THE LOST
AND
UNDONE SON OF PERDITION.
It is to be observed, that the Scripture makes mention of three Judases; the first is Judas Maccabeus; the second Judas the son of Joseph, the reputed father of our Lord; and third, Judas Iscariot, the son of a Tanner, living in repute at Joppa, or Japho, a beautiful sea-port on the west of Canaan, about thirty-four miles North west of Jerusalem, from which it was seen, as it stood on a hill amidst a delightful plain. Here Peter restored Dorcas to life, and received the messages of Cornelius. In the time of the Antichristian war of the Croisades, or Crusades, Lewis of France, and Godfrey of Boulogne, and others, repaired and adorned it; but in these unhappy times, what was one year a beautiful city, was oft in the next a heap of ruins. At present, and for ages past, it hath but a bad harbour, and is remarkable for nothing but ruinous remains of antiquity. This Judas who betrayed our Lord, was his mother’s first child, who dreamed that the child in her womb would prove both a thief and a murderer, and bring her and her generation to shame and disgrace: which so terrified her, that she was like to go distracted; but her husband strove to pacify her, bidding her leave it to God the wise disposer of all things, who may take it away in its infancy or endue it with more grace than ever to be guilty of such dishonourable actions.—This somewhat quieted her, and she was soon after delivered of a lovely male child; but under his left breast was the following curious marks viz. a cross, a gallows, two daggers, and several pieces of money: this likewise terrified his mother, who concealed it from her husband, determining, as soon as she was able, to go to a magician and know the signification of these surprising marks. The child being circumcised, and she purified, according to the old Jewish custom, she dressed herself in disguise, put a veil on her face, and taking with her a kinswoman, went to the magician’s, and being introduced to him, she related her dream, her fears and the marks upon her son, desiring the interpretation of the dream, and the signification of the marks.
The magician replied, I am no interpreter of dreams, neither do I justly know the signification of marks; and the whole of your story appears as strange to me, as it can be amazing to you; but if you can tell me when the child was born, I will calculate its nativity, and see what it pretends. He then called for pen, ink, and paper, and sitting down, calculated his nativity; and when he had finished it, he shook his head, and his countenance waxed pale; which being perceived by Judas’s mother, she said unto him, do not deceive me, but tell me true, hide nothing from me, whether it be good or evil.—Then, said the magician, to your sorrow, I have seen the rules of the planet that reigned predominant at your son’s birth, that he would prove a thief and a murderer, and what is worse, he will, for lucre, betray the Lord of Life; for which act he will afterwards despair of mercy, lay violent hands on himself and come to a shameful end.—These words pierced the mother’s heart, who wringing her hands, wished she had never been born, rather than to have been the mother of such an unhappy child; and asked the magician what she could do to prevent the bringing of shame or disgrace on her family? He told her he knew no way of prevention, but by laying violent hands on it, which might be now easily done in its infancy and in a manner so as not to be discovered. To this she replied, that she would not for ten thousand worlds commit such an act of violence on her son; for if her husband had the least suspicion of it, he was so fond of Judas, that he would never be reconciled to her any more; yet for the sake of her family, she would by some means or other prevent it without destroying it; and then told the magician, that if she had a small boat made like a shell, with a cover to go down close that no water might get in, and a little vent to let in air at the top, and room in it to lie soft and easy, she might without danger send him down the river Jordan, and so commit him wholly to the protection of providence, which might conduct him to some distant shore, into the hands of some tender persons, and thereby preserve his life; and if he afterwards commits those base actions the shame will fall on his own head, as no one will know from whom he is descended. The magician highly commended her for her invention, and said he would procure such a boat for her; and she promising him a good reward for his assistance, returned home. After she was gone, the magician sent for one Rot, a very cunning Artist, a Joiner by trade, who undertook to make the boat, drawing out with his pencil, the form of it, carried it home with him, wrought upon it in private, and having soon finished it, brought it to the magician’s house, who paid him largely for it, and sent a servant to the house of Simon, who told Judas’s mother, that the matter which his master and she spoke of was now finished. She understanding him, went next morning to the magician’s house, viewed the boat, and liked it well, saying it was very convenient for the end intended, but seemed perplexed how she should do it privately, and keep it from discovery, as death was the consequence thereof. Her kinswoman begged her to leave that to her, and all should be safe enough; for we will feign the child sick for a day or two, in the meantime we will make some inquiry in the city for the dead body of some poor male child which we will buy of its parents, and have it privately brought to our house to be buried; in the meantime we will dispatch your son to sea, and make him believe the other child to be his, and that he died during his absence; so having it buried, the matter can never be brought to light.
The mother liked the contrivance, and going home with a promise Of a great reward, and her friendship for life, she swore her servants to secrecy, and then said she, we must act in this manner. When your master comes home at night, I shall put on very dejected looks, and When he asks the cause, I shall tell him that Judas is not well, and that I am apprehensive of his death, which you must all testify and confirm. She accordingly put this scheme into practice at night, when her husband did all he could to comfort her, telling her that they were young, they might, be parents of many children: and going up stairs to see the child, the maid then pinched its neck till it was black in the face, and thinking it in convulsions, gave it over to death. As soon as he was gone out in the morning, the mother and kinswoman took the child and went to the magician’s house, in order to put the child to sea. They put on him many warm and rich garments, with an upper coat of oil, that no water might penetrate it; and the magician, on a piece of parchment, wrote the following words:
MY NAME IS JUDAS.
which his mother sewed round his neck and put him into the boat, and shut down the cover. At parting with the child the mother was almost distracted, wringing her hands and weeping bitterly, but being comforted by the magician and her kinswoman she was at last pacified, and desired to go home, as she could not bear to see the child put into the water, so she and her kinswoman departed home. The magician then took the boat and carried it down to his own garden, at the foot of which ran the river Jordan, and putting it in where a strong stream ran, it was soon carried out of sight.
The mother when she got home fainted away, but was revived by being informed by her maid servant, that during her absence they had almost brought the matter to a close, having found a neighbour’s male child, who had died the day before, and was just of the same age as Judas, for whose body they had given the parents a small sum of money, and paid the expense of burying a coffin full of bones, by way of a blind: and the only thing that remained was to deceive her husband, and get this child buried under the sanction of Judas’s body.