of the Bishop of Rome under the third Trumpet The fifth discovereth unto us the growth and the accomplishment of the Mystery of Iniquity For this is the same Star which St. Iohn had called great and of which he had said that it was already fallen from Heaven The Key is a Symbole of Power and Authority When the Nations were to be brought out of Idolatry into which they were plunged as into a bottomless pit and to be introduced into the Kingdom of Heaven Iesus Christ gave to St. Peter the Keys of that Kingdom And it was that Apostle who first made use of those Keys when he preached the Gospel to Cornelius who was a Gentile But now when the same Nations are to return to Idolatry the Key of the bottomless Pit is given to the pretended Successor of St. Peter by the Dragon Rev. chap. 13. v. 2 4. The Bottomless Pit being opened with this Key which the Bishop of Rome received from the Dragon there came forth a smoke out of the Pit as out of a great Furnace and the Sun and Air were darkned The Sun is Jesus Christ The Air is Religion For Jesus Christ is the Sun of Righteousness and Religion which consisteth in Doctrines Worship and Ceremonies is with respect to Salvation what the Air is with respect to the Animal life which no longer endureth than while we suck in and breath out the Air. Nor can it be denied but that the Bishop of Rome hath darkned the Sun of Righteousness in that he hath assumed to himself all the Offiâ—es of our Saviour his Kingship his Priesthood and his dignity of Supream and infallible Teacher And in that he hath added the Sacrifice of the Mass to the Sacrifice of the Cross and humane Satisfaction to the merit of Christs Blood which is the price of our Redemption Neither can it be gainsaid but that he hath darkned the Air of Religion by a mixture of Heathen Ceremonies with those which Jesus Christ had ordained Such as Altars the different Habits of Priests Agnus Dei's Chappelets Scapularies Holy Water Abstinences and Fastings Finally he hath corrupted the Discipline and Government which fence and preserve Religion by changing it into a Monarchy like unto that of Earthly Princes contrary to the express Declaration of our Saviour to his Apostles The Kings of the Gentiles exercise Lordship but ye shall not be so Luks 22. 25. And also contrary to the advice of St. Peter whose Vicar and Successor he vainly boasts himself to be For he enjoins Ministers to feed the Flock of God and not to carry it as being Lords over God's Heritage 1 Pet. 5. 2 3. This Change was not all made at once but by little and little The Smokt came not all out of the bottomless Pit at one and the same time but successively and by degrees answerable to the nature of the Mystery of Iniquity which hath established it self by fraud and subtility Before Gregory I. about the end of the second Century Victor upon the subject of what day Easter should be kept was so rash as to excommunicate all the Churches of Asia as if he had been the Soveraign Master of all Churches Upon which account St. Ireneus rebuked him according as he deserved Siricius condemned the Marriage of Priests abusing to that end the words of St. Paul They that are in the Flesh cannot please God as if by being in the Flesh the Apostle had understood the state of Marriage Boniface III. Successor of Gregory I. challenged the Title of Universal Bishop which Gregory had condemned in Iohn Bishop of Constantinople as the Title of the Forerunner of Antichrist Boniface IV. consecrated the Pantheon to the Holy Virgin and to all the Saints which the Pagans had dedicated before to Cibele the Mother of the Gods. And the Controversie about the Worship of Images grew so hot in the eighth Age that Pope Gregory the second excommunicated the Emperor Leo for opposing it In the ninth Age Paschasius the Monk of Corby was the first that taught the Corporal Presence but Rathramu writting against it by the command of Charles the Bold the question remained undetermined But the Truth becoming darkned by the Smoke that arose out of the bottomless Pit in the tenth Age which Baronius stiles an Age of Iron and Lead and which all Writers acknowledg to have been an Age of Ignorance and Darkness it came to be decided in the eleventh Age by Nicolas the second Who made it be prescribed to Berenger in his Retractation that believers did not only eat Christ Sacramentally but that he was really broken by their teeth In the same Age Gregory the seventh made come out of the bottomless Pit these propositions mentioned by Baronius Anno 1076. num 31. namely that the Pope of Rome alone hath Right to be called Universal That all Princes ought to kiss the Popes Feet That his name only should be mentioned to the Churches That he hath an Authority to depose Emperors That without his command no Council ought to be called General That no Book nor Chapter ought to be held for Canonical without his Authorisy That he may discharge Subjects from their Oath of Allegiance And many other such as these which Baronius calls Dictata Papae Out of the same Pit came forth the Adoration of the Holy Sacrament under Pope Houorius the second The Feast of God or of Corpus Christi under Pope Eugenius the second Auricular Confession under Pope Innocent the third The first Crusado with promise of forgiveness of all their sins under Urban the second Anno 1095 The first Jubilee with a promise annexed to it of universal pardon to all that should go to Rome and visit the Churches there was instituted by Boniface the eighth Anno 1295. Finally Eugenius the third about the year 1149. did ordain that the Decretals collected by Gratian should be read and explained in the Schools Which Decretals treat of nothing save of the Power of St. Peter and of the Pope of the excellency of a Monastick life of Celibate of Transubstantiation of the Mass and of such like Doctrines which are this Smoke arisen out of the bottomless Pit by which the Sun and the Air have been darkned XV. ILLUSTRATION Of the Locusts REV. CHAP. 9. V. 3. And there came out of the Smoke Locusts upon the Earth and unto them was given power as the Scorpions of the Earth have power V. 4. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the Grass of the Earth neither any Green thing neither any Tree but only those men which have not the Seal of God in their Foreheads V. 5. And to them it was given that they should not kill them but that they should torment them five moneths and their Torment was as the Torment of a Scorpion when he striketh a man. V. 6. And in those days shall men seek death and shall not find it and shall desire to die and death shall flee from them V.
