huc atque illuc nullum adesse vidâ—ssâ—t percussum Aegyptium abscondit sabalo Exod. 2. v. 12. and doubtless such a one was that of Moses as he sufficiently manifested when seeing an Egyptian who tormented his Brethren and was a publick enemy to his Nation he resolved to take a just revenge on this Persecutor It was God who put Arms into his hands and this brave Courage feared no danger in undertaking a quarrell in which God Nature and Reason ingaged him This Zeal was neither rash furious nor interessed but prudent and grounded upon reason and the publick good It was an Act of Justice by which he began to exercise the honourable office of a Judge and Regent over the people of Israel This generous and Magnanimous enterprise must not then authorise the liberty of certain Sword-men Zeal of Ranters who speak only of cutting off arms and legs These commonly are a sort of people as I conceive who have courage and boldness enough to kill a man who hath a Scarf over his eyes and his hands bound behind him But I am afraid that in the scuffle and in the midst of the Combat upon a fair occasion they will be seen with pale looks and making more use of their feet than their hands The courage of Moses was never of this temper and these vaporing and boasting people draw no more advantage from it Indiscreet Zeal than those who desire to pass for Zelots and who think under pretence of Zeal that every thing is lawfull for them These are indeed insupportable Tyrants and very often all these flaming devotions and these ardent Zeals are but veils of indiscretion pride presumption self-love and a malignant humour which seeks to subject the whole world to their will and to compleat this they make use of all sorts of weapons This is not to be Zealous but to shew ignorance in the nature of that Divine zeal wherewith Moses was inflam'd to make its Frenzies Furies and most infamous Passions pass under so fair pretences and such specious Bills Zeal alwayes goes on four Wheeles that is to say True Zeal Justice Fortitude Knowledge and Charity and it is the Spirit of God which moves those Wheels and is the Conductor of this Chariot But you will ask me perchance Timuit Moises ait quomodo palam factum est verbum istud Exod. 2. v. 14. Cumque circumspexit but atque illuc nullum adisse vidisset percussum Aegyptium abscondit sabulo Exod 2. v. 52. why then doth Moses fear if God puts the Sword into his hand Why doth he fly after so just and holy an exploit and why doth he bury under the Earth a Trophy which he ought to present unto the eyes of Pharaoh and his whole Court His fear is not servile nor his flight unmanly and indiscreet but he that had given the Courage to expose himself unto danger bestowed on him counsell and means to avoid it and besides as St. Paul hath noted Fide reliquit Aegyptum non verilus animositatem Regis ad Heb. c. 1â— it was Faith and not the fear of Pharaoh's indignation which oblig'd Moses to leave Egypt It was a Stratagem of the holy Providence of God who would leave us this example for an Image of Courtly and worldly favours which have their fluxes and refluxes like the Sea and where such an one is adopted to day to hold the Scepter who shall be to morrow dis-inherited and chased away with dishonour So that Moses who after he had been treated as the Son of a Queen is constrained to depart out of Egypt and to leave the Court of Pharaoh having no other Companions in his voyage but Miseries Poverties Contempts and even Ingratitudes from those whom he had obliged Behold this Favourite of the King behold this person who after his adoption could expect nothing but a Scepter and Crown abandoned and unknown in a forrein Countrie behold him a Fugitive in the Land of Madian Alas what will he doe can it possible happen that after his escape amidst the waves of Nilus he should perish on the Earth and on the brink of a Well Is there not still some young Princess who will take pitty on him and if such an one were found in Egypt who was pleased to be his Mother hath not Madian some one who will be his wife and spouse Moses tyred with travelling Moratus est in terra Madian et sedit juxta puteum Exod. 2. v. 15 Erant autem sacerdoti Madian septem filiae quae venerunt ad hauriendam aqueuam impletis canalibus adaquare cupiebant greges patris sui Exod. 2. v. 16. Supervenere pastores ejecerunt eas surrexitque Moises defensis puellis adaquavit oves earum Exod. 2 v. 17. Quae cum revertissent ad Raguel patrem suum c. Exod. 2. v. 18. Responderunt vir Aegyptius liberavit nos de manu pastorum c. Exod. 2. v. 19. At ille ubiest inquit vocate eum ut comedat panem Exod. 2. v. 20. Juravit ergo Moises quod habitaret cum co accepitque Sephoram filiam ejus Exod. 2. v. 21. Quae peperit ei filium quem vocavit Gersan alterum vero peperit quem vocavit Eliezer c. Exod. 2. v. 22. Post multum verò temporis mortuus est Rex Aegypti c. Exod. 2. v. 23. Et audivit gemitum corum ac recordatus est faederis quod pepigit cum Abraham Isaac Jacob. Exod. 2. v. 24. and weary with his journey knows not whither to goe he is constrained to repose himself neer a well and expects like a flower scorch'd by the Sun some breath of wind and some drop of dew from the bosome and hand of him who nourisheth all creatures and replenisheth all Hearts with benedictions As he was in this expectation he perceived seaven daughters of Raguel Prince of Madian coming to water their flocks But when these illustrious Shepheardesses had drawn Water for this end some Shepheards who followed them were so bold as to attempt the taking some of it to Water their own Then Moses not being able to endure so great an indignity took upon himself the just quarell of these Maids and having chased away these presumptuous persons he himself drew water out of this well and gave it unto their Sheep which was the occasion Raguel who was presently advertised of what had passed sent for him to espouse unto him one of his daughters named Sephora by whom Moses had two Sons whose names served to leave a Monument of their fathers fortune unto posterity For the first was called Gerza which signified the aboad of Moses in forein Countries the other called Eleazar in remembrance of the favours God had shewed him taking him out of the hands and fury of Pharaoh from whom in fine a long time after death who spares no man forced the Crown and scepter of Egypt which gave liberty unto the people of Israel to
