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of discipline of many of them were not only different from, but in many things oppofite to, thofe of the church of Rome, that they were not called after the name of the beast, but after the name of their particular founder; fuch for instance, as the Francifcans, the Dominicans, and fuch others: Their chief connection with the hierarchy is, that they rank themselves as its fubjects, under the Pope as their head, and apparently increase the number of those who respect his name. Every perfon acquainted with the history of Papal Rome knows, that every one who did not come under one or other of thefe four denominations was ftiled a heretic, was prohibited from buying or felling, and was excluded from all civil commerce within the bounds of the empire.

To produce bulls of the Popes, or examples to this purpose in proof of the fact, would be endless, they are so many, and fuperfluous; the fact is fo well known, I shall therefore produce only the bull of Pope Martin V. as an example of the exclufion from civil rights and privileges now mened. (Fox's Acts and Monuments, vol. i. page 738. alfo in fine confilii Conftanfienfis.) "We will "and command, that by this our authority apoftolical, ye exhort and admonish all the profeffors "of the Catholic faith, as emperors, kings, dukes, princes, &c. that they expel out of their king"doms, provinces, cities, towns &c. all and all

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"manner of heretics, according to the effect and "tenor of the council of Lateran.-That they fuffer none fuch within their fhires or circuits to preach, or to keep either house or family, either yet to use any handycraft or occupation or other "trades or merchandise, or else to folace themselves any ways, or to frequent the company of Chrif"tian men. And furthermore, if fuch public

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and known heretics fhall chance to die, (although not fo denounced by the church), yet in "this fo great a crime, let him and them want "Chriftian burial.-The refidue let the forefaid

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temporal lords, &c. take amongst them, with "condign deaths without any delay to punish." Thus Pope Martin V. hath written a most exact and full commentary on verses 16th and 17th.

Not only is this prediction moft minutely fulfilled in the history of Papal Rome, in these four marks by which her votaries are known, which four are peculiar to that hierarchy, but by receiving perfons of all these four denominations into her communion, the worldly wisdom of Rome is highly distinguished. This is one of the chief engines by which her power hath been increased fo much and preferved fo long. Men who had her mark in their right hand, men of any or of no religion, if fkilful and active in promoting her interefts, fhe regarded as her votaries. In thefe men fhe had many artful, diligent, and powerful fupporters. VOL. II. Among

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Among the order of Jesuits how many fuch men were there? Men who had her mark in their forehead, men who avowedly profeffed her religion, though they had neither the addrefs nor the power to promote her intereft by their active exertions, fhe received into her communion; as alfo thofe who bearing her name were called Roman Catholics; because the knew that the world is more governed by opinion than by real power, and that with the men of the world nothing has a greater tendency to make many new profelytes to a church than a great fhew of old votaries. But her receiving the last of these into her communion, those who had only the number of her name, the different religious orders, is a mafter-piece of worldly policy, and peculiar to Rome of all the churches that ever appeared in the world. Every one acquainted with church-hif tory must have seen, that the different religious orders are just so many religious fects, which in procefs of time, and in the ordinary courfe of things, have arisen in the church of Rome. Every one of thefe, like all fects in every church, held certain tenets in common with the church in which they fprung up, whilft they had fome peculiar ones, ou account of which they feparated from it.

The power of all other churches hath always diminished in proportion to the number of fects which have fprung up in them, because these sects

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no fooner arofe than they separated from the communion of the mother church, and carried off numbers of her votaries. But Rome, with a policy peculiar to herself, most artfully kept these new fects or religious orders in her communion, whatever their peculiar tenets were, and even when some of them bore the bittereft enmity against, and were at open war with, one another. Thus, the more fects sprung up in her, the stronger fhe grew; because their number reprefented to the world the number of her votaries as daily increafing. Their number increased the number of her name, and by her name more than by her real power she long governed the world.

Verse 18th. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast; for it is the number of a man ; and his number is fix hundred threescore and fix.

The expreffion "here is wisdom," is always used in this book to intimate to us, that what immediately follows is a key to the preceding prophecies, and therefore is explanatory of the fymbolical predictions; the language in it is to be taken in its plain and natural meaning, juft as it is ordinarily used by men. This expreffion is also used

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in chap. xvii. 9. "Here is the mind which hath wif"dom ;" and all the following nine verfes to the end of the chapter contain a very plain and exact key to the preceding prophecies, as fhall be fhewn in the commentary upon them. The language in all thefe keys is not fymbolical or prophetic, but is all used in the common acceptation of the words. This is neceffary; for otherwise it could not be explanatory of prophetic language. We find fuch keys in the prophecies of Ezekiel, Daniel, Jeremiah, and others. Such keys are a part of the idiom of prophetic language, and in them the words are always used in their ordinary acceptation. It is with peculiar propriety that these keys to prophetic writings are introduced with this proclamation, "Here is wisdom"; for wifdom confifts in perceiving clearly, and ufing in a right manner, the best means for attaining the ends of which we are in purfuit. The end which we purfue in ftudying prophecies, is to discover their meaning. But the best means for enabling us to discover their meaning, must be those particular keys, which the fame Spirit of God who dictated these prophecies hath placed among them for that very purpose. As much wisdom is difplayed in forming the key, fo fome wisdom is neceffary to understand its conftruction, and to use it fo as to unlock the prophecy,

It is not the number of the name of the beast: But it is the number of the beaft, that we are to

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