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<CHANGE>
<DATE>2013-04-19</DATE>
<RESPSTMT>
<NAME>Geremy Carnes</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<ITEM> x * Review overall document structure and hierarchy, including GROUP TEXT FRONT BODY BACK DIVs x * Proof title page(s). x * Observe divtop and divbottom material marking beginnings and ends of divisions, check that they are correctly tagged as HEADS, HEADNOTE, CLOSER, OPENER, TRAILER, ARGUMENT, EPIGRAPH, SIGNED, DATELINE, BYLINE, etc. x * Look for unobtrusive numerations and other occult signs of structure. x * Add TYPEs to DIVs in order to validate, making sure that the @type structure makes sense as a navigational aide, and that each type makes sense wrt to the one above it. x * Survey book for troublesome formats of all kinds, including lists, illustrations, tables, music, math, end-notes, and parallel texts and quasi-tabular arrangments. Made sure that it was correctly tagged. Decide how much is worth changing. x * Assess marginalia. Notes? Running summaries? Multiple series? Are any of them milestones, headings, or labels? x * Look for FIGUREs, make sure that usable text within them has been captured and correctly tagged (especially: head, q, l, lg, byline). x * Check for GAPs and ABBRs. x * Watch for any part of the book in a diff language. Use appropriate lang attributes. x * Check for "q;" x * Check for ="", ^, I / J, ae / oe, abq, _, LB, --, &amp;c., @, # x * If appropriate, check for yoghs. x * If appropriate, check for units of measure, symbols (alchemical, astronomical, etc.) and the like. x * Do cursory check of completeness of page breaks (and placement relative to DIVs) x * Correct the errors found during proofing. x * Survey the illegibles. decide whether resolving them is feasible or even possible. Use the 100 rule only as a rule of thumb. Resolve those you can. Check &punc; x * Run 'skint' x * Run 'check' x * Run "v' (again) DONE.</ITEM>
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<EEBO>
<IDG S="marc" R="UM" ID="A27613">
<STC T="W">B2159</STC>
<STC T="C">R38705</STC>
<BIBNO T="oclc">17894005</BIBNO>
<VID>106747</VID>
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<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1">
<P> THE KINGDOM OF JESUS CHRIST Entering its Succe&s;&s;ion at 1697.</P>
<P>According to a Calendar of Time.</P>
<P>Drawn by the Four Monarchies, and by the Time, Times, Half Time allowed to the Papacy, and the Ten King|doms; as the la&s;t &s;tate of the Roman, or Fourth Monarchy then Ending;</P>
<P>Given in <HI>Daniel,</HI> and Expounded by the <HI>Revelation</HI> in Con&s;ent with All Hi&s;tory; and carrying on the Scripture Line of Time.</P>
<P>By <HI>T. Beverley,</HI> a mo&s;t Humble Mini&s;ter in the Word of God and the Te&s;timony of Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>Printed in the Year 1689.</P>
<PB REF="2">
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>TO THE Mo&s;t Excellent MAJESTY OF WILLIAM and MARY: By E&s;pecial Grace of God According to Prophe&s;ie, KING and QUEEN of <HI>England, Scotland, France</HI> and <HI>Ireland,</HI> Truly Defenders of the Faith. AND To the <HI>High Court</HI> of <HI>Parliament</HI> At this Time A&s;&s;embled. Grace and Peace from Him, which is, which<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Revel.</HI> 1. 4, 5.</NOTE> was, and which is to Come: And from the &s;even Spirits, which are before his Throne; and from Je&s;us Chri&s;t the Faithful Witne&s;s, the fir&s;t Be|gotten of the Dead; and the Prince of the Kings of the Earth.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>Mo&s;t Dread Soveraigns. Mo&s;t Reverend and Noble Lords. Mo&s;t Worthy Senators and Patriots.</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>THE <HI>Great God of Heaven</HI> having made known of old, even to <HI>Pagan Princes,</HI> by his <HI>Ser|vants</HI> the <HI>Prophets,</HI> what &s;hould <HI>come to pa&s;s hereafter,</HI> concerning the <HI>Kingdom of</HI>
<PB REF="3"> <HI>his Son,</HI> and the <HI>clean&s;ing of his Sanctu|ary,</HI> his truly <HI>Catholic Church;</HI> He hath<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Dan.</HI> 8. 14.</NOTE> enabled me, the mo&s;t unworthy of all his Ser|vants, the <HI>lea&s;t of Saints,</HI> and the <HI>chiefe&s;t of Sinners,</HI> for the la&s;t five years to <HI>&s;earch,</HI> and to <HI>under&s;tand</HI> by <HI>Books</HI> the <HI>number of years,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Dan.</HI> 9. 2.</NOTE> He would accompli&s;h in the <HI>Patience</HI> or <HI>Delay of the Kingdom of Chri&s;t,</HI> and in the <HI>De|&s;olations of his Sanctuary;</HI> I having then <HI>cer|tain knowledge,</HI> that the. <HI>Accompli&s;hment</HI> of tho&s;e <HI>years</HI> is, as near, as 1697, Have believ'd it my Duty, in Fear of God, who hath <HI>committed the Di&s;pen&s;ation to me;</HI> as al&s;o in <HI>Allegiance,</HI> and <HI>Fidelity</HI> to the <HI>Su|preme Government</HI> of the&s;e <HI>Nations,</HI> to make publication of the Time; and al&s;o to explain All tho&s;e Symbols, wherein the <HI>Di|vine Prophe&s;ie</HI> hath been, though more hid|denly, yet as certainly, when ju&s;tly concerted, conveyed, as by plaine&s;t words; and to make <HI>Dedication</HI> of it to the Soveraign Govern|ment of this Nation, with a lowe&s;t Obei|&s;ance, as the meane&s;t of Subjects; and yet with the A&s;&s;urance, ari&s;ing from the Evi|dence of Sacred Truth; that &s;o the <HI>Prophe|&s;ie</HI>
<PB REF="3"> might be known in the Grand <HI>Pretori|um,</HI> or <HI>Pallace</HI> of the Nation, and thereby in <HI>all other Places.</HI></P>
<P>The View pre&s;ented is worthy the pro|founde&s;t Con&s;ideration of the Greate&s;t Princes, Stati&s;ts, and Divines; Four <HI>Univer&s;al Mo|narchies,</HI> which have one after another, borne &s;uch &s;way in the World; and who&s;e <HI>Mo|narchs caus'd their Terror in the Land of the Living,</HI> for near <HI>Daniels Twenty</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ezek.</HI> 32. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">17. &amp;c. <HI>Dan.</HI> 8. 14.</NOTE> <HI>Three Hundred Evenings, and Mornings, prophetically</HI> multiplyed into <HI>years;</HI> but mo&s;t of Them being <HI>gone down into the Pit,</HI> have <HI>laid their Swords under their Heads,</HI> with their <HI>Iniquities on their Bones;</HI> and to Ri&s;e with them, if Enemies to the <HI>Kingdom of God;</HI> and herewith, the <HI>An|tichri&s;tian State</HI> for above the&s;e la&s;t <HI>twelve hundred years,</HI> with the <HI>Monarchs</HI> of the <HI>Ancient Imperial Roman Territories,</HI> who have for mo&s;t of the &s;pace given their <HI>Power</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Revel.</HI> 17. 17.</NOTE> <HI>to the Bea&s;t;</HI> But &s;ome have already, The Re&s;t &s;hall Renunciate to that <HI>Adulterous Church;</HI> and though &s;ome of them now with a High
<PB REF="4"> Hand <HI>cau&s;e their Terror in the Land of the Living,</HI> yet They &s;hall without Repen|tance <HI>beare their Shame al&s;o in going down to the &s;ides of the Pit;</HI> But how much more does that indeed &V;niver&s;al Kingdom of Chri&s;t at the end of the&s;e <HI>Four</HI> de&s;erve Thought, that &s;hall receive The&s;e, and many more Kingdoms into its Bo&s;om, and it &s;elf <HI>never End,</HI> and that within &s;o few years.</P>
<P>It is therefore Princely Wi&s;dom, and No|blene&s;s to <HI>&s;earch,</HI> and to command, that<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Acts</HI> 17. 11.</NOTE> <HI>&s;earch</HI> be made into the <HI>Scriptures of the New and Old Te&s;tament,</HI> whether <HI>The&s;e Things be &s;o or no;</HI> Not that <HI>Divine Oracles</HI> can be over-rul'd by a <HI>Coun&s;el of Angels, or Men;</HI> but that by the <HI>Divini|ty</HI> of <HI>Holy Records</HI> the <HI>certainty of the</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Prov.</HI> 22. 21.</NOTE> <HI>Words of Truth</HI> may be <HI>Receiv'd;</HI> For the more They are examin'd, the more evi|dent their Truth will be; And least, (the Things being indeed &s;o) &s;o <HI>Grand a Prote|&s;tant A&s;&s;embly</HI> &s;hould under-value Them, and Know with Di&s;advantage hereafter; &s;o <HI>Great a Prophe&s;ie</HI> hath been among Them,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ezek.</HI> 2. 5.</NOTE> and They Rejected it.</P>
<PB REF="4">
<P> And <HI>why &s;hould it be thought incredi|ble,</HI> that the <HI>God of Heaven,</HI> the <HI>Reveal|er of Secrets</HI> &s;hould &s;o near the Time make Known, as He hath always done, by whom He plea&s;es, the <HI>Great Things, that are to come to pa&s;s</HI> &s;o &s;hortly.</P>
<P>God hath honour'd this <HI>Nation,</HI> with a mo&s;t &s;tupendious mirror of Providence, concern|ing the <HI>Expiration of the Papacy</HI> &s;o nigh at Hand; why may He not be pleas'd to Honour it al&s;o with &s;uch <HI>a Gla&s;s of Pro|phe&s;ie,</HI> that by the <HI>Under&s;tanding</HI> of the <HI>Times, our I&s;rael may know what it</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1. <HI>Chron.</HI> 12. 32.</NOTE> <HI>ought to do,</HI> and <HI>All</HI> the <HI>People</HI> be most devotely <HI>at their Command,</HI> both as to <HI>Af|fairs Eccle&s;ia&s;tical, Civil, Military!</HI> for the &s;teerage of All which the Con&s;ideration of the <HI>Kingdom of Christ</HI> &s;o near would be as the <HI>Pole-&s;tar.</HI></P>
<P>For that an <HI>Account</HI> of All may be <HI>Render'd</HI> with <HI>Comfort to that Univer|&s;al Kingdom</HI> &s;o nigh Approaching, what <HI>Purity in our Religion, Holine&s;s, Ju&s;tice, Mercy, Amendment of Life, Reformation</HI>
<PB REF="5"> <HI>of Manners, Contempt of the World, Magnanimity, Moderation of Church-Power, Brotherly Love</HI> is nece&s;&s;ary; even in preparation to &s;o Glorious a <HI>Revolution?</HI></P>
<P>Now the <HI>Eternal Wi&s;dom</HI> and <HI>Coun|&s;ellor</HI> give his <HI>Urim,</HI> and <HI>Thummim</HI> to the <HI>Evangelical Mini&s;try</HI> of the <HI>Nation; a Divine Sentence into the Kings Lips</HI> that <HI>His Mouth</HI> in this <HI>Matter</HI> may not <HI>Tran&s;gre&s;s in Judgment; a Spirit of Judg|ment,</HI> to them who <HI>&s;it in Coun&s;el;</HI> and an <HI>Ear to his Churches,</HI> to Hear, what the <HI>Spirit &s;ayeth to them;</HI> that &s;o a People in the&s;e <HI>Nations may be made ready, prepa|red for the Lord,</HI> and a <HI>High way</HI> for <HI>our God;</HI> So prayeth</P>
<CLOSER><SALUTE>GREAT SOVERAIGNS, And Supreme Councel,</SALUTE>
<SIGNED>Your Mo&s;t pro&s;trately Devoted in the Records of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, <HI>T. Beverley.</HI></SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="petition">
<PB REF="5">
<HEAD>TO THE King and Queens Mo&s;t Excellent Maje&s;ty, And to the High Court of Parliament, And to All who Love, and wait for the Appearance of Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">The mo&s;t Humble Petition of your Faithful Mini&s;ter in the Prophe&s;ies of Scripture.</HEAD>
<P>THAT &s;eeing, the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> hath promulg'd that <HI>Divine</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Chron.</HI> 9. 14.</NOTE> <HI>Canon;</HI> That they who <HI>Preach the Evangile</HI> or <HI>good Tydings,</HI> &s;hould live of the Evangelick reward that<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Rev.</HI> 10. 7.</NOTE> is given to Him, that is the Me&s;&s;enger of it; And &s;eeing mo&s;t particularly the declaring the <HI>Fini&s;hing of the My&s;tery of God</HI> in <HI>the Kingdom of Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> is &s;tyl'd God's <HI>Evangelizing by the Prophets.</HI> And La&s;tly, &s;eeing it hath pleas'd the Infinite Grace of God, to con&s;titute me his mo&s;t unworthy Servant &s;uch an <HI>Eu-Angeli&s;t</HI> to this Na|tion, as to declare the mo&s;t preci&s;e Time of that <HI>Happy Revolution; The KINGDOM of CHRIST in its Succe&s;&s;i|on,</HI> upon &s;uch undeniable <HI>Prophetic</HI> Evidence; I mo&s;t Humbly pray that for an <HI>Evangelion,</HI> or reward of &s;o <HI>good Tydings</HI> I may be Enabled by the A&s;&s;i&s;tances of &s;o Great <HI>Prote&s;tant Princes, A&s;&s;embly,</HI> and <HI>Nation</HI> to perfect the whole <HI>Prophetical Mini&s;tration committed to me;</HI> And
<PB REF="6" MS="y"> that it may be laid up for &s;o near a Time to Come, as 1697. and the Truth may be Ju&s;tified by the Event.</P>
<P>In the mean Time, I mo&s;t Humbly Appeal to the mo&s;t <HI>Reverend Epi&s;copal Robe,</HI> who are &s;o able, and who&s;e pro|per Function it is to Judge, whether any Line of the Chain of the <HI>Scripture Argument</HI> I have us'd, be loo&s;e, or weak.</P>
<P>Now that the Contempt of &s;o great a Me&s;&s;age, and neglect of the Me&s;&s;enger may not re&s;t, as a Reproach of the <HI>Goodly price, Je&s;us Chri&s;t is prized at;</HI> but that your Bounty may be accepted, as a <HI>Sacrifice of &s;weet &s;melling Sa|vor</HI> to God, and <HI>Abound to the Account</HI> of the <HI>Nation,</HI> value|ing the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t;</HI> &s;hall be the prayer of</P>
<CLOSER><SALUTE>Soveraign Princes, Mo&s;t Noble Lords, Mo&s;t Honourable Re|pre&s;entatives of this Prote&s;tant Nation.</SALUTE>
<SIGNED>Your mo&s;t Humble Pe|titioner and Servant in this Evangile. <HI>T. Beverley.</HI></SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="notice">
<HEAD>Parts Printed.</HEAD>
<P>The <HI>Scripture Line of Time</HI> from the fir&s;t Sabbath to <HI>Abraham.</HI> From <HI>Cyrus</HI> to the Millennial Sabbati&s;m. The Prophetick Song of <HI>Solomon</HI> from <HI>Davids Kingdom</HI> to the <HI>King|dom</HI> of <HI>Christ.</HI> The Command to come out of <HI>Babylon.</HI> The late Revolution. <HI>Daniel</HI>'s two Vi&s;i|ons Expounded.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="notice">
<HEAD>To be Printed.</HEAD>
<P>The <HI>Scripture Line of Time</HI> from <HI>Abraham</HI> to <HI>Cyrus.</HI> The Prayer of the Kingdom, or the Lords Prayer. The Sacrament of the Kingdom, or the Lords Supper; adju&s;ted to this Kingdom. The Doctrine of the Kingdom and the New <HI>Jeru&s;alem.</HI> The Epi&s;tles to the &s;even Churches, the &s;even Voices or Thunders, the &s;even Vials Expounded.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
<PB REF="6">
<HEAD>To the <HI>Angels of the Churches</HI> of <HI>Christ,</HI> the <HI>Evangelical Mini&s;tery,</HI> mo&s;t parti|cularly in <HI>England.</HI></HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>Grace and Peace from Him, that <HI>Holdeth</HI> the <HI>Seven Stars</HI> in his <HI>Right Hand,</HI> and <HI>walks in the mid&s;t of the Seven Golden Candle|&s;ticks,</HI> and hath the <HI>Seven Spirits</HI> of <HI>God.</HI></SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>IT is to you, My mo&s;t <HI>Reverend,</HI> and <HI>Dearly Honoured Fathers,</HI> and <HI>Brethren</HI> in <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> that in the Second place, as in due order, I Pre&s;ent the following Di&s;cour&s;e; Not becau&s;e you <HI>know not the Truth,</HI> but becau&s;e you <HI>know it,</HI> and that <HI>no Lye is of the Truth,</HI> and &s;o according to the <HI>Apo&s;tles</HI> pre&s;cription concerning <HI>Pro|phe&s;ying,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 14. 29.</NOTE> are able to <HI>Judge,</HI> when a divine Revelation by way of Ex|po&s;ition, as well, as of Immediate In&s;piration is given to <HI>Any One.</HI> Not, as you well know, that you can add, or take away from what hath the Evidence of <HI>Divine;</HI> when you find that, Suffrage, and Joynt Pub|lication, <HI>Blowing the Trumpet</HI> and <HI>Giving warning</HI> is Your All.</P>
<P>I therefore <HI>Communicate</HI> to you <HI>Apart,</HI> the <HI><GAP DESC="foreign">,</HI> the particular <HI>Good Tydings,</HI> I declare, lea&s;t if I am not able to under|go<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 2. 2.</NOTE> your Te&s;t, I <HI>had,</HI> or &s;hould <HI>Run in vain,</HI> But I am able, if I may &s;o allude, to be <HI>Baptiz'd</HI> with that <HI>Bapti&s;m,</HI> and to <HI>Render an Apology</HI> with <HI>Meekne&s;s,</HI> and <HI>Fear</HI> to any, that &s;hall mo&s;t &s;everely Examine me of <HI>the Hope,</HI> I Promulge, through <HI>his Grace,</HI> that I Tru&s;t in, to <HI>work in me Mightily</HI> to that purpo&s;e. I onely Fear Prejudging without Hearing; I know I have not onely <HI>Believ'd,</HI> and <HI>therefore Spoken,</HI> but that I have <HI>Prophe&s;ied</HI> according to the<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 12. 6&punc;</NOTE> <HI>Analogy of the Faith</HI> at once <HI>given to the Saints;</HI> according to the <HI>Doctrine of Godline&s;s,</HI> and the <HI>Symmetry</HI> of All <HI>Scripture Prophecy,</HI> the Light of which hath from God &s;hone into me, above what I can expre&s;s; As the <HI>Prophets</HI> of Old, <HI>Divinely mov'd,</HI> were more Inwardly a&s;&s;ur'd of being <HI>Sent,</HI> then They could expo&s;e to Others.</P>
<P>I would Humbly offer that one Credential, concerning the <HI>Time, Times, Half Time</HI> to &s;trict Judgment; What greater Argument, the <HI>Spirit of God</HI> de&s;ign'd, That Time &s;hould be &s;earch'd, then giving<NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. 7. 1</NOTE> it &s;o peculiarly to the <HI>little Horn,</HI> call'd &s;o di&s;ertly by Him; <HI>The Bea&s;t,</HI> and to the <HI>Bea&s;tian Times</HI> in the <HI>Revelation,</HI> and to no other; And why &s;earch'd, if not to be found? And is not the <HI>Dividing and Multiplying</HI> among Them&s;elves tho&s;e <HI>Characters,</HI> according to preci&s;e certain <HI>Epochs</HI> of the <HI>Fir&s;t Time</HI> and of the <HI>Half Time,</HI> even <HI>Mathematical?</HI></P>
<P>Let none therefore &s;ay the <HI>Book is Seal'd,</HI> or I am not <HI>Learn'd;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;ai. 29. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter"></NOTE> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 span"> Acceptance with God tho' the Things being of diffi|cult
<PB REF="7" MS="y"> Interpretation, require greater Attention. E&s;pecially, You will not &s;ay &s;o, <HI>Mo&s;t Reverend,</HI> and <HI>Learned,</HI> who&s;e peculiar office It is to <HI>Search the Scriptures;</HI> And you know, <HI>Daniel,</HI> and the <HI>Revela|tion</HI> are <HI>Scripture;</HI> And Loe I pre&s;ent you the <HI>Book un&s;eal'd,</HI> by the A&s;&s;i&s;tance of Him, who prevail'd to <HI>Open the Book</HI> of <HI>Seven Seals.</HI></P>
<P>And now, How would this &s;o near <HI>Appearance</HI> of the <HI>Chief Shep|herd,</HI> oblige us to <HI>Feed the flock of Chri&s;t,</HI> not as <HI>Lords,</HI> nor for <HI>Filthy lucre,</HI> but as <HI>En&s;amples</HI> of the <HI>Flock!</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter"> Pet. 5. 2.</NOTE></P>
<P>How would this Doctrine of the Kingdom, <HI>Open a door wide and Effectual</HI> to all manner of Re-Reformation, and to a new and <HI>Apo&s;tolick mi&s;&s;ion</HI> for the preaching the <HI>Everla&s;ting Go&s;pel,</HI> as by the &s;peed of an <HI>Angel flying through the mid&s;t of Heaven?</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 14. 6.</NOTE> It will be &s;o anon within a <HI>Prophetical la&s;t Half Hour</HI> of the <HI>Three Days and a Half,</HI> if not ju&s;t now.</P>
<P>How would this pre&s;erve us from <HI>Grudging one again&s;t another,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">ames 59.</NOTE> and cau&s;e our <HI>Moderation</HI> one towards another to be <HI>known to All,</HI> Becau&s;e the <HI>Judge is before the doors,</HI> and the <HI>Lord at Hand;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">hil. 4. 5.</NOTE></HI> How would it cau&s;e us to cea&s;e to <HI>De-Synagogue one another</HI> &s;o<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">ev. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">. 8.</NOTE> proper to the <HI>Synagogue of Sathan,</HI> e&s;pecially when for <HI>Indifferents,</HI> lea&s;t we <HI>come to wor&s;hip at the Feet of Them,</HI> we have endea|vour'd to <HI>&s;hut the Door</HI> upon, and to acknowledge <HI>Chri&s;t lov'd them!</HI> L<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">t us then Ha&s;ten to the <HI>Philadelphian State</HI> of Purity, Love, and Peace; And &s;o the <HI>God of Love</HI> and of <HI>Peace, &s;hall be with us.</HI> For <HI>this cau&s;e I bow my Knees</HI> to the <HI>God and Father of</HI> our <HI>Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> of whom the whole <HI>Family of Heaven and Earth is call'd.</HI></P>
<P>I mo&s;t Humbly and Earne&s;tly Recommend to you al&s;o the a&s;&s;i&s;ting and <HI>Furthering</HI> of me in this work of the <HI>Go&s;pel,</HI> according to my Humble Petition Prefix'd who am (however otherwi&s;e mo&s;t ju&s;tly) through the <HI>Riches of his Grace</HI> as in an <HI>I&s;le of Patmos, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 word"></HI> the <HI>word of God</HI> and for the <HI>Te&s;timony of Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>And as Pro&s;trate upon the ground, I mo&s;t earne&s;tly beg pardon of <HI>Heaven</HI> and <HI>Earth,</HI> Acknowledging my &s;elf <HI>Le&s;s then the lea&s;t</HI> of All <HI>the Mini&s;ters of the Go&s;pel,</HI> and not worthy to be call&punc;d a <HI>Mi|ni&s;ter of Chri&s;t,</HI> but <HI>by the Grace of God I am what I am;</HI> and I have <HI>Labour'd</HI> more <HI>Abundantly</HI> in this great point, thro' the a&s;&s;i&s;tance of that <HI>Spirit,</HI> who <HI>Divides</HI> to all as <HI>He will,</HI> and becau&s;e <HI>He will.</HI></P>
<CLOSER><SALUTE>Mo&s;t Reverend, and Dearly Loved, and Honoured Fathers and Brethren.</SALUTE>
<SIGNED>Your mo&s;t unworthy Fellow Servant in the Go&s;pel of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t. <HI>T B<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 chunk"></HI></SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="preface">
<PB REF="7">
<HEAD>THE General Preface, With a Table of Contents.</HEAD>
<P><HI>THE Preface</HI> I intend, &s;hall be to pre&s;ent a <HI>Key</HI> of the follow|ing Di&s;cour&s;e, in the plaine&s;t manner I can.</P>
<P>The great Intencion of it is, to A&s;&s;ert &s;o Happy a <HI>Revo|lution</HI> of the World, as the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t</HI> in its Succe&s;&s;ion, within &s;o few Years, as lye betwixt the pre&s;ent 1689, and the next en&s;uing 1697.</P>
<P>This <HI>Kingdom,</HI> however the Prophane, and wicked World may take it, and be <HI>Angry</HI> at it, mu&s;t needs be the Joy and de&s;ire of all good Men, and Women. The change will be &s;o Great, and Happy, that the <HI>Heathen Empire</HI> becoming <HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> under <HI>Con&s;tantine,</HI> was &s;o dark a &s;hade of it, that notwith&s;tanding it, the <HI>Churches flight</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 12. 6.</NOTE> <HI>into the Wilderne&s;s</HI> for 1260 days Is immediately upon it given out. At this 97. It &s;hall return from the <HI>Wilderne&s;s,</HI> and not before, How much more Glorious &s;hall that Time then be? The <HI>Pope</HI> and <HI>Turk</HI> &s;hall go off the Stage of Power, and which is much greater to us; The <HI>Reformation,</HI> or <HI>Prote&s;tant State,</HI> &s;hall be purg'd from all the Remains of <HI>Antichri&s;tiani&s;m</HI> in <HI>Doctrine, Wor&s;hip, Ju|ri&s;diction,</HI> and <HI>Manners,</HI> which, God knows, are very great; For<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 3. 2.</NOTE> <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> hath not <HI>Found our works perfect</HI> or <HI>Fill'd up before God.</HI></P>
<P>It is a dangerous thing to &s;ay, if God hath &s;aid it; How &s;hall this thing be? How did he rai&s;e the World in <HI>Six days,</HI> when as yet there was none of it? How did he bring in a <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire</HI> after the Cruelties of tho&s;e <HI>Salvage Emperors, Diocle&s;ian</HI> and the other Ty|rants of that Time, ju&s;t before Raging in the La&s;t, and greate&s;t <HI>Chri|&s;tian Per&s;ecution</HI> by the <HI>Pagan Empire!</HI></P>
<PB REF="8">
<P> The great Que&s;tion is then, whether he hath &s;aid it or not! To &s;hew he hath &s;aid it, The&s;e Two <HI>Vi&s;ions</HI> of <HI>Daniel</HI> are expounded by them&s;elves, together with the Light of the <HI>New Te&s;tament,</HI> as a <HI>Calendar,</HI> and here offer'd.</P>
<P>To make out this, It is fir&s;t Intimated, which in its proper place<NOTE PLACE="marg">pag. 1.</NOTE> is more fully prov'd, that <HI>Daniel</HI>'s great <HI>Vi&s;ions</HI> throughout his <HI>Pro|phecy,</HI> and &s;o the&s;e two are on purpo&s;e to &s;hew, how long it would be, e're <HI>Ezekiels vi&s;ion</HI> of the <HI>Glorious City,</HI> and <HI>Temple</HI> would come out of <HI>Vi&s;ion</HI> into the <HI>Everla&s;ting Throne,</HI> and the <HI>Sanctu|ary cleans'd,</HI> as Real Event.</P>
<P>To &s;hew it would be a long Time, God gives in the&s;e two <HI>Vi&s;ions</HI> a Sub&s;tantial <HI>Calendar</HI> of <HI>Four great Monarchies,</HI> running out them&s;elves, e're the Everla&s;ting <HI>Throne</HI> would be Erected; At the end of them, It would; As in another <HI>Vi&s;ion,</HI> He gives 2300 <HI>Even|ings</HI> and <HI>Mornings,</HI> till the <HI>Sanctuary cleans'd,</HI> as a numeral <HI>Ca|lendar</HI> of the whole Time.</P>
<P>The be&s;t Key, that can be given to this, is, to give the Contents of the Di&s;cour&s;e, Referring to the pages, wherein each part is di&s;cours'd, in the way of Argument, That the&s;e two <HI>Vi&s;ions</HI> give &s;o Sub&s;tantial a <HI>Ca|lendar</HI> of more value, then <HI>Seth's pillars,</HI> if Extant; and then a <HI>Numeral Calendar</HI> ending 1697.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t <HI>Vi&s;ion</HI> is, in the Exqui&s;ite frame, and admirable contri|vance of it, and the mo&s;t Illu&s;trious Remarks, Providence &s;o de&s;ignedly gave it in <HI>Daniel</HI>'s Expo&s;ition of it, made out to be &s;uch a <HI>Calendar,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">pag. 2.</NOTE> and to end in a <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t;</HI> neither the <HI>Heavenly,</HI> nor the <HI>Spiritual Evangelical Kingdom</HI> onely; nor that of the <HI>Chri&s;tian</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>to</HI> pag. 13.</NOTE> <HI>Empire,</HI> or <HI>Chri&s;tian Princes</HI> and <HI>States</HI> &s;ince <HI>Con&s;tantine;</HI> But One to Come.</P>
<P>The &s;econd <HI>Vi&s;ion</HI> is then &s;hown to be doubled, to Fix the Cer|tainty,<NOTE PLACE="marg">p. 14. 15. 16</NOTE> as al&s;o, that It is more particular, as given to <HI>Daniel,</HI> a Do|me&s;tick of the <HI>Divine Kingdom,</HI> above what, was allowed to <HI>Nebu|chadnezzar</HI> an <HI>Alieu.</HI></P>
<P>The Grand Argument of &s;uch a <HI>Calendar</HI> propos'd, and all along pur&s;ued is; That Things have been &s;ucce&s;&s;ively, and are to this day in Motion according to this <HI>Calendar;</HI> And by expre&s;s <HI>Scripture,</HI> as<NOTE PLACE="marg">pag. 16. 17.</NOTE> to the <HI>Babylonian,</HI> the <HI>Per&s;ian,</HI> the <HI>Graecian Monarchies,</HI> All acknowledg'dly pa&s;s'd, and gone off.</P>
<P>It is therefore in the next place &s;hown, the <HI>Calendar</HI> could not expire in the <HI>Graecian Monarchy,</HI> as it &s;tood divided after <HI>Alexander the Great;</HI> And that therefore it mu&s;t &s;ub&s;i&s;t in the <HI>Roman Mo|narchy</HI> and how Agreeably with <HI>Prophecy,</HI> and <HI>Hi&s;tory</HI> of the
<PB REF="8"> <HI>New Te&s;tament,</HI> even to the Evidence of an <HI>Article of Faith,</HI> It doth there &s;ub&s;i&s;t, is argued; And that this <HI>Monarchies</HI> having no Name in the <HI>Old</HI> or <HI>New Te&s;tament,</HI> as the other <HI>Monarchies</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">p. 18. <HI>to</HI> p. 25.</NOTE> have, nor any particular &s;hape in <HI>Daniel,</HI> as the other <HI>Kingdoms</HI> have in the three <HI>Bea&s;ts,</HI> does not weaken, but &s;trengthen the <HI>Calendar,</HI> is al&s;o Argued.</P>
<P>That the <HI>Calendar</HI> therefore might continue in the <HI>Roman Mo|narchy,</HI> That <HI>Monarchy</HI> remain'd unbroken at the Re&s;urrection,<NOTE PLACE="marg">p. 26.</NOTE> and A&s;cen&s;ion of Chri&s;t; and from thence, it is to be divided into three <HI>Periods.</HI></P>
<P N="1">1. The <HI>Period</HI> of the <HI>Pagan Empire</HI> before <HI>Con&s;tantine</HI>'s mo&s;t<NOTE PLACE="marg">p: 26. 27.</NOTE> Livelily <HI>Symbold</HI> in the <HI>Revel.</HI> c. 12. 1. <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. The <HI>Period of the Chri&s;tian Empire</HI> from <HI>Con&s;tantine</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">p. 28.</NOTE> till the <HI>Abdication</HI> of <HI>Augu&s;tulus;</HI> The Symbol of it in the <HI>Reve|lation</HI> and the wonderful care, <HI>Prophecy</HI> takes about it, Shown at<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>to</HI> p. 38.</NOTE> large, Becau&s;e it was not <HI>Be&s;tian,</HI> but a &s;hade of the <HI>Kidgdom of Chri&s;t;</HI> That yet the <HI>Calendar</HI> &s;hould not be thought de&s;troyed, is di&s;played from the <HI>Apo&s;tle Paul.</HI> 2. <HI>The&s;&s;.</HI> 2. and from &s;everal <HI>Apocalyptical</HI> Concerts concerning it.</P>
<P>The <HI>Calendar,</HI> as brought down to the <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire,</HI> and plac'd there, as on a Grand pillar of Time, is Reviewed, as in that<NOTE PLACE="marg">p. 39.</NOTE> <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire</HI> Beginning, and Cea&s;ing.</P>
<P N="3">3. The third <HI>Period</HI> is, of the <HI>Roman Papacy,</HI> wherein is prov'd, that whatever &s;ucceeded the <HI>Chri&s;tian Roman Empire,</HI> and hath continued all along to this day, mu&s;t be the <HI>Be&s;tian</HI> State of the <HI>Ro|man Empire;</HI> and it could be no other but the <HI>Papacy,</HI> with the<NOTE PLACE="marg">p. 40.</NOTE> <HI>Ten Kings</HI> and <HI>Kingdoms,</HI> into which that <HI>Empire</HI> was after the <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire,</HI> Divided.</P>
<P>Becau&s;e the State of the <HI>Roman Empire</HI> under the <HI>Papacy,</HI> and the <HI>Ten Kings</HI> would be &s;o long, that the <HI>Calendar</HI> could not be enough &s;upported by the Real &s;ub&s;tantial Notes of di&s;tinction, nor known, <HI>how long!</HI> Here therefore the <HI>Numeral Calendar</HI> of <HI>Time,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">p. 41. 42.</NOTE> <HI>Times,</HI> and <HI>Half a Time</HI> is given; which had been in vain given, if not to be under&s;tood; The explication is therefore undertaken in that A&s;&s;urance, and Ballanced, with <HI>Forty Two Months, Prophetically divided</HI> and <HI>multiplyed.</HI></P>
<P>The <HI>Epoch,</HI> or Beginning of the&s;e <HI>Times</HI> and <HI>Half Time,</HI> is argued to be at the <HI>Abdication</HI> of <HI>Augu&s;tulus</HI> (where, by the way<NOTE PLACE="marg">p. 43. <HI>to</HI> 45.</NOTE> the true Notion of <HI>Abdication</HI> is <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">lear'd, and urg'd) and the <HI>Ten Kings</HI> thereupon <HI>Receiving Power with the Bea&s;t</HI> at <HI>one Hour;</HI> which <HI>Receiving</HI> at <HI>One Hour</HI> is explain'd, and argued.</P>
<PB REF="9">
<P> The real <HI>Calendar</HI> in the <HI>Times,</HI> and <HI>Half Time</HI> is argued by &s;uch undeniable, and unparalellable Agreements betwixt the <HI>Prophecy of Daniel,</HI> and the <HI>Revelation,</HI> and the State of the <HI>Roman Empire</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">p. 46. <HI>to</HI> 53.</NOTE> under the <HI>Papacy,</HI> and the <HI>Ten Kings,</HI> as can be no way overcome, by &s;o much, as an <HI>Athei&s;t,</HI> or <HI>Papi&s;t,</HI> that will con&s;ider.</P>
<P>The <HI>Numeral Calendar</HI> of <HI>Times,</HI> and <HI>Half a Time,</HI> is made out by Ballance with the 1260. <HI>days</HI> and <HI>Forty two Months,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 word"> 54. <HI>to</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">4.</NOTE> as the Time of the <HI>Eclip&s;e</HI> of the <HI>Church of Chri&s;t</HI> by the <HI>Be&s;tian Moon</HI> under its <HI>Feet;</HI> Giving Great under&s;tanding of the <HI>Calendar,</HI> both in Allu&s;ion to an <HI>Eclip&s;e,</HI> one of the &s;ure&s;t Characters of Time in <HI>Chronology,</HI> and al&s;o mo&s;t exactly Calculated in its Time of Durati|on, and various degrees of Beginning, Middle, and Going of; And the Application of a <HI>Calendar</HI> onely to the <HI>Little Horn</HI> in <HI>Daniel,</HI> and to the Time of the <HI>Be&s;tian Tyranny</HI> in the <HI>Revelation,</HI> &s;hews us, They mu&s;t be both the &s;ame; and that therefore we mu&s;t be Right in the duration, knowing the <HI>Epoch</HI> of the <HI>Times</HI> and of the <HI>Half Time;</HI> This is di&s;cours'd at large, and then by way of Brief Recolle|ction; That if the <HI>Bea&s;ts Times</HI> and <HI>Half Time</HI> are taken alone, and <HI>Divided,</HI> and <HI>Multiplyed</HI> by them&s;elves, according to that fix'd <HI>Epoch</HI> of the <HI>Times,</HI> and of the <HI>Half Time;</HI> They mu&s;t needs end at 1697.</P>
<P>The &s;ucce&s;&s;ion of the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t,</HI> is demon&s;trated nece&s;&s;a|rily to follow at the end of the <HI>half Time:</HI> together with &s;ome Practi|cal<NOTE PLACE="marg">p. 64. <HI>to the End.</HI></NOTE> Intimations.</P>
<P>If then to the &s;ucce&s;&s;ion of the <HI>Graecian Monarchy</HI> in its <HI>Divided &s;tate,</HI> we have expre&s;s <HI>Scripture</HI> for the <HI>Calendar;</HI> if all <HI>Hi&s;tory</HI> a&s;&s;ures us, the <HI>Roman Empire</HI> &s;wallowed that; and <HI>Scripture</HI> pre|&s;ent it then in its Greatne&s;s, even to an <HI>Article of Faith,</HI> and hath both by a real Con&s;picuous Agreement betwixt it, and <HI>Prophecy</HI> all along pre&s;ented it to us in its State <HI>to this day,</HI> and given us a <HI>Nume|ral Calendar,</HI> that, tho' <HI>My&s;tick,</HI> is to be, and is (I &s;olemnly A&s;&s;ert) with undoubted Certainty unlock'd to us; as ending at 97. And that nothing can Follow, but the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t;</HI> Let us, be|ing &s;o near a <HI>Kingdom,</HI> that <HI>cannot be &s;haken, have Grace,</HI> wherewith to <HI>&s;erve God</HI> with <HI>Reverence</HI> and <HI>Godly fear,</HI> For <HI>Our God</HI> is a <HI>Con&s;uming Fire.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">H<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">b. 12. 28.</NOTE></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="errata">
