primam se omnium Ecclesiarum scribebat P. W. Diacon P. de Gest Longobard l. 4. c. 37. If Justinian a little before decreed that the Pope of Rome should be the first of Priests to keep footing at Rome or because of Old Rome was the Imperial Seat yet not as Peter's Successor for the same Justinian pronounced by Law the Church of Constantinople the Head of all the holy Churches And John Bishop of Constantinople assuming the name of Vniversal Bishop about Ann. 590. Gregory Bishop of Rome so disclaimed this Title as he concluded the time of Antichrist to be at hand because John usurped it L. Dupless Histor of Pap. Cent. 6. Magd. c. 7. It being the Controversie of that day he obtained not that first Horn till the time of Phocas As to the second Horn of Temporal Supremacy he obtained not that so early Indeed Celestinus Bishop of Rome about Ann. 424. began to aspire after it passing the bounds of his Priestly Order presumed to challenge unto himself Secular Power and Authority Saith Socrat. Hist l. 7. c. 11. He saith the same of the Bishop of Alexandria ib. l. 7. c. 7. But after Anno 500. Anastasius sent this Answer to Pope Horsmida Imperatoris proprium esse Imperare non imperata Pontificis accipere Cent. 6. Magd. c. 7. And after the Popes of Rome had Confirmation from the Emperors Cent. 7. Magd. c. 7. Et suit ipsa Vrbs Roma non in Pontificum sed Imperatorum potestate dominio ib. Under Justinian by Narses turning out the Goths both Italy and Rome were annexed to the Eastern Empire His Temporal Power and Headship must have its first date either from the Donation of Rome to him which of old was the Imperial Seat or from his obtaining Superiority either over the Head of Emperors or over some of the Ten Horns Now about Ann. 725. the City of Rome came under the Power of the Pope Leo the Emperor forbidding the use of Images in Churches Pope Gregory forbad the Tribute of Italy and Rome Removit Roman Italiam necnon omnia reip quam Ecclesiastica jura in Hesperiis ab obedientia Leonis Imperii sub ipso constituti Romam cum tota Italia ab illius Imperio recedere faciens Paul Diacon Anast l. 21. Saith Platina Leonem tertium Imperatorem Constantinopolitanum Imperio simul communione fidelium privat quiae Sanctas Imagines è Sacris adibus abrasisset Which sufficiently evidenceth that the pretended Donation of Constantine the Great was but a fiction they belonging to the Eastern Empire till now they were usurped by the Pope who made himself Prince of Rome And afterward Pope Zechary deposing Childerick set up Pipinus the French King who in requital compelled Aistulphus King of the Lumbards to restore all the Towns and Lands which he had taken and by his Donation bestowed on him the Exarchate or Princedom of Ravenna and Pentapolis and a very large Dominion and Possession which afterwards were confirmed by others with Additions as by Charles the Great Anno 800. All which argue that now the Pope was become not only a Temporal Prince by the Dukedom of Rome but by getting power over some of the Crowned Horns and opposing and over-topping Emperours so as without their consent by degrees they had their elections and swelled in their power till at last they disannulled the Inauguration placing and displacing Emperours at their pleasure This appeared most manifestly in Hildebrand or Gregory the Seventh Ann. 1073. who not only Excommunicated Henry the Emperour but deposed him and gave away his Kingdom to Rodolphus Duke of Suevia And now Emperours had their confirmation from Popes whereas of old the Popes had confirmation from the Emperours Whether this were the first of his being Regnant as some assert or the time of his being Triumphant in the Temporal Power I leave it to others to judge 3. He spake as a Dragon so did Hildebrand and other Popes not only in their Excommunications and Depositions but also in those they call Hildebrands Dictates or Canons and Decrees as That no Book may be accounted Canonical without his Authority That he ought to be judged of none Vid. Onuphr in vita Greg. 7. 4. He exerciseth all the Power of the first Beast before him and causeth the Earth to worship the first Beast Rev. 13. 12. This the Pope doth by letting none be Emperours without his confirmation deposing Emperours and sending the Imperial Crown to others as Rodolphus setting up persecuting Emperours at his pleasure and causing the Earth to obey their decrees by influencing the Horns to persecute As Pope Martin perceiving the Gospel prevailed in Bohemia stirred up the Emperour and German Princes to making War against the Bohemians and thus exercised the power of the first persecuting Beast and caused Earthly men to worship him 5. He doth Wonders so that he maketh fire come down from Heaven and deceiveth the Earth with his Miracles Rev. 13. v. 13. 