The History of the Devil Part 11

It is objected here that we have no Authority in Scripture to prove this Part of the Story; but I answer, 'tis not likely but that _Abel_, as well as _Cain_, being at Man's Estate long before this, had several Children by their own Sisters, for they were the only Men in the World who were allow'd the Marrying their own Sisters, there being no other Women then in the World; and as we never read of any of _Abel_'s Posterity, 'tis likewise as probable they were all murther'd, as that they should kill _Abel_ only, whose Sons might immediately fall upon _Cain_ for the Blood of their Father, and so the World have been involv'd in a Civil War as soon as there were two Families in it.

But be it so or not, 'tis not doubted the Devil wrought with _Cain_ in the horrid Murther, or he had never done it; whether it was directly or by Agents is not material, nor is the Latter unlikely; and if the Latter, then there is no Improbability in the Story, for why might not he that made Use of the Serpent to tempt _Eve_, be as well supposed to make a Tool of some of _Cain_'s Sons or Grandsons to prompt him in the wicked Attempt of murthering his Brother? and why must we be oblig'd to bring in a Miracle or an Apparition into the Story, to make it probable that the _Devil_ had any Hand in it, when 'twas so natural to a degenerate Race to act in such a Manner?

However it was, and by whatever Tool the _Devil_ wrought, 'tis certain that this was the Consequence, poor _Abel_ was butcher'd, and thus the _Devil_ made a second Conquest in G.o.d's Creation; for _Adam_ was now, as may be said, really Childless, for his two Sons were thus far lost, _Abel_ was killed, and _Cain_ was curst and driven out from the Presence of the Lord, and his Race blasted with him.

It would be a useful enquiry here, and worthy our giving an Account of, could we come to a Certainty in it, namely, what was the Mark that G.o.d set upon _Cain_, by which he was kept from being fallen upon by _Abel_'s Friends or Relations? but as this does not belong to the _Devil_'s History, and it was G.o.d's Mark, not the _Devil_'s, I have nothing to do with it here.

The _Devil_ had now gain'd his Point, the Kingdom of Grace, so newly erected, had been as it were extinct without a new Creation, had not _Adam_ and _Eve_ been alive, and had not _Eve_, tho' now 130 Years of Age, been a breeding young Lady, for we must suppose the Woman, in that State of Longevity, bare Children till they were seven or eight hundred Year old: This Teeming of _Eve_ peopled not the World so much as it restored the blessed Race; for tho' _Abel_ was kill'd _Cain_ had a numerous Offspring presently, which had _Seth_, (_Adam_'s third Son) never been born, would soon have replenish'd the World with People, such as they were; the Seed of a Murtherer, cursed of G.o.d, branded with a Mark of Infamy, and who afterwards fell all together in the universal Ruine of the Race by the Deluge.

But after the Murther of _Abel_, _Adam_ had another Son born, namely, _Seth_, the Father of _Enos_, and indeed the Father of the holy Race; for during his Time and his Son _Enos_, the Text says that Men began to call on the Name of the Lord; that is to say, they began to look back upon _Cain_ and his wicked Race, and being convinc'd of the Wickedness they had committed, and led their whole Posterity into, they began to sue to Heaven for Pardon of what was past, and to lead a new sort of Life.

But the _Devil_ had met with too much Success in his first Attempts, not to go on with his general Resolution of debauching the Minds of Men, and bringing them off from G.o.d; and therefore as he kept his Hold upon _Cain_'s cursed Race, embroil'd already in Blood and Murther; so he proceeded with his degenerate Offspring, till in a Word he brought both the holy Seed and the degenerate Race to joyn in one universal Consent of Crime, and to go on in it with such aggravating Circ.u.mstances, as that it repented the Lord that he had made Man, and he resolv'd to overwhelm them again with a general Destruction, and clear the World of them.

The Succession of Blood in the royal original Line of _Adam_, is preserv'd in the sacred Histories and brought down as low as _Noah_ and his three Sons, for a continu'd series of 1450 Years, say some, 1640 say others; in which Time Sin spread it self so generally thro' the whole Race, and _the Sons of G.o.d_, so the Scripture calls the Men of the righteous Seed, the Progeny of _Seth_, came in unto the _Daughters of Men_, that is, join'd themselves to the curs'd Race of _Cain_, and married promiscuously with them, according to their Fancies, the Women it seems being beautiful and tempting; and tho' the Devil could not make the Women handsome or ugly in one or other Families, yet he might work up the Gust of wicked Inclination on either Side, so as to make both the Men and Women tempting and agreeable to one another, where they ought not to have been so; and perhaps, as it is often seen to this Day, the more tempting for being under legal Restraint.

