I. First therefore, as to the Place and Dignity, &c.

I might here give you an Historical account of Joseph before his promotion; as what he suffered in Canaan from his unnatural brethren, and like­wise what befell him in Egypt, from the seven­teenth year of his age, when he was sold, to his thirtieth, when he was advanced by Pharaoh, the King thereof; but I consider, 'tis but your turning at your leisure to the last part of Genesis, and you have a plain, as full, relation of him.

As to the Place and Dignity, which he held at this entertainment; it was as great as a Sovereign Prince was able to confer upon him, or a Subject capable [Page 5]of receiving: Forasmuch, saith Pharaoh, chap. 41. vers. 30. and so on, as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet, and wise as thou art; thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled; onely in the Throne will I be greater than thou. A Commission you see very large, and therefore though the occasion and the circumstance of the time of Joseph's ad­vancement might seem to countenance, yet I can­not subscribe to their conjectures, who would al­low Joseph no other than a Praefectus Annonae, who was to take care of the Corn, that the people of the land might not suffer famine; Although I shall grant, that this place of Trust, was very honour­able, not onely in Egypt, but other Nations; so honourable amongst the Romans, that Pompey the Great, after he had subdued Mithridates, the most powerfull Prince of Asia; nay after he had tri­umphed, over a great part of the World, thought it an honour to have this of Praefectus Annonae ad­ded to his other Titles: Though this Dignity, I say, was very great, and Joseph particularly exe­cuted this Office also; yet his authority was grea­ter: He managed all affairs of State; he had the power of Life and Death, of making War, and Peace; in a word, he had the whole sway of Go­vernment devolved upon him: The authority of such Regents (as Joseph was constituted in this Chapter) was of that figure and estimation in the world, both then, and afterwards, that they were many times mistaken for the Kings themselves, by people of other Nations. Joseph's brethren, I am sure, took him for such, witness those words [Page 6]of theirs to their Father, chap. 42. vers. 30. The man who is the Lord of the Land; and again, the Lord of the Countrey: Nay the Egyptian Historio­graphers inserted several of these Regents amongst the Kings themselves, otherwise their Catalogue must be very imperfect, and never to be reconciled; And such was the Soldans power afterwards in Egypt, under the Caliphs; such the Masters of the Palace, under the old Kings of France; and such the Grand Viziers, perhaps at this time in the Turkish Domi­nions: Such, so great in Authority, as well as Pie­ty and Wisedom, as the Scripture informs us, was the person, who took and sent Messes unto his bre­thren. Which brings me to my second Particular.

II. The Reason why Joseph entertained them at a Feast or Banquet.

Ten of his brethren had been with him before, to buy Corn; to whom he then seemed rough and severe, either to make them repent of their former usage towards him, or fearing, that they might have been, as cruel to Benjamin, his onely Brother by the same Mother, as before to him; he charged them therefore as Spies, secured one of them in bonds, till the rest brought Benjamin with them into Egypt: Let but him once appear, the scene is altered; and all the Clouds of Joseph's seeming indignation are gone and vanished, and they might even then, before he discovered himself unto them, have read the kindness of a brother; As soon as they come to Court, Joseph immediately commands, Kill and slay, for these men shall dine with me. And now Joseph's brethren may lay aside all fear; this fol­lowing [Page 7]banquet, to which they are invited, gives them more than hopes, both of their own safety, and the Prince's favour: Simeon is released, and all of them from suspected spies find themselves gra­ced with dining with the Lord of the Countrey: A Banquet is thought by Joseph to be the best way of receiving them, both as their Brother, and their Lord: They had enough paid that adoration, and obedience to him, of which he had formerly dreamed, and which had caused their malice a­gainst him; he had with joy often understood their Repentance, as to what they had formerly done to him; he views his brother Benjamin, grown to mans estate, whom he had left in Canaan a little child; and can scarcely forbear embracing him, and discovering by his tenderness, who he was; he is satisfied that his Father is well; he can there­fore now no longer treat them, as theirs and the Egyptians Lord, but thinks it high time to consult his brotherly affections too: Which to effect, he orders, that they should dine with him; and this was the most ready and natural means, that Joseph could make use of, or indeed his brethren expect; had they then known, how nearly he was related to them: And therefore, in the book of Esther, Haman, in my opinion, urged very well; (though the Event, through his demerits, proved other­wise,) that Ahasuerus his King did design him favour, when he admitted him of all his Cour­tiers to dine with him. Eating and drinking to­gether, ever was a token of friendship amongst all people: Insomuch, that I read of the Romans af­terwards, that they had their Annual Charistia, [Page 8]like to our Countrey feasts at this time, when kinfolk and relations met together, to confirm, saith my Authour, their friendship one with ano­ther, and reconcile all different parties, who had lived in any variance before. Fansie therefore, Be­loved, the twelve brethren sate down at dinner; Joseph indeed, as a Prince, served at a Table by himself; as it is before my Text; but as a bro­ther too, he admits them to dine in the same room near unto him: which leads me to my other par­ticular, viz.

