OF  THE 
 AT 
 
 PRINCETON,   N.  J. 
 
 i>  «_»  :v  _-v  -i*  IOX     O  It" 
 
 SAMUEL    AQNEW, 
 
 I  F      I'  H  [  I.  A  DE  I.  r  II  I  A  .     P  A  . 
 
 *££e£tez.. 
 
 Q46. 
 
 SCC  #11,124 
 
 Ettrick,  W. 
 
 Second  Exodus;  or.  Reflections  on  the 
 
 prophecies,  relating  to  the  rise,  -  fall,  -  and 
 
 x 
 
Ik 
 
/ 
 
'the 
 
 *  ♦ 
 i 
 
 OR 
 
 REFLECTIONS  ON  THE  PROPHECIES, 
 
 RELATING   TO 
 
 THE  RISE,— FALL,— AND  PERDITION 
 
 OF   THE 
 
 Great  Roman  Beast  of  the  1260  Years 
 
 AND 
 
 HIS  LAST  HEAD, 
 
 AND    THEIR 
 
 CONNECTION    WITH   THE  LONG    CAPTlVltY 
 
 AND 
 
 &ppvoac!)tttg  3&egtorattott  of  tfit  Stfos* 
 
 IN  THREE  VOLS. SECOND  EDITION. 
 
 WITH  ADDITIONS  CONSECUTIVE  TO  THE  END  OF  THE  LATE 
 REVOLUTION,  OR  FIRST  CRISIS  OF  THE  CONCLUDING  PART 
 OF     THE  TESTIMONY  OF  THE    WITNESSES,  BY  FIRE  OUT  OF 
 
 THEIR    MOUTHS. "  AND    IF    ANY    ONE    WILL     HURT    THEM 
 
 —HE     MUST     IN      THIS     MANNER     BE      KILLED."       REV.    xi. 
 
 By  the  Rev.  W.  ETTRICK,  A.  3L 
 
 Me  Vestigia  terrent 
 Omnia  te  adversum  spectantia,  nulla  retrorsura.     Hor.  Ep.  I.  L 
 
 VOL.     II. 
 
 ,e  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  that  the  Lord  shall  set  hi9 
 hand  again  the  Second  Time  to  recover  the  Remnant  of  his  Peo- 
 ple— And  there  shall  be  an  high  way  for  the  Remnant  of  his  Peo- 
 ple, like  as  it  was  to  Israel  in  the  day  when  he  came  up  out  of  the 
 Land  of  Egypt."  Isai.  xi.  11,  16. 
 
 |?ttn&n*lan& ; 
 
 PRINTED   FOR   THE   AUTHOR  BY  J.    GRAHAM, 
 
 \ND  SOLD  BY    L.  B.  SEELEY,  1C9,  FLEET-STREET,  R.  BALDWIN.- 
 
 47,  PATFR-NOSTER  ROW,  LONDON,  AND  BY  THE 
 
 BOOKSELLERS  IN  YORK,  DURHAM, 
 
 AND    NEWCASTLE, 
 
 1814 
 
CONTENTS  OF  VOL.  II. 
 
 SECTION   XIX. 
 
 The  Apocalypse  an  arrangement  and  elucidati- 
 on of  all  former  prophecies  concerning  the 
 times  of  the  Gospel. — State  of  religion  in  the 
 Roman  empire  in  the  primitive  times  — Jea- 
 lousy and  malice  of  the  pa^an  emperors,  watch- 
 ful for  the  destruction  of  Christianity,  ar  the 
 instigation  of  the  old  sew  pent,  there  in  pos- 
 session of  the  temples  — War  between  the  two 
 religions  — Triumph  of  the  Gospel  — The  dra- 
 gon's malice  thereby  increased. — He  excites 
 fresh  enmity,  and  raises  new  partisans.— Re- 
 covers his  old  influence,  and  is  worshipped 
 again,  but  under  disguised  attriDutes  —  The 
 two  beasts  and  the  image,  and  their  worship- 
 pers.—  ihe  mark—  and  number  of  the    east. 
 
 Page  1 
 SECTION    XX. 
 
 The  superstitious  abuse  of  religious  signs  no 
 reason  against  the  sober  use  of  them  —The 
 witnesses  themselves  are  distinguished  by  a 
 mystical  name. — The  Gospel  brought  out  of 
 
 a 
 
C&N  If, NTS. 
 
 popi&h  darkness  at  the  reformation,  appears 
 like  a  Revelation  newly  made  — Wickliff 
 the  first  angel  that  appears  in  the  ecclesiasti- 
 cal heaven  proclaiming  it : — Luther  and  his 
 followers,  the  second  and  third  angels.— Lu- 
 THEa  dissolves  the  enchanted  spell  of  a  pur- 
 gatory — The  harvest  and  vintage  ap- 
 pointed to  mystic  Babylon.  35 
 
 SECTION    XXI. 
 
 The  opening  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  testi- 
 mony in  heaven,— or  the  reformation  of  re- 
 ligion and  the  church,— preparatory  to  the 
 seven  divine  judgments  upon  the  kingdom  of 
 the  Bi  ast, — which  are  to  effect  its  total  over- 
 throw — The  impenitency  and  blindness  of  his 
 worshippers  (while  a  long  respite  is  given  them) 
 still  continuing. — The  judgment  begins  with 
 the  plague  of  a  figurative  ulcer. — By  the  in- 
 fliction of  the  second  plague,  its  corroding  ma- 
 lignancy spreads  over  the  whole  popish  system, 
 —and  works  deadly  effects  by  the  influence  of 
 the  third.  49 
 
 SECTION  XXII. 
 
 Th?  church  of  the  witnesses  gives  glory  to  God 
 for  the  truth  and  justice  of  his  dispensations, 
 in  the  iulfilment  of  prophecy,— The  apostate 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 church  perseveres  in  her  misapprehension  of 
 them.— The  fourth  vial  poured  out, — repre- 
 sents the  scorching  heat  of  despotic  power  and 
 cruel  tyranny. — The  fifth  vial,  a  darkn-ss  both 
 >  political  and  moral. — The  remarkable  wisdom 
 of  Providence  in  these  judgments,  which  are 
 adapted  to  set  before  the  eyes  of  sinners  the 
 crimes  that  drew  these  miseries   upon  them. 
 
 74 
 
 SECTION  XXIII. 
 
 The  sixth  vial  makes  preparation  for  the  resto- 
 ration of  the  jews,  by  the  fall  of  the  Turk- 
 ish empire,  and  in  its  consequences  becomes 
 a  plague  of  the  papal  apostacy  —The  state 
 of  the  world  at  this  period  a  general  subjection 
 to  an  universal  tyranny  — The  head  of  the 
 apostacy  (ejected  from  royal  and  independent 
 sovereignty  by  the  effect  of  the  fifth  plague)  is 
 stiled  from  henceforth  the  false  prophet. 
 — An  hopeful  scheme  set  on  foot  against  the 
 church  of  the  witnesses  ostensibly,  but  against 
 Christianity  itself  in  design.  10*2 
 
 SECTION  XXIV.  ^tora- 
 
 Christian  faith  and  patience  put  to  the  test  with 
 unexampled  severity  _  The  true   time  of  the 
 death  of  the  witnesses. — The  restoration  of  th.* 
 a  2 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 jews,  in  what  manner  it  becomes  one  of  the 
 plci6ue>  of  popery.—  ihe  Valley  of  Deacon, 
 —  fatal  to  the  antichristian  powers. — Prophetic, 
 picture  of  Christ,  in  his  wars  against  tlie  Beast. 
 — He  conquers  by  .uffeiin  s. — bavage  procla- 
 mation for  the  extermination  of  the  witnesses, 
 is  reversed  upon  theii  enemies.— Ihe  seventh 
 vial. —  i  he  b  ast  ana  f.-*lse  p.  ophet  broken, 
 and  snareu,— and  iaken. —  lheir  leaiiui  end. 
 
 SECTION     XXV. 
 
 The  consequences  of  the  seventh  vial.— The, 
 mystery  of  t.»od  is  finished. —  ihe  remaining 
 strength  of  the  apostacy  wasted  by  intestine 
 division  and  civil  wars,  which  depopulate  the 
 papal  kingdoms  —  buppression  of  the  popish 
 church  aigniues  and  authorities. — Great  inve- 
 teiacy  of  that  supestiuon,  which  even  these 
 teinbie  and  long  continued  judgments  cannot 
 easily  subdue.  154 
 
 SECTION  XXVI. 
 
 .A. 
 The  ch'"     -i  of   Pome  clearly  pointed   out  by  Si 
 
 as  the  object  ol  the  foregoing  prophecies. 
 --  1  xhibited  as  an  adulteress,  sorceress,  and 
 murderess — Wonderful  coincidence  of  exist- 
 ing facts  with  this  description. — Hymns  to  Ma* 
 
£ONT£NTS, 
 
 huzzim  — St  John's  hieroglyphic  explained  by 
 ci  cumstances  of  locality  which  the  catholic 
 writers  themselves  admit.  170 
 
 SECTION  XXVII. 
 
 The  prophecies  of  the  ancient  prop'iets  against 
 Egypt,  F.dpm,  and  Babylon,  applied  to  Rome 
 by  St  John,  -  particularly  in  allusion  to  her  in- 
 toxicating cup,  and  dementation  thereby, — her 
 cup  or  trembling,     her  pride  and  false  security, 
 
 —  her  hypocrisy,  and  sorcery,  and  venality. — - 
 Some  of  these  prophecies  less  applicable  to 
 Babylon  than  to  Rome,  and  some  applicable 
 to  Rome  only,  as  her  destruction  by  volcanic 
 fire, — and  the  universal  abhorrence  in  which 
 her  memory  shall  be  held.  192 
 
 SECTION  XXVIII. 
 
 The  connection  in  prophecy  between  the  fall  of 
 Antichrist,  and  the  restoration  of  Israel  — Pro- 
 phetic illustrations  of  the  harvest  and  vintage. 
 
 —  They  are  destructive  to  popery  but  restora- 
 tive to  Israel  — Christ  coming  from  Edom. — 
 The  mystic  kphah,  the  original  of  St  Paul's 
 man  of  Sin  — Fruitless  attempt  at  the  restora- 
 tion of  Popery. — It  is  the  object  of  sacred  ab- 
 horrence to  God  and  man  for  ever,-—-The  har- 
 mony of  prophecy.  217 
 
contents; 
 
 SECTION  XXIX 
 The  silence  of  our  Lord  upon  the  subject  of  An- 
 ticnrist  accounted  for  — His  allusions  to  ami* 
 christianis  n  being  prophetic,  were  designed  to 
 be  explained  by  ume  and  events.  —  The  solu- 
 tion of  some  peculiarities  in  our  Lord's  con- 
 duct, upon  the  supposition  of  an  intended 
 allusion  to  the  Makian  Idolatry. — And  of 
 some  difficulties  in  his  preceptive  discourses, 
 by  a  reference  to  the  superstitious  abuses  of 
 Popery.  244 
 
 SECTION  XXX. 
 Our  Saviour's  notice  of  phylacteries  allusive  to 
 future  a1  uses  of  greater  importance. — False 
 ideas  of  relative  holiness,  applied  by  the  Jews 
 to  the  temple  of  God,  by  Papists  to  idol  tem- 
 ple-5,  the  shrines  of  the  Saints,  their  reliques 
 and  images. — Our  Lord's  picture  of  pharisai-' 
 cal  religion  the  true  type  of  Popery  — Tradi- 
 tion abused  more  by  Papists  than  by  the 
 Scribes. — The  taking  away  the  sacramental 
 cup — Many  of  Christ's  parables  allude  to  Po- 
 pery j — particularly  the  evil  eye — and  the  evil 
 servant.  272 
 
 SECTION  XXXI. 
 
 DaniePs     interpretation     of    Nebuchadnezzar's 
 dream   of  the  great    image,   the   type  of  the 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 four  great  universal  monarchies. — The  last 
 of  them,  or  the  Roman  empire,  of  great 
 importance  in  a  prophetical  view. — Some 
 of  its  distinguishing  peculiarrities  concisely 
 noticed-  #97 
 
 SECTION    XXXII. 
 
 Daniel^  brief  sketch  of  the  Roman  empire  un- 
 der the  emblem  of  the  legs  of  a  great  image, 
 in  chap,  second,  illustrated  by  himself  in  three 
 following  visions. — In  chap,  seventh,  by  the 
 fourth  beast  and  his  little  horn  — In  chap, 
 eighth,  by  the  king  of  fierce  countenance.— 
 In  chap,  eleventh,  by  the  king,  the  great  de- 
 fender of  Mahuzzim — The  substance  of  these 
 four  representations  given  collectively  by  St 
 John  in  his  two  beasts  and  their  image  — The 
 false  miracle  of  commanding  fire  to  come 
 down  from  heaven,  compared  with  a  true  one 
 of  the  witnesses. — The  character  of  the  same 
 antichristian  chief,  as  drawn  by  David,  con- 
 formably to  the  prophecies  which  followed 
 alter,  and  to  historical  truth.  «ilT 
 
 SECTiON  XXXIII. 
 
 The  Roman  empire  divided,  or  the  origin  of  the 
 two  beasts  of  St  John,  the  antichristian  idola- 
 trous and  persecuting  Roman  empire,  and  the 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 church  hierarchy  and  papacy  engrafted  upon  it. 
 — A  further  division  into  ten  kingdoms  in  ca- 
 tholic obe  Hence  to  the  pope  — The  union  be- 
 tween them  co  nfjared  to  iron  mixed  with  miry 
 clay  — The  ill  union  of  the  popish  errors  with 
 the  gospel  truth  —  The  papal  militia.  352 
 
 SEC  HON  XXXIV. 
 
 The  kingdom  of  Christ  announced  as  commenc- 
 ing in  the  Jays  of  the  fourth  universal  mon- 
 archy, or  the  Rom  \m  empire — But  not  es- 
 tablished in  the  fulness  of  its  power  and  glory 
 until  that  shall  be  totally  removed. — False 
 apprehensions  of  the  millennium  as  past 
 already. — Christ's  reign  on  earth  of  slow  pro- 
 gress.—  Antichrist  not  the  only  obstruction  to 
 the  kingdom  of  heaven  on  eartli  — Both  the 
 past  and  present  state  of  the  christian  world 
 inconsistent  with  it  _ Superstition  and  fanati- 
 cal enthusiasm  in  different  ways  tend  to  the 
 same  enJ,  in  defeating  the  due  influence  of 
 the  gospel.  — False  measures  of  holiness  and 
 spiritual  pride,  still  obtrude  themselves  upon 
 the  votaries  of  delusion  for  christian  humility 
 and  operative  faith.  31 1 
 
 SECTION  XXXV. 
 
 Supercilious  and  counterfeit  humility  a  badge  of 
 false  religion. — Shews  itself  in  different  ways. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 — Great  changes  in  both  the  religious  and  po- 
 litical world  are  to  be  expected,  before  the 
 kingdom  of  the  saints  shall  be  established  — 
 The  resurrection  of  the  saints,  and  reign  of 
 Christ  on  earth,  how  to  be  understood. — A 
 much  nearer  approach  to  perfection  in  holi- 
 ness, and  peace,  and  happiness,  than  we  can 
 at  present  well  conceive  — Yet  still  consistent 
 with  a  state  of  probation,  and  capable  of  inter- 
 ruption by  the  revival  of  wickedness,  before 
 the  final  consummation. — The  great  felicity  of 
 those  whose  lot  shall  be  cast  in  that  sabbath 
 of  the  world  408 
 
 SECTION  XXXVf. 
 
 The  Roman  Caiholic  Empire  of  Popery,  al- 
 though in  a  state  of  rapid  decline,  yet  still  ex- 
 ists the  chief  stumbling  block  in  the  way  of 
 Christ's  Kingdom.  -  It  is  to  be  broken  up  by  an 
 extraordinary  instrument  of  Providence,  work- 
 ing for  God  the  work  of  vengeance  without 
 knowing  or  designing  it  —His  typical  resem- 
 blance to  the  stone  cut  without  hands,  in  the 
 wonderful  circumstances  of  his  rise  and  suc- 
 cessful career.  43  \ 
 SECTION  XXXVII 
 
 Prophecy  only  with  certainty  to  be  interpreted  by 
 the  signs  of  the  times  — Great  changes  in 
 
 b 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 ihe  Roman  Empire  foretold  in  prophecy. — 
 Corresponding  indications  of  them  in  the  pre- 
 sent time.— The  scourge  of  Popery,  or  the 
 Breaker,  compared  to  Cyrus,  in  respect  of  his 
 success,  as  Go  *s  instrument  of  destruction  — 
 Allusions  in  the  Prophets  to  the  termination  of 
 his  wonderful  career.  456 
 
 SECTION    XXXVIII. 
 
 Recapitulation  of  the  remarkable  epithets  and  em- 
 blems, by  which  the  Breaker,  or  destroyer  of 
 the  papal  Roman  empire,  and  precursor  of  Is- 
 rael, is  distinguished  in  the  prophecies — His 
 usual  deep  policy  and  caution  over-ruled  by  the 
 irresistible  power  of  God,  in  one  remarkable 
 instance. — Papal  misinterpretation  of  the  Pro- 
 phecies corrected  by  a  Satanic  commentary. 
 
 485 
 
 SECTION  XXXIX. 
 
 The  fallibility  of  human  virtue,  a  strong  ground 
 for  the  scripture  caution— "to  watch," — Earth- 
 ly greatness  and  long  prosperity,  no  certain  to- 
 kens of  the  unqualified  approbation  of  heaven. 
 — The  prophetic  stone  has  already  fallen  upon 
 the  image  and  produced  considerable  effects. — 
 Its  own  magnitude  is  also  increased  to  a  moun- 
 tainous bulk.— Great  events  in  preparation. — 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Daniel's  concise  account  of  the  state  of  the  three 
 first  beasts  during  the  long  continuance  of  the 
 fourth  — They  are  deprived  of  empire,  but  en- 
 joy a  respite  until  the  fourth  is  slain  and  de- 
 stroyed, after  which  they  must  be  also  absorb- 
 ed in  the  common  vortex.  500 
 SECTION  XL. 
 Strange  blindness  of  papists   to  the  wrath  that 
 pursues  that  devoted  system  of  error. — The 
 cup  of  fury  sent  round  to  the  nations  in  its 
 connection. — The  reign  of  terror,  the  conse- 
 quence of  it. — The  doctrine  of  Balaam,  in  the 
 true  spirit  of  popery  — Modern  popery  divest- 
 ed of  nothing  but  power  ; — it  remains  still  as 
 objectionable  to  protestants  as  ever,  and  is  the 
 cause  of  the  woes  which  now  afflict  the  chris- 
 tian world. — England's  exemption,  through  di- 
 vine mercy,  provided  for  by  the  prescience  of 
 God, — but  can  only  be  perpetuated  to  the  end 
 of  the  indignation,  by  adhering  to  the  original 
 principles  of  the  reformation.  533 
 
 bs 
 
SECTION  XIX. 
 
 The  Apocalypse  an  arrangement  and  eluci- 
 dation of  all  former  prophecies  concerning 
 the  times  of  the  Gospel. — State  of  religion 
 in  the  Roman  empire  in  the  primitive  times* 
 — Jealousy  and  malice  of  the  pagan  emper- 
 ors, watchful  for  the  destruction  of  Christi- 
 anity, at  the  instigation  of  the  old  serpent, 
 there  in  possession  of  the  temples. — War  be- 
 tween the  two  religions. — Triumph  of  the 
 gospel. — The  dragons  malice  thereby  in- 
 creased.— He  excites  fresh  enmity,  and  raises 
 new  partisans. — Recovers  his  old  influence, 
 and  is  worshipped  again,  but  under  dis- 
 guised attributes. — The  two  beasts  and  the 
 image,  and  their  worshippers. -*~Thc  mark 
 —end  NUMBER  of  the  beast. 
 
 iN  the  times  which  preceded  the  gospel,  it 
 v\~as  not  iv"    tic]  :1  it  :my  further  or  more  par-* 
 iTOL.  U,  B 
 
ticular  elucidation  should  be  given  of  the  pro- 
 phecies concerning  the  monstrous  wickedness, 
 and  terrible  doom  of  Babylon,  besides  what 
 the  immediate  words  conveyed,  in  which  they 
 had  been  delivered.  Yet  it  seems  to  have  been 
 understood  by  the  ancient  jews  (perhaps  by 
 means  of  tradition  from  the  prophets,)  that 
 some  further  meaning,  and  a  great  mystery, 
 lay  concealed  under  that  prodigious  variety 
 of  magnificent  figures,  which  had  been  em- 
 ployed by  those  inspired  penmen  to  give 
 expression  to  their  descriptions,  equal  to  the 
 then  unknown  importance  of  the  subject.  But 
 when  the  time  arrived,  that  the  supernatural 
 agency  of  the  holy  Spirit,  in  this  way,  was 
 about  to  be  withdrawn,  and  no  living  pro- 
 phet should  any  more  be  sent  to  instruct  and 
 comfort  the  church,  against  the  heavy  pres- 
 sure of  her  approaching  afflictions  under  the 
 Ion'-'-  tyranny  of  Antichrist,  a  different  proce- 
 dure was  necessary.  It  then  seemed  good  to 
 the  divine  wisdom  to  give  additional  lights, 
 for  the  better  comprehension  of  those  pro- 
 phecies; and  such  as  should  clearly  shew  that 
 they  had  not  received  their  wl  'omplish-. 
 
ment  in  the  overthrow  of  ancient  Babylon,  but 
 for  the  greater  part  remained  yet  to  be  fulfill- 
 ed ;  and  to  give  such  further  marks,  as  should 
 help  future  ages  to  make  the  right  application 
 of  them,  in  the  season  of  their  accomplishment. 
 
 St  Paul  first  opened  to  the  affrighted  chris- 
 tians the  prophecies  of  the  coming  of  the 
 MAN  OF  SIN,  "after  the  energy  of  Satan, 
 with  all  power,  and  signs,  and  lying  won- 
 ders," to  deceive  the  world,  and  to  wage  an 
 impious  war  against  Chri&t  and  his  saints ;  as 
 Daniel  had  expressly  foretold,  and  as  Antio- 
 chus  Epipiianes,  (in  a  lesser  degree,  and  as 
 a  type  of  the  Antichrist  himself,)  had 
 done  to  the  maccabees.*  And  last  in  order 
 of  time  of  all  the  inspired  writers,  St  John, 
 called  the  divine,  for  the  clear  view  he  has 
 given  in  his  gospel  of  the  divine  nature  of 
 the  Logos,  or  Christ,  has  employed  his  pen 
 to  the  same  effect,  in  the  book  of  Revelations,  t 
 
 *  See  the  first  book  of  Maccabees,  in  the  Apocrypha, — 
 and  Prideaux's  Connections,  part  ii.  book.  iii. 
 
 f  The  book  of  Revelations,  probably  owing  to  the  mysti- 
 cal nature  of  its  contents3  and  the  numerous  forgeries  amongst 
 
This  mysterious  book  elosing  the  sacred 
 canon,  the  design  of  it  seems  to  have  been  to 
 serve  as  a  clue  to  the  unravelling  oi  the  hither* 
 to  perplexed  thread  of  the  prophetic  history, 
 so  far  as  it  relates  to  the  last  times ;  and  to 
 gather  together  the  scattered  lights  which  lay 
 spread  (in  orderly  confusion,  and  without 
 much  regard  to  connection  or  order  of  time,) 
 in  the  writings  of  the  prophets.  This  seem- 
 ing negligence  was  not  without  design,  and 
 was  for  those  times  expedient.  But  now, 
 when  the  time  was  at  hand  that  some  of 
 these  prophecies  should  begin  to  take  place, 
 and  the  seven  seals  be  opened,  in  regular  suc- 
 cession of  time,  by  their  corresponding  events 
 in  the  history  of  the  church  ;  the  scheme  of 
 a  regular  chain  of  prophetic  history  was  re- 
 vealed to  S\  John,  and  carried  on  in  several 
 visions,  down  to  the  end  of  the  world.  The 
 construction  of  this  system  oi  prophecy  seems 
 
 the  early  heretics,  was  not  so  soon  received  universally  as  most 
 o/  the  other  sacred  writings.  But  it.s  wonderfully  exact  cor- 
 respondence with  historical  facts  from  that  time  to  this,  as  well 
 .,  with  the  prophecies  previously  established,  must  have  settled 
 its  authenticity  beyond  all  other  evidences  with  every  friend  "c 
 .•   jn^  Rev  lntion. 
 
to  be  so  contrived,  especially  in  the  latter  and 
 more  important  parts  of  it,  which  relate  to 
 the  long  tyranny  of  Antichrist,  (and  is  of 
 great  consequence  to  be  well  understood,  and 
 to  be  applied  without  almost  a  possibility  of 
 mistake,)  that  a  transient  and  general  view  of 
 the  subject  is  first  given,  which  is  afterwards 
 unfolded  in  its  several  parts,  by  so  many  dis- 
 tinct visions  following,  and  representing  the 
 several  scenes  of  the  mystical  drama. 
 
 When  the  angel,  sent  with  this  communi- 
 cation, had  ended  the  eventful  narrative,  ha 
 said  to  the  holy  writer,  seal  not  the  sayings  of 
 the  prophecy  of  this  book ;  for  the  time  is  tit 
 hand.*  But  when  the  same  messenger  of 
 heaven  had  revealed  to  Daniel  the  original 
 matters,  of  which  St  John's  prophecy  is  as  it 
 were  a  republication  with  enlargements,  the 
 writer  is  commanded  to  shut  them  up, — inti- 
 mating that  they  would  not  be  understood 
 yet  for  a  great  length  of  time,  but  should  re- 
 main as  a  book  sealed,  and  which  cannot  be 
 
 *  Rev.  xxii.  10. 
 
6 
 
 read,  till  the  time  for  opening  it  is  arrived. 
 "  Wherefore  shut  thou  up  the  vision,  for  it 
 shall  be  for  many  days."*  It  relates  to 
 events  which  are  yet  at  a  great  distance  of 
 time.  And  so  again,  in  Dan.  xii.  4,  "  But 
 thou,  O  Daniel,  shut  up  the  words,  and  seal 
 the  book,  even  to  the  time  of  the  end  :" — 
 that  is,  until  the  end  of  the  mosaic  oeconomy, 
 when  a  revelation  more  explicitly  unfolding 
 all  these  mysteries  of  God,  should  be  given  in 
 the  christian  scriptures  ;  or,  perhaps,  by  "  the 
 time  of  the  end"  meaning  the  end  of  the  anti- 
 christian  tyranny  therein  spoken  of,  and  which 
 would  not  be  fully  understood  (especially  in 
 regard  to  the  prophetic  dates  of  the  times,) 
 until  explained  by  the  events  themselves, 
 which  are  to  be  the  fulfilment  of  these  pro- 
 phecies. "  Whenf  the  mystery  of  God 
 should  be  finished,  as  he  hath  declared  to  his 
 servants  the  prophets :" — Until  then,  con- 
 tinues the  angel,  "  go  thy  way,  Daniel,  for 
 the  words  are  closed  up,  and  sealed,  till  the 
 
 TIME  OF  THE  EK&"% 
 
 *  Dao,Vui.  26.  f    Rev.  x.  7.  \    Dan.  xii.  9. 
 
In  this  mystical  history,  therefore,  we  ac- 
 cordingly find  that  St  John  not  only  confirms 
 all  that  St  Paul  had  said  many  years  before, 
 concerning  the  great  apostacy,  and  the 
 man  of  sin  at  the  head  of  it ;  but  adds  some 
 additional  features  of  that  singular  character,  in 
 strict  conformity  with  the  original  outline  of 
 Daniel,  and  the  sketches  of  St  Paul.  He  ap- 
 plies the  same  symbolical  language,  and  uses 
 the  same  sacred  hieroglyphics,  which  are  in- 
 troduced by  the  ancient  prophets,  and  adopts 
 sometimes  even  the  very  words  which  they 
 had  addressed  to  ancient  Babylon ;  applying 
 them  to  another  mistress  of  the  world,  mystic- 
 ally distinguished  by  that  and  other  names  in 
 prophecy,  figuratively  used. 
 
 In  the  eleventh  chapter  of  the  Revelations, 
 St  John  commences  his  mystical  historf  of 
 Rome,  with  the  persecution,  and  death,  and 
 resurrection  of  the  witnesses,  all  included  in 
 one  rapid  and  concise  sketch  ;  the  particular 
 circumstances  of  their  story  falling  in  along 
 with  the  other  events  related  in  the  course  of 
 the  following  visions.  In  the  former  part  of 
 vol.  in  c 
 
8 
 
 the  book,  he  had  concluded  the  prophetic  ac 
 count  of  the  eastern  empire,  and  the  punish- 
 ment of  the  christian  churches,  there  settled, 
 by  the  scourge  which  God  had  raised  up  for 
 them  in  the  imposture  of  Mohammed ' ;  on  ac- 
 count of  their  vicious  manners,  luxury,  super- 
 stition, heretical  depravity,  and  idolatry.  And 
 that  antlchrlstlan  imposture  arose  in  the  east, 
 about  the  same  time  as  the  popish  mystery  of 
 Iniquity  was  set  up  in  the  west ;  and  the  same 
 term  of  duration  seems  to  be  assigned  to  each 
 of  them,  that  is,  forty  and  two  months  of  pro- 
 phetic days,  which,  counting  every  day  for  a 
 year,  is  1260  years."*  Mohammedism  has  ac- 
 cordingly succeeded  as  universally  in  the  east 
 as  popery  in  the  west,  and  has  reduced  the 
 christian  religion  (if  it  deserves  that  name)  to 
 the  lowest  state  of  degradation.  These  once 
 formidable  powers,  seem  to  keep  equal  pace 
 now  in  their  decline,  and  will  probably  sink 
 together, 
 
 FThe  measuring  of  the  temple,  with  which 
 the  eleventh  chapter  begin*,  is  the  taking  01 
 
 *  Rev.  xi.  CJ ;  liii.  5. 
 
9 
 
 an  estimate  of  the  state  of  religion  in  general, 
 at  this  period,  and  it  is  a  very  unfavorable 
 one.  The  prophet  is  commanded  to  mea- 
 sure only  the  holy  place  and  the  altar,  but  to 
 omit  the  court  and  outer  precincts  of  the  tem- 
 ple, as  the  whole  of  that  was  given  up  to  the 
 profanation  of  the  "  gentiles,  and  the  holy 
 city  shall  they  tread  underfoot  forty  and  two 
 months."  If  this  alludes  to  the  mohamme- 
 dans,  at  that  time  in  possession  of  the  holy 
 city  of  Jerusalem,  and  retaining  it  against  the 
 utmost  force  of  the  seven  crusades  even  to 
 this  day ;  it  shews  the  low  and  abject  state  to 
 which  Christianity  should  be  reduced,  where- 
 ever  the  vrefcent  prevailed  ;  and  the  few  sin- 
 cere christians  that  would  be  found  amongst 
 even  the  professors  of  the  christian  faith  in 
 the  eastern  churches.  If  it  alludes  to  the  cor- 
 rupt state  of  religion  in  the  west,  at  the  period 
 when  the  papal  tyratmy  was  set  up,  and  if  Je- 
 rusalem (trodde?i  down  by  the  papal  gentiles , 
 more  heathens  than  christians,  in  both  faith 
 and  practice,)  means  the  church  of  Christ  in 
 general,  the  prophecy  is  equally  true,  both  in 
 the  smalloess  of  the  number  found,  "  which 
 
 C    2 
 
10 
 
 hid  not  bowed  the  knee  to  the  popish  Baal" 
 and  in  the  term  of  forty  two  months,  allotted 
 for  the  continuance  or  this  newly  risen  apos- 
 tacy  and  spiritual  tyranny  over  the  greater 
 part  of  the  church  of  Christ. 
 
 The  episode  of  the  two  witnesses  is  another 
 representation  of  the  same  thing.  It  intimates, 
 that  while  the  generality  of  nominal  christians 
 should  run  headlong  into  gentilism  and  idol- 
 atrous worship,  there  should  yet  be  a  small, 
 though  a  competent  number  of  persons  still 
 Jeff,  to  protest  against  the  corruptions  of  the 
 times,  in  every  age ;  and  to  keep  alive  the 
 knowledge  of  God,  and  the  hope*  of  salvation 
 by  the  mediation  and  merits  of  Christ  alone. 
 
 For  the  profession  of  these  now  heretical 
 cp'inlojiS)  the  witnesses  are  here  destined  to 
 undergo  a  series  of  cruel  persecutions,  and  to 
 seal  the  truth  of  their  testimony  by  death.  - 
 
 *  The  witnesses  are  to  continue  as  long  as  the  apostacy  it- 
 self,— "  a  thousand  two  hundred  and  three  score  days,  which  is 
 the  same  space  of  time  as  the  forty  and  two  months  before  men- 
 tioned.    For  forty  two  months,  consisting  each  of  thirty  days. 
 
It 
 
 The  power  here  given  to  these  two  witnesses 
 *'  to  shut  heaven  that  it  rain  not  in  the  days 
 of  their  testimony,"  "to  turn  waters  into 
 blood^  &c.  I  apprehend  to  be  only  a  concise 
 hint  of  those  calamities  which,  denounced  by 
 them  in  frequent  warnings,  but  still  in  vain, 
 will  be  the  final  result  of  their  testimony  be- 
 ing obstinately  rejected  by  their  persecutors. 
 This  makes  the  subject  of  another  vision, 
 chap.  1 6. — When  God  after  a  long  silence 
 and  forbearance,  will  begin,  by  successive 
 judgments,  to  move  the  apostates  to  repent- 
 ance, and  finally  to  destroy  the  incorrigible 
 and  unbelieving.* 
 
 The  remainder  of  this  chapter  is  rapidly 
 sketched,  the  particulars  being  in  the  follow- 
 ing visions  separately  presented  to  view,  and 
 distinctly  enlarged  upon.     It  shews  what  will 
 
 are  equal  to  a  thousand  two  hundred  and  three  score  days,  or 
 years,  in  the  prophetic  stile  ;  which  is  the  very  period  assigned 
 by  Daniel  (vii.  25',  xii.  7,)  and  St  John  (Rev.  xiii.  5,)  for 
 the  tyranny  and  idolatry  of  the  church  of  Rome." — Newton, 
 vol.  iii.  p.  135, 
 
 *  See  secUvinp,  190,  and  sect.  xxiv. 
 
fee  the  uidmate  consequence  of  this  struggle 
 betv  rigtu    ry  and  popery ,  perpetuated 
 
 for  12C  . :,  and  terminating  at  last  in  the 
 
 resurrection  of  the  witnesses,  or  the  rictory  of 
 Christ  over  Antichrist,  when  "  the  kingdoms 
 of  this  world  shall  become  the  kingdom  of 
 our  Lord,  and  of  his  Christ,  and  he  shall 
 reign  for  ever  and  ever.  Bishop  Newton 
 observes,  "  St  John  is  here  rapt  and  hurried 
 away  as  it  were  :o  a  view  of  the  happy  mil- 
 lennium, without  considering  the  steps  pre- 
 :  :nd  cor.  The  two  last 
 
 es  contain  a  brief  account  of  the  events 
 ■■-  even  to  :  I   of  t'le 
 
 world.     "  The  :f  the  natibns"  v 
 
 -agog,  related  al  .  xx. 
 
 8c  c  —  and  th  e  judgments  ofGc      upon  that 
 atheistical  c~  p.  xx.  9,  and  h  z e .-..    . 
 
 1, — and  the  general  judgment,  Rev.   xx.    i~, 
 &c. 
 
 be  prop;  :hus  entered  upon  the 
 
 .ry  of  the  western  church,  goes  back  in 
 
 .  xii.  to  give  an  account  of  the  establish- 
 
 mer.  as  the  religion  of  the  cm- 
 
13 
 
 pire,  after  a  long  struggle  against  paganism, 
 and  its  victory  over  it,  by  the  christian  em-* 
 peror  Constantine  the  great  being  called  to 
 the  throne ;  which  happened  about  the  year 
 of  Christ  313. 
 
 The  christian  church  is  here  represented  as 
 ■  a  woman  cloathed  ivith  the  sun"    The  licht 
 
 o 
 
 of  the  gospel,  when  compared  with  the  dark- 
 ness of  heathenism,  might  well  deserve  such 
 an  emblematical  device,  notwithstanding  the 
 corruptions  which  then  began  to  creep  into  the 
 faith  and  worship  of  the  church ;  for  it  is  the 
 contrast  between  the  religion  abolished  and 
 mat  now  established  in  its  room,  that  is  here 
 attended  to.  "  The  moon  under  her  feet"  is  an 
 emblem  of  the  Mosaic  oeconomy,  upon  which 
 the  foundations  of  the  church  were  laid  :*  and 
 the  heaven  which  is  here  the  scene  of  these 
 wonders,  is  the  roman  empire  in  its  whole  ex- 
 tent at  that  time,  the  contest  for  superiority 
 between  the  two  religions  being  carried  on  in 
 every  part,  as  well  as  in  the  capital  city.  The 
 Dragon,  as  appears  from  the  description  of 
 
 *  £ph.  ii.  20. 
 
n 
 
 him,  as  being  red,  and  having  seven  beads  and 
 ten  horns,  and  seven  crowns  upon  his  heads, 
 represents  the  roman  imperial  power  ;  red,  or 
 purple,  being  the  colour  worn  only  by  the 
 emperors  of  Rome  pagan,  as  it  has  since  been 
 the  distinguishing  colour  of  the  masters  of 
 papal  Rome.  Mystically,  it  expresses  in  both 
 cases  the  bloody  persecutions  Rome  hath  carried 
 on  against  the  true  church  of  Christ,  first  as 
 a  pagan  persecutor,  and  next  as  an  antichris- 
 tian.  The  seven  heads  are  the  seven  moun- 
 tains on  which  Rome  was  built. :"  The  ten 
 horns  are  the  ten  kingdoms  into  which  the 
 empire  was  to  be  divided,  when  it  became  a 
 papal  persecutor ;  and  the  seven  crowns  shew 
 that  the  division  had  not  yet  at  this  juncture 
 
 *  The  description  of  Ovid  applies  to  Rome  in  both  the  cir- 
 cumstances which  he  mentions,  equally  under  the  rule  of  thr 
 pope,  as  it  did  under  that  of  the  pagan  emperors. — 
 
 Sed  quse  de  septem  totum  circumspicit  orbem 
 Montibus,  imperii  Roma  deumque  locus. 
 
 Ovid,  Tristi 
 
 u  Rome  from  her  seven  hills  the  globe  commands, 
 The  seat  of  empire,  and  the  place  of  gods." 
 
 They  have  still  gods  of  wood  and  stone  there  now,  as  heretofore. 
 
15 
 
 taken  place,  the  imperial  or  sixth  form  of 
 government  still  subsisting,*  and  the  seventh 
 being  not  yet  come.  "  And  his  tail  drew  the 
 third  part  of  the  stars  of  heaven,  and  cast  them 
 to  the  earth.  (Ver.  4.) — This  may  signify  the 
 great  number  of  christian  bishops  which  were 
 ejected  from  their  sees,  and  sent  into  banish- 
 ment, or  suffered  martyrdom,  during  these 
 contests  in  the  imperial  heaven,  from  which  at 
 length,  by  the  succession  of  Constantine,  the 
 pagan  dragon  was  himself  cast  down.  (ver.  o,.)"{" 
 
 *  Bishop  Newton  reckons  up  the  different  forms  of  govern- 
 ment which  successively  prevailed  at  Rome  thus, — kings,  con- 
 suls,   DICTATORS,    DECEMVIRS,    MILITARY    TRIBUNES    with 
 
 consular  authority  ; — (these  five  from  Livy  and  Tacitus  ;) — ■ 
 the  Cjesars  were  the  sixth,  the  Popes  the  seventh. 
 
 ■\  The  dragon  described  in  Rev  xii.  3,  and  the  beast  in  Rev. 
 xiii,  1,  are  manifestly  the  same  ;  and,  as  Bishop  Newton  ob- 
 serves, u  was  beyond  all  dnubt  designed  to  represent  the  roman 
 empire,  as  both  ancients  and  moderns,  papists  and  protestants 
 are  agreed."  The  only  point  in  dispute  is,  whether  pagan  or 
 papal  Rome  be  meant ;  which  must  be  determined  by  the  cha- 
 racter and  actions  ascribed  to  the  beast. 
 
 The  word  dragon  or  serpent  is  also  used  in  this  place  and 
 in  the  prophets  hieroglyphically,  to  represent  the  malice  and 
 agency  of  "  the  old  serpent,  called  the  devil  and  satan," — 
 o  Kxhxpms  2ix?c,}.<&>.  xx'i  o  G-etrxvui,  (Rev.  xii.  9,  Gen.iii.  14;) 
 
 VOL.  I  J,  D 
 
16 
 
 The  period  under  contemplation  was  cer- 
 tainly a  very  important  crisis,  and  worthy  of 
 this  particular  notice  by  the  spirit  of  prophecy. 
 It  was  the  violent  and  bloody  struggle  between 
 paganism^  for  the  continued  possession  of  the 
 temples  of  the  gods  and  the  imperial  throne 
 which  it  had  hitherto  enjoyed,  and  Christianity 
 for  that  establishment  to  which  it  now  aspir- 
 
 as  being  at  the  bottom  of  all  this  persecution  of  religion  bf 
 Rome,  in  both  her  states,  pagan  and  antichristian.  Thus  in 
 Psalm  xci,  13,  the  prophet  says  of  Christ — "  The  Ron  and  the 
 dragon  shalt  thou  tread  under  thy  feet," — alluding  to  the  ultU 
 mate  triumph  of  true  religion  over  the  savage  force  of  persecu- 
 tion and  the  malice  of  hell ;  which  was  once  fulfilled  by  the 
 Conversion  of  the  empire  from  paganism  to  Christianity,  the  great 
 event  celebrated  in  this  chapter  (Rev.  xii.),  and  will  be  again, 
 by  its  conversion  from  popery  to  the  gospel.   (Rev.  xviii.) 
 
 To  this  conquest  to  be  achieved  by  Christ,  Isaiah  (xxvii.  I,) 
 alludes, — "  In  that  day  the  Lord  with  his  sore  and  great  and 
 strong  sword  shall  punish  leviathan  the  piercing  serpent ;  even 
 leviathan  that  crooked  serpent  ;  and  he  shall  slay  the  dragon  that 
 is  in  the  ska" — or  which  sltteth  on  many  tuaters,  (Rev,  xvii. 
 15,) — or  rlseth  up  out  of  the  sea,  (Rev,  xiii.  1,)  as  St  John  ex- 
 presses it  The  dragon  is  therefore  an  emblem  of  a  tyranni- 
 cal persecuting  enemy  of  the  church  ;  and,  as  such,  is  applied  to 
 Pharoah,  (Isa.  li.  9,  Ezek.  xxix.  3,)  as  here  to  the  pagan 
 emperors  of  Rome  and  their  antichristian  successors,  and  ulti- 
 mately to  Satan  himself. 
 
17 
 
 ed,  from  its  increased  numbers,  and  wealth, 
 and  influence.  The  Man  Child  about  to  be 
 born,  and  which  the  pagan  dragon  or  imperial 
 power  stood  watching  to  destroy  immediately 
 upon  its  birth,  represents  Constantine, 
 (the  first  christian  that  attained  to  the  purple,) 
 and  the  dangers  he  providentially  surmounted, 
 from  the  secret  and  open  hostility  of  the  pa- 
 gans :  or  mystically,  it  is  emblematical  of 
 Christ,  now  as  it  were  about  to  be  born  again, 
 by  the  triumph  of  his  gospel  over  the  devil, 
 (ver.  9,)  the  real  dragon,  which  was  the  insti- 
 gator of  all  the  previous  persecutions  by  the 
 pagan,  and  all  the  following  ones  instituted  by 
 the  papal  power,  against  Christ  and  his  afflict- 
 ed members.  When,  by  this  event  of  things, 
 the  pagan  persecuting  dragon  was  cast  down 
 from  the  throne  of  empire,  the  devil  was  also 
 cast  out  of  his  strong  holds,  the  temples  of  the 
 gods,  and  was  twice  subdued. 
 
 But  though  his  power  was  checked  by  this 
 fall,  his  enmity  was  not  extinguished,  but 
 rather  increased  by  the  triumph  of  Christian- 
 ity.    And  he  soon   renewed  the  war  with 
 
 D   2 
 
18 
 
 equal  success,  under  the  disguise  of  the  pon- 
 tifical tiara,  and  the  pastoral  crozier.      He. 
 could  not  prevent  the  birth  of  the  man  child, 
 but  he  soon  rendered  it  a  change  of  no  ad- 
 vantage to  the  real  interests  of  the  christian 
 faith.     By  his  deceptive  suggestions,  a  papal 
 or  antichristian  red  dragon  became  now  the 
 cruel  tormentor  of  the  church,  instead  of  its 
 cid  enemy,  the   heathen  persecutor.       And 
 though  "  the  child  was  caught  up  unto  God, 
 and  to  his  throne,"   (ver.  5,)   that  is  to  say, 
 curiUianuy  became  the  imperial  religion ,  the 
 next  thing  we  hear  of  (and  which  soon  fol- 
 lowed,) is,  that  the  woman  herself,  or  the  pure 
 church  of  Christ,  "fled  into  the  wilderness, 
 where  she  hath  a  place  prepared  of  God,  that 
 they  should  feed  her  there  a  thousand,  two 
 hundred,  and  three  score  days"  which  is  the 
 Same  term  assigned  to  the  two  witnesses,  and 
 to  the  apostacy  itself.     This  is  therefore  only 
 another  representation  of  the  persecuted  state 
 of  true  religion,  during  the  prevalence  of  po- 
 pery.    Here  in  a  low  condition,  and  in  the 
 silence  of  retirement,  the  faith  of  the  gospel  is 
 t.o  seek  for  safety,  and  be  barely  kept  alive  by 
 
19 
 
 providential  support,  until  the  witnesses  have 
 finished  their  testimony,  and  the  final  ruin  of 
 the  tyrant  is  to  be  hastened  on. 
 
 *'  The  war  in  heaven"  signifies  the  con- 
 tinuance of  the  struggle  for  power  in  the  em- 
 pire, between  the  two  religions,  under  the 
 conduct    of   Micael,    (the   patron    of   the 
 church    in   every   age,*   and   which   means 
 Christ   himself,)   on  the  part  of  the   christi- 
 ans; and  the  dragon,  or  chief  strength  of 
 paganism  under  Julian  the  apostate  and 
 other  iavorers  of  that  cause,  aided  by  the  siigs 
 gestions  and  malice  of  the  "  OLD  serpent,J" 
 called  the  Devil,  and  Satan,  which  de- 
 ceiveth  the  whole  (roman)   world,"  by  se- 
 ducing them  to  idolatry.     Christianity  having 
 thus  obtained  a  complete  victory  over  the 
 heathen  idolatry,  and  the  devil,  who  presided 
 over  that  horrible  system  of  delusion,  being 
 at  once  ejected  from  the  imperial  throne  and 
 the  temples  of  the  ancient  Gods,  is.  figura- 
 
 *  Dan.  x.  13  ;  xii.  1  ;  Jude  ix.  Rev.  xii.  J, 
 7  Gea.  iii.  14? ;  Rev.  xx.  2  ;  John  viii.  4^» 
 
tively  represented  as  being  cast  down  to  the 
 earthy  and  filled  with  increased  activity  and 
 malice  against  mankind,  "  because  he  know- 
 eth  that  he  hath  but  a  short  time."     Of  that 
 little,  however,  he  makes  a  diligent  use,  by 
 V  sowing  his  tares  amongst  the  wheat,  while 
 men  now  slept"  in  the  lap  of  ease  and  opu- 
 lence, too  hastily  conferred  upon  the  church 
 by  the  zeal  of  Const antine.     And  the 
 consequence    was    the    rapid  growth  of  the 
 errors"  and  superstitions  of  popery,  and  ere 
 long  the  appearance  of  the  man   of  sin  him- 
 self.    And  now  the   wily   dragon   reigns 
 again  under  another   name,  aid   introduces 
 once  more  his  "doctrines  of  devils"  and  idol- 
 atry of  every  description,  and  his  "  signs ,  and 
 lying  wonders,  and  all  deceivableness  of  un- 
 righteousness,"    And  for  these,  he  causes  the 
 blood  of  the  servants  of  Jesus  to  flow  again 
 in  more  copious  streams  than  heretofore,  and 
 with  an  augmented  inveteracy  of  infernal  zeal. 
 For  "  when  the  dragon  saw  that  he  was 
 cast  unto  the  earth,  he  persecuted  the  woman 
 which  brought  forth  the  man  child.     And  the- 
 
21 
 
 dragon  was  wroth  with  the  woman,  and  went 
 to  make  war  with  the  remnant  of  her  seedy 
 which  keep  the  commandments  of  God,  and 
 have  the  testimony  of  Jesus  Christ.'' 
 
 The  expression  here  adopted^  "the  rejvi- 
 nant  of  her  seed,"  is  remarkable,  and  inti- 
 mates that  the  objects  of"  his  wrath  were  by 
 this  time  reduced  to  a  small  number,  of  faith- 
 ful witnesses  to  the  commandments  of  God, 
 and  the  genuine  gospel  of  Christ.  The  ma- 
 jority of  the  seed  of  the  woman,  that  is,  the 
 church,  had  fallen  in  with  his  new  inventions, 
 and  contributed  every  one  his  share  to  the  re- 
 building of  his  kingdom  of  darkness. 
 
 Such  being  the  state  of  things,  the  prophet 
 proceeds  in  the  xiii.  chap,  to  describe  the  rise 
 of  the  antichristjan  beast,  the  succes- 
 sor of  the  pagan  dragon  in  the  ancient 
 seat  of  empire.* 
 
 *  A  least,  says  bishop  Newton,  in  the  prophetic  stile,  is  a 
 tyrannical  idolatrous  empire  ;  the  kingdom  of  Christ  is  aever  re- 
 presented under  the  image  of  a  beast- 
 
T2 
 
 He  emerges  out  of  the  sea,  that  is,  "  the 
 mingled  people"*  of  "  nations,  and  peoples,  and 
 kindreds,  and  tongues"  of  which  the  prodigi- 
 ous extent  of  the  roman  empire  was  made 
 up.f  And  his  seven  heads  and  ten  horns, 
 &cc.  shew  that  the  body  of  this  beast  is  essen- 
 tially the  very  same  as  that  of  the  pagan  dra- 
 gon, though  somewhat  changed  in  his  exte- 
 rior, and  become  divers  from  his  predecessors 
 by  this  disguise.  J  But  he  is  so  well  in  the 
 interests  of  the  subtil  dragon  which  anciently 
 presided  there,  that  he  yields  up  to  him  "  his 
 power,  and  his  seat,  and  great  authority. ," 
 The  pope  was  seated  on  the  throne  of  the 
 roman  emperors,  and  exercised  a  universal 
 authority  over  the  same  countries,  in  spiritu- 
 als pretendedly,  but  it  is  well  known  that  the 
 papal  influence  and  power,  at  which  the  em- 
 perors themselves  trembled,  and  "  which  shook 
 
 *  Jcr.  xxv.  20  ;  I.  37  ;  Ezek,  xxx.  5. 
 
 •J-  Rev.  xiii.  7,  "  and  power  was  given  him  over  all  kin- 
 dreds, and  tongues,  and  nations."  Rev.  xvii.  15,  "  The  wa- 
 ters where  the  whore  sitteth,  are  peoples,  and  multitudes,  and 
 nations,  and  tongue*," 
 
 ±  Dan.  vii.  23,  24.. 
 
23 
 
 kingdoms,"  would  brook  no  controul.    u  The 
 crowns,  formerly  on  the  seven  heads  of  the 
 beast,  and  which  were  the  symbols  of  so  many 
 forms  of  government  of  genuine  roman  origin, 
 or  otherwise  "  of  the  sefren"  (a  distinction  by 
 which  this  first  apocalyptic  beast  is  secured 
 against  the  claims  of  all  false  pretenders,  by  a 
 mark  which  cannot  be  counterfeited,)  are  here 
 (Rev.  xii.  3, — and  xiii.  1,)  removed  from  the 
 heads  and  placed  upon  the  horns.      This  in- 
 dicates the  great  political  changes  which  had 
 taken  place  when  the  scene  of  this  vision  be^an. 
 The  sovereign  power  had  departed  fromRome, 
 symbolized  by  the  heads,  and  was  distribu- 
 ted amongst  ten  independent  kingdoms  which 
 had  arisen  out  of  its  weakness,  and  were  for- 
 med of  the  body  of  the  beast.    These  crowned 
 horns,  formerly  provinces  under  the  undivided 
 imperial  power,  are  connected  in  a  new  spir- 
 itual confederation  with  the  western  empire 
 under  its  last  head,  the  dominancy  of  the 
 popes,  the  eighth  in  order  of  succession,  but 
 only  the  seventh  genuine  head.      These  have 
 no  symbolical  reference  to  the  eastern  branch 
 of  empire,  for  that  had  now  become  (by  a  prior 
 partition  in  Constantine's  family,)  a  distinct 
 second  beast,  symbolized  in  Daniel  by  the  two 
 
 VOL.    II,  E 
 
24 
 
 legs  of  the  image,  (Dan.  ii.  33.)  as  the  ten  toes 
 express  the  further  division  which  ensued. 
 But  though  the  crowns  were  departed,  "  the 
 name  of  blasphemy"  still  remained  upon  the 
 heads,  which  intimates  that  the  conversion  from 
 paganism  to  Christianity,  had  been  only  that  of 
 a  beast,  having  conferred  little  spiritual  im- 
 provement upon  Rome,  for  she  continued  still 
 immersed  in  deep  ignorance  of  God,  and  the 
 most  blasphemous  idolatry.* 
 
 *  Daniel  describes  it  as  "a  little  help"  (xi.  34,)  which 
 bare  upon  the  face  of  it  the  marks  of  its  insignificancy,  and 
 soon  admitted  of  the  recurrence  of  persecution  again.  Mr. 
 Faber  sustains  a  different  argument  upon  the  conversion  of 
 the  empire  under  Constantine.  He  seems  to  think  "the  name 
 of  blasphemy ,"  (a  token  by  which  St.  John  himself  has  pre- 
 viously determined  this  question)  had  jlown  away,  together 
 with  the  crowns,  and  left  Rome  as  clean  washed  of  her  bes- 
 tial  qualities,  as  she  was  despoiled  of  her  regal  power.  In 
 short,  he  contends  that  the  beast  then  died,  or — "was  not.'''' — 
 The  change  of  principles,  he  conceives,  was  the  "wound  by 
 a  sword,'"1  which  the  beast  received  in  his  sixth  head  ;  the 
 sword  being  that  of  Christ,  and  it  effected  the  death  of  the  beast 
 himself,  which  is  a  circumstance  St.  John  had  not  told  us. 
 But  when,  after  a  short  interval,  blasphemy— (which  as  Mr. 
 F.  admits,  is  only  constructive,  and  means  idolatry ,)--began  to 
 revive,  the  dead  beast  then  lived  again, — or  "was."  But  I 
 consider  this  argumeut  as  wholly  untenable  for  several  reasons. 
 
 First,  it  contradicts  St.  John  twice  over,  for  he  says,  that 
 "the  name  of  blasphemy  remained; — or  that  the  heads  (iden- 
 
25 
 
 tified  with  the  beast  himself,  here  manifestly),  were  still  idol- 
 atrous ;  so  that  if  a  change  of  principles  be,  according  to  Mr. 
 F. — ,  symbolical  life  or  death,  the  beast  did  not  die  at  this 
 time,  nor  at  any  time  afterwards.  This  conversion  was  there- 
 fore not  the  wound  St.  John  alluded  to,  by  which  the  sixth  or 
 imperial  head  actually  fell  5  nor  was  the  sword  such  as  Mr. 
 F.  conceives,  for  so  deadly  a  wound  by  that,  must  have  des- 
 troyed idolatry. 
 
 Secondly,  this  opinion  contradicts  St.  John  again,  in 
 supposing  the  death  of  the  beast  to  have  ensued,  when  it  was 
 only  his  sixth  head  that  fell.  But  the  beast  had  '"•seven,''''  of 
 genuine  roman  growth,  and  one  more  supposititious,  which 
 served  as  a  connecting  link  between  the  imperial  head  and 
 the  papal,  both  "0/  the  seven.''''  The  beast  therefore  did  not 
 die,  but  suffered  a  great  revolution  of  his  heads,  being  what 
 St.  Paul  meant  by  the  removal  of  the  T0  xctTi%o*,  before  whose 
 fall,  the  man  of  sin  could  not  be  set  up.  The  change  meant 
 by  St.  John  was  therefore  a  political  one,  affecting  the  gov- 
 ernment of  Rome,  and  had  nothing  to  do  with  principles  or 
 religion.  The  change  in  that  respect  is  the  subject  of  another 
 separate  vision,  in  which  the  swore?  of  Michael,  the  symbol  of 
 Christ,  achieves  a  victory  (a  partial  one  indeed  at  that  time,) 
 over  the  pagan  dragon,  by  which  he  was  expelled,  ostensibly, 
 from  the  throne  and  the  altars,  but  perpetuated  his  war  nev- 
 ertheless under  a  different  name  and  better  auspices.  The 
 sword  was  that  of  Odoacer,  and  the  gothic  rule,  of  short 
 continuance,  (ending  with  Justinian's  re-conquest  of  Rome, 
 and  the  capture  of  Vitiges,)  teas  the  sevtnth  kingdom,  (Rev. 
 Xvii.  10.)  but  was  not  "0/  the  seven,''''  any  more  than 
 Buonaparte's  kingdom  of  Rome  has  been  since.  Both  of 
 these  were  tyrannies  foreign  to  Rome,  and  to  her  wishes  and 
 
 E    2 
 
'26 
 
 interests.  They  held  her  in  a  state  of  vassalage,  obtained  by 
 the  sword  of  conquest,  and  maintained  by  force,  destructive  to 
 Rome,  and  not  cherishing,  like  a  true  head  of  the  beast's  own 
 ?ieck.  The  ancient  stile  was  dropt  in  both  cases,  and  a  new 
 one  adopted,  the  native  government  put  down  and  expelled 
 from  Rome,  and  the  seat  of  government  set  up  in  another 
 place;  at  Ravenna,  by  the  Goth;  at  Paris,  by  the  Gaul. 
 During  this  short  interval,  Rome  (like  her  beast,)  was  in  a 
 languishing  condition  of  political  obscurity  and  neglect,  yet 
 not  symbolically  dead,  because  one  head  more,  and  a  true,  or.', 
 remained.  Still  an  eighth  power  was  to  rule  at  Rome,  in 
 greater  vigour  than  before,  being  "of  the  seven"  and  posses- 
 sing all  the  necessary  characteristics  of  "seven  heads  and  ten 
 horns,"  which  after  the  fall  of  the  popedom,  in  1808,  no  power 
 on  earth  can  any  more  exhibit.  In  this  very  manner,  the  pope 
 was  set  up  by  Justinian,  as  "head  over  the  church,  the  judge 
 of  all,  himself  amenable  to  no  human  judgement ; — in  fact 
 an  antichrist,  or  usurper  of  Christ's  divine  rights  and  titles. 
 (Dan.viii.  25,-2  Thess.  ii.  4.) 
 
 R.  Fleming,  Mr.  Mann,  and  most  others,  admit  this  period 
 to  be  the  foundation  of  the  papal  power.  It  is  certainly  now 
 proved  to  have  been  the  true  date  of  the  1260  years,  and  it  is 
 probable,  from  the  very  authorities  of  Gibbon  and  Machiavel, 
 which  Mr.  Faber  (Dissert,  vol.  i.  p.  !2'J6 — )  quotes,  that  the 
 pope  now  exercised  a  considerable  share  of  temporal  jurisdic- 
 tion, as'a  budding  little  horn  of  Rome.  But  this  is  not  very 
 material,  as  the  prophecies  do  not  always  refer  to  actual 
 realities,  but  often  to  imaginable  subsistences,  the  claims  and 
 pretensions  of  Antichrist,  being  most  of  them  ideal,  false  and 
 wicked,  yet  not  the  less  the  objects  of  prophecy  for  that.  The 
 popes  claimed  the  possession  of  temporal  sovereignty  over  Rome, 
 
27 
 
 from  the  grant  of  Constantine,  (see  Season  and  Time,)  and 
 for  the  greater  part  of  the  1260  years  they  were  actually  i» 
 possession  of  temporal  power,  which  is  sufficient  to  a  symbol- 
 ical character.  It  needs  not  to  "  run  upon  all  fours,''''  as  Mr. 
 Bicheno  says;  even  the  ten  horns  were  not  always  ten.  What 
 it  has  notoriously  been,  that  it  may  be  symbolically  called. 
 
 The  succession  to  this  dominancy  at  Rome,  by  the  popes, 
 effected  a  compleat  re-animation  of  the  languishing  beast, 
 and  was  accompanied  by  all  that  wonder  and  .superstitious 
 veneration  from  the  roman  world,  which  St.  John  describes. 
 Rev.  xiii.  3,  4,  and  xvii.  10,  11. — But  any  succession  there 
 now,  under  the  altered  circumstances  of  Rome,  can  never 
 more  effect  a  re-animation  of  the  beast  of  the  sea,  which  was 
 slain,  and  his  body  given  to  the  burning  flame  of  revolution- 
 ary torture;  which  St.  John  calls  his  perdition — and  Daniel 
 vii.  11,  26.  assures  us  that  it  shall  continue  even  to  the  time 
 of  the  end,  when  a  more  fearful  perdition  will  overtake  the 
 modern  apostacy.    Rev.  xix,  20. 
 
 Thirdly,  the  symbolical  life  or  death  of  a  beast,  relates  to 
 political  revolutions,  not  to  principles,  and  those  of  no  or- 
 dinary significancy  in  the  eye  of  prophecy,  and  by  which  some 
 grand  and  ultimate  catastrophe  is  produced.  The  seven  heads 
 are  all  now  fallen,  but  the  fall  of  one  of  them  only  was  of 
 sufficient  consequence  to  effect  the  death  of  the  beast,  or  a 
 total  translation  of  the  domination  meant  from  the  beast 
 defunct  to  another  then  rising  to  power,  and  whose  character 
 and  exploits  are  of  a  different  description,  and  belong  to  other 
 times.  The  same  history,  that  of  the  seven  vials,  or  third 
 woe,  includes  the  reign  of  the  beast  of  the  abyss,  and  the 
 perdition  of  the  beast  of  the  sea,  or  the  particulars  to  be 
 understood  by  the  action  of  the  burning  flame  upon  his  pros- 
 
28 
 
 The  notes  of  character 
 by  which  St.  John's  bestial  system  of 
 Home  for  the  1260   years   is   distinguished, 
 
 trate  body.  That  principles  therefore  do  not  constitute 
 symbolical  life  of  Leasts  and  horns,  as  we  have  seen  once 
 before  in  the  Roman  revolution  of  A.  D.  476 — ,  so  we  see  the 
 same  proved  again  in  the  French  revolution  of  H89,  which, 
 in  its  progress,  has  effected  the  death  oj  the  beast,  but  his 
 principles  remain  as  much  alive  as  ever,  and  still  betray  daily 
 iheir  incurable  inveteracy,  and  a  dangerous  thirst  of  power. 
 Principles  are  represented  by  other  symbols  more  expressive 
 of  their  nature  and  tendency,  their  origin  and  effects.  If 
 good,  "  a  Shi  of  glass  mingled  with  fire — and  fire  itself  is- 
 suing out  of  the  mouths  of  the  two  prophets,  has  been  thought 
 by  St.  John  the  fittest  emblem  to  represent  them.  If  bad, 
 they  are  symbolized  by  smoke  issuing  out  of  the  bottomless 
 profundity  of  error  and  crime,  at  two  particular  periodg,  both 
 chronologically  fixed  by  the  context,  and  circumstances  of  the 
 case.  Or  under  a  change  of  circumstances,  are  equally  well 
 represented  by  three  evil  spirits  like  frogs,  which  issue  out  of 
 the  mouths  of  the  three  bestial  characters  of  chief  notoriety 
 and  power  in  their^day.  But  quite  contrariwise,  symbolical 
 life  refers  to  powers  of  rule,  and  dominancy,  which  in  the  case 
 of  the  little  horn,  and  the  image  of  the  beast,  was  of  a  mixt 
 nature,  combining  the  powers  of  universal  episcopacy  with 
 those  of  secular  but  limited  dominancy.  Justinian  by  his 
 state  miracles,  thus  endued  the  lifeless  image  with  vitality, 
 that  it  should  both  ordain  persecution,  by  laws,  and  actively 
 inflict  it  by  its  power. 
 
29 
 
 are  the  same  as  those  of  Daniel's  little  horn,f 
 and  St  Paul's  man  of  sin.J  Blasphemous 
 words  and  actions^  false  miracles  to  deceive 
 the  world,  and  establish  a  universal  spiritual 
 empire  upon  the  credulity  and  superstition  of 
 mankind ;  and  where  the  arts  of  deception 
 fail,  cruelty  and  persecution  are  called  in  to 
 his  aid  in  the  impious  war.  To  these  indica- 
 tions to  be  met  with  in  all  the  prophets,  as 
 ha9  been  already  shewn,  St  John  here  adds 
 two  additional  ones  of  his  own;  A  number, 
 so  curiously  adjusted,  that  the  numerical  let- 
 ters of  which  it  is  made  up,  shall  form  a 
 name  for  the  beast  and  his  image,  or  the 
 apostacy  and  man  of  sin,  which  cannot  be 
 applied  to  any  other :  and  A  mark,  the 
 badge  of  his  party,  and  a  universal  token  of 
 his  idolatry  and  apostacy  from  Christ,  the  re- 
 ception of  which  is,  of  gourse,  a  law  of  his 
 religion  that  cannot  be  dispensed  with.  u  He 
 causeth  all,  both  small  and  great,  rich  and 
 poor,  free  and  bond,  to  receive  a  mark  in 
 
 f  Dan,vli.  7,  8,  23,  24,  &c.  vm\  23,  &c.  xi.  36,  ky, 
 %  2  Thess.  ft  4  j  1  Tim.  iv.  3 ;  Isai.  xiv,  IS, 
 
30 
 
 their  tight  hand,  or  in  their  foreheads:  and 
 that  no  man  might  buy  or  sell,  save  he  that 
 had  the  mark^  or  the  name  of  the  beast,  or 
 
 *  "  The  mark  of  the  beast  in  the  forehead  and  right 
 hand,"  says  Newton,  "  is  an  allusion  to  a  custom  amongst  the 
 ancients,  so  to  mark  their  slaves.  And  they  who  were  parti, 
 cularly  devoted  to  the  worship  of  any  one  god  more  than  any  of 
 the  30,000  others  in  general  request,  had  some  hierogly- 
 phic of  the  god  impressed  upon  their  bodies." 
 
 But  this  mark  of  the  beast  is  here  evidently,  I  think, 
 designed  by  the  spirit  of  prophecy,  to  denote  some  striking 
 peculiarity  in  the  idolatry  of  the  papalians,  by  which  these 
 nominal  christians  should  be  distinguished  from  the  real  worship- 
 pers of  Christ. — And  it  is  doubtless  an  idolatrous  mark, 
 the  reception  of  it  being  threatened  with  the  utmost  severity 
 of  God's  judgments.    (Rev.  xiv.  10.) 
 
 The  abuse  of  t/x  sign  of  the  cross  in  the  superstition  of  po- 
 pery, is  exactly  such  a  mark,  for  the  cross  is  an  idol  of 
 principal  rank  in  the  kingdom  of  the  beast,  and  is  worship- 
 ped with  worship  of  the  highest  hind,  and  which  is  peculiar  to 
 God  himself.  "  Est  de  fide  catholica  credere  crucem  Christi, 
 aliasque,  in  omni  materia  adorandas  essecultu  Latriae." — Seve- 
 ritius  Chronolog.  Lugdunens.  pt.  3. — "  It  is  an  article  of  the 
 catholic  faith,  that  the  cross  of  Christ,  and  other  crosses,  of 
 whatsoever  materials  made,  are  to  be  adored  with  the  worship 
 Latreia  " — And  the  same  is  their  common  doctrine,^-"  asser- 
 5mus  cum  sententia  communiori,  et  in  scholis  magis  trita, 
 crucem  colendam  esse  Latreia,  id  est  cultu  divine" — Johannes 
 Turrecremata,  &  Gretzer,  lib.  i.  ch.  46.  "  We  do  assert, 
 according  to  the  most  received  and  approved  doctrine  of  \\k  ■ 
 
the  number  of  his  name.     Here  is  wisdom. 
 Let  him  that  hath  understanding  count  the 
 
 schools,  that  the  cross  is  to  be  worshipped  with  T  .atreia,  or 
 divine  worship."  And  he  even  adds,—"  the  same  honor  is  to 
 be  paid  to  the  image  of  the  cross,  or  even  to  the  sign  of  the  cross, 
 as  is  due  to  the  real  cross." 
 
 The  arguments  brought  by  Bellarmine  to  justify  the  prac- 
 tice of  crossing  themselves,  are  unworthy  the  learning  and  talents 
 of  that  great  prelate.    Jacob  blessing  his  sons  with  hands  cross- 
 ing each  other,  (Exod.  xii  7>)  "  cancellatis  manibus,"  being 
 so  directed  by  the  spirit  of  God,  that  the  younger  might  receive 
 the  right  hand  blessing :  and  God's  commanding  the  prophet 
 to  set  a  mark  upon  the  men  that  had  not    sinned  with  the  rest, 
 but  "  wept  for  the  abominations"  &c,  (Ezek.  ix.  4.)     What 
 is  all  this,  to  a  silly  papist  crossing  himself  to  keep  the  devil  off, 
 —to  make  him  lucky  in  his  business, — to   preserve  him  from 
 sin, — guard  him  from  danger,  &c — which  they  do  a  hundred 
 times  a  day,  and  that  on  the  forehead  and   right  hand,  &c. 
 And  to  interpret  Gal,  vi.  14,   "  God  forbid   that  I    should 
 glory  save  in  the  cross  of  Christ,"-— to  be  meant  of  a  material 
 cross,  or  the  sign  or  mark  of  it,  which  is  evidently  intended  oi 
 the  death  of  Christ  as  effecting  our  redemption,  is  a  perversion 
 of  scripture  worthy  of  popery. — Hist,  of  Popery,  vol.  i.  p.  205. 
 In  the  Horje  beats  Virginis,  according  to  the  use  of  the 
 church  of  Sarum,   is  this  devout  prayer  to  the  cross, — M  De- 
 liver me,  N.  thy  servant,  from  all  devilish  deceits,  and  the  worst 
 thoughts  that  abide  in  me."     Aid  in  the  breviar.   rom,  in 
 dominica  passion :  in  the   service  for  Passion   Sunday  is  this 
 hymn  : 
 
 VOL.  II.  F 
 
32 
 
 number  of  the  beast :  for  it  is  the  number  of 
 a  man  ;  and  his  number  is  666."* 
 
 O  crux,  ave  spes  unica, 
 Hoc  passionis  tempore. 
 Auge  piis  justitiam, 
 Reisque  dona  veniam. 
 
 O  cross  !   our  only  hope,  all  hail, 
 
 Now  on  this  Passion  Day. 
 Make  good  men's  goodness  more  prevail, 
 1  ake  sune i  s'  guilt  away. 
 
 Man  of  Sin,  b.  ii.  p.  50. 
 *  "  The  number  of  a  man,"  or  such  a  manner  of  numbering  as 
 was  at  that  time  much  in  use,  to  form  mystical  names  of  nu- 
 meral letters.  Several  names  have  been  produced  which  make 
 "p  the  number  666,  but  this  must  express  the  thing  meant,  as 
 well  as  the  number,  for  it  is  a  name  by  which  the  beast  should 
 be  commonly  called.  That  it  must  also  be  a  greek  name,  is 
 very  naturally  to  be  supposed,  as  St  John  wrote  in  greek,  and 
 tc  greek  churches.  Besides,  that  there  is  no  other  language 
 but  the  greek  and  hebrew,  in  which  the  letters  of  the  alphabet 
 are  used  for  numeral  figures, 
 
 Jreuasus,  about  ISO  years  after  Christ,  proposed  the  word 
 Lateinos,  as  being  by  him  received  "from  th  m  that  had  seen 
 the  Lord,"  and  probably  connected  with  the  tradition  that  the 
 latin  empire  was  the  existing  obstruction,  which  with-held  the 
 coming  of  Antichrist. 
 
 The  western  churches  of  Italy,  France,  Spain,  &c,  were 
 under  the  roman  patriarchate,  and  were  always  by  the  greeks 
 
33 
 
 called  "  latins  ';  When  they  saw  a  Frank  or  a  German, 
 the  question  was,  im  Xhtuvct  ;  are  you  of  the  latin  church  P — 
 The  subscription  of  their  bishops  to  general  councils,  are  call- 
 ed "the  subscription  of  the  latin  fathers."  So  that  at 
 the  time  when  the  pope  became  the  subject  of  this  prophecy, 
 they  were  commonly  called  latins  ;  and  u the  latin  church" 
 was  then  as  usual  as  now  "  the  church  of  Rome"  is.  "  They 
 latinize  in  every  thing.  Mass — prayers — hymns — litanies- 
 canons — decretals — bulls,  are  all  in  latin.  The  papal  coun- 
 cils speak  latin,  and  even  women  pray  in  latin!" — Moore's 
 mystery  of  iniquity. 
 
 The  objection  that  may  be  made  to  the  spelling  of  the 
 Word  with  a  diphthong,  is  of  no  consequence,  as  it  is  well 
 kuown  that  the  greeks  wrote  u  where  the  latins  have  an  i,  as 
 Nf<~Aej,  *Ett-£<g«s,  Nilus,  Epirus,  and  the  latins  themselves  an- 
 ciently so  wrote. 
 
 Quorum  virtutei  bellei  fortuna  perpercit. 
 
 Ennius,  lib,  vi.  26. 
 Or  if  a  hebrew  word   seems  more  proper,  there  is  such  an 
 
 one,  rVft'n — Romiith,  Romana,   in  the  feminine,  to  agree 
 
 with  rY07?2 — Melacoth,  kingdom,  or  with  beast. 
 
 Neivton,  vol.  iii.  p,  248. 
 A  —     30 
 
 A  —       1 
 
 T  —  300  -j  —  200 
 
 E  —       5  1—6 
 
 I    —     10  ft  —     40 
 
 N  —     50  "l  —     10 
 
 O  —     70  i  —     10 
 
 5   —  200  H  —  400 
 
 666  AATEINOs  666 
 
 F    2 
 
Si 
 
 "  The  vulgat  latin  is  enjoined  by  the  council  of  Trent,  to 
 be  used  as  the  only  authentic  version  of  the  scriptures ;  and 
 though  exceedingly  corrupt,  it  is  by  the  church  of  Rome  pre- 
 ferred to  tne  htbicw  and  greek  texts  themselves,  in  which  the 
 sc.iptures  were  written.  Thus  the  pope  has  communicated 
 his  own  language  to  the  nations  under  his  yoke,  as  the  mark 
 and  character  of  his  empire."— Newton  on  the  Prophecies. 
 
 "  Mr  Pyle  asserts,  with  great  truth,"  says  Newton,  that 
 "  no  other  word,  in  any  language  whatever,  can  be  found  to 
 express  both  the  same  number,  and  the  same  thing.  And  the 
 fatal  coincidence  in  both  names,  and  in  both  languages,  is  very- 
 extraordinary."  It  was  in  the  year  666  that  pope  Vitali- 
 AN  u  s  composed  the  latin  service,  which  he  enforced  upon  all- 
 nations,  that  according  to  the  prophecy,  the  corrupt  church 
 (or  beast)  should  speak  the  language  of  the  dragoti.  Rev. 
 xiii.  11,  and  Isai  xxviii.  11,  had  said — "  with  stammering  lips. 
 5)nd  another  tongue  will  he  speak  to  this  people" 
 
SECTION  XX. 
 
 The  superstitious  abuse  of  religious  signs  no 
 reason  against  the  sober  use  of  them. — The 
 witnesses  themselves  are  distinguished  by  a 
 mystical  name. — The  gospel  brought  out  of 
 popish  darkness  at  the  reformation,  appears 
 like  a  Revelation  newly  made. — Wickliff 
 the  first  angel  that  appears  in  the  ecslesias- 
 iical  heaven  proclaiming  it : — Luther  and 
 his  followers,  the  second  and  third  angels. — 
 Luther  dissolves  the  enchanted  spell  of  a 
 
 PURGATORY. The  HARVEST  and  VINTAGE 
 
 appointed  to  mystic  Babylon. 
 
 AFTER  this  genealogy  (as  it  were)  of  An- 
 tichrist, and  description  of  his  power  and 
 greatness,  the  prophet  (in  the  xiv.  chap.)  re- 
 verts to  the  afflicted  church  of  pure  worship- 
 pers, and  gives  us  as  close  and  particular  an 
 account  of  their  character  and  actions,  as  he 
 
36 
 
 has  before  done  of  their  tyrant  and  destroyer, 
 and  his  proceedings.  These  have  also  A 
 name  written  in  their  foreheads,  but  it  is 
 God's  own  name,  and  is  a  distinguishing  to- 
 ken of  their  fidelity  to  him,  as  the  name  and 
 mark  of  the  beast  imprest  upon  his  adherents, 
 is  designed  to  denote  the  contrary.* 
 
 They  are  standing  with  the  Lamb  of  God 
 on  the  Mount  Si  on,  or  true  foundation  of 
 
 *  It  seems  as  if  this  circumstance  had  been  particularly  de- 
 signed to  obviate  the  alarms  of  some  mistaken  christians,  upon 
 account  of  the  sign  of  the  cross  in  baptism-  The  difference  be« 
 tween  the  use  and  the  abuse  of  the  same  thing,  is  obvious  in  all 
 things,  as  well  as  in  religion.  The  cross,  in  the  popish  system, 
 is  an  idol ;  and  hus  its  holiday  and  idolatrous  worship  in  com- 
 mon with  the  rabble  of  their  mahuzzim.  And,  as  bt  John 
 ha*  just  above  shewn  it  would  be,  so  it  actually  is  used  as  an 
 amulet  and  charm,  and  that  with  a  superstitious  frequency,  and 
 idolatrous  intention  and  meaning,  and  by  the  ordinance  of  the 
 beast,  as  his  mark.  But  as  the  same  sign  is  innocently  applied 
 in  protcstant  christian  baptism  but  oncet  without  any  reverence 
 meant  to  the  cross  itself,  but  in  memorial  of  Christ's  sufferings, 
 and  as  an  outward  token  of  our  dedication  to  the  faith  of  the 
 true  God,  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  the  name  then  writ- 
 ten in  our  foreheads,  it  seems  to  be  not  only  unexceptionable, 
 but  indeed  the  very  thing  hereby  St  John  contrasted  with, 
 tjie  'aiohtrsus  abuse  of  it  by  the  beast  and  his  worshippers. 
 
37 
 
 the  true  temple  or  church  of  God,  which  is 
 further  intimated  by  their  number,  formed  of 
 twelve  multiplied  by  twelve,  or  "  the  apostles 
 and  prophets,  Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the 
 chief  corner  stone."  And  they  are  mutually 
 giving  and  receiving  edification  from  the  dili- 
 gent and  pious  searching  of  the  scriptures,  de- 
 spised and  put  down  by  their  adversaries,  but 
 recovered  and  carefully  preserved  by  them. 
 This  is  intimated  by  the  ntw  song,  called  after- 
 wards (Rev.  xv.  3)  the  song  of  Moses  and  the 
 Lamb,  which  they  are  singing  to  the  glory  of 
 the  true  God ;  which  none  of  the  opposite 
 party  are  able  to  learn,  because  of  the  pains 
 taken  to  conceal  it  from  them,  and  to  make  it 
 appear  odious,  and  full  of  danger  to  the  souls 
 of  true  catholics ;  and  also  by  reason  of  the 
 strong  delusion  sent  in  judgment  upon  such 
 irrational  and  wicked  bigotry,  and  unpardon- 
 able ignorance.  It  is  "  as  it  'were,  a  new 
 song :"  which  strongly  expresses  the  general 
 ignorance  on  which  the  foundations  of  po- 
 pery had  been  laid,  and  the  the  new  world 
 which  opened  upon  mankind,   in  respect  of 
 
38 
 
 religious  ideas,  at  the  reformation,  to  which 
 period  this  scene  principally  refers.* 
 
 The  purity,  which  (in  the  figurative  lan- 
 guage of  prophecy)  is  here  ascribed  to  rhe 
 reformers,  or  followers  of  the  Lamb,  inti- 
 mates their  entire  exemption  from  the  idola- 
 trous taint  of  popery ;  idolatry  being  called 
 a  spiritual  whoredom  and  adultery.  And  this 
 characteristic  forms  a  striking  contrast  to  both 
 the  practical  impiety,  and  "  spiritual  wicked- 
 nest  in  high  places  "\  so  justly  charged  upon 
 their  persecutors.  For  a  state  of  persecution 
 has  been  ever  most  favorable  to  virtue  and 
 religion.  These  are  the  first  fruits  of  the  re- 
 formation, and  the  symptoms  of  the  ripening 
 harvest  that  was  soon  to  follow.     The  angel 
 
 *  Burnet  (Hist,  of  Reformation)  says  that  the  novelty  of 
 the  scriptures,  of  which  so  little  had  been  generally  known,  as 
 well  as  the  new  and  interesting  views  of  religion  therein  laid 
 open,  drew  vast  crowds  to  hear  them  read  with  the  greatest 
 avidity,  when  Henry  VIII.  (in  the  progress  of  his  reforma- 
 tion?) had  chained  a  translation  of  the  Bible  to  the  reading 
 desk,  with  permission  to  any  that  were  able  to  read  therein, 
 
 f  Ephes.  vi.    12. 
 
39 
 
 flying  in  the  midst  of  heaven^  (which  here 
 represents  the  church  in  its  state  of  corrup- 
 tion,) and  proclaiming  "  the  everlasting  gos- 
 pel to  every  nation,  and  kindred,  and  tongue, 
 and  people,"  is  by  some  thought  to  allude  to 
 John  WicklirT,  rector  of  Lutterworth,  in  the 
 reign  of  Edward  III.  about  the  year  1371. 
 A  very  learned  and  pious  man,  who  tran- 
 slated the  whole  Bible  into  the  vulgar  tongue, 
 and  by  his  doctrines  laid  the  foundation  of 
 the  reformation,  which  became  general  about 
 150  years  after  his  time.  He  had  the  good 
 fortune  to  die  in  peace,  but  had  made  so 
 many  disciples,  not  only  in  England,  but  in 
 Germany  and  other  countries,  that  by  the 
 council  of  Constance,  41  years  after 
 his  death,  an  order  was  made  to  have  his 
 bones  taken  up  and  burnt. 
 
 When  WicklirT  appeared,  the  christian 
 world  was  "  sitting  in  darkness  and  the  sha* 
 dow  of  death,"*   but  his  preaching  of  the 
 
 *  Wickliff  was  not  the  first  that  had  protested  against  the 
 errors  and  corruptions  of  the  church  of  Rome-      The  witnesses 
 °f  Jesus  had  at  no  time  been  totally  silent.     The  albicenses 
 VOL,  II.  0 
 
40 
 
 everlasting  gospel  had  made  such  an  impres- 
 sion, that  the  effect  of  it  reached  down  to  the 
 days  of  Luther;  and  his  writings  were  of  pro- 
 digious service  to  the  reformation  begun  by 
 Luther,  in  consequence  of  his  quarrel  with 
 pope  Leo  X.  in  15 17,  about  the  scandalous 
 sale  of  indigencies.* 
 
 were  very  ancient  in  their  testimony  and  protest,  and  several  of 
 the  popish  prelates  themselves,  particularly  Robert  Grost- 
 head,  bishop  of  Lincoln,  had  openly  pronounced  the  pope  to 
 be  Antichrist.  Abelard,  Bertram,  and  others,  had  written 
 against  the  errors  of  the  sacrament  ; — Occham,  and  Marsilius, 
 of  the  pope's  usurpations  and  encroachments  ; — Guido  de  S. 
 Amore,  and  Armachanus,  had  pointed  out  the  abuses  of  the 
 monks  in  upholding  the  papal  authority. 
 
 "  WicklifF  asserted  the  one  true  sacrifice  of  Christ,  and  op- 
 posed the  sacrifice  of  the  mass,  transubstantiation,  the  adora- 
 tion of  the  host,  the  seven  sacraments,  purgatory,  prayers  for 
 the  dead,  the  worship  of  saints,  and  images,  &c, — He  was  fa- 
 vored by  the  princes,  the  people,  the  university  of  Oxford,  and 
 even  many  of  the  clergy  themselves." — Newton,  vol.  hi.p.lSoi' 
 Hist,  of  Popery,  vol.  iv.  p.  1, 
 
 *  In  Bohemia  John  Huss,  and  Jerome  of  Prague,  having 
 received  Wicklitt"  's  books,  advanced  and  propagated  the  same 
 doctrines, — for  which  they  were  both  condemned  to  the  flames) 
 coutrarv  to  all  faith,  and  the  solemn  engagement  of  a  safe  conduct. 
 .—The  council  of  Constance  having  determined  that  "  ho 
 fai[h  was  to  he  h/t  with  kereths" 
 
41 
 
 Luther  himself  may  probably  be  the  second 
 angel,  as  there  are  three  mentioned,  which  fol- 
 lowed each  other  at  intervals  :  and  the  sharp 
 and  caustic  stile  of  Luther's  writings  agairtst 
 the  corruptions  of  the  church  of  Rome,  seem 
 well  to  correspond  with  the  preaching  of  the 
 second  angel.*  For  as  the  first  had  only  in 
 more  general  and  mild  terms  detected  the 
 corruptions  of  christian  faith  and  practice  in 
 the  church,  and  republished  the  gospel  so  long 
 and  totally  withdrawn  from  the  knowledge  of 
 the  people  ;  calling  upon  mankind  to  search 
 the  scriptures,  the  only  fountains  of  living 
 waters,  and  to  turn  from  the  heathenish  ser- 
 vice of  the  creature^  to  the  worship  of  the 
 Creator  himself,  so  the  second  angel  advanced 
 
 *  The  severity  of  Luther's  language  was  extreme,     His. 
 sharp  reply  to  our  king  Henry  VIII.  in  his  defence  of  the  popish 
 
 faith,  could  never  afterwards  be  forgiven,  though  he  made 
 great  apologies.  In  one  place  he  has  these  words  : — "  Papa 
 ille  est  Antichristus,  cum  sit  specialis  procurator  diaboli :  hop. 
 solum  simplex  ilia  persona,  sed  multitudo  paparum,  &c." 
 '*  The  pope  is  Antichrist  himself,  and  the  special  factor  of  the 
 devil.  I  mean  not  one  individual  pope,  but  the  mob  of  popes, 
 cardinals,  bishops,  and  the  hierarchy  all  in  all,  make  up  thu 
 compound  and  monstrous  body  of  Antichris  V 
 
 G  2 
 
with  a  loud  tone  and  a  fierce  denunciation  of 
 impending  wrath,  suitable  to  the  real  charac- 
 ter of  the  man.*  He  makes  no  scruple  to 
 proclaim  that  Antichrist  is  come,  and  that 
 Rome  is  the  whore  of  Babylon,  which  hath 
 made  the  nations  mad  with  the  poisonous 
 cup  of  the  wine  of  her  fornications,  f  That 
 the  judgments  of  God  upon  her  for  her  per- 
 version of  righteousness  and  truth,  and  her 
 notorious  idolatry,  are  now  at  hand,  and  that 
 she  is  virtually  fallen  already ;  her  irrevocable 
 doom  is  pronounced,  and  her  final  destruc- 
 tion, by  a  second  fall,  certain  to  take  place  in 
 its  due  season. 
 
 The  third  angel  augments  the  loudness  oi 
 his  warning,  in  proportion  to  the  delay  ot 
 mankind  to  come  out  of  the  spiritual  Sodom. 
 He  delivers  the  most  thundering  message,  and 
 urges  them,  by  the  most  alarming  cautions,  to 
 
 *  Luther  denounced  to  the  emperor  Charles  V.  the  calami- 
 ties that  were  about  to  come  upon  Germany  in  consequence 
 of  his  persecution  of  the  reformers.  He  proved  the  popish 
 mass  to  he  full  of  blasphemies.— Bohun's  Shidan,  p.  i°>,  r>\,  65. 
 
 f   Rev.  xiv.  8;  Jcr.  Ii.  7< 
 
43 
 
 flee  from  the  impending  wrath.    Shewing  not 
 only  the  certainty  of  their  punishment,  who 
 shall  still  persist  in  the  worship  of  the  beast, 
 and  the  receiving  of  his  mark,  but  describing 
 also  (in  the  figurative  stile  of  the  ancient  pro- 
 phets, and  agreably  to  their  former  prophe- 
 cies,) the  ?iaiure  of  it,  and  the  manner  of  its 
 accomplishment, — "  They  shall  drink  of  the 
 wine  of  the  wrath  of  God,  which  is  poured 
 out  without  mixture,  into  the  cup  of  his  in- 
 dignation ;  and  shall  be  tormented  with   fire 
 and  brimstone,  in  the  presence  of  the  holy  an- 
 gels, and  in  the  presence  of  the  Lamb,     And 
 the  smoke  of  their  torment  ascendeth  up  for 
 ever  and   ever ;  and  they  have  no  rest,  day 
 nor  night,   who  worship   the  beast   and   his 
 image,  and  whosoever  receiveth  the  mark  of 
 his  name." — That  is,  (divested  of  the  figura- 
 tive,) they  shall  be  given  up  for  an  easy  prey 
 to  the  cruel  and  tormenting  scourge  raised  up 
 of  God  for  their  punishment : — and  it  shall 
 be    executed    upon    them   in   a  visible    and 
 notorious    manner,    "  in  the  presence  of  the 
 angels  and  of  the  Lamb ;"    or  in  the  public 
 sight  and  observation  of  the  whole  christian 
 
44 
 
 world  looking  on,  but  not  interfering,  or  not 
 having    power    to    prevent    their    sufferings. 
 And  it  shall  allow  them  no  respite,  nor  any 
 season  when  they  can  deem  themselves  se- 
 cure from  robbery  and  the  sword.     It  were 
 well  if  the  vengeance  which  their  crimes  have 
 provoked  were  satiated  even  here.     But  the 
 final  catastrophe  that  still  awaits  them,  is  still 
 more  tremendously  terrible  : — "  They  shall 
 be  tormented  with  jire  and  brimstone"   and 
 still  "  in  the  presence  of  the  Lamb  and  his  an- 
 gels" or  in  the  sight  of  the  true  church  and 
 witnesses  of  Christ ;  God  being  willing  that 
 his  justice  shall  receive  as  public  a  vindication 
 as  his  mercy  and  truth  have  met  with  a  pub- 
 lic contempt.     "  For  Tophet  is  ordained  of 
 old,  and  the  breath  of  the  Lord,  like  a  stream 
 ef  brimstone,   shall   kindle   it.v       "  And    the 
 smoke  of  their  torment  ascendeth  7ip  for  ever 
 a?id ever" — The  volcanic  fire,  the  memorial 
 of  their  excessive  wickedness,  shall  never  be 
 extinguished,  even  to  the  end  of  the  world. 
 
 But  before  this  auto  da  fe  of  God's  in- 
 quisition takes  place,  the  afflicted  church 
 
0 
 
 has  to  pass  through  a  long  course  of  severe 
 trial  of  their  faith  and  patience,  by  the  in- 
 creased exertions  of  the  beast  to  suppress  }  (by 
 the  terror  of  bloody  executions  and  massacres) 
 the  new  lights  in  religion,  upon  the  very  same 
 principle  that  urged  the  jews  to  put  to  death 
 the  Saviour  of  the  world  and  his  apostles,  as 
 deceivers  of  the  people. 
 
 Verse  13  of  this  chapter  is  very  singular. 
 The  best  account  of  its  meaning  seems  to  be 
 that  of  those  interpreters  who  have  applied  it 
 to  the  overthrow  of  the  lucrative  doctrine  of 
 purgatory,  a  chief  pillar  of  the  popish  super- 
 stition ;  and  of  so  much  consequence  to  the 
 papal  greatness,  and  so  pernicious  to  true  re- 
 ligion in  its  nature  and  effects,  that  the  Holy 
 Spirit  has  deemed  it  worthy  of  a  very  particu- 
 lar notice  in  the  prophecies  of  Isaiah,  (chap, 
 xxviii.)  as  has  been  already  shewn  ;*  and  to 
 that  fictitious  and  unavailing  covenant  with 
 death  and  the  grave  the  prophet  here  alludes. 
 For  it  is  no  sooner  proclaimed  by  a  voice  from 
 
 *  See  Section  xi.  p.  287. 
 
46 
 
 beaver^  (or  the  church  of  the  reformed  re- 
 ligion,) that  the  popish  doctrine  ot  purgatory  is 
 a  table,  and  masses  for  the  dcj.d  are  idolatrous 
 abominations,  and  that  from  henceforth  it 
 shall  be  the  rational  and  well-founded  belief  of 
 the  faithful,  that  the  souls  of  them  that  die  in 
 the  Lord  are  in  peace  and  rest,  and  do  immedi- 
 ately enjoy  the  promised  reward  of  their  faith 
 and  good  works;  than  a  solemn  affirmation  of 
 the  truth  of  this  consolatory  doctrine  is  added 
 by  the  Holy  Spirit. — "  Yea,  saith  the  spirit ,  for 
 they  rest  from  their  labours •,  and  their  works  do 
 follow  them."  This  doctrine  of  purgatory 
 and  indulgences,  &c.  was  so  ioul  a  blot 
 upon  the  painted  face  of  the  Babylonian 
 Thais,  that  it  is  well  known  it  was  the  stone 
 of  offence  over  which  Luther  (himself  a  monk) 
 first  stumbled,  and  thus  became  the  happy  oc- 
 casion of  the  general  reformation  which  ensu-  d 
 ed  upon  that  contest.* 
 
 *  St  John  speaks  here  in  the  prophetic  manner  of  this  mon- 
 strous imposture,  as  if  it  had  been  a  real  interdiction  from  the 
 realms  of  the  blessed,  and  was  from  henceforth  removed.  But  the 
 meaning  is  only  that  from  this  time  that  magic  spell  of  popery 
 should  be  dissolved,  the  idea  of  a  future  state  corrected,  and 
 
47 
 
 After  this,  the  prophet  takes  a  cursory  view- 
 of  the  fall  and  destruction  of  the  whole  sys- 
 tem of  popery,  of  which  the  breaking  out  of 
 the  reformation  had  been  the  prelude.  He 
 exhibits  it  under  two  emblems  very  frequent- 
 ly alluded  to  in  the  ancient  prophets,  with  the 
 same  intention, — First,  A  full  ripe  har- 
 vest, to  which  a  reaper  is  divinely  commis- 
 sioned, and  cuts  it  down  : — and  secondly,  A 
 Vintage,  for  the  gathering  of  which  another 
 mighty  instrument  of  Providence  is  also  raised 
 up,  (or  perhaps  the  same  continued,)  and  spe- 
 cially supported  to  the  complete  performance 
 of  the  task  appointed  him.  He  also  executes 
 the  work  of  God,  and  the  great  wine  press  of 
 the  iv rat b  of  God  is  set  to  work  upon  what 
 •  has  been  thrown  into  it,  "  and  blood  issued  out 
 even  to  the  horses  bridles,  by  the  space  of  a 
 thousand  and  six  hundred  furlongs." — Some 
 greater  slaughter  than  even  the  former  of  the' 
 
 none  but  popish  bigots  should  hereafter  be  held  in  the  pains  oj 
 ruRGjt-TORr.  "  Who  is  wise,  and  he  shall  understand  these 
 things  ?  prudent,  and  he  shall  know  them  ?  for  the  ways  of  the 
 Lord  are  right,  and  the  just  shall  walk  in  them  ;  but  the 
 transgressor,  shall  fall  therein."  (Hosea  xiv,  0  ) 
 
 VOL,  II.  K 
 
48 
 
 harvest  seems  to  be  here  alluded  to,  and  is  de- 
 scribed in  the  usual  hyperbolical  language  of 
 prophecy :  and  that  some  dreadful  fact  corre- 
 sponding to  it  will  certainly  take  place,  it  were 
 profane  to  entertain  any  doubt ;  as  the  place 
 where  it  will  happen  is  not  only  described^ 
 but  literally  and  accurately  measured  likewise. 
 For  St  John  says  it  is  without  the  city^  and  the 
 measure  that  of  1600  furlongs;  which,  as 
 Bishop  Newton  and  Mr  Mede  observe,  "  is 
 the  measure  of  St  Peter's  patrimony,  or 
 the  state  of  the  church,  which  reaching  from 
 the  walls  of  Rome  to  the  river  Po  and  the 
 marshes  of  Verona,  contains  the  space  of 
 two  hundred  Italian  miles,  or  exactly  sixteen 
 hundred  furlongs."* 
 
 *  So  remarkable  a  coincidence  with  matter  of  fact,  in  a  pro* 
 fesscdly  prophetic  writing,  there  can  be  no  reason  to  ascribe  to 
 mere  accident.  The  literal  fulfilment  of  all  the  other  prophe- 
 cies might  as  well  be  imagined  accidental ;  whereas,  the  con- 
 trary is  declared  in  many  of  them..  (Mat.  ii-  J  5,  17;— xxvii; 
 -9,  85,  &c. 
 
SECTION   XXI, 
 
 The  opening  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  testi- 
 mony in  heaven, — or  the  reformation  of 
 religion  and  the  church, — -preparatory  to  the 
 seven  divine  judgments  upon  the  kingdom  of 
 the  beast, — which  are  to  effect  its  total 
 overthrow. — The  impenitency  and  blindness 
 of  his  worshippers,  (while  a  long  respite  is 
 given  them,)  still  continuing. — 'The  judg- 
 ment begins  with  the  plague  of  a  figurative 
 ulcer. — By  the  infliction  of  the  second 
 plague,  its  corroding  malignancy  spreads 
 over  the  whole  popish  system, — and  worh 
 deadly  effects  by  the  influence  of  the  third. 
 
 X  HE  judgment  of  the  apostate  church  hav- 
 ing been  related  concisely  under  the  types  of 
 an  harvest  and  a  vintage,  the  prophet 
 now,  in  chap.  xv.  resumes  the  tale  of  woe,  in 
 order  to  unfold  the  particulars  more  at  large* 
 
 II    2 
 
50 
 
 The  heaven  where  this  scene  is  represented  is 
 (as  before)  the  holy  roman  empire,  or 
 whole  extent  of  the  pope's  spiritual  dominion. 
 Seven  angels*  are  summoned  to  hold  them- 
 selves in  readiness  against  the  time  (now  near 
 approaching)  when  God  will  require  their  ser- 
 vices, to  execute  so  many  several  judgments 
 upon  the  kingdom  of  the  mystical  Egypt, 
 which,  as  warnings  and  inducements  to  re- 
 pentance, are  to  advance  nearer  and  nearer,  by 
 several  approaches,  to  the  throne  and  person  of 
 the  spiritual  Pharoah,  and  end  in  his  de- 
 struction. 
 
 But  previously,  a  view  is  taken  of  the  state 
 of  religion  amongst  the  reformed,  or  wit- 
 nesses^ at  the  time  when  these  plagues  are 
 about  to  begin ;  and  they  are  reported  of 
 very  favorably,  as  contrasted  with  the  shock- 
 ing corruption  of  the  apostacy.  They  are 
 represented  as  "  standing  upon  a  sea  of  glass 
 mingled  with  fire" — an  emblem  which   re- 
 
 *  Natural  causes  operating,  the  judgments  of  God  up- 
 on his  enemies  are  figuratively  called  angels.  Such  was  the 
 destroyer  of  Sennacherib's  army. 
 
5i 
 
 presents  the  purity  of  their  doctrine ',  and  the 
 ardour  of  their  zeal  for  God  and  his  truth; 
 Or  it  may  represent  their  troubled  state,  and 
 frequent  suffering  of  martyrdom  by  fire,  from 
 the  triumphant  power  and  cruelty  of  their 
 persecutors.  Yet  suffer  what  they  may,  they 
 still  persevere  in  "  singing  the  song  of  Moses 
 and  of  the  Lamb;"  they  adhere  steadily  to 
 the  holy  scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New 
 Testament,  as  the  sufficient  and  only  safe 
 guides  in  faith  and  practice ;  and  "  rejoicing 
 even  in  tribulation,"  they  anticipate  in  hope 
 and  faith,  the  happy  time  when  God  will 
 deliver  and  avenge  his  church,  and  receive 
 glory  and  a  pure  worship  from  all  nations,* 
 
 The  u  opening  of  the  temple  of  the  ta- 
 bernacle of  the  testimony  in  heaven," 
 is  the  opening  of  the  reformation  in  religion, 
 and  republication  of  the  gospel,  which  under 
 the  uncontrolled  reign  of  the  beast,  might  be 
 compared  to  the  temple  of  God  shut  up,  and 
 made  inaccessible  to  his  pure  worshippers, 
 
 •    Zcph.  ill-  9r 
 
53 
 
 that  come  to  seek  him  there,  where  alone  he 
 will  be  found,  in  the  word  of  God.*  "  And 
 the  temple  was  filled  with  smoke  from  the 
 glory  of  God,f  and  from  his  power ;   and  re- 
 
 *  The  vision  in  this  xv  chap,  which  is  only  preparatory  to 
 the  tremendous  scenes  which  open  upon  us  in  the  next,  may 
 have  occupied  a  great  length  of  time,  as  I  conceive  this  to  ap- 
 ply to  the  opening  of  the  reformation  in  the  beginning  of  the  six- 
 teenth century  :  from  which  period  the  jirst  fally  or  commence- 
 ment of  Rome's  decay,  and  wasting  by  the  breath  of  Christ's 
 mouth,  is  to  be  dated.  The  following,  which  introduces  and 
 brings  on,  by  seven  successive  judgments,  her  final  catastrophe, 
 or  "  destruction  by  the  brightness  of  his  eoming,"  has  com- 
 menced but  a  fw  years  ago,  and  probably  will  not  take  up  a 
 very  long  period  of  time.  For  though  God  in  his  mercy 
 "  waits  patiently,  and  is  provoked  every  day  "  for  a  long  time, 
 yet  he  strikes  without  further  notice  at  last,  and  when  his 
 judgment  is  actually  begun,  the  time  for  expectation  of  longer 
 respite  is  past.  That  the  blinded  worshippers  of  the  beast 
 should  have  been  incapable  for  so  great  a  hngth  of  time  of  "  en- 
 tering into  the  temple  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  testi- 
 mony," now  thrown  open  to  the  reformed,  and  still  are  unable 
 ts  learn  the  new  song  which  they  are  singing,  is  wonderful,  but 
 nevertheless  literally  and  notoriously  matter  of  fact. — The 
 time  that  intervened  between  WicklirF  and  Luther,  the  two 
 first  heralds  of  the  gospel  revived,  was  150  years  :  the  time 
 from  that  opening  of  the  temple,  to  the  actual  pouring  out  of 
 the  first  vial,  has  been  about  230  years. 
 
 V  2Thess  i   8,9. 
 
mained  equally  inaccessible  to  the  infatuated 
 and  blinded  worshippers  of  the  beast,  during 
 the  whole  continuance  of  these  judgments, — 
 the  glory  and  power  of  God,  which  is  light 
 and  demonstration  to  his  servants,  being  dark- 
 ness still  to  them,  the  same  as  if  the  temple 
 had  not  been  opened.  This  is  wonderfully- 
 verified  by  the  obstinate  bigotry  of  the  papists 
 to  a  system  of  religion,  as  irrational  and  op- 
 posite to  the  word  of  God  as  paganism  itself. 
 Strong  delusion  is  sent  upon  them,  and  though 
 the  glory  of  God  shines  around  them,  yet  the 
 temple  is  still Ji lied  with  smoke ,  and  they  can- 
 not enter  into  the  scope  of  God's  proceedings, 
 in  any  of  the  several  wonders  which  proceed 
 out  of  the  temple,  each  in  its  appointed  time.* 
 
 p  This  is  a  highly  figurative  representation  of  the  awfumess 
 fcnd  certainty  of  God's  judgments  to  come  down  upon  the 
 mystery  of  iniquity  ;  so  long  perpetuated,  and  so  monstrous  a 
 corruption  of  religion,  that  it  hath  been  the  subject  of  in- 
 numerable prophecies.  And  it  seems  also  to  intimate  the 
 continued  impen'itency  of  the  figurative  Egyptians  under  their 
 plagues,  which  is  more  particularly  expressed  in  the  following 
 scenes.  The  light  and  knowledge  amongst  the  churches  of 
 the  witnesses,  has  been  twice  represented  before, — Rev, 
 ■xiv.  3,  where  it  is  said  M  no  man    (of  the  antichristiun  partv) 
 
54 
 
 In  general,  this  prophecy  seems  to  intimate 
 the  strong  and  universal  expectation  prevailing 
 amongst  the  reformed,  of  the  certainty  and 
 speedy  approach  of  those  divine  judgments 
 upon  the  kingdom  of  the  beast,  which  as 
 prophets  and  witnesses  for  Christ,  they  have 
 fully  and  frequently  denounced  against  the 
 man  of  sin,  in  the  course  of  their  long  tes- 
 timony :  and  also,  that  come  when  they  will, 
 or  by  whatever  means  they  may  be  inflicted, 
 they  will  prove  themselves  to  be  no  merely 
 casual  occurrences^  but  to  have  come  immedi- 
 ately out  of  "  the  temple  of  the  tabernacle 
 OF  THE  testimony  of  heaven,"  or  from  the 
 throne  of  supreme  justice  and  eternal  truth, 
 
 "  And  one  of  the  four  beasts  gave  unto  the 
 seven  angels  seven  golden  vials  full  of  the 
 wrath  of  God  :  — that  is  to  say,  these  events 
 
 could  learn  their  NFir  song"  of  faith  in  Christ,  the  alone  Sa- 
 viour:— and  in  Rev.  xv.  3,  4,  the  just  comprehension  they 
 have  of  the  ohjeel  of  the  coming  judgments  k  again  expressed  ; 
 which  seems  fully  to  confirm  my  interpretation  of  verse  8, 
 as  expressing  once  again  the  state  of  darktie  ov 
 ef  Egypt)  or  papal  Christianity. 
 
o5 
 
 which  are  to  work  the  downfall  of  the  anti° 
 christian  church,  will  take  place  in  the  time 
 of  one  of  the  four  great  monarchies,  which 
 were  the  subject  of  Daniel's  prophecies,  (Dam 
 ii.  36,  and  vii.  3,  and  viii.  2,)  namely,  in  the 
 latter  period  of  the  last  of  them,  or  the  RO- 
 MAN empire,  whose  hieroglyphic  is  gener- 
 ally an  eagle,  in  allusion  to  the  roman  stand- 
 ards.* 
 
 There  is  a  time,  says  Solomon,  for  every 
 thing ;  and  amongst  the  rest,  for  divine  jus- 
 tice to  overtake  sinners.  For  though  it  seems 
 to  human  observation  as  if  it  slept  sometimes 
 long,  and  would  never  awake,  yet  awake  it 
 will,  and  in  a  manner  the  more  terrible  for 
 the  unavailing  forbearance. — - 
 
 *  In  Dan.  ii.  the  fourth  or  roman  empire  is  represented 
 by  the  strength  of  iron,  and  in  Dan.  vii.  by  a  non-descript  mon- 
 ster of  great  strength,  zsfc.  But  in  other  places  its  emblem  is 
 the  eagle.  (Matt.  xxiv.  23  ;  Rev.  iv.  7.)  The  christian  church 
 (preserved  from  the  fury  of  the  persecution  of  the  pa^an  em- 
 perors, by  the  conversion  of  the  emperor  Constantime  )  is 
 helped  by  wings  of  an  eagle,  but  only  for  a  time,  till  she  cait 
 flee  into  the  wilderness  of  papal  per:ecution  afterward*  to 
 arise.   (Rev.  xii,  14.) 
 
 VOL.  II.  1 
 
56 
 
 Zu  y«g  ?y&  to'Ii  tiict  xxm  tp^hu  >£  xccrct  bvfttr, 
 ' E<r<rtTttt  qpxp,  oreiV  fro]   bXwty  I/M^n  t^r„ 
 K«/  nyxp<&,  >$  A««s  i'vpn'Ma  Ilpuftoto. 
 
 Homers  IlLI.  165. 
 When  heaven's  revenge  is  slow, 
 
 Jove  but  prepares  to  strike  the  fiercer  blow. 
 The  day  shall  come — that  great  avenging  day, 
 Which  Home's  proud  glories  in  the  du»t  shall  lay. 
 The  popish  powers,  the  pope  himself  shall  fall, 
 And  one  immense  volcano  swallow  all. 
 
 Pope's  Homer  t  b.  iv.  194,* 
 
 Thus  God  reproaches  the  man  of  sin,  in  the 
 fiftieth  Psalm,  with  his  profligate  conceptions 
 of  the  divine  Being,  for  his  long  silence : — 
 "  Thou  thoughtest  wickedly,  that  I  was  such 
 an  one  as  thyself: — but  I  will  reprove  thee, 
 and  set  before  thee  the  things  that  thou  hast 
 done"  The  judgments  which  God  has  ap- 
 pointed to  scourge  his  impieties,  are  of  such  a 
 nature  as  might  be  expected  to  have  stirred 
 
 *  It  haG  not  been  generally  understood  that  Mr  Pope  was 
 so  warm  in  the  Protestant  interest,  but  by  the  exhibition 
 of  a  little  pious  fraud  in  a  good  cause,  a  man's  mouth  may  be 
 opened  without  his  consent,  or  gagged  without  asking  his 
 leave, — for  thus  the  holt  scriptures  have  been  invalid  to 
 advocate  the  cause  of  topery. 
 
him  up  to  a  proper  reflection  upon  his  apos* 
 tacy  from  Christ  and  truth,  and  led  him  to 
 repentance ;  since  they  grow  out  of  his  very 
 sins  which  draw  them  down,  and  thus  hold 
 ?(p  to  his  face  "  the  things  that  he  has  done" 
 as  if  represented  in  a  mirror. 
 
