her unborn infant, I pass in filence, as too tragical for me to tell, or you to hear f During the Marrian reign, two hundred and feventy-feven perfons were burnt, of whom five were bishops, twentyone clergymen, eight gentlemen, eighty-four tradesmen, one hundred husbandmen, labourers, and fervants, fifty-five women, and four children *.

Who has not heard of the Irish maffacre, when the Papists in Ireland rofe on the 23d of October, Anno 1641, and murdered in cold blood, about one hundred thousand Proteftants? And it is reckoned they maffacred at least another hundred thoufand, before their cruelty ftopt. The priests were the chief inftigators in this carnage, for they gave the facrament to feveral of the Irish, upon condition that they should spare neither man, woman, nor child of the Proteftants; affuring them it was as lawful to kill a Proteftant, as to kill a dog; yea, that it was meritorious to wash their hands in Proteftant blood; that the killing of Proteftants was a rare prefervation against the pains of purgatory, and that the murderers would go straight to heaven when they died f.

After this hiftorical paffage through a fea of blood, how refreshing is it to get our foot afhore! What purple torrents has the Romish harlot fhed! In what feas of blood has fhe fwum! And is it much, my brethren, if we drop a tear on the afhes of the martyrs? When John faw the woman drunken

Burnet's history of the Reformation, Vol. II. p. 252. *Neal's hiftory of the Puritans, Vol. I. p. (mihi) 68. See Willifon's Popery, another gofpel, page 46.

with the blood of the faints, he wondered with great admiration. No marvel to fee Pagans, or Mahometans fhedding the blood of the faints; but to fee her who pretends to be the spouse of Chrift, drinking the blood of his people, is matter of amazement. What a ftriking commentary have we seen on these words, The woman was drunken with the blood of the faints! Comparing what Rome has done, with what John has faid of the whorish and the drunken woman, it is plain to a demonstration, that the Romish church is that woman. wonderful is the long fuffering of the Lord, in whofe fight the death of his faints is precious! The fouls of them that were flain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held, are reprefented as crying at the foot of the altar, How long, O Lord, holy and true, doft thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? Rev. vi. 9, 10. The answer is, That they reft yet for a little feafon, ver. 11. Which remind us of

How

another argument.

SE C T.

VII.

That the Church of Rome is the Enemy, proved from the Judgments laid up in Store for her.

THE

HE judgments to be inflicted on the enemy, point out the Romish church. Although these might very naturally be mentioned, as included in the Spirit's lifting up a standard against the enemy, yet there is no impropriety in

giving them a place here. With refpect to these judgments, I would obferve three things.

1. As the great adverfary under the new teftament is called Sodom, Egypt, and Babylon; fo the awful judgments laid up in ftore for her, are fet forth in terms evidently borrowed from what befel them. Thus the burning of Babylon, and her fmake rifing up for ever and ever, Rev. xviii. 9. xix. 3. alludes to the deftruction of Sodom, by fire and brimstone rained from heaven.

The firft, fecond, third, and fifth vials have an evident allufion to the plagues of Egypt, as will appear to fuch who fhall compare the xvith of the Revelation with the hiftory of Egypt's plagues, recorded in the book of Exodus.-The first vial of divine vengeance is followed with a noifome and grievous fore upon the men who had the mark of the beast; in analogy to the boils breaking forth with blains upon man and beaft, throughout all the land of Egypt, Exod. ix. 9,10,11.—The second and the third vials, turning the fea and the rivers into blood, are analogous to that awful plague, when the river Nile, the boaft of Egypt, was turned into blood, Exod. vii. 17, 18.-The fifth vial, poured out upon the feat of the beaft, and filling his kingdom with darkness, refembles the three days thick darkness in the land of Egypt, when no man faw another, neither did any one rife from his place, chap. x. 21, 23.-The fixth vial, poured out upon the great river Euphrates, and drying up its waters, that the way of the kings of the Eaft may be prepared, bears a ftrong allufion to the draining of Euphrates by Cyrus, when he took Babylon: an

event foretold long before it took place, Ifa. xliv. 27, 28. Jer. 1. 38. li. 36, 37.—The seventh and laft vial poured out into the air, and followed with thunder, and fire, and hail, and exprefly called the plague of the hail, bears a strong affinity to what befel Egypt when fire mingled with hail, fmote all that was in the field, both man and beaft, Exod. ix. 22, 25. But I would obferve,

.

2. That the burning of myftical Babylon, points evidently to the land of graven images, the feat of the Roman beaft, It is faid, Rev. xix. 3. that her fmoke rofe up for ever and ever; where there feems to be an allufion to what Ifaiah faid of Edom, chap. xxxiv. 9, 10.: and by Edom the Jews themfelves understand Rome. The genuine editions of the Chaldee paraphrase run in the following manner; • And the rivers of Rome shall be turned into pitch, and the duft thereof into brimestone, and the land thereof fhall become burning pitch: It fhall not be quenched night nor day; and the fmoke thereof fhall go up for ever*. It is well known that Italy, and the adjacent countries, are of a fulphureous and bituminous foil. There have been even at Rome cruptions of fubterraneous fire, which have confumed feveral buildings. The fuel feems to be prepared, and waits only for the breath of the Lord to kindle it +. May not the two burning mountains, Ætna and Vefuvius, the former in Sicily, and the latter in Italy, be confidered as vifible evidences that the fuel is ready waiting the omnipotent word,

Vitringa in Loc.

See Dr. Newton on the Prophecy, Vol. III. p. 322.

to make the feat of the beaft as Sodom and Gomorrah *?

* Varenius the Geographer, as quoted by Vinvent, in his three difcourfes concerning the burning of Sodom, of Ætna, &c. tells us, that from Etna's top the flames and smoke may be feen at a very great distance on the Mediterranean fea. That in the year 1537, from the 1ft of May till the 12th, the whole Island of Sicily trembled, and then was heard a great roaring, as if great pieces of ordnance had been discharged; after which followed the overthrow of many buildings throughout the Island. This raging continued for eleven whole days together, in which the earth on the fide of the mount was rent, and opened itself in wide clefts, from whence iffued forth flames of fire with such force, that all things within fifteen miles of Etna were burnt up. A little after, the cup which is on the top of the mount did, for three whole days together, caft forth fuch a large quantity of burning coals and ashes, that they were scattered not only throughout the whole Island, but were alfo carried over fea into Italy; yea, fome fhips, two hundred leagues from Sicily, received damage in their voyage to Venice. Thus far Varenius.

Vincent himself tells us, that on the 8th of March 1669, a great roaring was heard from the bowels of Ætna, which awakened the inhabitants of Catania, a city at 15 miles distance. This hideous noife in the night was attended with an earthquake. The houses of Catania danced, as if they would have immediately tumbled from their foundations. But the earthquake was most violent in the country, and the villages nearer the mountain. The people could not ftand upon their legs without holding by one another, but reeled to and fro like drunken men. The whole town of Nicoloft was utterly ruined by the earthquake; and the greatest part of Padara and TreCaflager were deftroyed. On the 11th of the month there were three great eruptions on the fide of the mountain, befides the fmoke and flame, which issued forth from its mouth at the top. The breaches of the earth were judged to be half a mile in circumference; out of which a burning flood came forth, and more fiercely than floods of water, ran down the fides of the mount.-Moft notable was the flood of fire, which in liquid