University of Virginia Library

The Iustice, Mercy, and the Might I sing
Of heau'ns iust, mercifull, Almighty King.
By whose fore-knowledge all things were elected,
Whose power hath all things made, & al protected,
Whose Mercies flood hath quencht his Iustice flame,
Who was, is, shall be One, and still the same.
Who in the Prime, when all things first began,
Made all for Man, and for himselfe made Man.
Made, not begotten, or of humane birth,
No Sire but God, no Mother but the Earth;
Who ne'r knew Childhood, or the sucking teate,
But at the first was made a man compleat.
Whose inward Soule, in God-like forme did shine
As Image of the Maiestie Diuine.
Whose supernaturall wisedome, (beyond Nature)
Did name each sensible, and sencelesse creature,
And from whose Star-like, Sand-like Generation,
Sprung euery Kindred, Kingdome, Tribe, and Nation
All people then, one language spake alone,
Interpreters the world then needed none:
There liued then no learned deepe Grammarians,
There were no Turkes, no Scythians, no Tartarians.
Then all was one, and one was onely all
The language of the vniuersall Ball.
Then if a Traueller had gone as farre
As from the Artick to th'Antartick starre,
If he from Boreas vnto Auster went,
Or from the Orient to th'Occident,
Which way soeuer he did turne or winde,
He had beene sure his Country-man to find.
One hundred, thirty winters since the Flood,
The Earth one onely language vnderstood:
Vntill the sonne of Gush, the sonne of Cham,
A proud cloud-scaling Towre began to frame,
Trusting that if the world againe were drown'd,
He in his lofty building might rest sound;
All future Floods, he purposd to preuent,
Aspiring to Heau'ns glorious Battlement.
But high Iehouah, with a puff was able
To make ambitious Babel but a bable.
(For what is man, that he should dare resist
The great Almighties pow'r, who in his fist
Doth gripe Eternity, and when he please
Can make, and vnmake, Heau'n, and Earth, & Seas?)
For in their expectation of conclusion,
He plag'd them all with sundry Tongues confusion.
Such Gibrish Gibble Gabble all did iangle,
Some laugh, some fret, all prate, all diffring wrangle;
One calls in Hebrew to his working Mate,
And he in Welch Glough whee Comrage doth prate.
Another gapes in English, or in Scotch,
And they are answer'd in the French or Dutch,
Caldaicke, Syriacke, and Arabian,
Greeke, Latine, Tuscan, and Armenian,
The Transiluanian, and Hungarian,
The Persian, and the rude Barbarian;
All these, and diuers more then I can number,
Misunderstanding tongues did there incumber.
Thus he that sits in Heau'n their plots derided,
And in their height of pride, their tongues deuided.
For in this sudden vnexpected change,
The wife and husband, Sire and sonne were strange,
The Brother could not vnderstand the Brother,
The Daughter stands amazed at her Mother,
By euery one a seuerall part is acted,
And each vnto the other seemes distracted.
Thus by the iustice of the Lord of Hasts
Each seuerall tongue was driu'n to seuerall coasts,
And God (peculiar) to himselfe did chuse
His most beloued, yet hard-hearted Iewes.
Iehouahs honor with them then did dwell,
His name was onely knowne in Israel,
Salem his habitation was of yore,
In Sion men his Glory did adore.
Th'Eternall Trine, and Trine Eternall One
In Iury then was called on alone,
The sonnes of Heber, were the adopted stocke,
Gods onely Chosen, holy sacred Flocke,
Amongst all Nations, them he onely lik'd,
And for his owne vse, them he culd and pik'd;
Them his sin-killing, sauing word he gaue
T'instruct them, what condemn'd, and what would saue
To them he gaue his word, his Couenants band,
His Patriarks, his Prophets, and his hand
Did blesse, defend, instruct, correct, and guide
The Iewes, and no one Nation else beside.
For them, a world of wonders hath he done,
To them, he sent his best begotten Sonne,
On them, a Land he freely did bestow,
Where milke and hony plentiously did flow,
With them he was, till they from him did turne,
And wilfully against his blessings spurne;
All heau'nly, earthly Soules, or Bodies good
They lack'd no temp'rall, or eternall food.