 In  chapter  sixteenth,  the  divine  signal  is 
 given,  and  the  fatal  revolution  in  the  affairs 
 of  the  hitherto  rampant  and  imperious  beast 
 unexpectedly  opens  upon  him.  "  The  fi^st 
 angel  went  and  poured  out  his  vial  upon  the 
 earth ;  and  there  tell  a  noisome  and  grievous 
 sore  upon  the  men  which  had  the  mark  of 
 the  beast,  and  upon  them  which  worshipped 
 his  image" 
 
 The  striking  analogy  between  these  seven 
 plagues  upon  the  kingdom  of  the  man  of sin , 
 and  the  ten  plagues  upon  Pharoah  and  E- 
 oypt,  has  been  hinted  at  already ;  and  it  is 
 so  frequendy  and  obviously  apparent,  that  the 
 oae  may  well  be  imagined  typical  of  the  other. 
 Jn  the  literal  Egypt  the  judgments  fell  only  up- 
 on, the  subjects  of  the  unbelieving  and  impious 
 
58 
 
 tyrant,  while  the  servants  of  God  "  had  light 
 and  health  in  all  their  dwellings."  The  very- 
 same  is  now  the  case  in  the  mystical  Egypt. — 
 The  vial  is  poured  upon  the  earth,  but  it  is 
 only  the  subjects  of  antichrist  (distinguished 
 by  his  mark*  and  by  a  superstitious  reverence 
 for  his  person,  amounting  to  idolatry)  that  are 
 affected  by  its  operation. 
 
 A  grievous  ulcer  is  the  effect  of  the  first 
 vial ;  and,  no  doubt,  it  is  to  be  understood  in 
 
 *  The  mark  of  the  beast  I  have  shewn  in  the  preceding 
 section,  to  be  the  sign  of  the  cross,  which  is  notoriously  used  in 
 a  manner  that  has  a  nearer  affinity  to  magic  and  witchcraft, — 
 sins  often  charged  by  the  ancient  prophets  upon  "■  the  well- 
 favored  harlot,5 '  (Nahum  iii,  4  ;  Micah  v.  12;  Isa.  xlvii.  9  j 
 Rev.  ix.  21,)  than  the  gospel  of  Christ.  Their  •worship  of  ths 
 image  of  the  least  is  manifest  from  the  medals  of  Pope  Martin 
 the  fifth,  where  two  cardinals  are  represented  crowning  the 
 new  deity,  and  two  kneeling  before  him,  with  the  inscrip- 
 tion— "  Quern  creant  adorant — Him  whom  they  create  they 
 adore." Newton  vol.  iii.  p.  240. 
 
 It  is  also  prophetically  intimated  by  our  Saviour's  forbidding 
 a  superstitious  reverence  to  be  paid  to  any  human  authority, 
 under  the  magisterial  name  of  father,  (Mat.  xxiii.  9,)  as  the 
 pope  is  called  "holy  father,"  and  as  the  very  name  in  hiti.i 
 (papa,  or  pope)  signifies.  They  are  stilcd  papists  from  papa, 
 as  christians  are  so   named  from  Christ,  whom  they  worship 
 
5$ 
 
 a  figurative  sense,  of  some  moral  or  spiritual 
 grievance,  which  occasions  as  much  pain  and 
 danger  to  their  hierarchy ,  and  power,  and  influ- 
 ence, as  an  incurable  ulcer  does  in  the  natural 
 body.  Ulcers  of  this  grievous  and  incurable 
 nature  originate  from  the  bad  habit  of  body, 
 and  the  malignant  nature  of  the  humours, 
 which  form  the  constitution  itself,  and  admit 
 of  no  cure  without  a  radical  change,  which  is 
 in  many  cases  impossible.  This  is  the  case 
 with  popery.  The  whole  system  is  so  ex- 
 ceedingly corrupt,  that  the  causes  of  its  disso- 
 
 ivith  the  same  divine  honors.  The  many  blasphemous  titles 
 given  to  the  pope  by  the  schoolmen  and  canonists,  are  alone 
 sufficient  to  denominate  the  papists  worshippers  of  the  beast. 
 — See  Sect.  ix.  p.  250. 
 
 Solus  adoretur  Christus,  sed  nutnina  vana, 
 
 Intereant,  summus  rector  in  orbe  regnat. 
 
 Mox  fore  confido,  quod  toto  pectore  sancti 
 
 Cantabunt,  cecidit,  cecidit  Babtlonica  Thais. 
 
 Hist.  Popery. 
 
 Be  God  supreme  o'er  all  the  suppliant  world, 
 And  popish  idols  to  perdition  hurl'd. 
 In  christian  hearts  ador'd  let  Jesus  reign, 
 His  saints  rehearsing  in  prophetic  strain 
 Rome's  destiny.     The  Babylonish  whore, 
 Thais  is  fall'n — is  fall'n.— to  rise  no  more. 
 
60 
 
 lution  lurk  in  its  constitution  and  nature,  and 
 at  length  break  out  into  an  open  sore,  which 
 sets  all  remedies  at  defiance. — "  From  the  sole 
 of  the  foot  even  unto  the  head  there  is  no 
 soundness  in  it ;  but  wounds,  and  bruises,  and 
 putrifying  sores :  they  have  not  been  closed, 
 neither  bound  up,  neither  mollified  with  oint- 
 ment."*  This  spiritual  ulcer  is  the  spawn 
 and  natural  effect  of  a  corrupt  religion,  which 
 leads  thinking  minds  directly  to  infidelity  and 
 absolute  atheism.  The  established  religion  of 
 the  church  of  Rome  has  long  been  the  com- 
 mon butt  of  ridicule  to  alt  their  philosophers, 
 and  to  not  a  few  even  of  their  church  digni- 
 taries, to  say  nothing  here  of  the  poj  es  them- 
 selves ;  than  whom  (for  the  greater  pirr)  a 
 more  infidel  and  wicked  set  of  miscreants 
 never  existed,  as  their  own  authors  are  obliged 
 to  confess.j*  Blasphemy  and  infidelity  to- 
 wards all  religion,  constitute  the  chief  topics 
 for  the  display  of  wit  in  popish  countries,  as 
 
 **  Isaiah  i.  6. 
 
 f  Cardinal  Baronius  acknowledges  frequently  in  his  Annals, 
 that  many  of  the  popes  were  horrible  monsters,  and  rather 
 npostatea  than  apostolical  bishops. 
 
61 
 
 rnay  indeed  be  easily  imagined,  where  a  con- 
 tinued blasphemy  "  against  God  and  his  taber- 
 nacUy  and  them  that  dwell  in  heaven"  (Rev. 
 xiii.  6)  makes  up  the  whole  business  of  the 
 mass,  and  the  popish  worship  in  general.* 
 
 This  kind  of  blasphemous  levity  upon  the. 
 most  solemn  topics  of  religion,  has,  with  other 
 
 *  It  is  not  improbable  but  tbe  reformation  of  religion,  which 
 was  the  beginning  of  home's  fall,  and  was  always  considered 
 and  felt  by  the  papists  as  a  sore  of  the  utmost  magnitude  and 
 malignancy,  may  be  here  principally  meant.  The  soreness  of 
 aJl  the  popes,  to  whom  the  subject  of  reforming  the  church 
 was  proposed,  and  the  crafty  and  wicked  evasions  to  which 
 they  have  had  recourse  to  shift  off  the  necessity  of  it,  and 
 wheii  that  could  not  be  done,  the  means  used  to  frustrate  the 
 good  effect  expected  from  the  council  of  Trent,  are  so 
 many  remarkable  coincidences  with  this  prophecy.  The  re- 
 formation broke  out  in  direct  opposition  to  their  utmost  endea. 
 vours  to  stifle  and  suppress  it,  and  the  palliatives  applied 
 by  their  popish  council  only  aggravated  the  pain,  and  height- 
 ened the  threatening  aspect  of  the  ulcer  ;  which  hath  been 
 fro.n  that  time  t«  them  an  incurable  sore,  and  a  continual  ami 
 •wasting  drain.  It  began  also  at  the  time  here  assigned,  at  the 
 opening  of  the  temple  of  the  testimony  in  heaven,  and  being 
 the  first  plague,  a  longer  space  was  allowed  for  the  possibility 
 of  their  repentance?  before  the  others  came  on  in  quick  sue* 
 Cession. 
 
6£ 
 
 elegancies  of  fashion,  been  introduced  here 
 from  abroad.  And  to  this  source  may  readi- 
 ly be  traced  that  shameful  oblivion  of  the  re- 
 straints of  conscience,  the  obligations  of  honor 
 and  friendship,  and  of  the  common  sense  of 
 moral  rectitude  which  has  been  rapidly  upon 
 the  increase  amongst  us  ;  and  has  made  a  still 
 more  rapid  and  extensive  progress  in  some  of 
 those  nations  which  have  lately  been  made  to 
 "  drink  of  the  cup  of  fury"  not  originally  pre- 
 pared for  them. — "  For  thus  saith  the  Lord,  be- 
 hold !  they  whose  judgment  was  not  to  drink 
 of  the  cup,  have  assuredly  drunken,  and  art 
 thou  he  that  shalt  altogether  go  unpunished?"* 
 
 The  levelling  principles  of  anarchical  repub- 
 licanism, and  the  inordinate  appetite  for  plun- 
 der, whetted  by  a  pre-conceived  and  too  well 
 founded  contempt  and  hatred  of  the  religious 
 orders^  and  borne  out  to  all  lengths  by  an  athe- 
 istical spirit  of  free-thinking,  have  proved  such 
 an  ulcer  to  the  worshippers  of  the  beast  and 
 his  image.     It  is  an  evil  bred  in  the  very  con-' 
 
 *  Jeremiuli  xlix.  12.       • 
 
63 
 
 Stitution  and  frame  of  the  man  of  SIN,  and 
 the  natural  effect  of  his  previous  wickedness 
 and  total  corruption ;  and  it  has,  at  length, 
 broke  out  suddenly  into  the  wasting  drain  of 
 the  French  revolution,  which  was  still  only 
 "  the  beginning  of  sorrows"  to  the  kingdom 
 and  confederacy  of  antichrist. — "  Behold  !  all 
 ye  that  kindle  a  fire,  that  compass  yourselves 
 about  with  sparks ;  walk  on  in  the  light  of 
 your  fire,  and  in  the  sparks  that  ye  have  kin- 
 dled. This  shall  ye  have  of  mine  hand,  ye 
 shall  lie  down  in  sorrow."* 
 
 "  And  the  second  angel  poured  out  his  vial 
 upon  the  sea,  and  it  became  as  the  blood  of  a 
 dead  man  :  and  every  living  soul  died  in  the 
 sea."  The  former  plague  seems  to  have  in- 
 fected chiefly  the  higher  orders  with  its  ma- 
 lignant effects,  and  punished  the  "  blind  leaders 
 of  the  blind"  by  laying  the  foundation  of  the 
 miseries  consequent  upon  their  unprincipled 
 licentiousness  ;f    and   which    soon    overtook 
 
 *  Isaiah  1-11- 
 
 \  As  insects  lay  their  noxious  eggs  in  a  proper  nidus  where 
 suitable  nourishment  will  be  administered  to  them,  for  the  time 
 required. 
 
 VOL.  IT.  K 
 
64 
 
 them,  when  the  same  infection  was  communi- 
 cated to  the  lower  orders  by  this  second  vial, 
 poured  upon  the  sea,  or  people,  and  nations 
 of  the  popish  connection.  Thus,  in  the  sixth 
 plague  of  Egypt,  (of  which  the  first  vial  has  a 
 resemblance,)  the  boil  fell  upon  the  magicians 
 themselves,  who  had  successfully  opposed  the 
 finger  of  God  by  counterfeiting  some  of  the 
 divine  miracles,  to  support  the  pride  and  ob- 
 duracy of  the  tyrant. 
 
 In  consequence  of  excessive  both  political 
 and  religious  corruption,  and  the  total  decay 
 of  all  moral  principle,  (which  must  ever  be 
 the  uniting  cement  of  civil  society,  and  the  vi- 
 tal principle  of  political  prosperity;  for  as  "  by 
 righteousness  a  nation  is  exalted, so  contrariwise, 
 sin  is  the  ruin  of  any  people  ;  by  the  consti- 
 tutions of  nature,  and  by  the  ordinance  of 
 God:)  the  sea,  or  mass  of  the  people,  be- 
 comes like  the  blood  of  a  dead  man. — Fatigued 
 and  worn  out  by  the  continued  and  shocking 
 display  of  shameless  immorality,  and  the  most 
 palpable  imposture  and  wickedness  in  their 
 church  and  state,  the  former  ardent  spirit  of 
 
65 
 
 the  people,  so  favorable  to  the  support  of  both, 
 is  changed  and  gone.  They  are  frozen  with 
 an  immoveable  apathy  towards  the  support  of 
 the  throne  of  iniquity,  and  agitated  with  the 
 same  wild  passions,  and  detestable  principles 
 of  selfishness,  and  cruelty  in  the  pursuit  of 
 them,  which  they  have  learnt  of  their  superi- 
 ors^ no  longer  to  be  called  so ;  but  by  vio- 
 lence about  to  be  dragged  down  to  the  com- 
 mon level  of  liberty  and  equality \  in  the  gross- 
 est sense  of  the  words.  The  emblem  which 
 represents  this  scene  of  universal  anarchy,  is 
 very  expressive  of  the  thing.  The  blood  of  a 
 dead  man  is  deprived  of  those  vital  principles 
 in  every  respect,  which  rendered  it  fit,  by  regu- 
 lar circulation  over  the  whole  animal  system, 
 for  the  support  of  the  vis  vitse,  and  the  natu- 
 ral union  of  the  soul  with  the  body,  which 
 can  no  longer  by  art  be  perpetuated,  when 
 the  languid  and  congealing  fluid  can  be  pro- 
 pelled no  more  through  its  wonted  channels, 
 or  runs  off  in  a  dissolved  and  putrid  state. 
 Just  such  is  society  without  any  principles 
 of  morality,  any  sense  of  conscience,  any  ra- 
 tional belief  of  futurity.     The  famous  revo< 
 
 K  2  * 
 
6f> 
 
 jlution  in  France,  at  its  opening  (which  I 
 have  supposed  to  be  the  period  of  the  pouring 
 out  of  the  second  vial)  exhibited  numerous 
 and  strong  symptoms  of  such  a  total  want  of 
 natural  cohcesion  in  the  principles  of  which 
 society  is  compounded  :  instances  of  the  most 
 shocking  depravation  of  moral  feeling  and  com- 
 mon humanity — an  utter  extinction,  as  it  were, 
 of  the  customary  ties  of  affection,  acknowledged 
 by  religion  and  nature,  and  a  trampling  under 
 foot,  with  scorn  and  derision,  all  laws  of  men, 
 of  God,  and  of  nature. 
 
 This  was  a  time   for   choice  spirits  of  the 
 glorious  revolution,  to  display  to  the  affright- 
 ed world  the  horrible  wickedness  that  human 
 nature  is  capable  of,  when  the  fear  of  controul 
 or  punishment  for  crimes  of  the  blackest  die 
 is  removed.     It  was  the  triumph  of  libertin- 
 ism, disloyalty,  ingratitude,  treachery,  revenge, 
 and    every  detestable  immorality  which  de- 
 grades mankind  below  the  brute  creation  in 
 its  wrorst  forms,  and  sinks  them  to  a  level  with 
 the  fiends  of  hell.     "  None  callcth  for  justice, 
 nor  any  plcadcth  for  truth ;    they   trust   iu 
 
67 
 
 vanity  and  speak  lies  :  they  conceive  mischief, 
 and  bring  forth  iniquity.     They  hatch  cocka- 
 trice eggs,  and  weave  the   spider's   web:  he 
 that  eateth  of  their  eggs  dieth,  and  that  which 
 is  crushed  breaketh  out  into  a  viper.     Their 
 webs  shall  not  become  garments,  neither  shall 
 they  cover  themselves  with  their  works.  Their 
 works  are  works  of  iniquity,  the  act  of  vio- 
 lence is  in  their  hands.     Their  feet  run  to 
 evil,  and    they  make  haste  to  shed  innocent 
 blood:  their  thoughts  are  thoughts  of  iniquity, 
 wasting  and  destruction  are  in  their  paths,"* 
 
 In  the  very  wildest  howling  of  the  tempest 
 nevertheless,  the  bared  arm  of  God's  Provi- 
 dence appeared  from  the  cloud,  and  directed 
 the  grand  confusion  to  the  ends  of  distributive 
 justice.  These  monsters  of  iniquity  had  a 
 reign  as  short  and  full  of  terror,  as  it  was  dis- 
 graceful to  that  light  of  human  reason,  which 
 they  set  up  as  the  object  of  worship  in- 
 stead of  God,  whom  they  blasphemously  af- 
 fected to  discharge  from  the  government  of 
 
 *  Isaiah  lis.  4. 
 
68 
 
 his  own  creation.  For  scarcely  had  the  blood 
 of  the  victims  of  their  savage  cruelty  been 
 cleansed  away  from  the  streets,  before  their 
 own  blood  gushed  from  the  same  guillotine, 
 and  flowed  in  the  same  kennels. 
 
 This  retribution,  though  dreadful,  was  yet 
 most  equitable.*  It  was  a  lively  image  by  re- 
 flection, of  those  very  sins  of  the  mystic  Ba- 
 bylon which  God  said  in  Psalm  1.  21,  that  he 
 would  one  day  set  before  her  face  ;  and  which 
 has  now  drawn  down  this  heavy  judgment 
 upon  her.  These  practiced  tormentors  now 
 suffer  from  the  same  scourge  which  they 
 themselves  had  platted  for  the  backs  of  others, 
 and  had  applied  unceasingly  as  interest,  or 
 malice,  or  idolatrous  superstition  directed.   For 
 
 *  1  Sam.  xv.  33;  Rev.  xiii.  10- 
 
 Quod  quisque  fecit,  patitur ;  autorcm  scelus 
 Repetit ;  suoque  premitur  exemplo  nocens. 
 
 Senec.  Her.fur.  T3J.. 
 
 Whoe'er  offends  must  suffer  too, 
 Like  punishments,  like  crimes  pursue. 
 His  own  example  sets  the  rule 
 Qf  suff'ring  for  th'  unthinking  fool. 
 
69 
 
 in  what  christian  land  has  not  the  harvest  of 
 those  plots,  and  treasons,  and  incendiary  prin- 
 ciples they  had  sown,  been  reaped  in  blood 
 and  tears  ? 
 
 "  And  the  third  angel  poured  out  his  vial 
 upon  the  rivers,  and  fountains  of  waters,  and 
 they  became  blood.''''  These  plagues  seem  like 
 those  of  Egypt,  to  rise  gradually  in  terror  and 
 greatness,  and  to  be  preparatory  and  introduc- 
 tory of  each  other,  doubtless  with  the  view  of 
 excithig  proper  reflection  upon  the  caitsey  and 
 leading  the  sufferers  to  repentance.  There  is 
 a  great  analogy  between  this  vial  and  the  first 
 plague  of  Egypt,  when  "  he  turned  their  rivers 
 into  blood,  and  their  floods  that  they  could 
 not  drink."  (Psalm  Ixxviii.  44.)  And  the 
 effect  is  the  same,  the  hardness  of  the  tyrant's 
 heart  is  only  augmented  by  it,  for  his  own 
 magicians  had  done  the  same  thing.* 
 
 *  As  the  advocates  of  the  catholic  cause  have  been  able  to 
 push  away  from  his  holiness  the  vast  accumulation  of  prophe- 
 cies with  which  the  protestants  have  saddled  him  ;  so,  to  m«ke 
 it  appear  that  antichrist  is  not  yet  come,  they  will  have  no  diffi- 
 culty at  all  in  accounting  for  this  antichristian   terWHtioifi' 
 
to 
 
 Rivers  and  fountains  are  the  known  em- 
 blems of  religious  doctrine.  Thus  in  Isaiah 
 xxx.  25,  God  promises  that  he  will  cause 
 "  on  every  high  hill  rivers  and  streams  of 
 waters,"*  or,  that  he  will  convey  abundant 
 light  and  knowledge  of  God  into  those  coun- 
 tries which  at  that  time  were  the  most  inac- 
 cessible to  truth  and  salvation,  being  filled  by 
 "  the  god  of  this  world "  with  superstition 
 and  idolatry.  And  our  Saviour  often  uses 
 the  same  metaphor,  in  the  same  sense,  f  In- 
 deed the  rivers  of  this  mystical  Egypt  were  not 
 waters  of  life  before  this  change  happened  ; 
 they  were  no  "  wells  of  salvation"  but  foun- 
 tains of  bitter  water  ;  yet  such  as  answered  the 
 purposes  of  such  a  church :  but  now  they  can 
 do  even  that  no  longer.  They  are  now  liter- 
 ally turned  into  the  waters  of  death,  which 
 spiritually  they  had  long  time  been.  From 
 that  fountain  of  corruption  of  the  heart,  and 
 hardening  of  the  conscience,  and  blinding  of 
 
 ihe'ir  hoy  church.  The  turning  of  the  scriptures  or  water  of  life 
 into  Hood,  is  nothing  new  to  them— they  have  done  this  miracle 
 themselves,  and  think  nothing  strange  of  it. 
 
 *  Isai.  xli.  IS.  t  John  vii.  OS. 
 
71 
 
 the  reason  of  man,  those  revolutionary  streams 
 issued  forth,  and  soon  became  mingled  with 
 blood.  The  curse  of  the  first  Judas  comes 
 upon  this  second,  or  man  of  sin  ;  and 
 "  that  which  should  have  been  for  his  saving 
 health,  becomes  unto  him  an  occasion  of  fall- 
 mg. 
 
 The  rules  of  the  notorious  inquisition, 
 like  the  cruel  laws  of  Draco,  have  been 
 written  in  blood.  "  The  dead  bodies  of  thy 
 servants  have  they  given  to  be  meat  unto  the 
 fowls  of  the  air,  and  the  flesh  of  thy  saints 
 unto  the  beasts  of  the  land.  Their  blood  have 
 they  shed  like  water,  on  every  side  of  Jerusa- 
 lem, and  there  was  no  man  to  bury  them"* 
 — The  woman,  the  emblem  of  the  apostate 
 church, f  is  represented  as  being  "drunk  with 
 the  blood  of  the  saints,  and  with  the  blood  of 
 the  martyrs  ofjesus.  But  now,  by  a  won- 
 derful retribution  of  almighty  wisdom  and  jus- 
 tice, in  which  her  own  crimes  appear  written 
 
 *  Psalm  lxxix.  2,  3,  alluding   to   their  denial  of  christian 
 burial  to  heretics.  f   Rev.  xvii.  6. 
 
 VOL.  II.  L 
 
72 
 
 in  the  particulars  of  her  judgment,  that  cor- 
 rupt and  persecuting  religion  becomes  a  cause 
 of  martyrdom  to  themselves.  It  is  the  devoted 
 object  at  which  the  thunderbolts  of  the  divine 
 indignation  are  launched,  and  the  putrid  car- 
 cass which  the  eagles  are  in  search  of,  as  the 
 prey  allotted  to  them  by  the  decree  of  heaven. 
 "  The  sword  of  God  is  unsheathed"  against 
 the  kingdoms  of  the  beast,  and  it  "  will  no 
 more  depart  from  his  house,"  in  one  part  of 
 the  world  or  another,  until  all  these  things  be 
 fulfilled.  For  "  great  Babylon  is  come 
 in  remembrance  before  God,  to  give  unto  her 
 the  cup  of  the  wine  of  the  fierceness  of  his 
 wrath.  And  in  her  was  found  the  blood  of 
 prophets,  and  of  saints,  and  of  all  that  were 
 slain  upon  the  earth."*  For  this  cause  "  be- 
 hold a  whirlwind  of  the  Lord  is  gone  forth 
 in  fury,  even  a  grievous  whirlwind ;  it  shall 
 fall  grievously  upon  the  head  of  the  wicked. 
 The  anger  of  the  Lord  shall  not  return,  until 
 he  have  executed,  and  until  he  have  perform- 
 
 *  Hev.  xvi.  19- 
 
73 
 
 ed  the  thoughts  of  his  heart.     In  the  latter 
 days  ye  shall  consider  //."f 
 
 f  Jer.  xxiii.  19,  20;  Isai,  xxxiv.  5,  6.  The  wicked,  as 
 here  (and  in  many  other  prophecies)  connected  with  the 
 judgments  upon  idolatry  and  apostacy  from  God,  and  with 
 the  emancipation  of  Israel,  seems  to  allude  to  St  Paul's  man 
 of  sin,' — the  wicked,  or  lawless  ««£,— the  antichrist.— 
 Psalm  1, 
 
 i  a 
 
SECTION   XXII. 
 
 The  church  of  the  witnesses  gives  glory  to 
 God  for  the  truth  and  justice  of  his  dispen- 
 satio?is,  in  the  fulfilment  of  prophecy, — The 
 apostate  church  perseveres  in  her  misappre- 
 hension of  them. — The  fourth  vial  poured 
 cut, — represents  the  scorching  heat  of  des- 
 potic power  and  cruel  tyranny. — The  ffth 
 vial^  a  darkness  both  political  and  moral. — 
 The  remarkable  ivisdom  of  Providence  in 
 these  judgments )  'which  are  adapted  to  set 
 before  the  eyes  of  sinners  the  crimes  that 
 drew  these  miseries  upon  them, 
 
 IHE  dreadful  retribution  of  the  former 
 cruelties  of  the  persecuting  tyrant,  thus  intro- 
 duced by  the  first  vial,  heightened  by  the  se- 
 cond, and  brought  to  a  kind  of  crisis  (but  not 
 a  salutary  one)  by  the  third ;  and  by  a  sort 
 
75 
 
 of  punishment,  the  same  in  kind  as  that  he 
 himself  had  inflicted  upon  the  innocent  mar- 
 tyrs of  Jesus,  and  originating  in  his  own 
 wickedness ;  is  on  all  accounts  so  righteous  a 
 dispensation  of  a  divine  over-ruling  wisdom^ 
 that  the  church  of  the  reformed  gives  glory- 
 to  the  eternal  alpha  and  omega  for  it, 
 "  I  heard  the  angel  of  the  waters  say,  thou 
 art  righteous,  O  Lord,  which  art,  and  wasty 
 and  shalt  be,  because  thou  hast  judged  thus. 
 Por  they  have  shed  the  blood  of  saints,  and 
 prophets,  and  thou  hast  given  them  blood  to 
 drink y  for  they  are  worthy."*  David  had 
 before  celebrated  in  the  ninety  seventh  Psalm 
 the  same  event,  of  God's  vindicating  his 
 church  . — "  confounded  be  all  they  that  serve 
 graven  images, 'that  boast  themselves  of  idols; 
 worship  him,  all  ye  gods.  Zion  heard,  and 
 was  glad,  and  the  daughter  of  Judah  rejoiced; 
 because  of  thy  judgments,  0  Lord.  Ye  that 
 love    the    Lord,    hate    evil.     He   preserveth 
 
 *  These  hyperbolical  figures  in  propliecy,  of  Cod's  feeding 
 his  enemies  tuilb  then-  ownjlesh,  and  giving  them  blood  to  drinhy 
 are  emblematical  of  £reat  slaughters,  attended  with  circuits- 
 stances  of  a  peculiar  atrocity.    (Rev.  xvi.  5.) 
 
*6 
 
 the  souls  of  his  saints,  he  delivereth  them  out 
 of  the  hand  of  the  wicked," 
 
 The  fourth  vial  introduces  a  new  method 
 of  torment  for  the  beast  and  his  empire,  if 
 indeed  it  may  be  called  altogether  new,  since 
 it  still  springs  from  the  same  root  of  popery* 
 as  the  former,  and  is  a  continuation  of  the 
 effects  of  the  three  preceding  vials,  with  ad- 
 ditional venom,  which  hastens  on  the  demo- 
 lition of  his  power,  with  great  increase  of  his 
 sufferings.      "  The  fourth  angel  poured  out 
 his  vial  upon  the  sun,  and  great  power  was 
 given  unto  him  to  scorch  men  with  fire.    And 
 men  were  scorched  with  great  heat,  and  blas- 
 phemed the  name  of  God,  which  hath  power 
 over  these  plagues,  and  they  repented  not  to 
 give  him  glory." 
 
 The  men  that  worshipped  the  beast  and 
 his  image,  (the  objects  of  these  divine  judg- 
 ments,) are  still  not  moved  to  repentance  of 
 their  practical  and  speculative  errors.     Their 
 
 *  Isaiah  xiv.  29. 
 
burthen  is  therefore  augmented,  and  the  yoke 
 of  "  a  cruel  lord"  prepared  for  their  necks.* 
 To  the  egyptians  the  common  blessings  of 
 heaven  were  reversed^  and  the  light  of  day 
 was  turned  into  the  darkness  of  midnight.— 
 Christ,  the  enlightening  and  animating  sun 
 of  the  christian  system,  scorches  up  his  apos- 
 tate enemies  with  the  fierceness  of  his  in- 
 tolerable blaze,  and  torments  them  with  the 
 brightness  of  his  near  approach. — He  rules 
 his  rebellious  subjects  with  a  rough  hand, 
 "  bruises  them  with  a  sceptre  of  iron,  and 
 dashes  them  in  pieces  like  a  potter's  vessel."  f 
 
 The  darkening  of  the  sun,  and  turning 
 the  moon  into  blood,  and  the  falling  of  the 
 stars  from  their  orbits,  is  a  well  known  fi- 
 gure for  the  overthrow  of  empires. f  But  in 
 this  judgment  upon  the  mystical  Egypt  the 
 portent  is  reversed.  The  sun  is  not  blotted 
 out  from  the  face  of  the  political  heavens,  but 
 receives  a  baleful  augmentation  of  bis  power, 
 
 *  Iaai.  xix.  4.  \  Ps.  ii.  9. 
 
 %  Isai,  xiii.  10  j  Joel  ii.  10,  3!  ;  Matt,  xxiv.  29. 
 
78 
 
 which  no  longer  nourishes  and  sustains  na- 
 ture, but  scorches  it  with  a  destructive  heat. 
 This  plague  also,  (as  it  is  to  be  generally  un- 
 derstood of  all  the  rest,)  is  limited  in  its  influ- 
 ence to  the  worshippers  of  the  BEAST,  and 
 those  in  his  connection;  with  others  who  for 
 great  delinquencies ',  are  doomed  to  drink  of  his 
 cup,  though  not  originally  prepared  for  them. 
 This,  which  was  declared  at  the  commence- 
 ment of  these  plagues,  is  still  evident,  from 
 the  effect  produced  by  it  upon  these  infatu- 
 ated idolaters  ;  who  instead  of  being  led 
 thereby  to  salutary  reflection  and  amendment, 
 redouble  their  blasphemous  prayers  to  their 
 canonized  gods,  to  fatigue  and  provoke,  to  the 
 very  uttermost,  the  patience  of  the  God  of 
 heaven,  which  alone  "  hath  power  over  these 
 plagues."  "  And  they  repented  not,  to  give 
 him  glory." 
 
 A  COCK  crowing  to  the  rising  sun,  is  said 
 to  be  the  emblematical  device  of  the  kingdom 
 of  France,  and  as  the  holy  spirit  of  prophe- 
 cy adapts  the  method  of  its  divine  revela- 
 tion  to  the  ideas  generally  received  amongst 
 
79 
 
 men*  it  is  naturally  to  be  presumed  that  by 
 the  SUN  of  the  political  heaven  (at  this  period 
 of  the  prophecy,)  that  kingdom  is  alluded  to, 
 as  being  nearly  central  in  the  midst  of  the 
 christian  world,  and  ever  distinguished  by  a 
 closer  connection  than  most  others  with  the 
 papal  power.  This  power,  which  origin- 
 ally set  up  on  high  the  throne  and  empire  of 
 the  beast,  and  obtained  the  flattering  titles  of 
 "  the  most  christian  king,  and  the  eldest 
 son  of  the  church,"  is  destined  to  puii  down 
 her  usurped  power,  "  and  to  hate  the  whore, 
 and  make  her  desolate,  and  naked,  and  eat  her 
 flesh,  and  burn  her  with  fire."f  And  it  is  ob- 
 vious that  this  part  of  the  prophecy  is  now  in 
 a  progressive  advancement  towards  a  perfect 
 accomplishment.   The  kingdom  of  France 
 
 •  That  this  prophecy  points  to  the  known  custom  of  using 
 emblems  to  denote  particular  countries,  (and  to  that  in  question 
 in  particular,)  is  not  improbable  5  as  the  scripture  would  not 
 have  been  adapted  to  the  general  comprehension  of  mankind, 
 had  it  not,  in  such  a  manner,  accommodated  itself  to  the  received 
 Ideas  and  customs  of  the  world,  as  our  Saviour  justly  argued  ;  — 
 "  If  I  tell  you  of  earthly  things,  and  ye  believe  not,  hew  shall  ye 
 believe  if  I  tell  you  of  heavenly  thing;,'' — and  that  without 
 
 j  Rev.  xvii.  16. 
 
 VOL.  II.  M 
 
80 
 
 has  by  strange  and  highly  improbable  events, 
 become  the  seat  of  a  new  and  excessively  fierce 
 heat  of  despotic  authority,  which  hath  cast  its 
 heavy  iron  sceptre  over  nearly  all  the  king- 
 doms of  the   beast,   and   by   this    singular 
 change  or  augmentation  of  power  given  to  it 
 by  divine  appointment,  (that  it  may  become 
 the  instrument  of  tormenting  the  agonizing 
 members    of   Antichrist    with    its    scorching 
 heat,)   it  has  itself  assumed  the  place  of  the 
 original  first  beast,  the  successor  of 
 the  pagan  dragon,  or  the  political  head 
 
 of  the    MODERN    ROMAN    EMPIRE  ;    ill   that 
 
 capacity  to  subserve  the  further  purposes  of 
 Providence. 
 
 The  same  seems  also  to  answer  to  the  stone 
 cut  out  without  hands  of  men*  and  ordained  to 
 fall  upon  the  image,  "  on  "its  feet"  or  in  its 
 
 giving  you  some  easy  and  suitable  vehicle  of  accommodation  ? 
 Thus,  when  Joshua  said — "sun,  stand  thou  still  upon  Gib- 
 eon" — he  was  incorrect  in  respect  to  modern  philosophy,  but 
 was  understood  so  much  the  better  by  the  auditors  then  pre- 
 sent. And  thus  the  number  of  I  be  beast  is  said  to  be  construct- 
 ed agreeably  to  the  common  vsoge  of  men  at  that  time. 
 *  Daniel  ii. 
 
81 
 
 declining  days,  and  at  the  point  of  time  fixed 
 in  the  books  of  prophecy  for  its  destruction. 
 This  breaking  up  of  powers,  cemented  by  re- 
 ligious superstition,  and  grown  over  by  the 
 rust  of  great  antiquity,  (although  compounded 
 of  heterogeneous  materials,  a  iron  mixed  with 
 miry  clay" )  is  the  effect  of  this  power  given 
 to  the  sun  to  scorch  men  with  its  intolerable 
 heat.  It  commences  with  exactions  and  spo- 
 liations of  a  new  description,  and  which  carry 
 the  fierceness  of  the  heat  of  tyranny  into  their 
 king  s  chambers,  the  counting  houses  of  their 
 merchants,  and  the  formerly  secure  and  peace- 
 ful dwellings  of  domestic  life.  Rapacious  an- 
 nexations of  territory  succeed  ;  and  are  fruit- 
 lessly opposed  by  a  ruinous  and  self-destroying 
 resistance,  and  desolating  insurrections  of  the 
 conquered ;  which  only  end  in  a  grievous 
 augmentation  of  the  pressure,  a  stronger  gripe 
 of  the  lion's  paw,  and  a  more  intolerable  an- 
 guish from  the  scorching  beams  of  the  sun 
 that  is  appointed  to  torment  them. — "  In  that 
 day  Egypt  shall  be  like  unto  women  :  and  it 
 shall  be  afraid  and  fear,  because  of  the  shak- 
 ing of  the  hand  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  whicfc 
 
 M    2 
 
82 
 
 he  shaketh  over  it."*  "  A  sword  is  upon  all 
 the  mingled  people  that  are  in  the  midst  of  her, 
 and  they  shall  become  as  women  :  a  sword  is 
 upon  her  treasures,  and  they  shall  be  robbed ; 
 a  drought  is  upon  her  waters,  and  they  shall 
 be  dried  up.  For  it  is  the  land  of  gra- 
 ven images,  and  they  are  mad  upon  their 
 idols."*]" 
 
 This  destiny,  severe  as  it  seems,  yet  does  but 
 reflect  the  image  of  their  own  former  exactions 
 and  holy  spoliations  in  the  day  of  their  power 
 and  arrogance.  They  had  long  crushed  the  peo- 
 ple of  God  with  the  most  grievous  oppression, 
 and  now  they  are  themselves  trodden  down,  as 
 straw  for  the  dunghill,%  and  the  same  galling 
 yoke  which  they  had  made  for  heretics,  is  fitted 
 to  their  own  necks.  "  The  rod  of  him  that 
 smote  them  (with  papal  tyranny)  is  broken, 
 but  out  of  the  serpent's  root  shall   come  forth 
 
 *  Isaiah  xix.  16.  t  Jer*  '•  ?7« 
 
 %  Isaiah  xxv.  ]0.  See  Isaiah's  prophecy  of  the  spoiler 
 spoiled,  (Isa.  xxxiii.  ],)  and  the  hypocritical  nation  by  divine 
 commission  given  up  a  prey  to  spoliation,  (Isa.  x.  6.)  Sect, 
 xiii-  p.  347* 
 
83 
 
 a,  cockatrice,  and  his  fruit  shall  be  a  fiery flying 
 serpent"* 
 
 "  Oppression  will  make  a  wise  man  mad" 
 says  Solomon  ;  but  men  under  the  influence 
 of  a  spirit  of  infatuation  are  made  fools  by  it. 
 Their  bigotry  and  superstition  is  only  the 
 more  increased  by  the  rod  which  scourges  it. 
 Far  from  repenting,  or  giving  glory  to  God 
 himself,  who  alone  has  the  controul  of  these 
 judgments  in  his  own  hands,  they  fly  to  the 
 shrines  of  their  Mahuzzim,  or  protecting 
 gods,  and  worshipped  relics,  and  necroman- 
 tic incantations,  and  holy  processions, 
 and  all  the  sacred  mummery  of  their  spiritual 
 Inchantments^  to  avert  the  evil  which  is  still 
 aggravated  by  the  blasphemous  idolatry. 
 
 "  And  the  fifth  angel  poured  out  his  vial 
 upon  the  seat  of  the  beast,  and  his 
 kingdom  was  full  of  darkness:  and  they 
 gnawed  their  tongues  for  pain,  and  blasphem- 
 ed the  God  of  heaven  because  of  their  pains 
 
 *  Isaiah  xiv,  29. 
 
84 
 
 and  their  sores,  and  repented  not  of  their  deeds  P 
 — This  resembles  the  ninth  plague  of  Egypt, 
 which  was  "  smitten  with  darkness,  even  dark- 
 ness that  might  be  felt."*  These  judgments, 
 in  every  step,  have  made  nearer  and  nearer 
 approaches  to  the  throne  and  person  of 
 the  arch-apostate  himself.  His  own  kingdom 
 is  now  filled  with  real  darkness,  by  a  judg- 
 ment sent  upon  his  very  seat  ;  in  just  retri- 
 bution of  that  artificial  darkness  which  he  had 
 wickedly  spread  over  the  christian  world,  by 
 covering  up  the  light  of  its  sun, — withdraw- 
 ing the  holy  scriptures  from  the  use,  and  even 
 from  the  knowledge  of  the  people,  and  tramp- 
 ling them  under  his  feet;  reviling  them  with 
 opprobrious  names,  and  committing  them  to 
 the  lire  as  a  common  nuisance,  and  the  pesti- 
 lent disturbers  of  the  church's  peace,  j* 
 
 *  Exodus  x.  22;  Psalm  cv,  28. 
 
 ■\  "  When  they  shall  say  unto  you,  seek  unto  them  that 
 have  familiar  spirits ;  and  unto  wizzatds,  that  peep  and  that 
 •nutter:" — (to  popish  priests  and  lying  monks,  the  writers  of 
 fabulous  legends  of  the  saints,  which  are  dealt  out  to  the  people 
 ;  of  lessons  of  Holy  Scripture.) — "  Should  not  a  people 
 seek  unto  their  God," — (should  they  apply) — "  for  the  living 
 '    " — To   the  hw  and   to  the   testimony,"  —  (the 
 
85 
 
 The  man  of  sin  had  consigned  himself  to  a 
 voluntary  darkness,  and  lo  !  darkness  is 
 sent  upon  him  against  his  will :  such  a  dark- 
 ness as  the  prince  of  darkness  loveth  not.  For 
 although  spiritual  darkness  is  comfortable  to 
 error  and  wickedness,  political  darkness  is  an 
 intolerable  pain.  "  Let  their  way  be  dark 
 and  slippery"  said  David,*  u  and  let  the  angel 
 of  the  Lord  persecute  them  ;" — which  seems  to 
 allude  to  this  vial  of  God  V  ivratb  in  the  hands 
 of  the  fifth  angel.  "  Sit  thou  silent  and  get 
 thee  into  darkness ,  O  daughter  of  the  chaldcans, 
 for  thou  shalt  no   more  be  called  the  lady  of 
 
 Bible  and  the  Testament,) — "  if  they  speak  not  according  to 
 this  word,  it  is  because  there  is  no  light  in  them"  Isa.  via.  1 9,  20. 
 Their  darkness  is  first  wilful,  before  it  become  judicial. — 
 They  prohibit  the  scriptures,  or  else  give  them  out  spiced,  as 
 men  do  medicated  feeds  to  their  cattle.  They  shut  out  all  the 
 books  of  the  reformers,  and  even  books  of  their  own  authors 
 in  which  the  reformed  doctrines  are  only  recited  in  order  to  be 
 confuted.  They  purge,  interpolate,  and  amend  the  writings 
 of  the  fathers,  and  other  authorities  unfavorable  to  holy  church. 
 — Their  pious  frauds  must  not  bebrought  to  light,  Even 
 their  Index  Expurgatohius  is  not  now  to  be  seen  out  of  sap 
 hands. — Thus  they  say  unto  you — "  Seel  only  unto  wizzard?. 
 that  peep  and  that  matter ,"   &c» 
 
 *  Fsalm  xxxv.  6. 
 
86 
 
 kingdoms.*  "  And  in  that  day  they  shall  roar 
 against  them  like  the  roaring  of  the  sea :  and 
 if  one  look  unto  the  land,  behold  darkness 
 and  sorrow,  and  the  light  is  darkened  in  the 
 heavens  thereoj ;"  j*  "  They  shall  pass  through 
 it  hardly  bestead  and  hungry :  and  it  shall 
 come  to  pass,  that  when  they  shall  be  hungry, 
 they  shall  fret  themselves,  and  curse  their 
 king  and  their  God,  and  look  upward" — (for 
 relief  which  shall  not  come.) — <:  And  they 
 shall  look  unto  the  earth ;%  and  behold,  trouble 
 and  darkness,  dimness  of  anguish ;  and  they 
 shall  be  driven  to  darkness? '§ 
 
 *  Isaiah  xlrii.  5,  f  Isaiah  v.  30. 
 
 \  The  earth  seems  to  be  the  emblem  which,  in  all  the 
 prophecies  on  this  subject,  is  put  for  the  peculium,  or  pa- 
 trimony  of  the  church,  and  the  temporal  power  of  the 
 papacy,  out  of  which  he  rises,  (Rev.  xiii-  11,)  after  the  firm 
 establishment  of  the  first  beast,  or  christian  roman  empire, 
 which  rose  out  of  the  sea,  or  nations  of  the  world.  In  this 
 state  of  persecution,  when  the  apostate  church  locketh  to  its 
 once  omnipotent  head  for  protection  against  the  scorching  sun, 
 it  sees  the  sun  of  the  church  setting  in  total  darkness;  and  all 
 his  satellites  "  driven  to  darlncss." 
 
 §  Isaiah  vlii.  21,  22. 
 
8? 
 
 These  pertinent  passages  of  the  holy  pro- 
 phets of  God,  from  whom  this  vial  of  dark- 
 ness is  sent  upon  the  kingdom  of  the  beast, 
 shew  plainly  what  kind  of  darkness  it  will  be ; 
 apolitical  darkness ',  more  grievous  to  them 
 than  either  moral  or  religious  darkness  :*  for 
 in  these  they  have  willingly  sat,  and  here  have 
 laid  the  foundations  of  their  throne. f  Jesus 
 Christ  is  the  true  light  that  lighteth  every  man 
 that  cometh  into  the  world,  but  antichrist  is 
 darkness  personified,  "  He  that  hath  my 
 word,"  says  God,  "  let  him  speak  my  word 
 faithfully,  what  is  the  chaff  to  the  wheat,  saith 
 the  Lord  V%  "  If  they  had  stood  in  my 
 counsel,  and  had  caused  my  people  to  hear 
 my  words,  then  they  should  have  turned 
 them  from  their  evil  way,  and  from  the  evil 
 of  their  doings,  but  they  commit  adultery  and 
 
 *  Ezekiel  xxxii,  t  ;  Amos  v.  18. 
 
 •j-  Our  blessed  Lord  compares  the  saving  doctrines  of  his 
 gospel  to  goo  d  seed.,  and  those  of  antichrist  (which  is  a  collection 
 of  the  worst  heresies  that  have  at  sundry  periods  appeared  in 
 the  church)  to  had  seed,  sown  by  an  enemy,  in  the  silence  and 
 darkness  of  night,  while  the  husbandmen  slept.    Matt.  xiii.  24. 
 
 \  Jer.  xxiii.  23, 
 VOL.  II.  N 
 
walk  in  lies ;  they  strengthen  also  the  hands  of 
 evildoers,  that  none  doth  return  from  his 
 wickedness," — (absolutions  can  be  purchased 
 with  money,  without  repentance.) — "  They 
 are  ail  of  them  unto  me  as  Sodom,  and  the 
 inhabitants  thereof  as  Gomorrah."* 
 
 From  the  general  import  of  these  prophe- 
 cies, I  think  it  may  be  concluded  that  the 
 darkness  thrown  over  the  spiritual  empire  of 
 antichrist  by  the  vial  of  the  fifth  angel,  will 
 be  the  extinction  of  the  sun  of  their  empire ',  or 
 the  putting  down  of  the  temporal  and  political 
 power  and  greatness  of  the  papacy;  insomuch, 
 that  though  the  popedom  still  subsists,  yet  it 
 is  in  a  state  of  darkness  and  eclipse,  and  shines 
 not  with  the  heat  or  splendour  of  a  sun  in  the 
 political  heavens  as  formerly. 
 
 This  great  change  is  not  expressed  here  in 
 the  usual  manner,  and  by  the  customary  fi- 
 gures of  the  sun  turned  into  darkness,  and  the 
 stars  falling  from  their  orbits,  &c.  because 
 
 *  Jer,  xxiii.  l'i. 
 
89 
 
 that  would  have  occasioned  a  confusion  in  the 
 allegory,  and  consequently  a  misconception  of 
 the  meaning  intended.  For  the  sun,  or 
 the  existing  representative  of  the  imperial 
 power,  had  just  before  received  a  great  aug< 
 mentation  of  its  light  and  force,  even  to  the 
 scorching  of  the  papal  world  with  its  in- 
 supportable heat ;  and  this  change,  effected 
 upon  the  once  glorious  and  resplendent  seat 
 OF  THE  beast,  is  one  of  the  consequences 
 of  it.  The  fifth  vial  is  therefore  poured  not 
 upon  the  sun  of  the  empire,  but  upon  the 
 scat  of  the  beast,  which  in  the  sphere  of  his 
 catholic  despotism  was  its  sun,  and  immedi- 
 ate darkness  over  all  his  kingdom,  and  con- 
 sternation ensues,  by  the  degradation  of  the 
 pope  from  his  rank  of  a  sovereign  potentate, 
 the  seizure  of  his  territories  and  his  revenues, 
 the  extinction  of  his  usurped  and  pretc?ided 
 rights,  the  rubbery  of  his  treasures,  and  even 
 
 the  IMPRISONMENT  of  his  PERSON. 
 
 Thus,  as  it  was  foretold  in  this  historical 
 series  of  prophecies,  that  the  ten  horns,  which 
 for  many  centuries,  by  the  will  of  God,  (or 
 
 N    2 
 
90 
 
 rather,    agreeably  to    the    foreknowledge    of 
 God  that  so  it  would  be,)  had  unitedly  upheld 
 the  pride  and  power  of  the  whore,  by  their 
 blind  submission  to  her  arrogant  pretensions 
 and  wicked  usurpations,  should  one  day  be- 
 come her  enemies,  and  work  her  downfall ; 
 so  now  we  see  this  latter  part  of  the  prophe- 
 cy fulfilling,  as  ages  past  have  witnessed  the 
 former  part.     The   eldest   son   of   the 
 church,  and  the  most  favored,  which  in- 
 vested the   papacy  with  its  solar   rays 
 and   tripple   crown,  has  been  the  fore- 
 most and  chief  agent   in  pouring  upon  its 
 seat  this  vial  of  darkness,  in  which,  before 
 this  plague  is  fully  spent,  he  will  probably  be 
 joined  by  other  kindred  spirits  ;  as  the  devo- 
 tion towards  the  pretended  head  of  the  church 
 has  considerably  abated,  and  his  once  fasci- 
 nating enchantments  have  lost  their  force. 
 
 The  egyptian  plague  of  darkness,  to  which 
 this  of  mystic  Babylon  is  analogous,  lasted 
 three  days. — "  There  was  a  thick  darkness  in 
 all  the  land  of  Egypt  three  days.  They  saw 
 not  one  another,  neither  rose  any  from  his 
 
91 
 
 place  for  three  days." — If  the  analogy  holds 
 in  this  circumstance,  (which  however  is  not 
 at  all  necessary  to  the  prophecy,)  the  splendor 
 of  the  papal  sun  will  be  in  some  measure 
 restored,  at  the  expiration  of  three  years  of 
 darkness,  perhaps  by  the  caprice  of  the  same 
 despotic  power  which  has  now  (without  any 
 ostensible  reason  held  forth,)  totally  extin- 
 guished its  light.  But  for  the  certain  ex- 
 pectation of  this  we  have  not  the  same  strong 
 ground  of  authority,  which  we  had  for  the 
 degradation  of  the  popedom.  For  Isaiah  says 
 of  mystic  Babylon,  that  she  shall  be  no  more 
 called  "  the  lady  of  kingdoms  " — Imperial 
 Rome,  twice  the  mistress  of  the  world, 
 once  by  arms,  and  again  by  superstition. 
 
 This  darkness,  which  suddenly  overshadows 
 the  throne  and  kingdom  of  the  beast,  con- 
 jointly with  the  pains  arising  from  their  for- 
 mer  plagues,  we  find,  drives  them  to  the  ut- 
 most excess  of  their  blasphemous  superstition, 
 but  induces  no  proper  reflection  upon  the 
 cause  wherefore  this  great  evil  is  sent  upon 
 them,   and    effects   no   repentance.       "  The 
 
92 
 
 wicked  walk  on  in  darkness \  they  know  not  at 
 what  they  stumble  ;"*  but  to  the  upright  there 
 ariseth  light  in  their  (occasional)  darkness  ; 
 "  the  path  of  the  just  is  a  shining  light." — 
 They  who  have  walked  only  in  crooked 
 paths,  too  intricate  to  be  traced  back  in  safety 
 when  the  day  of  gloominess  and  thick  dark- 
 ness overtakes  them,  are  then  left  wholly 
 without  counsel,  and  know  not  what  course 
 to  take.  This  prophetic  darkness  therefore 
 implies  the  distress  and  perplexity  of  the  pa- 
 pal councils,  in  an  emergency  of  so  great 
 difficulty,  and  which  they  were  so  little  pre- 
 pared to  expect,  or  to  contend  with.  "  All 
 the  men  of  thy  confederacy  have  brought  thee 
 even  to  the  border ;  the  men  that  were  at 
 peace  with  thee  have  deceived  thee,  and  pre- 
 vailed against  thee  ;  they  that  eat  thy  bread 
 have  laid  a  wound  under  thee :  there  is  none 
 understanding  in  him. — Shall  I  not  in  that 
 day,  saith  the  Lord,  even  destroy  the  wise 
 men  out  of  Edom,  and  understanding  out  of 
 the  Mount  of  Esau."f 
 
 •   Proverbs  iv.  19.        f  Obad,  vii.  8  ;   Tsni.  xix.  II,  !*!•> 
 
93 
 
 The  finger  of  God  is  remarkably  conspicu- 
 ous in  the  justice  of  this  punishment,  and  me- 
 thod of  retaliation,  agreeably  to  his  declared 
 rule :— "  They  that  despise  me  shall  be  light- 
 ly esteemed,"  and  to  them  that  "  love  dark* 
 ness  rather  than  light"  it  shall  be  sent  upon 
 them.     The  eyes  of  the  little  horn,  or 
 that  singular  sagacity  and  worldly  wisdom  by 
 which  the  papacy  was  in  all  ages  eminently 
 distinguished,  having  been  as  remarkably  mis- 
 applied, and  directed  solely  to  the  increase  of 
 their  own  power  and  wealth,  and  the  main- 
 tenance of  all  the   claims  that  any  of  their 
 predecessors  had  (ever  so  arrogantly  or  un- 
 justly) pretended  to:  never  to  the  advantage 
 of  religion,  the  glory  of  God,  or  the  peace  of 
 the  world ;  but  in  direct  opposition  to  them 
 all.     The  privileges   of  the  church,   and  all 
 the  hocus  pocus  of  their  religious  mummery 
 and  refuge  of  lies,  required  to  be  bolstered  up 
 by  both  the  power  of  the  sword,  and  by  spi- 
 ritual intrigue.     Daniel  has  therefore  described 
 this  singular  production  as  A  horn,  amongst 
 the  ten  horns,  or  a  temporal  potentate, 
 but  having  eyes  like  the  eyes  of  a  man,  and 
 
94 
 
 both  watchful  for  favorable  opportunities ',  and 
 also  of  strength  enough  to  make  his  own  use  oj 
 them,  no  matter  by  what  right  or  reason.  Of 
 what  nature  those  eyes,  and  that  watchful- 
 ness of  this  crafty  watchman  would  be,  our 
 Saviour  has  intimated  in  his  prophetic  par- 
 able.— "  The  light  of  the  body,  said  he,  is 
 the  eye.  If  therefore  thine  eye  be  single,  thy 
 whole  body  shall  be  full  of  light.  But  if 
 thine  eye  be  evil,  thy  whole  body  shall  be 
 full  of  darkness.  If  therefore  the  light  that 
 is  in  thee  be  darkness,  how  great  is  that  dark- 
 ness !  * 
 
 The  plague  of  darkness  implies  also  a  ju- 
 dicial strengthening  of  their  toils,  by  the 
 strong  delusion  of  fanaticism ,  and  bigotry  to 
 their  errors,  being  increased  and  not  lessened 
 by  their  sufferings,  that  if  they  repent  not, 
 and  come  not  out  of  Babylon,  they  may  at 
 last  fall  into  the  net  prepared  for  their  pu- 
 nishment :  or,  as  the  prophet  in  two  several 
 places  describes  the  progressive  stages  of  their 
 
 *  Matt.  vi.  22. 
 
95 
 
 destruction.  "  That  they  may  go- — and  fall 
 backward — and  be  broken — and  snared — and 
 taken"  Or,  as  the  same  is  repeated  of  the 
 same  apostates  from  God, — "  which  will  not 
 sanctify  the  Lord  of  hosts  himself,  nor  let 
 him  be  their  fear,  nor  let  him  be  their  dread. 
 But  he  shall  be  (not  for  a  sanctuary  to  them  ; 
 but)  for  a  stone  of  stumblings  and  for  a  rock  of 
 offence.  And  many  of  them  shall  stumble — 
 and  fall — and  be  broken — and  snared — and 
 taken"* 
 
 Under  the  influence  of  a  delusion  similar  to 
 that  which  fell  upon  the  jews,  and  led  them 
 into  the  snare  of  the  divine  judgments,  the 
 worshippers  of  the  beast  repent  not  of  their 
 deeds,  but  by  persevering  in  idolatrous  errors 
 they  virtually  blaspheme  the   God  of  heaven ; 
 
 *  Isai.  xxviii.  IS;  viii.  14.  These  two  prophecies,  delivered 
 in  almost  the  same  words,  and  in  the  same  singular  interrupted 
 manner  of  narration,  have  evidently  some  great  event  in  view  — 
 The  capture  of  the  Jewish  apostaies,  and  the  fall  of  Jerusalem, 
 is  doubtless  only  one  of  the  senses  in  which  this  redoubled  and 
 remarkable  prophecy  will  receive  its  accomplishment. 
 
 vol.  II.  o 
 
% 
 
 seeking  thus  by  spiritual  sorceries*  the  re- 
 moval of  their  pains  and  their  sores  :  and  they 
 imbibe  a  deeper  hatred  against  the  truth,  and 
 an  inveterate  desire  of  revenge  upon  its  advo- 
 
 *  The  charge  of  inchantments  and  sorcery  is  frequent- 
 ly brought  in  prophecy  against  "  the  well-favored  harlot,  the 
 mistress  of  witchcrafts,  that  selleth  nations  through  her 
 whoredoms,  and  families  through  her  witchcrafts,"  (Nah. 
 iii.  4.)  She  is  called  the  sorceress  and  the  whore  in  Isaiah 
 lvii.  3.  And  that  it  is  she  herself,  and  not  another,  that  is 
 meant  in  these  passages  of  the  ancient  prophets,  St  John  has 
 bluntly  discovered  to  all  her  lovers,  by  pinning  a  label  to  her 
 stomacher,  (Rev.  ix.  21 ;  xviii.  23;  xxi,  8;  xxii.  15.) 
 
 The  superstitious  practices  (imitated  from  the  heathens, 
 and  more  allied  to  magic  than  to  Christianity,)  with  which  the 
 popish  system  abounds,  may  perhaps  be  principally  meant ;  but 
 the  prophecies  of  popery  have  wonderfully  received  (for  the 
 most  part)  a  literal  as  well  as  a  figurative  accomplishment. — 
 They  have  been  notoriously  fulfilled  in  the  charges  of  whore- 
 dom and  sodomy,  &c  and  there  is  equally  abundant  and  strong 
 evidence  that  actual  magic  and  sorcery  were  practiced  in 
 the  dark  ages,  which  there  is  no  reason  to  ascribe  to  the  slan- 
 der and  envy  of  the  ignorant,  (as  in  the  case  of  some  few  men 
 of  eminent  abilities  and  learning,  for  no  other  reason  unjustly 
 accused.)  Platina,  and  other  historiographers  of  their  own 
 religion,  assure  us  that  twenty  two  of  the  popes  gave  them- 
 selves  to  the  devil,  for  his  help  in  gaining  the  dignity  of  the 
 popedom ;  and  they  were  such  monsters  of  every  imaginable 
 wickedness,   as  even  Bcllarmine  himself  acknowledges,   that 
 
9*/ 
 
 cates ;  imputing  to  the  heresy  of  the  Pro- 
 testants, and  not  the  apostacy  of  pa- 
 pists, the  anger  of  heaven  visible  in  their 
 accumulated  calamities. 
 
 there  was  nothing  left  but  this  to  fill  up  their  measure.  Seve- 
 ral of  the  popes  were  magicians  and  necromancers,  and 
 that  the  practice  of  such  arts  was  as  frequent  in  the  convents 
 as  other  abominations,  the  church  history  attests.  See  Gre- 
 gory's History  of  the  Church,  vol.  ii.  p.  276. 
 
 To  say  nothing  of  the  repeated  instances  of  popes  poisoning 
 their  enemies  with  the  host,  or  consecrated  water,  or  of  Pope 
 Theodorus  inventing  inchanied  ink ;  for  in  excommunicating 
 Phvrrus,  patriarch  of  Constantinople,  that  he  might  be  sure 
 of  sending  him  to  the  devil  compleatly,  he  infused  certain  drops 
 of  the  consecrated  cup  into  the  ink,  with  which  he  wrote  the 
 sentence  of  cursing  against  him,)  and  other  like  inchantments 
 of  that  kind  ;  the  whole  popish  system  is  nothing  else  but  in- 
 chantment  in  every  part. 
 
 The  performance  of  the  mass,  with  the  sprinkling  of  holy 
 water,  the  muttering  unintelligible  words,  change  of  vestments, 
 frequent  crossings,  and  other  antic  gesticulations  of  the  priest, 
 bears  the  nearest  affinity  to  a  piece  of  conjuration.  For 
 what  has  Christianity  to  do  with  these  things  ?  or  with  altars, 
 and  candles  burning  upon  them  by  day  as  well  as  night  ?  and 
 crucifixes,  incense,  the  elevation  of  the  host,  and  the  tinkling 
 of  a  bell  for  the  idolatrous  adoration  of  it  by  the  people  ? 
 
 The  hocus  pocus  of  transubstantiation,  the  sacrilegi- 
 ous violation  of  the  one  sacrament,  and  the  adulteration  of  the 
 other  with  salt,  oil,  and  other  additions ;  and  degrading  the.:* 
 
 O    2 
 
9S 
 
 This  is  deplorable  darkness  indeed  !  even 
 darkness  which  might  be  felt.  But  in  cases 
 of  great  criminality  against  light,  and  reason 
 and  conscience,  even  this  is  sometimes  met 
 wiih  in  the  world.  It  is  beyond  the  power 
 of  imagination  itself  to  fathom  the  incredible 
 infatuation,  which  determined  obstinacy  in 
 evil  does  at  length  induce  upon  the  minds  of 
 sinners,  forsaken  of  the  illuminating  spirit  of 
 grace,  because  they  first  have  departed  out  of 
 the  way :  "  Saying  unto  the  seers,  see  not, 
 and  to  the  prophets,  prophesy  unto  us  smooth 
 things,  prophesy  deceits  ;  cause  the  Holy  One 
 of  Israel  to  cease  from  before  us."     If  this  be 
 
 both  to  the  level  of  the  five  popish  sacraments  joined  with  bap- 
 tism and  the  Lord's  supper  by  the  papists,  has  more  of  inchant* 
 ment  than  religion  in  it. 
 
 Their  false  miracles,  factitious  reliques,  pious  frauds,  and 
 tampering  with  the  scriptures,- are"  sufficient  to  substantiate  the 
 prophetic  accusation  of  sorcery  ; — and  the  doctrine  of  pur- 
 gatory, and  the  whole  system  of  iniquity  founded  upon  it, 
 the  "  covenant  -with  hell  and  death,'"  indigencies  and  pardons, 
 visions  and  apparitions,  revelations,  and  conferences  with  the 
 dead,  prayers  for  and  to  the  dead,  miracles  pretendedly  wrought 
 by  them,  and  superstitions  established  upon  their  alledged  au- 
 thority,  all  this  can  be  called  little  else  than  necromancy. 
 
99 
 
 not  the  actual  words  of  sinners,  their  persecu- 
 tion of  the  truth  speaks  it  for  them.  St  Paul 
 describes  them  as  "  having  consciences  seared 
 with  a  hot  iron,  speaking  lies  in  hypocrisy" — 
 and  in  short,  as  every  way  destitute  of  all  can* 
 dour  and  truth. 
 
 It  is  hard  to  believe  that  men  professing 
 the  gospel  of  Christ,  in  almost  any  shape, 
 could  possibly  arrive  at  so  great  a  perfection 
 in  the  mystery  of  iniquity,*     But  history  has 
 
 *  If  it  should  be  thought  that  the  features  of  the  popish 
 apcstacy  in  this  portrait,  are  drawn  too  hard,  and  are  too  hide- 
 ous ever  to  have  had  a  real  existence  in  nature  and  fact,  it  must 
 be  considered  that  this  is  a  collective  view  of  all  the  prophetic 
 drawings  of  the  beast,    in  various  attitudes,  and  with  the  dif- 
 ferent contortions  of  his  features,  at  different  periods  of  his  age. 
 And  that,  in  order  to  draw  likenesses  by  anticipation,  or  with  a 
 prophetic  pencil,  such  a  portrait  must  be  finished  as  shall  give 
 an  accurate  representation  of  what  the  subject  of  the  painting 
 will  be  upon  the  whole,  that  in  every  age  it  may  be  known. — 
 The  countenance  of  a  Nero  doubtless  would  not  at  every  period 
 of  his  life  have  betrayed  all  the  sanguinary  ferocity  which  lurk- 
 ed in  his  nature,  and  in  due  time  would  be  conspicuous  in  his 
 aspect,  by  corresponding  features.     This  prophetic  conspec- 
 tus of  popery  is  no  more  than  what,  upon  the  whole,  that 
 systematic  wickedness  would  actually  attain  to,  but  not  what 
 
100 
 
 furnished  too  many  lamentable  proofs  against 
 popery,  in  respect  to  all  the  charges  brought 
 against  her  by  the  protestants,  from  the  pro- 
 phetic writings  in  particular,  and  the  whole 
 scripture  in  general,  to  admit  of  the  plea  of 
 the  romanists,  that  those  descriptions  of  the 
 prophets  do  not  apply  to  the  church  of  Rome^ 
 or  if  they  do,  are  to  be  considered  as  mere  hy- 
 perbole  and  figure.  Their  own  writers  bear 
 evidence  what  spirit  they  are   of,  and  what 
 
 it  continued  to  be  at  all  times,  or  what  it  may  be  upon  an  estimate 
 taken  at  the  present  day.  The  modern  beast  has  not  been 
 gorged  with  human  flesh  latterly,  and  his  vegetable  diet  has 
 wrought  a  corresponding  mildness  in  his  aspect,  by  attemper- 
 ating  his  atrabilious  humours,  but  his  constitution  is  not  alter- 
 ed materially.—. 
 
 Cor  tibi  restat  idem — non  tibi  praesto  fidem. 
 
 The  blood  of  saints  she  doth  not  spill, — what  then  ? 
 This  is  no  pledge  but  that  she  will  again. 
 
 The  contrariety  of  names  and  characters  under  which  the 
 popish  system  is  represented  in  prophecy,  is  agreeable  to  the 
 usual  licence  and  metaphorical  stile  of  the  prophetic  writers ; 
 and  if  it  wanted  any  justification,  it  has  received  it  from  the 
 adoption  of  the  same  by  the  papists,  who  call  the  pope  the 
 church's  son— father — mother — spouse — bciid—  servant,  £:c.  See 
 Section  ix.  p.  251. 
 
101 
 
 doctrines  popish  zeal  was  capable  of  advanc- 
 ing, and  what  practices  the  cause  of  holy 
 church  could  justify :  the  most  candid  of 
 their  apologists  being  found,  on  almost  all  the 
 points  in  controversy,  in  direct  opposition  to 
 the  apostles,  and  having  as  little  scruple,  when 
 their  hand  was  in,  to  contradict  their  Master 
 too. 
 
SECTION   XXIII. 
 
 The  sixth  vial  makes  preparation  for  the  restora* 
 7i on  of  the  jews,  by  the  fall  of  the  Turkish 
 empire,  and  in  its  consequences  becomes  a  plague 
 of  the  papal  apostacy- — The  state  of  the  world 
 at  this  period  a  general  subjection  to  an  universal 
 tyranny* — The  head  of  the  apostacy  (ejected 
 from  royal  and  independent  sovereignty  by  the 
 effect  of  the  fifth  plague )  is  stiledfrom  henceforth 
 the  false  prophet. — An  hopeful  scheme  set  on 
 foot  against  the  church  of  the  witnesses  ostensibly r, 
 but  against  Christianity  itself  in  design. 
 
 *t 
 
 AND  the  sixth  angel  poured  out  his  vial 
 upon  the  great  river  Euphrates  ;  and  the  water 
 thereof  ivas  dried  up,  that  the  way  of  the  kings 
 of  the  east  might  be  prepared"  Late  events 
 have  enabled  us  to  give  a  better  account  of 
 
 *  I  am  very  desirous  of  reserving  one  exception  to  the  uni- 
 versality of  this  new  empire. 
 
103 
 
 the  five  preceding  vials,  than  we  can  as  yet 
 do  of  what  follows  in  this  vision.  It  will  be 
 clearly  understood  by  the  event,  in  no  long 
 time  hence,  who  these  figurative  kings  of 
 the  east  really  are  ;  and  what  the  mystical 
 river  Euphrates  is,  which  at  present  op- 
 poses an  insurmountable  obstacle  to  their  pass- 
 age. For  God  will  once  again  "  finish  the 
 work,  and  cut  it  short  in  righteousness ;  be- 
 cause a  short  work  will  the  Lord  make  upon 
 the  earth,"  when  the  time  of  Israel's  re- 
 demption draweth  nigh. 
 
 The  holy  land  is  the  lot  of  their  inheritance. 
 They  were  ejected  out  of  it  for  their  sins  and 
 unbelief,  yet  not  without  many  infallible  pro- 
 mises of  a  return,  the  glory  and  happiness  of 
 which  should  exceed  even  the  sorrows  of  their 
 departure.  "  The  sons  of  strangers  shall  build 
 up  thy  walls,  and  their  kings  shall  minister 
 unto  thee :  for  in  my  wrath  I  smote  thee,  but 
 hi  my  favour  have  I  had  mercy  on  thee.  Thou 
 shalt  also  suck  the  milk  of  the  gentiles,  and 
 shalt  suck  the  breasts  of  kings,  and  thou  shalt 
 know  that  I  Jehovah  am  thy  Saviour,  and  thy 
 
 vol.  ii.  r 
 
104 
 
 Redeemer  the  Mighty  One  of  Jacob.*  For 
 brass  I  will  bring  gold,  and  for  iron  I  will 
 bring  silver,  and  for  wood  brass,  and  for 
 stones  iron.  And  I  will  also  make  thine  offi- 
 cers peace,  and  thine  exactors  righteousness." 
 (Isa.  Ix.  10,  &c.)  "  The  princes  of  the  peo- 
 ple are  gathered  together"  says  the  psalmist,f 
 "  even  the  people  of  the  God  of  Abraham" — 
 And  again, — "  When  he  shall  have  scattered 
 the  people  that  delight  in  war,  then  shall  the 
 princes  come  out  of  Egypt."%  With  such 
 promises,  this  highly  favored  nation,  now 
 made  "kings  and  priests  unto  God"  and 
 become  the  glory  of  the  earth,  may  well  de- 
 serve the  prophetic  designation  of"  the  kings 
 of  THE  EAST  :"  and  the  more  especially  so, 
 as  it  is  in  all  their  prophecies  intimated  that 
 
 *  If  there  could  be  any  just  room  to  doubt  that  these  pass- 
 ages in  the  prophets,  so  numerous  and  so  express,  do  apply  to 
 the  restoration  of  the  jews,  and  not  to  the  exaltation  of 
 the  christian  church  only  ;  the  remark  always  accompanying 
 them, — *'  thou  shah  then  know  that  I  Jehovah  am  thy  Saviour," 
 would  be  alone  sufficient  to  direct  us  to  that  application,  as 
 the  jews  alone  do  still  doubt  of  this,  and  will  have  that  doubt 
 removed  only  by  this  very  means. 
 
 f  Psalm  xlvii.  9.  t  Psalm  kyiii.  3], 
 
105 
 
 the  destruction  of  popery  is  to  precede,  and 
 make  way  for  the  events  which  are  to  lead 
 back  the  jews  to  the  Holy  Land,  and  that 
 their  visitation  will  come  in  the  time  of  a  tre- 
 mendous political  hurricane.* 
 
 We  see  here  that  the  preparation  for  this 
 great  event  becomes  one  of  the  plagues  of 
 the  beast,  but  in  what  manner  time  alone 
 can  with  certainty  unfold.  That  the  delusion 
 sent  upon  popery  and  its  advocates  is  strong, 
 we  have  evidence  in  facts,  as  well  as  proofs 
 of  holy  writ.  And  that  they  will  be  again 
 ready  (if  restored  to  their  former  state  of 
 church  supremacy  and  spiritual  tyranny  over 
 the  conquered  world,)  to  make  a  holy  war  or 
 crusade  of  every  thing  that  offers  itself  as  a 
 necessary  means  of  upholding  the  holy  Ro- 
 man church  and  empire,  we  cannot 
 doubt ,  let  it  be  as  wicked  as  it  may,  or  how- 
 ever clearly  it  may  be  opposed  by  God's 
 word,  or  even  by  signs  and  wonders 
 vouchsafed  on  such  an  occasion.     The  man 
 
 *  See  Section  vi. 
 P    2 
 
106 
 
 of  shi  has  magicians  on  his  part,  ready  to  dis- 
 play the  whole  energy  of  Sata?i  in  lying  won- 
 ders, and  will  not  grudge  the  expenditure  of 
 his  holy  ammunition  in  such  a  cause.  And 
 it  is  not  impossible  that  his  magicians  may, 
 in  this  mighty  contest  between  Christ  and 
 Antichrist,  (without  their  participation  in  the 
 deception)  be  empowered  (as  Pharoah's  were) 
 to  work  some  really  supernatural  wonders, 
 the  better  to  display  the  almighty  power  and 
 mercy  of  God,  in  favor  of  his  people,  and  his 
 terrible  justice  upon  his  enemies. — For  thev 
 are  to  be,  as  Pharoah  was,  by  some  unper- 
 ceived  design  of  Providence,  entangled  iu 
 their  own  net,  and  "  be  broken, — and  snared, 
 — arid  taken" 
 
 The  turks  are  still  in  possession  of  the 
 Holy  Land,  and  form  a  bar  of  obstruction  to 
 the  resettlement  of  the  jews,  tottering  indeed 
 (equally  as  the  papacy  is)  on  its  foundations, 
 and  the  removal  of  it  by  the  breaker-, 
 which  is  to  go  up  before  Israel,  may  be  the 
 meaning  of  the  figurative  "  drying  up  of  the 
 great  river  Euphrates ;"  as  according  to  in- 
 
10? 
 
 terpreters  in  general,  the  loosing  of  the  four 
 angels  which  were  bound  in  the  great  river 
 Euphrates,*  signifies  the  rise  of  the  empire  of 
 the  turks.     The  period  of  duration  also  al- 
 lotted to  the  prevalence  of  the  imposture 
 of  Mohammed  in  the  east,  and  popery  in 
 the  west,  appearing  to  be  the  same,  and  their 
 decline  keeping  equal  pace,  gives  some  proba- 
 bility to  the  conjecture.     The  peculiarity  in 
 the  phrase  here  made  use  of  seems  to  coincide 
 with  it ;  as  the  drying  up  of  a  great  river  is 
 reversing  the  course  of  nature,  and  figuratively 
 implies  a  destructive  changef  in  the  present 
 state  of  the  things  to  which  the  prophecy  is 
 applied.        Thus,    when   the   empire    of  the 
 TURKS  was  to  be  set  up,  and  commissioned 
 "  for  an  hour,  and  a  day,  and  a  month,  and  a 
 year,   to  slay  the  third  part  of  men,"  or  to 
 wage  successful  wars  against  the  idolatrous 
 christians   of  the  eastern  empire  ;    then  the 
 four  angels  bound  in  Euphrates,  were  let  loose. 
 But  when  their  empire  is  to  be  broken  down, 
 and  give  place  to  the  original  inheritors  of  the 
 
 *  Rev.  ix,  14.  t  Heb.  xii.  27- 
 
)0S 
 
 Holy  Land,  the  river  Euphrates  (from  which 
 their  prophetic  character  and  existence  is  de- 
 rived,) is  itself  dried  up.  But  as  prophe- 
 cies are  sometimes  fulfilled  with  wonderful 
 punctuality,  even  to  the  very  letter,  so  it  may 
 please  God  to  give  such  a  token  of  his  pre- 
 sence with  his  people,  as  he  did  when  they 
 entered  the  Land  of  Promise,  under  the  con- 
 duct of  Joshua,*  the  type  of  Jesus  Christ,  as 
 possibly  that  event  was  also  typical  of  their 
 happy  resettlement,  under  the  auspices  of 
 their  Messiah  and  true  Saviour,  "  in  the  latter, 
 days" 
 
 But  whatever  may  turn  out  to  be  the  real. 
 Import  of  this  part  of  the  prophecy,  it  seems 
 certainly  to  imply  that  some  great  (and  it  is 
 to  be  hoped  final)  effort  will  be  made  by  the 
 popish  powers,  and  directed  in  a  great  mea- 
 sure, as  it  here  seems,  against  the  jews,  in 
 their  struggle  to  emerge  out  of  the  roman 
 captivity.  Rome  having  been  the  original 
 captor  and  destroyer  of  Israel,  in  the  com- 
 
 ',*  Joshua  iii.  16. 
 
109 
 
 mencement  of  the  indignation,  will  (by 
 this  last  act  of  persecution  and  oppression) 
 take  upon  herself  the  responsibility  of  being 
 still  his  enemy,  and  his  captor  or  detainer  in 
 the  end  of  it,  and  will  suffer  the  vengeance 
 due  to  her  on  both  accounts. 
 
 In  these  days  of  change,  many  things  have 
 come  to  pass  more  unlikely  than  that  the  ca- 
 pricious humour  of  one  man  may  alter,  and 
 that  the  same  hands  which  have  been  ap- 
 pointed by  the  just  judgments  of  heaven,  to 
 pull  down  and  destroy  the  pride  and  power 
 of  Rome,  may  do  it  the  more  effectually  by  a 
 change  of  the  present  policy ',  and  by  ostensibly 
 setting  up  again  "  the  throne  of  iniquity"  as 
 in  the  days  of  our  fathers,  may  be  undesign- 
 edly thus  preparing  her  fall  for  ever. 
 
 This  fervid  and  scorching  sun  has  now 
 within  a  little  risen  to  the  zenith  of  the  poli- 
 tical heavens.  The  same  which  was  once 
 only  as  a  stone,  has  swelled  to  the  immense 
 magnitude  and  weight  of  a  mountain,  and 
 will  ere  long  fill  all  the  earth.     He  is  already 
 
no 
 
 in  "  the  throne  of  glory"*  a  second  Char- 
 lemagne, and  soon  to  be  in  the  state  of  the 
 original  dragon,  or  pagan  roman  emperor, 
 both  of  the  east  and  west. — Unless  the  eager- 
 ness of  conjecture  has  run  faster  than  events 
 can  follow  ;  and  they  may  (in  just  resent- 
 ment) take  another  course,  and  leave  the  pro- 
 jector in  possession  of  a  goodly  castle,  with 
 the  single  exception  only,  that  its  foundations 
 have  been  laid  in  the  clouds  ;  a  circumstance 
 which  has  happened  to  many  an  honest  man 
 in  adventurous  speculations. 
 
 After  the  drying  up  of  the  great  river  Eu- 
 phrates, or  the  fall  of  the  Turkish  empire 
 before  the  invincible  arms  of  the  breaker, 
 (as  I  have  supposed  that  mystical  phrase  to 
 signify,)  a  scene  very  mysterious  and  wholly 
 new  ensues,  and  seems  to  be  a  project  for  the 
 attainment  of  undivided  and  universal  em- 
 pire, by  a  conjunction  with  the  mighty  en- 
 gine of  popish  or  religious  fanaticism,  restored 
 to  its  original  powers  of  (at  least)  universal 
 spiritual  supremacy. 
 
 *   1    Sam.  ii.  8. 
 
in 
 
 Ci  And  I  saw  three  unclean  spirits  like 
 frogs,  come  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  dra- 
 gon, and  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  false 
 prophet.  For  they  are  the  spirits  of  de- 
 vils, working  miracles,  which  go  forth  unto 
 the  k'mgs  of  the  earth,  and  of  the  whole  worlds 
 to  gather  them  to  the  battle  of  that  great  day 
 of  God  almighty."*  At  this  period  (of  the 
 prophecy)  there  occurs  a  remarkable  change 
 in  the  names  of  the  dramatis  personse,  which 
 implies  that  great  changes  have  taken  place 
 in  the  state  of  the  powers  here  figuratively 
 represented.  The  mention  of  the  Jirst  and 
 second  beast,  and  the  image  of  the  beast,  is 
 here  dropt,  and  occurs  no  more  ;  but  the 
 original  dragon  (or  one  standing  up  in  the 
 fulness  of  his  power,)  is  the  sole  monarch 
 of  the  scene;  and  the  false  prophet,  or  the 
 Pope  (now  reduced  to  a  private  condition, 
 and  no  more  the  image  of  the  royal  beast,  and 
 as  such  himself  a  crowned  head,  but  equally 
 as  before  "  a  teacher  of  lies,  and  a  false  pro- 
 phet'''' still, J  is  the  religious  puppet,  by  whose 
 
 *  Ezek.  xsxix.  8,  &c, 
 VOL.  II.  C> 
 
112 
 
 instrumentality  the  secret  game  is  to  be  play- 
 ed.* 
 
 This  change  in  the  nomenclature  of  the 
 prophecy,  seems  to  be  a  strong  argument  that 
 the  temporal  power  ^  of  which  he  is  now  de- 
 spoiled, will  not  be  restored  any  more  to  the 
 pope  ;  but  that  unhappy  chieftain  of  the  apos- 
 tacy  will  bigottedly  continue  to  sustain  the  re- 
 sponsibility attached  to  the  popedom,  as  the 
 man  of  sin  and  the  false  prophet  still ;  and  will 
 be  fed  with  hope,  or  compelled  by  fear,  to  act 
 what  he  needs  must,  and  as  the  oracle  of  the 
 dragon,  to  speak  whatever  is  put  into  his 
 mouth.  Promises  may  be  given,  for  these 
 are  cheap,  but  performance  will  be  (by  divine 
 
 *  The  dragon  I  have  understood  (see  Sect.  xix.  p.  13,)  to 
 mean  the  roman  imperial  sovereignty,  which  persecuted  Christian- 
 ity, in  its  pagan  form,  and  also  the  devil  which  presided  over 
 the  heathen  religion,  and  fomented  its  malice  against  the 
 church. — The  first  beast  was  the  same,  become  antichrislian, 
 and  persecuting  again.  The  second  beast  was  the  papal 
 hierarchy,  and  the  image  of  the  beast  was  the  pope. — The 
 change  in  these  characters  is  already  visible,  and  far  advanced. 
 The  holy  roman  empire  is  now  overturned,  and  the  pope  is  al- 
 ready stink  into  a  mere  false  pre  J 
 
113 
 
 Providence)  anticipated  and  prevented,  if  it  be 
 ever  really  intended  that  they  should  be  made 
 good. 
 
 The  crusade,  however,  is  preached  to  the 
 vassal  kings,  and  to  the  subject  powers  and 
 nations  of  the  whole  roman  catholic  empire 
 and  interest*  with  the  accustomed  holy  ve- 
 hemence, and  (as  it  is  here  intimated,)  with  a 
 proportionable  success,  by  the  false  pro- 
 phet and  the  dragon,  in  strict  confederacy 
 against  the  enemies  of  the  holy  roman  em- 
 pire and  church. — Their  wicked  and  insidi- 
 ous emissaries  employed  on  this  occasion,  are 
 
 *  This  I  conceive  to  be  the  meaning  of  the  words  rfo  y?f 
 y-xi  t5j;  oix.ovft.ivw  o\vx>  in  this  place,  as  the  same  words  are  used 
 in  Luke  ii.  I,  and  there  signify  not  the  whole  habitable  globe  in 
 reality,  but  all  the  countries  subject  to  the  power  of  the  ro- 
 mans,  which  they  vainly  boasted  to  be  the  whole  world. 
 The  scene  here  represented  being  yet  future,  must  remain 
 wrapt  up  very  much  in  obscurity.  But  the  meaning  of  it 
 seems  to  be,  to  elucidate  the  death  of  the  witnesses,  the  tempo* 
 rary  triumph  of  the  antichristian  powers,  and  the  terrible  but 
 unexpected  ruin  that  overtakes  these  persecutors,  in  the  very 
 act  of  extirpating  true  Christianity  from  the  earth,  which  if 
 the  resurrection  of  the  witnesses. 
 
 0.  a 
 
114 
 
 here  compared  to  devils,*  from  the  impiety  of 
 the  cause  in  which  they  are  engaged,  and  per- 
 haps from  the  eminent  personal  wickedness  of 
 the  atheistical  wretches,  at  this  time  sent  a- 
 broad  to  preach  dewn  the  gospel ;  and  by 
 specious  arts  and  false  miracles,  to  assist  the 
 means  now  very  successfully  made  use  of  to 
 
 *  Eirl  yu.%  7ravf/.xTx  oatftovM.  "  For  they  are  the  spirits  of 
 demons."  This  description  of  these  agents  of  atheism  and 
 popery  abounds  in  characteristic  maris,  which  will  one  day  accu- 
 rately determine  the  persons  alluded  to  ;  but  at  present  can  only 
 be  the  subjects  of  conjecture.  They  will  be  three  in  number, 
 and  by  machiavelian  subtilty,  and  their  eminent  personal  wick- 
 edness, and  their  diabolical  principles  and  lives,  worthy  to  be 
 compared  to  devils,  or  demons  :  which  were  the  wicked  spirits 
 worshipped  by  the  heathens  as  gods,  and  which,  after  being 
 driven  out  of  their  temples  by  Christianity,  were  admitted 
 into  them  again  by  popery,  and  again  worshipped  as  MAHV&i 
 zim,  or  protecting  saints.  This  seduction  of  mankind  to  the 
 'worship  of  themselves,  shews  that  they  were  '•  unclean  or  evil 
 spirits,"  as  they  are  here  called. 
 
 What  is  meant  by  their  being  like  frogs,  time  will  explain  ; 
 as  (no  doubt)  having  been  deemed  worthy  of  notice  by  the 
 spirit  of  prophecy,  their  resemblance  of  frogs  has  some  im- 
 portant meaning.  Their  working  of  miracles  is  another  distin- 
 guishing note,  by  which  they  will  be  well  known.  These 
 wicked  spirits,  by  the  agency  of  men  aa  wicked  as  themselves, 
 succeed  so  far  at  this  period,  in  strengthening  the  fascination 
 
115 
 
 suppress  it  by  terror  and  force  united.  They 
 are  represented  as  "  coming  out  of  the  months 
 of  the  false  prophet  and  the  drjgon"* 
 because  they  proceed  with  full  authority  from 
 both,  and  are  armed  with  the  whole  strength 
 of  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  powers. 
 
 of  their  strong  delusion,  that  a  league  and  confederacy  is  sug- 
 gested, and  brought  to  effect,  for  the  suppression  of  heresy 
 ostensibly,  but  in  reality  for  the  extinction  of  Christianity,  for 
 which  a  more  favorable  conjuncture  never  occurred,  the  despotic 
 dominion  tJjs  ottcovpivqe  oAuj,  of  the  whole  ancient  roman  em- 
 pire being  in  the  hands  of  one  despot,  graciously  disposed  in 
 favor  of  the  good  work, 
 
 *  T  his  change  of  names  in  the  two  chiefs  (which  nevertheless 
 appear  to  be  essentially  the  same  tivo  heads  of  the  apostacy  mention- 
 ed all  along  before,  although  under  some  kind  of  transformation 
 A'hich  requires  to  be  noticed  in  this  manner,)  occasioned  some 
 years  ago,  a  considerable  perplexity  to  an  attentive  mind  in  ac- 
 counting for  it.  But  time  and  late  events  have  solved  this  dif- 
 ficulty, and  shewn  the  wonderful  accuracy  of  the  holy  spirit  of 
 prophecy,  in  assigning  such  distinguishing  marks  of  the  cha- 
 racters introduced,  and  the  period  of  time  alluded  to.  This 
 Change  in  the  stile  and  tide  of  these  two  principals,  at  this  pe- 
 riod, and  not  before  during  the  1260  years  of  the  reign  of  the 
 beast,  is  a  very  strong  confirmation  of  the  interpretation  I  have 
 given  of  the  fifth  vial  or  plague  of  darkness,  as  signifying  the 
 suppression  of  the  temporal  pozuer  of  the  pope ;  after  which,  he 
 appears  no  more  as  a  sovereign  potentate,  but  as  the  spiritual 
 
116 
 
 The  greatness  of  the  preparation  here  made 
 is  fully  equal  to  the  importance  of  the  object 
 
 which  this  second  Julian  has  in  view. 
 
 The  event  must  not  be  trusted  solely  to  the 
 holy  armour  of  bulls,  and  dispensations,  and 
 anathemas,  and  benedictions  of  the  pope ;  the 
 times  of  these  baubles  being  gone  by,  these 
 agents  of  perdition  must  have  more  forceful 
 powers  of  conversion  and  enlistment  than  these, 
 which  perhaps  the  strong  delusion  upon  the 
 
 head  of  the  apostacy,  a  false  prophet,  or  metropolitan 
 bishop  of  an  idolatrous  church. — For  the  false  prophet  in 
 his  state  of  degradation,  acts  the  very  same  part,  and  keeps  up 
 the  same  close  connection  with  the  dragon  (or  sovereign 
 temporal  power)  as  before;  and  sends  out  his  miracle-mon- 
 gers, armed  with  the  very  same  spiritual  weapons  of  warfare 
 and  apostolical  authority,  as  in  the  days  of  his  greatest 
 power,  and  when  his  tripple  crown  shone  with  the  reful- 
 gent brightness  of  a  sun. 
 
 The  great  alteration  which  the  modern  holy  roman  em- 
 pire and  the  popedom  have  already  undergone,  and  the  degra- 
 dation they  must  still  in  a  greater  degree  sustain,  notwithstand- 
 ing present  deceitful  appearances  of  stability  and  peace  (where 
 there  can  be  no  peace),  it  now  clearly  appears  war.  a  circumstance 
 without  the  particular  noticing  of  which,  the  prophecy  would 
 here  have  been  inaccurate  and  defective  ;  the  characters  no 
 longer  answering  to  the  titles  by  which  they  had  all  along  from 
 their  rise  until  this  time  been  distinguished. 
 
117 
 
 catholic  powers  at  this  time,  and  the  flaming 
 zeal  of  so  pious  and  catholic  an  emperor  will 
 jointly  supply. 
 
 It  is  said  of  these  emissaries  of  the  two 
 chiefs  in  this  holy  war,  that  they  work  mira- 
 cles^ in  proof  of  their  divine  commission  to  ex- 
 tirpate heresy;  which,  as  this  circumstance  is 
 introduced  here  as  something  worthy  of  re- 
 mark, must  be  supposed  to  allude  to  false 
 miracles  of  a  very  surprising  nature^  far  ex- 
 ceeding those  vulgar  and  often  exploded  lying 
 ivo?iderSy  which  in  every  age  have  been  the 
 standing  characteristic  of  the  man  of  sin; 
 and  therefore  it  may  not  be  too  much  to  sup- 
 pose (now  we  are  fairly  in  the  land  of  conjec- 
 ture) that,  as  in  Egypt,  the  power  of  perform- 
 ing works  really  supernatural,  (and  such  as 
 evidently  exceeded  the  expectation  of  the  ma- 
 gicians^ from  the  hitherto  known  powers  of 
 inchantment,)  was  permitted  to  wicked  agents 
 for  the  furtherance  of  the  designs  of  Provi- 
 dence ;  so  may  such  a  thing  happen  again, 
 with  the  same  view,  and  with  a  similar  event. 
 For  there  is  a  close  analogy  between  the  two 
 
113 
 
 facts  in  every  particular,  which  is  not  to  be 
 supposed  without  a  design  in  the  Divine  Au- 
 thor of  both,  to  illustrate  the  second  Exo- 
 dus and  deliverance  of  the  church,  by  that 
 which  hath  been  done  before,  in  parallel  cir- 
 cumstances. The  modem  inchanters  of 
 the  man  of  sin  ^  old  practitioners  at  the  arts  of 
 deception,  may  now  be  made  use  of  to  de- 
 ceive their  employers,  by  the  unexpected  suc- 
 cess of  their  false  miracles,  that  they  shall  be- 
 lieve their  own  lie  with  even  more  confidence 
 than  heretofore,  and  really  think  their  cause 
 espoused  of  heaven,  notwithstanding  the  wick- 
 edness of  the  means  employed  in  its  support : 
 ^  having  gone  in  the  way  of  Cain,  and  ran 
 greedily  after  the  error  of  Balaam  for  re- 
 ward^ and  perishing  (now)  in  the  gainsaying 
 of  Core"* 
 
 Thus  the  winding  up  of  this  great,  ancient, 
 and  extensively  pernicious  mystery  of  in- 
 iquity, and  apostacy  from  Christ,  shall  not 
 disappear  in  silence ;  but  die  the  death  of  a 
 
 '   Jude 11. 
 
119 
 
 jtyrant,  and  be  hurried  off  the  stage  (too  long 
 Stained  with  its  bloody  footsteps),  in  circum- 
 stances  of  terror  that  will  indicate  the  high 
 displeasure  of  the  Almighty.  It  seems  there 
 will  be  an  arduous  contest  between  truth  and 
 falsehood,  the  real  energy  of  Divine  Power, 
 and  the  successful  mimicry  of  it  by  diaboli- 
 cal art,  as  was  the  case  in  Egypt  :  that  the 
 innate  wickedness  of  the  apostacy,  (kept  up 
 for  so  many  ages  against  the  light  of  the  gos- 
 pel, and  reason,  and  conscience, — against  the 
 evidence  arising  from  the  faith  and  patience  of 
 the  martyrs, — against  the  successive  judgments 
 of  heaven,  with  suitable  intervals  of  respite 
 left  for  their  repentance,  but  still  without  ef- 
 fect,) may  be  made  fully  apparent  to  the 
 world,  and  the  truth  and  righteousness  of 
 God  be  justified  in  its  punishment. 
 
 The  impious  rebellion  of  Korah  was 
 pushed  to  the  very  last  extremity,  and  an  ac- 
 tual contest  was  maintained  against  God's  two 
 prophets,  Moses  and  Aaron,  decided  only  by 
 the  interposition  of  the  Divine  Arm  itself, 
 and  the  earth  opening  her  mouth  and  swallow- 
 
 VOL.  II.  R 
 
no 
 
 big  up  the  infidel  crew.  The  idolaters  of  Is- 
 rael, in  the  time  of  Elijah,  supported  a  similar 
 contest  in  favour  of  Baalim,  as  now  the  an- 
 tichristians  do  in  behalf  ofMAHuzziM,  their 
 mediatory  gods ;  and  the  decision  was  given 
 by  a  miracle  from  the  God  of  heaven,  and  the 
 destruction  of  all  the  priests  of  Baal. 
 
 Why  then  should  it  be  thought  a  thing  in- 
 credible that  the  great  controversy  of 
 Zion  should  be  decided  in  the  same  manner  ? 
 For  in  this  more  blood  hath  been  spilt,  and  it 
 is  every  way  of  far  greater  importance  than 
 any  of  these  three  instances,  wherein  the  Al- 
 mighty hath  condescended  to  a  competition 
 with  his  idol  opponents,  for  the  more  effectual 
 vindication  of  his  oppressed  truth,  and  his 
 worshippers,  and  the  final  triumph  of  true  re- 
 ligion over  imposture  and  wickedness.  For 
 thus  great  Babylon  will  not  fall  but  with 
 the  fullest  attestation  of  both  God  and  man 
 to  the  full  measure  of  her  wickedness,  and  as 
 "  her  sins  have  reached  unto  heaven,  so  will 
 her  judgment  unto  the  skies. 
 
SECTION  XXIV. 
 
 Christian  faith  and  patience  put  to  the  test  with  un- 
 exampled severity. — The  true  time  of  the  death 
 of  the  witnesses. — The  restoration  of  the  yews, 
 in  what  manner  it  becomes  one  of  the  plagues  of 
 popery. — The  valley  of  decision, — fatal  to  the 
 antichristian  powers.— Prophetic  picture  of  Christ 9 
 in  his  wars  against  the  Beast. — He  conquers  by 
 sufferings. —  Savage  proclamation  for  the  exter- 
 mination of  the  witnesses,  is  reversed  upon  their 
 enemies. — The  seventh  vial. — The  beast  and 
 false  prophet  broken, — and  snared — and  taken* 
 — Their  fearful  end. 
 
 W  HEN  these  things  come  to  pass,  it  is  ob- 
 vious to  suppose  that  it  will  be  a  season  of 
 very  severe  trial  of  the  faith  and  constancy  of 
 all  that  profess  the  genuine  doctrine  of  Jesus 
 Christ ;  and  it  will,  in  all  probability,  be  in- 
 deed the  hottest  period  of  the  long  perpetuated 
 R  2 
 
122 
 
 war,  that  the  beast  has  waged  against  Christ 
 and  his  saints.     There  is  therefore  a  very  par- 
 tial 'ar  'warning  of  this  given  from  the  month 
 of  the  blessed  Jesus  himself  as  there  had  been 
 a  similar  notice  before  given  at  two  former 
 periods  of  persecution,  to  put  the  true  chris- 
 tians upon  their  guard,  and  remind  them  of 
 their  Lord's  solemn  cautions  in  the  gospel : — 
 "  he  that  will  save  his  life"  by  sinful  compli- 
 ances, shall  lose  the  life  eternal ;  and  he  that 
 will  hazard  his  life  in  this  world,  for  Christ's 
 sake  and  the  gospel's,  shall  secure  the  better 
 and  ever-enduring  life  of  his  soul,  and  "  what 
 shall  a  man  give  in  exchange  for  his  soul,"  if 
 forfeited  and  lost,  by  unfaithfulness  in  the  time 
 of  trial  t 
 
 The  proclamation  made  by  the  Holy  Spirit 
 on  these  two  former  occasions,*  was — "  Here 
 is  the  faith  and  patience  of  the  saints  /"  which 
 certainly  implied  that  on  these  occasions,  God 
 would  give  many  eminent  examples  to  the 
 world  of  the  truth  and  power  of  christian- 
 
 *  Rev.  xiii,  10,  and  »v.  13. 
 
123 
 
 principles;  and  that  it  would  then   behove 
 those,  who  should  be  thus  singled  out  for  suf- 
 ferings of  so  dreadful  a  nature,  to  look  well 
 to  themselves,  that  they  should   not  shrink 
 back  from  the  frightful  conflict  with  death,  in 
 a  form  of  such  complicated  horror.     But  the 
 warning  given  here  against  this  last  struggle 
 for  life  and  victory,  is  couched  in  terms  still 
 more  awful  and  alarming ;  and  which  seem 
 to  forebode  a  great  and  lamentable  defection 
 at  this  time  from  the  cause  of  truth  and  heaven, 
 through  the  overpowering  force  of  the  temp- 
 tation, and  the  frequency  of  the  example  of 
 this  weakness,  in  characters  from  which  better 
 things  might  have  been  hoped.     Even  in  or- 
 dinary cases,  "  when  iniquity  shall  abound  the 
 love  of  many  will  wax  cold ;"  but  here  the 
 difficulties  to  be  overcome,  and  the  dangers 
 to  be  encountered,  will  be  such  as  demand 
 greater  fortitude  and  faith  than  on  any  former 
 occasion.       The  antichristian    enmity   being 
 more  rancorous  and  cruel,  and  the  powers  of 
 fhe  persecutors  greater,  and  exerted  to  the 
 uttermost  to  extirpate  the  gospel  and  its  he- 
 retical partizans  together. 
 
124 
 
 This  seems  to  be  the  true  time  of  the  death 
 of  the  witnesses •,*  a  prophecy  which  contains 
 many  particulars  towards  the  concluding  part 
 of  it,  that  have  never  yet  been  fulfilled,  and 
 cannot  be  accomplished  until  "  they  shall  have 
 ftiished  their  testimony"  which  was  to  con- 
 tinue as  long  as  the  reign  of  antichrist,  that  is, 
 1260  years. 
 
 This  dreadful  persecution,  for  the  greater 
 efficacy  of  it,  will  break  out  with  little  imme- 
 diate warning  or  expectation  of  it  beforehand; 
 which  seems  to  be  the  meaning  of  our  Savi- 
 our's words  in  this  place, — "  Behold,  I  come  as 
 a  thief.  Blessed  is  he  that  watcheth,  and 
 keepeth  his  garments ,  lest  he  walk  naked,  and 
 they  see  his  shame."  The  only  notice  of  it 
 will  be  the  warning  here  given  in  this  pro- 
 phecy, and  coming  from  the  mouth  of  Christ 
 himself,  it  must  be  deemed  of  the  utmost  im- 
 portance, and  the  occasion  for  it  very  great, 
 since  no  words  can  press  upon  us  in  more  af- 
 fecting terms,  a  vigilant  and  resolute  firmness 
 
 *  See  Section  vii.  p,l?02. 
 
125 
 
 in  abiding  by  the  strict  line  of  our  duty^  let  the 
 consequences  be  what  they  will. 
 
 It  was  for  this  reason  that  this  divine  pro- 
 phecy was  written,  and  a  blessing  pronounced 
 upon  all  them  who  read  and  reflect  seriously 
 upon  it,  as  "  a  light  shining  in  a  dark  place" 
 and  a  sure  interpreter  of  the  signs  of  the  times, 
 in  critical  periods  of  peculiar  danger  to  our 
 souls,  from  the  insidious  attempts  of  the  ene- 
 mies of  Christ  and  his  saints.  And  as  it  was 
 in  the  plagues  of  Eg^pt,  so  it  will  again  be 
 in  those  upon  great  Babylon.  "He 
 that  feared  the  word  of  the  Lord  amongst  the 
 servants  of  Pharoah,  made  his  servants  and 
 his  cattle  flee  into  the  houses.  And  he  that 
 regarded  not  the  word  of  the  Lord^  left  his  ser- 
 vants and  his  cattle  in  the  field."  To  true 
 christians,  the  existing  symptoms  of  the  near 
 approach  of  this  afflictive  time,  ought  to  be  a 
 sufficient  motive  to  fortify  their  souls  with 
 that  celestial  armour  of  faith  and  patience, 
 which  Christ  will  supply  in  answer  to  their 
 prayers;  lest  through  neglect  they  walk  naked^ 
 -^-renounce  their  God  and  their  conscience, — 
 
126 
 
 ■and  their  everlasting  shame  and  punishment 
 be  exposed  to  the  sight  of  men  and  angels,  at- 
 tentive spectators  of  this  awful  conflict. 
 
 The  term  prophetically  fixed  for  the  tri- 
 umph of  infidelity  and  idolatry,  during  which 
 the  bodies  of  the  witnesses  lie  in  a  state  of 
 political  deaths  in  the  street  of  the  great  city, 
 but  without  burial,  is  three  years  and  a  half. 
 And  now  the  power  of  the  dragon  and 
 false  prophet  to  afflict  and  utterly  extin- 
 guish the  church  of  Christ,  seems  fixed  upon 
 so  firm  a  basis,  and  the  destruction  of  the  pro- 
 testant  heresy  so  near  a  perfect  accomplish- 
 ment, that  rejoicings  and  mutual  congratula- 
 tions pass  between  them,  upon  the  happy 
 occasion  of  the  perfect  restoration  of  the  true 
 holy  roman  catholic  church  and  faith.*  But 
 now  is  God's  time  to  interfere,  when  without 
 a  divine  and  providential  interposition,  true 
 religion  must  have  been  overwhelmed,  and 
 banished  from  the  face  of  the  earth. 
 
 *  Rev.  r.i.  1 0. 
 
m 
 
 Some  unexpected  turn  of  affairs,  directed 
 by  the  wisdom,  and  succoured  by  the  almighty 
 power  of  Divine  Providence,  effects  a  sudden 
 and  great  revulsion  in  the  public  sentiment 
 and  feelings.  The  witnesses  are  not  only 
 raised  to  political  life^  (in  spite  of  the  watchful 
 jealousy  and  the  cruel  exertions  of  their  ene- 
 mies to  prevent  it,)  but  they  are  "  called  up  to 
 heaven"  or  to  the  re-possession  of  their  former 
 authorities  and  powers,  by  the  acclamation  of 
 the  protestants,  with  determined  resolution 
 issuing  unanimously  from  their  places  of  con- 
 cealment. A  mighty  conflict  at  arms  ensues) 
 and  victory  at  last  declares  in  favor  of  the 
 weaker  party.* 
 
 The  drying  up  of  the  great  river  Euphrates , 
 "  that  the   way  of  the  kings  of    the  east 
 
 *  It  is  certain  that  this  prophecy  of  the  resurrection  of  the 
 witnesseSj  and  their  being  called  np  to  heaven  by  a  great  voice, 
 and  ascending  up  thither  in  the  sight  of  their  enemies*  who  are 
 unable  to  prevent  it,  has  never  yet  been  fulfilled  ;  the  facts 
 pointed  out  as  the  fulfilment  of  it  not  corresponding  in  all  the 
 particulars,  nor  in  any  of  them  but  very  imperfectly.  It  must 
 of  course  be  referred  to  a  late  period  of  tune,  and,  as  Bishop 
 Newton  observes,  "  the  later  the  better" 
 VOL.  II,  S 
 
128 
 
 might  be  prepared"  seems  to  have  a  close  and 
 intimate  connection  with  these  events ;  and 
 thus  becomes  one  of  the  plagues  of  the  spiri- 
 tual Pharoah.*  It  is  not  impossible  that  the 
 jews,  (now  resuscitated  from  the  valley  of  the 
 dry  bones,  and  reconciled  to  their  Messias,) 
 may  have  a  principal  hand  in  this  mighty  re- 
 volution, and  thus  the  two  witnesses 
 (both  persecuted  by  the  same  adversary)  may 
 unite  in  their  common  defence.  Many  pro- 
 phecies quoted  in  the  preceding  pages,  strongly 
 intimate  that  the  jews  will  again  be  exhibited 
 to  the  admiring  world  as  a  warlike  and  irre- 
 sistible people,  and  that  the  fear  of  them, 
 taught  by  the  vengeance  of  the  destructive 
 sword,  shall  fall  upon  their  once  insulting  and 
 cruel  enemies,  f 
 
 This  severe  contest  for  existence  on  the  one 
 side,  and  on  the  other  for  the  entire  conquest 
 and  extermination  of  the  weak  remainder  of 
 heretical  pravity  and  audacity,  is  called  (from 
 
 *  See  Sect,  vi  p.  162. 
 
 f  Sec  Sect.  vi.  p.  154,  166,  and  171,  &c. 
 
129 
 
 the  consequences  which  almost  beyond  hope 
 and  expectation  result  from  it)  "  the  battle  of 
 the  great  day  of God Almighty ;"  and  is  allud- 
 ed to  in  the  ancient  prophets,  under  the  de- 
 signation of  the  "  day  of  recompences, — the 
 day  of  vengeance  for  the  controversy  of  ZionP 
 And  it  will  probably  be  distinguished  by  some 
 signal  evidence  of  a  divine  interposition,  to 
 decide  for  ever  the  question  in  controversy, 
 and  that  the  world  should  no  longer  "  halt  be- 
 tween two  opinions ;"  but  if  Mahuzzim  be 
 God,  they  should  serve  them,  or  if  Christ, 
 they  should  address  their  undivided  worship 
 through  him,  the  alone  Mediator,  to  the  Cre- 
 ator of  all  things.* 
 
 The  three  wicked  and  subtle  emisaries  of 
 the  dragon  and  the  false  prophet,  having  exe- 
 cuted their  commission  successfully,  an  army 
 of  immense  multitude  is  assembled,  under  the 
 conduct  of  a  leader  of  mighty  name  and  resist- 
 less power ;  who  will  be  somehow  or  other 
 distinguished  by  his  pre-eminent  abilities,  now 
 
 *  1  Kings  xviii,  21 » 
 S    2 
 
ISO 
 
 particularly  displayed  in  his  conduct  and  dis- 
 position of  this  prodigious  force,  in  such  a 
 manner  as  to  have  victory,  to  all  human  ap- 
 pearance, absolutely  within  his  grasp.  This  is 
 perhaps  the  reason  of  the  cha?ige  of  the  number 
 fro?n  the  plural  to  the  singular,  in  this  place, 
 which  is  generally  remarked  as  a  great  diffi- 
 culty. "  And  He  gathered  them  together 
 into  a  place  called  in  the  hebrew  tongue  Ar- 
 mageddon. The  business  of  the  false  pro- 
 phet lay  in  another  department,  in  this  the  ta- 
 lents of  the  military  dragon  alone  are  taken 
 notice  of.  That  his  army,  collected  by  such 
 previous  measures  of  preparation  from  both 
 the  civil  and  spiritual  powers,  will  indeed  be 
 a  countless  multitude,  may  easily  be  conjectur- 
 ed from  the  unhappy  state  of  despotism  under 
 which,  at  this  time,  the  world  will  lie  pros- 
 trate. But  it  is  plainly  intimated  in  other 
 prophecies  which  relate  to  this  time,  and  to 
 this  "  battle  of  that  great  day  of  Gcd  AU 
 mighty" — "  For  behold!  in  those  days,  and 
 in  that  time  when  I  shall  bring  again  the 
 captivity  of  Judab  and  Jerusalem,  I  will  also 
 gather  all  nations^  and  I  will   bring  them 
 
131 
 
 down  into  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  and  will 
 plead  with  them  there  for  my  people^  and  for 
 my  heritage,  Israel,  whom  they  have  scatter- 
 ed among  the  nations.  Let  the  heathen  be 
 wakened,  and  come  up  to  the  valley  of  Je- 
 hoshaphat, for  there  will  I  sit  to  judge  all  the 
 heathen  round  about.  Put  ye  in  the  sickle,  for 
 the  harvest  is  ripe:  come,  get  ye  down, 
 for  the  press  is  full,  the  fats  overflow; 
 for  their  wickedness  is  great.  Multitudes, 
 multitudes  in  the  valley  of  decision: 
 for  the  day  of  the  Lord  is  near  in  the  valley 
 of  decision."* 
 
 *  Joel  iii.  1,  2, 12,  13,  14.     See  Section  xxix. 
 
