answer then who haue read the Gospell Iohn 19. by whom was our Saviour accused who condemned him what kinde of capitall punishment did he suffer who crucifyed him in what place for what crime or offence or upon what accusatioÌ„ was he brought in question was he not accused by them that cryed we haue no king but Caesar the Roman Emperor was not Pilate the Roman he that condemned him was not the cause pretended for that he spake against Caesar in making himself a king was it not by that kinde of punishment execution Vide Scalig in notis ad Ioh. 18 31. which by learned men is observed to haue been properly used by the Romans were they not Roman souldiers by whom he was crucifyed was it not extra portas Ierusalem was it not all done by the power of Caesar and what followeth of all this Vbi Caesar ibi Roma where Caesar is there is Rome sayd the old Lawiers as the new say now a dayes Vbi Papa ibi Roma Panorm where the Pope is there is Rome To this adde that all voide places and places appointed for publique execution of justice were by Roman civill Law Iuris publici the proper demeanes of the Empire of Rome Now it is manifest that Golgatha was the common place of execution and therefore de Iure publico of right belonging to Rome We must therefore confesse that our Lord was crucifyed in Ròme unlesse we shall thinke that S. Iohn yea the spirit of God do not speak properly And if he had meant the old Ierusalem what needed so many words or circumstances to describe it These four points therefore being cleared it is not hard to apply three others unto it which are mentioned in the same place of scripture to make up the number of seuen viz. 5. That this is the same great cittie where the beast should make warre against the saincts and 6 where he should kill the witnesses of God and 7 where their dead bodies should lye in the streets and therefore the place of Antichrist A third scripture speaking of the place of Antichrist Rev. 4. is that where her destruction is briefly denounced and there it is called Babylon that great cittie the spirit of God giving us thereby to understand that he would haue that cittie seuen times at least in this booke called Babylon the great to be sufficiently known unto us to be Rome the second Babylon which then was great not the old Babylon which neither in her best estate was able to compare with the greatnes of Rome and in the time of S. Iohn was in great decay having beene twise or thrise before taken sacked and spoyled namely first by Cyrus Dan. 5. drawing diverting Euphrates while Belshazzar sate feasting and drinking Secondly by Darius with the help of Zopirus Herod lib 3. Iustin. who reduced it to an absolute subjection under the Persians and with the rest of that Empire it was conquered by Alexander the Great Diod. Sic. l. 19. and after his time it was spoyled againe by Demetrius and thereupon forsaken by her inhabitants and never rose afterward to any greatnes authoritie or power Whereupon S. Augustine observeth that as the Assyrian monarchie decayed so Rome the second Babylon and as it were the daughter of the first grew and so it was in S. Iohns time the great cittie Ladie of the world and governed onely by Caesars one of her seuen Heads which ruled over the kings of the earth A fourth scripture is that Rev. 18. wherein her destruction is much more largely and particularly described by seuen notable attributes most agreeable to Rome 1 She is called againe Babylon 2 That great cittie 3 With whom the kings and nations of the earth haue committed fornication 4 Most proud and vaine-glorious for she sayth I sit as a queen and am no widow And so Tully calleth her Vide Lipâ— de magnâ—â— Rom. Princeps omnium terrarum and Frontinus regina domina orbis and beyond all these Martial Terrarum Dea Gentiumque Roma 5 Therefore in the text she is truly called mightie 6 Abounding in all riches and Treasures Non auro tectisve modus And 7 Lucan lib. 1. abounding in all delicates and pleasures abundantes voluptates Livy in prol Of which points I haue said somewhat before and for the two last notes of the super-aboundance of their riches and wantonnes in pleasures and delicates I will cite but two examples more out of Horace whereof the first shall not be of any of their Princes Senators or Patritii no nor yet of their Equites or Gentlemen but of the meanest sort Quinti progenies Arri par nobile fratrum Nequitia nugis A couple of knaues Horat. Serm. lib. 2 sat 3. Luscinias soliti impenso prandere coemptas They were wont to dine upon Nightingales though verie deerely bought A dish that I thinke no Prince in Christendome would desire for any good taste