but we shall be extreamly surprised at the re-establishment of the Reformed Churches in France because we know the King to be of opposite Sentiments to them But as it is the King of France who contributeth most to the Glory of the Papacy So it shall be the King of France that shall contribute most to its ruin It was a Louis XII who in the last age threatned to destroy the Romish Church perdam Babylonis nomen And it shall be a Louis who will execute the threatning of that generous King. The God of heaven and Earth the King of Kings who has the hearts of Kings and of people in his hand raiseth in us this hope because it is further added in the Prophecy 5 That the same hour there was a great Earthquake and the tenth part of the City fell It may be doubted whether this Earthquake may come to pass according to the letter But it is most certain that Earthquakes in scripture signify great alterations that fall out in States And to bring no other example save one that relates nearly to this matter Whosoever remembers that Earthquake which was in France when the King returned from the Pyrenees after the Treaty of Peace and the consummation of his Marriage and considers the great alterations which have since fallen out in that Kingdom not only in reference to Religion as well Popish as Reformed but in reference to Justice to Policy to the Finances and to War will no longer question but that the Earthquake which is to be after the Witnesses have lyen three days and a half dead doth promise as surprising a change in France as to all those regards and an alteration wherewith all the world will be contented except it be the Clergy the Monks and the Jesuites Some will doubless ask what reason I have to understand France rather than any other Kingdom by this tenth part of the City which is to fall after the Eartquake My reasons are these 1 I presuppose that the City here spoken of is Babylon or the Papal Empire or the Romish Church which is the Empire of Antichrist This Truth we have already proved 2 I presuppose that France is One of the ten Horns of the Beast One of the ten Kingdoms that were to be formed out of the ruins of the Roman Empire according to Daniel and which was to begin at the same time with the Beast according to St. John that is to begin with the Papal Empire This is evident in History 3 I presuppose France is one Street and one part of the City i. e. of the Papal Kingdom Nor can any deny but that the Gallican Church or the Church of France stiles it self by the Title of the Catholick Apostolick Roman Church that the Pope Reigns there over what is called Spiritual that he hath there his Ministers and Agents that he receiveth Annates from thence and that there is no Arch-Bishop or Bishop in France but who receives his Mission and Authority from the Pope 4 I suppose that France is the most beautiful and glorious Kingdom of all those Kingdoms which are Tributary to the Pope They do so account it by calling the King of France the most Christian King and the eldest Son of the Church And it is worthy of remark that even in St. Johns time France was by way of excellency stiled the Province because of all the Provinces of the Roman Empire France which was then called Gaul was the best and the most powerful This is so certain that the name do's yet remain and is attributed to the Southern part of France which is stiled Province from the latin Provincia It being therefore said in the Text that the tenth part of the City fell the Holy Spirit did questionless intend by that expression the most excellent part of all So that it is from thence very natural to understand France by the tenth part of the City Lastly we have already observed that it is not said that the two Witnesses were killed and that they lay unburied in the places or Streets in the plural number but in the Street of the great City in the singular which is as much as to say a Popish Kingdom marked out by way of excellency And therefore seeing the Holy Spirit had the most excellent of all the Popish Kingdoms in his Eye and seeing we have seen the death which in so surprising a manner hath befallen the Witnesses in France we may without any difficulty conclude that it is France which is this tenth part of the City that is to fall 6 'T is said that the tenth part of the City shall fall This may at the first view appear a dreadful prediction against France But yet it is not so For we must observe that this threatning is not as it would at first seem denounced against the tenth part of the City but against the City it self Because as that is the alone cause of the death of the two Witnesses so that is also the object of Gods vengeance 'T is then the City the Papal Kingdom which is to receive a terrible loss by the falling away of France Whereas France it self will increase both its strength and Glory by that falling off and withdrawing So that upon the whole I do not doubt but that it is the conversion of that beautiful Kingdom which is promised in this place And that which confirmeth me the more in this conjecture is what followeth namely that there i. e. in the tenth part of the City which was to fall by an Earthquake there shall be slain of men seven thousand and that the remnant shall be affrighted and give glory to God. In which words we have two Events represented unto us whereof the one is very different from the other both of them worthy of observation The one is an effect of the vengeance of God the other an effect of his Mercy The first event is the death of seven thousand names of men Which is a figure where seven thousand names of men are put for seven thousand men of name that is of quality reputation and dignity These Men of Name are doubtless either the Doctors who make a great deal of noise in France in the Sorbone in the Society of the Oratory in the Society of the Jesuites and among the Clergy or else persons of quality who are distinguished from others by their birth and by their honor The Number of seven thousand denotes an indefinite number but very considerable And the death of these men will be a death parallel to the Death of the Witnesses that so like may be returned unto them for like For that the same shall be rendred unto Babylon which She rendred unto Sion is both threatned in the Prophesies of Isaiah and in the Revelations of St. John Isa 14. 6. Rev. 18. 6. Not that these seven thousand men shall be compelled by the fury of Missionary Dragoons to abjure Popery and to embrace the Reformed Religion For
he cometh he must continue a short space And the Beast that was and is not even he is the Eighth King and is of the seven and goeth into Perdition He of whom the Angel saith one is was the Roman Emperor who was Master of the Empire in St. Iohn's time He of whom it is said the other is not yet come is the Pope who was not in the time of St. Iohn but hath been since the fifth Century The Angel predicteth concerning the Elevation of this Bishop to his Grandure when he cometh i. e. when he shall usurp the Soveraignty and Domination that he must continue a short space The Pope became Master of Rome and Temporal Lord over it when Gregory the second excommunicated Leo the Emperor Then saith Sigonius Rome past from the Greeks by reason of their Heresie about Images into the hands of the Pope And for seventy years it remained in the same condition under the Popes that it had been formerly under the Emperors and was the subject and Slave of these new Lords But that Form of Government continued not above seventy years for so saith the Angel it must continue for a short space Afterwards the Soveraignty became divided betwixt the Pope and the City of Rome For if the Pope was Temporal Lord and Master Rome was also Lady and Mistriss And this is exactly what the Angel says to St. Iohn and the Beast that was and is not even he is the eight King. This bears no difficulty because he adds he is of the Seven For seeing the Pope is the seventh Head and the seventh King and that the Angel says that the Eighth King is of the seven it cannot otherways be but that he understandeth the Pope as exercising his Domination after two different manners The first alone in the quality of Temporal Lord of Rome and after the manner of the Emperors whose Seat with all their Rights and Soveraignty he had usurped The other in conjunction with Rome which continueth to this day and hath from the time of Pope Leo the third in whom the first sort