If in thy Sight I have due Favour found, Let my Petition with Success be crown'd.

VI.

ESTHER Vii. 3.

If I have found favour in thy sight, and if it please the king, let my life be given me al my petition.

TH

HOU art the great Ahasuerus, whose command Doth stretch from pole to pole; the world's thy Rebellious Vashti's the corrupted will,

Which, being call'd, refuses to fulfil

Thy just command; Esther, whose tears condole
The razed city, 's the regen'rate soul;

A captive maid, whom thou wilt please to grace
With nuptial honours in stout Vashti's place:
Her kinsman, whose unbended knee did thwart
Proud Haman's glory, is the fleshly part;
The sober eunuch, that recall'd to mind
The new-built gibbet (Haman had divin'd
For his own ruin) fifty cubits high,
Is lustful-thought-controuling chastity;
Insulting Haman is that fleshly lust,
Whose red-hot fury, for a season, must
Triumph in pride, and study how to tread
On Mordecai, till royal Esther plead.

Great King, thy sent-for Vashti will not come;
O let the oil o' th' blessed virgin's womb

Cleanse my poor Esther: look, O look upon her
With gracious eyes; and let thy beam of honour
So scour her captive stains, that she may prove
An holy object of thy heav'nly love:

Anoint her with the spikenard of thy graces,
Then try the sweetness of her chaste embraces:

L

[land;

Make

Make her the partner of thy nuptial bed,
And set thy royal crown upon her head;
If, then, ambitious Haman chance to spend
His spleen on Mordecai, that scorns to bend
The wilful stiffness of his stubborn knee,
Or basely crouch to any lord but thee;
If weeping Esther should prefer a groan
Before the high tribunal of thy throne,
Hold forth thy golden sceptre, and afford
The gentle audience of a gracious Lord :
And let thy royal Esther be possęst
Of half thy kingdom, at her dear request :
Curb lustful Haman, him that would disgrace,
Nay ravish thy fair queen before thy face:
And as proud Haman was himself ensnar'd
On that self gibbet which himself prepar'd;
Soon nail my lust, both punishment and guilt,
On that dear cross which mine own lusts have bunt.

S. AU

S. AUGUST. in Ep.

O Holy Spirit, always inspire me with holy works. Constrain me, that I may do: counsel me, that I may love thee; confirm me, that I may hold thee; conserve me, that I may not lose thee.

S. AUGUST. sup. Joan.

The spirit lusts, where the flesh resteth: for as the flesh is nourished with sweet things, the spirit is refreshed with sour.

Ibidem.

Wouldst thou that thy flesh obey thy spirit? then let thy spirit obey thy God. Thou must be governed, that thou mayest govern.

EPIG. 6.

Of mercy and: justice is thy kingdom built;
This plagues my sin, and that removes my guilt;
Whene'er I sue, Ahasuerus-like, decline

Thy sceptre: Lord, say, Half my kingdom's thine.