nor these men but for their luxurious prodigalitie And yet see another not of Antonius or Cleopatra but of a stage players sonne Filius Aesopi detractam ex aure Metellae Scilicet ut decies solidum exorberet aceto Diluit in signem baccam O braue drinker that dissolved in vinegar a pearle worth fiue and twentie thousand Crownes as the Interpreters expound it in Eng. coine about 6250 pound if you take these crownes to be English taken from the eare of the Ladie Metella that he might drinke it of at a draught I would faine knowe whether these men did more abound in riches or in Luxurie in wealth or in wantonnes that were so costly luxurious in their meats and drinks Ioseph antiq lb. 18. Neither do I now marvail at the summe which another Roman gentleman offred to expugne the chastitie of the Ladie Paulina being 25 Myriades drachmarum everie 100 drachmae being accounted worth 58 shil 4 pence and consequently amounting in our English coin to aboue 7290 pounds what cittie was ever like to this in treasures or filthie pleasures But I hast to a fift place of scripture which will deserv both longer stay and better consideration And because I shall herein differ not a little from all other interpreters that I have read I have the greater reason to continue my course in Problems Rev. 16 The text of Scripture is the Prophecy of Armageddon or Armagedon noted for a place where the Kings of the earth are gathered together to the battell of the great day of God almighty The word is Hebrew and because the Hebrew names by reason of the difference of the points are subject to diverse manner of readings I would first learn whether it may not be taken for Harmegeddon which signifieth the mountain of pleasant and precious fruites For so the word Meged importeth Cant. 4 13. as it is expounded in other parts of the Scripture Gen. 24 53. to which is added the
Idolaters as in the Succession of so many ages she hath susteyned And if she cannot answer but as the wombe of a woman that it is altogether impossible to bring forth so many at once as she doth in tract of time then will I aske againe Whether any of the Popes be free of this and whether they be not all of them as one man guiltie of these great sinnes by act approbation consent and imitation and consequently fit to be represented under one person and called one Man And if this be so then will I demand as Salvianus doth of the consciences of all men that haue any sence or feeling of Truth Whether this be not that great Whore here described then whom never any no not the Divel himself if he ruled the Earth but three yeares and an half or for one mans life onely could practise or cause more fornication or Idolatrie to be committed And so much of the first note the Great Whore The second is that she sitteth upon manie waters Which the Angell expoundeth to signifie Peoples and Multitudes Nations and Tongues Here first I obserue the word of sitting which is used not onely here but by the Apostle 2 Thes 2. And it is a word â—â—metimes applied to Kings sometimes to Bishops Kings are said to sit on their Thrones Bishops in their Chayres or Churches Both are applied to Antichrist For in the 2 Thes 3. it is sayd He sitteth in the Temple or Church of God and here upon manie Nations The one place sheweth he must be a Bishop the other a King can this be applied to any but the Pope Now that the Pope and Church of Rome for these nine hundred yeares haue been supported by many Peoples nations and Tongues I will desire to haue none other witnesses then their owne chief Authors and Advocates who make their greatest brags of their Vniversalitie Bellarm. Staplâ—ron â—lendus c. how the power of their Pontif. extendeth it self not onely to Europe but to all euen the farthest remote parts of the world America and India which the Turke nor any other Potentate couâ—d never yet attaine unto And if this be evident and undeniable let us againe peruse over the Questions â—boue proposed Whether this may be affirmed of any Iewe or Turke And whether it be possible that the power of any Iew or Turke or any one man whatsoever should within the space of three yeeres and an half or of one mans life so far prevail or procure to haue so many Peoples Multitudes Nations and Tongues subject unto it as the Multitudes Nations and Tongues which haue served the Popes for these nine hundred yeares do amount unto Or to giue a nearer instance so many at once as within that time haue come to Rome to their Iubiles solemnities The third note of this Antichristian Harlot is that the Kings of the Earth haue committed fornication with her and the Inhabitants of the Earth haue been