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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A03335	Mystical babylon, or Papall Rome A treatise vpon those words, Apocal. 18.2. It is fallen, it is fallen Babylon, &c. In which the wicked, and miserable condition of Rome, as shee now is in her present Babylonian estate, and as she shall be in her future ineuitable ruine, is fully discouered: and sundry controuersiall points of religion, betwixt the Protestants, and the Papists, are briefly discussed. By Theophilus Higgons, rector of the parochiall Church of Hunton, neere Maidstone in Kent.	Higgons, Theophilus, 1578?-1659.	1624 (1624)	STC 13455; ESTC S118140	129,351	289

Antichrist therein Why because their hearts are hardned their vnderstandings are forestalled with preiudice the veile is ouer their eyes they walke in darknesse and will not see the light For such I will pray that God would open their hearts that they may entertaine his sauing Truth But for my selfe and others who haue bin in the like condition with mee whose eyes were blinded with the glorie of Babylon for as Zebul said vnto Gaal Iudic 9.36 the shadow of the Mountaynes seeme men vnto thee so the shadow of many things seemed a substance of verity vnto vs I will thanke God for that he hath opened our eyes to see this mysterie and misery of Babylon that she is fallen that she is gone into perdition that God hath destroyed her for euer Credo Domine O Lord I beleeue thy Word not my owne reason which I captiuate into the obedience of faith and therefore I pray with thine Apostles O Lord increase our faith Luke 17.5 that we may beleeue thy Word And thus much bee spoken concerning the first cause why the Fall of Babylon which is yet to come is expressed by a time alreadie past SECONDLY by this forme and tenour of speech God doth euidently declare vnto his Church the truth and certaintie of his promise in the destruction of Babylon that we may repose securely in this expectation of her ruine his dixit is a fecit it is spoken and it is done in regard of his infallible Word and constant promise And that wee may more cleerely vnderstand this point we must obserue a double kinde of Prophesie in the holy Scriptures The FIRST is a Prophesie of Commination as God did threaten the fall of Niniueh within fortie dayes but hee threatned her fall that she might not fall for the effect of such a Prophesie dependeth vpon our comportment and carriage thereupon toward God by Repentance and therefore it hath a condition implyed here though not expressed as sometimes it is Ieremie 18.7 8. vpon which the execution doth stay or go forth according as we performe or neglect the same So that this Prophesie is conditionall and not absolute it contayneth Gods sentence and not his Decree and therefore it is expressed in the future tense Nineueh shall fall In this case the Prophesie is changeable if we be changed and therefore God calleth vs to Repentance that we may escape his iudgements And though this kind of Prophesie be not now particularly directed against thy Countrey nor thy person as in the holy Scriptures it is often so directed against such a Nation such a Citie and such a man yet as the generall comminations of God against sinners doe include vs and will take hold vpon vs if wee returne not vnto God with the teares of true repentance so the particular examples of his comminations denounced and executed against some Cities and some persons doe by equall reason and a like cause appertaine vnto vs according to the rule and obseruation of our blessed Sauiour Except you amend your liues you shall likewise perish Luk. 13.3 5. When Nineueh is threatned by Ionah England is threatned when her ruine is declared by Nahum how can England be secure Pares culpâ cur impares poena why is she vnlike to Nineueh in punishment who is so like to her in sinne wee feare the destruction and not the sinne the effect and not the cause But it is the Lords Mercies that wee are not consumed The SECOND is a Prophesie of Predestination as I may call it depending indeed vpon our sinne but yet resolued by God as well as declared in which respect it is absolute and not conditionall once decreed and neuer reuoked concluded in Gods immutable counsell foreseene in his infallible prescience and it is rather pronounced then denounced by him Therefore it is expressed either in the time past as heere in my Text and Esay 21.9 or in the time present though the effect doe not yet appeare For wee may obserue that in the Prophesie of Ionah there being a commination against her at that time it is deliuered in the future tense Nineueh shall fall but in the Prophesie of Nahum there being now a resolution of God declared concerning her subuersion it is deliuered in the present tense the Horseman lifteth vp the bright Sword a multitude is slaine they stumble vpon their corpses Chap. 3.3 and then in the seuenth Verse Nineueh is destroyed So that in this kind of Prophesie these two tenses to wit the present and the preterperfect haue a coincident sense and purpose concerning an infallibilitie of the euent Whence it is that the Prophet Esay ioyneth them both together in the Passion of Christ and Mysterie of our Redemption saying of him that he is despised he is a