III. The manner how he entertained them;

And he took and sent Messes unto them, from before him; and they drank, and were merry with him.

I shall not, as some have done upon the words, lay down any Critical questions; as whether it was alway a custome for Princes to sit alone at Table by themselves, by way of State and Gran­deur; or whether sitting, as here in Egypt, or ly­ing along, as amongst the Romans, and the Jews from them in our Saviour's time, bore the most ancient date; or whether it hath been a practice for Princes to send dishes from their own Table to their Favourites, as is reported of Cyrus amongst the Persians, Agesilaus amongst the Grecians, and several of the Roman Emperours? or why the E­gyptians, as in the Context, sate at one Table by themselves, and the Hebrews at another by them­selves; Neither farther shall I enquire, what the Messes were, which Joseph sent to his brethren, taking it for granted, that they were rich and [Page 9]sumptuous, such as might set forth his magnifi­cence, as well as kindness; neither, lastly, shall I ask, why Benjamin had five times so much as the rest, as you read in my Text, points indeed incident enough to my Theme, but wholly averse to my design, which is not to nauseate you with intricate questions, a trouble both to the Com­mentators themselves, and their Readers too.

But I must not omit the giving you the genuine signification of the last words of the Text, viz. They drank, and were merry. At the first view thereof, the Debauchees of our, as well as of Saint Austin's age, might hug themselves, with having Joseph a Pious and Wise man, yet a Patron of their excess and drunkenness: Let therefore the same Father's answer serve the men of our, as well as his time. The word in the Hebrew, saith he, sig­nifies to drink plentifully, or cheerfully, by way of refreshment onely; and it is applied even to ina­nimate Creatures: Thus Psal. 65. v. 9. Inebriasti terram, thou hast refreshed, or watered the Earth; which being there acknowledged, as a gift of God, cannot be taken in a bad sense. If this will not satisfie, let them reade the 2d Chapter of St. John, where they will find the same word with the Sep­tuagint in my Text; and upon the Occasion of a Feast too; which Feast the blessed Jesus did not onely grace with his own presence, but honoured it also with the first miracle he wrought; and as after his Resurrection he made himself known to his Disciples by breaking of bread; so here at the Marriage of Cana in Galilee, he manifested him­self [Page 10]by turning water into wine; as if thereby he designed, not onely to supply their present necessi­ty, but remove such scruples, as men of more nice­ness than piety might afterwards raise: which brings me to my fourth and last Particular, viz.

IV. To endeavour to vindicate such Meetings as this of ours.

And of this too, I shall be short, as having hinted at it in the Preface to my Ser­mon; neither do I think it fitting to trouble such Meetings as this with any long discourses.

