Oeconomica Sacra: OR A Paraenetical Discourse OF MARRIAGE: Together with some PARTICULAR REMARKS ON THE Marriage OF ISAAC and REBECCA. Faelices ter & amplius, Quos irrupta tenet copula; nec ullis Divulsus quaerimoniis Supraema citius solvit amor die. Horace. LONDON, Printed for John Salusbury, at the Atlas in Cornhill, near the Royal Exchange, 1685. TO THE Right Honourable JAMES Earl of Salisbury, VISCOUNT CRANEBURN, Baron Caecill of Essenden. May it please your Lordship; THe Doctrine of Vitality and Vegetation, as it is the Act of an Omnipotent God, so 'tis a stupendious Mystery to Man: And as the Divine Institution, and Legitimacy in prosecuting the Succession of natural Causes, and propagation of Corporeal Being's, was a clear Indication of Divine goodness, and a public Manifesto to indulge Mankind in Conjugal embraces; as Antecedents to those wise and honourable purposes, for which Marriage was ordained; so the Pravity and Corruption of the humane Nature, is visible in those notorious deviations from the Primitive Sanction: And the eager pursuit of unlawful and destructive pleasures doth wholly invert the appointed Decorum; and this violence of appetite continuing, the mind is dealt withal, and prepared to an Assent, and reason proselyted to the dictates of passion. The fatal effects of Fornication and Adulteries, are too plainly apparent in destroying bodily health; the ruin of Families and Kingdoms, the debauching the generality of Mankind, the Production of a miserable and obscure Progeny, the Atarchy and Confusion in Government, the loss of Property in the World, the want of Education and Protection of Parents, the Abolition of Religion and Devotion; and in short, the Destruction of the Creation: all which are sufficient Punishments in themselves. Did I say Punishments? I must only call them Sufferings, Proaemial to Eternal Torments. How will the wiser Heathen condemn such beastial and irrational Practices! they valued themselves highly, in hopes of their Elysium, and Life to come, and disdained the Commission of any thing incongruous to such expectations. The Holy Resolution of Seneca stands upon record; Faciam omnia tanquam Deus videret: And hence the Philosopher so much preferred his contemplative, Aristotle. before his practic felicity; and the Poet Claudian tells us, That Nature, meaning the God of Nature, assigns happiness to all men. — Natura Beatis, Omnibus esse dedit, si quis cognoverit uti. Now who can be so foolish, and act Antipodes to his own Reason; as to degenerate into Sensuality and uncleanness, which inevitably pulls on Everlasting Misery? Whereas nothing can more advance the humane Nature to its primitive Dignity and Happiness, than Obedience to the Supreme Lawgiver; and nothing can gratify the Senses of a thinking man, but what is licenc't by the bounty of Heaven. God having thus admirably consulted the good of Mankind, who would not accept of such Gracious Invitations, when Conjugal Enjoyments are not only lawful, but indulged, and man made an Instrument to propagate Posterity, and confer a Religious Education to his Children, preserve Honour and Honesty, Peace, and Concord, good Government and decorum in the World, and all those Placentia's and Contents of Marriage, are but praelibations of celestial Joys hereafter. And your Lordship's early condescension to the Matrimonial Obligation, hath encouraged this Dedication; that as your Honour is a Noble Advocate for Marriage, so I have great hopes to presume, that your Lordship will protect this piece against the licentious humour of a depraved Age; when Marriage is decried, as a restraint upon Liberty, and the beaten path of our wiser Ancestors utterly exploded. Your Honour's Most Humble, and Faithfully Devoted Servant, J. P. E Museo meo Londini, dieMaii, 25. 1685. THE PREFACE TO THE READER. THe French first introduced the solemnity of a Preface, and others as well as they have abused it to a great deal of Vanity; and out of pretended modesty have largely decried their own Works, and the Imperfection of their pieces: Yet after all, to publish them to the World, is no better than to adventure upon a Crime, against open Conviction and Acknowledgement. I would not be here misconstrued, but submit to the favourable censure of the Judicious; and shall have as low a respect for my own Works as any man. And as this Treatise was occasioned by my accidental reading the twenty fourth Chapter of Genesis, and composed for my private Recreation at vacant hours (but by the importunity of some Friends now made public) so 'tis recommended to your vacant time and leisure to peruse it; and if it give you but a small diversion, and a little benefit, consider, that even that time which was bestowed on reading of it, might have been worse spent. ERRATA. PAge 64. line 19 for Imperial read Empyrean. OF Marriage. IT is a Maxim in Nature to affect Happiness and Society, Naturae semper in meliorem tendit. and to aim at Improvement and Benefit; this was at first declared by the God of Nature, It is not good for man to be alone; and hath since been practised by mankind as the sine quâ non, without which the Species could not be preserved; because the alwise God having invested the humane Nature with a Potentia, and Organical helps for generation; and also given those respective Productions an inherent faculty of life and vegetation, he was not further pleased to propagate mankind by Creation, as he did the Angels, but even in the perfecting their first Species; he was not pleased to Create, but form the Woman ex materia praeexistente, of the Rib of Adam; which also implies, that as there was an Identity of Materia prima, for constituting Organical Bodies, so there is also an innate and natural affection and sympathy reciprocal: Now it pleased God to tie these two pieces of Nature together, by the sacred bonds and Sacramental Ordinance of Matrimony, whereby God did not only supply Adam with a meet help for Propagation, but also superadded the Comfort and enjoyment of Society, the Woman resembling the Man in nature, shape, body and mind, and there being nothing wanting to Adam for the Consummation of his Happiness but a Wife, he was made Lord over the Creatures, Heir of of the World, and seated in Paradise; and God providing him a fit Companion, hath abundantly supplied what he wanted; and man ever since retains such Principles and Inclinations suitable to the Institution of Nature, which by Philosophers is styled, previous Dispositions or Aptitudes in matter to attain and seek after; which brings us to discourse of Marriage, which God Instituted for his own Glory, the good of Mankind, and benefit of Posterity. Marriage being the subject of which we are to treat, we will first consider it in its Institution, and secondly in its Effects. And, First, It's Appointment is Divine. A priori. After God had said, It is not good for man to be alone; it follows, Let us make a meet help for him; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. for man is by nature a sociable Creature, and desirous of Company, as a learned Commentator on the place tells us. An individual makes no Society, Nec jucundum individuo, nec utile speciei. Piscator in loc. Tanquam alter ipse specie & formâ conveniens. Rivet in loc. neither is serviceable to its Species; therefore God gave man a Wife, as another self, of the same Species and Figure with himself; than which nothing could be so meet an help, both for Society and Propagation of Issue, which was absolutely necessary for the preservation of Mankind. And in the second Chapter of Genesis we have an account of the Woman's formation, that she was form of the Rib of Adam, and presented to him, and thereupon she becomes aliquid ipsius, something of him, if not alter idem, another same, which the Schoolmen declare for; that she being form out of a Rib, there was both Flesh and Nerves, which makes her an alter ipse: And she being after the similitude of man, he might the more affect and approve of her; for humane Nature is taken with similes, and we are pleased with the reflex of ourselves, and like Narcissus even dote upon identical dilations: the sacred Phrase runs thus, Deus creavit hominem marem & faeminam. Vulg. lat. Matrimonium humano generi immortalitatem tribuit. Nevisanus. God created man male and female. There being then an identity of constituted matter, that the love of Society and Conjugal affections might be homogenial and reciprocal: Whereas if God had given him a Friend only, the Society had been deficient, neither could the Species be preserved without a Genus: but the Ordination of God, and current of Nature have made them individually one, God presented her to man as a second self. Nature and Religion, Law and Policy strictly oblige them to this sacred Oeconomy: This was visible in Adam's Apprehension and Approbation of it, as we read 23, and 24. verses; This is now bone of my bone, Gen. 2.23, 24. and flesh of my flesh: And in the 24. verse we have the consequents of this noble and sacred Institution; Therefore shall a man leave Father and Mother, and cleave to his Wife, and they two shall be one flesh: That is not, Non loquitur de carnis libidine, sed affectû conjugali. Paulus Fagius, in loc. as one observes, spoken of fleshly Lusting, but out of Conjugal Affections and Love to his Wife, who resembles the two branches in Ezekiel's hand; enclosed in one bark, and closing together make but one flesh, as being a Society of the most endeared Amity and Friendship. Matrimonii symbolum. Ezek. 24.26. Micah 7.5. Prov. 5.19. Solomon speaks thus, Be thou ravished always in her Love: in the Original it is, Err thou always in her love; velut extra sis ut rerum aliarum obliviscare; which signifies a very earnest affection, and a respect immeasurable: And our Blessed Saviour himself, when he lived on earth, was pleased to honour Marriage with his personal attendance; and to put the greater accent and honour on so sacred a Solemnity, was further pleased, to the admiration of all Spectators, to work his first Miracle thereat, by turning Water into Wine; which tacitly implies that Marriage brings honour and perfection to the humane nature, Faelix necessitas quae ad meliora tendit. which was shadowed out by the melioration of water, and was a clear signification and approbation of those lawful delights and entertainments, which were suitable and proper to the occasion: this Nuptial tye is Recorded in Heaven, Solemnised on Earth, and Confirmed by the mutual gauges of two united individuals. This Love is the Harmony, Nil habet natura melius quam ut possis, neque praestantius quam ut velis servare plures. Cicero. the Complexion, Genius, and very Soul of Nature; this true Friendship is the Zodiac wherein the Sun of Truth, Constancy and hearty Affections, interchangeably complete the whole circle of motion and influence; and is the Guardian and tutelar Angel of Society, to which Quarles alludes in his description of Conjugal Love. They were so one, that none could justly say, Which of them ruled, or whether did obey; He ruled, because she would obey, yet she In so obeying ruled as well as he. And as it was instituted for God's glory, and preservation of Mankind, so to preserve inviolate the Laws of God, by avoiding and preventing Fornication, Exod. 10.14. Mark 10.19. Heb. 13.3. which is forbidden by God in several places of Scripture. We can still describe and represent the primitive rectitude of humane Nature, though the fall hath maimed our perfection, and impaired those glorious Ideas we had at first, and disposed us to sin, and deviations: At first the action of sense was appointed to touch the affection, and so present it primarily to the Understanding, by whose conduct the Passions were subordinate and subject to its inclinations, and as its Deputies in the administration of such Duties and Performances, for the Benefit, Service and Happiness of the humane Nature; which Understanding in the Soul is called an Intellectual Lamp, which God placed for the admirable government of his Creature; and the Schoolmen call it Lumen Naturae, the Light of Nature, which St. chrysostom calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, St. Chrys. 