reigns, their spiritual prince and their temporal prince; that their duty, however, binds them to a much stronger attachment to the former than to the latter; and, consequently, that, whenever the commands of their temporal prince contradict those of their spiritual prince, such commands are not to be obeyed 1.

(2.) The second beast had two horns springing from his head, like the horns of a lamb.

As the secular beast is represented with seven heads and ten horns, so the ecclesiastical beast appears with one head and two horns. Now the secular beast, under his first and seventh heads, during the period of the latter 1260 years, is the Secular Roman Empire viewed as existing successively under the Roman Emperorship and the Francic Emperorship. Hence it will follow, that the ecclesiastical beast, under his single head, who, during that same period, has coëxisted and coöperated with the secular beast, must be the corrupt Spiritual Empire of the Roman Church under the guidance of its sole head the sovereign Pontiff.

When Edward the first of England wished to impose a tax upon the Clergy, the primate plainly told him, that the Clergy owed obedience to Two sovereigns, their spiritual and their temporal; but that their duty bound them to a much stricter attachment to the former than to the latter. They could not, therefore, comply with his commands, which were directly contrary to the positive prohibition of the sovereign Pontiff. Hist. of England in Mod. Univ. Hist. vol. xxxix or xlv. p. 205, 206.

The head, however, of the ecclesiastical beast is furnished with two horns. But, in the language of symbols, horns are kingdoms. Therefore the two horns of the ecclesiastical beast must be two ecclesiastical kingdoms. Now the most consistent and intelligible idea, which we can annex to an Ecclesiastical Kingdom included within an Ecclesiastical Empire and ultimately subservient to the head of that Empire, is that of a regularly organised body of ecclesiastics, subject primarily to their own immediate superior, and ultimately to the head of the whole Empire. If, then, the Spiritual Empire of the Papacy be intended by the second apocalyptic beast, and if the line of the Roman Pontiffs be symbolised by the head of that beast; the Spiritual Empire of the Papacy must comprehend two such Ecclesiastical Kingdoms: that is to say, it must comprehend within its pale two regularly organised bodies of ecclesiastics, distinct from each other, and subject primarily to their respective superiors and ultimately to the sovereign Pontiff.

On such principles, I incline to think, that the two horns of the second beast, through the medium of which he pushes at his enemies and exerts his own appalling strength, are those two collective ecclesiastical bodies, which the Roman Church denominates the Regular Clergy and the Secular Clergy. The first of these classes comprehends all the various monastic orders, which live by the rule of their institution: the second comprehends the whole mass of the clergy, who, by presiding over

dioceses or parishes, mingle with the world, and thus in Latin phraseology become secularised.

These two classes, then, I conceive to be the two ecclesiastical horns or kingdoms of the Spiritual Empire of the Papacy: and they fully answer to their anticipated character; for, being subject first to their own particular superiors and ultimately to the sovereign Pontiff as the head of the whole Empire, they are the two main instruments or engines, by which the lamb-like beast punishes his enemies, domineers over his lay subjects, and augments his own usurped power'.

To the prophet, the two horns of the ecclesiastical beast appeared to be of a different form from those of the secular beast: at least, he specially describes them as resembling the horns of a lamb.

Now, throughout the Apocalypse, a lamb is employed as a symbol of the Messiah. Hence, when the ecclesiastical beast is said to have two horns like

1 For an account of the construction of these two Ecclesiastical Kingdoms and of their systematic vassalage to their feudal suzerain the chief of the great Latin Patriarchate, see Mosheim's Eccles. Hist. vol. ii. p. 172. vol. iv. p. 184. vol. iii. p. 195, 204. Sir Isaac Newton's Observ. on Dan. p. 90, 91, 109–111, 113. Gibbon's Hist. of Decline, vol. viii. p. 165, 166. Puffendorf's Introduct. to the Hist. of Europe, p. 380, 381. Lord Lyttelton's Hist. of Henry II. vol. i. p. 102. The oath of allegiance, which is taken to the Pope by the dignitaries of the Roman Church in every country throughout Christendom, is in the precise form of the oath, which was wont to be taken by a vassal to his suzerain. It is given at full length by Mr. Whitaker in his Comment. on the Rev. p. 408.

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the horns of a lamb, we are effectively told, that he should preeminently claim the character of an ecclesiastical servant of Christ.

This construction of the symbol exactly accords with the verbal intimation, that the second beast should be a false prophet.

The purport, consequently, of the whole, amounts to this. The Ecclesiastical Empire, represented by the second beast, will specially claim to be the true prophet or minister of the Lamb: but, however he may assume the outward form of a lamb, he is to be regarded by the faithful only in the light of a false prophet or an insincere minister of the Gospel of Christ.

(3.) Accordingly, he may be known by his voice: for, notwithstanding his lamb-like appearance, the second beast, we are told, spake like a dragon.

As a lamb is the apocalyptic symbol of Christ, so a dragon is the apocalyptic symbol of Satan. We are informed, therefore, that the Ecclesiastical Empire, represented by the second beast, should wear the external aspect indeed of a Christian Church, but that the tone and spirit of its doctrines and its edicts should be the very tone and spirit of the infernal serpent himself.

With this description the whole conduct of the Roman Church has perfectly agreed. She has inculcated and enforced apostatic idolatry by fire and sword: she has anathematised and persecuted to death the faithful servants of Christ: she has es

teemed every lie and every imposture, which advanced her authority, a laudable and even pious fraud: she has taught, that no faith is to be kept with heretics: she has pronounced, that an oath, which contravenes ecclesiastical utility (the nature of such utility, in any particular instance, being left to her own discretionary explanation), is not binding upon the conscience: and she has sanctioned rebellion and murder by publicly and authoritatively maintaining, that kings, excommunicated by the Pope, may be lawfully deposed and murdered by their subjects'.

(4.) The second beast exercises all the power of the first beast before him.

In the year 604, when the saints by the unanimous submission of the ten western horns were given into the hand of the Papacy, and when an Ecclesiastical Empire was thus erected upon the platform of the Roman earth, that collateral prophecy began to be accomplished, which declares, that the ten kingdoms should have one mind, and should give their power and strength to the beast and to his harlot-rider by the strenuous upholding of those apostatic principles which stamped upon the divided Secular Empire its predicted bestial character 2.

The consequence of such unanimity on the part

'See Concil. Later. III. can. xvi. xxvii. Labb. Concil. vol. x. p. 1517, 1522, 1523. Dictat. Papa Gregor. VII. in Epist. lib. ii. epist. 55. Labb. Concil. vol. x. p. 110, 111.

2 Rev. xvii. 13.