His Temple builded in Ierusalem,
Where he had daily sacrifice from them,
Where though their seruice was defect and lame
Th'Almighties mercy did accept the same.
(For though Mans sin is great, God hath decreed
To take his best endeuour for a deed.)
And whilst they in his loue and feare abode,
They were his people, he their gracious God.
But when impieties began to breed
And ouergrow old Iacobs sacred seed,
When they from good to bad began to fall,
From ill to worse, from worst, to worst of all,
When Gods great mercies could not them allure,
And his sharp threatnings could not them procure,
When each ones body was vnto the soule
A lothsome Dungeon, to a prisoner foule.
When sin (al shamelesse) the whole Land o'rspreads,
Then God threw dreadful vengeance on their heads:
And for their heynous heaping sin on sin,
Ierusalem hath oft assaulted bin.
First, Shishak, Egypts King, with might and maine
Made hauock there, in Rehoboams Raigne;
The Citty, Temple, Golden vessels, Shields,
All (as a prey) to the Egyptians yeelds.
Next Ioas came, the King of Israel,
In Amaziahs dayes with fury fell;
He brought Iudea to Samariaes thrall,
King, Kingdome, Princes, Peeres, and people all.
Then thirdly, Rezin King of Aram came
In Abaz time, with sword and furious flame.
Th'Assyrian great Zenach'rib was the next,
By whom good Hezekiah was perplext.
But when blasphemous Pagans, (puft with pride)
Contemptuously the God of gods defide,
The Lord of Lords (whom no pow'r can withstand)
Tooke his owne gracious, glorious cause in hand,
He vs'd no humane Arme, or speare, or sword,
But with his All-commanding mighty Word,
One Angell sent to grisly Plutoes den,
A hundred, eighty, and fiue thousand men.
Then fiftly was Ierusalem subdude,
In Iudaes blood, th'Assyrians hands imbrude,
Manasses godlesse Glory did expire,
All yeeld vnto th'insulting foes desire;
Vsurping Conquest all did seaze vpon,
The King in chaines-bound, sent to Babylon,
Till he (repenting) to his God did call,
Who heard his cry, and freed him out of thrall.
Then sixtly, Pharaoh-Necho Egypts King,
To great distresse all Iudaes Land did bring,
With fell confusion all the Kingdome fill'd,
And (with a Dart) good King Iosias kill'd.
The Shepheard, for his wandring sheep was strook;
The godly Prince, from godlesse people tooke;
So this iust, zealous, and religious Prince,
(Whose like scarce euer Raign'd before, or since)
Th'Almighty (to himselfe) did take agen,
As knowing him too good for such bad men.
Nabuchadnezer, next made them obey,
When Zedekiah did the Scepter sway:
King, Kingdome, Peeres, and people, all o'rethrown,
All topsie-turuy, spoyld, and tumbled downe:
The curst Caldeans did the King surprize,
Then slew his Sons, and next pluck'd out his eyes:
Then vnto Babylon he was conuayde,
In Chaines, in Priso, and in Darknesse layde,
Till death his Corps, did from his soule deuide,
He liu'd a slaue, and sadly, gladly dyde.
The Citty, and the Temple burnt and spoyld,
With all pollution euery place was soyld;
The holy vessels all away were borne,
The sacred Garments which the Priests had worne,
All these the Caldees, (voyde of all remorce)
Did cary vnto Babylon perforce.
Which, seuenty yeeres, in slauery and much woe
They kept, and would by no meanes let them goe,
Till Persian Cyrus did Earths glory gaine,
Who freed the Iewes, and sent them home againe:
He rendred backe their vessels and their store,
And bad them build their Temple vp once more.
Which many yeeres in glorious state did stand,
Till Ptolomy the King of Egypts band
Surpriz'd the Iewes, and made them all obey,
Assaulting them vpon the Sabbath day.