man full of sorrowes he is brought as a sheepe vnto the slaughter Esay 53.3.7 as well as hee was oppressed he was afflicted c. Thus wee see by the conference of Scriptures that the fall of Babylon here certified vnto vs in the time past it is fallen doth truly import an ineuitable euent a sentence neuer to bee recalled proceeding from a decree neuer to bee changed because God hereby doth insinuate vnto our knowledge that shee would not bee renewed by repentance and that hee would not conferre that grace vpon her but leaue her to perish in the course of her owne sinnes And this truth is farther assured and amplified by al the circumstances preceding her ruine accompanying her ruine following her ruine in three seueral chapters 17.18.19 in such large and ample termes that the very Image of Babylon in all these things is effectually and liuely exhibited thereby vnto our eyes as a matter of present action rather then future accomplishment rather to be seene then to be beleeued Wherefore the promise of God being thus verified vnto vs in this forme and manner of speech let vs by the way make a little reflection vpon this point for our vse and obseruation as being of so great consequence for the benefit of Gods children and aduancement of his truth First then the fidelitie of Gods promise herein doth exclude and confute their errour who suppose that this is a prophecie of Commination onely and not of Resolution against Romish Babylon as though shee might turne from her sinnes and consequently God might turne from his wrath In which opinion S. Hierome himselfe was involued as it appeareth in his darke vncertaine and perplexed discourse touching Babylon and her ruine in the conclusion of his second book against Iovinian whose errors did then begin to possesse many in Rome and to intangle them in his snare composed artificially out of sundry passages of the Scripture Wherevpon S. Hierome maketh a patheticall Apostrophe vnto Rome in this manner I will speake vnto thee O Rome which by the confession of Christ hast blotted out of thy forehead the blasphemy written therein There the name Babylon is laid vpon Ethnicall Rome as if Rome were afterward to bee discharged

Histories be false then they make nothing against vs. If they bee true yet they make very much for vs. How can this be Because the wickednesse of the Persons doth prooue the sanctitie and perpetuitie of their Seate so that the issue of my labour in shewing their impieties would be the preiudice of my cause Heare therefore the Cardinall speaking in his owne words Nihil est quòd haeretici c. It is to no purpose saith he for the heretickes to take so much paines in searching out the vices of certaine Popes Why so For we confesse that they were not few A good confession though before we heard him speake in another Language Si vera sunt if those things were true Well now they are true now he confesseth the accusation but why For hee hath inuented a new defence of the Seat by the old offences of the persons Heare him therefore againe in his owne words Tantum abest c. This is so farre saith he from obscuring or diminishing the glorie of this Seate that thereby it is rather exceedingly amplified and increased for that thereby we may perceiue that it consisteth by the speciall prouidence of God So he But I perceiue no such matter howbeit I perceiue that nothing was so absurd which some Philosopher would not maintaine and nothing is so true and forcible which these Babylonians will not either denie or elude And farther I perceiue that recitasse confutasse est to recite their opinions is to refute their follies And lastly I perceiue that as it is Gods singular patience to suffer these Monarchs of Babylon a while so there is a time of wrath to come and it cannot bee farre off when the Whore must perish by fire and her Beast must yeeld vnto the Sword For as in this Sermon you haue heard of a Babylon the sinne of Rome in the subiect of my Text so in the next you shall heare of a cecidit the punishment of Rome in predicate of the same Meane while I conclude by due and true remonstrances in the first and second Inquisitions two distinct parts of my discourse the one shewing by good and pregnant reasons that Rome in her present condition is the Babylon in my Text the other declaring the conformitie betwixt the Literall Babylon and Papall Rome and so expressing the congruitie of this title of Babylon applied here vnto Rome that since Rome doth imitate nay much exceed the sinnes of Babylon therefore shee doth iustly and must necessarily beare her name agreeing vnto it in regard of the Church and the Citie as both are vnder one and their common head the Pope This was the cleere intention of the Angell this is the certaine exposition of this Scripture Wherefore as Simeon and Leui are called fratres in malo Gen. 49.5 brethren in euill so Babylon and Rome are sorores in malo sisters in euill like in condition and in qualitie to their owne confusion as the name of the first doth originally import and doth likewise ominate vnto the second Obseruations pertaining to Faith and Manners framed vpon the passages in the two former Inquisitions NOw I come thirdly and lastly vnto such Obseruations according to my promise and proiect in the beginning