honour of him who is our Redeemer Lucifer is fallen from his Throne The Dragon is swallowed up in the billows of the Sea and all these Traytors who intended to drown us are overwhelmed with the waves and where they thought to gather Laurels and Palms they found nothing but an harvest over-spread with Cypres and a vast Sepulcher in the bottom of the Sea where they proposed to themselves toerect a Theater of honour and a field of Triumph This Crosse Fortune some will tell me is a strange turn of Fortune but to speak more Christianly this is an admirable stroak of the Providence and Justice of God which frustrates all the projects of the world and of the wicked to raise Theaters unto vertue and to place Crowns upon the heads of the vertuous when they think themselves in a condition to be trampled on by their enemies Not that but sometimes and very often Wormwood and Gall are mingled with the most pleasing waters of their consolations and with graces which he is ready to impart unto them And not to goe farther to seek examples of this verity Ambulaveruntque tribus dichus per solitudinem non inveniebant aquam Exod. 15. v. 22. Et venerunt in Mara nec poterunt bibere aquas de Mara eo quod essent amarae unde congruum loco nomen imposuit vocans illum Mara id est amaritudinem Exod. 15. v. 23. let us stay a while in this desart where the Israelites now are All their enemies are drowned in the Sea and they themselves have marched for the space of three dayes in this desolate place finding nothing but bitter waters and if nothing else happen they will all dye with hunger and thirst In vain is it for them to murmur if Moses worked not here a Miracle I fear it must appear a truth that the Egyptians are dead in the Sea and that the Israelites will almost perish neer a Sea or in a place which hath nothing but Salt and bitter Waters from which it takes its denomination Alas where then is Moses where is Mary where is this Star of the Sea At ille clamavit ad Dominum qui ostendit ei lignum Quod cum misisset in aquas in dulcedinem versae sunt Exod. 15. v. 25. whose sole name is able to cause a thousand Fountains and Rivers to spring in the midst of Desarts Courage then behold thy happy Conductor to whom God hath shown a certain Wood of life and sweetness which he had scarce put into the water but it presently became delicious Behold a pleasing Metamorphosis But we must not wonder at it since this Wood is no other than the Image of him who can change all the torrents bitternesses of this life into an Ocean of consolation It is the Cross which hath been steep'd in the waters of Mara O Cross O Mara what sweet rigours and pleasing bitternesses doe all those find Venerunt autem in Elim filii Israel ubi erant duodecim sontes aquarum septuaginta palmae castrametatisunt juxta aquas Exo. 15. v. 27. who make use of thee to sweeten their sharpest afflictions Likewise after the Israelites had steeped this wood in the waters of Mara and sweetned the bitter waters of this Desart they went directly to the Land of Elim which was watered with many delightfull Fountains and where under the shades of Palm-trees they might sweetly and joyfully repeat their Canticle of Peace and Victory CHAP. XX. The Manna of the Desart IT was not without reason God from the beginning of the world took the name of Elohim Beneficent Nature of God that is to say a benefactor and obliger For his Nature is so propense to doe good as there is no moment in our lives which is not marked with some of his favours For this end he hath rais'd the Heavens the Air and the Stars over our heads as so many treasuries in which he hath enclosed the light and vitall influences without which the world would be but a confus'd Mass and a dreadfull Tomb. He hath also peopled the elements and given to every one what was convenient and necessary for their infirmities He himself is a great Ocean of Essences and an Abyss of goodness from whence spring a thousand torrents of graces which from Heaven water the Earth in so great abundance and with so generall an effusion that there is no person who may not be satiated thereby It seems also that he was as it were obliged thereunto and that if by some secret of his wise Providence he chance to withdraw his arm and hand which fills us with all sorts of benedictions we may have some cause to complain and murmur against him Et murmuravit omnis congregatio filiorum Israel contra Moysen Aaron in solitudine Exod. 16. v. 2. Dixeruntque filii Israel ad eos utinam mortui essemus per manum Domini in terra Aegypti quando sedebamus super ollas carnium comedebamus panem in saturitate cur eduxisti nos in desertum istud ut occideretis omnem multitadinâ—m fame Exod. 16. v. 3. Behold a while this People I beseech you whom a month since he drew out of Egypt and freed from the Tyranny of Pharaoh Behold these good people for whom he hath sweetned the bitterness of Mara who were scarce gone out of the little Paradise of Elim but they presently murmur'd because their Meal began to fail and as if Moses had been the cause of it they said unto him that they very much wondred at his causing them to depart out of Egypt and that it had been better for them to have there dyed amongst their flesh pots and Caldrons where they had alwayes something to eat than to follow him in a desart where they were even ready to perish with hunger Ah wicked and ungratefull men are you not asham'd to prefer your bellies before God and to forget all the benefits you received in your last necessities Neverthelesse this is what all these Apostates and misbelievers did who having remained some time under the Palm-Trees of Elim and drunk the waters of these sweet fountains being somewhat farther advanc'd in the desart and having met with some wants and difficulties they presently repented themselves for having left the flesh-pots and dung-hils of Egypt to enter a wilderness into which notwithstanding God had conducted and freed them from off the bondage and tyrannie of sin These gluttons are afraid of abstinence the Lent hath affrighted them the just and holy Laws of God and his Church were insupportable to them They choose rather to die with Flesh and Blood upon a dung-hill of ordures and horrours and neer a pile inkindled by the hand of the most infamous passions and where there is some sense of Egypt some flame of Babylon Lib. 1. c. 7 in the spoiles of envy some Spirit of Babel and some remnant of Cain than in a place consecrated to vertue
water which had been so long detained prisoner returns from thence towards the North and into the Indies If you desire more the washing of poor mens feet is represented to us by the River Nilus or rather by that of Jordan Solinus c. 35. Pausanias Sieionius Apol. or finally by the waters of Alpheus For all these miraculous Rivers hide themselves for a time and what is cast into them remain some dayes absorpt under the Abysses of water but at length we receive all that is thought to be lost This is in a word as Solomon said to cast ones bread upon the torrent of waves to receive it in aeternity In fine this is to resemble those Roman Emperors Vopiscus in Aureliane ait eum fecisse corenas de panibus and amongst others Aurelian who made crowns of bread or to conclude and not to intermix prophane Emperors with Christian Kings and with the father of all Christian Princes which is Abraham let us say that this most charitable Man washing these three Pilgrims feet sowed benedictions upon a River Seminate in benedictionibus 2. Cor. 9. Beati qui senunatis super omneâ— aquas Jsa 32. and that he put himself the first in the list of those blessed persons who as Isay saith sowed upon all the waters and lands of Paradise In effect these three guests whom Abraham received into his tents with so much affection zeal and reverence made a Paradise under one Pavillion these were also Angels of Heaven having only the shape and countenance of men from whence I gather that under ragged garments and a skin torn with ulcers and eaten up with cankers God hidden under the habit of poor men God and his Angels conceal themselves to teach the purity of heart works and intentions which ought never to stay upon the rinde and exterior apparence but to passe even to the Center where God