THE REPETITION SERMON.

MAT. 28. 13. His Disciples came by night and stole him away while we slept.

WHat's the best
News abroad?
So we must begin:
'Tis the
Garb les novelles
the grand salute, and
common Preface to all our

B

talk. And the news goes not
as things are in themselves,
but as mensfancies are fashioned,
as some lust to report,
and others to believe:
The same relation shall goe
for true or false, according to
the key wherein mens minds
are tuned; but chiefly as
they stand diverse in Religion,
so they feign and affect
different News. By their
News ye may know their
Religion, and by their Religion
fore-know their News.
This week the Spanish Match
goes forward and Bethleem
Gabors Troups are broken;
and the next week Bethleem
Gabors Troups goe forward,
and the Spanish Match is broken.
The Catholique is of the
Spanish match, and the Protestant
of restoring the Palatinate;
and each party think
that the safety of the Church
and success of religion depends
upon the event of one
or other, and therefore they
cross and counter-tell each
others news. Titius came
from London yesterday, and
he sayes that the new Chappel
at St. James is quite finished:
Caius came thence
but this morning, and then
there was no such thing on
building. False news follows
true at the heels, and oftentimes
outstrips it.

Thus goes the Chroniclenews,
the talke of the factius
and pragmatick; but the

B 2

Christian news, the talke of
the faithful is spent in Euangelio,
in hearing and telling
some good news of their
Saviour: and now all the
talk is of his Resurrection.
The Christian current goes,
News from Mount Calvary,
the sixteenth day of Nisan,
in the year thirty four, old
style; as the three holy Matrons
deliver it at the eighth
verse of this Chapter. But
since there are certain Souldiers
arrived, and they say
there was no such matter as
the Resurrection, 'twas but
a gull put upon the world
by his Disciples; for it fares
with spiritual news as with
temporal, it is variuosly and
contrarily related, till the
false controls the true. And
as our modern News comes
neither from the Court nor
the Camp, nor from the
place where things are acted,
but is forged in Conventicles
by Priests, or in
some Pauls Assembly, or such
like place; and the divulge
committed to some vigilant
and watchful tongue: So it
is with the News of the Nonresurrection;
it came not
from Mount Calvary, but
the Priests are the Authors of
it, at the eleventh verse; and
at the twelveth, they frame
and mould it to the mouth
of the Watch. The Divulgers,
men of double credit,
they know the truth, for they
are of the Watch, and they

B 3

will not lye, for they are
Souldiers; nay, they will
maintain it, for they are
Knights, Milites, Knights of
the Post, they are hired to
say, saying, and they did
say, His Disciples came by
night and stole him away
whilst we slept.

The words so plain, they
need no opening. May it
please you that I make three
Cursories over them; One
for the Souldiers, another for
the Disciples, and the third
for our Saviour. In the two
former we will beat the
point pro and con, and in the
latter reconcile it, for that's
the fashion also. No error so
absurd but finds a Patron,
nor Truth so sound but
meets with an Adversary,
nor point controverted
but the opposite tenent may
be reconciled; be they distant
as Heaven and Hell, as
incompatible as Jew and
Christian, yet they shall
meet with a Moderator, and
a cogging distinction shall
state the question on the absurder
side. First then for
the Souldiers, whose Cursory
hath no parts, that's not the
Souldiers manner, but yet is
sprinkled with absurdities,
that's the manner of the
Watch. They speak partly
as they fight, voluntarily,
and partly as they watch,
supinely. And thus they
begin their talk:

B 4

Ye men and people of
Judah and Jerusalem, This
Jesus of Nazareth was a very
Jugler, a neat Compiler
of Impostures, pretended title
to the crown of Judah, made
himself the Messias and the
Son of God, brought such
strange opinions as would
turn the whole world out of
bias; having no proof from
sense or reason for his Novelties,
he would needs
confirm them by miracles;
and in the worlds eye he seemed
to do wonders, though
his works were indeed but
meer delusions, wrought by
flight of hand, hocus pocus.
All which was so manifestly
discovered, that to stop the
current of such false coin,
my Lord President was forced
to nail him to the Crosse
for a Counterfeit. His Master-trick
was that of the Resurrection,
whereof he forespake
in his life-time: for
he was no ordinary dealer,
but would make his Cunning
to survive his person,
and durst fore-say so. To
put this piece in Execution,
he entertained a rabble of
Ruffians, whom he termed
his Disciples, as all Plotters
have Partners: These he
instructed in the game while
he lived, and they were to
play it when he was dead.
The list of his Disciples consisted
of Men and Women;
for in all crafty carriages

B 5

there lyes a Womans part.
The men were to perfom
all manner of fact, and the
women, whose activity lies in
their tongue, were to report
the miracle.

