No More Learning

And itmustbe in somesuch sense as this, that the hirth right ascrib'd to Joseph, for he was not the eldest, but the dominion was in Judah his elder brother. And after
the rejection of Reuben, for defiling his fathers, bed and of Simeon and Lm, for their massacre of the Sichemitet, Gen. xlix. Judah was the f/slt/? , and the dominion was given to him, with this expression of -ver. 8. 7£y/«- ther^s children shall bow down before thee. And the bless ing of Joseph comes afterward, ver. 22. according to his hirth-right, the last of all the twelve but Benjamin.
And in the blessing of Joseph there not word of the double portion Mr. ZocÆ fays Jacob gave him of oi-£a/ had taken from the Amorite with his sword and with his bow. That in the former chapter, and upon another
was after this that Jacob called all his sons
tecaston.
together, and pronoune'd their several blessings to them.
And this portion above his brethren, which Jacob gave to Joseph, could not be on account of his primogeniture, for he was the eleventh son. Therefore Mr. Lock's argu ment falls to the ground. was an act of special favour from his father for his wonderful preservation and sup
port of his father and all his brethren and had no respect
at all to" the primogeniture.
Let me add to all this, that these blessings pronounced
Jacob, Gen. xlix. were prophetical, and not ap plicable to that present time in which they were spoke, as Jacob said, ver. . And Jacob called unto his sons, and
said, Gather your selves together, that may tell you what shall hefalyou in the last days. And giving the dominion
to Judah (which his three elder brothers had forfeited) he fays, ver. 10. The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a law -giver from between hisfeet, until Shiloh come. Thar
was
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;
is a
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so
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it,
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;
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The REHEARSAL. m
was Our bleffed Saviour, of whom this is an acknowledg'd prophecy. This scepter was given to Judab in David of that tribe, \ Chron. xxviii. 4. and ordained to continue hereditarily^ in the succession of the eldest son, which was the rule in the kingdom of Judab, as I have before shew'd ; and our blessed Saviour came of that tribe, and is called
theson of David.
This was the lasting dominion, which was to endure for
ever in the person of our blessed Lord.
But there was likewise a rule and dominion given to Jo
seph, that to his son Ephraim by which name the ten tribes, as distinct kingdom from Judab, are all along named thro' the prophets, and called the house of Epbraim, and the children of Ephraim. This the meaning of the hirth-right of Joseph, and of Go^ faying, Ephraim my
first-born. Jer. xxxi. 9. tho' plain that ManaJseh wasthe sirst-born. Therefore first-born and hirth-right here
must be meant rule and dominion which strong con
firmation of the prerogative of thefirst-born, as have be fore observed.
Hence likewise appears, that this hirth-right of Jo seph, and the dominion of Judab, were not concerning the
fame thing, nor at the fame time, nor determinable toge ther. So that here no interfering or clashing betwixt the hirth-right and dominion mentioned in this text, to
which Mr. Lock would apply giving the hirth-right to one, and the dominion to another, meaning of the fame
thing, or else he meant nothing to the purpose for which- he brought it. The hirth-right or dominion of Joseph was over Ephraim, that is, the ten tribes. The hirth-right or dominion of Judah was over the kingdom of Judab but the preference was given to Judah, from whom Christ our isri/ mould come. As written Py«/. lxxviii.
67* 68. . Hi? refused the tabernacle os Joseph, and chose not the
tribe Ephraim, but chose the tribe of Judah.
Let the dissenters consult Mr. Pool (the most learned of them) upon this text, Chron. v. and they will sind ia
his synopsis, that there were three prerogatives of the pri mogeniture, the priesthood, the dominion or civil govern
ments
1
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of
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;
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"
As if one should fay, judge Jefferies pronoune'd. sentence of death in the late times, therefore judge Jef-
.
Mr. Lock
The REHEARSAL.
376
merit, and the double portion. Then let them choose whe
ther they will believe him, or Mr. Lock who fays that th > right oi the first-born was nothing but the double portion.
