GOD's Judgements AGAINST Whoring.  
Being an Essay towards A General History of it, From the Creation of the World, to the Reign of Augustulus, (which, according to common Computation, is 5190 Years) and from thence down to the present Year 1697.  
Being a Collection of the most Remarkable Instances of Uncleanness, That are to be found in Sacred or Profane History during that time. With Observations thereon.  
— Audax emnia perpeti  
Gens humana, ruit per Vetitum nefas.  
VOL. I.  
LONDON, Printed for Richard Baldwin, at the Oxford Arms in Warwick-Lane. 1697.   

THE PREFACE.  
THE Design of the following Essay is not to minister Fuel to those Impure Flames which have consumed so many particular Persons, Families, and Nations, but is intended as a Caveat and Warning to all those who are guilty of that reigning Sin of Uncleanness, to repent and reform, lest their Practices bring as great or greater Judgements upon themselves, and the Nations wherein they live, as those they will find here related.  
We have begun at the Creation, and traced this Sin, from its original, through all the most remarkable Instances of it, from Lamech, the first whom we find upon Record to have broken the divine Institution of Marriage betwixt one Man and one Woman, to the time of Augustulus, the last of the Roman Emperors, (properly so called) who died about the Year of Christ 476; so that, according to the vulgar Account, we have run through the most observable Instances that happened of this nature for the space of 5190 Years.  
In the first place, we have taken all the Instances of the Old and New Testament, with the Notes of Commentators upon the Crimes and Punishments, and have now and then intermixed some Observations of our own. It's not doubted but this part will be pleasant and edifying to all Men of sober Minds, and may be of great use to be put into the Hands of Youth, as a good Monitor to beware of Youthful Lusts, against which they will see here that GOD hath all-along testified so much Wrath, and been as good as his Word (if we may make use of that familiar Expression) in punishing Whoremongers and Adulterers. It may be also of use to confirm and strengthen them against the Blasphemers of our Age, who cry down the Divine Authority of the Scriptures, for here they will find Proofs from Profane History, that those threatenings denounced in the Holy Scriptures against Empires, Kingdoms, and Cities, for Uncleanness and other Sins, were exactly fulfilled; as will appear by the destruction of the Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian Empires, the several Captivities of the Jews, and the Destructions of the Cities of Babylon, Nineveh, and Jerusalem.  
They will here also meet with Solomon's Character of Whoredom, Whoremongers, and Whores, collected from the several Chapters of the Proverbs, where he treats of that Sin, than which nothing can be more abominable and odious, and such as if any Man should give to the Beaux and Debauchees of this present Age, he would run a hazard of being whipped through the Lungs, with a Damn him for a canting foul-mouthed Coxcomb; so much do those Men hate their own Picture, though drawn to the life by an infallible Hand: And therefore it is no Wonder that they do as much as in them lies to break the Glass which shows them their own deformed Aspect, that is, cry down the Divine Authority of the Bible, which describes them as graphically as if it had been writ in our own Days.  
Their Rampant Malice against the Gospel, and the Godhead of our Saviour, proceeds from the same Cause: The divine Lawgiver, by his Commentaries upon his own Text, hath abridged corrupt Mankind of that Liberty which they assumed to themselves under the Law, and for which they pleaded Prescription, and hath not only forbid Polygamy and Concubinage, but declared Lustful Thoughts to be Criminal, and that Whoremongers and Adulterers shall be excluded the Kingdom of Heaven. No Wonder then that such Persons as live in open Rebellion to his Dictates, and have bid Defiance to his Threats, do all they can to persuade themselves and others, that it is not GOD, but Man, that they fight against. It were to be wished, that most of those who embrace and countenance Deism and Socinianism would answer from their own Consciences, whether a loose Conversation, and Love to an uncontrollable pursuit of their Sensual Pleasures, did not at first beget in them a good Opinion of those newly revived, yet old and stinking, Heresies: But whether they do it, or not, it's observable enough, that the most of their Proselytes in these Nations smell rank of Goatish Lust; and therefore it's but natural that they should declare War against his Godhead, who is to be their Judge at the last day, and will assign them their Place then on his Left Hand, amongst the Goats, if Repentance don't prevent it.  
And would to God that those Men would but seriously consider with themselves, whether they have not reason to look upon the dissolute Lives of most of their Fraternity, as a just Judgement upon them from God, for growing vain in their Imaginations, and rejecting all those Principles of Religion which they cannot fathom with their shallow and corrupted Reason, according to that of the 1st of the Romans, Because they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their Imaginations, their foolish Heart was darkened, and professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. Wherefore God also gave them up to vile Affections and Uncleanness, through the Lusts of their own Hearts to dishonour their own Bodies; of which they will meet with dreadful Instances in this Treatise amongst the Grecians and Romans, in their Eleusina Sacra, Bacchanalia, Ludi Florals, etc. tho' they called themselves, as indeed they were, the wisest and most polite Nations in the World.  
If it be objected, That the denying the Godhead of Jesus Christ has no tendency to encourage Men in the practice of Uncleanness; it may be readily answered, That seeing it was Jesus Christ who recalled Marriage to its first Institution, and took away that Liberty of Polygamy and Concubinage which the holiest Men under the Old Testament (and some of them Prophets too, as Abraham and David) thought lawful, the denying of our Saviour's Godhead overthrows his Authority in this and all other things that he hath taught us, inasmuch as it makes him a Liar; for, that he asserted his own Godhead, and was cut off by the Jews for making himself Equal with God, appears plainly from the History of that Matter left us by the Evangelists; but if it be so, that he is not only not God, but died for asserting a Lie, that he was so, then certainly the Practice of Abraham, David, Solomon, etc. is a better Warrant for Polygamy and Concubinage than his Word is against it. Thus it's apparent that the denying of Jesus Christ to be God is introductory of Uncleanness, especially Concubinage, which some of our Gallants do so much plead for, and will boldly assert, that there's no harm in keeping an Unmarried Woman for a Miss. And, that the Socinian Books, and the Spreaders of that Heresy, are entertained chiefly by Men of such Principles and Practices, is so plain, that it cannot well be denied.  
To return to our Account of this Work. We have in the next place taken all those Instances in the celebrated History of Josephus, that did any way make for our purpose. We have likewise taken those in Justin, Plutarch's Lives, and Quintus Curtius, relating to the Greeks, Persians, and other Eastern Nations treated of by the Ancients, and have turned over the Roman Histories, from the foundation of Rome to the Reign of Augustulus, wherein the Reader will find that this Sin of Uncleanness hath had Tragical Effects upon Empires and Emperors, Monarchies and Monarches, occasioned many Revolutions of Government, and that neither the Victories of Alexander, Julius Caesar, and Pompey, nor the great Dignity, universal Esteem, and Princely Qualities of Augustus and Titus the Son of Vespasian, have been able to rub out the Stains which their impure Lusts have fixed upon their Memories. Nor indeed is there any reason to think it should, when the Faith of Abraham, the Holiness of David, and the Wisdom and Grandeur of Solomon, have not been able to secure them against those Punishments which their Uncleanness brought upon their Persons, Families, and Reputations; so infallibly true hath it always been found what the Wiseman hath foretold of the Adulterer, in the 6th of the Proverbs, That a Wound and a Dishonour shall he get, and his Reproach shall not be wiped away.  
We have also looked into the Ecclesiastical Histories of Eusebius, Socrates, Evagrius, etc. for such Instances as relate to our Subject, which we have faithfully set down, to show how hateful and abominable Unclean Persons were in the Eyes of the Ancient Church, what severe Penances were enjoined them, and with how much Difficulty they were received again into its Communion.  
It was designed to have taken a View of the Histories of all Nations extant, and, amongst others, to have inserted the horrid Instances that are to be found in the Lives of the Popes and other Heresiarches, and, in a word, to have brought the History down to our Time, but finding that the Volume swelled, I thought fit to defer that to a Second Essay.   

AN Alphabetical Table OF THE CONTENTS.  

A  
A Bimelech, how punished for taking Sara. Page 18  
— His Testimony against Adultery. ibid.  
Abraham 's Polygamy, how occasioned and punished. 10, 11, 12  
Abner 's Uncleanness and Punishment. 64  
Absalon 's Incest and Punishment, the Opinions of the Rabbins upon it. 71, 73  
— The weight of his Hair, how much; the Opinion of the Rabbins how David delivered him from Hell. ibid.  
Achitophel 's unclean Counsel and Punishment. 73  
Adonijah 's Uncleanness and Punishment. 79  
Adulterer, who the first. 2  
Adultery, how said not to be known at Sparta. 190  
Agathocla, Agathocles, and Evanthe's Whoredom and Punishment. 162  
Agathocles 's Whoredom and Punishment. 159  
Ageus, how he knew Theseus to be his Son. 187  
Agis King of Lacedaemon betrayed by his Adulterous Queen. 144  
Ahab & Zedekia 's uncleanness and punishment. 94  
Alcibiades, why banished, the manner of his Death. 145  
Alexander the Great, his lust fullness and punishment. 149, 154, 156, 195, 196  
Alexander K. of Pherea. 198  
Amazons, what they were, their original and way of propagation. 141  
Ammon 's Incest and punishment. 67  
— The cause of his hatred to Tamar after he had radished her. 69  
Anilaeus 's uncleanness and punishment. 115  
Antony 's Debauches and Death. 215, 270, 221  
Antiochus desperately in love with his Father's Wife, how discovered, obtains her. 213  
Apparel, Roman Luxury in it. 295  
Appius Claudius 's uncleanness and punishment. 13  
Apicius 's Gluttony, poisons himself 278  
Archelaus 's uncleanness and punishment. 99  
Archias ruined by Whoredom 197  
Aristotimus 's Whoredom and Punishment 160  
Arsinoe, her Incest and Punishment. 160, 161  
Artaxerxes 's uncleanness and punishment. 148, 224  
Assyrian Empire overturned by Lust. 135  
Athenians ruined by Luxury. 145  
Athens and Rome both founded by Lust, and Enemies to Christianity. 187  
Angustus 's Lust and Punishment. 231  
— Unhappy in his Children. 232  
— His luxurious Feast. 234  
Aurelius Commodus 's Lusts, Persecution, and Death. 257  
St. Austin, how converted. 124  
Adulteresses punished by being shut up in a Brothel-house, that Custom abolished by Theodosius. 306   

B  
Baalpeor, what. 46  
Babylonians ruined by Whoredom. 95, etc.  
Bacchanalian Rites, what, how discovered and abolished. 181, 186  
— The Consul's Speech against'em. 185  
Bacchus 's Worship, why ridiculed by the Scythians. 120  
Bagoas, Alexander 's Catamite, his Cruelty. 156  
Balaam 's f●…thy advice and punishment. 46  
— Why the Jews say he was guilty of Bestiality with his Ass. 52  
Barges of Heliogabalus described. 294  
Baths, Luxury of the Romans in'em. 288  
Bedstcds of Silver and Gold. 294  
Benjamites, their uncleanness and punishment. 60  
Berecinthia her Worship, what. 263  
Births heterogeneous, their cause. 53  
Bonosus 's Drunkenness. 273  
Bridge over the Sea by Caligula. 285  
Brutus cuts off the Tarquins for their uncleanness. 168  
Buildings, Roman Luxury therein. 291  
Bells rung by Prostitutes at Rome to invite Passengers. 307   

C  
Caligula 's Lust and Punishment. 237, etc.  
— His extravagant Taxes, his Death, Sueton 's Character of him. 281  
Canaanites uncleanness and punishment, 52, 53  
Capua ruined by Lust. 176  
Caracalla 's Lust and Death. 259  
Carinus killed for Adultery. 260  
Catiline 's Whoredom. 223  
Cato the younger's false Notions of Marriage. 207  
— Parts with his Wife to Quintus Hortensius, takes her again when a Widow. 207  
— Murders himself. 209  
Cato the Censor punishes Voluptuousness. 199  
— His own Amours. ibid.  
Centurion remarkably punished for his Lust. 180  
Cerinthus the Heretic's Uncleanness.  
Chastity of the Primitive Christians testified by Tertullian, Origen, St. Jerome, Pliny, and Clem. Alexandrinus. 312, 313, 314, 316  
Chastity of a Christian Youth remarkable. 314  
Children of weak Constitutions barbarously murdered by the Spartans'. 191  
Chrysargyrum, what, and how abolished. 309  
Cicero 's Incontinence, Luxury in his Palaces. 291  
— His Death. 224  
Cimon 's Lust and Punishment. 202  
Circumcision, why only applied to Males. 13  
Cities, when first built, by whom, and why. 5  
Claudius Caesar 's Lusts and Punishment. 240  
— His Incest with Agrippina. 241  
— His Agreement to the adulterous Contract betwixt his Wife Messalina and Silius; his Death. ibid.  
Clemens Alexandrinus 's Opinion concerning unclean persons. 311  
Cleonice slain by her Paramour. 202  
Cleopatra, her Incest and Punishment. 164  
— Her Drunkenness, drinks Pearls to the value of 300000 Sestertii. 271, 272  
— Her manner of coming to Antony, their riotous way of living, poisons herself. 220, 221  
Cloaks, excessive number of 'em. 296  
Clodius 's Whoredom. 203, 223, 224  
Comes Romanus, what. 290  
Cooks excessive in number and value. 277, 278  
Cups, excess, expensiveness, and beastly forms of 'em. 275   

D  
Damocles leaps into scalding Oil to avoid Sodomy. 211  
David 's Amours with Maacha, and the Opinions of the Rabbins concerning it. 68  
David 's Adultery and Punishment, and Remarks on it. 64, 65  
David 's Concubines, their uncleanness and punishment. 75  
Darius 's Incest and Punishment. 148, 225  
Decemviri, their Government overturned at Rome by the Lust of Appius Claudius. 172  
Decius Mundus. 113  
Demetrius Poliorcetes 's lust and punishment. 209, to 214. The Honours done him by the Athenians, 213. They desert him at last, 213. His prodigality to his Harlots, 211. His vile passion to Damocles. ibid.  
Demetrius of Macedon 's lust and punishm. 161  
Dimacus betrayed by his Catamite. 153  
Diocles K. of Athens his lust and punishm. 143  
Dionysius 's lust and punishment. 157, 197  
Divorces of Jews, our Saviour's opinion of 'em. 104  
Domitian 's lust and punishment. 255  
Drunkards promoted for their Drunkenness. 274  
Drunkenness of the Romans. 267, 268, 273 274   

E  
Eastern Nations, their Uncleanness. 50, 51  
Fating Excess as to quantity. 284  
Ecclesiastical History, Instances from thence. 3●…0  
Egyptians, their uncleanness and punishm. 49, 50  
Elders of Israel attempt to debauch Susanna. 103  
Eleusina Sacra described, 119  
Eli 's Sons, their uncleanness and punishment. 61  
Esau, why he married three Wives, his sin and punishment. 20  
Eurydice 's Incest and Cruelty. 147   

F  
Firmus drank two Buckets of Wine at once. 273  
Fishes, the luxury and niceness of the Romans in them, mourned for when dead, decked with Jewels, Otavius 's Expense about 'em. 282, 283.  
Foreskin, why circumcised. 13  
Fornication, why so called. 307  
— Schoolmens Opinion of it. 315  
Fowl, the nicen●…ss and luxury of the Romans about 'em. 283  
Furniture of Houses excessive. 292, 294   

G  
Galba 's uncleanness and punishment. 249  
Galerius the Emperor's Whoredom, eat up alive by Worms. 260  
Galerius Maximianus his uncleanness and punishment. 305  
Gallienus 's uncleanness and death. 259  
Games and Plays in the Theatres, the expense and folly of 'em. 286  
Giants, the first of them, how, and what. 6  
Glaphyra, her uncleanness and punishment. 99  
Gluttony of the Romans. 276, 279, 280, 281  
Gnostics, their Impurities. 302  
Great Cities occasions of lewdness many times. 2  
Grecian 〈◊〉, her Revenge upon a Centurion that debauched her. 181  
Groves chosen by Idolaters to worship in, because of being accommodated to their lustful designs. 82  
Gryphus, Gryphina, Cyricaenus, and Cleopatra, their lust and punishment. 164   

H  
Hagarens, their Original and Offspring. 12  
Hair plaited and anointed. 296  
Ham 's seeing his Father's nakedness, what. 8  
Hannibal 's Army debauched at Capua. 175  
Heliogabalus a Catamite. 307  
— his lust, gluttony, and tragical end. 258  
Herod the Great. 100  
Herod and Herodias, their lust and punishm. 106  
Hispala a Courtesan discovers the Bacchanalian Rites, and more afraid of Men than Gods. 184  
Holofernes. 101  
Houses of Domitian and Nero described. 293  
Houses excessive large. 291   

I  
Jacob 's Polygamy and Punishment. 21  
Idols of the Moabites and Zidonians, what. 80  
Idolatry and Uncleanness produce each other. 117  
Jewels, Lollia Paulina 's excess in them. 297  
— and of other Roman Ladies. 298  
Jews, 50000 destroyed by the lust of Anilaeus. 115  
Jezebel her uncleanness and punishment. 83  
Joseph 's Chastity, Remarks on it. 29  
Jsraelites, their whoredom and punishment. 42  
— their Luxury the cause of the Plague that swept away 70000. 83  
Judah 's Incontinence and Punishment. 27  
Julius Caesar his Uncleanness, Sodomy, and Punishment. 226, to 231   

K  
Kingly Government abolished at Rome by Whoredom. 166  
Kitchens excessive large. 291   

L  
Lacedaemonian Women impregnated by their young Men sent home on purpose from the Camp. 142  
Laodice her Incest, Adultery, and Punishm. 162  
Latins defeated by their Whoredom. 193  
Laws slavishly dispensed with, and the order of time inverted to please a Prince. 212  
Levite 's Concubine, her uncleanness and punishm. 58  
Locrians complain of Pleminius Debauches. 176  
Looking-glasses excessive dear. 299  
Lot 's Wife, why turned into a Pillar of Salt, according to the Rabbins. 15  
Lot and his Daughters, their sin and punishment. 14, 15, 16, 17  
Lucretia ravished, her Speech to her Husband, kills herself. 167  
Lucullus 's Luxury and Punishment. 203  
Ludi Florals, what. 263  
— Salvianus 's opinion of 'em. 264  
Luxury of the Romans. 265, 266  
Lycurgus 's filthy Laws, and Reasons for 'em. 189  
— His Reasons confuted. 190  
Lydians ordered by Cyrus to be debauched, why. 138   

M  
Manasses 's Uncleanness occasioned the building of the Temple of Samaria, and the Hatrea betwixt the Jews and Samaritans. 85, 86  
Mandrakes found by Reuben, what. 24  
Manichees, their Impurity. 51  
— Their Opinion of the Polygamy of the Patriarches confuted by St. Austin. 22  
Manilius turned out of the Senate because too sweet upon his Wife in presence of his Daughter. 199  
Manners, how generally corrupted at first. 4, 5  
Marriage, why forbidden by Papists and other Sects. 130  
— The Opinion of the Primitive Christians concerning it. 314  
— A second time the Severity of some of the Ancient Christians and Councils against it. 316  
Massinissa 's Cruelty to his Paramour Sophonisba. 178  
Maxentius 's Whoredom. 304  
Maximinus 's Drunkenness. 273  
Maximus the Emperor's Adultery and Death. 261  
Messalina. 240  
Messenians ruined by Uncleanness. 144  
Midianites, their uncleanness and punishment. 42  
Minutia a Vestal Virgin put to death for Whoredom. 172  
Mithridates K. of Pontus, his Incest and Punishment. 162   

N  
Nero 's lusts and punishment. from 242 to 249  
Nexus, a barbarous Custom among the Romans, what, and how abolished. 173  
Nicolaitans, whence so called, their uncleaness. 301  
Ninus 's effeminacy and lust. 135  
Nivellius Torquatus knighted for Drinking. 270  
Nonae Capraticae, why so called. 193  
— the manner of that Feast. ibid.  
Numa Pompilius allowed Men to lend their Wives. 191   

O  
Ochus 's lust and punishment. 225  
Oppian Law, made to restrain the Luxury of the Roman Women, Speeches for and against it 179  
Orator sued for displacing a Fold in another's Shoulder. 296  
Origen, why he emasculated himself. 302  
Oropastes destroyed by his Concubine. 139  
Otho 's uncleanness and punishment. 250, 251   

P  
Parthenii, their Origin. 142  
Paulina. 113  
Paulus Samosatenus his Uncleanness. 303  
Pausanias murders his Paramour, stain. 202, 203  
Penitentiary Presbyter, why abrogated at Constantinople. 308  
Pericles 's Lust and Punishment. 194  
Persepolis, an unclean City, burnt at the persuasion of an Harlot. 152  
Persian Ambassadors killed for their Lust. 146  
Persian women's Idleness and Immodesty. 151, 137  
Persian Empire ruined by Luxury. 143  
Pharaoh 's Plague for taking Sarah, what. 10  
Phea called Sow for her Lust, her punishment. 188  
Philip of Macedon 's uncleanness and punishm. 147  
Philistines, their uncleanness and punishment.  
Pictures excessive dear. 295  
Platters excessive large and costly. 277  
Pleminius 's lust and punishment. 176  
Polygamy, our Saviour's Opinion of it. 104  
Pompey the Great's lusts and punishments. 203  
— His fondness of Julia promotes his ruin. 205  
— His Revels with Cornelia and fondness of her completed his ruin. 206  
Priapus 's beastly Worship, what. 218, 262  
Priests of Isis. 113  
Primitive Christians hatred of uncleanness. 304  
Prizes of great value given in the Theatres. 288  
Ptolemy Ceraunus 's lust and punishment. 159  
Ptolemy 's Incest and Adultery. 162  
Ptolemy Phiscon 's Incest and Cruelty. 163  
Pyrrhus 's uncleanness, slain by a Woman. 200   

R  
Revealed Religion, why divided by the Be●…. 123  
Reuben 's Incest and Punishment. 32  
Rings, excess in them. 297  
Roman Women immodest in their Apparel. ibid.  
Rome its Church, why called in Scripture Whore, and Mother of Harlots. 132  
Rome founded by Whoredom, endangered at first by Rape. 165  
Roofs of Houses movable, and changed at every course. 292   

S  
Samson 's Whoredom and Punishment. 53, etc.  
— The Rabbins think the Philistines debauched his Wife. 53  
— Objections against the number of Foxes taken by him answered. 55  
Saracens, their original. 12  
Sardanapalus 's uncleanness and remarkable death. 135, 137  
Schechem 's Whoredom and Punishment. 25  
Scythian Women, their Message to their Husbands in Asia. 139  
— Married their Servants in their Husband's absence. 140  
Scipio rebukes Massinissa for his lust. 176  
Seed flux of it in Man, and Menstrua in Women, why it rendered 'em unfit for public Worship. 41  
Seed passing through the Fire to Molech, what. 51  
Seleucus King of Assyria parts with his wife to his Son. 213  
Servants; excess in their number. 300  
Sextus Tarqvinius his Rape and Punishment. 168, 169  
Ships sailing in Wine. 287  
Simon Magus, the Uncleanness of himself and Followers. 300  
Sodomites, why they lusted after Strangers, and particularly after the Angels. 13  
Solomon 's unclednness and punishment. 79  
— whether saved or not. 81  
Solon 's Uncleanness and impure Laws. 192  
Sophonisba, Daughter to Asdrubal, her scandalous Marriage to Massinissa. 176  
— her last Message to her Paramour Massinissa. 178  
Spinctriae, what. 235  
Spitamenes and his Wife, their punishment for Lust. 153  
Statues, the Excess of the Romans in them. 290  
Suppers, excessive for cost, 279 282  
Scylla 's lustfulness, eat up by Lice. 201  
Syphax 's Marriage with Sophonisba caused his War with the Romans. 177  
Syria and Egypt remarkably punished for their Uncleanness. 165   

T  
Tables, the Excess and Expensiucness of them. 276  
Tarentum betrayed by an Harlot. 195  
Theatres, Excess of the Romans therein. 284  
— their Furniture costly. 286  
Theatre of Scaurus, of Titus. 284, 285  
Thehe, Daughter to Jason, how she avenged herself of her Husband for his Adultery. 198  
Theseus 's Lust and Punishment. 188, 189  
Tiberius Caesar 's unnatural Lust, filthy Inventions, and Death. 235, to 237  
Titus 's Uncleanness. 254  
Trajan 's Sodomy, etc. 259  
Troy ruined by Lust. 145  
Tutula her filthy stratagem to defeat the Latins. 193   

U  
Unclean Women made use of to ensnare the People of God, fatal to the Contrivers. 57  
Uncleanness the cause of the Jews Captivity. 91  
Uncleanness, People judicially given up to it, and why. 117  
Uncleanness, the sorts of it, the Trial and Punishment of it under the Law. from 35, to 40  
Unnatural Lust discovered by heterogeneous Births 52  
Valentinian the Emperor murdered for Adultery. 260  
Vespasian 's uncleanness and reformation. 254, 255  
Vestal Nuns, their Whoredoms, how expiated. 175  
Victualling houses at Rome under Ground, what. 306  
Virginia killed by her Father to save her Chastity, his Speech to the Roman Army. 170, 171  
Vitellius 's Lust and Punishment, Luxury, Gluttony, etc. 252, etc.   

W  
War occasioned at Sparta by the Lust of Chelidonis. 200  
Wenches naked wait at Table. 277  
Whores and Whoremongers, their Character by Solomon. 87  
Whoredom the cause of Apostasy, and of the Deluge. 6, 7  
— the Judgements denounced against it in the New Testament. 122, etc.  
— its Original. 1, 2, 3  
Wild Beasts, vast numbers of 'em in the Theatres. 287  
Women that killed themselves to avoid being defil'd. 304  
Woman taken in Adultery, the reason of our Saviour's acquitting her; what he wrote upon the Ground at that time. 109  
World Peopled a first and second time by lawful Marriages. 7   

Y  
Young man ravished his Mother, and killed his Father and Sisters. 316   

Z  
Zealots in Jerusalem, their lustfulness. 116  
Zeno the Emperor's lust and punishment, buried alive. 308, 309    

ERRATA.  
PAGE 15, l. 14, read, touched; p. 16, l. 31, r. a necessity; p. 28, l. 8, r. murder; p. 29, l. 19, r. Juvenile; p. 29, l. 33, r. greater; p. 30, l. 26, for but r. that; p. 31, l. 18, deal he; p. 35, l. 10, r. a Virgin; p. 60, l. 3, r. to propagate; p. 83, l. 8, r. as to; p. 84, l. 34, r. Canaanites; p. 112, l. 33, r. with her Hair; p. 130, l. 28, r. Marcionites; and l. 34, r. to ward; p. 132, l. 29, r. he represents; p. 134, l. 4, r. Justin; p. 137, l. 4, r. which with; and l. 6, r. my Desires; and l. 27, r. Effeminacy; p. 142, l. 2, r. of Xerxes; p. 144, l. 3, r. as abovesaid; and l. 26, r. prevailed; p. 147, l. 31, r. Justice; p. 165, l. 14, r. begot; p. 171, l. 1, r. upon which; p. 178, l. 33, r. Disloyalty; p. 192, l. 11, r. and another; p. 194, l. 14, r. Bawd; p. 252, l. ult. r. Day; p. 253, l. ult. r. Streets.   