It is objected here, that we do not find in the Scripture that the Men and Women of either Race were at that Time forbidden intermarrying with one another; and it is true, that literally it is not forbid; but if we did not search rather to make doubts than to explain them, we might suppose it was forbidden by some particular Command at that Time; seeing we may reasonably allow every Thing to be forbidden, which they are tax'd with a Crime in committing; and as the Sons of G.o.d taking them Wives as they thought fit to choose, tho' from among the Daughters of the cursed Race, is there charg'd upon them as a general Depravation, and a great Crime; and for which, 'tis said, G.o.d even repented that he had made them, we need go no farther to satisfy our selves that it was certainly forbidden.

_Satan_ no doubt too had a Hand in this Wickedness; for as it was his Business to prompt Men to do every Thing which G.o.d had prohibited, so the Reason given why the Men of those Days did this Thing was, they saw the Daughters of Men, that is of the wicked Race or forbidden Sort, _were fair_, he tempted them by the l.u.s.t of the Eye; in a word, the Ladies were beautiful and agreeable, and the _Devil_ knew how to make use of the Allurement; the Men liked and took them by the meer Direction of their Fancy and Appet.i.te, without regarding the supreme Prohibition; _They took them Wives of all which they chose_, or such as they lik'd to choose.

But the Text adds, that this promiscuous Generation went farther than the meer outward Crime of it, for it shew'd that the Wickedness of the Heart of Man was great before G.o.d, and that he resented it; In short, G.o.d perceived a Degeneracy or Defect of Virtue had seiz'd upon the whole Race, that there was a general Corruption of Manners, a Depravity of Nature upon them, that even the holy Seed was tainted with it, that the Devil had broken in upon them, and prevail'd to a great Degree; that not only the Practice of the Age was corrupt, for that G.o.d could easily have restrain'd, but that the very Heart of Man was debauch'd, his Desires wholly vitiated, and his Senses engag'd in it; so that in a Word, it became necessary to shew the divine Displeasure, not in the ordinary Manner, by Judgment and Reproofs of such kind as usually reclaim Men, but by a general Destruction to sweep them away, clear the Earth of them, and put an End to the Wickedness at once, removing the Offence and the Offenders all together; this is signify'd at large, Gen. vi. 5. _G.o.d saw that the Wickedness of Man was great in the Earth, and that every Imagination of the Thoughts of his Heart was only evil continually._ And again ver. 11, 12. _The Earth also was corrupt before G.o.d; and the Earth was fill'd with Violence. And G.o.d look'd upon the Earth and behold it was corrupt; for all Flesh had corrupted his Way upon the Earth._

It must be confess'd it was a strange Conquest the _Devil_ had made in the Antediluvian World, that he had, as I may say, brought the whole Race of Mankind into a general Revolt from G.o.d; _Noah_ was indeed a Preacher of Righteousness, and he had preach'd about 500 Years to as little Purpose as most of the good Ministers ever did; for we do not read there was one Man converted by him, or at least not one of them left, for that at the Deluge there was either none of them alive, or none spar'd but _Noah_ and his three Sons, and their Wives; and even they are ('tis evident) recorded, not so much to be sav'd for their own Goodness, but because they were his Sons; Nay, without Breach of Charity we may conclude, that at least one went to the _Devil_ even of those three, namely, _Ham_ or _Cham_ for triumphing in a brutal Manner over his Father's Drunkenness; for we find the Special Curse reach'd to him and his Posterity for many Ages; and whether it went no farther than the present State of Life with them, we cannot tell.

We will suppose now that thro' this whole 1500 Years the Devil having so effectually debauch'd Mankind, had advanc'd his infernal Kingdom to a prodigious Height; for the Text says, _the whole Earth was fill'd with violence_; in a Word, Blood, Murder, Rape, Robbery, Oppression and Injustice prevail'd every where, and Man, like the wild Bear in the Forest, liv'd by Prey, biting and devouring one another.

