LIB. X. SA M s oN s riN.farriage. A hi1J plead his Nazaritifme fora colour of fingularity : It is both lawful! and fit, in tlungs nor prohibited, to confotme our fclvcs ro the manners and rites of tloofe with whomwe hve. That Samfon might thinkc it an honour to match with the Philillims, he, whom before the Lyon found alone, is no1v accompanied with thirty attendants; They called them companions, but they meant them for fpies. The courtefies of t he world are hollow and thankleffe;o~irherdorh it ever purpofe fo il,as when it fhews fain::fi. None are fo nccr to danger, as rhofc whom it cnter~aincs with fmilcs; whiles it frownes, we knowwhat to trull to; but the favours of 1t areworthy ofnothing but fears anJ fufpition :Open defiance is better than falfe love. Aulterity bad not made Samfon uncivill;he knowes how to enrertaine Philillims B .virh a formal! familiarity: And that his intellectual! parts might he approved anJi,•erable ro his armes,he will firll try malleries ofwir,and fer theirbraines on work with harmele!fe thoughts ; His Riddle lball oppofe them, and a deepe wager fhall bindethe folution; Thirty fhirts, and thirty fuirs of raiment; neirheir their loffe, nor their gaine could be much, befides the victory, being divided unto thirty partners: but Samfom muft needs be both wayes very large, who mull give or receive thirty alone. The fcven dayes of the feaft arc e<piring,and yet they 1vhich haJ been all this while devouring of Samfons meat,cannor re! who that eater fl10uld be from \vhencc meat tbould comc.In courfe ofnature,the ilrong feeder takes in meat, and fends out filrhincffe ; but, that meat and fivcctncfle Jhould come from a devouring flom tck,was beyond their apprehenfion. c And as foo!es and dogs ufe to begin in jell, and end in carneft, fo did thcfc Philillims; and rherefore they force the Bride to inrice her husband to betray himfelfe. Covetoufneffe and Pride, have made them impatient oflofle: and now they threat to fire her,andher fathers houfc,for recompence oftheirentertainmcnt,rarher than theywill lofe a fmall wager to ati Ifraelire. Somc~vhat of_kinne to the_fc favage Pluhllims, arc rhofc cholenckc Gamefters, whtch, 1fthe D1ce be nor thcrr friena fall out with God, curfe (that which is not) Fortune; ftrikc their fellowes, aud arc ready to rake vengeance upon rhemfelvcs: Thofc men are unfit for fport, that lofe their patience together with their wager. I doe not wonder, that a Philillimwomanlovedherfelfe and her Fathers family ,more than an Ifraelitilb Bridc-grome; and if fhe bellowed tears upon her husband: 0 for the ranfomeofthem.Samfoa himfelfctaught herrhis difference,£ have not toldit my F.•ther or my Moth.er, andfl;ould It ell it thee t If lbc had not beene as flte 1vas, Ote had neither done this to Samfon,n.:>r heard this from him;Matrimonia!refpects are dearer than naturall; It was the law of him that ordained marriage (before ever Parents were)rhat Parents fhould be forfaken for the husband or wife: But now, In adititl1 Parents are worthy of more enrirencffe, than a wife ofthe Philiftims: And yet whom the Lyon could notcohquer,thc rears ofawoman have conquered. Samfon never bewrayed infirmity bur in uxorioufncffc: What a!furance can there be of him that bath a Philillim in his bofome? .A. dam, the perfectefl man, Samfon, the llrong,~ft man, Salomon,tbe wlfeft man, were betrayed with the flattery 9f their helpers. As there is no comfort comparable to a faithful! yoke-fellow : fo woe be E to him that is matchedwith a Philiflim. . Ir could not but muchdifcontent Samfon, to fee that his adverfar_ies had plmvcd with !m Heifer, and that upon h1s Qwne backe; now therefore he pales his wager to rheircoll. A fcalon, the City ofthe Philillims, is his wardrobe, he fetches thence thirty futcs, lincd with the lives ofthe owners: He might with ;as much eafe have flaine rhefe thirty companions,which were the authors of this 'evill; but his pronufe forbade hun, whrles he was to clothe their bodres, to unclothe their foules . and that Spirit ofGod,which flir r"d him up to revenge, directed him in the choic~ ofthe fubject~: Ifwe wonder to fee thirty throats cur for their futes, we mayeafily kno11·, that this was but the occafion oftbat Oanghtcr, whereof the caufc was their oppretlion and tyranny., 'lJavid flew two hundred Philillims for their fore-skins: but 971
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