be not intangled with her voice She cryeth Venite come vnto me the mother of the faithfull but Christ saith Exite goe out of her my people that you bee not partakers of her plague for she is the Mother of Fornications And so much of the second fall of Babylon which hath now prepared vs vnto the third THIRDLY then this word doth signifie such a ruine as is without recouery with extreame vastitie horrible miserie vnspeakable desolation which Babylon shall more sensibly feele then we can truly declare res superat fidem the matter exceedeth beliefe humane beliefe that standeth vpon reason but not Diuine which is grounded vpon reuelation as I shall haue speciall occasion to declare more fully in my ensuing Discourse Meanewhile to iustifie this last acception and sense of this Word according to the tenour of the holy Scriptures I produce vnto you certaine instances very agreeable to our purpose For if wee speake of the persons inhabiting in Babylon then Dauid writeth aptly of such falling Psal 36.12 They mine enemies are cast downe they are fallen in the words immediatly before and shall not be able to rise But if we speake of the place it selfe Iericho is an example in this case Iosh 6. The walls fell downe man and woman young and old with all the cattle were destroyed therein And to fill vp the measure of the calamitie thereof shee was to lie buried in the Tombe of her owne ruines and a curse laid by Ioshua vpon the man that should repaire and reedifie the same To conclude the pitifull but vnpitied vastation of this Babylonian Citie her dolefull fall to follow the prescript euidence of my Text is resembled in the iust affliction which fell vpon the Citizens and Citie of Sechem which Abimelech destroyed and sowed the place thereof with Salt Iudic. 9.45 Such shall bee if any patterne can exemplifie her case the fall the fatall end the wofull period of this great and glorious Citie It is finall for I reade of none after it it is singular for I reade of none such before it For to passe by the conflagration of Rome by the Gaules when she was yet in the time of her minoritie and youth and to come to the state of her declination in the time of Honorius the Emperour vpon the yeare of Christ 414. we find in the Ciuill and Ecclesiasticall Histories that Alarichus King of the Gothes tooke the Citie of Rome rather by Famine then by the Sword as Saint Hierome doth relate burned some part thereof slue the Citizens despoyled them of an infinite abundance of riches but as I noted before gaue them their liues that could take Sanctuarie in the great and magnificent Church of Saint Peter After his decease which happened within a short time after this expilation of Rome his kinsman Ataulphus returned vnto Rome with a mightie power resoluing to put all the Citizens to the sword to raze the Citie vnto the very foundations to erect another in some commodious place and to impose the name of Gothia vpon it from which resolution he was diuerted by the humble supplications and gentle perswasions of his deerely beloued wife Placidia sister vnto Honorius and so Rome did then escape that ruine vnto which she is yet reserued and which she shall certainly feele in the due appointed time Afterward vpon the yeere 450. Gensericus King of the Vandals so sacked and ransacked the Citie of Rome that for some time it remained without any inhabitant to dwell therein But much more grieuous and fearefull was her desolation by Totilas King of the Goths vpon the yeere 547. a great part of the walls being cast downe the houses burned the Citizens killed so that neither man nor woman remained therein as Bellarmine himselfe out of Blondus doth briefly recite C. de Pont. Rom. l. 4. c. 7. but to a very poore and simple purpose as you shall heare anon in the passage of my discourse Meane while descending neerer vnto our times I smile at the fearefull apprehensions of Pope Alexander the sixth vpon the yeere 1494. when hee was troubled and all Rome with him at the militarie approach of Charles the eight of France and therefore vpon a treatie of peace hee accepted the Articles imposed vpon him by the victorious Prince for the time but with a perfidious heart as the sequell of things did discouer who thereupon was receiued into Rome with tender demonstration of singular respect and loue otherwise hee had certainly imitated the president of the conquering Gaules ancient times and burnt the whore with fire which worke did rather appertaine vnto his successours in the Crowne of France as time the mother of truth shall one day reueale to fulfill that which Truth the Sonne of eternitie Christ Iesus himselfe doth here foretell But leauing Rome in that passion of feare let vs behold her in the passion of sense vpon the yeere 1524. when the Imperiall Armie of Charles the fifth marching vnder the conduct of the Duke of Burbon who was fatally slaine before the walls of Babylon first surprised the Suburbes and then inuaded the Citie it selfe in whom it is doubtfull saith Guicciardine lib. 18. which Historie well deserueth your reuiew whether bare more rule the humour of crueltie to kill or the appetite of lust to deflower or the rage of auarice to spoile What honour and reuerence did these Catholike Souldiers performe then vnto the holy Father and his worthy Prelates As for him hee was made a prisoner in his owne Castle and redeemed himselfe from farther dangers at a great proportion of monyes and remained in custodie vntill it pleased the Emperour out of his speciall grace to release him againe As for them many of them were set vpon Asses and leane Moyles with great dignitie and contempt hauing their faces reuersed to the crowpe of the beasts and so being apparrelled with the habites and markes of their dignitie were made a spectacle of derision in the publike view while some other Cardinalls being naked and soled along with buffets and bastinadoes redeemed their liues with deepe exhaustion of their plate and treasure Now if in these calamities of Rome which are the praeludia and as it were the figures of her future destruction wee see such furious actions of hostilitie against her not onely by barbarous enemies but by them who carrie the names and titles of Christian and of Catholike by particular stile what incomparable crueltie will so many seuerall Nations exercise against her with implacable hatred vnder the Ensignes of so many seuerall Princes enraged against her for her violation of their Crownes stirred vp by the speciall iudgement of God O vnexemplifyable fall I want termes to expresse it And therefore as the Painter being to represent by a liuely Image the behauiour of the father of Iphigenia lamenting and bewayling her pitifull death drew a veile before his face that being a more proper signification of his griefe which could not be expressed in any
