broken, it is turned unto me; For feeing she is defolate, Ifhall be replenished. Yet at length, that great Work before-mentioned began to appear above Water, and fo to threaten them with inevitable Mischief.

Nebuchadnezzar ftill follows his Work hard, notwithstanding all Difcouragements, and in the thirteenth Year of the Siege, and the nineteenth of his Reign, he had brought it to fuch Perfection, that now the Citizens defpaired of holding out against him; whereupon all the chiefeft of them imbarked themfelves, their Families, and Treafures in their Fleet, and efcaped to the Ifle of Cyprus, but the poorer fort were left to the Fury of the Enemy; who being enraged for being put to fo much pains, flew with the Sword, not only fuch People of Tyre as dwelt on the Continent (who are called her Daughters in the Field) but the like Execution was done in the Street, into which, with exceffive Labour, the Chaldeans made way for his Horfes, and Chariots. Thus Nebuchadnezzar made his Army ferve a great Service, against Tyrus, wherein every Head was made bald, and every Shoulder was made bare; yet had be no Wages, nor his Army, Esek. xxix. 18. but was fain to reft contented with the Honour of having destroyed that City, which in all Mens Judgments had been held invincible.

The Destruction of these two great, and powerful Cities, having made the Name of the Chaldeans dreadful in the Ears of all the Nations round about, Nebu-chadnezzar used this Advantage of that Reputation, which he had obtained by his Victories already gotten, to the getting of more and more profitable, with lefs pains. The Kingdom of Egypt was the Mark which he chiefly aimed at; a Country fo abounding in Riches and Pleasures, that it might well have tempted any Prince, finding himself ftrong enough, to pick occafion of Quarrel against it. Befides, it was fo far an Enemy to the Crown of Babylon, that, had it been far poorer, yet it must have been fubdued, or the Conqueft of Syria could not have been fecured.

Yet was it needful, that before he entered upon this Bufinefs, the Countries adjacent should be reduced into fuch Terms, that either they fhould wholly stand at his Devotion, or, at least, be able not to work him any Displeasure. And herein the Decree of God concurred (as in all profperous Enterprizes) with Reason of State. For the People of Moab, Ammon, Edom, Damafcus, Kedar, Hazor, and other adjoining Regions, whom God for their Sins, had condemned to fall under the Babylonian Yoke, were fuch, as regarding only their own Gain, had, fome of them, like Ravens, followed the Chaldean Army, to feed upon the Carcaffes that fell by the Cruelty thereof. Others taking advantage of their Neighbours Miferies, occupied the Countries, which, by his Victories, belonged to Nebuchadnezzar; all of them thinking, that when the Babylonian had fatisfied his Fury, he would be forced to forfake thofe defolate Countries, and leave the Poffeffion of them to thofe who could firft feize upon them. Particularly, the Edomites, and Philiftines, had fhewed much Malice. against the Jews when their City was taken, Ezek. xxv. 12, 15. Whether they had done any good Service to the Chaldeans, it appears not, if they did any, it is like to have been in reference to their own Advantage, wherein yet they were deceived. The Ammonites were not contented to rejoice only at the Fall of Jerufalem, but presently they entered upon the Country of Gad, and took poffefhion of it, as if, not the Chaldeans, but they had fubdued Ifrael, Ezek. xxv. 3. Jer. xlix. 1. Neither can it be imagined what other defign Baalis, King of the

Ammo

Ammonites had, when he sent Ifmael, a Prince of the Blood of Judah, to murther 35 Gedaliab, whom the King of Babel had made Governour over thofe that remained in Ifrael, and to carry Captive into the Ammonites Country, the People that abode in Mizpah, than a defire of entangling Nebuchadnezzar with fo many Labours at once, as fhould force him to retire to his own Country, and abandon those wasted Lands, to himfelf, and others, for whom they lay conveniently. Such, or the like Policy, the Moabites alfo did exercife, whose Pride, and Wrath were made fruftrate by God, and their Diffimulation condemned, as not doing right, Jer. xl. 14. and xli. 2. and x. and xxviii, 27, &c.

