namely, the head, however modified or divided at this period or at that period, which was distinguished by the official title of the Roman Kingship or Emperorship.

But, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, the first head, after a long reign of more than 1800 years subsequent to its expergefaction by Augustus, was, like its five predecessors, destined to fall or to become extinct. From the time of that prince until the year 1806, the Roman world had never been without a Roman Emperor, either in the West or in the East or in both; who, through every vicissitude of fortune, was invariably acknowledged as its head: but, when the Roman Emperorship or Kingship was finally abolished, on the seventh day of August in the year 1806, by the solemn abdication of that dignity with its appendent claims and authority on the part of the Archduke of Austria, so that for the first time since the days of Augustus Cesar it altogether ceased to exist; then the first head fell or was extinguished, henceforth, like the five heads which had already fallen when St. John wrote the Apocalypse, appearing upon the symbolical beast, not merely dormant, but absolutely dead 1.

From the preceding discussion it appears; that the six first heads of the wild-beast, however they may differ from each other in political constitution, are universally secular forms of government.

'See Butler's Revol. of Germany, p. 208.

Hence, on the principle of homogeneity as laid down above, we have a clear indication of the specific nature of the seventh head, whether viewed as the short-lived seventh king or as the eighth and last king.

The principle requires, that all the seven heads should be homogeneous or of one species. But the six first heads are by history demonstrated to be universally secular. Therefore the seventh head, however it may be divided into a seventh king and an eighth king, must assuredly be secular also.

This argument at once shews the futility of those schemes, which, with whatever variety of management, would exhibit the Papacy as the last ruling head of the wild-beast. The answer to them all is short, but conclusive. Homogeneity requires, that the last head of the wild-beast should be a secular form of government. The authority of the Papacy over the Western Roman Empire was altogether spiritual or ecclesiastical. Therefore the Papacy cannot be the last head of the wild-beast'.

1

Bp. Newton, as if to parry the force of this argument, contends, that the Pope made himself the head of the State as well as the head of the Church, that he was a king of kings as well as a bishop of bishops: and Mr. Whitaker cites a sermon of Pope Innocent III, in which he extravagantly claims a preëminent temporal authority no less than a preeminent spiritual authority. Hence they contend, that the Papacy, by virtue of its supreme temporal jurisdiction, was in truth the last secular head of the beast, although it was likewise a spiritual Power.

Could this point have been satisfactorily established, my ar

Having thus with reason wholly set aside the Papacy from being the head of a confessedly secular wild-beast, we have now to inquire what distinct form of Roman government is intended by the seventh head.

Zöological decorum, as we have seen, forbids the supposition, that the beast himself can continue to live when all his seven heads are dead. Hence, at the fall of the first head which outlived five of its chronologically less ancient fellows, the seventh head must either have immediately sprung up to occupy its place, or it must have previously started

gument, no doubt, would fall to the ground: but it never has been, and never can be, established.

There is a very wide difference between only claiming, and really possessing, temporal supremacy. In their claims, indeed, of temporal supremacy, the Popes have been abundantly importunate but they have not been equally successful in establishing those claims. So far from it, while their spiritual supremacy was readily allowed throughout the Western Empire, their claim of temporal supremacy was stoutly resisted. An individual prince, during a time of distress, might occasionally submit to papal arrogance: but the claim of temporal supremacy was never allowed with any continuance, and doubtless never unanimously allowed at the same time, by the successive great European Powers. Consequently, if it has never been allowed, but if on the contrary it has been strenuously resisted; with what shew of reason can we admit the scheme, which makes the Pope the last head of the beast, as being the head of the State as well as the head of the Church? The truth of the matter is, that the Empire, Hungary, England, France, and Spain, all equally and steadily declared, that the Pope possessed no temporal authority whatsoever within their several limits.

into existence so as to be ready to succeed the fallen first head. For, unless this has been the case, the beast will have become defunct by the fall of his then only surviving first head: whereas we are clearly taught by the prophet, that his death or political non-existence does not take place, until after the slaying of his seventh head by the sword'. What, then, is that seventh head of the beast, which, in point of chronology, was destined to succeed the long-lived first head?

Its predicted characteristics are: Futurity with respect to the age of St. John2; Brevity of continuance3; and Violent slaughter by the sword*: to which may be added that general characteristic of all the heads, The sovereignty of the metropolitan city Rome during some portion or other of its existence; for, without such sovereignty, the seven heads would not correspond with the seven mountains upon which Rome was founded 5.

Rev. xvii. 8, 10, 11.

Rev. xvii. 10.

3 Rev. xvii. 10.

Rev. xiii. 3, 14.

Rev. xvii. 9. This characteristic demonstrates, that the Ottoman Sultan, though occupying the territories of the Constantinopolitan Emperor, cannot be, either a new head, or a continuation of the first head. He never was master of Rome: and, therefore, he cannot correspond with any one of the seven mountains in this avowedly double type. As Mr. Mede justly remarks: Septem bestia capita duplex typus: primo, septem montes seu colles sunt, super quos urbs bestia metropolis sita est; deinde, septem quoque, idque in iisdem (quod unitas typi

Of these several characteristics, no one requires to be established by formal argument, save that of Violent slaughter by the sword: it will be proper, therefore, somewhat more at large than I have hitherto done, to assign the grounds, on which I have identified the seventh head with the head which St. John beheld mortally wounded by the sword of foreign violence.

The grounds of such identification are the following.

On the extinction of the head which is said to have been slain by the sword, the death of the beast immediately succeeds. But the beast did not die on the extinction of any one of his six first heads. Therefore the head, slain by the sword, must be the seventh.

denotat) collibus, regum seu dynastarum successivorum ordines. Comment. Apoc. par. ii. Oper. p. 524. In the construction of the double type, the seven kings answer to the seven Roman mountains, each one to each one. But no such correspondence exists in a dynasty or polity, which never, in any part of its existence, was master of Rome. Therefore The sovereignty of the metropolitan city Rome during some portion or other of its existence is a necessary characteristic of every one of the seven heads: for, without possessing it, they would not be the seven Roman mountains, as well as the seven Roman kings. This again shews the futility of those schemes, which would seek any of the seven heads elsewhere than in direct connection, during some part of their existence, with the seven-hilled city of Rome. According to the construction of the double type, an essentially necessary characteristic of each head is The sovereignty of the metropolitan city Rome during some portion or other of its existence. See above book v. chap. 4. § III. 2. note.