Phaenomena quaedam APOCALYPTICA Ad Aspectum NOVI ORBIS configurata Or some few Lines towards a description of the New HEAVEN As It makes to those who stand upon the NEW EARTH By Samuel Sewall sometime Fellow of Harvard Colledge at Cambridge in New-England Psalm 45.10 Forget also thy own people and thy fathers house Isai 11 14. But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistins toward the west Act. 1.6 8 Lord wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel ye shall be witnesses unto me unto the uttermost parts of the earth hasta lo ultimo de la tierra Spanish Bible Luke 15 24 For this My Son was dead and is alive again he was lost and is found V 32. For this thy Brother c. Ille non deerit Promissis restituet Regnum Israeli sed suo modo loco ac tempore Bullinger Nequis ista a me dicta aut adducta accipiat quasi contendendi aut adversandi studio ac non discendi potius ac conferendi gratia Fox Med. Apoc. p. 371. ad Phialam Sextam MASSACHVSET BOSTON Printed by Bartholomew Green and John Allen And are to be sold by Richard Wilkins 1697. TO THE HONORABLE Sir WILLIAM ASHVRST Knight GOVERNOUR and the COMPANY For the Propagation of the GOSPEL to the Indians in New-England and places adjacent in AMERICA THE Commendation of Erasmus in his Book entituled Ecclesiastes doth very justly belong to the English Nation upon account of their effectual Desires that the Americans might be gospelliz'd Pulcherrimum Deoque gratissimum erat dare potius quam accipere ijs quos stude mus Christo lucrifacere It was a most beautifull Thing Richard Ed in his Epist to P Martyâ— Decads of â—â— Ocean and most acceptable unto God rather to give to them than to receive from them whom we endeavour to gain for Christ. And yet their Praises are to be sung in a higher Note For I can't but think that either England or New-England or both Together is best is the only Bride Maid mentioned by Name in David's prophetical Epithalamium to assist at the Great Wedding now shortly to be made And for ought I know this Noble Gift Administred by your Hands may be partly intended Angels Incognito have sometimes made themselves guests to Men designing thereby to surprise them with a Requital of their Love to Strangers In like manner the English Nation in shewing Kindness to the Aboriginal Natives of America may possibly shew Kindness to Israelites unawares In the Year 1649. Mr. Downam gave his Conjecture to that purpose in his Appendix to New-English Letters then printed And Mr. Thorowgood was so far satisfied in his Opinion about it that he published a Treatise in the Year 1650. entituled Jews in America And it should seem many judicious Divines have been much of the same mind Mr. Eliot in his first Attempts to make them Christian was much concernd to find out some Promise in the Scriptures relating to them upon which he might ground his Faith and Hope in his incessant Labours for them But afterward he concluded that the Thirty seventh chapter of Ezekiel was written principally for their sake as also many other Scriptures In this Perswasion that worthy Person both liv'd and dy'd On the other hand if America be laid out as a Rendezvous for Gog and Magog this must needs tend to supersede all Desire and Endeavour for their Recovery But better Things are hoped concerning them even such as will issue in their Salvation when the fullness of Time is come In stead of being branded for Slaves with hot Irons in the Face nzo p. 11 â— and arms and driven by scores in mortal Chains they shall wear the Name of God in their foreheads and they shall be delivered into the glorious Liberty of the Children of God The Indians upon various Occasions do much affect to be called by a new Name which is given them by the Approbation of their Elders Persons of note among them that they may wash off their Mourning and be clean and that they may have a convenient Opportunity for publishing their New Name sometimes call for a solemn Dance Now tho their Miseries be very inveterate yet GOD can speedily and easily give them a New Name and in a moment change the Scene Asia Africa and Europe have each of them had a glorious Gospel Day None therefore will be grieved at any ones pleading that America may be made a Coparcener with her Sisters in the Free and Soveraign Grace of God God many times sets one thing against another and we may hope that Vnparallel'd Severity will be succeeded by Super abundant BENIGNITY And when the Messiah shall have gathered his Sheep belonging to this his American Fold His Churches Musick being them compleat in the Harmony of Four Parts The whole Universe shall ring again with seraphick Acclamations ONE FLOCK ONE SHEPHERD That your Honour and the Honourable Company and all concerned with you may be prospered by God in bringing forward this happy Match is the constant Desire and Prayer of Boston N. E. April 16th 1697. YOVR HONOVRS most humble Servant S. SEWALL TO THE HONORABLE WILLIAM STOUGHTON Esq Lieut. Governour AND COMMANDER in Chief in and over His Majesties Province of the Massachusets Bay in New England WHEN I look upon the Longing Desire Non nos a tent siliqucorum doci nae daemon rum Ang. Psal 138. 