<P>Be&s;ides &s;ome &s;mall Mi&s;takes in Pointing, the&s;e few Faults have e&s;cap'd, which the Courteous Reader is de&s;ired to mend thus;</P>
<P><HI>Page 4<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">. line 6.</HI> for were <HI>read</HI> we. <HI>p. 46. l. 28.</HI> point thus, Compos'd, are; The&punc; <HI>p. 50 l. 40. r.</HI> Be&s;tiani&s;m. <HI>p. 64. l. 30. r.</HI> &s;lay. <HI>p. 66. l. 26. r.</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">.</P>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="discourse">
<PB N="1" REF="9">
<HEAD>A DISCOURSE UPON Tho&s;e two Grand <HI>Vi&s;ional Dreams</HI> of <HI>Daniels Prophecy;</HI></HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">The <HI>Dream</HI> of the <HI>Image,</HI> given to <HI>Nebuchadnezzar,</HI> and Interpreted by <HI>Daniel,</HI> Chap. 2. And the <HI>Dream</HI> of the <HI>Four Bea&s;ts</HI> given to <HI>Daniel,</HI> Ch. 7.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">Wherein it is endeavoured to be proved, That The&s;e <HI>Two Vi&s;ions</HI> are a <HI>Calendar</HI> of <HI>Time;</HI> comprehending the whole Space from the Time of <HI>Nebuchadnezzar</HI>'s <HI>&V;ni|ver&s;al Monarchy,</HI> to the <HI>Kingdom</HI> and <HI>Dominion</HI> of Chri&s;t under the <HI>whole Heaven.</HI> The <HI>Proclaimings</HI> where|of &s;hall be heard as from <HI>Heaven</HI> 1697.</HEAD>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<P>I Have in the Foregoing Di&s;cour&s;es Adju&s;ted the&s;e <HI>Vi&s;ions</HI> of <HI>Daniel,</HI> and his whole <HI>Prophecy</HI> to the Time of <HI>Ezekiels Prophecy,</HI> and particularly to that <HI>Cardinal Vi&s;ion</HI><NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg"><HI>c.</HI> 40. <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> of the <HI>Glorious Temple</HI> and <HI>City,</HI> and therein to the la&s;t <HI>Joynt</HI> of the <HI>Line of Time</HI> before it, <HI>viz.</HI> the 390 <HI>days,</HI> at the end of which, as I have &s;hewn; <HI>Ezekiel</HI> had that &s;o great <HI>Vi&s;ion,</HI> giving a <HI>vi&s;i|onal Ce&s;&s;ation</HI> to his <HI>Bearing</HI> the <HI>Iniquity</HI> of the <HI>Hou&s;e of I&s;rael.</HI></P>
<P>I have adju&s;ted al&s;o the fir&s;t of the&s;e <HI>vi&s;ions</HI> to <HI>Nebuchadnezzar</HI>'s <HI>Supreme Monarchy</HI> by his Conque&s;t of <HI>Egypt, viz.</HI> to the <HI>Second year</HI> of it, and the twenty &s;eventh of <HI>Jehoiachins Captivity,</HI> and the Thirty fifth of <HI>Nebuchadnezzers</HI> general Reign.</P>
<PB N="2" REF="10">
<P> Now in all the&s;e parti<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">ulars, the&s;e Two <HI>vi&s;ions</HI> have deep Intere&s;t, as I have &s;hown; I now addre&s;s my &s;elf onely to this point, to prove that the&s;e Two <HI>vi&s;ions</HI> are a Real, and Sub|&s;tantial <HI>Calendar</HI> of <HI>Time</HI> to the <HI>Kingdom of Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> when the <HI>Sanctuary &s;hall be Cleans'd;</HI> according to that Great Note of <HI>Daniel</HI>'s Third <HI>vi&s;ion,</HI> at the End of the 2300 <HI>Evenings</HI> and <HI>Mornings,</HI> and mo&s;t Agreeing with <HI>Ezekiels Prophacy,</HI> when al&s;o according to that <HI>Prophecy,</HI> the <HI>Everla&s;ting Throne</HI> &s;hall be<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezek. 47. 7, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> &s;et up.</P>
<P>The&s;e Two, then and indeed the Third <HI>vi&s;ion</HI> of <HI>Daniel</HI> give the Time, <HI>how Long;</HI> That great <HI>vi&s;ion</HI> of <HI>Ezekiel</HI> &s;hall be <HI>vi&s;ion</HI> onely, and put nothing into Act, and Effect: The Third <HI>vi&s;ion</HI> which is Exactly numeral, I have already publi&s;h'd the probation of, as Reaching that <HI>End.</HI></P>
<P>Without any further preface therfore, I lay down the&s;e fol|lowing Arguments to prove, that the&s;e Two <HI>vi&s;ions</HI> are &s;uch a Sub&s;tantial real <HI>Calendar,</HI> and contain al&s;o a &s;hort <HI>Hierogly|phical</HI> numeral <HI>Calendar;</HI> of <HI>Time, Times,</HI> and <HI>Half a Time,</HI> that Falls into all the Variety and yet Complication of the Characters of Time, in the great <HI>Prophecy</HI> of the <HI>New-Te&s;ta|ment,</HI> the <HI>Revelation,</HI> which together with the real Sub&s;tantial Characters of the&s;e <HI>vi&s;ions,</HI> make the Time demon&s;tratively certain, that the &s;ucce&s;&s;ion of <HI>Chri&s;ts Ringdom</HI> &s;hall be 1697.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="1" UNIT="Argu."> The fir&s;t Argument I &s;hall Level to this point, &s;hall be; That The&s;e Two <HI>Dreams,</HI> or <HI>vi&s;ions</HI> are made &s;o Re|markable by God, that They are worthy to be &s;uch a <HI>Calen|dar</HI> of Time, as I affirm of Them; Now the fir&s;t <HI>vi&s;ion</HI> as laying the Foundation, is fuller of outward pomp, and more prepar'd for publick, and univer&s;al notice; But the &s;econd is more Inward to the Glory, and <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t,</HI> as a &s;e|cond, and more perfecting Hand drawn upon the Fir&s;t.</P>
<P>The Fir&s;t <HI>vi&s;ionary Dream</HI> was granted to <HI>Nebuchadnezzar,</HI> in whom an <HI>&V;niver&s;al Monarchy</HI> then Re&s;ided; which made him a fit <HI>Head</HI> of that <HI>Image,</HI> and of that Time al&s;o to be con|tinued all along in a Cour&s;e, de&s;cending from the <HI>Head</HI> to the &s;everal parts, even to the <HI>Feet</HI> and <HI>Toes,</HI> and then and there to be <HI>Broken</HI> in pieces, and to be &s;ucceeded by the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>And as in preparation to this very purpo&s;e, the Greatne&s;s of this <HI>Monarch</HI> is &s;o often Amplyfied in the <HI>Prophets;</HI> He is &s;everal Times Call'd by God, <HI>Nebuchadnezzar, My Servant;</HI> as the Great, not onely Sub&s;titute of Divine power, but as the
<PB N="3" REF="10"> <HI>proto Type</HI> of it, as it &s;hall appear in <HI>Chri&s;t.</HI> God gave Him <HI>All</HI> Nations <HI>to &s;erve Him,</HI> even the <HI>Bea&s;ts of the Field</HI> and the <HI>Fowls of the Heaven; Jeremiah</HI> was Commanded to <HI>&s;end Yokes to all Na|tions,</HI> as a Symbol of <HI>&s;erving Him,</HI> and &s;ubmitting <HI>to his Yoke; Ezekiel</HI> calls Him <HI>King of Kings,</HI> a &s;tyle <HI>Prophetick</HI> of <HI>Chri&s;ts</HI> &s;upreme <HI>Title;</HI> and the <HI>Mighty one of the Heathen; Daniel</HI> repre|&s;ents him by the great <HI>Tree,</HI> who&s;e <HI>&s;haddow cover'd</HI> and <HI>protected</HI> the very <HI>Fowls</HI> of <HI>Heaven</HI> and <HI>Bea&s;ts of the Earth;</HI> and All <HI>Fle&s;h</HI> was Repleni&s;h'd with its <HI>Fruit.</HI> His <HI>Greatne&s;s</HI> reach'd to <HI>Hea|ven,</HI> and his <HI>Dominion</HI> to the <HI>End of the World.</HI></P>
<P>This made Him the <HI>Head of Gold,</HI> the Beginning of the <HI>&V;ni|ver&s;al Monarchy,</HI> that was to &s;ucceed in the <HI>Per&s;ian, Grecian,</HI> and <HI>Roman States;</HI> and to Fore&s;how, what a <HI>Kingdom</HI> the <HI>King|dom of Chri&s;t</HI> was to be in its Univer&s;al Extent; For who&s;e &s;ake &s;uch a <HI>Calendar</HI> of <HI>Monarchies</HI> was given; To fore-tell which the <HI>Jews</HI> and <HI>Gentiles</HI> &s;tood, as one Body under the <HI>Shade</HI> of the great <HI>Tree, Nebuchadnezzar.</HI></P>
<P>And that this <HI>Dream</HI> of the <HI>Image</HI> might be the more Nota|ble, and Remarkable; There was a Concurrence of all things, that might make it &s;o: Fir&s;t, in regard of the <HI>&V;niver&s;al Monar|chy</HI> of the Prince, that had the <HI>Dream,</HI> whereby every Circum|&s;tance of the whole matter had an ea&s;ie and almo&s;t a nece&s;&s;ary pa&s;&s;age through the mo&s;t known parts of the World.</P>
<P>It being given to the Prince him&s;elf, it mu&s;t needs be the more Notorious, and the more Certain; and to a prince not wor&s;hipping the <HI>True God;</HI> It mu&s;t be the more undeniable, and free from the Su&s;pition of a <HI>pious Fraud;</HI> The manner of giving the <HI>Dream</HI> was by the ordination of <HI>Providence</HI> &s;uch, as to cau&s;e the greate&s;t Agony, and Perplexity to his Thoughts; For his Imagination was deeply Imprinted, that a very Stu|pendious <HI>Dream</HI> had found a place in it; And what yet it was, was gone from Him, which contributed exceedingly to the Notoriety of the Thing. For fir&s;t all the <HI>Magicians, A&s;trolo|gers,</HI> and <HI>Wi&s;e men</HI> of <HI>Babylon</HI> were &s;ummon'd upon the Oc|ca&s;ion.</P>
<P>When they came, there was nothing offer'd them, but a rude Apprehen&s;ion of &s;uch a <HI>Dream;</HI> whereas if the <HI>Dream</HI> it &s;elf had been told them; They might have fa&s;tend &s;ome &s;atis|factory, however fal&s;e Interpretation to it, and &s;o the thing have dyed? When they could offer no Re&s;olution in &s;o diffi|cult a Ca&s;e, there was to make the matter more Notable, a
<PB N="4" REF="11"> <HI>decree</HI> to <HI>put them to death;</HI> After all the King's perplexity, and even Fury, God gave him &s;uch a Re&s;olution by <HI>Daniel,</HI> as &s;av'd &s;o many Lives, which fix'd the thing yet deeper in all Mens Thoughts, and gave A&s;&s;urance, that the King was fully &s;atisfi'd within Him&s;elf; That the <HI>Dream</HI> reveal'd to him by <HI>Daniel</HI> was the &s;ame, that had Graven it &s;elf &s;o deeply on his mind in his &s;leep.</P>
<P>And it was therefore ordered to be a <HI>Dream,</HI> becau&s;e accord|ing to the opinion of tho&s;e Nations, and al&s;o in the thing it &s;elf, a <HI>Dream</HI> &s;o exactly Fram'd, under &s;o great &s;en&s;e, was lea&s;t under the power of the under&s;tanding, and therefore Di|vine, and Immediately from God.</P>
<P>Now that all the&s;e great Preparations, and &s;olemn Circum|&s;tances &s;hould be thus ordered, and di&s;po&s;ed by God, without &s;ome High de&s;ignation of God for the Glory of his own <HI>King|dom,</HI> and &s;ome very Admirable <HI>Prophecy,</HI> and Cour&s;e of Time lay'd out to it, I appeal to any per&s;on, that &s;hall duely weigh, and con&s;ider it, whether it be &s;o much, as probable.</P>
<P>On the other &s;ide, whether if there &s;hall be other very weighty Rea&s;ons, that &s;uch a Cour&s;e of Time to the divine <HI>Kingdom</HI> is de&s;ign'd; This great Ceremony &s;o immediately order'd by providence, does not exceedingly concert with it, and add to the Rea&s;ons otherwi&s;e drawn? Seeing el&s;e, All this Dvine &s;tate was to adorn a <HI>Heathen Prince's Dream</HI> concerning <HI>Heathen Potentacies,</HI> and no change upon the <HI>Heathen</HI> world for the better, nor any Accruement to the divine Kingdom here|by; but onely tho&s;e Temporary, &s;hort Acknowledgments, that dyed upon the Breath, and Lips of that <HI>Pagan Prince</HI> that made them, while neither Him&s;elf, nor his Kingdom were Converted to the <HI>True God.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE N="2" UNIT="Argu."> Although there was no End of Glory to the <HI>Divine Kingdom,</HI> worthy the Magnificence of the Manife&s;tation to the <HI>Babyloni&s;h Prince</HI> in this <HI>Dream,</HI> &s;hort of the <HI>Divine Kingdom</HI> it &s;elf; Yet taking the <HI>Divine Kingdom</HI> at the End, there is a very great and Glorious Corre&s;pondence betwixt this Manife&s;tation, and the <HI>Divine Kingdom.</HI></P>
<P>For at the Time, when the <HI>Kingdom of God</HI> &s;eem'd to be lo&s;t, and &s;wallowed up, and to be even as it were, none at all, through the deep <HI>Captivity</HI> of the onely True people of God, then in the World, under this <HI>Babylonian</HI> King; Yet to &s;hew the &s;urmount of the <HI>Divine Kingdom</HI> in its vertue, and efficacies,
<PB N="5" REF="11"> there is by the true, and Supreme <HI>Monarch</HI> of the <HI>World,</HI> a <HI>Dream</HI> &s;o Rivetted into all the Imaginative faculties of this &s;o great vi&s;ible <HI>Monarch,</HI> his Sub&s;titute and Servant, that could not be, by all the Plea&s;ures, and bu&s;ine&s;s of a Court, forc'd from thence; and which yet could not be &s;o much as call'd in|to Knowledg, what it was, nor Expounded but by a parti|cular Mini&s;ter of the <HI>Divine Kingdom,</HI> the <HI>Prophet Daniel;</HI> All the Fatigues of the <HI>A&s;trologers, Magicians,</HI> and <HI>Wi&s;e-men,</HI> the <HI>Seers</HI> of that great Prince being to no purpo&s;e in their Divi|nation.</P>
<P>And this <HI>Dream</HI> retreived out of the dark of a Troubled, but unknowing Imagination, where it was written, as in Mar|ble, in &s;o indelible, and yet &s;ecret Characters prov'd to be, and was Acknowledg'd in the Inlightned under&s;tanding, and not Incertain Imagination of this Prince, to be a <HI>Prophecy</HI> of the unea&s;ie Re&s;t of his own <HI>Monarchic</HI> Power, that was conti|nually <HI>Over Turn'd, Over Turn'd, Over Turn'd</HI><NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Babylo|nian. Per&s;ian. Grecian.</NOTE>, till He who&s;e Right it is, &s;hould come, and take it out of the la&s;t Re&s;t of it<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Roman.</NOTE>, Even the <HI>Son of God</HI> Him&s;elf.</P>
<P>All which &s;o wrought upon this otherwi&s;e Haughty <HI>Poten|tate,</HI> that He made this <HI>Confe&s;&s;ion</HI> to <HI>Daniel; Your God is the God of Gods,</HI> and <HI>Lord of Kings,</HI> and a <HI>Revealer of Secrets;</HI> And as a further Acknowledgment, He exalts <HI>Daniel,</HI> as in a <HI>Repre|&s;entation</HI> of Gods Supremacy over the World, to be over the <HI>Province of Babylon,</HI> and <HI>Chief</HI> of all the <HI>Governouors,</HI> and over all the <HI>Wi&s;e men</HI> of the <HI>whole Dominion.</HI> A great Prophecy of the Subjection of <HI>Babylon</HI> it &s;elf to the <HI>Kingdom of Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> and here the <HI>Horn of I&s;rael</HI> that &s;eem'd Dead, was made to Bud according to <HI>Ezekiels prophecy</HI> of this very Time, as before argued. <HI>c.</HI> 29. 17.</P>
<P>And further, that <HI>Miracle</HI> from Heaven &s;o Enclo&s;ing his Servants in the <HI>Furnace</HI> with the Guards of Providence, that the Flame was a <HI>Wall of Fire</HI> to defend onely, and not to kin|dle upon them, while it <HI>Burnt</HI> up their <HI>Enemies,</HI> vindicated Gods <HI>Supreme Royalty</HI> over Nature, and caus'd that Exorbi|tant power, that dur&s;t erect &s;uch an <HI>Image</HI> for his own Glory, and command the wor&s;hip of it, under a penalty &s;o dreadful, to proclaim the reverence of the <HI>True God,</HI> under a more dreadful penalty.</P>
<P>And la&s;tly, God &s;u&s;pended this <HI>Monarch</HI> from his <HI>Throne,</HI> and Levell'd him with the <HI>Bea&s;ts,</HI> by depriving him of his
<PB N="6" REF="12"> <HI>Rea&s;on,</HI> till he came to &s;uch a humble Publication of the <HI>Name of God,</HI> as was the neare&s;t to True Religion, that could be, not to be determin'd to be True Religion.</P>
<P>And it is mo&s;t ob&s;ervable, that as the <HI>Son of God</HI> appeared to this very fir&s;t of the <HI>Four Monarchs,</HI> as it were in per&s;on, who was the <HI>Supreme Monarch</HI> truly &s;o call'd, that his Right to the <HI>Kingdom</HI> de&s;igned Him, might be the more under&s;tood, and Te&s;tified; So <HI>Daniel,</HI> a <HI>Jew</HI> had his <HI>Skirt</HI> taken hold off, thus leading to the <HI>True God</HI> and his <HI>Kingdom;</HI> and He him&s;elf with the other his Three Companions in the <HI>Patience,</HI> and <HI>Kingdom of Je&s;us Chri&s;t</HI> had a promotion in that <HI>Babyloni&s;h Monarchy, Prophetical</HI> of the <HI>Kingdom</HI> fir&s;t comming to the <HI>Jews,</HI> when it &s;hall be <HI>Given</HI> under the <HI>whole Heaven</HI> to the <HI>Saints of the mo&s;t High.</HI></P>
<P>Thus jealous was Divine honour, not onely over it &s;elf, but careful of pre&s;enting to Univer&s;al view, and notice its great de&s;ign of &s;etting up an <HI>&V;niver&s;al Monarchy,</HI> and <HI>Kingdom</HI> in a <HI>vi&s;ible Glory</HI> by that great <HI>Son of Man,</HI> who is al&s;o the <HI>Son of God;</HI> The <HI>Glory</HI> was not &s;o <HI>Given to another,</HI> but that it was &s;een to this <HI>Gentile Ruler,</HI> as &s;itting <HI>on a Throne</HI> far above Him; and He on all occa&s;ions was humbled, and aba&s;ed before it.</P>
<P>And whether the&s;e Acknowledgments of the Father, might not have an influence on <HI>Evilm<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">rodach</HI> the Son, and move Him to that kindne&s;s to <HI>Jehoiachin,</HI> and to <HI>&s;et his Throne above any of the Kings,</HI> the word of God gives us no po&s;&s;itive Rule to a&s;&s;ert; Yet probable it is, both the Father and the Son, however convinc'd of the true God, knowing Gods determination of the <HI>Seaventy years Captivity</HI> of the <HI>Jews,</HI> They minght not re|lea&s;e it, as <HI>Cyrus</HI> did. It being God's Councel, it &s;hould not be done during that <HI>Monarchy,</HI> becau&s;e as in Time, &s;o in other great Regards, it could not Agree to that <HI>Type, Babylon</HI> was to Bear, to be &s;o honour'd.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="3d." UNIT="Argu."> The very Frame and Fabrick of the <HI>Dream,</HI> or <HI>Vi&s;ion</HI> it &s;elf is a full Evidence of a <HI>Calendar</HI> of <HI>Time</HI> to the <HI>King|dom</HI> of <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>For the <HI>Image</HI> it &s;elf is a <HI>Calendar</HI> of Time, and while that sands, the <HI>Calendar</HI> cannot be out of date, for the <HI>Monarchy</HI> like the <HI>Sun,</HI> from &s;ign to &s;ign moves on, and &s;lides down from the <HI>Head</HI> to the <HI>Arms,</HI> and <HI>Brea&s;t&punc;</HI> then to the <HI>Belly,</HI> and <HI>Thighs,</HI> then to the <HI>Legs,</HI> and <HI>Feet;</HI> and points to time all along according to the nature of a <HI>Calendar,</HI> both by its duration and
<PB N="7" REF="12"> by its motion, and while the <HI>Feet</HI> are <HI>unbrokan,</HI> the <HI>Image</HI> &s;tands, and remains a <HI>Calendar.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. The <HI>Four Mettals, Gold, Silver, Bra&s;s, Iron,</HI> and a mixture of <HI>Clay,</HI> according the General Emblem of &s;ucce&s;&s;ive Ages, in this very order &s;ignifies the Flower, and top of Time, and the Head of it at fir&s;t, and at la&s;t the very dregs of Time.</P>
<P>In which the &s;econd is &s;aid to be a <HI>Kingdom Inferior,</HI> not &s;o<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Dan</HI> 2. 39.</NOTE> much intending the &s;trength, or Temperament of the follow|ing <HI>Per&s;ian Monarchs,</HI> in many regards exceeding the <HI>Babyloni|an,</HI> as the Inferiority, and Po&s;teriority of Time, in regard of which the <HI>Head</HI> was of <HI>Gold,</HI> as further off from Ruin, and De&s;olation; to which every &s;ucce&s;&s;ion approached nearer, till the very <HI>Feet</HI> and <HI>Toes of Clay</HI> had the Fatal and De&s;tructive &s;troke, wherein all fail'd and fell. So as in <HI>Litteral Bobylon,</HI> the Glory began in <HI>Gold,</HI> &s;o in my&s;tical <HI>Babylon</HI> the <HI>Feet</HI> and <HI>Toes</HI> of <HI>Iron</HI> and <HI>Clay</HI> &s;hall be <HI>&s;truck</HI> and <HI>Broken,</HI> and the whole <HI>Image</HI> &s;hall <HI>Fall,</HI> and <HI>Great</HI> &s;hall be the <HI>Fall</HI> of it.</P>
<P N="3">3. The <HI>Monarchies</HI> them&s;elves, into which the parts of the <HI>Image</HI> are Interpreted, De&s;cribe a long Time; &s;ince it is &s;uf|ficiently known, &s;uch <HI>Potentacies</HI> mu&s;t have Time to di&s;play Them&s;elves in; And that if They &s;ucceed one Another, it mu&s;t be a long Tract of Time, that mu&s;t give them oportu|nity to Come on, and go off from the Stage of &s;o publick Acti|on; Therefore They them&s;elves, as <HI>Kingdomes,</HI> or <HI>Monarchiies</HI> de&s;cribe long Time.</P>
<P>And &s;eeing the <HI>Kingdom,</HI> that &s;hall <HI>&s;tand for Ever and Ever,</HI> and that &s;hall have the <HI>dominion</HI> under the <HI>whole Heaven,</HI> is plainly plac'd at the End of the&s;e <HI>Four,</HI> and <HI>Breaks</HI> in peices the la&s;t; The <HI>Kingdom</HI> of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> that does this, and &s;o the whole <HI>Falling</HI> and <HI>Beaten</HI> to <HI>Powder,</HI> and pa&s;&s;ing away as the <HI>Chaff of the Summer Floor,</HI> mu&s;t needs be the Scene, that mu&s;t open la&s;t, and its <HI>Times</HI> be beyond all their <HI>Times.</HI></P>
<P>Till therefore The&s;e <HI>Four Kingdomes</HI> have had their Time, the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t</HI> comes not on, nor breaks them in pieces, and till the Time, the <HI>proper Time</HI> of the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t</HI> be come, the&s;e have not had their Full Time; So this is an In|dented Character of Time, if any one, That if the la&s;t of the&s;e <HI>Kingdomes</HI> be yet continuing, It is certain, <HI>Chri&s;t's Kingdom</HI> is not yet; And if <HI>Chri&s;ts Kingdom</HI> be not yet, it is certain, the la&s;t of tho&s;e <HI>Kingdomes</HI> is yet continuing, and is not da&s;h'd to powder, and all the <HI>Image</HI> with it, as it &s;hall be by the <HI>Stone</HI> cut out
<PB N="8" REF="13"> of the <HI>Mountain, Filling the whole Earth,</HI> when his <HI>Kingdom</HI> &s;hall come.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="4" UNIT="Argu."> After a mo&s;t &s;tately, and Magnificent de&s;cription, or <HI>Iconi&s;m</HI> of <HI>Four</HI> mighty <HI>Monarchies,</HI> that vi&s;ibly and &s;en&s;ibly rul'd over the World, and aw'd it; and that by force, and power broke in pieces all who did not &s;ubmit; There is &s;ub|joyn'd the pre&s;ence of a Fifth <HI>Kingdom,</HI> or <HI>Monarchy,</HI> that the <HI>God of Heaven</HI> &s;hould <HI>Set up,</HI> and had never yet been &s;et up, that &s;hould <HI>Break in pieces,</HI> and <HI>Con&s;ume</HI> all the&s;e <HI>Kingdomes,</HI> and &s;hould it &s;elf <HI>&s;tand for ever.</HI> And the de&s;cription of the <HI>Four</HI> precedent is evidently on purpo&s;e to Introduce, and &s;et at the cleare&s;t, and fulle&s;t Light the la&s;t.</P>
<P>The doubt then is, what <HI>Kingdom</HI> this la&s;t &s;hould be; The Sovereignty of Supreme, and Univer&s;al providence is at all Times alike; The <HI>mo&s;t High</HI> always <HI>Rules, changes Times,</HI> and <HI>Sea&s;ons, Pulls down,</HI> and <HI>Sets up;</HI> It cannot therefore be under|&s;tood of that; For to what Account would &s;o particular and expre&s;s <HI>Iconi&s;m</HI> of that Turn, that is always the &s;ame, and al|ways alike? or why &s;hould that <HI>Kingdom</HI> of the &s;upreme <HI>God|head</HI> admini&s;tred by his <HI>Providence,</HI> that is an <HI>Everla&s;ting King|dom</HI> and <HI>Endureth throughout All Generations,</HI> be thus Po&s;tpon'd to <HI>Four</HI> great <HI>Monarchies,</HI> that exi&s;ted before them; and by, and in which they Them&s;elves always &s;ub&s;i&s;t while they do &s;ub&s;i&s;t? This divine Providential <HI>Kingdom</HI> then it cannot be.</P>
<P>Let it then be &s;uppos'd to be the <HI>Spiritual Evangelick Kingdom</HI> of our <HI>Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> beginning at his Re&s;urrection and <HI>Chri&s;tianizing</HI> &s;o great a part of the then <HI>Known</HI> World, and which by degrees brought <HI>Nations</HI> and <HI>Princes</HI> into Subjection to it, not onely <HI>Spiritual,</HI> but al&s;o <HI>Politick, Civil</HI> and <HI>Monarchic,</HI> from the Time of <HI>Con&s;tantine.</HI></P>
<P>And that it was not the <HI>Spiritual</HI> and <HI>Evangelical Kingdom</HI> of <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> I will conte&s;t onely on this <HI>Topick;</HI> When an <HI>Image</HI> is made up of <HI>Four Monarchies,</HI> Sen&s;ible, Vi&s;ible, and that did all their work in &s;uch a Sen&s;ible, Vi&s;ible manner; It is again&s;t tho&s;e curious Laws of <HI>Iconi&s;m,</HI> in which the <HI>Holy Spirit</HI> is as Exqui&s;ite, as in the very order of the <HI>Creation,</HI> or in the Fabrick of Mans Body, to &s;ubjoyn a Spiritual <HI>Stone</HI> and <HI>Mountain,</HI> that &s;hould as a <HI>Stone</HI> &s;mite the <HI>Image,</HI> and <HI>Break</HI> it in <HI>Pieces,</HI> and then it &s;elf became a great <HI>Mountain filling the Earth,</HI> and all this one|ly in an <HI>Evangelical Spiritual</HI> &s;en&s;e, and then Ri&s;e up into a perfect <HI>Spirituality</HI> or <HI>Heavenline&s;s,</HI> and therein continue <HI>for Ever.</HI>
<PB N="9" REF="13"> This I a&s;&s;ert, (and leave the a&s;&s;ertion to every judicious Con|&s;iderer,) to be &s;o unlike the admirable <HI>Emblematizings,</HI> or Re|pre&s;entations of the <HI>Divine Spirit,</HI> as to be by no means endured.</P>
<P>For the <HI>Stone</HI> and the <HI>Mountain</HI> thus under&s;tood, take up no Room, nor give any more Re&s;i&s;tance, or <HI>Anti-typy</HI> to the four <HI>Monarchies</HI> before, then the <HI>Hoa&s;ts</HI> of <HI>Immaterial</HI> Beings do to <HI>Bo|dies,</HI> how innumerable &s;oever; or then the <HI>Omnipre&s;ence</HI> of <HI>Im|men&s;ity</HI> does to the motion of <HI>material Beings</HI> throughout the whole Sphere of worldly &s;pace; or the Notions of Vertue and Ju&s;tice make re&s;i&s;tance after the manner of Armies to the In|&s;ults of bodily Pui&s;&s;ance: and therefore though the Kingdom of Chri&s;t had great Effects upon the World in that very &s;piri|ritual Sen&s;e, and by way of Con&s;equence, upon bodily Acti|on; yet the <HI>Imagery</HI> of it were as improperly joyn'd with the <HI>Imagery</HI> of the <HI>Monarchies,</HI> as the laying Spirits in Colours would be, when the Action of Body and Matter is intended to be re|pre&s;ented fir&s;t; and then that Body and Matter forc'd out of its place by other however purer Matter, that &s;hould fill its Room and Space: for &s;o it is here, the <HI>Stone,</HI> though <HI>Cut out of the Mountain without Hands,</HI> becomes a <HI>Mountain filling the Earth,</HI> and the Saints of the <HI>mo&s;t High</HI> take the <HI>Dominion</HI> under the <HI>whole Heaven,</HI> which Expre&s;&s;ions plainly &s;hew, the State of the&s;e <HI>Monarchies</HI> is not taken away, and &s;upplyed by a State above <HI>All Heavens,</HI> but by a State as well under the <HI>Heaven,</HI> and upon the <HI>Earth,</HI> as on high; &s;o that the taking away all Earthly State, and a Heavenly State &s;ucceeding it, cannot be the meaning of this <HI>Vi&s;ion;</HI> nor a &s;piritual State before that, can be the meaning; for the highe&s;t <HI>&s;piritual</HI> State that hath been yet in the World. <HI>viz.</HI> the <HI>Mini&s;tery of Chri&s;t,</HI> and <HI>his Apo|&s;tles</HI> gave no di&s;turbance to the <HI>Monarchies</HI> of the <HI>World,</HI> no<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter"> made any remove of them.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="5" UNIT="Argum."> The <HI>Heavenly</HI> State of <HI>Chri&s;ts Kingdom,</HI> or in the pure and perfect <HI>Eternity</HI> being foreprized by tho&s;e Expre&s;&s;i|ons forenam'd, from being the meaning, and importance of this <HI>Vi&s;ion,</HI> we may further argue, that neither the <HI>Spiritual</HI> State of <HI>Chri&s;ts Kingdom</HI> at his <HI>Re&s;urrection,</HI> nor that Spiritual State prevailing upon the multitude of Chri&s;tians, fir&s;t by Conver|&s;ion, and then upon Temporal <HI>Princes,</HI> as <HI>Con&s;tantine,</HI> and Princes, &s;ince the Empire becoming <HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> under Him, can be the purport of this <HI>Vi&s;ion.</HI></P>
<PB N="10" REF="14">
<P> For though the <HI>Kingdom</HI> of Chri&s;t did grow great in its Spi|rituality and Divine Truth, in the <HI>Mini&s;try, Death,</HI> and <HI>Re|&s;urrection</HI> of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t; And though the World was in very Great, and wonderful manner converted to Chri|&s;tianity after it, and though the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t</HI> did become vi&s;ibly and &s;en&s;ibly Great under <HI>Con&s;tantine,</HI> and did <HI>break in pieces the whole material,</HI> and &s;ecular frame of the <HI>Heathen Ro|man Monarchy,</HI> and might &s;eem hereupon to become a <HI>Moun|tain filling the whole Earth;</HI> and indeed great notice is taken of it in the <HI>Revelation,</HI> as if <HI>the Kingdom of our God</HI> had been <HI>come, Revel.</HI> 12. Yet by comparing two things; one in this <HI>Prophecy,</HI> the other in the <HI>Apocalyps,</HI> we &s;hall be plainly convinc'd, that neither the <HI>Spiritual Kingdom,</HI> nor his <HI>Kingdom</HI> &s;uppo&s;ed in the <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire</HI> can be this <HI>Stone, Mountain,</HI> nor <HI>Kingdom,</HI> and certain Knowledge not only of <HI>Hi&s;tory,</HI> but of the general State of the World will make it good.</P>
<P N="1">1. That the Kingdom <HI>God &s;ets up</HI> &s;hall not be <HI>left</HI> to other <HI>People,</HI> that is, It &s;hall not be as the other <HI>Kingdoms,</HI> bequeath'd, left by Will, or as we &s;peak <HI>demi&s;ed</HI> to other <HI>People;</HI> not with|out the Death, that is, the Ruine of the Te&s;tator, as to his <HI>Dominion,</HI> however his <HI>Life might be prolonged.</HI> This is ordain'd by him, who&s;e <HI>Dominion</HI> is to all <HI>Generations.</HI> Thus the <HI>Babylonian</HI> demis'd to the <HI>Per&s;ian,</HI> the <HI>Per&s;ian</HI> to the <HI>Graecian,</HI> the <HI>Graecian</HI> to the <HI>Roman,</HI> the <HI>Roman</HI> &s;hall be forced to &s;urren|der to the <HI>People of the mo&s;t High;</HI> But they &s;hall never pa&s;s away their <HI>Dominion,</HI> over whom the Lord Je&s;us is Prince to any <HI>diver&s;e People,</HI> as the Inheritor of their Power.</P>
<P>But now let the <HI>Kingdom</HI> be under&s;tood of the Spiritual <HI>Kingdom</HI> of Chri&s;t, or of the <HI>Empire</HI> as <HI>Chri&s;tian,</HI> becoming the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t,</HI> and this Character will fit neither; for the <HI>Spirituality</HI> of Chri&s;ts Kingdom was thus far <HI>left</HI> to <HI>other People,</HI> that the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> after the <HI>Re&s;urrection</HI> of Chri&s;t, &s;ays, <HI>That day &s;hall not come,</HI> except there come an <HI>Apo&s;ta&s;ie Fir&s;t,</HI> a defection<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter"> <HI>The&s;. c.</HI> 2.</NOTE> from the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t,</HI> and the <HI>Man of Sin,</HI> who is a Prince mo&s;t oppo&s;ite to Chri&s;t, be <HI>Revealed;</HI> accordingly it is &s;aid, <HI>The Spirit &s;peaketh expre&s;ly, &s;ome, viz.</HI> a Generation of men &s;hall <HI>depart</HI> from the <HI>Faith, &amp;c.</HI> How then can &s;o much as the <HI>Spiri|tual</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 4. 1.</NOTE> <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t</HI> be &s;aid to <HI>&s;tand for ever and ever:</HI> And then for the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t</HI> being &s;uppo&s;ed to become Great by <HI>Con&s;tantine,</HI> and other <HI>Chri&s;tian Princes</HI> &s;ince Him, It cannot be made good, for be&s;ides the Inrodes, the <HI>Barbarous</HI> Nations
<PB N="11" REF="14"> made on the <HI>Empire,</HI> and the <HI>Kingdom of the Bea&s;t</HI> Ri&s;ing &s;o &s;oon, as the &s;ame <HI>Hour,</HI> the <HI>Empire</HI> fell; Be&s;ides all this, the <HI>Mahometan Impo&s;ture</HI> and <HI>P&s;eudo-Religion</HI> aro&s;e again&s;t the &s;piri|tual part of <HI>Chri&s;ts Kingdom;</HI> and its <HI>Tyranny</HI> again&s;t the appear|rance of the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t,</HI> that &s;hould <HI>fill the Earth.</HI> How then did the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t</HI> in this Sen&s;e <HI>break in pieces</HI> all other <HI>Kingdoms,</HI> and <HI>con&s;ume</HI> them, that It might it &s;elf <HI>fill the Earth?</HI> Or how was the <HI>Kingdom under the whole Heaven given to the Saints of the mo&s;t High?</HI> Or how was his <HI>Kingdom</HI> &s;uch an <HI>Everla&s;ting Kingdom?</HI> But when ever Chri&s;t takes the Kingdom, It mu&s;t be thus univer&s;al in its &s;pread, and Everla&s;ting in its Duration.</P>
<P>From whence I conclude neither the <HI>Spiritual Evangelical Kingdom,</HI> begun at the <HI>Re&s;urrection of Chri&s;t,</HI> nor the <HI>Chri&s;tian Imperial Kingdom</HI> at <HI>Con&s;tantine</HI> is the <HI>Kingdom</HI> here foretold; but one yet to come, and though the <HI>Spiritual Kingdom</HI> then begun never indeed can be totally <HI>de&s;troyed,</HI> nor &s;o much as the <HI>Impe|rialne&s;s</HI> of the <HI>Name of Chri&s;t</HI> declared in <HI>Con&s;tantine</HI> &s;hall ever be depo&s;ed; yet the <HI>Con&s;umption</HI> of all other <HI>Dominions,</HI> and the Greatne&s;s of the <HI>Kingdom</HI> under the <HI>whole Heaven</HI> cannot &s;o much, as be pretended to be Fulfilled, while <HI>Popery,</HI> and <HI>Ma|hometani&s;m</HI> have &s;uch a Name in the World; nor can the <HI>Pro|phe&s;ie</HI> po&s;&s;ibly allow any Abridgment of what was once obtain|ed by this <HI>Kingdom,</HI> which yet hath certainly fallen out to <HI>Chri&s;tianity</HI> in both the <HI>Spiritual</HI> and <HI>Imperial Kingdom</HI> of Chri&s;t; from whence it is certain, It is not the <HI>Kingdom</HI> here <HI>prophe&s;ied,</HI> that hath yet been.</P>
<P>Nor, to &s;peak Impartially, can It be under&s;tood by either of the&s;e <HI>Prophe&s;ies,</HI> that there &s;hould be any vi&s;ible Regiment at lea&s;t in the then known parts of the World, but what &s;hall be <HI>given to the Saints of the mo&s;t High,</HI> when That <HI>Kingdom</HI> &s;hall appear, for All &s;hall be taken from tho&s;e of the <HI>four &s;ucce&s;&s;ive Monarchies,</HI> that had it before, or what ever was enjoyed by any of them within any of tho&s;e Territories; &s;eeing of Them particularly It is <HI>prophe&s;ied</HI> that their <HI>Dominion</HI> &s;hall be <HI>taken away,</HI> and given to the <HI>Saints of the mo&s;t High,</HI> and then are added more large, and comprehen&s;ive Words, taking in the whole World.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="6" UNIT="Argum."> If the very Frame of the <HI>Vi&s;ion</HI> be &s;uch, as is mo&s;t proper for the giving &s;uch a <HI>Calendar</HI> until that <HI>Great Kingdom of Chri&s;t,</HI> then we have Rea&s;on to look upon it as &s;uch a <HI>Calendar.</HI></P>