All these Nations had the Art of ravening, which is familiar to fuch as either live in, or that border upon Defarts; and now the time miniftred occafion to them to shew the uttermoft Cunning of their thievifh Wits. But Nebuchadnezzar made void all their Devices by fharp, and fudden War upon them, overwhelming them with unexpected Ruin, as it were in one Night, according to the Prophefies of* Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, who all foretold, with little difference of Words, the Greatness, and Swiftnefs of the Mifery that should come upon them. It appears not with which of them he firft began; but it feems that Moab was the laft that felt his heavy Hand; for fo many interpret that Prophesy of Ifaiab, threatning Moab with Deftruction after three Years, as having reference to the third Year following the Deftruction of Jerufalem: the next Year after it, being spent in the Egyptian Expedition. This is evident, that all the principal Towns in these Countries were burnt, and the People either flain, or made Captives, few excepted, who faved themselves by Flight, and had not the Courage to return to their Habitations too haftily, much lefs to attempt any thing against Nebuchadnezzar: but lived as miferable Out laws, until the end of the feventy Years which God had appointed for the Defolation of the Countries, as well as of the Land of Judea.

When by a long courfe of Victory Nebuchadnezzar had brought into Subjection all the Nations of Syria, and the bordering Arabians, in fuch wife as that no Enemy to himself, or Friend to the Egyptian, was left at his Back, that might either impede his Proceedings, or take Advantage of any Misfortune that might befall him; then did he forthwith apply himself to the Conqueft of Egypt, upon which those other Nations had formerly been Dependants. Of this Expedition, and the victorious Iffue thereof, the three great Prophets, Ifaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel have written fo plainly, that its altogether needless to seek after any other Authority to confirm the fame. It was long before prophefied by Ifaiah, that the King of Affyria, or Babylon, fhould lead away the Egyptians Prifoners, and the Ethiopians Captives, young, and old, naked and barefoot, even with their Buttocks uncovered to the Shame of Egypt, Isaiah. xx. 4.

But Ezekiel, and Jeremiah, as their Prophefies were nearer to the time of Execution, fo they handled this Argument more plainly, and precisely. For Ezekiel tells us clearly, that Egypt fhould be given to Nebuchadnezzar as Wages for his great Service which he had done against Tyre, Ezek. xxix. 18, 19, 20. He recounteth alfo in particular all the chief Cities in Egypt, faying, that these by name fhould be destroyed, and go into Captivity: yea, and that Pharoah, and all his Army fhould be flain by the Sword, Ezek. xxx. 4, 10, &c. Chap. xxxii. 2. &c. And the Prophet Jeremiah faith thus,

F 2
Ifaiah xvi. 14.

