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9. The seat of the imperial and universal Roman church was given to it, with all its spiritual despotism, by Constantine, on the 19th June, 325; and it was renewed by Valentinian, by Theodosius, and, finally, was most minutely attached to the empire by Justinian.

10. The imperial power of Rome, on account of its union with the church, was, and is, lauded by millions; and the church has received the support and honor of princes, kings, and people, in Europe, Asia, and Africa, without any bounds, and the millions of multiplied millions of the people have worshiped at its shrine.

11. The state church, in the bounds of the empire, has claimed the attributes of dominion over men, and the church, and all Christians, and all nations and tribes, which belong only to God. It has set itself as the judge of conscience, and the arbiter of the spiritual state of all men, even beyond the tomb; and language is a feeble instrument to express the enormity of its claims in earth, hell, purgatory, and heaven.

12. The power of this church dominion was to exist over all nations 42 months, or for 529,984 days, and for about 1540 years; and just exactly 529,984 days from the union of church and state, the dominion of its power ceased over a vast continent, and has bright prospects of a perpetual cessation before long.

13. The state church of Rome, as was predicted, attained to political supremacy under Pope Gregory VII., and maintained it down to the year 1303. "The Pope of Rome became, through the dark ages, a king of kings; nay, more, he assumed to be in the place of God.”—( Willard's Universal History.)

14. At the instigation of the imperial church, 200,000 men were employed at one single time, to destroy the Christian Vaudois, Albigenses, and Waldenses, and a

million of these pious Christians were destroyed. Besides these, millions throughout Spain, Italy, Germany, France and England, have been destroyed by the same great empire church establishment. Indeed, wherever it exists it has persecuting power, and exercises it as far as it can without producing resistance. In England, France, Germany, Italy, Austria and Russia, it has been the same great asserter of right over the conscience, and still has this right guaranteed to it by statute. Like the spots of the leopard, it may have different intensity in its color of power, but it is the same leopard establishment everywhere. In the United States no such power exists, and the conscience is given up to God, and he is acknowledged as its only lawgiver and judge. The church establishment, whether English, Lutheran, Scotch, Gallic, Greek, or Roman Catholic, is the same in kind, though the several kingdoms in which it is established may be more or less humane in the exercise of its prerogative. The monarch is head of the church in each, and has been from the inception of the church and state system of iniquity. Nothing of greater iniquity ever saw the light, than this unholy, ungodly, blasphemous, and hellish combination. Pious people have lived in the established church, but they have been pious in spite of its corruptions; and multitudes of them, for their righteousness, have perished in a thousand modes of Satanic. cruelty.

From these full coincidences of the established church in Europe and Asia and Africa, with the beast from the sea, it is certain they match each other, and that the one was the prediction of the other.

SECTION VI.

THE TWO HORNED BEAST, OR GREAT BRITAIN.

Immediately after the vision of the imperial church, another vision of another kingdom is seen by the prophet. This new vision describes Great Britain in the clearest and most exact manner, and describes no other power that ever existed. The great disagreement among past expositors as to its application, is proof that they never rightly applied it. Indeed, all prophetic expositors being Englishmen, who could not conceive but that God held their country in as profound respect as they did, never thought that England's government was to fall among the monarchies as a foe of God. They have supposed this two-horned beast was the papal power, or the Turkish, or French, but never their own. But if the fulfillment of any prophecy of any nation was ever clearly seen, it is seen in the coincidence between the twohorned beast and the British Empire. We will critically analyze the description, and show how exactly it fits the lion and the unicorn.

1. “And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth." A beast is, as we have seen, an empire; and, as John says, he saw another beast, he, of course, saw another empire, and one very different from the beast. from the sea. He says this new empire came up out of the earth, and, of course, it was different in its origin from any kingdom he had described, except the same in the head of the dragon. The term earth is clearly symbolic; for this new kingdom came up out of it, which could not be done literally. The earth is also used as antithetic to the sea, from whence the seven-headed beast

came up. Now, as the imperial church came up out of great religion in the Roman empire, it is plain that the sea whence it came, coincides with that general religion; and as the earth is antithetic to it, it must represent its counterpart, or the civil or territorial empire of Rome. The Roman empire was commonly called the whole earth. among the ancients. It was designated by the terms, "Lux orbis terrarum, terrarum Dea Gentium, Arx Omnium Gentium, Caput Orbis Terrarum, Caput Rerum," &c., which terms are, in the highest degree, expressive of universality. This new empire was, therefore, to arise from the limits of the Roman empire, and be of Roman character as well as origin. To this, all agree.

2. "He had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon." In this empire, the character of a lion and a lamb were to be blended together. A horn, we have seen, represents a government, and there is no variation from this rule; and these two horns, therefore, must represent two governments, growing out of the head or imperial power of this empire. These two governments or horns, were to be like a lamb. A lamb is an emblem of innocence, and we have seen that a lamb symbolizes Christianity, or the true church of Jesus Christ; these two horns, must, therefore, represent two ecclesiastical governments, very like to the true church of Christ, but only like it, a resemblance being all. No other interpretation can be put upon these two horns like a lamb. The two governments were to be like a lamb, that is, they were to be like Christian churches. "He spake as a dragon." A dragon, we have seen, represents an imperial power; and the speaking as a dragon, represents the exercise of great imperial authority, and power of command. He did not speak as a lamb, though his

horns were like one.

The horns were not like the horns

of a lamb, but they were to be like a lamb itself.

3. "He exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him." This empire was to exercise the power of the great Roman hierarchy, which was represented by the first beast before him. That is, it was to assume spiritual authority in its own dominion, as extensively as the Roman church did in its jurisdiction.

4. "And causeth the earth and them that dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed." The earth here is, by synecdoche, put for the earth in its own dominions; that is, the whole is put for a part. This is a common figure of speech. It could not be put for that out of his limits, for that was beyond his control. The worship was the honor which was to be paid to the Roman hierarchy generally. "The beast whose deadly wound was healed." This was that head of the beast that was wounded in the first beast. Here, as in John's vision of the beast from the pit, a head is put for a beast, or government. And, as the wounded head, or wounded beast, are shown to be the papal power in Europe, the honors here mentioned were to be conferred on the papal power.

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5. "And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire to come down from heaven on earth, in the sight of men. These expressions are plainly symbolic, since no human empire can perform these things literally. The wonders refer, as national matters, to extraordinary actions of the governing power. Fire from heaven symbolizes words of authority from the church; for heaven symbolizes the church, and fire symbolizes either wrath or doctrine. In Hab. iii. 5, it is said, "Burning coals went forth at his feet, i. e. the preaching of his word was accompanied with punishment against the disobedient."

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