14. So the Pope as a false Prophet pretendeth to Miracles One saith that the garments of Hildebrand or Gregory after his death wrought Miracles Cardinal Benno who lived at the same time saith of Hildebrand that when he list he would shake his Skirts and fire would come out like sparks and by such Miracles he abused the eyes of simple People and therefore when the Devil could not persecute publickly Jesus Christ by Painims he disposed himself fraudulently to destroy his name by this false Monk under the shew and colour of Religion Estate of the Church p. 298. Benno in vit Hildebrandi Vsher Graviss Quaest Hist Explic. Also to incourage Rodolph in War against the true Emperour Henry which he had deposed Hildebrand foretold that the false King whom he interpreted to be Henry should die the same year before the Feast of St. Peter But Rodolph lost his life before the day and Henry lived after and so Hildebrand not only by false Miracles but by foretelling what did not come to pass was proved to be a false prophet Deut. 18. 20 21 22. Rev. 19. 20. Matth. Paris Onuphr B. Vsher Graviss Quaest Histor Explic 6. He saith to them that dwell on the Earth that he would or they should make an Image to the Beast Rev. 13. v. 8. 14 What this Image is it is a great question It must be an Image not of the second but of the first Beast that was Wounded v. 14. and so it is not the first Beast it self and the rather because the Beast and Image are made distinct Rev. 14. 9. but a representation or resemblance of him yet such as the false Miracles were to win Credit and Honour to this Image v. 14. saying that they should make an Image which in making is to when once made of the Beast v. 15. or that he had made it and he urgeth worshipping of it upon pain of death v. 15. This is not Image worship for Images are dead things but this is living
most corrupt in those days â—b lib. 28. c. 8. Yea they over-ran those parts even to the Suburbs of Constantinople and besieged that but at last were repulsed Sccrat lib. 4. c. 31. and others 2. When the Body of the Roman Empire was changed from its Ancient form of Provinces into the form and shape of Crowned Horns then the Beast was up For it 's said in the days of John Rev. 17. 17. They have received no Kingdom as yet but receive power as Kings one hour or the first hour with the Beast The rising then of the Beast and the crowning of the Horns are about the same time This Beast is differenced thus from the Dragon that he the Beast hath his Crowns Emblems of Soveraignty upon his Horns Rev. 13. 1. and from the two Horned Beast that he hath more than two even Ten and upon his Horns Ten Crowns Not that they must all be up first so as the rising of the tenth Horn should give the first date to the Beast For they are all Horns of the Beast and therefore speak a Beast up for them to grow upon and they receive Power as Kings One hour with the Beast Rev. 17. v. 12. Not the Beast one hour with them intimating the Beast to be first in order rather than otherwise But as the Dragon is said to have seven Heads Rev. 12. 3. When as the seventh Head of Popes was not up till Dragon Pagan Power was down so as well may this be called a Ten Horned Crowned Beast Rev. 13. 1. Before all the ten were Crowned because there were to be so many principal ones and ten may not be taken precisely neither more nor fewer but indefinitely for many as Numb 14. 22. Job 19. 3. Gen. 31. 7. Now before Ann. 400. diverse Horns were Crowned see an Elaborate book Entituled Antichrists Excidium which proveth the riseing of the Kingdom of the Alemanes Ann. 356. the Ostrogoths Ann. 377. the Visogoths Ann. 378. the Hunns Ann. 378. and others even ten about Ann. 410. Therefore then the Beast was up 3. When the Dragon gave unto Crowned Horns in the Roman Empire his Power Throne and great Authority then the Beast was up For it is the Beast he gave these to Rev. 13. 2. the Dragon gave him i. e. the Beast his power 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 strength or force distinguished from authority and so it is outward strength or military power his Throne i. e. the City of Rome or a Government there and great Authority so as to become a lawful ruler within the Roman Empire Now all this was given before or soon after Ann. 400. For Crowned Horns had power such military power as they did wage War with the Emperours as the Goths and others and after the death of Valens they over-run Thracia and spread themselves even to the Suburbs of Constantinople and besieged that Am. Marcell l. 31. c. 14. 