 1  think  it  can  hardly  be  disputed  that  this  prophecy  of  Joel, 
 which  he  fixes  to  the  days  of  Israel's  restoration,  does  really 
 relate  to  the  subject  of  St  John's  prophecy  in  Rev.  xvi,  16  j 
 forne  says  that  immense  multitudes,  even  all  nations,  shall  be 
 forced  into  the  service  of  the  dragon,  against  the  little  army 
 of  the  two  witnesses,  whom  I  have  supposed  to  be,  at  this 
 juncture,  raised  to  life  again,  aed  standing  on  their  feet,  and  about 
 to  be  (by  the  happy  event  of  this  battle)  called  up  to  heaven  by 
 the  great  voice  ot  public  acclamation. 
 
 '*  The  valley  sf  Jehoshaphat"  is  put  here  figuratively,  and  is 
 called  also  in  this  place  '  the  valley  of  decision ,"  as  by  St  John 
 it  is  called  Armageddon,  or  the  Mountain  of  Destruction  ; 
 alluding  to  the  great  destruction  of  the  heathen,  or  infidel  and 
 
132 
 
 But  high  as  the  expectation  of  this  count- 
 less host  is  raised,  by  their  confidence  in  the 
 known  abilities  of  their  chief,  his  uninterrupt- 
 ed career  of  victory  in  many  preceding  despe- 
 rate encounters,  and  the  comparative  weakness 
 of  the  little  trembling  flock  of  fugitives  that 
 
 apostate  army,  which  here  ensues  ;  and  to  the  long  depending 
 controversy  of  ZiOn,  which  here  obtains  ajinal  decision; 
 God  himself  (accordingly  to  Joel's  prophecy)  sitting  as  judge 
 upon  this  occasion,  and  awarding  his  sentence  by  such  a  token 
 as  the  whole  world  will  acknowledge.  This  is  intimated  by  a 
 voice  proclaiming  from  the  temple  of  heaven — "  It  is  done." 
 (Rev.  xvi   17  ) 
 
 To  this  decision  is  the  allusion  of  the  psalmist — "  The  Lord 
 at  thy  right  hand  shall  strike  through  kings  in  the  oay  of  his  wrath. 
 He  shall  judge  among  the  heathen,  he  shall  Jill  the  places  with  the 
 dead  bodies,  he  shall  wound  the  heads  over  many  countries.  (Psalm 
 ex.  5.) 
 
 The  prophecy  of  Joel  refers  us  to  a  miraculous  deliverance 
 vouchsafed  to  king  Jehoshaphat  in  the  plains  of  Engedi,  and 
 which  was  by  a  prophet  announced  to  him  the  day  before  the 
 intended  battle.  It  was  a  complete  decision,  A  divine  fury 
 3eized  upon  the  combined  multitudes,  and  they  destroyed  each 
 other.   (2Chron.  xx.) 
 
 It  were  the  utmost  absurdity  to  expect  geographical  niceties 
 or  precision  in  the  figurative  emblems  introduced  in  the  pro- 
 phecies. I  look  upon  it  as  no  objection  to  the  identity  of  the 
 facts  meant  by  both  these  propliets,  that  the  place  where  this 
 battle  is  to  happen,  is  called  by  one  of  them   "  the  Mountain 
 
133 
 
 stand  opposed  to  them,  cooped  up  by  the  most 
 masterly  manoeuvres,  in  almost  inextricable 
 difficulties ;  yet  the  event  is  not  answerable  to 
 it.  The  talents  of  this  second  Alexander, 
 perhaps,  may  have  been  fully  adequate  to  the 
 task  appointed  htm,  and  undeviating  success 
 may  have  so  far  waited  upon  his  rapid  steps. 
 
 of  Destruction,"  but  by  the  other  the  "  Valley  of  Decision"—* 
 no  one  doubts  that  the  whore  of  Babylon  and  the  man  of  sin 
 have  but  one  and  the  same  object. 
 
 Joel  also  alludes  to  the  two  great  calamities  which,  in  quick 
 succession,  are  about  this  time  to  befal  the  papal  empire,  and  are 
 described  under  the  types  of  a  ripe  harvest  and  a  vintage,  and 
 the  treading  of  blood  from  the  "  wine  press  of  the  wrath  of 
 Almighty  God,"  (Rev.  xiv.  20,)  which  circumstance  alone 
 would  be  sufficient  to  prove  that  the  same  events  are  intended 
 by  both  Joel  and  Saint  John.'  No  one  will  contend  that  this 
 prophecy  has  ever  yet  been  fulfilled  ;  for,  in  consistency  with 
 all  other  prophecies  of  these  times  and  events,  it  describes  the 
 condition  of  the  jews  after  this  struggle,  to  be  exceedingly 
 happy,  and  the  stability  of  their  kingdom  (now  re-established)  to 
 be  unmoveable  for  ever. — "  Egypt  shall  be  a  desolation,  and 
 Edom  shall  be  a  desolate  wilderness ;" — (that  is  to  suy,  the 
 papal  hierarchy  and  apostacy,  or  figurative  Egypt,  and  Rome, 
 the  figurative  Edom,  the  seat  of  that  bloody  and  impious 
 power  at  the  head  ot  it,  shall  be  no  more  ;)  — u  for  their  vio- 
 lence against  the  children  of  Judah,  because  they  have  shed 
 innocent  blood  in  their  land.  Eut  Judah  shall  dwell  for  ever:, 
 *nd  Jerusalem  from  generation  to  generation, '" 
 
134 
 
 / 
 But  the  easy  victories  of  his  former  achieve- 
 ments deserved  to  be  considered  as  desolating 
 massacres  of  the  human  species,  rather  than 
 conquests  ;  and  if  they  cost  him  a  few  mil- 
 lions of  inconsiderable  lives,  these  could  easily 
 be  replaced  by  despotic  power,  with  forced 
 levies  even  from  the  ranks  of  the  conquered. 
 They  were  victories  gained  by  genius  and 
 strength  opposed  to  indecision,  infatuation, 
 weakness,  and  treachery  :  and  by  one  fated  to 
 break  down  and  trample  underfoot  the  most 
 formidable  resistance,  that  a  devoted  and  un- 
 blest  cause  could  oppose  against  him,  by  hosts 
 already  numbered  to  the  sword.  But  when 
 the  mighty  instrument  of  Providence  has  al- 
 ready executed  the  work  assigned  him,  and 
 attempts  what  was  not  included  in  his  com- 
 mission ,  then  will  God  give  a  signal  reproof  of 
 his  arrogance,  and  make  it  manifest  that  his 
 sword  will  be  only  so  long  irresistible,  while 
 it  is  directed  against  the  enemies  of  the  Lord 
 of  Hosts. — "  Shall  the  axe  boast  itself  against 
 him  that  hewcth  therewith  ?  or  shall  the  saw 
 magnify  itself  against  him  that  moveth  it  ?'  as 
 if  the  rod  should    shake  itself  against  them 
 
135 
 
 that  lift  it  up.  Therefore  shall  the  Lord,  the 
 Lord  of  Hosts,  send  among  his  fat  ones 
 leanness,  and  under  his  glory  he  shall  Kindle  a 
 burning,  like  the  burning  of  a  fire.  And  the 
 Lord  of  Hosts  shall  stir  up  a  scourge  for  hhny 
 according  to  the  slaughter  of  Midian,  at  the 
 rock  of  Oreo.  And  as  his  rod — (in  the  hand  of 
 Moses) — was  upon  the  (red)  sea,  so  shall  he 
 lift  it  up  (again)  after  the  manner  of  Egypt." 
 —-That  is,  by  some  miraculous  interposition  of 
 his  power •,  similar  to  the  passage  of  the  Red 
 Sea,  effected  in  safety  by  Israel,  while  Pharoah's 
 host  was  overwhelmed  in  it,  as  if  taken  in  a 
 snare  of  their  own  contriving,  in  which  they 
 designed  to  have  safely  and  effectually  secured 
 the  prey  already  in  their  power. 
 
 Miracles  indeed,  were  at  no  former  period 
 displayed  without  an  occasion  worthy  of  the 
 interference  of  the  Deity.*     And  having  for 
 
 *  Nee  Deus  intersit,  nisi  dignus  vindice  nodus 
 
 incident. 
 
 Hor.  Art.  Poet. 
 
 Nor  let  a  God  in  person  stand  displayed, 
 
 Unless  the  laboring  plot  deserve  his  aid. 
 
 Francis. 
 
 VOL.  II.  x 
 
136 
 
 so  many  centuries  been  wholly  withdrawn,  I 
 expect  considerable  difficulty  in  the  attempt 
 to  persuade  a  philosophical  age  that  they  are 
 ever  to  be  looked  for  again,  upon  any  occa- 
 sion. Yet  it  is  expressly  declared  that  they 
 may  be,  in  several  prophecies  that  refer  to 
 this  latter  period  of  the  last  times,  and  parti- 
 cularly to  the  return  of  Israel,  and  their  re- 
 settlement in  the  Holy  Land,  which  is  con- 
 stantly linked  together  in  prophecy,  with  the 
 fall  of  papal  Rome,  and  is  made  in  the  sixth 
 vial  (now  under  discussion,)  to  be  one  of 
 the  plagues  of  the  apostacy.  j~  If  any  occa- 
 sion can  be  deemed  worthy  of  a  miracle, 
 God's  recognizing  of  his  long  lost  people,  and 
 his  reconciliation  with  them,  the  resurrection 
 of  his  two  witnesses,  and  their  deliver- 
 ance in  this  critical  conjuncture,  and  lastly, 
 the  final  punishment  of  the  apostacy,  which 
 seems  to  turn  upon  this  hinge  ;  altogether 
 form  a  case  of  sufficient  importance  to  justify 
 the  expectation  of  such  a  conclusion  to  this. 
 
 GREAT  "  MYSTERY  OF    GoD." 
 f    Rev.  xvi.  12. 
 
13? 
 
 The  people  of  Israel,  and  the  remnant  of 
 the  true  church,  that  has  escaped  out  of  the 
 persecution,  are  now  in  such  perilous  circum- 
 stances, that  no  worldly  chance  can  avail  to 
 rescue  them  out  of  the  raging  tyrant's  grasp, 
 whose  measures  are  taken  with  caution  and 
 subtlety,  as  well  as  the  most  consummate 
 skill,  and  favoring  opportunity.  They  are 
 crying  to  heaven  with  that  turned  heart  and 
 strong  supplication,  to  which  God  will  never 
 turn  a  deaf  ear,  and  in  this  particular  instance 
 he  has  pledged  himself,  by  several  special 
 prophecies,  that  he  will  hear  and  grant  their 
 prayer,  and  that  their  deliverance  shall  be  de- 
 monstratively marked  as  the  act  of  God.* 
 
 But  if  upon  due  consultation  taken,  no- 
 thing of  this  sort  can  be  conceded  to  me,  yet 
 the  longest  course  of  prospering  wickedness 
 must  have  an  end  :  and  commonly  it  meets 
 with  a  dismal  winding  up  of  the  account,  and 
 a  fatal  catastrophe  suitable  to  its  demerits  ; 
 thus  evincing  that  the  sentence  of  the  holy 
 
 *  Tsai.  Lev.  2t. — See  Sect.  vi. 
 T    2 
 
13S 
 
 Spirit  in  this  case  pronounced, — "  He  that 
 killetii  with  the  sword — ^of  persecution  and 
 tyranny,) — must  be  killed  with  the  sword," 
 is  not  only  a  prophetical,  but  even  a  moral 
 truth.  Yet  notwithstanding,  where  indivi- 
 dual guilt  escapes  this  award  of  distributive 
 jus*  ice,  and  goes  out  of  the  world  in  peace, 
 we  absolve  the  divine  Providence  of  the 
 charge  of  neglect,  which  the  heathens,  on 
 such  occasions  blasphemously  brought  against 
 heaven  ;*  and  we  look  upon  it  as  a  pledge  of 
 the  certainty  of  a  future  and  eternal  retribu- 
 
 *  Cum  rapiant  mala  fata  bonos,  (ignoscite  fasso) 
 
 Solicitor  nullos  esse  putare  Deos  ; 
 Et  sine  re  nomen  deus  est,  frur.traque  timetur, 
 
 Et  stulta  populos  credulitate  movet. 
 
 Ovid  Eh 
 
 While  ill  prevails,  and  righteousness  overthrown, 
 Proclaims  the  world  to  very  dotage  grown, 
 I  oft  suspect,  (excuse  the  fault  confest,) 
 The  gods  non- entities,  or  blind  at  best ; 
 Jove  but  an  empty  name,  and  nothing  more, 
 Which  only  superstitious  fools  adore. 
 
 So  Job  represents  the  atheistical  impiety  of  prospering  sinners  : 
 — "  What  is  the  Almighty,  that  we  should  serve  him  ?  and 
 what  profit  shall  we  have,  if  we  pray  unto  him  :" — Job  xxi.l& 
 
339 
 
 tion.  "  The  Lord  knoweth  both  how  to 
 deliver  the  godly  out  of  temptation,  and  to 
 reserve  the  unjust  unto  the  day  of  judgment, 
 to  be  punished."* 
 
 But  we  are  now  in  the  valley  of  deci- 
 sion, and  here  therefore  the  tyrant's  sun  of 
 glory  is  doomed  to  set.     His  long  career  of 
 victory  is  arrested,  and  can  be  pushed  no  far- 
 ther, and  his  directing  genius  here  forsakes 
 him,  while  the  modern  Sampson  "  knoweth 
 not  that  his  strength  is  departed  from  him." 
 "  In  that  day,  saith  the  Lord,  I  will  smite 
 every  horse  with  astonishment,  and  his  rider 
 with  madness,  and  I  will  open  mine  eyes" — 
 (with  favor) — "  upon  the  house  of  Judah, 
 and  will  smite  every  horse  of  the  people  with 
 blindness.     And  in  that  day  I  will  make  Je- 
 rusalem a  burdensome  stone  for  all  people" 
 (engaged   in  hostility  against  it)  :  "  all  that 
 burden  themselves  with  it,  shall  be  cut  in 
 pieces,  though  all  the  people  of  the  earth  be 
 gathered  together  against  //."+     When  God 
 
 -*  2  Pet.  ii.  9.  f  Zech.  xii.  3, 
 
140 
 
 js  determined  to  save,  what  combination  of 
 worldly  force  shall  be  able  to  destroy  ? — 
 "  Surely  there  is  no  enchantment  against  Ja- 
 cob, neither  is  there  any  divination  against 
 Israel :  according  to  this  time  it  shall  be  said 
 of  Jacob,  and  of  Israel,  what  hath  God 
 wrought  /"* 
 
 For  the  other  circumstances  of  this  crusade, 
 (previous  to  the  pouring  out  of  the  seventh 
 vialy)  we  must  turn  to  Rev.  xix.  15,  where 
 the  subject  is  resumed,  and  carried  on  to  its 
 conclusion.  St  John  having  in  several  pre- 
 vious visions  described  the  wars  of  Antichrist 
 against  the  church  and  the  saints,  or  witnesses 
 of  Jesus,f  and  drawn  the  character  and  per- 
 son of  the  apostate  persecuting  church  at  great 
 length,  and  by  many  pointed  circumstances, 
 which  leave  not  a  possibility  of  doubt  in  the 
 application^  comes  now  in  this  nineteenth 
 chapter  to  give  the  description  and  character 
 of  the  captain  of  the  Lord^s  host,  which  was 
 
 *  Numb,  xxiii.  23.         f  Rev.  chap,  xi,  >:ii.  xiii.  xiv. 
 '    Rev.  chap,  xiii  &  xvii. 
 
141 
 
 (through  the  whole  warfare  of  1260  years) 
 opposed  with  various  success  against  the  an- 
 tichristian  powers. 
 
 He  is  introduced  sitting  upo?i  a  white  horse, 
 the  armies  in  heaven  following  him  "  upon 
 white  horses,  and  cloathed  hi  fine  linen,  white 
 and  clean"  the  emblem  of  their  purity  in 
 doctrine  and  innocence  of  life,  and  forming 
 a  strong  contrast  to  the  church  of  the  aposta- 
 cy,  which  is  represented*  sitting  upon  a  scar- 
 let coloured  beast,  full  of  names  of  blasphemy \ 
 and  herself  arrayed  in  the  meretricious  attire 
 of  purple  and  scarlet  colour,  and  decked  with 
 gold  and  precious  stone  a?id  pearls,  betokening 
 her  murderous  persecutions  and  whorish  idol- 
 atry. 
 
 He  is  called  "faithful  and  true"  a  very 
 common  mode  of  expression  in  the  scripture, 
 and  signifying  that  he  is  so\  in  an  eminent 
 degree.     The  many  crowns  on  his  head  de- 
 
 *  Rev.  xvii. 
 
 f  Isai.  vii.  14  ;  ix.  6  ;  Matt,  i,  21  ;  Jer.  xxiii.  6. 
 
142 
 
 note  his  just  title  to  the  homage  and  obedi- 
 ence of  all  nations,  according  to  the  tenor  of 
 innumerable  prophecies,  that  "  all  kings  shall 
 fall  down  before  him  :  all  nations  shall  serve 
 him."*  And  the  ineffable  name  upon  his 
 shield,  signifies  his  mysterious  nature  as  the 
 Son  of  God,  but  amongst  men  he  is  distin- 
 guished by  the  name  of  O*  Aoyoq  t£  ©sou — 
 "  The  wisdom  of  God."  And  the  legible  title 
 inscribed  upon  his  vesture  is  "King  of 
 kings,  and  Lord  of  lords."  This  title 
 is  as  much  his  own  peculiar  right  as  the 
 throne  itself  for  which  he  maintains  the  war, 
 yet  the  wicked  and  powerful  usurper  hath 
 dispossessed  him  of  his  throne,  and  taken  to 
 himself  bis  incommunicable  titles  and  attri- 
 butes.* How  much  and  severely  he  hath 
 suffered  in  the  defence  of  his  kingdom  and 
 faithful  soldiers,   appears  from   "  his  vesture 
 
 dipt  in  blood  I"     His  own  inestimably  prcci- 
 
 « 
 
 *  Psalm  lxxii.  11. 
 
 f  See  Sect.  ix.  p.  251.  The  blasphemous  title?  given  to 
 the  pope  by  his  flatterers,  and  assumed  by  himself,  particularly 
 this, — "  Rex  regum,  dominus  dominantium, — King  of  kings, 
 and  lord  of  lords."   (Rev,  i.  5. ) 
 
us 
 
 ous  blood,  shed  by  his  enemies  at  Calvary, 
 and  that  of  his  faithful  martyrs,  (in  whom  he 
 was  crucified  again,)  whose  blood  was  poured 
 out  in  every  part  of  the  field  of  battle  ;  that 
 is,  the  antichristian  empire  and  jurisdiction  of 
 Rome,  both  pagan  and  papal.      "  And  out  of 
 his  mouth  goeth  a  sharp  sword,  that  with  it 
 he  should  smite  the  nations :  and  he  shall  rule 
 them  with  a  rod  of  iron  :  and  he  treadeth  the 
 w'me  press  of  the  fierceness  and  wrath  of  al- 
 mighty God"     This  concluding  part  of  the 
 description  of  this  faithful  and  true  witness, 
 and  head  of  the  church^  is  taken  from   the 
 ancient  prophets,  by  whom   in   many  places 
 he  is  so  described ;  as  "  smiting  the  wicked 
 with  the  breath  of  his   lips,"   and  "  brwsing 
 the  disobedient  nations  with  a  mace  of  iron, 
 and  breaking  them  hi  pieces  like   a   potter's 
 vessel ;"  and  finally,  "  treading  the  wine  press 
 of  the  divine  wrath,"  which  is  a  figure   fre- 
 quently introduced  in  the  prophets,   and  al- 
 ways perhaps  with  a  reference  to  the  valley 
 
 *  Rev.  iii.  li, 
 VOL.  II.  U 
 
144 
 
 of  Decision  y  and  the  battle  of  that  great  day  oj 
 God  almighty"* 
 
 After  giving  this  account  of  the  leaders,  on 
 both  sides,  the  prophet  goes  on  to  relate  the 
 incidents  which  bring  on  the  battle,  and  the 
 final  termination  of  the  war.  A  loud  and  fe- 
 rocious proclamation  is  made  by  the  tyrant 
 commander  of  the  assembled  multitudes,  e- 
 lated  with  the  confidence  of  his  strength,  and 
 too  secure  of  his  prey.  But  the  event  proves 
 it  to  be  a  prophecy  of  evil  tidings  to  his  own 
 confederates,  and  he  himself  is  the  harbinger 
 of  Christ  coming  in  his  vengeance  to  the  fi- 
 nal destruction  of  the  man  of  sin ;  when  these 
 boastful  promises  to  his  rapacious  followers, 
 that  he  will  give  them  the  plunder  of  the 
 insurgents,  (the  partisans  of  the  protestant 
 cause,)  are  now  soon  to  be  made  good  in  a 
 contrary  sense,  "f"     "Atid  I  saw  an  angel  stand- 
 
 ■  % 
 
 *  Isai.  xi.  4  ;  lxiii.  3;   2  Thess.  ii,  9 ;  Ps-  ii.  8, 
 -J-   So  when  he  was  raised  up  by  divine  Providence,  and  sent 
 to  "o  and  be  a  scourge  of  the  hypocritical  nation,  or  popish  em- 
 pire, like  Saul  sent  against  the  atr.alekites,  he  has  views  of  his 
 Divn  to  prosecute,  and  intends  not  the  fulfilment  of  the  divine 
 
145 
 
 ing  in  the  sun  ;  and  he  cried  with  a  loud 
 voice,  saying  to  all  the  fowls  that  fly  in  the 
 midst  of  heaven,  come,  and  gather  yourselves 
 together  unto  the  supper  of  the  great  God ;  that 
 ye  may  eat  the  flesh  of  kings,  and  the  flesh 
 of  captains,  and  the  flesh  of  mighty  men,  and 
 the  flesh  of  horses,  and  of  them  that  sit  on 
 them,  and  the  flesh  of  all  men,  both  free  and 
 bond,  both  small  and  great."* 
 
 The  sun  in  which  the  angel  of  God's 
 providence  stands,  is  the  same  which  was  de- 
 scribed in  the  fourth  vial,  as  having  received 
 
 purpose. — t*  He  meaneth  not  so,  neither  doth  his  heart  think  so,  but 
 it  is  in  his  heart  to  destroy  and  cut  off  nations  not  a  few*"  Isa.  x. 
 
 *  The  carnivorous  fowls  invited  to  this  flesh  feast,  are  the 
 banditti  of  plunderers,  which  have  stuck  close  to  this  marauder, 
 through  the  course  of  his  career  of  conquests ;  and  he  pro- 
 mises, in  his  wrath,  to  glut  their  cupidity  to  the  full  with  the 
 crowns  and  plunder  of  the  world.  The  fesh  to  be  given  to 
 them,  means  the  wealth  and  substance  of  the  conquered,  which 
 he  now  carries  to  such  a  pitch  of  atrocity,  as  to  sell  the  riders 
 info  slavery,  as  well  as  the  horses  that  cany  them,  and  to  level 
 with  a  sweeping  indiscriminate  fury,  the  cottage  and  the  pa- 
 lace, small  and  great,  bond  and  free.  This  figure  of  fesh,  sig« 
 nifying  wealth  or  substance,  we  meet  with  in  Zechariah  xiv.  13L 
 
 U    % 
 
146 
 
 a  great  augmentation  of  power  to  scorch  the 
 subjects  of  the  beast  with  the  insupportable 
 heat  and  fierceness  of  tyranny.  And  this, 
 (notwithstanding  he  is  himself,  by  outward 
 profession,  one  of  the  nations  subject  to  his 
 spiritual  dominion,  and  one  of  his  worship- 
 pers, and  bears  his  mark,)  he,  by  God's  over- 
 ruling Providence  effects,  without  designing 
 any  thing  of  the  kind,  or  making  the  fulfil- 
 ment of  the  prophecies  and  the  will  of  heaven 
 any  part  of  his  consideration.  From  this 
 period,  and  through  the  times  of  the  intermeT 
 diate  vials,  until  the  seventh  is  at  hand,  he 
 seems  to  have  continued  upon  the  increase, 
 and  at  last  to  have  attained  to  the  supreme 
 dominion  over  all,  and  from  an  insignificant 
 stone  (at  his  first  appearance,)  to  have  "be- 
 come a  great  mountain,  and  filled  all  the 
 earth."* 
 
 From  the  fierce  and  savage  proclamation 
 which  he  issues  out  in  his  fury,  and  in  mimic- 
 ry  of  the  stile  of  some  of  the  scripture  wor- 
 
 *  Dan.  ii.  3:". 
 
147 
 
 thies  like  himself,*  threatening  to  give  the 
 flesh  of  the  audacious  opposers  of  his  will  "  to 
 the  fowls  of  the  air,   and  to  the  beasts  of  the 
 field"  we  gather  that  the  insurrection  at  this 
 time  must  have  gone  to  a  considerable  extent; 
 since  there  are  kings,  and  generals,  and  mighty 
 men,  and  great,  as  well  as  persons  of  inferior 
 rank  enumerated  in  the  opposing  army,  which 
 he  is  about  to  annihilate  with  a  word.     The 
 united  tyranny  of  the  dragon  and  false 
 prophet  which  'wrought  miracles  before  him, 
 for  the  furtherance   of  their  common  designs 
 against  the  gospel,  had  now  been  exercised 
 (in  strict  fraternity  and  league)  over  the  sub- 
 ject world,  for  the  predestinated  term  of  three 
 years  and  a   half.       And   these   kings   now 
 found  in  rebellion,  may  have  been  some  of 
 the  vassal  sovereigns,  once  the  creatures  of  his 
 power :  "for  he  saith  are  not  my  princes  alto- 
 gether kings  ?"f  but  have  been  harassed  by 
 capricious  tyranny  into  desperate  resistance ; 
 or  they  are  perhaps  repentant  of  their  tempor- 
 ary dissimulation,  and  feigned  or  forced  con- 
 
 *  I  Sanj.  xvii.  44.  f  Isa,  x>  8. 
 
148 
 
 formity,  and  impressed  with  a  growing  con- 
 viction of  the  impiety  of  the  cause  to  which 
 they  must  have  given  their  support. 
 
 "  And  I  saw  the  beast  and  the  kings  of  the 
 earth,  and  their  armies  gathered  tGgcther,  to 
 make  war  against  him  thai  sat  on  the  horse, 
 and  against  his  army." — Though  kings  and 
 great  men  are  found  at  this  awful  crisis  under 
 the  banners  of  Christ,  the  great  majority  of 
 them,  even  the  powers  of  nearly  all  the  world, 
 are  assembled  in  the  ranks  of  the  beast,  or 
 DRAGON.*  In  this  state  of  things,  and  as  if 
 it  were  the  signal  for  the  battle  to  begin,  the 
 seventh  angel  pours  out  his  vial  into  the  air, 
 and  its  effects  are  immediately  decisive,  and 
 tremendous  beyond  all  the  former  vials ;  the  ef- 
 fects of  which,  though,  in  common  with  the 
 rest  of  the  apostates,  they  partly  fell  upon  the 
 beast,  or  dragon  himself,  (since  in  destroying 
 others,  he  was  also  tormented  himself,)  yet 
 by  this  he  himself  is  destroyed.     "  And  the 
 
 *  Being  at  this  period  universal  despot,  he  sustains   the 
 character  of  both  the  original  dragon  and  the  eeast,   which 
 •-'".  3  bim,  as  appears  from  Rev.  xvi,  13. 
 
149 
 
 BEAST  was  taken,  and  with  him  the  false 
 prophet  that  wrought  miracles  before  him, 
 with  which  he  deceived  them  that  had  receiv- 
 ed the  mark  of  the  beast,  and  them  that  wor- 
 shipped his  image.     These  both  were  cast 
 alive  into  a  lake  of  fire  burning  with  brim- 
 stone."    By  an  event  of  the  battle  little  ex- 
 pected, and  which  will  give  the  name  of  the 
 Valley  of  Decision  to  the  place  where  it 
 will  be  fought,  a  prodigious  destruction  of  the 
 armies  of  the  aliens  and  apostates  takes  place, 
 and  the  principals  are  taken  alive,  and  doom- 
 ed to  receive  a  punishment  suitable  to  their 
 wickedness  and  cruelty. 
 
 It  is,  however,  most  probable  that,  as  the 
 decision  of  this  mighty  struggle  has  been  ef- 
 fected, by  some  visible  and  fearful  display  of 
 the  indignation  of  God  upon  these  abandoned 
 reprobates,  so  will  the  doom  assigned  to  them 
 in  this  prophecy  also  be ;  that  they  "  shall  be 
 cast  alive  into  a  lake  of  fire  burning  tvith 
 brimstone"  The  beast  and  false  pro- 
 phet are  figurative  characters,  though  pretty 
 well  understood,  but  the  particular  mode  of 
 
ISO 
 
 their  capture  and  final  punishment  (also  figu- 
 ratively expressed)  is  not  likely  to  be  certainly 
 known,   till  time  and  events  have  unfolded 
 the  veil  of  prophecy,  and  given  a  clear  view 
 of  the  realities  to  which  these  figures  corre- 
 spond.   To  hazard  a  conjecture,  I  think  there 
 is   in  this   passage  a  remarkable  correspond- 
 ence with  Isaiah's  prophecy  of  the  destiny  of 
 Edom.* — "  And  the  streams  thereof  shall  be 
 turned  into  pitchy  and  the  dust  thereof  into 
 brimstone,  and  the  land  thereof  shall  become 
 burning  pitch.     It  shall  not  be  quenched  night 
 nor  day,  the  smoke   thereof  shall  go   up  for 
 ever"     This  is  the  very  description  given  by 
 St  John  of  the  perpetual  state  of  mystic  Ba- 
 bylon,  after  this  fatal   catastrophe,f   and  by 
 Isaiah,   in  his  prophecy  of  Tophet  ordained 
 of  old  f or  this  occasion,  to  be  a  suitable  prison 
 for  the  mystic  k'mg ;  having  been  prepared  of 
 God  when  he  made  the  world,  and  excavated 
 deep  and  large ;  the  fuel  sufficient  to  supply 
 the  everlasting  volumes  of  smoke  and   lire, 
 and  waiting  only  for  the  breath,  or  word  of 
 
 *  Isaiah  xxxlv.  9.  f  Rev.  xix,  3. 
 
151 
 
 the  Lord,  like  a  stream  of  brimstone,  to  ex- 
 plode the  shell  of  rock  that  covers  it,  and  lay 
 open  a  lake  of  fire  to  the  astonished  eye 
 of  the  beholder.* 
 
 I  conceive  then,  that  while  the  conduct  of 
 the  distant  war,  perhaps  in  the  Holy  Land  it- 
 self, f  is  intrusted  by  the  imperial  dragon 
 to  his  generals,  as  being  easy  to  be  decided  in 
 one  battle,  by  immense  superiority  of  num- 
 bers and  instruments  of  destruction,  against 
 powers  insignificant  and  ill  prepared  for  such 
 an  encounter  ;  the  two  principals  remain  in  the 
 ancient  capital  of  the  world,  in  deep  consulta- 
 tion for  further  mischief,  and  to  concert  to- 
 gether the  spiritual  and  military  operations  of 
 the  war  against  the  rising  church  of  Christ. 
 And  thus  taken  in  their  own  trap,  as  the  re- 
 bellious jews  were  in  Jerusalem,  one  fatal  day 
 terminates  their  reign  and  lives  together,  by 
 the  entire  destruction  of  their  armies  in  the 
 field  of  battle,  through  the  visible  power  of 
 
 *  Isaiah  xiv.  24,  2f>.     Daniel  xi.  44,  45, 
 f   Isaiah  xxx.  33.      Rev.  xviii.  10, 
 
 VOL.  II.  X 
 
152 
 
 God,  and  by  precipitating  them  both,  with 
 their  principal  partisans  in  attendance  at  that 
 time,  alive  into  the  fiery  gulph  of  an  immense 
 crater,  which  suddenly  opens  underneath  this 
 second  Sodom.* 
 
 *  This  conjecture  gives  some  (I  will  not  say  the  best)  ac- 
 count of  the  dragon  and  false  prophet  being  taken  in  their 
 own  net,  and  in  what  manner  they  will  go  bach — and  fall — and 
 be  broken — and  snared — and  taken,  which  is  intimated  in  seve- 
 ral prophecies ;  and  by  what  means  they  can  be  cast  alive  into 
 a  lare  of  fire  burning  with  brimstone,  and  how  a  lake  of  that 
 unusual  kind  can  be  provided.  It  also  accounts  for  the  burn- 
 ing of  Babylon  by  no  ordinary  event  of  a  military  capture,  but 
 by  the  strong  hand  of  the  Lord  God  which  judgeth  her  ;  (  Rev.  xviii. 
 8,)  and  for  the  rising  tip  of  her  smoke  for  ever  and  ever;  and 
 for  this  being  done  in  the  presence  of  the  holy  angels  and  of  the 
 Lamb,  (Rev.  xiv,  10,)  or  in  public  sight  of  the  true  church  of 
 Christ ;  and  for  their  being  called  to  le  spectators  of  a  calamity 
 of  such  unparalelled  horror.   (Isa.  lxvi.  2't.) 
 
 This  conjecture  also  seems  to  account  for  many  things 
 spoken  in  the  ancient  prophets  of  ancient  Babylon,  and  applied 
 by  St  John  to  the  mystic  Babylon,  or  Rome. — "  Therefore 
 shall  her  plagues  come  in  one  day,  death,  and  mourning,  and  fa- 
 mine ;"  (Rev.  xviii.  8,)  and  that  "  in  one  hour  shall  her  judg- 
 ment come;"  (xviii.  10,)  and  for  the  singular  mode  of  her 
 submersion  and  disappearing  out  of  sight, — "  A  mighty  angel 
 took  up  a  stone  like  a  great  millstone,  and  cast  it  into  the  sea, 
 saying,  thus — with  fiolsnce  shall  that  great  city  Babilon  be 
 thrown  down,  and  shall  be  found  no  wore  at  all." 
 
153 
 
 To  this  unsuccessful  and  final  attempt  of  the  apostate 
 powers  against  the  pure  church  of  Christ,  and  particuhny  to 
 the  horrible  event  c  f  it  to  the  wicked  agents  engaged  in  it,  the 
 prophetic  psalmiit  alludes  in  several  places  ; — in  the  ninth 
 psalm  very  particularly.  "  The  Lord  is  known  by  the  judgment 
 which  he  executeth :  the  wicked  is  snared  in  the  work  of  his 
 own  hands,  1  he  wicked  shall  be  turned  into  hell,  and  all  the 
 nations  that  forget  God,"  or  apostatise  from  him  to  idolatry. 
 In  psalm  cxi.  8,  he  aliu-les  to  his  evil  machinations  against  re- 
 ligion, and  the  divine  retribution  of  them. — "  Let  not  his  mis- 
 chievous imagination  prosper,  lest  they  be  too  proud.  Let  hot 
 burning  coals  fail  upon  them :" — (alluding  to  the  vials  of 
 wrath :) — "  let  them  be  cast  into  thejire,  and  into  the  pit,  that 
 they  never  rise  up  again."  See  Sect.  x.  p.  269,  and  Sect.  xv. 
 p.  391,  Sec, 
 
 X  z 
 
SECTION  XXV. 
 
 The  consequences  of  we  seventh  vial- — The  mystery 
 of  God  is  finished.— The  remaining  strength  of 
 the  apostacy  wasted  by  intestine  division  and  civil 
 wars,  which  depopulate  the  papal  kingdoms.— 
 Suppression  of  the  popish  church  dignities  and 
 authorities.  —  Great  inveteracy  of  that  super  sti~ 
 tion,  which  even  these  terrible  and  long  continued 
 judgments  cannot  easily  subdue, 
 
 JjY  the  dreadful  catastrophe  that  befals  the 
 combined  multitudes  in  the  Valley  of  De- 
 cision, where  God  sits  as  judge  himself  in 
 the  day  of  rccompcnces^  and  by  the  still  more 
 tremendous  judgment,  which  at  the  same  time 
 in  another  quarter  overwhelms  the  two  prin- 
 cipals, and  the  capital  city  in  a  fiery  destruc- 
 tion, there  is  a  decisive  blozv  given  to  the  apos- 
 tacy, and  the  two  witnesses  are  now  by 
 a  great  voice  called  up  to  heaven,  and  pure 
 
155 
 
 and  true  religion  is  in  general  securely  estab- 
 lished.* 
 
 "  And  the  remnant" — (of  the  apostates)—- 
 "  were  slain  with  the  sword  of  him  that  sat 
 upon  the  horse,  which  sword  proceeded  out  of 
 his  mouth :  and  all  the  fowls  were  filled  with 
 their  flesh."  The  consequence  of  this  result 
 of  such  a  contest,  decided  in  so  undeniable  a 
 manner  by  the  arm  and  interposition  of  God, 
 
 *  In  Sect-  xix.  I  have  observed  that  St  John  sums  up  the  his- 
 tory of  the  martyrs,  i  which  suffered  from  the  persecuting  fanati- 
 cism of  an  idolatrous  and  apostate  religion,  in  both  the  eastern 
 and  western  churches,)  in  the  eleventh  chapter;  and  this  brief 
 epitome  of  the  whole  Revelation  is  placed  there  where  the  his- 
 tory of  the  eastern  church  ends,  and  that  of  the  western  (under 
 the  rule  of  the  pope)  commences  ;  and  its  several  pa>ts  are  af- 
 terwards unfolded  in  the  following  visions,  in  which  the  suffer- 
 ings, and  death,  and  resurrection  of  the  witnesses  make  a  prin- 
 cipal part.  The  rise,  tyranny,  and  fall  of  the  beast  being  of 
 interest  no  otherwise  than  as  the  history  of  the  true  church  and 
 faithful  servants  of  Christ  is  involved  in  it. 
 
 The  earthquake  with  which  the  history  of  the  witnesse* 
 concludes,  (  Rev.  xi.  13.)  is  the  same  as  that  in  chap.  xvi.  J  8, 
 where  the  effects  and  consequences  of  it,  (in  the  happy  restor- 
 ation of  the  true  church,  and  the  fall  and  ruin  of  the  apostacy,) 
 are  represented  more  at  large  ;  the  seventh  trumpet  (x.  7)  and 
 "the  seventh  vial,  (xvi.  17,)  by  which  *'  the  mystery  of  God  -wot 
 
156 
 
 is  the  speedy  and  entire  suppression  of  the  re- 
 maining strength  of  atheism,  and  idolatry, 
 and  superstition,  by  the  powerful  conviction  of 
 God^s  worrit  so  strongly  confirmed  by  the  iate 
 events,  and  the  remaining  effects  of  them,  the 
 visible  and  striking  accomplishment  of  the 
 prophecies.  "  For  the  word  of  God,"  says 
 the  apostle,  "  is  quick,  and  powerful,  and 
 sharper  than  any  two-edged  sword,  piercing 
 even  to  the  dividing  asunder  of  soul  and  spi- 
 
 io  he  finished"  both  coinciding  with  that  time.  But  these 
 events  are  not  instantaneous;  a  considerable  time  is  to  be  sup- 
 posed for  the  sounding  of  the  seventh  trumpet,  and  also  for  the 
 effects  of  the  vial  to  appear. 
 
 It  is  remarkable  in  this  first  account  of  the  earthquake, 
 that  the  destructive  effects  of  it  are  confined  chiefly  to  the  beads 
 or  governing  powers  of  the  apostacj,  or  spiritual  wickedness  in 
 high  places,  (xi.  13,) — "  The  tenth  part  of  the  city  fell,  and 
 in  the  earthquake  were  slain,"  (ovlftaTa  etv8^u7rm,  nom'ma  homi- 
 mm,  names  of  men,  or)  "  men  of  chief  name  and  eminence  in  the 
 corrupt  church,  seven  thousand  :  and  the  rest  were  affrighted, 
 and  gave  glory  to  the  God  of  heaven  :" — yet  not  without  more 
 judgments  expended  upon  them,  and  considerable  time.  This 
 coincidence  adds  further  evidence  that  this  is  the  same  earthquake 
 by  which  the  judgment  of  great  Babylon  was  chiefly  effected, 
 (xvi.  19,)  and  the  beast  and  false  prophet  destroyed; 
 which  was  followed   (xix.  20,  21)   by  the  dissolution  of  the 
 
 li  '! :  system  of  popery,  as  is  represented  in  this  section. 
 
157 
 
 rit."*     And  how  greatly  must  its  force  be  in- 
 creased under  such  circumstances  ?     The  re- 
 cent fate  of  the  city  and  the  false  prophet,  (the 
 pole  star  of  their  superstition,)  not  only  leaves 
 the  papal  church  in  total  and  hopeless  darkness , 
 and  remediless  despair y  but  they  have  undeni- 
 able tokens  that  it  has  all  come  to  pass  exactly 
 in  the  protestant  acceptation  of  the  prophecies. 
 They  are  now  beaten  out  of  their  strong  hold 
 of  evasion,  and  have  no   more  the  false  pro- 
 phet to  bolster  up   their  sinking  cause,  by 
 lying  wonders  and  all  maimer  of  decievableness 
 of  unrighteousness.     Bigotry  and  superstition 
 melt  away  before  truth,  like  ice  before  the 
 sun  ;  and  the  hand   of  power  (now  unfavor- 
 able to  them)   is  laid  upon  the  remaining  ill- 
 gotten  property  of  their  church,  which  is  ap- 
 plied to  other  uses,  and  thus  in  a  sense  totally 
 the  reverse  of  the  boastful  proclamation  of  the 
 DRAGON, — "  the  fowls  are  filled  with  their 
 flesh? 
 
 The  pouring  out  of  the  seventh  vial,  or 
 last  plague  upon  the  kingdom  of  the  beast,  in 
 
 *  Heb.iv.  12. 
 
158 
 
 chapter  xvi.  (from  which  we  digressed  to  take 
 in  this  more  distinct  account  oi  trie  final  catas- 
 trophe,) seems  to  be  a  representation  of  the 
 same  facts,  under  other  similitudes.  The  one 
 vision  relating  the  particulars  that  concerned 
 the  two  principals,  and  the  original  seat  of  the 
 BEJsr\  the  other  giving  the  effect  that  was 
 produced  by  this  vial  upon  the  system  of  the 
 apostacy  in  general.  "  And  the  seventh  angel 
 poured  out  his  vial  into  the  air,  and  there  came 
 a  great  voice  out  of  the  temple  of  heaven, 
 from  the  throne,  saying,  it  is  done."* 
 
 *  When  our  blessed  Saviour  had  put  an  end  to  the  Mosaic 
 dispensation,  by  fulfilling  the  last  of  the  prophecies  relating  to 
 it,  he  bnwed  his  head  and  gave  up  the  ghost,  saying, —  "  It  is 
 Finished!"  ii  vz  tit'i\%ch — dixit  consummatum  est.  (John  xix, 
 39.)  The  similar  expression  made  use  of  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
 to  express  the  end  of  the  mystery  of  iniquity,  and  the  fall  of  mti- 
 ehrist,  shews  the  great  importance  attached  to  this  long  expect- 
 ed event,  the  subject  of  so  many  prophecies.  And  the  tragi- 
 cal  history  of  his  reign  yields  abundant  evidence  that  it  was  not 
 without  reason  ; — "  There  came  a  great  voice,  saying — It  is. 
 done  .'-—teyovra  yiyovi, — dicens  factum  est.  Beza  translates 
 <3EGONE  by  fuit, — it  is  pasty  in  the  sense  of  Virgil's 
 
 ,     —  Fuimtu  Troes :  fuit  lllium,  et  ingens 
 
 Gloria  teucrorum.  Virg.  JE\i.  ii.  325. 
 
 Troy  is  no  more — and  Illium  ivas  a  town  ! 
 
 The  fatal  day,  th'  appointed  hour  is  come. — Dryden, 
 
159 
 
 This  proclamation  of  the  voice,  coming 
 Jfrom  the  Divine  presence,  (from  whence  these 
 prophecies  proceed,  and  from  whence  the 
 powers  and  commission  to  the  seven  angels, 
 the  instruments  of  God's  providence  in  the 
 fulfilling  of  them,  were  issued  out,)  shews 
 that  by  these  successive  events,  the  mystery  of 
 God,  contained  in  prophecy,  was  finished, 
 agreeably  to  a  solemn  assurance  before  given 
 in  chap.  x. — An  angel  standing  on  the  earth 
 and  sea,  lifted  up  his  hand  to  heaven  and 
 sware — on  %bovo$  ouk  l$cu  en,  tempus  non  fore 
 amplius,  "  that  the  time  should  not  be  yet,  but 
 in  the  days  of  the  voice  of  the  seventh  angel, 
 when  he  shall  begin  to  sound,  the  mystery 
 of  God  should  be  flushed,  and  the  afflictions 
 wherewith  the  church  was  to  be  exercised, 
 during  the  long  continued  tyranny  of  the 
 man  of  sin,  should  here  have  a  period.* 
 
 *  When  this  apostacy  was  revealed  to  the  church  by  Saint- 
 Paul,  it  was  called  the  mystery  of  iniquity,  which  how 
 well  it  deserves  to  be  deemed,  has  been  fully  shewn.  Yet  as 
 it  was  foreknown  to  God,  aud  by  him  revealed  in  prophecy,  in 
 all  its  parts  from  beginning  to  end,  and  the  effects  resulting 
 from  it  were  under  bis  supreme  controut,  and  as  it  was  suiferel 
 
 yoL.  1U  Y 
 
B         160 
 
 The  voice  out  of  the  temple  of  God,  which 
 now  represents  the  whole  church,  in  its  pure 
 and  reformed  state,  as  under  the  tyranny  of 
 the  apostacy  and  man  of  sin,  but  a  small  part 
 of  the  church  of  Christ  had  been  so  represent- 
 ed, may  also  signify  the  unanimous  opinion  of 
 the  christian  world,  that  papal  Rome  was 
 indeed  the  mystic  Babylon  ;  and  that  her 
 doom  has  been  truly  such  as  the  prophets  had 
 foretold. — "  And  there  were  voices,  and  thun- 
 ders, and  lightnings,  and  there  was  a  great 
 earthquake,  such  as  was  not  since  men  were 
 upon  the  earth,  so  mighty  an  earthquake  and 
 so  great."  These  figures,  which  in  the  Revela- 
 tion are  the  common  emblems  of  great  changes 
 and  revolutionary  commotions,  have  been  in 
 part  already  explained  in  the  last  section.  The 
 earthquake,  upon  which  a  very  particular  em- 
 phasis seems  to  be  laid  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
 may  therefore  be  not  only  an  emblematical, 
 but  a  real  one  also ;  and  such  as  will  shake 
 the  globe  of  the  earth  to  its  very  centre,  since 
 
 to  exist  by  his  forbearance,  for  reasons  to  us  mysterious,  it  is 
 here  called  the  mystery  of  Cod,  in  the  sense  of  Amos,  iii,  6, — 
 «  Shall  there  be  evil  ill  a  city,  and  the  Lord  hath  not  done  it  V* 
 
1GI 
 
 it  is  to  be  the  means  of  opening  the  wide  and 
 tremendous  gulph  of  Tophet,*  more  like, 
 from  its  vast  diameter  and  circumference,  to  a 
 lake  of  liquid  fire  than  the  crater  of  a  volcano, 
 the  production  of  any  earthquake  the  world 
 has  ever  yet  heard  off 
 
 To  these  various  effects  of  the  seventh  vial 
 there  "seems  to  be  an  allusion  in  Isaiah  xxiv. 
 1 7. — "  Fear,  and  the  pit,  and  the  snare  are . 
 upon  thee,  O  inhabitant  of  the  earth.  And 
 it  shall  come  to  pass  that  he  who  fleeth  from 
 the  noise  of  the  fear,  shall  fall  into  the  pit  ; 
 and  he  that  cometh  out  of  the  midst  of  the 
 pit, — (or  by  local  situation  at  the  time  escapes 
 that  catastrophe,) — shall  be  taken  in  the  snare: 
 
 *  "  Hell  from  beneath  is  moved  for  thee."     Isa  xiv.  9. 
 
 ■f  The  terrible  effects  that  have  been  produced  by  earth« 
 quakes  at  Lisbon,  Messina,  in  the  West  Indies,  &c.  whole 
 islands  having  been  raised  out  of  the  sea,  and  others  submerged 
 under  the  waves,  instruct  us  what  may  be  expected  from  this  ; 
 which  is  to  be  expressive  of  the  utter  abhorrence  God  has  ever 
 had  of  the  abominations  o/"fopery,  thougli  he  reserved  the  judg- 
 ment upon  it  until  now.  The  image  given  of  it  in  Isai,  xxxiv. 
 0,  (See  Sect,  xv.)  entirely  corresponds  with  the  idea  of  a  lahe 
 ofjire,  extending  several  miles. 
 
 Y    2 
 
162 
 
 for  the  windows  from  on  high  are  opened, 
 (and  threaten  another  deluge  from  above, 
 while  from  beneath)  the  foundations  of  the 
 earth  do  shake. — The  earth  is  utterly  broken 
 down,  the  earth  is  clean  dissolved,  the  earth 
 is  moved  exceedingly.  The  earth  shall  reel 
 to  and  fro  like  a  drunkard,  and  shall  be  re- 
 moved like  a  cottage,  and  the  trans- 
 gression THEREOF  SHALL  BE  HEAVY  ON 
 IT,  and  it  shall  fall,  and  not  rise  again."* — - 
 Allowing  for  the  figurative  and  hyperbolical 
 stile  of  prophecy,  the  real  and  prejudicial 
 changes  in  the  surface  of  the  earth  here  fore- 
 told, will  doubtless  be  confined  to  those  coun- 
 tries where  the  heavy  transgression  that  is  to 
 be  thus  punished,  has  most  peculiarly  prevail- 
 ed. The  earth  here  intended,  is  therefore  to 
 be  understood  of  the  kingdoms  of  the  papal 
 spiritual  empire ,  where  "the  man  of  thf 
 earth  shall  no  more  oppress  "f 
 
 *  Psalm  cxi.  9. 
 
 f  Ps.  x.  18.  In  Sect.  x.  p.  27 1»  I  have  shewn  the  striking 
 application  of  the  whole  of  this  prophetical  Psalm  to  the  papal 
 tyranny,   the  head  of  that  apostacy  being  here  called  "  the 
 
 WICKKD, THE    MAN    OF    THE    EARTH," 3S  by  St  Paul  lie  IP 
 
 riDed  "the  lawless, THE  man  of  sin."    • 
 
)63 
 
 tc  And  the  great  city  was  divided  into  three 
 parts,  and  the  cities  of  the  nations  fell,  and 
 great  Babylon  came  in  remembrance  be- 
 fore God,  to  give  unto  her  the  cup  of  the 
 wine  of  the  fierceness  of  his  wrath." — The 
 great  city  means  the  whole  ecclesiastical  re- 
 public of  popery,  made  up  of  many  different 
 kingdoms,  and  nations,  and  tongues,*  as  an 
 ordinary  city  is  of  its  different  departments. 
 Thus  "  the  dead  bodies  of  the  witnesses  lay 
 ;;/  the  street  of  the  great  city  three  days  and  a 
 half,"f  and  "  there  also  our  Lord  was  crucU 
 fed; — all  which  the  divine  writer  expressly 
 says  is  to  be  understood  in  a  mystical  sense,  as 
 well  as  the  various  names  of  Sodom,  Egypt, 
 Edom,  Babylon,  &c.  by  which  this  great 
 city  is  distinguished  in  prophecy.  After  this 
 signal  act  of  divine  justice  and  real  auto  da 
 FE,  inflicted  upnn  the  city,  and  territories,  and 
 throne  of  the  Beast  and  his  image  ;  which 
 involved  the  principals  themselves  in  the  hor- 
 rible devastation  ;  the  subordinate  kingdoms, 
 which  "  have  run  to  the  same  excess  of  riot," 
 
 f  Rev,  xvii.  lo,  -\  Rev,  jci,  8. 
 
164 
 
 are  compelled  to  drink  of  her  cup.  Divisions 
 of  the  most  inveterate  nature  and  fatal  conse- 
 quence arise  amongst  the  bigotted  adherents 
 of  the  papacy,  and  the  cities  in  catholic  obe- 
 dience to  the  spiritual  empire  now  without  a 
 head,  are  chastised  by  some  caUmitous  events 
 proportionate  to  the  sins  against  christian  faith 
 and  charity,  with  which  they  have  wearied  Hie 
 patience  of  heaven.  Popttgig  loa  bee  cies 
 not  only  the  execration  of  all  that  are  without 
 her  communion,  but  by  divine  frenzy  turns 
 the  point  of  the  avenging  dagger,  prepared 
 for  her  enemies,  inward  upon  her  own  bow* 
 els. 
 
 These  times  of  inconceivable  distress  and 
 calamity  to  that  devoted  people,  (which  still 
 will  not  see  their  errors  and  repent,  but  like 
 the  unbelieving  jews,  abandoned  of  grace,  per- 
 severe obstinately  in  a  desperate  and  fruitless 
 resistance,  even  after  their  bond  of  union  is 
 broken,)  remind  us  of  those  prophecies  which 
 rpeak  of  the  desolation  occasioned  by  these 
 civil  and  anarchical  wars,  by  which  the  ruin 
 of  popery  will   have  been  for  several  years 
 
165 
 
 perhaps  carrying  on.  "  And  at  that  time 
 shall  Michael  stand  up,  the  great  prince 
 which  standeth  for  the  children  of  thy  peo- 
 ple ;  and  there  shall  be  a  time  of  trouble, 
 such  as  never  was  since  there  was  a  nation, 
 even   to  that  same  time  ;    and    at    that 
 
 TIME  THY  PEOPLE  SHALL  BE  DELIVER- 
 ED,* every  one  that  shall  be  found  written  in 
 the  book.f  "  And  in  that  day,  seven  wo- 
 men shall  take  hold  of  one  man,  saying,  we 
 will  eat  our  own  bread,  and  wear  our  own 
 apparel ;  only  let  us  be  called  by  thy  name, 
 to  take  away  our  reproach.  ///  that  day  shall 
 the  branch  of  the  Lord  be  beautiful  and 
 glorious,  and  the  fruit  of  the  earth  shall  be 
 excellent  and  comely,  for  them  that  are  es- 
 caped of  Israel" — (the  faithful  witnesses  that 
 have  survived  the  preceding  troubles). — "And 
 
 *  It  is  the  constant  voice  of  prophecy,  that  the  restoration 
 of  the  jews  shall  be  a  time  of  great  trouble,  and  will  be  intimately 
 connected  with  the  scourging  and  overthrow  of  the  papal  apostacy . 
 The  great  prince  Michael,  the  patron,  and  protector,  and  re- 
 deemer  of  the  church,  sustains  here  the  same  character  as  in  lle- 
 rehtions  xix.  11. 
 
 f  Daniel  xii,  1. 
 
1*6 
 
 it  shall  come  to  pass  that  he  that  is  left  in  Zi» 
 on,  and  he  that  remaineth  in  Jerusalem^  shall 
 be  called  holy,  every  one  that  is  written  among 
 the  living  in  Jerusalem.  When  the  Lord  shall 
 have  washed  a.vay  the  filth  of  the  daughters  of 
 Zion,  and  shall  have  purged  the  blood  of  Je- 
 rusalem from  the  midst  thereof,  by  the  spirit 
 of  judgment^  and  by  the  spirit  of  burning"* 
 
 "  And  every  Island  fled   away,  and   the 
 mountains  were  not  found.     And  there  fell 
 
 *  Isai,  iv.  1.  I  consider  the  design  of  the  prophet's  words 
 in  the  first  verse,  to  be  a  strong  intimation  of  the  destruction  of 
 the  human  species,  and  of  the  scarcity  of  nicn  at  this  time,  occa- 
 sioned by  the  preceding  wars  and  plagues ;  and  that  it  is  heie 
 expressed  agreeably  to  the  ideas  and  customs  of  the  jews,  and  of 
 their  law  then  subsisting,  is  naturally  to  be  expected.  It  would 
 have  been  very  awkward  had  it  been  otherwise.  But  that  the 
 prophecy  relates  not  to  the  badylonish  captivity  but  the 
 roman,  and  to  the  time  of  its  termination  and  of  the  restoration  of 
 Israel,  is  evident  from  the  words  themselves. 
 
 The  branch  is  one  of  the  appropriate  names  of  Christ. 
 (Zech.  iii,  8  j  vi  12.)  The  time  of  his  glorious  kingdom  and 
 chief  beauty  is  yet  future  ; — and  "  the  escaped  of  Israel"  are  one 
 day  here  promised  a  portion  therein. — Their  zeal  and  pcnitcncc% 
 and  the  purity  and  holiness  of  this  period  that  is  to  ensue,  upon 
 the  fall  of  their  great  enemy,  is  the  subject  ol  many  correspond- 
 jng  prophecies.     See  Sect.  v. 
 
161 
 
 upon  men  a  great  hail  out  of  heaven,  every 
 stone  about  the  weight  of  a  talent,  and  men 
 blasphemed  God  because  of  the  plague  of  the 
 hail,  for  the  plague  thereof  was  exceeding 
 great." — The  disappearance  of  the  islands 
 and  mountains  in  the  late  papal  empire,  may 
 signify  the  abolition  of  the  great  church  dig- 
 nities, or  lesser  popedoms,  in  that  corrupt  com- 
 munion ;  and  together  with  the  continued 
 dissolution  of  the  monasteries  and  convents^ 
 and  the  whole  system  of  monkery,  answer  to 
 verse  21,  of  the  nineteenth  chapter,  where  it 
 is  said  "  all  the  fowls  were  jilled  with  their 
 flesh"  The  same  is  also  intimated  by  the 
 prophet  Zechariah  (xiv.  12). — -"  And  this 
 shall  be  the  plague  wherewith  the  Lord  shall 
 smite  all  the  people  that  have  fought  against 
 Jerusalem'' — -(the  emblem  of  the  true  church 
 of  Christ).  "  Their  flesh*  shall  consume 
 away  while  they  stand  upon  their  feet ; — and 
 their  eyes\  shall  consume  away  in  their  holes, 
 
 *  The  spoils  of  the  church,  obtained  by  pious  frauds,  and 
 aow  seized  by  licenced  robberies* 
 
 \  Eyes   allude  to  the    episcopal   principalities   and 
 dignities.     (See  Sect.  xxii.  p.  93,  and  Sect,  xxxii.) 
 
 VOL.  II.  Z 
 
16$ 
 
 —and  their  tongue*  shall  consume  away  in 
 their  mouth.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in 
 that  day,  that  a  great  tumult  from  the  Lord " 
 (sent  as  a  scourge  of  God,)  "  shall  be  among 
 them,  and  they  shall  lay  hold  every  one  on 
 the  hand  of  his  neighbour,  and  his  hand  shall 
 rise  up  against  the  hand  of  his  neighbour." 
 In  Isaiah  xix.  2,  there  is  a  prophecy  of  civil 
 dissention,  "  city  against  city,  and  kingdom 
 against  kingdom,"  to  be  sent  in  judgment 
 upon  the  mystical  Egypt,  which  may 
 perhaps  synchronize  with  this  time.  These 
 calamities  may  be  the  meaning  of  the  "great 
 hail"  which  fell  upon  them  out  of  heaven^ 
 which  intimates  that  it  shall  be  some  very  af- 
 flictive calamity, f  and  shall  grow  up  out  of 
 
 *  The  tongue  expresses  their  fulminating  excommunications 
 arid  bulky  now  falling  into  contempt,  and  the  decline  of  the 
 latin  tongue,  used  in  their  church  service,  which  was  one 
 remarkable  characteristic  of  the  roman  beast.  The  head 
 of  the  church  being  now  no  more,  and  the  sinews  of  its 
 strength  cut  asunder,  its  decay  will  be  rapid,  while  apparently 
 it  still  "  stands  upon  Its  feet" 
 
 -J-  Hail  is  the  common  prophetic  emblem  of  popular  com- 
 motions, and  the  uncommon  size  of  this,  and  great  the  torment 
 and  destruction  they  suffer  from  it,  express  the  severity  of  their 
 
169 
 
 the  church,  or  popish  system  itself.  But  the 
 effect  it  produces,  in  not  leading  them  to  /•<?- 
 flection  and  repentance,  but  rousing  their  lan- 
 guid zeal  to  greater  vigour  in  the  repetition  of 
 their  idolatrous  blasphemies,  is  a  proof  how- 
 deep  the  papal  cancer  must  have  struck  its 
 roots,  since  they  are  still  not  to  he  drawn  out 
 even  after  the  head  and  principal  limbs  have 
 been  destroyed, 
 
 sufferings  by  these  multiplied  and  successive  judgments  of  al- 
 most every  description, — "  They  shall  pass  through  it,  hardly 
 bestead  and  hungry  :  and  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  when  they 
 shall  be  hungry,  they  shall  fret  themselves,  and  curse  their  king, 
 and  their  God,  and  look  upward" — (to  idols,  but  not  to  Jesus 
 Christ  himself).  Isai,  viii.  21.  "  Diodorus  spcaketh  of 
 hailstones  which  weighed  a  pound  and  more  ;  Philostorgius 
 mentions  hail  that  weighed  eight  pounds  ;  but  these  are  about 
 the  weight  of  a  talent,  or  about  an  hundred  pounds,  a  strong  fi- 
 gure to  denote  the  greatness  and  severity  of  these  judgments." 
 
 Newton,  vol.  iii.  p.  2S4s 
 
 Z    -2 
 
SECTION   XXVI. 
 
 The  church  of  Rome  clearly  pointed  out  by  St  John 
 as  the  object  of  the  foregoing  prophecies. — Ex- 
 hibited as  an  adulteress,  sorceress,  and  mur- 
 deress.— Wonderful  coincidence  of  existing  facts 
 'with  this  description. — Hymns  to  Mahuzzim. — 
 St  John's  hieroglyphic  explained  by  circumstances 
 of  locality  which  the  catholic  writers  themselves 
 admit. 
 
 AFTER  this  account  of  the  pouring  out  of 
 the  seven  vials  of  the  wrath  of  God,  upon  the 
 kingdom  of  the  antichristian  tyrant,  by  the 
 effect  of  which  (in  several  successive  stages  of 
 decline  and  fall,)  its  entire  ruin  and  extirpa- 
 tion is  to  be  accomplished ;  the  prophet  pro- 
 ceeds in  chap.  xvii.  to  give  a  complete  view, 
 in  the  same  figurative  stile,  of  the  apostate 
 church,  supposed  to  be  taken  when  she  was 
 at  the  utmost  height  of  her  imperious  domin- 
 
171 
 
 xon  over  the  christian  world.     And  in  the 
 xviii.  chap,  several  additional  particulars  are 
 given  of  her  fall  and  judgment,  taken 
 from  the  ancient  prophets.     This  seems  de- 
 signed both  to  shew  that  their  prophecies  had 
 a  further  scope ,  and  another  object  in  view, 
 far  beyond  that  to  which  in  the  first  sense 
 they  were  apparently  addressed  ;  and  likewise 
 to  give  so  many  and  so  strong  marks  of  dis- 
 crimination and  character,  that  it  should  be 
 next  to  impossible  to  mistake  in  the  applicaT 
 tion  of  the  prophecy.     The  mystagogue 
 upon  this  occasion,  is  one  of  the  angels  which 
 had  the  seven  vials,  which  denotes,  that  if  the 
 church   of  Rome  was  so  well  known  be- 
 fore, as  to  be  accused  by  many  even  of  her 
 own  communion,  of  antichristianism  and  ex- 
 cessive corruption,  the  event  of  the  reforma- 
 tion, and  the  judgments  which  followed,  (at 
 first  in  slow,  but  afterwards  in  quicker  suc- 
 cession,) will  be  to  our  times  such  a  mysta- 
 gogue, and  will  make  it  notorious  to  all  the 
 world  that  |he  is  in  truth  the  subject  of  these 
 prophecies. 
 
173 
 
 And  he  said,  "  come  hither,  and  I  will 
 6hew  unto  thee  the  judgment  of  the  great 
 whore,  that  sitteth  upon  many  waters  :  with 
 whom  the  k'mgs  of  the  earth  have  committed 
 fornication,  and  the  inhabiters  of  the  earth 
 have  been  made  drunk  with  the  wine  of  her 
 fornication.*  And  I  saw  a  woman  sit  upon 
 a  sc&rlet  coloured  beasT"\  full  of  names  of 
 
 *  The  earthy  in  the  stile  of  prophecy,  does  not  mean  the 
 whole  globe,  but  that  country  or  empire  only  which  is  the  par- 
 ticular subject  of  the  prophecy.  Here  it  means  the  roman 
 empire,  or  such  part  of  it  where  the  religion  and  jurisdiction 
 of  the  pope  was  acknowledged.  The  decree  of  Augustus, 
 that  all  the  world  should  be  taxed,  (Luke  ii.  1,)  is  of  the 
 same  import ; — and  the  destruction  of  the  earth,  (in  Isai.  xxiv. 
 17,)  has  the  same  extent  and  meaning.— See  Sect.  xxii.  p,  86. 
 
 f  This  description  of  the  corrupt  church,  agrees  with  my 
 idea  of  the  two  beasts  and  their  image,  in  Sect.  xix.  p.  28, 
 allowing  for  that  variety  in  the  choice  of  emblems  to  express 
 the  same  thing,  so  frequent  in  prophecy.  The  beast  with  seven, 
 heads  and  ten  horns  is  the  same  a6  the  first  beast,  or  anti- 
 christian  empire  of  Rome,  which  succeeded  the  dragon,  or  ori- 
 ginal pagan  empire.  (Rev.  xiii.  4.)  The  woman  which  rides 
 upon  him,  is  the  antichristian  church  hierarchy,  and  answers  to 
 the  second  beast.  This  description  being  more  general,  and 
 giving  an  idea  of  the  corruption  of  the  church  at  large,  has  no. 
 thing  to  correspond  to  the  image  of  the  beast,  or  the  papacy, 
 by  Daniel  called  the  little  horn>  or  the  eleventh.     It  is  hrr* 
 
173 
 
 blasphemy,  having  seven  heads  and  ten  horns* 
 And  the  woman  was  arrayed  in  purple  and 
 scarlet  colour,  and  decked  with  gold  and  pre- 
 cious stone  and  pearls,  having  a  golden  cup 
 in  her  hand,*  full  of  abominations  and  filthi-. 
 ness  of  her  fornication."  The  apostate  church 
 is  represented  under  the  usual  emblem  of  a  wo- 
 man, as  the  primitive  church  had  also  been  in 
 chap,  xii.  but  as  the  attire  and  ornaments  of 
 the  latter  were  emblematical  of  the  truth 
 and  purity  of  the  gospel,  that  of  the  woman 
 here  exhibited  to  view  is  expressive  also  of 
 her  character  and  profession,  of  an  harlot  and 
 a  sorceress.  The  true  church  and  witnesses 
 of  Christ  are  always  represented  as  being 
 clothed  in  fine  linen,  white    and  clean,~\  the 
 
 included  in  the  general  description  of  the  apostate  church.  The  ten 
 horns  are  mentioned,  but  not  the  eleventh.  His  actions  are 
 here  ascribed  to  the  corrupt  church  itself. 
 
 *  Jeremiah  li.  7. 
 
 f  The  frequency  with  which  this  'emblem  of  the  inwatxt 
 truth  and  purity  of  doctrine  and  manners  in  the  true  church 
 occurs  in  scripture,  might  seem  to  be  a  sufficient  apology  for 
 the  church  of  England  retaining  the  use  of  the  surplice  in  her  re- 
 ligious services,  notwithstanding  the  abhorrence  the  dissenters 
 express  against  it  as  a  "hag   of   pofery,"       It    is  .made 
 
174 
 
 simplicity  of  their  attire  being  emblematical 
 of  the  undisguised  faith  and  practice  of  reli- 
 gion which  they  profess ;  but  the  meretrici- 
 ous ornaments  of  the  apostate  church  are  dis- 
 gustingly the  reverse  in  every  thing.  Cor- 
 rupt herself,  and  wholly  abandoned  to  her 
 spiritual  illicit  amours,  or  idolatry,  she  se- 
 duces the  nations  of  the  earth  into  a  commu- 
 nion and  fellowship  with  her,  in  the  same 
 wantonness  of  superstition  and  sin.  For  this 
 reason  she  is  here  distinguished  by  the  well 
 earned  appellation  of  the  GREAT  whore, 
 the  mother  of  harlots,  her  corrupting 
 example,  and  even  compulsatory  measures, 
 having  always  led  the  way  to  every  religious 
 abomination  that  God  hates,  and  the  gospel 
 
 the  emblem  of  present  sancfification  and  future  justification,  the 
 gift  of  Christ  to  them  that  overcome,  (  Kev.  iii.  4,  5  ;  iv.  4 ; 
 vii.  9|  13  J  xv,  6:  xix.  8>  14-)  Christ  and  all  his  followers 
 are  represented  riding  on  "  white  horses,  clothed  in  fine  linen, 
 white  and  clean,  (Rev.  six.  14,)  and  the  church,  the  bride  of 
 the  Lamb,  is  presented  to  him  so  adorned,  simplex  munditiis. 
 "  And  to  her  was  granted  that  she  should  be  arrayed  in  fine  linen, 
 clean  and  white,  for  the  fine  linen  is  the  righteousness  of  saints." 
 (Rev.  xix.  8.)  It  is  the  emblem  of  it,  and  certainly  adds 
 greatly  to  the  decency  of  appearance  in  divine  worship. 
 
175 
 
 disowns.  Like  a  true  inchantress  8he  bears 
 in  her  hand  an  intoxicating  cup  of  love  po- 
 tion, wherewith  she  fascinates  the  understand- 
 ings and  affections  of  her  lovers,  that  although 
 convinced  of  her  falsehood  and  wickedness, 
 they  are  infatuated  with  strong  delusion  to 
 persevere  in  her  guilty  commerce,  and  have 
 not  the  power  to  tear  themselves  away  from 
 her  embraces.*  Circe  of  old  did  not  suc- 
 ceed more  effectually  in   her  enchantments, 
 
 *  The  poet  Mantuan  died  in  Luther's  time,  and  died  a  pa- 
 pist, yet  an  enemy  to  their  horrid  impieties,  which  he  severely 
 lashes.     Speaking  thus  of  the  secular  priests : — 
 
 Invisi  superis,  foedaq.  libidine  olentes, 
 
 Heu,  frustra  incestis  iterant  sacra  orgia  dextris. 
 
 Irritant,  irasq.  movent,  non  numina  flectunt. 
 
 Curst  of  the  heavenly  powers — defil'd  with  sin, 
 Th'  incestuous  priests  their  sacred  rites  begin. 
 Ah  !   what  avails  their  prayers  ? — they  only  move 
 To  wrath,  (not  mercy,)  the  blest  Powers  above. 
 
 And  of  the  regulars  he  says— 
 
 «"        — —  Ovium  molli  sub  vellere  fraudes 
 Mente  Lycaon'ias  servant,  et  crimine  sordent. 
 Quod  speciem  virtutis  habens,  scelus  omne  colorat . 
 
 'Ray'd  in  sheep's  clothing,  they  the  fraudful  mind 
 And  heart  of  rav'ning  wolves  ret.iin  within  : 
 ^OL.   TT.  A   A 
 
i7(> 
 
 when  she  changed  the  companions  of  Ulysses 
 into  beasts,  than  this  modern  sorceress  does 
 in  transforming  the  servants  of  Christ  into 
 the  idolaters  of  mahuzzim,  and  changing 
 his  easy  and  honorable  yoke  into  a  burthen- 
 some  and  ignominious  captivity  to  supersti- 
 tion, and  the  reasonable  service  of  the  gospel 
 into  mystery  and  blasphemy. 
 
 This  idea  is  taken  from  Jeremiah  li.  7. 
 The  Babylon  whose  judgments  he  describes 
 in  that  chapter  being  explained  by  St  John  to 
 mean  the  mystic  Babylon,  the  subject  of  his 
 prophecy. — "  Babylon  hath  been  a  golden  cup 
 in  the  Lord's  hand,  that  made  all  the  earth 
 drunken:  the  nations  have  drunken  of  her 
 wine,  therefore  the  nations  are  mad"     She  is 
 
 Their  studied  crime's  so  artfully  designed — 
 Tis  seeming  virtue,  yet.  'tis  foulest  sin. 
 
 And  of  Rome  he  says, — 
 
 Vivere  qui  sancte  capitis,  discedite  ;  Rom£ 
 Omi.ia  cum  liceant,  non  licet  esse  pium. 
 
 Flee  Rome,  vvouldst  thou  be  holy,  come  not  near, 
 Thou  mayst  be  any  thing  but  godly  there. 
 
 Man  of  Sin, 
 
tt  sitting  upon  many  waters,"  to  denote  the 
 catholic  or  universal  supremacy  to  which  she 
 pretends;  the  waters  being  explained  (ver.  15) 
 to  mean  "  peoples,  and  multitudes,  and  nations, 
 and  tongues,"  which  have  submitted  them- 
 selves with  a  blind  obedience  to  her  spiritual 
 tyranny,  embraced  her  corrupt  doctrines,  and 
 even  contended  for  the  support  of  her  autho- 
 rity and  power,  against  reason,  conscience, 
 the  light  of  scripture,  and  the  laws  of  huma- 
 nity, "  She  is  represented  as  "  drunken,  but 
 not  with  wine,  nor  yet  with  affliction,  but 
 with  cruelty  and  wanton  bloodshed.."  "  I 
 saw  the  woman  drunken  with  the  blood  of  the 
 saints,  and  with  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  of 
 Jesus."  The  purple  robes  in  which  she  is 
 arrayed,  and  with  which  even  the  very  beast 
 on  which  she  sits  is  covered,  have  been  well 
 imagined  by  the  protestant  writers  to  have 
 been  dyed  red  with  blood.* 
 
 *  The  church  of  Rome  has  been  peculiarly  unfortunate,  (or 
 perhaps  to  speak  more  truly,  has  been  led  by  over  ruling  Pro- 
 Tidence)  in  taking  upon  herself  the  characteristic  marks  of  the 
 seast.  Not  only  the  pontiff  himself,  but  the  horse  which  bear* 
 him,  and  the  cardinals  which  follow  in  his  train  on  days  of 
 A  A  2 
 
178 
 
 Crede  mihi,  nullo  saturatas  murice  vestes, 
 
 Divite  nee  cocco  pallia  tincta  vides. 
 Sed  quas  rubra  vides,  sanctorum  caede  virorura, 
 
 Et  mersa  insonti  tota  cruore  madent. 
 
 Beza's  Notes, 
 
 What  means  that  robe  of  royal  purple  hue  ? 
 That  gorgeous  pali  that  glows  with  tyrian  dye  ? 
 To  murder'd  saints  that  blushing  colour's  due, 
 And  stains  of  guiltless  blood  that  tint  supply. 
 
 Purple  was  anciently  the  principal  distinc- 
 tion of  the  imperial  dignity :  and  the  popes 
 no  sooner  usurped  the  sovereignty  of  Rome, 
 the  seat  of  the  Csesars,*  and  extended  their 
 
 solemn  procession,  are  all  covered  with  scarlet,  as  the  prophet 
 has  here  beforehand  described  them. 
 
 The  scarlet  hat  is  the  badge  of  dignity  to  the  cardinals,  which 
 are  the  princes  of  the  ecclesiastical  empire.  In  the  year  1251-, 
 Pope  Innocent  IV.  ordained  that  the  cardinals  should  wear 
 red  hjts,  "  honestandi  ordinis  gratia,"  says  Platina, — "as  an 
 honorary  distinction  of  their  high  rank," — "  as  a  symbol  of  their 
 readiness  to  shed  their  blood  for  the  church"  says  Onuphrius. 
 But  more  probably  by  divine  ordinance,  to  declare  to  all  the 
 world  that  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  was  on  their  heads,  and  for 
 the  fulfilment  of  prophecy.  For  about  this  same  time  thou- 
 sands of  the  Albigenses  were  butchered.  To  the  red  hat> 
 about  147',  Pope  Paul  II.  added  robes  of  scarlet. — Compend* 
 Dianae.      Hist.  Popery. 
 
 *  Rev.  xiii.  2. 
 
179 
 
 spiritual  authority  over  the  whole  church,  than 
 they  invested  themselves  with  the  purple,  or 
 scarlet  coloured  robe  ;  and  by  the  richness  of 
 the  pontifical  habit  and  tiara,  not  only  vied 
 with  the  greatest  monarchs,  but  set  themselves 
 far  above  them  in  every  thing.  For  as  the 
 dominions  of  the  pope  were  made  up  cf  three 
 petty  sovereignties,  of  which  he  fraudently  dis- 
 possessed the  owners,  so  he  immediately  put 
 three  crowns  upon  his  scarlet  cap,  in  memory 
 of  this  achievement,  and  in  his  pious  zeal  to 
 fulfil  the  prophecy  of  Daniel  (vii.  8,  24)  and 
 of  St  John.  (Rev.  xvii.  4.) 
 
 But  a  still  more  remarkable  instance  of  the 
 pains  the  popes  have  bestowed  in  fulfilling  the 
 prophecies,  is  their  having  the  word  "  mys- 
 tery" inscribed  in  the  front  part  of  the 
 papal  mitre,  which  though  it  be  a  little  con- 
 trary to  that  of  the  high  priest  of  the  jews,* 
 (which  was  "  holiness  to  the  Lord,") 
 has  yet  so  much  good  in  it  that  it  was  a  very 
 compieat  fulfilment  of  St  Johns  description.— 
 
 *  Exodus  xxviii.  3f>. 
 
180 
 
 *'  And  upon  her  forehead  was  a  name  written^ 
 MYSTERY — Babylon  the  great,  the 
 
 MOTHER  OF  HARLOTS,  AND  ABOMINA- 
 TIONS of  the  earth  ;"  which  coincidence 
 having  been  suggested  by  a  learned  man,  it 
 was  laid  aside.  Bishop  Newton  says,  that 
 when  our  king  -James  objected  this  circum- 
 stance against  the  church  of  Rome,  Lessius, 
 his  opponent,  could  not  deny  it.  And  he 
 adds,  that  Father  Angelo  Rocca,  keeper  of  the 
 pope's  sachristy,  and  an  eminent  antiquarian, 
 has  given  a  copperplate  engraving,  in  the 
 third  volume  of  the  works  of  Pope  Gregory 
 the  first,  of  an  ancient  mitre,  (which  is  pre- 
 served at  Rome  as  a  precious  relique,)  em- 
 broidered with  the  figure  of  the  Virgin  Mary, 
 crowned,  and  holding  a  little  Christ  in  her 
 arms,  with  the  words  in  large  capitals  under- 
 neath,— Ave  RE  gin  A  cell — Hail  queen  of 
 heaven.* 
 
 *  Pope  Gregory  I,  fust  instituted  Litanies  to  the  Virgin 
 Mary,  which  makes  it  probable  this  mitre  was  his. 
 
 Newton  vol.  iii.  p.  296.* 
 
 In  the  Horae  Beatse  Virginis,  are  many  idolatrous  prayer6 
 and  hymns  to  the  Virgin  Mary,  the  Diana  of  these  Ephc 
 sians, — 
 
181 
 
 Thus  glorying  in  her  shame,  she  may  well 
 be  called  the  great  whore,  and  the  mother  of 
 harlots,   since   she   openly  wears   upon   her 
 
 Te  laudamus,  et  rogamua 
 
 Mater  Jesu  Christi; 
 Ut  intend  as,  et  defendas 
 
 Nos  a  morte  tristi. 
 
 Thee  we  adore  with  prayer  and  praise 
 
 Mother  of  Jesus  dear ; 
 Keep  and  defend  us  all  our  days, 
 
 Save  us  from  death,  our  fear. 
 
 Another,  after  calling  the  Virgin  Mary  Mother  of  Grace  and 
 sweet  parent  of  mercy,  concludes— 
 
 Tu  nos  ab  hoste  protege, 
 Et  mortis  hora  suscipe.* 
 
 Defend  us  from  th'  infernal  foe, 
 Receive  our  souls  when  hence  we  go* 
 
 Saint  Stephen,  on  such  an  occasion,  only  said — "  Lord  Jesus 
 receive  my  spirit!'"  but  since  that  time,  it  should  seem,  an  ad- 
 vocate of  greater  power  has  been  found  out  in  the  popish 
 gospel. 
 
 O  felix  puerpera, 
 Nostra  pians  scelera, 
 Jure  matris  impera 
 Redemptori.f 
 
 *  Officium  parv,  Beat.  Marise, 
 
 f  Missal  ad  usum  eccles. — Tullens. 
 
182 
 
 shameless  front  her  name,  and  the  badge  of 
 her  profession  written,  as  a  wanton  ornament, 
 after  the  Gustbm  of  the  courtesans  in  ancient 
 
 O  happy  mother  of  a  Son, 
 Who  purgest  sins  that  we  have  done, 
 A  s  mother  lay  commands  upon 
 ,  The  Redeemer. 
 
 Here  the  Virgin  herself  takes  away  sin,  and  is  made  superior  to 
 God,  by  laying  her  commands  upon  him.  Well  is  it  said  ( Jer. 
 1.  38)  '*  Babylon  is  a  land  of  graven  images,  and  they  are  mad 
 vpon  their  Idols. 
 
 They  will  allow  of  none  other,  either  god  or  goddess,  but 
 this  favorite. 
 
 O  regina  poli !  mater  gratissima  proli, 
 Spernere  me  noli,  me  eommendo  tibi  sou  /* 
 
 O  queen  of  heaven  most  mild, 
 Dearest  mother  to  thy  child,. 
 Despise  not  me,  poor  dust ; 
 In  thee  alone  I  trust. 
 
 Another  of  such  abominable  blasphemy,  that  no  translation 
 ought  to  be  given  to  it,  may  suffice  to  shew  the  nature  oi 
 popish  prayers. — 
 
 Dulcis  arnica  Dei,rosa  vernans,  stella  decora, 
 Tu  memoresto  mei,  dum  mortis  venerit  hora.f 
 
 Thus,  in  their  common  prayers,  a  dead  woman  is  made  the 
 fountain  of  pardon,  grace,  piety,  hope,  comfort,  and  everlasting 
 
 *  Hone  Beat.  Virg.         f  H.  B.  V,  ad  Sar.  eccles.  ritum, 
 
183 
 
 time.  Her  spiritual  infidelities  are  to  the  full 
 as  notorious  as  those  of  Israel,  of  which  such 
 disgusting  accounts  are  given  in  their  pro- 
 phets,* and  of  whom  it  was  said,  (Jer.  ii  28) 
 
 salvation.  And  the  incommunicable  attributes  of  each  sacred 
 person  of  the  ever  blessed  Trinity,  are  lavished  wantonly  and 
 blasphemously  upon  the  Virgin  Mary.  This  is  the  blaspheming 
 of  God  and  them  that  dwell  in  heaven,  with  which  they  are  so 
 frequently  charged  in  prophecy. 
 
 Alanus  de  Rupe,  a  german  and  dominican  friar,  published  a 
 book  entitled  "  Compendium  Psalterii  Mariani, — a  Breviary 
 of  the  Psaltery  of  Mary,"  wherein  the  whole  of  the  Psalms 
 of  David  are  addressed  to  the  Virgin,  her  name  being  inserted 
 and  God's  left  out ;  as  Psalm  cxlvi.  1, — "  Praise  ye  Mary, 
 praise  Mary  0  my  soul,"  &c,  which  book  was  duly  authorised 
 in  the  time  of  Pope  Sixtus  IV.  who  instituted  a  new  society  of 
 the  Rosary  of  the  Virgin  ;  and  to  whom  the  invention  of 
 beads  for  the  counting  of  their  prayers  is  attributed,  that  they 
 might  know  when  their  task  is  done  ;  of  which  Mantuan  takes 
 notice,— 
 
 Hi  filo  insertis  numerant  sua  murmura  baccis, 
 
 True  tale  they  keep  with  beads  upon  a  string, 
 
 To  know  how  many  muttering  prayers  remain  for  them  to  sing, 
 
 *  Ezekiel  xxiii.  God  represents  himself  as  the  husband  of 
 the  church,. and  apostacy  and  idolatry  as  a  spiritual  adultery  and 
 ■-vhoredom.  Isa,  liv.  5,  Jer.  iii.  20.  Hosea  ii.  2.  2  Cor, 
 ;:i.  2,  Sec. 
 
 VOL.  II.  B  B 
 
184 
 
 "  according  to  the  number  of  thy  cities  arc 
 thy  gods,  O  Israel !" 
 
 Saint  John,  expressing  a  great  astonishment 
 at  such  a  representation,  has  an  explanation 
 given  to  him  of  the  meaning  of  the  beast 
 full  of  names  of  blasphemy,  having  seven  heads 
 and  ten  horns,  on  which  the  woman  sat.  The 
 beast,  which  corresponds  with  the  fourth 
 beast  of  Daniel  (vii.  7)  is  the  Roman  empire, 
 described  (chap,  xiii.)  as  rising  out  of  the  sea, 
 or  nations  of  the  world :  and  the  history  of 
 it,  as  given  here,  is  very  concise,  though  com- 
 prehending many  centuries,  and  a  variety  of 
 changes  in  its  mode  of  existence,  till  it  goeth 
 into  perdition. — "  The  beast  that  thou  sawest 
 
 WAS AND     IS     NOT AND    SHALL     ASCEND 
 
 OUT  OF  THE  BOTTOMLESS  PIT,  AND  GO  INTO 
 
 perdition."  It  was, — it  arose  and  subsisted 
 under  various  forms  of  government,  till  the 
 roman  empire  became  extinct  for  a  while,  by 
 the  banishment  of  Augustulus  ;  and  it  is  not, 
 — or  it  ceased,  or  "  was  wounded  unto  death" 
 (Rev.  xiii.  3)  yet  had  "  its  deadly  wound  heal* 
 
1S5 
 
 ed ;"  and  as  it  was  there  said,  "  all  the  'world 
 •wondered after  the  Beast"  so  here  the  same 
 observation  is  made,  which  proves  that  it  is 
 the  same  beast  and  the  same  event  alluded  to  in 
 both  places.  "  And  they  that  dwell  on  the 
 earth  shall  wonder,  (whose  names  were  not 
 written  in  the  book  of  life  from  the  founda- 
 tion of  the  world,)  when  they  behold  the 
 beast  that  was — and  is  not — and  yet  is, 
 ascending  in  a  changed  form  (after  his  wound 
 and  recovery)  out  of  the  bottomless  pit  of 
 error  and  imposture  ;  and  continuing  still  to 
 rule  over  the  nations  of  the  earth,  or  roman 
 empire,  in  as  lordly  and  imperious  a  stile  as 
 ever,  till  at  the  expiration  of  a  given  term,  she 
 declines  and  sinks  into  perdition."* 
 
 The  seven  heads  represent  the  seven  hills, 
 or  mountains,  on  which  Rome  stands,  the 
 capital  city  and  seat  of  the  man  of  sin,  and 
 which  gives  authority  and  name  to  his  apos- 
 
 *  This  expression  "  goeth  into  perdition,"  is  not  to  be  met 
 with  any  where  else,  and  seems  to  allude  to  the  predicted  mod-: 
 of  her  destruction. 
 
 B  B   2 
 
18G 
 
 tacy.*  They  also  signify  so  many  different 
 forms  of  government,  which  should  success- 
 ively prevail  there,  and  which,  in  the  lan- 
 guage of  prophecy,  are  here  figuratively  called 
 kings.  Five  of  these  were  in  St  John's  time 
 already  come,  and  gone  by  or  fallen,  "  and  one 
 is"  the  sixth  was  at  that  time  in  existence. 
 The  Jive  fallen^  as  Newton  and  others  reckon 
 them  from  Livy  and  Tacitus,  are  kings, 
 consuls,  dictators,  decemvirs,  military 
 tibunes  with  consular  authority,  and  the 
 sixth  was  the  emperors.  "The  other  is 
 not  yet  come,  and  when  he  cometh  he  must 
 continue  a  short  space.  And  the  beast  that 
 was— and  is  not — even  he  is  the  eighth,  and 
 is  of  the  seven,  and  goeth  into  perdition  " 
 
 There  is  in  this  place  some  difficulty  and 
 difference  of  opinion,  in  what  sense  the  beast 
 it  the  eighth  and  of  the  seven  ;  which  seems 
 to  be  solved  by  considering  him,  in  different 
 respects,  as  one  of  the  seven  preceding  forms 
 
 *  Dumque  suis  victiix  septem  de  montibus  orbem, 
 Procpicict  domitum  mania  Roma,  legar. 
 
 Ovid.  lib.  iii.  El.  9. 
 
187 
 
 of  government  revived,  or  as  a  government 
 in  other  respects  wholly  distinct,  and  the 
 eighth  that  appeared  in  Rome,  and  which 
 shall  continue  longer  than  any  of  the  others 
 before  him,  even  till  the  predicted  perdition 
 overtakes  him. 
 
 Bishop  Newton  explains  the  existence,  dis~ 
 appearance,  and  re-existence  of  the  beast  differ- 
 ently. The  beast  signifying  a  persecuting 
 idolatrous  power ;  Rome  was  truly  such  under 
 the  pagan  emperors.  For  a  short  while  chris-f 
 tianity  triumphed  over  paganism,  and  then  the 
 beast  "  is  not"  but  when  antichrist  usurped  the 
 throne  of  the  Csesars,  and  both  heathenism 
 and  persecution  revived, — the  beast  had  his 
 deadly  wound  healed,  and  existed  again.  The 
 seventh  king,  or  form  of  government,  which 
 succeeded  the  Caesars  at  Rome,  and  had  never 
 been  experienced  there  before,  and  was  to 
 continue  but  a  short  space,  the  bishop  interprets 
 of  the  dukedom  of  Rome,  set  up  by  Longinus 
 about  the  year  $66,  "  and  the  city  revolted 
 trom  the  eastern  emperor  to  the  pope  in  the 
 year  727 ;  which  is  a  short  space  in  compari- 
 
1S8 
 
 son  of  the  imperial  power,  which  had  lasted 
 above  500  years,  and  of  the  papal,  which  was 
 to  last  1260  years."  The  papal  persecuting 
 and  idolatrous  beast  thus  became  the  eighth, 
 and  was  of  the  same  lineage,  and  name,  and 
 nature  as  the  seven  before  him,  and  he  still 
 continues. 
 
 The  ten  horns  start  another  difficulty,  upon 
 which  though  interpreters  are  agreed  in  the 
 main,  yet  there  is  great  variety  of  opinion  as 
 to  the  particulars.  These  represent  ten  kings 
 or  kingdoms,  intimately  connected  with  the 
 history  and  fortunes  of  the  beast,  and  originat- 
 ing out  of  its  body,  upon  the  dissolution  of 
 the  imperial  governmeut.  These,  of  course, 
 had  no  existence  in  St  John's  time,  but  were 
 to  receive  power  as  distinct  kingdoms,  "  one 
 hour  with  the   beast,"*  which   may  signify 
 
 *  ftictv  u^xi  Xxpfixvovri  ftiTci  t«  Sxy'dv,  "  Ad  uuam  horarr. 
 accipient  cum  bestia."  — Beza.  "  Una  bora  accipmnt  post 
 bestiam."—  Vetus.  "  Uno  eodemq:  tempore:'' — Vitring.  "  Ma- 
 Jim,  ad  unum  idemq:  tempus,  ut  cum  identitate  temporis  durati- 
 onem  complectatur," — Mr  Mann's  MS.  as  ouoted  by  Newton. 
 
181) 
 
 about  the  same  time  as  he  did,  or  for  the  saint 
 term  as  his :  which  in  both  senses  seems  to  be 
 pretty  much  the  case.  For  it  was  three  of 
 these  newly  risen  powers  that  the  pope  or 
 little  horn  of  Daniel  plucked  up  by  the  roots, 
 and  usurped  their  territories.  These  ten  king- 
 doms which  grew  up  out  of  the  ruins  of  the 
 roman  empire,  are  differently  enumerated ; 
 but  all  agree  that  they  were  originally  ten, 
 "  and  are  not  like  the  heads  successive,  but 
 contemporary  kingdoms.  Kingdoms  they  might 
 be  before,  but  not  horns  of  the  beast,  till  they 
 embraced  his  religion,  and  submitted  to  his 
 authority.   * 
 
 These  popish  kingdoms  in  this  respect  have 
 one  mind,  that  they  are  in  strict  league  and 
 confederacy  together  against  Christ  and  his 
 church,  and  give  their  power  and  strength  to 
 the  beast,  or  romish  church  and  hierarchy,  to 
 uphold  its  power  and  greatness,  and  to  join 
 with  it  in  the  war  against  the  saints,  so  as  to 
 be  considered  in  the  prophecies  as  one  and  the 
 
 j 
 
 *  Newton  vol.  lii. 
 
190 
 
 same  with  the  beast,  or  great  Babylon  itself. 
 And  they  "  prevailed,*  and  practised,  and 
 prospered,  and  wore  out  the  saints  of  the 
 Most  High."  Saint  John  says  of  the  same 
 power  (which  he  also  characterises  at  its  first 
 appearance) — "  And  it  was  given  unto  him  to 
 make  war  with  the  saints^  and  to  overcome 
 them:  and  power  was  given  him  over  all  kin* 
 drcds,  and  tongues,  and  n:itions,"f  t'!l  the 
 words  of  God  should  be  fulfilled.  Then  a 
 reverse  is  to  take  place,  and  the  same  powers 
 which  were  the  instruments  of  his  elevation, 
 are  to  be  the  agents  employed  in  his  destruc- 
 tion. They  "  shall  hate  the  whore? — shall 
 indignantly  resent  the  impositions  she  has 
 practised  upon  them, — "  and  make  her  desolate 
 and  tiaked" — suppress  her  monastic  societies,, 
 and  disband  those  numerous  legions  of  drones 
 they  contained ; — "  and  shall  eat  herjlesh"— 
 convert  their  wealth  and  revenues  to  secular 
 uses  and  plunder, — "  and  shall  burn  her  with 
 fire? — torment  her  with  the  fierce  heat  of 
 persecution,  and  tyranny,  and  bloodshed. 
 
 •  Dan.  vii.  21 3  viii.  29.  1  \  Rev.  xiii.  7, 
 
191 
 
 To  conclude  his  description,  he  adds — » 
 "  and  the  woman  which  thou  sawest" — (and 
 which  has  been  distinguished  by  so  many- 
 characteristic  marks,)—"  is  that  great  city 
 which  (now)  reigncth  over  the  fiinjs  of  the 
 earth."  That  is  to  say,  Rome,  for  it  was  as 
 necessary  for  St  John  to  be  explicit  m  declar- 
 ing this  now,  as  for  St  Paul  to  be  reserved  at 
 the  time  when  he  wrote.  The  Epistles  get- 
 ting into  circulation  immediately  for  the  most 
 part  of  them,  but  the  Revelation  of  St  John 
 was  long  before  it  was  generally  received ; 
 and  the  subject  of  it  such  as  would  not  be 
 likely  to  draw  a  close  attention  to  it,  from  the 
 powers  in  authority,  had  it  come  to  their 
 hands.  They  would  have  treated  it  with  so- 
 vereign contempt,  as  many  mystical  reveries 
 fabricated  at  that  time  by  the  heretics,  did  well 
 deserve  to  be,  and  were  so  considered, 
 
 ?OL.  II.  c  c 
 
SECTION  XXVII. 
 
 The  prophecies  of  the  ancient  prophets  against  Egypt, 
 Edom,  and  Babylon,  applied  to  Rome  by  St  John, 
 —particularly  in  allusion  to  her  intoxicating  cup, 
 and  dementation  thereby, — her  cup  of  trembling, 
 —-her  pride  and  false  security,-- her  hypocrisy, 
 and  sorcery,  and  venality. — Some  of  these  pro- 
 phecies less  applicable  to  Babylon  than  to  Rome, 
 and  some  applicable  to  Rome  only,  as  her  destruc- 
 tion by  volcanic  fire, — and  the  universal  abhor* 
 rence  in  which  her  memory  shall  be  held, 
 
 1  HE  humiliation  and  fall  of  this  ancient  and 
 mighty  fabrick  of  imposture,  which  was  con- 
 cisely mentioned  in  the  seventeenth  chapter,  is 
 now  set  forth  more  at  large  in  the  eighteenth, 
 by  the  same  figures,  and  often  in  the  very  same 
 words,  which  were  long  before  employed  by 
 the  prophets  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah,  to  describe 
 the  fall  of  Babylon  in  Chaldea,  one  of  the  prin- 
 cipal types  of  antichristian  Rome ;  and  whose 
 
193 
 
 name  is  applied  to  her  by  St  Peter,  in  a  man- 
 ner which  shews  the  general  understanding 
 of  this  mystical  name,  which  prevailed  in  the 
 primitive  church.*  It  is  very  probable  that 
 the  too  great  notoriety  of  the  name  in  that 
 application,  induced  St  Paul  to  forbear  the 
 mention  of  it,  and  prefer  giving  only  a  dark 
 hint  upon  a  subject  of  so  great  delicacy. 
 
 As  this  vision,  after  the  usual  manner  of 
 this  divine  writer,  refers  to  a  preceding  one, 
 and  enlarges  upon  the  subject  there  rapidly 
 passed  over,f  the  angel  which  comes  down 
 from  heaven,  having  great  power,  and  illu- 
 minating the  earthy  or  a  great  part  at  least  of 
 the  roman  empire^  with  the  strength  and  clear- 
 ness of  his  proofs,  by  which  he  made  it  ma- 
 nifest that  Rome  was  the  undoubted  object  of 
 these  prophecies  j  is  probably  Martin  Ly- 
 
 *  1  Pet.  v.  1 3.  "  The  church  at  Babylon  saluieth  you  ;" — ■ 
 an  apostolical  salutation,  in  the  name  of  a  church  of  principal 
 consequence,  to  the  church  at  large,  must  have  been  universally 
 understood  at  that  time,  though  a  subject  of  dispute  in  our  rs* 
 mote  age. 
 
 *  Qhap.  xiv. 
 
 C  C    55 
 
194 
 
 ther.  Wickliff  paved  the  way  before 
 him,  but  Luther  was  the  great  instrument  of 
 Providence  in  effecting  the  frst  fall  of  Rome, 
 by  the  general  REFORMATION  which  en- 
 sued upon  his  powerful  (and  for  that  age)  lu- 
 minous detection  of  the  mystery  of  ini- 
 quity. His  "great  power"  alludes  to  the 
 powerful  effect  of  Luther's  writings,  and  "  his 
 glory"  represents  the  great  light  he  threw  up- 
 on the  sacred  writings,  and  on  the  benighted 
 world,  by  refuting  the  errors  of  popery,  and 
 bringing  forward  the  long  lost  doctrines  of 
 life  and  salvation  to  the  apprehension  of  the 
 poor  and  unlearned,  as  well  as  of  the  higher 
 ranks  of  society.  "  And  he  cried  mightily 
 ivith  a  strong  voice" — This  is  wonderfully 
 characteristic  ( f  the  stile  and  tone  of  this  bold 
 reprover  of  tie  tcpe  ;  and  these  marks  t;  ken 
 all  together,  I  think,  must  decidedly  give  ho- 
 nest Martin  the  distinguished  honor  of  be- 
 ing the  angel  en  ployed  in  this  great  and  good 
 work,  for  which  he  now  hath  his  reward.* 
 
 *  The  word  angel  signifies  messenger,   r.nd  tlie  r.ngels  cm- 
 ployed  by  Providence  on  many  occasions,  are  not  always  celeso 
 
195 
 
 The  cry  of  this  mighty  angel  is  very  much 
 in  the  unpolite  stile  of  Luther's  bitter  invec- 
 tives against  Rome  and  its  modern  masters. 
 M  Babylon  the  great  is  fallen — is  fallen,  and 
 is  become  the  habitation   of  devils,  and   the 
 hold  of  every  foul  spirit,  and  a  cage  of  every 
 unclean   and   hateful    bird.      For   all   nations 
 have  drunk  of  the  wine  of  the  wrath  of  her 
 fornication,  and  the  kings  of  the  earth  have 
 committed  fornication  with  her,  and  the  mer- 
 chants of  the  earth  are  waxed  rich  through 
 the  abundance  of  her  delicacies." — These  al- 
 lusions to  her  universal  or  catholic  supremacy, 
 her  cup  of  dementating  wine  &c.  or  false  doc- 
 trines, with  which  she  has  seduced  the  nations 
 of  her  communion  to  rank  idolatrv,  and  un- 
 deniable  apostacy  from  the  gospel  of  Christ ; 
 are  plainly  repeated  from  the  preceding  pro- 
 phets.    Thus  Jeremiah*  describes  her  domin- 
 
 tial  beings,  nor  even  good  and  holy  persons,  but  are  figuratively- 
 called  angels,  or  messengers,  or  instruments  of  Providence,  in 
 respect  of  the  work  to  which  God  hath  appointed  them. — 
 "  The  Lord  hath  made  all  things  for  himself:  yea,  even  the 
 iLicked for  the  day  of  evil."  (Prov.  xvi.  4.)  The  messengejr 
 of  God,  in  Isai.  x.  6,  was  one  of  this  latter  description-, 
 
 *  Jeremiah  li.  13* 
 
196 
 
 ion  over  the  nations  by  the  same  figure  as  St 
 John : — "  O  thou  that  dwell  est  upon  many 
 waters ,  abundant  in  treasures ,  thine  end  is 
 come,  and  the  (utmost)  measure  of  thy  covet- 
 ousness." — Verse  7,  "  Babylon  hath  been  A 
 golden  cup  in  the  Lord's  hand,  that  made 
 all  the  earth  drunken:  the  nations  have  drunk- 
 en of  her  wine,  therefore  the  nations  are  mad." 
 —And  under  the  same  idea  of  ingredients  in- 
 fused into  her  cup,  of  a  dementating  and  infatu- 
 ating  quality,  the  prophet  Isaiah  says, — "  The 
 Lord  hath  mingled  a  perverse  spirit  in  the 
 midst  thereof,"— and  they  who  are  under  the 
 influence  of  it  "  have  caused  Egypt  to  err  in 
 every  work  thereof,  as  a  drunken  man  stag- 
 eereth  in  his  vomit.  Neither  shall  there  be 
 any  work  for  Egypt,  which  the  head  or  tail, 
 branch  or  rush  may  do,  &c."  The  meaning 
 of  which  passage  taken  altogether  is,  that  a 
 spirit  of  unaccountable  perverseness>  and  in- 
 fatuated restlessness,  tending  to  their  own 
 overthrow,  should  in  the  day  of  their  judg- 
 ment, possess  the  people  of  that  devoted  con- 
 federacy, in  every  country  where  they  should 
 be  found. 
 
197 
 
 Our  Saviour  remarked  the  same  thing  of 
 the  jews,  as  beginning  to  appear  in  his  time, 
 and  vhich  soon  arrived  afterwards  to  such  an 
 height  as  to  be  the  punishment  of  their  infi- 
 delity, and  to  occasion  their  destruction.  *-~ 
 "And  I  heard  another  voice  from  heaven, 
 saying,  come  out  of  her  my  people, — that  ye 
 be  not  partakers  of  her  sins, — and  that  ye  re- 
 ceive not  of  her  plagues."     Both  of  which, 
 after  this  warning  given  publicly  by  these 
 messengers   of  heaven,    will    happen   to    as 
 many  as  abide  in  that  communion. — "  For 
 her  sins  have  reached  unto  heaven,  and  God 
 hath  remembered  her  iniquities." — This  is  all 
 taken  from  denunciations  of  the  prophets,  in 
 nearly  the  same  words,  against  old  Babylon  ; 
 but  ultimately  intended  of  Rome,  as  this  ap- 
 plication of  them  shews,  f      "  Reward  her 
 even  as  she  rewarded  you,  and  double  unto 
 her  double"  &c.    The  retaliation  of  her  cruel- 
 ties and  treachery  upon  herself,  is  the  subject 
 of  very  numerous  prophecies  before  quoted  ; 
 
 *  Matt.  xv.  14 ;  John  ix.  40 ;  Isai.  vi.  10. 
 t  Jer.  1.  15,29. 
 
193 
 
 particularly  that  of  Isaiah,  (li.  21,)  which  ex- 
 presses that  God  would  take  the  cup  of  tremb- 
 ling and  of  affliction  out  of  the  hand  ot  the  suf- 
 fering church,  on  which  she  had  so  long  tram- 
 pled, and  put  it  into  her  hand  :  or  as  the  sense 
 of  it  is  here  concisely  expressed  by  St  John, — 
 "  in  the  cup  which  she  hath  filled,  fill  to  her 
 doubled 
 
 In  Isaiah  (chap,  xlvii.)  there  is  a  very  re- 
 markable prophecy  of  the  fall  of  Babylon  of 
 Chaldea,  as  the  first  sense  of  it  imported,  but 
 which,  as  being  one  of  the  double  prophecies , 
 deserves  to  be  very  attentively  considered, 
 and  compared  with  St  John's  prophetic  de- 
 scription of  the  pride,  self  security,  corruption 
 and  universal  profligacy  of  Rome  ;  and  the 
 punishment  of  them  by  an  overthrow  distin- 
 guished by  circumstances  the  same,  or  very 
 little  different,  in  both  the  type  and  the  anti- 
 type. St  John  (in  his  concise  manner)  has 
 quoted  enough  of  it  in  the  general  idea  he 
 gives,  and  by  the  adoption  of  the  very  phrases 
 there  used,  to  indicate  that  it  was  his  design 
 to  refer  us  to  the  original  in  Isaiah,  for  a  fuller 
 
199 
 
 'explication  of  his  meaning.  "  Descend*  and 
 sit  on  the  dust,  O  virgin  daughter  of  Babylon ; 
 sit  on  the  bare  grouni,  without  a  throne,  O 
 daughter  of  the  Chaldeans  :  thy  nakedness 
 shall  be  uncovered,  even  thy  shame  shall  be 
 seen" — -[nakedness  of  evangelical  faith  and 
 true  piety,  amidst  the  most  pompous  pretences 
 to  both).  u  I  will  take  vengeance,  neither 
 will  I  suffer  man  to  intercede  with  me.  Sit 
 thou  in  silence,  go  into  darkness^  O  daughter 
 of  the  Chaldeans ;  for  thou  shalt  no  longer 
 be  called  the  lady  of  the  kingdoms" — -(the  mis- 
 tress of  the  world,  imperial  Rome  !)f  "  And 
 thou  saidst,  I  shall  be  a  lady  for  ever:  because 
 thou  didst  not  attentively  consider  these  things; 
 
 *  Lowth's  Translation. 
 
 f  "  The  lady  of  kingdoms."— * 
 
 Septem  urbs  alta  jugis,  toti  quce  praesidet  orbi. 
 
 Propertius. 
 
 Exalted  Rome  gives  Jaw  to  all  the  globe 
 From  her  seven  hills.         « 
 
 Hie  domus  iEaese  cuactis  dominibitur  oris. 
 
 Virg,  Mn.  iii,  97. 
 
 Through  the  wide  world  th'  iEnean  Souse  shall  reign. 
 
 Dryd  : 
 VOL.  IT.  D  D 
 
200 
 
 thou  didst  not  think  on  what  was  in  the  end  to 
 befal  thee.  But  hear  now  this,  O  thou  volup- 
 tuous, that  sit  test  in  security:  thou  that  say  est 
 in  thy  heart,  I  am,  and  there  is  none  else ;*  / 
 
 *  Whether  the  holy  Spirit  which  dictated  this  prophecy, 
 meant  to  intimate  the  blasphemous  arrogancy  of  the  imperial 
 Pontiff,  in  making  himself  equal  with  God,  anci  taking  to  him- 
 self the  divine  attributes  and  names,  I  will  not  determine  ;  but 
 the  words  here  put  into  his  mouth  are  the  same  by  which  the 
 Almighty  vdyrox^xra^  describes  himself,  (Isai.  xlv.  22,)  "for 
 J  am  God,  and  there  is  none  else." — St  John  has  drawn  the 
 beast  which  carried  the  woman,  "full  of  names  of  blasphemy,* 
 which  was  the  case  both  in  tha  times  of  the  pagan  idolatry 
 and  the  popish.  Formerly  there  were  temples  and  altars  raised 
 for  the  worship  of  Rome,  and  she  was  flattereJ  with  divine 
 titles,  the  highest  their  mythology  could  supply.  *'  Terrarum 
 dea  gentiumque  Roma"  as  she  is  called  by  Martial,  "  Great 
 Rome,  the  Goddess  whom  the  Earth  adores." 
 
 But  if  the  blasphemy  of  both  ancient  and  modern  Rome  be 
 not  meant  by  these  words,  it  is  certain  that  her  insufferable  pride 
 and  arrogant  supremacy  over  every  creature  in  both  states,  as  pa- 
 gan and  antichristian,  undoubtedly  is. 
 
 m        i  .  Possis  nihil  urbe  Roma 
 
 Visere  majus.  Hor.  Carm.  Sec. 
 
 Mayst  thou  in  all  thy  radiant  course, 
 
 Nothing  more  great  than  towering  Rome  behold, 
 
 Virgil  calls  them 
 "  Romanos  rerum  duminos  gentemq  :  togatam," — JEn.  i.  27S. 
 
201 
 
 shall  not  sit  a  widow ;  I  shall  not  know  the 
 loss  of  children.  Yet  shall  these  two  thing* 
 come  upon  thee  in  a  moment  ; — in  one 
 DAY,  loss  of  children — and  widowhood,*  On 
 a  sudden  shall  they  come  upon  thee;  not- 
 withstanding the  multitude  of  thy  sorce- 
 RiES,f  and  the  great  strength  of  thine  en- 
 
 which  Dryden  magnificently  renders,  perhaps  in  compliment 
 to  his  Holiness, — 
 
 *'  The  subject  world  shall  Rome's  dominion  own, 
 And, prostrate  shall  adore  the  nation  of  the  gown," 
 
 Dryden. 
 