made druncken with the wine of her fornication And what king was there in Europe for these nine hundred yeares which did not committ or permit fornication both corporall and spirituall with the Church of Rome Which of them did not worship the same Images and use or permit the same uncleanes And I demand againe whether this can be verified of any Iew Turke or other person whatsoever past present or to come The fourth note is her exceeding great riches pompe and gorgeousnes Let me instance but in one or two particulars Majora vel certe paria c. sayth Blondus All Europe sendeth to Rome greater or surely no lesse Tributes In Roma inst urata then were payed to the Ancient Roman Emperors Pope Iohn left at his death in treasure ducentos quinquaginta Tonellos Ducatorum Bibâ—iand ex Palmerio ad ann 1334. sayth another Omnes Reges mundi non possent tantum de Thesauro reddere infra unum annum quantum fuit de Papali Palatio asportatum de Palatiis trium Cardinalium Marchionis sayth another speaking of Pope Boniface the eight R. Avesb and three Cardinals and the Marquis his nephew I demand then Whether Prince or Potentate State or person haue had the like testimonie of Riches and whether it be credible that any in three yeares an half or one mans life time should attaine to the like The fifth note She hath a name written in her forehead A Mysterie Babylon the Great Mother of Harlots and abhominations of the earth First it is called Great I demand Whether ever this title were so much giuen to any cittie besides Rome The old Babylon was never so many times called great And I thinke none will make question of any other And Whether the Bishop of Rome the Church of Rome and the cittie of Rome haue not everie one of them had a speciall title of Greatnes I referre me to the consciences of the Romans themselues to their Decrees and Canons who giue to their Bishop the Title of Pontifex Max. or Summus so Lipsius that hath written a Booke De magnitudine urbis Romae and to that other who writ a Booke De magnitudine Romanae Ecclesiae So their Church is great their cittie is great and their Bishop is greatest of all Of the name of Babylon I haue spoken sufficiently before And for the other title of Mother of Harlots or Sodomites as Scaliger and others reade and abhominations of the earth I demand of all that know Rome eyther by travelling in those countries and eye witnesse or by reading and hearesay Whether there be in any place of the world being of no greater extent so many Harlots and Sodomites and so publikely mainteyned and allowed as in Rome and the Popes Iurisdiction and where his power is acknowledged and whether any other Prince or Prelate Church or State Turke or Iew haue giuen or made such and so many faculties and dispensations pardons and Lawes for such things Let the notable booke of the Taxa and the cases reserved to Papall dispensation be perused And here is to be noted the Name that the Holy Ghost giveth to her calling her The Mother of Harlots or Sodomites and fornications which is singularly Emphaticall For it cannot be denied but there are many Harlots and Fornicators in other places neyther can it be denied but other Empires and kingdoms are called Whores as Inda and Israel by Ezekiel Ninive by Nahum Babylon by Ieremie But no other place is called the mother of Harlots or Sodomites This of all the rest seemeth to be Proprium quarto modo A propertie inseparable which agreeth to the Popes omni soli semper to them onely and everie of them ever since the Councels of Hispal and Toledo aboue mentioned For noÌ„ne but the Popes haue forbidden Mariage nor made Lawes that the Cloysters and Convents of Nunnes should be subject to monkes and Fryers and that it should be lawfull for Priests to haue Concubines No other Prince State or
plaine termes that Pope Gregorie succeeding Constantine Vide Pantal. anno 760. tooke away from the Grecian Emperor all the Empire of Italie which was not possessed by the Lumbards About the same time also there was another Councell gathered at Rome wherein was decreed that whosoever would not doe religious honour unto Images should be cut off from the body and bloud of Christ and from the unitie of the whole Church So the power of the Pontifex Max. and Idolatrie grew up together And although many Synods were held some in the East as at Nice and Constantinople others in the west as at Frankford wherein these Idolatries were condemned though both the Emperors aswell Charlemain of France as Constantine of Greece opposed themselues against these Idolatries having also the Authoritie of the Elibertin counsell Picturas ad Ecclesiis arcendas ne quod