such willingness there was Till close approaches for we both it saw Made them Transgressors of the sacred Law Then from a corner of the garden whence We closely standing saw this foul offence Both of us made to the adultrous pair And came upon them e're they were aware To apprehend him but the sturdy knave Got from our feeble hands and did us leave And in swift hast out from the Garden flew As whom the guilt of conscience did pursue And she though much intreated ne'rtheless Will by no means the Criminals name confess These things are true which we here testify Now brethren judge if she ought not to dye The Assembly were in much consternation to hear this sever accusation against a woman who was renowned for Chastity but having the testimony of two grave Elders and Judges of the people to justify the truth thereof they could do no other but condemn her to death for this notorious crime Susanna having no defence for her innocence on earth appeals to heaven for her justification and cried out with a loud voice in the midst of the people O everlasting God who knowest the secrets of all hearts and from whom nothing is concealed or hidden for thou seest all things before they are acted I appeal to thy just judgment against these perjured and unjust Elders Thou-knowest O Lord that what they have witnessed against me is utterly false and behold I must dye for what I am not in the least guilty of thou knowest that it is all forgery and malice against me and that it is a conspiracy of these wicked Villains against my life in that which I am absolutely ignotant of Vindicate my innocence O God of truth and bring shame and confusion upon these false accusers O everlasting Lord to whom alone The thoughts of all men are entirely known O great Jehovah whos 's all seeing eye Runs through the circle of Eternity Thou know stand thou alone the wrong I bear From those who have polluted Moses Chair Have Law perverted and have witness given Against their conscience my poor life and heaven Gainst me that now must innocent dye and shame To after ages my disgrace proclaim It pleased divine providence to hearken to her request and therefore as she was leading to execution with a train of doleful mourners following her the Lord stirred up the H. Spirit of a young youth whose name was Daniel who cryed out with a loud voice I am clear from the bloud of this woman The whole multitude were much surprized to hear such words uttered by a young man and turning toward him asked what was his meaning Upon which Daniel standing up in the midst of them with an undaunted courage proceeded thus Are you such fools ye sons of Israel that without thorough examination and proof of the truth ye have condemned a daughter of Israel Return back into the seat of judgment and take more strict knowledge of this cause for though you have rashly sentenced this fair Innocent to death yet I am very certain that upon a more severe scrutiny into the matter you will find she as altogether faultless and that these old perjured wretches have born false witness against her Are ye such fools indeed In weighty things to make such careles speed Nay when a life 's concern'd For shame my friends See what dishonour all rash acts attends It makes us odious in the sight of those Who neither God nor yet true judgment knows When ere the truth 's discover'd or the cause You are so quick to execute the Laws And upon Israels daughter sentence give Who has done nothing but she still may live Return ye then unto the Judgment Seat Examine well for sure the impostures great And witnesses more false than Hell have stood To imbrue their hands in this Chast Ladies bloud Whereupon all the people being astonisht at the becoming confidence of Daniel whom they judged to be a Prophet inspiried from above turned back again in hast and the Judges commanded him to come and sit down among them saying Declare to us the truth of this affair since God hath bestowed the honour upon thee to be an Elder if not in years yet in wisdom and understanding Daniel then ordered that the two Elders should be put asunder and then he would examine them apart which being done he called one and said unto him O thou wicked wretch who art even grown old in malice and iniquity now is the time that the villanys which thou hast formerly committed are come to light and thy own conscience accuses thee that thou hast pronounced false Judgment and hast wilfully condemned the innocent and let the guilty go free though the Lord God hath said The innocent and righteous thou shalt not slay And now pray under what tree was it that thou pretendest thou sawest this chast Lady commit adultery Who answered Under a Mastick tree Then said Daniel Very well thou hast now wickedly lied and thereby forfeited thy head to Divine Justice and even now the Angel of God hath received commission to cut thee in two The first being set aside he commanded the other to be brought to whom he fiercely said O thou seed of Cham and not of Judah beauty hath deceived thee and lust hath perverted thy heart thus