The High-priests and some
of the Sanedrim being wise
to apprehend, and wary to
prevent the dangerous consequences
hereof, procured
a warrant from the President
to seal up the Tomb, and
place a Watch there; and we
were the parties appointed
to guard it. The Charge
we underwent required good
service, for his Disciples
were common Night-walkers
like their Master, notable
Cutters, and carried as
much courage as cunning;
such tall fellows with their
weapons, that they made it
but a sleight either to withstand
or assault a whole multitude,
and durst do any
thing in their Masters behalf.
The other night,
when we apprehended him
in Gethsemane, we were most
of the lustiest fellows in Jerusalem,
and pretty well appointed,
yet they stood to it
stoutly, made a tall fray, and
sometimes put us to the
worst: At the first On-Set we
were all knock'd down, and
at our Recovery, Rabbi Malchrus,
a follower of the Highpriests
company and our
Captain, was singled out by
one of their side, a Sayler he
seemed, who with his whinyard
lopt off one of his ears,
and had the blow light
right, it would have cleft
him down to the twist. Nay
they were all Bravers, and
their bloody mind was seen
upon Judas Iscariot, one of
their own company, who
because he was our Bloodhound
to sent their Master
out, they persecuted the
poor wretch till they had
paunch'd him; for not far
from their walk he was
found hang'd with his guts
about his heels. And for
their bloody pranks that
way, the place begins to
bear the name of Aceldama,
the bloody field.
For the exploit of his resurrection,
they had the assistance
of their fellow-she-disciples,
night house-wives
too, for they were hovering
about the Sepulchre from
the dead of the night till the
morning, and were as the
Counter-watch to give notice
of some advantage to the
Disciples, who lay not far off,
some where above ground,
while their master was under
it. All the day-time
they stir not for fear of Passengers,
frequenting to and
fro in the gardens and walks
about Mount Calvary; it being
both Sabbath and Passeover;
but in the night they
took their opportunity by
this means: We had been
extreamly over-travell'd,
both to apprehend and guard
him, first, to the Highpriest,
next to the President;
from him to Herod, and back
again; then to his arraignment,
then to his Execution
and ever since at his grave;
so turbulent the man was,
that his very dead body
would not lye still and be
quiet. This over-watching,
seconded with the darkness
of the night, and coldnesse of
the ayre, cast us into a heavy
sleep; thereupon the women
give the watch-word to the
Disciples, who immediately
do exhumate his body; and
while they translate and
bury it elsewhere, the women
trot into the Town, and
bruit it abroad that their
Master is risen.

And the credulous City
is partly inclined to believe
the Legerdemain; they are
willing to frame their faith
and build their salvation upon
a flying gull, raised by
three way-going women,
gadling Gossips that came
from Galilee; One of them notorious,
so divellish that there
came seven divells out of
her, how many staid behind
God knows; it is like she was
so full, there was room for
no more; and by her ye
may guess at her companions.
Consider of it; the
matter is of moment, a
main point of State, that
concerns your own Nation:
We are but strangers, and
no farther interessed then
for the truths sake to speak
it; and therefore be advised
whether ye will rely herein
upon the word of a woman,
or upon the faith and reputation
of a Souldier. And
here the Souldier puts up,
he sheaths his malicious and
blasphemous tongue, more
sharp and deadly then his
sword, and gives our Saviour
a wound more mortal
far then those upon the
Cross; they did but put him
in a trance, suspend his life
for a day or two, at the most
but kill his Humanity; but
this would murther his Divinity,
and dead his Immortality,
it would nullifie the
Gospel, and frustrate all our
Faith: for, If Christ be not
risen saith S. Paul then is our
preaching vain, and your faith
is also vain. And therefore
I come to my second Cursory,
For his Disciples stole him
away by night.