of Domination ended 'T is in vertue of this union between the Pope and the City of Rome in their Government that upon the one hand Rome is reverenced as the Chair of St. Peter as the Mother and Mistriss of all Churches the Guardian of Faith having her Senate made up of Cardinals qualified with the Title of Cardinals of the Roman Church and by whose Counsel as Affairs are managed so it is by their votes that the Pope is chosen and it is from this upon the other hand that the Pope is worshipped as Successor of St. Peter as Vicar General of Iesus Christ the Husband of the Church as God on Earth and as Soveraign Iudge of all and who can be judged by none This is what we have represented in the 13. Chapter v. 12. where it is said That the second Beast excrciseth all the power of the first Beast and that he causeth them that dwell on the Earth to worship the first Beast For upon the one side Rome and her Senate do all they can to maintain the Soveraign Authority of the Pope and upon the other side the Pope useth his utmost endeavour to make all men Reverence the Church of Rome as the Mother of the Christian Faith and the Mistriss of all Churches Thence it comes also to pass that as the Pope is not stiled the Christian Bishop but the Roman Bishop so Rome is not called by the name of Christian Church but by the name of Roman and Apostolick which is as much as Papal Church For according to the stile of the Court of Rome Apostolick signifies the same that Papal doth so that the Popes Miter his Slipper his Mule his Habit his Bulls his Notaries and in a word all that relates to the Popes Person are called Apostolick There is not one from the highest to the lowest that belongs to him even to the Buffoons that accompany his Nuncio's and Legats but affects to be so stiled He that attended the last Legate into France said to the Dorekeeper of the Playhouse Io sono il Bouffono Apostolico Moreover these two kinds of Government that of the Pope alone and that of the Pope in conjunction with Rome are clearly marqued and recorded in History It was Gregory the second saith Sigonius that took away the Dominion of Rome from the Greeks Gregory the second saith Onuphrius being more couragious than his Predecessor Constantine took from Leo the Emperor all that he had left of the Kingdom of the Lombards in Italy which was done in the year 729. And this Domination of the Pope alone lasted to the year 798. But then saith Vignier certain Citizens being incensed against Pope Leo the third they did under pretence of restoring Rome to its ancient Freedom flirr up the people who seising upon the Pope at a procession put out one of his Eyes and threw him into prison whence being delivered by the Duke of Spoletto and brought to Charlemain that Prince carried him back to Rome the year following and reconciled him with the Romans This reconciliation being made the Popes travelled so well for the re-establishment of their lost Soveraignty that they recovered it but in conjunction with Rome having to this purpose setled there before hand the Primacy and Chair of St. Peter so that if the Pope was from thenceforth respected as the Soveraign Bishop the Head and Royal Judg of the Christian Church Rome also was honoured as the Mother of the Faith and Mistriss of all Churches So that this point cannot be rendred clearer seeing both the seventh and the eighth King appear so plainly in History and particularly in the Popish Historians Sigonius Vignier and Onuphrius do exactly marque the two ways wherein the Popes have exercised their Domination The first from Gregory the second till Leo the third who was so ill handled upon that account and the second from the re-establishment of that Pope by Charlemain upon the condition that Rome should Reign in conjunction with him VII ILLUSTRATION Who the False Prophet is THE False Prophet is spoken of in two places of the Revelation First in the pouring out of the sixth Vial Rev. 16. 13. Three unclean Spirits like Frogs came out of the Mouth of the Dragon and out of the Mouth of the Beast and out of the Mouth of the False Prophet And then in the 19. Chapter where it is said that the Beast was taken and with him the False Prophet and they were cast alive into a Lake of Fire burning with Brimstone Now this False Prophet is nothing else but the Beast with two Horns mentioned in the 13. Chapter but the seventh Head of the Beast with ten Horns and the eighth King that are spoken of in the 17. Chap. v. 11. The Beast with two Horns is the Pope with his twofold power the one over that which is Spiritual the other over that which is Temporal The
Council the Colledg of Cardinals for her Castles Convents for her Armies Monks for her Governors of Provinces Bishops and Arch-Bishops for her Ambassadors Nuucio's and Legat's for her Merchants Priests for her Merchandises Dispensations and for her Revenues Annates and Benefices So that it was with good reason that Gregorius Leâ—i begun his pleasant History of Pope Sixtus the fifth after this manner That the Popedom is the most considerable Monarchy that hath been established from the Creation of the World to this day and that no Princes whether Idolatrous or Christians have reigned more absolutely than the Roman Bishops do at whose Feet the greatest Potentates have laid down their Scepters and Crowns So that it may be said this sodering together of Temporal and Spiritual power this mingling of things Secular and Religious this conjunction of the Cross with the Sword this Union of Body and Soul and in brief this Authority over Earth and Heaven which meet and center in the Popes have raised and established a Soveraignty which almost all the People and Princes of the World do reverence Withal the Church of Rome saith I am no Widow in that She boasts of having a visible Head and spouse which is the Pope And She say's I shall see no sorrow for pretending to be the only Spouse of the Son of God how can she miscarry Or how should She be so forsaken as to be able to fall seeing it is to her alone that Jesus Christ hath made that promise the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against my Church Matth. 16. 18. XV. ILLUSTRATION Of Babylon's making all Nations Drunk with the Wine of her Fornication and of her being Drunk with the Blood of Saints REV. CHAP. 14. v. 8. THese two Actions of Babylon charactarise and mark out the Roman Church Seeing it is Idolatry that is spoken of which is Spiritual Adultery and dissolveth Gods Covenant as Adultery doth the Covenant of Marriage Now the Roman Church is guilty of too gross Idolatry to be any ways able to justify her self She worshippeth not only the Holy Virgin in giving her the Titles of the Gate of Paradise the Queen of Heaven and the Fountain of Grace but in advancing her above Jesus Christ through begging of her in one of their prayers that she would jure matris imperare i. e. use the authority of a Mother in Commanding her Son. Nor doth she only Adore Images according to the Decree of the second Council of Nice which is confirmed by the Council of Trent but she also Adores the Sacrament which Jesus Christ instituted to be a memorial of his death and which therefore must be something else than Christ himself Nor can she according to her own Doctrine have any assurance either divine or human that the Bread is the Body of Christ forasmuch as she cannot be assured of the Intention of the Priest upon which the whole Consecration doth depend To which may be added her Worshipping the Cross and that with the highest kind of worship called Latria having to this purpose set apart and assigned Good Friday The Doctrine of the Roman Church that leads men to Idolatry may be justly compared to Wine and not to water and to Wine of Wrath i. e. furious Wine because they who drink it become intoxicated and deprived of their senses So that they not only furiously pursue the Objects of their Superstition as so many mad men whom none can hinder or withdraw from it but they are transported with hatred rage against all those who do not approve their false and abominable devotion And it is worth our observing what the difference is between true Doctrine and false Wholsome and true Doctrine is usually compared to Water because it rendreth such as embrace it meek gentle patient under injuries ready to teach those who are otherwise minded with mildness and filled rather with Pity and Compassion towards them than transported with