<PB N="12" REF="15">
<P> Let us then con&s;ider in the <HI>Image</HI> the&s;e &s;everal Things;</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. The whole <HI>Image</HI> made up of all its Parts.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. The Di&s;tribution of the Parts, as the &s;everal Re&s;idencies of the <HI>Monarchies.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>3. The <HI>Monarchicne&s;s</HI> it &s;elf.</ITEM>
<ITEM>4. The <HI>Monarchicne&s;s</HI> fir&s;t United in its Re&s;idency to &s;uch and &s;uch Parts, and then its remove to other Parts.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<P>Now in every one of the&s;e Particulars by the Wi&s;dom of the <HI>Divine Spirit</HI> &s;ome a&s;&s;urance of Time in general is Given, as It runs to the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t;</HI> but mo&s;t particularly, the <HI>Calendar</HI> is fix'd in the Duration of the <HI>Monarchic Re&s;idence</HI> in each part; then in the Remove of the <HI>Monarchicne&s;s</HI> from one part to another; as &s;hall be &s;een by this following Reflection on each.</P>
<P>The whole <HI>Image</HI> is made up of <HI>Four Monarchies,</HI> which in Allu&s;ion to the Humane Body, make the upper and lower parts of &s;uch a Body; the higher Parts the Precedent, and fir&s;t Ages of Time, at and after the <HI>Vi&s;ion</HI> given; and &s;o furthe&s;t from the <HI>End,</HI> or <HI>Kingdom</HI> of <HI>Chri&s;t;</HI> the lower parts the af|ter Ages nearer, and nearer to the <HI>End,</HI> or <HI>Kingdom</HI> of <HI>Chri&s;t.</HI> The whole <HI>Image</HI> therefore hath a fitne&s;s to de&s;cribe Time by its Higher, and Lower parts; and further, It &s;elf &s;tanding, and having its &s;everal parts &s;ub&s;i&s;tent or in Being, is thus far a <HI>Calendar,</HI> that we know thereby; The Time of the <HI>Image</HI> is yet, and that therefore the <HI>Kingdom</HI> of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> is not yet <HI>Come,</HI> even as we know by the <HI>Kingdom</HI> of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> not yet <HI>Appearing;</HI> The <HI>Image</HI> is yet &s;tanding.</P>
<P>Thus we &s;ee, the whole <HI>Image,</HI> and the di&s;tribution of its Parts is prepared, as the Dial-plate of a Clock, or Watch; or as the Months in the year, giving together the Circle of the Suns motion.</P>
<P>But then the <HI>Monarchicne&s;s</HI> is as the Sun moving from Sign to Sign, or from Month to Month, or as the Hand on the Dial-plate from Hour to Hour; &s;o moves that <HI>Monarchicne&s;s</HI> from the higher to the lower parts, and thereby defines Time; For the Higher the parts in which the <HI>Monarchy</HI> re&s;ides, the further off from the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t;</HI> the lower it &s;ub&s;ides, the nearer to the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t;</HI> If then we can find the <HI>Monarchicne&s;s</HI> in any parts of this <HI>Image</HI> yet Re&s;iant or Re&s;ting, we know in general the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t</HI> hath not yet appear|ed; but if we find it in not only the <HI>Legs,</HI> but in the <HI>Feet</HI> and <HI>Toes,</HI> we know, as the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> &s;ays, It is the <HI>la&s;t Hour,</HI> but it is not
<PB N="13" REF="15"> yet out. Let us then con&s;ider the&s;e <HI>Four Kingdomes,</HI> or <HI>Monarchies,</HI> as clo&s;ely united, as they make this <HI>Calendar of Time,</HI> as the Hu|mane Body is; however the parts, as &s;everal <HI>Kingdomes</HI> con|te&s;t one with another, where the <HI>Monarchicne&s;s</HI> &s;hall Re&s;ide; while then the <HI>Feet</HI> &s;upport the whole, the whole &s;tands; and as the <HI>Head</HI> of <HI>Gold,</HI> the <HI>Arms</HI> and <HI>Brea&s;t</HI> of <HI>Silver,</HI> and <HI>Thighs</HI> of <HI>Bra&s;s,</HI> give Lu&s;tre to the <HI>Iron Legs,</HI> and <HI>Feet part of Iron,</HI> and <HI>part of Clay;</HI> So the <HI>Feet of part Iron, part Clay,</HI> at the &s;ame Time &s;upport the more excellent <HI>Mettals,</HI> and &s;how their danger of being Beaten together, when ever tho&s;e partly <HI>Brittle Feet</HI> fail, and the <HI>Image</HI> falls thereupon; Till then they Remain, as in the <HI>Type</HI> united, as Bodily parts, however the <HI>Monarchicne&s;s,</HI> as a <HI>Spirit</HI> Flitts and &s;hifts in its efficacy of Power, and Action from one to another; <HI>viz.</HI> from the Higher to Lower, on which ac|count in the following <HI>Vi&s;ion,</HI> it is &s;aid, the la&s;t or fourth <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> in the <HI>Little Horn,</HI> and his <HI>Body</HI> is <HI>given to the devouring Flames;</HI> But the <HI>other Bea&s;ts</HI> had onely their <HI>Dominion taken from them,</HI> but their <HI>Lives</HI> were <HI>Prolonged;</HI> That then, which principal|ly gives us the Time of the <HI>Calendar</HI> is the Motion of the <HI>Mo|narchic Spirit</HI> from part to part.</P>
<P>Now that <HI>Monarchic Spirit,</HI> which is &s;pecific to all the&s;e <HI>Mo|narchies</HI> is <HI>Idolatrous,</HI> Salvage, Cruel, oppos'd to the <HI>Kingdom of God,</HI> and of <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t;</HI> So long then as &s;uch a <HI>Spirit</HI> Ani|mates, and Informs any part of this <HI>Image,</HI> &s;o long the <HI>Calendar</HI> is in date. And if we can find where this <HI>Spirit</HI> is now in its <HI>Monarchic,</HI> Energetic force, we may know whereabout, we are in this <HI>Calendar;</HI> For &s;eeing it is mo&s;t undeniable, the <HI>Head of Gold</HI> was the <HI>Fir&s;t Kingdom,</HI> and the <HI>Kingdom</HI> ari&s;ing after, and <HI>Inferior</HI> in Time was the Second <HI>Kingdom,</HI> That which next followed after was a <HI>Third Kingdom,</HI> that was of <HI>Bra&s;s,</HI> and then a <HI>Fourth</HI> of <HI>Iron,</HI> fir&s;t as in the <HI>Legs,</HI> and then <HI>part of Iron, part of Clay,</HI> as in the <HI>Feet</HI> and <HI>Toes</HI> of the la&s;t &s;tate; and that each of the&s;e are called <HI>Kingdomes</HI> and not &s;ingle Kings, and one after another, and that <HI>God</HI> hereby <HI>made known</HI> to <HI>Nebuchadnezzar,</HI> what <HI>&s;hould be hereafter;</HI> Seeing All the&s;e things are undeniably thus; It is al&s;o undeniable, the&s;e <HI>Mo|narchies</HI> are a <HI>Calendar of Time:</HI> And la&s;tly, &s;eeing the <HI>Kingdom</HI> that <HI>&s;tands for Ever, and Ever,</HI> &s;o particularly <HI>&s;mites the Image</HI> in the <HI>Feet,</HI> and <HI>Toes of Iron,</HI> and <HI>Clay,</HI> and that the <HI>Iron,</HI> and the <HI>Clay</HI> and the <HI>Bra&s;s</HI> and the <HI>Silver,</HI> and the <HI>Gold</HI> were <HI>Bro|ken in pieces together;</HI> and that in the <HI>days of the Kings, Symboll'd</HI>
<PB N="14" REF="16"> by the <HI>Toes,</HI> the God of Heaven would <HI>Set up a Kingdom,</HI> and la&s;tly, that the <HI>Stone cut out of the Mountain without Hands,</HI> &s;hall <HI>Break</HI> in <HI>Pieces</HI> the <HI>Iron,</HI> the <HI>Bra&s;s,</HI> and the <HI>Clay,</HI> (which is &s;et in the middle, as in the point where all were Broken) and the <HI>Silver,</HI> and the <HI>Gold;</HI> It is mo&s;t evident, This <HI>Image</HI> of <HI>Gold, Silver, Bra&s;s, Iron,</HI> and <HI>Clay,</HI> is a <HI>Calendar</HI> of Time till the <HI>Ever|la&s;ting Throne,</HI> which mu&s;t be the &s;ame with the <HI>Throne</HI> in <HI>Ezekiel,</HI> and that the <HI>Toes</HI> particularly, as of <HI>Clay</HI> are the very La&s;t part or End of the <HI>Calendar</HI> before that <HI>Throne,</HI> or <HI>Kingdom.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE N="7" UNIT="Argum."> The Con&s;ideration of the following <HI>Vi&s;ion</HI> of<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ch<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">p.</HI> 7.</NOTE> the <HI>Four Bea&s;ts</HI> given by God to <HI>Daniel,</HI> is a further A&s;&s;urance of the <HI>Calendar</HI> to the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t,</HI> drawn in the&s;e two <HI>Vi&s;ions:</HI> For therein God hath <HI>doubled</HI> the <HI>thing</HI> for the <HI>certain|ty</HI> of it; as in <HI>Pharohs Dream</HI> of old, Interpreted by <HI>Jo&s;eph,</HI> and there is no Rea&s;on to doubt, both <HI>Vi&s;ions</HI> Center in the &s;ame de&s;ign to lead by the &s;ame <HI>Four Kingdomes</HI> to the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t,</HI> and at the &s;ame Time, <HI>viz.</HI> at the End of the <HI>Four Monarchies:</HI> There is no Rea&s;on, I &s;ay, to doubt, although the Materials, or Symbols of the <HI>Vi&s;ions</HI> differ &s;o much, as one to be taken from the &s;everal parts of the <HI>Body of a Man,</HI> the other from <HI>Salvage Bea&s;ts.</HI> For &s;o the &s;imilitudes in <HI>Pharohs dream</HI> much differ'd; one taken from <HI>&s;eaven Ears of Corn,</HI> the other from <HI>&s;eaven Kine.</HI> But as then, &s;o now, The great Inten|tion was to A&s;certain the Event by Ingemination, For the <HI>Four Kingdomes</HI> in both <HI>Vi&s;ions</HI> &s;o evidently plain, and the <HI>Ever|la&s;ting Kingdom</HI> at the <HI>End,</HI> are unque&s;tionable A&s;&s;urances, that both Intend the &s;ame thing, <HI>viz.</HI> a Sub&s;tantial <HI>Calendar</HI> of <HI>Four Monarchies</HI> to the <HI>Kingdom of Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>But yet this latter <HI>Vi&s;ion</HI> differs from the Former in Two regards.</P>
<P N="1">1. The former was originally given to <HI>Nebuchadnezzar,</HI> a Heathen Prince, and Expounded by <HI>Daniel;</HI> This is fir&s;t gi|ven to <HI>Daniel,</HI> and upon after <HI>Vi&s;ional</HI> &s;earch more fully ex|plain'd by God to him; and &s;o there is a more inward di&s;cove|ry of things relating to the <HI>Kingdom</HI> and <HI>Church of God,</HI> then was vouch&s;af'd to an <HI>Alien</HI> to the <HI>Common-Wealth of I&s;rael,</HI> al|though That was admirably Great, and greatly for the Glory of the &s;upreme Being and Governor of the World; and a la&s;ting Monument of it to after Ages, and al&s;o an Illu&s;trious Te&s;timony of the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t,</HI> that &s;hould at the la&s;t break
<PB N="15" REF="16"> in pieces his own and the three &s;ucceding <HI>Monarchies,</HI> which were, as hath been &s;hewn, a Table of Time to that Kingdom, and therewith all other <HI>Monarchies</HI> and <HI>Kingdoms.</HI></P>
<P>But yet this was but in the gro&s;s; To <HI>Daniel</HI> an eminent Mi|ni&s;ter of the <HI>Divine Kingdom,</HI> there is a more explicit <HI>Revelation</HI> of <HI>Antichri&s;t,</HI> the great Enemy, and oppo&s;ite of that <HI>Kingdom,</HI> who was the <HI>Clay</HI> of the <HI>Image,</HI> and in whom the whole &s;hould be <HI>broken;</HI> and this with the incident particulars, of the <HI>Ty|ranny, Antichri&s;t</HI> &s;hould exerci&s;e over the Saints; of the <HI>Son of Man Receiving the Kingdom</HI> from God <HI>&s;itting in Judgment</HI> on <HI>Antichri&s;t;</HI> and then the Saints <HI>po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ing the Kingdom</HI> under Chri&s;t, are great Amplifications of the former <HI>Vi&s;ion,</HI> and more agreeable to <HI>Daniel,</HI> a Dome&s;tick of the <HI>Divine Kingdom,</HI> and &s;o mo&s;t fit to lead to that <HI>Kingdom.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. The former <HI>Vi&s;ion</HI> was in the <HI>&s;econd year of Nebuchadnezzar,</HI> when the <HI>Babylonian Monarchy</HI> had gain'd the a&s;cendent over all the <HI>Kingdoms,</HI> &s;o as to be an <HI>&V;niver&s;al Monarchy.</HI> The lat|ter <HI>Vi&s;ion</HI> was in the We&s;t, and Evening of that <HI>Monarchy, viz.</HI> in the <HI>fir&s;t year of Bel&s;hazzars</HI> &s;hort Reign, who was the la&s;t <HI>Babyloni&s;h Monarch,</HI> and to whom the Scripture records only three years. In the fir&s;t <HI>Vi&s;ion</HI> thereof the <HI>Types</HI> were more condecent to a Prince &s;o aggrandiz'd by God, <HI>viz.</HI> A great <HI>Image</HI> of <HI>excellent Brightne&s;s,</HI> and <HI>terrible Form; a Head of Gold;</HI> but in the latter <HI>Vi&s;ion,</HI> the&s;e four <HI>Monarchies</HI> are repre&s;ented by <HI>Bea&s;ts,</HI> &s;eated in the mid&s;t of Violence, Blood, and Spoil; and chiefly bea&s;tly and bruiti&s;h <HI>Idolatry,</HI> and <HI>Per&s;ecution;</HI> e&s;pecially the fir&s;t and la&s;t of the&s;e <HI>Monarchies</HI> were &s;o. And as to the &s;econd, although the great Services of &s;ome of the <HI>Per&s;ian Princes</HI> to the <HI>Church of God</HI> might &s;eem to have de&s;erved a fairer Character: and &s;o the acknowledgment, the <HI>Great Alex|ander</HI> is reported to have made to the <HI>True God</HI> in the <HI>High Prie&s;t;</HI> yet in regard of the <HI>Idolatry,</HI> and Ravage upon the World, and as making up one <HI>Image</HI> of Univer&s;al <HI>Monarchy</HI> oppos'd to the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t,</HI> and la&s;tly in regard of the Per&s;ecution of &s;ome of the Princes of both tho&s;e Monarchies again&s;t the Church of God, of which the <HI>Per&s;an</HI> Princes with|&s;tanding <HI>Chri&s;t, Dan.</HI> 10. 13. <HI>Haman</HI> in <HI>E&s;ther,</HI> and <HI>Antiochus</HI> of the <HI>Graecian Monarchy</HI> &s;o great a <HI>Type</HI> of <HI>Antichri&s;t de&s;olating the Sanctuary,</HI> and <HI>taking away the daily,</HI> are In&s;tances, They are all under the &s;ame Name of Infamy.</P>
<PB N="16" REF="17">
<P> Yet in the Infinite Mercy of God to any degree of Peniten|cy, <HI>Nebuchadnezzar's</HI> acknowledgment of God after his &s;o great Humiliation &s;eems remembred with Honor in that Symbol; After the <HI>plucking of the Wings</HI> on the <HI>Lyons back,</HI> &s;hewing at once both the &s;peed, and the &s;hortne&s;s of the <HI>Babyloni&s;h</HI> fir&s;t <HI>Monarchy;</HI> It was <HI>lifted up from the Earth, and made as a man to &s;tand on its Feet,</HI> and a <HI>mans Heart was given to it:</HI> In all other, The&s;e Monarchies together, as alienated from the Wor&s;hip, and Religion of the <HI>True God,</HI> and as Predece&s;&s;ors of <HI>Anti|chri&s;t</HI> are de&s;cribed from what is wor&s;t; Be&s;tialne&s;s and Fe|rity; and therefore the whole of their <HI>Dominion</HI> to be taken away, and <HI>con&s;um'd</HI> by the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>Now in that this <HI>Vi&s;ion</HI> thus re&s;umes the Time, that was pa&s;t, from the fir&s;t <HI>Vi&s;ion,</HI> It argues, The two <HI>Vi&s;ions</HI> &s;o evidently of the &s;ame Importance, One at the Beginning, the other at the End of the <HI>Babylonian Monarchy</HI> are a &s;ub&s;tantial Calendar of Time, to begin as from the <HI>Vi&s;ion</HI> of <HI>Ezekiel,</HI> and to determine at the <HI>Everla&s;ting Throne</HI> that <HI>Ezekiel</HI> had foretold, as they mo&s;t evidently both do; and &s;o define the Time betwixt that <HI>Vi&s;i|on,</HI> and that <HI>Throne,</HI> which is the point we are in pur&s;uit of.</P>
<P>It is true, when the <HI>Sacred Chronology</HI> comes to a <HI>numeral Line,</HI> or a <HI>Line of Time</HI> by <HI>Number,</HI> the <HI>Babylonian Monarchy</HI> is then left out, as it mu&s;t needs be; becau&s;e el&s;e the <HI>numeral Line</HI> beginning after it could not be exact, and becau&s;e it is &s;o per|fect in the Account of the 2300 <HI>Even. Morn.</HI> that there needed no &s;ervice from the <HI>&s;ub&s;tantial Calendar,</HI> which is thenceforth to be guided by it.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="8" UNIT="Argum."> I come now to the la&s;t and undeniable Argument, that The&s;e <HI>Vi&s;ions</HI> are a <HI>Calendar</HI> of Time to the great <HI>King|dom of Chri&s;t.</HI> And that is, if it can be made out by <HI>Holy Scripture</HI> in Agreement with Univer&s;al <HI>Hi&s;tory;</HI> That from the very Time of the&s;e <HI>Vi&s;ions</HI> given, Things have been in Motion, and are &s;till in the Motion, They &s;hould be, ac|cording to this <HI>Calendar</HI> to the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t;</HI> Then it will be impo&s;&s;ible to deny, that The&s;e <HI>Vi&s;ions</HI> are indeed a <HI>Calendar of Time</HI> to that <HI>Kingdom.</HI> But this is to be made out from <HI>Scripture,</HI> and therefore They mu&s;t be a <HI>Calendar;</HI> For fir&s;t the <HI>Scripture</HI> is expre&s;s, that according to this <HI>Calendar,</HI> the <HI>Babylonian Kingdom</HI> gave way to the <HI>Medes</HI> and <HI>Per&s;ians,</HI> ac|cording to that <HI>Hand-writing,</HI> that &s;o much Terrified <HI>Bel&s;hazzar,</HI> of which <HI>Daniel</HI> was the Interpreter, <HI>Thy Kingdom is divided</HI>
<PB N="17" REF="17"> <HI>and given to the Medes and Per&s;ians; viz.</HI> to the <HI>Brea&s;t</HI> and <HI>Two Arms</HI> of the <HI>Medes,</HI> and <HI>Per&s;ians,</HI> but &s;o that the <HI>Per&s;ian Domi|nion</HI> Ro&s;e above the <HI>Medes;</HI> and that one <HI>Horn</HI> in <HI>Cyrus</HI> &s;tarted up &s;o much higher, than the other, that it had the &s;ole <HI>Domi|nion.</HI> So that though <HI>Darius the Mede,</HI> took the <HI>Kingdom</HI> or the <HI>&V;niver&s;al</HI> Monarchy from <HI>Babylon</HI> fir&s;t; Yet we read of <HI>Cyrus</HI> King of <HI>Per&s;ia</HI> his fir&s;t year Following immediately; For in an&s;wer to <HI>Daniel</HI>'s prayer at the very End of the Se|venty years, the Commandment immediately came forth, which was by <HI>Cyrus,</HI> making in his fir&s;t year a decree for the Relea&s;e of the <HI>Captivity,</HI> and therefore his <HI>Fir&s;t year</HI> mu&s;t be at the End of <HI>Darius</HI> his <HI>fir&s;t year;</HI> So we read of his <HI>Third year,</HI> and of the years of the following Kings of <HI>Per&s;ia,</HI> by which we know the <HI>Per&s;ian Kingdom</HI> was the <HI>Second Kingdom.</HI></P>
<P>The pa&s;&s;ing off of the <HI>Per&s;ian Monarchs</HI> is no le&s;s expre&s;s; For the <HI>Grecian He Goat Brake</HI> the <HI>Two horns</HI> of the <HI>Per&s;ian Ram,</HI> who <HI>Took the Kingdom</HI> from <HI>Babylon,</HI> and <HI>Stamped</HI> upon<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Dan.</HI> 8. 7.</NOTE> Him; And to &s;hew the <HI>&V;niver&s;al Monarchy</HI> then pa&s;s'd, the <HI>King of Grecia</HI> is &s;aid to <HI>do according to his Will,</HI> an expre&s;&s;ion of the<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>c.</HI> 11. 3.</NOTE> <HI>&V;niver&s;al Monarchy</HI> in this <HI>Prophecy.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Alexander</HI> the <HI>Great</HI> is by all allowed to be that <HI>Grecian King,</HI> figur'd by the <HI>Leopard,</HI> and <HI>He Goat,</HI> and is expre&s;ly nam'd <HI>King of Grecia.</HI></P>
<P>After <HI>Alexander,</HI> There was a continual mutation, and change of that <HI>Monarchy</HI> out of one Hand into another; that it was as into the <HI>four Winds</HI> in regard of the motion, and Variation, till it after &s;ettled in the <HI>four Kingdoms,</HI> and Con&s;picuou&s;ly in Two; the <HI>Lagidae of Egypt,</HI> and the <HI>Seleucidae of Greco-Syria,</HI> as in the Two <HI>Thighs</HI> of the <HI>Image,</HI> &s;o Remarkable a Character of Time as to be known by the <HI>Dhil-Karnain</HI> or <HI>Two Hornes,</HI> as it were from this <HI>Prophecy of Daniel,</HI> and the&s;e, <HI>Prophecy</HI> e&s;pecially in&s;i&s;ts upon in the <HI>Eleaventh Chapter,</HI> as the <HI>King of the South,</HI> and of the <HI>North,</HI> as &s;hall be after explain'd.</P>
<P>And in this &s;ucce&s;&s;ion, the <HI>Calendar</HI> is very clear, and not to be doubted, as hath been already, and &s;hall be further made good in the&s;e Three great Po&s;itions, wherein the further pro|gre&s;s of the <HI>Calendar</HI> down to our very Time, &s;hall be even de|mon&s;trated.</P>
<P><HI>Po&s;it.</HI> 1. That the Time delineated by this <HI>Calendar</HI> cannot be expir'd.</P>
<PB N="18" REF="18">
<P> <HI>Po&s;it.</HI> 2. That the <HI>Calendar,</HI> and its Time being not expir'd, it can be continued onely in the <HI>Roman Monarchy.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Po&s;it.</HI> 3. That the <HI>Calendar</HI> having its &s;ub&s;i&s;tence in the <HI>Ro|man Monarchy,</HI> there is, as may ju&s;tly be expected, &s;uch an <HI>Idea</HI> of it, partly <HI>Hi&s;torical</HI> but e&s;pecially <HI>Prophetical</HI> in the <HI>New Te&s;tament,</HI> agreeing with undoubted <HI>Hi&s;tory,</HI> as &s;hall exactly corre&s;pond this <HI>Prophecy</HI> of <HI>Daniel,</HI> whereby we may know whereabouts we are in this <HI>Calendar,</HI> with an an&s;wer to Objections.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<P><MILESTONE N="1" UNIT="Po&s;it."> This <HI>Calendar</HI> is to expire in the <HI>Stone</HI> cut out of the <HI>Mountains without Hands,</HI> that is, by a High, divine, &s;uperna|tural power; &s;miting the <HI>Image,</HI> and <HI>Becomming a Mountain,</HI> that &s;hall <HI>Fill the whole Earth.</HI> And in the <HI>days</HI> or <HI>Their dayes</HI> of <HI>tho&s;e Kings</HI> (to make the date mo&s;t exact) <HI>viz.</HI> of the <HI>Feet,</HI> and <HI>Toes, part of Iron,</HI> and <HI>part of Clay; The God of Heaven</HI> &s;hall <HI>&s;et up a Kingdom,</HI> that <HI>&s;hall not End,</HI> not be <HI>left to other people,</HI> but it &s;hall <HI>Break</HI> in <HI>pieces,</HI> and <HI>Con&s;ume all the&s;e Kingdoms,</HI> and They &s;hall be <HI>Broken in pieces</HI> and become, as the <HI>chaff in the Summer Thre&s;hing Floors,</HI> and the <HI>Wind &s;hall carry them away, &s;o that their places &s;hall be no more found.</HI></P>
<P>And according to the Second <HI>Vi&s;ion,</HI> the <HI>Calendar</HI> mu&s;t expire in the <HI>Giving</HI> the <HI>Body</HI> of the <HI>Little Horn (Broken</HI> in the follow|ing <HI>Vi&s;ion</HI> without <HI>Hand</HI> that is, by an immediate divine pow|er, to the <HI>con&s;uming Flame)</HI> and giving a <HI>Dominion, Glory,</HI> and <HI>Kingdom to the Son of Man,</HI> that <HI>All People, Nations,</HI> and <HI>Langua|ges, &s;hould &s;erve Him;</HI> The <HI>Kingdom,</HI> and <HI>Dominion,</HI> and <HI>Great|ne&s;s of the Kingdom, viz.</HI> particularly of that <HI>&V;niver&s;al Monarchy,</HI> that had been according to the <HI>Image</HI> &s;hifted from part to part; and more then that, the whole <HI>Dominion</HI> or the <HI>Dominion under the whole Heaven</HI> &s;hall be given to the <HI>People of the Saints of the mo&s;t High.</HI></P>
<P>Now I would appeal to all thinking, and con&s;idering Men, who do not Implicitly yield up their faith to the Stream of Interpreters, whether The&s;e things have yet been plainly, vi&s;ibly, and notoriou&s;ly Fulfill'd; as is ju&s;tly to be expected in <HI>Prophecies</HI> already Incarnate, and compleated in their Events; And e&s;pecially in an Event &s;o great above all other Events; or whether it can be &s;uppos'd; &s;uch Firm, Solid, natural Ex|pre&s;&s;ions of a <HI>Kingdom</HI> can be Attennuated, and Evaporated in|to <HI>Metaphor,</HI> and <HI>Similitude;</HI> Seeing it is much to be believ'd, that therefore <HI>Metaphor</HI> and <HI>Similitude</HI> is &s;o often us'd; becau&s;e
<PB N="19" REF="18"> <HI>All Things</HI> that are <HI>written,</HI> &s;hall be at la&s;t <HI>Fulfill'd</HI> in &s;o High, Perfect, Sub&s;tantial, ma&s;&s;y Event, and uncontradictable Rea|lity.</P>
<P>If then the&s;e Things are in this manner to come to pa&s;s, and are not yet come to pa&s;s; we know, this <HI>Calendar</HI> cannot be as yet expir'd, or out dated.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="2" UNIT="Po&s;it."> If the <HI>Calendar</HI> then be not expir'd, it can be conti|nued onely in the <HI>Roman Monarchy;</HI> For there is nothing more evident, then that it mu&s;t be continued in one of tho&s;e <HI>Four Monarchies,</HI> that are given in the <HI>Image,</HI> and in the <HI>Vi&s;ion</HI> of the <HI>Bea&s;ts;</HI> and &s;eeing the <HI>Babylonian,</HI> the <HI>Per&s;ian</HI> and <HI>Grecian,</HI> whether in <HI>Alexander,</HI> or in the <HI>Divi&s;ions,</HI> into which his <HI>King|dom Fell,</HI> have had their &s;ucce&s;&s;ion, one after another, and that none of them continue at this day in &s;uch a &s;ucce&s;&s;ion, The <HI>Calendar</HI> mu&s;t &s;ub&s;i&s;t in a <HI>Monarchy</HI> of &s;uch a <HI>Succe&s;&s;ion,</HI> as is given in tho&s;e <HI>Vi&s;ions,</HI> and a <HI>Monarchy</HI> that &s;urvives in that Succe&s;&s;ion at this very day.</P>
<P>It mu&s;t be a <HI>Monarchy</HI> of &s;uch a Succe&s;&s;ion, becau&s;e the Two <HI>Vi&s;ions</HI> do plainly import, and declare &s;uch a Succe&s;&s;ion, as clo&s;ely connected, and conjoyn'd, as the members of a Hu|mane Body from Head to Foot, and as the parts of Time from part to part are conveyed in each Month and Year; As therefore the member of any other Body, the Legs, or Foot of a Foreign Body, cannot &s;upply the place of &s;uch a member in this, or that Body that it is not of, no more can any other <HI>Monarchy</HI> or <HI>Kingdom</HI> &s;upply the place of any of the&s;e <HI>Monar|chies,</HI> that are not Joyn'd in the ju&s;t order, and &s;cituation of each <HI>Monarchy,</HI> with re&s;pect one to another in this <HI>Image;</HI> or any more, then a Month, or a day taken from another Year, or Month, can &s;upport the Cour&s;e of this Year, or Month.</P>
<P>And it mu&s;t be a <HI>Monarchy,</HI> that &s;urvives at this day, or el&s;e it cannot be a <HI>Monarchy</HI> of the <HI>Image;</HI> For &s;uch a <HI>Monarchy</HI> mu&s;t whatever it be, &s;u&s;tain the Cour&s;e of Time to the <HI>King|dom of Chri&s;t</HI> as before de&s;cribed; which no <HI>Monarchy</HI> can do, that is not even now extant, becau&s;e the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t</HI> hath not yet appeared.</P>
<P>Now no <HI>Monarchy</HI> can an&s;wer <HI>Prophecy</HI> in the&s;e Two points, but onely the <HI>Roman Monarchy;</HI> For all <HI>Hi&s;tory</HI> agrees, no <HI>Mo|narchy</HI> or <HI>Kingdom</HI> &s;ucceeded <HI>Alexanders</HI> proper and per&s;onal <HI>Kingdom</HI> de&s;crib'd in this <HI>Prophecy,</HI> but the <HI>Grecian divi&s;ion</HI> of that his <HI>Kingdom,</HI> which be&s;ides it was <HI>Grecian</HI> &s;till, and there|fore
<PB N="20" REF="19"> cannot be &s;aid to &s;ucceed the <HI>Grecian Monarchy;</HI> be&s;ides this, Is does not remain in that &s;ucce&s;&s;ion at this day, that it ought to do, to &s;upport the Cour&s;e of Time as given in this <HI>Prophecy;</HI> That <HI>Grecian divi&s;ion</HI> therefore mu&s;t be reputed one <HI>Third Mo|narchy</HI> with <HI>Alexanders,</HI> All <HI>Grecian,</HI> though of another Model from <HI>Alexanders;</HI> Yet &s;uch as <HI>Prophecy</HI> gave it, as of one in <HI>Alexander,</HI> and as divided into <HI>Four</HI> after Him, and then more Remarkably into <HI>Two;</HI> If that be &s;o, then no other <HI>Monarchy,</HI> but what &s;ucceeded that <HI>Grecian Monarchy</HI> as &s;o divided, e&s;peci|ally into the <HI>King</HI> of the <HI>North,</HI> call'd the <HI>Greco Syrian,</HI> or <HI>Seleu|cidean,</HI> and the <HI>King of the South,</HI> the <HI>Egyptian,</HI> or <HI>Lagidean Kingdom,</HI> can be the <HI>Monarchy</HI> we de&s;ign; Becau&s;e, as hath been &s;aid, it mu&s;t be in immediate &s;ucce&s;&s;ion to the Foregoing <HI>Monarchies;</HI> &s;o that any &s;uppo&s;able <HI>Grecian Monarchy,</HI> or <HI>King|dom</HI> under the <HI>Turk</HI> at this day, that hath come in, out of the orderly cour&s;e of <HI>Succe&s;&s;ion,</HI> and not of &s;uch a <HI>Figure,</HI> as this <HI>Prophecy</HI> hath given it, can be the <HI>Monarchy,</HI> we are in pur&s;uit of, although &s;uch <HI>Monarchy</HI> may continue, till the <HI>Kingdom</HI> of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> &s;hall &s;ucceed.</P>
<P>But now how exactly does the <HI>Roman Monarchy</HI> An&s;wet in the point of Succe&s;&s;ion; For fir&s;t, the very <HI>Prophecy</HI> of <HI>Daniel</HI> tells us, that the <HI>Kingdom of Alexander</HI> &s;hould be <HI>divided</HI> to the <HI>four Winds,</HI> and then that it <HI>&s;hould be pull'd up for others, be&s;ides Tho&s;e;</HI> It was <HI>divided</HI> for the <HI>Four,</HI> and yet remain'd the &s;ame;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Dan.</HI> 8. 8. <HI>Dan.</HI> 11. 4.</NOTE> But it was to be <HI>pull&punc;d</HI> up for <HI>others,</HI> &s;o as to cea&s;e to be a <HI>Mo|narchy;</HI> Now tho&s;e <HI>others</HI> be&s;ides mu&s;t be they, whoever they were, who <HI>devour'd,</HI> and <HI>&s;tamp'd on the Re&s;idue</HI> with <HI>Legs of Iron,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Dan.</HI> 2. 40.</NOTE> as in the <HI>Image,</HI> with <HI>Feet of Iron</HI> as by the <HI>fourth Bea&s;t,</HI> in the <HI>vi&s;ion</HI> of the <HI>Bea&s;ts,</HI> and they mu&s;t be <HI>Romans.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Dan.</HI> 7. 19.</NOTE></P>
<P>For it is very well known, that the <HI>Grecian Partite Monarchy</HI> came near to the <HI>days of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t in the Fle&s;h,</HI> and yet not &s;o near, as to make any fair Interpretation of &s;o much, as the <HI>God of Heaven</HI> &s;etting up the <HI>Spiritual Kingdom</HI> of <HI>the Go&s;pel</HI> in the <HI>days</HI> of tho&s;e <HI>Kings,</HI> pourtrayed in the <HI>Image,</HI> if that <HI>divided Grecian Kingdom</HI> had been the <HI>Fourth,</HI> and <HI>La&s;t;</HI> and yet again &s;o near, that it is mo&s;t known in all <HI>Hi&s;tory,</HI> that no other <HI>Monarchy</HI> could come between that <HI>Grecian Monarchy,</HI> and the <HI>Birth of Chri&s;t,</HI> but the <HI>Roman Monarchy</HI> onely, &s;o that if the <HI>Kingdom</HI> of the <HI>Stone</HI> out of the <HI>Mountain,</HI> had been onely a <HI>Spi|ritual Kingdom;</HI> Yet &s;till the <HI>Roman Monarchy</HI> mu&s;t be the <HI>fourth.</HI> This &s;eems order'd as on purpo&s;e to divert Interpreters from
<PB N="21" REF="19"> the <HI>divided Grecian Kingdom</HI> as the <HI>fourth Monarchy,</HI> and nece&s;|&s;arily to &s;hape them on the <HI>Romans;</HI> And it is mo&s;t evident, not onely in all <HI>Hi&s;tory,</HI> that the <HI>Roman Monarchy</HI> was then come to its <HI>Zenith</HI> in the <HI>Reign of Augu&s;tus,</HI> but e&s;pecially in the &s;acred <HI>Hi&s;tories</HI> of the <HI>Go&s;pel,</HI> for there came out a <HI>Decree</HI> from <HI>Cae&s;ar Augu&s;tus,</HI> at that very Time<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg"><HI>Luk.</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">.</NOTE> that <HI>our Lord</HI> was <HI>Born.</HI> And that it particularly cover'd the <HI>Jewi&s;h Nation</HI> the onely <HI>People of God</HI> at that Time, to which <HI>Prophecy</HI> had &s;o &s;ingular an Eye; And the <HI>decree</HI> from <HI>Augu&s;tus</HI> was, to Tax or de&s;cribe the whole <HI>Oecumen,</HI> or <HI>Habitable World</HI> as by the poll; Was not this a <HI>Fourth &V;niver&s;al Monarchy</HI> from the <HI>Babylonian,</HI> the <HI>Per|&s;ian,</HI> the <HI>Grecian,</HI> and was it not <HI>Roman &amp;c?</HI></P>
<P>But further to make it more known, at the death and <HI>Crucifixion</HI> of our Lord, The <HI>Sentence</HI> was given by <HI>Pilate</HI> the <HI>Roman Sub&s;titute,</HI> or <HI>Governour,</HI> and the <HI>Jews</HI> declared on the occa&s;ion; They had no <HI>power to put any one to death.</HI> So that the <HI>Roman &V;niver&s;al Monarchy</HI> at that Time, is become an <HI>Ar|ticle of Faith, Crucified under Pontius Pilate,</HI> declares the <HI>Roman fourth Monarchy.</HI></P>
<P>And now that the <HI>Evangelical Kingdom</HI> by the <HI>Birth, Mini&s;try, Death, Re&s;urrection</HI> and <HI>A&s;cen&s;ion</HI> of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> was <HI>&s;et up by the God of Heaven,</HI> that we might not think, This <HI>Spiritual Kingdom</HI> was the <HI>Fulfilling</HI> of <HI>Prophecy;</HI> There was no <HI>Breaking of this fourth Kingdom</HI> by it, nor of any other <HI>Kingdom,</HI> as is Foretold in the&s;e <HI>Vi&s;ions;</HI> But <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> altho' he own'd him&s;elf <HI>King of the Jews,</HI> yet<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Joh.</HI> 18. 36.</NOTE> declar'd his <HI>Kingdom not of this World,</HI> nor <HI>from hence;</HI> That is, not from below, but to come down in the <HI>Jeru&s;alem from above;</HI> He did not therefore di&s;annul <HI>Cae&s;ar's Kingdom,</HI> nay He <HI>E&s;tabli&s;h'd</HI> it by that Command, <HI>Render unto Cae&s;ar &amp;c.</HI> as it were in care, that <HI>Prophecy</HI> might be <HI>Fulfill'd</HI> concerning that <HI>fourth Monarchy;</HI> Agreeably after the <HI>A&s;cen&s;ion</HI> of <HI>Chri&s;t, Paul,</HI> as directed by<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Acts</HI> 25. 1<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter"></NOTE> God, made that Famous <HI>Appeal to Cae&s;ar,</HI> and all the <HI>Apo&s;tles</HI> taught &s;ubjection to the <HI>Roman Powers.</HI> This &s;hews, a <HI>&s;piritual Kingdom</HI> was not the de&s;ign of <HI>Prophecy,</HI> but an <HI>Imperial;</HI> For when <HI>Constantine,</HI> as an <HI>&V;niver&s;al Emperour</HI> declared for <HI>Christ;</HI> It was then &s;aid, with high <HI>Doxologies,</HI> the <HI>Kingdom</HI> of our God<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rev.</HI> 12. 10</NOTE> is come, as an <HI>Emblem</HI> of that <HI>Kingdom</HI> yet to come.</P>
<P>Thus far I have then undeniably, as I mu&s;t be Bold to &s;ay, Rea&s;on'd; That &s;eeing the <HI>Kingdom of Christ</HI> is not yet come, &s;ome of the&s;e <HI>four Monarchies</HI> mu&s;t be in Being; For they are a <HI>Calendar</HI> to it; that it can be onely the <HI>fourth Monarchy,</HI> that