Herein we will deal Christianly
and civilly, not give
the lye to the Souldiers, foul
words to the Watch: But
yet we may say, that their
tale hath no truth in any
point of it, but a meer saying,
Saying, say ye. They
say not of themselves, but as
the Priests taught them;
they knew they said false,
and therefore our saying to
the contrary will easily obtain.
And therein we follow
not the Random of their
roving, but take the sum of
their saying, as it is here set
down by the Holy Ghost, giving
it order and parts. The
words then may easily be
taken Judiciarily, in form
of an accusation, and then
Morally they are Calumny;
the Souldiers either not
heard, or not practised the
doctrine of John Baptist,
Accuse no man falsely. Or
they may be taken popularly,
in form of a report or rumour,
and then morally
they are a meer gull or slander.
In what sense soever,
there are three parties wronged
in them; The Disciples,
our Saviour, and the Souldiers
themselves. The Disciples
here are tax'd of theft,
that they should come by
night, and steal away their
Master: Our Saviour of Impotency
and Imposture, that
he neither could nor did rise
from the dead, but was conveyed
away by his Disciples:
And the Souldiers of capital
negligence, that they were
asleep. In the Cursory then
for the Disciples, may ye
please that I lay down three
plain Contradictories to the
words of the Text, as they
lie in order: First, the Disciples
came not hither by night.
Secondly, he was not stole away.
Thirdly, the Souldiers
were not asleep. For proof
of each whereof there are
no cogent demonstrations in
nature Quòd sint; single voluntary
actions that leave no
evident effect, admit it not.
We preach not before Jews
and Infidels, to whom this
doctrine is scandalous and
foolishness; but the simplehearted
Christian, the willing
hearer shall have rationall
probabilities, and perswasive
arguments, sufficient
to convey belief into a
heart illuminated, and prepared
by grace for it. For
the first then, His Disciples
came not by night.

The body moves not voluntarily,
unless the motion
be grounded upon the Will;
so that when the influence
of the Will upon the external
members is either intercepted
or frustrated by any
forreign accident, the body
hardly admits of going and
comming. The heart, and
first mover of the Disciples,
was now mated and set up
by a Lease of impetuous
passions. All those Violents
of the Soul which have
mischiefs for their Objects,
and are immediately distractive
to the Patient that endures
them, as sorrow, fear
and despair, did now wholly
possess them: Extreme sorrow
for their Masters present
sufferings, as much fear for
their own future danger, and
their like despaire for their
fore-hoped happinesse. Their
senses feel the sorrow, their
fear torments their fancies,
and their memory maintains
their despair; their whole
soul so assaulted, that there
wanted nothing but a Fever
to make them quite frantick.
And Peter came neer
to that, so distracted, that
for his Masters sake first he
will needs fight, then he flyes
away; anon again he follows
after him, at length he forswears
him, and in the end
goes out and cries. In this
mode he is carried up and
down, till he layes a clog on
his conscience, that would
hold him work enough
without coming to Mount
Calvary. The case of his
other fellows might be as
bad, or worse, although the
Scripture be therein silent.
Thus far they go all with
Peter, that they sleep, and
flye, and follow afar off.

But when their Master
was past all recovery, then
each passion plaid his part to
hinder all humour from
comming to Mount Calvary.
Their sorrow contracts, and
closeth them up in Jerusalem:
Sorrow loves to be private
and lurk in a corner.
Fear kept them within
doors: Fear dare not go abroad,
especially in the
night, if she do, it is to flie a
danger, not to invite it. And
to Despair all business must
yield: despair will not stir
in her own behalf, unless to
do her self a mischief, but
of any other she is quite
careless. To say then they
came by night, makes it but
the more unlikely. They
could not watch one hour
with him in Gethsemane when
it concerned his life, while
there was yet hope to vindicate
him from the Cross;
and can they now watch
with him a whole night
when he was dead and buried?
If they were for a nights
exploit, they would have
done it the night before,
when there was a fairer opportunity,
and greater security.
They now had no
more means this night, but
more danger. When they
went to Gethsemane,
they had but two Swords in
all, and were there disarmed
of them; but one coat apeece,
and some stript of
that; no weapon to assault,
nor armour to defend. Fit
furniture, and fair voyage
for poor Fishermen to make
to Mount Calvary in a dark
night, to affront the Roman
Watch. And to what end?
if their Master could rise again,
what need they come
hither? if not, they did him
no wrong to abandon him.

