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A14381
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Edom and Babylon against Jerusalem, or, meditations on Psal. 137. 7 Occasioned by the most happy deliverance of our church and state (on November 5. 1605.) from the most bloody designe of the papists-gunpowder-treason. Being the summe of divers sermons, delivered by Thomas Vicars B.D. Pastour of Cockfield in South-sex. ...
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Vicars, Thomas, d. 1638.
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1633
(1633)
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STC 24699; ESTC S102674
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31,977
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82
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cruelty of these men Sometime they are called Bulls Many young Buls are come about mee fat Bulls of Basan close mee in sometime Lions They came upon mee with open mouth as it had beene a ramping and a roaring Lion sometime Dogges Deliver my Darling from the power of the dogge sometime Bees They came about mee like Bees sometime Scorpions Now thy habitation is among Scorpions All these are wrathfull fierce revengefull cruell creatures Such are the wicked of the world what should I tell you of the primitive time and that firy tryall of Gods Saints under the most barbarous and bloody persecutions what rewards were proposed to them that could invent and devise the most uncouth and cruell torments and what tortures could either man or divell devise which were not put upon the faithfull Christians who then in a manner dyed all most glorious witnesses of the truth which they sealed with their blood Some of them were racked some were tryed by mockings and scourgings by bond and imprisonment they were stoned they were hewen a-sunder they were slaine with the sword c. Heb. 11. 35. c. There you have even a briefe map of these torments which the miscreants of the world powred like haile-shot on the heads of Gods servants Saint Gregory hath inlarged the bed-roll of these tortures writing of the persecution under Nero that wretched blood-hound who as hee was fed with sops dipt in blood being a child so when hee became a man hee tooke a delight to wash his hands and imbrue his heart in the blood of GODS Saints So cruell a wretch was hee and so witty in cruelties that it was the opinion of divers Christians then living that Nero was that Antichrist as Saint Augustine relates lib. 20. de civitat Dei cap. 19. I cannot stand upon all particulars Let it be enough that Tacitus writes of him how that Quaesitissimis poenis affecit Christianos hee did afflict the Christians with most exquisite and strangely-devised torments That Author relates how that wretched Emperour would have Christians covered and sowed up in Beares skinnes and the skins of other wilde beasts and so expose them to be worried and eaten up of fierce and cruell Dogges All the foure Elements are witnesses of his cruelty for the earth hee made great deepe pits and holes in the earth and would throw them downe head-long to perish there for the water hee made divers be bound hands and feete and head altogether and cast into the Sea to be choaked there for the ayre hee made diver be hung up a-loft in chaines to feede thâ— Birds of the ayre for the fire hee made divers be tied to the stake and tumbled others bound into the fire to burne to ashes not onely so but hee was wont to take a great number of the bodies of Christians and make piles of them and so set them on fire in uâ—um nocturni luminis that they might serve as Beacons or Bone-fires to give light in the night time to common passengers O savage cruelty I should but weary you quite to tell you of the cruelty of Domitian whom Tertullian calls Neronis portionem a limbe of Nero Eusebius Neronis haeredem Nero's heire in Savagenesse or of Maximinus who for his wonderfull cruelty some called another Cyciops some Busiris some Scyron some Phalaris some Tryphon or Gyges Neque enim erat â—rudelius animal in terris saith Iulius Capitolinus or of Iulian the Apostata Omnes qui praecesserunt impietate vincens saith Chrysostome NaZianZene cals him a mixture made up of Ieroboam Ahab Pharoah and NabuchadneZZar all famous for cruelty and impiety or of the rest of that branne men shall I call them I cannot for they put off all humanity but rather monsters of men and incarnate divels I must referre you to the stories But you may say these were Pagans professed enemies to Christ and Christianity and therefore no wonder if they maligned Gods Children and drave them from City to City and hated them extremely and persecuted them even unto death but wee hope there are none that call themselves Christians who are guilty of so great cruelty as you speak of Yes Beloved I say it and I will say it againe that the Popish faction are as guilty of this cruelty against GODS Church as the very Pagans were and that Popish Rome is as thirsty of blood as ever Heat henish Rome was and therefore in the Revelation shee is called that Scarlet whore which hath made her selfe drunke with the blood of GODS Saints Because this matter will lye hard upon the Papists among whom I verily think there are many honest men that I may not doe them wrong nor my speech wrongly interpreted I pray you observe with me this distinction There is great difference betwixt these two the Church of Rome and the Court of Rome Those worthies and men of renowne whom God stirred up to be reformers of the Church abused by Popelings wee had them all from the Church of Rome and I doubt not but that God as in every age from Christs time hath had so hee hath at this day like wise a true Church even in Rome it selfe which groneth under the tyranny of the Man of sinne and deâ—ireth a reformation and seeketh it of GOD by prayer to make a purgation of his Church Wee speake not of these but wee speake of the Court of Rome that is the Hierarchie consisting of the Pope and his Cardinals and the rest of his shavelings and professed votaries which worship the Beast and have taken the mark of the Beast in their foreheads These I call the Popish faction and these I can prove to be as deepely stained with the blood of the children of God as ever heathenish Rome was They call themselves indeed the Church the onely Church the Catholicke the mother Church but I say they are not of the Church nay enemies to the Church and that very Antichrist St. Paul speakes of was breeding in his time briefly I say of them as our Church hath taught mee most pithily and truely their faith is faction their religion is rebellion their practise is murthering both of soule body They murther the soules of those that depend upon them withtheir false erroneous doctrin they murder the bodies of those that stand against them either by poyson or by poynard or by pistoll or by powder or by some other more cruell tâ—echerous and bloody practice First by poyson witnesse Lopez that stinking Iew who was hired by the Popish faction to poyson Queene Elizabeth but that tooke no effect being discovered before it could be acted but the Monke that poysoned King Iohn in a wassayling Bowle at Swinsted Abby hit right upon it and the Emperour that was poysoned in the Sacrament felt by woefull experience how cunning these men are in poysoâ—ing Secondly by poynards witnesse the massacre in Paris wherein the Protestants in most barbarous and beastly manner were stabbed and in that abundance