1589 15 Psal 47.4 and Parental Pity that was raised in Divines and Christians of all ranks both in England and here upon the very first Appearance of the American Predigal his coming to himself and being disposed to return unto his Father I cannot chuse but judge it to be very like to if not the very same that is spoken of Luke 15.20 But when he was yet a great way off his Father saw him and had Compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him Venienti ocrit non verbe uno to squal deform amplectits Calvin p For as all physical Actions are of a Divine Original so the Actions of good and holy Men are in a peculiar manner ascribed to God A Relation entituled The DAY-BREAKING if not the SUN RISING of the GOSPEL with the INDIANS in New-England which was printed at London 1647. together with the following printed Relations do give a very pleasant Prospect of this notable Transaction from October 28. 1646. unto July 5. 1659. inclusively Bullinger Apoc. p. 2â— Ipse solus â— diceretur Aphricant Europaeus Asiatious Columbiun Christus â— tum hoc D ma hodic si vendicat The sorrowfull Decay and Languishing of the Work in many places since that time and the little Faith that is to be found in exercise concerning it are so far from being a ground of Discouragement that it gives us cause to expect that the set Time draweth very near for our blessed Lord Jesus Christ to be Recognised and Crowned KING of Kings LORD of
BRIDEGROOM To whose HONOR I earnestly desire that all that I am have may be entirely and eternally dedicated Psalm 139. 7-10 From sight of thy all-seeing Spirit Lord whither shall I goe Or whither shall I fly away thy Presence to scape fro To Heaven if I mount aloft loe Thou art present there In Hell if I lie down below even there Thou dost appear Yea let me take the morning wings and let me goe and hide Even there where are the farthest parts where flowing Sea doth slide Yea even thither also shall thy reaching Hand me guide And thy Right hand shall hold me fast and make me to abide In Enarratione hujus Psalmi col 1593. Nemo trepidet sed memo de Pennis sais praesumat Opus est ut habeamus pennas Opus est ut Ipse deducat Adjutor enim noster est Affirmat AURELIUS AUGUSTINUS SOME FEW LINES Towards a description of the NEW HEAVEN NOT to begin to be and so not to be limited by the concernments of Time and Place is the Prerogative of GOD alone But as it is the Priviledge of Creatures that GOD has given them a beginning so to deny their actions or them the respect they bear to Place and successive duration is under a pretence of Promotion to take away their very Being Yet notwithstanding some Things have had this to glory of that they have been time out of mind and their Continuance refuses to be measured by the memory of Man Whereas New England and Boston of the Massachusets have this to make mention of that they can tell their Age and account it their Honour to have their Birth and Parentage kept in everlasting Remembrance And in very deed the Families and Churches which first ventured to follow Christ thorow the Atlantick Ocean into a strange Land full of wild men were so Religious their End so Holy their Self denyal in pursuing of it so Extraordinary that I can't but hope that the Plantation has thereby gaind a very strong Crasis and that it will not be of one or two or three Centuries only but very long lasting Some who peremptorily conclude that Asia must afford situation for New-Jerusalem are of the mind when that divine City comes to be built the Commodities of It will be so inviting as will drain disconsolate America of all Its Christian Inhabitants as not able to brook so remote a distance from the beloved City But if Asia should be again thus highly favored and the eldest daughter be still made the darling yet 't is known there will be a River the Streams whereof shall make glad the City of God The Correspondence and Commerce of the little cities and villages in the three Kingdoms and Plantations do make LONDON glad And so it will be with New Jerusalem the Nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it and the Kings of the Earth do bring their glory and honour into it New Jerusalem will not straiten and enfeeble but wonderfully dilate and invigorate Christianity in the several Quarters of the World in Asia in Africa in Europe and in America And one that has been born or but liv'd in America between thirty and fourty years it may be pardonable for him to ask Why may not that be the place of New Jerusalem Problematical Questions do circulate … e Epist 〈◊〉 979. and this was set up by Dr. Twisse above threescore years ago the newness of it in its return after so cosiderable a space of time will I hope render it gratefull or at least will procure leave