But why mention we the
Resurrection? they came
not thither, not to a thought
of it. He had indeed foretold

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them of it, but they understood
it not: they could
not prosecute what they
never apprehended; could
they hope to make others
believe what they could
not imagine? Could others
grant that fearable, which
they esteemed impossible?
or had they once belief, yet
they forsook it when they
forsook their Master. They
were beaten from it in Gethsemane,
where but one of the
Jews received any losse, and
he but of one of his eares,
and that restored again; but
they all lost every one his
faith, they lost their Saviour,
and their Souls to boot.
They were now as faithless
as their fellow Judas, as
faithless in their Master as
he was to him. The Resurrection
quite forgot, not
onely the thing it self, but
their Masters mention of it:
and therefore they embalm
his dead body, and do entombe
it as forlorn. The
Priests themselves believed
more then the Disciples:
they feared it, and therefore
fortified the Sepulcher; but
the Disciples did not so
much as hope. And when
he was risen de facto, they
could not believe it, though
the women avouched it:
NoValue,
the womens talk seemes an
old Wives tale, when they
tell the Disciples of the Resurrection.
Thomas will not

C 2

trust his own eyes though
he see, and his eares though
he hear him. Had they any
by-intent, they would have
been very forward to report
and spread the fame; but
they stood mute at it, and
began to spread themselves
each man what way his fancy
led him: the fame of the
Resurrection did not fright
them. And how came the
newes abroad? who told it
to the high Priests? not his
Disciples, nor the women,
but the Souldiers here themselves.
But why stand we
to defend the Disciples in a
fact never committed? no
such thing done as they objected.
He was not stole away
at all; My second Contradictorie.

Nor by the Disciples, nor
by any else, unless men were
mad, or weary of their
lives. The advantage of the
Act could no way recompence
the danger. The
Lawes so strict for medling
with Sepulchers, that they
could expect no lesse then
to incur the crime of Sacriledge;
which may be seen at
large in the Digests de Sepulchro
violato: which Lawes,
though since compiled, yet
for the most part were then
and there in force, the Jews
being under the Roman Jurisdiction.
And though they
should plead that they did

C 3

onely translate the body,
not abuse it, yet they could
not avoid the Objection of
dolus malus, and so incur
an arbitrary censure, which
would be layd very heavily
upon them, things running
as they did against our Saviour.
What fair Interpretation
could they look for on
his behalf, when he himself
was charged with Treason,
for asking a peny to pay tribute?
Or if some had the
will to steal him, yet none
had the power or meanes to
perform it. The Watch there,
termed Souldiers, were of
a middle nature between
Souldiers and Hangmen;
Spiculatores, they carried a
speare in their hands, but a
halter at their girdles, alwayes
ready for any deadly
service. They were NoValue,
Satellites, a Guard
to the Governour; and Custodes,
Jaylours, Warders for
Prisoners; and Vigiles, Watchers
for their bodies who suffered:
the common Executioners of corporal punishment,
whether it reached
onely to sense, or forward to
life. To express their Roman
nature home, the Eastern
Nation borrowed Language
from the Western, the
Greeks from the Latine, Custodia;
and the Syriaque, as
Master Fuller observes, from
Quæstionarij, Officers ad questionem
& inquisitionem, Questioners or Inquisitors, Tormentors,

C 4

or Serjeants of the
Rack, to extort Confessions
in criminal Examinations. At
the peril of their life it was,
if the party under their execution
did not endure the
extremity of the Law. If the
Prisoner escaped with no
punishment, or with lesse, or
in ultimo supplicio recovered
by his life, or his dead body
otherwise disposed then the
Lawes ordained or permitted,
then were those Souldiers
to take the room of the
Prisoners, to be wasted and
spent out upon the same
punishment whereto the
Prisoner was liable; Ejusmodi
pœna consumendi, the very
words of the Law. Could
any man now imagine the
Watch could now be either
so careless, or such Cowards
as to let our Saviour to be
stole away? Men durst as
well have fetcht him from
the Crosse as from the
Grave.

But say that they were
such maimed Souldiers, as
that they had neither eye to
watch, nor heart to ward;
yet the Sepulcher it self was
so impregnable, that it alone
would secure the body.
There could be no burglary,
nor breaking it up, no undermining;
The Soyl was
Pick-axe proof, a firm Rock
spred out of the Roots of
Golgotha, gabion'd and
rough-cast with flint. No

C 5

removing of the Tombestone;
that besides its weight
& sullennes to give way, was
rib'd and clasped down with
Iron barres and bonds; the
closure souldered with the
Seal of the Sanedrim. Their
NoValue, and
NoValue, their
fortifying the Sepulcher, and
sealing up the Stone, sayes
it was so, in the latter verse
of the former Chapter. For
though he should revive, yet
the high Priests never meant
he should rise more, either
by his own, or by the
strength of others. The
Watch was but a stale to colour
their pretence, and to
lead their request to Pilate.
The Womens, Who shall roll

34

us away the Stone? was a
matter more then they imagined,
a task above the
strength of a man. A whole
set of leavers could not lift
it: no rolling it away but
by the force of an Angel.

