blush to the world, and to scourge us with scorpions that we nourished and put in his hands: And also, how justly at that time he left us into such a damp, that like asses we couched under all burdens, and few came out to the help of the Lord against the mighty, drawing on them Meroz's curse, and the blood of their butchered brethren; after we had sat, and seen, and suffered all things civil and sacred to be destroyed in our fight, without resentment. And though the Lord, who called out these worthy patriots who fell at Pentland to such an appearance for his interests, did take a testimony of their hands with acceptance by sufferings, and singularly countenanced them in sealing it with their blood; yet he would not give success nor his presence to the enterprise, but left them in a sort of infatuation, without counsel and conduct, to be a prey to devourers, that by a sad inadvertency they took in the tyrant's interest into the state of the quarrel. Which should have warned his people for the future to have stated the quarrel otherwise. II. By this time, and much more after, the king gave as many proofs and demonstrations of his being true to antichrist, in minding all the promises and treaties with him, as he had of his being false to Christ, in all his covenanted engagements with his people. For in this same year 1666, he, with his dear and royal brother the duke of York, contrived, countenanced, and abetted, the burning of London, evident by their employing their guards to hinder the people from saving their own, and to dismiss the incendiaries, the papists, that were taken in the fact. The committee, appointed to cognosce upon that business, traced it so far, that they durst go no further, unless they would arraign the duke, and charge the king, and yet before this, it was enacted as criminal for any to say the king was a papist. But having gained so much of his design in Scotland, where he had established prelacy, advanced tyranny to the height of absoluteness, and his supremacy almost beyond the reach of any additional supply, yea above the pope's own claim, and had now brought his only opposites, the few faithful witnesses of Christ, to a low pass; he went on by craft as well as cruelty, to advance his own in promoting antichrist's interest. And therefore, having gotten the supremacy devolved upon him by law (for which also he had the pope's dispensation, to take it to himself for the time, under promise to restore and surrender it to him, as soon as he could obtain his end by it, as the other brother succeeding hath now done) he would now exert that usurped power, and work by insnaring policy to effectuate the end which he could not do by other means. Therefore, seeing he was not able to suppress the meetings of the Lord's people for gospel ordinances, in house and fields, but that the more he laboured by violent courses, the greater and more frequent they grew; he fell upon a more crafty device,