may particularly name our profoundly learned Souereigne in his iudicious and well composed Paraphrase vpon this mysticall booke who is described here by his excellency he had great power and by his operation the earth was lightned with his glory SECONDLY The manner of his proclamation He cried out mightily with a loude voice verse 2. with a voice more then Stentorian and no maruell for it was Verbum à Verbo a word from the Word a word powerfully spoken by the Word ineffably begotten THIRDLY The matter it selfe It is fallen it is fallen Babylon the place is considerable for it is Babylon by qualitie and name also a great Citie by amplitude of place and power The ruine of it is markable for it is a fall extreme and finall and it is fallen in the time past though it be yet to come by an enallage of the tense and againe it is fallen by an anadiplôsis the one and the other shewing an infallible certainty of euent Thus now my Text is like Rebeccaes wombe it hath twinnes in it Cecidit cecidit as if the ruine of Babylon were sounded forth by the two siluer trumpets Num. 10.2 It is a double voice of ruine fall vpon fall so that I may vse the words of the Psalme God hath spoken it once or twice Psal 62.11 And as my Text is double here by the ingemination of one word so it is double by the repetition of the same sentence elsewhere viz. Apoc. 14.8 Againe that which in both these places is spoken of mysticall Babylon Rome as an one you shall heare is foretold by prophecie and we haue seene it verified by experience of literall Babylon the renowned Citie of Chaldaea in the Praedictions of Esay 21.9 Babel is fallen it is fallen This consonancie is in the Scriptures this resemblance in sinne and ruine betwixt the old Babylon and the new For Babylon â—s the first Rome and Rome is the second Babylon I come to the words of my Text wherein there is a fatall coniunction of two things Culpa and Poena the Sinne of Rome implyed in her name Babylon and the punishment of Rome annexed or prefixed rather it is fallen it is fallen We may Logically therefore make this partition of my Text heere is the SVBIECT Babylon and heere is the PRAEDICATE it is fallen In order of the words as they stand herein my Text Babylon is last but in order of sense it is first For in Grammer the nominatiue case goeth before the Verbe In Logicke the Subiect goeth before the Praedicate and in Diuinitie the Sinne goeth before the Punishment Pride goeth before Destruction Pro. 16.18 Wherefore in the prosecution of my Text I will change the place of the words and as Iacob gaue the prioritie to Ephraim Gen. 48.14 in the aduised imposition of his hands so I will giue the precedency to Babylon the last word in my Text and then I will reflect duely vpon her fall expressed in the first place thereof The FIRST part concerning the Subiect and Sinne in the Text BABYLON THough I haue affirmed this Babylon to be Rome yet I require not your suddaine beliefe without a substantiall proofe So that to deduce this matter fairely and cleerely to your vnderstandings I must propose a double inquisition in pursuit whereof we shall come securely vnto the hauen of my desire and then arriue happily vpon the coast vnto which I direct my thoughts First What is this Babylon in my Text. Secondly Why this name is imposed vpon that place which is thereby signified vnto vs. These two points being sufficiently discussed for the true explication of my Text and illustration of this name I will conclude the first part of my Text with such obseruations as shall kindly and properly ensue vpon the same The FIRST Inquisition What is this Babylon in my Text. THis Babylon is not literally to be vnderstood neither for that ancient Citie in Chaldaea nor for that famous Citie in Egypt once called by the name of Memphis and now of Cair since the generall scope and purpose of this booke doth not intend any such sense and many circumstances therein doe sufficiently refute it and finally not any Author in former or later times no Father in the ancient Church no Doctor in succeeding ages did euer so conceiue of this place This Babylon therefore is mystically to be vnderstood according to the common and vsuall tenour of this booke That whole booke of the Reuelation of Saint Iohn is spiritually to be vnderstood by the iudgement of Saint Hierome Epist 148. And hence it is that Dionysius sometimes Bishop of Alexandria confesseth of this obscure and profound booke that it cannot be vnderstood according to the first and obuious sense thereof as Eusebius relateth Histor Eccles l. 7. c. 24. but that there are deepe and hidden mysteries in the same Deepe I confesse and hidden till that Time the mother of truth in the successe and euent of things was the midwife to helpe the Church of God which trauelled long in bringing forth the true and proper sense thereof For as Sampson was directed and guided by his seruant vnto the pillars vpon which the house did stand Iudic. 16.26 so the successe of things conspiring with the Oracles of this booke hath conueighed vs vnto a sound and euident knowledge of many mysteries therein vnknowne to former ages but reuealed in this in regard whereof this booke doth now more fully answere vnto its name for now it is a Reuelation indeed as it was before in title Since therefore this Babylon is heere so called by a Mysterie we will passe along by a gradation through foure seuerall interpretations thereof that so wee may discouer in this point how farre the ancient Church digressed from the marke then how neerely at the last the Romish Church is come vnto it and thereby to know her selfe and then finally how the Reformed Church hath directly hit the marke as the Beniamites could sling stones at an haire breadth and not fayle Iudic. 20.16 The FIRST Interpretation THe first interpretation is framed by S. Augustine whom many follow in this and sundry other points rather for the reason of his authoritie then for the authoritie of his reason and therefore are carried into errour by the venerable estimation of his name Hee confesseth that Rome is another Babylon de ciuit Dei l. 16. c. 17. and that shee is the daughter of Babylon l. 18. c. 22. but not in regard of her sinne and ruine as it is now in my Text which things that greatly learned Father neuer seemed to suspect and therefore teaching truly that there are two Cities in this world mixed together in outward things but seuered in their inward qualities and tending consequently vnto different ends he assumeth falsly that this Babylon out of which wee must flye Apoc. 18.4 is onely the generall Citie of the Deuill and his members whereas the other Citie is a Spirituall Ierusalem and the Citie of God Read S. Augustine
