Our Saviour is supposed to reprove the _Ruler_ of the _Synagogue_, for his _Indignation_ at the Cure of the Woman on the Sabbath-Day, saying, _v._ 15. _Thou Hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his Ox or his Ass from the Stall, and lead him away to Watering? And ought not this Woman to be loos'd from this Bond on the Sabbath-Day?_ There is Force in this Argument according to the Letter: And the _Ruler_ of the _Synagogue_, and other _Jesus_'s Adversaries hereupon, might well be _asham'd_ for finding Fault with such a merciful and beneficent Work done on the _Sabbath_; when they themselves did Works on the _Sabbath_ of much less Consequence. But to[110] the Mystery. What may be said to our Ministers of the Letter, of whom the _Archisynagogus_ is a Type, for their Averseness to the healing of the Church in like manner? Why, that they are _Hypocrites_, that is, superficial Criticks on the Scriptures, and don't consider that _the Law is spiritual_, and how against the Evangelical Sabbath every Man is to be released from his Bondage and Servility to irrational Principles (for which he has been like an _Ox_ and an _Ass_) and to be conducted to drink of the Waters of Divine Wisdom: For this grand Sabbath will be a Day of absolute Liberty, perfect _Rest_, immense Knowledge, real Vision and Contemplation on God and his Providence, as the antient _Jews_ and Fathers so copiously declare, that they who are ignorant herein, may be _ashamed_; consequently they might know, that the Church is to be cured of her _Spirit of Weakness_ at Prophecy on that Day. But _Satan_ is said to have _v._ 16. _bound_, and, as is supposed, _bow'd down_ this Woman; the literal Truth of which I much question: But how then has _Satan bound and bow'd down_ the Church? This, seemingly, is the great Difficulty in the mystical Application of this Story, and must be the great Curiosity of my Readers to know how I will account for it. If the Fathers don't help me out at this dead Lift, and that clearly and intelligibly too, I shall abate of my Veneration for them. If they don't tell me, and make me to apprehend, what this _Satan_ is, that for many Ages has _bound_ and oppress'd the Church after the supposed Manner of the typical Woman, I had better have held my Peace, and said nothing to this parabolical Miracle. The Writings of the _Evangelists_ so abound with Stories of _Satan_, _Belzebub_, the _Devil_, and of greater and less Number of _Devils_, and of _Dæmons_ and of _unclean Spirits_, more than any Histories before, as one would think, if these Stories were literally to be understood, that was the Age in which Christ came, that _Hell_ first broke loose, and then primarily infested Mankind; and that upon the Destruction of _Judæa_ and Propagation of the Gospel, the _Devils_ accompanied the _Jews_ in their Dispersion, or the _Apostles_ in their Travels, and have been the Tempters, Seducers, and Tormentors of other Nations ever since.