"These prerogatives were divided'by God in after-ages.
The priesthood was given to Levi instead of the first-born, as it is faid, Num. iii. I 2. and the dominion or civilgo
vernment was given to Judah, i CÆr. xxviii. 4. Now what objection is all this ? God may a/ter his own instituti ons, but we must not. Nay, this shews, that these pre
rogatives were joined in the first-born at sirst, because they were afterwards divided.
And that the name offirst-horn was given as an appel lation of dignity, tho' to the younger, is own'd in the as sembly 's annotations (I still quote their own authorities )
upon this tearr, I Gfcr. v. 1 . where it is given as a reason
why Judah isset before Reuben and Joseph too, because he had a greater dignity ; which still shews the current notion of the prerogative of the first-born.
(2. ) C. This I think is sufficiently explained. Now,. master, let me tell you Mr. Lock's objections against what youhave instane'd beforeof7«•<Wscondemning Tamarto dcafh, to shew the power of the fatherhood, where there is no superior poiver to restrain it. He fays, p. 166, " That pronouncing sentence of death is not a mark of sovereignty, but usually the office of inserior magistrates
feries had sovereign authority. " But he faw the tri fling of this answer, and therefore subjoins, " But it wi! L be faid Judah did it not by commission from another,
and therefore did it in his own right. " To which he re plies, " Who knows whether he had any right at all? heat of passion might carry him to do that which he had no authority to do. "
R. Who knews ? and might be, are pretty loose fort of answers, especially where no sort ofreason is given for such suppofitions. There is nothing ofpassion appears in that whole relation of Judah\ proceeding against Tamari
Me condemn'd her for & crime, which he mentions. .
The REHEA RSAL.
377 Lock might as well have faid, that it vraspasfiott in David when he condemned the Amalekite, who brought him the tidings of Sauss death. And who knows whether he had any right at all? There was much more of paffion in Saul, when he commanded the priests to he stain. And
tho' the soldiers would not put forth their hands to stay the priests of the Lord, and in so very unjust a cause too, only because David had been in their city, yet they dis puted not the authority of Saul, nor offer'd to make re
fistance, when they faw the priests flain by Deg, i Sam, xxii. 17, 18. Mr. Lock might have given the fame an
swer to all the instances in holy scripture of kings having power of life and death. It was allpassion! and who knows whether they had any right at all ? And if the fa
mily of Judah thought he had no right, is it likely, that, he would have commanded, or that none of the family would have shewed the least resentment against such a com mand to burn his daughter, which imply'd the lame au thority over them all ?
C. This is extravagant, out of all bounds. But Mr.
Lock makes another objection, p. 167, That Judah's fa ther was then alive, and three of his elder brothers ; and
so urges this as an instance against the fatherly authority, and that of the primogeniture.
R. I have shewed before, N. 58. That the power of the sather was full and absolute, where there was no su
perior power to restrain it. And N, 60. That a father might manumit or discharge a son out of the family.
Now at this time Judah had gone away from his fa ' ther and his brethren, and had married a Canaanite, and settled there, as we are told Gen. xxxviii. 1, &c. Here he erected afamily by himself, and had children, and gimd-children, and had no superior ; therefore he had the absolute power.
C. There is another objection which Mr. Lock brings, p. 200 from Gen. xlii. 37. And ReIuben spake unto his fa
thersaying, flay my two sons, if bring him not to thee. Upon which Mr. Lock makes h"imself merry, and rallies with great pleasure, and fays, All this had been vain,
3
super
37«
The REHEARSAL.
superfluous, and but a fort of mockery, if Jacob had had the fame power over every one of his family as he had over his ox, or his ass, as an owner over his substance. And the offer that Reuben or Judab made had been such a security for the returning of Benjamin, as if a man should take two lambs out of his lord's flock, and offer one as security, that he will fasely restore the other.