13 Orat. and tells us, that 'tis a radical and fundamental knowledge planted in the being of Man, budding and blossoming in his first Principles, flourishing and bringing forth fruit, spreading itself into all the fair and goodly branches of Morality, under whose shadow the Soul takes great delight: And tells us further, that it grows spontaneously, shines out cheerfully and pleasantly; 'tis so visible, that the infant age of the World could spell it out, and read it without a Teacher before Moses was born, or Aaron wore his Golden Bells; before there was a Prophet or Judge in Israel; and so the learned Grotius describes it: The Law of Nature (says he) is a streaming out of glorious Light, Jus Naturale, est dictatum, rectae Rationis indicans, actui alicui, ex ejus convenientia & disconvenientia cum ipsa Naturae Rationali, inesse mortalem turpitudinem aut necessitatem moralem, & consequenter ab authore naturae ipso Deo, talem actum aut vetari, aut praecipi. Grotius de jure Natu. powerfully discovering such a deformity in some evil, as that an intellectual Eye must needs abhor it; and such a commanding Beauty in some good, as that a rational being must needs be enamoured with it, and so plainly showing that God stamped and sealed the one with his Command, and branded the other with his dislike; to which Plutarch very excellently alludes, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. This Royal Law of Nature, says he, was never shut up in a paper Prison, was never confined and limited to any outward surface, but was bravely situated in the Centre of a rational being, always keeping the Soul Company, for its protection and direction; ruling all its Subjects (all obedient actions) with a Golden Sceptre, and crushing to pieces its Enemies, that's all rebellious and evil actions. And Plato tells us, that this Law is founded in Nature, for the maintaining, ennobling, and the perfecting of Nature. But Tully draws a most lively portraiture of the Law of Nature: Est quidem vera lex recta ratio, naturae congruens, diffusa in omnes, constans, sempiterna, quae vocem ad officium jubendo, vetando, fraud deterreat, quae tamen probos, neque frustra ju bet aut vetut, nec improbos jubendo, aut vetando movet; Hinc legi nec propagari jas est, neque derogari ex hac aliquid licet, neque tota abrogari potest; nec vero aut per Senatum, aut per populum solvi hac lege possimus; neque est quaerendus explanator, aut interpres ejus alius, non erat alia Roma, alia Athenis, alia nunc, alia posthac, sed & omnes gentes omni tempore una Lex & sempiterna, & immutabilis continebit, unusque erit quasi communis Magister & Legislator omnium Deus, ille legis hujus inventor, disceptator, lator, cui qui non parebit, ipse se fugiet, & naturam hominis aspernabitur. The Law of Reason, says he, is a beautiful Law, a Law of a pure Complexion and Natural colour, of a vast Extent and diffusion; its colour and beauty cannot fade, it encourages men in Obedience with a smile, it chides them and frowns them out of wickedness; good men hear the whisper of its pleasant voice, and observe the least glance of its lovely eye; but wicked men sometimes will not hear it when it comes to them in Thunder, nor take the least notice of it, though it flash out in Lightning; none must enlarge nor diminish this Law, neither can the malice of men totally deface its Beauty, neither Prince nor People, Angels nor Men can absolve you from it; this Law never paints its face, nor change its colour; it does not put on one aspect at Athens, and another at Rome, but looks upon all Nations and Persons with an impartial eye; it shines upon all Ages, and Times, and Conditions with a perpetual Light; there is but one Lawgiver, he contrived and commanded it, and none can be exempted from it, unless he be banished from his own Essence, and excommunicated from humane nature. And St. Austin in his Confessions: Thy Law, says he, Tua lex, tua lex scripta est in cordibus nostris, quam non ulla unquam delet iniquitas. is written in our hearts, which no Iniquity can blot out. And the wiser Heathen braved it out in admirable expressions; That Beauty and Goodness was a sufficient reward and compensation, that the very turpitude of evil actions is Punishment enough in itself: And what an high pitch of greatness did Plato attain to, when he calls Laws that were made by man, to preserve Justice, and Punish Vice, but Hominum infirmiorum commenta, a remembrance for weak men, to keep them virtuous. And Seneca divinely expressed himself; Licet scirem Deum ignosciturum & homines ignoraturos, attamen peccare nollem ob peccati turpitudinem. Sen. Vir bonus reveretur seipsum. If I were sure, says he, that God would certainly pardon me, and men could never know of it, yet I would scorn to sin for its foulness and dishonesty. And what Christian can keep pace herein, endeavouring after such original rectitude? and when he gave the world that golden Apothegm, That a good man has a veneration for himself; what strong emulations had he to climb after Original Purity, and advance Nature to her primitive Dignity! how did he aim after the Image of his Maker, to preserve that Species of Goodness implanted in him, as knowing that sins and immoralities were the degenerations of humane Nature, and would debase him into a Devil. Now man being a free and voluntary Creature, hath a freedom and liberty to prosecute his own happiness, and having tasted that forbidden fruit, how has he as it were poisoned himself and posterity! And how hath that glorious Picture of his Maker lost its gloss and beauty, and the oriency of its colours! Horresco referens! We tremble to relate how that sweet harmony of his faculties, and subordination of them to each other, is broken; how every motion of the inferior power has disobeyed that government and direction which the superior did administer! how hath man basely exchanged reasonable and well ordered Passions for sensual and beastly! Tanta est vis voluptatum ut & ignorantium protelet in occasionem, & conscientiam corrumpat in dissimulationem. Tertul. what crookedness and dissension is there fight against his reason! what Solecisms in his manners! what impostures to obliterate reason and original truth! and the Understanding being cast out, Passion hath usurped the Chair, which judges of things, not according to natural truth, but according to the Impressions of Fancy, Pleasure, and the dictates of corrupt Nature. And this Corruption of Nature is particularly seen in Incontinency: God of his great goodness hath given us a lawful and honourable use of those innate desires, and propensities of nature in mutual enjoyments, ad conversationem speciei, for Generation sake, but not to satisfy those vile affections of Lust, as the Apostle speaks; and forsaking the guidance of reason, they dishonoured their bodies amongst themselves, as St. Judas tells; which is styled by the Philosopher, Aristotle. Morbid desires; and the Apostle tells us, that he who commits fornication sins against his own Body. Morbus est affectus contra naturam corpori incidens. As Fernelius observes of diseases, that they are affections of body contrary to Nature; so are Adulteries and Fornications. The Poet represented Agamemne, Os occulusque Jovi par, in his features like Jupiter, in valour like Mars, in Wisdom a very Apollo himself: But when angry and passionate, transformed into a Lion, a Tiger, a Devil. So man was created after the Divine Image, and should preserve the sacred obligations of Marriage Inviolable: but by Fornications and Adulteries metamorphosed into a Beast, a Devil; and though the Commission of Sin at first pleases corrupt Nature, yet the violation of the Divine Law, and our guilty Consciences, will affright and torture us. The Poet tells us, Principium dulce est, sed finis amoris amarus, Laeta venire Venus, tristis abire solet. This vultures and gnaws the afflicted heart, this brings destruction to Soul and Body; whence proceeds such Ghonorreahs and Inflammations of Liver, and brings a sudden Catastrophe to life itself. Suetonius invit. ejus. It ruined Alexander the Great, Otho the Emperor, Pope Sextus the fourth: Qui dissessit tabidus voluptate, as the Historian tells us. And as Turtullian observes, the Body quickly fails the Mind, the Mind the Desire, the Desire the Satisfaction, and all the man. And how hath God's Judgements pursued the Adulterer! Suetonius. Julius Caesar was stabbed in the Senate-house, as a just reward of his Incontinence: And how remarkable was God's judgement upon the Levites Wife, Judg. 19.20, 21. that played the Adulteress! and we have an account how she was cut and divided into twelve pieces, and sent into all the Coasts of Israel. And it would be too tedious to relate, what misery and destruction it brought to Anthony and Cleopatra, Augustus Caesar, Mary of Arragon, Rodolphus of Lombardy, and others: And one wittily expresses it, Non est è terris mollis ad astra via. the passage to Heaven is all the way up-hill, and the unclean Adulterer with his rotten lungs cannot climb it up. Sampsons' strength was enervated by a Woman: And Solomon's Wisdom nigh extinguished in the fire of Lust. What a blot and dishonour was it to Amnon, and how was his Sin aggravated in the case of Thamar! Neither does it terminate in personal destruction, but affects Families, nay Kingdoms and Empires: what misery did David bring on himself and family by Adultery with Bathsheba! and how terrible the Divine Judgement against him! The Sword shall not departed from thine house, 2 Sam. 11.10, 11, 12. because thou hast despised the Lord, and taken the Wife of Vriah the Hittite: and it must needs prick him to the Heart, when Nathan so pathetically expostulates the case, and sums up Gods great goodness to him, after he had killed Vriah, Ver. 7, 8, 9 and done evil in the sight of the Lord: And we find that Idleness was a great step to this Sin. David walking on the top of his House, saw that Beautiful Woman: The soul wanting the Salutiferous food of business, preys upon evils; as the Poet tells us of Aegistus his Adultery, Quaeritur Aegistus quomodo sit factus Adulter, In promptu causa est, Desidiosus erat. It was Idleness administered the occasion of his Sin. We would therefore more especially recommend Employment and Business, as a great preservative against those Sins: they preserve the mind against those sensual solicitations and Siren's Enchantments, and fortify the soul against those fatal Poisons that kill us in our delights, and so preserve it invulnerable from the Arrows of a Lais or Cleopatra; obstruct those peccata in deliciis which otherwise might storm and conquer our best resolutions; and like a Coat of Male which preserves the body, so business preserves the mind from those fatal Inchantations; Homines ni hill agendo malè agere discunt. but if we give up ourselves to Idleness, a hundred to one but some evil attacks us. As a match takes fire, so Lust overtakes Idleness: hence the Poets represent all Shepherd's lascivious and effeminate, because generally Idle persons: so Theophrastus defines it, Otiosi animi affectus. And Seneca is in the right when he tells us, Juventâ gignitur, Luxû nutritur, feriis alitur otioque inter laeta fortunae bona. Youth begets it, riot maintains it, Idleness nourishes and continues it. How lustful and effeminate was Alcibiades, Sardanapalus, Nero and others! Whereupon St. Hierom observes, That wherever Security and Idleness prevails, there wantonness and lust reigns. Vbicunque securitas, ibi libido dominatur. And that it affects Kingdoms and States, we find it in the case of Sodom. God reigned down Fire and Brimstone from Heaven, and destroyed the Sodomites, as Pererius notes on the Place; Ex eo quod relatione ad Deum sub nomine Tetragrammaton dicuntur, valde male, & peccatores significatur eo contra jus naturae valde peccâsse. Pere. in Locum. Giving themselves over to Fornication, and going after strange flesh, they sinned against the light of Nature: wherefore the Passion and Indignation of Lactantius is commendable, when he says, That no Indignation against this Sin of Sodom is enough: and as their punishment was by fire, so it was suitable to the Nature of their Sin, and burning Lusts, as Gregory expresseth it. There was Lusting without measure, and excess of riot; Sulphur significatus & punitus fuit peccatorum foetor, igne libidinis ardour. Greg. in locum. and as their Sins were of a crying and aggravating Nature, so the execution of their punishment was by Fire, which is accounted most afflictive to Sense, and a suitable punishment for the greatest offenders. And this fire was a miraculous fire; the Text says, The Lord reigned Fire and Brimstone, from the Lord: Pererius renders it, E Nostris, it came not from the Strength of natural causes, but immediately from God himself. God wrought a miracle to punish those Sodomites, and to put a difference between the ordinary Generation of fire and Sulphur, produced from natural causes, His verbis significatur quod praeter naturalem, rerum cursum miraculum operatus est, puniendo iniquos ad differentiam enim naturalium causarum naturali ordine occurrentium, ad generandum sulphur & ignem, adjunctum est illud, A Jehova. it is superadded in the Text, in terminis, è Jehovah, from the Lord; and this is the sense of the best Interpreters, as Tostatus, Calvin, Musculus, Paraeus and Rivet. And what but the Adultery of Paris with Helena, occasioned the Trojan War, the Ruin of that famous Kingdom, the Death of Paris, and Helena, and King Priamas himself! And Sextus Tarqvinius for the Rape of Lucretia, (for which she slew herself,) was both expelled his Kingdom, and slain by the Sabines; and the Romans very properly Solemnised their Funeral Rites at the Gate of the Temple of Venus, to let the World know, that Lust and Incontinence was an Hastener and Harbinger of Death. Epiphanius relates sad Stories of the Impurities of the Gnostics, and Clemens Alexandrinus of the Carpocratians: therefore let us all remember that Poetical Admonition; Corpus, opes, animam, famam, vim, lumina, Scortum Debilitat, perdit, necat, aufert, eripit, orbat. And let us seriously consider the Royal Observation of the Wisest King: Prov. 7.25, and 26.