At this Time _Noah_ begins to preach a new Doctrine to them, for as he had before been a Preacher of Righteousness, now he becomes a Preacher of Vengeance; first he tells them they shall be all overwhelm'd with a Deluge, that for their Sins G.o.d repented they were made, and that he would destroy them all, adding, that to prevent the Ruin of himself and Family, he resolv'd to build him a s.h.i.+p to have recourse to when the Water should come over the Rest of the World.

What Jesting, what Scorn, what Contempt did this Work expose the good old Man to for above a 100 Years? for so long the Work was building, as antient Authors say; let us represent to our selves in the most lively Manner how the witty World at that Time behav'd to poor old _Noah_; how they took their Evening Walks to see what he was doing, and pa.s.sed their Judgment upon it, and upon the Progress of it; I say, to represent this to our selves, we need go no farther than to our own Witicisms upon Religion, and upon the most solemn Mysteries of Divine Wors.h.i.+p; how we d.a.m.n the Serious for Enthusiasts, think the Grave mad, and the Sober melancholy; call Religion it self Flatus and Hyppo; make the Devout ignorant, the Divine mercenary, and the whole Scheme of Divinity a Frame of Priestcraft; and thus no doubt the building an Ark or Boat, or whatever they call'd it, to float over the Mountains, and dance over the Plains, what could it be but a religious Frenzy, and the Man that so busied himself, a Lunatick? and all this in an Age when divine Things came by immediate Revelation into the Minds of Men! the _Devil_ must therefore have made a strange Conquest upon Mankind to obliterate all the Reverence, which but a little before was so strangely impress'd upon them concerning their Maker.

This was certainly the Height of the _Devil_'s Kingdom, and we shall never find him arrive to such a Pitch again; he was then truly and literally the universal Monarch, nay the G.o.d of this World; and as all Tyrants do, he governs them with an arbitrary absolute sway; and had not G.o.d thought fit to give him a Writ of Ejectment, and afterwards drown him out of Possession I know not what would have been the Case, he might have kept his Hold for ought I know till the Seed of the Woman came to bruise his Head, that is to say, cripple his Government, Dethrone him and Depose his Power, as has been fulfill'd in the Messiah.

But as he was, I say, drown'd out of the World, his Kingdom for the present was at an End; at least, if he had a Dominion he had no Subjects, and as the Creation was in a Manner renewed, so the _Devil_ had all his Work to do over again: Unhappy Man! how has he, by his weak Resistance, made the _Devil_, recovering his Hold too easy to him, and given him all the Advantages, except as before excepted, which he had before? Now whether he retired in the mean Time, and how he got footing again after _Noah_ and his Family were landed upon the New Surface, that we come next to enquire.

CHAP. X.

_Of the Devil's second Kingdom, and how he got footing in the renew'd World by his Victory over_ Noah _and his Race_.

The Story of _Noah_, his building the Ark, his embarking himself and all Nature's Stock for a new World on board it; the long Voyage they took, and the bad Weather they met with, tho' it would embellish this Work very well, and come in very much to the Purpose in this Place, yet as it does not belong to the _Devil_'s Story, for I cannot prove what some suggest (_viz._) that he was in the Ark among the Rest, I say, for that Reason I must omit it.

And now having mention'd Satan's being in the Ark; as I say, I cannot prove it, so there are, I think, some good Reasons to believe he was not there: _First_, I know no Business he had there; _secondly_, we read of no Mischief done there, and these joyn'd together make me conclude he was absent; the last I chiefly insist upon, that we read of no Mischief done there, which if he had been in the Ark, would certainly have happen'd; and therefore I suppose rather, that when he saw his Kingdom dissolv'd, his Subjects all ingulph'd in an inevitable Ruin and Desolation, a Sight suitable enough to him, except as it might unking him for a Time; _I say_, when he saw this, he took care to speed himself away as well as he could, and make his Retreat to a Place of Safety, where that was, is no more difficult to us, than it was to him.

It is suggested that as he is Prince of the Power of the Air, he retired only into that Region. It is most rational to suppose he went no further on many Accounts, of which I shall speak by and by: Here he stay'd hovering in the Earth's Atmosphere, as he has often done since, and perhaps now does; or if the Atmosphere of this Globe was affected by the Indraft of the Absorption, as some think, then he kept himself upon the Watch, to see what the Event of the new Phaenomenon would be, and this Watch, wherever it was, I doubt not, was as near the Earth as he could place himself, perhaps in the Atmosphere of the Moon, or in a Word, the next Place of Retreat he could find.

