CHAP. I. Gods First Sally out of himself in the Birth of the Universe.

THough God was what he is, and in the perfect fruition of his Grandeurs, before his omnipotent hand had drawn the Creatures out of their Nothing; The motives which invited God to create the world. yet his Nature required Hommages, his Majesty Servitudes, his Glory Admirations, his Goodness Acknow­ledgments, and his Beauty hearts and affections. It was needfull, though he were independent of all Beings, Immense in his extent, Eternall in his du­ration, and Infinite in all his perfections, that he should cause himself to be seen and felt by Ema­nations out of himself. It was not sufficient, (me thinks) that God should contemplate himself in the [Page 2]Myrror of his Essence, and that without issuing out of himself he should beget his Word in the splendors which flow from his Claritie. It was not enough to love himself, and in loving himself to produce with­out change, loss, or alteration the sacred fire of his Love. All these immanent and infinite productions could not exhaust the Treasures of so fruitfull a Na­ture: For in giving it self, it suffers no detriment, since amidst these sallies and Emanations the Father and the Son in such sort communicate their Nature and perfections, the Father, to the Son, and both to the Holy Ghost, that all three by a Com­mon power can act ad extra or exteriorly, and they needed to employ but one single word to create not only a World, but even Worlds without end.

I represent unto my self that Nature sigh'd even without tongue or voice, The sighs of Na­ture. before she had a being: Me thinks I hear her silence, and that she saith to God before her Creation;

Speak then, O speak (Great God) stretch forth thy arm and cast thy looks out of thy self; issue forth of the Luminous Darkness, which formes thee a day without Night, and a Night more resplendent then the day. Give some little passage to those Eja­culations and flames which from all eternity are in­closed within thy bosome, and which frame therein a Circle of Light and Love. Thou needst but open thy mouth and immediatly all Creatures will be o­bedient to thy commands: The least of thy Irradia­tions will dissipate the shadows, and open that abyss, in which they are buried. It is true that nothing ought to disturbe the peace and repose of thy soli­tude; It is true thou hast and possessest in thy self all that can ever be. But thou canst bring it to light, and art able without noyse and disorder to break that e­ternall silence which hitherto hath made thee heard [Page 3]but of thy self. In fine thou art a God of Love, and this love would be Captive, if it had not Sallies, and Ejaculations. It was not satisfied to remain in thee by eminence, and as it were in the source of beauty and goodness; but having made its folds within its self by numberless revolutions, Dyonys c. 11. divin. Nom. [...] appel­lat munifestationem Dei per se ipsum. it must descend upon externall objects, to attain that effect and property, which is naturall to Love (viz.) that amorous ex­tasy, that prodigious effusion, and that pompous and magnificent shew, which, to speak properly, is the Torch of Love, or rather the Chariot of its try­umph.

Well then, Creatures, come forth of the Mass in which you lye confused, Heaven, Earth, Sea, Stars, Trees, Fishes, Furnaces of fire, and flames, The first allarum of Nature. vast ex­tents of Air, Clouds, Abysses Precipices, listen to the voice and Command of God, of the Word, and of their Love. O God! O Power! O Love! what word? what speech? and what voice? we must pro­ceed in order and pursue the same which God him­self hath followed.

The word was in God the Father and this word was God, from that beginning which could never begin, the Common Spirit of God animated the Father and the Son: But in fine, this glorious and happy mo­ment, which saw the birth of times and seasons being arrived. The eternall God seeing no Object out of himself, which could deserve his love; and besides this Love being incited by a holy desire of communica­ting it self, it was requisite to frame a Copy of the Intellectuall Originall, which was in his Idea, Love the architect of the World. and in his heavenly mind. From that instant the world, then but a lively vacuum, but an universall privation of forms and qualities, was chosen as the blanck Ta­ble, whereon he resolved to draw the first stroaks of his goodness. That Nothing which hath but the bare [Page 4]name men give it; In principio creavit Deus Coelum & Ter­ram. Gen. 1. v. 1. became immediatly a fruitfull A­byss of Essences, and Nature was ingendred out of it by the sole power of the Divinity.

First Heaven, Earth, Water, and Darkness ap­peared in an instant as the Field on which all the ef­fects of a most Amorous and sage Prodigality were to be displayed. Terra autem erat ina­nis & vacua, & të­nebrae crant super sa­ciem abyssi. Gen. 1. v. 2. It was before any other thing that this tenebrous Compound, this confused Medley and this heap of Water and Earth, was the object of him who alone was able to chase away its shadows, and convert its dust into Gold and Cristall. This is the Throne on which the title of Soveraign Monarch and Lawgiver shall be seen ingraved; But what! this Theater is too obscure to behold therein the birth of the World; we must expect the Aurora and the rayes of the day.

CHAP. II. The work of the six dayes.

NAture awake, The first day of the Creation. it is time for the World to rise, the Night hath preceded, and twelve hours are as it were already past since Heaven and Earth have been in obscurity. Dixitque Deus fiat tax, & facta est lux. Gen. c. 1. v. 3. Behold the break of day; and those delightfull colours, which play upon the waters, are the Companions of that light, which in Palestine hath already opened the doors and windows of the East, and is going to spread it self upon another He­misphear. Nevertheless to finish this Carriere, to perfect this course, and to round the whole Globe twelve hours more are required; And then coun­ting from Evening till Morning, and from Morning till Evening, you shall find all the Moments, which [Page 5]form the first day, a glorious day, a day illustrious for having first received the light, which gives glo­ry and splendor to all dayes. Et vidit Deus lucem, quod esset bona. Gen. 1. v. 1. God himself made even a stand to be hold these lights, and could not contein himself from praysing the attractive charms of this glistring and pompous quality, which is as the life of the eye, and a most lively representation of the spirit.

The second day was not less glorious: The second Day. for it was that in which God chose to raise up the Firmament, like a Circle of Brass, Dixit quoque Deus, fial Firmamentum in medio aquarum & di­vidat aquas ab aquis. Gen. 1. v. 5. or rather like a Globe of Gold and azure which might serve to divide the seaven Orbes of the Planets from the empyreall Heaven. Now it was in the midst of the waters, that this ad­mirable work was formed, whether they were ne­cessary to temper the rays and orders of the Stars, or that the course and revolutions of a mooving bo­dy would be more even and free in an Element so pure and so plyable to all sort of Motions; Or fi­nally whether it were for some other reason known only to the incomparable Architect, who caus'd his power and wisdome equally to shine in the Fabrick of the Universe.

The next day God descended from Heaven upon Earth, and it was on this day, he marked out bounds, The third Day. and limits to Rivers, Streams, Seas and Torrents; so that the waters retyring some on one side, and some on the other, Congregentur aquae quae sub Coelo sunt, in Deu [...] unum, & apra [...]cat arida. Gen. 1. v. 7. just as they were shut up within their banks, Clifts and Chanels, the Earth appeared, and immediatly her sides were found pierced with Ca­verns, and her back loaden with Mountains and Rocks which rais'd her in a stately manner. Instant­ly her entrals were filled with Stones and Metals; and whilst those four great portions of the Earth which divide the World, and all the Islands of the Ocean and Seas were Levelled to serve for Empires [Page 6]and possessions of men, The hand of God as just as liberall, did in the bosome of the Earth uphold the Arches of her Prisons and Dungeons, to the end that if the Paradice of Eden was a Garden of delights and pleasures, Hell on the contrary might be an abode of dread, horror and Misery. It was likewise very convenient that as God had mixed Light with Dark­ness, he should create wild places and desarts to ren­der the Gardens, Fields and Meadows more delight­full; and finally having the very same day given Plants, Herbs and Flowers for an ornament to the Earth, his wise Providence mingled Thorns with Roses, and the most wholesome Herbs sprung out of the same soyl with the Mandrake and Aconite.

The fourth day, The fourth Day. having bin as it were the Chariot of the Sun, Fiant luminaria in Virmamento Coeli, & dividant diem ac no­ctem, & sint in signa, & ten pora, & dies & annos. Gen. 1. v. 14. Moon, Stars and Planets which shine in the Heavens, may in some manner be called the day of days, since it hath bin the Origin of the fires bright­ness and flames which are the soul of the Day.

Then were the frozen and condensed waters ga­thered together with more light and heat to form the Body of the Planets: Et luceant in firma­mento Coeli, & illu­minent terram. Gen. 1. v. 15. Fecitque Deus dun l [...] ­minaria magna, lu­manare majus, ut praeesset diei, & lu­mina [...]e minus, ut trae­esht nocti, & st [...]llas. v. 16. Next the Sun, Moon and Stars began their courses, periods and revolutions, and took the tracks and ways which were traced out to them from East to West; they began likewise to cast their favourable aspects, and from that time their influences fell upon the Earth, and they recei­ved the Orders and Laws, which they have since observed so inviolably and with so great respect. But whilst these Torches rowl over our heads, for fear lest our eyes should be dazeled at such luminous objects.

Let us turn them upon the Fift day, The [...]ift Day. Producant eq [...]as re [...] ­tile animae vtventis & volatile super terram sub Firmamento Coel [...] Gen. 1. v. 25. wherein God created the Birds which fly in the Air, and the Fishes which swim in the Water: One must hear re­present unto his thoughts some fair Summers day, [Page 7]and imagine that he sits in the cool upon the shore of some Island, From thence he must lift up his eyes towards Heaven, and behold over head thousands of little feathered bodies, cleaving the air with their wings, piercing the Clouds, and mingling with their flight the sweet Harmony of their warblings; He must afterwards behold at his Feet a River full of Fishes armed with scales, some of which cut their way neer the surface of the water, and others through the midst of the waves; some swim aloft against the stream and Current, others are carryed down at the pleasure of the winds, and by the favour of so sweet and rapid an Element.

This is that which God took pleasure to see and doe, five dayes after the Creation of Heaven and Earth: This was the day he chose to people the Air and Sea with their guests, which were in so great num­bers, as since it hath not been necessary to create o­ther species of Birds and Fishes. But what? the Earth which serves for a Basis and foundation unto Sea and Air, would have some cause to murmur against both, and might with reason complain, as it were, of God her Creator, if she were abandoned and without Inhabitants. Soft, a little patience: It belongs not unto Creatures to prescribe laws to their Creator.

Scarce had the Morning brought news of the ar­rivall of the sixth day, The sixt Day. Producat terra ani­mam viventem in ge­nere suo: jumenta, & reptilia, & bestias terrae secundum spe­cies suas. Gen. 1. v. 24. but at the same instant the Earth opened her eyes unto her Sun, and her ears unto the voice of her God. This dull heavy and insensible Mass not satisfied to have brought forth Flowers Plants and Trees, yet farther displaid it self to produce all sorts of Beasts and Animals, Behold the World in her Cradle, and Nature in her Infancy, The unmove­able Earth round about her Center is sown with flowers, tapistred with Turf and Verdures, beau­tified with Woods and Forrests; she is stately in her [Page 8]Mountains, pleasant in her Valleys, delightfull in her Meadows; She is rich in her Metals, fertile in her Fruits, and plentifull by her Rivers and Seas which inviron her on all parts, and form her a thousand li­quid transparences. The Air encompasses her on all fides, and serves her for a veil to temper the over-hu­mid Influences of the Moon, and the too ardent Rays of the Sun. The Heavens like pendent Roofs and rowling Arches are strewed with Flowers, Emeraulds and Rubies. Hesiod in the genea­logy of false divi­nity. What doth remain after all these Pro­digies of Power, and all these works of Love? O Power? O Love? I cannot condemn his fancy who said that Love produced Heaven out of a Chaos, and the World out of a confused and undisgested Lump. These are the draughts of a powerfull God which were victorious over the Nothing; These are the conquering flames of his Love who hath carryed his rayes and Torch even into the Abysses of an eternall Negation.

The World then had not its Origination in the Water as Thales supposed, The Errors of some Philosophers. nor was the impression of the Universe framed in the Air as Anaximines af­firmed, Heraclitus was extravagant when he taught that fire was the Source and Origin of Nature; And Democritus was a meer scoffer, and fitter to be laughed at himself, than to laugh at others, when he said that the World was formed by an accidentall concourse and mixture of invisible Atoms. No, no, the beginning of beginnings must be without begin­ning. But the Heavens, Air, Fire, Earth and Wa­ter, the World and Atoms cannot be from them­selves and without a Producer; therefore grant that God alone is the Fountain Cause and Origin of the Universe.

Ah then let the Heavens and all the Elements, C [...]n [...]ort of Crea­tures. Let the Sun and Stars, let the Plants and Herbs, let the [Page 9]Birds and Fishes for evermore praise and bless the powerfull hand of the increated Love who formed them all out of Nothing. Let the World never have any propension, instinct, or inclination, but to be­come plyable to the impulses of its Author. Let the Morning and Evening Stars imitate him, conveying every where their Influences and Clarities. Let Rain be the Pledge of his favours, and Dew the Symbol of his Graces. Let Thunder and Lightning be the He­raulds of his Justice, and the Ministers of his Indig­nation. Let the gentle Western Winds awaken our hearts to listen to his most holy inspirations. Let his Threats be heard amongst Storms and Waves. Briefly let the World, and totall Nature, be an Altar whereon vows and Sacrifices may be continually offered to his Law, and let the Feast of the six dayes, during which God created the Universe, be for ever celebra­ted? But what O Lord? who is it that hath hither­to spoken? From whence came this Voice? And where is the Person that can present Sacrifices unto thee? The World hath Altars, it hath Water, Fire, Wood and Victims, But where is the Priest? Man necessary for the world. There wants a Man upon the Earth, and without a Man all thy works seem not sufficiently perfect. Yes, my God, this man who is to be the Image of thy Essence, the Accomplisher of thy Commands, and thy Lieu­tenant upon Earth, well deserves the last touches of thy hand, to the end that after his Creation thou mayst continue in the repose of thy most holy Enter­tainments.

CHAP. III. The Creation of Adam.

IT is almost incredible how bold and eloquent men are when it concerns their own praises; Eloquence of self love. To hear them speak, would not a man swear, all the Mem­bers of their bodies are converted into Tongues to publish, without blushing, the advantages of their Na­ture above what ever the rest of the World can boast of rarest and most beautifull. The Earth, say they, is but an Aboad or rather a High-way which shalbe their Pilgrimage; Excellent concepti­ons of divers au­thors. The Air and Sea are but their Harbingers and Hostes; Lightnings and Celestiall flames shape but a picture, even gross enough, in which the features of their minds appear as it were rough drawn: And Heaven it self is but the Haven and shoar, which after the course of some months and years is to receive them all. Man according to their opinion is the fairest piece of the Universe, the All of All, Anasta. [...]. and as it were the Soul of this world. Ana­stasius in his Homily of Mans creation observes some lines of honour and veneration in his Fabrick. Cle­mens Alexandrinus compares him to the Thessa­lian Centaur by reason of the mixture of the Soul with the Body; Clem. Alex. 116 4. Strom. [...] Lactant. lib. 7. cap. 5. And Lactantius Firmianus speaking of the composition of man, saith That he is a work which may rather beget admiration than words. Trisme­gistus cals him the Interpreter of the Gods; Pythagoras. Pythago­ras looks upon him as the Measure of all things, in whom are found the Longitudes, Latitudes, Alti­tudes and Profundities of all Beings; Plato [...]. Plato crys out that he is the Miracle of all visible Miracles. Theophrastus considers him as the Copy of the Uni­verse; Synesius. Synesius cals him the Horizon of creatures; [Page 11]And Zoroaster, as one transported, scarce finding words to express him, concludes at last That man is the Portraict of an attempting and daring Spirit. Are not these very excellent terms and expressions? which sufficiently evidence that albeit those Learned Authors did speak of Man in generall, yet all of them were in­teressed therein as to their own particular. But what ever they have said, it is certain that of all the Enco­mions can be given to Man, the most Noble, the most August, the most transcendent and high is, that Man is the Image of God, the Character of his Substance, & the most faithfull Copy of his Divinity. I know he hath a Being common with Stones and Marble, a Life common with Plants, a Sense with Beasts, and an Un­derstanding which equals him with the Angels, but he excels them in this, that he was created from Gods I­dea, as the most lively and sensible representation of his Maker.

God deliberates upon the enterprise of this work, Faciamus hominem ad imaginem & similitu­dinem nostram. Gen. 1. v. 16. and the Councell is held in the Conclave of the most holy Trinitie, the three Persons are assembled; Pow­er, Wisdom, and Love take their seats neer the Pa­radise of Eden. But let us not deceive our selves, is it not peradventure Gods intention to recall into favour those proud and Rebellious Spirits, whom a shamefull revolt hath most justly precipitated from Heaven to Earth, where they wander as Exiles and reprobates? At least would it not satisfy him to banish them from Heaven, and to grant them the World for a Paradise, after so long and funestous a Cap­tivity? Nothing less, the Act is past, the Angels are lost without Redemption, and the punishment their Insolence hath merited, will persue them with­out relaxation, term, or pitty. Et creavit Deus ho­minem ad imaginem & similitudinem Dei creavit illum. Gen. 1. v. 27.

It is concerning Man & his Creation that the decree is past; It is on him God reflecteth, and it is he who [Page 12]must be substituted in the place of Angels. It is this Act which makes the World behold Gods Master-piece, the object of his Favours and the most glorious term of his Power. O Sun stop here thy course & be witness of his birth who hath bin the cause and end of thine.

It was as I conceive about high Noon when the Earth was resplendent with Light, The time of mans Creation. that this Anima­ted Sun was born. It was by the Light of Natures greatest Bonfire that God vouchsafed to stoop so low as Earth to take Clay, Formavit igitur Dominus Deus hominem de limo terrae. Gen. 2. v. 7. out of which he formed the Body of the first Man. This wise and all-knowing Workman to whom all things are possible, drew out of Durt, Morter, and Dust, the Bones which were to be not only the Pyles, Pillars, Basis and strength of the Body, but even the instruments of all its Motions. He added to it Ligaments, Joynts, Carthelages, Nerves, and an infinity of fibres or little strings which were to lock the Bones and Members within one an other, to be serviceable to all motions, to arm every part, to keep in or draw superfluous humors, or rather to be assisting to its Nourishment. The Body being thus rough-drawn, or as I may say, in its first draught, appeared at the same instant divided into three parts, of which the highest and most elevated was the Head, the Bulk appeared in the midst, and the Joynts linked together the Legs, and Arms, to become more usefull to all the extreme parts. The Oeconomy of humane bodies. With­in these joynts were, as inchased, all the Instruments of life. Within the Trunk reigned the Vitall parts, as the Heart, Lungs, and Liver; about which were found a thousand little Veins, and as many little skins, which are the Chanels of the Bloud and of all the Humours. O strange! this little Labyrinth was no ways confus'd. The Heart, though Monarch and Soveraign in this Empire, disdains not to unite its self with the Liver, and to joyn by a mutuall and [Page 13]reciprocall agreement its vertue and heat to act with more force upon the Aliment. From thence is­sues a world of interlaced Veins, which are to suck in the purest of the Chilus, and to discharge the gros­ser part, which afterwards conveys it all at leasure into the Bowels; At the same time the Liver will separate the Bloud, and divide the Humours; and whilst the Heart is distributing all the Spirits through the Arteries, lest it chance to be over-heated, the more light, humid, and spungeous Lungs will give it air, and refresh it by so regular intervals, as even amids this palpitation, it may receive from the Ar­teries its purest Bloud, and its most delicious Nou­rishment. All the rest passeth into the Brain which is the Summet of this admirable Structure. It is co­vered outwardly with skin and hair, and wrapped up within two panicles which cover its out-lets, its sub­stance, and the source of all the Nerves. It is in this Fort or Dungeon where the Animall spirits are to be formed, which the Sensitive soul distributes to the Five senses; spirits which are but fire and ray, which very often get loose, and escape by the eyes like light­nings, and so many stars which appear to us at high Noon.

There is the seat of the Common sense, where all the Nerves of our exterior Senses meet, through which the Spirits slide, and is the way by which the Species pass when they are the Messengers of their Objects. Well may this part receive these Images, but cannot retain them. The Imagination then must be placed fur­ther within, which collecting & preserving the Species, will borrow part of their name. Behold the Body thus perfect, and accomplished; but not to descry all the bones naked, and a flesh too lively and bloody, cover it with the whitest, smoothest and thinnest skin you can find. Afterwards fix your eys upon his Face, behold his [Page 14]lovely Hair sweetly floating on his shoulders; contem­plate his Forehead smoother than Marble, & his Eye­brows forming an Arch of Ebony over his eyes; con­sider his Mouth surrounded with Corall; observe his Cheeks mixed with Roses, and Lillyes, and smell his Breath a thousand times sweeter than Amber­greece. In truth are you not ravished with the aspect of his Eyes, which are the Windows of the Soul, the Doors of Life, and the most faithfull Interpreters of our Minds? What say you to the disclosure of this living Theater of Choler, Theater of passions. of vengeance, of pitty, of hate, of fury, and Love; Doe you see by their looks how they rise and fall, how they flatter, how they excite, how they weep, how they smile, and how they shew upon their liquid and transparent Christall, all that is discernable in the World? But who will wonder at this, since in truth these are the two Suns of the Little World, and the Myrror of the Great one, which is to be comprised and inclosed within the Humane Body.

Should not the Eyes of totall Nature open them­selves here to admire this Miraculous Body, The Master-piece of Nature. and this Prodigy of the Universe? But the thing of greatest Admiration, is that God hath caused the Soul of Hearts, and the Life of Bodies, to flow into his mouth and heart; and that Heaven hath powred the seed of Immortality into his Breast. Et inspiravit in faci­em [...]us spiraculum vitae: & factus est humo [...] animam vi­ventem. Gen. 2. v. 7. God by a Divine breathing communicated this Fountain of Life, to wit, the Soul, which instantly made the Image and Pattern of the Divinity reflect on his face. This heavenly Form without noyse or delay disfused it self entire into the body, remayning nevertheless whole in every part. The Soul s [...]urce of beauty, and of ope­rations. God alone knows with how many Lights the Understanding of man was illuminated, with how many Ardors his Will was infired, and with how many Species his Memory was filled in a mo­ment.

My God, what doest thou, Gods goodness to­wards men. and who hath incited thee to heap together in one vessell, wrought out of Clay and dust, all the Treasures of Wisdom, great­ness, and sanctity? Why so many sciences, so many knowledges, and so many splendors in this Soul? Why so many virtues and so many Graces in this Heart? And why in one single Man the Primitive Justice, and the Empire of the Universe? What ne­cessity was there to make him partaker of thy Secrets, and to raise him to the View of such a light as doubt­less might make him blind? Great God thou art good and liberall, yet just and all fore-seeing. If then thou fore-seest some danger and evill, lest thou shouldst be obliged to take revenge of a fault, dissolve the occasion, and obstruct the wayes which lead unto a Precipice; extinguish those Torches which may dazle the eyes; stifle those Flames which may inkindle such sad fires; or at least fasten not so many branches to a Tree, which may be unrooted by the Winds, and torn up by Storms: Unite not so many Members unto a Head, which is able to corrupt them all in an Instant, and finally leave unto all our hearts Independency on Created things, which are Naturall to them, and cause our affections to be Eternally fastned unto thee, that thou alone mayst be the Source of all the Motions and Effects which slide unto them.

No, No, Adam and Eve must be the causes of our Good or Evill, and on their good or bad Fortune ours must wholy depend.

CHAP. IIII. The Terrestriall Paradice.

THe Earth is a large habitation common to all men, Terrestriall Para­dise the first habita­tion of Man. but it hath many copartments of which some are appointed for those whom God intends to raise unto Grandeurs and delights; others are ordained for some wretched Persons, whose lives pass away in misfortunes and amidst afflictions. Some there are who are born upon Thorns and in Straw, others in Purple and upon Silk. Some enter into the World as into a Gally, others as into a Palace. Scarce was Adam created but he found himself in a Paradise; and he even from the Morning of his birth, was placed under the most happy and delight­full Clymate that Nature did afford.

Goe then Adam, Plantaverat autem Do­min [...]s Deus Paradi­sum voluptatis à Prin­cipio, in quo posuit hominem quem for­maverat. Gen. 2. v. 8. it is God who both calls and con­ducts thee. Enter happily this Garden and Paradise into which he leads thee; put thy self under the shel­ter of this Tree: For it is the Tree of Knowledge and Immortality, which he hath planted for thee: divert thy Eyes upon these Tulips, upon these Gil­li-flowers, upon these Roses, upon these Purple Vel­vet flowers, and upon these Lillys; walk thou over the Daffidill, over the Thyme, over Camomyle, and over this green Tapestry, Dominamini piscibus maris, & volatilibus Coeli, & universis ani­mantibus quae moven­tur super Terram. Gen. 1. v. 8. Adduxitque ea ad A­dam, ut videret quid vocaret ea: omne enim quod vocavit Adam animae viventis ipsum est nomen ejus. Gen. 2. v. 19. which is so odoriferous; be not affrighted at the sight of these Tygers, these Leopards, and of all these more furious Beasts: For God hath given thee power to rule them, and there is not one in whom thy Innocence begets not respect. Take then the rod into thy hand, and govern all these flocks and heards, impose Laws on them, and give them what Names thou pleasest. This is no petty Of­fice. Some have believed that God only can pro­perly [Page 17]call a thing by the name convenient for it: Be­cause Names, as Plato saith, are as it were so many Chariots which carry Essences and living Pictures, as Diaphanus stiles them, wherein are seen all the Draughts of Nature which they clearly express: From whence I conclude that Adam for this end re­ceived from God more than humane Knowledge, since he called every thing by the Name which was most proper and Naturall to them.

Immediatly after God resolved to give him a Companion, The production of Eve. Non est bonum hom [...] ­nem esse solum: facia­mus [...] adjuterium si­mile sib [...]. Gen. 2. v. 18. Immisit ergo Dominus sup [...]em in Adam, cum­que abd [...]m [...]v [...]sset, tu­lit unam de costis ejus, & replevit carnem pro ea. Gen. 2. v. 20. for it was not convenient that Man should be all alone: For this end he closed Adam's Eye-lids, and charmed his senses by a Heavenly Sleep, which the Major part of the Greek Fathers, according to the Translation of the Septuagint, call an extatick and ravishing repose. This man then thus rapt in his Extasy felt not Gods hand, which gently and without pain plucked out a Rib, whereof he formed the first Woman, who was immediatly brought unto Adam to be his Companion and his dear Moity.

Scarce had Adam cast his Eyes on her but he cry­ed out, Ah, these are Bones of my Bones, Dixitque Adam: hoc nunc os de ossibus mus & caro de ca [...]ne mea, haeo vocabitur virago, quoniam de virosur [...]p­ta est. Gen. 2. v. 23. Erunt duo in carne una. Gen. 2. v. 24. and this Flesh was drawn out of my Flesh; Just as if he had said, Come O my Love, the dearest portion of my self, you shall be from henceforth my Wife, and I will be your Husband. We will be but one Heart in two Bodies; And though we have two Souls we will have at least but one Mind and Will.

Wives and Husbands, An excellent lesson for Husbands and Wives. learn then from hence a lesson which teacheth you the Laws of Conjugall Love, and what powerfull Motives you have to live in Unity, and in a most perfect and holy Union. Let Man remember that he is the Master, but not a Tyrant. Let Women also never forget their own ex­traction, and that they were not produced out of the [Page 18]Head as Queens, nor out of the Feet as Servants and Slaves; but out of the Side, and near the Heart, to the intent they may spend all the time of their Ma­riage in a most sweet Intelligence, and in a most in­violable society: To which Love having given a be­ginning, nothing but Death alone is able, or at least ought, to Dissolve it.

For this purpose it is infinitly advantagious to re­ceive with respect and Reverence the Benediction which the Church is accustomed to give upon the Mariage day unto the Maryed pair, Benedixit (que) illis Deus, & ait, [...]rescite, & mul­tiplicamint, & replete terram. Gen. 1. v. 45. and which re­placeth in our thoughts the very same that God gave to Adam and Eve, when he commanded them to Peo­ple and fill the World by a most pure and chast ge­neration.

The Nuptials of Adam and Eve are past, Dixitque Deus, ecce dedi vovis omnem her­bam asserentem semen super terram, & uni­versa ligna quae ha­bent in se [...]et [...]psis se­mentem generis sui, ut sint vobis in escam. Gen. 1. v. 29. Praecepitque ei dicens: ex omni ligno Paradisi comede. Gen. 2. v. 16. nothing now remains but the Banquet. The Tables are al­ready furnished, and they need but choose amongst all the Dishes of the World, that which shall appear to them the most Delicious. They are Masters of all that Flys in the Air, of all that Swims in the Water, of all that Creeps or Walks on the Earth; Briefly of all the Fruits in the Terrestriall Paradise they have the choice; and amongst all the Trees which God hath Planted there, he only reserved the use of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evill, De ligno autem scien­tiae boni & mali ne c [...]medas: in quocun­que enim die comederis ex eo, morte morieris. Gen. 2. v. 17. of which he Expresly and upon pain of Death for­bids these two guests to gather any Fruit. And in truth it was convenient that as Master he should leave them some Commandement: It was likewise reaso­nable that Adam and Eve as his Servants and Crea­tures should be plyable to so just a Decree.

In this Conjuncture of time the Moon began to assemble her shadows, and God finding all his Works perfect entred into his repose with the Sea­venth Day.

Adam and Eve enjoy then at present, The first Monarchy of the Universe. all that their Hearts can desire. They possess the Monarchy of the Universe for their Inheritance and Government: Their Empire extends over all out-bounds and li­mits, the Winds doe not blow but at their pleasure, the Rivers and Streams doe not Rowl along but at their Command; Praesit piscibus mari [...] & volantibus Coeli universaeque terrae omnique rep [...]ili quod movetur in terra. Gen. 1. v. 16. the Birds doe not tune their Warb­ling Notes but to afford them delight; the Lions themselves and the Leopards dare not roar in their presence; All is in Peace, all in Joy, and all in a plea­sing silence devoid of Fear and Apprehension. Their Bodies are neither subject to Weariness nor the Butchery of any tormenting Maladies. Their Pa­radise knows neither Anxiety, grief, nor pain. In that place no sound was ever heard of those fright­full terms whose thought alone is able to raise strange Commotions in our Hearts. The mind cannot there be diverted by those sad thoughts which are inventive to bring us Torment. In a word, they are as it were the Gods of the Terrestiall Paradise, and partake in a manner of all the delights which can be tasted in Heaven.

CHAP. V. The Disasters and Banishment of Adam and Eve.

ADam and Eve are happy, but how long will this happiness endure? Doth Adam remem­ber that he is a Man, and a Man of Earth? Doth Eve well understand that her Sex is more Light, more frail, and lesse constant? Adam art thou Ig­norant that nothing is more flattering, and more cunning than a woman, when her mind is excited [Page 20]by some passion? Audax est ad omnia quaecunque odit vel amat famina; et ar­tificiosa est, nocere cum vult. Valerius in Epist. ad Rufum. Cum invisa est muli­er, se od [...]sse ait, Cum amat, amari, cum suratur, se com­pilari queritur. Nicephor. Gregorius. Just. l. 7. One must will what shee wils, and even the force and reason of the wisest men are of­ten obliged to give way unto her. Beware then Adam of this Woman; for my own part I imagin to have in a manner seen her behind a Tree, and to my think­ing I have heard her speak unto a serpent. Behold how she comes wholy affrighted? Adam advance, and observe a little what ayles her: And if thou desirest to know the truth, believe the contrary of what she shall tell thee.

Eve from whence doest thou come, Disunion the first misfortune of the World. and why do­est thou leave him all alone, who is the heart of thy heart, and the soul of thy soul? Where can be the Members without the Head, and the Head without the Members? What? doest thou not know, that I am to be witness of all thy Actions, and that I must give an account unto God, for what thou shalt doe? what fruit is this, that thou hold'st in thy hand?

Ah my Son, Sed et serpens erat callidior. Gen. 3. v. 1. my Friend, my dear Husband, would you did but know what hath happened since I was absent from you? Not far from hence I met a Ser­pent of a Prodigious and extraordinary shape, A diabolicall ser­pent. he al­so spake to me, contrary to the use of Beasts. For my part I did believe that he was a Prodigy of Hea­ven, Cui respondit mulier, de fructu lignorum quae sucrunt in Puradiso ves [...]imur. Gen. 3. v. 2. De fructu vero ligni quod est in Medio Pa­radisi, praecepit nobis Deus ne comedemus, et ne tangeremus illud, ne f [...]rte moriemur. Gen. v. 3. Dixit autem serpens ad mulierem, nequa­quam marte moriemini. Gen. v. 3. c. 4. Scit enim Deus quod in quocunque die co­mederitis de eo aperien­tur oculi vestri, et eri­tu sicut dis scientes bonum et malum. Gen. 1. v. 5. Vidit igitur mulier quod bonum esset lignum ad vescendum, et pulcrum oculis aspectuque delectabile, tulit de fructu illius et comedit. Gen. 3. v. 4. and an Angel which God sent me under the form of a Serpent. He shewed me the Tree of life, and promised me, that if I would eat of it's fruit, I should become like unto God, and have a perfect knowledge of Good and Evill; I told him, that God had forbid it us uppon pain of death; But he pro­tested to me, that on the contrary this fruit had the Juyce of Life and Immortality: For my part I have gather'd it, I have eaten of it, and I intreat you to taste as little of it as you please.

O God! how eloquent is the malice of a woman, and what powerfull charmes and perswasions hath [Page 21]she? Her lips and Mouth distill at once both Honny & Poyson; her Tongue shoots forth Arrowes of Death, and Life; her very Lookes are so many Lightnings, which she mingleth with the dartes of her Passions.

This is that which destroyed the Angel of the Terrestriall Paradise, the Monarch of the World, and the Father of all Mankind. He chose rather to disobey God, than contradict his Wife. He resolv'd to be rather a complice in her Disloyalty, Deditque viro suo et comedit. Gen. 3. v. 6. Et aperti sunt oculi amborum, cumque cognovissent se esse nudos consuerunt folia ficus et fecerunt sibi perizomata. Gen. 3. v. 7. Abscondit se Adam et uxor eius à facie Do­mini Dei. Gen. 3. v. 6. than to take revenge of it. It was from his own Wife's hand he took this fatall Apple, which would choak his Posterity. O wretch! what hast thou done? open a little thine Eies, and blush rather at the sight of this Crime, than of thy Nakedness? Adam what hast thou done; why doest thou hide thy self? Hast thou swallowed down that bit which hath since infected all of us? Proud man! thou thoughtst to be free, but thou now bearest the shackles of an eternall capti­vity. Thy weakness could not deny that to thy wife, which God had reserved to himself; And thou hast done for the love of a foolish Woman, what the Eter­nall Wisedom had so expresly forbidden thee.

Blind and disloyall Man, thou gavest more credit to a Serpent which deceived thee, than to God and truth which can never fail; Art thou not a­shamed to have committed this Sacrilege, which made thee submit to the allurements of a Woman against the Decree which God himself hath published.

Adam where art thou? God calls thee, Vocavitque Dominus Deus Ad met dixit ei ubies, G. n. 3. v. 5. thou must Answer, thou must appear; in vain is it to seek out shades and groves; to oppose the Word who gives speech to the Dum, and those Eles whose least glan­ces make the day to break in the darkest dungeons and greatest obscurities. Adam behold this light­ning [Page 22]which teares the cloudes, and is about to im­print upon thy Spirit the difference between Grace and Sin: thou shalt discern what thou now art, and what thou wert before, and all the future disasters which are to fall on thy Self, and thy Posterity. I was heretofore thy Father, now I am thy Judge; I treated thee as my Son, and at present I cannot look uppon thee but as a Slave and Fugitive. And my Spirit that chast Dove, and that sacred Phoenix, which lives and breathes onely by Love, must transform it's self into a cruell Vulture to tear thy heart.

Adam, what answerest thou? Alas, hast thou no pittie on thy Self, and all thy Children. But doest thou not happily lay the blame upon thy Wife, who hath so cruely deceived thee?

Womam doest thou see the periods and progresse of thy sin? Doest thou discern the offence thou hast committed, and the effect of thy Levity? Doest thou hear thy Husband who accuses thee? And on whom wilt thou dischardge thy self?

It is a strange thing that Sinners instead of sobbs and tears, Blind Sinners. to wash away the staines which their Souls have Contracted, still seek out new precipices, into which they feel themselves as it were carried by their own Blindness.

Adam layes the fault on his Wife, Dixitque Adam, mu­lier quam dedisti mihi sociam, dedit mihi de ligno & comedi. Gen. 3. v. 12. Et dixit Dominus Deus ad mulierem: quare hoc fecisti? quae respondit, serpens decepit me et come­di. Gen. 3. v. 13. August. lib. 11. ad lit. c. 3. Gregor. lib. Mor. c. 23. v. 16. the Woman ac­cuseth the Serpent, and instead of accusing them­selves, to sweeten the Indignation of the Judge, they make excuses to inkindle his Wrath, and to render themselves unworthy of Pardon. Ah! how far more prudently had both of them done (cryed out St. Austin) if with bended Knees on the ground, with tears in their Eyes, with sighes from their Hearts, and confession from their Mouthes, they had said unto God, Lord take pitty on us, and upon all our poor Children? It was for this (saith St. Gregory) [Page 23]God called them, and his voice as it were sollicited them to humble them by the amorous accents of his paternall Clemency. But alas, they are wholy insen­sible, they cannot acknowledge their offence, where­fore no Clemency, no Pardon.

Go then Serpent accursed of God, Et ait Dominus Deus ad serpentem quia fecisti hoc, Meledictus es in [...]er omnia Ani­mali [...], et bestias terrae: super pectus tuum gra­dteris, et terram come­des, cunct [...]s dicbus vitae tuae. Gen. 3. v. 14. [...]imicitias penam inter te et mulierem, et semen tuum, et semen illius, ipsa conteret ca­put tuum, et tu insidi­aberis calcaneo ej [...]s. Gen. 3. v. 15. go creep upon the Earth, and with Shame trayl thy bodie and thy Scales, byting the Earth with thy Teeth. It is thou that hast unhappily seduced the first of Woman­kind, and therefore War shalbe eternally inkindled between Thee and the Woman. There shalbe im­mortall hatreds between the Children of Women and all Serpents, The Woman shall crush Thee un­der her feet, and Thou shalt set snares for her, whet­ing thy Tongue and thy poysonous shafts to dart them at her by meanes of thy Little and scarce dis­cerned pathes.

As for thee O Woman, Mulieri [...]uoque dixit, mutiplicabo erumaas tuas et conceptus tuos: in dolore paries filios, et sub viri potestate eris, et ipse dominahi­tur tibi. Gen. 3. v. 16. who wert the Origin and source of Evill, know that thy miseries shall day­ly find deplorable increases: Moreover thou shalt conceive with pain, and shalt not bring forth thy fruit but amidest the throws of a painfull Labour. In fine, thou shall be under the Command of Man: And he shall be not onely thy Master, but some­times thy Tyrant.

As for thee, O Man! remove far from this sacred aboad: Adae vero dixit, quia audisti vocem uxoris tuae et comedisti de ligno ex quo praecepe­ram tibi, ne comederes, maledicta terra in o­pere tuo: in laboribus commedes ex ea cunctis diebus vitae tuae. Gen. 3. v. 17. Spinos & tribulos ger­minabit tini, et come­des herbam terrae. Gen, 3. v. 18. go seek thy Bread at the price of thy Sweat and blood; go follow the Plow and Cart, to be the Companion of Beasts, and to Cultivate the Earth, which thy pride hath swollen up with windes, and covered with Thorns, Brambles, and Bryers. Go whe­ther thou pleasest: but know that thy life shall be but a large course of misfortunes, and a disastrous list, where thou must continually wrastle with all Crea­tures, and be the fatall Mark of all sortes of accidents and mis-haps, which in fine will give thee no repose [Page 24]till thou shalt return into the Bosome of the Earth, In sudore vultus tui vesceris pane, donec revertaris in terram de qua sumptus es. Gen. 3. v. 19. because thou art but Earth, Ashes, and Dust, and untill thou shalt be there consum'd and reduced unto the self same thing of which thy Body is formed.

Behold thy Lillyes, Ejecitque Adam et collocavit ante Para­disum voluptatis Che­rubin et stammeum gladium, atque ver­satilem ad costodien­dam v [...]am ligni vitae. Gen. 3. v. 24. thy Roses, and the harvest of thy Posterity.

Scarce were these destroying Thunder-bolts dart­ed upon the head of Adam and Eve, and conse­quently on all mankind, but an Angel invironed with fire and Flames, seized on the gate of Para­dise, and shut it for ever against these miserable and Exiled persons. Alas! why would not the Earth have rather swallowed them up? and why would not that beautifull garden, which had bin the Throne of their Innocence, become at least the Sepulcher of their Sin? What! was it necessary, that the fower great Rivers, which flowed out of the Terrestriall Paradise to water the Earth, should serve to tran­sport from East to West, A dolesfull inheri­tance and from North to South, the memory of this disaster, and the shamefull porti­ons of so sad an inheritance.

But what! I hear some Pelagian, who laughes, and gently whispers in mine Ear, that I relate fables and Romances. I likewise feel my heart demanding of me how and for what reason it came to passe that the sin of our first Parents should become Hereditarie, and that it should be, as it were, transmitted from branch to branch, and from father to son, by veines and Chanels of blood, Aug. lib. 1. Reb. cap. 9. et al bi which nature hath cut and broken in every Individuall person. Pelagians, I send you back to your Master, and to the school of that in­comparable Doctor, who hath so often shewn you the truth.

To thee my heart I will make answer, or rather for solution of thy doubts, ask of thee, whence doth it arise, Very clear compa­nso [...]s. that the birds of the day inherit from [Page 25]their Fathers and Mothers certain Horrors, which make them fly at the least noat of the birds of Night? Whence comes it, that the skins of Sheep, though dead, break in peeces at the approach of the skins of Wolves? and that Lambs, scarce come out of the Yeows belly, have neverthelesse natural apprehensions of the Wolf?

My soul! hast thou not seen Chickens hiding them­selves under the wings of a Hen at the meer shadow of a Kite? Partridges flying before Haukes, and even Lyons roaring at the sight of a Cock? I ask of thee: From whence proceeds this fear, these affrightments, and Antipathies? If thou tellest me they are Natural, and have bin as it were infused by Nature, even from the first to the last of each kind; I likewise answer, that this Original stain of culpable Nature is derived from father to son, and from the first man to all his of-spring, and so it comes to be imprinted in the substance of their Souls.

And if thou hast a desire to passe further, and know the reason, I am content: stand then upon thy guard, my Soul; for I intend to fight thee with thy own Wea­pons. Is it not true, that when by thy desires thou kind­lest fires and infamous flames in thine Eys, thou art the cause of this Burning, and that it is thy self, who renders them Criminal? Is it not as true, that when thou armest thy Hands to commit a Murther, and thy Tongue to detract and bite like a Dog, or to vomit forth some Blasphemy, it is thou that makest both thy Hand and Tongue culpable; which are thy Members, thy Officers, thy Slaves, and Executioners, which act, per­form, and execute what thou hast commanded them?

In like manner Adam having bin chosen by God for the Head, and Father of all mankind; Original sin his Heart was the Fountain, which should powre out it's qualities in­to the substance of their Souls: even as doth the Head, and Heart, into the armes, into the tongue, and into all the Members of the Body, Moreover the Will of [Page 26] Adam was so streightly united to that of his Chil­dren; as when he acted, they seconded all his Acti­ons. From whence I conclude, that as Actuall sins committed by the Ears, Eyes, and Hands, take their Malignity from the Heart, and Will, which is their Cause, and Origin; so likewise those sins, which are commonly called Originall, The first Conta­gion. and are found in the Soul of all Mankind, have as it were crept in, and taken their Descent from Adam, as their Author and beginner, which having been once infected, hath after­ward made its venom pass from Father to Son as by Hereditary right.

Poor Children of Adam, pittifull Reliques of an unfortunate Father, behold your Patrimony, the Rights of your Families, and what Adam and Eve have left you for Legacies. Let no Man hereafter be astonisht to see you wandring about Countryes, Pittifull Reliques of Sin and going from door to door in Cities, with Tears in your Eys, Sighs in your Mouths, with dusty Hair, and Sun­burnt Faces; Let no Man be any more astonished to see you goe bare-Headed, and bare-Footed, a Wallet on your Shoulders, and a Staff in your Hand; for these are the portions of Sin. Miserable Mortals, the Earth from henceforth shall be to you but a Dark Prison, Life but a Gally, and the World but a great Chain of Misfortunes. The Elements shall joyn in Arms against you. The Fire shall inkindle frightfull Comets over your Heads; The Air shall dart forth merciless Thunder-bolts upon your Houses; The Sea shall raise its Billows against your Towers, and the Earth shalbe the Theater of VVars, the Meadow in which the Plague shall Mow, and the Field of Battail, where all the powers of the VVorld, and Hell it self, shall deliver you up to Tragick Combats. In fine your Bodies shalbe Subject to all sorts of Maladies, and your Minds to all kinds of Passions.

I hear already Envie grumbling and murmuring in [Page 27]the Heart of Cain. I hear the cry of Abell. Let us ob­serve a while what passeth.

CHAP. VI. The Murther of Abel, and the Despair of Cain.

ANtiently in Temples, Houses, and Closets, Concil. 6. in Trullo. Can. 32. the Images of Jesus Christ were drawn in form of a Lamb; which was the most lively Mark, and Symbol, that Painters could find out to frame some Copy of Meekness. Abel was this Picture from his Birth, and shewed from the beginning so sweet and facile, so plyant and tractable a disposition, as Adam and Eve were even inforced to bestow on him their most tender affecti­ons. Cain on the contrary, who was his Elder Brother, Diversity of Na­tures. appeared to be of so fierce, and imperious a Nature, that at length to sweeten it, they resolved to oblige him to cultivate the Earth, that his spirit might learn how to soften the hardest of Elements, and to temper the harshness of his Courage.

Abel at the same time employed himself in keeping Sheep, Fuitque Abel pastor ovium, & Cain agri­cola. Gen. 4. v. 2. and guiding his Fathers Flocks amidst the Pa­stures: His mind in repose, and amidst the silence of the Fields, began to take its flight; And as God had chosen his Heart to powre into it his dearest favours, he easily felt himself surprised with a Holy thought and a Sacred desire; which was elevated to God, to offer unto him the purest and choicest Sacrifices.

Cain also felt some touch of Piety, Factum est autem post multos d [...]es, ut offer­ret Cain de fructibu [...] terrae, munera Domino. Gen. 4 v. 3. Abel quoque obtulit de primogenitis gre­gis sui, & de adipi­b [...]s corum. Gen. 4. v. 4. and but passingly beheld, a glorious Light, which sufficiently shewed him all he was to doe: from whence I gather by the way, That there is no Clymate so barbarous no Land so desart, nor no Cave so tenebrous, into which God casts not his Shafts, and darts not his Lights to illu­minate our Hearts and Souls.

But it often comes to pass, that we shut the Doors and Windows, suffering our Day and Life to slip a­way, to expect Death and Blindness in the Night. Abel received the Day from its Aurora, and neither the Interests of the World, nor the Goods of the Earth, were ever able to separate his Soul from the Interests of Heaven and Piety.

His Intentions were still most pure, and he had no other Object, than the Glory of a God, who requires the whole and not a single part; who demands Hearts, and not bare Words; and who cannot permit upon his Altars, but the fairest and most liberall Victims of Love. Now this is what our innocent Shepheard did, when he rendred his Sacrifice most perfect, offering unto God, what he had most beautifull, most fat, and rare among his Flocks: having first set apart the First Fruits, and afterwards Immolated them with the ra­rest Lights of his Understanding, and the purest Flames of his Will.

Cain on the other side erects Altars, Very different Sa­crifices. Rupert. lib. 4. in Gen. c. 2. Cain cum De [...] of seriet sua, scipsum sibi retinet. and offers Fruits: But in offering his Presents (saith Rupertus) he retains Himself; And his Earthy Soul was so violently trans­ported with terrestriall affections, as he gave nothing unto God, but by constraint, and with regret. This was the cause, Et res [...]e [...]it Dominus ad Abel & mun [...]ra [...]sus. Gen. 4. c. 4. why God cast his Eyes upon Abel, and his oblation: That is to say as Saint Hierom notes, God approved it, and in the twinckling of an Eye, as with an amorous lightning, consummated the Sacrifice, which was offered to him; Ad Cain vero & mu­nera illius non respexit: Iratus (que) est Cain ve­hementer, Et concidit vultus ejus. Gen. 4. v. 5. leaving Cains Fruits, and offerings, dry and aride upon the Altar. The which so violently disturb'd the mind of this Impious Sacrificer, as it immediatly inforced a change in his countenance, as not being Master in the Trade he learnt of betray­ing by his Mouth and Eyes, his sincerest thoughts.

God then said unto him, Dixit D [...]minus ad eum: Quare iratus [...]s, & cur concidit facies tua? Gen. 4. v. 6. Cain, what doth transport thee? what Excess of Anger appears on thy Brow? And whence comes it, that thy Countenance is thus [Page 29]dejected? It is a token doubtless, that thou art medi­tating on some tragick Design: But return into thy self, raise a little thy Eyes, and read in me, what may and must befall to thee.

Remember Cain, that I have upon my Heart, and in mine Eyes, a great Myrrour of Essences, which bears for device these terms of Justice, Just toward all. The Device of the Myrrour, Omibus aequus. Nonne si bene egeris, recipies? sin autem ma­lè, statim in foribus peccatum aderit. Gin. 4. v. 7 If then thou feelest some Storm, and touches of Fury in thy Soul, thou wilt discern them in this Glass. And if thou enjoyest therein Tranquillity, Peace, and Meek­ness, thou wilt acknowledge that I have no more Ju­stice for thy Brother, than thy self. Besides what e­ver thou do'st, doubt not but I understand all that thou wilt act: for Sin speaks in silence: And its shadows though thick are not obscure enough to extinguish the Day and Lightnings of my Vengeance. Sub te erit appetitus tuus & dominabitur illius. Nevertheless though I am both God, and a most powerfull God, yet will I not enforce thy Liberty.

O Liberty, Liberty, cruell Liberty, Dangerous Liberty. pernicious In­dulgence, tyrannicall Power, disloyall Free-will, proud Will, blind Mistress of all our Motions!

Cain, on what thinkest thou? Answer me, I prethee, thou canst what thou willest, but if thou wilt have thy Liberty entire, thou must desire what God desireth, and thy desire ought to be conformable to thy power, and then thy power wilbe consonant to those of thy God. Why then art thou deaf to the words of God, why art thou blind to his Lights, art thou in Despair?

God calls him, but he flyes away, his Parents are willing to detain him at Home, and he inforceth his Brother to follow him into the Fields; As if the pre­sence of the Elements (as St. Ambrose saith) were a ter­ror to this wicked man, he seeks out desolate places, Dixitque Cain ad Abel Fratrem suum: Egre­diamur for as, cumque essent in agro, consur­rexit adversus Fra­trem suum Abel, & inter secit eum. Gen. 4. v. 5. and where Air and Earth appear not, but amidst the shades, and by halfs. This untamed Horse runs on without Bit, or Bridle, and drags along his younger Brother with him. In fine, as soon as he perceives him­self [Page 30]in a Solitary place, he casts himself upon Abel like an inraged Wolf upon a Lamb, and as a Vulture, seizing on his prey. Cain what dost thou? It is thy Brother, it is Abel, it is thy other self, it is the se­cond support of thy Parents, and of thy Family. Cain, even Pitty, Bloud, Nature, and the Laws, thunder already over thy head; Alas! stay thy hand, and the revenging Thunder-bolt of the Just and powerfull God, which is ready to cleave the Clouds.

It is too late, The murthering of Abel. the stroak is already given: Abel is dead. I see nothing but a Body stretched out upon the Earth, which swims in his own. Tears and Bloud: Behold the Waves of his Bloud which mount to Heaven, and even unto God himself, who is ready to mingle his Lightnings, Thunder, and Voice, with this Storm.

Cain where is Abel? Et ait Dominus ad Cain, Ubi est Abel Frater tuus? Qutres­pondit, nescio: nam custos Fratris mei sum ego: Gen. 4. v. 9. where is thy Brother? where hast thou put him? what hast thou done with him? Oh what Answers Cain, Am I my Brothers Guardian? hast thou given me him in charge? I know not where he is. Ah! thou brazen-faced Creature.

Observe, I beseech you, how vices spring from one another; and how they frame a long Web of Miscries, which heap shadows upon shadows, untill they have at last lead us into a Precipice, and into the Eternall ob­scurity of the Tomb, and of the dismall Night.

Cain hath not washed his hands since the Murther of his Brother; he still keeps the Knife in his Throat, and he could not wipe away the stains, and Drops of this Innocent Bloud: Execrable impu­dence. and yet this Homicide denyes his Crime, and this Murtherer attests an abhominable Lye to his Assassination. Good God! what boldness? what insolence? what temerity? Cain art thou not ashamed to disavow this prodigious Inhumanity, these Brutish Furies, and the Massacer on which thy Eyes are still fixed? Perjured Man as thou art, thou say'st, thou knowest not what is asked of thee, thou seemest ama­zed, [Page 31]and thou art even ready to cry Murther first, and to call for help. But thy Brothers Bloud speaks low­der than thy self; that Bloud more pure, and innocent than Milk, is become blacker than Inke, to write and mark out thy offence in Characters which will never be effaced. The Earth it self calls incessantly on Gods justice, Quid secisti? vox san­guinis fratris tui ad me clamat de tora. Gen. 4.2.10. and thy Brother's bloud seems to have given it a soul, a sense, and voice, to excite, complain, and provoke his Indignation. Detestable Cain, inso­lent Hypocrite, execrable Lyer, Envious Brother, most cruell Executioner, thou say'st, that Abel was not under thy tuition, and that thou never tookest charge of him. Oh! Art not thou his Elder Brother? But I hear thee, yet thou hearest not mee. It is thy sin, which casts a veil over thy face; And it is the shadow of this dead body, which dazels thine Eyes, and is the Cause thou canst not discern it. What e're it be, the Earth hath spok­en too efficaciously, its demands and accusations are too Just, and a man is obliged to give Credit to Bloud and Nature, when they freely condemn them­selves. There needes then no further proof, no other accusers, or witnesses: But nothing now remaines sa­ving the decree and sentence of the Judge.

Hear then unnaturall Brethren, hear, and, A dreadfull sentenceas many as you are, become wise at the Cost of Cain.

Let Execration, Anathema, Nunc igitur maledi­ctus eris super terram, quae aperuit os suum, et suscepit sanguinem, sratris tuide manu tui. Gen. 5. v. 11. Vagus et profugus eris super terram. Gen. 4. v. 12. and Eternall Maledicti­on, saith God, fall on the infamous Head of Cain. Let him be accursed upon Earth, and let all disasters powre down on the labours of his hands; and to the end his sight, and presence, may not infect, nor corrupt his fathers House, he shalbe a fugitive, vagabond, and wanderer upon the Earth.

At this stroak the Heart of Cain becomes a lit­tle sensible, and the hardness of his Soul, although too late, begines to soften. Dixitque Cain ad Do­minum, Major est i­inquitas mea, quam ut veniam mercar. Gen. 4. v. 12.

Alas Lord! (saith he) my Iniquity is greater than thy Mercies: and my sin is too enormous to hope for [Page 32]Pardon. I confesse it, and from this very moment I depart from hence like a banished man to wander day by day without peace or relaxation, where the Sun, and Moon, spread their light and clarities. Besides, my Brothers Ghost pursues, and torments me, with too much severity: Ecce ejicis me: Hodie à facie tua abscondar, et ero [...]agus, et pro­fugus in terra: Om­nis qui invenerit me occidet me. Gen. 4. v. 14. Even thy self, O my God, and my Judge, chasest me away far from thy Countenance, and far from the pleasing glances which issue from thine Eyes. Ah then let the Sun, and Moon, cease to enlight­en the World, and let me for ever wander amidst the Murtherous shades of Abel, Stings of conscience and let my life pine away in obscurity: Otherwise I fear (saith he) that at the first sight, and encounter, some one may kill, and treat me according to my deserts.

No no, Dixitgue ei Dominus, Nequaquam ita fiet, sed omnis qui occide­rit Cain, septuplum punietur, Posu [...]tque Dominus Cain signuum, ut non interficeret eum omnes qui invenisset cum. Gen. 4. v. 15. Cain, saith God, nothing of what thou fearest shall happen to thee; and if any one be so rash to at­tempt on thee, I will make him feel the excesse of my wrath, and his punishment shall passe even to the ut­most extremity my vengeance can extend. For this effect God imprinted a sensible mark upon his forehead, which served him for a safe-guard against all the Assaults of his Enimies. This done, the poor wretch went away of his Enimies. The disquiets and the banishment of Cain. This done, the poor wretch went away all alone, pale, trembling, pursued by the stings of his Soul: and after some wandrings arrived in the Land of Eden, lying Eastward. It was under this Clymate, and neer unto Mount Libanus, that this Fugitive at last made his retreat: there it was, where he built a Citie, and had by his Wife a very numerous posterity.

CHAP. VII. The Desolations and Spoyles of Envie.

IMagin, that it is from this first Colony, and this un­fortunate Mariage, that Provinces, Cities, and Villa­ges, are since peopled with so many Brothers and Sisters, [Page 33]who have been the lively Images of Cain; I mean, with so many unnaturall Men and Women, who with­out respect or compassion towards their own Bloud, have violated the purest, and most holy Laws of Nature. Bloud raiseth every where storms a­gainst it self, and the Members of the Body, and all the Powers of the Soul, seem only united to wage War against themselves at a neerer distance. Republicks complain, Families and Races sigh, all Countries la­ment, and there is no House nor little Cottage, that shews not the Prints and Foot-steps of this poy­son, which hath seized the Hearts of all Brothers and Sisters. Cain hath so far extended his Race, that he hath every where Associats, Followers, and Chil­dren; and one would swear, to behold the Cruelties, Out-rages, and Treasons, which are daily discovered amongst Brethren, that the Tomb of Abel was the Sepulcher of that Piety and mutuall Amity which to all Brothers should be in lieu of Fortresses and impreg­nable Holds.

This abominable Monster of Jealousy, whose Teeth and Breath are putrified, hath exhaled the blackest va­pours in the self same Cradles; insomuch as Brothers suck in with their Milk its Plague and Venom.

Scarce are they born, Ex relatione Michaelis. Angli ad an. 7. perig. but at the same instant they resemble those Birds of bloud and prey, which live in the unfortunate Islands neer the North Pole, and de­vour one another even in their Neasts. These Envi­ous and Jealous Spirits, these Angels of Night and Darkness, carry continually in their hands glasses of a thousand Faces, and coloured, with as many passions, which cause fire to be taken for smoak, black for white, and all beauties for deformities or deceits.

I know not by what name to call these incarnate Devils, these Jealous Souls, and these Heirs of Cain. I know very well, that there are such every where: They are seen at Balls, at Feasts, and Comedies. They [Page 34]insinuate themselves into designs, Councils, and the most secret Assemblies They have the Key of Clo­sets, and private Houses, and cause themselves to be seen in Publick, and felt in Secret. They resort the Randevouz of pleasure, they delight in Circuits, and are every where without abandoning themselves.

In fine, In vitis Patrum A­ [...]uch. that which is less credible, and which for my part I would not have beleeved, if a most Holy and learned Anchorite had not said it above seaven hundred years agoe, that this invisible Murtherer, this impious Cain, and this Jealous Spirit, is so presumptuous, as to pass even into the Precinct of the Worlds Paradise, and of Religion: There it cartys its Torch and Fire­brand to the very foot of the Altar, It enters even into the Sanctuary, and powreth out into the same Chalice the Bloud of Jesus Christ, and of his Brother. This Deicide, this Assasin, and this Anthropophagus, eats the Body of the Son of God with the Flesh of Men, and that Table which serves for the repast of the one, serves also for the Feast of the other; from whence it ascends into Pulpits, it passeth through Tribunals, and in the midst of all the Sacrifices it bursts, it fumes, it in­rageth, it detests, it waxes pale, it resolves to make a thou­sand factions unworthy of a generous spirit, it makes secret Conspiracies, it springs Mines, it provides Dunge­ous, it besiegeth Hearts, it sells the friendships of some, it purchaseth the protection and favour of others, it renders it self a Slave and Mercenary to this or that Man to be the Tyrant and Master of an other. Finally in all places and times, when it perceives it self the strongest, and amongst those who have either gi­ven or sold themselves to its Service, this Sacrile­gious Soul, this future Apostata, this Traitor, this Envious and wicked Monster, Jealous of his Brothers Life and Happiness, not being able to strangle them, nor put a Halter about their Necks, or a Poniard into their Bosoms, casts every where the Darts of [Page 35]its Tongue, and sends forth words a thousand times more cruell, and pernicious, than the murthering Knife, which Cain plunged into the throat and Heart of Abell.

CHAP. VIII. Remedies against Envie.

BUt what! will any remedy serve for all these Franticks, and all these Cyclops, whose Hearts are ever-flaming Furnaces, and where Jealousy conti­nually forgeth Chains and Irons? O God! O Hea­ven! O Laws! Justice, Sanctity, Soveraign Pow­ers of the World! Physicians to our Maladies! Ar­bitrators of our lives! It is you whose sweetly rigorous hands can both ordain, remedy, and give health; It is you then I implore, and of whom I crave assistance. It is you Fathers and Mothers, who in your Houses ought to be Judges of all the differences, which arise between your Sons and Daughters, and first of all you ought to know the naturall disposition of your Children, to the end that if some Cain be found amongst them you may timely suppress him. Spare then neither Fire nor Steel, Hunger nor Thirst, Disdains nor Rebukes, seek out even Domestique Prisons; It is much better for them to feel the Essayes of your. Paternall rigours, than to fall afterwards into the blind hands of Justice.

And it is far more gentle, that you your selves upon the first Symptoms of Evill, should take the pains to apply a Costick to them, or give them a stroak with your Lancet, than after too much remisness to see them take a sharp Razer cutting in pieces the Heart and all the Members of your other Children. Doe not say, that he is beautifull, he is tender, he is the Eldest, or Youngest Son, for after all, though he be your Son, the [Page 36]rest are likewise yours, and you cannot be a Father, if you are not a Judge common to them all.

As for those visible Angels, which God hath pla­ced in Sacred Mansions, like the Cherubin of the Ter­restriall Paradise, there to Watch and Govern, It is enough for them to know where the Evill is, that they forthwith apply some Remedy.

I pass then farther, and speaking both in generall, and in particular to all the Heirs of Cain, and to all those whom a Bloudy Jealousy armeth against their Bre­thren, or against their Sisters. I conjure them fre­quently to meditate on this verity, that the mischief they doe unto others can afford them no benefit, and that when they raise designs, and Trophies on the Ruin of others, they are but Crowns of Straw and Fea­thers, where instead of finding Mountains, and Eleva­tions, they meet with Precipices and Abysses, in which they will destroy themselves.