have you often done to other daughters of Israel who for fear of your power and malicious vengeance have complied and been polluted by you but the virtuous Susanna would not be frightned into wickedness and therefore you contrived her destruction Under what tree I beseech you did you see the young man defile her who answered Under an Holm tree Well said Daniel thou also hast lied against thy own life and the Angel of God waiteth with his sword to cut thee asunder and destroy thee Then pious Daniel to him mildly said Even now thou hast thy cursed life betrayd Gods holy Angel has commission ta'n Forthwith to cut thy wretched life in twain And with a sword attends this very hour Feirce vengeance on thy sinful head to pour At this strange discovery the whole Assembly were amazed and cryed out aloud glorifying and praising the name of that God who saves and delivers those that put their trust in him and finding these two base Elders thus notoriously convicted of perjury out of their own mouths they seized upon them and according to the Law of Moses executed the same sentence upon them which they maliciously and wickedly designed against this chast Lady putting them to death in the sight of the whole multitude who adored the divine Justice in their deserved punishment which had that day so eminently appeared in saving innocent bloud and punishing the guilty by the unexpected prudence of young Daniel who from that day was in much esteem and reputation among all the people And Chelcias and his wife gave abundant praises to Heaven for vindicating their daughters honour Joachim her husband and all her Friends joining with them in
against them and at length arriving at the Palace he stood at the gate it being unlawful for him to enter in that dress with many of the Jews in his company and in the same mourning attire The news hereof coming to the Queen she was much surprized and sent an Eunuch to bid him change his garments which he absolutely refused till the cause of his putting them on was removed Whereupon she again dispatcht her servant to him to know what sad occasion had induced him to put on that dispairing habit and to pour out such lamentable and incessant cries Upon which Mordecai sent her an account of the terrible edict lately published against the Jews and proclaimed through all the provinces by the Kings command with the great Sum of money which Haman had offered to pay into the Exchequer whereby he had purchased the utter desolation of the Jewish Nation and herewith he delivered a Copy of the Edict to the Messenger with a strict injunction to Esther to cloth her self in the most abject fashion and to present a petition to the king for the saving her people from the deplorable destruction decreed against them Esther having received this advertisement sent again to Mordecai to tell him That she knew not when she should be called for by the King and to presume to come into his presence without order would undoubtedly indanger her life unless the king should happen to extend the golden Scepter of mercy to her Mordecai returned answer That she ought to venture her own safety for saving the lives of her whole Nation assuring her that if she neglected their security yet Heaven would do it by some other means and she and her fathers house should be destroyed by those she had slighted and contemned Says he Go tell the Queen it resteth in her powers To help The case is hers as well as ours Go tell the fearful Queen too great 's her fear Too small her zeal her life she rates too dear How poor's th' adventure to ingage thy bloud To save thy peoples life and Nations good Who knows if God on purpose did intend Thy high preferment for this happy end If at this needful time thou spare to speak Our speedy help shall like the morning break From Heaven together with thy woes and he That succours us shall heap his plagues on thee Upon this severe reprimand the Queen sends to Mordecai commanding him to call a general assembly of the Jews to Shushan and to injoyn them to fast and pray three days for his safety and good success assuring him that she her servants would do the same and that at the end thereof she would present her self before the king and says she If I perish I perish Mordecai according to her direction caused the people to fast and pray for her and he himself made earnesâ— supplication to the Almighty To have compassion on their desolate and distressed Nation and as he had formerly preserved them and pardoned ther offences so he would graciously please to deliver them from that imminent destruction which now hung over their heads since they were now condemned to death not for any iniquity of their own but meerly because he only had incensed proud Heman against them in refusing to pay that honour and adoration to him which was due to God alone for which he had contrived this severe revenge against the whole Nation of the Jews to cut them all off from the face of the Earth The people likewise beseeched God to secure them from the outrage intended against them And Esther