Now all the great events I have recited, excepting the three laft, have come to pafs, in the exact order of time, they were foretold by the prophet. Hence we may rationally conclude, that the three laft alfo, though future events, will come to pafs in the fame order; who then ought to doubt the pretentions of the prophet, to his having written the whole of the Revelation, in a clear chronological' order? Can it be fuppofed, that, after having foretold the rife and exploits of the Papal church, in the first part of the thirteenth chapter, and that of the atheistical power of France, in the latter part of the fame chapter; after having foretold the fall of the firft under the "third vial," and of the fecond under the "fifth;" and after having entered upon the new fubject of the hiftory of a grand confederacy, which is to take place after the fall of the powers of atheitin, and Mohamedanifm, in the fixteenth chapter; and, in short, treated of all the preceding events in chronological order, and with historical perfpicuity, he should, in the feventeenth chapter, depart from that order, and violate that perfpicuity, by beginning it with a new hiftorical defcription of the Papal church; a church, the rife and fall of which he had already recorded? The fuppofition appears to me abfurd in the extreme.. It would be, to fuppofe, that the prophet, while guided by the spirit of infallible wisdom and truth, could commit an egregious and palpable anomaly, an evident anachronism, an unneceffary repetition of the hiftory of a Power, which he had completely written before.

Befides, the figns given by the prophet, in this feventeenth chapter, when rightly understood, will neither apply to, nor are they defcriptive of, the church of Rome. With what propriety does the emphatic name of " THE great whore" apply to that

power,

power, when Paganifm, Mohamedanifm, and Atheim are much greater "whores" in the fcriptural fense, or a much greater, and more impure, deviation from the word of God? With what propriety can it be faid of Papal Rome, that "the kings of the earth have committed furnication with her;" and that all nations have drunk of the "wine of the " wrath of her fornication," when the kings and nations of Europe only (and not all of them) have adopted her idolatry, and been concerned in her fornication when the immenfe Chinese nations have uniformly rejected her attempts to feduce them, and when none of the nations of Afia, Africa, or North America, have been corrupted by her doctrines?

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It

Nor will the allegory of " a woman fitting upon a fcarlet-coloured beaft, full of names of blafphemy," apply to the Papal church. That fome of the Papal tenets are blafphemous, I am ready to confefs, and therefore the prophet, in his hiftory of that church, defcribes it by a "beaft "having feven heads, and upon his heads the "name of blafphemy," in the fingular number. But this beaft is defcribed as being full of the names of blafphemy; and, if full, it can hold no more. muft, to answer to the name, have been guilty of every kind of blafphemy, from the loweft up to the higheft, even to atheifin, the fum total of every fpecies of blafphemy. Now this is not the cafe with the church of Rome: the acknowledges the exiftence of God, the miffion of Chrift, and the agency of the. Holy Ghoft. A real and ftudious inquirer after truth, acquainted with the doctrines of Paganifm, of Mohamedanifm, and of the Atheiftical power of France, could not be led to think of Rome by this defcription. Nor will the name " Myftery" apply, with propriety, to the Papal church, when we confider, that the doctrines and tenets of Mohamedanifm and Atheism

are by far more extenfive and incomprehenfible myfteries than thofe of Popery. The name " Baby"lon the Great," truly interpreted, is "the great city," or body of people, confifting of a mixture of different nations, profeffing different, and thofe erroneous, principles of religion, and, therefore, a great city of anarchy and confufion. And this was the cafe of Chaldean Babylon of old, before its fall it was a confufed mixture of all the then idolatrous nations, and thence derived its name. But this will by no means defcribe the Papal church, which, although it confifts of different nations, yet all her members profefs the fame erroneous principles, the fame kind of idolatry. So that there is no mixture of doctrines, no confufion in her worship, which there muft be, in order to apply the name to her, with any degree of propriety.