<PB N="22" REF="20"> is thus in Being; For the <HI>Babylonion,</HI> the <HI>Per&s;ian,</HI> the <HI>Grecian,</HI> which were the three fir&s;t even by name in <HI>Daniels prophecy,</HI> are pa&s;t and gone off, as in the &s;ucce&s;&s;ive <HI>Dominion</HI> of Each; The <HI>Roman</HI> then &s;ucceeding the <HI>Grecian</HI> and being &s;o <HI>Great a Monar|chy</HI> after it, as hath appeared, mu&s;t be the <HI>Fourth.</HI> And even becau&s;e, it is the <HI>Fourth,</HI> it mu&s;t be in Being, becau&s;e the <HI>King|dom of Christ</HI> is not yet come; And it mu&s;t therefore continue in Being, till that <HI>Kingdom</HI> comes.</P>
<P>On the other &s;ide, we may a&s;&s;uredly Argue, that as the <HI>Roman Monarchy</HI> was in Being, as an <HI>&V;niver&s;al Monarchy</HI> &s;ince the <HI>days of Chri&s;t,</HI> &s;o by the general knowledge we have of the World; It continues in Being in the <HI>Roman Papacy,</HI> and the <HI>Kings</HI> yet devoted to it: It is therefore certain, the <HI>King|dom of Christ</HI> is not yet come, as it is to come according to this <HI>Prophecy.</HI> And thus much then we are &s;ure of before hand, that we cannot &s;tir off from this very <HI>Roman Monarchy,</HI> till we come to the <HI>Kingdom of Christ;</HI> For if it were ever a <HI>fourth Monarchy,</HI> there is no <HI>Monarchy</HI> after, nor be&s;ide it, according to this <HI>&s;ure word of Prophecy,</HI> that can be a <HI>Remaining Calendar</HI> to us to that <HI>Kingdom;</HI> Becau&s;e whatever <HI>Monarchy</HI> was the <HI>fourth Monarchy,</HI> mu&s;t continue to the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t,</HI> we mu&s;t therefore run upon it, as upon an <HI>Ecliptick Line</HI> given us, from which there mu&s;t be no variation.</P>
<P>And if we can hold the <HI>Footing</HI> we have hitherto found in the <HI>Hi&s;tory</HI> of the <HI>New Te&s;tament</HI> by the <HI>Prophecy</HI> &s;ucceding it, and to which the <HI>Hi&s;tory</HI> leads us, and in Agreement with <HI>&V;niver&s;al Hi&s;tory,</HI> we &s;hall certainly come down with the <HI>Ca|lendar</HI> we are upon, to our own Times, and know how near we are to the End of it, and &s;o to the &s;ucce&s;&s;ion of the <HI>Kingdom of Je&s;us Christ.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE N="3" UNIT="Po&s;it."> I come therefore to the third Po&s;ition, There is &s;uch an <HI>Idea</HI> of the <HI>Roman Monarchy</HI> in the <HI>Prophecy</HI> of the <HI>New Te&s;tament,</HI> as will mo&s;t exactly Corre&s;pond the <HI>Prophecy of Daniel,</HI> in concert with mo&s;t Agreed, and Indi&s;puted <HI>History,</HI> and &s;hew us, whereabouts we are in this <HI>Calendar,</HI> and how near to the <HI>Kingdom of Je&s;us Christ.</HI></P>
<P>But before I come to compare this <HI>Idea</HI> with the <HI>Prophecy,</HI> and mo&s;t known <HI>Roman History,</HI> and thereby to Educe the <HI>Ca|lendar,</HI> as it goes on, I mu&s;t ob&s;erve by way of premi&s;al the&s;e Three Things.</P>
<P N="1"><PB N="23" REF="20"> 1. That the <HI>Prophecy of Daniel</HI> does not name the <HI>fourth Monar|chy,</HI> nor tell us what <HI>Monarchy,</HI> or what <HI>National Cognomination</HI> it hath, as it hath in &s;ome part of <HI>Daniels Prophecy</HI> (as hath already appear'd) told us, that the <HI>Head of Gold</HI> or <HI>fir&s;t Kingdom</HI> was the <HI>Babylonion,</HI> that the <HI>Babylonian Kingdom</HI> was divided to the <HI>Medes and Per&s;ians,</HI> the <HI>Kingdom</HI> therefore nece&s;&s;arily after it; And the <HI>He Goat of Greece</HI> was <HI>moved with choler</HI> again&s;t the <HI>Ram</HI> of <HI>Per&s;ia,</HI> and &s;tamp'd upon Him, that is &s;ubdued Him, and therefore that mu&s;t be the <HI>Third Kingdom of Bra&s;s.</HI></P>
<P>All this notwith&s;tanding, it never di&s;tingui&s;hes the <HI>Fourth Kingdom</HI> by its name; Herein the <HI>Apocalyptic Proyhecy</HI> agrees; It very plainly, as we &s;hall &s;ee, de&s;cribes a <HI>Monarchy</HI> or <HI>Kingdom,</HI> yet it never expre&s;&s;es to us what <HI>Kingdom</HI> it was; As <HI>Daniel</HI> tells us, the <HI>fourth Kingdom</HI> in the <HI>Image</HI> is in the <HI>Legs</HI> of <HI>Iron,</HI> and <HI>Feet,</HI> and <HI>Toes part of Iron, part of Clay;</HI> and in the <HI>Vi&s;ions</HI> of the <HI>Bea&s;ts,</HI> the <HI>fourth Bea&s;t</HI> with its <HI>Feet of Iron,</HI> its <HI>Horns</HI> and its <HI>little Horn</HI> was the <HI>fourth Kingdom</HI> upon <HI>Earth,</HI> and yet never &s;ays, in any part of his <HI>Prophecy,</HI> what <HI>Kingdom</HI> it was; even &s;o the <HI>Revelation</HI> de&s;cribes a <HI>Dragon,</HI> giving His <HI>Throne, Power,</HI> and <HI>Great Authority</HI> to a <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> to whom <HI>Power was given over all Kin|dred, People, Tongues,</HI> and <HI>Nations,</HI> and therefore mu&s;t have a <HI>Great Kingdom,</HI> yet it never declares, of what Nation or People, this <HI>Kingdom</HI> &s;hould take its name.</P>
<P>Neverthele&s;s, if it be &s;o evident, as it hath been, that no <HI>Kingdom</HI> came between the <HI>Grecian</HI> and the <HI>Romans,</HI> no not &s;o much, as any <HI>Spiritual,</HI> or <HI>Evangelical Kingdom</HI> of <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> as hath evidently appear'd by expre&s;s <HI>Scripture Hi&s;tory;</HI> It is even <HI>Scrip|ture Demonstration,</HI> the <HI>Roman Monarchy</HI> was the <HI>fourth Monarchy,</HI> and therefore mu&s;t be the continuing <HI>Monarchy,</HI> until it, and all the re&s;t &s;hall be <HI>Broken</HI> by the <HI>Kingdom of Christ.</HI></P>
<P>There mu&s;t be therefore &s;ome great Rea&s;on, and which <HI>Prophecy</HI> would have us take notice of, why it Throws &s;o Re|&s;olvedly &s;uch a veil of Secre&s;ie over this <HI>Monarchy;</HI> And we may plainly find, it is for the &s;ake of the la&s;t part of this <HI>Mo|narchy,</HI> which is in a <HI>mystery,</HI> an <HI>Aposta&s;ie</HI> comming out of a <HI>mystery of Iniquity,</HI> a <HI>City</HI> in the <HI>mystery</HI> of an <HI>Apostate Adulterous Church</HI> and an <HI>Imperial Idolatrous power</HI> in the <HI>mystery</HI> of a <HI>Spiri|tual Supremacy:</HI> For the &s;ake of which la&s;t &s;tate of this <HI>Monarchy</HI> the fir&s;t is not di&s;clo&s;ed; Becau&s;e if the la&s;t were joyn'd, as <HI>Pro|phecy</HI> hath joyn'd it; The di&s;clo&s;ing the fir&s;t, would di&s;clo&s;e the la&s;t; and that both &s;hould be joyn'd, the very <HI>Prophetick</HI> frames require.</P>
<PB N="24" REF="21">
<P> Thus the Covering this <HI>fourth Kingdom</HI> in <HI>Daniel,</HI> and the <HI>Revelation,</HI> doing the &s;ame in the <HI>Kingdom</HI> it de&s;cribes, ar|gues they are both one and the &s;ame <HI>Kingdom,</HI> and that He that would under&s;tand them, mu&s;t have <HI>Wi&s;edom,</HI> as the <HI>Prophecy</HI> admoni&s;hes to lay things together, and to com|pare them; For if this &s;tate had been openly Foretold, the very opportunity and Action of this <HI>Aposta&s;ie</HI> had been &s;ur|priz'd. The very Concealment is therefore to the prudent con&s;iderer a di&s;coverery and an a&s;&s;urance, what <HI>Kingdom</HI> it is; And the unwary, which are the multitude; And even the wi&s;e, under the Enchantment of the growing <HI>Aposta&s;ie</HI> knew little of it.</P>
<P N="2">2. The frame of the <HI>Divine prophecy</HI> is herein very admira|ble, and ob&s;ervable, in that there is no determinate form a&s;|&s;ign'd to the <HI>fourth Beast,</HI> whereas the <HI>first</HI> had the <HI>Form</HI> of <HI>a Lyon,</HI> the <HI>Second</HI> of <HI>a Bear,</HI> the <HI>Third</HI> of <HI>a Leopard,</HI> the <HI>Fourth</HI> had no Form at all a&s;crib'd to it.</P>
<P>Now the Rea&s;on of this is, partly, that the Ballance of <HI>Prophecy</HI> might be held even, between the Concealment of its mind to the generality, and the po&s;&s;ible di&s;covery of it by the wi&s;e, and con&s;idering Re&s;eacher of <HI>Prophecy.</HI> If there had been a form given in <HI>Daniel,</HI> and the &s;ame form given in the <HI>Revelation,</HI> it had been too open, and plain a di&s;covery: If there had been one form given in <HI>Daniel,</HI> and another in the <HI>Revelation,</HI> it had made a confu&s;ion &s;o great, that even the Se|rious, and prudent &s;earcher of <HI>Prophecy</HI> could not have Broken through, except there had been &s;uch an Expo&s;ition, as is gi|ven in the change as it were of Scenes, as of the <HI>Per&s;ian Ram</HI> in <HI>Dan.</HI> 8. which was Emblem'd by a <HI>Bear, c.</HI> 7. and of the <HI>Gre|cian He Goat, c.</HI> 8. which was as a <HI>Leopard, c.</HI> 7. and &s;uch an Ex|po&s;ition had been too open in this ca&s;e.</P>
<P>The <HI>Prophecy</HI> of <HI>Daniel</HI> therefore gives no &s;hape at all, be|cau&s;e the <HI>Prophecy</HI> in the <HI>Revelation</HI> would have a peculiar rea&s;on to give the <HI>fourth Beast,</HI> in its fir&s;t &s;tate or <HI>Legs of Iron,</HI> and a <HI>Beast</HI> with <HI>Iron Teeth,</HI> the form of a <HI>Dragon,</HI> which Rea|&s;on had not been ripe in <HI>Daniels</HI> Time, as we &s;hall &s;ee pre&s;ent|ly; And it had great Rea&s;on to give the &s;ame <HI>Roman Beast</HI> in its la&s;t &s;tate, [peculiarly to &s;hew its &s;ucce&s;&s;ion to the <HI>Three first Beasts,]</HI> fir&s;t the form of a <HI>Leopard,</HI> as in the <HI>Belly</HI> and <HI>Thighs,</HI> becau&s;e of its immediate &s;ucce&s;&s;ion to the <HI>Grecian Monarchy,</HI> as it was <HI>Roman;</HI> And then as by the <HI>Grecian Monarchy,</HI> it &s;ucceeded
<PB N="25" REF="21"> the <HI>Per&s;ian Monarchy,</HI> it is &s;aid to have the <HI>Feet of a Bear;</HI> E&s;pecially, as the <HI>Bears Fore-feet</HI> are its &s;trength, and re&s;em|ble <HI>Arms in the Body</HI> of a Man, and &s;o agree with the <HI>Arms</HI> in the <HI>&s;econd Kingdom</HI> of the <HI>Image;</HI> and then it had the <HI>Mouth,</HI> or <HI>Head</HI> of a <HI>Lyon</HI> re&s;embling the <HI>Head of Gold;</HI> whereby its &s;uc|ce&s;&s;ion by the <HI>Graecian</HI> and <HI>Per&s;ian</HI> to the <HI>Babylonian</HI> is a&s;&s;ured. And thus the <HI>Calendar</HI> of Time in the&s;e &s;ucce&s;&s;ive <HI>Monarchies</HI> is firmly e&s;tabli&s;hed, and brought&punc; down and Recapitulated, as in the la&s;t &s;tate of the <HI>Fourth Kingdom;</HI> both as in the <HI>Image,</HI> and as in the <HI>Vi&s;ion of the Bea&s;ts;</HI> wherein al&s;o it is to Expire: Apply further to the <HI>Fourth Roman Kingdom</HI> in its la&s;t &s;tate the <HI>Legs of Iron,</HI> all other parts of the <HI>Image</HI> being already di&s;pos'd, in the <HI>Dragon,</HI> giving his name <HI>[Bea&s;t]</HI> ab&s;olute, and without any <HI>Form,</HI> which the <HI>Revelation</HI> a&s;cribes &s;o generally, and Em|phatically to the la&s;t &s;tate of the <HI>Roman Bea&s;t</HI> in the <HI>Head of Ten Horns,</HI> as one with the whole <HI>Roman Bea&s;t,</HI> and al&s;o with the <HI>Image;</HI> and you have the <HI>Calendar</HI> of the <HI>Four</HI> &s;ucce&s;&s;ive <HI>Mo|narchies</HI> brought down to this la&s;t <HI>Roman &s;tate</HI> in an <HI>Emblem</HI> &s;o lively and certain, that no wit of Man could have Exco|gitated; Onely the <HI>divine Spirit</HI> hath found it, which is a great A&s;&s;urance of <HI>Prophecy</HI> in this matter.</P>
<P N="3">3. It is yet to be Remark'd, There mu&s;t needs be many con&s;iderable variations betwixt the <HI>Prophecy of Daniel,</HI> and of the <HI>Revelation;</HI> Becau&s;e both Time was &s;o much further and higher advanc'd at that Time, and al&s;o becau&s;e it may well be expected, The <HI>Revelation</HI> of the <HI>New Te&s;tament,</HI> may accor|ding to the excellent Light of the Go&s;pel throughout it, ex|cell the <HI>Revelation of the Old Te&s;tament,</HI> or the <HI>Prophecy</HI> of the <HI>Prophet Daniel;</HI> This is to be well &s;ettled in our Thoughts, that we may not be &s;tumbled or offended, when in after parti|culars we ob&s;erve the Variation.</P>
<P>And fir&s;t there is this general variation, that the <HI>Prophecy</HI> of the <HI>New Te&s;tament,</HI> knowing, that the <HI>Three fir&s;t Kingdoms</HI> were pa&s;s'd off before the days, even any of &s;o much, as the very fir&s;t of the days of the <HI>New Te&s;tament</HI> gives no Repre&s;entation of them any further, then as They are Re|capitulated in the <HI>Bea&s;t;</HI> So that the whole <HI>Apocalyptick Pre|diction</HI> appertains onely to, and gives the Schemes of the &s;tate of the <HI>Roman Empire,</HI> after it had &s;ubdued all the <HI>Three fir&s;t Kingdoms</HI> under it &s;elf, and become the <HI>&V;niver&s;al Monarchy</HI> of the World. And this it does with Relation to the <HI>Church</HI>
<PB N="24" REF="22">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="25" REF="22">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="26" REF="23"> <HI>of Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> as its principal object and aim, which is a mo&s;t remarkable Con&s;ideration, A&s;&s;uring us, the <HI>Revelation</HI> is a Continuation, and further Explication of what remain'd unfulfill'd of <HI>Daniel's Prophecy,</HI> from tho&s;e very fir&s;t days of the <HI>New Te&s;tament,</HI> or when They began.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<P>That we may then go on with the <HI>Prophecy</HI> of <HI>Daniel;</HI> As the <HI>Calendar</HI> we are upon, was mo&s;t declaredly brought down to the <HI>Roman Monarchy</HI> at the <HI>Birth of Je&s;us Chri&s;t;</HI> So there are &s;everal Periods of the <HI>Calendar</HI> from that Time, wherein the <HI>Prophecy</HI> of <HI>Daniel,</HI> and of the <HI>New Te&s;tament</HI> Agree mo&s;t Illu&s;triou&s;ly with <HI>Hi&s;tory,</HI> in Relation to the <HI>Roman Empire.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE N="1" UNIT="Period."> It is mo&s;t notorious notwith&s;tanding the <HI>Birth, Death, Re&s;urrection, A&s;cen&s;ion</HI> of <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> and the <HI>Apo&s;tolical preaching;</HI> The <HI>Roman Empire</HI> continued one, and continued <HI>Pa|gan</HI> in the &s;upreme <HI>Powers,</HI> and in the Body and Bulk of the People; From hence it is evident, the <HI>Calendar</HI> was not Run out, becau&s;e the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t</HI> did not onely, not <HI>Fill the Earth,</HI> but did not con&s;ume other Kingdoms, as it is fir&s;t to do, before it <HI>Fills the Earth;</HI> And therefore no Interpretation of <HI>Filling</HI> the <HI>Earth</HI> with the <HI>Go&s;pel,</HI> or <HI>Spiritual Kingdom</HI> can &s;tand Good: And further, the <HI>Calendar</HI> was not come down to the <HI>Feet</HI> and <HI>Toes</HI> of the <HI>Image,</HI> nor into the <HI>Head of the Bea&s;t,</HI> di&s;hevelling it &s;elf into <HI>Ten Horns,</HI> as it mu&s;t in its la&s;t &s;tate; But during the <HI>Pagan Empire,</HI> it remained perfectly <HI>One;</HI> and therefore was not in its la&s;t &s;tate.</P>
<P>Now of this <HI>Pagan Empire,</HI> Two Things are mo&s;t known.</P>
<P>That <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t</HI> having <HI>come into the Fle&s;h</HI> under the <HI>Roman Monarchy, Sathan</HI> the <HI>old Serpent</HI> and <HI>Dragon</HI> being aware, that that <HI>Kingdom,</HI> which &s;hall utterly de&s;troy his <HI>Kingdom</HI> was entred; He as a <HI>Dragon</HI> watch'd that <HI>manly Birth</HI> to de&s;troy it, if it were po&s;&s;ible fir&s;t; He then inhabiting the <HI>Pagan Roman Empire,</HI> it is fitly Re&s;embled to a <HI>Dragon</HI> in regard of that <HI>Spirit,</HI> that inhabited it by a mo&s;t particular influence over it; And becau&s;e when <HI>Chri&s;tianity</HI> began to &s;pread it &s;elf in that <HI>Empire</HI> in a multitude of <HI>Chri&s;tians;</HI> It had a Jealous eye over it, and over the <HI>Empire,</HI> it might rai&s;e; Therefore by <HI>Ten</HI> &s;o known and Famous <HI>Per&s;ecutions</HI> it endeavour'd as a <HI>Dragon</HI> to <HI>devour it,</HI> and to &s;urprize that <HI>Supreme Monarch Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> who &s;hould Rule the <HI>Nations with a Rod of Iron,</HI> which the <HI>Chri&s;tian Church</HI> compar'd to a <HI>Travelling woman</HI> was to <HI>Bring forth;</HI> Herein the <HI>Pagan Empire</HI> is Re&s;embled to <HI>Pharoh</HI> the <HI>Egyptian King of Old,</HI> who fearing the overgrowth of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> into a <HI>Kingdom,</HI> as a <HI>Dra|gon</HI>
<PB N="27" REF="23"> lying in the <HI>Nile</HI> waited to <HI>devour it,</HI> by <HI>Killing the Male Children;</HI> And thus <HI>Herod</HI> the <HI>Roman Va&s;&s;al,</HI> though <HI>King of the Jews, watch'd</HI> to have <HI>devour'd Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> the <HI>Incarnate King,</HI> who &s;hall &s;it on the <HI>Throne of his Father David,</HI> and of who&s;e <HI>Kingdom, there &s;hall be no End.</HI> Thus admirable is the Concinnity and Agreement between the <HI>Pagan Emperors</HI> of <HI>Rome,</HI> that was to be a <HI>Spiritual Egypt,</HI> and the <HI>Dragon.</HI> How plain there|fore is the <HI>Calendar</HI> of the <HI>Roman Empire</HI> in this particular to the very la&s;t of it, as <HI>Pagan; Diocle&s;ian</HI> and the other la&s;t <HI>Hea|then Emperors</HI> being among the Per&s;ecutors of the fir&s;t rank, and therefore we mu&s;t needs be certain whereabout the Time of the <HI>Calendar</HI> then was. For we know this &s;tate la&s;ted about 300 Years after the <HI>Re&s;urrection,</HI> and in the clearne&s;s and particularity of this, the <HI>New Te&s;tament</HI> exceeds the old. Con|&s;ider further this <HI>Imperial power</HI> with relation to the re&s;t of the World, and it was <HI>Salvage, Dreadful,</HI> and <HI>Terrible,</HI> as <HI>Daniel</HI> &s;tyles it, and as the <HI>Revelation</HI> &s;tyles it, as a <HI>Dragon, devouring</HI> and <HI>Con|&s;uming</HI> all other powers as <HI>with Iron</HI> Teeth, and &s;tamping on them as with <HI>Legs of Iron,</HI> on which account the <HI>Dragon</HI> is &s;aid, as it were, to <HI>&s;weep down</HI> the <HI>Third part of the Stars,</HI> or other Prin|ces,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rev.</HI> 12. 4.</NOTE> and powers of the World with its <HI>Syrma,</HI> its Tail or Train of Power, and enlarged <HI>Empire;</HI> And in that, it is call'd the <HI>Third part of the Stars</HI> It thus <HI>&s;weeps down;</HI> It is agreeable, that its Succe&s;&s;ion to the <HI>Third,</HI> or <HI>Graecian Empire</HI> &s;hould be Con|noted, which it &s;o particularly <HI>drew down;</HI> from whence the <HI>Third</HI> or <HI>Third part</HI> becomes in this <HI>Prophecy</HI> a Cypher or pri|vate Character of the <HI>Roman Empire,</HI> Whether in the <HI>We&s;t,</HI> the mo&s;t proper peculiar <HI>Rome,</HI> and <HI>Roman Empire,</HI> or in the <HI>Ea&s;t,</HI> that affected al&s;o to be call'd <HI>Roman Empire,</HI> even as <HI>Con|&s;tantinople, New Rome;</HI> and The&s;e Two are therefore in the&s;e <HI>Prophetick Hieroglyphics</HI> call'd <HI>Two Wings</HI> of the <HI>one Great Eagle</HI> or <HI>Roman Empire.</HI></P>
<P>And that we may know the <HI>Prophetick Calendar</HI> was taken care of in this <HI>Pagan &s;tate</HI> of <HI>Roman Empire,</HI> the whole <HI>Roman Bea&s;t,</HI> that is &s;aid to be diver&s;e from the <HI>other Bea&s;ts</HI> in regard of its many, and more Eminently <HI>Seven forms of Government,</HI> very &s;trange to the other <HI>Three Kingdoms</HI> before it, e&s;pecially in the la&s;t, the <HI>Papal Supremacy,</HI> was pictured as with <HI>Seven Heads, Heads</HI> of that <HI>City,</HI> that when St. <HI>John</HI> wrote the <HI>Reve|lation, Reign'd over the Kings of the Earth,</HI> and therefore could be no other, then <HI>Rome.</HI> And it is particularly &s;aid, <HI>Five were</HI>
<PB N="28" REF="24"> <HI>Fallen, One</HI> then was; which we know, could be no other, then the <HI>Pagan Emperors;</HI> Thus exact is the <HI>Calendar,</HI> or account of Time, till <HI>Con&s;tantine,</HI> under whom the <HI>Empire</HI> became <HI>Chri&s;tian;</HI> Becau&s;e all <HI>Hi&s;tory</HI> Agrees whereabouts in Time it was.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="2" UNIT="Period."> The &s;econd <HI>Period</HI> of the <HI>Roman Empire,</HI> &s;ince the <HI>Re&s;urrection,</HI> according to <HI>Prophecy,</HI> and mo&s;t known in <HI>Hi&s;tory,</HI> is the <HI>Chri&s;tian Roman Empire</HI> under <HI>Con&s;tantine</HI> and his &s;ucce&s;&s;ors; And the Time is very well known in <HI>Hi&s;tory</HI> and Agreed, whereabouts it was.</P>
<P>But it mu&s;t be acknowledged, this <HI>Period</HI> or change of the <HI>Empire</HI> from <HI>Pagan</HI> to <HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> is not at all &s;haddowed in <HI>Daniel's Prophecy;</HI> in either of the Two <HI>Vi&s;ions</HI> of the <HI>Image,</HI> or of the <HI>Bea&s;ts,</HI> it hath no Lines, or Mentions.</P>
<P>And the rea&s;on is very clear, and plain; For when the <HI>Spi|rit</HI> of <HI>Prophecy</HI> was pleas'd to give a <HI>Calendar</HI> of Time by Two <HI>Vi&s;ions,</HI> Both repre&s;enting a <HI>Monarchic Frame,</HI> though of <HI>Four Monarchies;</HI> Yet they were but <HI>One</HI> in a <HI>Be&s;tian</HI> enmity, and Contrariety to the great <HI>Kingdom of Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>A <HI>Chri&s;tian Monarchy,</HI> that was given for a &s;hort &s;pace, as an <HI>Emblem,</HI> &s;hade or <HI>Specimen,</HI> though but a dark one, of that <HI>Kingdom</HI> of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> could have no proper place there, but mu&s;t have confus'd the Frame.</P>
<P>But as if it were on purpo&s;e to compen&s;ate the &s;ilence of the <HI>Chri&s;tian Monarchy</HI> in <HI>Daniel,</HI> and becau&s;e it may &s;eem a Di&s;|continuer in the <HI>Be&s;tian Calendar</HI> of <HI>Kingdoms,</HI> and in that Frame of <HI>Four,</HI> and yet but <HI>One;</HI> and e&s;pecially in the Two &s;tates of the one <HI>Roman Fourth Monarchy;</HI> The <HI>Prophecy</HI> of the <HI>New Te&s;tament</HI> is much the more careful, and Abundant, and &s;eems as it were to make Amends for this Appearing violati|on; that whereas all the <HI>Four Monarchies</HI> are as one <HI>Be&s;tian Monarchy,</HI> or <HI>Image,</HI> and the <HI>Fourth Monarchy,</HI> but <HI>one Bea&s;t</HI> There comes in as <HI>Ex improvi&s;o,</HI> as unfore&s;een a <HI>Chri&s;tian Mo|narchy</HI> in the mid&s;t of that La&s;t <HI>Fourth Monarchy,</HI> and &s;poils the whole Frame; and di&s;turbs e&s;pecially the <HI>Calendar</HI> as it may &s;eem, but it will be found much otherwi&s;e.</P>
<P N="1">1. For there is, as I may Reverently call it, a <HI>Prophetical</HI> &s;cene in the <HI>New Te&s;tament Prophecy</HI> on purpo&s;e to Repre&s;ent a <HI>Chri&s;ti|an Empire ca&s;ting</HI> out the <HI>Pagan,</HI> in the <HI>Woman</HI> the <HI>Church bring|ing forth</HI> after mo&s;t painful <HI>Throws, Sufferings</HI> and <HI>Martyrdoms</HI> a <HI>Manly Child, caught up to the Throne of God,</HI> and the <HI>Dragon Cast</HI>
<PB N="29" REF="24"> <HI>down,</HI> and and a &s;olemn <HI>Doxology</HI> upon it; <HI>Now is the Kingdom of our God come,</HI> This was a great <HI>Emblem</HI> of the <HI>Kingdom</HI> of <HI>Christ,</HI> as it is an <HI>Imperial Kingdom</HI> and not a <HI>Spiritual</HI> onely; And this is &s;o plain, that no Interpreter doubts it of the <HI>Chri&s;ti|an Roman Empire,</HI> nor of the Admirablene&s;s of the <HI>Emblem</HI> Re|pre&s;enting it.</P>
<P N="2">2. There is a di&s;tinct account of the <HI>Roman Monarchy</HI> in its <HI>Seven Heads,</HI> which were <HI>crowned Heads,</HI> or Formes of <HI>Sove|raign Government,</HI> and all <HI>Be&s;tian,</HI> or <HI>Idolatrous, full of the names of Bla&s;phemy.</HI> And they mu&s;t needs be of <HI>Rome</HI> that was carri|ed alought by them, becau&s;e <HI>Rome</HI> without di&s;pute was the <HI>City,</HI> that <HI>then Reign'd over the Kings of the Earth,</HI> as <HI>It is &s;aid Revel.</HI> 17. <HI>ult.</HI> Among the&s;e There is <HI>one King,</HI> that is plainly &s;tyl'd <GAP DESC="foreign"> to be a <HI>King of another &s;ort, No Head;</HI> For there were but <HI>Seven,</HI> and the <HI>Eighth</HI> is expre&s;ly to be <HI>One of the Seven, viz. Heads;</HI> So the <HI>Seventh King</HI> could be no <HI>Head,</HI> for <HI>Five</HI> had been <HI>Heads</HI> and <HI>Fallen,</HI> and <HI>One</HI> then <HI>was,</HI> and the <HI>Eighth</HI> was of the <HI>Seven,</HI> therefore the <HI>Seventh</HI> could be no <HI>Head.</HI></P>
<P>The Room, therefore of this <HI>King</HI> in the <HI>Calendar</HI> is <HI>Embo|limean,</HI> and perfectly <HI>Intercalar;</HI> And it is &s;o plac'd, that it mu&s;t be, as I may &s;o &s;peak in the <HI>Seventh Stall</HI> of tho&s;e <HI>Kings,</HI> immediately after the <HI>Pagan,</HI> as All <HI>Hi&s;tory</HI> knows, the <HI>Chri&s;ti|an Empire</HI> was, and ju&s;t before the <HI>Eighth King,</HI> or <HI>Papacy,</HI> as <HI>Hi&s;tory</HI> al&s;o knows, the <HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> was in &s;uch a &s;en&s;e, as <HI>Prophecy</HI> will guide us unto.</P>
<P>But that it might be known to make no great Infraction in the <HI>Be&s;tian Calendar,</HI> It is &s;aid <HI>Emphatically,</HI> He <HI>must</HI> or He<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">&punc;</NOTE> ought in regard of his unnaturalne&s;s to the <HI>Be&s;tian Monarchy,</HI> according to <HI>Prophecy</HI> to <HI>continue but a &s;hort Space;</HI> that is but about a hundred and fifty Years.</P>
<P>Can now any care be greater with Relation to the <HI>Chri&s;ti|an Empire,</HI> that we may know it was; That it was by way of Interpo&s;al, as in the mid&s;t of the <HI>Roman Be&s;tian Monarchy,</HI> and the very Time, when, and where it came &s;o between, and the general Scantling of Time, it la&s;ted?</P>
<P N="3">3. The <HI>Apostle Paul,</HI> according to the <HI>wi&s;dom given to Him,</HI> di&s;cour&s;ing of the&s;e Things &s;hews, that the <HI>Kingdom of Christ</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>The&s;&s;.</HI> 2. 1. <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> that was to have its Times, its <HI>own proper Times,</HI> could not at|tain its proper Times, even according to his own <HI>Oath,</HI> till an <HI>Aposta&s;ie</HI> according to <HI>Daniel's Prophecy,</HI> had brought forth<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 6. 15.</NOTE> the <HI>Man of &s;in,</HI> and He had had his <HI>own Times;</HI> and therefore
<PB N="30" REF="25"> the <HI>Apostle</HI> is mo&s;t vehement upon <HI>Christians,</HI> not to expect that day of <HI>Christ</HI>&punc;s <HI>Kingdom,</HI> till then; For he knew the <HI>Oath</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Dan.</HI> 12.</NOTE> <HI>of Christ</HI> was ab&s;olutely again&s;t it; There &s;hall be <HI>Time, Times, Half Time fir&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>Therefore &s;aith the <HI>Apo&s;tle,</HI> though <HI>Chri&s;t be come into the Fle&s;h,</HI> though the <HI>Roman</HI> la&s;t <HI>Monarchy</HI> be now in its Cour&s;e, which may quicken your Expectations, yet expect not that <HI>day of Chri&s;t,</HI> till after the <HI>Times of the Man of Sin.</HI></P>
<P>And that you may not expect tho&s;e Times too &s;oon, Know that God hath Interpos'd a Curb, an Hold fa&s;t, that &s;hall keep back the <HI>Man of &s;in,</HI> till his <HI>own</HI> ju&s;t <HI>Times;</HI> For the <HI>my&s;tery of Iniquity</HI> is now at work, and would bring him forth before his Time, but there is a <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire,</HI> that will <HI>Hold fa&s;t its Time, and be before Him,</HI> and will ca&s;t him on his ju&s;t point of Time, that his <HI>Time, Times,</HI> and <HI>Half a Time</HI> a&s;&s;ign'd him by that <HI>Oath of Christ</HI> may &s;o end, that the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t</HI> may &s;ucceed in its proper <HI>Time</HI> immediately after the <HI>Times of the Man of &s;in,</HI> which had not God thus Interpos'd a <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire,</HI> and the <HI>Pagan Empire</HI> had continued no longer, it would not have done according to the great Times de&s;ign'd by God; <HI>Set</HI> in, and by his own <HI>Power</HI> for <HI>Chri&s;t's Kingdom.</HI></P>
<P>Thus by the <HI>Apo&s;tles</HI> di&s;cour&s;e the <HI>Calendar</HI> is not weakned, but &s;trengthn'd, and the <HI>Chri&s;tians</HI> of the <HI>Apo&s;tles</HI> Times, and of all Times, &s;ince he writ, may be led through the &s;tages of Time &s;ince the <HI>Re&s;urrection</HI> of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> to the <HI>Kingdom</HI> of <HI>Chri&s;t;</HI> As if the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> &s;hould &s;ay, Watch the <HI>Pagan Empire,</HI> when it ends; For after that, there &s;hall be a preternatural <GAP DESC="foreign"> a Succe&s;&s;or of another kind, a <HI>Chri&s;tian Emperour</HI> who keeps back the Succe&s;&s;ion of the <HI>Man of Sin,</HI> that ought to &s;uc|ceed immediately, after the <HI>Pagan Empire</HI> according to the Cour&s;e of nature; But yet it will not di&s;order but keep Tight the whole <HI>Calendar,</HI> the <HI>Man of Sin</HI> &s;hall after that <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire</HI> be <HI>Revealed ju&s;t in his own Time;</HI> and whenever the Times of the <HI>Man of Sin</HI> &s;hall end, expect the day, <HI>comming</HI> and <HI>appearance</HI> of <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> for <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> &s;hall <HI>con&s;ume</HI> him with the <HI>Approach of his com|ming,</HI> and <HI>Aboli&s;h</HI> Him with the <HI>Brightne&s;s of his own Appearance.</HI></P>
<P>From the <HI>Re&s;urrection of Chri&s;t</HI> then, the <HI>Pagan Empire</HI> la&s;ts to the <HI>Christian Empire,</HI> the <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire</HI> till the <HI>days</HI> of the <HI>Man of Sin,</HI> or <HI>Antichri&s;t;</HI> The <HI>Times</HI> of <HI>Antichrist</HI> till the <HI>Times of Christ</HI> and of <HI>his Kingdom,</HI> an exact, and an ea&s;ie <HI>Calendar,</HI> Solid, and Sub&s;tantial; And &s;eeing we all know the <HI>Pagan</HI>
<PB N="31" REF="25"> <HI>Empire</HI> is pa&s;t, That <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire</HI> we &s;peak of, <HI>viz.</HI> of <HI>Con|stantine</HI> and of his &s;ucce&s;&s;ors, till <HI>done out of the way,</HI> had its Cour&s;e, and ceas'd; if we can but know then, how long the <HI>Times of the Man of Sin</HI> la&s;t, we mu&s;t needs know, how long it is to the <HI>Kingdom of Christ.</HI></P>
<P>But it is mo&s;t plain, this <HI>Holder back</HI> is a very Elegant In&s;i|nuation of a <HI>Chri&s;tian Emperor,</HI> that &s;tay'd the Succe&s;&s;ion of the <HI>Man of Sin</HI> after the <HI>Pagan Empire,</HI> till his own ju&s;t <HI>Times,</HI> and no longer, though the Con-naturalne&s;s of <HI>Pagani&s;m,</HI> and <HI>Anti|chri&s;tiani&s;m</HI> was &s;o Great, and the <HI>Mi&s;tery</HI> of <HI>Iniquity</HI> then at work to attemper one to the other, that he might very well have come ju&s;t after <HI>Pagani&s;m,</HI> and <HI>Pagani&s;m</HI> have merg'd into it; but God had decreed a <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire</HI> between, a <HI>Specimen</HI> of the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t,</HI> (even as in <HI>Nebuchadnezzars</HI> fir&s;t <HI>Babyloni|an</HI> Kingdom there were tho&s;e &s;udden Appearances of the Di|vine Kingdom in his Acknowledgments of God) which <HI>Anti|chri&s;t</HI> &s;upplanting, it made him the more exceedingly, and <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Antichri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P N="4">4. As a further Care of <HI>Prophecy</HI> concerning the <HI>Calendar of Time,</HI> and the Interpo&s;al of the <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire,</HI> it gives us this plain Account of the State of the <HI>Roman Be&s;tian Empire,</HI> during that <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire, viz.</HI> That by Rea&s;on of the Chri&s;tian Empire, that was not <HI>Be&s;tian,</HI> nor any of tho&s;e <HI>Heads.</HI> The <HI>Roman Bea&s;t</HI> lay <HI>wounded;</HI> and it is &s;aid, the <HI>Wound</HI> was a <HI>Wound</HI> unto <HI>Death,</HI> and a <HI>Wound</HI> with a <HI>Sword,</HI> and a <HI>Wound in one of the Heads;</HI> and that we may take further notice of the <HI>Wound,</HI> It is &s;aid, <HI>His deadly Wound was healed,</HI> and he did <HI>Live.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rev. c.</HI> 13.</NOTE></P>
<P>Now this <HI>Wound</HI> hath been much mi&s;taken by &s;ome Inter|preters, as if it were the <HI>Wound</HI> given by the <HI>Barbarous Nations,</HI> invading the <HI>Empire,</HI> of which in the next particular we &s;hall find another Account; But it is very plain, becau&s;e the <HI>Wound</HI> was in <HI>one of the Heads,</HI> and that the <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire</HI> upon which the <HI>Barbarians</HI> fell mo&s;t peculiarly, was none of the <HI>Heads;</HI> It mu&s;t needs be, that the <HI>Wound</HI> intended was on the <HI>Pagan Im|perial Head,</HI> whom <HI>Con&s;tantine</HI> the <HI>Great,</HI> and <HI>Theodo&s;ius the Great,</HI> be&s;ides other the Chri&s;tian Emperors &s;o remarkably <HI>Wounded,</HI> even unto <HI>Death,</HI> that It never recovered in a pure|ly <HI>Pagan</HI> but only in the <HI>Pagan Anti-chri&s;tian Head.</HI> To which, becau&s;e of the Congenialne&s;s of the one to the other, the <HI>Dra|gon</HI> is &s;aid in <HI>prophetic Language</HI> to deliver his <HI>Throne, Power,</HI> and
<PB N="32" REF="26"> <HI>Authority</HI> by way of <HI>Succe&s;&s;ion,</HI> and to <HI>live</HI> and to be <HI>wor&s;hip'd in Him.</HI></P>
<P>So that though we are not plainly told, it was the <HI>Draconic Head,</HI> which we found to be the <HI>Pagan Empire,</HI> was <HI>wounded,</HI> yet in that it is &s;aid, The <HI>Dragon</HI> was <HI>ca&s;t out of Heaven;</HI> that the <HI>Dragon</HI> gave his <HI>Power, Throne,</HI> and <HI>Great Authority</HI> to the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> and was <HI>wor&s;hip'd</HI> in Him, the <HI>World wondring</HI> after the <HI>Bea&s;t.</HI> There is nothing more plain, then that it was the <HI>Pagan Dragon</HI> that was <HI>wounded</HI> by the <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire,</HI> coming next after it, and <HI>healed</HI> in the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> coming in as a <HI>Head.</HI></P>