R. This is ridiculing, with too much assurance, and too little regard to the holyscriptures. For let me ask, suppose I lived in Denmark, Sweden, or any other abso lute monarchy, and should offer my sons to bestain, if I did not do such a thing : Would any of these kings make such ajest of this, as Mr. Lock does, and fay, I can hang you and your sons too at my pleasure ? Therefore this is no
security ! Or would a king and parliament in England fay, we can attaint you, for whatever we please ? Therefore this is Tiosecurity ! fortho-' the supreme power in every government can do all this, yet it is not to be supposed that they are so void of all humanity as to execute it with out any regard to justice. At feast they will never/a? so.
But if Mr. Lock will not allow the power of life and death to Jacob, he must, by this text, allow it to Reuben. How else could he give to any other power to stay his sons ? This puts it in the fatherhood still (against which Mr. Lock disputes) and gave Jacob as much power over Reuben as Reuben had over his sons.
C. These are all the objections I can sind in Mr. Lock, against the fatherly authority, and the primogeniture ; so
that I will now release you from this drudgery of answer ing such a parcel of undigested mistakes of the holy scrip-
lursue the deduction of
ment after the stood; for so far we had gone when I inter
rupted you with these objections of Mr. Lock.
R. It is notunuseful to have considered these objeclions, lest any might think them greater than they are; and
thp' most of them do respect the times after the food, yet
they come in properly here, because the settlement of the
fatherly authority, and the right of the primogeniture, is necessary in order to the deduction of them in fact, which we
The REHEARSAL.
379
we are next to see in the times after the flood, and will jhorten the work, while we shall have little else now to do but to pursue the threado£ history, without any interruption.
The Observatory the 19th instant, Fol. IV. N. 49. fays, That in the Rehearsal, N. 50, is contained the high est treason, he names it not, therefore I look'd it over, and can sind nothing like treason in unless be making the Ohservator cuckoo, and as such, turning him oft", as unsit for civil converfation.
He tells us likewise of his being bound over, upon the complaint of the imperial envoy, for his rude and barbarous treatment of his imperial majesty and instead ofsubmit ting or asking pardon, he justifies what he has done, and
bullies and threatens what more he will do not sparing
her majesty, for entering into confederacy with popish allies, nor even the present ministry, they sufser him to be
profecuted, and for not prosecuting of others, with vin dication of the right of every commoner in England to in termeddle in state affairs both foreign and domestick, and to pass their verdiii in print for the information of the po
pulace
had not taken notice of this, but to shew the natural.
tffeSls of these commonwealth principles. They make men insolent and brutal, even in common conversation, for how can A? retain any respect for government, or any a'/A tinction of upon the earth, who looks upon himself as the original and fountain of all power and honour and that emperors, kings, and parliaments, are nothing else but hisservants, his deputies and representatives How
can any government be easy with men of such notions, or expect obedience from them
The Observator tells us, Vol. IV. N. 42. ofhis education and proficiency in the private academies of the dissenters amongst us; andifwemay guessatwhat's iNthem, what comes out of them, 'tis time to look after them Here's
pregnant instance what principles are learnt there, what manners, what reverence to govermnent, or regard to y«-
periors! And the performance of their Calamys,
Palmers, &c. are
a
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!
by! ! a
!
if
!
;
a
it, it
380
The REHEARSAL.
&c. are not inferior, in all these respects, to their Obscr- vators ; especially in their treatment of the church : which must lie under the load of all their venom and jlan-
der till Go•/ shall think sit to deliver her.
And monarchy told us j for which he has been well rewarded.
From ,§at. Sept. 29, to Oct. 6, 1 705.
I. Ti? >f fatherly authority in Noah aster the Flood. z. 7he power of lise death in Noah. 3. 7j6< occa sion of the division of nations aster the Flood. 4. Tbe means by which it ivas brought to pass. 5. The divi
sion was into 70 nations, by the means of 70 langua ges. 6. The division of languages was all at one time. 7. The sons of Shem, Ham, and Japheth in Gen. x. were only the rulers of countries, none other
oftheir children are there namd. 8.
