swallowed up by the little horn which arose, a circumstance which sufficiently determines their identity; and, therefore, of these little need be said, until we come to that part of our subject. Of the other seven, these four only have retained the durability necessary to the conditions of the question: to wit, first, the kingdom of the Britons and Saxons, in Britain; secondly, of the Franks, in France ; thirdly, of the Goths, in Spain; and, fourthly, of the German emperors, which, falling into the house of Austria, hath taken up into itself that of the Huns. These four, then-Britain, France, Austria, and Spain-meet the conditions of the question, laid down above. The remaining three-to wit, the Huns, the Burgundians, and the Britons separate from Britain in general-cannot be admitted. It remains, therefore, that we seek out three kingdoms within the bounds of the empire which may take the place of these, and satisfy the conditions. And first I place the kingdom of Naples and Sicily, which, beginning in the eleventh century, hath occupied until our time one of the most important parts of the empire. Next to this I place the kingdom of Portugal, which arose about the same time with the former, and, like it, hath kept its place as a kingdom until this day, in spite of all the powerful efforts of Spain to subvert it. Now, taking these nine-to wit, Rome, Ravenna, Lombardy, (which three were early to disappear in the temporal power of the little horn,) Austria, France, Britain, Spain, Portugal, and Naples you have all the territory of the Western Roman empire, except that which lies between France and the States of the Church; and here it is that we must look for the only remaining one of the ten horns. Of the states which occupied this, the remainder of the Western empire, there are four of chief importance: First, the kingdom of Savoy, Piedmont, and Sardinia, which, taking its origin in the year 750, in the counts of Savoy, began to make its appearance amongst the Papal states; since which time it hath continued one of the most faithful and zealous servants of the pope, or little horn of the beast, and now again occupies a conspicuous place amongst the European states. The second of the four which might claim this bad pre-eminence, is Venice, which arising in a very remote antiquity, and constituting itself under its doge, or duke in 709, arose into great importance as a maritime

state during the middle ages, and acquired territories, but chiefly upon the farther side of the Adriatic, which is out of the question; for upon the continent of Italy it had comparatively little territory and it is to be observed, that, instead of being a willing servant of the pope, Venice was generally found resisting his encroachments, affording a shelter to the objects of his persecution, and rather profiting from than helping in that great master piece of his policy, the Crusades; and now, being wholly swallowed up by Austria, it will no longer fulfil the fourth condition of the question. The third is, the grand duchy of Tuscany, which, arising in the twelfth century, along with the other confederate republics, became famous under the Medici, chiefly by arts and commerce, and petty conquests round about, but in the earlier part of the last century passed into the Austrian family, and became the inheritance of the younger brothers of the imperial house, as it now continues; and therefore, being, as it were, but an adjunct of Austria, and having done nothing of any name for the service of the pope, cannot on these grounds be taken. The tenth kingdom

is therefore, the kingdom of Savoy, Piedmont, and Sardinia, who served the pope in more than one crusade; who also obtained the titles of Protector of the Holy See, and Defender of the Church; and, in a degree second perhaps only to France, laboured in the suppression of the persecuted Christians of the middle ages, at the Reformation, and since the Reformation; and, above all, was in existence as a crowned horn during the most active period of the Papacy, and at the conclusion of that period, and at this present time: so fulfilling all the conditions of the question, which are fulfilled neither by Venice nor by Florence; since they have become, as it were, but territorial divisions of Austria, and neither of them have ever possessed the state and dignity of kings.

Thus, then, upon firm and fixed principles, have we endeavoured to ascertain the seven horns which were left upon the head of the beast after the little horn had swallowed up three; concerning the identity of which three we are hereafter to examine, when we come to speak of that action. These seven are, Britain, France, Austria, Spain, Portugal, Naples with Sicily, Piedmont with Savoy and Sardinia; which seven, together with the States of the