And now look into the
Grave, see the remains of
the Resurrection, the impartiall
witnesses and silent
sayings that he was not stole
away. The Linnen and
Grave-Clothes wherein he
was involved, lined and loden
with a compound of
Myrrhe, Aloes and Mastick,
gums and spices Arabique,
unguents and balms of Gilead,
a Seare-cloth both
costly and massie, NoValue,
to the worth
or weight of an hundred
pounds, somewhat unwieldy
to be handled: the Kerchief
so wrapt and displeited, as
though yet it had not been
used; and yet so laid aside,
as though he would have
come again. What manner
of men would leave
these things thus? His
friends would not for shame
have stript him, and carried
him away naked. His foes
would have esteemed the
Linnen and embalming
Compounds farre beyond his
body. Friend or Foe, or
Newter, they durst not stay
to flea the glewy Seare-cloth
from his skin, and give a diligent
folding to the Kerchief.
But if notwhithstanding
he was stolne away,
why was not search made to
recover his body? no Hue
and Cry to pursue the Malefactors?
no Proclamation
out for their attachment?
why were not the Women
apprehended, or taken upon
suspicion? why not so
much as questioned? Questioned!
about what? The
Souldiers knew well enough
he was not stolne away; for
they sate by, and markt
it; they were the Watch,
and they did watch, they
were not asleep; which is
my last Contradictory.
Hitherto they talk like
souldiers, of coming by night,
and stealing away; now
like Watchmen, in saying
they were asleep. So sottish
and unreasonable is malice,
that to burn his neighbours
house, he will set fire on his
own; to bring in an accusation
on Christ and his Disciples,
they make confession
of a crime in themselves:
they gull and befool themselves,
and say that the
Watch was asleep. It may
be as Watchmen they durst
sleep, tis ordinary; but they
durst not so as Souldiers,
their discipline too strict, and
the penalty thereof too severe.
He that forsakes the
watch, capite punitur, tis death
saith Paulus in law 9. in Excubias,
§.de re militari; and
some good captains interpret
sleep equivalent to absence;
what ever were the Letter
of the Law, practice made
it so. And Polybius tells us
it was so put in execution. If
any man of the Watch be
found asleep, saith he
NoValue, he is put to the
Bastinado, a capital punishment,
and reach'd to the
head: For the then Bastinado
was Fuste cæditur; and as
they now passe the Pikes, a
thousand to one but the party
died under it. A whole
Squadron of men being to
do execution, one backfriend
or other would pash
out his brains, as now one
pike or other would broch
him through. The Roman
Discipline extreme dogged,
and so profest it self, especially
toward the Watch. The
Ban-doggs of the Capitol,
because they barked not
that night when the Gaules
surprized it, had their leggs
broken, and were split alive
upon a two-forkt stake set
up in publick; and in memory
thereof saith Livie
some doggs were yearly so
used, for examples sake to
make Watch-men beware.

