and  called  it  both  the  house  of  his  Father,  and  also  the
house  of  prayer.  I  pray  ye,  be  as  good  here  to  your  mar-
ket-place as  ye  are  to  your  sale-wares  therein,  for  your  own3
bellies'  sake :  for  the  one  will  not  do  well  to  your  commo-
dity in  idleness  without  the  other.  But  take  good  heed  of  it,
if  ye  list ;  for  Christ  hath  already  called  one  of  them  an  house  Temple,
of  merchandise  and  a  den  of  thieves,  by  reason  of  your  un-
lawful occupying  therein.  Jo.  ii.  and  Lu.  xix.  He  hath  also
promised  to  overthrow  it  (Matt,  xxiv.),  and  not  leave  one  stone
thereof  standing  upon  another  (Mar.  xiii.),  because  ye  have
not  regarded  the  time  of  your  visitation,  or  not  accepted  his

[3  '  only,'  Mr  Offer's  copy.]


208


THE   LATTER   EXAMINATION


Tiberius.
Caligula.
warning,  eternal  word  of  health.  A  warning  might  the  turning  over  of
your  monasteries  have  been  unto  you,  if  ye  were  not,  as  ye  are,
altogether  blind.
I  cannot  think  the  contrary  but  he  calleth  the  other  also,
as  ye  handle  it  now-a-days  in  the  pope's  old  toys  of  convey-

Thenuui.  ance,  "the  abomination  of  desolation,"  or  such  an  abominable
idol  as,  subverting  Christ's  true  religion,  will  be  your  final
destruction,  both  here  and  in  the  world  to  come ;  for  idols
are  called  abomination  all  the  scriptures  over.  Yet  shall  it
endure  (saith  Daniel)  somewhere  unto  the  end  of  all.  Dan.
ix.  Whereby  ye  may  well  perceive  that  it  comprehendeth
not  only  the  triumphant  streamers  of  Tiberius,  or  golden
images  of  Caligula,  which  both  prevented  the  subversion  of
Jerusalem,  but  some  other  idol  else  which  should  continue.