Again, the appellative expreffion, "the mother "of harlots, and, abominations of the earth," will, with ftill lefs propriety, apply to Papal Rome. A

harlot," in the fcriptural fenfe, is a power that. feduces men, from their duty to God, into idolatry: A "mother of harlots," in the plural number, is a Power that has led them into feveral kinds of idolatry; and the expreffion, "mother of harlots," with the emphatic article the before it, fignifies the greatest of all harlots," or idolaters. Now the Papal; church anfwers not to this defcriptive fign: for, although fhe is a "harlot," and is called a " whore," yet the is the parent of but one illegitimate offspring, Papal apoftafy, and therefore. fhe cannot be "mother of harlots" in the plural number. Nor has he been "the (the greateft) mother of har-. lots," for when we confider the extent, variety, and finfulness of the, deviations from the word of God, as well of the, Mohamedan fuperftition as French atheifm, they will appear to have far exceed

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ed her in folly and in iniquity; and, therefore, fhe cannot, with propriety or truth, be confidered as the mother of harlots. Nor does the answer to the other mark of "THE mother of the abominations of "the earth;" for although it is well known that the has had her fins, and abominations, yet they are by no means of fo deep a dye, as the abominations of Pagans and Mohamedans. And although the has "been drunk with the blood of the faints, and the "blood of the martyrs of Jefus," yet fhe has drunk only a portion of that blood. And when we confider the perfecutions and deftruction of Chriftians, by pagan Rome, and the powers of Mohamedanifm, it must be confeffed the has not had more than her hare.

Thus none of the preceding marks of the Power here foretold can poffibly be defcriptive only of the Papal church. The fpirit of prophecy, in its delineations, is accurate and perfect, and the events will always exactly correfpond. But when we apply. thefe figns to the grand confederacy, mentioned by the prophet in the foregoing chapter, their allegorical and fcriptural fenfes are perfectly answered. The feparate and diftinct powers of paganifm, apoftafy, and atheifin, will be loft in the union. It will no longer be the one or the other, but a mixture of all of them together; a Power never before exifting, and which will completely answer and accomplish every mark of the prophet.

After having thus defcribed this grand confederacy, which is to be "gathered together in bat"tle, in the great day of God Almighty," with all their hofts, he tells us the wicked purpofe for which they are to be armed for the prefumptuous conflict. Thefe," fays he, "fhall make war upon the LAMB, and the Lamb fhall overcome

60

"them,

them, for HE IS THE KING OF KINGS, AND LORD

OF LORDS; AND THEY THAT ARE WITH HIM ARE * CALLED, AND CHOSEN, AND FAITHFUL

There are divers other figns in this chapter, which, in my humble opinion, unite in defcribing the fame monftrous coalition of the ungodly, against the church of Chrift. But I forbear to treat of them, as it would lead me far beyond the limits I have allotted to these brief conjectures, and because I truft I have faid enough to convince the pious reader, that the figns I have already confidered do by no means refer to the church of Rome; but to a coalition of Powers, which is to be "gathered together to battle," on "THE GREAT DAY OF GOD ALMIGHTY." Nor, indeed, fhould I have faid fo much, but from a wifh to correct an error, which has long been believed and repeated by many Proteftant commentators, on this chapter, ever fince the Proteftant oppofition to the Papal church commenced. To account for fo great an error, committed by fo many truly learned and pious men, is not an eafy tafk. Has it arifen from their not attending to the exact chronological order, in which the prophecies in the Apocalypfe are treat

ed?

་

Or, from their not duly confidering, that the prophet, after having foretold the rife and fall of the Pope, announces the coming of three other wicked and idolatrous enemies of the church of Christ, in the order they were to come, namely, the "beaft of the earth," or the atheistical power of France; the "woman fitting upon a fcarlet coloured "beaft," or the "great whore," or " Babylon the great, &c. " and " Gog and Magog ||;" all of them inore finful and idolatrous enemies of the word of God, than the Pope? Or has this unaccountable

*Rev. xvii. 14. Chap. xvii. 2-6.

Chap. xiii. 1-10.

| Chap. xx. 8.

U

Ibid.

and