for one with a little alteration to enquire Why may not New-Spain be the place of New Jerusalem It s being part of the New World one would think carries with it no contradiction thereunto Places are usually called new from the newness of their situation and not from their being built anew as New-Spain New England New-London For certain If Mr. Eliot's Opinion prove true viz. that the aboriginal Natives of America are of Jacob's Posterity part of the long since captivated Ten Tribes and that their Brethren the Jews shall come unto them the dispute will quickly be at an end Manasseh Ben Israel is said to have published a book entituled The hope of Israel endeavouring to prove this Position For my own part what Mr. Downam and Mr. Thorowgood have written on this head seems to be of far more weight with me than what Hornius or any other that I have seen have guess'd to the contrary Mr. Eliot was wont to say The New-English Churches are a preface to the New Heavens and if so I hope the preface and Book will be bound up together and this Mexican Continent shall comprehend them both Who can tell but that David may thus fetch a compass behind his Antichristian enemies and come upon them over against the Mulberry trees and utterly destroy them by the brightness of his coming Who can tell but that Christ may in this manner expose the lewd fondness of the Unholy War and happily umpire the Difference about the holiness of Places by causing New Jerusalem to come down from God out of Heaven upon that Earth wherein Satan for many Ages has peaceably possessed an entire and far more large empire than any where else in the whole world besides No body doubts but that our Saviour can enter into this strong man's house bind him and spoil his goods Let us wait till He revive us by saying I am willing If I mistake not we have a warrant sufficient enough to encourage us unto a perseverance in hoping and waiting upon God for this Salvation Ask of me and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the Uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession Of all the parts of the world which do from this Charter entitle themselves to the Government of Christ America's plea in my opinion is the strongest For when once Christopher Columbus had added this fourth to the other three parts of the foreknown World they who sailed farther Westward arriv'd but where they had been before The Globe now failed of offering any thing New to the adventurous Travailer Or however it could not afford another new World And probably the cosideration of America's being the Beginning of the East and the End of the West was that which moved Columbus to call some part of it by the Name of Alpha and Omega Peter M Decad. 1. p. 13 Now if the Last ADAM did give Order for the engraving of his own Name upon this last Earth 't will draw with it great Consequences even such as will in time bring the poor Americans out of their Graves and make them live Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potters vessel 'T was most awfull to see or but to hear of Christ's Spanish-Iron Rod walking amongst the earthen pots whereby great Kingdoms and Empires were quickly broken to shivers with many
Eminent the Nobility Number Worth of the Martyrs flain so very Extraordinary that the Cry thereof went up to Heaven and the Noise of it made the whole Earth to Ring again Polanus to the Date of his Epistle before his Exposition on Daniel subjoins this Chronogram composd in Remembrance of the Admiral and of his Honourable Company of Martyrs the numeral Letters whereo make 1572. in which Year August 24. being the Lord's Day this Bloody Massacre was begun BARTHOLOM AIDS FLET QVJA GALLICOS OCCâ—BAT ATLAS The next Year a Fair Account of this Foul Tragoedy came forth in Print bearing this Title DE FURORIBUS Gallicis horrenda indigna Amirallij Castillionei Nobilium atque illustrium virorum caede scelerata ac inaudita piorum strage passim edita per complures Galliae civitates sine ullo discrimine generis sexus aetatis conditionis hominum Vera simplex Narratio ERNESTO VARAMUNDO FRISIO AUCTORE Vis consili expers mole ruit sua LONDINI Ex officina Henrici Bynneman 1573. This History brings to mind Three American Martyrs whose Love to our Lord Jesus Christ appeard to be of Proof whenas many Waters could not quench It neither could the Floods drown It. In the Year 1555. Nicholas Durandus Villagagnon 〈◊〉 lib. 16. p. 500 501. a Knight of Jeru salem one who had been imployd in great Business a Learned and able Man He out of an eager desire to get Riches and Honour did by the mediation of Gaspar Colligny the Admiral forementioned obtain a Licence of the King to set forth a Fleet and carry the French Ensigns into the New World Upon the 13th of November he arrived at the capacious Harbour which by the Portugals is called Januarius being in about 23. degrees of Southern Latitude The Fortress erected there he called Colligni and that he might