In fine, what delights and contentments can an en­vious Person have, whose Eyes are destroy'd by the purest lights, and to whom Acclamations and Songs of Victory are distastfull, and whose Heart Swims alwaies in bitterness, and poyson? What Pain! What Torment! And what punishment to resemble a Man accurs'd of God! to walk as a fugitive, and banish'd person upon Thorns, and Bryers? what peace can one have, who makes War against God, his Friends, and himself; and when both Night and Day he is seen amongst his Brothers Ghosts, amongst Spectres, and Fantasmes, amongst the Stings and Remorces of a guilty Con­science? what hope of good? when one is assured, that after the having passed away some Months, some Days, or rather some Years in the City of Enoch, and amidst some slight Clarities of the East, he shall goe end his life in a Bed, leave his Body in a Sepulcher, and lose all the pleasures, all the Blessings, and all the lights of his Soul, in the shades of Night, and of the setting [Page 37]Sun, where no Day shall be seen, but amidst the Light­nings, Flames, and Thunders, of a God provok'd to an holy indignation.

CHAP. IX. The Building of the Ark, and the Deluge.

ITt is a Maxim amongst Philosophers, that Beauty is to Love, what the Soul is to the Body; and it is she saith St. Denys, that gives wings to the inconstant, subtil, and penetrating Bird, which passeth by the Eyes, Ears, and Mouth, to advance directly to the Heart, to make, like an other Phaenix, a Pyle upon the flames and fires of our desires and wils. It was perhaps for this cause Socrates called the Beauty, which spreads its at­tractives on the Body, An amorous Tyranny, by rea­son this imperious Step-dame is accustomed to cap­tivate all those that abide under the Empire of her Looks.

Plato in his Timeus had almost the very same con­ceptions, as Socrates, when he said, That the Colours, and Lustre, which give light unto the shade, and re­vive the Body and Face, have a flame, which flows in­sensibly from matter and form, to infire the Souls of all Spectators. Elianus lib. 22. It was this mixture (saith Elianus) of Charms and Splendors, issuing out of the Eyes and Mouth of a Maid beautifull as the day, The power of beau­ty. which so much surprised a certain Knight called Dioxipus, that although he had gained famous victories in the Olympick games, and was in the midst of Glory, and Triumph, loaden with the Palms and Lawrels he had so often watered with his sweat, and bloud; he was yet con­straind to make a stand in the presence of all the peo­ple, acknowledging his own weakness, and confessing that the beauty of a Lady had vanquished him whom [Page 38]the strength of Man was never able to overcome.

I adde to these thoughts, Dulcem illecebram, carum venenum. Greg. Naz. Orat. 13. that of St. Gregory Na­zianzen, who hath tearms and words no less eloquent, than true, to express, that the beauty of the Body is a deceiptfull allurement, and a most pleasing poyson, which passeth from one Sex to another, and conveys it self so far into the veins, that afterwards it cannot be drawn forth but with Death.

These are verities, which have bin proved from the cradle of the World by Examples and accidents, which have caused too Tragick, and Publick Ruins, to be called in question? Cum (que) cepissent homi­nes multiplicare super tecram & filias pro­creassent. Gen. 6. v. 1. Amongst others, the first and most exemplar was the Deluge, which happened unto the World one thousand six hundred and fifty six years or near upon after the Creation, by reason the Inha­bitants of the City of Enos, and the Children of Adam being multiplyed by strange increases, and in respect their bodies being fortified, and become like so many Collossusses of impiety, these Lascivious Gyants went every where like impetuous Torrents, Videntes filii Dei fili­as hominum quod es­sent pulcrae, acceperunt sibi uxores ex omnibvs quas elegerant. Gen. 6. v. 2. which nothing could stop but a brutish beauty, upon which they en­tertained their Eyes, and loves, with an execrable Li­berty. I have a horror to relate it, but it is true, that the World was then but an Infamous retreat, where all Sexes without Order, Law, or respect, breaking all the Lines and Degrees of Bloud, and Alliances, were monstrously confused. I should be unwilling to black this Paper in setting forth so many horrors and Or­dures, and to recall the memory of them; but I can­not conceal, what God and Moises have published: Moreover the Heavens are ready to powre down Wa­ter enough to efface all these stains, and all the marks of those abhominable sins. Nevertheless I feel my Spirit affrighted at the sight of these Horrors: and my Eyes would need tears of Bloud to divert all these mournfull Objects.

O God! who art the Origin of all Beauties, and [Page 39]whose least Glance compleats the happiness of An­gels and Saints; What! must Man! must thy Chil­dren and Creatures adhere to an other than thy self! why do'st thou permit the fairest City of the World to be but a horrid and common Sewer? And must the World become a heap of Murthers and Uncleanness? What! doe you not see these Ravens to whom some worldly beauty gives Wings to make a sodain stoop at carrion putrifi'd and almost consum'd by it's own rottennesse? doe you see all these incarnate Devils? these Gyants of the Earth, and these Men devoid of Soul and reason? who imploy all their study and care to Court an Idoll of Clay, Detestable Idola­try. a Face of Marble, and the Picture of a Nice dame, who is at­tended by excess of Dyet, Pomp of Garments, painting, musk, perfumes, wantonness, attractives, ar­tifices, amorous looks, gestures, freedom, sport, Rail­lerie, Idleness, Night, Solitude, and all sorts of pri­vacies.

Surely so many vapours and exhalations as are risen from the World, or rather from Hell, for above sixteen ages together, have too much thickned the Clouds; God is necessitated at last to pluck up the Flood-gates, Videns autem Deus, quod multa malitia hominum esset in terra, & cuncta cogitatio cordis intenta esset ad malum omni tempore. Gen. 6. v. 5. and open the Cataracts to swallow up the World, and cause Shelves and Shipwracks upon Mountains and Cities, as well as upon the Ocean. The iniquity of Men is too deeply rooted in the bottom of their Hearts, and all their thoughts are too strongly fastned on Evill. The Decree is given, and I see no­thing that is able to with-hold an arm holily irri­tated.

God repents himself for having created Man, Panituit (que) eum quod hominem fecisset in terra & tactus dolore cordis intrinsecus. Gen. 6. v. 6. and bestowed on him all his labour, and affection; he re­pents himself, and his heart riseth at the sight and thought of this Object: In fine, being no longer able to restrain his wrath and indignation, I swear by my self, saith he, that I will destroy Man, and Efface his [Page 40]name and memory over the face of the Universe.Deleho, inquit, homi­nem quem creavi à fa­cie [...]eirae, ab homim usque ad animantia, & à reptilt us (que) ad volucres Cae i, [...]oe [...]e [...] enim me secisse illus. Gen. 6. v. 7.I will not spare even Beasts and Birds: to the end, that what hath been a Witness, Complice, or even a slave of his crime; shall also be the Companion of the pain and punishment which is ordained him. This said and done: Of so ma­ny men, who then lived upon the Earth, and of so ma­ny Families, Noe va ò invenit gra tiam coram Domino. Gen. 6. v. 8. Cum (que) vidisset Deus terram esse corruptam (omnis quippe caro corruperat viam suam super terram.) Gen. 6. v. 12. that only of Noah deserved favour, and was freed from Shipwrack.

God then calls this holy Man, [...]t ad Noe sints u­ntversae carn [...] veniet coram me: Kepleta es [...] terra iniquitate à facie torū, & ego aisperdam illos cum ter [...]a. Gen. 6. v. 13. and great Patri­ark, to advertise, and communicate his whole design unto him.

Friend, saith God, the World is in its agony, and my Justice shall put an end to this Work, which my Love began. All my patience and delays have only served to make way for evill; And my clemency is con­verted into rigour; After all, my goodness is tired, and I am resolv'd to open all the Torrents of my wrath; that the World being no longer but a great A­byss, and a vast Scpulcher, may be drowned in it self, and that there may never be more mention of it.

Goe then Noah, Fac tibi arcam de lig­ms laevigatis, mansi­unculas in arca factes & birumine lintes in­trinsecus & extrmse­cu [...]. Ger. 6. v. 14. Et sic factes cam; [...]re­centorum cubitoru erit longitodo arcae, quin­quaginta cubitorit alti­tudo ej [...]. Gen. 6. v. 15. [...]enestram in arca sa­cies, & in cubito con­summabis summita­teme [...]us: Ostrum au­tem arcae pones in la­tere; deorsum senacu­la, & trillegafacies in ca. Ger. 6. v. 16. Ponam (que) faedus meum tecum & ingredieris arcam tu & sil [...]i tui, uxor tua, & uxores fi­tiorum [...]cum, Gen. 6. v. 18. Ex omnibus animan­tibus mundis tolle sep­tena & septena, Masculum & Faeminam: De animantibus vero immundis duo & duo, Masculum & Faeminam. Gen. 7. v. 2. Sed & de volatilibus Caeli septena & septena, Masculum & Feminam: ut sal­vetur semen super faciemuniversae terrae. Gen. 7. v. 3. and build an Ark of Timber and Planks: make small apartments in it, and pitch it both within and without. Let it be three hun­dred Cubits in length, fifty in breadth, and thirty in height: make then a Window a Cubit high, and in the side contrive a door to goe in and out; dispose also Chambers therein, and be carefull, that the whole be divided into three stories, to the end the Body of this large structure may be the more commodious, and better proportioned. Afterwards I will make my ac­cord and pact with thee: and thou shalt presently en­ter in with thy Wife, Children, and Cattle. Besides thou shalt conduct into this Sanctuary all sorts of Beasts and Birds, with this distinction, that amongst the clean thou shalt choose seaven of every species; and [Page 41]of the unclean, two only: pairing alwaies the Male and Female, that they may repair the Earth and Air by their Copulations.

This good Man performed exactly all that God had commanded him; he is already in the Ark, Fecitque Noe omnia quae praeceperat illt Deus. Gen. 6. v. 22. Cum (que) transissent sep­tem dies, aquae dilu­vii inundaverunt su­per terram. Gen. 7. v. 10. Rupti sunt omnes son­tes Abyssi magnae & cataraclae caeli apertae sunt. Gen. 7. v. 11. Et facta est pluvia su­per terram quadraginta dicbus & quadragin­ta noctibus. Gen. 7.12. and he bu­sieth himself in disposing and nourishing all these dif­ferent Species of Beasts, and Birds.

Seaven dayes were spent about these preparations, and in the miraculous inclosure of this new House. At the end whereof the Heavens opened on all sides, and the Sun, Moon, and Stars, seem'd to be chang'd into Sources and Chanels, the Air and Clouds became a Sea, and all the Elements joyned together to make of the whole World an Ocean without shoars, without bottom, without Haven, and without limit. I repre­sent unto my self the liquid firmament, all-infla­med with his wrath and indignation who intends to alter the whole State of Nature. I firmly be­lieve, that amidst this storm, Thunder upon Thunder, and a thousand Claps were heard, which served to arm the Heavens, the Planets, and the Clouds. It is probable that the Night and the Winds were mixed together; and I cannot doubt, but that Hell and Earth did also conspire to increase the horror of so dismall, and u­niversall a Punishment.

Mean while, where are you the unhappy Inhabitants of the City of Enos? Gyants, of what use is your Mass of Body, and those vast dimensions, which have only serv'd to make you fall from a higher pitch, and rendred your ruin more remarkable? Poor Heirs of Cain, Children of Men, Effeminate Spirits, wanton Souls, where are you? The Heavens fall on your Heads, the Air stifles you, the Water swallows you up, [Page 42]and the Earth vanisheth away. Fathers, Mothers, Chil­dren, Husbands and VVives, Brothers and Sisters, Kindred, Friends where are you? and where are your Monsters and Prodigies of Allyance? I behold, I behold your Towers buryed under the VVaves: I hear your cryes, your sighs, and your voices notwith­standing the Tempest; In fine your floating Bodies and your dying Souls acknowledge but too late the Ex­cess of your Sins.

Ah Sin, Sin, these are thy Spoyls, and this is the Tem­pest thou hast raised; Sin do'st thou discern the State into which thou hast reduc'd the World, the Air, the Earth, and the Heavens? Sin do'st thou at l [...]st acknowledge that thou art the Origin of this Disaster, and of all these Calamities?

O God! Factúmque est dilu­vium quadragenta die­bus super terram, & mul iplicatae sunt a­quae, & chvave unt arcam in subleme à terra. Gen. 7. v. 17. Vehementer enim in­undaverunt & am [...]ia repleverunt in superfi­ [...]e terrae: porrò arca fercbatur super aquas. Gen. 7. v. 18. Et aquae praevaluerunt nimis super terram, o­pertique sunt omnes montes excelsi sub u­niverso Caelo. Gen. 7. v. 19. Is it possible, that those Fires, and Thun­ders were to punish Sin? Is it possible, that so many Streams, so many Rivers, and so many Seas are need­full to Efface his Image? Must all the Elements weep forty Dayes, and as many Nights: And in fine must all Nature be in Mourning, or rather in Triumph? Since every where she erects Trophies, and Mountains of Water to swallow up the most shamefull, and most In­solent of all Vices: I mean that which a Chast and Christian Mouth dares scarcely Name.

During this Triumph, and Mourning, Noah stears his Vessell, his Family, and Troops, upon the Billows. This holy man enjoyes a Calm, and sayles securely o­ver these Storms and Billows. He beholds the Day in the midst of Might; And the Tempest, which sinks the whole world even as low as Hell, lifteth him up even as high as the Heavens.

Range then O Noah, Range upon the waters of the Deluge, and expect the day and moments, when God shall land thee in the Haven. And thou O Ark that carryest the world, and its Spoyls, behold how the Sea makes a halt at thy approach, and keeps back its [Page 43]Suspended waves as it were out of complacency, and an orderly respect. Holy house of God; For­tunate Sanctuary of all mankind! float on without oares or sayles, float on, for it is the Spirit of God, and the hand of the justest of men which directs and guides thee.

In effect, scarce were the Forty dayes expired, Recordatus autem D [...] ­us Noë cunctorumque animantium & omni­um jumentorum quae crant cum co in area, adduxit spiritum su­per terram & immi­nutae sunt aquae. Gen. 8. v. 1. Et clausi sunt sontes abyssi et ca [...]aroctae cae­li et probibitae sunt pluviae decaelo. Gen. 8. v. 2. Reversaeque sunt a­quae de terra eu [...]es & redeuntes & caeperunt minui. Gen 8. v. 3. Requievi [...]que a [...]ca mense scptimo, vigesi­mo septimo die mensis supermontes Armeniae. Ge [...]. 8. v. 4. At vero aquae ibant, & decrescebant usque ad decimum mensem: De­cimo enim mense apa­ruerunt cacumina mon­tium. Gen. 8. v. 5. Cumque transissent quadraginta dies, ape­riens Neë fenestram arca quam fecerat, di­misit corvum. Gen. 8. v. 6. Qui egredichatur, & non revertebatur, do­nec siccarentar [...]quae super terram. Gen. 8. v. 7. [...]nisit qu [...]que colum­bam post cum [...] vide­yet si sam cessassent a­quae super faciem terrae. Gen. 8. v. 8. when in an Instant the Heavens dryed up their sources; the air appeared most serene; and the great drops of Rain were turned into Pearls and dew, as it were to give notice of the return of the Sun and Morning, which should begin to spread every where a Calm together with the Day. In a word, God remembred the hower and Moment which he had promised unto Noah to restrain and stop all his Torrents.

The Earth at the same time impatient of bearing a burthen which was not naturall to her, rose up on all sides, and in her emotion forc'd the waters to make a thousand Fluxes, and refluxes, which sufficiently testified the violence of these two Elements; At length, after seaven Monthes contest and conflict, this wandring Iland, which carried Noah and his family, landed upon the Mountaines of Armenia, expecting till the tenth Moneth, when the other Hils shew'd their heads and tops: Forty dayes after which, this most Holy and wise Pilot, who had almost spent a whole year in the pleasing obscurites of his prison, still victorious and trumphant, resolv'd at last to open its window to give flight and passage to a Crow, which indeed went forth but never returned: For he entertained himself on Stincking Carkases and Carrion, finding there his Nourishment and repose. There needed then a purer and more faithfull Messenger: Noah chose a Dove a mongst all the Birdes; that she might discover whether the waters were quite retired. But this innocent Crea­ture, and amiable Spye, finding no [...]resting place clean enough, returned presently into the Ark and ad­vertis'd [Page 44] Noah that the waters of the Deluge were not wholely decreased. Quae eū non invenisset ubi requiesceret pes e­jus, reversa est ad eum in arcam: aquae enim erant super universam terram, extenditque ma­num & apprehensam intulit in arcam. Gen. 8. v. 9. Expectatis autem ul­tra septem diebus aliis ru [...]sum dimisit colum­bam ex arca. Gen. 8. v. 10. At illa venit ad eum, ad vesperam, portans ramum olivae virenti­bus foliis in ore suo. Intellexit ergo Noë quod cessassent aquae super terram. Gen. 8. v. 11. Expectavitque nihilo­minus septem alios di­es, & emisit colum­ham, quae non est re­versa ultra ad eum. Gen. 8. v. 12. It was this newes that obliged Noah to expect yet the space of Seaven dayes, after which he took the Dove again and instantly gave her leave to take her liberty and Flight; Whether will she go? And where will she find a rest to perch on?

Noah in expectation, stands one while him self, an other some one of his Children, at the Window to see whether this Angel of peace would return.

Behold good news, the Dove is return'd; Notwithstanding the Night and the approaching obscurities, I have a glimse of her with the Olive­branch she carries in her Beak.

Noah what say'st thou? Make hast I pree-thee: re­ceive this little Legat, and take from his mouth the earnest of peace; And if thou hast a mind to have more certain assurances, the term of seaven dayes will put a period to all thy desires.

Here was the last delay; for as soon as the seaven dayes were expired Noah cast out again the Dove to the mercy of the Waters, of the Air and Earth, where having at last found footing, she resolv'd to abide.

CHAP. X. Noahs descent out of the Ark, and his Sacrifice on the Hills of Armenia

NOAH seeing what had passed, Et aperiens Neë te­ctum arcae, aspexit, viditque quod exsicca­ta esset superficies ter­rae. Gen. 8. v. 13. Lecutus est autem De­us ad Noë, dicens: Gen. v. 15. Egredere de arca tu & uxor tua, filii tui, & uxores filiorum tuo­rum tecum. Gen. 8. v. 16. Cuncta animantia educ tecum, & ingredimi­ni super terram, crc­scite & mul [...]cami­ni super eam. Gen. 8. v. 17. Egressus est ergo Noë &c. Gen. 8. v. 18. Sed & omnia jumen­ta & reptilia quae rep­tant super terram se­cundum genus suum, egressa sunt de Area: Gen. 8. v. 19. uncovered the roof of his Ark, and presently perceived the Earth, the Ilands, the Haven, the fields, and the dry'd­up wayes. He heard God also commanding him to depart out of the Ark with all his Company, that he might re-people the universe; which was done according to the Orders God had given him, and immediatly [Page 45]the same Providence which guided into the Ark the Lions of Africa, the Bears of the North, the Tygars of the desarts, and the Phesants of Numidia, sent every one back unto their own Country. I leave unto the curious to imagin what pleasure Noah had at the opening of his Cage: when he saw Eagles, Vultures, Austridges, and all birdes take their flight, following the track which was to carry them under their own Climate; God knows also how the Sheep fled far from the Wolfe, the Lyon from the Cock, the Hare from the Dog, which Nevertheless by secret and de­vine Charms, held in the Ark a Correspondence with­out Noyse, War, or Enmity.

In fine, during this Jayle-delivery, and these separati­ons, Noah was carefull not to do like Seafaring men, who during the Storm and Tempest, invoke all the Saints of Paradise, & make a thousand vowes unto them, which Nevertheless they perform not in the Haven, and calm, but by an infinity of Blasphemies, and by the continuation of their Impieties.

Scarce was this eminent man (chosen by God for the conservation of the world) descended out of the Ark, but he instantly built an Altar, Adificavit autem Noē altare Domino, & tol­lens de cunctis pecori­bus, & volucribus mundis, obtulit holo­causta super altare. Gen. 8.20. on which he offered Holocausts and victimes in honor of him who had so sweetly, and by such marvellous wayes, conducted him to the shoar and harbour.

Never was any Sacrifice more pleasing unto God than that; Odoratusque est Domi­nus odorem suavitatis Gen. 8. v. 21. For he was not satisfyed to approve it by a motion of his Eye, as that of Abels; but as if the Smoak which rose from the Altar had bin a perfume imbalm'd with musk and odour, Odorem suavitatis, legunt Hebraei, odo­rem quietis (Noach) God fed him­self, or rather to believe what the Hebrews conceived, the Spirit of God took its repose in the midest of these imbalmed fires and Flames which consumed the Sa­crifice of Noah.

It was in this repose that the Spirit of God and goodnesse felt it self as it were touched both with hor­ror, [Page 46]and pity in consideration of mens misfortunes whose propensions and inclinations to Good are so cold, and unto Evill so ardent.

A poor heart meetes sometimes with so harsh Com­bats, Weakness worthy of compassion. so violent Assaults, and so unexpected Trials, that scarce can those crimes be imputed to it, which the Handes, Eyes, Tongue, and Ears have committed. It is often blind, often it is deceived; Men speak unto it and it is deaf, they interrogate it and it hath neither Tongue nor Speech; What wilt thou do? It is in vain to a­waken it; For its Duskie, Moyst, and Terrestrial humors have cast it into a deadly lethargy and into a cruell stupi­faction: And if at last Remedies awake this heart, it is molested with so much noise, is it is amidst so many passions and importunities which provoke it, and whisper into its Eares on every side, as it is almost impossible for it to hear the voice of its own Conscience, and the cla­mors of God.

It is then peradventure for this cause God promiseth unto men and Noah, Et ait nequaquam ul­tra maledicam terrae propter bomines: sen­sus enim et cogitatio cordis bumani in ma­lum prona sunt ab a­dolescentia sua. Non igitur ultra percutiam omnem animam viven­tem. Gen. 8. v. 20. Cunctis diebus terrae sementis, & messis, frigus & aestus, aestas & byems, nox & dies non requiescent. Gen. 8. v. 22. Benedixitque Deus Neë & filits ejus. Gen. 9. v. 1. that the Earth shall be no more accursed for their sake: He assures them that his re­venging hand shall never take the Rod so universally to scourge all sinners: that from henceforth Winter and Summer, Cold and Heat, Day and Night, shall have their courses, periods, motions, and vicissitudes, with or­der, and by regular intervals.

Afterwardes he stretched forth his paternal, and most mercifull arm upon Noah, and his family, blessing his Children, and all his posterity: And it was from this fountain of Graces, and Benedictions, men receiv'd their re-establishment in the World, and a generall Command over the Elements, and Animals, which felt at the same time either horror, love, fear, or res­pect for them.

CHAP. XI. The Rain-Bow in the Heavens.

GOD resolving to confirm the Oath, Arcam ponam in nubibus, & erit sig­num soederis inter me, & iater terram. Gen. 9. v. 13. Cumque obduxero nu­bibus coelum, apparebit arcus in nubibus. Gen. 9. v. 14. Et recordabor foederis mei vobiscam, & cum omni anima vivente, quae carnem vegetat, & non erunt ultra aquae dilavii ad aelendam universam carnem. Gen. 9. v. 15. Hoc [...]t signum soede­ris. Gen. 9 v. 17. and Cove­nant he had made with Noah, was so good and gratious as to imprint the Seal of his contract in the Clouds, to the end the malice of men might never be able to efface it, and that on the contrary he might be ob­lig'd never to make war against them, when he should see between him, and the World, those illustrious ca­racters of Love, and those magnificent Articles of Truce, pardon, and peace. Moreover this sign, which appeared in the heavens, was but a Bow without Ar­rowes; It was a resplendent Arch, and a Circle beset with Diamonds, Emeraulds, and Rubies; It was a chain of Gold, Silver, and Pearls; It was a Scarf inter­woven with the most lively splendors and the most sensible lights of the Sun and Day. It was the Portraict of Peace, which appeared under feign'd and imaginary colours, or to expresse in a word all that can be thought, and said when we cast our Eyes on this wonder of the Aire; It was the Diadem which St. John discover'd on the head of Almighty God: and which therefore was to be for all eternity the Crown of a God, who can never change, but will everlastingly conserve this Garland and Diadem of peace.

O God of peace, goodness, and Love! Great God, who art alwayes loving, and canst never be loved e­nough! Ah! let not the World be so bold as to take up Armes to disturb thy peace. Lord let all hearts love thee, and let them be tributaries to thy affections. O God of Heaven! all Good, all Just, all Powerfull, powre down no more Storms and Abysses on our heads. Yea my God drown us in those amorous billowes, that if the World must perish at last, let it be in the Tor­rents and flames of thy holy Love.

CHAP. XII. The unhappy effects of Wine.

IT is true, that Men were never more at Peace, the Earth never more pure, and Heaven never powred down so many favours as it shed upon the Earth and the Children of Noah. Coepitque Noë vir a­gricola exercere terram & plantavit vineam. Gen. 9. v. 20. Bibensque vinum ine­br [...]atus est, & nuda­tus in tabernaculo suo. Gen. 9. v. 21. Quod cùm vidisset Cham Pater Chanaan, verenda scilicet Patris esse nudata, nuntiavit duobus Fratribus suis for as. Gen. 9. v. 22. Nevertheless in the mid'st of Pleasure, Peace, Concord, Love, Joy, and all sorts of Benedictions, this poor Man, whom all the Waters of the World, and of the Deluge, could not vanquish, was drown'd at last in a Glass of Wine.

O God! what scandall, what shame, what disquiet, and what disorder in the family of Noah! This good old Man, fell cold, and stiff on the ground, and it is not known whether he be dead or alive. His Chil­dren run presently to help him, but as if the fume of the Wine, which their Father had taken too inconsiderately, had dazel'd and blinded the youngest of them; Unnaturall Impu­dence. instead of casting ashes, and water on the flaming Coals, which consum'd his poor Father, At verò Sem & Ja­pheth Pallium imposu­erunt humeris suis, & incedentes retrorsum operuerunt verenda Patris sui: faciesque eorum aversae erant, & Patris visilia non viderunt. Gen. 9. v. 23. he made a bon fire of Mirth, and scorn about his Nakedness: and with an unparalleld Impudence discover'd to the Eyes of all his Brethren, what Nature hath concealed. His Brothers neverthe­less were more respectfull, and prudent than himself: for immediatly Piety cast veyls over their Eyes, and Love, though Blind, found out Artifices to cover an Object which was neither decent nor lawfull to behold. Ingenious respect. It was in recompence of these chast duties, Evigilans autem Noë ex vino, cùm didicis­set quae fecerat [...]i fili­us suus minor, ait: Maledictus Chanaan, servus servorum erit Fratribus suis. Gen. 9. v. 24. Dixit (que): benedictus Dominus Dous Sem, sit Chanaan serv [...]s e­j [...]s. Gen. 9. v. 26. that Noah being returned out of that Abyss, into which Wine had precipitated him, open'd the Eyes of his Body, and Soul, and afterwards perceiving the unnaturall Impudence of Cham, he darted forth the Thunder of his Maledi­ction against his Son Chanaan, beseeching likewise God to bless, and fill Sem, Japhet, and all their Proge­ny, with his Graces. It was from their Posterity all [Page 49]the Generations of the World are descended; Dilatat Deus. Japbet, &c. Gen. 9. v. 27. and they were the Persons who laid the foundation of Sodome, Ninivie, Salem, and Gomorrha; as also of so many o­ther famous Cities, from whence afterwards Arts, Re­publicks, Policies, Governments, and all the Empires of the Universe took their Rise.

CHAP. XIII. The Tower of Babel.

AT that time though Hearts were divided, Erat autem terra la­bii unius, & sermo­num eorundem. Gen. 11. v. 1. and all opinions different, yet there was but one Mouth, but one Interpreter of Souls, and one common manner of Speech. Cumque proficisceren­tur de oriente, invene­runt campum in ter­ra Sennaar, & habi­taverunt in eo. Gen. 11. v. 2. But as it is very difficult for the Tongue long to bely the Heart; So it hapned not long after that the Inhabitants of the Earth feeling the Justice of their own Consciences which call'd upon that of God, and threatned them with the comming of another De­luge, resolv'd to build a Tower, Et dixerunt: Venite, sactamus nobis Tur­rem, cujus cusmen pertiagat ad Caelum, & celebremus nomen antequam dividamur in universas terrae. Gen. 11. v. 4. and raise the top of it even as high as the Clouds. The chief Undertaker of this famous Structure was the Gyant Nembrod, Gran­child to that Reprobate Cham, who discovered his Fa­thers shame. This Architect was of a proud Nature, and of a Capricious humour, believing that his enter­prises, and designs, were to be executed without the least opposition.

In effect, never was any work undertaken, Descendit autem Do­minus, ut videret ci­vitatem, & Turrim quam edificabant filii Adam. Gen. 11. v. 5. and advanced with more Expedition, nor with more Ardor, Zeal, and Submission. But the Grand Designer of the World, the Architect of the Universe, and the gene­rall Producer of all things, who takes delight to confound the Wisdome of the Wise, and to overthrow the Plots, and Enterprises of the most Powerfull, be­holding these Fortifications rais'd neer mid-way, and being able no longer to endure this Audacity, and these presumptuous Attempts, resolv'd at last to over turn [Page 50]all these Forts, Venite igitur descen­damus, & confunda­mus ibi linguam eorū, ut non audiat unus­quisque linguam proxi­mi sui. Gen. 11. v. 7. Et idcirco vocatum est nomen ejus Babel, quia ibi confusum est labium universae ter­rae, & inde dispersit eos Dominus super fa­ciem cunctarum regio­num. Gen. 11. v. 9. and to cast a generall confusion of Tongues amongst the Carpenters, and Masons. This made a Tower of Babel, that is to say of Disorder, War, and Confusion. This stately Building, this lofty Cittadell, this impregnable Fort, was but a Labyrinth of deaf and dumb people, who spake without hearing one another, and cry'd out when it was not in no mans power to help them.

Behold the Enterprises and Designs of the World: Behold the Structure of the Gyants of the Earth, and the Sanctuary of their Pride.

Men are wont to build, with much trouble, they raise Towers, they Flanck Bulwarks, they strive to render themselves impregnable, or rather unaccessable by in­ferior people, they have also cemented their Wals with their purest Bloud, and a thousand poor Hus­bands, as many Widdows, and six times as many Or­phans must needs have bin swallowed up under these foundations. What comes of all this? The Roof is not yet layd, when a Wind and Tempest riseth, which must carry them away: The sweat and tears of the Workmen, over whom they tyrannized, are ready to make the whole Body of the Fabrick to shake under sad ruins; what ever happen, the Masters and Tyrants shall never enter into it; or if they doe, it shall be but to enclose therein the anxieties of their old age, as in a dolefull prison. Yes, those great Buls of Brass shalbe the first Furnaces of those cruell Phalarisses; and those imaginary Theaters of their Grandeurs shall serve but as a Scaffold on which their Glory and Honour shalbe immolated.

Vanity of this VVorld! Phantasms of the World. glory of a few dayes! Phan­tasms of the Earth! seeming beauties! Men, what doe you think? and why I beseech you, so many Houses, so many Castles, Cities and Villages? cast your Eyes, on the Tower of Babel, and dread at least the fate of the like disaster. Finally then make your VVils, In­grave [Page 51]your Epitaphs, seek out six or seaven Foot of Earth, and from henceforth think only on erecting your Tombs. Goe, consult your Ancestors, your Fa­thers, and Masters; cast your selves at their Feet, enter into their Sepulchers, search into the bottom of their Monuments, and be not affrighted to behold so many ravell'd Crowns, so many broken Scepters, and so much Purple serving only to cover VVorms.

Imitate those many Princes, and great Ladies, who have commanded their Coffins to be made, when they were in perfect health, and who often descended into them to learn, during life, what must happen after death; At least doe like Philip of Macedon, Advertisement of Philip of Macedon. who every Day at his waking had a Page to remind him, what he was, and what he should quickly be. Homo mortalu morti subditus. I assure my self that these practices will suddenly alter your designs, and that your most serious thoughts will at length ra­ther entertain themselves on Death, than Life, and ra­ther on a Sepulcher, than on a Family.

CHAP. I. Abrahams departure out of his Territories, and his en­try into the Fields of Moreth, where he erected an Altar, and where God appeared to him the second time.

THe Genius of Philosophers had reason to say, That the most dreadfull and dif­ficult Trade of the VVorld was to go­vern Men. In my opinion nevertheless it is not impossible to meet with Kings capable of this Government, provided their Crown, Scepter, and Empire exceed not the bounds, and limits of Nature, and of a purely Poli­tick, and Civil Life, which follows the Conduct of Men, and Laws. And if by the Government of men, this ravishing Spirit understood the Orders, Idea's, and designs, which are needfull to guide men [Page 53]amidst the Accidents, and by-ways of a Moral, Su­pernatural, and wholy Divine Life; I say, and main­tain, that it is not an employment proper for Men, but only the Office, and Function of the most wise, and most holy Providence of God. It was also, as I be­lieve, the opinion of Aristotles Master; Plato in pluribus lo­cis. for I hereto­fore took pleasure to remark in his most charming, and true Idea's, that Man was in this Life, as in an Army, The marvellous State of Man. that the Destinies were his ranks, Occasions his weapons, his Enemies all sorts of disasters, his Confederates misfortunes, and finally for conclusion, that he was in the World as in a Field of Battail, in which God was to him a King, Master, Captain and Soveraign Gover­nour. Pythagoras was then mistaken, when he said, that God ruled not the sublunary VVorld, to wit Men, but by the assistance of two great Powers, which are Coun­sell, and Fortune, or Destiny. It is God who governs us, it is his Hand which guides us, his Eye which conducts us, and it is his powerfull Finger which hath Ingraven his Laws, not in Tables of Brass or Marble, but in the Center of Hearts, and Souls. Philo differed not in o­pinion, as I imagin, when he said, that Man bears his Master within himself, which is nothing else but an in­ternall Light which is the Signet of our Souls, the Spirit of our Spirits, the Life of Reason, and accor­ding to the Hebrew Text, Vexilla super nos li­men vultus tui. Text. Hebr. a Standard sparkling with Heavenly Lights. Finally it is in the midst of these Lights, that the Voice of the Holy Ghost, and the VVord of the Word is heard, and Imprints it self in the Soul with the most resplendent, and luminous Rays that can enter our Spirits.

Now it was, by the Favour, The calling of A­braham. and Splendor of these conquering Lights, and victorious Voices, that Abra­ham was chosen amongst Men, as the Person who would be the most obedient, most faithfull, Cyril. lib. 3. cont. Jul. Apost. Ex medio decep­torum ereptus ad luc [...] verae agnitionis Dei vocatus est. and most conformable to the VVill of God. It was saith St. Cy­ril about the time when Ninus held the Reigns of the [Page 54] Assyrian Empire, and when the World was buryed in the darkest obscurities of Infidelity, that this Angell was drawn out of the Errors of Night to adore the Verities of the Day. It was, as one may imagin, even according to the History of Moyses, either during a most Heavenly sleep, or in an Exstatick awaking, or finally by means of an Angell cloathed with an humane Body, that Abraham heard distinctly the Voice of God, which said unto him,

Abraham, it is time to leave thy Country, and Kind­red, and to abandon thy Fathers House.

Follow me then, Egredere de terra tua, de cognatione tua, & de Domo Patris tui, & veni in terram quam monstrabo tibi. Gen. 12. v. 1. and repair unto a Land, and under a Clymat, which I will shew thee; every where I will be thy Star, thy Pole, and my Eye shall serve as Guide, and Torch to conduct thee to the Haven and Landing-place.

Well then Abraham, get thee out of thine own Countrey, leave all thy Friends, and break those many tyes, which Blood hath woven in thy Veins and Heart. The Milk thou hast suck'd is from henceforth no other than poyson, the Nourishment thou hast re­ceiv'd from thy Parents doth but sustain thy Body, and stifle thy Soul: In fine the Light and Brightness of Heaven cannot be seen amidst the Shades and Smoak of thy Country.

But what! must poor Abraham leave himself? O my God! why dost thou oblige him to forsake his be­loved Chaldea, and why wouldst thou have him se­parate himself from his Kindred and Friends? He is in a flourishing City, and thou perchance wilt lead him into some solitary place or desart. He lives in Glory and Honour, and possibly thou intendest to re­duce him into a state of Scorn, and Contempt. He wants nothing at Home, and it may come to pass, that every thing will fayl him amongst Strangers.

These motives are too weak to break the Desires, and Designs of a Soul which God courteth. It is a [Page 55]delicious thing to leave the streams for their source, and to forsake our selves to give our selves unto our Maker. The World and Chaldea are but a poynt in comparison of the Firmament, and all the Elements in respect of the Impy­reall Heavens, are but a heap of vapours, and a Globe of exhalations. To this I adde, that the most peopled Cities, and Provinces, are frightfull Dens, liveless Bo­dies, and most solitary Desarts, if God be not there; and on the contrary, the most dreadfull Solitudes, and least inhabited Grots become Courts and Palaces, as soon as God and his Spirit reside therein. Finally all Reposes are Disquiet, all Peace is but War, all Honours are Contempts, Parents are Traitors, Brothers Envi­ous, Friends Deceivers, Houses and Beds Sepulchers, and Life is but a Death, or at best, but a long, and do­lorous sickness, unless God be the Loadstone of our Hearts, the highest pitch of our Glory, and the Cen­ter of all our affections: for he shall then be our Father, our Brother, and our Friend, and in his bosome we shall find our Countrey, Parents, pleasures and delights without bitterness, and without any mixture of those passions, which are still arm'd to besiege our Hearts.

Abraham understood all these verities from the very morning of his vocation; and at the first overture of the favours which God imparted to him, he took a Staff in his Hand, and became a Pilgrim in the World, sufficiently discovering, that the life of Man is but a Pilgrimage, and that a Man shall first, or last, reach the Port. It was nevertheless hard for him, as I believe, to take his Wife for a Companion in his voyages, to adopt his Nephew for his Son, and to bring away all his Goods, and Baggage, before his Kindred could have notice of it. Then God knowes what Noise, what Tumult, what Astonishment in the whole Family, and amongst his Allyes: God knowes whether Friends appear'd troublesome, and whether the most indifferent strove in this case to expresse their passion. Let every [Page 56]one represent unto himself what may befall him, and what is wont to surprise all those that depart out their Country, and are oblig'd to forsake their Friends; They imagin that even Iron, stones, trees, and beasts, look upon them with the Eyes of Compassion, and that what ever hath least of animation assumes Voices, and Tongues to testify their regret, and bid them adieu. A poor Soul hath then very sensible convulsions, and amidst so violent, and sweet assaults, it is almost impossible to remain a Conquerour.

It is in vain to advertise him, that it is God who speaks unto him, that it is an Inspiration from Heaven which presseth him, and that they are the Graces of Paradise which will triumph over Nature, and Hell.

Notwithstanding these thoughts, and inspirations, the Sun doth not rise, but to present unto him a thousand Portraictures of those whom he hath left behind. The Moon, and Starrs, shew him by Night, and in sleep, nothing but the Images of those whom he hath aban­doned, and he awakes a Thousand times with sighes from his Heart, and teares in his Eyes, to imbrace the Shadows, and Phantasmes of his dearest Friends. This is that at last which makes him often renounce his good pur­poses, and take truthes for Illusious, and Darkness for rayes of light. Alas what Shame, and Cowardise! This poor man is not gone a Musket-shot from the City, and scarce hath lost the sight of his steeple, but he presently reassumes his former wayes, and returns with an intent to build his Tower, or rather his Tomb, on his Chimney's Harth.

Abraham was far more couragious, and the rayes which God darted into his heart made not onely more lively, but more constant Impressions therein. For immediatly he begins his journey, he goes on without prefixing any Limit to himself, he obeyes a single voice, and followes a guide, who having once spoken, disap­peares.

Let any one stay him that will, his heart ceaseth not continually to fly, his spirit sees an object which is in­visible, and leaving what he hath, he is assur'd to find what is promised him.

Is not this a strange resolution, and will not these ge­nerosities be thought too blind in a worldly mind? No truely, these thoughts will never fall into a Soul, which knows the force and power of a vocation wholy divine, such as was that of this incomparable Man, Faciam te in gentem magnam, & benedi­cam tibi, & magnifi­cabo nomen tuum, eri [...] ­que benedictus. Gen. 12. v. 2. chosen to be the father of Nations, and in whose per­son God blessed all people and generations.

Well then: are not the first effects of this vocation great Prodigyes? It is peradventure for this reason Gregory Nazianzen tearms the vocation of holy Souls, a grace, S. Greg. Naz. orat. 3. ac orat. 20, & orat. 25. [...]. Zozomenus. lib. 2. c. 16. [...] which hath nothing Common in Na­ture, and this is that which induced Zozemenus to call it a Convicing Revelation, and whose lightning is like a Thunder-bolt which carries away all that stands be­fore it.

Whatever it be, the vocation of Abraham was a stroak from Heaven, and one of the fairest conquests God hath ever made over hearts.

March then Abraham: Carry with thee that happy Sara, who makes up the moity of thy self; and till God shall please to give thee Children, let Lot be the Son and be thou a Father to him.

Farwell then for ever dear Land of Chaldea; And you Lot, Abraham, and Sara goe joyfully unto Ca­naan.

They are already gon, Pertransivit Abraham terram usque ad locum Sichem, usque ad val­lem illustrem. Gen. 12. v. 6. and I see them departing out of the Territories of Sichem to advance directly unto the plaines of Moreth. It was in this famous plain, and in this delightfull vally, which divides the Mountaines of Gelboa from that of Hermon, Borcardus. 1. Paral. c. 7. Aparuit autem Domi­nus Abram, & dixit ei: semini tuo dabo ter­ram hanc. Gen. 12. v. 7 where the more lan­guishing, and lesse rapid waves of Jordan are seen. There God a second time appeared to Abraham, and there also he gave him both the promise, and possession [Page 58]of the land of Canaan for himself and his posterity. Admirable magnifi­cence.

Is not this a most admirable draught of Gods sage prodigallity and illustrious Magnificence, who in ex­change of a foot of ground gives intire worlds? He will have the Heart, and for the heart he gives Himself, and in him the Creator of souls, and the Soul of all hearts. Alas! what is a corner of the Earth compared with the Land of promise? what is a country and City in respect of the firmament? And where shall wee find brethren, kindred or friends without pretension, interest, or any suspition of deceipt, as are found in Heaven?

Ah! I no longer wonder that so many Kings and Queens, so many great Lords and Ladies, have fol­lowed the happy, and blessed steps of Abraham to enter into the territories of the earthly Paradise, and of Religion. I remain no longer amazed to see so many young gentlemen, brave, rich, couragious, and learned; So many tender, fair, and wealthy virgins who often in the sight of Royall Palaces, and Courtes, make a most sweet, most holy, and most honorable retreit into Cloisters, to see them place their honor, all their de­lights and riches in a most amiable and delicious prison. Good God! How peaceable are these divorces, how free are these Captivities, and how holy are these re­solutions? If God give the whole for a part, Worlds for one kingdome, the Heavens for one Country, and a hundred-fold for one; who wilbe astonished to see a Theodosius, Zeno: tom. 3. an Anastasius and a Michael quitting the Empire of Greece to enclose themselves in a Mona­stery? Who will wonder to see a Charlemain, Son to Charles Martell, who abandoned all the hopes he had in France to live out of the road of the world, and the Court, on Mount Soractes? and what great wonder is it to see in the Kingdomes of Spain, a Veremond King of Castile, and a Remirus King of Aragon, following the happy steps of a like conduct? Surely I see nothing which is too admirable, when for the same cause Sige­bertus [Page 59]left his England, Charls his Germany, and so many others, who have forsaken their most vast, and most glorious Monarchies. It was little considerable for Radegond and Baltildus to despise France, though it were one of the Largest, most Noble, and most Au­gust Kingdoms under Heaven. It was then yet less considerable for all those, who have followed their steps and examples: for doing what Sara and Abraham did, they could not doubt but God would guide them out of their Empires into a Land of plenty, where Crowns and Scepters are the Arms of an Eternall possession.

It remains then for all those, Qui aedificavit ibi Altarem Domino qui aparuerat ei. Gen. 12. whom he hath taken by the hand, as he did Abraham, and led them over the Banks of Jordan, and through the shades of Her­mon, to build there an Altar on which they might of­fer Sacrifices of Love, and Acknowledgments, as Abra­ham did.

CHAP. II. The Voyages of Abraham and Sara into the Land of Egypt.

SAint Thomas hath excellently well noted, D. Th. c. 26. &c. 28. 1 in aggrediendo. 2 in sustinendo. that cou­rage is a force of Spirit, alwaies bold, alwaies con­stant, and which is found not only amongst assaults, onsets and sieges, but it delights also, to sustain a long time the violences which present and oppose themselves to it's desires. It is not then a perfect Act, of Courage, and Force, to undertake some voyage, and to put our selves on our way; But we must advance even unto the End we propose to our selves. And whether it Hails, whether it Rains, whether it Blows, or whether it be fair Weather, we must still have, as a brave Pilgrim said, our track and way mark'd out not on Sand, and Earth, but in the Heavens; that is to say [Page 60]above the Sun, and Stars, which have alwaies regular motions, and pass through the midst of Monsters with­out either stop or seeming astonished. It was, as I be­lieve, on this pleasing Mirror, and on this Card of the most constant designs, and of the most assured voya­ges, or rather on God himself, that Abraham leaving his own Country instantly cast up his eyes, well re­solv'd to follow him every where, who served him for a Master, a Conductor, a Sanctuary and Country. He left then the plains and vallies, to ascend the Mountains, as still desirous alwaies to make new progresses, and to advance without any intermission.

It is he then whom I see spreading his Pavillions on the top of a Mountain, Et inde transgrediens ad montem, qui erat contra orientem Bethel, tetendit ibi tabernacu­tum suum, aedificav [...]t quoque Altare Domi­no, & invocavit no­mini ejus. Gen. 12. v. 8 and erecting an Altar to invoke the name, and assistance of God his Conductor.

Listen a while, and hear from his mouth the thoughts of his Soul.

Great God! I have forsaken all for thee, and at the first command I received, I obeyed the voice of thy most amiable providence; A farwell to the World. at length behold me here out of my Country, far from my own Possessions, and severed from my friends: I am ignorant, where I am; but I only know, that I am with thee. It sufficeth me, O my God, all my desires are pleased, and my Soul is fully satisfied. Farewell all my kindred, farewell my friends, farewell my Country. O my God! me thinks at every step I make, I conquer a Kingdom, all my guests are Kindred, the little Hils are my Dungeons, the Fields my Cities, and all that the day discovers to me of Earth, of Rivers, of Air, and of Seas, is my Country, my House, and my place of entertainment. O God! how Magnificent are thy bounties, and how delightfull it is to follow, and serve so sweet a Master as thy self? Ah! let my Mouth, and Tongue bless thee, and let them not from henceforth serve but to invoke thy holy name. In fine, I will not only ingrave these thoughts upon this Altar: But to the end I may [Page 61]publish them through all the Countries whither the Sun carrys his light; I make my self the Companion of this Storie, Perrexitqu [...] vadens, & ultra progrediens ad Meridiem. Gen. 12. v. 9. and without further delay I leave the East to advance unto the South.

It often happens that God makes use even of the least sensible, and most inanimate Creatures to impart his graces unto his Elect. Sometimes he enters into the Heart with the break of Day. His Lights, and Clarities often mingle themselves with the Night, and when the Sun sets to give rest unto the Body he cau­seth a miraculous Morning to arise, which awakens the Soul: Now I no wayes doubt, but our Pilgrim in his journyes towards the South feels also more resplen­dent ardors, and more infired lightnings, which in­flam'd him with more violent, more zealous, and more lively desires and designs.

Mean while a generall famine came over all the Land of Canaan; Facta est autem sames in terra, descenditque Abram in Aegyptum, ut peregrinaretur ibi praevaluerat enim fa­mes in terra. Gen. 12. v. 10. Cumque prope esset ut ingrediretur Aegyp­tum, dixit Sarae Uxori suae: novi quod pul­crasis Muli [...]r. Gen. 12. v: 11. Et cum viderint te Aegyptii, dicturi sunt: Uxor illius est, & interficient me & te reservabant. Gen. 12. v. 12. Dic ergo, obsecro te, quod soror mea sis: ut bene sit mihi propter te, & vivat anima mea, ob gratiam tui. Gen. 12. v. 13. Cum itaque ingressus esset Abram Aegyptum, vider [...]nt Aegyptii Mu­lierem quod esset pul­cra nimis. Gen. 12. v. 14. in so much as our happy Traveller is enforc'd to take a farther journey, and to descend into Egypt: where flying from the sythe, and weapons of that merciless thing, which alwaies takes his enemies by the throat, he fals into the hands of an other no less cruell Monster, who commonly steals in by the eyes to surprize and suffocate Hearts.

This man wholy inlightn'd by God, and who car­ried in the bosome of his faithfull moity, the purest, and most holy flames of his Love, beheld a far off the smoak of a most dangerous fire, and fearing least his dear Sara should be there either by mishap or force sur­prised, he thought it fit to say unto her.

Wife, we are here on the Confines of Egypt: but yet I am afraid, lest these souls a thousand times more black than their bodies, lay not some blemish on thy chastity. I fear lest these Ravens of Egypt should powre down on the beauty of thy Face, and make it serve as a prey to their most infamous Loves, and afterwards my life as a victim to their sensuality. [Page 62]Tell them then I pray thee, that thou art my Sister, and that I am thy Brother, to the end I may escape by this amiable Stratagem.

All these forecasts were not grounded on a vain fear, Et nuntiaverunt prin­cipes Pharaoni, & lau­dave [...]unt eam apud il­lam, & sublata est Mulier in domum Pharaonis. Gen. 12. v. 15. and some erroneous Judgment: for scarce were these two Doves of Chaldea, these two Turtles, and these two chast Lovers entred into Egypt; but instantly the Princes of Pharaoh, who were the Ministers of his im­purities, carried away the chast Sara, and brought her to Court; which was a Seraglio of luxurie and lubri­city. Mean while what can a chast, and couragious Husband say, or think, who sees before his eyes the rape of his Wife. Unfortunate Abraham what wilt thou doe? are these the Promises which God so of­ten made thee of filling thee with all his favours and benedictions? Ah what can the loss of a Wife make a Man a Father of all People, and Nations? and is this the recompence of that Faith, Obedience, and Piety, which seemed not to raise up thy Body from the Earth, but to Elevate it to the Heavens? Behold War on the one side thundering against thee; and on the other side Famine pursuing thee, and Egypt which hath ra­vished from thee all the honours, pleasures, and purest entertainments of life.

From whence then spring all these misfortunes? Most just appre­hensions for World­ly Men. Is it perchance because thou hast too suddainly left the way which God had marked out to conduct thee be­tween the arms of a most loving Providence, which was able to nourish thee in the midst of desarts and fa­mine? It is peradventure because thy vows, and Sa­crifices, were not perfect; Or else art thou not char­ged with the spoyls of thy Family, by the excess of an ill regulated Love? Or finally hast thou not propos'd to thy self for the end of thy travell the hopes of some gain, or trafick? Or else that which is apparently more honourable, hath not the curiosity of seeing, and know­ing, what is done elsewhere, snatched thee out of [Page 63] Caldea to hurry thee into unknown Countries?

I confess, that commonly these are the Western Winds, which swell the sayls of those who travell ei­ther on Land or Sea.

But certainly as for Abraham nothing less than such designs: Why then will you tell me, that it is God who afflicts him, and wherefore is that, which he doth for his sake, so rudely, and furiously crossed?

Ah! my friend whoever thou art, who askest this question, take not ill what I say unto thee, that thou art a stranger, and Pilgrim in the Land of God, and in the wayes of vertue. In a word, Triall of Constancy thou knowest not the secrets of a Conduct wholly Divine, which is ac­customed to employ all the instruments of mis-hap, and all the disgraces of fortune, to erect trophies unto its dearest friends: often war, plague and famine, mala­dies, affronts, falls, exiles, and all that is most dread­full in Nature, take up armes to assault the life of one predestinated person; but afterwards Comets trans­form themselves into Rainbows, Famine changeth its syth into the horne of abundance, affronts become honours, misfortunes become favours, Fine Metamorpho­ses. banishments palaces, and all the moments of Dayes and Nights will render themselves celebrious by some new bene­fit in favour of these happy infortunates.

Courage then Abraham, and no wayes doubt, but the fidelity which Sara hath vow'd unto thee will be proportionable to that thou rendrest unto God. As for Pharaoh his Hands are bound, his Eyes blind-fol­ded, and his Heart so full of bitterness, and grief, as at present he cannot attend to the research of remedies, and of his own liberty. Lay aside now all thy fears, and thou also Sara: for thy Heart is a Sanctuary of Peace, and a Temple of Love, of which God alone, Flagellavit autem Dominus Pharaonem plagis maximis, & domum ejus propter Sarai Vaorem A­bram. Gen. 12. v. 17. and Abraham keep the Keys: Besides, these clamours thou hearest, and which resound every where, are but the forerunners of thy liberty, and the witnesses of the [Page 64]vengeance God hath already taken of Pharach, and likewise of all the Princes of his Court.

In effect this great God, Vocavit (que) Pharao, A­bram, & dixit ei: Quidnam est quod fe­cisti mihi? nunc igitur ecce conjux tua, ac­cipe eam, & vade. Gen. 12. v. 19. who is jealous of the glo­ry of his, sent such harsh scourges to Pharaoh, and all those who had bin his complices, as scarcely had this unhappy Prince the means to see the Face of Sara. This disastrous Court is no longer but a Dungeon of Dark­ness, a Galley of Slaves, and a large Hospitall of de­spairing Franticks. Every where Violated Chastity, the Rights of Mariage, and Hospitality, dart forth Thunder-bolts; The Court of Pha­raoh. And from the poysoned shafts no­thing but lamentable voices, and bitter plaints are heard, which correspond with the stroaks of a most holy and just severity.

Ah God! if these salutiferous cryes could be carried upon the wings of the Winds from one Pole to the other, to advertise so many Egyptians, who are either in the Dust of the World, or breath the air of the Court. Cry out then Pharaoh, cry out, and awake so many sleepy Souls, which lie in soft Downy Beds, as Coles under Ashes to entertain the ardor of their impurity.

Doe you see these lascivious men, and these ravi­nous Wolves, who are in quest of their Golden fleece, and seek out Flesh, and Bloud, to satiate the rage of their brutality. For this they ingage their Servants, and Hand-maids they subborn confidents, they lay ambushes every where, and either, soon, or late, some chast Sara must be taken away.

But at the same time, Luxuria dulce vene­n [...]m, pernic [...]osa potio humanum corpus de­b [...]ita [...], & v [...]l [...]s a­nimi robur [...]nervat. Hugo à S. Vict. lib. 4. inst. Monast. l [...]t. l. saith Hugo Victorensis, the poy­son of their infamous Mouths cast forth into the Bo­som of Virginity, reascends into its Source and steals almost insensibly into the Veins of a Body, which im­mediatly becomes corrupted; from whence ariseth, that the Heart it self is presently infected, and it is from this Plague of Souls, and this Canker of Bodies, so many fatall blindnesses, so many blind furies, and so many furious errors doe afterwards Spring, which [Page 65]cause in the Body an Abysse of Maladies, and in the Soul a Maze or Labyrinth of reason. These burning coales, and these flames, saith Justinian, which beget such sad fires in the body, and fill souls with so black, Ignis internalis est luxuria cujus materies gula, cujus flamma su­perbia, cujus sintillae prava colloquia, cujus fumus infamia, cujus cinis inopia, cujus finis gebenna. Laur. Just. c. 3. de sop. in lig. vitae. and thick a smoak, rise from the fire of hell. It is this fire to which good chear serves for Nourishment; It is this fire which Pride, and Presumption inflame and inkindle on all sides; It is this fire whose sparkles are Lascivious provocations, its smoak is but a most disho­norable Fame, its ashes are Miseries, and Calamities, and in fine, it is onely in the Hells of this World where this intestine fire is found.

Let us judge then after this of the Greatnesse of Evill by the excesse of Punishment, and if some one have a mind to die the most detestable death in Nature, let him lead the most enormous, and execrable life which can be in the sight of Heaven.

But let us return to Pharao, who was constrain'd to stifle his unlawfull Loves in the Ocean of his miseries, and who at last restor'd to Abraham the flower, which had bin cruelly wrested from him.

CHAP. III. The Agreement of Abraham and Lot upon the Contro­versy between their Shepheards.

PEace and Purity are two sisters, which have no other Father or Origin but Love, and the Spirit of God, which cannot breath but in a calm and in clean­nesse, there is its native Air, Element, Temple, and the usuall place of its residence; And it is peradventure for this reason Solomon was accustomed to adorn the gates of his Temple with Lillies, and Olive-branches, Inseparable compa­nions. desiring thereby to inform us, that none are to enter [Page 66]there, but by the doors of Peace, and under the shade of the Olive-branches, which are marks and symboles of Peace and Purity.

This being so, I wonder not that Abraham, who was animated with the Spirit of God, and endued with no other than the purest passions, did express so much love, and inclination to Concord and Peace.

He seemed Neverthelesse to have some cause to com­mence a sute, Unde et facta est rixa inter pastores gregum Abram, & Loth. Gen. 13. v. 7. to wage war against Lot for the preserva­tion of his rights, and authority, which might receive some prejudice by the strife, which arose between his servants, and those of Lot, their design being to be­come Masters, contrary to Justice, and Reason. Which Abraham seing, to prevent all the disorders which might ensue on this first design, he saith unto Lot,

Nephew I pr'y thee remember, Dixit Abram ad Loth: ne quaeso sit jurgium in­ter me & te, & past [...] ­res meos, & pastores tuos, fratres enim su­mus. Gen. 13. v. 8. that hetherto I have not treated thee as an Uncle, but rather as a Brother; what a scandal would it be, if we should begin to live together either like strangers, or else as Enemies? I had rather lose all the goods of the world, than that of thy friendship: But I see clearly that these Shep­heards, Ecce universa terra coram te est, recede à me obsecro, si ad sini­stram eris, ego dexte­ram tenebo, si tu dexte­ram elegeris, ego ad sinistram ibo. Gen. 13. v. 9. and mercenary friends, are the persons who endeavour to engage our passions with their interests: It would then be more prudently done to sever our flocks, than to disunite our Mindes, and therefore dear Nephew take what you please. If thou goest to the right hand, I will take the left: and if the left, I will passe to the right.

Well then, is not this to love peace, and to purchase at his own expence so pretious a treasure? Is not this to be magnificent, and can any one seek an accord with more Prodigality? Interessed Souls. Where are then these little hearts, and these narrow Souls, which are still bury'd amidst their own interests? Where are these worldly People whose Eyes may sooner be turn'd out of their heads, than monies out of their hands? Where are all these Pertifoggers, and these Lawiers, who are alwayes for [Page 67]delatory futes, and place all their hopes on a forged will, or a false contract? They are like Moles, which have alwayes their Noses in the Earth, and incessantly inlarge their holes and graves. What shame is it for a man of cou­rage to be still fighting on a flight occasion, and to contest upon the point of a Needle who shall carry it? Alas! where are the Abrahams, where are the brothers, kindred, and friends, who shall say one to the other, for Gods sake let us live peaceably, rather let us dye a thousand times, than wage war for those goods which either soon or late we must leave?

My God! These are generous, The Golden Age and heroick thoughts; To hear them, I conceive my self to be in those golden Ages when men carry'd their hearts on their lips, Crowns of Olive-branches on their heads, hornes of plenty in their hands, their eyes in each part of their body, and the Chains of a holy friendship as bracelets and collers of Gold; Finally where the goods of the earth were trodden under foot as common to all men. And this caused that plenty of all things was carry'd every where upon a Triumphant Chariot, cast­ing Gold, and Silver to all, that would but take the paines to gather it. God himself governed the Reignes of this fortunate Chariot, and as if he had a purpose to make every man a Monarch of the universe, he said the very same to them as to Abraham, when the love of Concord, and Peace, had sever'd him from Lot.

My friend Abraham, lift up thy Eyes, Dixitque Dominus ad Abram, le [...]a oculos tuos, & vide à loco in quo nunc es ad aqui­l [...]nem, & m [...]ridiem, ad orientem, & occiden­tem. Gen. 13. v. 24. Omnem terram quam [...]spicis tibi dabo, & semini tuo usque in semp ternum, faci­amque s [...]men tuum si­cut pulverem terrae. Gen. 13. v. 25. and turn thy self on all sides from East to West, from North to South: These immense spaces, which thou beholdest, shall be under thy Empire, and afterwards at the end of thy life, thou shalt leave them for an inheritance unto thy posterity, which shalbe numerous, which shall equall the sands of the Earth: Rise then Abraham and begin again thy journies, and wayes, over the whole extent of the Earth; for this is the reward I intend to give thee.

Well then; Surge ergo, & peram­bula terram in longi­tudine sua, quia tibi datu [...]us sum eam. Gen. 13. v. 17. Is not this a most powerfull motive to Love Peace, and to bestow all that one hath to acquire a Good which draws with it all sorts of blessings and fe­licities. For my part, I believe, that Gregorie the XIII. had learnt by example the happy advantages of this verity; for having Commanded a Picture of Peace and Justice to be drawn, he caus'd a Vessell full of Flowers, & Fruits to be added, Typot. lib. 1. Symb. Ju­stitia pacem, copiam pax attulit. with this Motto, Justice hath given us Peace, and Peace hath bestowed on us Goods in abun­dance.

Abraham might have justly taken the same Armes, and the like Inscription. I represent also to my self, that such as seek Peace, and Tranquillity, may all say, and doe like Abraham. Let us conclude, that we must often give way unto their Interests to become Masters of Hearts, Goods, and Possessions: that it is a most sweet and profitable art to lose a little for the gaining of Peace, which is wont to bring with it all that can be desired.

CHAP. IV. The Victories of Abraham, and the assurances God gave him of a most flourishing Posterity.

THe desires, A Warlike Tran­quillity. and inclinations, which we may have for Tranquillity ought not to destroy force of Cou­rage, which, as a Philosopher heretofore said, are the Arms of the Soul, and as it were the Wings of the Body. There are nevertheless faint-hearted Men and Effeminate Spirits, to whom the name of Peace is not venerable, by reason the bare noise of the justest com­bats useth to put them into a Feaver. They are like that Coward of Athens, who dy'd hearing a Trumpet, which was sounded at the beginning of an assault, or rather that heartless Sybarite, who seeing a Dart but [Page 69]in Picture made a vow never to use a Sword, or Dag­ger, never to come into the Field, were it but to mow Grass.

