Ta kannakou the tragedies of sin contemplated in the ruine of the angels, fall of man, destruction of the old world, confusion of Babel, conflagration of Sodom &c. : humbly recommended to the present age, for the designed ends of caution and terrour : together with Remarques on the life of the great Abraham / by Steph. Jay, rector of Chinner ...

CHAP. II.

Abraham removes out of Haran into Cana∣an. God welcomes him into the Land that he had promised to shew him: Which is seal∣ed to his Children by Promise. He returns thanks, and sets up the true Religion there. A Famine arises, and he is forced to remove into Egypt; where he denies his Wife thrô fear. She is taken from him by the King, whom God plagues for the Rape. They are dismissed, and return again into Canaan.

THe dayes of Mourning for his Father being expir'd, view we now the great Patriarch dislodging again in a suitable Magnificence and

State. Every Motion of the Ark of God is Re∣markable. Great Princes tread with Majesty. Nor was there a greater upon Earth than Abra∣ham, who was every day growing up to be the Mighty Pillar on which God would build his Church, that must stand for ever.

'Twas in the Seventy fifth Year of his Age that he passed out of Haran, not without the special Order of God, who now without fur∣ther delay leads him down by the hand into Canaan: This was that good Land which he had promised to shew him. God never disap∣points our hopes that are grounded on his own Word. His Eyes doubtless are greatly surprized with the pleasing Prospects of that goodly Coun∣trey. Heaven will be infinitely better than what we are able to conceive of it here be∣low; when we shall see it with our Eyes, we shall confess that half of its glory was not conveyed to our Ears. Abraham travels on, 'till he arrives at the pleasant Plains of Moreh, adorn∣ed with a delightful Grove of stately Oaks; here he hath the honour of another Visit from Heaven; God welcomes him into Canaan. So far is he from tiring our Faith, that he loves to re∣fresh it with the sweet repasts of his gracious Presence; he will not give ground of suspiri∣on by too tedious absence from his Abraham, that he had drawn him out of his Countrey to his loss. God is every where present to the eyes of our Faith, but sometimes more sensibly to the joy and rejoycing of our Heart: I will manifest my self to him: A Mercy that the Stran∣ger intermedleth not with. God never comes emp∣ty

handed to his Servants, but brings that with him that shall make up his Entertainment and Welcome; he knows that Man hath nothing worthy of Himself, and therefore expects no∣thing from him but an open and thankful Hand and Heart to receive his Kindness: Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it. Were our Faith so great and large as to comprehend the vast extensions of his Bounty, we might fetch down Heaven into our bosoms: 'Tis our weakness and inca∣pacity that puts him on feeding us (as Infants) with such scanty drops of his Fulness: Our bar∣ren Hearts might otherwise break out into thou∣sands and ten thousands of ravishing Pleasures and Joys, which the narrowness of our spirits do now most unhappily deprive us of.

Thus full fraught with Blessings appears God unto Abraham, and brings down with him a Conveyance of all the Kingdoms of Canaan to him and his Heirs for ever. Indeed the Te∣nants were not to be thrown out of Pos∣session presently, but the Estate should be as certain to him as if It were already in hand: The poor Slaves that had it, were to be spared for some time, 'till they had dressed it up into a mere delightful Habitation for his Children. They had forfeited their Copies already into his hands, and he might dispose of them at his own pleasure; yet will he be so gracious as not too rigorously or hastily to make his Entry, 'till he try whether they would submit themselves; and if not, he will yet wait for his Goodness sake, and so should Abraham for the Promise sake: And though they would pay him but little Ac∣knowledgment

as their great Landlord, yet should his Posterity fill their Exchequers with the Ar∣rears, and bring such Writs of Ejectment with them as should very feasibly root them out of their Estates and Lives together.

The wickedest Men have a civil Right to all they enjoy, from the Title of general Providence; and though themselves weaken it by their unsuffera∣ble Provocations, and sin themselves out of doors, yet it is not for Man to take the Forfeiture without Orders from above. Those who vio∣late the Proprieties of others on the bare pre∣tence of a greater Interest in God, and break open their Houses without a Warrant from Hea∣ven, may chance at the Assizes to be found guilty of that Riot which will shame and con∣found the pretenders for ever. Since God hath confirmed the Grant in Heaven, and sent it down to be proclaimed by the Mouth of a ve∣ry Beast; Am not I thine Ass? To teach us, that they who dispute it, are greater Brutes than he.

