[ontemplationr. LIB. X{. I e.reofbut one man at his worl< in all Gibeab,the tell\\cre quaffing and revelling. A 1 hat ooe man ends his workewirh a chantable entertainment; the other end thCIIr play in a brutifl1 bcafl:lineffe and violence. Thefe villaincs had learned both the a er ions and rh~ languag~ of ti:e ~odomires : ?ne u~cleane divell was the prompter to both:aod rhts honellEphramute,had learn dofnghteous Lot,both to intrtat,and to proffer. As a perple~ed Manner, that m a _£\orme '?u(lc~ll away fomething,although prcC'IOUs; fo thts good Hofl,tJther wtll prothrute hts daughter a virgin together with the concubine, than this prodigious villany ll10uld be offered to a U:an, much more roa,man ofGod. The dctdlation of a fouler fn<e drew him to over-reach in tl1e motion ofa Ietfer· which if it !•ad 1--ecn accepted, bow could he have efcaped tl1e partnerthip of rhd; uncleannc!fc,and tl'c guilt of his daughters ravithment?No man c>n wath his hands B of that tinne, towl:icl1 his will bath yeelded. Bodtly violence may be iRoffenfive in the p.ricnr;volu:Jt <ry mc!inarion toevil(thoug' ' out of fcare)can never be excufeable: yet, behold,rhis wickedt•etle is too little to far isfie thefe montle.rs. · Who would have looked for fo extreme abomination from the loins of J .col,the wombc of R.•chd, t~·o fons of Benjamia? Could tl:e very Jebutites their nei•hbours be ever accufed of fuch unnaturall our rage 11 am athamed ro f~y it,Even tb~ worll P.•gans were S •tnts to lfrae!. What >vatles itthatth~y have th~ Ark~ of God in Shtlo, whil.rhcy have Sodom in their llreets I that t~c La,. of God is in thdr fringes, whiles t~e Dive !I is in their hearts I Notl1ing but hell it felfc can yccld a worfe creature t!•an a depraved lfraelite; the very mc~nes of ltis reforR•arion,are the fuell of his w ickedoeffe. ·ht Lot fp,d (o much better in Sodome, than this Ephraimire did in <Jibeah,.by C how mucJ1 more holy guefls he cntertaised_. There the guefls were Angels; here a fin full man. T!.ere rl:e guetls fa'fd the Hofl; here the Ho(l could not fave the guetl from brutith vinle•·ce. Thofc Sodomites were thicken with outward blindne(fc, and de feared: Tl efc Benjamitcs are only blinded with lutl,and prev•tle. The Levite comes forth; perhaps,his coat {a\•ed his pcrlon from this.villany; who now thinkcs I imfelfe well, that ~e may have leave to rcdeeme his owne dilhonourwith his rorcuhincs. If l:c had nor loved herdeardy,he had nrvcr fought her fo far, after-fo foulc a Gore: Yet now !:is hateof that unnaturall wickednetfe overcame his l9v~ tp hcr;S~e i<."'Pofed to the furious luftofRuffians, and(which he mif-doubttth)·abuted tode.rh. D 0. tl:c iufr and even c6urfc which the Almighty Judgeot the world holds in all ~is tctributions! Thiswoman had thamed tkbcd ofa Levire, by her former wanroqoc!f~; lltc had,thus fJrregonefmoothlyawaywirh her fin, her father harbourd he~, her husband forgave her, her o.vne heart found no caufe to complaine, becaufe .hhe lmdrted-not :now, when theworld had forgotten heroffence, Godcals her to reckoning, and punithr. henvith hero<Yn fin. -she had voluntarilyexpofed b~r felfctoluft ; nowJs cxpofed forcibly. Adultery was her line~ a~uherywas l•erdeath. What fmiles foever wickedncife cafts upon the heart,wlules tt follicits; it will owe us a difpleafure, and prove it fdfe a faithfull Debtor. The Levite looked to find her humbled with this violence, not mnrthered; and now indignation mov<S him to adde horror to the fad:: Had not hiS heart been rai- ~ fed upwitb an..e.ceffe ofdetire, to make the crime as odious as it was finfull, his >etiOR could.not be excufed.Thofe h¥tds that might nor touch a carkafs,now carve the corps ofhis own dead wife into morfe!s;and fend thefc tokens to a! the Tribes of Ifrael; that w.llen they thould fee t~efe gobbets ofthebody murthcred,the more they might detetl the murtherers. Himfe1fe puts on cruelty to the dead, that he mig,ht draw them to a ju!l revengeofher death.AcHons ~ororioufiy villar_><>us,may juftly connte~a11cc an extraordmary meanes ofprofecuuon. Every Ifraeltte bath a part in~ Levites )Vrong ; No Tribe bath not hill lhare in rh~ carka!fc and the revenge. The
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