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THE LITTLE HORN OF THE FOURTH BEAST. 17

that the saints possessed the kingdom. Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings, or kingdoms, that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first,* and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time, and times; and the dividing of time. Dan. vii. 19—25.†

* From the first, i. e. from the ten kingdoms, the original word being in the plural number.

+ From the very summary view of these prophecies given in the text, the following extracts will be the more interesting to the reader, as greatly illustrative of the subject :

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"Newton (Sir Isaac) begins with the vision of the image composed of four different metals. This image he considers as representing a body of four great nations, which should reign in succession over the earth, viz. the people of Babylonia, the Persians, the Greeks, and the Romans, while the stone cut out without hands is a new kingdom which should arise after the four, conquer all those nations, become very great, and endure till the end of time.

"The vision of the four beasts is the prophecy of the four empires repeated, with several new additions. The lion with eagle's wings was the kingdom of Babylon and Media, which overthrew the Assyrian power. The beast like a bear was the Persian empire, and its three ribs were the kingdoms of Sardis (Lydia), Babylon, and Egypt. The third beast, like a leopard, was the Greek empire, and its four heads and four wings were the kingdoms of Cassander, Lysimachus, Ptolemy, and Seleucus. The fourth beast, with its great iron teeth was the Roman empire; and its ten horns were the ten kingdoms into which it was broken, in the reign of Theodosius the Great. These kingdoms are,-1st, the kingdom of the Vandals and Alans, in Spain and Africa; 2d, of the Suevians, in Spain; 3d, of the Visigoths; 4th, of the Alans, in Gaul; 5th, of the Burgundians; 6th, of the Franks; 7th, of the Britons; 8th, of the Huns; 9th, of the Lombards; 10th, of Ravenna. Some of these kingdoms at length fell, and new ones sprung up; but whatever was their subsequent, they still retain the name of the ten kings, from their first number.

"The eleventh horn of Daniel's fourth beast is shown in

Under the symbol of a little horn that had eyes and a mouth speaking great things, and a look more stout than his fellows, a new power, connected with the Roman, or fourth kingdom, is thus announced as springing up among the ten kingdoms which were to arise out of it, or into which it was to be subdivided, yet diverse from the rest of these kingdoms, subduing three of the first kingdoms before it-speaking great words against the Most High-wearing out the saints of the Most High-thinking to change times and laws, and exercising such authority for a long period, or for time, times, and the dividing of time, or half a

chapter vii. to be the church of Rome, in its triple character of a seer, a prophet, and a king; and its power to change times and laws is copiously illustrated in chapter viii.”—Dr. Brewster's Life of Sir Isaac Newton, pp. 277, 278.

"The Roman empire, as the Romanists themselves allow, (Calmet upon Rev. xiii. 1; and he refers likewise to Berengaud, Bossuet, and Du Pin), was, by means of the incursions of the northern nations, dismembered into ten kingdoms: and Machiavel, (Hist. Flor. lib. 1.) little thinking what he was doing, (as Bishop Chandler observes), hath given us their names; 1. The Ostrogoths in Masia; 2. the Visigoths in Pannonia; 3. the Suevis and Alars in Gascoign and Spain; 4. the Vandals in Africa; 5. the Franks in France; 6. the Burgundians in Burgundy; 7. the Hiruli and Turingi in Italy; 8. the Saxons and Anglis in Britain; 9. the Huns in Hungary; 10. the Lombards, at first upon the Danube, afterwards in Italy."Bishop Newton.

Other lists of the ten kingdoms, at various periods from the fifth to the eighth century, have been given by various writers. The expression first kingdoms, seems to imply that they would not continue always the same. And ten kingdoms, exclusive of the first three subdued by the Pope, seem subsequently spoken of as given into his hand. They were partly strong and partly broken, but they did not unite again, as under the Roman empire; and it is remarkable, that after the space of fourteen centuries, Europe, as long controlled by the papal authority, may still be said to consist of ten principal kingdoms, partly strong and partly weak, which, notwithstanding all the intermarriages of their princes, or mingling themselves with the seed of men, do not cleave together, but remain to this day distinct kingdoms, viz. Austria, (including the confederated states of Germany), France, Naples, Spain, Portugal, Holland, Britain, Prussia, Denmark, and Sweden.

time. There is not historically any question, what power, connected with the Roman empire, and that emerged on its downfall into secular authority, yet diverse frem the rest, has spoken great things, or assumed pretensions to which no Roman dictator ever laid claim,—has with a look more stout than his fellows, controlled and anathematized kings, and put kingdoms under the ban, and has exalted himself above all, as will afterwards be fully shown-has spoken great words against the Most High, claiming infallibility as its own, and setting its commandments beside those of God, or rather substituting its own in their stead, maintaining itself by persecution to such a degree and to such an excess of cruelty, that burning at the stake was openly and avowedly and literally an "act of faith," (auto da fe,) by which, and by inquisitions, racks, tortures, and dungeons, it sought and tried to wear out the saints of the Most High, thought to change times and laws by instituting fasts, sacraments, and manifold ordinances and rites, which are unheard of in scripiure, and form no part or portion of that kingdom which God has set up; and which has prevailed for a long course of ages, and exercised a dominion diverse from every other. The exarchate of Ravenna, the kingdom of the Lombards, and the state of Rome, were subjected to the secular dominion of the church of Rome, and mainly form to this hour "the states of the church," over which the pope, as a temporal prince, exercises sovereignty, while his words and looks were so great, that he assumed an unchallenged right of supreme spiritual authority, to himself or to his church, over all the kingdoms into which the Roman empire was divided. Such is the first announcement in Scripture of papal or Roman Catholic domination. Its history will be more fully entered on in the sequel; but here it may be said that the more arrogant that are the pretensions of

the church of Rome, the clearer is the proof against it; and the more that it boasts of the long continuance of its authority, the nearer is its domination to / a close..

They shall be given into his hands for a time, times, and the dividing of time, or half a time. A year is universally the measure of time. And the period denotes three years and a half. But, according to the common mode of the computation of prophetic time in Scripture, each day is reckoned for a year. On this principle the seventy weeks of Daniel, (chap. ix.) are, by universal agreement, computed. And this mode of computation was familiar among the Jews. Every seventh year was the Sabbatical year, on the conclusion of a week of years; and seven of these brought round the Jubilee. A striking illustration of the adoption of this method of reckoning, in prophecy, is given in the command to Ezekiel (iv. 4-6.) when there was laid on him, "the years of the iniquity of the house of Israel, according to the number of the days,—EACH DAY FOR a YEAR." A time, times, and half a time, or three years and a half,-comprising the space of one thousand two hundred and sixty years; reckoning, according to scriptural computation, twelve months in the year, and thirty days in each month. The two witnesses, in the Revelation (xi. 3,) were, in like manner, to prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. And the woman (Rev. xii. 6-14) who had on her head a crown of twelve stars, and whose seed kept the commandments of God, and had the testimony of Jesus Christ, fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared of God that they should feed her there, a thousand two hundred and threescore days; and identifying the periods, it is said,—she was nourished in the wildernesss for a time, and times, and half a time.

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The times and seasons the Father hath in his own power. But whatever be the period of the commencement of the spiritual dominion of the Church of Rome, we see the limits of the course that it was to run, before the judgment upon it should sit.

"I beheld," says Daniel, "till the thrones were cast down, and the ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool; his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him; thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened. I beheld then, because of the great words which the horn spake : I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame. As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away; yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time. I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." Dan. vii. 9-14. This is the interpretation-" But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people

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