And this I shall doe from the practice of the Patriarchs before the Law, of the Jews under the Law; I might add of the Gentiles under the Law of nature, and finally of the Primitive Christians (a body made up of Jews and Gentiles) under the Gospel. Let three Angels visit Abraham, the Fa­ther of the faithfull; he orders a Calf to be drest to entertain them; and so far were they from be­ing offended at his courteous invitation, though they had no need of it, that, Gen. 18.5. they commanded him to doe as he had said; and my Text acquaints us, how Joseph entertained his brethren.

Under the Law, I might give you many exam­ples; I shall name but one; yet such an one, as was annually kept for many succeeding years; from Judas Macchabaeus, till our blessed Saviour's time; and then it was so far from being discoun­tenanc'd by our Lord, that he himself justified the observation of it, by his own presence. Josephus acquaints us very succinctly, with the reason of [Page 11]that Feast: When Judas Macchabaeus had re-esta­blished the Service of the Temple, which had been for a long time polluted by the Heathens, both he and his Countrey-men solemnized a Feast: And this, without doubt, gave occasion to the Primi­tive Christians, of instituting their Encoenia, or annual Feasts at the Consecration of their Churches, the same with our Countrey Wakes, so generally observed, I am sure in those places where I lived in Herefordshire; though perhaps the Reason there­of not so well known.

Our Saviour's Parable of the Prodigal Son is much to the same purpose: Let the Penitent Son return to his home, as well as his duty; the indul­gent and compassionate Father commands the best fatted Calf to be slain, to bid him welcome; And the presence of the blessed Jesus, at the two Feasts before mentioned, sufficiently declare his appro­bation of such Meetings. I shall not insist upon the Practice of the Gentiles, as knowing that of old, the Hereticks called Cathari, and the Puritans now, agreeable both in name and nature, did and do as falsly, as maliciously, decry such Feasts, as taking their rise from the custome of the Heathens.

Proceed we therefore to the times of Christia­nity. If we reade so seldom of Feasts amongst the ancient Fathers, 'tis because of the Persecution of God's Church in those Elder days; yet even then we shall not want sufficient Testimonies: [...], was a Canon of St. Cle­ment, whom St. Paul makes mention of in his Epistles, and who was the first Roman Bishop of both the Gentile and Jewish Churches; and who [Page 12]within one remove, succeeded the blessed Apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul, not onely in the then pure and untainted See of Rome, but in their Martyr­dom too.

Theodoret is copious, how he and other Christi­ans kept such Feasts; And at the Dypticks, or Com­memoration of famous men, who sealed their faith in Christ with their bloud; the Primitive Christi­ans did indulge themselves, and take a greater re­past than at other times. Nazianzen in several places gives us his concurrence with us: We keep Festival-days, saith he in one place; and in his Oration in Sanctum Baptisma, at the beginning thereof, he seems to contest for such Meetings a­gainst the Hereticks of his time: It is fitting, saith he, that men should annually celebrate, and rejoice in such, and such days; and then names the days; either wherein they were born, or baptized, or married, vel locum aliquem primi incoluerunt, a­greeable to our Countrey feast at this time; and then, as if he despised the unreasonable Cavils of the Hereticks, by an allusion to the Pagan Rites and Ceremonies, he declares how Pious and Or­thodox Christians did solemnize their Feasts. After this manner, from that Father, the stout and learn­ed Prelate Mountague informs me, That Mounta­gue, who asserted the cause of our Establish't Church, not onely against Baronius, that Bulwark of the Pa­pal Chair, but the Puritans likewise, and those also backed by an House of Commons too; yet did not that daunt him from taking off the Fig-leaves that Party had put on, to hide, if it were possible, their errors and enmity to our Church. I must confess, that [Page 13]St. Ambrose often blamed the Christians for their riot and excess at such Meetings; and particular­ly chid them for immoderately drinking the Em­perour's health; And though the drinking of the Prince's health, was decreed by the Senate, to Au­gustus Caesar, and never, as I have read, cancell'd by any Edict of Christian Emperours; yet Peter Ʋrsinus, in his Appendix, cites St. Ambrose, speak­ing of the Custome of his time: Bibamus, inqui­unt, pro salute Imperatoris, &c. Let us drink, say they, the Emperour's health, &c. That good Fa­ther, to any unbiass'd Reader, doth not so much find fault with the thing it self, as with the ill manner of doing it: And the general practice of the Loyal, and consequently the best part of our Nation, doth explain HIs present Majesty's Procla­mation, as to the drinking of his Health, viz. that it doth not so much forbid the thing, as the excess therein; and that we should not impair our own health, whilst we wish his. And this shall serve for the Explication of my Text; I shall now beg your patience for the Applicatory part, and I have done.