But what Man must not, God may do; He is the Judge who putteth down one to set up ano∣ther in his stead. The Most High ruleth in the Kingdoms of Men, and giveth them to whomsoever he will, yet never by unrighteous Sentence; for he tempereth his Justice with so much Le∣nity and Patience, that he shameth Offenders into a blushing Confession of their own Guilt and Madness, and leaveth it to themselves to consider, how little he hath contributed to their Ruine.

The Inheritance is Promised, but where is the

Heir? Where, but lying Dormant in the Womb of the same Promise. Abraham must wait for both; He that believeth doth not make haste. God worketh every thing by the leisurely degrees of his Wisdom and Will. He that made all things to start up out of nothing at the first, could have easily healed the defect of Sarah's Womb, and made her a present Mother of Generations; whereas yet must she wait five and twenty Years longer for one Son: But God ever acts ac∣cording to the wise Purposes of his own Coun∣cil, and what is Man that he should Anticipate the Decrees of the Almighty? Let Abraham live a while upon the Naked Promise, which is therefore so often repeated to him again and again, that he might feed afresh upon the Sweets of its Assurance, and every time he looked up to Heaven and saw the Starrs, or down on the Earth to behold the little Dusts thereof, or passing to the Sea might view the sands, should from all these be put in mind of the Goodness of his God, who had secur'd him a Posterity as innumerable as these, and all to proceed from a barren Womb, the Work of that God only that calleth those things that (yet) be not, as if they were.

We are shut up in unfruitful Nature and Ʋn∣belief, and nothing can open us unto God but Him∣self: could we believe aright with Abraham, from our very Sterility and Nothingness would start up such a Progeny of Graces and Comforts, which an Eternity should never see extinct.

Abraham bows, and believes, and bows a∣gain, and can never enough admire the infi∣niteness

of the Love of his God to him: He raises up Altars, and sends up his thankful Heart in the smoak of his Sacrifices: Every place where he passes is perfum'd with his In∣cense, and God smells the sweet savour of it from above. Great is the correspondency of the grateful Heart with Heaven. Seven times a day do I praise thee.

But does Abraham remember where he is? Is not his Zeal above his Discretion? The Ca∣naanite was yet in the Land, and what makes him thus bold to invade the Countrey, and bring in a Religion with him so perfectly different from all theirs? He finds them a fierce and cruel People, inflaming themselves with their Idols. 'Tis strange he did not smother his own in a politick Concealment, and more prudently have consulted his security: No, but with a Cou∣rage and Undauntedness, great as his Heart, he dares own the Truth, and the God of it, in the Faces of them all. He charges the De∣vil in his own Quarters, and sets up an Ark, before which he knew all the Dagons of the Countrey must one day fall. Fearlesness and Courage for God is the natural fruit of a lively Faith. Confession must be open and valorous: He that is ashamed of me, of him will I be ashamed. Abraham knew the God with whom he was in League, was sufficiently able to defend him. What are the combined Policies and Forces of Men, that cannot move a Joynt any further than as commissionated by the first Mover, whom Abra∣ham had secured to himself! He that hath a God to trust in, and fears what Man can do

against him, deservedly forfeits his Pretence and Hope in the Almighty Protection. Flesh may recoil a little, but Faith stands its ground and is safe. Having therefore the Grant of the whole Kingdoms so surely confirmed to him from Heaven, he passes up and down the Coun∣trey as their Prince, and makes his Kingly Pro∣gress with a Breast devoid of all fear, which he leaves to torment the bosoms of those who were perfectly Strangers to his God. Would we keep Heaven in our Eye, and our Hopes clear and unblotted upon our Heart, we might follow him with the same Gallantry of Spirit through all the Territories of the Sons of the Gyant, and pass from pleasure to pleasure. Faith is a prying Grace, and narrowly surveys the Map of the coelestial Canaan, to make discovery of those joyful Mansions which our hope tells us are as secure to us, as if already we were in possessi∣on, (through Grace) by the Vertue of the same Covenant that God sealed to Abraham.

