Contemplations. LIB. II. Yet we find No•h drunken bur once. One at!: can no moremake agood heart un- A righteous, then alrade offinne can ftand with regener2tion:bur when I look to the effea: ofthis finne, I cannotbur blulh and wonder; Loe,rhis fin isworfe then fin·O· ther finnes move !hame,bur hide it: thisdifpl.yes it rotheworld. Ad•m had-no fooner finned, bur he fa wand abhorred hisowne naKednefle, feeking to hide it even with bullies. No•h had no fooner finned, bmhe difcovers his nakedneffe, and bath nor fomuch rule ofhimfelfe, os robe alhamed : One houresdrupkenneffe bewrayesrhar which more then fix hundred yeares fobriety had modeftly concealed; he that giv~s himfelfe to wine is not his owne: what !hall we think:oftbis vice,which robs~ man of himfelf, and laies abeafi in his roome? Noafu nakednell'eis feen in wine,it is no un.ufuall quality, in this cxcefle todifclofe fecrers; drunkenncffe doth both make imper- B fea:ions,and !hew rhofe we have,to others eyes;fowouldGod have it,that wemight be double alhamed, both ofrhofeweakeneffeswhich we difcover, and ofthat weaknefle which moved us ro difcover. No•h is uncovered; bur in themideft ofhis own Tent: It had been finfull,rhough noman had feen it:unknowl)_Gns have their guile and lhame, and 3!C jufily attended with known punHhmenrs. Ungracious Chan> faw it and laughed; his fathers !hame lhould have been his; the deformityofrhofe part! fromwhich he hadhisbeing, lhould have begotten in him a fecret horror, and dejea:ion: how many graceleffe men make fport at rhecaufesoftheir humi!iation?Twife had No.h given him life: yet neither the nameofa Father,and Preferver, nor Age, nor venue could fbeild himfrom the contempt ofhis owne. 1fee that eyen Gods Arke may nourilh Monfiers : fome filthy roads may lye under the llones of the c Temple. God preferves forne men in judgement; ~etter had it been for ch.oom to have perilhed in thewaters, then eolive unto his F.rherscurfe. Not content to be awirnefle ofrhis filthy fight; he goes on robe aProclaimer ofit. Sin dorh ill in the eye, bur worfein the tongue: Asal\ Gone is aworkofdarkneffe, foirfbould beburied in darkneffe. The report offin is oft-timesas ill, as the commiffion ; for it can never be blazoned without uncharitableneffe; feldom wirhour infelHon:Oh the unnatural\ and more then ch•m"'ifh impiety ofthofe fonnes which rejoyce to publilh rhenakedneffeoftheir fpiritual\ Parents, even to their Enemies. Yet it was well forNo•h char cham could tell it ro noneburhis own;and rhofe,gtacious and dotifull Sonnes. Our !hame is rhe l<ffe, ifnone know our f.lulrsbur our friends. Behold, how lovecovereth Gnnes; rhefe good Sonnes are fo farre from go- D ing forward to fee their Fathers lhame, that theygobackward to hideir. Thecloak is laid on both their fi10ulders, they borh goe back with equall pafes, and dare norfo much as Jookebacke, Jell they lhould unwillingly fee thecaufeoftheir lhame; and wtll rather advenrurero ftumblear rheirFarhersbody,then tofeehisnakodneo:How did it grieve them to tbinke, that they which had foofr come to their holy Father with reverence, mull now inreverence tume their backs upon him, and that they muft now cloath him in pity; which hadfooftencloathed them in love I And which addesmoretorheir dury, they coveredhim, and faid nothing. This modefiforrowisrheir~raife, andoure~ample; TheG!lnesofrhofe weloveandhonor, we mullheare ofwith indignation, fearefully and unwillinglybeleeve, acknowledge with griefeond Otame,hidewith honeftexcufes, lll!d bury in Glence. E How equal!aregard is this bothofpiery and difobedience? becaufech•,.finned •gainfthis f.lrher,therfore he !hallbe plagued in his children; Jafpheth isdurifullro his Father, and finds it in hispollerity. Becaufe Ch•m was an ill Son to his Father, thereforehis fons !hall be fervantsro his Brethren; becaufe Japheth fer hislhoolder rosems,robeare thecloak oflhame,rhereforefhall Japheth dwell in the renrsofSeM, partakingwith himin bleffingsas induty. When we do burwhat we ought, yet God isthankfull ro us; and rewards char, which we lhould fin ifwedid not : "ho could everyet !hewmeaman rebellioufly undutifull to his Parenti, that barbprof~red in himfelfe, and his feed? of
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