This is not to have a pacifique Spirit, A shamefull Pusil­lanimity. and inclina­tions unto Meekness, and Peace, but rather to bear un­der a humane Body the Soul of a tender Chick; or at least such people resemble those Indians, who trem­ble at the sight of their own shadows, and from whom, if one should take away their Hands when they are ob­liged to Eat or Drink, one would judge them to be Statues and feather'd specters, which tremble at the least breath of Air.

There is then an other Spirit of Peace, which de­lights in Tranquillity, and knows not what it is to seek occasions of War, and pretences of dissention; But where once Right, Piety, Alliances, or violated Justice put Arms into their Hands, at the same instant this vapor which was hidden in the Clouds, and framed Veils against the violences of the Sun, begins to con­vert it self into a Mass of flaming Coals, which set fire on the Heavens, and puts the Earth into a dreadfull fright.

Behold here the Image of a generous courage of a pacifique Soul, and of a most valorons Heart; every where it setleth Peace, every where it accordeth dif­ferences, and never refuseth any Treaty of Union: But where it is provok'd, and that there is need of pre­serving its own Rights, or revenging the injury done unto Allies, you instantly see it in the Head of an Ar­my: It orders Troups; It is in the fight, at the charge, at the spoyl, at the chase, and in action; briefly it is all Heart, and its Body seems to be chang'd into Arms, and Hands, to defend its Life, its Right and Honor.

But who would have believed, that Abrahams hu­mour, and courage, had been of this temper, when he was only seen to take Lot by the Hand, and say unto him, that all his goods belonged unto him, and that to [Page 70]avoid War he gave the World for a Field of Peace, and for an assured testimony, that he prefer'd a quiet Life before all pretensions whatsoever.

Nevertheless when News was brought him, Talerunt amnem suli­stantiam Sodomorum & Gomorrhae, &c. Gen. 14 v. 11. Nec non & Lot, & substantiam ejus, &c. Gen. 14. v. 12. Et ecce unus qui eva­serat nuntiavit Abram Hebraeo, &c. Gen. 14. v. 13. Quod cùm audisset Abram, captum vi­delicet Lot Fratrem suum, num ravit ex­peditos vernaculos su­ [...] decem & o [...]to: Et persecutus est eos usque Dan. Gen. 14. v. 14. Percussitque eos, &c. Gen. 14. v. 15. Redaxi [...]que omnem substantiam, & Loth Fratrem suum, &c. Gen. 14. v. 16. At vern Melchisedech Rex Salem, proferens panem & vinum: E rat enim Sacerdos Al [...]ssimi. Gen. 14. v. 18. E [...]edixitque ei, & cat: B [...]nedictus Deus excelso, &c. Gen. 14. v. 19 Et dedit ei d [...]cimas exomnibus. Gen 14. v. 20. [...] essus est & Rex So [...]omerum in occur­sum ejus. Gen. 14. v. 17. that the King of Sennay, the King of the Elamites, the King of Pontus, and he that was commonly called the King of Nations, were become Masters of the Field, and of the Sodomites Country, (who were his confe­derates,) and that even after the taking of Sodom, poor Lot, who fell into their Hands, was lead by their Com­mand into a sad Captivity; At the very same instant this peaceable Traveller, instead of a Staff, took Arms into his Hands, and having selected three hundred and eighteen of his bravest Servants, he went forraging the Country, and so couragiously pursued his Enemies, that afterward being come to the confines of Judea neer the Fountains of Jordan, and finding them still wholy puffed up with the success of their victories, and loaden with their booty, he set upon them with so great courage, and dexterity, as at last he put them to a shamefull rout, and gave them so generall a defeat, that he brought back both Lot, and all his Goods, with the remainder of the spoyls of all the Assyrians, who were all either dead or put to flight.

After this defeat Melchisedeck, who was King of Salem, and also high Priest of the most high, offered Bread, and Wine, as a thanksgiving for the victories he had gained: Afterwards he gave his benediction to Abraham, who also presented him with the tenths of his spoyls and of his whole booty.

The King of the Sodomites sayled not to render his duties unto the Conqueror; for he presently made hast to Abraham, who treated him as a King, and as one of his Allies.

CHAP. V. The Assurances God gave unto Abraham of a most flourishing Posteritie.

A Midst all these successes and congratulations A­braham who had setled Peace in Judea and in the Neighbouring Territories, felt his Heart to have some desire of making War against him, and, as if fear and distrust had been willing to banish Faith from his Soul, he began already to complain, or at least to present some request unto God, saying,

Ah my Lord! where is this so flourishing Progeny? where is this so numerous posterity? and where are these Children thou hast promised me? Can it possi­bly happen, that a Stranger and a Servant should be the support of my House, and the Inheritor of all my For­tunes? I see my self encompassed with Enemies: I feel my self burthened with old age, and there is as it were no longer any probability I should ever hope for Children.

I very much doubt whether Abraham had ever an intention to complain. However he was somewhat afraid, and God to deliver him out of his fear said un­to him in most express terms, Abraham fear nothing, Noli timere Abram; Ego protector tuus sum, & merces tua magna nimts. Gen. 15. v. 1. Dixitque Abram: Do­mine Deus, quid dabis mihi. Gen. 15. v. 2. for I have promised to keep thee alwaies in my prote­ction and to be for ever the recompence of thy Faith and hopes.

But yet Lord! saith Abraham, what is that thou wilt give me? for a long time, is already spun out since I have been in expectation, and I have not the posses­sion of any other Goods, than those I could hope for from your bounty. Certainly the Privacies of a Holy Soul are in high esteem with God; was there ever any thing more free, more open, and Genuine, than the Heart of Abraham? What Favourite of the Kings of [Page 72]this World would be so confident as to say unto his Master, what this Good Old Man said unto God? Nevertheless God was pleased with this Libertie; And as if he ment to increase so amiable a freedom by new assurances of his Power and Will;

He made Abraham come out of his Pavillion, Eduxit illum foras, & dixit illi: suspice Caelum & numera stellus si potes. Et dixit ei sic erit semen tuum. Gen. 15. v. 5. Non erit hic haeres tu­us: sed qui egredietur de utero tuo, ipsum ha­bebis haeredem. Gen. 15. v. 4. Igitur Sara Uxor A­ [...]aham, &c. Gen. 15. v. 6. Dixit marito suo: ce­ce conclusit me Domi­nus, ne parerem; in­gredere ad ancillam meam, si sorte saltem ex illa suscipiam filios. Gen. 16. v. 2. and then not satisfied with having promised him a Posterity numerous as the Sands of the Sea, He shewed him the Heavens, with promise that the number of his Chil­dren should equall the Planets and Stars of the Fir­mament. Adding to him afterwards, that suddainly he should have a Son by his dear Sara, who should be the Heir of his possessions, and the ornament of his Family.

Notwithstanding all these Assurances and promises Sara who felt her self Barren permitted her Husband what the Law and Custom of that time allowed; And much more, for this Chast Wife humbly intreated, that Agar though a Servant, might share with her in his Bed and affections; but as it commonly happens that Honours trample on the Right and Duties of Na­ture, Agar was no sooner become a Mother, but she would be at the same time also a Mistress.

It is a very strange spectacle to behold the insolen­ces of Fortune. There is nothing so insupportable as a proud poor Man, as a Servant who is become Master, and, as a beggarly Woman who hath the Keys of a good House. These Monsters of Mankind resemble those Exhalati­ons, Humane Monsters. which after they are raised from the Dunghils of the Earth, take the shape of the Sun, or of a Comet, whose aspect is terrible and dreadfull to all beholders. They are also like those little Streams about four or five Feet in breath, which run Serpentizing about Ci­ties, and sometimes commit so many spoils in one hour as the Sea would not doe in a hundred years.

But as the Sun with two or three Days of heat drys up these Torrents; so God in the twinkling of an Eye [Page 73]humbleth the Pride of all the insolent, and there is no­thing so detestable in his sight as a Proud Man, who was Born in Misery and Poverty, unless those blind furies chance to relent either through due considera­tion, or some cross fortune, which invites God to resume his Eyes of Compassion to behold their Dis­aster.

So Agar having been disgracefully driven out of Abraham's and Sara's House, when her wandring heart had leasure to entertain more humble and mild thoughts; God who hath fatherly tendernesses for those who place their whole strength and Consolation in Meeknesse and Humility, immediatly sent an Angel to her, who promised her a favorable return; and besides, gave her assurances that shortly she should have a Son, who should be called Jsmael: in effect, she con­ceived, and was delivered, as the Angel had said, Abraham being no lesse than fourscore and six years old or neer upon.

CHAP. VI. The Continuation of the favours which God conferred on Abraham.

THE Love which God bears to all Creatures is a rare Artist, it is alwayes active, Love never idle alwayes ar­dent, and never seen idle; It is a fire which is con­tinually seeking new aliment; It is a torrent which never stops; it is a lightning which cannot long remain in­closed within a Cloud, & a Planet which knows not what repose or retirement meaneth. Painters for this reason gave it winges, and in pictures it is for the most part ever seen with one foot in the air.

Wee must not then wonder, if the heart of Abraham being replenished with this Love, God commanded him to March, and still to advance.

But what! was it not sufficient to have even run for the space of Ninty and Nine years, and been in a Continuall journey during the whole course of his life? was it not time to make a halt, when he saw himself neer the shoar, and that his life was arrived almost in the Haven?

It imports not (saith God unto him) it is I that speak, Apparuit ei Do­minus, dixitque ad eum: Ego dominus omnipotens, ambula coram me, & esto per­fictus. Gen. 17. v. 1. and thou must obey: On then Abraham, pass farther, I will be a Spectator of thy Voyages, and of the Pro­gresses thou shalt make in the way of perfection.

Alas! if all Men had this lesson deeply ingraven in their Souls, and if all such as make Profession of fol­lowing God were resolved never to make a stop upon the Earth, untill they were arrived at the proposed end; What Progress would be seen in Vertues, what ad­vances in the way of Paradise, and of Glory? More­over, if we had often this thought, that Gods Eyes are fixed on all the Motions of the Body and Soul, should we find so many Cowardly, Idle, and Lazy Persons standing with their Arms across, and whose Reason is buryed in a shamefull Brutality?

Is it vain then God Commands us to goe alwaies ascending, Equality some­times very dange­reus. from one degree to another, and not to doe like those stinking Waters which stop in the Mire? But sometimes to little purpose doth he shew himself, and make himself felt by the effects of his Holy pre­sence; no Body sees him, and none but an Abraham hath Eyes to know him, and Feet to follow him every where.

It is likewise with him he makes an attonement, and it is in his Person he establisheth the King of Men, and the Father of all believers. Moreover as it is the Cu­stom to impose on things a name Conformable to their Nature, and as it appertains only to the Elect, and such as are predstinated, to have Names which must be re­gistred in the Book of Life, and which neither times nor seasons will ever efface; so God changed his name, [Page 75]which till then was Abram, adding to it one Divine Letter, and one of those Sacred Ciphers of which Men use to express the ineffable Name of God, a very evi­dent Sign that he was one day to take (as the Apostle saith) his Origin and temporall Birth from Abraham. Hieronymus in trad. Heb. in Genesim Li­pomanus ad Heb. 2. [...] I adde to these Conceptions of St. Jerom, that Names (as the most faithfull Disciples of Plato believed) being the Chariots of Nature and of Essences, It was neces­sary that Abraham, who was the Father of all Nati­ons, should have also the Title of it, and that his name should be an Illustrious Witness thereof.

Presently after, as if this fortunate and glorious Name had been the Seal of the Contract, and of the Al­lyance which God made with Abraham, he would render it more sensible, and adde to these Cyphers of Love an Impression of Grief, and a Character of Blood.

Then was Circumcision commanded not only for Abraham, but for all his Children, and Servants, Commandement for Circumcision. and in generall for all those that should be numbred a­mongst his Generations; Hoc est pactum meum quod observabitis inter me & vos, & semen tuum post te: Circum­cidetur ex volis omne Masculum. Gen. 17. v. 10. Infans osto dicrum circumcidetur in vo­bis, omne Masculum in generationibus ve­stris: tam vernaculus quam emptitius cir­cumcidetur & qui­cumque non suerit de stirpe vestra. Gen. 17. v. 12. provided nevertheless they were Males; for Women were exempted from the Law: Concerning the time prefixed for the accom­plishment of this precept, it was not to pass the term of Eight dayes; and the proposed End was no other than mens accord and peace with God, who foreseeing the War which the Body is wont to wage against the Soul, gave a Command to cut off the Prepuce, as the Cen­ter of the impurest and grossest humors, which use to nourish and infire the flames, to inkindle the fu­nestous Pyle in which the chastest purities are con­sumed.

This is the opinion of Saint Thomas, St. Chysostom, and Theodoret; who adde, that the Circumcision of the Jews was but a Corporall Figure of that Circum­cision which should be in the Spirit of Grace, and in the blessed Law of the Messias, who desires not a Sa­crifice [Page 76]of Bloud and rigour, but of Love, whose ami­able and holy tyranny is sometimes more violent over the Soul, than the Law of the Jews hath ever been over the Body.

Moreover Circumcision was not only a Figure of Baptism, of cumcision sign Peace. but a Constant and infallible Mark of the a­greement God had made with Abraham: Now this ordinary denotation of Love, and this sacred Testi­mony of Peace was to be imprinted on the Body of the Hebrews, that the remembrance of the favours God had shewed them might increase their duties of Obe­dience, Piety, and Faith towards God.

Thirdly this effusion of Blood was a lively represen­tation and animated by the Faith of Abraham who o­beyed the Voice of one God, who presently cast Veils over his Eyes, infused Light into his Mind, and Fires into his Heart, which made him abandon all Creatures to remain under the sole Protection of Heaven.

In the fourth place this Phlebotomy served to di­stinguish the Jews from other Nations; so that as here­tofore the Grecians esteemed all the People of the World barbarous and brutall; so the Jews had a Cu­stom to call all those Uncircumcised, who would not subject themselves to Circumcision.

In fine, this rigour, and this Bloodie precept God imposed on the Hebrews was an effect of the first Dis­after which deserved tears and cicatrices of Bloud. This was the Remedy which Men had to heal this sa­tall wound which remains still bleeding.

Now there needed such a healing hand, as that of Abraham, to receive this Bloudy but efficacious Me­dicine, which was to mollifie not only the Obduration of the Jews, but had also a secret vertue to wipe away the stains of that mortall Poyson, which the Serpent of Paradise, or rather of Hell, had vomited into all Hearts. This was then a particular favour of God un­to Abraham, but it was not the last; for he gave him [Page 77]afterwards the ultimate assurance that Sara who was 90. years old should be the Mother of a Son, Et ex illa dabo tibi silium, cui benedictu­rus sum, cri [...]que in­nationes, & reges po­pulorum orientur ex eo. Gen. 17. v. 16. Et ait Deus ad Abra­ham: Sara uxor tua pariet tibi filium, vo­cabisque nomen ejus Isaac, &c. Gen. 17. 1 Cecidit Abraham in faciem suam, & risit, dicent in corde sho [...] putasue cen enario nascetur filius, & Sa­ra nonagenaria pariet? Gen. 17. v. 17. who was to be not only the Prince but the Head and Father of Nations. This Son at the same time received his name from the Mouth of God even before his Birth, and the name imposed on him was that of Isaack, a happy and pleasing name, which sounded so sweetly in the Ears of Abraham, as presently his poor Soul being un­able to bear the excess of this contentment, he felt himself surprised with an Amorous fainting, which cast him upon the Earth, and left him no words in his Mouth, but smilingly to say, My God! is it possible that an aged Man a hundred years old should be the Father of a Child: Omnipotent God! what News dost thou bring unto these poor Parents? what joy, what pleasure, and what transport in their Souls? what will Men say, when Sara shall grow great with Child by a Miracle from Heaven? what Song of Triumph, and what acclamations will there not be heard throughout all Judea? will not so many Servants and Handmaids who see all their hopes dying with Abraham, resume a new life, when they shall perceive the Birth of a Ma­ster, whose life must be their only support.

In truth these thoughts and a thousand such as use to happen upon a like accident, are too deeply ingra­ven in Nature and in our Hearts to appear barely on the Lips, and upon Paper. The Spirit may well con­ceive them, but Hands have but too weak and liveless touches to frame some draught of them. Most just resent­ments. It appertains only unto silence and raptures, to say what we can scarcely believe or think.

France I call thee as a Witness; for thou canst re­present unto us, if thou wilt, an Image of Abraham's and Sara's Joy; thou canst publish to us, if thou art so plea­sed, the sentiments of the justest and most holy King and Queen in this World, for whose felicity, we can but wish the Birth of a Child. At least we should even hear [Page 78]themselves, when Heaven gave them a Dolphin, who was expected for the space of two and twenty years, and then we might have beheld on their Faces the smiles of Abraham and Sara, we might have seen that which cannot be expressed by words, and finally, those Echo's, which corresponded with the publick accla­mations, might have opened to the understanding what I cannot lively enough explain.

CHAP. VII. The Charitie of Abraham towards Pilgrims, and the tenderness of God towards him.

I Know not whether I ought rather to admire the continuation of Gods favours to Abraham, or the constancy of his vertue and piety towards God and his Neighbour. Gods Paternall Love. God ceaseth not to follow him, and since his departure out of his Country, as a good Fa­ther should doe to his Child, he alwaies held him by the Hand; And Abraham hardly ever lost sight of him, or at lest his Heart hath alwaies most dearly conserved him. The life of Abraham then was a Combat of Con­stancy, and a Duell of Love, where on the one side when God attaques him, this generous Courage corres­ponds on the other side, and makes a strong defence. It is a Pilgrimage in which God goes first and Abra­ham next. These are but researches, pursutes, and so­licitations. God gives himself entirely to Abraham, and Abraham hath nothing which he gives not for his sake.

He made this evidently appear, Appar [...]it autem ti Duminus in convalle M [...]mbre sedente ostio tabernaculi sui in ip­so servore dici. Gen. 18. v. 1. when being in the Valley of Mambre at the opening of his Tents, about high Noon, he saw three Pilgrims tann'd with the Ar­dors of the Sun, and tyred at least in appearance with the pains and toyl of their journey: for immediatly [Page 79]this magnificent, cordiall, and devout man, Cumque elevasset oen­los, aparuerunt ei tres viri stantes propè cum &c. Gen. 18 v. 2. Et dixit: Dominest inveni grattam in ocu­lis tuis [...]ne transeas servum tuum. Gen. 18. v. 3. Sed asseram pauxillum aquae, & l [...]v [...]te pedes vestros &c. Gen. 18. v. 1. who bore God and men in his heart, prevented these travellors, and his Soul which alwayes discovered truth amidst shadows, ador'd the Majesty of one God hidden under the habit of these three pilgrims. Afterwards he offered them his Table and house; and not satisfied with these profers, he treated them in words and deeds, and then to render his duties more perfect he mixed them with so much sweetness, so much cordiality, and so much reverence, that afterwards he would needs wash their feet, honoring them not onely as guests, but also as Masters of his House: wherein I first observe the promptitude of a good work, and of a Charity, which should have wings to fly, and prevent him that receives it. It is a verity proved by Axiomes too popular to be doubted of; And the freedom and cordiallity, Liberalitas quod è li­bero arbitrio prosicis­catur nominata est. Senec. de beat. vit. c. 24. & lib. 2 de benef. which are so naturall to magnificence, must partake of this promptitude: It were likewise to take away its Armes, and Eyes, and even its Name, as Seneca saith excel­lently well, if one should make a man Liberall without the freenesse of this Cordiall liberty.

Thirdly this bountifull Cordiality ought in some man­ner to be blind, though discreet; for it is obliged to discern what is seeming, and what is reall: But when once necessities are discovered, the heart, saith St. Denyse ought to be like God, and the Sun, who inlighten all shadows and have no disdainfull brightnesses, but com­municate themselves unto all bodies: And it was for this reason as I believe, [...] Sines. ep. 31. [...] Clem. Alexand. lib. 2 Strom. that the learned Sinesius called liberallity a Vertue common to God and man; and Clement Alexandrinus termed it the Image and picture of the Divinity. St. Austen adds, that presents must be made with Mouth, Heart and Hand. Finally Honor and Respect are requisite to it, as a mark, Seasoning of fa­vours. that we acknow­ledg God in Man, and that we are bountifull unto men for his sake. This is what our incomparable host did, when after all sorts of courtesies and duties he further [Page 80]desired to wash the feet of these three Pilgrims. The which Solomon hath since so expressly recommended, when he described to us a River, Mitte panem tuum su­per aquas qui a post tempora multa reperies cum. Eccl. 11. whose moving Chry­stall floated in a bed of gold, and in silken curtains, Cast bread, saith he, upon the current of these waves, and I promise thee that all such as shall sow upon these liquid Fields shall there find a Harvest even after many Ages.

Is not this the same which Abraham did washing the feet of these three Travellers? Kings of France true successors of Abra­ham. and is it not that which our Kings of France, the Successors of Abraham, have since so holily observed, when once at least every year they wash with their own hands the feet of diverse poor people?

This is doubtlesse to expose his grandeurs and cha­ritable profusions upon a bason of water, which is pre­sently converted into a Source of Graces and immor­talities. This is to sow in a well-watred Land, and where one shall find the Abundance of Ages, which the wise man gave for an inscription to his River of Charity. Abundantia seculorum

In fine, this River is no other than that of the Ter­restriall Paradise which loseth it self for a while under ground, Moses Barcephas è Syria Antistes, lib. de Parad. cap. 28. Fluvius Phison. and afterwards goes as it were gliding upon the billowes of the Ocean, untill it issueth forth, as out of a prison, which opens it self upon the bounds of the West, where after a thousand windings this poor 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 [Page 81]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 omne [...] 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 conde [...] ­dency. [Page 82]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 dependenco [...]r [...] 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 [Page 83]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 [Page 84]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 sight of a fault takes presently armes into his Hands: for sometimes his patience gives truce during the whole course of life, and expects the repentance of a Sinner even till Death, otherwise the World would be quickly a Desart, or the Earth would at lest transform it self into a Hell of Punishments and Torments.

Nevertheless we must not weary his Patience, An i [...]ritated pa­tience is terrible. and abuse his Goodness: for sometimes he Darts his Shafts in an instant, and the very smoak of evill is no sooner risen in the Air, but presently Thunder breaks all the Clouds without Threats or Lightnings. At least he is wont after some delay to send publick chastisements, and his zeal at last appears throughly inflamed after some sparks of fire which his Clemency had cast forth as the Messengers of his wrath. Thus did he long be­fore the inkindling of the funestous Pile of Sodom and Gomorrha, where these incestuous Cities quenched their flames in the midst of their own fires.

Abraham himself took the Liberty to confer with him upon this design, Freedome of Holy Souls. and when he beheld the Lighted Torches which were to be the Instruments of this sad Incendium, the Sanctity and freeness of his Heart per­mitted him to say,

Ah! Et appropinquans ait: nunquid perdes justum cumimpio? Gen. 18. v. 23. Si suerint quinqua­ginta justi in civitate peribunt simul, & non parces loco illi propter quinquaginta justos si fuerint? Gen. 18. v. 24.what great God! could it possibly happen that thy indignation should be Blind, and that thy Thunder-bolts should equally fall upon the Just and Sinners? God of Goodness canst thou behold the innocent in the midst of punishments, without some touch of Compassion? Alas Lord! wilt thou not pardon this Criminall City, if in case but fifty Innocent Persons be found in it; Is not this a Motive powerfull enough to invite thee unto Commi­seration?Absit à te ut rem hanc facias, &c. Gen. 28. v. 25.Ah! let it be never then said, that thy just providence, which extends it self over all the Empires of [Page 85]the World, hath stifled Vice and Vertue under the same Ashes.

Is not this an Innocent freedom, Dixilque Dominus: sl invenero. Sodim [...]s qui [...]quaginta justes in medio civitatis, di­mittam omni loco propter eos. Gen. 18. v. 26. and capable of mo­ving even the Bowels of Gods mercy? Indeed God promised him to deliver all those that were invelaped in that crime, in case there were found not fifty, but ten only worthy of pardon.

But it seems the iniquity of Men is so much the more enormous, as the goodness of God is immense and ad­mirable. Ineffable goodness. Who would believe this if truth it self had not reveal'd it? Et dixit, Non delebo propter decem. Gen. 18. v. 23. who would credit it if God him­self had not sayd it? And who would believe that Ver­tue and Piety are in such sort banished from the Earth as some good Men may not be found in it? It is then for this cause God advanced towards Sodom, Abiitque Dominus postquam cessavit lo­qui ad Abraham. to cha­stise their Vices, and to extinguish the Lust of their Women with a Deluge of Fire.

CHAP. VIII. The firing of Sodom, and the deliverance of Lot.

MAximus of Tyre and Dion Chrysostomus had but slightly, and as it were in passing by considered the Nature of God, when they believed it was a shame­full exercise for a Soveraign Essence to mingle rewards with punishments. Atheisticall Igno­rance. It is an employment (say they) wor­thy of Gods greatness to give Crowns, but to Dart Thunder-bolts is the Office of a deformed, cruell, un­pittifull and rigorous Spirit.

Pliny the great was possest with the same Errors, when out of an Atheisticall flattery, Deus est mortali juva­re mortalem, & haec ad aeternam gloriam via. and an Idolatrous Complancy, he gave unto his Prince the name and title of a God who had onely power to doe good. Is not this a pernicious flattery and altogether unworthy of a Divinity?

But I will believe that in the time of Vespatian and Pliny, Rome had not yet seen that famous Statue of Ju­stice, The Statue of Ju­stice. which in the one Hand carryed the Tables of Equity and of the Law, and in the other a Scepter cove­red with a Stork, the true Symbol of Piety, upheld also by a Hippocentaure, which denotes cruelty; Besides her Head was armed with a great Helmet wrought out of Gold and Iron; At her Feet appeared an Ostridge, and a World on which certain Enigmaticall terms were read, yet clear enough to manifest that it was the Pi­cture of Gods Soveraign Justice, which holds in one of her Hands all the Laws, and in the other a Scepter of Clemency and Severity; the World is under her Feet as under her Empire, and close by her the Ostridge, which disgests Iron, sufficiently evidenceth that her rigors break Diamonds like Straws, and consume Steel and Iron like Air and Wind.

Behold the Portraict of Gods Justice, her Scepter hath not been seen hitherto in the Land of Sodom and Gomorrha, but upon the Wings of a Stork, that is to say, by Clemency and Meekness; Now the Hippo­centaurs and the Ostriges will serve her for support, and a Hand of Justice will shortly appear in the Clouds which will powr down upon these Rebellious Cities a floud of Sulphure, Ashes, & Fires. And truly if God had not a Hand of Justice, how could he govern the World? whose Empire cannot Rowl but upon two comman­ding Wheels, which are Justice and Goodness: More­over, if God had no other Marks but of Meekness and Love, the Earth, saith Aristotle, would be without a Sun, and the Elect as well as the Reprobate would be seen perishing in the self-same Chaos; Finally, Crimi­nals would have no terrors which might induce them to penance, and the Just would want motives to pre­serve their purity. It stands then with reason, that God should have Justice, and that his wrath should from time to time powr down upon the Heads of Sinners. [Page 87]Too long have the horrors of Sodom irritated and pro­voked him: the Night already approacheth, Veneruntque due An­geli Sodomam vespere, & sede [...]e Loth in so­ribus civitatis. Gen. 19. v. 1. Qui cum vidisset eos, surrexit, & ivit ob­viam eis, adoravtique pronus in terram, & dixit: obsecro, Domini, declinate in d [...]mum pucri vestri, qui dexe­runt minimè, sed in platea mancbimus. Gen. 19. v. 2. Compalit eos oppido ut divertereat aa eum: s [...]cit convivium, & comederunt. Gen. 19. v. 3. and there remains no Day but to behold two Angels in the ha­bit of Pilgrims, who seek out Lot even at the Gates of Sodom; observe how welcome they are, and certainly, they have met with an Heart who perfectly under­stands the Rights of Hospitality; observe what hast he makes to them, how he casts himself at their Feet, how he conjures them to spend at lest one Night in his House: In fine, after some refusals and Complements, he inforceth them by his Charitable importunities to shelter themselves in his Lodging; they enter into it, and nothing but Feasts and congratulations are seen in this House. But they were no sooner risen from the Ta­ble, and preparing to take some repose, when imme­diatly Sodomites came from all parts like inraged Wolves howling and trembling as if they had already felt the Agony of Death, and the Flames which were ready to devour them.

O God? Prius autem quam irent cubitum viri ci­vitatis vallaverunt domum, &c. Gen. 19. v. 5. Nolite, quaeso sratres mes, noli [...]e malum hoc sacere. Gen. 19. v. 7.what frenzies and what furies of a brutish ap­petite when it is once let loose! Disastrous passions! blind will! inchanted desires! shamefull brutalities! Tyrannicall Love! Alas! is it not true that your Eyes are veiled with a fatall Scarf? Blind Sodomites are you not yet satisfied to have exceeded all the bounds of humane Nature? Sacrilegious Effeminats, Dia­bolicall Men, must Angels be constrained to satiate the ardors of your beastialities?

Mean while Lot is very much afflicted; Habeo duas filias, quae necdum cogno­verunt virum, educaem eas ad vos, & abu­temini eis sicut vo [...]s p [...]acuerit, dummodo vi­ris istis nihil faciatis, &c. Gen. 19. v. 8. At illt direrunt: re­cedo illuc, & rursus: ingressus es, inquiunt, ut a. vma, &c. Gen. 19. v. 9. for these Cyclops of Hell are come out of a Furnace of obscu­rities with Hammers and Iron Bars in their Hands to break his Gate in a thousand pieces, to destroy Fathers and Children, Masters and Servants. Briefly even from the highest to the lowest, all the Inhabitants of Sodom have befieged this chast retreat, and desire to make it the Den of their Impurities. In vain doth Lot intreat and declare unto them that the honour of [Page 88]his Guests is more precious to him than that of his Daughters. Et ecce miserunt ma­nam viri, & intro­duxerunt ad se Loth, clauseruntque ostium. Gen. 19. v. 11. For after all this these inraged Beasts made him no Answer but with Blasphemies and reproaches, and they were already as it were Masters of this fortu­nate Sanctuary, when the tutelary Guards of this House carryed him away as a Lamb in the midst of these Wolves, and a while after the Gate being shut these Angels of I ight cast forth so many glorious and resplendent Rayes, as at last these desperate Sodo­mites were blinded with them: After this blindness, Lot began to open his Eyes to discern yet more clearly the force and Vertue of these blessed Guardians of his House; Et eos qui foris crant, percusserunt caecitate à minimo usque ad maximum, &c. Gen. 19. v. 11. Dixerunt autem ad Loth: habes [...]i [...] quē ­piam tuorum? gene­ru [...], aut filios, aut fi­lias, omnes qui tui sunt educ de urbe hat. Gen. 19. v. 12. [...]gressus itaque Ioth, locutus est ad generos suos qui acc [...]pturi e­rant filias ejus, surgi e egredimini de loro isto: quia delebit Dominus civitatom hanc. Gen. 19. v. 14. They also perceiving the hour, which God had chosen to Execute the Decrees of his Justice, and having made an inquiry concerning the number and quality of those persons who were with Lot, they ad­vertized him presently to depart out of this reprobate City, which was even ready to serve as a Theater for the most rigorous vengeance of an irritated God. In­stantly Lot informed all his kindred of this strange news, to the end they might remove their Wives and Daugh­ters out of this danger. But what! they that had no Eyes to discern God, had no Ears to hear their Father, or at least they made but a sport at his most serious Re­monstrances.

Mean while the Night slips away, Cun que ess [...] marè cogehant cum An [...]li, di [...]entes: surge, telle uxo em tuam & du­as filias quas h [...]bes, &c. Gen. 19 v. 15. Eduxeruntque cu [...], & posuerunt ex­tra civitatem, th que loc [...] sunt ad cum, dicentes: salva ani­man. tuam, &c. Gen. 1 [...]. v. 17. and from the break of Day, as if the Sun should have served to inkindle the Pyle of Sodom, the Angels delegated for the pre­servation of Lot, taking him by the Hand with his Wife and two Daughters, constrained them to depart together out of the City, advertizing them that to pre­serve their lives, and to enjoy the benefit they had re­ceived, they must seek out a refuge upon some high Mountain, without turning their Heads or Eyes to­wards the unhappy Sodom, lest some Whirlwind of Flames should chance to surprise and devour them.

Behold then Lot much astonished: Nevertheless he [Page 89]conjures these amiable Spirits to afford him a Retreat in a little Town not far from thence; Dixitque Loth adeos: quaeso Domine mi, Gen. 19. v. 18. Quia invenit servus tuus gratiam coram te: ne forte deprehen­dat me malum & mo­riar. Gen. 19. v. 19. Est civitas haec juxta ad quam possum fu­gere, parva, & sal­vabor in ea: Nun­quid noa modica est, & vivet anima mea. Gen. 19. v. 20. Dixitque ad cum: ecce etiam in hoc sus­cepi preces tuas, ut non subvertam urbem pro qua locutus es. Gen. 19. v. 21. Festina, & salvare ibi: quia non pole [...]o facere quidquam do­aec ingrediaris illuc. Gen. 19. v. 22. Respiciensque uxor ejus post se, versa est in statuam salis. Gen. 19. v. 23. Igitur Dominus pluit super Sodomam, & Gomorrham Sulphur, & ignem à Domine de Caelo. Gen. 19. v. 24. Et subvertit civitates has, & omnem cirda regionem univosos ba­bicatores urbium & cuncta terrae vireatia. Gen. 19. v. 25. the Angels gran­ted all he desired, and the Village assign'd him for a Sanctuary was also freed from the flames for his sake.

But as there is nothing weaker and more wavering than a Womans Mind, Lot had not power enough to hinder her Head, which was filled only with Wind, from moving at the sight of the first Lightnings which preceded this Storm; so in testimony of her incon­stancy she was transformed into a Piller of Salt, as if God intended by this exemplar punishment to leave unto over light Souls a Tragick monument of Incon­stancy, and a dreadfull effect of Temerity.

Mean while the Heavens are no longer but a live­ly Source of Flames and Fires: The Sun, Moon and Stars are so many Chanels through which God powres down upon Sodom and Gomorrha all the Thunder­bolts of his wrath. The Clouds are the Torrents of Thunder which makes a hideous Noise which tears the Skyes and carries away all without pitty; Nothing is seen in the Air but flaming obscurities and ardent sha­dows heaped upon one another, which form a Hears­cloath to cover the shamefull Reliques of these loath­some Coals.

The Earth on the other side is an inlivened gulph of burning Coals, which vomit forth so many Fire­brands and Torches, as at length one would believe that the Air, the Skyes, the Clouds, and the Earth were no other than a Hell. Nothing is heard there but Cla­mors, Sobs, Rages, Blasphemies and roarings out.

What a spectacle is it to see Men and Women with Bodies all on fire running through the Streets, their Hair flaming, their Eyes sparkling, The Image of Gods Judgements. their Mouths bur­ning, and their Hearts filled with Sulphur? What a monstrous Specter is it to behold an Infant in his Mothers bosom, and in his Nurses Arms like a lump of Sulphur which is consumed with the flash of a [Page 90]Torch? Who hath ever heard that the World was watred with a Rain of Sulphur, with a Deluge of Fire, and with an Inundation of burning Coals and Flames? What Thunder, what spoyl, what desolation of Wood­piles, of Houses, and Furnaces? Beds, Tables, Cub­bords, Gold, Iron, Marbles, and Diamonds turned into Fire-brands? Alas! where are the Heavens? where is the Air? where is the Sea and Earth, when the whole World is on fire? Ah poor Lot! what is become of thy Wife, and where are thy Kindred, and what may thy Daughters think beholding the smoak of that fire which devours the Bodies of their unfortunate Husbands.

Me thinks I see him with his Daughters in the foulds of a Mountain, Et mansit in spelunca ipse & duae siliae ejus cum eo. Gen. 19. v. 30. Dixitque major ad minorem, &c. Gen. 19. v. 31. Veni, intoriemus eum vino, dormi [...]musque cum eo, ut servare possimus ex patre no­stro [...]emen. Gen. 19. v. 32. where he endeavours to shelter himself from these frightfull inundations, which burn and desolate all his Country. But with what grief will A­brahams chast Heart be touch'd when he knows that the Daughters of Lot are consumed with an other fire, and they inkindle such black flames, as even hinder them from knowing their own Father, or at least from trea­ting him with that respect and piety which Nature re­quired?

Blind Nation! brutish Treason! Crime whose hor­rors have not a name in Nature: Thy Fire-brands and Murthering Darts must pierce the side of a Mountain to defile and destroy what God had reserved to him­self. Abraham autem con­surgens manè ubi ste­terat prius cum Domi­no Gen. 19. v. 27. None but Abraham remains Constant in his Sincerity; he is still in the same place where God spake to him with so much tenderness and privacy.

Faithfull Friend of God, Intuitus est Sodomam, & Gomo rham, & u­niversam terram re­gionis illius, viditque ascendentem favillam de terra quasi surna­cit sumum. Gen. 19. v. 28. Father of all Nations, Support of men, Vice-King of the Earth, Abraham, canst thou behold this dreadfull fire without Sighs and Tears? Weep then Abraham, weep to quench these flames; but rather inkindle some pile to swallow up these Monsters which infect the World by the Con­tagious shafts of their Incestuous brutalities. Let there [Page 91]never be any mention made of Sodom, nor of the Lands which are complices in her disloyalty; Let no man e­ver think on her, unless it be to place before his Eyes the Image of Gods Judgments, and of the Eternall punishments of Hell.

There will never be a more sensible and exact draught of those endless torments, than Sodom, Gomorrha, Adama, Seboim, and all their Neighbourhood.

Let us have then a horror to enter into these flaming Prisons, and into these Sulphurous Dungeons; The Picture of Hell. let us listen awhile unto these Sighs, Sorrows and Lamen­tations which rise from the bottom of these Abysses.

My Eyes, what doe you see? what Phantasms? what Specters? what Tormenters? what Monsters? My Heart, art thou not affrighted at the sight of these fla­ming Furnaces, of these Mountains of Fire, of these dead which are alwaies living, and of these lives still dying amidst Immortall Languishments and Endless Torments?

O my God! how will it be, when thou shalt de­scend upon the Clouds, and on a flaming Chariot to enfire not only five Cities, but all the parts of the Uni­verse?

Where will the most shamefull and detestable of all Vices find Caves deep enough, when at the Sound of Trumpets and Clarions the Earth shall open her Sepulchers, like so many Furnaces, which will vomit forth men all invironed with Fire?

Whither will the confederates of Sodom and Go­morrha goe, when all the Saints and Angels of Hea­ven shall even wax pale with fear?

Will Vice be in a place of Security, when Vertue it self shall hardly find a Sanctuary?

The Pillars of Heaven will shake, Luc. 21. D. Thom. sup. q. 73. the Cypres Trees and Oaks of Libanus will roar out, all Trees will melt into drops of blood, the Sun and Moon will change their countenance, all the Planets will make a stand, or [Page 92]dread will even tear them from their Orbes to follow, Pugnabit cum eo orbis contra insensatos. Eccl. 5. like trains of fire, the astonishing Splendors of God; The Earth, though most insensible, will arm it self in so just a quarrell.

Afterwards the Ocean touched with so cruell a Sym­pathy will raise its billows and waves even five Cubits high above the Mountains, Signs of the day of judgment given by the Hebrews, colle­cted by St. Jerom. related by St. Tho­mas. sup. q. 73. a. 1. immediatly after they will tumble down to make Abysses, and presently extend themselves upon their ordinary Bed: Then will all Fishes, though naturally dumb, cast forth fearfull moa­nings and out-cryes.

In the Air Birds will tune sad Noats, and their swee­test Harmonies will be but Songs of Death.

Nothing but Hairy, blew, sparkling, burning and bloudy Comets will be seen; and nothing but Cryes, Howlings, and dreadfull Lamentations wilbe heard, not only amongst Men, but also amongst the fiercest Beasts, and in the midst of the least sensible and most inflexible Bodies.

In fine, this will be the great Day denounced by the Mouth of God, by that of the Prophets, and of which Sodom hath been but the first draught.

If then the representation thereof were able to af­fright the Eyes of the Impurest Souls, and to stop the Course and Torrent of so many flames which an infer­nall and Diabolicall Love casts into Hearts, I would willingly advise the most part of Men to have the Pi­cture of Sodom alwaies before their Eyes, to the end so tragick a misfortune, might at lest divert a far more dismall disaster.

But all these Pictures are too weak if Love takes not off the cover, and if Faith shall not open the Eyes.

My God! Dissipate then all the Shadows of Sodom, and fix our Eyes upon the Lights of Sion; O God il­luminate our Minds, and inflame our Hearts, to the end we may follow the bright Splendors of thy ado­rable bounties, and that our Souls may never be con­sumed but by the fire of thy Love.

CHAP. IX. The Birth of Isaack, and the Banishment of Agar and Ismael.

IN fine, Visitavit autem Domi­nus Saram ficut pro­miserat, & implevit quae locutus est. Gen. 21. v. 1. Concepitque & peperit filium in senectute sua, tempore quo praedixe­rat ei Deus. Gen. 21. v. 2. Rursumque ait, quis auditurum crederet Abraham, quod Sara l [...]ctaret filium, quem peperit ei jam seni. Gen. 21. v. 7. Dixitque Sara: risum fecit mihi Deus. Gen. 21. v. 6. Heaven hath heard the vowes and prayers of Abraham; Isaack is born, and Sara is so much ra­vished at the sight of this happy prodigy that she can hardly believe what she sees: This Child neverthelesse come by Miracle into the World, growes visible, and who ever hath Eyes to behold him, may quickly dis­cern that he is the Image of Abrahams and Saras vir­tues; He is the fruit of Benediction which came in the Autumn, and therefore is almost ripe even in his birth; He is a Phenix, on whom all the hopes of his race de­pend, and a Sun whose Aurora shewes what will happen all the remainder of the day. His dear Mother hath no other pains and throws in her Labour, than smiles and admirations; Scarce was he weaned but his Father changeth his Nurses Milk into good cheer, and invites his Friends unto a solemn Feast to rejoyce with them for his happiness.

What a wonder is it to see this Child of Tears and Desires become an object of a Ravishing Joy. Cumque vidisset Sara filium Agar Aegyptiae Iudentem cum Jsaac filio suo, dixit ad Abraham: Ejice an­cillam hanc, & filium ejus. Gen. 21. v. 9. Durè hoc accepit Abra­ham pro filio suo. Gen. 21. v. 12. Sara art thou afraid that the life of thy son will bring thee death, and that the excesse of a joy so little expected, will even melt thy heart? For my part I already apprehend lest the pastime of Jsaack and Jsmael prove the occasion of a quarel, and that at last either the Mother or child must be chased away: In effect, Sara could not endure the sight of Agar and Ismael, she intreates Abraham to put both of them out of his House. But Abraham who hath the Tenderness of a father for Jsmael, can­not condescend to her desires. It seemes to this good man that the severing of Jsaack and Jsmael would even cut his heart in two. There is a necessity Never­thelesse [Page 94]of obeying the request of Sara, Cui dixit Deus: Non tibi videatur asperum super puero, & super ancilla tua: omnia quae dixerit tibi Sara, audi vocem ejus, quia in Jsaac vocabitur tibi semen, sed & filium ancillae faciam in gen­tem magnam, quia se­men tuum est. Gen. 21. v. 13. Surrexit itaque Abra­ham & tolleus panem & utrem aquae im­posuit scapulae ejus, tradiditque puerum, & dinusit eam. Gen. 21. v. 14. for God com­mands Abraham in this occasion to execute all his in­junctions, with promise that Notwithstanding all con­trary appearances Isaack and Ismael shalbe the first seedes of a most ample and happy posterity.

Neverthelesse I would very gladly know what was Abraham's thought, and whether he could abstain from mingling some tears with the water and bread he gave unto Agar, when he carried her the newes of the will of God and Sara.

What pitty was it to see this poor handmaid enter with her son into a solitary and uninhabited Desart, and leave a plentifull House, where she had ever lived as a Mistris? Are not these very rigorous commands and most austere providences for those who have onely Eyes for their own Interests, and for what appeares to them a present good.

To see Agar and Ismael in the desarts of Bersheba with hunger and thirst, Quae cum abi [...]sset, orabat in solitud [...]e B [...]rsab [...]c. Gen. 21. v. 14. and in a generall want of all the conveniences of Nature, will not men believe them to be as it were dead in the world, and alive in a Tomb? What hope is there amongst stones and Rocks? What society in the midst of Woods, where nothing is heard but cryes, and the roarings of Monsters? What suc­cour amidst Wild places, and out of the road of men? What light under the shades of grots and caverns, where the Sun dates not approach? What means of Livelihood, where all Animals are dead? Where no­thing but frightfull dens are seen, but aride sandes, and some old Trunk of a Tree, without branches, leaves, or fruit?

What then will Agar doe, Cumque consumpta [...]ss [...]t qqua in utre, ab­jecit puerum subter un [...]marborum quae ib­erat. Gen. 12. v. 14. she hath no more water nor bread? And mean while her life, her Love, and her dear Ismael can no Longer endure the torments of hunger and thirst; he is already constrained to stay at the foot of a tree, and there to cast forth lowd cryes; Distressed Mother, what will you do? What a happy­nesse [Page 95]would it be for you to die first that you might not die twice? Sara what have you don? Abraham where are you? Ah God! what grief is it unto a Mo­ther to see between her Armes the Tomb of her son? Agar have you not Tears to shed upon the Tongue of Ismael to quench the Thirst which consumes him with a slow fire? Have you not a Heart to satiate and qua­lify his Hunger? Where are those maternall Bowels, and that holy passion, which Parents ought to have for their Children?

Ismael hath lost his speech, he is without hope, and Agar abandons him as no longer able to live, seeing her heart half dead before her Eyes.

Farewell Ismael, Farewell poor Orphan, A pittifull separa­tion. farewell all the affections and hopes of Agar.

And when any man shall chance to passe by this so­litary place, let him ingrave upon this Trunk, that here Agar and her son found their Exile, their death, and at length their Monument.

Agar what do you say? Flente enim matre, & mortem filii miserabi­liter praestolante, Deus exaudivit puerum, D. Hieron. Et sedens contra, le­vavit vocem suam, & flevit. Gen. 21. v. 16. Is this the hope you repose in God? And are these the promises he made unto Abraham? Ah! do you not know that Heaven hath Eyes alwayes open to Innocency, and the least of Is­maels sighes is able to draw God into this Desart? Joyn then boldly your Cryes and lamentations with those of Ismael: for one cannot hear the Child without hearing the Mother.

In effect, Et abiit seditque è re­gione procul quantion potest arcus jacere, dix­it enim, non videbo morientem puerum. Gen. 21. v. 16. Vocavitque Angelus Dei Agar de caelo di­cens: quid agis Agar? Noli timere, exaudi­vit enim Deus vocem pucri de loco in quo est. Gen. 21. v. 17. when Agar was removed a flight shot from Ismael, as she sent forth her Cryes after the Moanings of her son, an Angel called her by her name, and said unto her,

Goe Agar, and return to thy son; take him by the hand, and reanimate this little dying body. O God! who will not admire thy sage Providence, and the miraculous Conduct of thy Designes? Who will not remain a­stonished in contemplation of thy works, and above all when he shall discern the care thou hast of thy Elect? [Page 96]Alas! Surge, tolle puerum, & tene manum illius, quia in gentem magnam fa­ciam eum. Gen. 21. v. 18. how stupid is the Wisdom of men? how impru­dent are their conceptious, and how feeble are all the forces of their understandings when they are severed from thee? There needs but one Heavenly Ray to in­lighten all the obscurities of the Earth, but on single drop of dew to soften all the rocks, and but one glance of Gods Eye to give a Soul and life unto all the most Inanimated bodyes in Nature. In fine, when a man thinks himself lost he presently finds his way in the midst of all his wandrings, and there is no climate, nor Earth so dry, Aperuitque oculos ejus Deus; quae videns pu­teum aquae abiit, & implevit utrem dedit­que puero bibere. Gen. 21. v. 19. and aride, where his Omnipotent good­ness may not cause a Thousand Fountains and springs to rise, to the end it may be every where known, that he is the Source of Living and salutiferous Waters, who is able to quench, as he shewed to Agar, the most ardent thirsts in the midst of Desarts and Solitudes.

CHAP. X. The Sacrifice of Abraham, and the admirable Artifices of God to try his Constancy and Fidelitie.

I could almost have a mind to complain of God, and to accuse the apparent rigours he exerciseth on his favorites, If the little experience I have in the life of Saints had not taught me, that there are admirable Secrets to try his most faithfull Servants. To this ef­fect, Mobilis, semper inc [...]ss [...] ­bilis, calidus, fervidus. Dionys. cap. 7. coel. hic­racb. saith St. Denis, He is alwayes in Motion, never at rest, and his ardors are so penetrating and lively, that he passeth like an inflamed Arrow even into the bot­tom of the heart to see there all that is inclosed. Never­thelesse he is not like those petty Tyrants, who cover their Eyes, place veiles over their foreheads, and hold Torches, Bowes, and Arrows in their hands, as Wea­pons which they use to give death with blindness; But [Page 97]if Divine Love hath Veiles they are wrought with the purest lights of Heaven; Triall of Love. and if it hath Shafts it is to open hearts, and its Torch serves but to disclose all the secrets of souls in which nothing can remain concealed.

It is for this he is compared to a Gold-smith who purifies Gold and Silver in the crucet; to a Captain, who tryes the valour, dexterity and Courage of a Soul­dier; or rather to a Friend who neither promiseth nor bestowes his Amity but after very Long triall.

Behold doubtless what God did, when he tempted Abraham as the most faithfull, most constant, and most affectionate person that lived in his time.

Neverthelesse I am troubled to say God can per­form the office of a Temptor, since the least of his looks pierceth all the Cloudes of future things, Nemo cum tentatur dicat, quia à Deo ten­tatur. Jacob. c. 1. epist. and that St. James in his Canonicall Epistle saith in expresse termes that God can tempt no man, because he cannot be the Author of Evill.

But this is to be ignorant in the nature of temptation, Ambros. lib. 1. de Abra­ham, cap. 8. Aug q. 57. in Genes [...]. and to have never read St. Ambrose, St. Austin, and the major part of the Fathers concerning this point, who sufficiently evidence, that there are blind and wick­ed temptations which cannot come from God, as also prudent and officious ones, which are as the shafts and stimulations of Love, or else like sounding plummets wherewith the extents and capacity of hearts are mea­sured; so God knew but too well how great was the Love of Abraham, but it was requisit, that this Love should appear, and with armes in its hand, to acquire a force wholly new, and in a fresh combat.

We must not wonder that God tempted Abraham, Exercise of faith, since this kind of temptation was but an excercise of his fidelity, and a triall of his affection: Exercitium fidei ten­tatio. D Ambr. in 8. Luc. Tentat vos Deus, ut sciatsi diligitis illum, Deut. 13. Just as the Ma­sters in Academies, and Fencers in their schools, use to doe, when by some sophism or feigned thrust they ex­ercise the spirits, dexterity, and courage of their bravest scholars.

I feel a horror nevertheless, Tentavit Deus Abra­ham, & dixit ad eum, Abraham, Abraham: at ille respondit, ad­sum. Gen. 22. v. 1. when I think of the mat­ter on which God resolved to tempt Abraham; I trem­ble, and my Heart grones, when I hear him twice cal­led by his name, and that all the Commissions which are given him tend but to the death of his Son.

Abraham, Abraham, can it possibly be that this so sweet so amiable, and so Holy a Name must serve to summon thee to an office which appears so cruell, and unnaturall, as the Murther of thy Son? Is it perad­venture to carry thee more promptly to the execution of this sad decree that thou art twice called? Art thou deaf to the first words of thy God? or dost thou not perform readily enough what God commandeth? Art thou so fixed on thy Isaack that thou no longer thinkest on God? what is the matter? Art thou stu­pified and hast neither Heart nor care for thy Master?

Lord behold me here, saith Abraham, what is thy will? and where, and in what, may I manifest my Obe­dience and Love?

There are many who have complements enough in their Mouths, Fruitless Comple­ments. and offer, themselves freely enough, but if a Man must ingage either life, goods, honor, or the least of his interests, he instantly retires, and his dea­rest friends remain without offers and effects.

Let us examin whether Abrahams. Heart be of the same temper of those faint friends? God calls him, and he returns answers unto God? God calls him again, and he protests that he is ready to execute all his com­mands: much more; for this Holy Man never contra­dicted the least injunction God had laid on him; he left his Country, he forsook his Parents, and his life was but a voyage of Obedience, and an exile of Love. What can God desire more of him?

This is yet not all God requires of him, and the trials, though too long and too harsh, God hitherto made of his fidelity, were but the Prologues of a com­bat which must be far more rigorous. Love is content [Page 99]to put a staff in his Hand to walk him through the World, but he immediatly presents him with a Sword to undertake a dreadfull Duel, though it be a Duel of Love.

Well then, Abraham take your dear Isaack, Ait illi: tolle filtum tuum unigenitum quē diligis Isaac, & va­de in terram visionis, atque ibi offeres cum in Holocaustum super unum montium quem monstravero tibi. Gen. 22. v. 2. this only Son, and this Amiable Child, on whom you fix all your hopes, and all your most solid contentments. A­braham, it is time to restore unto me the depositum I gave you; he is mine, I lent him to you, but now demand him back; and I command you to immolate him unto me, take him then without further delay, and from this instant goe whither I shall conduct you.

Is it not unto God alone the absolute power of com­mand belongeth? and is it not the duty of Abraham to be silent and to perform without reply what God commands? But what, I beseech you, would a passio­nat Father say upon this occasion? would he not have some ground to say, if he had the same cause as A­braham?

Alas, Lord, The Speech of a passionat Father who speaks for A­braham.where are the advantagious promises thou hast so often made me? Hast thou lost the remembrance of Abraham, Sara, and Isaack? Dost thou not take me for some other? or at least if thou lookest upon me as a Father, why dost thou enjoyn me to perform so rigorous an office? I hambly beseech thee, my God, Semel be [...]tus es De­us. Psal.not to forget thy words and thy own self; remember that thy Mouth is as unchangeable as thy Heart, and that it is an injury unto the immutability of thy Essence, to alter the least of thy Decrees. How can we then believe that the Sacrifice of humane Bodies are detestable in thy sight if thou dost command them? whither will Innocency goe to seek life, if thou Judgest an Innocent to death? what incourage­ment shall we have to serve thee, if thou thus treatest thy Servants? & what attractives will creatures have to love thee, if Massacres be the pleages of thy Love? for my part I am afraid lest the strongest spirits may revolt, and that the weak be scandalized at the instability of thy oaths; [Page 100]thou hast swern by thy self that my Isaack should be a spring of Grace, and behold how thou dryest it up even when it is upon the point of becomming an Ocean of Bene­dicities. My God! what shall I say unto my Son, when he shall intreat me to tell him the cause of his death? How shall I tye his hunds, when he shall imbrace me? and if I have the Heart of a Father to love him, how can I have armes to kill him? Ah! surely no Man shall ever per­swade me that a God, who is the anther of Nature, will command me a streak which appears to me so unnatu­rall; and should I assent, Sara would even snatch the wea­pon out of my hand, she would rather offer her self to serve as a Victim, than give way to the Sacrifice of her Son: Let us then no longer think of it, O my God, my Eyes would be dimmed with tears at the sight of my Ifaack, my Heart would burst into a thousand pieces at the lest dart of his affection, and my Hands could never be cleared of this stain, if I had once sullied them in the bloud of my Son. My God, permit me rather to Sacrifise unto thee the Rem­nant of my old age, and receive rather this Soul which I have upon my Lips, and which is but too weary of the World; But as for Isaack, suffer a flower to grow which thou hast planted with thine own hand, and according to thy promises water it with thy Benedictions. What! An Abraham to Massacre an Isaack? A Father, the most Cordiall, and the most affectionate of the World, to kill the most amiable and the most accomplished Son that hath ever been? A Father, who for the space of a hundred years hath expected a Son, to lose him in a moment? The preparation for his Mariage was already in my thoughts, and they shew me an Altar, a Pile, and a Sepulcher for his Nuptiall Bed. What rigour more inhumane? what Laws more barbarous? And what command more cruell can we figure to our selves? My God pardon me, it is vi­sible to me that I have erred, but grief even extorts these Blasphemies, and my Tongue betrayes my Heart, I will speak then from benceforth with more respect; Give me [Page 101]I beseech thee the Eyes of a Tyger, the Teeth of a Wolf, and the Soul of a Lion, if thou wilt have me devour this Lamb; blind me lest I behold this Fore-head, this Face, and these Eyes, on which my Love hath ingraven his Picture. Lord I acknowledge my fault for having so of­ten begged him of thee, my vows have been over-vio­lent, my desires too importune, and I still feel an over­ardent fire in my Bosom; cast then into it a Deluge of Wormwood, to stiflle such sweet ardors: However, if thou dost command me to be the Executioner of thy severest Judgements, and if thou absolutely desirest I should strike off my Isaacks head, and that I should bury him in the fire, I beseech thee instead of a Sword put a Thunderbolt into my Hands, to the end at the same instant I shall give him the stroak of death, I may soe him invironed with the flames of thy severest Justice.

Without doubt, this would be the discourse of a Father, whose Soul should be agitated with various passions, and the most part of these resentments are more proper for a Man whose Eyes Nature, Bloud, the World, and Infidelity had snut against the purest lights of Heaven, than for Abraham who never fol­lowed other Torch than that of Divine Providence. Never then were such Sacrilegious Complaints, and shamefull murmurs heard to issue forth of his Mouth, as daily proceed from Fathers and Mothers, who have nothing but worldly respects, and no other care but to erect upon the Cradle of their Children all the Trophies of their desires and hopes.

Abraham wils but what God wils, The resignation of Abraham. and instead of fol­lowing the Motives of Reason and humane discourses, he abandons himself into the arms of a perfect Obedi­ence, and of that Faith which shewed him Life even in the Bosom of Death. He was ready to immolate Isaack, and the Love he had for his God made him wish to himself a Destiny like that of his Son. This Man, saith Origen, was not astonished at the voice of so harsh a [Page 102]Command, he refused nothing, and took Counsell of no living Soul, resting content to obey his God.

This Just Patriarch, saith St. Zenon, preferred the Love of the Creator before that of the Creature. And albeit a naturall resentment tore his very Bowels and Heart, yet at the same time his Soul did Swim in the delights of a passion, which hath nothing in it but Su­pernaturall; so that two Loves offered two Sacrifices, the one Immolated the Father, the other Sacrifised the Son.

O Love, The Empire of Love. Love, delicious Tyrant, adorable Conque­ror, Independent Monarch, how powerfull are thy Darts when God casts them? What Power, what Vi­ctory, and what Command dost thou Exercise on the Heart of Abraham? whence come these dazeling Cha­rities thou minglest with thy Killing shafts and with thy Consuming fires? My God, what Miracle of Power? what Prodigy of Faith? what Triumph of Constancy? a Heart without Motion, Eyes without Tears, a silent Tongue, a Father without regret, without grief, and without complaint upon the Tomb of one only and dearly beloved Son.

This faithfull Minister of the Will of God, would be much more grieved that other hands than his should be used, and that a Sacrificer should be sought else­where. The Spirit of Abraham is like a Rock in the midst of the Ocean, The Emblem of that Rock immob [...]is. beaten with Waves, watred with Rain, subject unto Winds and Tempests; whatsoever happens alwaies unmoveable, ever immutable. It is enough that God speaks; All comes from him, all is his, and all must return to him. It sufficeth Abraham, that God is the Master of Abraham and the Father of Isaack. It is enough that God is the King, the Master, and the Father of Abraham, and Isaack. It is in vain to be disquieted, since it sufficeth that God commands, and that whatever he enjoyns be performed, and to live in the practice of this verity is to be in the Paradise [Page 103]of this World, and to enjoy Beatitude by anticipation. It is to row upon the sea as a vessel under the conduct of a Pylot who cannot be deceived; It is to be at court under the command of a most sage and powerfull Prince, who seeks onely to replenish us with his favours, or like a Star guided by an Intelligence, which cannot stray out of the way marked out unto it. Perform then, Abraham, all that God saith unto thee; and thou O my God command Abraham all that thou desirest. Is it his life thou requirest? It is thine. Is it that of Jsaack? it is thy self who hast bestowed it on him, take them both.

But O God of goodness! remember that Abraham is a Man, that he is a Father, that he hath but One Son, and that he Loves nothing in comparison of this Son; place not all these objects of Pitty before his Eyes, rest sat­tisfyed in Sacrificing the Son without causing the death of the Father; lay some cover over the Fore head of the Priest, and over the Eyes of the Victime: And doe not solicite the tendernesse of either, and speak neither of Abraham nor Jsaack, nor of the Father or Son; but pronounce the decree in most rigorous termes, and call no more upon the name of Sweetnesse and Love, for that were to solicite his disobedience.

God neverthelesse calls Abraham twice, Martyrdome of Love. and expres­sly commands him to Sacrifise his Son, and not onely his Son, but also his Onely Son, and to wound him yet more to the quick, he adds the name of his beloved Son, that is of Jsaack.

O God! what shafts: what Thunderbolts? and what Lighting? In truth, saith Procopius, any one but Abrah [...]m had taken this advertisement from God for an illusion, or for a subject of contempt: But, as Ab­bot Gue [...]y hath excellently well noted, this venerable title of Father, and this amable name of Son, serve but to conjoyn Love with Piety, and oblige Abraham to perform more religiously and cordially what was given [Page 104]him in charge. Vt postea praepouat a­morem Dei suo carnali emori, ut cum vintet gloriosier esset victoria. Hug [...] à S [...]ncto victore ann. in. 22. Gen. sint & in hoc parenti triplica­ta supplicia, &c. Ori­genes hic. Moreover, saith Huge of St. Victor, God recalled into his Thought that this was his Onely Son, as if he had desired the more to excite his naturall affe­ction, to the end the Victory and Triumph might be the more famous, since the Love of God became Ma­ster of his heart: In fine, as the subtile and learned Ori­gen concludes, God will have Abraham first sacrifise his Onely Son, secondly his Onely and Welbeloved Son, and thirdly his Onely Son and his dear Jsaack, as if he had meant by these three shafts of Love to have three Sacrifices, and three Conquests, of Obedience, Faith, and Love. Behold very powerfull combats, and as many Stroaks of death as words. Abraham did not yet change colour, and his face was as the Sun, which sees all the horrors of the Earth without emotion: his Constancy appeared in the midst of Passions, The Embleme of the fish. Immersabilis. Nec do­lor patri lacrymas per­suasit, sed exultat & gaudet. S. Zeno ve­ron. serm. 1. de Abra­ham. like the Dolphin in a Tempest and storm, without danger of drowning. This Magnanimous Soul, this generous heart, and this obedient spirit, shed but tears of joy, and his thoughts were fixed onely on Hope, Love, and Resignation.