<P>This then was the <HI>Wound,</HI> that the <HI>&s;ixth Head,</HI> as <HI>Pagan, Idolatrous,</HI> and <HI>bloody,</HI> could not maintain its <HI>Supremacy,</HI> and <HI>Imperiali&s;m,</HI> till the <HI>Antichri&s;tian Head</HI> &s;ucceeds it; but an <HI>Em|pire,</HI> a <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire, prophetic</HI> of the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t,</HI> rooting out <HI>Pagan Idolatry,</HI> and advancing Chri&s;tianity &s;o newly per|&s;ecuted to death by <HI>Pagani&s;m</HI> came between, by which, though the <HI>Empire</HI> continued, yet the <HI>Be&s;tiani&s;m of the Empire</HI> was <HI>ready to dye,</HI> and had <HI>dyed,</HI> but that there was a decree, to permit it to be <HI>Heal'd,</HI> and <HI>Reviv'd</HI> within a <HI>&s;hort &s;pace</HI> in the <HI>Antichri|&s;tian Bea&s;t;</HI> which could therefore be no other, then whatever &s;ucceeded the <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire</HI> in <HI>Roman Bea&s;tian Supremacy;</HI> though, as we &s;hall find only in an <HI>Image of Supremacy,</HI> and therefore mu&s;t be the Papacy; el&s;e the <HI>Wound</HI> were not <HI>Healed</HI> to this day, which were mo&s;t contrary to <HI>Prophecy,</HI> as de&s;troy|ing the frame of the <HI>Be&s;tian Monarchies</HI> in <HI>Daniel,</HI> and the whole Image of Things in the <HI>Apocalyps of John.</HI></P>
<P>Now this Note of the <HI>Bea&s;t wounded</HI> is &s;o great an a&s;&s;urance of the Care of <HI>Prophecy</HI> over the <HI>Calendar,</HI> given in <HI>Daniel,</HI> (though this <HI>Wound</HI> was not revealed in his <HI>Prophecy,</HI> as im|proper to it, and not to its Time) as can be given; and makes us more certain of the Truth of it, then if that occa&s;ion of its Care had not been, as the Truth of a Prediction is more &s;een by taking notice of a preternatural Accident, and foretelling it, then if &s;uch an Accident had not been; we are therefore to con&s;ider the Prophecy of <HI>Daniel,</HI> and <HI>John,</HI> as all one <HI>Prophecy</HI> of the <HI>Divine Spirit</HI> in both; and as but of one, and the &s;ame Author, writing &s;everal <HI>Prophe&s;ies</HI> in &s;everal Times, and filling up the former by the latter.</P>
<P>And thus all <HI>Hi&s;tory</HI> agrees; That the <HI>Chri&s;tian Emperors</HI> came after the <HI>Pagan Emperors,</HI> and di&s;abled their <HI>Idolatrous</HI> and per&s;ecuting Power. And that after the <HI>Chri&s;tian Emperors</HI> came
<PB N="33" REF="26"> the divided State of the <HI>Roman Empire</HI> in &s;everal <HI>Kingdoms,</HI> and <HI>Kings,</HI> united in the <HI>Papacy,</HI> and hath continued to this very Day; which mu&s;t therefore be the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> with his <HI>Ten Horns;</HI> (though all be convey'd, as it ought to be, according to this <HI>Pro|phecy,</HI> in a <HI>My&s;tery,</HI> and in an <HI>Image,)</HI> or el&s;e the <HI>Revelation</HI> can|not be a <HI>True Prophecy.</HI></P>
<P N="5">5. There is another principal Note, that the <HI>Sacred Prophecy</HI> of the <HI>New Te&s;tament</HI> gives, on purpo&s;e to &s;hew, that the <HI>Be&s;ti|an-Antichri&s;tian-Roman Supremacy</HI> in the <HI>&s;eventh Head;</HI> call'd the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> and his <HI>Ten Horns;</HI> did not immediately &s;ucceed to that <HI>Pagan, Bea&s;tian Monarchy;</HI> but that there was the coming be|tween of a <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire;</HI> and that the <HI>Be&s;tian Kingdom,</HI> that followed that <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire,</HI> was the <HI>Papal Kingdom;</HI> the know|ledge and regard to which is of &s;o great moment to this <HI>pro|phetic Calendar,</HI> that <HI>Prophecy</HI> hath taken &s;o great Care in it; and It is thus to be under&s;tood;</P>
<P>The <HI>Four Monarchies</HI> &s;ucceding one another, as in the <HI>Image</HI> of a <HI>Humane Body,</HI> the Succe&s;&s;ion mu&s;t be, as by way of kind Communication, as is between the &s;everal parts of the &s;ame body; And this was to &s;hew, one <HI>Idolatrous Spirit,</HI> a <HI>Spi|rit</HI> contrary to the <HI>Kingdom of God,</HI> and of <HI>Je&s;us Christ</HI> inform'd, and intelligenc'd the whole from Head to Foot.</P>
<P>But though the&s;e <HI>Monarchies</HI> were &s;o united in one Spirit, and therefore as in <HI>one Body;</HI> yet to &s;hew the contrariety of each &s;ucceding to each former Kingdom; they are in another Vi&s;ion repre&s;ented, as <HI>Four</HI> Salvage <HI>Beasts,</HI> each latter ravaging on that in power before it.</P>
<P>Thus the <HI>Per&s;ian,</HI> as by a <HI>Belluine</HI> Might, vanqui&s;hed the <HI>Babylonian,</HI> the <HI>Graecian</HI> the <HI>Per&s;ian,</HI> the <HI>Roman</HI> the <HI>Graecian,</HI> as <HI>Daniels</HI> Vi&s;ions, <HI>c.</HI> 7. <HI>c.</HI> 8. and all Hi&s;tory make notorious.</P>
<P>And thus it was determin'd by God, that the <HI>Ten Kings</HI> that came in, as <HI>Feet of Iron</HI> in Succe&s;&s;ion to the <HI>Legs of Iron;</HI> and the <HI>Horns</HI> in Succe&s;&s;ion to the <HI>Iron Teeth,</HI> &s;hould come in as by way of <HI>Leaving,</HI> or <HI>Legacying,</HI> or kind Communication, as from part to part. And &s;o indeed, the <HI>Pagan idolatrous Empire</HI> did, as it were naturally, and &s;pontaneou&s;ly re&s;ign, and dye into the Antichri&s;tian ri&s;ing out of it; thus it is repre&s;ented after a <HI>prophetical, emblematical manner</HI> by the <HI>Revelation;</HI> The <HI>Dragon gave its Throne, Power,</HI> and <HI>Great Authority</HI> to the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> that is, the <HI>Pagan Emperor</HI> to the <HI>Papal Antichrist,</HI> what ever di&s;tance of Time there was between them; and &s;o they wor&s;hipped the
<PB N="34" REF="27"> <HI>Dragon</HI> in the Bea&s;t, as afore&s;aid; Thus it was as between the Congenial, one <HI>Pagan</HI> and <HI>Papal Beast,</HI> and the <HI>Legs</HI> and <HI>Feet</HI> of the <HI>Image.</HI></P>
<P>But then as the <HI>Vi&s;ion</HI> of the <HI>Beasts</HI> imports each <HI>Kingdom</HI> &s;ucceding the former, as by violence; &s;o the&s;e <HI>Horns</HI> or <HI>Ten Kings</HI> came by violence into the <HI>Empire;</HI> for &s;o it plea&s;ed the wi&s;e, and Holy Governour of the World, it &s;hould be&punc; The Nations foreign to the <HI>Roman Empire</HI> tran&s;planted them|&s;elves from their own Seats, and by armed force plac'd them|&s;elves in <HI>Italy,</HI> and the &s;everal parts and Provinces of the <HI>Ro|man Empire.</HI></P>
<P>And yet they all made &s;till the &s;ame <HI>Roman Monarchy,</HI> and the &s;ame <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> becau&s;e, whereas the <HI>Per&s;ian King</HI> &s;ucceding the <HI>Babylonian</HI> did not place his Royal Greatne&s;s in <HI>Babel,</HI> but in <HI>Shu&s;han,</HI> nor <HI>Alexander</HI> in <HI>Per&s;ia,</HI> but in <HI>Graece,</HI> nor the <HI>Ro|man</HI> in <HI>Graece, Per&s;ia,</HI> nor <HI>Babylon,</HI> but transferred all to <HI>Rome;</HI> The <HI>barbarous Nations</HI> on the contrary do not remove the Po|tentacy from the <HI>Roman Territories</HI> to the Countries, from whence they came, but continue it, where they found it, and Inhabit, and Inherit the former Re&s;idencies of <HI>Roman Power,</HI> and &s;o are the &s;ame <HI>Empire</HI> in <HI>Feet of Iron,</HI> and of <HI>Clay.</HI></P>
<P>For if the <HI>Feet of Iron</HI> make no Tran&s;plantation, much le&s;s would, or could the <HI>Feet of Clay,</HI> much more tyed to the &s;ame <HI>Earth,</HI> from whence they &s;prung; and above all to the <HI>Roman Earth</HI> of St. <HI>Peter,</HI> where He, &s;ay they, as <HI>Bi&s;hop</HI> left the print of his Foot, as in <HI>Clay,</HI> that the <HI>Roman Hierarchy</HI> might &s;prout from it.</P>
<P>And they are all the &s;ame <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> al&s;o, whereby the <HI>Calendar,</HI> and Succe&s;&s;ion is maintained; for to &s;hew, the &s;ame <HI>Idolatrous</HI> and <HI>Ho&s;tile Spirit</HI> to the <HI>Kingdom of Christ</HI> influx'd all; the <HI>Dra|gon</HI> gave his All, as was noted before; and the whole is, as nearly allyed as part to part in the &s;ame <HI>Body,</HI> acted by one and the &s;ame Spirit.</P>
<P>And this was all certainly an Illu&s;trious, and adorable Care of <HI>Providence</HI> over <HI>Prophecy;</HI> That Things &s;hould be ju&s;t thus; that <HI>Prophecy</HI> might be <HI>fulfilled</HI> in the <HI>Roman Monarchy,</HI> conti|nuing <HI>One</HI> and the &s;ame <HI>Monarchy,</HI> as we &s;hall &s;ee, in <HI>Ten Kings</HI> united, in one <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tic Roman Supremacy,</HI> as <HI>Ten Horns</HI> in one <HI>Head;</HI> and the <HI>Capital, Imperial City Rome</HI> was continued for the &s;ame <HI>Head,</HI> by a mo&s;t a&s;toni&s;hing, and even amazing Or|dination of God, as the other <HI>Capital Cities</HI> within the <HI>Roman Dominion</HI> for the <HI>Ten Kings</HI> each in their own <HI>Kingdoms.</HI></P>
<PB N="35" REF="27">
<P> But &s;till, there were all the Violences of War made u&s;e of for the Succe&s;&s;ion of the <HI>Ten Kings,</HI> as <HI>Feet</HI> of <HI>Iron;</HI> and they were as nece&s;&s;ary for the <HI>Feet of Clay,</HI> to ri&s;e in the mid&s;t of tho&s;e Noi&s;es, &s;tilly, &s;ilently, unob&s;ervedly to their <HI>Grandeur,</HI> and the <HI>Supremacy</HI> of One <HI>Pontiff,</HI> even <HI>He</HI> of <HI>Rome,</HI> among them.</P>
<P>To adju&s;t therefore every thing to this Succe&s;&s;ion with the <HI>Decorum</HI> of the <HI>prophetical Types,</HI> let us now ob&s;erve the admi|rable Concert of <HI>Providence</HI> and <HI>Prophecy</HI> in this Period.</P>
<P>In the fir&s;t place therefore as a great <HI>Emblem</HI> of the <HI>Glorious Kingdom of Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> and his <HI>&V;niver&s;al Monarchy</HI> over all Nations, and e&s;pecially his Triumph over that Ancient <HI>Kingdom of Sathan, Pagan,</HI> and <HI>Heatheni&s;h Idolatry;</HI> wherein Him&s;elf, and his <HI>Angels,</HI> and the <HI>Demoniz'd Spirits</HI> of his Ser|vants were &s;o immediately <HI>wor&s;hip'd;</HI> there is a wi&s;e Ordina|tion by God of a <HI>Christian Empire,</HI> to remon&s;trate this Victory in an <HI>Empire</HI> then own'd, as the <HI>&V;niver&s;al Empire</HI> of the World, and where <HI>Heatheni&s;m</HI> had &s;eem'd to Triumph over <HI>Chri&s;tiani|ty;</HI> but <HI>Chri&s;tians</HI> thus <HI>overcame,</HI> by the <HI>Blood of the Lamb,</HI> by the <HI>word of his Te&s;timony,</HI> and by <HI>Chri&s;tians</HI> not <HI>Loving their Lives unto Death.</HI></P>
<P>This <HI>Empire</HI> therefore enter'd, as into the Heart of the <HI>Fourth Monarchy</HI> in <HI>Daniels Vi&s;ions</HI> by a High Dominion, and Ordination of God, though &s;o contre-natural to it, that on all Accounts It is as a ca&s;ting <HI>Sathan out of Heaven,</HI> and as it were the <HI>Coming of the Kingdom of our God.</HI></P>
<P>The whole Order therefore of the&s;e <HI>Emperors</HI> throughout the whole Time of the <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire</HI> is &s;o far all one order,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Revel. 17. v. 10.</NOTE> that from fir&s;t to la&s;t, they are All one <HI>&s;eventh King,</HI> as the <HI>Kings</HI> of <HI>Judah</HI> were All, <HI>One Hou&s;e of David;</HI> but this <HI>Empire</HI> in its former and in its latter Times differ'd much in the puri|ty of the <HI>Chri&s;tian State,</HI> and in the Illu&s;trious Pre&s;ence of God with it; as <HI>Zedekiah</HI> and tho&s;e <HI>latter Kings</HI> did from <HI>David and Solomon;</HI> yet &s;o, that while the order it &s;elf &s;tood, there could be no Succe&s;&s;ion of the <HI>Bestian Kingdom;</HI> for they are &s;pecificly di&s;tinct, which is a note of great weight in the <HI>Calendar;</HI> and it is even demon&s;trated, That all tho&s;e Chri&s;tian <HI>Emperors</HI> in &s;acred Regi&s;ter, are but One; becau&s;e They are called <HI>One other King,</HI> and that they are &s;pecificly di&s;tinct; becau&s;e the <HI>Eighth</HI> is of the <HI>Bestian Heads,</HI> the <HI>&s;eventh</HI> before it is not.</P>
<PB N="36" REF="28">
<P> But now, as to our Note; this <HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> Empire look'd like an Infracture on the Calendar; for that, a Succe&s;&s;ion was due to the <HI>Feet of Iron,</HI> and <HI>Clay,</HI> and to the <HI>Ten Horns,</HI> and to the <HI>little Horn;</HI> that is; to the <HI>Ten Kings,</HI> and the <HI>Papacy,</HI> as &s;oon as ever the <HI>Legs of Iron,</HI> and <HI>Head</HI> as of the <HI>Teeth of Iron,</HI> that is, the <HI>Pagan Empire</HI> was depriv'd of &s;upreme Power; &s;o that this&punc; Chri&s;tian Empire according to <HI>Daniels</HI> Vi&s;ions was to have dyed, as &s;oon as it was born.</P>
<P><HI>Prophecy</HI> therefore, as it were remembring in the <HI>New Te&s;ta|ment,</HI> what it &s;elf had &s;aid in the <HI>Old,</HI> and, as con&s;cious of the <HI>&s;hort &s;pace, This Empire</HI> was to continue; and knowing well, That there were four <HI>Trumpets of War</HI> decreed, and prepar'd, as Storms and Tempe&s;ts to remove it; in the very next <HI>Vi&s;ion</HI> to that of <HI>Heatheni&s;m de&s;olated,</HI> which was <HI>Revel.</HI> 6. la&s;t; It pre|&s;ents four <HI>Angels,</HI> c. 7. 1. <HI>Holding the four Winds,</HI> that They &s;hould not blow by tho&s;e <HI>Trumpets,</HI> c. 8. and a charge is given them, to take heed to their Commi&s;&s;ion, that they &s;hould not let out tho&s;e <HI>Winds,</HI> until the <HI>Servants of God were &s;ealed in their Foreheads;</HI> that is, That the <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire</HI> &s;hould continue, and continue in Glory, and Peace, till Things were prepared for the <HI>Succe&s;&s;ion</HI> of <HI>Antichri&s;t,</HI> that <HI>Man of Sin,</HI> or <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> as this <HI>Prophecy</HI> &s;tyles Him; and as we &s;hall find pre&s;ently, that <HI>&s;eal|ing</HI> of the <HI>Servants of God</HI> in the <HI>Forehead</HI> imported; Till the <HI>Feet</HI> of <HI>Clay</HI> then were ready for their Succe&s;&s;ion, the <HI>Feet of Iron</HI> &s;hould not &s;ucceed; for they were <HI>Feet</HI> together, though of &s;o different a Mettal, and not to <HI>cleave;</HI> nor the <HI>Ten Horns,</HI> till the <HI>little Horn,</HI> though in another appearance. <HI>viz.</HI> of a <HI>Head</HI> in the <HI>New Te&s;tament-Prophecy,</HI> &s;hould be ready for his&punc; Succe&s;&s;ion al&s;o; for at the &s;ame <HI>Hour</HI> Both were to <HI>receive Power.</HI></P>
<P>Now what does this &s;o peremptory Charge import, but a <HI>miraculous,</HI> as it were, and immediate over-rule of the natu|ral cour&s;e of Things, according to <HI>Daniels Vi&s;ions?</HI> and the ver|tue of it la&s;ted in full force from the <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire</HI> of <HI>Con&s;tan|tine the Great,</HI> till the Death of <HI>Theodo&s;ius the Great.</HI> Then there was &s;uch a Relaxation of this Charge, that the <HI>Angels prepared</HI> Them&s;elves to <HI>&s;ound,</HI> but did no more, then prepare.</P>
<P>Now how agreeable is this to <HI>Hi&s;tory?</HI> &s;oon after <HI>Theodo&s;ius</HI>'s <HI>Death,</HI> the&s;e Clouds and Storms began to hover and hang, but did not fall, in their full effect of <HI>doing the Chri&s;tian Empire</HI> out <HI>of the middle,</HI> as the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> &s;peaks, 2. <HI>The&s;&s;.</HI> 2. 7. where it &s;tood as a
<PB N="37" REF="28"> <HI>Wall of partition</HI> betwixt the <HI>Be&s;tian Times</HI> of the <HI>Pagan Empire,</HI> and the Times of the <HI>Antichri&s;tian Be&s;tian Empire,</HI> that They could not meet; but then according to <HI>Daniels Prophecy</HI> ex|pounded by the <HI>Revelation,</HI> They clos'd; for then the <HI>Dragon,</HI> or <HI>Pagan Empire</HI> gave its <HI>Throne,</HI> and <HI>Great Authority</HI> to <HI>Anti|chri&s;t,</HI> or the <HI>Be&s;tian Empire,</HI> and the <HI>Antichri&s;tian Times</HI> began&punc; And thus the <HI>man of Sin</HI> was <HI>held back,</HI> as the Apo&s;tle &s;aid, that <HI>He might be revealed in his own Time,</HI> and the <HI>middle Time</HI> being of an arbitrary interpo&s;al, but Divine, is, an Inter-reign of no Account in the <HI>Be&s;tian Empire,</HI> but all comes naturally toge|ther, that the <HI>Dragon,</HI> as was &s;aid, <HI>Gave his Throne, &amp;c.</HI> as if there had been no Interruption.</P>
<P>And how decorous now to the <HI>Type</HI> is All the State of Things, as to the <HI>Heathen Empire</HI> remov'd!</P>
<P N="1">1. It was ab&s;olutely nece&s;&s;ary to the Succe&s;&s;ion of the <HI>Papa|cy,</HI> the <HI>Heathen Empire</HI> &s;hould be removed; It was then mo&s;t de|corous, it &s;hould be <HI>done</HI> by a <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire,</HI> the <HI>Emblem</HI> of the <HI>Kingdom of Christ,</HI> and not that the <HI>Feet,</HI> and <HI>Toes of Iron</HI> of the <HI>Roman Be&s;tian Empire</HI> &s;hould ravage on the <HI>Legs</HI> of <HI>Iron,</HI> nor the <HI>Horns of the &s;eventh Head</HI> on the <HI>&s;ixth Head,</HI> which ac|cording to <HI>prophetic</HI> Repre&s;entation kindly yielded the Suc|ce&s;&s;ion to it, as was &s;aid.</P>
<P N="2">2. The <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire</HI> gave Great Advantage to the <HI>Feet of Clay,</HI> or the <HI>Antichri&s;tian Hierarchy</HI> to negotiate their own power by the Favour of Chri&s;tian Emperors, and their Donations of Titles, and Revenues to Chri&s;tian <HI>Bi&s;hops,</HI> and to a Chri&s;tian <HI>Clergy,</HI> as they affected to be call'd.</P>
<P>And Shoales of People then coming in to the <HI>Princes Religion,</HI> there was a conde&s;cending to the <HI>Pagan Divi, con&s;ecrated Tem|ples, Holy-days, Prie&s;ts, Pontiffs, Rites to the Dead, Images;</HI> So, that Re&s;emblances were found for them of a Chri&s;tian Name, until Things came to that pa&s;s, that the Servants of God were <HI>&s;eal'd,</HI> that is, the true <HI>Chri&s;tian Glory</HI> was &s;tay'd, <HI>&s;eal'd up,</HI> and re&s;erv'd to the future Time of the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem,</HI> and &s;ecur'd for that again&s;t <HI>Antichri&s;tian Contagion;</HI> The <HI>Gentiles</HI> in <HI>Pagan Rites</HI> enter'd into the <HI>outward Court,</HI> or <HI>Profe&s;&s;ion</HI> of the <HI>Chri&s;tian Name,</HI> and the <HI>True Wor&s;hippers</HI> retir'd into the <HI>Temple;</HI> The <HI>Witne&s;&s;es</HI> put on their <HI>Sackcloth,</HI> out of whith they are not yet, and the True <HI>Chri&s;tian Church fled into the Wilderne&s;s,</HI> in which it is &s;till <HI>Hid,</HI> though not &s;o clo&s;e, &s;ince the <HI>Reformation,</HI> but yet waits the perfection of the Reformation; All which are
<PB N="38" REF="29"> Expre&s;&s;ions of the <HI>Antichri&s;tian</HI> Succe&s;&s;ion, together with the <HI>Ten Kings,</HI> and for which the <HI>Trumpets</HI> were &s;tay'd from <HI>&s;ounding,</HI> till he who judg'd Righteou&s;ly of the True <HI>Epoch</HI> of the <HI>Apo|&s;ta&s;ie,</HI> gave them leave to <HI>&s;ound.</HI></P>
<P>In the &s;econd place, as to the <HI>removing of the Chri&s;tian Empire,</HI> how admirably fitted are the Types al&s;o! For &s;eeing the <HI>Be&s;ti|an Supremacy</HI> in the <HI>&s;eventh Papal Head,</HI> and the <HI>Ten Kings</HI> could not be, till all Light of the <HI>Sun, Moon,</HI> and <HI>Stars</HI> of the <HI>Chri&s;ti|an Empire</HI> were <HI>darkned,</HI> and the <HI>Empire</HI> it &s;elf <HI>quench'd,</HI> as a <HI>Lamp in Water,</HI> and <HI>Rome</HI> &s;o often taken, and re-taken; that it had no Title of <HI>Supremacy</HI> over it, but that of <HI>Bi&s;hop;</HI> and the whole Glory of the <HI>Empire</HI> bla&s;ted, as by <HI>Hail mingled with Fire;</HI> who &s;o fit to do this, as <HI>Barbarian Nations,</HI> whom Pro|phecy brands as the In&s;truments of <HI>Sathan,</HI> the <HI>Dragon per&s;ecu|ting the Woman</HI> the <HI>Church,</HI> that <HI>brought forth the manly Child,</HI> and who were to be the <HI>Horns of the Antichri&s;tian Bea&s;t,</HI> by who&s;e Mediation the <HI>Dragon</HI> gave his power to Him?</P>
<P>But this <HI>Empire,</HI> however it carried the Name of <HI>Chri&s;tian,</HI> and bore the <HI>Emblem of the Kingdom of Chri&s;t &s;till,</HI> as <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> even after the <HI>Crucifying of Chri&s;t</HI> was call'd the <HI>Holy City,</HI> yet it was &s;o deeply by this Time <HI>Antichri&s;tianiz'd,</HI> that the Judg|ment of God admini&s;ter'd by the&s;e <HI>barbarous Nations</HI> did indeed pur&s;ue it. For he abhor'd the <HI>Idolatrous</HI> Pro&s;titutions, and Re|lap&s;es to <HI>Pagani&s;m</HI> under the di&s;gui&s;e of Antichri&s;tiani&s;m, from which he had &s;o wonderfully re&s;cued it.</P>
<P>As therefore of old, He gave up <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> to be either <HI>Captivated</HI> or de&s;troyed by <HI>litteral Babylon,</HI> on who&s;e <HI>Idolatries</HI> it doted; even &s;o He now delivered up the <HI>Chri&s;tian Church,</HI> and <HI>Empire,</HI> as &s;o <HI>Antichri&s;tianiz'd</HI> to be either <HI>de&s;troyed,</HI> or <HI>en&s;la|ved</HI> by tho&s;e <HI>Feet of Iron</HI> and <HI>Clay,</HI> and that <HI>&s;eventh Head,</HI> and its <HI>Ten Horns;</HI> &s;o that what Sathan did with a Helli&s;h malice, God mo&s;t Righteou&s;ly, and Supremely, though mo&s;t &s;evere|ly executed by Him.</P>
<P>And thus we have brought down the <HI>Calendar,</HI> and &s;ettled it on that great <HI>pillar of Time,</HI> the <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire,</HI> Inaugurated in <HI>Constantine,</HI> Illu&s;trated a new in the great <HI>Theodo&s;e</HI> and <HI>Vaca|ted</HI> in <HI>Augustulus,</HI> from which as we &s;hall find the <HI>man of &s;in</HI> in <HI>his own Times,</HI> as the <HI>Apostle</HI> calls them, commencing, and of which we have a numeral <HI>Calendar</HI> given us by <HI>Prophecy.</HI> And the Time where we are to begin, we are mo&s;t certain of by <HI>History;</HI> That it was clo&s;e to 475, from whence there|fore
<PB N="39" REF="29"> it is to be dated, for then <HI>Augustulus</HI> was compell'd to <HI>Abdicate Empire.</HI> Then therefore <HI>Antichristian Times</HI> began, as I &s;hall now go on to make out and to &s;hew the &s;tate of Things from that Time going on, till now; as we all in great mea&s;ure mu&s;t needs know to be very <HI>Astoni&s;hingly</HI> agreeing with <HI>Prophecy.</HI></P>
<P>I have now, I &s;ay, brought down the <HI>Calendar</HI> in my own Judgment, and I offer it to the Judgment of all the Serious, (&s;uppo&s;ing it acording to the <HI>Spirit of God,</HI> and therefore un|deniable) to the <HI>fourth Roman Monarchy,</HI> e&s;tabli&s;h'd upon an <HI>Article of Faith,</HI> at the <HI>Crucifixion</HI> of <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t;</HI> I have led it from thence through the <HI>Pagan State</HI> of it, of which a <HI>Dra|gon watching</HI> a <HI>Manly birth</HI> to devour it, is an <HI>Emblem</HI> &s;o &s;ignifi|cant of the dreadful <HI>Per&s;ecutions</HI> for above 300 years after <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> as to be even demon&s;trative; and &s;o conducted it to the <HI>Chri|&s;tian Empire,</HI> of which the <HI>Dragon ca&s;t out</HI> of <HI>Heaven</HI> and a <HI>Man|ly Child</HI> caught up to the <HI>Throne of God,</HI> in a <HI>Kingdom</HI> decreed him as in <HI>Heaven</HI> (though not immediately Appearing on Earth, as is manife&s;t by the <HI>Churches flying into the Wilderne&s;s)</HI> is an <HI>Emblem</HI> &s;o Beautiful, and Inviting, as not to be refus'd.</P>
<P>And if we do but yield that, to be the <HI>Emblem</HI> of the <HI>Roman Monarchy,</HI> fir&s;t per&s;ecuting <HI>Chri&s;tianity,</HI> and then it &s;elf becom|ming <HI>Chri&s;tian,</HI> we are of nece&s;&s;ity concluded, that either that <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire</HI> was all the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t,</HI> or that the <HI>Ro|man Monarchy</HI> is that <HI>Roman Fourth Monarchy</HI> &s;till in a direct op|po&s;ition to the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t;</HI> For &s;o the <HI>Fourth Monarchy</HI> mu&s;t be the <HI>fourth Monarchy</HI> till then, and if the <HI>Roman</HI> be the <HI>Fourth,</HI> that mu&s;t be &s;o.</P>
<P>Now that that <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire</HI> is not the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t,</HI> we mu&s;t needs know, becau&s;e it did not <HI>con&s;ume all other King|doms,</HI> and becau&s;e that of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> &s;hall never end, but that of a <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire</HI> would <HI>continue</HI> but a <HI>&s;hort &s;pace;</HI> About an 150 years was the bounds of it. And violently it was made to cea&s;e by the <HI>Barbarian Force,</HI> which <HI>Prophecy</HI> calls the <HI>Dragon per|&s;ecuting</HI> that <HI>Chri&s;tian Church,</HI> that brought forth as a &s;hort <HI>Emblem</HI> of the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t</HI> in that <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire,</HI> the <HI>Manly</HI> Birth, <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> as a Soveraign.</P>
<P>And lea&s;t we &s;hould think, it had a &s;ucce&s;&s;ion, and &s;o an endurance in the <HI>Papacy</HI> and <HI>Chri&s;tian Kings,</HI> and <HI>Emperours</HI> that ro&s;e out of its ruins, we find according to <HI>Prophecy;</HI> All
<PB N="40" REF="30"> that &s;ucce&s;&s;ion is involv'd in the dark Portraictture of a <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> and its <HI>Ten Horns;</HI> That true <HI>Chri&s;tianity,</HI> that brought forth that <HI>Empire,</HI> is clo&s;e <HI>Hid in the Wilderne&s;s,</HI> for 1260 years, till the end of which it cannot return; be&s;ides, even that <HI>Papal &s;tate</HI> &s;uppo&s;e it had been a &s;ucce&s;&s;ion of a <HI>Chri&s;tian Kingdom;</HI> It hath been, if I may &s;o &s;peak, <HI>Woe Trumpetted</HI> by the <HI>Saracens,</HI> and <HI>Turks,</HI> for &s;o great a &s;pace, that as hath been &s;aid, it could not be the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t,</HI> and therefore mu&s;t be the <HI>Kingdom of Antichri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>For &s;o we find the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> as an <HI>Eighth King</HI> &s;ucceeded the <HI>Seventh</HI> or <HI>Chri&s;tian King</HI> after a <HI>&s;hort &s;pace,</HI> and the very &s;ame <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> of the <HI>Seventh Head</HI> &s;ucceeded the <HI>Sixth Pagan King wounded in his Head,</HI> &s;o his &s;ucce&s;&s;ion was double; In Time, He &s;ucceeded the <HI>Chri&s;tian Emperour;</HI> as <HI>Be&s;tian,</HI> He &s;ucceeded the <HI>Pagan &s;ixth King,</HI> who according to <HI>Daniel</HI> gave him his <HI>Throne, Power,</HI> and <HI>great Authority.</HI> For the <HI>Papacy</HI> in his <HI>Ten Kingdoms,</HI> devoted to him, is a <HI>Pagan Chri&s;tian,</HI> or <HI>Antichri&s;ti|an Supremacy;</HI> Thus it was, and thus it ought to be, that <HI>Pro|phecy might be fulfill'd.</HI></P>
<P>Thus far then we are mo&s;t a&s;&s;ured, whatever &s;ucceeded the <HI>Pagan Empire</HI> in Time, was the &s;hort &s;pac'd <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire;</HI> whatever &s;ucceeded the &s;hort <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire</HI> in Time mu&s;t be the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> that notwith&s;tanding the Interpo&s;al of the <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire</HI> is united according to <HI>Daniel</HI> to the <HI>fourth Be&s;tian King|dom,</HI> and according to the <HI>Revelation</HI> to the <HI>Dragon;</HI> And &s;eeing no other &s;ucceeded the <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire</HI> in Time, but the <HI>Papacy,</HI> and the <HI>Ten Kings;</HI> Therefore that is the Continu|ation of the <HI>fourth Monarchy</HI> in the <HI>Image,</HI> as <HI>Feet of Clay</HI> and <HI>of Iron;</HI> and in the vi&s;ion <HI>of the Bea&s;ts,</HI> as the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> and <HI>Ten Horns,</HI> and remains, and &s;hall remain &s;o, until it &s;hall be <HI>Broken</HI> by the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE N="3" UNIT="Period."> Our <HI>Calendar</HI> Reaches down to 475. by <HI>Prophe|cy</HI> and by <HI>Hi&s;tory;</HI> and here there enters a <HI>Be&s;tian</HI> &s;tate which will take up more then Half the Time, from the giving of the&s;e <HI>vi&s;ions</HI> to <HI>Daniel;</HI> and a Moyety, or thereabouts of the whole Time, that the <HI>fourth Kingdom</HI> had &s;o much, as a Being, even at the <HI>&V;rbs Condita,</HI> or the building of the <HI>Roman City;</HI> more then the Time thrice over, that it came into this <HI>Calendar,</HI> which was at the Ce&s;&s;ation of the <HI>Graecian Empire.</HI></P>
<P>Becau&s;e therefore this Time would be &s;o long, it plea&s;ed the infinite wi&s;dom, and goodne&s;s of <HI>Holy Spirit</HI> of <HI>Prophecy,</HI> to
<PB N="41" REF="30"> give &s;ome light before hand to his Servants, how long this Time &s;hould la&s;t; It pleas'd it, I &s;ay, to give here a <HI>Numeral</HI> though a <HI>my&s;tic Calendar,</HI> even ju&s;t here, and to tell us, that <HI>Laws</HI> and <HI>Times</HI> &s;hould be given for <HI>Time, Times,</HI> and the <HI>divi|ding of Time</HI> into the <HI>Hand of the little Horn.</HI></P>
<P>And why, &s;eeing were are bound to <HI>&s;earch</HI> as far as we can, <HI>what,</HI> and <HI>what manner of Time,</HI> the <HI>Spirit of Chri&s;t</HI> did <HI>&s;ignifie,</HI> was it given here, rather then in any other part of the <HI>vi&s;ion of the Bea&s;ts,</HI> if it had not been the plea&s;ure of God, that we &s;hould know before hand, how long this la&s;t <HI>Be&s;tian</HI> &s;tate &s;hould exi&s;t?</P>
<P>For if we had been to wait the event onely; There had been le&s;s need of a <HI>Calendar</HI> here, then in any other part of the <HI>vi&s;ion:</HI> For the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t,</HI> immediately comming into its &s;ucce&s;&s;ion, after the Times of this la&s;t <HI>Roman</HI> &s;tate; It will give a more Indubitable Re&s;ound of its event than any other event of the vi&s;ion can be &s;uppos'd to do; It was certainly therefore given to define Time before hand.</P>
<P>But if with the Comment of <HI>Prophecy</HI> it &s;elf in the <HI>Revela|tion,</HI> it were not to be under&s;tood, Then it mu&s;t be given to no end; Let us therefore be encouraged to &s;earch it; For it is cer|tainly to be under&s;tood, as I hope we &s;hall find.</P>
<P>And that we may under&s;tand it, The&s;e Two Things are nece&s;&s;ary: 1. To expound the <HI>Calendar</HI> in its <HI>Epoch,</HI> or be|ginning, and in its ju&s;t Cour&s;e, Extent, and <HI>Period:</HI> and then, Secondly, to Adju&s;t by the <HI>Symbols of Prophecy,</HI> and the mo&s;t noble A&s;&s;urances of <HI>Hi&s;tory,</HI> or rather of our own knowledge and Experience (The Things being much in Being, and Ex|i&s;tence at this Day) the Congruity of Events according to it, &s;o far as They are already pa&s;s'd, and thereby to derive the mo&s;t a&s;certain'd Expectations, of what is yet to come.</P>
<P>Now that we may do the fir&s;t, it is nece&s;&s;ary, that we con|cert <HI>Time, Times, Half a Time</HI> with <HI>Forty two Months,</HI> which are the <HI>Apocalyptick Calendar</HI> for the <HI>Regnancies</HI> of the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> and his <HI>Ten Horns</HI> or various <HI>Kingdoms</HI> according to the Re&s;emblance of the <HI>Ten Toes</HI> in the <HI>Image;</HI> which have been already prov'd to be in an immediate &s;ucce&s;&s;ion to the <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire.</HI></P>
<P>In the fir&s;t place therefore, we mu&s;t ob&s;erve the Corre&s;pon|dence betwixt the <HI>Time, Times,</HI> and <HI>Half a Time,</HI> and the <HI>Forty two Months;</HI> Let therefore <HI>Time</HI> &s;ignifie a year, according to that note, <HI>Prophecy</HI> hath undoubtedly on purpo&s;e provided us with, of <HI>Seven Times pa&s;&s;ing</HI> over the <HI>Head</HI> of <HI>Nebuchadnezzar</HI> in
<PB N="42" REF="31"> his <HI>Lunacy;</HI> for that Times &s;hould be more than Years, the cour&s;e of his Conque&s;ts till within about Ten years of his Death will not allow; for in the <HI>Twenty &s;eventh year</HI> of <HI>Jehoia|chins Captivity,</HI> He made, as it appears, his la&s;t Conque&s;t, and had been as we may perceive by <HI>Ezekiels Prophecy</HI> in a continu|al cour&s;e of Victory to that Time, as hath been more at large in a former Di&s;cour&s;e di&s;cu&s;&s;ed. Now that <HI>Twenty &s;eventh of Jehoiach.</HI> mu&s;t be the Thirty fifth of <HI>Nebuchad.</HI> for <HI>Jehoiakims Third</HI> was his <HI>Fir&s;t;</HI> Add therefore the la&s;t eight of <HI>Jehoiakim</HI> to <HI>Jehoiachims Twenty &s;eventh,</HI> they make <HI>Nebuch.</HI> Thirty fifth; and <HI>Evilmerodachs</HI> Fir&s;t, who according to Scripture &s;ucceeded <HI>Ne|buchadnezzar</HI> his Father, falling on <HI>Jehoiachins Thirty &s;eventh;</HI> there remained Ten to <HI>Nebuch.</HI> when <HI>Ezekiel prophe&s;ied</HI> his <HI>Con|que&s;t of Egypt,</HI> within which Ten the <HI>&s;even</HI> of his <HI>Delirium</HI> mu&s;t be comprehended; the &s;even Times therefore could not &s;igni|fic more, then <HI>&s;even Years.</HI> For his Life we &s;ee would not allow more; nor can They in any fair &s;uppo&s;al &s;ignifie le&s;s, there being no determinate mea&s;ure of Time, worthy to be call'd <HI>Times,</HI> except Months; and &s;even Months is a Time much too &s;hort for his being turn'd out, as among the <HI>Bea&s;ts;</HI> or that the <HI>&s;tump,</HI> or little &s;hort Time of his Reign &s;hould be &s;o <HI>Banded with Iron,</HI> that It might be &s;ecur'd to Him. Now I have thus indu&s;triou&s;ly debated this Matter, becau&s;e I would gain by it that, I think cannot now be deny'd; That a Time in Time, Times, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> denotes a year. If then a <HI>Time</HI> de|notes a year, <HI>Times</HI> joyn'd with <HI>Half a Time</HI> mu&s;t denote two Years, becau&s;e there is no <HI>medium</HI> betwixt One <HI>Time,</HI> and <HI>Half a Time,</HI> but two <HI>Times</HI> or two years; &s;o that the whole is Three years and a half.</P>
