"man might buy or fell, fave he that had the mark, "or the name of the beaft, or the number of his "name." And then the chapter concludes with thefe words: "Here is wifdóm, let him that hath understanding, count the number of the beast, for it "is the number of a man, and the number is fix "hundred three score and fix."

Hereby is clearly foretold the terrible ftrain of papal excommunications. against those who would not receive the mark + of the beaft, nor fübject themselves to that idolatrous form of government, whereof the popes were to be the authors, and which feems to be pointed out by the name Lateinos, contained in the mystical number 666, namely, that' by

+ The false prophet, or two horned beaft, was to cause a particular mark to be used, by all the fubjects of his government, that fo they might be diftinguifhed from others; and thus the mark or fign of the crofs is by the pope's appointment ufed by papists of all denominations. Remarkable to this purpose is the account given by that ingenious author the Baron of Merchilton, (when commenting upon this paffage) in his treatife upon the apocalypfe. His words are as follow: "Thefe croffes were fo univerfally ufed, (that befides their daily croffings, with their right-hands on their foreheads, which they call faving) all manner of perfons behoved to bear even visible marks thereof, at ap pointed times, on their foreheads, or in their hands, fuch as to be croffed with afhes upon their foreheads on Ash Wednesday, and to bear palm croffes in their right-hand en Palm Sunday, other. wife they were thought to be heretics, and curfed from the com munion of chriftians: And thefe excommunicates (as faith the bull of pope Martin V) fhall not be permitted to keep houses or lodgings, or to make any bargain, or to occupy any trade or merchandize, or to have any fociety with chriftians."

It, according to the custom of the Hebrews and Greeks (who uf.d letters for figures), we add together the fums of the letters in the word AATEINOZ, they will exactly make the number 666; and that this number doth precisely point out the name of that empire which is typified by the first beaft, will appear probable, if we confider:

ft, That it is faid to be the number of a man's name, and fo is Lateinos (as the Baron of Merchilton observes) the name of a man, even the name of one of their kings, from whom that peo⚫ ple were called Latini, and their country Latium, long before king Romulus.

2dly,

by thefe excommunications, fuch perfons fhould net only be folemnly anathematized, but alfo deprived of all the benefits of human fociety.

Now this was literally fulfilled by that inhuman edict of the Lateran council held by pope Alexander III. against the Waldenfes, and Albigenfes, whereby F

it

2dly, This author obferves, that as the Grecians had a custom in their mysteries, and oracles, to obferve the number of names, as is to be found in different places of the Sybilline verses, and elfewhere (as Goafparus Peucerus upon Carion teltifies); therefore he concludes, that the apostle, obferving the cuftom of those to whom he wrote, faith, the number of the beast, or rather, as it is termed in the 17th verfe, the number of the beaft's name is 666.

He farther adds that Irenæus (who was taught by Polycarp, the difciple of St John) about the end of his 5th book de Herefibus, approveth of this manner of interpretation, in thefe words; "Et "teftimonium prehibentibus his, qui facie ad faciem viderunt Jo. "hannem, et ratione docentibus, quoniam numerus nominis beftiæ, "fecundum Græcorum computationem, per literas, quæ in eo "funt, fexcentos habebit, et fexaginta fex." But though he was thus pofitive as to the manner of interpretation, and amongst other names mentions that of Lateinos; yet (as the learned author obferves) because be had no authority for any particular name, he leaves off to speak determinately thereof,

Farther, as another proof of the propriety of this explication, Mr Mede obferves, that after the divifion of the empire intò ten kingly governments, and no fooner, the bishop of Rome, with the reft of the inhabitants of the western empire, were, by way of distinction, called by the name of Latines; and that this was done by these very perfons to whom the Apocalypfe was written, viz, the feven Afiatic churches. For (as he adds) the Greeks, and other orientals, with whom the name of empire ftill remained, would have themselves only to be called Romans, and us, with our pope, bishops, kings, and princes under him, by a kind of fatal instinct they called Latines.