CHAP. XI. The Master-peece of Obedience, and the Triumph of Love in the Sacrifice of Abraham.

A Heart perfectly Submissive, and obedient unto Gods will, S. Bernard. de praecep­to, & dispensat. knows not what languishment, refu­sall, grief, and delay meaneth. It is enough that he is commanded to obey, all the rest is indifferent to him. And it is peradventure for this Cause, that even the civill Laws moderate the rigours of Justice, Just [...] home ad legem. Aquisiam. when we proceed against those who have acted in pure obedi­ence; and in such a case, he is to be fallen upon, who gave the command, Provided Neverthelesse he had [Page 105]the power to Command. Even so when it is the will of a Soveraign, all Subjects ought to Obey: And chie­fly, when God, who is the absolute Monarch of the U­niverse, doth Command, nothing must appear under his Empire which adores not his Laws, and follows not his Lights even amidst the shadows of an affectio­nate Blindness.

Such was Abraham, The Symbols of the Heliotropium. Non possum altò me vertere. Typ. in Symb. A solis ortu usque ad occasum. and his Spirit blind as it were amidst the Splendors of Faith and Obedience, resem­bled that Flower which incessantly courteth the Sun, and hath neither Life, Motion, nor Eyes, but from Mor­ning till Evening to follow this Star.

He sets forth as soon as God Commands him, and as if his Eyes had been shut against the Lights of the Day, he riseth in the Night, by the favour of those Lights and Rayes, which God communicates unto him amidst the obscurities of the shades to serve him for a Watch-tower, Sun and Day. This happy Pa­ricide, as St. Austin saith, undertook the Murther of his Son with the same devotions where with he had de­manded his Birth and Life: and least the Morning, Devotus Pater eo voto suscepit paricidium, quo susceperat filium, Aug. Ser. 73. saith Rupertus, should prevent his desires, he rose be­fore Day, and presently provided himself of all ne­cessaries for his Journey, and for the Sacrifice of his Son.

My God! Igitur Abraham de nocte consurgens stra­vit asinum suum, du­cens secum dues ju­venes, & Isaac fili­um suum. Gen. 22. v. 3. what sad preparation and sorrowfull de­parture! this poor old Man takes his Ass, and chose two or three of his Servants to goe along with him; and having made up a Fagot of Thorns and Bushes with his own Hands, he layd them on the Shoulders of his dear Isaack.

But what will Sara say? And what can she think when at her waking she shall find neither Abrahare nor Isaack? Poor Mother! what wilt thou doe? Is it pos­sible that Abrah [...]m could conceal a Design which cannot be kept from [...]?

We must freely confess, that there are Souls of Gold, [Page 106]and Hearts of Diamond in Bodies of Christall: It can­not be denyed that there be Women as constant and couragious as Men; their Sex though frail, tender, and delicate, often brings forth Amazons, who have no­thing of Softness, Levity and Effeminacy, but the bare name. It cannot be also doubted but Sara was of this number, And I am confident if Abraham had made known to her the will of God, at the first news she her self would have performed the Office of a Sacrificer to immolate her Son.

Nevertheless I will believe with the most part of the interpreters of Scripture, and of the Greek and Latine Fathers, that Abraham who might have discharged into her Bosom part of his afflictions, resolved to endure a­lone this Martyrdom of Love.

He is then all alone upon the way with his Son and his two Servants, and he advanceth directly to Mount Moria as to the appointed place.

My dear Reader, I leave unto thy imagination what passed for the space of three dayes this journey lasted; represent unto thy self, I beseech thee, that thou art with him, whom thou dost love above all men, thou seest him, thou speakest to him, thou drinkest to him, and sleepest with him, how will it be if at thy departure thou must see him die? and if thou thy self must pre­sent him the poyson which is to stifle him? Husbands and Wifes, Fathers and Mothers, Brothers, Kindred, Associats, Friends, what Torments? what despairs? what punishments? when you stand at the Beds Feet, where you shall behold your dearest affections, and your most pleasing delights in the Agony of death, what corabats, Duel of Grief and Love. and what Duels of Love, and Grief? what strength and resolutions to receive the last words and sighs of a dying Mouth, to which a thousand and a thousand chast kisses have been given, and whose least breath was able to wipe away all sorts of sorrows? what Prodigle of constancy to close with your Hands two [Page 107]which served as sunns in the saddest obscurities of Life, which is but too much intermingled with mour­ning and pleasure? In fine, how can we see with out dying, an other self at the point of death?

Nevertheless, this was but the image of a dying life, Martyrdom for three dayes. which Abraham led for the space of three dayes; one would swear that God had undertaken to make him dye ten thousand times upon this sad way; every glance of Isaack was a mortall Javelin, which pierced his Heart, and yet he must have him three times four and twenty hours before his Eyes; there was a necessity of eating, drinking, and speaking with him: were not these entertainments, and Feasts of Death? He was constrained during the night to lay on his Breast, and in his Bosom, that Head he was to cut off with his own Hands: was not this a murthering sleep and a cruell repose? In fine, he must render all the duties of a Fa­ther to so amiable a Son, before he was to be his Exe­cutioner, and he must needs hear almost every moment the voice of Isaack calling him Father, who went to murther him.

My God! what Preludes of death? what Prepara­tion to a Martyrdom, what Dialogue of Passions? what affections, what dissimulations, what sorrows, what pleasures, what hopes, and what despairs? A Father, a Son, a Priest, a Victim, Wood, Fire, a Sword. Isaacks Eyes and Heart are fixed on his Father, and Abraham lost not the sight of Isaack but to behold his God. At eve­ry step this poor old Man sends a sigh to Heaven to e­vaporate grief, which being shut up redoubles the more.

Surely my Heart even bleeds upon the bare thought of this pittifull object. Alas! how could Abraham look on the criminall Sword which was to give the stroak: where did he carry this instrument of Gods Justice? me thinks I hear Isaack at every stop saying, My Father and Abraham answering Son, take courage, Die autem tertio ete natis ocutis procul. Gen. 21.2.4. let us goe my dear Child, we draw neer to Moria.

O God! what vision and what approaches? Moun­tain of Moria hast thou no compassion, will not thy tops, thy rocks, and thy stones mollifie rigours, at the sight of so tragick an act, and which seems so un­naturall? Mountain of Moria become thou a plain ra­ther than put this poor old Man, and this young Child to the trouble of ascending thy top, where they are go­ing to erect an Altar, and hew a Tomb.

But what! Nature cannot be sensible when her God deprives her of feeling, Aug. in ser. de temp. 71 existimat eundem fa­isse montem Moria qui Calvaria. and Moria must not have grea­ter tendernessees than the Heart of Abraham; These Mountains make an essay of rigour at Jacobs cost to become afterwards insensible at the death of a Jesus of whom Isaack was but an Image and figure.

Let Abraham then perform resolutely the office of God the Father, and let not Isaack be ashamed with his own Bloud, to mark out the way unto Jesus. Let Abraham take his Sword to strike off Isaacks Head, and let Isaack take the Wood on his Shoulders which was provided to consume him, since Jesus hath carried the Cross on which he suffered.

O God! Dixitque ad pueros su­os: expectate hic cum asino, ego & puer il­luc usque properantes, postquam aderaveri­mus, revertemur ad vos. Gen. 22. v. 3. Tulit quoque ligna Holocausti, & impo­suit super Isaac filium suum: ipse verò portabat in manibus ignem, & gladium, cumque duo pergerent simul, Gen. 22. v. 6. O Abraham! O Jesus! O Isack! where is Sara? where is Mary? my God what Relatives are these? Abraham is already at the foot of the Moun­tain, he commands his Servants away, he takes his on­ly Isaack, he loads him with the instruments of his punishment. Let us goe my dear Child, let us goe my Son, let us go my Isaack, my Joy, my Hope & my Love.

Father whither doe we goe, Dixit Isaac Patri suo: Pater mi, at ille res­pondit, quid vis fili? Ecce inquit ignis, & ligna, ubi est Victima Holocausti? Gen. 22. v. 7. Dixitque Abraham, Deus providebit sibi victimam Holocausti fili mi, pergebant ergo pariter. Gen. 22. v. 7. answered Isaack? Alas what is your desire? I indeed see the Fire and the Sword which you carry, as also the Wood on my Shoulders, but where is the Victim, which must be of­fered as an Holocaust? My Son trouble not your self; for God will provide one.

O Holy! Piety where are the Bowels of a Father? Heaven and Earth where are we? my God! how long will this storm endure? Whence comes this ebbing and flowing, which strikes so rudely on the Faith of a Father, and the Obedience of a Son. My God! if thou desirest a Holocaust, give unto Abraham an other Vi­ctim then Isaack; how comes it to pass, that Abraham can observe the Law of the Hollocaust, which injoyns the Victim to be cut in pieces, and ordains, that the Members be disposed at the Altar taking their turns, to burn them afterwards and reduce them to ashes. Ah! there is no Fathers Heart which can exercise so inhumane cruelties and so horrid and unnaturall a But­chery on the Body of his Son. Vultures devour only the Flesh, Tigers leave at least the Bones, Wheels, Iron­claws and wracks doe but tear the skin, and after all these punishments there are found reliques of anguish and death, but the Holocaust consumes all, and reduceth the Body into ashes and dust. What will remain then of Isaack for Abraham to carry unto Sara, but ashes, dust, and the eternall regret for a loss that can never be repaired?

Abraham notwithstanding persists in his fidelity, Et venerunt ad locum quem ostenderat ei Deus, in quo adifica­vit altare, & desuper ligna composuit, cum­que alligasset Isaac filium suum posuit eum in altare super struem lignorum. Gen. 22. v. 9. he makes ready the Altar, he sets the Wood in order, he kindles the Fire, he draws his Sword out of the Scab­bard, he takes Isaack into his arms, he placeth him neer the pile, he tyes his Hands, and puts the cover o­ver his forehead; In fine, this Innocent Lamb being on both his Knees, his Body half naked, and his Head bowed a little forward sighing sweetly without making the least complaint, or demanding any more why, ex­pected, the stroak of death when his Father (as it is ve­ry probable) began to acquaint him with the secret of his happy Lot.

Isaack, my most dear Son, Joseph. lib. 1. hist. S. Ambr. & alii.thou didst ask me at the foot of the Mountain, where was the Victim of our Sacrifice, I answered thee, that God would provide one; his Pater­nal [Page 110]Goodness hath done it, and his will is that thou must be the Victim, and I the Priest: It is very true, that thou art the object of my sweetest hopes, and that I should look on thee as the support of my house; but it is in God we must place our only hope; It is he that serves for a Basis and Piller to all fortunes, and it is his sage Providence, which holds in its hands good and evill, favours and dis­graces, Life and Death. Dye then cheerfully my dear Child, and rest assured that I would willingly put my self in thy place, if God had so ordained. I adore his will, and I am too happy to serve as an instrument unto his com­mands? As for thee my poor Son, I had very constant proofs of thy sweet disposition, and, if I had not often tryed how obedient and pliable thou art unto Gods will and mine, I should endeavour more efficaciously to perswade thee; but it would be fruitless, and it is from Gods goodness and thy constancy I hope for the Grace of being inabled to offer and immolate thee with my own Hands.

What can Isaack say to this? it is enough for him to assent and be silent; I yet frame in my imagination, that he besought his Father to give him his Sword, that he might kiss it as the rod of the wise Providence of Heaven. I believe also he bowed down his Head a little more forward to testifie that his thoughts accor­ded with his Heart, and that his most real affections were ready to be immolated unto God and his Fa­ther.

In the mean while Abraham takes his Sword again into his Hand, and having bathed it with his tears, he lifts up his arm to discharge his blow upon the Neck of his Son.

O Religious Soul, O religiosam animam, ó fortem mentem, O trgens robur animi! u­trum admirer, & ob­strpescam sustius, fortemue spiritum Pa­triarchae, aut con­stantem pueri obedi­entram, Ch [...]yf. ho. in. Gen. 48. cryes out St. Chrysostom, O vigo­rous Spirit, O prodigie of constancy and fidelity! I know not whether I ought more to admire the undaun­ted force of Abrahams Spirit; or the constant immuta­bility of his Isaacks Submission.

But what will be the issue, will not all the Angels of [Page 111]Heaven who look upon this Sacrifice put some Victim in Isaacks place? divine Spirits, I call on you for A­braham and Isaack.

Ah! saith St. Austin, Videte Abraham non cum aliqua ferâ lu­ctantem, sed cum na­tura pugaantem, deco­tio dicebat pe­cute, pietas clamabat parce, illa revocabat, issa provocabat. Aug. Ser. 73. de temp. behold I beseech you the con­flict of Abraham, not with a furious Beast, but with Na­ture. Religion bids him strike, and pitty saith, doe not strike, the first lifts upon his Hand, and the other stayes his arm: what will this good Man doe? what will he not doe; if he obeyes not God, he commits Sacrilege, and if he obeys, he is a Murtherer.

But is it not better for him to be accounted a good Father, than a good Servant? And will not Abra­hams Disobedience be rather excused than the Murther of his Son? Abraham believed otherwise, and the choice he made was to lose the quality of a Pittifull Father, to receive the title of an Obedient Servant. Nevertheless he still hopes, and is assured whatever happen that God is too full of Clemency to leave him in extremity.

In effect, as Abraham had already lifted up his arm, Et ecce Angelus Do­mini de Caelo clamt­vit dicens, Abraham, Abraham, qui respon­dit adsum. Gen. 22. v. 11. Dixitque ci, non ex­tendas manum tuam super puerum, neque sacias illi quidquam nunc cognovi quod li­mes Deum, & non pe­percisti unigenito tuo propter me. Gen. 22. v. 12. and was ready to dart the Thunder-bolt God had put into his Hand, the Voice of an Angell cryes out, Abra­ham, Abraham, I command thee from God not to touch the Child, and to pass no farther.

It is certainly the very same that commanded Abra­ham to strike, who stayes his blow; It is the Voice, it is the Angell and Nuntio of our Lord which keeps back his Arm. And surely, it was requisite that the same power, which before had armed him, should force the Weapon out of his Hand, and that Abraham should have as much promptitude and resignation, to leave his Sacrifice, as to undertake and begin it. O God! what mysteries of Wisdom, Clemency and Goodness? My God! what Tryals of Love, what Essayes of Fide­lity, and what grounds of Hope and Confidence? have we ever seen so many temptations heaped together, so many Artifices to know a Heart, and so many divine [Page 112]experiments upon poor Mortals? so that the whole Sacrifice of Abraham was but a stratagem of Gods Providence, and a Master-piece of Abrahams and Isaacks Obedience.

The Altar of Moria which was to be the Scaffold of Death, became the Theater of Life, and his Pile served but to make a Bonfire of Joy, and a triumph of the fi­delity which Abraham and Isaack testified unto God.

Besides, I know not who was most astonished, the Father or the Son; however it were, Abraham un­bound his Isaack, and then they both together adored the admirable contrivances of Gods goodness who did tear out a Mans Heart to put his own in the place of it, A Divine Strata­gem. and who commands us to give him a mortall and pe­rishable life, that he may place us in the fruition of one eternall and immortall.

It is sufficient for this God of Clemencie and mercie, to see Men at his Feet; he is content with that Sacri­fice which the Heart offers to him, and he will have neither Bloud nor Murther presented on his Altars. It satisfies him to immolate his only Jesus for the ran­som of Mankind: His Death gives us Life, and the least drop of his sacred Veins is able to wash away all the stains of the Universe.

Stay then Abraham; Levavit Abraham oculos suos, viditque post tergum arietem, inter vepres haeren­tem cornibus quem as­sumens obtulit Holc­caustum profilio. the blow is reserved for some o­ther not for thy Son, and it only belongs to the Eternall Father to offer the Sacrifice in verity, the figure whereof hath preceded. No, it shall not be Isaack, thou must im­molate but this Ram, which thou seest in this Bush sur­rounded with Brambles, and Crowned with thorns, take him, and burn this Victim, till a Man-God come in Isaacks place. It is enough for me, saith God unto A­braham, to know that thou lovest me, and I can now no longer doubt, after so long and sensible tryals. It is the Hand and not the Mouth which hath given me the assu­rance of it; It is also rather by effects than complements that I try thy fidelity.

O God of Hearts, it is then in verity that Hearts must be Sacrificed to thee. Fathers and Mothers, if God will have your Children, make a free gift of them; if God be content with you, offer your selves unto him. My God! I will even now then consecrate my Heart to thee: I renounce at present all those things I may not Love with thee; I present unto thee the Sacrifice of my humiliated Spirit, and I refuse no pain if thou ordainest it for me; Burn, Sacrifise, and spare neither Health, Honor, Riches, Children nor Friends; I am even content to Immolate my Isaack to thee, that is my Soul, my Affections, and my Life, provided I may Live with thee and Love thee in Glory and Eternity.

CHAP. XII. The Death of Sara.

A Certain person holily curioius, went heretofore examining all that is dispers'd in Nature; I as­ked, saith he, of the Sun, whether he were a God, and he answered me no, in regard he was subject to Eclip­ses, Circumvolutions, Vicissitudes, Gen. 22. v. 13. and a thousand pe­riods which keep him in a perpetuall mutation. Inconstancy of crea­ted things. I in­treated the Moon to tell me whether she were a Divi­nity, and she protested to me no, by reason of Exiles, Defections, Retrogradations, Ascendants, Conjun­ctions, Separations, Elevations, and falls to which she is lyable. All the rest of created Nature will confess the same if we interrogate her in particular, upon this verity; God only can say, I am God, and I neither can nor doe change, because I am God. He is in the midst of the World as the immoveable Center in a Circle, a­bout which all is in motion; he is as a Rock upon the Ocean, who beholds the Waves and Billows rowling under his Feet, without inconstancy and astonishment. [Page 114]He is pleased nevertheless to see those he loves in the Flux and Reflux of a thousand accidents, which teach them, that their fortunes, hopes, affections and delights may alter every moment; that the most smiling pros­perities often swim amidst tears; the clearest and most serene dayes are followed sometimes by the obscurest and most dusky Nights: Bodies for Companions have their own Shadows, Roses are mixed with Thorns, and even the Life of Man never Ends but in Death. To see Abraham, Sara, and Isaack, after their deliverance, and the tryals God had of their fidelity, would not one have believed them almost immortall and exempted from all the miseries of life? Tunc est tentatio fiai­enda, quando finitur & pugna, & tunc fi­nienda est pugna, quando post hanc vi­tam succedit pugnae secura victoria. S. Prosper. lib. 3. de cont. vitae. And yet scarce were they returned to their own home, but Abraham and Isaack met with a new occasion of grief for the Death of Sara; And no wonder, saith St. Prosperus, since the Life of Man is a War without truce, and since we ought not to hope or expect Peace but in the Tomb. And indeed, as Hildebert hath well noted, it is not without reason that these storms succeed one another, Attende miscrias ho­minis, intuere cineres vectigalia peccati sunt. S. Hild. Ep. 56. and that usually one vapor draws others, by reason the Earth since the contagion of the terrestriall Paradise, hath been a fa­tall source of Miseries and Calamities, which took their birth from the first sin of our unfortunate Parents, who left unto their Children for an inheritance and punishment a chain wrought with all sorts of infeli­cities.

This yoak then is common to all Men, and there is no person, whom God hath not subjected to the Laws of this sad Captivity.

The strictest unions must break, the sincerest friend­ships must have an end, and even Mariages themselves of which God was the sacred knot, must at length make a Tragick Divorce upon a Bed which is the most com­mon Theater of the blind furies of Death.

We ought to confess nevertheless that it is a specta­cle able to excite the Constancy of a good Courage, [Page 115]when we shall behold this unmercifull Murdress which snatcheth away Daughters out of their Mothers Bosoms, and Sons in the sight of their Fathers, and Wifes be­tween the Arms of their Husbands.

In such a case, if Nature had not some tenderness, she would be unnaturall, and we must have Hearts of Marble not to be touched with some sense of grief and pitty: Abraham had then just cause to testifie by his tears, the regret he had for his dear Sara's Death; Vixit autem Sara centum viginti septem annis. Gen. 23. v. 1. And surely since he lost so rare a blessing, well might he disconsolatly bewayl it.

This mourning was not yet blameable, and he was very carefull not to doe like those, who bury all their affections in the preparation of a Funerall pomp, and who have but a shadowed meen, or else not being able sufficiently to disguise their looks, strive to hide un­der the Veils and shadows of a Bed or dark Chamber, the shame of their insensibility.

Abraham shed more tears from his Heart, Et mortua est in civi­tate Arbee quae est Hebron in terra Cha­naan, venitque Abra­ham ut plangeret & fleret eam. Gen. 23. v. 2. than by his Eyes, and in rendring all duties to Nature and his Wife, he most amply satisfied God, and his own piety: while he was a Pilgrim and stranger in the Land of Canaan, Sara being Dead in the City of Hebron, he went directly into the place where his Wifes Body re­posed.

There he offered up his Prayers unto God, and kiss'd a thousand times these amiable reliques, watering them from time to time with his tears.

All those who assisted this Holy Man, might well perceive the tears which distilled from his Eyes, and hear the groans which issued forth of his Mouth; But God alone knows the Acts of resignation.

He presently intreated Ephron to sell him a double Cave which was close by the vale of Mambre to interr Sara in that place.

Ephron is willing to grant what he asketh; but be­ing at last as it were inforced to take a sum of Money [Page 116]for the purchace of his Land, Abraham became Master of the Field and Grot in which he laid the Body of his dear moity.

It is in this monument where the most generous Wo­man of her time reposeth; Atque ita sepelivit Abrahum Saram uxo­rem suam in spelunca [...] duplici. Gen. 23. v. 19. And under this Rock of Diamond will be found a Diamantine Heart in the Body of Sara, who was a perfect pattern of Constancy and Fidelity.

CHAP. XIII. The Mariage of Isaack with Rebecca, and the Death of Abraham.

THe World is a Theater on which very different actions are seen. There Voluptuousness smiles, and Grief hath tears in its Eyes; Hope flies in the im­baulmed Air, and Despair plungeth it self into an A­byss of Gall and poyson; Love and Sweetness catch Men in Nets wrought by the Hands of the Graces, and on the contrary Hatred and Envy assasinate the Hearts of Men with inchanted Darts. A Bloody Amphi­theater. In fine, whilst Life is fowing on all sides, Death mows down all be­fore her. Behold the common objects of the World, pleasures, sorrows, hopes, despairs, loves, envies, furies, flatteries, Mariages, solemnities, life, death, birth, a Chaos of disorder, a Labyrinth of unions and divorces, which make the course of this life, but a list and Thea­ter where all we can imagine is to be seen. Have we not beheld all this in the life of Abraham? This poor Man then was in the Hands of God and Providence, as a feather in the Air, which serves for sport unto the Winds, and as a Planet in the Heavens, which never rests, or as a Wheel in the Water, which is alwaies tur­ning and in a continuall motion: God led him out of Chaldea, Mesopotamia, Canaan and Egypt; from thence [Page 117]he causeth him to return unto the Cunanites, where he stays for some time in the City of Sichem, sometime in that of Hebron, afterwards in Gerara, and then in Ber­shabe, and again in Hebron, as if he could not live but in Travelling, during whose Voyages Heaven is pleased to afford him a thousand Combats, and as many occasi­ons of Victory.

In fine, after the deliverance of his Son, [...]rat antem Abraliam senex, dierumqtie multorum, &c. Gen. 2 [...]. v. 1. [...]orrvaque ad servom seniorem Domus suae qui praeerat omnibus quae Dabebat: pone manum tuum sulter s [...]mur meum, Gen. 24. v. 2. Vt adjurem teper Do­minum Deum Caela & terrae, ut non accipi­as u [...]o [...]em filio meo de filithus Chananaeorum inter quos habito. Gen. 24. v. 3. Sed ad terram, & cognationem meam praficisearis, & inde accipias u [...]o­rem filio meo Isaac. Gen. 24. v. 4. and the death of his Wife, he feeling himself wholy broken with old age, and upon the point of following the hap­py Lot of Sara, resolved to seek a Wife for Isaack, and for that end he calls one of the most faithfull Servants of his House called Eliezer, and having commanded him to lay his Hand under his Thigh, he conjured him by the name of God to seek a match for his Son in the Land of Haram, as if this Country had inherited from Cham, its first Lord, the malediction which Noah had fulminated against him.

Which being done, this wise Embassador chosen amongst the Domesticks of Abraham, began his jour­ney to execute the designs and Commission of his Ma­ster, Posuitergo servus ma­num subsemore Abra­ham Domini sus, &c. Gen. 24. v. 9. Tult quc decem Came­los degrege Domini sui & [...]biit ex omnibus honis esus portans se­cum, prof [...]tusque per­vexit in Mesopotami­am ad urse em Nachor. Gen. 24. v. 10. and departing from Bershabe he went directly to Mesopotaneia carrying with him ten large Camels loa­den with the rarest and most magnificent presents which were in Abrahams House.

Behold him then in the City of Nachor meditating with himself upon all the readiest and most facile means to expedite what had bin given him incharge. What will he doe?

First he departs out of the City and repayring where Women in their turns were wont to draw Water, Cumque Camelos fe­cisset accumbere extra op illum juxta puteū aquae, &c. Gen. 24. v. 11. he there rests his Camels, expecting untill Heaven should offer the opportunity he desired.

During this expectation he offered up his prayers unto God, saying, Lord God of Abraham, Dominus meus Demi­ni met Abraham, oc­curre obsecro milu ho­die, & fac mise [...]cor­diam cum Domino meo Abraham. Gen. 24. v. 12. Ecce ego sto prope fontem aquae, & filiae habitatorum hujus Civitatis egredientur ad hauriendam aquam. Gen. 24. v. 13. Igitur puella cui ego dixero: inclina hy­driam tuam, ut bibā, & illa responderit, bibe, quin & Came­lis tuis dabo potum: ipsa est quam praepa­rasli servo tue Isaac, &c. Gen. 24. v. 14. Nec dum intra se ver­ba compleverat, & ecce Rebecca egredie­batur, habens bydri­am in scapula sua. Gen. 24. v. 15. Occurritque ei ser vus, & ait: pauxillum a­quae mihi ad bibendum praebe de hydria tua. Gen. 24. v. 17. Quae respondit, bibe Domine mi, &c. Gen. 24. v. 18. Ipse autem contem­plebatur eam tacitus, &c. Gen. 24. v. 21. cast I be­seech [Page 118]thee some propitious and favourable look upon the designs of my Master; Great God take pitty of Abraham thy faithfull Servant, it is by his appointment I am in these territories, I expect here but the hour when the Maid shall come to draw Water out of this Fountain; If then, My God, thou dost give me this ad­vice, I resolve to entreat the first which shall approach it, to afford me some Water to drink, if she grant me this favour, by this Sign I shall presently believe, that it is doubtless she, whom thy holy Providence hath appoin­ted for Isaacks Spouse.

Scarce had Eliezer ended this Coloquie, when a Maid called Rebecca appeared, fair and chast as the Day, who carryed under her Arm and Earthen Pitcher to take up Water, Eliezer presented himself, humbly beseeching her to afford him some drink, to which Rebecca presently assented performing all that Curtesie and Charitie required.

The holy Scripture observes, that Eliezer very se­riously contemplated all the actions of Rebecca, as being a Myrrour, in which he was to discern the marks of Gods conduct concerning Abraham and Isaack.

In fine, Pollquam autem bi­berunt Cameli, protu­lit vir inaures aureas appendentes ciclos duos, & armill as to­ticem poudo ciclorum decem. Gen. 24. v. 22. Dixitque ad eam: cu­jus es filia? indica miht: est in domo Pa­tris tui locus ad ma­nendum? Gen. 24. v. 23. Cueurrit itaque puel­la, & nunttavit in do­mum matris suae omnia quae audierat. Gen. 24. v. 28. Habebat autem Re­becca fratrem nomine Laban, qui festinus egressus est ad hominem ubi erat sons. Gen. 24. v 29. Et intreduxit eum in hospititem, &c. Gen. 24. v. 32. this prudent Man chose a fit time to present unto Rebecca some Eare-rings and Bracelets. After­wards he informed himself of the conveniences which were in the House of this Maids Parents who spake unto him. Being then well instructed concerning the alliances of Rebecca, and what was in her House, seeing also that all corresponded with his desires, he threw himself on the ground to render thanks unto his God, and to adore his ineffable goodness toward Abra­ham.

Mean while Rebecca hastens to her Parents to bring them the first news of what had passed, whereof her Brother whose name was Laban, having taken notice, [Page 119]he went presently unto the Well from whence Rebec­ca came.

Finding Eliezer, he most affectionatly intreated him to visit his Fathers House, and having conducted him thither, he immediatly gave Hay and Straw to his Camels, afterwards he washed his Feet, as also the Feet of those who came with him. Then Eliezer took oc­casion to publish the Commission which had been gi­ven him, and the artifices he had used to bring them to a Head, and to understand whether it were the will of God that Rebecca should be Isaacks Wife.

Eliezer could not doubt it, and Rebecca but too much testified by her silence that her desires consented there­unto. Bathuel and Laban were also of this opinion, Respondernntque La­ban & Bathuel, à Do­mino egressus est ser­mo, &c. Gen. 24 v. 50. Quod cum audisset puer Abraham, &c. Gen. 24. v. 52. Prolatisque vasis ar­genteis, &c. Igitur Rebecca & puellae illius asconsis Came­lis, &c. Gen. 24. v. 61. and therefore they were to dispose themselves to the com­mands of God.

The promise then of Mariage being given on both sides; Eliezer made presents to Rebecca and her Bre­thren; after this there was nothing but Feasts and adieus to the kindred of this new promise; briefly some Days must be spent in rendring those duties which Honour and Nature required.

At last Rebecca took leave of her Mother and Bre­thren, she with Eliezer and his servants got up upon Ca­mels, and they advanced with the best diligence they could to arrive at Abrahams House.

Isaack, who was alwaies in expectation, Eo tempore deambula­vit Isaac, &c. Gen. 24. v. 62. Cumque elevasset ocu­los vidit Camelos. Gen. 24. v. 63. Rebecca quoque con­specto Isaac descendit de Camelo. Gen. 24. v. 64. Servus autem cuncta quae gesserat narravit Isaac. Gen. 14. v. 66. Qui introduxit eam in tabernaculum Sarae matru suae, &c. Gen. 24. v. 67. Abraham verò aliam duxit uxorem nomine Ceturam. Gen. 25. first recei­ved the news of Rebecca's arrivall. I leave to your thoughts what Joy, what kisses and what embraces. However it were, Rebecca is brought into the same a­partment which Sara had while she lived, and imme­diatly the Mariage of Isaack with Rebecca was accom­plished according to the Ordinances of Heaven, and the desires of Abraham, who after this Mariage took a Wife called Ketura, by whom he had six Children, [Page 120]who served to carry their Fathers Name and Bloud through numerous Generations.

Moreover, amongst all their Children Isaack is the Master of the House, and Heir to all the possessions of Abraham.

I leave men to think as they please in what Ocean of delights Abrahams Heart did Swim, Deditque Abraham cuncta quae possederat Isaac. Gen. 25. v. 6. seeing all the Graces wherewith God had filled him; I am astonished why he dyed not a thousand times for Joy at the sight of Isaack and his dear Wife, who had no affections but for God, for him, and for the generall good of his fa­mily.

But Abraham must render unto nature the ordinary tribute due unto her. Et deficiens mortuus est in senectute bona, provect aeque aetatis, & plenus dierum. Gen. 25 v. 8. Sep [...]lierurt eum Isa­ac, & Ismael filii [...]fui. Gen. 25. v. 9. This happy old Man, this Father of all the faithfull, this King of Nations, this incompa­rable Patriark, having lived like a Pilgrim upon Earth was obliged at last to arrive at the Haven, and to dye in the arms of Isaack and Ismael, who buried him in the same place where his Wife was interred.

CHAP. I. Their Birth.

THere are many Causes, Fernelius Path. lib. 6.3.17. according to the saying of Physicians, which may hin­der the fruitfulness of a Woman. There needs but an accident, and too violent, too obstinate, and sharp a Malady to corrupt the humors, to burn, and to dry up all the vitall Spirits, and make a cruell havock in the principal parts of the Body, where obstructions, skirrusses, Impostumes, and distempers which divert the course of Generation, are form'd. This is that which rendred the most illustrious Women of the old Testa­ment Barren; And Rebecca amongst others, was so, for the space of nineteen years, Theodoretue. 74. q. [...]. Gen. as Theedoret hath well obser­ved, but by a particular disposition of the Divine Pro­vidence which would manifest unto all men, that the [Page 122]multiplication of the Children of Israel, was not so much the work of Nature as of Grace.

This hindred not Isaach from being much astoni­shed, seeing Gods promises to him unaccomplished; yet his Constancy was not shaken but he appeared alwaies the worthy Son of Abraham: These Verbal ejaculati­ons of his Mouth were agreeable to the sentiments of his Soul, and he had no other Weapons to assault Hea­ven, and render it favourable and propitious, than Pray­ers, and Vows which he incessantly presented unto God in the behalf of his Wife, who never ceased on her part to demand the Birth of a Son: where it is to be noted with St. Thomas, S. Thom. 1. p. q. 23. art. 8. & Thom. Anglicus in cap. 25. Gen. that although God had in­gaged his word unto Isaack, and though Isaack could not doubt of the assurances which had been given him, yet it was necessary to sollicite this Promise, and im­plore God to perform what he had promised; for al­beit God had from all Eternity ordained the Children of Isaack, yet this Ingagement was not so absolute, that it did not presuppose some endeavours on Isaacks part, by which his expectation was to obtain its effect. This is the reason why St. Thomas did observe in the design of God, and in the predestination of Creatures, first an Eternal design, and next an Effect, which follow­eth at the same time God hath ordained. Efficacious Pray­ers. This first design conceived from all Eternity, is Independent of Vows and Prayers; but the Effects of his Divine Ordinances are therein totally united, because God hath prede­stinated them by the intervention of concurrent cau­ses which are as it were the voices which soilicite and call upon the sage Providence and the ineffable good­ness of God.

At the request then of Isaack Heaven was obliged to grant that at last, which along time before God had promised him; and in effect behold Rebecca great with Child and ready to lye down. But as the plea­sures of the World are not durable, so she quickly [Page 123]feels the appreaches of her labour; They are no other than pains and throws, [...]. Id est colluctabantur Scholiastes ex Sym­macho (Rasas) Hebr. confringere, Oleaster. and her womb seemed to be a thick Cloud of thunders, and a Field of Ba [...]tail, in which two little Children begin an intestine War against each other, which cannot end but by the destruction of the Mother, or the death of her Children. O God! Collidebantur in utero ejus parvuli, quae aim si sic mihi futurum e­rat quid necesse suit conciperei Gen. 25 v. 22. what punishment (saith this poor woman) what assaults? what torment? from whence come these Vultures and Ty­gers which even tear my Bowels, and make a bloudy Butchery in my Womb? Ah God! why did I con­ceive if this misfortune must befall me? Tyrannicall desire! disastrous ambition: disloyall vanity! whither hast thou precipitated me? my God! what torture, what torment, and what a Martyrdome is it to be a Mother? Alas! we conceive not, but amidst momentary plea­sures, we bear Children in our Womb as the Sea doth Fishes in the midst of Storms. We bring them forth like Amber and Pearls amidst Lightnings and Tem­pests, like Pelicans we Nurse them up with Tears and Bloud, and after all these pains and cares, they prove Wolves and Vipers, which have only Teeth and Claws to eat even into the Bones of their Parents.

Was it not for this reason, Mary Stuart. a wise Queen of Scotland called Mariage a conflict between Grief and Love? Mar ages subject to many mafor­tunes. yes surely, many of them are but a Duel, a Martyrdom, and a Life where affections run the first Cariere, but presently after either disdains, hatreds, contempts, fu­ries, jealousies, and finally all difasters are in continuall motion: Sometimes it is a Sword, S. Greg. Nys. lib. de virg. c. 23. as St. Gregorie saith, whose Hilt is guilded, and the rest but a Murthe­rous Blade, and the most common Instrument of Death.

The chast Rebecca but too soon received the first wounds, and the languishments of her sterility suffici­ently taught her for the space of twenty years how true it is. This nevertheless was but an essay untill she came to feel the strugling of two fencers of whom she had [Page 116]scarce conceived, but immediatly they began to tear the most tender and delicate parts of her body. These pre­ludes of death were so sensible, that she clearly discern­ed that it was more than a human hand which gave her so harsh Combats. She immediatly then had re­course unto God, and perceiving that men could not help her, shee consulted with the Oracles of Heaven.

I will believe, with Theodoret, that to this effect shee kept her self for some dayes out of noise and tumult, knowing that it is almost impossible to hear the voice of God amist the clamors and out-cryes of Men: Or at least as the Authour of the Scholastical history af­firmes, this virtuous woman ascended the Mountain of Moria to offer sacrifice upon the same Altars Abraham had crected; where, conformable to the opinon of St. Chrysostome, it seemes more probable that she took no counsell but of Melchisedeck, who was yet living in her time, and the Interpreter of Gods will.

However it were, Perrexitque ut consu­leret dominum. Gen. 25. v. 22. Qui respondens ait: duae gentes sunt in utc­ro tuo, & duo populi ex ventre tuo dividen­tur, populus (que) popu­lum superabit & Ma­jor serviet Minori. Gen. 25. v. 3. David Chimbi in cap. 34. Jsaiae & Rabbi Solomon in 4. Thren. Aug. lib. 16. de Civit Dei c. 25. shee consulted God [...]; and God answered her, that shee bore too Nations in her womb, and that two people should issue forth of her bowels, one of which should triumph over the other, and the Elder be slave unto the Younger.

O God! what Mysteries under this answer? I know that the Jews and Rabbi Solomon amongst others, un­folds these shadows in favour of his Nation, but these are no other than fables refuted by most of the Fathers, and amongst the rest by St. Jerome who discovers the rours of the Talmud, and lays open the dreams of the He­brews who would confound the Romans & the Idumeans.

True it is then that Jacob and Esau, as St. Austin affirms, were the figures of the Christian and Hebrew people meant by this Prophecy; And at present there is scarce any place in the World, where Christianity hath not raised her Crosses as so many Trophies upon the ruins of Judaism and impiety; David vanquished E­dom, saith Rupertus, and Jacob though the Younger, [Page 125]supplanted Esau who was his Elder Brother.

For this reason Jacob received his name; Jam tempus pariendi advenerat, & ecce ge­mini in utero eius re­perti sunt. Gen 25. v. 24. Qui prior egressus est, rufus erat, vocatum est nomen ejus Esau: protinus alter egredi­ens plantam fratri­tenebat manu, & id­circo appellavit cum Jacob. Gen. 25. v. 25. for as his Elder Brother was stiled Esau because his whole Body was covered with rough Hair; so Jacob was called, Jacob, because at the issuing forth of his Mothers Womb he held Esau by the soal of his Foot, to testifie that he would supplant him?

Is not this an early beginning to War with each o­ther, since in their Mothers Womb they began the in­testine Duel?

Now their Birth is but amidst surprizes and strifes, where the one labours to become Master of the other. I leave then to your thoughts what the rest of their lives may be, and what assaults these two little Souldi­ours gave each other even to death.

What ever happens, Jacob shall be vanquisner; For Heaven is on his side, and the supplanting of Esau shall rather proceed from the Hand of God than that of Jacob.

It is not then the office of Jacob to supplant his Bro­ther, and to ruin the fortune of his most intimate friends. They that contrive such designs, are not the Imitators of Jacob, but the Disciples of Cain.

Jacob followed only the Instinct of the Divine Pro­vidence, Supplanting Bro­thers. and Brothers for the most part regard nothing but humane prudence, and blind interests, which con­vey Impiety into their Souls, Treasons into their Mouths, Venom into their Hearts, and Weapons into their Hands to assault bloud and nature, and to confound all Humane and Divine Laws.

But alas! what strife? what victory? what triumph? when the Crowns we gain are but Roses staind with Bloud, and Laurels which wither in a moment, and transform themselves into eternall Thorns.

It is not for this prize Jacob so ught in his Mothers Womb, but he assaults and supplants Esau for the pur­chase of Immortall Crowns.

CHAP. II. The Education of Esau and Jacob, and the shamefull sale he made of his right of Primogenture.

SCarce hath the return of the Sun chased away Night, and Darkness, but the Aurora shews on its Horizon, Image of Mans life. what the Day would be at high Noon and in its Evening. It is an Image of Mans Life, who usu­ally at his Birth gives assured marks what he will be even till death; he bears on his Forehead and Body (saith Pythagoras) a Divine Impression, which is even against his will the visible Character of his Soul, and Disposition. In vain is it for him to feign and dissem­ble; his Eyes are living Myrrours in which all the Co­gitations of his Heart are discovered; the Horoscope, as we see by daily experience, is formed not only of Men, but also of Children, and oft times the very Cra­dles and Swath-bands give out Oracles touching their adventures and destinies.

We need not be over-much versed in Physiognomy, Assured marks of our disposition. to foretell what Esau would prove; for in his Birth he gave so many evident signs, as we cannot be ignorant of his future inclinations. Totus in morem. pel­lis hispidus. Gen. 25. v. 25. His Body Hairy like a Bear, could not be animated but by the soul of a Beast; his Eyes, his Hair, his Skin, and all that appears exteri­ourly was too frightfull and ardent to be the Element of Meekness and Humanity. In fine, from his very Child-hood all his inclinations seemed so brutish, that we cannot wonder if he being in the flower of his age, Quibus adultis factus e [...]t Esaii pergnarus venandi & homo a­gricola. Gen. 25. v. 27. his most usuall entertainments and most serious exer­cises were to ramble over the Fields and lead a savage Life, which besides the exercises of Tilling the Earth and Hunting (which of themselves are commendable) gave him but the imployment of a Wolf or a Vulture.

Jacob on the contrary had onely the qualities of a Dove, Jacob autem Vir simplex halitabat in cabernaculis. Gen. 25. v. 27. and his Heart had less Gall than a Lamb. He [Page 127]went scarce ever out of the House, and shewed so much simplicity, sweetness, and moderation, as but to see him a Man was constrained to Love him.

Notwithstanding Isaack had more violent inclina­tions towards his Eldest Son; Isaac amabat Es [...]ii, to quod de venanioui­bus ejus vesceretur. and herein Interests were more prevalent, than Reason: For this Love was onely grounded upon Esau's constant custom in bringing him every Day some piece of Venison.

The Love of Rebecca, Et Rebecca deligehat Jacob. Gen. 25 v. 28. who preferred Jacob before Esau, was then more wise and considerable. This pru­dent Woman saith St. Cyril, had no passion but for the goodness and virtue which shined in the behaviour of her Son; she accorded her Heart to the Words of God, and most tenderly Loved him, to whom God promised more Favours; that is to say, as Procopius observes, this virtuous Mother framed her Will unto the impulses of Heaven, and her inclinations followed the assistance of this Intelligence, which is the Dart and stimulation of the purest affections.

We must grant then that Isaack had thoughts some­what too humane toward Esau: But Rebecca was a good Mother who rendred unto Jacob those duties which his sweet disposition deserved, and as soon as he came into the World she had inclinations suitable to the goodness which appeared in him, and endeavoured with her Milk to infuse into his manners all that could render him most amiable and accomplished.

It is also particularly from Mothers (as heretofore said one of the seaven Sages of Greece) that Good and Evill flows into the Souls of those to whom they give Suck: Hence it ariseth that Nurses are sought out with so much care in the Houses of Great Men, Advantage of good Education. for fear lest by some defect of Nature, the Milk become corrupted and converted into poyson. This happens but too of­ten, and experience teacheth us, that Children from the Breast suck their most Malignant inclinations; and af­terwards as Child-hood, which is most susceptible of [Page 128]good and evill, is usually spent under the wings of Mo­thers; so we ought not to wonder if they be the sources from whence Spring those humours which are gene­rated with Education.

Such was the belief of the Romans seeing the Cru­clties of their Emperor Caligula, Dio Cassius. who was Nursed by a Woman who had a Beard like a Man, and who had nothing sweet in her but her Milk; And on the contrary France acknowledged the blessing of the Sanctity of Lewis the Ninth, whom his Mother Blanch had made as it were to suck Virtue with his Milk.

There are no Palaces, no Cortages, no Houses in the World where wee shall meet with families and communities without seeing examples and proofs of this verity.

Moreover we must not imagin that Fathers are ther­fore more exempt from those Duties which Education requireth, Oblation of Fathers and Mothers. than Mothers. For they can equally cause Vices to flow into the Souls of their Children. It will proceed saith St. Parentes sensimus paricidas. Cypr. de lapsis. Cyprian from Fathers and Mothers that their Children shall complain in the Day of Judge­ment, and cry out upon the Brink of the Abyss that their Parents have been their Murtherers.

Isaack then would have deserved more commenda­tion, if he had had less indulgent affections, and less interressed, towards Esau. But I will believe, that if Rebecca should have presumed to reveal the secrets wherewith God had intrusted her by the means of some good Inspirations, he would have had, like her, more af­fection for the Younger than the Elder Brother.

However it were, the Liberty Isaack gave to Esau of running all the Day long through Woods and For­rests, was the occasion which brought him to his first misfortune: Coxit autem Jacob pulmentum, ad quem cum venisset Esaü de apro lassus, Gen. 25. v. 29. For this poor Chaser comming one Day weary and Hungry from hunting, and meeting with Jacob who had caused some Pulse to be sod, he intrea­ted him to give him a share of it; to which Jacob wil­lingly [Page 129]agreed, Ait: da mibi de co­ctione hac rufa, quia oppido lassus sum. Gen. 25. v. 31. Cui dixit Jacob: vende mibi primogeni. ta. Gen. 25. v. 31. Ille respondit: en mo­rior, quid mibi prode­runt primogenita. Gen. 25. v. 32. Ait Jacob: Jura er­go mihi, juravit ei E­sau, & vendidit pri­mogenita. Gen. 25. v. 33. Et sic accepto pane, & lentis edulio, come­dit & bibit, & abiit, parvipendens quod primogenita vendidis­set. Gen. 25. v. 34. upon Condition he would yield up to him his right of Primogeniture.

Alas! I dye for very hunger answered Esau, what will this Right avail thee after my death? if it be so re­plyed Jacob, take an oath that thou wilt give it me; Well, in truth then I swear it (saith Esau) and I ac­knowledge thee in quality of my Elder Brother: where­upon this poor wretch took immediatly Bread and Pulse from his Brothers Hand, little valuing the loss he had made of the first advantage wherewith God and Nature had favoured him.

What Infamy! what Ingratitude! and what Impie­ty! Can a man represent unto himself so weak an act as to part with the singular Favours of God for a bit of Bread? Is there any Ingratitude more Enormous, than to misprise the gifts of Nature? and is it not a Sacrilege and Simony to sell his Priesthood for a Mess of Pottage? In fine, is it not to be hunger-starved even unto rage to swallow with the Pulse the right of his Primogeniture, which was one of the most Illustrious qualities a man could possess in his Family.

It was this brutish appetite which desolated the Ter­restriall Paradise, which consumed Sodom, The disasters of Gluttony. which dai­ly devours the Wealth of the richest and most Illustri­ous Houses. It is the Well of the Abyss, the Cistern of Babylon, and the Gulf of Heil. The Air, the Earth, and the Sea cannot satiate these devouring ardors, and this Fire which still requires aliment. These are those Horse-leaches which never Quench their Thirst; these are the Men who have their Eyes in their Bellies, and their Reason Buried in Wine. I am deceived, these are not Men but Spunges, and Tuns, like those of the Da­naides into which the Ocean might enter without sil­ling them: Finally, It was this Infamous Vice which caused Esau to direct his first step into the Precipice where afterwards he was swallowed up.

CHAP. III. The Dexterity of Rebecca to procure for Jacob the blessing of Isaack.

THere is a false Divinity in the World which hath Temples in the Lungs, Deus tibi venter est, & pulmo templum. Tertul. advers. Psych. and Altars in the Bellies of most Men. The appetite of Gluttony is the Origin of all Vices, the Furnace in which the most dreadfull flames of Impurity are nourished and inkindled.

We must not then wonder if Esau, who was not a­shamed to sell the right of his Primogeniture to satis­fie a Gluttonous desire, had the Impudence afterwards to Mary against the will of his Parents, and to take two forain insolent and furious Wives, and which is worse, addicted to the Worship of false Gods. These were two incarnat Devils, and two Spirits bearing nei­ther respect nor any pitty towards Isaack and Rebecca, they raised also a War and tumult in the whole House, and sufficiently manifested what a Woman can doe when she hath once trodden honour and devotion under her Feet.

Nevertheless Isaack waxing old amidst these mis­fortunes, Senuit autem Isaac, & caligaverunt ocu­li ejus, & videre non poterat. Gen. 27. v. 2. insensibly felt the approach of Death, and as if his Eyes abhor'd to serve as witnesses to the disasters of his old age, they covered themselves with the Dark­ness of a lamentable Blindness.

Amongst these Accidents his Eyes being shut against all the Clarities of Life, Vocavitque Esau fili­um suum majorem, & dixit ei, fili mi: Gen. 27. v. 2. Vides inquit, quod senuerim & ignorem diem mortis me [...]e. Gen. 27. v. 2. A most uncertain uncertainty. his Soul went penetrating the shade and Night of the Tomb. He calls Esau, and sayes to him with a pittifull Tone, Alas my Son! I am upon the Brink of my Grave, and yet I know not when I shall descend into it.

Surely there is nothing more certain than the end of Life, and nothing less certain than the time when wee must Dye: The Sun is not more cleer and perspicuous in the Heavens, than this Decree on Earth; one must be a [Page 131]Beast amongst Men, and Dead in the World, to doubt of this verity.

This hinders us not from providing for our neces­sities, and prudence enjoins that meditating upon Death, we forget not the Duties of Life as Isaack did.

This good man feeling his life to extinguish as a Lamp whose Oyl begins to fail, called Esau, Vocavitque Esau si lium majorem, & dixit ei fili mi; qui respondit, adsum. Gen. 27. v. 1. Sume arma tua, Pha­retram, & arcum, & egredere for as, cumque venatu aliquid appre­hender [...]s, Gen. 27. v. 3. Fac mihi inde pul­mentum, sicut velle me nosti, & affer, ut comedam, & benedi­cat tibi anima mea antequam moriar. Gen. 27. v. 4. Quod cum audisser Rebecca, & ille abi­esset in agrum, ut jus­sionem Patris impleret. Gen. 27. v. 5. Ambr. lib. 2. de Jacob, & vita beata. c. 2. Rebecca non silium filio, sed justum prae­ferebat infusto, &c. Nunc ergo, fili mi, acquies [...]e co [...]si iis me­is. Gen. 27. v. 8. Pergens ad gregē, ad­fer mihi duos [...]dos op­timos, &c. Gen. 27. v. 9 Quos cum intuleris, & comederit, benedicat tibi prius quam mo­riatur. Gen. 27. v. 10. Cui ille respondit: n [...]sti quod Esau frater me­us homo pilosus sit & ego lenis. Gen. 27. v. 1 [...]. Si attractaverit me Pater meus, & sense­rit, time [...]ne putet me sibi voluisse illudere, &c. Gen. 27. v. 12. and com­manded him to take his Quiver, his Bow and Arrows, and to goe a hunting that he might bring him something to eat, with this promise, that at his return he would give him his benediction before his Death. Esau im­mediatly performing what his Father had commanded him, Rebecca who heard Isaacks whole discourse, made use of her time very seasonably to doe what the Spirit of God directed her.

Ah! how ingenious is vertue! and how dexterous is Love when it follows the will of God! who would believe that a Woman durst undertake what Rebecca did? Her design was not (saith St. Ambrose) to pre­fer the Younger before the Elder, but onely the me­rits and perfections of the one before the bad qualities which appeared in the other: and so her fraud was more full of mystery than malice. Her Artifices then were innocent, and her intentions very just and holy, when she disguised Jacob to deceive Isaack, and fru­strate Esau of the blessing he expected.

Goe then my Son (saith she) and make choice a­mongst our flocks of the two fattest Kids you shall find, I will so dress them, that I will make them serve for your Fathers repast, to the end having fed on them he may bless you before his death.

But what replyed Jacob? Mother you know that my Body is not Hairy like my Brothers; I am fearfull then lest my Father touch me, and believing I intend to mock him, lay on me his malediction.

Can we wish more Respect, Candor, and Piety, in a Son towards his Father? Surely this did not agree [Page 132]with the comportments and bad humours of so many Children who daily sell their Fathers and Mothers for some slight interests. The World is full of Sons, Daugh­ters, Kindred and such brutish persons who treat the Authors of their Life as their Servants and Hand­maids: A dangerous Ma­lediction. But doe they well understand that the lightnings and thunderbolts which are formed in the Ayr, cause less dangerous spoils, than the furious Darts which issue out of the Mouth of an Incensed Father? Doe they know that Fathers and Mothers are impowred to thun­der out the tempests of their Malediction, and that they have as many or more killing shafts than Death, to punish the Insolence and presumption of their Chil­dren?

Jacob would never have been so adventurous as to undertake an action which might irritate the goodness of Isaack, if Rebecca had not relieved him in his fear, and if she had not made appear to him that her Wiles were very just, Ad quem mater, in me sit (ait) ista maledi­ctio fili mi: tantum audi vocern meam, & pergens asser quae dixi. Gen. 27. v. 13. and her design most Innocent. Ah! saith she, my Son, leave unto me this fear; I will pre­serve thee from this danger thou apprehendest, and if any ill chance to happen, I wish it may fall on me; doe then boldly what I shall say unto thee.

She presently apparelled him in Esau's Garments, Et vestibus Esau val­de bonis quos apud se habebat domi, induit eum. Gen. 27. v 15. Ded [...]que pulmentum, & panes, quos coxerat tradidit. Gen. 27. v. 17. Quibus illatis, dixit pater mi, at ille res­pondit, audio, quis es tu fili mi? Gen. 27. v. 18. Dixitque Jacob: Ego sum primogenitus tu­us Esau, feci sicut praecepisti mihi: surge, sede, & comede de ve­natione mea, ut bene­dicat mibi anima tua. Gen. 27. v. 19. Rarsumque Isaac ad filium suum, quomo­do, inquit, tam cito invenire potuisti fili mi, qui respondit: vo­luntas Dei suit, &c. Gen. 27. v. 20. Dixitque Isaac: Ac­cede huc ut tangam te fili mi, &c. Gen. 27. v. 21. Accessit ad patrem, & palpato eo dixit Isaac, vox quidem vox Jacob est, sed manus sunt Esau. Gen 27. v. 22. Et non cognovit eum, quia pilosae manus si­militudinem majoris expresserant: benedi­cens ergo illi, ait: Ecce odor filii m [...], sicut odor agri pleni cui benedixit Domi­nus. Gen. 27. v. 27. covered his Neck and Hands with Skins which had some resemblance of his Brothers, and gave him such Bread and Meat as she knew would be pleasing to I­saacks tast.

Jacob presents them unto his Father, who hearing his voice asked if he were Esau; he answered that he was his Eldest Son, and that having exactly performed all his commands, he besought him to eat of the Veni­son he had prepared for him: But what? said Isaack to him, how couldst thou take and provide it in so short a time? Jacob answers, it is God who hath so dispos'd it, and made it as it were fall into my Hands. If it be so, approach my Son, and give me thy Hands that I may [Page 133]touch them, and feel whether thou art my Son Esau or not. Jacob obeyed; and after Isaack had touched him, he saith unto him; surely this is the voice of Ja­cob I hear; but if I be not deceived these are the Hands and Hair of Esau I feel: Notwithstanding this doubt, Isaack gave his benediction to Jacob and made good cheer of all he had presented to him.

Imagin whether Rebecca stood not watching to ob­serve all that passed. I represent unto my self that she incourag'd Jacob with Gestures and Signs which made up a good part of this action: The time must needs seem long unto her out of the fear she might have lest Esau should come in and disturb the course of Divine providence, and the conduct of her prudent designs.

Make haste then Isaack, and doe quickly what God inspires thee; thy Bed is the Altar on which God will have Jacob consecrated, and it is the Table of a myste­rious repast, and the Theater of the prudence and dex­terities of Love.

It was then neither Rebecca nor Jacob that guided this enterprise; But God, who from all eternity had chosen Jacob for his Eldest Son.

It is a great advantage when those favours which ar­rive to us are presents from Heaven, and an illustrious Prerogative when our fortunes are established by the de­crees of God.

These are adorable decrees, and mysterious obscuri­ties, dazeling clarities, and dark verities, which must be penetrated to discover that light which is inveloped under the secrets of the Divinity.

Isaack is blind, Rebeca sees but the shadows of a mysterie which was reveal'd to her, Jacob is in doubt whether what he doth will come to pass, Esau runs and beats the Bushes, whilst an other takes the Prey. It is God nevertheless who instructs Rebecca, who inspires Isaack, and directs Jacob. Behold also how all succeds agreeable to his own desires and those of his Mothers.

Approach my son saith Isaack, Dixit ad eum: accede ad me, & da mihi osculum fili. Gen. 27. v. 26. Accessit & osculatus est eum. Gen. 27. v. 27. Statimque ut sensit vestimentorum illius fragrantiam, benedi­cens illi, ait, ecce odor filii mei sicut odor a­gripteni, cui benedixit Dominus. Gen. 27. v. 27 Det tibi Deus de rore caeli, & de pinguedine terrae, abundantiam frumenti & vini. Gen. 27. v. 28. Et serviant tibi populi, & edorent te Tribus: esto domi [...]us fratrum tuorum, & incurven­tur ante te filii matris tuae: qui matedixerit tibi, sit ille maledi­ctus, & qui be [...]dix­crit tibi benedictioni­bus repleatur. Gen. 27. v. 29. and bestow a kisse on thy poor father: Presently Jacob leaps on his neck, embraceth him, huggs him, and lays his eyes, his lipps, and mouth on him. I know not why the Mother did not cast her self between them both as the knot of so tender and holy an Amity: But perchance she was afraid to interrupt Isaack who finding himself Surprised by the smell and perfume which exhaled from Jacobs gar­ments, presently gave him his paternall benediction, saying to him; Ah well-beloved SOn, the Odour which comes from thee is as sweet as that which riseth from a field full of flowres, and upon which God hath powred out his Benedictions.

Be thou blessed then for all Eternity, my most deer Son, let God bestow on thee the dew of Heaven, the fat of the Earth, wheat and wine in abundance; Let all Nations be subject to thee, and let all the Tribes adore thee. Be thou Lord over thy brethren, let them bow their knees be­fore thee: Let those that give thee their benediction be blessed; and if any one curse thee let him be also cursed.

CHAP. IV. Gods design in preferring Jacob.

ALthough wee may say that the Earth is a great Labyrinth and a fearfull Chaos where Truth is not seen but in shadow, and where there are no assu­rances but amidst the uncertainty of casual accidents; Yet One of the Antients had reason to say, That the world was a large well of Darkness, and a deep Sea where we are exposed to the mercy of Winds and tempests without Sayles, without Pilot, without Stern, and almost without Hope of releif.

Alas! in this estate where is the Haven, where are the Ilands, and where is the means to attain the shore? [Page 135]O God! what Horror when wee see a bark split in pieces, and him that wee Lold by the hand carried by the billows, and tempests into the bottome of the Sea? I see him, I hear him, and I behold him in my sight dying upon the waves; Why he, and not my self? Why this and not that man? What have I done? What hath he done? And what could he deserve from God even before his birth?

O night without day! Precipice without bottome! Dreadfull uncer­tainty.Ocean without shore! O hight of the Wisedom and knowledge of God! Alas how fearfull and horrible are the mysteries of thy secrets! My God! When shall I know whether thou art for or against me? And who will assure me that I am not inrould amongst those wretches which must be one day banished out of the land of Paradise. Lord, I know not where I am, and what will become of me; I doubt whether after all my races I shall waite at the gate, or whether all my labours will ever merit any reward.

And truly could Esau have imagined that while he was a hunting his brother had taken his Bene­diction?

Ah! A fair subject of Miseries. it often happens that such as have the greatest advantages of Nature have the least share of the fa­vours and Graces God is accustomed to impart. Blood, Spirit, Extraction and Riches are for the most part but a fair object where Misfortune appears with most de­formity. The Sun is wont to make his rarest producti­ons in the most unknown places, and God never works more miracles than in the souls of those whom the world useth to Despise, or knows not.

Unhappy Esau! where are the privileges of thy Birth, where is the right of thy Primogeniture, and the Blessing thou doest expect? Who art thou? In vain is it for thee to say thou art Esau, and the Eldest son of Isaack, Jacob hath supplanted thee, and when thou did­est hunt he found at home what thou soughtest abroad. Jacob saying that he was Esau and the Eldest son, knew [Page 136]well enough that in effect and according to the right of Nature, Mysterious answer. he was Jacob and the Younger Brother: But he knew also that God had chosen him for his Eldest Son, and he spake according to Gods intentions, and in pursuance of the title and right of Primogeniture which he had purchased, and God had given him.

As in the eleventh and seventeenth Chapter of St. Matthew the Messias openly declares that St. John was Elias; Not that indeed he was Elias, but because he lived according to the Spirit, as Elias.

So our Lord also hath borrowed seeming titles, and God himself hath taught the World many things which had but some marks of his Divinity.

We must note then by the way for the satisfaction of those that read the holy Scripture;

First, Innocent feignings. that who ever dissembles the truth doth not tell a lye, and though it be a shamefull and detestable thing to tell a lye, yet there be innocent feignings and prudentiall ways which are sometimes lawfull and lau­dable. Such was (as some have believed) the address which Abraham used when he caused his Wife to pass for his Sister in the territories of Pharaoh.

Secondly, it is one thing to lye, and another thing to speak figuratively; And the words of God himself, though he be the infallible Verity ought not alwaies to be taken in a rigorous sense: for they have sometimes Enigmaticall meanings and mysterious relations; and so the number of Abrahams Children was to be like the Stars, and the Sands of the Sea.

Thirdly when St. A two edged Sword. John in the Ile of Pathmos saw God carrying in his Mouth a two Edged-Sword, it was to teach us, that his Words, though Divine, might have two significations: which was evident, when he spake unto the Jews concerning the Temple of his Body, as if it had been the Temple of Jerusalem, albeit he was not ignorant that their thoughts were very different from what he declared unto them.

Fourthly the greatness of a mystery may without wounding the truth, disguise the countenance, feign a voice, borrow names, and in a word conceal under some mysticall terms the importance of a secret, A most just Strata­gem. and the designs of God. This was, as I may say, the ami­able stratagem of the Angell Raphael, when he said unto Toby that he was Azarias the Son of the great A­nanias: And this was the Artifice of Jacob, when he an­swered his father that he was Esau, and his Eldest Son.