colitur aut adoratur in parietibus pingatur Yet the Popes prevailed Curavimus Babylonem non est sanata Ier. 51. sayth the Prophet The zeale of Charlemaine to haue this Idolatrie suppressed was excellent and exemplar for he not onely caused a Synod to be held within his owne Empire for that purpose but sent the booke of the Synode of Nice which is called the second wherein the worship of Images was decreed into Great Brittanie in which Booke Proh dolor sayth our Historian out alas manie things were found inconvenient Honed anno 792. and contrarie to the true fayth especially that with one consent of the Orientall Bishops three hundred or more it was inacted that Images should be worshipped Quod omnino Ecclesia Dei execratur Which the Church of God doth hold altogether execrable And the learned Albinus wrote an Epistle against it marvelously fortified with authoritie of the scripture Almaricus Gall theolog imagines altaria invocationes sanctorī◠Idololatrians censce which he presented to the Emperour So fully were the Godly of those times perswaded that the adoration of Images then newly thrust upon them by the Pope was meere and inexcusable Idolatrie And yet when the same Emperour Charles came to Rome to reforme the abuses of the Pope and began to inquire of them Bern. Lutz Pantal. anno 1205. Responsum est ab omnibus c. it was answered by all Platin Blond dec 2. Pant. that the Apostolike Sea being the Head of all Churches ought to be iudged of none especially not by a Lay man I aske then upon all these premises If Antichrist were not now sufficiently revealed when will he or how can he be revealed Rome the great cittie that ruled over the kings of the Earth the cittie of seauen Hills and that had receaved seauen kings of Soveraigne command Rome that glorious mountaine of holynes yet full of Sodomiticall filthines and Egyptian Idolatrie Rome and the Roman Empire so many times and so significantly described by the holy Apostles and Prophets had now set up her Seauenth Head the Summus Pontifex the propheticall number 666 was fulfilled as well in his time as in his name the Impediment of the Empire was removed This Summus Pontifex was become the absolute Ruler and king of that State acknowledging no superiour Controull or Countermand And hath done such and such things according also to the prophecies of Antichrist as no Iew Turke or divell can do in so short a time as they would make us beleeue is allotted for Antichrist If by these things he be not sufficiently revealed when will he come or when shall we expect him or shall we imitate the Iewes in looking as long for Antichrist as they doe for Christ To this may be added an Argument à sufficienti divisione which I propose in this manner First upon the words of Tertullian that Antichrist must be a rebell to Christ and S. Aug. that is Refuga Christi Now if a Rebell then eyther one professing Christ or not professing If you say not professing S. Augustin is against you which sayth that he doth professe Christ in words Also S. Chrysostom Exercitus Christi sunt omnes Haereses praecipue ista quae obtinuit Ecclesiae locum If a professor of Christ then either revealed or not revealed if you say not revealed then how can you answer the Apostle who sayth that he shall be revealed when the Impediment is removed And the Fathers who with great consent affirme that by the Impediment there is meant the Roman Empire And the great Consent of Divines and Chronologers upon the same place affirming that the Roman Empire is long since removed If revealed then eyther it is the Bishop of Rome whom manie godly men haue published and proclaymed to be Antichrist or else you must shew some other who is not to come but alreadie declared to be Antichrist And if you can shew none then must the Pope necessarily be that Antichrist Rev. 17. Againe either it must be he to whom the kings of the earth haue giuen their power or some other If you say some other then how do you answer the text If he then to whom haue the Kings of the Earth giuen their power but to the Pope Againe upon 2 Thes 2. and the exposition of S. Ambrose and other Fathers upon that place Antichrist shall sit in the house of the Lord in the seat of Christ If he shall so sit it must be either as a king or as a Bishop or as both or as neither If not as a King then how upon manie peoples and Nations If not as a Bishop then how in the Temple of the Lord as the Apostle sayth in the House of the Lord as S. Ambrose in the Houses and walles of the Church as S. Hilarie in Ecclesia as Theodoret in the Holy places of the church as S. Chrysostom in the chaire of S. Peter as S. Barnard sayth If