Nineueh vpon her repentance Should I not spare Nineueh that great Citie Ionah 4.11 Now therefore since Ethnicall Rome is past and that state is abolished saith Parsons for which cause she did beare the name of Babylon and Saint Hierome hath assured vs that Rome by her confession of Christ hath blotted out the blasphemie written in her forehead which point the Babylonians doe greedily embrace to their vnhappy excecâ—ation since Rome hath turned from her former sinnes and done righteousnesse since she hath had a glorious name by her renowmed Faith after the time of Paganisme Idolatrie and Persecution vnder her ancient Emperours since in our opinion she was a glorious member of the Church and in their opinion shee is still the Head Queene and Mistresse thereof embracing and propounding the truely Catholike Faith and finally since her ensuing repentance hath cleered the score of her preceding sins how can it consist with Gods Truth that in regard of her sinnes so long past and so deepely repented of he should lay a destruction vpon her in the time yet to come for it is yet to be fulfilled and that in so terrible and vnexemplifiable a manner Apocal. 18. Her ruine therefore and such a ruine which is yet to come when her Ethnicall estate is so long past doth sufficiently proue that later sinnes in a future age should renue and reuiue her old name if Babylon euer were the name of ancient Rome according to the tenour of the Scriptures and bring her vnto this lamentable end it being one of the last Tragicall acts of Gods Iustice vpon the great Theater of the world as it appeareth in the historicall predictions of this Scripture Secondly I make farther remonstrance of that position by the IVSTICE of God For he will not punish the children for their fathers sins euery one shall die for his owne Ezek. 18.4 Since therefore Rome is yet to be destroyed this destruction doth not attend her ancient sinnes committed in her Ethnicall estate and done away by her repentance in her Christian estate but for latter sinnes in latter ages wherein she was to beare the scandall of this name and to suffer ruine for the same Innocent Rome shall not perish for nocent Rome not the latter for the former not the Papall for the Imperiall not the Church for the State there cannot bee iniustice in God Shall not the Iudge of all the world doe right Yet I confesse that in succeeding ages God doth sometimes remember the sin of ages past and so it is said of Babylon Apocal. 18.5 God hath remembred her iniquities but in this case latter ages doe renew imitate and increase the sinnes of the former And so I grant that for her old sinnes of Idolatrie Persecution c. renewed afterward Rome shall suffer this ruine as Ribera and Viegas the Iesuites doe confesse Meane while this is the point which I commend here vnto your prudent obseruation If Rome were sinfull Babylon here spoken of onely in her Ethnicall estate which is a plausible delusion she should haue suffered her fatall punishment here threatned during that Ethnicall estate and not in her Christian condition whereas the speciall calamities of Rome since the time of this prediction ensued vpon Christian Rome not Ethnicall Rome by the furious incursions and impressions of the Goths and Vandalls which were castigations of Christian Rome and not of Ethnicall nor Antichristian Babylon whose finall and vtter subuersion being yet to come and neerer vnto the end of the world therefore Gods Truth and his Iustice doe cleerely euince that shee was to bee Babylon againe if shee were so once before and to bee stamped with this hatefull name after the time of her entertainment of Christian Religion and after the expiration of her Ethnicall estate this name arising out of a latter condition of sinnes for which shee should fall and in latter times in which shee should perish by the iust indignation of God and Man And so much for the second remonstrance THIRDLY I make remonstrance of my position by the ingenious and faire confession of two learned Babylonians themselues they also being Iesuites of eminent qualitie publike Readers in their Schooles who by diligent inquisition into the very Text of this Scripture and carefull obseruation of the circumstances thereof oppose themselues against the common errour of their owne side and cleerely deduce out of the coherence of many circumstances in this Scripture that this BABYLON doth signifie Rome not in her Ethnicall estate onely as the Papists doe more ordinarily conceiue but neere the conclusion of the world that then shee shall by her great sinnes deserue this name and therefore come to ruine Neither doe I make vse of their confession because it commeth from aduersaries but because they make it out of the conscience of truth grounded vpon the cleere euidence of the Scripture For I should thinke meanely of my cause if the truth and certaintie of my assertion stood vpon the falshood and errour of their confession and had no better strength to support it selfe The first Babylonian is Ribera a man of no vulgar note as being a Doctor of Diuinitie and professour thereof in Salmantica a famous Academy of Spaine This man wrote a Commentary vpon the Reuelation of Saint Iohn where treating vpon these words Apocal 14.8 Babylon that great Citie is fallen hee proueth by sundry infallible circumstances of the Scripture Apoc. 17. that this Babylon is not the generall societie of wicked men but a particular Citie and finally the Citie of Rome and therefore he concludeth his disputation as I noted before vpon that point in these words Omnia profectò nisi in Romam non conueniunt certainely all the circumstances in the Text cannot agree vnto any other place but vnto Rome alone in cap. 14. num 31. Then he commeth num 32. to explicate the state and condition of Rome in regard whereof this name Babylon and this ruine shee is fallen belong vnto her in this sacred Reuelation And here suspecting the scandall and offence of his owne brethren he entreth vpon this discourse with a preoccupation in this sad and graue manner Offensionem pio Lectori amoueri volo I will that no pious Reader a Romane Catholike that is to say a Babylonian should take offence at my exposition as if it were aduantagious vnto the Heretickes the Protestants who assume vnto themselues an occasion vpon this name of Babylon ascribed here vnto Rome to lay an imputation vpon the Church of Rome and our holy Father the Pope Wherfore num 34. hee saith that this name of Babylon agreed vnto Rome as shee was in her Ethnicall State an Idolatrous persecuting Citie but now saith hee the case is altered for shee is and long hath beene the Mistresse of Faith and the Mother of Christians Then hee addeth immediately Si quando haec eadem fecerit quae Iohannis tempore faciebat iterum Babylon vocabitur if Rome shall commit the same things hereafter which