AN ESSAY TOWARDS A General History OF WHORING, etc.  
THE Original of the Crime which is the Subject of the following Sheets, must necessarily be deduced from the Sin of our first Parents; for there is no doubt that Lust, or the inordinate motions of the Flesh did invade their Souls at the same time when their other Faculties were corrupted: And it appears plain that Idleness, the lust of the Eye, and intemperance of Appetite, which ever since have been the forerunners and ushers of bodily uncleanness, did precede the Eating of the forbidden Fruit, and that as the Natural Consequence of such Antecedents, the first thing taken notice of by our Parents after the Fall was their Nakedness, whereof they were immediately ashamed, and endeavoured to cover it. This Nakeness say Commentators that they were so speedily made sensible of, was not only that they felt their need of a Cover to their Bodies, both for Ornament and Defence against the Injuries of the Air, etc. but that they were also sensible of the Rebellion of the flesh, which doth not only war against the Soul, but hath a natural tendency to the dissolution of the Body, there being nothing which sooner extinguishes the flame of Life than an immoderate consumption of that Oil, which nature hath provided for its nourishment. This impurity of the affections did no doubt exert itself quickly in actions, which in our first Parents could not fall under the notion of Whoredom, they being married by God himself, in the State of Innocence; yet there's little doubt to be made of its having vented itself in an immoderate use of the Marriage bed; and thus these impure desires were communicated to their Posterity, who were thereby polluted; and conceived and brought forth in Iniquity.  
The first direct breach of the Divine Institution of Marriage betwixt one Man and one Woman which we find Recorded, was in the person of Lamch, one of Cain's Posterity, whose two Wives we find mentioned in the fourth of Genesis, by which it appears plain, that Murder and Whoredom are near a kin, had both of 'em their rise from one and the same Family: And according to the opinion of some Interpreters did both of 'em centre in this Lamech, who is thought to have been a bloody cruel Man, as is gathered from this discourse to his Wives in that Chapter, viz. I have sla●…n a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt.  
This bad example of Lamech's digamy, did quickly infect the Infant World; for we find in the next Chapter, That when men began to multiply, and that daughters were born unto them, the Sons of God saw the Daughters of men, that they were fair and they took them Wives of all that they chose. It's still to be observed that as Whoredom and Uncleanness began in Cain's Family, so there it continued and increased; and by their Contagious Example, the Family of Seth, which did then contain the Visible Church, became also infected; and the Members of the Church having more regard to the Beauty and Comeliness of the Women of Cain's Race, than to the virtue of those who were of their own Religion, their Eyes betrayed their Hearts, they lusted after their Beauty, and without any consideration of Religion or Laws, took them Wives of all that they chose, by which Interpreters understand promiscuous Marriages, Polygamy, unjust Divorces, Rapes, and all manner of Lewd and Licentious practices, which brought the Wrath of God upon the old World, and occasioned his saying, as in the 3d verse, That his spirit should not always contend with Man.  
The occasion of this General Corruption of Manners is hinted to be the multiplication of Men, and particularly of the Women of Cain's Posterity, who being under no discipline, and wanting the benefit of pious Instruction and good Example, became dissolute and wanton, and no care being taken to dispose of them duly in Marriage, they took all occasions to satisfy their brutal desires, for which their dwelling in Cities (whereof Cain was the first Founder) amongst multitudes of people, gave them great opportunities, it being always observed that in Great Cities, the numbers of dissolute persons makes them to despise Laws, and follow such practices as they durst not venture upon in Villages, and Countries where they could be more easily restrained and punished: not that I would be understood to be against the building and maintaining of Cities, which increase the Glory, Riches and Strength of Nations, but would to God that the great Cities of Christendom were not still too justly chargeable with avowed Impurities of the same nature, which a zealous Magistracy might easily prevent. It is also the opinion of some of the learned, that the Cainites did first build themselves a City that they might strengthen one another's hands in Cruelty and Uncleanness and follow such practices with all manner of impunity, which gave their Women opportunity to pamper and deck themselves that they might be the more agreeable objects of Lust; and this might also render them more amiable in the Eyes of the Posterity of Seth, who living as 'tis presumed a Rural Life for the most part; and their Women being kept in order by Laws and Religion, and applying themselves to the Affairs of their Families, that they might approve themselves meet helps to their Husbands, according to the design of God at the first Creation of Woman, did not mind the decking and adorning of their Bodies, nor the pampering of their Flesh, and cherishing their Beauties as the Cainites did, and therefore were not so pleasing to the Eye, as those lascivious Women, who behaved themselves as if God and Nature had designed them for nothing else but a Man's bed, whereas the Divine Goodness appointed that they should be meet-helps in their Religious Conversation, Industry, Care and Education of Children, to all of which those loose practices of the Cainites were diametrically opposite.  
From those unequal Marriages and promiscuous Copulations, proceeded a contempt of Laws and Religion amongst the Cainites, and an Apostasy from Godand Religion amongst many of the Posterity of Seth; and it hath been observed amongst all Nations since, that when Religion decays uncleanness increases, and that a love to Licentiousness hath always been a great cause of Apostasy, as is but too too observable in those that are called Deists and Socinians in this present Age, most of their New Converts or rather Perverts, being people of a loose life, especially as to the point of Chastity.  
The next effect of those unclean and beastly Commixtions, was an offspring of Giants, so called as some Interpreters think from the vastness of their bulk, as being begot in raging Lust, or as others, because of their Barbarous and Savage Manners, and filling all the World with Rapes, Cruelty and Devastation, so that by the just Judgement of God the Children of those unlawful Marriages and Promiscuous Copulations, became the plague of their Parents, and the scourge of Mankind as well as the declared Enemies of Heaven and Religion: Whence the old doting Poets took occasion to amuse the World with the fabulous War of the Giants against Jupiter, etc.  
Noah, not being able by his preaching of Righteousness, to reform the World from this horrid Debauchery, it provoked God to bring the Deluge, which drowned that lascivious and wicked Generation of Men, who had drowned themselves in all manner of sensual Impurities, with so much obstinacy, that when that fatal Flood came it surprised them, as eating, drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. Thus then it's apparent that Whoredom was one of the principal Causes that brought the Wrath of God upon the old World. And it deserves our observation, that God by his Command to Noah to take only his own Wife, and the three Wives of his three Sons into the Ark with him, as he did thereby give another Testimony of his honouring and approving of Marriage, he did also plainly testify against Digamy, Polygamy and Concubines; and that as the World was peopled at first by lawful Marriage, it should be also peopled in the same manner a second time.  
To come next, to the times after the Flood, the first instance of impurity that occurs to us, is Ham's deriding his father Noah 's nakedness, by which there are some Interpreters who understand that he not only told it his Brethren, but also before Women and Children, in a lascivious and filthy manner, and took occasion to fall into foolish Jesting and Sarcasms; Nay, if we give credit to the opinion of Berosus and the Rabbins, he enchanted his Father's Virile parts, and unmanned him; but however that is, this is certain, that he discovered a frothy, unclean, lascivious temper, for which he was severely punished in his posterity The Canaanites, who wallowed also in those fleshly impurities when God destroyed them by the Israelites, the posterity of Sem, as shall be taken notice of in its proper place.  
From Ham did also proceed Nimrod the Mighty Hunter and cruel oppressor, who was the first that laid the foundation of a Tyrannical Government after the Flood, so that the observation still holds that Uncleanness, Murder and those other Crimes which lay Nations wast are near a kin, and generally the offspring and product of one and the same Family.  
That Abraham seemed to have this Notion, appears from his advice given to his beautiful Wife Sarah, when he traveled with her into Egypt, viz. to say she was his Sister, because the Egyptians he supposed would have killed him that they might enjoy her. Whence we may likewise observe that the Holy Patriarch knew that lustful persons would rather commit Murder than be balked in the satisfaction of their Lusts; and yet, though the World was at that time so much degenerated, it's plain from this passage, that the Egyptians looked upon Marriage as Sacred and Inviolable, otherwise Sarah's calling herself Abraham's Sister could have been no defence of her Husband's life: Nay, it is manifest from the History that Pharaoh designed to have taken her to Wife, so that those Heathen Egyptians will rise up in Judgement against our Christian Debauchees, who think neither Fornication nor Adultery to be Crimes, for it's evident from this passage, that both he and his Subjects though abominably lustful had a great regard to Marriage, which its plain he thought necessary to render his enjoyment of Sarah lawful.  
There are several other things to be learned from this remarkable instance, as that the vanity of matching with none but those of Royal Extract had not then invaded the Thrones of Princes— But at the same time it is as plain that it hath been an old and wicked Custom amongst Courtiers and Nobles to be Panders to the lusts of their Monarches, for here we find that Pharaoh's Princes Commended Sarah's Beauty to him, which occasioned her being taken into his House; and would to God that no such thing had ever been justly chargeable upon the Court of England.  
There are only two Remarks more which I have to make on this Story, and shall then proceed to another, viz. that God by smiting Pharaoh and his Household, all of sudden with Plagues, did both give a Testimony of his divine displeasure against such lustful practices, and of his being a protector of Conjugal Chastity.  
What the nature of this Plague inflicted upon Pharaoh and his household was is not agreed upon amongst Interpreters. The Hebrews say, that it was a Gonorrhoea or Ulcer in his secret parts, which prevented his design: Josephus thinks it was a Pestilence and sudden Sedition in the Palace; Philo Judaeus says it was a Distemper both of Body and Mind, and Chrysostom, is of opinion that it was some Bodily Plague inflicted upon him, just as Sarah was brought to his Bed; but however those things be, this is certain, that Sarah's pollution was prevented, and Pharaoh obliged to own that it was not lawful to take another Man's Wife.  
The next instance is of Abraham himself, who is the first of the Posterity of Seth after the Flood, that we find to have been guilty of Digamy; it's plain that the occasion of his taking his Handmaid Haga to Wife, was his Wife Sarah's advice, and the Cause of her giving that advice, was her own Barrenness, advanced age, and fear that she should not otherwise have the promised Seed. The Causes of Abraham's consenting so easily were no doubt the same, and Polygamy being then Common in the World, his Practice administered no occasion of Scandal, so that his practice of marrying his Maid in those times of Ignorance which God winked at, can not afford any argument for Polygamy now, and seeing he had his Wife's consent, it will far less warrant those lascivious Intrigues which many Masters have now a days with their Maid-Servants. But that this practice of the Holy Patriarch was displeasing to God will easily appear from the punishment inflicted upon his Family, the Peace of which was immediately broke, by Hagar's despising her Mistress, assoon as she found herself pregnant with the promised Seed as she vainly believed: Then Sarah upbraids Abraham with the wrong whereof she herself was the occasion, and forced him to a breach of that Marriage Bond, which by her own advice he had contracted: Hagar was also punished for her unlawful Consent, first, by being severely dealt with by Sarah, who gave her for a Wife to her Husband, and then by being thrust out of the Family and exposed to the World, and though she was brought back again for some, time till she was delivered of her Son, Ishmael, yet her abode was of no long continuance, for she was thrust out again with this additional affliction, that she had her Son to provide for, was exposed to the cruel necessity of seeing him die of thirst as she apprehended, and instead of his being the promised Seed, she and he were both Ignominiously thrust out from partaking of the Inheritance with Isaac, and she was plainly told from Heaven, that he should be a wild Man, having his hand against every Man, and every Man's hand against him; which was speedily verified, for he became a profane scoffer at Religion and the promise of God, which occasioned his expulsion from his Father's Family and the Church. His crime is by the Apostle Paul called persecution, and his Posterity we find complained of by the Psalmist in the 83. Psalms, amongst the other persecutors of the people of God, and so they have continued under several denominations to this day, as Ishmaelites, Hagarens, etc. of which latter name being ashamed, as denoting their Spurious Original, they assumed to themselves the Title of Saracens, as if they were Sarah's offspring, under which they were formidable to the Christian World for some Ages, and continue irreconcilable Enemies to the Christian Religion to this day, under the name of Arabians, Turks, etc. Such unseparable Vices are Uncleanness, Cruelty and Persecution, and so easy and natural is the Transition, from an unclean person to become an Apostate and Enemy to true Religion. Nor is it fit to let it pass unobserved, that a●… he himself wa●… unlawfully begot, his Posterity to this day have continued to be a vile and lustful people, and itis known to the world, that it is now become an Article of their horrid Religion, that they place their chief happiness both in this Life and that to come in the enjoyment of those impure pleasures.  
Nor is it fit we should pass over what is commonly observed by Divines, that the very Ordinance of Circumcision, by which the foreskin was appointed to be cut off, was a mark of God's displeasure at Incontinence upon the Instrument of Generation; and likewise an evidence that those who expect his favour should mortify that Corruption; and that it only took place upon Males, was because the beginning of Generation and consequently of natural Corruption is from that Sex.  
The next dreadful Instance of God's hatred and indignation at Whoredom and Uncleanness, is his raining of Fire and Brimstone upon Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim, etc. the cry of their lewdness being such, that it seemed to drown the noise of all other Sins at that time. This is the first Instance we meet with of Lust's arriving to such a prodigious height, as to seek after Unnatural Objects, and it would seem their Incontinence was so fierce, that they furiously sought after every opportunity, to gratify their brutish desires, especially upon Strangers; for they had so mutually polluted one another, that it's probable their villainous pleasures that way, had lost much of their relish: Nor is it unlikely that the Comely and Beautiful aspect of those Angels added fuel to their flames, and it deserves particular observation, that the whole City both old and young was infected with this lustful Contagion, in which they were so hardened, that neither Lot's unadvised proposal of his own Daughters (to them) who were more natural and fit Objects for their Lust; nor the remarkable Judgement of God upon them in striking them with blindness were able to divert them from their devilish purpose, of offering that unnatural abuse to those Messengers of God, who at last after having set Lot and his Family out of danger, became the executioners of Divine Justice upon those Monsters of Impurity, and punished their lustful flames with storms of Fire and Brimstone, which were only some precursory drops to those showers of everlasting fire, which makes the smoke of their torments to ascend for ever and ever.  
Neither ought it to pass without observation, that God did not only punish themselves, but would have their Country which they had polluted to remain a Monument of their abominable Impurity, and his just Judgement, so long as the world stands: nor would Divine Justice suffer Lot's Wife to pass unpunished for looking back upon the place which she left with a reluctancy, and could have wished to have been spared, but turned her immediately into a Pillar of Salt for her disobedience and inordinate affection to her Relations and Estate, which God had justly determined to destroy, and not for having withheld Salt from the Angels her Guests the night before, as the Jews have fabulously delivered.— We shall conclude this passage with these few Reflections, viz. That the places being converted into a dead Sea, near which no Creature can live, andthe Apples and Grapes that grow upon the banks of it, which are grateful to the Eye, but when touch moulder into dust, and send forth stinking sulphureous Exhalations, are fit Emblems to represent, not only the vanity, but the deadly effects of those hurtful and foolish Lusts, the satisfaction of which is so eagerly pusued by Corrupt Nature.  
The next Instance we meet with, is that of Lot's Incest with his own Daughters, or rather their Incest with him. This passage has many strange Circumstances that deserve our observation. It is not improbable that the lewd Conversation of the Sodomites had beforehand infected the minds of those Damsels, for it's a hard matter to touch pitch and not to be defiled; Divines are of different opinions concerning those Women, some believing that they had actually been married, and others, that they were only betrothed, but which soever of 'em it was, it's certain they had lost their Males; and perhaps their Father's offer to prostitute them to save his Guests, and their having been ear witnesses at least to those unnatural villainies practised by the Sodomites, might possess them with extenuating thoughts of the wickedness they had in design: Yet it appears by their abominable Intrigue to Intoxicate their Father, that they durst not propound any such thing to him when he was Sober, their wickedness appears to be so much the greater, that they had but just escaped from that storm of divine Wrath which over took the Sodomites for their Vile Lusts; That they had but a very little before seen their Mother turned into a Monument of God's displeasure, for having a hankering mind after that impure City, and her wicked Relations in it; That they had no doubt been often times witnesses to the vexation of their Father's Righteous Soul at the lustful practices of the Sodomites, and yet all this was not able to restrain them from pursuing their unclean design, and commiting one sin to obtain the Commission of another. Their pretence that there was no Man left to come in unto them after the manner of all the Earth, and that therefore they were under necessity a of raising up Seed to their Father, appears to have been an ill founded suggestion of the Devil, to hide their sin from their Eyes, for they could not but know that they had left men behind them in Zoar, they might have seen from the hill, that the whole Country was not ruined, and those divine Judgements had only swallowed up the Cities of the Plain; or they might speedily have been better informed by their Father. Their wickedness is also aggravated by this, that as they were Sisters by Nature, they were Sisters in Iniquity, and they had no regard to their own, nor their Father's good Name, nor the scandal which by this lewd practice they gave to the Enemies of true Religion. The Scripture is silent as to any Judgements inflicted either upon their Father or themselves, but informs us plainly that the issue which they had by this Unlawful Congress, were accursed, and their posterity like other spurious brood were mortal Enemies to the people of God, and perpetually excommunicated from the Church by Divine Command, Deut. 23. 3. And thus Lot had an eternal blemish fix●… upon his Chastity, which did formerly so much distinguish him from the other Inhabitants of Sodom, and was punished by being the Author of Debauching his Daughters himself, whom he so rashly offered to be Debauched by others; so that we see raging Lust leaps over all the bounds of Law and Nature, and if not curbed in time may rise to a surprising and prodigious height, and bring down stupendous Judgements upon People and Persons.  
The 20th. Chap. of Genesis gives us another Instance of Abraham's slavish fear and distrust of God's Providence which had formerly delivered him, and by which frailty he again endangered the Chastity of his Wife; but God took care to preserve it by keeping Abimelech from touching her, tho' he was so much taken with her Beauty, and doubted not but that he might Lawfully Marry her, he not knowing any other, but that she was really Abraham's Sister. Yet God was so much offended with Abimelech's rash attempt to which he was doubtlessly influenced by his Lust, for it appears that he had a Wife already, that he punished him and his Family with a grievous distemper, as Josephus thinks as soon as he brought Sara into his House, and made all the Women belonging to him barren, or because barrenness properly so called, could not be so soon discovered, inflicted such distempers upon them as must necessarily occasion barrenness, so that by his Unlawful desire of issue by another Man's Wife, he was precluded of any Lawful Issue by his own, until such time as he was made sensible of his Crime, and willing to restore Sarah to Abraham.  
In the 26th. of Genesis we have a very Extraordinary Testimony against Adultery from an Heathen Prince Abimelech King of Gerar upon the occasion of Isaac's having from that same principle of slavish fear with his Father, called his Beautiful Wife his Sister, to avoid being killed for her sake, but the King perceiving him sporting more familiarly with her than 'twas decent for a Sister and Brother to do, he reproved him sharply for his having dissembled her being his Wife, whereby he not only endangered her Chastity, but might have brought wrath upon the People for defiling another Man's Wife, and therefore to prevent any such thing, he forbade any of the People to meddle with Isaac or his Wife on pain of death. Certainly this Heathen Prince will rise in Judgement against those pretended Christians who pollute themselves with promiscuous Lusts, and neither Account Fornication nor Adultery a Crime.  
The next Instance offered us is that of Esau, who married two Wives; and those too the Daughters of Canaan, which were a Grief of Soul unto his Father and his Mother; that he Married two Wives at once, considering his Grandfather Abraham's Example and the Custom of those dark and ignorant times seems not so Criminal, and yet his Father's pra●…ice, who had but one, aught to have had more influence upon him; but his marrying Canaanites, Profane Women, and Heathens, contrary to the Command of his Grandfather Abraham, and not only without the Consent but against the Inclination of his Father and Mother, was altogether unexcusable.— The Impulsive cause which moved him to do so, we have no reason to doubt, was his Ungovernable Lust, for that he was a Man of intemperate Appetite, and by Consequence Libidinous is plain from his having profanely bartered away his Birthright for a Mess of Red Pottage when to be sure he might have had other Food in his Father's House, or if he had rejected Jacob's proposal there's no great reason to think that Jacob would have been so unnatural as to have insisted upon his demand, and denied necessary Refreshment to his Brother, but he did so much idolise his own Palate and Appetite, that he preferred the satisfaction of them to every thing else, and we have the same reason to think that his Concupiscence was as Ungovernable as his Stomach, and therefore he married two Canaanitish Women at once to satisfy his raging Lust, the fulfilling of which he preferred to his Father and Mother's good will; and this no doubt had no small influence in moving the latter to suborn Jacob to deprive Esau of his Blessing as well as of his Birthright: and it's Remarkable that as he made a Cursed choice of his Wives, he was also accursed in his Posterity; who, as it appears by the Sacred History became irreconcilable Enemies to the people of God, and were always their most Barbarous and Cruel Persecutors.  
Esau's Marrying a third Wife of Ishmael's race, while the other two were alive, is another Argument of his Unbridled Lust and Enmity to true Religion. It ' true that Interpreters disagree in this matter, some thinking that Esau Married this Third Wife of his Father's own kindred to please him, because the Daughters of Canaan were hateful to him, but others seem to have more Reason, who, think that he did it out of Contempt with a design to provoke his Parents more, by contracting a new Alliance with another wicked people, who were as much Enemies to the Church, and as much or more irreconcilable to his Father as the other; seeing, it's apparent that Ishmael mocked or as the Apostle Interprets it persecuted, Isaac from his very Infancy. And thus far we see raging incontinency and hatred at Religion go hand in hand  
The next Instance that occurs to us is that of Jacob, who well may be charged with Polygamy, as having four Wives at a time instead of one. The first occasion of this good Patriarch's transgression in this matter, was the Wicked Craft and Deceit of Laban his Father-in-Law, who instead of Rachel whom Jacob Married, brought Leah to his Bed, and so was the cause of Jacob's Digamy and Incest, and tho' it's true, that Jacob is no where Condemned in Scripture for this, yet it's plain that he acted contrary to Divine institution, and he is reproved for it by our Saviour amongst others when he told the Pharisees, That from the beginning it was not so. There were some, and particularly the Manichees of old who inveighed against this Polygamy of the Patriarches, and in very gross and foul Language accuse them as Whoremasters and their Wives as Whores, but their scurrilous Arguments are well answered by Augustine against Faustus and others— There are some who think that this Polygamy of the Patriarches was by a peculiar instinct, and particular Dispensation, and therefore as in that case it could not be blamable, neither can it now be ordinarily imitable, the chief Reasons they assign, for their opinions are, that it was permitted for the Increasing of the Promised Seed, that jacob's Wives, etc. were acted by more than a Natural principle, and much self-denial, in recommending their Maids to their Husband's Bed, which in ordinary Cases must be supposed to alienate his Affection from themselves. In the next place they observe that they prayed for offspring by their Maids and brought up their Children upon their own knees. It must be owned that those things were Extraordinary and Contrary to the Practice and Principle of the generality of Women; yet it's strongly presumable, that there was something of Custom as well as of instinct in this matter, and that the people of God were polluted with the bad Example of those amongst whom they lived.  
But however these things were, this is certain that all the Persons concerned were one way or other punished for their Concurrence in this Affair. Laban had not only the mortifi●…ation to see his two Daughters Jar and Disagree, and Envy one another, but also to find his Riches and Substance decrease and to be conveyed to another hand; Leah, she was severely punished by finding that she had less of her Husband's Love than her Sister, whose Bed she had unjustly defiled. Rachel was punished with barrenness for some time for consenting to live with Jacob as his Wife when she knew that her Father had given her eldest Sister into his Bed. Jacob's life was very uneasy betwixt his Jarring Wives, who did each of them Envy the others Enjoyment of him; Nay, he was perfectly Subject to the Command of his Imperious and Beautiful Rachel, and obliged to take a third Wife to beget Children for her, and this laid him under a necessity of obliging Leah in the like manner, which as it must needs Consume his Body he being now above 80 years of age, there was no doubt but it increased his care how to provide for so many Wives and Children, at the same time he was also plagued with a Covetous Oppressing Father-in-Law, and discontented Brethren who envied his growing rich in the World.  
Nor is it to be doubted but there was frequent Quarrels amongst the Children of so many different Mothers, seeing its Common to find Children by the same Father and Mother often to disagree, and this without doubt begot mutual Broils, Contentions, and Heats amongst the different Wives every one envying the prosperity or good Fortune of another's Children. An Instance of this we have in Rachel who was so much taken with Reuben's Mandrakes that there's no doubt but she could have wished they had been found by one of her own Sons. Hence also we may observe, That as the Children did every one love their own Mother's best, it must needs occasion Quarrels amongst them. It's not agreed among Interpreters what these Mandrakes were, some will have them to be Beautiful Fragrant Flowers, and others, that they were Beautiful and Delicious Apples which promoted Conception, and that therefore they were so much desired by Rachel, which, if it were so, she was however disappointed for having agreed that her Husband should be with Leah that night, it occasioned her Rival to have two Sons Successively one after another, and also one Daughter. But as to the Mandrakes themselves, St. Augustine against Faustus tells us, That he has seen of 'em, Diligently Inquired into their Nature, and says, they were Apples fine to the Eye, and of a sweet Scent, but insipid taste, but very rare to be bad, and on that Account alone he thought Rachel did Covet them.  
The sin of Jacob and Leah, is also very legible in their punishment, by the foul Crimes of their Children Reuben and Dinah. Jacob was guilty of Incest with two Sisters, and to the great grief of his Soul, eternal Reproach of his Family, and scandal to the Neighbouring Heathen; his Son Reuben committed Incest with his own Concubine Bilhah, which by the way, was another punishment upon her for consenting to Marry one who had two Wives before, and whom she had no reason to think could ever be able to perform Conjugal duty to so many, and 'tis not improbable that this made her an easy prey to the Tentation.— Then as to Dinah, her being polluted by Schechem the Son of Hamor, was another disgrace to Jacob's Family, and brought a fresh scandal upon the Church, as well as ruin upon the Schechemites, whose destruction was occasioned by the Lustful Passion of their Prince, in dealing with Jacob's Daughter as with an Harlot, which so enraged her Brethren that by a fraudulent Covenant they obliged the Schechemites to Circumcise themselves, came upon them while they were Sore, and put all the Males to the Sword— And thus Dinah was also punished for her Conversing with the Daughters of the Land, who were Idolaters and of corrupt manners; her Curiosity which is so common to young Maids was fatal to herself and many others, neither is there any thing better to be expected from those Profane Festivals, Revellings and Banquet, which Josephus thinks the Schechemites were now taken up with:— And that Dinah either having stole away from her Mother to see how the Daughters of the Land were adorned, and behaved themselves in their public Dances, or being so far indulged as to have Liberty to go, the Libidinous young Prince being taken with her Beauty, and under no restraint, but dandled by an Indulgent Father, violated her Chastity, for which himself, his Son, and all their Male Subjects quickly after lost their Lives, having first bee●… by the Just Judgement of God punished in the very Instrument of their Lasciviousness. The wound as it's usual putting them to great pain, and making them unable either to resist or fly from Jacob's Armed Sons and Servants; and thus also the Good Old Man was punished by the Rape of his only Daughter, and his bleeding wound ●…ipt open afresh by the Treachery and Cruelty of his Children. This is another Instance of a People cut off and destroyed for Uncleanness  
The next thing that occurrs, is another affliction to the Good Old Patriarch, from the Evil Report of the Sons of his Concubines Zilpah and Bilhah, who being the offspring of an Unlawful Marriage were also of a Lewd Conversation themselves, and according to the opinion of some of the Hebrews, guilty of Sodomitical Impurities; But however, that was, this is plain from the Sacred Text, that they had an ill fame, and with this Joseph acquainted his Father, which occasioned their Conspiracy to kill Joseph, and at last to sell him, so that here Jacob was remarkably punished for his Polygamy; The Children of those Concubines being both wicked and haters of his Children by Lawful Wedlock; and though it be not directly to our purpose yet it may not be perhaps unpleasant to the Reader to acquaint him that the Hebrews think Jacob was justly punished, when made to believe that the blood of a Kid was that of his Son Joseph, because he had formerly deceived his Father and made him to believe that he was his eldest Son Esau, by putting a Kid's Skin about his Neck, etc.  
Our next Instance is in Judah, who having left his Brethren and his Father's House, and by Consequence the then Church, and Lodging with an Adulamite, fell in Love with a Canaanitish Woman, and Married her (he not then exceeding 14 Years of Age himself as Chronologers think) not only without his Father's Consent, but against it, according to the Example of Esau.— How he was punished for this fault the following History acquaints us, viz. That having obliged his Son Er to an early and precipitant Marriage like his own, who being a Wicked Man, and as the Hebrews think, guilty of Sodomy, or as others of spilling his Seed upon the ground as his Brother Onan did, the Lord destroyed him. Nor was Judah any happier in his Son Onan abovementioned, who being given to his Brother's Widow for a Husband to raise up Seed to his Brother, did maliciously spill it on the ground, that his Brother's Memory might not be continued; Whereas to die Childless had not only a Tendency to the decay, and ruin of the Family, but was also looked upon as Reproachful, and therefore it is the opinion of Divines, that that temporary Law was constituted Deut. 25. 5. The Rabbins according to their fabulous manner, allege, That Onan did this because he would not have Thamar's Beauty spoiled by bearing Children, but whatever truth there be in that, 'tis certain that God destroyed him for that Impurity, and frustrating the End of Nature, which is next akin to Muuther if not a species of it, seeing it destroyed that which was potentially a Man or Woman.  
But Judah's punishment does not cease here, he is plagued with raging Lust in his own advanced years, and being a Widower did incestuously pollute his own Daughter-in Law Thamar, whom he took to be a Common Harlot, by which he incurred a perpetual disgrace, and brought an Indelible blot upon his Memory. From that History we may plainly also perceive that Adultery was held a Capital Crime even amongst those Canaanites, seeing Judah ordered his Daughter-in-Law who was in a manner betrothed to his third Son Shelah to be burnt: Nay, and that the Crime which is called simple Fornication was accounted shameful amongst them, seeing, when he sent his Friend to redeem the pledges which he had left with Thamar, but could neither find her nor them, he said, Let her take them to her lest we be ashmed. Thamar's fact some have endeavoured to excuse, because say they, It did not proceed from Incontinence, but to revenge herself upon her Father, for not giving her Shelah to Husband as he had promised; and others allege that she had some knowledge that the Messiah should descend from Judah, and therefore desired to be impregnated by him, but neither of these Excuses are sufficient, and therefore we find that she was punished with a perpetual Widowhood for her Incontinence; and also by a dangerous and monstrous Birth of twins, who seemed to strive which of them should be soon rid of their Impure Mother, and by that means contributed to render the Memory of their Father and Mother's Crime immortal.  
The next Scripture Instance is of a mixed Nature, and contains a Glorious Triumph of Chastity in the person of Joseph, against the Tentations of his Lascivious Mistress, by embracing of which, he might not only have satisfied the invenile heat of Concupiscence, but also have expected Riches, Preferment, and what not by means of a Woman of her Quality, and opportunity to fulfil the Lusts of the Flesh with Secrecy and Impunity, the Repeated attacks which she made upon him, his absence and unjust Expulsion from his Father's Family, which then contain d the visible Church, the Impure Example of the Egyptians, and the unavoidable danger which he must needs foresee he threw himself into, by resisting her Unlawful desires, set his Victory off with the Creater L●…e, and depaints her Crime in Placker Colours; and that same History which rewards his Chast●…y with immortal Fame, punishes her Un●…ness with eternal disgrace, and Brands her with a sort of Rape contrary to the Common Course of the Sex, and with abominable Cruelty in accusing the Innocent youth of her own Crime, for which he was shut up in Prison and brought in danger of his Life; such is the Rage of disappointed Lust. The Rabbins allege that she feigned herself to be sick, or really might be so through her burning Lust as Amnon was for Tamar, and finding that all her Solicitations by words could not do, ordered it so as he should find her a Bed in a Room where he frequented, thinking thereby to add Strength to the Tentation, and if that would not do, was resolved to make use of Force, which she did also attempt, but in vain. And it is also remarkable, that her Husband, though no doubt incensed upon her accusing Joseph, yet was so far overruled as to abstain from violence towards him, and 'tis not at all to be doubted, but when Joseph's extraordinary Favour in the Court of Heaven, advanced him to the Court of Pharaoh, but this Unchaste Woman, if then alive, became a Curse and a Reproach, or if dead that her memory became Vile and Contemptible. This passage brings naturally to my mind that well known Reflection upon the Reformation here in England, by some loose Persons, viz. That it came from Henry viii Codpiece, which opprobrious saying, was probably invented by Enemies to our Religion, and as there's no doubt but that Prince's Incontinence gave him occasion to Inquire into the Pope's Power, and afterwards to break it when he opposed his divorce, so we see it is no new thing for God to bring about his own holy and pure designs, by the Impure and Wicked designs of Mortals, for here this Woman's Incontinence occasion●…d Joseph's Imprisonment, where becoming acquainted with some of Pharaoh's Courtiers then under disgrace, that gave occasion to his being sent for to Court, and laid the Foundation of that Deliverance which the Church of God had from an Universal Famine by his means  
I shall conclude this History of Joseph with one observation, that as he is Recorded to posterity for a Mirror of Chastity, we don't find that he was so much as he tainted with digamy or polygamy, as his Father and Great Grandfather were, whose Examples herein tho' they were Holy men he never followed, and this is the more Remarkable because his Dignity and Power in the Land of Egypt furnished him with all things necessary for Pampering the Flesh, and afforded him an opportunity of keeping as many Wives and Concubines as he pleased, and yet we find he contented himself with one, by which also we may perceive that tho' a Pattern of Chastity, yet he accounted Lawful Marriage and Procreation of Children no violation of it as the Mad Popish Monks would pretend to do.  
The next Instance we have of Divine Judgement upon Uncleanness is in the punishment inflicted upon Reuben, and prophetically foretold by his Father Jacob in his last words unto his Children, or in his last Will and Testament as some are pleased to call it. The Judgement pronounced against Reuben is this, Unstable as Water thou shalt not excel because thou wentest up to thy Father's Bed, than defiled'st thou it, he went up to my Couch, etc. Chronologers Reckon, that this was 40 years after Reuben's Incest with his Father's Concubine Bilhah, and tho' Reuben had no doubt repent of his Crime and was thereupon pardoned by God and his Father so as to be continued both in the Church and in his Father's Family, yet now his iniquity is called to remembrance by his dying Parent, who puts Reuben to shame afresh before all his Brethren, and declares it to be the Will of God, that Reuben should be deprived of his Birthright because of his Impurity, and that whereas being the Eldest Son he ought of right to have expected the Priesthood, Royalty, and Preeminence over his Brethren; he is now told that he should not excel, that is, he and his Posterity should neither be considerable for Strength, Valour, nor Number, and the cause is subjoined because he was Unstable as Water and had defiled his Father's Bed, or had been acted by his Impetuous and Raging Lust like an inundation of Water which overflows its Banks and drowns, the Country; and thus as Esau lost his Birthright by one sort of Profanity, Reuben lost it by another; and as he had resembled an Inundation of Water for Fury and Instability, so God poured him out like Water, and made his state Unstable; and this Judgement was pronounced in the hearing of all his Brethren as the last and irrevocable Will of God and his Father; which, there's no reason to doubt, set it home with the greater pungency upon Reuben's Soul; and especially because not only he himself, but his Posterity also was set up as a Monument of God's Judgement against Incontinence. There are some who fabulously assert, that Jacob being well versed in Astronomy, did read the destiny of his Sons in the Stars, where they will have the prognostication of all humane Events to be writ down as in a Book; but the Event hath verified that he was acted by a more infallible Author.  
The next thing that offers itself to our Consideration is the Sentence pronounced against Simeon and Levi, who were Brethren to Reuben by Leah, joined to Jacob as hath been formerly observed by Unlawful Wedlock.— And that which makes the Curse inflicted upon them fit for our Remark is this, viz. That it was occasioned by their Cruelty against the Schechemites, of which the Rape committed upon their Sister Dinah was the procuring Cause; so that it comes naturally to be taken notice of as one of the Judgements which was the Consequence of Lust. The purport of their Sentence was, That they should be divided in Jacob and dispersed in Israel. A very proper punishment for those who commit Crimes against the being of humane Society, to be scattered up and down upon the face of the Earth: And if we may give Credit to the Conjectures of the Learned, their Posterity inherited their Father's Cruelty; for the Levi●…es, that is to say, the order of Priesthood, and descendants of Levi, condemned Jesus Christ; and Judas who betrayed him, being as they say, of the T●…ibe of Simeon, both those Tribes had a hand in that Condemnation, which was the most cruel and unjust Sentence that ever was pronounced in the World.  
The next thing which we find in the Sacred Records relating to our Subject is, That God to Testify his abhorrence of this sin of Uncleanness, gives it as the 7th. precept to his peculiar People, Israel, that they should not commit Adultery; under which Term, Uncleanness of every sort is forbidden; and being the 7th. in order it would seem that the Divine Lawgiver did thereby intimate that they should be as frequent and particular in the Remembrance of this precept as they were to be of sanctifying every Seventh Day, which though it were appointed for a rest, yet they were hereby given to understand that they were not to spend this Day in Chambering and Wantonness, nor make it the principal Day of their impure Assignations as our Modern Debauchees do; and tho' this precept was promulgated from Mount Sinai with the same solemnity of Thunder and Lightning as the rest of the Law was, yet God would have his people so punctual in the observation of it, that he added a further sanction to it, by appointing particular punishments for the various manners of breaking it: as he that enticed and defiled Virgin should certainly take her to Wife; but if her Father would not consent to it, the Person that defiled her should pay her Dowry; but if the Virgin were betrothed and defiled in any place where she might have help upon crying out, than both Parties were to be put to death; but if the betrothed Virgin were surprised in the field, or where she could not have help upon crying out, than the Man was only to suffer death, Exod. 22. 16. Deut. 22. from 14 to the end, but in case any Man were found lying with another Man's Wife, then both the offending Parties were to be stoned to Death; and if any Husband could prove that his Wife had played the Whore with another Man before his Marriage to her, she was likewise to be stoned to death.— And as a further Evidence of God's detestation of Whoredom, it was appointed Deut. 23. 2. That no Bastard should enter into the Congregation of the Lord, even to his tenth Generation: Nay, so great was the care of the Divine Lawgiver to have his select People strictly Chalte and Continent, that he order them to provide against all occasions of Lasciviousness, or Incontinence in their very Apparel, and particularly in the 22. of Deut. and 12. he commands them to make Fringes upon the four Corners of their Garments, which some Commentators understand to be Points or Laces to fasten them so that their Nakedness might not be discovered on any occasion, Breeches not being then in use. In that same Chapter Men are forbid to wear women's Apparel, or Women men's, lest thereby there should be an opportunity given to promiscuous Lusts. By this, Effeminate Fops and Masculine Viragoes are also rebuked: Nay, Common Reason teaches us to despise and abhor such Unnatural Monsters. A Poor Heathen Poet could say,  
Quem praestare potest mulier gale at a pudorem  
Quae fugit à sexu.  
What Modesty can we expect to see  
In Women Armed like Soldiers Cap-a pee.  
The Almighty is very particular in Exedus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy, in enumerating the different sorts of Uncleanness, which he would have his People to avoid, and after having forbid under severe Penalties those more usual methods of Transgressing the Seventh Commandment, he forbids Marriage within such and such degrees of Consanguinity, lays restrictions upon the use of the Marriagebed itself; and because our nature is so depraved, that when Lust has the Reins laid on its Neck, it puts Mankind upon the search of Unnatural Methods to satisfy it, the Divine Goodness consults our Welfare so much as to make those things plainly appear to be sinful to us by his prohibition, which Nature itself at first Glance would have taught us to be so, if we did but make use of Common Reason: And therefore the approaching to a Woman in her Uncleanness; and Bestiality, or Unnatural Comixtion with Creatures of another kind, Crimes which ought to have been Buried in perpetual Oblivion, whose very Names strike Nature with fear and horror, are expressly forbid, and the very Brutes as well as the Man or Woman were ordered to be cut off for having suffered such a transgression of the Law of Nature; and that the People might take the more care to observe both those positive and Negative precepts, he tells them that for such Abominations the Canaanites were to be driven out before them and cut off.  
It is also worth our Notice, that the Explanation of this Seventh Commandment is more at large set down in the Sacred Scriptures, than that of any other of the Commandments, and that the Lawgiver knowing the Frailty of humane Nature, hath been particularly Careful and Indulgent in the methods appointed for Preservation of Chastity, as well as Just in the methods for discovering and punishing Incontinence.  
The Liberty allowed the Israelites in their divorces and the privilege that a new Married Man had of not being obliged to go to War the first year, are sufficient proofs of the ●…enity of the Lawgiver, and that no Person could pretend any Justifiable reason for their Incontinence. A years time for a Man and a Woman to cohabit was sufficient to establish their mutual Love, and to prevent that Lubricity of the flesh which is discoverable upon first Marriage, and might endanger the Woman's Chastity if too soon deprived of her Husband, and the Man's also if all of a sudden taken from his Wife, especially to follow a Military Employment, which generally abounds with Tentations to Incontinence, and many other Crimes— And answerable to this is the Command of the Apostle, That the Husband should pay all due benevolence to the Wife, and that they should not defraud one another but with Consent for a time lest Satan tempt them for their Incontinence.  
Chastity was so strictly enjoined unto this select people of God, that they were not only forbid to suffer any of their Daughters to be Whores, or any of their Sons to be Whoremasters, as some think the word which in our Translation Deut 23. 17. is Sodomites, aught to be rendered, but all manner of immodesty was strictly forbid; and therefore if any Woman seeing her Husband and another Man a Quarrelling, should be so impudent in her Fury or Passion as to take the other Man by the Secret' Parts to oblige him to forbear Quarrelling with her Husband, her hand was to be cut off without any pity, tho' every Man knows that a Pressure or Gripe in those parts would quickly Force her Husband's Antagonist to quit the Fray.— And by much more reason would those Judges have Condemned Women who put their hands to those parts upon a Lustful Account.  
The Trials appointed in the Levitical Law to find out whether the Jealousy of the Husband was well founded, was likewise admirably Accommodated for the Clearing of the Innocent, and condemning the Guilty. The Tokens of Vi●…ginity which the Learned tell us never failed in that Climate, were a Convincing proof of the Brides being a Maid or otherwise, and therefore the Linen in which the Bridegroom and she lay the first night was carefully kept by the Parents of the Bride, and taken from the Fed before proper Witnesses, as a security for their Daughter's Honour. If the accusation were found false, the Husband was to be Chastised and Fined in an Hundred Shekels of Silver to the Father of the Damsel, and if it was found to be true, she was to be stoned to Death for having wrought folly in Israel; so that there's no doubt but this Custom had a mighty influence upon Parents to watch carefully over their Daughters, and on the Virgins themselves to preserve their Chastity.  
The Trial to find out whether a Woman had committed Adultery after Marriage, was yet more solemn and terrible, as may be seen in the 5th. of Numbers, from the 11th. to the 31st. Verse. And seeing the effect of the bitter Water which the Woman was to drink on that occasion, was altogether Supernatural, viz. to make her fruitful if Innocent, and her Belly to swell and Thigh to rot if guilty, it plainly demonstrated that God himself was the Patron of Chastity, and Revenger of Adultery, and the Person found guilty upon this occasion becoming a curse among the people, it shows how odious and abominable that Crime than was in the Eyes of Man as well as in the Eyes of God; and there's no doubt but this had a very great influence upon Women to be Loyal to their Husbands, and careful to avoid giving 'em any occasion of Jealousy. It's probable that the Trial of Adultery by the Fiery ordeal, or laying so many hot Bars of Iron upon the ground, covering the Woman's Eyes, and making her go over them with her bare Feet, which she burned if Guilty, and came off without any hurt if Innocent, was an Apish Imitation of this solemn and severe Jewish Trial, as many other of the Popish Superstitions are foolish and unwarrantable Imitations of the Jewish Ceremonies; but as they have not the Divine Institution for their Warrant, they come always short of the desired effect, and turn to the disgrace of the Inventors and Practitioners.  
It also deserves our observation that the flux of the Natural Seed in Man, the menstrua in Women, and their ordinary purgations after Childbearing, rendered them unfit for public worship, and were accounted unclean. Nay even the very Lawful Act betwixt Man and Wife went under that denomination; because, as it is well observed by Divines, the Corruption of Nature is more apt to discover itself in that Lawful act, than perhaps in any other, and because Original Corruption is Conveyed unto us in our first Conception by that very substance whereof we are made.  
The next scriptural Instance that Occurs, is in the 25th. of Numbers, where we have an account that the Moabites and Midianites being afraid of the Children of Israel, the King of the Moabites sent for Balaam, a false Prophet and Enchanter, to Curse them, that he might the more easily prevail over them; but Balaam finding that it was not in his power to Curse those whom God had Blessed, gave them advice to send out their Beautiful Women among the Israelites to tempt them to Uncleanness; which if they could, he knew that it would render them odious in the sight of their Holy God, and bring down Judgements upon them from the Almighty hand of Jehovah, who had given them such Laws for the preservation of their Chastity as distinguished them from the polluted Nations of the Earth. We must take notice by the way, that the Moabites were the Descendants of Lot's Incestuous Brood by one of his Daughters, and 'tis very probable that they looked upon promiscuous Copulations to be sufficiently Authorised by the unhappy slip of that Good man, which together with their zeal to save their Country, made them ready enough to prostitute themselves to the Israelites— And they notwithstanding the prohibition and Laws of that God who had chosen them for his peculiar people, called them his first born, destroyed the Egyptians and Amorites for their sakes, and as he told them himself, because of such pollutions, yet they, whom Balaam's Magic could not Enchant, were so much bewitched with Lust towards the Daughters of Moab, that they first committed Whoredom with them, and then committed Idolatry to please them; so easy and natural is the transition from a wicked Life to a false Religion.  
This Lewd and Ungrateful Practice did quickly kindle the Anger of the Lord against them, which was no other way to be expiated but by the Death of those who had been Ringleaders of this Uncleanness and Idolatry, and therefore God Commanded the Judges and Magistrates by the Mouth of his Servant Moses, every one to slay those Ringleaders and Heads of the people in their own Juridiction, who had polluted themselves, and to hang them up against the Sun, in the face of which they had committed these Abominations; so that a Thousand of those profane Great men were hanged, as the Learned do compute, and Twenty Three Thousand of the Common. people were consumed by the Plague for their Whoredom.  
In this General Instance of Uncleanness there is one more particularly taken notice of by the Scripture, viz. That of Zimri, a Prince of the Tribe of Simeon, with Cozbi the Daughter of a Prince of Midian. By the reading it would seem that this man was so far besotted with his Lustful Passion, as neither to regard the Command of God for hanging up other Great men that were guilty of the like Crime, nor the hand of God which was gone out against the Common People destroying those by a burning Plague who just before were burning in their Lusts, but in the very heat of God's Anger, and while the Congregation were all in Tears for their Sins and Judgements, as if he would out brave the wrath of God and insult over the Calamities of the people, he brought his Midiantish Whore in the sight of Moses and all the Congregation into his Tent, and as he made himself thus a Remarkable Sinner, the Lord did pursue him with as Remarkable a Judgement, by stirring up Phinehas to go beyond the ordinary bounds of his Vocation and become Executioner of his Justice upon this Lustful Gallant, whom together with his Whore, he thrust through with his Javelin; so that instead of sending a Priest to give him absolution, God Commissioned a Priest to be the Messenger of dispatching him to everlasting flames in the very mids of his own Impure flames; and while not only the names of Common Sinners, but even those of other Great men who were hanged for the same Crimes, are buried in oblivion, the Name of this Prince and his Tribe are conveyed down to Posterity to perpetuate the Memory of his Infamy; and this Remarkable Zeal of Phinehas was so well pleasing to God, that the Plague amongst the People did immediately cease upon it.  
It's an observation naturally deducible from this passage, that the Chief Magistrate ought to punish Great Men in an Exemplary manner for such Great and Heinous Crimes as Whoredom and Idolatry. Here the great ones are hung up before the Sun, while Sinners of a lower rank are suffered to rot by a Common Contagion. From hence also we may observe, That then a Reformation may have prospect of Success when Ministers and Magistrates concur in it, as here Phinehas did with Moses.  
The horrid advice of Balaam beforementioned puts me in mind of the Counsel which Cardinal Mazarine is generally charged with as to England, viz. That the best way to make us Papists, was, to debauch our Morals, particularly by Whoredom. We find by the Instance just now related, that Uncleanness is a strong attractive to Idolatry, and whether the Lewd Example of the Court which overspread the Nation with Debauchery, did not very much promote the Popish Interest in former Reigns, and likewise lay the Foundation for that Atheism, Deism, and Socinianism which doth so much abound in this (now that the Debauchees cannot find their Account in Popery) let Experience testify.  
If the Advocates of Lechery should object, that the punishments abovementioned were inflicted upon the People because of their Idolatry, and not upon the Account of their Infamous Commerce with the Daughters of Midian; it is easy to answer them that they were punished for both in Conjunction; and the Apostle in the first of Corinthians, 10. and 8. assigns their Fornication as the Cause of their Judgements; it being indeed the Original Cause, and as has been said already, Whoredom and Idolatry have a Natural Tendency to one another, and therefore Cardinal Mazarine's Receipt. abovementioned for perverting Protestants to be Papists, may very well pass with a probatum est.  
There's one thing more to be taken notice of in this Instance, and that is, the Judgements which this Whoredom brought upon the Midianites as well as upon the Children of Israel. It is well enough known that Corrupt Nature is prone enough to Revenge, and there's little reason to doubt but the Israelites were incensed enough against those of Midian for this Great Injury they had done them, yet the Almighty thought fit to whet their Revenge and Commanded them to Vex the Midianites and Smite them, because they vexed them with their Wiles, and beguiled them in the matter of Peor and Cozbi, that is by enticing them to Idolatry and Whoredom, Peor being the Mountain where the Midianitish Baal was worshipped, for Baal was an Appellative Name to Heathen Idols, as Mary is to the Popish ones, but distinguished by the places where the most Famous Statues or Pictures of 'em were worshipped, as our Lady of Loretto, Lady of Prague, etc. now a days.  
So that here's a War declared against Midian with as good Authority and for as great and weighty Causes as ever any War was declared under Heaven.  
The Execution of which we have an account of in the 31. Chap. where it's recommended unto Moses as the last Military Exploit that ever he was to perform to Avenge the Lord and the Children of Israel of the Midianites, which was accordingly done by an Army Contemptible for Number, viz. 12000 Men, who destroyed a Numerous People, Governed by 5 Kings, put all their Males to the edge of the Sword, their Kings not excepted, and amongst the rest Balaam the false Prophet was slain as a just reward for his pernicious Council, and so the Riches which he acquired and was so covetous of, that for the Lucre of 'em he would act contrary to God's Express Command, became a prey to the Israelites against whom he had given such Hellish advice.  
It is also observable that Phinehas who had formerly signalised his Zeal, is sent along with the Troops, which was both a great Honour to him and an Encouragement to them as fight under the Auspexes of Heaven, and had it been otherwise they could never possibly have Conquered such a great People as the Midianites appear to have been 3 by the Number of the Women saved that had never known Man, viz. 32000, their Sheep which were 675000, their Beefs 72000, and Asses 61000; so that God poured Contempt upon that Effeminate Whoring Nation in destroying them by such an Inconsiderable Number of men.  
It's also to be observed that Moses was very Angry with the Captains for having saved all the Women, and the reason given for it, is this, Because they had enticed the Children of Israel, first to Whoredom and then to Idolatry; and therefore he Commanded every Woman who had known a Man to be destroyed, and thus those Women who thought to have saved their Country by Prostituting themselves, did thereby accelerate the destruction of themselves and their Country too, and the Midianitish Men who consented to this Hellish Stratagem of exposing their Wives to save themselves did thereby procure the ruin of both, and their Virgins became a prey to the Conquerors.  
The just hatred of God against this Impure Nation appears likewise in this, that their Furniture, Gold, Silver, etc. was not to be made use of by the Israelites till purified by Fire and Water according to the nature of the thing; so abominable in the Eyes of God are all those things spot●…ed with the Flesh.  
There are some who make an exception to the truth of this History of the Total destvuction of the Midianites, because they afterwards invaded Israel in great Multitudes in Gideon's time, but the solution is eaise; by the Total destruction may be meant that of the Generality; or some of them might escape to the Neighbouring Nations, and return again with Foreign Colonies to re inhabit their desolate Country, which the Israelites were not to stay in, but pressed forward towards the Land of Canaan, and so the new Inhabitants assuming the Name of the Country might invade the Israelites in the days of Gideon.  
We have seen the destruction of Midian, occasioned by their Uncleanness, but that of the Moabites was respited for a while, because they were the offspring of Lot: Of such advantage is it to be descended of Godly Parents, tho' in an illegal manner.  