as both then who hath done so but the Pope Neither neede we much to stick at the swelling words of the same S. Barnard in another place Tu es Sacerdos magnus Pontifex Summus tu princeps Episcopurum tu Haeres Apostolorum Tu primatu Abel Cubernatu Noe Patriarchatu Abraham Ordine Melchisedec Dignitate Aaron Authoritate Moses Iudicatu Samuel Potestate Petrus Vnctione Christus This sentence of S. Bernard though it seemeth he was somewhat caried away with the overflowing streame of his Eloquence yet it appeareth his purpose was to drawe the Pope to a more serious consideration of his dutie But the Popes and their followers which ought to haue tempered it with humilitie haue made it but a step and advantage to their Elation Anton. sum p 3. c. 22. as appeareth in their Decretals and Canonists where they arrogate and assume to them selues Plenitudinem potestatis scientiae See M. Down ham of Antic lib. 1. c. 5. and that they haue one and the same Tribunall with God and Christ Iesus and that Christ and the Pope are but one and the same head of the church Which titles none
of the city who as he said before were fled ex urbe i. polit others as Aristotle c. take a city which they call Polis the word used here by the Apostle to consist of a multitude of men gathered together under the same lawes and government which is also called universitas or respub de civ dei Cic. in somn Iustaâ— l. 2. and so S. Augustin in some places Some others also measure a city by the extent of her dominion liberties and franchises Now these and other circumstances being considered I seek for a city wherein all concurre to make it great for the first I aske whether ever anie citie haue had a téstimonie of greatnes like to that which Lucan thus describeth Vrbem populis victisque frequentem Gentibus generis coeat si turba capacem Humani Lucan 1 1 A Citie populous full of conquered nations and able to receaue all mankinde if they should come together I thinke it cannot be denyed but this was a verie great citie vâ—bis appellatio muris Romae contineutibus aedificiis finitur LL. de verb. Sig. that was able to receaue humanum genus all mankind And yet that we may see plainly that he meant it of the citie as it consisted of walles and buildings he nameth it first urbem and then goeth forward Cum pressus ab hoste Clauditur externis Romanus miles in oris Effugit exiguo nocturna pericula vallo Tu tantum audito bellorum nomine Roma Desereris nox una tuis non credita muris What cittie in the world was like to this great cittie Rev. 18 18. truly therefore sayth our divine Apostle But this was poeticall and hiperbolicall may some say let us heare a testimonie historicall Although I thinke that learned poet would never haue beene so bold or impudent to giue such an attribute of greatnes to Rome if it had not been a verie great cittie and doubtlesse the greatest then known in the world yet let us heare Historians Truly Lipsius out of Martinus Polonus and Pliny sayth the walles of Rome were first xlij miles in compasse and out of Vopiscus de magnitud Rom. Blondus in Romanist that they were afterwards enlarged to 50 miles compasse but of the suburbes si quis intuens magnitudinem Romae velit exquirere frustra eum fore haesurum ubi desinat urbs ubi incipiat ex Dionis So it was a great cittie within the walles Herodot l. 1. and a greater without It seemeth indeed by Herodotus that the walles of old Babylon were 160 stadia on everie side square but note that Babylon was all within the walles and so Rome in respect of her suburbs buildings adjoyning was much greater as by this testimonie of Lipsius out of Dionis appeareth Might not this then well be called Babylon the great in respect of the other But heare what Pliny saith both of Babylon and Rome Of Babylon first he sayth Plin. lib. 3. Babylon sexaginta millia passuum amplexa muris Of Rome Effecit passuum per directum xxx millia DCC LXV which xxx miles and three quarters being taken for the diameter must make the circumference to be at the least 92 miles which is farre aboue the reckning of Lipsius And yet saith Pliny farther Ad extrema verò tectorum cum castris praetoriis a Milliario in Capite Rom. fori statuto per vicos omnium viarum mensura colligit paulò amplius septuaginta millia pass And if that be taken for the Diameter of Rome and the suburbs then must the compasse be almost 200 miles Quo si quis saith he againe altitudinem tectorum addat dignam profecto aestimationem concipiat fateaturque nullius urbis magnitudineÌ„ in toto orbe potuisse comparari And it is also to be observed what the same Pliny writes of Babylon Plin. lib. 6. in the time of Vespatian that