of this Sermon as doe kindly and proper ensue vpon the precedent passages of my discourse and they are ten which I will prosecute with such conuenient breuitie as the matter of each will particularly beare FIRST then as the Church of God doth stand specially indebted vnto him for this diuine Booke of the Reuelation wherein wee may plainely discouer the prescience of God in things to come and the care of God in the administration of his Church so it being more darke vnto the ancient Fathers so many syllables so many mysteries therein and breeding more admiration then bringing vtilitie vnto them by the great obscuritie thereof so that the Pen-man of this sacred Booke might truly say Scripsi non scripsi I haue written and not written I haue reuealed and yet concealed the future condition of the Church therefore now wee stand bound vnto God in a new and farther obligation for that wee in the successe of time and euent of things haue attained in sundrie particulars of greatest consequence and namely in this mysterie of Babylon vnto such a perspicuous and infallible vnderstanding of this Booke which is the Beniamin of Iesus Christ the principall Author thereof the Sonne of his right hand the last borne in the whole Issue of the Scripture which hee begate vnto his Church the conclusion of that Oracle whence we deriue our Faith This Booke is therefore vnto vs the apparant Seale of Gods prouidence a strong bulwarke of our Faith an incurable wound of the Babylonian Monarch a certaine expugnation of the Antichristian Church For though the learned Iesuite Ludouicus ab Alcasar in his copious exposition of this Booke doth so peruert the sense and purpose of the Holy Ghost therein by laying the name of Babylon vpon Rome in her Ethnicall estate alone pretending that this fall is only in a spirituall manner by falling from her ancient Idolatrie vnto the Faith of Christ and therefore concludeth his exposition of this Booke in these brauing words Maximâ sum voluptate perfusus c. I am filled with singular contentation and ioy of heart because through the fauour of God I haue now cleerely discerned how glorious this Booke of the Reuelation is vnto the Romane Church yet wee may contemne his folly or rather commiserate his blindnesse in this case But wee will leaue him vnto the censure of Ribera so well discerning that this Babylon is Rome in another estate succeeding after the intertainment of Christian Religion and that this fall is by a great and finall ruine of that Idolatrous Citie that hee pronounceth them to be worse then very fooles that will not see and confesse this point The truth is this good Christian hearers that though Ribera first and Viegas after him doe confidently deny that Rome is Babylon now or that the Church of Rome euer shall so bee or that the Citie it selfe while shee remaineth in subiection to the Pope shall deserue that name yet by making such a plaine and faire confession which the very euidence of the Text with the due coherence of all circumstances therein did necessarily extort from their pens that Rome is Babylon also in another and ●● second estate and that it shall bee so full of Idolatry at home and communicate it abroad and that shee shall haue great negotiation of Merchants and that shee shall haue another Empire largely patent and greatly potent in the world therefore not onely a strong suspition but a manifest conuiction must fall ineuitably vpon Papall Rome as wee haue deduced by many substantiall proofes against the vaine and poore surmises of Ribera and Viegas to the contrarie the true Babylon of which I haue spoken heretofore that shall come vnto the lamentable fall whereof I shall speake

and destroyed before the great Day of the generall Iudgement 2. Thess 2. which seemeth to ensue not long after the performance of that glorious worke In like manner Saint Iohn in his Reuelation passeth from the destruction of Rome vnder the name of Babylon cap. 18. vnto a description of the new Ierusalem cap. 21. following the ruine of the new and second Babylon nothing being interuenient betwixt these two but the gratulation of the Saints for the fall of Rome cap. 19. and a briefe recapitulation made of things past cap. 20. and so hee proceedeth immediately vnto the conclusion of this present world cap. 22. Saint Paul doth farther assure vs 2. Thess 2.3 that Antichrist shall be disclosed before hee be destroyed which sheweth that hee had an existencie before his discouerie and that hee should grow by a mysterie 2. Thess 2.7 vnto his greatnesse before hee bee discerned Therefore Saint Iohn according with Saint Paul telleth vs Apoc. 18.5 that Babylon had a name written in her forehead and it was a Mysterie A great mysterie indeed that the successour of a Fisherman as Hierome calleth him writing vnto Damasus should aspire by little and by little vnto such an immensitie of power that Kings are his vassalls and that his owne Lord being finally depriued of his Imperiall Seate this Beast should enter vpon it and exercise the old power vnder a new name Saint Paul goeth forward and informeth vs that Antichrist cannot be disclosed nor aduance himselfe vnto that eminencie wherein hee shall excell all Potentates of the earth vntill the supreame power of the Romane