Next after that, from Rome great Pompey came,
And Iudaes force, by force, perforce did tame:
Then did the Cæsars beare the earthly sway,
The vniuersall world did them obey
And after that, the Romane pow'r did place
The Idumean Herods gracelesse Grace,
Him they created Tetrarch (demy King)
'Gainst whom the Iewes did boldly spurne and fling,
For they had sworne that none but Dauids seed
In the seat Royall euer should succeed.
But Sossius, and King Herods Armies strength
Did ouer-run them all in breadth and length,
By hostile Armes they did them all prouoke,
To beare the burthen of their awfull yoke.
And lastly, when the Romanes ouer-run
By valiant Titus, old Vespasians sonne;
Then fell they to an vnrecouer'd wane,
They all in generall, were or slaine or tane,
Then was the extirpation of them all,
Their iust, worst, last, most fatall, finall fall.
Thus mercy (being mock'd) pluckd iudgmēt down,
Gods fauour being scorn'd, prouokes his frowne;
Aboue all Nations he did them respect,
Below all Nations he did them deiect;
Most vnto them his fauour was addicted,
Most vpon them his fury was inflicted;
Most neere, most deare, they were to him in loue,
And farthest off his wrath did them remoue;
He blest, he curst, he gaue, and then he tooke
As they his Word obeyde, or else forsooke.
How oft Iehouah seem'd his sword to draw
To make them feare his precepts and his Law,
How oft he raisd them, when they hedlong fell,
How oft he pardond, when they did rebell,
How long did Mercy shine, and Iustice winke,
When their foule crimes before Gods face did stinke!
How oft Repentance, like a pleasing sauour,
Repurchasd Gods abused gracious fauour!
When he did blessings vpon blessings heape,
Then they (ingratefull) held them meane and cheape,
Their plenty made them too too much secure,
They their Creators yoke would not endure.
They (gracelesse) fell from goodnesse & from grace,
And kick'd and spurn'd at Heau'ns most glorious face.
The Prophets, and the Seers that were sent
To warne them to amendment, & repent,
They ston'd, they kill'd, they scorn'd, they beat, they bound,
Their goodnesse to requite, their spight did wound.
The Prophets came with loue, and purchas'd hate,
They offred peace, and were return'd debate;
They came to saue, and were vniustly spill'd,
They brought them life, and were vnkindly kill'd,
No better entertainment they afford
Vnto the Legates of their louing Lord.
Thus were the Lab'rers in Gods Vineyard vsde,
Thus was their loue, their care, their paines abusde;
Their toyles and trauailes had no more regard,
Bonds, death, and tortures, was their best reward.
At last th'Almighty from his glorious seat
Perceiu'd his seruants they so ill intreat,
No more would send a Prophet or a Seer,
But his owne Sonne, which he esteem'd most deare.
He left his high Tribunall, and downe came,
And for all Glory, enterchang'd all shame,
All mortall miseries he vnderwent
To cause his loued-louelesse Iewes repent;
By Signes, by Wonders, and by Miracles,
By Preaching, Parables, and Oracles,
He wrought, & sought, their faithlesse faith to cure.
But euer they obdurate did endure.
Our blest Redeemer came vnto his owne,
And 'mongst them neither was receiu'd or knowne,
He whom of all they should haue welcom'd best,
They scorn'd and hated more then all the rest.
The God of principalities and pow'rs,
A Sea of endlesse, boundlesse mercy, showres
Vpon the heads of these vnthankefull men,
Who pay loue, hate; and good with ill agen.
Their murdrous-minded-malice neuer left,
Till they the Lord of life, of life bereft;
No tongue, or pen, can speake, or write the story
Of the surpassing high immortall glory,
Which he (in pitty and in loue) forsooke,
When he on him our fraile weake nature tooke.
To saue Mans soule, his most esteemed Iem,
And bring it to the new Ierusalem,
From Greatest great, to least of least he fell
For his belouee chosen Israel.
But they more mad then madnesse, in behauiour,
Laid cursed hands vpon our blessed Sauiour.