Nevertheless Isaack stood in admiration even to a rapture, and at first he could hardly imagin, Expavit Isaac stupo­re vehementi & ultra quam credi potest ad­mirans, ai [...]: quis igi­tur ille est? Gen. 27. v. 33. that Jacob had deceived him: but at last in the extasie of his a­stonishment, God shewed him as St. Austin believed, his manner of conduct in Jacobs proceeding. He saw the just intentions of this unmalicious deceiver: And at length he discerned that the Benediction he had given him was valid.

As well by reason of Gods will, which was such, as in regard his design was to bless him to whom the Pri­vilege belonged, which Jacob had acquired by the contract of Sale passed between him and his Brother, and by the Donation of God.

Jacob is then the Elder Brother, Auditis Esau sermo­nib [...] Patr [...]s irrugiit clamore magno, & consternatus ait: be­nedic etiam & mi [...]i P [...]er m [...], Cumque esulatu magn [...] fle [...]et. Gen. 27. v. 34. Motus Isaac dirit ad eum: in pinguedine terrae, & in rore caeli desu [...], Gen. 27. v. 39. Erit benedictio tua, &c. Gen. 27. v. 40. and from henceforth his Brethren shall be his Servants. It is in vain for Esau to tear his Heart with a thousand sighs it is to no purpose for him to lament and roar like a Lion.

His sorrows and roarings may well excite some pitty in his Fathers Soul. But this poor old Man hath no o­ther thing to give him but some drops of the Dew, and at best but some humid and clammy vapours which fat­ten the Earth. For as concerning Heaven, that hath already powred forth its favours upon Jacob: where note, that the benediction which had been given him was very different from that of Esau: for Jacob had first received Riches and the abundance of the Goods of the Earth; Secondly an Empire over Nations; Third­ly a Principality amongst his Brethren; And lastly a [Page 138]particular favour which put him intirely under the pro­tection of Heaven; whereas Esau, as I said, received for his share but some Acres of ground fertile indeed, but only in the corruptible goods of Corn, Rain, and Dew, whereas Jacob had all sorts of benedictions aswell in Earth as in Heaven.

These are presents for Worldly and Earthly Men, drops of Water, Exhalations, Vapors, and a little smoak. Behold the favours of Esau, behold the height of his benedictions, and the portion of a Younger Brother who is rejected.

After this let us ask why the most impious persons in the World are sometimes the richest, the most hap­py, and the most powerfull, or at least in appearance and to the Eyes of Flesh and Bloud. Let us inquire whence comes it that Atheists are Crowned with Ro­ses, Lillys, and Gilly-flowers, when Christians walk upon Bryars and Thorns, what a shame will it be to see Vice watered with Nectar, whilst Vertue is beaten with a storm of Hail.

My God! Blessings of this World. permit me then to expostulate with thee to this purpose; if Esau be rejected, why dost thou bestow on him some Goods in this World? Alas! what can be the happiness of this Life? A thick Cloud of Rain, Lands smoking with Ordures, Straw, Hey, Feathers and Wind: whereas the Elect enjoy Peace, Hope, Love, Pleasure, God, and Paradise for all E­ternity.

But who will assure us that we are in the fortunate List of those predestinated Persons whose Elder Bro­ther Jacob is? what Angell will tell us whether we be not lost Children who have Esau for our Captain?

Ah God! I have bewayled my sins, but I fear my tears have not cleansed my Heart, I have cast forth cryes, sighs, and sobs, but my doubt is I have not been heard. I know not how far my benediction reacheth, and whether some-body hath not supplanted me. In [Page 139]fine, am I Jacob or Esau, shall I be saved or condemned, Lawfull apprehensi­ons. what will befall me after death? And for what hath God ordained me even before my birth?

O Abyss of Gods Judgements! O the Gulf of horror and darkness! O God, what precipice for hope? what shadows for faith? and what blindnesses for love? Surely there would remain nothing for us but a sad despair, if we had not learnt of the Wise man, Sap. 1.12, 13.11.16. God desires our sal­vation. that God for his part wills not the destruction of any, but the salvation of all. It is then from thee, O Esau, and from thee (O Israel) perdition commeth. For God, Oz [...]e 13. Timoth. 2. as the Apostle saith, desires that every one should be saved, and adhere unto the knowledge of truth. Be­hold the end of his love, of our Creation, and of his Incarnation.

In the second place, Sufficient Graces. though God bestowes those fa­vours on some which he denies to others, and though he hath shewed more of them to Jacob than to Esau, yet he imparts unto all sufficient grace for salvation, as Saint James affirmeth.

And truly how can he refuse Graces unto those for whom he hath given his Blood? and why should he not afford assistance unto Man, for whom he hath given up his life, and all his Interests?

In fine, no person either ought, or can despair: Foresight of merits. For God hath predestinated the good with foresight of their merits, he hath reprobated the wicked by the prescience of their sins.

Let us hope then my Soul, let us hope in God, Well grounded hopes. who is good, and would save us. It is enough for us to have him for our Father, and that he hath given us his Son for our Br [...]er; It is sufficient that our Election de­pends on his Grace, since he gives it us with all suffici­encie. O God! what assurance? what pledge? and what caution? A Son towards a Father, a God of God, and who issueth not out of God, but to pacifie our troubles, and mediate our salvation. Ah! who will not hope, [Page 140]having a Jesus for his Saviour, whose pretious blood runs not but to fill hearts, and to swell the courage with hope of Paradise? Fair motives of Conscience. What haven may we not at­tain, when we are guided by a God, and swim upon his tears, upon his sweat, and blood? Woe then unto those who will not make use of these advantages; and woe unto such as shall despair of salvation.

My God, I hope to be one of those who shall behold thee face to face in Heaven; it is the hope in which I will live, and die. I desire that it may live even in my Sepulchre, flourish even in my Ashes, and afterwards take its flight on the eternall hills, and on the mountains of Sion.

My God! it is of thy goodness I hope for this grace, it is by the merits of thy Son, and his intercession. Eternall Father, be thou my Judge, Jesus, be thou my Advocate and refuge.

This being so, the tragick Judgement of the unhap­py lot of Esau doth not affright me. This poor unfor­tunate, had a Father who was blind, a Mother who was averse, and a brother who supplanted him: And we have a Father who sees all, a Mother who wishes us all sorts of blessings, and a Brother who dyes willingly to give us life.

My God, Almost happy aban­donment. I resign then my lot into thy hands, and I expect my fortune from thy disposure. I expect, my God, thy benediction; give it me then for thy Sons sake, give it me, O my amiable Jesus, and put me in the rank of those Elect, of whom thou art King, that I may be under thy Empire for all Eternity.

CHAP. V. Jacobs Ladder.

IT was vanity doubtless which ingraved this stately Elegy upon the Sepulchre of Phericides the Syrian; A stately Epitaph. [...]. Laert. Here lyes Wisedome in its highest perfection. For to say truly, this Inscription cannot be set but upon the Throne of God, in whose sight the wisedome of men is but folly. Wisedome is not then to be found in a Tomb, in the depth of the Earth, nor in the Abysses of the Ocean, nor in the vacuum of the Ayr: but above the Clouds, and under the veiles of the Divinity. Jacob. c. 3. It comes from heaven, as the Apostle St. James affirms, and there its Origine and Source is to be found, Baruch v. 3. as the Prophet Ba­ruch assureth: It issues out of hearts, and out of the most intimate secrets of our souls, Diodorus. as the Sun and light from the obscurest nights; and it was peradventure for this reason the Egyptians drew the picture of Osiris the Hus­band of Isis, who presided over Wisdome, like a Sun, Wisdome like the Sun. whose rayes were as so many eyes which penetrated the darkest obscurities.

In like manner also in the most holy Pictures of the Old Testament, Wisdome was represented as a good Mother, and as a brave Mistresse which kept an Aca­demy, and changed men into Planets full of brightness. I know not whether this were not the reason, Artemidorus. lib. 26. c. 36. as Arte­midorus believed, which heretofore moved Fathers and Mothers to call their children Suns, having no cleerer termes to flatter their wisdome, and the excellen­cie of their wits.

However it be, divine Wisdome is a Sun which is al­waies in his high Noons, and at the same instant inlight­ens the evening and morning, that is to say, the future and past time, as well as the present. These wayes though oblique goe alwaies straight, and soon or late [Page 142]bring us to the Haven. The course of Wis­dome. It was this wise Conducter which lead Abraham in all his Pilgrimages: And it is she at present, as the Wiseman himself assures us, who ta­keth her Jacob by the hand, and diverts him insensibly from the Abyss into which Esau's despair intended to lead him. Haec prosugum irae fratris justum dedux­it per vias rectas, Sap. c. 10. It was this wisdome saith Solomon, which freed an Innocent from the rage and fury of a Brother who contrived his death.

To this effect it casts some streams of light into Re­beccas soul, who presently knew the designs which Esan had on Jacob.

Afterwards this prudent woman went to find out Isaack, and remonstrated to him, that it was not time to marry Jacob, but that he must needs permit him to take a wife out of the Land of Chanaan.

Isaack though blind clearly discerned what his wife pretended; Vocavit itaque Isaac jacob, & benedixit cam, praecepi (que) ei di­cens, Genes. 28. v. 1. Vade & presiciscere in Mese [...]r tamtam Sy­riae, ad domum Ba­th [...]l patras matris tuae, & accipe tibi in­d [...] uxorem de siliabus La [...]an evunculitui. Gen. 28. v. 2. And then feeling some touches of this wise hand which managed the whole business, he comman­ded Jacobs presence, to give him his blessing, and to ex­press unto him his trouble to see him depart out of his house before his death: But nevertheless since time pressed him for his Mariage, it was most convenient to take the way of Mesopotamia to obtain one of Labans daughters for his wife.

Goe then my dear Child, Deus autem omnipo­eens benedi [...]a tibi, &c. Gen. 28. v. 3. Et det lib. benedic [...]a­nes Abrahae, & semini tuo post te, &c. Gen. 28.5.4. said this good old man, goe, and let the God of Abraham be thy guide, during thy whole voyage. For my part, I beseech him to aug­ment on thee the benedictions I have most willingly gi­ven thee. Above all I beg of him to multiply thy off­spring, and to put thee in possession of the Country where thou shalt be as a stranger or Pilgrim.

Farewell then my most dear Son, A sensible Separa­tion. farewell all my Joy, and all the Love of my house; which said, he kis­seth him, he embraces him, he waters him with his tears. Nevertheless Rebecca to whom all moments were lon­ger than Dayes, endevoured speedily to draw him thence, that she might put him in the Equipage of [Page 143]a Traveller, and give him her farwell, lest Esan should disturb the departure and the design of this voyage. It was indeed a tryall of constancy for this poor Mother, when shee must leave this Son, but at last shee had him adieu, and brought him on his way after shee had spoken to him some few words which issued lesse from her Mouth, than from her Heart.

I wonder how the Father, Mother and Son did not die upon this sad Separation. But the Wisedom of God who was as the wheel of all these Motions knew how to moderate the excesse of her grief, by the hopes of that good which would arise from thence. Neverthe­lesse to speak truth, these combats were very rigorous, and there needed an Isaack, a Jacob, and a Rebecca to accomplish this resolution.

In fine, the wise Providence of God expects Jacob at his resting place, and intends by the favour of the Night visibly to discover the manner of his conduct, and the model of his government.

Jacob is gon then from Bershabè and travels all alone under the protection of Heaven, Igitur egressus Jacob de Bersabee, pergebat Hatam. Gen. 28. v. 10. Cumque venisset ad quendam locum, & vellet in es requiescere post solis occubitum, tulit de lapidibus qui jacebant, & suppo­nens capiti suo dormi­vit in codem Loco. Gen. 28. v. 11. and with this confi­dence that God would never abandon him.

But what! Behold Night already founding the re­treat, and shuting up all passages to our Pilgrim, He beheld the Sun stealing from his Eyes, and the Moon giving no light but to discover to him on the Plains of Bethel a bed of Earth, and some stones to serve him for a Bolster. Poor Jacob! What Bed? what Bolster? what Night? and what Inn?

Without doubt, here is the place where long since God appeared unto Abraham, and it is this so fa­mous Bethel where he saw the Land of Promise. Be­sides, it is in the Night God discloseth his lights, The voice of God in silence. it is amidst silence wee hear his voice, and in solitude he useth to reveal his secrets.

Repose then Jacob, and spend all the Night in se­curity, since God hath ben pleased to Assign you this Lodging.

O happy retreat! O pleasing Night! O delicious bed! O divine Repose?

Jacob is faln a sleep, Viditque in somnis scalam stantem super terram & cacumine illius tangens caelum: An [...]l [...]s quoque dei as­ceadentes per eum. Gen. 28. v. 12. Et Donanum innio um scalae. Gen. 28. v. 13. Cumque vigilasset Jacob de sumno ai [...]: v [...] è Domi [...]u [...]st in [...]o­co [...]sto, non est [...] al [...] ­us, nist domus D [...]i, & po. ta caeli. but God, who always watch­eth, shewed him a Prodigious Ladder which touched the Earth with one end and the Heavens with the other, Angels by turns descended and ascended this Ladder, and on the top God himself appeared as it were sup­ported by it.

But behold indeed a strange Spectacle upon a Thea­ter of Sanctity. I am not astonished if after Jacob had taken his rest he awaked at this vision bearing God in his Mouth and Heart. He calls Heaven to witness, and protests that Bethel is the Temple of God where the most glorious rayes of his Majesty are seen. Ah saith he, how venerable is this place, and how full of a holy terror, It is the gate of Heaven! and if Jacob could live a hundred Thousand years, he would have no other God, than he that appeared to him.

Besides more authentically to seal his confession and promise he powred oyl out of a Bottle which he carried for his provision, Surgens ergo Jacob man [...], tulit lapidem quem supposuerat [...] ­piti suo, & exerit in titulum sundens oleum desuper. and annointed therewith the stone which during the Night had served him for a Pillow.

Behold in truth strange mysteries, but I would wil­lingly have demanded of God the explication of them, if I had been in Jacobs place.

I know neverthelesse that some have thought, that it was a figure of the Temporall Generation of the Word who descended from Abraham even unto Joseph and Mary, and who ascends from Joseph and Mary un­to Adam and God himself.

It is the Incarnation of the Word whereby God de­scends on Earth and Me [...]mount up to Heaven! A picture of the In­carnation. As God he is impassible in the bosome of his Father, and mortall in the Womb of his Mother, Subject to time and death: It is God united unto Man who rests on this sacred wood, and it is h [...] who sends his Angels as his Nuncios and Embassadours.

St. Austin frames another sense upon this Enigma, and he conceives that this Ladder was a draught of the life and death of Jesus Christ. Isaack represents God the Father, Jacob is the Image of the Son, The image of the life and death of Je­sus. Aug. ser. 79. de temp. and the Angels which ascend and descend are the Apostles and preachers, who Elevate themselves unto God by their Thoughts, and stoop even to the grossest understandings by means of their Words.

These two Explications to speak the truth are most Sublime: But St. Basill expounding the three and thir­ty Psalm gives an other explanation, which will be more profitable. This Ladder, saith he, is the Exercise, The description of a perfect Soul. or ra­ther the picture of a Soul, which raiseth her self unto the highest pitch of Perfection.

First, to the end God may descend into this Soul, The forsaking of Creatures. and that this Soul may ascend unto God, shee must forsake the Earth, and renounce the World: This is the first step.

Secondly, shee ought to make a generous divorce from all Creatures, and even efface out of her memory all their Footsteps, and all the species of her dearest affections.

Thirdly, Contempt of the World. shee must have nothing but Contempt and disdain for that which before shee adored.

At the fourth step shee must resolve to trample over her Friends and all her kindred; Estimation of God. that is to say, shee must preferr God before them, and boldly reject their designs when they are opposite unto the Will of God.

The fift step passeth even unto Death: Extreme Mortifica­tion. for the Soul ought lesse to esteem Life than her God; and if God suffers her to live Longer, her life is but a Living Death which finds its Tomb in her Nothing.

It is for this consideration shee remains in a most profound Humility, Annihilation of o [...] selves. and in a most inflamed Charity which communicats her flames and zeal not onely to her Friends, but also to her Enemies.

In fine, Union of the soul. God is present at the top of the Ladder united [Page 146]unto the Soul; and it is upon her he reposeth, and is u­nited to her, and she to him.

Philo and Origen have yet layd some other touches on this picture; many also have since laboured there­in: But having perused all their works, and collected all their opinions, I think, that Gods design was to manifest unto Jacob in this vision, the care his Divine providence took of him. The Ladder of Di­vine Providence. Jacobs Ladder then was a most lively draught of the wise conduct of Almighty God concerning Jacob, and of the Universall Government of the World, which is in the Hands of the Divinity.

The Bounds and Limits of this Empire are infinite, Huic ex alto cunesa tuenti nulla terrae mo­le resistunt. Non nox at [...]is nulubus obstat. Vno cernit mentis e­rictu, quae sint, quae fueriat, quae veniant­que. Boet. lib. de cons. and his Scepter extends it self over the Earth, and o­ver the Heavens where he absolutely resides, and be­holds all the events like a Sun, saith Boetius, which penetrates every where, and guides all Creatures by means of his splendor. The two sides of the Ladder represent Power and Sweetness, which are as the Hands of the Divine Providence, which goes mounting and descending from Heaven to Earth by divers steps, that is to say, by divers sweet and admirable walks and ways through which the World is insensibly guided unto the period and term proposed to it.

God nevertheless, rests himself on the top of this Ladder, and from thence deputes his Angels and Em­bassadours, which are (as St. Gregory saith) the Mini­sters of the Divine Providence.

It is then in the Company of these most Heavenly Spirits, that Jacob is on his way to renew his Journey unto Mesopotamia.

In fine, Ego sum Dominus, sū Dominus Deus Abra­ham Patris tui, & De­us Isaac; terram in qua dormis tibi dabo, & se­mini tuo. Gen. 28. v. 13 Erit (que) semen tuū qua­si pulvis terrae: Dila­t aberis ad occidentem, & orientem & septen­trionem, & meridiem. Gen. 28. v. 14. Et ero custos tuus quocunque perrexeris, & reducam te in ter­ram hanc, nec dimit­tam nisi complevero universa quae dixi. Gen. 28. v. 15. under the protection of the Divine Provi­dence, Jacob pursues his design, and this was the pro­mise made him during his Vision. Yeas Jacob, saith God, I am the Lord of thy Progenitors, Abraham, and Isaack; and I will bestow the Land where thou reposest, on thy self and all thy Children: I will mul­tiply them as grains of Sand which are upon the Earth; [Page 147]and their Progenie shall extend as far as the four Corners of the Universe. I my self will be thy Guar­dian during all thy voyages, and will bring thee back to thine own House. Thou mayst be affur'd of it Ja­cob, and constantly believe that God speaketh unto thee, and that his Providence will never abandon thee, untill he hath accomplished his Oath and promises. O God! what happiness for Jacob, and for all those who live under the favour of thy Providence? what Peace in a Soul when God is the primum mobile or first mover of all his Actions? what assurance when we walk in the way his increated wisdom hath marked out to us with his own Hand, and enlightned with the purest rayes of his Eyes?

My Soul! is it true? Ah! if it be so, let us banish these disquiets and perplexities which ravish from us the confidence we ought to have in God.

My God! my hope is then in thee, and I resign my Life, my Pleasures, my Designs, my Desires, my In­terests and all my Affections into the Bosom of thy Providence? And besides, I make a vow with Jacob to Live and Dye in the quality of thy Son; and of thy most humble Creature, who hath no Life nor motion but by thee and for thee. Lord accept this offering, confirm this promise, and in giving Affections unto my Heart to Love thee, deny not Lights unto my Soul for the guidance and strengthning of it, against all obsta­cles which might divert it from approaching directly to thee, and reaching the top of the Mountain, where it hopes both to see and enjoy thee for all Eternity.

CHAP. VI. The Constancy of Jacob in the Quest of Rachel.

IT is then the wise Providence of God, which can justly attribute this honour unto it self as to say, I preside in Councils; And it is by the favour of my lights Men in the most importune affairs conceive their gravest and most mature resolutions.

I am, The Works of the increated Wisdom. saith Providence, the End of Gods wonders; by me he Begins his rarest works to Finish them in me; And I am the Archetype and the project of his most admirable designs. It is this Providence which had the Modell of the Universe, when the Elements were in confusion, and it was by her disposure the world re­ceived its Laws and all its Orders.

Moreover, in the sequence of Age she took all her choicest delights upon the vast Globe of the Earth, and her sweetest divertisements amongst men, which serve as pastimes to her most holy entertainments.

I know not whether the Philosophy of Plato were pure enough to understand these verities; But he con­curred it seems in this opinion, when he said, That di­vine Providence sports with men in a way paternally affectionate and full of miracles. Homo est ludus De­orum. Plato.

Now if this Pastime appeared in the life of Abra­ham and Isaack, it is no less visible, me thinks, in that of Jacob. Admirable sports. First, God sported with him in his Mothers Womb, when he stirred his Hand to wrastle with his Brother Esau, and to take him by the soal of his Foot that he might cause him to fall from the right to which he pretended.

Secondly, God sported with Jacob when he disgui­sed him by the intervention of his Mother to obtain the Benediction of Isaack.

Thirdly the Ladder Jacob saw in a dream was, as [Page 149]we have said, but a Pastime and spectacle of the Divine Providence, and at present God continues to sport with him in the rest of his Journey, afterwards in the House of Laban, and finally in a thousand other rencounters, where it will appear that even Gods Combats with Jacob were but Sports and Artifices wherein God took pleasure to recreate himself with him.

Jacob being then wak'd out of this mysterious sleep and Divine rapture, Profectus ergo Jacob, venit in terram orien­talem. Gen. 29. v. 1. Et vidit puteum in agro, tres queque gre­ges ovium accubantes juxta eum. Gen. 29. v. 2. Quos interrogans numqaid ait nostis Laban? Gen. 29 v. 5. Et ecce Rachel vente­bat cum ovtbus sui Patris: nam gregem ipsa pascobat. Gen. 29. v. 9. in which God had kept him for the space of a whole Night on the plains of Bethel, he took his way towards the East, where a while after neer un­to a Well, he met with Flocks of Sheep and Sheep­heards, of whom he enquired whether they were not acquainted with Laban, and whether they knew not his House. Behold, at the same time a Rachel approa­ching, the second Daughter of Laban, who kept her Fathers Sheep, and led them to drink where Jacob stay'd.

I know not whether the Day were far advanced: but in some part of its course where the Sun may be seen, I am well assur'd that the Eyes of Rachel did cast forth a thousand Love-Darts and lights into the Soul of Jacob. Rachel was an Aurora which marcheth before the Sun, and instantly these two Planets did that which the Sun and Moon could not effect since their Crea­tion. Jacob kissed Rachel, Quam cum vidisset Jacob & sciret con­sobrinam suam, Gen. 29. v. 10. Osculectus est eam: & elevata voce flevit. Gen. 29. v. 11. Et indicavit ei quod frater esset patris sui & filius Rebeccae, at illa festinans nuntia­vit patri suo. Gen. 29. v. 12. Qui cū audisset venis­se Jacob filium [...]ororis suae, cucurrit obviāei, &c. Gen. 29. v. 14. and knowing that she was his Cosin, he began sweetly to cry out, and presently his Eyes shed some tears, which expressed the excess of his contentment. Rachel would have done the same if her Eyes had been longer fixed on Jacob: but she ran from thence to advertise her Father, that not far from the House she had happily met with one of her Cosen-germans, the Son of Isaack and Rebecca. Which Laban hearing, went to meet and bring him to his Lod­ging, as also to know the cause of his comming. Jacob freely declared to him what had passed; to which La­ban answered he was very welcome, and that he recei­ved [Page 150]him as his dear Nephew, Di [...]itei: nam quia frater meuses, gratis serv [...]es mihi: lic quid mercedis accipias. Gen. 29. v. 15. and as a part of himself: But for the rest, although he had a desire to entertain him as his own Brother, yet he must resolve to serve and merit some wayes by his labours.

Jacob had no mercenary Spirit, nor a Body trained up to labour; Nevertheless of a Master he must be­come a Servant, and learn by Serving others, more prudently to Command hereafter: He made a contract then with his Uncle, Serviam tibi pro Ra­chel filta tua mimo [...] septem annos. Gen. 29. v. 18. Respondit Laban: me­ [...]as est ut tibi eam de quam altere vno. Gen. 29. v. 19. Sed L [...]a lip [...]is erat o­cults, Racitel detora facte & venusto as­pectu. Gen. 29. v. 17. and obliged himself to serve him for the space of seaven years, at the end of which La­ban promised to Marry him unto Rachel, the youngest but the fairest of his Daughters. The Eldest which was called Leah, had a Face of Wax which melted through her Eyes, and rendered her deformed and blear-Eyed: but the Youngest had so many beauties and attractives, as the least of her glances had power enough to ren­der her Mistress of Jacobs affections. It was for her sake and for the Love he bo [...]e her, that he became a Servant, and that of a Pilgrim he took upon him the quality of a Guest, Well regulated af­fection. who lodged in his Heart all the du­ties of a most pure and holy amity.

His Love was not of the nature of those petty De­vils which 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 [Page 151]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 introduri [...] ad cum. Gea. 29. v. 23. Ad quam cum ex a­more Jacob fuisset in­gressus, facto mane vid [...]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, [Page 153]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 u [...]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 her considera­ble by her fruitfulness, and by the birth of four Sons, Videns autem Domi­nus quòd despiceret Liam, aperuit vulvam ejus. Genes. 29. v. 31. Quae conceptum genu­it silium, vocavitque nomen ejus Ruben. Gen. 29. v. 31. Rursúm (que) concepit, & peperit filium, voca­vit (que) nomen ejus Si­meon, &c. Genes. 29. v. 23. the first of which was called Ruben, the second Simeon, the third Levi, and the fourth Judas, which were the four principall causes of Rachels envying Leah.

It is the vice of great souls to be touched with envy, and the effect of an unworthy melancholy to seek good from anothers mishap. It is no wonder then, if women for the most part are subject unto these abominable [Page 154]motions; but I am astonished at the violence of this pas­sion, when it transports men even unto despair.

Rachel will dye, Cernens autem Rachel qu [...]d insoecunda ess [...]t: ci ma [...]to sua, da miht liberos, &c. Gen. 30. v. 1. C [...]i i [...]a [...]us respondit Jacob: N [...]m pro Deo ego sum? &c. Gen. 30. v. 3. Ingress [...] ad se vi [...]o con­cepit, & peperit filium. Gen. 30 v. 5. Et id [...]i [...]co apellavit n [...]m [...]n esus Dan. Gen. 30. v. 6. Rursumque Bala con­cipiens pe [...]erit alterum. Gen. 30. v. 7. Vocavitque eum Nephthali. Gen. 30. v. 8. shee saith, if no children be given her. What man I beseech you can bestow a favour which God hath reserved to himself? was not this then a means to make Jacob dye, seeing that his wife asked that which lay not in his power to give her? It was re­quisit neverthelesse that the goodness of God should aleviate the grief of this sad Mother; giving unto her handmaid two Sons, one of which was called Dan and the other Nepthalim.

God immediatly after shewed the same favour to the Handmaid of Leah who brought forth Gad and Asser.

After which Leah her self conceived of Jsachar, then of Zebulon, and at last of a Daughter called Dina.

It was by the means of these generations God began to accomplish the Promise he had made to Abraham, Isaack, and Jacob; And it was out of these first springs issued a thousand and a thousand streams of this blood of Patriarcks which was to overflow the fairest Lands of the Universe. Recordatus quoque Dominus Rachelis, exatedivit eam, & a­peruit vulvam ejus. Gen. 30. v. 22. Quae concepit & pe­perit filium. Gen. 30. v. 23. [...] vocavit nomen ejus Joseph. Gen. 30. v. 24. At that time Jacob saw the time approching during which he had tyed himself to serve his Father-in-Law Laban. Rachel neverthelesse was troubled at her barrenness: But at length God heard her prayers, and made her the Mother of a Son, whose birth effaced all the marks of her shame and dishonor. This Joseph, this miraculous Infant, was the delight of his parents, the glory of Rachel, the love of Jacob, the wish and de­sire of both, the support of his family, the King of all his brethren, the Saviour of his people, and the master-peece of the graces and favours of God.

CHAP. VII. The reward Jacob received for his services, and his departure out of Mesopotamia.

WHen Jacob had finished his fourteen years of service he began to long for liberty, Nato autem Joseph dixit Jacob socero suc: dimitte me ut revertar in patriam, & ad ter­ram meam. Gen. 30. v. 25. and for his own country; where he had never lived under the command of a Master and Father-in-Law, but under the tuition of a Father and Mother who had always treated him not as a Servant, but as their Child. Hee intreated then Laban to give way unto his retirement. But as interest is the first inciter of all passions, Laban immediatly felt his Heart assaulted with all sorts of Motions.

In fine, Ait illi Laban: Inve­niam gratiam in con­spectu tuo, &c. Gen. 30. v. 27. the hope he had that Jacobs presence would every day increase the blessings and Graces of Heaven upon his family, he invites Jacob to remain some small time with him; To which Jacob freely accorded, well foreseeing the trouble he should have in his journey, being burthened with Women and Children too weak and young to resist the incommodities of travell.

He condescended then to the desire of Laban, Dixitque Loban: quid tibi da [...]o? At ille ait, nibil volo: sed si feceris quod postulo, iterum [...]ascam, & custodiam [...] tua. Gen. 30. v. 31. Gyraomnes greges tuos, & separa cunctas ves va [...]ias, & sparso vel­ [...]e: & quodcumque f [...]r [...]m & maculosum, varIumque suerit, tam in ovibus quam in capris erit merces mea. Gen. 30. v. 32. tollens ergo Jacob vir­gas populeas virides, & amygdalin as, &c. Gen. 30. v. 37. upon condition he might have the government of his flocks and Herds, and that he would distribute them in such sort as from thenceforth all the beasts which were found spotted, should be his and those which should be of one single colour were to be Labans.

The agreement is made to the Content and liking of both parties: but disunion and Iealousie arose quick­ly on Labans part, seeing his own flocks barren, and on the contrary those of Jacob very fruitfull.

This was (as Theodoret believ'd) a miraculous arti­fice of divine Providence, which incited Jacob to place white and green wands before the Eyes of his flocks when they were in copulation; which caused various [Page 156]impressions and effects conformable to the desires of Jacob, Posuitque eas in cana­libus, ubi essundebatur aequa, ut cum venissent greges ad bibend [...]m an­te oculos haberent vir­gas, & in aspectu ea­rum coreiperent. Gen. 30. v. 38. Arist. lib. 3. de Hist. a­nim. Varro in Solino. and agreeable to the picture which an Angel had represented to him.

I conceive neverthelesse, absolutely speaking, that such productions are not above the power of Nature. It is the opinion of all Philosophers, and amongst others of Aristotle, who affirms that in Antandria there are two great Rivers, in one of which the beasts which drink of it grow white, and in the other become black. In like manner the River Seamander breeds golden colours: And in the red Sea there is a fountain as Varro observes which changeth every thing into Carnation.

It is then no impossible thing for the imagination to produce like effects, and to form in Bodyes, what the Sun doth in the clouds, and Painters in their pictures. These are draughts of the Soul which in the strict Union shee hath with the Body is the source of its Actions and Motions; Portraicts of the Soul. so that she labors therein as a Workman doth upon his Matter, and a Designer upon the Platform which he contrived. And truly if a Carver can shape up­on Marble and Brass the intelligible form and the Idea which is in his Fancy and Reason; What disorder can there be, if the Sensitive Soul, the Fancy of Animals chance to produce their Sensible Images in the matter most capable of these impressions, when the Heat of Nature incites them to dilate themselves into new Pro­ductions? In fine, but too many events are daily seen in the world which prove this verity, and demonstrat that the Imagination hath a Marvelous command over Bodyes.

This yet hinders not Jacob from following the in­stincts of a Supernaturall conduct to purchase the Re­ward his Services deserved.

However it were, Animadvertit quoque faciem Laban quod non effet erga se sicut heri, & nudiustertius, Gen. 31. v. 2. Laban grows extraordinary Sad, because his flocks bring him no fruit. For this purpose he alters the Contract between him and his Son-in-Law. But perceiving that his unfaithfull dealing [Page 157]afforded no better Success, he could no longer dissem­ble his thoughts unto Jacob, who presently discovered in his Father-in-Law's countenance very sensible marks of his indignation.

This was partly then the occasion which made Jacob resolve to return into his own Countrey; Maximè dicente [...]; Domino revertere in terram patrum tuorum, &c. Gen. 31. v 3. Misit & votavit Ra­chel, & Liam in a­grum, vbi pascebat grege [...], Gen. 31. v. 4. Dixitque as, vi [...]eo faciem patris vestri, quod non sit erg [...] me sicut heri, & nudi­ustertius. Gen. 31. v. 5. Surre [...]it itaque Jacob, & impositis liberis suis ac consugibus super Camelos, abiit. Gen. 31. v. 17. Nuntiatum est Leban die tertin, quod fage­ret Jacob. Gen. 31. v. 22. Qui assumptis fratri­bus suis persecutus est cum, &c. Gen. 31. v. 23. Vtaitque in somnis di­centem sibi Deum, cave ne quidquam aspere lo­quaris contra Jacob. Gen. 31. v. 24. Et dixit ad Jacob, quare it a egisti. Gen. 31. v. 26. Venierge ut ineamus, foedus &c. Gen. 31. v. 44. Lahan vero de nocte consurgens, &c. Gen. 31. v. 55. Jacob quoque abiit, itinere quo caeperat, &c. Gen. 32. v. 1. but since he could not accomplish this design without the consent of his wifes, he acquainted them with all that had passed. Assoon then as they had assented thereto, Jacob seeing the time God had ordained for his return, began his journey in the most secret manner he could with his wifes, Chil­dren, flocks, baggage, and the rest of his family. They marched in great haste, and had already passed over the River Euphrates, when Laban advertised of this depar­ture took his brother, his cosins, and the greater number of his Friends, to pursue these fugitives, whom at last after Seaven dayes travell he discovered afar off upon Mount Galaad, where Laban reposing a while God appeared unto him, and enjoyned him not to use Jacob ill. He could not yet contein himself from complain­ing of this unexpected departure, and principally for the Idols which Rachel had carryed away without ac­quainting Jacob therewith, but amongst these reproaches there was a necessity of agreeing, and after a Mutuall accord Laban returned into Mesopotamia, and Jacob pursued his journey toward the Land of Canaan.

There he immediatly discovered those Troops of An­gels which came to meet him as so many Squadrōs, Quos cum vidisset, ait: castra Des sunt haec, & appellavit no­men loci illius Maba­naim, id est castra. Gen. 32. v. 2. which God deputed for his safe-guards: This was the cause why Jacob called that place where these Legions appeared, Mahanaim, which signifies Armies; And in effect these were Battalians rank'd in order, in favour of Jacob. These were Deputies of Heaven which came to congratulate his Triumphs. These were Angels of Paradise, Spirits [Page 158]of glory who came with applauses to receive this glo­rious Conqueror, this happy Traveller, and this Angell of peace, who brings Love and contentment unto his Pa­rents, and to his whole Country.

Mean while Esau came with four hundred men, Venimus ad Esau fratrem tuum, & ec­ce properat tibi in oc­cursum cum quadrin­gen is viris. Gen. 32. v. 6. Timuit Jacob valde: & perterritus divisit popubum qui secum e­rat, greges queque, & eves, & boves, & Camelos in duas tur­mas. Gen. 32. v. 7. and I fear lest his fury may re-inkindle at the sight of his supplanter; I fear lest the remembrance of his past misfortunes may awake at the noyse of these troops; I fear lest the meekness which is naturall unto Jacob, may cast Oyl into the Fire, which Esau had covered for the space of twenty years under the Ashes of his mis­chievous disposition.

For the Love of God beware Jacob, and take care of these gracious Pledges, and of these happy deposi­taries, you have acquired with so much labour. Divide then your Flocks, separate all your Souldiers, set aside your Wifes and Children, and above all expose not Rachel unto Assaults and Danger, and much less her dear and onely Joseph. Jacob did prudently all that any Man could act upon such an occasion: But God, who manageth Hearts, and boweth the most savage and re­bellious persons, will know how to Order Esau in such sort, as Jacob shall never receive the least prejudice from him.

It is enough then for Jacob to march under the Stan­dard of Divine Providence, and follow those Squa­drons which the God of Battails hath appointed for his preservation.

The Earth is but a point in comparison of the Hea­vens, and an Angel of the lowest order surpasteth in power and vertue all the Creatures which live in this World: If this be so, what favour did God shew un­to Jacob, in giving him so many Angels to guard him under their protection? and what a happiness is it unto every one to have an Angel for his Guardian?

My God, I render thee most humble thanks for him in the name of all men, and from henceforth I aban­don [Page 159]my self into thy hands, and will live and dye un­der the wings of this amiable Guardian, whom thou hast given me for the Director of my Life, for the Guide of my Pilgrimage, for the Pylot of my Navigation, and in a word for a friend, and for an Angel, which will accompany me even unto my Tomb.

CHAP. VIII. Jacobs Wrastling with the Angell, and his return into Canaan.

IF continuall practice renders a Souldier bold, vali­ant dexterous and expert, Men who are amidst per­petuall assaults, unexpected surprises, incessant combats, in a continuall Conflict with all Creatures, Life of Man. ought to be well versed in the exercise of War. Now there is no person exempted from these Laws, War without truce. and a Man must be single in the World, and have neither Soul nor Body, to have no Enemies. St. S. Chrys. in Psal. [...]. Chrysostom was of this opinion, when he said That his Life was continually amidst assaults: And for this cause it was necessary for him to stand alwaies upon his Guard. And Seneca, who liv'd amongst employments, Nobis quoque mili­tandum est & quidem genere militiae in quo nunquam quies, nun­quam otium datur. Sen. Ep. 51. where his Studies and Philosophy spake nothing to him but Peace, will confess nevertheless that his employment, though very solitary, gave him neither truce nor re­pose. We may then truly say that the Sea may for a time enjoy a Calm; That Musick hath necessarily some pauses, that the Earth is not still beaten with Hail and Wind, that the Air hath alternatively both Day and Night: But the Life of Man hath War with­out truce, continuall storms, restless complaints, and ob­scurities which inviron him at Noon day. Dreadfull Mon­sters. Hell hath powers armed against him; the Earth hath furious Monsters, and Men a thousand times more inraged [Page 160]than Monsters, which pursue him on all sides. The Sea hath tempests which roar under his Feet, the Air tumbleth down whole quarries upon his Head, Fire inkindles Comets to affright him, and the Sun and Moon have Eclipses to interre him alive under their shadows. In fine, God and his Angels often times Arm themselves to wage War against him, and make tryall of his Valour.

Notwithstanding, it would never have been belie­ved, if Gods Bulwarks had been only in the Heavens, and if from thence it had satisfied him to cast at us some Darts without our discerning the Hand which had thrown them. He makes himself then Visible, and will have Earth to be his Field of Battel, where under Hu­mane and Angelicall forms he fights with Men.

Jacob did not expect such a Combat, Misit autem & nun­cios ante so ad E­sau fratrem suum. Gen. 32. v. 3. Et transivit vadum Jaboch. Gen. 32. v. 22 Mansit solus & e [...] ­ce vir lucta [...]atur cum eo usque ad mane. Gen. 32. v. 24. when he dis­posed himself to Pacify his Brother, or at least to repel the violence of his efforts. But when he had passed the torrent of Jaboch, which is between the Lands of Gerasa and Philadelphus, scarce was he drawn aside, but being all alone he perceived a Man wrastling all the Night with him, without giving him any repose. Alas! what retreat? what combat? what adversary hath incountred Jacob. Is this God? Is this an Angel? Is this a Man? or rather is not this Esau who waited to take revenge on him? Where is Racbel, where Leah, where Ruben that they hasten not to his succour? But I know not whether fear hath not taken away even Jacobs speech, when he might have called his people to his aid: yet it is not probable, since he presently knew (as Rupertus saith) that it was God who assayled him, Rupert. lib. 6. commen. in Gen. and the more Jacob strove to hold him, the far­ther he got off his Hands. Where by the way I observe, that Rupertus believed, that it was God who in his own Person Wrastled with Jacob. This was also the be­lief of Theodoret and Tertullian; Theod. in Gen. Tertul. lib. 2. cont. Marc. yet it is not the most common opinion, and it is more agreeable unto the [Page 161]terms of holy Scripture, to say, that it was an Angell Wrastled with Jacob. Ozea in the twelfth Chapter of his Prophecie hath expressed it so clearly, that no Man can doubt it: And surely it seems that the Greatness and Majesty of God, did not permit him personally to descend into the List, and to Wrastle with a Man Bo­dy to Body, since an Angell might suffice for this combat.

It is also more probable that this conflict was Cor­porall and sensible, than to believe that it was only interiour, spirituall and apparent: we have a strong conjecture of it, by reason it lasted all the Night, and that it was not performed whilst Jacob slept, Tetigit nervum soe­moris ejus, & statim emarcuit. Gen. 32. v. 25. but in such sort, as he saw his Adversary, who struck him so roughly on the thigh, as a Nerve being contracted, he began to feel one of his Legs shorter than the other. Besides, if this Duel had not been Body to Body, the Latine, Greek and Hebrew translation, had not made use of terms which denoted a sensible action, and so corporeall that Symacus spake not otherwise of it, than he could have done concerning the combats off the an­tient Wrastlers which fought in Greece before the People, by clasping each other with their Arms and Hands. This was not a feigned appearance, and an imaginary Duel, as this Learned Author affirms, but a contest who should throw his Companion on the ground. In fine, they grapled so lively with each o­ther, Diritque ad eum, dimitte me: jar [...] [...] ascendit aurora: res­pendit, non dimittam te nisi benedixe is mi­hi. Gen. 32. v. 26. At ille nequaquam, inquit, Jacob appel­labitur nomen tuum, sed Israel, &c. Gen. 32. v. 28. that Jacob could not almost loose himself from his adversary, although the Aurora had sounded her retreat, and that the Angel was enforc'd to give him his Benediction, after he had changed the name of Ja­cob into that of Israel: so that from that time forward he must be called no more Jacob the Supplanter, but Israel, that is to say, the Emulator of an Angel, and as the vanquisher of God himself, who fought in the Per­son of this Angel, who seeing himself constrained to give him his blessing, assured him of the power and [Page 162]command he should have over Men, since he had had so much over God. Presently after Jacob losing the sight of this blessed Spirit, El [...]vans autem Jacob oculos suos vidit ve nientem Esau, & cum co quadringentos viros. Gen. 33. v. 1. E [...]ip [...]c progrediens a­doravit pronus in terram septies. Gen. 33. v. 3. Currens itaque Esau obviam fratri suo am­plea atus est eum, s [...]n­gensque collum ejus, & osculatus flevit. Gen. 33. v. 4. saw Esau a far off, who came directly towards him with four hundred Men attending on him. Jacob prostrated himself on the Earth, and adored him seven times; which Esau see­ing he lept on his Neck, imbraced him most affectio­natly, and kissed him as his Brother.

So true it is, that there is no Heart so brutish, nor any Soul so fierce, as yields not unto the attractives of sweet­ness, and unto the charms of vertue, then especially when it is not abject and sordid, but magnificent and generous like that of Jacob, who spared neither Ho­nors, Presents, nor Words to gain Esau, and to re­move out of his mind all the remnants of his fury. This is the way to quench a great flame with drops of Water; It is the way how to stop a torrent with a little Sand, and to amuse a Tyger with a little piece of Christall: Force and rigour are the Weapons which are to be imployed against Lions and Panthers? A secret to render himself Master of Hearts. But meekness and humility are the Darts and Arrows with which we must assault Men, if we desire to acquire com­mand over their Hearrs.

This was the Artifice Jacob used towards Esau; Atille ait: habeo plu­rima frater mi, sint tua tibi. Gen. 33. v. 9. and in effect Esau vanquished by his respects and attra­ctives presently protested unto Jacob, that all his fortunes were at his service, and that he offered him­self intirely to him. Behold then a secret to mollifie stony Hearts, Empire over Souls. and to melt in a moment even Eyes of Marble: Behold the entrance into the Kingdom of Hearts, and the means to raise up unto our selves a Throne amongst the most barbarous Nations.

Nevertheless in the World there are courages of Steel which cannot be softned, torrents which cannot be stayed, and flames like those of Hell which cannot be quenched. In fine, there are some more inflexible than Esau, Inflexible courages. and in truth also there are very few who have [Page 163]the qualities of Jacob. For never any Man understood better than himself, the Art of conquering Hearts and the managing of Friendship.

He was none of those who are taught the way of Courting, and who Learn the Laws of the World, like Parrets, which say what they doe not: They know some punctilioes and formalities, but are not versed in the knowledge of a vertuous Man, A good Man. who hath not only Com­plements in his Mouth, studied respects, importune Ce­remonies, slight and phantasticall compliances; but acti­ons & effects with most pure & sincere intentions, wher­with he charmeth the flames of Choler, and stifles the motions of Revenge even in the Soul of his Enemies.

Behold the Weapons Jacob used to reunite himself to his Brother, Reversus est itaque illo die Esau itinere quo venerat in Seir. Gen. 33. v. 16. who would I believe never have left him, if he himself had not begg'd leave to depart with his Wifes, Children, and Company; which Esau having willingly granted him, he went directly unto Salem which is upon the territorie of Chanaan.

This was the place where Sichem the Son of Hemor, Quam cum vidisset [...]ichem filius Hemor Hevaei, princeps ter­ [...]ae illius, adamavit cam, &c. Gen. 34. v. 2. Audito (que) quod acci­derat, [...]ati sunt valde Gen. 34. v. 7. Locutus est itaque He­mor ad eos: Sichem fi­ [...] mei adhaesit anima [...]tae vestrae, date eam [...]lli uxorem. Gen. 34. v. 8. [...]nsique sunt omnes co cum [...]sis cunctis ma ibus. Gen. 34. v. 24. Et [...] die tertio, quando gravissimus vulaerum dolor est: arrept is, duo filii Ja­cob, Simeon & Levi fiaties Dinae, gladiis, ingressi sunt urbem confidenter, interfe­ctisque omnibus mas­eulis. Gen. 34. v. 25. Hemor & Sichem pa­riter necaverunt. Gen. 34. v. 26. Prince of the Sichemites, took the boldness to steal away Dina Jacobs only Daughter. Her Brothers seeing the injury and affront this infamous person had done them, resolved to revenge themselves without pitty. Not­withstanding Hemor us'd his utmost Indeavours to appease Jacob, and to convert this ravishment into a Mariage. The Contract was pass'd, and the Articles sign'd (as I may say) with the proper bloud of Sichem and of all the Sichemites, who submitted unto Circum­cision, to shew that they received the Religion of Jacob and of his Children.

This Sacrament nevertheless served but for an oc­casion of a more cruel and abhominable Sacrilege: For upon the third Day after this generall Circumci­sion, Simcon and Levi entred the City, where they first killed all the Male Children, then they fell upon He­mor and Sichem, and after many Murthers, Pillag'd, [Page 164]and ransaked all that was found therein, imagining after the violation of their Sister, whom they carried away, that there were no Laws neither Humane or Divine, which they might not now justly infringe.

But I cannot believe that this Zeal was innocent; For in the sequel of his thorrid Tragedy, Criminall zeal. they could not be excused from Theft, Sacrilege, perfidiousness, nor particularly from Impiety towards their Father, when they exposed him to the hazard of his Life, and who for this reason was constrain'd immediatly to leave his Country, Interea locutus est De­us ad Jacob, surge & ascende Bethel, &c. Gen. 35. v. 1. Dederunt ergo ei om­ves Deos alienos quos habebant, & inau­res quae erant in au­ribus corum: at ille infodit easubter Tere­binthum. Gen. 35. v. 4. Egressus autem inde venit ad terram, quae ducit Ephratam, in qua cum parturiret Rachel, Gen. 35. v. 16. Ob disficultatem par­tus periclitari coepit. Gen. 35. v. 17. Egrediente autem ani­ma prae dolore, & im­minente jam morte, vocavit nomen filii sui Benoni, &c. Gen. 35. v. 18. and to take refuge upon Mount Bethel, where at the Foot of a Terebinth Tree he burned all the Idols which his Wifes and Servants secretly ado­red. After which God appeared the seventh time unto him. I doubt whether this were not peradventure the means to bring him the first news of his Wifes Death, and to prepare his mind unto a sharp Divorce. However it were, Jacob descended from Bethel, into the road leading to Ephrata, that is to say Bethelem.

It was in this sad journey where Rachel after a thou­sand throws was constrained to pay the last tribute unto Nature. But before the closing of her Eyes and Mouth, she had the happiness to see a second Son, and to call him Benoni, as the fruit of her labour, being born upon her ashes.

Jacob nevertheless lost no courage, but had Faith and Hope enough to believe that this Child would be the support of his Family and the Staff of his old age, which was the cause, he changed the fatall name of Benoni into that of Benjamin, which promiseth no­thing but happiness.

CHAP. I. Joseph sold by his Brethren.

WE cannot discern saith Solomon, Solom. Prov. c. 30. v. 18. the track of a Bird which flyes in the Air, the Print of a Serpent which glideth along upon the Earth, and the paths of a Vessel sayling in a Calm Sea: But it is yet more difficult to comprehend [Page 166]the motion and course of a Man who enters into the World like an Eagle, Four things very difficult to compre­hend in the World. who begins to stir his Wings to take his flight; like an Adder which creeps on his Bel­ly, and like a Frigot exposed to the Sea and Winds.

None but God alone who giving him his flight, and marking out to him his wayes, sees in weighing Anchor the Region, Period, and Shoar, where his Courses, Voyages, and Navigations must terminate. It is God who bears in his own Bosom the Card on which his adventures and destinies are marked. The Eyes of God are the Torches which enlighten him in his de­viations; And it is his Hand which points out his lodg­ing even in the Tomb. Men nevertheless remain a­stonished in their own affairs, they are as it were Blind in their proper Interests, and float in the Uncertainty of Accidents, which make up this whole Contexture of their lives.

Jacob was ignorant why Heaven had so long differ'd the Birth of its Joseph; Joseph cum sexdecim esset annorum pascebat gregem. And Joseph understood not Gods manner of Conduct, nor that of his Father Ja­cob, when he went unto his Brethren who were dri­ving their flocks through the Meadows of Chanaan, It was there nevertheless where he pass'd the Appren­tiship of his future Regality: the Sheep-hook, he car­ryed in his Hand, was but the Image of the power God prepared for him; Accusavitque fiatres sues apud Patrem cri­mine pessimo. Gen. 37. v. 2. and in accusing his Brethren of that crime which must not be named, he perform'd an Act of Justice, which testified that his Government should not only extend to Heards of Beasts, but also unto Men, and all Egypt, where he was to be Pharao's Lieutenant. But as the most elevated fortunes have u­sually their foundations upon Rocks; As the Crowns of Roses appear not but amongst Thorns; and as be­fore our ascending on a Throne of Honour, Mixture of Fortune. we must often pass under Abysses, and through most dangerous precipices: so Joseph shall not take the reigns of Egypt, untill he hath been tyed up like a Beast, and sold as a [Page 167]slave even by those who will be one Day his Cap­tives; and he must come forth of a Pit to goe unto the Court, where God expects him, to make a Vice-King of the Person of a Shepheard.

But more narrowly and diligently to observe the courses and wayes which led him unto the Empire, Isiacl autem diligebat Joseph super o [...]nes silies suos. Gen. 37. v. 3. we must presuppose that Jacob loved nothing equall to his little Joseph; wherein truly he was excusable: for wee commonly affect most dearly what we have long desi­sired: and it was almost impossible to be the Father of so accomplished a Son, without having peculiar tender­nesses and passions for him. Fecitque ei tunicam poly [...]itam. Gen. 37. v. 3. Videntes autem fra­tres esus quod à Patre plus cumits diligere­tur, oderunt cum, nec poterant ci quicau [...]m pacifice loqui. Gen. 37. v. 4. I know not nevertheless whether his affection was well regulated, when it cau­sed Joseph to wear his Liveries upon a Garment of se­verall colours, which wrought such different impres­sions in the Hearts of his Brethren, as from that time they bore nothing but hatred and envy towards him.

In vain was it for them to conceal their thoughts: for the fury of a passionat Soul increaseth the more we strive to hide it, and either soon or late this thunder­bolt must rend the Clouds, and this fire must break forth through the ashes wherein it was hid. That which augmented these murthering flames amongst Josephs Brethren, was the candour wherewith he opened to them all the accidents and motions of his Heart.

Amongst other things it one Day hapned, Accidit quoque ut vi­sum somnium referrec fratribus suis: quae causa majoris od [...] [...]minarium fuit. Gen. 37. v. 5. Dixieque ad eos: Au­dite somnium quod vi­di. Gen. 37. v. 6. Putab. [...]n nos ligare manipulos in agro, & qu [...]si consu [...]g [...]re ma­nipulup [...] meum, & stare, vestrosque ma­nipulos circumstan [...]es adorare manipul [...]n meum. Gen. 37. v. 7. that be­ing in the midst of them, he was so candid, and free, as to relate unto them what had passed in his sleep. Bre­thren (sayes he,) I saw my self, in a dream, with you in the Fields, and presently me thought that we there bound up together some sheafs of Corn: But afterwards I percei­ved mine to rise up above yours, and there was not one which did not adore it. Doth not this peradventure por­tend, replyed his Brethren, that you must be one Day our King and we your Subjects?

I know not whether Joseph did approve of this Au­gury, and whether he were not so innocent as to take [Page 168]this jealousie and rallery for an effect of their Love. Et ait: vidi per som­mum, quasi Solem & Luaam, & Stellas undccim adorare me. Gen. 37. v. 9. For he went on telling them, that during this sleep he found himself in his Bed as upon a Thront, and that at his Feet, he saw the Sun, Moon, and eleven Stars, which did Homage to him as unto a God.

Jacob heard this discourse, Quod cum Patri suo, & fratribus retulis­set, increpuit cum Pa­ter suus, & dixi [...]: Quid sibi vult hoc somnium quod vidisti? man ego & Mater tua, & fratres tui adora­bimus te super terram. Gen. 37. v. 10. and seeing that all these entertainments, though innocent, did cast a thousand seeds of Discord and Envy into the Souls of his Bre­thren, seemed to be offended, and then addressing him­self unto Joseph he sayes to him. What! my Son, art thou not ashamed to relate fables and dreams? whereby it seems by your fancies, and vain imaginations, you pre­tend that my self, your Mother, and your Brothers should render you Honour as to our Soveraign. Truly you speak pleasantly. Now if you be wise speak no more so indis­creetly, or at least in being awake correct the error of your dreams, and if the Night deceive you, let the Day discover the falshood of your illusions.

Jacob mean while took notice of these Dreams as so many Presages of some truth: Pater verò rem taci­tus considerabat. For he knew that the most part of Nightly imaginations are commonly na­turall effects, which proceed either from repletion, emptiness, or the Ideas we have in the Day time, or else from some illusions of the Devil: yet he was as­sured that the Dreams of Joseph were no imaginary fi­gures and confused vapors, nor phantasms, disordered exhalations, nor the smokes and flames of a preceding Fire; nor in fine, specters and Idols of a tenebrous power; but Draughts, Ciphers, and mysterious re­presentations, which God or some Angell had im­printed in his Soul. It is of this fourth kind of dreams, Philo spake in anexpress Treatise, and it is that alone which Chrysippus defined, Chrysip. ex cit. lib. de divin. saying, A Dream is a Ce­lestiall vertue and a Divine Ray which Heaven hath cast into our Souls, and of which they make use, to pene­trate the shadows which are wont to hide truth from our Eyes. And it is the Hand of God, or the Pencil [Page 169]of an Intelligence which then renders Images intelli­gible whose Idea's and originals reside in the source of Essences, and whose colours are in the mysterious Or­dinances of time and Eternity.

Such was Josephs vision: But Jacob knowing on the one side, that this Revelation was but a Copy of the Designs God had on him; And on the other side seeing that this was but a ground of scandall, hatred, and en­vy to his Brethren, he resolved to sever them for a time, to the end by this separation in their absence, he might smother all these Fires which were inkindled by the Goodness of the one, and the Malice of the rest.

For this purpose Jacob had no other expedient than to retain Joseph in his House, Pate and to send all his Bre­thren into the Country. Imagining besides, that by separating Bodies, he might reunite their Minds, and al­ter their passions. But this was only to sever a Dove from Vultures, and Sheep from Wolves; it only whets their naturall rage and mortall Antipathy, when they are with-held from their prey, and when they sent it a far off.

I know that the Fields are innocent. But they cease not for all this to be retreits for Criminals. The so­litariness of Woods and Meadows is the Element of Meekness and Peace: but we must bring thither tame Hearts, and quiet Souls.

In fine, it is a very sweet and pleasing vocation to guide Sheep and Lambs upon Hils and Dales: But if Lions be their conductors, they are so far from being changed, as on the contrary they will find every mo­ment new baits and allurements to inflame their cru­elty.

We must not hope then, that time, place, Cumque fratres illiu [...] in pascendis gregibus Patris morarentur in Sichem, Gen. 37. v. 32. Dixit ad cum Israel: fratres tui pascunt O­ves in Sichem, veni, mittam te ad eos. Gen. 37. v. 15. and em­ployment can alter these Tygers, which Jacob sends into the plains of Sichem, to guide his Flocks. Never­theless after some delay conceiving that their humours were sweetned, and, that the divertisements of a [Page 170]Country Life had made them forget what passed in his House, Praesto sum, ait ei, vade & vide si cun­cti prospera sint, &c. Gen. 37. v. 14. he resolved to send his Joseph to them, who had no sooner taken notice of his Fathers desire, but at the very instant he began his journey.

This amiable Dove, and this Lamb, went passionat­ly cralling upon Vultures and Wolves, when a pas­senger met him, who told him that his Brethren were in Dothaim. Invenitque eum vir [...]rantem in agro & interrogavit, quid quareret; Gen. 37. v. 15. At ille respondit, fra­tres meos quaero. Gen. 37. v. 16. Dixitque ei vir: ex­audivi eos Aicentes eamus in Dothaim. Gen. 37. v. 17. Ah poor Child! whether goest thou thus abandoned and all alone, straying in the Desarts, with­out Father, Friends, and defence? Joseph what see­kest thou? I seek saith he, my Brethren. Thy Bro­thers? deceive not thy self; why doest thou seek them? Doest thou not know the hatred they bear to thee, and the tragick design they have upon thy life?

My God! how secure is Innocence, how calm is Vertue, and generally how happy are Men, when they follow the impulses of God? Assured Innocence. The Spirit of the World is an unquiet, turbulent, fearfull, dissembling, muta­ble, fantastick, and outragious Devill: But that of Heaven is an Angel of Peace, alwaies equall, without emotion, without terrors, without inconstancy, with­out Capriciousness, and free from all Jealousy, as also from all those shadows which make a tenebrous Chaos of the purest Lights, and place Night in the midst of Day.

It is no wonder then if Joseph were secure in the midst of dangers; Perrexit e [...]go Joseph post fratres suos, & invenit eos in Dothaim. Gen. 37. v. 17. for God who possessed his Soul freed him from those panique terrors, and those unquiet fears, which assassinate the wicked: it sufficed him to obey his Father, and provided he meet with his Brethren, his mind is satisfied.

Mean while these impious Spirits, Qui cum vidissent eum procul, &c. Gen. 37. v. 18. which extend their vengeance even to rage, perceived him a far off: but as if the shadows of their own crimes had cast veyls over their Eyes, or stifled in their Hearts all sense of Nature, they did not acknowledge him for their Bro­ther, or at least they would not call him by this, so ami­able, [Page 171]so sweet, and so powerfull a name. Et mutuò loqueban­tur, ecce somniator ve­nit. Gen. 37. v. 19. Venite occidamus eü, & mittamus in Cyster­nam veterem, dicemus­que fera pessima devo­ravit eum. Gen. 37. v. 20. Audiens autem haec Ruben, niteb [...]tur li­berare eum, &c. Gen. 37. v. 21. Non interficiatis ani­mam ejus, nec effun­datis sanguinem, &c. Gen. 37. v. 22. Hoc autem dicebat, volens eripere eum de manibus corum, &c. Gen. 37. v. 22. Confestim igitur ut pervenit ad fratres suos, nudaverunt eum tunica talari & po­lymita. Gen. 37. v. 23. Et sedentes ut come­derent panem, vide­runt Ismaclitas via­to es venire de Galaad, &c. Gen. 37. v. 25. Dixit ergo Judas fratribus suas: Quid nobis prodest si occide­rimus fra [...]rem nostr [...]ü, & celaver [...]s san­guinem ipsius? Gen. 37. v. 26. Behold this dreamer, say they, who comes unto us, and they looking upon one another, before he ap­proached any nearer, they resolved to take a­way his Life, and to cast him into a Well which was near at Hand; to the end they might say unto Jacob, that a cruell and ravenous Beast had devoured Joseph. Afterwards, this bloudy design would have been ac­complished, if Ruben, who was their Elder Brother, had not opposed it; Remonstrating to them that at least it were much better to take him aside, and bury him alive in some Pit, than to kill him; and that by this means, their Hands would not be polluted with his Bloud, the stains whereof are never to be effaced. This was a pretence, and an occasion the more easily to free and restore him unto his Father. In effect Joseph ha­ving accosted them, Ruben cast himself on his Neck. But the rest immediatly took off his Garment, and then put him into an old Pit where there was no Water. Mean while they all sate round about the place, in which they had inclosed this Lamb. At the same time behold some Merchants passing by who were going into Egypt. Whereupon Judas who feared lest hunger, thirst, nakedness, cold, and the horrours of a Well might stifle Joseph, took occasion to conjure his Bre­thren, to sell him rather unto the Ismaelites than to render themselves culpable of his death, and become the Authors of a crime which useth to raise storms of Bloud.

These Remonstrances were as so many lightnings which dissipated this Cloud, and the Thunder-bolts, which these cruell Brethren Darted against their Pri­soner, did not ruin him but for a time.

Joseph must be taken out of the Well to be exposed for sale unto the Merchants: Ex trahentes cum de Cysterna vendiderunt Ismaelitis. Gen. 37. v. 28. But if Death be sweeter than Captivity, and if a couragious person hath less repugnancy to receive a Stab with a Dagger into his [Page 172]Heart, than to have manacles on his Hands; This ge­nerous Youth was very unhappy to come out of a Se­pulcher to serve unknown Masters, and a sort of peo­ple to whom the hope of profit rendred all things ven­dible, even liberty it self, which is yet a thousand times more pretious than Life.