15 16 17. Alaricus King of the Goths occupyeth Thracia Graecia Athens Corinth and other Cities c. Returneth to Italy Calvis Ann 395. The Hunns destroyed Armenia and other Countries of the East Socrat. l. 6. c. 1. By Armenia brake into Asia and besieged Antioch Calvis Ann. 395. Gainas with an Army of Goths over-ran the Eastern Empire and Constantinople was in great danger Socrat. l. â— c. 6. Gildo usurped Africa Magd. Cent. 5. C. 16. And his Throne the City of Rome was given to crowned Horns for Alaricus King of the Goths took it about Ann. 410. It is true this was a little after Ann. 400. But it proveth the Beast to be up before having such great power as aforesaid It is true Alaricus then did not keep Rome long but then he took possession of the Throne And it is not said the Beast kept the Throne but that the Dragon gave it to him and afterward also Gensericus King of the Vandals sacked Rome And after the Goths reigned over Italy about 70 years Yea Crowned Horns obtained in the Roman Empire great Authority for before Ann. 400. Valentinian the Emperour made a league with Macrianus King of the Alemanes and ratified it by â—ath about Ann. 374. Am. Marcell lib. 30. c. 4. Afterwards Valens granted some Countries in Thracia to the King of the Goths about Ann. 376. and so he became a crowned Horn. ib. lib. 31. c. 4. Socrat. Diacon and consider whether this was not the birth-day of the Beast this being the first crowned Horn that received not only Power but Authority in the Roman Empire I might mention other Leagues as between the Emperour Honorius and the Goths and so with Theodosius and others All this argueth that the Beast was up before Ann. 400. 4. When the deadly wound was given to one of the Heads then the Beast was up For it was a Head of the Ten-Horned Beast that was wounded as it were unto death Rev. 13. v. 1 2. And so the Beast must then exist and be up to receive the wound Now this deadly wound was made when Alaricus sacked Rome and perfected at Augustulus Indeed this act was after Ann. 400. but it presupposeth the Beast to be up and so we may reckon that he did rise before Ann. 400. And here note 1. It is not the Pope but this ten Horned Beast who in respect of his first State is said to continue a short space Rev. 17. 10. For it is not said the seventh Head but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 another i. e. another of the eight Kings with whom the word agreeth not another Head There were eight Kings and but seven Heads this was another King or State of Government when the Empire was so broken and changed from its antient form and shape of Provinces into crowned Horns and this was but a short time before it was wounded even unto death Whereas the seventh Head the Pope hath continued a longer time than any of the other Heads if compared with them And further to confirm this he immediately addeth the different States of the first Beast v. 11. was and is not and yet is as before v. 9. and so was is before wounding this short space is not is when wounded yet is is after healed 2. If the first Beast be the man of sin 2 Thes 2. 6 7. Then the lett which hindred not meerly his rising but his revelation must be imperial power which was removed by the aforementioned breakings and woundings of it But if it be the second Beast then the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is their Imperial Authority and it was removed when Popes over-topped and assumed power over Emperours as Hildebrand and others Rule 6. That the Eastern parts belong to the first Ten-Horned Beast as well as the Western This is denyed by some but seeing it conduceth to the clearing up of truths and some material points I shall give these grounds of it 1. The same Dominion which the Dragon i. e. Pagan Emperours had the same the Beast hath Compare Rev. 12. 2. and 13. v. 2.
Livii lib. 3. Dec. 1. See Tacitus Annal. l. 1. and others who speak of Dictators and Tribunes 1. Kings cannot be denied to be Supream as Romulus c. 2. Consuls were created in the room of Kings Regibus urbe propulsis Romani Consules creaverunt pro uno rege duo hac causa Creati Paul Diacon lib. 1. p. 13. 3. Dictators The Romans smitten with fear Dictatorem creant cujus auctoritas potentia Consulem praeiret Oros lib. 2. c. 5. The like saith Dempster 4. Decemviri Pro duobus Consulibus Decem facti sunt qui summam potestatem haberent constituendarum legum Atticarum gratia qui a numero Decemviri sunt Nominati Paul Diacon lib. 1. See Paul Oros lib. 2. c. 13. 5. Tribunes were of two sorts Tribuni Militum were of Consular Authority Paul Diacon lib. 2. 6. Emperours are known to have had Supream Authority 7. Popes have over-top't Emperours as Hildebrand or Pope Gregory VII and others Obj. 4. But the Supream Power was in the Senate and that is made none of the Six A. It 's said That Romulus the King first constituted the Senate at Rome yet he was Supream still Centum Senatores creavit quos Patres auctoritate nuncupavit Messalae Corvini lib. Eutropii Historia cum Diacono p. 6. the number was increased afterwards It 's true there were Contests after between the Senate and Emperours and the Senate had a hand in making Decrees but Emperours had the Supream Power in the Administration of the Government of Rome or in the Executive part of the Law for who will say that there were two Supream Powers at the same time there And those who make the Objection by their asserting particular Emperours to be the seven Heads Rev. 13. 