Sidor som bilder
PDF
ePub
[merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

a

The sound at du es quen to one of the heads of this beast, but geted a se that vluch the papacy received at the 2. fun ត Le kutuante ans; but this wounding appears a great Rome, aut to the wound which imperial Rome remed which I was no longer the feat of government, at ecume hayit to he Exarchate of Ravenna. But though it was time fortsden sy the imperial court, and loft its civil pre-eminence, yet it bon became again the mistress of the world, by afSaming & Spiritual dominion, in lieu of the temporal one it had loit, and which alteration did not a little astonish mankind; but who, initead of relitting the arrogant claims and profane pretenfions of the a. v power, did not only tamely obey thofe laws of the emperors, sich At the bishop of Rome above all human ju ridiction, but ey entered moft heartily into all the new ülgerftitions and idolatries of this novel tyranny. Nor was this pupal beaft backward in exerting the power which he had acquired the liberality of the imperial dragon, but quickly enjoined all forts of abominations, and enforced acquiefcence, on pain of deat with all his profane and blafphemous pretenfions. This moneraged, he went on in his impious career, enjoining not only the worship of faints and angels, but of images and relics trading that he was God's vicegerent and Chrift's vicar on earth, and that, as fuch, he had power to grant indulgences, and a partUE fins; and thus, by these, and a great many other abominant mg mas, he blafphemed and fcandalized the perfections, prerogames.. and laws of God; and difhonoured the memory of the dwell in heaven, as if they approved of tuch wicket in tr prietly craft.-And not only was this ecclefiabed jewer ex. cried at Rome, but over diftant and nameras mathan, an has been the daughter which he has made among them. refpect to the divine authority, and the ngits of somenes erected us abominable errors, and relleu sangue.

of the prevalence and puberty of ma saru

fimilar to his own, he fhall perish, and as he hath fhewed no mercy, fo he fhall find no mercy.

Ver. 11. And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb, and he fpake as a dragon. And he exercifeth all the power of the first beaft before him, and caufeth the earth, and them which dwell therein, to worship the first beaft, &c. Dr. Doddridge, in his notes on this paffage, obferves, “As I look upon the former to be the papal power, I am ready, with the best critics I know, to interpret this of the religious orders of the church of Rome. This beaft is faid to ascend from the earth, whereas the other afcended from the sea, to make the distinction between them the more remarkable: but what other mystery may be fuggefted, I cannot conjecture." Dr. Goodwin understands by the first beaft the temporal power which the Pope has received from the kings of the ten antichriftian kingdoms; and by the second beast the fpiritual power which the Pope and his clergy claim of binding and loofing, of pardoning fin, and of curfing men to hell. Mr. Lowman fuppofes it to represent the ecclefiaftical princes of Germany, who have been fuch great fupporters of the power of the first beaft. Most agree, that although he is thus represented as a distinct beast, yet he rifes out of the empire of the firft, and is fubordinate to him. But inferior as I am to these learned men, I beg leave to propose a conjecture which I think has more weight than at first view we may be willing to admit.

May we not understand by this fecond beaft Lewis XIV. or at least that tyranny which the family of the Capets have exercifed, to the great oppreffion of the Chriftian church; and to the deftruction of mankind? Why might not Lewis XIV. For the Capets and their tyranny be the objects of John's vifion, as well as Alexander or Antiochus or any other tyrant, that of Daniel's? Read their political history and private memoirs. If pre-eminence in vice, oppreffion, and murder, entitle to this diftinction, who fo abhorrent and vile? Who fuch enemies to the truth of God, and the happiness of mankind? Their tyranny has been the scourge

D 2

Rev. xiii. 12.

"It muft, in all likelihood, fignify fome diftin&t perfecuting power, of a like nature and kind with the first, supporting and advancing his authority." -Lowman, p. 136. where may be seen the various opinions on this subject.

fcourge of France, of Europe, and the world.* What cruelties did Lewis XIV. especially perpetrate towards his Protestant subjects; and what devastation and woe did he spread over Europe in his cruel wars! Examine the description. And I beheld another beaft coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. John faw the other beaft, the papal tyranny, (which is the ufurpation of a foreigner,) advance, plunging through the waves of that fea of civil commotions, and religious contentions, which at the time of his rifing agitated the Roman empire, and what was called the Chriftian church; but this comes up out of the earth, it rises at home, and from circumftances fomewhat more fettled, and in times not so agitated by com motions. If this be the beast in chap. xi. 7. which was to overcome and flay the witnesses, (as I am thoroughly perfuaded it is) there we have a more descriptive account of his origin. The beaft which afcendeth out of the bottomlefs pit. το θηρίον τὸ ἀναβαῖνον ἐκ τῆς aßucou, not which arose or did afcend, but which is rising out of the abyss, as if he were now rising, or was just now become a perfect tyrant when he flew the witnesses.