And the Rounders so impartial
herein, that they
would make execution ipso
facto. Epaminondas walks
the Round, and finding one
souldier asleep, some of the
Corrounders entreat for him;
well, saith he, for your sakes
I will leave him as I found
him, and therewithall he
stakes him to the ground
with his Halbert: he found
him in a dead sleep, and so
he left him. Some dimme
prints of that Discipline are
seen to this day in our modern
warrs, where sometime
the Rounder will clap a musket-shot
through a sleepy
head. But anciently they
durst do no other; for to
wink at the fault, or delay
the punishment, was in the
Governour Patrimonii &
æstimationis damnum, a losse
of lands and honour; and
in under-Officers capitale
suppliciam. They durst not
then sleep wilfully, and they
had no need to sleep, they
were not over-watcht. How
the Day-watch stood I have
not yet read; but for the
Night-watch, all the World
knows it was divided into
four equal parts, each containing
three Planetary
houres, or one quarter of
the night, how long or short
soever. And the turn came
about but every third night,
and then every third hour
they were relieved by putting
in a fresh Watch. It was
now past the Vernal. Æquinoctial,
no one Night-watch
sate full three modern
houres; so three houres over
in above threescore would
bring no over-watching. Seeing
then they neither durst
nor did, why yet do they
say they were asleep? The
reason is, they are of the
ragged Regiment, mercenary
Souldiers, hired to it by
the Priests with a large piece
of money. The Provantman
will undertake to say
any thing, yea, to do any
thing for money; for ten groats
a Week tug at a
Wheel-barrow, and for a
stiver more serve the enemy,
and for a Peece pistol a
Prince; suffer any thing for
money, for a Dollar take the
Strappado; for a brace, draw
at a decimation. Thus the
Priest dealt with the silly
Souldiers, as they did with
Judas, onely put them upon
hanging. An old trick of
the Priests, and much in use
at this day, saving that now
they practise it one upon the
other, and so let them; good
speed may they have.
But for all this they might
be asleep, whether our Saviour
were stole away or no.
Somewhat the begging Souldiers
would have, & they shal,
his stealing away we can by
no means grant. The Resurrection,
an article of our Creed,
the very groundsel of all our
Faith: his Resurrection the
pattern & pledge of ours, the
tenure where by we hold our
title to salvation. But for
their being asleep we wil not
much contend; it is credible
they were so, the contrary
being neither implied, nor
expressed in the Scripture.
But yet their sleep is no
proof of their saying. They
know the things were done
just as they say, for they were
asleep the while. A right Roman
reason, a proof put from
a Priest to serve a sleepy
Souldier. If they were asleep,
how could they say he was
stollen rather then risen? or
if they suppose him stollen,
how knew they his Disciples
did it rather then other men?
This must needs argue in
them either calumny to accuse
a party without cause, or
levity to lay the cause upon a
wrong party; either way folly
to alledg so senseles a reason.
All our knowledge is either
from Sense, or Reason; from
Reason they could not have
it, that hath made against
them all this while; from
any sense they could not, for
they were asleep, in sleep all
sensation is intercepted.
They could neither hear,
see, smell, taste nor feel
the Disciples coming, or his
stealing; if they did, they
were not asleep. If some
one were awake, and perceived
it, why did he not
give an Alarum to the rest?
if they understood it afterwards
from others, why do
they not produce authentick
witnesses? If the Disciples
themselves confessed it,
why were they not punished,
and order taken to stop the
rumour of the Resurrection?
There is no way now left,
but to pretend the Spirit, as
our Enthusiasts do, and to
say, that while they slept
they had it in a dream by revelation.
But that is refuted
by retortion of the
same, for by revelation every
Christian knowes the contrary;
God reveals it unto
him.

But why do the Souldiers
produce this reason? the
reason is, they took it upon
trust from the Priests. It is
an old errour let us not
contend for the age to believe
that the Priest cannot
erre. But why are the Souldiers
got thus to argue against
themselves? the reason
is, no body else durst do
it. In those times the souldiers
bare all the sway, assumed
all power to make Kings
and Emperours. But since the
Priest hath done the like,
putting the Souldier by. And
now the Peasant thinks tis
come to his turn, under pretence
of his priviledge in
Parliament: he would dispose
of Kings and Commonwealths,
and rather then return
it to the Priest from
whom he hath taken it,
would cast the course back
again upon the Souldiers.
Nothing now contents the
Commonalty but Warre and
Contention; he hath taken a
surfeit of peace, the very
name of it growes odious:
Now to give the Souldier his
Pasport, we summe up four
exceptions against his saying;
First, it is not verisimile,
the unlikelihood of it hath
appeared in every Contradictory.
Secondly, They were
ignari rerum, had no information
of what they affirm;
neither eye, nor ear-witness
of what they say, for they
confess themselves asleep.
Thirdly, Their saying is
contrary to what they had
said before; in the morning
they told another tale, at
the eleventh verse of this
Chapter; if that were true,
this is false; if that were