Be

Behold I will vifit the common People of Noe, and Pharoah, and Egypt, with their Gods and their Kings, even Pharoah and all that trust in him; and I will deliver them into the Hands of those that feek their Lives, and into the Hand of Nebuchadnezzar King of Babel, and into the Hands of his Servants, Jer. xlvi. 25, 26. Jofephus accordingly faith, that Nebuchadnezzar in the three and twentieth Year of his Reign, and in the fifteenth Year after the Destruction of Jerufalem, did conquer Egypt, and kill the King thereof, appointing a Viceroy to govern it. And it is evident that his Victories, which followed his Conqueft of Syria, were fuch as did more enlarge his Dominions, than all his former Wars had done. For Ezekiel in his xxxth Chapter reckoneth up (befides the whole Country of Egypt) Phut and Lud, with other Nations that may feem to have reached as far as into Mauritania, which were conquered by him, and added to his Empire. And truly it is worth Obfervation how Pharoah, King of Egypt, was infatuated by God, who thought himself most fafe in his own Country by reafon of the well-defenced Situation thereof, and therefore very unwifely fuffered his Enemies to make a clear way to his own Doors by the Conqueft of all his Friends and Allies in Syria. For as the Labour of this Business did more harden than weary the Chaldean Army, fo the Confidence, and vain Security of the Egyptians, relying upon the Difficulty of the Paffages which the Enemy was to make through the Arabian Defarts, and the great Advantage which the River Nilus afforded, did little avail them, when the War came on; yea, it did much astonish them (as may jufly be thought) in the time of Execution. It being ufually feen, that the Hearts of Men fail, when thofe Helps deceive them, in which they bad repofed more Confidence than in their own Virtue, and Valour. Until this time, the Kingdom of Egypt had flourished under the Rule and Government of the Pharaohs for above the Space of one thousand four hundred and eighty Years. But from this time forward, it remained forty Years without a King, under the Subjection of the Babylonians; and then at length, it began to recover, by little and little, the former Greatnefs: Yet fo, that it was never dreadful unto others as it had been, God having faid of that People; At the end of forty Years I will gather the Egyptians from the People whither they were fcattered; and I will bring again the Captivity of Egypt, and will caufe them to return into the Land of Pathros, into the Land of their Habitation, and they shall be yet a bafe Kingdom. It shall be the bafest of the Kingdoms, neither fhall it exalt itfelf any more above the Nations; for I will diminish them that they Shall no more rule over the Nations, and it shall be no more the Confidence of the Houfe of Ifrael, Ezek. xxix. 13, 14, 15, 16. For whereas it had been faid of Pharaoh, I am the Son of the wife, the Son of ancient Kings, Ifa. xix. 11. and whereas they had vaunted, the River is mine, and I have made it, Ezek. xxix. 9. The Princes of Egypt, now became Fools, the River failed them, the King himself was now taken and flain, and that ancient Lineage was quite extinguished.

Of any Wars made by Nebuchadnezzar after fuch time as he returned from the Conqueft of Egypt, we read not, except that against Nineveh, the Destruction whereof was foretold by the Prophet. Nineveh indeed had been taken long before by Merodoch, and together with the reft of Affyria, made subject to Babylon. Yet was it left under a peculiar King, who rebelling against Nebuchadnezzar,

I

chadnezzar, as Jeboachim and Zedekiah, Tributary Kings of Judah, had done, was made Partaker alfo of the fame Ruin. That the Deftruction of Nineveh followed the Conquest of Egypt, is clear by the Comparison which Nabum the Prophet made, between this City that was to fall, and the City of Noe in Egypt, which was fallen already; Nahum iii. 8, &c. Art thou better than populous Noe, that was fituate amongst the Rivers, that had the Waters round about it; whofe Rampart was the Sea, and her Wall was from the Sea. Ethiopia and Egypt were ber Strength, and it was infinite: Put and Lubim were her Helpers. Yet was fhe carried away, she went into Captivity; her young Children also were dafbed in Pieces at the top of all the Streets, and they caft Lots for her honourable Men, and all her great Men were bound in Chains. Thou also fhall be drunken; thou shall be bid; thou also fhalt feek Strength because of the Enemy, &c.

This great Monarch having thus fpent his younger Days in enlarging his Dominions, he betook himself to Reft, that he might reap the Fruit of his former Labours; and the first thing that he applied himself to, was to beautify his Imperial City of Babylon, adding a new City to the old, which he compaffed about with three Walls, and made in them ftately Gates. And near the former Palace he built a new one, more ftately than it, wherein he raised Stoneworks, like unto Mountains, which he planted with all manner of Trees. He made alfo Penfile Gardens (one of the World's Wonders) borne upon Arches, four Square, each Square being four hundred Foot long, filled above with Earth, whereon grew all forts of Trees and Plants. The Arches were built one above another in a convenient Height, ftill increafing as they afcended. The highest, which did bear the Walls on the Top, were fifty Cubits high, fo that they equalized the highest Mountains. He made alfo Aquæduals for the watering of this Garden, which feemed to hang in the Air. This moft fumptuous Frame, which outlasted all the Remainder of the Affyrian, and all the Perfian Empire, is faid to have been reared and finished in fifteen Days. He erected alfo an Image of Gold in the Plain of Dura, fixty Cubits high, and fix broad, commanding all his Servants, and Subjects to fall down and worship it, Dan. iii. I, &c.

