'T IS by slow and trembling Steps that I pass towards the Territories of the Miserable , thence to take a distant Prospect of the tremendous Executions made by Divine Justice upon so great a Part of the once glorious Spirits , now hanging up alive in the Chains of fierce Wrath , and reserved unto the further Judgment of the great Day .

Methinks it is Pity that Sin hath so fair a Pretence to the glory of High Birth : We cannot deny it the Honour of a Noble Extraction , when we see it unluckily Issuing from the Heart of an Angel : For neither were those Sons of God at their first Creation bless'd in such an absolute Degree of Stability and Perfection , as should ever secure them from all possibility of falling into the Sorrows of so unnatural a Production .

But if already my Plough make a Baulk in this Tragick Field , and my Pen blunders to decipher this Serpent's Root from whence sprung up the Monster , my Reader may well remit it to me , when the great St. Austin throws it off with a Non Deus sunt : They were not God , but Created in a Mutable and not Impeccable Estate ; He charges his Angels with Folly : But if Folly hath a Lodging in the Bosoms of those who each Minute Behold the face of mine heavenly Father , wonder not if ( at this distance ) it be graduated into perfect Distraction , and the Atheistical Fools of the Earth say in their Hearts , There is no God , because they see none ; when they are not vouchsafed the dreadful Kindness of Diabolical Conviction , but are sentenc'd to the ruinous effects of an impudent Obduration , without the Mercy of a scrupulous Conscience , which in time might Torment them into a prudent Recantation .

How the Holy Court was Alarm'd at the breaking out of this Viper , ( as of some Flying Dragon that would have stung them all to Death ) and what dreadful havock was wrought in a Moment , and how very many Thousands perished by its Venomous Sting , e're the most expeditious Orders could be issued out for the clearing the sound from the infected : And what Decree passed forth for their everlasting Exile thence , into the lowest Abyss of Darkness and Confusion , is so far from being News now adayes , that Heaven and Earth rings with the Tragedy .

And happy had it been for the Younger Sons of God , that this degenerous Brood had been ever closely confin'd within the limits of their own sooty Walls , and not permitted by their ranging about , to have had the Liberty of making their pernicious How d'ye's into the Paradise of Joy , where the Kindness of their Maker had so blessedly plac'd them together in Pleasure and Peace .

Very vainly does prying Curiosity make enquiry after the Quality of the Sin that wrought this Ruine , since perhaps Holy Writ is so obscure and reserv'd , with design to dictate a more prudent Caution against all ; since whatsoever it were that slew an Angel , the very least of all may crush a Worm .

Yet to gratifie a little the Inquisitive Humour ; know , that the very Learned are divided and strangely differ in their Opinions about it : Some ●aying the Ruine to the Charge of Envy , from their foreknowledge of God's determination in Promoting the Humane Nature into the ineffable Honour of Vnion with the Godhead , in neglect of their own ; so Zanchy and others . Clemens Alexandrinus , Tertullian and Chrysostome think it to be Luxury , from Gen. 6.1 . But surely Spirits need no Mistresses . Others alleadge the Breach of a Positive Command and Law imposed upon them ; and the Rabbins will have it of some Service to Man , which the proud Angel refusing was therefore cast down , an Opinion a little hard to be entertain'd ; 't is apparent their Fall preceded the Creation of Man . Aquinas , St. Austin , and the whole Current of Writers close with the Holy Ghost , in affixing the Guilt upon Pride ; and methinks she is plainly enough too guilty of this Murther ; [ 1 Tim. 3.6 . ] Nay , the very Care and necessary Caution of every Good Father of the Church , in not laying too hasty Hands on light and frothy Persons , nor exalting them into the weighty Ministrations of the Altar , ( since such may be tempted to swell into too high Conceits of themselves from the Dignity of their excellent Office , and so become Poysoned by the Devil's Draught , whom Pride had so strangely stupified into a forgetfulness of themselves , and puffed them into a Rebellion against their great Maker who had assign'd to them their proper Functions , ( and to the Prince of them so glorious one ) had they had but Grace to have kept 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , their Noble State and Principality , and not left their Station or Habitation , ( as Jude saith v. 6. ) I say their Care and Vigilancy , must evidence for me that Pride is not slandered in the least by the Charge ; ( and I shall stand the Tryal if she sue me upon the Scandal ) for we cannot ●●e ignorant neither how some eminent Fathers have expounded that of Isaiah 14.12 . How art thou fallen , O Lucifer ! son of the Morning , &c. I will exalt my Throne above the Starrs : I will be like the most High ; to represent the Sin and Fall of the Proud King of Babylon by the Pride and Destruction of Lucifer .

