rv/n ExPos 1TION ~ Add unto this, that in chap. 1 7· verf 6. the Whore (the City of Rome) is ~ pref"ented as !be fl1all be ju(\ before her Ruin; and this, as dnmk. with the Blood of t/,e Saints. Which unto me teems to argue, that Dnmkennefi now at laft. !ball be added to that her thirjl of Blood, which by her being ji:orched with Ftre by thele Witneiles, bath been encreaf"ed. I know it may be G•id, that it is f"po– ken of her in relation to her former Bloody Martyrifings of the Saints. But that Vifion being made of her, as ju(\ afore her Fall: for verf I. John li•ys, That one of the jiven Angelt of the Vials (and as it is conjeCtured by Interpreters, the Fifth, becauf"e he it is that pours out his Vial upon the Seat of the Bea(\, the Whore) jhewed him the ]udgment of the Great Whore, with whom the Kings of the Earth have committed Fornication, &c. that is, in f"o many Ages fore-pafTed. So that he pref"ented her in her old and la(\ Days ; and that then (he appears f"o drunk, makes me fear, that it is by reaf"on !be was new come out fi·om her Cups of Blood ; and that now at la(\, (after thefe Years for her to !lcep in) fome frefh Cup, fome new Draught {hall make her tipfy again, that f"o !be may be furprifed, Somno Vinoque Jepulta, buried in Sleep and Drunkennefs, (as Bab)– /on was); which will be the greater Judgment and Confufion unto her. But yer, whether it !ball be thus, or no, I dare not, nor cannot certainly and peremptorily determine. For on the other fide, how God may rejlrain their Wrath, and Cflt fbort their Spirits, (as the Pjalmijl !peaks) we know not. Yea, notwitb(\anding all their Rage, Malice, and Spirit of Revenge, yet how far their own Wildom and Policy may move them of themftlves to forbear the full execution of that Vigour, which their Power gives them opportunity of, we luiow not. For when their ViCtory is gotten, they may ufe it more moderate– ly ; efpecially in a relpefr to that Prote(\am Party, which though outwardly overcome by them, yet they cannot but in their Hearts and Conlciences conti– nue firm unto the Caufe of thele Witneffes. The Light of the Golpel hath took fuch a deep impreffion on Men's Spirits, as it cannot be .cxtinguiib'd, nor they be brought fa f11ddainly to embrace Popery as theTruth. And as the Pha~·ifees, for fear of the People, forbear many Attempts again(\ Chri(\, f"o may thefe for fear of thele Tong11es, Ki,dredr, and Nations, here mentioned, (which are iu Heart inclined to the Prote(\anr Caufe) forbear the extremity of their Rage, though for the prefent they have the Power ; cfpecially confidering, that they may wait for, and promife to themfelves, fome after-Age and Time when their Power !ball more perfei.Tly be recovered and fetkd, and Men"s Confciences quie– ted in Popiib Ways, and when the Adverfe Prote(\ant Party !ball be brought low and diminiibed. And f"o they may come to forbear and defer their full Re– venge fo long, until this limited and ibort Time of their full Power (namely, their ti.ree Years and an half) be expired, and our of Date fooner than they dream'd of. Which may prevent and hinder the execution of their cruel lnten· rions to dejlroy and utterly mak..e away many. And we have experience of the Wifdom of this Generation ofMen, who love eJfy and gradual Conqueas. And their own experien'e hath and cloth teach them, that the martyring and butchering of the Saints, bath a ill advanced the Caufe of the Prote(\am Reli– gion, and branded theirs with Blood and Cruelty, as a Mark of the Fnlfe and Whorif\1 Church. And though they be full of Malice, which p,uts them on to ufe the utmo(\ extremity; yet their Wifdom having fame further mi!Chievous end, may keep down the rage of that their malice; even as in Julian the Apo– (\ate (" ho finnd again11 the Holy.Gho(\) it did. For he teeing that Martyr– dams did tend rather to add unto and encreafe the Church, than to diminin1 it; and knowing that Martyrdom would procure to thole that fuffered it, a fairer Crown of Glory : Out of Envy therefore, and a witty Malice, he would make no EdiCts for the killing of the Chriflians, bur rather uf"ed ways of Subtilty, by laying Snares and Temptattons to draw Men from the Truth, and ro ibipwrack their Conf"ciences ; and fo with his prophane Hands to paddle in the Blood of their Souls, (a (weeter ViCtory to him) rather than of their Bodies, and to triumph over them in their Falls from the Truth; rather than in their Deaths. And to that end he invented another way to milchief and diminifh them, by denying them Schools of Learning, and the ufe of Books,· and fuffered none of the Chri(\ians to bear any Office, either in War or Pea<:e. More-
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