Emperours were taken away For that power was then the chiefest and therefore it kept downe the Papall Dominion and restrayned the growth of the Pope for Antichrist could not be lifted vp till the Emperour was cast downe This is the cleere and euident purpose of Saint Paul in these words HEE which now withholdeth shall first bee taken out of the way and then that wicked man Antichrist shall bee reuealed for two such powers could not consist together at one time in the Imperiall Seate That this withholder was the Romane Emperour the very tenour of the Text it selfe doth beare it and the successe of things doth giue witnesse thereunto and this was the common exposition of the ancient Doctors as namely of Saint Chrysostome vpon the very place of Saint Hierome Epist 151. quaest 11. and long before them of Tertullian de Resurrect cap. 30. Thus the Christians had a prescience touching the period and expiration of the Romane Empire which the Pagans conceiued to be Eternall and therefore Saint Paul deliuered this dangerous point in secret and obscure termes least the publike notice thereof should minister cause of persecution against the Church as Saint Hierome doth collect But let vs obserue the words of Tertullian for they containe a point of speciall note Quis saith he who is this that doth withhold Hee answereth Romanus status the Romane and Imperiall State Now therefore as by the word HEE He that withholdeth S. Paul doth not vnderstand an indiuiduall person not Nero who was then liuing but a ciuill State which had a succession of Emperours therein so by this word THE man of sinne THE aduersary c. Saint Paul doth not vnderstand some one particular person but a State and a State Ecclesiasticall as wee shall see anon hauing a succession of Potentates viz. Popes of Rome succeeding in the Imperiall Seate when the Emperour was taken away and exercising supreame dominion therein Thus farre Saint Paul hath conducted vs in the interpretation of this Babylon that by his prediction wee might certainely vnderstand that this name agreeth vnto the Papall and Ecclesiasticall estate succeeding vnto the Imperiall in Rome For he which withheld being taken away Antichrist will appeare and before hee cannot for two such great powers cannot stand at once and afterward he shall immediately arise for so in the decourse of all ages in the world as one supreame power in the foure Monarchies did decay so another did presently exalt it selfe Now since Hee that withheld is taken away to wit the Romane Emperour or Romanus status as Tertullian speaketh for that which now remaineth is titular rather then reall scarce a member of the ancient bodie and also the Pope sitteth aboue this Romane Empire as translated into Germany by his meanes and as a creature of his ordination the Emperour being by the Pope and true Papalls reputed and stiled no other then Electus or an incomplete probationer till consecrated and inaugurated or approoued by him and so a vassall and a subiect vnto the Papall power therefore by the doctrine of S. Paul that high great and glorious State which immediately succeeded vnto the dissolued Empire is Antichristian he that holdeth it is Antichrist and that Rome wherein he sitteth is consequently Babylon and therefore finally this Babylon in my Text is not the Citie alone but the Church also or Ecclesiasticall Rome wherein the Pope is aduanced after the Emperour as the highest Potentate in the earth And if the Pope be not the man to wit the man of sinne as Saint Paul speaketh or rather the Beast as you shall heare by Saint Iohn that entred vpon the Imperiall Seate and Dignitie who is that Man or who is that Beast For some one or other wee must find since hee that withheld is taken out of the way so long before our time If any man suppose that the TVRK is that Antichrist which appeared vpon the decadencie of the Romane Empire I answere no hee is not the Man or Beast of whom wee now enquire First because Antichrist succeeding in the Romane Empire was to sit in the Temple of God so did not the Turk but so doth the Pope namely in Ecclesia or rather supra Ecclesiam Secondly because Antichrist should possesse Rome as the Seat and Center of the Empire so doth not the Turk but so doth the Pope not by a donation of Constantine but by his insinuation into that glorious Citie Thirdly because Antichrist ought to extoll himselfe if not in all yet in the most principall and essentiall parts of the Romane Empire so doth not the Turk but so doth the Pope in Italy Spaine France Germany Poland c. so he did in England but so he shall doe no more so is my prayer and so is my hope Fourthly and lastly the most generall and approued opinion of the learned Doctors in the Church of Rome exempteth the Turke from the scandall and infamous name of that Antichrist which is here intended by Saint Paul And therefore whereas Feuardentius following the erroneous conceits of some lesse iudicious Romanists inclined strongly vnto their fancie that impute this crime vnto the Turke hee was censured amongst his owne Catholike brethren in this disgracefull manner the opinion of Feuardentius is not onely false but dangerous and the authors whom hee alledgeth neuer thought nor wrote any such matter Feuard annot in Irenaeum l. 5.