E're we pass further , let us make a few Turns in the Chamber of Contemplation , and take a survey of the lamentable Ruine of an Angel , ( of thousands of them ) that this execrable Sin hath so traiterously dragged into irrecoverable Misery and Woe .

The Angelical Nature was doubtless the very Cream and Flower of the beautiful Creation of God : These Spirits are the glittering Courtiers of the King of Glory , clad in the very Livery of their Maker ; the Garnish and Ornament of his Palace ; Heaven it self but bare Walls ( as it were ) and unfurnished without them , cloathed with all such inexpressible Excellencies and Power , that surely they want no strength to shake the very Foundations of the Earth , and to make the Pillars thereof to tremble : 'T was but One of them that in a Night sent an hundred fourscore and five thousand of such Worms as we with pleasure into Dust and their first Nothing : And another with a Breath only will blow up more Myriads out of it again . And yet no sooner had Sin , [ that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , ] that scum and Excrement of filth , the very Elixir of all Poisons , cast its envenoming Shadows upon the fair Faces of these Glorious Suns , but they presently unloose from their several Orbs , dying into an Eternal Eclypse , and drop down into Darkness and Horrour , stript for ever from their Native Eminences and Holiness , ( the loveliness that once beautified their Natures ) Metamorphosed into the most affrightful Image of all the most abstracted Deformity and Vileness expressible ; deprived for ever of those Eternal Felicities to which they were Created , and are now become the very Sources and Fountains of all imaginable Lewdness and Mischief , which they are increasing still , by pouring out the whole Flood of their killing Streams to engulph us also in an everlasting Ruine . God in great Kindness to us hath discovered their now destructive Properties , and shewn us the danger we are in , while an whole Host of spiritual Wickednesses are round about us , as so many roaring Lyons ready to devour us , and are our avowed Adversaries , Accusers , Murderers and Destroyers , incessantly tempting us into the Rebellion with them , which they very well know will in the end lay us in the same Dungeon of Darkness with all the Chains of divine Indignation upon us that themselves are so dreadfully gall'd with : All which is no idle Fiction fram'd on the Forge of a Melancholly , fanciful or Romantick Brain , but a Verity as Infallibly Sealed by the Spirit of Truth to us , as any other the Holy Oracles have with the clearest Perspicuity conveyed to our Knowledge . And though too slightly regarded , yet witnessed to be , as Just on themselves , so fatal to us , ( if we keep not the strictest Guard , and Invest our selves with the whole Armour of God ) by One of their own Original Order and Degree ; ( Now for ever secured from the like Dangers of confederating Treasons , and Established into an Estate of entire and sinless Perfection , ) from the profound Sence and grave consideration that himself had of it . While therefore he proclaims from Heaven the deplorable Woes to us ( the poor Inhabitants of the Earth and Sea ) from the ruinating Consequences of their Power and Presence here below , Revel. 12.12 .