Joseph then is set to sale unto any that will give mo­ney for him; He is naked, but resembleth not those Birds which are most valued for their feathers. The Proclamation of Joseph. He hath a tender and delicate Body, but a generous and penetrating Spirit; He is covered all over with dust, but it is but a Cloud which hides for a time the Face of the Sun; He speaks not a word, but it is modesty which closeth his Mouth, and renders his silence more elo­quent than a long discourse; He is asham'd, but it is of his Brothers crime; He shakes, but it is for fear lest Gods designs be not accomplished. Behold Joseph who will. Alas! what Proclamations? what sale? and what commerce? Judas what are you doing? Unmercifull Brethren, have you not a horror to sell your own Bloud, and to part with a Brother for a few pieces of Silver? Ah what! Powerfull motives to divert Josephs Brethren from their wicked designs.are not these Eyes and looks capable of molli­fying your furies? doth not this innocent move you to compassion? Is not this little naked and trembling Body, an object more worthy of pitty than envy? Remember that he is a part of your selves, the delight of your Fa­ther, and the last hope your Family can have. It is true, that at present he is but a Reed, but he may grow unto a Palm, and extend his Branches throughout all Judea. It is true, he is Young, but he hath the wit and Spirit of a Man, aged no less than a hundred years. And besides he may chance one day to change his thraldome into an ho­nourable liberty: But if the dreams he had, oblige you to fear the event, they come either from God or not; if of God; Ah surely it is against him you make War: If not, why doe you arm your selves against an Idoll of Wind, and a Phantasm of vanity?

All these motives were not powerfull enough to di­vert the current of these impious and execrable designs: Nevertheless the furies of envy are torrents which have no bounds nor limits, nothing being able to stop them.

The bargain is then made, Joseph is sold, Qui duxerunt eum in Aegyptum. Gen. 37. v. 28. Reversusque Ruben ad Cysternam, non inve­nit puerum. Gen. 37. v. 29. and they that bought him for a slave, bring him into Egypt with­out bearing any respect either unto his Youth, beauty, extraction, or all the good qualities which made him so much amiable. Whilst they were carrying him away behold Ruben, who not being present at this sale, and knowing nothing of what passed, went directly unto the Well, and often called upon Joseph.

When he saw he made no answer, he thought him Dead, either naturally or by violence; whereupon he began to run as one distracted, and fearfully to cry out.

Alas! where is Joseph? where is this poor Youth? The sighs of Ruben.where have they put him? what have they done with him? And what is become of him? Joseph where art thou? Ah whither shall I goe? and how can I live, Et scissis vestibus per­gens ad fratres suos ait: puer non comparet, & ego quo ibo? Gen. 27. v. 30.if thou doest live no more? what will my Father say unto me? and on whom will he lay the blame? Must not I render an account of him as his Elder Brother? Brethren what answer doe you make me? is he alive? is he Dead? if he be Dead where is his Body, that I may Water it with my tears, to powr out part of my grief by my Eyes? Brethren shew me him I beseech you, or some of his re­liques? Ah where is his Sepulcher? where is the happy Land which hides this Treasure? But if he be still li­ving, where is he? and to what place have you sent him? I will seek, I will seek every where untill I find him? It is enough for me if I may see him, and but once more speak to him; he knows the affection I bear him, and the confidence he ought to have in me. Ah! where is Jo­seph then? Ruben quiet thy self, for Joseph is not Dead, but only sold. Ah! what commerce? Joseph sold? what rage of envy? what inhumane traffick? what negotiation [Page 174]and what cruelty? Joseph in fetters and bondage, Jo­seph sold as a slave, what will my father say? what stroak of death will this news give him? and how can he ever live being deprived of all hope to see his Son again?

Notwithstanding all these Remonstrances, Tulerunt autem tuni­cam ejus & in san­guine haedi quem occi­derunt [...]inxerunt. Gen. 37. v. 31. they re­solved to cut the throat of a Kid to steep Josephs gar­ments in his bloud: which being done, they sent it all bloudy unto Jacob, with direction to those that carried it, to bid him look whether it were not his Sons gar­ment, Mittentes qui ferrent ad patrem, & dice­rent; hunc invenimus, vide utrum tunica tui filii sit, an non. Gen. 37. v. 32. and say that they had found it in this sad plight. I know not who was the Messenger that delivered this dreadfull spoil unto Jacob; But Jacob casts his eyes upon this sad present, and seeing this bloudy torn gar­ment, became saith Philo, presently silent, grief want­ing words to answer the thoughts of his mind, and the resentments of his heart. Quam cum agnovisset pater, ait tunica filii mei est, sera pessima commedit eum, bestia devoravit Joseph. Genes. 37. v. 33. His astonished eyes, as also his mouth, were suspended for a time, as to their function, he saw and heard nothing, but of murthered Ghosts which spake confusedly to him. The excesse of grief puts arms into his hands against himself, Seissisque vestibus in­dutus est cilicio, lugens filium suum multo tempore. Gen. 37. v. 34. he tears off his hair, and dilacerates his breast, and all his garments. But his tears efface not the bloud before his eyes. His silence makes him no answer, and the holy vengeance he exer­ciseth on himself doth not punish the Authours of his grief. Congregatis autem curctis liberis ejus, ut lenicent delorem pa­tris, notuit consolatio­nem accipere, &c. Genes. 37. v. 35.

Mean-while all Jacobs friends and servants wept bitterly, nothing was heard throughout the whole house, but cryes, sobs, and accusations. Every one stri­ved to kiss his garment, and Jacob could hardly tear it out of their hands to cry out, Ah! this is my Sons gar­ment, it is the garment of my Joseph.

Ah my Son! Mournfull com­plaint of Jacob.my Joseph! it is not so much thy death I deplore, as the loss I procured to my self, during thy life, by sending thee too soon out of my house; And besides, by what more strange kind of death couldst thou be taken from me? At least if I had been a witness of this sad ac­cident, and if thy body had remained with me, I should [Page 175]have had this chast pledge to charm my sadness. If some sickness had carried thee away in my presence, I should have rendred thee all the duties which a father cannot de­ny a sonne; I should have kissed thy mouth, I should have closed thine eyes, I should have received thy last words and sighes; I should possess in a Tomb the ashes of a Phae­nix, and I might have erected on his Sepulcher a Pile and Altar to enlighten my hopes, and entertain my vows. But I snatch'd away thy life, before thy death. I lost thee during thy life, and my excessive compliance hath been the cause of it. My son, I have lost thee, I have slain thee, and I know not where is thy Tombe.

O Heaven! O God! Alas! at least had the toyles of his journey left him at the foot of some Tree, or had he been buried in some corner of the Earth, I should enjoy the contentment to seek him out, and I should comfort my self in possessing but a part of my son with the loss of the other. But O the most disconsolate, and the most unhappy of all fathers! I can have nothing of my Joseph but this bloudy garment, the rest hath been devoured by some Tyger or Lyon, and the same sweetness hath no other Tombe, but the belly of a wild beast.

Yes surely, it was a wilde Beast, and a cruell Monster which devoured my Joseph. It was the Envy of his Brethren which gave them Talons, Clawes and Teeth. It was this merciless passion which stript him of his garment, cast him into the Well, and shamefully sold him.

Behold the Domestick Monster which will never be made tame, behold the bloudy beast which lives onely upon the flesh and heart of its like. In fine, it is envy against which fathers and mothers must be alwaies ar­med, and which they ought to banish for ever out of their families, for as much as,

First, it is a Cantharides, The nature and qualities of Envy. which fastens upon the fai­rest flowers, and seeks out Milk and Hony to spread its venome on them.

Secondly, it is lesse reasonable, by how much it hath more of Reason: For being found onely amongst men, it renders them more inhumane than beasts, which can­not be moved by these tragick instigations.

Thirdly, the furies of Envy are so shamefull, as they seek alwayes to pass under the colour of some other passion.

Fourthly, its breath, though stinking, fastens on vir­tue, but the stings of it are as honourable to that person who bears them, as infamous to him that causeth them.

Fifthly, it hath the eyes of an Owl, which are dazled at the sight of the fairest lights, and which cannot en­dure the splendor of a most luminous day. Basilius in Homil. de Invid.

Sixthly, it hath more cruell tallons and teeth than Tygers and Dragons; for it spares neither parents, friends, nor benefactors.

Seventhly, its nourishment, repose, and delight, are in bitterness and acerbity: Hence it proceeds that the mouth and heart of it are still infectious.

Eighthly, it is a Viper which draws death upon it self, in giving life unto her young, and tears its own belly to produce some venemous Serpent.

Ninthly, it is a Camelion which converts it self into a thousand colours, and every moment changeth its skin least we discern its nature and inclination.

In fine, it is a monstrous Cerberus, which hath the heart and head of all the most dreadfull Animals under heaven. It is the Ape which in the time of Augustus en­tred the Temple of Ceres; the Owl which flew even over the Altars of Concord; The Dragon with two heads which devasted part of the Universe, and which having exhaled his venome upon the Cradle of the world, will never cease till he hath vomited forth the re­mainder of his rage in the tombe.

CHAP. II. The Combats of Joseph for defence of his Chastity.

IT is true that Envy is a ravenous beast: But yet what ever we may say, its furies are not to be compared with those of Love when it hath once broken the chains wherewith God and Nature fastned it. It is this Devill which disturbs Families, arms Provinces, ruines States, desolates Paradise, and peoples Hell. It is a flaming Torch which inkindles fires even in the midst of wa­ter, a Northern wind which raiseth a Thousand Tem­pests, a Lightning which consumes mens Spirits, and in fine, it is a Passion ever blind, yet covered over with Eyes, which serve it as gates by which it useth to steal in under perfidious Baits and inchanting Looks. Deadly shafts. It was for this reason the prophane painted their Loves with darts of death, which they cast at each other, and which, as a Grecian sayd, were as so many glances which they wantonly gave one another, though their Eyes ought to be veiled. But Love hath insolence enough to lift up the Scarfe which covers its Eyes, or at least it sees not­withstanding this veil, and commonly it mingles shafts and glances to commit Sacrileges and Murthers. This homicide layes ten Thousand Snares, he is alwayes watchfull, and there is no Dove this Vulture assaults not as soon as she appears; and when by mishap he hath seized on her, I know not by what Inchantment, and by what Spells, the heart of this unfortunate prey is taken: But it seems in an Instant to become a Furnace, and that the flames inkindled therein issuing through the Eyes, may change the Earth into a Pyle. Franciseas Valeriota. lib. 2. obser. These are in­sulphur'd Vapours, firy Smoaks, dreadfull Exhalations, dark Shadows, Idols, and unchast Images, Arist. lib. de somno & vigilia. at the sight whereof the Eyes are dazeled, and Reason becomes blind.

Then Piety is but Idolatry, Disorders of Love. all duties become scorns, Complacences Trecheries, Empires Servitudes, Li­berty Bondage, Loves-alurements Snares, Thrones Precipices, and a Chaos where houses are overthrown, Temples prophan'd, and all Lawes confounded; what horror, what disorder, what abomination, even women who ought to be a Refuge of honour, Horrible Chaos. and a Sanctuary of purity, Mulier amissa pudici­citia, null em flagitii respui [...]. Cor. Jac. often serve as a retreat unto the fondest affe­ctions, and there is no faith, no Sacrament, no mode­sty, they doe not violate, when once their hearts have escaped through their Eyes.

The wife of Putiphar, Enritque eum Puti­phar de manu Ismae­litarum. Gen. 39. v. 1. to whom Joseph was sold by the Ismaelites, made it sufficiently appear, when she was so impudent, as to attempt the Chastity of her Servant; This Female wolf had onely Eyes to gaze on this Lamb, Post multos itaque des injecit domina sua occulos suo [...]in Joseph. Gen. 39. v. 7. all her gestures and motions were artifices to intrap him; and she would have willingly preferred the inthrallment of Joseph before the Command over her Husband. All her bonds of Marriage were but Chains which kept her in Captivity, and the most just, and most holy Lawes imposed on her, a Yoak which rendred all the duties of sidelity, which Wives owe unto their Hus­bands, insupportable to her. She yet wanted not dex­terity to dissemble her Passion in her Husbands pre­sence; and herein Love is usually most disloyall and de­ceitfull: for though all its fires be violent, impetuous, sharp and sparckling, yet if the object which inkindles them be not present, they prove but ashes, coldnesses, and frozen Nights, under which this Traitor useth to hide his Torch; Pernitious study. Then all Actions are studied, all ge­stures counterfeits, all discourses falshoods, and all that appears outwardly seems to have no other design than to deceive the heart. To this effect we seek out subor­ned Messengers, retirements for assigned meetings, blind, dumb, and deaf witnesses, secret Intelligences, inchanted gifts, invisible pretences, painted and Sacri­legious devotions, Nights without dayes and hours [Page 179]which are only marked out upon shadows; for the light of the Sun, the noise of a Bell, too apparent impiety, too visible presents, too violent solicitations, indiscreet confederates, publick places, and Friends, or unfaithfull Servants might discover the secret.

It is a strange thing that we can hardly trust our selves, and that the Tongue dares not speak a word, or at least if she speaks, it is but after she hath pondered all her discourses. Wherefore the Eyes are the first soli­citours of evill, and then their silence hath an Eloquent voice, which is yet not heard, but by those that are Confederates.

It is no wonder then, Qui nequaquam ac­quiescent operi nesa­rio, dixit, &c. Gen. 39. v. 9. if Joseph heard not this un­chast language, when his Mistris spake to him more from her Eyes than her Mouth. This Impudent crea­ture cast a thousand glances on him: But the heart of Joseph was a piece of Marble, which could not be pier­ced, all the Flames of this Egyptian woman fell into a dead Sea, and all her lightnings found nothing but wa­ter which instantly quenched them.

Wee must passe then further, Et ait: dormi mecum. Gen. 39. v. 7. and see whether the Mouth peradventure will have more powerfull perswa­sions than the Eyes. This shamelesse woman is so much inraged as to declare her design.

O God! what Insolence! what Fury! and what Frenzies! when once the mind is possest with Love: but there are two sorts of loves, and that which is Son of the Earth is very weak, when opposed to that which is born in Heaven.

Courage then Joseph, it is a Woman who assaults and sollicites you! she is light, be you constant; she hath stratagems, be you prudent; she is bold, be you gene­rous; she runs, fly away; she Flatters, disdain her; she asks, refuse her. Joseph what do you say?

For my part, saith he, Victorious Inno­cence. I neither can nor will consent unto a womans Lascivious desires, nor submit unto her will, preferring it before that of my Master; and I should [Page 180]not be what I am, if I forfeited the quality of a faithfull Servant, and of a person to whom the honour and re­membrance of the favours I have received from him, is a thousand times more pretious than life. If I have been sold, it was onely for my Innocency, and the chains of my Captivity could never force the constancy an He­brew ought to have in the way of virtue. I am Jacobs son, and my actions shall never bely my birth, I am a Servant, Ecce Dominus meus omnibus mihi tradi­tis, &c. Gen. 39. v. 8. Nec q [...]icquam est qued non in mea sit potestate, vel non tra­diderit miht propter te, quomodo trgo possum hoc malum faeere, & peccare in Deum me­ [...]m? Gen. 39. v. 9.I ought to dye for fidelity: your Husband trusts me with all his Goods, and with all his Wealth, which the favour of the King, and his own merits have bestowed on him; he reserved onely to himself the soly Enjoying you: It is not for me then to ravish from him what is his due by so many titles. Command me with Justice, and I will serve you with sincerity; perform all that you ought, and I will omit no part of my duty to you. Keep your self within the lawes of Marriage, and leave me in the duties of my condition. I should be ungratefull if I abused the favours of my Master, I should be a theef if I stole away his fairest goods, and no death could be cruell enough to punish me, if I shou [...]d attempt on that which is more dear to him than life. All your flames can find in me but a heart of water and ice, and all your tyes cannot in­thrall the liberty of my mind, and your rigors will never mollifie a soul on which God hath inprinted his love and fear. Know then that I would rather choose to dye free from blame, than to live a complice in your distoyalty. I pre­fer my bondage if it be innocent, before all unjust Powers; and what misfortune soever befall me, I shall be too hap­py, if I remain innocent. It was in the power of my bre­thren to sell my body, but they could not ingage my soul; I may serve without prostituting my self, and my glory will ever be illustrious enough if I shall doe no dishonou­rable act, and unworthy of my Extraction. In fine, I a­dore a God who hath most pure eyes, and should all crea­tures be blind, it satisfies me, that he be the witness of my actions; I reverence all his decrees, and if all the Judges [Page 181]of the world could authorise vice, it would com­fort me to have a God alwaies armed to punish them. How can you wish me then to bring Adultery into your Family, and to change your bed,Angelicall Resolu­tion.which ought to be the Altar of your glory, into an infamous Pile? No, no Madam, either leave honour to me with life, or take from me my life, and leave me my honour.

Is not this [...]o speak like and Angel, and to have the sentiments of those spirits who live in flames without being consumed, and amidest lightnings without being dazeled? Neverthelesse, it is little considerable to assault an impudent love by bare words, we must have other weapons in our hands to encounter it; and the victory is never certain, untill we have either publickly decry'd or banish'd it: We must cry out Murther in like occasi­ons, we must call for witnesses, use threats, and at least triumph by a generous flight, or by a prudent retreat.

There are some Passions which flye when they are pursued, Very different Na­ture of Passions. and like shadows never fasten themselves unto bodies. There are some who have so much modesty as to blush at the bare sight of an object, and others whom the least deniall banisheth for ever; but the loves of the World and Egypt often find their nourishment and de­lights in Conversations, looks, and even in the midst of disdain; and nothing but separations distance them from their desires and pretensions.

Such was the Devill of this Egyptian Woman, The Devil of Egypt. who so eagerly pursued Joseph, he was an insolent, impor­tunate and furious companion. His rage notwithstand­ing had by fits some relaxation, he knew the art of dis­sembling, and to be silent for a time; his Element was solitude, and the night his refuge, he sighed alwayes af­ter Joseph, and nothing pleased him when he was ab­sent. In fine, he seems to have the power, to possesse this Soul if she be alone, and if all witnesses be drawn aside.

Be ware then Joseph, what you doe; you are alone, [Page 182]you are young, you are beautifull, and Esteemed. Remember that the eyes of Women dart as many light­nings as glances; Hususcemodi verbis per singulos dies, & mulier molesta et al a­dolescenti, & ille re­cusabat fluprum. Gen. 39. v. 10. call to mind that their mouths shed ho­ney and poison, and that their tongues cast more dan­gerous darts than Adders: Contemn then what ever this impudent creature can say unto you.

She will peradventure, Cruell battery.say she is your Mistris, and that you ought to obey her; And that if she affect you, you cannot hate her, and if she seek you, you have no reason to flye from her; she will conjure you to tell her, what in her displeaseth you. Since she omits nothing that may content you, and without injustice you cannot refuse her one single favour she expects from you; Especially she being ready, on her part, to grant all that you can ask of her. There is no colour, she will not employ to repre­sent unto you her passion; And her eyes though silent, will swear to you, that they have often enough spoken to you, when her mouth durst not utter a word: that if it were possible, she would believe that she hath by her words manifested to you all the thoughts of her soul, when they might have been kept secret: Besides, she will flatter you, saying, you have refused her that out of prudence, which now you ought to grant her through love and good­ness. Moreover, if you fear any thing, she will assure you that she hath foreseen all that may expose you unto danger.

In fine, she will intreat, that if she hath no fortunes in the world, which are not at your disposure, you would yet receive her respect and affections to render you more ab­solute and independent, concluding by all these reasons, that you must at last satisfie her either by violence, or sweetnesse, and that she will have either honour or life, death or consent.

Behold a fierce assault against the chastity of Joseph. His flesh however was not made of brasse, nor his heart of a Diamond: But it may be spoken of him what Sparta said of a young C [...]valier, who having a long [Page 183]time passed amongst Ladies and Conversations, as Pla­nets upon durt without receiving any stain, deserved to be called the Sun of his Age.

Joseph had attractives in his eyes, Erat autem Joseph pul [...]bra facte & de­corus aspectu. Gen. 39. v. 6. and rayes on his face, purer than those of the Sun. He never fell into those Eclipses which impallidates the most beautifull Planets; and often mix night and darknesse with the most glorious dayes.

He was an illuminated Sun which pursues his Ca­riere, and which God alone was able to stay: In vain was it for Syrens to sing on the shore, and the winds to whistle on the Sea, and in the world, he looked upon his period at which he must necessarily arrive.

Mean while let us see I beseech you, Furions temptation. what strong en­devours are used to stay him. They flatter him, they praise him, they love him, they honour him, they conjure him, they threaten him, they make him promi­ses. What will you have, and what more can be done to gain him, and possesse his affections? Entreaties have hitherto received but refusalls, Alurements disdains, and threats constancy, and neglect.

In fine, E [...]illa apprehensa la­c [...]nia vestimenti ejus diceret: dormi mecum, qui relicto in manu e [...]s pallio fugit, & egressus est foras. Gen. 39. v. 12. an attempt must be made on the life of him whose honour she could not wound; She leaps on his neck, as it were to strangle him, but presently Joseph flies away, and leaving his garment in her hands, she had but the Feathers of this bird which she thought to detain in her neasts.

Behold then all her Designs defeated; Joseph is esca­ped, he is in safety, and out of the reach of this ravenous she-wolfe, which pursued him. I said not amiss, that flights and separations are commonly the guardians of Chastity, Sanctuary of mo­desty. and that the purest affections are never so prudent, as when they make a wise retreat.

In vain is it to say that Virginity hath power to erect Altars in Souls, and to Consecrate them unto God. I know what that glorious and chast Martyr, who bore in [Page 184]his breast the purest and most holy of all names said of it. I know also that a Virgin-soul is a living Temple, and a Sanctuary where those Fires are alwaies seen, which God alone, and his Angels have inkindled. But if this Temple be once open to all goers and commers, and this so famous Sentence, which banisheth from thence all sorts of impuritie, be not ingraven on the gate, immediately we shall see all the Torches extinguished, and impure and Lascivious Megeraes will be so bold as to take place of the Vestals. Wee shall see abominable Idols in the place of a Crucifix, and a Dagon upon the Throne of Jesus. At the same time the Angels of peace will forsake this Babylon, and after they have watered with their tears this Infamous Dungeon, it will be no longer but a receptacle of Devils.

Happy then are those Souls which imitate Joseph, The Image of Cha­stity. and fly all occasions and encounters where their honour might be in danger. Joseph ought to be the Picture which all young men should still place before their Eyes. This innocent Peece ought to be their Mirrour; All his looks will give them most pure ardours, and all the marks of his Constancy will put a stay to their most wavering and inconstant humours. Surely it is an irre­parable dammage, [...]rreparable losse. and a shamefull loss to abandon that which we can never recover when once lost. Purity is not like those flowers which are gathered in the Sum­mer, and may be replanted in the Winter. It is a Chri­stall which cannot be mended if it chance to be broken; It is that eye of the Soul, whose blindness is incurable, and the wheele of an Engin which cannot be set right, if it be once out of frame.

I confess nevertheless, that there is some difficulty in this point, and that there requires much virtue and cou­rage to walk on the fire, and to resist the violence of its flames. Persecution of Mo­desly. We are in an Age in which it is not usuall to see Children in the Furnace of Babylon, for whom flames are Changed into sweet Western gales and delicious [Page 185]dewes. Joseph is no more, and yet there are Ladyes who seek him, and even prosecute his Ghost and Image. Joseph is no more, and we may justly say of him what the Philosophers and Poets have affirmed of Truth, that her Garment and Veil remains on the Earth, and that her Soul hath taken her flight even unto Heaven.

What disaster for Chastity? and what shame for this Sex, in which Virginitie ought to have her Cradle, her Nurses, her Sisters, her Friends and Companions? What scandall to see a Lady of quality borrowing Countenances, plaistering Old Age, painting Deformity, whitening a yellow Skin, discovering her Breasts, a head loaden with sweet Powder and Jewels, and bearing on her body all that she hath of Value? In fine, if all these allurements be not powerfull enough, and if they can­not obtain by sweetness what they desire, they become inraged, and resolve intirely to destroy an Innocent.

This inraged Woman seeing then that Joseph was fled, and that he had onely left her his Cloak, Cumque vidisset muli­er vestem in manibus suis, & se esse con­temptam, Gē. 39. v. 13 resolved at the instant to revenge this affront, and accuse him whom she knew to be too pure to excuse himself.

O God! what outrages of passions, what artifices of infirmitie, and how true it is, that there is nothing more deceitfull and dangerous than a woman who loveth, hopeth, hateth, or feareth some danger.

This Dame cryed out first, Vocavit ad se homi­nes domus suae, & ail ad eos: [...]n introduxit virum Hebraeum, ut illuderet nobis: In­gressus est ad me ut coiret mecum: Cum­que ego succlamassem, Gen. 39. v. 14. Insolent Artifice. and the fear she hath to be accused, is the occasion she takes those for Witnesses of her innocency, who could have prevented her. After all, seeing her Husband at her door, Help saith she, to what am I reduced? Ah! who hath given me for a Ser­vant an Importunate Devill, who persecutes me beyond measure? Ah! my Husband, my Friend, what have you done? And what a perfidious man have you given me? Is it peradventure to try my Loyalty and Vertue? tell me, I pray, what is your intention? and whether you keep him in the quality of a Servant or Compani­on? For my part I esteem it as a great honour to be [Page 186]your Hand-maid, and yet I conceive not my self obli­ged to obey your meanest Servant. He hath been never­theless so presumptuous in your absence to sport with me, Et audisset vocem me­am, reliquit pallium quod tenebam, & fugit foras. Gen. 39. v. 15. His auditis Dominus, & nimiùm credulus verbis conjugis, ira­tus est valde. Gen. 39. v. 19. Tradidit (que) Joseph in carcerem. Gen. 39. v. 20. and take the place you hold in my heart. No, I swear by the respect I owe you, that I would have strangled him if my strength had been answerable to my will; but he is escaped, and seeing I called for help, he left his garment in my hands.

Immediatly this man giving too much credit to the discourse of his Wife, without inquirie, whether what she said was true or false, caused Joseph to be stayed, and commanded him to be put in Prison.

CHAP. III. The Predictions of Joseph.

I Do not wonder if heretofore the waters of Jordan were so respect full towards those Priests who car­ried the Ark of the Testament, because it was a Fi­gure of the Divinity, the least rayes whereof are so powerfull in Nature, as its very shadow cannot be seen without a holy horrour. It is for this cause Virtue hath so venerable attractives, and so penetrating Charms, that we cannot approach it without feeling our selves instantly touched with Love and Reverence.

The reason is, because God, being as it were obliged to be in a particular manner present, where Virtue is, we must needs be insensible in the presence of him who imprints Sense in all beings, if we were not excited to­wards Virtue and Sanctity, which resemble those Spirits who incompass the Sanctuary, and those Souls in whom God is delighted.

Yes, [...]e Paradise of the al. the Soul of a Just man, is the Throne of God, the Theater of his Power, the List of his Courses, the Field of his Battels, and the Palace in which he maketh [Page 187]his abode. Behold, why the Saints have done so many wonders; and it is for this reason we have seen Tyrants waxing pale at the sight of Martyrs; Tygers changing their nature; and all the Elements, though insensible, seeming reasonable, to obey them. We must not fear then that any ill will befall those whom God possesseth, whom God conducteth, and in whom he lives as the life of their Souls.

Joseph is in Prison, but he shall there speedily find his Liberty, the obscurities of his Dungeon will furnish him with light enough to discern what will happen; and such as have been the authours of his ruine, shall be the Causers of his happiness.

God never abandons those who love and serve him faithfully. He is in Shackles, in Misery, Inviolable fidelity. and in all mis­fortunes which use to assail his Friends; he followed his Joseph even into the Pit, even into Egypt, and he is now with him in Prison.

O how sweet is the yoak, when we are fastned to it with God! How pleasing are the Chains, when he be­comes Captive for our sake! and what Paradise of de­lights, when a man may say, he hath God in his heart!

There was heretofore a Persian, who stiled his death, though most rigorous, by the name of Felicity; by rea­son in dying he perceived one of his Friends, who never forsook him, and used his best endeavours to put him­self in his place.

Joseph then is most happy, Dominus enim eret cum illo, & omnia o­pera ejus dirigebat. Gen 29. v. 23. since God himself fol­lowed him even into his Dungeon; there is was where this Slave found his Liberty; it is there where he became a Prophet, and began to find the period of his misery, and the beginning of his happiness.

Behold I beseech you, Qui tradidit in man [...] illius universos vin­cto [...] qui in custodi [...] tenebantur, Gen. 3 [...]. v. 22. how he hath already the Keys in his hands, and how all the Kings Prisoners are under his guard. Can we represent unto our selves a more changing fortune? And is it not true that God takes pleasure to raise those whom the world indevours to cast down?

Joseph shall be every where happy, since our Lord is every where with him. Being then in prison, he so ex­actly performed all that was commanded him, and the puritie of his intention spread forth so many graces and beauties on his face, as presently he drew upon himself the eyes and affections of him who had order to govern the Prisoners: The Empire of Vir­tue. Not that (saith Philo) compassion is na­turall to those who have the like charge; but God and Virtue cause themselves to be so lively felt by those in whom they reside, as it is almost impossible to behold them without loving them.

By reason of the love this Gaoler testified unto Jo­seph, the rest of the Prisoners drew neer him, and be­lieved that by his favour they might become the com­panions of his happiness, as they had been of his misery.

Amongst the rest two of the Kings Eunuches, His ita gestis, accidit ut peccarent dao eunu­chi, pincerna Regis A­gypti, & pistor, domino suo, Iratus (que) contra co [...] Pharao: nam alter pincernis praecrat, al [...]er p [...]st [...]ibus. Gen. 40. v. 2. Misit eos in carcerem principis militum, in quo erat vinctus Jo­seph. Gen. 40. v. 3. At custos carceris tra­didit eos Joseph, qui & minisirabat eis. Gen. 40. v. 4. one of which was his Cup-bearer, and the other his chief Ba­ker, being fallen into disgrace with Pharaoh, and there­fore imprisoned, both of them were under Josephs charge. I leave unto your thoughts what joy it was un­to them in their affliction to fall under so mild a govern­ment, and under the conduct of a person whose least glance was powerfull enough to wipe away all their sorrows. It seemed to them they saw an Angell when Joseph came to visit them; and thus both day and night they comforted all their afflictions, by the hope they had of seeing Joseph, and of being able with assurance to exonerate part of their griess into his bosome.

One day amongst others, Ad quos cum introisset Joseph-mane, & vi­disset eos tristes, Gen. 40. v. 6. Seicitatus est eos di­ceas: Cur triflior est hodie solito facies ve­stra? Gen. 40. v. 7. Qui responderunt: somnium vidimus, & non est qui nobis inter­pretetur. Gen. 40. v. 8. when Joseph came early in the morning to see them, finding them more sad than ordinary, he entreated them to inform him what ayled them, and what had happened to them; to which they answered, that they had been disquieted all the night by reason of a dream, and that they were extremely sorry to be in such a condition as they could find no body to explicate it to them.

Truly, saith Joseph, Dixitque ad eos Jo­seph: Numquid non Dei interpretatio est? referte mihi quid vide­ritis. Gen. 40. v. 8. Narravit prior, prae­positus pincernarum somnium suum: Vide­bam coram me vi­tem, Gen. 40. v. 9. In qua erant tres pro­pagines, crescere pau­latim [...] gemmas, &c. Gen. 40. v. 10. Calicémque Pharaonis in manu mea: tuli ergo uvas, & expressi in calicem quem tenebam, & tradidi poculum Pharaoni. Gen. 40. v. 11. I perceive you are much trou­bled; well then, God hath sent you a Diviner, doe you not believe he can give you the interpretation of it?

Tell me then what you have dreamed, For my part, saith the Kings Cup-bearer, me thought I saw three bran­ches of a Vine covered with large shootes, from whence, like so many Pearls issued a thousand small blossomes, af­ter which I saw the great Grapes fully ripe, which I ga­thered and squeezed them into Pharaohs Cup when he was ready to drink.

Behold, saith Joseph, Respondit Joseph, Haec cit interpretatio som­nii: Tres propagines, tres adhuc dies sunt. Gen. 40. v. 12. Post quos recordabi­tur Pharao ministerii tui, &c. Gen. 40 v. 13. Tantum memento mei, &c. Gen. 40. v. 14. the interpretation of this Dream. The three branches of the Vine denote unto thee three dayes, after which the King will call to mind the good services thou hast done him, and thou maiest resume the place thou hadst in his house. I conjure thee only to have me in remembrance, and when thou shalt be in favour, take pitty on a man who is not culpable, but for having been too innocent. My name is Joseph, I I have been carried away out of Judea by the trechery of my Brethren, Quia surto sublatus sum de ter â Hebraeo­rum. Gen. 40.15. who at last sold me unto certain Mer­chants of this Country. Speak then I prithee in my be­half unto Pharaoh; And in exchange of the libertie whereof I assure thee, obtain the same favour for me. Videns pistorum magi­ster quòd prudenter somnium dissolvisset, aet, &c. Gen. 40. v. 16 Et in uno canistro qund crat excelsius, corta e [...]c omnes cibos qui fiunt arte pistoris, averque comedere ex co. Gen. 40. v. 17.

The other hearing this, hoping for as good, or a better fortune than that of his Companion, began to relate unto Joseph all he had seen in his sleep. I ima­gin'd, said he, that I had three Baskets on my head, and that in the uppermost there were all sorts of meats which could be made into Paste, and upon that Basket I saw certain birds which there rested to feed.

Alas! my dear friend saith Joseph, Respondit Josiph: haec est interpretatio somnii, &c. Gen. 40. v. 18. Post quos auseret Pha­rao caput tuum, ac suspendet te in cruce, & lacerabunt volucres carnes tuas. Gen. 40. v. 19. these are dreadfull presages. It grieves me, that I was chosen to bring thee such sad news; I could wish that thou hadst never had this Dream, or that it had been more happy: but since thou desirest to know the truth from my mouth, I can­not [Page 190]not conceal from thee, that within three dayes, which are signified by the three Baskets, Pharaoh will put thee to death, and thy body shall be hang'd on a Gibbet, where thou shalt serve as a prey unto the Fowls of the Ayr. Exinde dies tertius natalitius Pharaonis erat, &c. Gē. 40. v. 20 Restituitque alterum in locum suum, ut porrigeret ei poculum. Gen. 40. v. 21. Alterum suspendit in patibulo, ut conjecto­ris veritas probaretur. Gen. 40.22.

In effect the third day which followed, being that on which they used to celebrate the Feast of Pharaohs birth-day, this Prince in the midst of the Banquet cal­ling to mind his Officers whom he had imprisoned, commanded his Cup-bearer to come before him, and established him in his former Office, and gave order at the same time, that the other should be hanged, as Joseph had foretold.

CHAP. IV. The Releasement of Joseph. Post duos annos vidit Pharao somnium, pu­tabat se stare super fluvium. Gen. 41. v. 1. De quo ascendebāt sep­tem boves, pulchrae & crassae nimis: & pas­cebantur in locis pa­lustribus. Gen. 41. v. 2 Aliae quoque septem e­mergebant de flumine. foedae confertaeque ma­cie: & pascebantur in ipsa amnis ripa, in locis virentibus. Gē 41. v. 3. Devoraveruntque eas, quarum mira species & habitudo corporum erat. Gen. 41. v. 4. Ruesum dormivit, & vidit alterum somni­um: septem spicae pul­lalabant in culmo uno plenae atque formosae. Gen. 41. v. 5. Aliae quoque totidem spitae tenues, & per­cussae veredine orieban­tur. Gen. 41. v. 6. Divi antes omnem patorem pul [...]itudinem. Gen. 41.7.

JOseph having spent two years in Prison, it chanced that Pharaoh during a Dream, imagined he was on the bank of a great River, out of which issued seven goodly and fat Kine, which were going to feed in the Marshes. Presently after, he thought he saw seven o­ther Ugly and lean Kine, which comming out of the water passed along the Banks, and fed in the Meadows. But that grasse could not satisfie their hunger, for they devoured the first seven, and what seemed more strange, after they had filled their bellyes, to see them, one would have believed that they had swallowed down nothing but wind, so hungry they appeared.

Pharaoh awaking thereupon, and the mystery having appeared to him but in part; Providence which would manifest it self to him entire, shewed him in a second sleep seven fair Eares Loaden with Corn, which grew upon the self-same stalk. This Dream would have been pleasing, if he had not afterwards, seen seven other Eares shrivel'd, and dry'd up by the ardors of the Sun, and which spread themselves in an instant to swallow up [Page 191]the first seven Eares which had appeared to him.

Pharaoh affrighted at these Dreams, Et sacto pavore per­territus, misit ad om­nes consectores Aegyp­ti, cunctos (que) sapien e [...], Nec erat qui interpre­taretur. Gen 41. v. 8. was no sooner awak'd, but instantly opening his eyes, and seeing him­himself deceived, commanded all the South-sayers and Wise-men of Egypt to come before him, that he might know from them the Explanation of these Enigma's which a hand more than humane had framed in his mind. But as the wisdome of man is blind, if God doth not impart to him some rayes of his light, there was not any one that could unfold these Shadows God had cast in the thoughts of this poor King.

This was the cause why the Cup-bearer calling to mind Josephs request, Tune demùm reminis­cens pincernarum ma­gister, ait: Confiteor peccatum meum. Gen. 41. v. 9. and the favour he had received from this young Prophet, was constrained freely to ac­knowledge his own unworthiness, and ingratitude, which are the ordinary Vices of Courts, and of all that are favoured by Fortune. Blindness of For­tune. Friendships which often are born in Prisons, dye on Thrones. We are no sooner raised on the top of the Wheel, but we lose the sight of those who are beneath. Honours have veiles over their Eyes, as well as affections. We have never pitty on those we see not, and the very thought of them we chase away as unseasonable. Sopater Athe. A wise Polititian had here­tofore reason to say, that Grandeurs and Felicities made daily dumb and blind men: and for my part, I say, that miseries and necessities are wont to open the Eyes and Eares.

This Eunuch had no care or thought on Joseph so long as he had no need of him, but assoon as the Inte­rest of the King, upon whom his happinesse depended, began to break forth, it was requisite for him to use such means as might secure his Fortune, and publish the fa­vours he had received of Joseph.

I remember, saith he to Pharaoh, Iratus Rex servis su­is, me & magistrum pistorum, retrudi jussit in [...]arcerem principis militum. Gen. 41. v. 10. that during my dis­grace, when your Majesty commanded me to prison, I was extremely troubled by reason of a Dream, but by good chance I met with a Slave who foretold me all [Page 192]that should happen unto me. Vbi una nocte uterque vidimus somnium prae­sagum suturorum. Gen. 41. v. 11. Erat ibi pu [...] Hebraeus, cat narrantes somnia, Gen. 41. v. 12. Audivimus quod po­stea rei probavit even­tus: Ego enim redai­tus sum officio meo, & ille suspensus est in crucc. Gen. 41. v. 13. Protinus ad Regis im­perium eductum de carcere Joseph toton­derunt, ac veste mu­tatá obtuterunt [...]i. Gen. 41. v. 14. [...]atontet. And more; for the person whom I had then for a Companion in my misfortune, having the same time a Dream, and being as much dis­quieted thereby as my self, he heard from the mouth of the same Interpreter, the explication of these Presages, and time taught us the truth by very different events; for three dayes after he was hanged, and your good­ness called me again into favour, as it had been fore­told me.

The King hearing this, presently commanded that Joseph should be brought before him. They set him then at Liberty; they combed his hair, they changed his apparel, and led him to Pharaoh, who instantly dis­cern'd in his face the disposition of his mind: So true it is, that the Soul hath secret Clarities, lively and Lumi­nous Shadows, which, as Philosophers teach, and expe­rience daily informs us, use to escape through the Eyes, mouth, and all the pores of the body, with certain splendours which Nature receives from God.

It was from their first inclinations, Cui ille ait: Vidi somma, nec est qui [...] ­dissera [...]: quae audivi te sapientissimè con­ [...]icerc. Gen. 41. v. 15. Pharaoh drew a most certain assurance that Joseph was able to satisfie him; Hee most infallibly believed that this young man could teach him that which all the old men of Egypt, and the Sages of the world were not able to doe. In effect, having related all that he had seen, and the con­fused lights having united themselves amidst the obscu­rities of his sleep, and of the Night, to disturb him, and to frame of those species a strange Picture: Respondit Joseph: Absque me Deus re­spondelit prospera Pharamti. Ge. 41. v. 15. Respondit J [...]seph: So [...]mium Regis unum est: quae [...]acturus est Dens, osiendit Phara­oni. Gen. 41. v. 25. Septem boves pulch [...]ae, & septem spicae plenae, septem ubertatis anni sunt. Gen. 41. v. 26. Joseph had no sooner heard him, but taking occasion to speak, he said to him, that all his Ideas and Visions made up but one Dream; and besides, that it was God alone who had taken the Pencill into his hand to shape in his mind the Figure of the blessings and disasters which were to happen in his Empire.

Yes Sir, saith he, the seven Kine which appeared to you so fair, and in so good plight, as well as the seven Eares loaden with Corn, Prognosticate no other thing [Page 193]then seven fruitfull years; Septem quoque boves tenues atque macilen­tae, quae ascenderunt post eas, & septem spicae tenues, & ven­to urente percussae, sep­tem anni venturae sunt famis, Gen. 41. v. 27. But those also which appea­red to you lean and deformed, as well as the Ears you saw so small and withered by the blasting of the wind, figure to you seven years of Extreme Famine.

Now the course thereof will be such, Quae hoc ordine com­plebuntur. Gen. 41. v. 28. Ecce septem anni ve­nient fertilitatis magnae, &c. Gen. 41. v. 29. behold seven years approaching, during which all Egypt shall have plenty of all sorts of Blessings.

Afterwards for seven other years we shall remain in a generall Scarcity which will devast this whole Country. Quos sequuntur sep­tem anni alii tantae steri [...]itatis, &c. Gen. 41. v. 30.

It concerns then your Majesty to be watchfull, Nunc ergo provideat rex virum sapientem & industrium, & prae­ficiat eum terra Ae­gipti. Gen. 41. v. 33. Qui constituat praepo­sitos per cunctas regio­nes, & quintam par­tem fructuum per sep­tem annos sertilitatis. Gen. 41. v. 34. Qui jam nunc futu­ri sunt, congreget in horrea; & omne fru­mentum sub Phara [...] ­nis potestate condatur, serveturque in urbi­bus. Gen. 41. v. 35. and to make choice of a wise and discreet man who may have a generall care and government over the Land of Egypt, that he may establish Purveyers, and cause the fift part of those Fruits which are to be gathered during the se­ven years of plenty, to be layd up in Granaries. He must also take care that all the Corn be kept in such Towns as shall be appointed for that purpose; and be­sides, that no person may either take or dispose of it without your express Command. It is also the duty of all Princes, and of those who are powerfull in the world to provide for the necessities of the poor. Their Eyes ought to be like the rayes of the Sun, which doe not open and spread themselves, but for the good of the Universe. Their arms ought to resemble those of the Sea, and Rivers, which nourish and water the grounds through which they pass. It belongs then unto them to watch, like Angels, to divert dangers by a wise Pro­vidence, and to be not onely full of Splendor and Ma­jesty; But also Fathers replenished with Meekness, Cle­mency and goodness.

CHAP. V. The Government of Joseph in Egypt.

IT is not without reason, Fortune hath Wings at her Feet, and that she is alwaies flying on a little Globe, where Life and Death, Places and Seasons, and in a word, all the accidents of Nature hinder her from ta­king any rest. I know not who hath placed a veil o­ver her Eyes lest we should perceive her too volatile and too haggard looks. Picture of Fortune. Her Hair is so plated and drawn down upon her forehead, as to behold her, we would be­lieve the hinder part of her Head were bald, like that of Time. Her Garment is of changeable Taffety, her Gir­dle is mark'd with certain small Ciphers so confused­ly put together, as nothing can be understood by them. This corresponds with her words and gestures, which are full of mysteries and ambiguity. In fine, all that she hath, all that she doth, and all that she saith, is no other than a Chaos of Inconstancy and Disloyalty: whence it comes to pass that all her attendants lament, and ac­cuse that destiny, which hath so miserably deceived them, and which after many thousand promises, and gifts, hath left them nothing but Wind, Tears, Smoak, Despair, and after all a precipice or an Abyss of mis­fortunes.

Behold the destinies of this World, and the Fortunes of Men! on which nevertheless they are accustomed to fix their hopes.

We are delighted with this Game, Vt in saeculari ludo, nunc huc transeunt, nunc referuntur illuc. Pius Pontifex. Ep. 4.34. Res humanae natura­lem habent scalae i­maginem. Philo. Jud. lib. de somniis. in which, as a cer­tain Pope hath observed, there is nothing but hazard; We desire to ascend the top of this Ladder, from which we must alwaies descend, saith Philo, after we have ascended; There are some who think themselves happy to appear on this Theater, though their end for the most part will be Tragical; It seems that it satisfies many persons, to have a propitious Gale when they [Page 195]depart out of the Haven, Apud Erasm. Stob. ser. de prud. though soon after they suf­fer a sorrowfull Shipwrack. These nevertheless, are the Sports, Exercises, Acts, Courses, and Navigati­ons of Fortune and Destiny, which Men strive to esta­blish in humane things. We gain thereby to lose, we rise up to fall, we appear to perish, we imbarque our selves to split on a Rock.

On the contrary, in the Designs God hath on Men, all is Constant and fixt, his Scales are even, his looks loving, his Ciphers eternall, and there is nothing in his amiable providences, either deceitfull or hazardous; The happiness of Providence. And if they sport with us it is to inrich us; when they cast us down it is to raise us up; His Theaters have no funestous Acts, and it sufficeth that his Providence guides us into the Haven. This being so, what sweet­ness? what assurance? and what happiness to follow this Light? It matters not to meet with Labyrinths, Precipices, Sepulchers, and Rocks, soon or late we shalbe freed from them.

Well may Joseph have been betrayed, he may have been thrown into the bottom of a Pit, he may have been divested, & sold as a slave, I mean that he was kept in Prison for the space of two years; If our Lord be with him, and if the Providence of God be his Mistress, he is happy, and shall come forth like a Planet, which Issueth more Glorious and with more Lustre, out of the midst of Darkness, and the Eclipses which had ob­scured it.

The Wisdom of the World, which in the sight of God is but meer folly, would never yet have believed it, and truly who would have imagined, that Joseph should have found Lights in the Darkness of a Prison, which were to guide him even to the Throne of Pharao.

He is yet there, and this King doth not believe that there is any person in the World more capable of be­ing his Lieutenant, and who could more wisely, and with more dexterity govern the Kingdom of Egypt, [Page 196]then Joseph. It was then decreed by a secret inspirati­on of this sage Intelligence, which presides in Coun­cels, Dixit ergo ad Joseph: quia ostendit tibi De­ut omnia quae locutus es, numquid sapien­tiorem, & consimilem tui invenire potero. Gen. 41. v. 39. Tu eris super domum meam, & ad tui oris imperium cunctus po­pulus obediet: uno tan­tum regni solio te praecedam. Gen. 41. v. 40. Dixitq [...]e rursus Pha­rao ad Joseph: Ecce constituite super uni­versam terram Agyp­ti. Gen. 41. v. 41. and Governs Empires, that Joseph of a Prisoner and slave should be made the Vice-King of Egypt.

First Pharao was transported at the sight of this Young Prophet, and quickly discerned that it was God who spake by his Mouth.

Secondly he resolv'd to follow all the orders which Joseph had affirmed to be necessary for the good of the State. Afterwards, addressing himself unto Joseph with paternall tenderness he said unto him.

Joseph, I will seek no further for a Man to share with me in the cares of my Empire. Heaven hath ordained you for it, and I cannot oppose it. The assurance I have that this election is very good and prudent, is the good­ness and wisdom I know in you; take then the absolute power over my whole House, Govern my Empire, and make use of my Authority.

Then Pharao took a Ring from his own Finger, Tulitque annulum de manu sua, & dedit eum in manuejus, ve­stivitque eum stola byssina, & collo tor­quem auream circum­posuit. Gen. 41. v. 42. and put it on Josephs, Commanding immediatly that he should be Cloathed in a Silken Garment, and that a Chain of Gold should be brought him, which he with his own Hand put about his Neck.

Behold, the first Favours of Pharao, and the first Splendors of the Divine Providence, which at last dis­sipate the Cloud and Darkness in which Joseph was inclosed; his Chains are those rich Collers given by the King, his Manicles are his Rings, and a Robe of fine Linnen in an instant wipes away all the disasters of his former Life.

But this is not yet all; he must be known, and E­gypt must take notice that he is the Governour of it.

Joseph ascend this Triumphant Chariot which is prepared for you; Et praepositum esse sci­rent universae terrae Egypti, Gen. 41. v. 43. Fecitque eum ascende­re super currum suum. Gen. 41. v. 43. It is Pharao who commands it, It is Heaven that ordains it, It is God that guides you; Kings are Gods Ecchos, God speaks by their Mouths, and whoever disobeys Kings is refractory to his Di­vine [Page 197]commands; Joseph then acteth what God injoyns, and it is God who is ready to be his guide through all the Lands of Pharao.

He is led already through the Streets with pomp and triumph worthy of a King. Clamante praecome ut omnes coram eo genu­flecterent. The Herauld who marcheth before him, trys, out with a loud voice, let every one bow their Knees. Pharao in the presence of the people consecrates these honours by his approba­tion; Vertique nomen ejus, & vocavit eum lin­guâ Egyptiaca, Sal­vatorem mundi. Gen. 41. v. 45. Afterwards he confirms unto Joseph the generall power he gave him over all Egypt: to which he added a more magnificent and glorious name than he had be­fore, for instead of Joseph he gave him the name of the Saviour of Egypt, as a title which could not be due but unto God or to a King. In fine, Deditque illi uxorem Aseneth, filiam Pu­tipharis Sacerdotu Heliop [...]leos. Gen. 41. v. 45. V. Borcard. de terrae sancta. S. Hieron, & Heb. to fasten Joseph more strongly to himself and Egypt, besides the Egyp­tian name Pharao imposed on him, he resolved to Marry him unto Aseneth the Daughter of Putiphar high Priest and Prince of Heliopolis, that is to say, the City of the Sun, which was in Egypt.

Joseph then was but thirty years old, and it was in this flower of his age, Triginta autem an­norumerat, quando stetit in conspectu Re­gis Pharaonis, & cir­cuivit omnem regio­nem Aegypti. Gen. 41. v. 46. in which the Body and Soul use to be most vigorous, he began to visit the territories of his Government.

This new born Morning went immediatly every where casting rayes of Joy, Hope, Peace, Plenty and Cha­rity: It was a golden Age which began to appear, Tantaque suit abun­dantia tritici, ut are­nae maris coaequare­tur, & copia mensu­ram excederat. Gen. 41. v. 49. and followed his steps. Never were seen so many blessings on the Earth as then; for the grains of Wheat, gathe­red in the space of seaven years, were more in number than the Sands which are seen on the shoars of the Sea.

Six years were already past in these publick felicities, when Joseph had two Children, Nati sunt antem Jo­seph filii du [...]. Gen. 41. v. 50. Vocavitque nomen primogeniti Manas­fes, &c. the Eldest was called Manasses to testifie the graces God had powred upon Joseph, who after so many troubles and afflictions had at length forgotten his Fathers House, and all the pains he had endured from the very hour he departed thence.

The second was called Ephraim, Nomen quoque secun­di appellavit Ephra­im, &c. Gen. 41. v. 52 in acknowledgement of the Blessings Joseph had received from God after so many abandonments of Creatures, and after so many miseries and incommodities, out of which he was at last delivered. Igitur transactis sep­tem ubertatis annis qui suerunt in Aegyp­to, Gen. 41. v. 53. Coeperunt ventre sep­tem anni in [...]piae, &c. Gen, 41. v. 54 Qua esuriente, cla­mavit ad Pharaonem, &c. Gen. 41. v. 55. The term of seven years beginning then to approach, the Earth which had been employed in gene­rall and continuall productions, had no sooner seen this moment in which she was constrained to shut up her bo­some, but she presently became barren, so that in a short time after, Egypt which had not foreseen this evill, was inforced to cry out Famine, and to have recourse unto Pharaoh.

But Pharaoh for his part sent the people to Joseph, who during the time of his prosperity had done like Bees, and those Birds indued with fore-sight, which du­ring the Summer store up food for the Winter.

Behold a Draught of the World, The Image of the world. in which the blind Men and Sages of Egypt have no eyes, but for the time present. They swim in Rivers of Gold and Sil­ver, they sail in Barks of Pearls, their Oars are the arms and wings of Fortune, Favour is their Mast, all their Cordages are of Silk, and their sailes of rich Sat­tin which have alwayes the wind in Poop: But notwith­standing this stately Pomp, and this favourable Lot, they will perish with hunger, if their Navigation be long, and if good provision be not made by the Pilot that conducts them. Suppose men walk upon Roses, suppose their drink be Nectar, suppose all the Stars be propitious, and that the Harvest be never so fair; yet had not some fore-seeing Spirit taken the Sickle in hand, had he not gathered up these goods, and had he not Vessels to receive this dew, the Ayr would dry up its sources, night would come, and the fields would be but like a desart, where men must even dye with hunger, thirst, and misery.

But some would peradventure ask what expedient can be found to avert all these dangers? First it is certain [Page 199]that God for his part will never fail to provide all ne­cessaries, and having created Man, he is as it were ob­lig'd to his conservation. Secondly, the Planets have their regular courses, and maugre all their Defections, Ascendents, Retrogradations, Conjunctions, Separati­ons, and Elevations, they are alwaies constant in work­ing our good, and their nature is too pure to be cove­tous of those Treasures which are hid in their Influen­ces. Thirdly the Fire, the Water, the Ayr, and the Earth have no enmity amongst themselves, but for our sakes, and if they be at War, it is but to bring us Sweet­ness and Peace.

I demand then again, whence can proceed those evils which befall men, and which are born even in their Cradles, to die with them. Our Evils come from our selves. I fear that the Lieutenants of Egypt did not often imitate Joseph, and that they slept during the calm, and when Fortune smiled upon them on every side. Nevertheless this fair weather doth not alwaies last, the season of Harvest passeth away, the Tempest riseth, and we meet with Shipwrack and Death.

CHAP. VI. The Voyage of Jacobs Children into Egypt, and the entertainment they there received from Joseph.

INnocence hath voyces which are heard in Desarts, which speak in Assemblies, which groan in Prisons, which murmur neer the holy Altars, and even com­plain under the Throne of God. Truth, although hid­den under Abysses, covered with the shades of a Tomb, and buried in the obscurities of night, hath rayes which escape through Rocks, passe under Marble stones, and which cleave all the Clouds to break forth like light­ning, and inkindle fires upon the ashes and bones which [Page 200]were thought insensible and uncapable of complaints for obtaining revenge. Woe to that Man, saith the most wise Jesus the son of Sirach, Omnis bomo qui trans­greditur lectum suum dicit in corde suo quis me videt? tenebrae circumdant me, & ne­mo me videt, quid vereor? Eccles. 23. who not being Satisfied with his own bed, saith in his Heart, who is it that sees me? Night and darkness inviron me on all sides, walls like so many Dungeons shelter me from those troublesome and Dangerous eyes which might be wit­nesses of my actions, what can I then fear?

Ah! blind that thou art, thou seest not the Sun which over these shadows marks out thy sentence of con­demnation. Thou seest not the Moon and starrs which are the Eyes of Heaven, Nocte quidem sed Lu­na videt, sed sydera testes, Intendunt oculos. and the torches which God makes use of to manifest his will.

Poor man, thou art deaf if thou doest not hear it, and if amidst the sighs of thy conscience thou beleev­est that-no body speaks unto thee, but soon or late thou shalt confesse that innocence and truth are too dear un­to God, and that one cannot offend them, without Heavens arming it self in their defence. Neverthelesse they are patient enough to suffer them for a time: But they are too generous to be always silent; and it would be too cruell an indulgence, and too pernicious unto Vir­tue if they might dissemble for an Eternity.

God and kings have armes which extend themselves to all places, and if the world be a great Chain, as Tris­megistus heretofore beleev'd, it is to keep men in­chain'd, and to the end they may rest assur'd that in all times and every where an officer follows them, Conscience an inse­perable guardian. and holds them fast by the Eyes, by the Hand, and by all the powers of their Souls.

The prophane were of this opinion, saying, That all men, and universally all Creatures moved in a great Labyrinth, in which the Gods delighted to hold them by a silken thread, as heretofore Ariadne did, when in her Maze she guided her dear Theseus, or ra­ther like birdcatchers who tie a thread to the foot of some bird, that giving him Liberty, they may stay him when they please.

So God hath invisible bands, which men cannot break and if they be Criminall, vengeance which is inexora­ble will soon or late inflict on them the punishment they have merited.

Stay then guilty Brethren, come and cast your selves at the Feet of this slave you have Sold. Come and de­mand life of him whom you had designed for death. Come and see on a Thron this Dreamer whoue you threw into a Pit. The Whale hath cast this Prophet into the harbor. This Angel is come safe and sound out of the furnace. His prison is the Empire of Egypt, his chains are the golden Ornaments of the King, the whole world adores him, and from henceforth he is goeing to be the Father, Lord, and Judge of those who have been his Tyrants, persecutors and executioners.

Three and Twenty years are past since Jofeph left his Fathers House, and since his brethren exercised on him all sorts of Hostility. These Monsters Notwithstand­ing covered themselves with the Robe of this Lamb, and they hitherto passed for innocents, but God, who pursues the culpable, and Justice which is lesse Seperable from Evill than shadows are from bodyes, made them come a foot from their Country to th'end they might be punished by his hand, who served for a Subject to their rage and cruelty. Audicus autem Ja­cob, quod alimenta venderentur in Aegip­to, dixit filijs suis: qutre negligitis. Gen. 42. v. 1. Audivi quod triticum venundetur in Aegipto &c. Gen. 42. v. 2. Benjamin domi retento a Jacob, qui dixer at fratribus ejus [...]ne fortè in [...]tnere quidquam patiatur mali. Gen. 42. v. 4. Ingressi sunt terram Aegipti cum aliis, &c. Gen. 42. v. 5.

It was at that time when Famine devasted the whole world, Jacob having heard that corn was sold in Egypt resolved to send thither all his Children except Benjamin, to the end they might buy such provisions as were Necessary to maintain their Family.

Goe my Children, said he, and leave onely Benjamin with me, least the same accident befall him as hapned to my poor Joseph.

Ten then of Jacobs Children went down into Egypt, with diverse other persons who travelled with them upon the same design.

Joseph was absolute Lord in that Country, Et Joseph erat prin­ceps in terra Aegipti, arque ad ejus scumen­ta pupulis vendeban­tur, cumque adoras­sent eum fratres sui Gen. 42. v. 6. and without his orders no body durst either sell or distri­bute any corn. Which was the occasion his Brothers, to obtain his leave, were constrained to visit him, and render him duties as to their soveraign. But what! these poor wretches knew not him whom they saw over their heads, and whom they would have trodden under their feet. Yet this Sun appeared too Luminous to cover onely the body of a slave, and all humane reasons were too weak to perswade them that it was Joseph.

It is he Nevertheless, Et agnovisset eos quasi ad alienos durius, to­quebatur, interrogans, eos unde venistis. Gen. 42. v. 7. Et ait ad eos: explo­ratores estis, ut vidia­tis infirmiora terrae ve­nistis. Gen. 42. v. 9. Omnes silij unius viri sumus: pacifici vivi­mus, nec quidquam sa­muli tui machinantur moli. Gen. 42. v 11. Quibus ille re [...]pondit, aliter est, in munita terrae huyus consider are venistis. Gen. 42. v. 12 At illi: duodecim in­quiunt fratres sumus servo tuo, &c. Gen. 42. v. 13. who presently knowing them, be­gan to treat them as strangers, saying to them they were Spies, and that their whole design was to Inform them­selves concerning the weakest parts of the Country: God knows whether they were astonished, hearing this discourse; but nothing availed them to say that they all were Ten brothers, and the Children of Jacob, and that for the rest they sought nothing but peace and the honour to live and die in the quality of his most humble servants. No: No, said Joseph you are de­ceivers, and besides your coming down into this Coun­try was to no other purpose then to Spy out those places and parts by which Egypt might be the more easily assaulted and surprised. To this they could not answer the second time, but that they were twelve Bro­thers his servants, Children of the same Father who retained but one with him, and that the other dyed three and Twenty years before.

Did I not say well, Hoe est ait: quod la­cutus sum explorato­res estis. Gen. 42. v. 13 Jam nunc experimen­tum vestri capiam, per salutem Pharao­nis non egrediemini hinc donec veniat fra­ter vester minimus. Gen. 42. v. 16. Ʋos autem eritis in vinculis donec proben­tura quae dixistis. Gen. 42. v. 16. replyed Joseph, that you were all Spies? I shall have immediatly certain proofs there­of; for I swear by the life of Ph [...]ro, that you shall not depart hence till the arrivall of the youngest of your Brethren. Send then speedily some one of you to bring him; Mean while you shalbe bound and Fettered untill I shall have some assurance touching what you have said unto me. Behold them with Irons on their feet, Chains on their hands & officers leading them to prison.

This is the place where the justice of God hath long since expected them; there shall they see the Ghoast of his in­necent body pursuing Them, then shall they hear the Ec­che of that voyce which called them in the Feilds, and cryed out to them from the bottom of the pit. Alas! Tradidit ergo illos custodiae tribus diebus Gen. 42. v. 17. Where are my Brethren, and how have they used me? At least they will have the Leasure for the Space of three dayes to recall into their minds the dreadfull design they here­tofore had to kill their own Brother; They will find the Image of the pit in the obscurity of a Dungeon; In fine, they can expect nothing but death, or at least a perpetuall Captivity, when they shall remember they sould their own blood.

The third day Neverthelesse Joseph Commanded their release out of prison, Die autem tertio educ­tis de carcere ait: sa­cite quae dixi, & vi­netis: Deum enim timeo. Gen. 42. v. 18. Frater vester ligetur unus in carcere, &c. Gen. 42. v. 19. Et fratrem vestrum minimum ad me ad­ducite. Gen. 42. v. 20. and promised to grant them their lives if they would perform what he had said unto them. Yes, said he I swear by the great God whom I dread, that you shall not die if you obey me; and if you shew a desire to love the peace which I seek. It is sufficient then that one of you be kept in prison, the rest may carry into their Country what they have bought; upon condition that they will speedily bring hither the youngest of all who remains behind as you have said.

At this demand these poor wretches sighed bitterly and then looking upon one another they began to say with a lamentable voice.

In truth all these misfortuns have justly befallen us; Et locuti sunt ad in­vicem: merito haec patemur, quiae pecca­vimus in fratrem nostrum, &c. Gen. 42. v. 21.God is just, and doubtlesse it is the blood of Joseph which riseth up against us, and earnestly cals upon the rigours of his adorable vengeance. Wee must then acknowledge our selves too insensible, and too unnaturall towards him, his teares, his sighes, and the Innocence of his age ought to have mollified us, if wee had not had pittilesse hearts, and Souls harder then Marble. Ah God, what have wee done! From whence at one time arrive to us so many Miseries.