From hence I took upon me to insist, that _Satan_ has not a more certain Knowledge of Events than we; I say, he has not a _more certain Knowledge_; that he may be able to make stronger Conjectures and more rational Conclusions from that he sees, I will not deny; and that which he most outdoes us in is, that he sees more to conclude from than we can, but I am satisfied he knows nothing of Futurity more than we can see by Observation and Inference; nor, _for Example_, did he know whether G.o.d would repeople the World any more or no.

I must therefore allow that he only waited to see what would be the Event of this strange Eruption of Water, and what G.o.d propos'd to do with the Ark, and all that was in it.

Some Philosophers tell us, besides what I hinted above, that the _Devil_ could have no Retreat in the Earth's Atmosphere, for that the Air being wholly condens'd into Water, and having continually pour'd down its Streams to deluge the Earth, that Body was become so small, and had suffer'd such Convulsions, that there was but just enough Air left to surround the Water, or as might serve by its Pressure to preserve the natural Position of Things, and supply the Creatures in the Ark with a Part to breath in.

The Atmosphere indeed might suffer some strange and unnatural Motions at that Time, but not (I believe) to that Degree, however, I will not affirm that there could be room in it, or is now for the Devil, much less for all the numberless Legions of Satan's Host; but there was, and now certainly is, sufficient s.p.a.ce to receive him, and a sufficient Body of his Troops for the Business he had for them at that time, and that's enough to the Purpose; or if the Earth's Atmosphere did suffer any particular Convulsion on that Occasion, he might make his Retreat to the Atmosphere of the Moon, or of _Mars_, or of _Venus_, or of any of the other Planets; or to any other Place, for he that is Prince of the Air could not want Retreats in such a Case, from whence he might watch for the issue of Things; certainly he did not go far, because his Business lay here, and he never goes out of his Way of doing Mischief.

In particular, his more than ordinary Concern was, to see what would become of the Ark; he was wise enough doubtless to see, that G.o.d, who had directed its making, nay even the very Structure of it, would certainly take Care of it, preserve it upon the Water, and bring it to some Place of Safety or other; tho' where it should be, the _Devil_ with all his Cunning could not resolve, whether on the same Surface the Waters drawing off, or in any other created or to be created Place; and this State of Uncertainty being evidently his Case, and which proves his Ignorance of Futurity, it was his Business, _I say_, to watch with the utmost vigilance for the Event.

If the Ark was (as Mr. _Burnet_ thinks) guided by two Angels, they not only held it from foundering or being swallow'd up in the Water, but certainly kept the Waters calm about it, especially when the Lord brought a strong Wind to blow over the whole Globe, which by the Way was the first, and, I suppose, the only universal Storm that ever blew, for to be sure it blew over the whole Surface at once; I say, if it was thus guided, to be sure the _Devil_ saw it, and that with Envy and Regret that he could do it no Injury, for doubtless had it been in the Devil's Power, as G.o.d had drown'd the whole Race of Man, except what was in the Ark, he would have taken care to have dispatch'd them too, and so made an End of the Creation at once; but either he was not empower'd to go to the Ark, or it was so well guarded by Angels, that when he came near it he could do it no harm: So it rested at length, the Waters abating on the Mountains of _Arrarat_ in _Armenia_, or some where else that Way, and where they say a Piece of the Keel is remaining to this Day; of which, however with Dr. ------ I say, I believe not one Word.

The Ark being safe landed, 'tis reasonable to believe _Noah_ prepared to go on Sh.o.r.e, as the Seamen call it, as soon as the dry Land began to appear; and here you must allow me to suppose Satan, tho' himself cloth'd with a Cloud, so as not to be seen, came immediately, and pearching on the Roof, saw all the Heaven-kept Houshold safely landed, and all the Host of living Creatures dispersing themselves down the Sides of the Mountain, as the Search of their Food or other proper Occasions directed them.

This Sight was enough; Satan was at no Loss to conclude from hence that the Design of G.o.d was to repeople the World by the Way of ordinary Generation, from the Posterity of these eight Persons, without creating any new Species.

Very well, says the _Devil_, then my Advantage over them, by the Snare I laid for poor _Eve_, is good still; and I am now just where I was after _Adam_'s Expulsion from the Garden, and when I had _Cain_ and his Race to go to work with; for here is the old expung'd Corrupted Race still, as _Cain_ was the Object then, so _Noah_ is my Man now, and if I do not master him one way or another, I am mistaken in my Mark. _Pardon me for making a Speech for_ the Devil.