hatred But in reference to the effects of false Doctrine all is otherwise For it maketh such as entertain it violent cruel quarrelsom outragious ready to assault and fall upon those that contradict them and who refuse to follow their example And therefore it is resembled to Wine and to Wine of wrath i. e. heady Wine that inflameth and distracteth men and in a word rendreth them that are possessed with it persecutors to the outmost Nor can the Church of Rome deny but that she doth after this manner persecute all those whom she calls Hereticks and for this only reason because they will not own her to be the Empress of the world and the Mother and Mistriss of Faith and acknowledg her Bishop to be the Vicar of Jesus Christ and the Center of Christian Unity The Croisado's against the Valdenses and Albigenses of whose success Bellarmin triumpheth to that degree as to say that in one only Croisado there were a hundred thousand killed the Massacres committed in England France and the Low Countries in the forego'ing Age those perpetrated in Poland the Valleys of Piedmont and in Ireland within these forty or fifty years I say all these do make it but too evidently appear that the Church of Rome is this Woman whom St. John saw drunk with the Blood of Saints Rev. 17. 6. The Holy Scripture putteth this honor upon all those that follow sound Doctrine and of whose Faith the Gospel is the only Rule as to give them the glorious Title of Saints Nor can it be gain-said but that Rome is drunk with the Blood of Saints forasmuch as all the barbarous Croisado's against the Albigenses and all the Butcheries perpetrated upon Protestants have been for no other reason but for their making the Gospel the alone Rule of their Faith. Neither were they persecuted and destroyed but because of their disclaiming Human Traditions which are the mischievous Fountain of all Errors XVI ILLUSTRATION Of the Lamb on Mount Sion and with him the 144000. having the Fathers Name written in their Foreheads REV. CHAP. XIV v. 1. HERE we have a Description of the State of the True Church and that during the time in which Babylon was drunk with the Blood of the Martyrs For whereas one might have questioned whether the Church was not wholly lost seeing all the world not only wondred after the Beast but that they who refused to receive his mark and to worship his Image were killed therefore the Holy Spirit represents a Vision to St. John in which he might clearly see that the Church did subsist in despight both of the Victories of the Beast of the extent of his Empire and of the Violence of his Persecutions I looked saith St. John and lo a Lamb stood on the Mount Sion and with him 144000. having his Fathers Name written in their Foreheads and I heard a voice from Heaven as the voice of many Waters and as the voice of a great Thunder And I heard the voice of Harpers harping with their Harps and they sung as it were
considered two ways First more grossly and in the bulk as it comprehendeth all the Seven Heads and in that sense it is nothing but a Regency under the seven Forms of Government which Rome hath passed throw since its Foundation and so it indefinitely and at large designs the Roman Empire Secondly As it is used precisely or strictly to denote the Beast under the seventh Head which is the Pope or Papal Power and so it is represented by the Beast with Two Horns 'T is most evident that it is Rome under the seventh Head which is the Pope that is here spoken of in that it is the Healing of the Wound which the Beast had received under the sixth Head. For he both speaks of this Wound in the third Verse and then of the Healing of it by the Beast with two Horns which is the Papacy in the 12. Verse Now that the Papal Empire is the Seventh Head or the Beast with Two Horns will be demonstratively proved by observing the conformity which is between that Beast and the Papal Kingdom 1. For whereas the Term Beast does signify a Domination and an Empire it cannot be denied but that the Romish Church is an Empire and that it may be stiled the Papal Kingdom and the Roman Empire 2. Forasmuch as Horns according as we have proved do denote Iurisdictions and Powers so the Papal Authority comprehends a twofold Power and two kinds of Domination one over that which is Temporal and another over that which is Spiritual One over this Life and another over that which is to come So that the Papal Kingdom must be that which is meant by the Beast with Two Horns 3. Whereas 't is said Rev. 13. 11. that the Two Horns of the Beast were like the Two Horns of the Lamb. All do know that Jesus Christ hath a twofold Authority or two kinds of Soveraignty One over the Soul and another over the Body One over that which is Temporal and another over that which is Spiritual And seeing the Pope boasts of this twofold Authority under pretence of being the Vicar of Jesus Christ it does therefore follow that he is the Beast with the Two Horns 4. And whereas 't is said Rev. 13. 11. that the Beast with two Horns spake as a Dragon 't is undeniable that the Pope speaks in the same manner and not only like the Devil Matth. 4. 9. assumeth to himself a Right of Disposing of all the Kingdoms of the World and of forbidding men to obey the Commandments of God but as the calumniating Spirit he reproacheth Gods Word both by accusing it of falsehood and by robbing it of its perspicuity integrity perfection sufficiency and of its Authority which he challengeth to himself 5. It being said Rev. 13. 12. that the Beast with two Horns exerciseth all the power of the first Beast whose deadly wound was healed This does perfectly agree to the Papal Power For the Roman Empire that flourished in St. Iohn's time having received a Deadly Wound it became healed thro the application of the Papal Authority as a Plaister unto it Now that Wound consisted in two things in the Subversion of the Pagan Idolatry and in the Abatement of the Glory of Rome And the Heathens were wont to observe in their Disputations against the Christians that as the ancient Religion fell from its splendor so the Glory of Rome did proportionably decay And as the Pagan Idolatry became in effect destroyed by the conversion of Constantine and the care of his Successors so Rome as to its Glory being first much darkned and almost extinguished and then being destroyed by the Goths tho it came afterwards to be restored yet it was never honored to be the Residence of the Emperors in that they fixed their abode at Ravenna and Millan These two Wounds seemed to be incurable but the Papal Soveraignty did perfectly heal them both For in the room of the God's Worshipped under Paganism there was set up the Adoration of Angels Saints the Consecrated Bread and of Relicks So that by this new Idolatry Panagism became again restored And withal Rome hath recovered a Glory not only equal unto its former but greater than what it had seeing the Pope thro having made it the Seat of his Empire appears there as the true Successor of the Heathen Emperors as the Commander of Kings and as the Supream Pontife as well as Chief Cesar who hath united the Priesthood to the Imperial Dignity In a word the Pope is the Head of a Senate attired in Purple and challengeth a Right of Deposing Kings and of disposing Crowns and who receives Tribute from all People and makes himself to be adored not only with a Civil but with a Religious Adoration as the Emperors of old used to be Both Blondus and Steuchus Bishop of Egubium do ingenuously describe without being aware of it how the Wound which Rome had received is again healed thro means of the Soveraignty that is come to be vested in the Pope The first says That the Majesty of Rome is now greater than ever it was because the Princes of the Earth do now worship the Successor of St. Peter as perpetual Dictator that is as Soveraign Pontife and as Vicar of the High Priest Jesus Christ And the other tells us That if after the Subversion of the Roman Empire God had not raised up the Papacy in which the ancient Majesty of Rome is revived that City had been a Habitation of Brute Beasts whereas by the establishment of the Papacy it hath recovered a grandure very little different from that which it had in the time of the old Empire seeing all Nations do now no less Reverence the Bishop of Rome than heretofore they obeyed the Roman Emperors So that by this it appears that the Beast with Two Horns is nothing but the Papacy forasmuch as the Papal Power hath healed Rome of the Wound she had received under the Emperors and rendred her again both Idolatrous and Mistriss of the World as she was heretofore 6. Whereas 't is said of the Beast with Two Horns Rev. 13. 12. That he causeth the Earth and them that dwell therein to worship the first Beast this agrees also to the Papacy which causeth that Rome being healed of its Wound is as much if not more reverenced than ever it had been upon an alledged pretence of having been the Chair and Seat of St. Peter As the Pagans made a Goddess of Rome Heathen by consecrating a Temple and dedicating a Feast unto her which they called Septimontium so Christians do no less make a Goddess of Rome Christian both by stiling her the Mistriss of the World and thro attributing to her the Priviledg of Infallibility that does belong to none save unto God. 7. 'T is further said Rev. 13. 13. That the Beast with two Horns doth great Signs and Wonders so that he maketh Fire come down from Heaven Now all men do not only know that the Romish Legends are full