it was then brought to solitude being exhausted by the vicinitie of Seleucia which was built for that purpose And this was before the exile of Iohn in Pathmos where he saw the Revelation and therefore this great cittie could not be literall Babylon or Babylon in Chaldea which then was not great but mysticall Babylon that cittie Rome which was then at the greatest Let us goe to the next consideration where a cittie is said to consist of a multitude or societie of men gathered together and we shall finde a far greater cause to aske the question of our Prophet what cittie was ever like it for what cittie in the world can we finde so famous for number of Tribes and multitude of citizens as Rome Livy Alex. ab Alex. l. 1 c. 17. The Tribes of Rome were at the least fiue and thirtie everie one consisting of many thousand citizens whereas the two kingdomes of Iudah and Israel had but twelue yea the mightie kingdome of Persia which afterwards grewe so great had but twelue in the beginning Herod 1. Xenoph. Grop l. 1. Liv. l. 10 in fiue 1. belli Punici lustro undeuicesimo Tacit. An. 11 Fasc Temp. The number of Roman Citizens in their weake estate was found to be aboue two hundred and fiftie thousand but in the Emperor Claudius his time it is said to haue been aboue threescore eight hundred thousand and so in Augustus time in which number women children servants and forriners not infranchised though inhabiting were not conteyned What cittie therefore was ever like to this great cittie Againe if we consider the extent of her franchises and liberties not onely the Volsci Hernici Lucani Appuli Campani Cic. offi 1. Hetrusei and other nations of Italy but the Transpadani and Transalpini the Gawles and Spaniards were receaved into the freedome nor the Europeans onely but those of Asia S. Paul borne at Tarsus in Cilicia averreth himself before a Roman Iudge to be a citizen of Rome free borne Act. 22. And for her dominion it seemeth to be true that the Poet sayth that the cittie of Rome was as great as the world Gentibus est aliis Tellus data limite certo Romana spatium est urbis orbis idem So againe Roma armis terras ratibusque subegerat undas Atque iidem fines urbis orbis erant So Dionisius Halicarnasseus calleth it Vrbem terrae marisque dominam Claudianus Cuncti gens omnia sumus many like other sentences do we meet with in their bookes Neither was this the opinion of the poets or vulgar onely but their learned lawiers in the end grew to be of the same judgment Panorm Vbi Caesar ibi Roma wheresoever Cesar is there is also Rome What cittie therefore was ever in the world in greatnes like to this The use that is commonly made of this consideration is none other but to admire and extoll the majestie of Rome as Lipsius doth in admirandis de magnit Romana but the true and worthie use thereof is to acknowledge the
be seauen hils and seauen kings Cap. 17. 3 It hath his ten hornes crowned 4 Here is no mention of any little horne arising up after â—he rest nor of any of those things which Daniel speaketh of him but there is a second beast rising up after the first Consider now whether the little horne be not now become this second beast 5 It is said that upon his heads were names of blasphemie 6 One of his heads was wounded to death 7 His deadly wound was cured Let us come to the description of this beast in the 17 chap. which I mean but onely to touch leaving the further examination thereof to a place more convenient Probl. â— 1 In Daniel there was a â—ittle horn In the 13 of the Revelation a second Beast whereof in the 17 chap. there is little or no mention 2 In this chap there is a woman sitting upon the seuen-headed beast whereof in Daniel or in the 13 chap. there is nothing what is become of the horne or second beast if it be not this woman 3 In the 13 ch the beast is not said to be of any colour but in the seuenteenth of a skarlet or Crimson colour 4 Power is giuen to the beast over everie kindred tongue and nation in the 13 ch but in the 17 the woman is supported by peoples multitudes and nations 5 Here in the 13 ch the beast maketh war with the saints but there the woman is druncken with the bloud of the saints and Martyrs of Christ Iesus 6 Here the names of blasphemie are onely upon the heads of the beast but there the whole beast is full â—f 〈◊〉 â—f â—â—â—sphemie 7 Here all the world wondreth at the beast worshâ—pâ—th the dragon and the beast But there the kings of the earth â—â—mmit fornication with the woman and the Inhabitants â—f the earth are druncken with the wine of her fornication so both are drunke she with bloud and they with fornication and there is no more speach