_Noah_ big with a Sense of his late Condition, and while the Wonders of the Deluge were fresh in his Mind, spent his first Days in the Extasies of his Soul, giving Thanks, and praising the Power that had been his Protection, in and thro' the Flood of Waters, and which had in so miraculous a Manner, safely landed him on the Surface of the newly discover'd Land; and the Text tells us, as one of the first Things he was employ'd in, _He built an Altar unto the Lord, and offered Burnt-Offerings upon the Altar_. Gen. viii. 20.

While _Noah_ was thus employ'd he was safe, the _Devil_ himself could no where break in upon him; and we may suppose very reasonably, as he found the old Father invulnerable, he left him for some Years, watching notwithstanding all possible Advantages against his Sons and their Children; for now the Family began to encrease, and _Noah_'s Sons had several Children; whether himself had any more Children after the Flood or not, that we are not arriv'd to any Certainty about.

Among his Sons the _Devil_ found _j.a.phet_ and _Shem_, good, pious, religious, and very devout Persons; serving G.o.d daily, after the Example of their good old Father _Noah_, and he could make nothing of them or of any of their Posterity; but _Ham_ the second, or according to some, the younger Son of _Noah_, had a Son who was nam'd _Canaan_, a loose young profligate Fellow, his Education was probably but cursory and superficial, his Father _Ham_ not being near so religious and serious a Man as his Brothers _Shem_ and _j.a.phet_ were; and as _Canaan_'s Education was defective, so he prov'd, as untaught Youth generally do, a wild, and in short a very wicked Fellow, and consequently a fit Tool for the _Devil_ to go to work with.

_Noah_, a diligent industrious Man, being with all his Family thus planted in the rich fruitful Plains of _Armenia_, or wherever you please, let it be near the Mountains of _Caucasus_ or _Arrarat_; went immediately to work, cultivating and improving the Soil, encreasing his Cattle and Pastures, sowing Corn, and among other Things planting Trees for Food, and among the Fruit Trees he planted Vines, of the Grapes thereof he made no doubt, as they still in the same Country do make, most excellent Wine, rich, luscious, strong, and pleasant.

I cannot come into the Notion of our Criticks, who to excuse _Noah_ from the guilt of what followed, or at least from the Censure, tell us, he knew not the Strength or the Nature of Wine, but that gathering the heavy Cl.u.s.ters of the Grapes, and their own weight crus.h.i.+ng out their balmy Juices into his Hand, he tasted the tempting Liquor, and that the _Devil_ a.s.sisting he was charm'd with the delicious Fragrance, and tasted again and again, pressing it out into a Bowl or Dish, that he might take a larger Quant.i.ty; till at length the heady Froth ascended and seizing his Brain, he became intoxicate and drunk, not in the least imagining there was any such Strength in the Juice of that excellent Fruit.

But to make out this Story, which is indeed very favourable for _Noah_, but in it self extremely ridiculous, you must necessarily fall into some Absurdities, and beg the Question most egregiously in some particular Cases, which way of arguing will by no means suppose what is suggested; at first you must support there was no such Thing as Wine made before the Deluge, and that no Body had been ever made drunk with the Juice of the Grape before _Noah_, which, I say, is begging the Question in the grossest Manner.

If the Contrary is true, as I see no Reason to question, if, _I say_, it was true that there was Wine drank, and that Men were or had been drunk with it before, they cannot then but suppose that _Noah_, who was a wise, a great and a good Man, and _a Preacher of Righteousness_, both knew of it, and without doubt had in his preaching against their Crimes, preach'd against this among the rest, upbraided them with it, reprov'd them for it, and exhorted them against it.

_Again_, 'tis highly probable they had Grapes growing, and consequently Wines made from them, in the Antediluvian World, how else did _Noah_ come by the Vines which he planted? For we are to suppose, he could plant no Trees or Shrubs, but such as he found the Roots of in the Earth, and which no doubt had been there before in their highest Perfection, and had consequently grown up and brought forth the same luscious Fruit before.