 *  1  have  already  stated  my  idea  of  the  probability  of  a 
 double  fall  being  reserved  for  the  destiny  of  Rome.  This  seems 
 to  be  the  meaning  of  St  John's  "  double  unto  her  double"— -And 
 it  may  be  fulfilled  as  here  predicted, — **  in  a  moment — in  one 
 day" — by  a  double  catastrophe,  the  loss  of her  children, 
 in  the  Valley  of  Decision,  and  the  loss  of  her  husband,  or 
 head,  by  the  opening  of  Tophet.  "  Therefore  shall  evil 
 come  upon  thee ;  thou  shah  not  know  from  whence  it  riseth : 
 and  mischief  shall  fall  upon  thee ;  thou  shalt  not  be  able  to 
 put  it  off:  and  desolation  shall  come  upon  thee  suddenly,  which 
 thou  shalt  not  know."   (Isai,  xlvii.  1 1.) 
 
 •j*  To  the  note  in  Sect.  xxii.  p.  96,  upon  the  sorceries  of 
 popery,  may  be  added  here  the  manufacture  of  the  Agnus 
 Dei,  (or  little  images  of  a  lamb  in  wax,  called  by  them  "lambs 
 of  God,"  and  to  which  innumerable  powers  were  attributed, 
 after  the  opus  operatum  performed  upon  them  by  the  pope) 
 
 J)  D  Z 
 
202 
 
 CHANTMENTS.  But  thou  didst  trust  in  thy 
 wickedness,  and  saidst,  none  seeth  me"  The 
 whole  of  this  prophecy  applies  far  more  close- 
 ly to  mystical  Babylon  than  to  the  Chaldean 
 cit) ,  and  especially  this  trait  of  character,  su- 
 
 was  done  with  many  crosses,  gent/flections,  idolatrous  prayers,  and 
 other  mag'ica  ceremowes  — They  t  en  had  the  miraculous  power 
 to  drive  away  devils,  and  purge  si/is,  as  well  as  the  blood  of 
 Christ,  and  were  consequently  a  special  article  of  trade  with 
 these  merchants. — Dealers  in  the  "  souls  of  men."  (Rev. 
 ix.  20,  andxvi.  II.) 
 
 The  manufacture  of  holy  water,  holy  chrism,  and  the  whole 
 system  of  purgatory,  were  derived  from  the  imitation  of  the 
 heathens. 
 
 Terq.  senem  flamma,  ter  aqua,  ter  sulphure  Iustrat. 
 
 Thrice  the  old  man  with  cleansing  flames  she  urg'd, 
 And  thrice  with  water,  thrice  with  sulphur  purg'd. 
 
 These  magical  lustrations  were  most  useful  when  they  w  cr< 
 going  about  their  idolatries. — Thus  Virg.  JEn.  vi,  230.— 
 
 .,       Ter  socios  pura  circumtulit  unda, 
 
 Spargens  rore  levi  et  ramo  felicis  olivae, 
 Lustravitq.  viros,  dixitq.  novissima  verba. 
 
 He  compass'd  thrice  the  crew, 
 And  dipt  an  olive  branch  in  HOLY  dew  ; 
 Which  thrice  he  sprinkled  rcuud,  and  thrice  aloud 
 Twoh\l  the  dead.  Dryd 
 
203 
 
 perlatlve  wickedness^  and  hypocrisy  along  with 
 it.  "  Thy  wisdom  and  thy  knowledge" — 
 (false  jewels  both,  like  her  miracles,) — f  have 
 perverted  thy  mind ;  so  that  thou  hast  said  in 
 thy  heart,  /  am9  and  there  is  none  besides" — 
 
 The  papists  do  every  tiling  the  same,  even  to  invocation 
 of  the  deao.  Yet  amongst  the  heathens  there  were  minds 
 Superior  to  these  vulgar  superstitions. 
 
 Ah  nimium  faciles !   qui  tristia  crimina  casdis, 
 
 Flamminea  tolli  posse  putatis  aqua.  Ovid, 
 
 Ah  fools  !   to  think  that  guilt  and  stain  of  blood, 
 Can  be  wash'd  out  with  sprinkling  of  the  flood  ! 
 
 And  Cicero,  in  his  second  book  of  laws,  observes, — Animi  la- 
 bes  nee  aspersione  aquce,  nee  &c  — tolli  potest: — '*  No  sprink- 
 ling of  water  j  nor  work  of  hands.,  nor  stated  time  of  penance,  can 
 cleanse  the  mind  from  guilt." 
 
 Cardinal  Bellarmine  de  Purgator.  lib.  i.e.  11,  proves  its  ex- 
 istence upon  the  authority  of  Plato,  Cicero,  and  Virgil,  more 
 suitable  resou,  ces  than  prophets  or  apostles  for  "  doctrines  of 
 demons." 
 
 Amongst  their  sorceries  may  well  be  reckoned  tine  baptis- 
 ing of  bells,  which  is  done  with  water  mingled  with  salt 
 and  oil,  and  the  addition  of  many  crosses  and  exorcisms,  and 
 consecration  in  the  name  of  the  Holy  Trinity.  The  bishop 
 praying  that  "  God  would  give  his  holy  spirit  to  the  bell,  that 
 it  may  become  sanctified,  for  the  expelling  of  all  the  power, 
 snares  and  illusions  of  the  devil,  for  the  souls  of  the  dead,  and 
 ^specially    for   the   chasing   away    (or — '  averruncation,' 
 
204 
 
 I  will  be  supreme  over  all,  not  a  creature  on 
 earth  shall  be  equal  with  me,  "  1  will  exalt 
 my  throne  above  the  stars  of  God,  I  will  be 
 like  the  Most  High."  (Isai.  xiv.  13.) 
 
 the  true  conjuring  -word,  on  wluch  the' goodness  of  the  chirm  de- 
 pends,) of  stomas,  thu..der,  and  tempests."  This  holy  ordi- 
 nance was  established  by  pope  John  III. 
 
 Hist,  of  Popery ,  vol.  iii.  p.  3^0. 
 The  curious  blunders  made  by  the  use  of  an  unknown 
 tongue  in  religious  services,  by  ignorant  persons,  is  more  like 
 necromancy  and  magic,  (which  is  said  to  is  totally  void  of  any 
 intelligible  meaning  in  the  words  applied,)  than  a  rational  service, 
 offered  up  to  the  Supreme  Intelligence. 
 
 The  baptising  of  a  child  in  this  form, — "  Baptizo  te  in  no- 
 mine patria  et  fiha  et  spiritu  sancta, — /  baptise  thee  in  the  name, 
 seuntry,  and  daughter,  and  female  holy  male  spirit,'*  occasioned 
 considerable  trouble  and  nonplus  to  the  infallible  chair, 
 for  a  decision  on  the  question,  whether  the  work  should  not 
 be  done  over  again  ;  but  it  was  happily  given  in  the  negative* 
 
 Decrct,  Gratian  de  Consecrat'tone. 
 An  ignorant  priest,  troubled  in  conscience  at  the  wicked 
 .rord  satanum,  (or  the  devil,)  like  "  the  abomination  of  desola- 
 tion standing  in  the  Holy  Place,"  in  the  baptismal  office  forsooth, 
 rentured  to  scrape  out  the  supposed  profane  mistake,  and  in- 
 troduce the  word  Christum  (Christ)  instead  of  it.  The 
 faulty  passage  by  this  emendation  gives  the  latin  words  for — 
 n  uost  thou  forsake  the  devil  and  all  his  works  I"  with  this 
 change, — «  dost  thou  forsake  Christ,  an  1  all  nis  works  ?" — to 
 which  the  sponsors  (in  the  same  darkuess)  answer — "  I  for- 
 •'  ke  them    "  JOr  Fulk's  Annotations  en  I  Cor.  sv.  . 
 
205 
 
 "  Persist  in  the  multitude  of  thy  sorce- 
 ries, in  which  thou  hast  laboured  from  thy 
 youth-" — (many  of  the  corruptions  of  popery 
 being  of  great  antiquity,  for  the  traces  of 
 them  are  visible  in  the  fathers,  and  the  mys- 
 tery was  working  even  in  the  days  of  the 
 apostles,) — "  if  peradventure  thou  mayest  be 
 profited,  if  thou  mayst  be  strengthened  by 
 them." 
 
 The  prophet  then  assures  her  that  the  evil 
 days  will  overtake  her,  from  the  calamities  of 
 which  her  pious  frauds  and  wicked  counsels, 
 her  spiritual  magicians  and  miracle  mongers, 
 shall  not  be  able  to  save  her,  nor  even  to  de- 
 liver their  own  souls  from  the  power  of  the 
 flame ;  but  these  merchants  of  her  religious 
 wares  shall  flee  every  one  to  his  own  quarter, 
 and  leave  her  to  her  deserved  fate. 
 
 It  is  evident  from  comparing  St  John  with 
 Isaiah,  that  he  has  touched  upon  all  the  pro- 
 minent parts  of  the  prophet's  description,  and 
 explained  them. — "  How  much  she  hath  glo- 
 rified herself,  and  lived  deliciously,  so  much 
 
206 
 
 torment  and  sorrow  give  her  :  for  she  saith  in 
 her  heart,  I  sit  a  queen,  and  am  no  widow ,  and 
 shall  see  no  sorrow.  Therefore  shall  her 
 plagues  come  in  one  day" — (within  one  year 
 perhaps,  the  two  great  overthrows  which  are 
 to  work  her  final  destruction,  shall  come  upon 
 her.) — "  Death,  and  mourning,  and  famine, 
 and  she  shall  he  utterly  burnt  with  (volcanic) 
 fire,  for  strong  is  the  Lord  God  who  judgeth 
 her."  The  prophet  next  adverts  to  the  state 
 of  perplexity  and  sorrow,  in  which  the  powers 
 still  favorable  to  the  popish  cause  shall  be  left, 
 by  the  ruin  of  their  spiritual  metropolis,  and 
 the  failure  of  their  great  light  and  bond  of 
 union,  the  popedom, — the  merchants  and 
 traders  in  her  false  wares  of  reliqucs,  images, 
 agnus  defs,  indulgences*  masses  for  the  dead, 
 &c.  shall  lament  the  loss  of  sale  for  their  once 
 
 *  Indulgences,  which  Rivet  calls  "  emulcknces,  purse 
 mUllngs,'"  were  one  prime  article  of  the  traffic  of  these  mer- 
 chants, of  which  a  short  specimen  may  suffice.  Pof-e  Adri- 
 an VI,  granted, — "  That  whoever  lying  at  the  point  of  death 
 should  hold  in  his  hand  an  hallowed  wax  candic,  and  depart  out 
 of  this  life  holding  the  same,  shall  obtain  a  idu  '■;,■  n  r  of 
 
 all  hi:  sins,  if  before  his  death  he  has  but  once  recited  the  psal- 
 ter, or  Rosary  of  the  Blessed  Virgin." 
 
201 
 
 precious  and  costly  commodities ;  and  she 
 will  be  bewailed  with  interested  lamentations, 
 by  "  all  that  bad  sh'ps  in  the  sea''  of  this 
 boundless  and  bottomless  apostacy,  and  whoso 
 power  and  wealth  had  depended  upon  the 
 perpetuity  of  the  venerable  and  splendid  im- 
 posture. 
 
 This  Rosary  is  a  collection  of  blasphemous  and  idolatrous 
 prayers  to  the  Virgin,  which  are  here  upon  infallible  authority 
 placed  upon  an  equal  footing  with  the  word  of  God, 
 
 For  money  indulgences  couli  be  had  ior  any  purpose  what- 
 ever. Thus  the  atheist  pope  Sixtus  IV.  granted  an  indul- 
 gence of  sodomy  to  Peter  Riere,  cardinal  of  St  Sixtus,  and  Je- 
 ronimo,  his  own  brother,  and  cardinal  St  Luce,  during  the 
 three  hottest  months  of  summer,  at  their  requtst. 
 
 Hist,  of  Popery,  vol  iv.  p.  261. 
 
 Chemnitius  in  his  "  Examen  Concil,  Trident,  ludicrously 
 exposes  indulgences.  He  quotes  the  following  monkish  lines, 
 graven  on  an  ancient  stone  in  the  Cathedral  of  St  Stephen,  at 
 Bourges. — Ex  Chemn.  Exam.  p.  4  c.  iv. 
 
 *'  Hie  des  devote,  coelestibus  associo  te  : 
 Mente3  a;grots  per  munera  sunt  ibi  lotse. 
 Ex  hoc  sum  testis,  vos  hie  mundare  potestis. 
 Crede  mihi,  crede,  coeli  donaberis  cede ; 
 Nam  pro  mercede  Christo  dices — mihi  cede  ! 
 Hie  datur  exponi  Paradisus  venditioni ; 
 Vis  retinere  forum  ? — Mihi  pendas  pauca  obolorum. 
 Pro  summa  quorum  reserabitur  aula  poiorjum, 
 VOL.  II.  £  E 
 
208 
 
 Ezekiel's  prophetic  lamentation  over  the 
 fall  of  Tyre,  in  chap.  xxvi.  xxvii.  and  xxviii. 
 seems  to  have  a  considerable  degree  of  corre- 
 spondence with  this  for  the  mystic  Babylon ; 
 and  there  are  several  points  of  resemblance  in 
 it,  which  seem  to  have  a  farther  scope  than 
 their  first  and  ostensible  object,  in  the  fate  of 
 Tyre.     But  it  is  certain  that  much  of  what  is 
 
 Hie  si  large  des,  in  coelo  sit  tua  sedes. 
 
 Cur  tardas  ? — Tantum  nummi  mihi  des  aliquantum  ; 
 
 Pro  solo  nummo  gaudebis  in  aethere  summo." 
 
 Thus  englislied  in  suitable  doggrel,— - 
 
 w  Give  here  devoutly,  and  I'll  join  thee  to  heaven's  band. 
 For  there  by  gift  in  hand  sick  souls  clean  washed  stand. 
 'Tis  here  alone,  d'ye  see,  that  thou  canst  cleansed  be. 
 Believe  me,  thou  hereby  shalt  have  a  place  on  h';gh. 
 Audfor  a  price  shalt  cry  to  Christ — make  room — tis  I J 
 Here  paradise  is  sold  to  chapmen  brisk  and  bol.l. 
 Wouldst  have  the  market  thine  ? — dash  down  a  little  coin. 
 Give  but  thy  cash  to  me,  heaven's  doors  shall  ope  to  tfcee. 
 If  thou  giv'st  largely  here,  thy  way  to  heav?n  is  clear. 
 Come  on, — why  dost  delay? — down  down  thy  money  pay. 
 For  money  'tis  alone  thou  canst  have  heaven's  throne. 
 
 The  indulgences  sent  out  for  sale  all  over  the  christian 
 world,  by  pope  Lf.o  X.  were  preached  by  his  emissaries  in  a 
 stile  nothing  short  of  the  above.  They  were  able  not  only  to 
 relieve  the  living,  but  to  deliver  the  !  attt  of  the 
 
209 
 
 said  by  several  of  the  prophets  of  the  doom 
 of  Babylon,  Edom,  Egypt,  &c.  was  not  ful- 
 filled in  all  respects  in  the  overthrow  of  those 
 countries,  and  that  it  has  been  applied  by  St. 
 John  to  Rome  ;  as,  that  God  would  roll  Baby- 
 Ion  down  from  the  rocks,  and  make  her  a  burnt 
 or  burning  mountain.  For  the  situation  of  old 
 Babylon  was  inconsistent  with  this  description, 
 
 taint  ofPvRGATORr*  The  preachers  were  not  ashamed  to  pub- 
 lish in  their  pulpits  "  that  at  the  sound  of  the  money,  as  it  was 
 cast  into  their  bason,  the  souls  in  purgatory  shipped  for  joy  amidst 
 the  flames,  and  flew  out  of  torment" — This  infamous  traffic  roused 
 the  indignant  spirit  of  Luther  in  the  year  1516.—  -See  Sleidan's 
 Hist.  Reform. 
 
 There  is  still  extant  a  book  of  rates,  according  to  which  the 
 pope  exacts  a  revenue  from  sinners,  by  fixing  the  price  of  pardon 
 for  every  sin.  It  is  entitled  "Taxa  Cancellari.c  Aposto- 
 licte,"  of  which  Espenceus,  a  learned  bishop  of  their  own, 
 says, — "  from  this  book,  exposed  to  the  view  of  all,  and  which 
 has  now  as  well  as  ever  a  ready  sale,  more  villainy  is  learned 
 than  from  profest  summaries  of  wickedness.  There  is  licence 
 granted  for  the  most  abominable  crimes,  and  absolution  for  all, 
 unless  men  will  not  buy.  It  is  so  far  from  being  suppressed  by 
 the  treasurers  of  the  church,  that  the  licences  aid  impunities 
 are  renewed  and  confirmed  for  the  most  part  by  the  faculties  oi 
 
 the  Legates." 
 
 Hist,  of  Popery,  vol.  iv.  p.  123. 
 
 JE   £    2 
 
210 
 
 and  her  fate  different.*  That  she  should  be 
 "  as  when  God  overthrew  Sodom  and  Gomor- 
 rah" that  is  by  fire.f — And  of  Edorn  it  was 
 prophesied,  that  her  land  should  be  soaked 
 with  blood,  and  afterwards  desolated  for  ever 
 and  ever  by  volcanic  fire,  and  streams  of  burn- 
 ing pitch  and  lava,J  sending  up  an  everlast- 
 ing smoke,  the  emblem  of  her  former  sin,  and 
 the  perpetual  monument  of  the  truth  of  pro- 
 phecy. This  is  noticed  repeatedly  by  Saint 
 John, — "  Her  smoke  rose  up  for  ever  and 
 ever"  and  by  Isaiah, — u  They  shall  go  forth 
 and  look  upon  the  carcasses  of  the  men  that 
 have  Transgressed  against  me,  for  their  worm 
 
 *  It  is  intimated  that  mystic  Babylon  shall  become  a  lafo 
 burning  with  liquid  fire,  and  not  a  burning  mountain  ;  yet  her 
 doom  may  possibly  include  both,  by  the  event  very  common 
 in  volcanic  eruptions  ;  a  sinking  in  of  the  earth  first,  and  a 
 mountanous  elevation  afterward,  bearing  up  along  with  it  a  cra- 
 ter of  immense  capacity  and  circuit.  But  it  is  more  probable  that 
 somewhat  is  to  be  allowed  for  the  prophetic  licence,  and  that  the 
 mystic  Babylon  is  called  "  destroying  Mountain  "  from  her 
 towering  pride,  as  the  church  of  Christ  is  called  "  the  Moun- 
 tain of  the  Lords  house,"  in  allusion  to  its  exalted  holiness,  and 
 purity  at  that  time  to  which  the  prophet  alludes.  (Isa.  ii.  2f 
 Micah  iv.  ].) 
 
 ■\-   Isai.  xiii.  J  f k  t   Isai .  JCXxiv.  7?  &c> 
 
£11 
 
 shall  not  die,  neither  shall  their  fire  be 
 quenched ;  and  they  shall  be  an  abhorring 
 unto  all  flesh."* 
 
 Very  remarkable  is  the  holy  prophet's  ap- 
 peal by  anticipation  to  the  people  of  very  remote 
 times,  in  the   days  when   these  facts  should 
 come  to  pass,  and  they  should  be  spectators 
 of  them  ;  and  living  witnesses  of  the  truth  of 
 his  words,  j* — "  Hear,  ye  that  are  far  off" — 
 (ages  to  come,  attend  to  these  words  which  I 
 address  to  you,) — "  hear  what  I  have  done  I" 
 \ — [decreed  to  be  assuredly  done  :) — "  and  ye 
 that  are   near" — (are  living  in   those   days 
 of  vengeance,)  — "  acknowledge  my  might" — ■ 
 (confess  ye  the  finger  of  God.)    "  The  sinners 
 in  Zion  are  afraid,  fearfulness  hath  surprised 
 the  hypocrites.     Who  among  us  can  dwell  with 
 the  devouring  fire  ?  who  among  us  shall  dwell 
 with  everlasting  burnings  ?"  J     This  is  like 
 our  Saviour's  representation  of  the  terror  of 
 
 *  IsaL  Ixvi.  Ci.  t  *sai*  xxx»i-  13. 
 
 %  "  Hear  what  I  have  done  "  it  is  the  well  known  manner  of 
 the  Prophets  so  to  speak  of  events  yet  future  as  If  past,  to  de- 
 note the  indefectible  certainty  of  their  accomplishment. 
 
the  apostate  jews,  when  they  should  see  his 
 threatenings  actually  made  good  ;  "  then  shall 
 they  btgln  to  say  unto  the  mountains  fall  on  us9 
 and  to  the  hills  cover  us.*  So  these  superla- 
 tive sinners  in  Sion,  eminently  distinguished  in 
 all  prophecy  for  their  hypocrisy y\  shall  at  last 
 be  struck  with  fear,  if  not  penetrated  with  re- 
 pentance, when  they  see  their  city  and  country 
 swallowed  up  by  the  infernal  abyss, — "  the 
 beast  slain,  and  his  body  destroyed  and  given 
 to  the  devouring jlame"% 
 
 This  passage  of  Isaiah  is  commonly  under- 
 stood of  hell,  but  the  analogy  of  prophecy 
 
 *   Luke  xxiii,  30. 
 
 •f  Speaking  lies  in  hypocrisy,  with  seared  conscience,  is  the 
 grand  characteristic  of  the  apostacy.  (Isai.  xxviii.  15;  x,  6; 
 Vs.  cxx.  3,  4.)  St  John  has  also  noticed  their  apprehensions 
 and  lamentations,  when  they  see  the  great  emporium  of  their 
 jeligious  merchandise  swallowed  up,  and  the  favorite  seat  of 
 their  superstition  rendered  inaccessible  for  holy  pilgrimages,  and 
 the  discharge  of  their  vows  at  the  shrines  of  their  sainted  Ma- 
 hnzzim.— The  merchant*  of  these  things,  which  were  made  rich 
 ')V  her,  ihall  stand  afar  off  for  the  fear  of  her  torment,  weep- 
 ing and  wailing,  and  saying,  alas  !  alas!  &c.  (Rev.  xviii.  15.) 
 Tvhat  city  is  like  unto  this  great  city,  cither  in  the  greatness  of 
 her  former  prosperity,  or  the  terror  of  her^drstruction  ! 
 
 ]    Dm    vii,   11. 
 
213 
 
 seems  to  require  the  first  application  of  it  to 
 the  material  hell  of  Topbet,  and  the  lake  of  fire 
 burning  with  brimstone,  whereinto  the  beast 
 and  the  false  prophet  are  to  be  cast  alive,  and 
 which  is  described  as  being  everlasting,  because 
 it  will  not  cease  to  rage  so  long  as  the  earth 
 endures.  This  is  the  common  centre  to 
 which  so  many  prophecies  directly  tend,  that 
 there  can  remain  no  doubt  but  some  fact  com- 
 mensurable to  it,  in  the  punishment  of  Baby- 
 lon, is  in  the  design  of  Providence . 
 
 It  is  to  be  acknowledged  that  fire  (as  giv- 
 ing us  the  quickest  sense  of  agonizing  pain) 
 is  in  scripture  a  common  type  of  sharp  and 
 destructive  afflictions  of  any  kind.  "  He  shall 
 be  saved,  yet  so  as  byjire"*  with  danger  and 
 suffering,  and  as  a  brand  snatched  out  of  the 
 burning.  "  I  will  bring  the  third  part  through 
 thejire"^  will  exercise  their  faith  and  pa- 
 tience with  affliction  and  persecution.  So  the 
 lamb  of  the  passover,  the  emblem  of  Christ's 
 passion,  "  was  to  be  roasted  with  Jirey  and 
 
 *  1  Cor.  iii,  ]",  15.  f  Zech.  xiii,  9- 
 
214 
 
 eaten  with  bitter  herbs"*  But  the  manner 
 in  which  the  peculiar  vengeance  of  insulted 
 heaven  is  (in  all  the  prophecies)  applied  to  the 
 mystic  Babylon,  to  her  tetter  destruction  (Rev„ 
 xviii.  8)  by  Jire,  launched  from  the  strong 
 band  of  God>  sitting  in  judgment  upon  her, 
 and  so  as  to  leave  her  a  smoking  monument 
 of  divine  justice  and  truth  to  all  succeeding 
 ages,  seems  to  prevent  the  possibility  of  ad- 
 mitting any  other  sense  of  so  many  prophe- 
 cies, so  well  agreeing  together,  than  a  literal 
 one.  That  Tophet  is  ordained  of  old  for 
 this  occasion,  and  made  deep  and  large  by 
 previous  excavation,  if  not  from  the  original 
 formation  of  the  earth,  yet  at  least  by  succes- 
 sive evacuations  of  lava,  beyond  the  earliest 
 records  of  history,  and  as  infidels  pretend^ 
 before  the  aliedged  date  of  the  age  of  the 
 world's  existence.  The  amazing  extent  of 
 the  subterraneous  commotions  originating 
 from  a  centre  between  JEtna  and  Vesuvius, 
 have  already  demonstrated  the  possibility  and 
 even  probability  of  a  literal  fulfilment  of  all 
 
 *  Exod.  jrii.  8. 
 
215 
 
 that  the  prophets  have  spoken  on  this  subject. 
 And  the  peculiar  accumulation  of  a  deeply 
 aggravated  guik,  contracted  by  this  very  an- 
 cient offender,  by  her  unparalleled  cruelty 
 and  wickedness,  and  her  persevering  in  her 
 enchantments,  and  becoming  more  hardened 
 in  her  impenitency  for  the  repeated  warnings 
 that  are  sent  to  her ;  have,  beyond  all  doubt, 
 rendered  her  an  object  worthy  of  so  exem- 
 plary a  punishment.  But  at  the  same  time 
 it  is  evident  that  all  these  marks  of  character 
 both  in  her  prosperity  and  in  her  fall,  so  pe- 
 culiarly expressive  as  applied  to  Rome,  lose 
 all  their  force,  and  indeed  all  the  propriety  of 
 most  of  them,  when  confined  wholly  to  Ba- 
 bylon in  Chaldea.* 
 
 *  That  the  proprery  of  Edom  (Isai.  xxxiv,  9.)  belongs  to 
 Rome,  (there  mystically  so  called,  as  also  in  Cbadiah,)  was  the 
 opinion  of  the  Jews,  as  Bishop  Newton  quotes  Buxtorf  to 
 prove. — "  Rab.  David  in  principio  Obadise,"  quod  autem  di- 
 cunt  Prophdce  de  vastatione  Edom  in  extremitate  dierum,  de  Roma 
 dixerunt  " — Buxtorf  Chald.   Lex. 
 
 The  hostility  of  Edom  or  even  Egypt  and  Babylon  to  the 
 people  of  God,  sinks  into  insignificance,  compared  with  Rome's. 
 Edom  signifies  Red,  and  red  is  the  distinguishing  colour  of  the 
 roman  harlot  both  in  prophecy,  and  history,  and  existing  fact* 
 These  little  coincidences  are  not  to  be  disregarded  iu  the  Prophe- 
 VOL.  II,  F   F 
 
21 G 
 
 Of  Edom,  Jeremiah*  says,  that  "  it  shall  be 
 a  desolation.  Every  one  that  goeth  by  it  shall 
 be  astonished^  and  shall  hiss  at  all  the  plagues 
 thereof.  As  in  the  overthrow  of  Sodom  and 
 Gomorrah^  and  the  neighbour  cities  thereof, 
 saith  the  Lord,  no  man  shall  abide  there,  nei- 
 ther shall  a  son  of  man  dwell  in  it."  It  is  not 
 very  apparent  how  this  can  apply  to  the  ter- 
 ritory of  Idumea,  of  which  no  extraordinary 
 plagues  are  recorded  in  history,  nor  is  the 
 state  of  that  country  such  at  this  day,  as  to 
 warrant  so  strong  and  frequent  a  comparison 
 with  Sodom  and  Gomorrah.  Nor  in  what 
 respect  the  same  can  be  said  also  of  Babylon, 
 unless  both  these  names  are  typical  of  Rome. 
 <c  Because  of  the  wrath  of  the  Lord,  it  shall 
 not  be  inhabited,  but  it  shall  be  wholly  deso- 
 late :  every  one  that  goeth  by  Babylon  shall 
 be  astonished^  and  hiss  at  all  her  plagues  "\ 
 
 cieSt  Those  that  relate  to  our  Saviour  are  illustrated  and 
 strongly  corroborated  by  an  accumulation  of  such  things,  which 
 being  apparently  casual,  are  the  more  wonderful  proofs  of  the 
 divine  prescience.  ■ 
 
 *  Jer.  xlix.  17,  18.  f  Jer.  1,  13. 
 
SECTION   XXVIII. 
 
 The  connection  in  prophecy  between  the  fall  of  Anti- 
 christ, and  the  restoration  of  Israel. — Prophetic  il- 
 lustrations of  the  harvest  and  vintage. — They  are 
 destructive  to  popery  but  restorative  to  Israel  — 
 Christ  coming  fr&m  Edom. — The  mystic  Ephah, 
 the  original  of  St  Paul's  man  of  Sin. — Fruitless 
 attempt  at  the  restoration  of  Popery. — //  is  the  ob- 
 ject of  sacred  abhorrence  io  God,  and  man  for  ever* 
 '—The  harmony  of  prophecy. 
 
 IT  has  been  asserted  in  the  earlier  part  of 
 these  reflections,  that  there  are  many  intima- 
 tions in  prophecy  of  a  correspondence  be- 
 tween   the    two    facts   of  the   destruction   of 
 Rome,  mid  the  restoration  of  the  jews,  in- 
 somuch that  in  the  most  remarkable  prophe- 
 cies of  either  of  these  events,  we  find  the 
 other  also  closely  accompanying  it. 
 F  F  2 
 
218 
 
 St  Jbhn  has  noticed  this  circumstance  in 
 his  account  of  the  sixth  vial,  wherein  the 
 harvest  and  vintage  decreed  against 
 Rome  hegin  to  ripen  ;  which  passage*  seems 
 to  be  the  collected  sense  of  all  the  ancient 
 prophets,  related  in  an  epitome ;  and  appa- 
 rently signifying  that  the  vengeance  of  heaven 
 upon  popery  will  be  the  prelude  and  the  intro- 
 ductory means  of  God's  restored  mercy  to  his 
 ancient  people.  "  Behold  your  God  will 
 come  with  vengeance,  even  God  with  a  re- 
 compence" — (upon  your  persecutors  and  cap- 
 tors).— "  He  will  come  and  save  you.  Then 
 the  eyes  of  the  blind  shall  be  opened"  £s?t*.f 
 It  is  undeniable  that  this  is  a  prophecy  be- 
 longing to  the  latter  days,  and  to  a  late  period 
 of  them,  because  a  remarkable  vengeance  up- 
 on their  enemies  is  to  precede  the  conversion 
 of  the  jews,  and  prove  in  the  event  of  things, 
 an  instrument  of  deliverance  for  them.  And 
 it  also  includes  in  it  a  promise  of  restoration  to 
 the  desolated  land  of  Judea,  as  well  as  to  the 
 remnant  of  Israel,  the  heirs  of  these  promises. 
 
 *  Rev.  xvi,  12,  &c.  -\   Isai.  >:xxv.  4t. 
 
219 
 
 Verse  10,  "And  the  ransomed  of  the  Lord 
 shall  rev  urn,  and  come  to  Zion  with  songs, 
 
 AND     EVERLASTING     JOY     UPON     THEIR 
 
 heads,      ihey   shall   obtain  joy  and   glad- 
 ness, and  sorrow  and  sighing  shall  flee  away." 
 
 The  same  two  facts  are  again  connected  in 
 Isaiah  xlix. — "  Shall  the  prey  be  taken  from, 
 the  mighty,  or  the  lawful  captive  be  deliver- 
 ed ?  But  thus  saith  the  Lord,  even  the  cap- 
 tives of  the  mighty  shall  be  taken  away,  and 
 the  prey  of  the  terrible'1'' — (rhe  distinguishing 
 epithet  of  the  roman  power,  their  captors,) — 
 "  shall  be  delivered.  For  (in  due  season)  I 
 will  contend  with  him  that  contendeth  with 
 thee,  and  I  will  save  thy  children" 
 i — (the  remnant  of  Israel  in  the  last  days). — 
 "  And  /  will  feed  them  that  oppress  thee,  with 
 their  ownjlesh,  and  they  shall  be  drunken  with 
 their  own  blood,  as  with  sweet  wine" — -(shall 
 (De  made  instrumental  to  their  own  chastise- 
 ment, by  one  destroying  the  others  :)  — "  and 
 (then)  all  flesh  shall  know  that  I  am  thy  Sa- 
 viour and  thy  Redeemer,  the  mighty  One  of 
 Jacob," 
 
220 
 
 To  illustrate  this  point,  let  us  compare  with 
 these  declarations  that  very  singulrr  prophecy 
 in  Isaiah  xviii.  Here  the  people  in  whose 
 favor  the  divine  edict  of  redemption  is  pro- 
 mulgated, are  described  by  several  epithets 
 which  are  pointedly  applicable  to  the  jews, 
 and  to  no  other  people.* — "  Go  ye  swift 
 messengers  to  a  nation  scattered  and  peeled,  to 
 a  people  terrible  from  their  beginning  ,!':her- 
 to ;  a  nation  meted  out  and  trodden  downy 
 ivbose  land  the  rivets  have  spoiled" — The 
 scattering  and  plundering  of  the  jews  by  the 
 roman^  is  notorious,  and  there  is  good  foun- 
 dation also  for  the  epithet  "  terrible"  which 
 the  prophet  ascribes  to  them  in  respect  of 
 their  almighty  Protector,  who  adopted  them 
 in  their  great  ancestor  Abraham,  and  will  be 
 with  them  (both  in  exaltation  and  depression) 
 even  to  their  latest  posterity,  f  In  these  latter 
 times  of  the  christian  dispensation,  the  jews 
 have  been  held  forth  a  spectacle  to  the  world, 
 and  an  object  of  astonishment  and  terror  to 
 
 *   Sec  Sect.  iv.   p.    119,    note. 
 1    Isai.  xliii.  2;  Dan.  xii.   1. 
 
all  reflecting  minds,*  when  we  behold  in  thefn 
 so  undeniable  a  proof  of  the  power  of  God  to 
 deal  with  unrepenting  sinners,  and  so  strong 
 an  assurance  of  the  certainty  of  his  word  that 
 he  will  do  it.  This  people  has  truly  been — 
 "  meted  out" — sifted  like  wheat  among  the 
 nations  of  the  earth,  and  every  where  trodden 
 down  and  trampled  upon  with  the  insulting 
 foot  of  the  oppressor.  Their  land,  which  an- 
 ciently Jlozved  with  milk  and  honey,  is  also 
 "  spoiled"  desolated  and  ruined  by  floods  of 
 barbarians,  more  merciless  and  ignorant  than 
 the  heathen,  their  original  destroyers. 
 
 To  a  people  distinguishable  by  these  well 
 known  characteristics,  when  the  fulness  of 
 time  for  their  redemption  draws  near,  the 
 prophet  calls  the  solemn  attention  of  man- 
 kind ;  and  points  out  the  signals  by  which 
 their  approaching  deliverance  will  he  indi- 
 cated to  the  believers  in  the  truth  of  prophe- 
 cy. Verse  3.  By  the  lifting  up  of  an  ensign 
 on  the  mountains,  and  the  blowing  ot  the 
 
 ■  '  ;7. 
 
222 
 
 great  trumpet  for  the  commencement  of  their 
 march ;  to  be  conducted  by  some  great  in- 
 stiu.nent  of  Providence,  raised  up  for  the  oc- 
 casion. 
 
 After  this  preparation,  there  follows  an  al- 
 lusion to  the  dreadful  vengeance  that  will  at 
 this  time  be  taken  upon  their  enemies,  on 
 which  occasion  (as  seems  intimated  in  several 
 prophecies  introduced  before,)  the  jews  will 
 probably  make  good  the  prophet's  words,  by 
 shewing  themselves  in  a  light  of  terror  hither- 
 to unexampled,  and  becoming  the  active  in- 
 struments of  the  divine  vengeance. 
 
 The  harvest  and  vintage  are  the  two 
 emblems  appropriated  in  the  prophecies,  to 
 prefigure  this  dreadful  destruction,  which  will 
 in  all  likelihood  happen  in  two  calamitous 
 events  following  one  upon  the  other,  in  like 
 manner  as  the&e  do  in  nature.  But  to  pre- 
 vent misapprehension,  here  is  a  distinction 
 pointed  out  between  a  common  vintage  and 
 this  mystical  one,  that  whereas  in  the  former 
 there  proceeds  from  the  fruit  of  the  well  ri- 
 
223 
 
 pened  grape  "  wine  that  maketh  glad  the  heart 
 of 'man ;"  in  the  latter  case  the  fruit  when  cut 
 down,  shall  be  thrown  out  as  accursed  of  God 
 and  abominable.  It  "  shall  be  left  unto  the 
 fowls  of  the  mountains,  and  to  the  beasts  of 
 the  earth :  and  the  fowls  shall  summer  upon 
 them,  and  all  the  beasts  of  the  earth  shall  win- 
 ter upon  them." — This  answers  to  the  flesh 
 feast  prepared  for  the  carnivorous  birds,  to 
 which  they  are  collected  together  by  an  an- 
 gel standing  in  the  sun,  and  crying  with  a 
 loud  voice,  saying  to  all  the  fowls  that  fly  in 
 the  midst  of  heaven,  come  and  gather  your- 
 selves together  unto  the  supper  of  the  great 
 God, 
 
 The  same  images  of  the  harvest  and  vint- 
 age are  also  applied  to  the  same  occasion  by 
 St  John ;  and  he  represents  the  grapes  as  be- 
 ing previously  "  thrown  into  the  great"  wine 
 press  of  the  WRATH  of  God  ;  when  blood 
 instead  of  wine,  issues  out  in  hideous  torrents, 
 even  up  to  the  horses  bridles"*     This  hyper- 
 
 *  Rev.  xiv.  20. — This,  says  Newton,  "  is  a  strong  hyper- 
 bolical way  of  speaking,  not  unknown  to  the  jews,  for  the  Je- 
 VOL.  II,  G  G 
 
224 
 
 bolical  figure  he  explains  in  another  place.* — - 
 Speaking  of  Christ  he  says, — "  Out  of  his 
 mouth  goeth  a  sharp  sword,  that  with  it  he 
 should  smite  the  nations  :  and  he  shall  rule 
 themf  with  a  rod  of  iron :  and  he  treadeth 
 the  wine  press  of  the  Jierceness  of  the  wrath 
 of  almighty  God, 
 
 It  cannot  admit  of  dispute  that  by  the 
 -vintage,  in  these  passages,  is  meant  some 
 dreadful   and  decisive   havock  amongst   the 
 
 rusalem  Talmud,  describing  the  woeful  slaughter  which  the 
 roman  emperor  Adrian  made  of  the  jews  at  the  destruction  of 
 the  city  of  Bitter,  S3ith  that  th  horses  ivaded  in  blood  up  to 
 iht  nostrils.  And  examples  are  not  wanting  even  in  the  clas. 
 sical  authors." — 
 
 .  Multoq.  fluentia  sanguine  lora. 
 
 "  Their  very  bridles  dropp'd  with  human  blood." 
 
 Sil.  Ital,  cxi.  705. 
 
 •  Rer.  xix.  15. 
 
 f  Rev.  ii.  27  J  xii.  5  ;  Ps.  li.  9.— The  psalmist  says  his  rod 
 or  mace  of  iron  will  be  an  instrument  of  torture  to  the  apostate 
 nations,  to  bruise  and  break  them  in  pieces  tile  a  potter's  vessel  — 
 The  iron  sceptre  conveys  two  ideas,— -the  eternity  and. 
 strength  of  his  kingdom,  (Dan.  ii.  44,)  and  the  powerful  ef- 
 fect of  his  judgments  upon  the  rebellious, 
 
225 
 
 enemies  of  the  church  ;  and  that  the  emanci- 
 pation of  the  jews  is  closely  connected  with  it. 
 — For  immediately  after  these  afflictive  scenes 
 of  human  carnage,  the  usual  accompaniment 
 of  similar  prophecies  is  introduced. — Ver.  7, 
 "  In  that  time  shall  the  present  be 
 brought  unto  the  lord  of  hosts," 
 — (to  the  common  Lord  and  Saviour  of  all 
 men,  Jesus  Christ,  the  true  David,  the  ever- 
 lasting King 'of  Israel,)  a  present — "  of  a  peo- 
 ple scattered  and  peeled, — a  people  terrible 
 from  their  beginning  hitherto ;  a  nation  meted 
 out  and \frodden  underfoot,  whose  land  the  ri- 
 vers have  spoiled,  TO  the  place  of  the 
 name  of  the  lord  of  hosts,  the 
 Mount  Zion." 
 
 There  are  allusions  to  this  terrible  act  of 
 divine  vengeance  upon  antichristian  apostacy, 
 in  many  of  the  prophecies,  under  the  same 
 figure  of  an  harvest  ;  in  the  reaping  of 
 which,  the  interests  and  future  advancement 
 of  the  Israel  of  God,  or  the  whole  true  chris- 
 tian church,  is   involved. — "  O   Judah  I    he 
 
 Jiath  set  an  harvest  for  thee,  when  I  re* 
 G  G  2 
 
226 
 
 turned  the  captivity  of  my  people"*  The 
 meaning  of  which  seems  to  be,  that  when 
 the  fulness  of  time  shall  arrive  for  the  recon- 
 ciliation of  Israel,  God  will  give  some  signal 
 evidences  of  his  restored  favor  to  them,  by- 
 conquests  achieved  over  their  original  cap- 
 tors, or  those  who  have  taken  upon  them- 
 selves all  the  responsibility  of  their  cruelties, 
 (which  exceeded  even  their  commission,)*!* 
 by  being  their  persecutors  even  to  the  latter 
 days.  "  The  daughter  of  Babylon  is  like  a 
 threshing  floor ;  it  is  time  to  thresh  her :  yet 
 a  little  while  and  the  time  of  her  har- 
 vest shall  come.":f  When  the  harvest  is 
 full  ripe  for  the  sickle,  the  reaper  appointed 
 to  it  will  not  be  far  behind.  "  Put  ye  in  the 
 sickle  for  THE  harvest  is  ripe.  Come, 
 get  you  down,  for  the  press  is  fully  the  fats 
 overflow,  for  their  wickedness  is  great." § — - 
 Here  both  the  harvest  and  vintage  are 
 included,  and  the  explanation  is  also  given, 
 that  it  is  God's  vengeance  upon  consummate 
 
 *  Hoseavi.  11.  f  Isai.  xlvii.  6. 
 
 1  Jer,  li.  33,  $  Joel  iii.  13,  14;  Rcv.xiv.  U. 
 
impiety,  for  which  the  predestinated  agent  is 
 commissioned  and  urged  to  expedition  in  do- 
 ing his  work  of  death.  "  Babylon  is  fallen 
 — is  fallen,  and  all  the  graven  images  of  her 
 gods  hath  he  broken  to  the  ground.     O !  my 
 
 THRESHING, AND     THE     CORN     OF     MY 
 
 floor  ! — That  which  I  have  heard  of  the 
 Lord  of  Hosts,  the  God  of  Israel,  have  I  de- 
 clared unto  you,"* 
 
 These  prophecies  (all  of  them  evidently 
 alluding  to  the  same  events,  which  some  of 
 them  explicitly  declare  to  be  the  fall  of 
 Babylon  and  her  threshing,  or  the 
 breaking  up  of  her  confederate  powers,  to 
 make  way  for  the  return  of  the  jews,  and 
 the  happy  establishment  of  the  kingdom  of 
 Christ,)  are  adopted  by  St  John,  as  being  still 
 future  in  bis  time,  and  applied  by  him  to  the 
 overthrow  of  the  catholic  apostacy ;  for  he 
 says,  "  the  wine  press  was  trodden  without 
 the  city"  (which  intimates  that  it  was  not  far 
 from  it,  but  in  the  adjacent  territory  of  the 
 
 *  Isai.  xxi.  9,  10. 
 
228 
 
 church,  or  patrimony  of  St  Peter,  as  it  was 
 till  of  late  esteemed  j)  "  and  blood  came  out  of 
 the  wine  press,  even  unto  the  horses  bridles, 
 by  the  space  of  a  thousand  and  six  hundred 
 
 furlongs."* 
 
 To  the  same  effect  is  that  sublime  figura- 
 tive representation   of  Christ   returning  from 
 his  destruction  of  Antichrist,  in  vengeance  for 
 the  long  and  grievous  sufferings  of  his  church, 
 by  which  in  his  faithful  martyrs  he  had  him- 
 self been  "  crucified  afresh,  and  put  to  an  open 
 shame"  in  the  Egypt  of  the  great  apostacy. 
 "  Who  is  this  ? — That  cometh  from  Edom, 
 in   (blood)   dyed  garments  from  Bosrah  ? — 
 This  that  is  glorious  in  his  apparel,  travelling 
 in  the  greatness  of  his  strength."     Christ  is 
 here  shewn,  as  he  is  afterwards  by  St  John  in 
 Rev.  xix.  1 1,  as  a  triumphant  conqueror,  of  un- 
 rivalled might,  notwithstanding  the  previous 
 sufferings  he  had  undergone,  from  the  long 
 prevailing  warfare  of  the  usurper  Antichrist. 
 He  is  also  glorious  in  the  matchless  splendor 
 
 *  Rev,  xiv.  8.— See  Sect,  xx.  p.  47. 
 
229 
 
 of  his  apparel,  the  robe  of  perfect  righteous- 
 ness and  salvation,  which  appears  glittering 
 under  his  armour  that  has  been  stained  with 
 the  blood  of  his    enemies, — "  Wherefore  art 
 thou  red  in  thy  apparel,  and  thy  garments 
 like  him  that  treadeth  in  the  wine  fat  ?" — 
 He  gives  the  answer  himself. — "  I  have  trod- 
 den the  wine  press  alone,  and  of  the  people 
 there  was  none  with  me.     For  I  will  tread 
 them  in  mine  anger,  and  trample  them  in 
 MY  fury  ;  and  their  blood  shall  be  sprinkled 
 upon   my  garments,  and  I  will  stain  all  my 
 raiment.       For  the  day  of  vengeance  is  in 
 mine  heart,   and  the    year    of   my   re- 
 deemed  is    come."     Thus  it  appears  that 
 these  two  facts,  the  punishment  of  the  apos- 
 tacy,  and  the  redemption  of  Israel,  are  in  all 
 the  prophecies  connected  together,  and  repre- 
 sented very  much  in  the  same  manner/* 
 
 *  I  do  not  think  it  necessary  to  make  any  apology  to  the 
 scrupulous  delicacy  of  sceptical  objectors  for  the  strength,  (or 
 if  they  please,  the  grossness )  of  these  and  similar  passages  in  the 
 scripture,  which  speak  of  the  fury  of  the  divine  vengeance  upon 
 sinners.  Common  sense  is  alone  sufficient  to  tell  us,  that  the 
 Holy  Spirit  in  these  cases,  accommodates  ilseif  to  the  ideas  of 
 
230 
 
 So  exceeding  heavy  is  the  burden  of  the 
 wrath  of  God  upon  apostate  Babylon,  that 
 notwithstanding  the  abundance  and  the  great 
 variety  of  the  figures  made  use  of,  and  the 
 unbounded  prophetic  licence  in  these  emble- 
 matical paintings,  the  prophets  seem  to  have 
 labored  under  their  mighty  conceptions  of  it, 
 as  if  they  were  too  big  for  words  to  express. 
 "  The  Lord  hath  opened  his  armoury,  and 
 hath  brought  forth  the  weapons  of  his  in- 
 dignation. For  this  is  the  work  of  the 
 Lord  Cod  of  Hosts y  in  the  laud  of  the  Chalde- 
 ans,     Woe  unto  them,   for  their  day  is 
 
 COME,  the  TIME   OF  THEIR  VISITATION."* 
 
 44  The  voice  of  them  that  flee  and  escape  out 
 
 most  general  and  easy  apprehension  amongst  men,  in  expressing 
 thus  the  nature  and  effects  of  the  divine  resentment  against 
 sin  ;  which  the  consistency  of  the  divine  attiibutes  of  mercy 
 and  justice  cannot  suffer  to  go  unpunished.  It  expresses  the 
 certainty  and  the  sharpness  of  the  vengeance  that  sin  will  draw 
 upon  itself;  and  not  the  revengeful  mind  with  which  it  is  in- 
 flicted.— "  For  God  hath  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  him  that 
 dietht> — but  waiteth  to  be  gracious."  "  Fury  is  not  in  me% 
 Who  would  set  the  briars  and  thorns  against  mc  in  battle? 
 Let  him  take  hold  of  my  strength,  that  he  may  makepeace  ivUfr 
 me,  and  he  shall  make  peace  with  me."   (Isai,  xxvii.  4.) 
 
 *  Jer,  1.  25. 
 
231 
 
 of  the  land  of  Babylon,  to  declare  in  Zion  the 
 vengeance  of  the  Lord  our  God,  the  vengeance 
 ef  his  temple"* — or  in  vindication  of  religion. 
 
 It  is  impossible  coldly  to  confine  all  this 
 magnificence  of  expression,  and  so  vast  a 
 preparation  of  splendid  ruin,  to  the  mere  city 
 of  old  Babylon,  whose  imperious  dominion 
 was  nothing  to  compare  with  that  of  Anti- 
 Christian  Babylon,  lasted  but  a  short  time,  and 
 was  of  comparatively  trifling  consequence. — 
 For  the  jews  recovered  that  blow,  and  their 
 second  temple  exceeded  in  glory  even  that  of 
 Solomon,  by  possessing  not  merely  the  She- 
 china,  but  God  in-carnate,  the  Immanuel 
 and  Messiah,  according  to  the  prophet  :f — 
 "  say  unto  the  cities  of  Judah,  behold 
 your  God  !" 
 
 The  babylonians  undoubtedly  acted  by 
 commission  from  God,  in  destroying  the  pro- 
 faned temple,  and  desolating  the  abused  coun- 
 try:); of  the  idolatrous  jews.     If  they  exceed- 
 
 *  Jer.  1.  28.  ;    Ism.  xt  0.  %  Lev.  xsy!.  84. 
 
 VOL.  II.  H   II 
 
232 
 
 ed  their  authority,  in  pressing  their  yoke  upon, 
 them  with  a  heavy  hand  and  much  cruelty, 
 the  romans  have  done  the  same  to  a  far  great- 
 er excess ;  and  have  held  that  miserable  peo- 
 ple in  a  worse  than  egyptian  bondage  for 
 nearly  1800  years.  For  in  prophecy  the 
 present  possessors  of  Rome  bear  the  burden 
 (though  they  do  not  the  celebrity)  of  the  un- 
 degenerated  romans ;  and  take  to  themselves 
 the  name  of  romans,  (not  without  absurdity) 
 calling  themselves  roman  catholics. — 
 And  they  have  a  double  share  of  responsibi- 
 lity attached  to  it,  as  having  been  the  perse- 
 cutors and  destroyers  of  both  the  two  witness- 
 es,  the  jews ,  and  the  protestants. 
 
 The  warning  given  by  Saint  John  to  the 
 christians  of  those  times  when  Antichrist 
 should  be  revealed,  that  they  should  with- 
 draw themselves  from  communion  with  him, 
 is  the  strong  ground  upon  which  the  reforma- 
 tion (which  they  call  heresy*)  is  founded. 
 
 *  Acts  xxiv.  14.  "  But  this  I  confess  unto  thee,  that  after 
 the    way   which   they   call  BERFsr,  so  worship  I  the  God  of  my 
 
233 
 
 "  Come  out  of  her,  my  people,  that  ye  be  not 
 partakers  of  her  sins,  and  that  ye  receive  not 
 of  her  plagues." — It  is  the  same  almost  verb- 
 ally as  that  which  Jeremiah  addressed  to  Ba- 
 bylon of  Chaldea. — "  Flee  out  of  the  midst  of 
 Babylon i  and  deliver  every  man  his  soul,  be 
 not  cut  off  in  her  iniquity.  For  this  is  the 
 time  of  the  Lord's  vengeance ;  he  will  render 
 unto  her  a  recompence*  For  her  judgment 
 reacheth  unto  heaven,  and  is  lifted  up  even 
 unto  the  skies."*  In  ver.  36,  he  seems  to 
 represent  both  the  witnesses,  the  objects  of 
 her  persecution,  crying  to  heaven  for  justice 
 against  her.  "  The  violence  done  to  me  and 
 to  my  flesh,  be  upon  Babylon,  shall  the  in- 
 habitant of  Zion  say  ;  and  my  blood  upon  the 
 inhabitants  of  Chaldea,  shall  Jerusalem  say."f 
 And  by  the  same  figure  St  John  has  repre- 
 sented the  souls  under  the  altar,  which  had 
 been  slain  for  the  testimony  of  Jesus,  crying 
 
 fathers,  believing  all  things  which  are  written  in  the  law  and 
 the  prophets."     But  they  worship  a  strange  god,  which  their 
 fathers  hneiu  not,   and  trample  under  their  feet  the  scriptures, 
 le  they  unwittingly  are  fulfilling  them. 
 *  Jer.  li.  6.  f  Jer.  li.  35. 
 
 n  h  2 
 
234 
 
 to  God  to  hasten  the  time  for  the  avenging 
 of  thtir  blood  upon  the  murderous  city  and 
 confederacy  of  Babylon.*  And  satisfaction 
 in  due  time  is  engaged  to  be  given  to  them. 
 For  "  as  Babylon  hath  caused  the  slain  of  Is- ' 
 rael  to  fall,  so  at  Babylon  shall  fall  the  slain 
 of  all  the  earth"  \  The  avenging  sword  shall 
 pursue  her  through  all  the  nations  of  which 
 her  holy  league  is  made  up. 
 
 In  allusion  to  the  double  calamity  that  is  to 
 cause  her  final  destruction,  a  warning  is  given 
 to  such  of  them  as  have  escaped  the  first,  to 
 beware  of  the  second,  which  will  soon  folio w 
 
 *  Rev.  vi.  10. 
 
 — — — — Tantoene  anjmis  ccelestibus  irrc  :•        'Vir. 
 
 Can  heavenly  souls  dark  enmities  retain  ? 
 
 To  heav'n  for  vengeance  sue  ? — and  sue  in  vain  : 
 
 This  figure  of  the  souls  under  the  altar,  (that  is,  in  the  peculi- 
 ar keeping  of  the  Almighty  ;  for  "  precious  in  the  sight  of 
 the  Lord  is  the  death  of  his  saints,")  is  not  intended  to  con- 
 vey an  idea  of  revenge  upon  their  murderers,  but  only  more 
 strongly  to  express  a  very  general  sentiment,  as  more  peculiar- 
 ly true  in  this  case,  "  that  the  guilt  of  innocent  blood  has  a  voice 
 which  sooner  or  later  will  be  heard-"   (Gen.  iv.  10*) 
 
 •J-  Jer.  li-  -If) 
 
235 
 
 it.  "  Ye  that  have  escaped  the  sword,  go 
 Away, — stand  not  stilly  remember  the  Lord 
 ajar  off, — and  let  Jerusalem  come  into  your 
 m'wdr*  Remember  that  Christ  will  avenge 
 his  church,  and  that  the  time  is  come.  So  St 
 John  represents  her  interested  partisans  as  be« 
 wailing  her  sad  doom,  and  <c  standing  afar  off 
 for  fear  of  her  torment?  \  But  to  the  faith- 
 ful the  holy  Spirit  gives  a  caution  against  any- 
 needless  fellowship  with  these  works  of  dark- 
 ness. "  Depart  ye, — depart  ye, — go  ye  out 
 from  thence.  Touch  no  unclean  thing ;  go  ye 
 out  of  the  midst  of  her ;  be  ye  clean,  that  bear 
 the  vessels  of  the  Lord. "J  Ye  that  profess 
 the  genuine  faith  of  the  gospel.  And  again, 
 chap,  xlviii.  20, — "  Go  ye  forth  of  Babylon, 
 fee  ye  from  the  Chaldeans.  There  is  no  peace, 
 saith  the  Lord,  unto  the  wicked:"  When 
 the  judgment  begins,  there  will  then  be  no 
 long  or  perfect  interval  of  respite  until  the 
 ^nd  of  it. 
 
 The  prophet  Malachi  indeed  seems  to  al- 
 lude to  an  attempt  at  the  perfect  restoration 
 
 *  Jcr  li.  50.         \  Rev.  xviii.  IS.  •      $  Isai.  lii.  11, 
 
236 
 
 of  the  antichristian  power  and  greatness,  after 
 its  decline  and  consumption  hath  been  very 
 far  advanced ;  which  seems  also  to  be  the 
 purport  of  other  prophecies,  as  I  have  else- 
 where shewn.*  To  this  deceitful  peace  and 
 partial  triumph,  just  before  her  utter  destruc- 
 tion, perhaps  the  double  fall  predicted  to  Ba- 
 bylon may  refer.  "  Whereas  Edom  saithy 
 we  are  impoverished^  but  we  will  return,  and 
 build  the  desolate  places" — (we  will  set  up  the 
 despoiled  shrines  and  altars  of  the  saints  again, 
 resume  the  church  lands  and  monastic  pro- 
 perty, and  renew  all  our  claims  and  ecclesias- 
 tical immunities,  of  which  the  heretics  first, 
 and  the  sweeping  scourge  afterwards  depriv- 
 ed us,  in  the  day  when  God  afflicted  holy 
 
 church). "  But   thus    saith    the   Lord   of 
 
 Hosts.  They  shall  build,  but  I  will  throw 
 down  ;  and  they  shall  call  them — the  bor- 
 der   of    wickedness,*!" — and  the  people 
 
 *  Section  vii.  p.  203,  &c. 
 
 -}-  It  is  evident  that  no  such  name  hath  brer:  given  to  the 
 country  of  Idumea,  or  any  other ;  and  this  is  one  strong  proof 
 amongst  others,  that  the  opinion  of  the  jews,  in  giving  the  name 
 of  Edom  to  Rome,  is  founded  upon  a  correct  appre 
 
237 
 
 against  whom  the  Lord  hath  Indignation  for 
 ever,  * 
 
 The  jews,  though  excessively  wicked,  and 
 having  upon  their  heads  the  guilt  of  that  sa- 
 cred blood  by  which  we  are  redeemed,  yet 
 (as  St  Paul  argues  in  their  favor,)  "  they  did 
 it  in  unbelief" — They  have  borne  their  own 
 burden  on  that  account,  and  their  posterity 
 after  them  have  sustained  the  weight  of  their 
 fathers  curse.  Yet  the  jews  were  not  cut  off 
 totally  and  finally,  with  marks  of  detestation 
 and  perpetual  abhorrence.  But  at  this  day, 
 the  remnant  that  hath  escaped,  are  the 
 heirs  of  glorious  and  comfortable  promises. 
 But  of  them  that  oppressed  them  God  will 
 
 these  prophecies,  although  they  continue  blind  to  those  which 
 concern  themselves.  This  is  a  very  common  species  of  blind- 
 ness.— 
 
 ■  Suus  cuiq.  attributus  est  error  : 
 
 Sed  non  videmus  manticae  quod  in  tergo.est. 
 
 Catull. 
 
 Where  others  err,  we  safely  hit  the  blot : 
 Where  we  ourselves,  wc  comprehend  it  not. 
 
 *  Malachi  i.  4>. 
 
238 
 
 make  a  full  end,  and  consign  them  to  a  curse^ 
 from  the  effects  of  which,  there  is  no  restora- 
 tion. But  they  will  remain  a  perpetual  op- 
 probrium, and  a  monument  of  the  divine  de- 
 testation and  wrath,  after  the  example  of  So- 
 do.u,  even  to  the  end  of  the  world.  They 
 shall  be  called  "  the  border  of  wicked- 
 ness,"— "  the  people  against  whom  God  hath 
 
 INDIGNATION    FOR    EFER,1 "  the  people    of 
 
 his  jvrath"* — "  the  men  of  his  curse"t — 
 a  seed  of  falsehood, — the  sons  of  the  sorcer- 
 ess and  the  wuore,% — and  in  general  an  hy~ 
 pocritical  nation,  wholly  devoid  of  conscience 
 and  truth. 
 
 In  perfect  consistency  with  these  opprobri- 
 ous epithets  of  abhorrence,  and  with  St  Paul's 
 picture  of  the  man  of  sin,  "sitting  in  the 
 temple  of  God,  and  shewing  himself  that  he  is 
 God"  is  that  mystical  representation  of  the 
 church  in  Zechariah  v.  6. — In  holy  vision 
 the  prophet  sees  an  Ephah,  the  type  of  the 
 church,  and  a  woman  sitting  in  the  midst  of 
 
 *  Isai.  x.  (.;.  f  Isaij  xxxiv.  5-  %  Isai,  lvii.  2. 
 
239 
 
 the  epbah,  as  St  Paul's  man  of  sin,  or  the 
 pope  upon  the  high  altar  of  St  Peter's  church 
 at  Rome.  Upon  inquiry  into  the  meaning  of 
 the  vision,  he  is  answered — "  this  is  wick- 
 edness."— This  is  blasphemy,  idolatry,  im- 
 piety personified.  "  And  he  said,  moreover 
 this  is  their  resemblance  through  all  the  earth." 
 This  is  a  true  type,  a  just  estimate  of  the  state 
 of  religion  through  the  whole  circuit  of  the 
 toman  world,  or  catholic  spiritual  empire. 
 
 After  this  a  weight  of  lead  is  cast  upon  the 
 ephah,  to  which  various  interpretations  may 
 be  given.  It  may  signify  the  long  duration 
 and  firm  establishment  of  that  corruption  of 
 religion,  as  lead  is  the  most  durable  of  metals. 
 — The  heavy  oppression  with  which  it  shall 
 crush  the  church  under  its  dominion. — The 
 endeavours  of  the  apostate  powers  to  prevent 
 the  reformation  of  the  church,  in  its  attempts 
 to  rise ; — or,  lastly,  the  heavy  weight  of  the 
 divine  judgments,  under  which  the  apostacy 
 itself  shall  at  last  sink  into  perdition,  like  a 
 ponderous  millstone  thrown  into  the  sea. 
 
 VOL.  II.  I   I 
 
240 
 
 The  restoration  of  the  church  and  true  re- 
 ligion of  the  gospel,  is  afterwards  revealed, 
 under  the  type  of  two  women*  flying  upon 
 the  wings  of  the  wind,  the  emblem  of  the 
 two  witnesses,  raised  to  life  and  called 
 up  to  heaven,  that  is,  the  two  pure  and  re- 
 formed churches  of  the  protestants  and  the 
 jews  converted  to  Christ.  These  supported 
 by  the  power  and  providence  of  God,  lift  up 
 the  sunken  and  long  debased  ephah,  now 
 freed  from  its  odious  burden,  and  bear  it 
 away  "  to  build  it  an  house  in  the  land  of  Shi- 
 ?iar"  To  raise  an  establishment  where  true 
 religion  and  faith  shall  flourish  from  thence  to 
 the  end  of  time.f 
 
 *  A  woman  is  the  common  and  well  known  emblem  of  the 
 church,  the  pure  churches  especially,  (Rev.  xii.  1,)  but  the 
 corrupt  churches  of  Rome,  and  of  Israel  (as  churches)  are  so 
 represented  also — Rev.  stvii.  4,  Ezek,  xxiii.  4. 
 
 -j-  "  The  land  of Shinar"  being  mentioned  as  the  destination 
 of  these  two  embassadors  of  truth,  seems  to  agree  with  Eze- 
 kiel's  prophecy  explained  above,  (Sect.  v.  p,  145,)  that  the 
 jetus  shall  be  establislxd  in  their  oiun  land,  in  a  state  of  great 
 prosperity  and  happiness,  and  be  honored  as  the  fountain  head 
 of  true  religion,  and  the  mother  church  ;  receiving  the  wester* 
 Churches  into  herbosom,  as  sisters  and  as  daughters. 
 
241 
 
 To  conclude  this  subject,  after  the  strong 
 and  abundant   evidence  that  has  been  pro- 
 duced, I  think  the  charge  of  credulity   will 
 not  lie  against  those  persons,  who  (with  the 
 authority  of  many  learned  men  on  their  side, 
 and   the  admission  of  most  catholics  them- 
 selves,) believe  that  by  the  mystic  Baby- 
 lon of  St  John  is  meant  Rome  ;  but  rather 
 against  those  who  can  be  persuaded  of  the 
 contrary.     And  if  this  be   admitted,  it   will 
 follow  that  the  prophecies  quoted  by  St  John 
 and  applied  to  Babylon  which  was  to  rise 
 after  his  time^  do  belong  not  to  pagan  but 
 papal  Rome;  because  in  the  latter  applica- 
 tion they  have  a  very  close  and  striking  agree- 
 ment, but  in  the  former  none  at  all. 
 
 The  ephah  was  a  measure  of  corn,  and  bread  is  the  staff  of 
 life,  as  the  church  is  the  outward  means  by  which  spiritual  sus- 
 tenance is  provided  for  our  souls.  The  emblem  signifies  a  cor- 
 ruption of  that  which  should  be  the  life  of  the  world.  The 
 ssme  is  taught  under  the  emblems  of  the  waters  made  bitter 
 and  deadly,  (Rev,  viii.  11,)  turned  into  blood,  &c,  (Rev.  xvi. 
 6.)  See  "  the  miraculous  image  of  our  lady  of  Candelaria." 
 — Glas's  Hist,  of  the  Canary  Islands,  book  iii.  chap.  4,  and 
 pari  2,  chap.  viii.  p.  237. 
 
 112 
 
242 
 
 On  light  and  unimportant  occasions,  it  is 
 not  consistent  with  the  wisdom  of  God  to 
 give  to  the  world  such  numerous  and  strong 
 evidences  of  his  ever  present  agency,  and  in- 
 visible power  and  godhead,  as  must  arise  to 
 us  from  the  contemplation  of  prophecies  of 
 this  extensive  range,  and  compiled  trom  pre- 
 ceding prophecies,  in  an  almost  chronologi- 
 cal ana  nibtorical  exactness  of  arrangement  ; 
 with  the  addition  of  many  explanatory  cirr 
 cumstances,  and  references  to  the  originals 
 themselves  for  further  elucidation. — But  with 
 confidence  it  may  be  pronounced,  that  the 
 lise  of  such  an  apostacy  jrom  the  faith  of 
 Christy  as  St  Paul  has  foreshewn  in  his  man 
 of  sin,  and  St  John  in  the  beast  and  his 
 image,  affords  an  occasion  worthy  of  such 
 an  interposition  of  the  Deity ;  in  order  to 
 give  the  needful  forewarning  to  his  faithful 
 servants,  and  to  vindicate  from  rash  censure 
 the  providence  a?id  distributive  justice  of  the 
 Supreme  Ruler.  And  the  unity  of  plan  and 
 design,  the  wonderful  harmony  and  consist- 
 ency in  every  part,   which  subsists   between 
 
243 
 
 the  preceding  system  of  ancient  prophecy, 
 and  what  (comparatively  speaking)  we  n  ay- 
 call  modern,  or  evangelical  prophecy  ;  (rhat  is 
 to  say,  all  that  has  been  delivered  in  toe  last 
 days  themselves,  of  which  the  former  make  so 
 frequent  mention  ;)  and  at  the  same  time  die 
 strict  agreement  of  both  with  historical  facts, 
 and  with  the  present  state  of  the  world  ;  af- 
 fords a  strong  and  increasing  testimony  to  the 
 truth  of  divine  revelation,  and  a  source  of  con- 
 tinual glory  and  praise  to  God  and  the  Lamb. 
 "  Thine,  O  Lord,  is  the  greatness,  and  the 
 power,  and  the  glory,  and  the  victory,  and 
 the  majesty :  for  all  that  is  in  the  heaven, 
 and  the  earth  is  thine.  Thine-  is  the  king- 
 dom, O  Lord,  and  thou  art  exalted  as  Head 
 above  all."  (i  Chron.  xxix.  u.) 
 
SECTION   XXIX. 
 
 The  silence  of  our  Lord  upon  the  subject  of  Anti- 
 christ accounted  for. — His  allusions  to  anti- 
 christianism  being  prophetic,  were  designed  to 
 be  explained  by  time  and  events. — The  solution 
 ef  some  peculiarities  in  our  Lord's  conduct ,  upon 
 the  supposition  of  an  intended  allusion  to  the 
 Marian  Idolatry.— 'And  of  some  difficulties  in 
 his  preceptive  discourses,  by  a  reference  to  the  su- 
 perstitious abuses  of  Popery, 
 
 -BEFORE  I  proceed  in  any  further  reflec- 
 tions upon  the  prophecies,  that  are  applicable 
 to  the  acknowledged  corruptions  and  great 
 degeneracy  of  the  church  of  Rome,  from  the 
 original  truth  and  simplicity  of  the  gospel,  it 
 may  be  necessary  to  advert  to  an  obvious  ob- 
 jection that  may  be  offered  against  admitting 
 such  an  interpretation  of  them.  It  will  be 
 thought  a  matter  of  some  difficulty,  perhaps, 
 
245 
 
 if  this  application  be  well  founded,  to  account 
 for  the  apparent  silence  of  our  blessed  Lord 
 himself  upon  a  subject  in  which  the  interests 
 of  his  church  were  to  be  so  deeply  involved. 
 For  Antichrist,  whoever  he  be,  is  not  an  in- 
 significant adversary,  or  beneath  the  notice  of 
 the  master  of  the  house,  whose  servants  were 
 to  be  so  roughly  handled  by  him,  and  that  for 
 so  long  a  period  as  1260  years. 
 
 But  this  difficulty  is  rather  imaginary  than 
 real.  There  is  a  suitable  time  for  all  things, 
 and  our  blessed  Lord,  in  the  fulness  of  his  di- 
 vine wisdom  forbore  to  mention  many  things 
 of  equal  importance  with  this,  for  various  rea- 
 sons, and  particularly  that  principal  one ;  that 
 the  minds  of  his  disciples  were  not  yet 
 prepared  to  receive  such  communications  in 
 any  other  than  an  allusive  and  parabolical 
 way.* — "  /  have  yet  many  things  (which  I 
 could  wish)  to  say  unto  you,  but  ye  cannot  bear 
 them  now ;  howbeit,  when  he,  the  Spirit  of 
 truth    is  come,    he    will  guide  you    into    all 
 
 *  That  this  was  his  manner,  see  John  xi.  1-1 ;  x,  24- ;  xvi. 
 25,  29i 
 
240 
 
 truth?'*  The  wisdom  of  Christ  was  in  such 
 instances  to  the  full  as  manifestly  evinced  in 
 his  withholding  communications  that  were 
 improperly  required  of  him,  as  by  those 
 which  he  personally  and  explicitly  revealed  ; 
 and  the  crafty  enemies  which  continually  lay 
 upon  the  watch  to  urge  him  to  speak  hastily 
 upon  difficult:  questions,  that  he  might  drop 
 some  unguarded  expression,  were  as  much 
 disappointed  by  his  forbearance,  as  when  he 
 spoke  they  were  put  to  shame  by  his  an- 
 swers. 
 
 That  he  should  never  have  said  any  thing 
 very  expressly  of  the  latter  times,  and  of  the 
 great  APOSTACY  which  was  to  come,  is 
 not  at  all  to  be  wondered  at,  when  we  con- 
 sider the  circumstances  of  the  times,  the  ha- 
 tred of  the  jews,  the  jealousy  of  the  romans, 
 and  the  fears  and  weakness  of  the  first  be- 
 lievers. Owing  to  their  national  prejudices, 
 his  own  disciples  were  very  slow  of  belief, 
 and  very  reluctant  to  receive  some  of  the  dis- 
 
 *  John  :-:vi.  12. 
 
247 
 
 agreeable  truths  which  absolute  necessity  re- 
 quired him  to  communicate  to  them.*  Yet 
 as  they  were  near  at  hand,  their  minds  must 
 by  frequent  mention  of  these  things,  be  won 
 by  degrees  to  the  belief  of  them.  "  that  when 
 they  should  come  to  pass,  they  might  remember 
 that  he  had  told  them  of  them"  and  not  be  in- 
 clined, after  the  ill  example  of  too  many,  to 
 cast  off  their  faith  in  him  all  together,  when 
 they  should  fmd  it  beset  with  difficulties  and 
 dangers,  of  which  they  had  not  been  before 
 apprised,  and  encouraged  to  the  endurance  of 
 them  by  the  most  infallible  assurance  of  a 
 great  reward. 
 
 We  find  them  readily  acfeadwledging  their 
 own  want  of  faith  and  christian  fortitude  dur- 
 ing his  continuance  with  them.  They  could 
 not  bear  to  hear  him  delivering  those  humili- 
 ating doctrines  of  his  own  approaching  pas- 
 sion and  death,  and  the  personal  sufferings 
 they  themselves  must  expect  to  meet  with, 
 by  a  constant    adherence   to   his   persecuted 
 
 *  Matt,  xvi.  21  ;— Mark  viii.  31,  &c. 
 VOL.  II.  K    K 
 
24S 
 
 doctrine  and  cause.  He  had  occasion  to  say 
 to  even  the  most  zealous  of  them,  "  will-  ye 
 also  go  awayf — and  sometimes  with  a  tran- 
 sient anger  at  the  selfish  and  worldly  spirit 
 which  then  actuated  them,  to  reproach  them, 
 u  how  long  shall  I  be  with  you>  how  long 
 shall  I  suffer  you?"  when  he  found  their 
 minds  occupied  with  idle  contentions  about 
 precedency,  and  greatness  in  his  promised 
 kingdom ;  which  they  still  expected  accord- 
 ing to  the  glowing  descriptions  of  its  state  in 
 the  glorious  millennium,  as  delivered  by  the 
 prophets.  Even  after  he  had  actually  suffer- 
 ed all  these  things,  and  was  so  risen  again  as 
 he  had  foretold,  he  had  occasion  to  offer  va- 
 rious means  of  conviction,  before  he  could 
 subdue  their  incredulity ;  saying  to  them,  "  O 
 fools  !  and  slow  of  heart  to  believe  all  that 
 the  prophets  have  spoken  !  Ought  not  Christ 
 thus  to  have  suffered  ?" — is  not  this  the  sense 
 of  your  own  prophets,  and  the  spiritual  mean- 
 ing of  innumerable  types,  and  of  the  whole 
 structure  of  your  law,  and  of  the  ordinances 
 of  your  religion? — Then  he,  for  the  first 
 time,   fully  opened   their   understandings   to 
 
249 
 
 the  sense  of  all  the  scriptures  relating  to  these 
 principal  facts,  that  were  to  distinguish  the 
 last  times,  or  the  dispensation  of  the  gos- 
 pel, in  this  early  part  of  it. 
 
 If  we  duly  consider  these  things,  we  shall 
 no  longer  wonder  that  our  Lord  should  have 
 refrained  from  saying  any  thing  himself,  so 
 expressly  as  St  Paul  has  done  some  years  af- 
 terwards, of  the  coming  of  Antichrist. — There 
 was  no  need  at  all  of  this  great  additional 
 difficulty  to  be  thrown  in  their  way  by  our 
 Lord  himself.  And  we  find  him  teaching  St 
 Peter,  by  a  vision,  so  necessary  a  truth  as 
 that  the  gentile  world  was  to  be  admitted  into 
 the  hope  of  salvation  by  the  gospel,  even  after 
 his  own  ascension  into  heaven.  Jesus  had 
 taught  them  this  doctrine  before,  by  many 
 parables,  which  he  had  explained  to  them  af- 
 terwards in  private  conference,  as  far  as  pre- 
 sent circumstances  and  common  prudence 
 would  admit ;  and  we  shall  find  that  he  had 
 not  neglected  to  take  the  same  method  of  in- 
 culcating the  doctrine  of  Antichrist,  a  still 
 more  delicate  point,  and  reserved  for  a  future 
 
 K  K  2 
 
250 
 
 time,  and  another  method  of  communicating 
 a  fuller  account  of  it. 
 
 The  prejudices  of  the  apostles  themselves 
 we  continually  find,  required  some  time  to  be 
 worn  out,  and  fresh  communications  were 
 made  to  them  by  the  Comforter,  the  Spirit  of 
 wisdom  and  divine  inspiration,  as  fresh  occa- 
 sion for  them  occurred.  That  the  doctrine 
 of  Antichrist,  therefore,  should  have  been  one 
 of  the  latest  communications  made,  and  have 
 been  committed  rather  to  the  apostle  of  the 
 gentiles,  than  to  any  other  of  the  sacred  col- 
 lege, except  St  John,  at  a  considerable  dis- 
 tance of  time  afterwards ;  is  every  way  agree- 
 able to  that  divine  wisdom,  which  appears 
 (upon  a  full  and  fair  consideration)  in  the 
 disposition  and  regulation  of  the  gospel  ceco- 
 nomy. 
 
 But  though  our  Saviour  has  not  so  far  no- 
 ticed his  great  and  formidable  enemy,  (in  that 
 brief  account  we  have  in  the  gospel  history  of 
 his  doctrine,)  as  to  give  us  his  genealogy,  or 
 even  to  mention  his  name,  yet  he  has  drop- 
 
251 
 
 ped  many  hints  and  allusions  to  the  principal 
 features  of  the  antichristian  apostacy,  which, 
 like  his  dark  parables  to  the  jews,  may  be  bet- 
 ter understood  by  us  now,  than  they  could  be 
 by  them,  even  if  prudence  had  permitted  a 
 fuller  explanation  of  them  to  be  made  by 
 himself.  Those  parables  were  prophetic,  and 
 could  not  be  clearly  expounded  except  by  the 
 events,  which,  when  they  took  place,  were 
 destructive  to  the  persons  to  whom  they  were 
 particularly  addressed.  And  his  allusions  to 
 antichristianism  are  many  of  them  in  a  simi- 
 lar predicament ;  and  can  all  of  them  be  bet- 
 ter apprehended  by  a  comparison s  with  the 
 apostacy  itself,  than  they  cou]d  have  been 
 by  any  explanations  given  by  our  blessed 
 Lord,  so  long  before  it  appeared.  Hints  and 
 allusions  to  existing  errors,  and  cautions  against 
 similar  hypocrisy  and  wickedness,  was  all  that 
 our  blessed  Lord  could  consistently  deliver  on 
 such  a  subject ;  and  these  are  both  frequent 
 and  strikingly  obvious  in  his  teaching. 
 
 St  Paul  himself  has  said  but  a  little  of  An?- 
 tichrist,  but  that  little,  when  compared  with 
 
253 
 
 die  scriptures  of  the  prophets  to  which  it  al- 
 ludes, contains  in  it  a  great  deal.  St  John, 
 the  last  of  the  sacred  penmen,  has  opened  the 
 evil  to  the  very  bottom,  in  his  last  work,  and 
 in  terms  so  highly  mystical,  that  his  book  was 
 riot  generally  admitted  into  the  sacred  canon 
 until  the  fullest  canvass  of  its  authenticity  had 
 established  its  claim,  after  the  lapse  of  consid- 
 erable time.  However  if  some  scruples  on 
 this  head  might  (from  the  circumstances  of 
 the  time)  have  arisen  to  the  primitive  chris- 
 tians, there  can  be  none  to  us  now ;  for  the 
 book  has  abundantly  proved  its  own  truth 
 and  divine  authority,  by  the  regular  fulfil- 
 ment of  the  prophecies  it  contains,  as  far  as 
 the  time  has  yet  elapsed,  which  leaves  no 
 doubt  remaining  as  to  that  which  is  yet  to 
 come. 
 
 It  is  not  to  be  supposed  but  there  must 
 have  been  ever  present  to  the  mind  of  oul 
 Lord  himself,  a  vivid  idea  of  the  great  apos- 
 tacy  which  was  to  disfigure  his  gospel,  and 
 defeat,  in  a  very  great  degree,  the  effect  of  all 
 that  he  was  come  into  the  world  to  do.  and 
 
253 
 
 to  suffer,  for  the  enlightening  of  mankind  and 
 the  salvation  of  souls.  The  gross  idolatry, 
 which  in  the  catholic  communion  has  been 
 paid  to  the  saints  and  martyrs,  and  chief  of 
 all,  to  his  mother,  the  blessed  Virgin  Mary, 
 must  have  been  foreknown  to  him,  to  whom 
 all  things  were  known,  and  who  "  needed  not 
 that  any  one  should  testify  to  him  what  (capa- 
 bilities of  error)  were  in  man"* 
 
 It  is  upon  this  idea  that  some  have  account- 
 ed for  that  seeming  unkindness  and  neglect, 
 with  which  in  one  or  two  instances,  recorded 
 in  the  gospels,  (perhaps  by  a  peculiar  designa- 
 tion of  the  holy  Spirit,)  he  seems  to  have  re- 
 garded the  blessed  Virgin. — As  if  it  had  been 
 his  design  prophetically  to  point  out  to  no- 
 tice, in  a  striking  manner,  by  his  personal  con- 
 duct, as  well  as  his  words,  the  gross  and  wick- 
 ed errors  which  have  been  since  built  upon  her 
 supposed  favor  with  God,  and  alledged  superi- 
 ority, by  maternal  right  to  Christ  her  son,  so 
 
 *  John  ii.  25. 
 
254 
 
 as  to  lay  her  commands  upon  her  Saviour.* 
 There  are  in  popish  missals  many  idolatrous 
 intercessions  to  the  Virgin  Mary  to  that  blas- 
 phemous effect ;  and  her  worship  at  length 
 arose  to  such  an  height  of  estimation,  by  the 
 
 *  In  a  book  written  by  a  capuchin  friar,  and  printed  in  en- 
 glish  (permhiu  superiorum)   anno   1639,  and  dedicated  to  the 
 lady  Audley,  intitled  "  an  admirable  method  to  love,  serve,  and 
 honour  the  blessed  Virgin  Mary,   (p.  53,)  we  have  a  de- 
 licate specimen  of  right  and  true  popish  divinity. — "  There 
 is  none  saved  without  you,  O  blessed  Virgii  !" — says  this  idola- 
 ter,— "  none  delivered  from  their  grievances  but  by  you, — none 
 but  by  your  mediation  receives  any  gift  from  God. — 'None  but 
 at  your  suit  obtains  forgiveness  of  their  sins; — and  at  page  57, 
 he  says,  "  all  the  help  of  human  kind  consists  in  the  multitude 
 of  favors  and  graces  of  the  blessed  Mary  ;" — page  58,  "  all 
 the  world  acknowledges  her  the  only  refuge  of  the  miserable, 
 and  the  aim  to  which  all  christian  people  diiect  their  vows  and 
 ardentest  desires.      Knowing  for  certain  she  can  do  all  she  will. 
 For  which  reason  all  soits  have  recourse  to  her,  as  their  chief 
 treasure   in    heaven,  the  souree   wheiice  all  their  graces 
 spring  ;" —  page  60,  she  is  again  "  unlimited  in  her  power  ;" — 
 and  page  61,   "omnipotent   in  her  advocation  "     Yet  notwith- 
 standing all  these  strong  sayings,  the  iuspired  psalmist  says  of 
 another,  (Ps.  Ixxiii.  25.)  whom  have  1  in  heaven  but  thee?  and 
 there  is  none  upon   earth  that  I  desire,   in  comparison  with 
 thee." — And  many  christians  think  as  he  does,  although  this 
 divine  will  have  it  that  they  are  all  Marianists.     Thus  do 
 they  "  blaspheme  them  that  dwell  in  heaven!"   (  Rev.  xiii.  6.) 
 
%33 
 
 repeated  encouragement  of  popes  and  coun- 
 cils, and  encomiums  of  the  ecclesiastics,  and 
 the  lying  visions  and  pretended  miracles  of 
 the  monks,  that  litanies  to  her  service  were 
 composed,    and    indulgences   granted  to   her 
 
 See  Sect.  xxvi.  p.  1  SI. — The  hymns  to  the  blessed  Virgin, 
 and  the  "  Psakerium  beat'teVirgV — in  which  all  the  Psalms  are 
 addressed  to  her,  by  an  idolater  who  is  himself  a  canonized  saint, 
 and  an  idol  for  other  idolaters  to  worship. 
 
 Their  devotion  to  the  Virgin  knows  no  bounds.  They  say 
 ten  Ave  Maria's  to  one  Pater  Noster,  and  call  upon  her 
 forty  times  oftner  than  upon  Christ  — ''  O  Mary,  the  star  of 
 the  sea," — "  the  haven  of  health," — "  the  learnedest  advocate 
 of  the  guilty," — "  the  only  hope  of  the  desperate" — "  the  sa- 
 viour of  sinners  !" i*  Thou  callest  thyself  the  handmaid 
 
 of  Jesus  Christ,  but  art  his  lady,  (or  mistress,)  for  right  and 
 reason  willeth  that  the  mother  be  above  the  son.  Therefore  pray 
 him  humbly,  and  command  him  from  above,  that  he  lead  us  to 
 his  kingdom  at  the  world's  end." — Antidotar.  Animxp,  101. 
 et  alibi. 
 
 Their  idolatry  of  the  dead  saints  (of  whom  it  is  known  that 
 many  thousands'*  in  their  Mahuzzimology  never  had  any  ex- 
 istence, except  in  the  brains  of  the  lying  legend  writers,)  comes 
 little  short  of  this.  In  their  prayer  book  intitled  "  Horse  se- 
 cund.  usum  Rom."  is  a  beautiful  prayer  to. St  Claud. — "■'•  0  ■! 
 desalatorum,  iffc. — O  !  .comforter  of  the  desolate,  deliverer  of 
 captives,  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  the  salvation  of  all  that  hops 
 inthec,\\o\y   Claud,  pray  for- us."      This  gentleman   (or   lady) 
 
 *  Not  c-ccntin.-  St.  Ursula  and  her  ten  thousand  virgins,  nor 
 the  three  kings  of  Colen. 
 
 VOL.  II,  H 
 
256 
 
 worshippers,  to  the  eclipsing  of  the  glory  of 
 the  supreme  God  himself,  and  making  the 
 mediation  and  redemption  achieved  by  Christ 
 a  matter  of  mere  secondary  consideration. 
 
 though  not  of  our  acquaintance,  is  doubtless  of  chief  rank 
 amongst  the  Mahuzzim,  since  he  makes  quite  free  with  the  pe- 
 culiar titles  and  offices  of  t  he  Son  of  God,  Can  there  remain 
 any  doubt  that  the  gods  of  these  heathens  are  devils?  seeing  they 
 receive  such  worship  as  this  ? — See  Sect.  vii.  p.  194. 
 
 It  is  notorious  that  they  have  assigned  to  each  of  them  his 
 peculiar  post  and  tutelage,  as  the  heathens  before  them  did  to 
 their  idols,   In  war  they  called  upon  Mars, — Esculapius  in  sick- 
 ness,— Lucina  in  parturition, — Cloacina  in  &c.  •        So  in  po- 
 pery, St  Agatha  is  good  for  sore  breasts, — St  Appollonia  cure* 
 the  tooth  ach, — St  Anthony  inflammations,  &c.     Every  spe- 
 eies  of  cattle  has  also  its  own  patron  saint,  according  to  the 
 rhyme- 
 To  St  Syth  for  my  purse, 
 St  Loy  save  my  horse, 
 For  my  teeth  to  St  Appolline, 
 St  Job  for  the  pox, 
 St  Luke  save  mine  ox, 
 And  St  Anthony  keep  my  swine. 
 
 Blasphemy  is  justly  chargeable  upon  popery,  for  the  impious 
 titles  given  to  the  pope,  but  they  have  deserved  it  equally  on 
 the  score  of  the  saints,  and  even  some  not  accounted  such.^- 
 Thus  Wisellus  of  Gronincek,  a  learned  man  of  his  time, 
 was  decorated  with  our  Saviour's  title  of  Lux  Mundi,~—U  Tht 
 light  of  the  world."     And  one  in  our  own  time  has  made  bold 
 
m 
 
 Much  as  our  blessed  Lord  must  have  loved 
 his  mother  for  her  piety  and  faith,  yet  he  of- 
 ten gave  the  most  significant  intimations,  that 
 his  favor  in  the  day  of  judgment  would  be 
 dispensed  by  other  rules  than  the  claims  of 
 kindred,  or  expectations  of  personal  friend- 
 ship on  earth.*  When  he  was  yet  but  twelve 
 years  old,  we  read  that  he  accompanied  his 
 
 with  another  of  his  attributes,  being  called — "  the  prince  op 
 peace  ;" — but  he  is  not  likely  to  have  much  peace  in  the  en- 
 joyment of  the  dangerous  title. 
 
 In  a  book  written  by  Antonius,  archbishop  of  Florence,  in- 
 titled  "  Historical  Sums,"  part  3,  tit.  xxiii,  lib.  l,s.  iii.  there 
 is  a  long  and  blasphemous  comparison  drawn  between  St  Domi- 
 nic (the  barbarous  and  bloody  inquisitor,  who  butchered  many 
 thousands  of  the  innocent  Albigenses,  and  was  canonized  by 
 pope  Gregory  IX.  in  1223,)  and  our  blessed  Lord  Jesus 
 Christ,  with  a  preference  given  to  the  popish  saint.  This  arch- 
 bishop was  himself  canonized. 
 
 That  infamous  book  of  "The  conformities  of  St  Fran- 
 cis with  Christ,  contains  legends  of  him  full  of  the  most  dread- 
 ful blasphemies. — "  This  man,"  says  the  author,  '*  is  the  ex~ 
 amble  of  all  perfection,  whom  the  church  militant  hath  merited 
 to  be  an  advocate  with  God." — That  "  all  are  saved  that 
 die  in  ins  order,  and  under  his  rule.'-*  The  putting  on  the  ha- 
 bit by  him  prescribed,  "  giveth  full  remission  of  sins ,  and  freeth 
 as  well  from  the  punishment  as  from  the  sin.  Christ  hath  praj- 
 <d,  Francis  hath  obtained,  tfc" 
 
 Hist,  of  Popery. 
 •  Matt,  xz,  22, 
 
 h  L  2 
 
258 
 
 - 
 
 parents  to  one  of  the  solemnities  of  their  reli- 
 gion, at  Jerusalem.  Unkindness,  at  such  a 
 time  of  life,  to  a  most  affectionate  mother, 
 was  less  to  have  been  expected,  and  certainly- 
 less  excusable,  had  there  been  a  real  unkind* 
 ness  intended,  and  not  rather  a  lesson  of  in- 
 struction, and  a  design  that  the  circumstance 
 should  be  recorded,  and  be  hereafter  seen  in 
 quite  another  point  of  view. 
 
 Jesus  staid  behind  in  the  temple,  after  his 
 parents  and  their  numerous  friends  had  de- 
 parted. Kere  he  entered  into  disputations 
 with  the  great  luminaries  of  the  Jewish  reli- 
 gion at  that  time,  both  hearing  their  opinions, 
 and  (in  the  manner  of  Socrates)  asking  them 
 questions,  of  such  a  nature,  as  must  necessari- 
 ly lead  them  to  become  instructors  of  them- 
 selves, without  jealousy  or  suspicion  of  their 
 teacher.  Thus  he  would  introduce  them  to 
 new  ideas,  and  lead  them  imperceptibly  to  a 
 more  correct  apprehension  than  the  scribes 
 had  before  of  the  office  of  the  Messias  whom 
 they  expected,  and  of  the  true  meaning  of  the- 
 prophecies  on  that  subject.     For  in  truth  ma- 
 
-259 
 
 ny  of  the  prophecies  were  such  as  could  nevep 
 have  been  understood,  but  for  the  accomplish- 
 ment actually  given  to  them  by  the  mysteri- 
 ous person  and  character  of  Jesus  Christ. — 
 They  seemed  to  clash  with  one  another,  to 
 involve  contrarieties,  and  to  pronounce  im- 
 possibilities. The  jews  have  therefore  been 
 driven  to  the  hard  necessity  of  inventing  the 
 supposition  of  two  Messlas,  of  contrary  cha- 
 racters, and  opposite  fortune  in  the  world  ; 
 though  all  the  prophecies  agree  in  speaking 
 of  Messiah  as  one  person,  and  how  well  they 
 agree  in  all  other  respects,  by  their  accom- 
 plishment in  Jesus  Christ,  almost  the  meanest 
 christian  can  point  out. 
 
 Our  blessed  Saviour  was  especially  remark- 
 able for  that  presence  of  mind,  shall  I  call  it  ? 
 or  rather  that  wisdom  superior  to  every  thing 
 human,  with  which  he  seized  every  subject  of 
 conversation  that  arose,  and  turned  it  to  the  ad- 
 vantage and  edification  of  his  hearers.  This 
 was  therefore  an  opportunity  not  to  be  neg- 
 lected. It  might  be  a  happy  means  of  sof- 
 tening down  some  of  the  strongest  prejudices 
 
260 
 
 of  such  persons  as  were  at  all  of  a  candid  and 
 teachable  disposition,  ordained  (or  disposed) 
 unto  eternal  life,  as  the  gospel  speaks.  And 
 thus  it  might  greatly  facilitate  both  the  ac- 
 ceptance of  Johns  future  preaching  of  the 
 approaching  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  Christ's 
 own  personal  ministry  in  opening  it,  by  the 
 delivery  of  a  system  of  doctrine  too  pure  and 
 disinterested  to  be  at  all  acceptable  to  that  ex- 
 ceedingly corrupt  age. 
 
 Here  was  cause  enough,  had  there  been  no 
 other,  why  "  Jesus  tarried  behind  in  Jerusa- 
 lem," without  giving  notice  to  his  parents  of 
 his  intention,  and  even  suffered  them  to  make 
 one  whole  day's  progress  on  their  journey 
 homewards,  and  to  feel  the  inexpressible 
 pangs  of  parental  terror  and  anxiety  for  the 
 imagined  loss  of  such  a  son.  Neither  did 
 he  at  all  attempt  to  soften  their  resentment, 
 when,  in  so  unlikely  a  situation  for  a  child, 
 they  sought  and  found  him.  But  in  answer 
 to  their  well  founded  complaints  of  his  disre- 
 gard to  their  sorrow  on  his  account,  and  the 
 pains  they  had  bestowed  in  searching  for  him, 
 
161 
 
 he  replied — {<  How  is  it  that  ye  sought  me  ?" 
 - — it  was  with  very  little  propriety  surely,  in 
 persons  who,  by  this  time,  might  have  been 
 expected  to  have  seen  and  understood  some- 
 thing better  of  me : — "  wist  ye  not  that  I  must 
 be  about  my  Father  s  business  ?" 
 
 If  I  am  mistaken  in  imagining  that  there 
 was  such  a  design  in  this  reproof,  (for  a  re- 
 proof it  was,  though  a  mild  one,)  given  by 
 the  child  Jesus  to  his  mother ;  that  it  might 
 abate  something  of  the  superstitious  reverence 
 that  would  one  day  be  paid  her  injuriously 
 to  her  memory,  and  to  the  honor  of  God  ; 
 there  is  one  thing  in  which  no  mistake  will 
 be  charged  upon  me.  That  the  conduct  and 
 language  of  our  divine  Lord  is  not  in  all  res- 
 pects to  be  closely  copied  by  us.  A  similar  re- 
 turn to  parental  fondness  and  anxiety,  in 
 ordinary  cases,  would  be  deserving  of  severe 
 reprehension  in  a  child.  Jesus,  was  well  em- 
 ployed in  this  interval  of  his  unpermitted  ab- 
 sence^ and  even  at  that  early  age  was  possessed 
 of  a  wisdom  capable  of  confounding  and  in- 
 structing the  learned  and  the  aged,  according 
 
262 
 
 to  the  psalmist,* — -"  I  have  more  understanding 
 than  all  my  teachers ;  for  thy  testimonies  are 
 my  meditation.  /  understand  more  than  the 
 ancients  ;  because  I  keep  thy  precepts." — He 
 was  consequently  a  competent  judge  of  all 
 propriety  in  what  concerned  himself. 
 
 Another  instance  which  has  been  remarked, 
 as  if  a  designed  reproof  'was  conveyed,  in  our 
 translation  of  the  passage  does  more,  and  im- 
 plies a  direct  rudeness,  which  is  perhaps  not 
 the  real  meaning  of  the  original.  There  was 
 a  marriage  at  Cana  of  Gallilee,  and  Jesus  and 
 his  disciples  with  the  holy  virgin  were  invited 
 amongst  the  guests,  as  friends,  or  as  some 
 think  as  relatives  of  the  entertainers.  And 
 thus  they  account  for  Mary's  anxious  desire  to 
 save  appearances,  and  conceal  the  defect  in 
 the  entertainment,  when  the  wine  began  to 
 run  short.  She  privately  suggested  to  Jesus 
 that  embarrassing  circumstance,  praying  him, 
 no  doubt,  (but  on  an  occasion  not  very  suit- 
 able) to  exert  that  fulness  of  power  which  was 
 
 *  Psalm  cxix.  90,  100, 
 
263 
 
 to  belong  to  the  Messiah's  office  in  working 
 of  miracles  ;  and  which  Jesus  might'  perhaps, 
 in  private  exposition  of  the  prophecies,  have 
 taught  his  pious  friends  one  day  to  expect 
 from  him. 
 
 The  request,  in  point  of  tenderness  for  the 
 reputation  of  the  parties  concerned,  was  high- 
 ly excusable ;  and  it  was  so  far  even  corn^ 
 mendable,  as  it  implied  a  strong  faith  in  Je-> 
 szis,  that  he  was  indeed  the  Son  of  God  to 
 whom  all  things  were  possible.  But  what  was 
 the  answer  given  ? — u  Woman^  what  have  I 
 to  do  with  theeV — which  seems  to  imply  a 
 censure  conveyed  with  peevishness  as  well  as 
 rudeness.  But  I  conceive  this  not  to  be  the 
 best  rendering  of  the  words  ri  Ipoi  xcci  <roi 
 yvvoci ;  quid  mihi  et  tibi  (rei  est)  mulier  ? 
 The  word  yuvrt  seems  to  have  been  a  familiar 
 term  of  address  to  the  female  sex,  as  madam 
 is  in  the  higher  classes,  and  mistress  in  the 
 lower,  at  this  day.  For  our  Lord  used  the 
 same  word  again  to  his  mother,  upon  an  oc- 
 casion where  no  resentment  or  reproof  could 
 have  any  place,  even  in  the  most  trying  mo- 
 
 VOL.  II.  MM 
 
264 
 
 merits  of  his  passion,  as  he  hung  upon  the 
 cross  in  the  agonies  of  crucifixion. — "  Wo- 
 man, behold  thy  Son."* — Thus  commending 
 his  beloved  mother  (perhaps  after  the  death  of 
 Joseph,)  with  his  last  breath,  to  the  care  of  his 
 affectionate  friend  and  disciple,  St  John.  The 
 sense  of  the  passage  seems  to  be  only  this  : — 
 "  Madam  what  concern  is  it  of  yours  and 
 mine^  that  these  people  have  no  more  wine  ? 
 Besides,  the  season  for  my  exerting  such  a 
 power  of  miracles  as  you  allude  to,  is  not  yet 
 come."f  Even  thus  softened,  and  that  (as  I 
 have  shewn  in  the  note)  contrary  to  the  sense 
 of  our  own  translators,  and  other  good  judges, 
 it  still  conveyed  a  reproofs  and  seemed  also  to 
 
 *  John  xix.  26. 
 
 f  The  same  phrase  occurs  in  Luke  viii.  2S,  and  Matt.  viii. 
 29. — ti  yu~y  xett  vol ;  quid  nobis  (rei  est)  tecum  ? — Where  it 
 evidently  must  bear  the  same  sense  as  our  translators  have 
 given—"  what  have  eve  to  do  ivith  thee  ?"  And  Beza  justly 
 censures  the  translation  of  the  vulgat,  quid  nobis  et  tibi,  as  incor- 
 rect and  barbarous;  which  in  that  place  it  is ;  but  the  same 
 phrase  may  be  differently  rendered  in  different  places. 
 
 Many  of  the  fathers  seem  to  bave  understood  it  with  Beza 
 and  our  translators,  as  a  sharp  censure  of  the  ill  timed  impru- 
 dence of  his  mother,  in  attempting  to  force  him  before  the  pub- 
 lic prematurely,  and  upon  an  occasion  less  worthy  of  a  miracle 
 
265 
 
 intimate  a  determined  refusal.  His  mother, 
 either  not  understanding  it  so,  or  trusting  to 
 the  goodness  of  his  temper,  ventured  to  give 
 orders  to  the  servants  according  to  her  own 
 expectation  and  hopes,  and  the  miracle  was 
 granted  to  her  request. 
 
 There  occurs  another  instance  (of  slight  I 
 will  not  venture  to  say,  but  rather)  of  that 
 invariable  preference  given  by  Jesus  to  faith 
 and  virtue,  before  even  the  strongest  ties  of 
 consanguinity,  so  falsely  estimated  by  the 
 world,  and  of  which,  in  future  ages,  so  cor- 
 rupt an  abuse  would  be  set  up.  As  he  was 
 once  engaged  in  teaching,  his  mother  and 
 his  brethren  unable  to  come  near  him  for  the 
 croud,  sent  to  desire  to  speak  with  him.  Je- 
 sus immediately  took  that  occasion  to  give  a 
 most  significant  innuendo,  if  the  thick  veil  of 
 strong  delusion  and  superstition  on  the  heart 
 
 than  those  he  himself  always  chose,  Athanasius,  in  his  fourth 
 sermon  against  the  Arians,  understands  this  expression  as  indi- 
 cating great  resentment  against  his  mother  ;  and  Augustin,  lib.  2, 
 de  Symb.  cap.  vi.  the  same.  Chrysostom,  hom.  xx«  and  Ira 
 .nseus,  lib.  3,  cap.  xviii.  take  it  for  a  sharp  reproof, 
 
 M  M  Z 
 
2C6 
 
 of  papists  had  not  rendered  it  ineffectual.—- 
 "  Who,  said  he,  is  my  mother,  and  who  are 
 my  brethren  $  Whosoever  shall  do  the  will 
 of  God,  the  same  is  my  brother,  and  sister,  and 
 mother  :"* — as  much  as  to  say,  "  every  faith- 
 ful and  sincere  christian  will  rank  as  high  in 
 my  distribution  of  future  blessedness  and  re- 
 ward, as  if  they  had  been  possessed  of  that 
 claim  to  which  you  falsely  attach  so  great  im- 
 portance, but  which,  in  reality,  will  avail  no- 
 thing to  any  person  in  whom  the  essential 
 requisites  shall  be  found  wanting. 
 
 There  is  one  of  our  Saviour's  precepts 
 wrhich  seems  to  have  in  it  a  striking  allusion 
 to  abuses  and  superstitions  that  were  after- 
 wards to  arise  in  the  church,  and,  indeed, 
 without  understanding  it  in  such  a  sense,  it 
 will  be  somewhat  difficult  to  give  a  good  ac- 
 count of  it.  In  Matt,  xxiii.  9,  he  says,  "  call 
 no  man  your  father  on  earth,  for  one  is  your 
 Father  which  is  in  heaven."  It  could  not 
 have  been  his  design  to  bring  parental  au- 
 
 *  Mark  iii.  31. 
 
267 
 
 thority  into  discredit,  of  which  not  only  he 
 himself  was  observant  in  the  most  exemplary 
 manner,  but  also  strongly  enjoined  obedience 
 to  it  as  a  duty  of  primary  importance,  next  to 
 our  duty  to  God."*     After  the  glory  he  had 
 acquired  at  so  early  an  age,  amongst  the  doc- 
 tors of  the  law  in  the  temple,  he  went  down 
 to  Nazareth  with  his  parents,  and  as  became 
 a  dutiful  child,  sunk  his  own  sublime  qualifi- 
 cations and  unrivalled  wisdom,  in  a  constant 
 subjection  to  their  commands.       Where  he 
 says — u  if  any  man  loveth  father  or  mother 
 more  than  me"—-ory  as  it  is  still  more  strong- 
 ly worded  in  another  place, — "  hate  ?iot  his 
 father  and  mother,  &c.'{  he  cannot  be  my  dis- 
 ciple"    The  meaning  is  obvious.     He  who 
 values  even  his  own  life   preferably  to  his 
 duty  to  Christ,  when  once  they  come  into 
 absolute    competition,   so    that   he    must  re- 
 nounce either  the  one  or  the  other,  is  un- 
 worthy of  him. 
 
 It  may  be  said,  the  word  father,  as  used  in 
 that  place,  has  no  reference  to  parental  author- 
 
 *  Matt,  xv,  4;  xxii.  38,  f  Luke  xiv.  26, 
 
268 
 
 faf*  but  rather  to  the  abuse  of  honorary  titles, 
 as  father  was  a  title  of  respect  towards  superi- 
 ors, anciently  in  use.  (2  Kings  ii.  12,  and  xiii. 
 14.)  Yet  if  this  be  admitted,  there  still  seems 
 a  singularity  in  our  Saviour's  notice  of  it  here, 
 as  titles  of  honorary  distinction  had  immedi- 
 ately before  incurred  his  censure.  There  was 
 nothing  of  superstition  at  that  time  in  the  use 
 of  the  word  father,  or  rabbi,  as  honorary 
 titles ;  for  Jesus  himself  often  accepted  them, 
 without  any  remark  of  their  impropriety.  But 
 there  has  been  a  great  deal  of  superstition  and 
 idolatry  both  in  the  application  of  the  wordy#- 
 ther  since  that  time,  and  to  this  abuse  (by  way 
 of  anticipation)  his  censure  in  this  place  may 
 very  probably  allude  ;  as  his  other  frequent 
 and  severe  censures  of  pharisaical  abuses,  be-r 
 vond  all  doubt,  must  have  done.  For  the 
 verv  same  corruptions  both  in  doctrine  and 
 practice  have  prevailed  in  the  church  of 
 Rome,  which  our  Saviour  so  sharply  ex- 
 posed in  the  ancient  pharisees. 
 
 The  word  pupa,  or  pope,  signifies  father^ 
 and  is  applied  to  the  pretended  head  of  the 
 
269 
 
 church,  in  token  of  his  supremacy  over  all ';* 
 which  is  the  very  thing  that  our  Lord  means, 
 in  the  censure  he  passes  upon  the  usurpation 
 of  such  a  title.  "  Be  not  ye  called  Rabbi — 
 for  one  is  your  master,  even  Christ,  and  all 
 ye  are  brethren :"  ye  are  all  equal,  there  is  no 
 supremacy  but  that  of  Christ.  And  for  the 
 same  reason — u  call  no  man  your  father  on 
 earth," — much  less  holy  father, — "  for 
 one  is  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven  " — 
 and  to  apply  that  title,  in  a  religious  sense,  to 
 a  man,  is  a  usurpation  of  the  divine  preroga- 
 tive, and  will  lead  the  weak  and  superstitious 
 to  idolatry.  Neither  be  ye  called  masters,  for 
 one  is  your  master,  even  Christ. — Beware, 
 therefore,  of  them  that  will  "  lord  it  over 
 God's  heritage,  with  spiritual  ivic.kedness  in 
 high  places,' — for  such  impious  pride  must 
 have  a  fall ;  and  whosoever  so  "  exalteth  him- 
 
 *  Pope  Boxiface  VIII.  amongst  other  extravagancies, 
 made  the  following  decree  :• — "  We  do  affirm,  declare,  deter- 
 mine, and  pronounce,  that  under  pain  of  salvation  every  crea- 
 ture must  be  subject  tj  the  pots  of  RomL" — He  had  his  authority 
 from  Rev,  xiii.  15,  &c. 
 
270 
 
 self  shall  be  abased,  and  he  that  humbleth 
 himself  shall  be  exalted.* 
 
 "  Call  no  man  father  upon  earth"  there- 
 fore, means  beware  of  any  superstitious  abuse 
 
 *  The  reasons  our  Saviour  adds  fcr  his  forbidding  the  ap. 
 plication  of  the  titles  of  rabbi  or  doctor,  father,  master, 
 &c.  manifestly  shew  that  the  abuse,  and  not  the  mere  use,  of 
 them  is  meant.  And  the  idolatrous  superstitions  and  blasphe- 
 mies of  the  church  of  Rome,  in  ascribing  to  the  image  of  the 
 least  not  only  the  title  of  father  in  the  very  sense  in  which  it  is 
 proscribed,  but  with  the  blasphemous  addition  of  the  divine  at- 
 tributes of  Christ — supremacy  CEpl.es.  i.  22;  iv.  15,) — holi- 
 ness (Matt.  xix.  17  ;  Heb.  xii.  10;  Pev.  iii.  7,) — infallibility 
 (Horn.  xvi.  27;  1  Tim,  i.  17,) — forgiveness  of  sins  (Acts  v. 
 31  ;  Ephes.  i.  7,) — omnipotence  (Rev.  xix.  6  ;  i  8,)  is  a  strong 
 argument  that  Jesus  must  have  had  these  corruptions  in  his 
 prospect,  when  he  gave  such  particular  cautions  against  them. 
 —  See  Sect.  ix.  p.  250.  The  gross  idolatry  paid  to  the  pope 
 at  his  consecration. 
 
 Whitby,  in  favor  of  a  crotchet  of  his  own,  argues  that  the 
 church  of  St  Peter  at  Rome  cannot  be  called  "  the  temple  of 
 God,"  in  which  the  man  of  sin  sits,  shewing  himself  as  God, 
 after  it  has  thus  been  desecrated  and  made  the  temple  of  an  idoh 
 But  this  is  frivolous.  St  Paul's  prophecy  means  to  point  out 
 a  real  blasphemy  and  idolatry  committed  by  such  an  abuse  of 
 things  which  the  actors  of  it  themselves  look  upon  as  sacred. 
 The  christian  church  is  the  temple  of  God.  The  catholic  ■ 
 deem  St  Peter's  a  christian  church,  and  yet  profiue  it  vifb 
 this  idolatry  of  the  pot-x. 
 
