Contemplations. Ltn.XXI. but a cap and a knee to mygreatoeffe, and mull I lacquay fo bafe a Idlow thorow A the fireets,mufi I be his herald to proclaime his honor thorow all sh,ifhan( Why do InotlectheKiog knowtheinfolentalfrontsthathe bath offered me( Why doe! not figmfie romy Sovera1gne, that my arrand now was for another kinde of ad. vancement to Mordteai? If I obtaine not my defired revenge, yet ar leaft 1ihall pr<- vaile fo farrc, as to exempt my fclfe from this officious arrendanc~ upon fo unequal! an enemy. And yet, that mouon cannot be now fafe; I fee the Kmgs heart is (upon what ground foever) bent upon this adion; !hould I llye offnever folittle (after my word fo diredlypalfed) perhaps my coldnclfe, ot oppoficion might be confirued as fome wayward conceftation with my mafier:Efpecially,fince the fcrvice that v'l4ordtCAi bath done to the King, is of an higher nature, then the defpight which he bath done to me.Iwiii,I muft give way forrhetime; mine humbleyeddance1(when all B the carriage ofthis bufinelfc !hall be underfiood) !hall (I doubt not) make way for ~ mine intended revenge: <.Mordec.i, I will honour thee now, that by thefe fteps I may ere long raife thee many cubits higher. I will obey the command ofmy So. veraigne in obferving thee, tha1he may reward the merit of my loyalty, in thine ex~cution. - - - Thus refolved, HAm411 goes forth with a face and heartfull of dillradion, full of confufion;andaddrdies himfdfe to the artyring, to the attending of his old adv<rfary,and new mafler,Mordte.l; What lookes dowe now thinkc were call upon each other, at their lirll greeting? theirey~s bad not forgotten their old language; Certaiady, When Mordeeaifaw Haman come inco the roome where be was, he could not but thinke ; This man bath long rhirlled for my blood, and now he comes to c fetch it; I !hall notlivetofee rhe fuccdfe of E{!her,orthe fmllday of my nation: It was knowne that morning in the Court, what a lofty gibbet Haman had provided for Mordec4i; and why might it not have come Mordecaits care? What could b~ therefore now imagineother, then that he w2s called out to that ~xecution ? But, whenheefaw theroyall robe that H•manbroughttohim; heethinkes, Is it not enough for this man to kill me, but he mull mock<me too ? What an addition is this to the formercruelty,thus to infultand play upon my!all dillrelfe? Bur, when he yet faw the royall crown r~ady to be fet on.his head, and the Kings own horfe richly furniihed, at his gate, and found himfelfe raifed byPrincely hands, into that royal! feat,he thinkes what may all this mcane? Is it the purpofeof mine adverfary that I !hall die in hate? Would behavemehanged in triumph~Atlallwhen he fees fuch D a traine of Perfian Peer,es attending him,with a grave reverence ; and heares H •mm proclaime before him, Thw fbaO it 1>1 dose t1 the ma» wh1m the Kint delighttrhto h•- no•r;finding this pompe to be ferious,and well meant,he imagines (in all likelihood) that this inexpeded change proceedes from the fuit of his Eflher; now he beginsto lift up his head, and to hope well ofhimfclfe, and his people, and could nor but fay within bimfelfe,rhathehad not failed for nothing. b the wonderous alteration that one morning bath made in the Court ofPerfia; he that was yeflcrnight defpifed by HamAns footmen, is now waited on by Ham•n, and all his fellow-Princes ; he that yellernight bad the homage of all knees but one, and was ready to burll for the lack ofthat, now doth obeyfance to that one, by whom he was wilfully negletled; It was not v1 ha[uma that wrought this llrange mutation, it was tlte over-ruling E power of the Almighty,whofe immediate hand would thus prevent Eft hers fuic,that he might challenge all the thank to himfelfe. Whiles Princes have theirown wills, they mull doe his 1 and fhall either exalt, or depre!fe according to divine appoint• menr. I !hoHld commend H am•nr obedience in his bumble conde'fcent to fo unpleafing and bar!h a command ofhis maller, were it not, that either he dud~ doe no other, or that he thus lloopt for an advantage. It is a thankleffe refped that is either fur. ced, or for ends: True fubjellion is free and abfolut<; out ofthe confcience of duty, not out offeares, or hopes. All Shufhan is ina ma:.re at this fudden gloryof MorJecai,and lludies how to reconcile this day with the thirteenth of Ad<r;Morduai had realon eo hopewell; It could
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