<P>Let us then calculate the <HI>forty two Months,</HI> and we find They an&s;wer ju&s;t <HI>Three years,</HI> and a <HI>Half,</HI> &s;o that when we come to find as we &s;hall do all along, by the compare, that the <HI>little Horn</HI> among the <HI>Ten Horns</HI> in <HI>Daniel,</HI> and the <HI>Bea&s;t in the Re|velation,</HI> however they may &s;eem to differ, are the very &s;ame; Even the <HI>Forty two Months</HI> will demon&s;trate, that the <HI>Times</HI> and <HI>Half</HI> are <HI>three Years and Half,</HI> as <HI>forty two Months</HI> in general Ac|count make.</P>
<P>Now if They are <HI>Three Years,</HI> and a <HI>Half,</HI> we know certain|ly They mu&s;t be <HI>prophetically multiplyed,</HI> according to the &s;tan|dard of All <HI>prophetical Time,</HI> given to <HI>Ezekiel, c.</HI> 4. except there be a plain Rea&s;on again&s;t it; each day of each year mu&s;t be|come
<PB N="43" REF="31"> a <HI>Year.</HI> Be&s;ides no Time &s;o &s;mall, as <HI>Three years</HI> and a <HI>Half</HI> can &s;erve &s;uch a <HI>Kingdom,</HI> as that of the <HI>Bea&s;t's.</HI></P>
<P>The General &s;en&s;e of the <HI>Calendar</HI> then, being thus e&s;tabli&s;h'd, the next thing to be done is to fix the <HI>Epoch of the Calendar,</HI> which is as it were the Foundation, of every <HI>Calendar.</HI></P>
<P>Now &s;eeing the <HI>Prophecy</HI> of the <HI>New Te&s;tament</HI> gives, as we have found, &s;o clear an Account of the Time of the <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire</HI> interpo&s;ed to the <HI>Roman Be&s;tian Empire</HI> betwixt the <HI>Pa|gan,</HI> and the <HI>Antichri&s;tian,</HI> of which <HI>Daniel</HI> &s;ays nothing; we may from thence learn the mo&s;t preci&s;e, and definite Time of the Succe&s;&s;ion.</P>
<P>And It is evident, The Succe&s;&s;ion mu&s;t be immediately af|ter the <HI>Abdication</HI> of <HI>Empire</HI> by <HI>Augu&s;tulus,</HI> which was the very Time of the decea&s;e of the <HI>&s;eventh King;</HI> and therefore, as clo&s;e as Succe&s;&s;ion is to Succe&s;&s;ion, &s;o clo&s;e mu&s;t be the <HI>Antichri&s;tian Empire</HI> to the <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire.</HI> For &s;o the general Laws of Suc|ce&s;&s;ion require.</P>
<P>And much more when God interpos'd an <HI>Empire,</HI> that &s;hould be an <HI>Emblem</HI> of the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t</HI> till that was <HI>done out of the mid&s;t</HI> by an Ordination, as Supreme, as It was there &s;et, there could be no Succe&s;&s;ion, &s;o that It could not be till <HI>Abdi|cation.</HI> Thus on one &s;ide.</P>
<P>On the other &s;ide, &s;eeing It was an unnatural Interpo&s;al be|twixt the <HI>Pagan-be&s;tian</HI> and the <HI>Antichri&s;tian-be&s;tian Kingdom,</HI> as &s;oon as ever that <HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> Empire was according to that mo&s;t pregnant Expre&s;&s;ion of the <HI>Apo&s;tle done</HI> out of the <HI>mid&s;t,</HI> That Separation and di&s;tance made as it were by <HI>violence</HI> and not <HI>willingly</HI> betwixt <HI>Be&s;tian</HI> and <HI>Be&s;tian</HI> clos'd up; and as in the moment, <HI>Be&s;tian</HI> reunited to <HI>Be&s;tian,</HI> as by an <HI>Ela&s;tic</HI> force of &s;elf Re&s;titution; &s;o that the Succe&s;&s;ion could be no longer de|lay'd, then ju&s;t the <HI>Abdication</HI> of <HI>Augu&s;tulus.</HI></P>
<P>And by the way we may ob&s;erve, <HI>Abdication,</HI> whether out of fear, and nece&s;&s;ity, or a de&s;ertion out of Re&s;olution, rather to part with Government, than to govern according to the fundamental contract of Government, is a <HI>doing</HI> a Government <HI>out of the mid&s;t,</HI> and makes a good, and valid Succe&s;&s;ion, in Gods Account, even where He had &s;o particularly order'd a Suc|ce&s;&s;ion, becau&s;e Government is &s;o nece&s;&s;ary, that no <HI>vacuum</HI> can be allowed<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Opor<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="2 letters">t Impera<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="2 letters">|rem &s;tan|tem, R<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">|gem regen|rem Em<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">ri&punc;</NOTE>; The <HI>Powers</HI> therefore, that are <HI>Powers in Being,</HI> and in the actual Execution of Ju&s;tice, are <HI>ordained of God,</HI> and to be obey'd. <HI>Rom.</HI> 13. 1. 2.</P>
<PB N="44" REF="32">
<P> For thus it appears here, the <HI>&s;eventh King</HI> was, according to <HI>Prophecy,</HI> to <HI>continue</HI> only a &s;hort &s;pace; and being con&s;trained by <HI>Odoacer</HI> the <HI>Barbarian Conqueror</HI> to renounce Government; Him&s;elf took the Title of <HI>King of Italy,</HI> and not of <HI>Rome,</HI> the Providence of God &s;o ordering it, as it were to keep the Suc|ce&s;&s;ion clear; and &s;o the Succe&s;&s;ion immediately ve&s;ted in the <HI>&s;eventh Head</HI> and <HI>Eighth King,</HI> that is, in the <HI>Antichri&s;tian Pa|pacy.</HI></P>
<P>And of this, the <HI>Sacred Prophecy</HI> gives all the Te&s;timony po&s;&s;ible; for when it gives a <HI>&s;eries of Kings,</HI> One after another, and &s;ays <HI>Five were fallen, One is, Another is not yet,</HI> and when <HI>He</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Revel. 17. 10.</NOTE> <HI>comes,</HI> mu&s;t <HI>continue a &s;hort &s;pace;</HI> and the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> is the <HI>Eighth;</HI> It is plainly to &s;ay, though in other words, <HI>The Eighth King,</HI> who ever He is, that is the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> &s;ucceeded immediately to the <HI>&s;eventh,</HI> who was the Chri&s;tian King or Emperor. Now &s;eeing whoever was the Supreme of <HI>Rome</HI> all along hitherto, and mu&s;t continue &s;o till the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t,</HI> mu&s;t have &s;uc|ceeded the <HI>Chri&s;tian Emperor,</HI> and been the <HI>Bea&s;t;</HI> I do but ask then, who hath demanded, claim'd, and been defended by the <HI>Ten Kings,</HI> as Supreme of the <HI>City Rome</HI> for hundreds of years? He mu&s;t be <HI>This Bea&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>Again, becau&s;e the <HI>Ten Kings</HI> as <HI>Feet of Iron</HI> with the <HI>Feet of Clay,</HI> and as <HI>Horns</HI> with the <HI>Head,</HI> were to have a Succe&s;&s;ion at equal dates with the <HI>&s;eventh Head,</HI> and <HI>Eighth King,</HI> the <HI>Pro|phecy</HI> having &s;o definitively given the Time of the <HI>Bea&s;ts Suc|ce&s;&s;ion;</HI> that it was, whenever the <HI>&s;eventh Head</HI> ceas'd; It gives al&s;o the Time of their Succe&s;&s;ion, that It was at the very &s;ame Time, even at<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">. The like man|ner of de|fining Time is other Times u&s;ed in the <HI>New Te&s;tament.</HI> John 4. 52. Acts 10. 30.</NOTE> <HI>One Hour</HI> with the <HI>Bea&s;ts Receiving Power;</HI> That is; At the very &s;ame Time, the <HI>Bea&s;t received Power,</HI> They <HI>received Power</HI> al&s;o, for they <HI>received Power at one Hour with the Bea&s;t;</HI> and therefore the <HI>Feet of Iron,</HI> and of <HI>Clay,</HI> and the <HI>Head</HI> and the <HI>Ten Horns</HI> together <HI>received Power</HI> immediately upon the <HI>Abdication</HI> of the <HI>Chri&s;tian Emperor,</HI> which was at 475. The &s;ame Phra&s;e or manner of &s;peaking is therefore us'd concern|ing both; <HI>Power</HI> was given to the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> to <HI>continue Forty two Months,</HI> That He might <HI>do</HI> all Things &s;poken of Him from Fir&s;t to La&s;t. He had <HI>Power</HI> to <HI>continue forty two Months,</HI> or<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 13. 5. <GAP DESC="foreign"></NOTE> for his whole Action; <HI>Power</HI> was <HI>given to Him,</HI> during the &s;pace of <HI>Forty two Months;</HI> &s;o the <HI>Ten Horns received Power</HI> as <HI>Kings,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 17. 12.</NOTE> though They had a motion and violent Action before, yet as in the <HI>Apo&s;tles</HI> Time, They had no <HI>Kingdom,</HI> &s;o They had no
<PB N="45" REF="32"> Right of Succe&s;&s;ion until the <HI>Beast received Power;</HI> and They then <HI>received Power</HI> as <HI>Kings</HI> of a lawful Succe&s;&s;ion, even <HI>at one</HI> and the <HI>&s;ame Hour</HI> with the <HI>Bea&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>And now &s;eeing the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> and the <HI>Ten Kings received Power together,</HI> there mu&s;t be &s;ome very <HI>Cardinal Time</HI> for them to <HI>re|ceive their Power in;</HI> the <HI>Ten Kings</HI> altogether with one another; and then, They altogether with the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> and the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> to|gether with every one of them; This, I &s;ay, cannot be in Rea&s;on &s;uppo&s;ed without &s;ome &s;upreme, and eminent De&s;ig|nation of <HI>Prophecy</HI> concerning the Time, when It &s;hould be, and when God would be pleas'd to have it &s;o accounted to be; for could &s;o many <HI>Kings,</HI> who by various Accidents and Emer|gents of War aro&s;e to <HI>Kingly Power,</HI> &s;ome at one Time, and &s;ome at another, be &s;uppos'd to <HI>receive Power together</HI> at <HI>one,</HI> and the &s;ame <HI>Hour,</HI> Hi&s;torically, and in matter of Fact? Be&s;ides, according to all <HI>Hi&s;tory,</HI> It was not &s;o; &s;ome of the&s;e <HI>Kingdoms</HI> got up much &s;ooner, then others; It is therefore on a <HI>Propheti|cal Account,</HI> and on po&s;itive determination of the Time by Divine Authority; God, by <HI>whom Kings Reign,</HI> and who dates <HI>Kingdoms,</HI> as He plea&s;es, dated the <HI>Power of the Bea&s;t,</HI> and the Power of the&s;e <HI>Ten Kings;</HI> All to an <HI>Hour;</HI> and He hath told us, when It was; It was, when that peculiar <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire of Rome</HI> He had &s;et up, was by his <HI>Providence</HI> &s;uper&s;eded; be|fore that, though the&s;e <HI>Kings were Kings,</HI> and the <HI>Bi&s;hop of Rome Bi&s;hop of Rome;</HI> yet they were <HI>Kings,</HI> and the <HI>Pope of Rome Pope of Rome under one Imperial Head,</HI> who &s;tood by Divine Ap|pointment as their Supreme Lord; He was their <HI>Head</HI> by a <HI>Divine Right;</HI> and They All under Him, and in that Right in a dependence upon him, even as <HI>Herod</HI> on <HI>Augu&s;tus,</HI> though not in Fact; for He, who gives the <HI>Kingdoms of the Earth</HI> to whom <HI>He plea&s;es,</HI> declares &s;o; and tells us, The <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> came into his <HI>Hour</HI> as an <HI>Eighth King,</HI> when the <HI>&s;eventh</HI> gave up; and though the <HI>&s;ixth Head,</HI> or <HI>Pagan Emperor</HI> was gone off &s;o long before, yet as in the Water, or Air, when the interpo|&s;ing Body is removed, the ambient Air, and Water from eve|ry &s;ide immediately clap together; &s;o the <HI>Be&s;tian Pagan,</HI> and the <HI>Be&s;tian Antichri&s;tian Kingdom</HI> does, when the <HI>Chri&s;tian Em|pire</HI> was <HI>done</HI> in the <HI>Apo&s;tles Phra&s;e,</HI> &s;o full of this Sen&s;e, <HI>Out of the mid&s;t.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<P>Having therefore clear'd, and made Good the Epoch of the <HI>Time, Times, Half Time,</HI> I will now before I proceed to con|&s;ider
<PB N="46" REF="33"> their extent, &s;hew how great the Agreement of what we have &s;een in the &s;tate of the <HI>Roman Empire,</HI> &s;ince the <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire</HI> in it was <HI>done out of the mid&s;t,</HI> how great, I &s;ay, the Agreement of it with <HI>Prophecy</HI> is, which will make good that Solid, Sub&s;tantial part of the <HI>Calendar,</HI> and &s;hew us, How plainly Time hath run on according to the Aqueducts, and Chanels foretold to it &s;o long before in the&s;e following Ob&s;er|vations.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="1" UNIT="Ob&s;ervat."> Let us then ob&s;erve the <HI>Papacy,</HI> the <HI>Cardinali&s;m,</HI> the <HI>Epi&s;copacy,</HI> the whole <HI>Roman Hierarchy,</HI> and their depen|dencies in &s;o great numbers on the one &s;ide; and on the other the &s;everal <HI>Kingdoms,</HI> into which the <HI>Roman Empire</HI> hath been &s;o long and is &s;till parted, with the warlike <HI>Kings,</HI> and Peo|ple thereof; And I may appeal to all the World, whether there could be a fitter <HI>Emblem,</HI> or Repre&s;entation on both parts, then <HI>Feet, part of Iron, part of Clay;</HI> What weaker then the one? What more Potent, and pui&s;&s;ant then the other? And yet notwith&s;tanding the weakne&s;s of the one, and the pui&s;&s;ance of the other; The <HI>Ten Kings, Agreeing to give their &s;trength, Power,</HI> and <HI>Might,</HI> and their <HI>Kingdom</HI> to <HI>the Bea&s;t,</HI> They make the <HI>Pope</HI> a <HI>Seventh Head</HI> of <HI>Roman Supremacy,</HI> and <HI>&V;niver&s;ality,</HI> and the <HI>Hierarchy Feet,</HI> Foundations of Govern|ment, and of the &s;tate of the World, by being <HI>mingled with the Iron,</HI> however <HI>They do not cleave:</HI> Surely this matter being &s;o well known, as to run into &s;en&s;e; we &s;ee it with our eyes, as to the Event; and the <HI>Emblem,</HI> as ea&s;ie to be under&s;tood, as Familiar, as the Notices of <HI>Iron, Clay, Feet,</HI> of which the <HI>Em|blem</HI> is compos'd are; The attent con&s;ideration then would con|vince even an <HI>Athei&s;t</HI> of the <HI>Truth</HI> of <HI>Scripture Prophecy;</HI> even a <HI>Pa|pi&s;t,</HI> that the <HI>Roman Hierarchy</HI> is intended; how much more then may it convince <HI>Prote&s;tants?</HI></P>
<P>The <HI>Kings</HI> have al&s;o made the <HI>Pope</HI> a <HI>little Horn,</HI> They have given him <HI>Territories, Guards, Forces, Revenues,</HI> as a <HI>King,</HI> pul|ling up the <HI>Gothick,</HI> the <HI>Graecian,</HI> the <HI>Lombardic power,</HI> as <HI>Three Horns before Him,</HI> wherein <HI>Martell, Pipin, Charlemaign</HI> and <HI>Ludovi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">us pius</HI> were his great Benefactors; But all this was but very incon&s;iderable in compare with the re&s;t, as to an <HI>Iron Potentacy,</HI> were it not for the <HI>Spiritual Supremacy,</HI> the Riches of which is Incomputable.</P>
<P>Therefore he <HI>Looks with the Eyes of a man,</HI> as the only <HI>Infalli|ble Seer</HI> of the <HI>Chri&s;tian World;</HI> He hath a <HI>Countenance,</HI> more
<PB N="47" REF="33"> &s;tately then his <HI>Fellows,</HI> the other <HI>Ten Kings;</HI> over whom he hath a <HI>Mouth &s;peaking great Things</HI> in the challenges of <HI>Supreme Dominion,</HI> as the <HI>Vicar of Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> and as in his place, <HI>King of Kings,</HI> and <HI>Lord of Lords;</HI> He hath <HI>Times,</HI> and <HI>Laws given into his Hand,</HI> and a <HI>Calendar of Time</HI> peculiar to Him; He hath been for &s;everal Hundreds of years the <HI>great Leviathan</HI> in the <HI>Chri&s;tian World,</HI> the Chief of the <HI>Sons of Pride,</HI> and of the ways of <HI>Providence,</HI> and God's Government of the World; That a <HI>Horn &s;o weak</HI> in its true <HI>Anatomy,</HI> and Intrin&s;ick value &s;hould have borne &s;uch a &s;way in the <HI>Empire,</HI> and Governments of the Earth, piercing even to the <HI>Indies</HI> and formerly unknown parts of it: who that reads <HI>Daniel</HI> in compare, with what he hath &s;een, known, read, or even heard of the <HI>Papacy</HI> will not rather think, <HI>Daniel</HI> of late <HI>years</HI> took the <HI>Portraicture</HI> and writ the <HI>Character</HI> of the <HI>Papacy,</HI> then &s;poke of it at the di&s;tance of &s;o many Ages before it! But he was guided by Him, to whom all Things, <HI>pa&s;t, pre&s;ent</HI> and <HI>to come</HI> are an even Now.</P>
<P>In the &s;ame manner let us reflect upon the <HI>Cardinali&s;m, Arch-Bi&s;hops,</HI> and <HI>Inferior Clergy</HI> with their Innumerable Train of officers, as on the <HI>Feet of Miry Clay,</HI> the <HI>Bea&s;t ri&s;ing out of the Earth;</HI> more often in their originals, not of the Blood of Kings, and Nobles, weak in their warlike Prowe&s;&s;e, <HI>Prophets teaching lyes,</HI> who are the Tail of Mankind; Yet with the&s;e as with the <HI>Seed of Men,</HI> poor, weak, Incon&s;iderable men, &s;prung from the <HI>Earth,</HI> The <HI>feet of Iron</HI> mingle them&s;elves, and make together the <HI>Feet</HI> of the <HI>Image,</HI> as equally e&s;&s;enti|al parts of Government; and the <HI>Clay</HI> is, as we &s;ay, <HI>Cheek</HI> by <HI>Jole</HI> with them; The&s;e <HI>Merchants of Rome</HI> become the Grands of the Earth; I de&s;ire no other, but a Free, Impartial, Frank Judgment upon the Evidence now given, that the <HI>Papacy,</HI> and <HI>Roman Hierarchy</HI> are mo&s;t lively Repre&s;ented by the long, and &s;o known Conjunction of the <HI>Powers of Clay</HI> in Conjunction with tho&s;e of <HI>Iron,</HI> the Kings, and Princes lying within the <HI>Roman Dition.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE N="2" UNIT="Ob&s;ervat."> Equal to the fir&s;t is the &s;econd Ob&s;ervation, wherein we &s;hall find the pre&s;ent &s;tate of the <HI>Roman Empire,</HI> ty|ed and linck'd to <HI>Prophecy,</HI> both in <HI>Daniel,</HI> and the <HI>Revelation</HI> in that great and Remarkable point of Agreement; <HI>An Image made to the Bea&s;t,</HI> and the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> joyn'd &s;o often after with his <HI>Image,</HI> and the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> and his <HI>Image.</HI></P>
<PB N="48" REF="34">
<P> Let us then reflect on the Famous <HI>Memoir</HI> of <HI>Prophetick Hi&s;to|ry</HI> in the fir&s;t univer&s;al <HI>Monarch;</HI> the <HI>Golden Head of the primi|tive, Litteral Babylon; Nebuchadnezzar</HI> in conceipt of that <HI>mighty Image,</HI> He had &s;een in a <HI>Dream</HI> &s;o divinely expounded, and of which Him&s;elf was the <HI>Head of Gold,</HI> would be <HI>wor&s;hipped,</HI> and obeyed in the Counter-point of that <HI>Image &s;et up,</HI> and whoever would not wor&s;hip that <HI>Image,</HI> was to be <HI>ca&s;t into a fiery Furnace.</HI></P>
<P>In like manner the <HI>other Bea&s;t,</HI> or the <HI>Antichri&s;tian Hierarchy</HI> to rai&s;e up the <HI>Papacy,</HI> as another <HI>Golden Head</HI> of <HI>my&s;tical Baby|lon,</HI> &s;aid (by way of <HI>Oracle,</HI> and with <HI>lying Wonders,</HI> and <HI>bring|ing</HI> down the <HI>Fire</HI> of <HI>divine Vengeance</HI> by <HI>Anathemaes,</HI> and <HI>Ex|communications,</HI> as <HI>from Heaven,)</HI> to the <HI>Be&s;tian people,</HI> that they &s;hould <HI>make an Image</HI> to the Honour and Glory of that <HI>Roman Pagan Idolatrous Empire,</HI> that had &s;uch a <HI>wound by the &s;word of Con&s;tantine,</HI> and <HI>Theodo&s;ius, de&s;troying Pagan Idolatry,</HI> and yet did <HI>Live,</HI> and did &s;o plainly appear to <HI>Live</HI> in the New <HI>Antichri|&s;tian Idolatry;</HI> E&s;pecially in that <HI>Image</HI> now to be <HI>Dedicated</HI> to it; <HI>viz.</HI> a new kind of <HI>Supremacy,</HI> a <HI>Spiritual, Eccle&s;ia&s;tick Supremacy,</HI> that &s;hould have <HI>Power to &s;peak,</HI> and to <HI>Cau&s;e,</HI> That <HI>All who would not wor&s;hip that Image, &s;hould be kill'd.</HI></P>
<P>This I confe&s;s, is in <HI>Daniel</HI> no more, then <HI>Prophetical Ana|logy,</HI> and Allu&s;ion; but in the <HI>Prophecy of the Revelation,</HI> It ri&s;es to the very Height of Argument.</P>
<P>That we may then under&s;tand this great point, let us ve|ry &s;trictly attend the <HI>Prophecy;</HI> and we &s;hall find, that the <HI>Image</HI> is made to the <HI>fir&s;t Beast,</HI> that is, to the <HI>Roman Idolatrous Supre|macy,</HI> con&s;ider'd as one, and the &s;ame <HI>Beast,</HI> though of diffe|rent <HI>Heads;</HI> yet nece&s;&s;arily <HI>One,</HI> and the <HI>&s;ame Bea&s;t</HI> in both the <HI>Pagan</HI> and <HI>Antichri&s;tian Heads,</HI> as if we &s;uppo&s;e a <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> of <HI>Two Heads,</HI> each and both would be the &s;ame <HI>Beast.</HI></P>
<P>But the <HI>Roman Empire,</HI> con&s;idered as <HI>Bea&s;tian,</HI> having lo&s;t <HI>Supremacy</HI> in its <HI>Pagan,</HI> and <HI>Imperial Head,</HI> &s;o <HI>wounded</HI> as hath been &s;aid; The <HI>Hierarchick Beast</HI> or <HI>Roman, Antichri&s;tian Hierar|chy</HI> with its <HI>Two Horns</HI> like a <HI>Lamb;</HI> of which the <HI>Bi&s;hop of Rome</HI> was, even before the <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire</HI> ceas'd, a Principal, and almo&s;t &s;upreme part, <HI>Exerci&s;es the power of the first Beast before it,</HI> and <HI>in its &s;ight,</HI> that is, before an <HI>Empire,</HI> that was to be|come of a <HI>Pagan,</HI> an <HI>Antichri&s;tian Bea&s;tian Empire</HI> and therefore &s;urviv'd; and it &s;pake <HI>as a Dragon</HI> for the Re&s;toring, and Re|erecting a <HI>Bea&s;tian Supremacy,:</HI> And becau&s;e by the decree of
<PB N="49" REF="34"> God, and the &s;tate of affairs; This could onely be an <HI>Eccle&s;ia|&s;tick Supremacy,</HI> which is a <HI>Supremacy,</HI> but in an <HI>Image,</HI> and in an <HI>Antichri&s;tian Supremacy</HI> which is not <HI>Pagan,</HI> but in an <HI>Image;</HI> There is a Revival of <HI>wor&s;hipping</HI> the <HI>Babylonian Prince</HI> in an <HI>Image,</HI> but &s;uch an <HI>Image,</HI> that could <HI>Speak,</HI> and <HI>cau&s;e to be kill&punc;d,</HI> All, who <HI>would not wor&s;hip according to its Antichri&s;tian Idolatry,</HI> the <HI>Image</HI> of the <HI>Pagan;</HI> and who would not profe&s;s &s;lavery, and va&s;&s;alage under the <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tick,</HI> or <HI>P&s;eudo-Spiritual Supremacy,</HI> the <HI>Image of the Imperial.</HI> So it would be effective of all <HI>Be&s;tia|ni&s;m,</HI> yet it would be to the former <HI>Be&s;tian, Pagan Head,</HI> but as in an <HI>Image,</HI> This is a mo&s;t di&s;tingui&s;hing, a&s;&s;uring note of <HI>Prophecy,</HI> whom it means, wherever we can find this <HI>Be&s;tiani&s;m</HI> as in an <HI>Image;</HI> Let us then behold it in the <HI>Roman Papacy.</HI></P>
<P N="1">1. To this <HI>Be&s;tiani&s;m,</HI> there is e&s;&s;entially required <HI>Monarchic Roman power,</HI> and <HI>Supremacy;</HI> And was there ever more plainly <HI>Monarchic Roman power</HI> then in &s;everal (and for the &s;ake of the number of <HI>Toes, Ten) Kings,</HI> expre&s;ly noted to <HI>Receive power as Kings,</HI> of great power and &s;trength, and Independency, and then <HI>giving their Kingdoms, Power,</HI> and <HI>Strength</HI> to the <HI>Pope,</HI> on a <HI>Spiritual</HI> account, or as an <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tick &s;upreme;</HI> Ju&s;t as All their Territories were <HI>held in Chief</HI> heretofore, by their depen|dence upon, and &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion to a <HI>Roman Martial Emperour,</HI> fear'd, and obeyed of all; in who&s;e Court, they had their <HI>Emba&s;&s;adors, Re&s;identiaries, Leigiers, Envoys;</HI> In the &s;ame man|ner on a <HI>Spiritual</HI> account, they &s;ubmit to the <HI>Pope,</HI> as the <HI>Holy Father,</HI> as <HI>his Holyne&s;s,</HI> as the <HI>Vicar of Christ,</HI> and the onely <HI>Su|preme</HI> on Earth over <HI>Con&s;ciences;</HI> They unite in him, have their &s;everal <HI>Mini&s;ters</HI> of <HI>Emba&s;&s;ie</HI> with him, and he hath put on, and kick'd off <HI>Crowns;</HI> Behold, and &s;ay, whether this is not the former <HI>Ce&s;arean Supremacy</HI> and yet in an <HI>Image!</HI> How fitly therefore does the <HI>Prophecy</HI> &s;ay! They <HI>Receive power&punc;</HI> as <HI>Kings,</HI> and yet with the <HI>Beast,</HI> through the De&s;tination upon them under a divine decree, to <HI>give their Power</HI> thus, as if they could not have it without him. Thus his <HI>Great power</HI> lies in <HI>his Image,</HI> and for all his vaunts of <HI>Ecce duo Gladii,</HI> His <HI>Horn&s;hip</HI> were mo&s;t <HI>Puny</HI> without this <HI>Image,</HI> a very <HI>little Horn</HI> with|out it.</P>
<P N="2">2. <HI>Idolatry</HI> is a &s;econd e&s;&s;ential Con&s;tituent of <HI>Be&s;tiani&s;m,</HI> in &s;o much, that as we have found; The <HI>Christian Emperour,</HI> tho' he had the <HI>Roman Supremacy,</HI> and was in his latter Time much <HI>Antichristianiz'd,</HI> yet was as the <HI>Kings of Judah</HI> of a <HI>Me&s;|&s;iah-order;</HI> The <HI>Pagan Emperors,</HI> All <HI>Idolaters</HI> were al&s;o All
<PB N="50" REF="35"> <HI>Be&s;tian,</HI> however &s;ome, as the <HI>Antonines, Alexander Severus</HI> as al&s;o others of them were more more Humane; Ju&s;t &s;o, the whole order of <HI>Popes,</HI> however &s;ome better, &s;ome wor&s;e, yet are all <HI>Be&s;tiam</HI> becau&s;e all <HI>Idolatrous.</HI></P>
<P>But this <HI>Idolatry</HI> is in an <HI>Image;</HI> It is therefore by the <HI>Spirit</HI> of <HI>Prophecy</HI> peculiarly &s;tyl'd in <HI>Daniel, &s;peaking great words again&s;t the mo&s;t High,</HI> which is expounded by <HI>John, Bla&s;phemies;</HI> Now <HI>Bla&s;phemy</HI> is a Form deriv'd from the <HI>Idolatry</HI> of the <HI>Ancient I&s;rael,</HI> under the Appearance of a <HI>Church of God;</HI> They held the name of the <HI>true Jehovah,</HI> and yet joyn&punc;d the <HI>Idols</HI> of the <HI>Heathen, Your Fathers Bla&s;phem'd me on the Hills;</HI> This <HI>Idolatry</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>I&s;a.</HI> 65. 7.</NOTE> cover'd with the name of the <HI>True God</HI> is peculiarly call'd <HI>Bla|&s;phemy,</HI> for it is the making the name of God a pander to <HI>Ido|latry,</HI> which is <HI>Bla&s;phemy.</HI> And this is mo&s;t particular to the <HI>Antichri&s;tian Idolatry,</HI> committed upon the name of <HI>God,</HI> of <HI>Christ,</HI> of <HI>Angels,</HI> of <HI>Saints,</HI> of <HI>Martyrs,</HI> as in Honour of God, and of Chri&s;t, and &s;o deriv'd on <HI>Images;</HI> And whoever does not wor&s;hip thus, is <HI>Anathematiz'd,</HI> as Prophane, Sacrilegious, Bla&s;phemous, Branded by the <HI>lying Spirit of Antichri&s;t</HI> with &s;ome note of vengeance from Heaven, even as <HI>Chri&s;tians</HI> of old were vilified as Injurious to the Gods, and per&s;ecuted as publick Pe&s;ts, and Cau&s;es of misfortune.</P>
<P>This <HI>Idolatry</HI> therefore &s;trictly &s;peaking, is an <HI>Image</HI> made to the ancient <HI>Roman Idolatry,</HI> not to the <HI>Pagan Names of Idols</HI> but under the <HI>Imagery</HI> of <HI>names,</HI> truly great and &s;acred in them|&s;elves; and who, &s;o far, as they know it, Abominate the <HI>Ido|latry</HI> commited upon them; as a <HI>prophetick Type</HI> of which, <HI>John</HI> was Twice &s;o &s;everely re&s;train'd in his Veneration of the <HI>Angel;</HI> This kind of <HI>Idolatry</HI> is therefore &s;o notably according to the event defin'd a <HI>Bla&s;pheming of God,</HI> and of his Taberna|cle, <HI>viz.</HI> the <HI>Humanity of Christ;</HI> and of Them, who <HI>dwell in Heaven, viz. Angels</HI> and <HI>Saints;</HI> For the&s;e pretended Honors are in Heaven Interpreted, as the greate&s;t di&s;honors, and Re|proaches, and &s;o <HI>Bla&s;phemies,</HI> both upon the Excellency of the Divine Being, and the Glory of his <HI>Saints</HI> &s;o cour&s;ly Repre|&s;ented; as al&s;o as if the <HI>Saints</HI> were pleas'd with &s;uch Entrench|ments on the <HI>One God</HI> and <HI>One Mediator</HI> which is indeed to <HI>Bla|&s;pheme</HI> Them.</P>
<P N="3">3. <HI>Be&s;tiani&s;d</HI> is, Bloodine&s;s, Cruelty, and Per&s;ecution, Ravaging upon the <HI>Saints</HI> of God, and of <HI>Chri&s;t; Wearing out the Saints of the mo&s;t High, making war</HI> with, <HI>trevailing over, overcoming</HI> and <HI>killing</HI>
<PB N="51" REF="35"> the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es of Je&s;us;</HI> And this is al&s;o cover'd under the <HI>Ima|gery</HI> of Extirpating <HI>Here&s;ie, Bla&s;phemy,</HI> and Irreligion; which are the odious <HI>Sambenitoes,</HI> Di&s;gui&s;es clap'd on Saints, and the <HI>Imagery</HI> put upon them by that <HI>Be&s;tiani&s;m</HI> in an <HI>Image,</HI> even as <HI>Pagan Per&s;ecutors</HI> cover'd <HI>Chri&s;tians</HI> with the <HI>Skins</HI> of <HI>Beasts,</HI> and the more cruel Imputations of Bea&s;tlike Enormities to them; And to &s;um up all, how exact is <HI>Prophecy</HI> in the manner of the Execution of this Feral Rage! The <HI>Image &s;peaks,</HI> and <HI>cau&s;es to be kill'd,</HI> All, who do not wor&s;hip; which is, as it were, Word for Word; The <HI>Spiritual power Delivering up</HI> to the <HI>Secu|lar;</HI> This <HI>Spiritual Be&s;tiani&s;m,</HI> as it is part of <HI>Clay,</HI> can put no man to death; It mu&s;t be done for it by the <HI>Iron</HI> of the <HI>Feet,</HI> and yet this <HI>Little Horn</HI> hath often appear'd in Armour as in <HI>Iron,</HI> and found means to pu&s;h and gore to death by him&s;elf, and to make Good the <HI>Prophecy,</HI> He is a <HI>Horn,</HI> yet but a <HI>Little one;</HI> and therefore it is generally done by the other <HI>Horns</HI> for Him, when <HI>Iron</HI> is required.</P>
<P>Now in all this <HI>Imagery,</HI> There appears a Recapitulation of the <HI>whole Image,</HI> commanded by the <HI>King of Babylon</HI> to be <HI>wor&s;hipped;</HI> In the wi&s;e <HI>Providence of God,</HI> the la&s;t &s;tate of the <HI>Image</HI> is en&s;hrin'd, as it were in an <HI>Image,</HI> &s;ets up the great <HI>Idolatry</HI> of <HI>Image-wor&s;hip,</HI> cas'd up, and veil'd under reverence to <HI>God,</HI> and to <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> and to the <HI>Holy ones;</HI> And for the &s;ake of this <HI>Imagery,</HI> the Servants of God are made Sacrifices to Flames, and all kinds of death really and effectively, though under an <HI>Image,</HI> and by an <HI>Image;</HI> In the &s;ame manner there is a Recapitulation of the <HI>Bea&s;ts</HI> in the <HI>Little Horn;</HI> For He is <HI>Leopard,</HI> as it were all over; <HI>Antiochus,</HI> that infamous <HI>Little Horn</HI> of the <HI>Graecian Leopard</HI> in its <HI>four Heads</HI> was his exact <HI>Type,</HI> betwixt whom, and this <HI>Roman Beast, Daniel</HI> twice notes the &s;uc|ce&s;&s;ion; pa&s;&s;ing over the <HI>Pagan Empire: c.</HI> 8. 23. <HI>c.</HI> 11. 36. This <HI>Beast</HI> had al&s;o the broad <HI>Feet</HI> of a <HI>Bear,</HI> re&s;embling <HI>Hamans Letters</HI> &s;ign'd by the <HI>Per&s;ian Aha&s;uerus,</HI> throughout his 150 <HI>Provinces</HI> to put to death the <HI>Jews;</HI> So the <HI>Beast</HI> by his <HI>Ten Kings</HI> through|out his <HI>Kindred, Tongues</HI> and <HI>Nations</HI> cau&s;es the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es</HI> to <HI>dye,</HI> by the decrees like the <HI>Mouth of the Babylonian Lyon Nebuchad|nezzar</HI> commanding <HI>Idolatrous Image wor&s;hip.</HI></P>
<P>And thus we &s;ee every way what a definitive Character of the la&s;t <HI>Roman &s;tate,</HI> the <HI>Image made to the Beast</HI> is.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="3" UNIT="Ob&s;ervat."> Let us ob&s;erve, how <HI>Prophecy</HI> is <HI>Fulfill&punc;d</HI> in the la&s;t &s;tate of the <HI>Image,</HI> in that Character or Note of the <HI>Feet,</HI>
<PB N="52" REF="36"> as <HI>part of Iron, part of Clay;</HI> that tho' the <HI>Iron,</HI> and the <HI>Clay</HI> &s;hall mingle, They &s;hall not <HI>Cleave.</HI></P>
<P>This is admirably an&s;wer'd in Two Things.</P>
<P N="1">1. In the notorious di&s;tinction of <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tick,</HI> and <HI>Secular</HI> or <HI>Laic,</HI> the latter of which cannot without great Profanation, and even &s;acriledg be confounded with the Former; A thing very &s;trange to <HI>Apo&s;tolick writings,</HI> wherein the whole <HI>Flock</HI> are call'd <GAP DESC="foreign">, a <HI>Holy Prie&s;thood, the Church;</HI> And the Mini&s;ters of the <HI>Go&s;pel, Elders</HI> and <HI>Pre&s;idents,</HI> noting onely order, and not di&s;tinction of any other kind; Although therefore the <HI>Spirituality,</HI> as They are call'd, often invade the <HI>Secular Autho|rity,</HI> and <HI>Power;</HI> Yet it is in the Guarb and Canonical habit of <HI>Spiritual</HI> and <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tic,</HI> to keep that Character High and In|delible, herein the <HI>Little Horn</HI> was in <HI>Daniel</HI>'s <HI>Prophecy</HI> Re|mark'd &s;o <HI>diver&s;e</HI> from the <HI>other Horns. Dan.</HI> 7. 24.</P>
<P N="2">2. It imports the always &s;eparablene&s;s, and the certain Se|paration, that &s;hall be betwixt the two Powers, when the&s;e <HI>Ten Kings</HI> &s;hall <HI>hate the Whore,</HI> and <HI>burn her Fle&s;h with Fire;</HI> So that though the <HI>Kings,</HI> or <HI>Feet of Iron,</HI> as well as of <HI>Clap,</HI> &s;hall be broken, as is foretold of Them; Yet it is to be un|der&s;tood onely, as they are parts of the <HI>Image,</HI> and as toge|ther with the <HI>Clay</HI> they make the <HI>Feet</HI> of the <HI>Image,</HI> and are as <HI>Horns</HI> on the <HI>Head</HI> of a <HI>Beast;</HI> whenever they &s;eparate them|&s;elves from the <HI>Papacy,</HI> They become <HI>Princes of the Reformation,</HI> and if zealous, and &s;incere therein, They are with the <HI>Lamb,</HI> as his <HI>Faithful, Called,</HI> and <HI>Cho&s;en.</HI></P>
<P>And of this, for near the&s;e Hundred, and Eighty years la&s;t pa&s;t, God hath been pleas'd to give an <HI>Exemplar</HI> though but very Imperfect in Compari&s;on, of what &s;hall be, in that Separation, Princes, and States, &s;tyled <HI>Prote&s;tants</HI> have made from the <HI>Church</HI> and <HI>Pope</HI> of <HI>Rome.</HI> But how dark and ob|&s;cure is it, and how much brighter &s;hall it be, when it &s;hall be done univer&s;ally, by all the&s;e <HI>Ten Kings,</HI> and their <HI>King|doms,</HI> when the <HI>Apo&s;ta&s;ie</HI> &s;hall be drawn of, and the <HI>King|dom of Chri&s;t</HI> &s;hall be in its &s;ucce&s;&s;ion.</P>