of the Miracles pretended to be done in the Papal Kingdoms but that the Excommunications which flow from the Papal Jurisdiction are as much dreaded by Princes who stand in aw ' of that Authority as Fire and Lightning from Heaven History affords us many Examples of Princes who have been ruined by Papal Excommunications To this day they forbear not to proclaim the Miracles which are constantly wrought in the Papal Kingdom and the Partisans for the Pope vaunt themselves upon them as marks of the true Church But this is peculiar to those Miracles that they are no where done but in the Papal Empire and that out of the view of Hereticks Nor are they profitable unto any save unto those who do esteem them Neither is there any of their Wonder-mongers that have Raised the Dead They are such Miracles as do become the Beast with two Horns that speaketh as a Dragon 8. 'T is said Rev. 13. 14 15. That the Beast with two Horns commandeth them that dwell on the Earth that they should make an Image unto the Beast which had the Wound and that it was granted to the Beast to give Life unto this Image that it should speak Now this Image of the Beast is nothing but the Soveraign Power of the Pope as appears from the 14. Chapter v. 9 and 11. where the Description of the Beast is the same with this of his Image Which would not be if the Beast with two Horns were other than the Pope And the being an Image that speaks shews plainly that it does not differ from the Original or from that whose Image it is We use to say of a Picture that is done naturally and to the life that it wants nothing but that it cannot speak and that if it could speak it would be another Original None to whom the Papal Authority is known can be ignorant that the Pope has the same Power which the Emperors had the same Throne the same Soveraign Pontifical Dignity and that he is worshipped with the same Adoration and hath as stately a Senate and as magnificent a Court. Now the Pope is stiled an Image and not the thing it self both because he is arisen to his greatness under a pretence of Religion and under the Title of being the Vicar of Jesus Christ and of St. Peter and because he is also the Vicar of the Emperor and the Successor of Cesar And as he is in that Quality an Image of Cesar so being an Image that speaks he is cloathed with all the Majesty of the Emperors and possessed of their whole Authority Accordingly he will have his Feet kissed as the Feet of the Emperors were and will have Kings kneel before him as they did before the Cesars For as the Historian notes of the Emperor Caligula that he had his Feet kissed so the Poet Horace speaking in one of his Epistles of a Prince that kneeled before Augustus says that he appeared before him Genibus minor 9. 'T is said Rev. 13. 15. The Beast with two Horns causeth that as many as will not worship the Image of the Beast should be killed And this is what we have seen for above these 600. years fulfilled in the Papal Church thro her delivering those over to the Secular Power to be destroyed that would not obey her Commands and in her causing extirpate them by Croisados 10. 'T is said Rev. 13. 17. That no man might Buy or Sell save he that had the Mark of the Beast As Dtocletian debarred those from all sort of Commerce who would not Sacrifice to the Heathen Gods so we have the like Prohibition in that Bull which Pope Martin the fifth published against Wicklif And at this day they will suffer none to live in France who does not bring a Note under the Curat 's hand of his going to Mess So that the Romish Church is this second Beast with two Horns the speaking Image of the first Beast in that she lays the same Prohibitions upon men that the Roman Emperor did 11. Whereas it is said Rev. 13. 17. That the Beast with two Horns hath three sorts of Subjects or Followers One that bears his Mark another that carry's his Name and a third that hath the Number of his Name The Pope hath also three sorts of Adherents one that beareth his Mark which is the Ecclesiasticks that are tyed to him by an Oath and who boast of an indelible Character Another that carrieth his Name which is those that do stile themselves Papists and who do glory in it as Bellarmin did The Third sort bear the Number of his Name and these are they who are ashamed to be called Papists and account it for an Injury to be so stiled as the most part do in France But they call themselves Catholicks which is a word that hath reference to number Catholick signifying Universal and this causeth that the Pope does acknowledg them for his 12. There remains the Number of the Beast which is 666. and in order to our being convinced that this is the Number of the Papacy we are to observe that he treats not of the Number of the Beast alone Rev. 13 18. but also of the Number of his Name because it comes to be spoken of those who have the Number of the Name of the Beast The Holy Ghost doth acquaint those who shall read that this Name is not kept so hidden in reference to where it is to be found but that they who have wisdom may be able to discover it For by telling us that it is the Number of a Man we are to count according to the manner that men use to do Here is Wisdom saith the Text let him that hath understanding count the number of the Beast for it is the Number of a Man and his Number is six hundred threescore and six In order then to find in the Papacy the number 666. we are after the manner of computation among men to extract the Cubical Root of that number For as 144. is in the Book of the Apocalypse the Number of the Heavenly Ierusalem so 666. is made there the Number of the Beast And as 12. is the Cubical Root of 144. so if we can but find in the Papacy a number that is the Cubical Root of 666. we need not in the least doubt but that 666. is the Number of the Papal Church They call that in Arithmetick the Cubical Root of any specified number which being multiplied by it self does constitute that Number whether it be with a Fraction remaining or without one Thus 10. is the Cubical Root of a 100. because 10 being multiplied by it self makes a 100. But if we would seek for the Cubical Root of 55. we can assign no other than 7. and because 7. multiplied by it self makes but 49 there must to the making up 55. be 6. added which Arithmeticians stile a Fraction And it is worthy of Observation that the Holy Ghost doth not require us to count the Number of