— She hath cast down many wounded; yea, many strong men have been slain by her: Her house is the way to Hell, going down to the Chambers of Death. We will only just touch at the manner of the Nuptial Celebration, and so proceed to consider the Effects of Marriage. The Ancients Solemnised those Sacred Obligations with such Care, that God himself might be an apparent Witness of that holy Covenant; and several Nations have observed several sorts of Ceremonies; and we may suppose them wisely and judiciously instituted, as the Representatives of that great Mystery. The Hebrews had first their Betrothing, than their Conjugal Rites: There was a distance of time between their Espousals, and the Consummation; which is observable from the Answer of Rebecca's Mother unto Abraham's Servant, that she might remain with her at least ten days after the Espousals: Several Friends assisted at this Ceremony; and they had an Epithalamium, or Nuptial Song sung by some particular Friends, styled, the Children of the Bride-Chamber: Mat. 9.15. And that this Hymeneal Song was no other than a Form of Blessing pronounced on the new Married Couple, is thus described by Genebrand: The Chief of those Companions taketh a Cup, and Blesseth it, saying; Blessed be the Lord our God, which created Man after his own Image, and hath thereby prepared to himself an everlasting Building: Blessed be thou, O Lord our God, who hast created Joy and Gladness, the Bridegroom and the Bride, Charity and brotherly Love, Rejoicing and Pleasure, Peace and Society: I beseech thee, O Lord, let there be suddenly heard in the Cities of Judah, and Streets of Jerusalem, the voice of Joy and Gladness, the voice of the Bridegroom and the Bride; the voice of Exultation in the Bride-Chamber is sweeter than any Feast, and Children sweeter than the sweetness of a Song. And he drinks to the Married Couple;— From which our vulgar Custom of wishing them Joy and Happiness proceeds.— They kept their Marriage Feast seven days; Judg. 14.10. and 11.— which space of time they observed for mourning, whence came that Jewish Proverb, Septem ad Convivium, septem ad Luctum: And there was a Wedding Ring given to the Bride, with this Inscription, Mazal Tob, which the Hebrews call the Planet Jupiter, according to Munster, which they thought of great Efficacy and Virtue for Generation. And the Subjection and Modesty of Women in those days is observable: When the Wife was first presented to her Husband, she covered herself with a Veil: Thus did Rebecca, when she espied Isaac coming towards her, she took a Veil, Gen. 24.65. and covered herself. Now as the Hebrews prayed unto God, so other Nations had their particular Auspicious Deities, and forms of Invocations; as, at Athens, Hymeneus; and at Rome, Thalassius; that the Marriage might be happy and fortunate: And they adorned one Finger of the left Hand with a Ring, as a Symbol of their great Love to their Husbands; and they were wont to be carried into their Husband's Houses, to intimate, that they lost their solicited Virginity not voluntarily. We will not trouble you with the several Customs which were accommodated to Magnificence and Splendour of the Nuptials, the Sports of Gladiators, and Preparations of Pastime for the People, which Theophrastus calls, the Delightful Product of Riches: And for our modern Customs herein, and modes of Celebration, we pass them over, to hasten to the Effects of Marriage. A posteriori. Secondly, We come to consider the Effects of Marriage: And we are not about Vmbraticam Causam, needless things; but our design is to blazon the Sacred and Noble Effects of Marriage. Finis dat amabilitatem mediis. 'Tis the End and good Consequence of things that gives the greater Lustre and Loveliness to the Causes.— Man being a congregable Creature, by reason of his Speech, the Communative Organ of Society, as Cicero tells us;— Man delights in the Company of his own Species, Pares cum paribus sacilime congregantur. Cicero. and the Similitude of their Natures hath constituted a continued Alliance amongst themselves. And Tostatus tells us, That that was the Original of Civil Communication, for the mutual Preservation of Mankind: The happy Effects of it were seen in the several Families and Associations of the first Age:— The first Oeconomies and Institutions for the Government of Mankind, was the blessed Effects of Marriage.— Here the admirable wisdom of Divine Providence shined out, and here the Celestial Proclamation took place; Glory to God on High, on Earth Peace, good Will towards Men: For, no sooner was Man created for God's Glory, but a meet help assigned him; and the next thing in Nature after Generation follows Preservation, Subordination, and Government, as a Pattern to Succeeding Ages, for the Government of God's Church and People in the World. Now Self-love being an inseparable Property to all Being's, Amor sui. we must needs delight in the Preservation of our own Essence, for the Unity we find in ourselves: And when in Nature, or Habit, we find the Similitude and Character of ourselves, the Beams and Powers of our Wills and Affections do extend and dilate themselves upon those Objects respectively. Now a Representation is made, 1. In Substance; as the Husband and Wife are One Flesh, and Children the Branches of their Parents. 2. In Accidents, or Qualities; as one Man is like to another, either in the Dimensions of Body, Identity of Physiognomy, or mental Endowments;— all which prompts Nature to mutual Exercises of Love and Courtesy. And this natural Civility and Providence extends to other Creatures as well as Man: Elian reports of the Affection of Elephants to their Young: That the Pelican, if the naturalists may be credited, when her young Ones have been bitten, feeds them with her own Blood, for their Recovery, (which a Portugal Prince made Emblematical to express his Love to his Subjects;) and other Creatures observe this Affection, according to Elian: Nay, the most cruel of Beasts, the Tiger, if Statius be not mistaken: — Sic aspera Tigris Foetibus abreptis Scythico deserta sub Antro Accubat, & lepidi lambit vestigia lecti. Lib. 10. Nay, what Regiment this affection does obtain upon the whole Classes of vegetable nature, is pleasant to observe: in the Vine and Elm how great a sympathy! the Olive and the Myrtle embrace each other. What a story is related of two Palm trees in Italy by Jovianus Pontanus, in his Poems! Naturalists allow them Male and Female, and that they will not grow out of each others sight. The Poet Claudian describes the Passion of Vegetables, thus, Vivunt in venerem frondes, omnisque vicissim, Foelix arbor amat, nutat & mutua Palma; Faedera, populco suspirat populus ictu. But in Mankind how much greater is this affection, and who can undertake to describe the extent of Conjugal Love! Man admires her as his meet help; she was built in Paradise: Nature hath given her purer Elements in her Composition, and sweetened her Countenance beyond the Sternness of a Male Aspect, and hath entrusted her with the Conception, Production and Education of Posterity. And God gave the honour of our Redemption to the Seed of the Woman; man is more obsequious to that Sex than his own. For a virtuous and wise Woman is like the Ambassador of a Prince, held as a Person sacred: man admires her for that secret sweetness that indulge and gratify all his senses at once in his Conversation with her; and is sensible of the fruition of so excellent a Creature without himself, and of the honour he receives by help of Propagation and parity of natural Union: she is the high Chamberlain of his Soul, Privado of his Senses, and with the charms of her figure, In totâ rererum naturâ nihil formâ divinius, nihil augustius, nihil praetiosius cujus vires hinc facile intelliguntur. Socrates. feature and relation, can persuade him into more than all the intermitted rhetoric of a Masculine friend. Ab talem uxorem qui praestentissima forma, Nil mortale refert.— But it would be too tedious to relate the Examples of Conjugal affection; we pass over the Love of Abraham and Isaac to their Wives; Ezek. 24.16. of Ezekiel, whose Wife was called the delight of his Eyes; the Vulgar Latin is, Desiderium Oculorum tuorum. Augustus Caesar died in the kisses of his Wife Livia. Conjugii nostri mea mor, vive & vale. We pass over the affections of Theodosius and Placilla his Queen, of Seneca and Paulina, Mansolus and Artemesia: and it is reported of one that ordered to be writ on his Tomb, That he had lived with his Dear Wife forty three years eight months, and never fell out. What a blessed Amnestia does this noble Constitution settle amongst men! And the Conversation of a good Wife sweetens Life, and banishes vexation; to whom we may tell our discontents, and have them lessened, and our joys, and have them multiplied: and he that hath a good Wise, hath two selves, and possesses all his faculties double. Homer brings in Paris kissing Helena after ten years' Marriage, protesting as much affection as if but newly conjoined. Like the Old man in Ausonius, Vxor vivamus quod vivimus, & moriamur Servantes nomen sumpsimus in thalamo; Nec ferat ulla dies ut commutemur in aevo Quin tibi sum Juvenis tuque puella mihi. Dear Wife let's live in love, and die together, As heretofore we have in all good will; Let no day change or alter our affections, But let's be young to one another still. Much like the saying of Solomon, And rejoice with the Wife of thy Youth, Prov. 5.19. 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. Here is a magnetic and charming quality, a powerful and occult motive; and though he rule his Wife as head, yet she again commands his Heart; no happiness like it, placens Vxor, a sweet Wife. Omnis Amor magnus, sed aperto in conjuga major: No Love so strong as this Conjugal Love, they being but one flesh are unanimous, and Gerion-like, Amicitiae symbolum. Coalescere in Vnum, and have but one Heart in two Bodies. Corporibus geminis Spiritus unus erat. And so continue in mutual Love, affection and endearments to each other; according as the Poet personates a Loving Husband: Propertius. Lib. 2. Et me ab amore tuo deducet nulla senectus, Sive ego Tythonus sive ego Nestor ero. No age shall part my Love from thee, sweet Wife, Tho' I live Nestor's, or Tythonus' life. And so è diverso, the Woman also hath a great sense of these conjugal obligations; she admires her Husband as her Head and Protector, and under God a Melior Natura, an Auspicious Genius, and Tutelar Angel, concerned for her happiness, and consulting all the honourable methods for her Preservation and Comfort: And the Care, Diligence and Industry of a good Husband, for the Preservation and Happiness of her, and hers, recommends him the more to her Love and most endeared affections. She cannot but adore the Divine goodness, that when her Parents are dead, and her Friends fail her, that she hath a second Self, who is unhappy if she be miserable; and under God her happiness in this World depends immediately on the Industry, Sobriety, Diligence and Providence of her Husband. Man and Wife should resemble the Cherubims in the Temple, which looked on each other; so they should love and admire each other, and meet half way in the joint Prosecution of both their good. The Apostle exhorts Husbands to love their Wives as Christ loved the Church: Eph. 5.25. Col. 3.18. And Wives to submit themselves to their Husbands, as it is fit in the Lord, and win them by their sweet Conversation. And the Wise man, 1 Pet. 3.1. in his description of a loving and industrious Wife; says, She will do him good▪ and not evil all her days; And goes on descanting on the particular parts of her good housewifery: And in the 28 verse, Pronounces his blessing on her; Prov. 31.10. Her Children arise up and call her blessed, her Husband also, and he praiseth her. We also have read of the constancy of a Ruth, of Sarah and Rebecka's fidelity to their Husbands; and in the Roman Government, the Bride used to salute her Husband: Vbi tu Caius, Plutarch. ego semper Caia. It was an excellent Character the Holy Ghost gives of Abigal, that she was a Woman of an excellent Understanding, in Pacifying David, and saving her house. Phile and Zenobia were exceeding Lovers of their Husbands; and what Lamps of Female Glory were the Cornelia's, Panthia's, Porcia's, and others! and how great an Admiration had that Persian Lady for her Husband, when at Cyrus his Wedding, she was asked, How she liked the Bridegroom; I know not, said she, for I saw none there, but mine own Husband. And Plutarch relates of the Love and Wisdom of the Celtic Women, that when their Husbands were involved in a Civil War, by the endeavours and Solicitation of their Wives, a Peace was made, and for their Honour and Reward they were admitted to the