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But as he said he never made the bonds,
And therefore to them he will never stand;
Then to his wisdom I will now submit,
And the Fifth Day's Dispute shall finish it.
So now to judge him, let the world appear.
He saita, already they have judg'd him here;
And of his ways, he saith, they do approve;
Then look to Herod; who his ways did love,
When all the children he did there destroy,
His hellish malice then for to enjoy?
And next unto Herods I shall come,

And ask what pleasure then he brought to man, To have the damsel dance before the king, And John the Baptist's head the music bring? Then now his HAD shall music bring to all; For perfect so shall Satan feel the fall; And thy petition the world will now approve, · And say, "that this is music we do love; "Tis heavenly music sounding in our ears, "For Death and Hell have always been our fears, "That made us gloomy and in sorrow go; "In Satan's fetters he had bound us so, "That we sat moping, and our hearts were sad, "But now's the time our KING will make us glad. "No bloody Herod we have now to fear; "But now a Hero in our Saviour dear; "Because the rod of sin he'll now destroy, "And we in peace our KING shall now enjoy." So Satan now thy friends I'd have thee see; Because in order placed now they be. But first thy friend thou makest it was Cain; Iask thee who approved it at that time? And see their vices, how thou led'st them on, Until the Deluge over them did come. But now to Kings I mean to show thy reign, And show their end; like them thou shalt be slain. Pharaoh and Jezebel I'll place in thee; And all the bloody Kings before them see; And then thy ways I ask if men approve? Let men of learning all their conduct move; And all their reigns and actions let them show; For they were govern'd all by thee I know.

For on this Earth there never was a King
Of bloody hands, but doth thy Likeness bring;
And like their ruin now shall be thy fall.
And now from Judges I shall judge the whole;
And now from Judges men must stand or fall;
For like Abimelech, Satan, thou hast done;
Thou didst rob the Father, and destroy the Sons;

For on the stone 'twas by thy arts they died--
One was preserv'd, that here shall be applied :
It was my Son, that hid himself in death;
Because his body never turn'd to earth,
Nor ever did it perish in the dust,

But it arose for to instruct the just

And as his LIFE in death he then did hide,
The mysteries of it here shall be applied:
For boldly after he did then appear,

And warn'd his people and his followers here,
How all the arts of Satan were set up;

And as they chose him, what had they to hope?
For like the Bramble Satan did appear,
And so he drew his followers in a snare,
Until the fenced cities were destroy'd;
Jerusalem no longer was enjoy'd,

A fenced city as it was before;

And their strong towers he destroy'd them there.
For people like him they did after come,*
And so destroy'd the whole as he had done.
But now, Abimelech I'll name him here
A type of Satan; so he did appear;
And Satan now is like Abimelech come,
To ask the people for to crown him King,
That all my brethren he may now destroy,
And now, by murder he may all enjoy.
And so together, will you crown him King?
Through unbelief, in silence vote for him?
Then now, like Jotham, I do answer here;
And from this parable I shall appear:
The Trees are now sent out to get a king-
CHRIST or the Devil must the victory win:
And to the OLIVE-TREE I'll first appeal;

He is the BRANCH OF PEACE, and therefore he must fail,
To leave his glory, and come down below,

To leave the heavenly joys that there do flow;
For 'tis by ME they honour GoD and Man;
And so the kingdom I give to your hands.
If in your hearts you do appeal to ME,
To be your KING, I'll give my Kingdom free
Unto my friends, that now appear to ME:
I'll give my Kingdom, and I'll give it free;
For on this Earth I shall not come to reign,
But send my PEACE to all the sons of men,

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N. B The Reader is requested to refer to the chapters alluded to.

That firm as heaven it was made at first;
It cannot move: and so the end will burst,
And, like the Olive-tree, must steady stand,
And its decrees can ne'er be mov'd by man.
So here you see the OLIVE would not move;
And here you see your God, in perfect love,
To bring his kingdom, and Satan not at all;
For perfect like that chapter all must fall.
For as the FIG-TREE did deny the same,
I tell you all, such heavenly joys will come,
That no promotion men will wish to see,
But what in sweetness all do flow from ME:
For when the heavenly joys to you do burst,
And you, the sweetness of the fruit do taste,
Within its sweetness you'll say you will abide-
CHRIST is your KING, and Satan is denied.
So now unto the VINE I say you're come;

I am the Roor from whence the branches sprang;
And they I know will stick close to the VINE;
And man's promotion they will never mind,
But close unto the VINE they'll surely cleave,
And say, "all other pleasures now we'll leave :
"For in the Vine, if we do now appear,
"We know the TREE OF LIFE is promis'd there;
"And Christ has promis'd to protect his Vine;
"And there we'll stand, and in his vineyard shine."
So thus I know will be the minds of men,
For to stand still and see my kingdom come:
The Olive-branch they'll now expect in Peace;
The sweetest joys from Heaven will now increase-
"And this in faith we now expect to see:
"CHRIST is the VINE, and we the BRANCHES be.
"Then how can we promote Satan a King?