1. and Rev. 17. 9 10. they must unavoidably grant not the Senate but Emperours to be Supream Obj. 5. The Pontifex Maximus might as well be named as one of them A. 1. It s denied For Pontifex Maximus was first instituted by Numa Pompilius a King who had Supream Power over him See Messal Corvin Libel 2. Afterward it was sinfully annexed to him who had the Supream Power viz. to the Emperour as one of his Titles After C. Julius Caesar all Emperours assumed that wicked Title Pontifex Maximus even Constantius until the Emperour Gratian and he did forbid to be called by it See Dempster and Rosin and Zosimus 3. It 's against Rev. 17. 10. for if Pontifex Maximus was one of the Seven which were the Five fallen in the days of John how can the number Seven be made up Obj. 6. Shew that The Beast that was and is not is meant that it is not now nor ever was but shall be and when the Pope falleth shall not be And v. 15. where the Whore sitteth where she shall sit hereafter A. 1. It may be as difficult to Answer if the Pagan Empire were the Beast for that was in the days of John yet it is said and is not 2. It is usual in a Prophetical strain to mention things as past or present which are to come hundreds of Years after because they shall certainly be future as Rev. 18. 2. Babylon is fallen whereas it was not fallen in the days of John no although the Pagan Empire were the Babylon intended which it is not Thus Dan. 2. 29. his Dream was of what should come to pass afterward yet in Vision it was as if present or past v. 32. to 46. so Dan. 7. 3 4. to v. 15. v. 17. to the End and Dan. 8. Such reasoning then does but darken truth with many words And as to Rev. 17. 8 11. the Apostle interpreteth it the Beast was before wounding is not what he was when wounded unto death yet is when healed Also The Gowned and literate Tribe of Pagan Rome could not be the second Beast Rev. 13. 11. for various Characters thereof do not agree to them as v. 12. they did not exercise all the Imperial Power and Authority of the first Beast nor did they so much as pretend to work Miracles v. 13. they do not make fire come down from Heaven on the Earth in the sight of men and so they are not the second Beast Take this Rule A Correspondency or agreeableness of some Matters or Events unto a Prophesie will not prove its accomplishment if there he disagreeableness in other things Thus some observing great Sufferings of Churches at divers Seasons about Three Years and half have concluded these for the times of the Witnesses Death Rev. 11. 7 9. and yet have been mistaken as I before evidenced So others finding Pagan Rome to answer some Characters in Rev. 17. 4 5 6. as being great and a Mother of Harlots and Abominations c. have groundlesly concluded that to be the Woman or Whore of Babylon Whereas Pagan Rome was down as I have proved before the Scarlet-coloured Beast was up which carrieth her v. 3 7. and before the Ten Horns were crowned v. 12. and so that cannot be the Babylon here intended But as to the Whore of Babylon Rev. 17. all the Characters of her agree to Rome Papal and so we may conclude that to be it Rome undeniably is that great City which in the days of John reigned over the Kings of the Earth Rev. 17. 18. though now it is not of the same Magnitude as then yet it is the same City that now is the Seat of the Papacy And her bad Qualifications of Spiritual Fornication or Idolatry and Cruel Persecution v. 2 3 4 5 6. do now notoriously and undoubtedly agree to Rome Papal And therefore Rome Papal is the Whore of Babylon and I think Antichristian If the name Antichrist be not in this Book yet the thing is It is not against it if her riding upon the Beast was not until Pope Gregory VII or Innocent III. or the Latâ—ran Council For there is no Scripture Evidence that the rising of the Whore of Babylon was as early as the first Beast much less her riding upon him that might not be until the rising of the second Beast Hundreds of Years after especially seeing Babylon is first mentioned in this Book Rev. 14. 8 9. with the Image and Mark of the second Beast Rev. 13. 14 15 16. But how unimaginable is it that almost the whole Book of the Revelation should be spent about Pagan Rome in the first Three Hundred Years after Christ's Nativity and that all the great Events should be passed over in a deep silence which have been for many Hundreds of Years since and this when they were so remarkable to the Church and do so clearly and exactly answer the Prophesie which yet certainly extendeth to the End of time even to the Day of judgment Rev. 20. 11 12 I might add that as this Prophesie of the casting down the Dragon Rev. 12. tended greatly to the Consolation of Christian Jews and Gentiles in the â—rimitive times and here is a triumph on that account v. 10 12