During this discourse Joseph seemed not to hear them: Nesciebant autem quod intelligeret Joseph: ex eo quid per interpre­tem loqueretur ad eos. Gen. 42. v. 23. Avertitque se parum­per & flevit. Gen. 42. v. 24. For he onely spake to them by the mouth of an Interpreter. But his eyes had much adoe to dissemble the resentments of his heart. He was even constrained to turn aside his head to shed some tears, which with­out doubt were ready to betray him. But God who would have him passe for the Judge of his brethren did not permit that clemency should induce him to doe any thing unworthy of the office he exercised.

And truly when Judges are seated on their Throns, they ought to know neither Parents nor Friends. It is for this respect Justice ought to wear a vail over her Eyes, least nature, and interests of Blood and affection should dazle her. This Canopy which is spread over her bed is of Skie-colour and sodered with Stars, by reason shee took her birth in the Heavens, and to the end shee should act nothing, but by the favour of these most pure lights.

Joseph then must execute what he had begun, if God hath ordained him to be the Judge of his Brethren; and if they be culpable, he ought not to consider them as Brethren, but as criminals,

This he doth, Tollensque Simeon & bigans illis praesenti­bus. Gen. 42. v. 23. and without making himself known but in quality of the Vice-King of Egipt, he stayd Si­meon, and Manacled his hands in the prefence of the rest.

Afterwards as they were ready to depart, Jussit ministris, ut im­plerent corum saccos tritico & reponerent pecunias singulorum insaceulis suis datis supra cibrariis in vi­ [...]n. Gen. 42. v. 25. he secretly commanded his servants speedily to fill all their sacks with Corne, and in the Mouth of them to leave the Money they had brought, and also what they might need for the expence of their journey.

This was done without their heeding it; For their minds as well as their eyes were busied on Simeon, to whom from time to time they adress'd some sighs in testimony of the regret they had to leave him alone in prison, and for an hostage.

At last they departed, and having layed the Corn [Page 205]they had bought, upon Asses, At illi portantes fru­menta in asinis suis, prosecti sunt. Gen. 42. v. 26. Aperto (que) unus sacco, ut daret jumento pabu­lum in diversorio, con­templatus pecumam in ore sacculi, Gen. 42. v. 27. Dixic fratribus suis: Reddita est mibi picu­nia, en habetur in sac­co. Gen. 42. v 28. Et obstupifacts, turba­ti (que) mutuò dixerunt, &c. Gen. 42. v. 28. Veneront (que) ad Jacob patrem suum in terram Chanaan, &c. Gen. 42 v. 29. Locutus est nobis Do­minus terrae dure, &c. Gen. 42. v. 30. His aictus oùm fru­menta effunderent, sin­gult reperierunt in ore saccorum, ligatas pe­cunias: exterritis (que) si­mut omnibus dixit pater Jacob: Absque lioeru me esse fecistis, Joseph non est super, Simeon tenetur in vin­culis, & Benjamin auferetis, in me haec omnia mala r [...]ede­runt. they presently began their journey, but scarce were they arrived at their first nights lodging, when one of them having opened his Sack, found there his Money: he called his Brethren, and told them what had happened to him; whereupon being all astonished, they said to one another, Alas! what de­sign hath God on us, and whence arrive to us all these adventures?

From thence holding on their journey, they went di­rectly unto Chanaan to find Jacob, to whom they rela­ted what had passed, and how they had been harshly re­ceived by the Governour of Egypt, who notwithstand­ing all the assurances they had given him of their de­signs and innocence, had taken them for Spies; but at last he permitted them to return, and likewise to carry with them the provision they had bought, upon condi­tion nevertheless speedily to bring unto him the youn­gest amongst them, who as they said was left alone at home to Solace the discommodities and old age of their Father. Doing this, he promised them that Simeon should be released, and that they should have liberty to continue their traffick and commerce in Egypt. Upon this they opened their Sacks, where having found all their Money, they remained very much astonished, but chiefly Jacob was as much or more surprised then his Children; Whereupon he could not contein himself from saying to them; Ah poor wretches that you are! you have reduced me into such an estate as I am now left without a Child.

Joseph is no more, and if what you say be true. Simeon is detain'd in prison, not content with this, you will also take my Benjamin from me. O God, what calamities all at once! [...]las! on what side shall I turn me, and where may I find some consolation? Joseph is no more, Simeon is a Captive, and you will carry away my Benjamin, who is the support of my life, and the delight of my heart. Poor Father that I am; whither shall I goe? Famine be­siegeth [Page 206]me, my Children betray me, the Powers of the world combine against me, old Age oppresseth me, and death pursues me. Cui respondit Ruben: Duos filtos meos inter­fice, si non reduxero illum tibi: Trade il­lum in manu mea, & ego cum tibi restitu­am. Gen. 42. v. 37. At ille, non descendet, inquit, filius meus vo­biscum: frater ejus mortuus est, & ipse so­lus remansit. Si quid ei adversi acciderit in terra, ad quam pergi­t [...]s, deducetis canos meos cum doloread in­feros. Gen. 42. v. 38. Jacob whither wilt thou goe?

Father, saith Ruben, doe not afflict your self. For my part I have but two Children, I leave them with you in Benjamins place, and if I bring him not back put them to death.

No (saith Jacob) I will never consent that Benjamin shall goe with you: for already his brother is dead, and if by accidents some mishap befall this poor Child which is left me; I might even dye for grief, and my ashes would for ever complain of you.

Behold the Picture of mans life in this world, drawn to the life in the person of Jacob. His birth was in the midst of Combats, his youth hath been a Duel with his own Brothers; Scarce had he attain'd the age of a Man, when God himself was pleased to assault him. Afterwards his Children prov'd the strongest enemies of his old Age, and he saw executioners in his own Fa­mily. Alas! what will he doe?

O God, will you have Benjamin also? will you com­mind Jacob to immolate this Victim? and must he goe into Egypt, and leave his Father who lives only by him. O world, how disloyall art thou? Fathers and Mothers, what Children have you, and where doe you place all your hopes? all these Eldest Sons whom you breed up so deliciously will deceive you.

This Joseph whom you Idolatrise, will prove a tor­ment to you, and even in despight of you, this so beau­tifull, Perfidiousness of the world. so sweet, so amiable, and so accomplish'd Benja­min must leave you first or last to goe amongst the Egyptians.

But what? must Jacob also resolve to leave Benja­min? how will you have him live, if his heart be taken from him; And is not the removing him from a person who placed on him all his hopes, and the support of his Life a condemnation unto Death.

CHAP. VII. Jacob resolves to send Benjamin into Egypt.

IN the world there are inexorable Caves, and fatall necessities which can hardly be avoided: We must often swim over the arms of the Sea, not to perish in the midst of the Ocean; Fatall necessities. and some there are who resolve rather to dye stifled with smoak, than to fall into a fla­ming fire.

Nothing is to be preferred before life next unto God and Honour, and we usually give what we have to preserve it. It is for this reason, with our hands we keep off the Darts which are thrown at our hearts, and there is no part of the body which serves not for a Buck­ler when life is to be saved. In fine, the fear of Death is a blind passion which knowes neither Friends nor Children. Jacob then must suffer his Benjamin to de­part: but it is not without much grief, and without fighting many battells with a Love so Cordial, and an affection a Father ought to have for a Child so wor­thy to be beloved.

He must dye then of Famin, or Benjamin must de­part: But it is not enough that the rest return, and this dear Child remain with his Father. No, Dixit Jacob ad filios suos: Revertimins, & emitte nobis pauxillum escarum. Gen. 43. v. 2. Consumptisque cibis quos ex Aegipto detu­lerant. Gen. 43. v. 2. Respondit Judas: De­nunciavit nobis vir ille attestatione dicens, &c. Gen. 43. v. 3. Si ergo vis eum mittere nobiscum, pergemus pariter, & ememus tibi necessaria. Gen. 43. v. 4. go then my Children, saith Jacob, return into Egypt to buy us some­thing for our sustenance, for nothing is left of all that you brought us.

Father, replyed Judas, you know that we told you, that the Governour of Egypt hath forbidden us to re­turn into his presence, if we doe not bring him our lit­tle Brother. If you will permit him then to goe thither, we will all accompany him, and buy all things necessa­ry. We are ingaged by promise and oath to bring him, or never more to come into Egypt.

What promise, and what ingagement (Answers Ja­cob) [Page 208] you have then Conspired to undoe me, Dixit eis Israel: in meam hoc fecistis mi­seriam. Gen. 43. v. 6. Ʋt indicaretis ci & alium vos habere fra­trem. Gen. 43. v. 6.and to heap afflictions on me. O Children void of compassion: Alas! what have you done? why did you say that you had yet a Brother? doth it not satisfie you to have lost Joseph, and left Simeon a Captive? Must Benjamin leave me, and must I remain a Father without Children? What death, what punishment to see my self torn in pieces, and by parcels. What Martyrdome, to give up first his hands, afterwards his arms, then his Eyes, and at last his life! Alas! what have you done? and who hath inforc'd you to say that I had yet a Child? Whither shall I goe, when I have him no more? with whom shall I entertain my self when he shall be absent? and who will have care of me when he is departed? At illi responderunt Interrogavit nos homo per ordinem nostram progeniom: si pater viveret, &c. Gen. 43. v. 7. Adducine fratrem ve­strum vobiscum. Gen. 43. v. 7. Judas quoque dixit patri suo: Matte pue­rum mecum, &c. Gen. 43. v. 9. Ego suscipio pue [...]um: de manu mea requi [...]e illam, &c. Gē. 43. v. 9. S [...] non intercessisset di­latio, jam vice alterá venissemus. Gen. 43. v. 10. Igitur Israel pater eo­rum dixit ad eos: Si sit necesse est, facite quod vultis, sumite de optimis terrae fructi­bus in vasis vestris. Gen. 43. v. 11. Pecuniam quoque du­plicen ferte vobiscum: & illam, quem inve­nistis in saculis, re­portate, ne fortè erro­re factum sit. Gen. 43. v. 12.was there any necessitie then to speak of him? and what need was there of ingaging him for my whole Family?

Pardon us answered they: for this man by order of the state, made enquiry concerning your Family, who you were, whether you were alive, and how many Children you had? To which we answered conforma­bly to his demands, without fore-seeing that he would afterwards command us to bring him our youngest Brother.

Permit us then said Judas to carry him, lest we all chance to dye for very hunger, and that our poor Chil­dren perish before our eyes: For my part I am ready to Answer for him, and to ingage my life for his, that in case I doe not bring him back, you may take mine, and let me for ever remain culpable of his death: besides, we should be already upon our return a second time.

Goe then, answered Jacob, Since you will have it so, and since it is a necessity which admits of no remedy, Goe then in the name of God, and carry with you the fairest Fruits, and the most pretious Perfumes you can find; for­get not to carry Frankincense, Honey, Mirrh, Terebinth, and Almonds. Take also twice as much Money as yon need, and above all, adde unto that which you found in your [Page 209]Sacks, lest the same came to you but by mistake. In fine,Sed & fratrem ve­strum tollite, & ite ad virum, Gen. 43. v. 13. Deus autem meus om­nipotens faciat vobis eum placabilem, & remittat vobiscum sia­trem quem tenet, &c. Gen. 43. v. 14. Tulerunt ergo viri munera, & pecuniam duplicem, & Benja­min: descenderuntque in Aegyptum. Gen. 43. v. 15.carry your Brother with you, and goe find this man, whom I beseech God, with my whole heart, to render propitious and favourable to you, to the end he may speedily send back to me your brother Simeon, with my Benjamin. Mean while I shall be the most unfortunate of all Fa­thers, because I shall be without Children.

They loaded themselves then with Presents to carry into Egypt, and with the Mony which Jacob had appoin­ted them; they took Benjamin by the hand, and after Jacob had embraced and watred him with some tears, they took him with them.

What separation, and what ravishment! Alas! what can Jacob from henceforth doe all alone, and in the absence of Benjamin? Poor father! whither goes this Son? through what place will he pass? And with how many dangers will he meet before his arrivall in Egypt? he is young, he is weak, and he is tender; he knows not what the toyl of a journey meaneth; what will he doe in a Forein Country, and amongst persons who seeing him will be either touched with Love and pitty towards him, or not; and if he please them, and move them unto Compassion, they will never send him back; on the contrary, they will use him as a Slave, and as they shall perceive him more Innocent, and more simple than the rest, they will make a Victim of him which shall satisfie for all the rest.

Why have I then consented to his departure? and why did I not rather goe than he? but I have been enforced to leave him, and I know not who will have the care of him in my absence. At least if I might have carried him in my arms, or on my shoulders, and what ever hapned, he would have alwayes found safety in me during his life, and repose after death. I should have been his refuge, Bed, and Tomb; But now I know not where he is, Benjamin is gone: Ah, where is he!

It is not to be doubted but these were the entertain­ments, [Page 210]and the most usuall thoughts of Jacob during the whole Journey of his Children. Et steterunt coram Joseph. Gen. 43. v. 15. Quos cum ille vidis­set & Benjamin simul, praecepit dispensatori domus suae, dicens: Introduc viros domū, & occide victimas, & instrue convivium: quoniam mecum sunt comesturi meridie, Gen. 43. v. 16. Ibique exterriti dixe­runt mutuò: propter pecuniam quam retuli­mus prius in saccis nostris introducti su­mus, ut devolvat in nos calumniam, & violenter subsiciat ser­vituti, & nos & asinos nostros. Gen. 43. v. 18. Quamobrem in ipfis foribus accedentes ad dispensatorem domus, Gen. 43. v. 19. Locuti sunt, Oramus, Domine ut audias nos, Jam ante de scendimus ut emeremus escas. Gen. 43. v. 20. Sed & aliud attulimus argentum, ut emamus quae nobis necessaria sunt. Gen. 43. v. 21. At ille respondit, pax vobiscum, nolite time­re: Deus vester, & Deus patris vestri de­dit vobis thesauros in saccis vestris: nam pe­cuniam, quam dedistis mihi, probatam ego habeo. Gen. 43. v. 23. Eduxit (que) ad eos Si­meon Gen. 43. v. 23. Et introductis do­mum, attulit aquam, &c. Gen. 43. v. 24. Illi verò parabant munera, donec ingrede­retur Joseph meridie, Gen. 43. v. 25.

Mean-while, they travell into Egypt, where being ar­rived, they are brought unto Joseph, who casting his Eyes on them, and upon Benjamin, caused immediatly Victims to be killed, and commanded the Steward of his house to conduct them unto his Palace, and to pre­pare a Feast, by reason about Noon he intended to dine with them.

It was at this, these poor men were astonished, for since they did not expect so good a reception, they fear'd lest the Hall into which they were brought, might be changed into their Prison, and that the Dinner pre­pared for them might prove their last repast; they then whispered in each others ear, that without doubt they were drawn into danger by reason of the Money which had been found in their Sacks; and that infallibly there was an intention to make them undergoe the punish­ment of a crime of which they were no wayes guilty. This said, they run after their Conductor, and having Stayd him at the door, they related to him what had pas­sed; protesting that they knew not who had designed them this mischief, and besides, that they had never the least thought of his Money; in witness whereof they had brought it with the surplusage summe which was necessary to buy their Commodities. No, no, answered he, you need not fear any thing, Peace be with you, it is your God, and the Lord of your Father who hath put into your Sacks the Money you found in them. As for that which you gave me it is very good, and you ought not to disquiet your self concerning it. This said, Simeon was conducted to them, and then they brought water to wash their feet. In the interim they prepare their Presents in expectation of Joseph, who intended to dine with them.

As soon as he came, they immediatly cast themselves at his feet, saluting and presenting him with what they had brought.

Then Joseph saluting them again with all manner of courtesie and goodnesse, Obtulerunt (que) ei mune­ra teuentes in manibus suis & adoraverunt proni interram. Gen. 43. v. 26. At ille, clementer resa­lutatis eis, interroga­vit eos dicens, &c. Gen. 43. v. 27. Qui responderunt: so­spes est servus tuus pa­ter noster, adbuc vi­vit. Et inclinati ado­raverunt eum. Gen. 43. v. 28. Attolens autem Joseph oculos, vidit Benjamin fratrem suum uteri­num, & ait: iste est frater vester parvulus? & rursum Deus, i [...] ­quit, misereatur tui, sili mi. Gen. 43. v. 29. Festinavitque quia commota fuerant vis­cera ejus super fratre suo, & crumpebant la­crimae, & introiens cubiculum, flavit. Gen. 43. v. 30. inquired of them how their Father did, and whether he were yet alive.

Yes, answered they, your most humble Servant, and our most honoured Father is yet living, and as we believe, in perfect health. Saying this, they all bowed down before him, and rendred their duties in the most affectionate manner it was possible for them to doe.

After all these honours Joseph lifting up his eyes, and perceiving Benjamin, then demanding whether he were not the youngest amongst them whom they had for­merly mentioned, he said unto him; Ah! my Son, I be­seech God to have pitty on thee, and to take thee into his holy protection: Now he perceived that his heart was ready to discharge by his eyes, part of the affection, joy and compassion wherwith he was touched at the sight of Benjamin: which obliged him to leave them suddenly, and to retire into his Chamber to weep his fill. The eyes are not onely the gates of light, but also of all passions; Amongst others, Love and Mercy make their entries and sallies by them. Sometimes also Joy becom­ming so excessive, passeth through these Christall gates, and it seems that these living Mirrours are constrained to melt at the same instant the Soul hath received some darts from the hand of Love, Pitty and Joy. The most generous spirits are commonly most subject unto these sweet tendernesses. The most unworthy are those which never weep; and surely as they have but Souls of Ashes, so their eyes are alwaies dry: But on the contrary, a good Spirit being in the Body as a great River in a bed of Sand, Decent tenderness. the least wind can hardly rise without break­ing down its banks, and escaping at least by the two Eyes, which are as so many Chanels through which the Spirit disburthens it self.

Now as there may be many causes of this inundation, so we should often fear that it might happen either in the day, or in publick: For there would be some danger [Page 212]that without Ink and Paper, secrets might be written on our Cheeks with that water which flowes from our eyes; We might often also accuse of weakness, even the most noble, and most generous Sentiments of our hearts: In fine, there be seasons, dayes and places in which we ought not to speak but by silence, and where the Eyes as well as the Tongue should be dumb.

Joseph could not restrain his tears at the sight of Ben­jamin; but it was a most prudent Act to withdraw him­self, to pay this tribute unto the goodness of his mind, and to an object worthy of pitty, Joy and affection.

Having then dryed his eyes, Rursumque lota facie egressus, continuit se, & ait: ponite panes, Gen. 43. v. 31. Quibus appositis, se­arsum Joseph & scor­sum fratribus, Aegyp­tii quoque qui vesce­bantur simul, seorsum (illicitum est enim Aegypti [...]s comedere cum Hebraeis.) Gen. 43. v. 32. and washed his face, he came back to them, and without making shew of any emotion, he commanded that the Table should be pre­sently covered; which being done, he set himself on one side, and his Brethren by his command were placed on the other; and since it was prohibited the Jews to eat with the Egyptians, all those that were with Joseph, and used to take their repast with him, took their places apart.

All things were well-ordered at this Feast, Josephs Brethren were seated every one according to his age; Sederum coram eo, pri­mogenitus juxta pri­mogenita sua, & mi­nimus juxta aetatem suam. Gen. 43. v. 33. Sumptis partibus quas ab eo acceperant: Ma­jor (que) pars venit Ben­jamin, ita ut quinque partibus excederet. Gen. 43. v. 34. Biberunt (que) & inebria­ti sunt cum eo. Gen. 43. v. 34. the Eldest was in the most honourable place, and the youngest sate according to his degree. Joseph himself took the pains to wait on them.

But the greatest cause of their astonishment was that after they had all received their portions, it appear'd that Benjamin had five times more for his share than a­ny other.

This nevertheless, did not hinder the Joy and mirth of the Feast, for there were nothing but acclamations and rejoycings. God knows whether Joseph forgot the health of the Father of his Guests, and whether he drank that of Benjamin. However it were, the holy Scripture saith in express termes that they were all drunk. I know not yet whether Joseph and his Brethren were inebriated with Wine, which being taken in excess, [Page 213]useth to raise dazeling fumes, and confused vapours in the head. Whence it happens, that the brain being trou­bled, all the gestures of the body, and the operation of the Senses are out of order. The face waxeth pale, Plin. lib. 14. c. 22. the nose grows sharp, the checks swell, the eyes are infla­med, the tongue falters, the mouth drivels, the hands tremble, the feet interferre, and the whole body is in a Palpitation. In fine, after this Commotion, Eclips, of Reason in Wine. and during this Eclips, the understanding remains in so obscure a night, as it knows not it self. This Fountain of the day brings forth nothing but Thunderbolts, its Torch is ex­tinguished, its Lights are confus'd, and its lightnings are but stinking Exhalations, which rise from the Lees of Wine. Now this comes to pass, because Rea­son, though most pure and spirituall, Arist. lib. 3 de anim. 19. & lib. 1. de anim. p. 63. depends on gross and terrestriall Images which reside in the Fancie, and being disquieted, represent unto the mind nothing but Phantasms and a Picture of Illusions. Then Man cea­seth to be a man, since he is devoid of Reason. Aug. Serm. 23. de vi­tanda [...]rietate. He is in a state inferiour to Beasts, who satisfie their appetites without stifling them. It is then more probable that Jo­seph was not Inebriated at his Feast, but with the plea­sure and joy he had to see himself in the midst of his Brethren. Without doubt also his Guests were so vio­lently transported with the honour they received from him, as they became, as it were drunk with it. Torrente voluptatis tuae potabis eos, psal. 59. But the drunkenness of the one and the other, was but an exta­sie, and a delicious Rapture, neer resembling that of the blessed Souls which are in Heaven, Inebriabuntur ab u­bertate domus tuae, psal. 35. and swim in an Oce­an of glory, and in the torrents of Delights, whereof God himself is the Fountain, when he goes as it were melting, and distilling himself into their Chast breasts, in such sort as they become even Inebriated with him: Comed [...]stis & nos estis satiati, bibistis & non estis inebriati. Agg. 1. But their drunkenness is but a most holy and just satia­ting, which shall endure so long as God is God, that is to say, during all Eternity. O my Soul! hast thou not then a desire to goe unto this Sacred Feast? Wilt thou [Page 214]not break thy chaines, and get loose from thy Captivity to come unto this Joseph? when shalt thou see this Brother? and when shalt thou sit at Table with him to drink by his side, and receive from his most amia­ble hand the portion of thy Felicity?

O God what inebriation of Love! what excesse of delights! I think it long till I come unto this Banquet where that delitious wine is tasted which useth to bring forth Virgins, and where our Joseph, or Brother, our Lord, our God, is seen without veil or Cloud.

CHAP. VIII. Joseph known by his Brethren.

AT Banquets saith Aristides it often happens that Water is chang'd into Wine, that Wine is ming­led with Blood, and that over-heated Blood begets in­flamations, Feasts of death. which are never extinguished but with life. It is with the point of a knife, and upon plates or Nap­kins sentences of death and decrees of condemnation are written. At least it is there where oftentimes, as a Polititian hath observed, passions are inkindled, Envie is fed, Treasons are nourished, and liberty takes all the advantages to doe Mischief.

Neverthelesse there are feasts where sweetness, Praecepit autem Joseph dispensatori Dom [...]s s [...] &c. Gen. 44. v. 1. Scy hum autem m [...]um arg [...]nteum, & p [...]ti­um quod dedit tri [...]ci pon [...] in ore facti juni­or [...] Gen. 44. v. 2. Theodoretus Quaest. 105 in Genesim. peace, and the most Innocent pleasures furnish out all the Services. Such doubtlesse, was the feast Joseph made for his Brethren; for though it was there where he re­solved to deceive them and to make them believe they were Theeues: Yet his design was very just, and he had no other intention than by a stratagem of Love, and by an Artifice of prudence to try the tendernesse and inclinations they had for Benjamin.

However this Amorous dissumulation and this wise experiment much disquieted them; Iamque urbem exie­rant, & processerunt paululum: tune Jo­seph acce [...]sito dispen­satore domus, Surge, inquit & persequere viros & apprehensis dicite quare reddidistis malum pro bone? Gen. 44. v 4. Scyphus quem furat estis ipse est in quo bi­bit dominus meus & in quo augurari solet-Gen. 44. v. 5. and the [...] were ex­tremely surprised, when they were accused for Theefes [Page 205]by his order, who before had treated them as Bre­thren. Scarce were they gone out of the Citty, but Josephs Steward stayd them by direction from his Ma­ster, and said unto them, Ah! Theeves that you are, are you not ashamed to have rendred ill to those who have done you good? Where have you then put the Cup you have Stoln from us, and in which my Master useth to Drink and to foretel what will happen.

Alas! Answered they, what doe you say? Qui responderunt: quare sic loquitur do­minus noster ut servi tui tantum flagitui commiserint? Gen. 44. v. 7. [...]cuniam quam in­venimus in summitate saccorum reportavi­mus ad te, &c. Gen. 44. v. 8. Apud quemcumque fuerit inventum ser­v [...]rum tuorum quem quaeris, mo [...]iatur. Gen. 44. v. 9. Qui dexit eis: fiat juxta v [...]stram fenten­tiam. Gen. 44. v. 10. Quos serutatus inci­ptens â maiore usque ad minimum, invenit Scyphnm in sacco Ben­jamin. Gen. 44. v. 12.For what persons doe you take us? And in truth, doe you believe that wee intended to doe you wrong? doe you not know how hetherto, wee have demen'd our selves? And that wee brought back all the money which was found in our Sacks, when wee returned out of Egypt? How could it possibly happen that at this time wee should robb you? Sure­ly wee have nothing else to allege, but onely intreat you that if any of us be found guilty, you would put him to death without other form of process.

Well then I am content replyed this man, let it be done as you desire. Then fearching them from the highest to the Lowest he met at last with Josephs Cup in Ben­jamins sack. O God! what astonishment and what sur­prise! Accidents are sometimes so unexpected, and misfortunes so convincing that Innocence it self hath cause to wax pale, and to have some apprehension. Moreover there are certain Vices so foul and infamous, as it is enough to be Suspected to render us miserable; and wee passe for Criminals, when wee are but accused: What is it then to be convinced of it and to have the earnest of our Crime in our own hands? shall wee not passe for Homicides when wee are found holding a dagger in our hands & all alone neer a deadbody, which swims in his own blood? May wee not also be accused of Theft, and be thought the authors of it, when wee are taken with a purse newly cut, and with goods which have been lost?

The Children of Jacob had then cause enough to be [Page 216]frighted, and their misfortune was inexcusable. Thus like dispairing men they found no consolation but in their grief, At illi scissis vestibus, reversi sunt in oppi­dum. Gen. 44. v. 13. Primúsque Judas cum fratribus ingres­sus est ad Joseph (nec­dum enim de loco abie­rat) omnésque ante eum pariter in terram corruerunt. Gen. 44. v. 14. Quibus ille ait: cur sic agere voluistis? an ignoratis, quod non sit similis mei in augu­randi scientia. Gen. 44. v. 15. Cui Judas: Quid re­spondebimus, inquit, &c. Gen. 44. v. 16. and the most present Remedy they had, was to tear their Garments, and speedily to return unto Joseph.

Having found him in the same place where they had left him, after they had all cast themselves at his Feet, scarce daring to speak a word, so much were they con­founded, he himself was forced to begin and declare unto them, that it was a great wonder to him how they durst offer him this injury, since they could not be igno­rant, that he was the most skilfull man of Egypt in the Art of Divination.

Then Judas beginning to speak for them all, freely confesseth that they knew not almost what to say or think; that their misfortune was inexcusable, and for the rest it was God who had a mind to punish them; as also that they were all at his mercy, resolving to live and dye in Bondage.

God forbid, Respondit Joseph: ab­sit à me ut sic agam: qui suratus est scy­phum ipse sit servus meus. Gen. 44. v. 17.Replyes Joseph, I should take away liberty from those who are not guilty. As for the party who hath committed the offence, I will detain him for my Slave, and it is just he should be punished according to his desert.

Behold the Sentence given: Accedens autem propi­us Judas, confidenter ait, &c. Gen. 44. v. 18 But Judas appealed unto the Clemency of his Judge, and approaching neerer to him, he asked his leave to speak unto him with Confi­dence.

My Lord, saies he, as you are next unto the King, the Chief of Egypt, I cast my self at your Feet as my Judge, and Soveraign: I earnestly call upon your goodness, not on your Justice. If we be guilty, you can render us in­nocent. The eyes of a Prince have looks which efface all stains, and one tear in their presence can wash away a Thousand sins. It sufficeth if we may cast our selves at their knees, to find a Sanctuary, and we need but speak unto them, to be presently heard. Call to mind then my [Page 217]Lord what wee long since said unto you,Est nobis pater senex, & puer parvulas, qui in senectute illius na­tus est, cujus uterinus frater mortuus est, & ipsum solum habet mater sua: pater ve­rò tenere diligit eum. Gen. 44. v. 20.remember that we are all Children of one Father, oppressed with old age and incommodities, and that all his hopes rely on this In­nocent, who is found guilty; you will deprive him of life by robing him of this Iewell. He is the onely child left him by his last wife: For by mishap a beast hath devoured the other which he had of the same bed. It is in obedience we bring him to you, and it was with a promise speedily to restore him; I am ingag'd in my person,Ego propriè servus tu­us sim, qui in meam hanc rec [...]pt fidem, &c. Gen. 44. v. 22.and in that of my Chil­dren: Neverthelesse he lives onely by the assurance he hath to see him again, all the rest are indifferent to him, and he will rather choose to die a Thousand times of hun­ger, than to live in plenty after he hath lost the moity of his heart, and the most pretious of his goods.Manebo itaque servus tuus pro puero in mini­sterio domini mei. Gen. 44. v. 33. Non enim possum redi­re ad patrem absente puero, ne calamitatis, quae oppressura est pa­trem meum, testis assi­stam, Gen. 44. v. 34.Permit us then, to restore life unto him from whom wee have re­ceived it. For my part I will never return without I bring him back: At least take me in his place, and send him back with his Brethren, lest I be a witnesse of the grief which will doubtlesse kill my Father when he shall know that Benjamin is made a Captive.

Here it is where Joseph was not Master of his tears, Non se poterat ultrà cobibere Joseph multis coram astantibus: un­de praecepit. ut egredi­entur cuacts foras, nullusque interesset a­lienus agnitioni mu­tuae, Gen. 45. v. 1. Elevavit (que) vocem cum fletu: quam au­dierunt Aegyptii, om­nis (que) domus Pharao­nis. Gen. 4 [...]. v. 2. and his Heart was ever ready to have sallyed forth by his Eyes; but he first dismissed those strangers who were with him, and would have none for Witnesses of his goodnesse but those who had made him the Sub­ject of their rage. When he saw himself then alone with his Brethren, Love, which is all fire, mean't to dissolve into tears, and the sad remembrance of all that had passed drew cryes and sighes out of the bot­tome of his Heart, which were heard through the whole House.

In fine, he was necessitated to discover himself, and as wee must know before wee Love, so Joseph resolved to be known, and to declare what he was. Et dixit fratribus su­is: Ego sum Joseph, adh [...]c pater meus vi­vit? non poterant re­spondere fratres nimio terrere perteriti. Gen. 45. v. 3.

Brethren saith he, I am Joseph, Alas! is my Father yet living? could I be so happy as to see him before his death!

They were so much Surprised at the bare recitall of the name of Joseph, as they had not the power even to open their Mouthes to speak unto him: Afterwards looking one upon another as struck'n from Heaven, is this Joseph, thought they, Alas! where are we? And from whence may he come?

Yes it is I, Ego sum, ait, frater vester Joseph quem vendidistis in Aegyp tum. Gen. 45. v. 4. Nolite pavere, neque vobis durum esse vide­atu [...] quod vendidist [...]s me in his regionibus, &c. Gen. 45. v. 5.saith he, who am Joseph, I am the same person whom you have so unworthily sold. At last do you acknowledg me for your brother? Approach then, come that I may imbrace you, fear nothing, but know that al­though you have sold me, yet I have not lost the quality of your Brother. I am Joseph, you have no cause to be affrighted, time hath effaced the ill you have done mee, and at present I onely remember that I am your brother. You need no Advocate, since blood and Nature plead in your behalf. It is enough, that wee are all Jacobs Chil­dren, I owe this favour to piety and Love, and I cannot refuse you what is yours even by the Priviledg of Birth. The ties which fasten us are stronger than the Chains of that Captivity into which you reduced me.Non v [...]stro confilio, sed Dei voluntate huc missus sum, qui secit me quasi patrem Pha­raonis, & Dominum universae domus ejus ac principem in omni terra Egypti. Gen. 45. v. 8.It is God alone who hath conducted me unto this place, and who after all my misfortunes hath raised me on the Throne of Pharaoh, to be the chief Ruler of his Dominions, and to provide for the necessities of his people in Conjunctures of time, and disasters which desolate the whole Land. I refer my self unto your selves, who are Eye witnesses thereof, and you know at your own cost what hath passed. You see that I have the absolute Command in Egypt, and that Pha­raoh though elder than my self doth me the honour to call me his father. The name of Saviour which I bear, is not a bare Title, but the effects sufficiently demonstrate, that Heaven hath chosen me to preserve the lines of an infinite number of people, whom Famine would have destroyed. It is not out of any Spirit of vain glory I open unto you all these Verities; But onely to the end you may know that it is GOD alone who hath broken my Chains, and who amidst all the disasters of a cruell servitude [Page 219]hath led me even unto Regality. I adore all the effects of his amiable Providence, and I can onely accuse you, as the Instruments and Executioners of his Divine Decrees. Do not then apprehend any thing, but rejoyce that you have been the Instruments of God in so impor­tant a matter. For my part, I am confounded, seeing the triumph of my weakness, and the Haven where, after so many Tempests, I am arrived. I look upon you as the Winds and Oares whereof God, as a wise Pilot, made use to convey me even in the midst of Rocks, and amongst so ma­ny waves unto the Throne of Egypt: Well then, my most dear Brethren, it is time to Convert your fears and Sor­rows into Congratulations and applauses. The winds are now appeased, the storm is layd,Festinate, & ascendite ad patrem m [...]um, & dicetis ei: haec man­dat filius tuus Joseph: Deus fecit me, Domi­num universae terrae Aegypti: Descende ad me, ne morieris. Gen. 45. v. 9. Adhuc enim quinque anni residue sunt fa­mis. Gen. 45.11.and the Sun of Jacob is risen in Egypt. Take a journey then I beseech you, to visit my Father, and inform him that Joseph is found, that you are sent from him, that you have both seen, and spoken with him, and that he sent you to bring him, least some ill might happen to him, and that Death surprise him, as well in respect of his old age, as by reason of the publick miseries, which will still endure for the space of five years.

After this Commission, Osculatus (que) est Jo­seph omnes fratres su­es, & ploravit super singules. Gen. 45. v. 15 Joseph having no other mo­tive which might oblige him to conceal the tenderness of his affections, his Eyes were inforced to render that tribute unto Love, which without violence they could not restrain. Lightnings are too hot to remain inclosed in the Clouds, and Clouds are too cold to endure the rayes of the Sun, without being melted and dissipated. Now the heart of Joseph being like a Thunder bolt wrapt up in Clowds, What wonder then if this Thun­der break forth, and if all the Forces of his heart, which were weaker than the Clouds, dissolved into Tears in the presence of this Sun. Thus was Joseph constrained to shed tears enough upon his Brethren, Cumque ampiexatus recidisset in collum Benjamin flevit. Gen. 45. v. 14. to estate the remnants of their terrors; but in the first place he took Benjamin into his arms, and holding him close to his [Page 220]bosome, Delicious tears. he kissed him, shedding tears on his mouth, which came from the bottome of his heart, and he left him not, but to kiss the rest of his Brethren, and to wit­ness to them by his embraces and tears, the force and tenderness of his affection, which was not onely placed on an Innocent, but also upon Offenders.

Alas! Fair Spectacle.what spectacle of Love? what Theater of Pas­sions? what kisses? what embraces? what tears? O God! what excess of goodness in Joseph? who having been per­secuted by his Brethren even to death, will take no other revenge of the injury he received, than by his Silence, by his Tears, by his Sighes, by his Kisses, and by all sorts of benefits.

Where are then all those pitiless hearts? Deadly Vengeances. where are those mortall vengeances? where those tyrants who know not what it is to pardon when once they are of­fended? where is Joseph? And where is he who after a long Contest, imbraceth his adversaries, who kisses them to stifle all their mischievous designs, and who hath tears of Love to quench the fire which nourished their darkest Passions?

At least there are but few who do like Joseph, that is to say, without interest, without constraint, without dis­simulation, and when they have still the power of re­venge in their hands.

It is said, that a Lion hath so discreet and generous furies, as we need but cast our selves at his Feet to ap­pease him in the height of his rage. But there are more savage and cruell men, A more than bru­tish inhumanity. who cannot temper their wrath, and in what posture soever we set our selves before them, they still remain inflexible. If wounds be layd open unto them, to excite them to compassion, they cast new darts to poison them; If a man humble him­self, they trample upon him; if he flatter them, they are exasperated; If they be intreated, this renders them more obstinate. Above all, they are inexorable and in­flexible, if it lye in their power to do mischief without [Page 221]fear of receiving any from those that may be their victimes, and the Subjects of their brutality. And if some Jmage of Pitty, Love, or Honour touch their Hearts, and draw some drop of water from their Eyes, and some kindnesses from their Hands or Mouths, it is not without vanity and noise. This indulgence must be published in all places, and it seemes that the whole World ought to be advertised of it, as of an univer­sall Jubile. Ridiculous ceremo­n [...]es.

This pardon then is Shamefully acquired, and there are no Ceremonies in the Church, and no Formalities at the bar, which are not to be observed for the confir­mation of this reconciliation, and to render this acco­modation more remarkable. On the contrary, Joseph retires, and will have no other Witnesses of his favours than those who have been the Authors of his misfortunes. He will discover his goodnesse, Auditumque est & ce­lib [...]i sermone vulga­tum in aula Regis: venerunt fratres Jo­seph. Gen. 45. v. 16. Et gavisus est Phara [...] atque omnis familia ejus. Gen. 45. v. 16. Dixitque ad Joseph, ut imperaret fratribus suis dicens, enorate sumenta, ite in terram Chanaan. Gen. 45. v. 17 Et tollite inde patrem vestrum & cognati [...] ­n [...]m & venite ad me & ego dabo vo [...]is om­nia bona Aegypti, ut comedatis medullam terrae. Gen. 45. v. 18. Praecipe etiam ut tol­lent plaustra terra Aegypti ad subvecti [...] ­nem parvulorum suo­rum accongugum. Gen. 45. v. 19. Singulis quoque pro­ferri iussit binas sto­las: Benjamin vero dedit trecent [...]s argente­os cum quin (que) stolis optimis. Gen. 45. v. 22. and con­ceal their malice; his intention is not to confound, but rather to incourage them.

Neverthelesse what ever he did, the whole Court knew immediatly that his Brethren were come. The very noise of it flew even to the Eares of Pharao, who together with all the Servants of his house expresseth an unspeakable joy. But to the end this joy might be universall, his pleasure was that Joseph should com­mand his Brethren to return into Canaan, and bring unto him their Father with his whole Family, that they may live at their ease in the best part of Egypt. Now to the end this might be done with the most convenien­cy, he ordained Chariots to be made ready for them, and horses provided for their wives, Children, and for the most commodious transportation of all the Moveables of their Family.

Joseph forgot nothing which Pharao gave him in Charge. When they were even ready to depart he com­manded that two sutes of apparell should be brought for every one, and over and above five hansome gar­ments [Page 222]for Benjamin, Tantumdem pecuniae, & vestium mittens patri suo. Gen. 45. v. 23 Dimisit ergo fratres suos & proficiscenti­bus ait: Ne irascami­ni in via. Gen. 45. v. 24 with three hundred peeces of Sil­ver; without omiting Jacob to whom he sent the like present. After this he sent them back, chiefly recom­mending unto them Peace and Love.

O God! what pleasing departure! what amiable Sepu­ration, when they leave Joseph to return unto Jacob. Ah! how delicious is it to meet with the Heart of a Bro­ther in the armes of a judge? And to goe directly from a brother unto a Father, to reunite the Father unto his Son, and to live in so well-united and holy a community?

O my Joseph, An amiable relati­on of Joseph to Jesus. my Jesus, and my Saviour, discover unto mee that face so full of Majesty, and those delicious Looks which make the Paradise and felicity of Angels. Ah! my Jesus, since Joseph was your jmage treat me as he treated his Brethren, and appear not unto mee as an incensed judge who contrives the sentence of my death, but as a well-beloved Brother. I confesse that I have betraid you; that I have sold you, and that I sought to de­prive you of life: But you are my Brother, my Joseph, and my Saviour. O my Jesus, pardon me. Alas! I am ravished at the sight of your Grandeurs, and of the glory which invirons you. I should not hope for the happiness to see your Tomb changed into a Throne, your Crosse serv­ing as an Instrument to raise unto you a Trophy of honour, I did not expect to see you a Soveraign in the Egypt of the World. But behold me now a Captive and Criminall at your feet. Behold me wholly confounded and trembling. O my Jesus, take pitty then on me, and say onely that it is you that are my Jesus, and my Brother; afterwards I will goe from you unto your Father and mine, and then I will come with him before you to live forever with him and you.

CHAP. IX. Jacob's going down into Egypt, and the honourable entertainment he there received from Pharaoh.

THere are few Palaces and Houses like that of this inchanted Iland which Fables describe, where the courses of the Planets are alwaies Re­gular, where the Air is free from Clouds, Fire from Smoak, the Ocean from Tempests, and the Earth from Concussions. The Felicity of this World is a great Clock raised upon many Wheels, and a body form'd of divers members, where there is alwaies some difor­der. Love, hatred, aversions, envy, hope, defires, Felicity subject to alteration. ter­rors, shame, choler, jealousies, despites, and rage, joyn with the Soul and Body, with Parents and Friends, with place and seasons, with Elements, and all naturall be­ings, to keep a poor man alwaies floating, and alwaies wavering like a Reed, or as a Bark which is in the midst of the Sea at the mercy of winds and storms. Above all, it is a common saying, saith Pythagoras, that grief and pleasures make the fairest and most deformed faces in the world. These two Passions are on the Earth, what the Sun and Moon are in the Heavens. They cause day and night, Spring and Winter; but we have more frequently Snows than Dewes. And most Men seem to be born under a frightfull Climate, where the night lasts three and twenty hours, and where the Sun very seldome appears. Besides, it is often doubtfull, whether it be the Sun or Moon we behold. We are so accusto­med to darkness, as we know not whether we take the twylight of the evening for the Aurora, Blindness of most men. and day for night. Sorrows and afflictions cast so many clouds over our mind, as the eyes are dazeled, and the first draughts of pleasure which appear to us are in [Page 224]appearance but the Idea of some Dream, and a shadow­ed light in the depth of the night.

Jacob never believed he should ever see Joseph again, Incredulous Love. and after a night of three and Twenty years, he had surely no ground to hope for the return of the Sun; his eyes and spirit were so well acquainted with the rigours of Death, that he no longer minded the sweets of life. In fine, having in a manner made him dye so often, he did not expect they would make him revive in restoring to him his Joseph, who was the life of his heart, and the sight of his eyes.

Nevertheless, Et nunciaverunt ei, dicentes: filius tuus vivit, & ipse domi­natur in omni terra Aegypti. Quo audito Jacob, quasi de gravi somno evigilans, tam [...]n non credebat eis. Gen. 45. v. 26. Illi è contra refere­bant omnem ordinem rei. Cumque vidisset plaustra, & unite sa q [...]ae mis [...]rat, revivil spiritus ejus. Gen. 45. v. 27. Et ait: Sufficit mihi si adhuc Joseph filius meus vivit: vadam & videbo illum ante quam morior. Gen. 45. v. 28. his Children return out of Egypt, and assure him that Joseph is alive, and that he is very power­full in the Land of Pharaoh. Jacob could not believe it, and as a man who suddenly awaked after a long sleep, he took all that was said to him for the Image of a Dream.

In fine, when he perceived that they constantly per­sisted in relating orderly to him all that had passed; and on the other side, seeing all the Baggage they had brought, he began to come unto himself, and as if this happy news had restored him his Speech and life, he be­gan to cry out; It satisfieth me, that Joseph is living. Ah! I will goe unto him, and at least see him once more before I dy. O God! what consolation for a good Father to see again a good Son? he was dead in his thoughts, and behold him risen again; He was lost, and is found again; a cruell Bear had devoured him, and of all his reliques there was onely left him a bloody garment, A strange change. and behold him on a Throne, and Ma­ster of one of the fairest Empires in the Universe. What alteration? and what Metamorphosis? humane Prudence, what sayest thou unto this? Art not thou then ravished at the sight of these Prodigies? hast thou not a desire to submit unto the Lawes of this wise Intel­ligence which sports with these Counsels, and goes even under the Abysses of misfortune there to produce Peace, Glory, and immortality as a fair day in the midst of [Page 225]darkness? Yes truly; but to adore the effects of the Di­vine Providence, and the most absolute power it hath over our lives and honours, We must follow Jacob, and goe visit Joseph.

Love hath wings at his Feet like Fame, Profectus (que) Israel cum omnibus quae hab [...]bat, venit ad puteum jura­menti. Gen. 46. v. 1. he knows not what delay and retardment meaneth. Jacob is on his way to see Joseph, he is already in Bershabe, neer unto that famous Well, where Abraham heretofore made a solemn agreement with Abimelech, and where both of them swore an inviolable peace.

There it was where Jacob stayed to offer his Sacrifice unto God upon the Altar of Abraham. Et mactatis ibi victi­mis Deo patris sui I­saack. Gen. 46. v. 1. Audivit cum per visi­onem noctis vocantem se, & dicentem sibi, Jacob, Jacob, cui re­spondit, Ecce adsum. There having immolated Victimes he resign'd into the hands of God, all the designs of his voyage, he resolves to passe away one night in that place. But scarce had he closed the eyes of the body, but those of his soul were open'd to see and hear the God of his Father Isaack, who called Jacob, Jacob, to which Jacob had nothing else to say, but that he heard his voice, and was most ready to exe­cute his Commands.

Courage then Jacob, Ait illi Deus: Ego sum fortissimus Deus patris tui: noli timere, descende in Aegyp­tum, quia in gentem magnam faci [...]m [...]te i­bi. G [...]. 46. v. 4. Joseph queque ponet manus suos super ocu­los tuos. Gen. 46. v. 4. for it is the most powerfull God of thy Father Isaack, who calls and appoints thee to passe into the Land of Egypt: And there it is where he intends to make thee a Father of many Nations. Yes, saith he, I promise thee Jacob, that I will goe with thee, and I assure thee, that Joseph shall close thine eyes with his own hands. O God! what Sacrifice? what Vi­sion? What Speech, and what Oath?

As for the Sacrifice, in the first place, what Jacob did ought to be an instruction to all those who leave their Country, and intend to alter the course of their lives, that before all things they should consult with God, and take him for their guide, in the Voyages, & designs they take in hand: for it is unto him we ought first to Sacri­fise our hearts, and immolate all our hopes, otherwise we shall look behind us like that wavering Woman, who for her inconstancy was turned into a Statue of Salt.

Secondly, the apparition of God which Jacob saw, is a certain token, that his eye still watcheth over those who dedicate themselves unto him; and that he is nei­ther deaf nor dumb to those that speak unto him.

Thirdly, Gods promise is too faithfull, and his Love too generous to forsake those who walk in his wayes, and have taken him for their guide.

Fourthly, when God promised Iacob to bring him back out of Egypt, this must be understood of his Po­sterity, and of the Israelites, Jacobs Successors, whom God after Two hundred and Fifteen years, brought back out of Egypt into Chanaan: Touching Jacob he dyed in Egypt between Josephs arms, as we are going to see in the sequell of this History. It sufficeth for the present to follow him in the remainder of his voyage.

It was about the morning of the second day that Ja­cob forsook Bershabe to pursue his Journey. Surexit autem Jacob à puteo Juramenti, &c. Gen. 46. v. 6. It was in­deed one of the fairest spectacles which ever appeared on the Confines of Palestine, to see him in the head of his Troops, as a good Father followed by his Chil­dren. But I assure my self it had been most delitious and profitable to hear them, if the holy Scripture would have given us some brief relation of their Discourse. Nevertheless, Cunctae animae ingres­sae sunt cum Jacob in Aegyptum sexaginta, Gen. 46. v. 26. it acquaints us with the number of these happy Travellers, which were seventy in all, comprising therein Joseph, with Manasses, and Ephraim, his two Sons who were born there. Hence it evidently follows, that when Moyses said there went thither Sixty and six, he did neither put in the list Jacob nor Joseph, Manasses nor Ephraim: On the contrary, when Saint Luke rec­koneth Seventy and five, he comprehends in that num­ber, the Sons and Nephews of Joseph, whose birth hapned during the life and residence of this holy Patri­ark in Egypt.

Mean-while Jacob pursues his Journey: Misit autem Judam ante se ad Joseph, ut nunciaret ei; & oc­curreret in Gessen. Gea. 46. v. 28. but before his setting foot in Egypt, he sent Judas to find out Jo­seph, that he might be advertised of his comming, and [Page 227]goe forth to receive him in the Land of Gessen.

Joseph hath no sooner heard this news, Quò cum pervenis­sent juncto Joseph curru, ascendit obviam patri ad eundem lo­cum. Gen. 46. v. 29. but he set forth to meet Iacob. God knows whether the time might seem long unto him, and whether his heart and mind went not faster than his body. God knows also the va­rious thoughts Jacob had in Expecting Joseph, saying, Alas! what pains for one pleasure? what desires for one fruition? what Thorns for one Rose? what Nights for one Day? and how many Combats, and dangers for one Triumph?

In fine, behold Joseph in Jacobs bosome, Ʋidensque eum, irruit super collum ejus, & inter amplexus flevit, Gen. 46. v. 29. Dixi [...]que pater ad Jo­seph, Jam laetus mo­rior, quia vidi faciem tuam & superstitem te relinquo, Gē. 46. v. 30. At ille locutus est a [...] fratres suos, & ad om­nem domum patris sui, ascendam & nunciabo Pharaoni, dicamque [...]i: Fratres mei, & do­mits patris mei qui e­rant in terra Chana­an, venerunt ad me. Gen. 46. v. 31. Cumque vocaverit, & dixerit, quod est opus vestrum? Gē. 46. v. 33 Respondebitis: viri pastores sumus servi tui, ab infantia nostra us (que) in praesens, & nos & patres nostri. Gen. 46. v. 34. behold the Father in the Arms of his Son. Ioseph leaps on his neck, and dearly embraceth him: but he had no other than tears to utter. What then can Iacob say? Ah! my Son, saith he, now that I have seen thy face, I am content, and after this I shall willingly dye; for it sufficeth me to leave thee alive.

After this Ioseph turning himself towards his Bre­thren, and towards all those of Jacobs house, began to say unto them that he was going unto Pharaoh to ad­vertise him, that his Brethren were arrived with their whole Family, and that they had brought their Flocks and goods with them; and when Command should be given them to see the King, if he chanced to ask them of what Trade they were, they should answer, they had no other than that of meer Sheapheards, and that all their [...]indred, who were, as well as themselves his most humble servants, and resolved to live and dye in his service, never had any other employment since their birth.

Behold the instructions Joseph gave to all his Bre­thren, whilst he conducted them with his Father to sa­lute Pharaoh. Now it was not out of Complement he put these words into their Mouths; but upon Design, that the King hearing they were Sheapheards, and brought up in this Profession, might permit them to live peaceably together with their Father in the Land [Page 228]of Gessen, Ʋt habitare positis in terra Gessen: quia de­testantur Aegyptii om­nes pastores ovium. Gen. 46. v. 34. which was neerest unto Chanaan, where there were also lovely Pastures, and where they should be severed from the Egyptians who mortally hated all the Sheapheards which were in their Country, by rea­son they had not the religious impiety of Egypt, which adored Animals for Gods, and who for that effect durst not kill them, detesting for that reason all the Sheap­heards of other Regions, who had the care of Feeding their Flocks, to the end they themselves with others, might be nourished by them.

In fine, Extremos quoque fra­trum suorum quin (que) viros constituit coran Rege. Gen. 47. v. 2. Hebraei, Hemerus, Pe­rerius, Oleaster. In op­timo loco fac eos habi­tare, & trade eis ter­ram Gessen. Gen. 47. v. 6. Quod si nosti in eis esse viros industrios consti­tue illos magistros pe­corum meorum. Gen. 47. v. 6. Post haec introduxit Joseph patrem suum ad Regem, & statuit eum coram co. Gen. 47. v. 7. Et benedicto Rege e­gressus est soras. Gen. 47. v. 10. the advice of Ioseph, and his desire found happy success: For assoon as he was returned unto the Court, he presented unto Pharaoh five of his Brethren, who in shew promised the least. The King having cast his eyes on them, and knowing they were Sheapheards, gave them Gessen for their quarter, and Commanded from that time they should take care of his Flocks.

Not long after Iacob entred, who bore on his brow the Majesty of a King, the authority of a Patriarch, the wisedome of a Prophet, and the glory of a Father of Nations. When first he saw the King, he besought Heaven to pour on him and his Kingdome all sorts of Benedictions.

The holy Scripture hath not otherwise declared un­to us Iacobs entry into the presence of Pharaoh; for my part I have often represented him unto my thoughts at the door, or in the Kings anti-Chamber, bare-headed, and with hair whiter than Snow, a beard down to his girdle, and a neck bowed with old age, eyes watered with tears, and all his whole body somewhat trembling. Me thinks I see him supported on one side with Ioseph, on the other by Benjamin: I even hear some sighs which issue forth of his mouth to refresh the ardors of his heart; for notwithstanding all the coldnesse of his age he alwayes conserved in a dying body, the sense of a truly generous soul, and of a spirit of fire which was ne­ver out of Motion or Action. I know not what Pharaoh [Page 229]thought, seeing this good old man: Et interrogatus ab eo quot sunt dies anno­rum vitae tuae. Gen. 47. v. 7. Respondit: Dies pere­grinationis meae cen­tum triginta annorum sunt, parvi & mali, & non pervenerunt usque ad dies patrum meo um quibus pere­grinati sunt. Gen. 47. v 9. Floscule mane puer, media vir floscule luce, Floscule sub no­cte sole cadents senex. Sic oreris morcrisque uno tu floscule Phoebo, Ʋno sisque puer, vir­que senexque die. but he asked him how old he was, to which he made answer;

Sir, for the space of a hundred and thirty years I have been a Pilgrim on the Earth. This journey truly is very short, if you onely consider its durance; but very long, if you cast your eyes on the miseries of my life; Ne­vertheless, I am not yet arrived to the Term of my Fore-fathers.

Few old men will be found in the World who may not say the same: For life is but a course, in which we go from our Cradle to the Tomb. Dayes, months years, and entire Ages are but moments in the sight of God. Man is but but a Flower which begins to blow at the break of day, to fade about Noon, and to drop a­way at night. He is a shadow which passeth away, a Feather which flyes, a Reed which breaks, an Image which loseth its Luster, a Vapour which is dissipated, a Beauty which perisheth, a breath, a smoak, and a puff of Air, which swells in the midst of a storm, and ap­pears on the water to dissolve at the same instant.

Nevertheless, we need no longer space to see and feel much misery: For it is enough to be born of a wo­man, to be consumed with sorrows, and to serve as a pittifull Subject to all sorts of Accidents; Vicissitudes of life. Witness Ia­cob, who was no sooner come into the World, but he must leave his Fathers house to go from thence with a staff in his hand into Forein Countries, and like a fu­gitive, to shun the persecution of his Brother. We need but follow him in this sad journey, and spend with him Twenty years in quality of a Servant at Labans house; From thence we must depart out of Mesopotamia and bondage, to expose our selves unto dangers of Death, and to meet with Esau, who comes to assail him with four hundred men. We must see him in the affrightment he took, at the Murther his Children committed upon the Sichemites. Had he not also some cause to die at the death of Rachel, and to expire on her body, which [Page 231]inclosed the moitie of his life? But who could behold the sorrow which pierc'd his heart, when his Children were so impudent, as to bring incest even into his house? Surely he would have said that his life was but a web of misfortunes, if we joyn with it the loss of Joseph, the separation of Benjamin, the captivity of Simeon, and finally his last departure out of Chanaan; Life both very short and long. who will de­ny he had reason to say, that his life had been very short, if we only consider the durance thereof, and very long, if we would contemplate the misfortunes contracted at his birth never to forsake him. But as the setting Sun useth to dissipate the Clouds which had obscured it in the day, and as sometimes wind, rain, and a tempest cease in the evening; so Jacob at the end of his life be­gan to enter into a calm, and to enjoy fair weather.

It was in the City of Heros, Joseph verò patri & fratribus suis dedit possessionem in Agypto in optimo terrae loco Ramesses ut p [...]aecepe­rat [...]harao. Gen. 47.11. as the Septuagint have expounded it, or els in Ramasses, which is upon the Land of Gessen, where Jacob made his last abode, and where he found at last a haven after all his miseries, as we are going to see.

CHAP. X. The last words of Jacob.

ALas! there is nothing eternall amongst created things, and nothing which begins not to wax old assoon as it begins to live. Life and Deathare inseparable companions which follow each other at a neer distance, and tread even upon the same steps. God himself, saith Tertullian, Roc stipulata est Dei vox, hoc spopandit om­nt quod nascitur, &c. Tertul. lib. de an. cap. 30. is as it were ingaged thereunto by his word, and all creatures at their birth are obliged unto it by promise at the very instant they enter into the world.

Life notwithstanding hath no regular periods, and though he that made every thing with weight and mea­sure, hath shut up Creatures in the circle of Ages, yet he hath not prescribed them equall limits; but there are [Page 230]some who make their voyages longer or shorter than others. However in vain is it to stray, and take by­wayes: For we must either in the morning, at noon, or in the evening arrive at our Lodging, and after a thou­sand and a thousand windings at our finall resting place. It is there, said Calisthenes, where Fathers and Children, Calesthenes, M.S. young and old, wise men and fools, the strong and weak, and even the demi-Gods, find themselves con­fused with Plants and beasts. Death (said a Favourite of Justinian) pitcheth every where his tents, and we as often hear mournfull Ditties under Velvet Canopies, and in Ballisters of Ivory, as under Pavillions of coarse Cloth, and Cottages thatch'd with straw. We see in Town ditches, and under the dust of Battells, Captains lying amongst Souldiers. We behold under merciless blades, and amongst Scymiters, people lying with their Magistrates: And at best there are but some Stones, some Ciphers, and Epitaphs which distinguish them. Death then is more just and civill than birth. The last hath Complacences for some, and rigours for others; but the first is indifferent towards all, and we see at her feet, Scepters amongst Scyths, with this Inscription, The Motto of Death Nemini parco. I spare no man. Death suffers not its self to be corrup­ted by favour, it is on the River of oblivion, and all the bodyes he ferries over in his Boat are naked, not to appear different one from the other. It was for this rea­son, as the incomparable Picus of Mirandula said; Most important ad­vice. Wise men during their lives, and especially upon the approach of death, ought to perform such actions as their memo­ry might be immortall, to the end if Death be com­mon to them, the manner of dying might be peculiar. The Phoenix is no lesse subject unto death than Owles, but Owles dye in the night, and in a hollow place of some rotten Tree: Whereas the Phoenix expires in the rayes of the Sun, and upon a pile of Cinnamon and Musk. The Swan is no more exempt from it than the Raven: But the Raven dyes craking upon some carri­on, [Page 232]and the Swan singing upon the bank of some fair River.

Jacob, who as the Father of Nations seemd to have right unto Immortality, was yet no more immortall than Esau; but their death will be very different. For Esau dyes suddenly like a Raven, and an Owl; but Ja­cob a far off saw his hours approching; like a Phoenix, and as a Swan which sings according to the common saying, when he is breathing his last.

He was a hundred forty and seven years old when he perceived the arrivall of that moment which was to fi­nish the course of his life. Factique sunt omnes dies vitae illius Cen­tum quadraginta sep­tem annorum. Gen. 47. v 28. Cumque appropinquare cerneret diem mortis suae vocavit filium su­um Joseph, & dixit ad eum: Si inveni gratiam in conspectu tuo pone manum tuam sub femo [...]e meo, & facies mihi misericor­diam & v [...]ritatem, ut non sepelias me in Ae­gypto. Gen. 47. v. 29. Sed dormiam cum pa­tribus meis, & ause­ras me de terra hac condasq, in sepulchno majorum meorum. Gen. 47. v. 30. Rupertus hic. Then this happy Patriark commanding Iosephs presence said unto him;

My Son, it is time for me to dye, there is no appeal. I goe whither Abraham and Isaack are gone before, and you shall come thither after me. Mean-while I prithee, if thou lov'st me, put thy hand under my thigh, and assure me that after my death thou wilt transport my body out of E­gypt into Chanaan, to bury it in the Sepulcher of my fore Fathers. This is all I ask, and all the favour I ex­pect from thy love and goodness.

Iacob had reason to desire to be carried into Chanaan, and laid in the monument of his Ancestors: for this was the Land promised to his Children, and which was to be one day consecrated by the worship of God, and by the presence of the Messias. As for the the Oath to which he oblig'd Ioseph, it did not proceed from any distrust of his affection and fidelity, Adoravit Is [...]ael De­um conversus ad le­ctuli caput. Gen. 47. v. 31. Ribera in c. 11. ad Heb. Abulensis, Et alii hic. His ita transactis nunctatum & Joseph quod aegrotaret pater fuus, qui assumptis d [...]oobus filiis Manasse & Ephraim, ire per­rexit. Gen. 48. v. 1. but it was only done to the end, that if Pharaoh should hinder him from rendring this duty unto his Father, he might answer, he was engaged thereto by Oath.

After this protestation Jacob adored God, first turning his head towards the beds side, where Joseph stood, and directly towards the East, because it was in this place, they were accustomed to offer Sacrifices and erect Al­tars, or rather to cast some look towards the Land of promise on which he had already placed all his hopes and desires.

Afterwards Jacob chancing to fall sick, the news of of it was presently brought unto Joseph, who immedi­atly took with him his two Sons, Manasses and Ephraim, to see him once more, that they might receive his last Benediction. Dictum (que) est Seni: Ecce filius tuns Jo­seph venit ad te. Qui confortatus sedit in le­ctulo. Gen. 48. v. 2. Et ingresso ad se ait: Deus omnipotens ap­paruit mihi in Luza, quae est in terra Cha­naan, benedixit (que) mi­hi. Gen. 48. v. 3. Et ait: Ego te ougebo, & multiplicabo, &c. Gen. 48. v. 4. Duo ergo filti tui, qui nati sunt tibi in terra Aegypti, antequam bue venirem ad te, mei e­runt. Ephraim & Ma­nasses, sicut Ruben & Simeon reputabuntur mihi. Gen. 48. v. 4. Reliquos autem quos genueris post eos, tui e­runt, & nomine fra­trum suorum voca­buntur in possessioni­bus suis. Gen. 48. v. 6.