We have already considered Incestuous and Unlawful Marriages, as they were forbidden to the Israelites, whom God would have distinguished from other Nations, not only in respect of the purity of their Morals, but even in their Apparel, Hair, and laudable Customs: as Maimonides and others think: And we come now to consider those Incestuous Marriages and Promiscuous Copulations, as the Causes of the destruction of the Egyptians, amongst whom they had dwelled; and of the Canaanites, in whose Land they were to dwell, as it is particularly expressed in the 18th Chapter of Leviticus.— It's true that all along in the Book of Exodus the Chief Crime of the Egyptians taken notice of, is, Oppression and Persecution; but, as we have said before, Persecution and Uncleanness are Generally Companions; and we find that the multiplication of the Hebrews was one great Cause of the Envy and Hatred of the Egyptians towards them, which being the usual Blessing and Reward of Chastity was a severe Reproof to the Lascivious Egyptians, which no doubt did heighten their Enmity to the Children of Israel.— And by the Prophet's Reproof in the 20. and 23. Chapters of Ezeki●…l, That Israel had played the Harlot in the days of her Youth, when she was in the Land of Egypt; there's reason to think, that too too many of the Israelites were infected with the corrupt Example of the Egyptians, who for their Promiscvous Venery are Compared to Asses and Horses, by the Prophet, in these words, Whose Members are as the Members of Asses, and whose Issue is as the Issue of Horses. Historians tell us, That it was usual amongst the Egyptians for Brothers and Sisters to Marry together; and that they made a Statute for the Lawfulness of it, because Isis their Goddess was Married to her Brother Osiris. Then seeing the Israelites had conversed amongst them 200 Years, and had not only seen but learned their Corrupt manners, and been witnesses to all the plagues inflicted upon them on that Account, there could not be a more proper Caution given them, than to beware of their Practices.— It is also to be observed that the Arabians, amongst whom the Israelites wandered, married none but their own Kindred; That the Persians held it Lawful for the Fathers to marry with their Daughters; and the Parthians accounted it no Crime for the Mothers to marry with their Sons; so much were those Eastern Countries drowned in Uncleanness; whence it is plain that Whoredom was one of the principal Causes of their destruction. It's true, that in Abraham's time it would seem that such Incestuous Marriages were not Common amongst the Egyptians, otherwise his advice to Sara too (say that she was his Sister) would have been no Argument to make the Egyptians conclude, that she was not his Wife: But it is plain from Historians, that afterwards they grew more licentious. And thus Ptolemy Pihladelphus married his Sister Arsinoe, and Soter and Philopater, Egyptian Kings, did also marry their own Sisters: And it's a known Story of the Persians, that when Cambyses King of Persia had a mind to his youngest Sister, and asked his Judges whether there were any Law against it; they answered him, That they knew none, but that there was a Law, that the King's of Persia might do what they would— Then 'tis also known that the Messagates, Troglodytes, brahmin's, and other Eastern People, allowed a Community of Wives, their Philosophers taught it, and Crates and Cabades Kings of Persia, made L awes for it.  
Another of the Crimes forbidden to the Israelites, and which the Canaanites, and those Eastern People were guilty of, was, causing their Seed to pass through the fire to Moloch, by which some understand that in a most filthy manner they consecrated their Sperm or Seed to their Idol Priapus, as Baal's Priest offered their Blood to their Idol, 1. Kings 18. and as the Manichees and Gnostics mixed the Eucharist with humane Seed; tho' the Current of Interpreters carry it for making their Children pass through betwixt two fires, and sometimes offering them as a burnt-Sacrifice in Honour of their Idol.  
They are also charged with Sodomy, or the Unnatural Lust of Men towards Men, to which they were given up by the Just Judgement of God as a due punishment for their Idolatry. And at the dissolution of the Monasteries here in England, our Antichristian Idolaters were found to have polluted themselves in this manner; which Crime as it brought Hell upon the Sodomites before their time, (that is, brought Fire and Brimstone upon them before they went off the Earth,) so this horrid Uncleanness of the Monks procured the dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII. before their Religion was discharged out of the Nation.  
The Egyptians and Canaanites are also charged with Bestiality, their Men and Women having committed Confusion with Beasts, and thus Pasiphae is accused of having accompanied with a Bull, Polyphantes with a Bear, Semiramis with an Horse, and the Women of Mendis in Egypt with Goats.— Nay if we may believe the Fables of the Jews, the false Prophet Balaam, who was slain amongst the Midianites, was guilty of Bestiality with his Ass, which they foolishly collect from those Words of the Beast, viz. Am not I thine Ass which thou hast ridden upon? It is also observable, that those brutal Commixtions were punished by the Infamy of the Criminals, as well as by their destruction, for we read, that the Monstrous Births have many times discovered those Unnatural Crimes, and that sometimes they have been betrayed by Heterogeneous though perfect Births. And thus Plutarch tells us of a Boy begotten betwixt a Man and a Mare, and of a Girl betwixt a Man and an Ass— And Olaus Magnus' mentions a Man begotten of a Woman by a Bear, who was thereupon called Ursus, and of whom many Great Danish Princes did afterwards descend— It's true that Galen denies that there can be any such Generation of Mankind, but others maintain it upon this reason, That the Partial Cause being more Noble prevails over the less Noble, as it is many times seen that a fair Woman hath brought forth a Black-a-moor.  
In fine the Land of Canaan being polluted by those abominations, Vomited out her Inhabitants, the Posterity of Cham, who did so impudently behold and revile his Father's Nakedness, and is thought to have revived the Vitions manners of the old World in his Posterity, the Sodomites and Canaanites, and thus we have an account of two more Great Nations destroyed by their Uncleanness, viz. the Egyptians and Canaanites, whose Practices the Israelites were Commanded to avoid, as they would not run the hazard of the same or greater Judgements.  
The next Remarkable Instance we meet with in Scripture, is that of Samson, who having a mind to take one of the Daughters of the Philistines to Wife, for which some Commentators are of opinion that he had a particular Revelation, or at least a Divine Instinct, she proved unfaithful to him, and as Levi Ben Gerson alleges, the Philistine youths Committed Adultery with her, and by that means came to the knowledge of her Husband's Riddle: and this Interpretation he thinks to be favoured by Sampson's saying, That if they had not Ploughed with his Heifer they had not found out his Riddle, but whether it were so or not, this is certain, that she was guilty of the breach of Conjugal Fidelity, which issued in the destruction of her Family and People, that she thought to avoid by this piece of Treachery. This is also certain, that she afterwards defiled the Marriage Bed, when Samson went away from her in Anger, upon the Account of discovering his Riddle which makes Levi Ben Gerson's Accusation so much the more probable, especially if we consider that she was by her Father bestowed upon Sampson's Companion, viz. one of those that had accompanied him at the Marriage solemnity; which discovers the Loosnesses of the Philistines in a very Emphatical manner, and made Samson a very Just instrument of Revenge upon 'em and perhaps the Fulsomeness and Cunning of their Crime was very aptly punished by tying those stinking and Cunning Creatures the Fox's tail to tail with Firebrands betwixt them, by which they burned the Cornfields and Vineyards of the Crafty and Impure Philistines. The objection which some make against this Story, viz. That it was impossible to find so many Foxes, is frivolous; it's plain that those Creatures were very Numerous in Syria and Palestine; and they are mentioned in the Canticles as spoilers of the Vines, for these Creatures are great admirers of Ripe Grapes; so that for such an Extraordinary Person as Samson to catch such a Number of Foxes where they did so much abound, was no hard matter; It's certain that they were the most proper of any Creature for his purpose, seeing they frequented the Cornfields and Vineyards, and by Consequence run strait thither; whereas if he had made use of Dogs, they would have run to the Houses where the People might easily have Quenched the Brands.  
The next thing observable in this passage, is, the Just punishment which was inflicted upon Sampson's Treacherous wife, and her Father, viz. That the Philistines burned them with fire, a very proper punishment for such a Lustful Family as this appears to have been, both by Sampson's Wife's proving false to him, who was certainly able enough to perform his Conjugal duty, and also by her Father's incestuous offer of the younger Sister to Samson, which shows that the fear of God was not in the Family: And this Villainous practice of theirs did not only draw destruction upon themselves, but on their polluted Country, and therefore this Revenge of destroying their Corn and Wine in the first place was very proper, idleness and fullness of Bread being great provocatives to Uncleanness, and the old saying is found to be true sine Baccho & Cerere friget Venus. Take away Corn and Wine and Lechery will cease. But this was not all the punishment inflicted upon that Impure People, for he smote them hip and thigh where ever he met them, and shortly after killed a thousand of 'em with the Jaw bone of an Ass; and thus a Villainous People were cut off in an Ignominious manner, by the Jaw bone of one of the dullest and most despicable Beasts.  
The next Instance of Divine Wrath against Fornication is Samson himself, who tho' he had been the Executioner of God's Justice upon the Impure Philistines, yet fell into the same Crime, and Repeated it to the eminent danger, and at last to the loss of his Life: He was once Besieged by the Philistines in Gaza, when he was with a Whore, and tho' God had not deserted him then, so that he escaped them by his great strength and carrying away the Gates on his Shoulders, yet he was so far from taking warning, that he becomes enamoured of the Strumpet Delilah, and was so much besotted with his Lust, that tho' she had given him many demonstrations of her Treacherous design to betray him into the hands of the Philistines, yet he could not rescue himself from her snares, but at last became a Prey and Scorn to his Enemies, a Scandal and a Reproach to the People of God, and an occasion of Triumph to Idolaters, who ascribed their Conquest over him to their Idols, and put him in Prison in that same City where he first committed Uncleanness.  
This is a second Scriptural Instance of snares laid against the Church of God by Unclean Women, the first being by the Midianites, and the second by the Philistines which tho' they proved fatal to the People of God for a time, yet both of 'em ended in the destruction of the Contrivers and Abettors; for the Midianites, we have heard were Totaly destroyed; and now we find that Samson destroyed more Philistines at his Death than he did during his Life, and those the Lords or Chief of 'em too.  
Nor is it unworthy our observation that the Papists, who attacked the Protestant Religion, and endeavoured to undermine it in Charles II's. time, by Court-Whores, and others; tho' they had success for a while, yet their designs have turned to their own disgrace, and come to nothing at last.  
We proceed next to the Instance of the Levites Concubine and the Men of Gibeah. This Women having played the Harlot left her Husband, whose Anger she dreaded, and went to her Father's House in Bethlehem Judah. By the Levitical Law it was more odious in a Priest's Wife or Daughter to be an Whore than in another, and therefore 'tis probable that to avoid the shame and punishment due to her for her Crime, she fled to her Father's House; whither the good Levite, being willing to be reconciled goes to bring her home again, and being benighted in his return, would not lodge amongst the Uncircumcised Canaanites in any of their Cities, but turns in to Gibeah of Benjamin, where he promised himself an Hospitable Reception and safe Asylum, but to his sorrow found it far otherwise, and instead of a Zoar met with a Sodom, the Wicked Inhabitants took no notice of this stranger, who was left destitute of a Lodging in their Streets, till a certain good old Man, who came from his work in the Evening, did Hospitably take him in and entertain him: But immediately after, those Children of Belial beset the House, and offered the Levite the same Unnatural Indignity and Affront that the Sodomites offered to the Angels, who were Lot's Guests; and this old Man took much the same method to divert their wicked purpose, that Lot did to divert that of the Sodomites. In fine, the poor Levite escaped from having any violence done to his own Person, but his Concubine, whom he so entirely loved as to be reconciled to her after her having defiled his Bed, and for whose sake it's probable among other Reasons he would not lodge in any of the Heathen Towns in his way, was so unnaturally abused by those Villainous Inhabitants of Gibeah, that she died. The method which was hereupon followed by the Levite does sufficiently discover his Resentment of this affront, for taking her Corpse, up, tho' he knew that she was justly thus punished by God for her former Uncleanness, so as her sin was easy to be read in her Judgement, yet knowing also that the Inhabitants of Gibeah had committed an horrid and tremendous piece of wickedness, he divided his Concubine into twelve parts, and sending them to the respective Tribes of Israel appeals to them whether any such wickedness as the violation of a stranger's Chastity and Life had been perpetrated amongst them since their coming out of Epypt, where their Forefathers had been strangers, and thèrefore desires them to Consult what was fit to be done for the Expiation of that unheard of Crime. Thus this poor Woman's Limbs were sent about as so many Monument of her Infamy and Gods Just Judgements against her Adultery, and as so many Evidences of the profligate manners of the Benjamites. But tho' here was an end of her punishment, so was there not of theirs; for the whole Kingdom of Israel assembled against them, and the Benjamites being so wicked as not to punish the offenders at their brethren's desire, but to stand in their defence, the matter issued in a Civil War, which, tho' unfortunate at first to the Israelites, because of their not having made due application unto God, and that they relied too much upon their own strength, yet ended at last, almost in the utter destruction of the Tribe of Benjamin, who together with their Cities were destroyed; and they who had formerly been so Unhospitable to the poor Levite, are now forced to shelter themselves in a Rock; and they who had been so inhuman as to Ravish another Man's Wife, had never a Woman left amongst them propagate or continue their Name to posterity; so bitter are the Fruits of Uncleanness in the result and digestion, how pleasant soever they be to Corrupt nature in the Enjoyment and thus we have done with another Instance of a People's being ruined by Uncleanness, 25000 Benjamites being cut off for defending this horrid Villainy, and the stain of their impurity indelibly fixed upon them to all Posterity.— The Rabbins according to their manner, assert many fabulous things concerning this passage, as, that 1000 of the Benjamites fled into Europe after this disaster, because they found that their Brethren had sworn their destruction, that they had killed all their Women and vowed they would give them none of their Daughters, which was like to put an end to their propagation; but their flying into Europe being contrary to the Text, it's not worth taking notice of, only this we may observe, that their Lust and Uncleanness hurled them headlong from one Calamity to another; for after they had escaped the Fury of the Sword, they were reduced to very pinching straits being not only deprived of the Conversation of Women, which its natural for all Men to desire, but likewise deprived of their necessary assistance, without which Men cannot at all subsist, or if they do, it's but very uncomfortably, and as if Divine Justice would have them read their sin in their punishment: After all the endeavours that were used to supply them with Wives they were constrained because of their want of a sufficient Number to take Wives per force for themselves, to answer the Ends of Nature, who had by force taken away another Man's Wife to satisfy their Unnatural Lust.  
The horrid Debauchery of Eli's Sons who lay with the Women as they assembled at the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation is one of the next Instances we meet with in the Sacred Scriptures; a Practice so foul in the Eyes of all mankind, that they can more easily bear with the House ofGod's being made a Den of Thiefs and Robbers than a Den of Harlots; nay such Practices have been so much detested amongst the more refined Heathens, that tho' we read of Eleusina Sacra, which most Authors think to have been profane and Lascivious Rites, and tho' we read also of Temples and Groves dedicated to Venus, where Women prostituted themselves to all comers, yet we read likewise that the Temple of Isis was destroyed and his Priests dispersed for a Villainous Intrigue of Seducing and Debauching a Matron under the Notion of the God Isis having desired her Company.  
The Rabbins, tho' the Jews be known to be a Lascivious Unclean People and much addicted to Polygamy and Whoredom, are so much ashamed of this Villainous practice of Eli's Sons, that they endeavour by their Comments to have it thought that they did not Debauch the Women, but only by delaying their Sacrifice obliged them to sleep or stay whole nights before the Door of the Tabernacle, or at furthest persuaded them to lie with their own Husbands, if they were legally clean before they performed their Sacrifices. Thus Levi Ben Gerson and others, but Josephus the Jewish Historian owns plainly that they Debauched other Men's Wives, partly by Violence and partly by Bribery, and by that means rendered the Worship of the Lord Contemptible and brought Judgements upon themselves and upon the whole people, for not long after, we find that they were slain in a Battle against the Philistines and the Ark of God which they had the charge of, was taken, as if God would suffer the symbol of his presence to be amongst the Impure and Uncircumcised Philistines and kept by them, rather than it should stay amongst the Unclean Israelites who by their Religion were obliged to Purity and Chastity.  
It has been hinted before that the Lechery and Uncleanness of the popish Clergy contributed to the dissolution of their Monasteries in England and elsewhere which, we shall touch upon again in its proper place, but it may not be improper to take notice here, that Socrates gives us an Account, that private Confession was abolished at Constantinople because a certain Presbyter to whom a Matron had Confessed herself guilty of an heinous Offence, enjoined her to stay in the Church and apply herself to Fasting and Prayer, under pretence of which she was found to be naught with the Deacon; whereupon, Nectarius the Bishop of Constantinople abolished that method of Confession.  
But to return again to Eli's Sons, their punishment did not terminate in their own Persons, but reached their Father, who, as Josephus thinks wept continually after God had revealed to him that both his Sons should be slain in one day, and the Scripture tells us, that he fell backward and broke his Neek upon the receipt of that fatal News. It reached also the Wife of one of 'em, who died upon the News of her Husband's death, and the Arks being taken; and it reached also their Posterity who were for ever excluded from the Priest's Office and had a perpetual Poverty entailed upon them, as a Curse, and to make them the more sensible of the dignity, from whence they had fallen, they were condemned to be a sort of slaves to the Highpriest of the succeeding Family, of whom they were to beg a morsel of Bread and Employment, so naturally does the Curse of Poverty or of bringing a Man to a piece of Bread follow upon Whoredom and Uncleanness.  
There are some other Instances of lesser note, as Saul's forcing his Daughter Michal, after she had been married to David, to marry another Man, which was an act of Unncleaness and Tyranny too, and had no doubt, its influence amongst others of that Prince's Tyrannical and Impious Acts to hasten ruin upon him.  
The Instance of Abner's going into Rispah, Saul's Concubine, which Interpreters think he did in an Adulterous manner, and not by way of Lawful Marriage, deserves our Remark; for hereby Saul suffered in his Fame after his Death, and he who had compelled his Daughter to defile her Husband's Bed, had this Ignominy and punishment inflicted upon his Son, that he saw his Fathers-Wife dishonourably defiled, and Abner, who was guilty of that Villainous Action, took occasion, because of his Reproof, to Revolt from him and to transfer the Kingdom to David, and as he went about to effect it, fell into the snare which Joab had laid for him, and lost his Life.  
We come, in the next place to David's Adultery with Bathsheba, a Crime, which hath many aggravations, to be committed by David a prophet who instructed others in the Law of God, and did so grossly break it himself, to be committed by David, a King who ought to have defended the Chastity of his Subject, and not to have violated it himself; to be Committed by David a holy Man, who did thereby expose Religion ro be ridiculed, and laid a stumbling block before others, to commit the like Crime because of his Example, then if we consider the time, it was when his Generals and Army were exposed to the Fury of their Enemy in a Siege, when he ought to have been more solicitous for the honour and dignity of his Crown and for the safety of his Subjects: Then if we consider the Person, against whom this Crime was committed, we find it to be against a Brave, Valiant and Faithful Friend and Subject, who would not indulge himself in his Pleasures and Accommodations, while the Ark and People of the Lord abode in Tents; tho' David, who was his Sovereign, allowed him, nay Commanded and Enticed him to do it, which heightened and aggravated the Crime of that Holy man, who acted herein Hypocritally and Scandalously to cover his Iniquity and gave occasion to the Israclites to think that as for Personal Conversation they had made but a sorry Exchange betwixt Saul and David, for we don't find that Tyrant accused of Personal Uncleanness. But the bloody part of the Scene is still to be acted, David finding that he could not effect his design by Hypocrisy, hath recourse to downright Violence and Murder, his Intrigue to make Uriah drunk, which he thought might provoke him to a desire of his Wife, having miscarried, he resolves to cut him off by the Sword of the Ammonites, and that too, in a fraudulent manner by ordering him to be set in the front of the Battle, and commanding the Men to retire from him that he might be smitten: Nay, so eager was he to have this Poor Man's life, in order to cover his own Uncleanness, that he was content to Sacrifice the Lives of many more of his Subjects, so that this could be but effected; so natural is it for Uncleanness to be the Parent and occasion of Murder.  
The Crime is still further aggravated if we consider how deliberately it was committed, how long he continued without Repentance, and what a severe Judgement he gave against himself, when Nathan the Prophet propounded the Case to him by way of Parable. So much for David's Crime; we must now consider that of Bathsheba, she Washed and Bath●…d herself in open view of the Palace, otherwise David could never have seen her from the Roof of his House, which argues her to have been very Immodest, nor do we find that she made any opposition to the proposal when 'twas made to her, so little regard had she either to the Law of God or her own and her Husband's Honour. It remains then that we come to the punishment inflicted upon both.  
The Judgement pronounced by Nathan against David, was, That the Sword should never depart from his House, that the Lord would raise up evil against him out of his own House, that he would take his Wives before his Eyes and give them unto his Neighbour, who should lie with them in the sight of the Sun, and that the Child which he had begot in Adultery, should surely die, all which was exactly fulfiled, as we shall see in the following Instances.  
The first part of the punishment infl●…cted, was the Death of the Child, and how near that went to David, may easily be perceived by his afflicting himself with fasting and lying all night upon the Earth while it was sick, and there's no doubt but this part of the punishment reached Bathsheba as well as him, seeing 'tis reasonable to suppose that the Death of a Child, for whom she had broke through all ties, Divine and Humane, must go very near her.  
The next part of the punishment displayed David's Sin in Legible Characters, and brought an horrid Disgrace upon his Family, viz. The Incest of his Son Amnon with his Daughter Tamar, the Story and Consequence of which is as follows.  
Tamar, being a fair Woman, Amnon, her Brother fell in Love with her, but knowing that she was within the sorbidden degrees of Consangninity; he found he could not Lawfully enjoy her. Before we proceed any further in the History of this affair, it is proper to consider, that this Damsel's Mother was Maacha Daughter to Talmai King of G●…shur: Rabbi ●…hi says, That David took this Lady Captive, and being himself Captivated with her Beauty, defiled her and begot this Tamar, and that persevering in his Love to Maacha, tho' a Heathen, he made her a Proselyte, and did according as it is prescribed by the Levitical Law, Deut. 21. viz. Shaved her Head and Kickshaws, cut her Nails, etc. and took her to Wife. Lyranus and some of the later Rabbins say, That when Maacha was taken, she was with Child of this Tamar by another Husband, and this they think, favoured by her saying to Amnon? Speak unto the King for he will not withhold me from thee: But Modern Interpreters do with more reason think that she only said this to put him off, for if they could have been married by Law, Amnon would not have pined for her, but have straightway demanded her of the King, who was so indulgent to his Children, that he would never have refused it, if it could have been Lawfully Granted, and therefore Amnon knowing that this could not be done, he burned and consumed away in his Unlawful Love, which prevented his sleep, disordered his stomach, hindered high digestion and occasioned a paleness in his Countenance, which made his Friend Jonadab to guests at his Malady and put him upon that fatal Intrigue to satisfy his Lust, viz. To feign himself sick, and to desire of his Indulgent Father when he came to see him, that his Sister Tamar might come and make him some Cakes, by which means he should have an opportunity of satisfying his passion, and this being accordingly put in Execution, he ravished her, and then his hatred to her became as excessive as ever his Love had been, so that though it was his Interest to have concealed his Villainy both upon the Account of his Reputation and safety: His fury was so outrageous that as he had forced her into his Bed, he forced her also out of his Chamber, which presently divulged his own shame. The Rabbins according to their fabulous manner, allege, that this hatred proceeded from the bitter Reproaches and Words which Tamar made use of against him during the Rape, or from his having hurt himself while he struggled with her, but the more probable reason is that it proceeded from those stings of Conscience and that perturbation of mind which usually attends such Villainies-and thus Nero hated his Mother Mortally, and at last ordered her to be murdered after he had committed Incest with her, but in the Case of Amnon there was something of a special Providence, God would have David's sin legible in his punishment, and therefore that the shame of his Children and Family should be public? nay it's plain, that God deprived him of his ordinary sagacity, when he so easily consented to Amnon's desire of having his Sister Tamar to bake him some Cakes, which was enough to Minister cause of suspicion, that some wicked design lay concealed at bottom, and in like manner he was deprived of his sagacity when about two years after he consented to Amnon's going to Absalom's Feast at the shearing of his Sheep, for he might easily have conceived that his Daughter Tamar who remained desolate in her Brother Absalom's House, kept the Memory of the indignity which Amnon had done to her fresh in Absalom's mind, and that Absalon being an Ambitious Man might also be prompted to cut off Amnon, who was David's Eldest Son, that he might make way for himself to succeed, but so God would have it, that his Judgements denounced upon David's House, because of his Murder and Adultery, might be Executed; and therefore Amnon is not only suffered to go, but the rest of the King's Sons so much deprived of their Reason and Courage, as, that they could not prevent this horrid Fratricide; and thus Amnon, whom David had spared out of a fond affection, tho' he ought to have died by the Law, was Justly cut off for his Incestuous Rape, and as David's Uncleanness was punished by Incest betwixt his own Children, so his Murder is punished in that same manner by this Fratricide Committed by one of his Sons, upon another, which was an early presage of Absalom's usurpation, by taking the Sword of Justice out of his Father's hand. This must without all doubt have been a very sensible affliction to David, to have one Son Murdered, and another obnoxious to lose his Life by the Law for the said Murder. It must needs also pierce him to the heart to hear the Reproaches of the wicked, who no doubt upbraided him with the Ungodly Lives of his Children and the want of Discipline in his Family.  
But his affliction did not terminate here, being again reconciled to his Son Absalon which his Unwarrantable indulgence made easy to be effected, this Unnatural Monster by his Treachery and Flattery, stole away the hearts of the People from his Father, and then broke out into a formal Rebellion. That the People did so readily concur with him, is attributed to the persuasions of Achitophel and others, who exposing David's personal faults, as his Adultery with Bathsheba, his Murder of Uriah, sparing his Incestuous Son Amnon, and dealing hardly with Absalon for Executing Justice upon him; did mightily Incense them against him, and besides these, we find, that Absalon himself accused him of Maladministration, and a neglect of Justice, which, by the Just Judgement of God, in order to the fullfilling of his threatening, That the Sword should never depart from David's House, did so take, that he was in great danger of losing his Crown, and it's worth our observation that the Person which occasioned him so much trouble and disgrace was his own Son by a Heathen Wife, with whom he had contracted Marriage out of a Lustful principle, as has been formerly taken notice of.  
Absalon, in the Course of his Rebellion, does also commit Incest with his Father's Concubines, by the Counsel of Achitophel, contrary to the positive Law of God, and thus was the threatening accomplished upon David, of having his own Wives taken from him, and given to another, who should humble them in the sight of the Sun, and of all the People; and it is remarkable, that this Villainy was Acted upon the roof of the King's House, where he himself did first commit Adultery with Bathsheba in his Heart— The reason of Achitophel's giving this pernicious advice; was, that he might do what in him lay to make the breach between David and Absalon Irreconcilable, that so he might never be called to an Account for aiding Absalon in this Rebellion: and there are others, who say, that he had also a design of Revenge in it, for David's having Debauched Bathsheba, who, it's probable, was this Achitophel's Granddaughter.  
As to Absalom's own part in this Villainy, we have reason to think that he was thereunto prompted by Revenge and Lust both. Revenge, because his Father had not punished Amnon for his Rape upon Tamar, his Sister; and Lust, because we find he was a Vain and Effeminate Person, and Excessively proud of his Beauty and Hair, which he nourished so prodigiously, that at the end of the year, when he polled it, he usually cut off about Two Hundred shekels, which is computed at above Six Pound Averdupoize.  
The next thing which in Course we are to take notice of, is the punishment inflicted upon Achitophel, who gave this pernicious Counsel, and upon Absalon who followed it: The former, tho' his Wicked advice as to the polluting of David's Concubines was obeyed, yet finding his Counsel as to the Military part despised, took it so much to heart, that he thereupon became a deliberate Felo de se, and after having set his House in order, became the Executioner of a punishment upon himself, which ought to have been inflicted by the hands of others, as a Just reward for his having advised to the Commission of Capital Crimes. And thus fell Achitophcl as a true Type of Judas.  
As to Absalon, his punishment was very remarkable. His Father David against whom he had committed those Capital offences, was so strangely indulgent that he gave his Captains particular Charge to deal kindly with him for his sake; but behold the Event, that Unnatural Monster, whom the Indulgence of a Father would have spared, the Justice of Heaven would not suffer to go unpunished, but armed the Trees of the Forest against him, so that his Hair being caught by the branch of an Oak, that in which he so much Gloried, became the means of his Ruin, and served instead of a Rope to hang him up betwixt Heaven and Earth, as a Monument of Divine Justice, and to show that he was accursed; but that was not all, Divine Justice did so much Incense Joab against him that taking three Darts in his hand he soon dispatched him, so that he died more sorts of Deaths than one, as a Just reward for his Complicated Crimes. R. Kimchi's Observations upon Absalom's Tragical Exit, are neither improper nor Unpleasant, Absalon, says he, was thrust through the Heart with 3 Darts, 1. Because he stole the Ki●…g his Father's heart; 2. Because he stole the heart of the Sanhedrim, that is of the 200 Senators who went with him out of the simplicity of their hearts; and 3. Because he stole the Hearts of all Israel. He might have added a 4th. that as his heart was struck through with raging Lust when he went in to his Father's Concubines in the sight of the Sun, so his Heart was now struck through with Darts while he hung upon the Tree betwixt Heaven and Earth. The Rabbi has also another Remark, which is pertinent enough, viz. That as he incestuously polluted his Father's ten Concubines, he was encompassed and slain by 10 of Joab's Attendants, who threw him into a Pit, and raised a Great heap of Stones over him, so that as he lived he died, and was Buried in an Ignominious manner, notwithstanding his having erected a Pillar, which Interpreters think was a Funeral Monument, resembling the Egyptian Pyramids, that out of his Ambition he had prepared for himself in the King's dale, or Vallev where the Kings us●…d to solemnize public Plays and Horseraces. Thus did Absalon die, and thus was David punished for his Murder and Adultery.  
The opinion of the Rabbins that Absalon was sent to Hell, as soon as he died for his notorious Crimes is also Remarkable, as discovering their thoughts of what such a Villainous Course of Life deserved, but their fabulous conceit that David by his having seven times Ingeminated the Name of his Son, delivered him from the Sevenfold Bars of Hell, and that by his repeating it the Eighth time he occasioned his being brought into Paradise, is altogether Ridiculous.  
The next thing that occurs to our Observation is the punishment inflicted by David upon his Incestuous Concubines, their lives were spared because they were under a sort of Constraint, yet seeing they were not altogether without fault, inasmuch as there's no mention made of their having resisted or cried out, he condemned them to perpetual Widowhood, and neither came near them himself, nor suffered them to enjoy the Company of any other Man, as they might probably have done had he given them a Bill of divorce. It's not unreasonable to conjecture that Absalom's Beauty and the Authority which he had then usurped might make them the more easily consent to his Lewd Embraces, and therefore they are punished for their Incontinence by a perpetual deprivation of Man's Society. And thus David who violated the Chastity of another Man's Wife, is put under a necessity of partting with his own Wives, which no doubt was very cutting to him, for we must rationally suppose that he who was so indulgent a Father was as tender an Husband.  
Tho' this Holy Man's sin was pardoned both as to the punishment which he ought to have undergone according to the Law, and as to eternal Wrath, which he deserved, yet we find that he had but very little respite from Temporal punishment, for Absalom's Rebellion was not quite extinguished till another sprung out of its Ashes. Sheba a Benjamite and Son of Belial, taking the opportunity of the People's Tumultuating Spirits, which were then in a ferment, not only by reason of the late Rebellion, but also because the Tribe of Judah pretended to have a greater interest in David than the other Ten Tribes, sounded the Trumpet to a new Rebellion, disclaiming any Portion in David, or Inheritance in the Son of Jesse, and straightway the Inconstant Israelites followed him and abandoned their Lawful King, whom God had anointed over them— This Sheba is generally supposed to have been one of Saul's Family, and a Man of Authority, and not only envied David upon Saul's account, but designed to have usurped the Crown for himself: That Saul's Relations look●…d upon David as being a bloody Man, and guilty of Tyranny and Cruelty towards that Family, appears plain from Shimei's railing upon David in his distress, and perhaps his unjust Treatment of Mephibosheth upon Ziba s false accusation, was improved by them as a New Argument to Incense the People against him, but in the mean time the Accomplishment of Nathan's Prophecy, That the Sword should never depart from David's House, is herein very Remarkable, for we find him not only plagued with one Rebellion upon the back of another, but in the midst of this Commotion, which made his Crown to totter, we find an Intestine discord in his own Family; he is Insulted over by his own Sister's Son Joab a Stern and Gallant General, who had the Love of the Soldiery, and Great Authority among the People and as Josephus says, took him up so sharply for his unseasonable and intemperate passion upon Absalom's Death, that he threatened if he did not give over his Mourning, to betray his Crown and Dignity. And now when the Forces were assembling to suppress Sheba's Rebellion, David has this additional affliction added to all the rest, that his Kinsman Joab did Treacherously Murder Amasa whom David had appointed to be General in that Expedition, and tho' Sheba was quickly punished for this Execrable sedition according to his demerit, yet the Citizens of Abel-Beth-Maachah, with whom there's no doubt but others concurred in their sentiments, accused David as seeking to swallow up the Inheritance of the Lord, for marching his Army so Inconsiderately against the Town, and offering to storm it without first summoning them to surrender the Rebel Sheba who had fled thither for Protection.  
We find also in the second Book of Samuel, that David, according to Nathan's threatening, was visited with divers ExternaI as well as Internal Wars. Here are divers Battles with the Philistines taken notice of, and in one of them David run a great risk of being killed, had he not been seasonably rescued by Abishai.  
The last thing we meet with in this Book which any way relates to our purpose, is, That Interpreters think that the General Luxury and Dissolution of manners which reigned amongst the Israelites after so many Victories over their Enemies, and that Peace and Plenty was Restored to them was the Cause of God's stirring up David to Number the people, which occasioned a Plague amongst them, that like a deluge swept away 70000 of the people, so usual is it for General Profanity to be followed by General Judgements.  
The first Book of Kings begins with an Account of a new Rebellion hatched against David by his Son Adonijah, Brother to Absalon, which was another bitter effect of David's Unlawful Marriage with Maachah, and likewise another instance of the Accomplishment of Nathan's threatening, that the Sword should not depart from his House, so that he was disturbed as one may say in his last Minutes, with an Unnatural Rebellion by an Ungrateful Son, whom he had so tenderly Indulged, that he had not at any time displeased him; Nay, nor so much as reproved him. This youngman as he was Absalom's Brother, did exactly tread in his steps, resembled him both in Person and Manners, and had the like fatal Exit, which (tho' he was pardoned for his Rebellion) he drew upon himself by his Uncleanness in desiring to Wife Abishag the Shunamite, who, as Interpreters think, was Married to his Father tho' he never knew her, because of his Age, upon which Account Solomon cut him off. This is another Instance of the Tragical Effects of Unnatural Lust.  
The next that falls under our Notice is Solomon himself, of whom we have this Account, in the 11th. Chap. of I Kings, that he loved many strange Women, together with the Daughter of Pharaoh, Women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites; of the Nations concerning which the Lord said unto the Children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in to you, for surely they will turn away your hearts after their Gods: Solomon clavae unto these in Love, and he had 700 Wives, Princesses, and three hundred Concubines; and his Wives turned away his heart after other Gods, when he was old, so that he went after Ashtaroth the Goddess of the Zidonians, after Milcom the Abomination of the Ammonites, and built an high-place for Chemosh, the Abomination of Moab, and for Moloch the Abomination of the Children of Ammon.  
This is certainly one of the most surprising Instances and greatest Evidences of the mischief that Raging Lust brings upon Men, that is to be found either in Sacred or Profane History. That Solomon the Wisest of men should be so far besotted with Lust, or to use a softer Term, Amorous Inclinations, to as transgress that Royal Law which forbid Kings to Multiply Wives to themselves, and that other Law which forbid the Children of Israel to marry with such and such Nations; but yet more, that he should be so excessive in Number which we find to be no less than 1000, whereof 700 were of Noble Extract or Princesses, and 300 of lower degree; and that which is still more surprising, that Solomon whom God called Jedidiah his beloved, and made him a Type ofChrist, and to whom he had twice appeared in such a solemn manner should be so far overcome with the Enticements of those Outlandish and Strange Women as to worship their Gods, and promote their Idolatry, when he was betwixt 50 and 60 years of Age, a time as one would think more proper for him to have been preparing for Death and Eternity, and Establishing the true worship of God, for which he was the first that had built a Temple, than to be led away by such youthful Lusts and to build high places for the abominable Idols of the Moabites, Zidonians, etc. which Interpreters say, were Immodest Statues of Priapus and Venus, that were worshipped by the Incestuous offspring of Lot, by his own Daughters. This is another Confirmation of what has been so often observed, that there is no such powerful attractive to Idolatry and false Religion as an Impure Life.  
The next thing we are to take notice of is the punishment inflicted upon Solomon and his Posterity for their Crimes, which we find to be, that the Lord was Angry with him, threatened to rend the Kingdom from him, and to give it to his Servant, and stirred up Enemies against him both at home and abroad, as Hadad, the Edomite, Rezon the Son of Eliada and Jeroboam the Son of Nebat, who was made King by the Children of Israel when the Ten Tribes Revolted from Rehoboam, Solomon's Son, as an accomplishment of this threatening.  
It likewise deserves our Remark, that this fou●… defection of Solomon occasions a great dispute amongst Interpreters whether ever he recovered or not, because the Scripture is silent concerning it. Gregory the Great, Theodoret, Prosper, Aquitanus, Beda Rabanus, Peter Martyr and others, think that he was damned for it; and Jerome, Ambrose, Isidore, Epiphanius, Crissus, and others; think that God gave him Repentance, and that he wrote the Ecclesiastes after his Recovery. However this is plain that Solomon's Lustfulness occasioned his IdoIatry, and both together that Revolt of the Israelites from his Posterity, which is not the only Instance that we shall meet with of Thrones being overturned by Uncleanness.  
We shall also observe here once for all, that those high Places and Groves, which in the time of Jeroboam, Rehoboam, and other Kings, the Israelites are accused of worshipping their Idols in, were chosen as places fit for their purpose, not only upon the Account on which the Heathens chose such places, viz. Because they thought them nearer the Heavens and the Heavenly Gods, as on the Contrary they worshipped in Dens and Caves to the Infernal Gods; but because there they had a greater Conveniency of fullfilling their Brutish Lusts, to which they were incited by the fulsome Statues of Venus and Priapus, which they had in those places, and to whom they thought that was agreeable worship; and therefore it is that the Prophets do so often upbraid them with going a Whoring from the true God, and being lain with under every Green-Tree, and upon every High-Hill, etc. which was true in a Literal as well as Metaphorical and Spiritual Sense, so inseparable are Idolatry and Impurity; and here likewise we may observe once for all, That in all those Captivities and public Calamities which befell the People of God, Uncleanness and Idolatry concurred, as procuring Causes; of which we have a clear Pròof in the 14th. of the 1st. Book of Kings, 23d. and 24th. Verses, where, after they are accused of building them high places, Images and Groves under every Green-Tree and upon every high Hill; it's straightway subjoined, that there were also Sodomites in the Land and they did according to all the Abominations of the Nations which the Lord, cast out before the Children of Israel; so that Idolatry, Adultery and Unnatural Lust, were productive of one another, it being Just with God to give up those who did not like to retain him in their knowledge, to work all manner of Unncleanness with Greediness.  
It's proper also to observe here, that as the Wicked Princes and Rulers erected those Groves and high Places, so the good ones whenever they attempted a Reformation removed and broke them down, as in the Instances of Jereboam, Asa, Ahab, etc.  
The next Remarkable Instance is in Jezebel, who was an Harlot, Persecuter, Idolater, and bloody Woman, those sins being so near a kin that they were many times found in one and the same subject, we find that she was rather worse than Ahab her Husband who sold himself to do evil, and was more wicked than any King of Israel had been before him; but that which more particularly relates to our purpose is her Uncleanness and many Whoredoms wherewith she is so plainly Charged by Jehu; The Judgement of God upon her for those Crimes is very observable; she seemed to have so little sense of approaching Vengeance, tho' she had heard how Jehu cut off all Ahab's House, that as he was coming to the Palace she painted herself in an Obstinate and Whorish manner, as if she were either resolved to outbrave the Judgements of God and to die with Obstinacy and Impenitence in that very sin which hastened wrath upon her; or that she thought thereby to bewitch Jehu, and convert his Rage into an Amorous Passion; but behold the Event, he Commands her to be thrown headlong out at the Window, which being effected, that Body which she had so much pampered and adorned, had the burial of an Ass, viz. To be eaten up by Dogs, and thrown as dung upon the face of the Field, as had been threatened by the Prophet, a suitable Exit for such a Vile and Abominable Life, which may serve as a dreadful warning to our Painted Ladies.  
Having thus run through all the principal old Testament Instances of Uncleanness and the Judgements inflicted upon those that were guilty by God, from the Creation to the Captivity of Israel.  
The next thing that offers itself to our observation, is that passage in the 9th and 10th of Ezra, where, after the Restoration of the People: One of the General sins which they lamented and reform, was, their having taken strange Wives, and lived a Loose and Licentious life, according to the Abominations of the Canaanlies', Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians and Amorites, whom the Lord had destroyed for those Crimes; and we find that the very Priests were polluted with this Contagion, so far had Lust got the ascendent over the Laws of God. But when they had been harassed with Judgements and brought to set about a Reformation, than they willingly put away those strange Wives according to the Command of the Prophets on pain of Forfeiture and Excommunication. We find also that when Nehemiah came to Rebuild Jerusalem and reform the Jews, he insisted upon their putting away of their strange Wives, and chased away one of the Priests, because he was Son-in-Law to Sanballat the Horonite; concerning which Josephus tells us the following Story, viz. That the Person thus chased away by Nehemiah, was Manasses, Brother to the High Priest Jaddus, who refusing to put away this strange Woman, was driven out of the Priesthood, and thereupon going to his Father in-Law Sanballat, who was made Prince or Governor of Samaria by Darius the last King of the Persians, he told him how he had been treated and thrust from the Priesthood by his Brother Jaddus or Jaiada, (whose Colleague he was) upon the account of his marriage; whereupon Sanballat encouraged him to retain his Wife, promising that he would take care that he should not only enjoy the Priesthood but also the Principality of the People, and that he would obtain leave from King Darius to build a Temple upon Mount Gerizim, which hangs over Samaria, and was much higher than the rest of the Hills, and resembled that of Mount Moriah upon which the Temple of Jerusalem stood; which design took so well, that all the Jews who had transgressed in the matter of strange Wives followed this Manasses, and made him a strong party. Darins in the mean time being overcome by Alexander, who was then Besieging Tyre, Sanballat went thither, acknowledged Alexander for his Sovereign, and obtained leave from him to build the said Temple, wherein his Son-in-Law Manasses officiated as Highpriest, and all such as transgressed the Law at Jerusalem fled to him for Protection, so that it became an Asylum or Sanctuary for dissolute Persons. This heightened the Enmity so much betwixt the Jews and Samaritans, that the former could never be reconciled to the latter, even after that Temple was demolished by Hircanus after 100 years standing, and the Samaritans after the said demolition, still held the Mountain on which it stood Sacred, and hated those who went to Jerusalem to worship, as appears by the Woman of Samaria's treatment of our Saviour, Luke. 9 53. Where she told him that their Fathers worshipped in that Mountain, etc. The Observation which naturally results from this passage and makes it applicable to our purpose, is, that Lust or Unlawful Love to strange Women does naturally turn away the heart from God and makes Men become easy Proselytes to Idolatry or a false Religion.  
Having thus gone through all the material passages of the old Testament which have any reference to our Subject, it may not be improper to close that part of our History with Solomon's Character of Lewd Women, Whoremongers, Whoredom, etc. of which he was the best able to give an account of any Man that ever lived, not only because of the assistance of the Divine spirit which inspired his Pen, but because of his own Experience. In the second of the Proverbs he tells us, That Wisdom will deliver us from the Strange Woman, who flattereth with her words, forsaketh her Husband the guide of her youth, and forgetteth her Marriage Vows, the Covenant of her God, her House inclineth unto death, and her Paths unto the dead; that is, lead both to Temporal and Eternal destruction, none that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the Paths of Life; That is, few who haunt the Society of such Women do ever find Grace to repent of it, or to betake themselves again to a chaste Life.  
In his 5th. Chapter he pursues her Character thus, That her Lips drop as an Hony-Comb, and her Mouth is smother than oil; but her end is bitter as Wormwood, sharp as a two edged Sword, her feet go down to death, her Steps take hold on Hell, her ways are movable, that thou canst not know them; That is sometimes fawning and sometimes frowning as she thinks she can best work upon the humours of her Lovers: and therefore he advises to remove far from her and not to come nigh her House, Lest we give our honour unto others and our years unto the cruel; that is, lest we Sacrifice our Reputation and Strength to Harlots, who are cruel both in Principles and Practices. He adds as further ill Consequences of following Whores, Lest strangers be filled with thy Wealth, and thy Labours be in the House of a stranger, and thou mourn at the last, when thy Flesh and thy Body are consumed. Then he Exhorts to Conjugal Love and Chastity in the following manner, Drink Waters out of thine own Cistern, i. e. Content thyself with thine own Wife: Let thy Fountain be blessed, and rejoice with the Wife of thy youth. Let her be as the loving Hind and the pleasant Roe; let her Breasts satisfy thee at all times, and be thou Ravished always with her love. Then he concludes with an Expostulation against Whoredom, from the mischiefs which attend it, thus? Why wilt thou be ravished with a strange Woman, and embrace the Bosom of a stranger; for the ways of Man are before the Eyes of the Lord, he pondereth all his goings: his own Ini●…uities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the Cords of his Sins, he shall die without instruction, and in the Greatness of his Folly, he shall go astray. That is, he is so ensnared by his Lusts, that through his prodigious folly and madness he shall run on to eternal destruction, without repenting for his sins as perhaps he purposed to do.  
In the 6th Chapter he pursues his Exhortation to Chastity by further Arguments from the mischievous Consequences of Whoredom. Thus, Keep thee from the evil Woman, from the flattery of the Tongue of a strange Woman, Lust not after her Beauty in thine heart, neither let her take thee with her Eyelids, for by means of a Whorish Woman a Man is brought to a piece of Bread and the Adultress will hunt for the precious Life, that is, draws men to such Courses as destroys both their substance and health. He goes on thus, That whosoever toucheth his Neighbour's Wife shall not be Innocent i. e. shall not be free from guilt, shame and punishment.— He adds, That whoso commits Adultery with a Woman lacketh understanding, and destroyeth his own Soul: a Wound and Dishonour shall he get, and his Reproach shall not be wiped away.  
In the 7th. Chapter he gives a parabolical Representation of Whoring, thus, At the Window of my House I looked through my Casement, and behold among the simple ones a young man void of understanding, passing through the Street near her Corner, and he went the way to her House, in the twilight, in the Evening, in the black and dark Night: And behold there met him a Woman, with the attire of an Harlot, and subtle of Heart. She is loud and stubborn, her feet abide not in her House. Now she is without, now in the Streets, and lieth in wait at every Corner. So she caught him and kissed him, and with an Impudent face said unto him, I have Peace-offerings with me, this day have I paid my vows (or I have been at Church at Prayers:) Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee. I have decked my Bed with Cover of Tapstery, with Carved Works, with fine Linen of Egypt, etc. He goeth after her straightway as an Ox goeth to the Slaughter, or, as a Fool to the Correction of the Stocks, till a Dart strike through his Liver, as a Bird hasteth to the Snare and knoweth not that 'tis for his Life.— Then he adds, she hath cast down many wounded, Yea many strong Men have been slain by her; of which he was a sad instance himself, for tho' he was the strongest Man in the World for Understanding and Abilities, yet he was very near ruined by strange Women.  
In the 9th Chap. he calls the Whore, a Foolish, Clamorous, Simple, Ignorant, Woman, and describes her Practice thus, That she sits at the Door of her House, on a seat in the high or noted places of the City, to call passengers who go right on their ways; That is who are going about their business and mind no such things. Then he describes her Guests to be simple, and those that want understanding: And such as know not that they are in the depths of Hell; Had the Royal Author lived in our days the Wits of this Age would no doubt have called him a Canting Coxcomb, and if the Dignity of his Sceptre had not set him above it, to be sure they would have demanded satisfaction of him; but he understood himself better, and knew that Whoring which destroyeth Kings as he expresseth it in the 30th Chapter of the Proverbs, could be no less fatal to Fops. He had given his heart to know madness and folly as much as any of 'em, and was not ashamed to declare that he found it to be such, and therefore Repent of it.  
It has been observed before that bodily Uncleanness as well as Idolatry, had a great share in Provoking God to give the People of Israel and Judah upto Captivity and other public Calamities, which appears plain to any Man that will but peruse the Prophets, and particularly Jeremy, who Prophesied both before and after they were carried Captives into Babylon, viz. In the days of Zedekiah, etc. In the third Chapter of his Prophecy he bids them lift up their Eyes unto the high places, and see where they had not been lain with, and charges them with polluting the Land by their Whoredoms and Wickedness. In the 5th. Chap. God charges them with committing Adultery, assembling themselves by Troops in the Harlot's Houses, after they had been fed to the full, and that they were as fed Horses in the morning every one Neighing after his Neighbour's Wife; The very Practice of our City Beaus and modern Gallants, and as a Just reward for such Wickedness, the Lord says, Shall I not visit for these things, and shall not my Soul be avenged on such a Nation as this. And the Judgements denounced against them, are, That a Lion out of the Forest should slay them, and a Wolf of the Evening should spoil them, a Leopard should watch over their Cities, and every one that went out thence should be torn in pieces, meaning that they should be destroyed by Nabuchadnezzar, a Potent, Greedy, Watchful and Cunning Enemy.— He further tells them that he would bring a Nation upon them from afar, whose Language they did not understand, who should eat up their Harvest and their Bread, which their Sons and Daughters should have eaten; their Flocks and theirHerds, theirVines and their Figtrees, and impoverish their fenced Cities.— In the 6th. Chapter, he purfues his threatenings, telling them, That their Houses should be turned unto others, with their Fields and Wives together, as a Just Judgement for their having defiled other men's Wives; and that the Nations which were to come against them should lay hold on Bow and Spear, be Cruel and show no Mercy. May God avert fuch Judgements from England which does so well deserve it, because of the pollutions of her Inhabitants.  
In the 23d. Chap. the Prophet Complains, that the Land is full of Adulterers, and because of swearing the Land mourneth, the breach of the 3d. and 7th. Commandment go usually together, as is to be seen in the Dammees and Debauchees of our days. In the 14th. Verse of that same Chapter, he says, I have seen also in the Prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing, they commit Adultery, and walk in lies; they strengthen also the hands of evil doers, that none doth return from his wickedness; They are all of 'em unto me as Sodom, and the Inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.— And afterwards he adds, For from the Prophets of Jerusalem is Profaneness gone forth into all the Land; And would to God that none of our Clergy did pollute themselves with the reigning sins of the times, nor encourage the wickedness of others by their Licentious Doctrine and loose Lives; but certainly when profanity is arrived to that height we have reason to fear that such Judgements as destroyed the Nation of the Jews lie in wait for us.  
It remains, that we take notice of the Accomplishment of those dreadful threatenings which were exactly fulfiled by the carrying away of King Zedekiah and the People into Captivity, the slaying of his Sons before his Eyes, and putting all the Nobles to Death, after which the City was burnt with fire, the People dispersed, and such of them as endeavoured to resetle themselves were broke in pieces by Intestine divisions. And Zedekiah and Ahab two lying Prophets, who endeavoured to persuade the people that what Jeremiah Prophesied against them should not come to pass, and hardened the people by their profligate Example of committing Adultery with their Neighbour's Wives, were through the Just Judgement of God burnt in the fire by Nabuchadnezzar, and the Memory of their Crime and Punishment was perpetuated to Posterity by this Curse among the Jews: The Lord make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab whom the K. of Babylon roasted in the fire; So that the fire of their Impure Lust was punished by a more severe punishment than that of a fiery Ordeal, for as St. Jerome thinks, they were fried and so burnt to death by degrees, as they had from time to time burnt in their Uncleanness. Thus we have another Instance of a Great and Mighty People ruined by Whoredom, and how great their Ruin and Calamity was will speedily appear to any one that reads the Lamentations.  
It likewise deserves our observation that the Babylonians, the Instruments in the hands of God for punishing Israel, were brought to ruin themselves, and one of the principal Causes assigned for the same is, That they grew fat as the Heifer at Grass, and bellowed as Bulls, Jer. 50. which Calvin and other Interpreters understand to be a parallel phrase to that of Neighing after their Neighbour's Wives. The Judgements threatened upon Babylon in this Chapter we find to be exactly fulfiled, and at a time too as Daniel gives us an account when their King Belshazzar was rioting and feasting with his Princes, his Wives and his Concubines, and profanely drinking out of the holy Vessels which were brought from the House of God at Jerusalem.  
It has been formerly observed that Nimrod the Tyrant laid the Foundation of this Monarchy, when the World began to degenerate again after the flood, and to immerse themselves in all manner of sensualities, and therefore the Greeks according to Bochart in his Canaan Lib. 1. Cap. 2. Confound Nimrod with Bacchus.  