shee committed in the time of Iohn shee shall bee called Babylon againe marke this well good hearers for now the Iesuite draweth neere vnto the point as it was in the case of Ierusalem which of a faithful Citie once became afterwards a Whore So he But let vs heare the man tell out his tale hee hath yet more to say to acquit his Mother Church and Father-Pope and therefore num 38. hee affirmeth That this name of Babylon is neuer applyed vnto the CHVRCH of Rome but onely vnto the CITIE howbeit not as the Citie long hath beene vnder the Pope and now is vnder him nor indeed shall haue this name while the Pope is Lord and Gouernour thereof but as shee was Babylon in her Ethnicall state so she shall be hereafter againe vpon her defection from the Pope and from Christianitie neere the end of the world Now because Ribera feared another censure here hee maketh another preoccupation num 40. in this manner diuinare me dicet quispiam Some man perhaps will say that I take vpon me to be a Prophet and to foretell things to come but saith hee I would intreate that man to lay aside his preiudice to examine the whole matter with mature iudgement and to beleeue me no farther then reason and truth shall perswade him in this case Then hee addeth num 42. That for as much as Rome in her Ethnicall state was so idolatrous so wicked and so cruell against the Christians for that all the Martyrs throughout the Romane Empire were put to death by the authoritie of Rome and by the power of Romane Magistrates therefore it is iust and meet that she her selfe should once suffer for her impious courses which being not yet done according to the purport of this Scripture shall be done hereafter when she shall be no lesse wicked then she was in former times Then num 43. he proceedeth in a faire and ingenious manner of Theologicall discourse saying Whereas this extreame desolation shall fall vpon Rome neere the end of the world it is very iust and equall in good congruitie of reason Why Because the Citie is still the same which being once so defiled with sin must one day be purged with fire Besides saith he there are many Citizens in Rome at this day who by their name and stock boast of their descent from the ancient Romans who alwayes increased there in great number Then hee addeth further that as a Citie built out of the ruines of a former is reputed to be one and the same Citie with it so here in this case the latter Citizens of Rome when she shall be destroyed may be accounted the same Citizens with the former though they be not of their bloud and kindred because they ioyne themselues vnto the former and become as it were one body and one common-wealth with them but specially by their imitation of the facts and sins of their Predecessors This saith he Num. 44. is the cause therefore why the latter Romanes neere the end of the World following the impieties of the ancient shall be punished and the more grieuously also in that regard So that saith hee though her old sinnes committed in her Ethnicall state were forgotten by God in regard of her Christian profession which shee entertayned afterward yet now vpon her new and like Impieties neere the end of the World the old are remembred againe and therefore she shall be burned for them both together Excellently and diuinely spoken according to the true tenour of the Scriptures elsewhere and particularly of the Reuelation it selfe and therefore Ribera began to grow warme in the conclusion of this discourse protesting in this manner We know this truth so perspicuously by the words of this Reuelation VT NE STVLTISSIMVS QVIDEM NEGARE POSSIT so that the veriest foole in the world cannot deny the same Then hee addeth Since Babylon shall be the shop of all IDOLATRIE and of all impieties therefore it cannot be doubted but that this shall be the condition of Rome hereafter And thus hauing made his explication of the Text he propoundeth a very fit question in the end of his discourse Num. 51. namely By what meanes the Citie of Rome neere the end of the Vorld should attaine vnto so great a power and abundance of riches He answereth first that no man can certainly know the reason thereof and secondly that this may come to passe partly by reason of the tenne Kings who shall make a conquest of the whole World and diuide it amongst them and partly in regard of Antichrist who shall bee aduanced in this time by meanes whereof Rome shall shortly returne vnto her ancient power and shall haue these tenne Kings vnder her gouernment who a little after shall reigne in the whole World but finally these Kings shall destroy Rome Apoc. 17.17 Here the coniecture of Ribera founded vpon the vaine speculations of some ancient Fathers not vnderstanding the nature of this mysterie nor the sense of the Scriptures in this behalfe failed him very much as not knowing that Ecclesiasticall Rome is this Babylon and that the Pope is the second Beast therein by which meanes truly Rome hath beene eleuated in a new and second greatnesse in the World in some sort excelling the former in her Ethnicall estate as by due remonstrance it shall hereafter appeare Meane while good hearers excuse my tedious declaration taken out of the Commentarie of this learned Iesuite as contayning much varietie of matter of very markeable obseruation for my purpose My second Babylonian Authour is Viegas a Iesuite also and a Doctor of Diuinitie and Professor thereof first at Conimbrica then at Ebora two Vniuersities of Portugall who framed a more copious and elaborate Commentarie vpon this sacred Booke of the Reuelation insisting very often in the steppes of Ribera and especially in this point whereof we now intreat Therefore though it bee materiall to expresse the iudgement of Viegas also vpon the same yet I may contract his long Discourse into a few words This Viegas then in Apocal. 17. § 2. confesseth that the destruction of this Babylon foretold cap. 18. shall be in the last times before the end of the World Afterwards § 3. he saith that this Babylon is the Citie of Rome howbeit not as she is now vnder the Pope but as she was heretofore in her Ethnicall condition and as she shall be hereafter in the time of Antichrist vpon her defection from the Pope and from her Christian Faith and then he sheweth in many words the qualitie of her sinnes and manner of her ruine conformably with the iudgement of Ribera and that for old sinnes ioyned with the latter God shall execute his wrath vpon her by these ten Kings as hee doth more largely deduce also in cap. 18. § 6. Thus you haue heard the consonant exposition of these two learned persons the second treading in the steps of the first and both for the maine point now in question in the steps