Til 
 
 of  names,  as  well  as  things*  Expect  not  from 
 man  what  God  only  can  bestow.  Look  up 
 to  your  Father  in  heaven  for  absolution  of  sin, 
 and  grace,  protection  and  blessing,  and  every 
 good  gift.  If  man  shall  take  upon  him  an 
 authority  to  dispense  these  things  at  his  own 
 pleasure,  it  is  an  impious  usurpation  of  the 
 regalia  of  Christ's  kingdom,  and  the  indul- 
 gences he  may  pretend  to  grant  are  a  re- 
 fuge of  lies,  to  which  it  will  be  both  unavail- 
 ing and  wicked  to  have  recourse.  For  it  im- 
 plies the  "forsaking  the  fountain  of  true  and 
 living  water,  to  drink  at  polluted  streams, 
 and  broken  cisterns  which  can  hold  no  water r 
 
 VOL.  II.  N  N 
 
SECTION   XXX. 
 
 Our  Saviour's  notice  of  phylacteries  allusive  to  fu- 
 ture abuses  of  greater  importance. — False  ideas 
 of  relative  holiness,  applied  by  the  Jews  to  the 
 temple  of  God,  by  Papists  to  idol  temples,  the 
 shrines  of  the  Saints,  their  reliques  and  images, 
 — Our  Lord's  picture  of  pharisaical  religion  the 
 true  type  of  Popery. — Tradition  abused  more  by 
 Papists  than  by  the  Scribes. — The  taking  away 
 the  sacramental  cup. — Many  of  Christ's  parables 
 allude  to  popery  ; — particularly  the  evil  eye — and 
 the  evil  servant. 
 
 OUR  blessed  Saviour's  censure  of  the  scribes 
 and  pharisees,  for  their  pompous  display  of 
 their  phylacteries,  and  their  superstitious 
 confidence  in  them  as  amulets  or  charms,  to 
 keep  the  wearer  from  sin,  as  well  as  mis- 
 chance and  danger,  seems  to  have  a  farther 
 object.  At  least  there  is  a  far  greater  room 
 for  reproof  of  superstitition  in    such    things, 
 
m 
 
 amongst  the  catholics,  than  there  ever  was 
 amongst  the  pharisees.     The  use  of  phylac- 
 teries  took  its    rise   from    the   command   of 
 God.  (Numb.  xv.  38  ;  Deut.  xxii.  12).    And 
 the  reason  there  assigned  for  the  use  of  texts 
 of  scripture  in  such  a  manner,  by  a  rude  and 
 illiterate  people,  was  to  keep  them  in  perpet- 
 ual  mind   of  the    greatness,   goodness,   and 
 truth  of  the  God   of  gods,  from  whose  fear 
 they  were  too  apt  to  apostatize.     But  in  our 
 Saviour's  time,  though  the  jews  were  cured 
 of  idolatry,  they  were  not  so  of  superstition  : 
 and  the  phylactery  then  in  use*  was  a  super- 
 fluous  and   superstitious  invention,  added  to 
 the  original  precept,  in  the  same  spirit  of  hy- 
 pocrisy, and  ostentation  of  superior  sanctity, 
 which  pervaded  the  whole  system  of  the  pha- 
 risaical  theology,     They  were  worn  upon  the 
 forehead  and  upon  the  left  band,  and  the  very 
 name,  (which  signifies  a  preservative,)  as  well 
 as  the  same  custom  being  in  use  amongst  the 
 
 *  These  were  little  rolls  of  parchment,  wherein  were  written 
 certain  words  of  the  law ;  they  were  contrived  in  the  true  spirit  of 
 superstition,  both  with  respect  to  their  form,  and  manner  ofiving 
 on,     See  Calmet's  Die 
 
 N  N  2 
 
274 
 
 heathens  as  an  amulet  against  evil,  shews  that 
 there  was  more  of  imitative  superstition  than 
 religion  in  it. 
 
 The  coincidence  between  the  phylactery  of 
 the  jews,  and  the  cross  worn  by  the  papists 
 with  the  very  same  superstitious  idea  of  pre- 
 servation) and  too  frequently  with  an  idola- 
 trous reverence,  seems  to  infer  a  prophetic 
 design  in  our  Saviour's  censure.  The  cross 
 is  suspended  round  the  neck,  and  at  the 
 breast,  and  the  sign  of  the  cross  is  made  upon 
 the  forehead  and  the  right  hand,  (exactly 
 where  St  John  said  the  mark  of  the 
 beast  should  be  made,)  many  times  a  day, 
 and  on  every  sudden  emergency ; — but  with 
 what  other  possible  view  can  it  be,  than  as  a 
 magical  charm,  or  a  phylactery?  Had  such  a 
 continual  crossing  of  themselves  been  an  ordi- 
 nance of  Christ,  yet  still  the  putting  that  con- 
 fidence in  the  outward  sign  itself,  which  is 
 due  only  to  him  who  gives  it  all  the  efficacy 
 that  it  can  have,  is  the  way  to  turn  a  real  sa- 
 crament into  superstition  and  idolatry,  as  is 
 actually  the  case  in  the  pretended  sacrifice  of 
 the  mass. 
 
f?5 
 
 The  censure  our  Saviour  passed  upon  the 
 false  ideas  the  jews  entertained  of  the  relative 
 holiness  of  the  temple,  and  the  altar  therein  &c* 
 and  their  groundless  distinctions,  and  ridicu- 
 lous modes  of  absolution  from  oaths,  may  be 
 considered  also  in  the  same  light.  For  who 
 dees  not  see  the  much  more  profane  supersti- 
 tion and  absurd  distinctions  of  the  papists, 
 (set  up  upon  the  same  footing  of  tradition,) 
 by  prophetic  anticipation  hereby  equally  held 
 up  to  contempt  ?  Their  holy  shrines  of  the 
 saints,  holy  images,  holy  reliques,  and  all  the 
 holy  trumpery  of  their  "  refuge  of  lies"  and 
 whole  mystery  of  iniquity,  which  obtain  the 
 greatest    share   of  that   divine  worship  and 
 
 adoration  that  is  only  due  to  God  himself.* 
 
 *  In  regard  to  the  worship  of  reliqucs  the  Council  of 
 Trent  decrees  thus. — "That  the  faithful  be  instructed,— 
 that  the  holy  bodies  of  holy  martyrs  &c. — should  be  wor- 
 shipped by  the  faithful  ;  whereby  God  affords  many  be- 
 nefits  unto  men  :  so  that  they  which  say  worship  and  honor  is 
 not  due  to  the  reuques  of  saints  ;  or  that  those  and  other  monu- 
 ments are  honoured  by-  the  faithful  in  vain  ;  and  that  the 
 monuments  of  the  saints,  for  the  obtaining  of  their  help,  are  in 
 vain  frequented  ;  are  altogether  to  be  condemned,  as  the  church 
 hath  long  ago,  and  now  condemns  them  also."  Sess,  25  Decret. 
 de  Invocat.  venerat.  &c.  Reliq.  SS.  &c. 
 
276 
 
 To  so  monstrous  a  pitch  of  extravagance 
 was  the  idolatry  of  images  carried,  that  the 
 image  of  the  same  idol  was  esteemed  of  great- 
 er power,  and  attracted  more  pilgrims,  and 
 wrought  more  miracles,  and  drew  a  greater 
 
 Kere  according  to  the  present  established  constitution  of  the  church 
 of  Rome,  reliques  are  to  be  worshipped,  and  confidence 
 is  to  be  placed  in  them  as  divinities  capable  of  granting  succour 
 to  the  miserable  supplicant.  But  as  this  had  now  somewhat 
 more  tender  ground  than  formerly  to  stand  upon,  Bellarmine 
 (who  pleads  stoutly  for  religious  worship  of  the  saints,  their  reliques 
 and  images,)  assigns  notwithstanding  for  these  a  lower  degree 
 thereof,  than  for  their  owner  whose  images  and  reliques  they  are. 
 But  after  all  (says  he)  it  is  reducible  to  the  same  kind  of  worship. 
 
 Their  distinctions  between  Dulia  and  Latria,  the  differ- 
 ent kinds  of  worship,  which  as  above  contest  comes  all  to  the 
 same  thing  at  last,  are  to  the  full  as  frivolous  and  false  as  those 
 our  Saviour  censured  in  the  jews. — Man  of  Sin,  b.  ii.  p.  140. 
 —  See  Chemnitius  Examen.  Concil.  Trident,  part  iv. 
 
 In  order  to  make  way  for  the  worship  of  these  vanities,  they 
 have  far  exceeded  the  boldness  of  the  jews,  who  made  void  the 
 law  of  God  through  their  traditions,  lor  these  have  cancelled  it 
 altogether,  wholly  leaving  out  the  second  commandment,  as 
 words  superfluous ,  or  at  least  unfit  and  unnecessary  for  these  times, 
 says  Sir  Edwin  Sandys.  For  the  benefit  of  English  catholics 
 it  is  so  omitted  in  the  "Kor;e  beat.  Virg.  fol,  185."  and  in 
 the  "Primmer  or,  office  of  the  blessed  Virgin,"  latin 
 and  english,  printed  at  Antwerp  1599.  The  number  of  ten  is 
 fraudulently  still  kept  up  by  dividing  the  tenth  into  two, 
 
 Man  of  Sin,  p.  14?5* 
 
277 
 
 revenue  of  votive  offerings  in  one  place  than 
 in  another ;  for  as  there  were  several  Jupiters 
 &c.  amongst  the  pagans,  so  there  are  still  a 
 greater  number  of  "  Our  Ladies"  which  are 
 held  in  different  degrees  of  estimation  of  ho- 
 liness, but  all  of  them  more  sought  to  than 
 God  and  Christ. 
 
 The  encomium  which  our  Saviour  delivers 
 upon  the  doctrines  and  practices  of  the  phari- 
 sees  at  large,*  if  it  be  compared  with  the  si- 
 milar doctrines  and  practices  which  prevail  in 
 the  church  of  Rome,  will  speak  for  itself, 
 whether  at  the  time  he  must  not  be  supposed 
 to  have  had  in  view  the  pharisees  of  the  an- 
 tichristian  apostacy  ?     The  monks  and  religi- 
 ous devotees  of  popery  are  there  drawn  with 
 such  strong  features  of  likeness,  as  if  in  fact 
 they  had  been  the  originals   of  the  picture, 
 and  the  Jewish  pharisees  only  the  copy.    And 
 they  have  taken  as  much  pains  to  throw  the 
 pharisaical  cloak  about  their  own  shoulders, 
 as  if  they  had  aimed  at  nothing  less,  and  had 
 been  envious  of  the  original  wearers.— 
 
 *  Math,  xxiii.  Mark  xii.  28  :  Luke  xx,   4."-. 
 
278 
 
 Like  them,  they  make  a  great  parade  of  the 
 outward  semblance  of  sanctity,  but  are  truly 
 like  whited  sepulchres.     They  have  invented 
 different  orders  of  religious,  and  imaginary 
 badges  of  holiness  without  end.     They  bind 
 heavy  burthens  for  other  men's  shoulders,  and 
 know  how  to  remit  and  take  them  off  again 
 for  a  price,  (which  as  far  as  we  know)  is  a 
 great  improvement  upon  their  predecessors  in 
 hypocrisy. — They  lord  it  over  God's  heritage 
 in  a  manner  more  imperious  than  the  phari- 
 sees  did,  and  exalt  themselves  to  both  spirit- 
 ual and  temporal  dignities,  by  every  artifice 
 of  imposture. — One  remarkable  point  of  af- 
 finity between  them  is,  that  they  also  "  shut 
 up  the  kingdom  of  heaven  against  men"  and 
 neither  enter  themselves,  nor  suffer  any  (whom 
 they  can  hinder)  to  enter  in ;  but,  content  to 
 remain  in  the  darkness  of  lucrative  error  them- 
 selves, they  compel  others  to  abide  with  them 
 and  keep  them  in  countenance. — They  "  de- 
 vour widows'  houses,"  and  swallow  up  in  the 
 church  the  inheritances  of  the  dying,  "  and 
 for  a  shew  make  long  prayers"  and  that  for 
 the  dead  as  well  as  the  living.     In  which  te- 
 
-K  t\ 
 
 dious  opus  opc'ratum  they  are  obliged  to  make 
 a  quick  dispatch,  and  make  use  of  beads  to 
 keep  a  just  account.  By  this  religious  trifl- 
 ing, they  succeed  in  deceiving  perhaps  their 
 own  consciences,  but  certainly  their  flock. 
 They  "  compass  sea  and  land  to  make  one  pro- 
 selyte ,"  but  as  it  is  a  conversion  from  good  to 
 bad — (for  comparatively  with  popery,  any 
 system  of  religion  is  gooJ,) — they  only  make 
 their  convert  a  bigot,  and  put  him  in  a  worse 
 condition. 
 
 The  false  and  frivolous  distinctions  in  their 
 casuistry,  and  their  penances  and  absolutions , 
 and  the  whole  system  of  auricular  confession ■, 
 are  equally  destitute  of  law,  judgment ,  mercy -^ 
 arid  faith^  with  those  of  the  scribes  and  pha- 
 risees.  For  while  they  make  a  prodigious 
 ado  about  a  bit  of  meat  on  a  fast  dzy,  they 
 make  no  difficulty  at  all  in  giving  absolution 
 and  sanctuary  to  criminals,  and  demanding 
 free  pardon  for  the  most  atrocious  assassin. 
 Their  outzvard  cleanness  and  inward  extortion 
 is  the  same  as  our  lord  so  indignantly  paints. 
 His  strong  accusation  of  "building  the  to    i . 
 
 VOL.  II.  O  O 
 
2S0 
 
 of  the  prophet \r,  and  adorning  the  sepulchres  of 
 the  righteous"  or  "  the  saints"  they  have 
 taken  to  themselves  in  the  most  notorious 
 manner;  only  with  this  difference  (to  their 
 own  disadvantage),  that  their  saints,  for  the 
 greater  part,  are  false  ones,  that  either  never 
 existed  at  all,  or  were  every  thing  the  reverse 
 of  true  saintship,  and  like  Thomas  a  Becket, 
 were   martyrs   to   the    beast,   and  not   to 
 Christ.      There  is  also  a  further  difference, 
 that  they  pay  to  these  false  saints  an  idola- 
 trous devotion^  which  the  scribes  and  phari- 
 sees  did  not  do,  in  the  honors  they  paid  to 
 the  true  saints. — Yet  they  have  stuck  true  to 
 their  text,  and  trod  in  the  bloody  steps  of 
 their  predecessors,  in  persecuting  and  mur- 
 dering the  real  prophets  and  witnesses  of  Je- 
 sus, while  they  idolize  the  mock  saints  of 
 Antichrist. — And  this  they  do  upon  the  very 
 same  principle  as  the  jews  did,  and  after  our 
 Saviour  has  with  his  own  mouth,  in  plain 
 words,  and  not   in  a  figure,   pronounced  a 
 condemnation  upon  it. — "  Whosoever  killeth 
 you,  shall  think  that  he  doeth  Gcd  service" 
 in  having  destroyed  an  heretic. 
 
281 
 
 To  conclude  the  comparison — The  mo- 
 dern pharisees  have  also  now  nearly  filled  up 
 the  measure  of  their  fathers,  by  persisting  in 
 their  errors,  and  justifying  their  deeds.  And 
 they  have  now  nothing  to  look  for  but  a 
 fiery  indignation^  and  a  reward,  in  a  just  mea- 
 sure of  retaliation,  of  their  own  enormous 
 cruelty  and  bloodshed.  Observe  only,  how 
 the  very  language  of  the  meek  and  charitable 
 Jesus  assumes  a  vehemence  and  bitterness 
 unusual  to  him,  but  very  suitable  to  the  then 
 present  objects  of  his  indignation,  and  still 
 more  so  to  those  which  were  in  after  times 
 to  become  such.  "  Ye  serpents  ! — ye  genera- 
 tion of  vipers  ! — how  shall  ye  escape  the  dam- 
 nation of  hell?" 
 
 In  many  of  his  conferences  with  the  pha- 
 risees, our  Lord  charges  them  with  wilful 
 blindness,  and  rejecting  the  offered  light  from 
 corrupt  motives,  and  with  evil  designs ;  and 
 threatens  them  that  it  shall  be  taken  away 
 from  them,  and  that  they  shall  be  punished 
 with  a  judicial  blindness,  the  prelude  of  their 
 ruin.  St  Paul  has  distinguished  his  apostate 
 002 
 
282 
 
 christians  by  the  same  token,  alledging  that 
 they  "  handled  the  word  of  God  deceitfully 
 for  filthy  lucre's  sake ;"  with  conviction  of 
 their  wickedness  flashing  in  their  faces,  but 
 with  consciences  seared  against  feeling.  And 
 he  addSj  that  they,  in  like  manner  as  the  jews, 
 should  be  given  up  in  judgment  and  wrath 
 to  blind  prejudice  and  bigotry  to  their  own 
 error,  and  thus  become  themselves  the  vic- 
 tims of  the  delusion  they  had  practised  upon 
 others,  and  should  believe  their  own  lie. 
 
 The  corruptions  which  the  scribes  had  intro- 
 duced into  both  speculative  and  practical  reli- 
 gion, by  a  devotion  to  the  authority  of  tradition* 
 which  they  advanced  above  that  of  the  scrip- 
 ture itself,  is  yet  nothing  to  compare  with  the 
 monstrous  iniquity  of  the  popish  system, 
 drawn  from  the  same  sources  of  traditi- 
 on ;  so  justly  and  sharply  condemned  in  then- 
 predecessors  abuse  of  it.  For  in  the  very  face 
 of  our  Saviours  confutation  of  the  scribes,  in 
 their  a  making  void  the  law  of  God  through 
 their  traditions"  and  teaching  both  the  du- 
 ty due  to  our  fellow  creatures  and  the  fear  of 
 
283 
 
 God,  "by  the  precept  of  men"  they  have  car- 
 ried their  unwarrantable  licentiousness  to  a 
 much  higher  pitch  ;  and  have  enacted  by  a  de- 
 cree of  the  Council  of  Trent,  "that  the 
 truth  and  discipline  of  the  catholic  church,  are 
 comprehended  both  in  the  sacred  books,  (in 
 which  they  include  the  Apocrypha)  and  in 
 the  traditions^  which  have  been  (pretendedly) 
 received  from  the  mouth  of  Jesus  Christ  him- 
 self, or  of  his  apostles,  (but  in  honest  truth 
 have  been  'wholly  of  papal  fabrication])  and 
 preserved  and  transmitted  to  us  by  an  unin- 
 terrupted chain  and  succession."* 
 
 *  The  authority  of  these  traditions,  (and  the  abominable  doc- 
 pines  founded  upon  them,  but  in  contradiction  to  the  word  of 
 God,)  is  thus  well  described  by  Petrus  a  Soto.  "It  is,  says 
 he,  an  infallible  and  catholic  rule,  that  whatsoever  things  the 
 church  of  Rome  believeth,  which  are  not  to  be  found  in  scrip- 
 ture, the  same  came  by  tradition  from  the  apostles. — and  he  adds, 
 that  if  it  has  antiquity  on  its  side,  and  no  certain  origin  of  it  can 
 be  traced,  then  without  doubt  it  i;  apostolical.  To  require  proof 
 of  this,  be  the  doctrine  ever  so  monstrous  which  is  so  established,, 
 were  rank  heresy. 
 
 They  found  the  authenticity  and  authority  of  the  scripture 
 Upon  tradition  and  toe  authority  of  the  church,  that  is,  of  the  Pope. 
 for  Gregory  de  Valencia  in  his  Disput.  Theolog  torn 
 g.  Disp.  1.  declares,  that  "by  the  church  we  must  undei 
 
284 
 
 Our  Saviour's  parable  of  the  great  absurdity 
 of  a  man  after  he  hath  lighted  a  candle^  imme- 
 diately covering  it  with  a  bushel ',  that  no  one 
 may  be  benefitted  by  the  light  of  it,  seems 
 evidently  to  allude  to  something  beyond  the 
 merely  temporary  subject  of  his  discourse 
 with  the  jews  at  that  time ;  and  there  never 
 was  any  thing  commensurable  to  it,  except 
 the  contemptuous  and  injurious  treatment  of 
 the  word  of  God,  exactly  in  that  manner,  by 
 the  pretefided  master  of  the  house^   the  pope, 
 
 her  beadt  the  bishop  of  Rome ;  in  whom  resideth  the  full  autho- 
 rity of  the  church,  when  he  pleaseth  to  determine  matters  of 
 faith,  whether  he  do  it  with  a  council  or  without."  Thomas 
 Aquinas  maintains  that  "the  right  of  making  a  new  creed  ap- 
 pertains to  the  Pope;  yea  the  whole  authority  of  the  whole 
 church  resides  in  him- "  T.  Aquin.  22-  9.  1  Art.  10.  To 
 which  doctrine  agree  Andradius  in  his  defence  of  the  Counc. 
 of  Trent, — Graffus,  Alvarus,  Pelagius,  and  Bellar- 
 mine.  The  same  was  long  ago,  challenged  by  their  canon 
 law,  which  in  the  sixth  extrav.  of  Pope  John  XXII.  Tit. 
 1  I.  cum  inter,  in  the  Gloss,  says  "It  were  heresy  to  think  or  im- 
 agine, that  our  Lord  God  the  Pope  might  not  decree  as  he 
 doth. 
 
 It  is  no  wonder  they  give  so  much  weight  to   tradition  and 
 
 make  the  Pope  the   gaoler  of  the  scriptures,  since   they  freely 
 
 .  that  their  doctih;e  has  no  foundation  in  scripture,  and 
 
2S5 
 
 Nothing  can  be  more  to  the  purpose,  than 
 the  pains  that  have  been  taken  to  withhold 
 the  light  of  the  scripture  from  the  people,  by 
 prohibiting  a  translation,  and  every  way  dis- 
 couraging the  reading  of  the  scripture ;  put- 
 ting it  absolutely  under  the  pope's  feet,  to 
 give  as  little  credit  and  authority  to  it  as  suits 
 his  own  purpose ;  setting  up  doctrines  and 
 practices  contradictory  to  it,  upon  other  au- 
 thority superior  to  scripture)  and  where  trans- 
 lation must  be  admitted,  fouling  the  pure 
 stream  of  the  waters  of  life  with  their  feet, 
 
 that  a  pediment  to  support  it  must  be  made  on  purpose  out  of 
 the  miry  clay  of  tradition.  "  multo  maxima  pars  evan- 
 "gelii  pervenit  ad  nos  traditione,  perexigua  Uteris  est  manda- 
 ta."  says  Hosius  Confess,  cap.  92.  and  Eckius  Enchir.  cap. 
 4>  de  scrip. — "The  much  greater  part  of  the  gospel  is  conveyed 
 to  us  by  tradition,  for  a  very  little  thereof  is  contained  in  the 
 scriptures." — So  Casus,  Locor.  lib.  cap.  3,  admonishes  his 
 popish  confederates  that  "there  is  more  strength  to  con- 
 fute hereticks  in  traditions,  than  in  the  scriptures,  yea,  all  dis- 
 putations with  them  must  be  determined  by  traditions."  And 
 Bristow,  in  his  motives  bids  them  first  get  the  proud  here- 
 tick  out  of  his  weak  and  false  castle  of  only  scripture,  into 
 the  plain  field  of  tradition",  councils,  fathers,   miracles  &c." 
 
 end  then 
 
 Hist.  Pop.  vol,  2    p.    194, 
 
with  their  corrupt  tampering,  disguising,  in- 
 terpolation, and  omission  ;  making  it,  as  they 
 blasphemously  and  contemptuously  speak  of 
 it,  A   nose    of    wax.     "  Seemeth  it  a  small 
 thing  unto  you,   (says  the  prophet  Ezekiel,  of 
 the  same,  or  similar  corrupt  practices,)  to  have 
 eaten  up  the  good  pasture,  but  ye  must  tread 
 down  with  your  feet  the  residue  of  your  pas- 
 tures ?  and  to  have  drunk  of  the  deep  waters, 
 but  ye  must  foul  the  residue  with  your  feet? — 
 And  as  for  my  flock,  they  eat  that  which  ye 
 have  trodden  with  your  feet ;  and  they  drink 
 that  which  ye  have  fouled  with  your  feet."::" 
 But  "  every  one  that   docth   evil,   hateth  the. 
 light,   neither  cometh   to  the   light,  lest  his 
 deeds  should  be  reproved,"   as   our  Saviour 
 said  again ;  and  the  astonishing  discoveries  of 
 the   dark   and   wicked   impositions   that   had 
 been  practised  upon   the  credulity  and  false 
 devotion  cf  the  people,  (that  were  made  as 
 soon  as  the  light  of  the  scriptures  began  again 
 to  shine,)  is   the   best   comment   upon    these 
 words,  and  perhaps  was  a  principal  part   of 
 their  meaning. 
 
2S7 
 
 To  such  dark  and   wicked  practices,  and 
 antichristian  doctrines,  issuing  forth  from  the 
 fountain  of  popish  light,  the  sun  of  their  ec- 
 clesiastical heavens,  there  seems  also  a  mani- 
 fest allusion  in  the  strong  caution  our  Lord 
 gives  to  his  disciples,  (the  proposed  teachers 
 of  the  world,)   to  take   heed  to  themselves 
 how  they  hear,  or  accept  doctrines  proposed 
 to  them,  and  what  they  themselves  teach  to 
 others,,     "  The  light  of  the  body  is  the  eye. 
 If  thine  eye  be  single,  (no  artificial  obstruction 
 in  it,  no  unwillingness  to  see,)  thy  whole  body 
 shall  be  full  of  light.     But  if  thine  eye  be  evil, 
 thy  whole  body  shall  be  full  of  darkness.      If 
 therefore  the  light  that  is  in  thee  be  darkness, 
 how  great  is  thai  darkness  /"*     If  the  HEAD 
 of  the  church  be  a  source  of  corruption 
 of  manners  and  darkness  of  doctrine,  if  he  la- 
 
 *  In  Sect,  xxii.  p.  93.  and  Sect,  xxxii.  I  have  endea* 
 voured  to  shew  that  the  eye  is  a  prophetic  emblem  of  the  ocuhs 
 tcclesitz  or  eye  of  the  church,  as  the  Pope  would  fain  be  esteemed, 
 because  he  contains  in  himself  the  whole  power  of  vision  in 
 spiritual  things,  and  (even  without  a  council  J  is  Infallible  in  what' 
 ever  he  decrees.  He  is  above  councils,  and  above  scripture, 
 and  is  the  fountain  of  their  authority  to  both.  Daniel  in 
 giving  "  eyes  like  the  eyes  of  a  man,"  to  his  little  horn,  has  theie- 
 YOL.  II.  P   P 
 
28S 
 
 bors  to  propagate  falsehood,  and  to  suppress 
 truth,  it  is  no  wonder  we  have  packed  coun- 
 cils set  to  work,  and  all  the  engines  of  wordly 
 power,  and  diabolical  subtilty  employed,  to 
 set  up  again  the  kingdom  of  darkness.  The 
 light  must  be  kept  back,  and  covered  with  a 
 bushel^  until  the  time  shall  come  when  bolder 
 matters  may  be  attempted^  even  to  a  total  ex- 
 tinction of  iu  For  the  organ  of  vision  is  it- 
 self diseased,  and  darkness  is  indispensable  to 
 it.  The  whole  body  of  popery  is  consequent- 
 ly full  of  darkness,  and  how  great  is  that  dark- 
 ness  I 
 
 It  has  been  remarked  by  many,  with  what 
 a  very  particular  injunction  Christ  delivered 
 to  his  disciples  the  sacramental  cup,  at  the 
 holy  supper.  "  Take  this,  and  divide  it  a- 
 mong  yourselves ."  (Luke  xxii.  17.)  "  Drink 
 ye  all  of  it  ".  (Matt.  xxvi.  27.)    And  I  think 
 
 fore  noticed  a  very  pre-eminently  distinguishing  feature  of  the 
 popedom.  There  is  every  reason  in  the  world  to  suppose  the 
 same  prophetic  allusion  to  this  jaundiced  oculus  mundi,  (eye  of 
 the  world)  in  the  above  parable  of  our  blessed  Saviour,  who 
 quoted  Daniel  as  a  great  prophet. 
 
^fe? 
 
 there  can  be  no  mistake  in  ascribing  to  his  di- 
 vine prescience  of  future  abuse,  his  so  positive 
 injunction  to  them  to  do  this,  as  he  had  then 
 done  before  them  for  a  perpetual  example,  so 
 long  as  the  use  of  that  holy  ordinance  should 
 continue  in  the  church ;  that  they  might  ne- 
 ver vary  from  the  form  he  then  prescribed  to 
 them,  of  eating  bread  a?id  drinking  of  wine, 
 as  a  memorial  and  emblem  of  his  death  suf- 
 fered on  their  account. 
 
 St  Paul  not  having  had  the  happiness  of 
 being  present  at  the  Lord's  supper,  yet  for 
 the  purpose  of  correcting  some  profanation 
 which  had  crept  into  the  celebration  of  it,  in 
 a  very  dissolute  city,  had  an  account  of  the 
 exact  manner  of  its  institution  conveyed  to 
 him  by  immediate  revelation.  No  doubt  his 
 representation  of  it  is  therefore  given  with 
 the  utmost  precision,  and  that  he  was  super- 
 naturally  guided  in  doing  it,  that  it  might  be 
 guarded  both  against  the  present  abuses,  and 
 those  errors  of  still  worse  consequence  which 
 were  hereafter  to  arise. — "  The  Lord  Jesus 
 (says  he)  in  the  same  night  that  he  was  be* 
 
 P  P   2 
 
290 
 
 trayed,  took  bread  &c.  Likewise  after  sup* 
 per  he  took  the  cup,  saying  drink  ye  all  of 
 this,  for  this  is  my  blood  of  the  New  Testa- 
 ment" The  wine  is  as  much  sacramental  of 
 the  divine  and  everlasting  sanction  of  the 
 new  covenant,  in  the  expiatory  death  of 
 Christ,  as  the  bread  is,  and  therefore  both 
 are  again  expressly  enjoined,  as  equally  ne- 
 cessary to  all. — "  For  as  often  as  ye  do  eat  of 
 this  bread,  and  drink  of  this  cup,  ye  do 
 shew  forth  (after  the  perfect  pattern)  the  sa- 
 cramental representation  of  the  Lord's  death." 
 (i  Cor.  xi.  25.) 
 
 Well  might  Daniel  make  it  a  particular 
 note  of  the  ferocious  little  horn  with  three 
 crowns  on  his  cap,  and  eyes  of  a  man,  that 
 "  he  should  think  to  change  times  y  and  laws- 
 and  should  actually  succeed  in  doing  so, — 
 "for  they  should  be  given  into  his  hand." 
 And  it  is  with  as  good  reason  that  St  John 
 and  St  Paul  also  endow  him  with  an  equally 
 uncontrollable  tyranny,  and  blasphemous  au- 
 thority of  doing  whatever  he  pleases,  (as  ut- 
 terly  lawless,)    against  the  ordinances  of 
 
291 
 
 God,  and  the  laws  of  nature,  and  of  all  raan^ 
 kind.  For  what  a  presumptuous  sacrilegious 
 audacity  is  it  in  him,  flatly  to  contradict  God 
 /  ,  i-hty  in  his  commandments,  by  cancell- 
 ing one  of  his  laws,  even  the  first  and  highest 
 of  the  in,  to  the  setting  up  again  of  idolatry, 
 whicii  he  has  abolished  ?  and  in  his  positive 
 institutions  changing  the  ordinance  of  Christ, 
 by  abolishing  one  half  of  it,  and  transubstanti- 
 ating the  other  half  into  a  piece  of  flesh,  to 
 make  it  an  object  of  idolatrous  worship. ! 
 
 I  will  close  my  observations  upon  the  pro- 
 phetic nonce  our  Lord  has  taken  of  the  great 
 mystery  ot  iniquity,  with  his  parable  of  the 
 idle  servant.  (Lukexii.) — "Who  then 
 is  that  faithful  and  wise  steward,  whom  his 
 Lord  shall  make  ruler  over  his  household,  to 
 give  than  their  portion  of  meat  in  due  sea- 
 sonf  To  administer  the  affairs  of  his  church 
 with  that  anxious  solicitude  for  the  advantage 
 of  his  spiritual  family,  which  constitutes  the 
 character  of  a  good  steward ;  and  that  wise 
 ceconomy  in  dispensing  faithfully  to  all,  what 
 f}ie  Master  has  provided  for  them,  without 
 
292 
 
 respect  of  persons.  "  Blessed  is  that  servant 
 whom  his  Lord,  when  he  cometh,  shall  find 
 so  doing." — 
 
 Here  is  the  picture  of  a  pious  and  holy 
 christian  bishop,  indeed  ! — and  such  were 
 some  of  the  early  bishops  of  Rome,  of  whom 
 many  suffered  martyrdom  under  the  pagan 
 emperors.  But  when  the  pressure  of  afflic- 
 tion was  removed,  and  affluence  poured  in 
 upon  the  church  with  too  sudden  arid  copi- 
 ous a  stream, — savior  armis,  luxuria  incu- 
 buit. — "  Luxury,  more  fatal  than  arms,  ef- 
 fected what  persecution  could  not,"  Insolence 
 of  arbitrary  authority,  thirst  of  supremacy,  and 
 imposture  to  support  unfounded  pretensions, 
 soon  followed,  and  Antichrist  grew  up  to  his 
 full  stature  and  maturity  in  wickedness. 
 
 "  But  and  if  that  servant  say  in  his  heart 
 my  Lord  delay etb  his  corning*  and  shall  be- 
 gin to  beat  the  men  servants  and  maidens y  and 
 
 *  Tempora  mutantur,  ct  nos  mutamur  cum  illis, — "Times  are. 
 change J  ; — a  change  will  be  very  requisite  in  us  too," — soqn 
 became  the  ruling  idea  of  the  lordly  Pontiffs,  a  great  many 
 
293 
 
 to  eat  and  drink  and  be  drunken"  Here  is  as 
 plain  an  intimation  as  the  time  and  the  hear- 
 ers of  our  Lord  could  well  bear,  of  the  ?iature 
 of  the  change  that  would  be  introduced  by  state 
 and  grandeur,  and  of  the  infidelity  and  arro- 
 gance first,  and  next  of  the  turbulent  spirit 
 and  actual  persecution,  which  succeeded  more 
 christianlike  manners  in  "  in  the  scornful  men 
 of  Sion"  the  rulers  of  the  catholic  church. 
 Last  of  all,  the  blood  of  christian  martyrs  be- 
 gan again  to  flow,  in  more  copjjbus  streams, 
 by  the  cruelties  of  a  christian  persecutor,  than 
 ever  it  had  done  before  by  the  utmost  fury  of 
 the  pagan  dragon.  The  wretch  is  drunk- 
 en — (as  our  Saviour  says  in  the  parable,  in  al- 
 lusion to  the  prophets  which  have  described 
 the  same  events) — but  it  is  with  blood  ! — 
 "  Stay  yourselves  and  'wonder, — cry  ye  out, 
 (with  horror  !)  and  cry,  they  are  drunken, — 
 but  not  with  wine ;  they  stagger, — but  not 
 with  siro?ig  drink"*  "  And  I  sazv  the  wo- 
 of them  construed  their  Lord's  delay  of  his  coming  in  deserved 
 chastisement,  into  actual  incapacity  to  punish,  and  adopted 
 atheistical  opinions,  as  most  congenial  to  thrir  execrable  practices. 
 *  Isaiah  xxix,  9 
 
£94 
 
 man  drunken  with  the  blood  of  the  saints •,  and 
 with  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  of  yesus.  — And 
 when  I  saw  her — (a  christian  church  become 
 a  bloody  persecutor  of  christians) — I  wonder- 
 ed with  great  astonishment  /"* 
 
 Our  Lord  proceeds  thus  to  relate  the  se- 
 quel. "  The  Lord  of  that  servant  will  come" 
 i — (though  he  delay  a  great  while) — "in  a 
 
 *  Rev.  xvii.  6-  That  savage  spirit  of  a  diabolical  enthusi- 
 asm, which  impells  mankind  to  imbrue  their  hands  in  the  Hood 
 of  guiltless  persons,  on  the  pretence  of  religion,  is  spiritually 
 compared  to  an  intoxication,  and  that  of  a  singular  and  horri- 
 ble description  ; — a  furious  madness,  the  effect  not  of  strong  dr'inh 
 lut  of  blood.  The  holy  Spirit  condescends  in  this  as  in  other 
 instances  to  the  popular  opinion  of  the  world,  that  carnivorous 
 wild  beasts  derive  their  ferocious  cruelty  from  their  diet  of  living 
 blood.  The  same  figure  is  made  use  of  in  a  still  bolder  man- 
 ner, to  represent  the  vengeance  of  heaven  upon  the  apostate 
 persecutor  of  the  faithful.  "  I  will  _/«■«/  them  that  oppress  thee 
 with  their  own  fleshy  and  they  shall  be  drunken  with  their  own 
 h.'ood,  as  with  sweet  wine."  (Isai.  xlix,  26} — The  same  figure 
 is  also  applied  to  Jerusalem,  (Isai.  li.  21.)  See  Sect.  xii.  p. 
 321. 
 
 Mr  Bruce  in  his  Travels,  vol.  iii.  p.  142,  gives  an  account  of 
 the  flesh  of  animals  being  eaten  in  Abyssinia  not  only  raw  but 
 quivering  with  life,  being  cut  irom  the  body  of  the  animal  still 
 aliYe, — He  mentions  a  disease  produced  by  so  horrible  a  diet. 
 
£95 
 
 day  when  he  looketh  not  for  him,  and  at  an 
 hour  when  he  is  not  aware,  and  will  cut  him 
 asunder*  and  will  appoint  him  his  portion 
 with  the  unbelievers."  David,  in  the  fiftieth 
 Psalm,  alludes  to  this  infidel  presumption  of 
 the  wicked  one,  upon  this  long  forbear- 
 ance of  God's  judgments  against  such  accu- 
 mulated impieties. — "  Thou  thoughtest  wick- 
 edly that  I  am  such  an  one  as  thyself,  but  I 
 will  reprove  thee,  and  set  before  thee  the 
 things  that  thou  hast  done."  Thy  confident 
 security  and  pride  shall  have  a  fall,  and  thou 
 shalt  see  thy  long  forgotten  crimes  reflected 
 in  thy  punishment. 
 
 I  have  little  doubt,  then,  that  in  some  (if 
 not  in  all)   of  these  instances   I  have  cited 
 
 *  Perhaps  Rev.  xvii.  1£,  (when  the  world  shall  see  the  ac- 
 tual accomplishment  of  that  prophecy,)  may  afford  an  explana- 
 tion of  this  figurative  punishment  of  the  evil  servant — cut- 
 ting asunder., — by  which,  as  a  peculiar  phrase,  some  thing  very 
 particular  seems  intended.  In  consequence  of  the  effects  of 
 the  six  preceding  plagues,  in  the  seventh  the  great  city  (or  pa- 
 pal confederacy)  is  rent  by  a  schism  more  terrible  thin  any 
 before  experienced,  into  three  parts, — and  the  remaining 
 dependent  kingdoms  fall  off  from  their  spiritual  subje  :tion,  and 
 rum  ensues. 
 
 VOL,  II.  Q  Q 
 
296 
 
 from  the  discourses  of  our  Lord,  most  people 
 will  agree  with  me  in  thinking  that  he  had  a 
 prophetic  meaning ;  and  that  the  great  apos- 
 tacy  afterwards  to  arise  in  his  church,  and 
 which  had  been  the  subject  of  many  prophe- 
 cies before  his  time,  and  would  again  employ 
 the  prophetic  pen  after  his  departure,  was  on 
 such  occasions  in  his  eye. — That  he  design- 
 edly so  framed  his  discourse,  that  a  compari- 
 son so  strikingly  obvious  might  be  drawn  at 
 length,  and  most  of  the  errors  of  the  corrupt 
 church  stand  confuted  by  the  express  words 
 of  Jesus  Christ  himself.* 
 
 *  The  parables  of  the  husbandman  and  the  *  vineyard, — the 
 barren  jig  tree,  iffc-  I  consider  as  being  of  the  nature  of  double 
 prophecies.  They  apply,  in  the  first  sense,  to  the  unbelieving 
 jews,  and  the  fall  of  Jerusalem  ;  but  they  are  also  applicable  to 
 the  antichristian  husbandmen  and  Jig  tree,  and  their  extirpation. 
 Of  our  Saviour's  reproof  of  the  fastings  of  the  pharisees,  their 
 love  of  long  robes  and  chief  scats,  iifc.  I  have  taken  no  notice  ; — 
 but  the  distinction  of  meats,  and  other  popish  absurdities,  are  by 
 St  Paul  reckoned  amongst  the  "doctrines  of  devils,'' — And 
 the  habits  of  the  religious  orders,  and  pomp  of  priestly  vestments  in 
 popery,  are  notoriously  absurd, —as  Erasmus,  and  many  others, 
 of  their  own  communion,  have  acknowledged, 
 
SECTION   XXXI. 
 
 Daniel's  interpretation  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  dream 
 eft  be  great  image,  the  type  of  the  four  great  uni* 
 versal  monarchies. — The  last  of  them,  or  the 
 Roman  empire,  of  great  importance  in  a  prophet' 
 ical  view. — Some  of  its  distinguishing  peculiarities 
 concisely  noticed. 
 
 HAVING  in  the  course  of  the  preceding 
 sections  had  frequent  occasion  to  advert  to 
 the  famous  prophecy  of  Daniel,  which  he  de* 
 iivered  in  the  exposition  of  Nebuchadnezzar's 
 dream,*  I  come  now  to  shew  the  connection 
 it  has  with  the  prophecies,  which  have  been 
 the  subject  of  the  foregoing  reflections. 
 
 This  is  almost  the  first  prophecy  we  meet 
 with   in   scripture,   that  descends  wkh  anf 
 
 *  Daniel  ii. 
 QQ2 
 
29S 
 
 great  degree  of  minuteness  of  description,  or 
 distinctness  of  prophetic  discovery,  into  the 
 then  very  remote  periods  of  the  last  times. 
 It  is  as  it  were  an  outline  or  ground  plan,  ac- 
 cording to  which,  the  construction  of  all  suc- 
 ceeding prophecy  is  to  be  disposed,  as  a  fabric 
 upon  its  foundation  previously  traced  out  for 
 it.  Whatever  has  been  delivered  after  this,  is 
 the  filling  up  and  opening  out  of  the  several 
 parts,  which  are  here  traced  obscurely  and 
 with  little  more  than  a  mere  outline,  but  such 
 an  one  as  evidently  betrays  the  hand  of  a. 
 master,  and  the  same  majestic  stile  of  figuring 
 which  is  brought  out  fuller  to  the  sight  in 
 successive  prophecies  in  different  ages,  by  the 
 repetition  of  the  parts  here  dismissed  with  a 
 few  bold  and  rapid  touches  of  the  prophetic- 
 pencil  here  and  there. 
 
 The  event  which  was  the  occasion  of  this 
 prophecy,  happened  early  in  the  life  of  Da- 
 niel, who  had  been  carried  away  captive  to 
 Babylon  quite  a  youth  ;  and  it  was  the  means 
 made  use  of  by  Providence  to  give  the  re- 
 quisite   credentials   to   Daniel    as   a  prophet. 
 
299 
 
 amongst  the  jews,  in  the  disconsolate  state  in, 
 which  they  were  to  continue  for  seventy 
 years ;  and  to  establish  his  character  and  re- 
 putation at  court,  that  he  might  both  in  the 
 present  and  succeeding  reigns,  be  an  able  pro* 
 tector  for  his  nation, 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar  had  been  a  terrible  scourge 
 in  the  hand  of  God  upon  the  surrounding 
 nations,  as  well  as  the  degenerate  people  of 
 Israel,  for  their  idolatry  and  excessive  wick- 
 edness. He  was  now  made,  by  the  over 
 Tiling  power  of  God,  an  instrument  of  con- 
 veying to  them  comfort  and  hope  of  restora- 
 Hon,  if  at  length  (convinced  of  their  foliy  and 
 Ingratitude)  they  would  believe  and  repent. 
 Paniel,  by  his  great  piety,  and  zeal  for  God, 
 and  his  admirable  natural  talents,  seems  to 
 have  conducted  his  ministration  with  so  great 
 success,  that  the  jews,  though  carried  into  the 
 centre  of  "  the  land  of  graven  images"  were 
 entirely  cured  of  their  former  strong  propen- 
 sity to  the  worship  of  idols. 
 
 Remarkable   as   this  dream  of  Nebuchaid- 
 nezzar  was,  and  notwithstanding  ?he  strong 
 
300 
 
 impression  of  terror,  as  well  as  curiosity, 
 which  it  had  made  upon  the  king's  mind,  yet 
 upon  his  awaking,  he  had  only  a  confused 
 idea  of  something  that  had  given  him  great 
 uneasiness,  but  the  particular  circumstances  of 
 the  vision  were  totally  obliterated  from  his 
 recollection.  He  sent  in  all  haste  for  his  di- 
 viners and  astrologers,  for  which  pretended 
 sciences  Babylon  was  at  that  time  famous, 
 and  demanded  of  them  the  repetition  of  the 
 particulars  of  his  dream,  and  likewise  their 
 interpretation  of  the  will  of  heaven  intimated 
 to  him  thereby. 
 
 It  was  to  no  purpose  that  the  wise  men 
 reasonably  enough  remonstrated  against  a  de+ 
 mand  so  unusual,  and  utterly  impossible,  by 
 their  art,  to  be  answered.*     None,  said  they, 
 
 *  It  must  be  candidly  confessed  that  these  conjurors  were 
 far  too  hor.est  men  for  such  a  piofession  to  confess  their  incapa- 
 city, or  own  that  any  thing  exceeded  their  powers.  They  were 
 mere  bunglers  to  the  papal  jugler  for  certain.  For  he 
 has  been  able  to  keep  all  Europe  in  a  deep  sleep  for  many  cen- 
 turies, and  favoured  them  with  dreams  into  the  largain,  and  the  in* 
 terpretaliw  of  them  too,  all  adjusted  with  consummate  dexterity. 
 *      He  augmentation  of  the  papal  greatness. 
 
soi 
 
 but  the  author  and  giver  of  divine  impressions 
 of  this  nature,  can  revive  the  obliterated  traces 
 of  those  mystic  characters  in  prophetic  dreams, 
 which  none  but  himself  can  make.  The  God 
 whose  dwelling  is  not  with  flesh,  to  whom  all 
 things  are  known,  only  can  tell  the  king  his 
 dream.  Art  may,  indeed,  presume  so  far 
 as  to  fix  an  interpretation,  when  the  cir- 
 cumstances of  a  dream  are  previously  made 
 known :  but  what  the  king  requires  is  net 
 within  the  limits  of  our  art. 
 
 It  is  not  the  humour  of  impatient  tyrants 
 to  endure  disappointment,  or  to  hear  reason. 
 The  interposition  of  a  few  impossibilities  is  no 
 excuse  for  the  audacity  of  opposition  to  their 
 demands.  The  wise  men  were  ordered  to  be 
 dragged  from  his  presence,  and  put  to  death 
 for  their  contumacy.  This  occasioned  the 
 introduction  of  Daniel,  to  whom  it  pleased 
 God  to  communicate,  by  divine  inspiration, 
 the  evanescent  dream  and  the  interpretation 
 required  :  the  former  an  indisputable  pledge 
 for  the  infallible  truth  and  certainty  of  the 
 latter.     For  it  was  no  sooner  recited  to  the 
 
302 
 
 king  by  Daniel,  than  the  same  power  of  God 
 which  had  blotted  it  out,  now  retraced  upc: 
 his  memory  the  perfect  and  vivid  recollection 
 of  the  lines  originally  there  impressed.  And 
 he  immediately  acknowledged  Daniel  to  be  a 
 true  prophet  of  the  most  high  God,  and  wor- 
 shipped (with  a  temporary  lit  of  devotion)  the 
 God  cf  Daniel,  which  alone  was  able  to  make 
 known  the  things  that  were  buried  in  total 
 oblivion,  and  had  become  as  though  they  had 
 never  been,  as  well  as  the  communication? 
 respecting  futurity,  which  depended  upon 
 them. 
 
 It  had  pleased  God  by  this  means  to  con- 
 vey to  this  proud  and  imperious  monarch,  a 
 salutary  lesson  of  the  instability  of  power, 
 and  the  emptiness,  and  frailty,  and  short  du- 
 ration of  the  highest  state  of  earthly  greatness. 
 A  lesson  which  there  was  nevertheless  occa- 
 sion afterwards  to  teach  him  again,  in  the 
 lowest  and  most  degrading  school  of  adver- 
 sity. Having  been  indulging  his  fancy  in  a 
 prospective  contemplation  of  the  effect  of  his 
 mighty  conquests,  and  the  prodigious 
 
^303 
 
 raised,  as  he  fondly  conceived,  by  his  own 
 abilities,  and  destined  by  the  propitious  Fates 
 for  a  duration  of  endless  ages ;  the  substance 
 of  the  real  vision,  which  succeeded  this  wak- 
 ing dream  of  vanity,  had  been  a  mystical  re- 
 presentation of  the  four  great  monarchies, 
 which  were  in  succession  to  possess  the  em- 
 pire of  the  world.  The  first  of  these  was 
 the  Assyrian  or  Babylonian  empire,  at  that 
 time  subsisting ;  after  this,  the  Persian,  which 
 overthrew  that  and  succeeded  in  its  place; 
 the  Grecian,  or  Macedonian,  next  in  order ; 
 and,  last  of  all,  the  Roman,  of  far  greater 
 importance  in  the  eye  of  prophecy  than  all 
 the  others,  as  the  fortunes  of  the  church  were 
 to  be  involved  in  its  various  vicissitudes,  al- 
 most to  the  end  of  the  world.  For  this  last 
 was  to  give  rise  to  a  fifth  monarchy,  of  a 
 different  description  from  any  of  the  preced- 
 ing, which  should  be  engrafted  upon  it,  and 
 subsist  along  with  it  for  a  great  length  of 
 time,  and  at  length,  upon  its  removal,  should 
 be  set  up  in  its  place,  and  continue  to  the 
 consummation  of  all  things. — Ver.  44,  "And 
 zn  the  days  of  these  kings  shall  the  God  of 
 
 VOL.  II.  R    R 
 
J04 
 
 heaven  set  up  a  kingdom  which  shall  never 
 be  destroyed,  and  the  kingdom  shall  not  be 
 left  to  other  people, — but  it  shall  break  in 
 pieces  and  consume  all  these  kingdoms,  and 
 it  shall  stand  for  ever." 
 
 As  soon  as  Daniel  was  brought  into  the 
 royal  presence,  he  undauntedly  (but  with  be- 
 coming modesty  and  respect)  made  a  suitable 
 answer  to  the  stern  interrogatory  of  the  des- 
 pot,— "  art  thou  able  to  make  known  unto 
 me  the  dream  which  I  have  seen,  and  the  in- 
 terpretation thereof,"  being  so  young  a  strip- 
 ling, and  the  thing  such  as  none  of  the  wise 
 men  of  the  kingdom  have  been  able  to  do  ?— 
 Daniel  told  him,  that  the  nature  of  the  thing 
 he  had  required  of  the  wise  men  was  such, 
 as  was  impossible  to  be  accomplished  by  any 
 wisdom  of  theirs,  or  by  any  natural  means 
 of  information  attainable  by  him ;  for  the 
 thing  could  only  be  revealed  by  immediate 
 inspiration  of  the  God  of  heaven,  to  whom, 
 all  things,  the  future,  as  wTell  as  the  present 
 and  the  past,  are  perfectly  known.  That 
 God  had  been  pleased  to  favor  the  king  with 
 
305 
 
 a  dream  of  profound  and  vast  prophetic  im- 
 port, in  which  the  fates  of  his  empire,  and  of 
 the  whole  world  were  involved ;  in  order  that 
 by  the  interpretation  thereof,  which  heaven 
 had  commissioned  its  prophet  to  communi- 
 cate, more  humble  and  rational  ideas  should 
 be  suggested  to  his  too  aspiring  mind,  and  in 
 so  impressive  a  manner,  that  they  might  not 
 easily  be  forgotten.  And,  in  short,  to  give 
 him  a  true  representation  of  the  instability  of 
 that  greatness  and  present  extensive  domini- 
 on, to  which  he  had  falsely  affixed  a  concep- 
 tion of  eternal  duration, 
 
 "  Thou,  O  king,  sawest,  and  behold  a 
 great  image,  whose  brightness  was  ex- 
 cellent, stood  before  thee,  and  the  form  there- 
 of was  terrible.  The  image's  head  was  of 
 fine  gold,  his  breast  and  his  arms  of  silver ; 
 his  belly  and  his  thighs  of  brass,  his  legs 
 of  iron,  his  feet  part  of  iron  and  part  of  clay. 
 Thou  sawest  till  that  a  stone  was  cut  with- 
 out hands,  which  smote  the  image  upon  his 
 feet  that  were  of  iron  and  clay,  and  break 
 'ban  to  pieces.     Then  was  the  iron,  the  clays 
 
 R  R    2 
 
306 
 
 the  brass,  the  silver,  and  the  gold  broken  to 
 pieces  together,  and  became  like  the  chaff  of 
 the  summer  threshing  floors,  and  the  wind 
 carried  them  away,  that  no  place  was  found 
 for  them  ;  and  the  stone  that  smote  the 
 image  became  a  great  mountain,  and  filled 
 the  whole  earth." 
 
 King  Nebuchadnezzar  could  not  but  be 
 struck  with  astonishment,  when  he  perceived 
 the  subject  of  his  dream  circumstantially  re- 
 ported to  him,  and  a  vivid  impression  of  it 
 revived  upon  his  imagination  by  this  ingenu- 
 ous youth,  as  well  as  the  previous  thoughts 
 which  had  engaged  his  attention.  For  the 
 case  was  such,  «as  would  not  admit  of  a  pos- 
 sibility of  applying  here  any  of  the  usual  arts 
 to  which  interpreters  of  dreams  have  recourse, 
 to  work  upon  the  imagination,  and  impose 
 upon  the  credulity  of  their  employers.  This 
 circumstance  consequently  prepared  him  to 
 give  implicit  belief,  and  to  expect  with  aug- 
 mented curiosity,  the  interpretation  promised ; 
 which  the  prophet  thus  delivered. — 
 
301     - 
 
 *'  This  is  the  dream,  and  we  will  tell  the 
 interpretation  thereof  before  the  king.  Thou, 
 O  king,  art  a  king  of  kings :  for  the  God  of 
 heaven  hath  given  thee  a  kingdom,  power, 
 and  strength,  and  glory.  And  wheresoever 
 the  children  of  men  dwell,  the  beasts  of  the 
 field  and  the  fowls  of  the  heaven  hath  he 
 given  into  thine  hand,  and  hath  made  thee 
 ruler  over  them  all,  TflQU"  ART  THJS 
 HgAD  OF  GOLD." 
 
 We  must  consider  this  address  of  Daniel 
 to  king  Nebuchadnezzar,  in  the  zenith  of  hi$ 
 power  and  glory,  as  framed  according  to  the 
 lofty  stile  usual  in  prophecy,  and  particularly, 
 as  being  conformable  to  the  manners  of  the 
 court  in  which  the  prophet  had  received  a 
 great  part  of  his  education.  It  must  not, 
 therefore,  be  taken  in  geographical  measure- 
 ment, as  a  strict  literal  description  of  this 
 mighty  monarch's  dominions,  but  as  the 
 usual  way  of  speaking  of  them  in  the  Baby- 
 lonian court.  And  Nebuchadnezzar  certainly 
 had,  at  that  time,  subdued  almost  the  whole  of 
 the  then  known  world,  and  held  in  his  own 
 
308 
 
 hands  the  destinies  of  many  nations.  Yet  in 
 the  midst  of  this  courtly  language,  Daniel  still 
 preserves  the  dignity  of  a  prophet  of  the 
 most  high  God.  He  reminds  the  king  of 
 the  greatness,  and  glory,  and  universal  extent 
 of  his  empire,  in  order  to  inculcate  from 
 thence  a  noble  lesson  of  the  folly  of  poly- 
 theism and  the  reigning  idolatry,  by  instruct- 
 ing him  that  the  great  God  who  now  sent 
 him  this  wonderful  communication,  and  fore- 
 told to  him,  agreeably  to  his  wish,  what 
 should  be  hereafter,  even  to  the  most  remote 
 periods  of  the  world;:  was  the  only  God 
 which  could  do  this,  and  consequently,  that 
 all  other  gods  were  imaginary  vanities.  That 
 it  was  he  alone  who  held  all  power  in  heaven 
 and  earth  in  his  own  hands,  and  gave  to 
 whomsoever  he  would,  a  delegated  portion  of 
 his  own  authority.  That  upon  him  it  had 
 now  seemed  good  to  the  almighty  God  to 
 place  the  diadem  of  an  universal  dominion, 
 and  that  it  was  God  who  had  given  victory 
 to  his  sword,  which  way  soever  he  himself 
 had  sent  it,  even  against  his  own  people,  Is- 
 rael, and  his  own  city  and  temple  j  and  had 
 
309 
 
 now  fulfilled  all  the  aspiring  hopes  of  the 
 king's  early  and  vast  ambition,  and  had  made 
 'him  this  head  of  gold. 
 
 The  brief  duration  of  this  mighty  empire 
 which  Nebuchadnezzar  had  erected,  the  pro- 
 phet tacitly  insinuates,  for  there  was  no  ne- 
 cessity for  a  precise  expression  of  that  circum- 
 stance ;  and  says,  that  "  after  him"  that  is, 
 after  the  empire  at  present  existing,*  there 
 should  arise  another  kingdom,  inferior  to  his, 
 and  which  in  the  vision  was  represented  by 
 the  breast  and  two  arms  of  silver ;  and  by 
 all  interpreters  is  understood  of  the  Persian 
 empire,  erected  by  Cyrus  the  Persian  and  Da- 
 rius the  Mede,  the  two  arms  of  the  image. 
 The  Persian  empire,  after  having  extended  its 
 unwieldy  dominion  over  one  hundred  and 
 twenty  provinces,  and  threatening  the  liber- 
 ties of  Greece,  was  in  its  turn  overthrown 
 (in  revenge  of  the  quarrel)  by  the  Macedo- 
 nian  or  Grecian  empire,  under  the  rising 
 
 *  It  ended  in  his  grandson  Belshazzar,  about  twenty  three 
 years  after  the  king's  death. — See  Prideaux's  Connect-  part  2  - 
 book  ii. — Newton  on  the  Prophecies,  vol,  i,  p.  410. 
 
310 
 
 fortunes  c£  Alexander  the  Great.  This  is 
 represented  in  the  vision  by  the  belly  and 
 thighs  of  brass.  And  the  astonishing  rapidity 
 and  extent  of  Alexander's  conquests  are  in- 
 timated in  the  concise  remark,  "  which  shall 
 bear  rule  over  all  the  earth" — Alexander, 
 not  contented  with  the  flattering  title  of  con- 
 queror of  the  world,  is  reported  to  have  wept 
 for  another  world  to  conquer.* 
 
 "  And  the  fourth  kingdom  shall  be  strong  as 
 iron  ;  for  as  much  as  iron  breaketh  in  pieces, 
 and  subdueth  all  things :  and  as  iron  that  break- 
 eth all  these,  shall  it  break  in  pieces  and  bruise." 
 Descending  thus  down  the  stream  of  time  we 
 are  come  at  length  into  the  iron  age,  and  to 
 
 *  Alexander  achieved  all  this  in  the  short  space  of  about 
 twelve  years,  and  pushed  his  conquests  by  sea  and  land  to  regi- 
 ons of  the  earth,  until  then  deemed  inaccessible  and  uninhabi- 
 table. The  inferior  metal  of  brass,  the  emblem  of  this  empire, 
 seems  to  allude  to  the  popular  and  very  ancient  notion  of  the 
 four  ages  of  the  world,  represented  by  these  four  metals,  of  which 
 there  is  so  frequent  mention  in  the  poets,  from  the  time  of  He- 
 siod,  who  was  as  ancif  nt  as  Moses.  There  is  a  peculiar  proprie- 
 ty in  applying  it  to  the  -well  looted  Greeks,  of  whose  brazen  armr, 
 &c.  we  have  such  an  everlasting  ring  in  Homer. 
 
Sll 
 
 the  description  of  the  last  great  monarchy, 
 which  for  its  super-eminent  strength  and  des- 
 tructive ferocity,  to  the  nations  which  resisted 
 its  invincible  arms,  in  the  period  of  its  rising 
 greatness,  and  the  time  of  its  state  and  undi- 
 minished power,  is  typified  by  the  lower  parts 
 of  the  image,  or  its  LEGS  of  solid  iron.     Even 
 to  a  proverb  iron  is  commonly  deemed  the 
 hardest  of  all  metals,  and  as  such  is  the  mater- 
 nal of  which   all  instruments  designed  to  break 
 and  subdue  every  thing  else,  are  formed.     It  is 
 therefore  an  admirably  well  chosen  emblem  of 
 that  truly  resistless  and  iron  force  of  the  roman 
 legions  by  which  all  the  preceding  empires  of 
 Assyria,  Persia,  and  Greece,  and  the  several 
 nations  of  which  they  had  all  been  composed 
 were  to  be  broke  into  pieces,  and  subjected  to 
 the  proud  dominion  of  Rome,  the  mistress  of 
 the  world. 
 
 We  have  now  had  a  continued,  though  con- 
 cise description  of  the  GREAT  IMAGE,  as  fai  as 
 the  four  metals,  (of  which  it  had  been  compos- 
 ^^d)  continue  unaltered  from  their  original  pu- 
 rity.    What  follows  is  the  most  remarkable 
 
 VOL.  II.  S   S 
 
and  most  difficult  part  of  the  story,  as  it  carries 
 on  the  history  of  the  iron  or  roman  empire 
 to  its  very  last  stage,  and  exhibits  it  as  existing 
 under  great  and  very  surprising  changes,  yet 
 still  as  a  continuation  of  the  same  Image ',  and  of 
 the  same  legs,  which  began  in  solid  iron,  but 
 terminate  in  extremities  of  a  baser  and  com- 
 pounded material. 
 
 As  far  down  as  the  lower  parts  of  the  image 
 even  till  we  descend  near  to  the  jeet,  it  had 
 been  composed  of  strong  and  beautiful  mate- 
 rials, though  not  all  of  equal  beauty  or  strength, 
 yet  such  as  might  be  imagined  capable  of  the 
 necessary  cohesion  for  the  construction  of  a 
 statue.  But  descending  still  further  down  to- 
 wards the  7^/,  we  find  the  composition  so  al- 
 tered, debased,  and  weakened,  that  large  indul- 
 gence for  the  prophetic  licence  must  be  granted 
 before  we  can  conceive  a  possibility  of  a  pon- 
 derous statue  being  so  feebly  supported.  But 
 it  is  the  allegory  we  have  to  attend  to,  and  not 
 the  mechanical  construction  of  the  imaginary 
 statue,  which  for  the  purpose  of  a  prophetic 
 emblem   is  very  artificially  and  wonderfully 
 
constructed,  by  that  master  workman  who  has 
 the  first  and  the  last  state  of  all  things ,  ever 
 present  to  his  view* 
 
 "  And  whereas  thou  sawest  the  feet  and 
 TOES  part  of  potter 's  clay ,  and  part  of  iron , 
 the  kingdom  shall  be  divided,  but  there  shall 
 be  in  it  of  the  strength  of  the  iron,  forasmuch  as 
 thou  sawest  the  iron  mixed  with  miry  clay.  And 
 as  the  toes  of  the  feet  were  part  of  'iron ,  and 
 part  of  clay,  so  the  kingdom  shall  be  partly 
 strong,  and  partly  broken,"  (or  brittle,) — the 
 weak  combination  of  these  ill  cohering  mate- 
 rials in  the  FEET,  and  the  division  itito  ten 
 toes,  here  expressly  mentioned,  and  further  en- 
 larged upon  and  explained  afterwards  in  a 
 subsequent  vision,  intimates  changes  in  the 
 state  of  the  Roman  empire  of  very  impor- 
 tant consequence,  since  in  this  brief  account  that 
 is  given  of  the  whole,  so  wonderful  and  mi- 
 nute a  circumstantiality  is  insisted  upon  in  this 
 interesting  part. 
 
 The  division  of  the  Roman   empire  into  two 
 parts,  the  eastern  and  western   empires,  by 
 
 S   S   2 
 
31* 
 
 Constant!  nc's  removal  of  the  seat  of  govern- 
 ment from  Rome  to  Byzantium,  may  be  the 
 signification  of  the  two  legs  of  iron  ;  for  though 
 the  imperial  power  was  on  the  decline  at  that 
 time,  and  progressively  more  and  more  so,  as 
 we  descend  downwards  towards  the  feet  of  the 
 image,  yet  the  dominions  conquered  by  his 
 predecessors  and  himself  were  still  preserved 
 together  and  entire,  or  nearly  so,  by  the  terror 
 of  the  roman  name,  and  ry  the  remainder 
 of  that  iron  strength  which  the  Barbarians  were 
 not  yet  able  to  cope  with.  But  after  this,  its 
 sun  of  glory  hastily  verged  towards  to  the  place 
 appointed  lor  its  setting.  The  debased  and  de- 
 graded period  of  the  feet  commenced.  It  was 
 no  longer  of  solid  iron,  but  an  ill  compounded 
 incoherent  mass,  of  the  remaining  iron  jilted 
 out  with  mry  clay  ;  and  shortly  afterwards 
 ensued  the  division  into  ten  toes,  or  the  king- 
 doms of  the  hast  now  newly  risen  out  of  the 
 sea.  * 
 
 *  Rev.  xiii,  1.  This  coincidence  between  the  tin  toes  ot- 
 the  image,  in  its  last  stage  of  weakness  and  adulteration,  and 
 the  actual  division  of  the  empire  (exactly  zt  that  period  of  time) 
 into  ten  kingdoms  of  principal  note,  is  so  very  remarkable  a  cir« 
 
315 
 
 Arrived  now  at  that  period  of  time  when  the 
 several  kingdoms  of  Europe  were  established, 
 upon  the  basis  of  the  Roman  empire  over- 
 thrown in  Augustulus,  and  by  the  admixture 
 of  miry  clay  new  modelled  and  continued  on 
 in  a  different  form,  (being  now  the  beast 
 which  lived  again  after  bis  wound  unto 
 death,  and  together  with  his  image  making 
 up  one  league  and  confederacy  of  antichristi- 
 anism,) — a  more  important  and  interesting 
 scene  opens  upon  us,  and  the  holy  prophet, 
 concise  as  his  narrative  is,  yet  scatters  some 
 hints  which  may  lead  to  a  probable  conjecture 
 of  what  is  meant  by  the  clay  so  intimately 
 combined  with  the  original  iron  as  to  form  one 
 body  with  it,  to  the  great  weakening  of  its 
 power  of  resistance,  against  the  force  that  was 
 (in  due  time)  to  be    applied  for  its  breaking 
 
 cumstance,  that  like  a  land-mark  at  sea,  it  is  pointed  out  ie 
 Daniel's  prophecy  of  the  four  beasts  (ch.  vii.)  under  the  em- 
 blem of  ten  horns  upon  the  headof/A<?  last  beast.  And  again 
 by  St.  John  under  the  same  emblem.  Rev.  xii.  3. — xiii.  1.  See 
 Newton  on  the  Prophecies,  vol.  iv.  in  loc.— for  the  different  ac- 
 counts given  by  vanousinterpretersofthes?  ten  papal  kingdom:. 
 
316 
 
 in  pieces,  in  order  to  the  building  up  of  the 
 kingdom  of  Christ,  of  which  there  shall  be  nt 
 end  hut  with  the  consummation  of  all  things. 
 
SECTION  XXXII. 
 
 DanicVs  brief  sketch  of  the  Roman  empire  under  the 
 emblem  of  the  legs  of  a  great  image,  in  chap  second, 
 illustrated  by  himself  in  three  following  visions  — 
 In  chap,  seventh,  by  the  fourth  beast  and  his  little 
 horn. — In  chap  eighth  by  the  king  offeree  counte- 
 nance.— In  chap  eleventh  by  the  king  the  great  de- 
 fender of  Mahuzzim. — The  substance   of  these 
 four  representations  given  collectively  by  St.  John 
 in  his  two  beasts  and  their  image  — The  false  mi- 
 racle of  commanding  fire  to  come  down  from  hea- 
 ven, compared  with  a  true  one  of  the  witnesses.— 
 The   character  of  the  same  antichristian  chief  as 
 drawn  by  David,  conformably  to  the  prophecies 
 which  followed  after,  and  to  historical  truth* 
 
 1HE  vision  of  the  great  image,  revealed  in 
 a  prophetic  dream  to  a  heathen  king,  from  the 
 time  of  whose  reign  the  days  of  its  wonderful 
 and  great  revolutions  take  their  commence- 
 ment, could  net  be  expounded  to  him  from 
 
318 
 
 the  customary  resources  of  art  and  delusion, 
 because  the  communications  necessary  for  the 
 diviners  to  work  upon  were  with-held  :  an 
 irresistible  restraint  having  been  laid  upon  the 
 powers  of  darkness,  by  the  strong  hand  of 
 Omnipotence.  The  interpretation  was  there- 
 fore given  in  such  a  manner,  as  to  shew  clear- 
 ly from  whence  the  information  was  derived, 
 and  that  it  was  ultimately  designed  for  the 
 comfort  and  instruction  of  the  servants  of  God 
 in  all  ages  to  come.  The  prophet  of  the  true 
 God  alone  was  able  to  restore  the  evanescent 
 traces  of  the  image  originally  impressed,  and  to 
 give  the  interpretation,  in  which  the  fates  of 
 the  church  in  the  LATTER  DAYS  were  to  be 
 unfolded.  This  is  done  in  a  concise  and  rapid 
 sketch  of  the  prophetic  history,  which  like  the 
 first  outline  of  an  historical  painting  passes 
 over  the  whole  design  with  a  few  masterly 
 touches,  leaving  the  intermediate  objects  to  be 
 filled  in  at  leisure,  and  the  parts  too  faintly 
 drawn  in  this  first  design  to  be  brought  for- 
 ward by  successive  additions,  a  bolder  pro- 
 jection of  the  light  and  shade,  and  a  suitable 
 disposition  of  the  colouring  tints. 
 
319 
 
 To  see  the  beauty  and  full  perfection  of  this 
 design  in  true  perspective,  we  must  therefore 
 step  aside  a  little,  and  look  at  it  from  a  fresh 
 station  in  the  7th  chapter  of  Daniel ;  where 
 we  shall  find  this  prophetical  painter  retouch- 
 ing his  work,  and  introducing  those  additional 
 lights  and  shades  which  were  wanting  to 
 give  the  requisite  character  and  expression 
 to  the  piece.  In  this  chapter  the  same  four 
 universal  monarchies  are  described  under  the 
 type  of  four  beasts ',  of  which  (as  in  the  expo- 
 sition of  the  image,)  the  last  represents  the 
 roman  empire,  and  has  again,  for  the  same 
 reasons,  engaged  the  greater  share  of  the  pro- 
 phet's attention. 
 
 "  After  this  I  saw  in  the  visions  of  the 
 night,  and  behold  a  fourth  beast,  dreadful 
 and  terrible ,  and  strong  exceedingly ;  and  it 
 had  great  iron  teeth :  it  devoured  and  brake 
 in  pieces,  and  stampt  the  residue  with  the  feet 
 of  it.  And  it  was  diverse  from  all  the  beasts  that 
 were  before  //.'-_  The  three  former  empires 
 (as  is  observed  by  Bishop  Newton)  had  all 
 been  such  as   some   specific  symbol  draws 
 
 VOL.  II,  T    T 
 
320 
 
 from  real  nature,  in  some  sort,  was  found 
 whereunto  to  compare  them.  But  the  empire 
 of  ROME,  which  was  here  to  be  described  in 
 all  its  states  as  Pagan,  then  Christian,  and  at 
 last  Antichristian,  was  so  extraordinary  and 
 monstrous  a  production,  that  nothing  in  the 
 whole  storehouse  of  nature  could  be  found  of 
 sufficient  variety  to  represent  it  by ;  and  a 
 production  of  the  imagination  is  made  up  on 
 purpose  to  be  an  adequate  emblem  of  it.  The 
 empire  of  Rome  was  tremendous  in  war,  and 
 oppressive  in  peace.  //  made  more  prodigal 
 waste  of  human  blood  by  conquests  in  the 
 time  of  the  rising  greatness  of  Rome,  and  by 
 barbarous  and  bloody  persecutions  of  both  the 
 Jews  and  Christians  afterwards,  than  all  the 
 former  empires  had  done.  The  Romans  are 
 always  distinguished  in  the  prophecies  by  epi- 
 thets which  denote  great  strength,  ferocious 
 cruelty,  and  the  universal  terror  inspired  by 
 their  very  name,  to  which  all  history  bears 
 witness.  In  the  former  vision  Daniel  has 
 represented    their   prodigious  strength*    by 
 
 *  Calmet  derives   the  name  of  rome  from  ^^  strength. 
 A  horn  is  a  well  known  symbol  of  strength  in  the  Fsalms.. 
 
321 
 
 u  legs  of  iron,"  as  her?  he  shews  the  use 
 they  made  of  their  power  by  the  great  "  iron 
 teeth"  and  hoofs  of  brass  with  which  the  beast 
 tore  in  pieces,  and  destroyed  its  prey. 
 
 <c  And  it  had  ten  horns.  And  I  consi- 
 dered the  horns ,  and  behold  there  came  up 
 among  them  another  little  horn,  before  whom 
 three  of  the  first  horns  were  plucked  up  by  the 
 roots.  And  behold  in  this  horn  were  eyes  like 
 the  eyes  of  a  man,  and  a  mouth  speaking  great 
 things  * :  in  ver.  24th.  these  horns  are  ex- 
 pounded, and  signify  ten  kingdoms,  that  were 
 in  due  time  to  arise  out  of  the  body  of  the 
 empire  in  its  decline  ;  and  are  the  same  which 
 St.  John  describes  in  a  similar  manner,  and  as  be- 
 ing still  future  in  his  timef.    "  The  ten  horns 
 
 (exxxii.  17* — cxlviii.  14,)  And  in  other  prophetic  parts  of 
 scripture.  (See  abo  2  Kings  xxii.  11,  &c.) — The  ten  horns 
 sre  afterwards  expoun^d  of  ten  kingdoms,  answerable  to  the 
 ten  toes  of  the  image. 
 
 *  How  well  he  hath  earned  a  title  to  this  character,  by  his 
 insolence  to  man  and  blasphemy  to  God,  is  shewn  Sect,  ix. 
 p,  216,  &c. 
 
 Rev,  xvii.  12, 
 
 TT  2 
 
522 
 
 which  thou  sawest^are  ten  kings ,  which have  re- 
 ceived no  kingdom  as, yet — (for  at  that  time  the 
 Roman  empire  was  in  its  vigour).  "  But  they 
 are  to  receive  power  as  kings ,  one  hour  with 
 the  beast*." — They  were  to  set  up  for  them- 
 selves upon  the  weakness  and  fall  of  the  Ro- 
 man empire.  And  here  begins  to  be  plainly 
 discernible  the  admixture  of  the  miry  clay  with 
 the  original  iron,  in  the  feet  and  ten  toes  of  the 
 image. 
 
 While  thus  the  prophet  stood  contemplat- 
 ing the  strange  hieroglyphic  before  him,  he 
 beheld  another,  an  eleventh  and  smaller  horn 
 springing  up  amongst,  the  tens  but  of  no  ordi- 
 nary activity  and  vigour ;  for  he  quickly  made 
 room  for  himself,  by  causing  three  of  the  first 
 horns  to  be  plucked  up  before  him  by  the  roots,  j* 
 
 *  See  Sect,  xix;  p.  23.  and  Sect,  xxvi.  p.  13S. 
 
 -]•  This  is  as  remarkable  a  circumstance  as  any  in  liis  charac- 
 ter. He  still  wears  the  three  crowns  upon  his  pontifical  dia- 
 dem, and  has  ever  since  held  tenacious  possession  of  the  three 
 states  seized  upon  by  the  popes,  by  the  help  of  Pipin  and  Charles 
 the  Great,  in  the  eighth  centuiy.  His  being  stripped  of  these 
 territories  in  the  sight  of  all  Europe  ( Rev.  xiv.  10.)  a  few  months 
 age,  is  a  strong  confirmation  of  the  opinions  I  have  hazarded 
 
m 
 
 and  usurping  their  place  himself.  And 
 he  had  moreover  an  aspect  very  differ- 
 ent from  any  of  the  other  horns,  (ver.  20) 
 "  His  look  was  more  stout  than  his  fellows" 
 In  chap.  viii.  23,  he  is  described  again  by  his 
 imperious  and  ferocious  aspect,  "  A  king  of 
 fierce  countenance,  and  understanding  dark 
 sentences. — Here  he  has  attributed  to  him 
 eyes,  like  the  eyes  of  a  man,  and  a  mouth 
 speaking  great  things  % 
 
 upon  this  subject  in  the  foregoing  sections.  But  it  does  not 
 follow  from  thence  that  his  allotted  term  is  fully  expired  as  yet. 
 As  there  was  a  long  time  for  his  rise,  so  some  space  (though 
 not  so  long)  may  be  allowed  for  his  fall.  I  conceive  it  com- 
 menced at  the  Reformation,  He  must  appear  and  act  his  part 
 some  time  (it  seems)  as  the  false  prophet. 
 
 *  The  eyes  and  the  mouth  attributed  to  him  are  marks  of 
 characteristic  description  peculiar  to  this  politico  ecclesiastical 
 king,  there  being  no  other  potentate  through  the  whole  scrip- 
 ture designated  in  this  manner. — They  must  therefore  be  un- 
 derstood to  denote  some  of  those  particularities  in  which  this 
 chief  himself,  and  his  ecclesiastical  kingdom,  or  the  scarlet  beast  on 
 which  he  rides  (  Rev.  fvii.) — are  divers  from  all  other  kingdoms, 
 andoihtr  rulers.  It  gives  an  idea  of  a  bishop  ;  Eots-jcs^-©^  in- 
 spector ecclesis*  One  placed  in  an  eminent  station,  to  over- 
 look and  correct  the  doctrine  and  discipline,  and  manners  of  the 
 church  under  his  charge,  which  some  of  the  early  bishops  of 
 Rome  did  in  a  holy  and  pious  discharge  of  the  episcopal  duties. 
 
324 
 
 The  prophet  afterwards  gives  us  the  expla- 
 nation of  these  figures,  and  tells  us  that "  The 
 fourth  beast  signifies  the  fourth  kingdom"  (or 
 universal  monarchy)  upon  earth,  "  Which 
 shall  be  diverse  from  all  kingdoms,  and  shall  de- 
 vour the  whole  earth,  and  shall  tread  it  down 
 and  break  it  in  pieces.  And  the  ten  horns 
 out  of  this  kingdom  are  ten  kings  (or  king- 
 doms) that  shall  arise.  And  another  shall  rise 
 after  them  f  and  he  shall  be  diverse  from  the 
 Jirst,  (ten)  "  and  he  shall  subdue  three  kings 
 (three  of  the  ten)  *.  And  he  shall  speak  great 
 
 But  the  prophet  here  (as  the  description  shews),  alludes  to 
 the  abuse  of  these  gifts  by  the  popes,  after  the  period  here  assigned. 
 
 *  As  there  is  a  variety  of  opinions  amongst  commentators, 
 concerning  the  ten  kingdoms  meant  in  Daniel's  and  St.  John's 
 prophecies,  and  also  as  to  the  three  seized  upon   by  the  pope,  by 
 the  aid  of  Pipin  usurper  of  the  crown  of  France.     To  avoid 
 long  discussion,  I  refer  to  Bishop  Newton,  vol.  i.  p.  479, — 
 and  Sir  Isaac  Newton's  Observations  on  Daniel,  chap.  vii.  p. 
 74,  &c.  Mede's  Works,  b.  iv.  epist.  24.  p.  77?,  &c — The 
 ten  are  thus  enumerated  by  the  Bishop,  "  As  they  stood  in  the 
 eighth  century. — 1,  The  Senate   of  Rome,  which  revolted 
 from  the  Greek  emperors,  and  claimed  the  privilege  of  chus- 
 ing  a  new  western  emperor. — 2.  The  Greeks  in  Ravenna.— r 
 3.  The  Lombards. — 4.    The  Huns  in  Hungary. — 5.  The 
 Alemanes  in   Germany. —6.  The  Franks  in  France.— 7. 
 The  Burgundians  in  Burgundy. — 8.  The  Goths  in  SpaMfc 
 
325 
 
 words  against  the  Most  High,  and  think  to 
 change  times  and  laws y  and  they  shall  be  given 
 into  his  hand,  until  a  time  and  times  and  the 
 dividing  of  time." 
 
 In  the  eighth  chapter,  some  additional  cir- 
 cumstances are  thrown  in,  where  the  pro- 
 phet having  finished  his  description  of  the  em- 
 pire of  Greece,  and  figured  Alexander  the 
 founder  of  it,  by  the  great  horn  between  the 
 eyes  of  the  rough  goat.  He  says,  that  upon  his 
 death,  his  empire  was  to  be  divided  amongst 
 his  four  chief  captains,  which  is  expressed  by 
 the  words  "  out  of  the  nation^  but  not  in  his 
 (extent  of)  power?  nor  of  his  family. — 
 "  And  in  the  latter  time  of  their  kingdom?  that 
 is  of  the  four  kingdoms  set  up  by  the  succes- 
 sors of  Alexander,  and  after  they  had  become 
 subjected  to  the  Romans. — "  When  the  trans- 
 
 — 9*  The  Britons. — 10.  The  Saxons  in  Britain. — Not  that 
 there  were  constantly  ten  kingdoms,  they  were  sometimes  more, 
 and  sometimes  fewer ;  but  whatever  their  number  was  after- 
 wards, they  are  still  called  the  '*  ten  kings,"  from  their  first 
 cumber." — The  three  usurped  by  the  pope  he  reckons, — "  The 
 exarchate  of  Ravenna— -the  kingdom  of  the  Lombards— -and 
 the  state  of  Rome.1* 
 
32ii 
 
 gressors  are  come  to  the  full? — When  the  un- 
 believing Jews  are  ripe  for  destruction,  and 
 swept  away,  and  when  the  transgressors  of 
 the  Christian  covenant  also  are  far  advanced 
 in  their  mystery  of  iniquity*. — A  kivg  offeree 
 countenance  and  understanding  dark  sentences 
 shall  stand  up?  A  dealer  in  dark  mysteries 
 of  false  religion*  and  obscuring  the  light  and 
 the  truth  of  the  gospel  by  forgeries,  and  lying 
 traditions.  His  "fierce  countenance" — "  the  look 
 •more  stout  than  his  fellows'''' — well  expresses 
 the  intolerable  haughtiness  and  turbulent  spi- 
 rit of  the  roman  Pontiffs.  "  And  his  power 
 shall  be  mighty  ^  but  not  by  his  own  power? 
 His  authority  as  a  temporal  prince  was  but 
 small,  and  as  bishop  of  Rome  was  only  equal 
 
 *  The  prophet  here  (as  in  sther  prophecies)  passes  over  all 
 the  intermediate  space,  from  the  end  of  the  empire  of  Alexander 
 the  Great  to  the  Roman  e7nplre,  and  to  that  period  of  it  also  when 
 Antichrist  arose.  Because  the  fates  of  the  church  then 
 were  no  longer  dependant  upon  the  Greek,  but  upon  the  Ro- 
 man Empire  :  and  the  intermediate  events,  as  the  coming  of 
 the  Messiah,  &c.  are  made  the  subject  of  particular  prophe- 
 cies elsewhere.  This  abrupt  passing  from  one  event  to  ano- 
 ther so  very  remote,  has  occasioned  Grotius  and  some  others 
 to  apply  this  part  of  the  prophecy  to  Antiochus  EpiphaneSi 
 and  the  little  horn  (Dan,  vii  )  likewise  to  him, 
 
m 
 
 to  that  of  other  bishops,  as  he  was  frequently 
 made  to  feel,  in  the  early  stages  of  his  usurpa- 
 tions ;  but  when  he  became  pope  or  univer- 
 sal bishop,  head  of  the  church,  and  supreme 
 over  every  creature,  bis  power  was  mighty,  but 
 it  was  by  usurpation,  and  not  of  right.  "  A?id 
 he  shall  destroy  wonderfully,  and  shall  pro- 
 sper and  practice,  and  shall  destroy  the  mighty 
 and  the  holy  people" — When  he  attained  to 
 the  summit  of  his  power,  his  tyranny  and 
 hatred  of  the  truth,  and  of  the  people  who 
 were  detected  in  the  crime  of  professing  it, 
 soon  shewed  itself  in  actions  congenial  to  it,  in 
 his  destroying  by  fire  and  sword,  the  witnesses 
 of  Jesus  called  "  holy''  in  respect  of  the  purity 
 of  their  faith  and  manners,  and  their  heroic 
 constancy,  even  unto  death;  and  "  mighty" 
 from  their  prevailing  interest  with  God,  on 
 which  account  Jacob  after  wrestling  with  the 
 angel,  received  a  similar  name  *,  or  perhaps 
 in  allusion  to  their  power  to  inflict  plagues 
 upon  him  spiritually,  which  St.  John  in  his 
 account  of  the  two  witnesses  further  explains  f« 
 
 *  Gen.  xxxii.  28. 
 
 f   Rev.  xi.     See  Sect.  vii.  p.  212. 
 
 VOL,  II.  U  IJ 
 
32S 
 
 A  great  length  of  time  for  his  wickedness  to 
 continue  and  prosper  is  intimated  here,  as  the 
 same  is  plainly  expressed  in  chap.  vii.  25,  be- 
 fore cited.  "  And  through  his  policy  also  he 
 shall  cause  craft  to  prosper  in  his  hand? — A 
 modern  historian  could  scarcely  have  describ- 
 ed the  intriguing,  sophisticating  spirit  of  the 
 court  and  church  of  Rome  with  so  great  ac- 
 curacy, in  so  concise  a  narrative. — "  And  he 
 shall  magnify  himself  in  his  heart,  and  by  peace 
 shall  destroy  many." — By  corruption  of  the 
 gospel  of  peace  and  salvation,  and  poisoning 
 the  waters  of  life. — Crying  to  sinners,  peace, 
 peace,  when  there  is  no  peace." — Trumping 
 up  a  false  covenant  with  death, — selling  in- 
 digencies and  pardons  without  respect  to  faith 
 or  repentance,  &c. — "  He  shall  also  stand  up 
 against  the  prince  of  princes" — "  Against  him 
 who  is  higher  than  the  kings  of  the  earth," — 
 shall  be  an  Antichrist  in  every  bad  sense 
 of  the  word. — "  But  he  shall  be  broken  with-' 
 cut  hands." — This  singular  method  of  his 
 destruction  refers  to  the  vision  of  the  great 
 image,  and  will  be  explained  afterwards, 
 
329 
 
 In  order  to  have  a  full  and  compleat  view 
 of  so  portentous  a  character,  we  must  proceed 
 one  station  further  on  with  Daniel,  and  take 
 in  that  more  enlarged  description  which  oc- 
 curs in  chap.  xi.  36. — "  And  the  king  shall  do 
 according  to  his  will,  and  he  shall  exalt  him- 
 self and  magnify  himself  above  every  God,  and 
 shall  speak  marvellous  things  against  the  God 
 of  Gods,  and  shall  prosper  till  the  indignation 
 be  accomplished  *■'! — The  time  of  his  prosper- 
 ing, (that  is  at  least,  the  time  that  the  impos- 
 ture and  wickedness  of  popery  shall  maintain 
 itself  in  the  world),  is  here  denoted  by  a  fact, 
 (as  elsewhere  it  is  determined  by  a  date,) 
 the  duration  of  God's  indignation  upon  the 
 Jews  ;  the  total  overthrow  of  Antichrist  and 
 the  restoration  of  Israel  being  always  insepar- 
 
 *  This  account  of  the  tyranny  and  blasphemy,  &c.  of  An- 
 tichrist has  been  explained  before,  Sect,  xviii.  xix,  &c. — This 
 intimation  that  Antichrist  is  to  prosper  till  the  end  of  the  indigna- 
 tion, is  not  to  be  taken  rigidly,  as  if  the  actual  restoration  of  the 
 Jews  was  to  take  place  immediately  upon  the  decline  of  popery. 
 Each  of  these  events  will  be  a  work  of  time  :  and  as  Anti- 
 christ is  by  the  course  of  events  withdrawn  into  the  shade  gra- 
 dually, before  his  final  overthrow,  so  the  Jews  will  rise  by  the 
 like  means,  till  the  last  great  struggle  decides  the  question  in 
 both  cases. 
 
 W  U    2 
 
» 
 
 ably  united  in  prophecy. — ;;  Neither  shall  he 
 regard  the  God  of  bis  fathers" — The  Virgin 
 Mary,  mother  o/Gody  ami  queen  of  heaven, 
 (as  he  impiously  calls  her,)  and  a  legion  of  re- 
 puted saints,  but  in  fact,  spirits  of  an  oppo- 
 site quality  and  nature,  receive  his  devotions 
 while  God  and  Christ  are  comparatively  dis- 
 regarded *. — "  Nor  t  be  desire  of  women" — or 
 wives,  alluding  to  the  celibacy  of  the  popish 
 clergy,  a  source  of  infinite  corruption  and  im- 
 morality. St  Paul  worthily  classes  "forbid- 
 ding to  marry''  amongst  his  "  doctrines  of  de- 
 vils."— "  Nor  (shall  he)  regard  any  God^  for 
 he  shall  magnify  himself  above  all" 
 
 A  system  of  faith  so  excessively  corrupt 
 necessarily  and  naturally  leads  to  atheism,  as 
 
 *  The  moon,  or  Diana,  was  anciently  worshipped  as  "  the 
 queen  of  heaven,"  and  was  celebrated  as  a  virgin  goddess \  to 
 whom  several  offices  for  the  benefit  of  her  worshippers  were 
 consigned. — The  Virgin  Mary  is  now  worshipped  under  the 
 same  name,  and  has  succeeded  to  her  functions,  if  not  to  Om- 
 nipotence and  Supremacy  in  heaven.  Yet  on  earth,  our 
 Lady  of  Loretto,  our  L.  of  Montserrat — our  L.  of  Wsdsing- 
 ham— -our  L.  the  Egyptian,  &c  have  difference  of  powers  and 
 authority.  And  the  same  distinction  of  local  superiority  ob- 
 tains with  respect  to  St.  James,  and  all  the  rest  of  the  saintly 
 
331 
 
 both  reason  evinces,  and  experience  has  fully 
 proved.  Many  of  the  popes  were  professed 
 atheists,  and  the  almost  universal  prevalence 
 of  licentious  and  infidel  principles,  amongst 
 all  ranks  in  popish  countries,  is  now  pro- 
 ducing such  an  harvest  which  was  to  be  ex- 
 pected from  such  a  seed  time.  Brydone,  in 
 his  tour,  with  just  ridicule  compares  together 
 
 tribe  of  the  Dii  majorum  gentium.  The  blasphemous  prayers 
 to  St-  Thomas  Becket,  a  turbulent,  wicked,  and  u/igrateful 
 villain,  *  are  now  to  be  seen  in  the  Missal  Secund.  Usum  Ec- 
 cles.  Sarum. 
 
 Tu  per  Thomae  Sanguinem,  quern  pro  te  impendit, 
 Fac  nos  Christe  Scandere  quo  Thomas  ascendit. 
 
 By  that  same  blood  Thomas  for  thee  expended, 
 
 Raise  uj,  O  Christ,  to  heaven,  where  Thomas  hath  ascended. 
 
 Per  te,  Thoma,  post  lasvss  munera 
 Amplexatur  nos  Dei  dextra. 
 
 Thomas  through  thee  may  all  God's  blessings  flow  ! 
 
 Yet  though  Thomas,  notwithstanding  his  turbulent  spirit, 
 has  now  fully  established  his  claim  to  divine  worship  as  a  Medi- 
 ator, Csesarius  in  his  Dialogues,  1.  8.  c.  69,  reports,  Qusestio 
 Parisiis  inter  magistros  ventilata  fuit,  &c. — It  was  a  question 
 much  canvassed  amongst  the  doctors  at  Paris,  whether  Becket 
 ivere  saved,  or  damned  P  Hist,  of  Popery  % 
 
 *  By  King  Henry  the  VIII,  unshrined  and  ttnsainted  in 
 England,  See  Burnet's  History  of  the  Reformation!  p.  244*. 
 
332 
 
 the  heathen  worship  of  the  gods,  and  the  po- 
 pish adoration  of  the  saints,  the  same  rites, 
 the  same  language  of  prayer,  and  the  same 
 images  and  temples  that  formerly  served  for 
 the  one,  are  now  set  apart  for  the  other.*" 
 
 *  The  easiness  with  which  their  predecessors  in  Rome  dis. 
 earded  their  gods  when  they  ceased  to  be  propitious,  is  perhaps 
 even  exceeded  by  the  familiar  insolence  of  the  papal  idolaters 
 to  theirs,  for  similar  neglect  of  duty.--  See  Bridone's  Tour, 
 vol.  i.  p.  153  and  159. 
 
 Many  of  thei*  chief  authorities,  among  whom  is  Thomas 
 Aquinas,  maintain  that  an  image  of  Christ  is  to  be  worshipped 
 with  Latria  (their  highest  divine  worship)  as  well  as  Christ 
 himself,  and  that  images  are  properly  and  truly  to  be  adored. 
 And  that  they  are  so,  Polydore  Virgil,  in  his  Treatise  de  in- 
 ventione  rerum,  1.  6,  c  13,  admits.  "Many  worship  the  very 
 images  of  wood  or  stone,  brass  or  marble,  or  pictures,  not  as 
 inanimate  figures,  but  as  if  they  had  life  ;  and  put  more  trust 
 in  them  than  they  do  in  Christ,  or  the  saints,  to  whom  they 
 are  dedicated," 
 
 The  second  commandment  is  left  out  very  generally  in  their 
 catechisms,  and  particularly  in  one  entitled  "  A  Summary 
 of  Christian  Doctrine,"  printed  for  T.  D,  1673.  Many  of 
 tirhich  were  seized  and  burnt,  after  the  discovery  of  the  Potish 
 Plot.  In  this,  to  make  up  the  number  ten,  the  tenth  is  di- 
 vided into  two  which  stand  thus. 
 
 Ninth You  shall  not  covet  your  neighbour's  wife,  nor  any 
 
 thing  that  is  against  chastity. 
 
 Tenth — You  shall  not  covet  your  neighbour's  goods  of  any 
 kind. — History  of  Popery. 
 
333 
 
 iC  But  in  his  estate  shall  he  honor  the  god 
 of  forces"  or  Mahuzzim,  gods  protectors — 
 mediatory  saints — "  and  (thus)  a  god  which 
 his  fathers  knew  not,  shall  he  honor  with  gold 
 and  silver \  and  with  -precious  stones  and  pleas- 
 ant things"  Well  may  the  popish  mahuz- 
 zim of  saints,  and  images,  even  the  cross 
 itself,  the  transubstantiated  wafer,  and  coun- 
 terfeit reliques,  &c.  be  called  a  god,  or  object 
 of  worship,  which  his  fathers,  the  apostles 
 and  prophets,  and  the  primitive  christians, 
 " knew  not"  The  pomp  and  magnificence 
 of  the  popish  worship,  the  number  and  rich- 
 ness of  their  vestments,  and  of  the  offerings 
 at  their  hallowed  shrines  and  oratories  &c. 
 
 When  the  primitive  Christians  reproached  the  philosophical 
 Pagans  with  the  vast  multitude  of  the  rabble  gods  and  deified 
 men  which  they  worshipped,  they  answered,  that  "  These 
 were  the  friends  of  God,  and  in  honoring  them,  they  honored 
 God  himself. — That  by  the  creature  they  approached  the  Cre- 
 ator, just  as  one  goes  to  the  king  by  the  mediation  of  his 
 ministers*"  But  bad  as  this  excuse  was,  the  ignorant  vul- 
 gar could  not  pretend  to  it.  It  is  well  known  the  papists 
 plead  the  very  same  reason  for  the  modern  idolatry.  But  as 
 we  are  assured  from  scripture  that  it  did  not  avail  even  hea- 
 thens, much  less  can  it  excuse  christians,  Rom-  i,  20,  21*- — 
 
 History  of  Pofery. 
 
33* 
 
 are  also  shewn  in  St  John's  picture  of  the 
 corrupt  church.  (Rev.  xvii.) 
 
 "  Thus  shall  he  do  in  the  most  strong  holds" 
 &V. — This  passage  has  employed  the  inge- 
 nuity of  several  commentators  to  make  sense 
 of  it.  The  best  translation  seems  to  be  that 
 of  Bishop  Newton,  of  which  the  original  is 
 susceptible,  equally  as  well  as  it  is  of  the  com- 
 mon rendering.  "  Thus  shall  he  do  to  the 
 defenders  of  mahuzzim" — (that  is,  to  their 
 priests,) — "  together  with  the  strange  god, 
 which  he  shall  acknowledge:  he  shall  multiply 
 honor y  and  he  shall  cause  them  to  rule  over 
 many,  and  the  earth  he  shall  divide  for  a  re- 
 ward*"*  "  The  defenders  and  champions  of 
 MAiiuzziM  (says  Newton)  were  the  monks, 
 and  priests,  and  bishops," — the  militia  of  his 
 Holiness  j  v\  ho  against  many  virtuous  struggles 
 of  the  Greek  emperors,  established  (vi  et  armis, 
 in  several  councils)  the  worship  of  images. — 
 For  this  good  service  he  can  never  do  enough 
 tor  them.  His  strange  god,  and  his  new  su- 
 perstitions, and  the  pi  ivileges  and  immunities, 
 the  wealth  and  dignities  of  his  church  and 
 
335 
 
 clergy,  have  in  all  ages  occupied  his  whole 
 •zeal  and  sagacity  for  their  advancement.-— 
 The  utmost  ingenuity  and  talent  has  been 
 employed  in  nothing  else  but  inventing  fresh 
 sources  of  honor,  and  gain,  and  power,  for 
 "  the  defenders  of  mahuzzim" 
 
 In  order  to  compare  Daniel's  account  with 
 St.  John's,  it  will  be  necessary  to  put  together 
 by  a  brief  recapitulation,  the  whole  of  what 
 has  been  collected  from  these  four  different 
 views  of  this  mystic  potentate,  as  given  above. 
 In  chap,  second,  the  Roman  Empire  in  ge- 
 neral is  represented  by  legs  of  iron,  termi- 
 nating below  in  feet  and  toes  of  a  base  com- 
 pound. Chap,  seventh,  it  is  represented  more 
 circumstantially  under  the  type  of  a  beast  of 
 great  strength  and  cruelty,  which  at  length 
 puts  out  ten  horns •,  and  soon  after  another  lit- 
 tle horn  of  notable  activity.  In  point  of  time 
 this  production  of  these  horns  corresponds  with 
 the  feet  of  the  image,  and  the  ten  toes.  In 
 chap,  eighth,  further  marks  of  discrimination 
 and  character  are  given  of  this  little  horn  ;  his 
 deceivableness  of  unrighteousness,  cruelty  and. 
 VOL.  II.  X  X 
 
336 
 
 antichristianism.  — And  lastly,  in  chap,  eleventh  . 
 an  enlarged  view  of  his  arbitrary  and  lawless 
 proceedings ',  his  Luciferian  pride  and  blasphe- 
 my,  his  atheistical  disregard  of  any  Codf  yet 
 unaccountably  blended  with  zeal  nevertheless 
 for  a  false  one.  The  celibacy  of  his  priests, 
 and  the  magnificence  of  his  rewards  to  them, 
 and  the  splendour  of  his  worship  of  mahuzzim. 
 
 In  the  Revelations  St.  John  has  given  an 
 account  of  this  singular  tyrant,  (with  some  ad- 
 ditional explanatory  circumstances)  but  upon 
 the  whole  so  very  much  the  same  as  Daniel, 
 that  it  is  manifest  the  same  original  sat  for  his 
 picture  to  both  of  these  painters. 
 
 Rev.  chap,  thirteenth,  the  beast  is  seen  ris- 
 ing  out  of  the  sea,  and  by  peculiar  marks  de- 
 clared to  be  the  emblematical  representation 
 of  the  Roman  Empire,  and  to  be  still  fu- 
 ture (with  respect  to  the  circumstances  of  this 
 new  power  that  was  to  be  ingrafted  upon  it,) 
 at  the  time  when  St,  John  was  writing.  Here 
 are  also  the  ten  horns,  or  kingdoms,  and  soon 
 afterwards  the  image  of  the  beast*  answerable  to 
 
*•><-».■* 
 
 m 
 
 she  little  born,  blaspheming  God,  and  wearing 
 9ut  the  saints,  and  using  the  same  wicked 
 policy  as  the  horn  did.  He  has  also  the  very 
 same  term  of  duration  allotted  to  him.  The 
 same  mighty  power  is  committed  to  him, 
 H  but  not  by  his  own  power,"  as  Daniel  had 
 said  ;  for  it  is  a  usurped  and  pretc?ided  supre- 
 macy "  over  all  kindreds  and  tongues  and  na- 
 tions" His  zeal  and  exertions  in  support  of 
 his  Mahuzzim  is  the  very  same. — He  main- 
 tains their  worship  by  "  destroying  wonder/id- 
 ly" all  that  have  the  courage  to  refuse  to  bow 
 the  knee  to  his  Baalim ;  and  by  policy  causeth 
 craft  to  prosper  in  his  hand,  for  he  deceives 
 the  world  into  his  religion  by  false  miracles, 
 and  by  peace  or  fallacious  pardons,  and  a  pre- 
 tended covenant  with  death,  he  destroys  the 
 souls  of  many,  and  to  say  all  in  a  word,  he 
 *'  stands  up  against  the  prince  of  princes,"  or 
 becomes  a  compleat  Antichrist. 
 
 To  these  numerous  circumstances  noticed 
 
 by  both  Daniel  and  St.  John,  the  latter  adds 
 
 several  others  ;  particularly  his  number,  and 
 
 his  mark,  which  as  they  have  been  discussed 
 
 x  x  2 
 
338 
 
 in  the  course  of  the  foregoing  sections,  it  is 
 unnecessary  here  to  repeat  *.  But  there  is 
 one  circumstance  very  particularly  instanced 
 by  St  John  respecting  his  miracles,  of  which  I 
 have  never  seen  any  account  given  that  seem- 
 ed to  me  tolerably  satisfactory. — "  And  he 
 doeth  great  wonders,  so  that  he  maketh  fire 
 come  down  from  heaven  on  the  earth  in  the 
 sight  of  men.  And  deceiveth  them  that  dwell 
 on  the  earth,  by  the  means  of  those  miracles 
 which  he  had  power  to  do  in  the  sight  of  the 
 beast  f. 
 
 St.  Paul  had  before  given  notice  that  the 
 pretence  of  miracles  would  be  one  (amongst 
 many  others)  of  the  signs  of  the  coming  of 
 Antichrist, — "  Whose  coming  is  after  the 
 en  erg  r  of  Satan  with  all  power,  and 
 signs,  and  lying  wonders,  with  all  deceivable- 
 ness  of  unrighteousness." — Both  writers  agree 
 as  to  the  nature  of  his  miracles  and  their  in- 
 tent, being  only  to  rivet  his  own  chains  of  su- 
 
 *  Sect.  xix.  p.  29. 
 t  Rev.  xiii.  13, 
 
339 
 
 perstltion  upon  the  necks  of  his  blind  subjects* 
 and  to  "  cause  craft  to  prosper  in  his  hand?" 
 
 But  by  St  John  a  particular  mention  is  made 
 of  one  of  the  miracles ,  in  which  he  was  by  fre- 
 quent practice  the  most  expert,  and  which 
 drew  the  most  unbounded  applauses  of  his 
 great  dexterity  and  power,  from  the  admiring 
 bystanders.*  I  mean  his  trick  of  commanding 
 Jire  to  come  down  from  heaven  on  the  earthy 
 in  the  sight  of  men"  This  though  in  fact  a 
 deception,  as  all  his  wonders  were,  yet  had 
 something  of  a  dreadful  reality  in  it,  which 
 forbids  us  to  pass  it  by  so  lightly  as  some  have 
 done,  as  a  mere  juggle  or  deceptio  visits  alto- 
 gether such  as  was  the  blood  of  a  duck  shewn 
 for  that  of  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  the  ex- 
 hibition of  a  portion  of  the  Virgin's  milk,  and 
 other  similar  miracles  of  the  popish  sorcery. 
 
 This  chief  miracle  of  the  man  of  sin  has 
 been  but  very  indifferently  explained  by  re- 
 ferring it  to  the  lying  legends  of  St.  Anthonys 
 
 *  That  is,  the  whole  antichristian  world,  or  the  beast-— the 
 representative  thereof, 
 
340 
 
 jtre>  and  though  somewhat  better,  yet  not  sa- 
 tisfactorily by  the  pretended  thunders  of  the 
 modern  Jupiter  from  the  Vatican  and  his  mock- 
 lightning  in  the  popish  form  of  excommuni- 
 cation by  bell,  book,  and  candle,  in  the  per- 
 formance of  which  feat  (in  impious  mimicry 
 of  fire  launched  from  the  arm  of  the  Omni- 
 potent,) they  cast  down  burning  torches  from 
 on  high.  I  think  this  far  too  low  and  trifling 
 to  have  been  deemed  worthy  of  so  particular 
 a  notice,  or  indeed  of  any  at  all,  by  the  holy 
 spirit  of  prophecy ;  which  as  has  been  seen, 
 in  all  the  marks  of  this  dreadful  monster,  that 
 have  been  given  by  any  of  the  prophets,  has 
 ever  singled  out  those  by  which  the  peace  and 
 safety  of  the  church  would  be  intimately  af- 
 fected, and  which  thereby  possessed  in  them- 
 selves a  considerable  importance. 
 
 This  miracle  of  Lis  making  fire  to  come 
 down  from  heaven,  being  the  only  one  (of 
 very  many)  which  is  particularly  specified, 
 beyond  all  doubt  is  something  of  no  small 
 importance,  either  ui>  it  concerns  the  propa- 
 gation of  his  own  wicked   imposture,  or  as 
 
341 
 
 the  true  doctrine  of  salvation,  and  the  safety 
 of  the  faithful  professors  of  it  would  be  en- 
 dangered by  his  dexterity  herein,  and  his 
 frequent  exhibition  of  this  miracle. 
 
 For  these  reasons,  it  appears  to  me  to  be 
 better  accounted  for  by  the  romish  auto 
 da  fe,  or  burning  of  heretics  alive  at  the 
 stake  for  the  love  of  God,  and  the  mainte- 
 nance of  the  popish  faith  in  its  ancient  inte- 
 grity. This  is  done  at  the  most  solemn 
 times  of  their  religion,  and  with  the  most 
 pompous  pageantry  of  religious  processions, 
 and  holy  incantations,  &c*  The  whole 
 purport  of  which  is  to  signify  that  though  it 
 is  an  earthly  fire  by  which  the  wicked  pro- 
 testants  are  consumed,  yet  it  is  lighted  at  the 
 altar  of  God,  and  consecrated  to  so  holy  a 
 purpose  by  the  vice-god  on  earth,  and  virtu- 
 ally comes  down  from  heaven.\ 
 
 *  It  may  be  considered  as  a  grand  sacrifice  of  living  men, 
 .in  honor  of  their  gods,  of  which  the  ancient  heathens  were 
 more  sparing,  as  if  dubious  of  its  acceptability  in  heav«n, 
 
 X  "  They  usually  contrive  the  auto  to  fall  on  some  great 
 festival,  a:  least  it  is  always  on  a  Sunday.     The  victims  are 
 
342 
 
 The  catholics  who  assist  at  the  holy  so- 
 lemnity, with  great  exultation  over  the  ene- 
 mies of  the  church,  firmly  believe  that  the 
 sentence  by  which  the  soul  is  consigned  to 
 the  everlasting  flames  of  hell,  is  hereby  as 
 truly  carried  into  effect,  as  that  which  com- 
 mits the  living  body  to  the  tortures  of  the 
 visible  fire.     Of  course  they  look  upon  this 
 
 dressed  in  habits  prepared  for  the  procession,  and  painted  with 
 flames,  dogs,  serpents,  and  devils,  all  open  mouthed.  The  Je- 
 suits, after  repeated  exhortations,  depart,  telling  them  they 
 leave  them  to  the  devil,  who  is  standing  at  their  elbow  to  re- 
 ceive their  souls,  and  cany  them  with  him  into  the  flames  of 
 hell.  On  this  a  great  shout  is  raised,  and  the  cry  is— let  the 
 dogs  beards  be  made;  which  is  done  by  thursting  flaming  furze6 
 against  their  faces,  till  their  faces  are  burnt  to  a  coal,  which  is 
 accompanied  hy  the  loudest  acclamations  of  joy.  At  last,  fire  is  set 
 to  the  furze  at  the  bottom  of  the  stake,  over  which  the  victim 
 is  chained  so  high,  that  the  top  of  the  flame  seldom  reaches 
 higher  than  the  seat  they  sit  on  ;  so  that  they  seem  rather 
 roasted  than  burnt.  There  cannot  be  a  more  lamentable  spec- 
 tacle ;  the  sufferers  continually  cry  out,  while  they  are  able, 
 "  Miserecordia  per  amor  de  Dios, — Pity  for  the  love  of  Go'd," 
 Yet  it  is  beheld  by  all  sexes  and  ages  with  transports  of  joy  and 
 satisfaction"  Encychp.  Brit. 
 
 The  english  cannibals  managed  things  with  more  tenderness 
 in  Smithfleld,  &c.  and  so  do  the  savage  indians,  though  not 
 quite  clear  of  the  censure  of  torturing  their  prisoners  before 
 they  hill  and  eat  them. 
 
313 
 
 as  a  notable  ?niraclet  and  consider  this  fire  as 
 coming  down  with  the  fullest  warrant  of  au- 
 thority from  heaven. 
 