the more curry favour with the Admiral he confirmd the hopes he had given that it was a convenient place for propagating the pure Religigion and petitioned that with his good leave he might send for some Divines from Geneva And to that purpose the next Year he writ to Calvin who communicated it to the Elders and after Consultation upon the matter two were chosen out of them viz. Petrus Richerius of fifty and Gusielmus Quadrigarius of thirty years of Age who at the Request of Vulagagnon and Colligny undertook the Voyage To these many adjoined themselves and among them was Joannes Lerius Philippus Corquillerius had the Conduct of the whole Company committed to him He betook himself to Geneva for the sake of Religion and was known to Colligny by whose Letters he was solicited to engage in this Affair tending so much to the glory of God At their Arrival in America they were received with expressions of great Joy and quickly after their Church was formed according to the Cosâ—itution and Usage of Geneva Villagagnon going before them therein and promising to submit thereunto About the 20th of March the Lord's Supper was administred Villagagnon himself being present Afterward Controversies prevailed among them by means of John Cointac a student of Sorbonne who cut of a fond conceipt of his own Learning was ambitious of a Superintendency over the other Ministers He was of ill manners and such a friend to Antichristian Non-Residency as not to be asham'd to hold a Benefice in France at the same time that he was such a stickler at Brasil He moved that Sacerdotal Garments might be provided the Vessels consecrated Bread unleavened and the Wine mingled with Water and the like Richers in his Sermon inveighed against these humane Inventions and those that sought to introduce them at which Villagagnon was very angry and silencd him and as is believed being advis'd by a Letter from the Cardinal of Lorain evil intreated the Geneva Ministers and wearied them out and their Company who with much ado through innumerable dangers and almost starvd at last got to France They were about 18 or 20. Leagues at Sea when they sprung a Leak and the most part of their Bread was damnified with the salt water and they could hardly free the Ship by pumping Whereupon lest they should want provisions for so long a Voyage the Captain gave way to the desire of five of the Passengers to return ashear in the Boat which their Company regretted for fear Villagagnon should do them a displeasure But they reckoned themselves safe having not given him cause of Offence but Obligation And so with much grief on both sides they took Leave commending each other to the Keeping of God Now being unprovided of Mast Sail and all manner of Tackling for the Boat and of Skill to manage it t was with infinite difficulty and hazard that they recovered the Land and afterward the Island and Fortress of Colligny They speedily presented themselves to Villagagnon and acquainted him with the Danger occasioning their Return and prayd his Favour forasmuch as they chose to dwell with their Countrymen and not with Pertugals or Indians and had left their Wives and Children to serve him in this remote Land which they were ready to do to the uttermost of their power untill they might have opportunity of returning to France The Governour spake them fair praised God for their Deliverance and said that tho they left him upon discontent and were now fallen into his power yet he would leave Vengeance to God and by no means deny them Entertainment However he refused to let them make the best of their boat to buy Necessaries for recovery of their impaired health And within a while was filld with Jealousies lest all they had said was feigned and that Corquillerius called du Pont Richer and Company with the help of those gon to the River of Plate upon notice given would in one night surprise the Fort and destroy him and his Whether these Fears were real or pretended he came to a resolution to take them off as Traitors But not finding how to make that Charge probable he pitchd upon Religion and drew up Articles for them to answer as thinking such Sacrifices would be very pleasing to the Court The French of the Continent perswaded them not to give an account of their Faith to this Apostat Tyrant but that they should rather hide themselves among the Portugals or Indians But they were of Opinion that God calld them to bear witness for Him and accordingly John Bordel who exceeded the rest in Learning and Grace as well as in Age drew up in writing a Confession of Faith containing an Answer to the Articles This they all read often and distinctly weighed each Article and then all signd it It begins thus According to the Doctrine of St Peter the Apostle in his first Epistle all Christians ought always to be ready to give an account of the Hope that is in them c. The Conclusion of their Confession is in these words This is the Answer which we have made to the Articles sent by you