Council. And it was one of the Articles made with Hannibal, That if the Carthaginians had any controversy with the Celtians, it should be decided by the Celtian Women; and we find a passage in Euripides to this effect, Optima viri possessio uxor benevola, Mittigans iram, & avertens animum ejus à tristitia. Man's best possession is a loving Wife, She tempers anger and diverts all strife. And as in this Conjugal affection, there is such an egress and expansion of the Heart and Spirits to the object loved, and a Love and respect of that extent, that an Ovid can't teach it, nor Solomon describe, nor Apelles paint it; so an high care and solicitation for the well-being and preservation of each other: Res est solliciti plena timoris amor. Ovid's Epist. as the Poet well describes the jealousy of Penelope for the safety of Ulysses, In te fingebam violentes Troias ituros, Ovid's Epist. Nomine in Hectureo, pallida semper eram. How oft my dear Ulysses did I see In my sad thoughts proud Trojans rush on thee, And when great Hector's but touched mine ears, My cheeks drew paleness from my paler fears. And as absence is tedious and unpleasant, so their departure each from other afflictive and uneasy: When Thais took her leave of Phaedria, — Egone quid velim, Noctes diesque ames me, me desideres, Me somnies, me expectes, me cogites, Me spears, me te oblectes, mecum tota sis, Meus sac postremo animus, quando ego sum tuus. Dost ask, my Dear, what service I will have, To love me day and night is all I crave; To dream on me, to expect, to think on me, Depend and hope, still covet me to see; Delight thyself in me, be wholly mine, For know, my Love, that I am wholly thine. But we must shake off this pleasant Argument, for there's no end of it. In short, how have Philosophers, Historians and Poets celebrated this Alliance, this Conjugal Oeconomy; this Divine constitution! Dies deficeret & Nox; we will only give you the rapture of Boaethius. O Faelix hominum genus! Si vestros ammos Amor Quo Caelo regitur, regat. Now two being become one by this Mysterious Conjunction, they reciprocally love and mutually affect each other, and jointly promote the happiness of both: the man is obliged to love his Wife, as Grotius says, Dilectione sincera, castâ & perpetuâ, & exemplo sanctae vitae uxoribus praebeat. Spontaneâ nempè voluntate, agnoscentes ordinationem Dei qui id etiam an te peccatum constituit. with a chaste and constant love, and set their Wives the example of a Religious Life: And the Woman to love, reverence and submit to her Husband, freely and cheerfully acknowledging the Ordinance of God from the beginning, as Zanchius directs. And as the Matrimonial honour is to be preserved inviolable, so the Holy Ghost is pleased to represent the mystical Union between Christ and his Church, by the semblance and Analogy of Marriage. Quo spectare videtur, sequens comparatio, de Christo ecclesiamsuam sanctificante. Estius in loc. Aristotle Pol. Now this Love and Affection being proper to Mankind, is called Amor cognitionis. Leon Hebreus calls it Rational love, whereby all the Affections and Actions are conformed to the Object; and this Love the Philosopher styles, Debitum Naturae, a Debt we own to Nature, and the neglect thereof a trespass against Nature; because God is Love itself; he made the World out of Love, and wonderfully illustrated this Love in redeeming of it; and the Emanations of it are visible in his Divine Providence, and in his care and protection of every individual, and particle of the Creation. Si rerum quaeris fuerit quis finis & ortus, Desine, nam causa est unica solus Amor. Dost ask the reason moved God above To make the world, the only cause was Love. And here we might enter into a vast and Philosophical Field of discourse, Amor est voluntatis affectus. Forma est vitalis ●ulgor●ex ipso bono emanans par Ideas. Plato. Pulchritudo est perfectio compositi, & congruente ordine, mensurá & ratione partium consurgens. and give you the Definition, division and object of Love; according to Leon Hebreus, a voluntary affection and desire to enjoy that which was good: Omne pulchrum est amabile; and the more fair the object, the more desirable. Plato defines Beauty, a resulting from effased good. Others call it a perfection of the whole composition; and this Comeliness is called Grace, which joined with Beauty is like the Shinings that come from a Glorious and Divine Sun; than which admirable Beauty, says Socrates, there is nothing so majestical, nothing so sacred, divine and Lovely, and nothing can charm mankind so much. When Xerxes destroyed all the Temples of the Grecian Deities, he caused the Picture of Diana, in Integrum servari, to be spared for its Beauty and Majesty: Naturae gaudentis opus. But how much more charming is natural Beauty, which Plato calls the Quintessence and Triumph of Nature. Carneades calls it, Still Rhetoric, that persuades without Speech; 'tis a Kingdom without a Militia; Gratior est pulchro, veniens è corpore virtus. Vir. Aeneads. which made Diogenes call Beautiful Women Queens, because all were willing to obey their Commands: and the Poet describes Dido's astonishment when she first beheld Aeneas, Obstupuit primo aspectu Sydonia Dido. So the Woman of Samaria was transported with the Beauty of Christ; Origen. he was Fairer than the Sons of men. Joseph's comeliness conciliated his Favour in the Egyptian Court: Lib. de pull. Jes. & Mar. How much doth P. Morales admire the Beauty and Lustre of the Virgin Mary! Anthony admired Cleopatra, and Theseus was charmed with Helena. And though the Mind is not occasioned by the Body, yet Philosophy tells us it follows the temperament of it; and where the external Qualities are so beautiful, we may guests at the Judgement, concluding that the lovely dispositions of the Soul quickeneth and animates the outward Graces; and there being so strong a love between the Body and Soul, we may from thence presume of a similitude in the Qualities of the Soul, with those lovely impressions of nature we find in the Body. Now Leon Hebreus divides Love into three parts, Natural, Sensible, and Rational: Natural Love is seen in the Elements, Sun, Moon and Stars, in Metals and Stones; gravia tendunt deorsum; Fire upwards, and in Vegetables, as before. Sensible Love in brute Beasts, for the preservation of the Species; and Rational, which was handled before, as proper to Mankind; but then only respecting Philanthropy, the love of men to their own Species; whereas the affections of men are likewise dilated on things as well as persons. We admire Virtue, Wisdom, Eloquence, Profit, Wealth, Honour, Beauty, Friendship, Charity, and other things, Arts and Sciences; but we only name them, each head would take up a copious discourse by itself. And pleading Peccavi for this pleasant digression, we return to prosecute the remaining Effects of Marriage: And the next is Children. When he sees those fine and elaborate pieces of himself, whom God hath graciously given him, how does he adore the Divine Goodness that made him a Father, and Instrument to preserve by a continued Succession God's Church in the World! and how is he obliged to give down to his Offspring those Precepts and Institutes for God's glory, their good and advantage, he received from his Ancestors! Children are the blessing of their Parents, and a good Parent a blessing to his Children. When God blessed our first Parents, 'twas thus: Be fruitful, Gen. 1.28. Signifi●at secunditatem omnemque favorem, & copiam, & quae Deus illis omnia laeta, & pausta precatus fuit. Paulus Fagius, in Locum. Gen. 22.17. and multiply, and replenish the earth; which Blessing, as a learned man tells us, signifies all Fruitfulness, Favour and Plenty; and that God would heap on them all Joys and Prosperity: so that the blessing of Children and all other Enjoyments, are annexed to Marriage. So when God blessed Abraham; In blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the Stars in Heaven, and as the sand on the Seashore, and thy seed shall possess the Gate of his Enemies: The words are an Hebraism, verbalia addita verbis; which signifies Gods earnest resolutions to Bless Abraham, and his Seed after him: The Hebrews observed a Conveniency between the forms of expression and the thing expressed: So when Christ said, Luke 22. Cordis & Oris orationem notat. With desire I have desired; Aquinas noteth on the place, that the Heart and Tongue both Prayed: And David expresseth the goodness of God to the Seed of Abraham; Psal. 105.6, 8, 9, 10, 11. O ye seed of Abraham his Servant, and ye seed of Jacob his Chosen, he hath remembered his Covenant for ever; the word which he commanded to a Thousand Generations; which Covenant he made unto Abraham, and his Oath unto Isaac, and confirmed the same unto Jacob for a Law, and to Israel for an everlasting Covenant, saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your Inheritance. And when God blessed Jacob, I will pour my Spirit on thy seed, Isa. 44.3. and my blessing on thine Offspring. Now as these are the Promises and Blessings of God on the one hand, so 'tis the Parent's Duty on the other to express their Obligations and Thankfulness in the Education and Care of their Children; Prov 20.3. like Solomon's Just man, who walketh in his Integrity, and his Children are blessed after him. How does he consult all ways and methods to make his Children truly happy! By Integrity we may understand that faithfulness a Father oweth to his Children, in giving them a religious and sober Education: Nurture is as necessary for Children as Nourishment, which if Parent's neglect, they are Peremtores potius quam parents, Qûo semel est imbuta recens servabit odorem testa diu. Prov. 22.6. rather Parricides than Parents: but the good Father takes Solomon's Advice, and trains up his Child in the way he should go; and with that wise Spartan Prince, when he was asked what he should teach his Children, made Answer, Agesilaus. Xenoph. Those things that they should make use of when they became men: For Youth is like soft Wax, Tanquam abrasa tabula. takes any Impression; therefore it ought to be seasoned with Religion and Learning; as the Spring is the fittest seedtime for Grain and Planting, so Youth is the most convenient season to scatter the Seeds of Knowledge upon the ground of the mind. And this Integrity also takes in the good Example of the Parent, for good Examples are very prevalent with Children. It is recorded for the honour of Joshua, Magis intuentur quod fecit Jupiter quam quid docuit Plato. that he took care of his Children, and 'twas his good resolution, That he and his House would serve the Lord: Lycurgus commanded all his Citizens to dine publicly, where their Children heard no idle Speeches, but grave discourse about the Government of the Commonwealth. The good Parent is an utter Enemy to evil Customs, he well knows what arguments are brought from thence to support ill actions; for Custom (as the Lord Verulam calls it) is the dumb Idol of the world, Idolum Theatri. the great Mart of Error, wherein Men unthriftily take up on trust, and at last break by too much relying on the bankrupt security of a Fashion; the Ignis fatuus and blaze men play about, as Flies about a Candle, till they burn their wings: He will therefore be sure to give his Children a good Example, and abolish bad Customs. Virgil brings in Aeneas advising his Son Ascanius; Lib. 12. Disce puer virtutem ex me, verosque labores. Virtue and Patience learn of me, my Son. So Homer represents Hector Praying for his Son; Let it be said, here's a good Son indeed, That did his noble Father far exceed. And if Heathens professed this sort of Piety, how much more should Christian Parents bring up their Children in the Admonition, and Fear of the Lord! How much was it to the honour and glory of Abraham, when God gives this Testimony of him! For I know him, Gen. 18.19 that he will command his Children, and his Household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, and do justice and Judgement, that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him. Which was, that in him should all the Families of the Earth be blessed; As if God should argue, How shall I fulfil my promise to Abraham, unless Abraham instruct his Children? and what Parent will Wilfully obstruct his own and children's happiness? 