of the holy Scripture Now therefore I should proceed to collect out of them both such obseruations as are sutable to our purpose but that I am a little stayed and hindred by the voluminous Commentarie of Ludouicus ab Alcasar a Iesuite of great esteeme in Spaine which hee published vpon the yeare 1612. many yeeres after that the two other Commentaries vpon the Reuelation neere extant for the latter of Viegas was commended to the Presse vpon the yeere 1599. and the former of Ribera certaine yeeres before that for Ribera died vpon the yeere 1591. in which Commentarie a man would therefore reasonably suppose that some more excellent matters should now come to light and especially after the diligent and painfull discussion of so many points by his learned Brethren preceding him in this kind But marke the euent in this our present issue how this learned ignorant man this wise foolish man this iudicious absurd man this acute obtuse man this Expounder of the Reuelation or rather this compounder of Fables doth heerein comport himselfe Two things then in this passage deserue your carefull attention shall I smile at his folly or laugh at his misery while I propose the same The first is this that this Babylon is Rome indeed but onely as she was in her Ethnicall state and not in any state ensuing hereafter The second is this that the fall of this Babylon was mysticall and spirituall namely from Ethnicall Idolatry to Christian Religion an happy fall from the superstition of Pagans vnto the profession of Christ which fall being past he saith that this was mystica vltio O mysticall or rather O miserable Foole a certaine mysticall reuenge of God against the old Idolatrous Babylon which vltion saith he is eternall for the Citie of Rome shall neuer returne vnto the vomit of IDOLATRY againe These particulars as they are worthy to be noted so they are vnworthy to be confuted in this profound Mercurialist who can extract such senses out of the Scripture against the sense of common reason and therefore I leaue him vnto the censure of Ribera who prouing the contrary assertions by the cleere euidence of the text giueth his verdict against this Ludouicus and the associates of his simple opinion that hee is worse then a very Foole as you heard before and therefore let him accompany Spalatensis who vpon his returne to Babylon is said for all his ambitious expectations of a Cardinals Hat to get nothing but a Fooles Cappe but I doubt with a Knaues heart as any man may well suppose that this Ludouicus doth beare in his brest seeking to obscure and to draw into question the true cleere inexpugnable confession according to the point whereof I now intreat which his more iudicious or more conscionable fellowes had formerly made in this behalfe Now therefore leauing this graue and tedious Iesuite with his profuse and foolish Booke I reflect vpon such obseruations as out of Ribera and Viegas are markable in the issue vpon which I now proceed For though they are not so Regular as that I dare follow them in all things yet I will first take such things as they grant vpon the euidence of the Text and then proue such things as they denie in their misprision of the same The points which I will collect out of them are sixe The first They confesse that Rome is or shall bee Babylon after her Ethnicall estate in a later condition The second They confesse that IDOLATRY and impietie shall abound in Rome in this her later condition The third They confesse that Rome in this condition shall persecute and oppresse the faithfull professours of Gods Truth The fourth They confesse that Rome in this condition shall haue great power authoritie and command in the World The fift They confesse that in this condition and latter estate of her IDOLATRY Antichrist shall possesse this Citie and so it shall bee a spirituall Babylon a sinke of sinne and shoppe of Idolatrie which shall bee deriued vnto the World vnder the gouernment of Rome in the latter dayes The sixt They confesse that Rome in this condition shall bee destroyed burnt with fire made desolate by tenne KINGS and so shall come vnto her extreame ruine by the iust iudgement of God for her former and for her latter sinnes All these points being inforced out of the plaine testimonie of the Scripture wee admit as true and such as either the veriest Foole cannot denie or at least the wisest can neuer impeach Now though Ribera Viegas and others that follow their interpretation lay this scandall vpon the Citie only and not vpon the Church of Rome and vpon the Citie also when shee falleth from her obedience to the Pope and not before yet I will demonstrate that this goodly Song is not tuneable to the Text but that it is a poore euasion vpon a miserable necessitie which shall bee no Citie of refuge for the protection of their CHVRCH howsoeuer being weather-beaten by the storme of the Text afflicting their hearts they are driuen vnto this Harbour of their inuention wherein the Conscience findeth small comfort and reason it selfe obseruing the euents of things and the occurrencies of times doth force them immediatly out of this silly creeke into a troublesome Sea Wherefore I come now vnto the fourth the last and the substantiall interpretation of my Text which layeth this name of BABYLON directly and cleerly vpon the CHVRCH of Rome as shee long hath beene and now is and though declining in her glorie as she shall continue vnto the fearefull time of her vnhappy fall and the whole Riuer of Tyber though it were all made Holy water by Popish incantation shall neuer wash away this scandall of her name which now truly doth and long hath done and shall for euer cleaue fast vnto her as the Leprosie vnto Gehezi and vnto his seed for euer The FOVRTH Interpretation FOurthly then and lastly for now wee are come vnto the mayne and principall issue I confidently proclaime and will cleerely proue that as this Babylon is Rome and Rome after her Ethnicall estate so it is Rome in regard of the Church and not onely of the Citie as both are vnder the Pope and this I will euidently deduce by fiue Reasons FIRST therfore I proue my assertion in regard of the very edifices in Rome the Churches the Chappels the Monasteries the Palaces of the Pope the houses of Cardinals and sundry Ecclesiasticall places which take vp a speciall part of Rome being now a Papall Rome the seate of the Spirituall Monarch the second Beast as you shal heare anon inuading the Imperiall Seat and dignitie of the first therein so that all motion in Rome is to the Centre of the Church there whose Circumference by dominion and power is so largely extended in the World all reference there is vnto Saint Peters Chaire in whose person they suppose that the actuall Souereigntie now exercised by the Pope did habitually dwell there the splendour