Name of thy welbeloved Son our Lord. Having prayed thus he turned himself towards Villagagnon and asked him for what he was to dye For signing an heretical and scandalous Confession said Villagagnon When he asked upon what point he was declared an heretick Villagagnon told him it was no time to dispute but to look to his Conscience and bid the Executioner make haste Bourdon seeing that Divine and humane Laws were as it were buried being very resolute he submitted himself to the Executioner and calling for the Help and Favour of God he dyed in the Lord. This Tragoedy was ended about ten in the morning After which Villagagnon exhorted the people to avoid the Sect of the Lutherans with which he himself was once infected to his great grief He threatened death to the obstinat saying that every one ought to observe what their fathers religiously taught them This day he commanded plenty of Provisions to be given to the Artificers and Labourers in token of Rejoicing He had written to some Courtiers that if they would not blame him for carrying Preaching into Brasil what great matters he would do against the Ministers promising to silence them French put to be sword by â—e Portugâ—ls â—eylyn Cosmog â—â—g 1080. After his great Cruelty his Affairs went every day to wreck Returning to France he fell into Disgrace there at last a secret fire consumed him by degrees and he dyed miserably without repenting of his Apostasie French Martyrol lib. 7. fol. 400 to 404. and 414 to 418. Also Fox his Table of French Martyrs Vol. 2. p. 129. In this history we are rather to admire the Grace of God helping three of this Company to go so far than that the fourth went no further Especially considering how destitute they were of Books and of Friends that durst speak a word on their behalf and above all of their godly learned Ministers who might counsel them and comfort them in their Agonies whenas they had to do with a hasty furious Tyrant more like a Leopard than a Lord. But to return to Revel 6.9 There seems to be a Distribution of Martyrs into two Classes The first were slain because they were Christians the latter were slain because they were Not Papists For the WORD of God i. e. For the sake of Christ They were for JESUS and not for Jupiter Testimony is as it were a Term of Art pointing to the Sack cloth Witnesses mentioned Chap. 11. dwell upon the Earth This Phrase seems to be a stated Periphrasis for Antichristians who impudently pretend to the Monopoly of all that is Ecclesiastical whereas it is here said that they themselves are Extra Ecclesiam And white Robes were given unto every one of them The very material garments in which they commonly suffered were of that Colour And these words seem to be meant of the Justice done to the Memory of these slain Martyrs by the True and Universal Histories that were written of Them about this time whereby they were vindicated from the Reproaches of their beastly Pursuers and had their Proper Character given them Their filthy garments and Crowns painted with Devils were taken off from them and Fair Mitres were set upon their Heads and they were clothed with change of Raiment So much as might be a particular Account was given of each ones Birth Education Employment and Causes of Suffering Illyricus his Catalogus Testium Veritatis was printed at Basil 1556. About the same time John Crispin Beza's intimat friend writ the French Martyrology at Geneva which has been very much enlarged a compleat and excellent Composure And t is remarkable that the words of Rev. 6.9 10. are set before us in the Title-page John Fox began his universal History of Martyrs at Basil during his exile there and perfected it at London after his return At first he writ in Latine and sent the Copy to Basil to be printed where the Work is in great Estimation as also in divers other foreign Nations Legatur Martyrologium Joh. Foxi saith judicious Pareus in his learned Commentary upon Rev. 16.6 Col. 821. His more compleat English Edition was finished about the Year 1570. Thus Christ commanded the Keepers of his Great Ward Robe to clothe his Martyrs with rich and costly white Robes of Latine English and French Contexture Mr. Fox affirms that by the Iniquity of Time this Work could not be contrived in any Kings Reign since the Conquest before the Halcyon days of Queen Elisabeth One Reason why this important Work could best be performed then may be gathered from the Triumph which this Learned Unwearied Author gives the Art of Printing invented about the Year 1450. Of which 1450. take this specimen By this Printing as by the Gift of Tongues and as by the singular Organ of the Holy Ghost the Doctrine of the Gospel soundeth to all Nations and Countries under Heaven and what God revealeth to one man is dispersed to many and what is known in one Nation is opened to all Vol. 1. P. 863. The Usefulness of Martyrologies He expresseth thus Et tamen voluit hoc enodo tua declarare