Church, in whose pale only was salvation !!! The Christian church was an object dear to him: what then must be his feelings to be told that it should come to this!

7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns,

The answer of the angel is designed to allay the admiration of the apostle; and this it does by accounting for what had been seen. When Hazael wondered at his own predicted cruelties, and scarcely thought them possible, he was told in answer, "The Lord hath showed me that thou shalt be king over Syria." This was answer sufficient ; and that of the angel resembles it. The character of the woman is accounted for by her alliance with the beast. Let the Christian church consider this, and tremble at such alliances !

8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. 9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. 10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. 11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.

Having given an account of the woman, the angel proceeds to describe the beast that carrieth her." This no doubt is the Roman empire, described as the "beast that was, and is not, and yet is." Prior to the overthrow of paganism by Constantine, it was-it was that idolatrous, blasphemous, persecuting power which Daniel had foretold. From that period, professing to become a Christian government, the properties of the beast were as it were laid aside, and it was not. Such was its character from the days of Constantine to the revelation of the man of sin. It might have been denominated the beast that was, and 28 not; or the late pagan, but now Christian empire. But not.

withstanding this his profession of Christianity, his origin is "the bottomless pit," and his end" perdition." He may deceive the blinded multitude with his pretences of being not that which he once was; but, as the angel informs the apostle, he yet is. He had indeed "a wound by a sword," which was thought at the time to be mortal, but it did not prove so. The corruptions of Christianity healed it, and all the properties of the beast revived in their wonted vigour.

The angel proceeds to inform the apostle more particularly concerning the "seven heads" of the beast, and intimates that in understanding this subject there will be employment for "wisdom." They are said first to be "seven mountains on which the woman sitteth." This determines the seat of the hierarchy to be Rome, well known as standing, when in its full extent, upon seven hills. They are also said to be "seven kings," or forms of government, under which the empire had subsisted, did subsist, or would hereafter subsist. The forms which had subsisted, (as has been observed on Chap. xiii.) were Kings, Consuls, Dicators, Decemvirs, and Military Tribunes; the form which subsisted at the time of the commencement of the prophecy was that of Emperors; and that which was yet to come, and to continue a short space," seems to be that non-descript government which succeeded the overthrow of the Emperors, and continued in divers forms for about three hundred years, till the establishment of that government which from the days of Charlemagne to the Reformation, a space of above seven hundred years, combined all the nations of Europe in support of the antichristian hierarchy.

This short-lived intermediate power might on some accounts be considered as the "seventh" head of the beast, and as such be distinguished from its last head, which in this view would be the "eighth :" but upon the whole it was rather to be considered as belonging to that in which it merged, and which in this view would be the seventh, or " of the seven."

There is an apparent difficulty in this last head of the Roman government being described as the beast that was and is not, as though the charges here alluded to were peculiar to that last head, when in fact they respect the beast under different heads.

The

answer I conceive to be this-The beast it is true was under his first five heads, and was not under his sixth ; but till the last stages of his existence this description could not be applied to him, or become as it were his proper name. ́ From thence he would be known as the beast that was and is not, or as the no longer pagan, but Christian empire.

12 And the ten horns which thou sawest, are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. 13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. 14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. 15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are pcoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. 16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate, and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. 17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. 18 And the woman which thou sawest, is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

In every description of the Roman beast, whether by Daniel or John, the ten horns are a distinguished part of it. "Ten kings," in the language of prophecy, are ten kingdoms, or governments. They were not kingdoms at the time of the vision: hence the kings are said to have " received no kingdom as yet ;" but on the overturning of the empire by the Goths in the fifth century, those nations which had before been dependent provinces, together with others that were without its jurisdiction, became independent kingdoms; and having embraced the religion of Rome, in process of time united in supporting it.

The reign of these kings is said to be "one (or the same) hour with the beast;" that is, with the last head of the Roman empire. They had overturned the empire in its preceding head or form; but by agreeing together in religion they established it under a new form and being of the same mind with the beast in this his new form as to supporting the church, they unanimously "gave

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their power and strength and kingdoms to him," for this end. They did not subject their kingdoms to him as a secular power, for then had they not been independent; their only connexion with him would be ecclesiastical, or in his supporting the harlot. That this was the only bond of union between them is manifest from the result of things: when their love should be turned into hatred, they are not said to hate the beast, but the whore; it was the whore therefore, and not the beast, that was the object of their attachment. While he, caparisoned in scarlet, should carry her through all her filthy and bloody courses, they would be with him, holding up his trappings, or lending their authority to enforce his

measures.

Such was actually the conduct of all the governments of Christendom prior to the Reformation, and such has been the conduct of many of them since. It is thus that they are said to have made

war with the Lamb." Their proceedings with respect to religion have been antichristian. All that has been done for more than a thousand years in invading the rights of conscience has been assuming his throne; and all the cruel edicts against what they call heresy and heretics, with all the bloody executions of them, have been in direct hostility against his kingdom. But the Lamb shall overcome them." Whosoever shall gather together against him will fall for his sake. They may ask, who is like unto the beast, and who is able to make war with him? But the Lamb is "Lord of lords, and King of kings," and must prevail. His army, too, is a select band, "called, and chosen, and faithful," who following their leader are certain to be victorious. The overthrow of the governments of Christendom does not respect them as monarchical in distinction from republican, (for one of Daniel's "kingdoms" was a republic,) but as antichristian. Those governments that "make war with the Lamb," whatever be their form, the "Lamb will overcome them.

In the progress of this war it is intimated that the kings who have supported the harlot shall have their hearts turned to "hate" her, and so shall be instruments in her destruction. The hierarchy will become as odious in the eyes of the nations as a wrinkled prostitute is in the eyes of her paramours. This is the way in which

the antichristian church is doomed to fall. It will not be from the increase of religious people who withdraw from her communion, as she has always apprehended; but from those who have been her companions in sin, and who, when nothing more is to be expected from her, shall turn against her and destroy her. It is not by Protestantism, nor by Methodism, (as serious Christianity is now called amongst us,) but by Infidelity, that false religion will be overthrown.

It may seem strange that the powers which supported the an tichristian harlot should be the instruments employed in destroying her; but so it is appointed of heaven. God, who saw the end from the beginning, intended for wise ends to permit the apostasy, and so to order it that the governments of Europe should for a time unite in supporting it. But it is only for a time when the purposes and prophecies of God are fulfilled, he will cause a spirit of discord to separate these workers of iniquity, so that they shall destroy one another.

Finally, That no doubt might be left as to what was signified by the woman, she is called "that great city which reigned" at the time of the vision, "over the kings," or kingdoms "of the earth." This was equal to saying, It is ROME, considered as the seat of an antichristian hierarchy, which in the latter part of her empire shall prevail, but which, like all her other forms, shall go into perdition.