"We've sign'd the bond, Christ's vineyard now to bring ;
"And we'll not stir one step to break the law;
"CHRIST is the Vine, and we the Branches too,
"In every thing supported by his hand,
"And in his Vineyard we will steady stand."
So here the TREES I know they cannot move,
That stand in ME, and wait the truth to prove;
They'll not regard the honours done by man,
But in my Vineyard stedfast they will stand;
And 'tis in vain for Earth or Hell to move
The stedfast hearts that now do stand in love:
Because the joys of Heaven they fast will flow;
Sweet are the pleasures you will taste below,
If now you say you'll stick close to the VINE,
And let the world in their promotion shine,

That, like the Trees, will come your faith to move ;
You'll tell them plain, their ways you don't approve,
But now unto the Bramble I shall come;

And will you now bow down to worship him?
Then know, your stately Cedars they must fall;
For Satan now is come the King to call;
And like the Bramble he doth now appear;
Will you bow down, vain men, and worship here,
As now a King himself he'd now set up?
Then to the Earth you know you all must drop;
As from this parable it is applied:

And in the Bramble was the fire hid,
Which in Abimelech it did so appear;

He did cut down the boughs, you may see clear;
And so their towers he did surely burn,
And full of fire was the Bramble come;
For as they first did choose such wretched king,
Then their destruction I did let him bring:
And here of Satan stands a perfect sign;
And like Abimelech is now his mind;
But mark Abimelech, how he did go on
Till to the stronger tower he did come;
And when in fury he attempted there,
1 plac'd the WOMAN for to shew you clear,
As by the Woman did Abimelech fall, -
And by the Woman now, I tell you all,
The stone is thrown upon the Serpent's head-
Though like Abimelech now may be his plead,
That if he falls, it sure shall be by Man;

It never shall be said a Woman's hand

Was e'er the cause to make his pride to fall.

So both together now, I tell

you all,

That like Abimelech he will surely die;

That is, his power cut off from you, I say:

But yet, I tell thee, some will choose him king,
As by their silence they'll prolong his reign;

And so, I say, they'll bring their ruin on;

Because the Boughs and Branches they'll cut down;
A fire they'll kindle and his friends confound,

And many thousand lives they'll take away,
And fast their ruin doth before them lie.

But now with Satan I'll go further on,

And in the end my thundering voice shall come.
And now the fortieth page I'll answer here:
His gold and silver should it all appear,*
I ask the fool, if men can live by gold,
When every truth before them it is told,

N.B. The Reader is again requested to refer to the chapters alluded to, end also to the Pages in the Dispute with the Powers of Darkness.

That every blessing I should take away,
And soon destroy your fields of corn and hay?
The cattle on a thousand hills are mine;
Doth Satan think that I shall them resign,
Ever to give these blessings to his hand?
I ask what power he can now command,
To send one grain of wheat to make it grow?
No, all the Earth is mine, the fool shall know;
And so they all may live then as they list,
If Satan should this kingdom now possess:
Because no churches there would be at all,
To ask for blessings, for there none shall fall;
So" moping" in their churches none would be;
But soon for hunger butchers you would see;
Then one the other men would surely kill,
And as they listed, so men's blood they'd spill.
And so the truth, the fool, he did speak there;
For, as they listed, men would soon appear;
And so their hearts, I know, he'd not confine;
Because a hell is all that's in his mind.
But to the forty-second I shall come-
And his provoking words I let go on;
From age to age I did his words endure;

But now I tell him his destruction's sure:
He that advanc'd himself in heaven so high,
And made the rebel angels to comply
In every thing for to provoke their GOD,
And make me lay on them a heavier rod;
With indignation banish'd them to hell,
With their provoking words that now do swell;
But yet, with patience, I did longer bear,
And his provoking speeches I did hear,
And so, I say, I let him to go on:
I did not hasty cast him from my throne,
Until I saw his pride would not submit,
Confess his errors, that they had been great.
For perfect as he did contend with thee,
And spoke against thy God in blasphemy,
I say, in heaven he surely did the same,
And a superior power he there did claim,
Until to cast him he did ME compel;
But then I did not chain him down to hell,
'Till his provoking ways were fully up;
And now I'll tell the fool that he shall drop;
For in the mortar I have bray'd him here,
And still his pride and folly do appear:
He sees what ruin he hath brought on man,
By every art he hath laid his plan;
He sees the prisons and the jails appear;
He sees the gallows, and the sinners' fears;

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