The Story of Semiramis Queen of Babylon, and the dissolute Manners of that People during her Reign is well enough known. She was a Warlike Princess, and during her Regency in the Minority of her ●…on she Enlarged her Husband's Conquests on the one hand as far as Aethiopia, and on the other as far as India, having first subdued Media, Libya, and Egypt: she likewise built a Magnificent Tomb to the Memory of Ninus her Husband, finished the City of Babylo●…, surrounded it with those Walls, and caused those Gardens to be made on the Top of her Palaces which made them the wonder of the World. But she Tarnished all her Glory by her Brutish Lust, it being recorded of her that she tempted the handsomest of her Soldiers to lie with her, and having satisfied her Lust caused them to be murdered, and to make them amends raised Stately Tombs, over theirGraves; at last she was so far transported by her raging Lust, that she became enamoured of her own Son, who as a Just Judgement from God slew her, as she tempted him to commit Incest with her, as is related by Justin, Diodorus Siculus, and Others.  
All Historians who write of the Ba'ylonians agree, that they were a very Luxurious People, and it is not at all to be doubted but their Luxury and Lasciviousness as it drew down the Judgements of God upon them, so it rendered them Effeminate, and made them an easy Conquest to others, after they had Conquered so many Nations themselves. The Extent of this City was prodigious, being as Heylin says 46 English Miles in Compass — Aristotle says, That it was rather a Country than a City, and that when it was surprised by the Medes and Persians, it was three days before the Inhabitants of the furthest parts were aware of it. It's Walls were of Brick cemented with Bitumen, 32 Foot thick, 50 Cubits high, and defended by Towers 10 Foot higher. The River Euphrates run through the middle of it, and the Walls were encompassed by deep Ditches It had a Castle 20 Furlongs in Circuit, environed with Towers 30 Foot in the Ground and 80 above it; yet all this strength could not secure it against those Judgements which pursued the people for their Luxury and Uncleanness, for the Persians having drained the Channel of Euphrates by cutting many deep Channels on the Banks of it, marched into the City and surprised it, while Belshazzar and his Lords who should have taken care of the defence of it, were profanely Carousing with their Wives and Concubines. And to make the Judgement so much the more Remarkable, they were terrified by the prodigy of a hand writing upon the Wall, which made Belshazzar's knees smite together for fear, and foretold the impending Fate of himself and his Guests, and the destruction of his Kingdom. It is worth our observation, that this Famous City, the wonder and the Metropolis of the World, so Beautiful and Commodiously situated, should, for the Luxury and other Crimes of the Inhabitants, be turned into a Wilderness by the just Judgement of God, when according to the ordinary Methods of Men, it might be supposed that the Conquerors would have taken all imaginable care to preserve such an Important City for their own Glory and Profit; but it decayed Gradually, till at last it came to be turned into a Park for Hunting by the Kings of Persia; so that in that very place where the Impure Babylonians had been so much guilty of Whorehunting, their Conquerors took their pleasure to Hunt Beasts of a far more harmless Nature.  
We have seen that Uncleanness had a great influence in occasioning the Captivity of Israel, and also in bringing down those Judgements upon Babylon, which ended in the total destruction of that Famous City and Empire.— In the lesser Prophets, we have also an Account of the destruction of Ninive, a Great and Mighty City, and sometimes Capital of the Assyrian Empire, because of the multitude of her Whoredoms, Nahum 3. 4. It's true that some tore of opinion that by the Whoredoms here mentioned, are chiefly meant their Political Tricks to engage people to submit to their Yoke, and Worship their Idols; yet it was well known that all those Eastern Nations were very much addicted to bodily Uncleanness; and as we have observed before the Assyrians became very Effeminate under the Reign of Semiramis, etc. And it's plain from most of the Instances we have already given, that Adultery and Idolatry went usually hand in hand; it's also to be observed, that this destruction of Ninive is by Chronologers agreed to have preceded that of Babylon, for though Nahum in order of the Bible, be placed among the last of the Prophets, yet according to Josephus, Antio. Lib. 9 Cap. 11. he Prophesied in the days of Jotham King of the Jews, and the Accomplishment of this Prophecy upon Ninive happened about 115 years after.  
We have done with the old Testament History of the Jews, so that we must come next to Josephus, who is favourable enough to his Countrymen in respect of their Uncleanness, as particularly in the Instance of the Midianitish Women, with whom he alleges they contracted Marriages, and says expressly, That Zimri and Cosbi were Married, whereas the Scripture accuses them of downright Impetuous Lust; neither does this Historian Tax the Patriarches for their Polygamy, which perhaps might be occasioned by his being a Pharisee, who as it appears by our Saviour's Arguments with some of that Sect upon the subject of Divorce had no Just Notions of those things— And therefore it is not to be wondered at that Josephus takes so little notice of the failings of his Countrymen as to this matter,— Yet some such Instances he has transmitted to Posterity, and the first that we meet with for our purpose, is that of Archelaus King of the Jews, Herod the Great's Son, who Married Glaphyra that had been his Brother Alexander's Wife, concerning which, he tells us this Remarkable Story, That Archelaus upon the sight of this Glaphyra who was Daughter to Archelaus King of Cappadocia, was so inflamed with love to her, that he presently Divorced his Wife Mariam and Married her, but soon after she came to Judea, she dreamt that she saw Alexander her first Husband standing before and accosting her in this manner, viz. It had been enough for thee to have Married the King of Libya, but not contented therewith, thou comest again to mine House, Greedy of a third Husband, and which is worst of all, art now Married to my own Brother. I will not conceal nor dissemb'e this Injury that thou dost me, but I will recover thee against thy will and she scarcely lived two days; after she had related this dream to her Friends; so much for her punishment. Then as to Archelaus who had been guilty of this Adultery and Incest, he himself was sent for to Rome upon an Accusation of the Samaritans who sent Ambassadors against him to Caesar— and thereupon the Emperor banished him to Vienne in France, and confiscated all his Goods, of which punishments he was also forewarned by a Dream, and five days after the Interpretation of it, was sent for by Caesar as above.  
It is also observable and not at all Foreign to our purpose, that though Josephus does not accuse Herod the Great of Whoredom, but seems rather to commend his Chastity in that he held out against the Charms and Solicitations of that Infamous Wanton Cleopatra, yet he tells us, that Herod had nine Wives at a time, and doted so Impotently upon his Wife Mariam, that when he was sent for to Rome and had some reasons to think that he should never return thence alive, he gave orders to his Brother-in-Law Joseph to put Mariam to Death, as soon as he should hear that he was dead, being unwilling that any Man should enjoy her after his death; and because Joseph discovered this Secret to Mariam, Herod became Jealous of an Unlawful Intimacy betwixt his Brother-in-Law and her, especially being influenced to believe some such thing by the Insinuations of his Sister Salome, Joseph's Wife, who accused her Husband of being too Familiar with Mariam. Whether there was any truth in the accusation or not, or whether it was mere malice; yet this is certain, that Mariam was at last put to death by her Husband, and by her own Mother charged with Disloyalty to him, and after her death Herod had so little Government of his passion for her, that he would frequently call for her as if she had been alive. Then as to his own punishment Josephus tells us that he was cut off by a most loathsome disease, Worms having bred in his private Parts, which caused insupportable pains, an Into lerable Stench and a Troublesome Priapism, which was a very suitable punishment for his Incontinence in having nine Wives at a time, tho' it should be granted that he was chargeable with no other Acts of Unchastity.  
We come now to the Apocryphal stories of Judeth and Susanna, which tho' we believe they are such as may properly be called apocryphal, seeing Josephus the Jewish Historian takes no notice of either, yet allowing them to be Fables, the Moral is good, and therefore we shall allow them a place here.  
The first is that of Judith, who according to the Author of her Book was a Rich and a Pious Widow, of a Comely Personage and Beautiful Countenance, and finding her City of Bethulia closely Besieged by the Assyrians, and their Water cut off, which made the Governors to promise a surrender in five days if relief did not come in that time, she decked herself with her Richest and finest Ornaments, and pretending to be fled from Bethulia, because she knew it would fall into the hands of the Assyrians, and likewise to put Olosernes in a way to make an easy Conquest of the Jews, she Charmed him by her Beauty, insomuch that becoming enamoured of her, which was her design, he was so far besotted, that having drunk to excess because of her presence, and with an intention to defile her, he fell asleep in his Tent, where being left alone with her according to his own Command, in order to the Accomplishing of his Lustful design she had the opportunity of cutting off his head, and carrying it in Triumph to her City of Bethulia, upon which the Garrison making a Sally discomfited the Assyrians, who were surprised at this strange adventure that had befallen their General, and therefore had not the Courage to make head against them. Whatever be the Circumstances of this story that may justly occasion the truth of it to be called in Question, its plain from other passages which we shall have occasion to touch in the pursuance of this History, that the dissoluteness of a General hath oftener than once occasioned the ruin of Armies.  
We come now to the story of Susanna and the Elders of Israel. This Woman, says the Author, was Wife to Joacim the Chief of the Jews than Captives in Babylon, a Woman of Incomparable Beauty and Admirable Chastity. This Lady using to walk in her Husband's Garden in the afternoons, two of the Elders of Israel who attended at Joacim's House to execute Judgement, became inflamed with Lust towards her, and tho' at first they were ashamed to declare it to one another, yet afterwards being hardened in their Wickedness they plotted together against this Virtuous Woman, and watching an opportunity till they found her alone in the Garden, when she had sent her Maids out for Oil and Washballs in order to bathe herself, they surprised her, tempted her to Lewdness, and upon her refusal accused her falsely as if they had taken her in Adultery with a young man, upon which she was by the Authority of their Evidence Convicted and Condemned to die, but Just as she was going to be put to death, the Lord raised up Daniel, says the Author, to deliver her, who obtaining that her Cause should be reheard, he examined the Elders afresh, and accusing them of that Villainous and Lustful design against Susanna, Convicted them of Perjury by their own Testimony, the one of them saying they took her under a Mastic, and the other saying that they took her under an Holm-Tree, so that they themselves fell into the Pit which they had Digged for this Virtuous Woman, and suffered the punishment which they designed should have been inflicted upon her. Whether this story be true or not is not material to our purpose, but in the prosecution of this design we shall meet with several parallel Instances which discover the thing not to be impossible in itself, however improbable in regard of its Circumstances.  
We come now to the New Testamen times, and find it observable that our Saviour in his first Sermon upon the Mount Matth. 5. inveighed against the impurity of the Jews, who for light and frivolous Causes, such as if they did not like their Wives, etc. Divorced them, which was the occasion of Uncleanness in themselves and in the Women so Divorced, who, our Saviour says they caused to commit Adultery if they put them away upon any other account than that of Fornication, so that 'tis plain that the Woman whom they took into their Bed in the room of her that was Divorced was no other than a Concubine, and that if the Woman so Divorced Married with another Man she thereby became an Adultress as our Saviour declares more at large in the 19th of Matthew, where we have an Account of the malice and subtlety of the Pharisees in propounding that Question, Whether it was Lawful for a Man to put away his Wife for every Cause: For if our Saviour had answered in the Affirmative, than they would have proclaimed him a Friend to Uncleanness, and if In the Negative than they would have opposed him with the Authority of Moses, but our Lord knowing their design referred them to the Creation, (when God made them Male and Female not Females, or divers Women for one Man) and to the first institution of Marriage, which was only betwixt one and one, and therefore it was said they two, (not they three) four or five shall be one Flesh, which clearly subverted all that could be alleged for Polygamy or Concubinage, and being the Commentary of the Lawgiver upon his own Law makes it of equal Authority with the Text, and aught for ever to shut the Mouths of such as plead for a plurality of Wives.  
Then to their Argument from the Authority of Moses, he answers them that Moses indeed permitted Divorces because of the hardness of their Hearts, and to prevent a greater evil, as is Customary in all Political and Civil Constitutions, as if Moses had said, It's better that you put away your Wives when you grow weary of them than Murder them; and at the same time they were obliged to give them a Bill of Divorce which was a Testimony of the Woman's Innocence, and of the Husband's Levity and Impurity:— But our Saviour tells them that from the beginning it was not so, and that what God had joined no man could put asunder; which was as much as to say that common Laws allow more than is allowed by the Laws of Religion, as is clear from this Instance that in all Christian Kingdoms there are Judges Constituted for deciding differences betwixt Man and Man of what nature soever they may be, for preventing Oppression and Injustice, so that the Bench is open to Trivial and Frivolous suits as well as to those that are Weighty and Material; yet the practice of such as go to Law upon every occasion is contrary to the Apostles Command and Christian Charity, as may be seen 1 Cor. 1. 6. It is also observable that our Saviour taught those Pharisaical Zealots who valued themselves upon their external sanctity, a more refined and higher degree of Chastity than they had formerly been acquainted with, viz. That the Law which forbade them to commit Adultery did not only reach the outward practice but the inward motions and thoughts of the heart, and therefore he tells them Matth, 5. 28. That whosoever looked on a Woman to Lust after her hath committed Adultery with her already in his heart, a Doctrine which does so much Gall our Modern Gallants, That we have great reason to presume it is one of the Chief Latent Causes why so many of 'em den●… the Author of it to be God.  
We come next to the Historical passages of the new Testament, relating to our Subject.  
The first we meet with is that in Mat. 14. concerning the Tetrarch Herod and Herodias his Brother Philip's Wife, with whom that Prince committed Incest, for which he was reproved by John the Baptist; and this did so incense the wicked Woman that nothing less could expiate this supposed Crime of the Prophet than the loss of his life, but she durst not attempt that rashly, for fear of the people, who as they knew her to be a Vicious Strumpet, did also know that John was a Good Man, and esteemed him as a Prophet; his Virtues being as conspicuous as her Vices, and therefore she watched a convenient opportunity, which she found on her Gallant Herod's Birthday, when he was feasting and revelling with his Nobles, at which time she sent in her Daughter, the unworthy offspring of such an Ungodly Mother, to Dance before them, where with Herod and his Company were so extremely well pleased that he rashly vowed to grant her whatever she would demand, and so the young Strumpet being suborned by the old one, demanded the Head of John the Baptist; which Herod granted her, though much against his Will, and she carried it to her Mother in a Charger as an acceptable present, so naturally do Whoredom, Murder and Persecution agree. One would have thought that the very scandal of acting contrary to that Pity and Compassion which is so natural to the fair Sex should have restrained those Lewd Women from any such demand, and much more from rejoicing in any such Bloody Spectacle, but it's commonly seen that Whores become void of all natural affection, and that they are hurried headlong into perdition by unbridled Lust and raging Passion.  
But to return to the History of Herod and Herodias, they were not only guilty of Incest but of Adultery and a Rape, for Herod took her forcibly from his Brother Philip, and not from his Uncle Herod King of Chalcis as Josephus mistakes, so that it was an Atrocious and Complicated Crime, and by the Just Judgement of God, Herod who committed this barbarous Murder upon John the Baptist against his own Conscience, rather than he would disoblige his Whore, was given up to all manner of wickedness, and afterwards with his Men of War exposed our Saviour to Scorn and Laughter in his Mock Royal Robes, and so as his Ungodly Father Herod the Great destroyed all the Infants, of Bethlehem with a design to cut off Christ, the Wicked Son pursuing his Father's bad design concurred in the Crucifying of our Saviour.  
It remains that we take a view of the Judgements that fell upon this Impure Couple, which Josephus in his Jewish Antiquities, lib. 18. cap. 7. & 9 gives us an account of as follows, viz. that Herod's lawful Wife, Daughter to Aretas King of Arabia Petraea, understanding his Intrigue with his Sister-in-Law Herodias, and that he had a mind to Divorce her, to make way for that vile Strumpet, fled to her Father and acquainted him with it, whereupon he made War against Herod, and defeated his Army.— And in the 40th year of Christ, Herod being accused of Rebellion, was together with his Strumpet Herodias banished by the Emperor Caligula to Lions in France, where they perished in Ignominy and Misery, and the whole Race of Herod the Great was extinguished in a 100 years' time, though the Memory of their wickedness is perpetuated to all Ages. This Instance is sufficient to convince all mankind that unclean persons are capable of the greatest Villainy of other kinds, and justly given up of God to commit the same; for this Lustful Prince having committed double Aduletry, a Rape and Incest, did afterwards commit two of the most horrid Murders that ever were committed upon the face of the Earth, viz. That of John the Baptist our Saviour's forerunner, and then that of ourSaviour himself; such is the enmity which uncleanness does naturally lead men into against God and Good Men, and to be given up to that enmity is certainly the most dreadful of all punishments.  
The next thing that we meet with belonging to our Subject is the Instance of the Woman taken in Adultery, in the 8th chap. of the Evangelist St. John, and brought by the Pharisees before our Saviour, that by their ensnaring questions they might have something whereof to accuse him. Our Saviour knowing their wicked design, eluded them by stooping and writing upon the Ground. What it was that he then wrote is more curiously than wisely disputed by the learned; some say that he wrote the words which he afterwards spoke to them, others, that he wrote these words, viz. You are Earth and you judge after an earthly manner, others that he wrote upon the Ground such Crimes of the same kind as the Pharisees were guilty off, in order to put them to silence; or some short pathetical Sentence, exhorting them to the practice of Virtue and the abhorrence of Vice, but these being all mere conjectures, we let them pass. In the mean time the Pharisees conceiving that he was put to a nonplus, and knew not what to answer, did insolently urge him to speak, which he did to their Confusion, by bidding those that were without sin throw the first Stone at her, with which they were so daunted and ashamed, that they desisted from their accusation, and went out one after another, being convicted by their own Consciences, that they were Guilty as well as she; and found that neither their speculative nor private uncleanness were hid from our Saviour, who had formerly told them, that lusting after a Woman was Adultery in the Eyes of God; and it's probable did now point at their secret bodily uncleanness, when he commanded them that were Innocent to throw the first Stone at her, according to the practice of their own Law, Deut. 17. 7. which enjoined the Witnesses to lay their hands first upon the Head of the Person convicted by their Evidence, as a Testimony that they thought them worthy of Death, and that they themselves abhorred the Iniquity they were condemned for, whereas 'twas plain to our Saviour, that these Pharisees took care only to keep the outside clean before Men, but had no regard to inward purity of mind, nor to common honesty, so that they could but commit wickedness with secrecy and impunity; and thus they are accused by the God of Truth, as making long Prayers, and bestowing public Alms, while at the same time they devoured Widows Houses.  
The Pharisees being thus defeated and convicted, the Woman is freed from all her Accusers, upon which our Saviour asks her if no man had condemned her, and upon her answering no, and finding that all her Accu●…ers were gone, he said, neither do I condemn thee, go thy way and sin no more. This answer of our Saviour's hath been wrested by some, as if he had thereby declared that Adultery was no capital crime under the Gospel, whereas it is plain, that he only declined the part of a Magistrate and Judge; as he did in another Case, when one Brother desired him to speak to another, that he should divide his Father's Estate with him: Luke 12. 13. And therefore he only acts the part of a Minister, in exhorting the Woman to Repentance and Reformation, but no way extenuates her Crime: Nay, on the contrary, he seems directly to insinuate that she deserved Condemnation, and would not have reproved any Judge if he had condemned her; but his main design was to discover the Hypocrisy of the Pharisees, who imposed upon the people, as if they had been the most Just and upright sort of men in the World, and as an Evidence of it, brought this person taken in flagranti delicto before him who was a Preacher of Righteousness, to know what his opinion was concerning her punishment; and yet when he came to put the Question home to their own Consciences, whether they were not guilty of the same Crimes, and if they were not, bid them to proceed in the execution of Justice, they went out one by one, which was as much as if they had made an open Confession of their Hypocrisy and Villainy before all the Spectators, which was partly evident before, in that they did not bring the Man as well as the Woman, which to be sure they might have done, seeing the Criminals were taken in the Act, and they ought to have done it; seeing by the Law of God he was equally guilty, and therefore upon the whole, to form such an Argument from this saying and practice of our Saviour, as that Adultery is not punishable under the New Testament, is every whit as absurd, as to say that because he declined being a Judge betwixt two Brethren, about the division of their Father's Inheritance, therefore there ought to be no such thing as a division of Parent's Estates amongst their Children under the New Testament. Besides 'tis apparent that the design of our Saviour's coming into the World was to save people's Souls, and not to destroy their Bodies; as is evident from his mercy to Mary Magdalen, out of whom he cast Seven unclean Devils; his Converse with the Woman of Samaria, whom he convinced of the Evil of her Way; and his permitting a Woman who was a sinner, which in the New Testament Phrase, is as much as a Common Prostitute, to wipe his Feet whither Hair and to wash them with her Tears of Repentance.  
These are all the Historical passages which we find relating to our Subject in the New Testament during Christ's abode upon Earth, and therefore we come next to a passage or two in Josephus, suited to our purpose. The first is in his Antiquities, lib. 18. Chap. 4. concerning Paulina a Roman Lady, Wife to Saturninus a Nobleman of Rome, upon whom Decius Mundus another Roman of Quality became so enamoured, that he tempted her by Bribes and all other methods imaginable to comply with his lustful design, offering her no less than 100000 Drachmas, which is computed at 6000 l. Sterlin, but she would by no means consent to him, whereupon he was so burnt up by his Lust, that he pined and withered away daily, which being observed by Ida his Father's Servant Maid, she learned his distemper, and undertook his Cure for 25000 Drachmas, which she effected thus, she understood that the Lady was particularly addicted to the worship of the Heathen God Isis, who had a Temple at Rome, and thereupon applying herself to the Priests, she promised them 25000 Drachmas if they could so contrive it that Decius should enjoy the Lady in the Temple; the one half in hand and the other upon the performance of the Bargain, the Priests undertook it, and laid the Plot in the following manner. The Eldest of them when the Lady came to the Temple accosted her, and pretended that the God Anubis who frequented that Temple had conceived a mighty passion for her, and earnestly desired her Company there one night, the Lady being charmed with this extraordinary sort of Amour, being no less than a Divine Courtship as she thought, acquainted her Husband with it, who was as fond of being a Cukcold by an imaginary Deity, as some of the Indians are at present by their brahmin's: And the rest of the Roman Ladies began to grudge at Paulina's good Luck, and to long for the like. The appointed time being come, Paulina makes haste to the Temple, where the Roguish Priests had Decius ready, who assoon as the Lamps were removed approached to his beloved Paulina; and under the notion of the God Anubis debauched her without any resistance. The deluded Lady, returned in the Morning highly honoured as she thought; but Decius meeting her a little after, renewed his former suit, which she rejected as usual, whereupon he told her in an upbraiding manner, that she was not so coy the other night in the Temple of Isis, where he enjoyed her for one fourth of the Sum that he had formerly proffered her: The poor Lady being surprised to find that she had entertained a lewd Adulterer instead of a supposed Divinity, tore her hair, rend her clothes, and discovered the Cheat to her Husband, who complaining thereof to the Emperor Titerius, he condemned the Priests and Ida to be hanged, ordered the Temple to be pulled down, the Statue of Anubis to be thrown into the Tiber, and Decius Mundus to be banished,— and thus this Famous Temple was demolished, and the Convent of Priests destroyed, for being Pimps to the insatiable Lust of a Noble Roman he himself banished from his Country, which he had polluted, and Ida his Bawd punished as all others of the Trade ought to be.  
That same Author in the 18th Book in his Antiquities and the 12th Chapter, gives us another account of a Tragedy brought upon a great number of his Countrymen, by an unlawful Amour, as follows. Anilaeus and Asinaeus two Jews of mean Condition, upon a disgust retired into an Island of the Euphrates, where joining with other dissolute persons and ●…agabond Jews, they became formidable to the adjacent Countries, which they ravaged at their pleasure, and so increasing in number, were a Terror to the Princes of those Countries, and obliged them to court their friendship; but having once relaxed the discipline that they observed when they first formed themselves into a Society, they lost ground, and Anilaeus lusting after a Parthian Lady, made War against her Husband, upon her account, and was so bewitched with her Amours, that he countenanced Idolatry for her sake, which bred discontent amongst his Followers, most of which were Jews, who complaining thereof to Asinaeus his Brother, he reproved him for it, upon which the Parthian Lady poisoned Asinaeus; but the judgement of God soon overtook them, for Mithridates taking Arms against Anilaeus and his dissolute Companions, he defeated them in Battle, and afterwards the Greeks and Syrians, who lived in Seleucia killed 50000 of the Jews, such was the fatal Consequence of Whoredom and Idolatry, which did first mutually produce one another, and then both together issued in the destruction of their followers.  
The last instance that we meet with in Josephus, for our purpose is that in the 5th Book of his Wars and 9th. Chapter, where he gives us an account that during the Siege of Jerusalem by Titus the Son of Vespasian, the Faction called the Zealots became Lustful, Effeminate, Lascivious, Curled their Hair, wore women's Apparel, anointed themselves that their Beautymight be pleasing, thirsted after Unnatural pleasures, and made Jerusalem a Stews and not long after followed the utter destruction of their City, Temple and Commonwealth, with the slaughter of 1100000 of their people, since which they have been Vagabonds, a Curse and a Reproach upon the face of Earth, and are noted for a Lustful and Unclean People where ever they are, God having in his Just Judgement given them up to work all manner of Uncleanness with greediness, seeing their Love to their Lusts made them first reject the Pure and Holy Doctrine of our Saviour, and afterwards Crucify him, which is another Instance to confirm what has been so often observed before, that such Persons or people as wallow in their Lust's want only an Opportunity and Tentation to declare open War against God and Religion, which always issues in their own Confusion if their Conversion don't prevent it.  
We have often had occasion to observe that Whoredom hath been productive of Idolatry, and in the first Chapter of the Romans, we have the Authority of the Apostle for it, that Idolatry hath been the parent of Uncleanness, ViceVersa, where speaking of those that when they knew God by the light of nature and the works of Creation Yet because they Glorified him not as God, neither were thankful but became vain in their Imaginations, their foolish heart was darkened, and professing themselves to be Wise they became Fools, and changing the Glory of the Incorruptible God into an Image, etc. Wherefore God also gave them up to Vile Affections and Uncleanness, through the Lusts of their own hearts to dishonour their own bodies, between themselves. For even their Women changed the natural use into that which is against Nature, and likewise also the men leaving the natural use of the Women, burned in their Lust one toward another, Men with Men working that which is unseemly, receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet; and as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a Reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient, being filled with all Unrighteousness, Fornication, etc.  
What the Apostle says of men's arriving to a great height of the knowledge of God by the light of nature, and the observation of the Works of Creation and Providence is evident by many Instances, but by none more than that of Se●…eca, who, tho' a Heathen, hath writ more true Divinity than almost all those Christian writers have done, who are known by the name of Schoolmen. Aristotle, Plato, Socrates and others are also strong proofs of this, but notwithstanding all their knowledge they were vain in their Imaginations, and thinking themselves Wife became Fools, and so not only they themselves but the Heathens who had the benefit of their Lectures conceiving false notions of the Deity which every one of 'em would adapt to their own Fancies, they were given up of God to all manner of Uncleanness, and thence it came to pass that the Ancients talked so many obscene things concerning the Yard of Priapus, one of their Heathen Divinities, and Son to Bacchus and Venus; in reality a Vile Drunken Debauched Stallion, whose virile parts being of an Extroardinary Size, a Company of Debauched Women did continually haunt him, so that the Magistrates of the Town where he lived were forced to banish him, whereupon say the Poets Venus plagued them, so that they were forced to build him a Temple and in their solemnities they carried about a stick in resemblance of his Yard— Of the same nature was the Eleusina Sacra solemnised at Eleusis, a City of Greece, the procession being from thence to Athens, and of so great account was that profane Worship, that they called it Mystery by way of Eminence; the King with four Assistants presided at those solemnitics; the Ephori were not admitted to the greatest Mysteries till after a years initiation, and it was reckoned a great favour that King Demetrius was admitted to them per saltum. The Athenians had so great a passion and Veneration for those Mysteries that they thought they contributed to their leading a peaceable Life, and coming to an happy end and a blessed State afterwards; the Senate was always called to see that every thing belonging to them was performed in order, some defects about them being reckoned Capital, and when they were reduced to the greatest straits by their Enemies, the Freedom and Enjoyment of those Mysteries was the last-thing they Capitulated for, and yet the thing that they kept all this pother about was according to Tertullian a very shameful object, and therefore we shall keep the Latin vail over it, viz. Naturae Muliebris Imago, which tho' all that were admitted to them were sworn to conceal, yet the sagacity of the primitive Christians found it out. At these Ceremonies the Women used to ride in Carts and abuse one another with profane and scurrilous Language, fit indeed for Carted Whores, whence came the Proberb De plaustro loqui. This Ceremony was instituted in remembrance of Ceres seeking for her Daughter Proserpina whom the Poet's fancy Pluto ravished and carried to Hell. And such was the Hypocrisy of those who had the Conduct and Management of those solemnities, that tho' they knew knew the thing to be profane in the highest degree, yet one of the four precedents that assisted the King during the solemnity had the Impudence to run about and cry procul hinc, procul ite profani, i. e. stand off and begun all profane Persons as is related by Marcrobius, Tertullian, Hesychius, Athenaeus and others. Such was the madness and wickedness of the Grecians, at that time the most polite and learned people in the world; and who valued themselves so much upon their Learning and Philosophy, that they called all the rest of the World Barbarians, accounted the Gospel foolishness, and looked upon the Apostle Paul to be á Babbler. Of the same nature were the Feasts and Solemnities of Bacchus, Cybele and others, so ridiculous in themselves that the very Scythians, who were reckoned the most Rude and Barbarous of all Nations, laughed at and exploded the Fancy of Worshipping Bacchus for a God, who made men drunk and mad. Yet to such Ridiculous Fopperies and Abominable Impurities were the wise Grecians given up by the Just Judgement of God, because they were vain in their Imaginations and would Accommodate the Deity to their own Luxuriant Fancies, so that thinking themselves wise they became fools.  
Parallel to this is the horrid impurity of the Popish Church and Clergy, which was much more open and notorious before the Reformation: the Rabbi's of that Church affecting to be wise above what is Written, and Introducing not only superstitions of an ordinary size, but also downright Idolatry, as the Invocation and Adoration of Saints and Angels, God did Justly give them up to all manner of Uncleanness, notwithstanding their monastical vows and pretended Celibacy, that they became the scandal of Christianity, their Monasteries Bawdy-Houses, and at last a Butcher's Shambles by murdering those Infants which they had spuriously begot, as was evident to the World by the great quantities of children's Skulls and other Bones which were found in their Monasteries, upon their dissolution in those Countries where the Reformation obtained.  
It were also to be wished that those a mongst Protestants, who have been violent Asserters and Imposers of humane Inventions in the Worship of God, would consider whether that Impurity of Life and Conversation which is but too too Remarkable amongst those who value themselves as being Members of their Society have not something of a Judgement of the like nature in it.  
And it is also plain beyond all Contradiction that those who embrace the Old Arian Heresy, now revived under the name of Socinianism, Deism, etc. Have reason to look upon the dissolute lives of most of their Fraternity in this Nation as a Just Judgement upon them from God for growing vain in their Imaginations and rejecting all those principles of Religion which they cannot Fathom with their shallow and Corrupted reason.  
We have seen under what severe Penalties Chastity was enjoined unto the, Jews, who under the Old Testament were the peculiar people and Church of God; and with what tremendous Judgements those who violated that Law were from time to time pursued. We have also hea●…d our Saviour's Exposition of the 7th. Commandment, and how it reaches the Motions and Affections of the Soul as well as the external act, and it hath been Proved by Divine Authority that the giving of a Person or People up to Uncleanness is a Just Judgement of God for having forsaken him. So that now it remains that we take notice in what manner, and under what Penalties Chastity is enjoined to Christians under the new Testament. We find then in the 15 of the Acts, v. 20. That Fornications was one of the things which the first Synodical Meeting or General Council of the Christian Church forbid, by the Authority of the Holy Ghost, by which Interpreters understand that not only Marriage within prohibited degrees, but Adultery single Fornication and keeping of Concubines, or to use the term now in fashion keeping of Misses was forbid, and the reason why that manifest violation of the Laws of Nature, Creation, and Revelation is mixed with those things which were Temporary, as the abstaining from Blood, etc. was because the Gentiles, especially the people of the East were very much addicted to Uncleanness, and Custom had prevailed so much amongst 'em that they scarcely thought Fornication or the keeping of a Concubine any sin: And that it's plain, that this first Ecumenical Council if we may so venture to call it, did not design this of Fornication as a Temporary prohibition only, will appear by the repeated injunctions and prohibitions of the Apostles throughout their Epistles, and the Sentence of exclusion from the Kingdom of Heaven, which from time to time they pronounce against Whoredom. Thus in the 6th. of Romans v. 19 He tells them that as they had yielded their Members Servants to Uncleanness, so now they were to yield their Members Servants unto Holiness. Chap. 8. 7. He tells them, That if they live after the Flesh they shall die. Chap. 13. 13, 14. We are forbid to walk in Chambering and Wantonness, or to make provision for the flesh to fulfil the Lusts thereof; the Reading of which latter Verse, St. A●…in was directed to by a Voice when walking in his Garden, which bid him take up the Bible and read, and falling upon that Text he was thereby converted, he having been formerly much given to Uncleanness.  
Then in 1 Cor. Chap. 5. he severely reproves the Church of Corinth, for not having censured the incestuous Person who was one of their Members, tho' guilty of such a sort of Fornication as was not so much as named amongst the Gentiles, viz. That one should have his Father's Wife, not that never any such thing was committed amongst the Gentiles, for History teaches us the contrary; but when it did happen it was never spoken of nor mentioned without horror, and was always looked upon as Monstrous and Ominous: And therefore to take away the scandal from the Christian Church, the Apostle Order him to be delivered up to Satan, i. e. Excommunicated, and cast out of the Society of the Church, by which Censure he was thrown out of the Kingdom of Christ as an Exile, and by Consequence deprived of his protection, by which he became a Subject or rather a Slave to Satan, the God of this World, there being no Medium betwixt those two, of being either a Subject of Christ or a Subject of Satan, and therefore he who is cast out of the Church clavae non errante, may very well be said to be delivered up to Satan. It's true there are some, who think that by these words was meant a delivering of him up to Satan to be tormented by some bodily distemper, but that Exposition is too much forced to be relied on. In the 9th. and 11th. Verses of that Chapter the Apostle forbids them so much as to eat with a Brother who is a Fornicator, such was the purity of Life that the Holy Ghost enjoined to all Christians.  
In the 6th. Chap. the Apostle informs us That neither Fornicators nor Adulterers, nor Effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind shall inherit the Kingdom of God; and by Consequence we may Judge that they were neither fit to be Members of Churches, nor indeed of Politic and Civil Societes with Christians. In the 11 Verse, he tells them such were some of you, but now ye are Sanctified. v. 13. He says that the body is not for Fornication, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the Body. And in the 15, and 16. v. argues against Fornication from the absurdity of it in Christians, who thereby made their bodies that are Members of Christ Members of an Harlot, which was as much as to say that you cannot make Christ a partaker of Fornication with you, and therefore when you are guilty of those abominable sins you disunite yourself from Christ, and offer violence to your own bodies by pulling yourself away from Christ, and joining yourself to an Harlot.  
In the 18th. Verse he enjoins them to flee Fornication, because He that committeth Fornication sinneth against his own Body, that is, in a special manner, he dishonoureth his Body by making it a Member of an Harlot and disuniting it from Christ; he maketh that Body which the Holy Ghost disdaineth not to choose for a Temple a Cage of Unclean spirits, and so provoketh the Holy spirit to abandon it, who will not dwell in an Impure place, and as Whoredom brings a more direct blemish upon the body than any other sin doth, so it tends to the dissolution and destruction of the frame of the Body.  
In the 7th. Chapter, the Apostle treats of Marriage as a proper Remedy against Fornication, and therefore necessary and commendable, not that it was Originally instituted as a Remedy against Fornicatition, for it was appointed in Paradise, during the State of Innocence, when there was no such thing as Fornication; but it became necessary for that end since the fall, and therefore as propagation was the primary end of Marriage, the avoiding of Fornication became a Secondary end— The reason of the Apostles insisting upon this, is the opinion of Commentators, because there were some among the Corinthians, to whom he wrote, who Counterfeiting Chastity despised Marriage, and fell into hurtful and filthy Lusts; and others again under pretence of Chastity pretended to dissolve their Marriage Contract, and put away their Wives, that they might attend with more diligence and assiduity upon the Service of God, and therefore to obviate both those absurd opinions he shows the necessity and sanctity of a marriage state, tho' he owns that in consideration of the then troublesome times, and the persecutions which attended the Church, it was better for those Christians who had the Gift of Continency not to marry than to encumber themselves with Families, and the necessary cares of providing for a Family, which do always follow upon Marriage; but at the same time he tells them that 'tis better to Marry than to Burn, and recalls Marriage to its Primitive institution in the 2d. Verse, thus, Let every Man have his own Wife, and let every Woman have her own Husband: By which he expressly Condemns Digamy and Polygamy.— And then he tells them the duty of Married Persons that tho' they might for a time abstain from the Marriagebed by mutual consent, in order to give themselves to fasting and prayer, yet they were not to defraud one another, but to come together again, lest Satan, the Author of all Uncleanness, should tempt them for their Incontinence, so that by this Chapter it is plain, that that Celibacy which the Romish Clergy pretend to observe is none of God's appointment, and therefore 'tis not to be wondered at, that they who have so contemptuously rejected the Sacred ordinance of Marriage should be given up to those Brutish Lusts which have made them the scandal of the Christian World. The Holy Paph●…tius when it was moved in the Council of Nice that the Clergy should abstain from their Wives, opposed it by his Authority, or rather by the Apostles Authority, telling'em that Marriage was honourable, and that a Man's lying with his own Wife was no breach of Chastity, upon which the Council commended his opinion, and ordained nothing in that affair as we are told by Sozomen Hist. Tripartit. Lib. 2. C. 14. So that the Canon which is now numbered amongst those of that Council forbidding the Marriage of the Clergy is with good reason looked upon as supposititious.  
In the 5th. of the Galatians, v. 19 the Apostle tells us, That the Works of the flesh are Adultery, Fornication, Uncleanness, Lasciviousness; and in the 24th. Verse, he tells us that they that are Christ's have Crucified the flesh with the Affections and Lusts, so that those who wallow in such Impurities let 'em call themselves or be called by others what they please, ' its plain that they have forfeited their Title to the name of Christians.  
In the 2d. of the Ephesians, he reckons those who walk in the Lusts of the flesh, and fulfil the desires thereof amongst the Children of wrath and disobedience who walk according to the Prince of the power of the Air. Our Lustful Gallants and Beaus would be ready to run any man through the Lungs who should call them Children of the Devil, and yet they are called such in express terms by the Holy Ghost; so that it's not to be wondered at that they do so much spurn at all revealed Religion.  
In the 4th. Chapter, the Apostle calls them off from the Impurities of the Gentiles, who had given themselves over unto Lasciviousness, to work all Uncleanness with Greediness, telling them they had not so learned Christ. In the 5th. Chapter he commands that Fornication and Uncleanness should not once be named amongst them, neither Filthiness nor Foolish talking nor Jesting which are not conconvenient, and the reason he subjoins, is this, That no Whoremongers nor Unclean person hath any Inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God— Then whether they deserve the name of Christians whose chief delight is in Playhouses, where Foolish Jesting and Talking is their principal Entertainment; or whether they are to be accounted such who wallow in Fornication and Adultery, and who make their keeping of Misses and Debauching of Women the Grand subject of their Conversation, in all public Companies, let any reasonable man Judge,  
In the 3d Chapter of the Colossians he commands Christians to mortify their Member●… which are upon the Earth, viz, Fornication, Uncleanness, inordinate Affection, etc. For which things sake the wrath of God cometh on Children of disobedience.  
In the 11th. of the Hebrews and 16th. verse he warns them to take heed that there be no Fornicator nor Profane Person amongst them like Esau, who sold his Birthright for one Morsel, Persons who are addicted to their Lusts being ready at any time to sell their share of Heaven and Religion so they may but enjoy their Vile desires: and in the 13th. Chapter and 4th. Verse he tells them that Marriage is honourable in all, and the Bed undefiled, but Whoremongers and Adulterers God will Judge, by which the Apostle obviates the false Doctrine of those Seducers foretold in the ●…st. of ●…imothy and 4. who should forbid Marriage, and tells them that Whoredom is so grievous a sin in the sight of God, that in a peculiar manner he will punish such persons himself.  
It is fit also to be observed here, that the Papists and other Sects who forbid or restrain the use of Marriage were thereunto prompted at first by a false show of Purity and Sanctity, which demonstrates how abominable they reckoned the sin of Uncleanness, when they thought that Con jugal Society rendered men unfit for their Devotions, but their unhappy mistake was attended with mischievous Consequences, for instead of that purity which they aimed at by despising Marriage which is of Divine institution, they fell into all manner of Uncleanness as is known to those who have read the Histories of the Encratites, Mareionites, Fatians, Manichees, etc. whose Errors and Vicious Practices as to that matter, the Popish Monks have served themselves heirs to, and therefore cannot avoid falling under the reach of that Prophecy, 1st. of Timothy and 4th. tho' they have strained their Wits toward it off from themselves.  
The Apostle Peter in his 1st. Epistle 1. Cap. and 14. Verse forbids Christians to fashion themselves according to their former Lusts, and in his 2d Cap. 11. v. he commands them to abstain from fleshly Lusts which War against the Soul In the 2d. Chapter of his 2d. Epistle he tells us, That God turned the Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, making them an ensample unto those that after should live Ungodly. In the 9th. verse he subjoins that the Lord knows how to reserve the unjust unto the day of Judgement to be punished, but chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the Lust of Uncleanness, and in the 14th. Verse he says, They shall receive the reward of Unrighteousness, having eyes full of Adultery and that cannot cease from sin.  
The Apostle Judas in his General Epistle tells us, That Sodom and Gomorrah giving themselves over to Fornication, and going after strange flesh are set forth for an Example, suffering the Vengeance of Eternal Fire, he describes also those who walk after their Ungodly Lusts to be mockers, which is as Visible in our modern Beaus and Gallants as ever it was in any, there being none who do more mock and despise Religion then such, and now 'tis become Familiar to them to run down Revelation and the Divine Authority of the Holy Scriptures.  
In the 14th of the Revelations and 4th. The 144000 who are there said to be singing a new song in Heaven, in the Company of the Lamb, are described to be such as had not defiled themselves with Women; That is, such as had not polluted themselves with Unlawful Lusts but had possessed their Vessels in Sanctification and Honour, as Christians are advised to do. 1 Thess. 4. 4. Not that they had abstained from Marriage, for that is Honourable and such a state as tends to the preservation of Chastity, but they had escaped the pollution which was in the World, through Lust; its true that the Sense of the place is not wholly restricted to a bodily Chastity, but includes also a Spiritual Purity, Freedom from Idolatry, and Communication with false Religions, but that it does also relate to bodily Chastistity, is unanimously agreed upon by Interpreters.  
It is also observable that the Holy Ghost, to testify his hatred of Uncleanness hath represented Antichrist the Anti-christian Church, and the Idolatry of that Society, under the name of a Whore, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth; those that are poisoned with her Idolatrous Doctrine, here presents as having committed Fornication with her, and drunk of her Golden Cup full of Abominations and Filthiness of her Fornication, Rev. 17. And indeed to any that have read the wicked Lives of many of the Popes, and consider the impurity of their Monks and Nuns, their contempt of Marriage, their Unlawful Divorces, and Dispensations for Unlawful Marriages. It will appear that there's great reason to call the Church of Rome a Whore in a Literal Sense.  
In the 21st. of the Revelations, we are told that Whoremongers shall have their part in the Lake which Burneth with Fire and Brimstone: and in the 23d. we are told, That Whoremogers are excluded from the new Jerusalem in Company of Murders, Idolaters and Sorcerers. So much for the History of Whoredom, as far as it is touched in the Old and New Testament, either as to the Instances thereof, the Judgements inflicted upon the practioners of it, the Laws concerning it, and the punishments threatened against the Breakers of those Laws, both in this World and that which is to come.  
Having finished that part of our History for which the Scripture hath furnished us with materials. We come in the next place to profane History, for Instances relating to our Subject. We have already made use of some Instances from Josephus and other Historians, Obiter as they had a Relation to the Scripture passages that we were upon, but come now to make use of them entirely for our Collections, and think it fit to acquaint the Reader that we must look back again in order of time, because 'twas thought best to have the Scripture Instances altogether.  
We have formerly made mention of Semiramis, in the Account which we gave of the destruction of Babylon, all that we have now to add, is, that Justin. Lib. 1. gives this Account of her, that after her Husband Ninus' Death, she puts on Man's apparel, and feigned herself to be Ninus her own Son, who was but a Youth, and therefore she was afraid that he would not be able to manage the Sceptre, Semiramis being a Woman of low Stature, and small Voice, was easily mistaken for her Son, and the better to conceal the fraud, she covered her Arms and Legs, put a Tiara or round Ornament resembling a Bonnet, upon her head, and the better to prevent suspicion of a disguise, Ordered her Subjects to apparel themselves in that same manner, under the Notion of a new fashion, so that she passed for her Son without any doubt or hesitation, and having under this disguise enlarged her Husband's Conquests as was formerly said, she conceived that the Greatness of her Actions had put her beyond the reach of Envy, and therefore discovered herself, which was so far from lessening her, that it mightily advanced her Reputation, but giving herself up afterwards to Brutish Lusts, as was formerly mentioned, she became enamoured on her own Son, who thereupon killed her, and thus she tarnished all her former Glory and brought herself to an untimely death by her unnatural Lust after she Reigned 42 years in Great Honour.  
Her Son Ninus, tho' he abhorred his Mother's Incestuous Amours, yet being Heir to her Vices as well as her Throne, as if he had really changed Sexes as well as Habit with his Mother, he became Effeminate and Lustful, and spending his time Ingloriously among Women, was rarely seen of any men, and so concluded his days with Ignominy, leaving that unmanly pattern to his successors that they seldom were seen of any of their Subjects, and thus the Assyrian Empire which continued near 1300 years, was extinguished by the Effeminacy and Lusts of their Princes and People, and came to a Conclusion in the Inglorious Reign of Sardanapalus, who Reigned as some Authors think when Jonah was sent to Preach Repentance to Ninive, but this cannot be relied upon, the Learned do so much differ as to the point of Chronology: However, this is agreed upon by all hands, that he was a Lustful and Effeminate Prince, and gave himself so much up to Voluptuousness that he would sit and Spin in a Woman's Habit amongst his Concubines And seeing it is commonly found by Experience that people imitate the bad example of their Princes; there's no great reason to doubt but that the Ninivites, amongst whom he resided, were tainted with his Vices and became dissolute, so that they very well deserved those Judgements denounced against them by Jonah, and Historians, as Justin, Pe●…au, and Scaliger acquaint us, That the wiser part of his Subjects loathing to be Governed by such an unmanly Debauchee, Rebelled against him, under the Conduct of Arsaces' Governor of Media, who coming to see him and being admitted to his presence with Great difficulty, found him in Woman's Habit Spinning purple upon a Distaff, amongst a Company of his Whores, to whom he divided their several Tasks of Wool, etc. And perceiving him to be more Effeminate, and Lascivious in his looks than any of the Women, he conceived great Indignation that so many Warlike Men should be Governed by a Person who disowned his Sex and handled a Distaff instead of a Sword, so that having acquainted his Companions with what he had seen, they conspired against him, Besieged him in Ninive for two years, and reduced him to such straits that in a desperate humour he retired into his Palace, where having Erected a Funeral Pile, and laid all his most precious Movables upon it, he burned himself with his Wives, Children and Palace; (which was the only thing wherein he discovered a Manly temper) Ordering the following distich to be engraven on his Tomb  
Haec habeo quae edi, quaeque Exsaturata Libido  
Hausit at illa Jacent multa ac praeclara relicta.  
Which says Aristotle was a fitter Epitaph for a Bull then a King; It may be paraphrased in English thus, 
Those things I have which delight I ate,  
And also those which did my Lust assuage  
Yet may desires are still insatiate  
And that ought left behind, inflames my rage.   
The Meaes having held the Empire 350 years, it than fell into hands of the Persians under the Conduct of Cyrus; and that the Persian Women were not over modest appears by the method they took to encourage their Men, when they had the worst in the Battle at first, with Astyages, viz. When the Persians began to run, their Women uncovered their Secret parts, unbraidded them with Cowardice, and asked whither they would hide themselves in the Bellies of their Mothers and Wives, which did so animate them, that from a principal of shame they returned to the Battle, came off Victorious, and by that means laid the Foundation of the Persian Monarchy, which was afterwards overturned by Fffeminacy and Lasciviousness, as we shall see in its place, and that the Persians should have immersed themselves in Lasciviousness is so much the more remarkable and inexcusable because their Emperor Cyrus to break the Warlike Temper of the Lydians, whom he had overcome, thought it not enough to deprive them of their Horses and Arms, but commanded them to exercise themselves in Publick-Houses, Plays, and Bawdy-Houses; and thus says Justin Lib. 1. this people who before Cyrus were invincible in War, mighty by their industry and redoubtable by their Valour, lost their Ancient Gallantry by their Effeminate Delicacy and Luxury. And that this Wantonness had invaded their Throne is evident from the Instance of Candaules their King, who doting upon his Wife, because of her Incomparable Beauty, commended her in all Companies, and not satifised with that, he was so mad as to expose her Naked to the view of Gyges his Favourite, by appointing him a Secret place in her Bedchamber, which the Qperceiving, tho' unknown to her Husband she was so much incensed at it, that she proposed it to Gyges, either to kill the King and enjoy her and the Kingdom, or to prepare for death himself, the former of which conditions he accepted, and performed, and thus was Candaules punished for his Voluptuousness by losing his Life and Crown and having his Race extinguished.  
Justin in his 〈◊〉. Book acquaints us also that one of the Magis called Comaris, being employed by Cambyses to kill his Brother Mergides, performed it Secretly, and Cambyses dying in the mean time of a Wound he received by his own Sword, Comaris set up his own Brother Oropastes for King, instead of Mergides, to whom the Succession belonged after Cambyses, Oropastes was very like Mergides; but the matter being afterwards suspected Orthanus a Noble man found it out by his own Daughter that was one of the King's Concubines, she by her Father's persuasion felt Oropastes his head when he was asleep, and finding that he had no Ears, acquainted her Father with it, who thereby knew that it was Oropastes, whose Ears Cambyses had ordered to be cut off, and imparting it to the rest of the Nobility, from whom it was easy to conceal it because the Kings of Persia under a show of Majesty were kept from the view of their Subjects, they conspired against him and slew both the Brothers, thus was Oropastes deprived of his Life and Crown by the Treachery of one of his Concubines.  
The next passage we meet with in Justin for our purpose, is that of the Scythian Women, whose Husbands being long absent, he says, 15 years in subduing Asia, they sent Messengers to them, telling them, that if they did not return, they would take care to have offspring by their Neighbours, and that the Women should not be to blame if the Race of the Scythians failed, whereupon they returned having imposed a small Tribute upon the asiatics, rather as an acknowledgement of their Conquests then as a Reward of their Victory—  
That same Author, Book 2d. tells us that the Scythians having stayed 7 Years from their Wives in their 3d. Expedition into Asia, the Women reckoning they had been all cut off, Married their Servants who were left at home to look after their Catttle, so that when their Husbands returned Victorious, they were looked upon as Foreign Invaders, and therefore their Servants kept them out by force of Arms, so that after divers Skirmishes with various fortune, the Scythians considering that those who opposed them were their Servants, they agreed to make use of Whips against them instead of Arms, which had so good success that their Servants, as if their Servile Spirits had returned to them, upon the sight of the Whips, fled before them.  
It's also fit to take notice here, that the Women so much famed in the World by the Name of Amazons, were Wives to a Colony or rather an Inundation of Scythians, who settling themselves in Cappadocia about the River Thermodoon, and having subdued their Neighbours, were at last wholly cut off by a Conspiracy of the people whom they had Conquered, upon which their Women took Arms, and not only defended their own Territories, but enlarged their Dominions, and being accustomed to Govern men, looked upon Marriage as a servitude, cut off all the Men that were remaining among them, that none of them might seem more happy than the rest, by enjoyment of their Husbands, and then having obtained Peace, once a year they conversed with the Men of Neighbouring Nations, and if they brought forth Males they, either killed them or sent them home to their Fathers, but the Females they bred up to the use of Arms, and all manly Exercises, burning one of their Dugs that it might not hinder them to bend their Bows, and preserving the other to suckle their Girls. Amongst those Amazons are said to have Reigned the Famous Queens, Marthesia, Lampeto, Otrera, Penthesilea, Thalestris, etc. and their Monarchy is said to have continued till the time of Alexander the Great.  
Some will have all that is writ of the Amazons to be a mere Fable, and others, that all the stories of them was occasioned by their women's bearing Arms, and Fight in Battle as well as the Men; and it may be, being more numerous in divers of those Battles, than the Men who were either absent or consumed in those Expeditions, they had the Chief Command, as is observed by Juan Orelhan the Spaniard, who discovered that great River, called by the Name of the River of the Amazons in the West-Indies, upon the Banks of which he perceived the Women in Arms to exceed the men in number, and to Command them, and upon that Account he gave the Name aforesaid to that River.  
But however the matter be, it affords us this Observation, that all Kingdoms and States ought to take care of encouraging Marriage, and to avoid as much as may be the Exhausting of their Men by Wars, Colonies or Conquests, which do naturally occasion the want of a sufficient number of Males to supply the Females, whence proceeds Whoredom, Uncleanness, and Luxury, which infallibly issues in Contempt of Marriage, an Obstruction of Propagation, and the ruin of a people.  