himself is retired Presently after the veiles are seen remov'd and the shadowes unfoulded to disclose celestiall lights the Angels of God nay God himself who makes the heart melt into joy and the eyes distill teares of Love and rapture there are seen miraculous generations and fruitfull sterilities which produce Families Nations and Worlds at the birth of one Infant In sequel of these favors the tendernesses of a human heart and the least touches of compassion which men have towards one another hold so secret intelligence with the heart of God as even at that instant men open their hearts God dilates his own to impart unto them his most intimate secrets The confidence he expressed to Abraham was a very Divine condeâ—â—â—â—dency evident mark of this verity for when the crimes and the execrations of Sodom and Gomorrha pressingly called upon his Justice and when the blackest vapors of these horrid sinks ascended even as high as Heaven this most absolute Judge who makes his definitive decrees without dependencoâ—râ— counsell demeaned himself as if he durst not doe it without the advice of Abraham Ah what Diaitque Dominus num celare petero Abraham quae gesturus sum saith he can I conceal my designs and thoughts from my dear Abraham who is to be the Pillar of the World and the Father of so many Nations No certainly but I must discharge part of my displeasure into his bosom that he may share with me in my designs as well as in my contentments Hearken then Abraham Dixit itaque Dominus clamor Sodomorum Gomorrhae multiplicatus est peccatum corum aggravatum est nimis dost thou well understand saith God what passeth for my part I hear a confused Noise which daily sounds louder and louder it is surely the Voice of my Justice which requires vengeance against the Inhabitants of Sodom and Gomerrha which have rendred their Cities an Abyss of horrors and abominations Dost thou not hear these impure Mouths these poysonous Tongues these bewitched Hearts these fleshy Souls these Soul-less Bodies and these ungodly Men without Faith without Law and without Honour I hear them and their infamous clamours awake my indignation Descendam videbo utrum clamorem qui venit ad me opere compleverint An non est ita ut sciam Gen. 28. v. 21. I perceive also the sparkles and flames of their fire which are converted in my Hands into ardent and murthering Torches which consume them I am resolved then to descend even into their Hearts to see neer at Hand the Ashes and the Wood which nourisheth so enormous a Fire But what my God! hast thou not Eyes which pierce from the highest Heaven even into the Center of Hell and is not the least of thy glances able to dissipate all the shadows of the Night and of the Sun to produce there the Day of thy most rigorous Justice hast thou not a myrror in thy self which without disorder confusion presents all objects to thee If thou art a God why doest thou speak to us like a Man And is it not well known that thou art every where and as well in the Desart where Cain killed his Brother as in the Paradise where Eve gave her Husband the mortall wound Hast thou not been seen in Heaven precipitating the Angels upon the Waters of the Deluge drowning Men and in the highest story of Babel over-turning this great Edifice and confounding those Gyants Why dost thou then say that thou wilt descend into Sodom and see in person what passeth before thine Eyes Alas Lord take not the pains to draw aside those shamefull Courtains which hide so many lubricities from our Eyes Lord doe not debase thy self so much as with thy own Hand to discover those Ashes which take from us the prospect of so many volatile fires and so many poysonous coals Notwithstanding God descends as I may say into this gulph of impurity Fair example to Judges and resolves to be not only the Judge but the Witness also of those crimes which he must afterwards punish with so much severity Is not this a fair lesson for those who hold the ballances of Justice in their Hands and with whom God intrusts the most terrible and dreadfull of his Attributes I would willingly demand of these Masters who judge so often upon bare breviats and instead of confronting witnesses and making a diligent inquiry into the fact and truth consult their passions follow their own interests and too inconsideratly pass sentences of life for Criminals and of death against the Innocent I would gladly ask of them if nevertheless there chance to be such kind of people in Christian Republicks whether they have learnt that stile from God Most exact Justice who is the Soveraign of all Justice and who is not satisfied to hear complaints and accusations yet disdains not to cast down his Eyes even to the Earth upon the Authors of crimes to be as I have already said not only their Judge but also their Witness Notwithstanding we must not imagin that God at the first
possess lascivious Souls it was neither deceitfull nor violent neither indiscreet nor arogant neither irregular nor impious neither variable nor impudent neither capricious nor sporting neither phantastick nor stupid neither remiss nor unworthy of a vertuous Man but sincere moderate prudent humble stayed constant respectfull simple condescending equall provident couragious and such as could be desired in a good Man There are in the World inchained Captives Slavery of Love and Houses often become Gallies where we behold slaves rowing against the Wind and Tide These are unfortunate Argonautes who goe in quest of a Golden Fleece which they shall never bring home The Haven and the shore fly before them and there Bark will ever be in the disastrous Hand where nothing is to be seen but refusals disdains and despairs Mean while Dayes and Years pass away in Captivity where nothing is to be found but sorrows furies envies aversions sighs regrets and tears for having courted a painted and plaistered Idol and for having erected Altars to it offering a thousand Vows without ever being able to render it propitious and for having expended their Goods in Masks and Feasts in presents and a thousand poor and shifting devices which served only to swell a Cloud of storms Ah! what blindness what weakness Shamefull blindness what indignity for a Cavalier to be seen at the Feet of some curious and dainty Dame where he burns his Heart where he immolates his Strength and Courage where he dryes up his Bloud and where he prostitutes his Body his Fortunes and Honour In fine the Life of such kind of men is an unhappy vassallage their whole inquest a Martyrdom and all their pursutes meet with nothing but shadows where they find as in an abyss of miseries the loss of their joy and Liberty Jacob fell not into these misfortunes but his Courtships were most just and holy He lived like an Angell incarnate amidst the flames and ardors of a most pure and holy affection Servivit erge Jacob pro Rachel septem annis videbantur illi pauci dies prae amoris magnitudine he excited himself to patience and labour by the sight and upon the hopes of Rachel and he did like those who running at Rings fix only their Eyes on the prize proposed to them he found also no weariness at the end of his course and saw himself upon the point of enjoying his reward after seaven years service which scarce seemed unto him to have lasted so many Dayes But what Et vespere Liam suam introduriâ— ad