While this Great Prince is thus recreating himself in the variety of the pleasurable Pro∣spects of Canaan, he is surprized by a discove∣ry of a Leanness that appeared upon the face of the Fields, such as might well make way for Jealousie to arise within him of its natural Fer∣tility and Goodness. Alas! God had lock'd up the Womb of Nature that was productive enough of it self: It was He that called for a Famine, and brake the whole Staff of Bread: This fruitful Land is made barren for the Wickedness of them that dwelt therein: Even Canaan yields not her Increase, and Abraham must learn the Lesson,

that Man liveth not by Bread alone. When God stops his Ear, and hears not the Heavens, they must not hear the Earth, nor the Earth the Corn. In vain do Men Plant and Water, where God withdraws the Blessing. Manna still falls from Heaven by the immediate hand of his Provi∣dence. Substract but the Divine Influence, and the whole Earth turns Desert; you may Plow the Rocks with the same hopes of Increase. Men distractedly Sacrifice to their own Net and Dragg: All means are subservient to the su∣pream Will of God, who although he ordina∣rily works by them, and sometimes without them, yet not always with them, and then all means are vain. We must endeavour because he hath Commanded, and hope for a Blessing because he hath Promised; but if that fail, it is because we have sinned, and sin too frequent∣ly stops up the common current of his Good∣ness, that it cannot flow down upon us in such full streams of Bounty as it would: Your Iniqui∣ties, O ye Canaanites, have turned away, and with∣holden good things from you. God shoots his Evil Arrow of Famine into the heart of the Land, he is already beginning to weaken their strength, and shewing his Abraham by what variety of Means he could beat down all their proud Con∣fidence and Power: His Children should have no impossible task to obtain Possession, since he hath other Weapons to spend upon them be∣sides the Sword: He could famish them all in∣to Skeletons, and make them drop down before him as Dead Men. It is confidently averred, that this Famine was sent only as another Try∣al 〈2 pages missing〉〈2 pages missing〉

Egypt. The Church is ever in Motion, as the Sun, darting out her quickning Beams and Light. What is Life it self but a tossing too and fro, by alternate motions, into variety of Objects and Events. Who would not think the Princes of the Earth incomparably more happy than Abraham? who fix'd in the Orbs of their Maje∣sty and Grandeur, had little else to do than to play with the Leviathan in the wide Ocean of exchanged Pleasures, and to glide from Joy to Joy; while the good Patriarch oppressed with Famine and Want, is forced to travel to seek his Bread; and yet was he the only Golden Pot, which was brim-full with spiritual Manna, while all They as poor Earthen Pitchers run over on∣ly with the deadly Pottage of their own Seeth∣ing, and at last are broken in pieces together, when himself is lodged in the perpetual Ark. 'Tis ill judging of the Churches Complexion while she is sullied in the smoak of the Afflicting Furnace. No Man knoweth either Love or Hatred by all that is before him.

Abraham in his Progress to Egypt unhappily discovers an impending danger, and as well as he could projects to divert it. The Egyptians were a luxurious and lascivious People, and for ought he knew his Wife's beautiful Eyes may dart those Arrows into their Hearts which might possibly at last retort upon his own Head. He justly fears those that fear not God. Lust is outra∣gious, and limited by no boundaries; 'tis a Devil that breaks all the Chains that pretend to fet∣ter it, and cares not through what Blood and Dangers it wades to its own satisfaction. He

is going down thither for Bread, and now is afraid to be swallowed himself. Beauty is but dangerous luggage in the way of our pilgrimage; for prevention of the danger, he contrives to streng∣then the silver Cord of his Life, by loosening the golden Bands of his Marriage. Sarah that had consented long ago to become his Wife, must now write the Bill of her own Divorce, and con∣sent again to be his Sister; he Wooes her a se∣cond time to disown him as an Husband, and the poor Lady must hide her Wedding Ring in her Bosom, lest it Wedd her Lord to his Grave. Could Abraham have removed the wrinkles that this fear hath fixt on the fair Face of his beau∣tiful Faith, and plac••d them in the ••••rebead of his Sarah, 'tis probable the Egyptians might not have had that Appetite to her, as that for her sake he should dread to be kill'd, — Lord, if thou hadst been here, my Father had not dyed. Why did not Sarah take his Mantle from him, and smite asunder these Waters of Jealousie, crying, Where is the Lord God of Abraham, who useth to part these Waves of danger hither and thither, and cause them to fly before us to make a safe path through them all to tread on? If a Qualm of Fear came over his Heart, she had done but her Duty as a good Wife to have presented him with a Cordial, which soon had recovered him into a Spirit again: In thee Abraham shall all the families of the Earth be blessed. Must that Blessing blossom from thy Ashes? (†) But where i•• the Jewel that hath no flaw, and the Faith that

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is void of all fear? We must seek it in Hea∣ven, where perfect Love casteth it out. Famine had driven him down hither, and fear surpri∣zes him here▪ We must forget that we are in the World, if we promise our selves security from Troubles in it.