seventh head of the beast with ten Horns is the Pope as Successor of the Emperors The Eight King is also the Pope as he is the Husband of the Roman church which Rules in conjunction with him over all Churches of the Papal Communion And the False Prophet is likewise the Pope as he is a false Teacher one who seduceth the world by his false Doctrines and who hath established the most Despotical Empire that ever was in the World upon the pretence of being the Supream Teacher of the Church 'T is true that the word Prophet signifieth usually one that Fore-telleth things to come but it is also evident that in the Scripture it doth sometimes signify only a Teacher Accordingly St. Paul in his first Epistle to the Corinthians Chap. 14. useth the Term Prophet to signify meerly a Teacher or one that Explaineth a Doctrine And it is in this sense that the Pope is stiled a False Prophet which is as much as to say a False Teacher one that teacheth false Doctrines because that as they are not Revealed so they are contrary to all Revelation We have already proved in the fore-going Illustrations that the Pope is the Seventh Head of the Beast with ten Horns that he is the Beast with two Horns and that he is the eighth King so that he is therefore the False Prophet and consequently Anti-christ Now if it do upon the other side appear that the Pope is Antichrist it will from thence follow that he is the False Prophet the eighth King the Seventh Head of the Beast with ten Horns and the Beast with two Horns And we will endeavour to give that light to these two Truths that all who have eyes to see may easily discern them That the Pope is Antichrist appeareth from this that there is nothing said in the sacred Scriptures concerning Antichrist but what perfectly agrees to the Pope 1 St. John tells us in the 4 th Chapt. of his 1st Epistle v. 3. that he is Antichrist who denieth that Iesus Christ is come in the flesh Now the Papal Doctrine of the Real presence answereth this Character in that Iesus Christ cometh not in Flesh upon their Altars being he is there according to the doctrine of the Romish Church after the manner of a Spirit which hath neither flesh nor bones There is nothing so August and sacred in the Papal Religion as their Eucharist their Host which they call God and Christs Body but a Christ that is not like unto his Bretheren a God that is not manifested in the Flesh. 2 St. Paul speaking of the Son of Perdition who is the Anti-christ tells us in the 2 d Epist to the Thessalonians chap. 2d v. 4. that he exalteth himself above all that is called God. Now Rulers are called Gods in Scripture Psa 82. v. 6. I have said ye are Gods. And the Pope does exalt himself over Kings and Emperors not only in the quality of Spiritual Father but in that of Lord of Lords and of an absolute Soveraign who disposeth of their Crowns and giveth them to whom he pleaseth Of which and acious and lofty attempt History doth furnish many examples 3 St. Paul saith that the Son of perdition exalteth himself above all that is worshipped Now the Sacrament is worshipped in the Church of Rome and to this end it is elevated by the Priest Exposed upon their Altars born about in procession carried to such as are sick by the Priest with a Bell rung before it whereby to give notice to all that are in the streets and in their Houses that they worship the Sacrament But yet the Pope do's Exalt himself above this grand object of the Churches Adoration in that he Travelleth no where without the having it carried before him as the chief of his Guard and with less state than he is born himself Therefore Cardinal Perron stiles the Sacrament the Popes Guard of Defence so that the March of the Son of God who is concealed under the vail of the Sacrament is accomodated unto and Governed by the Popes necessities and occasions and Christs Steps are ordered according to those of his Holiness When the Pope stops the holy Sacrament must stop also which is to say that Christ whom the Angels adore must wait upon the pleasure and depend upon the caprices and humours of the Pope And thus as belongeth unto the Son of Perdition to do the Pope exalteth himself above all that is worshipped 4 St. Paul tell us that the Son of Perdition sitteth in the Temple of God which cannot be meant of the Temple of Ierusalem because there hath been no such thing for these sixteen hundred years And if that Temple were yet it would not be the Temple of God seeing ever since the rejection of the Iews it is called simply the Temple and never the Temple of God. Tho it were to be now again rebuilt and made every way what it was before the time of Vespasian yet there would be no reason why it should becalled the Temple of God forasmuch as since the abolishment of the Levitical Service God dwelleth no more in Temples made with hands Act. 7. 48. So that the Temple here meant is the Christian Church which by the holy Apostles is called the Temple of God. There it is that the Pope sitteth as is here very well expressed And there he is shewed as if he were a God. For they speak of nothing but of the Holy Chair the Chair of St. Peter and of the Roman Chair They use to say that such a one doth now sit or that such a one possesseth the Holy Chair And indeed the Pope sitteth there as a Judg giving out Decrees and Oracles as an Infallible Iudg and as the Soveraign Iudg of Coutroversies So that the Pope as the Son of Perdition sitteth in the Temple of God. 5 St. Paul says further of the Son of Perdition that he sheweth himself that he is or as if he were God. Now the Pope behaveth himself as God not only because he dispenseth with the Law of God and as if he were God requireth obedience to his own Laws under pain of damnation and because he boasteth as a God to have the Keys of Hell and Paradise but because upon the day of his Election he is carried into the great Church and there placed upon the great Altar with the Bible under his feet and worshipped both by all the Cardinals and by all the people with an Adoration that is more than a Civil one 6 St. Paul says moreover of the Son of Perdition that his coming is with all Power and Signes and lying Wonders Which Character of Anti-christ is also as discernable in the Pope as the former are in that his Authority as well as his Doctrine is founded upon Miracles Nor is there amy thing else to be met with in their Legends and in the Lives of those Saints whom the Popes have Canonised But they are Lying Wonders and whose falsity is so
general Councils which were constituted of the Bishops of the whole Empire these Councils contributed to the Exaltation of the Bishop of Rome So that Gregory I. spake according to his interest when he said that he had the same regard for the 4. Councils viz. of Nice Constantinople Ephesus and Calcedon that he had for the four Gospels Which was a plain Blasphemy and very suteable to Antichrist 6. St. John delivereth the Explication which the Angel gave of the Vision of the 17th Chapter v. 12. in these Words 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 For we are not to seek for these Kings in the Eastern Empire that continued until the Turks became Masters of it which is something more than two hundred years but we are to seek for them in the Western Empire And the reason of it is because there were not several Kingdoms formed out of the ruins of the Eastern Empire as there have according to the Terms of the Vision been formed out of the Western We are not to confine our selves positively to the number of ten seeing that number is taken indefinitely in the Revelation Thus chap. 2. v. 10. the tribulation of ten days that is spoken of is to denote a long persecution All that is essential to be remarked is that these ten Kingdoms or Soveraignties are formed out of the ruins of the Western Empire Which Daniel says positively chap. 7. v. 24. as well as St. John who from the Angels Interpretation of the Vision saith that the ten Kings receive their power in the same hour with the Beast After these observations from Scripture it will be of advantage to consider the following matters of Fact which are all expresly recorded in History It was in the fourth Age that the Fasts Abstinences of the Montemists came to be received in the Church of Rome And in that Age Pope Syricius condemned the Marriage of Priests It was in the fourth Age that Pope Mark wrote Letters to Anastasius and to the Bishops of Egypt in these words The Church of Rome hath always been without afault and through the grace of God and the protection of St. Peter for ever shall be so Which words favour both of Idolairy and of Blasphemy 'T was in the 4th Age that the 2. first Councils of Nice and Constantinople were held as those of Ephesus and Chalcedon were kept in the fifth And although as these Councils did not greatly exalt the Bishop of Rome we may truly say that they opened a way and served as a Bridg to the following Councils which have made it their business to advance the Pope to what he is at this day 'T was in the fourth Age that the Emperors embraced the Christian Religion that they were so liberal to the Bishop of Rome and that they stript themselves of the dignity of Supream Pontiff in favour to him From the time of Iulius Cesar they had always retained it that they might thereby render their persons sacred and inviolable 'T was the Emperor Gratian that surrendred it and since that time none of