undeniable Evidence of a Superior, that is of a Divine, Power. All which our Lord hath very elegantly argued at the one and two and twentieth Verfes, under the Similitude of a Man, ftanding upon his own defence, and guarding the Wealth under his Cuftody. When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his Goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his Spoils.

Laftly, Since to People of fuch perverfe Difpofitions, nothing, though never fo improbable in it felf, will feem unfit to be objected; if any of them should yet entertain an Imagination fo extravagant and wild, as that This might still be done, by fome Collufion and private Confent; And that, how oppofite foever our Saviour's Miracles might appear to the World, yet there was underhand a very good agreement between Him and this Prince of Darkness, and fecretly they understood one another well enough: Therefore to all the reft he adds a Fourth Argument, containing the direct Contrariety of their Ends, and Interefts, and the utter Impoffibility of ever reconciling them. Where Men combine together to impofe upon the World, they only chufe different Means, but unite together in the fame Defign. And this is, as Robbers take feveral Roads for a Blind, but meet at last in one Place. But now, between Chrift and Beelzebub there can be no fuch Contrivance, or Accommodation. Their Ends, are the most

as well as the Methods that lead to them, diftant that can be; the moft deftructive of one another, of any that ever were. Here is a rooted and fix'd Enmity. The One cannot be fafe, except in the ruin of the Other; And the Quarrel is fo high, that every body must be in one of the Parties. No Favour, no countenancing of the One, nay no Indifference or Neutrality is poffible, and confiftent with Friendship to the Other, So fays the 23d Verfe exprefly. He

that

that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me fcattereth.

To these Reasons, in his own Vindication, our Lord fubjoins a Parabolical Description of the woful Estate of those Impenitent Jews, who were but the worfe for all the Means of Grace vouchfafed them; and made no other use of the Miracles and Doctrine of our Saviour, than to add proportionably to their own Mifery and Condemnation. While the Devil was driven out of Others, he got fafter and stronger hold of Them; and therefore, as their Sin and Obftinacy was greater now than ever: So the Calamity and Mischief confequent to it, would be more dismal and dreadful, than any that had ever befallen that Nation before. As the Leprofy of Naaman clave to Gebazi, fo these wicked Spirits, fo foon as they were diflodged in one place, betook themselves to another. The Pharifees were a convenient retreat for them; In their Hearts they found all things to their Wish, as if they had been Lodgings prepared, and put into that posture, on purpofe to entertain them.

These Arguments of our Bleffed Saviour were so full, and fo convincing; and the Judgment he passed upon those obftinate Wretches, fo juft and fo moving; that, though we are not told of any great Impreffion upon Them; yet one of the Standers by, who heard them without prejudice, and confidered the weight and power of what had been faid, felt her felf fo lively affected, as immediately to cry out with Rapture and Admiration, Bleed is the Womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast fucked.

This is a Natural way of extolling any ones Excellency, by proclaiming the Happiness of their Parents. For Parents know no greater Felicity, that Heaven can give in this World, than wife and virtuous Children. And fure no Inftance of this kind was ever comparable to that of the Mother of our Lord. All

Gene

Vol. II. Generations might well call her Blessed, who was honoured with a Birth fo wonderful, fo much above the rate of common Mothers. What Praife, what Admiration, what Reverence, that is fit to be given to the most Excellent of Creatures, can be thought in reafon too much for Her, whom an Angel was fent to, to acquaint Her with fuch a Conception, as Nature never did, or can know; for Her, who was impregnated with the pure, the incorruptible, the Almighty Operation of a Divine Spirit; for Her, whofe Womb God himfelf did not abbor. The Beft and most deservedly Confpicuous among the Sons of Men have yet this Allay, that they are born of polluted Principles, and formed of perifhing and corruptible Matter; fuch as is fubject to a world of Weaknefs and Frailty, and muft, in a little while, fall back again into that Duft from whence it was firft taken. And yet, where we fee a great and generous Mind, that struggles bravely with the World, and diftinguishes it felf from the reft of Mankind, and gets above the common Vices and Temptations of Human Nature; We cannot forbear admiring it; We overlook that Allay of Infirmity, with which even the beft of Mortals are debased, and envy that Honour, which such Perfons reflect back upon their Ancestors. So acknowledged a Truth, and fo natural a one it is, that a Wife Son is the Glory of his Father, and the just Joy and Pride of her that bare him. So effectually does the Comfort of Good Children turn Sorrow into Triumph, and make a happy Mother not only forget, but even bless and rejoice in, that Travail and Pain, which is all well recompenfed with true Knowledge and exemplary Goodness. And the Honour of bringing into the World a Useful and Excellent Perfon, and of being inftrumental in adding to the number of glorified Saints, is a Joy which all acknowledge; but Parents only can know, and feel the real Charms, and sweet Complacencies of it.