of this horrible treason by Sixtus in his Oration pronounced vnto the Cardinalls in his Consistorie to this purpose Bellarmine doth confidently answere that this Oration was neuer deliuered by the Pope that hee liuing in Rome heard no mention of it that the Cardinalls conuersing then in the Court protested that they neuer had any knowledge of the same and so the point is vtterly denied and must bee reputed for a deuice of such as were the enemies of the Church O bloudie Citie it is all full of lyes saith Nahum the Prophet of Nineuch and I may now so speake of Rome for here is lying added vnto murthering impudencie vnto crueltie what veritie then what equitie what conscience can you expect from her Note therefore that amongst some Romish Priests that tooke and defended the Oath of Alleageance though for this cause they haue beene censured publikely in the Sermons of some Iesuites by the name of Wolues such as had no commission to teach to absolue to minister the Sacraments c. as hauing lost their whole authoritie by taking this Oath and perswading others to doe the like to the high preiudice and impugnation of S. Peters Seate from whence it was deriued there was one William Warmington Chaplaine vnto Cardinall Allen vpon the very time that this panegyricall Oration proceeded from that vaine-glorious Pope who by his Pontificiall excommunication deposed our late gracious Queene and now in a solemne speech commended the murther by way of admiration which Clement had perpetrated vpon the sacred person of that vnhappy Prince This Warmington therefore in a booke published for the defence of the said Oath doth freely and ingenuously confesse that this Oration being vttered in the Consistorie by Sixtus the Pope his Lord and Master being then and there present was earnestly requested by some of the Cardinalls to recollect the speech of his Holinesse and to commit the same to writing which he being a man of singular memorie did accordingly performe with the commendations and thankes of the said Cardinalls affirming that to their best remembrance this coppie presented vnto them by Cardinall Allen did truely containe word for word the verie Oration pronounced vnto them by his Holinesse so that this was the originall and Mother-coppie whence so many transcripts were made and issued forth into the publike view And he saith further that his speciall friend Master William Rainolds author of Caluino-Turcismus remaining then in the Low Countries and receiuing a transcript of the said coppie from him conceiued the said speech to bee a certaine approbation of that fact as indeed the forme and matter thereof doe sufficiently euince O Bellarmine where is thy conscience of the truth O Sixtus where is thy tender respect of Christian bloud yea more of Princes and yet more of the first borne and eldest sonne of thy Church O Babylon where is thy shame that darest thus admire approoue extoll without one word or syllable of dislike that ingenuitie is not in thy whorish breast such a murther so wickedly executed and vpon so great a Prince FIFTHLY and lastly the crueltie of Babylon appeareth by her doctrines tending to the effusion of bloud She can depose Kings from their States shee can absolue Subiects from their Alleageance she can bestow Kingdomes at her pleasure shee can stirre vp hostile inuasions shee can authorize secret murthers of Princes by Daggers Poysons or any other detestable meanes as you shall heare in my second Sermon from Mariana a Iesuite as farre from the true nature of Iesus as neere vnto his sacred name Hence it is that many Emperours and Princes in ancient times fearefully obseruing the powerfull incantations of Babylon and that their liues with their estates stood by vertue thereof in perpetuall danger for he may easily take away the life of another that contemneth his owne as many inchanted Babylonians doe were therefore compelled by humane feare to entertaine that vnitie and correspondencie with her in outward tearmes which they hated and contemned in their inward thoughts For as Porsenna the ancient King of Hetruria was induced to spare the life and farther torment of Mutius a confident and glorious Romane who offered priuate violence vnto his Royall person when hee heard Mutius solemnely protesting that the death of Porsenna was certainly concluded vpon by a number of Romanes no lesse resolute vnto that action then himselfe and no lesse resolued to suffer any torment then to aduenture vpon any perill for that end and purpose and thereupon