The succession of some of them preserv'd to this day.
G>»». TT7'E are new come, master, to the times of
monwealths men.
R. Noah had a. wicked fin, as Adam had ; and we sind
Noah exercising authority over him, Gen. ix. 25. And he said, Cursed, be Canaan, a servant ofservants shall be be unto his brethren. And he blessed his dutiful and obedient
children, ver. 26, 27. And he, said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem ; and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall
is join'd with episcopacy in their root and branch work ;
which Mr. Wisely (bred among them) has veryseasonably
N° 62.
VV
Noah after the Flood. . And the sirst point is, whether we can sind any marks of fatherly authority in Noah over his children f For that is deny'd by our com
and Canaan shall be his sirvant. And this curse upon Ham or Canaan was for his irreverence
to his father, in looking upon his nakedness. And the blessing upon the other two was for their awful respect to
enlarge Japheth,
their father, ver. 22, 23, 24. .
C. But
The RE HEARSAL,
381
C. But was not this prophetical?
R. Yes. And not of less authority for that ; but it
was grounded upon thefatherly authority ; and the curse and the blessing given with respect to that.
(«. ) C. The whzgs will allow, that Noah had a fatherly
authority. But they deny that it had any respect to go- tvernment, or did extend to life and death,
R. God fays to Noah, Gen. ix. 6. man's Hood, by man shall his blood be shed.
Whofo sheddetb
C. They fay, that this was spoke with respect to man kind in general; but did not place the authority in any one more than another. Not in Noah more than in any
one of his fins, or in them all together.
R. Then any aw of Noah's sons, and their fins after
them, had the power of life and death over Noah, as well as he over them ! And, by the fame rule, every man in the world had the power of life and death over every man in the world !
C. That wou'd make a strange iwr/•/ indeed ! there wou'd be nothing but killing and flaying at this rate ! there cou'd be no judge, because every man wou'd be
judge over his judge, and might put his judge to death, as well as the judge pass sentence upon him ! surely this can not be the meaning of that text !
R. It must be the meaning, unless the power of life and death was put in some particular hands exclusive of ethers.
C. In whose hands was it put ? That does not appear in this text.
R. There was no need of expressing it in this text ; because the fins of Noah were well appriz'd, that their father had the authority over them. This was efiablished
from the beginning, as well by the positive institution of God, as by the dictate of nature. All which we have be fore discours'd at large ; as likewise, that the authority which has no superior, must be absolute, and extend to every thing of authority. And therefore it being con
,
that Noah, as father, had autho rity over his font, but not they over him : it must follow,
sessedly acknowledg'd,
that
3*2
The REHEARSAL
that the command in this text was to be executed by Ncab over hisfins ; but not by them over
C. Why then was this command given to M«Æ and his fins ? for they are all join'd together, ver. I. ofarf Go•/ bleJsedNoah, and bis fins, andsaid unto them, &c.
R. It was a command of obedience to them, in respect of their father. But it was likewise a command that was to extend to all generations ofww» to the «rrf of the world. And did respect the fins of AkaÆ, when they came to be governors themselves, and to succeed in ihepoiver of Noah, their father ; whereas if it had been only spoke of Noah,
it might have been thought, that it was only a particular grant to him, and not to extend to any govermurs after him. Therefore it is put in general: by man shall his
bloodbe shed; that by such men, to the end of the tworld, who shall be justly Defied with this authority.
C. But you have faid before, that this power was Adam, and in the patriarchs before the Flood; and, by
your rule, that whatever power has no superior preme, must be so. What need then was there ofthis
new grant to Noah? looks as this were the first of and that this power had never been granted before.
R. No more than what faid in the fame place, Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth. And the fear you, and the dread you shall be upon every beast
the field, and upon every fowl the air, {SV. which was the repeating or renewing the grant given at sirst to Adam. And the adding this of revenging blood, might
be for the murders had been committed, not only that of Abel, but we may suppose of many others afterwards
the compass of 1656 years. For That the earth was filled violence.
need of mentioning this particular
power to Adam before any blood had been shed. But there
was great occasion of impressing home upon Noah, and all after ages.
