Sinai They saw him anointed from God and lest they should thinke this a set match betwixt the brethren they saw the earth opening the fire issuing from God vpon their emulous opposites they saw his smoke a sufficient antidote for the plague of God and yet still Aarons calling is questioned Nothing is more naturall to euery man then vnbeliefe but the earth neuer yeelded a people so strongly incredulous as these and after so many thousand generations their children doe inherite their obstinacie still doe they oppose the true High-Priest the Anointed of God sixteene hundred yeares desolation hath not drawne from them to confesse him whom God hath chosen How desirous was God to giue satisfaction euen to the obstinate There is nothing more materiall then that men should bee assured their spirituall guides haue their Comission and Calling from God The want whereof is a preiudice to our successe It should not be so but the corruption of men will not receiue good but from due messengers Before God wrought miracles in the Rod of Moses now in the rod of Aaron As Pharaoh might see himselfe in Moseses rod who of a rod of defence and protection was turned into a venemous Serpent So Israel might see themselues in the rod of Aaron Euery Tribe and euery Israelite was of himselfe as a sere-sticke without life without sap and if any one of them had power to liue and flourish hee must acknowledge it from the immediate power and gift of God Before Gods calling all men are alike Euery name is alike written in their Rod there is no difference in the letters in the wood neither the characters of Aaron are fayrer nor the staffe more precious It is the choise of God that makes the distinction So it is in our calling of Christianitie All are equally deuoid of possibility of grace all equally liuelesse by nature we are all sonnes of wrath If we be now better then others who separated vs We are all Crabstocks in this Orchard of God he may graffe what fruit he pleases vpon vs onely the grace and effectuall calling of God makes the difference These twelue Heads of Israel would neuer haue written their names in their rods but in hope they might be chosen to this dignitie What an honour was this Priesthood whereof all the Princes of Israel are
out the ringleader of this hatefull insurrection and will at once serue for his hangman and gallowes by one of those spreading armes snatching him away to speedy execution Absalom was comely and hee knew it well enough His haire was no small peece of his beauty nor matter of his pride It was his wont to cut it once a yeere not for that it was too long but too heauy his heart could haue borne it longer if his necke had not complained And now the iustice of God hath platted an halter of those locks Those tresses had formerly hanged loosely disheueld on his shoulders now he hangs by theÌ„ He had wont to weigh his haire and was proud to find it so heauy now his haire poyseth the weight of his body and makes his burden his torment It is no maruell if his owne haire turn'd traitor to him who durst rise vp against his father That part which is misused by man to sinne is commonly imployed by God to reuenge The reuenge that it worketh for God makes amends for the offence whereto it is drawne against God The very beast whereon Absalom sat as weary to beare so vnnaturall a burden resignes ouer his lode to the tree of Iustice There hangs Absalom betweene heauen and earth as one that was hated and abandoned both of earth and heauen As if God meant to prescribe this punishment for Traytors Absalom Achitophel and Iudas dye all one death So let them perish that dare lift vp their hand against Gods anointed The honest souldier sees Absalom hanging in the Oke and dares not touch him his hands were held with the charge of Dauid Beware that none touch the yong man Absalom Ioab vpon that intelligenceâ— sees him and smites him with no lesse then three darts What the souldier forbore in obedience the Captaine doth in zeale not fearing to preferre his Soueraignes safety to his command and more tendering the life of a King and peace of his Countrey then the weake affection of a father I dare not sit Iudge betwixt this zeale and that obedience betwixt the Captaine and the Souldier the one was a good subiect the other a good Patriot the one loued the King the other loued Dauid and out of loue disobeyed the one meant as well as the other sped As if God meant to fulfill the charge of his Anointed without any blame of his subiects it pleased him to execute that immediate reuenge vpon the rebell which would haue dispatcht him without hand or dart only the Mule and the Oke conspired to this execution but that death would haue required more leasure then it was safe for Israel to giue and still life would giue hope of rescue to cut off all feares Ioab lends the Oke three darts to helpe forward so needfull a worke of iustice All Israel did not afford so firme a friend to Absalom as Ioab had beene who but Ioab had suborned the witty widow of Tekoah to sue for the recalling of Absalom from his three yeeres exile Who but he went to fetch him from Geshur to Ierusalem Who but he fetcht him from his house at Ierusalem whereto he had beene two yeeres confined to the face to the lips of Dauid Yet now he that was his sollicitor for the Kings fauor is his executioner against the Kings charge With honest hearts all respects either of blood or friendship cease in the case of Treason well hath Ioab forgotten himselfe to be friend to him who had forgotten himselfe to bee a sonne Euen ciuilly the King is our common father our Country our common mother Nature hath no priuate relations which should not gladly giue place to these He is neither father nor sonne nor brother nor friend that conspires against the common parent Well doth he who spake parables for his masters sonne now speake darts to his Kings enemy and pierces that heart which was false to so good a father Those darts are seconded by Ioabs followers each man tries his weapon vpon so faire a marke One death is not enough for Absalom he is at once hanged shot mangled stoned Iustly was he lift vp to the Oke who had lift vp himselfe against his father and soueraigne Iustly is hee pierced with darts who had pierced his fathers heart with so many sorrowes Iustly is he mangled who hath dismembred and diuided all Israel Iustly is he stoned who had not only cursed but pursued his owne parent Now Ioab sounds the retrait and cals off his eager troupes from execution howeuer he knew what his rebellious Countrymen had deserued in following an Absalom Wise Commanders know how to put a difference betwixt the heads of a faction and the misguided multitude and can pity the one whiles they take reuenge on the other So did Absalom esteeme himselfe that hee thought it would bee a wrong to the world to want the memoriall of so goodly a person God had denied him sons How iust it was that he should want a sonne who had robd his father of a sonne who would haue robd himselfe of a father his father of a Kingdome It had beene pity so poysonous a plant should haue beene fruitfull His pride shall supply nature hee reares vp a stately pillar in the Kings dale and cals it by his owne name that hee might liue in dead stones who could not suruiue in liuing issue and now behold this curious pile ends in a rude heape which speakes no language but the shame of that carkasse which it couers Heare this ye glorious fooles that care not to perpetuate any memory of your selues to the world but of ill-deseruing greatnesse the best of this affectation is vanity the worst infamy and dishonour whereas the memoriall of the iust shall be blessed and if his humility shâ—ll refuse an Epitaph and chose to hide himselfe vnder the bare earth God himselfe shall ingraue his name vpon the pillar of eternity There now lies Absalom in the pit vnder a thousand graue-stones in euery of which is written his euerlâ—sting reproach well might this heape ouer-liue that pillar for when that ceased to be a pillar it began to bee an heape neither will it cease to bee a monument of Absaloms shame whiles there are stones to bee found vpon earth Euen at this day very Pagans and Pilgrimes that passe that way cast each man a stone vnto that heape and are wont to say in a solemne execration Cursed bee the paricide Absalom and cursed bee all vniust persecutors of their parents for euer Fasten your eyes vpon this wofull spectacle O all yee rebellious and vngracious children which rise vp against the loynes and thighes from which yee fell and know that it is the least part of your punishment that your carkasses rot in the earth and your name in ignominie these doe but shadow out those eternall sufferings of your soules for your foule and vnnaturall disobedience Absalom is sped who shall report it to his father Surely Ioab was not so much afraid of