Church, cover all the territory of the Western Roman Empire; that is, all which was not afterwards overrun by the Saracens and Turks. These seven kingdoms, together with the three which the pope arrogated to himself, served the pope in all his crusades, against the Saracens, against the Albigenses and Waldenses, and against the Reformation-excepting, indeed, from this last act of wickedness Great Britain, concerning whose special preservation and redemption from the enormity of suppressing the Reformation we shall have occasion to speak in another part of this great subject. On all these accounts, but especially on account of the exact territorial division among them of the Western Empire, or the Roman Empire proper, and on account of their present standing forth as kingdoms from the wreck of the last thirty years' convulsion, we consider it as an ascertained point, that these-Great Britain, France, Austria, Spain, Portugal, Sardinia, Naples, Lombardy, Ravenna, and Rome--are the powers signified by the ten horns of the beast; the last three having long since disappeared as horns, being brought under the little horn, and now standing under the temporal power of the pope as "the States of the Church." We cannot help remarking in this place how much the deliberations of the congress of Vienna, which swallowed up the minor states of Papal Europe, hath simplified the question; of which it is a standing condition, that when the Infidel power shall arise again, these kingdoms shall be in separate and independent existence to grant him their power, in order to destroy the Whore of Babylon, and also in order to make war with the Lamb.

THE POPE.

Of this horn it is thus written: "I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn there were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things...whose look was more stout than his fellows ...who made war with the saints, and prevailed against them." The mystery of this horn, is thus explained in verses 24 and 25: "And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings 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 shall wear out the saints of 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."-In order to ascertain the identity of this little horn, it is necessary, as in the former case, that we examine the conditions of the question, which seem to be these :-First, he cometh up among the rest. In verse 24 he is said to rise" after them; but in the Greek version it is "behind " them; the original word signifying indifferently, behind in place, and after in time. Mede explains it to signify that he grew up without their being aware of it.-The second condition is, that he is" diverse from the rest; having eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things." These eyes in the little horn will be best explained by the description of the Lamb (Rev. v. 6), as "having seven horns, and seven eyes, which (eyes) are the seven Spirits. of God sent forth into all the earth.” The eyes, therefore, in the horn, do signify him to be a spiritual power after the same fashion in which Christ is a spiritual power. And, seeing that he is judged by God for his arrogant assumption of Divine dignity, we must hold that his claim to spiritual power after the fashion of Christ's, is a usurpation; which is the more confirmed by his mouth speaking great words against the Most High: because of the voice of which great words the beast is slain, and given to the devouring flame.-The third condition is derived from his actings, which are partly political and partly spiritual. His political actings, are his plucking up three of the first horns by the roots, and his over-ruling the rest to his wicked ends and involving them in his guilt: wherefore his look is said to be more stout than his fellows, and the dominion is said to be his dominion (ver. 26). The spiritual actings of the little horn are, first, his blasphemies against the Most High; secondly, his wearing out the saints of the Most High with war and persecution; and, thirdly, his thinking to change times and laws.The fourth and last condition is the period of his dominion over the saints - for time, times, and half a time; and endureth until the judgment begins to sit.-These are the

four conditions of the question, which is the little horn? And now for the resolution of the question.

1. I answer, in the face of all men, that there is no power which is, which hath been, and I may say which is to be, that can answer these conditions of the question, but the usurped power of the bishop of Rome, in whom I shall now shew that these conditions do entirely meet together and harmonize. First, he arose amongst the ten horns. This separates him from the apostasy of the Greek Church, and from the imposture of Mohammed, both of which are beyond the bounds of the ten kingdoms. He arose after, or behind them, in which ever sense you choose to take the word. That is, if you understand it after, in point of time, they all sprouted in the head of the beast before he appeared: for, as we shall shew in the sequel, the pope obtained not his spiritual usurpation till the year 532; before which time, so far back as the beginning of the preceding century, the Gothic tribes, out of which the chief part of the ten horns arose, had established themselves in the body or territory of the beast, and were growing up to be crowned kingdoms, over whom the little horn should afterwards exercise the dominion. It is true, as we have shewn forth above, that they had not yet attained to the rank and dignity which entitles them to be considered as crowned horns of the beast; but it is to be observed, that the information and criterion for ascertaining the identity of these kingdoms, was obtained from the Apocalypse, and not from the Prophecy of Daniel, which contemplateth them not with reference to time or state, but merely with reference to number, and priority of existence to the little horn. It is, moreover, to be remarked, that though the pope came into being at the date mentioned above as a spiritual usurper, he did not attain to his dominion over the body of the beast and his horns till after the time of Hildebrande, in the eleventh century, or rather of Barbarossa, in the twelfth century; when, after the cessation of the wars of the Guelphs and the Ghibbelines, the emperor having succumbed, the pope was the little horn complete, the Melchizedec of Satan, the man of his right hand revealed: before which epoch, it will be observed, by consulting the dates given above, that all the