Majestas nobisque innotescere hominibus quam honorificum fit pro tui nominis gloria fortiter dimicantes occumbere quorum Tu vitam a cinere ac rogo sic vindicas sic causam tueris sic dignitatem illustras ut candem cum gloriae foenore abs Te recipiant clariorem quam si nunquam alioqui perdidissent The best word the Lord Cardinal and Bishops could afford Mr. George Wisehart was False Heretick Runnagate Traitor and Thief But when this Cause is brought before Mr. Fox by an Appeal He by a very just and impartial Sentence assures us that he was a most charitable Gentleman a very good Scholar a vertuous Traveller an orthodox holy man of God and blessed Martyr of Jesus Vol. 2. p. 521. Very notable is the Restauration of the Memory of Martin Bucer Paulus Phagius by Matthew Parker Edmund Grindal Gualter Haddon and others the Commissioners of Queen Elisabeth Cardinal Poole's commissioners had been such Unrighteous and Cruel Exactors as to make the Bones of those Worthies to pay for their Orthodoxy and fruitfull Diligence in the Famous University of Cambridge It was expressly mentioned in their commission ad corum qui in baeresi decesserint memoriam damnandum And part of their sentence was Eorum Memoriam condemnandum esse condemnamus See the History at large Vol. 3. P. 639. of the Ninth Edition In this manner by these printed Martyrologies adorned with lively Cutts the blessed Martyrs are all under one both gloriously Apparelled and also placed in the open View of the whole World of Christians whom John personates And it was said unto them that they should rest yet for a little season Now what the Lord will do with this wicked World See Rogers's Nanman â— 601 602. or what Rest He will give to his Church after these long Sorrows He is our Father in Heaven
His Will be done in Earth as seemeth best to his divine Majesty In the mean time let us for our parts WAIT upon his Graces Leisure and glorifie his holy Name and edifie one another with all Humility John Fox his Protestation Vol. 1. I was now about to have passed on to the Sixth Vial but am interrupted by some of my Friends who suppose that not one of the Vials is yet poured out To which Objection I have nothing more satisfactory to my self to say than what I writ in answer to Mr. Benjamin Eliot April 7. 1685. Some object that Revel 11.19 Rev. 15.5 intend the same Thing and the Witnesses are not yet risen and therefore there is no Vial as yet poured out Vide Med. lib. 3. cap. 6. P. 735. Answ See Med. Synchron 5. Sect 3 P. 534. The word Temple in both places signifies the Reformed Church fashioned according to the Commandment of Christ and his Apostles and separated from that sorry earthy heaven conformable to the inventive fancys of men But these two Scriptures have respect to very different Times and Conditions of this Church The Opening mentioned Rev. 15.5 precedes that mentioned Rev. 11.19 some hundreds of Years The Temple Rev. 15.5 is the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony Tabernacle intimating its ambulatory and movable condition taken down in one place and set up in another according to the holy wise and soveraign Pleasure and Providence of God And this may be spoken in contradissinction to the Temple Rev. 11.19 wherein God will settle his Abode Psal 46.4 Testimony The Sack-cloth Witnesses are the constituent parts of this Temple which for the first Ages of it was more closely shut and less visible and began now to be more open when the Commissioners of the Sack-cloth Testimony stood forth in order to the execution of their Charge On the other hand the Church Revel 11.19 is called the Temple of GOD intimating that God had a more visible avowed and immediat Hand in building this Temple As the New-Jerusalem is said to come down from God out of Heaven It may also imply the Excellency and Glory of this Church above the former Ostendit aper tum SPONS Patrocinium Brightmaâ— Cantic 6.2 fol. 105. And therefore God will avowedly and plainly Own this Church to be His by his Wonder-working Providence in the face of the whole World Whereas God did but privatly and partially favour the other And that many times Not to save them from death The Witnesses must be slain but to strengthen them and inable them to dye Triumphing As it fared with Christ their Head In this Divine Temple the Ark of the Covenant is Seen There 's another difference Mr. Mede conjectures it may be meant of Christ's Personal Appearance See lib. 5. cap. 11. P. 1114. However then it will satisfactorily and plainly appear to the Saints that God in Christ is a God Keeping Covenant a God of Truth Fullfilling every good Word He hath spoken concerning his Chosen and concerning his Enemies Then and not till then will it fully appear that God is a faithfull Keeper of that Covenant recorded Jerem. 