(3. ) C. But now, master, we are come to troublous times I'm afraid will puzzle you. For as ask'd be- sore, how went after Adam's death must now, how
faid, Gen. vi. 13. And there was no
branch of sovereign
su
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of
it
;
it of if
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it
is
of
in
is
in
of
it,
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is,
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The REHEARS AL.
383
how it went after Noah's ? Did his eldest son succeed in the
full right of the primogeniture, as universal monarch over all the world? Here the whigs do triumph! and think they have overthrown all the pretence of primogeniture ; For that in fact no such universal monarch did succeed Noah. And so all yourscheme falls to the ground.
R. This objection, when clear'd, will settle the notion
of government, and the succession of much more strong ly. This then was the fact: About oo years after the Flood, when men were multiply God did design to
separate them into divers colonies, and to people the earth with them. But great many of them did gather together, with an intent to keep themselves from being
separated,
and for that end to build great city, and
mighty high tower, to secure themselves against another
Deluge. And we may suppose to establish an universal
to continue after the death of Noah, who was still alive, and then their chiefgovernour, as common
father to them all.
This may be the meaning of the name they propos'd to make to themselves, Gen. xi. 4. Let us make us a
name, lest we scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. But God deseated that defign, as faid, ver.
9. And from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face all the earth. From thence, that from Ba bel or Babylon, which was the name of that city they had . built and sell to the share of Nimrod, and was the be ginning his kingdom, Gen. x. 10. which may be rea
son why he set up for more authority than others, and to subdue others under him he did do which does not appear, otherwise than his being call'd mighty hun ter before the Lord: which think does not inser and
capable of another construction. But that not our business now.
The thing we are concern'd for, to know by what means and method God did bring this divifion of nations to pass And we sind, that was no human means: But the most stupendous and astonishing mi
racle that ever the earth faw, and under which the world
monarchy,
(4. )
a
by ?
be
by
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is
it,
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384
The REHEARSAL. "
world groans to this day ; that is, the divistott of tongues- For all of mankind, except one share, must in a moment, forget their mother tongue. Else they cou'd have under stood one another in that tongue, tho' they had others given them. And then all of asudden, in that fame mo ment of time, all the others, except that one /hare, had new languages inspir'd into them, all different from each
other ; else they cou'd still have understood one another.
(5. ) C. How many were these languages ?
R. They were 70. For into so many nations was the earth then divided, aster their tongues, in their lands, after their nations, Gen. x. 31. Their names are all set down in this chapter, after the names of the sons of Shem, Ham, and Japhcth, who go•verrid these several countries. Of these the sons of Japheth were 14; of Ham 30 ; of Shem 26, in all 70.
(6. ) C. How does it appear, that this diviston of tongues was done all at once ? We know tongues and lan
guages alter in process of time, as our English ; that in an 1 00 years time it is hardly the fame language it was be fore. Few now understand old Chaucer, who was call'd
the refiner of the English tongue ; and so I have heard it
is in other languages. So that new tongues may grow, in time out of old ones ; nay, in the fame country, and as
we may fay the fame language, there is such difference, and -variety of dialects introduc'djby custom, that in Lon don we hardly understand the north-country speech, nor
I the
they the west, and so forth. And so fancy variety
of languages in the world might have come.
R. It will be very hard to imagine, that all the quite difserent languages, and characlers of difserent languages
in the world among nations so distant, that have no cor~ respondence or intercourse with one another, cou'd come from this root.
But to put this out of all doubt, we sind, that this was
done all at one time, Gen. x. 25. where the name of Pe-
leg, which signisies divifion, was given to the son of E- ber, with this reason, for in his days was the earth di
vided.
Besides.
The REHEARSAL.