But of all this, and other his Magnificence, we find little elfe recorded, fave that which indeed is moft profitable for us to confider, to wit, his overvaluing of his own Greatness, which abafed him to a Condition inferior to the poorest of Men. For, whereas God had honoured him, not only with many great, and glorious Victories, and much Happiness in his own Life; but with a rare Discovery of Things that were to come after him; yea, and had manifefted the Certainty of his Dreams, by the miraculous reducing of it into his Memory, and given him the Interpretation thereof by the Prophet Daniel*: He, notwithstanding, became fo forgetful of God, whofe wonderful Power he had feen, and acknowledged, that he caufed that Golden Image to be fet up, and worshipped, appointing a cruel Death for them thar fhould dare to difobey him, which was utterly unlawful, and repugnant to the Law of him that is King of Kings; and thus, he who fo lately had worshipped Daniel, the Servant of God, as if he had been God himfelf, now commanded a Statue to be erected unto himself, wherein himself might be worshipped as God: From this Impiety it pleafed God to recall, and reclaim him, by the wonderful and miraculous Delivery of those three

Dan. ii. 31, &c.

three bleffed Saints †, out of the fiery Furnace, who being thrown bound inte the midst of it, for refufing to commit that abominable Idolatry, were preferved from all Hurt of the Fire, loofened from their Bonds, accompanied by an Angel, and at laft, called out by the King, and reftored to their former Ho

nour.

Nebuchadnezzar being amazed at the Miracle, made a Decree tending to the Honour of God, whom by the Erection of his Image he had difhonoured. Yet was not this Devotion fo rooted in him, that he could bring forth, Fruit anfwerable to his hafty Zeal: Therefore was he forewarned of God in a Dream, of a terrible Judgment which hung over his Head, which Daniel expounding, withal counfelled him to break off his Sin by Righteoufnefs, and bis Iniquities by fhewing, Mercy to the Poor, that there might be a lengthening of his Tranquility, Dan. iv. whence it seems, that Injustice, and Cruelty were his Faults, for which he was thus threatned: But neither did the Dream, nor Advice of Daniel so prevail. For probably he believed it not, but looked upon it as an idle Dream; for that it seemed altogether unlikely, that fo great a Monarch fhould be driven from amongst Men, yea, compelled to dwell with the Beafts of the Field, and made to eat Grafs as the Oxen; this was altogether incredible in Man's Judgment, and therefore giving fo little heed to it, its no marvel that he had forgotten it at the Year's end.

One whole Year was given to this haughty Prince wherein to repent, which refpiting of the Execution may feem to have bred in him Forgetfulness of God's Sentence. For at the end of twelve Months, as he was walking in his Royal Palace of Babel, he was fo overjoyed, and tranfported with a vain Contemplation of his own feeming Happiness, that without all Fear of God's heavy Judgment pronounced against him, he uttered these proud Words: Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the Houfe of the Kingdom, by the Might of my Power, and for the Honour of my Majefty?

But his proud Speeches were not fully ended, when a Voice from Heaven told him, that his Kingdom was departed from him, &c. And the fame Hour the thing was fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar, and he was driven from Men, and did eat Grafs as Oxen, and his Body was wet with the Dew of Heaven, til bis Hair was grown like Eagles Feathers, and bis Nails like Birds Claws, Dan. iv. 33, &c.

This his Punishment was fingular, and unexpected. For he ran amongst Beafts in the Fields, and Woods, where, for feven Years he lived, not only as a favage Man, but as a favage Beaft; for a Beaft he thought himself to be, and therefore fed himself in the fame manner, and with the fame Food that Beafts do. Not that he was changed in his external Shape from a Man to a Beaft. For as St. Jerome well expounds it, when he faith, ver. 34. that his Understanding was reftored unto him, he fhewed that he had not loft his human Shape, but his Understanding, being ftricken with a Frenzy, or deep Melancholy, which made him think himself a Beast.

Seven Years being expired, Nebuchadnezzar was restored both to his Understanding, and to his Kingdom: and (faith he) I blessed the most High, and 1 praifed, and honoured him that liveth for ever, whofe Dominion is an everlasting

Dominion,