Before we come to give an Account how the Persian Monarchy was overturned by Luxury and Lasciviousness, we shall have occasion to touch upon some Remarkable Revolutions, occasioned amongst the Greeks by Uncleanness. The first that we meet with in Justin is that of Diocles' King or Governor of Athens, who having forced a young Woman, he was in Revenge thereof killed by her Brother, whereupon Hippias Brother to Diocles ordered the youngman to be apprehended, and putting him upon the Rack, examined him concerning those that were privy to his design, the young man in further Revenge for this new Injury, named all the Tyrant's Friends, who being put to Death upon his Accusation, Hippias asked if he knew of any more that were Conscious to his Crime. To this the young man answered, That there were no more at whose Death he could gladly rejoice but the Tyrant himself, which the Citizens took as a Signal to recover their lost Liberty, and drove Hippias into Exile, who thereupon joining with the Persians against his own Country was slain in Battle— And here it's proper to add that the Effeminacy and Luxury of the Persians under the Reign Xerxes, was the chief cause of the shameful overthrows which they received by the Grecians.  
The next Remarkable instance which we find for our purpose in Justin, is that in his 3d. Book of the War betwixt the Messenians and Lacedemoonians, occasioned by the former's having Ravished the Virgins belonging to the latter, whilst they were at Sacrifice, upon which the Lacedomineans bound themselves by a solemn Oath never to return into their Country till they had taken in Messenia, which laid the Foundation of Intestine Discord, and Civil War in Grecia— The Siege of this Town continued 10 years, during which time the Lacedaemonian Women being not able to brook the want of their Husband's Company, they sent heavy complaints to them upon that head, but the Lacedæmonians being unwilling to violate their Oaths, and at the same time sensible that their people must needs decrease, they fell upon this Medium, to send home all the young men who had come as Recruits to their Camp after the taking of the said Oath, and allowing them the Liberty to Accompany with the Women, the Children begot by this promiscuous Copulation, were as a Brand of their Mother's Infamy called Parthenii, and arriving at the Age of 30, they were so much afraid of coming to Want, because they knew not whom to call Father, nor which way to have any Patrimony, that under the Conduct of Phalantus Son to Aratus, who was the Author of the Advice to send the young men from the Camp abovesaid, they resolved to seek new Habitations for themselves, and so without so much as saluting or taking leave of their Mothers, from whom they derived the Infamy of being Bastards, they arrived at last in Italy, subdued the Tarentines, and settled in their Country. But to return to the Messenians, they were at last overcome by the Lacedæmonians, in two Wars, the 1st, of 20 and the 2. of 14 years' continuance, and reduced to a miserable slavery, which was originally occasioned as we have just now heard by their Uncleanness.  
Our next Instance is in Justin Lib. 5: concerning Timea Queen to Agis King of Lacedaemon, who being guilty of Adultery with Alcibiades the Athenian, while an Exile from his Country at her Husband's Court, ●…e discovered to him the design which the Lacedæmonians had against his Life, because they envied his Conduct and Glory, upon which Alcibiades fled to the Persians, and having by his cunning prevail with the Athenians to recall him, he afterwards defeated the Lacedæmonians by Sea and Land, and brought them to sue for Peace, so destructive to her Country was the Unlawful Amours of this Whorish Queen, and so ruinous to the whole East, and particularly to Athens was the Vicious Lustful Temper of Alcibiades; the occasion of whose Exile as abovementioned was his discovery of something of the Mystery of Ceres' Worship, or the Profane Eleusina Sacra, which we have already described at large. The fatal Exit of this Great Man is also Remarkable, viz. That he was by the order of the 30 Tyrants burnt in his Chamber when asleep; a suitable punishment from the hand of Divine Justice for one that had burnt in impure Lust, however he deserved better Treatment at the hands of his Country.  
That same Author in his sixth Book, acquaints us that after the death of Epaminondas the great Theban General, the Athenians having no Enemy to whet their Emulation or Exercise their Martial Courage, grew Luxurious and Debauched, spent their Time and Revenues in public Festivals and Plays, frequented the Stage and Playhouses more than the Camp, and did more extol their Poets and Orators than their Captains and Generals; by which means they lost their Glory, and rendered themselves and all Greece and Asia a prey to the Macedonians, formerly an obscure people.  
Before we go any further in the History of the Unlawful Amours of Greece it may not be improper to take notice of the ruin of Troy by the Grecians after ten years' War upon the account of the Rape of fair Helena from Menelaus a Grecian Prince, by Paris Son to Priamus' King of Troy. This story being known to every Schoolboy, its needless to insist upon it, but we shall only observe that the Lust of Paris occasioned the ruin of that Kingdom and City about the year of the World 2870. after it had stood near 296 years. The ruins of that Famous Town are still to be seen near the Mountain Ida about 32 Germane Miles South of Constantinople, upon the Asian side of the Hellespont or strait of the Dardanelles as a Monument of Divine Justice against Whoredom.  
Justin in his 7th. Book gives us this Remarkable instance of punishment inflicted upon the Persian Ambassadors for their Lechery, viz. That being sent by Magabazus the Persian General to demand Hostages from Amyntas King of Macedonia, that Prince received them kindly, and the Ambassadors having drank largely in the time of the Feast, so as their Lust was inflamed, they demanded that they might have the Company of the King's Wives and Daughters at their entertainment, which they said was a Pledge of Hospitality among the Persians. The King thinking fit to grant it, the Persians began to handle the Women immodestly, upon which Alexander Son to King Amyntas desired his Father to withdraw from the Banquet because of his Age and Gravity, the Prince having done so, Alexander a little while after called out the Women, pretending that he would bring them back in a better dress, that so they might be the more acceptable to the Persians, and in their place brought in as many young Men in women's Habit with orders to punish the Ambassadors for their lasciviousness, and accordingly when they begun to handle them as they had done the Women, the young men killed every one of the Ambassadors with Swords which they had concealed under their Garments.  
In that same Book we have an instance of an abominable Incestuous Intrigue of Eurydice Wife to another Amyntas King of Macedonia, and Nephew to the former, who falling in Love with her Son-in-Law, upon promise of Marriage undertook to murder her Husband and advance her Gallant to the Throne, but was prevented by her Daughter who discovered her Mother's Incest and bloody design, yet Amyntas for the Love which he bore to the Children that he had by this wicked Woman spared her, and the Unnatural Beast after his Death murdered her own Sons Alexander and Perdiccas by him, tho'for their sakes he had spared her Life; and all this mischief she committed, that she might wallow without Interruption in her Impure Lusts.  
In his 9th Book he gives us an account of the death of Philip of Macedon Rather to Alexander the Great, which was occasioned partly by his having Divorced Olympias, on suspicion of Adultery, or with an Adulterous design to marry Cleopatra, and partly because he had not executed Judstice upon Attalus for having Committed Sodomy upon Pausanias, who fre●…uently complained of it, but was always dismissed with scorn, and therefore watching his Opportunity he stabbed Philip on the day that he was married to Cleopatra as walking betwixt his own Sons, afterwards Alexander the Great and Alexander his Son-in-Law. Thus this Great Prince who had Conquered many Nations and Countries, became a Conquest and Victim to his own Lusts and the Lusts of others, and occasioned likewise the death of his Paramour Cleopatra, Olympias having first murdered her Daughter, and then forced Cleopatra to hang herself.  
His ●…th. Book furnishes us with a very remarkable instance of Artaxerxes King of Persia, who had 115 some say 160 Sons by Concubines, and three only by Lawful Marriage, for which Incontinence he was punished in the following manner, his Son Darius being by the Indulgence of Artaxerxes admitted to the Throne while he himself was alive, contrary to the Custom of the Persians, he ungratefully Conspired against his Father's Life, and engaged 49 of his Brethren in the Conspiracy. The occasion of this Unnatural Plot was yet more vile than the Plot itself, which Justin relates thus, Artaxerxes having defeated and killed his Brother Cyrus in the War betwixt them, he married Aspasia Cyrus his Concubine, and her Darius would have his Father to resign to him as well as his Throne, which the Indulgent Father promised to do at first, but repenting of it afterwards, he made her priestess to the Sun that he might have a fair pretence of denying her to Darius, because according to the Persian superstition, those of that Office must observe perpetual Chastity. Darius' taking this as a great affront, entered into the Conspiracy as abovementioned, which being discovered, the Incestuous and Unnatural Traitor with all his Associates, their Wires and Children was cut off, that there might be no memorial left of such a horrid piece of Villainy. Thus was Uncleanness justly punished both in Father and Children, and this Instance is so much the more remarkable that it fell out but a few years before the overthrow of the Persian Monarchy by Alexander the Great, which the Lasciviousness and Effeminacy of the Persians made easy to be effected.  
Our next instance is Alexander the Great, who though in the height of his Youth and Conquests he obtained so much Glory by abstaining from Darius his Beautiful Queen and Daughters who were his Captives, yet giving himself afterwards up to Impure Pleasures, he hath thereby rendered his Infamy as Immortal as his Fame. It's observed of him by his Historian Curtius, that he was always more Famous in War than after Victory, and that having broke the Power of the Persian Empire he degenerated into those very Manners or rather Vices, which made the Persians such an easy Conquest to him. That same Author in his 5th. Book gives us an Account, that Alexander having stayed much longer at Babylon than he did at any other place, the Corrupt Manners of the Citizens did more prejudice to the Discipline of his Army than any thing they had met with before that time; and indeed the Description that Curtius gives us of the abominable Luxury and Impurity which reigned in that City is sufficient to convince us that the Empire of which that was the Metropolis or at least the most Renowned and Greatest City, was ripe for ruin. The words of the Historian are as follow, There was nothing more corrupt than the manners of that City, and nothing more Accommodated to incite and provoke Voluptuousness and Lust. The Parents and Husbands permitted their Wives and Daughters to lie with their Guests provided they gave them a Reward. Banquets, Revels and Plays were the Chief delights of the Kings and Princes of Persia. The Babylonians were wholly given up to Wine, Drunkenness, and the Consequences of it. Their Women when they first came in to their Feasts and Banquets were apparelied modestly enough, but in a little time after they threw off their upper Garments, and in the last place, with modesty be it spoken, uncovered their Nakedness; nor was this only the practice of the Common prostitutes, but of their Matrons and married Women, who esteemed such promiscuous dalliance a Great piece of Complaisance and Good breeding; with which Dehauches, says our Author, that Army which Conquered Asia being glutted for 34 days, they had doubtless been rendered very unfit for what they undertook afterwards, if they had not been Reinforced by fresh supplies of uncorrupted men from Macedonia, etc.  
Our Author gives us another Instance of the Idleness and Luxury of the Persian Women, viz. That when Alexander the Great had received Purple and Macedonian Apparel made by his own Sisters in a Present from home, he ordered the same to be Presented to Sysigambis the Mother of Darius, with this Compliment, that if she liked them he would furnish her with those who should teach her Grand Daughters to make such, which presently drew Tears from the Persian Princess, there being nothing reckoned more dishonourable amongst the Persian Women than to Card and Spin, which I take to be the meaning of our Author's words to touch Wool. How much this differs from Solomon's Character of a good Housewife, and whether the handling of Wool had not been more commendable than such Dissolute Revels as we just now mentioned, let the World Judge. But to return to Alexander the Great.  
After he had with great difficulty and danger past the straits of Susis, and taken Persepolis the Royal Residence of the Kings of Persia, the Lascivious Inhabitants became Executioners of Divine Justice upon themselves and their Impure City, for putting on their chie●… Ornaments of which their Luxury had made them provide a great Number, they threw themselves their Wives and Children headlong from the Walls and Precipices, and set fire to their own Houses: But that which is particularly remarkable as to Alexander, is that in a Drunken fit at the persuasion of Thais a Drunken Whore, says Curtius, he ordered the Famous Royal Palace of the Persian Kings to be burnt, which he had hitherto saved; and he himself threw the first firebrand into it to his perpetual Ignominy and Disgrace, However, we may plainly see by this passage that the sin of the Persians was legible in their punishment, when this Famous Palace that had been polluted with such Herds of Strumpets, as the Persian Kings did usually Entertain, was burnt to Ashes at the instigation of an Infamous Strumpet, and not long after Darius himself fell by the hands of his Treacherous Subjects, which put an end to the Persian Empire.  
Curtius' in his 6th. Book gives us an Account how Alexander became hateful to the Graver sort of his Captains and Generals by his degenerating into the Vices of the Persians, as, Immoderate drinking, and spending his time in Plays, and amongst Herds of Strumpets, which occasioned frequent Conspiracies against him, Mutinies amongst his Soldiers; and other Commotions. He became likewise guilty of Sodomy with Bagoas, Darius' Eunuch, affected the Persian Habit and Customs, and entertained 360 Concubines as Darius had done before him, which occasioned the Macedonians to grumble, and say, That he was more like to those that he had Conquered than a Conqueror, so that he was forced to prevent their sedition to engage them in a fresh War, after he had for thirteen days satiated his Lust with Thalestris Queen of the Amazons at her own desire. While he was preparing for his Expedition against Bessus, Philotas and others of his Great Officers conspired against his Life, but Nicomachus a Catamite having discovered it by means of Dimachus, who was his Companion in that Unnatural Amour revealed it so as 'twas prevented, but it cost his Villainous Paramour Dimachus and others their Lives; such was the fatal Consequence of Dimachus' unnatural Lust to himself and others.  
The next Instance which Curtius affords fit for our purpose, is that of Spitamenes, who being Prince or Governor of the People called Dahee, he revolted from Alexander, and doting upon his Beautiful Wife, carried her with him wherever he went, she being weary of that kind of Life, advised him to submit himself to Alexander; which he took so ill, that he upbraided her with a lustful design, thinking that her Beauty would make her acceptable to Alexander, and therefore would have killed her if he had not been hindered by those about him; whereupon he forbade her to come any more into his presence, and that he might wean himself from her, he passed his time amongst his Concubines; but finding that he could not Conquer his passion towards her, he sent for her again, and she pretending to have forgot her former Injury, watched her opportunity when he was fast asleep and cutting off his Head, took one Servant along with her, and carried it to Alexander, which proves that her Husband's suspicion of her was not ill-founded; but Alexander tho' he was glad to be rid of such a troublesome Enemy as Spitamenes, did so much abhor the Barbarous and Treacherous Woman, that he Commanded her to depart the Camp, lest the Grecian Women should be infected by her cursed Example. Thus was Spitamenes and she both justly punished for their Uncleanness.  
Curtius' in his 8th. Book gives us another Instance of Alexander's being Conquered by his Lusts, which was thus. Cohortanes the Governor of a certain Country, having submitted himself to Alexander, he did likewise entertain him with a Feast, and for his better diversion ordered 30 Noble Virgins to be brought in, amongst whom was his own Daughter Roxane a Lady of Incomparable Beauty; with whom Alexander (who had abstained from Darius' fair Wife, and two Daughters, all Ladies of much Greater Beauty and Quality) was so much taken, that in the heat of his Lust he Contracted a Marriage with this Comparatively Ignoble Lady, to the Great disgust of his Friends.  
In the same Book he gives us a lively Description of the Effeminacy and Luxury of the Indians, who Inhabited about the Ganges and Dyardenes, that were some of the last of Alexander's Conquests, and indeed Ripe for such Judgements as a Conquest Generally brings upon a Nation. Curtius Expresses himself Elegantly concerning them, thus, viz. That the Luxury of their Kings which they call Magnificence exceeds the Vices of all other Nations, they never come abroad but their Servants carry Silver Censers and Perfume all the way that the Prince is to go. He is carried in a Golden Couch hung about with Jewels— This Chair or Couch is followed by his Guards, who carry Branches of Trees with Singing-Birds and Parrots upon them; his Palace is supported by Gild●…d Columns, and they adorned with Vines inlaid with Gold, and the Effigies of such Birds upon them in Silver as they do most delight in. When the King Combs and Dresses his Hair, than he gives Audience to Ambassadors and does Justice to his people, and his Shoes or Sandals being taken off, his Feet are Anointed and Perfumed with precious Ointments and Perfumes; his greatest Labour is Hunting, and that is to shoot Darts at Birds and Beasts penned up in a Park or Cage; his Concubines in the mean time Singing about him, and making vows for his success, his short Journeys he performs on horseback and the longer on Elephants covered over with Gold, and a long Train of Concubines follow him in Golden Couches or Chairs. And equal to this is the Luxury of the Queen and her Attendants, so that we may readily conclude that Alexander found no great difficulty in subduing such Debauched and Effeminate Nations, who were full Ripe for Divine Vengeance.  
We come now to the winding up of the Story of Alexander the Great, who did so far degenerate into the Manners and Vices of those People he had Conquered, that he gave Crowns to some and took away Lives from others at the will and pleasure of his Whores, and particularly of Bagoas the Eunuch, who was his Catamite. Curtius gives us an Instance of this in his 10th. Book, where he Relates how Orsines a Great Persian Prince of Cyrus' offspring, was falsely Accused and Executed, because he despised that Villainous Eunuch, and said that it was not Whores and Catamites that he had any regard for, but only to the King's Friends, and when this Revengeful Catamite had got Alexander to Condemn this great Man, who had at all times been very Friendly and Bountiful to the King and his Retinue, he could not forbear to assist at the Execution himself, upon which Orsines told him Satirically, That he had heard that Women had sometimes Governed Asia, but it was never Governed by a Gelding before. Thus Alexander being Governed by those Vile Persons, did upon their Accusation cut off his best Friends, and became so hateful to his own Greeks, that they talked divers times of Revolting, and at last Poisoned him in Babylon amidst his Feasts and Revels, which was very Remarkable that he should be Poisoned there where he had suffered himself and his Army to be first Poisoned by the Vicious Manners of the Persians; and thus by his Luxury and Uncleanness he occasioned the Division of that vast Empire, which he had raised; his Great Captains after his Death having each of them erected Monarchies for themselves in those Places where they Governed, which occasioned the speedier dissolution of the Grecian Monarchy, and that it was less taken notice of as not being cemented together under one head so true is it which the Wiseman tells us in the Proverbs, That many strong men have been slain and cast down by strange Women; nay, we may add that Empires and Monarchies have been over-turned by Uncleanness.  
The next remarkable instance we meet with in Justin is that of Dionysius, junior the Tyrant of Sicily, who was as infamous for Uncleanness as for Cruelty, and being expelled by the Inhabitants of Syracuse, he was received by those of Locris, where having surpriz●…d the Castle he Tyrannised also over them, Ravished the Wives of the Great Men, and the young Women before Marriage, and would then send them back to their Sweethearts. The Locrenses being at that time in War with Leophron, they vowed if they came off Conquerors to prostitute their Virgins on the Festival of Ve●…us, which having neglected to do, Dionysius Circumvented the Citizens thus, he advised them in order to perform their Vow, to send all their Women with their Richest Apparel to the Temple of Venus, and choose out a hundred of their handsomest Virgins and send them Richly adorned to stay a Month in a Brothell-House, but beforehand to oblige all their Men by Oath not to touch one of them, and likewise to take an Oath that none should be Married till all those Virgins were first disposed in Marriage. The Citizens thinking this a good Contrivance both to absolve themselves from their Oaths and to preserve the Chastity of their Virgins, did accordingly. Whereupon Dionysius sent his Soldiers who despoiled the Women both of their Honour and Ornaments, which so incensed the Lo●…enses against him that they likewise drove him out of their City, and being received again by the Syracusans he Tyrannised over them in his usual Manner, so that they Besieged him and forcing him to lay down the Government, he lived in Exile at Corinth, where he spent his time in Taverns and Bawdy-Houses, went in a sordid Habit, kept the Meanest and most Rascally Company. Jangled with Scoundrels and Bawds, became a laughing stock to every Body, and would walk about in the Shambles to gaze upon the Meat that he was not able to buy, and was reduced so low that partly to maintain himself, and partly to satisfy his Tyrannical humour, he taught a Trivial School, and so concluded his Life as Ingloriously as he led it.  
In his 22d. book, he gives us an Instance of Agathocles another Tyrant of Sicily, Son to a Potter, who during his youth was a Catamite, and as soon as he was of Age became a Common Stallion and a Highwayman, but being Valiant and Eloquent, he was advanced to Great Commands in the Army, and having Committed Adultery with Damascus the General's Lady, he succeeded in his Post after his death, and twice attempted the Sovereignty of the Island, which at last he obtained, yet tho' he was prosperous for a long time and rendered himself Famous by his Victories over the Carthaginians, Judgement pursued him at last, that he was forced to flee from afric, where his two Sons were put to death by the fury of his Enemies, and being himself taken with a grievous Disease, his Son and Grandson made War upon one another for the Crown, wherein the latter succeeded, so that Agathocles was forced on his Deathbed to send his Wife and two young Children to Egypt, lest they should be cut off by his Grandson, and in this Afflicted and Disconsolate Condition he ended his days; so true has it always been found that Whoremongers and Adulterers God will Judge.  
In his 24th. Book, he gives us the History of the Incestuous Amour of Ptolemy Ceraunus King of Macedonia, with his Sister, and the fatal Consequence of it to them both. Ptolemy having a mind to Usurp the Kingdom from her two Sons, and to possess himself of her fine City of Cassandria pretended Love to her, and that he had no other design in desiring her to Wife but to make her a Queen, and that her Children should succeed him, and because she herself and her Son Ptolemy suspected him, he swore to the Sincerity of his Intentions upon the Altar in Jupiter's Temple, whereupon that Incestuous Marriage was contracted, and his Sister, now his Wife Arsinoe being overjoyed at her new Title of Queen, invited the King her Husband to her City of Cassandria, where all things were prepared to receive him with the utmost Magnificence, and she ordered her Sons to meet him with Crowns on their Heads. He Received and Embraced them with much seeming Affection, but as soon as he came to the Gate of the City, he ordered them both to be killed, and the Castle to be seized, their Mother endeavouring in vain to cover them in her Arms and preserve them. After this Tragedy as a Just punishment for her consenting to such an Incestuous Màrriage, she went in Exile to Samothracia, and Ptolemy in a little time after fell by the Sword of the Gauls, who cut off his Head and fixed it upon a Lance.  
In his 26th. Book, we have the Story of Aristotimus, Tyrant of Epirus, who having killed and banished many of the Nobility. The Aetolians, who entertained the Exiles, sent Ambassadors to demand the Wives and Children of the banished, which Aristotimus pretended to grain, and as the Matrons had assembled together to go to their Husbands, he sent and spoiled them of their Apparel, threw them in Prison killed the Infants in the Arms of their Mothers, and Ravished the Virgins, which so incensed the people against him, that under the Conduct of Helematus an old man, they Conspired against him and cut him off.  
In the Close of that Book, he gives us an Account of the Incest of Demetrius King of Macedonia, with his Mother-in-Law Arsinoe, Queen of Cyrene, who had sent for him on purpose to Marry her Daughter and enjoy that Crown, but being herself taken with his Beauty, she entertained an Incestuous Commerce with him, which did so much provoke her Daughter, and the people, that by her Daughter's order he was slain in her Mother's Bed, the Incestuous and Impudent Woman endeavouring to preserve him by covering him with her own Body.  
In the 28th. Book he likewise gives an Account of a War betwixt Antiochus King of Syria and Demetrius King of Macedonia, because the latter Married Pythia Daughter to the Queen of Epirus, whilst his Wife who was Sister to Antiochus was yet alive, so fatal hath the Adultery of Princes always been to Kings and Kingdoms.  
In his 30th Book, we have the Instance of Ptolemy King of Egypt, who having murdered his own Wife Eurydice, that was also his Sister, he became so enamoured on Agathocla the Strumpet, that he minded nothing but Revelling and Dancing; and thus says Justin, the King became not only a Spectator, but a Master of Villainy, and committing Sodomy also with Agathocles a handsome fellow, and Brother to the Strumpet above mentioned, they and their Mother Evanthe governed the King and Kingdom, and disposed of all offices. In the meantime Ptolemy died, which those vile Women concealed a long time, and so shared the Royal Treasure, and Government with Villains: But the matter coming at last to be known, the multitude assembled, cut off Agathocles, and hanged his Mother and Sister, such was the Tragical Exit they brought upon themselves by their uncleanness.  
In his 37th. Book we have the instance of Mithridates the great King of Pontus, who married his own Sister Laod●…ce, in which match he was Justly unhappy, for during his long absence a viewing the chief places of Asia, she had admitted strangers to his Bed, and tho' she feigned a mighty Joy at his return, yet she endeavoured to poison him, in order to cover her Unchastity, whereof Mithridates being advertised by a Maid, he punished his Wife by death for her Treachery, and tho' he himself became Great and Glorious afterwards by his V●…ctories over the asiatics, and his Wars with the Romans; yet Divine Justice pursued him, so that he killed himself in his old Age, when he heard that his Son, by that Unnatural Marriage had usurped the Kingdom.  
In his 38th. Book we have the horrid instance of Ptolemy Physcon, who after the death of Ptolemy King of Egypt, Married his Widow, Cleopatra, who was his own Sister, killed her Son by her first Husband the very day of his Marriage, and afterwards Divorced herself and Ravished her Daughter, whom he afterwards Married: This made him so hateful to the people that they deserted the City where he dwelled, so that finding himself a King without Subjects, he was forced to invite strangers to reside there.— And at last became so odious that he fled with the Son, that he had begot on his Sister, taking her Daughter along with him, and with a Mercenary Army made War upon his Sister and his Country, and sent for his eldest Son and killed him to prevent the people's choosing him in his stead. The Subjects were so much enraged with these proceedings, that they threw down his Statues and Pictures every where, which he conceiving to be done by his Sister's advice, he cut the Son that he had by her in pieces, put them up in a Box, and sent them to his Mother, on his Birthday— Thus were they mutually plagued and punished for their Incest, and a destructive War was kindled betwixt them, which took its first rise from their inflamed Lusts, and proved fatal to their Subjects as well as to themselves. Ptolemy Physcon, or the Debauched, dying a little time after, and having been some time before reconciled to his Wife and Sister Cleopatra, he left her the Kingdom of Egypt, she being compelled by the people to choose her eldest Son to Govern that Kingdom, before she would resign the same, she compelled him to Divorce his Beloved Wife and Sister Cleopatra, and she being afterwards married to Cyricaenus in Syria, those Incestuous matches were punished by a mutual War betwixt the Brethren Gryphus and Cyricaenus, and the latter being overcome, Gryphina Wife to Gryphus, would not be content till his Sister and Wife Cleopatra, whom his Mother had made him to Divorce was murdered; and Cyricaenus, obtaining a Victory over Gryphus in his Turn, put Gryphina to death in Revenge. Cleopatra the Mother being weary of her Son Ptolemy's Reigning with her jointly in Egypt, she stirred up the people against him, took his Wife Seleuce from him, after she had born him two Sons, sent him into Exile, called his younger Brother Alexander to Reign in his stead, but he being afraid of her cruelty, abandoned her; then the Wicked Woman being afraid that her eldest Son would make War upon her to recover the Kingdom, she sent great assistance to Gryphus, and likewise gave him Seleuce to Wife— Having at the same time recalled her Son Alexander, he understood that she laid snares for his Life, and therefore seized and cut her off, and he himself was banished by the people for this parricide.— Thus were their raging Lusts punished by a mutual War and Raging cruelty against one another— And as if Heaven would have Syria and Egypt to read their sin in their punishment, they were invaded and plagued by Hierotimus King of Arabia and his Six hundred Sons, whom he had beg 't on Concubines, and who attacked the Syrians and Egyptians with separate Armies and parties.  
We come next to the Roman History, where in the very threshold we are presented with an Account, that that City and Monarchy was founded by Whoredom. The story of Remus and Romulus being born of a Vestal Virgin, for whom it was not Lawful to Marry, and that they were the Founders of that City, demonstrates the truth of Rome's being Derived from a spurious Original, and the City being once Founded, Romulus made it a Sanctuary for Vagabonds and a disorderly Rabble, who were so much contemned by their Neighbours, that they scorned to give them their Daughters in Marriage, which occasioned their Ravishing the Sabine Virgins, and that brought forth a War, which endangered the overthrow of this new Government in its Infancy, as Livy gives an Account at large in his first Book Dec. 1. so fatal hath whoredom and Uncleanness always proved to Societies.  
Livy in that same Book and Decad gives us an account that Kingly Government was overturned at Rome because of a Rape, in the manner following: The King's Sons and Kinsmen did often spend their time in Feasting and Treating one another, and in their Cups at supper there happened a Discourse, concerning their Wives, upon which, each man launched out in the praises of his own, and thence a Quarrel arising, Collatinus said, it was in vain to talk, since it might easily and speedily be known how much his Wife Lucretia excelled the rest, adding (for they were then in the Camp before Ardea) Let us mount our Horses and go see with our own Eyes what kind of Women our Wives are, and that shall be the Test, which occurs to each man upon this unexpected Visit; so that Galloping to Rome, they went thence to Collatia, where they found Lucretia not employed like the rest of the King's Daughters-in-Law, viz. spending their time in Banqueting and Luxury, but sitting amongst her Maids a Spinning: Whereupon it was agreed that her Husband Collatinus came off Conqueror in that dispute, and he being pleased with it, did Courteously invite the Royal Youths to Supper, at which time Sextus Tarqvinius was seized with a Lustful passion for Lucr●…tia, a Lady of extraordinary Beauty and Chastity, but for that night they returned again to the Camp.  
Some days after Sextus Tarqvinius, in order to accomplish his Lustful design, went privily from the Camp to Collatia, attended only with one Companion, where he was kindly Entertained by Collatinus' Family who knew nothing of his Villainous intent, and Conducted to his Chamber after Supper, but being inflamed with Lust, when he thought every body was asleep, he came with his Sword drawn to Lucretia's Bedside, and laying his left hand upon her Pressed, told her who he was, and threatened her with present death if she spoke one word. The poor Lady being surprised and affrighted, he began to mix entreaties with his threats and to express himself in such Terms, as his passion suggested, but finding that neither his soft expressions, nor Barbarous threats could prevail with her, he told her that he would stab a Slave, lay him naked by her when she was dead, and raise a report, that they were killed in the very Act of Adultery, by this means Tarqvinius overcame her, and having satisfied his Lust, went to Rome; Lucretia being thus dishonoured, sent immediately for her Husband and Father, desiring them to come to her speedily, with each of them a trusty Friend, for a Grievous Accident had befallen her; and coming accordingly, they found her very Pensive, her Husband having asked her the Cause, and whether she was not well: She burst out into Tears, and answered, No, how can a Woman be well that has lost her Chastity, there are yet the signs of another Man, Collatinus, in thy Bed; but my Body only is violated and my mind Guiltless, of which my death shall be a Witness, but give me your hands and promises that the Adulterer shall not escape unpunished Sextus Tarqvinius is the Man who, like an Enemy rather than a Guest, came Armed to my Bed last night, and thence forced pleasures, which if you are Men, will prove fatal to him as well as to me. They endeavoured to comfort her, telling her that where there was no consent there could be no fault. Upon which, she answered: Do you consider what he deserves, tho' I absolve myself from the Crime, I will not be free from the punishment: Nor shall any Unchaste Woman live, to say Lucretia was her Example, and with that, she stabbed herself to the heart with a Knife which she had hid under herGarment; upon which, her Father and Husband set up a loud cry.  
Whilst they were overwhelmed with Grief, Brutus, who came along with them, pulling the Knife out of her Wound, said, I swear, by this Blood, which was so Chaste, before the King Stained it, and I take the Gods to Witness it, that I will cut off Sextus Tarqvinius Superbus his wicked Wife and Children, with Sword, Fire, or any other violent means, I can, nor will I suffer them, or any other from this time forward, to be King of Rome. The afflicted Father and Husband joined with him in this Oath, and carrying Lucretia's Body into the Marketplace, stirred up the people, and marching in Arms to Rome, did the like there, and inveighing against the Lust and Violence of Sextus Tarqvinius, he also provoked the Army to join with him against the King, who had the Gates of Rome shut against him, was Proclaimed an Exile, and he and his Children expelled the Government and the Country. The Adulterer Sextus Tarqvinius, was murdered by the Gabii— The King's Family was Plundered, and Kingly Government Abolished after it had continued 244 years. And thus the Government was over-turned by the Lustfulness of a Prince, who thereby brought ruin and disgrace upon his Family, a fatal Exit upon himself, and entailed a War upon his Country, who joined in the Oath with Brutus to suffer none of the Tarquins to Reign at Rome.  
The next passage we find for our purpose, is that in Livy Decad. 1. Lib. 3. concerning the Lustful design of Appius Claudius one of the Decemvirs upon the Daughter of Virginius, a Beautiful Virgin, whom he endeavoured to win with Money and fair Promises, but finding her Chastity inviolable he suborned a Client of his, to Challenge her for his slave, and adjudged her to be such in order to have brought her into his own Lustful Embraces. All the entreaties and Arguments of her Father Virginius and her Lover Icilius joined with the Complaints and Murmurs of the People, could not influence Appius to abandon his Lustful Design, so that Virginius finding he had no Force to stand by him, sufficient to grapple with the Decemvirs, he snatched a Knife from a Butcher's Stall, and cried out thus, Daughter, seeing I can do it no other way, do I vindicate thy Liberty, and immediately stabbed her, after which looking back to the Tribunal, he said, to the Lustful Tyrant, Appius, with this Blood I destiny thee to death. The Decemvirs ordered him to be laid hold on, but making way thro' the Crowd with his Sword, he went strait to the Camp, whither a great number of Citizens followed him, while in the mean time her Lover Icilius and Numitorius took up Virginia's Corpse, bewailing the Injustice of Appius, the unhappy Beauty of the young Woman, and the necessity of her Father's doing what he did; and the Matrons at the same time cried out, was that the Consequence of bringing forth Children; was that the reward of Chastity; and other expostulations of the like nature. Virginius being arrived in the Camp, all over besprinkled with his Daughter's blood, and the fatal Instrument of her Death in his hand, the whole Army was amazed, especially seeing him followed by so many Roman Citizens in their Gowns, and having commanded Silence, they asked him what was the matter, to which assoon as Grief would permit him, he held up his hands and begged of his fellow Soldiers, that they would not impute that to him which was Appius Claudius 's Crime, nor hate him as a murderer of his own Children; that his Daughter was more dear to him than his Life, if she could have lived to enjoy her Liberty and preserve her Chastity: But when he saw her dragged like a Slave to be made a Whore on, he thought it better for him to lose his Child by Death than Disgrace that he through his Mercy to her was fallen into a show of Cruelty, nor would he have survived his Daughter, unless he had been in hopes, by the help of his fellow Soldiers to revenge her Death. They also he knew had Daughters and Wives, nor was the Lust of Appius Claudius extinguished by his Daughter's Death; but that the more he escaped punishment, the more extravagant, he would be. That by another Man's Calamity, they were taught to provide against the like injury. As for his part, his Wife was Dead, his Daughter, because she could live no longer in Chastity, died a miserable but an honest death. Wherefore Appius 's Lust had now no temptation in his House; That he would vindicate his own body from any other violence which he could offer with the same courage that he did that of his Daughter. Let other men look to themselves and their Children. As Virginius spoke thus, the multitude answered with shouts, That they would neither be wanting to revenge his Grief, nor to vindicate their own Liberty. Upon which being encouraged by the Citizens that accompanied Virginius, they marched in Arms to the City, sat down upon the Aventine, exhorted the people to retrieve their Liberty, and to make new Tribunes of the people. Icilius, Virginia's Sweetheart had the same influence upon the Army that was in the Sabines Country, so that they came and joined those on the Aventine, and at last overturned the Government of the Decemviri, whom they threatened to burn alive, and Appius Claudius the Lustful Tyrant, being degraded, killed himself before the day of his Trial, and his Colleague Coppius did the like; such was the Issue of his unclean design upon the Government and himself. This is the second time that Whoredom overturned the form of the Roman Government.  
Livy in the 8th Book of his first Decad gives us a Remarkable Instance of the punishment of Minutia a Vestal Virgin, for breaking herVow of Chastity, by commiting Incest: She became first suspected of wantonness because of her Garb and Dress, which was thought too fine and curious for one of her profession; and at last she was positively accused before the High-priests, by one of her Bondmen, that turned Informer against her, whereupon she was first enjoined to abstain from her Office, and then being brought to her Trial, was after Conviction sentenced to be buried alive, which was executed accordingly at the Gate Collina, on the paved Causeway, which for her Crime was called Campus Sceleratus. By this and the Instance immediately preceding, we may sufficiently see how hateful Whoredom was amongst the Romans at that time, when a Father chus'd rather to murder his only Child, than to have her made a Whore; and that they conceived the breach of a Vow of Chastity could not be expiated any otherwise than by burying the Criminal alive.  
In the 28th Chapter of that same Book, he gives us a Relation of the Ignominy and shame that L. Papirius an Usurer brought upon himself by his unnatural Lust, and of the benefit which accrued to the people by a Villainous Outrage that he committed upon the Body of C. Pu●…s, a Comely Youth, the occasion of which was thus. There was a barbarous Custom then in use amongst the Romans, called Nexus, being a kind of obligation whereby persons that owed Money were bound to their Creditors, to be their Slaves, and to work wholly for them till their Debts were paid. By virtue of which Custom C. Publius was forced to bind himself for a Debt of his Fathers to Papirius: Who being a lustful Wretch, endeavoured first to debauch the Youth by filthy Speeches and flatteries, but finding him proof against those tentations, he endeavoured to terrify him with threats, and ever and anon put him in mind of his Fortune, viz. that he was a Slave, but the Honest Youth not being to be prevailed upon this way neither, the Savage Usurer converting his Lust into Rage, caused the poor youth to be stripped naked and cruelly whipped, by which his body was desperately torn and mangled, the oppressed youth being not able to endure that Dilgrace and Torment, ran out into the Street in that condition, and cried out upon the Usurer for his Cruelty and Lust. This occasioned a Great Concourse of people, who being moved with Compassion towards the youngman, and with abhorrence at the Indignity of the thing, as that which might perhaps befall themselves or their Children, they crowded into the Forum, and from thence went in a full Body to the Council Chamber, which obliged the Consuls to call a Senate; and as the Fathers entered the House, the people falling at their feet showed them the young man's mangled and Bloody Back, whereupon a Law was passed that from thenceforward the Estate and Goods and not the Body of any Debtor should be Chargeable for Debts. Thus was Papirius justly punished for his Lust and Savage Cruelty, in losing his Money, being deprived of the Object of his Lust, and branded with perpetual Infamy.  
That same Author, Decad 3. lib. 2. Chap 57 tells us that Opimia and Floronia two Vestal Nuns being convicted of Whoredom were buried alive, and Lucius Cantilius Secretary to the Pontiffs, that committed Incest with Flo●…onia was whipped to death by the Arch-Pontiff in the Common-hall. That this villainy of the Nuns was looked upon as a Public and Ominous disaster, whereupon they sent to the Oracle of Delphos to inquire how it might be expiated and had this Answer returned, that they must bury two Couples alive in the Beast Market, viz. a Frenchman and a French-woman and a Greekman and a Greekwoman, which was accordingly performed.  
In the third Book of that Decad, we have an account that Hannibal's Army which had not long before obtained a Glorious Victory over the Romans at Cannae, became so debauched by wintering in Capua a Lascivious City, that they spent their time in Sleep, Drunkenness, delicate Fare, Stews, Hothouses, etc. which so weakened their Bodies and debauched their Minds, that his wintering at Capua was reckoned no less an oversight in Hannibal, than was his not marching straightway to Rome upon a defeat which he gave the Romans at Cannae, for when he marched out of Capua his Army was entangled with Harlots, and his Men were rendered so effeminate with their Luxury that they could not endure fatigues as formerly, but fled from their Colours in great numbers, and from that very time the decay of the Carthaginian Glory and Reputation, and the fall of their Government may take its date, such have always been the fatal consequences of Luxury or Uncleanness to People and Nations.  
It may not be improper here to take notice of the fatal disaster of that Luxurious City of Capua, which being taken by Q. Eulvius and Appius Claudius, the Chief men of the City hastened their own deaths by Poison, and the Senators were put to death by Q. Fulvius, though the Senate of Rome had granted them pardon for their Lives, and then Capua was reduced to a Village, though the Buildings were spared, but they were not allowed the privileges of a Corporation, nor the benefit of Magistrates.  
In the 3d. Decad, Lib. 9 Chap. 17. We have an account of the brutish Lust of Pleminius the Roman Lieutenant at Locri, against whom the Locrians sent Ambassadors to the Senate at Rome, where they charged him and his Officers with Ravishing their Matrons, Virgins and Ingenuous Youths, That there was not one House nor one Person in Locri, but what had been injured and that all parts of their City sounded with Cries of Women and Children that were ravished, which the Senate resented so much, that Pleminius and above thirty of his Associates were sent in Chains to Rome, where Pleminius made his Exit in a Dungeon, a just and suitable punishment for one that had been guilty of so many works of Darkness.  
Our next Instance is that of Sophonisba, Decad 3. Book 10 Chap. 15. She was daughter to Asdrubal the Famous Carthaginian General, and Married to Syphax King of Numidia, who being routed by Massinissa King of Massilia, and an Ally of the Romans, whom he had despoiled of his Kingdom, Massinissa was so enchanted with Love to Sophonisba, that he married her within a few hours of his having taken her Captive, such was his impetuous Lust and her accursed Inconstancy, for when he came into the Palace where she was, her address to him savoured more of a Courtesan than either of a Constant Wife or a Generous Queen, so that she seemed rather to Court him than avoid his Embraces, for which Divine Justice soon found her out. Her Husband Syphax being taken and carried before Scipio, who asked him, why he made War upon the Romans, answered, That his Palace was set on fire by Nuptial Torches, when he married Sophonisba, who never rested till she had armed his Hands against himself, as well as his Guest and good Friend: yet, That amidst all his Miseries he had this Comfort still, that he saw the same Pest and Fury was got into the House and Family of his greatest Enemy, and that Massinissa was not more prudent or constant than Syphax. This obliged Scipio to rebuke and expostulate with Massinissa privately, thus: Massinissa, I believe that you saw some good things in me, not only when you came first into Spain to contract Friendship with me, but afterwards also, when I came into Africa, you committed both yourself and all your Hopes to my protection: But there is no Virtue, for which I seem to be a fit Object of your Affections, wherein I glory so much as in the government and mastery I have over my Lusts; and this I would have you also, Massinissa, add to your other extraordinery Qualifications, for there is not, believe me, so much Danger to be feared, in our Age, from armed Foes, as from Pleasures that surrounds us on every side. After a great deal more to this purpose, he concluded thus; Subdue your passion, and have a care you do not deform many Virtues with one Vice, etc. Massinissa was so much struck with this Mercurial Speech, that after a sharp Conflict with his Passion and impetuous Amour, he sent a trusty Servant with a Cup of Poison to Sophonisba, and to tell her, That Massinissa would willingly have performed his first Promise to her, as an Husband ought to his Wife, but since they that were able to do it had taken that Power out of his Hands, he was resolved to make good his second Promise, That she should not be, whilst alive, in the Hands of any Roman, as being mindful of her Father, who was a General, her Country, and the two Kings to whom she had been married; and that she therefore should consult her own Good. To which Sophonisba, with a Constancy much more commendable than she was endowed with when Massinissa accosted her with his Amours, answered, I accept this Nuptial Present; nor is it unwelcome to me, if my Husband could do no more for me; yet tell him this from me, That I should have died much better, if I had not been married at my Funeral: And so drank it off, without any more ado. Thus was she punished for her ●…isloyalty to her Husband Syphax; for it had been an easy matter for a Woman of such vast Courage as she appears to have been, to have delivered herself by Death from Massinissa's Embraces, as well before as after she had polluted herself with such an Unlawful Marriage.  
The next thing suitable to our Subject, which occurs to us in this Historian, is the Controversy which happened among the Romans, about abrogating the Oppian Law for restraining the Luxury of women's Apparel. Marcus Portius Cato was for continuing the Law, and in his grave Oration on that Head had these remarkable Sayings concerning it, viz. That if every one of the Romans had resolved to maintain the majesty and prerogative of an Husband over his own Wife, we should not have had all this Trouble with the Women in general; but now our Liberty being restrained at home, by the Tyranny of our own Women, 'tis entrenched and trampled upon here in the Forum.— Our Ancestors would not suffer Women to do any private Business, without the Advice of a Man, but to be at the disposal of their Parents, Brethren, or Husband; but We, forsooth, now-adays, let them manage even the Commonwealth itself. You have often heard me complain not only of the Prodigality of Women, but of Men too, and those as well Magistrates as private Persons; and, that the City labours under two different Vices of Avarice and Luxury, which have been the Bane of all great Empires. — But, says a great Lady, I cannot endure this levelling and equality; why should not I appear all glittering with Gold, and clothed in Purple? Why should the Poverty of others lie hid under the Umbrage of this Law, so as what they cannot have, they, if it were lawful, should seem able to buy? Will you Romans give your Wife's occasion to contend in this manner, that the Rich Women shall desire to have what no Woman else can purchase, and the poorer sort, lest for this very Reason they should be contemned, to stretch beyond their Abilities? She that can, out of her own Stock, will purchase the thing she lacks; and she that cannot, will ask her Husband; and woe be to that man who either does or does not grant their Requests, when he shall see that which he himself would not give her, given her by another man And abundance more to this purpose; which is the Opinion that the Wisest of the Romans had of Temperance, and the Abhorrence they had of Luxury, as being always the Forerunner of the Ruin of any State or People.  
In the 8th Book, cap. 24, Decade 11, he gives us an Account of a memorable Judgement upon a Roman Centurion, for violating the Chastity of a petty Grecian Queen, who was committed to his Custody among other Captives. The Centurion being taken with her Beauty, did first sound her Inclinations, but finding her averse to Voluntary Adultery, he offered Violence to her Body, which Fortune had made a Slave; after which, he put her in Hopes of returning into her own Country, but at the same time bargained with her for so much Gold; and lest any of his own People should know it, he permitted her to send one of the other Captives, whom she pleased, to bring the Money, and two of her Friends, to receive her at the side of a River, whither he went the next Night, with his Captive, to meet them. As soon as they had showed him the Gold, the Lady commanded her Friends to draw their Swords, and kill the Centurion; which being done, she ordered them to cut off his Head, and wrapping it up in her Gown, carried it to her Husband Ortiagon, whom before she embraced, she threw the Centurion's Head at his Feet, acquainting him what Injury she had received, and how she had revenged it; and spent the remaining part of her Life without any Stain upon her Conjugal Chastity.  
The next thing belonging to our Subject which occurrs in this Historian, is, his Account of the Bacchanalian Rites, Decad. 4, Lib. 9, Cap. 8, etc. as follows, viz.  
There came a petty Priest, or Prophet, of those Times, out of Greece into Etruria, now Tuscany, who was the chief Manager of certain Rites called Initia, to which Religious Performance there were added the Pleasures of Feasting and Wine, and when Wine and the Night, the Men and Women being mixed together, had extinguished all Sense of Shame, first there were Debaucheries of all sorts committed, ingennous Men and Women lay promiscuously with one-another, and false Witnesses, false Tokens and Judgements, came out of that same Office of Roguery; and many times People were killed or poisoned in their own Houses, and frequently 'twas so ordered, that their Bodies could not be found to be buried. Ma●…v Crimes were carried on by Treachery, and more by Force, and those Outrages were concealed, by reason of their Houling and the noise of their Drums and Cymbals, so that nobody could hear the Cries of those that had Violence offered to them when they were killed, or had Violence offered to their Chastity. This Mischief came from Etruria to Rome, where the bigness of the City concealed their Villainies.  
Those Wicked Practices came at length to be discovered by Postumius the Consul, in the following manner. P. Aebutius being left an Orphan, was educated under the tutelage of his Mother Duronia, and his Father-in-law T. Sempronius Rutilus, of whom his Mother was mighty fond. His Father-in-law having managed the Guardianship at that rate, that he could give no good Account of it, had a mind either to destroy the Youngman, or to have him obliged to him by some Bond; and the best Way he could contrive to effect his Design was, by the Bacchanalian Rites:— Whereupon Duronia called her Son, and told him, that she had vowed when he was sick, that as soon as he recovered she would initiate him in the Bacchanalia, which she was now resolved to perform; telling him, that he must live chaste for ten days; that on the tenth day she would carry him to Supper, and afterwards, when he was clean washed, into the Sacrary. Aelutius happening to impart this to Hispala Fecenia, a Courtesan, with whom he kept company, and who loved him entirely, she dissuaded him from it, telling him, it was a snare laid for his Life, and prayed, that a thousand Curses might light on their Heads who persuaded him to it. The Youth admiring at the Disorder she was in, desired her to spare her Curses, for his Mother, by the Consent of his Father-in-law, had commanded him so to do; to which she replied, Your Father in-law makes haste to destroy your Credit, Hopes, and Life.— This put him into a Surprise, and made him the more eager to know what the matter was; whereupon she (begging Pardon of the Gods and Goddesses, if, forced by the Love she bore him, she revealed things that ought to have been concealed) told him, that when she was a Waiting-maid, she went along with her Mistress into that Sacrary, but since she was free, never came within it: That she knew it to be the Shop of all Corruption; that as soon as any Person was introduced, he was delivered, like a Sacrifice, to the Priests, who carried him into a place that rung round with Howl, Singing, Cymbals, and Drums, that the Voice of any one that complained, when Lustful Violence was offered to them, might not be heard: Wherefore she desired and beseeched him, that he would disengage himself from that Design, by any means whatsoever, and not throw himself headlong into that place, where he must both do and suffer all the most abominable things imaginable. Nor would she let him stir from her, before the Youngman had promised that he would keep away from those Mysteries.  
When he came home, his Mother began to tell him what he must do in order to his initiation; to which he answered, That he would not be initiated at all: Whereupon she cried out, That he was so intoxicated with that Serpent Hispala, that he had lost all respect for his Father-in-law, his Mother, and the Gods themselves. His Father-in-law laying hold of the Opportunity, turned him out of doors, with four Servants; whereupon the Youngman went to his Aunt Aebutia, a grave Matron, and acquainted her with the Cause of his being turned out; she advised him to make Complaint to the Consul Postumius the next day, which he did privately; the Consul did thereupon send for Aebutia, and being informed by her concerning her Nephew Abutius, he sent likewise for Hispala, who being amazed that she should be sent for by a person of that Dignity, went to his House full of Fear.— The Consul taking her aside, examined her before his Mother-in-law Sulpicia, a noble and grave Lady, concerning what was done in the Grove of Simele, at the Bacchanals: She was so much surprised, that for some time she stood speechless, and at last confessed, That when she was a very little Girl, and a Servant, she was initiated with her Mistress, but, for some Years, she knew nothing of what they did there, and would fain have evaded any further Questions, being afraid of the Gods (she said) whose Secrets she had discovered, but of Men much more, who would tear her in pieces for being such an Informer; and therefore prayed they would send her to some place out of Italy, where she might be in Safety. The Consul promised, that she should live secure at Rome; and then she declared, that there was no manner of Villainy omitted at those Rites; that there were more Lustful Enormities committed by the Men, among themselves, than by the Women; that if any one were unwilling to endure such Shameless Actions, and slow to Wickedness, they were sacrificed for Victims, for they thought nothing unlawful, which was the greatest Tenet of their Religion, that such Men as would not conspire, associate in Villainy, or endure their Lustful Uncleanness, they carried away into secret Dens and Caves, and gave out, that they were snatched away by the Gods; and that for two Years past they had ordered, that no body should be initiated, who was above Twenty Years of age, because the younger they were, they thought they would be the more ready to endure their Folly and Lewdness. The Consul being thus throughly informed of the matter, acquainted the Senate with it, and amongst other things, in his Speech to them, had these remarkable Sayings: Do you think, Romans, that Youngmen, who are initiated into this Order, are fit to be made Soldiers of? Shall we put them in Arms, that come out of such an obscene Brothel-house? Will such Fellows as these, that are covered all over with Buggeries of their own and other men, fight for the Chastity of their Wives and Children? And setting forth at large the Danger that might accrue to the State by those Nightly Meetings, the Bacchanalian Rites were prohibited by Order of the Senate, all the Priests of the Order were commanded to be shut up, and the Frequenters of those Nightly Meetings enquired after; such of them as they found to have been only initiated, and had said Prayers according to the Sacred Form, which the Priests repeated before them, in which was contained a cursed Obligation to commit all Acts of Villainy and Lechery, but had not committed them, them they imprisoned; ●…ut those whom they found to have been defiled by Lust or Murder, false Testimonies, false Tokens, forging of Wills, or other Frauds, they put to Death; after which the Bacchanalia were pulled down at Rome, and all over Italy.  
We shall conclude our Instances from Livy, with this Passage, which is the last that famed Historian affords us, that any way relates to our Subject.— It is proper however to observe here, that the Bacchanalia, which we have now described, may justly be reckoned akin to, if not the Offspring of, the Eleusina Sacra formerly mentioned; both of them had their Original from Greece, and were solemnised with much the like Secrecy and Outrage; and both of them serve to let us see how far Humane Nature may be depraved by raging Lust, when a Person or People are justly given up to it of God.  
We think it proper, before we come to the Instances of the Roman Emperors, etc. which are but too too numerous, to take a view of those persons whom Plutarch has honoured to be their Biographer, and to excerpt from thence what suits with our purpose.  
We have taken notice, that Rome was founded by a spurious Brood, and in the Life of Theseus, which is the first in Plutarch: We shall find that Athens had much the same sort of Original; which is the more observable, because from those two Cities the Christian Religion met with the greatest Opposition, viz. from the vain Philosophy of the former, and the more bloody and cruel Persecution of the latter.  
