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shall take away

High, and think to change Times and Laws: and THEY SHALL BE GIVEN INTO HIS HAND UNTIL A TIME, TIMES, AND THE DIVIDING OF TIME, or Half a Time. But the Judgment shall fit and they bis Dominion, to confume, and to destroy it unto the End. And the Kingdom and Dominion, and the Greatness of the Kingdom under the whole Heaven fhall be given to the People of the Saints of the most High, whofe Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom, and all Dominions fhall ferve and obey him. Hitherto is the End of the Matter.

Here then we are come again to a Period of Time, distinguished by the. Denomination of a Time, Times, and Half a Time, which is to commence with the Reign of the little Horn, and is to finish with the Introduction of the triumphant Reign of the Meffiah, during which Time the Saints are to be given into the Hand of the little Horn, till the Judgment fhall fit, and the Dominion of the little Horn be taken away, and given to one like the Son of Man, whose Dominion fhall not pafs away, So that if we can but find out who this little Horn is, and when it was that this little Horn did arife out of the Roman Empire, we shall

thereby

thereby be led to discover when, and how long it is to the End of thefe Wonders, as Daniel in the Place firft quoted expresseth it, fince he there declares that it shall be for a Time, Times, and Half a Time, and when God fhall have accomplished to scatter the Power of the holy People, all thefe Things Shall be finished.

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Now as it is manifeft that this little Horn is described, as rifing up after the Roman Empire had been split into ten Horns, that is, after it had been difmembered of several of its Provinces, therefore neither Domitian, nor Julian, as the Romanifts would suppose it to be, nor Conftantine the Great, as fome of the Jews have conjectured, can be denoted by this little Horn; nor any Prince, or Principality whatsoever before the Time of Theodofius the Great, till after whofe Death the Roman Empire continued entire and undivided.

And as one of the Marks whereby this little Horn is distinguished, is that before it three of the firft Horns were plucked up by the Roots, which Particularity is repeated + three Times, that we may take the more Notice of it, I think it very remarkable D 2

+ Dan. vii: 8, 20, 24.

that

that of all the Kingdoms which have been erected out of the Spoils of the Roman Empire, there is no one of all the Princes be longing thereto, who hath taken upon him to wear a triple Crown, but the Pope of Rome: And I cannot help thinking, that this Piece of Pride, which was at first affumed to denote the Sovereignty of the Bishop of Rome over the three Principalities of which the temporal Power of the Popedom is compofed, viz. the Campagnia of Rome, the Exarchate of Ravenna, and the Region of Pentapolis, which were plucked up by the Roots by King Pepin and Charles the Great, and given to the Pope, and of which the Patrimony of the Popedom confifts to this Day; I fay, I cannot help thinking this proud Emblem of a triple Sovereignty in the Pope, to be a providential Mark in the Forehead of that Potentate, to guide us to the Knowledge of that little Horn, before whom three of the firft Horns fell, and were plucked up by the Roots.Which little Horn is alfo defcribed as being divers from all other Horns, or Kingdoms; and whofe Mouth, fays the Vifion, speaketh great Things, and his Look is more ftout than bis Fellows, and fall speak great Words against the most High, and shall

wear

wear out the Saints, and think to change Times and Laws.

Which Characteristicks agree fo wonderfully to that Potentate, and to that of all the Potentates of the Earth alone, that it is hardly poffible to miftake it. For it is a little Horn, and it is divers from all other Horns, as claiming a spiritual Jurisdiction, not only over its own Subjects, but also over all the Kingdoms in Christendom: So that tho' it be a little Horn, and very little indeed with Regard to the Extent of its temporal Dominions, yet hath it a Mouth Speaking great Things, and a Look more ftout than its Fellows, inftead of its Hand, giving its Foot to be kissed by all that approach it. And he fpeaketh great Words against the most High, by commanding the Worship of Images, and Reliques, and Saints; and by presuming to give Abfolutions, and grant Indulgencies for Sins. And he weareth out the Saints with Courts of Inquifition, and Perfecutions of all Sorts; and thinkethto change Times and Laws, that is, to make all Inftitutions human or divine ftoop to his Will and Pleasure. Of which I think I need not produce a ftronger Inftance than the Character which is given of Pope Hildibrand, who affumed the Name

of

of Gregory the Eleventh, by the learned Du pin, who cannot be suspected as a prejudiced Perfon against the Pope, further than the Force of Truth obliged him to be, fince he lived and died a Member of the Church of Rome; who fays, "*No fooner was this "Man made Pope, but he formed a Defign " of becoming Lord fpiritual and temporal

over the whole Earth; the fupreme Judge "and Determiner of all Affairs, both Ec"clefiaftical and Civil; the Distributer of "all Manner of Graces, of what Kind fo

ever; the Disposer not only of Archbishop"ricks and Bishopricks, and all other eccle"fiaftical Benefices, but alfo of Kingdoms,: "States, and the Revenue of particular "Perfons." And in another Place he fays,

That his Aim was to bring all crown'd "Heads under his Subjection, and to oblige "them to hold their Kingdoms as Fiefs of "the Holy See, and to govern them at Dif"cretion."

And now having found out who this little Horn is, which fpeaketh fuch proud Things, let us endeavour if we can to find out when he began to reign; because the Saints

* Dupin's Ecclef. Hift: Cent. xi, p. 33:
+ Id. ibid. p. 48.

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