First therefore, from Joseph's thus courteously entertaining his ten brothers, who before had been so cruel, barbarous and unnatural to him, as the Scriptures will fully inform you: Let me recom­mend that grand duty of Christianity, of pardon­ing your Enemies, and forgiving those, whom you may fansie, have done you any injury. To en­courage you to which duty, I shall intreat your leave to propose a new and living example to you; [Page 14]but such an one, as is not impertinent either to my Text, or this Loyal Assembly; the Motto of whose chief Town, Invictae fidelitatis praemium, proclaims their constant fidelity to their Prince, even in the worst of times; much more now, when Schism and Faction, when Sedition and Re­bellion are wisely, as justly, discountenanc'd and punished, and all men are, or pretend to be so, Loyalists: You may easily judge whom I mean, without my naming our present Sovereign, be­tween whom and Joseph there seems a great re­semblance. Compare their Age, you will find them both commencing at the same time in their Miseries, and in their Glory: Both of them about the same years were forced from their Native Coun­trey; the one by unnatural brethren, the other by more inhumane Subjects. But our King's Persecu­tions were greater than Joseph's; He was but the eleventh Son, and so could not expect any great inheritance, whilst our King was the eldest, and heir to three flourishing Kingdoms. Joseph, when he was sold, had the comfort not to fear any hurt to be offered to Jacob; whilst our disconsolate So­vereign laments his Father, as murthered by the worst of Villains, and that under a Mock-shew of Justice: Joseph had but one brother Benjamin to be concerned for, our Prince had two, the one indeed a Companion of his Exile and miseries, but young Glocester exposed to the barbarity of Hypocritical Rakehells, whose very Mercy did threaten more, than others Cruelty; for if they should for their own ends, as the old King feared, have forced the Crown upon his Head, he knew 'twould be like [Page 15]the Royal slaves, amongst the Persians, to sacrifice him afterwards: Besides, our King had many Loyal Subjects, continually harass'd with Plun­ders, Sequestrations, and such-like tendernesses of the pretended Saints, nay even with Death it self, which could not but grieve his Princely heart. Farther, there was this difference between the bre­thren of the one, and the Rebels against the o­ther: The one sold Joseph, that they might not be branded as Murtherers of their brother; The other proffer'd one thousand pound for his Person, that they might, without doubt, doubly dye their accursed hands with the bloud of the Son, as well as the Father. And thus much as to their Sufferings. Now let us view them in their glory and power, and see how the one treated his offending, but penitent, brethren; the other, His then, I wish to God, they may not still prove his Rebellious Sub­jects; And the last Plot doth more than justifie such fears. But let us view them in their Glory. The Scripture acquaints us, that Joseph, when he was thirty years old, stood before Pharaoh, and received that Royal Commission of governing the land of E­gypt; and none of you are ignorant, at what age God bless'd these Kingdoms, with the happy return of our present Sovereign. Both of them came to their power; the one to a deputed, the other to his own by inheritance, by the very same means: It was God, and God alone, who raised Joseph; and the same God, who restored Charles the Second; without making use of the boasted instruments, ei­ther of Canaanitish Brethren, or English Presbyte­rians: Joseph therefore, as soon as he had made [Page 16]himself known to his brethren, chap. 45. vers. 8. for fear that they should plead, that their selling him, brought him into Egypt, and consequently to his pro­motion therein, tells them plainly to their faces, It was not ye that sent me hither, but God; and he hath made me a Father to Pharaoh; and a Ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. And in my opi­nion, Redeunte Carolo, was not onely an ingenious and witty, but a pious and solid argument, that one made use of, to prove the existence of God; for no­thing less than an Almighty Arm could have so ef­fected it.