<P>The very &s;ame ought to be acknowledg'd of the <HI>Reformed Epi&s;copacy;</HI> It is by no means to be confounded with the <HI>Feet</HI> of <HI>Clay,</HI> who&s;e <HI>Idolatrous Apo&s;ta&s;ie,</HI> degrades them to &s;o low a Station; Yet it were to deal deceitfully in the <HI>divine Pro|phecy,</HI> not to &s;ay; That a much higher &s;tate of the <HI>Churches of Chri&s;t</HI> &s;hall &s;uper&s;ede pre&s;ent Con&s;titutions by the very dawns of the glory of the <HI>Kingdom of Christ.</HI></P>
<PB N="53" REF="36">
<P><MILESTONE N="4" UNIT="Ob&s;ervat."> It is no Indi&s;cernable Character of this <HI>Roman &s;tate</HI> in its <HI>Feet of Iron</HI> and <HI>Clay,</HI> that it remains to this day, waiting, as it were, for that &s;troke, from the <HI>Stone cut out of the Mountains without Hands:</HI> For it hath already, as hath been noted, con&s;um'd more Time, then had pa&s;s'd before it from that &s;o fam'd <HI>Ere</HI> of <HI>&V;rbs condita,</HI> or the <HI>building of Rome;</HI> But becau&s;e this is matter yet to come, and when it is come will put all out of doubt, I &s;hall onely ob&s;erve, that as in the&s;e two <HI>Vi&s;ions</HI> of <HI>Daniel,</HI> &s;o in the <HI>Apo&s;tle Paul,</HI> and in the <HI>Revela|tion,</HI> Notes of Ruin, <HI>Com&s;umption, Abolition Son of Perdition, going into Perdition,</HI> Being <HI>deliver'd to the con&s;uming Flames, the Beast taken with his fal&s;e Prophet,</HI> and ca&s;t into the <HI>Lake,</HI> are Brands deeply &s;et upon Him; and together with his <HI>Con&s;ump|tion</HI> the <HI>Glory of the Kingdom of Christ</HI> is declared, which is &s;o certain an A&s;&s;urance, that neither the <HI>Kingdom of Christ</HI> is yet come, nor this la&s;t &s;tate of the <HI>Roman Monarchy</HI> yet pa&s;t, that a greater cannot be given. And when the&s;e things are, Then &s;hall the whole <HI>Image</HI> in its <HI>Idolatrous Frame</HI> and <HI>Com|po&s;ure, Fall,</HI> and be <HI>Broken,</HI> and <HI>Ri&s;e no more:</HI></P>
<P>For the <HI>Roman Monarchy</HI> in the <HI>Feet</HI> is the very Foundation of the whole <HI>Image;</HI> As the <HI>Feet</HI> are to all parts of the <HI>Body,</HI> So al&s;o are the&s;e <HI>Feet,</HI> and <HI>Toes</HI> to the <HI>Image;</HI> And becau&s;e, They are <HI>part of Clay,</HI> thither is the &s;troke e&s;pecially directed, and there is the <HI>Image</HI> to be <HI>broken.</HI></P>
<P>Now as the <HI>Gold</HI> of the <HI>Head</HI> Communicated its lu&s;tre; the <HI>Silver, Bra&s;s,</HI> and <HI>Iron</HI> Communicated their value, and &s;trength to all the parts; and as the <HI>Greatne&s;s</HI> of the whole <HI>Image</HI> gave it <HI>Dread</HI> and <HI>Maje&s;ty,</HI> and an <HI>&V;niver&s;ality of power;</HI> So the <HI>Clay,</HI> on which the <HI>Image</HI> &s;tands, as part of the <HI>Feet</HI> and <HI>Toes</HI> Communicated its <HI>Weakne&s;s, Brittlene&s;s,</HI> and under tho&s;e, as <HI>Types,</HI> its <HI>Antichri&s;tiani&s;m</HI> to the whole; So that the <HI>Clay,</HI> Symbolizing that <HI>Antichri&s;tiani&s;m,</HI> is in&s;erted in the mid|dle<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Dan.</HI> 2. 45.</NOTE> betwixt the <HI>Iron,</HI> the <HI>Bra&s;s,</HI> the <HI>Silver,</HI> and the <HI>Gold;</HI> To &s;hew, it communicated it &s;elf to the whole; and by it the force of the blow was di&s;tributed through the whole, &s;o that All was <HI>Broken,</HI> that made up that Compo&s;ition of the <HI>Image</HI> with the <HI>Clay;</HI> and &s;o far, as it was tainted with that <HI>Anti|chri&s;tiani&s;m,</HI> it is utterly <HI>Broken,</HI> and made as the <HI>chaff of the Summer Floor.</HI></P>
<P>Now as if <HI>Sam&s;ons &s;trength</HI> had pa&s;s'd from his <HI>Head,</HI> and <HI>Locks,</HI> where it fir&s;t dwelt, while the dimen&s;ions, and particular Characters of his per&s;on remain'd; and &s;o come down from
<PB N="54" REF="37"> higher to lower to his very <HI>Feet,</HI> and there <HI>Broken;</HI> So have we &s;een the <HI>Monarchic Spirit,</HI> aod <HI>Life,</HI> here de&s;crib'd, pa&s;&s;ing from <HI>Mettal</HI> to <HI>Mettal,</HI> from part to part, comming down to the <HI>Feet,</HI> the Seat of that <HI>Antichri&s;tiani&s;m,</HI> that is to be <HI>Bro|ken,</HI> and the whole <HI>Image</HI> with it to <HI>Powder;</HI> And &s;eeing the&s;e <HI>Feet</HI> and <HI>Toes</HI> have continued &s;o many Ages beyond all the former parts, how can we but earne&s;tly pray for that happy Revolution; and if we are not &s;o in Love with that &s;tate, as to pray &s;o for it, yet however we &s;hould fear, and prepare for it.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<P>Thus far I have been repre&s;enting the real, and &s;olid part of the <HI>Calendar,</HI> of which I cannot doubt the Satisfaction, It hath given to every ob&s;erving Mind; It now remains, that the numeral, though <HI>my&s;tic</HI> part of it be con&s;ider'd under that Characteri&s;m of it; <HI>Time, Times,</HI> and <HI>Half a Time</HI> in the <HI>Prophe|cy of Daniel.</HI></P>
<P>And that this may be under&s;tood, It mu&s;t be expounded to us by that &s;o divinely Learned, and truly infallible Key of it, and of the whole Prophecy of <HI>Daniel,</HI> the <HI>Apocalyptical Pro|phecy</HI> of the <HI>New Te&s;tament;</HI> and the Expo&s;ition it gives, is as in a Complication of Charactori&s;ms of Time; <HI>Twice forty two Months, Twice twelve hundred, and &s;ixty days,</HI> and <HI>Twice three Times,</HI> and a <HI>Half,</HI> but with the little variation of <HI>Three Days</HI> and a <HI>Half</HI> for the great Rea&s;on of alluding to our <HI>Lords three Days</HI> in the <HI>Grave;</HI> that we might learn to find a deeper, and more intimate part in the &s;pace given, as <HI>our Lord</HI> was but a deep part of the fir&s;t, the whole of the &s;econd, and a &s;mall deep part, <HI>viz.</HI> the very dawn or Morning-Break of the <HI>Third Day</HI> in the Grave; which yet is call'd, being <HI>Three Days and Three Nights in the Heart of the Earth.</HI> This plainly teaches us, there was parallel-wi&s;e in the&s;e; <HI>Time, Times,</HI> and <HI>Half</HI> a <HI>Time;</HI> a deeper Tyranny of the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> and of the <HI>Apo&s;tolical Church</HI> cclips'd by it; and its <HI>Seed,</HI> the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es</HI> &s;uffering under it, in &s;ome parts of the&s;e Times, then in others.</P>
<P>And The&s;e Things I have more at large handled in their proper place of the <HI>Line of Time,</HI> and &s;hall now only recal what is nece&s;&s;ary to pre&s;ent this Time more at full.</P>
<P>And in the fir&s;t place It is duly to be Remark'd, that as <HI>the Spirit</HI> gave a <HI>Calendar,</HI> however <HI>My&s;tic,</HI> but ju&s;t at the <HI>Ri&s;ing</HI> of the <HI>Ten Horns</HI> on the <HI>Head of the Fourth Roman Bea&s;t,</HI> which appears the <HI>&s;eventh Head</HI> or <HI>Papacy</HI> in the <HI>Revelation,</HI> with his <HI>Ten Horns</HI> or <HI>Kings,</HI> and He a <HI>little Horn</HI> among them; So in the
<PB N="55" REF="37"> <HI>Revelation,</HI> It affixes tho&s;e Charecteri&s;ms of Time to the <HI>Gen|tiles coming in to the outward Court,</HI> and to the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es putting on Sackcloth,</HI> and to the <HI>Church fled into the Wilderne&s;s</HI> upon it; as al|&s;o to the Times of the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> who is the <HI>&s;eventh Head</HI> of the <HI>Fourth Bea&s;t in Daniel,</HI> which we have proved to be <HI>Roman;</HI> and to his <HI>Ten Horns,</HI> and to the <HI>Woman</HI> per&s;ecuted by the <HI>Dragon, ma|king War with its Seed by the Bea&s;t, to whom he gave his Throne, Power, &amp;c. Killing her Seed the Witne&s;&s;es.</HI> By which as al&s;o by the very expre&s;s u&s;e of <HI>Three Times,</HI> and <HI>Half the Spirit</HI> hath, if we will receive it, demon&s;trated to us; That the <HI>Ten Horns,</HI> and <HI>Little Horn</HI> in <HI>Daniel,</HI> and the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> and its <HI>Ten Horns</HI> in the <HI>New Te|&s;tament-Prophet John</HI> are the very &s;ame <HI>Kingdom.</HI></P>
<P>And the Time is <HI>doubled</HI> in the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es,</HI> and the <HI>Woman</HI> both for the <HI>certainty,</HI> and al&s;o explanation of the <HI>Church</HI> not to be found, as the <HI>Bea&s;ts</HI> and <HI>Romani&s;ts</HI> vaunt before <HI>Luther;</HI> but Col|lectively as a <HI>Church, Woman,</HI> or <HI>Mother, Hid in the Wilderne&s;s,</HI> and yet di&s;tricutively <HI>War'd with,</HI> and <HI>kill&punc;d</HI> in &s;ingle Saints, or <HI>Wit|ne&s;&s;es,</HI> as its <HI>Seed.</HI></P>
<P>Now it is mo&s;t Evident, that in every one of the&s;e <HI>Characte|ri&s;ms of Time, Three equal parts</HI> and a <HI>Half part</HI> of <HI>Time</HI> are &s;till mo&s;t clearly, and peremptorily defin'd, that we may thereby be mo&s;t a&s;&s;uredly guided in the Calculation, or Computation of the whole &s;pace; And then, they are made up into eighty four <HI>Indictions,</HI> giving a broad Indication, It was a Time &s;oon after <HI>Con&s;tantine,</HI> that was intended to be defin'd; For &s;o, &s;oon after Him, <HI>Indictions</HI> came to be general Characters of Time, being as Chronologers mo&s;t agree, in&s;tituted under him.</P>
<P>That we may then find the fundamental Rea&s;on of this Time, we mu&s;t con&s;ider, that the Kingdom of Chri&s;t having made an Appearance, and given a Specimen of it &s;elf, as hath been &s;hewn, It was <HI>E&s;top'd</HI> by that <HI>Oath of Chri&s;t;</HI> There &s;hall be <HI>Time, Times</HI> and half a <HI>Time</HI> for that <HI>Kingdom</HI> to be under an <HI>Eclip&s;e;</HI> In which Time, That <HI>He,</HI> the <HI>little Horn</HI> made &s;o Fa|mous, <HI>Dan.</HI> 7. &s;hould <HI>&s;catter the Power of the Holy People,</HI> or drive the <HI>Church</HI> into the <HI>Wilderne&s;s</HI> for tho&s;e <HI>Times,</HI> and <HI>Half a Time.</HI></P>
<P>Accordingly <HI>Revel.</HI> 12. This very <HI>Eclip&s;e</HI> is repre&s;ented to come to pa&s;s; For the Kingdom of Chri&s;t, from <HI>Con&s;tantines Chri&s;tian Retgn</HI> to the Death of <HI>Theodo&s;ius the Great,</HI> as the <HI>Church cloathed with the Sun;</HI> had the <HI>Be&s;tian Pagan Kingdom</HI> compar'd with the <HI>Moon, under its Feet,</HI> as it were <HI>diametrally;</HI> Hereupon there begins a gradual darkne&s;s, or <HI>Eclip&s;e</HI> upon the <HI>True</HI>
<PB N="56" REF="38"> <HI>Church;</HI> For the <HI>Pagan, Be&s;tian Kingdom,</HI> being now to become <HI>Antichri&s;tian-Bea&s;tian,</HI> That <HI>Antichri&s;tian Bea&s;tian Kingdom</HI> bor|rows (as the Moon in an Eclip&s;e does) mo&s;t Light and Glory from the Sun, and yet <HI>Eclip&s;es</HI> that <HI>Light from the World;</HI> For it turns its own dark ob&s;cure &s;hade downward, and retires the Light from above.</P>
<P>How does this mo&s;t admirably Re&s;emble the <HI>Antichri&s;tian Church,</HI> in which former <HI>Pagani&s;m</HI> finding it &s;elf &s;o to lye un|der the <HI>Sun,</HI> takes as it were, the advantage to guild it &s;elf with the Beams of <HI>Christianity;</HI> It takes upon it &s;elf the <HI>Apo&s;to|lick Faith,</HI> the Acknowledgment of Scripture, the names of <HI>Christ,</HI> and of his Saints, the &s;tyle of <HI>Catholick Church.</HI></P>
<P>And all this it does, That it may engro&s;s to it &s;elf Tho&s;e Titles of honour, and Glory, that Riches, and &s;plendor which is onely due to the True, and pure <HI>Chri&s;tianity</HI> in the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>Hereby it robs the World of the Light, and glory of <HI>Chri|&s;tianity,</HI> for in&s;tead of tho&s;e powerful, and enlivening rays, it ca&s;ts upon the Earth, <HI>Idolatry, Super&s;tition, Ceremony, Foppery of Religion,</HI> which are ancient <HI>Pagani&s;m Antichri&s;tianiz'd,</HI> and mu&s;t needs chill, make wan and pale all appearances of <HI>Go&s;pel Truth,</HI> &s;o far, as any were, but in deed rather darken and ob&s;cure them, altogether, as truly <HI>Go&s;pel;</HI> and this indeed was turning <HI>Chri&s;tianity,</HI> as much as is po&s;&s;ible into <HI>Fable,</HI> according to that <HI>Papal Prophane&s;s,</HI> that &s;tyl'd it &s;o, when them&s;elves had made it &s;o.</P>
<P>Together with this ob&s;curing of Truth; that Honour, and Glory mo&s;t due to the <HI>Church of Chri&s;t,</HI> and to his <HI>Servants,</HI> that &s;hould fill the World, is &s;o intercepted by the <HI>Children of the Night,</HI> u&s;urping it; that while the <HI>Church</HI> is in the <HI>Wilderne&s;s</HI> and un&s;een, tho' <HI>cloath'd with the Sun,</HI> its <HI>Seed, the Witne&s;&s;es,</HI> that &s;hould &s;hine with the &s;ame Beams, are <HI>cover'd with Sack|cloth</HI> according to the <HI>Prophetical</HI> allu&s;ion; the <HI>Sun became as Sackcloth</HI> of <HI>Hair;</HI> and <HI>Kill'd all the day long.</HI></P>
<P>Never was &s;hade, or portraicture thus fitted to the life, but who, as the <HI>divine Spirit,</HI> can at the &s;ame Time hide in <HI>Cyphar,</HI> and yet <HI>declare the thing plentifully, as it is?</HI></P>
<P>But now this Time of the <HI>Eclip&s;e</HI> is determin'd to be <HI>Twelve Hundred &s;ixty prophetical days,</HI> or years of the <HI>Sun,</HI> who&s;e &s;tate is to guide, and determine this Time; In which regard the <HI>Moon,</HI> that is, the Times of the <HI>Moon,</HI> are under <HI>its Feet,</HI> and
<PB N="57" REF="38"> to be guided, and over-rul'd by it; It comes then to be con|&s;ider'd, that the <HI>Times of the Moon</HI> are not equal to the <HI>Times of the Sun;</HI> For the Time, in which the Moon mea&s;ures the <HI>Zodiac</HI> twelve Times, and hath as often New Congre&s;&s;es with the Sun, and thereby makes the <HI>lunar year,</HI> is agreed to be, as near, as can be computed a thirty eighth part le&s;s, then what the <HI>Sun</HI> requires to vi&s;it the <HI>Twelve Signs</HI> of the <HI>Zodiac,</HI> and to give twelve meetings to the <HI>Moon</HI> in its yearly Cour&s;e; &s;o that the Moon is advanced near eleven days in the &s;tage of a New Year, before the <HI>Sun</HI> hath fini&s;h'd any year.</P>
<P>Proportionably the <HI>Bea&s;ts Times</HI> and <HI>Half Time</HI> are expound|ed in the <HI>Revelation</HI> by <HI>Forty two,</HI> not only <HI>Months,</HI> but <HI>Moons;</HI> For every &s;everal <HI>Month</HI> is as under another <HI>Moon,</HI> call'd therefore, a <HI>New Moon,</HI> and therefore <HI>Months</HI> mu&s;t be <HI>Times</HI> of the <HI>Moon,</HI> for they are <HI>Moons;</HI> but the <HI>Moon</HI> is not the <HI>Sun;</HI> If therefore The&s;e <HI>Moons</HI> had begun at the &s;ame Time, the <HI>twelve hundred &s;ixty days</HI> began, They mu&s;t have ended Thirty eight years &s;ooner, then They could end according to the <HI>Symbol;</HI> For then the Eclip&s;e &s;hould have la&s;ted, when the Moon had no longer been &s;o po&s;ited, as to intercept the <HI>Suns</HI> Beams, that is, the <HI>Glory of Chri&s;t</HI> in his <HI>Church.</HI></P>
<P>Therefore in the <HI>Jews</HI> Times, from whom This, as All the other <HI>Types</HI> in this <HI>Prophecy,</HI> relating to the <HI>Church</HI> and <HI>Servants of Chri&s;t</HI> are taken; There was the <HI>Intercalation</HI> of a <HI>&s;econd Adar</HI> the la&s;t <HI>Jewi&s;h Month,</HI> betwixt each precedent and following year, that was to be <HI>intercalar,</HI> that it might &s;upply the hollow, or vacuity in the <HI>Moons</HI> Time, and guide the <HI>Pa&s;chal New Moon</HI> in its due regard to the <HI>vernal Sun,</HI> to keep Time with it.</P>
<P>Now the Rule of this <HI>Intercalation;</HI> becau&s;e the balance be|twixt the Motion of the <HI>Sun,</HI> and of the <HI>Moon;</HI> was the <HI>Decem-Novennal Cycle,</HI> or &s;o generally known <HI>Golden Number.</HI></P>
<P>And la&s;tly, this <HI>Intercalation</HI> was generally nece&s;&s;ary, but eve|ry <HI>Third year,</HI> of all which particulars the Treati&s;e of that learn|ed <HI>Jew, Maimonides,</HI> concerning the <HI>New Moons</HI> and <HI>Intercalati|on</HI> is a Great Te&s;timony, and his <HI>&s;ixth Chapter</HI> gives Great Light to the <HI>Type,</HI> we are are upon.</P>
<P>For proportionably, The <HI>Forty two Months</HI> of the <HI>Gentiles</HI> are, as <HI>Intercalary,</HI> to the <HI>Months of the Bea&s;ts,</HI> and begin Thirty eight years before them, and are, as it were, a <HI>&s;econd,</HI> &s;upple|mental <HI>Adar,</HI> to the Time of the <HI>Draconic &s;ixth Head,</HI> and come in as a fit &s;pace of the <HI>Dragons</HI> giving his <HI>Throne to the Bea&s;t.</HI></P>
<PB N="58" REF="39">
<P> For the Barbarous Nations are call'd <HI>Gentiles,</HI> becau&s;e They ravag'd on the <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire,</HI> the <HI>Emblem of Chri&s;ts Kingdom,</HI> though indeed <HI>Sathan</HI> by Them, as hath been &s;ay'd, mi&s;s'd his Aim; For the <HI>Empire</HI> was now <HI>Antichri&s;tianiz'd,</HI> and the <HI>True Church hid.</HI></P>
<P>Yet their coming into the <HI>outward Cuort of the Empire,</HI> and of the <HI>Profe&s;&s;ion of Chri&s;tianity,</HI> and to become the <HI>Bea&s;ts People,</HI> manag'd at fir&s;t by the <HI>other Bea&s;t,</HI> or <HI>Antichri&s;tian Roman Hierar|chy,</HI> God was pleas'd to ordain as the beginning of the <HI>Apo&s;ta&s;ie,</HI> upon which the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es</HI> put on <HI>their Sackcloth,</HI> and the <HI>Woman</HI> actually <HI>fled into the Wilderne&s;s,</HI> and the <HI>Twelve hundred &s;ixty days</HI> began; And becau&s;e the Bea&s;ts Moons did not begin till thirty eight years after; Here is the <HI>Intercalation</HI> of the <HI>Thirty eighth part,</HI> the <HI>Bea&s;ts Moons</HI> would want; and given in two <HI>Nineteens</HI> or <HI>Cycles of the Moon,</HI> &s;etting right the <HI>Moon</HI> to the <HI>Sun,</HI> that &s;o the <HI>Moon</HI> of the <HI>Antichri&s;tian Be&s;tian Kingdom</HI> might be in its ju&s;t Time under the <HI>Suns Feet,</HI> with which the <HI>Church</HI> was <HI>cloath'd,</HI> to <HI>Eclip&s;e</HI> it.</P>
<P>Now this <HI>Type</HI> is &s;o wonderful, as not po&s;&s;ibly to fall into this Model of Time by chance, with that <HI>admirable</HI> Congruity, and therefore cannot be look'd upon, but as divinely de&s;ign'd, and &s;o to be accepted, as demon&s;trative; That the <HI>Beasts Months</HI> beginning at 475. There mu&s;t have been Thirty eight years of <HI>Be&s;tian</HI> preparatory Time before them; with the fir&s;t of which the <HI>twelve hundred &s;ixty days,</HI> or years beginning, All may end together 1697.</P>
<P>And if it be ask'd, what becomes of the <HI>Months</HI> of the <HI>Gen|tiles,</HI> after the <HI>Bea&s;ts Months</HI> enter'd; and of the Action of the <HI>other Bea&s;t,</HI> or <HI>Antichri&s;tian Hierarchy,</HI> who exercis'd the <HI>Power</HI> of the <HI>Fir&s;t Draconic Bea&s;t,</HI> and &s;pake as the <HI>Dragon,</HI> not dead, but to live in the <HI>Antichri&s;tian Bea&s;t;</HI> The An&s;wer is; The <HI>Gen|tiles Months</HI> merg'd into the <HI>Bea&s;ts,</HI> who had <HI>Power given Him over all Kindreds, Tongues,</HI> and <HI>Nations,</HI> as an <HI>Antichri&s;tian Head;</HI> and &s;o though for the Grace of the Type, They are given, as <HI>Forty two Months;</HI> yet They are drown'd in the <HI>Bea&s;ts Months</HI> after They have done their Service of <HI>Intercalation,</HI> before the <HI>Bea&s;ts Months began;</HI> even as &s;maller Accounts of Time are &s;wallowed up in that of the Reigns of Supreme Princes, da|ting All Times; Then al&s;o the <HI>other Bea&s;t</HI> became the <HI>Bea&s;ts fal&s;e Prophet,</HI> the Tutor or Guardian of his Infantile Power, till He came to his manly <HI>Number</HI> 666. and after that, his In&s;e|parable Spirit, and Intelligence; as hath appear'd in all <HI>Coun|cels;</HI>
<PB N="59" REF="39"> before the <HI>Bea&s;ts Times,</HI> wherein the Hierarchy had been Heaving the Papacy into an Antichri&s;tian Idolatrous Supre|macy; The Dawn of which was vi&s;ible in the Councel of <HI>Chal|cedon</HI> within the <HI>Gentiles Intercalary Months;</HI> within his <HI>Times</HI> con|firming and &s;welling it to a Height, as in the <HI>&s;econd Councel of Nice,</HI> and in the <HI>Lateran Councels</HI> of the <HI>Eleventh,</HI> and <HI>Twelfth Centuries;</HI> Or &s;upporting the declining State of it, as in that la&s;t Famous <HI>Councel</HI> of <HI>Trent</HI> in his <HI>Half Time.</HI></P>
<P>But be&s;ides all, that hath been &s;poken, let us, but take <HI>Time, Times,</HI> and <HI>Half a Time;</HI> and we may by one ea&s;ie way of Argument, and in which any one may &s;atisfie him&s;elf, a&s;&s;ure our &s;elves in this determination of Time, that I have made.</P>
<P>For when a <HI>Calendar of Time</HI> is given in <HI>Time, Times,</HI> and <HI>Half a Time,</HI> as the mea&s;ure of that &s;pace, wherein a <HI>Kingdom</HI> and <HI>Government,</HI> as of returning <HI>Pagan Bestiani&s;m,</HI> &s;hould <HI>Eclip&s;e,</HI> and ob&s;cure the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t;</HI> after it had given an <HI>Emblem</HI> and appearance of it &s;elf, (which is the Foundation of the whole <HI>Type)</HI> the very Frame and a&s;pect of &s;uch a <HI>Calendar</HI> ne|ce&s;&s;arily imports, that the <HI>Time</HI> and <HI>Times</HI> are Three equal parts, <HI>viz.</HI> The <HI>Time</HI> one &s;ingle part, and <HI>Times</HI> Two equal parts in them&s;elves, but double, when conjoyn'd; and then the <HI>Half Time</HI> the ju&s;t Half of any of tho&s;e equal parts.</P>
<P>And thus the explication of <HI>Time, Times, Half a Time</HI> by tho&s;e &s;o particular <HI>Characteri&s;ms</HI> a&s;&s;ure us; For <HI>Twelve hun|dred &s;ixty days,</HI> and <HI>Forty two Monnhs</HI> nece&s;&s;arily carry us up|on Three equal years, and one Half year; and <HI>Three days</HI> and a <HI>Half</HI> are yet more expre&s;s, that There are Three equal parts, and one Half part of any of the Three equal parts, in|tended to be given.</P>
<P>Now that the&s;e are explanatory of the&s;e <HI>three Times</HI> and a <HI>Half</HI> is in two In&s;tances, <HI>viz.</HI> of the <HI>twelve Hundred &s;ixty days</HI> and of the <HI>Bea&s;ts Forty two Months</HI> mo&s;t clear, which is enough to the pre&s;ent purpo&s;e; For the <HI>twelve Hundred &s;ixty days</HI> and the Three <HI>Times</HI> and <HI>Half,</HI> are both the mea&s;ure of the &s;pace of the <HI>Woman in the Wilderne&s;s,</HI> and &s;o the &s;ame; And the <HI>three Times</HI> and <HI>Half,</HI> and the <HI>Bea&s;ts Forty two Months</HI> are both given, as the &s;pace of the <HI>Power</HI> of the <HI>little Horn in Daniel</HI> and of the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> in the <HI>Revelation;</HI> both which I have already prov'd are the &s;ame, and therefore the <HI>Times,</HI> and the <HI>Forty two Months</HI> mu&s;t be nece&s;&s;arily the &s;ame; and &s;o equal in the Three parts, and a half part.</P>
<PB N="60" REF="40">
<P> But further, when the <HI>Times</HI> and <HI>Half</HI> are thus di&s;tributed, and with &s;uch allu&s;ion to the <HI>Death</HI> and <HI>Burial</HI> of <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> as in the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es lying dead three days and a Half.</HI> It is both in the thing it &s;elf, as in the allu&s;ion mo&s;t evident, that the <HI>fir&s;t Time</HI> is allowed for the A&s;cendency of this <HI>Kingdom of the Bea&s;t,</HI> till the <HI>Eclip&s;e</HI> of the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t</HI> by it becomes <HI>Total;</HI> The <HI>two Times</HI> are the uniform Continuation of things in that very State, the end of the Fir&s;t <HI>Time</HI> left Them; But when It comes to a <HI>Half Time,</HI> the <HI>Kingdom of the Bea&s;t,</HI> being at the very moment of that <HI>Half Time</HI> entring, what It was, all the <HI>Two Times;</HI> It ju&s;t then comes under a check, and &s;urpri&s;e, and can continue the <HI>Total Eclip&s;e</HI> no longer; but &s;hall continue a partial <HI>Eclip&s;e,</HI> till the <HI>Half Time</HI> given to Him be al&s;o ex|pir'd: Then that Kingdom &s;hall be pre&s;cinded, as at the <HI>middle,</HI> with both Ruin, and Infamy; upon which the <HI>Glory of Chri&s;t,</HI> his <HI>Kingdom, Church</HI> and <HI>People</HI> &s;o long <HI>Eclip&s;ed</HI> &s;hall at the End of that <HI>Half Time</HI> &s;hine out much more gloriou&s;ly, then ever yet It hath done, and after a &s;hort preparation, to a <HI>perfect day</HI> without any more <HI>Night.</HI></P>
<P>Let us then examine, at what Time the <HI>Half Time</HI> enter'd, which may be certainly known by that check, and &s;urprize upon the <HI>Antichri&s;tian Kingdom,</HI> that It could no longer totally <HI>Eclip&s;e</HI> the <HI>Church of Chri&s;t,</HI> as it had done; And what Time that was, there is a <HI>Vox Populi,</HI> a common &s;aying, even of the <HI>Antichri&s;tian People,</HI> that indeed is <HI>Vox Dei,</HI> the very <HI>Oracle of God</HI> concerning the <HI>Half Time;</HI> Where, &s;ay They, was your Church before <HI>Luther?</HI> that is; It was before indeed all along from Chri&s;t, but It was for <HI>Time,</HI> and <HI>Two Times</HI> under an <HI>Eclip&s;e,</HI> even <HI>Total,</HI> that It could not be &s;een before <HI>Luther</HI>'s Time; From his Time It hath been (ble&s;&s;ed be God) to be &s;een, but not as It &s;hall be at the End of the <HI>Half Time,</HI> &s;o here is evidently the <HI>Half Time</HI> begun.</P>
<P>Now what <HI>Chronology</HI> is not agree'd, that <HI>Luther</HI> appear'd at 1517? Here then, <HI>viz.</HI> at 1517, the <HI>Half Time</HI> mo&s;t certainly Began; For from that Time, not any accidental change, or for a Time, but an unmoveable <HI>Reformation,</HI> and Retrenchment upon the <HI>Antichri&s;tian Kingdom</HI> hath en&s;ued in the revolt of &s;e|veral <HI>Kingdoms</HI> and States from it; And how unmovable it hath been; So univer&s;al con&s;ent in the late Revolution, as it appear'd again&s;t <HI>Popery,</HI> is in this <HI>Prote&s;tant Nation</HI> a Monument, undoubtedly &s;et up by God as a <HI>Specimen,</HI> what &s;hall be at the end of the <HI>Half Time,</HI> whatever Judgment our &s;ins may in the mean Time provoke upon us!</P>
<PB N="61" REF="40">
<P> Being thus a&s;&s;ur'd then, when the <HI>Half Time</HI> began, we are al&s;o mo&s;t certain, the <HI>Half Time</HI> is a Half, equal to each of the Three equal parts; In twelve hundred and &s;ixty therefore, an equal Half part to each equal whole part mu&s;t be one hun|dred, and eighty; And if this Half part begin at 1517. It mu&s;t end at 1697. by a con&s;equence undeniable.</P>
<P>And then, if from 1517. where the <HI>Half Time</HI> began, we carry backward one Thou&s;and and Eighty, the ju&s;t Amount of the three equal parts, They mu&s;t needs reach back by a re|trograde motion to Anno 437. of the <HI>Chri&s;tian Account;</HI> at which Time the <HI>Ten Kings</HI> were every where, carving their <HI>Kingdoms</HI> out of the <HI>Empire,</HI> under the play of the <HI>fir&s;t Trumpet.</HI></P>
<P>So the <HI>Gentiles</HI> at that very time came, as before explain'd, into the <HI>outward Court,</HI> and their <HI>Forty two Months</HI> began, and gave Thirty eight <HI>Intercalar</HI> years, till the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> and the <HI>Ten Kings receiv'd Power,</HI> as hath been explain'd, which was at 475, as was before explain'd.</P>
<P>And thus the <HI>Times</HI> of the <HI>Bea&s;ts Moon,</HI> &s;o <HI>under</HI> the <HI>Feet</HI> of the <HI>Church</HI> as to <HI>Ecclip&s;e</HI> it, by &s;urprizing the Glory proper to it, as <HI>Cloath'd with the Sun,</HI> are made equal to the Times of the <HI>Church in the Wilderne&s;s,</HI> and of the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es</HI> in their Sackcloth, and run equal with them to the end; and the <HI>Gentiles Months</HI> are of no further con&s;iderations but mo&s;t naturally, and &s;imi|milarly &s;ink into the <HI>Months</HI> of the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> and are united with them.</P>
<P>And yet la&s;tly, to make this <HI>Calendar</HI> mo&s;t undoubted, If we &s;hould lay a&s;ide the di&s;tinction betwixt <HI>Lunar</HI> and <HI>Solar</HI> Time, and the <HI>Intercalation</HI> upon it, and take the <HI>Time, Times,</HI> and <HI>Half Time</HI> as of the <HI>little Horn</HI> onely, ab&s;olutely, and by them&s;elves; Yet allowing the <HI>Little Horn,</HI> the &s;ame with the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> the <HI>eigth King,</HI> &s;ucceding the <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire</HI> at 475; as hath been &s;o fully prov'd, and let the <HI>Half Time,</HI> as hath been al&s;o prov'd enter with <HI>Luther,</HI> they will come to the very &s;ame point of 1697; if we allow but five Years from <HI>Luther</HI> 1517, <HI>viz.</HI> till 1522 for the revolts from the <HI>Be&s;tian Kingdom,</HI> which <HI>Reformed Princes</HI> and <HI>States</HI> in that Time made; and which have conti|nued to this day; at which very Time <HI>Images,</HI> and the wor|&s;hip of them, of greate&s;t Intere&s;t in <HI>Be&s;tiani&s;m</HI> began to be ca&s;t out; And then proportion the Times, and half Time among them&s;elves; (as was before mo&s;t undeniably &s;tated) The expe|dients of <HI>Lunar Time,</HI> and of <HI>Intercalation</HI> will be more nece&s;&s;ary&punc; to &s;et the <HI>Be&s;tian Time</HI> at an even ballance with the whole <HI>Apo|calyptical</HI>
<PB N="62" REF="41"> <HI>Emblem</HI> both of the &s;tate and Characters of this Time, then to make certain the <HI>Calendar,</HI> and its computation. For <HI>Luther</HI>'s appearance or &s;o very little di&s;tant from it, as not to de&s;troy the very &s;ymbol of the <HI>Half Time,</HI> is &s;o certain a <HI>Bar|rier</HI> of that <HI>Half Time;</HI> and the <HI>Ce&s;&s;ation</HI> of the <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire,</HI> &s;o certain an <HI>Epoch</HI> of the three equal <HI>Times,</HI> that we cannot fail of proportioning them all among&s;t them&s;eves and knowing, the longe&s;t of their duration can be but till 1697.</P>
<P>The <HI>Calendar</HI> being thus determin'd, let us con&s;ider the di&s;tri|bution, and as the <HI>Half Time</HI> hath appear'd to be a Time of de|clination; So the <HI>fir&s;t Time</HI> Comprehended his &s;ucce&s;&s;ion, his a&s;cending to <HI>Supremacy</HI> receiv'd from <HI>Phocas,</HI> ratified by a Coun|cel at <HI>Rome</HI> &s;oon after; and &s;o onwards his <HI>Be&s;tiani&s;m</HI> and <HI>Idola|trous</HI> e&s;tabli&s;hing <HI>Imagewor&s;hip</HI> by the <HI>&s;econd Coun&s;el of Nice;</HI> His becomming a <HI>little Horn,</HI> and rooting up any <HI>Horns</HI> in his way, his di&s;po&s;ing of Crowns, and Excommunicating <HI>Empe|rours;</HI> All which he attain'd before 797. the Period of his <HI>first Time,</HI> acording to the ballance of it, with the 1260. day; And the con&s;tituting and Crowning as <HI>Emperour Charls the Great</HI> of <HI>France,</HI> very clo&s;e to it in the year 800. and within it, if we Calculate the <HI>Times and Half</HI> of the <HI>little Horn,</HI> (as we may with very little variation do) within them&s;elves.</P>
<P>This Ob&s;ervation of the <HI>Beast</HI> ri&s;ing, as from an <HI>Infantile</HI> State, &s;hews us; The <HI>Revelation</HI> con&s;iders his &s;ucce&s;&s;ion as an <HI>Imperial Be&s;tian Seventh Head</HI> bearing <HI>ten Horns,</HI> who becoming within his fir&s;t Time, a <HI>little Horn</HI> al&s;o, him&s;elf ri&s;es according to <HI>Daniel,</HI> to his <HI>number</HI> at his powerful and effective <HI>Image;</HI> And this ari&s;ing to and &s;ettlement of power very naturally agrees with the fir&s;t Time of any Potentacy.</P>
<P>His <HI>two Times,</HI> however full of variety of accidents, as All worldly power is, yet &s;peak one main, and deep of power, as the <HI>two Times</HI> are joyn'd; but with &s;ome little di&s;tinction, as they are <HI>two Times;</HI> in which there was a &s;pread of the roots and Branches of <HI>Be&s;tian</HI> power; <HI>viz.</HI> in the coupling of the <HI>two Times;</HI> and &s;o we may ob&s;erve at that very Time, <HI>viz.</HI> in the <HI>Eleventh,</HI> and <HI>Twelth Centuries;</HI> enlarged <HI>Idolatries</HI> to the <HI>Hoa&s;t,</HI> more Bla&s;phemous a&s;&s;umptions in the <HI>Temple,</HI> and <HI>Church of God;</HI> His <HI>Per&s;ecution</HI> of the <HI>Saints</HI> and <HI>Churches of Christ,</HI> more Bloody; the <HI>Hi&s;tory</HI> of the <HI>Albigen&s;es,</HI> and <HI>Walden&s;es</HI> is the Pyra|mid of it; His <HI>Exaltation</HI> of him&s;elf above all, even the high|e&s;t Names of <HI>Maje&s;ty,</HI> and <HI>Empire</HI> more prodigious, and <HI>Lucife|rian;</HI> as the <HI>Hi&s;tory</HI> of his Treaty of the <HI>German Emperors,</HI> and of
<PB N="63" REF="41"> our own <HI>King John,</HI> are abundant Te&s;timonies: The&s;e things were mo&s;t notorious about the latter part of the <HI>Fir&s;t</HI> of the <HI>two Times</HI> ending 1157. and the &s;econd of the <HI>two Times</HI> beginning, when the other ended.</P>
<P>The <HI>Half Time</HI> is remarkable for the <HI>Cutting</HI> off &s;uch a <HI>Lap</HI> of his <HI>Be&s;tian Purple,</HI> and <HI>Scarlet,</HI> with &s;o much Di&s;honor; the Con|tinuance yet of &s;o Great a part as nece&s;&s;ary to his <HI>Half Time;</HI> and that yet more Infamous and De&s;tructive &s;troke on the&s;e <HI>Feet of Clay,</HI> that now hangs over Him, and will certainly Fall by his <HI>Periodical,</HI> and <HI>Fatal</HI> 1697. Thus every way is our <HI>Calendar</HI> a&s;|&s;ur'd in the whole, and in the Di&s;tribution.</P>