They kill'd th'ternall Sonne and Heire of Heau'n,
By whom, and from whom, all our liues are giu'n,
For which the great Almighty did refuse,
Disperse, and quite forsake the faithlesse Iewes;
And in his Iustice great omnipotence
He left them to a reprobated sence.
Thus sundry times these people fell and rose,
From weale to want, from height of ioyes to woes:
As they their gracious God forsooke, or tooke,
His mercy either tooke them, or forsooke.
The swart Egyptians, and the Isralites,
And raging Rezin King of Aramites,
Then the Assyrians twice, and then againe
Th'Egyptians ouer-run them all amaine;
Then the Caldeans, and once more there came
Egyptian Ptolomy, who them o'recame.
Then Pompey, next King Herod, last of all,
Vespasian was their vniuersall fall.
As in Assyria Monarchy began,
They lost it to the warlike Persian,
Of Nimrods Race, a Race of Kings descended,
Till in Astiages his stocke was ended;
For Cyrus vnto Persia did translate
Th'Assyrian Soueraigne Monarchizing state.
Then after many bloody bruzing Armes
The Persian yeelded to the Greekes Alarm's,
But (smoake-like) Grecian glory lasted not,
Before 'twas ripe, it did vntimely rot.
The worlds Commander, Alexander dyde,
And his Successors did the world deuide;
From one great Monarch, in a moment springs
Confusion (Hydra-like) from selfe-made Kings,
Till they (all wearied) slaughter'd and forlorne,
Had all the earth dismembred, rent and torne;
The Romanes tooke aduantage of their fall,
And ouer-ran, captiu'de, and conquerd all.
Thus as one nayse another out doth driue,
The Persians the Assyrians did depriue;
The Græcians then the Persian pride did tame,
The Romanes then the Græcians ouercame,
Whilst like a vapor all the world was tost,
And Kingdomes wer transferd from coast to coast;
And still the Iewes in scattred multitudes
Deliuer'd were to sundry seruitudes,
Chang'd, giuen, bought, & sold, from land to land,
Where they not vnderstood, nor vnderstand.
To euery Monarchy they were mad slaues,
Egypt and Aram, Caldea them out-braues;
Assyria, Persia, Græcia; lastly Rome
Inuaded them, by heauens iust angry doome.
Foure Ages did the sonnes of Heber passe,
Before their finall desolation was;
Their first Age, aged Patriarks did guide,
The second reuerend Iudges did decide,
The third by Kings, naught, good, bad, worse, and worst,
The fourth by Prophets, who them blest or curst,
As their dread God commanded, or forbid
To blesse, or curse, eu'n so the Prophets did.
Our Sauiour, weeping on the Mount did view
The Citty, and foretold what should ensue;
And in his tender pitty vnto them
Said, Oh Iervsalem, Iervsalem,
Thou kill'st the Prophets, and to death didst ding
Those that were sent, thee heau'nly grace to bring,
How oft, and oft, would I (for your owne good)
Haue gathered you, as doth a Hen her brood!
But you would not: and therefore to you all
Your houses shall to desolation fall.
Which came to passe, according as he said,
Which in the second part is here displaide.

THE LAST AND MOST LAMENTABLE Destruction of the Ancient, Famous, and Memorable Citty and Temple of Iervsalem; being destroyed by Vespasian, and his Sonne Titvs.

Confusion, Horror, Terror, dreadfull Wars,
Domesticke, forraigne, inward, outward Iars,
Shafts shot at Iuda in Iehouahs ire,
Infectious plague, war, famine, sword, and fire,
Depopulation, desolation, and
The fiuall conquest of old Iacobs Land.
These are the Theames my mournfull Muse rehearses,
These are the grounds of my lamenting Verses.
Iosephus wrote these things in ample wise,
Which I thus briefly doe Epitomize:
Which worthy Author in large scope relates
His Countries alterations, and estates.
The Bookes of his Antiquities doe tell,
How oftentimes th'arse, how oft they fell,
How oft God fauour'd them, how oft his frowne
From height of greatnes cast them headlong down,
The Seuenth booke of his Warres declareth plaine,
How Roman Conquest did the Kingdome gaine,
How death did tyrannize in sundry shapes,
In sword, in fire, in famine, and in Rapes.