cum Gea 29. v. 23. Ad quam cum ex amore Jacob fuisset ingressus facto mane vidâ—t Liam Gen. 29. v. 24. as the Hopes we repose in Men very often deceive us so after the Wedding Night the Day discovered unto Jacob the cheats of Laban who instead of Rachel gave him Leah Never was any man more astonished than Jacob who expected nothing less than such a Metamorphosis He fayles not to complain unto Laban of this deceit Et dixit ad sorcerum suum Quidest quod facere voluisti Gen. 29. v. 25. Respondit Laban non est in loco nostro consuetudinis ut minores ante tradamus ad nuptias Gen. 29. v. 26. Imple bebdomadam dierum hujus copulae hanc quoque dabo tibi pro opere quo serviturus es miln septem annis aliis Gen. 29. v. 27. but for answer they told him that it was not the custome to marry the younger Daughter before the Elder that if he would yet for one week accomplish this Mariage with Leah Rachel should be given him for his second wife provided that he would again oblige himself to serve for the space of seven years Behold a lively image in the person of Laban of the deceipts and falshoods of the world which give straws for gold briars for roses counterfeits for true Diamonds chains for liveryes bondage for rewards and at last fables errors and lyes which cause us to spend our lives in a detestable blindness Notwithstanding A poor harvest of worldly men there are some who have less pure intentions than Jacob who amuse themselves to gather up all these straws and take pleasure to rowl themselves upon thorns There are weak and ignorant eyes which prefer Glass before Rubies and Emeralds some cherish their own follies some adore their bondage and some glory to languish in the Martyrdome of a shamefull captivity But that which is most to be deplored some fix their eyes on exteriour attractives upon Painted faces and Phantasmes of Love like those Temples of Egypt which as Clement Alexandrinus saith Clem. Alex. lib. 3. paedag were only set forth with gilded Stones carved Marbles and painted beauties without life or soul Nevertheless we there fix our eyes and fasten our hearts we are content with Leah who was a figure of this life and think no more of Rachel who was the Image of Paradise and Eternity At least we would willingly gather this immortall purple flower of Love but we cannot take the pains to water it with some drop of sweat and blood We would gladly catch in our nets this beautifull Bird of heaven Weakness of courage but we will not take the pains to spread them We would willingly take this fish of the Fortunate Islands but we dare not put our hands into the water it is too chil it is too cold we neither can nor will do it seven years of service are too long to merit a Rachel It is too great a conflict to gain a Crown and we cannot resolve to dye one Moment to live Eternally This moves me to cry out Eternity All is short to him who meditates on Eternity Eternity of joy and felicity how long art thou Eternity and how short is the Moment of pain which may deserve thee O Moment moment of this life how quickly dost thou slip away and what immense Durations hath Eternity Ah! Jacob Jacob serve then not only seven dayes but even seven years entire to obtain Rachel Jacob it sufficeth to love her For in loving every thing is animated every thing lives every thing prospers and every thing passeth away most sweetly under the lawes of love and since it is not for a Man but for a God nor for a mortall beauty but for an immortall happiness you captivate your self It was no trouble unto Jacob to receive this yoak Acquievit beneplacito bebdomadae transacta Rachel duxit uâ—orem Gen. 29. v. 28. seeing himself the possessour of his dear Rachel he resumed the trade he had so happily begun and he believed that the shackles of his second service would not be less supportable than the former Behold him happy to see himself in a Bondage where he was a servant to Laban and the master of Rachel All his misfortune was only because he contemned Leah which proceeded from the excessive love be bore unto Rachel But God taking pitty of Leah rendred
as far as the City of Sidon Issachar shall make choice of a more happy and quiet life he shall delight in Tillage and the fertile land which shall fall to his lot he shall cultivate with no lesse peace than perseverance His pains shall not be fruitless and in the Continent he shall have all the advantages of those Countries which lye neer the Sea making an exchange with them of its Corn and fruits for those Merchandises which come from remote Nations Hee will impart the riches which agriculture shall afford him unto those who shall govern the Republick and purchase his repose by the Contributions he shall voluntarily give for the maintenance of such as bear Arms so long as he shall live quietly in the heart of his Possessions Dan judicabit populum suum c. Gen. 49. v. 16. Dan shall be the Judge of his people as well as of the other Tribes of Israel Dan by surprise shall ruine his enemies Fiat Dan coluber in via cerastes in semite mordens ungulas equi ut cadat ascensor ejus retiò Gen. 49. v. 17. even as Snakes which hide themselves on the sides of high-wayes to destroy Passengers who stand not sufficiently on their guard or as that crafty Serpent which bites the hoof of a Horse to make his rider fall and to infect him with his venom when he is thrown on the ground Notwithstanding the artifices men may use to defend themselves I shall never think that all their forces and wiles can equall the effects of the Protection which the Messias will give us Salutare tuum expectabo do nine Gen. 49. v. 18. I shall alwayes expect it and never believe that there is any assurance comparable to that which we shall receive from the affection and power of this great Prince Gad having received his share Gad accinctas praeliabitur ante eum ipse acciugitur retrorssum Gen. 49. v. 19. shall march in the head of his Brethren to establish them in their Possessions and returning unto his Territories loaden with Booty he will make his retreat in so good order as he shall not be disturb'd by his enemies Asser shall possess the portion of Palestine which looks towards the Sea Aser pinguis panis ejus praebebit delicias Regibus Gen. 49. v. 20. this Land doth produce all things desirable for the entertainment and comfort of life both Corn and Fruits are there so excellent as they will serve for delicacies unto Kings Nephtali will testifie his courage Cervus emissus dans eloquia pulcritudinis Gen. 49. v. 21. casting himself into dangers to defend his Brethren and shall give them cause to admire and praise him He will break all the obstaeles which shall oppose his generous design as a wounded Hart which though timorous by nature Vide Caietanum Lipoman breaks yet sometimes through the toyls of Hunters and from the cruell teeth of Dogs to defend that life which they would violently take from him The felicity of Joseph shall still increase Filius accrescens Joseph decorus aspectu filiae discurrerunt super murum Gen. 49. v. 22. Sed exasperaverunt eum jurgati sunt invideruntque Illi habentes jacula Gen. 49. v. 23. his beauty is so extraordinary as Ladyes esteem'd themselves happy to see him and they plac'd themselves at Dores and Windows to look on him as he passed through the streets Nevertheless such as ought most to love him