dom of Christ, rising up upon the Ruins of his (_Satan_'s) Power; he
seem'd to retreat into his own Region the Air, and to consult there with
his fellow _Devils_, what Measures he should take next to preserve his
Dominion among Men; Here it was that he resolv'd upon that truly hellish
Thing call'd Persecution, by which, _tho' he prov'd a foolish Devil in
that too_, he flatter'd himself he should be able to destroy God's
Church, and root out its Professors from the Earth, even almost as soon
as it was establish'd; whereas on the contrary, Heaven counter-acted him
there too, and tho' he arm'd the whole _Roman_ Empire against the
Christians, _that is say_, the whole World, and they were fallen upon
every where, with all the Fury and Rage of some of the most flaming
Tyrants that the World ever saw, of whom _Nero_ was the first; yet in
spight of Hell, GOD made all the Blood, which the Devil caus'd to be
spilt, to be _semen Ecclesiae_, and the DEVIL had the Mortification to
see, that the Number of Christians encreased even under the very Means
he made use of to root them out and destroy them: This was the Case
thro' the Reign of all the _Roman_ Emperors, for the first three hundred
Years after Christ.

Having thus tried all the Methods that best suited his Inclination, I
mean those of Blood and Death, complicated with Tortures and all Kinds
of Cruelty, and that for so long a Stage of Time as above; the _Devil_
all on a suddain, as if glutted with Blood, and satiated with
Destruction, sits still and becomes a peaceable Spectator for a good
while; as if he either found himself unable, or had no Disposition to
hinder the Progress of Christianity in the first Ages of its Settlement
in the World: In this interval the Christian Church was establish'd
under _Constantine_, Religion flourished in Peace, and under the most
perfect Tranquillity: The _Devil_ seem'd to be at a Loss what he should
do next, and Things began to look as if Satan's Kingdom was at an End;
but he soon let them see that he was the same indefatigable _Devil_ that
ever he was, and the Prosperity of the Church gave him a large Field of
Action; for knowing the Disposition of Mankind to Quarrel and Dispute,
the universal Passion rooted in Nature, especially among the Church-Men
for Precedency and Dominion, he fell to work with them immediately; so
that turning the Tables, and reassuming the Subtilty and Craft, which, I
say, he seem'd to have lost in the former four hun