[ocr errors]

The fecond beaft is faid to come up out of the earth, but this from what our tranflators render the bottomlefs pit, en rus aßvoow, from

the

No country ever had fuch a race of tyrants as France, and till within the fe few months there was not an Englishman who did not with this tyranny to be *extirpated from the earth. The restless and cruel ambition of the kings of -France and their court within these few years, has occafioned the flaughter of unnumbered thousands of our friends and countrymen, and contributed towards loading us with a debt which makes all the nation groan, and the consequences of which cannot be calculated. Not the people of France, let us remember, but their defpots, against whofe oppreffions they have lately rifen up, have been the authors of all thefe evils. And as long as the old system remained, there was no hope of remedy. How happy therefore would it have been for the furrounding nations, if the people of France had been permitted to fettle their new constitution, which promised peace and fecurity to all their neighbours as well as to themselves! But for the interference of foreign courts, all would now have been peace.

† Perhaps by the first beast's coming up out of the sea, nothing more may be intended than that foreign jurisdiction which the papacy was to exercife; and by the fecond beaft's coming up out of the earth, that his tyranny was to be domeftic, and exercifed rather over his own country than foreign nations. This agrees perfectly with the difference between the papal ufurpations and the tyranny of Lewis XIV.

the abyss, or pit, bog, or whirlpool, of infinite depth. And from what a bog of vice, treachery, and cruelty on the one hand, and of superstition, fervility, and baseness on the other, did the French tyranny arife! Or, if you please, from a whirlpool which draws into its vortex, and swallows up every thing, the most pre

cious to man.

Hiftorians have represented Lewis XIV. as raifing the French monarchy to the pinnacle of its glory. And if pride and ambition, perfecution and bloodshed conftitute fupreme glory, he did fo. But, the wifdom of the world is foolishness with God. O the folly and cruelty of men! They create devourers, as if for the pleasure of witneffing and celebrating their exploits of blood; and even think it impiety to complain when their own turn arrives to be devoured!

How perfectly do these two defcriptions of the fecond beaft agree! The angel describes him as afcending out of the abyss; John fees him rifing out of the earth. And what fort of a spot may we fuppofe the theatre of his rifing to be? The choiceft fpot which nature can furnish ? Rather, where Behemoth* makes his bed, in the coverts of the reeds and fens, from whence he drags his filthy limbs to the mountains of flaughter, where all the beasts of the field play.

And he had two horns like a lamb. Here we may observe, that the Bourbons, formerly kings of Navarre only, on the extinction of the family of Valois, in 1589, which reigned over France, were become poffeffed of both kingdoms; and Henry IV. grandfather of Lewis XIV. in whom the kingdoms were united, took the titles of King of France and Navarre. These were his two horns like a lamb.

And he fpake as a dragon. His profeffion of that religion which teaches to be meek and harmless, prefents an appearance of innocence, but when he opens his mouth, the accents are those of a dragon, which befpeak him formed for mischief, and not for the benefit of mankind. All this agrees exactly with the French tyranny, and particularly with Lewis XIV. who was at once a fuperftitious devotee and a cruel defpot; who, though styled the Moft Chriftian King, practised the enormities of the dragon, who' made war with them who kept the commandments of God, and

Job. xl. 21.

had

"Soon after he

"there arose in

had the teftimony of Jefus. Witnefs the perfecutions with which he harraffed the Proteftants, and his attempts to extirpate the Reformed by the revocation of the Edict of Nants; a perfecution more cruel than any fince the days of perfecution commenced. See Claude's Complaints of the Proteftants. The Edit of Nants, iffued in 1598, granted to the Protestants the free exercise of their religion; many churches in every part of France, and judges of their own perfuafion; a free access to all places of honor and dignity, an hundred places as pledges of their future fecurity, and funds to maintain both their ministers and garrifons. But no fooner was Lewis XIV. arrived to years than he formed the refolution of deftroying the Proteftants. Did we not know him to have been a beast, we could hardly give credit to the report of the motive which pushed this refolution into practice. came to the crown," fays Mr. Claude, page 43. the kingdom a civil war, which proved fo fharp and desperate, as brought the state within a hair's breath of utter ruin. Thofe of the reformed religion still kept their loyalty fo inviolable, and accompanied it with fuch a zeal, and with a fervor fo extraordinary, and so successful, that the king found himself obliged to give public marks of it by a declaration made at St. Germains in the year 1652. Then, as well at court as in the armies, each strove to proclaim loudest the merits of the Reformed." But, can you believe that there is so much depravity in human nature? Their enemies faid, "If on this occafion this party could preferve the state, this fhews likewife that they could have overthrown it; this party must therefore by all means be crushed." Lewis, and the abettors of his tyranny, inftantly fet about it. "A thousand dreadful blows," fays Mr. Saurin, were ftruck at our afflicted churches, before that which deftroyed them: for our enemies, if I may use fuch an expreffion, not content with seeing our ruin, endeavoured to tafte it." As foon as the kingdom was fettled in peace they fell upon them, and perfecuted them in every imaginable way. They were excluded from the king's household,-from all employments of honour and profit, all the courts of juftice, erected by virtue of the Edict of Nants, were abolished, fo that in all trials. their enemies only were their judges, and in all the courts of juftice the cry was, I plead against a heretick+; I have to do with a

[ocr errors]

+ Claude's Comp. &c. p. 51.

man

« FöregåendeFortsätt »