have conspired his ruine and transported by a furious passion of envy sought to hinder the effects of the promises of Heaven But as the designs of men cannot alter the decrees and ordinances of God So Innocence prov'd stronger than malice and the Chains wherewith his unchaste Mistris had loaden him and the slavery to which his own Brethren had reduc'd him were the means whereof Divine Providence made use to make him King of Egypt and to secure and preserve the goods and lives of those who wished his death My most dear Son Deus patris tui erit adjutor tuus Gen. 49. v. 25. the God whom thy Father adoreth will alwaies assist thee he will replenish thee with benedictions and cause the most favourable Dews to fall upon thy Lands he will cause streams of living water to flow into their bosome and bowels for the refreshing and inlivening thy Roots Plants and Trees Thou shalt have a particular blessing in thy Children Vide Lyram Abul Per. Rupert Cajet Lip and their great numbers shall manifest that thou art the object of the dearest and most exquisite Providences which God declares to have for men Thy Father hath been more favoured than his Ancestors thou shalt enjoy both their favours and mine and the blessing I promise thee shall never cease untill God having given himself unto men in the person of the Messias shall no longer testifie his particular affection towards his Friends in giving them perishable goods All these graces and favours are due unto thy vertue which hath conserved its self without stain and hath also rendred thee as considerable amongst thy Brethren as the Nazarites who peculiarly consecrate themselves unto the service of the Divine Majesty Benjamin as a ravenous Woolf shall in the morning devour his prey Bâ—njamin â—upus rapax mane comedet praedam vesyere dividâ— spolia Gen. 49. v. 27. Vide Procop. Euseb Theodoret. Abul c. Er praecepit eis dicens Ego congregor ad populum meum sepelite me cum patribus in spelunca duplici quae est in agro Ephron Hethaei Gen. 49. v. 29. and in the evening share and divide the Spoiles Behold the Benedictions Jacob by heavens direction gave to each of his Children He afterwards recommended unto them the Buriall of his body in the Tomb of his fore-Fathers and having exhorted them to remain constant in the service of God dyed peaceably in his bed Can we represent unto our selves an end more sweet and quiet I well know that the like deaths are seen in sacred Houses I have seen such with mine own eyes and with my ears I have heard of some Jacobs who have closed their mouths with Benedictions and Canticles of Victory I have seen standers by bath'd in tears and yet their hearts fill'd with Joy receiving the last words and benedictions of dying men I know that the like effects are sometimes seen in the world and there have bin some Kings and Queens Fathers and Mothers Men and Women of all states and conditions who have spoken on their death-beds with so much Judgement and force of spirit as if they had been upon a Throne or in a Pulpit Likewise from thence Edicts Lawes and Lessons are heard in which there can be no deceit nor disguisment But it will be granted me that these examples are very rare amongst those whose lives pass away in noise and tumult For Death is an Eccho which answers life and a night which resents the Calm
against all this Nation This was also the cause why the Amenophits newly ascended on the Throne of Pharaoh fearing to be carried away with his people by this Inundation established merciless Officers which used the Hebrews like Gally-slaves giving them neither truce nor repose in their painful and dishonorable imployments wherein they would have perished with hunger thirst and toyl if God had not preserved and rendred them as I have said more vigorous and strong than before This was the cause Dixit autem Rex Aegypti obstetricibus Hebraeorum c. Exod. 1. v. 15. Praecipiens eis Quando obstetricabitis Hebraeas tempus pâ—rtus advenerit si masculus suerit interficite eum si foemina reservate Exod. 1. v. 16. Timuerunt antem obstetrices Deum non fecerunt juxtà praeceptum Regis Aegypti sed conservabant mares Exod. 1. v. 17. Quae responderunt non sunt Hebraeae sicut Aegyptiae mulieres ipsae caim obstetricandi habent scientiam priusquam veniamus ad eas pariunt Exod. 1. v. 19. why this yong Tyrant resolved to stifle children issuing forth of their Mothers Wombs and to force away Fruits even in their Bud because he could not destroy their Fathers and since these Trunks were too deeply rooted to be pluck'd up To this effect he caus'd the Midwives of Egypt to be brought before him and commanded them cunningly to kill all the Male-children of the Hebrews and to save all the Femals when they should assist their Mothers at their Labors but God did not permit so horrid a cruelty For these women no less good than prudent detested so execrable and brutish a design and notwithstanding all the edicts and threats of Pharaoh they resolved to preserve the Male-children though with the danger of their own lives Whereupon being interrogated they answered That the women of Judea were not like the Egyptians and that they knew the art of their discharging their Womb without calling any one to their aid Some other expedient must be found publikely to thunder out a fury which could not be concealed All Passions have degrees and ways to arrive unto excess and amongst others Fury is a Ball of Fire and riseth from the bottom of the Water which is inkindled in the Cloud and afterwards grown great it thundreth it lightneth and at length makes a hideous noise to reduce into ashes all that it encounters There is nothing more furious than a Tyrannical power which fears some danger It is a Lyon which casts himself against Javelins it is a Dragon which flies into the midst of Flames a Tyger which seeks his life and prey in the bosom of Death and a Comet which apprehends least these shining vapors and these beautiful Exhalations which form its Diadem may finde their last dissolution It is no wonder then if Pharaoh fearing the Israelites Praecepit ergo Pharao omni populo suo dicens Quidquid masculini sexus natum fuerit in flumen proficite quidquid faeminini reservate Exod. 1. v. 22. and failing in his project of stifling them in their Mothers Wombs resolved for the execution of this cruel Design to make use of the most merciless of all the Elements which will one day demand Justice and complain for having been the Instrument of so many Cruelties The River Nilus will raise her Waves and her bloody Billows will accuse this detestable Pharaoh who commanded his Subjects to drown all the Male-children which should be born of the Israelites and suffer the Females to live as uncapable of prejudicing him and from whom the Egyptians might reap some benefit This Decree then is published in all places and it is executed at the cost of the lives of these poor Infants It was indeed a strange spectacle to see the World drowned under the waters of the deluge but Husbands at least had the company of their Wives Fathers and Mothers held their Children by the hand Servants of both Sexes followed their Masters and Mistresses and enjoyed this consolation being all Criminals to receive a common punishment and not to survive one another But here Innocents must be condemned to die and Nurses are constrained