them and binde them to a forme and fet a soft fire under them and so to examine them about their faith sitting in most grievous torments and afterwards cruelly to put them to death What should I tell you of the barbarous cruelty of papists against the poore people of India Bartholomaeus à Casa one of their owne side hath related the story and the manner of it which shall remain as a blot upon them for ever They say they have converted that people I say they have killed more than they have converted I might likewise discourse and tell you of the Spanish Inquisition the common blockehouse of popery it was set up first to take Iewes now it is used to ensnare Christians and 〈◊〉 snare it holds fast there is no mercy in it it will not let goe without blood hee that is taken in it twenty to one hee shall never escape but pine and perish with lingring torments that 's just the nature of it But to leave forreine stories and instances and come neerer home I could tell you long stories of the mercilesse racking and torturing of mistris Anne Askew the barbarous burning of the hand of Thomas Thomkins the drawing of an arrow through the fingers of Cuthbert Simpson fast tyed together so that the blood sprang out againe the feeding of Edw. Freese and others with manchet made of saw-dust the displing of Gods saints by bloody Bonner in his garden at Fulham in such pitteous manner that his servant that assisted him was faine to turne away his eyes shaming at his cruelty his bloody butchering of the servants of God meerely in the matter of religion But I must not trouble you with long stories now I referre you to the faithfull relation of M. Foxe in his Acts and Monuments which shal stand as a monument of popish tyrannicall and barbarous cruelty to al generations And although I know there are some of the Romishrout that call them Foxe his saints and that call his story a Legend of lyes yet they that know the temper of those men know also well enough froÌ„ what humour these words proceed which being spoken out of spleene and spite doe not impeach the truth of the story but 〈◊〉 cover the malice of their hearts against a leaur câ—and painefull scholar who hath not only collected things together but confirmed his collections with such sufficient proofes either of eye-witnesses which saw the things done or of publike records of courts wherein those matters were transacted or of both that none of moderate and impartiall judgement can doubt of the truth of the stories or his faithfulnesse in relating of them Now there you shall finde I say how that in those Marian dayes none were spared that opposed the pride and tyranny of the popish bishop of what condition or age soever they were but all went to the pot learned and unlearned men and women old and young boyes and girles clergy and laity bishops and arch-bishops Some of the martyrs they scourged with rods some they pulled their tongues out of their heads nay their hearts out of their bodies some they racked and tortured some they hanged some they beheaded some they burned and that with a soft and lingring fire to prolong their painâ— nay I will tell you one thing more they tooke a yong infant springing out of the mothers belly as she was at the stake burning they 〈◊〉 it I say and threw it into the fire to buâ—orrâ—ith the mother was there ever such cruelty heard of as this Neither hath their cruelty stayed here to exercise it selfe upon them that were alive but their bloody practises have proceeded further to wreake themselves upon the bodies of the dâ—ad Saints which lay in their graves in peace These they have digged out of their graves where they lay in christian buriall and buried them in dunghils others they have digged out of their graves being quite rotten and nothing remaining but bones and dust and have cited them to appeare before judges have set upon them judicially condemned them of hereâ—ie and so cast them into the fire to be burned was there eâ—er such cruelty heard of even among the heathen tyrants and pagan persecutors I have stood the longer upon these cruell practises of Papists for these reasons 1. Because I thought it was my duty and a service that I owe to the Church of Christ to lay open the damnable practises and plots of Antichrist that hee hath to keepe himselfe up in the fellowes of his company in the colledge being to travell abroad Commendo vos dilectioni Dei odio papatus I commend you all to the love of God and the hatred of popery And let us learne further as our church hath taught us to pray against these blood-thirsty and divellish men that God would be pleased to protect us from their rage and to scatter these our cruell enemies that delight in blood to infatuate their counsels and confound their devices and to root out that Babylonish and Antichristian sect which say of Ierusalem Downe with it Downe with it even to the ground And let every true-hearted Englishman say Amen This shall suffice to be spoken in generall of the cruelty of these Idumaeans Now I come to speak of their cruelty more particularly In which discourse divers things will reflect upon our selves by way of edefication to teach us some profitable lessons and many things will reflect upon papists by way of detestation and utter condemnation of their wretched courses The particulars of the Edomites cruelty appeare in these three points First in conspiring with other enemies of the church in evill Secondly in egging and incouraging of their conâ—ederates in evill 3. In rejoycing themselves and taking a delight in evill Their conspiring appeares in that they joyned themselves with the Babylonians their â—ncouraging of their confederates appeares in this that they stand by the Babylonians in laying of Ierusalem waste and in hatred of the church clapt them on the backe to goe thoroughly to worke their rejâ—yâ—ing in evill appeares in their wretched and bloody cry Downe with it Downe with it even to the ground Of these particulars wee will now cum Deo speake distinctly and make some application to the time as occasion shall be offered and first of their confederacy and conspiration The Edomites bore alwaies a deadly hatred and spite against the true Israel of GOD. That is plaine by the whole tenour of the Scripture of the Old Testament but their might was not answerable to their malice and therefore being not strong enough of themselves to wrong â—ods people it was their usuall mannerto bandy themselves with the Bâ—bylonians and other enemies of the Church â—nd to joyne their forces together to infest â—ods children Hence I gather this short note The wicked are ready to joyne hand in hand to vexe the Church and to effect wicked matters Herod and Pilate will be made friends together if