 The  frequency  with  which  men,  women, 
 and  even  children  have  been  committed  to 
 the  flames,  with  the  additional  pain  of  every 
 added  contumely  and  insult,  that  the  most 
 ingenious  and  savage  barbarity  could  invent, 
 is  a  proof  that,  the  burning  of  heretics ,  is  con- 
 sidered in  the  church  of  Rome,  as  no  mean 
 evidence  of  the  infallible  and  divine  power  of 
 their  chief  defender  of  mahuzzim,  to  draw 
 upon  heaven,  for  the  support  of  holy  church, 
 by  miracles •,  or  "acts  of  faith."*  *  And 
 
 *  I  have  already  cited  several  instances  in  which  the  Roman- 
 ists have  (as  it  were  under  the  conduct  of  a  spirit  of  blindness) 
 remarkably  taken  to  themselves  the  very  marks  assigned  in  prophecy 
 to  the  beast, — To  which  may  be  added,  their  pretending  at 
 this  day  to  the  power  of  miracles,  and  which  claim  will  still  be 
 insisted  upon,  even  to  the  very  end:  for  their  chief  juggler, 
 after  he  is  robbed  of  his  diadem,  and  sunk  into  a  mere  faxse 
 prophet,  is  still  to  continue  the  trade  of  miracles,  (Rev. 
 xix.  20.)  His  miracles  are  declared  in  scripture  to  be  all  false 
 and  lying  wonders.  Their  offering  up  of  human  victims  to 
 Christ,  is  truly  a  wonder; — for  Si  John  himself  long  ago  won* 
 dsred  at  it,  and  often  as  it  has  been  done,  one  cannot  help  still 
 VOL.  II.  y    Y 
 
the  horrible  hypocrisy,  and  unparalleled  cruel- 
 ty, to  both  the  bodies  and  souls  of  the  unhappy 
 sufferers,  (as  far  as  these  incarnate  devils  have 
 power  to  touch  the  soul,)*  may  worthily  en- 
 title this  master  piece  of  the  miracles  of  Anti- 
 christ to  so  particular  a  notice  from  the  Spirit 
 of  God.f 
 
 There  is  something  of  this  kind,  indeed, 
 ascribed  to  the  two  prophets,  or  witnesses, 
 themselves,  but  with  so  manifest  a  difference 
 in  all  respects,  as  plainly  evinces  that  it  was 
 designed  as  a  perfect  contrast  to  the  miracle 
 of  the  beast,  which  persecutes  and  destroys 
 them.  It  is  declared  to  be  the  gift  of  God.— 
 "  /  will  give  power  unto  my  two  witnesses. 
 
 wondering. — They  themselves  call  it  a  miracle,  or  act  o» 
 faith  ;  but  the  scripture  warrants  us  to  set  it  down  amongst 
 the  lying  wonders  of  the  beast. 
 
 •  Matt.  x.  2°. 
 
 f  Burnet,  in  his  History  of  the  Reformation  in  England, 
 gives  an  instance  of  a  subtilty  and  malice  which  cannot  be  sur- 
 passed by  devils,  in  their  treacherous  scheme  to  entrap  Arch- 
 bishop Cranmer  into  a  recantation,  and  then  to  burn  him 
 immediately  afterwards,  thug  to  make  sure  work  of  it,  for  both 
 hod)  and  soul. 
 
-345 
 
 -*-And  if  any  man  will  hurt  them,  fire  pro- 
 ceeded out  of  their  mouthy  and  devoureth 
 their  enemies"*  This  is  manifestly  figura- 
 tive, for  they  are  to  have  the  power  of  thus 
 "  contending  for  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the 
 saints"  against  their  antichristian  enemies,  for 
 the  whole  term  of  1260  years;  and  how 
 they  have  fulfilled  this  ministry,  by  the  word 
 of  God  proceeding  as  a  devouring  fiame  out 
 of  their  mouths,  I  have  already  delivered  my 
 sentiments,  and  the  consumed  and  low  con- 
 dition of  popery  in  the  present  day,  is  the 
 consequent  effect  and  fulfilment  of  the  pro- 
 phecy. But  the  popish  fire  is  without  any 
 such  previous  attestation  of  a  divine  authority 
 and  efficacy  along  with  it,  and  a  reasonable 
 cause  assigned  for  the  exercise  of  it,  but  in 
 every  thing  the  reverse.  The  intention  is 
 w  to  deceive  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth" 
 (within  the  pale  of  the  roman  church,  very 
 commonly  meant  by  that  phrase,)  and  the 
 whole  feat  being  a  "  lying  wonder"  or  false 
 miracle,  the  fire  (though  real)  comes  down 
 
 '•    Rev.  xi.  3,  Sec, 
 Y  Y   2 
 
346 
 
 not  from  the  true  heaven,  from  whence  the 
 word  of  God,  in  the  mouths  of  his  witnesses, 
 proceeds,  but  from  the  papal  heaven,  or  the 
 infallible  authority  of  holy  church. 
 
 There  appears  then,  upon  the  whole,  a  per- 
 fect consistency  between  Daniel  and  St  John, 
 and  there  is  the  same  between  St  Paul's  man 
 of  sin y  and  the  little  horn  of  Daniel,  and  the 
 image  of  the  beast  in  St  John.  Holy  David, 
 long  before  all  of  these,  had  given  a  very  to- 
 lerable likeness  of  this  wicked  one,  in  his 
 portrait  drawn  in  the  fiftieth  Psalm  ;  though 
 the  artists,  after  his  time,  have  succeeded  hap- 
 pily in  giving  additional  expression  to  some 
 of  his  features,  and  have  thrown  in  consider- 
 able beauty  to  David's  first  sketch.  But  every 
 thing  appears  differently  to  the  eye  of  differ- 
 ent painters,  though  the  object  to  be  repre- 
 sented, and  the  point  of  view  be  the  very 
 same. 
 
 "  Unto  the  wicked  God  said,  what  hast 
 thou  to  do  to  declare  my  statutes,  or  that  thou 
 skouldst  take  my  covenant  in  thy  mouth" — He 
 
347 
 
 pretends  himself  not  only  the  church's  eye, 
 but  the  church's  mouth  too.  Every  thing 
 must  be  proclaimed  by  his  permission,  and 
 without  him  the  scriptures,  and  creeds,  the 
 fathers,  and  decrees  of  councils,  can  have  no 
 authority.  But  as  his  mouth  is  full  of  blas- 
 phemies^ so  also  his  eye  is  evil,  and  his  whole 
 body  full  of  darkness, — "  Seeing  thou  hatest 
 instruction ,  and  cast  est  my  words  behind  thee" 
 In  the  old  translation  it  is,  "  "  Thou  hatest  to 
 be  reformed."  And  in  either  it  is  no  slander 
 of  his  holiness,  who  hath  resisted,  tooth  and 
 nail,  the  reformation  of  the  church: 
 and  smothered  the  increasing  light  of  instruc- 
 tion which  shewed  the  necessity  of  reform  f. 
 The  scriptures,  (God's  words)  were  not  less 
 the  objects  of  his  scorn,  and  contumely,  and 
 persecution  than  the  protestants  themselves. 
 "  When  thou  saw  est  a  thief  then  thou  consent- 
 est  with  him"  It  is  probable  that  the  holy 
 spirit  here  alludes  to  two  circumstances  worthy 
 of  particular  notice.  The  wicked  and  time- 
 serving policy  of  Boniface  the  III,  in  con- 
 
 *  See  Pobr.o's  Historv  of  the  Council  of  Trent. 
 
348 
 
 firming  the  title  of  the  usurper  and  murderer 
 Phoc as,  about  the  year  607,  in  recompence 
 for  which  good  turn  he  received  from  him 
 another,  the  proud  title  of  Universal  Bish- 
 op, which  had  been  stoutly  disclaimed  by 
 Gregory  I,  his  next  predecessor  but  one,  as 
 a  mark  of  Antichrist*.      The  other  in- 
 stance is  that  of  Pope  ZacharyI,  about  the 
 year  753,  hallowing  the  usurpation  of  Pi  pin, 
 for  which  pious  act  the  triple  crown  was  be- 
 stowed upon  the  popes  by  Pi  pin    and  his 
 sons.  As  these  instances  of  his  "  seeing  a  thief 
 and  consenting  to  bim"  were  the  means  of 
 making  his  fortune,  so  it  is  probable  the  loss 
 
 *  The  complaisance  of  Gregory  himself  to  the  Empero* 
 Maurice,  and  afterwards  to  his  murderer  Phocas.  was  equal- 
 ly bailanced,  but  he  lived  not  long  enough,  and  so  another  got 
 the  reward. — Pipin  the  usurper  of  the  throne  of  France,  and 
 his  son  Charles  the  Great,  anJ  his  grand  son  Lewis  the  Pi- 
 ous, for  similar  reasons  assisted  the  usurpations  of  the  popes, 
 and  granted  to  them  for  ever  the  three  states  they  had  seized  upon* 
 Thus,  the  little  horn  "  caused  three  of  the  ten  to  he  plucked  up  by 
 the  roots  hi/ore  /jirw,"~- and  thus  the  dragon  gave  him  his  seat, 
 and  great  authority  " — From  this  period  the  bulls  and  edicts  of 
 the  popes  were  no  longer  dated  as  formerly,  from  the  years  of 
 the  reigning  emperor,  but  from  their  own  advancement  to  the 
 papal  chair. 
 
349 
 
 of  his  diadem  and  territories  will  be  the  con- 
 sequence of  a  similar  conduct,  in  the  fulness 
 of  time. 
 
 "  And  hast  been  partaker  with  the  adulter- 
 ers"— By  introducing  idolatrous  rites  and  the 
 use  of  images  into  the  church  of  Christ,  the 
 popes  having  shewn  great  zeal  in  the  defence 
 of  their  Ma huzzim  against  emperois,   and 
 councils,  which  strove  in  vain  to  cleanse  the 
 sanctuary  from  this    spiritual  whoredom. — 
 "  Thou  givest  thy  mouth  to  evil,  and  thy  tongue 
 frameth  deceit" — "  With  all  deceivableness 
 of  unrighteousness,"  and  "  with  the  hypocrisy 
 of  liars,  having  their  conscience  seared  with  a 
 hot  iron,"  says  St.  Paul.     "  Thou  sittest  and 
 jpeakest  against  thy  brother ,  thou  hast  slander- 
 ed thine  own  mother's  son"     Christ  will  hear 
 of  no  supremacy  but  God's  in  the  church,  one 
 is  your  Father,  even  God,  and  ye  are  all  bre- 
 thren."    But  the  Holy  Father,  and  head 
 of  the  church  on  earth,  is  of  a  different  opini- 
 on,  and  will    launch  his  excommunications 
 against  his   Christian    brethren    with  a  fiery 
 zeal,  which  (in  cases  of  spiritual  disobedience) 
 
350 
 
 disclaims  charity  and  common  humanity  to  he- 
 retics as  mortal  sin.  In  the  cause  of  holy 
 church,  brother  must  deliver  up  the  brother  to 
 death,  and  the  parent  the  child,  and  the  chil- 
 dren shall  rise  up  against  their  parents,  and 
 cause  them  to  be  put  to  death."  Matth.  x.  21. 
 
 "  These  things  hast  thou  done  and  I  kept 
 silence"  The  long  prospering  and  practising 
 of  the  antichristian  tyrant  was  a  season  of  for- 
 bearance on  God's  part,  to  give  opportunity 
 for  the  display  of  Christian  faith  and  patience, 
 and  to  shew  the  power  of  true  religion  when 
 put  to  the  trial.  But  the  senseless  persecutor 
 drew  a  false  inference  from  this  silence  of 
 God,  and  he  still  continues  in  the  same  error. 
 "  Thou  thoughtest  that  I  was  altogether  such 
 an  one  as  thyself.  But  I  will  reprove  thee,  and 
 set  thy  deeds  in  order  before  thine  eyes."  He 
 conceived  of  God  as  another  Moloch,  delight- 
 ing in  human  sacrifices,  and  pleased  with  ido- 
 latrous altars,  &c.  but  these  are  the  things 
 now  held  up  to  his  face,  that  he  may  read  in 
 the  nature  of  his  plagues,  what  were  the  crimes 
 that  drew  them  upon  him. 
 
351 
 
 The  prophet  concludes  with  an  address  to 
 his  deluded  followers  in  the  apostacy,  whom 
 he  has  deceived  with  his  miracles  and  his  high 
 pretensions,  as  the  successor  of  St.  Peter,  nay 
 even  as  Christ's  successor ;  that  they  should 
 lay  these  things  to  heart,  and  forsake  the  dan- 
 gerous path  of  delusion  before  it  be  too  late. — 
 «  Now  consider  this,  ye  that  forget 
 God." — Who  apostatize  from  Christ,  and 
 seek  to  false  mediators  and  protectors ;  which 
 if  they  be  any  thing  better  than  dumb  stocks 
 and  stones,  are  devils,  and  not  spirits  of  just 
 men  made  perfect.  "  When  they  shall  say 
 unto  you,  seek  unto  them  that  have  familiar 
 spirits,  and  unto  wizzards  that  peep,  and  that 
 mutter ;"  (in  unintelligible  sounds,  or  an  un- 
 known tongue,)  "  Should  not  a  people  seek 
 unto  their  God  ?" — (shall  they  seek) — "  for 
 the  living  to  the  dead  ?"  "  Consider  this, 
 lest  I  tear  you  in  pieces,  and  there  be  none 
 to  deliver" 
 
 VOL.  II.  2  Z 
 
-•ECTION  XXXIII. 
 
 The  Roman  empire  divided,  or  the  origin  of  the  two 
 beasts  of  St.  'John,  the  antiehristian  idolatrous 
 and  persecuting  Roman  empire,  and  the  church 
 hierarchy  and  papacy  engrafted  upon  it. — A  fur- 
 ther division  into  ten  kingdoms  in  catholic  obedi- 
 ence  to  the  pope. — The  union  between  them  com- 
 pared to  iron  mixed  with  miry  clay. — The  ill  uni» 
 on  of  the  popish  errors  with  the  gospel  truth*— 
 The  papal  militia, 
 
 lO  return  now  to  the  great  image  in  the 
 second  chapter  of  Daniel,  which  at  the  time 
 of  this  digression  I  had  brought  down  to  the 
 legs  of  iron  representing  the  Roman  Em- 
 pire in  its  orig'mal  strength;  and  descend- 
 ing still  lower  into  the  latter  times,  I  had 
 come  down  to  the  contemplation  of  its  FEET 
 
composed  no  longer  of  iron  alone,  but  of  a 
 base  compound  of  iron  mingled  with  miry 
 clay,  and  a  partition*  into  ten  toes  of  the 
 same  materials.  This  is  evidently  designed 
 to  represent  the  same  Roman  empire  in  a  con- 
 tinuation and  in  its  latest  period,  but  with  con- 
 siderable alterations,  and  such  as  were  by  no 
 means  to  its  advantage;  and  it  is  probable  that 
 from  the  great  variety  of  important  additional 
 circumstances,  gained  from  consulting  the  three 
 other  visions  of  the  same  prophet,  with  the 
 assistance  of  St.  John's  explanation  of  them, 
 (by  which  the  great  vacuity  left  here  is  filled 
 up,)  some  idea  may  be  formed  of  what  is  meant 
 by  the  miry  clay  blended  with  the  remains  oj 
 the  original  iron.  "  And  whereas  thou  saw- 
 cst  the  feet  AND  toss,  part  of  posters  clay\ 
 and  part  of  iron,  the  king  iojn  sh  ill  be  divided) 
 but  there  shall  be  in  it  of  the  strength  of  the 
 iron,  forasmuch  as  thou  sawest  the  iron  m  -xed 
 with  miry  clay.  And  as  the  toes  of  the  feet 
 -were  part  of  iron,  and  part  of  clay;  so  the 
 kingdom  shall  be  partly  strong,  and  partly 
 broken"   (or  brittle). 
 
 Z  Z  2 
 
354 
 
 The  division  of  the  empire  at  this  period 
 (which  the  prophet  here  mentions,)  "  the 
 kingdom  shall  be  divided"  may  allude  to  the 
 power  of  the  ecclesiastical  hierarchy  which  set 
 up  an  authority  (in  spirituals  at  least)  su- 
 preme above  the  highest  powers  on  earth,  and 
 even  in  temporal  matters  became  a  very  trou- 
 blesome competitor  for  power  with  the  em- 
 perors. This  was  imperium  in  imperio^  and 
 answers  to  the  two  beasts  of  St.  John,  of 
 which  the  first  was  the  persecuting  antichristi- 
 an  imperial  power  in  its  changed  form,  "  ris- 
 ing out  of  the  sea"  or  constituted  by  election 
 of  the  people.  The  second  which  arose  out 
 of  the  earth"  (the  common  figure  for  the  city 
 and  patiimony  of  St.  Peter,  and  the  whole 
 concatenation  of  popery,)  is  the  ecclesiastical 
 hierarchy  which  creates  the  pope,  "  the  image 
 of  the  beast."  This  may  be  the  first  signifi- 
 cation of  the  division.  And  both  the  parts 
 had  in  them  some  remainder  of  the  iron  or 
 Roman  strengthy  as  appears  by  their  long  du- 
 ration in  the  same  forms  they  took  at  the  time 
 of  this  division.  A  second  signification  of  it 
 may  be  the  further  division  of  the  Roman  em- 
 
355 
 
 fire  into  ten  kingdoms  at  the  same  time,  which, 
 is  here  concisely  hinted  by  the  mention  of  the 
 ten  toes  of  the  feet>  compounded  of  the  same 
 debased  materials.  Of  these  (from  the  other 
 sources  of  prophecy)  we  have  taken  in  an  en- 
 larged account ;  whereby  we  obtained  a  full 
 prospective  view  of  the  LITTLE  HORN, 
 which  arose  soon  after  these  ten  kingdoms, 
 and  engrossed  three  of  them  to  himself. 
 
 This  motley  power,  diverse  from  all  other 
 potentates,  either  of  his  own  or  former  times, 
 soon  struck  so  deep  the  roots  of  his  authority 
 amongst  the  other  members  of  the  whole  pa-= 
 pal  empire  and  confederacy,  that  he  was  mas* 
 ter  of  the  joint  power  and  influence  of  the 
 rest  for  the  most  part,  and  was  in  possession 
 of  such  powerful  means  of  subduing  the  spi- 
 ritual disobedience  of  his  refractory  crowned 
 subjects,  that,  as  the  prophet  Daniel  says, — - 
 "  the  king  could  do  according  to  his  will."-— 
 '*  For  God  (says  St  John)  had  put  in  their 
 hearts  to  fulfil  his  will,  a  fid  give  their  power 
 unto  the  beast ,  until  the  words  of  God  shall  be 
 fulfilled" — This  kind  of  agreement,  however. 
 
ga<3 
 
 was  cemented  by  imposture  and  superstition^ 
 which,  like  clay  united  with  iron  in  the  com- 
 position of  a  statue,  made  up  a  weak  and 
 contemptible  continuation  of  what  had  been 
 begun  in  solid  Iron ;  and  was  not  (like  that 
 noble  material)  calculated  for  eternity,  but 
 contained  in  it  (however  disguised  by  the 
 beauty  of  outward  paint  and  varnish,)  a  prin- 
 ciple of  future  disunion  and  fracture. 
 
 In  describing  the  consequent  effects  of  this 
 mixture  of  materials  so  unequal,  in  the  com- 
 position of  the  lower  extremities  of  the  image, 
 there  is  observable,  in  this  place,  a  sudden 
 change  from  the  singular  number  to  the  plu- 
 ral, which  no  doubt  has  a  very  particular 
 meaning,  as"  there  is  nothing  of  the  kind  in 
 any  of  the  other  visions  of  Daniel. — "  A?id 
 whereas  thou  sawest  iron  mixed  with  miry 
 clay,  THET  shall  mingle  themselves  with  the 
 seed  of  men ;  but  thet  shall  not  cleave  one  to 
 another,  even  as  iron  is  not  mixed  with  clay." 
 —As  a  mass  of  such  heterogeneous  ingredi- 
 ents cannot  form  a  compound  body  of  firm 
 
cohesion,  so  neither  shall  the  mixture  in  the 
 body  politic,  here  alluded  to,  be  such. 
 
 This  has  usually  been  understood  of  the 
 Irruption  of  the  barbarous  fiations  into  the 
 empire;  but  I  think  without  propriety,  as  it 
 does  not  at  all  answer  to  the  idea  here  pre- 
 sented to  us  of  the  general  effect  produced ; 
 which  was  a  mass,  whose  defect  of  firm  union 
 was  for  the  present  concealed  from  the  eye  of 
 the  casual  observer,  but  which  sooner  or  later 
 would  shew  itself  in  all  the  weakness  naturally 
 to  be  expected,  as  soon  as  its  strength  of  co- 
 hesion should  be  tried  by  the  impulse  of  ex- 
 ternal force.  The  irruption  of  the  barbarians 
 had  not  such  an  effect  upon  the  strength  of 
 the  empire,  (at  that  time  already  in  its  last 
 stage  of  decline  and  degeneracy,)  but  quite 
 the  contrary.  The  conquering  barbarians 
 very  soon  tasted  and  became  fully  sensible  of 
 the  advantages  of  civilization  and  the  roman 
 arts ;  and  they  were  amalgamated,  and  be- 
 came one  people  with  the  conquered.  By 
 sending  to  the  armies  numerous  levies  of 
 bold  and  hardy  soldiers,  they  for  a  long  time 
 
3b$ 
 
 supplied  additional  strength  and  renovated 
 vigour  to  the  effeminate  romans,  and  actually 
 postponed  the  fall  of  the  empire.  They  were, 
 in  short,  so  beneficially  at  this  critical  time 
 mingled  with  them,  and  so  totally  absorbed 
 in  the  larger  body,  as  to  be  soon  undistin- 
 guishable  from  the  native  romans. 
 
 The  mixture  of  clay  with  iron  in  this  pas- 
 sage, undoubtedly  does  mean  an  admixture 
 of  two  sorts  of  people  of  very  different  de~ 
 scription,  and  with  such  an  effect  as  the  pro- 
 phet mentions,  of  an  intimate  combination, 
 but  without  any  principle  of  cohesion  and 
 unity  common  to  them  both. — "  They  shall 
 mingle  themselves  with  the  seed  of  men"  im- 
 plies as  much.  The  seed  of  men  being  in  so 
 remarkable  a  manner  contrasted  with  the  race 
 which  mingle  themselves  among  them,  yet 
 without  cleaving  one  to  another,  denotes  a 
 very  strong  opposition  of  character,  and  a  con- 
 trariety of  interests  and  views,  not  withstand* 
 ing  their  intimate  and  universal  intermixture, 
 through  the  whole  papal  or  catholic  empire. 
 
359 
 
 Something  affecting  more  deeply  the  welfare 
 vftbe  church  of  God,  than  the  irruption  of  the 
 Barbarians    into    the  empire  did,  must  evi- 
 dently be  alluded  to  here;  since   the   very- 
 mention  of  the  circumstance  at  all  (in  a  nar- 
 ration   so   very  concise,)    is  a    sufficient  in- 
 dication of  the  importance  of  the  fact  intended 
 by  the  spirit  of  prophecy.     It  appears  to  me 
 that  such  a  fact  may  be  found  in  the  growth 
 of  the   influence,   power  and  wealth  of  the 
 clergy,    and   the   universal  intermixture   (yet 
 with  separate  interests  and  views  of  their  own,) 
 of  the  papal  hierarchy  amongst  all  the  peoples ', 
 and  multitudes,  and  nations,  and  tongues,  over 
 whom  the  little  horn,  or  popedom  had  thrown 
 his  spiritual  yoke.     I  have  not  yet  seen  any 
 solution  of  this  difficulty  which  appears  to  me 
 to  correspond  so  well  with  the  sense  of  this 
 part  of  the  prophecy,  (and  which  has  at  the 
 same  time  in  itself  a  sufficient   importance) 
 equally  with  this. 
 
 The  clergy  in  general  of  every  description, 
 and  the  innumerable  swarms  of  monks,  socn 
 began  to  lift  up  their  heads  to  a  proportionable 
 
 TOL.  IT,  3  A 
 
360 
 
 arrogance,  as  well  his  Holiness,  "  the  servant 
 of  servants"  And  quickly  introduced  a  mul- 
 titude of  clerical  privileges  and  immunities, 
 honours,  and  lucrative  distinctions,  (many  of 
 them  very  aggravating  and  oppressive  to  the 
 people)  which  created  a  separation  of  "interests ', 
 and  violent  and  frequent  feuds  and  contentions 
 at  arms,  in  the  maintenance  of  their  avarici- 
 ous encroachments.  The  higher  prelates,  (as 
 so  many  lesser  popes,  each  in  his  own  dio» 
 cese)  held  the  people,  (and  too  frequently 
 even  the  inferior  clergy  too,)  in  proud  and 
 contumelious  contempt;  and  they  retorted  the 
 ill  usage  with  interest,  according  as  opportunity 
 served. 
 
 The  murder  of  Becket,  archbishop  of  Can- 
 terbury in  his  own  church,  and  at  the  foot  of 
 the  altar,  for  his  ingratitude  and  rebellion 
 against  his  sovereign,  is  one  amongst  many 
 instances  of  the  unharmonizing  principles  of 
 popery,  and  the  precarious  union  that  was 
 kept  up  on  both  sides  ;  but  particularly  by  the 
 proud  and  overbearing  prelates  of  a  corrupt 
 church.     And  the  rigorous  and  shameful  pen- 
 
361 
 
 ance  which  the  pope  exacted  on  such  occa- 
 sions from  the  disobedient  laity  *,  is  at  the 
 same  time  a  proof  of  the  separate  interests  of 
 the  church,  which  he  industriously  inculcated 
 in  the  minds  of  the  clergy  in  all  the  kingdoms 
 of  his  catholic  empire.  And  as  this  was  noto- 
 riously the  case  amongst  the  higher  orders,  the 
 same  system  of  policy  and  the  same  corruption 
 
 *  Nothing  can  be  a  stronger  proof  of  the  pride  and  ambition 
 at  the  clergy,  than  the  quarrel  of  Becket  with  his  benefactor 
 Sing  Henry  the  M,  and  the  countenance  he  received  from  the 
 pope,  by  which  the  insolent  priest  was  able  to  humble  the 
 most  powerful  king  of  his  times  while  living,  and  compel  him 
 to  worship  him  after  his  death.  To  obtain  absolution  from  the 
 pope  for  the  murder  of  Becket,  in  which  he  had  no  participa- 
 tion, after  binding  himself  upon  oath  to  many  hard  and  dis- 
 graceful articles,  he  was  forced  to  walk  bare  footed  three  miles 
 to  Becket's  tomb  in  the  church  of  Canterbury,  and  kneeling 
 before  it  to  submit  his  royal  back  to  be  flogged  by  the  monks 
 and  clergy,  "  Primo  ah  episcopis  quinquies  ccesus  est,  deincle  a 
 monachis  amplius  octoginta  ternos  acccpit  ictus  atq.  itasolemniterab- 
 solutus  est." — says  Harseus  in  the  life  of  Becket.  "  First  he 
 was  scourged  Jive  times  by  the  bishops,  and  then  from  the  monks 
 he  received  eighty-three  lashes,  and  so  was  solemnly  absolved." — 
 To  such  a  degree  were  princes  in  vassalage  to  the  pope  and  the 
 higher  clergy.  The  king  of  France,  some  years  after  came  over 
 on  purpose  to  visit  Becket's  shrine  upon  the  fame  of  his  many 
 miracles,  where  he  paid  his  vows,  and  made  oblations,  with  many 
 :  ich  present  s, — History  of  Popery* 
 
 3  A  2 
 
362 
 
 of  manners,  aggravated  by  more  barbarous 
 ignorance  and  superstition,  had  similar  effects 
 amongst  the  lower  clergy.     Swarms  of  vicious 
 and  indolent  impostors  in  religious  habits,  to 
 which  a  superstitious  veneration  was  attached, 
 and  under  rules  of  monkery  of  the  most  fri- 
 volous yet  hostile  opposition  to  each  other, 
 and  of  both  sexes,  mingled  themselves  with  the 
 seed  of  men"  and  intruded  their  influence  into 
 the  most  secret  concerns  of  private  families, 
 as  well  as  into  the  mysteries  and  highest  offi- 
 ces of  states  and  kingdoms.     Yet  still  with  a 
 steady  eye  to  the  interests  of  their  own  ecclesi- 
 astical  chief,    and    the    exaltation   of    holy 
 church.     Nothing  could  be  transacted  with- 
 out their  knowledge,  and  notwithstanding  the 
 universal  jealousy  of  their  partiality  to    the 
 pope  and  the  spirit  of  encroachment  by  which 
 they  were  actuated,  yet  such  was  the  force  of 
 superstition,  that  nothing  could  prosper  with- 
 out their  participation.     The  master  key  of 
 auricular  confession  put  into  the  hands  of  the 
 crafty  clergy,  both  the  public  happiness  and 
 domestic  peace  of  the  people. 
 
363 
 
 The  celibacy  of  the  clergy,  at  first  the  off- 
 spring of  fanaticism  and  monkish  devotion, 
 was  soon  turned  to  the  advantage  of  the  pa- 
 pal power  by  that  intriguing  court,  and  was 
 made  a  law  of  the  church,  upon  the  most  se- 
 vere penalties.     The  whole  body  of  the  cler- 
 gy were  thus  in  every  country  detached  from 
 the  ties  of  connubial  interest,  and  the  com- 
 mon ideas  of  patriotism,  by  the  superior  force 
 of  their  vows  of  canonical  obedience  and  duty 
 to  the  pope  and  holy  church ;  and  their  claims 
 (however  arrogant  and  unjust)  were,  without 
 hesitation  or  liberty  of  private  judgment,  in 
 all  cases  to  be  preferred,  even  to  the  laws  of 
 God  and  nature,  of  which  the  pope  was  in- 
 fallible judge,  and  could  dispense  with  them 
 (for  the  good  of  the  church)  at  his  pleasure. 
 The  clergy  were,  by  such  means,  reduced  to 
 a  something  either  above  or  below  the  seed 
 of  men,  distinct  and  separate  from  mankind  in 
 general,  though   mingled   amongst  them :    a 
 nation  depending  upon  its  own  chief,  and  re- 
 gulated by  its  own  laws,  and  having  interests 
 quite  foreign  to  those  of  the  country  they  in- 
 habited, in  which,  moreover,  they  were  not 
 
364 
 
 unfrequently  foreigners*  by  extraction.  I 
 conceive  this  to  be  the  meaning  of  the  mark- 
 ed antithesis — "they  shall  mingle  themselves 
 with  the  seed  of  men,  but  they  shall  not  cleave 
 one  to  another,  even  as  iron  is  not  mixed  with 
 clay" 
 
 The  effects  of  their  canonical  obedience  to 
 the  pope,  were  often  severely  felt,  and  justly- 
 dreaded  by  both  princes  and  their  people. 
 For  thus  the  pope  had  (maintained  at  the 
 charge  of  others)  a  mighty  standing  army, 
 entirely  at  his  devotion,  in  all  countries,  and 
 under  strict  ecclesiastical  discipline  ;  j*  an  en- 
 gine by  which  he  could  move  the  world  at  his 
 pleasure;  and  he  himself  kept  the  key,  by 
 which  it  could  be  wound  up  to  whatever 
 pitch  his  designs  required.     The  clergy,  as 
 
 *  By  the  influence  of  the  court  of  Rome,  the  richest  Bish- 
 opricks  in  England  were  often  in  the  hands  of  Italians,  residing 
 in  the  pope's  court. 
 
 f  This  spiritual  militia  of  his  Holiness  were  known  to  be 
 above  a  million,  under  officers  chosen  for  their  tried  attachment 
 to  the  service,  and  superior  capacity  to  keep  the  nations  in  a 
 blind  obedience,  at  the^r  cwn  expence. 
 
365 
 
 history  abundantly  testifies,  were  the  tools  he 
 wrought  with,  to  place  all  the  kingdoms  of 
 the  earth  in  absolute  subjection  under  his  feet* 
 The  barbarous  Goths  and  Vandals  soon  for- 
 got their  own  language,  and  adopted  that  of 
 the  Romans,  but  this  countless  host  of  priests 
 and  monks  forget  their  own  native  tongues, 
 and  receive  the  language  his  Holiness  pre- 
 scribes ;  and  in  this  (and  no  other)  they  per- 
 form in  all  countries  their  religious  ministra- 
 tions, though  it  is  not  understood  by  the  peo- 
 ple,— They  distinguish  themselves  from  the 
 laity  by  their  habits,  and  modes  of  life,  and 
 orders  of  monkery,  and  by  usurping  a  name 
 of  their  collective  body,  which  implies  in  ge- 
 neral a  pre-eminent  contradistinction,  on  the 
 fanatical  pretence  of  nearer  affinity  to  God 
 than  the  rest  of  their  christian  brethren.*    All 
 
 *  Clergy,  derived  from  the  greek  Cleros,  "  the  portion  or 
 inheritance  of  the  Lord," — Laity  being  derived  from  Laos, 
 the  people.  Odi  profanum  vulgus  et  arceo, — Hor,  The 
 scripture  gives  but  little  warrant  to  this  sort  of  affected  su- 
 premacy in  the  divine  favor,  the  first  christian  ministers  not 
 only  calling  themselves,  but  feeling  themselves  the  servants  of, 
 and  not  lordly  rulers  over  their  jloch.  (1  Cor.  ix.  19  ;  2  Cor. 
 iv-  5«)     The  flock  in  general  have  equal  title  to  the  divine 
 
366 
 
 these  considerations  give  a  peculiar  force  and 
 propriety  to  the  mark  which  the  prophet  has 
 here  affixed  upon  the  popish  clergy,  that  in 
 the  society  of  men  they  are  the  same  as  miry 
 clay  mingled  with  iron  would  be  in  a  statue ; 
 debasing  and  debilitating  the  compound  mass, 
 by  an  unnatural  mixture  of  materials  which 
 cannot  cleave  one  to  another. 
 
 All  the  marks  of  character  which  the  holy 
 spirit  has  stampt  upon  the  objects  of  Daniel's 
 prophecies,  are  to  be  presumed  relating  to 
 things  from  which  no  trivial  effects  will  re 'suit ', 
 and  of  those  things  the  descriptions  he  has 
 given  (though  in  so  very  few  words,)  are  ex- 
 ceedingly strong  and  expressive.  The  eyes 
 and  the  mouth  which  he  gives  to  the  little 
 
 favor,  upon  the  same  grounds  of  holy  obedience  and  faith, 
 being  called  "elect,"  (Col.  iii.  12;  1  Thess.  i.  4;  2  Peter  i. 
 10,)  "  holy  brethren,"  (1  Thess.  v.  27:  Heb.  iii.  l,j  "saints," 
 (Ephes.  v.  3,)  «  God's  heritage,"  (1  Pet.  v.  3.) 
 
 In  the  case  alluded  to  in  Gen.  vi.  2,  there  was  a  better 
 ground  for  the  distinction  of  the  Beni  Elohim,  "  sons  of  God" 
 contrasted  with  the  "  children  or  seed  of  men"  in  the  piety  of 
 the  family  of  Seth,  and  notorious  wickedness  of  Cain's  pos- 
 terity. 
 
367 
 
 horn,  are  easy  to  be  understood  of  the  papal 
 episcopacy,  as  that  office  (of  highly  venerable 
 and  apostolical  authority  in  itself,) was  unwor- 
 thily exercised  by  the  popes.     And  the  miry 
 clay  *  thus  mingled  with  iron,  is  not  less  ex- 
 pressive of  the  turbulent  spirit,  party  zeal,  and 
 unaccommodating  humour  of  his  clerical  par- 
 tizans :  which  in  all  his  disputes,  (and  against 
 all  reason  or  right,)  supported  his  pretensions,' 
 as  he  in  return  did  the  same  for  them.   Church 
 history  teems  with  the  brawls  of  lordly  church- 
 men, and  rebellious  and  even  military  prelates, 
 yielding  no  homage,  nor  owning  any  depend- 
 
 *  It  may  be  some  confirmation  of  this  interpretation  of  the 
 miry  clay  in  this  prophecy   of  the  later  times  of  Christianity , 
 that  we  find  the  Psalmist  prophetically  alluding  to  the  distressed 
 state  of  the  church  under  the  oppressive  weight  of  tyranny ,  and  her 
 deliverance  from    it,  ander  the  same   figure  of  mire   and  clay. 
 Thus  Psal.  lxix.  2  and  14,  ' s  I  sink  in  deep  mire,  where  there  is 
 no  standing.  &c, — Deliver  me  out  of  the  mires  &c  — And  Psal. 
 xl.  2.  **  He  brought  me  up  also  out  of  an  nornble  pic,  out  of  the 
 miry  clay*  &c  — And  he  hath  put  a  ww  song  in  my  mouth,  &c  " 
 Ezek.  chap,  xlvii.  11.  seems  to  allude  to  the  same.      Having 
 described  the   increase  of  the  gospel  streams  issuing  from  the 
 sanctuary,  and  healing  the  waters  of  the  sea,  he  says,  but  the 
 miry  places  thereof,  shall  not  be  healed,  ihey  shall  be  given  to 
 salt.  —See  Isai.  lvii,  20.  where  he  compares  the  doctrines  of 
 the  wicked  to  mire, 
 
 VOL.  II,  3   B 
 
J()S 
 
 ance  upon  their  lawful  sovereigns ;  but  hold- 
 ing secretly  and  openly  both,  a  close  corre- 
 spondence with  Rome  the  chief  fomenter  of 
 all  mischief,  to  the  perpetual  disturbance  and 
 endangering  of  the  public  peace,  as  well  as  the 
 stability  of  thrones.     They  were   a   sort   of 
 treacherous  allies  to  their  respective  monarchs, 
 and  not  obedient   subjects,  and   they  did  not 
 .give  union  to  their  councils,  nor  force  to  their 
 efforts,  but  added  only  additional  imbecility  ; 
 except  when  the  aggrandisement  of  the  church 
 and  popedom  were  to  be  the  objects  of  them. 
 
 In  another  point  of  view  the  similitude  of 
 iron  blended  with  debilitating  clay,  represents 
 the  corruption  of  the  gospel  truth  with  the  po- 
 pish errors,  which  are  as  irreconcileable  with  it 
 as  iron  with  clay.  Popery  holds  forth  a  sanc- 
 tuary, and  thus  gives  encouragement  to  crimes, 
 for  which  both  temporal  impunity  and  spi- 
 ritual indulgences  and  pardons,  are  to  be  pro- 
 cured of  his  holiness  at  a  fixed  price.  The 
 gross  and  palpable  absurdities,  with  which  that 
 abominable  and  systematical  imposture  places 
 the  most  solemn  truths  cf  the  gospel  upon  a  k* 
 
S69 
 
 vely  gives  countenance  to  general  scepticism, 
 and  opens  an  easy  and  wide  door  to  atheism. 
 It  has  been  the  principal  stumbling  block  in 
 the  way  against  the  conversion  of  the  Jews 
 to  Christianity,  which,  through  their  prejudice, 
 they  have  been  too  much  disposed  to  contem- 
 plate in  the  disguise  of  the  popish  false  Dog- 
 mas, palpable  deceptions,  and  notorious  idola- 
 tries. 
 
 Thus  like  iron  blended  with  clay,  the  migh- 
 ty fabrick  of  the  papal  hierarchy  and  spiritual 
 catholic  empire,  contains  in  its  original  con- 
 struction the  causes  of  its  present  weakness, 
 and  rapid  downfal.  In  fostering  principles  of 
 atheism  and  of  a  philosophy  noxious  to  public 
 security  and  domestic  peace,  it  has  afforded 
 a  favourable  nidus  for  the  eggs  of  a  cockatrice 
 to  hatch  in,  and  in  due  time  to  send  forth  a  fiery 
 flying  serpent,  to  sting  in  the  most  vital  parts 
 the  parent  which  gave  it  birth,  and  to  be  the 
 instrument  of  Providence  in  effecting  her  dis- 
 solution. The  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  is  as 
 gold  for  value,  and  for  durability  and  for  its 
 all-subduing  strength,  like  iron.  But  th 
 3  B  2 
 
370 
 
 apostacy  of  popery  mingled  with  it,  in  so  large 
 a  proportion  as  totally  to  destroy  its  saving  ef- 
 ficacy, has  rendered  it  in  their  hands  a  com- 
 pound worthy  of  the  prophetic  comparison  of 
 iron  mixed  with  miry  clay ;  or  like  that  by 
 which  Isaiah  figured  the  most  corrupt  state  of 
 the  Jewish  church.  "  Thy  silver  is  become 
 drossy  thy  wine  mixed  with  water.  Righte- 
 ousness once  lodged  in  it,  but  now  murder- 
 ers." 
 
SECTION   XXXIV. 
 
 The  kingdom  of  Christ  announced  as  commencing  in 
 the  days  of  the  fourth  universal  monarchy  or  the 
 roman  empire. — But  not  established  in  the  ful- 
 ness  of  its  power  a?id  glory  until  that  shall  be  totally 
 removed. — False  apprehensions  of  the  millenni- 
 um as  past  already — Christ's  reign  on  earth  of 
 slow  progress. — Antichrist  not  the  only  obstruction 
 to  the  kingdom  of  heaven  on  earth. — Both  the  past 
 and  present  state  of  the  christian  world  inconsist- 
 ent with  it. —  Superstition  and  fanatical  enthusi- 
 asm in  different  ways  tend  to  the  same  end,  in 
 defeating  the  due  influence  of  the  gospel  — False 
 measures  of  holiness  and  spiritual  pride,  still  ob- 
 trude themselves  upon  the  votaries  of  delusion  for 
 christian  humility  and  operative  faith. 
 
 AFTER  this  gloomy  picture  of  the  progres- 
 sive degeneracy  of  the  image  from  the  nobler 
 metals  to  iron,  and  from  the  genuine  iron 
 which  prevailed  in  the  legs,  to  a  base  mix- 
 
372 
 
 tare  of  iron  and  miry  clay  in  the  feet  and 
 toes,  which  represents  the  state  to  which 
 the  late  invincible  empire,  and  formerly  pure 
 and  exemplary  church  of  Rome  should,  at 
 this  period,  be  reduced,  (and  in  which,  with 
 little  variation,  both  should  continue  till  the 
 time  appointed  in  the  foreknowledge  of  God 
 for  their  breaking  up  and  dissolution ;)  the 
 opening  of  a  brighter  prospect  is  announced. 
 — "  Atid  in  the  days  of  these  kings  shall  the 
 God  of  heaven  set  up  a  kingdom  which  shall 
 never  be  destroyed,  and  the  kingdom  shall  not 
 be  left  to  other  people :  but  it  shall  break  in 
 pieces  and  consume  all  these  kingdoms,  and  it 
 shall  stand  for  ever," — The  dawn  of  that 
 glorious  day  at  length  appears,  which  St  Pe- 
 ter admonishes  christians  to  hope  for,  in  a 
 continual  dependence  upon  the  light  of  pro- 
 phecy, which,  by  the  ministry  of  holy  men 
 of  old,  God  hath  cast  upon  the  long  and 
 dark  night  of  popish  tyranny  that  necessarily 
 must  intervene,  "  until  the  morning  break, 
 and  the  day  star  arise  in  your  hearts" 
 
 The  kingdom  here  announced  is  the  king- 
 dom of  the  Son  of  David,  in  which  the  faith- 
 
373 
 
 ful  still  expect  a  full  and  perfect  accomplish- 
 ment of  those  many  sublime  prophecies, 
 which  describe  it  in  such  terms  as  we  can- 
 not have  a  perfect  apprehension  of,  until  they 
 shall  be  expounded  by  the  corresponding 
 facts.  Our  Saviour  said — "  My  kingdom  is 
 not  of  this  world," — and  no  merely  earthly 
 kingdom  can  be  well  conceived,  which  shall 
 actually  correspond  to  such  notes  of  character, 
 as  that  it  shall  be  the  peculiar  work  of  heaven , 
 and  calculated  for  eternal  duration  : — whose 
 subjects  shall  be  all  righteous*  and  over  whom 
 Christ  shall  personally,  or  at  least  eminently, 
 reign  on  earth,  &c. — This  is  therefore  to  be 
 referred  to  a  fifth  monarchy,  to  be  raised  up 
 upon  the  ruins  of  all  the  preceding  ones,  of 
 which  the  great  image  was  the  type;  and 
 which,  by  receiving  the  converted  jews,  and 
 the  gentiles  of  all  nations  into  the  bosom  of 
 the  spiritual  society,  and  being  governed  up- 
 on principles  of  invariable  truth  and  equity, 
 shall  be  worthy,  in  literal  fact,  of  that  uni- 
 versality and  glory,  which  was  ascribed  to  all 
 
 *  Isaiah  k.  21;   xxvi.  2, 
 
374 
 
 the  preceding  empires  only  in  prophetic  hy- 
 perbole. Its  King  will  be  "  King  of  kings, 
 and  Lord  of  lords'''  indeed,  and  the  utmost 
 limits  of  the  habitations  of  mankind  upon 
 earth,  will  be  the  only  boundaries  of  his  truly 
 catholic  empire.  "  All  nations  shall  do  him 
 service,  prayer  shall  be  made  ever  unio  him, 
 and  daily  shall  he  be  praised"* 
 
 This  kingdom  of  Christ  is  to  be  set  up 
 or  have  its  beginning  "  in  the  days  of  these 
 kings"  or  four  empires,  of  which  the  whole 
 body  of  the  image  was  the  hieroglyphic; 
 that  is,  (says  Bishop  Newton,)  in  the  days  of 
 one  of  them,  or  of  the  roman  empire.  Jesus 
 Christ  was  accordingly  born  in  the  reign  of 
 the  roman  emperor  Augustus,  and  in  Judea, 
 at  that  time  a  province  of  the  roman  empire. 
 u  The  kingdom  of  heaven,"  or  of  the  Mes- 
 siah, (the  object  of  this  part  of  Daniel's  pro- 
 phecy,) was  preached  by  John  the  baptist,  as 
 being  then  very  near  at  hand.  The  same 
 holy  person  also  prophesied  of  its  /////  and 
 
 *  Psalm  Ixxii.  15. 
 
Sib 
 
 final  establishment.     This  however,  (as  time, 
 and  a  clearer  apprehension  of  the  prophecies, 
 thence  opened  to  us,  have  shewn,)  was  not 
 to  take  place  until  a  late  period  of  the  latter 
 days.     "  His  fan,"  said  John,*  "  is  (already) 
 in  his  hand,  and   he  will  thoroughly  purge 
 his  floor,  and  gather  the  wheat  Into  his  gar- 
 ner" — (into  the  kingdom  of  the  Messiah,)  — 
 "  but  he  will  burn  up  the  chaff  with  Jire  uii~ 
 quenchable" — Accordingly  Christ  opened  his 
 kingdom  by  his  own  personal  ministry,  and 
 established    the   foundation    he    himself  had 
 laid,  by  his  own  actual  sufferings  and  death. 
 He  was  himself  the  first  martyr  to  the  truth 
 of  his  own  doctrine,  to  be  followed  by  many 
 more,  before  his  kingdom  should  prevail  over 
 all  opposition,  and  attain  to  the  greatness  and 
 glory  of  which  the  prophets  have  spoken. 
 In  a  short  time  after  his  departure,  the  be- 
 lieving jews  and  gentile  converts  were  mo- 
 delled into  a  church  and  peculiar  people,  called 
 by  a  new  name,\  chosen  out  of  all  nations,  the 
 first  fruits  of  the  future  harvest,  and  the  first 
 
 *  Luke  iii,  17.  f  Isaiah  lxv.  15. 
 
 VOL.  II.  3  c 
 
376 
 
 rudiments  of  his  then  diminutive  kingdom."* 
 But  the  unbelieving  jews  he  burnt  up  with 
 the  heat  of  a  very  lasting,  and  therefore  fi- 
 guratively called  unquenchable  Jire ,  as  it  is  still 
 burning  against  that  rebellious  race,  even  to 
 this  day. 
 
 But  as  most  of  the  prophecies  relating  to 
 this  subject  (of  peculiar  importance)  have  a 
 double  meaning  and  a  twofold  accomplish- 
 ment, so  also  has  this  of  John  the  Baptist ; 
 as  appears  from  his  allusion  to  the  har- 
 vest, the  common  emblem  of  the  introduction 
 of  Christ's  kingdom,  in  all  the  prophets,  as  I 
 have  shewn  in  another  place,  f  There  is  yet 
 in  reserve  another  harvest,  and  another  ad- 
 vent of  this  long  insulted  king,  and  it  may  in 
 our  days  be  said  in  the  words  of  John,  "  his 
 fan  is  (even  now)  in  his  hand,  and  he  will 
 
 *  Our  Lord  himself  has  employed  several  parables  to  ex- 
 plain the  nature  of  his  kingdom*  as  growing  from  a  small  and 
 scarcely  perceptible  beginning,  to  an  immense  magnitude ; 
 which  is  the  very  idea  Daniel  here  gives  of  it,  under  the  em- 
 blem of  the  stone  which  smote  the  image  on  its  feet,  and  became 
 itself  a  great  mountain . 
 
 •f   Section  xxviii.  p.  222. 
 
m 
 
 (again)  purge  bit  floor"  and  by  his  angels,  or 
 ministers  of  Providence,  will  separate  the  an- 
 tichristian  tares,  still  growing  amongst  the 
 good  grain ;  and  gathering  together  the  tares 
 first  to  burn  them,  he  will  lay  up  the  wheat 
 in  his  kingdom  of  the  millennium.  Then 
 will  the  kingdom  to  which  Daniel  here  aU 
 ludes  be  fully  displayed,  in  all  that  purity  of 
 religion,  peace  amofigst  men,  and  glory  to  God, 
 which  we  have  hitherto  looked  for  in  vain, 
 yet  without  foregoing  the  confident  hope  of 
 its  being  one  day  eventually  realized. 
 
 It  is  abundantly  evident  that  the  glorious 
 prophecies  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  in  its 
 state  of  exaltation,  which  our  great  rnvsta- 
 gogue  and  safe  conductor,  St  John,  has  re- 
 ferred to  the  millennium,  (or  reign  of 
 Christ  on  earth  for  a  thousand  years,)  have 
 never  yet  been  fulfilled ;  notwithstanding  se- 
 veral different  periods  have  „  been  actually  as- 
 signed by  some  authors,  as  answering  to  the 
 prophetic  descriptions  of  it,  in  the  Psalms,  &c. 
 as  they  are  all  summed  up  by  St  John  in 
 X  c  3 
 
378 
 
 his  Revelations.*  For  Satan  hath  never  yet 
 been  held  under  so  great  a  restraint  of  his 
 power  to  seduce  mankind  to  error  and  sin, 
 that  he  can  be  said  (even  figuratively)  to 
 have  been  bound  in  the  bottomless  pit  for  a 
 thousa?id  years.  Neither  have  the  too  suc- 
 cessful enemies  of  Christ  been  ever  put  under 
 his  feet,  by  the  silencing  of  all  gainsayers 
 and  infidels;  and  particularly  by  the  extir- 
 pation of  the  great  apostacy,  and  the  recon- 
 ciliation of  the  unbelieving  jews  and  heathens. 
 Yet  these  are  events  indispensably  necessary 
 to  the  promised  peace  and  holiness  of  the 
 
 *  See  (note  on  the  millennium  in  the  next  Section,)  the 
 opinions  of  Archbishop  Usher  and  Grotius. — Even  in  the 
 very  days  of  the  apostles,  a  fanciful  system  of  the  Resurrf.c- 
 tion  (as  being  only  meant  as  an  allegory,  and  already  fulfilled 
 and  past,)  was  advanced  by  Hymeneus  and  Philetus.  (2  Tim. 
 ii.  18.)  This  was  also  the  heresy  of  Menander,  who  was  co- 
 temporary  with  Simon  Magus  and  St  Paul ;  ar.d  taught,  as 
 Irenaeus,  Justin  Martyr,  and  others  affirm, — "  That  his  dis- 
 ciples obtained  the  resurrection  by  his  baptism,  and  should 
 not  die,  but  continue  immortal."  Thus  also  the  whole  history 
 of  the  paradisiacal  state  of  Adam  has  by  others  been 
 sent  off  in  an  allegory,  notwithstanding  St  Paul  so  fully  and 
 manifestly  builds  the  hope  of  the  resurrection  through  Christ, 
 on  its  truth,  as  a  literal  fact.  (1  Cor.  xv.  22,  45  ;  1  Tim.  ii. 
 13,24.) 
 
379 
 
 world,  and  the  happy  intercourse  between 
 heaven  and  earth  during  this  time ;  so  re* 
 markable  as  to  entitle  this  septenary  chiliad 
 of  the  world  to  be  called  the  great  sabbath, 
 or  rest  of  the  people  of  God,%  The  holy 
 psalmist  represents  the  almighty  Father  as 
 saying  to  Christ,  (after  his  resurrection,  and 
 at  his  entering  upon  this  kingdom  in  its  in- 
 cipient state,)  "  Sit  thou  on  my  right  hand, 
 until  I  make  thine  enemies  thy  footstool r."i~— - 
 To  which  St  Paul  alludes,  saying,  "  after  he 
 had  offered  one  sacrifice  for  sins,  he  for  ever 
 sat  dozvn  on  the  right  hand  of  God;  from 
 henceforth  expecti?ig  till  his  enemies  be  made 
 his  footstooV\  This  manifestly  implies  a 
 great  length  of  time,  and  being  so  understood, 
 it  agrees  well  with  our  Lord's  own  repeat- 
 ed descriptions  of  his  k'uigdom,  and  the  ac- 
 counts the  prophets  have  given  of  the  long 
 time  that  was  to  intervene,  and  the  many  im- 
 portant events  that  were  to  take  place,  be- 
 tween the  commencement  of  it,  "  in  the  days 
 
 *  Hebrews  iv.  9.  f  Psalm  ex.  I. 
 
 %  Heb.x,  1'2,  13;  Markxvi.  19. 
 
380 
 
 of  these  kingdoms"  and  its  full  establishment 
 upon  their  total  destruction. 
 
 In  fact,  the  real  state  of  religion  in  the 
 world  has  hitherto  been,  and  still  continues 
 to  be  strangely  inconsistent  with  this  millen- 
 ary kingdom,  and  indeed  affords  a  strong 
 contrast  to  those  beautiful  pictures  the  pro- 
 phets have  drawn  of  that  happy  and  holy 
 time.  Our  Saviour  foretold  that  this  would 
 be  the  case,*  and  that  between  the  open  hos- 
 tility of  unbelievers,  and  false  measures  of 
 sanctity  in  misguided  religionists,  the  few 
 really  sincere  and  steadfast  friends  of  genuine 
 piety  and  faith,  should  have  an  uneasy  time 
 of  it ;  and  must  often  by  mortification  of  their 
 most  sanguine  hopes,  and  through  much  tri- 
 bulation, from  the  enmity  and  deceitfulness 
 of  a  wicked  and  injurious  world,  expect  to 
 enter  into  the  realms  of  the  blessed. — "  Think 
 ye,  (said  he,)  that  I  came  to  send  peace  on 
 earth  P — /  came  not  to  send  peace,  but  a 
 sword  !" — And  by  reason  of  his  fidelity  to 
 
 *  Luke  xvii;.  8. 
 
381 
 
 me,  it  shall  happen  not  unfrequently,  that  "  a 
 marts  enemies  shall  be  they  of  his  own  house- 
 hold."* 
 
 Christ  was  undoubtedly  in  prophecy  an- 
 nounced as   "  the  prince  of  peace"    and  to 
 make  peace  between   heaven    and  earth  was 
 the  errand  on  which  he  was  sent.     Yet  pro- 
 phecy holds  forth  many  strong  indications  of 
 a  temporary  effect  the  very  reverse  of  peace  y 
 though  the  final  result  should  be  conformable 
 to  it.     But  our  blessed  Lord  was  far   from 
 insinuating  by  those  expressions,  that  such  an 
 effect  of  the  amiable  and  conciliatory  doctrines 
 of  the  gospel  was  a  natural  and  necessary  con- 
 sequence of  its  introduction  ;  but  only  that 
 as  the  hearts  of  men  are  deceitful  and  cor- 
 rupt, religious  zeal  would  too  often  )fave  the 
 ill  effect  of  inflaming  and  heightening  their 
 mutual  jealousies,  and  envious  passions  against 
 each  other ;   and   not  tend   (as  it  ought,  if 
 tempered  with  charity,)  to   sooth  and  allay 
 them, 
 
 Quantum  relligio  potuit  suadere  malorum  ! 
 
 Xvcr.  1.  i,  102, 
 
 *  Matt.  xvi.  36. 
 
While  holy  truth  with  beady  zeal  is  sought, 
 What  ills  hath  counterfeit  religion  wrought  ! 
 
 To  pass  by  the  barbarous  and  long  per- 
 petuated warfare  of  the  church  of  Rome  a- 
 gainst  the  gospel  and  its  professors,  by  which 
 she  has  fully  evinced  the  fury  of  her  anti- 
 christian  zeal  for  God  ;*  even  amongst  the 
 reformed  churches  themselves  there  has  been 
 sufficient  room  for  censure.  The  hostility 
 and  heart  burnings  of  the  numerous  sects 
 against  each  other ',  and  of  all  of  them  unitedly 
 against  the  establishment  and  church  of  Eng- 
 land,  (the  only  firm  and  effectual  barrier  that 
 could  have  been  opposed  in  these  kingdoms 
 to  the  insidious  designs  and  open  violence 
 of  popery,  exerted  hitherto  in  vain  to  effect 
 their  common  overthrow,)  have  been  very 
 inconsistent  with  that  godly  simplicity,  mu- 
 tual forbearance,  and  brotherly  love,  which 
 are  inculcated  by  that  gospel,  that  each  pro- 
 fesses to  hold  in  its  primitive  and  genuine 
 purity.  And  what  is  not  a  little  remarkable 
 in  these  religious  antipathies,  it  has  been  com- 
 
 *  Rom.  x.  2 ;  Phil.  iii.  6, 
 
383 
 
 monly  observed  that  the  more  trivial  arid  in- 
 significant the  difference  between  them  is,  in 
 their  respective  opinions  in  religion,  the  more 
 violently  tenacious  they  are  of  it ;  the  rancour 
 and  bitterness  is  the  greater,  and  the  schism 
 by  so  much  the  more  difficult  to  admit  of  any 
 accommodation. 
 
 This  strange  propensity  to  quarrelling  and 
 calling  of  names,  this  endless  variety  and  fas- 
 tidious caprice  of  religious  controversialists, 
 has  given  but  too  strong  an  handle  to  the 
 sceptic  for  his  sweeping  censure  and  general 
 conclusion ;  that  the  christian  religion  itself, 
 in  any  of  its  forms,  could  never  in  reality 
 have  been  a  gift  sent  down  by  divine  revela- 
 tion from  heaven,  (as  all  its  professors  are 
 agreed  in  believing,)  seeing  it  hath  been  dis- 
 figured by  intermixture  with  the  most  gross 
 and  notorious  errors,  defiled  with  fraternal 
 blood,  and  been  made  a  never-failing  pretext 
 for  holy  altercation  and  the  bitterness  of  party 
 spirit.*     St  Paul  had  abundant  occasion  to  la- 
 
 *  James  i.  17  J  iii.  1% 
 VOL.  II,  3  D 
 
384 
 
 ment  with  tears,  even  in  his  own  days,  the 
 eager  strife  and  unrighteous  emulation  of  dif- 
 ferent religious  parties  ;  and  the  shameful  and 
 pernicious  perversion  that  even  his  own  au- 
 thoritative doctrines  met  with  from  some, 
 and  the  open  opposition  made  to  them  by 
 others.  And  he  declared  that  such  false 
 hearted  zealots  as  did  then  already  abound  in 
 the  church,  were  the  real  enemies  of  the  cross 
 t if  Christ,  and  not  his  friends.* 
 
 Many  similar  perversions  of  that  apostle's 
 doctrine,  and  many  very  disgusting  traits  of 
 a  false  method  of  sanct'ification  and  godliness 
 might  still  be  pointed  out,  without  going  far 
 to  seek  for  them ;  and  there  is  (as  yet)  no 
 great  probability,  that  the  christian  world  will 
 very  soon  be  wholly  free  from  these  disgrace- 
 ful blemishes,  and  guiltless  of  the  charge  of 
 "  not  enduring  sound  doctrine ;  but  HEAPING 
 TO  themselves  TEACHERS,  having  itching 
 cars"\  which  require  scratching  after  a  pe- 
 cidiar  and  secret  method  of  the  tabernacle  y  and 
 
 *  Phil.  iii.  18.  f  2Tim.iv.  3. 
 
;isa 
 
 in  proportion  to  the  individual  length  of  them; 
 a  mystery  which  is  wholly  unintelligible  to  the 
 
 UNINITIATED. 
 
 The  bitter  war  of  words  between  polem- 
 ical writers,  the  spiritual  pride  and  contemp- 
 tuous self-sufficiency  of  pharisaical  christians, 
 that  notional  system  of  religion  which  dwells 
 in  a  set  of  technical  or  tabernacle  phrases, 
 and  a  mimickry  of  certain  customs,  which  for 
 a  while  obtained  amongst  the  early  believers, 
 but  were  very  soon  abolished,  on  account  of 
 the  scandalous  abuses  to  which  they  palpably 
 and  widely  opened  a  door  of  entrance  :*  the 
 affectation  of  spiritual  sublimities  y  and  of  de- 
 grees of  sanctifcation  and  inward  feeilrigs\  of 
 which  vulgar  understandings  can  have  no 
 perception  ;  but  will  be  apt  to  refer  them  to 
 the  same  source  to  which  St  Paul  does  the 
 evil  enthusiasm  of  the  adherents  of  the  man 
 of  sin.  j    In  a  word,  that  profane  familiarity 
 
 *  Alluding  to  the  AG  f\?JE,  or  Love  Feasts,  and  the  Kiss  of 
 Chanty, — both  revived  again  (in  opposition  to  primitive  expe- 
 rience) by  the  Moravians  and  Methodists. 
 
 ■\  See  Sect.  xi.  p,  285. — TLvi^yuct,  jrXstws,  strong  delusion. 
 utk  energy  of  deception."  Between  this  and  the  mo.iern 
 3D   2 
 
3S6 
 
 and  colloquial  intimacy  with  the  Holy  Spirit \ 
 which  some  conceive  to  be  communion  with 
 
 MiB-o^ux,  (occulta  ct  fraudulenta  circumventio,  or  methodisra,) 
 there  seems  to  be  scarcely  a  shade  of  difference,  and  that  not 
 worth  investigating. 
 
 <e  The  enthusiasm  of  the  methodists  and  papists'*  has  been  ad- 
 mirably well  compared  together,  and  like  many  imagined  con- 
 traries, are  (on  the  contrary)  very  nearly  allied,  in  many 
 points  equally  glaring*  absurd,  and  disgusting.  Their  free 
 and  easy  application  to  themselves  of  those  scriptural  phrases, 
 which  are  only  proper  to  men  in  visible  possession  of  miraculous 
 powers  and  gifts  of  the  Hcly  Spirit,  (which  was  so  justly  object- 
 ed against  the  founders  of  this  sect,)  is  now  claimed  by  their 
 followers;  just  as  the  papal  usurpations  were,  by  right  of  long 
 possession. 
 
 The  wonderful  afFec'.ation  of  humility  and  charity  in  this  mo- 
 dern order  of  religious,  is  to  the  full  as  strongly  contrasted 
 by  a  real  superciliousness  and  a  general  spirit  oj  contemptuousness 
 which  possesses  them  as  it  ever  was  in  his  Holiness  :  while 
 with  the  pretence  of  being  ser-vus  servorum,  (the  servant  of  ser- 
 vants )  in  his  mouth,  he  was  "  lording  it  over  God's  heritage," 
 
 The  original  methodists  professed  a  singular  veneration  for 
 the  church  of  England,  and  its  doctrines  and  service; 
 and  only  bestowed  their  godly  castigation  upon  its  degenerate 
 cler"V.  But  now,  "  tempora  mutanlur,  et  nos  mutamnr  cum 
 Wis."  The  followers  of  the  conventicle,  feeling  themselves 
 (by  the  progress  of  enthusiasm  in  the  present  day)  suspended 
 by  a  rope  of  sufficient  strength,  disdain  the  borrowed  plumes 
 in  which  their  founders  strutted.  They  have  fairly  kicked 
 away  the  stool  of  formality  on  which  they  mounted  up, 
 
387 
 
 God,  but  which  has  the  unhappy  effect  (in 
 their   fanatical    experience  of  it)   of  puffing 
 
 and  hang  quite  independent,    M in  superior  air"  like  Socrates 
 in  his  basket.  (See  Aristophanes.) 
 
 Like  the  Samaritans  of  old,  who  clung  close  to  the  jews, 
 in  the  days  of  their  prosperity,  but  spurned  their  fraternity 
 with  contempt  and  contumely  in  every  reverse  of  popular  es- 
 timation,) the  modern  methodists  now  bestow  their  pulpit  scur- 
 rility pretty  equally  upon  the  church  and  its  ministry  both.  They 
 seem  indeed  to  have  been  fairly  outwitted,  and  made  "  a  cat's 
 paw"  of,  by  a  party  of  deeper  designs  than  their  own  ;  who 
 are  industriously  availing  themselves  of  the  methodistic  •zeal,  in 
 railing  against  the  clergy  and  the  church,  to  effect  the  overthrow 
 of  both  church  and  state,  by  sap  and  mine. 
 
 It  has  been  objected  to  the  methodists,  (especially  of  the 
 lower  classes,)  that  they  have  received  an  erroneous  impression 
 of  the  doctrines  of  "free  grace," — "faith  without 
 "A'orks,"  &c, — and  how  justly  the  imputation  has  been  made, 
 is  obviously  to  be  concluded  from  the  indiscriminate  opening  of 
 their  pulpits  to  improper  and  unqualified  expounders;  but  is 
 made  more  than  merely  probable,  by  the  loose  adherence  of 
 too  many  of  these  vulgar  saints,  (in  real  practice,  and  in 
 the  relative  connections  and  obligations  of  social  life,)  to  sound 
 moral  principle.  Their  equivocal  righteousness,  deceitful  sanc- 
 tity, rotten  hearted  fidelity,  fulsome  and  false  professions  of 
 christian  regards  to  them  that  are  without :  in  short,  their  ill  ob- 
 servance of  the  gospel  precepts  of  "  doing  as  they  would  be 
 done  by,  in  singleness  of  heart  ; — in  respect  of  eye  service, — 
 fairness  in  dealing, — modestj  of  self  opinion, — and  abstaining 
 from  unprovoked  contempt  of  others, — detraction,  and  an  un 
 
388 
 
 them  up  with  spiritual  pride,  and  making 
 them  despisers  of  others ',  and  insolent  in  their 
 general  behavionr  and  connections  with  so* 
 ciety:  such  mistaken  apprehensions  of  the 
 doctrine  and  spirit  of  the  gospel,  have  brought 
 suspicion  (often  unmerited,  it  is  to  be  hoped) 
 upon  all  outward  appearances  of  extraordinary 
 fervour  and  sanctity  in  the  departments  of  the 
 tabernacle. 
 
 Without  question  it  must  have  an  injuri- 
 ous effect  upon  the  advancement  of  the  king- 
 
 char'ttable  spirit  of  censoriousness,  under  the  name  of  pity  for  the 
 benighted  state  of  unconverted  souls :" — all  this  is  a  vile  falsifica- 
 tion of  the  true  principles  of  gospel  holiness  and  regeneration,  as 
 inculcated  by  their  great  master  (as  they  pretend  him)  the 
 apostle  St  Paul  ;*  and  agrees  but  too  well  with  that  sacred  ab-, 
 horrence  in  which  they  hold  the  preaching  of  the  moral  duties 
 whiqh  our  Saviour  himself  disdained  not  to  preach.  It  has 
 been  the  peculiar  unhappinesu  of  the  great  apostle,  both  living 
 and  dead,  to  be  made  to  teach  what  he  detested,  (Rom  iii.  S,) 
 and  to  have  the  fermin  of  false  and  hypocritical  religion  fasten 
 themselves  upon  him  in  all  ages  since.    ( 1  Cor.  iii.  3,  4.) 
 
 *  '»  Totius  injustitiae  nulla  capitalior  est,  qinm  eorum,  qui 
 cum  maxime  fallunt,  id  tamen  agunt,  ut  visa  boni  esse  vide- 
 antur."  Cicero. 
 
 "  Of  all  iniquity,  none  is  more  detestable  than  that  whin 
 deludes  the  simple  by  the  false  affectation  and  pretence  of  the 
 virtues,  its  direct  contrast," 
 
389 
 
 dom  of  Christ  in  the  hearts  of  sincere  and 
 rational  believers^  when  (being  shocked  with 
 the  gross  corruptions  of  the  Romish  church, 
 and  disgusted  with  the  endless  disputes  and 
 fanaticism  of  sectaries,)*  they  wish  to  repose 
 in  safety  and  peace  upon  the  maternal  bosom 
 of  the  church  of  England,  in  its  most  exalted 
 and  refined  method  of  christian  profession, 
 and  retire  with  their  sanctified  conductors 
 (as  they  are  taught  to  conceive)  into  the  very 
 penetralia  of  the  sanctuary  :  but  there,  to 
 their  utmost  astonishment,  they  find  within 
 not  the  friends  but  enemies  of  the  church  of 
 England^  and  the  most  bitter  revilers  of  its 
 establishment,  and  government,  and  ministry; 
 and  see  divinely  fair  religion  exhibited  under 
 
 primo  avulso  non  deficit  alter, 
 
 Aureus,  et  simili  frondescit  virga  metallo.— -Virg. 
 
 Pluck  off  one  branch, — another  in  its   place, 
 
 And  still  another  springs; — and  each  a  sprig  of  grace. 
 
 \  Mutemus  clypeos,  danaumq,  insignia  nobis 
 Aptemus.     Dolus  an  virtus  quis  in  hoste  requirat  ? 
 
 Our  arms  disguis'd,  strait  honest  Greeks  we  are» 
 Or  6eem  to  be  ;--for  that  is  all  our  care. 
 Fools  to  delude  '«  a  stratagem  of  war. 
 
390 
 
 such  a  bloated  and  forbidding  aspect +  as  invites 
 not  a  nearer  approach  by  that  method  of  ac- 
 cess.* 
 
 *  In  some  well  written  strictures  on  trie  Pulpit,  which 
 are  published  in  the  National  Register  under  the  signature  of 
 Onksimus,  the  writer  by  some  extracts  from  the  "  Portrai- 
 ture ok  Methodism,"  has  laid  open  several  of  the  metbodis- 
 tic  deceptive  arts  by  which  their  Jackals  hunt  their  prey,  and  in- 
 veigle converts  irom  the  superstitious  and  weak  to  their  mul- 
 titudinous fanatiscism.      In  the  xxii  number,  he  continues  thus. 
 
 Methodism  has  some  culpabilities  still  less  justifiable- — 
 Amongst  their  indirect  modes  of  propagating  methodism,  the 
 Wesley  an  s  not  only  continue  to  use  the  liturgy  of  the 
 churchyro;«  whose  communion  they  have  separated,  and  thus  decoy 
 and  deceive  the  members  of  it ;  but  contrive  to  name  their  places 
 of  worship  so,  as  to  induce  some  persons  to  believe  that  they 
 are  the  sanctuaries  of  the  establishment  itself.  Who  would 
 not  suppose  that  "  Lambeth  Chapel,"  for  example's  sake, 
 looking  at  the  situation  and  dignity  of  this  building,  was  one 
 of  our  chapels  of  ease,  and  actually  attached  to  the  church?— 
 Lambeth  Chapel  is  however  a  methodist  chapel. 
 
 How  the  methodists  of  the  present  day  can  persist  in  call- 
 ing themselves  members  of  the  church  of  England,  (observes 
 the  author  of  the  Portraiture  of  Methodism,)  I  cannot 
 tell. — When  (he  asks)  will  they  lay  aside  their  double  dealing  I* 
 It  is  impossible  but  that  the  Wesleyan  methodists,  amounting 
 in  number  to  about  134,000  individuals,  (besides  their  preach- 
 ers,) in  the  united  kingdom  only,  must,  especially  when  their 
 
391 
 
 The  blemishes  of  such  a  fanciful  and  super- 
 cilious system  of  godliness,  are  of  such  a  na- 
 ture, as  to  strike  the  observation,  and  disgust 
 the  understanding  of  persons  not  very  much 
 disposed  to  enthusiastic  reveries  ;  but  its  beau- 
 ties are  such  as  can  only  be  seen  by  the  initi- 
 ated; and  the  advantages  it  may  possess  above 
 the  regular  service  of  the  church,  towards  the 
 promotion  of  genuine  piety,  real  charity,  and 
 the  sound  knowledge  of  Christ  crucified,  are 
 such  as  cannot  be  described  but  only  in  tech- 
 nical terms  of  art,  not  very  generally  intelli- 
 gible, and  not  to  be  communicated  but  by 
 sympathy :  and  that  also  only  to   the   happy 
 
 constitution  is  well  considered,  become  objects  of  political  solicitude 
 as  well  as  of  religious  note.-— Methodism  is,  indeed,  more  com- 
 pletely systematised  than  is  generally  supposed ;  and  its  go- 
 vernment, by  the  conference  of  its  ministers  annually  convened, 
 is  little  short  of  absolute. — The  \vhol<-  kingdom  is  divided  into 
 districts  and  circuits,  answering  to  the  episcopal  dioceses  and 
 parishes,  through  which,  aiding  the  exertions  of  local  preach- 
 ers, upwards  of  500  travelling  preachers  constantly  take  their 
 rounds. — What  an  astonishing  community  is  here  ! — While  it 
 is  for  the  church  to  watch  them,  the  state  ought  to  keep  an  eye 
 on  them.  Political  circumspection  seems  not  so  incompatible 
 with  a  wise  religious  toleration." 
 
 YGL.  II.  3   E 
 
o9> 
 
 sodality  which  has  sensibilities  capable  of  be- 
 ing wound  up  to  the  required  pitch. — 
 
 "  By  beat  of  drurr.ir.er  methodistic, 
 
 Who  thumps  <w'tthjisty  instead  of  his-stick." 
 
 Hudibrjiss, 
 
 Religious  divisions  indeed  are  so  very  nu- 
 merous, and  the  alledged  causes  of  dissent 
 from  the  established  church  so  generally  un- 
 important, and  at  the  same  time  the  envy  and 
 malevolence  of  many  sectaries  so  notorious, 
 yet  without  any  greater  concord,  or  more  ef- 
 fectual bond  of  union  amongst  themselves  ; 
 that  it  has  given,  even  to  the  catholics,  an 
 handle  to  charge  the  protestants  in  general, 
 with  unreasonable  and  needless  schism,  in  bav- 
 i?ig  broken  off  from  communion  with  the  church 
 of  Rome,  (the  original  and  only  true  church,  as 
 they  pretend,)  since  the  separatists,  even  to 
 this  day,  cannot  agree  amongst  themselves.* 
 This  censure,  however,  is  not  altogether  jus- 
 tifiable in  their  mouths,  since  even  under  the 
 
 *  "  Ego  omnibus  tentatis,  nihil  invenio  in  quo  acquiescere 
 possim;  O  me  nunquam  sapientem !  "—Cicero  Epist.  ad  Octav. 
 
 "  I  try  all,  but  find  none  that  afford  me  entire  satisfaction ; 
 Alas !  shall  I  never  attain  to  wisdom." 
 
393 
 
 iron  rod  of  papal  coercion,  and  the  terrors  of 
 the  inquisition,  the  catholics  themselves  are 
 far  from  "  keeping  the  unity  of  the  spirit  in 
 the  bond  of  peace"  in  their  own  communion.* 
 
 The  reformation  of  the  church  of  England 
 was  a  work  of  time  and  of  mature  delibera- 
 tion. It  was  for  the  most  part  conducted  by 
 wise  and  temperate  councils,  and  advanced 
 by  slow  degrees,  in  the  hands  of  many  godly 
 and  learned  men,  who  sealed  their  conviction 
 of  its  fidelity  to  the  gospel,  and  to  the  usages 
 of  the  primitive  church,  by  their  own  mar- 
 tyrdom.     That  cruel  and  capricious  tyrant, 
 
 *  The  church  of  Rome  is  no  more  nee  from  religious  divi- 
 sion than  the  churches  of  the  protest  ants,  or  even  the  primitive 
 churches  have  been,  (l  Cor.  iii.  3;  xi.  18;  Rom.  xvi.  17.) 
 One  infallible  pope  hath  contradicted  another,  and  several  have 
 contradicted  General  Councils.  Martin  the  V.  held  with 
 the  council  of  Constance,  and  Eugenius  the  IV.  with 
 those  of  Ferrara  and  Florence  against  the  former.  The 
 decrees  of  Pope  Formosus  were  disannulled  by  Pope  Ste- 
 ?hanus,  and  his  by  another,  his  successor. — The  Decrees 
 and  Decretals  differ,  the  Canonists  akd  Glossaries  are  at 
 <f>dds,the  Schoolmen  are  divided  into  Sects,  and  the  Monks 
 have  even  become  martyrs  to  their  great  controversy  of  the  im- 
 maculate   CONCEPTION    OF    THE   VlUOIN. 
 
 Hist,  of  Popery,  vol,  ii.  23 1 
 3  E  2 
 
394 
 
 Henry  the  VIII.  was  merely  an  instrument  in 
 the  hand  of  providence  to  bring  it  about.  And 
 in  this  manner  temporary  and  partial  evil  is 
 often  providentially  made  use  of  by  divine 
 wisdom,  which  is  able  to  give  such  a  direction 
 to  the  evil  passions  of  bad  men,  that  they  be- 
 come a  source  of  great  and  permanent  good. 
 Henry  robbed  the  pope  of  his  supremacy  and 
 infallibility  too,  but  it  was  only  that  he  might 
 decorate  himself  with  these  envied  spoils  of 
 his  vanquished  enemy.  He  made  his  own 
 fluctuating  opinion  the  common  standard  of 
 faith  for  all  his  subjects,  and  with  great  ve- 
 hemence and  dictatorial  zeal  he  wrote,  at  dif- 
 ferent times,  on  both  sides  of  the  question,  and 
 bloodily  persecuted  both  parties.  With  a  case- 
 hardened  heart,  but  most  tender  conscience,  a 
 flaming  love  of  God,  and  anxious  regard  for 
 souls,  he  sometimes  burned  both  a  catholic 
 and  a  protestant  at  one  stake,  for  their  differ- 
 ent modes  of  heretical  pravity  in  dissenting 
 from  the  faith  of  the  head  of  the  church.* 
 
 *  See  Burnet's  History  of  the  Reformation  in  England. 
 
395 
 
 This  was  bringing  truth  through  the  fire 
 with  a  witness.  Yet  it  probably  had  the 
 good  effect  of  wholly  purifying  the  genuine 
 gold  of  the  gospel  from  much  dross,  which 
 still  remained  mixed  with  the  precious  ore  in 
 other  countries,  in  consequence  of  the  too 
 rash  and  precipitate  measures  taken  for  the 
 refining  of  it.  The  church  of  England,  by 
 having  passed  through  so  severe  a  scrutiny, 
 and  so  long  and  full  a  discussion  of  its  claims 
 to  original 'purity ',  has  not  stood  in  need  of  those 
 subsequent  amendments,  which  several  offici- 
 ous friends  (or  rather  enemies  in  disguise,) 
 would  at  different  times  have  obtruded  upon 
 it,  by  absurd  and  fanciful  alterations  of  its 
 excellent  Liturgy.  But  the  new  Liturgies 
 failed  not  to  bring  their  own  condemnation 
 along  with  them,  upon  the  slightest  compa- 
 rison with  the  inimitable  "form  of  sound 
 words"  which  still  constitutes  the  service  of 
 the  church.* 
 
 *  The  church  of  England,  in  its  present  state,  is  every  way- 
 entitled  to  the  encomium  which  Rogers,  in  his  strong  language 
 has  bestowed  upon  it : — "  A  church  whose  doctrines  are  de- 
 rived from  the  clear  fountains  of  the  scripture,  whose  polity 
 
S96 
 
 To  minds  really  disposed  to  pray,  with  a 
 spirit  of  true  penitence  and  faith,  the  service 
 of  the  church  of  England  combines  the  high- 
 est fervor  of  affectionate  gratitude  to  God, 
 with  a  well  chosen  assortment  of  words,  and 
 a  becoming  dignity  of  expression  ;  a  glow- 
 ing piety  with  the  beauty  of  holiness.  It  can 
 only  be  unedifying,  flat  and  cold  to  minds 
 whose  spiritual  sense  is  benumbed,  and  re- 
 quires a  strong  stimulus  of  fanaticism  to  move 
 it,  like  an  electrical  excitement,  but  very  re- 
 motely allied  to  rational  and  genuine  piety.* 
 
 and  discipline  are  formed  upon  the  most  uncorrupted  models 
 of  antiquity,  which  has  stood  unshaken  by  the  most  furious 
 assaults  of  popery  on  the  one  hand,  and  fanaticism  on  the 
 ether;  has  triumphed  over  all  the  arguments  of  its  enemies. 
 and  has  nothing  now  to  contend  with  but   their    slandert 
 
 and  CALUMNIES." 
 
 *  Fanatical  enthusiasm  (it  seems)  passes  for  godliness  in  all 
 religions,  with  minds  of  a  peculiar  cast.  Baron  de  Tott  gives 
 a  curious  account  of  a  sort  of  religious  devotees  among  the 
 Turks,  which  arc  called  *•  tacta  tepen,"~ct  "beaters  of 
 boards"  not  very  dissimilar  from  our  conventicle  "  beaters  of 
 cushions"  in  the  noisy  method  of  excitement  which  is  necessary 
 to  bring  their  sensibilities  to  the  required  height  **  Their 
 method  consists  in  walking  solemnly  in  a  row,  one  after  the 
 ether,  in  their  meeting  house,  and  pronouncing  the  name  of. 
 God  with  a  loud  voice  and  much  exertion,  at  each  stroke  of  a 
 
oKJt 
 
 The  prayers  of  the  church  have  had  their 
 share  of  abuse,  as  well  as  her  clergy,  yet  after 
 all  that  has  been  said  to  their  disparagement, 
 they  are  far  from  being  "  a  form  of  godliness 
 having  not  the  power  of  it"  but  are  " a  rea- 
 sonable service"  strictly  conformable  to  the 
 apostolical  injunction  of  decency  and  order  in 
 the  celebration  of  public  worship ;  and  in  which 
 we  can  "pray  with  the  spirit^  and  with  the  un- 
 derstanding also."  But  this  certainly  is  not 
 always  the  case  with  those  unpremeditated  ef- 
 fusions of  self  conceit,  sometimes  indecently 
 familiar  and  disgustingly  vulgar,  at  other  times 
 incoherent,  erroneous,  and  ignorant  prayings 
 and  preachments  ;  to  which  the  frequenter  of 
 
 drum  beaten  for  that  purpose,  the  strokes  on  which  growing 
 gradually  quicker,  become  at  last  so  rapid,  that  these  wretches 
 are  forced  to  undergo  a  violent  labor  of  the  lungs,  and  the  most 
 devout  never  close  the  procession  without  vomiting  blood.  Their 
 ■appearance  is  always  sad  and  surly  ;  and  these  religious  are  so 
 persuaded  of  the  sanctity  of  their  method,  and  so  certain  of 
 pleasing  heaven  by  their  bowlings,  that  they  never  look  on  the  rest 
 *f  mankind  but  with  the  most  profound  contempt.'* 
 
 Baron  de  Totfs  Memoirs,  part  1.  vol.  i.  p,  144. 
 
 Corruptio  optimi  est  pessima, — "  There  are  methodists  in 
 all  religions." 
 
3  98 
 
 the  conventicle,  or  the  open  air  meeting  must 
 frequently  lend  his  pious  ear,  and  add  his  amen 
 after  such  a  giving  of  thanks  as  he  cannot  ap- 
 prove.* 
 
 The  discourses  of  the  church  pulpit  are 
 the  decent  and  premeditated  studies  of  men 
 qualified  by  a  suitable  course  of  education, 
 and  regularly  ordained  to  the  work  of  the 
 ministry,  and  sent  into  the  vineyard  by  those 
 ■who  have  the  only  regular  authority  to  send, 
 and  who  are  the  best  judges  of  the  requisite 
 acquirements  and  talents,  f  Not  having  climb- 
 ed up  into  the  sheep/old  by  some  clandestine 
 way,  "  the  good  shepherd  knoweth  his  sheepy 
 and  is  known  of  them"     He  is  a  stationary 
 
 *  1  Cor.  xiv.  15,  16. 
 
 j-  Est  modus  in  rebus,  sunt  certi   deniq.  fines, 
 Quos  ultra  citraq.  nequit  consistere  rectum. — Hor. 
 
 "  Some  certain  mean  in  all  things  may  be  found," 
 To  mark  extravagance,  and  folly  bound. 
 
 In  most,  or  all  things,  there  is  a  happy  medium  :  and  the  ab- 
 surd and  pernicious  extravagancies  of  unsound  and  raving  reli- 
 gionists, have  confirmed,  beyond  all  reasonable  question,  the 
 assertion  of  Solomon,  that  it  is  to  be  sought  and  adhered  to, 
 
399 
 
 minister,  and  answerable  for  his  flock,  not  an 
 itinerant  preacher  that  is  not  to  be  found  with 
 his  charge  when  the  wolf  cometh.* 
 
 even  in  religion  itself,  without  falling  into  lukcwarmncss,  or 
 formality. — "  Be  not  righteous  over  much, — why  should* t  thou 
 destroy  thyself  ?"   (Eccles    vii.  16.) 
 
 The  difference  is  very  wide  indeed  between  overloading  the 
 church,  as  the  papists  do,  with  more  pageantry  than  piety, 
 more  cost  than  worship :  and,  on  the  other  extreme,  stripping 
 religion  even  to  the  hare  bujf,  and  leaving  Utile  besides  a  band  and  a 
 pair  of  breeches  ;  the  far  too  simple  attire  of  some  of  our  modern 
 tub  preachers,  who  will  not  have  so  much  as  a  rag  of  po- 
 pery about  them . 
 
 Jt  is  one  thing  to  shut  up  religion  ivholly  within  the  con* 
 clave,  and  another  thing  (as  much  in  extreme  the  other  way) 
 to  leave  it  exposed  to  the  rude  handling  of  inflated  ignorance* 
 and  spiritual  coxcombry  in  the  open  fields-  *'  Itaq.  si  dixerint 
 vobis,  ecce,  in  DEsERToest:  ne  e^redimini.  Ecce  in  con- 
 clavibus  (sv  Te~s  recftu'otg)  ne  credite." — Beza  in  Matt. 
 xxiv.  26. 
 
 What  is  this,  but  to  treat  like  an  enemy  "  the  vineyard 
 which  God's  right  hand  hath  planted,  and  the  branch  that  he 
 made  so  strong  for  himself  ?  Breaking  down  all  her  hedge's,  so 
 that  all  they  which  pass  by  the  way  pluck  her  " — (without  either 
 proper  judgment,  or  due  regard  to  the  maturity  of  her  fruit). 
 — "  The  boar  out  of  the  wood  doth  waste  it,  and  the  wild  beast  of 
 the  field  doth  devour  it."   (Psalm  Ixxx.  12,  &c) 
 
 *  The  perpetual  changes  of  preachers  is  only  because  men  have 
 "  itching  ears"  as  the  apostle  well  describes  the  absurd  fastidi- 
 ousness of  minds  which  stand  in  need  of  changed  methods  of 
 
 VOL.  II.  3    F 
 
400 
 
 Christ  assured  his  immediate  disciples,  to 
 whom  the  work  of  converting  the  benighted 
 and  perishing  world  was  committed,  that  they 
 might  expect  extraordinary  aids  from  heaven 
 en  such  extraordinary  emergencies,  in  the 
 course  of  their  apostolical  ministry,  as  should 
 be  found  absolutely  to  require  them. — u  /// 
 that  hour  take  no  thought  what  ye  shall  say, 
 neither  premeditate,  for  it  shall  be  given 
 you,  in  that  hour,  what  ye  shall  speakT*    But 
 
 excitement So  our  Saviour  said  "  he  that  hath  ears  to  hear,  let 
 
 him  hear  :" — he  also  said  again,  *' take  heed  how  ye  hear." — 
 The  meaning  of  which  caution  is  explained  by  St  Peter,  and 
 referred  to  the  hold  and  presumptuous  ignorance  with  which  un- 
 skillful teachers  take  upon  them  to  expound  the  word  of  God, 
 fathering  their  crude  conceptions  upon  the  spirit  of  divine  in- 
 spiration, and  always  making  choice  of  the  most  dark  and  in- 
 tricate points  of  divine  revelation,  to  wrest  them  to  their  own 
 and  their  hearers  destruction.    (2  Pet.  iii.  16.) 
 
 The  clergy  deserve  commendation,  and  not  censure,  for  the 
 wise  and  cautious  selection  of  their  texts,  and  for  giving  such 
 expositions  of  them  as  are  the  best  adapted  to  genera!  edification, 
 instead  of  unfolding  dark  mysteries  too  frequently  in  the  pul- 
 pit, which  have  been  not  uncommonly  known  (when  handled 
 rudely  and  coarsely  in  the  conventicle)  to  occasion  too  violent 
 an  excitement,  and  produce  very  fatal  consequences  to  the  unfor- 
 tunate hearers. 
 
 "   Marie  xiii.  1 1. 
 
401 
 
 in  our  remote  times,  the  like  gifts  of  tongues -, 
 and  of  prophesying,  (or  the  perfect  and  clear 
 understanding  of  all  mysteries,  and  the  power 
 of  communicating  the  inward  light  by 
 immediate  and  miraculous  inspiration  from 
 heaven,)  are  no  longer  vouchsafed  to  any 
 method,  of  preaching.  The  gifts  now  pre- 
 tended to,  the  momentary  conversions,  and  va- 
 rious other  religious  experiences  and  inward 
 feelings,  which  are  become  so  extremely  com- 
 mon of  late,  must  only  be  admitted  with  a 
 considerable  degree  of  caution  and  prudential 
 scepticism ;  unless  the  same  undeniable  cre- 
 dentials which  the  genuine  and  original  apos- 
 tles* exhibited,  czxi  again  be  produced  as 
 vouchers. 
 
 The  catholics  are  not  the  only  enthusiasts 
 liable  to  be  deceived  by  "  strong  delusions" 
 as  appears  from  the  religious  extravagancies 
 of  the  anabaptists  at  Munster,  the  fifth  mon- 
 archy men  in  England,  and  other  notorious 
 instances  of  false  lights  in  these  last  times,  f" 
 
 *  Rev.  ii.  2. 
 
 ,f  See  Bohun's  Sleidan.  History-  of  the  Reformatio  ft,  b.  x  . 
 3   F  2 
 
402 
 
 If  it  was  needful,  even  in  the  first  age  of 
 Christianity,  to  "  try  the  spirits^  whether  they 
 be  of  God" — or  from  the  bottomless  pit  of 
 fanatical  delusion  or  hypocritical  imposture, 
 surely  our  modern  prophets  have  at  least  equal 
 need  to  be  exposed  to  the  same  test.*  The 
 actions  of  Christ  himself,  and  the  language 
 which  was  employed  by  him  and  his  apos- 
 tles, were  in  the  gospel  age  imitated  by  im- 
 postors, and  usurped  without  authority  by 
 enthusiasts,  f  A  superabundance  of  spiritual 
 pride  has  in  all  times  prompted  indiscreet 
 men  to  a  similar  abuse  and  perversion  of  the 
 scripture  phraseology.  Yet  as  this  licentious- 
 ness was  branded  with  the  strongest  marks  of 
 disapprobation,  in  the  very  days  of  miracles 
 and  real  prophetical  inspiration^  it  deserves  a 
 much  more  severe  censure  in  ours  ;  after  so 
 
 *  1  Cor.  iv.  19;    1  John  iv.  1. 
 
 -J-  Acts  xix  15.  "And  the  evil  spirit  answered  and  said, 
 Jesus  1  know,  and  Paul  I  know  but  who  are  ye  ?"  ( Rev.  ii.  2.) 
 "  Thou  bast  tried  them  which  say  they  are  apostles,  and  are  not, 
 and  hast  found  them  liars."  (2  Cor.  xi.  Vo,  and  1  Cor.  xii. 
 29.)  "  Such  are  false  apostles,  deceitful  workers,  transform" 
 ir.g  themselves  into  the  apost'es  of  Christ.' " 
 
403 
 
 many  instances  of  the  most  profligate  delu- 
 sion of  the  credulous  by  unfounded  pretences 
 to  miraculous  gifts. 
 
 When  Jeroboam  fell  away  from  the  estab- 
 lished church  of  Israel,  in  order  to  make  his 
 schism  as  popular  as  he  could,  he  admitted 
 the  people  indiscrimately  to  the  public  dis- 
 charge of  the  sacred  functions  of  his  new- 
 fangled method  of  religion,  "  and  took 
 of  the  very  lowest  of  the  people^  (from  their 
 shopboards  and  stalls,)  and  whosoever  would^ 
 he  consecrated  him  to  be  a  priest  of  the  high 
 places,"  He  wished,  from  motives  of  policy, 
 to  degrade  the  regular  priesthood^  which  was  by 
 divine  appointment,  and  to  corrupt  and  debase 
 tbe  religious  instruction  of  the  people ,  by  giving 
 them  contemptible  and  ignorant  teachers.*— 
 
 *  None  but  teachers  of  this  description  would  have  pushed  for- 
 ward into  the  sacred  offices,  at  the  instigation  of  self  conceit  af- 
 ter the  severe  punishment  which  God  had  inflicted  upon  that 
 presumptuous  and  profane  violation  of  his  appointed  ordinances, 
 in  the  person  of  the  schismatic  Korah.  Jeroboam,  it  seems,  did 
 however  so  far  respect  the  divine  ordinances,  as  not  to  admit 
 of  teachers  without  any  ordination  or  consecration  at  all, 
 (1.  Kings  xiii.  S3.)  See  Gregory's  History  of  the  Church,  vol,  if. 
 p.  523? Essays,  Hist,  and  Mor, 
 
401 
 
 After  this  so  marked  a  disapprobation  put  up- 
 on this  Methodism  of  Jeroboam,  under  a 
 less  complete  system  of  religion  and  faith,  can 
 we  approve  of  the  very  same  methods  of  de- 
 grading divine  truths  when  that  which  is  per- 
 fect is  come  ? 
 
 Such  self-constituted  instructors,  running 
 up  and  down  to  "  draw  away  disciples  after 
 them"  enlightening  and  converting  the  weak 
 and  the  ignorant,  (too  frequently  as  the  an- 
 cient pharisees  did,  to  a  sanctity  of  profession 
 which  is  destitute  of  candour  and  charity,  yet 
 with  the  highest  pretensions  to  both  :)  affect- 
 ing to  be  sent  "  to  turn  the  world  fro?n  dark- 
 ness  to  lights  and  from  the  power  of  Satan  un- 
 to God,"  as  if  all  christian  professors  (except 
 these  elect  only)  were  absolutely  sitting  in  the 
 grossest  darkness  of  heathenish  idolatry  !  in  the 
 nineteenth  century  !  is,  in  fact,  to  turn  the  gos- 
 pel into  burlesque,  and  make  zeal  nauseous. — 
 
 "  Qui  semel  vcrecundiae  fines  transicrint,  eos  oportct 
 gnaviter  es:e  impudentes."  Cicero. 
 
 "  When  men  h?.ve  once  over-stepped  the  boundary  line  that 
 modesty  and  propriety  prescribes  to  every  one,  let  them  n<  '. 
 stick  at  any  thing  in  die  shape  of  irnpudcr.ee  after  that." 
 
465 
 
 Enthusiasm  is  a  dangerous  guide  to  follow 
 all  lengths,  without  the  co-operation  of  a  lit- 
 tle common  sense,  and  a  portion  of  modesty.* 
 Religion  which  appeals  little  to  the  under- 
 standing, and  much  to  inward  feelings •,  must 
 necessarily  be  judged  of  from  signs  accom- 
 panying it,  as  in  the  primitive  times,  and  (like 
 those  then  exhibited)  such'as  cannot  be  doubt- 
 ed of,  or  misunderstood.  Phineas  by  a  divine 
 impulse,  did  an  irregular  act,  and  received  just 
 commendation  and  reward  ;  but  Jack  of  Ley- 
 den  and  Knipperdoling,  James  Naylor,  and 
 George  Fox,  &c.  by  following  the  inward 
 light  of  a  spiritual  ignis  fatuus,  or  diabolical 
 delusion,  have  met  with  a  very  different  ac- 
 ceptation of  their  respective  services  to  reli- 
 gion, from  the  impartial  judgment  of  pos- 
 terity, f 
 
 *  Rom.  sii.  3; — 1.  Con  viii.  2. 
 
 f  See  in  Sleidan's  History  of  the  reformation,  B.  x.  p.  202. 
 folio,— The  dreadful  effects  of  the  enthusiasm  of  the  Anabap- 
 tists at  Munster. — And  the  blasphemous  fanaticism  of  these 
 great  lights,  in  the  time  of  Oliver  Cromwell,  the  age  of 
 Sectarian  licentiousness  and  more  powerful  persecution,  of  the 
 church  of  England, — Blograph,  D:ct 
 
408 
 
 In  the  apostolic  age,  among  other  gifts  of 
 the  Holy  Ghost  then  communicated  to  the 
 infant  church,  there  was  one  very  needful  at 
 that  time,  "  the  discerning  of  spirits"*'  For 
 by  this  noble  talent  the  false  ones  were  de- 
 tected, and  the  true  brethren  put  upon  their 
 guard.  But  as  we  are  no  longer  favored  with 
 this  miraculous  gift,  the  illnminati  of  the  pre- 
 sent day,  (who  thunder  forth  unmerited  and 
 general  invectives  against  the  regular  clergy, 
 "  and  are  not  afraid  to  speak  evil  of  digni- 
 ties"^ and  have  totally  withdrawn  them- 
 selves from  the  established  church,  under 
 pastors  and  bishops  of  their  own  ordination, 
 if  they  have  any  at  all,)  should  be  obliged  to 
 produce  some  indisputable  credentials  of  their 
 authority  in  an  age  like  this ;  when  every 
 imaginable  species  and  method  of  forgery  and 
 imposture  is  boldly  attempted,  and  practised 
 with  too  much  success. — 
 
 '*  Qui  cavet  hodie  ne  declpiatur,  vix  cavet,  cum  etiam 
 Cavet :  quando  enim  cavisse  ratus  est,  saspe  is 
 Cautor  captusest."  Plautusi 
 
 *  1.  Cor.  xii.  10. 
 
 f  Jude  8  ;  2  Peter  ii.  10. 
 
407 
 
 "  In  times  like  these  'gainst  wily  arts  to  guard, 
 The  strictest  caution  cannot  be  prepar'd  : 
 Arts  secret  springs  when  most  they  seem  display  M, 
 Then  caution  by  security's  betray'd." 
 
 If  they  are  able  to  produce  nothing  but  rant 
 and  noise,  the  unconverted  will  be  warranted 
 in  applying  to  them  that  declaration  of  God 
 to  their  elder  brethren : — "  /  have  not  sent 
 these  prophets ',  yet  they  ran  :  I  have  not  spoken 
 to  them,  yet  they  prophesied"* 
 
 *  Jer.  xxxiii.  21. 
 
 VOL.  II.  3  G 
 
SECTION   XXXV. 
 
 Supercilious  and  counterfeit  humility  a  badge  of  false 
 religion  — Shews  itself  in  different  ways.— Great 
 changes  in  both  the  religious  and  political  world 
 are  to  be  expected,  before  the  kingdom  of  the 
 saints  shall  be  established. — The  resurrection  of 
 the  saints,  and  reign  of  Christ  on  earth,  how  to 
 be  understood, — A  much  nearer  approach  to  per~ 
 feet  ion  in  holiness,  and  peace,  and  happiness,  than 
 we  can  at  prese?it  well  conceive. — Tet  still  con- 
 sistent with  a  state  of  probation,  and  capable  of 
 interruption  by  the  revival  of  wickedness,  before 
 the  final  consummation. — The  great  felicity  of 
 those  whose  lot  shall  be  cast  in  that  sabbath  of 
 the  world. 
 
 A  celebrated  writer  in  the  last  age,  with 
 more  wit  and  humour,  than  strict  regard  to 
 decorum,  contrasted  the  mock  humility  of  em- 
 peror Peter,  (stiling  himself  "  scrvus  ser- 
 vorum,  or  mans  man?  at  the  very  time  when 
 
409 
 
 he  was  "  beating  the  men  servants  and  maid 
 servants"*  into  the  most  abject  submission  to 
 his  lordly  pride  ;)  with  the  equally  absurd  and 
 false  affectation  of  humility  by  his  ragged  but 
 proud  brother  Jack.  The  real  supercilious- 
 ness of  the  one  was  not  a  whit  behind  that 
 of  the  other,  only  it  was  in  another  walk,  and 
 of  an  opposite  description.  In  this  age  it 
 hath  fortuned  that  lord  Peter,  by  an  ill  run  of 
 luck  at  cards,  has  been  forced  to  alight  from 
 his  high  horse,  all  covered  over  with  scarlet 
 and  gold,  pull  up  his  red  plush  breeches,  and 
 trudge  along  a-foot,  in  the  dust  or  the  mire, 
 be  the  weather  what  it  may  :  while  whimsi- 
 cal Jack,  determined  at  all  adventures  in  his 
 persevering  opposition  and  dissent,  has  now 
 cleverly  vaulted  into  the  saddle,  and  madly 
 rides  over  the  foot  passengers,  without  so 
 much  as  the  bare  formality  of  a  "  by  your 
 leave  I" 
 
 "  Asperius  nihil  est  mserot  cum  surgit  in  altum. 
 
 When  Jack  was  in  pow'r  then  he  put  on  his  pride : 
 Set  a  beggar  on  horseback,  and— where  will  he  ride 
 
 *  Luke  xii.  45. 
 3  G  2 
 
410 
 
 But  to  drop  the  ironical  allegory  of  that 
 author,  it  is  a  real  and  lamentable  proof  that 
 we  are  not  actually  now  living  in  the  age  of 
 the  promised  millennium,  that  the  wiles 
 and  devices  of  St/tan,  for  the  purpose  of  frus- 
 trating the  designed  effect  of  the  gospel,  are 
 still  so  prevalent  in  the  world,  and  so  success- 
 ful even  in  the  sanctuary.  They  still  have 
 so*  strong  a  power  of  fascinating  the  mind, 
 and  blinding  the  judgment  of  mankind,  that 
 the  truth  itself  is  converted  into  an  engine  of 
 delusion,  and  the  primary  virtues  of  charity 
 and  humility  into  pharisaical  superciliousness, 
 and  sectarian  envy  and  strife.* 
 
 Humility  (not  counterfeit,  but  such  as  our 
 Saviour  exhibited  in  his  own  person,  as  a 
 pattern  tor  all  his  disciples  to  follow,)  f  is  in 
 religion  a  cardinal  virtue.  There  can  be  no 
 real  piety  in  the  heart  where  this  chief  ingre- 
 dient is  wanting :  for  true  godliness,  and  mo- 
 desty in  the  display  ot  it,  are  inseparable.  |    St 
 
 *   ]  Cor.  ili,  3;  James  iii.  14,  16, 
 
 t  Matt.  xi.  29-  %  Matt.  vi.  3,  16. 
 
PauFs  idea  of  charity,  the  very  bond  of  per- 
 fectness,  and  wanting  which  (though  possess- 
 ing all  besides)  we  are  nothing :  turns  chiefly 
 upon  this  hinge.*  "  Not  thinking  of  itself 
 more  highly  than  it  ought  to  think" — or  more 
 meanly,  of  others  than  their  offensive  behavi- 
 our has  obliged  us  to  do,  even  in  self-defence, 
 against  the  unprovoked  hostilities  of  exuber- 
 ant and  ungovernable  spiritual  vanity. — "  Not 
 wise  in  self-conceit, — -not  puffed  up  "  with  an 
 airy  nothingness  of  a  notional  sanctity,  but 
 edified,  with  that  which  is  real,  and  consist- 
 ent with  genuine  faith.  "  Behaveih  not  it- 
 self unseemly,— thinketh  no  evil;  and  speaketh 
 none,  but  "  hopeth  all  things,  belteveth  all 
 things,"  and  putteth  the  most  candid  con- 
 struction upon  other  people's  conduct  and 
 opinions,  that  consistency  and  the  prior  obli- 
 gation of  respect  -for  suffering  religion  will 
 admit  of. 
 
 "  But  the  time  will  come,  (said  St  Paul,) 
 when  they  will   not  endure  sound  doctrine, 
 
 *  i  Cor.  xiii.  1,  5. 
 
412 
 
 but  they  shall  turn  away  their  ears  from  the 
 truth,  and  shall  be  turned  unto  fables"*  "  Of 
 this  sort  are  they  which  creep  into  bouses,  and 
 lead  captive  silly  women,  ever  learning,  and 
 never  able  to  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
 truth.  For  evil  men  and  seducers  shall  wax 
 worse  and  worse,  deceiving  and  being  de- 
 ceived."')*— 
 
 t-  Facies  non  omnibus  una 
 
 nee  di versa  tamen.  Virc, 
 
 Not  all  one  form  the  specious  error  takes, 
 Yet  scarce  another — little  difference  makes. 
 Schism  methodistic,  tho'  a  seeming  evil, 
 Preacher  thus  jostling  preacher  to  the  *****. 
 
 There  is,  therefore,  undoubtedly  a  great 
 change  to  take  place  first,  before  the  kingdom 
 of  Christ  (such  as  the  prophets  have  described 
 it,)  shall  be  set  up,  not  only  upon  the  necks 
 of  his  enemies,  but  in  the  hearts  of  his  pro- 
 fessed friends.  There  must  be  a  removal  of 
 "  much  rubbish"  from  the  external  opposition 
 of  antichristianism,  before  that  great  temple, 
 which  is  to  receive  all  the  world,   can  be 
 
 *  2  Tim.  iv.  t  2  Tim.  iii. 
 
413 
 
 raised  up  to  the  full  perfection  of  the  design* 
 ed  "  building  of  God"  upon  the  foundation 
 already  laid.  The  unbelief  of  the  jews,  mo- 
 hammedans,  and  pagans  ;  the  apostacy  of  the 
 Romans,  and  the  indisposition  arising  from 
 fanatical  systems,  frivolous  divisions,  and  the 
 mutual  uncharitableness  of  various  denomina- 
 tions of  protestants,  must  first  be  taken  out  of 
 the  way. 
 
 We  need  not  an  angel  to  tell  us  that  "  the 
 time  is  not  yet"*  when  we  may  expect  to  see 
 Christ    "  travelling   in    the  greatness    of  his 
 strength"  \  and  every  obstructing   stumbling 
 block  taken  up  out  of  the  way  that  leads  to  the 
 new  Jerusalem ; %  and  the  perpetual  throne  of 
 the  Son  of  David  established  over  all  nations, 
 upon   the   immoveable  basis  of  mercy  and 
 righteousness.     The  descriptions  the  prophets 
 have  given  of  that  glorious  day,  are  such  as 
 we  cannot  expect  to  see  realized  in  a  short 
 time,  if  even  they  be  taken  at  the  most  mo- 
 derate calculation :  a  time  when  the  terrors  of 
 
 *  Rev.  x,6.  f   Isai.  lxiii.  1. 
 
 \  Isai,  lvii.  14;  Ezek.  xlv.  3  ;  1    Cor.  i.  25. 
 
414 
 
 persecution  for  religion  shall  no  more  fill  the 
 world  with  woe,  nor  the  imperious  fanaticism 
 vf  modern  pbarisees  with  disgust;  by  setting 
 up  each  of  them  their  respective  standards  of 
 faith,  like  the  bed  of  the  Sicilian  tyrant,  to 
 the  length  of  which  all  noses  must  be  pulled, 
 or  flattened  into  conformity  of  a  stunted  pro- 
 tuberance.* 
 
 The  knowledge  of  God  will  then  be  com- 
 municated by  rational  and  intelligible  ideas, 
 and  shall  be  spread  abroad  by  competent  means, 
 u  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea." — "  They  shall 
 all  know  me,  from  the  least  to  the  greatest."f 
 u  Thy  people  shall  be  all  righteous,  the  rem- 
 nant of  Israel  shall  not  do  iniquity,  nor 
 speak  lies,  neither  shall  a  deceitful  tongue  be 
 found  in  their  mouth."f        "  I   will   make 
 
 *  The  prophecy  of  Zephaniah,  like  tlie  reconciliation  of  the 
 jews,  is  certainly  not  to  be  prematurely  accomplished  by  forced 
 conversions  to  uniformity  of  religion  ;  but  will  be  God's  own 
 act,  in  his  own  time.  "  For  then  will  I  turn  to  the  people  a  pure 
 language,  (or  religion,)  that  they  may  all  call  upon  the  name  of  the 
 Lord,  to  sortie  him  zvith  one  consent,"  (  Zeph .  iii,  9.) 
 
 t  Jer.  xxxi,  34-;  Heb.  viii.  11.  1  Zeph.  iii.  13. 
 
4i5 
 
 thine  officers  peace,  and  thine  exactors  right- 
 eousness. Violence  shall  no  more  be  heard 
 in  thy  land,  wasting  nor  destruction  within 
 thy  borders :  but  thou  shalt  call  thy  walls 
 salvation,  and  thy  gates  praise.  I  the 
 Lord  will  hasten  it  in  his  time."* 
 
 The  words  of  prophecy  shall  be  no  longer 
 a  scaled  vision  to  God's  ancient  people,  nor 
 the  deep  mysteries  of  the  gospel  a  subject  of 
 perversion,  to  be  "  wrested"  by  incompetent 
 theologians,  from  the  highways  and  the 
 hedge  sides.  The  wily  serpent  and  deadly 
 cockatrice  shall  cease  their  enmity  to  man,  or 
 be  rendered  incapable  of  exerting  it  to  the 
 hurt  of  unsuspecting  innocence,  j*  The  dis- 
 position to  deceit  and  malice  shall  either  be 
 expelled  from  the  human  breasr,  or  frustrated 
 and  rendered  torpid,  by  wise  and  good  laws 
 well  executed,  and  the  rights  and  liberties  of 
 men  more  clearly  defined  and  effectually  se- 
 cured. Christ,  the  sovereign  monarch  cf  this 
 happy  kingdom,  "  shall  spare  the  poor  and 
 
 *  Isai.  lx.  18.  f  Isai.  xi.  8. 
 
