John,
that he will give his holy martyrs who suffer for his sake many a
special kind of joy. For he saith, "To him that overcometh, I shall
give him to eat of the tree of life. And I shall confess his name
before my Father and before his angels." And also he saith, "Fear
none of those things that thou shalt suffer . . . , but be faithful
unto the death, and I shall give thee the crown of life. He that
overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death." And he saith
also, "To him that overcometh will I give manna secret and hid. And
I will give him a white suffrage, and in his suffrage a new name
written, which no man knoweth but he that receiveth it." They used
of old in Greece, where St. John did write, to elect and choose men
unto honourable offices, and every man's assent was called his
"suffrage," which in some places was by voices and in some places
by hands. And one kind of those suffrages was by certain things
that in Latin are called _calculi_ because, in some places, they
used round stones for them. Now our Lord saith that unto him who
overcometh he will give a white suffrage, for those that were white
signified approving, as the black signified reproving. And in those
suffrages did they use to write the name of him to whom they gave
their vote. Now our Lord saith that to him who overcometh he will
in the suffrage give him a new name, which no man knoweth but him
who receiveth it.
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