Laftly, Molineus obferves, that the church of Rome is justly called the Latin church; fince nothing is written or spoken there but in the Latin tongue. All maffes, prayers, hymns, litanies, decrees, and bulls are expreffed in Latin, The very women pray in La. tin. The people are not allowed to read the Bible in any other language, For which reafon the council of Trent ordered, that the vulgate Latin tranflation fhould be deemed the only authentic one. And he remarks, that many of the popish doctors make no difficulty to prefer this verfion to the Hebrew and Greek text, written by the very prophets and apostles,

1

it is ordered, under an anathema, that no perfons fhall prefume to give them any countenance, or fa maintain any correfpondence with them. And the fynod of Tours in France, held by this Alexander, orders, under the fame penalty, that no perfon prefume to keep any fort of commerce with them, "either in buying or felling."

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The Lateran council, under pope Innocent, decreed against all the temporal lords, who being required and admonished by the church, fhould neglect to purge their lands of thefe perfons, whom they called heretics, that they should be firft excom municated by the metropolitans, and other provincial bishops, and, if they refused to fatisfy, that their vaffals fhould be declared by the pope of Rome abfolved from their allegiance to them, and that their lands fhould be given to the Catholics.""

May we not then conclude, that the two horned beaft fpeaks here like the dragon? For that bloody dragon, Dioclefian, publifhed an edict against chriftians of the fame kind, that none fhould fell any thing to them, or afford them the malleft relief until they had firft facrificed to the heathen gods. Con cerning which edict we have thefe mournful lines of Beda.

Non illis emendi quidquam,
Aut vendendi copia:

Nec ipfam haurire aquam
Dabatur licentia,

!

Antequam thurificarent
Deteftandis idolis.

SECT.

SE C T. III.

Of the Ara and Duration of the two preceding Beasts.

HAVING, in the former fections, given fome account of these two kinds of government, the one fecular, and the other ecclefiaftical, typified by the ten horned, and two horned beafts, it must be evident to every attentive reader, that they are contemporary.

For, as the fecular beaft under its feventh head is faid, in the 3d verfe of the 14th chapter, to be an "image (or likeness) of the beaft which had re"ceived a mortal wound;" or, as hath been explained, of that idolatrous government, which was abofifhed by. Conftantine the Great, fo, in the 14th and 15th verfes, the two horned beast, or the pope and his clergy are faid to be the restorers of this image, and to give it a life and foul; in the 12th verfe, to exercife a fupreme authority over it; and, in the 19th chapter, 2oth verfe, it is foretold, that "the "beast, and with him the falfe prophet, that wrought "miracles before him, with which he deceived "them that had received the mark of the beaft, and "them that worshipped his image, (and who, there

fore, is the very fame with the two horned beaft) "that both of them fhould be taken, and caff into a "lake of fire burning with brimftone."

Befides, the little horn, who is faid, Daniel 7th chapter, 8th verfe, to come up among the ten, and of whom it is predicted, in the 25th verfe, that he would "fpeak great words against the Moft High, "and wear out the faints of the Moft High, and "think to change times and laws;" this little horn (by which alfo we are to understand the papal government)

vernment) was to maintain his fpiritual tyranny, "until a time, and times, and the dividing, or half "a time;" and this is explained in the 12th chapter of the Revelation, to be 1260 days, the very fame space which is determined in the 13th chapter, 5th verfe, for the reign of the fecular beaft.

Since then the two beafts, the secular and ecclesiaftical, are contemporary in their rife, duration, and end, and are, in all these refpects, fo infeparably connected with each other, it must neceffarily follow, that, by fixing the æra of the one, we most certainly fix the era of the other.

Now, the era of the fecular beaft is clearly pointed out by the angel, in these remarkable words, Revelation, 17th chapter, 12th verfe: "And the ten horns "which thou faweft, are ten kings which have re"ceived no kingdom as yet, but receive power as kings one hour with the beast *"

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Seeing then, that these ten kingly governments had not exifted in the Roman empire, before the vifion, nor could poffibly be fully established, during the Cefarian head; and fince the angel pofitively affirms, that at the commencement of the reign of the beaft, and no fooner, they would be perfectly confirmed; the confequence is unavoidable, that, if we can find out the precife time, when thefe ten kingly governments were fully established, we may from thence, with great certainty, date the era of the beaft.

In order that this may be clearly afcertained, we

are

The words, one hour, cannot imply for a fhort space, unless they had been joined by a verb that fignifies duration; that is, unless it had been expreffed that they were to exercile their power one hour with the beaft; in that cafe only, one hour might cenote a fhort space of time; and, therefore, I know no other tair conftruction the words are capable of, than that at the time of their full establishment the reign of the beaft thould commence. Mr Whifton's effay on the Revelation, p. 222,