 VOL.  II.  3    h 
 
416 
 
 needy.    He  shall  save  the  souls  of  the  needy. 
 He  shall  redeem  their  souls  from  deceit  and 
 violence,  and  precious  shall  their  blood  be  in 
 his  sight."*     "  "The  lion  shall  eat  straw  like 
 the  ox"  the  ferocious  leonine  tempers  of  the 
 sons  of  violence  shall,  in  those  times,  be  either 
 changed,  or  held  in  controul  and  check,  like 
 the  malignity  of  Satan  himself;  "  they  shall 
 not  hurt  nor  destroy  in  all  my  holy  mountain" 
 The  art  of  war  shall  not  be  practised  nor 
 learnt  any  more,  to  the  destruction  of  mil- 
 lions of  the  human  species,  and  the  devasta- 
 tion of  the  bounty  and  riches  of  God's  provi- 
 dence for  his  creatures  :  but  the  heroes  of  that 
 day  "  shall  beat  their  swords  into  plowshares, 
 and  their  spears  into  pruning  hooks ;  and  pre- 
 eminence will  only  be  sought  by  carrying  the 
 arts  of  peace,  and  the  valuable  lessons  of  di- 
 vine and  natural  wisdom,  to  the  utmost  pos- 
 sible perfection. — Thus  "  the  depth  of  the 
 riches  of  the  manifold  wisdom  and  goodness 
 of  God,"  in  both  his  works  of  creation,  and 
 the  operations  of  his  grace,  will  be  unfolded 
 
 *  Pfalm  lxxn.  13. 
 
417 
 
 to  open  view,  to  the  increase  of  glory  and 
 praise  to  God,  and  of  happiness  and  blessings 
 to  man,  far  exceeding  our  present  apprehen- 
 sions   of  the  yet  undiscovered  capabilities  of 
 nature. 
 
 These  are  changes  which  the  present  natu- 
 ral condition  and  constitution  of  all  sublunary 
 things  seem  to  forbid  almost  entirely,  the  most 
 sanguine  hope  to  expect,  as  being  (according 
 to  our  ideas)  scarcely  within  the  scale  of  pos- 
 sibility. But  as  our  Saviour  said  to  his  as- 
 tonished disciples,  "  with  men  this  is  (indeed) 
 impossible" — it  cannot  consist  with  the  state 
 of  degeneracy  and  corruption  in  which  hu- 
 man nature  yet  lies  buried  :  "  but  with  Cod 
 all  things  are  possible"*     Great  changes,  we 
 
 *  Few  parts  of  prophetic  revelation  have  occasioned  so  great 
 j  discordance  of  opinion,  as  the  doctrine  of  the  millennium, 
 founded  chiefly  on  Dan.  ii.  44;  vii.  27;  Isai  Ix.  JO,  to  the 
 end,  and  other  prophecies  ;  of  which  St  John  gives  the  united 
 sense  in  Rev.  xx.  2,  &c.  and  according  to  his  prophetic  history 
 of  the  last  tunes,  has  placed  it  in  the  order  of  time  in  which  it 
 will  happen  ;  that  is,  after  the  fall  of  Antichrist,  the  recon:' 
 cf  the  jeit's,  and  the  general  conversion  of  all  rations, 
 
 The  gross  anJ  absurd  ideas  of  the  ancient  millf.karians 
 >.ave  never  been  able  so  far  to  discredit  the  doctrine  itself,  but 
 
 3  H    2 
 
418 
 
 know,  are  first  to  take  place,  in  the  moral  and 
 political  opinions  of  mankind,  and  in  the  ge- 
 neral external  circumstances  of  the  world ;  so 
 
 that  the  belief  of  it  hath  still  obtained  possession  of  every  reli- 
 gious and  good  mind  in  all  ages.  "  Wherever  the  influence  of 
 the  church  of  Rome  hath  extended,  (says  Bishop  Newton,) 
 she  hath  endeavoured  by  all  means  to  discredit  this  doctrine  ; 
 and  indeed  not  without  sufficient  reason,  this  kingdom  of  Christ 
 being  founded  on  the  ruins  of  the  kingdom  of  Antichrist."— 
 But  with  the  reformation  it  revived,  together  with  the  other 
 doctrines  of  the  primitive  church. 
 
 Archbishop  Usher  dates  the  commencement  of  the  thou- 
 sand years  from  the  time  of  Christ,  and  Grotius  from  the  lime  of 
 Cokstantine,  but  both  erroneously  beyond  all  question,  as  the 
 whole  structure  of  the  Apocalypse,  the  analogy  of  prophecy, 
 and  the  state  of  the  world  in  both  the  propose/  times,  abun- 
 dantly prove.  Besides,  that  such  an  opinion  gives  too  much 
 countenance  to  the  error  of  Hymenevs,  ('2  Tim.  ii.  17,  18,) 
 and  might  shake  the  faith  of  some,  and  make  the  belief  of  the 
 second  ov  general  resurrection  seem  precarious. 
 
 Bishop  Newton  and  some  others  incline  to  the  literal  sense  of 
 St  John's  words,  ?nd  an  actual  resurrection  of  the  departed  saints  • 
 but  others  with  more  reason  and  consistency  with  the  general 
 tenor  of  the  scriptures,  the  figurative  stile  of  prophecy,  and  par- 
 ticutarly  of  this  book,  (in  which  there  does  not  seem  any  thinw 
 capable  of  a  literal  construction,)  consider  the  first  resurrection 
 as  wholly  figurative  ;  as  ttie  resurrection  of  the  two  witnesses  must 
 certainly  be,  and  as  the  resurrection  and  prophetic  ministry  of 
 Elias  before  the  appearance  of  the  Messiah  was,  (Mai,  iy.  5j 
 
419 
 
 very  considerable  indeed,  and  or  such  mighty 
 importance  to  the  peace,  and  virtue,  and  hap- 
 piness of  mankind,  that  the  alteration  of  things 
 
 Mark  ix.  12,  13  ;  xv.  36  ;  Luke  i.  17,)  though  that  prophecy 
 was  firmly  expected  to  be  literally  fulfilled.  Thus  the  scrip- 
 ture frequently  speaks  of  the  regenerate  state  of  man  figurative-? 
 ly,  as  a  resurrection  to  new  Jifc,  (Rom.  vi.  23  ;  Ephes.  v.  24  ; 
 Col.  ii.  13;  iii.  1,  &c.)  and  the  conversion  of  the  jews,  when 
 all  Israel  shall  be  saved,  is  particularly  so  described  as  a  resur- 
 rection, by  St  Paul,  (Rom,  xi  15,}  and  by  Ezekiel  (chap* 
 xxxvii. )  under  the  type  of  the  resurrection  of  the  dry  bones, — 
 not  to  mention  many  other  passages  of  the  prophets. 
 
 The  opinion  I  have  hazarded  was  formed  from  the  scripture 
 alone,  and  I  have  since  had  the  satisfaction  to  find  most  or  all 
 of  my  ideas  of  the  millenary  state  corroborated  by  thv 
 (generally)  judicious  Dv  Whitby,  whose  treatise  on  the  mil- 
 lennium I  had  not  before  consulted.  He  assigns  many  cogent 
 reasons  against  a  literal  resurrection,  and  in  proof  that  afouia* 
 Hve  one  is  only  meant,  and  refers  the  whole  doctrine  of  the 
 millennium  to  the  Jewish  people,  and  their  restoration,  which 
 coincides  with  my  idea  of  their  penitential  acknowledgment  of 
 their  crucified  Saviour,  and  happy  re-settlement  in  the  Holy 
 Land,  the  resurrection  of  the  witnesses,  &c.  in  Sections  iii. 
 jv.  &c. 
 
 Of  this  Second  Exodus  Mr  Mead  says, — **  It  may  be  fit 
 to  conceive  magnificently  of  so  great  a  woik  of  God  towards  a 
 people  for  whom  he  hath  formerly  shewed  so  many  wonders ; 
 especially  this  being  the  greatest  work  of  mercy  and  wonder  that 
 ever  he  did  for  them,  far  beyond  the  bringing  them  forth  of 
 Egypt,  and  leading  them  in  the  wilderness." 
 
420 
 
 at  this  period  is  prefigured  by  the  mystical  re* 
 surrection  of  the  dead  saints,  to  live  on  earth 
 again,  and  reign  with  Christ  through  the 
 whole  course  of  the  millennium.  But 
 doubtless  they  will  only  so  live  again  (before 
 the  general  resurrection)  by  a  prior  and  fi- 
 gurative one,  consisting  in  the  happy  imita- 
 tion of  their  bright  examples  of  virtue  and 
 holiness,  which  wise  and  good  men,  in  nu- 
 merous instances,  will  then  exhibit  to  the  ad- 
 miring world. 
 
 If  the  fiery  trial  which  is  to  precede  Christ 
 thus  coming  in  his  kingdom,  should  have  the 
 effect  of  "  a  refiner  s  fire,  and  purge  and  pu~ 
 rify  the  sons  of  men''  that  may  survive  the 
 multiplied  horrors  of  that  day  of  judgment, 
 this  may  introduce  an  alteration  in  things, 
 the  nature  and  extent  of  which  our  ideas, 
 taken  from  things  past  or  present,  can  give 
 us  no  adequate  conception  of.  "  Blessed  and 
 holy  (says  St  John)  is  he  that  hath  part  in  the 
 first  resurrection"  (which  seems  to  imply  that 
 it  is  a  moral  resurrection  to  newness  of  life,  to 
 
421 
 
 which  only  the  biessing  and  reward  of  right- 
 eousness and  faith  will  be  assigned,)  "  on  such 
 the  second  death  hath  no  power  " — Though 
 temporal  death  must  lay  his  resistless  sceptre 
 on  their  bodies,  eternal  death  will  have  no 
 power  over  their  souls, — "  but  they  shall  be 
 priests  of  God)  and  of  Christy  and  shall  reign 
 'with  him  i ooo years"*  that  is,  a  succession 
 of  such  holy  persons,  at  this  choice  season, 
 when  "  God  will  make  up  his  jewels." f 
 So  Daniel  says,  "  Blessed  is  he  that  waiteth 
 and  cometh  to  the  thousand  three  hundred 
 and  five  and  thirty  days,"  %  ,which  probably 
 alludes  to  the  final  settlement  of  things  in 
 the  kingdom  of  the  saints. 
 
 The  prophets  have  seized  every  image  that 
 the  imagination  of  man  can  grasp,  to  express 
 the  spiritual  and  temporal  bounty  of  God, 
 and  the  gratitude  and  happiness  of  men,  in 
 this  highly  favored  period.  "  And  it  shall 
 come  to  pass  in  that  day,  (says  Joel,§)   that 
 
 *  Rev.  xx,  6.  f  Mal-iii-  17- 
 
 %  Dan,   xii.  12.  §  Joel  iii.  1*. 
 
423 
 
 the  mountains  shall  drop  down  new  wine, 
 and  the  hills  shall  flow  with  milk,  and  all  the 
 rivers  of  Judah  shall  flow  with  waters,  and  a 
 fountain  shall  come  forth  of  the  house  of  the 
 Lord,  and  shall  water  the  valley  of  Shittim." 
 And  Isaiah,  in  several  places,  promises  that 
 God  will  opt n  fountains  in  the  thirsty  deserts, 
 and  rivers  upon  the  tops  of  mountains"  By 
 which  he  clearly  means,  that  the  most  dark 
 and  inaccessible  places  of  the  earth  shall  re- 
 ceive the  plenteous  and  fertilizing  influx  of 
 light,  and  of  the  waters  of  God's  spirit. — 
 "  Truth  shall  spring  out  of  the  earth,  and 
 righteousness  shall  look  down  from  heaven."* 
 
 These  great  expectations  have  not  been 
 fully  answered  by  the  first  appearance  of  the 
 kingdom  of  Messias,  nor  by  the  progress  it 
 has  hitherto  made  in  the  world.  But  by  the 
 removal  either  entirely,  or  in  great  part,  of 
 the  present  sources  of  ignorance  and  corrupti- 
 on of  heart,  and  from  the  infrequency  of 
 crime,  or  the  shame  and  punishment  of  wick- 
 
 *  Psalm  lxxxv„ 
 
423 
 
 cdness  being  greatly  increased,  and  by  living 
 examples,  and  practical  lessons  of  sincere  vir- 
 tue and  primitive  simplicity  of  manners,  the 
 gospel  will  be  indeed  "  written  in  me?is 
 hearts"  and  Christ,  "formed  within  th 
 will  have  his  tabernacle  with  men,  and  the 
 whole  earth  become  his  temple. 
 
 Yer,  after  all,  absolute  perfection  is  net  in 
 any  thing  earthly.  Even  the  happy  millen- 
 nium will  most  probably  be  still  a  state  of 
 probation,  and  a  temporary  life,  preparatory  to 
 an  infinitely  better  and  eternal  state  of  inde- 
 fectible happiness  in  heaven.  It  is  described 
 in  such  glowing  colours  and  lofty  figurative 
 language,  because  it  will  be  so  much  compa- 
 ratively more  peaceful,  and  happy,  and  fruit- 
 ful in  rigtveousness,  than  any  former  period, 
 as  to  be  deservedly  called  "  a  sabbath  of  rest 
 for  the  people  of  God?* 
 
 On  them  whose  happy  lot  shall  fall  in  these 
 times,  "  the  second  death"  (that  is,  the  con- 
 
 *  Heb.  it.  9. 
 VOL.  II*  3  I 
 
demnation  to  eternal  punishment,)  "  hath  m 
 power"  because  of  their  greater  faith  and  bet- 
 ter obedience :  which  is  as  much  as  to  say, 
 that  there  will  be  comparatively  few  lost  to 
 Christ  during  the  millennium,  or  kingdom 
 of  the  saints.  It  will  be  the  time  when  God 
 will  "  make  up  the  number  of  his  elect,  and 
 hasten  his  kingdom"  of  the  world  to  come. — 
 This  first  resurrection  therefore  is  not 
 real,  but  figurative,  and  seems  to  import  a 
 nearer  approach  to  a  state  of  perfection  on 
 earth,  (described  in  the  usual  stile  and  lan- 
 guage of  prophecy,)  than  our  present  dege- 
 neracy, and  the  numerous  and  strong  tempta- 
 tions to  sin,  through  the  abounding  of  ini- 
 quity, will  admit  of. 
 
 We  are  told  also,  (and  which  is  another 
 distinguishing  mark  of  the  millennium,) 
 that  the  saints  only  shall  be  raised  again,  but 
 the  wicked  shall  not  be  raised  until  the  I  ooo 
 years  are  ended.  If  this  interpretation  of  a 
 figurative  resurrection  be  admitted,  this  will 
 signify  the  extreme  paucity  of  ill  examples, 
 or  even  of  cold  or  lukewarm  professors  of 
 
425 
 
 the  gospel.     For  one  spirit  and  the  same  zeal 
 will  glow  in  every  breast. 
 
 The  probability  that  a  comparative  and  not 
 a  real  arid  absolute  state  of  perfection  is  meant, 
 is  heightened  into  almost  a  positive  assurance 
 by  the  intimation  given,  that  before  the  end 
 of  the  world,  wickedness  shall  again  lift  up  its 
 head,  and  infidelity  prevail  to  a  great  and  dan- 
 gerous extent.  This  is  represented  in  figure, 
 by  Satan  s  being  loosed  again ,  who  during  the 
 reign  of  peace  and  righteousness  (so  long  as 
 the  awful  impression  of  the  preceding  dread- 
 ful occurrences  remained,)  had  been  figura- 
 tively bound  in  the  bottomless  pit,  whence  ail 
 error  and  wickedness  proceeds.  Being  now 
 loosed,  he  finds  still  remaining  amongst  man- 
 kind, a  sufficiency  of  materials  fit  for  him  to 
 work  upon,  and  capable  of  producing  great 
 effects.  A  root  of  bitterness,  though  much 
 kept  down,  seems  all  along  to  have  still  re- 
 mained in  the  w_orld.  For  Satan  cannot  de- 
 ceive or  seduce  the  souls  of  just  men  made 
 perfect,  neither  can  he  create  evil  by  external 
 force,  in  the  minds  of  men  in  a  state  of 
 
 3  I  2 
 
426 
 
 bation ;  but  only  blow  up  into  a  flame  the 
 embers  he  finds  ready  kindling  to  his  wish. 
 It  is  therefore  impossible  to  conceive  that  he 
 should  be  able,  or  should  attempt  to  renew 
 his  deceptions  upon  the  raised  saints  them- 
 selves,  actually  reigning  with  Christ  on  earth; 
 or  even  upon  mankind  living  with  such  asso- 
 ciates and  monitors,  and  being  themselves  in 
 a  state  approaching  nearly  to  perfection  in 
 faith  and  holiness.* 
 
 By  the  saints  being  raised  to  life,  we  must 
 therefore  understand  the  frequency  of  ex-? 
 amples  such  as  theirs  were ;  and  by  the  rest 
 o.  the  dead  not  living  again,  we  may  conceive 
 that  profligacy  of  manners,  or  profaneness  and 
 infidelity  in  opinion,  and  superstition,  hypo- 
 crisy and  fanaticism  in  religion,  will  be  so 
 
 *  The  idea  of  the  first  resurrection  being  real  must  be  given 
 up,  for  three  strong  re  sons. — First,  it  is  inconsistent  with  the 
 usual  proceedings  of  od,  and  his  promised rewards  to  the  faith- 
 ful,  of  an  eternal  and  heavenly,  not  an  earthly,  and  temporary, 
 and  pi  ecarious  Paradise-  Second,  inconsistent  with  his  end  of 
 placing  man  on  th?  earth,  in  a  probationary  state  only.  Third, 
 inconsistent  with  the  idea  of  an  almost  general  defection  which, 
 under  the  circumstances  supposed,  can  hardly  be  conceived, 
 
427 
 
 little  prevalent,  and  have  so  circumscribed  an 
 influence,  that  it  may  be  said  (in  the  language 
 of  prophecy)  they  have  no  footing  or  exist- 
 ence amongst  men.  Happy  and  blessed  in- 
 deed then  may  he  be  pronounced,  who  shall 
 live  in  such  times  of  rest  from  sin  and  trouble, 
 and  when  the  whole  earth  shall  (for  many 
 centuries)  be  but  one  temple,  and  all  nations, 
 with  united  sentiments  of  religion  and  bro- 
 therly love  towards  each  other,  shall  render 
 praise  to  God  and  the  Lamb,  and  "  the  king' 
 doms  of  this  world  shall  become  the  kingdoms 
 of  our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ" 
 
 The  millenary  believers  may  be  pronounced 
 happy  in  respect  of  the  universal  and  uninter- 
 rupted both  inward  and  outward  peace  and 
 security,  and  happiness,  which  a  life  conduct- 
 ed by  faith,  and  under  the  influence  of  abound- 
 ing grace,  in  a  state  of  society  so  greatly  im- 
 proved, cannot  fail  to  yield.  In  the  present 
 every  way  unfavorable  state  of  things,  a  life 
 regulated  by  no  other  rules  but  the  wise  and 
 wholesome  precepts  of  the  gospel,  rarely  fails 
 of  happiness.     "  The   work   of  righteousness 
 
428 
 
 shall  be  peace ,  and  the  effect  of  righteousness 
 quietness  and  assurance  for  ever?*  It  will 
 obtain  "  the  peace  of  God,  which  passeth  all 
 consolation"  But  under  a  state  of  things  so 
 highly  propitious  to  good  and  sincere  minds, 
 the  effect  will  be  greatly  increased,  and  be  in- 
 fallible ;  because  all  men  will  be  alike  sincere 
 and  friendly,  "  walking  by  faith  and  not  by 
 sight.  And  the  insolence  of  wealthy  or  of 
 fanatical  pride,  will  be  banished  from  society, 
 with  the  false  ideas  of  superiority  which  gave 
 birth  to  it ;  and  the  interested  craftiness  of 
 evil  men  lying  in  wait  to  deceive,  will  be  no 
 longer  an  object  of  incessant  dread  and  cau- 
 tion. 
 
 It  will  be  no  small  addition  to  the  happiness 
 of  this  state,  (the  type  of  heaven,)  that  by  rea- 
 son of  these  great  advantages  in  favor  of  right- 
 eousness, and  the  withdrawing  of  the  great 
 incitements  to  sin,  which  the  binding  of  Satan 
 seems  to  imply,  the  danger  of  falling  away 
 from  that  secure  course  of  well  doing,  and  of 
 coming  short  of  the  glory  of  God  in  an  eter- 
 
 *  Jsd.  xxxii.  17. 
 
429 
 
 nity  of  future  blessedness,  will  be  considerably 
 lessened.  We  now  "  hold  this  great  treasure 
 of  our  hope  in  earthen  vessels"  *  and  in  the 
 midst  of  the  most  anxious  incertitude  of  the 
 final  event ;  lest  after  all  our  painful  striving 
 in  the  main,  yet  by  some  unfortunate  lapse 
 before  the  victory  is  won,  we  ourselves  should 
 be  cast  away.  When  we  thus  think  of  the 
 stake  at  issue,  we  hold  on  our  course  with 
 painful  apprehensions,  "  working  out  our  sal- 
 vation with  fear  and  trembling,  and  with  con- 
 tinual watchfulness  and  difficulty  we  are  scarce- 
 ly able  to  "  keep  our  loins  girded  and  our  lights 
 burning"  Thus  we  proceed  towards  the  goal 
 of  death  that  awaits  us,  passing  through  a  vale 
 of  tears,  and  hardly  stem  the  impetuous  floods 
 of  ungodliness,  which  threaten  to  overwhelm 
 our  frail  bark  in  everlasting  night. 
 
 The  greatest  saints  have  ever  been  free  to 
 confess  the  painful  weight  of  those  apprehen- 
 sions of  the  mind,  that  is  seriously  impressed 
 with  a  sense  of  religion.    "  Why  abhorrest  thou 
 
 *  2.  Cor.  iv.  7. 
 
430 
 
 my  soul,  (says  David)  and  hidest  thou  thy  face 
 from  me  f  Even  from  my  youth  up  thy  terrors 
 have  I  suffered  'with  a  troubled  mind, — and  the 
 fear  vfthee  hath  undone  me,"  But  as  the  dan- 
 gers incident  to  our  probationary  state,  will 
 then  be  reduced  in  number  and  lessened  in 
 power,  so  will  the  sorrows  be  that  can  possi- 
 bly arise  from  that  or  any  other  source.  "  For 
 Christ  will  wipe  away  all  tears  from  their  eyes, 
 and  sorrow  and  sighing  shall  flee  away" 
 "And  the  kingdom  and  dominion  and  the 
 greatness  of  the  kingdom  under  the  whole 
 heaven,  shall  be  given  to  the  saints  of  the  Most 
 High  ;  whose  kingdom  is  an  everlasting  king- 
 dom, and  all  dominions  shall  serve  and  obey 
 him."     (Dan.  vii.  27.) 
 
SECTION   XXXVI. 
 
 The  Roman  Catholic  Empire  of Popery ',  although 
 in  a  state  of  rapid  decline,  yet  still  exists  the  chief 
 stumbling  block  in  the  way  of  Christ's  Kingdom. 
 —~It  is  to  be  broken  up  by  an  extraordinary  in- 
 strument  of  Providence,  working  for  God  the 
 work  of  vengeance  without  knowing  or  designing 
 it. — His  typical  resemblance  to  the  stone  cut  with- 
 out hands,  in  the  wonderful  circumstances  of  his 
 rise  and  successful  career, 
 
 1  HE  kingdom  of  the  saints  of  the  Most 
 High,  under  the  theocracy  of  Christ  reigning 
 on  earth,  whatever  sense  may  be  put  upon  the 
 numerous  and  very  extraordinary  descriptions 
 of  it  given  by  the  prophets ;  (whether  we  con- 
 sider it  as  consisting  in  an  exalted  state  of  re- 
 ligion and  manners  only,  or  as  including  also 
 great  and  congenial  alterations  in  the  present 
 political  relations  amongst  mankind;)  certainly 
 
 VOL.  II.  3    K 
 
132 
 
 never  has  yet  appeared.  There  are  however 
 indications  of  a  preparation  now  making  for 
 its  introduction  in  due  time.  For  as  the  Ro- 
 ma?! empire  was  an  obstacle  in  the  way  of 
 the  kingdom  of  Antichrist,  and  it  could  not 
 be  revealed  until  that  was  removed,  so  has 
 the  empire  of  Antichrist  ever  since  been  the 
 great  stumbling  block  which  must  first  be 
 taken  up  out  of  the  way,  before  the  sun  of 
 righteousness  will  arise  in  his  full  brightness, 
 "  with  healing  under  his  wings,"  and  dispel 
 the  dark  clouds  of  superstition  and  iniquity, 
 which  have  for  so  many  ages  overshadowed 
 the  world. 
 
 The  decline  and  fall  of  this  spiritual  Ro- 
 man empire  hath  been  a  great  while  going  on, 
 and  has  advanced  to  that  period  of  its  decay, 
 from  whence  its  ruin  will  be  now  hastened 
 on  with  a  rapid  progression.  Christ  hath 
 "  consumed  (in  a  great  measure)  his  enemy 
 with  the  spirit  of  his  mouth,"  but  he  has  not 
 yet  "  destroyed  him  with  the  brightness  of  his 
 coming"  The  rise  of  the  mystery  of  iniquity 
 required  considerable  time  before  the  impost- 
 
13J 
 
 hume  came  to  a  head,  and  produced  the  man 
 OF  SIN  ;  and  its  wasting  away  has  been  very- 
 similar.        The   great   difference   of    opinion 
 where  to  fix  the  commencement  of  the  1260 
 years  assigned  him,  is  the  occasion  of  the  un- 
 certainty where  it  will  terminate.     Some  of 
 the  periods  very  positively  laid  down  in  hy- 
 pothesis for  his  destruction,  have  passed  very 
 quietly  by,  and  left  him  still  subsisting,* — 
 somewhat  the  worse  indeed  for  the  wear  and 
 tear  of  troublesome  times.      Howbeit,  not- 
 withstanding lord  Peter  has  much  reigned  in 
 his  choleric  temper  of  late,   and   laid  aside 
 many  of  his  crazy  tricks,  he  still  exacts  from 
 his  own  domestic  as  much   reverence  as  in 
 his  better  days.     The  Roman  catholic  faith, 
 though    somewhat    disguised    in    protestant 
 countries,  is  nothing  altered  in  its  most  ob- 
 jectionable points ;  and  has  made  little  or  no 
 advances  to  a  reconciliation  with  the  gospel, 
 or  a  renunciation   of  its  own  errors.     The 
 same  standard  of  faith  which  was  established 
 at  the  council  of  Trent,  is  still  the   standard  of 
 orthodoxy  and  discipline ;  and  popery  is  still 
 
 *  Heu  !   quantum  mutatus  ab  illo  ! 
 3   K  2 
 
434 
 
 a  system  of  antichristianism,  in  point  of  doc- 
 trine, perhaps  as  much  at  this  day,  as  it  was 
 in  the  plenitude  of  its  coercive  power. 
 
 Antichrist  was  to  practise^  and  prosper •,  and 
 wear  out  the  saints  of  the  Most  High  by  spi- 
 ritual war  or  persecution,  more  or  less,  for 
 1260  years :  but  how  long  before  or  after  his 
 commencement  of  active  operations  he  was 
 to  subsist,  it  is  not  said.  The  indications  of 
 his  approach  appeared  very  early,  and  the  se- 
 veral ancient  heretics  were  the  forerunners  of 
 the  grand  apostacy  of  popery ;  the  idolatrous 
 service  of  the  mass,  and  the  established  creed 
 of  the  Romish  church,  being  a  choice  medley 
 made  up  of  a  selection  from  most  or  all  of 
 them,*  and  consecrated  by  the  decrees  of  se- 
 veral councils,  to  be  of  equal,  or  even  superior 
 authority  to  the  holy  scriptures,  which  con- 
 demn them. 
 
 *  The  Popes  have  revived  anri  broached  z fresh  almost  all  the 
 monstrous  tenets  of  the  ancient  heretics,as  manifestly  appears  fr©m 
 the  accounts  remaining  of  them,  compared  with  Popery.  The 
 Valentinians,  Marcionites  and  others,  (as  is  testified  by 
 Ireneus  lib.  iii-  ch,  !.  an  ;  Tertutlian.  in  his  treatise  de  prascrip- 
 tlonibus)  when  by  the  scriptures  they  were  confuted,  did  accuse 
 
435 
 
 As  it  is  certain  then  that  the  kingdom  of 
 the  millennium  hath  not  yet  commenced,  so 
 it  is  also  manifest  that  the  bar  in  the  way  of 
 
 the  scriptures  of  Imperfection  and  obscurity,  and  boldly  affirmed 
 them  not  to  be  of  sufficient  authority  to  decide  all  matters  of 
 faith.  Traditions  were  introduced  by  the  Carpocratians,  on 
 account  of  the  insufficiency  of  scripture,  as  lrenaeus,  Epipha- 
 nius  and  Tertullian  aver.  The  Pelagians  maintained  that  it  was 
 possible  for  man  after  the  h\\,  perfectly  to  fidjil  the  law  of  God, 
 and  be  completely  just-  The  Basilian  and  Carpocratian  heretics 
 would  haye  their  doctrines  unknown  to  the  vulgar,  and  prohibited 
 Uymen  from  reading  the  scriptures. — Irenxus  lib.  i.  ch.  13. 
 The  Marcionites,  and  Llanichaans  did  conceit  Christ  to  have 
 only  an  imaginary  and fantastick  body  like  the  transubstantiated 
 body  af  Popery,  The  Manichxans,  and  Tassiant  forbid  marri- 
 age to  the  priests  — August.  Epist.  74,  and  in  Hares.  40.  and  4.-G. 
 The  Collyridians  worshipped  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  were  thence 
 called  Mariani,  and  by  Epiphanius  Hares,  charged  with  idol- 
 atry. And  some  that  worshipped  a?igels,  were  branded  in  the 
 catalogue  of  heretics,  with  the  title  of  angelici.—  August, 
 Hasres,  93"  The  Gnosticks  and  Carpocratians,  reverenced  ima- 
 ges,— Irenxus.  lib.  i.  ch,  24,  Epiphan.  Hares  27«  &c — and  the 
 Marcionites  were  strenuous  advocates  for  virginity  and  celibacy - 
 &C- — Epiphan.  Hseres  2*2.  History  of  Popery,  vol.  iii.  p. 
 469.  See  Dr  Middleton's  exact  conformity  between  Popery 
 and  Paganism  The  Monks  copyists  of  the  Manic hees  in 
 their  fastings  and  rejection  of  marriage.  See  Bower's  history  of 
 the  Popes,  vol  ii.  p.  27  quarto.  — Mental  reservation  and  Je- 
 suitical casuistry,  adopted  from  the  Prisci!lianists.~— eodem.  voL 
 >.  p.  250. 
 
436 
 
 it  is  not  yet  removed,  and  the  man  of  sin, 
 either  under  the  character  of  the  beast,  or 
 his  image,  (the  tripple  crowned  king,)  or  at 
 least  the  false  prophet,  hath  not  yet  end- 
 ed his  reign,  or  ministry  of  delusion  and  sin. 
 For  if  it  be  alledged  that  the  pope  has  been 
 now  actually  despoiled  of  his  temporal  do- 
 minions, and  no  longer  wears  the  three 
 crowns,  and  other  ensigns  of  the  sovereign 
 power,  fraudulently  usurped  by  his  predeces- 
 sors, (by  which  the  pope  became  the  little 
 horn,)  this  does  not  invalidate  the  argument, 
 or  defeat  the  prophecy,  but  accomplishes  it, 
 as  I  have  shewn  in  a  former  Section.* 
 
 The  prophet  Daniel,  after  thus  introducing 
 the  decree  of  heaven,  for  the  kingdom  to  be 
 given  to  the  saints  of  the  Most  High,  pro- 
 ceeds to  shew  the  very  extraordinary  means 
 by  which  this  decree  shall,  at  the  time  of  the 
 end,  be  carried  into  effect. — 
 
 "  Forasmuch  as  thou  sawest  that  the  stone 
 -was  cut  out  of  the  mountain  without  hands,  and 
 
 *  Section  xxiii,  p.  111. 
 
437 
 
 that  it  brake  in  pieces  the  iron,  the  brass,  the 
 clay,  the  silver,  atid  the  gold,  the  great  God 
 hath  made  known  to  the  king  what  shall 
 come  to  pass  hereafter*"  The  stone  cut  with- 
 out hands  is  generally  applied  to  our  blessed 
 Saviour,  whose  kingdom  it  is  that  is  to  suc- 
 ceed that  of  Antichrist ;  that  wicked  usurper 
 having  kept  him  out  of  the  greatest  part  of 
 his  royal  sovereignty  over  the  church,  which 
 should  have  been  surrendered  to  him  at  that 
 period  when  Christianity  triumphed  over  pa- 
 ganism, under  Constantine ;  and  the  holy 
 prophet  (by  divine  anticipation  of  the  king- 
 dom to  come)  made  proclamation,* — "  Now 
 is  come  salvation  and  strength,  and  the  king- 
 dom of  our  God,  and  the  power  of  his  Christ T 
 He  is  by  the  prophet  called  "  the  stone  laid 
 in  Sion. — A  foundation  stone ;  elect,  precious ; 
 — a  tried  stone ;"  and  by  David  is  exalted  to 
 "  the  head  of  the  corner"  He  is  both  the 
 foundation  and  finishing  stone  of  the  build- 
 ing of  God.  Christ  applies  these  prophecies 
 to  himself,  and  even  in  the  same  manner,  (or 
 
 *  Rev.  xii.  10. 
 
438 
 
 nearly  so,)  as  they  are  here  applied  by  Da- 
 niel; representing  himself  as  a  stone  which 
 should  be  the  cause  of  breaking  up  the  Jew- 
 ish state  for  their  unbelief,  but  which  should 
 be  lifted  up  in  a  more  extensive  and  tremen- 
 dous destruction  against  the  man  of  sin  and  his 
 confederate  powers,  and  should  "  grind  them 
 to  powder"*  The  jews  were  one  day  to 
 have  a  second  call,  and  an  act  of  grace  and 
 amnesty  was  to  be  passed  in  their  favor,  but 
 the  destruction  of  Antichrist,  (the  ancient  de- 
 stroying and  persevering  enemy,)  was  to  be 
 for  ever,  and  without  hope ;  a  lively  image 
 of  the  everlasting  torment  of  the  damned  in 
 hell, 
 
 Yet  any  hypothesis  which  rests  upon  the 
 supposition  that  the  blessed  Jesus  will  come 
 in  person  to  execute  these  judgments,  and  to 
 establish  "  the  kingdom  of  the  saints  of  the 
 Most  High,  raised  from  the  dead,"  and  visi- 
 bly to  reign  over  his  ancients  gloriously  in 
 Jerusalem,  will  not  now  obtain  very  general 
 
 *  Mat.  xxiv.  42, 
 
439 
 
 acceptation.  He  fulfilled,  in  a  figurative  sense, 
 his  own  declaration,  that  he  would  "come  in 
 the  clouds  of  heaven"  to  execute  judgment 
 upon  his  enemies,  the  unbelieving  jews ;  and 
 he  will,  doubtless,  do  all  in  the  same  way  in 
 this  second  great  act  of  divine  retribution  on 
 earth.  What  God  does  by  his  angel,  or  so  ne 
 competent  instrument  of  his  providence,  raised 
 up  on  purpose  to  fulfil  his  will,  that  he  is  vir- 
 tually the  doer  of  himself. — "  Is  there  evil 
 in  a  city,  and  the  lord  hath  not  done  it  ?" — 
 Is  there  any  thing  absolutely  fortuitous  in  the 
 world,  and  without  the  hand  of  God  in  it?* 
 God,  by  special  direction  of  his  Providence, 
 appointed  the  sword  of  man  against  Jerusa- 
 lem ;  and  it  is  expressly  said  he  will  do  the 
 same  against  the  mystic  Babylon. f  "  He 
 that  leadeth  (God's  people)  into  captivity, 
 must  go  into  captivity" — How  very  re- 
 markably these  words  seem  now  to  be,  in 
 the  immediate  act  of  their  intended  accom- 
 plishment, cannot  but  strike  every  thinking 
 mind.     It   will  therefore  be  by  the  hand  of 
 
 *  Luke  xii,  6.  f  Jer.  1.  35. 
 
 VOL.  IT.  1  L 
 
410 
 
 man  that  he  will  hurl  the  thunderbolts  of  his 
 wrath  upon  the  head  of  the  wicked,  "  will 
 tread  down  the  people  in  his  anger,  and  make 
 them  drunk  in  his  fury,  and  will  bring  down 
 their  strength  to  the  earth.*  For  the  day  of 
 vengeance  is  in  his  heart,  and  the  year  of  his 
 redeemed  is  come"  "  Upon  the  wicked  he 
 shall  rain  snares,  Jire  and  brimstone,  and  an 
 horrible  tempest :  this  shall  be  the  portion  of 
 their  cup"~\ 
 
 When  Christ  came  into  the  world  in  per- 
 son, it  was  on  an  errand  of  "  peace  on  earth, 
 and  goodwill  towards  men."  And  he  sent 
 an  harbinger  of  a  suitable  character,  to  pre- 
 pare the  way  before  him,  as  the  prophet  thus, 
 in  highly  figurative  terms,  describes  the  preach- 
 ing of  the  baptist. — "  The  voice  of  him  that 
 crieth  in  the  wilderness,  prepare  ye  the  way 
 of  the  Lord,  make  straight  in  the  desert  an 
 highway  for  our  God.  Every  valley  shall  be 
 exalted,  and  every  mountain  and  hill  shall  be 
 made  low :  and  the  crooked  shall  be  made 
 
 -    Tsaiah  lxiii.  G.  f  Psalm  xi,  6> 
 
441 
 
 straight,  and  the  rough  places  plain.  And  the 
 glory  of  the  Lord  shall  be  revealed,  and  all 
 jlcsh" — (that  is,  the  whole  Jewish  nation) — 
 "  shall  see  it  together,  for  the  mouth  of  the 
 Lord  hath  spoken  it."*  This  was  fulfilled 
 by  John's  nanistry  and  baptism,  and  the  re- 
 markable manner,  and  great  effect  with  which 
 he  preached  repentance  of  sins  past,  and  faith 
 in  him  that  should  come  after  him  ; — where- 
 by, as  another  prophet  says,  "  he  turned  the 
 hearts  of  the  disobedient  to  the  wisdom  of  the 
 just ;"  gave  the  fullest  attestation  to  the  per- 
 son and  high  pretensions  of  Jesus  to  be  the 
 Messiah  and  "  Lamb  of  God,  which  taketh 
 away  the  sins  of  the  world"  He  levelled 
 every  existing  obstruction  that  lay  in  the  way 
 of  men's  giving  a  ration  J  assent  to  Christ's 
 doctrine,  and  yielding  their  belief  to  the  di- 
 vine testimony  from  heaven,  that  was  given 
 in  his  miracles,  f 
 
 *  Isaiah  xl.  3  i 
 
 f  The  great  impression  that  was  made  at  that  time,   (by 
 
 the  preaching  of  John,)  when  the  appearance  of  the  Messiah 
 
 ivaa  so  universally  and  ardently  expected,  appears  every  where 
 
 in  the  gospels,  by  the  multitudes  which  nocked  to  his  baptism* 
 
 3L  2 
 
442 
 
 But  "  the  coming  of  the  Lord"  on  this  verj 
 different  occasion,  to  enter  upon  his  kingdom 
 in  the  greatness  of  his  strength,  and  punish 
 the  rebellious  servants  that  would   not  have 
 him  to  reign  over  them,  but  which  had  again 
 cast  him  out  or  his  own  vineyard,  and  crucified 
 him  afresh,  and  added  to  all  their  other  mis- 
 deeds, the  usurpation  of  his  titles  and  of  his 
 throne,  is  sounded  in  notes  of  alarm  and  ter- 
 ror.     Ct  that  day   of  severe   retribution,  an 
 harbinger  oi  another  sort  of  character  is  fore- 
 told j  tor  u  God  hath   created  all  things   for 
 himself,  yea,  even  the  wicked  for  the  day  of 
 evil," — to  execute  the  judgments  written,  and 
 to  "  do  according  to  all  that  I  have  command-. 
 
 For  John  (though  a  field  preacher)  was  no  raving  enthu- 
 siast, but  haa  a  real  authority.,  evidenced  hy  prophecy  of  his  own, 
 ns  well  '<s&  prophecy  preceding  him  ;  and  by  the  universal  venera- 
 tion oi  the  peoj  1< ,  so  strongly  manifested,  t  nat  the  spribes  did 
 not  d'ert  to  dtiry  his  propht  r.c  authority^  even  wb.n  hard  put 
 to  it  to  dei<  nd  themselves  ag  mst  it 
 
 That  ail  the  Jewish  .  at  on  ha*.  ;.  knowledge,  if  not  "& personal 
 sight  cj  Jesus,  by  mtans  oi  tho  notorious  ministry  of  John,  may 
 well  be  inferred  fr^m  the  known  Let  of  jews  coming  up  at  the 
 great  feast  to  Jerusalem,  from  all  parts  of  the  wcild.  So  tha.t 
 he  may  Le  said  to  have  proclaimed  to  "  all  jlesh,"  as  well  W 
 be  cities  of  Judah,  behold  your  God!" 
 
443 
 
 ed  John,  saith  the  Lord?*  to  those  persever- 
 ing sinners,  who,  "  in  the  hardness  of  their 
 hearts,  have  treasured  up  unto  themselves 
 wrath  against  the  day  of  wrath,  and  revela- 
 tion of  the  righteous  judgment  of  God." 
 
 The  harbinger  of  this  kingdom  of  the  saints^ 
 must  therefore  be  expected  to  appear  very  dif- 
 ferently furnished,  and  with  other  accompani- 
 ments and  opposite  quaiitits,  to  those  which 
 distinguished  him  who  proclaimed  the  glad 
 tidings  of  the  opening  of  the  appioucmng 
 kingdom  of  the  Messias.  The  day  of  his  ap- 
 pearance will  be  a  day  of  gloominess,  a  day  of 
 storm  and  tempest :  and  the  instrument  of 
 Providence  prepared  against  the  occasion,  will 
 have  talents  suitable  to  his  office  ;  not  as  a 
 preacher  of  repentance  and  a  proposer  of 
 terms  of  genuine  mercy,  but  as  the  unrelent- 
 ing angel  of  death,  to  sweep  the  devoted  zvorld 
 with  the  besom  of  destruction.  He  will  bring 
 upon  the  votaries  of  imposture,  by  guile  the 
 reward  of  their  own  hypocrisy  and  sanctified 
 
 *  Jeremiah  1.  21, 
 
444 
 
 frauds.  By  rapine  and  oppression  he  will 
 spoil  and  bring  down  to  the  earth  the  spoiler 
 and  weakener  of  the  nations.  By  taunts  and 
 insuity  degradation  and  captivity,  he  will  re- 
 pay the  accumulated  debt  of  spiritual  despot- 
 ism and  cruelty.  And  by  blood  he  will  avenge 
 the  righteous  blood  of  God's  saints  and  mar- 
 tyrs, which  hath  long  cried  for  vengeance  up- 
 on his  head. — It  is  just  such  a  dissolution  of 
 the  fourth  universal  monarchy,  or  Roman 
 empire  in  its  last  state,  which  is  intimated 
 by  Daniel,  (vii.  1 1,)  and  he  assigns  the  mon- 
 strous impiety  of  that  government  at  that 
 time,  (and  in  the  form  he  describes,  under 
 the  reign  of  the  little  horn,)  as  the  cause  of 
 its  punishment.  "  I  beheld  then  because  of 
 the  voice  of  the  great  words  which  the  horn 
 spake,  I  beheld  even  till  the  beast  was  slain , 
 and  his  body  destroyed^ — (the  kingdoms  in 
 spiritual  confederacy  with  him  were  all  broken 
 up) — «  and  given  to  the  burning  flame  "* 
 
 *  His  body  means  the  whole  aggregate  of  popery,  and 
 this  judgment  is  now  in  the  full  course  of  its  accomplishment 
 upon  the  papal  thrones.  But  the  peculiar  territories  of  the 
 ?opf.dom,  the  very  heart  of  this  body  of  the  beast,  will  be  in 
 
445 
 
 The  miraculous  stone  (cut  out  without  hands, 
 and  without  any  known  origin,)  in  this  pro- 
 phecy of  Daniel,  must  in  the  first  sense  apply 
 to  Christ,  by  whose  power  and  designation 
 the   great   effects    it   produces    are    virtually 
 wrought,  be  the  angel  of  destruction,  which 
 he  sends  as  his  proxy  to  ivor.k  for  him  *  on 
 this  occasion,  who  or  what  he  may  happen  to 
 be.     He  is  to  fall  upon  the  image,  and  parti- 
 cularly on  its  toes,  which  signify  the  Roman 
 empire  drawn  out  even  to  decrepitude  of  age, 
 and  changed  from  solid  iron  to  a  debilitated 
 compound,  having  been  modelled  in  its  ex- 
 tremities out  of  the  miry  clay  of  popery -,  inti- 
 mately insinuating  itself  into  the  divided  re- 
 mains of  the  Roman  empire,  or  ten  kingdoms. 
 But  as  it  is  certain  Christ  will  not  do  this  in 
 person,  but  by  natural  causes  and  a  human 
 agent,  we  may  expect  the  instrument  of  his 
 Providence  to  be  a  very  extraordinary  one, 
 as  the  work  assigned  him  is  of  vast  extent, 
 and  great  and  many  difficulties. 
 
 all  likelihood,  literally  given  to  the  devouring  flame  of  "  Tophtt, 
 ordained  of  old"  for  this  momentous  occasion, 
 *  Ezekiel  xxu,  20. 
 
445 
 
 In  the  mysterious  origin  of  the  stone,  the  rti~ 
 vine  and  unsearchable  nature  of  Christ  is  sig- 
 nified;  who,  before  the  worlds  were,  existed 
 "  with  God,  and  was  God."  He  was  intro- 
 duced into  the  world  in  a  mysterious  man- 
 ner, being  born  of  a  virgin  mother,  and  sub- 
 sisting in  it  as  perfect  God  and  perfect  man.  * 
 The  stone,  after  the  destruction  of  the  image, 
 becom'mg  a  mountain,  is  equally  emblematical 
 of  Christ.  For  he  described  his  own  king- 
 dom in  this  mariner,  as  growing  from  an  ob- 
 scure and  insignificant  beginning,  to  a  prodi- 
 gious magnitude. 
 
 If  we  should  find  the  workman  he  employs 
 to  beat  down  Nebuchadnezzar's  image,  pos- 
 sessed of  many  points  of  resemblance  to  the 
 description  of  the  stone,  (I  mean  in  an  inferior 
 sense,)  it  would  be  only  after  the  usual  man- 
 ner of  the  prophets,  who  mostly  preserve  a 
 striking   analogy  between  the  primary   and 
 
 *  In  allusion  to  this,  St  Paul  makes  Melchisedec  ("with- 
 out father,  without  mother,  without  descent,  and  having  no 
 end  of  days,  nor  beginning  of  life/')  a  type  of  Christ. — Heb, 
 vii.  3. 
 
44? 
 
 secondary  objects  of  their  prophecies.  The 
 obscurity  of  bis  risey  the  wonderful  and  rapid 
 effects  he  produces y  and  the  unexpected  mag- 
 nitude to  which  he  attains ',  is  all  I  mean  by- 
 such  analogy  in  this  instance. 
 
 He  will  be  found  then,  we  may  suppose, 
 to  have  arisen  far  beyond  his  own  most  san- 
 guine hopes  (or  even  imagination),  from  low 
 obscurity  to  the  very  summit  of  what  the 
 world  calls  glory ;  emerging  as  it  were  out 
 of  nothing,  he  is  lifted  up  to  the  empire  over 
 kings,  and  the  supreme  dictatorship  of  the 
 Roman  world.  From  a  mere  stone,  a  missile 
 weapon  of  war  of  ordinary  violence,  and  at 
 the  command  of  others,  he  acquires,  with- 
 out observation,  the  destructive  weight  and 
 magnitude  of  a  falling  mountain,  and  demands 
 the  space  of  the  whole  earth  to  fill  the  im- 
 mensity of  his  inordinate  ambition.  Not  al- 
 lied to  the  ancient  dynasty  of  kings,  but  cut 
 out  of  the  common  mass,  by  the  designation  of 
 Providence  (to  convince  the  world  that  the 
 work  is  from  God,  and  that  his  counsel  shall 
 stand).  He  is  hurled  with  the  resistless  ener- 
 vol.  ii.  3  M 
 
448 
 
 gy  of  an  Omnipotent  hand,  against  the  image, 
 (the  representative  of  the  people  of  the  divine 
 indignation,  the  land  of  graven  images,)  and 
 is  prospered  with  a  success  that  astonishes  and 
 paralyses  the  world.  But  if  he  presumes  to 
 deviate  from  the  course  prescribed  to  him, 
 (as  prophecy  has  foretold  that  he  would  at- 
 tempt to  do,*  seeking  his  own  glory  and 
 private  revenge  alone,  and  not  knowing  that 
 he  'works  for  God,  who  giveth  him  the  king- 
 dom of  Egypt  for  his  reward,)  he  becomes 
 robbed  of  his  gigantic  strength,  like  Samp- 
 son shorn,  and  is  found  weak  as  another 
 man. 
 
 To  answer  therefore,  in  any  degree,  the 
 prophecies  of  the  latter  part  of  the  last  days, 
 and  the  breaking  up  of  the  subsisting  Roman 
 empire  in  its  mixed  and  last  form,  mystically 
 represented  by  the  feet  and  toes  of  the 
 image,  or  the  ten  horns  of  the  beast,  we  must 
 look  for  the  appearance  of  another  Alexan- 
 der, subduing  the  nations  given  to  his  sword, 
 
 *  Isai.  x.  7- 
 
449 
 
 with  the  rapidity  of  "  a  fire  that  burneth  up 
 il..  stubble,  and  coming  upon  princes  as  upon 
 mortar,  and  as  the  potter  treadeth  clay."* — 
 Alexander  the  Great  had  some  advantages  in 
 his  favor.  He  was  of  a  royal  descent,  the 
 son  of  a  conqueror,  who  was  also  a  great  po- 
 litical genius.  He  was  thus  inured  to  the 
 contempt  of  danger  from  his  earliest  years, 
 and  bred  up  (with  example  before  him)  in 
 the  habits  of  conquest,  and  the  emulation  of 
 his  father's  ambition.  Thus  he  was  led  by 
 the  hand  into  the  track  of  glory  which  he  af- 
 terwards trod  with  so  loud  a  fame,  and  with 
 an  unfailing  good  fortune^  rather  than  a  pru- 
 dence of  conduct  which  trusts  nothing  to 
 chance,  or  a  courage  equalled  by  super-emi- 
 nent ability  in  the  art  of  destruction.  These 
 considerations  moderate,  in  some  degree,  the 
 wonder  of  his  conquest  of  the  effeminate  Per- 
 sians, and  the  whole  world,  (in  those  days,) 
 with  so  small  a  force,  and  in  so  short  a  space 
 of  time,  f     But  in  the  instance  before  us,  the 
 
 *  Isai.  xli,  25. 
 
 f  Quid  Macedo   Alexander?  cum  ab  ineunte  astate  res 
 maximas  gerere  coepisset,  nonne  tertio  et  trigessimo  anno  more 
 
 3  M  2 
 
450 
 
 whole  is  altogether  extraordinary.  The  stone 
 dashes  against  the  image,  still  standing  as  it 
 had  stood  for  ages,  (to  all  outward  apprehen- 
 sion, in  the  greatness  of  its  strength  j)  and  by 
 the  terrible  collision,  breaks  it  in  pieces  "  as 
 small  as  the  chaff'  of  the  summer  threshing 
 floors,  and  becomes  itself  a  moutitain"  of  con- 
 sequence enough  to  fill  (or  overshadow)  all 
 the  earth.  This  seems  far  to  exceed  the  com- 
 mon principles  of  human  calculation,  and  to 
 be  a  work  of  Providence  worthy  to  be  noti- 
 fied to  the  world  by  the  spirit  of  prophecy. 
 
 The  successful  imposture  of  Mohammed 
 arises  out  of  the  bottomless  pit,  and  Moham- 
 ?ned,  the  author  of  it,  is  the  angel  having  the 
 key  of  that  treasurehouse  of  all  error  and 
 wickedness,  a?id  who  opens  the  pit  ;*  but  the 
 
 tern  obiit  ?  quae  est  etas,  nostris  legibus,  decern  anuis  minor 
 quam  consularis.  Cicero  Philipic  V. 
 
 "  Alexander  from  his  early  youth  was  accustomed  to  the  con- 
 duct of  affairs  of  the  greatest  consequence,  and  died  in  his  thir- 
 tieth year,  an  age  earlier  by  *  en  years;  than  that  which  at  Romr 
 entitled  men  to  stand  for  the  dignity  of  the  consulship." 
 
 *  Rev  ix,  2. 
 
451 
 
 extraordinary  conductor  of  this  portentous  re- 
 volution, (which  involves  the  fates  of  many 
 kingdoms,)  has  no  origin  assigned  him,  but 
 is  produced  out  of  the  teeming  womb  of  time 
 and  chance,  "  Cut  out  of  the  mountain" — (or 
 the  mass  of  mankind,  in  a  state  of  anarchical 
 confusion,  by  "  a  mighty  tumult  from  the 
 Lord,"*)  "  without  hands" — that  is,  by  no 
 sagacity  or  foresight  of  man,  no  political  in- 
 fluence or  power  either  designing  or  being 
 set  to  work,  in  the  first  instance,  to  open  the 
 way.  But  the  instrument  which  proves  so 
 fully  competent  to  the  work,  is  of  God's  own 
 providing,  for  the  secret  purposes  of  his  un- 
 searchable wisdom  ;  and  the  means  of  bring- 
 ing him  forward,  and  the  field  of  action  itself, 
 on  which  his  first  exploits  were  to  be  display- 
 ed, are  all  the  creation  of  providential  circum- 
 stances, in  which  the  hand  of  man  hath  no 
 share,  nor  the  contingencies  of  changeful  for- 
 tune have  any  power  of  controul. 
 
 A  man,  not  ennobled  by  ancestry,  in  th 
 midst  of  a  proud  nation,  but  of  plebeian  ex 
 
 *  Zech.  xiiii.  13* 
 
452 
 
 traction,  and  even  a  foreigner,  growing  up  in 
 unnoticed  obscurity,  and  unknown  to  the 
 world  till  it  felt,  by  fatal  experience,  the 
 mighty  energies  of  his  mind  j  rises  up  suddenly 
 upon  the  eagle  wings  of  unforeseen  but  favor- 
 able opportunitv,  and  circumstances,  which  his 
 courage  and  genius  alone  were  competent  to 
 seize,  and  turn  to  his  own  advantage.  Diffi* 
 culties  and  dangers  that  would  have  put  a 
 fatal  period  to  the  most  ventrous  daring  in 
 almost  any  other  man,  (such  is  the  cast  of 
 the  die,  and  so  has  the  will  of  heaven  ordain- 
 ed !)  fly  before  him  like  the  misty  vapours 
 of  the  morning  before  the  rising  sun.  Every 
 thing  conspires  to  open  a  broad  and  easy 
 way  for  him  (as  it  was  promised  to  Cyrus  in 
 prophecy*)  to  pass  on  to  the  next  object  of 
 his  rising  ambition,  as  if  it  were  the  design 
 of  Providence  to  excite,  by  fresh  acquisitions, 
 a  greater  thirst  of  conquests  predestinated  to 
 his  sword.  The  eye  of  justice,  meanwhile, 
 is  averted,  and  forbears  to  take  notice  (for 
 the  present)  of  the  means  made  use  of  to  en-. 
 
 *  Isai.  xlv.  1,  2,  3. 
 
458 
 
 sure  and  hasten  the  acquisition  of  his  desire* 
 Little  scrupulous  of  the  sentiments  of  the  peo«* 
 pie,  in  a  fickle  nation   (where  the  rights  of 
 man  and  the  adoration  of  reason   had  over- 
 thrown legitimate  government  and  religious 
 establishments,  and  had  become  the  objects  of 
 a  new  idolatry,)  he  erects  upon  the  very  altar 
 of  liberty,  a  military  tyranny,  whose  little  fin- 
 ger was  more  grievous  than  even  the  loins  of 
 the  former  corrupt  and  oppressive    govern- 
 ment.    Confiding  in  his  fortune,  and  in  de- 
 fiance of  the  prejudices  of  the  psople,  he  re- 
 solutely fixes  himself  in  the  seat  of  their  he- 
 reditary kings,  in  a  country  shaken  to   the 
 very  centre  with  revolutionary  anarchy,  and 
 convulsed  with  the  most    unprincipled    and 
 atheistical  licentiousness  and  sanguinary  cruel- 
 ty.    In  the  midst  of  the  scene  of  unexampled 
 terror  on  every  side,  and  undismayed  by  the 
 infernal  yell  of  jacobin  perfidiousness,  or  the 
 slaughtered  carcasses  and  still  reeking  blood  of 
 other  tyrants,  which  had  trodden  before  him 
 the  same  perilous  path  of  glory,  and  fallen  at  the 
 very  goal ;  he  plants  the  chair  of  supreme  au- 
 
454 
 
 thority,  and  usurps  the  doubtful  post  himself, 
 and  soon  converts  it  to  an  imperial  throne. 
 
 "  I  set  out  in  the  current  of  the  tide, 
 
 And  not  one  wind  that  blows  around  the  compass, 
 
 But  drives  me  to  success. . Ambition  now 
 
 Soars  to  its  darling  height,  «nd  eagle-like 
 
 Looks  at  the  sun  of  power,  enjoys  its  blaze, 
 
 And  grows  familiar  with  the  brightness. — Now  I  see 
 
 Dominion  nigh Superiority 
 
 Beckons,  and  points  me  to  the  chair  of  state  ; 
 There  grandeur  robe3  me." 
 
 Kino   Charles   I. 
 
 Such  a  man  as  this,  and  in  such  circum- 
 stances of  the  times,  seems  by  nature  to  have 
 been  placed  at  an  immeasurable  distance  from 
 the  giddy  height  of  this  lofty  pinnacle  of  the 
 temple  of  fame  :  yet  he  attained  it  by  hasty 
 strides:  while  the  same  invisible  hand  that 
 pushed  him  upwards,  continued  afterwards, 
 (for  the  perfecting  of  the  work  designed,)  to 
 wrap  him  in  a  cloud  from  the  nerveless  stroke 
 of  the  assassin's  dagger,  and  the  fruitless  con- 
 spiracy of  injured  liberty,  or  disappointed  envy 
 and  ambition.  For  it  cannot  be,  that  his  bold 
 and  successful  career  can  be  terminated  by  a 
 
455      ' 
 
 premature  fate,  or  till  he  hath  fully  executed  the 
 task  whereunto  God  loath  sent  him.  The  right- 
 eous will  of  heaven  must  have  its  course,  and 
 "  that  determined  in  the  vision  of  many  days, 
 shall  be  done" 
 
 VOL.  II.  3  N 
 
SECTION   XXXVII. 
 
 Prophecy  only  with  certainty  to  be  interpreted  by  the 
 signs  of  the  times. — Great  changes  in  the  Ro- 
 man Empire  foretold  in  prophecy. — Corresponding 
 indications  of  them  in  the  present  time.  —  The 
 Scourge  of  Popery ',  or  the  Breaker,  compared  to 
 Cyrus,  in  respect  of  his  success,  as  God's  instru- 
 ment  of  destruction. — Allusions  in  the  Prophets  to 
 the  termination  of  his  wonderful  career. 
 
 JlLVERY  attempt  that  has  been  made  to  ap- 
 ply the  divine  predictions  of  the  prophets  to 
 events  that  are  altogether  in  the  womb  of  time, 
 and  of  which  none  of  the  previous  indications 
 have  yet  appeared,  has  shewn  the  precarious 
 nature  of  conjecture  in  such  instances,  by  the 
 total  failure  of  the  most  delicate  and  line  spun 
 webs  of  speculation,  woven  by  many  ingeni- 
 ous theorists.  It  is  declared  in  plain  terms, 
 and  the  reason  of  things  requires  it,  that  pro- 
 
457 
 
 phccy  should  not  be  perfectly  understood  un- 
 til the  events  foretold  in  it  have  taken  place. 
 "  But  thou,  Dam el,  shut  up  the  words,  and 
 seal  the  book,  even  to  the  time  of  the  end"* 
 
 We  see,  indeed,  to  our  utter  astonishment, 
 that  even  when  time  and  stubborn  tacts  have 
 actually  verified  the  words  of  prophecy  in  the 
 persevering  unbelief  of  the  jews,  and  the  cruel 
 persecutions  of  the  saints,  by  the  man  OF 
 sin,  the  persons  implicated  either  cannot,  or 
 will  not  see  the  accomplishment  of  them,  but 
 persist  each  in  the  error  of  his  way,  until  in 
 the  end,  the  judgments  denounced  fall  upon 
 them,  and  "  they  receive  that  recompence  of 
 their  error  which  is  meet." — "  Many  shall  be 
 purified,  and  made  white,  and  tried ; — but  the 
 wicked  shall  do  wickedly,  and  none  of  the 
 wicked  shall  understand,  but  the  wise  shall 
 understand  "~\ 
 
 That  mistakes  in  the  interpretation  of  pro- 
 phecies still  future,  should  have  been  made 
 
 *  Dan,  xii.  i.  '    Dan.  xii,  10. 
 
 3  N   2 
 
lob 
 
 by  even  well  designing  persons,  is  therefore 
 not  surprising.  But  as  there  must  be  a  time 
 when  even  those  that  have  been  the  least  un- 
 derstood will  become  perfectly  clear,  we  must 
 wait  for  the  indications  given  in  the  prophecy 
 itself,  a?id  the  "  signs  of  the  times"  by  which 
 the  season  of  its  approach  will  not  fail  to  be 
 distinguishable.  Those  great  changes  in  the 
 outward  state  of  the  world,  by  which  the  in- 
 terests of  religion  were  to  be  deeply  affected, 
 and  which  have  been  therefore  made  the  land 
 marks,  or  signals,  to  guide  us  from  one  pe- 
 riod of  prophetic  time  to  another,  will  scarce- 
 ly be  mistaken  (and  not  understood  as  the 
 true  objects  of  their  respective  prophecies)  by 
 persons  of  candid  minds,  having  neither  inter- 
 ests nor  prepossessions  that  stand  in  the  way. 
 to  bias  their  judgment  in  the  interpretation. 
 
 When  occurrences  of  a  very  remarkable  na- 
 ture, and  followed  by  consequences  little  ex- 
 pected, but  of  powerful  and  extensive  influence 
 upon  the  affairs  of  men,  have  fixed  the  anxi- 
 ous attention  of  mankind  in  every  land,  where 
 Christianity  is  known,  and  given  a  new  face- 
 
459 
 
 and  form  to  a  great  part  of  the  world  thai  was 
 once  the  empire  of  the  Ccesars^  and  which  hath 
 since  been  subjected  to  the  spiritual  rule  of 
 the  holy  Roman  catholic  church  and  Pontiffs ; 
 it  may  then  be  not  deemed  premature  to  en- 
 quire into  the  prophecies  of  the  last  titnes,  with 
 a  view  to  the  better  understanding  of  them. 
 
 However  wide  of  the  truth  our  present 
 conceptions  may  turn  out  to  be,  concerning 
 the  full  establishment  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ, 
 in  the  millennium,  as  that  is  still  future,  it 
 is  probable  that  we  are  less  liable  to  any  ma- 
 terial eiTor  in  the  interpretation  of  those  pro- 
 phecies, which  relate  to  the  overthrow  of  the 
 kingdom  of  Antichrist,  and  the  prin- 
 cipal characteristics  and  prophetic  marks,  by 
 which  the  breaker  (or  the  instrument  of 
 Providence  who  is  to  act  as  proxy  for  Christ 
 in  executing  his  threatened  vengeance  upon 
 his  enemies,)  may  be  distinguished,  when  he 
 appears. 
 
 How  difficult  and  dark  soever  the  prophe- 
 sies were  before,  yet  when  the  time  is  at  hand, 
 
460 
 
 and  it  is  needful  that  they  should  be  under- 
 stood, they  certainly  cease  to  be  so,  (if  man- 
 kind will  open  their  eyes  and  see,)*  that  thus 
 the  candid  and  faithful  may  avail  themselves 
 of  that  light,  (in  the  general  darkness  which 
 infolds  the  unbelieving  and  unprepared,)  and 
 may  give  way  to  the  means  by  which  the 
 will  of  God  (previously  revealed  in  prophecy, 
 and  now  manifested  by  corresponding  signs,) 
 
 *  This  is  remarkably  exemplified  in  the  prophecies  of  pope- 
 ry i  Time  was  when  almost  all  the  world  wondered  after  the  Beast, 
 and  worshipped  him,  and  received  his  doctrines  as  divine.  But 
 when  "  God  suddenly  shot  at  him  with  a  swift  arrow  ( trom  the 
 quiver  of  Luther,)  and  he  was  wounded," — his  errors  be- 
 came palpable  and  manifest,  his  doctrines  were  "  doctrines  of  de- 
 vils," and  his  miracles  and  reliques  all  "  lying  wonders." — "  Yea 
 their  own  tongues  shall  make  them  fall,"  and  popery  shall  be- 
 come the  object  of  contempt  and  derision,  no  arguments  being 
 more  forcible  against  it  than  those  wh  ich  are  drawn  from  the 
 admissions  and  claims  of  its  ablest  advocates,  who  convict  them- 
 selves of  antichristianism  and  idolatry  by  their  •«  own  words  ; ' 
 and  that  so  clearly,  that  all  men  of  any  candour  cannot  fail  to 
 see  the  fulfilment  of  prophecy  in  their  case,  as  manifestly  as  in 
 that  of  the  jews, —  "  They  shall  say ,  this  hath  God  done,  for  they 
 shall  perceive  that  it  is  his  worh."  (Psalm  l>:iv.)  D  ubtless  the 
 very  same  will  happen  when  the  total  overthrow  of  popery  is  to 
 be  accomplished.  The  prophecies  of  that  event  will  be  no 
 longer  dark,  nor  denied  by  any  but  papists  themselves. 
 
461 
 
 is  upon  the  eve  of  its  full  accomplishment.  On 
 this  just  ground  our  Lord  censured  the  jews, 
 that  as  quick  sighted  as  they  were  in  whatever 
 concerned  their  prejudices,  and  their  false 
 views  of  their  own  security  and  interest,  yet 
 they  were  unable  to  discern  "the  signs  of  the 
 times"  and  those  strong  and  manifest  indica- 
 tions by  which  the  accomplishment  of  their 
 most  important  prophecies  was  shewn  to  be 
 even  at  the  doors. 
 
 From  the  computation  of  the  time,  (not- 
 withstanding those  circumstances  which  have 
 been  the  cause  of  some  uncertainty  designedly 
 connected  with  it,)  and  other  evidences  arising 
 from  the  corresponding  testimony  of  many 
 strong  facts,  alluded  to  in  the  course  of  these 
 Reflections,  it  manifestly  appears  that  the  time 
 of  preparation  for  great  changes  is  fully  come  ; 
 and  whenever  this  is  the  case,  God  will  not 
 be  at  a  loss  to  find  or  create  suitable  instru- 
 ments, competent  to  the  work  he  assigns  them. 
 
 There  is  now  a  very  conspicuous  character, 
 towards  whose  extraordinary  enterprises,  and 
 
4G3 
 
 the  wonderful  success  that  has  attended  upon 
 them,  to  the  afflicting  of  the  papal  Roman  em- 
 pire, all  eyes  have  been  turned  with  various 
 apprehensions ;  while  every  succeeding  year 
 winds  up  the  alternate  hope  and  fear  of  the 
 astonished  world  to  a  pitch  of  expectation, 
 which  no  trivial  events  (or  mean  catastrophe 
 to  the  lengthened  tragedy)  can  satisfy. — 
 
 -"  That  man's  heart 
 
 Can  both  contrive  and  execute  the  worst, 
 
 And  the  most  daring  actions  yet  conceiv'd. 
 
 Ambitious  bloody,  resolute  and  wise  ; 
 
 He  ne'er  betrays  his  meaning  till  he  acts, 
 
 And  ne'er  looks  out  but  with  the  eye  of  purpose  : 
 
 His  head  so  cool,  that  it  appears  the  top 
 
 Of  Alpine  hill,  clad  with  slow  wasting  snow  ; 
 
 His  execution  rapid  as  the  force 
 
 Of  falling  waters  thund'ring  down  its  base," 
 
 King  Charles  I. 
 
 If  success,  as  the  poet  avers,  stamps  the  cha- 
 racter upon  all  enterprises,  and  the  hero  of 
 the  tale  is  to  be  covered  with  glory,  or  loaded 
 with  execrations  and  historical  infamy,  as  for- 
 tune shall  decide ;  this  great  man  seems  al- 
 ready to  have  acquired  a  very  splendid  nitch 
 in  the  temple  of  fame  along  with  Cyrus, 
 
463 
 
 Alexander,  and  Cjesar,  the  scourges  of 
 the  world  in  their  respective  times,  and  who 
 designed  as  little  as  he  the  fulfilment  of  pro- 
 phecy, the  glory  of  God,  or  the  amelioration 
 of  the  state  of  mankind,  by  the  introd  action 
 of  righteousness  and  peace  upon  earth. 
 
 He  has  been  raised  to  a  prodigious  emi- 
 nence, by  a  course  of  very  extraordinary 
 events,  in  which  it  cannot  be  doubted  that 
 the  hand  of  God  was  employed,  both  from 
 the  tendency  that  the  exaltation  of  a  charac- 
 ter of  this  description  has,  to  the  fulfilment  of 
 the  judgment  written  against  the  papal  apos- 
 TACYy  and  also  from  the  long  duration  and  un- 
 expected stability  of  an  empire  founded  as  this 
 has  been,  and  perpetuated  upon  a  suffering  and 
 reluctant  people  ;  compelled  to  become  the  ex- 
 ecutioners of  the  judgments  of  God  upon  others  % 
 by  means  which  at  the  same  time  inflict  an  equal 
 share  of  the  vengeance  upon  themselves. 
 
 He   sprung  from  u  the  root"  of  popery,* 
 and  was  fostered  in  the  midst  of  the  corrup- 
 
 *  Isai,  xiv.  29. 
 VOL.  II.  <:    o 
 
tions  of  that  apostacy  of  which  he  has  proved 
 the  afflicting  scourge :  and  he  cannot  cease 
 from  goading  it  on  by  the  most  extraordi- 
 nary means,  (perilous,  even  in  the  extreme, 
 to  th^  security  of  his  own  person,  and  the 
 perpetuity  of  his  precarious  power ;)  to  meet 
 that  fatal  catastrophe  that  awaits  it.  Like 
 Pharoah,  he  affords  an  evidence  to  the 
 present  unbelieving  world,  of  the  foreknow- 
 ledge and  omnipotence  of  God,  "for  to  this 
 end  have  I  raised  thee  up,  for  to  shew  in  thee 
 my  power  "  to  display  that  wonderful  over- 
 ruling influence,  which,  without  destroying 
 the  freedom  of  man,  so  that  he  should  not 
 become  justly  accountable  for  the  good  or 
 evil  of  his  actions,  can  give  such  a  direction 
 to  his  passions,  that  the  will  of  heaven  is 
 eventually  fulfilled  by  those  vast  projects  of 
 human  ambition,  which  have  for  their  secret 
 objects  the  very  reverse  of  God's  designs. — 
 Like  Sennacherib,  he  is  appointed  the 
 BREAKER,  "  to  pull  down,  and  to  destroy,  and 
 to  lay  waste  the  fenced  cities  in  ruined  heaps" 
 from  which  the  palladium  of  the  divine  pro- 
 tection is  withdrawn.      Like  Alexander, 
 
he  outstrips  the  winds  in  the  rapidity  of  his 
 march  of  conquest,  and  with  the  violence  of 
 a  whirlwind,  and  an  oversowing  scourge,  he 
 "  enters  into  the  countries,  and  overflows,  and 
 passes  over,"  while  he  directs  his  course  against 
 the  hypocritical  nation ,  the  men  of  God's  curse, 
 and  is  maintained  and  prospered  in  the  most 
 perilous  attempts,  and  shielded  from  harm  in 
 the  most  critical  moments  of  danger.  Neither 
 the  hostile  sword,  nor  his  own  impetuosity, 
 and  contempt  of  fortune,  involving  him  in 
 Irretrievable  disaster. 
 
 God  is  so  noble  a  pay-master,  that  he  even 
 acknowledges  with  reward  the  services  of 
 them  that  acknowledge  not  him,  when  (by  a 
 secret  instinct)  he  sends  them  upon  the  exe- 
 cution of  his  judgments  upon  other  sinners  ; 
 as  he  plainly  declares  in  Ezekiel,  xxix.  18. 
 "Nebuchadnezzar,  king  of  Babylon, 
 caused  his  army  to  serve  a  great  service  a- 
 gainst  Tyrus  ;  every  head  was  mad'i  lw'. 
 and  every  shoulder  was  peeled  :  yet  had  he 
 no  wages" — (he  was  unsuccessful  in  that 
 war,) — "  nor  his  army  for  Tyrus,  for  the  ser- 
 302 
 
466 
 
 vice  that  lie  had  served  against  it.     I  have, 
 given  him  the  land  of  Egypt  for  his  labor, 
 wherewith  he  served    against  Tyre,  because 
 they  wrought  for  me,  saith  the  Lord  God." 
 A  reward  of  the  same  kind  is  also  given  to 
 this  powerful  instrument  of  Providence  in  the 
 present  day.     The  mystical  Egypt,  and  all  its 
 unavailing  multitude,  and  its  wealth,  are  given 
 him  for  a  prey.     "  He  shall  stretch  forth  his 
 hand  also  upon  the  countries,  and  the  land  of 
 Egypt  shall  not  escape.     But  he  shall  have 
 power  over  the  treasures  of  gold,  and  of  silver, 
 and  over  all  the  precious  things  of  Egypt."* 
 This  is  briefly  expressed  by  the  stone  strik- 
 ing upon  "  the  feet"  of  the  great  image,   (the 
 Roman  ecclesiastico-political  empire,)  "  which 
 were    of  iron   and  clay"  and  breaking  them 
 to  pieces  j  when  presently  all  the  several  parts 
 which  had  made  up  the  whole  image  fell  in 
 one  after  another,  like  comets  into  the  sun, 
 and  made  so  many  additions  to  the  stone; 
 "  and  it  became  a  great  mountain  (thereby,)  and 
 filed  the  whole  earth"  (or  Roman  empire.) 
 
 Dan.  xi.  4 2* 
 
m 
 
 Cyrus,  another  glorious  destroyer  of  men, 
 is  mentioned  by  name  in  prophecy,  a  hundred 
 years  before  his  birth,  not  so  much  on  account 
 of  his  niery,  or  humanity,  or  other  eminent 
 virtues,  (notwithstanding  Xenophon  has  given 
 a  labored  encomium  of  him.       For  other  au- 
 thors have  drawn  his  character  and  exploits  in 
 very  different  colours,*)   but  because  of  the  e- 
 ventual  good  to  the  afflicted  jews^  which  re- 
 sulted from  his  successful   ambition,  and  his 
 attainment  of  the  empire  of  the  world.     The 
 great  cruelty,  and   bloodshed,   and   havoc  of 
 mankind,  by  which  his  power  was  acquired, 
 is  signified  in  the  emblem  chosen  by  the  spirit 
 of  prophecy    (in   Danielf )    to   represent   the 
 Persian  empire ,  and   Cyrus,  its  first  mon- 
 arch*     *■  And   behold  !  another  beast,  a  se- 
 
 *  Herodotus,  Justin,  and  Valerius  Maximus  report,  that 
 Cyrus  came  to  a  miserable  eni,  being  killed  in  battle  by 
 Tomyria,  queen  of  Scythia  ;  his  head  was  cut  off  and  thrown 
 into  a  vessel  filled  with  blood,  with  this  taunting  reproach  of 
 his  cruelty, — "  batia  te  sanguine,  Cyre," — <;  ow  take  thy 
 fill  of  bljod,  Cyrus."  The  bear,  as  commentators  think,  was 
 clicsen  (in  Daniel)  for  his  emblem,  on  account  of  its  cruelty 
 and  voraciousness  of  flesh. 
 
 r  Dan.  vii.  5. 
 
46S 
 
 cond,  like  to  a  bear,  and  it  raised  up  itself  ok 
 one  side,  and  it  had  three  ribs  in  the  mouth 
 of  it,  between  the  teeth  of  it,  and  they  said 
 unto  it,  arise,  devour  much  flesh." 
 
 Yet  as  the  scripture  takes  notice  of  extra- 
 neous characters,  only  so  far  as  the  church 
 and  true  people  of  God  would  either  suffer, 
 or  be  benefited  by  the  eminent  predominan- 
 cy of  their  power,  the  character  of  Cyrus 
 stands  high  in  the  prophetic  page ;  and  God 
 calls  him  "  his  shepherd" — because  in  con- 
 sequence of  his  decree,  the  jews  were  re-es- 
 tablished, and  their  city  and  temple  rebuilt ;— -. 
 and  "  his  servant"  though  he  was  an  hea- 
 then, on  account  of  the  ready  obedience  he 
 gave  to  the  will  of  the  God  of  Israel,  as  soon 
 as  it  was  notified  to  him,  by  prophecies  com- 
 mitted to  writing,  and  of  high  established  re- 
 putation, long  before  his  birth.  *       "  Thus 
 
 *  The  homage  which  was  thus  paid  to  the  God  of  Israel 
 by  Cyrus,  an  heathen  prince,  at  the  expence  of  the  strongest 
 prejudices  of  the  Persian  Nation,  and  in  contradiction  to  the 
 first  principles  of  the  Magian  religion,  in  which  he  had  been 
 bred,  was  thus  acknowledged  in  sacred  prophecy  with  the 
 respect  and  reward  it  deserved. 
 
469 
 
 saith  the  Lord  to  his  anointed,  to  Cyrus, 
 whose  right  hand  I  have  holden,  to  subdue  na- 
 tions before  him,  and  I  will  loose  the  loins  of 
 kings,  to  open  before  him  the  two  leafed  gates, 
 and  the  gates  shall  not  be  shut.  I  will  go  before 
 thee^  and  make  the  crooked  places  straight :  I 
 will  break  in  pieces  the  g  ates  of  brass,  and  cut 
 in  sunder  the  bars  of  iron.  And  I  will  give 
 thee  the  treasures  of  darkness,  and 
 hidden  riches  of  secret  places,  that  thou 
 mayest  know  that  I  the  Lord,  which  call  thee 
 by  thy  name,  am  the  God  of  Israel.  For 
 Jacob  my  servant's  sakey  and  Israel  mine 
 electa  I  have  even  called   thee  by  thy  name : 
 
 Light  and  darkness  were  the  two  first  principles,  or 
 gods,  of  the  worshippers  of  fire :  yet  in  the  very  prophecy 
 which  was  shewn  to  Cyrus,  (in  which  he  had  been  named  \ong 
 before  his  birth,  and  to  which  he  yielded  the  obedience  of  faith, 
 so  acceptable  to  God,)  the  supreme  and  sole  Deity  of  Jehovah, 
 and  the  vanity  of  all  other  gods  is  proclaimed  ;  and  more  parti- 
 cularly, that  the  two  gods  of  the  Persians  were  nothing  more 
 than  the  mere  creatures  of  his  Omnipotence,  "  I  am  the  Lord, 
 and  there  it  none  else,  there  is  no  God  beside  me:  I  girded  thee, 
 though  thou  hast  not  known  me.  I  form  the  light,  and  cresfc 
 darkness,  &c." — lsai,  xlv.  5,  7. — See  Lowth's  note  in  loe. — 
 Hyde  de  relig.  vet.  Pers.  cap.  xxii. 
 
470 
 
 I  have.sirnamed  thee,  though  thou  hast  not 
 known  me."* 
 
 It  is  evident  therefore  that  the  great  instru- 
 ments of  God's  Providence  have  been  chosen 
 by  the  almighty  Ruler  for  the  execution  of 
 his  purpose,  of  chastising  the  impenitent  and 
 incorrigible,  and  succouring  the  humble  and 
 believing,  not  on  account  of  their  religious  me- 
 rlts,  and  great  humanity,  but  rather  for  opposite 
 qualities  in  them,  and  their  greater  fitness  there- 
 by for  the  work  vvhereunto  he  sends  them, 
 without  their  knowledge.      It  is  owing  to  peo- 
 ples not  having  considered  these  matters  in  this 
 point  of  view,  (which   I  am  confident  is  the 
 only  true  and  correct  light  in  which  they  can 
 be  placed,  consistently  with  the  attributes  of 
 God,  and  the  declarations  of  prophecy,)  that 
 we   hear   such  unbecoming   and  desponding 
 apprehensions  fall   from  the  lips  of  men  of 
 great  intelligence,  and  fhe  best  hearts  towards 
 religion  of  any  in  the  world.     "  How  can  these 
 things  be  ?"  can  it  be  consistent  with  a  wise 
 
 *  Isai.  xlv.  1.  &c. 
 
471 
 
 and  just  God  to  permit  the  triumph  of  im- 
 piety and  wickedness? — and  to  be  carried  to 
 so  great  a  length  ?  This  is  only  to  repeat 
 the  error  of  David  and  otiier  pious  men,  and 
 requires  no  other  answer  than  that  in  which 
 they  acquiesced.'* 
 
 We  are  assured  from  prophecies  brought 
 forward  in  the  early  part  of  these  Reflections, 
 that  as  the  former  restoration  of  the  jews  was 
 effected  by  the  authority  of  Gyrus,  under 
 the  favoring  auspices  of  heaven,  so  their  lat- 
 ter restoration  from  the  Roman  captivity  (of 
 nearly  1 800  years  continuance  already,)  is  to 
 be  effected  by  an  instrument  of  Providence, 
 raised  up,  and  wonderfully  prospered  for  that 
 very  purpose^  and  of  talents  and  power  com- 
 petent to  break  down  all  obstructing  stumbling 
 blocks,  political,  religious,  and  moral ;  very 
 probably  not  by  the  express  design,  but  ra- 
 ther by  the  eventual  result  of  his  exploits. — 
 "  Behold  I  will  make  thee  a  new  sharp 
 threshing  instrument  having  teeth ,  (with  this) 
 
 *  Ps.lxxiii.  3,  &c.  Jer.  xii.  1;    Hab.  i.  12;  Ps.  lxxvi.  10. 
 VOL.  IT.  1   P 
 
472 
 
 thou  shalt  thresh  the  mountains,  and  beat  them 
 smalls  and  shalt  make  the  hills  as  chaff,  thou 
 shalt  fan  them,  and  the  wind  shall  carry  them 
 away,  and  the  whirlwind  shall  scatter  tbem."* 
 Here  is  the  same  idea  of  the  reduction  of  the 
 obnoxious  and  obstructing  powers  in  the  way 
 of  the  kingdom  of  the  stone,  or  Christ,  and 
 of  the  restoration  of  Israel,  which  Daniel  has. 
 They  are  broken  tip  by  the  resistless  impetu- 
 osity of  an  Instrument  of  God's  providing  for 
 the  occasion,  "  and  became  like  the  chaff  of 
 the  summer  threshing  floors,  and  the  wind 
 carried  them  away,  that  no  place  was  found 
 for  them." — This  is  also  the  same  whirlwind 
 that  is  to  fall  grievously  upon  the  head  of  the 
 wicked,  and  have  such  prodigious  effects 
 "  in  the  latter  days"f  as  shall  draw  the  at- 
 tention of  God's  believing  people. 
 
 The  same  is  signified  by  that  rod  of  iron  in 
 the  hand  of  Christ,  with  which  he  will  rule, 
 and  bring  into  subjection,  the  enemies  of  his 
 
 *  Isai.  xli,  15. 
 
 ■J-  Jer.  xxiii.  19,  20;  xxv.  32;  Dan.  xi.  40;  Isai.  xl.  21. 
 
473 
 
 kingdom.  "  He  shall  bruise  them  with  a  rod 
 of  iron,  and  break  them  in  pieces  like  a  potter  s 
 vessel.  Be  wise  now,  therefore,  O  ye  kings; 
 be  instructed,  ye  that  are  judges  of  the  earth."* 
 Take  deep  reflection  upon  the  judgments  which 
 pursue  your  devoted  thrones,  and  see  the  hand 
 of  God,  and  acknowledge  his  justice,  in  all  that 
 has  befallen  you.  In  the  same  sense  it  is  said, 
 "  he  shall  bind  their  kings  in  chains,  and  their 
 nobles  with  links  of  iron,"f — by  subjecting 
 them  to  the  capricious  will  of  "  a  cruel lord"% 
 or  exposing  them  to  the  torturing  rays  of 
 "  a  scorching  jk«."§ 
 
 This  is  that  ferocious  angel  standing  in  the 
 sun,  by  which  they  have  been  previously 
 scorched,  or  in  that  part  of  the  political  hea- 
 ven, which  shall  be  most  conspicuous,  and 
 most  attract  the  observation  of  mankind  at 
 that  time :  and  making:  proclamation  to  the 
 subjected  world,  of  the  approaching  crisis  of 
 its  fate,    and   the  bloody  termination  of  the 
 
 *  Psalm  ii,  9,  10.  f    Psalm  cxIik,  7,8. 
 
 Isaiah  ::'■■.<>   h  §   Rev. 
 
 -?,   P    2 
 
474 
 
 controversy  of  Sion  ;  which  turns  outs  how- 
 ever, contrary  to  his  vaunting  promise,*  and 
 confident  expectation.  These  avengers  them- 
 selves are  not  exempt  from  the  weight  of  the 
 calamities  they  inflict :  they  mutually  torment, 
 and  are  tormented.  So  it  is  said  by  the  pro- 
 phet, that  God  "  will  feed  them  with  their 
 own  flesh,  and  they  shall  drink  their  own 
 blood." — But  that  these  manifold  miseries  of 
 the  human  race,  by  which  the  world  is  desola- 
 ted, through  the  ambitious  projects  of  one  man, 
 have  for  their  object  the  ultimate  vindication 
 of  the  ways  of  Providence,  and  the  introduc- 
 tion of  happier  times,  by  the  deliverance  of 
 God's  peculiar  people,  is  the  general  sense  of 
 the  prophecies.  "  I  will  surely  assemble,  O 
 Jacob,  all  of  thee :  I   will   surely   gather  the 
 
 REMNANT  OF    ISRAEL.       The    BREAKER    IS 
 
 come  up  before  them :  they  have  broken  up, 
 and  have  passed  through  the  gate,  and  are 
 gone  out  by  it,  and  their  kings  shall  pass 
 before  them,  and  the  Lord  on  the  head  of 
 them."f     "  Jnd  at  that  time  shall  Michaei 
 
 *  Rev.  xik,  17.  f  Micah  ii.  1C.  !.':. 
 
iJ 
 
 stand  up,  (the  great  prince,  which  standeth 
 for  the  children  of  thy  people,)  and  there 
 shall  be  a  ti«ne  of  trouble,  such  as  never  was 
 since  there  was  a  nation,  even  to  that  same 
 time  ;  and  at  that  time  thy  people  shall  be  de- 
 livered, every  one  that  shall  be  found  written 
 in  the  book."* 
 
 In  the  reflections  upon  the  death  of  the  wit- 
 nessesf  I  have  shewn  the  probability  of  a  time 
 of  great  affliction  to  the  true  church  of  Christ, 
 
 *  This  can  hardly  be  applied  to  the  troubles  at  the  fall  of 
 Jerusalem,  though  described  by  our  Saviour  in  sinr.liar  terms,  be- 
 cause the  jews  (thy  people)  were  not  all  delivered,  but  the  great 
 majority  of  them  destroyed-,  being  the  objects  of  the  pursuing 
 vengeance.  But  if  it  be  said  the  converted  jews  and  christians 
 in  general  are  meant  by  "  thy  people"  this  is  not  the  remnant  of 
 Isr  lei,  neither  do^s  this  a>ree  well  with  facts,  as  the  christians 
 still  continued  the  objects  of  persecution  and  hatred  to  the  rwmans, 
 not  less  cruel,  and  far  more  power  ul  enemies  than  the  jews  had 
 been.  Michakl  the  representative  of  Christ,  will  stand  lonhfor 
 the  jews  far  more  eminently  as  a  saviour  in  the  troubles  of  the 
 last  times,  and  the  approaching  Second  l.xodus  for  the  rem- 
 nant of  Israel,  or  them  that  shall  be  found  written  in  the  re- 
 gisters of  the  redemption  of  Jacob  It  most  probably  alludes 
 to  a  very  late  period,  because  the  general  resurrection  is  the  next 
 thing  the  pi opiiet  mentions. 
 
 f  Section  xxiv.  p,  122. 
 
476 
 
 previous  to  the  total  annihilation  of  popery  and 
 its  supporters  ;  and  that  the  calamities  intended 
 for  the  faithful,  will  be  turned  upon  the  tri- 
 umphant persecutors  themselves.  This  idea, 
 which  seems  to  be  the  general  sense  of  many- 
 prophecies,  is  strongly  confirmed  by  Daniel  in 
 that  historical  prophecy  (chap,  xi.)  where  the 
 prophet  having  prosecuted  the  thread  of  his 
 stoiy  to  the  full  establishment  of popery ,  or  the 
 system  of  the  worshippers  of  m  ah  uzzim,  pro- 
 ceeds immediately  to  relate  the  manner  of  its 
 destruction,  (ver.  40.)  "  And  at  the  time  of 
 the  end  shall  the  king  of  the  south  push 
 at  him," — (the  politico  ecclesiastical  tyrant) — 
 "  And  the  king  of  the  north  shall  come  against 
 him  like  a  whirlwind,  with  chariots  and  with 
 horsemen,  and  with  many  ships,  and  he  shall 
 enter  into  the  countries,  and  shall  overflow  and, 
 pass  over." — This  seems  to  be  the  ovcrflo%v~ 
 ing  scourge  of  Isaiah  (xxviii.  2,  18,) — and 
 the  whirlwind  of  Jeremiah  (xxiii.  19). — - 
 "  He  shall  enter  also  into  the  glorious  land" 
 (or  Judea,  frequently  so  called,)  "  And  many 
 countries  shall  be  overthrown.  He  shall 
 stretch  forth  his  hand  also  upon  tbs  count  :    , 
 
477 
 
 and  the  land  of  Egypt  shall  not   escape" — > 
 (whether  we  understand  that  country   liter- 
 ally called  Egypt,  or  the    popish  kingdoms, 
 mystically  so  denominated,  and  chiefly  Italy 
 and  Rome,  the  very  seat  and  cathedra  of 
 the  beast.) — <cBut  he  shall  have  power  over 
 the  treasures  of  gold  and  of  silver,  and  over  all 
 the  precious  things  of  Egypt" — This  gives  an 
 explanation  of  the  breaking  up  of  the  image  by 
 the  stone  (the  countries  which  made  up  its 
 whole  body  there,  fall  here  into  the  hand  of 
 the  breaker  ;)  and  of  Isaiah's  scourge  of 
 God  sent  against  the  hypocritical  nation  and 
 pulling  down  and  setting  up  kings,  and  gather- 
 ing the  treasures  of  the  whole  earth,  or  roman 
 empire.* 
 
 "  But  tidings  out  of  the  east  and  out  of 
 the  north  shall  trouble  him  :  therefore  he 
 shall  go  forth  with  great  fury  to  destroy  and 
 utterly  to  make  away  many"^     It  seems  while 
 
 *  Isaiah  >:.  6,  7. 
 
 f  There  is  something  very  much  resembling  this,  ia  the  high 
 tone  and  exterminating  threats  of  a  celebrated  conqueror  of  mo- 
 dern times,  which  he  hath  (happily  without  effect  hitherto,) 
 
47S 
 
 lie  is  engaged  in  this  expedition  of  pillage, 
 news  of  a  revolt  in  the  distant  provinces  of  his 
 empire  inflames  his  ready  wrath,  and  he  vows 
 the  annihilation  of  whole  kingdoms.       Isaiah 
 describes  him  in  the  same  manner,  and  says 
 that  though  he  is  merely  a  tool  for  God  to 
 work  with,  yet  his  purpose  and  God's  are  not 
 alike.     Sent  against  the  "sinners,  the  Amala- 
 kites"  of  modern   times,  he   wishes  to  make 
 the  power  entrusted  to  him  subservient  to  his 
 own  views  of  ambition  and  revenge.     "  i  will 
 send  him  against  an  hypocritical  nation,   and 
 against  the  people  oj  my  wrath  will  I  give  him 
 a  charge,  to  take  the   spoil,   and  to  take  the 
 prey,  and  to  tread  them  down   like  the  mire 
 in  the  streets.     Howbeit  he   meaneth  not  so, 
 neither  doth  his  heart  think  so,  but  it  is  in 
 his  heart  to  destroy  and   cut   off  na- 
 tions NOT  A  FEW." 
 
 The  booty  of  the  nations  deprived  of  the 
 divine  protection,  and  full  success  in  tread* 
 ing  them  under  his  feet,  do  not  content  him, 
 
 held  over  the  heaffs  of  his  unconquered  and  inyi.icible  oppo- 
 nents, in  a  certain  Island — et  toto  remutos  orbc  Brittannos, 
 
479 
 
 bat  he  will  go  where  he  hath  no  call,  and 
 where  he  is  to  meet  the  due  reward  of  his 
 presumption.  "  And  he  shall  plant  the  taber- 
 nacles of  his  palace  between  the  seas,  in  the 
 glorious  holy  mountain,  yet  he  shall  come  to 
 •his  end,  and  none  shall  help  him."* 
 
 In  Isaiah  a  like  termination  to  this  unau- 
 thorised  expedition  of  the  breaker  is  pro- 
 phesied ;  and  God  says, j"  that  when  his  whole 
 purpose  against  the  corrupt  churchy — iigura- 
 
 *  '»  Between  the  seas"  that  is,  the  salt  or  dead  sea,  and 
 the  Mediterranean.  This  seems  to  point  out  Jerusalem 
 as  the  scene  alluded  to.  — Jude  a  is  called  "  the  glory  of  ail  lands," 
 — and  Mount  Sion  "  the  holy  mountain." 
 
 It  may  perhaps  be  deemed  too  much  to  admit  of  even  a  pos- 
 sibility in  the  idea  that  a  certain  Island  lying  between  the  seas, 
 (the  German  and  Atlantic  Oceans,)  may  be  here  meant ; 
 and  that  the  epithets  anciently  ascribed  to  the  Jewish  church  and 
 nation,  while  they  were  the  depositaries  of  the  true  religion  and  un- 
 corrupted  scriptures,  may  be,  on  this  occasion,  and  in  these  late 
 times,  transferred  to  their  modern  defenders  ;  whom  God  hath 
 covered  with  genuine  glory  in  the  virtuous  struggle,  while  all 
 other  nations  are  sunk  in  disgrace  ;  and  perhaps  at  this  critical 
 period  will  be  leagued  in  arms  with  the  tyrant  against  the  par* 
 pose  of  God. 
 
 ii.  x.   12.   Sec. 
 VOL.  IT.  7.    Q 
 
4S0 
 
 lively  called  "Jerusalem  and  her  idols") — 
 shall  have  been  fulfilled,  he  will  then  "  pun- 
 ish the  stout  heart  of  the  tyrant,  and  the  glory 
 of  his  high  looks.  He  will  send  among  his 
 fat  ones,  leanness,  and  under  his  glory  he 
 shall  kindle  a  burning,  like  the  burning  of  a 
 lire  ;  and  it  shall  burn  and  devour  his  briars 
 and  his  thorns  in  one  day."*  In  another 
 place  the  prophet  speaks  of  Israel's  reconcilia- 
 tion and  return,  and  the  death  of  this  new 
 tyrant  and  oppressor,  as  coincident  events. — 
 "  Return  unto  him,  from  whom  ye  have  so 
 deeply  engaged  in  revolt,  O  ye  sons  of  Is- 
 rael ! — Verily  in  that  day  shall  they  cast 
 away  with  contempt,  every  man  his  idols  of 
 silver,  and  his  idols  of  gold ;  the  sin  which 
 their  own  hands  have  made.  And  the  Assy- 
 rian f  shall  fall  by  a  sword  not  of  ma?i ;  yea, 
 
 *  See  this  prophecy  explained,  Sect,  vi.  p.  155,  Sec, 
 
 f  Isai.  xxxi.  6,  Lowth's  translation, — Several  circumstances 
 in  this  prophecy  make  it  inapplicable  to  Sennacherib,- — 
 The  jews  did  not  forsake  their  propensity  to  idolatry  upon  the  oc- 
 casion of  the  defeat  of  Sennacherib's  army,  nor  for  a  long  time 
 after, untill  the  city  and  temple  were  destroyed  by  Nebuchad- 
 nezzar, a  greater  scourge  than  he,  and  prophesied  of  by  name. 
 
48 1 
 
 a  sword  not  of  mortal  shall  devour  hlnu  And 
 he  shall  betake  himself  to  flight  from  the  face 
 of  the  sword ;  and  the  courage  of  his  chosen 
 men  shall  fail.  And  through  terror  he  shall 
 pass  beyond  his  strong  hold  ;  and  his  princes 
 shall  be  struck  with  consternation  at  his  flight. 
 Thus  sairh  Jehovah,  who  hath  his  fire  in  Si- 
 on ;  and  his  furnace  in  Jerusalem." 
 
 Sennacherib_/t//£y  the  sword  of  man,  even  of  his  own  sons,  which 
 is  another  contradiction.— Also  when  he  retired  from  the  siege 
 of  Jerusalem,  it  was  not   " for  fear  of  the  sword"  of  the  jews, 
 
 but  of  that  divine  arm  which  protected  them This  seems 
 
 therefore  to  be  rather  a  prophecy  of  some  still  future  tyrant, 
 often  called  the  Assyrian,  who  is  to  meet  his  ruin  on  that  holy 
 ground,  and  from  an  army  of  converted  jews,  and  to  he  person- 
 ally cut  off"  by  a  sword  not  of  man"  but  by  some  divine  judgment* 
 Thefre  of  the  divine  wrath  on  this  eminent  occasion  in  Sion, 
 and  the  furnace  of  Jehovah  in  Jerusalem  ;  seems  to  indicate 
 some  catastrophe  of  greater  importance  than  the  overthrow  of 
 that  Assyrian  tyrant. 
 
 The  similar  description  of  Gog  in  Ezekiel,  and  of  Gods  an- 
 ger against  him  seems  to  confirm  my  application  of  this  prophe- 
 cy also  to  an  extremely  late  period. — "Thus  saitli  the  Lord 
 God,  art  thou  he  !—tj whom  I  have  spoken  in  old  t  ME.  by  my 
 servants,  the  prophets  of  Israel,  which  prophesied  in  those  clays 
 many  years  (ago,)  that  I  would  bring  thee  against  than  ?  and  it 
 shall  come  to  pass  at  the  same  time,  when  Gog  shall  come 
 against  the  land  of  Israel,    saith  the   Lord  God,  that  my 
 
 FURY  SHALL  COME   UP   IS  MY  FACE."— Ezek,  XXXYUi.  17-  &C. 
 
 3  Q  2 
 
482 
 
 That  passage  in  the  Psalms,  which  repre- 
 sents the  destruction  of  the  destroyers  of  man- 
 kind, 'whose  trade  is  war  and  plunder,  and  iv ho 
 live  by  their  swords,  perhaps  relates  to  the  same 
 time  ;  as  it  likewise  involves  the  redemption  of 
 Israel,  and  the  conversion  of  the  nations.  "Re- 
 buke the  co??ipany  of  spearmen,  the  multitude  of 
 the  bulls,  with  the  calves  of  the  people,  till 
 every  one  submit  himself  with  pieces  of  sil- 
 ver,"— (till  the  unbelieving  submit  to  Christ, 
 and  offer  gifts,) — "  scatter  thou  the  people  that 
 delight  in  ivar.  Then  princes  shall  come 
 out  of  Egypt" — (the  jews,  or  kings  of  the 
 east,  shall  emerge  by  a  second  Exodus  out 
 of  the  mystical  Egypt  of  the  Roman  cap- 
 tivity,)— "  Ethiopia  shall  soon  stretch  out  her 
 hands  unto  God" — (by  conversion  of  the 
 African  tribes,  and  of  all  the  world,  unto 
 Christ). 
 
 To  cite  but  one  passage  more.  I  conceive 
 this  idea  of  the  breaker  coming  to  the  end 
 of  his  long  career  in  Jvdea,  to  be  additionally- 
 confirmed  by  Isaiah,  xiv.  22,  where  the  ho- 
 ly prophet,  after  giving  that  fine  ironical  do 
 
4S3 
 
 scription  of  the  once  formidable  spiritual  des-. 
 pot  of  mystic  Babylon,   concludes    with   an 
 account  of  the  sweeping  vengeance   which 
 shall  in  the  end  overtake  both  him,   and  the 
 scourge  of  God  also,  which  arises  out  of 
 his  rooty  and  by  which  he  is  himself  destroyed, 
 although  he  cannot  help  supporting  him  with 
 the  whole  weight  of  his  spiritual  artillery.* — 
 "  I  will  rise  up  against  them,  saith  the  Lord 
 of  Hosts,  and  cut  off  from  Babylon  the 
 name,  and  remnant,  and  son,  and  nephew, 
 saith  the  Lord.     I  will  sweep  it  with  the  be- 
 som of  destruction.     The  Lord  of  Hosts  hath 
 sworn,  saying,  surely  as  I  thought,  so  shall  it 
 come  to  pass,  and  as  I  have  purposed,  so  shall 
 it  stand.     That  I  will  break  the  Assy- 
 rian IN   MY  LAND,   and  UPON  MY   MOUN- 
 TAINS    TREAD     HIM    UNDERFOOT.  Then 
 
 shall  his  yoke  depart  from  off  them,  and  his 
 burden  depart  from  off  their  shoulders.  This 
 is  the  purpose  that  is  purposed  upon  the 
 whole  earth^ — (or  catholic  Roman  empire,) 
 
 *  Sect,  xsiii*  p.  111. 
 
484 
 
 -m-«  and  this  is  the  hand  that  is  stretched  out 
 upon  all  the  ftations"  (of  which  that  spiritual 
 confederacy  is  made  up). 
 
SECTION   XXXVIII. 
 
 Recapitulation  of  the  remarkable  epithets  and  em* 
 blems,  by  which  the  Breaker,  or  destroyer  of 
 the  papal  Roman  empire,  and  precursor  of  Is- 
 rael, is  distinguished  in  the  Prophecies. — His 
 usual  deep  policy  and  caution  over -ruled  by  the 
 irresistible  power  of  God,  in  one  remarkable  in' 
 stance. — Papal  misinterpretation  of  the  Prophe* 
 cies  corrected  by  a  Satanic  commentary. 
 
 1  HE  great  instrument  of  Providence  in 
 modern  times,  of  whose  ambition  and  spirit  of 
 conquest  the  divine  Ruler  of  the  world  will 
 make  use,  to  avenge  the  blood  of  the  saints 
 under  the  altar,  and  to  prepare  a  way  for  the 
 return  of  his  people  Israel  to  their  original 
 seats,  (against  the  time  when  their  approach- 
 ing happy  reconciliation  with  their  injured 
 Messias  shall  take  place,)  is  marked  in  pro- 
 phecy by  many  distinguishing  traits  of  cha<- 
 
486 
 
 racter,  by  which  he  will  be  known  in  the 
 day  when  the  accomplishment  of  these  pro- 
 phecies is  at  hand.  He  is  called  "the 
 breaker"  by  Micah,  in  allusion  to  the 
 breaking  of  the  great  image  (or  Roman  em- 
 pire) by  the  "  stone  cut  without  hands" 
 and  in  that  prophecy  (as  in  every  other, 
 where  his  appearance  and  exploits  are  men- 
 tioned,) he  is  found  connected  with  the  pre- 
 paration for  the  second  Exodus  of  Is- 
 rael. 
 
 In  Isaiah,  xxviii.  2,  he  is  called  "the  migh- 
 ty AND  STRONG    ONE  OF    THE  LORD." 
 
 "  Behold  the  Lord  hath  a  mighty  and  strong 
 one,  which  as  a  tempest  of  hail  and  a  destroy- 
 ing stormy  as  a  flood  of  mighty  waters  over- 
 flowing, shall  cast  down  to  the  earth  with  the 
 hand"  (of  man),  or  with  powerful  armies, 
 inexhaustible  by  repeated  destruction ;  being 
 still  recruited  from  the  conquered  countries. 
 For  the  rapidity  and  resistless  force  with 
 which  he  bears  down  all  opposition  in  the 
 line  marked  out  for  his  devastation,  he  is 
 here  compared  to  the  impetuous  fury  of  the 
 
487 
 
 dements,  which  no  force  of  man  can  with- 
 stand. And  it  is  in  a  time  of  such  political 
 hurricanes  that  Israel  is  to  be  visited  by  the 
 returning  favor  of  heaven.*  In  the  same 
 chapter,  (verse  15.  &c.)  he  is  called  "the 
 overflowing  scourge,"  and  tiis  pecu- 
 liar talents,  and  unexampled  success  in  "  over* 
 flowing i  passing  through,  and  stretching  his 
 hand  over  many  countries,  with  an  army  at 
 his  heels,  quicker  than  some  can  travel  through 
 the  same  at  their  ease,  recurs  in  so  many 
 places,  that  it  must  be  considered  as  one  of 
 the  designed  characteristics  of  the  breaker. 
 
 In  all  these  passages  we  still  find  him  em- 
 ployed as  a  pioneer  for  Israel,  and  working 
 for  the  fulfilment  of  the  prophecy,f  "  cast  ye 
 np,  cast  ye  up,  prepare  the  way,  take  up  the 
 stumbling  block  out  of  the  way  of  my  people" 
 And,  without  doubt,  this  is  the  modern  Her- 
 cules, who  is  set  to  work  to  clean  out  the 
 
 filth   of  the    AUGEAN    STABLE    of    POPERY, 
 
 and  to  dry  up  the  flood  of  the  mystical  Eu- 
 
 '    *  Isai.  xxix.  6.  f  Isai.Ivii.14j  Ixii.  10. 
 
 VOL.  IT,  %  R 
 
488 
 
 PHRATEs,  that  the  way  of  the  kings  of 
 the  east  may  be  prepared  ;  there  being 
 the  closest  connection  between  the  rising  again 
 of  Israel,  and  the  treading  down  of  their 
 mortal  enemies. — "  The  crown  of  pride, 
 the  drunkards  of-  Ephraim,  shall  he  trodden 
 under  feet.  And  the  glorious  beauty  which 
 is  on  the  head  of  the  fat  valley  shall  be  a 
 fading  flower,  and  as  the  hasty  fruit  before 
 the  summer ;  which  wThen  he  that  looketh 
 upon  it  seeth  it,  while  it  is  yet  in  his  hand 
 he  eateth  it  up."* —  i  his  obscure  passage 
 seems  to  intimate  the  short  space  of  time, 
 comparatively,  in  which  "  the  crown  of  pride" 
 and  its  dependencies,  the  powers  of  the  cor- 
 rupt church,  intoxicated  with  the  Circean 
 cup  of  Babylon,  shall  be  broken  in  pieces, 
 as  it  were,  with  the  torce  and  velocity  of  a 
 stone  from  a  sling. 
 
 In  contrast  with  this  destruction  of  the 
 enemies  of  religion,  there  follows  imme- 
 diately (ver.  5)  a  representation  of  the  happy 
 
 *  Isai.  xxviii.  3. 
 
489 
 
 change  in  favor  of  Israel.  "  In  that  day  shall 
 the  Lord  of  Hosts  be  for  a  crown  of  glo- 
 ry, and  for  A  diadem  of  beauty  unto  the 
 residue  of  his  people,  and  for  a  spirit  of  judg- 
 ment to  him  that  sitteth  in  judgment,  and  for 
 strength  to  them  that  turn  the  battle  to  the 
 gate."  The  contrast  in  this  prophecy  is  very 
 remarkable,  between  the  crown  of  pride  on 
 the  apostate  church,  and  the  crown  of  glory 
 and  diadem  of  beauty  on  the  head  of  them 
 "  that  worship  the  Lord  in  the  beauty  of  ho- 
 liness," rejecting  the  meretricious  ornaments 
 of  popery,  together  with  her  intoxicating  cup; 
 yet  retaining  all  that  is  of  advantage  to  the  so- 
 lemnity and  decency  of  divine  worship.  That 
 this  is  a  representation  of  such  a  contrasted 
 state  of  the  christian  religion  in  a  late  period 
 of  time,  appears  from  the  characteristic  pecu- 
 liar to  Israel  in  the  latter  times,  the  residue 
 or  remnant  of  his  people,  who  are  to  par- 
 take in  the  blessed  consequences  of  this  vic- 
 tory of  true  religion  over  popish  imposture 
 and  impiety. — [n  Isaiah  lvii.  is  another  con- 
 trast, drawn  between  the  idolatrous  apostacy 
 of  "the  sons  of  the  sorceress,  the  seed  of 
 X  R  2 
 
490 
 
 the  adulteress  and  the  wro^e,  while  God 
 held  his  peace  for  a  very  long  time*  yet  she 
 feared  him  not,f  and  the  consequent  distress^ 
 by  which  she  shall  at  length  be  punished  ; 
 contrasted  with  the  restoration  of  his  mercv 
 
 4 
 
 to  his  repenting  people  Israel. 
 
