they which proclaim any matter, feek fome market-crofs, or high place to stand in, where they may be heard: fo this angel, which proclaimeth the victory against antichrift, before any ftroke be ftrucken, because of the certainty of it, standeth in the fun, as it were in the theatre and midst of the world, as in a place moft fit for the purpofe, that he may be heard throughout all the earth. Now this proclamation is directed to all the fowls of the air, to bid them to a fupper, which is here called the fupper of the great God. But it may be demanded, What cheer fhall they have? The Holy Ghoft anfwereth, that they fhall eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of great captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of horfemen, and the flesh of all free-men, and bond-men and of fmall and greate

This we know, that when men are flain in great numbers in the wars, their bodies lie fcattered as meat for the fowls of the air. And therefore here all the fowls are invited and bidden to a great fupper made them by the great God, whofe hand is in all this; their cheer and their dainties, are reckoned up to be the flesh of kings and captains, &c. Now out of this may be ftrongly concluded, that hereafter in all time to come, when the armies of the Pope,

which is the beaft; the armies of the king of Spain, who hath given his power and authority unto the beaft, and is his great upholder; when the armies of the Cardinal, his great confederate; when the armies of the leaguers, his great adherents; yea, when all thefe, and all other popish armies, fhall join and band themselves together against the Chrif tian kings, and defenders of the gofpel, they fhall have a notable overthrow; infomuch that their dead carcaffes fhall even cover the earth, and the fowls of the air fhall come to their great fupper, which the Lord of holts will make ready for them. For affuredly, and out of doubt, they that live fhall fee the fulfiling of all this, and fhall see the popish armies go down by heaps in all countries and kingdoms, and be made meat for the fowls of the air. For the Holy Ghost faith, They fhall come to Armageddon; that is, the place where their armies fhall be deftroyed. And again, if any lead into captivity: he fhall go into captivity: if any kill with a sword, • he must be killed with a fword,' Rev. xiii. 10. For as the popish forces have in former times taken captive the people of God, and cruelly murdered them: fo now the time draweth on apace, wherein themselves fhall be taken and put to the fword.

And therefore now at laft I conclude,

that Rome fhall fall finally, and come to utter deftruction in this life. For as Rome did rife up by degrees in this life, fo Rome fhall fall by degrees in this life: as Rome grew up to her full height and highest pitch in this life, fo it fhall come to her loweft ebb and greatest declination in this life: I mean before the coming of Chrift unto judgment. For the falling down of hail like talents upon the kingdom of the beast, fhall be in this life: The extraordinary earthquake upon the dominions of antichrift fhall be in this life: The coming of the popish armies to Armageddon fhall be in this life: The mourning of the kings, merchants, and mariners for the overthrow of Babylon fhall be in this life: The great battle betwixt the beaft and him that fitteth upon the white horfe, fhall be in this life, before the day of judgment: The pouring forth of all the feven vials of God's wrath upon the kingdom of the beaft fhall be even in this life. For it were an abfurd thing to fay, any of thefe things fhall be after this life; or to fay that these things fhall not be till the very coming of Christ, for, they are all things to be effected here in this earth: and the Holy Ghost doth defcribe them as things to be done upon the face of the earth: for otherwife we could have fmall comfort in any of these things,

if they should not be done here in earth, or if they fhould all be deferred till the very coming of Chrift, and in the mean time antichrift fhall prevail.

But it will be objected, that St. Paul faith, "The Lord fhall confume antichrist with the spirit of his mouth, and abolish him with the brightnefs of his coming,' 2 Thef. ii. 8. Therefore before his coming he fhall not be utterly abolished. True it is indeed, he fhall not utterly be cut off in all his members, till the very coming of Chrift: for there will be fome papifts remaining in all countries, even unto the end; there be fome, nay, many, that will carry the beaft's mark even until the laft day. But the Holy Ghoft in this prophecy fpeaketh of the revolting and falling away of kingdoms and countries from the fee of Rome; whereby it shall come to pafs, that it fhall be exceedingly weakened, and brought fo low, that the kings of the earth fhall eafily take it; or, as the Holy Ghoft fpeaketh, fhall eafily país over their Euphrates being dried up, and enter their Babylon. But then, will fome man fay, Shall there be no Pope at all a little before the coming of Chrift? I answer, and not I, but the Holy Ghost for me; he fhall be a poor Pope, a naked Pope, a defolate Pope, a Pope whose flesh fhall be torn, whofe flefh fhall wither, as

we shall hear by and by. He fhall be fuch a Pope, as Ifhbofheth was a king, when Abner and all Ifrael fell away from him.→→ He fhall be fuch a Pope as the king of Portugal is a king.

But it will be objected, How know you this? are you a prophet? can you foretell of things to come? I anfwer, St. John was a prophet, and indued with a prophetical fpirit in this matter of his vifions and revelations; and I speak no more than St. John hath fet down. And therefore I hope I fpeak within my compafs: for I do but relate St. John's words, and explain them in fuch meafure as I am able.

This prophecy doth plainly declare, that Babylon fhall fall, Rome fhall come down, the Pope shall never be efteemed again: and I do believe it to be fo; I believe God, I believe his word, I believe all that is fpoken in fcripture, and I do endeavour to perfuade others alfo. For fince the Holy Ghoft hath fo plainly and fo fully foretold it, why fhould we not believe it? why are we fo flow to believe all that is written in the feriptures? hath God spoken it, and fhall it not come to pafs? fhall any jot of his word fail? fhall we think he jefteth with us, when he doth fo often and fo feriously tell us of the downfall of Rome? Surely, furely, the caufe why men are not