Contemplations. LIII. VIII. The lot ofGod, and the mild word• ofI•Jb,..,wonoe f.A<{,., to accufe bimfdfe A ingeououfly, impartially: allorme perhaps would not have done that,which a Suo~ lbinc had done. If .A<h1111 had come in uocalled;and before any quellion made our of an hone{! remorfe,had brought in his facrilegious boory,and call himfelfe a~d itat the footofiofbu 1 doubtldle, lfrael had profpered, and his finoe had caricdaway pardon:now he bath gotten thus much thanke,that he is not a defperate !inner. God will oncewring from the confcience of wicked men their own inditemenu ; They have not morecarefullybid their linne, then they 1ball one day freely proclaime theirown lbame. B Atha11s confdliod,thougb itwere late,yet was it free and ful:For he doth not onely acknowledge the aet,but the ground ofhis finne;J fsw,•nd uvtttd,and IDDke, The eye betrayed the heart;and that, the band; and now all confpire in the offence. If we !ill not to Batterour felves,this bath been the ordor ofour crimes. ~vill is uniforme;and beginning at the fenfes, takes the inmoft fvrt ofthe foule, and then armes our own outward forces again{! us;This lblll once bethe lafcivious mans focg,I faw, and co· veted, and took:This the theeves;this the Idolaters;this the gluttons and drunkards: All thefereceive their death by the eye.But,oh foolifl1 Achan! with what eyes didfl thou lookupon that fpoile, which thy fellowes faw and contemned ~ Why couldcfl thou not before, aS\Yell as now, fee 1bame bid under that gay Babylonilh garment~ and an heap offtones covered with thofc lbekels oflilver! The over-prizing and over·dcfirlng ofthefeearthlyrhiogs, caries us intoall mifchiefe; and hidesfro'm us the fight of Gods judgements : whofoever defires the glory ofmetals, or ofgay C cloarhes, or bonour,ca•not be innocent. Well might Iofbu• have proceeded to the execution of him, whom God and his own mouth accufed : but as one that thought no evidence could be too flro•g, in a cafe that was capital;be fends tofec,whether there was as much truthintbecon. feffion,as there was fa!OJood inthe ftcalch.Magiflrates and Judges mull pace !lowly and fure,in the punifhment ofolfenders.Prefumptions are notground enough forth~ fcntence ofdeath; no,not in fome cafes the confeflions of the guilty:le is no warrant for the Law to wrong a man,th•r he bath beforewronged himfeUe. There is lelfe ill in fparing an offender, then in punilbiog the innocent. Who would not bne espeeted,fince rhe confdlion of Achan was ingenuous,and his pillage ftill found enrire,that his life lbould have been pardoned~ But here was, P Confeffe and die;he had been too long lick of thisdifeafe,to be recovered. Had his coofeffion been fpeedy and frec,it had faved him. How dangerous it is, to fuffer lio to lye fretting into the fouk!whichifit were wafht offbetimes with our repentance, could not kill us.In mortal! offcnces,the coutfe ofhumane jullice is not llayd by our penitence: It is well for our foules that we have r<pcnred,but the lawes ofmen take not notice ofour forro\v. I know not whetherthe death, or the tearcs ofa male. factor, be a better fight: The ccnfures ofthe Church are wip't offwith weeping,not the penakies ofbwes. Neither is .A<han alone called forth to death, but all his family, all his fubftance. Theatlor alone doth not fmart with facriledge;allrhat concernes him,is enwrapped in the judgment.Thofe that defile their hands with holy goods, arc enemies to tbcir E ownflclb and bloud. Gods fir{! revenges ace fo much the more fearefull, bccaafe theymuft be exemplary. Ofthe qibeonites. ,~~~He newes ofJfrads viCtory bad flown ov<r all theMouotaines,&Val· li leys of Canaan1& yet rbofe Heatbenilb Kings and people are mufiered together againllthem. They might have feen tbemfelves in Jericho & Ai;aod have well perceived,it was not an armc off\e1b,rhat they mull rdill,yer they gather their forces,and fay,Tulh,we (ball fpced bmer.It ilmadnos in aman, not to be warned, but to run upon the point ofthofe judgments, wh~rep
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