Who loues to reade at large, let him reade his,
Who likes compendious briefes, let him read this.
Since Hebers sonnes the Country first enioyde,
Sixe times it hath beene wasted and destroyde,
Twice three times spoyld, and thirteen times in all,
Wars force, or Composition made it thrall,
Compare all wars, that chanc'd since the Creation,
They all are nothing to their desolation;
No story, or no memory describes
Calamity to match old Isr'els Tribes:
For if each Land the bloody broyles recount,
(To them) 'twere but a mole-hill to a Mount:
All which (for sin) in the Almighties fury
Was heap'd vpon the sinfull Land of Iury:
And almost sixteene hundred winters since
Did great Uespasian, Romes Imperiall Prince,
With braue young Titus, his stout valiant son,
Iudeaes Kingdome spoyle and ouer-run.
And with an Army Royall, and renound,
They did Ierusalem beleaguer round.
With force, with stratagems, with warlike powers,
With Rams, with Engines, scaling ladders, Towres,
With all the Art of either might or sleight,
The Romanes vpon each aduantage wait.
Whil'st the besieged, that within did dwell,
Amongst themselues to fell sedition fell;
“Like neigh'bring bauins, lying neere each other,
“One burnes, and burning each one burne another;
So did the Iewes each other madly kill,
And all the streets with their slayne corpses fill.
Eleazer, Simon, Iohn, all disagree
And rend Ierusalem in pieces three.
These each contending who should be the chiefe,
(More then the Romans) caus'd their Coūtries griefe.
Iohn scorn'd Eleazer should be his superior,
And Eleazer thought Iohn his inferior;
And Simon scornd them both, and each did scorne
By any to be rul'd, or ouer-borne;
The Citty sundred thus in triple factions,
Most horrid, bloody, and inhumane actions
Were still committed, all impieties,
(In sundry sorts of vile varieties)
All sacrilegious and vngodly acts
Were counted Noble meritorious facts.
They striu'd each other to surpasse in euill,
And labor'd most, most how to serue the Deuill.
These men, of grace and goodnesse had no thought,
But daily, madly 'gainst each other fought.
They hurly burly all things ouerturn'd,
Their store-houses with victuals down they burn'd,
With hearts more hard then Adamantine rocks,
They drailed Uirgins by the Amber locks;
The Reuerend Aged they did rend and teare
About the streets by snowie ancient haire;
Yong Infants, some their harmlesse braines dash out,
And some on points of Launces borne about,
That 'tis not possible to write with pen,
The barb'rous outrage of these deuillish men:
For they (vnmindfull of the Romane force)
Themselues did waste & spoyle without remorce.
Their cruel slaughters made their furious foes
Relent and weepe, in pitty of their woes,
Whil'st they (relentlesse Villaines) voyde of pitty
Consume, and ruinate their Mother-Citty.
The Channels all with purple gore o'r-flowde,
The streetes with murdred carkasses were strowde:
The Temple with vnhallowed hand defilde,
Respect was none, to age, sexe, man, or childe;
Thus this three-headed, hellish multitude
Did waste themselues, themselues themselues subdude,
Whil'st they within still made their strength more weak,
The Roman Rams th'opposed walls did break:
Whose dreadfull battry, made the Citty tremble,
At which the Factious all their powers assemble,
And all together (like goods friends) vnite
And 'gainst their foes they sally forth and fight.
“Like a swolne Riuer, bounded in with banks
“Opposed long, with Pike-like Reedy Ranks,
“At last th'ambitious torrent breaks his bounds,
“And ouer-runs whole Lordships, and confounds
“The liuing and the liuelesse, that dares bide
“The fury of his high-insulting pride.
Euen so the Iewes from out the Citty venter'd,
And like a flood the Romane Army enter'd,
O'rwhelming in their desp'rate madnesse all
That durst withstand them, or assault the wall.
They set the fearefull Engines all on fire,
And brauely fighting made their foes retire;
The battell done, back came these hare-braind men,
And each the others foe deuide agen.