his Successors have claimed it 'T was in the fifth Age that the Emperors withdrew from Rome and chose Ravenna and Milan for their residence 'T was in the beginning of the fifth Age that the Western Empire was destroyed by the Barbarians and that out of the ruins of it they formed several Soveraignties in Germany Gaul Spain and Italy 'T was in the fifth Age that in order to allure the Pagans to Christianity the Church espoused many of their Ceremonies such as the Invocation of Saints the Worship of Images the Veneration of Relicks and Prayers for the dead 'T was in the beginning of the fifth Age that Pope Innocent I. defended the Right of Appeals to the Sea of Rome Finally it was in the fifth Age that the Controversy between Pope Leo 1. and other Bishops about the matter of Appeals was in the most solemn and authentick manner that the Bishop of Rome could desire ended and determined in his favour When the two Emperors Theodosius and Valentintan granted unto him and issued out an Edict in the following terms We by this perpetual Edict have ordained that no Bishop whether they be of Gaul or of any other Provinces shall contrary to the ancient customs attempt any thing hereafter without the Authority of the venerable Pope of the Eternal City But that whatsoever the Authority of the Apostolick Sea shall ordain shall be submitted to by all others as unto a Law. So that whosoever of the Bishops having appealed shall neglect to appear at the Tribunal of the Roman Bishop shall be obliged to appear before the Governor of the Province where he lives provided always that whatsoever things our Sacred Predecessors have granted to the Church of Rome shall be unchangeably and universally preserved We need go no farther in order to seek for the birth of the Antichristian Empire or to find the fatal Date where the 1260. days or the 42. Months of the continuance of the Beasts Reign doth begin For in what is already mentioned we find every thing that goes to the constitution of Antichristianism namely Error in Doctrine Idolatry in Worship and Tyranny in Government Forasmuch as we find the Roman Church at that time guilty of Forbidding Marriage and of Commanding to abstain from Meats which are the two characters of the Apostacy fore-told by St. Paul. And because we find her defiled with prayers for the dead with the Worshipping of Images with the Invocation of Saints with the veneration of Relicks and brought into a subjection to a Bishop who was by an Imperial Edict established Soveraign Judg of all other Bishops within the Circle of the Roman Empire That Edict was published anno 445. in favour of Leo I. and of his Successors It is then in that year at the soonest and at the latest also that we are to fix the fatal Epoche of the birth of the Antichristian Empire and consequently may hope to see the End of it in the year 1705. For if unto 445. which was the year of the Edict of Valentinian and Theodosius there be added 1260. the total will be 1705. And if from 1705. there be substracted 445. the Remain will be 1260. which is the time of the duration of the Beasts Reign The Historian Florus hath considered the Roman Empire passing through the different Ages and periods of human life and according to that Idea he hath marked the Birth and Infancy of that Empire under Kings its youth from Brutus and Collatinus who were the first Consuls till the time of Appius Claudius its Manhood from Appius Claudius till the time of the Emperor Augustus and its Old Age from Augustus till the time of Trajan under whose Reign that Historian lived and under which he says that the Empire tho' verging to a decrepitness bestirred it self as if it
ill condition And this holds more tru'ly in reference to a Political Body than a Natural Moreover whereas 't is a Spiritual Empire that is spoken of namely Antichristianism the judgments that are to be executed upon it are to be physical and penal evils which as punishments are to weaken and subvert it The judgments of God against an Empire whose criminalness from the very nature of it lyes in its Errors Idolatries Tyranny which comprehend in them the corruption of manners cannot consist in Evils of Offence But the first four Vials according to the sense put upon them by Mr. Iurieu import Evils of Crime and not of punishment and do strengthen and advance that Empire in all that is essential unto it instead of depressing and enfeebling it For it never had so great power and splendor as it enjoyed from the tenth Age to the 14th that is from the effusion of the first Vial till the pouring out of the 4th So that Mr. I. hath very ill applied the Events which he mentioneth to the 4 first Vials His 2d Answer is that the prodigious advancement of the Papal Authority which raised Antichristianism to its height proved a step to its ruin If the Popes saith he had continued within the bounds wherein they were in foregoing Ages and had not medled in the affairs of the world to dispose of them at their pleasure the Roman Sea would not have been known to be Antichrist But thereupon that Truth became so palpable that all mankind grew convinced of it This Answer indeed is subtil but is not of that force as to deceive those who make a right use of their Reason All Earthly Empires have their beginning their progress and their perfection according as it pleaseth the providence of God to suffer them to increase and when they are risen to such a height that they can advance no farther they then of themselves fall into decay and ruin And therefore the Antichristian Empire being Earthly 't is not strange if we find the like fate and parallel decay to befal it But Right Reason cannot fathom how an Empire should be punished and depressed by the plagues of divine justice at a time when 't is advancing and mounting to the highest pitch of its grandure We may as reasonably say that what the School of Hypocrates stiles an Athletick health is a punishment of God because according to the judgment of Physicians whosoever possesseth it is in danger to lose it and fall into some mortal disease This nevertheless is what Mr. Iurieu is forced to affirm because he cannot otherway's maintain that the first four Vials are already poured out Let us now come to the fifth Vial which is to be poured forth upon the Seat of the Beast This Vial saith Mr. Iurieu fell upon Rome which is the Seat of the Beast when she lost her Sun that Sun which is spoken of in the fourth Vial when she lost her Pope and the Papal Court which as a whirlpool drew unto her all the Riches of Europe Clement V. having left Rome in the year 1305 and fixed his Residence at Avignon the City which had been the Mistris of the world remained desolate and became a Wilderness for the space of 74 years and this transferring of the Papal Seat to Avignon was the cause of that Schism which lasted till the year 1415. The Anonymous Author had said that the translation of the Popes Seat from Rome to Avignon and what ensued thereupon was not an Evil of that extent and greatness as to answer the whole force of the words of the Prophecy The contrary whereof Mr. Iurieu should have shewn which he hath not done Wherefore that Author doth again say that the removing of the Papal Court to Avignon with all that followed upon it beareth no proportion to the greatness of the judgment of God predicted to fall upon the Seat of the Beast under the fifth Vial. For by that Rome is to be totally destroyed and the 18th Chap. of the Revelation which describeth her destruction is nothing but a Commentary upon that Vial as the 13th Chap. is a Commentary upon the 8th and 9th Chapters which are those of the Trumpets When Rome is destroyed the Papal Kingdom will lose much of its splendor and strength which is the reason why 't is said that his Kingdom became full of darkness because a great many of the followers of the Beast will forsake him upon the seeing the destruction of his Seat. Upon that they will open their eyes and be converted and they who continue to adhere to popery will gnaw their tongues through despite grief blaspheme God by saying that he hath failed in performing his word by which he had promised that Rome should forever be the Infallible Rule of Faith the Centre of Unity and the Fortress of Truth But we must hereafter speak more amply of this fifth Vial. Let us proceed to the sixth Vial which falleth upon the River Euphrates and which drieth up its waters that a way may be