And first, of the ransom. - Were we to ask thee, how
love could enrich thee, when thy worldly possessions
were gone ; or how a dead man could repay thee the
value of the ransom ; already I hear thee reply -
Ah, the love of so sweet a Lord hath no correspond-
ence with wordly wealth! Without him I should
be poor, though empress of the world : with him, I
should be rich, though I possessed nothing but him-
self. They that have most are accounted richest, and
such are thought to have most, as have all they de-
sire and therefore as in him alone is the uttermost of
my desires, so he alone is the sum of all my substance.
It were too happy an exchange to have God for all the
riches of the worlds and too rich a poverty to enjoy
the only treasure in the world ! If 1 were so fortunate
a beggar, 1 would disdain the wealth of Solomon;
and my love being so highly enriched, my life would
never complain of want.
And secondly, of obtaining thy Lord by entreaties.-
With enemies so cruel, canst thou think it possible
for such a suit to speed ? Would thy love shield thee,
from their rage, or tyrants stoop to a woman's tears ?
It is thus I hear thee reply - Though I were to sue
to the greatest tyrant, yet the equity of my suit is more
than half a grant. If many drops soften the hardest
stones, why should not many tears supple the most
Stony hearts ? What anger so fiery, that may not be
quenched with tears ? My suit itself would sue for
me, and would quicken pity in the most iron hearts.-
But suppose that, by touching a rankled sore, my
touch should anger it, and my petition, at the first, in-
cense him that heard it $ he would, perchance, revile
me in words, and then his own injury would recoil
with remorse, and be unto me a pattern how to pro-
ceed in my request. And if he should accompany his
words with blows, and his blows with wounds may
be my stripes would smart in his guilty mind, and his
conscience bleed in my bleeding wounds ; and my in-
nocent blood so soften his adamant heart, that his own
inward feelings would plead my cause, and peradven-
ture obtain my suit. But if, through extremity of
spite, he should kill me, his offence might easily re-
dound to my felicity : for he would be as careful to
hide me, whom he had unjustly murdered, as him
whom he had feloniously stolen ; and it is not unlikely
but he would hide me in the same place where he had
laid my Lord. And as he hated us both for one cause,
him for challenging, and me for acknowledging that
he was the Messiah so he would use us both after the
same manner. And thus the comfort that my body
wanted my soul would enjoy, in seeing a part of myself
partner of my master's misery ; with whom to be mi-
serable, I esteem a higher fortune than without him
to be most happy.
And thirdly, of recovering thy Lord by force, or ad-
venturing a theft to obtain thy desire. - And art thou,
then, armed so completely in love, that thou thinkest
it sufficient armour ? Doth thy love endue thee with
such a Judith's spirit, that thou canst foil whole arm-
ies ? Can it thus alter sex, change nature, and exceed
all art ? And if it be a sin to steal profane treasure,
can it be less than sacrilege to steal the Lord's Anoint-
ed ? How ready is thy reply ! - If there were no
other means of recovering him but force, I see no rea-
son why it may not well become me. It often hap-
peneth that Nature, armed with love, and pressed
with need, exceedeth itself in might, and summoneth
all hope in success ; and as the equity of the cause
breathes courage into the defenders, making them the
more willing to fight, and the less unwilling to die ;
so guilty consciences are ever timorous, still starting
with sudden frights, and afraid of their own suspicions ;
ready to yield before the assault, upon distress of their
cause, and despair of their defence. Since, therefore,
to recover a right, and to redress so deep a wrong, is
so just a cause, nature will enable me, love encourage
me, grace confirm me, and the Judge of all justice
fight in my behalf.
And if it seem unfitting to my sex in talk, much
more in practice, to deal with material affairs ; yet
when such a cause happeneth as never had pattern,
such effects must follow as are without example. -
There never was a wrong like this committed, nor
when committed, suffered to pass unrevenged. Since,
then, the angels neglect, and men forget, O Judith,
lend me thy prowess, for I am bound to regard it. -
But suppose that my force were unable to win him by
an open enterprise, what scruple should keep me from
seeking him by secret means ? Yea, and if by plain
stealth, will it be thought a sin, and shall I be con-
demned for a theft ? If this be so great a sin, and
so heinous a theft, let me live and die such a sinner,
and be condemned for such a theft ! -
But, alas ! while I thus stand devising what to do,
I know nothing of him. I neither know who hath
him, nor where they have placed him : I am still
found to dwell on the same theme, that they have taken
away my Lord, and I know not where they have put
him. -
While Mary was thus lost in a labyrinth of doubts,
intermingling her words with tears, she beheld the
angels rise with a kind of reverence, as though they
had done honour to one behind her. She turned back,
and saw Jesus standing : but she knew not that it was
Jesus.
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