Pell mell confusion, then againe began,
All order straight vnto disorder ran;
Their corne and victuals, all consum'd with fire,
Their hunger-starued bodies 'gin to tire,
Prouision in a moment, spoyld and wasted,
Which kept (might well) for many yeeres haue lasted.
Then Famine, like a Tyrant roames and rages,
Makes faint (yet furious) hauock of all ages,
The rich, the poore, the old, the young, all dyes,
All staru'd, and fleshlesse bare Anatomies,
This was a plague of plagues, a woe of woes,
On euery side their death did them inclose,
But yet the manner how to lose their breaths,
Did more torment them then an host of deaths.
To sally forth, the Romanes shed their blood,
To stay within, they starue for want of food,
And if they would goe forth, the gates were shut,
And if they staid within, their throats were cut:
That if they stay, or goe, or goe, or stay,
Th'are sure to meet destruction euery way;
But of all torments, hunger is the worst,
For through the stony walls (they say) 'twill burst;
These people with warre, woe, and want, beset,
Did striue how they might to the Romanes get,
They hopde to finde more mercy in their swords,
Then their still-dying famisht state affords.
Mans wit is sharpest when he is opprest,
And wisedome (amongst euils) likes the least.
They knew Vespasian for a Noble foe,
And one that did not glory in their woe,
They thought it best his clemency to try,
And not immurde with hungry famine dye.
Resolued thus (dispairing in their hopes)
A number slyding downe the walls with ropes,
Fled vnto Tytus, who bemoand their case,
Relieuing them, and tooke them to his Grace.
Thus forty thousand neere with famine staru'd,
Were all vnhop'd for, by their foes preseru'd
The Cittie Soldiers search'd each house to see
Where any victuals might conuayed be,
And if they any found, they thought it fit
To beat the owners for concealing it.
But if they saw a man looke plumpe and fat,
His throat they presently would cut for that,
They thought him too much pamperd too well fed,
And to saue meat and drinke, they strike him dead.
Some men and women, Rich and Nobly borne,
Graue all they had for one poore strike of corne,
And hid themselues and it below the ground,
In some close vault they eat the same vn-ground.
If any could get flesh, they eat it raw,
The stronger still, the weakest ouer-awe,
For hunger banisht naturall respect,
It made the husband his owne wife reiect,
The wife doth snatch the meat from out his hand
Which would and should hir loue and life cōmand.
All pitty from the Mother was exilde
She teares and takes the victuals from her Childe,
The Childe doth with the Parents play the thiefe,
Steales all their food, and lets them pine in griefe.
Nor Free or Bond-man, Fathers, nor yet Mothers,
Wiues, Husbands, seruants, masters, sisters, brothers,
Propinquitie or strong Affinitie,
Nor all the rights of Consanguinitie,
No Law, or Rule, or Reason could beare sway,
Where strength cōmands, there weaknes must obey.
The pining seruant will no master know,
The son his father will no duty show,
The Commons did no Magistrate regard,
Each one for one, and but for one he carde,
Disordred, like the cart before the horse,
All reu'rence and respect did yeeld to force.
These Miscreants with vigilance all watch'd
Where they could see a doore, or lock'd or latch'd,
There they supposd the people were at meat,
And in their outrage ope the doores they beat,
Where entring, if they found them feeding fast,
From out their throats they teare the meat in haste,
Halfe eaten, halfe vneaten, they constraine
The wretched people cast it vp againe.
They halde them by the eares the house about,
To force them bring supposed victuals out;
Some by the thumbs hang'd vp, some by the toes,
Some prick'd with bodkins, some with many blows
Tormented were, to force them to reueale
Meat, when they had not any to conceale.
Now all was fish that fell into the net,
And all was food that fraud or force could get;
Grasse, hay, barke, leaues of trees, and Dogs, and Cats.
Toads, frogs, wormes, snailes, flies, maggots, mice and rats,
All silthy stinking and contagious rootes,
The couer of their Coaches, shooes, and bootes,
All vermine, and the dung of fowles and beasts,
Were these poore wretches miserable feasts;
Things loathsome to be nam'd in time of plenty,
Amongst the staru'd distressed Iewes were dainty.