cast her self prostratstrate on the earth clothed in Sackcloth devoutly imploring the God of her Fathers to assist and defend her that when she should come before the King she might mollifie and perswade him to have pity upon her and her distressed people The three days being over she threw off her mourning and adorned her self in the most majestick manner that was possible and attended by her Servants went into the presence Chamber where the king sate on his Throne the splendor and glory whereof did at first somewhat astonish her When Ahasuerus holding out the golden Scepter revived her fainting Spirits and drawing near she touched the top thereof and the King very endearingly asked her What her request to him was She replyed That she only desired his Majesty to honour her with his presence at a Banquet she had prepared for him and that his dear Friend Haman might likewise attend him The King readily consented and Haman joyfully came thither Now in the midst of the Treat when the King became warm with wine he commanded Esther to declare her suit unto him assuring her he would deny her nothing she should demand Esther at present declined to discover her intent but humbly beseeched the King to come again next day with Haman and partake of another Banquet when she would fulfil his desire Ahasuerus promised to revisit her and Haman went home with great joy that he onely had the great happiness to feast with the King and Esther an honour which none of the Nobility of the Empire had ever arrived to But in his return observing Mordecai at the Court gate who would not shew him the least respect his great heart sweld with indignation against him Arriving at his house he called for his Freinds and his wife Zeresh to whom he related the glory of his riches and the greatness of his dignity whom the K. had advanced above all the Princes of the Realm and that Esther suffered no man but himself to come with the King to the Banquet and that to morrow he was again to attend his Majesty thither to a second entertainment Yet saith he all this avails me nothing nor am I in the least contented when I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the Gate and refusing to rise or shew the least reverence to me Zeresh his wife being as full of revenge and pride as he pronounced a sudden and short sentence against Mordecai advising him To cause a Gallows to be set up fifty foot high in his own Court and the next day if he did but desire the King to let him hang Mordecai thereon no doubt but it would be granted and then he might go and sup with the Queen with a merry heart This counsel pleased Haman very well and the Gallows was soon erected but Divine Providence had prepared other business for him to dispatch to make him know That no body designs the ruin of another without hastning his own destruction The evening bofore this fatal day the K. was laid upon his bed to repose himself but could get no sleep all night long without having the least appearance of care or trouble on his spirit and to imploy himself caused his Secretary to bring read before him the Chronicles of his Realm wherein among other Transactions in the reign of his Ancestors and his own he found it recorded that Bigthana and Teresh two of the Kings
blessed Saviour denying him to be equal with God the Father and in prosecution of this impious design she spared no pains nor endeavours using both Flattery and Threats to induce her to comply thereto insinuating That God might as well be worshipt in one Religion as another and that she ought to conform her self to the usages and customs of the place wherein she was especially since thereby she would very much oblige the King and create greater respect in him toward her That she was not come into Spain to give but receive Laws and to exercise obedience That her husband could never faithfully love her if she entertained any other Sentiments Opinions or Sacraments than himself ' That she could never expect to reign happily over a People who were of a contrary Faith to hers That she should not fear the reproaches of her own Countreymen who would count her very indiscreet not to comply with the times and that if for small matters some great men would be perswaded to renounce their former Religious Observances much more might she be excused in her conformity to the Truth when the reward thereof was no less than a Kingdom With such pungent motives and arguments as these this wicked woman did continually afflict the ears of this innocent Princess who nothing moved therewith replyed That if she persisted in these discourses she would for the future take all occasions to avoid her company since nothing could be less grateful to her than using so many subtilties to remove her from her Faith from which she was resolved never to recede during her life yea though the utmost torments were inflicted on her to force a renunciation And therewith going hastily out of her Chamber Gosiniha was very much offended yet concealing her anger resolved to attempt her once more not without hope