issue as to the Dragon is Rev. 20. That he is bound 1000 Years i e. restrained from former Persecutions and at last is utterly destroyed v. 10. CHAP. II. Of the Ten Horned Crowned Beast Rev. 13. 1. IT is impossible to regulate our Knowledge in these Prophetical Matters or our ensuing Practice without rectified Apprehensions in what state the Roman Empire must be considered when it became a Beast I cannot concur with an eminent Writer in thinking the first â—east Rev. 13. 1. to be the Roman Catholick Visible Church For I cannot find that the claim of Universal Churchship was first before the claim of Universal Supremacy or Headship to make a second Beast Nor do the other Characters v. 3. 5 7. agree to that If that were the first Beast then who is the Whore that rideth upon the Beast Rev. 17. 3 7. Surely that is the pretended Roman Catholick Church and so that cannot be the Beast that is ridden upon Nor is the Church one of the eight Kings or seven Heads v. 11. and so cannot be the first Beast Nor is this first Beast Rome as under Pagan Emperours For then it had but seven Crowns and these upon the Heads Rev. 12. 3. Whereas this first Beast hath Ten Crowns and these upon the Horns Rev. 13. â— Because the Ten Horns assumed a Supremacy and Soveraignty which Crowns are Emblems of to themselves And this Beast is the Dragons Successor v. 2. and received a deadly wound in one of his Heads v. 3. Whereas although â—aganism was wounded by Constâ—â—â—â—ne the Great yet the sixth Head of Emperours was not wounded much less unto Death during the Dragon or Pagan State it was 〈…〉 this Beast nor wounded until the 〈…〉 were upon the Horns nor did Pagan Emperours continue forty two Months as this Beast doth Rev. 13. 5. Nor is the Pope the first Beast I am perswaded that the accounting him so hath caused divers mistakes in the matters of the Revelation as seeking the Eâ—ocha of the Prophetical days in him which should be found in another as this first Beast I grant that the Pope is the second two Horned Beast Rev. 13. 11 12. and Antichristian but I humbly conceive that there was a first Antichristian persecuting Beast up above two hundred years before the second Beast arose and so before the Pope became the two horned Beast and seventh Head Take my Notion under this Rule Rule 2. That the first ten horned Crowned Beast is a Civil State of the Roman Empire as broken or divided into ten persecuting Kingdoms For 1. The first Beast is distinct from the two horned Beast or these are two distinct Beasts and not barely a double Power Temporal and Ecclesiastical of the same Beast Here are many Notes of Distinction They have a different manner of rising One out of the Sea Rev. 13. 1. the Other out of the Earth v. 11. the former is wounded in one of his Heads v. 3. the latter is another Beast v. 1. 11 14. they are differing in Shape the first hath ten Horns Crowned v. 1. the second hath two Horns v. 11. Nay the second Beast exerciseth all the Power of the first Beast and that before him i. e. before the first Beast and therefore they are distinct yet some part of the time exist together i. e. the second Beast is up before the first is down else it could not be before him And hence it cannot be the same Beast considered as wounded as the first Beast and as healed as the second Beast For how could the second Beast as healed exercise the Power of the first Beast before him as wounded Seeing the wounded State as well as that before the wound is past when the healing time cometh and so it could not be before him if after the second Beast were up the first were not up also How can one act before another if both be not up together as distinct each from other even still in some respects And hence it is evident that it cannot be limited only to a double Power of the same Beast seeing whatsoever Power the first Beast hath the same the second hath also and so the first is in some degree subjected to the second if the first Beast did exercise Temporal Power then so did the second also for the second exerciseth not only some but all the Power of the first Beast v. 12. From all which it is evident that they are two distinct Beasts and that therefore the first Beast cannot be the Pope or seventh Head For there are but seven Heads in all Rev. 13. 1. Chap 17. 3 9. And if the Pope be the first Beast and seventh Head how can another distinct Beast come after and exercise all the Power of the first without making eight Heads And who should that second Beast be after Popes or seventh Head if the Pope be the first Beast 2. He to whom the Dragon resigned or gave his Power Throne and great Authority about the time of Crowning the Horns he is the first Beast Rev. 13. 1. Vpon his Horns ten Crowns And v. 2. The Dragon gave him his Power and his Seat and great Authority Now the Pope had not from the Dragon i. e. from Pagan Rome his Throne Power or Military Forces nor great Authority he had the same Seat before and at Crowning the Horns and therefore the Pope is not the first Beast but the Crowned Horns who had these as Alaricus 3. That which was Head of the Roman Empire after the rising of the first Beast received a deadly wound which afterward was healed Rev. 13. 