of the Church darkeneth all the glorie of the Citie which also now by a Popish Metaphor is translated into the Church for that the Citie and the Church are now coupled in vnion together both being in subiection to one head in regard whereof it is Ecclesiasticall Rome rather then Ciuill the Citie being swallowed vp of the Church as Pharaohs fat Kine were deuoured by the leane The name of Babylon then agreeing to Rome as wee shall more cleerely perceiue anon falleth eminently vpon the Church there rather then vpon the Citie hauing all the properties of Babylon which the Reuelation doth assigne as in the sequell of my Sermon you shall very sensibly discerne SECONDLY therefore I prooue my assertion by the reuiew of that Merchandtze in Rome which is spirituall and of the Church there not temporall and of the Citie as some doe poorely conceiue and weakly prooue And because this is a matter of especiall consequence I resolue to sound the depth of this mysterie and to lay it forth in liuely colours as it shall please God to guide and to direct my thoughts The 〈◊〉 Merchants of this Babylon are soule-merchants dealing in spirituall affaires vnder the great and terrible Monarch of the Church therein sitting as God in the Temple of God This is not mine inuention but the very testimonie of the Scripture it selfe Apocal. 18.13 For the Spirit of God making a large enumeration of the Wares and Merchandize of this Babylon a Spirituall Babylon and consequently spirituall Wares vnder a spirituall Prince concludeth it with the SOVLES of men as the proper and pretended subiect of their negotiations though vnder and by the pretense of spirituall things this Papall Monarch doth exercise a temporall and an earthly domination as the principall scope of his subtile practises and operations in the World And because this point is exellently deliuered by the learned pen of our gracious Souereigne I will expresse it in his owne words Babylon shall haue many that shall bee Merchants vnto her of the soules of men by selling for Money PARDONS giuen by that Monarch the second Beast which shall bee thought to haue power to saue redeeme and free mens soules namely out of Purgatorie Wherefore it was truly affirmed in a Booke composed by the Clergie of England in the Reigne of King Henry the eight vnto the which all the principall members of the Clergie did subscribe as by name Gardiner then Bishop of Winton and Boner then Archdeacon of Leicester c. that it was necessary that such abuses bee cleerely put away which vnder the name of Purgatorie haue beene aduanced as to make men beleeue that through the pardons of the Bishop of Rome SOVLES might be cleerely deliuered out of PVRGATORIE and all the paines thereof But since I shall haue occasion anone to touch this ware and other merchandizes of Babylon more neerely to the quick let vs obserue here by the way what the learned paire of Iesuites doth conceiue of this traffick whether it may be taken in a Litteral or in a Spirituall sense whether it may appertaine vnto the Church or vnto the Citie of Rome RIBERA commeth first in order who treating of these Merchants in Apoc. 18.3 speaketh of their repaire vnto Babylon to fill her with all varietie of things and afterwards in v. 11. hee saith that the Merchants shall weepe and lament for the destruction of Rome where they had so great negotiation because they can haue no more traffick in that great and opulent Citie VIEGAS followeth speaketh more copiously vpon this point in Apoc. 18.3 For he saith that Merchants shal flow together to Rome being Babylon neere the end of the world out of al parts of the earth shal lament the fall of Rome because their traffick with her shal be intercluded for euer Afterward nu 6. he saith that it is manifestly gathered by so much such precious merchandise as is expressed here in this Chapter that Rome shal attain vnto very great power and abundance of riches and that her Empire which shal be most flourishing shal be largely propagated in all the world And again he affirmeth immediately thereupon that in the last times Rome shal be a most flourishing Citie her Empire very large that she shal liue in great pleasure in great abundance of al things that she shall then serue IDOLATRIE and that thus being Babylon she shal come vnto a fatal woful end Thus they hunt counter in the literal sense of temporal merchandise other Babylonians also with them or rather before them run in the fame course as by name our country-man D. Bristow to whom D. Worthington from whō I receiued this notice did attribute very much for his sober graue and deep iudgement who long before the commentary of Viegas came forth as I suppose before the commentary also of Ribera euer saw the light was cōfident in his opinion that this should be the condition and estate of Rome in the latter daies which I haue now related out of their works O fooles and slow of heart to beleeue that which is so cleerely reuealed in the Scriptures if you compare their prediction with the euent of things For first these Merchants are called the Merchants of Soules as I noted before vpon the point of Indulgences of which I shall speake more anone With which spirituall merchandise we may ioyne many other matters of their traffique by dispensations absolutions appellations faculties inuestitures and many pretended interests of the Church of Rome in a word by their courts Legantine by the discursations of Legates and Apostolicall officers in Temporall and Ecclesiasticall estates to the singular aduantage of Babylon and the negotiators of that Apostaticall See Secondly it is extreamely improbable that Rome should become such a Tyrus such a Mart of the Nations Esay 23.3 as these men pretend a place of such traffique and negotiation it being by situation and want of conueniences incapable of so great employments as neither shee enioyed in the highest pride of her Paganicall estate nor any Citie if the Text be are purely a litterall sense in so many verses 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 23 amplifying her merchandize with rare varietie of phrase of most commodious situation indued with all benefits of Art and Nature did perhaps euer enioy the like Thirdly it is morally impossible that Rome in this future imagined estate should increase to such an immoderate and vast power as is described in this place Apoc. 18.3 ALL NATIONS haue drunke of the wine of the wrath of her fornication and THE KINGS OF THE EARTH euen they that chap. 17.3 gaue their power and authoritie vnto the Second Beast haue committed fornication with her and THE MERCHANTS OF THE EARTH are waxen rich with the abundance of her pleasures This rare and portentuous euent in Rome after her Ethnicall estate after her entertainment of Christian Religion as the Iesuites confesse doth require no small extent of