1 Kings 2.2, 3. So David charged Solomon: Be thou strong therefore, and show thyself a man: And keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his Statutes, his Judgements, and his Testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses: and that he might the rather embrace his charge, he adds the reason, that thou mayst prosper in all thou dost, Majori sollicitudine me parturiebat Spiritu quam peperat carne, parturiebat carne ut in hanc temporalem nascerer corde ut in aeternam lucem re nascerer. Aug. Lib. 2. confess. ch. 3. and whithersoever thou turnest thyself: And St. Austin reports of his Mother Monica, that she ceased not do her endeavours every way, that he might be truly religious, and as well God's Child by Grace as hers by Nature. This is that Domestic care that is incumbent on all Parents, to teach their Children their Duty to God himself, to Honour their Parents, to reverence their Superiors, be courteous to their Equals, and that in all their Actions, they should have Oculi in Metam, and so be recti in curiâ: the Wiseman also tells us, what Instructions he received from his Parents: Prov. 4. To study Wisdom and to shun the path of the Wicked; and further tells us, that whoso loveth Wisdom rejoiceth his Father; chap. 29. and this Wisdom is the fear of the Lord, as we find afterwards: The fear of the Lord, Prov. 9.10. that is Wisdom, and the Knowledge of the Holy is Understanding. The good Parent well considers Religion as most essential to his children's Happiness; that in the end of their days, when all other things fail, than God may be the strength of their Heart, and their Portion for ever. That Antistes Sacrorum, the Reverend Dr. Usher, used prayer in his Family four times a day, and on Frydays Cathechized them; as remembering that charge, which God commanded the old Israelites, These Words which I command thee this day, shall be in thine Heart. Deut. 6.6, 7. And thou shalt teach them diligently to thy Children, and thou shalt talk of of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And next after Religion his care is manifest, to learn them Arts and Sciences, knowing that Ignorance brings Idleness, Idleness brings ill Company, which the Devil useth as an Engine to Dethrone men from the safe and honourable seat of Virtue to the precipice of ruin and destruction, and so enchanting their Understanding, their Misery attends them incognito; whereas good and wise Associates are our second Genius to goodness; Phil. de Comines. Ab. 34. or as another expresseth it, 'Tis an Indication of a good and virtuous disposition, to choose learned and virtuous Companions: which made Alexander so highly esteem Aristotle, Themistocles his Anaxagoras, and Scipio his Canutius. And he recommends virtue to them, as the compliment of a happy life, and only Immortal thing that belongs to Mortality, and represents it to them with such Beauty and Majesty, that it must needs conciliate Love and Veneration; and being a Charm so powerful, the affected Soul admires it, as the Lady and Queen of an Intellectual Beauty. He well knows that Nature has, as it were, of purpose left many things for Art and Industry to finish and make up; and as 'tis Art's duty to imitate Nature, so 'tis its dignity to perfect it: Nature gives in the Oar, but Industry refines it into Silver. God hath bestowed on his Children the Light of Nature, and the Understanding of a Reasonable Being, and though by Original Sin this Light be eclipsed, this Understanding and Reason withered, there is the more need of supernatural accomplishments. Arts and Sciences polish and improve Nature, and confer a great help and furtherance thereunto, and cure the diseases of our Minds: as it was said of Demosthenes, that Nature brought forth one Demosthenes, and Learning another, his Intellectuals were so improved by his studies. He recommends therefore to his Children the study of the Scriptures and practical Divinity, commends the devotion of a Numa, the Justice of an Aristides, the good Laws of a Solon, the Prudence of a Cato, the Courage of a Scipio, the Moderation of a Fabius, and the public Spirit of a Cicero; and commends Learning, that is the only thing to enrich their minds with such precious furniture, that Alexander professed he had rather excel in Wisdom than Power, and as that which promotes the civil end of our Life: in honore cum dignitate vivamus; and that a man without Understanding is like the Beasts that perish: therefore he is highly solicitous to instruct his Children, with the Emanations of Divine Wisdom, the Ideas of Morality, the Simples of Science, the Flowers of Rhetoric, Reason and Philosophy, and to build them up into the Gallantry and Perfection of men. How does he set before them, that Learning was the Glory of Scipia Affricanus, Charles the Great, Titus Vespasian, Charles the fifth, and our late King James! and how much Historians, Poets and Philosophers have celebrated the Glories of the Learned; and by this stir up the genius of his own Children to an Emulation of their virtues. And we read of great Personages that taught their Children themselves: Augustus Caesar read Cicero and Virgil to his Children, and of a Grecian Emperor, that taught his Daughter himself: and Bishop Jewel citys her in his Apology, as Author of a Church History: so Paulus Aemilius instructed his Children in the Latin and Greek Tongues: And Sir Tho. Moor when Lord Chancellor taught his three Daughters, and Buchanal relates of the admirable Learning of Sir Anthony Cooks Children, instructed by their Father. And as these things are incumbent on Parents, so 'tis the children's happiness to have such Watches over them: having touched at the Just man's Integrity, the Wise man adds this, His Children are blessed after him. 'Tis indeed a great blessing to Children, to have Wise and Religious Parents; and when they sit at the feet of such Gamaliels, they enjoy that Happiness the Queen of Sheba pronounced on Solomon's Servants, 1 Kings 10.8. Happy are thy Men, happy are these thy Servants, that stand continually before thee, and hear thy Wisdom. And as a grateful acknowledgement of their Obligations, they ought to give their Parents all Duty, Honour and Reverence. 'Tis the Apostles exhortation, Honour thy Father and thy Mother, this is the first commandment with Promise: And what's that? That thy days may be long in the Land. And this promise were sufficient if all duty were superseded. And the wise man exhorts us, Honour thy Father that begat thee, and despise not thy Mother when old: And indeed the Book of Proverbs is full of ghostly advice to Children; and 'tis but common gratitude, to be thankful to them who gave them being, and by Instruction in Religion and Learning they give them also well-being; with what ardent affection and ambition ought they to answer the expectations of their Parents, consonant to the Apostles exhortation; Col. 3.20. Children obey your Parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to God. But we will pass on to prosecute our further discourse; only let us hear Plato's opinion about the Government of Youth: In the Foundation of Youth, says he, well ordered and taught, consists the flourishing of a Commonwealth. And indeed he is altogether in the right; for the Education and Government of Youth, is like the preparing and polishing Stones and Utensils for some magnificent Fabric: And here we could wish every Family a little Seminary of Religion and Learning, for the service of Church and State; as our Universities are for the accomplishment of Persons for Sacred and Civil Offices: And we find Plutarch of the same Judgement; and tells us, that Education and Learning reform the Life and Manners, and afford the best advice for the Government of a Commonwealth: And we thence infer, that a reformed Life and Manners, not only produce an Excellent Oeconomy and Institution of Government, but are the most serviceable and adventitious helps to preserve the Unity and Beauty of such administrations, and infallibly annex Happiness and Prosperity to such a People. And if good Government and Discipline were observed in Families, how much would it conduce to public advantage? As in an Army, what glorious encounters are they sit for, when the General understands his Interest and Station, and all his Soldiers perfectly understand their Posts, all expert and acute in Military undertake. So in a State, when all are sit to rule, and all willing to obey their Prince; Imperatoris faelicitas in subditorum faelicitate consistat. Grotius. Lips. Polit. whose happiness consists in the happiness of his People, as Grotius tells us; and Lipsius calls it, Verum & legitimum Imperium: A true and lawful Empire so governed. Now when the People are taught to be religious, Religion must needs flourish; and when they are instructed in Arts and Sciences, Trades and Commerce, it must needs conduce to their happiness, profit, honour and greatness. We all know, that those States thrived best, that were most addicted to the service of their Gods: Rome saw her best days when Religion flourished there under a Numa, Augustus, Titus, Constantine, Theodosius, and others: And Bodin gives us the reasons of it; Ab câ enim subditorum fides in Principes obedientia erga Majestratus pietas in Parents, charitas in singulos, & justititia in omnes pendet de Rebus. Lib. 7. From hence, says he, they became Loyal to their Prince, Obedient to the Magistrate, Dutiful to Parents, Charitable to all, with an equal distribution of Justice: and by these administrations they exceeded other Nations, as Martial sets them out. Terrarum Dea, gentiumque Roma, Cui par est nihil, & nihil secundum. Rome of all Nations is the Lady Queen, To which the like, or second, is not seen. Hac enim sola Romana gens totam terrarum orbem sub●git. Bodin. They exceeding other Nations in Piety, as one observes; by this they conquered all the world besides. And St. chrysostom tells us, that Princes without learning and the fear of God, manage but lamely their greatest Affairs, and are blind in discretion and knowledge: The Piety of an Agesilaus, brought him both Honour and Success; the Devotion of a Numa and a Fabius, made them formidable and glorious: And we have read of a Law of one of our Danish Kings, that at the Assizes the Bishop was obliged to accompany the Judge, that the one might countenance God's Law, and the other Man's; in Imitation of Jehosaphat, who sent the Levites with his Princes, 2 Chron. 17.6. to teach in the Cities of Judah. We pass over the Piety of Charles the great, who used to set his Crown on the Bible; of Edward the Sixth, and Queen Elizabeth, who when the Bible was presented to her by the Citizens of London, kissed it, and laid it to her Breasts: and the Examples of Princes are of great force to promote Devotion in the People. Regis ad Exemplum, was a saying of old, and all Ages have confirmed it. Now when Religion is settled, it produces peace and a general happiness, which produceth peaceable Society, the Improvement of Arts and Sciences, Trade and Commerce, and on these depend the happiness of a State. We pass over the sad effects of War and Hostility, of Rapine and Bloodshed, and all those Evertores horrifici, those Devastations which succeed it. How are Temples and Antiquities razed to the ground, and Religion spuriated into Heresy and Schism; all which cease, by reason the cause is taken away, and the State preserved from Foreign Invasions and Civil Dissensions. Here we may see how things are chained and linked together, and how naturally effects flow from their causes; and how Family-government, where the Father governs his Children, and they again obey their Parents, bears so strict an Analogy and semblance between a Prince and his People; and Family-government, a little Model and pattern of National Discipline, which was erected first from Paternal Administrations: For till Nimrod's time, who Erected the first Monarchy National, Noah and his Generations, as Paraeus tells us, Par familias 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Paraeus in Gen. did rule gently by their Families. But in Process of time the World growing exceeding Populous, though the several Families of the Earth did, and do retain their Oeconomy, and first Prescriptions for their particular Order and Decorum; they are since Politically united, and a whole Land or Nation under an Uniformity of Government, and as it were so many thousands of Families incorporated into one Body, for a common Strength and Preservation. Here the Sagacity of Man under the Divine Conduct is very visible, Vis unita f●●tim. Lord Bacon 's Esssays. all Estates subscribe to Unity, as the Mother and Foundation of Concord and Preservation; and by this Polity, not only Sacred and Civil Rights are preserved, but settled and confirmed; and Nimrod was the first Prosecutor hereof, and changed the Paternal Government into National Monarchy; and the Genius of his aspiring Nature instructed him in this principle of Policy; which very word is derived from the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to Sell, whence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a City, and metonymically taken to signify Commerce and Trade in a Society of men, which did ensue, and was in the greatest measure augmented by National Government. Now this Nimrod in Scripture is styled a mighty Hunter: Viribus ro●●stis, & 〈◊〉 discretus. Tostatus in loc. And Tostatus speaks of him, being strong in Body, and Discreet in mind, by the Engine of his Wit, and Art of Gratification, and by heaping good turns on Injured Persons, did engage a multitude to his Party, Vnde dominandi Occasionem na●ius, regn●m obtulit. Muscul. in loc. by whose assistance he pursued men as a Hunter does Beasts: whereupon, says Musculus, he obtained a Kingdom