1 2 3. I saw one of his i. e. of the Beasts Heads wounded as it were unto Death It was then one of the first Beasts Heads that was wounded and so in his time after he was up And therefore the Pope cannot be the first Beast or the seventh Head then for the Head of â—opes as it was not up so early as the Crowning of the Horns so did not receive a deadly wound he was rather in a rising than a falling posture thence forward But there was a manifest wound in the sixth Head of Emperours by Alaricus about Ann. 410. and others afterwards till about Ann. 475. in Augustulus that wound was so great that there were no Emperours in the West or at Rome till Charles the Great about Ann. 800. when the wound was after a sort healed again yet it had not the extent of the former Empire The manner and occasion take thus Alaricus took Rome and set up a Mock Emperour that he might bring the Majesty of the Imperial Scepter into Contempt and Derision he proclaimed Emperour One whose Name was Attalus and the same day they carried him up and down the Streets in the habit of an Emperour and the next day they made him serve as a Slave It 's said to be occasioned thus Alaricus having over-run many places sent Messengers to Honorius declaring that if Lands were granted to him and
it can speak and do v. 15. Therefore this Image must be either the Pope himself or some new Constitution of his or else the German Empire It seemeth not to be this second Beast or Pope himself for he maketh it and so is before and is not it that is made unless it noteth his exciting or causing others to give Imperial Honour and Dignity to him Or this Image may be especially the Cardinals who are said to succeed in the place of Consuls and to be Principes mundi veri mundi Cardines resembling Emperours in their Habit and power and who obtained a new Principality of Election of Popes about Ann. 1059 or 1061. When Nicolaus Papa sancit Pontificem Eligendum à Cardinalibus and bear such Authority as threatneth those with death who will not submit B. Vsher ib. and others Or else the German Empire is this Image as wanting diverse Kingdoms that did belong to it yet is an Image of the old Roman Empire by a Constitution of Otho the third and Pope Gregory the fifth seven Electors were Erected and and as saith Hondy ten Provinces or Circuits resembling the old Seven Heads and TenHorns And the Pope hath instigated Emperours as Sigismond against the Bohemians to persecute and so he giveth life to the Image and maketh it speak terribly against his opposers 7. He causeth as many as would not worship the Image of the Beast to he killed Rev. 13. 15. So the Pope not only excited others but himself raised Wars killing many as in the time of Leo the ninth And Pope Vrban had a great hand in that which is called the Holy War Ann 1099. for gaining Jerusalem Also by his Thunderbolts Anathema's Excommunications Canons and Decrees seeketh to exterminate those which yield not subjection to him Potestates seculares perpetui vel temporales jurare tenentur universos haereticos ab ecclesia damnatos pro viribus exterminare Decret Gregor lib. 5. Ti. 7. Lateran Council Ann. 1215. And accordingingly the Council of Constans Ann. 1414. condemned and burnt John Huss and Jerom of Prague as Hereticks notwithstanding the Emperours safe Conduct Thus they that yield not obedience to him are killed 8. He causeth all both small and great rich and poor free and bond to receive a Mark in their right hand or in their foreheads Rev. 13. v. 16. So as none must hold Communion buy or sell without it So the Pope hath his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or universal Character in various notes of distinction of his followers from others some in the forehead by an Open Profession that they are Roman Catholicks it was one of Hildebrands Decrees or Dictates Catholicus non habeatur qui non concordat Romanae Ecclesiae Others in the hand more privately or by the number of his name so resembling him his ways and customs as they are to be deemed of that number though they do not own the name Such Marks are his Confirmation Transubstantiaâ—ion the Sign of the Cross c. Their Council of Trent saith Si quis dixerit in tribus Sacramentis Baptismo scil Confirmatione Ordine non imprimi Characterem in anima hoc est signum quoddam Spirituale indelebile unde ea iterari non possunt Anathema sit Sess 7. Can. 9. They then make Confirmation to be one Character or Mark. The first imposing this Mark was not at the first rising of the Beast but at the first eminent restoration of the Church The Beast marketh his for distinctions sake from the opposite numerous party of the Lamb compare Rev. 13. 16. with Rev. 14. 