Suppose them both in their full lustre and digni­ty; though we know who they were (those great Pretenders, and but Pretenders to the King's Re­stauration) who would have limited our Sove­regn's just Power; and like Philip, the second, King of Spain, to the Duke of Alva, would have our King govern, as the other complained, that he was sent to conquer Kingdoms with fetters and shackles on him.

Behold them both, I say, with their Sceptres in their hands, the one governing Egypt under Pha­raoh, the other of his own right giving Laws to his English, and other Subjects. The Scripture tells us, that Joseph after two years, and the im­prisonment of one of his Persecutours, for I can­not give them any other name, till his Clemency restored them to that affectionate title, which by their cruelty they had forfeited; I say, after he had imprisoned one of them for a long space, after he had often known their sorrow, as to what they had formerly done to him; instead of punishing [Page 17]those who had been so unnatural and barbarous to him; he kindly invites them to dine with him, and as in my Text, courteously entertains them, and which too, was onely an earnest of his future favours, for soon after with tears of joy he disco­vered himself unto them, and laying aside the Robes of Majesty, embraced them with the ten­derness of a brother; and gave them the richest part of Egypt, even the land of Goshen to inhabit and dwell therein: But still they were his bro­thers, nay his elder brothers too, whom Joseph thus forgave and obliged. And did our King treat his Rebellious Subjects with less pity and compassi­on? Some few excepted of those impious Regi­cides, who had the Impudence to sit in pretended Justice upon, and sentence to death the Sacred Person of his Royal Father: Those few excepted, I say, for example sake, whom neither his own Piety, nor the cries of his Martyred Father's bloud, nor the just Resentments of his then Loyal Parlia­ment would suffer to live any longer: With what mercy did he receive all the rest? So far was he from punishing, that he seemed more concerned for them, than they for themselves. How impa­tient was he, till all his Rebellious Subjects might know themselves safe and secure; witness his hast­ning and urging forwards his Gracious Act of In­demnity? Wherein he excluded no cursing Shimei's, or other Traitours of a larger size, but gave a ge­neral pardon to all; as if, like David, after the quelling of Absalon's Rebellion, 2 Sam. 19.22. he likewise were resolved to say to any repining sons of Zeruiah, Shall there any man be put to death? [Page 18] Know I not, that I am this day King over Great Bri­tain and Ireland? And if his Justice hath, as of late, seized upon some incorrigible Traitours: Is it not, because all kinder methods of his mercy were lost upon them, and they became doubly guilty of in­gratitude, as well as Treason? But some may say, that Joseph never punished his offending brethren afterwards, I shall easily grant it; but then it is as true, that his brethren were so far from reiterating their iniquities, that chap. 50. vers. 17. As if they had not given testimonies enough before of their Re­pentance, after 17 years, you find them renewing it, praying him to forgive them their trespasses against him. But more than 20 years are past, since our King's Act of Oblivion, without any penitent Appli­cations hitherto; instead thereof, we have heard of repeated Conspiracies, and of late intended Insurrec­tions and Massacres of the King's Loyal Subjects, of Blunderbusses to take away his Life, with his Royal Brothers, by whose sole Grace they hold their own. And now, Beloved, one would think, that these Examples of Joseph and our present Sovereign, might prevail with any, to lay aside Anger, and to pardon their Enemies; few ever receiving such wrongs; and I wish to God I could not say, few ever so pardoning. But if this be not of force enough, let me intreat those haughty spirits to me­ditate upon the Lord of Glory, descending from Heaven, and becoming a servant for our sakes; and after 33, or 34 years converse upon Earth, submit­ting himself to the shamefull and painfull death of the Cross, whereon he received all the affronts, and sharp usage, wherewith malicious cruelty could [Page 19]torment him: His nailed hands, and bored feet, distilled and dropped bloud; nay his whole body in every particular part endured a several Cruci­fixion: Yet then, even then, it was; he shewed himself the highest example of (what he taught his Disciples, and in them us) loving our Ene­mies, crying with a loud and strong cry, not for himself, but for those who so inhumanely butch­ered him; Father, forgive them, for they know not what they doe. I might now, from Examples, far­ther press this duty, as from other things, so from your interest, from the eternal interest of your bodies and souls; For as you forgive men their tres­passes, so will your heavenly Father forgive you yours. But I have been, I fear, too long upon this point, I must hasten to another.