of worshâ—ping the beast Very notable and remarkable differences If I be not much deceaved whereof to speak shortly my opinion under correction I am persuaded to collect that the state of Rome in Daniel is signifyed by the fourth beast specially before the Caesars in the 13 of the Rev by the first beastè Mari under the Cesars and in the 17 by the skarlet coloured beast under the whore Antichrist in Daniel is the little horne in the 13 of the Apoc. the second beastè terra in the 17 the whore Which being well observed the reason of all the Concordances and differences between these prophecies will easily appear For the proofe whereof leâ— us cast our eye back again consider the severall parts of the description of this beast and therein see whether it do not fully agree to the Roman state in these severall times and whether it can be applyed to any other And first why it is called a beast amongst other things for which the Romanists of these dayes do calumniate the professors of true and sincere religion One is this that we say some places of scripture are to be taken figuratiuely This a late Iesuit objecteth against us calling it a shâ—ft but whether it be a shift or not it is none other then the ancient and best interpreters advise us to looke unto Aug. de doct Câ—râ—st lb 2 3. namely S. Augustin in his books de doctâ—ina Chrisitâ—na where he sheweth that not onely proper but translated words are used in the scripture and of some figures not onely the examples but the names are there to be found whereof one sayth he is allegoria Conâ—es l. 11. which is nothing els but a Metâ—phore continued Pauca sunt quae proprie lâ—quimur pâ—ura non proprie sayth he in another place whereupon learned divines Tb. Aquin. in 1 sentent both Hebrew and Christian haue alwayes confessed that there is not onely a litterall sence to be admitted in the exposition of the scripture but an Allegorâ—â—all and Anagâ—gicall 10. Picuâ— Miâ— in Apolog. so it be with consent of other places So our Saviour when his Apostles doubted what he meant by the leaven of the Pharâ—sees Mat. 16. and of the hypocrisie of the Pharisee And when his disciples murmured for that he sayd Except ye eat my flesh ye haue no life Luke 12. c. He answereth What if ye should see me ascend into heauen Ioh. 6. It is the spirit that giveth life the flâ—sh profiteth nothing So wheresoever any absurditie or as S. Augustin speaketh facinus or flâ—gitium wickednes or mischief will follow upon the proper exposition there it must be understood to be spoken figuratiuely for there is nothing taught in the scripture sayth he but the loue of God and our neighbour so here not onely by the consent of all interpreters but by the warrant of the spirit of God expounding it to Daniel by his Angel we are taught to understand that the name of a beast in propheticall scriptures Concurrentibus his quae requiruntur other places either concurring or not repugning doth signifie a kingdome going in succession from man to man and we haue no warrant to take it for one particular or individuall person or in any other sense then the Angel hath expounded it And this is no new or uncouth manner of speach to call great kingdomes by the names of great beasts as I haue touched before but why and for what reason or upon what ground they are so called is a consideration not unworthie to be searched out so far forth as the mercie and grace of our Lord Iesus Christ shall illuminate our understanding and direct our mindes wherein if I be somewhat long I hope the value of the matter may countervayl our pains Assist us therefore in this investigation â—â—es 4. O Lord who art ascended up on high and givest gifts unto men First then I demand whether we may not hold it for a certaine and infallible veritie that the later Prophets did converse and exercise themselues in reading and meditateing upon the law Deut 6 6. and the writings of the Prophets that were before them 〈◊〉 18 15. as all are commanded to doe by Moses exhorted by David â—â—l 1. and taught by the example of Daniel Secondly Dan. 9. I demand whether we may not beleeue that they did thereby obtaine an habit or grace of God to use the words and phrases of the former Prophets to make use of them by a kinde of progression As when the prophet David had recorded that excellent prophecie of our Saviour Christ I haue set my King upon Sion the Hill of my holynes Psal 2. Psal 69. He himself goeth forward saying An high hill is Gods hill in which it pleaseth him to dwell he will dwell in it for ever And in another place He will heare me from his holy hill The prophet Micah goeth yet farther Psal 50. saying