1. As to the Popish Chrisme or Confirmation which they call a Sacrament consecrated by a Bishop compounded of Oyl Olive and of Balm to be applyed to the person baptised upon the forehead with the sign of the Cross This is witnessed and declared against by the Barbes or Pastors of the Valleys as having no ground in Scripture See Mr. Morlands Extract of Treatises and Antiquities where many other Romish corruptions are discovered about Ann. 1120. Also of that confirmation see Decret Gregorli 1. Ti. 15. Referring to the times of Innocent 3. As to Transubstantiation that they have made that another Mark or Test is undeniable The Martyrdom of Hundreds in Queen Mary's time by Fire and Faggot for denying it as well as their â—ateran Council asserting it as a special business under Innocent the third Ann. 1215. is a sufficient proof of it And it was a Mark long before For it is said Berengarius arose Ann. 1039. and Ann. 1049. and 1050. And after there were Councils called by Pope Leo the Ninth Benedict and Nicholas for the condemning that Heresie as they call it of Berengarius who denyed Transubstantiation Some say that Pope Nicholas the Second assembled a Council called the Council of Lateran Ann. 1059. and in the same Council was hatched and invented the new found device and term of Transubstantiation Acts and Mon. Vol. 1. p. 217. It is said then Berengarius was driven to a Recantation Others say he never Recanâ—ed If Eleutherius Archbishop of Sens did begin it as Binius affirmeth yet that might be more privately how long before the time aforesaid it became visible and publick I leave to others to judge Now by Berengarius and others the opposite party appeared openly with the Lamb on Mount Sion as Rev. 14. 1. and that with the full number 144000 which were all that were long before safely sealed Rev. 7. 4. and that having his Fathers name on their foreheads in opposition to their foregoing more latent State For before though the Church did not utterly fail as Rom. 11. 4. yet it was more private It was a horrid time of darkness as to Religion in the World some Hundreds of years till after Ann. 1000. But then about Thirty or Fourty Years after there began the first open restoration of the Church when they had the name of God upon their foreheads i. e. publickly openly and as in Nick-name they were called Berengarians so the Beast by Councils By Marks differenced his from these Also it 's said that in Alexander the third his time an Oath of fidelity was imposed on Bishops by which they did swear Obedience to the Papacy to maintain the Church of Rome in all Councils in all Times and Places was not this a mark in opposition to the Waldenses And that Lateran Council further saith the Catholicks that taking the Badge of the Cross shall give themselves to the exterminating of Hereticks shall injoy indulgence And they Decree to Subject to Excommunication the Believers and Receivers Defenders and Favourers of Hereticks Not to be admitted to any publick Offices or Councils nor to chuse any to such or to be a witness and let him not have power to make a will And if any after such a mark by the Church shall contemn to avoid them be smitten with the Sentence of Excommunication What is the meaning of all this but that none
nothing else but the Kingdom of Babylon and the power of the strong hunter Nimroth when they Burnt Luthers works he burnt the Bishop of Romes Law and the Decree then lately published openly Ib. l. 2. So Calvin Melancthon Zwinglius and many others as well as Luther scorched men with Fire as Rev. 16. 8. and this is a sure Direction when this Vial was poured out viz. when men by their Preachings Writings Disputations c. denounced Fire and Brimstone and the greatest Torments against such Worshippers and so it is explained Rev. 14. v. 9 10 11. If any worship the Beast and his Image and receive his mark in his fore-head i. e. openly or in his hand i. e. secretly v. 10. The same shall drink the Wine of the Wrath of God poured out without mixture and shall be tormented with Fire and Brimstone which was clearly fulfilled in Luther and Calvins time How many Countreys and Kingdoms by such Preaching fell off from Rome and took up Reformation as desiring to preserve themselves from that Fire which therefore scorched the Papal party After a Disputation Religion was Reformed not only at Bernes but also proclaimed by Magistrates in sundry places thereabouts Masses Altars Images abolished in all places They wrote the day and year wherein they forsook the Popish Religion upon a Pillar in Golden Letters that it might be an everlasting memorial to their Posterity Likewise they of Geneva did imitate them of Bernes wherefore the Bishop and Clergy forsook the City in anger Then the Reformers began to be called Protestants of whom there were seven Princes The Protestants made a League that if any did stand in danger for Religion one might help another Ib. li. 6. Another symptom of its being then poured out is the great following persecutions raised by the Bestians being incensed by the torment of this fire as Rev. 14. 