Our Author tells us, That Theseus seems to resemble Romulus in many particulars, and in his Birth especially, both of 'em being born out of Wedlock, and of uncertain Parentage. Ageus however is reckoned to be Father to Theseus, by Athia Daughter to Plitheus, whom having got with Child, he left a Sword and a pair of Shoes hiding them under a great Stone, and making her only privy to it, commanding her, that if she brought forth a Son, who when he came to Man's estate should be able to lift up the Stone, and take away what he had left there, she should send him away to him with those things with all Secrecy: Which she having accordingly observed, her Son Theseus, after he had slain Sinnis, who from his way of murdering Men was called The Bender of Pines, committed Fornication with his Daughter Perigune, begot Menalippus upon her, and afterwards married her to another. The next Feat Theseus did, was the kill of Phea, a Beast of great fierceness, according to some, or a cruel and lustful Woman, according to others, who had the Name of a Sow given her, from the beastliness of her Life; which, if true, she was remarkably enough punished, by one that was as guilty of Incontinence as herself.— The next thing we have of his Amours is, that with Ariadne, by whose Advice and Assistance he overcame the Mi●…aur; but having served his Ends, he deserted her for another, viz. Aegle, with whom he fell in Love, and thereupon Ariadne died of Grief, as some say, tho' others contradict it, and allege, She died in Childbed.— Our Author gives us also an Account of his Rape of Antiope, Princess of the Amazons,— and, in short, sums up his unlawful Amours, and the fatal Consequence of them, in a few words, thus: That the Marriages of Theseus were neither honourable in their beginning, nor fortunate in their Events;— and recounts them thus, viz. that he forced Anaxo the Traxenian; ravished the Daughters of Sinnis and certion; married Peribaea the Mother of Ajax, and then Pheribaea, and then jope the Daughter of ●…phicles: Further he is accused for deserting Ariadne, as is before related, being in love with Aegle, the Daughter of Panopeus, an Action neither just nor honourable; and lastly, for the Rape of Helen, when he was fifty Years old, which filled all Attica with War and Blood, and occasioned his Banishment and Death, Lycomedes having thrown him headlong from a Rock, as he had hurried himself headlong into Lustful Passion. Such was the fatal Exit of this Ethnic Hero, occasioned by his Uncleanness.  
In the Life of Lycurgus, that great Lacedaemonian Philosopher and Lawgiver, we have an eminent Instance of the truth of that of the Apostle concerning the Heathens, that because when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, he gave them up to work all Uncleanness with greediness; for what less than a Judicial Blindness could so much infatuate such a wise man as Lycurgus, to allow a Communitv of Wives, and the promiscuous Dance of young Men and Women together naked, that must necessarily inflame their Lusts? Which is owned by Plutarch himself, tho' covered under the handsome Expressions of alluring them to Marriage, not upon Interest and Equality of Fortune and Birth, but from the sweet Constraint and unsophisticated Dictates of Nature.— The Reasons of this Community of Women he enforced by these Arguments following, viz. That Children are not so much the Propriety of their Parents, as of the Commonwealth, and therefore he would not have 'em begot by the first Comers, but by the best Men that could be found: That the Laws of other Nations seemed to him very defective and incongruous, who were very solicitous for the Bread of their Dogs and Horses, and sent a great way to get the best Stallions, and yet kept their Wives under Lock and Key, for fear of other Men; whereas themselves were crazed, old, or infirm, and more fit to propagate Diseases than their Species. Certainly any man, at first sight, must needs see that those Dictates of our Philosopher are contrary to the Dictates of Nature, and naturally Introductive of all manner of Villainy and Disorders.— Reason, as well as Revelation, teaches us, that Jealousy is the Rage of a Man, and that there is nothing more unsupportable to Humane Nature. All Histories are full of Tragical Instances of it; and Experience teaches us, that those Nations where such promiscuous Copulations are allowed, differ but very little from Brutes, whose Example Lycurgus proposes, and they follow. If it be objected, What we find in the Life of our Author, that so long as these Ordinances were observed, the Women were so far from that Scandalous Liberty which hath since been objected to them, that they knew not what the Name of Adultery meant; it may be answer●…d, That it implies a downright Contradiction; for if those Ordinances were observed, the Commonwealth of Sparta must necessarily have abounded with Adultery, whether they knew the Name of it or not: But it's probable, that seeing such a Choice of Paramours was allowed them by Lycurgus' Laws, they did not reckon lying with their Neighbour's Wives Adultéry: And therefore Geradas might well say, That it was as impossible to find an Adulterer in Sparta, as to find a Bull with a Neck so long, that he could stand at one side of the Mountain Taygetus, and drink of the River that run on the other side of it.  
It is also observable, that this Practice did not answer the End taken from his Brutish Reason, viz. to have strong and healthful Children; for we have an Account by this same Author, that if they found the Child upon its Birth to be deformed, and of an ill Complexion, they ordered it to be cast into a deep Cavern of the Earth, near the Mountain Taygetus; and that the Women did also bathe the newborn Children in Wine, thinking it would immediately kill those of a weak Constitution: And yet, notwithstanding all those Precautions, we find that they had weakly Children bred up, and those, our Author says, they employed in gathering Salads and Herbs.  
To conclude this point; It is not at all to be wondered at, that a People who allowed such Unfaithfulness as to the Marriagebed, should grow so unfaithful in all their other Transactions as the Lacedæmonians did, which occasioned their being utterly ruined by the Athenians.  
In the Life of Numa Pompilius, so much reverenced by the Romans for his Piety, and accounted the first Instituter of their Religion, we find, that when a Roman was sufficiently stocked with Children, in case his Neighbour, who had none, should desire him to accommodate him with his Wife, that he also might have the Benefit of Issue from such a fruitful Woman: Numa allowed the Husband either to lend his Wife for a time, or to lose the Bonds of Marriage, and consign her into the Hands of her Paramour for ever.— An early Presage that, Rome was at last to become the Mother of Harlots, and of the Abominations of the Earth; another Instance of those wise Heathens being judicially given up of God to their Uncleanness, because they did not improve the Knowledge they had to the Glory of God, of whose Being and Attributes they had such clear Ideas.  
In the Life of Solon we have an Account That that great Philosopher and Lawgiver was guilty of Unlawful Love towards Boys, and that designing to appropriate that Brutish pleasure to such as he called Gentlemen, he forbade the use of it to Slaves. In one of his Laws he permits an Heiress, if her Lawful Husband prove impotent, to lie with his nearest Kinsman; and yet he was so inconsistent with himself, that he permitted any one to kill an Adulterer, that found him in the Act.— We shall conclude this passage with his Account of himself in this Distich:  
I mind a Song, a Miss, and Glass of Wine;  
These are most men's Delights, and these are mine.  
In the Life of Camillus we have an Account, how the Latins were defeated by their Lasciviousness and Whoredom, when they had reduced the Romans to a very great strait, the passage is thus: The Latins demanded a certain number of free Maids from the Romans in Marriage; the latter looking upon this as a Trick only to gain Hostages, and yet being both afraid and unable to carry on the War, they durst not positively refuse them; whereupon Tutula, or Philotis as some call her, advised the Magistrates to send her, and some other beautiful Damosels, who were Bond-maids, habited like Free-Virgins, and while the Latins were in their Dalliances with them, they would give them a Signal to fall out upon them: Which being agreed on accordingly, Tutula in the Nighttime set up a lighted Torch upon a wild Figtree, hanging up some Clothes on the Tree that hid the Torch from the Latin Camp, while it was perceptible to the Romans, and accordingly they sallied, surprised and destroyed the Latins, in remembrance of which a Festival was appointed, called the Nonae Capraticae, where in the People run out of the City in a confused manner, calling aloud the most familiar and usual Names, as Caius, Marcus, Lucius, and the like, as they did at the Sally; and the Maidservants, richly adorned, ran about, playing and jesting upon all they met, and amongst themselves use a kind of skirmishing, to show they helped in the Conflict against the Latins; and in the time of their Feasting they sit shaded over with Boughs of wild Figtree.  
Our next Instance is that bold Athenian Gentleman Pericles, whose Weak Side was Lasciviousness, and therefore he became the Subject of the Raillery of the Comic Poets of his time; who upbraided him, as being the errant'st Whoremonger that ever lived, charged him with dishonest Converse with the Wife of Menippus, and of committing Incest with his own Son's Wife: His Intrigue with Aspasia before Marriage is also much taken Notice of, and She is accused of being no better than a Bawd, or as the Translator expresses it, Keeper of a Vaulting-school. They did also upbraid him with the Votaries or Birdcages of Pyrilampes, who being Pericles' Friend, they pretended that he used to present Peacocks and fine Birds to Pericles' Misses. The Punishments inflicted upon Pericles we find to be, that he was not only envied and disturbed by Tumults and Seditions, but disquieted with the Disobedience and Scurrilous Reflections of his own eldest Son, deprived of him and his youngest Son, whom he loved entirely, by Death, and constrained at last to repeal his own Law against Bastards enjoying any Inheritance, that his Bastard Son should keep up the Name of his Family; and he was cut off too at last, by Order of the Senate: And Pericles himself, who had burnt so much in Lust, was consumed to death by a burning Plague, his Uncleanness having fixed such a Stain upon his Memory, as all his great Actions have not been able to wipe off.  
In the Life of Fabius Maximus we have an Account how Tarentum was betrayed to him by means of an Unchaste Woman, who with her Amours and Flatteries prevailed upon her Lover, a Noble Brutian, to betray the Town to the Romans: Fabius having sent her Brother, who was in his Army, into the Town on purpose to manage the Intrigue; or, according to others, she had formerly been Fabius' own Mistress, and he permitted her to go and corrupt the Tarentine Governor by her lewd Embraces, which occasioned the taking and cruel destruction of the Town: So fatal are Harlots to all Commonwealths where they are suffered to remain unpunished.  
We have already had occasion to observe how fatal the Impure Amours of Alcibiades was to all Greece, and particularly to Athens; but there are divers more observable Particulars as to that matter, in his Life written by Plutarch, tho' he was continually attended by that excellent person Socrates, whose wholesome Instructions had much Influence upon him, yet all his Philosophy was not able to reform him. We find him accused, when a Boy, of a Suspicion of being a Catamite; his Wife Hipparete, a virtuous Lady, and one that loved him entirely, abandoned him at last, because of his multitude of Whores, and sued for a Divorce from him; but when she p●…esented herself before the Magistrate for that end, Alcibiades retook her again by Force.— He is accused of being Luxurious in his Eating, Drinking, and Amours, and was much despised by the Athenians, because, instead of their usual Ensigns upon his Shield, he had a Cupid painted upon it with a Thunderbolt in his Hand. Aristophon the Painter drew him sitting in the Courtesan Nemea's Arms, which much displeased the graver Athenians. While he was an Exile at Sparta, he debauched the Wife of Agis King of Lacedaemon, and had a Son by her: And 'tis observable, that the cause of his being banished from his own Country and condemned to Death, was his having performed the debauched Mysteries of the Eleusina Sacra by way of Mockery. The Injury he did to Agis King of Lacedaemon made him unsafe there, so that he fled for Security to Tisaphernes the Persian General. In a word, his whole Life was a continued Series of remarkable Ups and Downs: And his Death was no less remarkable, the Historian giving us an Account of it in this manner, viz. That having retired to a small Village in Phrygia, with one Timandra a Mistress of his, he was, at the instance of the Lacedæmonians, attacked in his House by some Barbarians, who setting it on fire, he with much ado escaped through the Flames, and was at last slain by their Darts, his Mistress Timandra having buried him with as much Decency as her Circumstances would allow. Thus did Alcibiades fall ingloriously by his Lusts, who had done so many Great and Glorious Actions in the World.  
We have already touched upon the Judgements which pursued Dionysius, the Lustful Tyrant of Sicily, for his Uncleanness, but meeting with a further Instance of it in the Life of Timoleon, it is thought proper to take notice of it here in the words of Plutarch, viz. That all the Mischiefs and Vexations of his former Reign were abundantly repaid and outdone by those Evils and Calamities which he then suffered, for he lived to see the Funerals of his Sons in the prime of their Age, the Rapes of his Daughters in the Flower of their Virginity, and the Prostitution of his own Sister, that became his Wife, who being first villainously treated, and her Person exposed to all the Lust and Lewdness of the common Soldiery, she was afterwards murdered, together with her Children, and their Bodies cast into the Sea. Thus was Dionysius punished, as we may say, in Specie, for his Lust and Cruelty.  
In the Life of Pelopidas we find this remarkable Passage concerning Archias, the Tyrant of Thebes, who having rendered himself odious to the People by his Oppression, and sent many of them into Exile, some of the Chief of those Exiles contrived his Ruin, under the Conduct of Pelopidas, thus: Philidas, who was Secretary to Archias, having invited him and some others to an Entertainment to drink freely and accompany some married Whores, he was so much taken up with his Cups and the Expectation of his Female Guests, that tho' he had a Letter sent him discovering the Plot against his Life, and delivered with this Message, That it contained Matters of Concern, and therefore 'twas necessary he should read it; he answered, Matters of Concern to morrow. And as he was carrousing thus, Charon and Molon, two of the Conspirators, having put on women's Apparel over their Armour, and thick Garlands of Fir and Pine to shade their Faces, in this manner came to the Door, upon which Archion and his Guests gave an Huzza, thinking they had been the lewd Women that they expected, but were quickly undeceived, and had their Hearts pierced by the Conspirators Swords, at the same time when they were pierced with the Darts of raging Lust. And thus Thebes was delivered from Tyranny.  
In that same Life we have an Account how Divine Justice pursued Alexander the Tyrannical King of Pherea, for his Brutish Lust. His Wife Thebes, Daughter to Jason, being enraged at him for his Debaucheries, and particularly for abusing her younger Brother to his Lust, she contrived his Death thus;— She hid her three Brothers in a Room near to his Bedchamber, all the other Apartments being full of the Tyrant's Night-guards; before his Chamber there lay a fierce Dog chained, which would fly at all but the Tyrant's Wife and a Servant that fed him: When Night came Thebes went in alone to his Chamber, according to the usual Custom, and finding him asleep, came out again, commanded the Servant to lead away the Dog, for the King would take some Rest, and then covering the Stairs with Wool, brought up her Brothers into his Chamber, where they killed him, and throwing out his Carcase, it was trod under foot in great Contempt by the Phereans.  
In the Life of Marcus Cato the Censor we find that the grave Romans thought that not so much as a Marriage, or a Night's Lodging for the Procreation of Children, nay, not a Feast or Drinking-bout, aught to be permitted according to every one's Fancy, without being censured and enquired into; and therefore they chose two Persons, one out of the Patricians, the other out of the Commons, who were to watch, correct, and punish, if any one ran too much after Voluptuousness; and therefore Cato, tho' he met with much Opposition, because of his Severity, was preferred to that Employment; and the first remarkable thing which we find performed by him in that Office was, the Expulsion of Lucius Quintus from the Senate, because he had, to please a Boy whom he kept as a Catamite, ordered a condemned Person to be executed before him at a Feast. He did also throw Manilius out of the Senate, because in the presence of his Daughter, and in open Day, he was a little too sweet upon his own Wife.— The People were so well pleased with his Behaviour in his Employment, that they erected a Statue for him in the Temple of the Goddess of Health with the following Inscription; That this was Cato the Censor, who by his good Discipline and Ordinances reclaimed the Roman Commonwealth, when 'twas declining and supinely tumbling into Vice. Yet we find that this very Man, so famous for the Severity and Uprightness of his Manners, not improving that Knowledge which God had given him, was overcome by his Lusts even in his Old-age; for Plutarch says, that in his old days, when he was past a Lover's Years, he made use of Women, and particularly of a young Wench who came privately to him, which being discovered by his Son, who took Offence thereat, the old Man, in revenge, married a young Woman, Daughter to Salonius his own Clerk; and when his Son asked him the reason of it, he answered him soft and fair, Good Son, I desire to have many Children, and to leave the Commonwealth more such Citizens as thou art.  
In the Life of Pyrrhus we have an Account that his multiplying of Wives with a design to enlarge his Interest, had not the happy Effect which he proposed to himself by it, for Lanassa, one of his Wives, took so great Offence at his Inclination to the rest, that she deserted him, and married Demetrius King of Macedonia, and by that means kindled a War betwixt him and Pyrrhus. In that same Life we do also find, that Pyrrhus was invited against Sparta by Cleonymus, one of the Chief Men there, because his Wife Chelidonis falling desperately in Love with A●…rotatus, that Youngster dishonoured his Bed; and therefore, to revenge himself for the Injury, he brought Pyrrhus with a great Army against Sparta, which occasioned a great deal of Bloodshed, and endangered the City; however, Pyrrhus did not succeed in his Design against it, as if Providence would let him see, that he was no fit Person to revenge an Injury done to the Marriage Bed, who was so very guilty of that same Crime himself; and, at last, he fell by the Hands of a Woman, who seeing him engaged with her Son in the Streets of Argos, threw a Tile upon him from the top of an House, which made him fall from his Horse, and a common Soldier did afterwards cut off his Head.  
In the Life of Sylla we have this Account of him; That he used to sit on a Chair of State amongst beautiful Women, Mimics, Fiddlers, and suchlike Rascally People, on whom he squandered away the Revenues of whole Countries and Cities, bestowing on some of them Ladies in Marriage against their Will, so as his Gratuities were much more intolerable than his Usurpations. He kept company with Actors, Actresses, and Minstrels, drinking with 'em Night and Day: He also indulged himself in Unnatural Lust with Men, particularly Metrobius the Woman-actor: But behold the just Judgement of God upon him;— These lascivious Courses brought him into a Disease which made his Bowels to fester, so that at last the corrupted Flesh broke forth into Lice in such prodigious quantities, that all the Hands he could employ were not able to destroy 'em, so that his Clothes, Beds, Basins, and Meat was polluted with that Contagion: He went often into the Baths by day, to scour and cleanse his Body, but all in vain, the course returned so quick, and with such numerous Supplies, as overcame all manner of Riddance; so that, in fine, he who had led an unclean Life died of an abominable and unclean Disease.  
In the Life of Cimon, Plutarch tells us, that he was lewd and vicious, accuses him of In-cest with his own Sister, and other unclean Practices, and at last he died of a Wound, as some Authors say, which he received from the Barbarians in a Skirmish, his Impurity having fixed a perpetual stain upon him, which all his great Actions could never wipe off. In that same Life we meet with a remarkable Passage concerning Pausanias the Lacedaemonian, who having solicited a young Lady of Constantinople, called Cleonice, to debauch her, her Friends dreading the Power of the Tyrant, were forced to abandon her to him: Cleonice commanded the Servants to put out all the Lights, and approaching his Bed silently in the dark, she stumbled upon the Lamp, which she overturned and spilt: Pausanias being awaked by the noise, and thinking it had been some Assassin to attack him, snatched up his Poinard and wounded her mortally, after which he never enjoyed himself, but was disturbed in his Thoughts, and haunted by her Ghost, so that he never had Success in any thing afterwards, and was at last slain by order of the Senate in Minerva's Temple, whither he had fled for Refuge.  
In the Life of Lucullus we find, that there was a stop put to the Career of his good Fortune and Glory, chiefly by means of Clodius, his Wife's Brother, who was so unnatural a Villain as to commit Adultery and Incest with his own Sister Clodia, Lucullus' Wife, and stirring up the Fimbrian Army against Lucullus, prevented his further Conquests: Lucullus himself returning to Rome, gave himself up to all manner of Luxury, and was at last deprived of his Senses by a Philtre or Amorous Potion, given him by calisthenes his Freeman, to endear him to himself; so that this Great Man was not only ruined by the Lasciviousness of himself and others, but a stop was thereby put to the Roman Conquests, which had otherwise, says our Author, not been bounded by the Euphrates, but by the uttermost parts of the Earth, and the Hyrcanian Sea.  
In the Life of Pompey the Great we find that famous General accused of unchaste Amours with Flora the Courtesan, whom he afterwards resigned to his Friend Geminius, upon which she languished and died. We find likewise, that Sylla, to gain over this Great Man to his Party, persuaded him to put away his Wife Antistia, and to marry Aemilia Daughter-in-law to Sylla, who was at that time Wife to another Man, by whom she was big with Child. This unlawful Marriage was soon after punished in part, for Antistius, Father to Antistia, was murdered in the Senate, as a Favourer of Sylla for Pompey's sake, and her Mother upon this account made away with herself.— These were the Tragedies that attended that unhappy Marriage, says Plutarch; and that there might be nothing wanting to complete the last Act by heavens, even Aemilia herself not long after died at Pompey's in Childbed.  
These things were the more inexcusable in Pompey, because we find that he delighted much in the discovery of Weaknesses of the same Nature in Mithridates, when he seized his secret Writings, wherein, amongst other things, he found abundance of wanton Love-Letters betwixt Mithridates and his Concubine Monune.— He might have taken Warning, one would think, of the Judgements that pursued Mithridates for his Intemperance, seeing when all his Concubines were brought before Pompey, he could not but perceive the abominable Crimes into which his lustful Temper had hurried him headlong, for most of his Concubines were either the Daughters or Wives of Princes and great Commanders, except it was one whom they called Stratonice, who was Daughter to a Musician; and having pleased Mithridates, by singing before him at a Banquet, his lustful Passion was so much raised that he immediately took her to Bed with him, and in the Morning presented her Father (who grumbled that he had taken his Daughter without speaking one kind Word to himself) with many rich and costly Presents, and the Estate of a Nobleman lately deceased, whereupon the old Fellow was so much transported, that putting on his Purple Robes, and mounting his Horse, he road through the City, cry●…ng out, All this is mine, and so became the Herald of his own, as well as of Mithridates' Folly; and to those that laughed at him for the same he said, There was no such Wonder in this, but rather, that he did not throw Stones at all he met, he was so much beside himself with Joy.  
Another Piece of Vengeance that pursued Pompey, and wherein he might read his Crime in his Punishment, was, That his Wife Mutia, during his absence, had dishonoured his Bed; at which he was so nettled, that he sent her a Bill of Divorce.  
Pompey, in pursuit of his Amorous Inclination, did likewise commit a piece of notorious Injustice, in marrying Julia, Daughter to Caesar, who had been affianced before, and was to be married within a few days to Caepio, and, to appease Caepio's Anger, married his own Daughter to him, who had formerly been espoused to Faustus, the Son of Sylla. Pompey was so much besotted with his Love to Julia, that he created abundance of Envy to himself, by committing the Government of his Provinces and Legions into the Hands of his Friends, as his Lieutenants, whilst he himself wantonly rambled up and down, caressing his Wife, throughout all the Delicacies of Italy; but he was soon deprived of her, for she died in Childbed, her Daughter not outliving her many days.  
He afterwards married Cornelia Daughter to Metellius Scipio, and Relict of Publius the Son of Crassus, a young Lady of great Quality, Beauty, and Education; but this Marriage was very unpleasing to some People, who thought that she was a Match more agreeable to his Son, and were angry that the Affairs of the City lay neglected, while he, from whom they expected a Cure to their Distractions, went crowned with Garlands, and was revelling in his Nuptial Feasts.  
It's observable, that at the very last his Fondness towards this young Lady, and his Fear that her Beauty might expose her to some Dishonour amongst the Parthians, was the chief Argument that prevailed with him not to have recourse thither, where, in all probability, he might have been able to renew the War, and recover his Glory, after his Defeat in the Pharsalian Plains; so that resolving to sail for Egypt, and intrust himself with Ptolemy, he was, by Advice of that young King's Council, barbarously and inhumanly murdered, as going ashore in a Boat in order, as he thought, to a favourable Reception; the distressed Cornelia and his Friends beholding this lamentable Tragedy from on board the Vessels where they were. Thus fell this Great Man, to which, it cannot be denied, that his Amorous and Sensual Temper did highly contribute: Not that I would be understood positively to assert, that Uncleanness was the sole precuring 〈◊〉 of those Tragical Disasters that befell this 〈◊〉 Man and others, whom I have mentioned or shall mention in the course of this History, it being enough for my Design to prove, that it was always one of the visible Causes, and that it makes good the Assertion of the Wise Man in the Proverbs, where speaking of the Harlot or strange Woman in general, he says, That many strong Men have been slain by her; of which there is not a more speaking and demonstrable Instance than this of Pompey, who had triumphed over Asia, Africa, and Europe, and yet was himself a Captive and Subject of Triumph to his own Lusts.  
In the Life of Cato the younger, who was not only a great Pretender to Virtue, but, compared with his Contemporaries, a glorious Mirror of it. We find that he had no true Notions of the Honour of the Marriage Bed, nor any just Idea of Chastity; as is apparent from the following Instance. Quintus Hortensius, whom Plutarch calls a Man of singular Worth and approved Virtue, proposed to Cato, That his Daughter Porcia, who was already married to Bibulus, and had already born him two Children, might be given to him as a fruitful Field, from which he might raise an Offspring; For, said he, tho' this in the Opinion of Men may seem strange, yet in Nature it would be honest and profitable for the Public, that a Woman, in the prime of her Youth, should not lie useless, and lose the Fruit of her Womb: Nor, on the other side, would it be convenient she should burden and impoverish one Man, by bringing him too many Children. Also by this Communication of Families among worthy Men, Virtue would increase and be diffused through their Posterity, and the Commonwealth would be united and cemented by their Alliances. Yet, if Bibulus would not part with his Wife altogether, he would restore her as soon as she had brought him a Child, whereby he might be united to both their Families. Cato answered, That he loved Hortensius very well, and did much approve of uniting their Houses, but he thought it very strange to speak of marrying his Daughter, who was already given to another. Then Hortensius turning the Discourse, acknowledged, that 'twas Cato 's own Wife which he desired, for she was young and fruitful, and he had already Children enough. To which Cato agreed, with the Consent of his Wife Martia and her Father Philip, and after the Death of Hortensius took her again, for which Caesar reproached him, as having a mercenary design in his Marriage, saying, If Cato had need of a Wife, why did he part with her? And if he had not, why did he take her again, unless he gave her only as a Bait to Hortensius, and lent her when she was young, to have her again when she was rich?— It's plain from this Instance, that Cato was guilty of countenancing Impurity in others, if he was not actually guilty of it himself; and seeing he was unwilling to take his Daughter from Bibulus, and yet as willing to gratify Hortensius by parting with his own Wife, it would argue, that he was weary of her, and that he would make no Scruple to use other Women, seeing he allowed her to give up herself into the Embraces of another Man. But now it remains that we should take notice of the Judgements which pursued this great Man, of which, without breach of Charity, we may look upon this Crime, amongst others, to have been one of the procuring Causes. It's known to every one, that he followed Pompey, and adhered to him against Caesar, and that after Pompey's Defeat he retired to Utica, where, having no hopes of retrieving his desperate Affairs, he deliberately murdered himself, from which Design all the Endeavours of his Friends were not able to divert him: And thus the Divine Vengeance made him the Executioner of Justice upon himself, which he ought to have suffered by the hands of others, for that brutish and unnatural Carriage to his Wife.  
In the Life of Demetrius Poliorcetes we have an account, that when this great Prince laid Siege to Megara, he was so far transported with a Lustful Passion for Cratesipolis the Widow of Poliperchon, a Lady of greater Beauty than Virtue, that leaving his Army, he went to make her a Visit with two or three of his Intimates; but when he came near the City of Patras, where she lived, he fell into an Ambush of Cassander's Men, whence with great difficulty he escaped, by the swiftness of his Horse.— And thus he had well nigh made a surrender of his Liberty and Design to the Charms of a lascivious Woman. It is also observed of this Demetrius, that he had many Wives at the same time, and notwithstanding his multiplicity of Wives, became so enamoured upon Lamia, a beautiful Lady, but infamous for her looseness of Conversation, that 'twas said all other Ladies were amorous of Demetrius, but Demetrius was only amorous of Lamia.  
This Lustful Prince was not however satisfied with his variety of Women, but did also pollute himself with the unnatural Crime of Sodomy; and it's sloried of him, that having been lost several days in a Debauch among his Companions, and pretending to keep his Chamber afterwards, by reason of Indisposition, his Father Antigonus came to see him, upon his approach to Demetrius' Chamber, out bolts a sprightly young Fellow; and Antigonus going to his Bedside, and feeling his Pulse, Demetrius not knowing well how to excuse himself, pretended that he had been ill of a Fever, but that he hoped it had now left him. Yes, replied the King, I believe it, for I just now met it at your Chamber Door; alluding to the young Catamite that sprung out of his Chamber.  
His Victories, and the Benefits which he bestowed upon the Athenians, put their Invention upon the rack, to confer new-devised Honours and Flatteries upon him, and therefore they ordered him a Lodging behind Minerva's Temple, in the Apartment of the Virgins, the vowed Votaries of that Goddess, which occasioned the Wits of the Time to say, That Minerva had got a dangerous Inmate; and, That it was not much to the Reputation of her Virgin's Chaestity, to keep company with Demetrius. And as for Demetrius himself, he was so far from showing any Reverence to the Goddess with whom he had taken up his Quarters, that he gave himself up to the most infamous Liberties; and debauched the young Women and Matrons of Athens to that degree, as 'tis a shame for a modest Pen to relate.  
This brutish Youth was so much enraged with unnatural Lust, that he tempted a beautiful young Man, called Damocles, to that degree, as made him to decline all manner of public Conversation, on purpose to avoid his designed Passion; but Damocles going to a private Bath, the villainous Demetrius having Information of it, surprised him there, so that the poor Youth seeing no other way to avoid him, leaped into a boiling Vessel, and so became a Martyr to his Virtue.  
Demetrius was not only lustful, but profuse and prodigal in his Expenses, as all lustful Persons are; so that having commanded the Athenians to raise 250 Talents for his Service, and when they, to satisfy his demands, had levied it upon the People by distress, he gave it as a trifling Sum to Lamia, and the rest of his lewd Women, to buy them perfumed Washballs for their Baths: And thus were the Athenians punished for giving way to the lustful Excesses of this young Prince, to whom they were so slavishly obsequious, that, contrary to their Laws, when he desired to be enroled in the Fraternity of the Priests of Ceres, without attending the time commonly allotted, which enjoins, that the lesser Mysteries should be celebrated in November, and the great Solemnity in August following, they made an Edict, that the Month of March then currant should be accounted November, that Demetrius might be then admitted to the lesser Ceremonies; and as soon as that was done, by another Edict they turned that same Month into August; which occasioned Philipedes the Comedian to exercise his Wit upon Stratocles, the Inventor of this Trick, in the following Couplet, thus:  
Prodigious Skill! how strangely flattering Fear  
Into one Month hath crowded all the Year!  
And upon the same Stratocles proposing that Demetrius should lodge in the Temple of Minerva, within the Castle he made the following Lines:  
Stratocles thinks it is no Sin  
To turn a Temple to an Inn;  
Or with lewd wanton Company  
To bless Minerva's Chastity.  
We come now to treat of the Punishments which Divine Justice inflicted upon this Lecher, which were very sharp and severe, his Father and he both being despoiled of that large Empire which they had erected for themselves, out of the Ruins of that of Alexander the Great. His Mother and Children, and divers of his Wives, were made Prisoners, and he himself forsaken by the Athenians, who had formerly ●…o much adored him, but now made it a capital Crime for any body so much as to propose a Treaty or Accommodation with him; and Alexander King of Macedon missed little of having cut him off treacherously.  
It is also remarkable, that this lustful Prince was punished observably in his Daughter Stratonice, who followed her Father's pernicious Example. The Story is well known to be as followeth. Demetrius having married this his beautiful Daughter to Seleucus King of Syria, to whom she brought forth a little Son, Antiochus Son to Seleuchus by a former Marriage, fell so passionately in love with his Stepmother Stratonice, that he sickened upon it, and was in danger, and not daring to discover the Cause of his Distemper, he saw no other Remedy for his hopeless Misfortune but what was to be expected from Despair and Death, which he therefore resolved upon, by abstaining from Diet. Erasistratus the King's Physician quickly discovered that Love was his Distemper, but could not at first discover the Object; he therefore diligently waited in his Chamber, and when any of the Beauties of the Court came to visit the sick Prince, he curiously observed the Emotions and Alterations in the Countenance of Antiochus, and by that means discovered Stratonice to be the Object of his Flames; for when she came in, either with the King, or alone, Antiochus became mute, his Passion smothering his Words, a fiery Blush would mount into his Face, he would fix his Eyes upon Stratonice, and then presently withdraw his stolen guilty Looks, his Pulse would be disordered, a cold Sweat would seize upon him, and unable to support the violent Passion, he would become senseless and pale. Erasistratus having made this Discovery, acquainted Seleucus, that his Son's Distemper was Love, but incurable, because it is impossible for him to enjoy the Object of his Passion, and as impossible for him to live without it. The King demanding why he could not enjoy the Object, Erasistratus answered, Sir, because he is in love with my Wife. Upon this the King expostulated with the Physician, saying, How, my dear Erasistratus! will you not do me the Kindness as to bestow your Wife upon my Son and Successor, when there is no other way to save his Life? Nay then, Sir, replied the Physician, the Object of the Prince's Love is your own Stratonice. Ah, my dear Friend, answered Seleucus, may some kind God or Man put the Safety of the Prince upon that Issue, I would part not only with Stratonice, but my Empire, upon condition that I might preserve Antiochus. And thereupon instantly summoned a Council, wherein the Marriage of Antiochus with Stratonice was agreed upon: And thus Demetrius' Daughter pursuing her Father's Example, entertained an unlawful Amour.  
Justice continued to pursue Demetrius, so that he fell sick at Pella of a desperate Malady, the true Daughter of Intemperance and Luxury; and during this Indisposition Pyrrhus took most part of the Kingdom of Macedonia from him; and tho' he recovered a great part of it afterwards, yet his Army deserting him, he was quickly despoiled of it again; which threw Philla, one of his Wives, into such Despair, that she poisoned herself. After this he married Ptolemaida, Daughter to Eurydice, his Wife Philla's Sister, so that tho' Judgement followed him now very close, yet he would not be diverted from his impure Amours. His Army, with which he fought against Agathocles, grew not only mutinous, but was grievously afflicted with the Plague; and he being hard pressed upon by his Enemies, had recourse to Seleucus his Son-in-law, who at first was willing to have entertained him kindly, but being otherwise advised by his Council, he took Arms against him, and put him so to it, that he endeavoured to have killed himself but being prevented, surrendered himself up to Seleucus, who made him a Prisoner, but gave him honourable Entertainment. Demetrius, during this Restraint, gave himself wholly up to Intemperance, which brought Distempers upon him that killed him, and so he became his own Executioner.  
The next Instance which Plutarch affords us is, that famous one of Mark Antony and Cleopatra. He tells us, That Antony in his Youth was debauched by Curio, who plunged him into all the Inconveniences of Whoring and Drinking, and a Debt of 250 Talents, which was very shameful in one of his years. Antony did also incur the Displeasure of the better sort of People, by his Midnight Revels, his wild Expenses, his rolling from one little Whore to another, his Naps in the Day, and his Walks to digest his Debauches, and then at Night again his Entertainments and Balls for the solemnising the Nuptials of some Comedian or Buffoon. Cytheries the She-Comedian he doted on mightily, so that she was with him wherever he went, and her Equipage was as splendid as his Mother's. He lodged his little Whores and singing Wenches, wheresoever he passed, in the Houses of serious Men and Women, which gave great offence. But that which completed his Ruin was, his falling in love with Cleopatra, upon her coming to him at his Summons, for having assisted Cassius in the Wars. Dalleus, who carried the Message to her, had no sooner seen her admirable Beauty, but he told her, It was impossible that so beautiful a Creature could receive any ill treatment at the Hands of Antony, and therefore advised her to make towards him in splendid Equipage. Accordingly she embarks in the River Cydnus, the Head of her Barge did shine with inlaid Gold, the Sails were of Purple Silk, the Oars of Silver, which beat Time to the Flutes and Hautbois, she herself lay all-along under a Canopy of Cloth of Gold curiously embroidered, dressed as Venus is ordinarily represented, and beautiful young Boys stood on each side like Cupids, to fann her; her Maids were dressed like Sea-Nymphs and Graces, some steering the Rudder, some working at the Ropes; the Perfumes diffused themfelves from the Vessel to the Shore, which was all covered with Multitudes, the People running out of the City to see this strange Sight, left Antony alone upon the Tribunal, and a Rumour was spread abroad, That Venus was come to feast with Bacchus, for the common Good of Asia. As soon as she arrived, Antony sent to invite her to Supper, but she thought it more decent that Antony should come to her, who made no great Difficulty to do it; he found the Preparations very magnificent, but nothing was so admirable as the great number of Lights, which were all of a sudden let down in such a multitude of Branches, and so ingeniously disposed, some in Squares and some in Circles, that Fame cannot speak of a greater piece of Curiosity. Antony was so strangely taken with this Woman, that notwithstanding Fulvia his Wife maintained his Quarrels in Rome, against Caesar, with great difficulty, yet he suffered himself to be carried away by Cleopatra to Alexandria, there to lead an easy childish Life in Divertisements too youthful for his age, and in all manner of Luxury: But they were so well pleased with it, that they called it an inimitable Life. Cleopatra humoured him in every thing, never left him Day nor Night, played at Dice, drank with him, hunted with him, went a rambling with him at Nights, to disturb and torment People under their Windows, dressed like an ordinary Woman, for Antony went to those Frolicks in Servants disguise, and sometimes would return sound beaten.  
While Antony spent his time thus in Egypt, Vengeance was pursuing him apace, for News was brought him, that his Wife Fulvia and her Brother Lucius, who had for some time maintained his Quarrel against Caesar, were driven out of Italy, and that the Carthians had overrun a great part of Asia. This roused him out of his Sleep, so that he set sail for Italy with Two hundred Ships, and meeting some of his Friends by the way, they told him, That his Wife Fulvia being a Woman of an ambitious Spirit, had occasioned the War, being in hopes that the Commotions in Italy would force Antony from Cleopatra. It happened that Fulvia died at Sicyon, on her way to meet Antony, which made the Accommodation between him and Caesar so much the easier to be effected; and, to cement this Friendship the more strongly, Antony marries Octavia, Sister to Caesar; but this Amity was not long Lived, new Jealousies betwixt those two Captains began suddenly to appear, tho' for some time indeed they were hindered by Octavia from breaking out into a Flame.  
But as soon as Antony returned into Syria, his unlawful Amours with Cleopatra took fire afresh, and he presented her with whole Kingdoms and Provinces at a time, to the great disgust of the Romans; and tho' he had assembled a vast Army, which made India tremble, and put all Asia in a Consternation, yet all those Preparations were of no use to him, he was so much charmed and bewitched with the Thoughts of his Mistress Cleopatra, and longed so much to be with her, that not being able to endure the tediousness of a Meal, he would start from Table, and run to see if she were coming. In the mean time Octavia, whom he had left with her Brother Caesar, having obtained Leave from him to take a Journey to see Antony, she was commanded by him to stay at Athens, tho' she brought along with her Clothes and Money for his Army, and a reinforcement of Soldiers. Octavia was much displeased at this, as she had reason, but so it must be, for Cleopatra dreading that Octavia, who was a prudent Woman, and powerfully allied, might interrupt the course of her Amours, she betook herself to die for Love of Antony, which did so much prevail upon him, that he abandoned his Design against Media, and returned to Alexandria. This injurious Treatment of Octavia did highly incense her Brother Caesar, so that he commanded her from her Husband's House into his own, which she refused to obey, but, like a dutiful Wife, took care not only of Antony's Children by herself, but of those also that he had by Fulvia; which honourable Deportment of hers did very much heighten the Resentments of the Romans against Antony, who spent his time at Alexandria, in the height of Luxury and Insolence, assembling the People in the public place, where Thrones of Gold placed in a State of Silver were erected for him and Cleopatra; their Children were styled Kings of Kings, and she was dressed in the Habit of the Goddess Isis, and gave Audience to the People under that Name. These things being related to the Senate at Rome, by Caesar, did mightily alienate the Hearts of the People from Antony, and so matters came to an open Rupture betwixt him and Caesar, by means of his unlawful Amours with Cleopatra.  
Great Military Preparations being made on both sides, Cleopatra was resolved to accompany her Paramour, dreading otherwise that a Peace might be contrived by the Mediation of Octavia; and the better to prevail with him, she furnished near a Million of Money towards carrying on the War: And so far was Antony transported with Rage against his Lawful Wife Octavia, that he sent Orders to Rome, that she should remove out of his House, with all her Children: And he behaved himself so insolently to many Noble Romans, by Cleopatra's means, that they deserted him daily, and went over to Caesar, who did so much despise Antony, because of his Effeminacy, that he would talk publicly, That Antony had drank Potions that bereft him of his Senses; and, that his chief Counsellors were an Eunuch and Cleopatra 's Waiting-women. The Event verified, that Caesar made a true Judgement of Things; for tho' Antony had a prodigious Force, viz. no less than Five hundred Galleys, most of them of eight and ten Banks of Oars, so very rich, that they seemed designed for a Triumph; and besides these, he had One hundred thousand Foot, and Twelve thousand Horse, and six Vassal-Kings attending him; yet he had no Conduct to manage this mighty Force, but, contrary to the Mind of his best Generals, he would venture all on a Sea-battel, because Cleopatra desired it. And this Luxurious Woman, when Fortune had not as yet determined it against him, did perfectly lose him the Battle, by running away with sixty Sail in the heat of the Fight; and he was so far besotted with Love to her, that he immediately followed her, leaving his Fleet engaged, and his Army without a Commander, that as Cleopatra had begun his Ruin, she might be sure to accomplish it. In a little time Antony was deserted by all his Forces and Friends, and Cleopatra and he both forced to sue to Caesar for his Favour, who would not grant her any, except she put Antony to death. And thus being reduced to Despair, and pursued to Alexandria itself, the Naval and Land-Force that was left deserted to Caesar, which made Antony think that Cleopatra had betrayed him; and she being afraid that he might do her a Mischief in his Rage, retired to a Monument which she had prepared for herself, and sent him word, that she was dead, upon which he ran himself into the Belly; but, before he died, Cleopatra had sent to have him brought to her in the Monument, wherein she had enclosed herself with two Women only. When he was brought thither, she durst not open the Door, for fear of being taken alive and carried to Caesar, but let down Cords, to which Antony was fastened, and she and her two Women dragged up her dying Paramour, than which, a more sad and tragical Spectacle could not be seen. When she got him up, she laid him on her Bed, tore her Hair and her Clothes, and the sense of her own Misfortunes was wholly swallowed up in the thoughts of his. She expressed the greatest Passion and Tenderness for him imaginable, calling him her Lord, her Husband, and her Emperor, but in a little time he died. Caesar being informed of this, sent Proculaeius to endeavour to take Cleopatra alive, if possible, being afraid that she would otherwise destroy all her vast Treasures: Proculaeius having sent one to treat with her at the Door, did in the mean time get in at the Window where she drew up Antony, by the help of a Scaling-ladder, and surprised her, upon which she drew a Dagger to have stabbed herself, but being prevented at that time, her Life was prolonged for some days; and having obtained Leave of Caesar to pay her last Oblations at the Tomb of the deceased Antony, she lamented him in most pathetical and passionate Expressions, and retiring again to her Monument, writ a Letter to Caesar, desiring that she might be buried in the same Tomb with Antony, and straightway poisoned herself by the bite of an Asp, which she had ordered to be brought her in a Basket of Figs, and so disappointed Caesar's design of leading her in Triumph. Thus did Justice pursue Antony and Cleopatra; and thus, by their unlawful Amours, they occasioned the death of many thousands of Men, and at last brought themselves to that Tragical Exit; as signal an Instance as any we shall meet with, of the truth of that Threatening, that Whoremongers and Adulterers God will punish.  
In the Life of Marcus Tul●…ius Cicero, Plutarch informs us, That Catiline the Conspirator, amongst other heinous Crimes, was accused of having deflowered his own Daughter, and furnishing his wicked fellow-Conspirators with Women and Drink; which shows how dangerous such fellows are in any Government, and how easily they may be engaged in Conspiracies against those who would curb them in their Excesses.  
In that same Life we have an Account, that Clodius a noble Roman being in the vigour of his Youth, and in love with Pompeia, Caesar's Wife, he gets privately into Caesar's House, in the Habit of a Minstrel, the Women being then offering Sacrifice there, which it was not lawful for Men either to hear or see. Clodius being a Youth, and Beardless, hoped to get to Pompeia among the Women unknown, but losing himself in the Passage of that large House by Night, Aurelia, one of Caesar's Mother's Women, ' spying him wand'ring up and down, enquired his Name, and thus, being necessitated to speak, he was known by his Voice; which being noised abroad, Caesar put away his Wife Pompeia, and Clodius was prosecuted for profaning the Holy Rites. Cicero, tho' his Friend, yet to preserve his Quiet with Terentia his Wife, was forced to accuse him.  
The cause of Terentia's Spite against Clodius was upon the account of his Sister Clodia, who had a mind to marry Cicero, by whom she was frequently visited, and this gave Terentia Ground of Jealousy. Clodius was also accused of Incest with his own Sisters, and of deflowering several other Women, but the Judges being bribed, he was acquitted. It appears also plainly enough, by Plutarch, that Cicero himself was not altogether without Blame, as to his Chastity, for he put away his Wife Terentia to marry a young Virgin, as she alleged, for the sake of her Beauty, or as his own emancipated Slave said, for her Riches, to satisfy his Debts. Not long after this Marriage, his Daughter Tullia died, for which he proved unconsolable, and put away his new-married Wife for seeming to rejoice at her Death; but a further Judgement pursued him, for Antony bearing him an irreconcilable Hatred, sent Assassins' after him, when he fled from Rome, and murdered him in the 64th Year of his age, his Hands and Head being cut off, and publicly affixed to the Rostra at Rome.  
In the Life of Artaxerxes King of Persia our Author informs us, That that Prince being desperately in love with Atossa, one of his own Daughters, but concealing his Criminal Passion, for fear of his Mother Parysatis, the wicked Woman, to further some of her own mischievous Designs, persuaded him to marry her, contrary to the Determinations of the Grecian Sages, alleging, That he was determined by Providence to be a Law to the Persians; and he is also accused by Heraclides the Cumean, and other Historians, of having likewise married his second Daughter Amestris. The Judgements which pursued this lascivious Prince were, that he was defeated in his War with the Egyptians, and became contemptible in the Eyes of his Subjects, upon the account of his unsuccessful Expedition against the Cadusians. He was also punished by the Controversies amongst his Sons about the Succession, and by the unnatural and villainous Amours of his Son Ochus, with his Wife Atossa; therefore, to dash the Hopes of his Son Ochus, he proclaimed Darius the elder Brother his Successor, who soon after begged of the King, that he would give him Aspasia, who was formerly Cyrus' beloved Miss, but then Concubine to Artaxerxes, who tho' he had Three hundred and Sixty most exquisite Beauties in his Seraglio, could not endure to part with Aspasia to Darius; but being constrained to it by the Law, he afterwards took her from him, and created her Priestess to Diana, which bound her to perpetual Chastity; upon which account the unnatural Son conspired against his Father, at the Instance of Tiribazus, who bore a mortal Grudge to Artaxerxes, for having married his own Daughter Amestris, whom he ha●… promised him to Wife; but the Plot being discovered, Darius was put to death, as a just Recompense for his unnatural Lust and Treason. After this, Ochus, by his Interest with Arossa, was strengthened in his Hopes of Succession, found Means to cut off his other two Brothers, Ariaspes and Arsames, the Grief of which killed Artaxerxes. And thus was he justly punished by and in his own Children, because of his horrid Uncleanness, leaving his Son Ochus behind, who being the wicked Son of a wicked Parent, proved a Monster of Cruelty.  
Thus we have finished Plutarch's select Lives, and dare refer it to the Judgement of the Ingenuous Reader, whether many of his Heroes have not been foully culpable, as to the point of Chastity, and as remarkably punished for the same. We come, in the next place, to search among the Roman Emperors, where we find many remarkable Instances for our purpose, and as remarkable Judgements pursuing 'em.  
The first is Julius Caesar, who tho' he triumphed over most part of the then known World, yet was himself triumphed over by his Lusts. When he was Highpriest of Jupiter, he divorced Cossutia, a Lady of an Equestrian Family, and of a very great Fortune, to whom he had been contracted during his Minority, and married Cornelia the Daughter of Cinna: Nor could all the Arguments of Sylla the Dictator prevail upon him to part with her: Whereupon he was suspended his Sacerdotal Dignity, and had his Estate sequestered, which forced him to abscond and shift his Quarters almost every Night, tho' sick of a Quartan Ague, and with much ado obtained his Pardon at last. Being thus unfaithful to the Marriagebed, he was punished in the same Coin; for, having afterwards married Pompeia, she was accused of Uncleanness with Clodius, as has been already mentioned, who had access to her during public Worship; whereupon he divorced her. The Lasciviousness of his Mind may be also guessed at by his Dream, that he had ravished his own Mother, which tho' those who pretended to interpret such things told him, That it was a Presage that he should arrive at the Universal Monarchy, yet is a plain Indication of the predominancy of his Lust.  
Suetonius also acquaints us, That he divorced his Daughter Julia from Servilius Coepio her former Husband, (one who had stuck the fastest to him of all Men living, in his Dispute with Bibulus, his Fellow-Consul) and married her to Pompey, which made him guilty of his Daughter's Adultery, and was a horrid piece of Ingratitude at the same time. And tho', it's true, he had great Success in his War against the Gauls, Germans, and Britain's, yet he was not without Checks from Divine Justice, having lost a whole Legion by the Gauls, had two of his Lieutenants defeated on the Frontiers of Germany, and lost the greatest part of his Fleet upon the Coasts of Britain. And in his own Family he was punished, by the Death of his Mother, his Daughter Julia, and his Granddaughter. Nor was he without danger of being indicted and tried for his Life, for his Maladministration during his Consulship, and of being utterly ruined by Pompey, tho' he had the good Fortune to overcome him at last in that decisive Battle on the Pharsalian Plains.  
Suetonius gives us a particular Enumeration of his Amours, which have spread his Infamy as far as ever his Fame reached: His being a Catamite, and guilty of Sodomy with Nicomedes King of Bythinia, occasioned many Railleries' upon him, and exposed him to the Contempt of his Enemies; as, when he swaggered one day in the Senate, and said, He would run down his Adversaries; they replied, that He would find that an hard Task for a Woman; alluding to his being prostituted by Nicomedes. They called him also The Queen of Bythinia 's Cuckoldmaker, the Bawdy-house of Bythinia, and Nicomedes 's Stable: His Adversary Bibulus said of him, when he proscribed him, That formerly he affected a King, but now a Kingdom. Octavius, a prating Fellow, whose Tongue usually got the start of his Wit, did one day, before a great company, when he saluted Pompey by the Name of King, give Caesar the Title of Queen. Cicero upbraided him with those things in his Epistles; and when Caesar, in his Plea before the Senate for Nisa Daughter to the said Nicomedes, insisted upon the good Offices that King had done him, Cicero cut him sho●…t, saying, No more of that, let me beg you, Sir; we all know very well what has passed betwixt you two. Nay, the very Soldiers who attended his Chariot in his Gallic Triumph, amongst other Lampoons used upon such occasions, had this noted Lampoon:  
Gallias Caesar subegit, Nicomedes Caesarem:  
Ecce Caesar nunc Triumphat qui subegit Gallias,  
Nicomedes non triumphat qui subegit Caesarem.  
Which may be Englished thus:  
For conquering Gaul, Caesar doth Laurels wear,  
But Nicomedes doth no Trophies bear,  
Tho' he made Conquest of the Conqueror.  
He is generally said to have been much inclined also to lust after Women, and to have been very prodigal in his Amours. He debauched several Ladies of good Quality, as Posthumia the Wife of Servius Sulpitius, Lossia the Wife of Gabinius, Tertulla the Wife of Crassus, and Mucia, Pompey's Lady, insomuch that the Curio's upbraided Pompey, that the Extravagancy of his Ambition should ever induce him to marry the Daughter of that Man, for whose Intimacy with his Wife he was obliged to divorce her, after he had three Children by her, and frequently to own himself a Cuckold.  
Caesar had a mighty Passion for Servilia, the Mother of Brutus, whom he presented with a Jewel that cost him 6000000 Sesterces, besides other considerable Boons, and the cheap Purchase of many noble Farms exposed to public sale; and People being surprised at her good Bargain, Cicero quibbled upon it, saying, They would reckon it a better Bargain if they knew that Tertia was deducta; meaning, that she had prostituted her Daughter Terti as well as herself, to Caesar.  
He likewise debauched several Provincial Ladies, for which his Soldiers, in his gallic Triumph, lampooned him in this manner:  
Cits, now be sure to keep your Wives at home,  
For here's a bald triumphant Stallion come:  
In Gaul they made thee pay for Whoring dear,  
But thou of Cits mak'st Cuckolds gratis here.  
He is also accused of Unlawful Amours with several Queens, as Eunoe, Wife to Bogud King of Morocco, to whom he gave many magnificent Presents; but his Darling-Mistress was Cleopatra, whom he often treated all Night long, and had certainly accompanied her in her Pleasure-boat as far as Aethiopia, had not his Army refused to comply with the Frolic; and upon her he begat a Son, who was called Caesario. Nay, he was so infamous both for Active and Passive Uncleanness, that Curio the Father, in an Oration, called him, Every Woman's Man, and every Man's Woman. He was so insatiable in his Lust, that Helvius Cinna, Tribune of the People, acknowledged, that he had a Bill ready prepared by him, which Caesar commanded him to get passed into a Law, whereby he might be authorised to marry what Wives, and in what Number he pleased, to secure him Issue: Yet Infinite Justice ordered it so, that he left no Lawful Issue behind him.  
We come now to take notice of the Judgements that pursued him; some of 'em did represent his Crime in legible Characters as that of his Wife Pompeia's Intrigue with Clodius, which was so public, that Clodius was prosecuted for the same; as has been already mentioned. It is also very well known to what Dangers his Contests and Wars with Pompey exposed him, and how at last he was murdered in the Senate, notwithstanding all the Warnings he had given him of the Design. And it deserves a particular Remark, that Brutus, whom many suspected to he his own Son, his infamous Familiarity with his Mother being notorious, was one of those that stabbed him; whereupon he cried out, What, and are you one of them also, you my Son Brutus? This is certainly one of the most remarkable Instances of God's punishing Whoremongers and Adulterers that is to be found in History; when he who thought himself secure from all Attempts, as being above them, and was so much doted on and adored by the People, that of their own accord they ran in quest of the Murderers up and down the City, and burned their Houses, and afterwards worshipped him as a God, when this Man could not avoid the just Hand of God, which did so remarkably find him out at last, and punish him for his Uncleanness and other Crimes.  
The next is Augustus Caesar, of whom Suetonius gives us this following Account, That having divorced his Wife Scribonia, because of her froward and peevish Humour, he fell in love with Livia Drusilla, the Wife of Tiberius Nero, from whom he took her by force, tho' at the same time she was big with Child; and though he loved her passionately, yet he never had any Children by her, for she miscarried of the only Child that ever she conceived by him, which was a very just and remarkable Judgement. He married his Daughter Julia to M. Agrippa, who was at that very time married to Marcelia, and had several Children by her; and after his death he married her to Tiberius, whom he forced to put away his Wife, then big with Child, and who had born him divers Children. Judgement pursued him for those Unjust and Tyrannical Proceedings, for both the Julia's, his Daughter and Granddaughter, were notoriously infamous; his Grandsons, Caius and Lucius, he lost in Two and twenty months one after another; his third Grandson, Agrippa, proved so unruly and brutish, that he transported him into an Island, under a Guard, and obtained a Decree of the Senate, to have him kept in the same place as long as he lived; and every time mention was made of the two Julia's, with Tears in his Eyes, and fetching a deep Sigh, he would utter a Verse of Homer to this purpose;  
O that I ne'er the Name of Wife had known,  
And without Children to my Grave had gone.  
Nor did he use to call them by any other Name, but those of his three Excrescencies or Imposthumes.  
It is further observed, that he was effeminate in his Youth; Marc. Antony upbraided him with being his Uncle Julius Caesar's Catamite; that he had also been guilty of prostituting himself to the unnatural brutish Lust of A. Hortius, in Spain, for 300000 pieces of Mony. The whole Body of the People being also assembled one day to behold a certain Interlude, they unanimously expounded and applauded a Verse pronounced upon the Stage to his dishonour, viz. Videsne ut Cinaedus Orbem digito temperet.  
In English thus:  