Besides, as he found the Roots of the Vines, so he understood what they were, and what Fruit they bore, or else it may be supposed also he would not have planted them; for he planted them for their Fruit, as he did it in the Provision he was making for his Subsistence, and the Subsistence of his Family: and if he did not know what they were, he would not have set them, for he was not planting for Diversion but for Profit.

Upon the whole it seems plain to me he knew what he did, as well when he planted the Vines as when he pressed out the Grapes; and also when he drank the Juice that he knew it was Wine, was strong and would make him drunk if he took enough of it: He knew that other Men had been drunk with such Liquor before the Flood, and that he had reprehended them for it; and therefore it was not his Ignorance, but the _Devil_ took him at some Advantage, when his Appet.i.te was eager, or he thirsty, and the Liquor cooling and pleasant; and in short, as _Eve_ said, _the Serpent beguilded her_, and she DID EAT, so the Devil beguiled _Noah_, and _he_ DID DRINK; the Temptation was too strong for _Noah_, not the Wine; he knew well enough what he did, but as the Drunkards say to this Day, it was so good he could not forbear it, and so he got drunk before he was aware; or as our ordinary Speech expresses it, _he was overtaken with drink_; and Mr. _Pool_ and other Expositors are partly of the same Mind.

No sooner was the poor old Man conquer'd, and the Wine had lighten'd his Head, but it may be supposed he falls off from the Chair or Bench where he sate, and tumbling backward his Clothes, which in those hot Countries were only loose open Robes, like the Vests which the _Armenians_ wear to this Day, flying abroad, or the _Devil_ so a.s.sisting on purpose to expose him, he lay there in a naked indecent Posture not fit to be seen.

In this juncture who should come by but young _Canaan_, say some; or as others think, this young Fellow first attack'd him by way of Kindness and pretended Affection; prompted his Grandfather to drink, on Pretence of the Wine being good for him, and proper for the Support of his old Age, and subtilly set upon him, drinking also with him, and so (his Head being too strong for the old Man's) drank him down, and then, _Devil_ like, triumph'd over him; boasted of his Conquest, insulted the Body as it were dead, uncovered him on purpose to expose him, and leaving him in that indecent Posture, went and made Sport with it to his Father _Ham_, who in that Part, wicked like himself, did the same to his Brethren _j.a.phet_ and _Shem_; but they like modest and good Men, far from carrying on the wicked Insult on their Parent, went and cover'd him, as the Scripture expresses it, and as may be supposed inform'd him how he had been abus'd, and by whom.

Why else should _Noah_, when he came to himself, shew his Resentment so much against _Canaan_ his Grandson, rather than against _Ham_ his Father, and who 'tis supposed in the Story the guilt chiefly lay upon?

we see the Curse is (as it were) laid wholly upon _Canaan_ the Grandson, and not a Word of the Father is mention'd, Gen. ix. 25, 26, 27, _Cursed be_ Canaan, _a Servant of Servants shall he be_, &c.

That _Ham_ was Guilty, that's certain from the History of Fact, but I cannot but suppose his Grandson was the Occasion of it; and in this Case the Devil seems to have made _Canaan_ the Instrument or Tool to delude _Noah_, and draw him in to Drunkenness, as he made the Serpent the Tool to beguile _Eve_, and draw her into Disobedience.

Possibly _Canaan_ might do it without Design at first, but might be brought in to ridicule and make a Jest of the old Patriarch afterward, as is too frequent since in the Practice of our Days; but I rather believe he did it really with a wicked Design, and on Purpose to expose and insult his Reverend old Parent; and this seems more likely too, because of the great Bitterness with which _Noah_ resented it, after he came to be inform'd of it.

But be that as it will, the _Devil_ certainly made a great Conquest here, and as to outward Appearance no less than that which he gain'd before over _Adam_; nor did the _Devil_'s Victory consist barely in his having drawn in the only righteous Man of the whole Antediluvian World, and so beginning or initiating the new young Progeny with a Crime; but here was the great Oracle silenc'd at once; the Preacher of Righteousness, for such no doubt he would have been to the new World, as he was to the old, I say, the Preacher was turn'd out of Office, or his Mouth stopt, which was worse; nay, it was a stopping of his Mouth in the worst kind, far worse than stopping his Breath, for had he died, the Office had descended to his sons _Shem_ and _j.a.phet_, but he was dead to the Office of an Instructor, tho' alive as to his Being; For of what Force could his Preachings be, who had thus fallen himself into the most shameful and beastly Excess?