This famine ran beyond all Natures bounds,
All motherly affection it confounds,
No blood or birth, with it compassion won,
It forc'd a Woman kill her onely Son,
She rip'd him and dis-ioynted lim from lim,
She drest, she boyld, she broyld, and rosted him,
She eat him, she inter'd him in her wombe,
She made his births place his vntimely tombe.
From her (by Nature) did his life proceed,
On him (vnnaturall) she her selfe did feed,
He was her flesh, her sinews, bones and blood,
She (eating him) herselfe, herselfe made food.
No woe her miserie can equallize,
No griefe can match her sad calamities,
The Soldiers smelt the meat and straight assemble,
Which whē they saw (with horror) made thē trēble
Each one with staring haire, and ghastly looke,
Affrighted, and amaz'd, the house forsooke
This horride action, quickly ouercame
These men, whom force of man could neuer tame.
Thou that dost liue like to a fatted Brawne,
And cramst thy guts as long as thou canst yawne,
Thou that dost eat and drinke away thy time,
Accounting Gluttony a God, no Crime,
Thou must haue Fowle as high as heau'n that pearc'd
And hast the bowels of the Ocean search'd,
And from all places neere so farre remote,
Hast dainties for thy all-deuouring throat,
Whose pamperd paunch ne'r leaues to feed & quaff,
Till it be made a Hogs trogh, fill'd with draff.
Thinke on Ierusalem amidst thy Riot,
Perhaps 'twill moue thee to a temp'rate diet.
And you braue Dames, adorn'd with Iems, & Iewels,
That must haue Cawdles, Cullisses and Grewels,
Conseru's and Marchpanes, made in sundry shapes,
As Castles, Towres, Horses, Beares and Apes,
You, whom no Cherries like your lickrish tooth,
But they must be a Pound a pound forsooth,
Thinke on Ierusalem amidst you glory,
And then you'le be lesse dainty, and more sorry.
What there auaild their beauty, strength, or riches,
(Three things which all the spacious world bewitches)
Authoritie and Honor help'd them not,
Wrong trod downe Right, and Iustice was forgot,
Their greatest, chiefest, only earthly good
Was (twas no matter how they got it) Food.
One little piece of bread they reckond more
Then erst they did of bags of Gold before,
One scrap, which full fed corps away doe fling,
With them, had bin a ransom for a Kin.
The lothsome garbadge which our Dogs refuse
Had bin a dish of state amongst the Iewes.
Whilst Famine playd the Tyrant thus within,
The Romane Army striu'd the walls to win,
Their Enginers, their Pioners and all
Did mine and batter, and assault the wall.
Ierusalem had three strong walls of stone,
And long 'twas ere the Romans could get one,
The dearth and death of sword and famine spred
The streets, that liuing trod vpon the dead,
And many great mens houses full were fill'd
With carkases, which the seditious kill'd:
That with the stench of bodies putrifide,
A number numberles of people dyde.
And buriall to the dead they yeelded not,
But where they fell, they let them stinke and rot,
That plague, and sword, and famine, all three stroue
Which should most bodies frō their soules remoue.
Vnsensible of one anothers woes,
The Soldiers then the liueles corpses throwes
By hundreds and by thousands o're the walls,
Which when the Romans saw their dismall falls
They told to Titus, which when he perceiu'd
He wept, and vp t'ward heau'n his hands he heau'd,
And calld on God to witnes with him this,
These slaughters were no thought, or fault of his.
Those wretches that could scape from out the City,
Amongst their foes found both reliefe and pity.
If the seditious any catch that fled,
Without remorse they straitway strook him dead.
Another misery I must vnfold,
A many Iewes had swallow'd store of gold,
Which they supposd should help them in their need
But from this treasure did their bane proceed.