31.31 and Heb. 8.8 The Israelites had indeed served Baal and not Jehovah Therefore it was fit that God should carry it towards them as Baal did to his prophets 1 Kings 18.26 29. But now God will of his bounteous Grace provide that there shall be no more National permanent Apostasie For the Confirmation of what has been said take a few words of my ever honoured Master the late Reverend Learned and Holy Mr. Thomas Parker in a Manuscript of his upon Isai 60. Nova Hierosolyma quae bic describitur est ipsa Philadelphiensis Ecclesia quoad antitypum inchoata a temporibus Wiâ—lefi ante cujus pedes adorabunt omnes ipsius inimici in compensationem Patientiae qua sustinuerat Opprobrium antegressum tempora Wiclesi et qua sustinuerat Opprobrium Persecutiones passim crumpentes in primordijs Regni Christi post Wiclephum restituti Haec etjam est ipsa Nova Hierosolyma quae describitar Apoc. 21. Comprehendit autem statum imperfectiorem inchoatum a temporibus Wiclefi et statum perfectiorem post finem annorum Antichristi et etjam Perfectum tandem introducendum in Gloria Caelesti Et paulo post Violentia in ea jam ex parte cessavit saltem imperfectius et Vicibus alternis sed tandeno perfecte cessabit c. Sol igitur illius nunquam occumbet quoniam bostes Lucem ejus nunquam extinguent licet ad tres dies dimidium Voti sui compotes futuri videantur Upon these grounds the forementioned Objection ceaseth to be cogent with me And I am so far from thinking that no Vial is yet poured forth that I am apt to conclude that no less than Five ANGELS have already poured out their Vials So many guesses have been made about the Subject of the Fourth Vial that if I do enter a claim for the Sun of Persecution I shall no more incur the danger of being extravagant than some that have gone before me Certainly that is the Sun that consolidates and cherishes the Antichristian State As for the Fifth Vial Bullinger Brightman Forbes Pareus Mede and Company Interpreters of the Revelation have poured that to purpose As also Dr. Whitaker The Author of the History of the Council of Trent Chamier Robert Parker Dr. Ames Dr. Owen cum multis Alijs And seeing the Tower of Babel hath no other foundation than the Uncertain Vanity of the Apostle Peter's having been at Rome Uldaricus Velenus did the Babylonians a singular displeasure in writing a Treatise to prove that He was never there Bellarmin de Pontif. lib. 2. cap. 1. The truth is except their Index expurgatorius be enlarged with many Clauses of Scripture the Probability lies on Velenus his side Ten to One. And Bellarmin's arguing from Peter's Tomb is unsound For it was customary at Rome to make Funeral Solemnitys and erect Monuments for persons dying abroad Alcyone resolved to pay that Respect to her husband Ceyx who was lost at Sea Ovid Metamor lib. 11. lib. 12. princip Si non Urna tamen junget nos Littera si non Ossibus Ossa meis at Nomen Nomine tangam How easy was it for the modern Romans to make use of this Custom when it might serve their turn Moreover if this Vial partly intends Impressions to be made upon the City of Rome it self yet we need not wait longer for them There was a jostling between Charles the Emperour and Clement the Bishop The Emperours Army in their march towards Naples wanting both Pay and Provisions Charles Duke of Bourbon was fain to calm them by promising the Liberty of furnishing themselves at Rome Upon the fifth of May 1527 They incamped in a meadow near the City From thence He sent a Trumpet to the Pope to demand passage for his Army through the City in his way to Naples The next morning May 6. at
and Unreasonable Universum solum A Quo Warranto may well be brought against this Charter without any danger of the Imputation of Arbitrary or illegal Proceeding Both parts may safely be denied Universum Many times the place most given to Salt is very near to that which is most Fruitfull All the Children of Israel had Light in their Dwellings when all the rest of Aegypt were under the Confinement of thick Darkness How many barren Heaths are there in fruitfull England which from Age to Age do affront and baffle all the Wit and Industry of the Nation How often hath it Rained this Summer upon one Town and not upon another tho not twenty miles off In Hungarie and Greece Mosques and Christian Churches are to be found in the same City The 18th of the Revelation gives us ground to expect that Babylon will not be favoured with the Privileges of Christ's Kingdom For it shall become the habitation of Devils and the hold of every foul Spirit and a cage of every Unclean and hatefull bird Alcasar thinks the Scripture intends mysticas feras mysticos bubones inferorum volucres p. 765. They that dwell at Rome after the pouring out of the Seventh Vial shall have nothing in them that is good and desirable neither really nor in the Opinion of other men but the various Qualities of them all shall be cursed and hatefull Unless an absolute Desolation be intended in the last verses of that Chapter Solum It is generally concluded from those words Come out of her my People that a little before the pouring out of the Seventh Vial a