But

!

But alas! What is all this, in comparison of the Virgin's Happinefs? For She alone had this incommunicable Privilege, of having a Son of perfect and unblemish'd Virtue, a Son of untainted and Immortal Nature; One abfolutely above the Reach of Death and Hell; One, who died, only that he might conquer Death, and lead into Captivity that Tyrant of Darkness; One, over whofe Body Worms and Putrefaction had no power. She lived to fee the Flesh he took of Her, burft afunder the Bands and brazen Bars of the Grave; She beheld him rife in Triumph, and faw Her own Subftance exalted to the Right Hand of the Throne of God, deck'd with Light as with a Garment, and cloathed with Incomprehenfible Majefty and Honour. And therefore Bleffed indeed was the Womb that bare this Wonderful, this Divine Child, yea bleffed for ever, and, in that refpect, bleffed above all Women, fhall this Mother be.

But yet, when we have faid all we can or all we may upon this Occafion; ftill St. Auguftin's Remark will hold good, that this nearness of Relation to Christ had done Mary no Service, if he had not born him in her Heart to better jurfofe, than fhe did in her Body. And therefore her Bleffedness is more owing to her receiving the Faith of Chrift in her Heart, than it was to the conceiving his Flefb, as her Son. If then we would be Happy, our Lord hath fhewed us a more effectual, and a more excellent way: He denies not the Bleffednefs, which the Zeal of this Woman pronounces; But, allowing, That to be as great, as it was poffible for Her to imagine it, yet, if compared with that of Obedience to God's Commands, he informs us, that even This was but little and low. For the Reply he made extenuates the One, when put into the Balance with the Other, He faid, Yea, rather bleffed are they, that bear the word of God and keep it.

By

By hearing the Word of God, no doubt, is meant ali that Reverence and Attention of Mind, all that Teachable Temper and Good Difpofition of the Will, which prepares and inclines Men to receive it effectually. And, by keeping this Word, the continuing in what we have heard, and making it the Rule and Standard of all our Converfation. The believing all those myfterious Truths, and the obferving and profiting under those most Holy Precepts, which our Saviour hath taught us in his Gofpel. And this our Saviour declares to be a Happy State indeed. A Privilege, above any the Prerogatives of this prefent World, in which one Man excels another. For fure, if any temporal Advantage might ftand in Competition with This, that of being honoured with the Conception and Birth of the Son of God, must needs have been it. No Honour, no Greatness can ever be fo fingular, fo miraculous, fo immortal, and therefore none fo defirable, as This. And yet even this is outdone by that Spiritual Regeneration, whereby Chrift is conceived in our Hearts, and born and brought to Light, in the Pious, and Juft, and Charitable, Actions, of a Holy Life.

The neceffary Time that I have spent, in explaining the foregoing parts of this Paffage, hath not left me at liberty to enlarge upon this Subject, as otherwise I might have done. Nor is it very material that I fhould. For Two or Three plain Arguments will fuffice, to perfuade us of this Truth. And, if we will but attend duly to Thefe, it will quickly appear, that our Saviour hath calculated things very juftly, and pafs'd a true Estimate upon both thofe Bleffedneffes; when he does not difown the Greatnefs of the One, and yet gives fo manifeft a Preference to the Other, For,

First, Every Happiness is the more valuable, as it is capable of being made more General. The valuing our

felves