For being by their en'mies fed and cherisht,
The gold was cause that many of them perisht;
Amongst them all, one poore vnhappy creature
Went priuatly to doe the needs of Nature,
And in his Ordure for the Gold did looke,
Where being by the straggling soldiers tooke,
They ript him vp and searcht his maw, to finde
What Gold or Treasure there remain'd behind.
In this sort, (whilst the soldiers gap'd for gaine)
Was many a man and woman ript and slaine.
In some they found gold, and in many none,
For had they gold, or not gold, all was one,
They were vnboweld by the barb'rous foe.
And search'd if they had any gold or no.
But now my Story briefly to conclude,
Uespasians forces had the walls subdude,
And his triumphant Banner was displaide
Amidst the streets, which made the Iewes dismaid,
Who (desp'rate) to the Temple did retire,
Which (with vngodly hands) they set on fire,
Whilst Noble Titus, with exceeding care
Entreated them they would their Temple spare,
Oh saue that house (quoth he) ò quench, oh slake,
And I will spare you for that Houses sake,
Oh let not after-times report a Storie
That you haue burnt the worlds vnmatched glory,
For your owne sakes, your children, and your wiues
If you doe looke for pardon for your liues.
If you expect grace from Uespasians hand,
Then saue your Temple Titus doth command.
The Iewes with hearts hard, offred mercy heard,
But neither mercy, or themselues regard,
They burnd, and in their madnes did confound
King Salomons great Temple to the ground.
That Temple which did thirty millions cost,
Was in a moment all consum'd and lost,
The blest Sanctum Sanctorum, holiest place
Blest oft with high Iehouahs sacred Grace,
Where (at one offring) as the Text sayes plaine,
Were two and twenty thousand Oxen slaine,
One hundred twenty thousand Sheepe beside
At the same time for an oblation dide.
That house of God (which raignes aboue the thunder)
Whose glorious fame made all the world to wōder,
Was burnt and ransackt, spight of humane aide,
And leuell with the lowly ground was laid.
Which when Uespasian and young Titus saw,
They cride kill, kill, vse speed and marshall Lavv;
The Roman soldiers then (inspirde with rage)
Spard none, slew all, respect no sex or age;
The streets were drowned in a purple flood,
And slaughterd carcasses did swim in blood.
They slew, whilst there were any left to slay,
The ablest men, for slaues they bare away.
Iohn, Simon and Eleazer, wicked fiends,
As they deseru'd, were brought to violent ends.
And from the time the Romanes did begin
The siege, vntill they did the Citty win,
Sedition, sword, fire, famine, all depriues
Eleuen hundred thousand, of their liues.
Besides one hundred thousand at the least
Were tane, and sold, as each had beene a beast.
And from the time it was at first erected
Till (by the Remanes it was last deiected)
It stood (as it in histories appeares)
Twenty one hundred, seuenty and nine yeeres.
But yet ere God his vengeance downe did throw,
What strange prodigious wonders did he show,
As warnings how they should destruction shun
And cause them to repent for deeds misdon;
First the Firmament, Th'offended Lord
Shewd them a Comet like a fiery sword,
The Temple and the Altar diuers nights
Were all enuiron'd with bright burning lights,
And in the middest of the Temple there
Vnnat'rally a Cow a Lambe did beare,
The Temples brazen gate, no bolts restraine,
But (of it selfe) it open flew amaine.
Arm'd Men and Chariots in the Ayre assembled,
The pondrous Earth, affrighted, quak'd, & trembled,
A voyce cride in the Temple, to this sence,
Let vs depart, let vs depart from hence.
These supernat'rall accidents, in summe
Foretold some fearefull iudgement was to come:
But yet the Iewes accounted them as toyes,
Or scarcrow bugg-beares to fright wanton boyes,
Secure they reuell'd in Ierusalem,
They thought these signes against their foes, not them.
But yet when warre and death had all perform'd,
When ruine, spoyle, & furious flames had storm'd,
Who then the desolated place had seene,
Would not haue knowne there had a Citty beene.
Thus Iuda and Ierusalem all fell,
Thus was fulfill'd what Christ did once foretell,
Sad desolation, all their ioyes bereft,
And one stone on another was not left.