of prevailing and having by a thousand protestations of kindness and affection endeavoured to make up the breach she at length more earnestly pressed her with many urgent reasons to be again baptized after the Arrian manner which Andegona absolutely refused prudently replying That thanks be to God she was already baptized in the name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost and that if the water of the Arrian Baptism should be cast on her head though she loved her hair as well as any woman need yet she would pluck it off yea tear the Skin along with it that had been defiled with such an abomination This was the last effort Gosintha made and judging her self extreamly affronted at this resolute reply she left Andegona foaming with Rage and Threats That since she refused the Arrian Baptism she should be baptized in another manner which should wash her from head to foot And returning again soon after she barbarously dragged this poor Princess about by the hair of the head and then abusing her to the loss of bloud she commanded two or three of her waiting women to strip her stark naked and bind her with cords and in this posture to throw her into a pool of water in a very cold season of the year It was a miserable spectacle to see the daughter of a King who was so lately received with such Triumphs and Rejoicings thus cruelly treated in the same place Gosintha who stood at the brink of the Pool to behold this unworthy execution ordered her to be drencht in the water by degrees that she might be more sensible of the peircing cold and often repeated these words If you will confess you are an Arrian you are safe and shall be presently released from your misery But the couragious Princess who had not so great an apprehension of death as fear to be seen naked cryed out aloud I am a Christian an Orthodox Christian take away my life if you will yet shall neither fire nor water force me to gainsay or renounce my Profession Gosintha finding all her attempts in vain at length suffered her to come out and put on her garments admiring and envying the constancy and greatness of her Soul which no tortures could shake or disturb Ermangild utterly ignorant of what had passed perceiving his Princess somewhat pale and disorder'd by this rough usage asked whether she were discomposed either in body or mind which she prudently endeavoured to conceal as not worthy his notice but by the manner of her discourse finding she had received some sensible affront he made a strict scrutiny of those who were able to inform him who soon related the cruel indignity his Mother-in-law Gosintha had put upon her which raised his passion to such an height that he had certainly torn that wicked Queen in pieces had not the fear of God and the charming Eloquence of his wife somewhat pacified his fury The Virtuous Andegona fell at his feet beseeching him not to precipitate himself and her likewise into inevitable danger by any extremities so that at length they concluded to remove from the Court to Sevil which was given him as a Patrimony by his Father for his present subsistance Whither being retired they fully enjoyed those delights which had been in some measure obstructed by this ill accident Ermangild believing himself the happiest of all mortals in beholding so many Virtues in so great a beauty And the modesty and piety wherewith she had managed her last disgrace made him think he could not sufficiently adore so much goodness Andegona observing what power she had over her husband by the repeated instances of his tender affection and being now without fear of a Step-mother resolved to improve this opportunity for the good of his Soul and sollicited him seriously to renounce his Arrianism and imbrace true Christianity by insisting on the falsness and unreasonableness of this opinion so derogatory to the honour of the Son of God and Saviour of the World the author of it being a wicked Priest who was made a Bishop out of mere spight and was rejected and solemnly condemned in a Council of three hundred and eighteen Bishops And that it had been remarkt that all the Arrian Kings round about had come to unhappy ends and it might be feared Spain could not escape the vengeance of Heaven unless it were purged from these pestilent errors Ermangild could not well resist the strength of truth and love both assaulting him at once in the same Person and therefore took time to deliberate Whereupon the good Princess prevail'd with him to confer with a famous Bishop who so well managed the Spirit of this gallant Prince that by divine assistance and the continual sollicitations and prayers of Andegona who moved Heaven and Earth for his conversion he at length renounced his error and became an Orthodox Christian Lenigild the Father having notice hereof was exceedingly displeased and Gosintha his Wife was not wanting to inflame him against his son however not willing presently to bring things to extremity knowing the greatness of his Spirit and that many of the Nobility were ready to ingage in his cause He sent