At the report of Iosephs return, Iacob more vigorous than before, raised himself half up in his bed, and per­ceiving him entring, he said unto him;

My Son, it is necessary thou should'st know that the Om­nipotent God of my forefathers appeared unto me in Luz, which is in the Land of Chanaan, to give me his bene­diction, and to assure me I shall be the Father of a long posterity, and that one day my Children shall be heirs of this most blessed Land. I adopt then thy two Children which were born in Egypt, before I came into these parts, and I will have them from hence forth reputed no less mine than Ruben and Simeon.

Thereby Ioseph came to know that Manasses and E­phraim should have their Tribes a part, and their share of succession in Chanaan, as well as Ruben and Simeon, and his other Children, which was the cause he farther said unto Ioseph, that if he chanced to have other Chil­dren, they should be only in such sort esteemed his, as not to have other Tribe than that of Manasses and E­phraim, and no other share of the Possessions in Cha­naan.

Rachel was not forgotten in his Will, for Iacob ha­ving spoken of his Children, remembred her, and saith to Ioseph;

My Son, I adopt thy Children: Mibi enim quando venicham de Mesopo­tamia mortua est Re­chel in terra Chanaan in ipso itinere, & sepe­livi eam juxta viam Euphratae quae alio no­mine appellabatur Bethlem. Gen. 48. v. 7 Ʋatabius hic.for Rachel by whom I might yet have had more Children dyed too soon for me, and for the good of my whole Family. It was at my return from Mesopotamia, in the Land of Chanaan, and very neer unto Ephrata, that is Bethelem, where she is in­terred.

It is probable, that Iacob might have said more, and that he might have staied longer upon the sad memory [Page 234]of his dear Rachel, if at the same time he had not had a glimpse of Manasses and Ephraim, whom Ioseph pre­sented to him, Adduc, inquit, eorad me, ut benedicam illis. Gen. 48. v. 9. Oculi enim Israel cali­gabant p [...]ae nimia se­nectute, & cl [...]è vi­dere non poterat. Gen. 48. v. 10. Applicitosque ad se de osculatus est, & cir­cumplexus eos. Gen. 48. v. 10. to receive a second time his Benediction.

I know not whether Ioseph, and all that were Wit­nesses of this interview could restrain their tears: But to speak the truth, it was a spectacle worthy of com­passion to behold Iacob upon his death-bed, striving to see the two Children of Ioseph, who drew neer him, and whom he could hardly have known, if Ioseph had not named them, and assur'd him, that they were his Children. Then both of them cast themselves gently on his body, which Iacob feeling, he kissed them one af­ter the other, and then having embraced them, he tur­ned his eyes towards Ioseph, and said unto him.

My Son, Dixit ad filium su­um, non sum frau­datus aspectu tuo: in­super ostendit mihi Deus semen tuum. Gen. 48. v. 11.what a happiness is it for me to see thee before I dye? Ah! surely I never could have believed it: But at last he that never forsakes those who serve him, hath hitherto preserved thee, and it is he who at this instant makes me enjoy the sight of thee, and thy Children.

Iacob notwithstanding, did not suffer Manasses and Ephraim to depart, but held them still in his arms and on his breast, untill Ioseph, who feard they might dis­ease him, Cumque tulisset eos Joseph 'de gremio pa­tris adoravit pronus in terram. Gen. 48. v. 12. Et posuit Ephraim ad dexteram suam, id est, ad sinistram Israel, Manassen verò in si­nistra sua ad dextram scilicet patris, appli­cuit (que) ambes ad eum. Gen. 48. v. 13. Benedicitque Jacob filiis Joseph & ait, Gen. 48. v. 15. Which being done, he cast himself on his knees neer Iacobs bed to adore his God, and to thank him for the favours his goodness had im­parted to him. Afterwards, perceiving that this holy man, by little and little drew neer his end, he set Ephra­im at his right side, and Manasses at his left, to place Ma­nasses on the right hand of Jacob, Ephraim on the left. But Jacob who saw less with the eyes of the body, than with those of his soul, and who considered not so much the present as the future, holding his arms across, laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, who was the youngest, and his left on Manasses, who was the eldest, and blessed them both in this manner. Deus in cujus con­psecta ambulaverunt pitres mei, &c. Gen. 48. v. 15.

I beseech with my whole heart, that God in whose pre­sence my fore-Fathers, Abraham and Isaack, have wal­ked, [Page 235]that God who nourished me from my tendrest youth even to this day,Angelus qui eruit me de cunctis malis, be­nedicat pueris istis, & invocetur super eos no­men meum. &c. Gen. 48. v. 16.that Angel who hath guarded me from all evill, to vouchsafe a blessing unto these two Children. Let my name, and that of my fore-fathers Abraham and Jsaack, be earnestly called upon for them, and may they have large increase upon the earth.

Joseph grew sad, Videns autem Joseph quod posuisset pater suus dexteram manum super caput Ephraim graviter accepit, &c. Gen. 48. v. 17. seeing his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, and endeavoured to put it on that of Manasses, advertising Jacob that he had taken the younger for the elder brother.

But Jacob answered, Qui renuens ait, Scie fili mi, scio, & iste qui­dem erit in populos & multiplicabitur: sed frater ejus minor, ma­ior erit illo, & semen illius crescet in gentes. Gen. 48. v. 19. Benedixitque eis in tempore illo dicens: in te benedicetur Israel, atque dicetur, faciat tibi deus sicut Ephra­im & Manasse. con­stituitque Ephraim an­te Manassen. Gen. 48. v. 20. Et ait ad Joseph fili­um suum: En ego mo­rior & erit Deus vo­biscum, reducetque vos ad terram patrum vestrorum. Gen. 48. v. 21. Do tibi partem unant extra sratres tuos quam tuti de manu Amorrhae [...]in gladio & arcu meo. Gen. 48. v. 22. that he well knew what he did, and that for the rest Manasses should be powerfull in people, and in all sorts of possessions. But that Ephraim though he were the least and youngest should exceed him, and have a larger posterity than he.

In effect, he gave them his benediction, and pre­ferring the youngest before the eldest he finished this Ceremony in saying,

Israel shall be blessed in you, and when Parents shall give their blessings unto their Children, they shall beseech God to multiply them as he hath Multiplyed those of Ephraim and Manasses.

After this Jacob began to turn himself towards Jo­seph to advertise him that he was now dying, and that for the rest God would be with him and his Children, and would bring them all back into the Country of their fore fathers.

In fine, he gave unto Ioseph, as a birth-right above his Brethren, the Land he had in Sichem which was one of the fairest parts of his possessions, and which he particularly affected, as having formerly acquired it by force of armes from the Amorites.

CHAP. XI. The last Will and Testament of Jacob, containing the benedictions given unto the twelve Patriarks.

AMongst all the exercises of life there is not any one more necessary and more important than timely to learn the manner of dying pioussy. Death layes every where ambushes for us, and only waits for the hour to surprise us: It is a difficult Art to die well. But there is scarce any person who can dispose himself to expect it, by reason the bare thought of it useth to terrifie us. Nevertheless wee must grow familiar with this cruell tyrant, and per­form very often during life what wee could wish lay in our power to doe at the hower of death, otherwise wee find our selves surprised, when this Mercilesse ex­ecutioner takes a trumpet in his hand to sound the last retreat which must be made unto the tomb. Then is it that the loudest talkers become dumb, and that the boldest are wholy out of countenance, and many in this state are so far from thinking on others, as they hardly know themselves.

It is a great comfort neverthelesse, Vocavit autem Jacob filios suos, & ait eis: congregamini ut an­nuntiem quae ventura sunt vobis in diebus novissimis. Gen. 49. v. 1. to have words and blessings in our mouths even to the last gasp, and to be able to dye like Iacob, who drawing neer his pas­sage, called together his Children, and particularly re­monstrated unto each of them in these termes, the con­dition and course wherein their affaris should be in ti meto come.

Ruben my Eldest Son, Ruben primogenitus, tu fortitudo mea, & prin­cipium doloris mei: prior in donis, major in imperio. Gen. 49. v. 3. I gave thee life being in the flower and strength of my age, thou art the first, for whom I had those cares and disquiets which fathers commonly have in the education of their Children: Thy advantages and privileges ought to be greater than those of others, and thy posterity more powerfull than that of thy brethren.

Nature made thee their Chief, and their Prince: Effusus eis sicut aqua, non crescas: quia as­cendisti cubile patris tui, & maculasti stra­tum cjus. Gen. 49. v. 4. But the Justice of God who never leaves a Crime unpu­nished, will revenge that which thou hast committed in staining my bed; And as odours which are tainted, lose their vertue; so the effusion and prostitution thou hast made of thy self will occasion that thy race and po­sterity shall never be considerable, either by Authority, Number, or Riches.

Simeon and Levi, impious Warriors, Simeon & Levi sia­tres: vasa iniquitatis bellantia. Gen. 49. v 5. whom a blind fury hath rendred, more like than nature, and bloud, you are the Instruments and Authors of the unjust and bloudy slaughter of the Sichemites: In consilium corum non veniat anima mea, &c. Gen. 49. v. 6. I did not approve the effects of your cruell revenge, when it was execu­ted, I then condemn'd it, and shall condemn it now dy­ing, and detest the fury and brutish perfidiousness which made you surprise and massacre Hemor, Sichem, the Father and Son with their Subjects; Maledictus suror eo­rum, quia pertinax, & indignatio corum, quia dura: d [...]vidam vos in Jacob, & dispergam eos in Israel. Gen. 49. v. 9. The disclaim I made of your cruelty shall not be without effect: Be­cause you have conspired to doe mischief, you shall be for ever separated; So obstinate and inveterate hatred as yours deserves a lasting chastisement, which will take from you all the power of re-uniting your selves to ex­ecute your wicked designs.

Juda, Juda, te laudabunt fratres tui: manus tua in cervicibus inimico­rum tuorum, adora­bunt te filii patris tui. Gen. 49. v. 8. you shall be praised and honoured by your Bre­thren, they shall adore and acknowledge you for their King, you shall triumph over your enemies, and be more dreadfull than a young Lion whom hunger ex­cites to the rage which is naturall to him; you shall march with your victorious Army, to make the Usurpers feel that they shall not long enjoy their tyrannicall Con­quests. The happiness inseparably fastned to your Arms shall render you formidable, when you are in peace, and you shall have no neighbour so bold, as to declare warre against you, to regain what you have ta­ken from him.

The Crown shall not depart out of the house of Ju­da, and it shall give Kings unto Judea, even till the [Page 239]comming of the Messias, Non auferetur Scep­trum de Juda, &c. who will be the desire and ge­nerall expectation of all Nations in the World. This great Prince shall unite the Jews and Gentiles, Donec veniat qui mit­tendus est: & ipse erit expectatio gentium. Gen. 49. v. 10. and these two people shall make but one. It is true that this union shall cost him dear: for having but one deportment and countenance, to which all people shall bear respect, and invest him with the power of commanding them as a Soveraign, his eyes being full of splendour and light­nings, Pulcriores sunt oculi ejus vino, & dentes e­jus lacte candidiores. Gen. 49. v. 12. He being the most beautifull, and most accom­plish'd of all men, will not rest satisfied by his incom­parable attractives to vanquish hearts, and linck them fast together; but will mingle an effusion of his Divine bloud to perfect this alliance, Vide Tertul. S. Am­bros. ubi de benedicti­one patriae, c. 4. & S. Chrys. and wil die in bloud his sa­cred body, which as a Robe & pretious Mantle shal cover the wonders of the Divinitie personally united to him.

Zabulon shall dwell on the Sea-shore, Zabulon littore maris babitabit, & in sta­tione navium pertin­gens us (que) ad Sidonem. Gen. 49. v. 13. Issachar asinus fortis, accubans inter termi nos, Gen. 49 v. 14. Ʋidit requiem quod esset bona, & terram quod optima, &c. Gen. 49. v. 15. and in the Ha­vens which are on the coasts of Palestine, even 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, [Page 238]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, inviderunt (que) 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 [Page 239] [...] [Page 238] [...] [Page 240]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, B [...]njamin [...]upus ra­pax mane comedet praedam, & vesyere divid [...] 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, [Page 241]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, or else the Storms of the day which preceded. And truly, what can a dying man say, who hath lived in the intriges of Fortune, in the Labyrinth of Law-suites, in the incom­brances of a Family, in an abysse of passions, and in a hell of Miseries? after this, what can you expect from these infortunate Parents, and from these miserable friends, which cannot say any thing to themselves, but that they are hopelesse? Ah! what farewell? what sepa­ration? and what kind of death?

Children of Saints, predestinate Souls, happy Succes­sors of Jacob, fall not into these precipices, but follow the way and tracks which are marked out to you by your fore-fathers. And thou, my dear Reader, build at least an Oratory in thy heart, and make a Temple of thy house, and an Altar of thy Bed, where thou maist offer unto God, what thou hast, what thou art, and what thou hast been. In fine, have then words in thy mouth for thy self, for thy Children and Friends, to the end ha­ving given thy benediction to those that have deserved it, thou maist obtain the blessing of God, who is thy Fa­ther, thy King, thy Maker, and thy last end.

CHAP. XII. The Lamentations of Joseph for the Death of Jacob.

NAture useth to exact duties which cannot be de­ny'd her without Injustice, and some kind of cruelty. A man must have the soul of a Tyger to be devoyd of grief and resentment for the miseries of a Parent or friend, then chiefly when he either hears them related, or is a witness of them. I know there are shame­full defects and misbeseeming a good courage; and sometimes teares and sighes serve but to vent weak­nesses, and to betray the constancy wee ought to have: But very often there are Tributes which must be pay­ed unto love and piety; And such tears as these (saith St. Ipsae dulces lacrimae sunt, ipsi fletus iucun­di, quibus restinguitur ardor animo & quasi relaxatus evaporat af­fectus. Ambr. Ambrose) quench the ardors of our Souls, and cause our sincerest and most tender affections sweetly to evaporate by our eyes. These are generous tears and impositions unto which the noblest persons are most obliged. For my part I laugh at certain slight Philo­sophers who study to shew in their Stoicall countenan­ces, and hold as the Principle of their Academy, That we must be always equall without distinguishing, That there is a certain equality, more proper to a marble Statue, than to a reasonable man. The wisest Philosophy hath far better Maxims, and one of her Axiomes is, that There are times & occasions which require sentiments of Joy, and other seasons which demand expressions of grief. And truly were it a hansome thing to see a Son with a smiling countenance and dry eyes at the Tomb of his father? It would be a strange spectacle to see him in the midst of a banquet, and at a Ball, when his Father is laid in the earth; and I would willingly know a­mongst what nations, and in what sect, there are lawes which dispense with what is due unto the sweet memo­ry of the living and dead. Above all, the custome of [Page 243]funerals, and those ceremonies which, Quod cernens Joseph, ruit super faciem pa­tris flens, & deoscu­lans eum, Gen. 50. v. 1. Praecepitque servis su­is medicis, ut aroma­tibus condirent patrem Gen. 50. v. 2. Flevitque eum Aegyp­tus septuaginta diebus. Gen. 50. v. 3. Dixitque ei Pharao: ascende & sepeli pa­trem tuum sicut adju­ratus es. Gen. 50. v. 6. Quo ascendente ierunt cum coomnes senes do­mus Pharaonis, cun­ctique majores natu terrae Aegypti. Gen. 50. v. 7. Domus Joseph cum fratribus suis, &c. Gen. 50. v. 8. Habuit quoque in co­mitatu currus & equi­tes, &c. Gen. 50. v 9. Absque parvulis, & gregibus atque armen­tis quae dereliquerant in terra Gesson. Gen. 50. v 8. Veneruntque ad aream Atad quae sita est trans Io [...]danem, &c. Gen. 50. v. 10. ubi celebrantes exequi­as planctu magno at­que vebementi imple­verunt septem dies. Gen. 50. v. 10. Reversusque est Joseph in Aegyptum cum fra­tribus suis. Gen. 50. v. 14. Quo mortuo timentes sratres ejus, & mutuo colloquentes: ne fortè memor sit injuriae quam passus est, & reddut nobis omne malum quod fecimus. Gen. 50. v. 15. though very dif­ferent, have been alwayes observ'd in like accidents, are so just and antient, as wee cannot condemn them without accusing the first men in the World, and those eminent persons who have been the Masters of virtue and piety.

Witness Joseph, who having received in his bosome, and into his mouth, the last groans of his father, cast himself on his body, and whilst he watered his face with tears, procur'd Physicians to imbalm him accord­ing to the custome of the Egyptians, who spent seaventy dayes in mourning for Jacob. After which Joseph ask'd and obtain'd leave of Pharaoh to conduct him unto the Monument he had bought in Canaan, to which he was followed by the old men of Egypt, and by all the most antient Officers of the kings house. I find not in what ranck Josephs brethren went, but they were ac­companied thither by a great number of Chariots and horse-men, which joyn'd together, made up a great Convoy, although all the Children and troops had been left in the land of Gessen.

In fine, they all ariv'd at a spatious place which was beyond Jordan, which the Hebrews called Atad, by reason it was covered all over with Thorns, and which now bears the name of Betagla, which is as much to say, the lodging of the circle, because the Children of Jacob set themselves there in order to perform the Ceremonies of the funerall, and to deplore the losse of their father with the greatest demonstration of sor­row, all which was performed in the court of Atad, and in this house of tears, for the space of seaven intire dayes. Afterwards Joseph with his brethren, and all the rest of the Convoy, return'd into Egypt, to settle themselves in their usuall employments. Now it was there, where fear which is the inseparable companion of a guilty soul, had leisure again to agitate these poor wretches, who perswaded themselves that having lost [Page 244]their Father, there remained nothing for them but a Judge in the person of their Brother, who had motives powerrull enough to revenge himself of their disloyal­ty. Mandaverunt ei di­centes: pater tuus praecepit nobis ante­quam moreretur, Gen. 40. v. 16. Ʋt haec tibi verbis illi­us diceremus: obse­cro, ut obliviscaris sce­leris fratrum tuorum, &c. Gen. 50. v 17. Quibus auditis flevit Joseph. Gen. 50. v. 17. Veneruntque ad cum fratres sui, & proni adorantes in terram, dixerunt, servi tui su­mus. Gen. 50. v. 18. Quibus ille respondit: Nolite timcre; Ego pascam vos & parvu­los vestros, &c. Gen. 50. v. 21. Some remedy must then be found to oppose the dan­ger which threatned them. To this effect they chose one amongst them, who should goe unto Joseph, and whose Commission was to inform him, that Jacob their de­ceased Father of happy memory had commanded them at his death to tell him, that he desired him to forget what was past, and they all conjur'd him in his name to grant this favour.

Which Joseph hearing, he began to weep, and his tears serv'd to assure his Brethren, who cast themselves at his feet, taking at the same time the boldness of their own accord to demand that Pardon from him, which they had already solicited by the means of Benjamin, or some other, who they believed would be more ac­ceptable to him; adding besides, that they were all his Servants, and resolved to live and dy in that quality: To which Joseph answered, that they need not fear any thing, that he would take care of them, and of all their Children, and for the rest he would not be less pittifull towards them than God, whose example he follow'd, and who had changed all their evill purposes into fa­vourable occasions to procure his good, having also rar­sed him, as it were, on a Throne of honour, and power, by the same Arms they had used to precipitate him into an Abyss of miseries and calamities.

Behold the sense of a noble Soul, and of a generous courage, whose tears did not resemble those of Croca­diles, nor such kindnesses as are used by Apes which strangle in flattering, and in shedding feign'd tears.

Revenge is only proper unto weak minds, whereas Cle­mency resides alwayes in a strong spirit. Cruelty is a Ty­ranny, and meekness a true Empire: To want the power of retaining any bad resentment is to be invulnerable; And those souls also on the contrary, are alwayes cove­red [Page 245]with Wounds and Ulcers which keep in their hearts desire of revenge, and cannot grant a Pardon. This is more deplorable, in respect neither God nor Man have any compassion for those who cannot afford it unto the miseries of others: And on the contrary, either soon or late, there are treasures of graces for those on whom good nature or vertue bestows those amiable inclinati­ons, which are mortall enemies to revenge and cruelty.

And it was, I assure my self, upon this occasion, and to gratifie Joseph for the good entertainment he had gi­ven his Brethren, and the sweet correspondeney he en­devoured to hold with them in despight of all the bad Offices he had received from them, that all the powers of Heaven and Earth combin'd to render him perfect­ly happy, almost during the whole course of his life, which reached to one hundred and ten years, Vixitque centum de­cem annis. Gen. 50. v. 22. Et vidit Ephraim si­bios usque ad tertiam generationem. Gen. 50. v. 22. Et conditus aromati­bus, reposi [...]us est locu­lo in Aegypto. Gen. 50. v. 25. at the end of which he saw himself invironed by his Children, and by his Childrens Children, even to the third generati­on, who at last rendred him all the same duties which they had done unto Jacob: for being dead, they imbal­med him, and his bones a long time after were carried into the Land of promise, according to the desire of this great Patriarch, from whose end, as from that of his forefathers, we ought to conclude, that it is good to lead a vertuous life, that we may dye holily. Wee dye e­very hour, and our life is a living death, which consumes of it self: our looks, our vows, our words, our gestures, and all our motions are steps which conduct us to the Tomb.

CHAP. I. His Birth and Education.

THe prodigious increase of the people of Israel, Filii Israel erevtrunt, & quasi germinantes multiplicati sunt, ac roborati nimis imple­verunt terram. Exod. 1 v. 7. Creverunt Hebraei di­vinitus foecundata eo­rum multitudine. Aug. lib. 18. de Civit. c. 7. in the Land of Egypt, after the decease of Jacob, and of all his Chil­dren, was not only a work of Nature, but a miraculous effect of Divine Pro­vidence, which inkindled the Ashes of these blessed Patriarcks, and intended that their Tombs should be an unexhaustible Spring of life and immor­tality.

Egypt neverthelesse was too much blinded to pene­trate these secrets; Surrexit interea Rex novus super Aegyp­tum, qui ignorabat Joseph. Exod. 1. v. 8. Et ait ad populum su­um: Ecce populus fi­liorum Israel multus, & fortior nobis est. Exod. 1. v. 9. And Joseph being dead, he that took the reigns of the Empire not knowing the services, this wise Minister of State had rendred unto his Predeces­sors for the space of fourscore years, seeing that the Is­raelites went on daily increasing in forces and men, re­solv'd to humble and suppresse them, lest in time they might chance to joyn themselves with the enemies [Page 247]of his Kingdom, and form a Party against the State.

Nevertheless, Venite, sapicuter oppri­mamus eum, ne fortè multiplicetur, & si in­gruerit contra nos bel­lum, addatur inimicis nostris, expugnatisque nobis egrediatur de ter­ra. Exod. 1. v. 10. they were like those Grains which shoot out of the Earth, and bear a thousand little Ears, which the Wind, Sun, and Rain beat not down, but to make new productions. But this yong Pharaoh who began to Reign, hath not eyes quick enough to discern these mysteries, and his hand, though most powerful, was yet too weak to destroy this fair Nation.

Jacob is dead, Joseph is deceased, and this illustri­ous Colony which left Canaan to come into Egypt, hath followed Abraham and Isaac, They are no more, but the Children of their Children, and their Posterity shall never end.

In vain is it to cast them into servitude, Quantó [...]ue opprime­bant eos, tan [...]o magis multiplicabantur, & crescebant. Exod. 1. v. 12. to impose on them a yoke a thousand times more cruel than death, and to load them with Irons like Victims: These punish­ments, this bondage, and all these chains serve but to reinforce their Bodies; and me thinks the sweat which drops from their Fore-heads in the midst of their pains, is converted into the Juice of Life, which renders them marvellously fruitful.

Have you not seen a River which issueth imperi­ously after it had passed through the midst of Rocks? There are no banks, nor limits, nor any obstacles which it draws not a long with it; It swells, the more it is re­strained, and commonly its highest elevations grow from its greatest falls. Thus the people of Israel, little in their Birth, and as a little Rill in its source, in­creaseth, the more it is restrained; and like an impetuous torrent, which hath broken its Banks, Oderuntque filios Isra­ël Aegyptii, & afflige­bant, illudentes eis. Exod. 1. v. 13. Atque ad amaritudi­nem perducebant vitam eorum, operibus duris luti, lateris, omnique famulatu, quo in terrae operibus premebantur: Exod. 1. v. 14. it extends it self in a prodigious maner.

This was the occasion of the mortal hatred the Egyptians conceived 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 [Page 248]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 p [...]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 [Page 249]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 [Page 250]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 [...]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 Maids to see what it was. I know not who was this fortunate Hand­maid which had this Commission, but she brought unto her Mistress the little Vessel, in which was inclosed the Honor and Prosperity of the people of Israel. Yet at first there onely appeared a childe weeping, in its swad­ling clothes, and whose bare aspect moved compassion in this good Princess, who perceived that it was an effect of her Fathers Edicts, C [...]i soror pueri: Vis, inquit, ut vadam, & vocem tibi mulierem Hebraeam, &c. Exod. 2. v. 8. and some remnant of Egypts misfortune.

The Sister then of this found Infant, who expected nothing less than such an incounter, asked whether they [Page 251]would think it fit for her to bring a Nurse for him: Respondit: Vade. Per­rexit puella, &c. Ex­od. 2. v. 8. Ad quam locuta fi [...]ià Pharaonis: Accipe ait puerum istum, &c. Exod. 2. v. 9. To which the Princess having willingly condescended, she ran instantly to finde the Mother of the childe, who came as unknown to present her self; and to whom pre­sently the Daughter of Pharaoh gave the charge of nur­sing up this Infant.

O God! How profound are thy thoughts, and how im­penetrable are they to ignorant and frantick souls? When will the day come, when thou wilt withdraw the veil which hides from us so many secrets? Children of men, poor Egyptians, blinde people! Will you never open your eyes to follow the light of this sage Intelligence, which governs the World under his Laws?

Is it not the part of a Fool to endeavor to stop the course of this Primum mobile, which moves the Hea­vens, and makes all the Elements to quake? Is it not to oppose Feathers unto the Waves of the Sea, and to the Thunders of the Air? Is it not to be more brutish, and less sensible than Beasts, which follow the instinct and conduct of their Creator?

It is then in my Dominion (saith this Lord) all Beasts of the Forests abide, they are all mine, Sovereign Empire. and it is in my bosom, where I see every year the beauty of the Fields displaying it self. It is I who bear Riches and Honors in my hands, and who place Diadems upon the heads of Kings.

All Temples then must be demolished, and all Al­tars rased, where we adore casual Destinies and fright­ful Fortunes, which yield nothing but smoke, obscurity, dread, and terror.

For my part, Confidence in God. I had rather float in a Cradle of Bul­rushes, and land at a good Haven, having God for my Pilot, his Providence for my Helm, his Power for my Mast, Hopes for my Sails, his Love for my Cordages, Faith for my Anchors, his Favor for my sweet Gales, and good Works for my Oars, than to bury my self a­live in the midst of an Abyss, led by Pharaoh, and fol­lowed [Page 252]by an Army, which hath neither Assurance nor Hope, but on the Wings of the Winds, always light and mutable, in an Element ever perfidious, amongst unskilful men, and a thousand hazards, which blow in the Sails, and govern the Stern, during the course of so dangerous a Navigation.

O my Saviour! I am but an Orphan abandoned by Father and Mother, forsake me not, be thou my guide upon the Billows, and in the Tempests of this life, my Watch-Tower in the midst of the Night, and my secure Haven during the storm. O my most sweet and most amiable Redeemer! do not abandon me, since I am thine both by Nature and Grace; at least place me under the protection of thy Mother, of thy Daugh­ter, and of the Eldest Sister thou hast given me. It is e­nough for me to live in the favor of Mary, it sufficeth me to enjoy the least of her regards, to be eternally happy.

Let us steer then, O my Soul, Let us steer against the current of the Water. Pharaoh loseth his labor; in despight of Egypts rage, of Hell, and of all the In­fernal Spirits, soon or late thou wilt land in the fortu­nate Iland, where thou shalt be received into the Arms of the Queen of Heaven.

Yes, Desireable Lot. my Soul, if thou dost dedicate thy self unto thy God, I promise thee a Fortune as glorious as that of this little Infant, which was exposed on the River Nilus, and who under the amiable conduct of his Sister Mary, hapned to fall into the lap of a Queen, who adopted him for her Son. Where observe I be­seech you, Quem illa adoptavit in bocum filii, voca­vitque nomen ejus Moises, dicens: Quia de aquis tuli eum. Ex­od. 2. v. 10. That it was this Royal Mouth, which for a sign she had prese rved him from the Waters, gave him this fair name of Moses, and caused him to be e­ducted and taught at Court, with cares worthy of a wise Princess, and a good Mother. It was in this Noble School he learnt all the Arts and Sciences which were then current in Egypt, that is to say, Geometry, Arith­metick, Astronomy, Musick, and the most hidden [Page 253]Mysteries of the Hierogliphick, in which were found all the rarest Secrets of naturall Philosophy, Theology and Policy. Clement Alexandrinus also believed, that he then learn't Physick, and the Civill Law. Philo adds over and above, that they called thither Masters out of Greece, as the best versed in the Liberall Sciences, and Chaldeans came by her appointment to teach him the way how to foretell things to come by the aspect of the Planets; as also Assyrians to teach him their Ci­phers and Characters. In fine, it is most certain that God poured his most beautifull Lights into his mind, and it was this great Master, who taught him the Com­mand over Passions, and chiefly Meekness, Love, Affa­bility, Liberality, greatness of Courage, and all the Vertues requisite for a person who was to be Gover­nour of the people of Israel, and the Lieutenant Gene­rall of the Armies of the Omnipotent God.

CHAP. II. The Zeal of Moses, and his Marriage with the Daughter of the Prince of Madian.

THe fairest Vertues would be but bodyes without a Soul, Planets without light, Excellency of Zeal and its Source. and extinguished Torches, if these generous ardors, and those bright ir­radiations which we call by the name of Zeal, and will give motion, light, and splendour unto the most holy Actions, were taken from them. God himself was plea­sed to take upon him the name of Zelot; and when he appeared unto the Prophet under the shape of a man, having one half of his body in a flame of fire, this was but an Image of the Zeal which inflames him. And it is for this cause, as I believe, Sophonius said, that the world shall be devoured by the fire of this Divine Zeal. Now it is out of this Furnace that Angels and Men [Page 254]have drawn vigorous flames which inkindled in their hearts a Zeal which all the waters of the Deluge could not have quench'd; Viditque afflictionem corum & [...]rum Ae­gyptiacum percutien­tem quendam de He­braeis fratribus suis. Exod. 2. v. 11. Cumque circumspex­isset huc atque illuc, & nullum adesse vi­d [...]ss [...]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 [Page 255]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. 1 [...]. 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 [Page 256]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 a (que)uam, & 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 testifie at least by their sighs and tears the violence and injustice of the slavery in which they had lived: for their Clamour having ascended unto heaven, he that is always propitious to those who ear­nestly call upon him, shewed them that he had not [Page 257]forgotten the pact and agreement he had made with Abraham, Isaack, and Jacob.

CHAP. III. Of the flaming Bush.

THE office of a Shepheard was antiently a no­ble imployment. The Apprentiship of Empires. And Philo who hath been one of the most faithfull Historians of the first ages, called it in expresse termes the prelude to an Em­pire, that is to say, to the government of men, which ought to be the most humane and most amiable of all others. This most wise and learned Authour passed much further: for he believ'd that person could be only perfect in the art of ruling, who was a good Shep­heard, and who governing flocks whose conduct is most facil, had learnt how a man must behave himself in commanding those whose government is more dif­ficult and important.

It was then for this cause the first men of the world, The first shepheards of the world. and the most illustrious persons of the old Testament had this innocent imployment, as if God would have them passe this apprentiship, to render them capable of ruling this people, for whom he had a particular care.

It was also for the most part in these imployments which have less of Pomp and splendour than sweet­ness and repose, that God who delightes in humility and peace, hath chosen humble and peaceable souls to give himself unto them, and make them both see and feel that it was his hand which had guided them in the fields and out of the noise and tumults, to the end their minds might be better prepared to hear and re­ceive the laws and precepts which he intended to give them, and that the night and obscurity of a Country [Page 258]and solitary life, Moises autem pascebat oves Gethro soceri sui sacerdotis Madian, cumque minasset gre­gem ad interiora de­serti venit ad montem Dci Horeb. Exod. 3. v. 1. Apparuit ei Domi­nus in flimma ignis de medior rubi, & vi­debat quod rubus arde­ret & non conburere­tur. Exod. 3. v. 2. might serve to raise the luster of that glory and dignity to which he had designed them.

So when Moses went guiding the sheep of Iethro, who was his father-in-Law, one day as he was in the thickest part of the desart, whether the feeding were better, or whether, as it is more probable, he had a desire to attend more sweetly to contemplation; ha­ving at length reached the top of Mount Sina called Horeb, he saw God in a fiery Bush, which neverthelesse was not consumed in the midst of the flames.

This was no illusion of the Understanding, The verity of the Bush. the figure of a dream, nor any phantasticall image which ap­pear'd to Moses; But the second Person of the most holy Trinity, or at least some Angell who repre­sented him.

This fire likewise was a true and real fire, produ­ced by a Divine breathing, and by an Angelicall hand, which without breaking the Laws of Nature was able to draw this fire either out of Wood, the Air, or those stones which were about this sacred Bush. The respect neverthelesse the fire bore unto a mat­ter which it never spares, was not naturall, there requir'd a Miracle to stay the course of its activity; and the rigour of those flames which issued forth of the earth had not left this Wood unconsum'd, if He whose least glance inlightens the stars in the heavens, & without whom the Sun & Moon would remain in dark­ness, had not suspended for a while this active conjuncti­on, and these fertile and powerfull influences, without which creatures have neither life, motion, nor action.

Now to understand what this miracle deno­ted, A fair subject of En [...]gma. we must presuppose that Fire hath been al­ways a Symbol of the Divinity, not only amongst the Egyptians, Grecians, Chaldeans, and Romans, but a­mongst all other people of the Earth, who have not seen any thing more conformable & more resembling a most pure, Divine flames. subtill, simple and luminous Nature, living only [Page 259]in the splendours and flames which flow from its sub­stance, then a most pure, subtile, simple Element, which hath no life, but amidst Lights and Ardours naturall to it. It being so, this Enigma can have no other literal sense than this.

This fire is the Image of God, and the flaming Bush a figure of the Israelites, whom these Divine flames kept in a gentle heat, where like gold in the Furnace, they might be purified, but not consum'd.

They that will otherwise explicate this Picture, may say, that this is. God cloathed with our humane nature, & the Aeternall Word, who is all fire, who cast himself a­midst the Thorns and Brambles of a weak and mortall nature, which could not yet be consumed by the ardours of those flames which incompass it on all sides.

Others, with Rupertus, Theodoret, and St. Bernard, will believe, that it was a figure of the blessed Virgin, whose Chastity, as a fiery bush, could not be violated, although she had brought forth him, who is nothing but Splendour, Fire, Light and Ardour. However it be, and what ever can be said of it, we must approach neerer unto it with Moses, and behold with a holy respect this Stupendious Vision. Cernens autem Domi­nus quod pergeret ad videndum, vocavit eum de medio rubi, & ait: Moses, Moses, qui respondit, adsum. Exed. 3. v. 4. At ill [...], ne appropies, inquit, huc, solve cal­ceamentum de [...]edibus tuis, locus enim in quo stas terra sancta est, Exod. 3. v. 5. Et ait: Ego sum Deus patris tui, Deus A­brabam, Deus Isaac, & Deus Jacob. Exod. 3. v. 6. Abscondit Moises fa­ciem sua [...], non enim audebat aspicere con­tra Deum. Exod. 3. v. 6

I hear already the voice of God, who calls this hap­py solitary person, and who in the midst of this flaming Pyle say's unto him, Moses, Moses; Lord what is thy pleasure, answers this amiable Sheapheard, Behold me ready to doe all that thou shalt command.

The sight of this Sacred Bush had surprised him, and given him a holy Curiosity to approach, and see it neer at hand: But as he advanced, God sayd unto him, that the place where he set his Feet was Holy ground, that he must put off his shooes, and besides, He that had spoken to him, was the great God of his Father, the God of A­braham, Isaack and Jacob.

At these words Moses remained so much astonished, and the sight of this Object ravished him with so sweet [Page 260]a violence, as he was inforc'd to veil his Eyes, too weak to endure the Splendor and Majesty of God, who see­ing him so plyable and obedient, spake to him as a good Father, who feels his heart touched with compassion for the miseries of his poor Children.

I have, Cui ait: Vidi affli­ctionem populi mei in Egypto, &c. Exod. 3. v. 7. Et sciens dolorem ejus, descendi, ut liberem eum de manibus Ae­gyptiorum. Exod. 3. v. 8. Et educam de terra il­la in terram bonam, & spatiosam, in ter­ram quae fluit lacte & melle, ad loca Chana­naei, & Hethaei, & A­morrhaei, & pheresaei, & Hevaei, & Jebu­saei. Exod. 3. v. 8. Sed veni, & mittam te ad Pharaonem, ut educas populum me­um, filios Israel, de Aegypto. Exod. 3. v. 10 Qui dixit ei, ego ero tecum, & hoc habebis signum quod miserim te: cum eduxeris po­pulum meum de Ae­gypto, immolabis. Deo super montem istum. Exod. 3. v. 12. sayd he, looked upon with mine Eyes, and heard with my Ears the afflictions, sighs and groans of my op­pressed people in Aegypt. This makes me come in Person to help and deliver them out of the hands of those unmer­cifull Tyrants, who have a long time tormented them; I will now bring them into a fruitfull and pleasant Land, into vast and spacious Countries, where they shall every where see Springs of Milk, and streams of Honey, which will sweeten the rigour of their past afflictions. In fine, having delivered them out of the hell of Egypt, I will give them Terrestriall Paradises for their abode, amongst the Chanaanites, Hethites, Amorites, Phierezites, He­vites, and Jebusites.

For this purpose Moses was chosen to goe unto Pha­raoh, and God promised to be with him during the whole course of his Journey, and never to abandon him amidst all the dangers of so perillous a Commissi­on: In token whereof Moses ingaged himself, that at his return out of Egypt, after the deliverance of the Peo­ple of Israel, he would offer unto him a Sacrifice upon Mount Sina.

CHAP. IV. The Commission of Moses touching the deliverance of the people of Israel.

IF we cannot easily find men who are capable of per­forming worthily the command of a King, that of God cannot be done, but by the mouth of him, who is not onely his Word, and Speech, but his proper Sub­stance; [Page 261]At least they ought to have in them for the Character of this Divine employment, as Clement A­lexandrinus hath observed, a lively Image of the Divi­nity, and to be not onely like him in Speech and expres­sion, but even in thought and heart. They must have also such a spirit as Moses, of whom it may be justly said, what St. Gregory of Nice said of the Apostle Saint Paul, to wit, that his spirit was made for extacies, Gregor. Nys. Orat. de Occur. and elevated in raptures. Neverthelesse this incompa­rable man excuseth himself, and the high thoughts he conceived of so eminent an employment obliged him to reply unto the Commandement of God.

Lord what am I? Dixitque Moises ad Deum: quis sum ego ut vadam ad Pharo­nem, & educam filios Israel de Aegypto? Exod. 3. v. 11. Si dixerint mihi, Quod est nomen ejus? Quid dicam eis? Ex­odus 3. v. 13.and how wilt thou have me speak unto thee? I am nothing, and thou art all that can be ima­gined, Holy, Great, Good, and Powerfull. My Voice is too weak an Eccho to cause thine to be heard, particularly in the midst of a Court, where scarce any ear is to be found which can endure the noise and breaking forth of thy Thunder; and then what wilt thou have me say unto them if they ask me concerning thy name?

Assure them, God answered Moses, Dixit Deus ad Moi­sem: Ego sum qui sum ait: sic dices filiis Is­rael, qui est misit me ad vos. Exod. 3. v. 14.that I am he who am, that is to say, Eternall, Infinite, Immutable, Inde­pendent, and absolute over all Creatures.

All that men admire in the World is nothing, and if a name be required for all that appears with the most Pomp and Splendor, they will acknowledge that it is to have no Beeing, and in effect, before the Creation of every thing they were not, and the day will come, when Greatness whose Beeing is corruptible shall be no more; And those whose Nature is not subject unto Corrupti­on may cease, if God resolve to withdraw his conser­ving arm, and his hand, which makes them what they are. In fine, all that is, hath so many mutations and vi­cissitudes, that it can hardly rest a moment in the same state.

God alone is what he is; And the Gentiles had doubtless learnt the Divinity of the Hebrews, [Page 262]when they speak of it in so clear and true termes.

Thales being asked upon this subject, made answer, That God had neither end, nor beginning, and that he was from all eternity. Parmenides held the same o­pinion, saying, That all was in an immoveable Being; We find almost the very same in the Timeo of Plato; and this was without doubt the mysterie hidden under the veil of that antient Statue which bore for Device I am, what is, what shall be, and what hath been, and whose cover no man hath taken off.

All the Idols of Egypt, and of the world, are but of Marble, Wood, Iron, Brasse, Copper, and at best but of Gold and Silver, which will find at length their last dissolution. The true God is, what he is. It is for this reason the generous Martyr St. Attalus being asked by the Tyrant, what was the name of him he adored, made answer, That such as were many in number, had need of it, to be distinguished from one another, but not he that was single.

Moses might say then the same unto Pharaoh, from his God, and that he Who is hath sent him to him. The same God also commanded him to say unto the Children of Israel, Dixitque iterum Deus ad Moisen, haec dices filiis Israel: Dominus Deus patrum vestro­rum, Deus Abraham, Deus Isaac, & Deus Jacob, misit me ad vos. &c. Exo. 3. v. 15. Vade, & congrega se­niores Israel, &c Ex­od. 3. v. 16. Et audient vocem tu­am, ingredierisque tu, & seniores Israel, aod Regem Aegypti, & di­ces ad eum, Dominus Deus Hebraeorum vi­cavit nos: ibimus vi­am trium dierum in solitudinem, ut immo­lemus Domino Deo no­stro. Exod. 3. v. 18. that he was the Lord, and God of their fore-Fathers, and that if they were the true Chil­dren of Abraham, Isaack and Jacob, he would never forget those blessed Patriarchs, to whom he had obliged himself for an Eternity, and that they themselves were bound to retain him alwayes in their memory. After this, God again commanded Moses to goe as he had ap­pointed him, and to assemble the Antients of the Peo­ple of Israel, and to tell them that God, who had ap­peared unto him, was not ignorant of all that had pas­sed in Egypt, that he would speedily visit and conduct them unto a delicious Country, and abounding in all sorts of goods and commodities.

The orders of this Commission were as followeth; that Moses himself should present them unto Pharaoh, [Page 263]and advertise him, Sed ego scio quòd non dimittat vos Rex Aegypti, ut eatis, nisi per manum vali­dam. Exod. 3. v. 19. Extendam enim ma­num meam & percu­tiam Aegyptum in cunctis mirabilibus meis, quae facturus sum in medio corum, posi haec dimittet vos. Exod. 3. v. 20. that the God of the Hebrews had enjoyned them to offer sacrifices to him, and there­fore it was his pleasure they should withdraw them­selves three day journey off, for that end.

Mean while God who knew that Pharaoh would not consent thereunto, advertis'd Moses of it; and said unto him, that in fine he would force him by rigour and the power of his armes, to permit them to depart. Now these weapons were no other than those of the misfortunes which befell this king, and constrained him to give liberty unto the people of Israel.

CHAP. V. The assured markes of Moses Power.

THere is nothing more charming and more pow­erfull to Captivate men than speech; Marvelous com­mand of speech. chiefly when it proceeds from a mouth full of Autho­rity. Neverthelesse, there are some untamable spirits, and rebellious souls, who cannot be vanquished by these weapons, and to whom all these discourses at most serve but for some time to lull asleep their fury.

This is sometimes seen in youth, in whom the heat of their Age, and the boyling of their blood, make so much noise, and stir up such dark tempests, that rea­son is there alwayes as it were eclips't. Oftentimes also there are persons of experience and Authoritie who adore only some old Error, and admit of no rea­son but the course of a long and depraved custome.

It was not without cause that Moses so much fear'd to speak unto the Elders of the people, Respondens Moises ait: Non credent mihi, neque audient vocem meam. Exod. 4. v. 1. perswading himself they would not believe him, and that they would deride both himself and his discourse; but God made him see Prodigies which were to be infallible marks of his power over the minds of the most potent of his Nation.

The first was the Rod he held in his hand which became a Serpent, Dixitque Dominus, projice eam in terram, prosicit, & versa est in colubrum. Exod. 4. v. 3. Daxitque Dominus rursum, mitte manum tuam in sinum tuum, quam cum misisset in sinum protullt lepro­sam. Exod. 4. v. 6. Retrahe, ait, manum tuam in sinum tuum, retraxit, & protulit iterum, & erat similis carni reliquae. Exod. 4. v. 7. Quod si nec duobus quidem his signis cre­diderint, neque audie­rint vocem tuam, su­me aquam fluminis, & essunde eam super ari­dam, & quidquid hau­seris de fluvio verte­tur in sanguinem. Exod. 4. v. 9. and afterwards reassum'd its for­mer Nature.

The second appeared in his hand, which he had no sooner put into his bosome, but it became Leprous, and afterwards returning into the same place, it be­came immediatly like the rest of his body.

This was done by the command of him who is om­nipotent, and who by these miraculous effects would incourage Moses, and assure him, that those to whom he was sent would give Credit unto these prodigies.

He said farther to him, that if they were so obstinate as not to believe him, he was to take water out of the River Nilus, and that it should be infallibly changed into blood.

Behold strange Metamorphoses, that of the Rod into a Serpent, and of the Serpent into a Rod, signifyed three very different states of the people of Israel in Egypt.

The first was whilst Joseph lived, during whose life they had possession of the Rod, that is to say, the Scepter and government of Egypt. After that followes the death of this great Patriark, and from that time all these poor people were detested by the Egyptians, and like so many Serpents which crawled on the Earth.

But at length the time will come, when Serpents shall be turned into Rods, and be powerfull in the hand of Moses.

The second Metamorphosis by the hand of Moses signifies only the various afflictions of the Hebrews, and the different alterations of their fortuns under the government of this wise conductor.

The third of the waters of Nilus, did foretell the death and swallowing up of the Egyptians, under the bloody and murthering waves of the Red Sea.

Notwithstanding all this, Moses persists in excusing [Page 265]himself, Alt Moises: obsecro Domine, non sum elo­quens ab heri & nu­dius tertius: & ex quo locutus es ad ser vum tuum, impeditioris & tardioris linguae sum. Exod. 4. v. 10. and useth his best endeavors to discharge himself of an imployment, in which he foresaw so many difficulties, and whereof he esteemed himself so uncapable. He represented unto God the trouble he had to expresse himself, and how that since the very hour he had the honour to speak unto him, he could hardly draw one word out of his mouth.

Lord saith he, I am as a Child who can form but a confused sound between his lips: And my tongue is so heavy, and fat, as I cannot speak a word without stam­mering.

Ah what! God answered him, Dixitque Dominus ad eum, quis secit os ho­minis? aut quis fa­bricatus est mutum & surdum, videntem & caecum, non ego Exod. 4. v. 11. am I not he who hath formed men with my own hand, and put words into their mouths? and is it not I who renders them deaf and dumb at my pleasure?

Yes truly, it is God who discovers thoughts even in the most intricate minds; It is he, who moves and animates the tongues of Children, and there needs but a breathing from his mouth to give life, motion, and voice unto the most insensible bodies.

These vertues are too well known, At ille, obsecro, inquit, Domine mitte quem missurus es. Exod. 4. v. 13. Iratus Dominus in Meisem ait: Aaron frater tuus Levites, scio quod cloquens sit, &c. Exod. 4. v. 14. Loquere ad eum, & pone versia mea in ore ejus. Exod. 4. v. 15. Virgam quoquc hanc sume in manu tua. Exod. 4. v. 17. Abiit Moises, & re­versus est ad Iethro Socerum suum, dix­itque ei, vadam, & revertar ad fratres meos in Aegyptum. Exod. 4. v. 18. and I am a­stonished at Moses, who persists notwithstanding in his demand, and who conjures God to send in his place the person whom he is to send: Now it was doubtlesse the Messias, whom he meant, but the hap­py moment in which he should be born was not yet arriv'd; and it had been to break the orders and de­crees in Heaven to desire absolutely at that time the grant of this request. God also grew angry with Moses, and resolving no more to hear his complaints and ex­cuses, he was content to say unto him, that his bro­ther Aaron should serve him for interpreter, to declare his will.

From that time Moses took the Rod in his hand as God had commanded him, and then he took leave of his father-in-law, to return into Egypt whither he car­ried his wife and Children.

It was upon the way God appeared to him the se­cond time, Dixitque ei Dominus revertenti in Aegyp­tum; Vide ut omnia ostenta quae posui in manu tua, sacias co­ram Phara [...]ne; ego in­durabo cor ejus, & non dimittet populum. Ex­od. 4. v. 21. Ecce ego interficiam silium tuum primoge­nitum, Exod. 4. v. 23. and where he advertised him of the future ob­duration of Pharaoh's heart; and that after so many signs, he should persist in his obstinacy, and in the design of detaining the Children of Israel. It was also command­ed him to carry unto this unfortunate Prince, the first news of the death of his Eldest Son, which was to be the last dart of the revenging Justice of God, and that which was to open the eyes of Pharaoh, and to mollifie his heart for some time.

In some part of Moses Journey into Egypt, Cumque esset in itinere, in d [...]ersorio, occurrit ei dominus, qui vole­bat occidere eum. Ex­od. 4. v. 24. he was met by an Angel, who offer'd to kill him with the Sword he held in his hand.

Rabbi Solomon, who had a wit more inventive for a Romance, than a true one for a History, would induce credulous mindes to believe, That this Angel had ap­peared under the shape of a Dragon, and that he had devoured Moses, even to the place of the Body where Circumcision was wont to be applied.

The two Eusebius's of Caesaria and Emissene, be­lieved, That the cause why God threatned and afflicted Moses, was for having brought his Wife with him, the which might vilifie his Mission, and render it suspect­ed unto the Hebrews.

But that which followed, renders the conception of St. Isidore of Damietta, of Rupertus and Cajetan, more probable, who believed, That it was done to punish the disobedience, and the too long delays of Moses, to whom he had given command to circumcise his Chil­dren: Gen. 17. v. 12. Tulit illico Sephora a­cutissimam petram, & circumcidit praeputium silii sui. Exod. 4. v. 25. For presently his Wife desiring in some sort to repair this fault, and to withhold the hand of the Angel, took a Knife made of a Stone, to circumcise her Son: The which being done, she kneeled down, to mitigate the wrath of this Angel, who vanishing left the Hus­band and Wife in a sad astonishment; In such sort, as Moses was not able to speak a word, Vide Cajetanum. and Sephora be­holding his eyes bathed in tears, and his hands red with [Page 267]blood, could not open her mouth, but to say unto Moses, That in truth he was her Husband, but a bloody Husband; Et [...]it: Sponsus san­guinum tu mihies.and whom she had, as it were, acquired by shedding the blood of his own children.

Now from this example, Advice to Parents. all Fathers of Families should learn to obey the Will of God, and testifie their Zeal and Piety, not onely in their own persons, but al­so in the person of their Children: Above all, they must take a Knife into their hands to cut off all that is impure; And if men be therein less manly, that is to say, less generous than their Wives, it is their part to take up Arms, and as I have already said upon two or three occasions, not to spare either Fire, Sword, or Blood; provided, it be done with Prudence, Counsel, and Piety.

CHAP. VI. The Embassie of Moses, and of Aaron into Egypt.

TO the end God may be obeyed, when he commands, Necessary Obedi­ence. we must march when he sets forth, and we ought not to be silent when he puts words into our mouths to speak by his order. Kings hold their Scepters from him, and all their Power is but a flash of light which issueth from this Sun; without which, all Thrones, Em­pires, and Crowns, would have neither lustre, Post haec ingressi sunt Moises & Aaron, & dixerunt Pharaoni: Haec d [...]cit Domirus Deus Israel, dimitte populum meum. Exod. 5. v. 1. At ille respondit: Quis est Dominus, ut audi­am vocem ejus, & di­mittam Israel? Nescio Dominum, & Israel non dimittam. Exod. 5. v. 2. nor re­splendency.

Moses and Aaron then need not fear, to appear in the presence of Pharaoh, and to say boldly unto him, That he who is their Lord and God, commands him to re­store Liberty unto his people: But who is this God, saith he unto Moses and Aaron, of whom you speak? For my part I know him not, and in despight of him I will detain this people which you demand of me. He doth much more; for he heaps punishment upon punishment, and orders [Page 268]these poor people to be used with more rigor than be­fore.

Now as it is the custom of the miserable, Occurreruntque Moisi & Aaron, qui stabant ex adverso egredienti­bus à Pharaont; & dixerunt ad eos: Vi­deat Dominus & judi­cet, quoniam foetere se­cistis odorem nostrum coram Pharaone, &c. Exod. 5. v. 21. and of those that suffer, to complain of every thing, and often­times to make even those the Authors of their afflictions, who endeavor to procure their good; so the people of Israel began even to murmure against Aaron and Moses, as if the design of their coming-in had been to increase their sufferings.

There is nothing more cruel, and less supportable to a good soul, than Ingratitude: It is the justest occasi­on can interrupt the current and continuation of a Bene­fit, and not wholly to stop it, we must seek constancy in God, who alone hath power and goodness enough to oblige even the most ungrateful persons. It is also to him Moses addresseth himself, and it is into his bosom he makes an amiable discharge of all his thoughts. A­las! Reversusque est Moises ad Dominum, & ait: Domine cur afflixisti populum istum? quare misisti me? Exod. 5. v. 22. Ex eo enim quo ingres­sus sum ad Pharaonem, ut loque [...]er in nomine tuo, afflixit populum tuum, & non liberasti [...]os. Exod. 5. v. 23. Lord, saith he, why dost thou permit the oppressi­ons of thy people? And if I be not able to bring them relief, why hast thou sent me rather to exasperate, than comfort their Afflictions? After this loving complaint, God discovered himself fully unto Moses, to give him a more assured mark of his love. Go from me, saith he, and know, that I am that Adonijah whose name is ineffable, and whom the quickest and most peircing eyes, do not discover but amidst obscurities.

Yes surely: For it is onely under the veils of Faith, and through the clouds which cover the Sanctuary, God can be known. Blindness of Hu­mane Wisdom. We must be guided by his obscure Clarities, or God himself must inform us who he is, otherwise we shall be the Disciples of Aximenes, who will swear, That God is but Air which spreds it self to an Infinity; others will follow Democritus, who adored no other god than Fire; or else Anaximander, who had no other Divinity but the Stars; or Diogenes, who a­scribed unto him a Body of Wind, animated with Rea­son; or Chrysippus, who fastned him to a cruel destiny; [Page 269]or Parmenides, who made him to be a Circle to surround the Heavens; or Stratonicus, who sacrificed all his Loves unto Nature; or Epicurus, who amazed him­self to form a god of Atoms; And in fine, some others would side with Varro, Cleanthes, and Anaxago­ras, or some other Dreamers, who never knew the true God of Moses; and though his Name be ineffable, and his Essence incomprehensible, yet we cannot be ignorant of his Power and Goodness.

CHAP. VII. The Obduration of Pharaoh's Heart.

NAture cannot give unto men, Finite Power of Na­ture. but what is within her sphere; and as her power is finite, so she can onely give them finite and limitted Presents. God a­lone, to whom all is possible, can onely bestow Favors on us which are not common, and it belongs onely unto him to convert Glass into Silver, Straws into Gold, and to make Gods of Men, if he so please.

He did it once by uniting two Natures in one and the same Subject, and making God, Man, who is God no less than himself. But without speaking of this My­stery, which is not to be parallel'd, was but once done, God hath been often pleased to make men gods, to whom without communicating his Nature, he hath im­parted to them his most illustrious qualities, and cheifly the power he hath over all created things, which is pro­perly to make gods on earth, or at least men, who are Demi gods.

In this maner Saint Basil was the god of the Empe­ror Valens, Saint Ambrose of the Empress Justinia, Saint Athanasius, and Saint Hillary of Constantine, and in the first Ages Elias of King Achab; but this glorious [Page 270]Title was given unto Moses by a particular privilege [...], Dixitque Dominus ad Moisen: Ecce consti­tui te Deum Pharaonis, & Aaron frater tuus erit Propheta tuus. Exod. 7. v. 1. Fecit itaque Moises & Aaron sicut praeceperat Dominus. Exod. 7. v. 6. when God from his own mouth established him for the God of Pharaoh, and when at the same time he gave him his Brother for a Prophet.

Presently after, this God, and this Prophet, I mean this Moses, and his Brother, who were instructed what to do, and concerning what was to happen, returned unto Pharaoh; and there Moses shewed him prodigies which were evident tokens of the power God had given him.

First; Tulit (que) Aaron virgam coram Pharaone, & servis ejus, quae versa est in colubrum. Exod. 7. v. 10. Vocavit autem Pha­rao sapientes, & male­ficos, & secerunt etiam ipsi per incantationes Aegyptiacas & arcana quad [...]m similiter. Ex­od. 7. v. 11. Projeceruntque finguli virgas suas, quae ver­sae sunt in dracones. Exod. 7. v. 12. having cast upon the ground the Rod he car­ried in his hand, it became spotted with Scales, and changed into a Serpent, which after a thousand little windings, extended it self at its full length, and walked in the presence of Pharaoh, who being surprised there­with, and not knowing the cause of this prodigious change, assembled the wise men of Egypt, that is to say, the Inchanters and Magitians, who had a minde to do the same that Moses did: And in effect, after some Charms, shewed Dragons; into whose shape, God had permitted them to Metamorphise their Wands, that it might appear what Magick could do, and how it de­ceives us by its Inchantments; as also to try the Con­stancy and Faith of Moses, and the Hebrews, who were present; and to teach us, That the Devil is but an Ape, who imitates and counterfeits Truth. Sed devoravit virga Aaron virgas corum. Exod. 7. v. 12. In fine, God per­mitted it to confound these Magitians; for all their pro­digies, and all their little Serpents, were instantly de­voured by that of Moses.

Such is commonly the end and success of the In­ventions and Master-peeces of the Devil; the begin­ning is always fair, the appearances have splendor, but they are but false Stars formed in a Cloud, Ciphers in­graven on Sand, and in a word, Phantasms and Idols, which have nothing real but falshood, or at least, what lasts but for a time.

Histories are filled with examples which prove this [Page 271]verily: But to express what seems to me most impor­tant upon this matter, God, as I have said, often per­mits prodigious effects unto Cheaters and false Pro­phets for those reasons I newly touched. But that which astonisheth me the most, Prodigious effects of Divine Provi­dence. is that he often times, and justly, makes use of them to harden hearts, and to blind certain spirits who are dazeled with the rayes of the Sun, and shut their eyes against the splend ours of this beautifull Planet, to follow the smoak of a Torch of Sulphure and Rosin, carried by a Diabolical hand, and by some infernal spirit.

Is it not a strange blindness, Dreadfull obstina­cy. and a frightful obstinacy when the voice of a Devill is preferred before that of an Angell, and when more belief is given unto the illu­sions of an Inchanter than unto the words and Actions of a God, and a Prophet? Pharaoh saw Moses, Et Clevans Virgam percussit aquam Fli­minis coram Pharaone, & servis ejus, quae versa est in sangui­nem. Exod. 1. v. 20. Et pisces qui erant in slumine, mortui sunt. Exod. 7. v. 21. who changed his Rod into a Serpent, and this Serpent taking the form of a Rod. He sees the waters of Nilus and E­gypt, which being strucken by it, are converted into bloud, and all the Fishes which dye therein: He persists notwithstanding in his first design, and in stead of hum­bling himself under the Omnipotent hand of God, un­der the Rod of Moses, and at the sight of these bloudy waves which glided along the River Nilus, and had caused the death of Fishes, as it were, to advertise men of the like disaster; he amuzed himself with the illusi­ons of some Inchanters, who flattered him by shewing him some Prodigie, or rather some false Mask drawn over these truths.

However it be this miserable wrerch became like a Rock which derides a storm, Pittifull state of an obdurate heart. like a Diamond which can­not be broken, and like that famous Buckler which bore for devise I cannot be pierced; Hee was an insensible Colossus, who had Eyes and saw not, Hands and not able to use them, Feet though he could not walk, and who had a Heart invironed with blunted Arrows, and Darts which could make no breach.

Behold the true picture of Pharaoh's heart, The picture of Pha­raoh's heart. which became so insensible amidst the Thunder-bolts which God darted at it, that at last it remain'd as cold as Mar­ble, and as hard as Brasse, which all the waters of the Sea could not soften.

This 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 [Page 274]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 its bowels, to serve as an instrument unto the Justice of its God▪

Witness also that dreadfull tempest which shook the whole Kingdome of Naples, Vide Patriarcham. and which hapned in the year three hundred fourty and three, under the govern­ment of Jane, the first of that name.

All these chastisements nevertheless were but light, and rather threats than punishments, if we compare them with those which in the law of Nature, and in the written Law laid desolate the whole Universe, or at least the beautifull'st parts thereof.

Water began, and as it hath less respect in its disor­ders than the rest of Creatures, it spared but eight persons, who guided into the Ark the relicks of the world.

Afterwards Fire, which hath a more furious and violent nature than Water; fell suddenly upon four in­famous [Page 276]Cities, where it left nothing but ashes and stench.

Behold the first revenge God took upon sinners, and to speak according to the opinion of a Learned Di­vine of the Primitive Church, Jobius mouachus in Bibliotheca Photii. These were the first Tremblings of the Earth.

The third was in the strange punishment of Pha­raoh, commonly called The Plagues of Egypt, which hapned about the time of that famous deluge which drowned in a maner all Greece, and those excessive heats which almost consumed the whole Universe.

The number of these Plagues was Ten; a perfect number, and which denotes, That the punishment was to pass even unto extremity, since the offence had passed even unto excess.

As for the place where these Plagues began, Fecit mirabilia in terra Aegypti in campo Ta­neos. Psal. 77. the City of Taniz, the Metropolitan of Egypt, was first strucken with it; the disease came first from them, as out of a fatal spring, which afterwards spred it self with dread and terror over the Lands of that Em­pire.