Councells by Fathers by Reasons framed out of the grounds of Scripture and Religion but in a new obscure intricate course of Positions Suppositions Conclusions vaine Opinions of darke and obscure Schoolemen c. which made the learned Doctor Raynolds say that till hee saw this Treatise of Indulgences hee tooke Bellarmine to be a man of some conscience and that hee wrote out of his perswasion but now hee conceiued of him otherwise But I proceed and hasten vnto a conclusion of this point This Babylonian ware of Indulgences is that traffique of the Church of Rome whereby shee keepeth her intimate correspondencie and participation with all her members tying thereby their consciences by a secret and strong obligation vnto the Pontificiall Seate it being also of singular vse in the manner of her proceedings For as this Merchandize is the daughter of many false doctrines Supererogations Merits euen the hatefull and dangerous merit of Condignitie of an Ecclesiasticall treasure arising out of the merits of Christ and also of the Saints the same being more then they were bound vnto and therefore being not rewarded vnto them in heauen may bee communicated to the poore soules in Purgatorie and the dispensation of this mysticall treasure is committed vnto the Pope by vertue of his keyes c. so it is the mother of many wicked practises for the aduantage of their Church as being the very bellowes which blow the fire of treason against the Persons and States of Princes This is the ware wherby Babylon bewitcheth not onely priuate men but great Kings for her Merchants are the great men of the earth Apocal. 18.3 Therefore infinite store of this Babylonian trumperie was transported vnto the poore Indians for the pretended benefit of their soules but for the intended benefit of a Princes worldly estate This is the ware which Leo the tenth so freely and bountifully dispensed for the redemption of soules out of the Purgatorian fire which keepeth warme the kitchin of his Holy-ship in the compassion of his charitable heart and fulnesse of his Papall power Said I freely Forgiue mee this wrong it was for the commoditie and reliefe of his sister Magdalen as Guicciardine a Popish Historian doth relate lib. 13. who had her Factors to distract and vent this Babylonish ware whence Magdalen the sister had the gaine but Leo the brother had the losse for vpon this occasion no lesse iust before God then acceptable to the Christian world Martin Luther began that course which hath succeeded so happily to the further discouery of Babylon and scandall of her wares for since that time her brocage hath suffered a great decay Finally this is that ware whereby this merchandizing Babylon doth principally subsist in honour authoritie riches and applause of the world inebriated with such incantations of her whorish cup and deluded with the vaine hope of these miserable helpes What should I speake of the Pedlery of Meddalls Beades Graines Holy Water Images certayne peculiar Churches Chappels and other places of blind deuotion vnto which sundry Pardons are appendant as being the meanes and instuments of Papall benignitie thereby to dispense and communicate Indulgences vnto poore seduced soules euen as certaine Fryers receiuing temporall reliefe from their deuoted followers pretend to communicate the merits of all the Saints of their owne order vnto them for their helpe and some Lay-men by wearing a Franciscans Girdle and vsing certaine Ceremonies according to the Rites of the Papall Church are made partakers of the merits of Saint Francis and of all the brethren of that religious Order All which and many more Wares come originally out of the Store-house of Rome To conclude then vnto these Indulgences some of them being for an hundred thousand yeeres so liberall is the holy Father I may adde other spirituall ware of Babylon as of Agnus Dei which is a ware of speciall vertue and force but chiefly of Dispensations which are sometimes the dissipations of diuine and humane right of naturall and morall bands as full of great presumption against the Lawes of God and Nature to tye some Princes in vnlawfull Mariages and to vntye many subiects from lawfull obedience as of singular art thereby to intangle Souereignes and subiects in the obedience of that predominant See and to keepe them vnder the captiuitie of the Triple Crowne Therefore the Pope doth greatly applaud his owne felicitie when Princes insnared with the loue or terrified with the greatnesse or oppressed by the power of this Apostaticall Seat will humbly sue vnto him for Dispensations or accept such gracious fauours kindly at his hands whereby hee gaineth ground vpon them still to keepe them more securely within the obedience of the Church which they shall not dare to offend without the perill of their liues and states And now since this Romish ware is Spirituall and of the Church and for soules not temporall not of the Citie and for this life I conclude the second proofe of my assertion namely that this Babylon in my Text is the Church of Rome or Papall Rome or Ecclesiasticall Rome wherein the greatest Monarch doth reigne next vnder the King of Heauen aboue all the Kings of the Earth as we know by their owne pretenses challenges doctrines and vsurpations in this behalfe And so I proceed vnto a new and the third proofe of my said assertion THIRDLY therefore I proue my assertion to be true because the whole World as the Iesuites say perhaps they meane the Romane World according to the phrase of Scripture Luc. 2.1 and the sense of the ancient Fathers or some great part thereof and specially in Europe shall bee vnder the gouernment of Rome and so she shall make a generall communication of her Idolatry vnto the same Now in this great dependencie of the World vpon Babylon and in this vniuersall reference of Nations vnto her how can this be verified of the Citie How should the Citie arriue vnto such a large Dominion in the World and specially in so little a time as the Babylonians doe prescribe You haue heard the difficultie proposed lately by Ribera himselfe and how hee resolueth it by a poore coniecture But the truth is cleere and easily seene where God doth open the eye namely that Rome had this generall Dominion once in and by her Imperiall State not onely vnder the Emperours succeeding Iulius Caesar but while the dignitie of Rome remayned in the Senate and the authoritie in the people During this Imperiall State Rome receiued Idolatry from all Nations as Leo sometimes Bishop of Rome doth speake Serm. 1. in Natal Petri Pauli and the ciuill Stories of Liuie Plutarch and others doe sufficiently declare how ambitious rather then zealous or how senselesse rather then religious the old Ethnicall Rome was in bringing forreine Gods and extraneous Idolatrie into her bosome for the publike honour and safetie of that blinded Citie Therefore Rome had once her Pantheon a Temple of all the Gods conuerted since into a Church of
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.