Abraham is not deceived in the Egyptians, that which he feared is come upon him; no sooner is he entied into the Land, but every Mouth is chanting out the Encemiums of the Beautiful Stranger. They gaze on her as on some Auspi∣cious Deity, that was arrived to scatter her Divine Influences over all the Kingdom. The News hastily flies to Court; think with what little pleasure; the Queen and all her Train of Ladies receive it▪ as the Rising of another Sun in their Horizon, that will Eclipse them all into perfect Obscurity. The (*) Parasite Princes (despairing to Enjoy her themselves) joyntly vote her to the Honour of the Royal Bed: They vie with each other, who should Sing the Panegyricks of her Praise, with greatest advantage into the Ears of the King, whose Amorous Passions are soon blown up into Flame, by so pleasing Breath. Nuncio's are dispatched to Abraham, who Solicite the suit in the Mighty Name of Majesty. Imperial Man∣dates are too absolute to admit a denial, but least of all in the Affairs of Love. Now must Abraham hazard the Chastity of his Wife for the Security of his Head, and whence he might have expected

the greatest Protection, there he finds his great∣••st Danger. Yet, while himself owns her but as a Sister, and denies her as a Wife, he Legiti∣mates the Rape, and her own silence makes it still the less Criminal. How great were the contests of Love and Fear conflicting together in her Breast, is better imagined than expressed. There are some Passions that Letters and Words are too weak to Decipher. But what bright Ray is this that I discover gilding the Cloud, and Shining thrô all the Storm into the Heart of the Great Abra∣ham? Can we think that he so tamely parts with his dearest Lady, to offer her up a Sacrifice to the Lust of a Pagan, from a principle of base Cowardise? What meaner Spirit values a Life to preserve his Honour, and will not rather suffer a Thousand deaths, than survive a despicable Mo∣nument of Shame and Scorn? Jealousie is the rage of a Man, and he will not spare in the day of Ven∣geance: and should not Sarah have kneeled, and begged him to dispatch her out of Life with his own Hands, rather than thus to Prostitute her Glory to an Eternal Ignominy that could never be wip'd off? Whence is it then, that they so easily separate, and she seems to pass from him as if she hastened after another Lover in the Court of Egypt? Ah no! Abraham had recovered himself into a b••tter temper of Mind, and stronger sence of his safety, and delivers up his (†) Wife to

the King, with the same Confidence as af∣terwards he offered up his Son unto God, with a certain assurance of that Infinite Wisdom and Power, that could find ways enough to prevent the Violation of his Sarah's Chastity. And she her self doubtless had confirmed Him into all the Confidences of her Fidelity, that the long Ex∣perience of her Goodness, Constancy, and earnest Affections to so worthy a Lord could affix upon him. Well might she be ravished from his Bosom into Pharaoh's House, but she doubted not God would provide her an Innocent Lodging there, without being forced within his Curtains.

In Confidence therefore of Divine Protection, Abraham surrenders her up to the Court. The Heart of her Husband doth safely trust in her: Princes do every thing in State, they pass with considerate Steps, even into the Bed of Love: Motions of Majesty are Deliberate; 'tis below Kings to Violate or be Rough. They are losers by Violence, while they know there is little plea∣sure in constrained Embraces. Amnon loaths, and Bolts out the Lady that he had Ravished. A little Patience ripens the Flower of their Desires, which Precipitancy vainly Crops in the Bud; and we know Monarchs Woe by Proxy, which yields great advantage to delay and excuse. And doubtless Sarah had Arts enough to shift off too close Applications that were made by the Cour∣tiers in the behalf of their Master, or by Him for himself. Abraham is courted too, and caressed with all the Complements of Endearment. Each Officer cringes to him, as to the Rising Favourite, and a Growing Ally to the Crown; the King him∣self

treats him with that Courtesie as might most powerfully win him to his Interest: He obliges him to favour his Suit by all possible demonstra∣tions of his Royal Bounty, which Abraham most gratefully returns to his Courtiers, to whom (if we may believe Josephus) he became a Tutor, and taught them a Nobler Science than the Art of Love, bringing them to Doat on the Beauty of the Heavens, which far exceeded that of his Wife. And some of them (as Chrysostom thinks) to the knowledge of that God who had fixed the Lusture upon them.