And 't is matter of Astonishment to consider , how few are awakened by the Trump of that Angel , unto any , the least Reflection on the Mischiefs and Miseries effected in all Ages by the bloody Contrivances of these Apostate Spirits , who have prevailed to the overturning not of Mighty Empires and Kingdoms only , but of once the most flourishing Churches in the World , now overwhelmed with the black Cloud of Pagan and Mahometan Darkness and Death , where Divine Light and Truth sent forth ( then alas ! ) their sparkling Beams and Splendour ; pouring in their mortal Dregs both of Atheism and Errour , which deface the whole Beauty , and enervate the whole Strength of Original Piety and Religion ; which they know well enough will dissolve the Covenant of Heaven , and give up to the Judgment not of a Desertion only , but Divorce . Who but these foment Divisions and Schisms and Animosities between Men , by puffing up some ( and those of the meanest Capacity ) into boundless and immodest Conceits of their own greater Wisdom and Parts , and hatefull disdain and Contempt of others , more worthy than themselves ? Who so Industriously blow up the Coals of all Dissension and Discord between the most seemingly happy and united Fraternities , and invent the Aspersions of Ignominy and Reproach that are six'd on each other ? who but these whisper into the Ears and Hearts of Princes those needless Jealousies and Fears that cool them in their Kindness to their best Subjects , ( whom they look on as the secret underminers of the Peace and Government , the very Plagues and Pests of the Age they live in , who are yet the very Pillars of the Throne ) as if there were no consistency between God's Empire and their own ? Who but these stir up Kings to ruine themselves by unnecessary Wars , and their poor Subjects by unnecessary Sins ? Who but these beat up the Drums of Sedition and Rebellion against the best Princes , the very gracious Fathers of their People ? Who petrifies the Hearts of Tyrants against their poor Subjects into the bloodiest Executions of their Wrath and Cruelty , not only grinding their Faces by cruel Oppression and Impoverishment , but sheathing the Sword of Persecution in the very bowels of Innocency , on no other account but this , that they refuse to attend them into Hell ? Who but these have rais'd up all the Assassinations and Massacres upon the Body of the Church , not only by Heathenish and Pagan Instruments , but have sent their thousands and ten thousands into Death by the less merciful hands of those who ( Drunk with Blood ) have yet the blasphemous Impudence to call themselves by the Name of Jesus ? Who but these had the Brow to move the Court of Heaven for the subversion of the whole Colledge of the Apostles at once , and with an equal Insolence to endeavour the utter evacuating the whole Project of our Eternal Redemption by tempting the great Authour of it to cast himself upon sinful and unwarrantable Means of Preservation , and directly tending to his Ruine ; and when that would not take , consult together more effectually to work their Ends by the cursed Treachery of his own Servant . In a word , these are they that have wrought all the late Storms and Tempests in the World ; 't is they have wrought all the Devastations that Turkish and Gallican Tyranny have executed for them : The unnatural Wars in our own Bowels , the horrid Massacres of the Church in France and Ireland , the deplorable Fewds among our selves ; these have kindled our Fires , burnt up our Cities , enflamed our Spirits , contrived the Plots of our Ruine , and are yet at work very briskly to bring them to Perfection .

And all this from the Inveterate Hatred they bear to God and Man , roaring as Lyons to devour , twisting themselves as Serpents to deceive ; by all subtle wayes and wiles beyond all imagination , by secret and invisible Engines and Artifices , profound Stratagems and Devices , making use of all sorts of Means and Instruments , as well by real Friends as professed Enemies , to the very Wife of thy Bosom ; nay , to the dividing thy self , and making a Party for themselves in thy Heart .

And yet we snore in our security , and dally in an insensibleness of any danger , while yet these mighty Enemies are round about ; they fill the Air we breath in , and hover over our Heads , and are prying into all our most retired Actions , and are Witnesses to all our Villanies , to give Evidence against us in the last Day . Nay , they mingle themselves with our very Affections and Passions , and fly-blow our very Prayers , and Devotions , and Charities , endeavouring to render tham all fruitless and unprofitable to us , and unacceptable to God. In short , instead of wishing well to us , assisting us in our Work , rejoycing in our Conversion , and ministring to our Comfort ( the service of the good Angels ) these repine at our Welfare , hinder our Repentance , Lull us along in our Security , terrifie our Spirits , imbitter our Lives , enrage our Enemies , enstrange our Friends , disease our Bodies , and betray our Souls : For all which , and infinite other unmentioned Calamities and Disasters from them , whom may we justly Curse and execrate ( as the Original cause of all , ) but Sin , which by its malignant Influences , and wicked Inchantments , from being amiable Creatures of the sweetest Inclinations and Affections , hath transformed them into real Furies and Devils against us ?