by his Valour and Victory, the rude and barbarous People being reduced to Civil Government; Musculus, St. chrysostom, Cornelius a Lapide, Mercer and Rivet in Locum. which Conquest by most Commentators is ascribed to the Vigour of his Body, and Virtue of his Mind; surpassing others by his Humanity and Benignity, he got together a Party, whereby he subdued his Opposites, and settled his Government. But since it hath been the general Policy of succeeding Ages, by Marriage and Affinity to perpetuate that in their Families, which he only obtained by Craft and Subtilty; witness the Royal Families of the World ever since, a Sovereignty and Superiority having been generally successive; Moses, Joshua, Samuel, etc. (except only when it pleased God to inspire and adapt some particular men for the Government of his People in the Primitive times.) And thus Marriage hath not only Entailed Sovereignty on their Posterity, but also settled the common Peace, Trade and Commerce of one Nation and State with another; hath promoted Alliances of common preservations, against the Enemies of God's Church; and whereby several countries' have enjoyed the Commodities and Manufactures of each other, for a mutual good and advantage. Solomon Married Pharaoh's Daughter, and settled a Trade and Commerce with the Egyptians. What reconciled the Chaldeans to Cyrus but Marriage? what reconciled the Sabines to the Romans? Marriage; they were Enemies and Friends both in one days time, Salubrem providentiam. Seneca. which Seneca styles an healing Providence. What reconciled Pompey and Caesar after so much Fight and Bloodshed, but Marriage? Which way did Alexander reconcile and ally Asia to Europe, but by Marriage? And our Politic Henry the Seventh Marrying the Lady Elizabeth, Heir of the House of York, engrafted the white Rose on the Red, and so put a Period to those Civil Dissensions which had caused so much Bloodshed; and by Marrying of his two Daughters, entitled his Heirs to the French Interest and Crown of Scotland: And in short, the Sovereign Houses of Christendom being a Kin to each other by Marriage, the Peace of Christendom and other parts have been preserved thereby; Firmissimum Imperii munimentum, Tacitus an. and Tacitus calls it the most strong Preservative of Empire. And if these Obligations were but duly observed by Nations and Families, what Haltion days would be found on Earth! this Contract of Mankind should be like that Golden Chain which reaches from Earth to Heaven, preserving the mutual coherence of the Elements, whereby all things are reciprocally tied together, and make this lower World like the Imperial Heavens; where all the motions of the comprehending Orbs, the several Const●●●tions, the various position of the Stars and Planets produce a ravishing Chorus, and an Harmony truly beautiful: And what peace and quiet too, as the Emanations of this sacred Friendship, would be established! and what a series of Hacentia's, and pleasing Contentations slow from it! 'twould lead us up to the via Lactea, and usher us with Music to the presence of Divinity. Having spoken something of the Illustrious Effects of Marriage, we proceed to inquire what method we are to take to render it blessed, propitious and satisfactory, which brings us to peruse the Prayer of Eliezer, for constituting a Family; in which Government was first erected, and if still preserved, is the best means to preserve National Discipline, which was derived from it. GEN. 24. v. 12. And he said, O Lord God of my Master Abraham, I pray thee send me good speed this day, and show kindness unto my Master Abraham. THe words contain a pathetical Prayer of Eliezer, Abraham's Servant, for a good Wife for his Master's Son, I pray thee, etc. The Context and preceding Verses give us an account of Abraham's direction, and Eliezer's entrance on this design; here we find Abraham's Servant beginning with his Supplication to the Lord God of his Master Abraham, for success in this undertaking. The Explication being so obvious, we only take notice of four particulars. 1. His Solemn Address to God for success. 2. His Prayer is strengthened by this Expression, O Lord God of my Master Abraham. 3. The Object and Design of his Prayer, to have good success this Day. 4. That particular kindness God would vouchsafe unto Abraham, in the concession and gratification of his request, And show kindness unto my Master Abraham. And First of the First of these, viz. 1. His Solemn Address to God for Success; this is Eliezer's method, and as the best way and means to accomplish his desires, is to address himself to God, who is the Author and giver of every good thing: He, and He only can give success to our Undertake, or blast and disappoint our most resolved Designs and Intentions: Prayer is a Duty which keeps the trade of Religion a going, and 'tis our happiness that God puts it into our hearts to Pray; which is no other than a religious Speech, directed to God after a due sort, concerning things appertaining to his glory and our good; and it is the Key of Heaven, and Conduit of Mercy, a Perfume and sweet Savour in God's Nostrils, and the Messenger of the Soul to the Throne of Grace. Damascen tells, De Orth. Fid. lib. that in Prayer the Will is filled with desire, and the desires flame and blaze upwards to God; and though Prayer is an act of the Will, yet it hath its conception in the Heart, and is serviceable to the Soul, like the animal Spirits to the Body. It is, and hath been the Method and Usage of God's Servants in all Ages, to Pray to God on all occasions. Gen. 13.4. Thus Abraham for Ishmael, and when he removed his Family to Bethel and Beersheba, he built an Altar, and Called on the Name of the Lord: And David after he had settled the Ark, returned to bless his House, that is, to Pray for his People: so good Nehemiah, First I Prayed unto the Lord, and then I spoke unto the King: And 'tis the Apostles Exhortation, In all things, by Prayer and Supplication, let your requests be made known unto God. 2. His Prayer is strengthened by this Expression, O Lord God of my Master Abraham: 'Tis very Emphatical, and gives us to understand Gods great affections to his eminent Servants, and the seed of the Faithful: And this place more particularly refers to God's promise to Abraham concerning Isaac, Gen. 19.17. and 'tis very probable this was a great Topick with Eliezer, Isaac being the Son of the Promise; and such forms of Invocation were very common in those times: in Abraham's charge to his Servant, Verse 7. he encourages him in his undertaking, by recounting Gods Promises to his Seed. And we find often times in God's appearance to his Servants, he is pleased to express himself as remembering his Promises: when he appeared to Isaac, Gen. 26.24 I am the God of thy Father, fear not; and Jacob when afraid of Esau, strengthened himself by this Invocation, Gen. 32.9. O Lord God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the Lord which said unto me, I will deal well with thee. So Moses fearing the Egyptians would not believe him, Exo. 4.5. but God to confirm his Faith and the Israelites, was pleased to work Miracles; That they may believe (says God) that the God of their Fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, hath appeared unto thee. 3. The Object and Design of his Prayer, To have Good speed this day: Fac ut se mihi ossert quod peto. Zenochius in Locum. Good speed is an indefinite wish, and refers to several Objects; but here particularly signifies, success in choosing a good Wife for his Master's Son; and some render it, That he might obtain what he asked; others, That what he desired might be prosperous and successful. Prosperum fac mihi occursum. Vatablus in Locum. Both which are Synominous; and 'tis very aptly and significantly rendered, Good speed; because the choosing and enjoying a good Wife is so essential a part of a man's happiness: this prompted Abraham to that wonderful care in seeking out a good Wife for his Son; Verse 3. and nothing could be more satisfactory to Isaac, than the enjoyment of this blessing: jacob's seven years seemed but a few days, for the Love he bore unto Rachel. And all Ages of the World have subscribed to this Doctrine. 4. That particular Kindness God would vouchsafe unto Abraham; Fac misericordiam significat non alio jure fretum hoc audire, nisi qua Deus gratiam suam Abramae pollitius fuerat. and show Kindness unto my Master Abraham. We are here to inquire what kindness the accomplishment hereof would be unto Abraham. And nothing can please better, and be more acceptable to a Father, than to see his Son happy in a good Wife: A noter on the place well expresseth himself. And a Father that hath taken so much care and pains in the education and bringing up of his Son, who is so dear to him; and to whom he hath given so good an Example, when his Son is well married, and his Father sees him prosecuting those admirable Instructions he received from him; and with the help of a good Wife, how does he esteem himself happy in his Son's happiness; whose Wisdom and conduct may render even his Posterity happy! To which the Wise man alludes, Pro. 24.23. The Father of the Righteous shall greatly rejoice, and he that begetteth a wise Child, shall have joy of him. Having spoken something by way of Explication, we pass on to the Observations, and each concluded with a short Inference. Prayer is a great and Indispensable Duty. Observ. 1. A Tribute we own in recognition of the Divine Sovereignty; 'tis the Just Prerogative God may expect from his Creatures: The other parts and pieces of the Creation pursue the design of their beings; the Sacred Poet tells us, Psal. 19.1. The Heavens declare God's Glory, the Sun rules the Day, and the Moon the Night; the Elements observe their appointed Stations, the Earth is Lowermost, the Sea keeps his bounds, the Air, Aethur, and Superaethur observe their Spherical apartments; the Earth is our Habitation, the Beast of the Field our Food, Vegetables afford both Medicine and Nourishment, and all things admirably useful, and adapted for the service of man. Psal. 19.3, 4. There is no speech nor language, where their Voice is not heard: Their line is gone throughout all the Earth, and their words to the end of the World. And are wonderful Indiciums' of Gods Glory and goodness in their serving man; and shall he only degenerate and prove Anomalous and Sceptical? shall the best piece of the Creation prove the worst, and unserviceable? The noblest beings show most Beauty in their operations, and shall man that was created to admire the Wisdom and goodness of his Maker, be silent, and do less than the dumb pieces of the Creation? God forbidden. The alwise God hath communicated the sensible and eminent influences of his mercy, goodness, and bounty, to the rational Nature of man; that so Body and Soul jointly engaged, might produce an harmony of Praise and Thanksgiving to the great Creator of the World: wherefore did God give him his Tongue, the Organ of Speech, but to pray unto his Maker; and with David, O Lord open thou my Lips, and my Mouth shall show forth thy Praise? God gave him his hands to lift them up in prayer to him, Tendens ad sydera palmas. and with David, that his Prayer might come before him as Incense, and the lifting up his hands as the Evening Sacrifice. So also the Inorganical parts are to be chief employed in our prayers to God, Elevatio mentis ad Deum. the Understanding, Will and Affections, without which prayer is insignificant; 'tis only the spiritual and fervent prayer that availeth, which is called wrestling, Gen. 32.24. Oratio essicax. Beza. and pouring out of the Soul to God; and 'tis that which is our indispensible Duty; all the faculties of the Soul must be engaged herein, to supplicate and adore the great God, and intentionally with David; exciting all within us to pray unto that God who gave us our Being, and to Praise him for all our Mercies and Benefits: Affectus operi nomen imposuit. St. Ambros. for 'tis the lively affections of the Soul in a Duty that gives it a Name, and makes it successful: so Eliezer here prayed unto God for his Masters Son. And prayer is our Duty, to show our dependence on God; In him we live, move, and have our Being; our daily exigencies invite us to it. Inf. Let us therefore pray daily, for prayer is as useful to us, as our daily bread; and we are encouraged hereto, for he filleth the hungry with good things; and exhorted to pray without ceasing: In all things let your Requests and Supplications be made known to God. That some forms of Invocation and phraseologies, are very prevalent. Observ. 