in this Chapter according to the vision offered vnto him doth only compare Rome with Babylon that famous Citie of Chaldaea the last Seate of the first Monarchy and compareth it with Babylon not onely in the very wordes of the Prophet Esay 21.9 here repeated in my Text and reinforced to the same purpose by the Prophet Ieremy 51.8 but by many other sentences and passages exemplified as it were out of those Prophets and translated into this place I proceed therefore now according to my designe to shew you the resemblances not all but some betwixt that Babylon in Asia and this in Europe the first being so in a litterall name the second in a mysticall sense whereby we shall easily perceiue that Rome doth truly communicate with her in the similitude of her name because she doth aptly resemble her in the qualitie of her sins according to that excellent rule of Tertullian in this behalfe Scriptura diuina vtitur translatione nominum ex comparatione criminum The Scripture doth vse a similitude of names from the comparison of crimes So it is Esay 1.10 The Princes of Ierusalem are called the Princes of Sodome So it is Ezek. 16.3 where the Father of the Iewes is called an Amorite and their Mother an Hittite Then he addeth Sic Babylon c. and so Babylon in the visions of S. Iohn carrieth the figure of the Romane Citie being therefore great proud in her Empire and a persecutor of the Saints This is the comparison in three points as you heare which Tertullian framed betwixt Babylon in Chaldaea and the Citie of Rome But either Rome in that Ethnicall state was not this Babylon of which Saint Iohn doth speake or at the least it being Babylon afterward in another estate as the Iesuites confesse we must now enquire what are the crimes of Rome as she is Babylon in latter times and how the similitude therein doth stand betwixt that litterall Babylon in the East and this mysticall Babylon in the West And now because wee liue in the time of the euent of things and see that by experience in Rome which Tertullian could not foresee in his iudgement nothing being lesse to be suspected in his dayes then that the Pope should inuade the Imperiall Seate and that Papall Rome should be spirituall Babylon and therefore looking barely into the prophecie could not compare it with the effects of the time as we may do this being the true and proper meanes to expound all obscure prophecies as Irenaeus doth well obserue lib. 4. c. 43. therefore I will proceed a little beyond the two crimes of pride and crueltie which Tertullian found in the Ethnicall State of Rome and make an addition of some other offences which went before in litterall Babylon and now follow after in Papall Rome The points then of comparison betwixt these two being many for now plentie it selfe hath made mee poore I will select fiue at this time which also I shall rather briefly note then copiously discusse The FIRST Comparison betwixt Literall Babylon and Papall Rome THe first point wherein this comparison doth stand is IDOLATRIE it being a peculiar inuention of Babylon as Saint Ambrose doth relate in Rom. 1.23 and thence deriued vnto other Nations of the world This sinne of Idolatry is a regnant sinne in Ecclesiasticall Rome which is thence commended and commanded vnto the whole Church of God and this Idolatrie I note specially in foure particulars The FIRST particular instance of Romish Idolatrie is in their Sacramentall adoration where a creature is worshipped in stead of the Creatour bread in the place of the body of Christ for the worship of Christs humane Nature floweth from the vnion therof with his diuine Person and the same worship which is due vnto Christ as he is the Sonne of God the Papists therefore giue vnto bread as being transubstantiated into his bodie which by concomitancie is knit vnto his Diuinitie and all this Idolatrie is founded vpon their false interpretation of these words This is my bodie that is say they The bread is now become his body by a substantiall conuersion which is contrary to the nature of a Sacrament where there is a corporall absence of the thing it selfe represented in the sacrament but yet it is ioyned by sacramentall vnion with the signe thereof as Irenaeus doth truly affirme It is not now common bread but the Eucharist consisting of two things an earthly and an heauenly lib. 4. c. 34. Where are those two things in the Popish Eucharist those two Res For to say there are the accidents of bread colour figure tast c. and the substance of Christs body it doth not satisfie this definition of Irenaeus and it is repugnant to the plaine resolution of an ancient Bishop of Rome Gelasius by name who saith expresly That the substance and nature of bread and wine doe remaine in the Sacraments vnto whom the learned Father Theodoret doth euidently subscribe saying That the mysticall Symbolls of bread and wine goe not out of their proper nature but doe remaine in their former substance after their sanctification Whence it is that Cyprian first and Augustine after him speake both in one sentence viz. Sacraments beare the names of the things whereof they are Sacraments there is the name of the thing by Sacramentall appellation and there is the thing by Sacramentall vnion but there is not the thing it selfe by substantiall mutation of the former element for what absurdities and blasphemies must then succeed viz. Wormes breed out of the bodie of Christ Dogs and Cats eate the bodie of Christ which things sometimes doe or may come to passe vpon their reseruation of this Sacrament if their opinion thereof were true But now since in the cleere purpose of Christ according to the iudgement of the ancient Church there is in the Sacrament of his bodie true and substantiall bread yet remaining after Consecration and the same is not by any supernaturall operation conuerted into the substance of his bodie which yet the Papists pretend to bee the onely substance there and vayled vnder the accidents of bread what is or can be or euer hath beene palpable Idolatrie if this be not to giue diuine worship due vnto Christ first as he is God and then to the Man-hood as it is ioyned by personall vnion with the God-head vnto a piece of bread for so I am forced to speake in regard of the true substance thereof though it be now no common bread but Sacramentall and in a manner diuine vnto the worke of our hands euen vnto that which being masticated in the mouth digested in the stomacke is finally eiected into the draught Whose heart may not tremble in the apprehension of such blasphemous and vnlearned follies If any man say as King Henrie the Eighth once spake to this effect That since I conceiue there is now no bread in the Sacrament but onely the body of Christ and doe found this my conceit vpon the words of
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 â—â— 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