to drown their Infants or at least to see them violently taken from their Bosoms to be swallowed up by the Water before they had tasted their Milk or felt the sweetnesses of Life Every where desolate Mothers and despairing Fathers were heard who looked upon Egypt as the Sepulchre of their Families and of the name of Israel But God remembred his promise and permitted not this Nation which in number was to equal the Sands of the Sea to serve for food unto Fishes and unto the Waters of Nilus This sage Conductor of the people whom he had taken into his protection Egressus est post haec vir de domo Levi accepit uxorem stirpis suae Exod. 2. v. 1. Quae concepit peperit filium videns eum elegantem abscondit tribus mensibus Exod. 2. v. 2. Cumque jam celare non â—osset sumpsit fiscellam scirpeam linivit eam bitumine ac pice posuitque intus infantulum exposuit eum in carecto ripae flumivis Exod. 2. v. 3. in despight of Pharaoh's Edicts raised up a Levite called Aaron who took a wife out of the same Tribe of Levi who was delivered of a son incomparably beautiful and who as a Sun was to pass through the Water without wetting himself His Mother hid him for the space of three moneths but this springing Star casteth forth so many lights as at last she conceived her self unable any longer to conceal them in her house and feared lest some body might chance to discover and extinguish them Now to the end this disaster might not happen she resolved to expose him on the Banks of Nilus unto the mercy of the Waves in a Basket made of Bulrushes which she daubed with Bitumen and Pitch with all the affection and industry a Mother could have for a Son Behold Stante procul sorore ejus considerante eventum rei Exod. 2. v. 4. Ecce descendebat filia Pharaonis ut lavaretur in flumine puellae ejus gradiebantur per crepidinem alvei Quae cum vidisset fiscellam in papyrione misit unam è samulabus suis allatam aperiens cernensque in est parvulum vagientem miserta ejus ait De infantibus Hebraeorum est hic Exod. 2. v. 5. 6. the tryal of Love and an abandonment which would have appeared inhumane had not merciless necessity inforced it and if this prudent Mother who with horror looked on the Tomb of her Son had not placed her eldest Daughter as a Sentinel who with her eyes and spirit conducted her Brother who floted in this little Vessel when behold Pharaoh's Daughter coming with some Attendants which descending on the Bank of the River perceived this Cradle which stopt on some Moorish ground At the same time an happy curiosity incited her to send one of her
is the Lamentable state of a hardned Soul where we must observe that God was the cause of it as Moses said not by fastning his heart with the Chains of a fatall necessity nor by captivating it under the power of Devils and of the Hell it self of this life But first in permitting this obduration and leaving the bridle free to him who afterwards like a wild and unruly Colt had no other guide but his own giddiness fury and impetuositie Secondly in staying the course of these Victories and Conquering Graces which create an amorous tyranny in us and onely granting him but some fruitless favours without which a man would not have the power either to undertake or desire what is necessary for his salvation Thirdly in giving him Possessions Glory Empire and forces which were like so many Bulwarks in which this miserable wretch lives in security Fourthly God hardned him by the Miracles wherewith he solicited his faith who following the malice of a corrupted and pernitious Will was dazeled at the sight of them and by over-slight wounds which did but tickle the rage and fury of this resolved spirit in stead of exciting him unto penance and imprinting in him some sence of Love Obedience and Respect Now from hence spring the frightfull sequences Frightfull sequence of obduration and the sad appertenances of the obduration of those who become Rebellious to the Lights of Heaven first they shut their Eyes and stop their Ears not to see or hear when it concerns their salvation Secondly they triumph in evill and iniquities are their most pleasing delights Thirdly the ordure of their crime cannot be cleansed Scriptum stylo ferreo in ungue adamantino Jerem. 17. and their sin is like that of Judas ingraven with an Iron Pen upon a Diamantine lamen Fourthly the so are shameless people Frons meretricis facta est tibi noluisti erubescere Jerem. c. 3. Considera opera Dei quod nemo possit corrigere quem ille despexerit Eccles. 7. and whose foreheads have less sense of modesty than that of common strumpets Fifthly they are incorrigible and though God strike them they yet deride all his chastisements and then all the Counsells of men all the complaints of their friends and even the shame which reflects on their Parents and family cannot move them Sixthly they are full of contempts disdains coldnesses and funestous railleries Seventhly they reside in the depth of the Abysse into which they strive to draw all those that reach out their hands to help them Eighthly all their habits are so inveterate that we may sooner change the skin of a Leopard and the colour of a Negro than the least of their humours Whence it comes that the measure of their iniquities is full and after these persons have passed even into the last degree of blindnesse and impiety they abandon themselves unto the desires of their hearts Cor durum est quod nee compunctione scinditur uec pietate mollitur nec movetur precibus nec cedit minis quin etiam flagell is duratur magis Cor durum est ingratum ad beneficia ad consilia infidum ad judicia saevum vnverecundum ad turpia inpavidum ad pericula inhumanum ad bumana temerarium ad divina praeteritorum obliviscens praesentium negligens futurorum improvidum c. Bern. lib. de consider ad Eugenium and their reason becomes a slave to all the motions of their Concupiscence In fine saith St. Bernard if any one will have an Epitomy of all these miseries and a picture to the life of an obstinate inflexible and obdurate spirit let him represent unto himself a heart which cannot be divided by the salutiferous waters of Compunction nor heated by the flames of a holy Love nor touch'd by the darts of Piety nor made flexible by the allurements of an amiable entreaty nor even affrighted by the horrours of the most dreadfull threats He is ungratefull for the greatest favours he derides the Counsells which are given him he contemns the Judgements of the best understandings he forgets what is past he neglects present things and cannot foresee what will befall him This impudent person is never ashamed even in the most infamous Actions all dangers which make others tremble render him more bold and his insolence passeth yet farther for he is timerarious even in what concerns God and hath no more fear of him than reverence towards men whence it proceeds that he would never cease to sin if he did not first cease to live and these terrors would never end if Death did not set some bounds thereunto Alas what Death what Life what Man what Devill or at least what heart of Man and Devill can be imagined in so detestable a condition My God! give me then rather the heart of a Tyger than so hard a heart to the end if I cannot love thee with the heart of a man I may take revenge on my self with the heart of a beast and make my heart the