Behold that Catamite, how he the Orb  
Of spacious Earth can with his Finger curb.   
His Friends owned that he was addicted to the Crime of Adultery, but allege in excuse of it, That it was by the familiarity with the Wives to discover the Secrets of their Husbands. Marc. Antony charges him with taking a Lady out of the Room in her Husband's presence, and bringing her back again with her Ears glowing and her Locks in disorder: He accuses him of putting away Scribonia, because she complained too freely of the Pride and Imperiousness of one of his Concubines; and that moreover he used to employ Thoranius to find out Women for him, who, after the Bargain was made, were to be stripped and exposed to their View, as if they had been to be sold in open Market.  
There was also a Story flew about of him, of a private Supper which he made, vulgarly called, The Supper of the twelve Gods, at what time the Guests sat down in the Habits of Gods and Goddesses, he himself representing Apollo, upon which the following Verses were made, viz.  
Cum primum istorum conduxit mensa Choragum  
Sexque Deos vidit Mallia, sexque Deas.  
Impia dum Phoebi Caesar mendacia ludit,  
Dum nova divorum caenat Adulteria.  
Omnia se a Terris tunc Numina declinarunt,  
Fugit & Auratos Jupiter ipse Thronos.  
In English thus:  
Soon as the Vestments for the Feasts were hired,  
Six Gods, six Goddesses themselves attired  
In Mallia 's view;  
And impious Caesar nothing would suffice  
But Phoebus' Shape, and under that disguise  
Th' Adu'teries of the Gods to act anew,  
But then the Gods withdrew;  
From Sights on Earth they could not brook,  
And Jove himself their gilded Thrones forsaken.  
Thus, we see, this great and excellent Emperor, who was in a manner adored and admired by all Men, could not, with all his Magnificence and Bounty, and the Fame of his other Actions, wipe off that indelible Stain which those Impurities had fixed upon his Memory; so infallibly true is it what Solomon hath said of the Adulterer, That a Wound and a Dishonour he shall get, and his Reproach shall not be wiped away.  
The next Instance is that of Tiberius Caesar, who, to comply with the Emperor Augustus, divorced his Wife Agrippina, who had born him a Son, and was then big with Child, to marry Julia Daughter to the said Emperor, much against his Inclination. This Marriage as it was unlawful, did justly prove uncomfortable, so that some time after the Death of his Son by Julia, there arose such a Difference betwixt them, that from that minute he forbore the use of her Bed; and she being convicted of Adulteries, a Divorce was drawn up against her in his Name, and sent him by Augustus. After this Tiberius retired to Capraea, where he gave himself up to Drink and Lust, insomuch that he was called Biberius, instead of Tiberius, and Mero instead of Nero, and was waited on at Meals by Wenches. There he invented Alcoves, which he furnished with Whores, and Catamites, and lewd Discoverers of unnatural and beastly Postures and Motions, and those he called Spinctriae, the Incendiaries of his Lust: He entertained himself by seeing them in three several rows abusing each other, thereby to excite his decayed Appetite. He provided likewise several Chambers hung about with filthy Pictures and infamous Statues, and furnished them with the abominable Books of Elephantis, that if any one had a mind to be prodigiously wicked, he might not want a Pattern to sin by. He invented also in the Woods, Walks and Grottoes proper for the business of Debauchery, where young People of both Sexes prostituted themselves in the Masquerades of Nymphs and Satyrs; so that, in allusion to the Island and his beastly Lustfulness, he was publicly derided by the Name Caprinaeus. One incredible piece of Debauchery he was guilty of, viz. that he debauched young Children yet in ignorance, calling them his little Fry, teaching them to play between his Thighs while he swum, to lick, and tongue, and suck him like Infants not yet weaned. It is also storied of him, that when a piece of Parrhasius' Work, representing Atalanta offering her Mouth in that manner to Meleager, was left him for a Legacy, with condition, that if he fancied not the Design, he should receive in lieu thereof a Million of Sesterces, he not only choose the Picture, but placed it in his very Bedchamber. And one time, when he was performing Sacrifice, he was so seized with a Fit of this unnatural Passion towards the Boy, that carried the Censor, that he could scarce restrain himself till the Sacrifice was over, and as soon as that was done, he debauched both that Boy and his Brother; and hearing that they upbraided one another with that Ignominy afterwards, he ordered both their Legs to be broken.  
He was wont to abuse Women, and those of Quality too, very unnaturally; as was evident in the Case of Mallonia, who being brought him by his Panders, and resolutely withstanding his Brutish Desires, was cited before him upon the Depositions of suborned Witnesses, where he asked her openly, if she did not yet repent of her coy Refusal, and vexed her so, that she at last went out of Court and stabbed herself, having beforehand sufficiently reproached the old Goatish Lecher, with his nasty and obscene Mouth, upon which, in the next Farce, a severe Reflection was made upon him which took mightily, and was in every-body's Mouth; the Expression was thus: The old He-goat licks the Pudenda of the She-goats.  
Such Practices must necessarily be thought to render him odious, and therefore he kept in his Retirement, as not daring to venture himself among the People, yet Justice found him out; our Author gives us an Account, that Caius was supposed to have given him Poison, which wrought upon him by degrees; others say, that they starved him; and some, that he was stifled with a Pillow in the 78th year of his age.  
The next that falls under our Consideration is Caligula, of whom Suetonius gives us this following Account, viz. That during his Youth he spent Nights in haunting Brothel-houses, and meeting upon Adulterous Assignations, disguised in a Perruque and a long Gown, and was most passionately addicted to Dancing, Singing, and all the Allurements of the Stage; with every one of his Sisters he was incestuously familiar, and at all his Entertainments they were placed next below him by turns, while his Wife sat at the upper end of the Table. Among the rest, he is reported to have debauched Drusilla, while he was yet but a Youth, and was once taken a-Bed with her by his Grandmother Antonia; soon after being married to Lucius Cassius Longinus, he took her away from him by force, and lived with her as if she had been his Wife; and, after her Death, it was his usual Oath to swear by Drusilla's Deity. As for his other Sisters, he did not love them so passionately, but did frequently prostitute them to his Ganymedes, which afforded him a more easy Opportunity to condemn them in the Case of Aemilius Lepidus, of whom he was afraid, for Adultery.  
As to his Marriages, he contracted and dissolved 'em with equal Ignominy. Upon the very day that Livia Orestilla was married to C. Piso, he being present at the Wedding, commanded her to be brought home to his Palace as his own Wife, but within a few days turned her off again, and two years after banished her, pretending that she had conversed privately with her Husband in the mean time. Others report, That being invited to the Nuptial Supper, as he sat over against Piso, he sent one to whisper in his Ear these words, Forbear to lie with my Wife; and presently after rising from the Table, led her home along with him, and next day set forth a Decree, declaring, That he was married according to the Example of Romulus and Augustus Lollia Paulina being married to a Person of Consular Degree, and General of the Army, upon hearing that her Grandmother was one of the most beautiful Ladies of her Time, he became so enamoured of the Grandchild, that he sent for her out of the Province where she was, forced her from her Husband, took her to himself, and in a short time likewise turned her off, forbidding her for ever after the knowledge of any other Man. Cesonia, tho' neither handsome nor young, and the Mother of three Daughters by another Man, he loved so passionately, that he would often show her to his Soldiers riding by his side, with her Horseman's Coat embroidered, and frequently stark naked to his Familiars.  
Being brought to want Money by those his extravagant Courses, he invented new and unheard-of Imposts; one was, that he exacted from common Prostitutes the Gratuity for one Night's Familiarity, and obliged married People also to pay a certain Rate for the use of the Marriage bed. He built also a Brothel-house in his own Palace with Apartments suited to the Dignity of the place for Ladies and Gentlemen to enjoy their clandestine Amours; and, to force a Trade, he sent his Officers about to invite both young and old to bring their Mistresses to his Conveniencies, of whom, when they came, he received his ignominious Toll, which there were Persons ready to receive, and set down the Names of every Man in a Book, as Benefactors to Caesar's Revenue.  
We come now to take notice of the Punishments which befell him: It is natural to conceive, that those Debauches impaired his Health, so that he never had any either in Body or Mind. It was believed that his Wife Cesonia had drenched him with a Philter or Love-potion, which deprived him of his Senses, and almost made him mad, so that he never slept above three hours in a Night, and then also was disturbed with trouble some Dreams and Visions; at last becoming hateful and intolerable by his Lusts and Cruelty, he was cut off by Cassius Cheraea and Cornelius Sabinus, Tribunes, and other Conspirators, as he was going to see the Pyrrhic Dances, the one giving him a mortal Wound in the Neck with his Hanger, and the other running him quite through the Body. This vicious Monster had rendered the Name of the Caesars so odious, that the Romans had a mind after his Death to have abolished their Memory, and lay their Temples in Ashes.  
The next Instance is Claudius Drusus Caesar, whose Father Drusus being unlawfully begot, the lustful Contagion was, it seems, by that same means conveyed to the Grandson, who in his Youth kept company with none but loose debauched Fellows, and followed their bad Example. Livia Medullina died on the very day appointed for her being married to him. His Wife Urgulanilla he divorced for notorious Prostitution, and every-body knows how unfaithful the infamous Messalina his Cousin-German was to him; upon which he solemnly declared, that he would for the future keep himself a Widower, and that he would freely forgive them, tho' they should kill him, if not. Yet soon after he fell in Treaty with Pelina, whom he had put away before, and then with Lollia Paulina; at length he engaged in an incestuous Amour with Agrippina, Daughter to his Brother Germannicus, and suborned certain persons to move, that he might be constrained to marry Agrippina, as being the only means conducible to perpetuate the Public Tranquillity, and that there might be a Toleration also for others to contract Marriages in the same degree, which till that time had always been accounted incestuous: He was so impatient, that he could not stay till the next day to prepare for his Wedding. There was none however that followed his incestuous Example, but a certain Libertine, and a chief Centurion of a Legion, to both which Weddings he invited himself and his Wife Agrippina, for the encouragement of others. His Uncleanness was punished, amongst other things, by the loss of his Son Drusus, who having tossed a Pear up into the Air, and gaping to catch it again, it fell so exactly into his Throat, that it choked him. He was so much besotted, he signed Writings for the settlement of a Dowry upon the Contract of Marriage between his Wife Messalina and her Adulterer Silius, being made believe that 'twas only a Contrivance found out to delude the Fates themselves, and to transfer upon the Head of another Man those Disasters which the Predictions of the Soothsayers and several Prodigies had fixed upon his Person; and at last he was poisoned by a Mushroom which Agrippina gave him.  
The next Instance is Nero, the Son of Domitius and the wicked Agrippina above mentioned, whose future Mischievous Temper his Father predicted, when the Nobility came to compliment him upon Nero's Birth, viz. That there could nothing proceed from him and Agrippina but what was detestable, and would prove pernicious to the Commonwealth: Which every man who is acquainted with History knows to have been exactly fulfilled.  
Suetonius gives this following Account of him, viz. That his Petulancy, Lust, Luxury, Avarice, and Cruelty he practised by degrees, and at first concealed 'em under the Excuses of Indiscretion and Heat of Youth; but yet he could not carry it so, but that every-body saw they were rather the Vices of Nature than Age. So soon as it grew duskish, away he flew in disguse to Tippling-houses, Cooks-shops, etc. frolicking and scouring about the Streets, beating-such as were going home late from Supper; some little Shops he would also break open and rifle, and afterwards sell the Spoils. In those Quarrels he several times ran the hazard of his Life, being once almost bruised to death by a Senator, whose Wife he would have taken from him in the Street.  
Besides a great number of Pages, whom he made use of in his unlawful Pleasures and his Contaminations of married Women, he deflowered Rubria, one of the Vestal Virgins, and would very fain have married Act a Slave, suborning several Persons of Consular degree, to swear that she was of Royal Extraction. Sporus, a young Boy, after he had caused him to be gelt, he endeavoured to have altogether transformed into a Woman, and after he had veiled him, married him, and settled a Dowry upon him with all the Ceremonies of a sumptuous Wedding, he kept him at home as his Wife; upon which the Wits of those times said, It had been well for the World if Domitius his Father had had such a Wife. This Sporus he carried about with him, in a pompous and costly Habit, as if he had been the Empress herself, under the Title of Augusta, to all the trading Towns of Greece, and soon after showed him openly at Rome, in the Sigillarian Street, and would frequently kiss him as they sat together in the same Litter. He sent for a Harlot, who was very like his Mother Agrippina, and entertained her among the rest of his Concubines; and he was accused of abominable Incest with his own Mother as often as he road in the same Litter with her, which was discovered by the Pollutions that besmeared his Clothes.  
His own Chastity he prostituted in such a manner, that there was hardly a Member of his Body undefiled, insomuch that at length he invented a new sort of Lechery, which was, to cover himself all over with the Skin of some wild Beast, and so to be let out of a Cage, that he might fly upon the Secrets of Men and Women that were tied to a Stake; and after he had that way gratified his monstrous Lust, he prostrated his own Body to his enfranchised Bondman Doryphorus, who had married him as he himself had wedded Sporus, and in that passive posture counterfeited the soft Cries and Complaints of a new-bedded Virgin. He was so very vile himself, that he believed every-body to be so, only that they dissembled their Vices, and were private in their Debauches; and if any Man would but confess their Obscenities to him, he pardoned all the rest of their Crimes.  
His impious Mother was remarkably pursued by the Divine Vengeance, which gave her up to the unnatural Fury of the Monster her Son, to whom she had so unnaturally prostituted her Body; for after he had divers ways attempted to rid himself of her, but in vain, he at last commanded her to be killed, as having conspired against his Life; which being effected, he ran with eager Curiosity to view the naked Body of his Mother, as she lay weltering in her Blood, and handled all her Limbs, of which he commended some for their Beauty and Shape, and dispraised others; and happening to be thirsty in the midst of his unnatural Survey, he was so little concerned, that he quenched his Thirst over his murdered Parent, who left the World with that severe Reproof to him, when his Murderers approached her, viz. That they should strike her Belly first, which had brought forth such a Monster into the World as Nero. After this barbarous and unnatural Murder, the wicked Monster never enjoyed Quiet, but was constantly pursued with Horror of Conscience, and cried out, That he was haunted by his Mother's Ghost.  
Nero had also a plurality of Wives, viz. Octavia, Poppaea Sabina, and Statilia Messalina, having killed Atticus Vestinus, the Husband of the latter, that he might enjoy her. His Wife Octavia he endeavoured several times to have strangled, and divorced her under pretence of Barrenness; but perceiving the People took her Part, he put her to death, upon a false Accusation of Adulteries. He had an entire Love to his Wife Poppaea, yet kill d her with a kick upon the Guts when she was big with Child, because she reproved him for staying too late at his Chariot driving Exercises. He put Antonia, the Daughter of Claudius, to death, for refusing to marry him after the death of Poppaea. He also murder d Aulus Plantius, a young Gentleman, whose Body he had forcibly defiled beforehand, and after he had killed him, used this taunting Expression, Now let my Mother go and kiss my Successor, giving it out, That he was his Mother's Gallant, and by her spurred on to lay Claim to the Empire.  
This villainous Monster having wallowed a long time in unnatural Lusts and cruel Murders, became hateful to every one. He set Rome on fire with his own Hands, which was a just Judgement of God upon that City, for suffering itself to be set on fire by his raging Lusts: After that, they were visited with a Pestilence, which cut off many thousands of 'em. His Soldiers in two of the chief British Garrisons were massacred, and many of the Romans and their Allies were slaughtered in other places of that Island. His Legions in the East had the Ignominy of being put under the Yoke; and all Syria was like to be lost, so closely did Vengeance pursue him. Then France and Spain revolted, under the Conduct of Galba and Vindex, which so struck him, tho' he seemed little concerned at his former Disasters, that he sank down, and for a long time lay Speechless, like one that had neither Life nor Soul, and when he came to himself, he fell a tearing his Clothes, thumped himself about the Head, and at length cried out, that he was undone: But being at last convinced of the necessity of making head against his Enemies, his first Care was, to provide Wagons to carry his Scenical Machine's and Musical Instruments, and to have his Concubines, which he designed to carry with him, trimmed with their Hair cut like Men, and armed with Battleaxes and small round Targets, after the manner of Amazons, so far was he judicially given up to his Lusts.  
In the mean time he was terrified with frightful Dreams and dreadful Omens, such as that he was dragged into hideous Darkness by his Wife Octavia, and that his Body was covered with a multitude of winged Emmets; the Doors of the Mausoleum flew open of their own accord, and a Voice was heard from thence, summoning him distinctly by his Name. It was also observed, that the last Tragedy which he acted in public was Oedipus exiled, which concluded in these Words, that were very applicable to him, viz.  
Thus Wife, thus Mother, and thus Father call  
For merited Revenge, and I must fall.  
Then, upon fresh Intelligence that the Armies were revolted, he tore the Letters as he sat at Dinner, overturned the Table, called for a Dose of Poison, and retired into the Servilian Gardens, where he tormented himself with perplexing Thoughts what to do in this Distress; sometimes he thought of throwing himself at the Feet of Galba, or to implore the Assistance of the Parthians; and sometimes he thought of putting himself in Mourning, humbling himself to the People, and begging their Pardon before the Rostra, but from that was deterred, fearing he should be torn in pieces before he got to the Forum; so waving the matter till next day, he waked about Midnight, and then finding his Guards drawn off, he leaped out of his Bed, and sent up and down for his Friends, but none of them coming to him, he went himself, with some few Attendants, to their Houses, where meeting with no admittance, he returned to his Chamber, from whence by that time the few of his Guards that remained had also marched off, having first rifled his Apartments, and carried off, amongst other things, his Gold Box with the Dose of Poison in it; which put him into that Despair, that he sent for any of the public Executioners to dispatch him, and none of them being to be found, he cried out, What, have I neither Friends nor Enemies? and ran away, as if he would have thrown himself into the Tiber; but, upon second Thoughts, he began to think of some private lurking place, where he might consider what to do, and for that end mounted on Horseback barefoot, and in sordid Apparel, with a thin Handkerchief before his Face, to have retired to a Country House belonging to one of his enfranchised Bondmen, having only four Persons with him, of whom his Catamite Sporus was one; but being terrified with a violent Earthquake and the Lightning that flashed on his Face, as an additional Affliction, he heard the Soldiers in the Praetorian Camp cursing him, and wishing all Prosperity to Galba. He arrived however at the House, into which he crept privately through a hole, lay on a Flock-bed, and had no better Dainties than brown Bread and Ditch-water. He cou●…d not be prevailed on to make any further Attempts for saving his Life, but ordered a Grave to be made in his presence, and wept every time he cast his Eye upon those Funeral Preparations, crying out, What an Artist will the World lose! In the mean time he received Advice, that the Senate had declar●…d him an Enemy to the Public, and that he should be sought after and punished after the manner of the Ancients, viz. to be stripped naked, have his Neck fastened in a forked Stick and be whipped to death; with which he was so terrified, that he snatched up two Daggers, and having felt the edges of them, sheathed them again, pretending that his fatal End was not yet come: And thus dallying with his End, sometimes he desired Sporus to begin his Moans and Lamentations; and at other times he would desire some one of the Company to show him the way to die by his Example; and by and by he would chastise his own Pusillanimity, saying, that he lived basely and wretchedly, and endeavoured to argue himself into Courage to take away his own Life; but hearing that the Horsemen were at hand, with Orders to bring him back to Rome alive, if possible, he uttered a Verse in Greek to the sense following, viz.  
I hear the swift-heeled Coursers beat the Ground,  
And with their deadly Noise my Ears confound.  
And then clapping the Dagger to his Throat, was assisted by Epaphroditus, the Master of his Requests, to thrust it home; and thus he expired, his Eyes being suddenly fixed and staring in his Head, to the terror of all those that beheld him. Thus was that Monster of all Villainy and Uncleanness made the Executioner of Divine Wrath upon himself, it being impossible that he could fall by a more villainous Hand than his own.  
The next Instance is the Emperor Galba, of whom Suetonius gives us this following Account: That in the satisfaction of his Lust he was more prone to the Male Sex; nor did he care for any of that Sex neither, but such as were overgrown and exsolete. It is reported therefore in Spain, that when Icelus, one of the stalest of his He-concubines, brought him the News of Nero's Death, he not only received him in public with home-pressed Kisses, but courted and sent him away to be smoothed without delay. The Tragical Exit of this Emperor we have from the same Author, thus; That those who conspired against him having drawn him out into the Streets, by false Rumours of Otho's being killed, the Horsemen who were entrusted with the Assassination galloping through the Throng of common People, fell upon him and stabbed him, deserted and abandoned by all his Followers, near the Curtain Lake, where he was left weltering in his Blood, until a Common Soldier returning from a public distribution of Corn, laid down his Burden, and cut off his Head; and because he could not take hold of the Hair, Galba being bald, he carried it in the Lappet of his Coat, and thrusting his Thumb between his Teeth, presented it to Otho, who gave it to the Sutler's and Horseboys, and they carried it round the Camp, as the Object of their Scorn and Contempt: So infallibly does Uncleanness bring down Vengeance upon the Heads of those who wallow in Impurities.  
The Emperor Otho follows next in cou●…, of whom Suetonius gives us this following Account: That from his early Youth he was so prodigal, and given to Women, that his Father was often constrained to chastise him: He was also wont to run about the Streets in the Night with his Companions, and where he met with any that were unable to make Resistance, or in Drink, he would cause them to be tossed in a Blanket. After his Father's decease, he addressed himself to a Court-Lady in great Favour, as being one of the Emperor's Freed-women for whom he pretended a most passionate Affection, tho' she was very old and decrepit: By her means he insinuated himself into Nero's Favour, and easily kept the highest place in his Friendship, through the conformity of their Humours, or, as others report, being familiarly engaged in mutual Prostitution. Moreover, Nero having a great Affection for Poppaea Sabina, than his Mistress, took her from her Husband, and sent her to Otho, who received her into his House under colour of Marriage. And not content to have alienated her Kindness from Nero, he grew so fond of her, that he could hardly brook the Emperor to be his Rival; and therefore not only refused those that were sent to bring her to the Emperor, but shut his Doors against the Emperor, himself standing in the Street, and with Prayers and threatenings intermixed redemanding the Trust committed to his Care; whereupon Nero dissolved the Marriage, and dispatched him Legate into Portugal. Nero and Galba being both cut off, as we have heard already, Otho succeeded in the Empire; but Vitellius having raised himself up against him, Otho at last became also his own Executioner, and stabbed himself with a Dagger.  
The next is Vitellius, concerning whom that same Author relates, That during his Youth he resided at Capri, amongst Tiberius' Catamites, insomuch that he was branded with the Surname of Male Prostitute; and the Beauty of his Body was thought to have been the first Occasion of his Father's Advancement. In the succeeding Years of his Age he was contaminated with all manner of Vice; after he came to the Empire, he surrendered the greatest Share of the Government to be managed by the Council, or rather at the Will and Pleasure of every infamous Stage-player and Chariot-driver, more especially of Asiaticus his enfranchised Slave. This Male Prostitute, when but very young, after his Master and he had mutually for some time defiled each other, being wearied with his Patron's Importunity, he ran away from him, afterwards Vitellius retaking him at Puteolae, where he was selling sour Wine and Water mixed together, to the poor People, to get a Penny, he cast him into Irons, but soon enlarged him, and favoured him again with his Caresses. He afterwards sold him to a Fencer, for his churlish ill Nature, from whom he not long after stole him again, and the first day that Vitellius appeared as Emperor, he suffered him to wear Gold Rings, like a Roman Knight.  
Suetonius adds, That this Emperor Vitellius was addicted to all sorts of Vice, but chiefly to Luxury and Cruelty; he always made three Meals a day, sometimes four, not contenting himself with Breakfast, Dinner, and Supper, unless he had his Collation afterwards, he would also appoint where to sup, where to debauch the same Day, and happy he that entertained him who could could come off for Ten thousand Crowns at one sitting: But, above all the rest, the most famous Supper was that which was made him by his Brother, to welcome him to the City, at which time, as 'twas reported, no less than Two thousand Dishes of Fish, and Seven thousand of Fowl, all Rarities in season, were brought to the Table: Only he himself exceeded this Festival, at the Dedication of his great Platter, which, by reason of its extraordinary size, he called The Buckler of Minerva. This Platter he filled with an Oglio consisting of the Livers of Thornbacks, the Brains of Pheasants and Peacocks, the Tongues of Phaenicopters, and the milky Guts of Mullets, for which the Bowels of the Ocean were ransacked, from the Carpathian Sea to the straits of Spain, by the Masters of the Roman Ships and Galleys. His Appetite was so insatiable and bottomless, and withal so unseasonable and sordid, that whether he were upon a Journey or offering Sacrifice, he could not forbear from snatching the Flesh of the Victim, and the parched Barley from the Altars, nor from tearing the Victuals from the Cook's Stalls in the Streets, whether steaming hot or of yesterday dressing, and the Leave of others. But this lustful and luxurious Emperor becoming hateful to every body, he was every where either vanquished or betrayed, and at last seized in the Porter's Lodge of his own Palace, whence he was dragged ignominiously through the Snreets by the Hair, with his Garments all torn, and at last brought to the Scalae Gemoniae, or common place of Execution, where, by gently stabbing him with small pricks at a time, they tortured him to death by degrees, and thence dragged along with an Hook, they flung his mortified Carcase into the Tiber.  
As for the Emperor Titus, and his Son Vespasian, they were not without Blame as to the Point of Chastity, and tho' their Exits were not tragical, like those of the preceding Monsters, yet they were not without their Troubles and Reproaches, as just Punishments for their inordinate Passions. Suetonius says of Vespasian, That he had a great number of Concubines after the death of Coenis, one of which lay by him all the while of his Repose●… And, that being persecuted by a certain Courtesan, who pretended to be ready to die for Love of him, he at length yielded to her Embraces, and gave her Four hundred Sesterces out of his own private Purse, which he ordered his Steward to place to his Account thus, viz. To Vespasian, for being beloved. That same Historian observes of him, that he was much given to Drolling, and that sometimes so broad and scurrilously, that he could hardly refrain from Obscenity. He died of a sudden Looseness, as a just Punishment for his loose Life, of which the indelible Stain is conveyed to Posterity by Suetonius and other Historians.  
His Son Vespasian is accused of sitting up till midnight revelling with the lewdest of his Companions, and that his Lechery was notorious, by his Gangs of Catamites and Eunuches, and the excessive Love he bore to the Queen Berenice: Upon the whole, he was generally esteemed and talked of as another Nero; but after he came to the Empire, he reformed himself, turned off his Paramour Berenice, and all his Catamites, and became one of the most excellent Princes that ever swayed the Roman Sceptre: Yet so far hath the Divine Justice punished his Incontinence, that the Infamy of it is transmitted to Posterity upon Record, and he was cut off in a manner in the Vigour of his Age, being but in his 41st Year when he died: And of this Misfortune he was very sensible, the Historian telling us, that he looked up toward Heaven, bitterly complaining, that his Life was wrongfully taken from him, for he had been guilty of no Action of which he need repent, excepting one only, which what it was he neither then declared himself, nor could it be easily guessed by any one else, tho' some were of Opinion, that 'twas his Familiarity with his Brother's Wife Domitia, but she swore positively there was no such thing, and she would not have denied it had it been true, but rather have gloried in it; which it was usual for her to do of any kind of Lewdness. But thus his Memory and Fame justly suffers, because of his former Intemperance.  
The following Instance is that of Domitian, who was infamous from his very Youth; Nero produced a Note under his Hand when he was a young Man, wherein he had promised him a Night's Lodging at any time: and he is also accused of having prostituted his Body to Nerva He divorced his Wife Domitia, on pretence that she was in Love with one Paris, a Stage-player, and afterwards took her again. Being greatly addicted to Venery, he called frequent Coition his Bed-wrestling, as if it had been a kind of Exercise; and it is reported of him, that he would often smooth and depilate his Concubines, and swim amongst the most notorious Harlots. When his Brother's Daughter was offered him in Marriage, he would by no means accept of her, as being engaged in Wedlock with Domitilla; but not long after, when she was married to another, he debauched her of his own accord, tho' Titus was then alive; but when her Father and Husband were dead, he loved her with a most passionate Affection, which he owned before all the World, insomuch that after he had got her with Child, he forced her to miscarry, which was the occasion of her death. This vile Prince being justly hated for his Cruelty and Debauchery, was killed in his own Chamber, by those that conspired against him, Stephanus, Domitilla's Steward, having stabbed him with a Dagger in the Groin, as he was reading a Paper which he ●…ad given him, pretending it was a Discovery of a new Plot. And the Memory of this Emperor was so execrable to the Senate, that they ordered all his Decrees and Titles to be every where razed out, and the very Memory of him utterly abolished; so infallibly true hath it always been found, that Whoremongers and Adulterers God will punish.  
Thus we have gone through such Instances as Livy and Suetonius afford us, and must now have recourse to other Authors for the remainder of the Roman Emperors.  
The next we shall instance is the Emperor L. Aurelius Commodus Antoninus, who was elevated to the Imperial Dignity about the Year of Christ 180. From his very Infancy he was bend to all sorts of Vice, notwithstanding the Care of the wise Philosophers, who had the conduct of his Manners, so that Rome found in him a second Nero. He would needs pass for Hercules, Son to Jupiter, appeared as he did, with the Lion's Skin and Club, and would have Altars and Sacrifices, which the Senate consented to, rather than they would irritate his furious nature: He murdered most of the Senators; was a severe Persecuter of the Christians, debauched his own Sisters, and entertained three hundred Concubines, and as many Boys, for his detestable Pleasures, and gave the Government of his Provinces to Men noted for Vice or Infamy: But, at last, having designed to cut off Martia, one of his Strumpets, she, together with the Captain of his Guards and his Lord Chamberlain, against whom he had the like Design, mixed Poison with his Wine, which not being quick enough in its operation, they had him strangled by a Wrestler, (with whom he used to exercise himself sometimes at that Sport) about the 31st year of his age; says Lampridius, Eutropius, and Onuphrius.  
We come next to Heliogabalus the Emperor, who succeeded Macrinus, and was called the Roman Sardanapalus. His Luxury was so boundless, that when he was on the Seacoasts he would eat nothing but Fowl from the remotest Mountains, and when farthest from the Sea, would eat nothing but Sea-fish; he fed his Lamps with Balsam, and filled his Fishponds with scented Water; he married Aquila Severa, a Vestal Virgin, (tho' by the Roman Law accounted Incest) saying, That he being a Priest, their Offspring must be altogether Heavenly. His two Coachmen were his chief Companions and fellow-Debauchees. He cut off abundance of the Senators, because they would not allow of a Senate of Women, whereof his Mother was to be Precedent, and to determine all Female Controversies. Tho' he was but Twenty two Years old at most, he was guilty of all manner of Villainies, enough to make ' those who read his History to blush: He became at last so hateful even to his own Guards, that he and his Mother were both s●…in in the Camp, and their Corpse exposed to all manner of Indignities from the Populace, who first threw them into a Privy, and then into the Tiber, so vile had their Lusts rendered them in the Eyes of the People. This happened about the Year 222, according to Eutropius, Lampridius, and Aurelius Victor.  
The Emperor Trajan falls next under consideration, who tho' a Prince excellent for Virtue and Valour, compared with some that went before him, yet Dion and others charge him with Cruelty and Incontinence in the unnatural Love of Boys, as also with persecuting the Christians, and Excess in Wine. As to his punishment, the same Authors take notice, that he had well nigh perished by a dreadful Earthquake, and escaped so narrowly, that he was forced to be drawn out of a Window; and his great Virtue and Valour have not been able to preserve his Memory from the Ignominy of those Sodomitical Impurities he was guilty of.  
The Emperor Caracalla was a Monster of Cruelty and Incontinence, being so impudent as to marry Julia his Father's Widow; he also conspired the Death of his Father and Brother, so inseparable are Cruelty and Incontinence, and was at last cut off himself by a Conspiracy of his Officers.  
The Emperor Gallienus, says Trebellius Pollio, was a person altogether given to Sloth and Ease, his Pleasures and Lusts, which drew upon him the Hatred of all Men. When they brought him News that Egypt was lost, and that Gaul had revolted, he was so unconcerned, because of his sluggish Temper, that he made no other Answer but, What, can't we live without the Flax of Egypt, or the Jippoes' of Arras? And at last was slain by some of his Captains.  
Aurelius' Victor gives us this Account of the Emperor Carinus, That he gave himself over to all manner of Vice, married nine Wives, and put several to death upon bare Suspicion; which, says Vopiscus, made his Father afterwards disown him; and he was killed in 285, by one of his Captains, whose Wife he had debauched.  
Eutropius and Croesus say of the Emperor Galerius, That he divorced his first Wife, and married Valeria, the Emperor's Daughter, persecuted the Christians in a most cruel and barbarous manner, and died of an Ulcer in his Genitals, that began to swarm with Worms; a just and suitable Punishment for his Incontinence.  
Valentinian the Third became so enamoured on a Roman Lady, Wife to Maximus, a Senator, and afterwards Emperor, that he solicited her continually to debauch her, but without effect: But having won all Maximus's Money, and his Ring likewise, at Dice, he sent the Ring as a Token from her Husband, to come to the Palace, and when she came thither, violated her Chastity; the injured Lady complained of it to her Husband, who in revenge contrived the Murder of Maximus, about the Year 455.  
Procopius and Baronius have left it on Record concerning the Emperor Maximus, That having caused the Emperor Valentinian the third to be killed for having ravished his Wife, he married the Empress Eudoxa by force, created his own Son Caesar, and married him to the young Eudoxa, the Emperor's Daughter. One Night, in his Amours with the Empress Eudoxa, he told her, That he killed the Emperor her Husband for love of her; which so incensed her, that she sent for Genseric, King of the African Vandals, to deliver her from the Tyrant, who abandoning Rome when Genseric entered into it, he was killed by a Soldier, and afterwards pulled in pieces by the Empress and her Servants, and thrown into the Tiber, about seventy seven days after he began his Reign.  
Thus we have gone through the several Governments and Governors of Rome, from its foundation to the Reign of Augustulus, the last of those properly called Roman Emperors, which have afforded us many remarkable Instances of the Tragical Effects of Lust, not only upon particular Persons and Families, but upon Kingdoms, Empires, and other Governments, and shall shut up this part of our History with an Account of the abominable Worship of Priapus and Berecynthia, and the Ludi Florals celebrated among the Romans with so much Solemnity and Impudence, that it afforded Subject-matter of Reflection to their Satirists, and Historians, who ascribed the Fall of the Roman Empire chiefly to that Cause.  
Tostatus, in his 50th Question upon the 20th of Exodus, saith concerning the Heathenish Worship of Priapus, That it was so obscene, that the very mention of it could not but offend chaste Ears. They professed in the holding of those Sacrifices that beastly Crime which the most vicious Men will hardly confess upon the Rack. The shape, says he, in which that God was represented was such as Nature hath taught us to ●…ide; and the gestures of the Priests in serving him such, as I wonder their Matrons and Virgins, in whom were any spark of Modesty, could behold it with patience; and for the People who came to worship, the Sacrifice being ended, they all stepped aside into a Thicket, which was always planted near the Altar of this God. and there, like Brute Beasts, promiscuously satisfied their Lust, thereby, as they conceived, best pleasing their God; which was the cause, as it seems, that the true GOD commanded that no Groves should be planted near the place of his Worship; and, if any were, that they should be cut down.  
Of the same nature was the Worship of Berecynthia, the Mother of the Gods; as we find described by St. Augustine, De Civit. Dei, lib. 2, cap. 4, in the following words, Ante ejus Lecticam, i. e. Such filthy Stuff was by loose profane Varlets sung before her Chariot on the solemn day of her Lavation, as was utterly unfit, I will not say for the Mother of the Gods, but of any Senator, nay, of any honest Man, nay, of the Singers themselves to hear; And perchance, saith he, they would have blushed to have spoken that before their own Mothers, at home, which in the sight of the Mother of the Gods, in the sight and hearing of innumerable multitudes of both Sexes, they boldly sang; and thereupon breaks out into this Exclamation: What should we call Sacrilege, if this were Sacrificing, what Pollution if this Purification? And if this be Sacrilege, then surely the Worshipping of God by Blasphemies and Cursings, as did the Lyndians, is a degree beyond Sacrilege; who notwithstanding proceeded so far in this devilish mad Custom, that, as Lactantius says, they held it a violation of their Sacrifice, if during their solemn Ceremonies but a good Word chanced to slip from any Man, tho' unawares.  
To these may be added the abominable Games called by the Romans Ludi Florals, in honour of Flora, a notorious Strumpet, concerning which St. Augustine, in his third Book, De Civitate Dei, cap. 27, saith, Which Games of theirs, the more dishonestly, the more devoutly they were celebrated. In these the common Prostitutes, who got their maintenance by that Trade, ran up and down the Streets by Day, and in the Night, with burning Torches, having their whole Bodies stark naked, and expressing the most beastly Motions and Gestures, and uttering the most filthy Speeches and Songs that could possibly be imagined. To these Ovid all●…des Fastorum 5, when he says,  
Turba quidem cur hos celebret Meretricia ludos,  
Non ex difficili cognita causa fuit.  
Yet to those shameful Pastimes were their Youth admitted, thereby adding as it were Fire to the Tinder; nay, the sagest Senators, gravest Matrons, and severest Magistrates were well content to grace them with their presence, as if it had been some commendable Exercise. These Floral Plays were acted but once a Year, but their Interludes upon the open Stage were acted almost every Day, and so abominable, that the devout Fathers of the Primitive Church could hardly write of them with Patience. Salvianus, de Gubernation Dei, lb. 6, writes smartly concerning them, thus: Talia sunt quae illic fiunt, etc. i. e. The things acted there are of such a nature, that a Man can scarcely speak of them, or remember them, without some touch of Pollution. Other Offences challenge to themselves but a part of us, as impure Thoughts, the Mind; unchaste Sights, the Eye; wicked Speeches, the Ear; so that when one of these is tainted, yet the rest may be clear from Pollution, but in the Theatre none of them is free from the guilt of Infection, inasmuch as the Mind is there defiled with corrupt Thoughts, the Affections with naughty Desires, the Eyes by seeing, the Ears by hearing; all which are so lewd, that no Man, without blushing, can so much as name them, much less fully describe them. For what modest Man is there, who can recount those Representations of beastly Actions, those filthy Speeches, and Motions, and Gestures, which how sinful they are we may from hence conjecture, that they cannot well be related? which being so, behold what manner of things all, or at leastwise the greatest part, of the Romans practised. And would to God that all that is here said were not too too applicable to our English Playhouses.  
That the Roman Luxury was incredible, appears by their own Writers, both Poets and Historians; and to that purpose Juvenal, in his 6th satire, has these remarkable Expressions:  
Nunc patimur Long a pacis mala, saevior armis  
Luxuria incumbit, victumque ulsciscitur orbem  
Nullum crimen abest, favinusque libidinis ex quo  
Paupertas Romana perit.  
Pariterque & Luxuria nata est & Carthago sublata, saith Pliny; i. e. Luxury was born and Carthage demolished at the same time; meaning, that when the Romans had no Enemies to keep 'em in the exercise of their Arms, they became luxurious. And Causabon, in his Preface to Polybius, says, It is evident that those Times are by Tacitus described in his Annals, than which there were never any Times more fruitful in most shameful and abominable Vices, or more opposite to Virtue. And by that means, as Juvenal expresses it well, their Luxury became more destructive to them than their Arms, and by making a Conquest of them, revenged their Conquest of the World. And thus fell the great Roman Empire.  
We have already taken notice of the Lasciviousness of the Romans, and their Incontinence as to the Lusts of the Flesh; we come now to take a short view of their Luxury in other respects, which being equally a breach of the Seventh Commandment, were either naturally introductive of their Bodily Uncleanness, or the unavoidable Consequences of it, and contributed to the Ruin of their Empire.  
To begin with their Excess in Drinking, Ammianus Marcellinus, lib. 22, says, That their Cups were heavier than their Swords; and those Cups were made of the Leaves of the Egyptian Bean, which Pliny, lib. 21, c. 15, says, were as broad as a Thessalian Hat. They had a Master of Misrule in their Carrouses, who was called Modiperator, or Magister, whose Office was to prescribe Rules, and see them executed; and the principal Chance or Lot they cast for Drinking was called Venus. Those Rules of Drinking they borrowed for the most part from the Grecians, the most drunken Nation that ever was; and of these Rules one was to drink down the Evening-Star, and up the Morningstar: Saith Plautus, Ad diurnam Stellam matutinam potantes. Another Rule commonly practised among 'em was, to drink as many Healths as there were Letters in their Mistress' Names; as appears by martials Epigram:  
Naevia sex Cyathis, septem Justina bibatur,  
Quinque Lycus, Lyde quatuor, Ida tribus.  
These drunken Matches were in a manner the daily Trade of their Poets, as appears to any that peruse Horace and Martial. The former, Lib. 1, Ode 37, says,  
Nunc est bibendum, nunc pede libero  
Pulsanda tellus.  
And the latter, Book 11, Epigr. 7, says,  
Possum ego nil sobrius, bibenti  
Succurrunt mihi quindecini Poetae.  
Nay, Seneca assures us, Nat. qu. 4. 13, that their Women exceeded the Men in these Debauches; Non minus pervigi●…ant, non minus potant: i. e. They sit up as late, they drink no less, nay, they challenge Men to the anointing of their Bodies, and the swilling down of Wine, disgorging what they eat and drink as well as they; neither do they forbear to chew upon Snow, as Men do, for refreshing their boiling Stomaches.  
Those Debauches are yet more graphically described by Pliny, lib. 14, c. 12, where he says, To the end that we may take the more Cups, and pour it down the Throat the more lustily, we let it run through a Strainer, to abate the force thereof: Some take Hemlock before they sit down, because they must drink perforce then, or else die; and others the Powder of the Pumice-stone, and suchlike Stuff, which I am ashamed to rehearse, and teach those that be ignorant of such Lewdness; and yet we see those that be the stoutest Drinkers lie sweeting so long in the Baths and Brothel-houses to digest their Surfeit of Wine, that ever now and then they are carried forth dead for their labour. You shall have some again, when they are in the Hothouse, that won't stay so long as they may go to their Beds, nay, nor as they may put on their Shirts, but immediately, naked as they are, and panting and puffing for Breath, catch up great Tankards of Wine, to show what valiant Champions of Bacchus they are, and pour them down one after another, till they vomit twice or thrice what they have drank. Then describing their Pots out of which they used to quaff; They were engraven, says he, with fair portraitures of Adulteries, as if Drunkenness itself were not sufficient to kindle the heat of Lust, and to teach them Wantonness. Then, continueth he, when they come to be fuddled they cast their wanton Eyes upon men's Wives; then fall they to court fair Dames and Ladies, and openly bewray their Folly even before their jealous and stern Husbands: And thus many a Man, by his lavish Tongue in his Wine, hath come by his Death, and had his Throat cut. But if they escape these Dangers, they never live to be old Men, but die in the strength of their Youth: Hence cometh it that some of them look pale, with flaggy Cheeks, others have bleared and sore Eyes; and there be of 'em that shake so with their Hands, that they cannot hold a full Cup, but pour it on the Floor. They are generally disturbed with fearful Dreams, which is the very beginning of their Hell in this Life; or else have restless Nights; and finally, if they chance to sleep, for a due reward of their Drunkenness, they are deluded with the imaginary Conceits of the Delights of Venus, defiled with filthy abominable Pollutions; and thus sleeping or waking they sin with pleasure.  
Then he proceeds to particular Instances, and names Nivellius Torquatus a Milanois, who won the Victory from all the Italians in Drinking, adding, That he had gone through all the Degrees of Dignity at Rome, had been Praetor and Proconsul, and in all these Offices of State he won no great Name, but for drinking in the presence of Tiberius three Gallons of Wine at one draught, for which he was dubbed Knight, by the Surname of Tricongius, or the Three Gallon Knight. This Torquatus had the Art of Drinking, never was known to falter in his Tongue, never eased himself by vomiting, always drank without drawing his Breath, and never left a drop behind in the Cup.  
His next Instance is in Mark Antony, who strove to win the Victory in Drinking, and made a Profession thereof; as appear●…d by a Book which he published under the title of his own Drunkenness, whereby he was not ashamed to justify his Excesses that way, and thereby approved, under pretence of his Drunkenness, all the Outrages he committed, and all those Miseries and Calamities that he brought upon the World. This Treatise, says Pliny he vomited out a little before his Defeat at Actium.  
That same Author gives us two other memorable Instances of Antony's Drunkenness, the first as follows.  
Cleopatra, his Paramour, perceiving his Jealousy of her, insomuch that he would neither eat nor drink without his Taster, she designed to make Sport of his needless Fear; and therefore causing a Chaplet or Garland of Flowers to be made for Antony, she dipped all the edges of the Flowers in strong Poison; and having thus prepared it, set it upon Antony's Head; and having sat at Meat a good while, and drank themselves merry, she challenged Antony for each of them to drink their Chappelets; and having first drank off her own, Antony minced his, and putting it into his Cup, prepared to drink it off; but just as he was setting it to his Head, she put her Hand between and stayed him, and then uttered these Expressions: My dear and best-beloved Antony, now see what she is whom thou dost so much dread and stand in fear of, that for thy security thou must have extraordinary Tasters, a Curiosity more nice than needful: Lo, how I am not to seek of Means and, Opportunities to compass thy Death, if I could find in my Heart to live without thee. And then she sent for a Prisoner out of the Jail, whom she caused to drink off the Cup that Antony had prepared for himself, and the poor Wretch died by that time he had well taken the Cup from his Lips.  
The next Instance is this: Cleopatra being possessed of two Pearls, the richest and fairest that were ever known in the World, being left to her by descent, and accounted Nature's Wonder, she began to undervalue the Expense that Antony had been at in treating her from day to day, to the utmost of his might; and when he demanded of her how it was possible to go beyond the magnificence and cost of his Treat, she answered, That she would spend upon him One hundred thousand Sestertii at one Supper. Antony thought that impossible, and therefore wagered with her, that she could not do it. Next night she made him a Supper, royal enough, but much short of those that he had before prepared for her; whereupon he began to laugh her to Scorn, and demanded a Bill of the Particulars, to which she answered, That what had been brought in already was mere Overplus, and that she would yet in that Supper eat Six hundred thousand Sestertii for her own part: Upon which she took one of those Pearls from her Ears, and dissolving it in Vinegar, drank it off: And as she was about to do the like with the other, L. Placentius, the Judge of that Wager, laid fast hold upon it, and pronounced, That Antony had lost; upon which he fell into a mighty Passion. There was an end of one Pearl; and the fellow thereof being taken from this Queen when she was a Prisoner, it was divided in two, in memory of that half Supper of theirs, and hung in the Ears of Venus at Rome, in the Temple of Pantheon. And yet, saith Pliny, as prodigal as they were, they shall not go away with the Prize; for long before their time Clodius, the Son of Aesop the Tragedian practised the like in Pearls of great price; so that Antony hath, to match him in all his Magnificence, one little better than a Stageplayer.  
Lest Drunkenness should be thought to be only the Vice of some particular persons among the Romans, Lipsius in his Epistles tells us, That it was a common Crime among them, because the Emperors themselves were deeply infected with it, and highly rewarded it in others. He names one Firmus, who was Deputy of Egypt under Aurelian, and drank off two Buckets full of Wine at a time. Bonosus the Emperor was wont to say, That he was not born to live, but to drink; and when he was hanged for some Misdemeanour, he was called an hanging Tankard, and not a Man. The Emperor Maximinus is charged with drinking nine Gallons of Wine in one day. And one Phagon, in Aurelian's time, is accused of drinking more; insomuch that Lipsius says, He should tremble to write those things, but that he had them from good Authors. Nero promoted Piso to be Provost of Rome, for his Drunkenness; and Flaccus Pomponius to be Governor of Syria for that same Quality. He likewise preferred an ignoble and obscure Fellow before the Chief of the Nobility, to be a Questor or Treasurer, because he drank off nine Gallons of Wine at a Feast which Nero himself had made. And how far that beastly Vice of Drunkenness had infected the common People of Rome, appears by the Fannian Law, says Macrobius, Saturnal, lib. 3, c. 17, which was made against Drunkenness, because, says he, matters were come to that pass, that the greatest part of the common People of Rome came ordinarily drunk into the Council-house, to consult of the Safety of the State.  