Porsenna desisting from his warres made a peace with the Romanes out of feare and not of loue so there haue beene sundry Princes in former Ages that perceiuing this vehement and formidable inclination in the Romanists to act any villanie and to suffer any penaltie so that they might attaine vnto their desired end to subuert Kingdomes to depose Kings to lay violent hands vpon their persons c. were thereby inforced to submit themselues vnto the Babylonian Monarch rather choosing to liue vnder his tyrannie then to die by his designes Thus also euery man that standeth in speciall opposition vnto Babylon the Mother of Murthers may truly say with Dauid There is but a step betweene me and death 1. Sam. 20.3 Howbeit that should bee the resolution of euery Christian Prince in the behalfe of Gods truth which was the reckoning of vertuous Hester in the behalfe of her people If I perish I perish Yet feare not O Religious Princes it is Gods cause which you maintaine therefore hee will also maintaine you he will defend the defenders of his Faith hee hath a better guard of holy Angels about your Royall persons The diffidence of his preseruation in any ariseth from the imbecillitie of faith not resting vpon his word and promise If the noble aspect of Scipio bred such an awfull reuerence in the hearts of theeues and murtherers that they did therefore rather admire his vertue then seeke his life when they came into his presence doubt yee not but that God will worke such an impression of feare in the hearts of Babylonian Traytors that they shall not dare attempt or at the least not effectuate any course of violence and iniquitie against your sacred Persons Finally to conclude this point of Romish crueltie let no faithfull and sincerely affected Nazianzen an earnest Preacher a zealous Writer a well deseruing Prelate or Minister in the Church despaire of Gods protection though a Murtherer dare vndertake to assaile him in any priuate manner or secret place as sometimes it fell out in the case of that learned constant and glorious Bishop related by himselfe in the description of his owne life Be couragious then in the behalfe of Gods eternall truth feare not the crueltie of Babylon death is the debt of Nature by the desert of sinne to die for Gods cause it is an act of glorie in this World and it hath a reward in Heauen Let thy tongue therefore speake and thy pen write and thy heart pray let

meritorious cause of her fall Apoc. 17.2 The Kings of the earth haue committed fornication with her and the Inhabitants of the earth are drunken with the wine of her fornication to wit in her Ecclesiasticall State Then secondly we heare of the efficient cause of her fall v. 17. God hath put in the hearts of the ten Kings to fulfill his will and to doe with one consent for to giue their Kingdome vnto the Beast How long Vntill the words of God bee fulfilled What then They shall hate the whore and make her desolate and naked and burne her with fire Vpon what motion From God as the Text doth plainly beare And therefore our most learned and prudent Souereigne doth truly and aptly obserue in this place The hearts of the greatest Kings as well as of the smallest subiects are in the hands of the Lord to make them his instruments and to turne them as it shall please him to employ them Here then I note three things FIRST though Kings may bee carried by their proper motion of malice or auarice or of some other affection in their warres against some people and in bringing them to ruine yet therein we may obserue and must confesse that it is digitus Dei Gods finger or rather Gods hand in this worke So Nebuchadnezzar himselfe a cruell proud insolent Prince in his warres did so performe the will and purpose of God therein that God himselfe giueth him the title of his seruant and commendeth his seruice done vnto him not only against his enemies a people that knew not his Lawes as it is Ezekiel 29.18 but also against his owne people Ieremy 25.9 And so in his sacred expugnation of Babylon these Kings are Gods seruants they doe their worke from him and hee doth his worke by them Therefore Saint Ambrose or whosoeuer is the Author of that Commentarie vpon the Reuelation doth ingeniously deliuer his iudgement vpon the words of my Text Babylon is fallen it being here the voyce of God to declare it the hand of God to effect it that in this case dixisse Dei fecisse est dixit enim cecidisse Babylonem quia ipse fecit vt caderet The speech of God is the worke of God for hee said that Babylon is