2. So Eliezer here, O Lord God of my Master Abraham; and this expression is used to strengthen Eliezers Faith. And we may learn from hence; That upon particular wants and occasions, we ought to use such Phraseologies, which are analogous to God's Promises, or refer to our wants: Thus Joshua, after Israel had sinned: Josh. 7.8, 9 O Lord, what shall I say, when Israel turneth their backs before their Enemies? That was when they were pursued by the men of Ai; which implies his earnest Expostulation with God to preserve his own People, and concludes with this prevailing argument; And what wilt thou do unto thy great Name? The Prophet Hosea exhorts the Israelites to renounce in these Expressions their former Sins. Hos. 14.2, 3. Take with you words, and turn to the Lord, and say unto him, Take away all Iniquity, and receive us graciously; so will we render the calves of our Lips. Ashur shall not save us, we will not ride upon Horses, neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, ye are our Gods, for with thee the Fatherless findeth Mercy. So Elijah prayed unto God, 1 Kings 17.20. Hast thou also brought evil upon the Widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her Son? Which is as if he remembered God, who commanded him to go to that Widow for succour, as we find in the beginning of that Chapter: And we read of Asa, 2 Chron. 14.14. when he went to Battle, he used this pathetical way of expressing himself to God: Help us, O Lord our God, for we rest in thee, and in thy Name we go against this Multitude: O Lord, thou art our God, let not man prevail against thee: and so Jehoshaphat, when the Army of the Heathens were coming against him, he prayed unto God. 2 Chron. 20.6, 7. O Lord God of our Fathers, art thou not God in Heaven? and rulest not thou over all the Kingdoms of the Heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee? Art thou not our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this Land before thy People Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy Friend for ever? Secondly, In our thanksgiving and Exultation, we should admire and paraphrase on God's power, suitable to the Nature of our deliverance: such was the Song of Moses, after the Children of Israel's deliverance at the Red Sea, a paraphrastical Triumph repeating the manner of their deliverance and Pharaohs overthrow; what pious Airs and Encomiums was chanted out by the thankful Israelites! And what was Deborahs' Song, but the slaming Raptures of a rejoicing Heart? And the twenty second of Samuel, is a continued thanksgiving of David to God for his mercies; and the 105, and 106. Psalms, are a History of the deliverance of God's People, and David's thankfulness for God's Mercies. Inf. Let us therefore remember the advice of the Apostle, 1 Thess. 5.18. In every thing give thanks, for this is the Will of God in Jesus Christ concerning you: And as we expect any blessings, we must pray for them; so also to improve what we have with thankfulness is the only way to have more. Observ. 3. That we ought to pray for each other. 1. Here was good Eliezer praying for his Master's Son; and 'tis the Duty of Christians to assist each other with their Prayers. The Apostle bids us make Supplication for all Saints, and the Apostle prayed for those that had not seen his Face in the Flesh; and how passionate was he for the prayers of of the People! and conjures them, For Christ's sake, Coloss. 2.1. and the love of the Spirit, that they should strive with him in their Prayers to God for him. Tertullian calls it, Rom. 15.30. An holy conspiracy to besiege Heaven: this Conjunction in Prayer edifies the whole Church, the Communion of Saints, and is of advantage to every member; nay, even the wicked have a sense, and need of the Prayers of good men: so Pharaoh told Moses, Entreat the Lord your God to turn away this death only: That is, pray unto God for me; and the prayers of Saints are very acceptable: God would not hear Job's Friends, Job 42.8. but says God, My servant Job shall pray for you. 2. This praying for one another does not terminate in personal Obligations, but comprehends praying for Christ's Church and People; for the Propagation of his Gospel, that God would give him the Heathen for his Inheritance, and the utmost part of the World for his Possession: and how pathetically did the Jews in Captivity express their zeal for the welfare of Jerusalem! By the Rivers of Babylon, Psal. 137. there we sat down, yea we wept when we remembered Zion; and so to the end! and for Nations, it is St. Paul's exhortation, 1 Tim. 2.1. That first of all, Supplications, Prayers, Intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men: For Kings and all that are in Authority, that we may lead quiet and peaceable lives, in all godliness and honesty. Nay further, we are commanded to pray for our Enemies, Mat. 5 44. and Christ prayed for them that crucified him, Luk. 23.34 Acts 7.60. Father forgive them; and that Protomartyr St. Step●●●, prayed for them that stoned him. And 'tis the noble and heroic design of a gracious Heart, to be serviceable to Church and State, by prayer, either to deprecate Judgements, or obtain Mercies. 1. To deprecate Judgements. How did Abraham intercede with God for Sodom! and God was pleased to answer him, Gen. 9.32. That if ten righteous were in it, he would not destroy it for ten sake! And how Gracious was God to Jerusalem! And I sought for a man among them, Ezek 22.30. that should make up the Hedge, and stand in the gap before me, for the Land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none: It implies Gods great respect for the righteous; which Solomon styles fundamentum seculi, an everlasting Foundation: public Spirited Persons are like Pillars, to bear up God's Wrath from the place they live in. 2. To obtain Mercies; so Elijah prayed for Rain in the days of Ahab, and obtained it, after three years' Intermission; and so Moses that great Master in Israel, after God had revealed his will to him, he cried unto God for the Children of Israel, and could bid them Stand still and see the Salvation of God; and we all know what a glorious Victory followed. Inf. Let us therefore upon the whole, Pray for each other, God's Church and People, that by the fervency and continuance of our Prayers, we may either stand in the gap with Abraham, or prevail with Jacob; at least be found among the righteous, that when God's Judgements are in the earth, God may say unto us as he did to Noah, Come thou and all thine house into the Ark, Gen. 7.1. for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. Observ. 4. Prayer is the only way to obtain Mercies, or divert Judgements. How great Privilege is it to be admitted into the Presence of some great Monarch! but how much greater Prerogative hath the devout Christian, that by fervent Prayers, and ardent effusion of his Tears and Wishes, may freely confer with the King of Kings! this penetrates the Clouds and Spheres, and mounts us to the bosom of the great Benefactor; and a Charm that if rightly performed, prevails on Omnipotency; Oratio pura coelos penetrans vacua non redibit. St. Austin. this Dove sent to Heaven, often brings an Olive-leaf in his Mouth: This fervent Prayer (says St. Austin) as it pierceth Heaven, so it will not return without effect. And not only our Duty, but our daily wants put us upon this undertaking; we are helpless Creatures of ourselves, and Prayer is our only refuge; there is an admirable Oeconomy in the Divine Wisdom, to bring man to his Duty and Happiness; God tells us, Ezek. 36.37. That for this he will be enquired of by the House of Israel, to do this for them: And 'tis but highly rational to confess our dependence upon him that gave us being. The Kingly Prophet elegantly describes God's goodness to those that call upon him in 145th Psalm, from the beginning to the the end: And certainly 'tis no Mercy that is not worth seeking to God for; but when sought and obtained, it makes the blessing the more acceptable, and obliges us to improve it, with the greater thankfulness and sobriety: we can never lose any thing by prayer, for we are never out of God's reach to relieve us; if God please to answer us, the Blessing is the more safe and sweet, and if denied we are the more humble, and patiented, and content that God should be Master of his own bounty. We have the Practice of God's People recommended to our Imitation, and the admirable effects of their Prayers recorded for our encouragement: here good Eliezer prays unto God for good speed; he would not venture on it without Petitioning the Lord God of his Master Abraham, and the good success he met with, was the effect of Prayers. Abraham tells him God would send his Angel before him, and prosper his way; which implies the strength of Abraham's Faith; and his Servant, after he had prayed, V 13, 14. in the very next verses gives us a kind of Prophetic hint of what would come to pass, and resigns himself up to the conduct of Providence; Behold I stand here by the Well of Water; and so on: Non tentat Deum cujus instinctu ad hoc motus fuerat. Junius in loc. Junius observeth, he did not tempt God, because God prompted him hereto; for such manuductory passages of Providence are but Preliminary to success, and antecede the effects of our Prayers: Signum quod statuit congruum fuisse, erat, enim signa bonae uxoris & indolis affabilis, hospitalis & strenuae qualem noverat placiturum & Isaaco & Abrahamo. St. Chrys. in loc. And St. chrysostom well observes, The sign, says he, which Eliezer pitched upon was very agreeable; for those things, as affability and courtesy, are the indications of a good Wife, and such as would please Isaac and Abraham also. David alludes to such antecedent Providences: says God, I will instruct thee, and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go, and I will guide thee with mine Eye; and such gracious deal of God with his People are our great encouragement, and the effects of Prayers miraculous; James 5.17. as if Elijah could shut and open Heaven at his pleasure. jacob's Prayer turned away the Indignation and Wrath of Esau, and his four hundred men: after Moses had cried to the Lord for the Children of Israel, the Egyptians were drowned in the Red-Sea. And after David had prayed unto his God, 1 Sam. 17.37. That delivered him out of the paw of the Lion and the bear, he also delivered him out of the hands of the Philistine: And when Elijah prays unto God, That the meal shall not waste, nor the cruse of Oil fail, till the day that God send Rain on Earth: And when Hezekiah prayed against Sennacherib for reproaching the living God, the Lord was pleased to answer him, 2 King 19 that he should not shoot one Arrow, nor come before the City with Shields or Bucklers, but return as he came; and God smote a hundred fourscore and five thousand Assyrians, and even Sennacherib himself slain by his two Sons: And let but those three Servants of that God whom they trusted would deliver them, but pray to him in the fiery Furnace; though the very heat slay even those that put them in, yet a hair of their heads shall not be singed, nor shall their Coats be changed, Dan. 2. neither the smell of Fire pass on them.: Nay, even the Son of God shall bear them Company and preserve them. And when Daniel is in the Den of Lions, God answers his Prayers, and sends his Angel and shuts the Lion's mouths, that they could not hurt him. In fine, by Prayer the Moon hath stood still, the Sun gone backward, the Ravens have brought Food, the Heavens reigned Manna, the Rocks afforded Water, the Fire hath given over Burning, the Lions have stopped their Mouths, Fidelibus totus mundus divitiarum est. St. Austin de Civ. Dei. and all Creatures shall muster up themselves to defend the Body of Christ; whereupon says St. Austin, The Saints have all the World at their service: And gives us the Reason, Domine quis tenet te? Lord, says he, who can hold thee? who can fetter and restrain Omnipotency? Nay, even Heathens and Turks have always had a great veneration for Prayer, which is a reproach to Christians, to be outdone by them. Numa Pompilius thought it sufficient for his safety, he could answer, At ego rem Divinam facio. But I nm about the Service of my Gods: And 'twas the Heathen Custom, not to venture upon business of moment without the Invocation of their Gods: And the advice of Xenophon was Divine, That in Prosperity they should worship their Gods, that when they had a more particular need of their assistance they might with greater confidence approach them at their Altars, commending the success to the Power and Providence of those Deities they served. Publius Scipio used always to go to the Capitol before he went to the Senate, and so begin the service of the Commonwealth with prayer, as Suetonius tells us † Benè ac sapienter Majores instituerunt ut rerum agendaram ita dicendi initium à praecationibus capere. Sueto. in vit. Caes. : It was the Wisdom of those Governments to commence all their business with the service of their Gods. Let us Christians therefore, Inf. that have the Son of God to intercede for us (he is the Angel standing before the Throne with the Golden Censer in his hand, Rev. 8.3. filled with the Odours of his Merits, Ipse solus est cujus gratia Deum habemus propitium. Calvin. to offer up with our prayers) be encouraged to come to the Throne of Grace, to find Mercy and Grace to help in time of need: For he is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him. Let us come to God in all Conditions. In our Adversity, God tells us, No good thing will he withhold from them that diligently seek him: Prayer lists us in the service of the Almighty, and enrolls us under the Divine Standard, and from whence we may expect the favourable Protections of Providence. And in our Prosperity, lest we be full and deny God, let us remember the Corrective the Roman Emperors met with in the midst of their Triumph and Glory; Look behind thee, Respice post te & hominem memento te. Suetonius. and consider thou also art mortal, and subject to misery; for we know not to what extremities we may be exposed. Let us therefore pray with David, Psal. 71.12. O Lord be not far from me, O God make haste for my help: And if we expect good success in our Prayers, let us be always deeply affected with those things we pray for. St. Matth. 