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
but that a Voyage may be made from London to Mexico in as little time as from London to Jerusalem In that respect If the New World should be made the seat of New Jerusalem if the City of the Great KING should be set on the Northern side of it Englishmen would meet with no Inconvenience thereby and they would find this Convenience that they might visit the Citizens of New Jerusalem and their Countrymen all under one As they go thether Barbados stands advanced three hundred Leagues Eastward ready to meet them with a Welcom to the New World And Jamaica is posted just in the way to invite them thother or to salute them in their passing by and to pilot them to St Juan de Ulva if there be occasion When homeward bound Providence will firstly take care of them and after that they will have their Countrymen to friend all along shoar Solitary Bermuda will be overjoyd if they happen to touch there And if in that Latitude any Captain shall commmand Helm a Starboard on purpose to visit our New English Tuzah they will be met with answerable Respect mutual Kindness shall render the Congress happy Yea if the spending of a Mast or springing of a Leak do oblige them to such a Diversion the Pleasantness of the Effect in bringing good Company together shall help to qualifie the bitterness of the Cause Ad cujus minimum fines Regnum Christi portensum iri testantur Prophetatum oracula This word minimum contains in it the most Light for America of any one in the whole Chapter The worthy Author seems here to begin to relent By this means being fairly got without the Invisible walls of the Imperial Prison and expatiating as far as Japan and the Cape of Good Hope I know nothing should hinder but that we may from thence take Shipping for the New World As for Psalm 72.8 and Isa 49.6 they are summoned to speak on our side And there are no less than Six times Three very Credible Witnesses who have given their Affidavit that the Conversion of American Indians is an Accomplishment of those glorious Prophesies Their Testimony is to be seen at large in their Epistle set before a Book published at London in the Year 1652. entituled Strength out of Weakness Or a Glorious MANIFESTATION of the further Progress of the GOSPEL AMONGST THE INDIANS IN NEW ENGLAND c. The Epistle is as followeth Christian Reader These ensuing Letters do represent unto thee and to the Churches the Outgoings of Christ as a Light to the Gentiles that the Grace which brings Salvation hath appeared unto them also in the furthest parts of the Earth for the accomplishment of that ancient and glorious Promise I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles that thou mayst be my salvation to the End of the earth Isa 49.6 c. We have therefore thought fit to commend this great work of Christ unto the view of all the Saints under these following Considerations 1. Hereby the Kingdom of Christ is enlarged Aâ—ma diaboli Gentes crant … c autem Gentâ—um vulneratuâ— cap … quâ—… hab 〈…〉 A … in Psal 118. and the Promise made unto him in the Covenant between him and his Father accomplished his Dominion shall be from Sea to Sea from the Floud unto the Worlds End Therefore his design is upon all the Kingdoms of the Earth that he may take possession of them for Himself They shall all become the Kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ Rev. 11.15 And the Kingdom Dominion under the whole Heaven being so possessed by Christ shall be given to the People of the Saints of the most High Dan. 7.18 27 c. 2. The glorious Gospeâ— of Christ is hereby Propagated c. 3. Hereby the Souls of men are rescued out of the snare of the Devil in which they were before held captive by him at his will c. 4. Hereby the fullness of the Gentiles draweth near to be accomplished that the Calling of the Jews may be hastened c. The first Conversion of the Gentiles in its fullness makes way for the coming in of the Jews the Kings of the East c. 5. That the LORD hath blessed the labours of our Brethren who were driven out from among us A gracious heart as he prays for so he cannot but rejoyce in the success of other mens labours as well as his own So the work which is Gods may prosper whoever be the Instrument 't is enough to him c. 6. This we hope may be but the First fruits of those great Nations unto Christ The Lord doth not usually cause to bring forth and then shut the womb Isaiah 66.9 Let no man despise the day of small things The Lord hath opened a great door which we hope Satan shall never be able any more to shut c. This we humbly offer unto all those that love the Lord JESUS in sincerity and remain Thine in the furtherance of the Gospel William Gouge Tho Goodwin Lazarus Seaman John Owen Edm Calamy Joseph Caryl Jer Whittaker Will Greenhil George Griffith Henry Whitfield Will Spurstow William Bridge Simeon Ashe Sidrach Simpson William Strong Philip Nye William Carter Ralph Venning In quatuor angulis terrae In the four Quarters of the Earth Rev. 20.8 In Asia Africa Europe America East West North and South saith Mr. Cotton MSS. p. 33. Phrasi repetita ex cap. 7.1 hoc est universo Christianismo per omnes mundi partes dilatato Ubique enim grassabitur apostasia sed magis in Oriente Occidente ubi apices erunt imperij c. Pareus col 1111. To suppose that America should not at all be containd in Rev. 7.1 and that all America and no other part of the World beside should be expressed by the very same words Rev. 20 8. Is to me a perfect Riddle which I can by no means expound And it seems Pareus never dream'd of any such thing Gog et Magog sunt Nationes parentes Turcico imperio Brightm p. 658. Quorum utrumque in Orbis Americani Arctici et Antarctici incolas competere nemÃni rei Geographicae perito ignotum est The whole Empire of America being Europaean is a firm and plain Demonstration of its being accessible Barthol de las Casas would fain make us believe that it hath been invaded before now Dr. Whitaker reports that the Spaniards killd more than they left alive de notis Eccl. p. 505. Carthagena was Assaulted Taken by Sir Francis Drake 1585. this very Summer 1697. Emptied of vast Treasures by a French Fleet. Ab Esse ad Posse valet Consequentia As for New Spain by reason of the Isthmus situm ita comparatum habent as that they may be more easily attacked on both sides than Jerusalem can Europe excells in Shipping and the Trade Wind carrieth their Fleets thether From China Japan and other parts of Asia a Fleet may invade them on the side of Acapulco
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