fallen because he brought it to passe that Babylon should fall SECONDLY we may heere consider that as there is mercie in God to receiue vs vnto grace so there is Iustice in him to punish our sinnes Marci● knew not this but because of different operations proceeding from God hee made a diuersitie of Gods one good another iust or rather cruell one the maker of the body another of the soule one whom he would loue another whom he would feare one in the Law another in the Gospell But wee know one God alone onely good onely wise onely gracious whose mercie is free and proceedeth from himselfe whose iustice is right and is prouoked by vs for as wee haue malum culpae to offend him so hee hath malum poenae to afflict vs. Amos 3.6 Esay 45.7 THIRDLY and lastly though Reason may seeme to perswade vs as it perswadeth Babylon her selfe that she is so strengthened by the confederacy of Princes as in many dangers shee hath not neglected the tearmes of prudencie in this behalfe by the amitie of her Friends by the diligence of her Negotiators by the policie of her Counsellours by the art of her Learning by the abundance of her Riches and finally by a generall confluence of all outward meanes for the supportation of her Estate that shee shall neuer fall for so she saith in her heart I sit being a Queene and am no Widdow and shall see no mourning Apoc. 18.7 yet Faith assureth me that her owne Friends her owne Vp-holders her hornes these ten Kings her old Louers shall bring her downe to the Earth to fall so low that shee can fall no lower I meane not in place and situation but in condition and estate Now if Rome aske or if my owne reason demand of me how can this be I answere God hath said it and hee will doe it I haue heard his Word and now I doe expect his Worke. Away then with quomodo how can this or how can that bee when God speaketh and God assureth vs and God reuealeth his Will vnto vs. This Word commeth in with incredulitie and want of faith as the diuine Preacher Saint Chrysostome doth excellently note vpon the question of the Iewes Iohn 6.52 How can this man giue vs his flesh to eate Therefore I rest vpon the truth of God that is it which I beleeue and I am no farther scrupulous in regard of many improbabilities and difficulties which reason suggesteth and presenteth vnto me in this point If I haue as now I haue Gods Word that this Worke shall be performed I am not curious to inquire of the manner and meanes how hee will bring the same to passe And so much concerning the second cause of the fall of Babylon by the cooperation of these Kings The THIRD is an excitant cause inward in respect of the iust wrath of these Kings but outward in respect of the prouocation thereof by the indignities and iniuries of Babylon against the Potentates of the Earth Now as in the first and second causes I had the plaine testimonie of Scripture so heere in this third I haue the certaine assurance of strong reason to confirme and settle my iudgement therein for now I beginne to discouer some impulsiue cause arising from Babylon that stirreth vp these Kings vnto the execution of Gods Worke. First therefore Babylon hath treasonable doctrines against the state and dignitie of Kings though they were the hornes and strength of the second Beast therein as namely to depose Kings from their royall seates yea to take away the faire Titles wherewith she had inuested them before as this Beast had once taken vpon him to depriue Francis the French King of his Title of the most Christian King and to translate it vnto Henry the Eighth of England as Guicciardine their owne Historian doth record though afterward with greater furie and indignation hee proceeded against the same Henry who had beene a principall horne to corroborate and confirme the Maiestie of the Triple Crowne Againe this Babylon exposeth the persons of Princes vnto priuate violences and publike impugnation by their owne subiects as well as their States vnto the Rapine and Inuasion of forreigne power Lastly this Babylon doth aduance her Beast aboue all ciuil Lords and Souereignes not onely by an indirect authoritie ouer them in case of Heresie and for spirituall ends to which opinion onely and no farther a multitude of Babylonians doe incline though with the peremptorie censure of the Beast himselfe and violent oppugnation of his chiefe Adherents in that behalfe but by a direct and superiour authoritie ouer them as Lord of Lords and King of Kings So Boniface the Eighth intruded vpon the Crowne of France but found the strong