22.11. It is said, The King came in to see the Guests; so in Prayer, the King of Glory looks into the frame and disposition of our Hearts; let us therefore use Prayer aright, that it prime our Souls, and preserve us in the Oil of Grace from Wind and Wether. Observ. 5. God's blessing and providing for Children, is a great blessing to Parents. 1. Jacob tells us, Children are the Gift of God; when he met his Brother he told him, Gen. 32.5. These are the Children God hath graciously given me; and his great care and affection to his Children, is a great Pattern to Parents: Now Children being the same Flesh, and pieces of their Parents, their Affection to them must needs be very great, and be highly solicitous to promote their welfare; as our Saviour's Parents at Jerusalem, did present him before the Lord for his Blessing: And we cannot give it you in terminis, for Speech is lame, and words cannot reach the sense of the thing signified; but most certainly when God is pleased to answer the Prayers of Parents, and bless and provide for their Children, it is a very great kindness and Mercy to Parents: We will give you David's sense of this matter; when Gods Promise was made known to David: 2 Sam. 2.12. And when thy days shall be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy Fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy Bowels, and I will establish his Kingdom: And we have David's acknowledgement in the following verses, Who am I, O Lord God, V 18, 19 and what is my House, that thou hast brought me hitherto! and this was yet a small thing in thy sight, O Lord God, for thou hast spoken also of thy Servants House, for a great while to come, and is this the manner of man, O Lord God Nay in the 20. verse, he wants words to express his thankfulness; And what can David say more unto thee? for thou, Lord God, knowest thy Servant: And when God had placed Solomon upon the Throne, he breaks out into this Elogium, 1 Kings 1.48. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which hath given me one to sit upon the Throne this day, mine eyes even seeing it. Thus the admirable care Abraham took for Isaac, and his great charge to Eliezer, is an assured Indication of his great Love and Affection; and that it would please God to answer Eliezers' request, he useth this Expression; And show kindness unto my Master Abraham: And how did the Heart of old Jacob revive, when he heard of joseph's being alive! how did he contemplate and adore the mysteries of Providence, That God had so miraculously preserved and provided for him; and made him Governor over all the Land of Egypt! and when he met him, how was he overwhelmed with Joy! Gen. 46.30. Now let me die, says he, since I have seen thy Face, and thou art yet alive. 2. As 'tis a great mercy to Parents to see their Children blest and provided for, so on the contrary, undutiful Children are a great trouble and grief to their Parents. Solomon tells us, The Father of a Fool hath no Joy; that is, hath a great deal of Trouble and Affliction: the words are a Meiosis, there is more intended than expressed. How bitterly did David mourn, when Tamar was ravished, Amnon killed, and Absalon caught by the Hair of his Head and slain! And we meet with Augustus, that had foolish and wicked Children, wishing that either he had lived single, utinam ut caelebs vixissem, aut orbus periissem. or died Childless. 'Tis sad indeed to bring forth Children to the Murderer, the Devil: and how miserably does the Mother in Plutarch warble out her mournful ditty; Quo pueri estis profecti! Poor Souls, what's become of you! Inf. Let Parents therefore carefully instruct their Children, and be thankful for the Blessings God bestows on them; and let Children be dutiful to their Parents, and let both observe David's experience he found of both: Psal. 37.25 I have not seen the Righteous forsaken, nor his Seed begging Bread. Observ. 6. and last. How happy are the Saints, that upon all occasions, they may pray to God to sanctify mercies! It is said of the Cherubims, that there were hands under their wings; to signify, that where there is that ●ight of Knowledge, there should be hands to put that light into practice: And our Saviour tells us, If ye know these things, Joh. 13.3. happy are ye if ye do them; so that Happiness 〈◊〉 pronounced of practice, and not speculation; and here consists the Saints Happiness, that they improve their knowledge by prayer and walking with God: And by This the Wise man tells us, they obtain favour of the Lord; that is, ●s Mercer glosseth, Id vult quod à Domino impetrat. Mercer in locum. Matth. 7.7. They have as it were what they please of God, ●nd are sure of God's favour and protection in all cases, and the promises of God on their side. Ask and it shall be given you, seek ●nd ye shall find, knock and it shall ●e opened unto you; and nothing can ●estrain Omnipotency but Unbelief. Now, 'tis as true in Divinity as 〈◊〉 Philosophy, That Knowledge ●nd Power is to no effect, unless ●t be produced into Act; for the end of Knowledge is Action; Frustra est potentia quae nunquam producitur in actum. Arist. Eth. as if Arts and Sciences: And shall their Votaries improve themselves by all the advantages and benefits of Action; nay, an Heathen affirm, That felicity consisteth not in the Theory, but in the practice of moral Virtues; and tell the world, that the naked knowledge without the practice of Virtue, is like those that ask advice of the Physician about bodily distempers, but will no● suffer any remedy to be administered? And shall the Servants o● God be satisfied with the Ideas o● Truth floating in their Brains, without an influence on the Heart and Life? No, the devout Christian labours with as much more earnestness, as his End and Reward is above others; he does not satisfy himself with Speculation or Ceremony, bare observance will no● please him; he is altogether fo● reality and performance, and ha● a deeper insight into Divine mysteries than other men: he wel● knows, that 'tis not those tha● know only, James 1.21. but those that do the will of God, who shall enter into the Kingdom of his Father, as Christ tells us. Most admirable is the advice of Eliphaz to Job: Job 5. ult. A wise man labours to know the goodness of every thing; and here lies the happiness of the Saints above other People, even in Creature-enjoyments, that by Prayer both Mercies and Afflictions are sanctified to them; others in their enjoyments suck in the S●ing as well as the Honey, 'tis the good Christian only that feeds on clean and polite Pleasure: others are misled into corrupt apprehensions and presumptions of things, the Saints only preserve their Intellectuals untainted; others in the midst of their abundance prostitute their Affections, due only to God, to a corruptible Creature; the Saints only improve their comforts and enjoyments to God's glory, as they are the emanations of his bounty, and make the Creatures serviceable to illustrate and set forward the accumulated glory of their Creator: others take up their rest, and place their Summum Bonum in the enjoyments of this world, and esteem it their only Joy when their Oil and Wine increaseth: there is such Corruption in their Nature, and Sophistry in the Creature, that from the greatness of their wealth, they conclude they have much laid up for many years, Luk. 12.19. they may take their ease, eat, drink and be merry; Psal. 49.11. and the Psalmist tells us, Their inward thought is, that their Houses shall endure for ever, and their dwelling places to all generations; and even Deify themselves in the reflection of their own grandeur. Psal 49.14. Alas! they are asleep in their Tent of Epicurism and Sensuality, and little think that a day of visitation and recompense for sin is at hand; and on a sudden mortality overtakes them, as David tells us, Like sheep they are laid in the grave, death shall feed on them, and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning, and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling. Then is their mistaken happiness come to a final period, and their misery commenced ETERNAL; then their Cuts and Compliments will appear nothing else but affected Vanities, their Pride and Luxury, their Swaggering and their Swearing, their Formula's of Complaisance and Courtship shall then be pronounced but glittering Abominations: Then Apostles and Saints shall shine in Glory, when the persecuting Nero's of the World shall be thrown to Hell: And at last be forced to confess, We Fools counted their Life madness, and their end to have been without Honour: How are they now reckoned amongst the Saints, and have their Portion with the Almighty! But the Devour Christian hath Oculus in metam, his eye on the Mark, and steers all his actions by the Compass of God's Wo●d; he uses the Creatures with a critical fruition, and as helps only, not Remora's in his passage to the New Jerusalem; and by Prayer endeavours to reduce the Creature to it's primitive goodness, that so the Curse being subducted, he may enjoy them with a blessing; as the Apostle tells us, Every Creature of God is good, being sanctified by the Word of God and prayer: By which the Creature is sanctified these three ways. 1. In obtaining Mercies: We ought to seek to God, as Eliezer did; and so the Apostle exhorts us: In all things with Prayer and Supplication, let your requests be made known to God: And we have the example of Christ and his Apostles; and God expects that we should acknowledge his Dominion and Power over second Agents. 2. Prayer sanctifies the Enjoyment and use of them. Solomon tells us, To re●●ice in our labour is the Gift of God: pleasure is in itself lawful, but corrupt Nature is apt to make us Love pleasure more than God, therefore we ought to pray against its prevalency: And our Tables too often are turned into a Snare; we must pray therefore to use the Creature with that temperance and sobriety, as may raise us nearer to God in contemplation of the Divine Providence, and care over us, and as Evidences of God's Love towards us, without which worldly abundance may prove but a deceitful argument of God's favour; and sometimes Afflictions have proved the dissembled favours of Affection. 3. Prayer sanctifies the Creature, in the R●membrance and Recognition of God's Mercies in them, and with Thankfulness to improve those Dispensations of Grace and Favour: Thus did the Holy Psalmist. Psal. 23.5, 6. Thou preparest a Table for me in the presence of mine Enemies, thou anointest my Head with Oil, my cup runneth over: Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my Life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. FINIS. Books lately printed for John Salusbury at the Atlas in Cornhill near the Royal Exchange. OEconomica Sacra: Or, a Paraenetical Discourse of Marriage; together with some particular Remarks on the Marriage of Isaac and Rebecka. Iter ad Astra: Or, The Portraiture of a Suffering Christian; with an Introduction of Man's Creation. By the same Author. Of Contentment, Patience and Resignation to the Will of God: In several Sermons. By Isaac Barrow, D. D. Never before Printed. Vnum Necessarium: Or, Christ's Justification of Mary's Choice, and of his Servants wrongfully Accused: Containing a Resolution of many weighty Cases of Conscience. Viz. Indifferent Things, Obedience to the Higher Powers, etc. With some Reflections on Popery, and a brief Account of the many Cruelties committed by the Papists. By Richard Baxter. A Second Volume of Discourses: By Hezekiah Burton, D. D. late Rector of Barns near London, and Prebendary of Norwich. The true Prophecies or Prognostications of Michael Nostradamus', Physician to Henr 2. Francis 2. and Charles 9 Kings of France, and one of the best Astronomers that ever were. A Work full of Curiosity and Learning. Translated and Commented by Theophilus de Garenci●res, Doctor in Physic Colleg. Lond. The Fifteen Comforts of Rash and Inconsiderate Marriage, or Animadversions upon the Miscarriages of a Wedded Estate: With the Additions of three Comforts more. The Secret History of the most Renowned Queen Elizabeth and the Earl of Essex. By a Person of Quality. The Laws and Acts of Parliament made by King James I. and his Royal Successors, Kings of Scotland. In Folio.