Therefore, secondly, from Joseph's entertaining his brethren, who came into Egypt to buy Corn for themselves, and their little ones, by reason of the great famine that then raged in Canaan, and other parts adjacent to Egypt. Let me propose another duty incumbent upon us, especially at such solemn meetings, viz. that of Charity to­wards the Poor. And this is so inseparable from a true Christian feast, that I never read of the one, without the other. I might press this duty, had I time, from several arguments, but I shall confine my self to what may naturally be inferred from the Text, concluding this particular by way of Direction, upon whom chiefly you are to dispose your Charity. Egypt, by an easie Allegory, may be taken for the World; by the eleven brethren, [Page 20]you may understand the poor and necessitous; and by Joseph, are represented those whom God hath blessed with riches, to the end they may supply out of their store to them, who labour under need and poverty. Joseph so well managed his Pro­vince, and so effectually provided against that ra­ging famine that then was in the land, that I read in several Histories; That the Egyptians supposed him to be more than man; and therefore in after­ages adored him as a God, under the name of Se­rapis: I am sure all ye, who abound in Riches, have the same honourable employment entrusted to you, though your Province is not so large; but then you have your Commission from a greater King than Pharaoh, viz. the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. And if the poor should want relief, when you can assist them, you will have this re­proach upon you, that whereas Joseph supplied the wants of a great Kingdom with the adjacent Coun­tries, in an extreme want of seven years; you suf­fer a few indigent people to starve in a great plenty of all things. But I hope better things of you, especially having been an eye-witness; how free and liberal you have been at our last Annual meetings. And here, if I may guide your hands, in your more liberal distributions, I would propose those Loyal persons as larger Objects of your kind­ness, who either suffered in the service of the late Royal Martyr; or, of late, in their faithfull adhe­rence to our present Sovereign; when the Tragedy of Forty-one was, if possible, in more dismal circum­stances, designed to be re-acted, by some of the same men, but all of the same Principles with the former. [Page 21]And I am sure my Text will justifie my advice, wherein though Joseph entertained all his brethren at a feast, yet Benjamin's Mess was five times so much as any of theirs.

Thirdly and lastly, Did Joseph, a pious, chast, and religious Man, yet entertain his brethren after that manner, as you have heard? and was his Prac­tice followed by the Jews under the Law, by our blessed Saviour and the Primitive Christians? Why then, let us not regard the unjust censures of un­reasonable men, as to our present Assembly. Those Writers did but dream, who fansied the fruit of the forbidden tree, to be that of the Vine: No, no, God never made the Vine onely to tempt Man­kind, and that he should not taste thereof. The Impostor Mahomet indeed denied it to his Wor­shippers; but God himself was pleased to accept of it in Sacrifices, and the blessed Jesus put him­self to the expence of a Miracle, that men might know his sense thereof. But here let me beg of you, not to misconstrue what I have said; and do not think, that whilst I plead for the innocent mirth of Christians, that you may behave your selves, as if you were at the Roman Bacchanals, or, which is very like, their Carnivals now.