Come hither , Reader , and with that Roman Souldier , envy me the Honour of preparing the Funerals of the great Pompy alone , but bring with thee all the Luminaries of thy Soul ; gather all the straggling forces of thine utmost reason and considering Faculties ( and all too little ) to ruminate as thou oughtest on this rueful Spectacle . David once bitterly Mourned at the Bier of one Prince of Israel , Slain by the Treachery of an insolent Traytor : But who hath slain all these ? Heaps upon heaps , once glorious Princes of Heaven . O see what a slaughter sin hath made upon them ! And then consider the weight of that Argument presented to thee by Peter and Jude . If God spared not the Angels that sinned , but cast them down into Hell , and delivered them into Chains of darkness to be reserved unto Judgment ; How will he spare thee ? They were Angels , Infinitely above thee in the Dignity of their Nature and Creation ; yet Greatness was no Argument for Mercy . They were a Multitude in the confederacy , yet neither did the Number of the Offenders move pity in the least , but one and all , Thousands of them to Hell without Mercy ; yet it was the first Offence too , they sinned but once , ( and some think but in Thought , ) and Justice seized upon them to Execution , and God dealt not with them as with thee and me ( Reader ) on whom he hath long waited , even while we have been multiplying provocations , and stirring up his wrath to destroy us , yet still hath he waited to be gracious to us . And methinks 't were pity to make a God wait in vain upon us , to lose all the Expences of his Patience and Expectation from us . We would do well to think on it , and the force of the Apostles most Pathetick Argument ; Despisest Thou the riches of his Goodness , and Patience , and Long-suffering ! Thou that art but a poor Worm , a Clod of the Earth , and no Angel , a Creature of Yesterday , and who art crushed before the Moth , and whose Foundation is in the Dust ; Despisest thou ? And who art thou that should despise a God ? And to despise him too ? To entertain low and unbecoming thoughts of Him , that could Nod thee into Hell , and send thee to accompany Devils in Torments ! Not so much as to have an Eye towards him , or to spend a Look upon him , or to concern thy Thoughts about him , thinkest him unworthy of thy Notice or Observation , and yet a God , and such a one on whom Angels and blessed Spirits Gaze with unspeakable Admiration and Delight , not to have the least sense of him ! — No neither whilst he is flowing out to thee in the sweetest of his Communications , that of his Goodness , to despise Goodness , and that Goodness not to others , but thy self , ( thy self Reader ) to despise a God who hath been so long good to thee ! The very Fountain of all the good Mercies thou hast enjoyed , and herein good , as not to punish thee for the abuse of those Mercies , but is still waiting ! Now if thy reason be not drench'd into a perfect Bruitishness , be thine own Judge , whether such Goodness should not lead thee to Repentance . A mercy he never vouchsafed to the Angels , never waited to see whether they would return or no , but for the first Sin delivers them to Justice , layes them in Chains and reserves them to destruction , while yet he is still Courting thee to come in and submit : Declares himself unwilling to ruin thee ; makes Oath of it , That he hath no delight in thy Blood , but infinitely rather that thou shouldest return and Live ; and thou may'st believe him , Reader , thou hast his very Heart in that Protestation . Well , 't is not unworthy thy most serious Reflection to fix a while on Gods Severity towards these Angels , who are now under Chains of wrath ( and thou art walking presumptuously on the snares of Death too ) but should thy feet stumble on the dark Mountains ( as they will ) and the fall of thy Body shall burst out thy Bowels , and dash out thy Breath : It s possible Reader , thou maist find thy miserable Soul fetter'd in the same Chains that Haughtiness and Insolence hath betrayed them into , though now thou wilt not harken unto the Ratling of theirs , for the noise of thy Chariot , and the Ruffling of thy Pride .

But pause a little , thou most exalted Dust , and view thy self in the Glass of these now wretched Infernal Spirits : Dost thou value thy self upon thine high Birth , and doth the Noblest Blood enrich thy Veins ? Why these were the First-born of God , of the eldest Family , and but one Degree subordinate to the blessed Trinity , and never took their Rise from Clay , but were all Spirits and Glorious , yet has Pride destroyed them . Dost thou look Bigg on thy fellow Servants , and from thine high Station and Preferments in the Courts of Princes , swellest into a forgetfulness of thy mean Original ? Why , proud Ashes , these were the Illustrious Courtiers of the King of Glory ; and Attendants on the Majesty of Heaven , — Yet Pride hath slain them . Art thou Commissioned from thy Master into Power , and delegated unto Executions from Royal Authority ? Why ▪ these even in their low Estate are Powers still , and can ( if Licens'd ) make the Earth to tremble ; are the Princes of the Air , and keep their Court in thine own Heart too , and though stript of their Holiness , yet are Commission'd often unto frequent and fearful Executions ( and God deliver us from their Tyranny ! ) yet they are but Hell-hounds still , and their Pride hath undone them .