prey of my liberality But if thy goodness cannot endure such a butchery give me O God of my heart a heart the most loving that ever was Then will I immolate it to thee and thou shalt be the Master of it for all eternity At this instant then I Sacrifice my purest affections to thee At this instant I will obey thy commands and break for this cause with all creatures This is to provoke too long the wrath of a Judge to irritate the clemency of a Father and to heap together a train of miseries a treasure of anger and indignation We must not then expect till the measure be full till we be in the bottome of the Abysse and covered with the dreadfull obscurities of night in which the torches of Love are extinguished and the Lights of hope eternally put out In fine my God burn break and consume my heart for I choose rather to offer unto thee the flames and ashes thereof than to see it insensible and incapable of loving thee CHAP. VIII The Plagues of Egypt THe Law of Grace is not a Law of injustice where all things are permitted and where Vice remains unpunished Witness the Cities which have been swallowed up in a night and where the Elements have as it were conspired to consume places which served for retreats unto all sorts of impurities Witness the Inundation of Ashes the flames of Sulphure which issued forth of Mount Vesuvius about the year four hundred seventy and seven in which Europe was almost absorpt for punishment of the Crimes wherewith it had been polluted Vesuvius Campaniae mons exusta evomuit viscera necturnis que in die tenchris omnem Europae faciem minuto contexit pulvere and whose flames could not be washed away but by a deluge of fire a rain of Ashes and a Hail-storm of Flints which was seen as Salvian relates to come out of the bottome of this Mountain as if it had rent it self and vomited forth
being slipt away The second Plague the Sky and the Waters of Egypt re-assumed their former Nature But God at the same time manifested that there were other weapons to assault the rage and fury of a man whom Rivers of blood and slaughter were not able to satiate Pharaoh then being obstinate Et ebulliet fluvius ranas quae ascendent ingredientur domum tuam Exod. 8. v 3. and refusing to consent to the deliverance of the people of Israel though he saw his whole Kingdom swimming in blood and although God had advertised him by the mouth of his Prophet That he was even ready to besiege him in his House even in his own Bed and at his Table with an Army of Animals which would bear no respect either to him or any of his subjects In fine Ecce ego percutiam omnes terminos tuos ranit Exod. 8. v. 2. All Egypt was in an instant covered with Frogs which swarmed in so great numbers as every drop of water and every grain of earth seemed to be changed into these troublesome Creatures whose croakings were so piercing and continual as they gave neither truce nor repose Josephus addes Meats infacted That the waters became again corrupted and that they fell even amongst their meats which were so much infected by them as men could scarce finde wherewith to eat or drink Which makes me believe that this kinde of Frogs was not onely of those green ones which are commonly seen in the water nor of those which Pliny calls Calamites engendred in Meddows and Moorish grounds but that there were others which are termed BushFrogs bearling on their heads certain horns Eccerunt autem malesici per incantationes suas similiter eduxeruntque ranas super terram Aegypti Exod. 8. v. 7. and which are full of venome This torment then was very cruel and almost remediless For though God permitted the Inchanters of Pharaoh to imitate this Prodigy yet all they could do served but to increase the noise and multitude of these little Tyrants who spared no man This King who had not spoken one single word to obtain the cure of his first wound Vocavit autem Pharach Moisen Aaron dixit eis Orate Dominum ut auserat ranas à me à populo meo dimittam populum ut sacrificet Domine Exod. 8. v. 8. now made Supplications and this proud man who was so presumptuous and bold as to demand the other day who was this God of whom they spake unto him dares not now speak unto him without an Intercessor is inforced to address himself unto Moses and Aaron upon this occasion My Friends saith he unto them take pity I beseech you on me and my poor people supplicate your God to free us from these troublesome Animals and then I assure you that I will dismiss all his people to offer Sacrifices to him Dixitque Moises ad Pharaonem Constitue mihi quando deprecer pro te c. Exod. 8. v. 9. Qui respondit eras Exod. 8. v. 10. Juxta inquit verbum tuum faciam ut scias quoniam non est sicut Dominus Deus noster Exod. 8. v. 10. Et recedent ranae à te domo tuae à servis tuis à populo tuo Et tantum in flumine remanebunt Exed 8. v. 11. Fecitque Dominus juxta verbum Moisi mortue sunt vanae c. Exod. 8. v. 13. Congregaveruntque eas in immensos aggeres computruit terra Ezod 8. v. 14. Videâ—s autem Pharao quod data esset requies ingravavit corâ—suum non audivit eos sicut praeceperat Domius Exod. 8. v. 15. We shall do said Moses what you demand but to the end you may not believe That the promise I am going to make you is grounded upon any other consideration than God upon whom moments and hours depend appoint the time in which you desire I should give you satisfaction and obtain of him for your self and all your Subjects deliverance from this evil which afflicts you Alas Answers Pharaoh Let it be to morrow and no longer deferred Well then saith Moses it shall be done since you desire it and to shew you that there is no power nor greatness equivalent to that of the Lord whom we adore To morrew these little Devils shall raise their siege from your Territories and there shall not any of them be longer seen but in the Water In effect assoon as Moses had offered up his Prayers for this end all these legions died and great heaps were made of them from which as Josephus and Philo assure us there issued so horrid a stench that it even poysoned the whole Country But the Senses of Pharaoh were still so stupified that as it is credible he understood nothing for he did not doubt to do as he had done before and was not asnamed to falsifie the promise he had made unto God and Moses This is just the custom of those who make Vows and Promises during their sickness and afterwards when they are in health think no more of it but God derides their Sacrifices and all their Prayers serve but to inkindle the fire of his Indignation CHAP. XI The Flies of Egypt Pisidius in his Hexameron is ingenuous The third Plague when he Arms Frogs like resolute Soldiers and Flies also as so many Forlorn Hopes who go to make war against Pharaoh and his whole Court and even in his Bed and on his Throne In truth we would not have easily believed that Heaven had an intention to triumph over the Pride and Cruelty of a Prince with squadrons of Flies and legions of Frogs which notwithstanding formed the first Armies of the Great God of Battels Et extendit Aaron manum virgam tenens percussitque pulverem terrae omnts pulvis terrae versus est in sciniphes per totam terram Aegypti Exod. 8. v. 17. and the force he employed to render himself Master of all Egypt was also to fight him every where and to assault him not onely in the water with a Naval Army but also upon the Land which was no sooner strucken by the miraculous Rod of Aaron but presently there appeared a great Army of Flies which arose like those Whirlings which are framed in the Air by Wind and Dust This Accident might at first seem ridiculous Ridiculous Appearances or at least so unconsiderable that there would need but one puff to make it vanish But these little Hobgoblins multiplied so fast and they caused their stings to be felt with so much violence as it was presently visible that a hand more than Humane had ordered these Battalians and inspired so bloody an ardor into all these Animals Some one will perchance say unto me what the Flie it self said in the Moral Discourse of the Slave enfranchis'd by Augustus to wit That they have neither shame nor respect and that they spare neither Men nor Beasts nor Princes more than their
