SECT. IV.

Concerning the two-horned beast of the earth.

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The two-horned beast of the earth and the image are not Infidelity and democratic Tyranny-Neither are they the French Republic and the prostitute goddess of reason and liberty-The two-horned beast is not the same as the beast of the bottomless pit-Ludovicus cannot be the name of the beast-The two-horned beast is not the Romish clergy, as contradistinguished from the Papacy -But he is the catholic spiritual empire of the church of Rome, considered as including both the Pope his head, and the regular and secular papal clergy his two lamb-like horns, or distinct ecclesiastical kingdomsThis spiritual empire, which at its first rise was only a small spiritual kingdom, is represented by Daniel under the symbol of a little horn springing up among the ten horns of the Roman beast: but, when the saints were given into the hand of the little horn by the Pope being. constituted Bishop of Bishops and supreme head of the universal Church, the little horn became a catholic spiritual empire, and as such is represented by St. John under the symbol of a second beast co-operating with the ten-horned or secular Roman beast-Points of resemblance between the two-horned beast and the Papacy -The making of an image for the ten-horned beast by his colleague the two-horned beast is the revival of idolatry by the Pope-Reasons why the image cannot be either the Pope, the Carlovingian empire, or the Inqui sition-The name of the beast is the name, not of the second, but of the first beast-The prophetic description of this name must be carefully attended to, in order to discover what it is: for it is not sufficient merely to discover a name that comprehends the number 666, and thence to infer that that name is the name of the beast

-The

-The opinion of Irenèus upon this point is perfectly. just-Latinus is the name of the beast; both because it contains the number 666, because it is the name of a man, because it is the name of an empire, and because it is the gentile name of every individual in that empire -The mark of the beast is the cross, as abused by the secular Latin empire to the purposes of cruelty and superstition-The two apocalyptic beasts in short are the two contemporary Latin empires, secular and spiritual -To shew their close connection with each other yet further, St. John afterwards represents them jointly under one great compound symbol, a harlot or apostate church riding upon a seven-headed and ten-horned temporal beast

SECT. V.

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Under the image of 144,000 sealed servants of God standing and exulting on the mount Zion, is represented the desolate church in the wilderness, sorrowful yet always rejoicing, during the period of the 1260 years-The 144,000 are the same as the two mystic witnesses; and they peculiarly represent the internal state of the Church previous to the era of the Reformation, although the witnesses will continue more or less to prophesy in sackcloth to the very time of the end-Their joy is purely of a spiritual nature, and subsists along with great temporal distress After describing the 144,000, the prophet suddenly introduces an angel flying in the midst of heaven and bearing the everlasting Gospel-By this angel Luther

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The history of the true Church during the period of the great Apostasy-The harvest and vintage of God's wrath.

and

and his followers seem to be intended, through whose instrumentality the Reformation was most unexpectedly begun-The first angel is followed by a second, prophetically denouncing the destruction of the mystic Babylon-By this angel Calvin, and the different reformed continental churches of his persuasion, appear to be meant-The second angel is followed by a third, denouncing everlasting misery to those, who shall continue to worship the beast and his image, and to receive his mark-By this third angel, the third great branch of the Reformation, the Church of England, which is not professedly either Lutheran or Calvinistic, seems to be represented-The great persecutions at the era of the Reformation predicted-Having passed the epoch of the Reformation, the prophet describes in brief the events of the third woe-trumpet under the types of a harvest and a vintage; for this last chapter of the little book, like the preceding ones, extends through the whole period of the 1260 days-The history of the third woetrumpet however the prophet details at large in the greater book of the Revelation, dividing it into the seven periods of the seven vials-These vials must be arranged in three classes, in order that they may be made to synchronize with the harvest and the vintage: namely, the vials of the harvest; the intermediate vials; and the vial of the vintage

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CHAP. XI.

Concerning the effects of the last woe-trumpet, the pouring out of the seven vials, and the restoration of the Jews.

At the sounding of the last woe-trumpet, the seven vials full of the last plagues are poured out-The seven vials.

are

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are all posterior to the 12th of August 1792, when the third woe-trumpet began to sound, and when Antichrist was revealed-They more or less affect both the East and the West-Though they succeed each other in regular chronological order, no intimation is given, that one shall be completely emptied, before another begins to be poured out-The harvest comprehends the three first vials, and symbolizes the miseries inflicted upon mankind by the tyranny of Antichrist during the madness of the French Revolution-The vintage synchronizes with the seventh vial, and relates to the final destruction of all God's enemies in the land of PalestineThe remaining three vials occupy the intermediate space between the harvest and the vintage

SECT. I.

316

Concerning the vials of the harvest.

The harvest may be considered as commencing, not merely with the first vial, but with the earliest blast of the third woe; and the downfall of the tenth part of the great city may be esteemed the first fruits of it-The harvest describes the miseries, both internal and external, produced by the frantic anarchy of the French Revolution; and comprehends the three first vials-At the pouring out of the first vial on the 26th of August 1792, the noisome sore of atheism breaks out, or publicly makes its appearance, in France and throughout the whole Latin earth-At the pouring out of the second vial in the beginning of September 1792, the horrible and longprotracted massacres, perpetrated during what was called the reign of terro”, commence-At the pouring out of

the

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the third vial, the regularly established governments of the Latin empire experienced dreadful devastation from the arms of Republican France during a series of bloody and unsuccessful campaigns, the issue of which has been a tremendous aggrandizement of that Infidel power→→→→ The figurative harvest having been gathered in when France once more became a monarchy, and when a general peace was made in the year 1801, the affairs of the world have in some measure returned to their old · channel

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SECT. II.

Concerning the three intermediate vials.

The period between the harvest and the vintage is marked by the pouring out of three vials, the last of which is the precursor of the vintage-At the pouring out of the fourth vial, the sun of the Latin firmament, or the now-existing principal government of the divided Papal Roman empire, scorches men with the intolerable heat of a systematic military tyranny-This government is that of France, under the present despotic usurper; and the blaze of his tyranny extends not merely to France, but likewise to Holland, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, and all the west of Germany-The influence of this vial will probably continue to the days of the vintage, and the military tyranny produced by it be the principal immediate instrument of forming the great confederacy-We must not look for any former Reformation from Popery Reasons for thinking, that there will be no fresh general persecution of Protestantism; or at least that no attempt of that nature will prove successful-All the re

maining