D

this? or who will
trust men in contrary tales?
Lastly, the parties were
corrupted, hired with a large
summe to utter their saying,
at the twelfth verse.
These two latter lie without
the Text, and therefore I
wholly forbear them, especially
for the point of corruption:
'Tis a crafty crime,
and commonly hard to
prove. We also forbear the
lie to the Souldier, because
he abhorres it. But to the
Priests who put this lie in
their mouths, and to their
Disciple-Priests who at this
day practise lying, and allow
it to be lawful, we would
mend the old saying,
A Liar should have a good
memory, and rather require
in him a good Wit. His
memory serves but to avoid
contradictions of himself,
but his Wit to prevent
the contradictions of
others, that an untruth
seem not also unlikely. If
therefore the Priests would
have lied wisely, and with
credit, like Satan himself, the
Serpent whom they served,
they should, as they did formerly,
have laid our Saviour
to Satan's charge, and have
said, that the foul Fiend
came by night & fetcht him
away; leaving out, whil'st the
watch slept, and instead thereof
have argued from the descent
of the Angel, and the
earthquake: this could not so

D 2

easily have been discovered;
but it might even as easily,
where Faith had a Fortification;
Humane reasons urged
against it are but as Papershot.
Carnal wisdom working
against God is but dirt
and rottenness. Our counsels
are confounded, when
carried against Christ. And
so I come to my third and
last Cursory, upon the word
of our Saviour.

Hitherto we have cleared
the Disciples, but we must
also give the Souldier content.
There is no such
difference, but the matter
may be reconciled, and
the question stated on the
Souldiers side. Said I not,
it was the fashion? The
Souldiers then are in the
right, their saying very
sound and Christian; A
Disciple of his did come by
night, and stole him away,
and the Souldiers were asleep.
A Disciple of his,
and his most beloved Disciple,
his humane soul came
by night, was united to his
body, raised it, and withdrew
it from the Sepulcher
by stealth, while the Souldiers
were so between
sleeping and waking that
they perceived it not. Of
this Cursory very briefly,
as the words lie in order,
declining all emergent
Controversies, for that our

D 3

present quarrel lay onely
with the Souldier.

We term him a Disciple,
who receives knowledge
and chastisement from another.
As our Saviour
was God, his soul was
NoValue, the truest and
most proper Disciple that
ever was: it had received
both knowledge and chastisement,
as never man
had, knowledge of all manner,
both Divine and Humane,
infused and acquired:
but whether it had
no Ignorance, we leave
it to the Catholicks. And
all manner of chastisement,
both exemplary,
and satisfactory, for all
Mankind; the chastisement
of our peace was
upon it: but whether it
satisfied for Reprobates,
we leave it to the Arminians.
His soul came, it
could move, for it was
separate; the soul was
from the body, though
neither from the Godhead:
as all the rest of
the Disciples, it forsook
him on the Crosse, and
now it came again: but it
came not as it went, it
went by violence and forraign
force, the Jewes expelled
it from him, although he
also willing it should go; but
it came purely voluntary,
by a domestick agent:
but whether by vertue of the

D 4

Godhead, or its own motive
faculty, we leave to the
School-men. It came then,
not as poor Lazarus soul
came to Abraham's bosom,
carried by Angels, but single
upon its own force, and
without any help of others:
But whether attended and
waited upon by a troop of
Angels, we leave it to the
Fathers. For the time, it
came by Night, not for
fear of the Jews, as Nicodemus
came to him, but
for love of his promise,
that he might rise the
third day. He came the
second Night, the Night
second to his Passion, but
third to the day of his Resurrection,
some time between
Mid-night and Morning;
but at what time, we
leave it to the Chronologers.
The Unde of its
coming was from somewhere
else, from a distant
Ubi, for it was not come
before it came: but from
whence definitively, whether
from Heaven or Hell,
we leave it to the Calvinists.
The Quò or Term of its
coming was the Grave, he
subsisted there; but the
end of the Comer, was the
Re-union to the body, to
make his real presence there:
but whether thereby he became
omnipresent, to be every
where while he was in the
grave, we leave to the Lutherans.
His final intent, not to

D 5

organize the body, it was
not dismembred, nor any way
corrupted, not so much as in
fieri, no not dispositively,
but to animate those members,
and to raise the body
from the grave, in which
action both the body and
the soul had their mutual efficiency,
each co-elevating
other to make up the Resurrection:
but whether these
two Agents imply several operations
really distinct, we
leave it to the Nominalists.