prepared for the Kings of the East Mr. Iurieu following the learned Mr. Mead explaineth it in reference to the irruption of the Turks whose irruption he will have to be a judgment of God against the Antichristian Kingdom So that he pretends this sixth Vial to be contemporary with the 6th Trumpet which described this Invasion of the Turks I do acknowledg that he hath reason to say that the Turks are spoken of both under the Sixth Trumpet under the 6th Vial seeing the Turks have possessed themselves of near one half of the Roman Empire which is Daniels 4th Monarchy whose History is carried on by St. Iohn But he ought not to confound the 6th Trumpet with the sixth Vial as if they were only one and the same Vision For there is as much difference betwixt these two as there is between the time of building and the time of destroying between the Patience of God which suffereth and permits his Enemies to become great to the prejudice of his own Kingdom and his Vengeance which ruineth overwhelmeth and abolisheth his Enemies Those two Empires namely that of Antichrist and that of the Turks were formed and grew up under the Trumpets whereas the Vials threaten to beat down and overthrow them This the Anonymous Author lays for a foundation that cannot be shaken and upon this he defends against the learned Mr. Mead that the drying up of Euphrates signifieth not the Irruption of the Turks upon the Antichristian Empire but on the contrary the end both of the Turkish Empire and of the Mahometan Religion 'T is the prophetick way of speaking to understand Nations by those Rivers that run through their Countries and the destruction of Nations by the drying up of their Rivers This appeareth by Isaiah Chap 19 v. 4 5. where the Lord saith he will deliver Egypt into the hands of a fierce King and the waters shall fail from the Sea and the Rivers shall be
wasted dried up And the same prophet predicts the destruction of Babylon in the like Terms Chap. 44. v. 26 27 28. where he tells us that 't is God who confirmeth the word of his Servants and performeth the Counsel of his Messengers that saith to Jerusalem thou shalt be inhabited and to the Cities of Judah ye shall be built that saith to the deep be dry and I will dry up thy Rivers who saith of Cyrus he is my Shepheard and shall perform all my pleasure even saying to Jerusalem â—hou shall be built and to the Temple thy foundation shall be laid 'T is evident that St. Iohn alludeth to this prophesie of Isaiah for both the one and the other speak of the drying up of the River Euphrates Isaiah intends by the drying up of this River the destruction of the Babylonish Empire and St. Iohn by the drying up of the same River intends the destruction of the Turkish Empire and of the Mahometan Religion which are established in those Countries which Euphrates runs through Isaiah promiseth the subversion of the Babylonish Empire as a means which God would serve himself of for the re-establishment of the Iews and St. Iohn promiseth the destruction of the Turkish Empire and of the Mahometan Religion as a means which God will make use of for the Recalling and Conversion of the Iews This allusion of St. Iohn to the Prophecy of Isaiah being so visible one would wonder that Mr. Iurieu could not perceive it For if he had observed it he would not have taken the Kings of the East to be the Turks upon a pretence of the Turks possessing Natolia which signifies the East For the Text in St. Iohn speaks not of one King but of Kings whereas there is but one King of Natolia who is the Grand Signior all the people that depend upon him being Slaves And as 't is to do Slaves too great an honor to give them the Title of Kings so 't is most natural to understand the Iews by these Kings of the East and the rather because these two things are certain First that the Iews are in greater number beyond Euphrates than in all the other places where they are dispersed 2ly that as they were before their being rejected so they shall after their being recalled be Kings and a Royal Priesthood no less than those sincere Christians are to whom St. Peter gives that Elogy So that we ought to conclude the sixth Vial not to be yet poured out forasmuch as we have neither seen the Destruction of the Turk and Mahometism which are signified by the drying up of the River Euphrates nor the Recalling of the Iews denoted by the coming in of the Kings of the East which is promised under the Effusion of the Sixth Vial. Finally Mr. Iurieu pretends that the pouring forth of the seventh Vial begun at the time of Luther and that the Reformation of the last age is the Harvest spoken of Chap. 14. and that this Harvest is the effect of the seventh Vial whose effusion will end upon the sounding of the Seventh Trumpet for the final destruction of the Papal Empire and that this shall be the Vintage which signifies the General Conversion of all Nations He will also have this Vial to have something singular and peculiar belonging to it namely that one part of it shall be poured out at one time and the rest of it at an other And that between those two times of its effusion the Papal Empire shall be healed of her wound thro raising herself to much of her former greatness and that nevertheless this Vial shall continue to be running out But that is incredible because 't is with reference to this last Vial that the Voice coming out of the Temple from the Throne proclaims it is done Rev. 16. 17. so that the half of it cannot still be to run out Nor is there the least ground for dividing any of the Vials into several parts seeing God hath no way's done it 'T is true that the Harvest was in the last Age and that in Luther's time the Sickle was put in and the Harvest gathered but then the Harvest is not an effect of the Seventh Vial that being wholly for the Vintage forasmuch as there remains nothing after that to be done towards the filling up the wrath of God against the Antichristian Empire But it may be said to the Anonymous Author that he supposeth the six first Trumpets to give Birth Growth Grandure and perfection to the Papal Kingdom and that nevertheless according to him the Reformation of Luther which lessened the Pope and diminished his Empire begun under the sixt Trumpet under which we yet are And that this breaks the Coherence of his Systeme and defaceth the Harmony of his Illustrations To this the Anonymous Author Answereth that it is not true that the Reformation made in the fore-going Age hath produced the effect which they alledg For we must in reference to the Papal Authority distinguish between his pretended Right and the actual Exercise of it For 't is certain that the Pope doth not actually exercise the Right attributed to him even in all the Dominions which pay him an obedience He doth not exercise it in France in that degree and manner as he doth beyond the Alp's and the Pyrenees and in several other places As for the Right he possesseth it to this day as he did before the preaching of Luther and as he claimed it in the time of the famous Hildebrand Gregory the Seventh For all who worship the Beast who bear his Image and carry his Mark do at this time acknowledg Innocent XI for the Vicar General of Jesus Christ as the Lord of all States and Empires either directly or indirectly as the Successor of St. Peter who hath the Keys of Heaven Hell and Purgatory as the Soveraign Judg of Controversies whose mouth whensoever he speaketh ex Cathedra uttereth Oracles which are to be received with an obedience of Faith as if God himself had pronounced them So that 't is evident that the Reformation of Luther is not the effect of any Vial but that they are all still to be poured forth from the very first to the last But it may further be said to the Anonymous Author can you deny but that the Reformation of the last Age was a judgment of God upon the Dominion of the Beast and upon the Papal Empire And if it be a Judgment of God how can you undertake to maintain that none of the Vials which threaten that Empire are hitherto poured out The Anonymous Author confesseth that Luther's Reformation was a judgment of God upon the Papal Kingdom but he withal say's that it was an effect of the sixth Trumpet which continueth as well as the former to represent the War of Antichrist against the Church of God. Till then Antichrist had been alway's victorious but after a constant course of Victories against the Church of God during the War of more