 Another  description  of  the  breaker  which 
 occurs  in  Jer.  li.  20.  &.c.  is  very  remarkable, 
 and  altogether  in  consistency  with  the  general 
 current  of  the  prophecies  of  the  latter  portion 
 of  the  last  times,  and  the  dreadful  havock 
 to  be  made  in  the  world  by  this  restless  and  un- 
 ceasing engine  of  destruction,  in  draw- 
 ing out  the  deep  stuck  roots  of  popery. — 
 "  Thou  art  my  BATTLE  AXE,  and  weapons  of 
 war,  and  with  thee  /  will  break  in  pieces  the 
 nations,  and  with  thee  will  I  destroy  the  king- 
 doms. And  with  thee  will  I  break  in  pieces 
 the  horse  and  his  rider,  and  with  thee  will  I 
 break  in  pieces  the  chariot  and  his  rider,  &c." 
 
 In  this  long  passage  of  the  prophet,  the  des- 
 
 *  Psalm  1.  21.  f   Rev.  ii.  21  ;  ix.  20, 
 
 \  Isai,  viii.  28  ;  xxviii.  20. — Zech.  xiv-  J  2, 
 
491 
 
 truction  seems  appointed  to  range  from  one 
 end  of  the  world  to  the  other  ;* — and  to  sweep 
 away  with  the  besom  of  destruction  the  palace 
 and  the  cottage,  the  rulers  and  the  ruled,  the 
 young  and  the  old,  man  and  woman  with  an  in- 
 discriminating  fury,  like  a  real  whirlwind,  to 
 which  he  is  often  compared. — It  seems  also 
 but  too  well  to  agree  with  the  horrors  of  these 
 calamitous    and  dreadful  times,  in  which  the 
 restoration  of  the  jews  is  to  be  accomplished. f 
 Isaiah  in  particular  says,  that  in  consequence  of 
 the  preceding  troubles,  mankind  shall  be  so 
 much  reduced  in  number  upon  earth,  and  the 
 
 *  Probably  the  papal  world  only, — or  otherwise  all  those 
 countries  which  answer  to  the  several  parts  of  the  image,  (Dan, 
 iij  which  still  remain  in  the  catholic  league. 
 
 f  Isai.  iv.  1  ;  xxix.  6  ;— Dan.  xii,  1. — In  Isai.  xxxiv.  b. 
 &c.  the  sword  of  God  bathed  in  heaven,  (or  the  apostate  church) 
 seems  to  allude  to  the  same  instrument  of  destruction,  as  the 
 tattle  axe  of  God,  in  Jeremiah, — I  have  before  shewn  that  Idu- 
 mea  or  Edom  is  one  of  the  mystic  names  of  Rome,  and  heaven 
 often  signifies  the  church.  The  figure  is  a  very  bold  one,  and  I 
 cannot  see  what  rational  meaning  can  be  assigned  to. that  passage 
 taken  in  context  from  ver.  1 ,  to  ver.  1 2, — unless  it  be  inter- 
 preted of  the  mystic  Babylon  of  St.  John,  Rev.  xviii,  that  is,  of 
 Gods  final  judgments  upon  popery,  and  the  great  executioner 
 pi  them,  under  the  divine  direction. 
 
492 
 
 world  so  depopulated,  that*  "  in  that  day  seven 
 women  shall  take  hold  of  one  man,  saying, 
 we  will  eat  our  own  bread  and  wear  our  own 
 apparel,  only  let  us  be  called  by  thy  name,  to 
 take  away  our  reproach."")*  Then  immedi- 
 ately there  follows,  as  usual  in  all  the  prophe- 
 cies of  the  latter  days,  a  description  of  the 
 highly  improved  state  of  religion^  by  the  happy 
 restoration  of  the  jews,  which  is  to  be  the  ul- 
 timate effect  of  these  troubles.  "  ///  that 
 day  shall  the  branch  of  the  Lord" J — 
 (one  of  the  peculiar  names  of  Messiah,) — 
 "be  beaut i  id  and  glorious ,  and  the  fruit  of  the 
 earth  shall  be  exctllent  and  comely^  for  them 
 
 *  By  a  late  account  accurately  taken  of  the  present  popula- 
 tion of  France,  it  appears  that  the  females  now  exceed  the  males 
 in  number,  by  more  than  5,000,000 !  If  only  the  same  propor- 
 tion holds  good  as  then*  is  reason  to  suppose  it  must  exceed,) 
 in  all  the  other  kingdoms  of  the  papal  empire,  of  which  this 
 has-been  the  overflowing  scourge,  how  prodigious  an  havock  of 
 the  human  species  has  the  fell  ambition  of  one  man  occasioned  I 
 
 -}■  Isai.  iv,  I.  Amongst  tie  jews  it  was  esteemed  a  reproach 
 for  a  woman  to  live  unmarried. 
 
 %  The  branch,  or  Messias.  Zech.  iii.  8;  vi.  12.— -Isai  xi, 
 1. —  Jer.  xxiii.  5  ;  xxxiii.    15. 
 
 §  G<  d  being  a  crown  of  glory  and  a  diadem  of  beauty  to  the 
 "residue"  of  his  people  Isai.  xxviii.  5. 
 
493 
 
 that  are  escaped  of  Israel" — (the  remnant  of 
 that  people). — "And  it  shall  come  to  passy 
 that  he  that  is  left  in  Zion  shall  be  called 
 holy*  every  one  that  is  'written  among  the 
 living  in  Jerusalem" — ( who  "  shall  be  found 
 'written  in  the  book"  as  the  same  idea  is  ex- 
 pressed by  Daniel,  xii.  i,)  or  partaker  of  the 
 first  resurrection, — according  to  St  John. 
 
 In  this  remarkable  prophecy  there  is  so 
 striking  a  coincidence  with  several  others, 
 that  relate  to  the  time  of  the  emancipation  of 
 Israel,  and  the  fall  of  mystic  Babylon,  that  it 
 is  unreasonable  to  object  to  its  application  in 
 the  same  sense,  and  to  the  same  times,  from 
 the  single  circu instance  of  the  allusion  to  the 
 custom  of  polygamy  among  the  ancient  jews  ; 
 because  it  is  universally  admitted,  that  the 
 imagery  and  descriptive  language  of  the  sa- 
 cred writers,  was  always  acccmmoda'ed  to  the 
 ideas  and  customs  of  the  times  when   the  wri- 
 
 *  Be  called  holy,  means,  he  shall  be  so,  as  in  Jer.  xxn'i  6, 
 and  Isai.  ix  6, — and  refers  to  the  holiness  of  the  age  of  the 
 millennium,  about  this  time  to  be  introduced— lsai.  Ix.  21. 
 "  thy  people  shall  be  all  righteous. 
 
494 
 
 ters  lived,  of  which  Joshua  commanding  the 
 sun  to  stand  still,  (when  according  to  philoso- 
 phical truth,  he  ought  rather  to  have  fixed 
 the  motion  of  the  earth,)  is  a  pregnant  in- 
 stance. Every  thing  else  is  strictly  conform- 
 able to  the  whole  stream  of  prophecy  of  the 
 last  times.  These  are  certainly  promises  that 
 have  never  yet  been  fulfilled,  and  only  can 
 be  so  by  the  peace  and  holiness  to  be  expected 
 in  the  millennium, 
 
 This  "mighty  and  strong  one"  is  called  a 
 threshing  instrument  for  Israel,  as  his 
 destructive  exploits  will  be  displayed  upon 
 their  captors,  and  for  their  advantage,  to  c  -st 
 up  a  way  for  their  march  to  the  land  of  their  fa- 
 thers. It  is  a  new  one,  having  teeth,  and  sharp 
 ones  too,  and  its  prodigious  powers,  and  great 
 execution  of  much  work  in  a  little  ti  me,  will 
 be  exhibited  to  the  astonished  world  in  a  way 
 never  before  attempted,  at  least  to  the  same 
 extent ;  by  the  most  unprincipled  application 
 of  treachery,  corruption,  and  intrigue,  com- 
 bined    with    unparalleled    skill    in    military 
 
495 
 
 movements^  and  a  new  system   of  the  art  of 
 
 war,* 
 
 He  is  called  A  fiery  flying  serpent/)- 
 in  allusion  to  the  rapidity  of  his  motions,  and 
 the  subtilty  and  venomous  rancour  of  spirit 
 by  which  they  are  directed.     u  Rejoice  not, 
 
 0  Philistia,  with  one  consent ;  because  the 
 rod  that  smote  thee  is  broken :  for  from  the 
 root  of  the  serpent  shall  come  forth  a  basilisk  ; 
 and  his  fruif  shall   be  a  fiery  flying  serpent" 
 
 1  have  shewnj  how  strikingly  the  former  part 
 of  this  chapter  applies  to  the  papal  tyranny^ 
 (which  smote  the  subject  nations  with  a 
 stroke  unremitted,)  and  the  following  part  to 
 the  destruction  of  the  papal  power,  and  also 
 of  the  breaker  himself,  "  upon  the  moun- 
 tains of  God's  land'''  This  interpretation 
 gives  an  easy  application  of  the  concluding 
 part,  in  which  Philistia  (or  the  idolatrous 
 church)  is  admonished  not  to  exult  too  much 
 
 *  IsaL  xli.  15. — By  these  admirable  qualifications  fur  his  em. 
 ployment,  he  grinds  the  nations,  as  with  sharp  and  strong  teeth, 
 or  beaters,  in  a  threshing  mill. 
 
 •j-  Isai  xiv.  29}  %  Sect,  xvi.  p.  4;15. 
 
 VOL,  II.  -2  S 
 
496 
 
 in  the  relief  she  has  experienced  from  the  hu- 
 miliation of  the  intolerable  arrogancy  and  op- 
 pression of  her  spiritual  tyrant;  since  there 
 should    spring    from    'the    same    source,    A 
 scourge  still  more  afflictive  than  even  that 
 of  the  popes  had  so  long:  proved.     And  that 
 this  is  the  true  import  of  it,  is  confirmed  by 
 the  recurrence  of  its  usual   counterpart,  the 
 salvation  of  Israel.     "  And  the  poor  shall  feed 
 on  my  choice  first  fruits ;  and  the  needy  shall 
 lie  down   in  security:  but  he   will  kill  thy 
 root  with  drought" — (u  with  famine"  in 
 our  translation,) — "  and  thy  remnant  he  will 
 slay" — What  is  meant  by  the  poor  and  needy, 
 here  to  be  succoured,  is  further  explained  in 
 the  continuation  :—  "  O  Philistia,  thou  art  al- 
 together sunk  in  consternation  !  for  from  the 
 north  cometh  a  smoke ;  and  there  shall  not 
 be  a,  straggler  among  his  levies.     And  what 
 answer  shall  be  given  to  the  embassadors  of 
 the  nations  ? — That  Jehovah  hath  laid  the 
 foundation  of  Sion ;  and  the  poor  of  his  peo- 
 ple shall  take  refuge  in  her"* 
 
 *  Lowth's  translation — The  root,  must  evidently  be  the  same 
 "r$it  of  the  serpint*  or  nidus  of  corruption  and  popish  apost2cy, 
 
49< 
 
 Again,  this  destroying  angel  of  providence 
 is  compared  to  a  whirlwind  in  many  places,* 
 where  as  usual,  his  appearance,  and  the  conse- 
 quent fall  of  mystic  Babylon,  are  still  in  close 
 connection  with  the  rising  again  of  Israel ;  an 
 intimation  which  I  cannot  help  thinking  to 
 have  been  designed  as  a  sure  guide  in  the  ap- 
 plication of  those  prophecies  to  these  important 
 events  of  the  latter  days.  And  that  this  sweep- 
 ing whirlwind  is  the  same  instrument  of 
 vengeance  denoted  by  so  many  other  prophe- 
 tic marks,  is  evident,  by  its  having  been  de- 
 clared in  express  words  to  be  a  prophecy  of 
 the  latter  days — and  such  an  one  as 
 should  draw  the  attention  of  the  whole  world, 
 in  the  day  of  its  fulfilment. 
 
 which  was  mentioned  just  before,  (ver.  29,)  which  according 
 io  the  declared  import  of  many  prophecies,  is  to  be  comumed 
 in  that  manner,  by  the  breath  of  the  mouth  of  Christ ;  as  Isaiah 
 and  St.  Paul  agree  ;  and  their  flesh  is  to  waste  away  while  they 
 continue  standing  upon  their  feet.  Zech.  xiv.  12. — The  rem- 
 nant, is  the  weak  remainder  of  the  popish  faction,  which  sur- 
 vives the  final  catastrophe  of  their  principals,  See  Sect.  xxv. 
 p.  1G3. 
 
 *  Jer.  xxiii.  19;  xxx.  23,— Isai.  xxviii.  2;  xli.  16 Daa, 
 
 xi.  40, 
 
 3  S  2 
 
498 
 
 -  In  the  same  way  is  that  representation  of 
 him  given  by  St.  John,  as  A  scorching  sun, 
 to  be  understood,*    He  is  sent  as  a  minister  of 
 vengeance,  to  torment  with  the  insupportable 
 he,,t  of  an  intolerable  tyranny,  the  objects  ex- 
 posed to  his  direct   and  deadly  rays,  "  the 
 men  that  worship  the  beast,  and  have  received 
 the   mark   of  his   name ;  while  to  them    that 
 are  escaped  out   of  Babylon,  Christ  himself 
 shines  a  "  SUN  o/  righteousness,  with  healing 
 under  his  w'mgs"  the  source  of  light  and  sal- 
 vation in  both  worlds.    The  manner  in  which 
 he  executes  his  commission  is  explained  in 
 Isaiah  x.  J,  &c.  and  Jeremiah  li.  20,  &c.f 
 
 *  To  this  period  seems  that  sublime  description  of  the 
 Psalmist  to  allude,  where  he  represents  God,  by  means  of  his 
 fiery  judgments  going  before  him  to  clear  the  way,  establishing 
 a  king-lorn  of  righteousness  upon  earth.  (Psalm  xcvii.  2.) — 
 «'  Clouds  and  darkness  are  round  about  him,  righteousness  and 
 iudgment  are  the  habitation  of  his  throne.     A   fire   goetk 
 
 BEFORE  HIM,  AND  BUK.NETH  UP  HIS  ENEMIES  ROUND  ABOUT- 
 
 His  lightni.  gs  enlighten  .he  world, — the  earth  saw,  and  trem* 
 lied" — Mankind  acknowledge  the  hand  of  Cod,  and  see  the 
 fulfilment  of  prophecy  in  these  awful  visitations. 
 
 f  Where,  in  worthy  imitation  of  emperor  Peter,  his  rare 
 talents  at  king- making  and  giant  killing,  finding  cf 
 birds  nests,  i-nd  eating  of  eggs,  kicking  down  the  mile- 
 
499 
 
 From  these  prophetic  data,  and  the  signs 
 of  the  times  beginning  to  wear  an  aspect  of 
 gloom  and  alarm,  well  corresponding  to  them, 
 the  world  will  not  fail  to  recognise  so  extra~ 
 ordinary  a  character,  the  great  antago 
 
 NIST   OF    THE    MONSTER    ANTICHRIST,  at 
 
 his  appearance,  perhaps  with  as  much  ease 
 and  certainty,  as  the  man  of  sin  himself 
 was  distinguished,  by  tho.-e  peculiar  marks 
 set  upon  him  by  the  prophets,  and  which  di- 
 vine Providence  ordained  that  he  should  duly 
 assume,  and  pride  himself  in  the  wear  of  them. 
 
 The  stone  cut  without  hands,  and  falling 
 upon  the  feet  of  the  image,  in  Dan.  ii.  gives 
 a  general  Idea  of  the  effect  he  will  produce 
 upon  the  world,  but  the  detail  is  to  be  filled 
 up  from  other  sources  of  prophecy.  It  inti- 
 mates an  obscurity  of  his  origin,  in  which 
 respect  no  further  light  is  to  be  obtained  from 
 other  quarters,  except  only  that  he  is  to  dart 
 out  of  the  snakes-hole  of  popery  and  atheism; 
 and  immediately  commence  his  fiery  progress, 
 
 stones,  and  taking  of  purses  on  the  highway, — -and  other 
 s:ngular  frolics,  are  all  expressly  taken  notice  of. 
 
500 
 
 and  gradually  sting  to  death  the  parent  ser- 
 pent that  engendered  him.  Soon  he  makes 
 that  havock  in  the  empire  of  the  beast,  which 
 was  to  be  expected  from  the  battle  axe 
 OF  THE  divine  vengeance  coming  upon 
 princes  as  upon  mortar,  treading  them  down 
 as  the  mire  in  the  streets,  binding  their  kings 
 in  chains,  and  ruling  the  conquered  nations 
 with  a  mace  of  iron. 
 
 Thus  it  is  that  the  obscure  prophecy  of  the 
 stone  has  been  so  far  verified,  and  there  is  little 
 doubt  that  the  remaining  part  of  it  will  without 
 delay,  receive  its  accomplishment,  by  the  break- 
 ing in  pieces  the  whole  body  of  the  image,  and 
 scattering  the  broken  fragments  with  the  vio- 
 lence of  a  tornado,  to  be  again  fanned  by 
 the  lesser  whirlwinds,  which  follow  in  his  train. 
 By  distributing  the  broken  bones  of  the  mang- 
 led beast,  which  he  has  hunted  down,  and 
 throwing  them  to  be  gnawed  by  the  hungry 
 "  dogs  of  war"  he  strengthens  his  own  pow- 
 er ;  and  with  a  superior  policy  of  despotic 
 rule,  as  a  scorching  sun,  he  introduces  univer- 
 sal change  of  all  subsisting  ancient  establish- 
 
m 
 
 ments  and  systems  ;  removes  the  land  marks  of 
 the  people ,  both  natural,  moral,  and  political; 
 subverts  and  models  anew  the  constitution  of 
 states,  overthrows  the  ancient  thrones  and  sets 
 up  new  ones,  more  congenial  to  his  views : 
 dissolves  all  bonds  of  union  between  nations, 
 and  exposes  subsisting  treaties  to  a  necessity  of 
 being  broken,  and  sets  every  thing  loose  except 
 the  tenacious  grasp  of  his  own  authoriry,  which 
 is  founded  upon  anarchy,  and  cemented  by  per- 
 petuated revolution. 
 
 In  this  manner  he  proceeds  in  his  career  of 
 ambition,  with  his  eye  steadily  fixed  upon  uni- 
 versal sovereignty.     The  systems  of  govern- 
 ment which  he  recommends  to  the  vassal  kings 
 and  subjected  nations  for  their  own  happiness, 
 have  but  one  view,  to  the  consolidating  his 
 own  empire,  and  weakening  the  power  of  re- 
 sistance to  it,  by  draining  the  exhausted  earth 
 of  its  wealth,  and  depriving  it  of  its  defenders. 
 The  wretched  victims  are,  by  force,  dragged 
 from  their  employments  and  their  families, 
 and  compelled  to  become  the  tools  of  his  in- 
 satiable thirst  of  augmented  power  and  more 
 
502 
 
 extended  acquisitions,  to  extinguish  in  every 
 human  breast  the  expiring  embers  of  the 
 flame  of  liberty. 
 
 ,    One  thing  alone  there  seems  to  be  in  this 
 system  of  destruction,  which  after  the  many 
 wonders  the  present  age  has  gazed  at  with  a 
 stupid  astonishment,  until  they  are  becone 
 familiar  with  them,  still   strikes  the  mind  as 
 wonderful,  and  as  a'  thing  apparently  in  con- 
 tradiction   to    that    sagacity   and   penetration 
 which  has  directed  all  the  measures  of  the 
 breaker.     This  is  that  seemingly  impoli- 
 tic, unnecessary,  hazardous,  and  even,  I  may 
 say,  ungrateful  stretch  of  power,  by  which  he 
 rages,  in  the  spirit  of  atheism,  against  the  sanc- 
 tified superstitions  of  HOLY  MOTHER  CHURCH, 
 even  to  the  blotting  out  the  sun   of   the 
 papal   empire,    and   wrapping   it  in  total 
 darkness :  "  letting  loose   the   dogs  of  war," 
 to  satiate  their  greedy  hunger  with  the  spoils 
 of  the  ancient  spoiler  of  the  earth*  and  reduce 
 the  voluptuous   Lady  of  kingdoms  to  famine 
 and  nakedness,  mourning  and  captivity. f — 
 
 *  Isai.  xxxiii,  1.  f  Isai.  xlvii.  5.  &c.  Rev.  xviii*  7»  8. 
 
503 
 
 The  retaining  in  good  humour,  such  a  eo- 
 adjutor  as  his  Holiness,  so  powerful,  and  at 
 the  same  time  so  willing  an  abettor  of  despot- 
 ism and  extortion  in  others,  upon  the  old  prin- 
 ciple of  going  shares  in  the  spoil, — ("when 
 thou  sawest  a  thief,  thou  consentest  unto  him, 
 and  hast  been  partaker  with  the  adulterers,") 
 seems,  in  such  a  case  as  this,  to  be  the  most 
 obvious  policy,  and  necessary  line  of  conduct. 
 Yet  it  is  departed  from,  with  a  wantonness  of 
 cruelty  and  insult,  which  cannot  fail  of  pro- 
 voking, almost  to  madness,  a  very  numerous 
 and  still  powerful  party,  if  they  were  not  (in 
 ail  things  that  regard  the  defence  of  their  own 
 establishments)  under  a  divine  coercion,  and  a 
 spirit  of  infatuation  and  blindness, — "  For  that 
 which  is  determined  must  be  done." 
 
 When  mankind  shall  behold  such  a  mighty 
 and  strong  one,  striding  over  the  prostrate 
 world  as  its  tormentor  and  evil  geni- 
 us, treading  underfoot  the  "land  of  graven 
 images"  coming  back  from  Edom  as  the  re- 
 presentative* of  the  divine  avenger  of  her  an- 
 
 *  Isaiah  Ixiii.  1.  This  uninterrupted  career  of  conquests, 
 by  which  the  breaker  is  to  bring  the  world  into  subjection 
 
 vol.  ir.  *  T 
 
50i 
 
 eient  crimes,  "  in  blood  -dyed  garments  from 
 Bosrah" — the  anxious  quere  will  agitate  every 
 breast, — art  thou  he  that  should  come  to  fill 
 
 is  in  reality  the  victory  of  Christ  over  his  enemies,  as  the  victory 
 of  Titus  was  (by  the  Romans,  and  the  vanquished  jews  them- 
 selves) acknowledged  to  have  heen  achieved  by  the  hand  of 
 God,  Christ  conquers,  and  his  representative,  the  destroying 
 angel,  only  performs  the  manual  labor  of  cutting  of  throats,  and 
 receives  his  allotted  pay  in  crowns  and  sceptres.  These  he 
 carries  at  his  back,  and  deals  them  out  instead  of  change  or 
 paper,  for  value  received,  in  pay  to  other  cut-throats  under  him. 
 
 By  such  irstrun  ental  means,  Christ  is  now  fulfilling  the  pro- 
 phecy in  Ps.  xci.  13,  which  the  pope  (like  a  false  prophet  and 
 bad  interpreter  as  he  is  i  impiously  applied  to  himself,  when  he 
 made  use  of  the  emperor's  neck  for  his  horse-block,  saying — 
 "  Thou  shalt  tread  upon  the  lion  and  adder,  the  young  lion  and  the 
 dragon  shalt  thou  trample  under  feet." — See  Sect.  xvi.   p.  424. 
 
 It  appears  from  the  New  Testament,  (Matt.  iv.  6,)  that 
 the  devil  understood  the  prophecies,  and  was  more  worthy  of 
 the  title  of  an  infallible  interpreter  than  his  Holiness; 
 for  he  quoted  to  our  >aviour  the  two  verses  of  that  Psalm  im- 
 mediately before  this  passage,  as  texts  applicable  to  the  Messiah. 
 It  is  written,  said  he,  ••  he  shall  give  his  angels  charge  over  thee, 
 to  keep  thee  in  all  thy  ways  They  shad  bear  thee  up  in  their 
 lands,  lest  thou  dash  thy  foot  against  a  stone.'' — Put  here  (like  a 
 wily  reasoner,  cautic  us  not  to  prove  too  much*)  he  stopped  short ; 
 for  to  have  quoted  tl  e  next  verse  would  have  been  throwing  a 
 sto^e  ;>t  his  own  head,  which,  in  its  recoil,  would  have  wound- 
 ed his  friend  the  pope  too  ;  for  he  is  the  snake  in  the  grass,  and 
 the  Roman  imperial  power  is  the  lion,  and  the  devil,  or  old  ser- 
 pent, is  the  dragon,  which  Christ  is  r.oiu  in  the  act  of  trampling 
 
505 
 
 the  earth  with  carnage  and  woe  ? — or  do  we 
 look  for  another,  at  a  still  later  period,  to  per- 
 fect the  work  which  thou  must  leave  un- 
 finished ? 
 
 under  his  feet.  Satan  was  not  reproved  of  Jesus  for  mhappli  ■ 
 cation  of  that  text  to  a  wrong  person,  but  only  for  the  deceitful 
 and  wicked  "  doctrine — and  use"  which  he  artfully  wanted 
 to  draw  from  it,  and  which  Jesus  confuted.  I  therefore  con- 
 clude, with  the  concurrent  testimony  of  his  satanic  majesty 
 himself,  that  this  was  spoken  by  the  prophet,  not  of  the 
 popes  or  Rome,  but  of  the  ever,  blessed  Christ  coming 
 'i  his  kingdom, — > 
 
 ■ Fas  est  et  ab  hoste  doceri, 
 
 'Tis  prudent  still  instruction  to  receive, 
 
 Tho' envious  foes  the  wholesome  counsel  give. 
 
 T  2 
 
SECTION  XXXIX. 
 
 Tbc  fallibility  of  human  virtue,  a  strong  ground  for 
 the  scripture  caution — "  to  watch" — Earthly 
 greatness  and  long  prosperity,  no  certain  tokens  of 
 the  unqualified  approbation  oj  heaven. — The  pro- 
 phetic stone  has  already  fallen  upon  the  image  and 
 produced  considerable  effects. — Its  own  magnitude 
 is  also  increased  to  a  mountainous  bulk. —  Great 
 events  in  preparation. — Daniel's  concise  account  of 
 the  state  of  the  three  fir  it  beasts  during  the  long 
 continuance  of  ht  fourth. — They  are  deprived  of 
 empire,  but  enjty  a  respite  until  the  fourth  is  slain 
 anc  aestroyed,  ../ter  which  they  must  be  aiso  absorb' 
 ea  in  the  common  vortex. 
 
 \\  HEN  Hazael  came  to  the  prophet  Elisha, 
 to  enquire  tor  his  master  Benhadad,  king 
 of  Syria,  what  should  be  the  event  of  a  sick- 
 
50T 
 
 ncss  the  king  at  that  time  laboured  under,  the 
 holy  Seer,  locking  steadfastly  in  his  face  for 
 some  time,  burst  into  a  flood  of  tears.  Hazael, 
 astonished  at  so  unaccountable  a  reception,  ask- 
 ed the  man  of  God  the  cause  of  his  so  sudden 
 grief.  "  It  is  because  (answered  he)  I  know 
 the  evil  that  thou  wilt  do  to  the  children  of 
 Israel.  Their  strong  holds  wilt  thou  set  on 
 fire,  and  their  young  men  wilt  thou  slay  with 
 the  sword,  and  wilt  dash  their  children,  and 
 rip  up  their  women  with  child," 
 
 Hazael  seems  at  that  time  to  have  had  n» 
 
 consciousness  of  any  thing  like  such  a  savage 
 ferocity  lurking  in  his  disposition,  and  abrupt- 
 ly answered  (with  an  abhorrence  as  great  as 
 the  prophet  himself  had  expressed) — "  But 
 <what%  is  thy  servant  a  dog,  that  he  should  do 
 fins  great  thing?" — Elisha  only  replied,  ''''the 
 Lord  bath  shewed  me  that  thou  shaft  be  king 
 of  b>y>ia"  Intimating  that  time  and  circum- 
 stances,  rather  than  the  influence  of  original 
 principle,  stamp  the  character  which  men  as- 
 sume, in  a  great  many  instances.  Hazael  con- 
 sidered maturely  of  the  prophet's  answer,  in 
 
his  way  home,  and  took  his  measures  accord- 
 ing to  it.  He  gave  a  flattering  answer  to  Ben- 
 hadad,  and  then,  to  hasten  and  make  sure  of 
 his  predicted  Royulty,  the  very  next  day  he 
 treacherously  murdered  his  master,  and  not 
 long  afterwards,  he  fully  made  good  the  cha- 
 racter the  prophet  had  given  of  his  baroarity. 
 
 He  that  once  enters  upon  the  path  of  pre- 
 cipitous promotion,  by  violent  and  wicked 
 means,  is  under  a  necessity  of  still  going  on, 
 and  treading  in  the  same  steps  of  barbarous 
 precaution,  to  establish  the  insecure  footing 
 he  has  gained.  The  continual  impression  of 
 his  own  precarious  situation  hardens  his  heart, 
 and  leaves  no  other  feeling  there,  but  suspi- 
 on  and  hatred  of  the  whole  human  race. 
 
 In  the  four  universal  monarchies  of  which 
 the  scripture  prophecies  take  notice,  we  see 
 mighty  conquerors  wading  through  oceans  of 
 human  blood,  to  attain  the  prize  of  universal 
 dominion.  They  considered  the  whole  hu- 
 man race  as  beasts,  made  to  be  hunted  down 
 and  destroyed,  for  their  caprice  or  aggrandise- 
 
j09 
 
 ment.  Their  progress  is  tracked  by  blood  and 
 desolation,  as  if  they  had  been  privileged  of 
 heaven  to  butcher  the  supernumerary  inhabit- 
 ants of  the  earth.  "  The  land  is  as  the  gar- 
 den of  Eden  before  tbem,  but  behind  them  a 
 desolate  wilderness. " 
 
 The  actions  of  these  monsters,  and  the  suc- 
 cess that  should  attend  upon  their  steps,  is,  as 
 we  have  seen,  foretold  in  sacred  prophecy, 
 and  that  in  very  extraordinary  terms.  Yet 
 nothing  can  be  more  certain,  than  that  God 
 does  not  approve  of  cruelty  or  ambition, 
 though  he  may  make  use  of  the  voluntary 
 actions  of  bad  men,  as  means  to  bring  to  pass 
 the  ends  of  his  all- wise  Providence.  On  some 
 occasions  he  may  bestow  a  kind  of  qualified 
 commendation,  and  in  many  cases  may  re- 
 ward with  temporal  greatness,  (by  success 
 permitted,  let  us  suppose,  rather  than  by  di- 
 rect favor,  or  immediate  blessing  conferred,) 
 the  labor  they  have  bestowed  in  effecting  his 
 designs,  though  it  be  only  by  pursuing  their 
 own. 
 
510 
 
 The  work  which  God  has  to  be  done  in 
 this  way,  demands  a  genius  peculiarly  adapted 
 for  it,  and  by  bringing  forward   agents  com- 
 petent to  the  service  required,  the  mysterious 
 ends  of  Providence  are  answered,  without  the 
 liberty  and  moral  responsibility  of  man  being 
 destroyed.      Some  constitutions,  by  original 
 structure,  contain  not  materials  fit  to  make  a 
 tyrant  of.     The  apparent   mildness  of  N  ero 
 and  Hazael,  at  an  early  period  of  their  lives, 
 was  certainly  fallacious,  as  the  atrocity  of  their 
 subsequent  conduct  proved.    So  wide  a  differ- 
 ence from  their  former  selves,  argues  a  radical 
 and  original  defect  of  mercy,  such  as  a!tered  cir- 
 cumstanr.es  could  hardly  create.      I  pon  a  re- 
 ally virtuous  mind,  the  prophet's  frightful  de- 
 nunciation of  the  character  of  the  future  man, 
 would   have   had  the  effect  of  an  impressive 
 and  salutary  warning,  instead  of  becoming  an 
 encouragement  to  rush  headlong  into  wicked- 
 ness, and  foolishly  think  to  hiy  the  blame  on 
 fate.     Humane  and  gentle  natures  are  ill  a- 
 dapted  to  the  work  of  destruction,  and  though 
 Almighty  power  can  work  with  any  instru- 
 
511 
 
 ment,  yet  in  the  divine  economy,  the  means 
 are  mostly  well  proportioned  to  the  end,  and 
 the  natural  cause  to  the  effect. 
 
 To  shine  amongst  the  glorious  destroyers 
 of  mankind  a  star  of  the  first  magnitude,  re- 
 quires the  cruel  spirit  of  the  ferocious  tyger, 
 and  the  deceitfulness  of  the  crocodile ;  an 
 heart  of  adamant,  and  an  hand  of  iron,  in- 
 flexible from  its  purpose.  The  ear  must  be 
 deaf  to  the  melting  voice  of  pity,  and  the 
 breast  insensible  to  the  pang  of  remorse. 
 There  is  a  certain  greatness  of  mind  which 
 can  sit  down  unmoved  upon  the  wreck  of 
 once  happy  and  flourishing  nations,  and  cool- 
 ly calculate  upon  future  havoc,  while  every 
 fresh  acquisition,  like  the  rivers  pouring  in 
 vain  their  accumulated  stores  into  the  bound- 
 less ocean,  adds  nothing  of  satiety  to  the  rest- 
 less spirit  of  subjugation,  while  there  yet 
 remains  any  thing  to  be  added,  by  fresh  con- 
 quests, to  the  sufferings  of  human  nature. 
 Neither  the  restrictions  of  religion,  nor  the 
 ties  of  honour,  the  faith  of  oaths  and  treaties, 
 or  the  rights  of  man,  must  be  suffered  to  in- 
 VOL.  II.  3    u 
 
b\2 
 
 terfere  with  the  will  of  the  conqueror,  to  si- 
 lence the  call  of  glory,  or  to  interrupt  the 
 full  career  of  victory  ;  and  the  gordian  knot, 
 which  cannot  be  untied  by  political  circum- 
 vention, must  be  boldly  cut  asunder  with  the 
 sword  of  superior  force. 
 
 The  extraordinary  rise  of  these  candidates 
 for  historic  glory,  and  their  wonderful  pro- 
 gress to  the  utmost  heigth  of  earthly  great- 
 ness, affords  continual  evidence  of  the  hand 
 of  Providence,  made  bare  in  his  indignation 
 upon  offending  nations.  They  have  God  on 
 their  side,  as  long  as  thev  are  employed  in 
 executing  the  work  which  his  counsel  has 
 before  determined  to  be  done ;  and  they  re- 
 ceive a  present  recompence  of  their  toil  in 
 that  fading  glory  of  this  world,  which  passeth 
 soon  away,  and  beyond  which  they  have  no 
 ambition.* 
 
 *  This  view  from  benind  the  scenes,  of  the  brief  and  empty 
 pageantry  of  heroic  greatness,  brings  strongly  to  mind  those  lines 
 of  Virgil, 
 
 "  Sic  vos  non  vobis,  nidificatii  aves, 
 
 Sic  vos  non  vobis,  fertis  aratraboves"  &c. 
 
6\S 
 
 These  dreadful  revolutions  in  the  world, 
 which  the  prophecies  have  ascribed  to  the 
 last  times,  are  the  necessary  measures  for 
 the  introduction  of  as  great  a  calm,  after  the 
 hurricane  has  subsided  ;  when  "  the  God  of 
 heaven  will  set  up  a  kingdom  which  shad 
 never  be  destroyed ;  and  the  kingdom  shad  not 
 be  left  to  other  people^  but  it  shall  break  in 
 pieces  and  consume  all  these  kingdoms ,  and  it 
 shall  stand  jar  ever"*  This  kingdom  of 
 Christ,  which  requires  all  the  kingdoms  of 
 the  world  to  be  broken  in  pieces,  that  are 
 found  (in  this  time  oi  trial  J  to  be  esiiblished 
 upon  princip'es  inconsistent  with  it,  is  again 
 described  in  Daniel  vii.  27,  in  similar  terms. 
 "And  the  kingdom,  and  dominion,  and  the: 
 
 Build, — build,  ye  little  birds,  your  feathery  nests, 
 Not  for  yourselves  ye  bear  the  useless  toil  ! 
 Drag  on  your  daP.y  plough,  ye  wary  beasts  ; 
 Not  for  yourselves  ye  turn  the  fruitful  soil. 
 
 How  strongly  does  this  recommend  to  the  humble  christian 
 "  who  by  patient  continuance  in  well  doing,  seeks  for  glory  and 
 honor  and  immortality"  his  far  preferable  choice ,  of  that  reward 
 of  his  labor  which  fadeth  not  away,  and  the  possession  of  that 
 "  kingdom  which  shall  not  be  left  to  other  people  !" 
 
 *  Dan.  ii. 
 
 ^  U    2 
 
greatness  of  the  kingdom  under  the  whole 
 heaven,  shall  be  given  to  the  people  of  the 
 saints  of  the  Most  High,  whose  kingdom  is 
 an  everlasting  kingdom,  and  all  dominions 
 shall  serve  and  obey  him." 
 
 I  have  already  shewn,  that  the  present  state 
 of  tilings  is  so  very  much  at  variance  with 
 this   predicted  universal  subjection  to   Christ, 
 and  a  time  of  such  general  holiness  and  unin- 
 terruptcd peace,  that  the  most  violent  changes 
 must  take  place  before  it  can  be  introduced, 
 or  could  subsist  for  any  long  time,  if  it  was. 
 That  which,  during  400  years  after  St  Paul's 
 prophecy  of  the  man  of  sin,  "  let,"  or  pre- 
 vented  his  appearance,  has  for    1260  years 
 now  again   (though   subsisting  in   a  changed 
 form)    hindered   the    rise    of  this    promised 
 kingdom  of  Messiah,  and  is  at  this  time,  ac- 
 tually   removing   to  give  place    to   it. — The 
 great  image,  or  mystical  representative  of 
 the  four  universal  monarchies,   was,  until   of 
 late,  still  standing  upon   "  its  feet  and  toes  of 
 iron  mixed  with   miry  clay ;      the  prophetic 
 emblem  of  the  Roman  empire,  in  its  mo^ 
 
alo 
 
 dern  state  of  decrepitude  and  weakness ;  the 
 cause  of  which  imbecility,  and  the  particular 
 meaning  of  that  remarkable  allegorical  de- 
 scription, I  have  before  endeavoured  to  ex- 
 plain. 
 
 The  "stone  cut  without  hands  out  of  the 
 mountain"  has  been  already  presented  to  the 
 eyes  of  the  admiring  wodd,  by  such  extraor- 
 dinary  measures  of   God's  mysterious  provi- 
 dence, and  so  much  in  contradiction  to    the 
 common  course  of  the  probabilities  of  things, 
 that  it  seems  to  indicate  the  fulfillment  of  the 
 remainder  of  the  prophecy,  at  no  very  great 
 distance  of  time.     It  has  been  lifted  up  on 
 high  by  the  invisible  power  of  God,  and  hurl- 
 ed with  a  force  more  than  belongs  to  the  mere 
 arm  ot  flesh.     Like  a  fiery  comet,  it  passed 
 through  the  once  radiant  circles  ot  the  politi- 
 cal heavens,  its  magnitude  and  velocity  in- 
 creasing as  it  flew  ;  and  it  has  fallen  upon  the 
 feet  and  toes  of  the  'mage.     And  no  doubt,  the 
 holy  prophet  so  particularly  marking  the  part 
 of  the  image  on  which  the  dreadful  concussion 
 ihould  first  take  effect,  "  on  its  feet,  which 
 
516 
 
 were  of  iron  and  miry  clay"  designed  to  in- 
 timate that  the  total  dissolution  of  the  Roman 
 empire  (in  its  mixed  and  debased  state) 
 should  not  happen  but  by  the  particular  act 
 of  God's  vengeance  upon  great  Babylon, 
 for  her  ancient  and  modern  sins ;  nor  until 
 that  period  of  time  assigned  in  prophecy,  and 
 distinguished  by  so  many  concurring  signs. 
 
 Diminutive  and  unimportant  as  the  stone 
 appeared  to  the  undistinguishing  eye,  when 
 first  it  rose  aloft  into  the  air,  yet  it  fell  with 
 the  impulse  of  a  mighty  rock,  and  so  shook 
 the  feeble  image  with  the  tremendous  crash, 
 that  it  stood  tottering  to  its  fall.  The  stone 
 itself  has  also,  in  like  manner,  received  that 
 wonderful  increase  of  its  own  magnitude,which 
 the  prophet  upwards  of  2400  years  ago  fore- 
 told. It  has  grown  by  gradual  accretions  to  an 
 immense  and  oppressive  weight  and  bulk,  and 
 bears  against  the  shattered  image  with  the 
 over- powering  pressure  of  a  rolling  mountain. 
 The  time  cannot  now  be  far  distant  when  it 
 must  give  way,  and  fall  and  he  broken  in  pieces 
 as  small  as  the  chaff  of  the  summer  threshing 
 
517 
 
 floors,  and  the  STONE  become  a  mountain, 
 shall  occupy  the  space  on  which  it  stood. 
 
 It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  in  this  brief  ac- 
 count, the  prophet  gives  of  the  breaking  of  the 
 image,  by  the  falling  of  the  stone  upon  it, 
 the  order  of  the  metals  of  which  it  had  been 
 originally  composed  is  inverted',  and  in  his 
 enumeration  of  all  the  several  parts  to  be  des- 
 troyed one  after  an  other,  he  begins  with  the 
 extremities,  upon  which  the  first  impression 
 of  the  external  violence  was  made,  and  pro- 
 ceeds upwards  to  the  head  of  gold.  "  7 loen 
 was  the  iron,  the  clay,  the  brass,  the  silver,  the 
 gold,  broken  to  pieces  together" — (that  is,  in  no 
 long  space  of  time  one  after  another,) — and  be- 
 came like  the  chaff  of  the  summer  threshing  floor, 
 and  the  wind  carried  them  away,  that  no  place 
 was  found  for  them.  And  the  stone  became  a 
 great  mountain,  and  filled  all  the  earth. 
 
 o 
 
 The  increase  of  the  stone  in  magnitude, 
 by  the  adhesion  of  the  broken  fragments, 
 commences  from  the  first  stroke ;  and  from 
 the  continued  operation  of  the  same  causes, 
 
51S 
 
 and  by  repeated  strokes  (with  additional 
 weight,  and  moved  by  the  same  invisible 
 power)  the  stone  is  continually  augmented, 
 while  the  image  is  diminished.  So  at  least 
 facts  seem  thus  far  to  have  given  the  expla- 
 nation of  this  hitherto  obscure  prophecy,  and 
 to  have  exposed  to  public  contemplation, 
 the  method  by  which  an  instrument,  origin- 
 ally of  so  inconsiderable  promise,  has  been 
 able  (in  the  hands  of  an  almighty  Mover)  to 
 effect  already  so  great  changes  in  the  prodi- 
 gious fabric  of  the  image,  which  portend  its 
 speedy  and  total  dissolution. 
 
 The  prophecy  is  too  concise  to  attend  to 
 minutiae,  but  gives  only  a  general  idea,  as  if 
 the  destruction  of  the  whole    image  was  the 
 immediate  effect  of  one  stroke.     But  the  in- 
 verted order  of  the  component  parts,  clearly 
 points  out  that  it  is  not  to  be  so  understood ; 
 but  that  it  will  be  the  work  of  some  (though 
 not  a  very  long)    time,  and   beginning  with 
 the  feet  and  toes,  the  subjection  of  the  ten 
 kingdoms,*  (or  the  Western  Roman  em- 
 
 *  Originally  ten,  and  so  continued  in  prophecy* 
 
519 
 
 PIRe)  will  form  only  the  first  part  of  this 
 career  of  victory  and  destruction  :  that  the 
 scourge  will  not  cease  for  any  long  period  of 
 honorable  or  secure  tranquility,  (for  "  there 
 is  no  peace  saith  God  to  the  wicked,")  till 
 all  has  been  subdued,  and  broken  to  pieces, 
 and  so  carried  away  by  the  wind,  that  no 
 place  is  found  for  them  any  more,  as  parts  of 
 the  original  image,  but  hencetorward  only 
 as  parts  of  the  stone. 
 
 Rigid  precision  is  not  to  be  expected  in 
 prophecy,  but  a  general,  though  striking  and 
 clear  resemblance  in  the  principal  features  of 
 the  object  described,  which  yet  will  leave 
 considerable  room  for  conjee  ure,  and  variety 
 of  opinion  on  the  particulars  of  less  material 
 importance.  The  breaker  is  himself  com- 
 pared twice  by  Jeremiah,  and  often  by  other 
 prophets,  to  a  whirlwind,  for  the  violence  of 
 the  effects  produced  in  the  desolated  track  in 
 which  he  moves.  Scattering  the  broken  frag- 
 ments to  the  winds,  may  either  imply  that  they 
 will  be  added  to  his  own  empire,  or  divided 
 out  in  meagre  portions  of  subordinate  power, 
 vol.  ii.  3  x 
 
520 
 
 to  the  vassal  tempests ,  of  which  he  is  himself 
 the  Eolus  and  sovereign  despot. 
 
 'The  feet  of  the  image  receiving  the  first 
 shock,  the  weakness  of  their  texture,  and  the 
 ill  cohesion  of  their  component  materials,  is 
 thus  betrayed,  having  been  never  thought 
 of  or  suspected,  till  the  fated  stone,  hurl- 
 ed from  the  hand  of  God,  touches  them ; 
 then  it  appears  that  the  strength  and  vigour 
 which  had  been  in  the  legs  of  iron,  no  longer 
 remains  in  the  feet  and  toes.  The  enfeebling 
 intoxication  of  the  cup  of  Babylon's  poisonous 
 mixture,  has  robbed  them  of  their  strength  ; 
 and  their  shame  and  weakness  are  exposed  to 
 the  universal  astonishment  of  the  world. — 
 This  is  evidently  the  meaning  of  those  often 
 repeated  figures  in  the  prophets,  in  which  the 
 idolatrous  church  is  represented  as  an  adul- 
 teress punished.  "  Behold,  therefore,  I  will 
 gather  all  thy  lovers,  with  whom  thou  hast 
 taken  pleasure,  and  all  them  that  thou  hast 
 loved,  with  all  them  that  thou  hast  hated" — 
 (the  persecuted  witnesses) : — "  1  will  even  ga- 
 ther them  round  about  against  Wee,  and  will 
 
521 
 
 discover  thy  nakedness  unto  them,  that  they 
 may  see  all  thy  nakedness.  And  I  will  judge 
 thee  as  women  that  break  wedlock,  a  n  d 
 shed  blood,  are  judged,  and  I  will  give 
 thee  blood  in  fury  and  jealousy.  And  I  will 
 also  give  thee  into  their  hand,  and  they  shall 
 throw  down  thine  eminent  place,  and 
 shall  break  down  thy  high  places :  they  shall 
 strip  thee  also  of  thy  cloaths,  and  shall  take 
 thy  fair  jewels,  and  leave  thee  naked  and  bare. 
 And  they  shall  burn  thine  houses  with  Jirey 
 and  execute  judgments  upon  thee  in  the  sight 
 of  many  women  ;"* — in  the  sight  of  all  the 
 Protestant  churches,  or,  as  St  John, 
 in  allusion  to  this  prophecy,  says,  "  in  the 
 prese?ice  of  the  holy  angels,  and  in  the  presence 
 of  the  Lamb"^ 
 
 It  is  now  by  this  discovery,  clearly  seen 
 
 *  Ezekiel  xvi.  37.  &c. 
 
 f  See  Rev.  xiv.  10.  compared  with  xviii.  8  ;  xvii.  4,  5,  16. 
 The  double  woe,  in  verse  23  and  many  striking  particulars  se- 
 lected by  St  John,  slit  w  that  the  force  of  this  prophecy  was 
 not  wholly  exhausted  in  the  calamities  inflicted  upon  the  apostate 
 <  hurch  of  Israel  — See  Isai.  iii.  17,  &c.  Jer.  xiii.  'J 
 iii.  5.  Sam,  iv.  22. 
 
 J    A     A 
 
••fly 
 
 and  universally  understood,  of  what  incon- 
 gruous materials  the  towering  fabrick  of  the 
 papal  empire  had  been  composed  ;  and  that 
 the  image,  its  representative,  had  been  the 
 workmanship  of  artists  curious  and  subtil  in 
 the  study  and  practice  of  the  deceptive  arts  ; 
 crusted  over  with  an  imitation  of  the  vene- 
 rable appearances  of  antiquity,  and  loaded 
 With  rich  aad  splendid  ornament  in  the  ex- 
 terior, tnat  it  might  pass  tl<r  a  continuation 
 of  the  same  valuable  metais,  of  which  ihe 
 nobler  parts  had  been  originally  cast.  'I  hat 
 it  is  however  nothing  more  at  the  best,  than 
 "  iron  mixed  with  miry  clay "  containing,  at 
 this  period,  only  a  slender  portion  of  the  iron 
 strength,  (barely  sufficient  to  support  its  own 
 super-incumuent  weight,)  and  filled  in  and 
 moulded  into  shape  with  the  base  material, 
 and  plastered  over  with  untempered  mortar  :* 
 decked  externally  "  with  scarlet^  and  goldy 
 and  jewels"  to  draw  the  eye  of  the  observer 
 from  a  too  nice  examination  of  the  real  po- 
 verty of  the  workmanship,  and  the  unequal 
 solidity  of  the  heterogeneous  compound. 
 
 *  Ezek.  xiii.   10. 
 
523 
 
 In  this  feeble  state  of  incapacity  to  resist 
 the  impetus  of  the  stone,  the  toes  of  the 
 image  are  broken  off,  one  after  another,  and 
 incorporated  into  the  substance  of  the  stone; 
 and  the  whole  of  the  feet  and  legs  of  the  fall- 
 en fabric  are  soon  after  beaten  to  pieces,  and 
 carried  away  from  their  ancient  connection, 
 with  the  force  of  the  whirlwind,  and  move  with 
 the  lightness  of  chaff  before  the  fan.*  In  vain 
 is  every  effort  for  self-preservation,  when  made 
 by  extreme  debility  opposed  to  gigantic  might. 
 45  Stia  gers  have  devoured  his  strength,  >.  nd  he 
 knowetb  it  not ;  yea,  grey  hairs  are  here  and 
 there  upon  him,  yet  he  knoweth  it  not.  And 
 they  do  not  return  to  the  Lord  their  God,  nor 
 seek  him  for  all  this."f 
 
 The  kingdom  of  the  stone,  as  that  expres- 
 sion signifies  the  approactiing  kingdom  of 
 Christ,  is  to  be  universal,  in  the  literal  sense 
 of  the  word.  But  as  in  an  inferior  and  typi- 
 cal sense,  it  may  be  applied  to  the  empire  of 
 the  breaker,  (the  actual  lever  with  which 
 
 *  Hosea.  xiii.  3  ;  Psalm  i.  4  ;  xxxv.  5  J  Isai.  xli.  15. 
 f  Hosea.  vii,  9. 
 
524 
 
 God  moves  the  earth,  and  the  material  and  vi- 
 sible stone  by  which  the  stroke  of  death  to  the 
 opposing  papal  empire  is  given  ;J  the  extent 
 of  his  conquests  perhaps  are  not  to  be  certainly 
 known  fro  n  this  prophecy,  until  the  hanJ  of 
 time  shall  have  lifted  up  the  veil  a  little  high- 
 er. But  the  easy  acquisition  of  dominion  and 
 power  does  not  usually  allay  the  thirst  of  addi* 
 tionai  conquests,  and  it  probably  will  not  have 
 that  effect  in  the  present  instance.  Like  Ha- 
 zael,  abashed  in  the  presence  of  the  man  of 
 God,  unexpectedly  opening  to  him  the  pros- 
 pect of  his  future  glory,  the  rising  conquer- 
 or perhaps  does  not  yet  know  the  full  extent 
 of  his  own  capabilities,  nor  the  work  be  has 
 yet  to  get  through,  before  his  task  be  finished. 
 There  is  certainly  yet  a  great  deal  to  be  done, 
 and  a  burden  of  woe  heavier  than  all  former 
 woes,  seems  to  be  the  general  import  of  the 
 proprnccs  of  these  trying  times,  into  which 
 we  are  advancing  with  hasty  steps.  Bui:  whe- 
 ther it  is  all  to  be  effected  in  a  short  space  of 
 time,  "a  Utile  moment^  until  the  indignation  i: 
 overpast"*  as  the  prophets  speak,  and  by  the 
 
 *  Psalm  Ivii.  i ;  Isai.  xxvi.  20. 
 
525 
 
 enterprising  genius  and  propitious  fortune  of 
 one  man,  or  he  is  to  be  succeeded  by  others 
 of  similar  capabilities,  must  be  submitted  to  the 
 decision  of  time. 
 
 The  prophecy  determines  so  far  as  this,  be- 
 yond any  question  or  doubt,  that  the  whole  bo- 
 dy of  the  image  is  to  be  broken  to  pieces •,  and  new 
 modelled  into  a  single  vast  empire  by  the  suc- 
 sessive  subjection  and  absorption  of  the  iron  and 
 the  clay,  or  the  substance  of  the  holy  Roman 
 catholic  empire,  and  all  the  kingdoms  which 
 compose  the  religious  confederacy  of  popery. 
 The  brass ,  or  the  countries  formerly  subjected 
 to  the  empire  of  Alexander  the  Great,  which 
 now  makes  up  most  part  of  the  empire  of  the 
 turks.  And  this,  as  in  the  prophetic  series, 
 so  also  in  the  order  and  course  of  probability, 
 seems  to  be  the  next  morsel  that  is  to  be  en- 
 gulphed  into  the  kingdom  of  the  stone,  after 
 the  total  subjection  of  the  Roman  confederacy 
 hath  permitted  leisure,  and  opened  a  broad 
 military  road  into  the  east, 
 
 After  this,  the  silver ',  or  the  Asiatic  do- 
 
52(3 
 
 minions,  once  the  seat  of  the  Persian  imperial 
 soveieigmy,  and,  lastly,  the  gold,  or  the  re- 
 gions winch  anciently  owned  the  regal  scep- 
 tre of  the  mighty  Nehuchadnezzar  himself, 
 the  scourge  of  heaven,  in  his  day,  upon  the 
 less  provoking  idolatries,  and  m^ral  and  re- 
 ligious delinquencies  of  his  own  times. — 
 These  remote  countries,  in  this  prophetical 
 chart  of  them,  are  not  defined  with  exact  ge- 
 ographical precision,  for  they  were  intermixed 
 and  swallowed  up  one  of  another  successively, 
 as  they  are  now  all  to  be  absorbed  in  the  king- 
 dom of  the  s  tone.  And  a  general  idea,  with- 
 out descending  into  niceties  of  little  moment, 
 is  all  that  seems  intended  to  be  conv§yed,  or 
 can  be  expected  from  a  prophetical  hiero- 
 glyphic of  so  great  antiquity,  and  comprising 
 30  many  events,  pot  easy  to  be  combined  in 
 one  consistent  scheme  of  history  anticipated. 
 
 The  circumstance  of  these  four  great  em- 
 pires having  made  parts  one  of  another  at 
 different  periods,  will  materially  abridge  the 
 time  and  labor  of  the  breaker,  so  as  to 
 bring  within  the  compass  of  one  man's  life 
 
527 
 
 an  achievement  perhaps  more  difficult  of  ac- 
 complishment in  these  times,  than  in  the  days 
 of  any  former  conquerors. 
 
 But  if  there  be  considerable  obscurity  here, 
 there  is  still  greater  difficulty  in  following  the 
 prophet  in  the  concise  account  he  gives  of 
 what  becomes  of  these  four  empires,  after 
 this  period  of  their  subjection.  (Din.  vii.  1 1.) 
 "  I  beheld  then  because  of  the  voice  of  the  great 
 words  'which  the  horn  spake,  I  beheld  even  till 
 the  beast  was  slain,  and  his  body  destroyed 
 and  given  to  the  bur n'mg  flame  T — Tnis  is  ih.Q 
 fourth  beast,  or  the  Roman  empire,  he  is 
 speaking  of  here,  which  produced  the  blas- 
 pheming littic  horn,  or  the  papacy  j  and  it 
 is  his  crimes  that  draw  down  the  judgments 
 of  heaven  upon  the  beast. — The  beast  is  slain: 
 it  subsists  no  longer  as  an  independent  go- 
 vernment, but  is  destroyed,  and  its  lifeless 
 body  is  " given  to  the  burning  flame" — Its 
 once  independent  sovereignties  are  sunk  in  a 
 single  tyranny,  and  consumed  with  the  scorch- 
 ing sun  of  an  insupportable  despotism  ;  while 
 the  more  literally  to  fulfil  the  word  of  pro- 
 
 yol.  ii.  3   y 
 
5^8 
 
 phecy,  the  seat  of  the  beast  (the  centre  and 
 focus  of  the  spiritual  corruption)  is  engulph- 
 ed  in  the  fames  of Top  he  t. 
 
 The  Roman  empire  having  in  all  the 
 prophecies  claimed  the  greatest  share  of  atten- 
 tion, the  history  of  this  fourth  beast  is 
 therefore  continued  from  its  commencement, 
 in  ver.  7,  to  its  final  catastrophe,  as  above  re- 
 lated, in  ver.  1 1.  The  prophet  then  reverts 
 to  the  three  other  universal  monarchies  he 
 had  before  mentioned,  (as  preceding  the  Ro- 
 man,) to  give  a  concise  account  of  what  be- 
 came of  them,  while  this  long  series  of  time^ 
 was  passing,  and  all  these  important  events 
 were  taking  place,  in  which  the  destinies  of 
 the  church  were  more  intimately  involved.* 
 
 "  As  concerning  the  rest  of  the  beasts" — 
 (that  is  to  say,  the  countries  which  made  up 
 
 *  The  prophetic  history  of  the  fourth  beast,  or  Roman 
 empire,  as  I  have  shewn  at  large  in  the  preceding  sections,  be» 
 gins  here  with  the  state  of  irresistible  strength,  and  universal  do* 
 minicn  cf  pagan  Rome,  and  then  represents  its  debased a>:d 
 divided  slate  under  the  false  Christianity  of  the  popish  confede- 
 
b29 
 
 the  other  three  monarchies  of  Greece,  Per- 
 sia, and  Babylon  in  Assyria,  and  which 
 answer  to  the  belly,  breast,  and  head  of 
 the  image)* — "  they  had  their  dominion  ta- 
 ken away" — (they  did  not  continue  long 
 in  possession  of  the  empire  of  the  world,  but 
 it  was  conveyed  in  succession  from  one  to 
 the  other,  and  at  last  to  the  Roman  (or  fourth 
 beast), — "  but  their  lives  were  prolonged  for  a 
 season  and  time." — They  still  continued  habit- 
 able countries,  and  under  various  vicissitudes 
 and  forms  of  government,  but  no  longer  the 
 
 racy  of  tea  kingdoms,  with  the  supremacy  of  the  little  horn . 
 Then  follows  the  breaking  up  of  this  iniquitous  system,  and  the 
 casting  down  of  the  popish  thrones,  represented  ( figuratively )'  as 
 done  by  a  judicial  process,  carried  on  before*  Christ,  "  the  ancient 
 of  days,"  called  by  Isaiah  (ix.  6.)  "the  everlasting  father,"  — 
 "  whose  goings  forth  have  been  from  everlasting,'"  (Micah.  v.  2. 
 Psalm  xciii,2.)  and  by  the  opening  of  the  books  of  judgment 
 upon  the  antichristian  empire,  or  the  republication  of  the  scriptures, 
 by  which  he  is  to  be  judged  and  consumed,  (John  xii,  48. — 
 ].  Cor.  vi.  2.)  and  finally,  the  execution  of  the  sentence  of  the 
 court,  and  of the  judgment  written  in  the  prochecies,  by  the  des- 
 truction of  the  body  of  the  beast t  and  giving  it  up  to  the  bu 
 flame. 
 
 *  Dan.  ii. 
 
 %  Y   2 
 
530 
 
 objects   of  prophecy,  or   connected  with  the 
 church  and  ptople  of  God.* 
 
 This  state  of  things  is  to  continue  for  w  a 
 season  and  time"  which  expression,  as  it  re- 
 gards the  destiny  of  the  three  empires  with 
 which  the  cuurch  is  not  any  further  connect- 
 ed, does  not  seem  designed  to  specify  any 
 particular  period,  but  only  an  indefinite  time. 
 For  our  Lord,  some  hundred  years  afterwards, 
 made  use  of  the  same  phrase,  concerning  the 
 same  thing.  (Acts  i.  7.)  "  //  is  not  for  you 
 to  know  the  time  and  the  seasons"  (when  God 
 will  restore  the  kingdom  to  Israel)  "  which 
 the  Father  hath  put  in  his  own  power? — Bui: 
 
 *  See  Sir  Isaac  Newton's  observations  on  Daniel,  chap.  iv. 
 p.  3 1 ,  32 — where  he  infers  from  hence,  that  all  the  four  leasts  arc 
 still  alive,  though  the  dominion  of  the  three  fust  be  taken  away. 
 The  nations  of  Chaldea  and  Assyria,  are  still  the  first  beast, 
 Sec  Bishop  Newton  observes,  (vol  i.  p.  402.)  that  when  the 
 dominion  was  taken  aw  y  from  the  three  first  beasts,  their  bo. 
 dies  were  not  destroyed,  they  were  suffered  to  continue  still  in 
 being.  But  when  the  dominion  shall  be  taken  away  from  this 
 fourth  b^ast,  his  body  shall  be  totally  destroyed,  because  other 
 king'.'o,  s  succeed  to  those,  but  none  other  earthly  kingdom 
 shall  succeed  to  thie. 
 
531 
 
 it  is  now  pretty  clear  from  facts,  as  well  as 
 from  this  prophecy  of  the  image,  that  they 
 were  to  continue  as  long  as  the  Roman  em- 
 pire itself,  and  even  longer,  as  the  same  shock 
 of  the  stone  which  first  destroys  the  feet  of 
 iron  and  clay,  does  afterwards  break  in  pieces 
 the  other  parts  in  succession,  to  make  prepa- 
 ration for  the  introduction  of  the  kingdom  of 
 the  stone  become  a  mountain  ;  that  is,  of 
 Christ  reigning  upon  earth. — "  /  sazv  in  the 
 night  visions,  a?id  behold  one  like  the  Son  of 
 man   came  with  the  clouds  of  h raven ;" — to 
 this  our  Saviour  alludes,* — "  Hereafter  shall 
 ye  see  the  Son  of  man   sittirg  on  the   right 
 hand  of  Power,  and  coming  in  the  clouds  of 
 heaven"       And  it  was  fulfilled   in   a  lower 
 sense,  by  his  coming  in  judgments  upon  that 
 generation   then  alive,  bur   it  is  to  be  more 
 completely  so  by  those  with  which  he  will 
 destroy  the  kingdom  of  the  beast,  and  set  up 
 his  own,  over  all  the  earth,  in  its  place. — 
 *6  And  he  came  to  the  ancient  of  days,  and 
 they  brought  him   near  before  him.      And 
 
 •  Math.  xxvi.  64,  65. 
 
532 
 
 there  was  given  him  dominion,  and  glorj. 
 and  a  kingdom,  that  all  people,  nations,  and 
 languages  should  serve  him :  his  dominion  is 
 an  everlasting  dominion,  which  shall  not  pass 
 away,  and  his  kingdom  that  which  shall  not 
 be  destroyed." 
 
SECTION   XL. 
 
 Strange  blindness  of  papists  to  the  wrath  that  pur* 
 sues  that  devoted  system  of  error, — The  cup  of  fury 
 sent  round  to  the  nations  in  its  connection- — The 
 reign  of  terror,  the  consequence  of  it. — The  doctrine 
 of  Balaam,  in  the  true  spirit  of  popery. — Modern 
 popery  divested  of  nothing  but  power  ; — /'/  remains 
 still  as  objectionable  to  protestants  as  ever,  and  is 
 the  cause  of  the  woes  which  now  afflict  the  christian 
 world. — England* s  exemption  through  divine  mer- 
 cy, provided  for  by  the  prescience  of  God, — but 
 can  gnly  be  perpetuated  to  the  end  of  the  indigna- 
 tion, by  adhering  to  the  original  principles  of  the 
 reformations 
 
 H.E  may  well  be  pronounced  blessed  and 
 happy,  "  ter,  quaterq.  beatus,"  whose  lot  shall 
 be  cast  in  that  time  of  sabbath  to  the  people 
 of  God,  when  we  reflect  upon  the  frightful 
 contrast  by  which  it  is  to  be  immediately  pre- 
 
534- 
 
 ceded.  For  from  the  time  of  the  going  forth 
 of  the  commandment  to  draw  the  avenging 
 sword,  it  does  not  appear  there  is  likely  to  be 
 any  considerable  respite  to  the  pi  agues  of 
 Rome,  any  more  than  there  was  to  those  of 
 Egypt.  They  then  trod  one  upon  the 
 heels  of  another  in  quick  succession,  and  the 
 piteous  cry  of  terror  and  anguish  was  more 
 piercing  and  loud  at  every  stroke. 
 
 The  world  has  been  kept  in  a  continued 
 state  of  suspense  and  alarmed  expectation 
 from  the  first  uplifting  of  the  stone,  and 
 the  new  and  still  more  tragical  tale  of  every 
 succeeding  year's  occurrences,  surpasses  that 
 of  the  years  of  woe  that  are  gone  by.  The 
 monster  Antichrist,  like  a  huge  oak,  the 
 growth  of  centuries,  hath  struck  so  deep 
 his  roots,  and  insinuated  himself  so  inti- 
 mately into  the  constitution  and  fabric  of  al- 
 most all  the  governments  of  Europe,  that 
 the  convulsions  of  his  expiring  agonies  will 
 shake  the  civilized  world,  as  it  were,  to  the 
 centre.  "  The  Lord  will  cause  his  glorious 
 voice  to  be  heard,  and  will  shew  the  lighting 
 
535 
 
 down  of  his  arm  with  the  indignation  of  his 
 anger,  and  the  flame  of  a  devouring  fire ;  with 
 scattering,  and  tempests,  and  hailstones.  And 
 in  every  place  where  the  rod  of  correction  shall 
 come,  which  the  Lord  shall  lay  heavily  upon 
 him,  in  battles  of  shaking  will  he  fight  with 
 
 »* 
 
 it. 
 
 The  prophets  have  made  use  of  the  most 
 terrible  images,  to  represent  the  havoc  which 
 the  breaker  will  make  in  the  present  sub- 
 sisting state  of  the  earth,  before  all  be  reduced 
 to  that  chaos  from  which  the  new  world  of 
 the  millennium  is  to  be  regenerated.  *  Fear 
 and  the  pit  (ofTophet),  and  the  snare,  are  upon 
 thee,  0  inhabitant  oj  the  earth"  and  by  one  or 
 the  other  of  these  judgments  a  great  part  of 
 mankind  will  be  destroyed,  as  were  the  sinners 
 in  Sodom,  which  would  not  take  warning  of 
 the  predicted  punishment. — "  The  earth  is  ut- 
 terly broken  down,  the  earth  is  clean  dissolved, 
 the  earth  is  moved  exceedingly.  The  earth 
 shall  reel  to  and  fro  like  a  drunkard,  and  shall 
 
 *  Isai.  xxx,  22. 
 VOL.  IT,  <?  Z 
 
b36 
 
 be  removed  like  a  cottage,  and  the  transgres- 
 sion thereof  shall  be  heavy  upon  it ;  and  it  shall 
 fall,  and  not  rise*  again." 
 
 Transgression,  and  continuing  blind- 
 ness, and  impenitency  under  it,  is  the  cause 
 of  all  its  woe.  For  "  the  rest  of  the  men 
 which  were  not  killed  by  these  plagues,  yet 
 repented  not  of  the  works  of  their  hands,  that 
 they  should  not  worship  devils,  and  idols  of 
 gold,  and  silver,  and  brass,  and  stone,  and  of 
 wood :  which  can  neither  see,  nor  hear,  nor 
 walk.  Neither  repented  they  of  their  mur- 
 ders, nor  of  their  sorceries,  nor  of  their  forni- 
 cations, nor  of  their  thefts ."f  For  these  things 
 cometh  the  long  predicted  wrath  of  God  upon 
 the  children  of  disobedience,  "  Behold  the 
 Lord  cometh  out  of  his  place  to  punish  the  in- 
 habitants of  the  earth,  for  their  iniquity  ; 
 the  earth  also  shall  disclose  her  blood,  and  shall 
 no  more  cover  her  slain"  \  The  infatuated  par- 
 tisans of  this  ancient  and  detestable  superstition, 
 
 *  Isai.   xxiv.  17* 
 
 \  Rew  ix.  20.   See  Sect.  xxv.  p.  164-. 
 J  Isai.  xxvi,  21 , 
 
53? 
 
 can  by  no  means  be  withdrawn  from  the  zea- 
 lous contending  for  the  support  of  their  error ; 
 "  they  will  not  see  the  rod  and  who  hath  ap- 
 pointed it,"  in  the  proper  light,  but  on  the  con- 
 trary fight  with  it  in  battles  of  shakings  which 
 shake  their  own  power  to  pieces,  and  depopu- 
 late those  parts  of  the  world  that  are  implicated 
 in  the  impending  wrath.*  They  fondly  im- 
 pute the  visible  judgments  which  pursue 
 them,  not  to  their  own  blood-guiltiness  and 
 idolatry,  but  to  the  impiety  of  the  protestant 
 heresy,  and  the  consequent  atheistical  neglect 
 of  the  'worship  and  intercession  of  the  saints , 
 formerly  so  prevailing  in  their  favor,  f  Thus 
 they  weary  out  the  forbearance  of  heaven  by 
 a  more  pertinacious  adherence  to  the  canker 
 that  destroys  them.  "  For  it  is  a  people  of 
 no  understanding.     Therefore  he  that  made 
 
 *  Rev.  siv.  20. 
 
 ■f  The  image  of  St  Janmrius  is  still  carried  in  holy  proces- 
 sion to  restrain  the  eruptions  of  mount  Vesuvius,  and  at  Sarra- 
 goss3,  the  image  of  the  Virgin  was  supplicated  in  the  sam?  man- 
 ner  to  turnback  the  overflowing  scourge,  but  not  with  the 
 same  success  as  in  the  days  of  yore. 
 
 5  Z  2 
 
538 
 
 them  will  not  have  mercy  on  them,  and  he 
 that  formed  them  will  shew  them  no  favor."* 
 
 It  would  be  profane  infidelity  were  we  for 
 a  moment  to  suppose  the  solemn  and  frequent 
 warning,  given  (in  the  prophecies  of  the  chris- 
 tian times  J  against  idolatry,  and  other  gross 
 and  blasphemous  corruptions  of  religion,  to  be 
 a  mere  brutum  julmen,  an  alarm  without  either 
 meaning  or  object.      Words  cannot  convey 
 any  thing  more  terrible  in  the  way  of  inter- 
 diction.      "  Ij  any  man  worship  the  BEAST 
 and  his  image,  and  teceive  his  mark  in  his 
 forehead  or  in  his  hand,  the  same  shall  drink 
 oj  the  wine  of  the  wrath   of  God,  which  is 
 poured  out  without  mixture" — (  to  allay  the 
 intensity  ot   the  virulence  of  the  deadly  po- 
 tion)— u  into  the  cup  of  his  indignation  :  and 
 he  shall  be  tormented  withjire  and  brimstone, 
 in  the  presence  oj   the  holy  angels,  and  in  the 
 presence  of  the  Lamb  "If — These  have  been  all 
 along  protestant  witnesses  against  the  sinful- 
 ness of  popish  idolatry,  and  they  shall  be  wit- 
 
 8  Isai.  sxvii .  I J .  f  Rev.  xiv.  9, 
 
539 
 
 nessing  spectators  of  the  tormenting  scourge 
 with  which  offended  and  blasphemed  heaven 
 will  chastise  and  destroy  it,  in  every  quarter 
 of  the  earth  to  which  it  flies  in  vain  for  shel- 
 ter,— "  saying  to  the  mountains  and  rocks  fall 
 on  us,  and  hide  us  from  the  face  of  him 
 that  sitteth  upon  the  throne,  and  from  the 
 wrath  of  the  Lamb,  For  the  great  day  of 
 his  wrath  is  come ;  and  who  shall  be  able  to 
 stand  ?"* 
 
 The  idea  of  the  torment  sinners  will  endure 
 under  the  divine  judgments,  is  figuratively  re- 
 presented by  their  being  compelled  to  drink  of 
 
 *  Rer.  vi.  16,  17— Iuke  xxiii.  30. 
 
 Exilioq   domos,  et  dulcia  limina  mutant, 
 Atq  alio  patriam  quserunt  sub  sole  jacentem. 
 
 \  iro.  Georg-  lib*  2.  v.  511* 
 
 And  leaving  their  sweet  homes  in  exile  run, 
 
 To  lands  that  lie  beneath  another  sun, 
 
 Dryden. 
 
 This  experiment  in  search  of  peace,  has  been  recently  tried, 
 and  a  little  time  will  shew  the  inefficacy  of  it,  (without  a  change 
 of  principle)  when  once  "  the  Iamb  of  God"  laying  aside  the 
 ensigns  of  mercy,  shall  aisume  the  characteristics  of"  the  Lion 
 of  the  tribe  ofjudah."  It 
 
540 
 
 a  cup  in  which  God  hath  mingled  ingredients 
 of  the  most  noxious  quality :  it  is  very  fre- 
 quent in  the  prophets,  and  seems  to  be  drawn 
 from  the  custom  (in  ancient  times)  of  punish- 
 ing great  offenders  with  death,  by  slow  and 
 lingering  torments,  in  that  manner.     St  John 
 has  adopted  it  from  Jeremiah,  (xxv.)  where 
 the  prophet  foretells  the  same  punishment  for 
 the  same  offences,  and  the   wide   extent  to 
 which  the  catholic  plague  hereby  meant  shall 
 be  carried.      "  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  take  the 
 wine  cup  of  this  fury  at  my  hand,  and  cause 
 all  the  nations  to  whom  1  send  thee  to  drink  of 
 it.     And  they  shall  drink, — and  be  moved, — 
 and  be  mad,  because  of  the  sword  that  I  will 
 send  among  them.     For  the  Lord  hath  a  con- 
 troversy with  the  nations,  he  will  plead  with 
 allfiesh,  he  will  give  them  that  are  wicked  to 
 the  sword,  saith  the  Lord.     Thus  saith  the 
 Lord  of  Hosts,  behold  evil  shall  go  forth  from 
 nation  to  nation,  and  a  great  whirlwind 
 
 <c  It  has  been  observed,  that  all  such  as  were  prevailed  on  to 
 change  their  religion,  with  a  view  of  bettering  their  fortunes, 
 fell  soon  after  into  poverty,  an  j  suik  in  the  c.teem  of  those 
 ■     •  people  who  were  so  eager  to  convert  them." 
 
 Glas's  II st.  of  Panary  /start  If,  p    361*  i.o. 
 
541 
 
 shall  be  raised  up  from  the   coasts  of  the  earth. 
 And  the  slain  of  the  Lord  " —  (persons  devoted 
 judicially  to  the  sword) — "  shall  be  at  that 
 day  from  one  end  of  the  earthy    even  unto  the 
 other  end  of  the  earth.*     They  shall  not  be 
 lamented,  neither  gathered  nor  buried,   they 
 shall  be  dung  upon  the   ground." f       This 
 prophecy,  in  consistency  with  several  others 
 to  the  same  purpose,  before  quoted,  sets  be- 
 fore us  in  a  strong  light,  and  in  most  terrific 
 language,  the  high   importance  of  the  cause 
 which  God  is  thus  pleading  against  the  apos- 
 tates from  truth  and  righteousness ;  and  the 
 wide  extent  to  which  the  calamities,  occa- 
 sioned by  the  final  deeision  of  the  contro- 
 versy, shall  reach. 
 
 The  great  nation,  and  the  eldest  son 
 of  the  corrupt  churchy  were  first  visited  by  the 
 bearer  of  this  infuriating  cup  ;  and  were  com- 
 pelled to  drink  deeply  of  it,  to  prepare  them 
 
 *  The  whole  habitable  globe  cannot  be  meant  here,  but  the 
 Roman  catholic  empire,  or  the  prophetic  and  figurative 
 esrth,  out  of  which  the  beast  arose, 
 
 f  Jer.  xxv.  15, 
 
543 
 
 for  the  appointed  task  of  executing  the  divine 
 wrath  upon  others.  The  tyranny  of  the 
 gloomy,  the  murderous  Robespierre  and  the 
 Jacobins,  was  not  undeservedly  called  thi 
 reign  of  terror  :  for  it  exhibited  to  the 
 eyes  of  all  mankind,  nearly  a  literal  fulfilment 
 of  these  terrible  prophecies  against  mystical 
 Babylon.  At  that  dreadful  time  they  might 
 be  said  almost  without  an  hyperbole,  to  have 
 drank  blood.  It  poured  down  upon  them  in 
 perpetual  torrents  from  the  guillotine,  and  ran 
 in  the  channels  of  the  streets,  as  in  the  gutters 
 of  a  slaughter  house. 
 
 After  this  sanguinary  baptism  in  human 
 gore,  these  excellent  political  reformers  were 
 sent  out  as  missionaries  of  the  revelation  of 
 the  wrath  of  God,  to  preach  in  other  nations 
 the  same  doctrines  of  revolution  and  an- 
 archy, and  to  drop  in  the  newly  stirred  soil, 
 (unhappily  but  too  well  disposed  to  receive 
 it,)  the  same  seed  which  had  yielded  so  rich 
 an  harvest  to  themselves.  These  indefatiga- 
 ble disciples  of  liberty  and  equality 
 soon  handed  round  to  the  nations,  whose judg- 
 
543 
 
 meni  it  was  to  drink  //,— the  same  cup  of  which 
 they  themselves  bad  drank,  and  were  mad** 
 
 Its  pernicious  ingredients  were  the  new 
 lights  in  philosophy,  reason  emancipated  from 
 all  religious  faith  and  moral  restrictions,  su- 
 preme contempt  of  law  and  government,  and 
 of  the  subordination  necessary  for  its  sub- 
 sistence, liberty  and  equality,  insurrection  and 
 a  state  of  nature. 
 
 The  reign  of  cruelty  and  terror  was  also 
 the  triumph  of  infidelity.     The  grand  and 
 
 *  A  subordinate  branch  of  the  instructions  given  by  the 
 infernal  club  to  their  missionaries,  was  to  aim  at  the  overthrow 
 of  all  kingdoms  and  thrones,  by  sap  and  mine,  where  it  might  be 
 found  that  the  harvest  was  not  sufficiently  advanced  in  ripe- 
 ness for  the  sickle.   Rev.  xiv,   15. 
 
 The  foundations  of  religion  were  to  be  turned  up  bv  the 
 revolutionary  plough,  and  the  seeds  of  vice  and  athesm  sown  in 
 seminaries  of  education,  and  private  families,  by  getting  footing 
 as  tutors  and  governesses,  &c.  thus  to  prison  the  fountains  of 
 domestic  virtue  and  confidence,  and  unloose  the  ties  o  patriotic 
 attachments.  To  this  origin  the  g;reat  decay  of  rehgious  and 
 moral  principle,  and  the  shameless  abandonment  of  female  de- 
 licacy so  oiten  disgustingly  exhibited,  and  the  greatly  increased 
 profligacy  of  the  lower  orders  of  society,  since  that  melancholy 
 period,  are  to  be  ascribed.     See  beet.  xxi.  p,  64, 
 
 VOL.  IU  4  A 
 
544 
 
 much  requested  experiment  was  now  brought 
 fairly  to  the  test,  "  whether  society  could  sub- 
 sist without  religion,  without  moral  obligation, 
 or  the  apprehension  of  a  future  account,  and 
 the  existence  of  a  Providence !"     The  tri- 
 umphant and  infuriated  atheists,  became  now 
 in  their  turn  zealous  and  bigotted  persecutors 
 of  religion,  and  of  whatever  bore  any  affinity 
 to  it :  and  as  the  divine   Being  himself  was 
 inaccessible   to  their  rage,  they  could  only 
 hurl  an  empty  defiance  against  high  heaven, 
 and  thurst  out  the  Creator  from  the  govern- 
 ment of  his  own  works,  by  the  impotent  de- 
 crees of  their  governing  authorities.     They 
 wreaked  their  disappointed  hatred  of  God  up- 
 on those  whom  they  considered  as  his    ser- 
 vants and  priests,  and   the  religious    orders, 
 (which  had  spared  them,  while  they  were 
 shedding  the  blood  of  the  saints,)  became  in 
 their  turn  the  objects  of  persecution.     The 
 wretched    monks   in  vain    attempted  to  fiy 
 from  the  death  that  pursued  them,  and  to 
 hide   themselves  in  their  hallowed  cloisters 
 from  the  rage  of  infernal  assassins,  and  from 
 the  dagger  commissioned  of  fate  to  drink 
 
545 
 
 their  blood.  They  were  hunted  like  noxious 
 beasts,  the  dread  and  common  aversion  of 
 mankind,  around  their  once  peaceful  soli- 
 tudes, incapable  of  affording  them  any  longer 
 either  peace  or  protection,  and  they  fell  dead 
 at  the  foot  of  their  own  altars. 
 
 On  reading  the  tragical  records  of  the 
 events  of  that  horrible  time,  one  might  al- 
 most venture  to  say  with  the  sacred  writers, 
 *  this  was  done  that  it  might  be  fulfilled 
 which  was  spoken  of  the  Lord  by  the  pro- 
 phet, saying, — Therefore,  as  I  live,  saith  the 
 Lord  God,  /  will  prepare  thee  unto  blood,  and 
 blood  shall  pursue  thee :  sith  thou  bast  not 
 bated  blood,  even  blood  shall  pursue  thee"* 
 "  The  shepherds  shall  have  no  way  to  flee, 
 nor  the  principal  of  the  flock  to  escape.  A 
 voice  of  the  cry  of  the  shepherds,  and  an  bowl- 
 ing of  the  principal  of  the  flock  shill  be  heard: 
 for  the  Lord  hath  spoiled  their  pasture.  A?id 
 the  peaceable  habitations  are  cut  dozun,  because 
 of  the  fierce  anger  of  the  Lord"^  And  Saint 
 John  introduces  the  angel  of  the  waters,  upon 
 
 *  Ezek.  xxxv.  6,  f  Jer.  x::v,  35  Sec'. 
 
 4  A   2 
 
54S 
 
 the  mingled  people — and  the  men  of  the  land 
 that  is  in  league,  shall  fall  with  them  by 
 the  sword.  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  they  also 
 that  uphold  Egypt  shall  fall,  and  the  pride  of 
 her  power  shall  come  down. — And  they  shall 
 know  that  I  am  the  Lord,'  when  I  have  set  a 
 fire  in  Egypt,  and  when  all  her  helpers  shall 
 be  destroyed."* 
 
 Many  of  these  prophecies  of  Babylon 
 and  Egypt  had  a  literal  accomplishment,  in 
 an  inferior  sense,  even  those  to  which  St  John 
 makes  manifest  allusions,  and  which  he  quote- 
 as  applicable  to  the  apocalyptic  Babylon 
 of  his  own  prophecies.  And  particularly  this 
 of  Ezekiel  concerning  Egypt,  was  soon  after- 
 wards fulfilled  by  Nebuchadnezzar.  Yet  this 
 is  no  reason  (in  this  instance  more  than  in 
 others)  why  a  second  accomplishment  may  not 
 have  been  intended  in  the  mystical  Egypt,  and 
 one  of  infinitely  more  importance  to  the  church 
 of  the  faithful.  We  are  warranted  to  suppose 
 so,  both  by  its  greater  interest  to  christian  times 
 in  this  interpretation,  and  also  by  its  agree- 
 
 *  Ezck,  xxx.  <1«  &c. 
 
549 
 
 ment  with  so  many  other  prophecies  which 
 speak  to  the  same  effect. 
 
 When  Balaam  cast  the  prophetic  glance 
 upon  these  far  distant  times,  and  contemplate 
 ed  in  vision  the  future  glory  and  happy  con- 
 dition of  the  servants  of  God,  he  started  from 
 his  reverie,  with  the  passionate  exclamation, 
 "  Ah  L  who  shall  live  when  God  doth  this?— ■ 
 Let  me  die  the  death  of  the  righteous,  and  let 
 my  last  end  be  like  his  !"*  Yet  the  false 
 hearted  Seer  loved  so  well  the  wages  of  un- 
 righteousness^ that  he  persisted  in  his  iniqui- 
 tous course  of  opposing,  for  gain,  the  progress 
 and  establishment  of  truth  and  righteousness, 
 even  contrary  to  the  known  will  of  God, 
 which  he  himself  had  been  (by  the  over- 
 powering force  of  the  divine  influence)  com- 
 pelled to  proclaim  with  his  own  mouth, 
 against  his  will,  when  "  the  dumb  ass,  speak- 
 ing with  mans  voice,  forbad  the  mad?iess  of 
 the  prophet  "\ 
 
 *  Num,  Kxiii.  10.  f  2  Peter  ii.  16. 
 
5jO 
 
 If  we  may  trust  the  testimony  of  prophecy, 
 this  incredible  madness  of  infatuation  in  sin  is 
 not  (even  in  christian  times)  without  a  parallel, 
 in  the  false  prophet  Antichrist.*  St  Paul  and 
 Daniel  plainly  attribute  to  the  worshippers  of 
 mahuzzim  (or  advocates  of  popery)  the 
 very  same  impious  resistance  to  divine  com- 
 mand, and  atheistical  spirit,  that  they  "  di- 
 vided the  land  for  gain^ — made  gain  their 
 godliness^. — made  merchandise  of  souls ,§— 
 and  did  every  thing  for  fithy  lucre  s  sake,\\ 
 having  their  conscience  seared  with  a  hot 
 iron"**  And  indeed  when  the  pope  was  in 
 the  fulness  of  his  dispensing  and  absolving 
 power,  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  absolve  either 
 him  or  his  advocates  from  these  charges,  as 
 the  writings  of  the  one,  and  the  evil  works  of 
 the  other,  (still  extant  in  history,)  proclaim  to 
 all  the  world.  Yet  let  us  think  and  hope  bet- 
 ter of  persons  of  the  Roman  catholic  persua- 
 sion at  this  day,  as  far  as  consistency,  and 
 fidelity  to   our  only  warrant   (the  word  of 
 
 *  Rev.  ii.  14  ;  Jude.  xi.  f  Dan.  xi  39. 
 
 \  1.  Tim.  vi.  5.  §  2.  Peter  ii,  3  ;  Rev.  xviii  13. 
 
 II  Tit.  i.  1],  **  2.  Theis,  ii.  12 ;  I.Tim,  iv.  2. 
 
551 
 
 God)  will  admit.  That  the  errors  of  mo- 
 dern popery  are  not  (so  they  pretend)  any 
 longer  of  that  malignant  nature  and  descrip- 
 tion under  which  we  find  then  represented 
 in  the  scriptures,  in  church  history,  and  tiie 
 painful  recollections  of  our  fathers.  Yet  we 
 must  not  forget  that  they  are  errors,  and  of  a 
 nature  which  is  hateful  to  God,  and  by  so 
 much  the  more  inexcusable  for  the  great  in- 
 crease of  light  and  knowledge  since  the  time 
 of  the  reformation. 
 
 From  these  living  examples  of  infatuation 
 around  us,  both  in  the  case  of  the  jews,  who 
 "  deny  the  Lord  that  bought  them"  and  the 
 PAPISTS,  who  "  crucify  him  afresh"  by 
 making  him  an  idol,*  we  have  reason  to  take 
 heed  to  ourselves  lest  any  of  us  (vainly  puffed 
 up  by  the  fleshly  mindf  through  some  fa- 
 natical and  sinful  deception,)  become  "harden- 
 ed through  the  deceitfutness  of  sin"  We  see  the 
 
 *  By  the  worship  of  the  crucifix  and  doctrine  of transubstan- 
 tiation  and  the  adoration  of  the  host  and  sacrifices  of  the  mass 
 founded  upon  it. 
 
 f  Col.  ii.  18  ;  Rom.  xii.  3. 
 VOL.  II.  4    B 
 
.): 
 
 power  and  subtiity  of  the  tempter  to  give  a 
 very  plausible  colouring  to  errors  the  most  in- 
 capable of  either  excuse  or  extenuation  ;  Satan 
 presenting  himself  transformed  into  an  angel 
 &f  light,  and  offering  himself  as  a  guide  into 
 the  true  way  of  life,  when  most  he  means  to 
 mislead,  "  for  we  are  not  ignorant  of  his  de- 
 vices"  . 
 
 The  awful  lesson  we  have  now  before  our 
 eyes,  of  Christ  coming  a  second  time  in  his  judg- 
 ments !  an  act  so  contrary  to  his  amiable  cha- 
 racter, and  expressed  wish  "  to  save  mens  lives, 
 and  not  to  destroy  them"  ought  to  convince  us 
 of  the  indispensable  necessity  that  destruction, 
 (not  temporal  only  but  everlasting,)  must  be 
 the  final  consequence  of  unrepented  and  un- 
 reformed  sin  :  and  at  the  same  time,  how  diffi- 
 cult, if  not  utterly  hopeless,  the  expectation  of 
 the  grace  of  repeal tance  is,  when  wilful  blind- 
 ness in  sinful  error  has  been  already  followed 
 by  "  strong  delusion"  and  a  false  security ;  the 
 commencement  of  the  sinners  punishment,  and 
 the  foreboding  of  eternal  death. 
 
553 
 
 But  if  on  our  carnal  apprehensions  things 
 present  make  a  stronger  impression,  than  the 
 "  things  that  are  not  seen,"  being  yet  future  ; 
 let  us  hear  the  apostle's  argument ;—  "  //  the 
 righteous  so  scarcely  are  saved" — (in  the 
 course  of  these  divine  judgments,  by  which 
 the  world  is  to  be  shaken  to  its  very  centre, 
 and  broken  in  pieces,  and  regenerated  by  a  fi- 
 gurative re-creation,) — "where  shall  the  tin- 
 godly  and  sinner  appear  ?'**  or  where  find  a 
 place  upon  the  face  of  the  earth  to  fiee  unto, 
 for  protection  from  "  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb  f 
 in  the  day  when  "  he  will  search  Jerusalem 
 with  candles  y  and  punish  the  men  that  are  set- 
 tled on  their  lees  f'\ 
 
 If  the  fullest  measure  of  success  granted  to 
 an  impious  power,  and  the  inefficacy  of  all  the 
 opposition  that  has  been  made  to  it,  and  above 
 all  the  long  continuance  of  this  surprising  state 
 of  things,  be  considered  as  wonderful,  yet  \xt 
 may  reply  with  David  to  his  envious  breth* 
 ren, — "  is  there  not  a  cause  ?"t — There  is  ai, 
 other  feature  of  the  present  times  no  less  won 
 
 *  1.  Peter  iv.  18l        f  Zeph,  i.  12.       %  J.  Sam,xvii.  29t 
 4B   2 
 
554 
 
 derful,  and  for  which  we  have  infinite  reason 
 to  be  thankful  to  the  divine  mercy,  that  there 
 is  still  left  one  solitary  spot,  where  the  ark  of 
 God  and  the  liberty  of  man  yet  remain  in 
 safety  ;  unviolated  by  irreligious  profanation, 
 or  the  approach  of  the  sword,  which  is  the  ap- 
 pointed scourge  of  moral  and  religious  degene- 
 racy. Overspread  by  the  protecting  wings  of 
 the  divine  providence,*  the  power  of  great 
 Britain,  hath  not  only  withstood  the  shock 
 of  the  colossal  might  of  the  breaker,  but 
 hath  acquired  additional  strength  in  proportion 
 to  the  occasion  for  it ;  and  if  true  to  her  God 
 and  to  herself,  is  still  likely  to  stand,  like  her 
 own  immoveable  cliffs,  defying  the  rage  of  the 
 howling  tempest,  and  laughing  at  the  mad- 
 ning  fury  of  the  whirlwind. 
 
 The  cause  of  our  safety  and  augmenting 
 p-osperity,  in  the  midst  of  the  wreck  of  na- 
 tions, is  to  be  traced  to  the  same  source  as 
 the  fall  of  the  Babylonish  thrones.  "  I 
 beheld  till  the  thrones  were  cast  down,  and 
 
 *  Psalm  1th.  I , 
 
655 
 
 the  ancient  of  days  did  sit : — the  judgment 
 was  set,  and  the  books  were  opened.  I  beheld 
 then,  because  of  the  great  words  which  the 
 horn  spake :  I  beheld  even  till  the  beast  was 
 slain,  and  his  body  destroyed,  and  given  to  the 
 burning  jlame."*  The  impetus  of  the  falling 
 stone  loses  its  wonted  power  of  destruction, 
 when  (without  God)  it  clashes  against  the 
 solid  iron,  detached  from  the  dehilitating 
 admixture  of  miry  clay,  and  wrought  atresh 
 in  the  refiner's  torge,  and  restored  to  its  ori- 
 ginal purity,  and  strength,  and  beauty. 
 
 God  will  in  no  case  turn  his  favorable 
 countenance  away  from  a  reflecting  and  re- 
 penting people,  which  seek  to  the  true  foun- 
 tain of  mercy,  and  'urn  not  "for  the  living  to 
 the  dead,"  but  "  make  him  their  fear,  and  make 
 him  their  dread"  and  turn  away  from  all  their 
 abominations.  "  For  when  his  judgments  are 
 in  the  earth,  the  inhabitants  of  the  world  learn 
 righteousness  ;"  except,  as  the  prophet  imme- 
 diately subjoins,  they   be  judicially  blinded, 
 
 *  Dan.  vii,  9-  &c- 
 
55G 
 
 "  Though  mercy  be  shewn  to  the  wicked,  yew 
 will  he  not  learn  righteousness :  in  the  very 
 land  of  rectitude  he  will  deal  perversely ;  and 
 will  not  regard  the  majesty  of  Jehovah.  Je- 
 hovah, thy  hand  is  lifted  up,  yet  they  will  not 
 tee ;  hut  they  shall  see,  with  confusion,  thy 
 zeal  for  thy  people ;  yea,  the  fire  shall  burn 
 up  thine  adversaries.  Jehovah,  thou  wilt  or- 
 dain for  us  peace :  for  even  all  our  mighty 
 deeds  thou  hast  performed  for  us.  O  Jehovah, 
 our  God  !  other  lords  exclusive  of  thee  have- 
 had  dominion  over  us  :  thee  only,  and  thy 
 name,  henceforth  will  we  celebrate."* 
 
 Whatever  disasters  have  befallen  us,  they 
 have  been  met  with  in  fighting  in  behalf  of  a 
 hopeless  cause,  and  an  attempt  to  turn  back 
 
 THE     OVERFLOWING     SCOURGE   from    the 
 
 land  of  ldumea,-\  where  it  hath  a  divine  com- 
 mission to  rage.  Yet  our  error  has  been 
 chastised  in  mercy,  and  we  ought  now  to  be 
 convinced  that  the  tottering  image  can  no 
 longer  be  upheld  by  human  aid,  but  must 
 fall,  and  crush  "  its  helpers"  in  its  own  ruin. 
 
 *  Isai.  xxvi.9.  t  I^i*  xxxiv,  ':- 
 
It  is  equally  obvious,  that  in  the  defence  of 
 our  own  cause,  whenever  it  has  been  separate 
 from  our  unfortunate  allies,  "  God  hath  appear- 
 ed for  us"  and  given  us  such  success,  as  ex- 
 ceeded hope,  and  left  the  glory  of  all  former 
 victories,  and  the  experience  oi  other  times, 
 far  behind. 
 
 The  u  harvest  of  the  earth  is  ripe,"  the 
 commissioned  "  angel  hath  thrust  in  his 
 sickle,"  and  the  earth  is  reaping,  yet  still  we 
 are  spared.  The  destroying  angel  is  sent 
 forth  to  smite  Jerusalem,  and  "  the  shiners  in 
 Sion  are  afraid,  fearfulness  hath  surprised  the 
 hypocrites?*  But  to  this  highly  favored  na- 
 tion, though  the  cup  of  Babylon's  venge- 
 ance hath  been  many  times  attempted  to  be 
 poured  in,  yet  still  it  has  been  without  the 
 effect  of  the  burning  torments,  elsewhere  so 
 speedily  resulting  from  the  poisonous  mix- 
 ture. The  cheering  voice  of  a  divine  pro- 
 tector hath  called  to  us,  out  of  the  dark  and 
 lowering  cloud,  "  come  my  people,  enter  thou 
 into  thy  chambers,  and  shut  tfyy  doors  about 
 
 *  l6ai.  xxxiii.  1 4. 
 
558 
 
 thee :  hide  thyself  as  it  iverc  for  a  little  mo- 
 ment, until  toe  indignation  be  overpast. 
 For  behold,  the  Lord  cometh  out  of  his  place, 
 to  punish  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  for 
 their  iniquity :  the  earth  also  shall  disclose 
 her  blood,  and  shall  no  more  cover  her  slain"* 
 
 *  Isaiah  xxvi.  20.  This  prophecy  cannot  well  be  addressed  to 
 the  jews,  either  in  ancient  or  modern  times  There  does  not 
 appear  any  event  in  the  past  history  of  Israel  with  wh.ch  the 
 circumstances  in  it  can  be  reconciled.  Goci's  indignation  is  re- 
 presented as  excee  ingly  move*.,  against  the  destro  ers  of  his 
 prophets  and  martyrs,  insomuch  that  he  rises  from  his  throne 
 and  comes  out  of  his  place  in  person,  to  tee  full  and  exemplary 
 execution  done  upon  his  enemies,  at  the  same  time  providing  a 
 safe  retreat  for  his  people  during  the  continuance  of  these  almost 
 general  calamities,  inflicted  upon  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth, — 
 (that  is, the  whole  Roman  empirk,) — and  a  retreat  of  such  a 
 nature,  that  by  prudence,  vigilance,  and  courage,  they  must  be 
 instrumental  to  their  onion  security,  and  shut  around  them  those  un- 
 assailable gates,  with  which  God  hath  provided  them  — but  the 
 jews  were  themselves  too  deeply  chargeable  with  the  guilt  cf 
 that  innocent  blood  of  whicli  vengeance  is  in  search,  and  have 
 been  suffering,  on  its  account,  an  indignation  net  of  ••  a 
 little  moment  "  as  this  is  to  be,  but  "  of  many  days,"  it  having 
 continued  now  almost  1800  years. 
 
 1  he  prophecy  certainly  corresponds  more  with  the  present 
 time  and  state  of  things,  and  the  peculiar  situation  and  circum- 
 stances  of  this  nation.  Lngland  (as  it  is  on  all  h..nds  ac- 
 knowledged) has,  in  all  time  since  the  reformation,  been  the 
 
559 
 
 "For  it  is  the  day  of  the  Lord's  ven- 
 
 most  successful  opposer  of  popery,  and  the  best  defender  of  the 
 protestant  faith  ;  60  in  the  present  day,  she  affords  the  only 
 Assylum  left  on  earth,  to  true  liberty  and  genuine  Christian- 
 ity ;  and  is  the  last  hope  of  refuge  to  the  miserable  fugitives 
 that  have  escaped  from  the  sword. 
 
 Previous  to  the  opening  of  these  fiery  judgments,  which  are 
 to  "go  before  him,  and  burn  up  his  enemies  on  every  side"  God 
 hath  put  the  trident  of  the  seas  into  hands  which  know 
 how  to  wHd  it,  and  having  or  Joined  of  old  the  floo^  gates  of  the 
 ocean  for  our  security,  and  "  the  munition  of  rocks"  for  the  walls 
 of  our  retreat,*  he  counsels  his  believing  people  to  retire  from 
 the  vain  contest ,  and  await  the  issue  in  a  religious  deper.dance 
 on  his  blessing  to  the  means  of  protection  he  affords,  and  which 
 in  all  emergencies  he  can  make  still  equal  to  tie  occasion. 
 
 The  attempts  of  the  inveterate  tyrant  to  exclude  us  from  the 
 trade  of  the  world,  will  be  as  vain  as  his  warfare.  God  hath 
 continually  opened  fresh  sources  of  new  and  greater  prosperity 
 to  England,  as  fast  as  the  envious  foe  blocks  up  the  old  ones. 
 '.*  The  barrel  of  meal  shall  not  waste,  nor  the  cruse  of  oil  fail,  until 
 the  day  that  the  Lord sendeth  peace  upon  the  earth-" 
 
 "  It  is  possible  our  external  commerce  may  be  diminished,  and 
 yet  our  internal  wealth  and  strength  increased."—  See  the  ju- 
 dicious reasoning  upon  this  argument  in — "  Hints  on  the 
 Economy,  Sec"  by  J.  C.  Curwen,  Esq.  M.  P  (  1808)  p.  124. 
 
 As  a  striking  contrast  to  this  merciful  exemption  hitherto 
 vouchsafed  to  us,  the  pitiable  sufferings  of  the  wretched  Hol. 
 landers,  at  this  time,  cannot  but  occur  to  every  thinking 
 mind  ;  and  suggest  awful  reflections  upon  the  distributive  jus- 
 
 *  Isaiah  xxvi.  i. 
 
 VOL.  IT.  A  C 
 
560 
 
 geance,  and  the  year  of  recompenses  for 
 
 the  CONTROVERSY  OF  SlON.* 
 
 Let  wise  and  cautious  measures  taken  for 
 the  reformation  of  errors  and  abuses,  both  in" 
 public  and  private  life,  and  a  reverent  respect 
 for  our  excellent  religion,  and  that  decent  and 
 orderlyt  establishment  of  it  settled  amongst 
 us,  make  those  gates  for  ever  impenetrable, 
 which  the  hand  of  God  hath  formed,  and  by 
 his  blessing  and  command \  our  glorious 
 navy  hath  barred  fast  around  us.  "  He  that 
 walketh  righteously,  and  speaketh  uprightly, 
 he  that  despiseth  the  gain  of  oppressions,  that 
 shaketh  his  hands  from  holding  of  bribes,  that 
 
 tice  of  heaven  towards  offending  nations.  Their  "  lot  was  not 
 to  have  drank  of  the  cup  of  Babylon's  punishment,  yet  they  have 
 surely  drank  of it*-  (Jer  xlix.  12.)  Their  sins  against  every 
 *'  principle  of  justice,  humanity,  and  christian  faith,  in  the 
 cruelties  at  Amboyna,  and  the  trampling  vpon  the  cross  at  Ja- 
 pan, at  the  instigation  of  the  fell  demon  of  avarice,  are  now- 
 set  before  their  eyes,  as  the  offences  of  popery  are  also,  by  the 
 peculiarity  of  their  afflictions,  in  this  great  day  of  God's 
 judgment,  when  he  «*  will  plead  with  all  flesh."  (Jer.  xxv.31.) 
 
 *  Isai.  xxxiv.  8, 
 
 f   1  Cor.  xiv,  4-0, 
 
501 
 
 stoppeth  his  ears  from  hearing  of  blood,  and 
 shutteth  his  eyes  from  seeing  evil,  he  shall 
 dwell  on  high ;  his  place  of  defence  shall  be 
 the  munition  of  rocks,  bread  shall  be 
 given  him,  his  waters  shall  be  sure"* 
 
 Here,  as  in  a  secure  chamber,  our  doors 
 being  shut  about  us,  while  the  wild  hurricane 
 rages,  and  the  tempestuous  surges  beat  in  vain 
 against  it  without,  let  us  confidently  wait  the 
 will  of  heaven,  and  be  content  to  lie  hid  as  it 
 were  for  a  little  moment,  "until  the  in- 
 dignation be  overpast." 
 
 Britain,  the  queen  of  Isles,  our  fair  possession, 
 Secur'd  by  nature,  laughs  at  foreign  force  ; 
 Her  ihips  her  bulwark,  and  the  sea  her  dike, 
 Sees  plenty  in  her  lap,  and  braves  the  world. 
 
 King  Charles  I. 
 
 We  have  great  encouragement,  amounting 
 almost  in  effect  to  the  evidence  of  a  voice 
 from  heaven,  that  we  should  continue  to 
 trust  in  God,  and  repel  force  by  force,  anc 
 never  yield  to  that   apathy  of  despondency 
 
 *  Isai,  xxxiii,  15. 
 4  C   2 
 
562 
 
 which  has  tied  up  the  hands  of  the  nations, 
 so  long  as  any  effectual  resistance  was  in 
 their  power.  But  now  (with  respect  to 
 them)  the  golden  opportunity  is  gone  by, 
 and  out  of  their  spoils  the  stone  is  already 
 become  a  great  mountain,  and  threatens 
 soon  to  lift  its  towering  head  above  the  clouds, 
 and  with  its  base  to  cover  the  earth.* 
 
 The  peculiar  blessings  of  Providence  vouch- 
 safed in  our  favor,  through  this  long  continued 
 scene  of  horrors,  while  the  flames  of  God's 
 jealousy  have  been  spread  far  and  wide  on 
 every  side  of  us,  entitle  us  to  say  with  Moses, 
 "  did  ever  people  hear  the  voice  of  God,  speak- 
 ing out  of  the  midst  of  the  jire,  as  thou  hast 
 heara\  and  live?"  Our  ears  have  repeatedly 
 heard  the  shouts  of  victory  amidst  the  groans 
 of  slaughtered  nations.  Our  eyes  have  seen 
 the  salvation  of  God  in  mighty  achievements, 
 to  which  history  can  produce  nothing  paral- 
 
 *  In  assigning  the  ancient  limits  of  the  Roman  empire,  or 
 present  Roman  catholic  spiritual  juMsdiction,  to  this  prophetic 
 phrase — "  the  whole  earth/'  I  have   understood  England  as  an. 
 exception  for  the  reason  above  given. 
 
563 
 
 lei,  in  the  midst  of  universal  consternation  on 
 every  side  of  us. 
 
 Jurat  ire  periclis 
 
 Ad  decus  ;  et  dextta  memorandum  condere  nomen, 
 Quale  dedit  nunquam  rebus  fortuna  secundis 
 
 Sil.  Ital.  lib  xl,  v.  36. 
 
 Sweet  is  the  toil  thro'  perils  to  pass  on 
 To  honors  meed,  by  glorious  actions  won, 
 And  rear  a  monument  of  lasting  fame, 
 Surpassing  all  that  happier  times  can  claim. 
 
 England,  the  native  seat  of  liberty,  glori- 
 ous in  her  apparel  of  unsullied  and  primitive 
 Christianity,  illustrious  for  pre-eminence  in  li- 
 terature and  arts,  and  in  former  perio  is  un- 
 equalled in  arms  (a  glory  which  she  hath  not 
 tarnished,  but  greatly  brightened  in  the  present 
 arduous  contest,  against  such  overwhelming 
 preponderance  of  power)  still  unfurls  the  flag 
 of  triumph  and  defiance  over  the  subject  main. 
 She  pursues  the  flving  conqueror  ot  the  world 
 to  every  place  where  he  seeks  to  hide  his  di- 
 minished head,  and  there  throwing  her  own 
 wooden  walls  around  him,  she  holds  him  bound 
 as  in  a  prison  house  from  which  he  dares  not 
 look  out.      She  wrests  from  his   strong  grasp 
 
564 
 
 the  dominion  of  the  seas,  and  spoils  him  of  his 
 maritime  strength,  as  he  robs  the  nations  previ- 
 ously delivered  to  his  sword.*  Haughtily  she 
 opposes  a  threatening  front  to  the  confederate 
 world,  her  foes,  and  "  like  as  the  lion  growleth, 
 even  the  young  lioa  over  his  prey  ;  though  the 
 whole  company  of  shepherds  be  called  together 
 against  him  :  at  their  voice  he  will  not  be  ter- 
 rified, nor  at  their  tumult  will  he  be  humbled. 
 So  shall  Jehovah  God  of  Hosts  descend  to  fight, 
 for  Mount  Zion,  and  for  his  own  hill.  As  the 
 mother  birds  hovering  over  their  young,  so 
 shall  Jehovah  Gcd  of  Hosts,  protect  Jerusalem : 
 protecting  and  delivering  ;  leaping  forward  and 
 rescuing  her."!  "Yea  in  the  way  of  thy 
 judgments,  0  Lord have  we  waited  for  thee  ; 
 the  desire  of  our  soul  is  to  thy  na?ne,  and  to  the 
 remembrance  of  thec"% 
 
 *  Isai  lxv  12.  Jer.  xlvii.  6.  f  Isai.  xxxi.  4, 
 
 £  Isai.  xxvi.  8. 
 
 J.  Graham,  Printer,   Sunderland, 
 
ERRATA  IN  VOL.  I. 
 
 Page  174,  for  kings  read  king, 
 
 1 98,  at  the  end  of  the  note,  to  the  words  "  History 
 
 •f  Popery,"  add  «  By  H.  Care,  1678." 
 
 251,  in  the  note,  line  3  from  the  bottom,  for  "  called 
 
 God,"  read  ««  called  a  God." 
 
 252,  at  the  end  of  the  first  note,  to  the  words  "  Man 
 
 of  Sin,"  add"  By  H.  Care,  1677  " 
 
 328,  in  the  note,  for  "  nod,"  read"  rod." 
 
 449,  for  "  Crcesus,"  read  "  Croesus." 
 
 ERRATA  IN  VOL.  II. 
 
 Page  50,  dele  the  comma  in  the  note. 
 
 ■  .       1 14,  in  the  note,  for  ■jraiv^ccru,  read  Trnv^XTUt 
 
 ■  131,  in  the  note,yir  aed  read  and. 
 
 .    ..-  132,  line  3  in  the  note,  for  accordingly  read  ac- 
 cording. 
 
 ■  250,  line  2,  before  fuller  insert  a. 
 
 »         255,  in  the  note,/or  desalatorum  read  desolatorum. 
 
 360,  line  1,  for  as  well  his  Holiness  read  as  well 
 
 as  &c. 
 
 386,  in  the  note,  line  6,  before  are  on  the  contrary, 
 
 insert  they. 
 
 — —  433,  lins  15,  for  domestic  read  domestics. 
 
DATE  DUE 
 
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