The manner of his resurrection
so miraculous and ineffable,
that bad words express
it best. In a moral relation
to the Jewes, it is here
termed stealing: not to shew
what our Saviour did in his
rising, but to intimate what
the Jews had committed by
their crucifying. Things of
a super-eminent nature are
fain to borrow words of an
inferiour signification, when
they are related to a low capacity;
so God gives himself
attributes, not as he is,
but according to the weaknesse
whereby man apprehends
him. And here the
action of our Saviour is set
down, not as it is done, but
according to the wickedness
that the Jews had done.
The active signification of
stealing belongs to our Saviour,
but the moral evil of
it reflected upon others.
The Law saith, he steals
who fraudulently takes away
something of anothers,
with intent to get the thing
it self, its use or possession;
if this definition be true, his
resurrection was stealing. His
body was now cadaver puniti,
the carcase of one that
had publickly suffered, and
thereby forfeit to the State;
no man might meddle with
it further then to bury it,
not that without special permission;
it was now none of
his, his right and possession
of it both gone; tradiderat,
he had made delivery of it,
dispensed and passed it away
to Pilat: Pilat disposed his
right to bury it, to the
Watch to detain it, and now
it was theirs. When therefore
he took it from the
Grave, he stole it: his repossession
of it defrauded all the
Præ-detainers. Said they not
also he was a Deceiver?
But whether the Angel that
rolled away the stone, were
necessary or ministerial, we
leave it to the Hermonists.
By natural relation his body
was his own, as being the
essential and proper counter-part
of his soul, præ coexistent
with it in one person;
but morally it was not
so, or if it were, yet he
might steal it for all that. A
man may steal that which is
his own, by interverting that
right in it which hath been
transferred to another: and
what kind of Theft this was,
we leave it to the Lawyers.
God forbid we should lay
other Theft to our Saviour,
then that he attributes to
himself, in saying, He came
like a Thief in the night,
i.e. secretly and unawares:
so was his conveyance
from the Grave, close,
without the consent and notice
of those that were present;
such a carriage we
commonly call stealth. We
steal away from a room,
when we depart without the
knowledge of the Company:
But whether he could convey
himself so closely, as to
passe thorough the Tombestone,
we leave it to the Philosophers.
Yet so close it was, that
the Watch perceived it not,
for they were asleep; they
were set to watch it, but
they did not. Not to watch
is all one with not to be awake,
and that with to be
asleep. We commonly
call him sleepy that is negligent
or careless of what
passeth, as the contrary we
terme vigilant: so the Watch
was fast asleep, they never
gave heed to the Resurrection;
that so farre from their
belief, that they had no opinion
of it. But if death be
a kind of sleep, he is foundly
asleep that lies for dead,
and so did the Watch, in the
4th verse of this Chapter,
NoValue, for fear
of the Angel they fell a shaking,
and became as dead
men. His presence gave
them a strong Dormitive,
it wrought beyond sleep.
Sleep reacheth but only to
a Ligation of sense; but in
them all motion ceased,
they were examinate: but
whether that fit held them
onely by way of Syncope, or
did determine in a Cataphora,
or soporiferous passion, we
leave it to the Physitians.
Fearful and Cowardish Souldiers,
more womanish than women!
At the presence of
the Angel the Women stand
upright, but the Souldiers
fall in a swoun. Help them
good Women, unbutton the
Souldiers, ye need not fear
their Halberts. There's work
for you and your Spices,
your odours to comfort and
recall their Spirits. Bestow
that Charity on the dying
Souldiers which you intended
on your dear Saviour;
for he is risen, and needs
them not, but they may benefit
the Souldiers. The
Souldiers used to such fits,
they had one of them the other
night in Gethsemane; but
whether these dejections
were sins in the Souldiers,
we leave to the Casuits.
Thus they were NoValue,
laid as men asleep; for it
signifies rather the reclination
or posture of one asleep,
then the affection of sleep
it self. He that lies still
without sense or motion,
whether he be in a sleep, or
trance, or dead, we say
NoValue, and we call the
Church-yard NoValue, because
the dead lie there as
if they were asleep, they stir
not. And so we must all be
layd. There's no Dormitory.
Our case somewhat like the
Souldiers: We are appointed
here to watch our Saviour;
and as we do it, we are subject
to the Souldiers infirmity,
apt to be cast asleep, and
become as dead men. Yet
let us not be subject to their
fear, our death is but like
their swouning, that's the
worst. We are liable to rise
again, and our Resurrection
shall be like our Saviours:
His and ours make a mutual
Aspect; His the Specimen,
and ours the Complement.
What he practised on himself
he perfects in us: He
will come again by night,
and steal us to glory, while
we lie sleeping in the Grave.
Even so come Lord Jesus.