erat quasi species ignis usque mane Num. 9. v. 15. Sic siebat jugiter per diem operiebat illud nubes per nectem quasi species ignis Num. 9. v. 16. the last prodigy was the Pillar which served them for a Torch amidst the obscurities of the night and for an umbrello to oppose the over-violent ardors of the day It was a Chariot of Fire and a Cloud conducted by an Intelligence which held the Reigns thereof and guided it according to the will of God It was a Barque in the Air more fortunate than that which heretofore carried in artificial fire the hopes of Greece For this Vessel had real Fires its Pilot marked out as some have believed the seasons of the year and the hours of the day and night It was a Standard which accompanied and preceded all the Triumphs and Victories of the Hebrews and at the same time routed their enemies It was the Holy Standard whose Ciphers were Love-nets and Draughts of Clemency it was a Sun in Eclipse and a Cloud where the Sun was in his Meridian The Morning and Evening Stars saw this Veil hanging over the Camp of the Israelites when they were inforced to make a halt and flying when they were to march God himself made sometimes use of it as his Throne Si fuisset nubes à vespere usque ad mane statim diluculo tabernaculum reliquisset proficiscebantur Et si post diem noctem recessisset dissipabant tentoria Num. 9. v. 21. and these resplendent obscurities this luminous night and this day shadowed with Clouds served him for a Veil through which he darted on the people the splendors of his glory and the shafts of his amiable Providence which gave the first motion to the Pillar and conducting Angel Is not this a lively Image of the Holy Ghost who is the Pillar of Saints and of the Church who gives strength unto the feeble and light unto the blinde He illuminates during the night of sin and placeth us under his Wings during the day of Grace This amiable Pillar goes marking out our Lodgings during this whole Pilgrimage and at last will stop when it must take its resting place and make its last retreat under the Canopy of Heaven O Israel Chosen People lose not then the sight of this Pillar it is for thee it is for all and if thine eyes cannot endure the splendor of its Rayes put thy feir at last under its shadow and never forsake it until this Divine Cloud which covers thee pour down into thy heart and until without veil or mixture thou maist receive the clarities which make the Paradise and glory of the Blessed for the rest thou needst fear nothing For there is no person who may not gain a place in Heaven and break all the obstacles on Earth following this most Blessed Guide and never losing the sight of these pleasing Lights The Humble may raise themselves by respect and fear the Merciful by the love of Piety the Couragious by Valor the Considerate by Counsel the Provident by the Prudence of Saints the most Solid by Wisdom and such as have the Gift of Discretion by Knowledge and by the various Trials they shall have CHAP. XLVI The Brazen Serpent Quod cum audisset Chananaeus rex Arad qui babitabat ad meridiem venisse scilicet Israel per explorator ◠viam pugnavit contra illum victor existens duxit ex eo praedam Num. 21. v. 1. A While after the death of Mary and Aaron when the people pursued their voyage towards the Holy Land Arad King of the Canaanites had no sooner heard the news of it but he instantly took the field to hinder their further advance It was upon the same way that two years after their departure out of Egypt the Hebrews had sent their Spies into the Land of Canaan and this was the occasion which moved Arad to raise forces in great haste imagining that all these Travellers and Strangers had no other intention than to invade his Territories and render themselves masters of his Country The first conflicts were very prosperous to this Prince At Israel voto se Domino obligans ait Si tradideris populū istū in manu mea delebo urbes ejus Num. 21. v. 2. Exaudivitque Dominus preces Israel tradidit Chananaeum quē ille interfecit subversis urbibus ejus vocavit nomen illius Horma id est anathema Num. 21. v. 3. Profecti sunt autem de monte Hor per viam quae ducit ad Mare rubrum ut circumirent terram Edom. Et taedere coepit populum itineris ac laboris Num. 21. v. 4. Locutusque contra Deum Moisen ait Cur eduxisti nos de Aegypto ut moreremur in solitudine Deest panis non sunt aquae anima nostra jam nauseat super cibo isto levissimo Num. 21. v. 5. and I am confident he would have defeated his Enemies if God had not combined against him according to the solemn Vow the Israelites made to demolish for his honor all the strong holds of this King and to lay so many Anathemaes on them that there might remain nothing but the execrable footsteps and bloody marks of the abominations and impieties which reigned in the Land of Canaan And this they did after a general victory from thence pursuing their way toward the Red Sea and about the Lands of Idumea But in fine these ungrateful men seeing already their promised Palms could not forbear to mingle murmurs with their Songs of Victory and the vexation they had to see themselves so long in a Pilgrimage made them lose the remembrance of him who had conducted them through the desart and rendred them conquerors over their Enemies after he had in a maner inforced the Elements and the most insensible Bodies of Nature to contribute unto their necessities Ah! said they we have too long wandred in this solitary place sometimes upon Mountains and then in Valleys nevertheless after a journey of forty years we have not hitherto reached the Haven And even this Manna which fell from Heaven and which indeed hath hitherto supplied our most pressing necessities is yet but a very slight nourishment and which affords more distaste than benefit Why did we then leave Egypt to come into these desarts and arid places where we have neither Water nor Bread Can we truly represent unto our selves a more unworthy and blinde ingratitude than this But where may we finde punishments harsh enough to inflict on this impious people and darts sharp enough to cause a resentment of so great a disloyalty I could wish that all the Oaths of these perjured persons had been numbred after so many favors and miracles done for their sake and yet behold their Sacrifices their Offerings their Vows and all their Gratitude Why have you brought us hither and why have you delivered us out of slavery to cause us to die with hunger and thirst in this desart