The more to excite them to Drunkenness, the Vessels out of which they drank were very costly and curious in their Workmanship, being chased, embossed, or wrought in Imagery and Flowerwork, as if the Painter had drawn them. These Celatures were so framed, that they might put them on or take them off at pleasure, and were therefore called Emblemata: Such was that whereof Juvenal the Satirist speaks, Sat. 1, Stantem extra pocula Caprum; a Goat standing out from the Cup; two of this kind c●…st Lucius Crassus the Orator One hundred thousand Sesterces, that is about Five hundred thirty three Pounds Sterlin. Sometimes they were made of Onix-stones, dug from the Mountains of Arabia, sometimes of Mother of Pearl, and other curious Shells; and all those kinds they richly enamelled with Pearls and precious Stones. We drink, saith Pliny, lib. 33. 11, in rows of Pearl, and garnish our Pots with Emeralds; it delights us to hold the Indies in our Hands, as a provocation to Drunkenness. And because of the richness of their Cups, they set some at their Feasts to watch their Drinking-vessel. They thought not themselves dainty enough, saith Pacatus, unless Luxury had changed the Season of the Year, unless Winter-roses swum upon the top of their Pots, and unless their pleasant Wines dissolved the Summer-ice in a large Gemm. They had also Cups of Murrain and Crystal of wonderful great prizes, and one of those bought for Three hundred thousand Sesterces, or above Five and twenty hundred Pounds Sterlin, by Nero, Petronius, who had been Consul, broke in pieces a little before his death, on a spite to Nero, that he might disinherit his Table thereof.  
We shall conclude this point of their Drunkenness with the beastly Forms of many of their Cups; Vitreo bibit ille Priapo, saith Juvenal, He drinks out of a Priapus made of Glass. And Pliny to the same purpose saith, In poculis libidines caelare Juvat, & per obscaenitates bibere: They delight to engrave their Lustful Dalliances upon their Cups; and to drink in Obscenity:  
The next thing that falls under our Consideration is their Gluttony, which being also a Sin of the Flesh, and an Incentive of Lust and Uncleanness, does properly belong to our Subject.  
Their Luxury in this respect appeared in their Tables, Platters, Number and Order of their Servants, as well as in their Courts. They had Tables of Silver and Gold, as appears by that of Martial, Epig. 31: Sustentatque tuas Aurea mensa dapes; i. e. Thy Dishes are set upon Tables of Gold: But the Tables which they valued most were of Citron, which they brought from Africa. Tully had one which cost him Ten thousand Sesterces, tho' he was both severe in his Morals, and poor, compared with others. A●…nius Pollio had one which was sold for Eleven thousand Sesterces; and the more knotty those Tables were, the more they were valued. And those Tables stood also upon Ivory Frames and Feet. Dion reports of Seneca, That notwithstanding his severe and Stoical Profession, he was stored with Four hundred such Tables; and Annius had three hundred of them, and as many Servants to attend them.  
Then as to their Platters or Chargers, Pliny says, That Drusillanus, one of the Emperor Claudius' Slaves, and his Treasurer in High Spain, had a Silver Charger of Five hundred pound weight; and Vitellius had one which cost him a Million of Sesterces, or about Eight thousand Three hundred and Thirty three pounds Sterlin; so that Mucianus up braided the Memorial of him, calling his Excess that way Palinarum Paludes, Platters as broad as Ponds.  
Then as to their Waiters at Table, they sometimes made use of naked Wenches: And thus Tiberius the Emperor sent a Message to Sextus Claudius, that he would come and sup with him, on condition that he would change nothing of his wont fashion, which was, that he should have naked Wenches waiting on him at Supper. Seneca, in his 95th Epistle, faith, they had whole Troops of unfortunate Ganymedes, and Troops of exsolete or stale Catamites grown to Man's estate, waiting on them at Table, and those they ranked into several Bands, according to their Nations and Complexions. He further tells us of the infinite number of their Cooks, Bakers, etc. and then cries out, Dii boni quantum hominum unius Venter exercet! Good God, what a number of Men doth one Belly set at work! They had also Schools, and Masters to teach the Art of Carving to their Scholars, by Dishes fashioned in Wood after what manner and with what gesture of the Body they should cut them up.  
Seneca, in his 97th Epistle, says, Do you wonder that our Diseases are innumerable? Number our Cooks if you can. The Schools of Philosophers are empty, but how are our Kitchens frequented?  
Pliny, lib. 9 17, says, That scarce any Man was in greater request than those Cooks that could most artificially waste their Master's Substance. The infinite waste they made this way, the only Story of Apicius, an infamous●… Belly-God, may suffice to show, who having laid up Ninety Millions of Sesterces for his Kitchen, besides many great Gifts of Princes, and a mighty Revenue of the Capitol, being deep in Debt, he began at last, tho' sore against his Will, to look into his Reckonings, and found that, all being cast up, he had still remaining clear Ten Millions of Sesterces, or Eighty-three thousand Three hundred and thirty pounds Sterlin; and yet, for fear that he should live in an Hunger-starved fashion, he poisoned himself: Upon which Seneca exclaims, How great was that Luxury to which ten Millions of Sesterces seemed Poverty?  
And that this Gluttony was common among the Romans, appears from Juvenal and Seneca; the former, Sat. 1, says, Una comedunt patrimonia mensa; They devour whole Estates at one sitting: And the latter, Ep. 95, says, What is more lewd than a sumptuous Supper, that wastes a Knight's Revenues, of which the most frugal, if it be but any way solemn, costs Three hundred thousand Sesterces, or Two thousand Five hundred and Fifty five pounds Sterling? Nor did they only exceed as to the Quantity and Quality, but as to the Frequency of their Banquets. Tiberius' spent a Night and two days in continual eating and drinking. It was usual with Nero to eat from Noon till Midnight; and Vitellius seasted usually three or four times a Day, every sitting being valued at Four hundred thousand Sesterces, or Thirty-three thousand Three hundred and thirty-three pounds Sterling; which was One million Thirty-three thousand Three hundred and thirty-two pounds Sterling per Day; being easily able to go through them all by a continual Custom of Vomiting, which was common among them: Says Seneca, De Consolation ad Albinam, c. 9 They vomit that they may eat, and eat again that they may vomit; and those Delicates which they hunt for through the World, they vouchsafe not so much as to digest: Nay, the very Women practise it as well as Men; they eat against their Stomaches that which they soon return by their Mouths. The number of their Courses were usually seven; and at one Feast that Monster Heliogabalus had two and twenty Courses of the choicest Fare served in. Nay, Suetonius tells us, That at a casual Supper made to the Emperor Vitellius, by his Brother, there were Two thousand of the choicest Fish, and Seven thousand Fowl, served in.  
Seneca, in the above-cited place, says, They fetch that from the furthest part of the Ocean which their Stomaches, weakened with Delicacies, will hardly admit. And then a little after he adds; O wretched Men, says he, whose Palates are not stirred but with precious Meats, especially when that which makes them be accounted precious is not their singular Relish or excellent Savour, but only their Scarcity, and the Difficulty of procuring them.  
Latinus Pacatus, in his Panegyric says much the same, viz. That this our World was too narrow for their Throats; for, not valuing their Cates by their Taste, but by their Cost, they were only content with that Provision which they had from the uttermost parts of the East, or Colchus, seated beyond the Roman Empire.  
Many think it (saith Plutarch, in his Book concerning the Precepts of Health) an absurd thing not to feed liberally on things which are rare, and can hardly be got, such as the Paps of a Sow when she is newly farrowed, Italian Mushrooms, Samian Cakes, or Snow out of Egypt.  
Among these Excesses, Vitellius' Platter deserves our notice, which, for the bigness of it, he called Minerva's Buckler; and this he crammed with the Livers of Guiltheads, the Brains of Pheasants and Peacocks, the Tongues of Phaenicopters, and the Melts of Lampreys, brought from the Spanish and Carpathian Seas. And the like, that of Aesop the Tragedian, which he furnished out with the rarest Singing-birds, or such as imitated Man's Voice, which cost him Six thousand Sesterces, or Fifty pounds Sterling, a piece; and the whole Dish Six hundred thousand Sesterces, or Five thousand pounds Sterling; as is mentioned by Valerius and Seneca. The latter says, concerning Caligula, That Nature seemed to have brought him forth to show what Effects the greatest Vices joined with the greatest Fortune could produce: And Suetonius says of him, That in thriftless Expenses he exceeded the Wits of all the Prodigals that ever were, inventing most monstrous kinds of Meats and Suppers; the most Orient Pearls that were to be gotten, he dissolved in Vinegar, and swallowed down, and set before his Guests Bread of Victuals and Gold. And Lampridius says of Heliogabalus, That at one Supper he caused to be served in, the Heads of Six hundred Ostriches, only for the eating of their Brains.  
The same Authors give surprising Accounts of the wonderful niceness of the Romans, in the strangeness, weight, and newness of their Fishes; as also of the vastness of their Fishponds, and numbers of Fishes in them. They were so nice in their Fishes, that they would not eat them except they saw them killed; and for that end they were brought into their Dining-rooms swimming in Glass-bottles, that the Guests might feed their Eyes with the change of Colours that appeared in the dying Fishes. Severus the Emperor had the Fishes brought to his Table by Men wearing Garlands and Chappelets, as if they had been to sacrifice to the Gods. Licinius Crassus, counted a grave stayed Citizen, mourned in black for a Lamprey that died in one of his Fish ponds, and was thereupon afterwards called Licinius Murena, as is related by Cice●…o. Octavius, Admiral of the Roman Navy, finding that the Fish called Scarus was not to be had in the Italian Seas, brought vast quantities of 'em from other parts, sowed them in those Seas, as Men do Corn upon Lands, and for five Years together employed his utmost Endeavours, if any of 'em happened to be taken by the Fishermen, that they should be thrown back again into the Sea. Domitian the Emperor delighted so much in his Lampreys, that he gave each of 'em a Name, and they would come to him one by one upon his Call. Antonia, the Wife of Drusus, hung Jewels in the Gilds of a Lamprey which she loved; and Hortensius the Orator wept for the death of one of his Lampreys.  
Their Luxury as to their Fowl was no less remarkable; those they chiefly delighted in were Phoenicopters, Peacocks, Thrushes, and Pigeons, which tho' they had in great abundance, yet their Riot and Luxury made very dear, so that in Columella's time fair Pigeons were sold at Four thousand Sesterces a pair; and they had whole bands of Hunters, marching under several Colours, in the Provinces, the end of whose Wars was, to make provision for their Feasts, saith Latinus Pacatus. And they were so curious as to their Bakers, that they would give Five hundred pounds Sterling for a good one. Then they had a thousand kinds of sauces for stirring up the Appetite. They made use of Bathe and Anointing before their Feasts, Perfumes and sweet Odours of divers kinds at their Feasts; they strewed their Rooms with Saffron, changed their Apparel, nay, and the very Roofs of their Rooms where they sat, at the bringing in of every new Dish; and, last of all, used such damnable lustful practices after their Feasts, as are not fit to be named amongst Christians; as may appear to any that will consult the Author's abovementioned.  
The Quantities which some of them devoured at Meals is also worth our Notice. Maximinus the Emperor, saith Codrus, devoured many times in one day sixty pounds of Flesh. Clodius Albinus, in a Morning fasting, would eat Five hundred dried Figs, One hundred Peaches of Campania, ten Melons of Ostia, twenty pound weight of Grapes of Lavica, One hundred Gnatknappers, and forty Oysters. Phago, in whom Aurelian the Emperor took so much delight, would, says Vopiscus, at one Meal eat up a whole Boar, One hundred Loaves, a Wether, and a young Pigeon. And Athenaeus used to set before every Guest a Boar in a several Dish.  
Their prodigious superfluity in their temporary Buildings, and such as were only designed for pleasure, was no less abominable, fetching Marble from the remotest parts of the Earth, hewing down the tops of Mountains, and transporting them by Sea, at the expense of many men's Lives.  
Of this nature was the Theatre of Scaurus, which was capable of receiving Eighty thousand persons to sit at their ease; the Stage of it had three Stories, wherein were Three hundred and sixty Columns of Marble; the nethermost part of the Stage was of Marble, the middle of Glass, and the uppermost of gilded Board's; the Columns beneath were thirty-eight foot high, and between them there stood three thousand Statues and Images of Brass. The Hangings of this Theatre were of Cloth of Gold; and they had painted Tables, the most exquisite that could be found: And yet, says Pliny, this Theatre was not to continue above a Month.  
Of the same nature was Caligula's Bridge, mentioned by Suetonius, built from Puteoli to Bauly, over a Bay of the Sea, for no other use but Ostentation, and that he might imitate Xerxes; and upon this he marched with the Senate and Soldiery, in a triumphant manner, feasted and passed the Night in Dalliance and Gaming.  
Then, as to their permanent Amphitheatres, Ammianus gives us this Account of that built by Titus, viz. the height thereof was such, that the Eye of Man could hardly reach it. It was reared, saith Cassiodorus, with Rivers of Treasure poured out: It contained upon the very Steps of it easy Seats for Eighty-seven thousand Men; and, in other places, room for Twenty thousand more.  
And as the mass of Treasure was infinite which they cast away in the raising of these Buildings, only to make People sport, it was incredible what they spent in furnishing them, and setting forth their Games therein. They spent in exhibiting Sword-fights, saith Lactantius, Treasure enough to maintain great Cities. And the Magistrate, upon Theatrical Games, says Ambrose, in his 81st Sermon, lavishes out his whole Patrimony to purchase one hours' Applause.  
The whole Furniture of those Theatres was sometimes all of Silver, as that of Julius Caesar and Caius Antonius, and sometimes of Gold. And thus Nero, for the Ostentation of his Greatness to Teredates King of Armenia, covered over not the Stage only, but the whole Theatre, with Gold. The Curtains which kept them from the heat of the Sun was all of Purple, embroidered with Stars of Gold, and the place below, called Arena, because strowed with Sand, Nero caused to be strowed over with Dust of Gold, he himself being to try a Match of Chariot-driving therein.  
Their incredible Expense and Luxury in abusing the Creature at those Shows, mee●…ly out of a Principle of Pride and Ostentation, will yet further appear by the Instances following.  
They were at a vast Expense in the multitude of Fencers, whom they hired for great prices, because they were to expose their Lives, besides the Charge of their Arms and Diet before they entered: And when they exhibited Beasts, the Relations made by Historians concerning their number are incredible.  
Thus Vopiscus tells us, That the Emperor Probus commanded to be let loose at once a thousand Ostriches, a thousand Staggs, a thousand wild Boars, and a thousand fallow Deer, besides wild Goats, wild Sheep, and other Beasts, all which he gave over to the Mercy, or rather to the Rage, of the People, every one to catch what he could, the Circus at the same time being set all over with tall and mighty Trees, which the Soldiers took up by the Roots in the Wood, brought them thither, and fastened them with green Turf, and Bars, and Irons. The next day he let into the same place an hundred crested Lions, an hundred Leopards of Lybia, an hundred of Syria, an hundred Lionesses, and three hundred Bears; which filled the Air with Roaring, as if it had been with Thunder.  
Nay, the Madness of Heliogabalus was yet greater, who exhibited Ships in the Circus sailing and fight in Wine.  
And, during those Shows, it was usual to refresh the Spectators with pleasant Perfumes, sweet Water, Ointments, Saffron mixed with Wine, or somewhat of that kind, which they conveyed in close Pipes through the whole Amphitheatre. And the Fight being ended, they commonly cast a Largess among the People, wrapping up the Names of those things in little pellets, which they intended to give, and every one, as he could catch them, brought them to the Master of the Games, who delivered them the things themselves specified in the Pellet; and those Gifts consisted not only in Meat, Drink, and Apparel, but in Vessels of Silver and Gold, Horses, cattle, Slaves, and the like. And Nero added curious Pictures, precious Stones, yea, Ships, Horses, Farms, Islands; A thing hardly to be credited, says Lypsius, though delivered by Suetonius, a most faithful Historian.  
Their Luxury did likewise extend itself to their Baths, which some of them had so accustomed themselves unto, that they could neither eat nor drink without bathing first, or being sweated in a Stove. Pliny says, That the number of them at Rome, in his time, was infinite; that Agrippa, during his Aedileship, built for public use One hundred and seventy; And some of them, says Ammianus, were so large, that they were built in the manner of Provinces. Diocle●…ian's Baths alone were so capacious, that they contained, for the use of Washing, Sixteen hundred several Seats, and those all of polished Marble.  
Seneca, in his 86th Epistle, hath most elegantly expressed, and bitterly censured the Ornament and Beauty of those bathing places, those of the Common People having their Walls shining with great and precious Circles, and the Shave of Numidian Marble, inlaid with that of Alexandria, their Borders painted or inlaid with divers Colours, their Arched Roofs covered over with Glass, and the whole adorned with Thasian Stone, formerly a rare Sight but in Temples; and the Water was conveyed into them by Silver Cocks. But how much beyond all this, says he, are the Baths of their Freedmen? how many Statues and Pillars have you there, for no other use, but only for Ornament and Expense?  
Pliny goes farther, and tells us, That not only the sides of the Cisterns in which they bathed were of Silver, but the Seats and Footing for the Bottom, so as they could hardly stand for sliding upon it. Nay, Rosinus, in his Roman Antiquities, says, They used to anoint the very Walls of their Baths with rich Ointments, even such as were but for the use of Servants.  
Another piece of their Vanity and Pride of Life was the infinite numbers of chargeable Statues that the People of Rome erected to themselves, and those for the most part overlaid with Gold. This itching Humour of theirs to eternize themselves, as they thought they would do by this means, did in time beget almost as many Inhabitants to the City as Nature brought forth; says Cassiodorus, They were so numerous, that they filled every Corner, pestered their Streets, and streighten'd their Ways; insomuch that an Edict was publish●…d in the time of Claudius, forbiddimg any private Men to erect Statues to themselves, but by Leave first obtained from the Senate. The basest of those Statues were made of Marble, the rest of Ivory, and Silver and Gold, and those also solid and massy. Domitian would suffer no Statues to be erected for himself in the Capitol, but of massy Gold, and weighing no less than an hundred pound. And Commodus had one of a thousand pound weight.  
They were also at great charge in guarding those Statues, and to this purpose maintained an Officer of great Honour, who had the Title of Comes Romanus; his province was to walk through the Streets of the City in the Night time, with his Soldiers, chiefly to take care that no Wrong should be offered to the Statues; so prodigally careful were the Romans of their own Shadows, and at the same time prodigally careless of the Lives of others.  
We come next to take notice of their prodigality and sumptuousness in their private Buildings. The elegant Poet Claudian speaking of them in general, says,  Qua nil in terris complectitur altius Aether, etc. 
Blondus, in his Book de Roma Triumphante, says, That Cicero alone had eighteen great Houses in the Country fit to be Palaces for Kings: Their Houses were so excessive large, that a Man would wonder what use they could be of; and therefore Valerius upbraids one of them, who thought he was straitened in his Dwelling, thus, whose House is no larger than were all Cincinnatus 's Grounds. Some of Nero's Slaves had Kitchens which took up above two Acres of Ground; and the Lands of those who laid the Foundation of the Empire were of less extent than the Cellars of some that came after. Sallust says, Their Houses and Farms were built in the manner of Cities. Nay, Seneca, de Benef. 7. 10, says, that private men's Houses exceeded the largeness of great Cities. And Juvenal, Sat. 14, says, some of them exceeded their chiefest Temples, and the Capitol itself, in height; and upon the tops of those high Houses they planted Gardens, Orchards, and Groves.  
Their Riches and Ornament were suitable to their Greatness, for they brought the most skilful Architects from all the known parts of the World, whose Wit and Boldness was such, that they attempted to effect what Nature seemed to deny. Lucullus caused Mountains to be cut, to let the Sea into a Pleasure-house of his near Naples, for the conveniency of keeping his Fish, and for that same purpose built Rooms in the Sea.  
Amongst other Ornaments for their Houses, they delighted chiefly in Pillars or Columns of great height, and sometimes two hundred in number in one Gallery or Entry. They guilded the very Beams, Roofs, and Walls of their Chambers with Pictures and precious Stones intermingled; and they so framed the movable Roofs of their Dining-rooms, that they could change them upon the bringing in of every new Course to the Table: And sometimes they represented Groves, with Birds singing in them. And answerable to these Roofs were their Pavements; whereupon Martial reprehends them for treading upon Onyx-stones.  
We shall conclude this point with a short Account of the Houses of Domitian, Nero, and Heliogabalus.  
As to Domitian's, Plutarch says thus of it; If any Man wonder at the Magnificence of the Capitol, were he in Domitian's Palace, and saw but one Gallery, Hall, Path, or Parlour for his Concubines, he would presently cry out with Epicharmus, That all the Glory of the Capitol is but a Trifle, in comparison of Domitian's own House.  
As to Nero's, Suetonius describes it thus: In the Porch there was a Colossus, shaped like himself, One hundred and twenty foot high; the House had three Galleries in it, each of them a Mile long; a standing Pool, like a Sea, surrounded with Buildings in manner of a City; Fields, in which were Arable Grounds, Pastures, Vineyards, and Woods, with a multitude of tame and wild Beasts of all kinds. In the other parts thereof all was covered with Gold, and shining with precious Stones, or Mother of Pearl. The Dining-rooms were Roofed with Ivory Planks, that were movable for the casting down of Flowers, and had Pipes in them for the sprinkling of Ointments. The Roof of the principal Dining-room was round, and wheeled about Day and Night, according to the Motion of the Heavens. And when he had thus finished this House, he said, He began to dwell like a Man.  
Then as to Heliogabalus, the same Autho●… gives an Account, That he built of Cedar many Barges, whose Sterns were set with Pearls and precious Stones; they carried Sails of divers colours, and had in them Baths, Galleries, and Parlours of great largeness, with variety of Vines, and Trees bearing Fruit; and lying along in those, in the midst of his Music, he was carried up and down the Coast of Campania. In the building of his Country-houses he set aside all Reason, and desired nothing so much, as that which was told him could not be done; so that he would order huge Piles to be laid in the Sea, to stop the course of it, cut through Rocks of the hardest Flint, raise the Plains as high as the Mountains, and levelly the Mountains with the Plains.  
The next thing we take notice of is their Excess in Householdstuff. Their Bedsteads by degrees came to be of Silver, then guilded, and at last of massy Gold. Nay, Heliogabalus had his Closestools and Chamberpots of the same; and 'twas ordinary for them to have their Beds perfumed with rich and precious Odours. Then for the Ornament of their Houses, they bought them Pictures at excessive rates: Lucius Lucullus gave for the Copy of Glycera with a Chaplet of Flowers in her Hand, two Talents or Three hundred and eighty Pounds Sterling. Hortensius' the Orator gave for a Picture of the Argonauts One hundred forty four thousand Sesterces, or Twelve hundred pounds Sterling; of which Seneca says wittily thus: What difference is there herein betwixt us and Children, who value counterfeit Rings, and Jewels, and Bracelets at high prices, save that we dote about Statues and Pictures, playing the fool at a dearer rate? Then the Workmanship of those Pictures was many times lascivious and beastly, and full of obscene postures, enough to corrupt the chaste Minds of the beholders.  
Their Luxury in Apparel, Dressing, etc. was equal to their Luxury in all other things. Concerning their Effeminacy in general, Seneca says, What is yet left of Good manners or Fashions we extinguish by trimming and decking our Bodies; We have exceeded the Niceness of the Women, and wear light and whorish Colours, not becoming Matrons; We fashion our Gate to a wanton and mincing pace, and do not walk, but creep: It is now held the accomplished Gallantry of our Youth to frizzle their Hair like Women, to speak with an affected smallness of Voice, in tenderness of Body to match them, and to bedeck themselves with most undecent Trimming. In his Book De brevitate Vitae, he says, How do they chafe if the Barber be never so little negligent! How do they take on if any thing be lopped off of their Foretops, if any thing lie out of order, if every thing fall not even into their Rings and Curls, which of these would not choose, that the State whereof he is a Member should be in Combustion, rather than his Hair should be displaited. It was common for them to have their Hair plaited behind, and besmeared with Ointments and Perfumes; and for their Faces they used so much Slibber-sauce, such daubing and painting, that they looked like Ulcers. Their Garments were artificially pressed, to make them shine brighter, and so curiously plaited, that Hortensius the Orator commenced a Suit against his fellow in Office, for that meeting him by chance in a narrow way, he had disordered the Plaits of his Robe; he held it a capital matter, that a Fold upon his Shoulder was displaced: And so excessive they were in the multitude of their Apparel, that when any of them went to the public Baths, they had as much Apparel carried after them as might well suffice a dozen of Men. Lucullus, says Horace, Ep. 6. had Five thousand short Cloaks; and at their public Feasts they changed Suits at the coming in of every Course, merely for Ostentation; as we have showed already.  
It was also usual with them to have Rings on every Finger, and sometimes one for every Joint. Nay, 'tis recorded of Charinus, that he wore six upon every Finger; and they arrived to that height of Luxury in this point, that they had Summer-rings and Winter-rings.  
Then as to their Women: If the Men were so nice, we may well suppose that their Women exceeded, concerning whom Seneca, de Benef. 7. 9, says, ' I see their Silken Apparel, if it may be called Apparel, wherewith they can neither cover their Bodies nor their Shame, which when a Woman wears, she cannot safely swear that she is not naked. Yet these things are brought from Nations with whom we have no Traffic, that our Women may expose no less to the public view when they come abroad, than they do to their Paramours in Bed.  
Lollia Paulina, a Wife, and afterwards Widow to Caligula the Emperor, when she went to any ordinary Feast, used to have so many Jewels about her, that she shone again as she went, and offered to prove, that those Ornaments alone stood her in Four hundred thousand Sesterces.  
St. Jerome, in Vita Pauli Eremitae, and Tertullian, de habitu Muliebri, complain of the Prodigality of their Times, saying, That upon one Necklace hung the price of divers Lops; and, that upon one Twine there were threaded up Ten hundred thousand Sesterces. Nay, one Pearl bought by Julius Caesar for his Paramour Servilia, the Mother of Brutus, cost him Sixty hundred thousand Sesterces, or near Forty-five thousand pounds Sterling. Nay, saith Seneca, the Women had not sufficiently brought the Men into subjection, if they did not hang two or three Patrimonies at each Ear. Propertius accuses the Roman Matrons of jetting it about with the Estates of their Heirs upon them: Yet all this had been more tolerable, had they not worn them upon their Feet, of which Pliny can hardly speak with Patience. Lib. 33. 3, Let our Women, saith he, wear their Pearl and precious Stones upon every Finger, about their Necks, in their Ears, upon their Chappelets and Tresses, but must they also wear them upon their Feet? And Book 9 35, he says, Nay, they garnish their Feet with them, and not only the higher, but the lower part of their Slippers, so that it is not held sufficient to wear Pearl, unless we tread and walk upon it.  
Lampridius tells us of Heliogabalus, that he wore Jewels curiously engraven on his Feet, as if the Graving of famous Workmen could be discerned there.  
Their Women did not blush to own, that they painted their Kickshaws and Faces, and died their Hair, and had such infinite numbers of little Boxes full of Trash for hiding their Deformities, that Ovid, as great an Admirer of the fair Sex as he was, says, Non semel hic stomacho nausea facta meo; i. e. They had oftentimes turned his Stomach.  
Their Looking-glasses were in height and breadth answerable to their Bodies, engraven in their Borders with Gold and Silver, and embossed with precious Stone; Some of those, says Seneca, Nat. Quaest lib. 1. 17, cost more than the Ancients gave in Dowry with their Daughters; nay, than that which by public allow●… ance was given the Daughters of the poorer Emperors. And a little further he says, Now a days, says he, that Dowry which the People of Rome gave with Scipio's Daughter, will not suffice to buy a Glass for a Manumited Slave's Daughter, and that was Eleven thousand Asses, which was upwards of Forty pound Sterling; so that by this we may guests what Luxury reigned among Persons of Quality.  
Then as to the number of their Servants, they were so numerous, that Athenaeus says, some of them had above Twenty thousand.  
Marcellinus describes their Order of ranging their Servants when they went abroad, as if it had been an Army, insomuch that they were under a necessity of having Comptrollers, or Nomenclators, to tell them the Names of their Servants. And, that their Women did also exceed in this kind, may be gathered from St. Jerome's Epistle to Furia, wherein he forbids her to go abroad with an Army of Eunuches marching before her, after the manner of licentious Widows.  
Thus we have finished our Collections from the Roman History, which are sufficient to demonstrate, that that great Empire was ruined by Luxury and Uncleanness, and will serve to convince any judicious Reader what Monsters particular Men, and whole Nations, become when judicially given up of God to work all manner of Uncleanness with Greediness.  
We come in the next place to search into Ecclesiastical History, to see what we can find for our purpose there. In the 2d Book of Eusebius we find, that Simon Magus, that great Enemy to the Christian Religion, is accused of keeping company with one Helena, who had formerly been a common Prostitute in the Stews of Tyre, a City of Phoenicia, whom his Followers called the prime Notion or first Conception from him, and used to prostrate themselves before the Images and Pictures of this Simon and his Strumpet Helena. And suitable to this was their Practice, viz. so impure, that 'twas impossible for Men of Modesty to utter them, by reason of their excessive Obscenity, there being nothing to be invented so impure, which their lewd Sect did not far surpass, deluding silly Women laden with all manner of Iniquity; a pregnant and strong Instance that Impurity of Life and Principle leads Men naturally to a hatred of true Religion.  
The next Instance is in Book 3, Cap. 28, of the Heretic Cerinthus, of whom he says, That being a Lover of his Body, and altogether carnally minded, he earnestly lusted after those things wherein he dreamt the Kingdom of Christ consisted, viz. in the satiety of the Belly, and of those parts beneath the Belly, that is, Meats, Drinks, and Marriages. And Nicephorus, lib. 3, cap. 14, says, That under the name of Sacrifices Cerinthus hid his Lusts, that he might make a show of Honesty and Decency.  
Cap. 29, he gives us an account of the Nicolaitans, who took their denomination from Nicholas, one of the Deacons concerning whom they say, That having a beautiful Wife, and being accused of Jealousy by the Apostles, he brought his Wife forth, and permitted her to marry whom she had a mind to, and that his Followers pretending to imitate him, gave themselves up to all manner of Fornication, but that those Heretics were on a sudden wholly extinct.  
Book 14, Cap. 7, he gives us an account of the Gnostics, who boasted of their amorous Potions, and of certain Spirits and Familiars, maintained, that they who would arrive to Perfection in their Mysteries, must act all things that were most filthy and unclean, being no other ways able to avoid the Rulers of the World, as they call them, unless they distributed to all of them their Deuce by most filthy and detestable Acts of Obscenity, which brought a Scandal on the Christians of those Times, as if they had indulged themselves in promiscuous Uncleanness with their Mothers and Sisters; but the Truth and Purity of their Doctrine and Practice did quickly vindicate itself from those Calumnies.  
Book 6, Cap. 8, he gives us an account of Origen's emasculating himself upon his understanding those words of our Saviour in a literal sense, viz. Some there are who have made themselves Eunuches for the Kingdom of Heaven's sake. This shows how much Fornication and Uncleanness was condemned by the Christians in his time, and how careful he was to avoid giving any occasion of Slander to the Enemies of the Christian Religion, tho' this Act in itself was no way justifiable.  
Book 7, Cap. 30, he gives us an Account, that Paulus Samosatenus, who spoke against the Godhead of Jesus Christ, and became a Founder of that Heresy, was a sensual Man, countenanced those called Subintroduced Women, who were neither Wives nor Concubines, but a third sort, whom they kept, as they pretended, not to gratify their Lusts, but out of a pious design: And they take particular notice, that this Paul glutted himself with all Sensual Delights, as Feasting, Drinking, and the like, which are the common Incentives of Lust, and that he carried two beautiful Women constantly along with him. And thus he is accused by an Assembly of Bishops, in their Letter to the Bishop of Rome and Alexandria, which confirms the Observation we have had sometimes occasion to make, that a Love to Sensual Pleasures seems to be a great Motive to the Deists and Socinians of our Times to embrace those damnable Heresies.  
In his 8th Book we have an Account, That a Gentlewoman at Antioch and two beautiful Virgins her Daughters, threw themselves into a River, where they were drowned, rather than they would submit to the Brutish Lusts of their Heathen Persecuters. And in Cap. 14, of that same Book, we have a Relation, how Maxentius, and other Persecuters of the Christians, omitted no manner of Action that was impure and libidinous; they committed Adulteries and Rapes of all sorts; he parted Husbands, by Divorce, from their lawful Wives, and when he had defiled them he most dishonourably sent them back again to their Husbands. And thus he treated Persons of all Qualities. He passed through no City in his Journey without ravishing Women and Virgins; and these his vile Practices succeeded according to his desire against all Persons, the Christians only excepted, who having contemned Death, despised his outrageous Tyranny. And thus one of the most noted Women of Alexandria, being a beautiful Person, and solicited to commit Adultery with him, chose rather to expose her Life to Danger, and so was sent into Exile: And a Roman Lady, whose Husband was Perfect of Rome, being sent for by Maxentius, in order to be defiled by him, and finding that her Husband had, for fear, permitted the Soldiers to carry her away, she killed herself, rather than she would be defiled by the lustful Tyrant. So that to the shame of many who call themselves Christians now-adays, their abominable Lecheries were formerly the Character of their Persecuters; and nothing could be more odious to the Primitive Christians than such vile Practices, as many who bear that Name do now indulge themselves in. But to return to this Monster of Tyranny Maxentius, the Divine Vengeance pursued him; for, his Army being defeated by Constantine, he himself, and a great part of them, were drowned in the Tiber, after which his Corpse were dragged out, and his Head being cut off, it was carried about on a Lance, as a joyful Spectacle to the People.  
Eusebius also takes notice, that the Heathens were at that time punished with intestine Wars, Famine, and Pestilence, on the account of their Persecution and those impure Practices; and, that Galerius Maximianus, who to his Persecution of the Christians had also added Impurity of Life, died of a most dreadful Distemper in his Genitals, and a Fistula in Ano, to the Horror and Amazement of all that were about him, the stink of his Body being so intolerable, that it killed divers of his Physicians.  
In his ●…oth Book, he gives us an Account of the wicked Emperor Licinius, who to his hatred of the Christian Religion and Learning of all sorts, joined abominable Uncleanness, forcing Wives from their Husbands, and giving them to be defi●…'d by his Slaves. Nay, his own Lustful Rage was so great, that his decrepit Years could not assuage the same, but even then he abused married Women and Virgins, towards the fulfilling of his insatiable Lust; at last Judgement p●…rsu'd him; for being overcome by Constantine the Great, and continuing unreclaimable, notwithstanding the Clemency used towards him by that gracious Christian Emperor, he ordered him to be strangled: And thus was his Exit suitable to his inglorious Life.  
Socrates, lib. 5, cap 18, gives us an Account, That the Heathen Romans had Victualling-houses under Ground, wherein they prostituted Whores, by which Devices they trepanned many persons, some going in thither to supply themselves with Food, others to satisfy their libidinous and filthy Desires, for by a certain Engine purposely made for that end, they were conveyed from the Victualling-house down into the Bakehouse, where they were forced to work, and continued there till they were grown old, and being never suffered to go out, their Relations took it for granted that they were dead. This Trick was chiefly put upon Strangers, and was discovered by one of the Emperor Thcodosius' Soldiers, who being trappaned in this manner, killed some of those with his Dagger that would have detained him; and escaping by this means, acquainted the Emperor with it, who ordered those Houses to be pulled down, and the Masters of them to be punished. Another a●…ominable Custom they had, which was abolished also by this Emperor, of which he gives the following Account: If a Woman were taken in Adultery, they shut her up in a narrow Brothel-house, and forced her to play the Whore in a most impudent manner; and during the performance of that unclean Act, they caused little Bells to be rung, to the end that what was done within might be known to those who passed by; of which the Emperor Theodosius being informed, he ordered those Stews to be pulled down, and commanded, that Women taken in Adultery should be otherwise punished. It's true that Valesius, in his Notes upon this Passage, thinks that this Custom was discontinued long before, Adultery being punished by the Romans as a capital Crime, after Constantine's Reign, and says, that they were common Prostitutes, who rung Bells to invite Passengers in to them; and quotes Dio Cassius, speaking of the Emperor Heliogabalus, thus: Having made a Cell within the Palace, he acted his Lechery therein, standing naked before the Door thereof, as Whores usually do, shaking his Shirt, which was hung up with Golden Rings, and with a soft, delicate, broken Voice inviting his Companions to him. So that, be how it will, it's plain that those abominable things were practised by the Heathens, and the Houses or Vaults (whence the word Fornication is derived) where they acted those Impurities were destroyed by the Christians; whereas so many of those who call themselves by that venerable Name, in our Days, frequent such loathsome and execrable Houses.  
In the 19th Chapter of that same Book, he relates how the Office of the Penitentiary Presbyter was abrogated at Constantinople, because a certain Gentlewoman, who had by him been enjoined to Prayer and Fasting in the Church, upon the account of her Faults, was debauched there by the Deacon of the said Church, for which he was ejected, and the People were in hazard of making a Tumult, because that Fact had brought an Infamy and Disgrace upon the Church; and therefore Eudaemon, a Presbyter of that Church, advised Nectarius the Bishop to abolish the Penitentiary Presbyters, and to leave every person to his own Conscience for the participation of the Holy Mysteries.  
Evagrius Scholasticus, in his 3d Book, Cap. 1, gives us an Account, That the Emperor Zeno was a lewd debauched Man; that he gave himself wholly up to the Attempts and Allurements of Lust; that he restrained himself from no manner of filthy and flagitious Facts, but wallowed in the commission thereof, in such a manner, that he thought it vile and mean to commit those things in Darkness and Obscurity, and that to perpetrate them openly and in the sight of all he accounted Royal and becoming an Emperor.  
These Courses did quickly render Zeno odious in the sight of all Men; whereupon Basilisc●…s improving the general Hatred against Zeno, usurped the Imperial Diadem, and dethroned him: It's true, that Zeno afterwards reobtained his Crown, and counterfeited the good Christian; but persisting however in his Impurities and Drunkenness, which threw him into an Epilepsy or Falling-sickness, he was miserably buried by the Empresses Order, (says Baronius) in one of those Fits; and when he recovered in his Grave, and cried to the Soldiers to take him out, they answered, That there was another chosen in his room; whereupon he entreated to be taken out, and suffered at least to end his days in a Monastery; but this was also denied him, and in this miserable condition he ended his wretched Life, while the Soldiers in the mean time did barbarously scoff at him. This Method did his Empress Ariadne take to be revenged on him for having defiled her Bed, which tho' it cannot be justified in her, yet must certainly be justified, as coming from the Hand of God.  
Evagrius, Book 3, Cap. 39, gives us an account of a wicked Tax, that had continued a long time among the Romans, called Chrysargyrum, which was imposed upon those Women who prostituted themselves, and also upon Catamites, insomuch that this Tax, instead of a Law, made loud Proclamation, That those who had a mind, might securely, and with Impunity, commit such abominable Lechery; which the good Emperor Anastasius thought so disgraceful to a Christian Empire, that he not only abolished the said Tax, but burned all the Records concerning it, and the Papers which contained the Methods of collecting it, that none of his Successors might renew the Infamy of this Exaction.  
Having thus taken a short view of what is to be found suitable to our purpose in the Ecclesiastical Histories of Eusebius, Socrates, and Evagrius, we shall conclude this part with some account of the Penance which the Ancients enjoined upon Christians for Uncleanness, viz. The time of Penance for Fornication was Seven Years, and for Adultery Fifteen. The Penitents presented themselves before the Door of the Church, in poor, fordid, and ragged Apparel; being entered into the Church, they received Ashes upon their Heads and Haircloth upon their Bodies, and then went out of the Church, the Door being usually shut after them. It was customary for them to remain shut up weeping and groaning, unless on Festival days, when they presented themselves in the Church Porch; some time after they were admitted to hear the Lectures, with command to go out before Prayers. At the end of a certain time they were allowed to pray with the Congregation, but lying all-along upon the Earth, and at length, were suffered to pray standing, until the Offertory, when they went out: The space of time was often abridged by the Clergy, according as they perceived the Penitents deserved Indulgence.  
Thus we see what an odious Sin Uncleanness was reckoned amongst the Primitive Christians. Clemens Alexandrinus thought that there was no Mercy nor Repentance for them that were guilty of Uncleanness above once or twice. Nay, some Authors say, That in the first times perpetual Penance was enjoined for Adultery, and they were scarcely admitted into Communion at the Hour of Death, till Pope Zephyrinus, about the Year 216, appointed a shorter time, wherein he was opposed by the African Churches. The Ancyran Council, Anno 315, appointed seven Years Penance for the first Fault, and upon a Relapse forbade the receiving of them into Communion at the hour of Death. In the Synod of Illiberis, Can. 1, they enjoin the same punishment upon Bawds, and such as prostitute the Bodies of their Children. It is well known, says Bishop Taylor, that the Civil Laws in the Primitive Church punished Adultery with Death, the Husband killing the Wife in the Act, with the Allowance of the Law.  
If the Christians in Clemens Alexandrinus' time had been guilty of those Impurities which many of those that bear that Name now are, with what Face could he have upbraided the Heathens of his time, as he does in his Admonition to the Greeks, p. 39, 40. viz. That as they had ordered the matter, by t●…e Marriages, Propagation, Adulteries, and Banquets of their Gods, they had turned Heaven into a Comical Scene, and jested Religion into Scorn and Laughter? there being nothing more usual with them, than to hang their Rooms with the Pictures of their Gods, drawn in the most obscene postures, and engaged in the most filthy and dishonest actions, enough to shame even Vice itself. These, says he, are the Original Patterns of your soft Effeminacy; this is your brutish and profane Divinity; these are the Doctrines of your Gods, Copartners with you in your Uncleanness and Adultery.  
The like we may observe from that passage of Tertullian, ad Nationes, lib. 1, cap 4, where he says, That he knew of some Husbands, when Heathens, who were so very jealous of their Wives (and possibly not without reason) that a Mouse could not stir in the Room, but it must be a Gallant creeping to their Bed: Yet, upon their turning Christians, they became so eminently reserved, chaste, and modest, that there was not the least Foundation of Suspicion; their Jealousy was converted into Hatred, and they vowed they had rather their Wives should be Strumpets than Christians.  
Of the same nature is the Passage of Origen to Celsus, lib. 1, p. 21. where he says, They (meaning the Heathens) must needs confess the Excellency and Divinity of Christ's Doctrine, who do but look into the Lives of those who adhere unto it, comparing their former Course of Life with that which they now lead, and considering in what Impurities, Lusts, and Wickedness every one of them wallowed before they embraced this Doctrine; but since, how much better they are become, insomuch that some of them, out of a more transcendent desire of Purity, and that they may worship God with a chaste Mind, deny themselves even the Pleasures of a Lawful Bed. And, lib. 7, p. 365, That the Christians had no need, as some of the best among the Gentiles had, to use Arts and Medicines, or to have Guardians over them, to preserve their Chastity, the Word of God being sufficient to expel irregular Appetites. Nay, and that which is more observable, Pliny, tho' a Heathen himself, and a persecuter, wrote to the Emperor Trajan, That the Christians detested Murder, Adultery, and such other Ungodliness.  
Tertullian, in his Apology, cap. 9, p. 10, says of the Heathens, Wherever you are, at home or abroad, Lust is your Companion; whereas Chastity, diligently and faithfully preserved, keeps us from any such Event; and we are far from Incest, which ye often stumble upon in your Lusts, as we are from Whoredom, or any Excess in a married state. And in the close of his Apology, cap. ult. p. 40, he says, While you choose to condemn a Woman that is a Christian, to the Stews, rather than to the Lions, you plainly own, that the violation of Chastity is accounted by us an heavier Penalty than any Punishment or kind of Death which you can inflict upon us.  
And that this may appear not to have been their Doctrine only, but also their Practice, we refer to the Instances of the Chastity of the Governor of Rome's Wife, who chose rather to kill herself than to be defiled by the Emperor Maxentius, as before mentioned. And that remarkable Instance related by St. Jerome, in the Life of Paul the Hermit, Tom. 1, p. 237. In the Decian Persecution, a young Man, a Christian, in the Flower of his age, was carried into a Garden that had all things conspiring to make it a place for pleasure and delight; being laid upon a Bed of Down, and fastened to it with silken Cords, the Company withdrawing, a beautiful Strumpet was sent in to him, who caressing and treating him with all the Arts of Wantonness, not consisting with Modesty to name, the young Man finding the Temptation ready to prevail, presently bit off his Tongue, and spit in her Face as she attempted to kiss him. Many other Instances of this nature might be added, but these are enough to testify how much the Primitive and Ancient Christians abhorred Uncleanness, in Practice as well as Principle.  
Then as to the Opinion which the Primitive Christians had of Marriage, and their Reasons for entering into it; let us hear what Athenagoras says in his Apology, p. 37. Either, says he, we marry not at all, but keep ourselves always continent, or if we do marry, 'tis for no other End, but the bringing up of Children: Whoever among us takes a Wife, according to the Laws prescribed us, he reckons he does it only for the begetting of Children; within this his Desires are bound and limited, as the Husbandman concerns himself no further in tilling his Ground and sowing his Corn, than to bring forth the Crop at Harvest. And hence it was that they seldom married oftener than once, as Minutius Faelix says, p. 26.  
Origen against Celsus, lib. 5, p. 264, says, We in all our Abstinences do it only to keep under the Body, and to bring it into subjection, endeavouring to mortify the Deeds of the Body, to expel and extinguish our Members upon the Earth, Fornication, Uncleanness, Inordinate Affection, and every evil Concupiscence and Desire. The Hatred which that Great Man had against Uncleanness is sufficiently manifest by his dismembering himself, as formerly mentioned, and choosing rather to have Incense forced into his Hand, and so offered up to Idols at Athens, than to have his Body abused by an Ethiopian, which the Heathens threatened him with.  
How careful the Primitive Christians were to avoid all occasions of Uncleanness, appears from Cyprian, de Discip. & Habit. Virg. p. 167. where he justly chides some Virgins for being present at Weddings, where they laughed freely, could not but hear loose Discourses, see uncomely Behaviour, feed upon luxurious Dishes, all which must not only kindle, but add Fuel to the Fire, and fill the Mind with undecent Thoughts and Desires.  
St. Jerome on the other hand does as much commend such Virgins who always kept at home on Festival days, to avoid the crowds and Gazes of the People, and would never go abroad at those times when they could not venture into the public without the greatest Care and Custody of themselves. Such was the Cautiousness of the Primitive Christians, they stood at a distance from whatever was offensive either to their Eyes or Ears. Their Ears they stopped against all loose idle Songs, all filthy and obscene Discourses; their Eyes they shut against all uncomely Objects, all wanton and lascivious Pictures, and, as Clemens Alexandrinus tells us, not doing any thing that seemed to carry an ill colour with it.  
The Council of Laodicea, in their 30th Canon, forbade Christian Men to use the same common Baths with Women; nay, so abominable were all Uncleannesses to the ancient Church, that they were even too severe against second Marriages, as Zonaras tells us, Can. 7, Concil. Neocaes'. suspended such as married twice from the Communion a whole Year. And the Council of Laodicea, Can. 1, required, that they should spend some time at least in Penance, Fasting, and Prayer, before they be received to the Communion. Ter ullian, Cyprian, Minutius, Faelix, and St. Jerome, inveigh●…d also against second Marriages, wherein tho' they acted not only without, but even against Divine Authority, seeing the Apostle limits no number of Times, but says positively, that it is better to marry than to burn, yet it shows how careful the ancient Christians were to avoid those Impurities, which many who call themselves Christians will scarcely own now to be a Crime.  
St. Ambrose says, The Apostle did well to warn Christians to flee Fornication, by which the Sons of God, says he, are made the Children of the Devil. Nay, the Schoolmen make simple Fornication to be a deadly Sin, and that in such measure as Peraldus a Papist concludes, That if one who had never before sinned, but had done all the Good that could be imagined, should but once commit this Sin, he must of necessity be damned without Repentance. Aquinas says, That simple Fornication, inas much as it is against the Good of the Offspring to be brought forth, is so unlawful, that it is a deadly Sin. Epiphanius, against the Carpoeratians, Lib. 1, Tom. 2, Cap. 27, says, That because of their Debaucheries they were sent forth by Satan, to the Reproach and Scandal of the Church of God, as the Gnostics had been before them.  
Gluttony, Drunkenness, and Effeminacy were much exclaimed against by the Ancients, because they were Incentives to Uncleanness, whereupon St. Jerome says, It's a difficult thing to preserve Chastity in the midst of Feasting. Bernard says, That Chastity is much endangered by Delicacies. Ericius Putecinus saith, That Lust is nourished by Feasting and Dainties. And St. Augustine, in his 33d Sermon, ad Fr. in Er. gives us this strange Instance of the Effect of Drunkenness, viz. That the Son of one Cyril a noble Citizen of Hippo, who had a Son whom he loved even above his Maker, not contradicting him in any Desire, nor correcting him for any Fault. This riotous Youngster, not content to roar it abroad, and spend his Father's Estate, came home drunk, villainously ravished his own Mother, big with Child, endeavoured to deflower one of his Sisters, wounded two of them, that they d●…d and killed his Father outright.  
FINIS.