Remnant of the Lamb's Followers shall be found in Rome Why may we not as well hope that God hath reserved Saints in Mexico other places of America Our being without the certain knowledge of it is no more than what befell Elijah Rom. 11.4 Mr. Strong in his Sermon upon Ezek. 47.11 speaks thus The Times to which this Prophesie relates are the Times of the Calling of the Jews p. 3. The Time therefore is to come do you long for it and pray for it c. p. 5. Doct. Some men that live under the purest and the most powerfull Ordinances are in Judgement given up unto a perpetual Barrenness p. 12. According to Mr. Strong who well answers his Name If the Waters flow only in Asia Africa and Europe yet still Universum will come off maimed If they reach America also the Barrier Solum will by them be removed And it is most certain that they are running in the New World and I believe as certain that they will never cease to run there but will rise higher and higher untill they become a Very Long and Broad and Deep RIVER Because the People that are planted by them begin to be placed under the Influences of that New National Covenant Jer. 31.31 and Heb. 8.8 Quicquid vero extra hoc Gentium est locis nimirum ubi Inferorum sedem collocavit Antiquitas c. Detestatione quidem Lect hic opus est 〈◊〉 Responsione These Profane and Old wives Fables look ugliiv every where but especially in a Concern of this Moment and in so beautifull and well born a Work as Mr. Mede's is And therefore Aversation from them ought to be natural to us as from some amphibious serpentine Deformity Consule R. Episcopum Armach Respons ad Jesuitam p. 337 338 339 c margine With all my heart I am glad of this Invitation into the Company of so great a Doctor as USSHER For extinguishing the imaginary flames of Purgatory we need not go far to fetch Water p. 163. And we need not go further than this venerable Author to expose this Antick Fancy of America's being Hell The material Spheres in ancient time were not made movable in their sockets as they are now that they might be set to any Elevation of the Pole but were fixt to the Elevation of XXXVI degrees Pag. 336 337 which was the height of the Rhodian Climat The Horizon which divided this Sphere through the middle separated the visible part of the World from the invisible was commonly esteemed the utmost bound of the Earth so that whatsoever was under that Horizon was accounted to be under the Earth For neither the common people nor yet some of the learned Doctors of the Church could be induced to believe that which our daily Navigations find now to be most certain that there should be another Southern Hemisphere of the Earth inhabited by any Antipodes And this proceeded from no other ground but the Vulgar opinion that the Southern Hemisphere of the Earth was not inhabited by Living men as our Northern is Pag. 340. Insomuch that some of the heathen Atheists finding the contrary to be True by the discourse of right Reason endeavoured to perswade themselves from thence that there was no such place as Hades at all Esse autem hujus infernae Regionis vastaeque Abyssi Incolas plures beati Johannis Apocalypsi docemur c. Hilar. in Psalm 2 fol. 139. A. It should seem that according to St. Hilary and Ussher Revelation 5.13 taketh in America For every Creature Under the Earth and such as are in the Sea are brought in saying Blessing Honour Glory and Power be unto him that sitteth upon the Throne and unto the Lamb for ever and ever This Imployment seems to be a Demonstration that God would Create a New Heaven in the New World There is no manner of difference betwixt the lower Hemisphere of the Earth and that wherein we live p. 342. Mr. Hugh Sanford in a learned Treatise DE DESCENSU c. printed at Amsterdam 1611. which work was carried on and perfected by Mr Robert Parker * â—â—other of the â—â—montioned 〈◊〉 Thomas â—â—ker a man of great Learning and Piety hath spoken much to the same purpose Indo locus factus ect fabulae Solem cum oritur ab Oceano surgere in Oceani aquis ardentem rotam tingere cum occidit Imo non fabulis tantum jactatum istud sed in historias etjam conjectum videre licet ridere p. 61. This gave occasion to that Fable of the Suns coming up out of the Sea when it riseth and of plunging the flaming Chariot in the Ocean at Sun setting Yea we may look and laugh to see that this should not only be tossed to fro in Romances but that it should also be stuffed into histories Qui altiora scrutantur referunt Inferos ad Sphaerae rationem inquit Servius sic ut Antipodes nobis Inferi nos illis lib. 2. pag. 63 64 132. Wherefore I hope our honoured Mother will not account it undutifull or indecent for me to say The Inhabitants of Boston in Lincoln-Shire are no less Inferi to us than the Inhabitants of Boston in New-England are to them Nevertheless I freely Acknowledge that as Christopher Columbus called the first Land he discovered St. SAVIOUR So many Things alleged by Cardinal Bellarmin