12. Here is the Patience of the Saints i. e. here at this time is the tryal of their patience that even death it self shall be desireable v. 14. Blessed are the dead answerable to which in the fourth Vial it is said Rev. 16. 9. men were scorched with great heat and blasphemed the name of God and repented not All which was manifestly accomplished for after Luther and Calvin and others had proclaimed fire against the worshippers of the Beast they repented not witness the Council of Trent wherein they sought to establish their Abominations and then followed the great and sore Persecutions in most Kingdoms of the Beast in the West as France Spain Germany Bohemia England all which give evidence that then the fourth Vial was poured out 5. The fifth Vial is poured out upon the Throne of the Beast Rev. 16. 10. and the effect is his Kingdom is full of Darkness and they have anguish and indignation gnawed their Tongues Throne either is the Government of the Beast his Soveraignty and Authority as Psal 89. 36 37. Psal 122. 5. and if it be taken thus then this Vial might be poured when the Popes Supremacy was cast off by Protestant Princes as Hen. VIII Edw. VI. Q. Eliz. Duke of Saxony Brandenburgh and when Popish Orders and Branches of that Government were rejected The German Princes told the Popes Ambassadors they acknowledged not his authority in such matters and Q. Elizabeth would not suffer them to come into the Land Sympson of the Church p. 408. Or the Throne of the Beast most properly is the chief place of his residence wherein he appeareth in his highest Majesty and Glory And this Vial was poured out upon Germany or the German Empire since Ann. 1600. especially by Gustavus Adolphus I know many think the City of Rome to be the Throne of the Beast which this Vial falleth upon but the City of Rome is the Woman Rev. 17. 18. or whore of Babylon which sitteth upon the Beast v. 3. and so cannot be the Throne which the Beast sitteth upon And the more improbable is it that Rome should be this Throne for when a Vial cometh upon that it is with an utter destruction Rev. 18. and so it is by the sixth Vial whereas the fifth Vial doth not destroy but darken the Kingdom of the Beast It will be hard or impossible to prove that the Throne of the Two-horned Beast the Pope is intended here and if it be of the Ten-Horned Beast then although the Throne of the Dragon was given into his possession yet he made it not as his Throne For when the Beast was very young the Emperour did not take up his residence at Rome but at Ravenna Sigon de Reg. Ital. 1. speaking of Ravenna saith Postremo Honorius eam sibi atque Occidentis Imperio sedem urbe Rom. relicta constituit quod institutum Successores quoque illius tam Imperatores Rom quam Reges Gotthorum custodierunt That as Honorius was enthroned not at Rome but at Ravenna so other Emperours till Augustulus Ann. 475. and then there were no Emperours in the West or at Rome till Carol. Magn. Ann. 800. Neither have the Emperours ever since to this day made the City of Rome their Seat or Throne but Germany and there are seven Electoral Heads and Ten Horns or Provinces in the West as the Beast Let the Throne then upon which this fifth Vial falleth be Germany especially seeing the event doth admirably answer there to all that is said of this fifth Vial. For the Case was thus as it 's said Some Seeds of Division being sown by the proscribing and forcing Donawerdt on the occasion of a Tumult at a Procession there and mastering Gulick the German Protestants received the Alarm and assembled at Hall and the Catholicks at Wirtsburgh This quickly did fly like Wild-fire filled all Germany and involved all Europe in a prodigious War some compare it with that of Zisca and the Bohemians I shall give some short account of it out of J. Parival History of the Iron Age and shall refer to the Book it self for a larger and fuller discovery of it He speaketh much in favour of the Papists but declareth himself in this manner I abhor to begin the Discourse of the longest and most cruel War that ever was in Christendom and which drew more Blood more altered the Christian Faith and caused more ruine and desolation than all that ever were in Europe ib li. 3. c. 1. And Ann. 1630. Gustavus Adolphus King of Sweden invited by the Germans incited by France England Venice the United Provinces as also by his own peculiar interests entered Germany with an Army was sure of his Allies and of the inclination of all the Protestants whose Cause and Religion he came to defend King Gustave takes Francfort beats the Imperialists cleansed Pomerania Ambassadours of the Princes Imperial Towns and Protestants States treated an Alliance with King Gustave These sparkles encompassed all Germany with a Fire which lasted till the year 1649. ib. cap. 17 18 19 20. Gustave worsted Tilly before the Fort of Werbern being joined