385
Besides, if the divifion of tongues had not been at that very time, it cou'd not have answer'd the defign of God to put a stop to the building of Babel, as it is faid, Gen. x. 7. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their lan guage, that they may not understand one another s speech — So they left off to build the city.
C. This I think is very plain, though I heard a learn
ed man put this very objection ; which made me put it to
you.
(7. ) But now, master, were these 70 sons os Shem,
Ham, and Japheth all princes and rulers of these several countries ? or is this only a catalogue of what children they had ?
R. It cou'd not be a catalogue of all their children ; for there are no daughters nam'd. Nor cou'd it be a list of all their sons ; for there were many more than 70 men then in the world. They must be many thousands to com
pose so many several nations ; and we must suppose more than 70 men at the building of that vast tower and city of Babel : and all the men then in the world were the offspring of these three sons of Noah. Therefore 70 of them being here only nam'd, must distinguish these 16, in
a very particular manner from all the rest.
Besides, we have the names of several countries call'd
from some of these 70. As the Canaanites so call'd from Canaan the son of Ham. The great Assyrian mo narchy, so call'd from Ashur the son of Nimrod, who built Nineveh. And Babylon the beginning of Nimrod\ king dom, is known by that to this day. They built many other great cities, whose names we have lost, which are mention'd in the xth of Genefis. This mews they were great men, and rulers and governors, who had so many men at command, and from whom countries re- ceiv'd their names.
(8. ) But more :
In some of these countries, where hL
stories have been preserv'd, we have still remaining the names not only of the first prince, but of all who have
succeededhim from that time to this day. Thus from Nim rod, who in profane history is call'd Bchs, through the
Vol. I. S
Assyrian
386
The REHEARSAL.
Assyrian, Perfian,
Grecian and Roman monarchies, and
from the dwifitn of the last into the Eastern and Wrstern empires, we have the names of all the kings, who succeeded
one another, from Ximrod or Belus, to the present empe
ror of Germany, and the Sultan at Constantinople.
C. This is a mighty confirmation indeed, if I cou'd be fatisfy 'd of it ; for I'm no scholar, and never read any
but a little of our English histories.
R. There are tables of chronology, wherein are all their
names ; and likewise of the kings of other countries, as far as any histories of them remain. Petarvius his Chro nological tables are put into English, and printed in Cam bridge, and fold in the booksellers shops at London : where, in two sheets of papers, printed on one side, and hung up like a picture, you may see all this at one view, as plain as all our kings since the Conqueror in an Almanack.
C. I am resolv'd to have one of them ; for this is what I knew not before. I have some more questions to afc concerning the matter we are now upon. But I'll re serve these till next time.
From &at. Oct. 6, to Cfiurs. Oct. n, 1705. N° 63.
The present subject interrupted for a play-day to the coun tryman, who tells of a dispute 'twixt a park-keeper and deer-stealer. 1. The decr-stealer woud not let the
park-keeper mend the pales ofhis park. 2. The deer- stealer pleads a title to the park, from some liberties had been allow d him in the park. 3 . Herw he managed a park he had seiz'd beyond Trent. 4. And how he treat ed a brother of the park-keeper'/ there. 5. He bullies the park-keeper ; and talks learnedly of laws, liberty, and levelling. 6. He will not suffer the park-keeper to look beyond Trent ; though he himself does. 7. And gives good reason for it. With the true meaning of law, right, aWjustice.
Ce«». T7'OU deal a little hardly by me, master, in J, keeping me, who am but a young convert, so long
The REHEARSAL.
387
long upon the stretch, wholly upon the serious, as you have done ; and I perceive it will be some time yet be- sore you have gone through that work you have cut out for yourself. And I must not intermix any of my foolish
fiories, when you are upon your serious discourse. It wou'd interrupt and break the links of your chain, and it wou'd be trouble to join them together again ; and great part might flip out of my mind, and I consess wou'd make it less useful to me.
Therefore I desire you wou'd give me a play-day now and then to refresh me, and bear a little with my fimple way ; and then I shall hearken afterwards more atten tively to your lectures.