A Jewish Tradition makes us believe, that Sarah had a Tutelar Angel sent her from God, to se∣cure her from all the Assaults of this Tyrant, who, upon every rising of his Lust and Hot desires, would strike him into so perfect an Impotency as forced him to pass from her Chamber with the shame and vexation of an Eunuch, laden only with the Spoils of his frustrated Hopes, instead of those of her Honour, while her self stands Laughing (as her Children afterwards) on the Shore of security and freedom; when this Pharaoh, venturing to pursue her, hath the Heels of his eagerness tript up, and is sent to cool his Flames in a Watery Bed.

'Twas indeed from a Power unconquerable as her Own, Steel'd with a Spirit wholly Divine, that she gloriously stood the Shock, and baffled all the Attaques that were made upon her Vertue; till at last God pittying this Noble Free-woman, in Bondage here under the Tyranny of this impious Prince, and hearing from above the Sighings of the Prisoner, was resolved to knock off the Shackles

of her Captivity, with such an Hammer as shall make the Foundation of her Prison to shake, and the Keepers thereof to Tremble. A Cloud of In∣dignation Condenses over their Heads, and falls down in a shower of Plagues upon them. The whole Court is under Horrour, and Labours under Diseases and perfect Confusion. The happy Pair are in Ease and Safety, while That is under Consternation and Disorder. Some say, the Ma∣gicians are consulted, to enquire into the Causes of the Wrath of Heaven; others, that Sarah her self is re-examined from the Jealousie they har∣boured of her nearer Relation to Abraham. In∣deed she knew her self (as Jonah) the procuring cause of the Storm, and that a little time might blow Her into Harbour and Safety. They all grow Sick of the New Mistress, and would gladly send her packing for calm Weather again; them∣selves wish her another Lover, and would gladly pay a Priest to Marry her a Second time into Abraham's Bosom; and possibly they might save that labour, for the Sister may be the Wife al∣ready. God had sent down from Heaven an am∣ple Certificate of the Marriage, which they might read but too plainly in Characters of Judgment. Sarah (as some say) upon Examination con∣fessess the whole, and now (if at any time) had Abraham just ground to fear; but God had secu∣red him from the fright, for if they were thus Plagued for the guilt but of an Unlawful desire to his Wife, what should they be, if they lay violent Hands on her Husband.

There is a certain Divine Appearance of Majesty seated in the very Countenances of the truly God∣ly,

and shining there in so clear a Light, as never fails to strike Terror into the Hearts of prophane Men: A Spirit of Glory resting upon them, that melts the Drossie Spirits of the wick∣ed, who are made to fall before it, and yield that due Veneration and Reverence as greatly tends to their Honour, and happy Security from danger; so that the hand of Cruelty wants an Heart to offer a rude Touch to Gods Anointed, or to do his Prophets Harm. It was this Venerable Aspect sitting on the Brow of the Great Abraham, from whose Eyes darted the Lightning that Pierced the Breast of this Egytian King, and dissolv'd him from his Natural Ferocity, into so Meek and gentle a Temper, that instead of the Thunder of Wrath we might have expected to have ratled from his furious and incensed Spirit, we find nothing but the still small Voice of a soft and weaker rebuke; Why saidst thou, She is my Sister? It is God that turns the Hearts of Kings whither soever he will. Methinks I see the Blood that under the first Temptation had passed from Abraham's Cheeks to guard his Heart, and left him Pale with Fear, now returning all back again, making him blush with Shame. Nor could he in Civility do less than wear the same Livery with the King, whose Face is dipt into the same Scarlet, and blusheth as deep as he, from the Conscience of so great an injury done by him to the Lady of so Mighty a Personage as Abraham.

'Tis strange this Fallacy had not wrought to greater Vengeance. Princes seldom brook the Affronts made upon their Reputations or Affections. 'Tis but Sport and Recreation to them to Revenge

themselves, especially where there is not a pro∣portionable Strength for Defence, and where too, there is nothing but Nature to check its Fury and Rage. But the Lord was there, and the whole Court was under the Sores of his Wrath, who therefore Politickly consult rather the more safe and generous way of heaping up Coals of Fire upon the Head of Her that had enflam'd their Brince, than by any injurious usage to pro∣voke greater Flames on themselves.