<P>And with how great Grace do the&s;e <HI>three Times,</HI> and <HI>Half</HI> agree with that <HI>Moon</HI> intercepting and &s;o <HI>Eclip&s;ing</HI> the <HI>Glory,</HI> and <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t,</HI> fir&s;t <HI>partial,</HI> till after the middle of the <HI>Fir&s;t Time;</HI> then <HI>total</HI> till the end of the <HI>Two Times;</HI> At the <HI>Half Time</HI> the Fir&s;t Re-appearances of Light were very &s;urprizing; But there is yet an ob&s;curity; But It &s;hall at la&s;t &s;o go off, So that the <HI>Sun of Righteou&s;ne&s;s</HI> &s;hall <HI>&s;hine out in its Strength,</HI> and the <HI>Light of one Day</HI> &s;hall be then as the <HI>Light of any &s;even,</HI> that have been hi|therto, &s;ince the <HI>Reformation.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="Object."> Now if It &s;hould &s;eem any Di&s;paragement to the <HI>Calendar,</HI> that the <HI>Turki&s;h</HI> &s;o va&s;t <HI>Empire</HI> hath no place in it, though &s;eated in &s;o large Traicts of the Ancient <HI>Roman Empire,</HI> and in the <HI>Imperial City</HI> of its <HI>Ea&s;tern Empire, Con&s;tantinople,</HI> call'd <HI>New Rome.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="An&s;w."> The An&s;wer is clear; It is &s;o far from di&s;paraging the <HI>Calendar,</HI> that It much &s;trengthens, and Illu&s;trates it; For It hereby is mo&s;t evident, that only tho&s;e <HI>Four Monarchies,</HI> we have &s;o much &s;poken of, make the <HI>Calendar</HI> and only in that order, wherein the <HI>Divine Spirit</HI> plac'd Them; &s;o that neither <HI>Per&s;ia,</HI> nor <HI>Graece,</HI> whatever Greatne&s;s They have had, &s;ince the former was <HI>demonarchiz'd</HI> by <HI>Alexander,</HI> and the latter by the <HI>Romans,</HI> have any place in this <HI>Calendar;</HI> And though the <HI>Tur|ki&s;h Power</HI> hath invaded &s;o much, what was heretofore <HI>Roman Empire;</HI> Yet It hath been on purpo&s;e &s;o plac'd by Divine Ven|geance, that It might the more clo&s;ely offend, and annoy the <HI>Apo&s;tate Roman State,</HI> and be a more effective Woe upon it. In the mean Time, It hath been &s;o limited, that It could never <HI>po&s;&s;e&s;s Rome,</HI> nor the Amplitude of the <HI>We&s;tern Empire.</HI></P>
<P>Yet it is evident, <HI>Prophecy</HI> is not ignorant of the <HI>Mahometan Greatne&s;s,</HI> but mo&s;t abundant in the de&s;cypharings of it, both in <HI>Daniel, Dan.</HI> 11. 40. under the <HI>King</HI> of the <HI>South,</HI> as the <HI>Sa|racens,</HI>
<PB N="64" REF="42"> and of the <HI>North</HI> in the <HI>Turks;</HI> and &s;o in the <HI>Revelation, chap.</HI> 9. in the Fir&s;t <HI>Woe Trumpet</HI> of the <HI>Locusts,</HI> and the <HI>Second Woe Trumpet</HI> of the <HI>Armed Hor&s;emen;</HI> and that They Both Fall in with the Times of the <HI>Calendar,</HI> and are as much engrafted into it, as They have been, or are into the <HI>Roman Empire,</HI> as hath been &s;hown in the <HI>Line of Time;</HI> where It ought to be; and the Times of the pre&s;ent <HI>Mahometan Kingdom</HI> in the <HI>Turks</HI> &s;hall certainly take End with this <HI>Calendar,</HI> when that <HI>Apo&s;tate Be&s;tiani&s;m</HI> &s;hall cea&s;e to require &s;o Great a Vengeance upon the <HI>Chri&s;tian World;</HI> on which Account, when the <HI>Witne&s;&s;e&s;s</HI> enter into Glory at the <HI>Period</HI> of the 1260 <HI>Days;</HI> It is &s;aid the <HI>&s;e|cond Woe is pa&s;t,</HI> but a Greater <HI>Third Woe</HI> immediately &s;eizes the <HI>Apo&s;ta&s;ie,</HI> even the &s;ucceeding <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>The naming of which by way of &s;tronge&s;t Intere&s;t &s;hould oblige us to <HI>watch,</HI> and <HI>keep our Garments,</HI> that our <HI>Shame may not be &s;een.</HI></P>
<P>For as that <HI>Kingdom</HI> will put an utter end to all <HI>Pagan Impe|riali&s;m in the World,</HI> by ways and Methods known to Him, who does, <HI>whatever He plea&s;es,</HI> and as It &s;hall utterly de&s;troy <HI>Antichri|&s;tiani&s;m</HI> which we &s;o Highly have di&s;avowed; So It will be as &s;evere on all Formal, Ceremonial, Per&s;ecutory <HI>Prote&s;tancy,</HI> and not only that, but all Prophane, Irreligious <HI>Prote&s;tants unreform'd</HI> in Heart, <HI>unreform'd</HI> in Life; For It is a Kingdom of <HI>Truth, Righteou&s;ne&s;s,</HI> and <HI>Peace,</HI> not in <HI>Word</HI> but in <HI>Power.</HI></P>
<P>And &s;eeing, It is certainly &s;o near, as I have Repre&s;ented, and that All the Policy and Power of the World, can no lon|ger interpo&s;e again&s;t it; but that <HI>Chri&s;t will take to Him&s;elf,</HI> his <HI>Great Power,</HI> and <HI>Reign;</HI> however Angry the <HI>Nations</HI> will be at it, and will <HI>destroy them,</HI> that have <HI>destroyed</HI> &s;o long <HI>the Earth,</HI> and will <HI>&s;tay the Wicked</HI> with the <HI>Rod of his Mouth,</HI> and with the <HI>Breath of his Lips;</HI> How diligent &s;hould All be, to prepare for &s;o Happy a <HI>Revolution,</HI> if we are <HI>found of Him in Peace;</HI> For if not, we &s;hall in vain call to the <HI>Mountain to Hide us,</HI> and to the <HI>Rocks to cover us,</HI> when the <HI>Great Day of His Wrath is Come.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<P>The <HI>Prophetical</HI> Map of which Holy and Ble&s;&s;ed State, is too large here to pre&s;ent, but it is nece&s;&s;ary, that a &s;hort delineation of it, &s;o far, as is agreeable, to &s;upport the la&s;t, and mo&s;t excel|ling part of the <HI>Calendar,</HI> be given.</P>
<P>For in both the <HI>vi&s;ions,</HI> the <HI>vi&s;ion</HI> of the <HI>Image,</HI> and the <HI>vi&s;ion of the Beast;</HI> There enters at the end in&s;eparably, and no way po&s;&s;ible to be divided a <HI>divine Kingdom,</HI> of which the expre&s;&s;ions are &s;o full, and high, that it is &s;elf evident, the grand Intend|ment
<PB N="65" REF="42"> of the <HI>Holy Spirit</HI> was by the <HI>four Monarchies</HI> to lead to that <HI>Supreme Kingdom,</HI> that where They end, That may begin; which is of it &s;elf a great proof, that if we are thus far right in the <HI>Calendar;</HI> as the Evidence of <HI>Divine Revelation</HI> a&s;&s;ures me, we are; We mu&s;t be near &s;o great, and happy a Revolution, the Complement of the <HI>Calendar;</HI> and are now as on a <HI>Pi&s;gah</HI> view of it.</P>
<P>For the <HI>Kingdom of Christ</HI> hath an immediate &s;ucce&s;&s;ion to the <HI>Times of the Bea&s;t,</HI> even as the <HI>Be&s;tian Kingdom,</HI> and <HI>Times</HI> had to the <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire;</HI> The &s;ucce&s;&s;ion is immediate, but the Illu&s;trious <HI>Glory</HI> hath a Time of Preparation after the &s;ucce&s;&s;ion.</P>
<P>In the Face of all <HI>Prophecy</HI> This &s;ucce&s;&s;ion appears in <HI>Daniel</HI>'s two <HI>Vi&s;ions:</HI> the <HI>Divine Kingdom follows</HI> the <HI>Feet,</HI> and the <HI>Little Horn,</HI> even &s;o clo&s;e, as to be &s;aid in <HI>their Days</HI> of <HI>tho&s;e ten Kings.</HI> The <HI>God of Heaven Sets up a Kingdom, Dan.</HI> 2. 47. as it were, within them, becau&s;e &s;o ju&s;t at the end of their Time; The <HI>Apo|&s;tle Paul</HI> tells us The approach of <HI>Christ,</HI> to the <HI>Be&s;tian Times</HI> is &s;o near, that <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> bla&s;ts Him with the <HI>Spirit of his Mouth,</HI> and brings to nothing the blaze of his <HI>Moon,</HI> by the full Glory of his own appearance: That <HI>Illu&s;trious Man of Sin,</HI> the <HI>Antitype</HI> of <HI>Antiochus the Illu&s;trious</HI> is &s;o out-&s;hone, that He is a <HI>Lamp put out in ob&s;cure Darkne&s;s;</HI> In the whole view of the <HI>Revelation,</HI> the <HI>Glory</HI> of <HI>Chri&s;t's Kingdom</HI> ri&s;es as the <HI>Beast</HI> falls; and when He, and his <HI>Fal&s;e Prophet</HI> are <HI>ca&s;t into the Lake;</HI> or, as <HI>Daniel</HI> &s;peaks, His <HI>Body deliver'd to the con&s;uming Flames,</HI> Then the <HI>Kingdom</HI> is <HI>given to Christ</HI> and his <HI>Saints,</HI> as in full Glory: They &s;it on <HI>Thrones</HI> and <HI>Reign</HI> with Him.</P>
<P>But nothing is &s;o expre&s;s, as the <HI>Oath of Christ,</HI> as at the Mor|ning of the <HI>Half Time,</HI> or <HI>Reformation;</HI> a beginning Glory <HI>Seal'd,</HI> or &s;tay'd in the <HI>Thunders &s;eal'd,</HI> till the end of the <HI>Half Time; Christ</HI> &s;olemnly &s;wears at that Time, There &s;hall be after <HI>Time, Times,</HI> and <HI>Half Time</HI> allowed No more &s;uch kind of <HI>Time;</HI> The fal&s;e <HI>High Prie&s;t,</HI> the Counterfeit of the True is not <HI>made without an Oath,</HI> indeed; But becau&s;e, he is but a Coun|terfeit; He is cut off at his <HI>Half Time</HI> by an <HI>Oath</HI> al&s;o, and can|not be a Prie&s;t any longer; He is <HI>broken without Hand from Heaven.</HI></P>
<P>As &s;oon as ever the <HI>Oath</HI> takes place, That <HI>Time</HI> of the former date of <HI>Times</HI> and <HI>Half Time</HI> is no longer, it Immediately follows. The <HI>My&s;tery of God,</HI> that is, the <HI>Glorious Kingdom of Christ,</HI> &s;o much, and &s;o long &s;poken of by the <HI>Prophets,</HI> &s;hall
<PB N="66" REF="43"> be immediately in Motion by it &s;elf to its complement, and perfection.</P>
<P>Accordingly at the end of the <HI>Twelve Hundred</HI> and <HI>&s;ixty days,</HI> and of the <HI>Three days and Half,</HI> the &s;ame, as hath been prov'd, with <HI>Time, Times,</HI> and <HI>Half Time;</HI> There is as in their <HI>Days</HI> of tho&s;e <HI>Ten Kings</HI> the appearance of the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t</HI> in the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es ri&s;ing, &amp;c.</HI> even ju&s;t before the Bla&s;t of the <HI>&s;eventh Trumpet;</HI> And then the <HI>Seventh Trumpet &s;ounds,</HI> and immediate|ly there are <HI>Loud voices</HI> in <HI>Heaven;</HI> The <HI>Kingdoms of this World are become the Kingdoms</HI> of the <HI>Lord</HI> and of his <HI>Christ;</HI> The <HI>King|dom</HI> is <HI>proclaimed</HI> and advances all the Time of the <HI>Seventy five years,</HI> in which the <HI>Twelve Hundred &s;ixty years,</HI> become <HI>Twelve Hundred ninety years,</HI> and then <HI>Thirteen Hundred Thirty five</HI> the <HI>Epoch</HI> of the perfectly <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed &s;tate</HI> of that <HI>Kingdom</HI> of <HI>Christ:</HI> All which lay'd together, is perfect <HI>Scripture</HI> Demon&s;tration of the Complement of the <HI>Calendar,</HI> and of the <HI>Kingdom of Christ</HI> in its &s;ucce&s;&s;ion &s;o near to us, as 1697, and then ri&s;ing to perfect glory.</P>
<P>And until that Time, there is to be a continual prayer for, and Expectation of &s;uch preparatory motions in the World, as by which <HI>Be&s;tiani&s;m</HI> &s;hall not onely, not be allowed to Re|gurgitate on any of the reformed Nations, by any of their Prin|ces <HI>Giving</HI> anew <HI>their power to the Beast,</HI> that had Revers'd their power from Him, but that the re&s;t of the <HI>Ten Kings,</HI> and <HI>Kingdoms</HI> &s;hall <HI>hate the Whore;</HI> And that within the Reformati|on it &s;elf, that <HI>Synagogue, Prophecy,</HI> Brands, as the <HI>Synagogue</HI> of <HI>Sathan,</HI> that was always <GAP DESC="foreign"> a Friend to <HI>Primacy,</HI> and to ca&s;ting out of the Church on its un&s;criptural Canons, &s;hould be bending to <HI>wor&s;hip</HI> at <HI>Philadelphiaes Feet,</HI> and thereby the <HI>Refor|mation</HI> become perfect, and Illu&s;trious.</P>
<P>Let us then take off our Hearts, and Eyes from all worldly Glory, whether <HI>Civil,</HI> or <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tic,</HI> which is now in its low <HI>We&s;t,</HI> and adore the <HI>Glory of Christ</HI> in his <HI>Kingdom,</HI> as the <HI>ri&s;ing Sun,</HI> now near its <HI>Ea&s;t,</HI> and <HI>Morning Dawn.</HI> As the <HI>Stars,</HI> let every one move, and even <HI>Fight in their Cour&s;es,</HI> and <HI>help the Lord again&s;t the Mighty;</HI> Let us wait for <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t from Heaven,</HI> who before <HI>Pontius Pilate witne&s;s'd</HI> that <HI>good Confe&s;&s;ion of his Kingdom,</HI> which though it is not of this <HI>World,</HI> is yet of the approaching <HI>World to come, whereof we &s;peak;</HI> and though, it is not from hence, or from beneath, yet is the <HI>Jeru&s;alem coming down from Heaven;</HI> which he in his <HI>own proper Time,</HI> now at Hand <HI>will &s;hew,</HI> who is <HI>Lord of Lords,</HI> and <HI>King of Kings.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB REF="43">
<HEAD>The <HI>Rationality</HI> of this <HI>Calendar</HI> in a <HI>Review,</HI> and in Com|pare with the <HI>Numeral Calendar</HI> of the 2300 <HI>Evens. Morns.</HI> Or, a Table of Time, e&s;pecially of that part of it within the foregoing <HI>Calendar,</HI> and Explanatory of it &s;o, that its Truth is Evinc'd, by i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="2 letters"> Conformity to the Infinite Wi&s;dom, that hath <HI>made every Thing Beautiful in its Sea&s;on.</HI></HEAD>
<P>THE Great Rea&s;on of All Time, is the Allowance of &s;pace to the World, for the variety of Action in it, under the Government of &s;upreme Provi|dence; whereby things are Roll'd this way and that way, between the <HI>Kingdom of Sathan</HI> in the <HI>Apo&s;ta&s;ie of Humane Nature,</HI> and the <HI>Re&s;toration</HI> of it by the <HI>Seed of the Woman, Je&s;us Chri&s;t;</HI> until his <HI>Kingdom</HI> &s;hall &s;wal|low up the <HI>Apo&s;ta&s;ie,</HI> and <HI>appear in Glory;</HI> which <HI>Appearance in Glory</HI> is determined by God, who hath <HI>Re&s;erved Times and Sea&s;ons in his own Power,</HI> to Come <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">igh upon the &s;eventh Millenary of Time, which is the Grand Sabbati&s;m under the Son of Man, the <HI>Lord of it,</HI> who is al&s;o the Son of God.</P>
<P>Time therefore, being &s;even Millenaries in the whole, as Inclu&s;ive of the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t</HI> was for about the Fir&s;t Half of it mea&s;ur'd out by the <HI>Holy Line,</HI> of whom this <HI>Seed</HI> was to <HI>Come,</HI> according to the Great Revolutions, order'd by God with Relation to this <HI>Seed;</HI> As fir&s;t by the <HI>Patriarchal Ages</HI> till <HI>Abraham;</HI> From <HI>Abraham</HI> to the <HI>Giving of Canan</HI> to his Seed; from the Giving of <HI>Canan</HI> to the <HI>King|dom of David,</HI> and <HI>Solomon,</HI> the Great <HI>Type</HI> of the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t;</HI> But becau&s;e This <HI>Kingdom</HI> fell from the very Glory of the <HI>Type</HI> by the <HI>Rending Ten Tribes</HI> from the <HI>Hou&s;e of David</HI> at the Death of <HI>Solomon;</HI> and that within 390 years after, Both <HI>Hou|&s;es</HI> of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> and <HI>Judah</HI> were in Captivity; Time is drawn from <HI>Solomons</HI> Death to the Great <HI>Vi&s;ion</HI> of the <HI>Re&s;toration</HI> of <HI>All I&s;rael</HI> in <HI>Ezekiels Temple,</HI> and <HI>City,</HI> and by <HI>Forty</HI> Additional years to the <HI>Re&s;toring</HI> the Hou&s;e of <HI>Judah</HI> particularly, out of the <HI>Babyloni&s;h</HI> Captivity by <HI>Cyrus.</HI></P>
<P>The other Half of Time, beginning &s;oon after <HI>Ezekiels Vi&s;ion</HI> till the <HI>New Jeru|&s;alem</HI> is call'd by our Lord, <HI>The Times of the Gentiles.</HI> 1. Becau&s;e the <HI>Jews,</HI> the then People of God, from that Time would be, till <HI>Ezekiels Vi&s;ion</HI> came into Effect under <HI>Gentile</HI> Servitude. 2. Becau&s;e the <HI>Church of God</HI> would, after the Death of <HI>Me&s;&s;iah</HI> by <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Hands, be to Remove from the <HI>Jews</HI> to the <HI>Gentiles;</HI> and &s;o the <HI>Gentile Monarchies</HI> having the <HI>Jews</HI> and the <HI>Gentiles</HI> Chri&s;tianiz'd, under them, would be Fit Repre&s;entatives of the <HI>&V;niver&s;al Monarchy of Chri&s;t</HI> over all Mankind; and yet till the <HI>Jews</HI> &s;hall be perfectly re&s;tored according to that <HI>Vi&s;ion of Ezekiel,</HI> The <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t cannot Come,</HI> which &s;hews the Superiority of the <HI>Jews</HI> in that <HI>King|dom;</HI> &s;hadowed therefore by their <HI>City</HI> and <HI>Temple,</HI> and called for their &s;akes, <HI>The New Jeru&s;alem;</HI> This Honour they have, becau&s;e Chri&s;t, <HI>God over All</HI> in that King|dom <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed</HI> for <HI>Ever, Came of Them.</HI> 3. Becau&s;e however the <HI>Church of Chri&s;t</HI> was to be planted among the <HI>Gentiles,</HI> as <HI>Engrafted</HI> among the <HI>believing Jews,</HI> Yet &s;o Great an <HI>Apo&s;ta&s;ie</HI> was to Ri&s;e in the <HI>Gentile Church,</HI> as uniting with the <HI>Pagan Gentili&s;m,</HI> would <HI>Ecclip&s;e</HI> and &s;tay off the <HI>Glory</HI> of <HI>Chri&s;ts Kingdom</HI> from <HI>appearing</HI> du|ring tho&s;e <HI>Gentile Times,</HI> and &s;o till the <GAP DESC="foreign">, or the Coming of the Glory of the Church out of its <HI>Ecclip&s;e</HI> among the <HI>Gentiles, Ezekiels Vi&s;ion</HI> cannot become Effect,
<PB REF="44"> nor <HI>All I&s;rael &s;av'd,</HI> Rom. 11. and thus the whole <HI>Gentiles Times</HI> are Times wholly oppo&s;ite to the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t,</HI> in its <HI>Glory,</HI> except about an 120 years of the <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire,</HI> which God &s;upremely interpos'd, and the la&s;t <HI>Half Time</HI> or 180 years &s;ince the <HI>Reformation</HI> in part reconcil'd to it.</P>
<P>The&s;e <HI>Gentiles-Times</HI> are double <HI>Calendar'd,</HI> becau&s;e of &s;o Great Account.</P>
<P N="1">1. By a <HI>Calendar</HI> of <HI>Four Great Monarchies,</HI> Each latter in Succe&s;&s;ion to the fore|going<NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. 7.</NOTE> <HI>Monarchy.</HI> The la&s;t of which remains, till the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t</HI> &s;hall break that, and all others with it. To &s;o Great a <HI>Monarchy of Chri&s;t,</HI> The&s;e <HI>Monarchies</HI> la&s;t|ing until it, are an agreeable <HI>Calendar.</HI> And becau&s;e the la&s;t State of the la&s;t <HI>Mo|narchy</HI> would be very long, and of Great Con&s;ideration, There is a <HI>Numeral</HI> but <HI>My&s;tic Calendar,</HI> of <HI>Time, Times,</HI> and <HI>Half a Time</HI> given to that Alone.</P>
<P N="2">2. This <HI>Monarchic Calendar</HI> is arm'd with a Full <HI>Numeral Calendar,</HI> beginning at<NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. 8.</NOTE> the end of the la&s;t <HI>Joynt</HI> of the whole Scripture <HI>Line</HI> before it. <HI>viz.</HI> at the end of <HI>Ezekiels</HI> la&s;t 40 <HI>Days</HI> for <HI>Years,</HI> and in the beginning of the &s;econd of the&s;e Four <HI>Monarchies. viz.</HI> The <HI>Per&s;ian.</HI></P>
<P>The <HI>Monarchic</HI> and the <HI>Numeral Calendar</HI> admirably &s;erve One Another; For &s;o Great <HI>Pyramids</HI> of Time, as <HI>&V;niver&s;al Monarchies</HI> and their Changes, cannot but be generally known and ob&s;erved; and the <HI>Numeral Calendar</HI> keeps the&s;e <HI>Monar|chies</HI> to their own Bounds; and particularly joyning with the <HI>Numeral My&s;tic Calen|dar</HI> of the la&s;t part of the <HI>Fourth Monarchy</HI> binds it to its own Time, and al&s;o adju&s;ts the Kingdom of Chri&s;t after 75 years of preparation to its own <HI>Sabbatic Milenary</HI> by the note of 2300 <HI>Even. Morn.</HI> as <HI>Six Evens. Morns&punc;</HI> led to the <HI>Fir&s;t Sabbath.</HI></P>
<P>The <HI>Calendar</HI> of <HI>Monarchies</HI> was duly given, when the <HI>Ten Tribes, Jeru&s;alem,</HI> as <HI>Sodom of Old,</HI> and <HI>Egypt</HI> al&s;o lay in Ruins under <HI>Litteral Babylon,</HI> that <HI>Rome</HI> or <HI>My&s;tical Babylon</HI> bearing the names of all the&s;e, <HI>Spiritual Sodom, Egypt</HI> and of the <HI>City</HI> where <HI>Our Lord was Crucified,</HI> what was Irrecoverable in Them All, might fall into its <HI>Everla&s;ting Burnings.</HI></P>
<P>The <HI>Calendar</HI> of the 2300 <HI>Even. Morn.</HI> is given mo&s;t opportunely, preci&s;ely, and exactly to adju&s;t the <HI>Scripture Line of Time</HI> to the great <HI>Sabbati&s;m,</HI> and &s;o could neither be more nor fewer then the 2300 <HI>Even. Morn.</HI> to be propheti|cally Multiplyed into Years.</P>
<P>In this <HI>Numeral Calendar</HI> every part of Time is kept, not onely to its <HI>own pro|per Time</HI> in regard of <HI>Time:</HI> but the <HI>Beauty</HI> of every part is &s;een in its own <HI>Sea|&s;on,</HI> by the di&s;tribution of this great <HI>Calendar</HI> into &s;everal le&s;&s;er parts of the whole. Wherein though it be the <HI>Numeral Calendar</HI> of the <HI>Gentiles Times,</HI> yet there is particular re&s;pect to the <HI>Church</HI> of <HI>God</HI> under the <HI>Gentiles Times;</HI> as to the <HI>Jewi&s;h Church,</HI> till it was Renunciated by Chri&s;t; and &s;o to the <HI>Gentile Church</HI> after, under the Apo&s;ta&s;ie or <HI>Gentiliz'd Christianity.</HI></P>
<P>This <HI>Numeral Calendar</HI> is united to <HI>Ezekiels vi&s;ion</HI> of the <HI>City,</HI> and <HI>Temple</HI> by<NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. 8. v. 14.</NOTE> the note of the <HI>Sanctuary Cleans'd:</HI> It is united to the <HI>Monarchic Calendar</HI> by the <HI>Prince, viz.</HI> The <HI>Antichri&s;tian Prince,</HI> or <HI>Little Horn broken without Hand,</HI> the la&s;t of the <HI>Princes</HI> in the <HI>Monarchic Calendar.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">v. 25.</NOTE></P>
<P>If we then take the fir&s;t 75 <HI>years</HI> of the 2300, and account them by the <HI>Word going forth</HI> by the Three <HI>Per&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="2 letters">n Kings, Cyrus, Darius,</HI> and <HI>Artaxerxes,</HI> for the <HI>Re&s;to|ring Jeru&s;alem</HI> and <HI>Judah,</HI> we are &s;o far a&s;&s;ur'd by <HI>Scripture</HI> according to the <HI>Monarchic,</HI> and <HI>Numeral Calendar,</HI> that &s;o many years may be allowed: and then parallel to the&s;e 75, the la&s;t 75 years at the end of the 2300. <HI>viz.</HI> from the la&s;t 1260 to 1335. in preparation for the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem;</HI> and the parallel is very beautiful of <HI>Litteral Babylon</HI> Falling, and the <HI>Litteral Jeru&s;alem Ri&s;ing</HI> at the beginning of the 2300. Even&punc; Morn: and <HI>My&s;tical Babylon Falling,</HI> and the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem</HI> Ri&s;ing at the End of the 2300 E. M. And 75 years at the Beginning, and at the End 75 years for the <HI>Re&s;toring each Jeru&s;alem</HI> An&s;wer One Another in number, and as a Time of preparation, one for the <HI>Litteral,</HI> the other for the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem.</HI></P>
<PB REF="44">
<P> The <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> that then was being thus <HI>Re&s;tored,</HI> It was pre&s;erv'd 70 <HI>Weeks</HI> of Years, or the 490 years immediately following the fir&s;t 75, though in <HI>Straits,</HI> or <HI>Troublous Times,</HI> that in that as in the <HI>Holy City,</HI> the <HI>Type</HI> of the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem, Me&s;&s;iah</HI> might Found his <HI>Spiritual,</HI> and <HI>Evangelical Kingdom,</HI> and the Right to his Glorious <HI>Kingdom,</HI> becau&s;e to it the <HI>Kingdom</HI> was fir&s;t to <HI>Come:</HI> And hereunto agree the <HI>Mo|narchic,</HI> and <HI>Numeral Calendar</HI> that 490 years might be thus di&s;pos'd&punc; <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> ha|ving been pre&s;erv'd &s;o long under the <HI>Per&s;ian, Graecian,</HI> and &s;ucceeding <HI>Roman Mo|narchy</HI> Ruling over Them.</P>
<P>At the <HI>Death, Re&s;urrection</HI> and <HI>A&s;cen&s;ion of Chri&s;t, Me&s;&s;iah</HI> had a Right to a <HI>Glorious Kingdom;</HI> But in Re&s;ignation to the <HI>Divine Will,</HI> that had &s;o determin'd; He &s;eal'd or &s;tay'd <HI>Prophe&s;ie</HI> from coming into the Effect of his <HI>Kingdom,</HI> which <HI>Kingdom</HI> might well be called <HI>Vi&s;ion,</HI> or <HI>Prophe&s;ie,</HI> becau&s;e It is the <HI>Re&s;titution</HI> of <HI>All Things,</HI> and the <HI>My&s;tery of God &s;poken of by all the Prophets;</HI> and &s;o Chri&s;t bids <HI>Daniel &s;eal</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. 12&punc; 4.</NOTE> <HI>the Book,</HI> and accordingly he Receives it from God <HI>Seal'd with &s;even Seals,</HI> and<NOTE PLACE="marg">Revel. 5.</NOTE> Chri&s;t <HI>open'd</HI> in due order tho&s;e <HI>Seales,</HI> tho' it had been no <HI>Robbery</HI> to have taken the <HI>Kingdom</HI> immediately; Throughout the <HI>Four</HI> fir&s;t <HI>Seals</HI> there was the <HI>Inter|ce&s;&s;ions</HI> of his <HI>Saints</HI> thro' <HI>his Blood</HI> for <HI>his Kingdom,</HI> and the <HI>word of his Te&s;timony</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Revel. 6.</NOTE> vehemently urg'd, <HI>Come</HI> and <HI>&s;ee,</HI> and all along there ran a Cour&s;e of <HI>Martyrdoms,</HI> which was compleated at the <HI>Fifth Seal</HI> in the greate&s;t and la&s;t <HI>Per&s;ecution</HI> under <HI>Diocle&s;ian;</HI> So at the <HI>Sixth Seal</HI> the <HI>Ancient Kingdom</HI> of <HI>Sathan</HI> the <HI>Dragon,</HI> and <HI>Old Serpent, Fell</HI> as <HI>from Heaven</HI> in the <HI>De&s;olation</HI> of <HI>Heatheni&s;m</HI> thro' the <HI>Roman Empire;</HI> that is, It fell in a <HI>Prophetical Symbol,</HI> of what &s;hall be fully done hereafter, rather then <HI>Hi&s;torical</HI> of what was then done; And in the &s;ame <HI>Prophetical &s;ymbo|li&s;m</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Revel. 12. 10.</NOTE> in the <HI>Seventh</HI> or <HI>Sabbatical Seal;</HI> The <HI>Kingdom of Christ</HI> call'd the <HI>Kingdom of our God,</HI> made an appearance.</P>
<P>And the&s;e <HI>Seven &s;eals</HI> mu&s;t be within four hundred years after the <HI>Re&s;urrection;</HI> in which, what Time the <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire</HI> had, was cut off from the <HI>wounded &s;ixth Be&s;tian Head,</HI> or <HI>Pagan Emperour.</HI> For the 2300 <HI>Even. Morn.</HI> allow &s;o much Time, and no more; and the <HI>Monarchic Calendar</HI> requires it to be before the <HI>Roman Em|pire</HI> was divided into 10 <HI>Kingdoms;</HI> So the <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire</HI> mu&s;t begin 280 years after the <HI>Re&s;urrection,</HI> where it had Right to enter as a <HI>Symbol</HI> of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI>'s <HI>Kingdom</HI> as made <HI>Perfect</HI> by <HI>Sufferings</HI> and his Saints <HI>overcomming by his Blood,</HI> by the <HI>word of his Te&s;timony,</HI> and by not <HI>loving their Lives unto Death.</HI> And this <HI>Kingdom</HI> then la&s;ted 120 years, before the <HI>Apo&s;ta&s;ie</HI> had <HI>Eclips'd</HI> it, and &s;eeing there was &s;o much cut off from the <HI>Pagan Empire,</HI> if the <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire</HI> had not <HI>held</HI> that Time, <HI>Antichri&s;t</HI> had been <HI>Reveal'd</HI> before his <HI>own Time,</HI> and thus <HI>Hi&s;tory</HI> agrees. Now<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign"> 2 The&s;. 2. 6</NOTE> this appearance of the <HI>Kingdom of Christ</HI> in the mid&s;t of a <HI>Be&s;tian Image of Monar|chies</HI> and of the la&s;t <HI>Be&s;tian Monarchy</HI> was Immediately interpos'd by God, how|ever again&s;t Nature.</P>
<P>Immediately hereupon even while Thirty eight years of the <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire</HI> remain'd in a &s;upremacy over <HI>Rome</HI> tho' much fallen from Glory, the <HI>Aposta&s;ie</HI> that was to bring forth the <HI>Revelation of the man</HI> of &s;in, or his &s;ucce&s;&s;ion at the end of tho&s;e 38 <HI>years</HI> enter'd in the <HI>Gentiles Months,</HI> and began the 1260 years; It enter'd thus &s;oon, that the <HI>wounded Beast</HI> might be <HI>Heal'd</HI> and <HI>not dye,</HI> and becau&s;e the <HI>Christian Empire</HI> &s;o unnatural according to <HI>Prophecy</HI> to the <HI>Bestian Monarchic Image</HI> ought to continue but a <HI>&s;hort &s;pace,</HI> and becau&s;e there remain'd onely 1260 years of the <HI>Numeral Calendar</HI> be&s;ides the 75 years of Preparation after them for the <HI>Kingdom of Christ;</HI> and becau&s;e here the <HI>Ten Kings</HI> (to be united to the <HI>Beast,</HI> were to <HI>Receive Power</HI> at the Ce&s;&s;ation of the <HI>Christian Emperour,</HI> as at <HI>one Hour with the Beast)</HI> enter'd as <HI>Gentiles,</HI> tho' not as <HI>Kings</HI> till that Ce&s;&s;ation: And here the Apo&s;ta&s;ie mu&s;t needs enter, becau&s;e it was to enter by way of undermine and <HI>Eclip&s;e</HI> upon the <HI>Kingdom of Christ,</HI> which it could onely do, while this <HI>Christian Empire</HI> remain'd a <HI>Symbol</HI> of it.</P>
<PB REF="45">
<P> And here let us behold with Humble Admiration, and A&s;toni&s;hment the Re|&s;ignation of Chri&s;t to the divine will; For with Readine&s;s he <HI>Seal<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter"></HI> up the Glory of his 144000, and &s;o of his own <HI>Kingdom,</HI> and <HI>Swears;</HI> It &s;hould be &s;o for <HI>Times, Times,</HI> and <HI>Half,</HI> while the daily <HI>Sacrifice</HI> or pure <HI>Wor&s;hip of his Go&s;pel,</HI> &s;hould be <HI>taken away;</HI> But then he <HI>&s;wears;</HI> There &s;hould be no more &s;uch Time of <HI>Eclip&s;e,</HI> but all along to the <HI>1290th</HI> year from thence, and by the 1335 year from thence, <HI>viz.</HI> in the fir&s;t 75 years of the <HI>&s;eventh Trumpet,</HI> the My&s;tery of his Kingdom <HI>&s;hould be Fini&s;h'd,</HI> and it &s;hould <HI>Appear.</HI></P>
<P>And here behold again the <HI>Beauty</HI> of Providence in this <HI>Sea&s;on;</HI> For there was a <HI>Dilemma</HI> upon this Time; If <HI>Bea&s;tian,</HI> the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t appearing</HI> in the <HI>Chri|&s;tian Empire,</HI> mu&s;t be revers'd; whereas as in a <HI>Symbol,</HI> It &s;hould never be revers'd, the <HI>manly Birth</HI> was <HI>caught up to the Throne of God:</HI> If not <HI>Bea&s;tian,</HI> how would the <HI>Monarchic Calendar</HI> be &s;ecur'd? For the <HI>Bea&s;tian Image</HI> &s;tands, till the Glory of Chri&s;ts <HI>Kingdom,</HI> which we are &s;ure is not yet; or how the <HI>Numeral Calendar,</HI> who&s;e 2300 Even. Norn. would want 1260 years? Loe then the Divinene&s;s of the <HI>Reconcili|ation;</HI> The very <HI>Ecclip&s;e</HI> of the <HI>Sun</HI> is a Confe&s;&s;ion of the Sun. El&s;e there could be no Moon in Brightne&s;s Ecclip&s;ing it; If no <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> no <HI>Antichri&s;t,</HI> no &s;uch <HI>Vicar:</HI> Oh ominous Name, <HI>Vicar of Chri&s;t,</HI> what is the <HI>Greek Original</HI> for <HI>Vicar of Chri&s;t,</HI> but <HI>Antichrist;</HI> His High Preten&s;ions an&s;wered by the Ten <HI>Kings Giving their Power</HI> to Him, is a Confe&s;&s;ion of Chri&s;t, and of his Supreme <HI>Monarchy.</HI> This therefore and no other <HI>Beastiaeni&s;m</HI> could now Be, or La&s;t till the <HI>Kingdom of Christ.</HI> But on the other &s;ide, <HI>Antichristiani&s;m</HI> is <HI>Beastiani&s;m;</HI> The <HI>Ecclip&s;e,</HI> and Undermine are <HI>Bea&s;tian;</HI> Chri&s;t therefore &s;ubmits to the Ecclip&s;e of his <HI>Kingdom</HI> for 1260 years, becau&s;e It was to la&s;t &s;o long according to both the&s;e <HI>Prophetical Calendars,</HI> as in the <HI>Little Horn</HI> or <HI>Antichrist;</HI> and then He allows to the <HI>fini&s;hing of the Mystery</HI> 75 years after, that his <HI>Kingdom</HI> might Come in its <HI>own Time,</HI> as on the <HI>Evening</HI> of the <HI>Sabbatical Millenary, appointed</HI> for it by the <HI>Father;</HI> And then the <HI>Ecclip&s;ing Moon vani&s;hes</HI> by that B<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">ig<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="2 letters">ne&s;s of Chri&s;ts <HI>Coming,</HI> call'd therefore &s;o often <GAP DESC="foreign">; and becomes a <HI>w<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">ndring Star,</HI> for which is <HI>re&s;erv'd the blackne&s;s of Darkne&s;s for ever.</HI> Let us there|fore<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 word"> 3. 17.</NOTE> every one fear to <HI>Fall</HI> from our own <HI>Fixation</HI> in the <HI>Go&s;pel Firmament.</HI></P>
<P>Now whoever <HI>Lays all</HI> the&s;e Things together, and &s;hall con&s;ider the Rea&s;on of them, and them, and when the <HI>Ten Kings</HI> entred the <HI>Roman Empire,</HI> and how long ago the <HI>Chri&s;tian Empire</HI> was; how near on All Accounts the <HI>End</HI> of the 1260 <HI>Days,</HI> mu&s;t be; will conclude; They cannot end later then 1697; we might rather think They might have ended &s;ooner, then now, even &s;ome years ago, had not Event and this Numeral Calendar guided us; but later then 1697. They cannot end.</P>
<P>And what we may expect till then, we cannot &s;o po&s;itively determine; But as the <HI>&s;even T<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="2 letters">nde<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">s &V;tter<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">nces Seal'd</HI> gaug'd to each <HI>Church</HI> the mea&s;ure of its State in the Beginning of the <HI>Reformation:</HI> So I ob&s;erve in the&s;e Three Nations of <HI>Eng|land, Scotland, (Ir<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">land,</HI> the Bulk o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter"> who&s;e <HI>Natives</HI> were always <HI>Rebels</HI> to the <HI>Re|for<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="2 letters">tion)</HI> the very State each was in, as to the <HI>Reformation</HI> then, ca&s;ts anew a ve|ry remarkable Glance of it &s;elf <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 word"> this Day: There is now therefore to be expected <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 word"> Turn in each, as it were <HI>Heliotropically</HI> toward the <HI>Philadelphian</HI> 97. according to the di&s;tance of Time to it; wherein the <HI>Church Cloath'd with the Sun,</HI> &s;hall come out o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="2 letters">s <HI>Eclip&s;e;</HI> which being &s;o near, &s;hould both Animate, and &s;teer all our Coun|&s;els, and accordingly the <HI>God of Heaven</HI> (however differing parties may de&s;ign) will <HI>In&s;pire</HI> Them: To write all the Corre&s;pondencies of <HI>Scripture</HI> and its <HI>Prophe&s;ies</HI> to the&s;e Great Ends, The <HI>World</HI> would hardly <HI>contain</HI> the Books: What Con&s;ideration then does This Thing de&s;erve; Or how can we neglect it! Except we can over|throw <HI>Divine Oracles,</HI> or di&s;prove what I have written as Founded on them, which, I am well a&s;&s;ured, cannot be done.</P>
<TRAILER>THE END.</TRAILER>
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