And the Monarch is content to pay well for his Liquorish Longing, who thinks it Bargain good enough if he buy off his Guilt with the price of those liberal Presents, which he sa∣crifices as Trespass-offerings to Abraham, which he hopes will satisfie for the Sin of his Ignorance; after which received, he has Audience of leave and free Liberty to depart, who passes from the Court with his Lady in his hand, a Greater Man than when he came in. We must not forget the Kings last kindness in giving severe Orders to the Guards for their intire security, making it little less than Treason for any Subject to profane the Shrine himself had so religiously adored. And surely all but need, while he providently fore∣saw how the common People could easily ex∣pound their greatest Insolencies into good Ser∣vice to their Prince, when they heaped them on those only who had been the instrumental cause of so many plagues and mischiefs to him, (as they think). Vulgar eyes (looking no higher than the bloody Effects of the Judgment) are perfect∣ly blind from any Penetration into the first procu∣ring Cause. Had Pharaoh's Heart bin as innocent

as Sarah's Eyes, they had never felt the vigour of Gods displeasure upon them.

The Church hath bin ever indeed a Burthensome Stone to the Wicked, who making all their force to heave and lift at it, have found not their Shins crackt only, but their Heart-Strings broken with the weight of it. Whosoever hath fallen on this Stone, hath bin broken, but on whomsoever it hath fallen, it hath ground him into powder. Abra∣ham travelled into Canaan, because they gave him so cold a welcome; behold a Famine on themselves, from thence he passed into Egypt, where they plague him by the Rape of his Wife; behold a Disease on themselves: See Haman hanging on the Gallows prepared by himself for Mordecai, and an hundred fourscore and five thousand Carkases spread as Dung on the Fields of Jerusalem, who threatned to make the Inhabitants eat their own: All that burthen them∣selves with this Stone, shall be cut in pieces, thô all the People of the Earth be gathered together against it. Wherein they deal proudly, God is above them.

Abraham doubtless had Impaired his Stock by the Famine of Canaan, and now he abun∣dantly recruits it in the Court of Egypt; he was afraid to lose his Life, where now he augments his Estate. His Wifes Face had not bin more pleasant than now profitable unto him: instead of being kill'd for Her sake, he lives and is enrich∣ed by her. By what strange means doth the Church sometimes thrive and prosper! The good Father went down into Egypt but to receive the first Fruits of those Spoils, which hereafter his Grand-children shall lade themselves out with,

when in the like Affright the Egyptians consent to be robbed by them.

Behold we Him now retreating, replenished with Treasure and Joy, he leaves nothing behind him but the Infelicity of his Diffidence in his God, and could willingly part again with Pharaoh's Presents to have purchas'd off the remembrance of his Weakness and Shame. The best Men are most sensible of their least Failings, and are most deeply humbled under them, while fools make a mock of Sin, and think to Jeer away their Consciences and Guilt together. God certainly left him here to Trip, for our Instruction: And Abraham did that which was right in the Eyes of the Lord, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life; save only in the matter of his Sister: Yet hath he not wanted Advocates plead∣ing so well for him, that in this also he is made Innocent, and little fault found in him: to which may be added this, That he receives no Reproof at all from Heaven. The best use we can make of it, is to learn where to look for Perfection. I pity their vanity, who pretend to have their Houses of Clay dress'd up with the furniture of the next World, when the Father of the Faithful hath nothing to boast of but what he receives from God.

By daily Regresses he now passes back into Ca∣naan, where by this time the Staff of Bread that broke under his hand, was increased into many Bands of Plenty. He proceeds to the Confines of Bethel, which he had made Eminent by his first Altar, there erected unto God; which he reve∣rently repairs again to offer up those Sacrifices of Thanksgiving, which in Clouds of Perfume

shall give publick Testimony how much his gratefull Heart was inflamed with a most lively Resentment of Gods stupendious Goodness to∣wards Him and his dearest Wife, in their mira∣culous Deliverance from all the dangers of the Egyptian-Court: And he is glad to do it in this place where God had answered him from Hea∣ven already. The very Spot where divine Appea∣rances are made, is exceedingly delightful and affe∣cting. Alas, thine Altars, my King and my God? How then should we be ravished with the re∣membrance of that happy place, where we shall one day praise him for ever.

Notes

• (†)

  Ho•• factum Abr••hae infirmitate non videtur carere. Ainsw.
• (*)

  Solent Aulici etiam lenocinio gratiam Regum quaerere. Grot.
• (†)

  Deus pudicitiam tuam custodire potest, teque illaesam con∣servare, confido enim in Deo meo quod hoc fieri non patietur. Ferus.